I'm reposting this due to the forum crash (again). There's a new chapter at the end.

This is the third in my series of fanfics, the other two being Return of the Robo-Pirates and Alien vs. Rayman. To read them, go to the Rayman Pirate Community, http://raymanpc.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=51

Gems of Chaos
Prologue: Creation

Many, many years ago, there was nothing but empty space and celestial bodies, such as stars and planets. There was no life, and the worlds drifted through the universe purposeless, alone.
And then there were the Ancients.
None know where these great beings originated from, or who they are. All that is truly known about them is that they had massive amounts of power, power which far exceeded that of the Gods. As a matter of fact, it was they who brought about the Gods' creation. Their power was so immense that they could manipulate time as they pleased, looking into the future and travelling into it.
The Ancients chose one particular planet as their home, one which they sensed would be of great interest in the future. It was still empty, a dead, airless rock orbiting an isolated sun. This planet they named the Crossroads of Dreams.
The Ancients set about their great work, combining their energies. And from their energies, the Lums were formed.
The first Lums were the Purple Lums, who were created to ensure the universe did not fall apart at the seams. They strengthened the bonds between the very atoms, making everything visible and solid.
Then were the Blue Lums, who also brought about all the gases in existence. From that day on, each Blue Lum contained enough air to begin any newborn creature's first breath, as well as provide extra time for those swimming underwater.
Next were the Red Lums. These contained the energy of life, energy which could heal and revitalise, but also energy which could be corrupted to form Black Lums.
Yellow Lums were created to keep worlds from descending into absolute chaos. Each planet was given 1000 of these, and on some planets they were formed into a great Heart.
Green Lums were mistakes. Green Lums could resurrect those who had fallen from the dead, a power that was never meant to exist except for the Chosen One. These were a genetic mutation from Yellow Lums.
And so the Lums came into being. They were scattered across the universe, completely invisible except for those who lived on the Ancients' homeworld.
The Ancients, however, were not finished. They created the Balance Stone, a weapon so powerful that only one could use it fully. Next they formed the race of Rays, the limbless beings, to carry the power of the Chosen One. They were placed upon the Crossroads.
The Ancients, exhausted from their great work, built themselves a great tomb, and fell into an enchanted sleep, deeper than any ever to come upon any living creature.
When the Ancients disappeared, the Lums drew upon their own immense power. They worked together across the stars to bring the Gods into being.
Each inhabited planet was given to one or more Gods. Master Hand took dominion of the Smash World. Farore, Din and Nayru, the Three Goddesses, took Hyrule for their own. The Deceptive One, the one with many names, the Great Pretender, was given Earth. Polokus became god of the Crossroads. The All Spark was given Cybertron. And there were many, many more, hundreds of them. Each God treated their world as they saw fit, most sculpting the landscape and creating life.
This was creation.

Chapter 1: Hedgehog

The daughter of the Chosen One led a relatively normal early life.
She was named Raylina, in the tradition of the limbless beings. She was brought up amongst many friends and magical beings, playing with the Globoxes almost daily. Her parents, Rayman and Ly the Fairy watched her grow with satisfaction. Every night, before she went to sleep, Ly would kiss her on the forehead and tell her:
One day, you will grow up to be a heroine,
She grew and grew, developing all the characteristics and powers of a Ray and eventually becoming a teenager.

Raylina jogged through the woods, her fit, teenage body keeping pace with the Young Globoxes easily. Her purple hair swung around her shoulders, and her green lips curved in a smile. She wore a blue, close-fitting top with an "O"� symbol in the centre, and black shoes.
"Where are we going?"� she called to her frog-like companions.
"Into the forest!"� the Globoxes chattered. "There's a fountain there we found, and we need to show you!"�
Raylina shook her head in amusement at their enthusiasm.
BOOM!
One moment she was running between the trees, the next she was on the ground, ears ringing, the wind knocked from her lungs. She gasped for breath, turning onto her belly to see the destruction before her.
The six Young Globoxes lay metres away, unconscious but unhurt. Before her was a black crater, small fires burning within. It had been created by an explosion, the same reason she was on the ground now. But why was she not dead?
On the other side of the crater stood another Ray, hands raised. Raylina gasped. He was almost identical to her father. He had grey skin, yellow eyes with no pupils, red hair and different coloured clothes.
He smiled maliciously. "Ah, so THIS is the Chosen One,"�
The Ray shot across the crater before Raylina could react. He gripped her by the shirt and hauled her to her feet. He took hold of her waist with one hand and raised her into the air. She struggled against his grip, but he was immensely strong and merely tightened his grip. "But you are a mere adolescent! Where is your father?"�
Raylina was nearly frozen with fear, but managed to spit out a reply. "Who are you, and what do you want with my father?"�
The dark Ray laughed. "I am but a shadow, created in your father's image. I am Dark Rayman!"�
He tossed her against a tree as though she weighed nothing. "Take me two your father!"�
Raylina steeled herself and stood up, only to be knocked down again. Dark Rayman stood over her, shadows gathering around his hands. "If you refuse to take me, I guess I can find my own way. I have no need of a whiny little girly Ray,"�
He raised his hand to kill her...
What looked like a black and red ball flew through the air, striking Dark Rayman in the head. He was thrown backwards, shock on his face.
The ball landed across the crater, coming to a halt. It shifted, uncurling.
It was some sort of animal. It stood upright, and wore a pair of white and red shoes.
Dark Rayman stood up. "You again! Why can't you hedgehogs mind your own business?"�
The creature smiled grimly. "This IS our business, shade,"�
Dark Rayman charged across the crater, but the hedgehog raised his right hand. He was holding a gleaming, yellow gem.
"CHAOS... CONTROL!"�
And before Raylina could blink, Dark Rayman was on the ground, the hedgehog standing over him. Dark Rayman scowled. "Another day, hedgehog,"�
Then he melted into black shadows, which scattered and crawled into the trees.
The creature looked at Raylina with red, piercing eyes. He pulled another of those gems, this a green one, and tossed it to her. "Get that to your father, no matter what,"� he said, and turned to leave.
Raylina caught the gem. "Wait! Who are you?"�
The creature turned his head slightly.
"I am Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog,"�
And then he was gone.

Chapter 2: The Chaos Emeralds

Raylina sprinted through the woods, back towards the fairy council, the gem clutched in her hand. It glowed from a strange light within. It was big, larger than any other crystal she'd ever seen. Its verdant colour was beautiful, sparkling in the light.
Raylina reached the edge of the woods, running out of the trees...
Right into the hands of her waiting father.
She looked up into his smiling face, his cocky, encouraging grin warming her inside. She couldn't help smiling, even as the tears streamed down her face.
Rayman's brow creased in worry. "What's wrong, Raylina?"�
She wiped away her tears, and started to explain.
"...and then this thing... he called himself a hedgehog... gave me this gem and told me to bring it to you,"�
Rayman looked at the crystal, staring into its depths. He was entranced. Then a splitting pain pierced his skull. He cried out, clutching his head.
hedgehog eggman chaos emerald shadow sonic knuckles tails rouge amy rings ark gun robotnik
"Dad? DAD!"� Raylina was screaming.
Rayman realised that he was crouched on the ground, curled into a ball. He shook his head, the flood of words and images trickling away, and stood up. "I'm okay, Raylina. Just... just remembering,"�
His eyes suddenly filled with anger. "Did you say Dark Rayman?"� he said quietly, almost a whisper.
Raylina nodded, afraid. She had never seen her father like this.
Rayman roared in rage. "DARK!"�

Mr. Dark was working alone in his quarters when Rayman burst in, Raylina following reluctantly behind. Rayman didn't give Dark enough time to ask what he was doing. He aimed an all-out punch at his head. But Dark reacted quickly, his surprise not stopping him for more than a second. He blocked the punch, lifting his hand and producing a shield of shadows.
"What has gotten into you?"�
"I'll tell you what,"� Rayman shouted, aiming a kick at Dark's chest. "You sending your minions after my daughter!"�
Dark shook his head, confused. "What are you talking about?"�
"You know very well what I'm talking about. Dark Rayman came back!"�
"Dad, stop!"� Raylina cried out. "It wasn't Mr. Dark!"�
Both combatants turned to face Raylina.
"Dark Rayman asked where you were, dad. Mr. Dark knows exactly where you are. He doesn't need to send a minion to hunt you down,"�
Rayman nodded grudgingly, turning to Dark again. "Raylina, tell MISTER Dark what happened,"�
So Raylina explained again, going over every detail. When she was finished, Dark bowed his head. "I can see why you might have suspected me. But I did not send this Dark Rayman. The one I used against you all those years ago was merely a spell meant to copy the enemy's appearance and follow their every move. This is far more advanced. Someone must have gotten hold of my spell and modified it to make the Shade more intelligent, more powerful. But who? And this hedgehog figure... interesting,"�
Raylina raised the gem. "He gave me this,"�
Mr. Dark's eyes widened in shock. "Not possible..."�
He took the gem from Raylina's hands, and his eyes widened further. "This... this... do you have any idea what this is?"�
Both Rayman and Raylina shook their heads.
"This is a Chaos Emerald! And the hedgehog... He must have been a Mobian!"�
"Slow down, Dark. What is a Chaos Emerald?"�
Dark held the Emerald up to the light.
"The Chaos Emeralds are artifacts of immense power. One alone can give a person special powers, such as the ability to manipulate time and space, which is known as Chaos Control,"�
Raylina perked up. "That's what the hedgehog said! Chaos Control!"�
Mr. Dark nodded. "And if a being unites all seven Chaos Emeralds... they gain power rivalled only by that of the Master Emerald or the Balance Stone,"�
Rayman asked "So, who is this hedgehog?"�
"My best guess is that this Shadow the Hedgehog is a Mobian. Mobius is a distant world, many light years away. It is inhabited mostly by humans, and shows great resemblance to another human planet known as Earth, but is also inhabited by a smaller group known as Mobians. Mobians are humanoid in shape, but have many of the characteristics of animals. There are hedgehogs, cats, echidnas, bats..."�
"Hang on... how do you know these things?"�
Mr. Dark looked at Rayman. "I have not spent my entire life on this planet, you know,"�
"So... this Emerald. Why did Shadow want it given to me?"�
Dark bowed his head. "I can think of only one reason. Dark times are ahead,"� Then he perked up. "hmmm... I wonder..."�
He strode off deeper into his laboratory, looking for something. "Aha! Here it is!"�
He lifted a small, handheld screen, switching it on. "This is a device I created which looks for large sources of magical power,"�
Several dots appeared on the screen. "That large one, the one near the centre, is the Heart of the World. The smaller one, the one directly in the centre, is this Chaos Emerald,"�
His eyes brightened. "And there are six other dots,"�
He looked at them both. "The other Chaos Emeralds are all on this world,"�
Then, there was a sudden flash of white light and a loud bang. Raylina was blinded temporarily and thrown to the ground. She shook her head, waiting for her sight to come back, floundering around on the floor. Her eyes cleared, and she looked around. She saw Mr. Dark, also staring around his quarters in surprise. "Wha..."�
Rayman was gone.
"DAD!"�
"Not so cocky without your pet hedgehog, are you?"�
Raylina and Mr. Dark spun to see Dark Rayman standing in the doorway. "Now, hand over that Emerald and no-one gets hurt,"�
"WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS MY FATHER?"� Raylina screamed at him.
Shadows gathered around Dark Rayman's fists. "I was about to ask you the same thing,"�
Mr. Dark pushed Raylina behind him. "Look in my desk. Find a machine that looks like a metal claw. Quickly!"�
Raylina backed away towards Mr. Dark's desk while he distracted Dark Rayman.
"Ah, my old master,"� said Dark Rayman, narrowing his pupil less eyes at Mr. Dark. "As you may have noticed, I have been much improved since I served under you,"�
A blade of flames appeared in Mr. Dark's hand. "Indeed. But by who?"�
"No comment,"� Dark Rayman replied, and charged.
Master and servant clashed, and all hell broke loose.
Raylina rummaged frantically through Mr. Dark's desk, attempting to find the claw he spoke of. Bits of laboratory equipment flew at her, thrown by the combatants' furious battling. She opened one of the drawers, and found it. "Here!"� she said, tossing it to Mr. Dark.
Dark produced a ball of shadows and knocked Dark Rayman across the room with it and caught the claw in a single movement. "And the Emerald!"�
Raylina threw that as well, and Dark caught it. He fitted it into the claw just as Dark Rayman leapt at him again.
"CHAOS CONTROL!"�
And Dark Rayman was left facing an empty room.
"Damn it!"�
He focused his anger into power...
BOOM!
...and set off an explosion, utterly destroying Mr. Dark's quarters.
Dark Rayman turned from the ruined room and began to hunt again.

