Different Beginnings

Disclaimer: Unnecessary Text goes here. Unnecessary Text goes here.

A/n: This chapter was interesting to write. Oh, and I know there is a clear distinction between lava and magma (lave surface, magma underground) but I just went with whatever word seemed best for the situation...well that's my excuse anyway.

Asher Tye:I never said that Tails came up with them ALL

Koike: Waiting until the seventh chapter isn't evil. I sure hope this one doesn't turn 'crappy'.

On another note, I've already gotten over 600 hits, I wonder how good that is.

Thanks for the reviews/hits

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Chapter 8 The Marble Ruins

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Sonic slowed down to a walk as he entered the ancient ruins, which were better known as the Marble Ruins. He gazed around the area and found that it was actually a rather picturesque place, if it wasn't for the massive lava lakes and dangerously unstable terrain that made traversing the area excessively dangerous.

He had actually read up a bit on the area, by accident of course. Apparently it had been a thriving ancient community a few centuries ago, however for some reason the area's underground magma streams rose up and took over the areas, destroying the majority of the settlement. It was somewhat of a strange area. Some of the ancient technology of the time was working completely and seemed to have never aged, such as the mechanical pumps that kept the underground areas relatively clear of magma, and then there were other parts where everything was just gone.

He yawned tiredly as he cautiously stepped along the uneven terrain, knowing that if he pushed too hard on the ground, the thin crust of earth beneath him could rupture, causing the magma, that was hidden just beneath the surface in many areas of the ancient ruins, to come rushing to the surface and he would have to rush to another section of the terrain. And, to put it plainly, he couldn't be bothered with all that hassle.

It was much too early in the morning. After his tiring battle with the morbidly obese man, that he had witnessed heartlessly capturing a fox and most likely taking the poor kit from his family, he was already exhausted and something told him the he wasn't very far along his journey. So he had decided to conserve what little energy he currently possessed and to try to avoid running as well.

Surprisingly he didn't feel all that disappointed to stop running, for some reason, taking his time to travel was incredibly relaxing, and besides, he was sure that he would be needing his useful skills soon enough.

The Marble Ruins were always a dangerous place to be, however as soon as he arrived, Sonic realized that someone had apparently decided that the area just wasn't quite dangerous enough, after all it only had deadly lava and increasingly unstable ruins, and they had somehow added a large selections of robotic creations were easily seen moving along the many islands that made up the Marble Ruins.

As he surveyed the area, unwilling to venture further than a few feet into the lava wasteland, Sonic spotted something that completely changed his mind. Far off into the distance, in what appeared to be the centre of the Ruins, the young fox he had seen before was dangling helplessly over a pit of lava, his small hands struggling to retain their grip on the crumbling architecture that he was currently hanging precariously from.

Uncaring for the weak ground beneath him, or for the numerous robots poorly hidden throughout the ruins, Sonic leapt forward and ran at the fox as quickly as he could. He dashed past the strange caterpillar type robots, with their backs lined with spikes, and ducked beneath low flying robots, which shot out balls of fire whenever he came to close.

He had been particularly surprised when he had been attacked by a small mechanical bat which flew out at him and, after he had ducked away, smashed straight into the wall behind him.

He had been forced to roll past most of the numerous dangers of the area and, after managing to acquire a few hundred scratched from 'close calls', he finally arrived at the location where he'd seen the young fox hanging. However, as soon as he arrived he realized his mistake. The 'fox' was wavering through the air and it was obvious that the hedgehog had been tricked by a hologram. Angry that someone had used him to get him in the middle of the dangerous area, he quickly scanned the ruins and saw a glimmer of metal hiding behind one of the old decrepit ruins.

Realizing that it was most likely the person responsible for tricking him, obviously in the vain hope that the hedgehog would kill himself in his hurry to help the non-existent fox, Sonic crept up silently over to the opponent. Unfortunately, for all his stealth, it was completely unnecessary. His on body heat was picked up by the proximity sensors and, before the hedgehog could blink, the same flying craft shot out of the ground, with the morbidly obese man, who had previously tried to kill him with a massive spiked ball, sitting comfortably inside.

Unfortunately, Sonic didn't have time to ask how such a coincidence had occurred before me was dodging an extremely hot jet of magma that shot out from the bottom of the craft, directly at him. The excessively hot jet of fire and lava instantly charred the ground beneath his feet, causing the blades of grass beneath his feet to instantly ignite.

Sonic was forced to leap over the now charred ground onto another section of unaffected terrain.

"What the heck is wrong with you?" Sonic called out, before he was forced to dash out of the way from another jet of flames and magma.

He slipped on the second turn and almost slid straight into the lava. Realizing that things were starting to become much too dangerous, and with his speed no longer acting as a fail safe in such a dangerous area. Sonic realized, regrettably, that he was going to have to fight back again.

Without even providing a clear warning to the attacking enemy, Sonic immediately jumped through the air, spinning as quickly as he could, splaying out his razor sharp spines as he flew through the air. With a loud screech, as thick panels of metal were tortured and torn, Sonic's quills dug deep into the underbelly of the attacking craft.

As soon as he was free, he through out his hands and landed awkwardly on the ground, barely a foot from another lake of lava. Glancing behind himself, he saw that the flying craft was mostly unaffected by the attack, and he realized that it would take more than a single hit to take it down again. He quickly jumped to his feet to dodge yet another attack, and managed to gain some purchase off the weak ground beneath himself, and jumped straight at the front of the flying craft, reasonably sure that anything of value, control wise, would be contained in that part of the craft.

He was partially right. As his quills tore through the craft's outer skin and deep through the inner workings of the craft, the magma cannon stopped functioning, and the evil mastermind, who had managed to stay silent up to this point, suddenly erupted in a stream of insults at the hedgehog for causing so much damage.

"You freak" The evil genius yelled angrily at Sonic as he landed somewhat awkwardly on the ground. "How did you destroy my cannon with those silly blue quills of yours, you blue weirdo"

Sonic slowly stood and looked eyes with him in the best intimidating stare, well as best as one can get when they are tired and yawning at the same time as staring. "I will defeat you. You are attacking people for no reason and I will stop you" Sonic told him coldly.

The evil genius just rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever you think. Have you see me attack anyone except your precious fox? The answer is no. I haven't hurt a thing. So why don't you get lost while I 'look after' the fox"

The evil genius' craft suddenly shot through the air, across the terrain and through the forest, much quicker that Sonic could ever manage across the rugged terrain.

Sighing, Sonic watched him go.

"You may not have attacked anyone but me or that fox" Sonic whispered to himself as the craft finally disappeared into the distance "but I will stop you anyway. No one should be able to treat a fellow Mobian like that. And I intend to save that fox from you"

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a/n: I would really like it if you would, please, review.