31Once again, here's the first chapter of OCs. The credit for these characters goes to me and my brothers. I've had this chapter in my computer for a while, and I think its about time to bring it out.
Also (since I tend to picture this as a video game), just to improve the experience, if you so desire, I'll post themes from various Sonic levels that may enhance the atmosphere. These were carefully handpicked, so enjoy.
Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog is not in anyway owned by me.
Level Theme: Spagonia Rooftop Run (Day) (Sonic Unleashed)
Team Adventurers—Garden Scape
The room was dark. The only light inside it was what managed to come through the blind-covered windows. There was only one piece of furniture in that room: a small, round ottoman. Sitting on that ottoman, legs crossed, was a light blue wolf, Wiz. His eyes were closed and his pose suggested he was meditating. He was completely relaxed.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. "What was that?" he asked himself. "Something is disturbing the supernatural plane. But what?" He stood up and walked out of the room.
He walked down the hall until he reached a door, behind which were noises that sounded like someone fighting. He opened it and saw his two friends using their training simulator.
One of the two, Lee, was an orange raccoon who wore a black vest over his small build. He was holding off his virtual opponents with his nimble movements and an orange-and-black staff taller than himself. The other, Glide, was a cardinal wearing a flight helmet, fighting his opponents by slashing his wings.
Wiz held his hand up and an orb of purple energy appeared around it. Suddenly, the holographic enemies vanished and a computerized voice intoned, "Training session has been terminated. Training session has been terminated."
Lee turned back to find the source. "Oh come on, Wiz," he complained. "I was just about to reach a new record."
"I understand your need to train—" Wiz started.
"You?" Lee interrupted. "The one who just spends all day cooped up in his room sleeping?"
Wiz gave Lee a look. "Come here," he said, waving his hand toward himself. Lee looked at Glide, who backed away a bit. Lee just sighed and walked over to Wiz. "Strike me," Wiz said with little emotion.
Lee looked amazed for a small moment and said, "Ah, why not? Should be fun." He raised his staff, ready to hit Wiz. The wolf raised his hand and it glowed with the same purple energy. Lee lowered the staff, but found himself unable to bring it down too far before he was suddenly flung back. He landed on the wall and fell to the floor.
"What you call 'sleeping,'" Wiz said, "I call honing my attention to keep my magic at its most effective. And believe me when I say that was effective."
"Sure, sure," Lee said. He squeezed the middle part of his staff and it collapsed to just barely a foot.
"In fact," Wiz said, "that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Trust me, I wouldn't have stopped your training session unless it was this important."
"What's up?" Glide asked.
"While I was meditating," Wiz answered, "I felt a strange disturbance, like—"
"—Millions of voices that cried out in terror were suddenly silenced?" Lee finished jokingly.
Wiz was not amused. "I can send you back to that wall if that's what you want." Lee looked away. "What I felt was an abnormal amount of supernatural forces being utilized all at once."
"Come again?" Lee asked.
Glide clarified for Wiz, "Someone's using a lot of magic."
"Oh, okay," Lee said. "And this is important to us how?"
"I'm not sure," Wiz replied. Lee just sighed in exasperation. Before the raccoon could come up with a snide remark, Wiz continued, "But I want to know about this magic: what is it being used for? And perhaps just as important, who is using it?" The other two just stared at each other blankly. "Come on, you two," Wiz said. "We call ourselves adventurers, right?" He paused. "Think of this as an adventure."
"I'm not saying it isn't," Lee said. "But a quest just to sate your curiosity? Doesn't sound too exciting."
"Tell you what," Wiz said. "If the magic is being used for nothing of concern to us, this month's chili dog bill is on me."
"Why are we still here, guys?" Lee said in a suddenly more jovial tone. "We got magic to find." He then started running out of the room.
Wiz and Glide stared at each other. "If it makes you feel any better," Glide said, "you had me at 'adventure.'"
Wiz led the team to a large field of flowers and grass. The only change in elevation was the occasional hill. Everyone looked over the area carefully.
