Characters © Respective Owners
Sonic and Co. © Sega
Chapter 10: Collecting the Clues.
Sonic, Tails, Blaze, Marine, and Silver had just returned from Sky Babylon after Captain Whisker escaped them. They had collected some Gold Materials, as well as recovered the gray Sol Emerald. Before that, they had met Gardon, who told them about how the pirates' robots were being created, and Daikun, who had managed to somehow collect the gray Chaos Emerald.
Now they were in Marine's house, where Tails was coming up with a design for the submarine, Marine was checking the Materials, Sonic was standing in the corner, dozing, and Silver was telling Blaze about the fight against the pirates before being frozen by them.
"…and I was the last one to get frozen." Silver told Blaze. "I held it back as long as I could, but it eventually overcame me."
"That must have been cold." Blaze said.
"Trust me, it was." Silver said.
Just then, there was a rumbling on Southern Island.
"What's happening?" Sonic asked. "Is this an earthquake?"
"The whole island's shaking!" Marine yelled.
"Marine, get under the desk!" Sonic said. Marine was holding on to the house's support beam.
"I don't think so, mate!" Marine declined. "I'm stickin' right 'ere!"
Sonic and Tails hid under the desk, dragging Marine down with them, while Silver put a psychic barrier over himself and Blaze. The earthquake lasted for about 3 minutes before calming down. Everyone waited for a couple of minutes, waiting for it to possibly start up again. When it didn't, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay, I think it's stopped." Tails said.
"Is everyone all right?" Sonic asked.
Silver dropped the barrier. "Yeah, we're good."
"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Marine said. "But that was rough. I'm still shaking and jittering 'ere."
"Are earthquakes a common thing around here?" Tails asked.
"Nah, mate, they're about as rare as hen's teeth." Marine replied.
"She's right. Earthquakes are far from a common occurrence." Blaze added.
"If that's true, then something is definitely up." Sonic said.
"Well, you know there are stories surrounding the jeweled scepter." Blaze said. "The Jeweled Scepter is said to hold power over the planet's geological activity, for one."
"So, since the pirates have the scepter, is that causing the increase in volcanic activity?" Tails asked.
"It may just be a coincidence, but the scepter cave was deep underground." Blaze told them. "In fact, it was quite close to the planet's mantle."
"Does that mean we should assume a worst-case scenario?" Sonic asked.
"If we don't get the scepter back, who know what'll happen." Silver said. "We'll just have to do something about it."
"Yeah, just leave it to me." Marine said.
"Uh, how about you start by getting out from under the desk, Marine?" Blaze asked. Marine came out with her usual smile on her face.
"Well, now that that's over, what do we do about the submarine?" Tails asked.
"I know the place." Marine said as she started to leave. The others had no choice but to follow her since she knew the island better than them. She took them through the island's plains to the northwest corner of the island, where there was a large crack in the land. The crack had overfilled with water. It was the perfect place for the sub. Marine took the Aqua and Gold Materials and tossed them up into the air, then took the blueprints for the submarine and tossed them into the center of the materials which had formed a spinning circle. The materials started copying the blueprints, and another bright light flashed. Once it had disappeared, there was a large tower with a blue dome at the top.
They went inside to see a large blue whale-like boat. It was blue, with a dark blue frame, and a cyan hatch. There was a stepladder that allowed them to reach the hatch. In the rear was a cargo bay for the Wave Cyclone. The bay opened by the tail.
"Well, here it is. The Deep Typhoon." Tails said.
"Neat!" Marine exclaimed. "A real honest summerine!"
"Submarine." Blaze corrected.
"Alright. This is great!" Sonic said.
"This looks heavy, though." Marine said. "When it goes down, how's it gonna come back up?"
"Don't worry." Tails told her. "It's designed to float, too. It's perfectly safe for underwater travel."
"Really?" Marine asked. "I get to see all the little fishies and the big ol' sharkies and all? I wanna get goin' right away!"
"Keep it together, Marine." Blaze said. "This isn't a field trip."
"As for the sightseeing, not at the moment." Silver spoke up. "But after all this is over, maybe."
"Right now, we've got to find the pirates' hideout." Sonic said.
"Hey now, no need to get all agro on me." Marine said. "Your captain's just being a little joker."
