The Chameleon Chronicles

Chapter 4 - Chaotic Meet

They were again trudging through the forest, moving away from the lake. They weren't following a straight path, but widely zig-zagging.
A day and a half had gone, and not one sign or clue. Even Zoin was starting to think this journey pointless. But since he was the one who had insisted on starting it, he wasn't about to finish it.
The forest had started to slope downward, so they were covering ground faster. The trees were also starting to thin out, which meant they were nearing the edge of the forest. There was no knowing what they would find when the reached the end, but Zoin was betting it would be nothing interesting to them.
He had a feeling that they might be going in the wrong direction. That something lay behind them. But as he didn't want to walk around the lake again, as he was already tired of seeing it.
Krona gave a huge sigh from a tree and sat down. Zoin felt like imitating him, but wanted to make a bit more progress before they continued on.
"Come on," Zoin said.
"You go on. I'll stay here," Krona replied dejectedly. "I'll find some fruit, some wood, and some leaves, and make a hut and possibly even start my own village right here."
"Just what kind of talk is that?"
"Okay, I'll tell it straight. We've been at this for about three days now. We're no closer to finding Oreah than we were at the start of this trip. Our food is running low, we've got no idea where we are, and my feet are starting to blister."
"Maybe I should leave you here, if that's the mood you're going to be in for the rest of the journey."
"Good! It'll be much better than-"
"Shh!"
"Wha-"
Zoin put a hand to Krona's mouth, stifling his comment, and shoved him around the tree. Keeping one hand to Krona's mouth, he looked around the tree and back to what he had saw.
It was another chameleon. And unfamiliar to them.
Great, Zoin thought. A search party.
His senses soon caught up with him though. This chameleon did not look anything like any he had seen before. Still the same shape, of course. But there was something, a lot of things, different about this one.
He was indeed looking around, but he seemed more lost, or just looking around, than actually searching for anything. He also seemed more alert than anyone Zoin had ever seen back home.
His attire was also different. He wore white gloves, but these had black cuffs attached. The cuffs themselves were decorated with golden bolts around the outer surface. The same cuffs were also on the chameleon's shoes. On the arm cuffs were also protective plates covering the tops of the lower arms. It also seemed like he was wearing bandaging on ankles and wrists.
Zoin watched this chameleon, thinking. It made no sense for anyone to be out here, and unless he was waiting for someone, the chameleon really did look lost.
"What's out there?" Krona asked from behind him.
"A chameleon," Zoin replied. "Not from our village. Looks lost."
"So what are we doing still here?"
Zoin looked back at his brother before replying "Would you want to go out there asking him for help, only for it to turn out he's looking for us?"
"Why can't we just go around?"
"He'll see us!"
The conversation was held in whispers, but for the occasional rise in tone or voice, the scenery might well have been deserted with no sound.
"Not if we get far from this spot, he won't."
Zoin looked back around the tree. He was about to reply to Krona when he brought his head around the side of the tree again. The chameleon they were discussing had disappeared.
"It doesn't matter, anyway," Zoin said. "He's gone."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Let's go."
The two walked around the side of the tree and continued their trek through the forest. They were now at a part where the trees were really thin and sparse, and bushes grew as well.
As they passed on of these bushes, Zoin heard a snap of twig. Reacting, he pulled Krona behind the nearest bush.
Zoin had no other options, and they were now on the edge of the forest, meaning they had reached the limit of where they could go. Zoin only saw one option left.
He stood up and walked around the bush.
"Excuse me!" Zoin called to the purple chameleon. "Hello!"
The purple chameleon looked at Zoin and gave a huff on contempt. He then looked over Zoin's shoulder before looking back to Zoin. Zoin looked round to see Krona slowly moving forward, and then back to the purple chameleon.
"What do you want?" the purple chameleon asked.
"We're looking for our sister," Zoin replied. "We've been trying to find some clues as to where she could have gone."
"Unfortunately, I cannot help. I'm currently working on a mission from the Chaot-" He paused, almost as though he was afraid he had revealed too much. Zoin knew what he had.
"-ix. Chaotix. Meaning you're Espi-"
"Halt!" Espio commanded. "There might be listeners of those who are our enemy."
Krona moved closer as well. Zoin looked sideways and saw a slight hint of fear in his face. Espio continued in a whisper.
"Yes, I am Espio. And right now I'm on the hunt for Chao, and where they seem to have disappeared to."
Zoin sensed Espio's trust, and related their mission to him fully.
"Eggman..." Espio slowly said. "Are you sure? After the last encounter..."
"Excuse me?" Krona said, speaking for the first time. "I'm guessing we're missing something, but you're finding it hard to relate that to us."
"That would be correct. My mandate was to have no contact with anyone but our own. I'm not meant to be talking to you, but if what you said is true... Wait here."
Espio walked a short way from the two and pulled out a communicator. Talking to someone unknown, the conversation appeared short and quick, before the communicator was returned and Espio walked back to them.
"I have explained the situation, and we are to meet with one of the Chaotix soon. You two are to follow me, and the situation will be explained."
"Okay. That's great," Zoin exclaimed. He was about to continue, but a snapping sound made their heads whip around in its direction.
"Let's go!" Espio commanded.
They started moving back into the forest, but before they could get within the trees, a massive snapping occurred above them, and a giant robot leg fell in front of them.

