As This Mountain Crumbles

Legal disclaimer:
    Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters copyrighted by Sega and
Archie Publications. Devochka and related characters copyrighted by me [Shana
Vodhanel]


    "Log:
    Boy, am I ever bored! No damsels in distress, no blowing up robots, no
babes to impress. And worst of all, Charmy ruined my only chance with Devochka!
I know he didn't mean to, but I still want to break something! But there isn't
anything to break! Well, I have to find something to do. Talk later."
    Mighty put his journal inside the secret compartment of the cave. If anyone
ever found out about it, they would call it a diary and they would not hear the
end of it. So he hid it, and reffered to it as a log, or sometimes a referrence
that he could use when he needed to remember something. Right now, he needed
something to cool him down.
    "Hey, Mighty!" he stepped to the door of his cave and looked down, smirking
to himself.
    "Look who's in for mountain climbing today! What's up, Big Red?" Mighty
shouted back to Knuckles, who was still climbing up.
    "Hey, I've been thinking, mon. Things have been getting crazy around here.
First Fleefle and Devochka. Then Espio goes off to have his own little
adventure. And then Charmy started acting weird, and Archimedes knows why but
won't tell me. That leaves me, you, and Vector. Think we can keep stuff going
straight around here?" Knuckles asked.
    "I don't know. Isn't it a little late for that?" Mighty thought for a
moment.
    "Don't tell me you're about to go out and do something weird." Knuckles
groaned.
    "Nah! I'm just a little bored, that's all." Mighty grabbed Knuckles' hand
and pulled him into the cave.
    "Bored? After that hover craft incident I'm anything but bored! I've been
busy trying to keep track of almost everything! Speaking of which, I should
check on the Chaos Chamber. I'll see you later!" Knuckles waved and glided
away.
    Mighty waved back, but then he hopped down the mountain side. As he
strolled downhill, Charmy came zipping by.
    "You look bored." he said.
    "Can't imagine why!" Mighty barked back.
    Remembering that he had accidently ruined everyone's day, he apologized for
the thousandth time," I'm sorry Mighty! I didn't mean to!"
    "I know you didn't. But I'm still bored to death!" Mighty sighed then let
out a small groan.
    "Really? Maybe you can help me out with something, then." Charmy suggested.
    "Oh, not another one of your stupid games! They've cost enough trouble!"
Mighty moaned.
    "No! It's not a game." Charmy told him.
    "Then what?"
    "Avariel."
    "Huh?"
    "Can you find out what avariel means?" Charmy asked.
    "I guess, why?" Mighty shrugged and shook his head.
    "Oh. Uh, it was just something I saw, somewhere..." he trailed off.
    "Hmm. Ok, I'll do it. As long as you aren't making this up!" Charmy was
about to object that he would do that, but Mighty didn't give him the chance,"
Gotta go!"
    He pushed the bee aside and jogged away. Helplessly, Charmy simply shrugged
and went his own way.
    Although he had never heard the word before, Mighty didn't think finding
out what it was would be difficult. Whatever Charmy's reason, he might as well
help out if he had nothing else to do. The fire-ant hill was just south of his
cave, and slightly west, but the journey would be simple. He would just give
Archimedes a short visit since he seemed to know quite a bit about these type
of things.
    "Archimedes!" he called out when he arrived. No reply. "Archimedes!"
    "He's not here!" one little working ant shouted back at him.
    "Where is he?" Mighty asked.
    "I haven't seen him for a day or two." she replied, returning to her own
work.
    Shrugging to himself, Mighty assumed that this was a normal thing. Pausing
for a moment to look over the tiny ant hills, he strolled away to find someone
else who might know. Devochka or Fleefle might, or maybe even Knuckles. He
glanced at the sun's position and guessed that it was early afternoon, and had
plenty of time left.
    So, he would either be seeing Fleefle or Devochka. What a choice! Fleefle
annoyed him to death, and Devochka was probably still mad at him. Well, out of
those two, might as well give the all powerful psionic princess of strength a
look see, he thought to himself, chuckling slightly at her being King of
Strength. She seemed more of a King of Irk. Still, she wasn't that bad at
adventuring.
    Now only one question remained. Where was she in the first place? Come to
think of it, where was Archimedes? He was a busy fire-ant, but he wasn't the
type to just run off without warning. Or, then again, maybe he was. Then he
jerked his head around when he heard a slight rustle. Listening intently, he
heard it again.
    "Hello?" No answer.
    "Man, if I do find that avariel, Charmy isn't going to get a chance to see
it 'cause it's something to smash!" he muttered, frustrated. After all, how
important can it be? He listened again for a moment. Whoever had been watching
had left.
    After a hopeless search, he decided to take a look at his log to see if he
had ever put down where Fleefle stayed.


