Chapter Seven
Kay had just settled herself into a comfortable position on her new bed when she heard his voice drift from the doorway.
“Emerald’s Chosen, huh?”
Kay lifted her eyes and was surprised to see Shadow standing over the threshold, his arms crossed, leaning against the frame of the doorway. She was still trying to come to terms with her constantly changing world, so her face held a blank look as she responded almost monotonically, “I thought you didn’t believe me.”
Shadow tilted his head ever so slightly, frowning a little. “I’m still thinking about it.” Kay glanced down at her lap again, keeping him out of her line of sight. After a tense pause he spoke again. “Where are you from?”
“New Mobotropolis.”
“It was my understanding that you’d only been there for two weeks.”
Kay’s mind sharpened upon hearing those words and she looked back up at him. How did you know that? she wondered. “Right.”
“Where were you from before then?” he asked.
“I’d rather not say.”
Suspicion seeped its way into Shadow’s features. “Why not?”
Why does it matter? She wanted to ask, but just as she was opening her mouth, she felt a surge of dizziness come over her and her mind shifted into grayscale images of robots destroying a powerful city. Men in uniform ran around and tried to protect the people. The Death Egg loomed overhead, blocking out the sun.
The Death Egg? Kay was shoved back into reality with such force that she almost fell off of the bed. It took her a moment, but she steadied herself and hurried back to the window she’d finally torn herself away from only minutes ago.
“Are you ignoring me?” Shadow demanded from the doorway.
“No, it’s just…” Kay trailed off as her eyes focused on the city below. Smoke was rising from some of the buildings. Sunlight glinted on the armor of robots that swarmed the streets. Everything she’d just seen in her mind was happening right in front of her. Kay thought it odd that this vision had been accompanied by dizziness and grayscale when most of her others were nothing more than annoying pests at the most.
Then she saw the Death Egg glide into view, and all thoughts left her except for those of Eggman and his continuing hunt for her.
“No way,” she whispered out loud. Then, in a louder voice, she added, “How did he know I was here?”
“What are you talking about?” Shadow asked her, moving from the doorway to stand by her side at the window. He had barely been observing the scene before them for five seconds when he shouted, “Get down!” and sent both himself and Kay to the floor just as the window exploded, distributing thousands of shards of glass onto the floor.
Can this day get any more hectic? Kay tried to clear her mind and calm her racing heart enough to focus on the present. She shook her head and propped herself up on her elbows, realizing that Shadow had positioned himself on top of her to take the impact of the blast. Once he had recovered he looked at her with his cold gaze and asked, “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she replied quietly. He pushed himself up into a kneeling position and scanned the area around them as he put a hand to his ear and spoke into his mobile communicator. “This is Agent Shadow. Somebody report. What’s going on?”
Moments later a voice tainted with static answered him. “Doctor Eggman’s forces are invading the city. Reasons unknown. Requesting assistance out here, sir.”
Shadow’s eyes flickered to his right arm, where a triangular piece of glass had wedged itself into his skin. He frowned, yanked it out with a grunt, and muttered, “Granted. I’m on my way.”
Once he had stood up and scanned himself for any more glass shards, Shadow offered his hand to Kay, who took it silently. He checked her as well, but he had used himself to shield her, so he had more cuts from the blow than she did.
After a moment of silence Kay told Shadow, “Eggman is here for me.”
“I figured as much,” Shadow grunted. He took her wrist and gave it a tug. “Come on.” Kay allowed him to lead her out of the room and back into the hallway, where they began a jog towards the exit. As they went Shadow again turned on his communicator. “Shadow here. Rouge, where are you?”
“On my way outside,” Rouge replied immediately. “Omega is already out there.”
“Understood.”
What seemed like forever was probably more like a few minutes, but Shadow and Kay finally reached the exit doors and burst outside, where the city was in chaos. The Death Egg loomed overhead, blocking the sun and casting a shadow on the city that was being invaded by the doctor’s robotic minions. Humans were running in all directions. Kay felt like she was standing in the middle of a science-fiction movie.
Once again Shadow grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side. The hills around the city were very rocky, which was convenient for the situation. Shadow had Kay kneel down behind a particularly large boulder and looked at her seriously. “Stay here,” he commanded before running off to join the battle.
