IV
Sonic sighed and slipped his sneakers off and pocketed them. He removed his socks and shyly dipped his bare foot in the water. It was freezing.
"I can't go in there!" Sonic tapped his foot. "No way, no how!" Then his thoughts sprang back to Eggman's note.
It WAS Eggman's best scheme yet. You had to give him that.
Sonic growled. "What am I, Sonic the Chicken?" Holding his nose, Sonic went head-first into the water. I'm not gonna let some lousy water stop me! My name is Sonic the Hedgehog!!
Swimming the only way he knew how, Sonic lunged forward. Suddenly, he saw bare ground. His heart skipped a beat, but he realized that he had taken his sneakers off. He couldn't run fast. On the other hand, walking would be better than swimming.
Soon, Sonic needed to breathe. He launched toward the surface, only to his head on a ceiling. He stared up, dumbfounded. Ya gotta be kiddin' me!
He began to hack and tried to swim farther out. Unfortunately, he hadn't the energy. Things began to grow dark in his world as he sunk closer to the bottom of the sea…
"So, you've finally come around, huh?" Sonic coughed and choked as water emerged from his chest.
"Wha…? What happened…and…YOU?!" Sonic sat up and stared in awe as Shadow sat next to him. He frowned and turned away.
"What on earth were you doing at the bottom of the ocean, faker?" Sonic smirked and stood up weakly.
"I could ask you the same thing, you know," he challenged. Shadow stood.
"Touché," he retorted. "But it's not like you to be going for a swim."
"It's not like you to be social."
"Shut up!" Shadow jerked his head over to him. "I save your life and this is what I get?" He turned. "Whatever. What's going on?"
Sonic got serious. "Eggman's got some fancy new thing up his sleeve, and he looks ready to use it." Sonic walked past Shadow. "It's not like you care, though…huh?" Shadow approached the blue hedgehog.
"Actually, Dr. Eggman and I are at a bit of an edge right now," he replied. "So, yes, I do care. What could it be, though?" Sonic stretched his legs.
"Whatever it is, I'm gonna stop it!" Sonic began to dash away. "I'm Sonic the Hedge-WHAA!" He was taken by surprise at the giant pool of water below where he stood. Shadow smiled.
"As long as the water doesn't stop YOU, fist." Sonic sighed and looked desperately at Shadow.
"I need your help on this, man. Do you know how to swim?"
"Hardly."
Sonic looked puzzled. "Then, how did you…?"
Shadow reared up his rocket shoes and blasted across the pool. "Like this! Use speed to your advantage!" Sonic smirked and spun up his feet, only to remember that he didn't have his sneakers on. Hurriedly, he whipped one out of his pocket and put it on his foot. However, when he reached into his other pocket…there was nothing but a sock!
"Yo, faker!" Shadow sped over the Sonic, still on the platform. "My other shoe fell out of my pocket somewhere! How am I gonna run without it?" The black hedgehog sighed.
"One thing after another…" he muttered. "It should be floating around here somewhere." Sonic glanced at the other side of the platform and noticed something floating on the surface of the water.
"There it is!" He declared. Shadow ran over and retrieved it before Sonic knew he was gone. "Thanks," he said, placing his foot in his retrieved footwear.
"Don't mention it," Shadow replied. "Now c'mon, are we going or are you just gonna sit there?" Sonic smirked and dashed across the water, running with a new light.
Finally, on the other side of the pool, Eggman's base was laid out in the distance. Sonic popped his knuckles.
"Alrighty then! Bring it on, chub'!"