Roleplay: Welcome to the Ether Forest (Free Join)

Overview
Rumors have spread about a mysterious forest filled with strange flora, paranormal activity, and brimming with strange energy. This is the Ether Forest, home to the Magic spirits and their guardian... Will your character brave this new terrain? What will they find, and what will they do...?

Rules

 * 1. Standard roleplaying ettiquete applies. No godmodding, powerplaying, autohitting, killing characters without permission, etc.
 * 2.Keep it PG-13. No sex, no excessive cussing. Crap, damn, and hell are acceptable.
 * 3. Please, put some effort into your posts. Novel format if possible.
 * (Example: "Oh, hello Sonic! How's your day?" Tails asked. "Not bad..." Sonic replied.)
 * 4.Have fun!

Participants

 * Lunari64 (Owner)
 * Joshua the Hedgehog (Participant)
 * Jared (Participant.)
 * vitom
 * NTH (Participant)
 * Josh the Hedgehog (Participant)
 * DeathstroketheHedgehog (Participant)
 * RedRush3999 (Participant)
 * Enervar (Participant)

Heroes
(Those who want to protect the Ether Forest from any evildoers.)
 * Io the Cat (Lunari64) (A cat controlled by two Magic Spirits. She protects the Ether Forest.)
 * Joshua Zephyrius (Josh TH) (He wants to protect the forest for the sake of a friend.)
 * Ruben The Hedgehog (Enervar) (He's teleported to forest and here he will transform his villain self to a hero and protect the forest)

Good Neutral
(Those who want to both protect and explore the forest.)
 * Esme The Hedgecat (RedRush3999) (She records all of the events in her journal while also preventing evil-doers from exploiting or destroying the forest.)
 * Novo the Hedgehog (NTH) (For three reasons: One,he likes traveling and exploring places.Two,he heard of rumors about spirits and the forest's guardian and decides to investigate. Three,he's trying to stop Dr. Conquers from taking over the forest.)
 * Hugh the wolf (vitom) (begins investigating the anomolies to write in a journal but begins to desire to protect it)

Neutral
(Those who only want to explore the Ether Forest, and see what it has to offer.)
 * Amanda (She is a villain, but witches are usually tree huggers. )
 * Magical Grief (Amanda's nephew and sidekick, he's a half-witch who has some really bizzare powers.)
 * Joshua Sentrium Burns (Obvious User is Obvious) (Wants to explore the forest.)
 * Midnight the Mercenary (DeathstroketheHedgehog) (Looking for a Green Chaos Emerald that had fell in the forest {he's a dynamic character, so he will not be Neutral throughout the entire rp})
 * Komerl "Aden" Hedgehog (Will appear later into the story. He is currently sealed his Cosmic Emerald, meditating until something happens....)

Villians
(Those who want to harm or exploit the Ether Forest and it's residents.)
 * Dr. Conquers the Squirrel (Has heard about the rumors of the Ether Forest and seeks to make it part of his empire
 * Vermudegarii (Pursuing Joshua Zephyrius, the chief of the enemy faction in the perspective of the invading Myriad of Regeleim. Will not hesitate to lay the forest in waste if it is in his way of pursuing his enemy.)

Part One
On a foggy, yet warm spring morning, the sun rose over the Ether Forest. From the outside, the forest looked completely normal, but something was strange. Rumors were starting to circulate about what lay in the deepest parts of these woods....

Amanda and Grief (Closed)
Amanda was heading towards the forest while leading her young nephew Grief behind him. The two witches were naturally attracted and intrigued by the mystical energy that filled the land with such an wondrous occult odor that both their highly sensitive magical smelling noses could easily smell.

The two might feel like they're being watched, too.

"Do you feel that, deaire?" Amanda asked the child.

"Yeah! I feel like I'm getting the heebie jeebies!" the child replied.

"Si, best stick close to me, dearie.." She replied back to the child.

Around them, the forest was quite beautiful. The trees were bright and lively, some crawling with vines. The underbrush wasn't too thick, so it was easy to walk through. The two might hear faint whispering. Was someone there?

Both foxes ears perked up naturally as the adult fox put her finger over her mouth to signify for the child to be quiet, while he nodded in response. They kept quiet and both listened in.

"What is going on here?" One voice whispered. "Relax, let's go check." Another replied. The two foxes might smell more of the magic energy- and it was close.

Meanwhile, near the two foxes, something peeked out from the leaves, in the next tree over. It was a spirit, a young girl. She stared a little bit, before waving.

"Uhh, over there." The child said as he tugged unto the cape of the adult fox and she looked in the direction of the spotted girl.

The girl smiled, in a friendly manner. "Hello!" She greeted Amanda and the child.

"Ciao." Amanda replied back

"That means hi." Grief informed.

The spirit girl nodded. "Who are you?" She asked the two of them.

"Amanda Moscati, e mio nepote, Griefan Moscati." The lady replied.

"Call me Grief." The child interupted.

"Si, call him the sadness." The aunt joked as she rubbed his head.

The girl didn't seem to underatand the joke, but smiled nonetheless. "Nice to meet you, my name's Aster!"

"Nice to be meeting you, stella." The adult lady replied.

The two might see not too far away, a group of cabins was occupying a clearing in the woods. They all seemed abandoned and lifeless.

"Look aunt Amanda, a town!" Grief said as he tugged on her cape.

"Si! Perhaps we be going there?" Amanda asked Grief.

"Why not?" Grief replied while nodding his head.

The girl chuckled slightly at this, before leading them to the cabins.

The two followed behind the girl seemingly oblivious to the errie and creepy nature of the town. It was as if the two were used to living in some isolated areas within the woods. Amanda merely grabbed the child's hand and led him behind her as the followed the girl.

The group of cabins was barely even a neighborhood, it was merely a small colony. It only had room for a few families.

The girl seemed right at home among the two, since they were both very comfortable with the atmosphere here. She was starting to wonder why they weren't freaked out by her.

"So, who all lives here?" The young boy fox asked the little girl.

"Nobody, actually; this place was abandoned ages ago. Sometimes we have visitors like you, who stay here for a night or two at a time, but nobody's actually lived here for centuries.

"Who watches over the place?" Grief asked.

"Well, all of us spirits do; mostly, our guardian Io. T-She's super sweet..." The girl explained, awkwardly correcting herself.

"You are the spirit of the forest?" Amanda asked

"Is that like a tree ghost?" Grief asked

"No dearie." Amanda replied.

The girl snickered at Grief's question, meanwhile nodding to Amanda. "Yes indeed, there are many forest spirits here."

"Si, and mio nepote e myself are both witches." Amanda informed them.



(Why, Jared? -Luna)

The girl's face lit up with excitement. "Oh, I see! You'll fit in here great, then. These cabins were home to mystics and mages of the sort, from all over the world."

(Fitting~Jared)

"Muy bene." Amanda said as she grinned rather pleasingly.

"Can I have their stuff?" Grief asked

The girl looked quesrioningly at Grief.

"Well, can I? I need to practice my magic." The child replied.

"Well, there is some tools left behind from the mystics that used to live here, you may use them if you like. There's potions left as well, but nobody dares touch them because they were foolishy left unlabeled." The girl explained, leading them to one of the larger cabins.

"Meaning no touch the potions dearie, you remember what happened last time." The woman said as she stared at the child.

"Heh heh, yeah. Well at least I got some cool powers out of it aunt Amanda." The child replied.

"Luck shouldn't be relied upon dearie, your good fortune can only go so far." She replied back to him.

"Anyways, most of the stuff was left behind in here. Go ahead, explore to your heart's content." The girl told them, leading them to the front door of the cabin.

