Chapter 12: Enter: The Water Temple

Despite his joyous mood the days before, Sonic was dreading the temple that he and Sally were about the brave. He had known what it would be before he even looked at the map, and he had known it despite Sally's constant words of "comfort." It had taken two days to reach the place, having left the day after their game of tag. Unfortunately, the signs of the temples theme were abundant throughout. Rivers and lakes they had to avoid, areas thriving with wildlife and greenery, it was more than obvious. The next temple had a theme of thing he feared most: water.

Within a few minutes, Sonic and Sally were going to be at the steps of the temple, and he was dreading it with all of his heart. As he ran, Sally played a game on Nicole, feeding his irritation. Didn't she realize how much stress he was in? Growling, Sonic looked farther ahead. Sure enough, he could see the blue-green colored temple. And as he had anticipated, it was surrounded with bodies of water all around. So far, it had been the only temple close to the ocean, and it was accompanied with rivers all around. Although it was beautiful, Sonic couldn't help but cringe. He had a feeling that whatever happened in the temple wouldn't be good.

Hoping that he could draw out the moment by several more minutes, Sonic skidded to a stop. Sally had been so engrossed in her game that when Sonic finally stopped, she looked around confused, not knowing why she was on her own feet. She saved her game, then looked at the hedgehog. He looked ornery.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

The hedgehog pointed towards the temple. She looked over, raising her eyebrows. When she looked back at him, he had his arms folded. "I just knew that we'd have to go to one of these. I hate water temples."

Sally smirked, "I know, but we'll have to go through it some time. We might as well go in and get it over with."

Sonic sighed, "I guess you're right..." Sally nodded, then began to walk forward. Sonic followed, a scowl on his face. She looked back at him, smiling softly.

"What? Scared of getting a little wet?" Sally asked, her voice heavy with sarcasm. Sonic gave her one of his "please shut up" looks, making her chuckle. "You don't need to worry… hey, it might even rain soon, so it won't matter if we go in or stay outside!" His glare did not change. Sally sighed, "Seriously, I'm a good swimmer. You don't need to worry if you fall in, I can rescue you! It's no problem, really!"

Sonic sighed, looking up at the cloudy sky. "I know that Sal, I just wish the emerald wasn't here of all places, but I saw it coming. The rivers, the plants, heck, even a book I read once had the same order of temples! Forest, fire, then water."

Sally stopped for a second. She looked back at him. "You read a book?" her tone was dead serious.

Sonic nodded and kept walking, "Of course I did! Shadow made me during our chaos training. He said, 'if you want to successfully wield chaos energy, your body and mind must be strong!' I agree with what he said, and I have to be honest, I'm grateful for what all that training. I'm guessing you noticed how strong I am now? That's thanks to Shadow's training. I did a lot of stuff I usually don't do, and now it's kind of a habit. But anyway… I'm getting off subject. I really did actually read a book. In fact, I read several."

Sally nodded, looking ahead. "Wow. You're the last person I'd ever expect to read a book, no offense."

Sonic raised an eyebrow and glared at her, "Oh, I am." They shared a glance for a second before Sonic laughed. "I was kidding."

"Oh, right." Sally nodded, putting Nicole in her pocket. "I thought you were serious for a second." He raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, making her grin slightly. "Right." She looked up at the sky like Sonic had, then back at the hedgehog. "What was that book with the temples anyways?"

"I don't remember," Sonic shrugged, "It had a guy with a green hat and a cool sword, but that's all I remember, really. I read so many book that I can't tell Harry Potter from Bleach." Sally raised her eyebrows.

"How many books did you read, exactly?"

"I don't know. What I do know however, is that I didn't read a book about how to swim." He sighed, stopping to look up at the temple. Sally stopped as well, realizing they were just about to scale the stairs that lead to the entrance. She glanced at Sonic.

"You ready?"

He sighed, "No, but I don't have any other choice." Silently, the hedgehog walked up the stairs. Sally followed, grabbing Nicole out of her pocket once again.

