CHAIN OF MEMORIES: SONIC'S TALE
Chapter Nine: Island of Amnesia, Part 1
Last time on Chain of Memories:
Recovering from a humiliating defeat, Sonic set his sights on regaining his honor from Chaos. But the Keyblade Master soon learns that Chaos is not playing by his own rules and is revealed to be working for the true villain: Broly. He had tricked Chaos into destroying Goku in return for recovering Chaos' memories. But the saiyan admitted that he had no way of bringing back his lost memories and proceeded to attack. After a few well played cards, Sonic defeated Broly. Feeling downhearted, Chaos left when Sonic provided a few kind words that restored hope within him.
The scene returns to the white walled corridors of Castle Oblivion. The blank downs at the far end of the hall opened to release Sonic and his friends from the previous memory. As the group paced to the staircase at the opposite end of the room, Silver gazed down at the white floors with a worried expression on his face.
"I wonder if the King is doing all right." Silver said aloud.
"Huh?" Sonic asked confused. "Why bring that up?"
"I had to be sure that the castle didn't rob me of all my memories." Silver explained. "About my mission or King Jet."
"How'd that work for you?" Angel asked.
"I'd say I'm just fine." Silver nodded. "I remember that the King assigned us to follow Sonic and discover the Door to Light."
"I remember that, too!" Storm exclaimed excitably. "I remember that the King save everyone by staying on the other side of the Door to Darkness." He scratched his head sheepishly. "I...think that's right."
"You got it right, mate." Marine answered happily.
"And me, I'm looking for Espio." Sonic said proudly. "He was with the King when the Door closed." He grinned victoriously. "It's just like I said to Chaos: you'll never forgot the most important people to you."
"That's good." Marine said happily. "Because I don't want to forget you blokes."
"You forget us everyday before breakfast." Angel chuckled humorously.
Marine's face turned bright red, earning a roar of laughter from her teammates.
The scene alternates to the higher floors of Castle Oblivion within the secret room. The unknown female was sitting at the table, continuing to predict the future with her cards, while Terro leaned against the wall. His expression was lank as he stared at the newest arrival to the castle. She was easily the tallest of the entire organization, which Terro knew the keyblade master would recognize from their encounter in Hallow Bastion. The figure was staring into the crystal ball in the center of the room.
"You seem very interested in this hedgehog child." The member said with a feminine voice.
"Are you telling me you're not, Roodaka?" Terro questioned
The tall female lowered her hood. Roodaka appeared to be a being made from both machine and organic parts. Her face was almost snake-like in appearance with several coils drapes over her should to act as hair.
"I haven't decided yet." Roodaka said playfully. "But what I think interests me more is what you see in him."
"There was once a time when he became a Heartless, Roodaka." Terro said in a calculative manner. "You know what happens when one becomes a Heartless, right?"
"They lose their minds and their feelings and are consumed by the darkness." Roodaka recited as if they had already had this talk before.
"Exactly." Terro nodded. "But Sonic is a special case. He was able to hold on to his feelings for Mephiles' daughter while as his Heartless persona, Dark Sonic. And there is only one man in existence that was able to accomplish such a goal before."
"You're interested in the strength of his heart." Roodaka summarized. "That is why you are so caught up with the child. You are interested in why the Keyblade chose the hedgehog's heart."
"That is half the reason." Terro stated. "To unlock the secrets of the heart. Isn't that the mission of the Order?"
"That and more." Roodaka said deviously.
Meanwhile, the hedgehog girl paid no attention to them as she flipped another card. The card depicted of a man standing in a crossroad with four different people waiting at each end.
The scene returns to the fourth floor as Sonic and his team appeared from the stairway into the small room.
"Hey, I wonder if there is anything we've forgotten." Marine said randomly.
"If we did forget it, I wonder what it would have been." Storm said thoughtfully.
"How can you remember something you've forgotten?" Silver asked ludicrously.
"Well, I can't think of anything." Storm noted – Angel resisted the temptation to insult. "So maybe that means am losing my memories." Angel bit her lip hard to stop herself. "But whatever they were, they couldn't have been important memories, right?"
"That's right." Sonic nodded. "Or else I don't think we would have forgotten them." He reached into his quills and pulled out two charms. The first was a star made from shells and the second was a black crown. "Take a look at these."
"What are they?" Angel asked.
"I can't believe you don't remember." Sonic shook his head amusingly. "These are charms Amy and Espio gave me before going off to battle Mephiles."
