This adaption was supposed to be finished back in February, but after having creative differences with myself, I planned to just scrap it and spare myself any impending turmoil. But, after gaining some inspiration from friends and gifting myself with the goal of getting this posted on this exact date (;D)...I realized this story isn't so bad after all. About time Unleashing Sonic got its sequel!
The most I can ask of you is that you simply enjoy. ^^
.:Speak With Your Heart:.
Heh…it's almost kinda funny.
You take a run one day, with your best friend tagging along, and you come across an elevator plunked in the middle of nowhere.
So naturally, you wonder to yourself: "Should I take this, and see what it goes?"
The answer? Of course dude!
Especially if the keys are left in the thing- that's just an invitation to party!
Because while the elevator might take you straight into the middle of an evil plot that you'll probably have to stop, it also just might take you to another great thrill of your life, and some great new friends!
You know you won't get this opportunity again- you step into the elevator that reaches all the way up to the stars and wait to see where it takes you.
That first step shows that you're willing to take a chance on today.
. . .
So here I am, standing in an elevator with my no-longer-so-little buddy, and I feel like we've been trapped in here for ages. No matter how many times Tails tried to assure that we were moving at an incomparable speed (especially for an elevator), I was pretty confident that I was more than comparable.
"I could've ran up the side of this thing and be there already," I mumbled, with Tails only shrugging lightly in return. "…that is, wherever 'there' happens to be."
We were left in a comfortable silence, slowly nearing our destination. I knew we had to be close when the exotic colors of lights started reflecting on the glass from above us.
"Hello, happy people!"
I should've known right then and there that something was definitely fishy.
It was also when we became close enough that we could hear HIS voice. The sound sent a shiver of urgency down my spine, but there was no reason to panic. Maybe I was just hearing things-
"Buckle up as Eggman's Ultra-Accelerating Space Elevator whisks you to an interplanetary wonderland of fun!" the PA System continued to blare, and after that, there was no mistaking it.
Wherever we were going was under control of Eggman.
"I still can't believe somebody was dumb enough to leave the keys in this thing!" I sighed, shaking my head. "It's like Eggman's begging us to sneak in and trash the place!"
But to be honest, I was glad Eggman reared his ugly mustached-mug again. He had been acting much too quiet for far too long, longer than any absence before, and now I knew why. He was building this…and there probably wasn't anything good about it.
I hope I don't develop some sort of amusement park paranoia from this…
"M-Man, this thing's got c-c-crazy fast acceleration!" Tails suddenly gasped, eyes bugging out of his head and clutching what he could grab of the walls for support.
I gave Tails a look and raised an eyebrow. "You call this fast?"
The look Tails flashed me afterward as he grabbed his weak stomach told me more than enough, so I coughed and left him be. The only sounds that reverberated within the elevator after that were Tails' winces, the elevator's soft purrs as it made its way to our destination…and Eggman's obnoxious voice.
"This amusement park has been constructed entirely out of a sense of remorse for my past transgressions, and is in no way associated with any sort of evil plot or premeditated misdeeds."
I rolled my eyes, not believing Eggman's projected words for a second. "Well, that's a relief."
"Your next stop- the Tropical Resort! There you'll find breath-taking views from our giant Ferris Wheel, amazing deals in the shopping mall, and constant risks of bodily harm."
"Ooh, Tropical Resort!" Tails exclaimed, starting to bounce a little with excitement in a stark contrast to how he was just seconds ago. "Maybe this place won't be half bad!"
"Maybe," I replied nonchalantly, arms laced behind my head while closing my eyes. "Yeah, I can see it now- we'll be so busy with the savings at the stores that we won't encounter any of those bodily harm risks."
Tails opened his mouth for an intelligent reply, but was taken aback by my sarcasm somewhere in the process. He gave me a look; I cracked an eye open and returned it with a smirk and a wink.
. . .
When the elevator finally came to a stop, I was out before the door had even fully opened. I sprung out to embrace not being trapped in a box while Tails stumbled out looking pretty pale. After pacing around and stretching my legs, the two of us took in the surroundings.
Unfortunately, there was only a single word to sum up the sights: incredible.
It was merely one section of the park, and I could already tell that Eggman wasn't kidding. The area looked a lot smaller on the way up, but once you were inside the resort, it was huge! Hover cars were flying in all directions; several buildings and attractions lined the paths, and large neon signs lit up everything, which were very capable of drawing people in with their bright spontaneous colors…
And it looked like there was plenty of room for me to run.