**************************************************************************


    Later in the day, after he had taken a quick dip in the lake and
permanently removed a giant boulder, he was gazing at the ground, deep in
thought, pacing slowly towards his cave.
    As he began approaching it, something didn't seem quite right. He climbed
to where his cave should have been, to realize that it was missing. All he saw
where rubble piles, but besides that it seemed like the rest of the mountain.
Then he noticed an engraving in the wall.
    "Avariel..." he read it aloud. Now he was beginning to get furious. Where
was his cave? Punching a whole through the engraving, he realized that the rock
was about one foot thick before his hand reached a cave. He punched another
hole, and repeated this until he could crawl inside the cave. Everything was
there, but he couldn't explain the thin rock layer that covered the entrance of
the cave.
    Growling quietly to himself, he mumbled a few threats to the Avariel, "I
have a gut feeling that whoever, whatever it is, he is responsible for this!"
Something outside his cave made a gentle, wind-like noise, quite similar to the
sound Charmy probably heard when he flapped his wings. Shoes tapping lightly on
the ground, he poked his head through the hole to see who it was.
    No one. Then he heard it again, from somewhere below. Following the sound,
he climbed down the mountainside and kept searching, but to no avail. A heat
began burning from within, a fiery desire to hunt down whoever was spying on
him.
    "Espio, is that you?" Mighty asked as he strolled, constantly peering left
and right. As he expected, nothing answered. He descended into the forest and
was immidiatly lost. This place had never been here before. A waterfall was
gently forming ripples in a pool of water, which was surrounded by flowers of
every color.
    "Whoever you are, I'm not in the mood for your stupid games!" he snapped,
unimpressed with the scenery. When no one responded, Mighty continued, "OK! You
want to play games? I've got a better game! 'Call it 'visit the big guy before
your time!'" Another rustling followed that, along with another failed attempt
to catch it.
    "You think you can play games at the foot of my own mountain?" he growled,
shaking his fist. Whoever it was seemed to be giggling at his last comment. To
his own astonishment, he discovered why.
    His mountain was no longer towering above him. Gasping, all he could do was
stare, and whoever it was took action.
    She rushed out of a nearby bush and tackled him as he stared. While he was
dazed, she spent her seconds wisely and gave him three swiping kicks to the
head followed by a flip. Coming out of his temporary daze, Mighty stood to
defend himself. A girl, almost human, glared back.. Two flowing wings hung
proudly by her side, partially circling her arms that were poised for action.
Deep violet eyes stared into his own, and her very human features startled him.
However, she wasn't human. Although the limp blonde hair dangling around her
head and her lack of fur suggested humanity, the pointed ears and wings
suggested otherwise. She wore a loose toga, obviously because any other choice
of clothing would hinder her wings.
    "Behold, for I am the avariel that you seek! You are not welcome here! Why
have you come?" she remained poised.
    "What do ya mean 'Why have you come?' You know why!" he pointed at her,"
Who do you think you are?"
    "I am the Avariel. You have gone against the ancient ways, and therefore
must pay the price." she snarled back.
    "Ancient ways? And what are going to do if I decided to leave?" Mighty
asked. After all, she may be flexible and quick, but she was also thin and
seemed too fragile to stop him.
    "You cannot. For this place is everywhere, yet nowhere. Only I can allow
you to exit." she gestured with he hands as she spoke.
    "So, what's the ancient price?" he asked, sneering.
    "First, everyone has a chance to receive half the punishment." she told
him.
    "Oh, goody! Mighty sarcastically replied. If she noticed him mocking her,
she didn't show it.
    "You must answer a riddle."
    "How many answers do I get?"
    "As many as you need, but you have but a half-minute to answer." she
replied," What type of bell, does not ring?" Mighty thought for a moment.
    "A broken bell?" he asked. She patiently waited.
    "No."
    He must have only ten seconds left. She began approaching him, assuming he
wouldn't get it. Now he was starting to become a little spooked. Her eyes
seemed to be glowing now. Although he was sure he had time left, she threw a
violet flame and he fell back into the flowers. With a small crunching noise,
most of the flowers were flattened. But one flower, reluctant to give up on
life, was still bobbing up and down, to and fro, tickling his nose.
    "That's it!" he snapped his finger, and stood up with a sly grin covering
his face," A bell flower!" She paused for a moment, the lowered her offensive
arm down to her side and returned the grin," Correct."
    "Yes! Am I cool or am I cool!" he snapped his arm back as if he had just
been saved. And, curiously, he had.
    "That is only for half price. The original was your life." her grin curved
back into a frown.
    "So what? Are you going to kill me half to death?" he chuckled.
    "You'll soon find out. The ancient ways can be very cruel with punishments.
You are allowed to leave. But never return here." she gestured towards a bush.
    "Don't worry. I won't" he grumbled and sprinted away.


**************************************************************************


    Later, he ran into Knuckles again.
    "Hey, Rad Red! he waved.
    "Hi! Where are you headed?" Knuckles asked," You seem to be in a rush."
    "I don't know where I'm goin', as long as it isn't back there!" Mighty
laughed, pointing behind him.
    Knuckles followed his finger and had no clue what he was talking about,"
But that's just the way to the mushrooms."
    "Oh! So that's where I am! Thanks! I have to get back to my cave so I can
straighten it out." Mighty started to jog away.
    "I'll come with you! This I gotta see. Mighty doing house-cleaning!"
Knuckles chuckled, landing beside him.
    Smirking back, Mighty assured him," You'll see why. Glad you're coming
along, actually. Could use your old knuckles!" Finally, after a few comments
and laughs, they reached the mountains. For some reason they didn't look quite
right.
    "Alright! Let's go!" Knuckles began climbing the first mountain.
    "That isn't my mountain. My mountain was over there." Mighty pointed a
little ahead of himself.
    "Your mountain is the first one. There is no mountain before this one." his
friend then noticed how it didn't sem quite right.
    "Where is my mountain?" Mighty gasped, staring into the sky as if it would
appear. Jumping around the spot, Mighty frantically searched for the mountain.
    "It's gone." swishing his hand through the air, all Knuckles could do was
stare in awe.
    Growling, Mighty bellowed," It was that stupid avariel! She did this!"
    "Avariel?" Knuckles recognized the word," Isn't that some type of guardian
from the old days, back when the island was part of the land?"
    "I don't care! She did this!" he let himself slide down against the other
mountain, then leaned loosely on it.
    "Look, Mighty, I, uh..." Knuckles tried to find words.
    "It's ok. Just, just leave me alone right now. I'll be fine." he sat and
held his head in his hands.
    "Uh, see you later." Knuckles waved and slowly walked away.
    "Yeah..." Mighty muttered, almost to himself.



The end?