Chapter 2

I Now Hate Magical Portals

Azalea's P.O.V.

I had always wondered why pages 80 and 81 were skipped. I guess now I knew.

"KYAAAA!" I screamed as I fell down a passageway. All around me, gigantic floating hourglasses and glowing golden lights swirled around me as I fell in the abyss. There was a small thunk! and I looked up to find a book in my arms. It was the book that opened up the mysterious portal!

"What the heck is going on?" I asked the glowing portal. No response. The book in my arms started to tingle and my necklace and bracelet started to radiate a brighter light. A soft humming filled the air. A woman appeared out of thin air and gazed upon me, smiling warmly. The lady was beautiful, no, astoundingly gorgeous. She had neon-blue hair which was combed straight down to her hip, a peacock-blue gown that swirled around her like rippling water, a pair of black ballet flats that glittered brightly, and a smile which resembled a warm, summer day. The lady looked a lot like me; she had my tanned skin, pink lips, black eyebrows, small nose, and bright-as-the-sky blue eyes. This lady seemed somewhat familiar, but I didn't know how.

"Hello dear Cordelia," she spoke, her voice like wind chimes. "It has been such a long time since I've seen you." I look around, wondering who she's talking to. I t takes a minute to realize she means me.

"Um, look," I tell her. "I don't know about you, but I have no idea who you are, who this Cordelia is, or where I am, but all I know is that I want to go home to my dad. So can I go home now?"

Her face changes to worry as she shakes her head. "You cannot go back to Earth, my darling."

"Why not?"

"The fates have entwined your destiny into some place other than the planet you know and love. You'll return soon enough, but for now, I must tell you this: Azalea Autumn Dewobsidian, I am Raina Rosewater, Leader of the Council of B.L.O.W.R.A.G.S. and Goddess of Water and Leadership. All your life, you have been convinced to be something you are not. You are Cordelia Rosewater, the Demigoddess of Water and Leadership. You are a heroine."

It was difficult enough to process that I was falling through a mystical portal into the beyond, but now this lady claims she's the mother that for all 13 of my years I struggled in life without AND I'm a demigoddess, too? I couldn't believe what I was hearing as I stared blankly at my 'mother.' She noticed me gawking and giggled softly. She floated towards me, keeping perfect posture while moving. My necklace and bracelet radiated brighter and brighter as she came closer. She had moved so close to me that I could smell the perfume she was wearing, which was an ocean breeze smell: salty and filled with cool air. Her hand touched my forehead and a tepid feeling shot through me, making my skin tingle. My jewelry had suddenly stopped glowing as an aura was radiating from the gems.

"You'll find you destiny," the lady cooed as she started to fade into the air. "Follow it and you shall achieve greatness…" She disappeared into thin air, leaving only me and the book behind. A weird sound began, humming like a car engine and I looked down. A huge hole had formed in the air and was sucking me in. I let out a cliché gulp and I was sucked into the portal.

"Aaaaahhh!" I screamed as I hit the ground with a loud thump!

"Oww…" I muttered, rubbing the back of my head. I stood up, the book tight in my grasp, and observed the area in which I was in cautiously. I was standing in dirt, with compressed pieces of metal littering the ground around me. I was standing close to a miniature cliff, which I carefully stepped over to. I gasped in shock, in awe at what I was seeing. There were huge factories and skyscrapers made purely of metal, and the city streets were swarming with robots of all shapes and sizes. Smoke filled the sky as the factories emitted clouds of the hazardous stuff, making my eyes water and my throat hurt. I coughed and turned behind me to see the border of what looked like a huge forest. The trees looked weak, but it still looked somewhat of a safety zone. I started to tip-toe towards the forest, but there was something blocking my path. I gasped and jumped back before I could run into the thing blocking me. The figure stood over six feet tall and stared down at me, a gun in its hand, pointed at my head.

"Halt citizen," it commanded me. I was frozen in place and was quaking in fear. I began to back up slowly as a turtle, carefully placing foot by foot behind me. I then ran into another robot, my back against the robot's right leg. I twisted around and he had a laser pointed at me, too.