And suddenly, I was torn with the desire to just get lost in the area and have fun while doing it, and my suspicions about Eggman. A guy doesn't waste time building an amusement park in space just to say he's sorry. A card and some flowers would do the trick much easier.
However, this was Eggman we were talking about. Over the top was more of his style.
Something was telling me not to let my guard down too much, but I couldn't help being overtaken with the possibilities and the unwavering desire to see every inch of the resort. I was still thinking it over when Eggman's voice rang out again over the intercom.
"Welcome to Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park! A single day pass grants you unlimited access to all five park areas!"
"He can sound as chipper as he wants," I announced, folding my arms and staring at the sky. "I don't trust any park with his name attached."
"Aw, lighten up Sonic! This place looks fun!" Tails replied lightheartedly, turning his head in all directions to get an eyeful of everything. I narrowed my eyes and shook my head.
"Oh right, Tails. Because Eggman's just the type to build a place where people can have fun."
Tails gave me a disapproving look. "I know it sounds unlikely, but do you see anything suspicious around?"
"I'm sure I'll find plenty soon enough," I instantly bolted off, racing down the golden road. "Let's go!"
"Sonic! You don't even know what you're getting into!" Tails shouted after me, but I was already gone, pulled away by the overwhelming sense of anticipation.
. . .
Regardless of the somewhat turn-off description of the Resort, it was true; the place did look like a ton of fun! The surroundings were very attractive and it had such a colorful atmosphere to it…but I still wasn't quite ready to let down my defenses. Anything Eggman did had something to do with bad intentions.
Except this décor- it was fantastic!
I was tearing through the paths of the resort, trying to see everything that I could. Confetti dropped from above like rain, "Welcome" signs plastered every open space, palm trees and other vegetation grew along the sides of the paths, but even with all the brightness in the park, it paled in comparison to the sight of my home planet shining among the stars.
"Cool," I whistled in a single breath before smirking. "It looks a lot nicer when it's not shattered into pieces."
The world had its own blue aura about it, glowing more brilliantly than all the stars combined in my opinion. I smiled lightly as I ran- I loved my planet, and everything about it, from the vast terrains to run through, the people that inhabited it, and right down to the color. There was hardly a bad thing that came to mind when I thought about it.
"But forget about that for now!" I exclaimed, leaping into the air on a single bound and alighting on a grind rail. "Let's go!"
As I cruised on through, golden sparks flying at my feet, Eggman's voice echoed throughout, and this time, it was something far less intelligent than it had been before.
"Please refrain from throwing coins, trash, and small children into the reflecting pools."
I should hope no one tosses small children in there!
A bit caught off guard by Eggman's announcement, I jumped off the rail appearing a little dazed. Not paying attention, I had started to rocket off, only to crash into a capsule of some sort. I tripped over it in an overdramatic fashion, hitting the floor and looking on groggily as the capsule popped open.
"Ow…did some kid drop a prize in the middle of the street or something?" I grumbled, flopping onto my back and moaning. I hardly had a chance to pull myself together when a group of white floating things started hovering above me.
Think I hit my head too hard.
"What in the world…?" My voice was laced with confusion as I stood back up, rubbing the sore spot that had been conceived when my head hit the ground. The creatures resembled squids, but they looked nothing like anything I'd ever seen before.
However, they were really friendly.
"H-Hey!" They started spinning around me, making these weird high-pitched babbling sounds. I couldn't understand a word they were saying, but I could definitely tell they were happy and tickling me. "Cut it out!"
Eventually, their tickling did stop, but this was replaced by them suddenly turning into energy and confusing the heck out of me. They swirled around me before disappearing, and I didn't have a clue as to where they went until I suddenly felt the energy coursing through me…
It felt like Chaos Energy, only…softer. Lighter. Like someone had injected a rainbow into my veins…and it made me feel one hundred percent more hyperactive.
"Woo hoo!" My speed suddenly spiked, a spectrum of colors blazing from beneath my feet. All the lights and buildings seemed to merge into one continuous sight, and all the sounds of the park started to become warped. Not that much different from when I ran without the influence of weird creatures, but…
"What the…what did those things do to me?"
The sensation didn't last forever, with my hyperactive feeling dying out and the creatures emerging out of me. I slowed down considerably and stared at them curiously, but they just giggled in their strange voices and took off into sky. While they appeared pleased with me, something about them was…scared and worried, and I had felt it when they had become one with me- erm, so to speak.
