Chloe-Su the Echidna: The Beginning

"Chloe-Su the Echidna: The Beginning" is a short fanfiction detailing how Chloe-Su learns a portion of her origins. Again, this is going to be pretty short.

(Notice: This is not complete!)

Author: Julia Finitevus

Family...

"I don't want to go!" Sixteen year old Chloe-Su shouted irritably through the locked bathroom door. "I wanna be a Guardian!"

Lara-Su let out a rather angry huff and exclaimed, "You're going! This is the biggest night of your life and I don't want you to waste it."

"I know the unveiling is an important event, but I still want to be a Guardian!" Chloe-Su called back.

"Chloe-Su, you know why you can't be a Guardian."

"Because of my powers..." Chloe-Su said quietly, drying some of tears with her glove.

"Exactly," Lara-Su spoke. "Look, you'd make a great Guardian. But you know that because of your powers and your birthmark, you can't be one. And not going to the unveiling isn't going to solve anything. You'll be missing out on a really big part of your life if you don't go."

Chloe-Su came out of the bathroom, a few salty tears still running down her face. "Alright, I'll go..." Then Chloe-Su said, "As long as I don't have to wear a dress to my unveiling." _____________________________________________________________________________________

"And he said-" "But you-" "Oh for Aurora's sake-"

"I hate crowds," Chloe-Su said to her mother, with an expression of pure disgust on her face.

"Your fath-" Lara-Su didn't finish the sentence. "Your father used to be the same way," Lara-Su thought.

"My what?" Chloe-Su asked blankly, adjusting her shirt.

"Nothing," Lara-Su replied. "Go ahead and dance."

Chloe-Su did as she was told, but her mind was still on what Lara-Su was about to say. The lights appeared to dim for a long moment as she pondered. Something was off...

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Chloe-Su lay in bed, but was not asleep. She was too busy thinking about what her mother was going to comment earlier.

Chloe-Su rolled over, reached under her pillow, and pulled out a photograph. It showed a young male Echidna with glasses and red fur. But it wasn't just any Echidna. "Dad... I miss you so..." But Chloe-Su knew that her father didn't hear. He probably wouldn't care anyway, leaving his wife and daughter behind. "Why can't we be a real family...?" 

"Chloe-Su?" A male voice addressed. It was Edmund. "Are you okay?" The male Echidna asked, entering the room and shutting the door softly.

"Yeah... just thinking," Chloe-Su replied. But a tear escaped and Edmund knew right away she told a lie.

"Don't lie to me," the red furred Echidna retorted quietly. "You're not okay. You're crying."

"I was thinking about dad," Chloe-Su responded after a second. That was true enough, but it did not satisfy Edmund.

"Which one?" The red male Echidna asked, sitting on the bed next to Chloe-Su. After Chloe-Su's father disappeared, Lara-Su married Argyle and the couple had Edmund, Chloe-Su's half brother.

"My dad." Chloe-Su frowned as she replied, studying the photo in her hand.

Edmund glanced at the picture in curiosity. "Is that him?"

"Yes... it is."

"I wonder what he's like," Edmund remarked slowly.

"Probably a traitor... a villain... a murderer... mom told me he killed his own parents not long before he left us behind," Chloe-Su told Edmund.

"He what?!"  

"Keep your voice down," Chloe-Su whispered to Edmund fiercely.

"Sorry," Edmund spoke, embarrassed.

Chloe-Su turned over in her bed with her back to Edmund and she hugged the picture close. "No matter what he did... I still love my dad."   _____________________________________________________________________________________

"Chloe-Su!" A voice exclaimed. "Wake up!"

"YOW!" Chloe-Su yelped, sitting up in a flash. "Edmund!"

"You're gonna be late for school again!" Edmund continued. Chloe-Su glanced at the clock. It was seven. Edmund already was out the door, so there was no need to kick him out while she changed.

"Aw, crap!" Chloe-Su grabbed yesterday's clothing and slapped it on hastily. When she was finished, the violet female Echidna ran down the stairs and grabbed her toast, planning on eating it along the way. _____________________________________________________________________________________

"Chloe-Su!" The teacher scolded, irritated. "Pay attention, please!"

