CHAIN OF MEMORIES: SONIC'S TALE

Chapter Ten: Island of Amnesia, Part 2

Last time on Chain of Memories:

The Sonic Team began scanning through their memories, attempting to be sure that the important facts remained. But as the Keyblade Master vaguely remembered his friends, the image of an unknown hedgehog female invaded his mind. While this is going on, Terro and another member, Roodaka, began discussing the plans of their "Order". Sonic and his friends entered a strange jungle world where the Keyblade Master was wrongfully accused of theft. In a daring show of nobility, Sonic accepted the charges to release another prisoner. But at the last moment, his sentence was withdrawn by the appearance of a wild bandicoot.

The scene returns to the whacked-out and zany jungle of Wumpa Island. As the heroes had learned, nothing on the tropical land was what it seemed to be. Within the first hour, Marine had walked into a wall painted as a cave, Angel was snared by a flock of snakes disguised as vines, and Storm somehow broke the background. On a few occasions, Sonic believed that they had been walking in circle, only proven true when Silver pointed out the same tiki head from before. The Keyblade Master became so frustrated that he threatened to burn the island down with the Fire Card.

"Don't even think about it, Sonic!" Silver snapped sternly, swiping the card from his apprentice's hand. "Don't forget, we're still in Castle Oblivion. If you burn this island down, you'll trap us here forever."

"But I can't stand it!" Sonic screamed insanely. "I need to get out of here before I explode!!"

"Too late for that." Angel muttered silently.

"You need to calm down, Sonic." Storm advised, resting his hands on the hedgehog's shoulders. "Remember, this is just a memory. That means whenever we came here before, we must have found our way out."

"I guess you're right." Sonic sighed. "Sorry, guys."

"No problem, mate!" Marine shouted cheerfully. "Now let's explore our way out of here!"

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Silver asked. At that very moment, a high-pitched girlish scream echoed from a distance – Cortex was close by. "That was convenient."

Thankfully, Cortex's squeals carried far enough for the Sonic Team to follow. Silver used his lightning magic to form a strip of electricity to use as a blade to cut through the tall grass – Sonic wasn't allowed to use magic. After traveling for half a mile, the team came to a stop in a wide clearing hidden by a wall of thick trees. Coco Bandicoot was standing next to the insane bandicoot identified as Crash, overlooking a clumped shape. Upon closer inspection, they found that the lump was made from Nina and Cortex, who were unconscious on the ground floor.

"Looks like everything is under control here." Sonic said, calling the attention of the bandicoot duo. "Things were getting a little crazy back there, but at least everyone made it out all right."

As the team approached them, Crash jumped in front with his fists raised.

"What's with you?!" Angel snarled, snapping Crash's hands with her antenna.

"Uh...Not to be ungrateful or anything," Coco said subconsciously. "But we're not very sure if you guys are good enough. After all, what if what you said is true? What if you really are the thief?"

"You're kidding, right?" Sonic questioned strangely. "Why in the world would I want to steal Cortex's memory? I'm having a hard enough time just trying to keep my own."

"Yeah." Storm nodded. "Sonic only said that because he wanted to save..."

"He wanted to show off." Silver interjected rudely.

"Why am I not surprised?" Coco giggled, glancing at the taller bandicoot. "Either way, you helped save me. My name is Coco Bandicoot." She waved a hand to the other bandicoot. "And this is my big brother, Crash."

"Great to meet ya." Sonic grinned. "My name is Sonic the Hedgehog, Keyblade Master." He pointed to his team. "And these are my friends" Storm the Albatross, Angel, Marine the Raccoon, and the grumpy one is my teacher, Silver."

"You do realize I'm here?" Silver grimaced.

"Acka tweek!" Crash cheered.

"What did he say?" Marine asked curiously.

"Sometime, we're not too sure." Coco scratched her head sheepishly.

Suddenly, the shrubs around the clearing rustled close to them. Sonic summoned his Keyblade in preparation for an attack, only to learn that he had just wasted an Attack Card. The same voodoo mask that traveled with Crash earlier had appeared, looking very tired. As the mask slowly caught its breath, Coco told the group that the mask was named Aku-Aku and was inhabited by a former witch doctor.

"What'd you find, Aku-Aku?" Coco asked.

