Fanfic: Gems of Chaos FINAL CHAPTER

[Lachimax]

Hi, everybody. This is my third Rayman fanfic. I know, kinda sad. But if you haven't read my other two, you should read them before you read this one, as it sort of continues on from them. Links:
1. Return of the Robo-Pirates
2. Alien vs. Rayman
Anyway, enjoy! The first chapter's pretty short, but should keep you wondering.


Gems of Chaos

Prologue: Creation

Many, many years ago, there was nothing but empty space and celestial bodies, such as stars and planets. There was no life, and the worlds drifted through the universe purposeless, alone.
And then there were the Ancients.
None know where these great beings originated from, or who they are. All that is truly known about them is that they had massive amounts of power, power which far exceeded that of the Gods. As a matter of fact, it was they who brought about the Gods’ creation. Their power was so immense that they could manipulate time as they pleased, looking into the future and travelling into it.
The Ancients chose one particular planet as their home, one which they sensed would be of great interest in the future. It was still empty, a dead, airless rock orbiting two isolated suns. This planet they named the Crossroads of Dreams.
The Ancients set about their great work, combining their energies. And from their energies, the Lums were formed.
The first Lums were the Purple Lums, who were created to ensure the universe did not fall apart at the seams. They strengthened the bonds between the very atoms, making everything visible and solid.
Then were the Blue Lums, who also brought about all the gases in existence. From that day on, each Blue Lum contained enough air to begin any newborn creature’s first breath, as well as provide extra time for those swimming underwater.
Next were the Red Lums. These contained the energy of life, energy which could heal and revitalise, but also energy which could be corrupted to form Black Lums.
Yellow Lums were created to keep worlds from descending into absolute chaos. Each planet was given 1000 of these, and on some planets they were formed into a great Heart.
Green Lums were mistakes. Green Lums could resurrect those who had fallen from the dead, a power that was never meant to exist except for the Chosen One. These were a genetic mutation from Yellow Lums.
And so the Lums came into being. They were scattered across the universe, completely invisible except for those who lived on the Ancients’ homeworld.
The Ancients, however, were not finished. They created the Balance Stone, a weapon so powerful that only one could use it fully. Next they formed the race of Rays, the limbless beings, to carry the power of the Chosen One. They were placed upon the Crossroads.
The Ancients, exhausted from their great work, built themselves a great tomb, and fell into an enchanted sleep, deeper than any ever to come upon any living creature.
When the Ancients disappeared, the Lums drew upon their own immense power. They worked together across the stars to bring the Gods into being.
Each inhabited planet was given to one or more Gods. Master Hand took dominion of the Smash World. Farore, Din and Nayru, the Three Goddesses, took Hyrule for their own. The Deceptive One, the one with many names, the Great Pretender, was given Earth. Polokus became god of the Crossroads. The All Spark was given Cybertron. And there were many, many more, hundreds of them. Each God treated their world as they saw fit, most sculpting the landscape and creating life.
This was creation.

Chapter 1: Hedgehog

The daughter of the Chosen One led a relatively normal early life.
She was named Raylina, in the tradition of the limbless beings. She was brought up amongst many friends and magical beings, playing with the Globoxes almost daily. Her parents, Rayman and Ly the Fairy watched her grow with satisfaction. Every night, before she went to sleep, Ly would kiss her on the forehead and tell her:
One day, you will grow up to be a heroine,
She grew and grew, developing all the characteristics and powers of a Ray and eventually becoming a teenager.

