Chapter 7 - Almost there

So, I am alive. I haven't been updating anything for a number of reasons, mainly because my motivation for Sonic stories perished. However, it's kinda back now so I'd best use it whilst it's here.

Aeronniell was still asleep in her room, although she seemed to be in a troubled sleep. She was weaker than she had been letting on; Sonic decided he needed to know when she was hiding things. She was too keen on tucking it all away out of sight. Shadow had reluctantly explained what had happened last night and pointed out the picture of Lilly. Sonic couldn't help but stare at the picture of the little girl, he understood why Aeronniell was not being so optimistic and he too began to feel discouraged himself. He had barely slept all night, watching over Knuckles for Aeronniell. He wasn't a doctor but he knew the basics and made sure he kept hydrated. Since he was constantly covered in sweat as he fought the curse.

Tails came back from the kitchen with a damp cloth. He replaced the one on Knuckles' forehead. Knuckles grumbled a thanks. He was fighting so hard to stay awake but it was probably tiring him out quicker.
"Tails, you coming to the library?" Sonic asked quietly.
"Sure, but what for?" Tails replied.
"I'm going to go and find a map or two, you could pick the Tornado up too, It will save us a lot of time," Sonic explained.
"Good idea, let's go," Tails smiled.

It was about 11am when Sonic and Tails arrived at the library. The sun was peeking through the clouds but it was starting to get very windy. Sonic and Tails hurried inside the large white building and headed straight towards the maps. The library was completely empty and Tails found that awfully strange. He often came to the library and it was never this empty. What was going on?

"Sonic, do you have any idea why it's so empty in here? It's creeping me out."
"I don't know, Tails. I guess the weather has put people off. Let's just hurry and get back. I don't like the idea of this either."

Tails nodded and wasted no time in finding two or three maps. He quickly found what he was looking for. "That Island is tiny, it's like three by three meters!" Tails exclaimed when he finally the tiny blob on the map.
"Good, that means there's less ground to cover," Sonic remarked.
"That's too easy. There has to be a trick to this! Why do I doubt that this will be a walk in the park?" Tails sighed.

"Because it won't," Shadow suddenly said from the doorway.
"Hey, Shadow," Sonic smirked.
"Aeronniell's awake, she asked me to come and look for you," Shadow explained bluntly. Sonic nodded. That was Shadow for you, straight to the point.

"How is she?" Sonic asked.
"She's feeling better than before... I guess you guys are looking for the Island," Shadow said.
"Yep, we've found it too," Tails beamed.
"Then where is it?" Shadow asked impatiently.

"SONIC!" A voice suddenly squealed. Sonic turned to see a pink hedgehog sprinting towards him.
"Oh boy," Shadow smirked.
"Amy?!" Sonic exclaimed, as Amy threw her arms around him. Sonic realised something wasn't right. She always rugby tackled him into a hug, but this time she was trembling.
"Amy, What is it? What's going on?" Sonic asked calmly.
"It's.. It's Eggman, he's headed this way with a massive robot! He hasn't seen you for a few days so I guess he thought you weren't around. He's trying to take over and I can't beat that thing! " Amy panted.

"Where did you last see him?" Tails asked.
"Green Hill Zone, but he'll be here any minute," Amy explained.
"Are you alright?" Sonic asked. Amy nodded with a weak smile.
"Let's go, guys," Sonic said, zooming off. The others quickly followed…


"Hey Egghead, What's the big idea?" Sonic exclaimed when he arrived at Green Hill Zone.
"Sonic?! How did you get here so quickly?" Eggman asked without thinking. Sonic gave a single cough and give Eggman a look that read: seriously.
"Oh, not a word!" Dr Eggman growled, when he realised what he had just said.
Sonic just laughed. "So much for an IQ of 300," he remarked.

Dr Eggman was in his Egg Carrier, which seemed strange to Sonic, especially as he was leading an attack. Eggman clicked a few buttons on his seat and sent dozens of his strongest robots forward. They were fairly easy to beat but still enough to slow you down.

Sonic sighed and shook his head slightly, as if he was disappointed and sped towards the robots. Shadow was already deep in the fight and was cutting through the robots with ease. Sonic used his homing attack on the robots.

