[2nd POV]
After Sally and the other Freedom Fighters told you all about their mission to free Mobius and all that, you went back to Angel Island to talk with Locke. He gave your permission to use the "Chaos Gem", as you're dubbing it, to help the Freedom Fighters as long as you use it for good and if you promise to visit him every-so-often. He gets lonely.
Not long after that, you and everyone else did their best to celebrate what was left of Sonic's birthday after Scourge and Rouge, Bean and Bard, and Croctobot nearly wrecked everything.
Now, you're being led by Sally Acorn to where your new home. She said you would be bunking with another Mobian who was a member of the Freedom Fighters, and a great one at that. Soon she brought you to one of the many homes that resided in Knothole and she knocked on the door.
"DANNY! GET OUT HERE!" Sally shouts at the person inside the house. "YOUR NEW ROOMMATE IS HERE!"
A quick shuffling of feet is heard on the other side of the door before the door opens, revealing a lion-like creature wearing a jacket with jeans. He had a long, white tail and a white mane, his face clearly showing he was tired.
"Princess Sally?" the lion called Danny questioned as he rubbed his eyes. "What're you doing here?"
"You seriously don't remember?" Sally asks the lion. "Ugh! I'm here to introduce you to your new roommate! This is [Y/N], the human that helped us take down Croctobot and fight off Scourge and Rouge."
"... Oooooooooohhh! The human! Right, gotcha!" Danny says with a smile and turns to you. "Sup, kid? Name's Daniel Rydenger. Call me Danny."
"Erm... I'm [Y/N], like Sally said," you said and offered a handshake to the white lion. "Nice to met you."
"You too, kid," Danny said and shook your hand.
"Right. Now that you two are acquainted, I'm gonna head back to my home," Sally says and turns to Danny. "Go easy on him. I'll come back tomorrow to give you your new outfit, [Y/N]. The one Sonic oh-so desperately wants you to have."
"Alright. Night, Sally," you tell the chipmunk girl and she nods at you, walking away and leaving you with Danny.
"Alright, come on in, humie," Danny tells you as he walks inside his home, motioning you to follow him inside. "Gotta show you your room."
You nod, following him in the house which was surprisingly big. So it would be easy for you to move around in the underground home. Danny leads you to a room near the back of his home, opening the door to reveal a room with a bed, a closet, a drawer with a mirror, and a nightstand in it.
"This'll be your room, [Y/N]," Danny tells you as you walk inside. "Not much, but it works. Whad'ya think?"
"It's nice," you say as you hop on to the bed. "It's a lot bigger than my room back in my world."
"Glad you like it, then," Danny said and yawned as he stretched. "Well, g'night kid. You'll have your new outfit tomorrow and I'll also be giving you a tour. See ya tomorrow."
"Night," you tell Danny as he leaves you alone, closing the door as he does so.
You yawn soon after he left and decided to head to bed. You hoped that this was all possibly a dream and that you would wake up back in your own bed inside your home on Earth. You take off you jacket and shoes, keeping your jeans, shirt, and Chaos Gem on and with you as you head to bed. You place your head and pull the covers over your body, soon falling asleep.
[The Next Day]
It was soon the next day, and you're seen groggily opening your eyes as you sit up in bed. You rub your eyes and look side-to-side, seeing that you were still in the room in Danny's house.
"Ugh! Great. So it wasn't a dream," you say and yawn.
You soon hop out of bed and move over to the mirror in your new room, looking at yourself since you did this every morning in your former planet. You didn't notice any changes in yourself, though your eyes did seem to have a slight green hint to them. You wave it off as you just seeing things due to you still being a bit tired and yawning again as you make your way to your room door. You grab and turn the door knob, only to see Danny in his clothes from yesterday looking like he was about to knock on the door.
"Oh! You're awake!" he says with a smile. "I was going to wake you up if your weren't. Good morning."
"Morning, Danny," you greet the lion who was roughly at shoulder height with you.
"Er, your new clothes arrived earlier," Danny tells you, handing you a small pile of folded clothes with rings on top of the pile. "And here's some new shoes as well."
"Shoes too?" you question as Danny hands you some new shoes along with the new clothes.
"Yeah. Don't question it," Danny says and waves at you to go change. "Now go change. I'll meet you at Acorn Castle."
"But I don't know where Acorn Castle--" he shuts the door on your face before you could finish. "--is."
