Katz4: It's just weird seeing Sonic openly nervous, I think. Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for that review on Because We're Sonic Heroes too!
SonicSonic54321: Thank you! :) And let's see...last chapter's references were to Adventure 2, Heroes, Shadow, a little Adventure, and Sonic Chronicles (the Atomic Strike). But at the same time, I've been dropping allusions to Unleashed all throughout, so I'mma count that too. xD
SplatKirby: Nice to see someone agree!
WintersEgde7: Thanks! I like my Shadow with a subtle and twisted sense of humor. xD
werewolf99 and Guest: Thank you both kindly! ^^
We Both Remember
Chapter 10: Memories of Radical Rescues
When we emerged out of the space-time rift, I once again landed rather stylishly, while Tails and Knuckles could've used a little more finesse.
I was really enjoying NOT landing on my face.
As Tails verbally expressed his discomfort, I scanned the area, and sure enough, the world was no longer bathed in flames, the sky was blue, the air was clean, and the impending sense of danger wasn't constantly hanging around in the back of my mind.
"Looks like we made it back in one piece," Knuckles stated, traces of relief evident in his voice.
And while we were certainly back in Soleanna City, who was to say we ended up on the proper day?
"Um, where did Shadow and Rouge go?" Tails squeaked, looking around frantically. "Did they appear someplace else?"
"They must've," Knuckles shrugged. "I know for a fact that Rouge entered the portal after we did."
"Eh, those two can take care of themselves," I assured, still itching to see when we were and where I needed to go. I paced around with feverish impatience, until I caught sight of a crumpled and discarded newspaper lying on the ground. Hopeful, I darted over to the paper and snatched it off the ground, looking for a date and any other important information I may have needed.
Knuckles and Tails peered over my shoulders to get a good look at the "Daily Soleanna" themselves. The front page story was an article of how the festival was attacked, and there was even an article about a mystery hedgehog –it was me, and someone got a pretty snazzy shot- yet there wasn't much on the status of the princess.
But at least I knew we were in the right day.
"Ugh, now we have to go talk to the people," I grumbled, furiously crumpling up the paper and tossing it over my shoulder. "It'd be useless to go back to White Acropolis; either we'd just get zapped again or Elise and Eggman aren't even there anymore."
"And remember- Elise died aboard one of Eggman's carriers," pointed out Tails. "So, if anything, about now…they would be headed for the carrier as we speak!"
"But wouldn't the docking station be at his base?" Knuckles wondered, scratching his head. "I mean, that'd make the most sense."
"We searched that base top to bottom, and there was no hangar of such a scale," I reminded him. "Besides, we would've seen it. It was a pretty straight forward base too- no secrets passages or anything, especially not when he wanted Elise guarded at all times."
Knuckles grumbled at the shooting down of his ideas, yet while we now had a more ideal picture of Eggman and Elise's whereabouts…we still didn't know where that would be.
"Hey, let me see that paper again," Knuckles stated, picking it up off the ground again. After fiddling to smooth it out, he flipped to one of the back pages and skimmed it for a while. I folded my arms and tapped my foot.
"Take your time, Knuckles; lives aren't in danger or anything," I grunted, walking over to a nearby store to buy a new gem for my shoes. "I'll just do a little shopping in this time of crisis…"
He gave me a sneer, shoving the paper at my face when I returned.
"Well, if you would be still every once in a while, you'd see that there's a train scheduled to head out of the city at this moment," he explained. I folded my arms and swatted the paper away.
"So what?!"
Tails snatched the paper himself and immediately blanched. "Sonic, the train in this photo has Eggman's insignia on it!"
…oops.
"…well, let's go!" I exclaimed, already darting off. Knuckles made a face and grabbed my wrist keeping me in place as Tails continued to elaborate.
"Because of Eggman's suspicious actions and the fact that the princess is still MIA, there's a police roadblock around the train station- no one's allowed in or out!"
"That's ridiculous!" I cried, taking the paper and crumpling it again. "Chaos forbid they try to save Elise themselves, instead preventing anyone else from doing so…!"
"The surface world customs still astound me," commented Knuckles.