Sally nodded, typing in a few commands. The map of the temple popped up on the screen, making her raise her eyebrows. The water temple was more complicated than the previous temples, and that made her slightly worried. As she analyzed the map, Sonic reached the doors and placed his hands on them. He sighed and pushed, and the doors swung open. To his surprise, a wave of water greeted him.

When Sally looked up, she saw the wave pass her, thrusting Sonic back down the stairs. She gasped, "Sonic!" Sally dashed down the stairs, the hero now soaking wet and wide-eyed. He sat up, coughing a few times. "Sonic, are you alright?"

Sonic nodded, standing up off the wet grass. "Yes, but if that's how the entire rest of the temple is going to be, then this is going to be one long temple indeed."

Sally sighed, "I know. Let's just hurry up so we can be done and over with it, alright?"

Sonic nodded, walking forward while shaking his head. "I swear, if I'm going to get splashed in the face every three seconds, I will scream. Oh and looky here," he said, looking down at the first step. "Guess what I see?"

Sally folded her arms, "I'm just going to take a guess. Another rhyme?"

Sonic nodded, "Yep. Let's see… If in this temple you wear a frown, it shall be because you drowned." Sonic stood there for a second, sighing as he stood up straight and walked up the rest of the stairs. "That sure is reassuring."

Sally hurried after him, glancing back at the staircase before dashing after Sonic to catch up. As soon as she was by his side, she put her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her as she smiled softly. "It will be okay, don't worry."

Sonic sighed, "I hope you're right."

"I am."

Sonic sighed, scooping Sally up in his arms as he did. "You better be. And in that case—" he dashed off, "Let's go!"

The immediate differences in the complexity of the temples soon became obvious. As Sonic ran down the hallway, waterfalls shot out it huge bursts of liquid. At first Sonic didn't seem to care, as he ran right through several of the waterfalls (which resulting in Sally becoming soaking wet as well.) After they ran through several of the waterfalls, Sonic looked down at Sally.

"You okay with getting wet?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Since I already am, I guess so." Sonic sped up, watching as the water dancing and reflected off the walls. Sally looked around, glancing down at Nicole for just a second. "We're heading in the right direction. We just need to go forward for a few more feet before we reach one of the largest rooms in the temple."

"Cool," Sonic sighed, looking ahead for just a second. Suddenly, Sonic realized something. "Wait, I didn't know Nicole was water-proof."

"New feature. Rotor added some new functions to her awhile back. She's virtually indestructible now."

"Sweet!" Sonic exclaimed, dashing past several waterfalls that were quite a bit bigger than the previous ones. "Speaking of which… where is Rotor and the other Freedom Fighters? You haven't mentioned them once our entire trip!"

Before Sally could speak, the hallway opened up into the most beautiful rooms either of them had seen on their entire journey. Breath-taking was an understatement. Sonic stopped running, skidding to discover an interesting surprise. When he stopping and attempted his skid, the hedgehog and Sally went flying forward, splashing into the water.

Sally stood up within a few seconds, and when she saw Sonic, she simply had to stare at him. He was sitting there in the six inch deep water, thrashing around, crying out, "Help! I'm drowning, Sally save me!" She walked over, standing over the hedgehog with an expression of pure awe.

"Sonic, just stand up." She whispered after several seconds of his wailing. He looked at her with an expression of confusion for a second, but then realized how shallow the water was. His cheeks burned red when he stood up, and Sally couldn't help but giggle.

"Um… let's go." Sonic whispered, Sally's grin wide as she giggled. Looking up, as Sally continued to giggled, Sonic raised his eyebrows. Waterfalls exploded from every side of the wall, and the largest one was on the wall farthest from where they were. The falls let off into a huge pool—at least twenty feet deep—decorating the ceiling and walls with beautiful shining lights. Green, light brown, and blue stone completed the scene, giving a new and unique glow to the room. Despite his dislike for water, Sonic liked the room. It was, in simple terms, beautiful.

