I own no Sonic characters, any familiar dialogue or the main plot. Credits to Sega.


Reply to ABCSonicKirbyWarriors' review of Chapter 10: Ah, I see. Well, it's good to know that you're feeling better now.

Best wishes to you, too!

Reply to likliklik's review of Chapter 10: Guns? As much as I like a change of pace, we already have one hedgehog that tried to be edgy with a gun! However, a crossover with Time Crisis sounds interesting. Granted, I haven't played much of it, but still...

Amy was mad at Sonic because she was put in harm's way. Without her knowing that it would happen, no less!


-Chapter 11: Treasure Trouble-

After their little exchange with each other, Jet, Wave and Storm made their way to the stone doors that Eggman once stood. They eyed them in anticipation. Once they were open, the treasure of Babylon Garden would finally be theirs! However, to open the doors, a certain key was required. Jet looked at the crystal box he held in his hand. It emitted a dim glow.

"Ooh, I can't wait!" Storm spoke in excitement.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I'm getting a bit tingly inside, too," Wave giggled. "C'mon, Jet. Open the doors."

"Okay, let's go!" Jet said, raising his crystal box, which shone brighter at the presence of the temple.

A hum rang in the air, a creaking sound contrasting with the higher pitched noise. Slowly, the doors gave way to the interior of Babylon Garden's largest and most important temple. A white glow interfered with the view briefly, but dimmed after a second or two. With beaks agape, Jet, Wave and Storm thought that they were looking into a completely different dimension. They took a step inside to find that it was all real.

Around them, they saw a checkered floor made of refined marble. They were afraid that their shoes tarnished the red carpet fit for royalty, so they hopped on their Gears and slowly rode onwards. The walls and ceiling appeared to be made of pure gold and dotting around the perimeter of the temple were a plethora of treasures, such as a ruby talisman, a chalice adorned with sapphires and a gold box studded with emeralds. The temple interior and everything in it looked polished, free of any stain, as if it was just built. It was quite a shock, considering that Jet, Wave and Storm were aware that their lineage went back to ancient times!

What intrigued them, however, was the set of gold doors at the back of the temple. What purpose did it serve, other than being an emergency exit?

"Grrrrrrrrrrr!"

Suddenly, a deep voice sounded and those doors opened. Intrigued, the three rode in.

Outside the temple, Sonic continued to run away from Amy, taking cover behind Tails and Knuckles. The four of them heard the voice from inside growl.

"W-What was that?" Amy asked, ducking for cover behind Sonic, who merely had a smirk on his face.

"First, the Grand Prix. Now, this? Interesting..."

"But where did that noise come from?" Knuckles asked.

Tails, having seen the temple doors wide open, pointed a finger to it, saying to everyone, "It might have come from over there."

"Let's check it out, why don't we?" Sonic grinned.

The four grabbed their Gears and rode in the large temple, only to be dazzled at the sight of a pure gold room. However, they were confused at the fact that there was another set of doors inside.

"That must be where the noise came from!" Tails told everyone, before he saw those doors slowly close, sealing the other room.

"Let's go!" Sonic called out. "Now!" The heroes made haste and rode into the room that the gold doors were sealing. As the made it, the doors slammed behind them.


In A Dark Area...

Was it a room? Was it the outside world? No one could fathom where they were or why the place existed. All anyone could see was that the blue floored 'room' was much larger than the temple itself, to everyone's shock and surprise. Over a distance, Sonic and friends could see Jet and his team. The groups rode to each other.

"Hey, Jet!" Sonic shouted across to him. "Do you have an idea where or what this place is?"

"I... I feel that I should know," Jet began to talk. "But-"

Interrupting the hawk was the appearance of a bright blue orb of light in between the two groups. As everyone backed away, a figure started to form from the orb. Meanwhile, a deep voice spoke from it.

"Greedy fools... Those who seek treasure will find only..."

"They'll only find what, you creep?" Knuckles responded.

The mysterious figure grew in size, towering over the seven that were present. Eventually, the figure's shape changed. Underneath an oddly shaped bottle, a purple hawk appeared in front of everyone.

"Strong words, for such a little creature," he said to Knuckles.

"What did you say!?" the red echidna snarled, readying his fist and getting ready to charge at the figure, but was stopped by Amy.

"Who are you?" Tails asked the large being. "And what are you doing here?"

"I am Angelus, the Babylon Guardian," said being answered. "I guard Babylon's treasure!"

"Too bad for you, pal," Jet spoke up. "I'm gonna take the treasure from you!"

"And what gives you the right to do that, hmm?" Angelus responded.

"He's Jet, the leader of the Babylon Rogues!" Storm called out. "If you guard Babylon's treasure, you don't have the right to talk back to the boss like that!"

"So, you're the Babylon Rogues? In that case, you will never have the treasure!" the Babylon Guardian sneered.