"I found plenty, but I'm not sure I can explain it all." Aku-Aku panted. "We may have had our run with Cortex, but we're not out of the woods yet."

"I thought we were in the jungle." Storm said dimly – Angel whacked him.

"But it has become apparent that Cortex is still a threat." Aku-Aku nodded to the unconscious scientist. "He won't forget what damage we have caused until he gets his memories back." He glanced to Sonic and his team. "And he will definitely point the blame upon you for causing this disaster."

"Then maybe we oughta get as far away from the island as possible." Sonic suggested.

"But we can't leave Coco and Crash behind." Angel protested. "Crash might be able to keep him away for a while, but what if he slips up? Crash can always win the fight."

"Then the best thing we can do is restore Cortex's memories." Silver said.

"You could do something." Aku-Aku said ominously. "But the fact is that you don't need to do anything."

"What's the supposed to mean?" Marine questioned suspiciously.

"If you can't remember something, it's like it never happened." Aku-Aku smiled mysteriously. "And if it never happened, how can you remember it? If you try to remember too hard, your memories will lie to you."

"Kwa?" Crash tilted his head confused.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." Aku-Aku said before fading into the trees.

"Is he always this helpful?" Silver asked sarcastically.

"So what do we do know?" Storm asked.

"Like we said before, our main priority is Cortex." Angel stated, kicking the scientist onto his back. "If the Heartless really did take his memory, then we might be in for a bit of trouble."

"You know, there's one thing that bugs me." Sonic said thoughtfully. "We've been on this island for a long time and I haven't seen a single Heartless."

Even before he finished, a flock of twelve Heartless formed from the ground. Six of them were regular Shadows, but four of them were wild blue monkey's called Powerwilds, and the last two were a pair of fat Heartless called Large bodies. Cursing at himself, Sonic prepared his hand while the rest of his team vanished into flickers of light. He was surprised to learn that Crash had faded with them – Coco fainted on the spot. But he had no time to worry about them before the Heartless were upon him. Already thanks to his great skill, Sonic was able to take out the Shadow Heartless with only two Attack Cards. But then there was the problem with the Powerwilds. They were naturally adaptive to the jungle and used the trees to seek shelter and attacked whenever Sonic dropped his guard. And even worse were the Large Bodies, who could not be attacked from behind. Already, Sonic used up ¾ of his gauntlet trying to pierce their defenses.

"That isn't going to work." Dark Sonic commented.

"Look who finally showed up!" Sonic mentally snarled. "Where have you been all this time?!"

"Watching and observing." Dark Sonic said simply. "You might be losing your memories, but I would never forget my own kind."

"Then how do I take them out." Sonic asked, defending from the Large Body's fist – he had three Attack Cards left.

"The Powerwilds are fast, but have no control." Dark Sonic explained. "Wait until they pass you and strike. But the Large bodies are opposite. They are perfectly defended except from their backside. But seeing as how they are guarding one another, you'll need magic to break through them."

"Silver was still holding my Magic Card when he left." Sonic responded. "Where am I supposed to find some magic in this place?" Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the card of Marine lying on the ground. "That's convenient."

While trapped in conversation with his counterpart, Sonic failed to realize that the Powerwilds had jumped from their defenses. The savage monkeys attacked from four sides, which allowed Sonic to spot them at the last minute. Taking the advice of his Heartless half, Sonic curled into his ball form and bounced upwards before the Heartless apes collided. Dark Sonic was right – the Powerwilds had no control over themselves. Taking the chance at their dazed states, Sonic uncurled his ball form and used three Attack Cards to perform his special Spin Dash. He shot towards the ground and took out all four primates at once before shifting his direction towards Marine's card. The Large Bodies must have sensed his plan as they formed a wall to block his path. They pulled back their hands to swing, but Sonic bounced over their enlarged hands and landed on the other side. On normal conditions, Sonic would have taken the opportunity to attack, but he had no Attack Cards left to use. Falling back on his original plan, Sonic uncurled and waved Marine's card, which exploded into a flash of light. A moment later, the rascally raccoon appeared next to him.

"Strewth, mate!" Marine cheered, stretching her arms. "Whatcha got for me today?!"

"Marine, I need your expertise." Sonic said encouragingly. He pointed to the twin giants, who appeared lost and confused. "Do you think you could take care of them for me?"