"I definitely remember that fight." Marine said excitedly, pointing to the twin scars over her over her right eye. "I got these beauties to prove that I am a tough adventurer."
"Well, you survived." Sonic added wearily, staring regretfully at her scars. Hoping to ward off his feelings, he looked back at the charms. "Espio gave me his charm to give me the strength to defeat Mephiles. And Amy gave me her charm for good luck. I promised myself one day that I would return them both. That is one thing I will never forget."
He glanced around at his team and was surprised to see their inspired expressions. Once again, Sonic had unconsciously managed to restore hope within the people surrounding him without realizing it. When looking back to the charms, Sonic envisioned himself with Espio and Amy standing at his side. The violet chameleon patted his shoulder appreciatively and the pink hedgehog smiled happily back at the Keyblade Master. But all of a sudden, Amy transformed before his eyes and became an unknown female hedgehog with black fur.
"Huh?" Sonic said aloud.
"What's the matter, mate?" Marine asked curiously.
"Do I know...that girl?" Sonic murmured softly.
"Hey, Sonic!" Silver shouted, finally attracting his attention. "Have you forgotten? We have a mission to complete."
"Oh, sorry." Sonic chuckled sheepishly.
The Babylonian mage shook his head in irritation, but Marine looked genuinely concerned. But before she could ask if he was all right, they had already reached the platform with the blank door. It was Angel's turn to pick a memory and she was given the cards to choose from. It didn't take long for the pink experiment to decide. She raised the chosen card to the group and the group vanished into the light.
As the light died down, the Sonic Team found themselves in an environment different from the other memories. Sonic had a hint of nostalgia for his former home when they found themselves standing on the beach of a tropical island. Palm trees and short shrubs covered a majority of the land with a volcanic mountain top barely seen through the leaves. The waves of the cool ocean lapped onto the sand as the heroes stared up and down the coastline.
"Ok, any idea where we are?" Sonic asked.
"You mean besides the fact that we're on a deserted island." Angel said shortly.
"I don't think it's deserted." Storm said certainly. "I think something is coming."
It was....something. Although none of the heroes had any idea what it was. A blurred tornado of orange was skimming down the beach with no sign of stopping. It took a moment to realize the tornado was headed straight for them before quickly jumping out of the way. The heroes sat up, watching the tornado disappear into the jungle, and were astounding at the floating wooden mask that followed it.
"Crash, wait up!" The mask screamed tiredly. "I don't have any legs you know! You'll need me if you want to find Cortex's lair in time! Crash!!" And it disappeared.
"Well, that was unusual." Silver commented.
"Compared to what?" Angel questioned sarcastically.
"Why do you think he was in a hurry, mate?" Marine asked Sonic.
"I'm not really sure." Sonic answered obviously. "For such a peaceful looking place, it sure sounds dangerous. I'll be you anything that the Heartless are not far behind."
---Wumpa Island---
After the rest of his team vanished into the cards, Sonic set out to explore the jungle on his own. From all the times he and Espio had explored the forests of the Destiny Islands, Sonic learned all the necessities for survival. But it wasn't difficult to track down his target. The orange tornado from earlier had left a thin and easily distinguishable trail of broken braches and a path in the dirt. As he trudged further into the jungle, the Keyblade Master began to notice something unusual about the trees and the animals: they were silent. Sonic had encountered a similar situation once before and was nearly killed by Duskmon under the order of his mysterious leader.
"It is good to be cautious." Dark Sonic commented. "You never know what the Heartless may be planning."
"I would think you would know." Sonic thought. "Considering you are one of them."
"Technically, I am you." Dark Sonic noted. "I am only limited to your thoughts. And that really isn't saying much."
"Do you always have to insult me?" Sonic frowned.
"Not really." Dark Sonic answered. "But you make it so difficult not to." When neither of them were paying attention, Sonic accidentally snapped a tree branch at himself. "See what I mean?"
Groaning loudly, the blue hedgehog sat up while rubbing the sore spot on his forehead. Suddenly, a twig snapped nearby. Driven by natural instincts, the Keyblade Master pushed himself up slowly as to not disturb his intruder and kept a sharp eye on his surroundings. It was unnaturally quite, which unnerved Sonic. As the Keyblade Master began to reach for his gauntlet, something jumped from behind the trees and pinned the hedgehog to the ground. Looking over his shoulder, he spotted an extremely pale girl with raven-dark hair and an extreme overbite. She wore something that resembled the uniforms worn at the schools back on Destiny Islands.