"Well, at any rate, all of the information seems to indicate that the pirates are hiding out at the ruins." Blaze said. "And the entrance to those ruins is on the sea floor."
"Well, then let's set sail." Tails said. "All aboard!"
"Orright, then! Time for Captain Marine's maiden voyage under the sea!" Marine exclaimed.
With that, they entered the submarine. The door to the dock opened, and the Deep Typhoon sailed out. Before diving, Tabby came out and parked the Wave Cyclone inside the cargo bay, then swam back to the island. As the heroes left, they decided that the best way to find the ruins would be to return to the island that took them to Sky Babylon, and head north from there. As they reached the island that catapulted them to Sky Babylon, they discovered something above them from above the water. They decided to surface, only to find…
"Oh great. Johnny." Sonic said.
Indeed, it was Johnny, on his usual red speedboat. He pulled up next to the Deep Typhoon. "Well, I see you've got yourselves another boat."
"Yeah, and I suppose you have another emerald?" Sonic asked.
"Sure do." Johnny replied as he held up the cyan Chaos Emerald. "And I challenge you to a race for it."
"Typical." Sonic said to himself. "Alright. I might as well so you'll quit bugging us."
"Great." Johnny said. "Our course will be the perimeter of this island."
Sonic, now on the Wave Cyclone, and Johnny lined up at the starting line that Tails had set.
3…2…1…GO!
Johnny left the starting line with an even bigger boost than before, leaving Sonic behind. The blue blur knew he'd have a tough challenge this time. He kicked his own booster and tried his hardest to catch up. There was no telling how Johnny would react if he won. He'd either give them the emerald or take off with it, depending on how close it was. Fortunately for him, Johnny had left a long trail of boost rings. He started to go through each of them, trying to catch up so if he lost by a close margin, Johnny might give them the emerald since it would be close.
About three-quarters through the course, Sonic finally had Johnny in his sights. Now the question that remained was: Could he catch up and beat him? He would find out shortly as he kicked the booster to close the distance. He saw the finish line in sight, and knew that if he was to win, he'd have to have an extra boost. As luck would have it, though, there was a ramp nearby. He jumped off of it, gained some boost energy from the air time, and kicked the booster.
To his surprise, the booster had more kick this time, and he could barely hang on. He looked back to see a boost pad in the water. How that had been set there, he didn't know. But right at the finish line, Sonic passed Johnny. It was another photo finish. It wasn't long before the photo came into view. Once Tails had looked at it…
"And the winner is…Johnny." Tails said, his voice low on that last word.
"Is that all you've got?" Johnny taunted. "I win this time."
He looked at the emerald, then tossed it to Sonic. "What the heck. I had fun, and it was close. I suppose you deserve it for your effort."
Johnny then took off, leaving the five heroes in confusion.
"Uh, what just happened?" Silver asked.
"Johnny just gave us the cyan Chaos Emerald." Tails replied.
"Well, at least we have it." Blaze said.
Sonic returned the Wave Cyclone to the cargo bay, then he himself got into the Deep Typhoon, which returned underwater. They kept going north, under the glaciers and ice floes near the Blizzard Peaks region, until they found an underwater cavern. They headed into it, and went a little ways into the path before resurfacing…only to find a large gold door with a diamond-shaped stone centerpiece, which had three stone circle plates on it.
"D'arr har har har!" A familiar voice came from the side.
"I know that laugh." Sonic said.
"Captain Whisker!" Blaze, Tails, and Silver said at the same time.
"Oy, it's the fuzzy-faced bloke again." Marine said. Whisker was tired of that.
"D'arr, my name be Whisker, and you full well know it, lass." Whisker said. "You done well to get this far."
"Very impressive, Sonic, yes!" Mini and Mum said in unison.
"So this is your hideout?" Blaze asked.
"Indeed, and ye'll not be getting' in through this here door, neither, ye troublemakers." Whisker taunted. "It be far too strong to just blow down with any of your crafty little weapons."
"He's right." Tails said. "If the door can withstand the water pressure at this depth, then…"
"Let us in, you fiend!" Blaze demanded. Marine then stepped up.
"Oy, fuzzy, gimme a fair go at this." Marine said.
"D'arr, what is it, then?" Whisker asked.
"How is it that you lot are able to get in 'ere, then?" Marine asked. Whisker just laughed.