"That's not a custom; it's asinine!" I punched my fist into my palm and flashed my fangs. "Well, I refuse to let them stand in my way this time…!"
"Yeah, and going blindly into that will more than likely get you arrested," Knuckles stated sternly, gripping my shoulders and making me look at him. "I know planning isn't exactly your forte, but I think this situation calls for it-"
"Well I think this situation calls for speed, and I have to hurry!"
"Yeah, and how far is just running going to get you?!" Knuckles barked. "Are you just going to break through the police barricade and hope for the best?!"
"…if I have to," I stated quietly. Knuckles growled and tossed his arms up while Tails buried his face in his hands. I watched them carefully, wondering what they could've been missing from my explanation…and then, what I could've been missing from theirs. They had to understand how badly I needed to get to Elise, didn't they?
Eventually, Knuckles leaned over and whispered something to Tails, which already rose several red flags, and even Tails was looking a little hesitant, but he appeared to agree with whatever they were discussing. I impatiently tapped my foot, but Tails suddenly beckoned me to move, so I acquiesced instantly and started running.
"Where are we doing?" I asked slowly, raising an eyebrow.
"To the train station, duh," Tails replied. I looked to my right and studied him carefully, then turned to Knuckles.
"What'd you tell him?"
"To let you go the station," he stated simply, and for as calm as an answer as that was, I didn't like it all that much. They were plotting something behind my back now, and it made me more anxious than suspicious.
We tore through the streets of Soleanna like madmen, causing a disturbance in the otherwise peaceful town. I know they were just civilians, but come on- their princess was gone, and no one was lifting a finger to do anything about it!
And yet, it was something I had seen far too many times…
As we approached the train station, sure enough, a throng of policemen barricaded the entrance, hardly even letting the average citizen walk by- I doubted that they'd take kindly to three Mobians strolling in their line of sight. Still, Tails and Knuckles were determinedly forcing on, giving me no reason to slow down either.
I just wish I knew what they were up to.
"Sonic," Knuckles said seriously, and suddenly my ears perked up. "As soon as you see an opening, I want you jump toward the entrance and book it down the tracks."
"You're the only fast enough out of the three of us to catch up with the train," Tails added in a similar tone. "If anyone can get to Elise and rescue her before she's loaded onto the carrier, it's you."
"…you two are choosing your words awfully carefully," I realized, now suspicious. "What exactly are you two going to do?"
Both of them were rather quiet, but I was bound to find out eventually when we approached the barricade. All of the men saw us coming instantly, but before they could draw out any weapons of any sort, Knuckles leapt to the front and plowed his fist on the ground in front of us. I braked to a stop as the pavement cracked and crumbled, the following shockwave discombobulating the men instantly.
I take it that was my opening.
Asking no questions, I leapt over all of the men, landing my hand on one of their heads and using it to propel me forward. I had almost made it to the entrance until one of them grabbed my foot, but Tails moved into action, clocking him on the head with a wrench he pulled from nowhere, looking guilty but smiling at me.
"Go get her, Sonic!" he called to me. I made it to the entrance, but I skid to a stop and turned around.
The men (except the one had had been hit with a wrench) had all recovered, now swatting at Tails and Knuckles with their sticks. Surrounded, Tails jumped behind Knuckles as Knuckles began punching all their defenses, leaving them vulnerable but refusing to move.
"Get the blue one!" one of them cried. Two of the men came sprinting at me, but I didn't want to leave my friends-
"Hurry up and go, Sonic!" Knuckles yelled, falling off his guard just long enough to have his hands handcuffed behind his back. He was forcefully shoved to the ground as Tails tried to call to me, with men pulling him away as well.
"You have to save Elise! You have to save the future!" he shouted, writhing in the grip of a particularly strong-looking man. "Go on without us!"
Finally, Tails too was captured, handcuffing him to Knuckles' cuffs so that neither of them could move very far. They were left in the middle of the street as the rest of the cops came after me, and there was no way I was going to let them get me. As much as I hated to admit, they were right- Elise could NOT die today…and I didn't want Tails and Knuckles' sacrifice to be for nothing.