Chloe-Su snapped out of her long train of thought. "Sorry, Teacher Stork."

"Well then, stop going into la la land!" The stork teacher replied, irritated.

Chloe-Su nodded in reply, but her mind soon went back to her father. "Why did he leave?... Maybe I'm missing something. I'll ask Great Uncle Dimitri what really happened. I have feeling that mom never told me the real story..." With Chloe-Su's decision clear to her, she paid close attention to the rest of the lecture.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"Great Uncle Dimitri?" Chloe-Su addressed softly, entering the house.

"Chloe-Su!" Dimitri exclaimed. "Again with showing up unannounced!"

"Sorry, Uncle. I just... there's something I need to know," Chloe-Su replied, closing the house door behind her.

"What is it?" Dimitri asked, impatient.

"What really happened to my father?" Chloe-Su asked. "Mom said that he left because of a disagreement, but that's not true, is it?"

Dimitri let out a sigh. "No... it's not. Alright. It's high time you knew anyway." Dimitri took a breath and continued, "Your father was a former scientist from Albion and a very good man, but on the night of Lela-Le's unveiling, everything changed for all of us... there was a sniper sent by the New Dark Legion... he was sent to kill both your mother and father. But when he fired... something happened. Your father originally had Chaos abilities, but they were unnatural. They had been removed six years before the incident happened and he was able to live a normal life... until then. The blast that came out was Chaos Energy. It hit your father and he regained his Chaos Powers... but at the cost of his own judgment."

"What happened next?" Chloe-Su asked.

"Later, he escaped from the hospital and was captured by the New Dark Legion and..." Dimitri hesitated for a moment.

"Well?" Chloe-Su said. "What did they do to him?"

"They turned him into Enerjak... he took his own parents' Cores, turned them into Prelates... and tried to kill your mother Lara-Su..."

"No... no..." Chloe-Su suddenly felt her heart break.

"Your mother had to use her Chaos Powers to send your father to another dimension," Dimitri finished sadly. "I'm sorry..."

"Tell me it's not true!" Chloe-Su pleaded. "That my father wasn't Enerjak... that he didn't kill his parents, my grandparents just for their Cores!..."

"I won't lie to you, Chloe-Su. It's true." This only made Chloe-Su feel even worse than before.

"Uncle...?" Chloe-Su asked. "Who is my father?"

"It won't help you to know. And it's probably for the best."

Truth to be Hidden

Chloe-Su sat on her bed, pondering. "He can't be Enerjak... could he?... Stranger things have happened here on Mobius lately..." Chloe-Su took out her journal and started writing in it.

Dear Journal,

I don't know what to do. If what Great Uncle Dimitri says is true then... I don't know. I just want dad back. I just want things to change. I want my grandparents back... speaking of grandparents, my grandpa Knuckles might have more information about what happened but... he probably won't even tell me. Everyone is so secretive. So... protecting of their little secrets. I don't want to be lied to, no matter what. It's just not fair. But they don't seem to realise that.

Chloe-Su the Echidna

______________________________________________________________________________________

"Mom?" Chloe-Su asked Lara-Su at dinner. "What was dad like?"

There was a complete silence at the table.

"Chloe-Su..." Lara-Su spoke warningly, "don't you ever mention your father ever again. You know what he did."

Chloe-Su hesitated, then nodded. She decided not to tell her mother what she knew.

_______________________________________________________________________________

It was cold outside and a breeze was blowing, but Chloe-Su didn't feel it. She was using her astral projection ability.  

"I hate having to do this... it always unnerves me," Chloe-Su thought to herself. "It feels... unnatural."

Chloe-Su stood there, wondering whether or not she should turn back. "No... I'll keep going. Tikal will be happy to see me, anyway."

The moon usually held Chloe-Su's attention when she would be outside at night, but this time it seemed to lose its pear-like luster. The stars appeared to be much dimmer than normal, as though they seemed to have sunk into a deep, inescapable depression.