Raylina jogged through the woods, her fit, teenage body keeping pace with the Young Globoxes easily. Her purple hair swung around her shoulders, and her green lips curved in a smile. She wore a blue, close-fitting top with an “O” symbol in the centre, and black shoes.
“Where are we going?” she called to her frog-like companions.
“Into the forest!” the Globoxes chattered. “There’s a fountain there we found, and we need to show you!”
Raylina shook her head in amusement at their enthusiasm.
BOOM!
One moment she was running between the trees, the next she was on the ground, ears ringing, the wind knocked from her lungs. She gasped for breath, turning onto her belly to see the destruction before her.
The six Young Globoxes lay metres away, unconscious but unhurt. Before her was a black crater, small fires burning within. It had been created by an explosion, the same reason she was on the ground now. But why was she not dead?
On the other side of the crater stood another Ray, hands raised. Raylina gasped. He was almost identical to her father. He had grey skin, yellow eyes with no pupils, red hair and different coloured clothes.
He smiled maliciously. “Ah, so THIS is the Chosen One,”
The Ray shot across the crater before Raylina could react. He gripped her by the shirt and hauled her to her feet. He took hold of her waist with one hand and raised her into the air. She struggled against his grip, but he was immensely strong and merely tightened his grip. “But you are a mere adolescent! Where is your father?”
Raylina was nearly frozen with fear, but managed to spit out a reply. “Who are you, and what do you want with my father?”
The dark Ray laughed. “I am but a shadow, created in your father’s image. I am Dark Rayman!”
He tossed her against a tree as though she weighed nothing. “Take me two your father!”
Raylina steeled herself and stood up, only to be knocked down again. Dark Rayman stood over her, shadows gathering around his hands. “If you refuse to take me, I guess I can find my own way. I have no need of a whiny little girly Ray,”
He raised his hand to kill her...
What looked like a black and red ball flew through the air, striking Dark Rayman in the head. He was thrown backwards, shock on his face.
The ball landed across the crater, coming to a halt. It shifted, uncurling.
It was some sort of animal. It stood upright, and wore a pair of white and red shoes.
Dark Rayman stood up. “You again! Why can’t you hedgehogs mind your own business?”
The creature smiled grimly. “This IS our business, shade,”
Dark Rayman charged across the crater, but the hedgehog raised his right hand. He was holding a gleaming, yellow gem.
“CHAOS... CONTROL!”
And before Raylina could blink, Dark Rayman was on the ground, the hedgehog standing over him. Dark Rayman scowled. “Another day, hedgehog,”
Then he melted into black shadows, which scattered and crawled into the trees.
The creature looked at Raylina with red, piercing eyes. He pulled another of those gems, this a green one, and tossed it to her. “Get that to your father, no matter what,” he said, and turned to leave.
Raylina caught the gem. “Wait! Who are you?”
The creature turned his head slightly.
“I am Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog,”
And then he was gone.

[Holy Crap]

Oh god, hedgehogs! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!

[Joshua822]

Shadow the hedgehog, so it's finally happening, Rayman meeting the hedgehogs, eh .

Great start tough

[Zay-el]

D8> I wanted to do a crossover like this!

Ah well, you seem to be doing it well. 83 Looking forward to where it'll go! 8D

[Holy Crap]

I have a slight feeling it will have more than just Shadow the Hedgehog.

[Lachimax]

Chapter 2: The Chaos Emeralds

Raylina sprinted through the woods, back towards the fairy council, the gem clutched in her hand. It glowed from a strange light within. It was big, larger than any other crystal she’d ever seen. Its verdant colour was beautiful, sparkling in the light.
Raylina reached the edge of the woods, running out of the trees...
Right into the hands of her waiting father.
She looked up into his smiling face, his cocky, encouraging grin warming her inside. She couldn’t help smiling, even as the tears streamed down her face.
Rayman’s brow creased in worry. “What’s wrong, Raylina?”
She wiped away her tears, and started to explain.
“...and then this thing... he called himself a hedgehog... gave me this gem and told me to bring it to you,”
Rayman looked at the crystal, staring into its depths. He was entranced. Then a splitting pain pierced his skull. He cried out, clutching his head.
hedgehog eggman chaos emerald shadow sonic knuckles tails rouge amy rings ark gun robotnik
“Dad? DAD!” Raylina was screaming.
Rayman realised that he was crouched on the ground, curled into a ball. He shook his head, the flood of words and images trickling away, and stood up. “I’m okay, Raylina. Just... just remembering,”
His eyes suddenly filled with anger. “Did you say Dark Rayman?” he said quietly, almost a whisper.
Raylina nodded, afraid. She had never seen her father like this.
Rayman roared in rage. “DARK!”