"I'll come back for you! I promise!" I exclaimed, starting to jog backward.
"We're not dying, Sonic," Knuckles shouted, though a bit of a smirk played on his face. "Just going to jail. Don't worry about us."
"Just help out Elise for us, okay? We'll be fine!" Tails asked, and I forced myself to nod before bouncing through the station and taking off down the train tracks. The scrambling men were left to fly away in my wake, and I was left to hunt down Elise alone…
At this point, I couldn't let anyone down.
. . .
"EGGMAAAAAAAN!"
My voice barely carried over the sound of all the trains crisscrossing about on the railways; trains of all different sorts and colors were all over the place, and I had to ask…WHY today of all days was it so busy!?
If only people were up for running everywhere.
I managed to run alongside the rails of one of the trains, eventually catching up to one, jumping up, and grabbing a bar. From there, I swung myself to the top and got a better vantage point, and even while standing still, I could feel the rush of the train all around me.
"I'm coming for Elise!" I shouted again, making it clear whether I was heard or not. I contemplated my next move for a moment when Eggman's voice rang out to match mine.
"Oh, Sonic, I should've known you'd worm your way out of your little time snag," he grimaced, and I scowled upon hearing the way he said my name. "…regardless, shouldn't you save the train before chasing after me? Especially if your treasured princess is aboard…"
"What do you mean…?" I gritted through my teeth, grabbing the edge of the train and flipping myself down to see the window. Sure enough, there were some passengers in there, but all of them seemed content and had no reason to panic –except for maybe the fact that there was a blue hedgehog peeping through the windows- so what the heck was Eggman trying to pull here?
When I flipped myself back up to the top of the train, I looked towards the front, and saw something in the distance on the track. After scrutinizing it, I instantly blanched.
"A BOMB, Eggman?!" I stammered, careening off the side of the train and starting to run myself. "Are you insane?!"
"Anything to give me a head start on you, pincushion," he derided me from wherever he happened to be, and I puffed out my cheeks.
Yep, definitely off the deep end, if he wasn't already.
"I've got to get ahead and help the train!"
Crates went flying outwards as I thundered along the side of the track, eventually getting in front of it and making my way to where the bomb was set up. I found it ridiculous that Eggman had found the time to rig up explosives on the very track he aimed to use, putting innocent people in danger just to hinder me.
"That's so low!" I exclaimed, homing attacking a few robots in a row before carrying on. "All this just to get at Elise…!"
By now, the people were finally aware that danger was ahead, 'cause I could heard the pure screams of terror emitting out of the train, and I glanced back for a moment to see that a few had opened the windows to stick their heads out.
"Sonic! Help!" they chanted, some of them frantically waving their arms. I acknowledged them with a salute and picked up my speed, my footfalls becoming one continuous sound until I reached the area where the bomb was situated. Wires crisscrossed everywhere and robots were around to guard their work, and it then occurred to me that I didn't know the first thing about disarming a bomb.
I could really use Tails right now…!
That twinge of reminder about Tails and Knuckles fate' distracted me a bit, but after finally agreeing that there was no way for me to disable the bomb in good conscience, I figured I had to blow it up before the train arrived.
"There's gotta be some sort of detonation switch…" I trailed, giving the area a once over before something whacked me over the head and sent me cascading into a wall. I was stunned for a moment before returning to my feet and readying my fists. Nothing more than Egg Shooters and small drones around, but with them here I couldn't focus…
"I'll play with you some other time!"
I ran around in a rapid circle, encasing them all in a wall of wind. When they were nice and trapped, I leapt out of the breeze and clapped my hands.
"Sonic Wind!"
Explosions erupted instantly, but I didn't have the time to admire it. I bounded over to the detonation switch and slammed my fist on it, watching as the bombs Eggman planted went off prematurely. Fortunately the track was still relatively intact, so when the train came by at last, it made it across safely.
"Hooray for Sonic!" the passengers chimed, with me subtly blushing from all the attention and praise.
"Just your friendly neighborhood supersonic hedgehog!"
"There's more where THAT came from, Sonic!" Eggman cackled, and I felt my pupils shrink.