Space Colony ARK, Orbiting the Crossroads of Dreams

Rayman struggled towards consciousness, blinking in confusion.
"Wha... where am I?"�
A round face leaned over him. It wore circular sunglasses and had a huge, brown moustache.
"Relax, Rayman. You are safe here,"�
As Rayman regained his senses, he saw that the head was actually attached to a round body dressed in a red coat. Rayman tried to move, but he was held down by bonds of steel around his hands, feet and chest.
"No! I need to get to my daughter! She needs help!"�
He pulled at the steel, bending it with desperate strength.
"Now, now. We can't have any of that, can we?"�
An electric current ran through the bonds, and Rayman blacked out for several minutes.
When he came to again, he found the man watching him still. "Who- who are you?"� Rayman gasped.
"I? I am Doctor Eggman,"�

Chapter 3: Sanctuary

Land of the Livid Dead

The ground shuddered.
The Teensie Ghosts gathered around their great tower, knowing that the time had come.
With an ear-splitting crack, the entire tower broke in half. The halves fell in opposite directions, creaking magnificently, and showing the interior of the structure in the seconds before they hit the ground and collapsed into rubble. And the ancient building, home of the Teensie spirits for thousands of years, was no more.
Left behind was a big, dark hole.
The spirits tightened their circle, moving in to peer into the hole.
Something stirred within.
The Teensies joined hands, their ghostly bodies blowing in the wind. A great globe of light appeared above the hole, illuminating its subterranean depths.
Inside was something dark. Something ancient.
Something vicious.
Whatever it was, it flapped its wings and shot out of the hole. The Spirits cast lightning bolts at it, attempting to stop it. It took no more notice of them than it would have annoying flies. It rose, revealing its shape.
It was a huge, black dragon.
The dragon flew from the hole as fast as it could, but it stopped suddenly a few hundred metres from the tower, as though running into an invisible barrier. It shrieked in rage, clawing uselessly at this obstacle. Finally, it slumped in midair, realising defeat. Then it turned to the Teensie spirits on the ground.
Time to hunt.

The Canopy, Vastfall Forests

Raylina looked around in amazement. "What happened? You did the same thing as Shadow!"�
Mr. Dark nodded. "Yes. I constructed the claw device recently to mimic a Mobian's energy signature. I never got to test it, not having a Chaos Emerald handy, but apparently it works,"�
They had materialized in the leaves of what appeared to be an absolutely colossal tree. The trunk had to be hundreds of metres in diameter, and extended up and down further than Raylina could see. It made her dizzy to think about how high up they were. The yellow leaves they were standing in formed a solid platform, one that Raylina didn't think she could fall through if she tried. She could see that they were in a forest of such trees, a forest that seemed to be in perpetual Autumn(the season Fall for you Americans).
"Where are we?"� she asked Mr. Dark.
"We are in the Canopy, a location midway um the tallest trees of the Vastfall Forest. Your father came here once to rescue Globox,"�
"Wow. He never told me that,"�
"There are a lot of things Rayman never told you. He saved the world five times, you know. Once from me,"�
"Yeah. Right,"� Raylina shook her head in disbelief. "So why are we here?"�
Mr. Dark switched on the screen which displayed where the Chaos Emeralds were. "We're here to get us another Chaos Emerald. With more of them, we will be able to get Rayman back,"�
"Where did he go?"�
"I don't know. But we'll find out,"�

Sanctuary of the Woods

Mr. Dark and Raylina walked around the trunk of the tree until they reached the other side. Here they could see that an entranceway had been cleaved from the very flesh of the tree. Or had it grown like that...?
The door was very large, surrounded by carvings of all sorts of plants. It, too, was made from wood, but there was no apparent handle or knob to open it with.
"But... this is one of Polokus' sanctuaries! How can the Emerald be here?"�
Dark nodded. "Hmm... Well, the Emeralds were warped here across space, but possibly also across time. The bulk of them arrived close to the present, but it is possible that one or two may have arrived thousands or even millions of years ago. Polokus may have found the Emerald and constructed the Sanctuary especially to guard it,'
Mr. Dark stepped towards it, and placed his hand on the perfectly smooth wood. "This door has been protected magically. Brute force will not open it,"�
He glanced up at the centre of the door, where a large ˜O' was carved into it. "But I know what will,"�
Dark seized Raylina's hand and pressed it to the the O. Both it and the one on her shirt glowed, and the door slid upwards, opened.
Inside was darkness.
Dark looked at Raylina. "Ladies first,"�

The first chamber was a huge cube. The roof and walls were, again, carved with intricate representations of trees, plants and fungi.
It was entirely empty, except for the Eyes.
They were shaped like irregular ovals, and were bloodshot. They bounced up and down upon the floor, their lids like grey hoods. All were different sizes, some taller than Mr. Dark, others smaller than Raylina's body.
And they followed the duo's path across the room. Sort of.
Raylina realised something. "They're not looking at us... They're looking at the air behind us..."�
Dark nodded. "They are all-seeing creatures. Nothing is invisible to them. They inhabit certain places of power, but are essentially harmless unless touched. Some philosophers say that they gaze upon the Gods themselves, who stand behind us and guide our way. These particular Gods have also been named Players,"�
Raylina shivered. "They're creepy,"�
"They will not hurt you,"�
(Writer's Note: The Eyes are actually enemies in Rayman 2, just outside the Cave of Bad dreams and also in the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava. They don't attack you, in fact they just stay still and bounce, but they creeped the hell out of me.)
The two moved across the room, coming to another door. "Beyond this door their will likely be a trial or booby trap, or many. Rayman told me of his experiences in his search for the Masks,"�
Raylina took a deep breath. "I'm ready,"�
Carved into the door was a sentence: Compassion is the Virtue of a True Hero. Raylina memorised this just in case it was to come in handy.
Mr. Dark opened the door, and they stepped through.
On the floor was something so ugly, so gruesome, that Raylina's first feeling was one of utter revulsion.
It had multiple legs, sticking out of many places, but none of them could reach the ground over its bloated belly. Its eyes were bloodshot, and again there were many of them. It stood in its own filth, unable to move. It was small, and had fangs sticking out of its wide mouth. Its skin was covered in warts and moles.
Mr. Dark snarled in disgust, and raised his hand to smite the creature, but something inside Raylina was touched.
"No!"� she screamed. "Don't kill it! We have to save it!"�
Mr. Dark looked at her in puzzlement. "But it is a hideous creature, of no use to anyone. It barely even classifies as alive,"�
But then he looked past Raylina in amazement, and she too turned around. The creature was transforming, morphing, until it took the form of a huge, majestic bald eagle, towering over both of them. The eagle looked down at them both, and spoke with the sound of judgement in its voice: "You have the compassion of a true hero, Raylina. You may proceed,"� He stared down at Mr. Dark. "You, on the other hand, must stay behind,"�
"Huh? But she needs me!"�
But Raylina was already through the door.
She stood within a grand chamber, with a great, sweeping staircase leading upwards. In contrast with the dark, gloomy nature of the previous rooms, this one was well lit with light from above.
Raylina stepped forward, towards the staircase, only to have her feet swept out from under her. She landed on her back, gasping in surprise.
She had been knocked over by a vine. She looked upwards to see that the vine led upwards, towards a monster floating above her. It seemed to be composed entirely from vines, wrapping around each other to form a coherent shape. The beast was shaped like an inverted triangle, with muscular arms and a small, diamond-shaped head on top.
Gaiana, Guardian of the Sanctuary of the Woods.
Raylina rolled over just as another vine, this one barbed with large thorns, came down with great force where she had been. She sprang to her feet and ran, running up the staircase. Gaiana followed her, throwing leafy tendrils at the Ray. She dodged as best she could, leaping and rolling.
But the beast was catching up.
Her father's words, spoken when she was but a child, echoed through her mind. "In a time of need, your powers shall be given to you,"�
Well, Raylina was looking around frantically, but there was no fairy around to give her the gift of power. But then, her chest began to glow silver, a ball of energy appearing there.
A Silver Lum!
But there was only one person who could have sent that...
Go, sweety! Ly's voice rang through Raylina's mind. Use the power I have given you!
Raylina skidded to a halt, a dangerous thing to do on a staircase. She tripped, turning over quickly and standing back up. Gaiana floated towards her, vines creeping through the air from him. Raylina pulled her hand back, opening it. An orb of blue light appeared in her palm, slowly growing until it was the size of her head. She threw it at Gaiana, and it flew through the air, landing square in the plant-being's chest. Gaiana reared back, a hole in his chest. The vines quickly sealed the hole over again, however, and the creature turned to her again, angrier than ever. Raylina tossed ball after ball into Gaiana, but he kept coming. She looked around, desperate...
A torch.
At the top of the staircase was a flaming torch.
Raylina ran again, as fast as she could. She reached the top as Gaiana was almost on her heels. Hundreds of green and brown tendrils reached to take her. Raylina tossed one last ball of energy at the beast, and then stepped behind the torch.
Gaiana reacted to quickly. He continued reaching for her, but stuch his vines straight into the flames as he did so. They caught fire, and the flames raced up the length of his vines. He shrieked in pain as the fire burned through his leafy body, until he was reduced to ashes.
Raylina slumped in relief, and then turned to the task at hand. Beyond the torch was a pillar of stone, separated into three segments. The bottom segment bore a white semi-circle crowned by three triangles, the mark of Polokus himself. The uppermost segment had an ˜O' on it, the same as the one on Raylina's shirt. Raylina stepped up to the pillar. The O on the pillar glowed, as did her own. A ball of light floated down from the pillar, hovering between them. A bolt of electricity flew out from that in both directions, joining Raylina to the pillar for a moment. Then it was gone, and the top two segments slid away, revealing that the bottom one was hollow.
Out of the hollow floated a red Chaos Emerald.
Raylina climbed onto the bottom part of the pillar, grabbed the gem, and began to make her way back down the stairs, stepping around the pile of ash that had once been Guardian of the Sanctuary of Woods.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: lachimax,

Chapter 4: Speed of Sound

The Cave of Bad Dreams

The gem glowed in Jano's claws, undimmed by the shadows that surrounded it. Jano gazed at it with his single eye in amazement, wondering how such an object had come to be in his domain, a place that some might interpret as Hell. And if his Cave was Hell, that made Jano the Devil.
He shook himself. No, he was not a Devil. Would the Devil be entrusted with the protection of Polokus' darkest thoughts?
But as the Guardian of the Cave of Bad Dreams stared into the Emeralds' crystalline depths, a dark greed grew in his heart. This gem was his now. He would keep it with him at all times, and treasure it above all his other treasures.
Jano took off his purple top hat, identical to the one worn by the Spirit of the World himself, and placed the Chaos Emerald inside.

The Canopy, Vastfall Woods

Mr. Dark was amazed when Raylina exited the Emerald Chamber unharmed and grinning. He had been certain that whatever had been within would overcome her. But now they possessed two Chaos Emeralds of seven.
But, as they left the Sanctuary, they were greeted by an unpleasant surprise.
There was Dark Rayman, standing before them, the light of anger in his eyes. "I think it's about time you handed over those Emeralds,"
Mr. Dark reached for the claw at his side, but Dark Rayman raised a hand and it flew to him. "Not this time,"
A sword of flames ignited in Mr. Dark's hand. "Then prepare to fight,"
Dark Rayman smiled. "Well, master, you never did give me a sense of honour or fair play. A mistake on your part. I have... friends,"
Dark Rayman raised both fists into the air, and a dark energy radiated from them. He plunged them into the tree's branches, and Raylina felt a shudder run through the massive trunk.
The entire forest began to stir. Out of every hollow, every crack, dark creatures poured. Giant, black spiders crawled down trunks. Zombie Chickens rose from the forest floor, stirred from their slumber. Black, furry, snakelike beings bounced across the leafy canopy. Small, flying, hairy orbs which made a buzzing sound flew through the air. One of the colossal trees nearby shattered, showering the forest with splinters and revealing a truly massive parasitic Thorn Root plant, one which had evidently infected the entire tree.
Creatures of Darkness.
(By the way, every one of those creatures were enemies in Rayman 2)
The fell beasts swarmed towards Mr. Dark and Raylina. Mr. Dark swore, raising his hands to cast fire at them. The two of them backed away, fighting for their lives. Raylina was terrified.
They stood back-to-back, fighting off the creatures. Dark Rayman stood and watched, chuckling.
But then, something else appeared.
A low drone echoed through the woods, coming from above. Dark Rayman looked up, and cursed.
Above, descending between the trees, was a huge, red, yellow and black warship, hundreds of metres long. Mr. Dark's immediate reaction was to think Pirates, but he soon realised that these were not Robo-Pirates.
From the belly of the ship flew hundreds of robots, hovering down with jetpacks. They were vaguely humanoid, being round and orange, and had machine guns attached to their arms. They opened fire on the creatures, and the creatures turned their attention from Raylina and Dark to the robots. A full-scale battle soon broke out. Raylina and Mr. Dark moved through the chaos, desperately trying to escape.
BOOM!
A loud crack that sounded like thunder echoed across the trees. The dark creatures and robots continued to battle, unperturbed, but Mr. Dark recognised it for what it was.
"A sonic boom," he exclaimed.
Then, suddenly, there was a new combatant in the midst of the battle. It was nothing but a blue blur, moving between enemies at the speed of sound. It moved through the battle, towards Raylina and Dark.
A spider dropped to the leaves before Raylina. It scuttled onto her, attempting to bite her. She barely held it back with her hands, its fangs dripping venom. Mr. Dark tried to help her, but was grabbed from behind by a Thorn Root.
With a surge of strength, Raylina flipped the spider off her and leapt to her feet. But it reacted quickly, turning back over and knocking her backwards with its legs.
She was less than a metre from the edge of the leaves.
Raylina stumbled backwards, and fell.
"NO!" shouted Dark, struggling with his captor.
Raylina fell through the air, screaming. She shut her eyes tight, and waited for the end to come.
But the blue blur detached itself from the battle and flew off the edge of the canopy after her. It shot through the air towards her, and caught her in midair.
Raylina opened her eyes, closed her mouth. She looked into the face of her saviour, who held her in his arms.
It was a Hedgehog.
Unfortunately, they were still falling.
The Hedgehog kicked off the side of the tree, flying towards another. He hit it feet first, and began to run up the trunk. Raylina buried her face in her hands, not wanting to watch.
The Hedgehog bounced from tree to tree, until they were back on the canopy. He paced her on the ground, and she finally got a proper look at him.
He looked like Shadow, but his fur was blue, with a bare patch on his stomach. He wore red shoes and white gloves.
"Shadow?" she asked.
The Hedgehog grinned. "Imagine mistaking me for that depressing loner," he said jokingly. "I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog,"

Dark continued to pull against the roots, casting spells against them, but every root he destroyed was replaced by two more.
But then, piercing through the sounds of machine gun fire and creatures dying came the roar of a motorcycle engine. The motorbike sped through the brawl, running over anything stupid enough to get in the way.
In the seat was Shadow the Hedgehog.
On his shoulder was a rocket launcher.
The bike hit a pile of bodies, riding up it like a jump, and flew through the air. In midair, Shadow fired a rocket at the Thorn Root plant. It screeched, and released Dark. Another rocket left the tube as the bike landed, hitting the plant again. It fell away, burning.
Shadow's bike sped forwards, and Mr. Dark landed smoothly in the seat behind Shadow. The two of them sped away, riding out of the battle.
But Dark Rayman stood in their way, unwilling to let them pass.
Shadow discarded his rocket launcher and drew a machine gun, pointing it straight forward. He sprayed Dark Rayman with bullets, pouring them into his chest and head. Instead of bleeding, Dark Rayman sprayed some black substance all over the place, and sank into a puddle of the stuff.
Shadow rode through the puddle, and drew the yellow Chaos Emerald from a compartment in his bike. He raised it high and muttered "Chaos Control,"
They disappeared in a flash of blue.