Mr. Dark was working alone in his quarters when Rayman burst in, Raylina following reluctantly behind. Rayman didn’t give Dark enough time to ask what he was doing. He aimed an all-out punch at his head. But Dark reacted quickly, his surprise not stopping him for more than a second. He blocked the punch, lifting his hand and producing a shield of shadows.
“What has gotten into you?”
“I’ll tell you what,” Rayman shouted, aiming a kick at Dark’s chest. “You sending your minions after my daughter!”
Dark shook his head, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“You know very well what I’m talking about. Dark Rayman came back!”
“Dad, stop!” Raylina cried out. “It wasn’t Mr. Dark!”
Both combatants turned to face Raylina.
“Dark Rayman asked where you were, dad. Mr. Dark knows exactly where you are. He doesn’t need to send a minion to hunt you down,”
Rayman nodded grudgingly, turning to Dark again. “Raylina, tell MISTER Dark what happened,”
So Raylina explained again, going over every detail. When she was finished, Dark bowed his head. “I can see why you might have suspected me. But I did not send this Dark Rayman. The one I used against you all those years ago was merely a spell meant to copy the enemy’s appearance and follow their every move. This is far more advanced. Someone must have gotten hold of my spell and modified it to make the Shade more intelligent, more powerful. But who? And this hedgehog figure... interesting,”
Raylina raised the gem. “He gave me this,”
Mr. Dark’s eyes widened in shock. “Not possible...”
He took the gem from Raylina’s hands, and his eyes widened further. “This... this... do you have any idea what this is?”
Both Rayman and Raylina shook their heads.
“This is a Chaos Emerald! And the hedgehog... He must have been a Mobian!”
“Slow down, Dark. What is a Chaos Emerald?”
Dark held the Emerald up to the light.
“The Chaos Emeralds are artifacts of immense power. One alone can give a person special powers, such as the ability to manipulate time and space, which is known as Chaos Control,”
Raylina perked up. “That’s what the hedgehog said! Chaos Control!”
Mr. Dark nodded. “And if a being unites all seven Chaos Emeralds... they gain power rivalled only by that of the Master Emerald or the Balance Stone,”
Rayman asked “So, who is this hedgehog?”
“My best guess is that this Shadow the Hedgehog is a Mobian. Mobius is a distant world, many light years away. It is inhabited mostly by humans, and shows great resemblance to another human planet known as Earth, but is also inhabited by a smaller group known as Mobians. Mobians are humanoid in shape, but have many of the characteristics of animals. There are hedgehogs, cats, echidnas, bats...”
“Hang on... how do you know these things?”
Mr. Dark looked at Rayman. “I have not spent my entire life on this planet, you know,”
“So... this Emerald. Why did Shadow want it given to me?”
Dark bowed his head. “I can think of only one reason. Dark times are ahead,” Then he perked up. “hmmm... I wonder...”
He strode off deeper into his laboratory, looking for something. “Aha! Here it is!”
He lifted a small, handheld screen, switching it on. “This is a device I created which looks for large sources of magical power,”
Several dots appeared on the screen. “That large one, the one near the centre, is the Heart of the World. The smaller one, the one directly in the centre, is this Chaos Emerald,”
His eyes brightened. “And there are six other dots,”
He looked at them both. “The other Chaos Emeralds are all on this world,”
Then, there was a sudden flash of white light and a loud bang. Raylina was blinded temporarily and thrown to the ground. She shook her head, waiting for her sight to come back, floundering around on the floor. Her eyes cleared, and she looked around. She saw Mr. Dark, also staring around his quarters in surprise. “Wha...”
Rayman was gone.
“DAD!”
“Not so cocky without your pet hedgehog, are you?”
Raylina and Mr. Dark spun to see Dark Rayman standing in the doorway. “Now, hand over that Emerald and no-one gets hurt,”
“WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS MY FATHER?” Raylina screamed at him.
Shadows gathered around Dark Rayman’s fists. “I was about to ask you the same thing,”
Mr. Dark pushed Raylina behind him. “Look in my desk. Find a machine that looks like a metal claw. Quickly!”
Raylina backed away towards Mr. Dark’s desk while he distracted Dark Rayman.
“Ah, my old master,” said Dark Rayman, narrowing his pupil less eyes at Mr. Dark. “As you may have noticed, I have been much improved since I served under you,”
A blade of flames appeared in Mr. Dark’s hand. “Indeed. But by who?”
“No comment,” Dark Rayman replied, and charged.
Master and servant clashed, and all hell broke loose.
Raylina rummaged frantically through Mr. Dark’s desk, attempting to find the claw he spoke of. Bits of laboratory equipment flew at her, thrown by the combatants’ furious battling. She opened one of the drawers, and found it. “Here!” she said, tossing it to Mr. Dark.
Dark produced a ball of shadows and knocked Dark Rayman across the room with it and caught the claw in a single movement. “And the Emerald!”
Raylina threw that as well, and Dark caught it. He fitted it into the claw just as Dark Rayman leapt at him again.
“CHAOS CONTROL!”
And Dark Rayman was left facing an empty room.
“Damn it!”
He focused his anger into power...
BOOM!
...and set off an explosion, utterly destroying Mr. Dark’s quarters.
Dark Rayman turned from the ruined room and began to hunt again.