"I'd be freaked out too if I was in captivity," I mused to myself. "Which brings the question as to why they were captured in the first place…and how they did that to my speed?"
I kind of wanted the creatures to come back- the thrill they gave me was like being on a sugar rush without having the crash afterward! In fact, I was still feeling some of the after effects as I ricocheted off balloons, puncturing them with quirky pops and returning back to my feet.
"The unfiltered starlight from the lovely constellations is full of deadly radiation. Help yourself to our complementary SPF 3000 Starblock, and by complimentary, I mean quite expensive…"
"Typical Eggman," I thought to myself, not bothering to comment aloud.
Speak of the egghead, I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was when I came across my first encounter with some robots. Three of Eggman's Egg Pawns were standing smack in the center of the road waving "WELCOME" signs around!
Personally, all this "WELCOMING" was making me feel nauseous.
A robot was still a robot, so I curled up and performed an Action Chain on the three of them loitering around. I almost felt bad since they really weren't hurting anybody, but once three white creatures flew out of their metal remains, my mind instantly changed. The realization struck like lightning, and my expression briefly twisted up into a scowl.
"He's using these creatures to power up his robots?" I exasperated aloud. "He's up to some of his old tricks, if nothing else…"
Eggman always did have a bad habit of using cute creatures to fuel his creations.
Disregarding the thought for the moment, but certainly not letting it go, I used the Boost power the creatures had gifted me with to blast forward with extra power. A few rings that were scattered around came flying at me, practically collecting themselves! It was like I became a magnet or something of the sort… and it was impressive.
"Maybe there's more to these powers than I thought…"
I leaped off a small ledge in a flurry of colors, springing into the air and locking my sights onto a flying purple robot. Smirking, I threw myself at the Spinner, stringing a long chain of attacks as I demolished its floating buddies as well.
"The foliage you see was pilfered from various environmentally fragile planets," Eggman's voice rang out again just as I had landed and started admiring the vegetation again. "…Please enjoy them as they are the last of their kind."
You've gotta be kidding me!
I ran over a dash panel and found myself on a new grind rail, complete with a view looking out a giant window with the entirety of the planet in sight. I whistled as I whisked by- there was no saying that wasn't way past cool!
"It really is nice." An uncontainable smile crossed my face, and if I didn't think there was something suspicious going on in this park, I'd round up everyone on the planet and get them on the elevator stat, just to witness that marvelous sight!
Heh heh, I bet I could convince Knuckles to come, if there was some sort of rock-babysitting service in the resort.
I couldn't help but snicker to myself, the smirk not faltering when I approached another pack of Egg Pawns. These ones weren't advertising welcome mats like the ones before them…meaning that when they saw me, they ran in to attack.
Yawning, I simply stood where I was and neatly folded my arms behind my back, a daring look darting across my face.
"Aw, I'm actually disappointed. Your friends gave me quite the welcome wagon before, and now you plan on tearing me limb from limb. So distasteful!"
One of them took the lunge; I swiftly spun out of the way and proceeded to kick it in the back. It stumbled forward and rolled over the edge while its friends were suddenly having second thoughts. I turned to face them, put on the biggest grin I could muster, and cocked an eyebrow.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of that. Hasn't Eggman programmed you with the knowledge that I can do much worse?"
The Egg Pawns literally exchanged a glance, turning back to where I stood to find me no longer there. The one on the right met with a headful of my quills, the one on the left was smashed with both my fists. They both twirled around in defeat, but I struck them each once more to really put them out of commission.
"Please refrain from teasing the robots, as they are very sensitive and require expensive maintenance."
Sensitive? No wonder they were so easy to tear through.
Six creatures came out of the robots; seemingly thanking me by the way they were rapidly nodding their heads. I just grinned in return, catching three more of my new friends joining the others out of the corner of my eye. I guessed that they had come from the robot I had careened over the edge.
"It's okay you guys- I was happy to help," I assured, but before I could convince them that it was all cool, all nine creatures transferred into energy and gave it to me. "Whoa whoa, wait-"
Boom.
Within a single second I was running, and the crystal clear image of the buildings, signs, flying cars, and the sky quickly started looking like it had been thrown in a blender and streaked across a blank canvas. The sounds became warped once again, but I didn't care- I was going fast, I was free, nothing was holding me back, and with the powers of my newfound pals, I felt as though I could go forever.