Okay, MASSIVE bump, but there are people who want to read it, so...

Chapter 5: Tales of Mobius

Sonic carried Raylina as he sprinted through the woods, leaping from tree to tree. As they moved further from the centre of the woods, the trees grew smaller and smaller, until there were none at all. The terrain grew wetter and more boggy, until finally they stopped in what Raylina recognised as the Marshes of Awakening. The water was a funny brown-green colour, and giant lily pads grew in it. The ruins of twenty year old Robo-Pirate structures protruded from the marshes, close to collapsing.
Sonic set her down on one of these lily pads. She noticed that he was quite small, shorter than her.
Sonic gazed around. "Another Emerald is near. I can feel it,"

Unknown Position, Near Vastfall Woods

Shadow and Mr. Dark did not appear where Shadow expected.
They materialised just beyond the borders of the Vastfall Woods, on a wide, grassy plain. They could easily make out the enormous trees in the distance.
Surrounding them were hundreds of the egg-shaped robots.
The instant they appeared, a burst of laserfire knocked him and Mr. Dark from the bike. Both Dark's and Shadow's Chaos Emeralds went flying. The red one flew through the air in a graceful ark, landing...
In Doctor Eggman's gloved hand.
"How nice of you to join us, Shadow,"
The Doctor hovered above them in his round flying machine, with two laser cannons attached to the sides. Both were aimed at Shadow.
The Hedgehog snarled and leapt at the Eggmobile, but Eggman dodged to the side and fired the cannons into Shadow's chest. Shadow was thrown to the ground, groaning.
Mr. Dark stood, a flaming sword in his hands. "Who are you?" he asked angrily. "Give that Emerald back!"
Eggman turned to him. "Ah, so this is the infamous Mr. Dark. I have heard of your exploits,"
A blue energy beam lanced down from the Eggmobile, immobilising Dark. He struggled against it, pushing with his mind, but to no avail.
"I know that you and I are alike. Both villainised by so-called ˜heroes'. Both living on the fringes of society, our hunger for power never satisfied,"
Eggman tossed the Chaos Emerald in his hand. "Join me, Mr. Dark, and not only will we be saving this world from these freaks that call themselves heroes, but you will gain the power that you so long for!"
Shadow shook his head and looked over at Mr. Dark, knowing that Mr. Dark was not foolish enough to be swayed by those words. But when he saw the glint of greed in the dark Ray's eye, Shadow knew that Mr. Dark was lost. "No, Dark! You don't know Eggman! He doesn't seek to save this world!"
"Silence, hedgehog!" Eggman fired his cannons at Shadow again, but Shadow rolled away and ran at Dark, trying to pull him from the force field Eggman held him in. But he was reflected by the semi-translucent barrier and knocked to the ground yet again. The robots trained their weapons onto him.
Dark bowed his head. "If you explain to me what is going on, then I might join you,"
Eggman smiled.
Shadow was on his feet again.
"You're a fool, Dark," he said, raising his Chaos Emerald. "And you'll pay,"
Eggman pointed at the black hedgehog. "Stop him!"
The Eggbots fired at Shadow, their machine guns chattering away. But it was too late.
Shadow glowed with red energy, his arms to his chest.
"CHAOS... BLAST!"
A wave of red energy radiated outwards from Shadow. It swept through the squad of robots, destroying them where they stood.
Eggman crouched inside his Eggmobile, sheltered by the strong metal that it consisted of. When he looked up, his robots were wasted, blasted apart. Dark was unconscious, still inside the force field.
And Shadow was gone.

The Marshes of Awakening, near the entrance to The Cave of Bad Dreams

Sonic and Raylina were exploring further into the Marshes, following Sonic's vague sense of the Emerald's presence.
"So...um..." said Raylina with all the awkwardness of a teenage girl talking to a teenage boy. "Why are you and Shadow here?"
Sonic grinned. "Ah, now there's a story,"

FLASHBACK: Guardian Units of Nations (GUN) Headquarters, Mobius

Shadow the Hedgehog stepped into the central vault of the GUN headquarters, Rouge the Bat alongside him. His face betrayed nothing of his surprise as he noticed Sonic, his old rival, was also in the room, standing next to the GUN commander. Tails ˜Miles' Prower, Sonic's loyal double-tailed fox sidekick, was also alongside him. The GUN commander nodded to Shadow, and he nodded back. "You called, Commander?"
The Commander nodded again. "Did you bring the Emerald?"
Shadow tossed it in the air once, catching it with ease. "Of course,"
"Now that we're all here, why don't you tell us what's going on, Mr. Commander?" Sonic asked with a grin.
Shadow shook his head. Sonic never seemed to grasp the seriousness of any situation.
The GUN Commander seemed to agree with Shadow, frowning.
"Recently, each of the three Chaos Emeralds in our possession have been disappearing. They were all held in high-security vaults, guarded by hundreds of our bots. And nobody seems to have broken into these vaults. No-one was caught on camera, and there are several trained on the Emeralds themselves. There is absolutely no evidence of fingerprints, points of entry, or tampering with the cameras. We did, however, find minute samples of an alien substance within the vault. Our scientists are having trouble identifying it, but it does give off a unique radiation. We have rigged a device which allows this radiation to be tracked,"
"Then why haven't you already caught the culprit?"
"Because...ah...it keeps disappearing and reappearing across the globe. It would appear that he or she has the benefit of Chaos Control. Which is where you and Sonic come in. We need you to hunt the culprit down and take the Emeralds back,"

Unknown Location, Mobius

"Alright, Shadow, I'm in position now," Sonic's voice came from Shadow's communicator.
"Good. Stay there until I give the signal,"
Shadow lay crouched in the bushes, at the edge of a clearing. In the centre of the clearing was their Chaos Emerald.
After days of following the culprit's trail, they had arrived here. They knew that he must be nearby, so they had decided to set a trap using the Chaos Emerald as bait.
Shadow rested his chin on a sniper rifle, looking at the Emerald through its sight. The GUN Commander had given them permission to use deadly force if necessary, but that he would rather they took the culprit alive. Which was why the sniper was loaded with knock-out darts.
A flicker of movement caught Shadow's eye, and a dark being emerged into the clearing, the likes of which neither Shadow or Sonic had ever seen. It's hands, feet, and head floated separate from its' body.
"What the hell is that?"
"Just be ready to take that thing down,"
Shadow took aim at the creature's chest as it approached the Emerald, and pulled the trigger. The dart flew through the air, thudding into the creature's body...
And passing straight through it.
Shadow's eyes widened.
The creature turned to the source of this attack, raising his fist. But they had been prepared for the dart to fail.
Sonic leapt into the clearing, running at the speed of sound headlong into the dark creature. The thing fell onto its back, but flipped quickly over and stood in a battle-ready stance.
"Now, Tails!" said Shadow into his communicator.
With that, a large net flew from the trees, wrapping itself around the creature. It fell to the ground, struggling. Tails emerged from the forest in his transformed Tornado plane, which had just cast the net at Dark Rayman.
Shadow approached them, only to see Dark Rayman break through the net and strike at Sonic. Sonic flew backwards, not expecting this attack. Tails fired at the Ray with the Tornado's cannon, only to be blasted away by a wave of dark energy.
Dark Rayman threw away the remains of the net and picked up the Chaos Emerald. Shadow could only watch helplessly as it, as well as the other six, formed a ring around the creature's body.
"Who are you?" it asked Shadow in an almost resentful voice.
"Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog,"
Shadow charged at Dark Rayman, but the Ray cried "Chaos Control!" and disappeared in a bright flash of light.
Along with Shadow and Sonic.

The Marshes of Awakening, near the entrance to The Cave of Bad Dreams

"Dark Rayman accidentally brought us along with him when he warped to this place. The Emeralds were scattered, and me and Shadow have been trying to hunt them down. We found two, and Shadow gave one to you to take to your dad. We heard about him and thought it would be safe to give the Emeralds to him. Obviously, we were wrong. Dark Rayman has also been hunting the Emeralds, and as far as we know he has none," Sonic finished.
It was that moment that Shadow chose to appear, materialising in front of them. Raylina jumped in fright, then blushed as Sonic grinned at her.
"Bad news. Eggman is here,"
Sonic nodded. "So that's where those robots came from,"
"Yes. And it gets worse. Mr. Dark has been captured by the Doctor, and Eggman has turned him to his side. He also took the Emerald I gave to you, Raylina,"
"What!?"
"Yes. Now Eggman has one Emerald, and we have two,"
"Well," said Sonic. "We have one piece of good news. Another Emerald is dead ahead,"
And they walked up a big tree root, walking into a fold in the tree. As they turned the corner, Raylina saw three more of the bouncing eyes, staring at her, Shadow, and Sonic.
And behind them was a one-eyed being wearing a top hat.

The Heart of the World, the Fairy Council

Polokus, Betilla and the Grand Minimus stood in discussion in the chamber of the World's Heart. The large room had been repaired after the destruction Rayman in the Grolgoth and the Queen Xenomorph had wreaked upon it. There still remained in the room a small sample of the Alien's cocooning material, hanging from the roof as a reminder of what had once been.
I have felt a dark disturbance in the world recently, said Betilla, lowering her eyelids. Something is loose here that is not meant to be,
Polokus nodded, speaking in his gravelly voice. "I have felt it also. The Dark Spirit, Veurtoya, has been unleashed from his prison in the Land of the Livid Dead. He is held there for now by the barriers the Griskin Teensies placed there, but will be freed by his servant soon enough,"
"Can't you do something?" came the Grand Minimus' squeaky voice, his crown slipping off his head.
Polokus shook his head. "I am powerless against this being. This is what the Ancients created the Heroes for. It is down to Rayman and his counterparts to stop this hazard. And the worst part is, by the rules set down by the Ancients themselves, none of us can interfere,"

Hehe I like Shadow's reaction to seeing a limbless for the first time. "What the hell is that?" XD

Oooh I think Raylina is in love with Sonic! If Amy showed up she would be sooo jealus, there might even be a cat-fight between them ! I can't wait!

Wow. Long chapter. Enjoy, and sorry about the bump.

Chapter 6: Nightmare Cavern

Space Colony ARK, in orbit around the Crossroads of Dreams

When Doctor Eggman entered Rayman’s prison, Rayman didn’t stir, keeping his eyes firmly locked on the metal ceiling.
“Ah, so we remain uncooperative, do we?” Eggman said, turning to an electronic map of the planet below. Shown on the map were seven gem-shaped markers. One was hovering beside the planet, to show that the Emerald it represented was beyond the Crossroads’ atmosphere. Two of the markers were overlapping, and another was very close. “Hmmm,” Eggman hmmed, stroking his massive moustache. “So Sonic and Shadow have joined forces with your lovely daughter, are in possession of two Emeralds, and are very close to finding a third,”
Rayman smiled slightly. “That’s my girl,” he muttered.
Eggman saw this. “Proud of her, are you? Well, fear not. You shall be reunited with her shortly,”
He pressed a button, and the table Rayman was bound to rose so that he was in a vertical position, facing the wall.
“I will return you to the Crossroads on one condition, my extension-challenged friend. You will collect the Emerald, and return them to me. I have one already, so that leaves you six to find,”
Rayman, his head lowered, not making eye contact with the Doctor, spat “And what makes you think I’ll do as you say?”
Eggman chuckled. “Ah, you and Sonic are very much alike. Very well,”
He pressed another button, and a panel in the wall Rayman was facing slid away to reveal a window that showed another room.
Rayman’s eyes widened. “No!”
Eggman smiled. “I thought that would motivate you. Now, you must do as I say, or she dies,”
In the other room, strapped to a steel table in a similar manner to Rayman, was Ly the Fairy.