"Whoa!" all three exclaimed, jumping back.
Backing off allowed them to see what had blocked them. It was indeed a robot, all dull grey metallic plates and nothing but edges. It was as tall as the trees.
Espio pulled Zoin and Krona back beneath the bushes, telling them to stay hidden. Once he was sure the two were secure, he leapt back out, running to the robot.
Krona looked around the bush to see Espio as nothing but a constant moving point. He never stayed in one position too long, and always randomised which direction he went next. This made sure the robot could never hit him.
Krona watched in awe as, from behind the robot, Espio rolled between its legs and launched a shuriken into the left joint. Though the aim was true, it didn't seem to do anything, and at the end of his roll, Espio had to jump out of the way of a giant robotic fist.
Espio backflipped onto a tree trunk and launched himself to another tree, launching another shuriken as he did so. From the next tree, he launched himself at the robot, only to be slapped away.
He quickly recovered and moved straight back into the battle - again using his agility to confuse the robot. Again he managed to get behind. But instead of rolling beneath it, this time he launched himself at a tree, rebounded off it, and onto the robot itself.
The robot realised what had happened, and tried to remove the chameleon who invaded its personal space. Espio wasn't going to be easy to remove though, as he climbed slowly up the robot's back, slamming shuriken into the joints.
The robot rushed backward, slamming itself against a tree trunk. It then twisted itself along the trunk, almost catching the chameleon off guard. Espio jumped onto the arm of the robot, again slamming shuriken into it's joints.
With just the legs left to immobilise, Espio backflipped off the arm and prepared to throw another shuriken into the hip joint of the robot. He was almost in line for the best shot when the robot twisted faster than Krona had seen it and grabbed Espio within the hand that wasn't immobilised.
A maniacal laugh rose from the robot that felt vaguely familiar to Krona. He couldn't place it, and neither did Zoin, it seemed. He made no sound, anyway.
The robot launched Espio into the air. And also launched off another maniacal laugh. This time, Zoin gasped, as though realisation had hit him. Krona still couldn't place the laugh though. And as he watched Espio trying to recover from in the air, Krona felt something move quickly past him. It was then he saw Zoin rushing straight up to the robot, running full tilt at it.
"Zoin! No!"

Watching Espio defending them, Zoin hadn't fully recognised the laugh the first time. When it sounded again he certainly did though.
Espio is the one who's helping us. Eggman kidnapped our sister, and now he's stopping us getting to her. Zoin continued on his thoughts and came to one conclusion.
To help.
From where he watched behind the bush, he span away from it, placing one leg behind him. Launching off that leg, he ran, brushing past Krona. He arced his sprint, leaning in the direction he turned to lose as little speed as possible. The robot couldn't see him. The robot was still facing the other way - its back to the bush where the brothers hid.
Now able to straighten out, Zoin put on a burst of speed before launching himself as high as he could while still retaining forward momentum. Hands out in front of him, he felt the impact of his palms hitting the robot. Still not shed of his forward momentum, his legs followed up. His feet hit the robot, and with the built-up energy from the leap, pushed away from it. He felt the robot move as he did.
Zoin was expecting it. The robot wasn't.
Zoin flipped over to land feet first, dissipating the last of the energy in a crouch. Still crouching, he turned to see the robot fall. Lifting himself up, Zoin sees Espio land on top of the robot and launch one last shuriken into the joint between body and legs.
"Is it over?" he heard Krona call.
Zoin hoped the answer was yes, but another maniacal laugh rose from the robot. Running around its body, Zoin reached the point where its head would have been. Instead was a hoverpod. The same hoverpod as the one that had been used to kidnap Oreah.
"Espio!" Zoin shouted.
"What is it?"
"A hoverpod as part of the head."
"Eggman always liked to personally control his creations. He'd then-"
Espio stopped talking, as what he was about to explain happened.
A hiss came from the hoverpod, which released itself from the robot. It then rose into the air, and zoomed off. Espio launched a shuriken at it, but missed. Another maniacal laugh rose from the hoverpod, fading into the distance.