"Grazie" The lady said as she opened the door.

The spirit waved goodbye, before floating off.

"Arrivderci!" Amanda said

"Bye bye!" Gried said as he waved.

Inside, the house was old looking, and dusty. Nobody had stayed in there for a long time.

"Hmm, this casa could be usin the touch up." Amanda said.

"I'll say!" Grief replied.

They had seemingly walked into a kitchen/dining room, looking mostly bare, except for the table, counter, and cupboards.

"Do not be touching the rotten food deaire, if you are hungry we will find something fresher." The lady replied to the child.

"Okay." Grief replied.

Yet, there wasn't any food left in the house; just the potions, which were in a different room.

"Hmm, go be looking around to find any books we can be using, dearie." Amanda asked her nephew.

"Alright." Grief said as he moved into the other room while Amanda began cleaning.

The other room seemed to be a storage room of sorts, wit all of the left over mystic tools inside. There were staffs, potions and everything to make them (besides the ingredients), a scrying bowl, and, in the corner, some small books in a pile.

"Jackpot!" Grief let out as he smiled.

The staffs looked hand-made from branches, and the books appeared to be about potions, with the one on top being a notebook someone had written about the forest spirits.

"Well this stuff looks harmless. I'm sure aunt Amanda won't  get mad if I just take a look at least." Grief said as he shrugged and proceeded to walk over and open up a book.

It was the notebook, describing the the types of spirits among them, and how they lived their lives.

"Huh? This is about that girl?" Grief said as he began to read it.

Indeed, it was; based on the descriptions, she seemed to be an elemental spirit, perhaps a fire or light spirit.

"A fire and spirit huh? She must be bright." Grief said as he red onwards.

The book also described that there were day and night spirits, each with their own ruler.

"So they're like tribal elementals huh? Hmmm.." Grief said to himself as he read onwards.

There were more than just elemental spirits, too; there were warriors who protected the forest from danger, visionaries who could sense the use of magic anywhere in the forest, messengers who could traverse the forest at top speed, and more still.

"So that's what I've been feeling when aunt Amanda brought us here? Huh, I'd better tell her of this." Grief said as he put down the notes.

Yes, the spirits had been watching him, that's what he had been feeling.

"Hey aunt Amanda! I've found something!" Grief said as he walked into the kitchen that was being touched up by Amanda.

"Si? And what would that being mio nepote?" Amanda asked as she turned and looked at him.

"I've found out that we've been watched by the spirits!" Grief replied.

"Grief, we are witches, we're always being watched by the spirits." Amanda replied as she grinned in a rather amused tone.

"No, I mean the spirits of this forest, they are like a bunch of tribes and they've been watching us like the girl was." Grief replied

"Ah, si si." Amanda said as she shook her head.

Then, they might notice that someone, likely one of the spirits, had left some flowers at the front door for them. How sweet.

"Muy bonita." Amanda said as she saw them and picked them up.

"I guess that means she's friendly right?" Grief asked

"Si" Amanda replied.

The flowers were strange, seemingly a local kind that didn't grow anywhere else.

"Now we shall put these flowers in a vace, with the liquid." Amanda said as she picked them up and gave them a sniff.

The flowers were white, and indeed very fragrant; but, upon looking through the kitchen, there was no vase left in the house.

"Hmmm, that is not good." Amanda said as she turned over and looked.

"What's not good?" Grief asked

"No vace for the flowers." She replied.

There was, however, a short mug, likely for coffee. It might suffice, if they cut the stems short.

"Hmm, I suppose this would be doing." Amanda said as she moved over to a mug and then proceeded to look around for a pair of scissors.

There wasn't a pair of scissors, but there was a knife left behind.

"I'll get that knife aunt Amanda!" The child said as he pointed to it.

"No dearie! That is muy dangerious! I am the adult who shall be handling the sharp objects here si?" Amanda informed.

"Okay..."

The knife was still quite sharp after all this time, and cut the stems with no trouble.

"After a good washing this knife should also be good for cutting the sausage and the salami." Amanda said to herself as she proceeded to cut off the stems of the flowers.

Once they were done, they easily fit into the mug, and they looked and smelled beautiful.

"Muy bonita." Amanda said she she placed the jug in the middle of the room.

"Yeah, I guess." Grief replied.

After a little while, another spirit appeared outside, curious about who was in the cabin.

Joshua (Closed)
Joshua was one of the people who heard of these rumors. He decided to see if this was true. He starts getting his equipment ready, for any potential dangers.

Unbeknownst to him, this forest was actually very calm; very few monsters of the sort lurked around inside.

He begins his journey to the forest. Eventually, he arrives at one part of it.

The air was fresh, and smelled intoxicatingly of fruit. Joshua might get the feeling that he's being watched.

He gets the feeling of being watched. However, he foolishly shrugs it off, as he entered the forest.

As he entered, he might hear the rustling of leaves, as if something was darting between trees.

Hugh wandered the forest in hopes to find at least one thing supernatural. Hugh suddenly heard a noise and ran to it. Seconds later Hugh ran into Joshua. "Hey sorry 'bout that."

Joshua was encountered by Hugh, he is surprised. "Whoa. Where did you come from?"

After waiting for a bit for a response for Hugh, but nothing, He walked off, wandering deeper into the Forest.

When Joshua walked in, he might start to see something strange. On the ground, there were faint, glowing lines, made into patterns. They looked like runes of some sort.

He noticed the glowing line/runes. "...What in the..."

The leaves began to rustle again, when suddenly a face peeked out at him from the branches. It was a teen boy, a ghost like the others.

(Did the Ghost reveal himself to Joshua? Just askin')

(Yep! -Luna)

(Kay's)

He seemed rather watchful around himself once he heard the rustling from the leaves. The fact that the ghost Boy had revealed himself to him, had left him surprised. "....AH."

The boy waved, trying not to laugh. He seemed friendly.

He looked at the boy, slightly waving back, In both confusion and surprised. "Ah... Hi?"

The boy seemed curious about him. "Who are you?"

"My name is Joshua Sentrium Burns. And you would be...?"

"My name's Herb. What brings you here?" Herb asked. He started to walk along, as if asking Joshua to follow.

He followed him. "I heard rumors of this place, I wanted to see it for myself."

Herb smiled. "That's neat!"

"Indeed." He replied.

Herb led him to the same river where Hugh was, though much further downstream. More spirits were there, happily gpojg about their day.

He noticed the spirits at the river. He immediately took an interest in them. "Hm... Interesting."

Herb snickered. A few more child spirits came to see him, looking at him curiously.

He noticed the chat spirits approach him. "Um... Hi." His Military Equipment (I.E, his Plasma Rifle, Sword Handle, and Jetpack, along with his BFT-HUD) could been seen, btw.

Some of the children stared at his equipment, and backed away skittishly. Others began to float towards where Hugh was.

He tilted his head slightly when some of them backed away. "Is something wrong?"

They shook their heads no, before joining the others going upstream.

He watched as they went upstream. "...I could have sworn that they were afraid something..."

The older spirits were left now, most of them bowing and curtsying politely.

"..Hmm... I see the older ones are still here.. Greetings."

"Greetings!" Many of the spirits waved to him.

He waved slightly back at them. "I am quite curious.. why did the younger ones go ahead upstream when I arrived?"

"I don't know..." One of the ladies responded, trying to spot what they were so excited about. "Huh. I think there's more guests up there. It may not seem like it now, but we rarely get any visitors from the outside."

He thought: "It appears I might not be the only visitor in this forest... Wait..." He asked the lady "Why is it that this forest doesn't get alot of visitors?"