"Narg, there's more?!"
Figured it was too easy…
I thought the passengers would begin to panic again, considering their lives were still in danger, but they instead chose to rally me on, chanting my name into the wind with the conviction and faith that I would save them. That alone made me smile, and only served to increase my drive against Eggman.
"Go Sonic!" they shouted again as I dashed across some huge and perilous scale. I could only assume they were used for moving cargo, but right now they were serving as a very nice shortcut for me! In fact, I figured the run up to the next bomb would be pretty smooth…until I came to a conveyor belt.
"Aw man, I hate things like this…" I grunted, cautiously stepping on one that was going the same direction I was. I went flinging forward instantly, but in the same moment, the direction reversed, and I tripped forward as the belt started to send me over the edge.
"Nooo!"
I grabbed onto a part of the belt that wasn't moving to wedge myself there, waited until the direction changed back, then careened forward to make up for lost time. I unintentionally plowed into a few robots upon my return to the ground, but I just drifted around a corner and rocketed off again, searching desperately for the train and the next bomb switch. The train wasn't too far away from me…but then again, the bombs weren't too far away from the train.
I was cutting it close…!
More conveyor belts stood in my path, but so did a throng of robots. I used my homing attack to gradually make my way across, bypassing the belts and making excellent time as well. I practically glided over another set of scales, not even pacing myself as I landed in an abandoned and very out of shape building. Little robots were scattered everywhere, so I knew there had to be a switch somewhere, and I could see the train getting closer…
"Get out of my way!" I yelled at the little drones, kicking them in all directions on my quest for the switch. When I finally found it, I swung my foot at it, hearing it click and the bombs detonate afterward. With the uproarious shout that occurred afterward, I knew I had been successful.
"Whew, just made it!"
I then got moving again, knowing that Eggman probably had more up his sleeve, and I wasn't going to be caught off guard by anything again. The train was currently going through a tunnel, but I made sure to keep with his route by using the springs scattered around, also keeping my eyes peeled for any bombs. With the path forward out in a few places, I was jumping gaps larger than I ever had in all my life, and the robots lingering around shooting at me weren't helping matters any either.
"Is that…another train coming?"
Sure enough, when I reached solid ground again, a yellow train was speeding by on the tracks, so, thinking myself clever, I hitched a ride on one of its cargo carts and smirked to myself.
"I sure know how to travel in style!"
From there, I then climbed onto the train engine itself, then leapt up to the air above it where I proceeded to grind on the cables.
"Yeah…!"
When the cable came to an end, I front flipped off the side and alighted gracefully, finding a much bigger drone waiting for me.
"Well, this is a much more pleasant surprise than those multiple mini ones," I commented. "It appears to be guarding the next switch for the bombs though."
I looked over my shoulder to see it fire a missile at me. I bent over backward and stuck my tongue out at it.
"Just missed me that time!"
From there, I backflipped and took to the ground, performing a breakdancing sweep kick to take its legs out from under it. I then curled into a ball and rolled around behind it, striking it in the back where it couldn't retaliate.
"Not so rough and tough now, are ya?"
It responded by trying to face its turrets at me, but I sliced them off with a well-timed spin dash then attacked its head. Upon its defeat, the lock around the detonation switch was released, and I gave it a whack, a small explosion going off in the distance. I worked my way up to higher ground so I could watch the train pass by safely, and all the passengers were as grateful as ever.
"Thank you, Sonic!"
I merely sat on my perch and waved at them, followed by springing off and running alongside them.
"All in a day's work! But, say…is Princess Elise on that train?"
The passengers were silent for a moment, taking the time to check and double check to make sure. Eventually they all came to the general consensus that no, she wasn't there. My face scrunched up in puzzled confusion- yes, I'd saved the passengers, but the one I was looking for wasn't there…?
"Ooooooh Sonic!"
Eggman…
"I believe your princess is on another train!" the doctor's heckling voice called out to me from below, and looking down, I saw the train car with his logo that had been pictured in the paper speeding away. Eggman's head was mocking me out of one of the windows, and I knew for a fact that there was no way Elise wouldn't be farther than a few feet out of his eyesight. But the mere fact he had duped me…!