"D'arr har har! You take ol' Captain Whisker for a fool, do ye?" Whisker asked. "I'll not be tellin' ye that if ye align the bits in the middle of the door, it'll open!"
The five heroes stared at Whisker in confusion. He had just contradicted himself by telling them what he said he was not going to tell them.
"Boss, you should probably not mention that." Mini said. Whisker then realized what he had said.
"D'arr, yer right!" Whisker said. "I've gone and blabbered too much!"
"So, does that mean you're not going to tell us how to go about setting it?" Blaze asked, with a devious smile on her face.
"D'arr, of course not!" Whisker said. "I'll not tell you about the three markers with the hints on them. Nor will I be tellin' you that they're in the crater below Sky Babylon!"
"You're a funny little drongo, there, mate, you know that?" Marine asked. They had learned everything they needed to know.
"Boss, you're saying too much!" Mum told his boss.
"D'arr, at this rate, I'll be givin' away all of me secrets!" Whisker thought to himself before turning back to the heroes. "It be time to trim me whiskers now, mateys! I'll be seein' you around, then!"
Whisker then ran off, not believing that he had just told them how to enter his base.
"Get back here, mate!" Marine yelled. "Keep on with the yammering!"
"It's okay, Marine." Blaze said. "He told us more than enough."
"Let's head to the island below Sky Babylon. That's where he said those hints were." Silver suggested.
"He said there were three markers out there." Tails mentioned. "Which means they're probably scattered or underground."
"This should be fun." Marine said. "Let's have a go at it, then."
"Right." Blaze actually agreed. "We should go right away. The less time we take, the more time we have to stop Whisker."
With that, they hopped back into the Deep Typhoon and headed back to the island below Sky Babylon. The crater was still there, and there was a stone slab sticking out of the center ground. The heroes went into the crater and looked at it. The slab had an upside down 'C' shape with two dots, one in the center, the other looking like it connected the 'C'.
"I think this is one of them." Sonic said.
"We're one step closer to finding out the pattern." Blaze said before looking around the rest of the crater. "Now, where are the other two?"
"They must be underground." Silver said. "If I expand my psychokinesis, I can see underground using my Psychic Sight. That will allow me to find the slabs."
Silver then placed his hand to the ground and closed his eyes, concentrating on the underground. If his concentration was broken, he'd have to restart. Luckily, it didn't take him long. He spotted the stone slabs underground, then he knew a move he could use to bring them up.
"Psychic…" Silver began. "…PULSE!"
Silver then released a pulse from his hand, which shot out towards the two stone slabs, and the force of it popped them out from the ground. Blaze and Sonic went to retrieve them as Silver returned to his normal state. Once Sonic and Blaze returned with the slabs, Tails took a look at them. One had a question mark near the top, turned sideways, with a dot in the center of the question mark, and another dot right next to it. The other had an upside-down 'L' shape, with two dots under it, one under the other.
"Well, I think that's all three of them." Tails said. "We can carry them with us since they aren't too heavy."
"Let's go back to Southern Island first." Silver suggested.
On the way, Marine brought something up. "I wonder why all the need for a walkabout."
"Well, they are ancient ruins, after all." Blaze said. "After the floating continent fell to earth, the people had to live down here among us. But they longed one day to return to the sky, so they left keys to point the way, so that one day, their descendants might regain what they themselves had lost."
"Then those keys were the stone markers." Silver concluded.
"Does that mean that the pirates found those keys and solved the riddle, too?" Tails asked.
"I don't think they're smart enough to have done that…not on their own, at least." Blaze told them.
"There has to be someone else behind the scenes." Sonic said.
Once they were back at Southern Island, they took about an hour to rest up, then they returned to the Deep Typhoon.
"Everyone, we're all set!" Tails called. Everyone was determined to succeed this time.
"Then let's head back to the pirates' hideout!" Sonic declared.
"There's no room for failure here." Blaze told them.
"Don't worry, Blaze." Marine said. "Ol' fuzzy-face won't know what hit 'im. Not once Captain Marine here conks him good."
At that point, everyone turned to Marine.
"Um, Marine…" Sonic began.
"Oy, what's that look for, mate?" Marine asked.
"Things are only going to get more dangerous from here on out." Silver said.
