//------------------------------// // 11: More Emerald Collecting And A Talk With Sage // Story: Spike's Frontier // by dragonfan101 //------------------------------// Spike and Sonic proceeded to run through the island at the high grounds, it was easier to travel because they saw the red beam was not to far away, Spike then decided to fly on ahead and get to the emerald, he managed to have enough vault keys and opened it, the emerald flew into spike's hands as he looked at it with a smile, he looked around to see Sonic wasn't around. out of curiosity he decided to take a little lick of it to see what it tastes like, but all that did was shock his tongue really hard. "Ow! okay no eating these things, got it." Spike said to himself while putting it away, Sonic then caught up with him and walked up to him. "You got it?" Sonic asked. Spike nodded and Sonic smiled. "Great job, let's find more of these portals, there's a couple more nearby" Sonic said as there was one on a nearby platform. Spike nodded and they both headed out to it. They had to fight through some more enemies and guardians to get more gears, but they had a lot of power thanks to the Cyber energy, they eventually came upon another portal, like before the gear opened it and they entered once again. This time though instead of another place Sonic is familiar with they ended up in another digital part of Equestria, Spike looked around and realized it was the Dragon Lands. "Here again huh? this is where i first started this mess" Spike said looking around. "This place familiar to you?" Sonic asked, and Spike nodded in agreement. "This is where my kind live, the Dragon Lands, sure its barren and doesn't have much outside of lava pools some mountains and stuff, but it's still where my kind lives." Spike explained as they looked around. "No offense buddy, but i think your kind needs better skills with renovating homes and stuff" Sonic said looking a little sad by the conditions they live by. "Dragon's don't usually have those things Sonic, they tend to see them as soft and weak, they want to prove that they're strong and tough ,living in caves is all they really need, but i wouldn't by lying if i said i didn't agree that they should have a bit of a better place to live in other than... this" Spike said looking around. Sonic sighed at that. "Let's get going, this place is making me a little uncomfterable" Sonic said starting to run, Spike nodded and followed him afterwards. The way around was familiar to Spike as he had been here a couple times before, Spike and Sonic proceeded to run through the place collecting more rings and red rings in the process, they had to jump across some narrow platforms that were floating over bottomless pits, and move around some loops, it was like taking stuff Sonic's familiar with and put it in Spikes own home. "It feels weird running across all these things in a familiar place" Spike said as they continued. "Yeah, a lot of places we've been to in Cyberspace seem familiar actually, some feel like previous zones i've run across, as well as familiar enemies" Sonic said as he spotted the portal ahead. They ran faster ahead and they exited the digital dimension once again. They returned to the island once again and more vault keys appeared before them, a white and yellow beam were seen in the air again and they looked at eachother. "You think that place is tying into our memories or something? Cause a lot of places we've been in there tie to our past." Spike asked curiously. "it could be, maybe that's why we can enter and leave so freely, we may be covering familiar ground." Sonic suggested and Spike nodded. "Great minds think alike huh?' Spike suggested and Sonic nodded, Spike then got an idea. "Why don't we split up for a bit and get the emeralds? it could help move our work along a lot faster" Spike suggested. "I like the sound of that, you sure you'll be okay on your own though?" Sonic asked worried. "Don't worry, with the strength we have now i'm sure we'll be fine by ourselves for a bit, I'll go get the white emerald, and i'll meet up with you with Knuckles, sound good?" Spike asked. "Sounds good, be careful though it's still dangerous" Sonic said with a little concern. "Don't worry, I'll meet up with you and Knuckles later, be careful yourself!" Spike said before taking off into the air with his wings. "Be safe." Sonic said worried as he went off to the yellow emerald. Spike proceeded to fly across the lands and looked down below at everything, he can only imagine the feeling of seeing stuff so big look so small back at home. "I really hope i can show these off to my friends, they would be really amazed, i hope Ember is alright though." Spike said with worry, he then flew through multiple floating rings that had platforms in the middle, he avoided the Titan all the while, he then ended up near the white emerald again, it was on a cliff near another oasis and had a cyber portal nearby. "It's a lot of running and flying just to get you, let's hope we can defeat that thing." Spike said while holding out his hand, the vault opened once again and the emerald flew to his hand. "4 down 3 to go, let's hope sonic's got his" Spike said while seeing the yellow beam still in the air, but before he took off to it he then heard a voice. "Dragon" a familiar voice said, spike jumped as he turned around. 