Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

I don’t care how spacious it is, I hate helicopters. I have to get in ‘em almost every time I get contracted with Spagonia University, and I still haven’t gotten used to them. The feds tagging along doesn’t help either. Bruce is my only friend on this trip, like usual with these expeditions. Bruce was noticeably taller than me, subtly tanned with brown hair, buff too—though not as built as myself. By looking at him you’d never guess he was a scholar.

“Mark. You’ve got that look on your face again, you need the motion sickness meds?” Bruce asked, already reaching into his large backpack.

“Nah, I’m good. I just don’t understand why GUN’s here this time. Couldn’t we have just come here without them? Every other time y’all give me work it’s just been the research team,” I complained.

Bruce subtly flinched at my response. Some of the GUN agents turned their heads at me, I stared back with a blank look on my face.

“Listen, they’re the ones giving us permission to go to Angel Island. Without them, you wouldn’t have this job!” Bruce said in a hushed tone.

“...Alright. Do the locals know we’re coming?” I asked.

“Um…”

“So they don’t.”

“No, but more than that there are no locals—just the one. Ever heard of Knuckles the Echidna?” Bruce inquired.

“Knuckles… Was that the resistance commander? I heard he got most of his army killed.”

“That’s him, he lives here. And protecting this place is his job, that’s why I told you that we need to be discreet while we’re there. We don’t know how much time we have before he sniffs us out. I know you like your composition shots, but we might not have time for that. Just make sure everything is clear and presentable, okay?” Bruce pleaded.

I lean back and look out one of the windows, we’re well over the ocean now. Thankfully, the helicopter ride would be short since Angel Island happened to float near the mainland.

“So why are we scared of Knuckles? If he can’t run an army worth a damn, he can’t be that threatening. Though I guess he did beat Eggman…” I mused.

“After Sonic showed back up,” Bruce interjected.

“Oh yeah, I guess he technically did a better job than GUN though,” I said.

“You don’t have to be here, sir .” One of the GUN agents said.

I looked at him and turned back to Bruce.

“They’re a little testy too,” I say pointing a thumb back.

“Mark, if you keep this up Victoria won’t allow us to hire you again. That’s not a threat, I’m telling you that is a real possibility. I had to twist Cucumber’s arm just to bring you on. Just be cool,” Bruce sighed.

“Speaking of Cucumber, why isn’t Pickle here?” I asked

“Well besides being old he said he didn’t like the idea of trespassing, ” Bruce whispered.

“We’re preparing to land in five minutes,” the pilot announced through the speakers.

The helicopter began to hover over the floating island, looking for a place to land. The landscape was gorgeous, if not chaotic. A massive ice tipped mountain was the most noticeable landmark, with a stark red mountain not too far from it. I also see a forest of giant mushrooms and large white ruins... Is that a damned pyramid?

Soon the helicopter begins to descend near the base of the frozen mountain, the surrounding forest seemed unaffected by the intense cold for some reason. Immediately upon landing, all of the GUN agents rise up and a man adorned with medals swings the door to the cockpit. He had a strange rock sculpture in his hands, they told us about them when Spagonia U organized the trip.

“Attention! Satellite images have identified this location on Angel Island to be a hotspot for artifacts related to The First Great Civilization. Before you arrived you should’ve been briefed but I’ll remind you. This —he said, holding up the statue—is one of the most numerous artifacts The First Great Civilization left behind. We have many in our possession, so grabbing them isn’t necessary; however there should be many of them surrounding points of interest. First and foremost our goal is to recover lost technology, if you see something unusual, don’t hesitate to contact the rest of the team. Try to stay within two kilometers of the landing site, in case we need to leave. If you see Knuckles, stand down,” said the commander.

The GUN agents wasted no time rushing into the cold wilderness, I put on my heavy jacket and began walking out with the research team.

“I assume you just want me to do what I normally do,” I tell Bruce on the way out.

“Yeah, just take it easy and remember what I told you. You got your walkie-talkie on you right?”

“Yep, let’s go.”