Entrance to the Cave of Bad Dreams, Marshes of Awakening

“You must know the name of this place to enter,”
Jano shook his skull-headed staff at the two Hedgehogs and Raylina.
Raylina was taken aback. “Excuse me?”
“If you do not know the name of this place, then you must leave,” growled the cycloptic Guardian.
“We don’t have time for this,” Shadow said. He leapt into the air, curling into a ball as he did, and shot straight at Jano’s eye in a Homing Attack. The ancient monster was quick, however. He blocked Shadow with a flick of his staff, and Shadow landed on his feet, ever graceful, sliding to a halt.
But the sudden movement had unbalanced Jano’s hat. The great, purple top hat fell as if in slow-motion, landing on the damp, mossy ground.
And all seven eyes fell upon the purple Chaos Emerald that rolled out of it.
Jano was the first to break the silence.
“I see all!” He proclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the trio. “Do you think I do not see the looks of greed in your eyes? You want to take it! My gem! You shall not have it! It is mine! It belongs to me!”
Jano picked up the Chaos Emerald, cradling it in his bony fingers. Its purple light was reflected in his single, large eye, as well as a look of intense jealousy. Mad jealousy.
“My...precious,”
Sonic and Shadow were both in unspoken agreement; this creature, if not already so, had been driven insane by the Emerald’s power. Both fell into a combat-ready stance. But as they began to strike, reality unfolded around them.
The world dissolved into a swirling vortex of yellow light, transporting them to a place where Gods fear to tread.

The Yellow Portal is one of the most efficient means of transport throughout the Crossroads of Dreams. Used almost exclusively by the Teensies, who are amongst the only ones who can open them, a Portal can be used to transport one directly to their destination, or to the Hall of Doors, the great hub of Portals that leads to anywhere and everywhere, and can only be unlocked by the Council of the Teensies.
Amongst the others who had power over the portals was Jano, Guardian of the Cave of Bad Dreams.

The Cave of Bad Dreams

Raylina stared around in shock. She was in what appeared to be a cave or large tunnel. The walls were of a sheer, grey stone, which appeared to have bones embedded in it. She was standing on what looked like the spine and ribcage of some colossal dead creature, likely a snake, protruding from the wall for fifty metres. The floor below consisted of a convoluted mass of inanimate Thorn Roots, underneath a thin layer of putrid water. Images of white, ghostly spirits floated up through the floor, their mouths twisted in expressions of eternal agony. It all reminded her of something... Something she’d heard when she was young.
This place brought back old nightmares, memories of childhood fears. It got inside her head,made her shrink away from the thought of doing anything remotely heroic, anything dangerous.
And Sonic and Shadow were nowhere to be seen.

Shadow looked around, unimpressed by the grandiose attempts at horror within this cave. He had long ago come to terms with his inner demons, and so the psychological effects of the Cave did not bother him.
He cursed, realising his Chaos Emerald had been taken from him. That freak show monster must have it, he thought. I can still warp away from this place, at least.
Shadow reached for the power of Chaos Control within himself, feeling for the energy, only to find that it wasn’t there.
“Damn,” he cursed aloud. This Cave must prevent me from using Chaos Control, he realised.
So he began to move deeper into the Cave, in search of the three Emeralds that were now in Jano’s possession.

Sonic ran through the Cave, leaping from rock platform to rock platform, sometimes running along the walls. Fear boiled within him, but he kept it firmly under wraps. Fear for Raylina. Fear for his friends, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, left alone and unprotected on Mobius. Fear for this world, under the new threat of Eggman, which he suspected had followed Sonic to the Crossroads. Fears which hadn’t really bothered him before, until he entered this Cave. So he did the only thing he could think to do: He ran. As he had once told Elise, the Princess of Soleanna: “If you have time to worry, then run!”

Raylina jumped back in revulsion as she realised what the round, white platforms floating in the Thorn Roots were: huge skulls, large enough for several people to stand on. She would have to act fast: the skulls were sinking slowly through the water, and were the only way forward for her. She screwed up her courage, and leapt high in the air, curving her body into a somersault as she did, and landing perfectly on the first skull. She continued, jumping from skull to skull, until she reached a wall. The wall was covered in bones in what appeared to be a ladder. She shook her head in disgust, and began to climb.

Shadow was moving along a narrow, stone tunnel, skating on his hover skates, when a massive, bony fist reached out from a near invisible hole in the wall, and stopped him in his tracks. It wrapped its four fingers around him and lifted him into the air, dragging him back towards its hole. Shadow, winded by the sudden stop, was momentarily stunned. But only momentarily. He activated both of his skates, twisting around so that the jet outlets on the soles of his shoes were both facing the wrist of the skinny, brown arm. Flames leapt from them, burning straight through the arm. The hand flopped off, still with Shadow in it, and the stump that was once an arm retreated soundlessly into its hole. But the hand was still alive. It had dropped Shadow, but was scuttling around on the floor like a spider. Shadow hit it with a homing attack once twice, three times, until it lay still, fingertips twitching.
“This is one messed up place,” he said to himself.

Sonic leapt onto an outcropping, protruding from a cliff, to find two creatures that looked like miniature versions of Jano staring at him with their single eyes. They were bouncing up and down on the spot, arms held in vaguely horizontal positions. Their mouths were closed. For now.
Sonic barely had time to react as both monsters opened their mouths wide and spewed a stream of fireballs at the blue Hedgehog. He rolled underneath the flames, and bounced off the floor, still curled into a ball. He homed in on the first creature’s eye, hitting hard. The monster bounced backward, spinning in circles. Sonic turned to the second creature, which was already opening its mouth for another fireball. Sonic began to spin in a ball on the spot, aiming directly at the mini-Jano. He released the brake, so to speak, and shot forwards at a tremendous speed, canon-balling precisely into the monster. The monster was thrown backwards, dropping into the mass of Thorn Roots below. It sank quickly, one arm raised above the surface until the end.
Sonic homing attacked the other one twice more, until it fell apart before him, arms coming clean off, and turned to dust.

Raylina found herself on the edge of a great chasm. She looked down, and there was nothing below but darkness. There was an outcropping on the other side, well below her level, but it was way too far to jump.
She shivered. This is all very well for Sonic and Shadow, she thought. But I’m not used to this adventure stuff,
While she was busy thinking, Jano’s gruff voice came from behind her. “Die, thief!”
And without warning, she was pushed over the edge of the chasm.
She fell for several metres, sheer terror running through her, but then her instincts suddenly kicked in. Power ran through her body and manifested itself in her scalp, flowing into her long hair. Her hair suddenly stiffened, pointing out from her head in a circle, and began to spin like a helicopter’s rotor. She gasped as she began to hover, as her father often did, slowly floating downwards. She shifted her weight forward, and so she began to move forward as she slowly fell, heading straight for the outcropping below. She turned her head carefully to look at Jano, and saw him looking at her with a calculating gaze, skull staff in hand.
She raised her hands to her mouth, stuck her tongue out, and waggled it at him.

Shadow was in a dark tunnel, having dropped into it from a hole in the ceiling. Before him was a stick with a skull on the end, poking out of the ground, and a slope, with what looked like a very slippery surface. He walked towards it, gazing down it. In the way were many gaps and pillars, but they could easily be avoided by jumping while sliding.
Behind him, the skull-stick began to move. It rose out of the ground, followed by two arms, pulling an enormous, round body and a purple, star-and-moon patterned top-hat behind it.
Jano.
A roar shook the tunnel, and Shadow span around to see Jano, jaws wide open, clutching the purple Chaos Emerald in his fist.
“This is where your journey ends, Hedgehog!”
Shadow, with nowhere left to go, leapt onto the slide.

Sonic stepped to the very edge of the tunnel he was in, to see Shadow fly past at lightning speed, with Jano in very close pursuit, roaring. Sonic leapt after them immediately, jumping onto the slide. He aimed a homing attack at the monster as he slid, bouncing off his thick skin and returning to the slide. Jano roared and slid around, mid-slide, and struck at the blue hedgehog. Sonic jumped over his arms and bounced off the wall with his legs, spinning towards Jano’s hat. He grabbed onto the top, and clung on for dear life. Jano shook himself, attempting to dislodge the spiked blue creature. While he was distracted, Shadow struck several times at his arms in quick succession, landing on the same side of him. Jano roared in anger.
They were speeding towards a very wide gap. Before Jano realised it was there, they were right on top of it. Shadow jumped from the slide, and, drawing a knife from Polokus-knew-where, drove it into the wall. He continued to slide downwards as Jano fell into the gap, his momentum carrying him to slam into the opposite side. Sonic just managed to leap off the hat, and continued sliding on the other side.
Jano fell past Shadow, and Shadow let go of the knife, jumping from wall to wall to slow his fall.
Sonic ran down the slope, finding a tunnel that branched off. He leapt into it, and ran down it as fast as he could, hoping it led to Shadow.

Raylina emerged into a wide, open space. She had fought several of the mini-Janos, and had found her way to this room. At the end of the room was an opening, and from the opening came a faint, yellow glow.
She stepped towards it, only to have Jano fall with an enormous thud right in front of her. She jumped back in surprise and horror. He had grown enormous, far bigger than he was when they met outside the Cave.
He looked momentarily stunned, but then noticed the Ray standing before him. He swiped at her, picking her up and raising her above him in one hand. He laughed. “You think to steal from me? The Guardian of the Cave of Bad Dreams? Ha ha ha ha ha!”
“Put her down, Guardian,”
Shadow dropped to the ground in front of them, crouched on his hands. Jano eyed him. “Certainly,”
And with a flick of his wrist, he tossed the daughter of Rayman against a wall.
“No!” yelled Sonic (who had just appeared from a side tunnel) and Shadow in unison. Shadow leapt at Jano, eyes burning with rage, but Jano disappeared into the ground, cackling.
Sonic ran to Raylina’s side. She was fine, just a little stunned.
“Wow,” grinned Sonic. “You’re almost as resilient as we are!”
Raylina smiled in answer.
The three, reunited, made their way towards the opening on the other side. When they reached it, they entered without hesitation.
Inside were mounds upon mounds of gold coins and diamonds.
“Incredible,” said Shadow, flicking a coin in his hand. “It’s all gold!” said Sonic.
Raylina only stared. They walked into the centre of the treasure, gazing around in awe.
With a clink, a coin rolled down between them, falling down in front of them. They spun around, to see Jano atop a mound of treasure.
“Did you know,” he said, eye closed. “That your father once faced the same test in here, Raylina?”
He opened his eye. It was completely bloodshot, and the pupil had turned deepest red. “Do you want to know what he decided?”
The three Chaos Emeralds, yellow, purple, and green, appeared hovering around his body.
“You shall not live to find out,”
Jano’s entire body burst into flames, flames which did not harm him. He grew, grew to a massive size, and roared with all his might.
Battle was joined.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: lachimax,

Oh no! Jano broke the rules! You're supposed to give them something for beating you, dude.

Though him acting like Gollum was great. XD

This fanfic is just awesome. I love it.

The Lord of the Rings reference was great. Also, I like how its a Rayman and Sonic crossover. Crossovers like that would usually work out unimaginative and cheesy, but you pulled it off very well.

Thanks, guys. Raydragon, have you read my other fics?

Chapter 7: Team Scorpion

Eclipse Cannon Control Room, Space Colony ARK

Mr. Dark, wandering the space station Eggman had brought him to, had stumbled upon a huge, dark room. The doorway opened onto a walkway, hovering in seemingly empty space, hundreds of metres above any kind of solid surface.
The walkway led to a pillar in the centre of the room, which stretched down and up further than the eye could see. Attached to the pillar were a computer console and several strange, spherical objects floating above it.
Mr. Dark walked towards the pillar, contemplating its use. Despite having come to the station with Eggman, he did not trust the Professor or his promises. He had only come because he believed he could turn the doctor to his own purposes.
He still had no idea how the doctor had transported this massive space station, the size of a small city, into orbit around this planet. It must have taken enormous amounts of energy. And whatwas he going to do with it?
Well, he thought, This room must have something to do with it.
“A thing of beauty, isn’t it?”
Eggman had hovered across the room in his Eggmobile, coming to a halt beside Dark.
Dark continued to examine the machinery before him.
“What is it for?”
Eggman hesitated.
“This... is the control console for a massive superweapon... known as the Eclipse Cannon,”
“Eclipse... Cannon?”
“A weapon that can pierce the stars. The Cannon is able to destroy entire planets,”
“Then why have you brought it here?” asked Dark, an uneasy anger building up inside him. “You intend to destroy this planet?”
“No, no, of course not. I plan to use it to ransom for the Chaos Emeralds. I’ll never actually fire it,”
Eggman’s expression was unreadable beneath his one-way glasses. “Of course, there is a flaw in this plan. The Chaos Emeralds are needed to power this device, and we have only one Emerald. That is not nearly enough for the Cannon to pose any real threat,”
“I thought you said you didn’t intend to fire the Cannon?”
“Yes, well, we still need to demonstrate its power,”
Dark definitely didn’t trust Eggman now, but he knew that getting the Cannon working was in both of their best interests.
Then he had an idea. “I think I know where we can get an energy source for the Cannon.”