You sigh and look at the clothes and shoes in your hands, deciding to just go with it and change into them. You quickly stripped from your old clothes but stopping at your underwear, going to grab the not-so-worn-out jeans (which your old jeans were pretty worn-out) and putting them on. You then grabbed the belt that went with it which also had some small pouches on it, placing it around your waist and clicking it in place. Next, you grabbed the [S/F/C](second favorite color)/[S/C](secondary color) t-shirt and placed it over your upper body, it being nice and comfy as well as breathable and mobile. Then you got the [F/C]/[P/C] (primary color) hooded jacket with some black parts in its design and placed it over the shirt. Next, you grabbed and put on the white gloves which fit snuggly on your hands, attaching two light green rings around your wrists as well. Finally, you put on your new [F/C] shoes which had some strange metal clamping around the bottom of them. All your new clothes fit perfectly and you had no problem with them, though you are still confused on why you needed a change in wardrobe. Now there's only one problem: where's Acorn Castle?
~(--)~
"C'mon! Where is he?!" Danny asked as he impatiently tapped his foot. "He should've been here by now!"
"Well, you didn't really give him and specific directions, now did you?" Sally asked Danny, slightly upset at how stupid he acted.
"I just thought "how hard would it be to make your way to the biggest structure in Knothole?"!" Danny defended. "It would be common sense to find the biggest, most castle-like building and make your way there!"
"Oh Mobius, you're so stupid," Sally said as she pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.
Soon, however, the two Mobians heard the sound of many footsteps and the sound of a familiar male voice.
"Hey! I'm here!" you say as you wave your hand in the air to get your new friends' attention. "I'm here!"
The two waited as you made your way to them, stopping to catch your breathe as you grip your knees when you stopped in front of them.
"Danny... why... do you... live so... far from... this place?" you ask as you caught your breathe.
"Eh," is all the lion says as he grins.
"You good, [Y/N]?" Sally asked you.
"I'm fine," you say as you get back to breathing regularly. "I just don't have a lot of stamina."
You take one more deep breathe and go back to standing straight up.
"So, why did you want me to come here?" you ask the two Mobians.
"Well, since we know that you're not exactly battle experienced and that you're new to using your powers, so I decided to have Danny here train you," Sally said, shocking both Danny and [Y/N].
"WHAT?!" the two questioned as they look at each other.
"Yes," Sally assured the two. "Since Danny is one of the Freedom Fighters' best fighters and since Sonic isn't always available--and is too impatient for this type of thing--, Danny will be training you to fight properly."
"Well, I was getting kinda bored, so this is a welcomed change of pace," Danny said with a smile and turns to you. "Guess you have to call me "Master" now!, Rookie!"
"No," you say. "And don't call me "Rookie"."
"Sure, Rookie," Danny says and turns to Sally. "Alright, lead the way, Princess."
Sally rolls her eyes and motions for you and Danny to follow her into her castle. She leads the two of you through many large hallways until you three make it to a more technological door.
"What's this?" you ask, genuinely intrigued.
"This is the more technological training room made for the Freedom Fighters," Sally tells you. "This is where Danny trained to be a Freedom Fighter."
"Cool," you noted and Sally giggled at how calm you were acting.
She then turns back to the door.
"NICOLE, will you open the door for us?" Sally asks a "NICOLE".
"Yes, Princess Sally," a female computerized voice says, the door in front of you and the two Mobians opening up and revealing a specialized training room behind it.
"Woah..." you say, amazed at how the place looks.
"[Y/N], I'll leave you in Danny's care," Sally tells you. "NICOLE, please keep an eye on them."
"Yes, Princess."
"And Danny," Sally says, turning to Danny who turns to her in confusion. "Please don't break him. We need him in one piece."
"I'll try," Danny says. "But no promises."
What they mean by that? you ask yourself, not entirely sure if you want to be trained by this guy anymore than you already did.
"Alright. I'll see you boys later!" Sally says, leaving you alone with Danny and letting the door close when she leaves.
The two of you then look at each other, Danny a confident grin while you return it with a not-so-confident one.
"You ready, kid?" Danny asks you.
"I guess...?" you say, not entirely sure if you actually could do this.
"All I have to hear," Danny says and looks at the ceiling. "NICOLE, can you record our training session?"
"Of course, Mr. Rydenger," NICOLE says, supposedly recording you and Danny's training session.
"Wait, why is this gonna be recorde--"
WHACK!
"GAH!"
Danny had just suddenly appeared in front of your face and kicked it, sending you flying back a bit and landing on your back. You held the point of contact, where it hurt the most, and started letting out grunts of pain as you do so. You then look back at Danny who was smiling at you, you returning the smile with shocked eyes and a hurt look on your face.
