(A/N: I decided that it was time I wrote something...and I was listening to Poison Spear from the SatSR soundtrack and am now obsessed with it. I wanted to adapt it and the boss fight into a fic, and so I have. I know I've got a whole lot of other things that need updating, but I'm not sure when that will happen so here's something short and sweet. I might find that there are more songs I want to adapt into a fic, but who knows. That probably won't happen, but if it does they'll go here. Also, go easy on me, this is the first time I've written in Sonic's POV, and I wanted to take the challenge. Listen to the song Poison Spear while you're reading this, if you like...it does suit the fic.)

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Poison Spear

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Man, is it hot!

No, wait; that's an understatement. Imagine being dropped into an active volcano, then being set on fire, and then going for a ride in a drier for good measure. That might start to come close to how hot it is. If I ever come across the guy that wrote this book, I'll drop him in an active volcano!

So, I did the sensible thing and went inside for a bit. It was certainly a hard day; first I get dumped in this book, then this Erazor Djinn guy appears, shoots me with a fire arrow (literally!), and what do I have to do? Save the Arabian Nights, save myself, put this Erazor back in his place, and get the heck out!

Getting back on track, though, I'd just gone inside to catch a breather and cool off a bit. Well, I was in for a surprise! Not only was it just as hot as outside but they've got fire jets! I don't blame them, you could probably light a match and set the air alight in this heat. So much for Shahra saying "It'll be cooler inside", it's probably cooler outside. I never saw her running through the desert all day!

So here I was, leaning against a wall, and for once in my life wishing this place was underwater. Or at least with some shallow pools! I walked along the corridors, painted in all manner of psychedelic colours, when I came across an engraving in the wall. The exit was up ahead, but I was going to take every chance I could to stay out of that sun, so I incapacitated one of Erazor's minions and took its torch to read the words.

Not many if any can stand the heat,

The heat of the venom that cuts your peace,

Through the veins, to the heart, it feeds,

Catches time and makes it freeze.

Try look back, turn around and see,

The world is a place for the strong and keen,

Try not to fathom what it all just means,

A tale of a tail with a poison spear.

Tail of spear, wrapped in venom with a cause effect,

One more shine and it starts to reach…

Tail of spear, wrapped in venom of eternal death.

Not many if any can stand the heat,

The heat of the venom that cuts your peace,

Try not to fathom what it all just means,

A tale of a tail with a poison spear.

A tale of a tail with a poison spear? Someone's obviously taken poetry lessons. Now that I think about it…the whole thing seems pretty morbid. Probably some urban legend about some Arabian monster…by the sounds of things a scorpion. I smirked; you'd probably expect scorpions in a desert. The verse was probably some cautionary tale about scorpions…that actually makes sense.

'Sonic!'

And that would be Shahra. You could recognise her voice anywhere. I imagine she's seen some other form of magic…it gets to me how she always states the most obvious of the obvious. She's worse than Tails…if that's even possible. Well, I supposed I'd been in that tunnel too long so I got the heck out of there! Maybe she'd found the edge of this accursed place.

Well, I was wrong. She'd seen a depression in the sand…like a bowl. Chaos knows why she thought that was important…but if it got me back into the sun then it had to be. On second thoughts, this is Shahra we're talking about. She would probably complain about some magical unicorn blowing all the sand out. I know the routine well: She finds out something entirely unimportant, tells me, I joke about it, she tells me to be serious.

'What's up this time, Shahra?' I asked.

She pointed to the bowl.

I rolled my eyes. 'It's a ditch. Now let's get out of here.'

She raised both hands over her mouth, and screamed, shaking her head. I followed her line of sight, and saw something purple crawl out from the depression. It was followed by a barbed stinger as big as I am, and an eye…then leg…and another eye…and another stinger…and a body with another eye…and another eye. Dang. That's a whole lotta eyes.

I'm known for thinking as fast as I run. So I did the first thing that came into my mind.

I yelled something no respectable hero should and ran away.

I stopped about two minutes later. It was about three o'clock…the time when everyone says you should be indoors on hot days, and I was wasted. I flopped onto the sand and closed my eyes. A lead of two minutes should be enough…that's two minutes at twenty kilometres a minute. Forty clicks is almost an hour's drive.

That purple beast had a lot of catching up to do.

Except…I wasn't expecting it to jump right in front of me and give me the scare of my life. I've got no earthly idea how it's so fast…but this place is full of magic after all. The point is that I was in no condition to run in, and here was this thing running backwards away from me. I smirked and laid down again…dumb beast. But then it shot some weird coals…or maybe they were rocks, engulfed in purple flame. That got me running again.

'Sonic! It's one of Erazor's henchmen! He'll destroy the book if you don't kill him!'

It's just like Shahra to spoil my day by telling me I have to actually dispatch this monstrosity. Running away from it was hard enough.

She looked at me with those liquid brown eyes and fear all across her face. And so I ran after the thing, being the brave Saviour of the Oppressed that I am.

Like I said before, I have no idea how it was so fast. Even when I dared to run at top speed I still couldn't keep up. It would let me get within three metres, and then back away. Maybe it got tired. If it did, that would be a good thing. I have limitless stamina.

Alright, I'm lying. I have limitless stamina when there's food, water, and a sun that isn't behind a magnifying glass. On the other hand, the purple thing doesn't seem to be affected by the heat. So it gets tired and I get hot, huh? I suppose even ground is better than in the beast's favour.

Turns out I was wrong about that too. It didn't get tired, it just let me get close so it could try and impale me and shoot more fireballs, as I found out when I almost got a stinger through my head. I dropped to the ground in a ball, risking a glance when I was sure I hadn't died. A - you guessed it - purple liquid dripped from the stinger (which I noticed had left a sizable dent in the ground). I can only imagine what it would be like to have that thing cut a hole in you, and if that didn't kill you the venom coursing through your rapidly-diminishing blood would. If Shahra says I shuddered at that point in time, she's lying.