"Let's see… the emerald is up on the second floor, which means we need to somehow get up past the big waterfall." Sally explained, looking carefully at Nicole. "There's a staircase we can take. That will be the easiest part though, because the rest of this temple is pretty much made of water-ways."

Sonic sighed and nodded as he looked up. "Then let's get this over with." He scanned the area for a few seconds before seeing the stairs. His eyes met them, and he noticed that the stairs had been built into the walls to add to the design. Without any words, Sonic dashed off. Sally stood there for a second, looking for Sonic when she realized he had ran off without her. When she found him, he was waving at her. There he was, standing at the top of the staircase, all the way next to the waterfall.

"Come on lazy butt! You can do it!" Sonic exclaimed, making Sally grit her teeth.

"You big turd!" she exclaimed as she dashed up the stairs. "You may be the fastest thing alive, but you don't need to taunt me about it every three seconds!" She ran around the corner of the stairs, Sonic laughing as she threatened him. As she scaled the stairs, she continued the threats until she reached the top step. As Sonic had predicted, she was out of breath.

He smiled as she looked at her, stopping to regain her breath. "Running… you… how… do…?"

Sonic patted her head, "My young padawan, that is a secret that only I must know. Besides, you've asked that a million times. You must know that it is futile to even wonder such a question by now!"

Sally looked up at him with a grin, "Of course I know that. But I have my secrets as well."

"Like?"

"Like me knowing how to swim!" she exclaimed, pushing him toward the waterfall.

The hedgehog squealed, flailing his arms in a rapid attempt to not fall into the water. He quickly regained his balance, landing back on his two balanced feet. When he stood up straight, he growled, pointing a finger to her, "Don't do that!"

Sally smirked, folding her arms, "Not so funny, is it hedgehog?"

Sonic gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. "Fine," he sighed, looking up the river. It forked off into two directions, making Sonic nod to himself. "Which way Sally?"

Sally looked up the river, then back at Nicole. "We'll get there either way. After awhile, the sidewalks alongside the rivers will disappear, so we'll need to find some other route to get to the emerald from there."

Sonic sighed, "Okay, I can live with that. Let's—"suddenly, a series of feminine laughter filled their ears, making the two jump.

"What the heck? Who said that?" Sally asked, looking up to the ceiling in.

Sonic did the same, "You better show yourself before—ah!" Sonic exclaimed as yet another wave of water crashed into him, throwing him against the wall.

"Sonic!" Sally exclaimed, dashing to his side as he coughed and sputtered. "Are you okay?" she asked as he stood up, looking around with a glare on his countenance.

"Who did that? Whoever you are, you better—URK!" Somehow, the next wave once again only hit Sonic, despite Sally standing right next to him. Following the physical wave of water was a roar of laughter. Sally looked around, growling.

"That's no funny! Do you realize who he is? He's the—"

"The hero of Mobius, we know, we know! But he's a lame hero at that!" one of the higher pitched voices teased, followed by more giggles and snorts.

"Ha, he can't even swim!"

"What a wimp! Did you hear him when he nearly fell in? He sounded like a little girl!"

Sally growled as Sonic stood up once again, his expression even angrier than before. "Just grow up! You scum always annoyed me!" When Sonic finally saw what—or whom—had been mocking him, his eyes widened. In the water just by the waterfall sat several Mobian girls. There were cats, dogs, and even a few foxes, but there was something very odd about them. Each of them had fins! They were all—

"You Mere-Mobians cause nothing but trouble." Sally growled, interrupting Sonic's train of thought. The creatures laughed at her, making Sally grit her teeth in frustration. "You should be grateful! He's going to save the world and your ungrateful butts as well!"

The girls just laughed for a little bit longer before Sonic shook his head. "Come on Sal, they're don't care, let them be brats. Let's just go, okay?"'

Sally shook her head, sighing. "Fine. They're not worth our time anyways."