"Very few people know about this forest... or so we thought. It seems like more people are learning about this place lately..." The woman answered.

"I see.... I assume that would be a... Well, not bad, or good thing."

"Exactly. Fortunately, most of the people coming in have been quite friendly." The woman agreed.

"That is a good thing. Let us hope that no one with bad intentions arrives at this forest."

"Thank you..."

"Mhm... Wait, has been past instances where people with bad intentions arrive? And if so, has anyone guarded the forest in its defense?"

The spirit nodded, though she didn't seem to want to talk about it. "Io guarded this forest, fortunately."

"I see... who is this individual named, Io?"

"She's... strange. Back when the mystics lived here, he tried to summon one pf the spirits. He made a mistake with his spell, and instead he gave her flesh. Io's been that way ever since." The woman explained.

"Hm... that is strange.. who is this 'he' that you are referring to?"

"Oh, my bad. One of the mystics, one of their boys. I don't remember his name.... but he was just a young man when that happened."

"Ah.." He went silent, as he has nothing else to say.

The spirits watched the children, laughing occasionally, and some went back to gossiping amongst themselves.

"Well. I wish everyone good fortune." He proceeded to walk away, wanting to explore more of the Forest.

"Bye! You too!" The spirits said, waving goodbye.

He waved goodbye as he departed.

As he continued, he might find a tree bearing a strange fruit. The fruit was shaped like a pear, but had a thick mango-colored peel.

He found the tree with the strange fruit. However, he avoided eating it, Incase if it was poisonous. He did however, pick the fruit off the tree, to have Jkirkian Scientists research it, when he is done with his trip. Unfortunately, he didn't think to bring anything to contain the fruit in (Like a Bag, and stuff like that), so he had to carry it in his hands.

The fruit was actually quite fragrant.

He still kept it in his hands, nonetheless. He kept exploring the forest.

Novo (Closed)
Novo stands on a tree branch and closes his eyes to focus sensing on whatever mysterious force is ahead.

"This energy is unlike any other chakra I sensed...just what is this...?"

(Sorry for the wait reply, everyone. o3o')

(Np, sorry for mine ^^;- Luna)

The energy he was sensing was very balanced and delicate, very peculiar.

Esme (Closed)
Esme is lying in a tree, writing in her journal just outside of a mysterious waterfall.

Esme might soon hear leaves rustling higher up in the tree. It sounded like something was up there...

Esme is suddenly hearing rustling on top of the trees. "Huh? What is...that?" she replied, a little nervous.

Esme might see... something dart from branch to branch. It was hard to tell what it was.

"Uh, someone t-there?" she asks meekly as she sits up.

Then, two people poked their heads out from the leaves, to look at Esme. They were both spirits, two girls. "Hello!"

Esme is at first a little startled but is then relieved when she sees the two girls. "H-Hello there...Um....Pardon me....But, a-are y-you two spirits?" she asks with a shy look on her face.

The two both nod. They look similar, almost like twins. "What's your name?" One of them asked.

"Esme The Hedgecat...." she responds with a meek but cheerful tone in her voice.

Hugh (Closed)
Hugh wandered the forest in hopes to find at least one thing supernatural. Hugh suddenly heard a noise and ran to it. Seconds later Hugh ran into Joshua. "Hey sorry 'bout that."

Joshua was encountered by Hugh, he is surprised. "Whoa. Where did you come from?"

After waiting for a bit for a response for Hugh, but nothing, He walked off, wandering deeper into the Forest.

Hugh quietly pulled out his journal as soon as he saw the creature in hopes of observing it and coming up with a name. But quickly he tripped on a tree stumps and landed in a river in front of Esme.

The river was shallow, and rocky. Spirits were all over the place; some of the children were hovering over him, curiously.

"Hmmm interesting," Hugh suddenly grabbed his journal on the banks of a river and wrote in it. "What are these creatures?" Quickly Hugh fell uncaucious.

An elder spirit came over to Hugh, and shooed away the children. He knelt down next to him, and drew a healing rune in an attempt to wake him up.

Hugh slowly opened his eyes. "What the, whats going on?" The wolf asked.

The spirit sighed in relief. "I think you passed out, lad. Don't worry, we won't bite. What's your name?"

"Hugh Maximoff the wolf, I came here to study the supernatural." Hugh replied.

The spirit chuckled at this. "Well, you came to the right place. My name's Adam."

"Nice to meet you but I have to go."' The wolf said walking away

"I see. Well, have fun!" Adam replied.

Hugh ran to Esme. "Hey Es," Hugh said.

Midnight(Closed)
"The energy is getting more powerful here," Midnight said to himself. "The emerald has to be well deep into this forest. It's energy, however, seems... off. Maybe it's because I haven't slept for a couple of days."

Midnight continued on through the forest, casually jumping off of the sides of the trees with his feet as he reached the center. Then his eye-patch showed an individual perched in a tree. This individual seemed like some type of ninja to Midnight. He stood there, seemingly looking into nothing.

Or is he sensing the energy as I can? He thought. He didn't plan on losing the possible Chaos Emerald to him, so he kept watch over this ninja, and teleported in a taller tree right above him.

Midnight's soul-detecting eye patch begins showing a lot more souls in the vicinity, though they were all very strange. ''What was going on here? This is nothing like the other emeralds at all.''

Midnight looked over at the ninja for a brief moment. I'll be back for you later, he said to himself before letting curiosity show him who these individuals were.

The souls were scattered throughout the forest, "ghosts" if you will. They were all different, boys and girls, of all different species and ages.

Midnight stood there, slightly frustrated that he could not look at these spirits with awe, as he has seen crazier things before. Then an idea popped into his head. Maybe these things could help me find the emerald, but first I need make my presence known. He walked into an open area of the forest, where most if not all the spirits could see him.

And, most of the spirits did see him, though the one who came out of hiding was a bit... different. A living cat stepped out of the underbrush, curiously staring at Midnight with her heterochromic eyes. Now, his eye patch would be showing him something even stranger; two spirits, superimposed one over the other. "Hello..." She greeted him, seeming cautious.

Midnight, eyed this cat suspiciously, confused at what he was seeing.

It can't be an error in my patch, it has the power of Chaos that makes it work... just who exactly are... they? Midnight took a defensive position, but in such a way that it would appear to the average creature would assume he just shifted his weight.

"I need your help," he said to the cat..or cats, while casually placing his left hand over his blaster.

The girl seemed to perk up slightly at this. "Oh? With what?" She asked. She seemed friendly, and peaceful, though she was holding a wooden staff.

Midnight decided not to reveal too much of his plan. "I'm looking for a green gem. I've dropped it somewhere in this forest, and it is very important to me." He watched the staff and the girl, trying to identify the use of the staff as either a third leg or a weapon.

"A green gem...? Alright. I can help with that." The girl replied, in a friendly manner. She didn't lean on her staff at all, so it wasn't a third leg or cane of any sort. "My name is Io, by the way."

This person could be useful... best to play along and hold on to her until I get the emerald, he thought in his head. "Just call me Midnight. Now about that gem..." He sensed the area of chaos energy, and felt that odd yet strong source of energy. "I think it landed somewhere further in that direction," he pointed out.

Io nodded, before letting out a loud whistle, summoning a few other spirits to her side. She quickly gave them directions, before sending them off to scout ahead.

This is working out easier than I expected, Midnight said, lowering his guard and dropping his hand of the pistol. He proceeded to follow Io.

Without another word, Io took off to join the search.

Midnight felt a shift in this chaos energy. ''This HAS to be something worth it, Chaos Emerald or not... However, with these spirits around here, I'm betting this energy is actually something greater... but I can't ask the cat directly, or she'll suspect something.''