"And why not?" Wave questioned him.

"Millennia ago, it was your greedy ancestors that have sealed me here, guarding Babylon's treasure from anyone who dared to steal it," Angelus answered. "Hypocritical fools! Protecting something they hold dear to them, while they go off and steal treasures that others care about!"

Enraged, the Guardian began to charge a light purple energy ball in his hands, demonstrating the power he possessed. As he released the attack, his enemies grabbed their boards and spread out, dodging the incoming blast.

"Man! Someone bears quite the grudge!" Sonic said.

"Any accomplice to the Babylon Rogues will suffer the same fate as them!" Angelus roared. As he raised his hands, there was a giant flash. Then, the area around everyone suddenly changed completely.

Instead of a blue floor, there was barren ground. Black pillars had risen from it. Meanwhile, the darkness above was replaced with a red sky. Everyone was warped close to each other in one bunch, with Angelus himself, with his arms crossed, in front of them.

"Ah! We've made him mad!" Amy shrieked. "What are we gonna do!?"

"We probably need to defeat Angelus to get out of this place!" Tails said to everyone.

"What are we waiting for?" Sonic responded, stepping to the front of the group. "Let's do this!"

"Very well," Angelus replied. "If you will not leave here by choice, you will do so by force!"

Knuckles and Storm hastily kick dashed ahead and everyone else followed suit, while the Babylon Guardian floated backwards, daring the smaller creatures to face him. The two powerhouses cleared the way for the rest by smashing some of the black pillars away, so that the others didn't have to slow down and maneuver around obstacles.

Upon hearing Wave's instruction, Knuckles and Storm backed away, allowing the wrench wielding swallow some room. With as much force as she could, she tossed it at Angelus, who, unfortunately, flicked it aside, like a fly. The strange being responded by stretching out an arm and firing several small energy balls at her taking advantage of a lack of means of defense. However, thanks to swings from Amy's trademark hammer, the attacks were volleyed back at him.

As Angelus was distracted, Jet leaped with his Cyclone and delivered a spin kick at him. He tried to follow it up with a smack on the face with his board, but the Guardian recovered too quickly and swung his fist at the hawk, sending him to the dead ground. Luckily, Storm kick dashed to where he was headed and caught him before he made contact with the ground.

"You alright, boss?" Storm asked.

"Just fine," Jet responded, jumping from the albatross' arms and back on his board. "This fight's just getting started!"

As the two kick dashed away, Jet eyes caught the sight of Tails hurling Sonic, who was curled into a ball, at Angelus' upper chest. The hedgehog uncurled upon rebound to stick his tongue at his opponent, then curled back into his ball and homed in on the lower part of his opponent's chest. Still, even that combo attack didn't do too much damage to the Babylon Guardian, who slammed his hand at the blue hedgehog, sending him crashing towards Jet. The two tumbled backwards a bit and groaned in slight pain.

"Heh heh, sorry about that," Sonic apologized with a slight grin on his face as he recovered.

"Maybe you should watch where you attack this guy," Jet scolded him sarcastically. "He'll send you flinging straight away from himself!"

As Sonic watched the others launch attacks at and take counterattacks from Angelus, he sighed, "Man, nothing's working against this guy."

At the sight of Angelus charging another large energy ball, everyone kick dashed away, splitting into two groups and. What no one expected, though, was that he thrust his hands to the sides, splitting the energy ball in two. It was then that the Guardian launched the attacks, covering more ground and actually damaging the two groups.

"Bwahahaha! Is this all that you have?" Angelus laughed. Laying eyes on Sonic and Jet, who weren't even aimed at with the previous attack, he said to them, "Now, what will you do?"

"What will we do? I think we're gonna step it up a little!" Sonic smirked, rushing towards Angelus.

"As much as I hate to agree with Sonic, it looks like it's time to retire you from your position!" Jet smirked also, chasing after him with Sonic.

"Very well," the Babylon Guardian responded, floating backwards quickly. "Come, if you dare!"

"You won't get away with that slow of a pace, buddy!" Sonic taunted him, kick dashing to pick up speed, with Jet following suit. The Guardian thrust his hands forward, then fired a volley of energy blasts at the two.

Because the speedsters were caught in dodging the incoming blasts, they didn't notice Tails fly towards the fray. Having recovered from the previous attack on him, the fox needed to find a weak spot Angelus possessed to take advantage of. Ducking in and out of cover, he quickly analyzed the situation and scanned the Guardian's body with his eyes. He looked at the bottom part of the body, to find a dark purple bottle below it.

"What? Were we so caught up in the battle, we didn't notice that?" he gasped to himself. Hearing footsteps, he turned behind to see Knuckles, Amy, Wave and Storm, who all recovered from the damage inflicted on them.