"So what are we doing here, again?" Lee asked. "Is this where the magic is supposed to be?"
"It's not that simple," Wiz replied. His eyes were closed and his arms were crossed over his chest, his hands facing outward with purple energy. "In order to better understand the nature of the magic, we have to locate its origins. And unfortunately, that origin is scattered across Mobius."
"This is going to take a while, huh?" Lee said.
"Look at it this way," Glide said. "It's like a road trip."
"That way," Wiz said suddenly. His eyes were now open and he pointed in front of them. "Our first clue is in that direction. Lee, you're on point. With your speed, you should be able to see anything suspicious ahead of us until we catch up. Try not to do anything stupid until then."
"In other words," Glide added, "don't do anything."
"Har, har," Lee said sarcastically. He ran off, with the others following behind at a slower pace.
Lee kept an eye out for anything that might merit Wiz's attention. Wherever he looked, he saw nothing. He was about to stop and ask Wiz if he was sure of his directions when he stopped for a different reason: in front of him, there were red robots with spherical bodies. Lee recognized them instantly.
"Eggman's robots," he whispered. "Well, that's unfortunate," he said as he reached behind his back. "Now Wiz won't be paying for those dogs." He pulled out the small metal rod and squeezed it. The rod stretched out into his battle staff.
Lee charged at the robots. He struck one of them and it exploded. The other bots turned to look at what had happened. Lee was already jumping toward his next target, staff ready. Every robot he headed toward was struck by his staff. Finally he landed on the ground.
One of the robots Lee didn't destroy yet pointed its arm at him. Lee turned, ready to attack. Suddenly, the robot exploded. The smoke cleared and Lee could see Wiz holding his hand up; the purple energy surrounding his hand was dissipating.
"What happened to 'don't do anything'?" Wiz asked.
"I was handling it just fine, thank—" Lee started, but he was interrupted by the only robot left, behind Wiz and pointing its arm at him. "Look out!" Suddenly, something red crashed into it at a fast pace.
Glide had his wings crossed in front of him, and when he struck, he spread them out. It was this motion that took care of the robot.
"Oh, yeah!" he shouted. "Crimson Cross one, Egg-bot none!"
Wiz looked around at the scene of mechanical carnage. "Looks like we found your magic user, Wiz," Lee said.
"It's too soon to say," Wiz pointed out. "For all we know, this was just a reconnaissance group."
"Uh…" Lee started.
"They were probably just checking the area," Glide explained.
"How much you wanna put on that?" Lee asked.
"Not much, I'm afraid," Wiz replied. "But it's still a possibility. For now, I say we stick together."
"Won't be a problem, Wiz" Glide said. The others turned to him; he had the goggles on his flight cap over his eyes. He looked like he was focusing them. "Looks like Lee's shenanigans attracted a little attention."
"That so?" Wiz asked, glancing at Lee. Lee just turned away. "Okay, I'll take over as lead man. Try to take them out fast, but don't lose sight of our goal. Just keep going that way." He pointed in the direction the robots were coming from.
"Sounds like fun," Lee said, holding his staff ready.
"Time to kick some chassis," Glide said. Everyone ran in and started attacking. Wiz hit many of the robots using a purple magic beam; the bots exploded on impact. Lee swung his staff almost wildly at any robot next to him.
"Whoo!" he yelled. "I don't think I even have this high a score on the simulator."
Glide slashed another bot. "That means there are a lot of them," he said, "and more might be on the way."
"We can't keep this up," Wiz said. His fist became surrounded in magic and he punched the robot in front of him, knocking it away from him. "Lee! Glide! Brace yourselves!" He held up his hands as they charged with power.
Lee and Glide felt themselves being lifted up in purple spheres of their own. Wiz came between the two, his hands still held up. Wiz lowered his hands and the spheres flew at the robots with their occupants still inside. Lee quickly moved his staff in front of the robots he flew into, while Glide did the same with his wings. All the robots were destroyed.
Lee and Glide landed on the ground. "That oughta show them," Lee said confidently.