"Chloe-Su?" A feminine voice behind her asked. Chloe-Su turned to see Tikal.

"Tikal... I need to talk to you about something," Chloe-Su responded after a moment.

"Come inside, first. It's very cold out here. Although, you probably don't even feel it..." The older female's wrinkles seemed to be deeper than ever.

Chloe-Su simply nodded, but entered Tikal's house anyway, knowing full well she never liked the cold.

"So what brought you here?" Tikal asked quietly. In a nearby fireplace crackled a welcoming flame, which the reddish orange female Echidna stood to warm herself.

"It's about my... my father," Chloe-Su replied after a second of hesitation.

"Which one? Your step-dad, or...?" Tikal didn't finish.

"My biological dad."

After she no longer felt the cold, Tikal sat down in a chair slowly before responding. "Your father... he had a dark past. But your mother loved him very much, despite his faults. Until..."

"Until Enerjak," Chloe-Su finished for Tikal.

The reddish orange female Echidna nodded. "None of us knew if he was turned into Enerjak against his will or if he did it willingly. It was one of the worst days of your mother's life. She had to seal him away in an alternate dimension for Mobius's safety... for your safety."

"But...?"

"I think she could have done it a different way," Tikal spoke.

"What do you mean?" Chloe-Su asked blankly. "Aurora told mom-"

"Aurora has lied before. She probably told her that it was the only way because your father might have had a greater purpose," Tikal responded. "She lied to Knuckles. She can lie again."

"You mean... Aurora separated my mother and I from my father because of destiny?!" Chloe-Su exclaimed angrily.

"Possibly," Tikal replied.

Chloe-Su cursed after that, much to Tikal's chagrin.

"Chloe-Su, you shouldn't be saying such things about Aurora. She works very hard to keep us safe," Tikal spoke, frowning in deep disapproval.

"Keep us safe?!" Chloe-Su repeated angrily. "Keep us safe?! If she even cared, she'd have found another solution to the Enerjak problem!"

"Chloe-Su..." Tikal shook her head sadly. "It's probably for the best that she didn't."

___________________________________________________________________________________

Chloe-Su lay in bed, but she was still wide awake. And random thoughts were running through her head, making most of her thoughts incoherent. "Enerjak... Albion... Aurora... Cores... just... insanity... plain insanity..." Chloe-Su turned over in bed, still thinking, this time a little more coherently. Would she ever meet her father? It seemed so unlikely that the mere thought of having hope for that was laughable. But her thinking became more clear after a moment, and raised a question. "Why...? Enerjak would have turned on the New Dark Legion as soon as he took down the Kingdom of Acorn... the tyrant Shadow had to have known that... right?" Chloe-Su shook her head. She'd have to save her questions for the morning. After all, she had all the time in the world.

___________________________________________________________________________________

"No!" Shadow practically screamed at Lien-Da. "I will not be defeated now, not when I'm so close!"

"Your Majesty," Lien-Da spoke, not even flinching at this, "The Guardian has been keeping the New Dark Legion at bay for the past ten years without the help of her idiot husband or her particularly infuriating daughter. We can't keep going like this."

"I don't care!! The next plan had better have results!" 

Lien-Da sighed rather tiredly and responded, "Yes, Your Majesty."

"And if it doesn't..." Shadow spoke maliciously, "if it doesn't work... you know what the penalty is..."

Lien-Da gulped worriedly at that. He meant that if it didn't work, her son Rutan would be in danger. "Y-yes sir..."

"One more thing," Shadow spoke. "Do our operatives have the location of our... little interdimensional traveler?"

"Yes sir,"Lien-Da replied, internally shoving down her nervousness. "Orders?"

"Shoot to kill."

I Can't Wait For You...

"Grandpa?" Chloe-Su addressed nervously, stepping into the hospital room. Knuckles had almost total paralysis and could not be moved anywhere outside the room, let alone the hospital. His health was deteriorating slowly, and even his eyes showed it. They once were full of life, but now seemed to make Knuckles hollow inside. As though there was nothing but an empty shell left...