"Wow, I didn't realize there were girl scouts on the island." Sonic laughed.
"I'm not a girl scout!" The girl shouted, pressing her foot into Sonic's face. "The name's Nina and you're under arrest!"
"Arrest?" Sonic repeated confused. "Arrest for what?"
"Don't play dumb!" Nina scowled. "You an accomplice to the crime and I brining you to justice!"
"You're joking, right?" Sonic sniggered. He stopped when Nina began twisting his arm. "Apparently not."
"How do you get yourself into these messes?" Dark Sonic questioned.
Sonic was just asking himself the same question when the menacing little girl forced him to his feet. He was very grateful that Silver and Angel were not around to see his predicament. To be defeated and captured by a girl younger and smaller than him was an embarrassment that he could never live down. The Keyblade Master tried countless of excuses for her to let him go, which included some story about an alien and a zebra. But the bucktoothed female did not seem to fall for this – she most likely had past experience for this sort of thing. As they pushed through the bushes, Sonic was being dragged into a small clearing with a large metallic castle rested. It looked very crude, rusty, and had a large hole in the shape of an 'N'.
"I don't think the owner paid his rent yet." Sonic said jokingly.
"That's my uncle's place." Nina stated embarrassingly. "He tries to make himself evil in order to pay off all the loans he owes."
"Not much of a quality villain." As one would expect, Sonic jumped and hit his head on the nearest tree branch as Silver and the others appeared. "You know, no matter how many times I see that, it never seems to get old."
"Speak for yourself." Sonic mumbled.
"What going on, Sonic?" Angel asked, noticing Nina. "You on a date or something. I was sure you could do better than this."
"This is not a date!" Sonic yelled furiously. "I've been arrested!"
"Arrested?" Marine repeated terrifyingly. "What for, mate?"
"For being an accomplice to the crime!" Nina exclaimed, point an accusing finger to the rest of the group. "And if you know the suspect, then that makes you criminals, too."
"Your uncle is a villain and you call us criminals?" Silver questioned strangely.
"We did nothing wrong!" Storm grunted proudly. "We are the good guys! And even if we are the problem, what are you going to do about it?!"
The team instantly wished that Storm had been smart enough to keep his big mouth shut. Much to the surprise of any of them, Nina's hand ejected from her wrist and was connected by a long coil of steel rope. The hand went soaring around the remaining heroes and constricted them together under Nina's command.
"Well, that worked out rather nicely." Angel commented sarcastically.
"Let them go!" Sonic demanded.
"You aren't in the position to be giving orders." Nina stated, pushing the heroes forward.
As they entered through the door to the castle, which snapped off its rusty hinges, Nina pushed them into a small room. It was actually quite small with a low ceiling and closed in walls. On one side of the room, a short man with shallow yellow skin, small tufts of navy-blue hair, and a large 'N' tattooed on his wide forehead. He must have been some kind of scientist judging by his white lab coat. On the other end, a strange creature struggled against the shackles that bound her to the wall. She was a slender orange bandicoot with flowing golden hair. She wore a white shirt with a pink star of the front, tight blue jeans, and pink shoes.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Storm asked, bending over because of the low ceiling. "It looks like some kind of get-together. What's the occasion?"
"They think we're criminals, Storm." Silver aid bored. "My guess is that this is some kind of trial. All though, it's not a very good one."
"Uncle Cortex, I brought more prisoners." Nina proclaimed, pushing said prisoners forward.
"Very good, Nina." Cortex said cheerfully. "Just push them off to the side while I deal with our culprit." As he abnormal niece pushed the heroes to the wall, the short man turned his attention to the bandicoot. "Coco Bandicoot, I do hope you realize why you have been brought here."
"Do you ever need a reason?" Coco said irritably. "What do you want this time?"
"Now, now, Coco..." Cortex said musingly. "Playing dumb is not really your style. You are charged for assisting these ruffian creatures called the Heartless who threaten my precious island."
"And how did you come to that conclusion?" Coco questioned defiantly.
"I have my evidence!" Cortex shouted shortly......very shortly. "My evidence is that I don't remember! I can't remember because you, Coco, stole my memory with those creatures."
"Are you sure you didn't get your brain stolen again?" Coco asked. "Did you remember to check with those mutant chickens?"
"Shut up!" Cortex screamed childishly. "I can't get rid of those Heartless until my I get my memories back! This is a serious crime! In the name of evil, I demand that you restore my memory!"