"Hey! Let me GO!"

A female voice from behind the first robot distracted them both. I saw an opening and took my chances. I tripped robot 1, which fell to the ground, aiming its gun towards me. I ripped the weapon off its body and shot the laser in what probably would be his face. The second one fired at me, though I dodged it by doing a back flip. I was behind the robot now, and I heard more lasers firing. With the robot as my meat shield, I pushed it towards another invading robot, breaking them both. I panted heavily and stared at my hands.

How did I do that? I wondered. I listened to the sparking and sizzling of broken robot parts, then heard a cough. Under the pile of broken robots, an anthropomorphic chipmunk was attempting to get to her feet, which would've happened if one of her feet wasn't stuck under a huge pile.

"Oh no," I muttered and dashed over to her to help. She looked up at me with curious blue eyes as I lifted up the robot scraps and she pulled away from them. After dropping the robotic parts on the ground, I turned to examine the girl who'd been stuck. She had red hair in a tomboy haircut that seemed a bit messy, and a blue vest and boots over her body that were a little dirty as well. She wasn't harmed though, and I was greatful that I had gotten to her just in time. After getting to her feet, she smiled at me and curtsied.

"Thank you very much, ma'am," she said. "I owe you my life." All of my thought progress came to a screeching halt as I realized what was happening. I jumped back in surprise. This animal could speak English?!

"D-did you j-just talk?" I asked, horrified.

"Well, yeah," she answered. "Can't we all?" OK, it's official. I lost my marbles.

"Well…" I muttered, my mind at a complete blank. "Who are you and where the heck am I?"

"I'm Princess Sally Acorn," she introduced herself. "And you're on the brink of Robotropolis right now."

"On what planet?"

"Um, Mobius." She looked at me curiously. "Why, where are you from?"

"Earth."

We stared at each other. She asked, "So, you're an extraterrestrial being?"

"I suppose," I answered. I turned and looked at the city below. "What is this place?"

Before Sally could answer the question, a blue blur zoomed in between us, kicking up smoke and dust in our faces. I coughed, waving the air to clear my blurry vision. The being had stopped and turned to face Princess Sally and I. The figure was blue with bright green eyes and a smirk plastered to his peach-tan muzzle. His muzzle's color was painted onto his arms and stomach and the cobalt-blue to his legs, messy quills, spines, and tail. He wore white gloves and socks, with red and white, buckled sneakers covering his feet. His ears perked straight up as he looked at Sally.

"Hey Sal," he said, his voice lower, making it seem like he was around 15 years of age, like Sally. "I heard you hollerin', so I came to-" He paused mid-sentence as he surveyed the broken bits and remains of the robots that were previously taken care of. He whistled. "Wow Sal. Looks like you did quite a bit of damage here, didn't you?"

Sally shook her head. "Actually I didn't. This new resident saved my life before you could get here. If it wasn't for her, I would be getting hauled off to the Roboticizer. So Sonic, you might want to turn the speed up by a notch." She crossed her arms and glared at him. Sonic turned his head in my direction, took an overview, and said, "You're kidding, right?"

My eyebrows knit together and Sally seemed like she was really starting to get ticked off. "Sonic, show some respect. She isn't used to the condition around here." She turned towards me. "Sorry about him, he's usually like this. He's-"

"I'm Sonic," he finished, pointing his thumb at himself. "Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest thing on Mobius." I stared at him blankly. He noticed and stopped his intro, turning to Sally again. "Why does she not know who I am?"

Sally sighed and performed a facepalm. "Did it ever occur to you I was going to say something important?" She asked through her hand.

"Oh," Sonic said. "Sorry Sal. But seriously, who is she?" They both turned on me.

"Um…" I said. "I'm Azalea. It's nice to meet you." I held out my hand nervously. Sonic ran up to me in under a second and shook my hand firmly. Sally walked up to the both of us. "And to answer your question earlier, this is the planet Mobius. We're currently in the middle of a war against us Mobians and the sinister dictator known as Doctor Robotnik."