This place is colder than it looks, the place is so frozen some of the ice looks blue . Right away I see a few of those strange statues on the hard frozen dirt, oddly enough they look kind of cute. Large round eyes, stubby legs with no arms, waddling heads. I step back and raise my camera, I take the shot when all of the statues are in the frame.

“Let’s head right,” I suggest to Bruce.

“Why? Just because GUN went left?”

“Yes,” I state succinctly.

“Alright man…”

“Where are you two going? It looks dangerous over there!” Cucumber yelped.

“Trying to cover more ground Q! Leave it to us, we got experience with this sort of thing!” I clumsily reassured.

Further down this way looks less interesting than the left path, at a glance anyway. It was a path that was on the edge of a cliff face, just two yards wide. We traveled along the base of the mountain for several minutes until a crevice just big enough for a person appeared on the face of it.

“If I didn’t know better I would think you’re more concerned with hiking than the expedition,” Bruce said sardonically.

“How many people get to go to Angel Island? Feels like a potential apocalypse happens every month, might as well enjoy what time we’ve got,” I explained, entering the small cave.

“You’re right but I really don’t need my colleagues pissed at me, let alone GUN. A-are you seriously going in there?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah, we’re looking for artifacts, remember?”

The crevice is getting wider and wider as I sidle through it, eventually I can walk normally. Damn, this place is much bigger on the inside. The end of the cave was the size of a small house. Light peered in from a thick sheet of ice on the same wall as the crevice, the whole room seemed to glow with a blue light. It was so beautiful it almost made me forget how goddamn cold it was in here. There seemed to be a tunnel near the back wall, a second entrance? Another set of footsteps sound on the ice behind me.

“Sweet Gaia below…” Bruce exhaled.

“Worth it, right?” I ask.

“Sure, let’s be quick though.

I saunter towards the back wall of the cave, something odd seems to be poking out. A weird looking chunk of ice with smooth, deliberate curves. Inside it looked to be one of those cute statues, it almost looks like it’s glowing. Could be my eyes playing tricks on me. I took several paces back and raised my camera.  The way the ice froze around the statue is breathtaking, almost like it’s cradling in the frozen lump. The blue hues of the ice became clearer the closer the ice was the little sculpture. As soon as I took the picture, the lump of ice shifted.

Shff

Stray shards of ice fall as the lump of ice begins to tilt out of the wall, for some reason I rushed over beneath the chunk of ice.

“Mark! What the fuck are you doing?” Bruce yelled.

I catch the clump ice overhead, it’s heavy as hell. It’s at least 110 pounds.

“Sorry, I just didn’t want it to break for some reason,” I say, walking towards the tunnel.

“Do you even know where that goes?” Bruce asked.

“Nah, there might be some artifacts though. We got all day until Knuckles shows up, right?” I propose.

I continue carrying the chunk of ice through the tunnel, it’s winding but it doesn’t seem to be going deeper into the mountain.

“You aren’t taking that home are you?” Bruce asked.

“I need a souvenir.”

“You couldn’t get the other sculptures that were laying on the ground?”

“I mean I could have, but this one gave me a crazy good photo. Seriously, you’re gonna love it; it’s some National Gaiagraphic shit,” I reply.

The tunnel finally brightens up and the air begins to get slightly warmer, at the end of the tunnel looks to be a wall of snow. I brace myself and walk through the snow, it only seems to be about two feet thick. The tunnel led out closer to the helicopter than the crevice we entered.

“You think you’re gonna be alright?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah, I might not get hypothermia. It’s not much longer to the… the hell is that noise?”

Dudda dudda

“Is someone running this way?” I guessed.

“What do you think you’re doing here!?” A firm voice shouted beyond the cliff face.

“Shit, you think that’s Knuckles?” I asked, gingerly setting the hunk of ice behind me on the ground.

“It can’t be anyone else,” Bruce flatly exhaled.

The red echidna climbed up the cliff rapidly, jumping up to greet us.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t hear that chopper? Don’t you know it’s dangerous up here?!” Knuckles scolded.

“Me and him go hiking as a hobby, it’s actually how we met. Ever gone climbing in Pumpkin Hill?” I boast.

