Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters, trademarks, locations, etc. are the property of SEGA, Sonic Team, Archie Comics, Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima. "Magic Dance" is the property of David Bowie. I claim no ownership to any element except original story content.
Dance, Water Dance
By the time he found himself ankle-deep in water, he had finally figured out why he'd spent the last five minutes slipping all over the marble.
Disgusted, Sonic raised his right foot out of the putrid-smelling liquid, shaking moss off of his now rapidly decaying shoe. He'd always hated water. To him, it was nothing more than a roadblock, a useless pest trying to keep a fast-moving guy like him from moving forward. Water was hard to run in. Water kept him from getting off his tiny little island. Water turned his shoes and socks into anvils that he was forced to drag along like a sack of kittens whenever he wanted to start running. Not to mention how he couldn't exert himself for too long without having to drink that blasted water…
…Which reminded him: he was parched. Thanks to water, he had limits. Sonic the Hedgehog shouldn't have limits. It made him sick.
Sonic growled under his breath, taking a look around for a different path to follow. Thankfully, he no longer needed his torch, which had burned out a while ago. The walls of the cavern were no longer made of the same boring gray marble, but instead were a sort of brick pattern that boasted a bright golden hue, illuminating the caverns around him. Not normal, but I'm not asking questions about it.
Seeing no other way to move forward, he focused his attention on the path at his feet. The floor continued its downward angle in a stair-step pattern, each brick tile submerged deeper and deeper underwater. Beyond that, the path seemed to straighten out again and disappeared under the brick wall in front of him.
"Well," the hedgehog said to himself, bottom lip curled in dislike, "it goes somewhere that's not here. Works for me."
Without a second thought, he took a deep breath and leaped into the water feet first.
It was his first time underwater, and he was glad to find out that he was able to keep his eyes open without irritating them too much. Better still, the natural glow from the walls kept his environment nicely visible. If only he had a nose plug to keep everything from smelling like the waste container outside Nate's garage.
He let himself sink to the bottom and began wading forward, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. It was a task much easier said than done; every movement felt as sluggish as cutting molasses, not to mention the way his nose wrinkled at the smell around him, his quills flattened uncomfortably to his skin, and his lungs screamed for oxygen…
…Which also reminded him: he kinda needed to find a place to breathe soon. He could still vaguely feel the effects of the power ring from before, but he wasn't sure how it would work underwater.
Thankfully he found reprieve in the small cracks in the brick walls, each producing unusually large bubbles that contained just enough space for him to release the air pressure in his lungs and immediately take a quick gulp of oxygen. Encouraged by his sudden stroke of luck, he proceeded through the illuminated catacombs.
Of course, proceeding would actually imply that he was getting somewhere, and he had no way of knowing that. The zone was nothing short of an underwater maze, complete with dead ends, confusing platforms and forks in the road that jutted in literally every direction; up, down, and sideways.
With a sense of direction that was about as good as a blindfolded chicken with its head cut off, it was no wonder Sonic often felt he was going in circles.
He broke through the surface of the water for about the millionth time, coughing up a lung and shaking water off of his matted blue fur as best as he could. "If I—cough—ever see one more falling platform—hack—I'm gonna kick something," he griped aloud, hauling himself onto the nearest ledge. Hungry, thirsty, and exhausted, he stayed on all fours for a long while, trying to catch his breath when the sound of running water caught his ear. He looked up, startled, to see a small section of brick missing from the wall nearby, cool and clear water spurting from the gap and splashing onto the slowly eroding floor beneath it.
He scrambled to his feet, immediately running to the hole in the wall and taking several large gulps of water. Wherever it came from, it wasn't standing water and it didn't smell like sewage, so it was a-ok in Sonic's book. He had to admit, he thought as he felt his stamina restoring a little bit more with each swallow, this aspect of water could be pretty nice.
Satisfied, he stepped back and wiped the back of his mouth with a gloved hand, smirking at his good fortune. He turned in the direction he came from, preparing to dive again. Maybe turning left at that last junction would lead him out of the labyrinth.
He could feel it.
Maybe it was the way the air seemed to grow less muggy and the glow of the labyrinth walls shone brighter. Maybe it was simply because the water became clearer and smelled slightly less like wet garbage. All he could tell was that somehow he knew he was getting close.
To what, though? He wondered as he pulled himself out of the water yet again. I haven't seen any 'bots, or even anything remotely close to an EXIT sign. Didn't these ancient Mobians ever hear of arrows? And I'm spending hours on end deep underground while my shoes are ruined and my tail keeps getting shoved up my—
He had finally caught up.
It was several dozen yards ahead of him, back turned, hovering a few feet above the floor, struggling to keep itself afloat without scraping against the floor of banging its occupant's head on the ceiling as it dragged itself through the labyrinth. The same steel spaceship housing that same sadistic alien scientist, completely oblivious to the soaking, seething hedgehog behind it.
At the sight of it, something inside Sonic's mind snapped.
You…! With a silent growl, he launched himself at the mad doctor, hoping to tackle the fiend right out of his hovercraft. Though desperate, his irrational move might have worked if a spike trap hadn't suddenly burst out of the wall beside him.