"Or Eggman," Sonic added. "Either way, he's a fat jerk." I thought for a moment then asked, "Are there any humans on this planet?"

"Humans?" Sally asked, her turn to be confused. After a moment, she exhaled and nodded. "Do you mean Overlanders?"

"Er, yes?"

"Well, there are others, but there aren't many at all around here."

I sighed and looked at my hands to look at the book- if it was there.

"What the-?" I questioned. I turned in a 360 degree circle, unable to find the book. Both of them gave me a strange look.

"Are you looking for something?" Sally asked me. I nodded, becoming extremely worried now.

"Yeah I am," I told her. "The way I got here was through a portal that opened when I flipped to a certain page in the book. That was probably my only ticket home and I lost it!" Sally and Sonic stared at me, but didn't seem really surprised.

"Do you know what it looks like?" Sonic queried me.

"Yeah. It's an older looking book with yellow pages, leather bindings and golden 'ED' engravings on the front." Sally and Sonic stopped listening to me and looked up at a figure behind me. Sally gasped and Sonic gritted his teeth angrily. A giant shadow had cast over the three of us and in fright, I turned to see a 10-foot tall robot in the shape of a falcon glaring at us. The steel-gray robot let out a vicious screech and slithering black wires shot out of its beak and wrapped around me, lifting me into the air.

"AAAAAAHH!" I screamed in terror. The wires constricted my stomach, making me almost lose my breakfast. I was so high off the ground that I felt sicker and I was lifted to the falcon's right eye. Inside the eye was an older man, with an orange mustache and blue glasses, wearing black leather pants and boots with a red, white, and gold-buckled labcoat over his tremendous body. He cackled maniacally and glared at the three of us.

"Are you looking for this book?" he asked me, lifting up the copy of the book for me to see. I gulped and squirmed, trying to wiggle my way out of the wires' grip. When I tried to move, hundreds of volts of electricity coursed through my body, which caused me searing pain. I screamed in agony and frustration.

"Let her go!" Sally commanded him.

"Tsk tsk," the man said. "Although you're a princess Ms. Acorn, you don't always get what you want." The wires bound tighter into my skin and I screamed again. In a flash, Sonic was darting up the falcon's leg toward me. He was going faster than I'd seen any living creature go before, avoiding obstacles in his way. The man grunted, obviously annoyed, and clicked a button.

"Let's see you try to avoid Falcon-163's homing missiles!" he shouted and laughed again. 30 or so missiles were launched into the air and started to come right after Sonic. He easily avoided the attacks, as if he had done so a thousand times before.

"Eggman, I've done this over a thousand times!" he sassed and hopped onto the robot's right wing. "Haven't you ever used common sense to say that I'll beat you again?" He curled up into a spiky ball and cut through the wires with ease, catching me and landing on the ground safely.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I assured him, ignoring the deep cuts in my stomach and smell of burning flesh. Sally ran up to us and asked us if we were fine. We nodded and I told them, pointing to the falcon head, "We need to get that book from him." Both of them nodded and Sonic ran toward the falcon and Sally pulled out a mini computer.

"Nicole," she told it. "Get the Freedom Fighters to us. Here are the coordinates-" She gave Nicole the coordinates and snapped the thing back onto her boot.

"Who's Nicole?" I asked her.

"New Mobotropolis's technical guardian and one of my closest friends."

"Oh. Wait, who are the Freedom-?" A force slammed against us as we fell to the dirt. The falcon had used one of its wires to trip our feet. Sonic was thrown by one of the wires and landed next to us. He had a couple of minor bruises and burns, but he seemed fine.

"Ow," he said and stood. "This definitely isn't one of my finer moments." Sally and Sonic were both still on the ground, but I had stood up and noticed that Eggman had a bright laser cannon pointed directly at us.

"Time to die!" he screamed crazily and shot the laser beam. The two of them were too late, but I wasn't.

"NO!" I screamed and jumped in front of the two, throwing out my arms to protect them. I didn't know how I was going to defend them, but I knew I had to, even if it meant taking my own life. The laser shot toward me and I knew death was approaching…

Or was it?