"Sorry guys," I called to the passengers of the red train, careening over the edge and freefalling to the tracks below. "…but I've got a train to catch!"
Nailed it.
The moment my feet connected with the ground again, I was off, the world becoming a smear of blue, green, and brown, and my sole focus on the train ahead. My path took me away from the train –though it had a slight lead on me anyway- but it'd be fine as long as I built enough speed.
Dirt billowed into the air with each and every step, and I swear I would give myself whiplash with how instantaneously I was sidestepping around oncoming rocks. Train whistles and horns were pounding in my ears, and at first I thought it was just Eggman messing with me…until I saw a train junction up ahead, with quite a few trains charging forward in the rails ahead.
"…ah, my lucky star, don't fail me now!"
Taking a gulp of fresh air just in case it was to be my last, I boosted forward with every ounce of power I had in my body to move at my top speed, blazing over the land so fast that I could hardly see where I was going. But even in my indulgent rush of speed, I could feel the energy of the trains charging by, me running over the tracks just before both of them nicked me. The sensation of just barely clearing that risky stunt made my heart jump, but it was gone with the wind as I stampeded over a ramp and took to the air.
I then started jumping off of stone structures to make my way to higher ground. The train's whistle started to whine, which was not good for my ears, but I kept up my breakneck pace with no signs of slowing down. More trains ran perpendicular to my path, but with one really good jump, I managed to clear them all and still made it out unscathed. This was followed by a stunt of me leaping off the side of the cliff, catching up with Elise's train ahead.
The area ahead was incredibly narrow, and it'd be just a touch TOO risky if I attempted to boost in this part. Still, from what I could see of the train, it didn't really look like it had much room for passengers…
"Is Elise really on board?"
The cart closest to me suddenly exploded, which did trip me up but I kept my momentum, sufficiently startled. Like, what in the world…?
"Eggman's detonating his own cargo on purpose?!" I exclaimed, unable to think of another reason as to why the carts were detonating. "He gets more sleazy and underhanded every day…"
With this knowledge in mind, I made sure to keep my distance from the carts as they detonated one by one, but Eggman had to run out eventually!
"I'm almost there! Hang on, Elise!"
When the last cart was destroyed, I made my move, using the wall of a tunnel as leverage to catapult myself to the top of the train engine, with the engine itself looking a little worse for wear on the outside. The window to the actual "captain's quarters" was shut, but the single passenger one wasn't, so I flipped myself in there and tried to move quietly. I didn't think Eggman was aware I was in there, especially since I could now hear some interesting voices on the other side of the door.
I was curious, sure, but Elise's safety was utterly mandatory at this point.
I called her name out softly, still not wanting to draw Eggman's attention, but eventually I came across a door that led to the latter half of the train. Feeling hopeful, I gave it a push, biting my lip and praying that she was on the other side.
S-E
I'd been so close…
I had made it all the way home this morning and was almost inside my castle without Sonic's help –yet granted, with Amy's- only to find that Eggman had still managed to follow me. For that fleeting moment I thought I'd been smart and tried to fight my way out of Eggman's clutches, but it turned out that he'd been five steps ahead of me the whole time.
I hoped that Amy was untouched, at the very least.
So Eggman had grabbed me and loaded me up into his little vehicle, whisking me away to parts unknown. I was so upset that I hadn't been paying much attention to him, but I did hear him prattle on about "going somewhere your parents knew quite well" and "I have a gallant surprise for you" and things among things like that…and yet, for whatever reason, we had to take a train to get there, and I was simply amazed he had managed to finagle his way past the guards and the police force.
I need better security in this country…
…and that led me into my current position, stuffed into the passenger section of the engine to Eggman's train. He'd put my people in danger with traps for anyone who attempted to stop him, rigging train tracks to blow upon contact…and I couldn't for the life of me understand why he so desperately wanted to unleash disaster upon the world. Rule over time? It was so farfetched and ridiculous…
And I knew that from my own personal, if somewhat fuzzy, experience.