Space Colony ARK, Orbiting the Crossroads of Dreams

Rayman struggled towards consciousness, blinking in confusion.
“Wha... where am I?”
A round face leaned over him. It wore circular sunglasses and had a huge, brown moustache.
“Relax, Rayman. You are safe here,”
As Rayman regained his senses, he saw that the head was actually attached to a round body dressed in a red coat. Rayman tried to move, but he was held down by bonds of steel around his hands, feet and chest.
“No! I need to get to my daughter! She needs help!”
He pulled at the steel, bending it with desperate strength.
“Now, now. We can’t have any of that, can we?”
An electric current ran through the bonds, and Rayman blacked out for several minutes.
When he came to again, he found the man watching him still. “Who- who are you?” Rayman gasped.
“I? I am Doctor Eggman,”

[Joshua822]

Eggman strikes again...

I like it

[spiraldoor]

If I do write a new fanfic, it probably won't be a cross over. It will feature Rayman's daughter.

I guess you changed your mind!

The Ancients chose one particular planet as their home, one which they sensed would be of great interest in the future. It was still empty, a dead, airless rock orbiting an isolated sun. This planet they named the Crossroads of Dreams.

I believe there were two suns

[Joshua822]

Maybe the second sun was created later by Polokus ?

[Holy Crap]

I believe there were two suns

Um...it's two moons isn't it?

[Serza5]

I believe there were two suns

Two suns in Star Wars, 2 MOONS in Rayman.

[Joshua822]

The twin moons

[Lachimax]

Chapter 3: Sanctuary

Land of the Livid Dead

The ground shuddered.
The Teensie Ghosts gathered around their great tower, knowing that the time had come.
With an ear-splitting crack, the entire tower broke in half. The halves fell in opposite directions, creaking magnificently, and showing the interior of the structure in the seconds before they hit the ground and collapsed into rubble. And the ancient building, home of the Teensie spirits for thousands of years, was no more.
Left behind was a big, dark hole.
The spirits tightened their circle, moving in to peer into the hole.
Something stirred within.
The Teensies joined hands, their ghostly bodies blowing in the wind. A great globe of light appeared above the hole, illuminating its subterranean depths.
Inside was something dark. Something ancient.
Something vicious.
Whatever it was, it flapped its wings and shot out of the hole. The Spirits cast lightning bolts at it, attempting to stop it. It took no more notice of them than it would have annoying flies. It rose, revealing its shape.
It was a huge, black dragon.
The dragon flew from the hole as fast as it could, but it stopped suddenly a few hundred metres from the tower, as though running into an invisible barrier. It shrieked in rage, clawing uselessly at this obstacle. Finally, it slumped in midair, realising defeat. Then it turned to the Teensie spirits on the ground.
Time to hunt.