"You're out of your mind!" Coco shouted. "Just because you got hit in the head one too many times doesn't mean you have the right to blame me for everything! In my opinion, you were a flunky to begin with!"
"I've had enough of your mouth!" Cortex snapped, turning to his niece. "Nina, crush her head until she returns my memories!"
"With pleasure." Nina grinned, cracking her knuckles.
Nina had already chained the heroes to the wall by the time she was called upon. In their current predicament, there wasn't much of a chance for him to call the Keyblade. But he needed to think of something. The short scientist was accusing a girl of a crime he was sure she did not commit. He struggled to break free from the chains that bound him until an idea came to him.
"Hey, hold up there, short stack." Sonic said. "Whoever gave you a diploma obviously didn't know what he was doing. I mean, what kind of judge accuses people without any solid evidence?"
"Uh, Sonic." Storm said nervously.
"And what do you mean by that?" Cortex scowled. "Do you mean to say that Coco didn't steal my memories? But if that's the case, then you must know who the real culprit is."
"Huh?" Sonic stammered in surprise. "Well...I..."
"Out with it or I'll have Nina crush your heads as well." Cortex said furiously.
"Um...uh..." Sonic murmured hesitantly. He had clearly not thought ahead of what would happen if he had been questioned. He needed to think of something fast or everyone would suffer for his stupidity. Then, it finally came to him. "I'm the thief! It was just me and the Heartless! No one else here helped!"
The crowd gasped in shock.
"Really?" Marine asked surprisingly.
"No, not really." Sonic whispered back. "But at least this way, I'm the only one that will suffer for it."
"That was not your best blunder, Sonic." Silver commented.
"That's it! We found the culprit!" Cortex cheered. "Crush him, Nina!"
The Keyblade Master had dealt with numerous numbers of monsters and Heartless, but something about the teenage girl send chills down his spine. She was approaching slowly, cracking her knuckles, which he discovered was made of steel connected to her flesh. She placed a cold hand on both sides of his head and slowly began to increase the pressure between the two. The blue hedgehog tried with all his might not to give in to the pain, but it was very difficult. He could faintly hear his friend's arguments to release him, but she did not seem to concede to their pleas. Just as Sonic's vision began to fade, a loud explosion from the side wall attracted Nina's attention, unconsciously releasing her prey. Standing in the hole in the wall was a tall and muscular orange bandicoot with messy brown hair and black tattoos on the back of his hands. He wore a pair of jean-shorts and red running shoes. The strange creature was followed inside by the floating mask from earlier.
"Are we too late for the party?" The mask questioned humorously.
"Crash Bandicoot!" Cortex screamed girlishly.
"Ade Bwah!" Crash waved.
"Nina!" Cortex cried fearfully. "Kill him! Kill him!"
The pale teenager looked furious at being denied her prize, but was reluctant to attack the intruding creature. The marsupial known as Crash Bandicoot seemed oblivious to what was happening as he just stood and allow Nina to punch him across the face. Crash smashed his head through the metal wall and tried tugging himself back inside. As Nina stampeded for the wild bandicoot, he had successfully pulled himself free and accidentally hit his head on the girl's chin. Nina was sent flying backwards onto Cortex's desk – the scientist screamed girlishly – and unknowingly hit the button to release the prisoners. As the heroes slumped down to the floor, Storm was quick to catch Sonic, who staggered slightly.
"Are you ok?" Storm asked worried.
"I'm fine." Sonic mumbled, looking back at the albatross. "Hey, I didn't know you were triplets."
"He'll be fine." Silver said nonchalantly, looking back at the fight. "Do you think we should help them?"
"Which ones?" Angel asked, watching Nina fly to the across the room.
"Hey, mates." Marine called. "What happened to that orange girl?"
"She must have run off during the fight." Angel theorized.
"I think she had the right idea." Sonic stated, shaking his head lightly. "Let's go out of here while we still have a chance. Maybe we can find out what's going on around this crazy island."
The rest of the team nodded their heads in agreement and began tiptoes out through the entrance. But before they could cross the threshold, Nina could be spotted flying through the 'N' shaped window and landing somewhere in the jungle. The stout Dr. Cortex was running as fast as his little legs could carry him with a blurred orange tornado following close behind. The Sonic Team stared at the strange sight. This was clearly not going to be an average day.
A strange world comes with strange people. Who is the source of Cortex's memory loss? Can the Sonic Team clear Coco's name? And what is the plan behind the "Order" mentioned by Terro. Find out on the next Chain of Memories: Sonic's Tale!
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