Crazy Camping Prologue

Crazy Camping
Prologue

The time had come. After months of planning and study Shadow was ready. His plans included manipulating Chaos, to travel back in time, instead of freezing it.

Going back in time would let him save so much. Save the space colony, save the doctor, but most importantly, it would save her.

Not that he cared so much about the well-being of all, but if ARK where restored his life would go to as it once was. Spending endless hours doing nothing in particular with the only person he'd ever cared to spend so much time with.

"I'm coming, Maria." He said to himself, all alone in a old area in the Mystic Ruins.

He held up his modified emerald, that with his electronic platform should have done the trick.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" He shouted.

Something different happened, time and space bent and twisted in rainbows and dark swirls all around him.

At last he felt solid ground beneath him. He was flat on his face.

He opened his eyes and discovered that he felt unusually weak and sore. As he pushed himself off the ground he realized the floor looked luminescent and almost clear.

"Oh my," A calm female voice exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

That voice...Had it worked?

"Mar-?" He started to look up, to his surprise he saw tribal looking orange-ish echidna, most likely in her young teens.

"Who are you?" He asked (Slightly rudely.) instead.

"My name is Tikal. May I ask who you are? I don't believe we've met."

Shadow stood up and surveyed his surrounding, a slight glow of green and nothingness seemed to stretch for miles.

"Where am I?" He demanded, ignoring Tikal's question to him.

"You are in Chaos' Emerald. He and I have lived here for thousands of years now. How did you get here?

"As in the Master Emerald? Chaos is here?" He ignored her questions again.

"That is one name for it, and yes."

"I need to get home, how do I get out of here?" The scarlet and ebony hedgehog was being excessively demanding, but it seemed the girl had a strangely high amount of patience.

"I-I don't know. I've only been out once since I came here."

Shadow gave her an annoyed look, even though none of this was her fault.

"I'll just try Chaos Control again" he said in a flat tone.

"Oh, then, farewell, I suppose."

The hedgehog ignored her, and pulled out his emerald again. Why hadn't it worked?

Tikal took a few steps back into the mist, a rough outline of her was still visible.

What was with her anyway? Why hadn't she become agitated or upset when he'd been so rude to her. A strange peace hung around her entire being, it was rare, but Shadow had known a few people like that. The most memorable being Maria.

"I'm sorry, Maria." He mumbled quietly.

"Who's Maria?" She said suddenly.

"What?" He turned around to face her.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be nosy..." Her voice trailed off.

Shadow opened his mouth to speak, but as he did he heard a wailing alarm.


Shadow the hedgehog rolled over to face his alarm clock. 5:30 AM, time to get up.

He sleepily shut it off and climbed out of bed. That dream again?

He had been re-dreaming that event since it had actually happened about two months ago. The worst part, to him, was that Tikal had somehow been pulled out of the emerald with him when he'd managed to Chaos Control out.

The ultimate life form sighed and looked out the window of the dreary motel. He was a wanderer, never in one place for too long. Now that girl, Tikal, was in his position as well. He had no clue, nor did he care, where she was.

Today, of all blasted days, Sonic and his crew of misfits had somehow convinced him to go sit in the cold woods for a few days and eat packing material, better known as "marshmallows" with them. He called it torture, they called it camping.

He grumbled to himself and grabbed his suitcase off the floor. It was off to the pink faker chaser's house to prepare to leave. How they'd talked him into this, he'd never know.