"Io, just wondering," he started off, "how long have you been in this forest?"

"This forest? This my home, I've been here my whole life." She explained.

"Is that so?" he exclaimed. This is just perfect. " Well then, have you ever been in the center of the woods before? I've always wanted to see what was there."

"Why, of course. W--I go there all the time." Io responded, calmly, though strangely correcting herself.

Was she about to say "We?" Midnight focused on his eye patch again, and he saw the two souls. Something is up here... I don't know if I should trust her... them... to take me to the emerald. He sensed the area for Chaos energy, and it was getting stronger, so they were reaching whatever was there.'' But the question still remains. Trust her, or not? I'll play along just a bit longer, and snatch the emerald as soon as I can. Something is off here.'' The group finally reached the center of the forest, and Midnight saw...

A large clearing, absolutely covered with glowing runes, and giant plants. Io knelt down, her head bowed. "Miladies? I bring a guest."

I should've expected this coming... better pay my respects before I cause something bad to happen. He bowed down towards Miladies, greeted them, and then he looked up to her with his eye patch and saw two ladies there, both spirits, dressed in very regal attire. They both smiled at the sight of new guests. "Oh, hello darlings." One of them, a fox with angelic wings, greeted them.

"Hello to you as well. This is a beautiful forest you all live in." The outside expression of Midnight was welcoming, aside from the equipment, but on the inside, he was seconds from lashing out from impatience. I don't have time for this, I am too close to this chaos energy to lose it by chatting with these ghosts! He decided to look around for anything glowing, but most of the runes and plants were in the way. He decided to take a different approach.

"I would like to know more about this place while I'm here. Is it okay that I may be showed around?"

"Why, of course! It seems that Io here is already helping with that." The other lady answered, a raven. Then, a couple of the spirits that Io had sent out to search came back, one of them holding the green Chaos Emerald. He bowed to the two mistresses, before proceeding over to Midnight.

Perfect, Midnight thought.'' Once I get my hands on this thing, I need to find a way to leave that is not suspicious, and then I can finally gain all the Chaos Emeralds. Still... these spirits have a lot more than they are letting on. I could possibly find out what was with all that strange Chaos Energy if I probe them enough... maybe take it for myself...''

He began marching towards the spirit with the emerald, and the spirit handed it to him, smiling.

"Thank you, darling." Io said, warmly, before the spirit waved goodbye and floated off.

''One problem solved, and now that I hold this emerald in my hand, I can see that the emerald's energy is normal. I must've confused it for something near the emerald. But what?''

Midnight called back to the spirit. "Thank you for helping me find my gem! Say, do you remember were you had found my gem?"

The spirit boy stopped and thought. "No, I don't. Sorry."

Damn, so close. Then Midnight remembered about the ninja he had seen a while ago. ''Maybe he may be looking for the same thing... but where is he now...''

Novo(Closed)
The ninja-hog opens his eyes and leaps from tree to tree in search for something.

"...now,where's that Genesect Drone...?" he says silently to himself.

Spirits spotted him, and waved as he passed, but did nothing to stop him.

As he was continuously leaping from tree to tree,he then sensed the same peculiar energy coming from the same direction. Curious,he decides to take a detour and sees a gray hedgehog with a chaos emerald after having a conversation with what looked like a spirit.

"...What does he want with a Chaos Emerald...?" he thought.

Midnight and Novo(Closed)
A spirit floated up to Novo, looking him directly in the eyes. This caught the regal ladies' attention. "Oh? What is it- More guests! Please, come here dear, what's your name?" The fox, Lady Tempest, asked invitingly.

Midnight looked over, and realized that the hedgehog he sought for was right there. This actually took him off guard, but he quickly regained it and slowly put his hand over his pistol in case this blue hedgehog struck. Then he remembered... ''My parents were killed by a stealthy blue hedgehog... could this be him? He seems too young, and the blue is more russian blue than navy blue, but then again, the enhancement experiment makes me look young and change my fur greyish as well. I need more proof that he is the ninja I think he is before acting.''

Midnight began walking towards Novo.

Novo then shifted his attention towards the spirit, and asked, "Can I help you?" Then he noticed the Vixen's(she-fox) and the gray hedgehog's attention were on him as well.

" or...help you all...?

As Midnight approached Novo, his anger about his parent's death clouded his judgement once again. He didn't take in the fact that the assailant shot his parents to death, and that Novo had no normal gun on him. He saw the clothing of Novo was similar to the killer, and how his pose and body represented a a person with experience with battle. He took in his gear, then look at his face again. It's him, Midnight thought, it HAS to be him this time. I'll pummel this bastard into the ground! Midnight grabbed his hand on the pistol, trigger finger ready, and was about to pull it out of its holster.

Novo,apparently seeing the hedgehog's hand on the gun,raised his hands in a calm and defensive manner.

"Whoa pal,let's not immediately go into violence. I don't know who you are and you don't know who I am,so it wouldn't make sense to just attack one another. Let's just relax..."

Midnight hesitated. ''I confused the assailant for Sonic once. Could this be another incident?'' The gun shook in his hand for just a second...

...Then his thoughts reached a conclusion...

No! Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice! As he pointed the gun towards Novo with astounding speed, he faltered. ''Still... could this truly be him?''

Io threw herself between Novo and Midnight, hoping to keep this from becoming violent. "Wait! What's going on here?" She asked both of them.

Midnight muttered under his breath. "Bastard... I'll kill you..." His eyes stared at Novo as if they were staring into his soul... which is actually true.

Novo then sighed at the current situation and replied. "Look, whoever this 'bastard' is that did this to you wasn't me. And I have something to ask to all of you..." he said requiring attention from Io,Midnight,Tempest, and the spirits that gathered. "...have any of you seen a red-eyed robot around here that had a cannon on its back?"

Midnight, still hesitant, kept the gun pointed at Novo but did't fire. He flicked his eyes to Io, expecting an answer from her since he hasn't seen anything like it.

Io would answer Novo later; right now she had to make sure nobody got hurt. "Wait, Midnight! Please, what is the reason for this?" Io asked, pleadingly, making sure that she was between Novo and that gun.

Midnight hesitated again, this time the gun noticeably shaking in his hand and faltering. After a moment of silence like this, Midnight said quietly with a reluctant tone, "Io, I'm going to say it once... get out of the way."

Io shook her head, noticing his resistance. "See, you don't want to do this either. There will be no violence on these grounds, so please just put it away."

"If you don't move, I'll have to kill you with him."

"But why? Why must a life be forfeit? Would it make you feel better, or will it haunt you for the rest of your life? I insist- put. Down. The weapon." Io ordered.

"Would it haunt me? If killing haunted me, my day dreams would be day-nightmares." Midnight stared at the cat for a few more seconds. Eventually, Midnight finally calmed down before finally putting the gun in its holster. "And by a life, you mean two lives, don't you? Or should I say don't you all?"

Io slowly nodded, relieved that the gun was put away. "Indeed."

"You want me to start talking? You start first. Who are you? What are you?"

Io looked up at him, her heterochromic eyes fixated. "We are Io. We are two spirits given life. We are trapped, working together to get anything accomplished. We are the protectors of these sacred grounds."

Midnight relaxed a bit, but was still tensed up about the situation, and refuses to look at Novo. "There's nothing sacred here but a bunch of dead tree hippies. This doesn't explain why you hid the fact that you are a 'we'."

Io sighed. "Maybe so. We usually act as one around outsiders, so that was merely force of habit."