"We've decided that it would be best if you stayed here." Blaze said. "Don't worry, though. Sonic, Tails, and Silver will be coming along. We'll take care of them."
"I mean, that would be best, right?" Tails asked.
"Marine, do you remember the promise you made?" Blaze asked. "You said that you'd agree to the group's decisions, right?"
"Whoa, wait a minute! Where's all this coming from?" Marine asked. "You're just yanking my chain, right? I'm still game."
"But Marine…" Tails tried to say, but Marine wouldn't let him.
"You said we were ready to go, mate, so let's go!" Marine said. "There's no way I'm packing up and quitting this 'ere adventure!"
"Marine, listen to me!" Blaze yelled. She had had enough of this.
"Crikey, what's with the shouting all of a sudden?" Marine asked.
"Since you don't seem to understand what we're getting at, I'll just say it." Blaze said. She then yelled, "YOU'RE A NUISANCE!!!"
Those three words struck Sonic, Tails, and Silver hard, but Marine was struck the hardest. Had Blaze just called her that?
"A…a nuisance?" Marine asked. "Wh…what do you mean?"
"Just what I said!" Blaze yelled.
"What?" Marine asked. "I…I'm not a nuisance! I…I was your captain, right? I was always looking out for you lot! Right? Come on, tell her! Sonic? T-Tails?"
Sonic, Tails, and Silver were trying to think of something that would help her calm down, but Marine took their silence as an agreement with Blaze.
"You…you all DO think I'm a nuisance, don't you?" Marine asked, tears starting to form in her eyes. "You…you're all a bunch of drongos!"
Marine then ran out, crying. Sonic and Tails couldn't believe it, but Silver took Marine's reaction the hardest. Marine was only 8 years old, and Blaze had just come out and yelled at her. Sonic and Tails turned to Blaze.
"Blaze, that was harsh!" Tails told her. "I mean, I know we can't take her with us, but you didn't have to…"
"If I hadn't yelled at her, she would've kept insisting that she come along." Blaze said, defending herself.
"THAT DOESN'T MATTER!" Silver yelled. Blaze turned to him. "Blaze, from what I know, she's just 8 years old, and you come out yelling at her like she's your age!"
"What…what are you saying!?" Blaze asked.
"I'm saying that you should have calmed down and talked to her instead of yelling at her like that!" Silver replied. "I can't believe what you did!"
"Look, I needed to tell her that coming along wasn't going to work!" Blaze defended herself.
"Yeah, and I suppose yelling at her was the best way to do so?" Silver asked, yelling. "SEE IF I EVER TALK TO YOU AGAIN!"
Silver then stormed out of the dock, leaving Blaze shocked. Her boyfriend had just technically broken up with her. What he had said showed it. She couldn't believe it. She had just lost her boyfriend. Sonic tried to get her mind off of it.
"Come on, Blaze. Let's get going to the pirates' hideout." Sonic suggested. "It'll help you get your mind off of what just happened."
"I-I hope so." Blaze said, still shaken up.
The trio got into the Deep Typhoon and started it up. Meanwhile, Marine had reentered the dock. She was still crying a bit.
"I-I can't just give up 'ere…" Marine said to herself. "I've gotta prove my worth as captain. I gotta go and stop that ol' fuzzy face!"
Marine then opened the cargo bay and entered it. Since there was a wall between the control room and the cargo bay, they wouldn't see her there.
Outside, Silver was looking for Marine so he could talk to her, not knowing that she was about to stow away on the submarine.
"MARINE!" Silver called. "Where are you!?"
He then noticed the submarine leaving the dock. "Well, there they go. Good luck to them, I suppose."
Then he realized something. What if she had hitched a ride along with them? What if she had stowed away? Silver thought about going after them, but decided that everyone needed some time to regain their thoughts.
"I'll follow them a little later." Silver said before lying down and falling asleep.
An hour later, he woke up and decided to follow them.
End of Chapter 10.
Alright! Double update tonight!
Well, Silver has technically broken up with Blaze after her little outburst to Marine. Sorry if they seemed a little OOC during the chapter, but all of this happening was what I intended. Will they find out where Marine is? Will Silver and Blaze ever get back together? Find out as the chapters come in.
As for the poll, the winner is…Sonic x Blaze. I'll do that oneshot in a day or two.
Read and Review.