So when the door to what may as well have been my prison creaked open, as it'd been locked from the inside, I figured it was just Eggman to either give me an update on the situation or chide me for my secret. I didn't even want to look up at him- I was tired of seeing his face and out of control mustache, so I turned myself away from the door and leaned my forehead on the wall.
"Well, that's certainly not the warm welcome I'd been expecting."
My heart jumped at the words- they certainly didn't belong to who I was expecting, but I recognized it all the same. As I cautiously turned to face the light that the open door poured into the once dark room, I found Sonic leaning in the doorway, his eyes shining as he gave me a two-finger salute.
I was about to scream out in happiness, but he pressed a finger to his lips as he motioned for me to come closer, and quietly. I did my best to prevent my heels from clicking against the metal floor, but soon enough I found myself back in Sonic's arms, with Sonic taking a look at the room and shaking his head.
"Heh, you're so important to Eggman; you'd at least think he'd let you travel in something a little ritzier," he commented, and I failed at stifling a sarcastic giggle. "He's distracted by someone right now, but it won't be long before he realizes you're gone, so we're juicing now!"
I only nodded and tensed my grip around him. Knowing I was secured, he whisked out of the door and somehow maneuvered the both of us out of the moving train window. The feeling of doing something that risky…actually sort of felt good, and I realized that I wasn't as scared as I normally would've been.
There was a time when I yelped when Sonic merely jumped over a river…!
It was a ridiculously good feeling to be free again, and knowing that Sonic had beaten the odds and returned to his correct time was such an incredible relief that I couldn't help but beam happily and hold him tighter.
"I knew it…" I stated softy through my grin. "I knew you'd return! You HAD to!"
"Of course," he replied cheekily. "Time may fly, but I'm faster! If anything, that incident only proved to hinder Eggman rather than help him."
He then softened a bit as he made eye contact with me.
"You're all right, aren't you?"
I brushed a stray tuft of hair behind my ear. "Aside from many persistent attempts by a mad scientist to kidnap me, yeah, I'm better than I've ever been!"
In perspective, it was almost a little sad knowing that was true.
"I…did manage to escape once, with the help of someone," I explained, and Sonic's face morphed into a bemused expression. "We managed to get all the way to my castle, but then Eggman managed to tail me…and that's how I ended up on the train. I at least tried to buy you a little time."
He whistled and gifted me a nod of approval. "Nice! Not too shabby, if I say so myself!"
"You mean…you're not disappointed that I failed?"
"No way! I'm impressed that you went for it! It takes a lot of spunk to attempt an escape like that, you know, especially since egghead likes to keep his guards plentiful."
"Well, like I said, I had a little help," I added abashedly. "I couldn't have taken those robots on by myself, and I admit that."
"Well then!" he hefted me higher in his grip as we began to go a little faster. "That person has my thanks, then! I would've been here sooner but, you know, time travel. Sticky stuff."
Sonic's face then fell as his quills sharpened defensively, and he suddenly jumped to his left out of nowhere. I had no idea what was going on, but when I saw a spark of neon green land on the ground where we once stood, I knew it was the work of only one person.
"…you again," Sonic sneered at Silver. Silver himself wasn't looking too hot, but while Sonic remained cool and collected under the pressure of his life at stake again, there was still a lingering sense of something not sitting right with the blue hero.
I wonder if it had anything to do with his trip through time?
"This time there will be no more interruptions!" Silver shouted, his psychic glow overtaking him and demonstrating that he was serious. "The Iblis Trigger…must die! And there are no alternate ways to go about it!"
Sonic stood his ground against Silver, having put me down in relative safety. He then stepped defensively in front of me, throwing me the quickest of winks before keeping his focus on Silver.
"Sonic…"
"HAH!" Silver made his move with another violent display of his power, which was sudden enough to make Sonic duck to the ground, though he successfully managed to avoid it. He was about to flip himself up off the ground, but Silver suddenly gained a killer look in his eyes, enveloping Sonic in that deathly green glow and pulling him within his reach.