One of the Mere-Mobians called out, "Hey, let's drag her down! That would be fun!" Sonic's eyes grew wide when he heard the words. The thought of her drowning frightened him. No, it infuriated him. Without stopping to hear the rest of their conversation, Sonic grabbed Sally and dashed off down the sidewalk. Unfortunately, it ended sooner than he had anticipated, and the sidewalk soon curved off into the wall.

"Darn it," Sonic growled as Sally's feet found the floor once again.

Sally lost her balance for a second before regaining it, and she shook her head when such happened. "No plan to get to the emerald?" Sonic shook his head as he looked up the river. He couldn't see what was up ahead, as the river took a ninety degree turn off to the left. "Good, because I do!"

When Sonic turned back to ask her what it was, he was surprised to see that Sally was no longer there. For a fraction of a second he feared that the Mere-Mobians had caught up and followed through with their threat when he heard, "Hey! Up here!" The hedgehog looked up, a smile on his face.

"Your squirrel-ish instincts never cease to amaze me, Sally." He paused when she stayed silent, hanging from what appeared to be monkey bars over the river. The look he received when she glanced at him sent shivers down his spins. "Right, sorry, I keep on forgetting! Sheesh," Sonic crouched down, "I'm not perfect, I don't need to get it right every time!" he bounded upward over the river, ignoring the water for just a moment.

As his hands wrapped around the bars, Sally smirked. "Is that so?" Sonic swung around on the bar for a second as shrill voices drew nearer. "Then why do you keep telling me that you are?"

"Because I—wait, ugh!" Sally laughed at him, "Must you do that every time?"

Sally nodded as she began to swing from bar to bar, "Sonic, out-smarting you is one of my greatest pleasures in life. You must know this by now."

Sonic just laughed, "I bet it is."

A voice from below echoed, "I bet it is," in a childish—mocking voice.

Sonic just gritted his teeth and Sally rolled her eyes as the continued along the path of bars. "You guys are just rude! We just wanted to play!"

"Yeah! Don't you want to swim with us?"

Sally ignored them, "Sonic, do you find it weird that there are monkey-bars in a temple like this?"

"No, not with the company that comes with it."

The Mere-Mobians started yelling at them from below, but Sally continued anyway. "Too true. I find it odd that the male Mere-Mobians are actually the mature ones." Now, they were just trying to get them angry.

Sonic smirked, "It is odd… Hey wait—" before he could finish, a load of fifty pounds was added to his weight. The hedgehog gasped, as he had almost lost his grip on the bar. Sally growled, and when Sonic looked down, he did the same.

Sonic shook his leg, "Let go ya' pest!"

The girl gritted her teeth, her grip only becoming tighter. Sally shook her head, "This is ridiculous!" she growled, looking down, "Get lost you freaks!"

The Mere-Mobians were no longer giggling and laughing, but yelling and screaming. Most of what they said was rather rude and inappropriate for most ears, and it made Sonic grumble to himself. He wanted to cover his ears and block out their droning, but that would result in his demise. Instead, he looked at Sally.

"I'm going to try and get to the next few bars, alright?" Sally nodded and continued. Taking a deep breath in, Sonic began to swing back and forth. When he had enough momentum, he let his right arm leave the bar and reach for the next one. He nearly slipped at the girl's weight, and when another fifty pounds was added to the load, he almost yelped.

Now he was thoroughly annoyed. Gritting his teeth, he glared down at them. They did the same. "Let go!" he yelled, moving his legs back and forth as fast as possible. Growling, he looked up at Sally. "Sal, I can't—Sal!"

Now Sally was being attacked as well. She was clinging to the bars very tightly now, both her legs and arms holding her close to the ceiling. Her eyes were clamped tight, and her teeth gritted as the Mere-Mobians leapt from the water in attempt to grab hold of her as well. Sonic tried to move forward again, "Sal!" he exclaimed, reaching a hand forward, only to almost lose grip once again. And as if it was on cue, yet another Mere-Mobian had grabbed on, then another followed the example.

