Re: Sonic Adventure

"Hello there, friend! How are you?"

- 1 -

After a chase through the desert, Tails finally caught up to the frog who had hopped away with the red Chaos Emerald. He lunged at the small creature and easily caught him. It was an oddly big frog, so he had to hold it using both of his hands.

Taking a quick look at his surroundings, Tails saw a grand balcony, one that looked like it had belonged to an ancient civilization or something. There were many similar structures around the Mystic Ruins, but his eyes stayed transfixed on it because a small ball of light had just floated out from it and was coming straight toward him.

It approached slowly and elegantly, which is probably why he didn't run away. But he quickly got the feeling that he should have.

"Oops..." He said to himself and then there was a bright flash of white light.

- 2 -

When the white light faded and Tails could see again, he found himself having been teleported somehow to a different location—but it did look like it was nearby where he had been before. At least the buildings still looked similar.

"Uh-oh..." Tails said, "I thought I was in the desert."

Tails was standing in front of bonafide ancient structures. Some kind of pyramids - but the first thing he noticed about them was how they didn't look ancient at all. It was like they were brand new.

"I wonder where I am," Tails mused again.

There was a strong part of him that wanted to venture off to the left - like he might find something cool around there.

But truly, everything here was pretty cool—a sight to behold. And anyway, someone was standing right in front of the pyramid steps, which weren't too far away.

Still in a surreal daze, Tails strolled down the path he was on. Lots of Echidna's around, reminding him of Knuckles. This wasn't a surprise, as it was no secret that the Echidnas were directly linked to the Chaos Emeralds. That's where Knuckles came to guard the Master Emerald, after all. Though the details were pretty sparse.

Approaching the bottom of the pyramid's staircase, he could make out an Echidna who looked a bit smaller than the guys he had passed on the way in.

The quills on this Echidna were also a much lighter shade, closer to a light brown versus the red color of the others he had passed. It became obvious from her voice, and from the way she was dressed that it was a female Echidna. She began speaking as if reciting.

"The servers are the 7 Chaos Emeralds..." She started, but then felt a presence behind her, turning to look at Tails as he was approaching. Her tone was much more personal now as opposed to prayer-like.

"Hello there friend!" The lady Echidna said cheerfully, "How are you?"

Tails didn't have time to change the dumbstruck look on his face. "Umm... what were you saying before?"

"Huh?" The lady Echidna asked, "It's something my grandmother taught me."

"Hmm.. grandmother.." Tails thought, "She's gotta be connected to the Emeralds."

"I'm never to forget it, it goes like this." After a beat, she started again:

"The servers are the 7 Chaos.

Chaos is power... Power enriched by the heart.

The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos."

Her brow furrowed in thought, "But I'm still not sure what it all means."

Tails nodded lightly, unsure if she was done or not.

"But the number 7..." The Echidna added, "Is the same as the number of Emeralds there are."

"Emeralds?" Tails said, repeating in analysis and disbelief.

"Forgive me," The Echidna said, "But I don't think we've ever met before... I'm Tikal... and you are?"

There was a long pause.

Tails simply stood there silently. Something in him felt like he was supposed to jolt awake from a dream. This felt like a dream.

But he didn't jolt awake. He was just there. So the conversation continued.

"My name?... I'm..." The truth was that Tails became distracted by Tikal's eyes - something about them... and then, suddenly, he stammered, "I'm Miles."

Tails panicked, rambling to himself internally. MILES!? He screamed at his brain, I NEVER EVEN CALL MYSELF MILES, WHY WOULD I INTRODUCE MYSELF AS MILES?

"Miles." Tikal smiled, "You have a kind face, but you are not from around here."

"Ah...yeah, that's right." Tails said, "Guess it's pretty easy to tell me apart from the locals."

Tikal chuckled lightly, "Perhaps, but all travelers are welcome among our people. What brings you to us?"

Tails started, "It's kind of hard to explain. But I'd like to hear more about the Chaos Emeralds from you. Do you have... any more legends like that? They sound really interesting."

"You're in luck, Miles!" Tikal perked up, realizing she was getting a chance to ramble about her most passionate fixation. "I've got so much to show you!"