Chapter 10: A Deal With A Devil

Sonic left Tails' mountain base in search of the an 'opposite' to the Chaos Emerald, but, of course, not without a device that could track the wavelength of one of these opposites. After he dashed out of the mountain, he turned on the tracker. A flashing light appeared on the screen that appeared to be in the upper left corner, leading Sonic to believe the target was northwest of his position. He looked in that direction, and ran head on in that direction. He arrived at the decaying city near the location from which he arrived at this world.

Sonic walked inside the city and looked around. "Hello? Anyone here?" he called. No answer, not to his surprise. He looked at the tracker again. The signal was coming from right below him. He looked about three feet in front of him and saw a manhole in the middle of the street. Seeing no other possibility, Sonic used the latter inside to descend into the manhole.

When he got to the bottom of the hole, he walked forward but didn't see anything. "Looking for this?" said a familiar voice behind him.

Sonic turned around and saw the cloaked figure once again, holding a point cut, red gem. "So, you've been spying on me, have you?" said Sonic.

"'Spying' is such a negative word," said the figure. "I like to think of it as 'supervising.'"

Sonic ignored him. "So… yes, I am looking for that."

"Alrighty then," said the figure. "It's all yours." The figure is about to hand the gem to Sonic, but he quickly withdraws it before Sonic can grab it. "But first," he said, "I can't let something this powerful go for free, oh no."

"Alright," said Sonic. "What do you want for it?"

"Nothing material," replied the figure. "I just ask you, when you return to your world, find the answer to the pyramid's riddle. Then meet me and we shall solve it."

"Why do you want to solve the riddle?" asked Sonic. "And why do you need me to do it?"

"You've already used all three questions, Sonic."

"Well, if you don't tell me, then we have no deal."

The figure held up his emerald to Sonic's face. "Look inside," he said. "What do you see."

Sonic looked close inside the emerald. He saw a giant castle shaped like Eggmans face, watching over a dreary, dystopic city.

"This is your world, Sonic," said the figure. "Eggman has conquered it without you there to stop him. Without this emerald, you will be stranded here for eternity. Only you can return to your world and to stop him. But, you won't be able to end his reign of terror if you can't return, now can you?"

"I'm not going to help you," said Sonic. "But I'm not going to sit idly by while Eggman does this to my world either. I guess, I'm going to just have to take it from you." He quickly runs toward the figure, about to attack him, but the figure raises his left hand and Sonic stops in his tracks and begins to float, as does the cloaked figure.

Tiny blue particles begin to move in from all directions, surrounding the two of them. He then swipes his hand toward the ground below Sonic, causing the particles to fly below Sonic as well. Sonic lands face first on to the ground, while the figure just lands gently where he was. More and more particles move toward the ground Sonic is lying on, beginning to put pressure on him. "W-what's going on," asked Sonic, weakly.

"You had two choices Sonic," said the figure angrily. "If you do not comply with either, I will not let you live. The ground beneath you is becoming a stronger and stronger center of gravity as we speak, Sonic. If you do not decide, you will be crushed under your own weight."

"L-like to play rough, dontcha?" said Sonic. "Well, I-I guess I have n-no choice." The blue light dissipated from the ground under Sonic, allowing him to stand up. Sonic coughed very hard, as the pressure squeezed his lungs.

"So, you have reached a decision them?" said the figure.

"Alright, then," said Sonic. "I guess I'll have to take you on later. But for now, give me the emerald. I have work to do."

"Very well, then," said the figure. He handed Sonic the emerald, and Sonic began to climb back up the ladder. "Don't forget our deal," he said to Sonic. "Or else."

"Don't worry," said Sonic as he climbed the ladder. "I'm a hedgehog of my word."