Eggman realised that Sonic was destroying his robots like they were dominoes. He quickly clicked a few more buttons. "You're not going to win that easily," Eggman laughed, as a large robot materialized from behind him. The Egg Carrier moved into the robot's head, giving Eggman full control of this deadly machine.

The robot was enormous! It had thousands of aerodynamic arms with bird - like feet ready to attack.

"The Hydra," Sonic growled. Sonic could feel his shoulder tingling as he remembered the pain.
"Ho ho ho, getting cold feet eh, Sonic?" Eggman mocked."Sonic, you can do this without breaking a sweat. Just watch its arms," Tails encouraged from beside him.
Tails wasn't there when Sonic first fought the robot but had been told the story of how Sonic got attacked by this monstrosity. Aeronniell no doubt saved his life that day. Sonic took a deep breath and sped forth. It was time to get even.

As Sonic approached the robot, the arms tried to grab him. Most of the arms hit the earth but one arm managed to graze his ankle.
"That was a close one," he muttered. Sonic had already learned his lesson three months ago when the same robot had dislocated his shoulder, if it wasn't for Aeronniell it could have been worse. Sonic continued to weave through the arms until he was close enough to strike.

Sonic curled into a ball and threw himself at the robot, putting a big dent in the metal. Shadow and Amy were tearing through the little arms. "You actually got beat by this thing?" Shadow remarked.
"What?!" Amy exclaimed, suddenly stopping fighting for a second before an arm dived at her, forcing her back into the fight.
"Hey! You try having your arm pulled out of joint," Sonic protested. Shadow smirked and sent a Chaos Spear towards the robot.
"I have," he called back in reply, far too casually for Sonic's liking.

"You mean Eggman hurt Sonic?!" Amy thundered. Sonic smirked, he knew what was going to happen next.
"Yeah he did, He also captured Tails and Shadow and made one of our friends betray us," Sonic said casually.
"THAT'S IT! EGGMAN YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU MESSED WITH MY FRIENDS!" She screamed, as she ran forth in a frenzy, obliterating the robot with her Piko -Piko hammer and making the robot look as feeble as a cola can.

Sonic used his homing attack to deliver the final blow. The robot toppled forwards and was about to crush Amy.

"Amy!" Sonic yelped. Sonic picked Amy up and ran off just in time.
"Thanks, Sonic," Amy smiled.
"Don't mention it," he winked in reply.

"Stupid hunk of junk! No matter, I will be back and you'll be sorry!" Eggman exclaimed, flying off in a heavily damaged Egg Carrier. Sonic shook his head shrugged his shoulders in amused disappointment.

He stopped next to Shadow and put Amy down. "I'm glad that thing is gone," Sonic remarked.
"Is your shoulder ok? You haven't really fought anything since that attack," Tails asked.
"It's ok, thanks," Sonic said, moving his shoulder in a few large circles to prove it.

"Guys, I gotta go help clean up. You coming?" Amy asked.
"We can't," Sonic sighed.
"Why not?" Amy asked, almost surprised by what Sonic had said.

Sonic looked around, no one was there. "Knuckles is really really sick, if we don't find the cure he'll die," he whispered.
"Oh no!" Amy exclaimed, horror etched upon her face. She had known Knuckles a very long time, almost as long as Sonic. To hear that her friend was so ill broke her heart. "Is. Is there anything I can do?"

"Well, we need someone to keep an eye on the Master Emerald but other than that, there's not much. We need to find the cure as soon as possible but we've got a pretty good idea as to where it is. We think it's under Angel Island on a small patch of land. It would be a big help if Angel Island didn't fall on our heads," Sonic explained.

"Alright, I'll keep an eye on it," Amy smiled.
"Thanks, just make sure no one sees you and be careful." Amy nodded, before running off.
"Be careful, Sonic and good luck," she smiled.

Sonic turned to Shadow and Tails. "I think we should get going," he said. They nodded and headed back towards Station Square...

And another chapter down. I'm hoping to get all my stories don in the summer holidays, so hang on in there if you're one of the seemingly very few who give feedback. Thanks for the support and more would be appreciated.