“As a matter of fact I have. And I don’t care, you and whoever you came with need to get off my island,” Knuckles demanded.

Fucks sake, nothing is impressive to anyone anymore. Actually he gave me an idea, I’m tired of being here too damn cold.

“Aw shoot, guess we better tell the GUN agents it’s time to go; who may or may not be a mile to my right,” I lazily blurted.

Bruce’s eyes nearly pop out of his head as he turns to me.

“GUN!? What the-” Knuckles recoiled, immediately sprinting towards the GUN agents.

“Mark, are you fucking serious?!” Bruce scolded.

“We’re not eluding whoever he is, if GUN’s not fucking with him, I’m not either. Besides, he already knew we came by copter,” I explained, lifting the hunk of ice back up.

“Do you know how much money Spagonia U is putting into this? We’ve barely been here for twenty minutes!”

“Yeah, this gig is paying my bills for the rest of the year. So it’s at least half a million rings, let’s get a move on.”

“Alright, what’s the matter? You weren’t like this only every other trip,” Bruce asked, walking beside me.

“It’s GUN.”

“What about GUN?”

“They’re fucked up, I was there when the Black Arms landed. They were shooting at Shadow and the aliens, then a couple days later Shadow saved our sorry asses. They got their asses kicked by Eggman several months later; he’s one guy , they’re fucking sorry. I just don’t respect them, honestly you’re lucky I came,” I complained.

Bruce remained silent as we traveled towards the landing site. I was beginning to run out of stamina, but something told me to keep going. Something about this ice just has a weird vibe to it.

Beep. Our walkie talkies screeched.

“Attention all members, report back to the helicopter immediately! We’ve been discovered!” the commander announced.

“Right on cue, we’re almost back too.” I grinned.

We arrived before anyone else, it seemed. The pilot was leaning on the vehicle, having a smoke. I use the last of my strength to drop the frozen lump by my spot on the helicopter.

“Do you think they’re going to just let you take that?” Bruce asked.

“ They better. It’s only fair, we’re all taking shit we’re not supposed to. Hell, we shouldn’t even be here; who are they to judge?” I questioned.

The sound of heavy marching suddenly appeared and rapidly grew louder. They were quick, though honestly not fast enough for my liking.

Then the rest of the research team followed, exhausted trying to keep up with the GUN agents.

“Back already? Were you two able to find anything?” Cucumber asked.

“Hell yeah we did, check this out,” I said showing him the last photo I took.

“That’s gorgeous!! But… I guess it’s technically nothing we haven’t seen,” Cucumber said, deflated.

“It’s proof that we were here at least, you can only find those little statues but so many places,” I said.

“Ah, I guess. Hopefully Professor Pickle won’t mind since we weren’t here that long. He sounded a little disappointed when I told him I was going… Did—did you bring it with you?” He said, pointing to the ice encased statue.

“Yeah, you don’t mind if I keep it right?” I asked, prompting Bruce to clutch his brow.

“Sure, just don’t… Whatever, send me the photos you took before tomorrow morning,” Cucumber exhaled.

They wasted no time filling the helicopter, some of them had some objects covered in cloth. Guess they found something.  Finally the commander entered, carefully scanning the interior.

“Hey, what’s that?” I asked.

“None of your business, I hope you took enough pictures for the University,” he huffed.

“What do you mean none of my business, that’s why I came isn’t it?”

“We have our own photographers, you were brought along for their sake,” he said, turning towards the rest of the research team. Cucumber shot a subtle glare at the commander, but I don’t think he noticed.

“What is that ?” The commander said, pointing at the lump of ice.

“None of your business, sir ,” I said.

Everyone else in the room looked directly at me, the commander glared at me before looking at his watch. He turned outside to see Knuckles staring at the helicopter expectantly.

“You can keep the trinket,” he said towards me. “Is everyone accounted for?”

“All GUN personnel are accounted for sir,” an indiscernible agent spoke.

“What about you Mr. Cumber?”

“Y-yes, everyone is here.” Cucumber stammered.

“Head for Westopolis!” The commander boomed.