"Chloe-Su," Knuckles responded wearily. "It's been awhile..."

Chloe-Su frowned, putting her hand on Knuckles's shoulder.

"Is it true that my father was once Enerjak? That he took his own parents' Cores and turned them into Prelates...?" Chloe-Su asked in almost a whisper.

"Yes... yes it's true. Who told you?"

"Great Uncle Dimitri."

"Of course he would," Knuckles remarked, coughing. "Lately he's been insisting that there be no secrets in the family, especially about your father."

"Grandpa... who was my father?" Chloe-Su asked, even more quiet.

"I... I don't remember. My memory has gotten so bad, Chloe. I can't even remember how Julie-Su and I got toge-" Knuckles did not finish the sentence.

Chloe-Su felt a wave of despair come over her, but not because she could not learn the identity of her father. It was because of Knuckles's now major memory loss. "It'll only be a year before his memories go completely..."

"Do you remember why they got together?" Chloe-Su asked after a moment.

"The Soultouch, I suppose. Didn't seem like it worked out for Lara-Su and your father, with the way things are now..." Knuckles coughed again and continued with, "And I wouldn't count on being able to find him either. The chances are very unlikely, with inter-universal travel and all..."

Chloe-Su didn't respond for awhile, lost in thought. "I wish you didn't have to be in the hospital... it's not fair..."

"Who's to say life is fair?" Knuckles said tiredly. "I've had Alzheimer's for a long time, Chloe-Su. And my paralysis isn't helping. But this happens all the time..."

"But I don't want to lose you. I've already lost Grandma... and my Great-grandfather... and my dad..."

"I know, Chloe." It seemed as though it took great effort for Knuckles to speak. "But that's the way it is in this world..."

____________________________________________________________________________________

"Is it ready?" Shadow asked Lien-Da, examining the device closely. The ebony Hedgehog spotted a bit of rust and rubbed it off with his thumb. 

"Yes sir." Lien-Da pulled a lever and a loud hum could be heard as the machine drew power. The lights started flickering and the hum became ever so louder.

"Good... good..."

________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Chloe-Su turned in bed fitfully, tugging the covers closer. "Why does Mom always have the thermostat so dang low at night?!" The female Echidna tossed and turned some more before finally throwing the covers off in frustration. "Forget this!"

Chloe-Su's feet touched the cold hardwood floor and she shivered slightly, as if it were ice. She stepped outside her room and went downstairs, the steps creaking slightly as she went. The female Echidna turned up the thermostat, but didn't go back to bed just yet. She had other things on her mind than sleep.

"Why does Grandpa have to be in the hospital? Why can't things be different? I just wish... that I could change the past. But that's impossible." Chloe-Su shook her head sadly. She went in the kitchen and opened the fridge door. "I guess some tea might help a bit." But instead, Chloe-Su made a life changing decision. One that would change it forever.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

"Soon I will be able to finally take back Castle Mobius!" Shadow declared proudly. "Lien-Da! Send the device to Misty-Re! It needs a few touch ups from her chief scientists."

"Sir, what exactly is this device supposed to do?" Lien-Da asked, deeply puzzled. "It's so advanced. What are we using it for?"

"All in good time, Lien-Da." Shadow picked up a dusty old scroll from a cardboard box. "And this, this is the key to it all."

Downunda, Here I Come: Epilogue

Chloe-Su made her decision. The cold breeze swept back her bangs as she ran through the forest, her boots sinking slightly in the mud. She could hear the squishing sounds from her boots hitting the mud as she stumbled, tripped, crawled through the heavily wooded forest. 

She pulled her bag through the brush as it got tangled, sharp burs stuck in her hair, her fur dirty and encrusted with mud. The branches cut into her legs and arms as she made her way through. The darkness was unwelcoming, but the pearly stars that stayed in the sky, as insignificant as they were, gave Chloe-Su hope. Hope for a better future. Hope for a better life. Hope to find what she was looking for.

"I can make it... I can make it... just a little farther!"

~