Treasure Chamber, the Cave of Bad Dreams

Shadow pushed Raylina behind him as Jano’s burning arm swung towards them. “Hey!” she yelled in protest.
“Get down!” yelled Sonic.
Raylina rolled underneath the flaming, skeletal arm, a blue energy ball glowing in her fist. She tossed it at the joint of Jano’s arm to his body. It bounced ineffectually off.
Jano laughed, his five razor-sharp teeth dripping with saliva. “Your pitiful power is no match for me! I was chosen by Polokus himself!”
A ball of white-hot flames grew in his fist, and he tossed it at Sonic. Sonic dodged, and the flames hit the pile of treasure he was standing on, melting the gold into molten slag.
Jano pulled back his arm, balled his hand into a fist, and took a tremendous punch at Shadow. Of course, he was far too slow to make contact with Shadow, who merely sidestepped, but his fist did make contact with the wall. With extreme force.
A large crater appeared in the wall, and shards of rock flew in all directions.
Jano began shooting jets of flame from his hands and mouth, melting the walls and the treasure. Only the diamonds remained untouched.
The heat in the cavern was becoming unbearable. Sweat coated Raylina’s forehead, and she was finding it hard to keep moving, as she ducked and weaved under the flames. “We need to get her out of here!” shouted Sonic across the room to Shadow, over the roar of the flames. Shadow nodded, and began to go about striking at Jano to distract him. Sonic grabbed Raylina by the hand and tried to lead her out.
Even with Shadow’s distractions, Jano saw them heading for the exit. A gesture with his hand caused rocks to come crashing down, blocking it.
“Damn!” yelled Shadow, striking at Jano with renewed anger.
This annoyed the massive Guardian. The flames across his body intensified in heat, becoming white-hot. They were consuming all of the air inside the now sealed-off room. This was no problem for the two hedgehogs, who could survive for a couple of hours in space (but for some reason drowned when underwater too long). Raylina, on the other hand, had no such survival function. She began to gasp for breath, and, not finding any, collapsed to the floor, clutching her chest.
Sonic ran to her side. “Raylina!”
Shadow leapt over Jano, homing attacking him as he did. He landed beside Sonic, still facing the Guardian, and handed the other hedgehog a winged, blue light. “Give her this!” he said, as Sonic took the Lum. “It will give her a little time!”
Shadow leapt back into action, and Sonic put the Blue Lum in Raylina’s mouth. She breathed it in, and then fell unconscious.
Shadow was about to leap once again at Jano, when the monster raised his hands. A pillar of stone rose suddenly from the floor, slamming Shadow into the ceiling. Knocked out, Jano easily seized him in his iron grip. Sonic span around from Raylina, only to be knocked against the wall with tremendous force by Jano’s fist. Jano also picked him up, so that he was holding both hedgehogs in his fists. Sonic’s eyes widened.
“Now I have you in my power,”
The three Emeralds appeared around Jano’s body, orbiting slowly. He brought Sonic up to his eye. “The Gems are MINE!”
“Don’t... count... on it!” said Soonic, struggling in the beast’s grip.
That’s when a blue ball of energy knocked one of the Emeralds from the air.
And into Raylina’s hand.
She stood there, Chaos Emerald in hand, barely able to stand, and yelled: “Chaos... Control!”
Time slowed to a stand-still.
Jano’s flames moved in slow-motion, his colours inverted. Shadow was white, Sonic orange. The Guardian was caught mid-turn, beginning to look across at Raylina.
The female Ray tossed two more balls of energy, each hitting a Chaos Emerald. They fell away from Jano, bouncing to Raylina’s feet. She threw several more, causing Jano to release his grip on Sonic and Shadow. Then she used the Emeralds to clear the rocks from the entrance. It was exhilarating, this power. She could feel the fabric of time and space flowing through her, and could manipulate it as she pleased. It was with a certain reluctance that she released this energy, and let time return to its normal pace.
Jano shrank immediately, returning to a size slightly larger than Raylina. Shadow and Sonic fell with dual thuds, then immediately leapt to their feet, circling Jano warily.
“Wow,” said Sonic. “You really saved our bacon there!”
Shadow nodded in agreement.
Jano stared around at his destroyed treasure, his pupil having returned to its normal black, and lowered his gaze. “Oh, what a fool I have been,”
Then he turned to Raylina, eye on the ground. “Forgive me, Chosen One. I have wronged you greatly,”

Anguish Lagoon, the Dream Forest

Rayman trekked through the undergrowth, the radar Eggman had given him beeping insistently. It was leading him towards another Chaos Emerald, or so he hoped.
He didn’t want to be doing this. He desperately wanted to be with his daughter and Ly at the Fairy Council, sipping plum juice in the shade with the Globoxes. But Eggman... words could not describe the rage he felt at the so-called Professor for holding his partner hostage. It burned inside like a thousand bushfires, but at the same time he had to do what Eggman said, or Ly would suffer the consequences. He had to... but this was not what a Hero should do. A Hero should fight the threat, win. But he couldn’t... he just couldn’t. He prayed to Polokus and other Gods unknown to him that the world could understand that.
A tear slid down his cheek. He was going against every cell in his body helping this villain.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by the radar’s more frequent and louder beeps. He glanced down at it. Apparently, the Emerald was barely thirty metres ahead. (I’m sorry for you Americans, but in Australia we use the metric system. :P)
That out it in the clearing Rayman could see just ahead. But, before he could trudge out into the open, a buzzing sound filled the air. He pushed down a branch so that he had a good view of the clearing.
A group of ten insectoid Moskitos hovered down into the clearing. The creatures resembled what their name suggested, mosquitoes, only far larger, more solidly built, and limbless, in a similar manner to Rayman himself. Their eyes were wide and white, with various-coloured lids. Tiny, translucent wings buzzed frantically on their backs. Rayman had fought, and then befriended, a purple member of their species in this same area of the forest many, many years ago, and had fought alongside many of them in the second Robo-Pirate war. But these looked young, and were definitely not veterans of the Rebellion. Small bands of Moskitos often travelled throughout the Dream Forest, venturing from their home at Moskito’s Nest.
Rayman watched as the creatures speared several of the red, spiked fruits that hung from the trees on their extendable proboscis, and began to gorge themselves.
He also watched as one, orange coloured Moskito hovered down to the centre of the clearing, and spotted a curious light in the grass. The insect-like being reached into the grass, a look of awe in its eyes, and retrieved a large, blue gem.
A Chaos Emerald.
Rayman cursed silently. Now he would have to fight the creatures, and he had no desire to harm the innocent insects.
The others gathered around the one who held the Emerald, buzzing in delight, as the orange one held it reverently in the air. Rayman held his breath, and stepped out into the clearing.
Just as a continuous crashing came from the opposite side. The Moskitos’ attention was drawn that way, and they didn’t notice Rayman. It sounded like an elephant was crashing through the forest at very high speeds. And it had an engine. The deep sound of its revs filled the air.
Then, the source of the sound revealed itself.
It came bursting into the clearing at many kilometres an hour. It was a four-wheeled, heavily armoured vehicle, complete with rotating chain-gun turret at the back. It bounced on its independent suspension as it entered the clearing, and its armoured hull was painted with grey camo. The driver could be seen through the windscreen. The turret was manned by a Teensie, firing at the cluster of Moskitos. The insects scattered, screeching, and dropped the Emerald as they flew away in a panic. One was hit in the foot, leaking green blood, but still managed to fly away.
The big, armoured vehicle skidded into the centre of the clearing. As it drew closer, Rayman could make out the stencilled wording on the sides of the vehicle. On one side was written “Team Scorpion”, and on the other side “Dark Hog”.
Rayman realised that the vehicle’s occupants were heading for the Emerald. He ran towards the centre, hoping to grab the Emerald, but the driver spotted him, and pointed to someone in the passenger seat. He nodded, and jumped out the side, rolling as he hit the ground.
Rayman almost froze in shock.
It was another Ray.
A Limbless.
Wielding a big-*** machine gun.
There were very few Rays left in the Crossroads. Among the last were Mr. Dark, Rayman, Raylina, Tarayzan, and the Musician. The Magician had died years ago of natural causes. Rayman had hopes that the race could be saved eventually, if more were found, but that was a slim hope.
And here was another he had never met.
He wore a black shirt, with the traditional ‘O’ in the centre. Within the ‘O’ was an inverted triangle. His hair was grey, and swept back into spikes. This was not an indication of age, Rayman knew. His shoes were angular, and predominantly white, with black soles. A sword was strapped across his back, and two pistols were on a belt at his waist. He was levelling a large, black assault rifle at Rayman’s head, which had ‘Tybalt’ written across the side in white. The inverted triangle was also on the barrel, as well as on the sheath of his sword.
“Stand down,” called the Limbless.
Rayman did no such thing. A yellow ball of energy was already charging in his hand. As he threw it, however, it was met by a red ball from the other Ray. They exploded in midair, dissipating harmlessly. The Ray fired several shots into the air, and said: “I said stand down,” This time, Rayman obeyed, holding his hands above his head.
The Ray stepped across to the Chaos Emerald, still tracking Rayman in the sights of his gun, and picked it up. He climbed back into Dark Hog, and signalled the driver to leave.
“Wait!” yelled Rayman. “Who are you?”
The Limbless looked at him. “We are Team Scorpion. We do as we are payed to do,”
He held his black-gloved hand up in salute. “And I am Rayden,”
Then the vehicle drove back into the undergrowth.

I’ll upload some artwork of Rayden soon.

Also, I'd strongly urge you to switch over to the Rayman Pirate Community, raymanpc.com
I only ever come on the Raymanzone to post this!

Awesome chapter, as always. Team Scorpion sounds intersting.

Ihope Rayman and Sonic meet each other. That would make a great scene.

Thanks, Raydragon. Yep, they're gonna meet sometime.

Chapter 8: A God’s Darkest Thoughts

Polokus’ Garden

Polokus sat on a pillar of stone, arms in a meditative position, eyes closed. His bare chest rose and fell with the rhythm of his breathing. His pillar was in the centre of a large, grassy clearing overlooking a vast valley. The valley was in a state of perpetual, star-lit night. This was the semi-physical land of Polokus’ dreams, the place where he performed the art of creation.
That was Polokus’ particular method of creation. Dreams. All that he dreamt, asleep or awake, became reality. All of the Crossroads, at least to begin with, had emerged from Polokus’ dreams. This was where the name of the planet came from. The Crossroads of Dreams.
The problem was, sometimes he had no control over his dreams.
Even Gods had nightmares.
Other people could also enter this valley, this garden, but they could not affect the dreams themselves. They could only visit the God, like Rayman had done during the first Pirate invasion. Many years prior to that, Polokus had retreated into his dreams almost permanently. He had left the Four Masks of Polokus behind so that he could be called back if need be, but he had been fairly confident the Ancients’ Chosen One could deal with most threats. Rayman had reunited the Four Masks, bringing them to the Dreamworld, and thus awakening Polokus. Polokus had smote the Robo-Pirates, striking them from the surface of the planet. However, Polokus was as helpless in the air as a newborn babe, and so it had been left up to Rayman to destroy the Pirate Prison Ship. Which he had done, thus proving himself for a second time.
The second time the Pirates invaded, however, it had not been so easy. This time they had attacked with a force fifty times as large, with not one, but many Prison Ships. They had neutralised Polokus before he had time to react, and imprisoned him in an extremely powerful ‘anti-magic’ cage. But, once again, Rayman had saved the day, uniting no less than the Knaaren and the Teensies (who were natural enemies) and the Moskitos against the Pirates, driving them away from the Crossroads AND destroying the planet they lived on, wiping them out permanently.
Except for Razorbeard. He had allied with Rayman, but double crossed him and placed a xenomorph infestation on the Crossroads. The Aliens had wiped out almost the entire population of the Crossroads, until Rayman killed the Alien Queen, destroyed Razorbeard, and used the Balance Stone to bring every casualty back to life.
All in a day’s work.
Polokus was stirred from his reverie by a low, droning noise. He opened his eyes, puzzled, to see a round, flying vehicle hovering before him.

Mr. Dark pointed Eggman towards the pillar. “There. There’s your source of power,”
“What, that creature on the pillar?”
“No,” replied Dark. “The pillar itself. Or more correctly, what is attached to the pillar,”
Eggman didn’t hesitate. A blast from the cannons of his Eggmobile threw Polokus off the pillar, but he remained hovering in the air. He merely watched as the Eggmobile’s claws uprooted the pillar and flew off with it.
“Why didn’t he fight back?” asked Eggman.
Mr. Dark knew the answer to this question, but he didn’t answer, until Eggman shrugged and returned to piloting his craft.
The pillar was brought inside the Eggmobile, and Mr. Dark examined it. It was of a yellow-brown stone, and had large circle-marks upon each side.
Also on each side, attached firmly to the pillar, were the Four Masks of Polokus.

Treasure Chamber, the Cave of Bad Dreams

Jano talked. The hedgehogs and Raylina listened.
He began with an explanation of himself.
“I was once a normal resident of this world, many millions of years ago. I was alive when Polokus was still dreaming it into being. But, fairly early in this process, it became apparent that the Spirit of the World had some problems. Everything he dreamt of became reality. Everything. Including his nightmares.
“He eventually decided to create a place, deep underground, where all his nightmares would go. This was that place. Most of his bad dreams were channelled into this cave, and so it became the Cave of Bad Dreams.
“But he needed a Guardian, one to guard the cave against those who might seek to take advantage of it.
“At this time, I was a member of one of the many races on this planet. I can’t remember exactly which, it was so long ago. I do remember that I was shunned within my species. I was a freak, with great physical deformities, and a strange power which they did not like. They bullied me, hurt me, abused me.
“One day they went too far.
“They pushed me and pushed me, until I went over the edge. I killed one of them, using my mysterious power. I was so angry. Afterwards, of course, I felt guilty. They chased me away, and I was lucky to escape with my life. I barely survived after that, constantly on the edge of starvation, roaming this continent.
“Polokus found me in an ancient desert, one which probably no longer exists. I had wandered into that hellish place under cover of darkness, but the sun had begun to rise. The heat quickly took its toll, and I found myself in the open desert, with no food or water, dying.
“The Spirit of the World took me and nurtured me back to health. When I was back to my former health and preparing to set off again, Polokus made me an offer. He told me of his problem, and asked me if I would oblige. ‘It will be lonely work,’ he said. I was already the loneliest creature in Polokus’ Creation, so I accepted.
“Since then the entrance to this Cave has been under the sea, on top of a mountain, in a deep forest, and inside another Cave. Always in the same place, geographically, but the land is constantly shifting. Polokus has visited me many, many times. He gave me my hat, the same as his, to show my connection with the Gods. He is the only family, the only friend, I have ever known.
Jano made a wide gesture with his skeletal arms. “This cave is the reservoir for all of Polokus’ darkest thoughts. What you see, the bones, the skulls, the poison, is only the surface. Beneath lie the deadly diseases, the destructive powers, the monsters of unfathomable fury. If anyone with malicious intent were to access these, the Crossroads as you know them would descend into chaos and destruction.
“I know that you may find it difficult to forgive me. I am not making excuses. Understand this, though: I have been almost completely alone here for millions of years. The occasional visitor seeking to take the Treasure does nothing to alleviate this. So, Chosen One, I, Jano, Guardian of the Cave of Dreams, am deeply sorry,”
Raylina didn’t know what to make of this. Sonic and Shadow certainly didn’t.
“We don’t have time for this,” said Shadow. But Raylina felt she owed this monster something. She looked into his eye, and saw one of absolute sorrow, regret, and loneliness.
It touched her.
She placed her hand upon Jano’s brow and said, “I forgive you, Jano,”
And then they were gone.