Sonic let out a cry of pain as he felt the trap pierce his side and knock him into the opposite wall. More traps, he thought, picking himself off the floor. NOW? Geez, you've gotta be KIDDING me! He's RIGHT THERE! He unconsciously felt his side with a free hand. Oddly enough, the spikes had not left any injury, but he felt considerably less energetic than before, as if he had just gotten the wind knocked out of him from a blow to the gut, only... worse. It was like something he had been carrying in his pocket had inexplainably jumped out of it on its own. Like he was suddenly missing something.
Then it hit him. The last time he had felt this vulnerable was in the moments before he had made Nate's power ring disappear. Its energy must have been used up to protect him from the spike trap.
His heart plummeted. He was on his own now.
Naturally, the mayhem happening behind him immediately caught Dr. Robotnik's attention. He swung his Eggmobile around completely to find a familiar blue hedgehog collapsed on the brick floor with a hand on his side and murder in his eyes. "What? The rodent again?" he hissed to himself. This problem was getting more irritating by the hour.
"Surprised to see me, doc?" Sonic barked, taking a step towards the hovercraft. "Not surprising, considering the… HEY!" His angry quip was cut off as he witnessed Robotnik turning tail and jetting down the corridor as fast as the hovercraft would take him.
Without hesitation, Sonic took off after his opponent, ignoring the weight of his soggy shoes and fur. No worries, he thought as he closed in on the retreating Eggmobile. Just another few seconds and-
He violently skidded to a halt as his view of the Eggmobile was suddenly replaced with that of a way-too-familiar luminescent brick wall. "What the-?" He lifted his eyes skyward just in time to spot the bottom of the Eggmobile disappearing over an overhanging ledge.
"Not fast enough, rodent!" he heard Robotnik's fading voice taunt over his shoulder, apparently content to leave the hedgehog lost in the labrynth.
I don't think so! His determination unwavering, he hastily leaped for the ledge above him with his arms outstretched, digging his fingers into the brick as he gripped the edge. He yanked himself over the edge and glanced above him, noticing that their path continued straight upwards, complete with spike traps, badniks, and small ledges just low enough for him to jump to. Well, we know who can run faster… time to find out who can jump faster. He cracked his knuckles.
And so the chase continued, Robotnik's Eggmobile steadily rising up the vertical shaft as Sonic furiously bounded from ledge to ledge in hot pursuit. Higher and higher they climbed, both feeling the cooling of the air and the brightness of the caverns morphing from the artificial glow of the brick walls to a more natural, dark aura. They were getting closer to the surface of Mobius, and Sonic was running out of time.
Grabbing another ledge, he looked over his shoulder at his opponent. He'd more or less caught up; Robotnik was drifting just above his eye level on the opposite side of the shaft, preparing to turn onto a much larger platform behind Sonic… possibly the way out of the labyrinth. It was now or never.
Feeling his quills flare instinctively, he lifted his knees to his chest and braced his feet against the edge he was gripping. He had one shot: either hit the stubborn doctor and end all his troubles, or miss completely and likely knock himself unconscious against a wall. No pressure. With a deep breath, he launched himself from the ledge, curling himself into a spiky ball and spinning rapidly in anticipation of the impact.
Despite a nasty headache, sore limbs, a bruised ego, the his aim was true. The spin attack smashed into the Eggmobile, shattering the weakened chassis once again and knocking the stunned doctor out of his seat. Robotnik tumbled facedown onto the platform behind him with a shout of displeasure, as his beloved hovercraft crashed right beside him.
The doctor coughed once as he turned over onto his back, unable to prevent a maniacal grin from spreading across his face. "Well," he croaked, "this seems familiar." His eyes met Sonic's, easily spotting an unsettling gleam in the hedgehog's dark irises that had been absent during their last meeting. "You look angry, rodent," he cackled. "What's the matter? Is it because I burned down your villiage? Captured your friends? You really should consider relocating that anemic little hideout of yours, it was far too easy to find."
Sonic said nothing, his arrogant grin replaced with a scowl.
"Oh, I understand now!" Robotnik laughed. "You're upset that for the first time in your life, somebody's beaten yo-"
"Shut UP!" The hedgehog finally broke his silence, punctuating the outburst with his fist slamming into the side of the battered Eggmobile beside him. Robotnik frowned, deciding that he had made his point.
"Very well," the doctor muttered. "I'll give you this round as well, hedgehog. But before you try and take me in…"
"Oh, no," Sonic snarled, stepping towards Robotnik and grabbing him by his jacket collar. "We're not doing that again. You're dead."
Robotnik's face remained unintimidated. "Empty threats don't quite suit you, rodent."
"You wanna bet on that?"
The doctor scoffed. "My friend, I can assure you that at this point-" he made a barely detectable gesture with his fingers to something behind the hedgehog, "-what you wish to do to me hardly bears any weight."
"I'm not your friend, you gearhead," Sonic shot back, oblivious to everything other than Robotnik's smug face. "And you can keep talking big all you want, but I've torn apart every robot of yours within the nearest fifty miles before any of 'em had the chance to oil themselves. How long did you think it was gonna take me to hunt the likes of you down?" He slowly reached for a sharp fragment of metal lying nearby with his free hand. "It's over."
"Au contraire, monsieur rongeurs..."
A sharp prod on the back of Sonic's neck sent a sudden shocking sensation that coursed through his entire body, not even giving him time to yell in surprise.
"..this is far from over."
He hit the ground hard on his back, barely catching a glance of a giant robotic bee sheathing its electrified stinger before he lost all feeling in his nerves and his world went pitch black.