"OW!" you say, still holding the point of contact as you stand back to your feet. "You kicked me! In the face!"
"I did," Danny said. "And I'm about to do it again."
"Wait, what?" you question before Danny appeared in front of you again and delivered yet another kick.
POW!
"AUGH!"
The attack sends your head being bent back a bit and lifts you in the air, your body soon slamming back on to the floor.
"OOOOWWW!' you shout in pain, looking at Danny with a poor glare. "What the heck, man?!"
"I'm training you. That's "what the heck"," Danny states. "The best training isn't just taught. You have to experience and fight for yourself."
For myself? you question.
"You ever fought, [Y/N]?" Danny asks you.
"N-not much," you say honestly as you get to your feet.
"Then this'll be the best way for you to learn," Danny says. "Eggman won't wait for you to be ready. He'll strike when you least expect it, so you always have to be ready to fight."
Danny goes for another kick to the face, only for it to miss as you dodge it by moving back a bit.
"See? You learned from the past two attacks and dodged," Danny said as he landed on his feet. "This is what you gotta do. Take all the experience you've gained from everything in your life, and turn it into power. That's how you beat the baddies. So, c'mon, [Y/N]! Show me that power you used when fighting Croctobot and Scourge!"
So, this is how it's gonna go, huh? you ask yourself. Then I guess this is how I train. Under some lion who is stronger and faster than me. I gotta do this. So I can help and get back home!
You smile weakly as you plant your feet firmly on the ground, raising your hands in front of you as fists and ready yourself to fight.
"I guess we should get started, then?" you ask, that weak smile seemingly frail as it may drop at any moment.
"Now that's what I like to hear!" Danny states, a smile clearly plastered on his face.
And with that, you two initiate your training as a Freedom Fighter.
~(--)~
It's been an entire week since Danny has started training you, and you've actually learned a lot from the cocky lion. He's taught you how to keep a proper battle stance without falling, how to throw a solid punch and kick, and how to use what he called "Ring Blades". The very same green rings around your wrists. They hold energy inside them and, once you concentrate enough, you can extert that energy in them and solidify that energy into solid objects such as swords and shields. You haven't gotten much progress with your new Chaos Abilities, though. Since they're so unstable, you've decided to focus on fighting for now instead of training your new abilities. Once you do get the hang of fighting, however, you'll start training yourself on how to use your Chaos Powers. Until then...
"Take this!" you shout, sending two kicks at Danny's head which he blocks.
"Ooh! So close, [Y/N]!" Danny tells you and pushes your legs away from him. "But you're gonna have to do better than that!"
Yeah. You're getting your butt kicked by an oversized house cat who spends way too much time bragging about himself until you learn how to fight properly.
You rush at the Mobian-Lion, throwing a punch at him which he dodges and catches as well. He grips your arm tightly and spins himself around, sending you spinning with him and he lets go of you, sending you flying into a wall. You slide down the wall and back on the floor, rubbing your back since it was in pain.
"Oooowwww...." you say in pain, grunting.
"Phew! That was a close one! You almost had me, kid!" Danny tells you with his usual smile. "If I hadn't reacted when I did, I probably would've been knocked down with those iron soles of yours!"
"Uh-huh. You're just saying that to make me feel better," you tell Danny as you rise to your feet. "Just tell me it already: you can beat me to a pulp if you actually wanted to."
"Keep telling yourself that," Danny says as he chuckles. "Okay! Get up! Still gotta work on your form!"
You nod, taking a few steps toward Danny before a sudden pain rushes through your head, making you shout in pain and fall to your knees as your grip your head in pain, your eyes clamped shut due to that pain.
"[Y/N]! What's wrong?!" Danny asks you, concern littering his voice as he rushes to your side.
You couldn't respond. The pain flooding your system overwhelmed you and if you opened your mouth, only screams and shouts of pain and agony would flow out instead of solid words and sentences.
Then images started flooding your mind, showing things you had no idea of what and who they were. First was a smiling fox with a beard, wearing a robe of sorts.
Next was someone holding a green, diamond-shaped gem that was glowing with energy.
Finally, there were two Mobians fighting each other. One was a horse with a mustache wearing medieval knight's armor while the other was a large gorilla in an army uniform.
You had no idea what these images meant or who the people in them were, but you did know one thing: you needed to get that gem to safety.
"[Y/N]! What's wrong?!" Danny asks you again as you start to shake. "Tell me! What's happening to you?!"
You didn't respond once again. All you did snap open your eyes, revealing them to be a glowing green color as your body stopped shaking.