Midnight glanced at the emerald. In the very end, this was why he was here, but the possibility that Novo is the killer is still there. Midnight easily faked the nice personality. Who says he couldn't possibly be faking it as well? "Either way, I got what I wanted, and it seems that I can't trust anyone here..." he glared at Io, then to Novo. "We aren't done. Consider our meeting postponed." He picked up the emerald and was about to use Chaos Control.

Io sighed in relief, before her superiors broke the silence. "Io..." The other royal, Selene, started. "There has been a strange surge of visitors as of late. I want you to introduce yourselves to them. The visionaries told me that the closest one is an overlander with green hair, off in that direction. Now go." Selene explained, pointing Io in the right direction. Io bowed her head, and took off without another word.

Midnight took one last glance at Novo. If I have to destroy the forest to get you, I will. "CHAOS CONTROL!" In reality, he teleported to a far away mountain that still had sight of the forest. A s far as everyone could initially see, Midnight was gone.

Novo then sighed again and turned away.

"Welp, looks like no one seen 'em yet. Best get going..." he then lifts his two fingers as he shrouds in a tornado and disappears.

(I apologize for the late reply...again)

Hugh, Esme, and Midnight (Closed)
"Nice to meet you!" The spirits responded in sync, before they noticed Hugh. "Huh? Who's that?"

Esme turned to see Hugh and waved to him as she then wrote in her journal. "Oh, hey Hugh! Long time, no see!"

"Seems you encountered the forest spirits." Hugh said.

The twin girls waved to Hugh before dissapearing higher into the tree.

Hugh pulled out his journal and wrote a page on forest spirits based on observations.

He might notice that there are many different types of these spirits, all pf which dressed and acted differently.

Esme also decides to write in her journal based on her observations so far.

She then saw something glowing with a small white column of light into the distance and her eyes widened. "Wait, what is that?" she thinks to herself and she jumps up, a little startled.

(Wait, what was that supposed to be? Midnight's Chaos Control?)

(Yep! XD)

The spirit twins were still above them, and watched the sight with intrigue.

Esme then decides to walk over towards the column of light. "I wonder what happened...Hmm...Wait a second!" she thinks in alarm as she pulls out Komerl's Cosmic Emerald as it reacts to the area.

The energy from the pillar of light was chaos energy for sure, but the energy all around them wasn't quite the same...

Esme decides to then head over to the area with the pillar of light until the emerald starts to also be engulved in a light blue light, causing Komerl to pop out.

More spirits were nearby, and they seemed shocked by Komerl's sudden appearance.

Somewhere off in the distance, Midnight had changed up his regular suit of gear.

I'll make sure this guy won't be able to hide in the forest, he thought as he made sure the flammable liquid for his flamethrower was full. With the power of Chaos added to it, it could possibly even have the chance to burn spirits, but one thing's for sure, this forest will burn. He checked his napalm grenades, then grabbed a few proximity mines before leaving.

''As far as I know from my memory, this guy is fast. I'm not taking any chances. With my Chaos Cape, I can have a better advantage for that speed, he said as he put it on. With the emergency ice grenades on my side as well, this should be enough to last against the forest''. Midnight then proceeded to placing down traps in the forest, hiding the green emerald in a secret location. Using his cape, he teleported back to the forest planting traps in various locations, only to suddenly realize that more souls were in the area than expected.

Spirits quickly noticed these traps, and started to inspect them to see if there was any way to get rid of them. Unfortunately, the majority of the spirits couldn't interact with physical objects, and the ones that could were too afraid to tamper with the mines. If the trees here were destroyed, many of the spirits would be killed as well.

Midnight analyzed the situation, covering himself with his cape to go completely invisible. Damn, I knew I had thought this out too quickly. If they warn the people who are actually living that can trigger the mines, this will cause problems. He took a moment to think this out....

... If that happens, I'll just resort to incinerating them all with hellfire. He continued on, looking for Novo while watching the Esme and Hugh, making sure they don't find out anything too soon.

The spirits seemed to figure out a plan. One of them let out a loud whistle, summoning more, messenger spirits to their side. "Alright, we have a lot of ground to cover." She looked at the spirits one by one, telling them where to go. "Aspen, alert the Ladies, let them know what is happening. Next, Michel, go warn Io, and bring her here. You three, alert any guests in the forest. Get them all out of here. Everyone else, gather every spirit that can make a shield. I have a plan." The messenger spirits all nodded, before disappearing off into the woods.

The whistle had also drew the attention of Midnight, and he eavesdropped on their conversation. ''Guess it's too late to start quiet. The real search for Novo begins.'' The Midnight pulls out a box, flips open a glass lid, and presses a red button.

Joshua Zephyrius (Closed)
All of a sudden, a green-haired man emerged from thin air after a warpdrive sequence. He skid across the grassy field in the midst of the forest's clearing. After he finally stopped, he looked around to see where he is.

"Hmm," he mouthed. "It seems there was an interference in the sequence." He took a better look around him. The healthy trees, the dancing grass, and the soothing sound of the winds captured his attention. "Nevertheless, I shall stay awhile. Speaking of which, this area is awfully familiar..."

A few spirits were hiding in the trees, watching him carefully, until suddenly something rustled in the underbrush nearby. A short figure was there, a mobian cat.

Becoming aware of the ethereal presence around him, he felt a slight sense of nostalgia. When he heard the rustle, he turned to the underbush in reflex. Coincidentally, his glowing cyan eyes sighted the Mobian cat in first glance. His eyes widened slightly, as if he had met such an entity behind him.

"Hello?" The cat greeted him, in a rather shy manner.

Part 3
Screams erupted throughout the forest, as the blazing fire was starting to spread. The spirits were in pain. All of these spirits were connected to the forest, so if the trees and flora died, so did they.

Amanda and Grief (Closed)
"Uhhh, aunt Amanda! W-we have a problem!" Grief said as he rushed into the room.

"What is it, dearie?" She asked.

"The forest is on fire!" Grief exclaimed

"Merda!" She let out as she rushed to see what was happening.

Indeed, the forest was burning, but it didn't seem to be spreading towards the cabins just yet. The spirit thst had come to see them had collapsed, in pain.

"What's happening?!?" Amanda asked as she helped up the spirit.

"Forest... burning... please, get out of here..." The spirit choked out.

"What do we do aunt Amanda?"

"Dearie, it is being the time to use powers of yours." Amanda told him.

"You don't mean?"

"Si, become the giant."

The spirit passed out, before fading away.

"She's gone..." Grief replied in shock.

"si, and more will join her if we don't hurry!"

Both of them proceeded to exit the cabin, as Grief did he grew giant and then Amanda turned into a dragon. She flew up while Grief, grew up. Both of them then proceeded to scan around the forest for the fire.

But, just as they started looming around, they would have felt raindrops; the rain picked up, quickly extinguishing most of the normal flames. Still, there was a hit left, Midnight's chaos flames, which were unaffected.

"Dearie, be putting out flame over there!" The now dragon with a female voice ordered the now giant child.

"Right!" The giant kid said as he stomped towards the last patch of land.

Before he could get there, the chaos flames were put out by Midnight's ice bombs.

Hugh, Komerl and Esme
Esme seems to be a little surprised when Komerl suddenly appeared in a flash of light from the emerald.

Komerl then greeted her by saying, "Hey...." with a friendly and bright grin.

Esme then asked him with a small blush, "Wait, what are you d-doing here? I-I thought you...supposed t-to w-wake up..."

"Until the month is up?" he says, finishing up the question and pats his quills down. "Yeah, with all of the energy I sensed earlier, I guess I woke up sooner than usual."

Komerl then suddenly sensed Midnight's chaos energy and was a little worried when he saw the fire blazing nearby.