'Great what are you here for?" Spike asked as he saw Sage in front of him. "I am here to talk." She told him and Spike scoffed at that. "Oh now you wanna talk?" Spike asked annoyed. "It is only you i will speak to, not even my creator knows i am doing this, you are the only one that i can seem to trust" She said and Spike raised his eye. "Your doing this without anyone else knowing?" Spike asked, she nodded with a stern tone, and Spike sighed as he himself wanted to know what's going on. "Alright, what do you want to talk about?" Spike asked looking at her curiously "I am rather curious, i did not foresee you appearing here in any of my simulations, it was only the hedgehog who did, but you were not seen in a single outcome." She told him and Spike looked curious. "Not a single one? That's interesting.." Spike said interested, he then looked at her." Look i don't want to fight you, but if you refuse to tell me what's going on i'll just continue to do the thing you don't want, if you can tell me what's happening , we could help eachother out." Spike offered. "That is what i'm wanting to purpose as well, but that is only if you don't tell the hedgehog or his friends as well, they are listed as enemies and are not allowed to know" She told him with a little anger, Spike sighed, even though he trusted Sonic enough to tell him about these things, they still didn't know what's going on, so if Spike could learn a little more about what's happening, he then looked at her. "Alright i won't tell anyone, that's as long as you don't tell anyone to." Spike said, she nodded in agreement. Spike then spoke up. "Alright, first question, what exactly is happening with this place? it doesn't seem to be normal even with your control over it." Spike asked and she begun to explain. "There is something i am trying to keep at bay, it has a hold on the Titans and the machines here, i had gained this information when i was uploaded into this network." She explained to him, Spike nodded as he figured that was the case. "Okay, but what exactly are you trying to stop? Sonic and I have each handled world ending threats back in our own homes before, so what is so dangerous about this one?" Spike asked. "It is a being of unimaginable power, it is what drove the Ancients to extinction and away from their home" She explained to him and Spike looked worried. "It was able to surpass the Ancients technology? This stuff is more advanced then most stuff here, it's that strong?" Spike asked a little scarred, she nodded with worry as well. "Yes, it is why i am trying to stop you two, if you continue what your doing, you'll unleash it and all will be doomed" She said scarred as well. Spike looked shocked as he's faced multiple huge threats before, but if what she's saying is true then this could be bigger then anything in Equestria. " Isn't there a way we can save Sonic's friends and destroy this being as well?" Spike asked with worry "With the calculations i have seen with the hedgehog no" She said sadly and Spike looked scarred at that." But with you here now, i think there may be a way." She started to explain. "What do you mean?" Spike asked curiously. "I have ran through multiple simulations, and i believe that with your help we can stop this monster" She told him and Spike was interested. "I'm listening, so what's your idea?" Spike asked. "You and the hedgehog can continue to take down the titans, while it will bring it closer to being unleashed, you will gain more strength from the emeralds and the Cyber energy, and i could help find away to give you both more power" She told him. "So, its a way to free Sonic's friends, and destroy these things?" Spike asked and she nodded. "Yes, but you need to know, the more Cyber Energy you absorb, it will corrupt you, and unless there's a way to restore it, your bodies will be stuck in between dimensions" She warned him. Spike thought it over, on the one hand it's a chance to save Sonic's friends and save this place, but on the other it runs the risk of them being lost without a way to come back. But Spike loved his family and wasn't wanting them to be harmed, he then looked at her. "It sounds like a plan, We'll keep this to ourselves and keep taking them down, let's agree to pretend to not have talked about this in front of the others, we both do our work and we can save the ones we love" Spike explained. "That is a logical decision, we should get to work on it then, thank you for agreeing to this" She said as she turned blue for just a second. "Just be careful of the corruption, it will spread if you absorb to much." She said with worry. "Don't worry, we'll pull through this, thank you for letting me know." Spike said with a smile and she returned it surprisingly "Hey i'm glad you could at least tell me this, we never properly introduced each other, my name's Spike" Spike said holding out his hand, she was reluctant at first but soon realized that it was best they be on both good terms. "Sage, thank you for this help Spike" She said gratefully. "Your welcome Sage, I better get back to my friend, let's both agree to do our parts and keep them secret" Spike told her. "Agreed, be careful Spike." She told him. "You too Sage, be careful as well" Spike said with a smile before taking off and she was left alone. "With you here, we could stand a chance against it," Sage said with a smile while turning blue again for a moment, but she then remembered something she detected. " But you have a similar signature to another one inside Cyberspace though, i haven't found it yet, but your DNA structure is the same, i hope we can figure this out, i wonder what it is?." Sage said with concern, she then decided to go away and do her part and teleported away.