Previous Chapter Recap: Last time on Sonic Mania! Having been warped away by the Phantom Ruby, Team Sonic found themselves transported to Little Planet's past. Finding their way back to the present, The trio was confronted by Metal Sonic, freshly repaired and ready for a rematch with Sonic. Sonic managed to defeat the robotic doppelganger and rescue Tails and Knuckles before leaving Little Planet. Now the trio resume their hunt for Eggman and the Phantom Ruby.
Author's Note: I'm pleased to announced that my Sonic Mania novelization now has a TV Tropes page. Thanks to Nintendoman01 for creating it. Please be sure to add to it when you get a chance. Here's the link.
FanFic/SonicManiaTheNovelization
Things have been strange, to say the least.
Having brought Little Planet into Earth's orbit with the power of the Phantom Ruby, Eggman and Omelette decided to use the now mechanized planetoid as a base of operations. There, they began construction on what Eggman called the "Titanic Monarch", Eggman's largest robotic creation to date. A robot designed to harness the combined energy of the Chaos Emeralds and the Phantom Ruby. Once fully operational, Eggman predicted that the Monarch would allow him to conquer the world in mere months, if not weeks.
While it was nice to be spending time with her beloved uncle, Omelette couldn't help but notice a change in his demeanor. Gone was the bombastic and over-the-top scientist she's known all her life. In his place was a cold and detached impostor who rarely showed any of the warmth that Eggman usually showed her. Even more, he had become completely obsessed with the Phantom Ruby. He would spend hours on end locked in his lab analyzing the Phantom Ruby. Disturbingly, he even claimed that the ruby could speak to him and was often seen conversing with it like it was an actual person. Omelette began to fear for her uncle's mental health.
Omelette was on her way to Eggman's lab to give a status update on the progress of the Titanic Monarch's completion. She opened the door and stepped inside to see Eggman in his natural habitat: his face glued to his computer screen. "Uncle." Omelette spoke. "I'm here with my report."
"What is it?" Eggman coldly asked, not turning to look at her.
"75% of the Titanic Monarch is complete." Omelette replied. "By my calculations, we should have it operational in about two weeks."
"Excellent. See that it happens." Eggman said. Omelette didn't leave, but stared at Eggman. "Say, uncle?" Omelette began. "Don't you think you've been spending too much time with that ruby? I think you need a break." Omelette walked towards the ruby, which was suspended in an energy field. "Why don't you let me study it a bit? I'm sure I can-" Omelette was cut off by Eggman, who had grabbed her by the wrist. His face was twisted into one of pure murderous rage.
"Don't touch that ruby!" Eggman hissed, squeezing Omelette's wrist and causing her to cry out in pain. "Uncle, what are you doing?!" .
"The ruby belongs to me! NEVER TOUCH IT AGAIN!" Eggman shouted, squeezing Omelette's wrist tighter.
"Uncle, please! You're hurting me!" Omelette pleaded, tears streaming down her cheeks from behind her pince-nez glasses. Eggman continued squeezing her wrist, glaring daggers at Omelette. Once he saw her tears, however, he immediately released her and took a few steps back, looking absolutely horrified.
"Eggatha, I... I'm sorry." Eggman said, his voice quavering a bit. Omelette held her injured wrist, not looking at Eggman. "I didn't mean it, I... I don't know what came over me... I-" Before he could apologize further, an alarm rang. Eggman looked on the computer monitor, which displayed an image of the Hydrocity Zone.
"Intruders in the Hydrocity Zone." Eggman said. "I'd better check it out. Plus, I could use some... time out of the lab." Eggman walked towards the door, but took one last look at Omelette, who was still holding her bruised wrist. "Eggatha... I'm really sorry." Eggman said as he walked out the lab.
"I know, uncle." Omelette finally replied, still not looking at Eggman. Once he was gone, Omelette grabbed the Phantom Ruby out of its energy field and held it in the palm of her hand, glaring at it intensely. "What. Did you do. To my uncle?" she asked, hissing each word in rage. If there was one thing she knew about Eggman, it's that for all his villainy, he would never raise his hand against a child. Especially not against his own family.
In response, the ruby began to glow and fired two bolts of red lightning at Omelette. Omelette screamed in pain as the ruby's energy surged through her. Her mind was overtaken by a vision of her and Eggman relaxing on a beach. Omelette was in her swimsuit lying on a towel while Eggman was sitting next to her on a chair. Both of them were under an umbrella, shielding them from the sun. It was Omelette's dream. Deep down, she always wanted her and Eggman to take a break from villainy and spend some quality time together like a normal family.
Omelette smiled at the vision of Eggman, who smiled back in kind. And that's when things took a turn for the frightening. The vision of Eggman began to horribly glitch and distort and it mutated into a grotesque monster with black, wart-covered skin, sharp red claws and a mouth filled with hundreds of blood-red razor-sharp teeth. The creature lunged at Omelette as if it was ready to tear her face off.
Omelette screamed and fell on her rear, dropping the ruby as she hurriedly backed away in abject terror. Sweat poured down Omelette's brow as her heart pounded in her chest. It was as if she saw every nightmare she had as a child come to life in her eyes. "What... What the heck was that?!" she asked, still trying to process what she had just witnessed.
This called for some research.
Meanwhile, in the Hydrocity Zone.
A bright flash of light rippled through the Hydrocity Zone as the space began to distort. When the light faded, Team Sonic appeared and crashed into the water. Knuckles and Tails swam to the surface for air while Sonic mindlessly flailed about before calming down.