"Esme, I think you should hide....I sensed someone else and I don't think he's friendly...." he says to Esme as he starts to absorb all of flames. He then lightly kisses Esme on the cheek as he then gestures for her to hide.

He then wonders where Hugh is.

Seeing Komerl's selfless help, the spirits were happy to lead Esme away from danger, with what little strength they had left.

Shrugging off the thought, he decides to help the spirits seeing as they were helping him.

Komerl then uses the full extent of his pyrokenesis to absorb the flames around the surrounding areas that were burning.

However, he fell into an unconscious state due to overexerting his body.

Seeing this, more spirits took Komerl away with Esme, so they could get a healer for him. They were all shouting for a healer as the party of spirits left the forest, and went out into the grassy areas outside.

Esme seems to look at Komerl with concern as she just went along with the spirits to find a healer.

"Come on, wake up....."

Meanwhile, Komerl seems to be experiencing a vision again as he muttered some words. "Forest.....Fire....Hedgehog.....Ruben......Power.......Fight....No, stop.....No more...."

The spirits listened carefully, some of them in shock. "What's going on?" One of them asked Esme, nervously.

Esme then explains that whenever he is asleep or something is about to happen, he gets visions of what could happen.

"Wow..." The spirits were awestruck.

Komerl was starting to wince a little from the overexertion.

Midnight (Closed)
Midnight saw the spirits all in pain, and it actually shocked him. ''They really are connected to the forest. I could use this as blackmail later on... considering the fact that I don't burn the whole forest down.'' He turned to a shift in the air, and saw a green fellow in the flames, running toward the cat he had seen. ''If Io is there, Novo can't be far. Time to start moving while everyone is distracted.'' He continued on his path.

Water elemental spirits were already starting to fight the flames, but they were barely even containing the large fire. Casually getting under his cape for invisibility, Midnight then ignited those trees with his flamethrower. However, with him holding the flamethrower, the fire became supernatural, and did not require oxygen to burn, rendering water useless. He then proceeded on.

It was a visionary spirit, who was busy trying to pinpoint where the fire was spreading fastest, so the elementals could prioritize. He was moving his hands in specific patterns, and faint glowing strings appeared and dissapeared as he went. The strings were connecting to anything nearby, and eventually one of the strings that appeared connected to Midnight. The spirit turned to look straight at him the split second this happened, apparently knowing he was there.

Impressive, he thought before swinging his sword, launching chaos spears in the direction of the spirit.

The spirit dodged one, only to get hit with another. The spirit screamed in pain, starting to dissolve into nothingness.

Okay Io, thought Midnight, let's start breaking each and every one of your fingers until you tell me where Novo is. He turned left and marched on, entering the very center of the forest, where he had last seen Io.

However, warrior spkrits were blocking the path, seemingly protecting whatever was inside. He might see past them, however, was Lady Tempest, making an extremely large rune.

''I shouldn't continue using to use the chaos flames. I'll end up predictable. Maybe...'' He teleported back to his base for a quick moment, and turned around to realize some fires were disappearing rather quickly (Komerl). ''Hrmm, possibly more spirits. I'll grabbed my gear before heading towards him.'' And he went for his back up gear, his liquid nitrogen grenades, his decoy grenades, and a controller for a piece of stolen technology... and then he looked back at the forest.

Suddenly, a massive rain cloud had formed, dousing the normal flames and leaving only the hellfire to be dealt with. Still, the normal flames did 95% of the burning.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" He yelled. "You know what, screw the controller! I'm controlling this thing HEAD-ON!" He said as he got into the stolen vehicle. With him in control, it was now considered a Chaos Helicopter. Luckily for He headed straight for the center of the forest.

The helicopter would probably be hard to pilot amidst the storm, but it would still work regardless. The spirits didn't seem to have noticed the heli just yet.

''I've never attacked a spirit, and I have no idea if I can. However, it seems that killing the trees kills them in the process. Hopefully, if I'm thinking correctly, killing enough trees will stop those spirit guards.'' Midnight pointed the helicopter to a dense spot in the forest where the fire was last taken out. ''You want to get rid of the fire? Let me help help you''.... and he readied a gun on the helicopter... this was no ordinary conventional weapon...

As Midnight was looking down at the forest, he could probably see that the damage done was severe. Spirits were scattered through the extinguished, but now charred area, looking for any surviving spirits, weeping openly as they mourned their fallen comrades.

This isn't what I wanted, he realized as his judgement cleared up,'' I've done it again. First with Sonic, now with that ninja... I'm hurting people who aren't even defending him to begin with... still, he could be who I'm looking for...''

After some thought, Midnight decided to release this secret weapon later, and landed the helicopter away. Reluctantly, he teleported back to the forest, and used his chaos ice bombs to take out the hellfire.

Midnight, he told himself,'' if you want to find him, you'll find him on foot. I will not repeat the same incident with the Freedom Fighters.'' He took his cape, gone invisible, and walked through the charred forest, shock at how far he had gone from his goal.

As he walked along, he would see and hear the spirits crying, and feel the rain falling on his head. It was a somber scene, without a doubt.

He knew that until he found Novo, what he had done needed to be amended. The first chance he had to fix take responsibility for it was when he crossed the corner, and in the far distance, he saw two souls in one body...

He would also see more people there; a human figure, a hedgehog, and a strange-looking humanoid creature.

Midnight, Amanda, and Grief
Suddenly, Midnight's thoughts were interrupted by a loud stomping sound, and the ground shaking.

What the hell? Midnight turned around and checked his eye patch, only to see a soul of massive size, and another soul that is not the shape of its body. Rather, the shape was that of a dragon.

Oookay... Sensing this as a threat, Midnight drawn out his sword, and was ready to strike if something happened.

Grief proceeded towards the last burning patch of forest, followed in the sky by his aunt Amanda in her dracowitch form. He then proceeded to take a huge breath and then blow at the forest in an attempt to put the fires out.

Meanwhile Amanda flew above and casted a water spell to provide air support to the gigantic child.

Midnight teleported to the top of the canopy to see the giant fox. He was actually impressed that there wasn't just one person on this planet that could increase their size. Midnight was well within their sights now.

"Huh? Who's that?" Grief said as she caught him in his gigantic eyes.

"I don't know, maybe one of spirits?" Amanda replied.

"Maybe." The giant said as he shrugged.

Seeing that the two did not attack, Midnight slightly lowered his sword. He quickly darted over the canopy until he was 30 feet away. His attire was more noticeable now.

"And may I ask who are you?" He yelled.

"I'm Grief!" The giant said loudly.

"E I be Amanda." The dragon said

"We be trying to put out the forest fires to be saving forest spirits." Amanda stated.

How many people were in this forest, he thought to himself. I would've been fighting an entire army by myself... again. He decided to use their bird eye views. "Do you guys see any supernatural flames out there? I need to take out the rest of them."

"They look normal to me." The giant replied.

"Si, I would know if they were not normal flame but supernatural flame." The dragon said an a rather thick Eurishian like accent.

''What? There's no way that the Chaos Flames have disappeared.'' "Do you mind if I can come up and get a view for myself?"

"Uhh, sure." Grief said as the giant nodded.

Midnight ran up the giant within three seconds, and was instantly on Grief's forest. He looked off in the distance.

"Tee hee, tickles." The giant child said as he couldn't help but grin and give out a loud chuckle.

He couldn't see any fire, but he could see dark smoke possibly from still existing fires, and nearly half of the forest charred or completely burnt. Looking further, he could see Io and the people she was with again in his eye patch. He began wondering if Novo was among the crowd. Thinking the Grief and Amanda would try to stop him from coming for Novo, he made up an excuse to leave.