"Anything for you, mate." Marine nodded cheerfully.

With Marine on the field, there wasn't much left to do except sit back and watch the show. It was short, but very amusing. The wily raccoon managed to knock them against the trees, set their bottoms on fire, used metal rods to summon lightning, and performed a perfect slapstick routine. Eventually, the Large Bodies soon became fearfully and crawled on their knees, pleading for Marine to put them out of their misery. The naïve raccoon obliged and destroyed them with a simple blast of her green spheres.

"Thanks for the help, Marine." Sonic chuckled loudly. "You've been a big help."

"Any time, mate!" Marine waved – she vanished into her card.

"Well, at least the worst is over." Sonic sighed gratefully.

"Don't be too sure." Dark Sonic interjected. "If the battle is truly over, then why aren't the others with us?"

Apparently, his words got Sonic thinking the exact same thing. If they had finished the memory, then why were his friends still missing and where was the door to Castle Oblivion? But as he began to contemplate these thoughts, he heard a sudden gasp coming from the end of the plain. He turned on the spot and found Coco Bandicoot, finally awake, being grappled to the ground by Nina. Cortex was pacing around in front – he was more confident without Crash.

"Thought you had defeated me, eh?" Cortex said deviously. "But the game is up, children. Crash is gone and I hold all the cards." He started twisting his tiny beard. "And now for your punishment. For stealing my memories, your sentence is..." For reasons unknown, he gained a blank stare. "I....uh...where am I? What's going on?! I can't remember a thing!!"

"Did he just lose his memories again?" Sonic questioned silently.

"If so, then the true criminal behind the theft must be near." Dark Sonic stated.

"Sonic, watch out!" Coco screamed suddenly. "Something's coming!"

"Say wha?" Sonic asked confused.

Even Nina, who Sonic had expected to be fearless, was seen quivering at the unknown object. The Keyblade Master followed their vision – he rolled to the side before being crushed to death. Staggering to his feet, the blue hedgehog stammered in shock for a short moment. The source of the memory loss was a gigantic beast made entirely of wood with snaring vines wrapped around various parts of its bodies. At the head of the wooden body was a large red mask with jagged pointed teeth and several bones dangling from its edges.

"Surprise." The mask said malevolently.

"Uka-Uka!" Coco screamed frightfully. "What are you doing here?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Uka-Uka cackled. "With Cortex's memories gone, he might actually be motivated to do something right. But I didn't get my hopes up, so I decided to take things into my own hands."

"Well, you haven't won yet!" Sonic exclaimed. "You'll have to get through me first!"

"Without you weapon?" Uka-Uka chuckled – Sonic flinched. "This should be fun."


Evil Sentinel: Uka-Uka

From the start of the battle, Sonic attempted to recharge his gauntlet. But the malevolent mask was not willing to give the hedgehog a chance and used one of his vines to grab his arm. Struggle as he might, the Keyblade Master was unable to resist Uka-Uka's strength and was sent flying across the clearing, directly over Cortex. While landing over the miniature scientist, Sonic found a green card lying just a few inches from his hand. He picked up the card, but was saddened to find that the picture showed Storm – he was strong, but not enough to take on Uka-Uka. Speaking of whom, the Evil Sentinel pulled back on the vine and dragged the Keyblade Master backwards towards himself. As Uka-Uka reeled back his wooden fist, Sonic curled himself into his ball form, hoping that it will soften the impact. His plan worked for the most part and it managed to release the vine, but it also cracked his back when he was sent tumbling across the ground.

"Ow..." Sonic moaned.

"Sonic, are you ok?!" Coco screamed.

"Fine...fine..." Sonic waved weakly. "I just need to catch my breath."

"That's not likely to happen." Dark Sonic commented. Just as he predicted, Uka-Uka grabbed his counterpart and tossed him into the air. "Without your Attack Cards, you are rendered useless against."

"Anything helpful you want to add?!" Sonic shouted; Uka-Uka pounded him to the ground.

"You may not have Attack Cards, but you have other advantages." Dark Sonic informed.