The Canopy, Vastfall Forests

Raylina looked around in amazement. “What happened? You did the same thing as Shadow!”
Mr. Dark nodded. “Yes. I constructed the claw device recently to mimic a Mobian’s energy signature. I never got to test it, not having a Chaos Emerald handy, but apparently it works,”
They had materialized in the leaves of what appeared to be an absolutely colossal tree. The trunk had to be hundreds of metres in diameter, and extended up and down further than Raylina could see. It made her dizzy to think about how high up they were. The yellow leaves they were standing in formed a solid platform, one that Raylina didn’t think she could fall through if she tried. She could see that they were in a forest of such trees, a forest that seemed to be in perpetual Autumn(the season Fall for you Americans).
“Where are we?” she asked Mr. Dark.
“We are in the Canopy, a location midway um the tallest trees of the Vastfall Forest. Your father came here once to rescue Globox,”
“Wow. He never told me that,”
“There are a lot of things Rayman never told you. He saved the world five times, you know. Once from me,”
“Yeah. Right,” Raylina shook her head in disbelief. “So why are we here?”
Mr. Dark switched on the screen which displayed where the Chaos Emeralds were. “We’re here to get us another Chaos Emerald. With more of them, we will be able to get Rayman back,”
“Where did he go?”
“I don’t know. But we’ll find out,”

Sanctuary of the Woods

Mr. Dark and Raylina walked around the trunk of the tree until they reached the other side. Here they could see that an entranceway had been cleaved from the very flesh of the tree. Or had it grown like that...?
The door was very large, surrounded by carvings of all sorts of plants. It, too, was made from wood, but there was no apparent handle or knob to open it with.
“But... this is one of Polokus’ sanctuaries! How can the Emerald be here?”
Dark nodded. “Hmm... Well, the Emeralds were warped here across space, but possibly also across time. The bulk of them arrived close to the present, but it is possible that one or two may have arrived thousands or even millions of years ago. Polokus may have found the Emerald and constructed the Sanctuary especially to guard it,’
Mr. Dark stepped towards it, and placed his hand on the perfectly smooth wood. “This door has been protected magically. Brute force will not open it,”
He glanced up at the centre of the door, where a large ‘O’ was carved into it. “But I know what will,”
Dark seized Raylina’s hand and pressed it to the the O. Both it and the one on her shirt glowed, and the door slid upwards, opened.
Inside was darkness.
Dark looked at Raylina. “Ladies first,”