"Well... I guess I should check out the smoke just in case.... thanks for your help!" He said as he prepared to jump off the giant.

"No problem!" Grief said.

"Bene" Amanda replied.

Midnight leaped off and glided over Io's group and landed in a tree nearby.

"Nice landing!" Grief responded with.

"Si!" Amanda replied with.

Joshua Zephyrius (Closed)
Joshua's attention was diverted because he heard the screams around him. He smelled the scent of fire charring the plant life in its path. "Fire?" When he saw that the fire was close to their area, he looked back at Io and hurriedly ran toward her, attempting to take her away from the impending danger.

Io was in pain, like the other spirits, but she also seemed intent on staying. She had to go see if there was a way to stop this.

"Are you all right, milady?" Joshua asked her. He reached out his right hand to her.

Io weakly stumbled into his arms. "No... If this forest dies, we will die with it..."

Joshua closed his eyes for a moment and opened them back. "Worry not, milady," he spoke. "I shall find a way to restore this forest." He carried her to his back with a piggyback ride, seeing there is no choice for him to set her in a more comfortable position. "We shall go to the cabins and take some respite. Afterwards, we will make plans to restore the forest. Yet I sure forgot where they are. Would you mind if you show me the way?"

"The c-cabins aren't far..." Io answered, motioning to Joshua's left. She seemed to be getting a little bit better, now that the fire was being put out by the rain.

"I see, I remember where to go," said to Joshua. He gazed upon the east of his person and attempted to walk towards that direction.

Novo
As he still went off on searching for the Genesect Drone and to no avail,he decides to take a different approach, until the scent of smoke and flames reached his nose.

"Fire,but why here? Unless it's a wildfire or...." his thoughts went back to his encounter with Midnight and his weapon at first glance.

'Judging by his attire and weaponry,mercenaries use anything by means necessary,so that would mean...'

But as he thought about how the incident occurred,he then shifted his thoughts of stopping the fire. He then clasps his hands together and closes his eyes.He focuses on water dripping. As he does this,thick clouds appeared out of the sky and rain began to fall. The rain starts dousing the flames.While rain still continues to fall, Novo then goes back to his regular agenda of finding that Drone,while also thinking of solving this accusation issue once he was done.

The storm seemed to be even stronger, as if someone else had summoned a storm too. The fire went out rather quickly, but many of the spirits' lives had been lost.

Ruben (Closed)
An orange fur hedgehog is on the ground very damaged. He wakes up in the middle of flames. He concentrates and using his robotic arm's powers, he extinguishes the flames around him, falling to the ground from exhaustion. "Where am I?"

He might start to hear distant voices, getting closer. "Hey, there's a survivor! Someone's here!" It sounded like a young boy. The boy came over to Ruben, looking him over. He was a spirit, transparent and ghost-like.

"A spirit...?" He passes out. He has a giant number of wounds and is extremely exhausted.

When Ruben woke up, he was in a grassy area, tended to by more of the spirits. He would notice, he'd been healed by something or someone.

"Hum... Thanks... Who are you? Where am I?"

"My name's Jimmy. This is the Ether Forest!" The boy from earlier responded.

"Well, near it." Another voice responded, an old man. "Just call me Adam. You were pretty beaten up, kiddo, what happened?"

"What happened?" Ruben started to have flashbacks from when he was fighting himself from other dimension. ''"How did I lost?! I killed everyone up until him! My father, my enemies, even my friends!" ''He stands up and shouts. "How could I lose?!" He falls. "I don't understand... Wait... What is the Ether Forest?"

"The Ether Forest is where we live." Jimmy answered.

"I've heard little stories about it when I was a child. Spirits that protected the forest... I never thought it was real..." It was the first time Ruben felt guilt by all the sins he had done. "Wait, if the forest's real, that means Io is too, right?"

"Yes, absolutely." Adam answered.

''"This is it. My childhood dream. I've done so many mistakes in life, so much blood that was on my hands... But I'll correct myself." Ruben stood up. ''"Take me to her, please." "How can a stupid little book inspire me to correct myself? I don't know, but I'll gain true strenght, the one he was talking about. 'Love' was it? Let's find out."

"We would, but we don't know where she is... and we're caught up in a disaster right now." Jimmy explained, gesturing towards the charred swath of forest behind them.

Ruben watched the burned areas. "If I use my Impossible Speed Mode and can extinguish all the flames in seconds, but I'm gonna pass out again..." ''Ruben asked himself if he really wanted to help the forest. He could use the ISM to find Io, talk to her and then it's all ended. But something inside of him shined telling him he needed to save the forest. ''"I'll use my Impossible Speed Mode." He looks to the screen on his robotic arm. "I have time to extinguish all the flames, but then I can't use it for hours, so if the forest starts burning again, I can't help, OK?" Ruben asked Adam.

Then, Ruben might feel a couple raindrops on his head. It started to rain, putting out most of the remaining fire right then and there. "I think we've got it covered, kiddo." Adam replied. "Thanks, though."

"Now, I wanna figure out who started this whole thing. There's no way that fire started by itself, not if it spread so fast..." Jimmy wondered.

"Don't worry, Jimmy. I'm gonna find the bastard who started the fire. But first... Io... I need to find her for a reason... Bye." Ruben turned Super and flew away, landing in a spot of the forest. He was near Hugh, Komerl, Esme and Midnight, as his scanner was sensing. "People... High powered... I don't have time for this. Wait! What if someone in this scanner is the fire putter?!" He watches his scanner that was telling that to the north-west was three persons (Hugh, Komerl and Esme) and to the north-east, in the air, was just one (Midnight). "Three or one? Is more probable that a group would set the fire... Let's go then!" Ruben starts running in his normal form to Hugh, Komerl and Esme's direction. "I'll find the culprit... Adam and Jimmy... What is this I am feeling? Friendship? Does such thing exist? Well, whatever, let's continue!"

To the west, his scanner would show him two more people (Joshua and Io).

"Wait!" Two more people appeared on the scanner, but one was incredibly high leveled (Io). ''"It must be the fire putters!" ''Ruben stopped, turned Super and flew as fast as possible to the west, where Joshua and Io were.

Ruben, Joshua Zephyrius, and Io (Closed)
Upon arriving, Ruben would see Joshua carrying Io; Io still looked very weak.

As soon as he could see them, he pointed his robotic arm to them while charging his hand cannon. "Who are you two?! Are you the fire putter?! If yeah... PREPARE TO DIE!" Ruben was so angry and he even didn't knew why. ''"I must protect this forest. I know I'll find answers for my future." ''Ruben thought a bit on his actions and turned off his cannon. Then he looked at Io. "Are you alright? Need help?"

"No need," Joshua told him. He was stern towards strangers at the first encounter. His austere aura and a noble bearing might be intimidating for starters. "I shall take care of this maiden." He looked at Ruben in great observation. "One thing I ask of you before I find respite, stranger. Are you resolute enough to protect this place?"

Ruben could feel his aura, but then again, he killed basically every Mobian in his Universe. He asked himself if he really wanted to protect the forest and said: "Yes. My main goal now is to protect this forest with my life and meet Io. I need to find her. I need answers..." "Can she really tell me what is friendship and love? Can I really be worthy of her presence?"

''Joshua looked at the weakened Io on his back. However, he merely kept quiet about her identity. "You seem to be determined for an anthropomorph." He walked to the left and said, "Come with me, then."''

Ruben nodded and followed him. "If this guy tries to betray me, I'll kill him."

''Without turning his neck, Joshua's cold eyes glanced towards Ruben, seeming that he had read his mind as a natural-born telepath. However, he did not react to this and continued to walk with him to the cabins that Io pinpointed for him. "What is your name, stranger?" he asked Ruben whilst looking at him with the same atmosphere.''