This is the third time his counterpart made Sonic feel like an idiot. As the evil sentinel raised his fist for a crushing blow, Sonic turned on his back and tossed an Enemy Card at Uka-Uka's face. The evil mask winced in pain when the card exploded into light close to his face. But that was nothing compared to the rapid succession of slashes cutting across his body. The Evil Sentinel toppled backwards in pain with his right arm falling in another direction. He made an attempt to sit up, but was stopped by a thin blade pointed to the bridge between his eyes. Zant, the usurper of the Twili, was standing on his chest with his left sleeve raised to expose his blade – he no longer wore his helmet.

"Hey, Zant!" Sonic called cheerfully. "Good to see you, man!"

"Sonic..." Zant said solemnly. "I had never thought that you would forgive me."

"Hey, come on, man." Sonic said gratefully. "So you made one little mistake. I'm sure everyone will have forgiven you by now."

"Not Midna." Zant said sorrowfully.

Sonic felt a pinch of sympathy for the traitorous Twili. But Zant had been corrupted by Ganondorf and Midna had been transformed into an imp, the two Twili were to be married. But fate had been cruel to separate them. Unfortunately, because Zant was lost in memories, Uka-Uka found the opportunity to drive his remaining fist into the Twili's head. It was lucky that his species was more durable than most. Zant managed to catch himself in midair and jumped away upon landing to avoid the Evil Sentinel's lashing vine. As the two warriors continued their quarrel, Sonic used the opportunity to recall all the cards into his deck and summoned the Keyblade. He positioned himself to join the battle, but once Uka-Uka ripped three trees from the ground with one hand, he had second thoughts.

"Ok, this isn't going to work." Sonic commented.

"Zant is fighting bravely." Dark Sonic stated in a taunting tone. "Yet you show less spine in the face of battle."

"I usually have my friends to help." Sonic argued.

"And Zant is a friend in need." Dark Sonic said. "Will you leave him to die?"

"I don't want..." He stopped himself momentarily when something flashed on the ground. Against the color of the grass it was almost impossible to see the Friend Card. He picked it up to find Crash's face on the cover. "Perfect! Crash has experience fighting this guy!"

"Then summon him to battle!" Dark Sonic commanded.

Sonic didn't waste time and raised the card to the sky to begin the summonings. But when looking back to the field, something stopped him from releasing the wild bandicoot. Zant was attempting to cut away at Uka-Uka's wooden body, but it seemed that the evil mask had made himself resilient by adding several rocks to his armor. With one wild swing, the Evil Sentinel rebound Zant's blade and sent the Twili flailing into the sky. Something was resolved in Sonic's mind. The Keyblade Master whipped out the previous Friend Card and tossed both into the air, followed by a Magic Card from his gauntlet. The trio of cards collided with one another and exploded into a flash of light, forming the familiar figure of Midna.

"What the?" Midna questioned confused. "Where in the world...?" She caught sight of Sonic and instantaneously grabbed him into a bone breaking hug. "Oh, Sonic, I knew you couldn't resist me! You have some nerve calling me this late!"

"Hello, Midna." Sonic replied dryly.

"So what will it be this time?" Midna asked coyly. "A walk around the jungle? A nice trip to the beach?"

"How about you rescue your fiancé." Sonic said pointedly.

Confused by his words, the twilight imp turned to the battle and gasped. In Sonic's opinion, he couldn't blame her. In the short time they weren't paying attention, Zant had already received a black eye, a bloody lip, and multiple welts along his cranium. Sensing the rage emerging from Midna, the Keyblade Master took shelter behind the trees. Amazingly enough, Coco, Nina, and Cortex were hiding in the same spot. A moment later, they covered their ears from Midna's explosion.

"GET YOUR SPLINTERED HANDS OFF HIM!!!!" Midna roared.

"That did it." Sonic said amusingly.

The group of four curiously edged around the tree just in time to see Midna transform her hair into a neon claw. Obviously powered by rage, the tiny imp grasped Uka-Uka around the center with her claw and began to increase pressure. At the last minute, the evil mask separated himself from his body before Midna reduced it to a pile of firewood. Panting, Uka-Uka began floating to the sky, only to be stopped by Zant, who had jumped into the air to block him off. Before anyone could blink, the Usurper Twili slashed his blade across the mask, splitting the being in two. As he landed, the Enemy Card of Uka-Uka appeared in Sonic's hand before placing it into his gauntlet. The blue hedgehog sighed in relief, but remained in place to allow Midna and Zant a moment of privacy.