This confuses Danny, him then taking notice that small sparks of green energy start emitting from your body as your body tenses.
"[Y/N]? What're you--?" Danny starts asking, only for him to not to be able to finish as you seemingly dissappear in a flash and blur of speed.
What really happened is that you gained a sudden boost in speed and you used it to rush to where you felt a strange energy signature appear. Not knowing what was really going on or where you were going, you sped your way to the energy signature and left behind you a trail of light green afterimage light mixed in with bolts of green energy. Your feet were a blur as you ran to an opening in a forest, a large group of Mobians inside of it. You felt the strange energy grow closer to you as you neared it, so you clearly sped up. As you got closer, though, you saw a bird man about to hurt or maybe even kill a familiar twin-tailed fox, so you took all your training into practice and kicked the bird off of the fox.
"You okay, Tails?" you ask the young fox who looks at you in awe.
"[Y-Y/N]?!" Miles "Tails" Prower questions as you stand before him, green sparks of energy emitting from your body as your eyes glowed bright green.
The fox was much smaller than you, being only up to the middle of your thighs. He had orangish-yellow fur with some white fur, two wide blue eyes. He had two white gloves with red and white shoes. Two fox tails that allowed him to fly when he spun them together swayed behind him stick out as well.
"Well, looks like you got here before me," a familiar voice says. "Some speed there, [Y/N]! Thanks for saving Tails!"
The two of you turned to see Sonic, his usual smile plastered on his face. You nod at him and turn to face the gang of Mobians who were attacking your friend.
"Get that sword ready, Sleuth Dogg!" the giant ape in military uniform ordered the dog next to him.
"Don't think it'll do much good, Sergeant Simian!" Sleuth Dogg tells the gorilla.
"Hmph! Dude, not much sets me off, but when you go after Tails, you're asking for serious trouble!" Sonic declares as Bunnie the Rabbit, Fiona Fox, Antoine D'Coolette (who was helping the man in the robe which you saw in that sudden image flash in your head), and Knuckles the Echidna all showing up behind the Blue Blur.
"Aw! I'm okay, Sonic!" Tails tells his best friend as you help the small fox to his feet. "Thanks for helping me, though, [Y/N]."
"No prob," you tell the kid with a smile.
"So--Destructx, huh?" Sonic asks the Mobian called Segearnt Simian.
"You heard that?" the gorilla asks.
"I think they heard you on the other side of the galaxy!" Sonic exclaims.
"We can't be the Fearsome Four anymore," Sergeant Simian states. "There's six of us!"
"Fair enough!" Sonic says. "Just surprised you can count!"
A sudden all out brawl then started, the dog with the sword who called himself Sleuth Dogg rushing at you. You breathe out, focusing your attention on him as your training starts to come in use. He slashes at you with his sword, but you raise your right arm and a light green blade forms from the Blade Ring on your wrist and blocking the attack.
"You are a swordsman as well?" Sleuth Dogg asks you.
"Not exactly," you say, pushing back on Sleuth's sword and sending him back as he crashes back on the dirt.
Then, remembering your training with Danny, gave the dog no time to get back up as you jump into the air and slamming your elbow into his stomach. This knocks all the wind out of Sleuth Dogg and you drag him to the pile where all the other Freedom Fighters were stacking the "Destructix".
"New team name: Same Old Lameness," Sonic says as he grins in victory, Tails flying over to the robed fox to give him the green gem you saw in your visions.
"Regardless, we must get to King Acorn immediately," the robed fox tells Sonic.
"Go on. The Chaotix and I will clean up this mess," Knuckles tells everyone.
"Right!" Sonic says to Knuckles.
"Wait, why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?" you ask yourself. "Or someone?"
"Eh. Who knows?" Sonic says. "Good job, though! Great work!"
"Thanks!" you say, turning to him with a smile.
"[Y/N]!" Danny's voice rings out, making you turn to see the lion rushing at you with a angry look on his face.
Before you could say anything, Danny suddenly kicks you in the face which makes you cry out in pain.
"Ah! Ow!" you say and glare at the smaller Mobian. "What the heck, man?! Again?! I thought we were done with this stuff!"
"That's what you forget for scaring me and rushing off like that!" Danny tells you angrily.
"S-sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you!" you tell the lion. "I just reacted when I felt this weird energy."
"I think you mean this?" the robed fox asks you, approaching you and showing you the green gem you saw in your vision.
"Yeah! That's what I sensed!" you state, feeling that weird energy emitting from the gem. "What is it?"
"A Chaos Emerald!" Danny says in awe. "I've never seen one upclose before!"