The first chamber was a huge cube. The roof and walls were, again, carved with intricate representations of trees, plants and fungi.
It was entirely empty, except for the Eyes.
They were shaped like irregular ovals, and were bloodshot. They bounced up and down upon the floor, their lids like grey hoods. All were different sizes, some taller than Mr. Dark, others smaller than Raylina’s body.
And they followed the duo’s path across the room. Sort of.
Raylina realised something. “They’re not looking at us... They’re looking at the air behind us...”
Dark nodded. “They are all-seeing creatures. Nothing is invisible to them. They inhabit certain places of power, but are essentially harmless unless touched. Some philosophers say that they gaze upon the Gods themselves, who stand behind us and guide our way. These particular Gods have also been named Players,”
Raylina shivered. “They’re creepy,”
“They will not hurt you,”
(Writer’s Note: The Eyes are actually enemies in Rayman 2, just outside the Cave of Bad dreams and also in the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava. They don’t attack you, in fact they just stay still and bounce, but they creeped the hell out of me.)
The two moved across the room, coming to another door. “Beyond this door their will likely be a trial or booby trap, or many. Rayman told me of his experiences in his search for the Masks,”
Raylina took a deep breath. “I’m ready,”
Carved into the door was a sentence: Compassion is the Virtue of a True Hero. Raylina memorised this just in case it was to come in handy.
Mr. Dark opened the door, and they stepped through.
On the floor was something so ugly, so gruesome, that Raylina’s first feeling was one of utter revulsion.
It had multiple legs, sticking out of many places, but none of them could reach the ground over its bloated belly. Its eyes were bloodshot, and again there were many of them. It stood in its own filth, unable to move. It was small, and had fangs sticking out of its wide mouth. Its skin was covered in warts and moles.
Mr. Dark snarled in disgust, and raised his hand to smite the creature, but something inside Raylina was touched.
“No!” she screamed. “Don’t kill it! We have to save it!”
Mr. Dark looked at her in puzzlement. “But it is a hideous creature, of no use to anyone. It barely even classifies as alive,”
But then he looked past Raylina in amazement, and she too turned around. The creature was transforming, morphing, until it took the form of a huge, majestic bald eagle, towering over both of them. The eagle looked down at them both, and spoke with the sound of judgement in its voice: “You have the compassion of a true hero, Raylina. You may proceed,” He stared down at Mr. Dark. “You, on the other hand, must stay behind,”
“Huh? But she needs me!”
But Raylina was already through the door.
She stood within a grand chamber, with a great, sweeping staircase leading upwards. In contrast with the dark, gloomy nature of the previous rooms, this one was well lit with light from above.
Raylina stepped forward, towards the staircase, only to have her feet swept out from under her. She landed on her back, gasping in surprise.
She had been knocked over by a vine. She looked upwards to see that the vine led upwards, towards a monster floating above her. It seemed to be composed entirely from vines, wrapping around each other to form a coherent shape. The beast was shaped like an inverted triangle, with muscular arms and a small, diamond-shaped head on top.
Gaiana, Guardian of the Sanctuary of the Woods.
Raylina rolled over just as another vine, this one barbed with large thorns, came down with great force where she had been. She sprang to her feet and ran, running up the staircase. Gaiana followed her, throwing leafy tendrils at the Ray. She dodged as best she could, leaping and rolling.
But the beast was catching up.
Her father’s words, spoken when she was but a child, echoed through her mind. “In a time of need, your powers shall be given to you,”
Well, Raylina was looking around frantically, but there was no fairy around to give her the gift of power. But then, her chest began to glow silver, a ball of energy appearing there.
A Silver Lum!
But there was only one person who could have sent that...
Go, sweety! Ly’s voice rang through Raylina’s mind. Use the power I have given you!
Raylina skidded to a halt, a dangerous thing to do on a staircase. She tripped, turning over quickly and standing back up. Gaiana floated towards her, vines creeping through the air from him. Raylina pulled her hand back, opening it. An orb of blue light appeared in her palm, slowly growing until it was the size of her head. She threw it at Gaiana, and it flew through the air, landing square in the plant-being’s chest. Gaiana reared back, a hole in his chest. The vines quickly sealed the hole over again, however, and the creature turned to her again, angrier than ever. Raylina tossed ball after ball into Gaiana, but he kept coming. She looked around, desperate...
A torch.
At the top of the staircase was a flaming torch.
Raylina ran again, as fast as she could. She reached the top as Gaiana was almost on her heels. Hundreds of green and brown tendrils reached to take her. Raylina tossed one last ball of energy at the beast, and then stepped behind the torch.
Gaiana reacted to quickly. He continued reaching for her, but stuch his vines straight into the flames as he did so. They caught fire, and the flames raced up the length of his vines. He shrieked in pain as the fire burned through his leafy body, until he was reduced to ashes.
Raylina slumped in relief, and then turned to the task at hand. Beyond the torch was a pillar of stone, separated into three segments. The bottom segment bore a white semi-circle crowned by three triangles, the mark of Polokus himself. The uppermost segment had an ‘O’ on it, the same as the one on Raylina’s shirt. Raylina stepped up to the pillar. The O on the pillar glowed, as did her own. A ball of light floated down from the pillar, hovering between them. A bolt of electricity flew out from that in both directions, joining Raylina to the pillar for a moment. Then it was gone, and the top two segments slid away, revealing that the bottom one was hollow.
Out of the hollow floated a red Chaos Emerald.
Raylina climbed onto the bottom part of the pillar, grabbed the gem, and began to make her way back down the stairs, stepping around the pile of ash that had once been Guardian of the Sanctuary of Woods.

[spiraldoor]

How many Sanctuaries are there? o_O And there are definitely two suns, you can see them at Globox House and the start of DOTK.

[Joshua822]

Don't forget the end of DOTK There are two suns and two moons.

[spiraldoor]

A double solar eclipse would be awesome...

[Holy Crap]

Really? Hm, I guess I'll have to play R3 again... Oh well, I was planning on doing that anyway.

[spiraldoor]

I believe one of my sisters broke my R3 GC disc...little bastard...

[Joshua822]

You could download it, it's legal because you already own the game

[Joshua822]

I've just reader Chapter 3. It's great, keep up the good work