"Well, what do we do now, Miles?" Wave asked the fox, placing joking emphasis on the name 'Miles'.

"Look there," he said, pointing at the bottle Angelus hovered over. "I think that Angelus' weak point is right there!"

"Then, what are we waiting for?" Amy spoke up. "We need to help out Sonic!" On that note, everyone spread out and closed in on the Babylon Guardian.

Meanwhile, Sonic and Jet grew annoyed at having to leap upwards and attack their enemy. Going by a change of plans, they decided to attack the lower parts of the body. It was after Sonic homed in on Angelus' gut when he took notice of the big guy's bottle.

Huh... Just a hedgehog's hunch, but maybe I should hit him th- Woah!

Dodging Angelus' hand slamming the ground interrupted his thoughts. However, he knew what he and Jet had to do next.

"Hey, Sonic!" he heard Tails call to him.

"Tails! Feeling better, huh?"

"That's right!" the hedgehog heard Knuckles say to him. "Sonic, trying attacking that bottle over there!"

"Hey, that's exactly what I was thinking!" Sonic smirked. "But that guy keeps moving around! If I'm gonna blast through full force-"

"Don't worry about that, Sonic!" Amy said, interrupting him. "I'll distract him!"

"Hey, wait!" Sonic's calls were ignored. The pink hedgehog set her mind straight on helping out in the battle.

Angelus noticed Amy head towards him and fired an energy ball at her, only to see rebound on Amy's hammer and fly back at him. Taking decisive action, he swiped the ball away with one hand, then fired another with the other hand. Amy jumped back, but saw another one head right towards her, so she swung her hammer and to send the ball flying. Angelus quickly grew tired of the little game and charged up a big attack once again. His pink opponent took a fighting stance, ready to smack it back at him, but she noticed a blue streak speed by and smash through the bottle below the Babylon Guardian.

For some reason, the large being writhed in pain, feeling a strong force blast upwards onto him. Of course, someone had to find out about his weak point eventually! However, there was no time to be angry about it. Turning into a purple cloud of dust, he rushed into the bottle, which warped away from the area.

"Well, looks like you were right, shorty," Wave admitted. "That attack Sonic aimed there got him good!"

"But where did Ange... Angeli... that Guardian!" Storm took a deep breath, then asked his question for real. "Where did that Guardian go?"

"It's not over yet," Knuckles told the albatross. "I know he's somewhere." Just then, everyone saw the bottle high in the red sky. An orb of light rose out of it and Angelus formed once again. Speak of the devil!

"So, you are not as weak as I though you would be," he commented. "But... You haven't seen my true power yet!"

"Bring it on, Angie!" Sonic taunted him, taking a fighting stance with his Gear before everyone else followed suit.

The chase was on and the seven Extreme Gear riders set their sights on Angelus' bottle, his weak point. With that in mind, while he floated backwards, the Babylon Guardian dropped splashes of energy on the ground as mines, forcing his opponents to slow down as they swerved past them. As they were distracted, he released a flurry of energy balls from his right hand, slamming his left hand down on anyone who neared him.

It was safe to say that Sonic and the others had to keep on their toes to defeat the Babylon Guardian. As long as his hands were free, he could prevent them from reaching the bottle easily. Storm swerved to the left, where a stray pillar was, winded up his fist and smashed it right at Angelus, only to see the pillar caught with one hand. Though it was thrown back at him, the albatross smashed past it and kick dashed, keeping up with the rest of the team.

"Your foolish distractions will not work on me!" Angelus claimed, firing an energy ball at Storm's Hurricane Gear, sending Storm himself flying backwards. However, he picked himself up from his feet quicker than the Babylon Guardian had hoped and kick dashed once more, getting in up close to Angelus and narrowly dodging the projectile attacks launched at him.

"Heh heh heh!" Storm chuckled.

"I grow tired of these games, albatross!" the Guardian snarled, lunging for his opponent and swinging his fist at him, knocking off his board. Immediately after, he found himself taking a wrench to the face. He turned to Wave, who had a Bowling Bomb ready.

Riding at the front of the pack, she dodged incoming projectiles and left more breathing room between her and them than Storm managed. With force, she swung her arm, rolling the Bowling Bomb along the ground. As it was headed for the Babylon Guardian's bottle, the Guardian himself swung his left arm upwards, flinging the bomb high in the air. With his right arm, he fired another volley of energy balls at the team. While everyone spread out to dodge them, Jet took a large jump with the Cyclone, span around and kicked the airborne Bowling Bomb downwards. The explosive was set off and blew up right in front of Angelus' bottle, severely damaging the Guardian.

"Nice move, Jet!" Sonic complimented the hawk as the Babylon Guardian retreated in his bottle and warped away.

"What did you expect?" Jet smirked. Just then, Angelus reappeared before everyone, angrier than ever.