"A Chaos Emerald?" you question and hold your Chaos Gem in your hand. "It's a lot like my Chaos Gem..."
"Come! We must see King Acorn at once!" the robed fox declares, quickly turning away and making his way to Acorn Castle.
~(--)~
Soon, you and everyone else made your way to Acorn Castle where you all met with King Acorn.
"Your timing couldn't be better! Merlin Prower! Sir Connery! Please rise and tell me what has brought you home," King Acorn orders Merlin and Connery.
"I was called from your father's service by the ancient walkers. They gave me this--the Sword of Light--to purge the world of dark magic," Sir Connery tells Acorn. "With that duty finished, they charged me with guarding Merlin Prower and his precious captive."
"Captive?" both you and King Acorn questioned, the king more audible than you.
"Mammoth Mogul, my lord. Recently defeated and trapped in his home Chaos Emerald," Merlin stated as he winked at Sonic and Tails. "He fell to a trap set by the Ancient Walkers long ago."
Then Merlin held out his hand, green mist forming from it as many images form from it.
"Thousands of years ago, the Ancient Walkers foresaw Mogul to be a threat. While they refused to combat destiny, they did curse the Emerald that Mogul was faced to obtain," Merlin stated. "Mogul used its power, and the Chaos Emerald led him to key misjudgement--until he was ultimately trapped within."
"So what's the problem?" Sonic asked.
"Once he was free of the Master Emerald, Mogul used the last of his strength to wound the Ancient Walkers," Merlin informs you and your friends, the green mist forming new moving images. "They have been dying ever since. If they die, their charm over the Emerald will break, and Mogul will be free."
"Then what can we do?" Danny asks Merlin.
"Since you've come to me, I'm guessing I can help somehow," King Acorn states.
"Indeed! Your crown and its mate--tge Sword of Acorn--are essential to saving the Ancient Walkers!" Merlin tells the king.
"The crown?" the chipmunk questions. "What's so special about it and the sword?"
"I can answer that for you, Elias!" a familiar female voice calls out, revealing it to be...
"Sally!" King Acorn says in joy, happy to see his sister.
"I've dealt with both personally, brother," Sally tells her brother. "They were made from a pure substance of the Source of All--the substance that is the base material for everything. They can channel and produce vast amounts of magical energy. It has been the source of power for the Acorn Lineage since the first king."
"But the rest of it was probably nuked with the rest of Robotropolis," Sonic declares.
"I gave the Sword of Acorn to the Orphans of Uma Arachnic when it seemed to be growing to... "commanding"," Sally informs.
"I was afraid they would be separated," Merlin says. "We must find the sword as soon as possible."
"Do you have any idea of what they're talking about?" you whisper to Danny.
"Not. A. Clue," the lion tells you, clearly confused about what everyone was talking about.
"You won't start your search empty-handed," Elias says, handing Merlin his crown. "I can give you the Crown of Acorn to protect my people from a future threat."
"Thank you, King Elias!" Merlin thanks the chipmunk. "That means we can still hope."
"Of course you can hope!" Sonic states. "You've got the one and only Sonic the Hedgehog here!"
"And don't forget the mighty Daniel Rydenger!" Danny declares, wanting a piece of whatever action he thinks he could partake in.
"I just hope whatever orphans you're talking about haven't done anything stupid with that sword you guys need, Sally," you say, hoping for the best.
"Hopefully," Sally says, smiling at you. "Let's hope for the best!"
"Thank you all for your support and and this promising beginning, we may now--" Merlin starts to say, only for [Y/N] to start screaming in pain again as he falls to his knees, holding his head in pain.
"[Y/N]!" everyone shouts in concern, not knowing what was happening.
"Not again!" Danny said as he rushes to his pupils aid. "[Y/N]! What's happening?!"
You were shaking in pain, but you managed to slip out two words that ignited everything.
"He's coming."
Suddenly, the Chaos Emerald in Merlin's hand suddenly started to explode with energy which knocked the fox to the ground.
"Uncle Merlin!" Tails shouts in concerts he rushes to his uncle's aid.
"A valiant attempt, sagely Prower," a deep male voice tells Merlin as a large figure emerges from the explosion of green energy, "but your efforts were too little, too late."
_________________________________________
How did Mammoth Mogul escape the Chaos Emerald? Why does [Y/N] start feeling great pain when something that has to do with the Chaos Emeralds transpires? Will the Freedom Fighters be able to stop Mogul once more and retrieve the Sword of Acorn so that they may see victory once again? Find out, next time on Only Human!