I've tried running forever- but a 'hog has to have his naps and chili dogs sometime, you know.
I charged over a ramp, becoming airborne for a few moments before dismounting on the path once again. Another rainbow of light flashed from where I once was as I utilized the Boost Power I'd obtained. If I actually ran into a creature that didn't automatically disappear afterwards, I'd have to say thanks!
"Please do not be concerned if you encounter any screaming aliens. The screams are how they communicate. Really, I promise."
"So those things are aliens, huh?" I wondered aloud, popping another plethora of balloons. "That explains why I haven't seen them before-wait a second…what the heck does he want aliens for?! And how did he manage to gather such a large amount of them as well?"
Ooh, when I returned to Tails, I'd be sure to feed him with all this proof that the doctor was still off his rocker. In the meantime, I was going to enjoy all the park had to offer.
Hey, if Eggman was going to give away some free entertainment, who was I to turn it down? I'd be kicking his butt in the end anyway, so why not make the most of it along the way?
"Yeah!" I cheered, running through a loop in the road before flying off another ramp. I noticed a huge neon-colored Ferris Wheel in the background, with "ENJOY" sitting in the center of it. Something seemed sort of off about it…but it was hard to judge when you were doing flips, tricks, and splits in midair.
"Good! Great! Awesome! Outstanding! Amazing!"
Once I finished my midair performance, I touched down on a yellow-orange grind rail and found myself flying over the rest of the park. From this height, I could see large oval-domed buildings, spotlights painting the sky, and hot air balloons taking off in celebration. Eggman really went all-out with this, I had to admit…
I could just imagine him arrogantly basking in the glory of it all, taking a large bow in front of a huge crowd of people…
I flipped off the edge of my current rail and onto another. It swerved around a huge fountain that looked like it was made out of tropical citrus fruits! I instantly started simpering at the sight.
"Now THAT'S tasteful, heh heh."
The rail then started going straight, right through large flashing pink and blue rings. Also placed on the center rail was another container of apparently aliens, so I swapped rails and rescued them again.
"Well, hi!" I exclaimed, having a new trio of aliens celebrate around me. "I have a feeling that I'll be running into your kind pretty often, so we might as we get acquainted!"
The aliens clearly agreed, and I was ready this time for their power-up. I went soaring on that grind rail, everything seeming to be surrounded in a hazy rainbow aura as I grinded around in a loop and went soaring off the end.
"Whoa, that was sweet!"
I wanted to do it again!
I continued running through the park, my opinion of it growing better by the second. It was Eggman I had to be wary of, not the place he built. Of course, if there was something evil under the surface then my opinion would change…but hey, there was no proof of the actual park being evil yet, was there?
"Please feel free to leave all your valuables in your vehicle during your stay here at Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park, as they will be perfectly safe. In no way will roaming bands of robots break into your vehicle."
Eggman was certainly saying "please" a lot, huh?
I rushed over a ramp again, taking off into the air a second time and performing another series of tricks. I did a simple flip which was good, another flip which was great…I also did the splits which were awesome, struck a pose which was outstanding, and several tricks which were amazing! Feeling proud of myself, I then gaped when I ended up on yet another grind rail.
It was official, I loved this place.
"All right!" I cheered, jumping through a rainbow loop and collecting a set of rings. I flipped between the three rails that were at my exposal, finally settling for the middle one that shot me through three more rainbow loops and took me to a giant capsule that kept a whole horde of aliens in captivity. As I jumped into the center button to free them all, I heard Eggman's voice a final time-
"Please refrain from foiling evil schemes, plots, and/or plans while inside the park. Foiling is strictly prohibited."
I guess I was going to have to break a few rules then!
. . .
I kept up my trek through the park, since there was still a ton of things to see and do. I ran around a large flashing fountain hyperactively before running off with my hands in the air.
Tails wouldn't miss me for too much longer…
My feet plodded over a dirt section of the path before jumping against a spring, ricocheting off another one, and being propelled through a rainbow loop onto the next ledge. I sprang upward and leapt onto a platform, glancing to my left and eyeing the Ferris Wheel again. I was a lot closer to it than I was last time, but I still couldn't figure out what was so shady about it.
"What's also shady are Eggman's motives," I pondered to no one in particular. "He's got aliens held up in containers and in his robots; I bet he's lying about being remorseful…"
I knew not to trust him when he said things like that from past experience, for sure…
"Would the owner of a white hovercar-shaped like an egg please report to the front desk? Your car has been broken into. Repeat. Would the owner of a white hovercar-shaped like an egg please report to the front desk? Your car has been broken in- Wait a minute, what the heck?!"