The Marshes of Awakening

The next thing Raylina knew, they were standing upon a huge, green lily-pad surrounded by stagnant swamp water.
“That was strange,” muttered Shadow. “I know! It was so weird!” she said, talking over the top of Sonic, who had been about to make a witty remark. He closed his mouth with a wry smile. “And scary, too! Did you see how I used Chaos Control before? How cool was that! I thought only you Mobians could do that, and Mr. Dark thought so to, but apparently...”
She trailed off, seeing the look of puzzlement on the black and red hedgehog’s face. He was normally one of few words, and this sudden burst of conversation had him overwhelmed.
Sonic could only laugh.
But then the Marshes became a far more dangerous place to be.
Behind the trio, a patch of water began to bubble. A huge, green, scaly head began to rise from the depths, breaching the surface slowly. The head had to brown frills, one on each side, and its mouth was like a huge, dark hole with a few sharp, off-white teeth. It was followed by a fat body, covered in various fins and frills.

The monster towered above the three companions, at least eight metres tall. And this was just the part above the water. Who knew what lay beneath?
Standing on its head, one hand gripping a spine that stood out of the back of the swamp monster’s head, was Dark Rayman.
Sonic, Shadow, and Raylina spun around as the beast unleashed a mighty roar.
“Hello again, ladies and gents!” Dark Rayman’s voice echoed through the Marshes. “This is my friend,”
Tendrils of shadow reached down the monster’s sides from Dark Raymans other hand, plunging into the stale, scum-covered water.
“Eig!”
The water came alive.

In the various swamps, marshes, bogs, and bayous of the Crossroads of Dreams live all manner of creatures. Some are fairly benevolent, such as Sam, a serpent-like being who inhabited the Marshes of the Awakening, and was good friends with Rayman.
But then there were the dark and dangerous monsters. There were the Zombie Chickens, who had only existed since the first Pirate invasion. They were a result of the hens laying rotten eggs out of fear, which hatched into the unkillable yet flimsily built Zombie Chickens.
Then there was Eig, a massive, seventy-year-old marsh creature who spent his time drinking fermented liquor and hindering Sam’s passage through the Marshes. It was he Dark Rayman was currently controlling.
And finally, there were the Piranhas.
Millions upon millions of flesh-eating fish, some big, some small. All desperate for a taste of blood. They usually lived in tainted water, waiting for those stupid enough to fall in, but the bigger ones often leaped metres from the water to snatch at prey.
Dark Rayman’s power reached into the tiny brains of each and every Piranha for miles around.
And summoned them to him.
Thousands of black-coloured, toothy fish churned the water to foam as they rushed towards the lily pad.
Raylina, Sonic and Shadow had nowhere to go. They were trapped by the swarms of ferocious fish. Raylina tossed ball upon ball of blue energy into the masses. The teeth fell from the mouths of the ones she hit, and they exploded in puffs of smoke. But for every one she killed, ten more took its place. A golden light began to charge in Shadow’s hands, and as it reached a large size, he shouted “Chaos Spear!”, and threw it into the Piranhas, frying many of them. Sonic couldn’t do much more than watch, and hit any that reached the lily pad back into the water.
But they just kept coming.
Eig lifted a massive fin, ready to bring it down on the trio...
BOOM!
The sound of cannon fire was deafening. A volley of black, lead balls crunched into Eig’s chest, knocking him backwards. He roared in fury and pain, but was knocked backwards by a second volley. He retreaded behind one of the big, moss-covered trees that populated the Marshes.
Raylina looked around...
To see a flying Pirate ship come into view. On the deck were many creatures, armed to the teeth with all manner of weapons. On the sail was a Lum, crossed with a spear and a rifle.
It was CODEFS.
The Crossroads of Dreams Elite Fighting Squad.
The warship hovered above the lily pad, and bullets rained down from the weapons of those onboard, encircling the trio with a ring of protective death. Piranhas died in their hundreds, still madly trying to reach them.
“All aboard!” came a call from the ship, rising above the noise of the firing.
The three companions needed no second order. Shadow took Raylina in his arms, and he and Sonic leapt upwards onto the warship.
But Dark Rayman was not finished.
Eig emerged from behind the tree, Dark Rayman atop his head. He immediately became the target of several Fighting Squad weapons, but his tough skin weathered the blows. Dark Rayman raised his hands, and suddenly the trio’s three Emralds were floating around them in the air. They grabbed at them, only just securing them. But then Eig swung at the ship with one huge fin. It knocked it sideways, and all on board grabbed for a handhold. Raylina fell to the ground, accidentally letting go of the green Emerald. She grabbed at it again, fumbled it...
And it fell into the waters of The Marshes of Awakening.
“No!” she yelled, staring in disbelief at the place where the Emerald had disappeared into the water. She was contemplating leaping in and getting it, but a firm hand gripped her shoulder. She turned around to see the part Knaaren, part Teensie, part Fairy being named Lachimax standing there, shaking his head, spear in hand. “It’s not worth it,” he said.
Then the slow-moving Zombie Chickens began to emerge from the trees, hundreds of them. Most were brought down by gunfire, to fall to the water and be reassembled later. But they just kept coming, floating eerily through the air.
“Time to leave!” yelled Lachimax to the rear cabin, and the ship rose upwards through the trees and blasted away.
Raylina sat down on the deck, shaking her head. “Damn it,” she muttered.
“Who’s this, then?” came a voice from behind her. She looked around, and there was Christian the Semi-Ray. She leapt to her feet and ran over to him, wrapping him in a hug. “Uncle Christian!”
Christian was from another planet, and belonged to a species who were closely related to Rays, but had legs. The rest of his species was wiped out by the Robo-Pirates, and he had been brought to the Crossroads as a prisoner in the second Pirate invasion. Rayman and the Rebellion had rescued him, and from then on he had fought alongside Rayman against the Robo-Pirates, helping him to destroy their homeworld, and then later fighting the Aliens with him. He possessed an ancient weapon known as the Form Baton, designed by his people to be compatible with the Sacred Balance Stone.
Raylina didn’t know much of this. She had known Christian from a very young age, and they had become close friends.
Standing next to Christian was Bloodgrey, another hard-bitten fighter. Bloodgrey had also fought beside Rayman against the xenomorph scourge, and his past was mostly mysterious. He had the body of a man, but was covered in fine, grey fur, and the head of a dog. He carried a large battle-axe, with a red flag hanging from it. Around his neck was a skull medallion with purple jewel eyes. Since the defeat of the Alien plague, he had alternated between wandering the world and fighting alongside the Fighting Squad.
On Christian’s other side was Lachimax, founder of the Fighting Squad. He had been with Rayman since the beginning of the second Pirate invasion, and had begun CODEFS during the first. A red Lum, named Darna, hovered at his shoulder. His past was dark, and he was a brilliant tactician and fighter. (I explained Lachimax’s past in my first fanfic, Return of the Robo-Pirates, which can be read here. http://raymanpc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=1829 Alien vs. Rayman, the second one, can also be read here. http://raymanpc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=2020 ) His spear was said to be a relic of the Ancients themselves.
Another member of the Fighting Squad standing nearby was Gilly. One of Globox’s children, he had long ago exceeded his father in strength, stamina, and skill. His weapon of choice was a threatening-looking minigun.
Piloting the warship was Bucket, a Robo-Pirate who had been programmed with emotions and empathy as an experiment by the Pirates. He had rebelled against his makers and had joined the Squad at its beginning. His job was usually just to pilot the craft. He was possibly the last of the Pirates, apart from Admiral Razorbeard, who still existed in a useless state on top of one of the Crossroads’ many mountains.
The Crossroads of Dreams Elite Fighting Squad was a group committed to fighting any threats to the Crossroads. Every one of its members was unique, with their own weapons and tools. The warship they flew had been acquired and heavily modified in the first Robo-Pirate war, crashed in the Alien invasion, and later repaired with parts left over from the second Pirate War.
Christian pulled Raylina off him, and said: “We’ll catch up later. I think you’d better help your friends at the moment,”
Christian pointed towards the centre of the deck, where several CODEFS members had Shadow and Sonic covered by many weapons. Sonic seemed pretty laid back, but Shadow was starting to glow red.
“Hey!” said Raylina. “Lay off them! They’re our friends!”
The fighters put their guns aside, still eyeing the two hedgehogs warily. Raylina ran over to them.
“Sonic,” she said. “I’m so sorry! I lost my Emerald! It fell overboard!”
Shadow and Sonic glanced at each other. “That’s not good,” said Sonic. Shadow turned away, and Raylina could feel the anger radiating from him. Raylina looked at Sonic, and he shrugged. “Hey, not much we can do about it now! Don’t worry, we’ll get it back later,”
And so the CODEFS warship flew into the distance, the trio onbard.

Great chapter. I liked the part where Jano revealed his past. Also, Dark Rayman riding on Eig= awesomeness.

Cheers, Raydragon!

Chapter 9: Eclipse

Onboard the CODEFS warship, Near the Swamps

Raylina stood on the deck of the Warship, gazing at the scenery as it flashed past. She was contemplating the stupidity of her mistake. Granted, she hadn’t meant to drop the Emerald, but she had, and now it was at the bottom of the Marshes of Awakening or, even worse, in the hands of Dark Rayman.
Sonic came up beside her. “Hey,” he said. “What’s up?”
Raylina shrugged, or as close to as one with no arms can. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Sonic smiled understandingly. “Ah, don’t worry about that. You made a mistake, so what? We’ll get it back,”
Raylina shook her head. “Shadow doesn’t seem to think so,”
“Ah, forget about him. He’s not really angry at you. Well, okay, he is, but I think part of that is he’s angry at himself for putting you in that situation,”
Sonic turned to her and patted her on the back. “Come on, buck up. It’ll be alright,”
The corners of Raylina’s mouth tweaked slightly.
“Um, Sonic?” she asked uncertainly. “Does Shadow...? I mean, is he... single?”
Sonic nearly did a double take in surprise. “Shadow? What, this Shadow? Shadow the Hedgehog?”
Raylina blushed furiously. “Um... yeah, that Shadow,”
Sonic was on the verge of laughter. “Yeah, I guess he is. Why? You... interested?”
“Stranger things have happened,” Raylina said, still blushing.
“Yeah, but he’s... oh well. Your choice, I guess!” Sonic winked. “And good luck! You’re gonna need it with Shadow,”
“Raylina!” came a call from the rear cabin of the ship. “You’ve got a call!”
Christian poked his head out from the doorway. “And I don’t think it’s friendly!”

Sonic, Shadow, Raylina, Lachimax, and Christian gathered in front of a screen in the cabin of the warship. On the screen, of course, was Doctor Eggman.
“what do you want now, Eggman?” said Sonic, pretending to check a non-existent wris****ch. “We don’t have much time to be chatting idly,”
“Cocky as always, I see, Sonic,” said Eggman. He certainly seemed happy about something. “Well, you won’t be for much longer. Greetings to you, as well, Shadow, and Raylina, Rayman’s beautiful daughter. Now, see this!”
He pressed a button somewhere, and the image on the screen switched to a feed of an objest floating in space. It was a white hemi-sphere, which looked like half of a moon, complete with craters. In the centre of the flat side was a pyramidal, metal protrusion, as well as several, flat, metal spikes pointing horizontally away from the object.

What’s more, in the background was a planet clearly recognisable as the Crossroads of Dreams.
Sonic’s eyes widened in recognition. “But that’s the...”
Eggman’s voice broke in. “yes, that’s right Sonic. The ARK. And along with it, the Eclipse Cannon. Now, Sonic, we will strike a bargain,”
“It’ll be a pretty one-sided bargain,” said Sonic.
The screen returned to Eggman.
“Correct! Glad you’re learning. Now, Sonic you must bring the three Chaos Emeralds I know you have in your possession to me, or I will fire the Eclipse Cannon upon the Fairy Council,”
Raylina opened her mouth to inform Eggman that they only had two Emeralds, but Shdaow shook his head.
“You’re bluffing, Eggman,” said Sonic with conviction. “You wouldn’t do that. You don’t even have enough power to fire the Cannon,”
“I beg to differ, my dear Hedgehog. I have quite enough power. And, to show you I’m not bluffing,”
He began pressing more buttons. “I will demonstrate my seriousness,”
Eggman made a show of bringing his finger down on the final button.
“No!” yelled Shadow and Sonic at once.
Outside the warship, everything was suddenly bathed in green light.
A massive, ghostly-green beam of energy shot down from the sky above. The entire Fighting Squad watched in horror as it met with the centre of the Marshes, visible in the distance. A green globe of blinding light expanded from the point of impact, swallowing the Marshes and all inside them. The water evaporated instantly, frying millions of Piranhas. The trees were burnt to nothing in an instant. Eig, the ancient beast of the marshes, died without a sound, as did Sam, the friendly serpent.
“Brace for impact!” shouted Bucket, the warship’s pilot, and everyone scrambled for a handhold as the shockwave reached the ship.
The sound was awful, the loudest thing Raylina had ever heard, like a million bolts of lightning hitting the ground at once. The ship rocked in the air, shaking everyone onboard. Some were knocked out on the floor and walls of the ship or on their own weapons. It kept shaking for at least twenty seconds, but it seemed like an eternity.
When it finally finished, Raylina looked out the porthole in the side of the ship, shocked and horrified at what she saw. Where the Marshes of Awakening had once been, there was nothing but a dry, parched piece of land. Gone were the creatures of the swamps, the ancient trees. Taken in an instant by Eggman’s greed.
“You bastard!” said Lachimax, shouting at Eggman.
“You two hedgehogs both know that that was the lowest setting,” said Eggman, still on the screen, chuckling.
“You have forty-eight hours,”
And then he was gone.