"Zant...you're alive." Midna said disbelievingly.

"It is only temporary." Zant stated mournfully. "Midna...I am so..."

"Don't you dare say your sorry!" Midna snapped. "You have nothing to feel sorry for!"

"But I betrayed our kind." Zant said earnestly. "I was willing to destroy everything to obtain power."

"It's not your fault." Midna said kindly. "Ganondorf has manipulated stronger people. I know, deep down, you never meant for any of this to happen."

"I might not exist..." Zant said slowly. "But I swear, I will not rest until you have been restored to your former beauty."

"What do you mean 'former beauty'?" Midna frowned.

Lucky for Zant, both Twili vanished once their time had elapsed.

Uka-Uka: Defeated


Once the situation of Uka-Uka had been settled, everyone left their hiding places. A few seconds later, Silver and the rest of the team appeared from their cards – Sonic collided with another tree branch. Of course, there were a few curious stares when Crash began biting his own butt. But the celebrations were short lived when Nina resumed her hold on Coco and Cortex stood before them with a furious glint in his eye.

"All right, start explaining!" Cortex commanded. "What is the meaning of this?! Where that witless peon, Uka-Uka, come from?!"

"Weren't you paying attention?" Sonic said exasperatedly. "He's the reason behind all the trouble."

"That can't be right." Cortex argued defiantly. "Uka-Uka would never have the nerve to attack the brilliant mind of Dr. Neo Cortex! You must be hiding something!" He turned to his niece. "Nina, crush them immediately!"

"But they're telling the truth, brilliant Cortex." Coco said in a flattering tone when Nina released her. "Uka-Uka betrayed you and you told my big brother along with his friends to stop him."

"Huh?" Sonic asked confused.

"Twa?" Crash repeated.

"I mean, I know you didn't trust us at first." Coco continued, ignoring the stares. "Who would with such a great mind such as yours? But upon your command, Crash and the Keyblade Master defeated Uka-Uka to save your island. Isn't that right, Sonic?"

"Wed did?" Sonic asked; Silver elbowed him in the chest. "I mean, of course we did. Anything for the genius of Dr. Cortex."

"I...told you to...do that?" Cortex said slowly.

"Don't you remember?" Coco smirked.

"Of course I remember!" Cortex shouted childishly. Only I could have given such a brilliant command! Well done, Crash Bandicoot and friends!" He turned to leave. "Let's go, Nina!"

"Wait, uncle." Nina called. For one wretched moment, they had feared that Nina would expose them. But then she held something that looked vaguely like a... "You lost your brain again, Uncle Cortex."

"But if that's there..." Cortex muttered frightfully. "Then how..."

The next minute, Cortex fell forward, muttering incoherently with his tongue hanging out. The pale girl sighed and lifted her drooling uncle onto her shoulders, leaving the disturbed group behind.

"I – but – when – how?" Silver sputtered dimly; his left eye was twitching. "Nothing makes sense anymore!"

"Way to improvise." Angel complimented. "I would have never thought of that."

"It's just like Aku-Aku said." Coco smiled. "If you try to remember too hard, your memories will lie to you. Cortex is too stubborn to admit he was wrong and would accept anything. Instead, he remembered something that never happened."

"Hmm..." Sonic hummed.

"Something wrong, mate?" Marine asked.

"Uh...nothing." Sonic said feebly. He knew Marine wouldn't buy it, but turned to the bandicoots. "Anyway, I guess the island is safe for now. With only Cortex to deal with, there shouldn't be much trouble."

"And if there is anymore trouble," Storm said. "We'll take care of the Heartless just like Cortex commanded."

"Pancakes!" Crash shouted over the echo of groans.

A moment later, the blank door that occupied Castle Oblivion appeared in the middle of the clearing. The Sonic Team wished Coco good luck while Sonic and Crash gave each other a high-five. They may have not worked close to one another, but they were still a good team. With everything said, the heroes vanished through the door of light.


Sometimes, it unwise to trust the things we don't remember. Where will the Sonic team arrive at their next destination? What new Heartless await during their travels? And when will Terro and Roodaka act? Find out on the next Chain of Memories!

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