Kay closed her eyes and willed herself to see the skirmish that was raging around her in her mind. To her surprise, she soon began to see humans fighting robots, Shadow forming a Chaos Spear, and Rouge leaping into the air all at the same time.
Another rush of dizziness overcame her. This time the grayscale images she saw were that of Rouge being attacked from behind without warning and taking a major hit. The vision ended before Kay could see what would happen next, but she had a pretty good idea.
Without a second thought she leapt to her feet and peered out from behind the boulder, searching the battlefield for Rouge. Moments later Kay located her, and she bolted from her hiding place, determined not to let another person get hurt because of her. She ran as fast as she could, dodging robots and humans alike as she weaved her way through the crowd to where she knew Rouge would be momentarily.
Suddenly all of the pieces fell into place, and Kay recognized the scene before her as the vision that had just flashed through her mind. She heard Shadow calling Rouge’s name, but he was too far away to be of any help. Kay saw the robot aim for the bat from behind. Before she knew it, she was lunging for the agent and shoving them both out of harm’s way just a split second before the bullets flew from the bot’s built-in arsenal.
Rouge sat up and shook her head, staring at Kay in bewilderment. Then one corner of her mouth curled up in a smirk and she said, “I owe you one, kid,” before spreading her dark wings and lifting off into the sky. Kay lay on her back in the grass, hearing the noises of war all around her, but all she could think about was what had just happened to her.
The future, she thought. I just saw the future, didn’t I? And back up there on the hill…I was able to control what I saw. How did I do that? More importantly, how can I do that again?
Suddenly a shadow collided with her on the ground and she heard the all-too-familiar voice of Dr. Eggman. “There you are, you little brat.”
Kay barely had time to register what was going on before the doctor maneuvered his robot so that its hand wrapped around her waist and plucked her from the grass. “Hey!” she exclaimed. The robot’s jet-pack engines flared to life and the mechanical minion shot into the air, leaving the battle far below.
“Thought you could lose me with warp ring technology, eh?” Eggman grumbled at her in satisfaction, thinking he’d won this round. “Think again! I just finished destroying Albion. You were no more than a swim away.” The doctor laughed wickedly, but Kay had stopped listening after the word ‘Albion.’
It can’t be, she thought. Albion, the ancient city of the echidnas…gone? What about all of the people? What about Knuckles? Then it hit her. What about the Albion prophecy? How am I going to learn about it if the city is destroyed?
There was a loud grinding sound as if something was cutting through metal. Kay blinked back to the present and noticed a black-and-red blur slicing its way through the arm that held her. She’d just realized it was Shadow’s spin-dash at work when the arm gave way and Kay began to fall back down through the air, screaming as she went. Not a moment too soon Rouge appeared and caught her before she collided with the rocky hills below.
Rouge spoke to Kay but kept her eyes on the sky around them. “You’re the center of attention today, aren’t you?”
Kay was too busy thinking about what Eggman had said to respond. Rouge landed gracefully on the earth and set Kay down at her side. Several seconds later Shadow joined them as they all gazed up at the Death Egg and Eggman’s personal mech.
“Blast it all!” Eggman bellowed in frustration. “Thanks to the resistance I met in Albion I’m low on fuel. Consider yourself lucky, hedgehog! I’ll be back for you – mark my words!”
And just like that, the invasion was over just as quickly as it had begun.
It was a long while after the Death Egg was moving away that anyone spoke. Rouge went first, saying, “Well, that was exciting.”
Shadow turned to her, his expression serious and determined. “Get her inside. I’m going to help the wounded.” He gave Kay a quick, suspicious glance before bolting towards the city streets at supersonic speed. Rouge gently took Kay’s arm and began to lead the trek back towards HQ as she had been ordered. Kay followed, but her mind was somewhere else.
What will happen to all of those echidnas? What about Knuckles? The Chaotix have left to look for Mighty and Ray by now, which means that Knuckles is the only one left to guard Angel Island. If Albion is in trouble, he’ll have to leave it unprotected for a while…
But there was one thing that bothered Kay the most.
Naugus said I was part of an ancient Albion prophecy. If the city has been destroyed, how am I supposed to learn about my role? How will I know what to do when the time comes for me to do my job as the Emerald’s Chosen?