Sonic twitched and writhed in his grip, fighting the force by increments but I didn't think it'd be enough. He was restrained and constricted, and for a guy like Sonic, that was close enough to death already. And after the lengths he'd gone to avoid the same possible fate for me, I knew I had to return the favor.
I didn't have to be that useless princess who stood around for show. I…could make a difference!
If I've got the time to worry about him, then I can run!
Seeing as I was in Silver's blind spot, it was the perfect opportunity to make a move. The memories of Sonic and I running in the field came to mind, but this time I was running with conviction rather than for pleasure. This time, I had something I needed to do!
Sonic, in the midst of his turmoil, managed to roll his gaze over to me and slowly reach his hand out in protest.
"Eh...Eh…li…"
Silver must've caught Sonic's attempt to say my name, because his gold eyes flitted in my direction. I narrowed mine and gave him a look of ferocity back, holding my hand out to him as I closed in on him.
"Stop this! Stop it; it isn't right!" I begged. It saddened me to see that he still thought the death of such a wonderful person could save the future, but if anything, that would only guarantee doom to it! For the few short days I've known him, I learned that Sonic would never give up on anybody- not his friends, not me, and not even Silver, if he would just give Sonic that chance…
My fingers just nearly brushed his shoulder when something latched around my waist, squeezing the fervor and resolve right out of me. The ground suddenly became farther away, and before I knew it, I was looking down at Sonic and Silver.
Nooooo! I was so close!
When I heard the overly atrocious laugh ring in my ear, and the feeling of cold metal appendages around me, I felt so arbitrarily defeated, especially when Eggman decided to rub salt in my wounds.
"So, how was your little walk, princess?"
I knew it was pointless to try and battle my way out of the grip- it hadn't exactly worked the last few times. But now, just as my hope had been reinstalled by the return of Sonic, it was now squashed again, with me captured once more and Sonic once again staring down death itself.
"Naaaaaahhh!"
And I was left not knowing if I'd see him again.
E-S
Either that girl has a tracking device on her somewhere, or I'm really slipping in my rescue quality, but I could easily blame these constant kidnappings on that deranged egghead Eggman, or Silver for constantly getting in my freaking way and trying to kill me!
Doesn't he know that the real reason his time is so devastated is because Elise KEEPS GETTING KIDNAPPED?!
He wouldn't even let me explain the truth to him because he was so disillusioned! I hardly had the time to breathe with how quickly and excessively he attacked. He was certainly more determined, if not stronger, in time I'd been gone…and he was making sure that I knew it.
Made me wonder what else he went through.
I was trying to get one last glimpse of Elise and the direction Eggman was headed so I could track them down if –when- I got out of this, but Silver's hold on me suddenly increased and it felt like someone turned on the gravity on me! My knees caved and smacked the ground, nearly folding under the pressure.
"…it's time to end this," Silver commented with deadly graveness in his tone, and I tried to swallow my gulp. The intensity of the glow of his power increased dramatically, yet through that curtain of green, I saw something jump down, landing between Silver and I in a kneeling position, like he'd been waiting for this moment. I squinted through the haze, trying to get a good look at the intervener.
Silver clearly wasn't expecting it either, stumbling away as he lost his hold over me, just like when he was startled by Amy. "Who the-?!"
With the glow gone, I sprawled out on the ground desperately gulping air like I'd never get the chance to breathe it again, but once I was solid again, I turned to see my rescuer in a better light this time.
"Mephiles…?" Silver questioned, stung with disbelief. "Why are you getting in my way!?"
No- it couldn't have been Mephiles; the fur was streaked red, not that nasty faded teal. But then…that meant it was…
"I'm Shadow," the newcomer professed, and I realized my suspicions had been right. "…Shadow the Hedgehog."
He then turned to me and gave the quickest of nods; I returned a thumbs up and darted off, leaving him to deal with Silver. He said he wanted to talk to him? He could be my guest, no problem!
I just knew that I had to prevent Elise from getting on the Egg Carrier! Her life and the future were resting on it!
Hooray for plot finagling! What's gonna happen to Tails and Knuckles?! D: ...well, that's for later! This week is a moment we've all been waiting for in Shadow and Silver's stories! *wink wink nudge nudge kick kick*