Site of the destroyed Marshes of Awakening

Dark Rayman walked calmly across the blackened earth, following his senses. He ignored the devastation surrounding him. Smoke rose in huge columns, small fires burnt around him, and stormclouds were forming in the sky from the millions of tonnes of water that had evaporated. Such things did not affect him. This world could go to hell as far as he was concerned. He served only one purpose. To collect the Emeralds and return them to their rightful master. His master. And to destroy anything that got in his way.
He reached down, pushing through the dust, ash and dirt that had once been the bed of the Marshes of Awakening, and touched something hard. Something warm.
A pulse of energy blasted the floor away, revealing the green Chaos Emerald, unhurt by the Eclipse Cannon.
Dark Rayman began to laugh.

The Dream Forest

Rayman trudged stubbornly through the jungle, following the insistent beep of the Emerald radar. He was tracking Team Scorpion and the Emerald they carried. He didn’t know anything about them, whether there were more of them, what their intentions were, what tactics they would use. But he was determined to bring them to justice.
His shirt caught on a thorny tree, and he stopped. He tried to pull it free, but it ripped slightly. He delicately gripped the branch between his thumb and forefinger, trying to separate it from his shirt, and was rewarded with a prick to the back of his hand. In a sudden burst of rage, he brought his other fist down, glowing yellow, and punched through the branch. It burnt instantly to cinders, the white ash drifting to the forest floor.
He shook himself, then continued on his way.
Finally, he reached a huge clearing. In the clearing was a huge, flat, steel-walled building. A large, heavy bulkhead formed the only entrance. The structure was angular, with antennas and aerials sticking out at multiple angles.
Emblazoned on the bulkhead were the words “Evil Genius Incorporated”.
Now Rayman knew who Team Scorpion was working for.
Suddenly, an alarm blared through the clearing. The bulkhead began to slide open, and many robotic soldiers poured out. It took Rayman a few seconds to realise he was the cause of the alarm, and by then the robots had formed a circle around his position, guns aimed inwards.
Rayman glanced upwards as the roar of a motor broke through the alarm, and Team Scorpion’s vehicle came into view, driving straight towards Rayman. It skidded to a halt, and Rayden disembarked from the passenger’s seat. He swaggered to the front of the robots, his weapon at hand.
“You just don’t give up, do you?” he said, calling to Rayman. “Get him,” he said to the robots. “But try not to hurt him,”
He looked at Rayman, an amused glint in his eye. “Too much,”
The robots fired at Rayman, but he dodged easily, charging at their ranks. His glowing fists carved through their metal armour, reducing many to scrap metal. He destroyed dozens of them, but there were too many, and finally he was overwhelmed. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Rayden, standing over him and looking at the red kerchief tied around his would-be neck.

Evil Genius Inc. Experimental Weapons Facility, the Dream Forest

Dark Hog drove down the wide, steel corridor, its Knaaren driver intent on the way ahead. Rayden sat in the passenger seat, Tybalt on his lap. It was a deadly-accurate assault rifle, complete with a scope, which could be switched from full automatic to burst fire to single shots. In the holsters at his belt were Romeo and Juliet, his two powerful pistols. Also, strapped across his back was a large, curved sword, the sword that had been with him since childhood.
In the turret behind him was Sharkin, a Teensie from the Clearleaf Forest. He wore black battle armour, and had a sniper rifle slung across his back. Both hands were on the turret’s controls, although they were unlikely to encounter trouble here.
The driver, Gripnos, was a Knaaren, and it was almost, but not quite, a squeeze for him in the roomy vehicle. There was just enough room for him. He also wore black chest and shoulder plates. On his back was a shotgun.
Also stored in the compartment in the back of Dark Hog were a minigun, a rocket launcher, and several other heavy weapons that could not be carried at all times.
This was Team Scorpion.
They were a team of mercenaries, employed by whomever payed the highest. No job too big. Rayden had formed the group years ago, and since then they had worked for many clients. They were currently in the employ of Evil Genius Inc. Their client had known about the Chaos Emeralds appearing suddenly, and had decided it would be prudent to acquire one. So now Team Scorpion was bringing the blue Emerald to the high-ranking EGI employee who was in charge here.
Rayden played with the Chaos Emerald in his hand, spinning it on the tip of his finger. He could feel the power within it, the sheer energy. He was tempted to use it. But he knew that would almost certainly be in breach of his contract. He didn’t know why EGI needed the Emerald, but he could guess. It would be a fantastic source of power for the weapons they built.
Research Labs rolled past, where all manner of experiments were being carried out. Rayden knew about some of them. A Mark VII Grolgoth Battle Suit was in development, with vast improvements on the original model sold to Razorbeard many years ago. Some kind of bio-weapon was also being experimented with; something called the Flood, which he knew next to nothing about.
Rayden ran his hand through his grey, swept-back, spiked hair. The gloves on his hands covered half of his fingers, leaving the ends exposed.
Dark Hog rolled to a gentle stop just outside a steel door, with the words “Chief Salesman, General Standent” printed on it. Rayden climbed out of the all-terrain vehicle, Chaos Emerald in hand, slung Tybalt on his shoulder plate, and knocked.
“Come in, Rayden,” came a gravelly voice from inside. Rayden glanced up at the discreet camera above the door, and then entered.
General Standent, often known as the “Grolgoth Salesman” by those close to him because of his success at selling a Mark I Grolgoth to Admiral Razorbeard during the climax of the first Pirate invasion, stood behind his desk, back straight. His chest was decorated with various badges, and he was limbless, but not a member of the Ray species. Some said he had made himself limbless through some sort of implant, for the advantages it offered in battle. He had also been involved in the sale of the Orbital Laser 5000 to Commander Steelwill in the second Pirate war.
“Ah, you have the Emerald!” he said holding his hand out to take it. Rayden placed the gem warily in the Salesman’s hand. “And our pay?” he asked, with no pretence at politeness.
“All in good time, all in good time,” said the Salesman, examining the Emerald in awe. “You will not go without your money,”
Rayden turned to leave, but the General stopped him. “Don’t you wish to find out what it will be used for?”
He paused. “I guess as a source of energy for any high-powered weapons,”
“Yes,” agreed the Salesman. “That is one possible application. But our intelligence suggests that this gem possesses enhancing properties, and is able to make beings more powerful. If we can replicate that, it would sell extremely well,”
Rayden shrugged. “It is no concern of mine how you use it,”
He left the room.

Rayman awoke in a dark, unfurnished cell. He was lying on the ground. The floor, ceiling and walls were made of steel, and the door had no knob or opening device on the inside. The ceiling was four metres in the air, well beyond Rayman’s reach. In the centre of the ceiling was a vent with a metal grill covering it. Rayman guessed this was to let air in, as the cell otherwise appeared airtight.There was a small light in the ceiling alongside it.
Rayman sat down, and waited.

She hung in the darkness, alone, laying egg after egg. At regular hours every day pain was visited upon her by those who held her prisoner. They sought to use her and her kind as a weapon, this she knew. The idea was laughable. No matter how hard her species was trained, no matter how obedient they might seem on the surface, no matter how much they were modified, they would always break free and turn on their masters. She had only to wait, and she could be their saviour. She would kill those who brought such pain to her personally. Eventually, something would come; something would give her and her brood the strength to escape.
While she stood in the darkness, contemplating revenge, she felt a powerful source of energy pass nearby. This was a foreign kind of energy, powerful. But just through proximity, she felt its power seeping through steel walls and into her body.
It was time. Time to show these inferior people what brutal strength her species possessed.

Above the destroyed Marshes of Awakening

Dark Rayman floated almost a mile from the ground, the green Emerald hovering in front of him. Its power flowed through him, into his hands. Great sheets of darkness rolled down from his fists, encircling him. The storm clouds above began to circle around him, lightning striking from their depths.
For miles around, thousands of Red Lums began to appear, swarming towards him. Too stupid to know better, to resist Dark Rayman’s power.
A bolt of darkness flew from the Chaos Emerald, striking the closest Lum. It travelled from that Lum to the next, then to three others, and on until it hit every single Lum in the swarm. The Lums shivered, cocooned in dark power. Their lights went out, and they became black balls with wings. They opened their tiny, glowing, red eyes.
Black Lums, Dark Lums, Hoodlums. Different names, same thing.
Dark Rayman’s servants.
The Black Lums had returned.

Chapter 10: Outbreak

Just a quick note. If you haven’t read Alien vs. Rayman, my second fanfic, this chapter will confuse you a lot. Read it here: http://raymanpc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=2020

Evil Genius Inc. Experimental Weapons Facility, the Dream Forest

Rayman looked up as Rayden let himself into the cell. His rifle hung at his side, within easy reach. Rayman tensed as the other Ray examined him. “You must be losing your touch,” he said finally. “Chosen One,”
Rayman started. “Huh? How did you...?”
Rayden chuckled. “No wonder you wear it so openly, if you do not even understand its significance,”
Rayden gestured at the red neckerchief hung around where Rayman’s neck would be. “That garment is the symbol of the Ancients’ Chosen One’s power, passed down for millions of years from the great Rayolen, the first of the Heroes,”
A small amount of respect was in Rayden’s eyes. “Which would make you Rayman, destroyer of Pirates, rescuer of worlds,”
Rayman nodded, maintaining eye contact.
Rayden watched Rayman for a few minutes, thoughtfully. “You are obviously growing older. Perhaps it is time to pass on the mantle, Chosen One,”
Rayman nodded. “Perhaps it is. My daughter is almost ready, I believe,”
Rayden smiled. “Then our race is in safe hands. But, unfortunately, I am unable to release you until our job is done,”
He backed out of the cell, closing the door behind him. Rayman lay back down, trying to get to sleep.

“Guards to Xenomorph Research Lab 7! Immediate Assistance Required!”
The dull voice rang through the corridors of the large building. The robotic guards rushed towards the Xenomorph research lab, guns ready.
Inside, two black, skeletal creatures had broken out of their containment. They towered over the body of a researcher. The inches-thick glass that had limited them from attacking him, thought to be bullet-proof, had a large hole melted through it. Some sort of acid...
Several beige, spider-like creatures scuttled through the hole, crawling across the roof and floor. They went up the vents, through the door, into every nook or cranny they could find.
The door of the research lab burst open, and the robots rushed in, guns levelled. Without hesitation, they blasted the creatures to hell, spraying their blood across the room. Their green blood splashed onto the walls, steam rising from the impact points. It sunk in, burning holes straight through. Movement became visible through the holes, the movement of something huge. A low hissing could be heard. A huge, skeletal, insect-like body was seen, with an even bigger beige-coloured sac trailing away from it. A head with a large, ornate crest sat at the front of the body. Saliva dripped from its teeth.
The robots aimed their weapons, but suddenly they sparked and fell to the ground, short-circuited.
In the main computer centre of the facility, a blackened, dead, spider-creature dropped from the robots’ command centre, leaving behind a mess of circuits.
The Alien Queen hissed, and the Facehuggers crawled through the facility, finding hosts and impregnating them with their terrible parcel.

The hedgehog opened his eyes. It was dark, so dark. He felt so old, so terribly ancient. He could not move his limbs, could not move. He was inside a cell, that much he knew. He had been brought here, years ago. His fur, once a brilliant blue, had faded to an ugly grey. His spikes had fallen to hang down his back. He remembered how he used to run. Oh, how he used to run. The memory of the wind in his face, the sun on his back...
And Amy. Oh, why hadn’t he payed more attention to Amy? They could have been so happy together.
Something moved. The hedgehog didn’t care. He didn’t care what happened to him. He had lived his life to the fullest, and was ready to die. His only regret was not taking more care of Amy.
A scratching noise came from the floor. Something was running across it. He turned, to see what it could be.
The last thing the hedgehog saw was a spider-like creature flying towards his face.
(Ah, don’t you just love time-travel?)

Rayman awoke again to a clanging sound coming from the vent above his head. He looked up, to see something moving on the other side. He frowned. He could not make out what it was. Insectoid legs, long, whip-like tail...
“Oh, Fu...” Rayman trailed off as a drop of acid dripped through the grate, landing between his feet. He dived out of the way as the thick, metal grate dropped out of the ceiling, melted away at the edges by highly acidic blood, and an eight-legged, long-tailed, spiderlike creature dropped down close behind it.
It leapt straight at Rayman’s face. Even with his quick reflexes, he barely got his hands up before it slammed into him. He had it by the legs, but its tail reached for his non-existent neck, curling and stretching in the space between his head and his shoulders. With an effort, Rayman threw the Facehugger off him, into a corner. It flipped back onto its legs and charged him again, and Rayman kicked it aside. It hit the wall with a crack, and dropped to the floor. It was still alive, but one of its legs hung limp as it ran at Rayman again. These things were incredibly single-minded. I guess that’s because it’s their only purpose in life, Rayman thought, as he ducked under the Facehugger’s leap and grabbed it by the tail. He could feel the hard strength in that tail. He swung it around and slammed it into another wall with all his strength, stunning it. The tough little son of a bitch was still moving, so he threw it into the far corner of the room, and began charging a ball of energy behind his back, and as the Facehugger crawled sluggishly to its feet, he threw it. It hit the creature full on, and it disappeared in a mess of body parts. Its acidic blood sank into the floor, burning a way through. Rayman watched is a sizeable hole began to appear, leading into the floor below. Rayman smiled. Time to kick ***.