"My name?" ''"Why should I trust him? The hypothesis of him being the fire putter isn't out... But something tells me to trust him." ''"The name's Ruben. Ruben The Hedgehog. And yours?"

"I am Joshua Zephyrius of a distant world," Joshua replied formally. "My precognition tells me you have a reason as to why you have appeared here of all places."

"Nice question. I think... My heart did it? I remember..." Ruben gets flashbacks in Universe 7 when he was about to die, he wished that he could teleport to somewhere save and activated the Universe Booster, teleporting him to the forest. "I can't really explain how I'm here... I'm sorry."

"No need to grace it further. You have spoken enough," Joshua spoke, whilst still walking towards the location of the cabins. He stopped for a while when he heard an audible rustle on the grass.

Ruben positioned himself into a fighting pose, closing his eyes, to hear more carefully.

A stream of electricity from one of the trees was directed towards Ruben and Joshua. Reacting swiftly to this, Joshua's eyes glowed cyan. "Dodge!" he spoke as he jumped away from the stream in high speeds. "Tch, if I were not carrying her..."

Ruben turned and grabbed the electricity with his robotic arm, recharging him a bit. He did all of this with his eyes closed. He then opened his eyes. ''"Who is attacking us and why?" ''"Joshua, are you alright? How's the girl?"

A well-built humanoid with cyan eyes and crystalline violet scales charged from the shadows towards Ruben. "Out of the way, imbecile!" he chanted as it grew a blade-like spine from each of his wrists and swung at him.

Ruben dodged trying to swing a punch in the opponent's face. "Take this!"

Using its free left wrist, it swung its blade-like spine sideways to his right, perpendicular to the trajectory of the fist as a means to clash with the attack.

Joshua might notice Io slowly getting off of his back. She grabbed her staff, pointing it at the humanoid. "Stop! Who are you?!?" Io asked, trying to act like she had authority though she was still weak.

"Milady, get back," Joshua advised her. "If you can cast your runes, I will hold him off if he gets too near."

Ruben took advantage of the humanoid taking attention to Io and used... "Swift Punch!"

The humanoid was focused on attacking Ruben from the get-go. Regardless of his next move, he might have parried Ruben's fist back then with his sharp spine. As such, there is a probability that Ruben's hand will be wounded from the parry if his hand was not mechanical and if he redirected his fist back then.

(Josh: Oh, before that move, Enervar, you should have focused on the humanoid's counterattack. I did not even write that the humanoid took attention to Io. I think you can see what I am referring to, right? ^^ And I will be back tomorrow probably 8:30 AM UTC +8.)

Io nodded, moving back as she was told. She started working on a rune to trap the humanoid. She refused to attack, and knew she was too weak to attack anyways.

Ruben damaged his hand and was attacked by the humanoid's counterattack. "If this continues, I'm gonna get tired again and die... But I need to find Io, no matter what... SO I WILL NOT QUIT!" Ruben starts charging is energy turning into his Hyper Form.

"What, Airion, are you gonna keep him in suspense?"

"Not much longer, Celeste. Now, if you'd let me focus..."

Joshua, noticing the early ascension, thought to himself, "Does he really need to ascend to subdue the enemy?" He charged towards the humanoid which was in turn charging towards Hyper Ruben. Strangely, Joshua's right hand was not clutching anything even though his fist is slightly clenched.

Hyper Ruben used his speed for going to the humanoid's behind and restrain him from movement, so Joshua could attack him easily. (Similar to what Goku did to Raditz so Piccolo could attack him)

Io finished up her rune, and tapped the center of it with her staff, causing the tip of the staff to crackle with energy. She then took aim at the humanoid, waiting for an opening.

Hyper Ruben hold the humanoid tight, waiting to the rune to hit him. "C'mon! I can dodge it!"

"No! Move!" Io shouted at him, staring right into his eyes. Her eyes. Certainly, if the stories Ruben had heard mentioned Io, they would have noted her strange heterochromic eyes. One light grey, one light blue; behind them, something timeless.

It was the first time he looked her in the eyes. "Io..." Hyper Ruben let go of him and went to Io's side. "You are real..."

As soon as Ruben moved, Io carefully fired her shot.

Ruben turned normal. "Is this girl really Io? I... Have to protect her by all means!"

"What, is something the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost." Io asked, chuckling in spite of herself.

The humanoid was about to move his feet but he was trapped by the rune Io set up. "Curses!"

Joshua, taking advantage of the opening, tightly clenched his right hand. A veil of wind surrounded it and circulated inside his palm. He thrust his arm towards the humanoid in great speeds, causing a long object seemingly made of light to be thrust towards it. Some of the humanoid's torso scales released sparks and combusted upon sharp contact. It was knocked back in great pain, realizing that its scales were easily scraped off albeit made of a highly durable material.

"Ghh...! Not that again!" the humanoid grunted. It was lying on the ground, struggling to get up.

Joshua was holding a sword made of light in one hand. The weapon quickly materialized into a diamond broadsword with runic markings on the blade and an emerald on its hilt. Joshua brandished his broadsword, releasing a strong current of wind in their area. The trees swayed in obedience to the winds. The little amount of fire around their area was being extinguished, leaving only the small patches of hellfire slightly far from their area.

The humanoid braced itself from the strong current of wind. "The Geh'amm... Scwaerand...!"

(Josh, Io's rune was to make a trap when it hit the humamoid, not hurt him.)

(Josh: Thanks. Changed it.)

Io sighed in relief, knowing that she had hit her target, despite fact that her trap was not used as she intended. Suddenly, she felt weak again, and collapsed to the ground. The rune had used up most if the energy she had recovered, leaving her back where she started.

He looked at the now unconscious Io. "You have my humble thanks, milady," he thought. The winds were still whipping through the area.

Ruben started carring Io on his arms. "Don't worry about her, I'll protect her. Defeat that bastard."

"Thank... you..." Io replied, weakly, not unconscious yet but just weak.

Ruben kissed her forehead and smiling, he said: "Don't worry, we are going to protect you." He then went serious looking at Josh and the humanoid.

Io then slipped into unconsciousness.

Ruben taking advantage of the fight ran with Io. ''"Why am I running? Shouldn't I be helping Josh? Well, too late for that. First I need to take care of Io. I think I saw some houses here or something." ''Ruben then turns Super and flies swiftly to a safe zone with Io.

Ruben and Io
A couple of spirits followed Ruben, out of curiosity. They were concerned about Io too.

''"Sorry, Josh. I hope you come back with life." ''Ruben turns to the spirits. "Where's a place I can help her?"

One of the spirits, a teen girl, piped up. "I can help, but let's bring her to the cabins first. This way!" She then went ahead to show Ruben the way to the cabins.

Ruben follows her to the cabins. Then he puts Io in a safe place to rest. "Will she be OK?"

"She'll be fine. Just let me do one thing..." The spirit replied, before kneeling over Io, drawing a healing rune around her.

Ruben waited patiently for Io's recovery.

After about 10 minutes, Io woke up, sitting bolt upright as if she had been startled awake.

Ruben returned, he had been patrolling the area for more enemies. "It looks like you woke up. Here." Ruben hands her some fruits he had in his inventory.

"Oh, thank you..." Io replied, taking one of the fruits and trying a bite. Having rarely left the forest, the kind was unfamiliar to her.

"You aren't quite different from what the book describes you. Well, you look more gorgeous than those false representations." Ruben said that without thinking he might sound cute or romantic, cause he doesn't know what love is and how it works.