The rotors whirred for several minutes before it got off the ground. Outside my window, Angel Island started to look smaller and smaller. I look down at the chunk of ice again; the ice was beginning to melt, but water wasn’t completely pooling on the floor. Not as much as I would think anyway. The statue inside had that faint glow again, I’m sure it’s not my imagination this time.

I try to keep my mind off the lump of ice for the rest of the trip, every now and then one of the other passengers would start staring at it, then back at me. We’re almost ready to land, but I feel really nervous for some reason. Westopolis’s sky fades in as we reach the regional airport, my car isn’t too far from the private landing site allocated to us. Thank goodness.

“When’s your flight to Spagonia Bruce?” I ask.

“Five hours from now, we had hoped the trip would last longer,” he griped.

“You mind helping me take this to my car?”

“And go through the TSA again? It’s probably a shorter walk than the one we took to retrieve it,” Bruce claimed

“Yeah, that’s probably true, I’ll handle it.”

The helicopter landed and we had to wait a bit before they opened the doors. Only me and the Spagonia U researchers were getting off here. I hoist the now very wet lump of ice in both of my hands and shakily walk towards the exit.

“See you next time, Cucumber; sorry if I was a bother. Safe travels Bruce.,” I tell the two.

“Always a pleasure Mark!” Cucumber said.

“Thanks man,” said Bruce.

Carrying this thing to my car was a bitch, my jacket is soaked. I should’ve taken the damn thing off, I almost forgot it was spring. I set the lump of ice down before opening the back door and shoving the lump behind my back seat.

“Alright, lets get the fuck out of here.”

I pullout of the parking lot and make my way through the sluggish airport traffic.

“Come on, this thing is getting my seats wet.”

I finally make it to the interstate towards Westopolis, I see the loop in the road ahead and sigh. I step on the gas and start going 90 miles per hour, then 110, then 125 just to be safe. Dumbass loops, I don’t care if their naturally occurring, we don’t need loops in our fucking roads. I brace myself as I start driving up the loop, I’m a little worried about the extra weight, before I remember that the ice is only about as heavy as a person. Once I clear the top of the loop I exhale, but I don’t dare decelerate until the sky is above me again. After a few minutes I’m in front of my apartment complex. A sturdy brick building, looks surprisingly good on the inside though. I’ve never been more thankful to live on the first floor. I lug the hunk of ice to the door, barely holding it in one arm leaning back while I unlock my front door. I hastily slip inside and close the door behind me, I gotta find some place to drop this quick.

“Shit, I really didn’t think this through,” I say to myself, stumbling down the hall to my bathroom.

I drop the ice in the bathtub as hard as I can without breaking it and run some water. I head to the door on the opposite side of the hallway and take off my jacket and change my shirt. Once I get changed I enter the bathroom and turn the water off, the tub’s filled about halfway. The sculpture inside—it’s definitely glowing. A part of me wants to toss this thing, maybe I’m just being paranoid. It’s almost 7pm but carrying that thing all day got me exhausted.

“Maybe… I’ll just sleep on it.”

I take one last look at the bathtub, turn off the light, and close the door.

Damn, I don’t even remember falling asleep. The room is bathed in a faint pink-orange glow, no way I slept that long. I turn over and check the clock on my nightstand.

6:48

Huh, guess I needed it. Well Bruce should be home by now at least. Then I remembered it, that statue. I slowly lean up in my bed, even though I really don’t want to. No, why am I freaking out, it’s just a statue. I sluggishly stand up and walk to my bedroom door. I need to take a piss anyway, hell I’ve been asleep for almost twelve hours. I open the bathroom door.

And I immediately want to faint. I don’t fully understand what it is I’m looking at.

A lanky bipedal creature was sitting in my bathtub, hunched over its own knees. The creature was entirely made out of water and had a subtly hourglass figure, it has two long tendrils reaching all the way to its waist with one protrusion on the top of its head. And that statue, it was glowing vibrantly now, embedded in the being’s torso. It turns to me, its large up-turned eyes are a solid green; its small face doesn't have any nostrils or a mouth. And yet…

“✕✕◯△?” It—she?—asked in a feminine voice. I couldn’t make sense of it.