"It's just a temporary respite," Wiz pointed out. "We have to keep moving." He ran ahead, almost leaving the other two behind.
Everyone kept running until they reached a large lake. It was too wide to swim across and too long to simply walk around.
"Now what?" Glide asked.
"Well," Lee suggested, "Wiz can carry us across."
"Not with that kind of distance," Wiz argued. "Even magic has its limits." He looked around the shoreline. He saw a large rock standing just on the water's edge. "Here's an idea," he said as he walked over to the rock. Glide followed him. Neither one noticed a light blinking on Lee's staff.
Wiz stood in front of the rock. He held up his hands and they started to radiate magic. He pushed his hands forward.
Nothing happened; the rock still stood there. Wiz tried again, but still no results.
"Hey, Wiz," Lee said. "Would now be a bad time to tell you that my staff picked up traces of that magite stuff?"
Wiz turned to him with an exasperated look. "Now you tell me? You know my magic is ineffective against it."
"You didn't ask," Lee said playfully.
"More likely," Glide said, "you just wanted to watch him fail."
Lee just ignored him as he said, "Okay, I'll handle this." He stood in front of the rock with his staff ready. He charged in and struck the rock, which exploded and flew toward the water. Pieces of the rock fell in the lake and many of them poked out of the water. "Score one for anti-magite technology."
"Rub it in any further," Wiz said, losing his patience, "and you'll be joining that rock. Besides, we still have the issue of getting across." Everyone noticed that the fragments that could potentially act as platforms across the lake were rather far apart, to the point where jumping was not the best course of action.
"Can't you just carry us over to each platform?" Lee asked.
"Not without touching the magite," Wiz answered. "It would sap my powers as long as I remain in contact and even for a few seconds after, depending on how long I stay on it."
"Then I say we go with 'Plan G'," Glide said, flapping his wings to hover over the ground. "'Plan Glide'."
"Better than nothing," Wiz said. Glide flew over Wiz, who grabbed his legs.
"Hey!" Lee interjected. "Why do you get the top?"
"You remember what I said about being in contact with the magite?" Wiz argued. Lee just remained silent as Wiz and Glide floated over him. He took Wiz's legs and Glide started flying toward the first platform.
The flight from shore to the first fragment had been a smooth one. However, by the time they reached the second, trouble came along once again; several flying robots were closing in on the group.
"Any ideas?" Lee asked.
"Yeah," Glide said, "you're up." Before Lee could ask, he felt himself being swung. He lost his grip on Wiz and flew toward one of the bots. Reacting quickly, he pulled his staff out and struck the bot. He bounced off his target and hit another close to him.
Glide also threw Wiz out into the skirmish. Wiz landed on one of the robots and started shooting beams of magic at some of the others surrounding him. He then lit his hand with a purple orb and slammed his fist into the robot he stood on; it cracked almost instantly. Wiz jumped back to Glide as the bot exploded. Lee was done on his end as well and jumped so that he was under Wiz.
"Well, that was fun," Lee said.
"Let's just get across," Wiz said. "We're getting close."
Glide traveled the rest of the way across the lake, stopping at each of the platforms to catch his breath. Finally, they all reached solid ground. They continued on foot until they saw something interesting. It looked like a set of ruins or a shrine. Most of the structures had decayed to the point where no one could tell what they originally were.
"Is this it?" Lee asked.
"There is a strong resonance with the magic I've been sensing," Wiz replied, "so yes."
"But there's nothing here," Lee argued. Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
"You said what?" Glide yelled over the rumbling. Many of the stones on the ground started tumbling over and coming together. Eventually, they finally formed a coherent shape. It was humanoid, taller than the entire group combined. In one hand, it held a long, thin stone, almost like a staff.
"I thought staffs were my shtick," Lee said. The figure started making a noise, almost like it was trying to say something. "Translation please?" Lee asked rhetorically.
Wiz already had his magic-empowered hand on his head. "He's saying something like, 'Earth Guardian activated. Mission: protect sanctuary from further defilement.'"