"I have had enough of all of you!" the Guardian yelled. "I will see to it that you are put down!"

With his right hand in the air, Angelus charged up, roaring a battle cry as he did so. In seconds, he fired several pink energy waves upwards and outwards, damaging everything and everyone in the vicinity. Around the wounded seven riders were piles of debris that were once part of the surrounding pillars. That previous attack really did a number on everyone! But defeat couldn't have been knocking on their doors so soon, could it?

"It ends here," Angelus smirked. "You greedy lot will know your place in this world!" He thrust his arms forward, but before he could begin to charge an attack, he saw two of the seven small creatures slowly pick themselves up.

"You... You think that you can... beat me, huh?" Jet spoke up, glaring at the Babylon Guardian.

"So, you still stand."

"Don't count me out of this," Angelus heard Sonic say, before seeing the two of them on their feet. "You're not really cool, you know?" Sonic continued. "Maybe we should put you down!"

"We shall see about that," the Guardian responded. Once again, he began to charge an attack, but was interrupted again, as he didn't expect to take another wrench to the face. "Gah! What in the name of...?" Everyone around him had risen from the ground, despite each of them holding onto their more wounded arm. "How!?"

"What was that you were saying?" Sonic smirked. "Something about putting us all down? It's seven on one, Angie!"

"Bah, no matter!" Angelus responded. "I will finish this fight!"

"Let's see you try!"

All seven smaller creatures jumped into action and spread out, kick dashing in different directions. Amy went on ahead and brandished her hammer, knocking away and dodging the energy balls that were shot at her. Knuckles and Storm steered themselves into the Pink Rose's turbulence trail, then swerved from side to side once inside, to gain speed and momentum. With enough, the two powerhouses jumped off the edge of Amy's turbulence and high in the air, then smashed the Babylon Guardian's lower body with their fists.

"Alright! We got him there!" Knuckles commented.

"But he's still up and kicking!" Amy responded.

"Wave! You and that fox boy get 'em now!" Storm told his swallow friend.

"On it!" the two of them replied, taking the front of the pack.

Taking hold of the Yellow Tail, Tails twirled his namesakes around and flew upwards, while Wave stalled for him dodging Angelus' projectile attacks. As Angelus tried to swat the yellow fox away, Wave took the opportunity to throw a stick of dynamite at the Guardian. Backing away, Tails watched the small explosion damage Angelus and rushed in with his own attack after the explosion cleared away. Like a fly, Tails buzzed around the Babylon Guardian, twirling around like a tornado with a series of punches and kicks and ending off by whipping him with his own two tails.

"Back off, now!" Jet ordered everyone. "Sonic and I will end this!"

"That's the spirit!" the hedgehog grinned.

Everyone else did as Jet told and moved away, giving the stage to him and Sonic. The green hawk kick dashed to where Angelus warped himself, leaving a stream of turbulence. With the finesse he claimed to possess, he avoided the Guardian's attacks with ease. Behind him, Sonic jumped off the Blue Star. With the board in his hand, he curved up and revved up once more. He didn't see Angelus fire a blast at him, but he dashed away in the nick of time, hearing the explosion behind him.

Like Knuckles and Storm did with Amy's turbulence, Sonic, still boosting in ball form, hopped on Jet's turbulence trail and served left to right, gaining even more speed than he built up initially. In front of the blue ball was Jet, who held out one leg, balancing on the Cyclone with the other and ready to kick the Babylon Guardian's bottle. With as much force as he could muster, he swung his foot at the weak point, so much so, that he gave it a crack on the surface.

"Hah! Take that!" Jet laughed.

Instead of retreating, Angelus lunged for Jet. Before he could grab him, however, he felt an even sharper pain than he had ever felt before. After howling in pain, he turned to see a blue ball speed by and he heard a cocky laugh ring out.

With the breaking of a bottle and with no more energy left, the Babylon Guardian disappeared and the area around Sonic and friends turned back into the blue 'floor' and the darkness above.

In Angelus' place was a large treasure chest. Everyone gathered around it.

"This must be..." Jet began to mumble, but no words could describe what was in front of him.

However, there was no need to speak. This was what he came for.

With Sonic, the two lifted open the chest and the treasure of Babylon awaited them all.


Sonic Riders had quite the endgame scenario, huh? They gave players a final boss fight, (which was the only boss fight) and you had to hit the Babylon Guardian ('Angelus the Gatekeeper' in the Japanese version) at the bottle three times. In a race. And hitting him counts as completing a lap. Weird mashup between a race and a boss fight, I'll admit...

Unfortunately, folks, all good things must come to an end eventually. Happy late Christmas (or whatever you celebrate, if anything), Happy New Year and I will see you in the conclusion to my Sonic Riders novelization!


-Have a great day, week, month, whatever, and stay upbeat, y'all!-