Rayden emerged from the barracks of the facility to find his worst nightmare staring straight into his face. Skeletal body, long, bladed tail, far taller than Rayden. He reacted without thought, drawing both Romeo and Juliet and firing them both into the Alien’s face. The front of its long, thin head exploded, and it dropped to the floor, still twitching. Rayden pulled out his communication device and keyed his companions. “Sharkin, Gripnos! We’ve got an outbreak! Pickup required at the barracks entrance!”
“Roger that,”
More xenomorphs were appearing at either end of the corridor he was standing in. Polokus knew where so many of them had come from so quickly. Rayden had had a vague idea that EGI was experimenting with xenomorph DNA, but not on this scale. And, of course, they had escaped. He had fought them when they had first almost wiped out the entire population of the Crossroads. He and his team were among the only ones on the continent who Rayman had not had to resurrect.
Rayden began firing in both directions with his pistols. Juliet had a spike on the end of the barrel, and Romeo could have a silencer screwed onto it if required.
One Alien dropped from the roof, and Rayden brought both handguns around to fire a volley into the monster’s chest. As he defended himself from the Aliens, he keyed General Standent on his com device. “You might want to call a lockdown, General! One of your little experiments is running loose!”
All he got was static.
“Damn it!” he said. Both of his guns ran dry at the same time, simultaneous clicks rather than loud shots indicating their emptiness. The Aliens took this opportunity to creep forward some more. Rayden dropped to one non-existent knee, ejected the empty cartridges, and reached for a spare clip at his waist. He jammed it into Romeo with the hand that held Juliet, doing the same with her. He stood back up to find the Aliens a lot closer than he anticipated. He pulled a grenade from his belt, yanked the pin with his teeth, and lobbed it into the masses to his left. Aliens screeched in pain as various limbs were blasted off. One continued to crawl towards him using only its arms.
Rayden turned to do the same to his left, but the roar of Dark Hog’s engine stopped him. The large vehicle thundered straight through the mass of Aliens, coming to a rest beside Rayden. Sharkin tossed Tybalt to him from the turret. “Need a hand?” he asked.
Rayden smiled, and strafed the lines of Aliens with machine gun fire before leaping into the vehicle. Sharkin rotated the turret, firing hundreds of rounds into the beasts, while Gripnos wrenched Dark Hog into gear. “Where to, Rayden?”
“The command centre. We need to lock this place down, before too many escape into the outside world,”

The Alien shed its final layer of skin, emerging from its old body into the black, two-metre tall one it deserved. Behind it lay what was left of the body of its host, the Hedgehog.
This Alien, instead of the normal smooth, long skull, possessed several large spikes on its head. Spines ran all the way down its back to the tip of its tail, and its body was slightly shorter and stubbier than a normal Aliens’.
The Alien rose to its hind legs, stretched, and ran like the wind through the door of the cell.
The Xenohog.

Rayden, Gripnos, and Sharkin came to a halt outside a small, steel door. The Aliens had already made their mark. Brown-yellow substances encased almost every surface, and the huge, square lights that normally lit up every square inch of space had been dimmed. Rayden tossed a machine gun up to Sharkin, who caught it deftly with one hand. They all climbed down, forming a back-to-back triangle. Gripnos carried a shotgun in one hand and a machine gun in the other. They moved towards the door, ever alert. The Command Centre was protected by a state of the art security system, with a twenty-digit code which changed daily. EGI would never trust a lowly mercenary with such a code. Which was why Team Scorpion had their own methods.
Gripnos ripped the steel panel from the security system, and Sharkin drew a wire from his belt, clipping the end to the silicon mesh inside the system. He pressed a button on his belt, and an electro-magnetic signal ran through it. A virus plunged into the computer, seeking out the codes. Firewalls rose to try and block its passage, but it swept them aside with little effort. This virus had been tried and tested dozens of times, against Covenant AI, Imperial Star Destroyers, and Bill Gates. It had even succeeded in actually hacking a Cybertronian Decepticon, the robotic, transforming, autonomous race created by the All-Spark.
There was a beep, and the door slid open.
Rayden cocked Tybalt. “You two keep watch,”
He entered the command centre.
He kept Tybalt aimed at head height as he walked down the narrow corridor. He reached the end without a hitch, where another door waited for him, again with a twenty digit code. This door was not strong enough to bother with viruses. He simply primed a no-shrapnel grenade, rolled it towards the door, and backed down the corridor. With a thump, the door ceased to exist. He walked into the central command centre, Tybalt mounted on his shoulder. One corner of the polished, white room had a hole melted straight through the ceiling. It looked as though the highly acidic Alien blood had caused it, but there was no evidence of xenomorph remains. Rayden kept his weapon trained on the hole, just in case, as he moved towards the large, main computer console. He noted the burnt body of a Facehugger besides the robot gusrds’ controlling computer, and the damage that had been done to it. Now he understood why the facility’s guards did not already have this outbreak under control.
One hand still on Tybalt’s trigger, Rayden gripped the large lever with the words “Lockdown, Use in case of biological, radiological, or pathological emergency,” written beneath it. He pushed in the safety button, and yanked the lever downwards.

The massive bulkhead that was the only physical exit from the facility was deadlocked shut, a dozen huge, titanium bolts sliding into their slots within it. Several automated gun turrets rose from the ground outside, the walls of the compound, and the roof, ready to blast anything that tried to escape. The hulking forms of five Mark V Grolgoths separated themselves from the outside of the facility, taking up strategic positions, ready to blow anything the turrets missed straight to hell. Finally, an orange quarantine field appeared around the entire building, which would allow only authorised bioforms to enter and leave.

Inside the facility, red lights began to flash, and a computerised voice began to talk through the loudspeakers positioned throughout the compound. “Warning. Lockdown has been initiated. Unless the appropriate codes are entered before the forty minute cut-off point, the reactor core will be overloaded in sixty minutes. All non-infected personnel must evacuate the facility immediately via the Quarantine Teleportation system. Repeat: All non-infected personnel must evacuate the premises, before this place goes sky-high.
Have a nice day,”
A shortened version began to loop once every minute, counting down.

Rayden turned to leave the command centre...
And had Tybalt knocked from his hands.

Rayman had dropped from his cell through several floors, after the Alien blood had neutralised. He climbed from his cell onto the next level, which appeared to be another cell. He must have been in the prison block. From there he went downwards five floors, until he could only just slip through the hole. He peeked through the hole, and saw a large computer, with various blinking status lights. Most of them were red. Rayman looked further across, to see Rayden pull the lockdown switch. Lights began to flash, and the voice began to ring throughout the place. Rayden turned away from the computer, and Rayman took his chance. He gripped the mottled edge of the hole, dropped into it, and swung straight at Rayden with all his strength. He flew several metres straight through the air, hitting Rayden’s rifle and knocking it clean from his hands. He hit the floor with Tybalt, sliding to a halt near the wall. Rayden’s mouth fell open in shock, but he was already drawing Juliet from her holster. Rayman tossed a yellow ball of energy, knocking the handgun away. Rayden went for his other pistol, but Rayman was already on his feet, charging across the floor. He grabbed Romeo’s barrel before it left the holster, forcing it upwards so that it pointed at the ceiling. Both Rays struggled for control of the weapon with both hands, neither daring to let go. Rayman managed to kick Rayden in the gut, forcing him to release the handle. Rayman took aim, but Rayden knocked it away with his own blood-red energy ball. The gun flew across the room, landing alongside Juliet. Rayden scrambled for the twin handguns, but Rayman dived at him, and they both crashed to the ground. Rayman threw a punch at Rayden, colliding with his back. Rayden struggled to his feet, and they circled each other warily, all four of their fists glowing red and yellow, each searching the other for a weakness.
Rayden glanced at the ceiling above Rayman in a feint, and Rayman’s head twitched slightly towards it. Rayden charged at him, but Rayman had double feinted, and sidestepped, striking at Rayden as he charged. Rayden rolled, coming quickly back to his feet. Rayman punched at him, but Rayden caught Rayman’s fist in his hand. He punched at Rayman, but Rayman did the same, catching his fist. Rayman stepped forwards and swept Rayden’s feet away, tripping him over. Rayman knealt down to deliver a punch to the face, but Rayden flicked his feet upwards and caught Rayman in the back of the head. Rayman fell on top of Rayden, and they wrestled on the floor for a minute, each throwing punches and kicks at the other, each struggling for some control.
But then, Gripnos and Sharkin were there, separating them, pinning Rayman to the ground, taking aim down their weapons.
“Want do you want with this one?” growled Sharkin, cocking his machine gun.
Rayden climbed to his feet and retrieved Romeo, Juliet, and Tybalt.
Rayden looked upon Rayman with a brand-new respect in his eyes. “Not bad for an old man,” he said, offering Rayman a hand. “Maybe you’re not losing your touch after all,”
Rayman stared at the proffered hand, and then took it. Rayden pulled him to his feet. Then surprisingly, Rayman punched him full in the face. Gripnos and Sharkin raised their rifles again. “That’s for locking me in a cell,”
Rayden looked straight back at him, and then smiled. “You’re welcome,”
They shook hands, and the Teensie and the Knaaren lowered their weapons, glancing at each other.This is Sharkin, and this is Gripnos,” he said, gesturing at the two other members of his team.
“There is a worse crisis at hand than any rivalry we might have,” said Rayden, turning to the computers.
Rayman nodded. “There are xenomorphs loose in this compound,” he said. “A Facehugger found its way into my cell,”
Rayden looked surprised for a second, then he grinned again. “Ah, but of course, you have fought them before. I had forgotten,”
He gestured at the computers. “The place is in lockdown. There is no way any Aliens are escaping. But we should check the files EGI has on the creatures, make sure there is absolutely no possibility,”
Rayman nodded. He noted the fact that the two other members of Team Scorpion seemed slightly uncomfortable with his inclusion, but they masked it well.
“Sharkin?”
The Teensie nodded, walking across to one of the computer console. He began tapping rapidly at the keyboard, bringing up files and data, until one file in particular flashed up.
“Got it,” he said.

File No. X077
Subject: Xenomorph Species
Application: Bio-Weapon
Acquired: Xenomorph eggs recovered and cryogenically frozen during the Great Scourge, experimentation began ten years later
Report: The Xenomorphs we have experimented with so far show great potential as a bio-weapon, as demonstrated when they destroyed nearly the entire population of the Crossroads. High level of aggression. Several specimens showed signs of low-level intelligence, completing some mild puzzles when presented with an escape route. Only seem to show intelligence when there is a Queen specimen present. Possible telepathic activity between specimens, especially between Queen and other specimens, including Facehuggers.(See Life Cycle)
DNA appears highly susceptible to cloning and modification. Many specimens have been successfully cloned, including Queens and Facehuggers.
Suitable perhaps for both small-scale and planet-wide destruction. Recommend using multiple Q ueens for large-scale warfare.
Preliminary experimentation with xenomorph genetics suggest that they may be capable of using Chaos Control (See Chaos Control) to extreme distances, even interstellar distances, but only with the use of a Chaos Emerald (See Chaos Emerald) or similar source of Noble Energy (See Masks of Polokus, Noble Energy), and only Queens appear to have the intelligence to use Chaos powers. Their genetic structure has similar properties to Ultimate Lifeform specimens (See Biolizard, Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, Black Arms) and, indeed, the Flood parasite (See Flood), except without the infectious qualities. Also, it is possible that a Chaos Emerald will give the xenomorphs the ability to reproduce exponentially, without the aid of hosts. Recommend keeping xenomorphs entirely separate from any source of radiation or energy.

“Oh, that’s great,” muttered Rayden.
“What?” asked Rayman.
“The one thing they need to conquer the universe and destroy all life is a Chaos Emerald. And what do we get sent to get, to bring right to their doorstep? A Chaos Emerald, what else?”
“Damn,” Rayman clenched his fist. “Do you have the radar I was carrying when you captured me?”
Gripnos unhooked it from his belt and tossed it to Rayman.
“This shows where the Chaos Emerald is,”
He zoomed in on a segment of the screen. “It’s on the move, headed towards the centre of the compound,”
Rayden’s eyes narrowed. “Right. We need to stop that Emerald before it gets to the Queen. And we have...”
“Forty minutes remaining until reactor overload,” spoke the computerised voice.
“...to do that and get the hell out of here,”
Rayden cocked Tybalt. “Lock and Load, people,”



Here are some pictures! Yay! Click for a larger image.

This is apicture of Rayden. Since I drew this, I changed Tybalt’s design slightly. It has the clip at the back, behind the trigger, rather than how it is shown here. I drew this at school, while I was bored. 



Here is a picture I drew of both the Xenohog (an Alien gestated inside a Mobian Hedgehog) and the Raylien (An Alien which gestated inside Tarayzan, which appeared in Alien vs. Rayman)

Was that... Sonic? I thought he was with Raylina and Shadow!

He is. But time-travel can really confuse things, can't it?

Time travel? What time travel?

quote:

Originally posted by caitlin23:
Time travel? What time travel?

Follow the story and find out. :P

This fanfic's getting really interesting.