"Got your work cut out for you, pal," Lee quipped. "Let's face it, it don't get any more defiled than this." Suddenly the stone figure charged Lee with its staff ready to strike. Lee just barely blocked it with his own. "I say again: staffs are my shtick."
The guardian pulled its staff back and tried to hit Lee with the end. Suddenly, a blast of purple energy struck it, causing it to veer off course. "Sorry," Wiz said, "but knocking sense into Lee is my 'shtick'."
"Don't tell me you'll start sprouting wings now," Glide said to it. He crossed his wings and slashed them across the guardian.
"Color me surprised," Lee said to Wiz. "I figured you would have gone with just talking it out, since that's the opposite of what I'd do."
"It's the ancient equivalent of a robot," Wiz replied. "No amount of diplomacy will work." He fired another beam at the guardian. "I have an idea. How much do you want to take out that staff?"
"Let's face it," Lee said as he blocked another blow, "there's a little thing called copyright infringement."
"Then I hope you like getting dizzy," Wiz said. He held his hand up and surrounded Lee in a purple orb. The orb began to spin in several directions really fast. Lee held his staff perpendicular to his own body and felt Wiz lift him up. He was flung toward the guardian and felt his staff strike the rock staff. The multiple strikes caused the staff to shatter.
"Wiz!" Lee yelled. "Just throw me! I'm pretty sure one shot should do the trick!" Wiz stopped spinning Lee and moved his arm forward forcefully. Lee flew at the guardian and swung his staff at the chest just as he came in close. With no staff of its own, the guardian had no way to defend itself. Lee's staff hit and he bounced back to the ground
The stone warrior just stood there for a few seconds. Then one of the rocks composing his body fell off. The rest of the rocks soon followed until the only thing remaining of the guardian was a pile of rubble.
"Oh yeah!" Lee shouted. "He's stone cold now." Glide just glared at him. "Oh, come on," Lee said, "that was funny."
"So's molting," Glide said.
"We'll worry about Lee's bad jokes later," Wiz said. "Right now, let's look around. The area's source of magic is around here."
"Well, I don't see anything," Lee said, "just a few stone pillars and columns. Heck, some of them have holes and dents in them."
"Here's a weird one," Glide said suddenly.
"Weird as in…?" Wiz asked.
"There's some sort of dent in this wall," Glide explained, indicating the wall he stood in front of. "But it looks like it was carved." While the indent had no definable shape, it did look very precise.
"This may be what we're looking for," Wiz muttered thoughtfully.
"Huh?" Lee exclaimed. "Wow, talk about not being able to tell a clue from a hole in the wall." Wiz said nothing but held his hand up. His hand began to glow, followed by the indent. Something began to appear inside it. It looked like an outline of a piece of a tablet.
"What is that?" Lee asked.
"It's my revealing spell," Wiz explained. "It shows me what was once here."
"You mean someone took something from here?" Glide asked.
"That so-called Earth Guardian said something about a prior 'defilement'," Wiz pointed out. "Maybe this was it."
"So what the heck is this thing?" Lee asked.
"I'm not sure, really," Wiz admitted. "It looks like there's something written here, but unless we find the other pieces of the whole tablet, we won't know what it says. Glide," Wiz turned to his friend. "Snap a shot, will you?" Glide lowered his goggles over his eyes, turned to the tablet outline, and spun the lenses.
"Got it," he said. The image of the tablet disappeared.
"So where are the other pieces supposed to be?" Lee asked.
"I'll tell you in a bit," Wiz said as he meditated once more.
Credit:
Wiz the Wolf: comicfan616
Lee the Raccoon: Nightfall00
Glide the Cardinal: pokemonmaster111
Lineup:
Team Adventurers:
Speed: Lee the Raccoon
Power: Wiz the Wolf
Flight: Glide the Cardinal
That should do it for now. I'll upload more chapters when I can. Also, to any new guys out there, I've almost created all the teams I need, but I need two more flight characters. So, help a guy out, huh?
This is CF signing out.