Anyway, with Eggman's random shouts on his microphone interrupting me once again, but giving me a good laugh, I kept going. I whirled through another loop in the road and ran over falling platforms, ending up in another dirt area with two more robots waiting for me. With a grin full of eagerness, I jumped over, curled into a ball, and bowled into them.
"Instead of planning to harm innocent hedgehogs, you should keep better track of your boss' hovercars!"
Another set of aliens emerged and lent me their power, and as I rode a gust of air from a fan to a higher area, I realized how nice these creatures were. They were friendly and harmless, grateful and even fun, and they let me use their abilities with hardly a second thought!
And Eggman was using them as batteries. Not cool.
"He and I are going to have a long chat when I confront him."
Right now though, I took advantage of the alien's powers and blasted down a path, letting the wind I created whistle through my quills and allowing the feeling to take over. It would've been the maximum amount of peaceful to me if there wasn't an irritating sound ringing in my ears.
"We here at Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park consider ourselves the universe's first fully green amusement park; although the green is from the nausea and vomiting, but still, green is green."
"I hope by 'we' he means him and his robots," I murmured, running around another fountain and bolting off. "Boost!"
I charged forward down a long brick-road, any stray rings coming at me like they were attracted to me, following the path, launching myself through a giant tiki head, and not ever losing my momentum. It was impossible for me to sit still in this place- in fact, it would've been impossible anywhere- there was so much ground to cover, so many things to see, a plot to squash…
And there were apparently five planets in this park to explore as well, if Eggman's lame announcements were anything to go by.
"Would Sonic the Hedgehog please report to the security office? Sonic the Hedgehog, please report to the security office. We found your... uh... YOUR KEYS! That's it, we found your keys. No need to be ready for a trap, we only want to return your keys."
Keys to what?!
"What in the world would I need keys for?" I questioned, obviously appalled as I started running again. "At least say you've got something credible, like my best friend, or a Chaos Emerald, or a chili dog!"
Unfortunately, this meant that some robot had tipped Eggman off that I was in the park, but let my presence be known! Maybe it would get him to veer off the track of thinking he could get away with whatever plot he was cooking up in that egg-shaped head of his.
Blasting over yet another dash panel and trampeling around in a loop, I came to a place with a crystal in the air, a crate, and a ledge too high to jump over. I stared at the crystal curiously, wondering what it was for…
"Maybe I'll find out later?" I asked myself, climbing onto the crate and double jumping over the ledge. Following this, I skipped across three platforms hovering over a bed of spikes, then leapt over to a series of fans to bring myself higher up.
"The following rides are closed for repairs: the "Free Money Ride", "It's An All You Can Eat World", and "Pick A Car, Any Car"."
Darn, I wanted to ride "Pick A Car, Any Car" so I could have something to use my non-existent keys on.
When I stopped again, I was at the top of a pretty steep slope, filled with robots all in a line and the crystals lining the edges. I had a really bizarre thought about me reflecting off the crystals and zinging through the robots, but I had to laugh at that. I mean, that wasn't possible!
Well, I DO have a pretty large resume of having experienced weird things…
Instead, I used my Boost power to plow through the robots, freeing more aliens and gaining more power by the second. By the time I had turned all the robots into piles of parts, I was still brimming with the power the aliens gave to me, and I had to question…how could they do that!?
I never answered my own question, because I bolted right into another large capsule containing a ton of aliens. I bounded off the button, doing a flip in the air before landing back on my feet in a confident pose.
"No one deserves to be trapped like that," I stated with a headshake, watching the throng of aliens take to the sky, welcoming their new found emancipation. "Go on and be free!"
Their joyous nature was completely contagious, and I eventually found myself grinning wider than ever before. If saving these aliens was what I was about to do, then it was going to be a piece of cake.
This is gonna be fun.
And there we have it. The only thing I have to point out are Eggman's PA announcements- describing them became really repetitive, so at one point I decided to just plunk 'em in there and have Sonic "thought comment" to clarify that it wasn't him that said so. It shouldn't be too much of a problem if you've played the game and can tell the difference, but if you find the sudden announcements jarring or anything I'll touch them up.
With that, I hope your day is just as much fun as Sonic's! ^^