But the word venom brought back to me what I'd read in the tunnel…that verse about the scorpion. Funnily enough the first line that I remembered was "A tale of a tail with a poison spear". That makes sense, considering it's the most entertaining. The other lines weren't so easy to recall, but I figured out bits and pieces.

Not many if any can stand the heat, the heat of the venom that cuts your peace…something, something, something something, something time and makes it freeze. Try look back, something something something, the world is a place for the strong and keen…something fathom what it all just means…a tale of a tail with a poison spear.

OK, so that's pretty useless. A poem about this giant scorpion that tells everyone to be afraid of it.

I dodged another set of fireballs, trying to think about how to kill it.

'Sonic! It's using some form of magical venom to set rocks on fire and throw them at you!' Shahra shouted.

I wonder whether the guy who thought this thing up was using some form of "magical venom".

'I gathered that! Now be useful and tell me how to kill it!'

Shahra nodded, and turned back into her Tikal-esque ball of light to circle around it.

In the mean time, I decided to be brave and caught one of those fireballs, and I'll have you know with possible great danger to my life (but Shahra would say with possible great lack of common sense), and threw it back at the scorpion. It lost a small segment of leg, but didn't stop.

It did slow down, though. I punched the air – bad move. The glove was eaten through and by the looks of things so was the skin on my hand. I stared at it with a grotesque fascination…it didn't really hurt. It'd drive the fangirls crazy, though. But…considering the only girl here was Shahra…and I'll be nice and say maybe the scorpion…that might not be the case.

'It's the eyes, Sonic!'

Alright then, so the eyes it is. The scorpion's like a crab, with a body and about six legs. The front two are poised above its head with a heavily barbed stinger on each, still secreting that "magical venom". The eyes are on the knees of the front two legs, and two on the body. Okay. How am I supposed to get there?

I ran up close to it and waited for it to try and sting me. Liquid dripped down the left one, so I dodged right just as the stinger rammed down into the sand. Taking advantage of the fact that the eye was close to the ground, I threw myself into a spin and hit the first eye, then the second, then the third, and finally the fourth.

The scorpion reared up in pain, tossing me off, and I landed beneath it, thanking Chaos I didn't need my hand to spindash.

I didn't forget about the legs coming back down, no way. I just…OK, I forgot about the legs coming back down. They missed me except for one, which had the kindness to land on my hand.

Except I can't really feel a whole lot more pain in my palm so it didn't make a difference. Made me mad, though.

I managed to hit it another four times, and then it promptly turned around. Where a mouth should have been, there was a huge eyeball inside a tight-fitting pair of jaws. Now, that really is whacked out.

I was staying a comfortable distance behind, nursing my hand, when any belief that the creator of this monster was sane was thoroughly crushed. The eyeball flew, you heard me, flew towards me, flattened me against the ground and raked me a couple of times with its teeth.

Why exactly am I doing this, again? Oh yeah, that's right. To save King Shiar…Sharahi…Sha…okay, King Whatever. How am I meant to even do that when I don't know what he looks like or where to find him? Oh yeah. I'm the "Legendary Blue Hedgehog".

'Sonic!'

By the sounds of things, Shahra's really worried. Admittedly…I am too. There's nothing like a flying, toothed eyeball to freak you out. As it moved in to bite me a third time I held its jaws open with my hands, sucking in breath through my teeth, and used my legs to get it above my head and stand up as well. It rapidly flew backwards, but I chased it and spindashed it a couple of times.

And then the beast lay dead.

I leant over the scorpion, looking at its two stingers. They were big enough, alright. But of course, I defeated it after a--

Not cool! Giant scorpions with flying eyeballs who are dead do not, and I repeat, DO NOT grab you and try to slit your…ow, ow, OW!

For once, it was Shahra to the rescue. She delivered the magical equivalent of a strong roundhouse to the scorpion's head, and it dropped me to the ground. I rubbed my neck. It's bleeding a little…but I'll be alright.

'Sonic! Are you OK? I heard you scream and I thought it had killed—'

For the record, I didn't scream. That was her.

She looked at my hand and the gaping scratches (yes, they were gaping!) down my chest and gasped. I waved my hand around a bit to show her I was fine and said, 'It's alright. It doesn't hurt,' but couldn't resist adding, 'Much.'

Shahra told me to wish myself better, and I would a minute later. If I don't I'll probably end up with some strange form of purple gangrene.

'So…what does this King look like?' I asked Shahra.

'Well…he's fat.'

I laughed. It would be too much for me to not have to think about Eggman once one this trip, wouldn't it. He'll probably have a giant 'tash, too, and then I can have a real riot.

'And?'

Shahra started to blush. 'Do you know what Sharyhar means in our language?'

Thank you once again for stating the blindingly obvious! If I knew then you wouldn't need to tell me whatever you're planning too!

I wasn't going to say this, though…I have to give the girl a break once in a while.

She took my silence as a no, thankfully. 'It means Hairy Lip…'

Okay. Now, that is funny. What, does he have some kind of eternal mould growing on his lip? A milk moustache that never got washed off?

'But don't tease him about his moustache, it's punishable by law.'

I laughed. 'Why would I tease him?'

Shahra blushed further. 'It's very big.'

So then…he DID look like Eggman. I chose that time to wish myself better, and took one last look at the beast.

The end of a tale of a tail with a poison spear.

There's a palace in the distance…and kings do live in palaces, right?

Well, once it cools down I'll go check it out. I've got plenty of time to explore, and it's not every day you get trapped inside a book.

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END