"Where are we?" Knuckles asked.
"In the Hydrocity Zone." Tails replied. "An underground water system underneath Never Lake."
"Of all the places we could land, why did it have to be a place with water?" Sonic asked.
"Don't tell me you're scared of water." Knuckles said.
"Hey, when you nearly drown to death at four years old, then you can judge me!" Sonic remarked defensively.
"Guys, this is no time to fight!" Tails said. "We gotta find Eggman and the Phantom Ruby!"
"First, we need to get out of here." Knuckles said. He looked around and saw a gondola nearby. Knuckles and Tails swam to the gondola with Sonic hanging on to one of Tails' tails. Sonic and Knuckles got on the gondola while Tails got behind the gondola and pushed towards the shore, using his twin tails as a makeshift propeller. Once they got to shore, the trio made their way through the tunnel.
"All right, now we just need to find to find a way out." Tails said.
"Keep your eyes peeled, though. A place like this is bound to be full of traps." Knuckles replied.
"How can you be so sure?" Sonic asked.
"Take it from a treasure hunter." Knuckles said. "Ancient places like these are always filled with traps." The trio walked through the tunnel, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Unfortunately, they should've been paying attention to what was in front of them. As they walked through the tunnel, Sonic walked right into a tripwire, setting off explosions that destroyed the floor underneath them.
The trio fell through the floor and landed on a water slide. "What did I tell you?!" Knuckles said. "Ancient places like these always have traps!"
"This is no time for 'I told you so', Knucklehead!" Sonic complained. The trio slid down the water slide, carried by the current. Making matters worse, the slide was filled with spike traps that would randomly pop up, forcing the trio to swerve to avoid them. "Look out!" Tails yelled as the trio ducked their heads to avoid the incoming saw blades and pendulum blades. After navigating the twists and turns of the water slide, the trio fell into a large pool of water. Before they could react, a whirlpool formed underneath them and began to pull them in. At the center of the whirlpool was a large propeller blade.
"What's going on now?!" Knuckles asked.
"Why, you're being sucked into your death is all!" Eggman's voice echoed through the room.
"Eggman?! I should've known!" Sonic said. Eggman cackled in response. "How do you like my Whirlpool Machine. In a few minutes, you'll be sucked in and sliced to ribbons! And Sonic, I know you can't swim, so this must be especially terrifying for you! Oh ho ho ho!"
"Guys, we need to do something!" Knuckles said.
"We need to stop that Whirlpool Machine, but my Ring Bombs don't work underwater!" Tails replied.
"And as you can see, I'm not much good in the water!" Sonic said.
"Then it's up to me!" Knuckles said. Holding his breath, the echidna dove into the water and out of the whirlpool. There he saw the source of the whirlpool: a large and red round-shaped Egg Mobile with yellow and black streaks running across it to form an "X". The machine had four large black and gold thrusters positioned at the four corners of its body. On the top of the mech was a two-headed yellow and red propeller.
So far, it looked like Eggman didn't notice him leave the whirlpool. Taking advantage of this, Knuckles swam behind Eggman, positioning himself in his blind spot. He then rapidly spun in place like a drill before launching himself at Eggman with the force of a torpedo, piercing through the Whirlpool Machine.
"Knuckles?!" Eggman exclaimed. "You little...!" Eggman's statement was cut off by the Whirlpool Machine exploding. The force of the explosion was strong enough to launch Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Eggman clean out of the pool and out of the Hydrocity Zone. Outside, the trio found themselves in a desert area. The four of them were falling out of the sky. Tails took flight with his twin tails. Sonic grabbed onto Tails' legs while Knuckles grabbed onto Sonic's legs
Eggman pressed a button on the wrist and summoned his Egg Mobile. "Later, losers!" Eggman said as he flew off.
"Don't let him get away!" Sonic shouted.
"Already on it!" Tails said as he typed a command on his Miles Electric, calling for the Tornado. The three of them hopped into the biplane. "Let's fly!" Tails said as the trio flew off after Eggman.
Later, on Little Planet...
"Still nothing." Omelette said. It had been several hours since Eggman left. Omelette had spent those hours trying to analyze the Phantom Ruby. The nightmarish vision she saw convinced her that this gemstone was far more than just a source of power. Sadly, she fared little better than Eggman did. All attempts to analyze the ruby were met with failure.
"Maybe I'm going at this the wrong way." Omelette said. "Uncle was trying to scan its energy signature, but it's way to alien to scan. So, let's try something else. Computer, scan the ruby for brainwave patterns."
"SCANNING." The computer replied. After a few seconds, the monitor began to horribly glitch and distort as the computer discharged red electricity. The monitor then went black as the words "DON'T INTERFERE" began appear in red. The threatening message quickly filled the screen, repeating ad infinitum until the computer finally crashed, forcing a hard reboot.
"That pretty much confirms it." Omelette said. "This thing... is sentient. And dangerous. Too dangerous. I gotta warn uncle about this!"
Next Chapter Preview: Showdown in the Mirage Saloon Zone! Next time on Sonic Mania! Team Sonic continues to chase Eggman in the sky, but the chase comes to a crashing halt when an old foe of Sonic's downs the plane, causing them to crash in the Mirage Saloon Zone. Even worse, Spellbinder, the Heavy Magician is lurking about and she has some particularly deadly magic tricks in store for our heroes. Will they survive the Mirage Saloon Zone, or will Spellbinder make them disappear permanently? Find out on the next exciting chapter of Sonic Mania!