"Alright…" Sonic growled, his final measures of patience snapping from the weight he was supporting. "You wanted to piss me off, and you've done it." The hedgehog gritted his teeth for just a second, then yelled in his new-found fury, "CHOAS BLAST!"

The red energy was like a firework, and it threw all of the girls into the water, as well as those he had been jumping. Besides Sonic, Sally had been the only one who had avoided any harm. She looked at him, a cautious gaze on her face. "That…" she paused for a long time, and Sonic was slightly worried that he had scared her. "Was awesome." He raised his eyebrows, looking down at the girls. Like him, they were now also very mad. Sonic smirked.

"Yes, yes it was. Of course, as soon as they can swim in a straight line, they're going to make a beeline for us."

Sally smiled as she pulled her legs out from the bars. "In that case, I'll race you there!" she exclaimed, heading off before Sonic could get a word in.

Sonic followed after her, "Ha, there's no way on Mobius that you'll win!"

After several minutes of swinging down long hallways, Sonic came to the shocking realization that although he was fast, Sally was better at swinging than he was. When they reached the end of the bars, the forked river had rejoined into one, and they found something that made the hedgehog sigh in relief. The river was exiting underneath solid ground, and that filled them both with something more than relief. When Sally landed on the ground before Sonic did, he couldn't help but gasp.

He landed shortly after her, and the second he looked at her, there was no surprise that filled him. She was smirking. "Looks like you're not always the fastest."

Sonic looked ahead, "Whatever, that was just one race." Sally laughed, but the sound of angry girlish voices from behind them silenced her laughing. The exchanged one glance and nodded. He picked her up and without another word, dashed into the final stretch of the temple.

Sally pulled Nicole out of her pocket, "We're almost there. Just this room and one last uphill hallway and the emerald will be ours!"

Sonic nodded, "Good, because I've seen enough water to last me a lifetime."

"Well then, I guess you'll have to deal with two lifetimes of water!" Sally yelled, looking up towards the ceiling.

Sonic didn't even have to question, because the jets of water hit him so hard that he yelped in pain. He ignored the ache though, and ran faster as Sally coughed and sputtered. And as if the temple enjoyed watching the two suffer, more jets of water came hurling at them. In an effort to avoid more vicious attacks, Sonic began his evasive maneuvers.

He zigzagged, jumped, and even flipped to avoid being shot again. In most cases he avoided the liquid, but there were some occasions where he took the attack full-forced. Despite that, he never once let it hit Sally. No matter what, he wouldn't let her get hurt.

They final hallway was growing closer, and the attempts to keep him from reaching the room the emerald was in were becoming deadlier and more desperate. The water was faster and harder, and even more of the jets were activating. At one point the hedgehog was so dizzy from his maneuvers that he almost lost his balance and fell, but with a quick chaos incantation, the nausea left. As soon as he felt the bewilderment die off, he sped up toward the hall. For a second he thought they would get there without an issue, but that would have been far too lucky.

As the distance between the hero and heroine to the hall shrunk, a sound from above the hedgehog made his heart sink. He looked up to a wall of water only a mere ten feet away. He gasped and Sally yelled in shock, but he ran forward faster, leaping into the doorway and into the hall. The water barely missed him, and without daring to look back, he sped up the steep slope.

The hallway was huge, like the rest of the temple, but that didn't give the hedgehog any confidence. He sped onward when he found himself on level ground, and as soon as he reached it, he didn't stop until they reached what appeared to be a podium used for speeches. Sonic took a deep breath in, put Sally down, and began to look around.

The room was even bigger than the last one, and that made Sonic sigh in relief. Perhaps it would be a calmer room, as it seemed as if there were no rooms for trap. There was elegant woodwork everywhere, bright colors like the waterfall room, and an aura of peace about in the room. The only factor that bothered him was the gigantic dam that stood behind a lazy river, but at the moment, it wasn't his biggest priority. Instead of thinking, Sonic sighed as he folded his arms. What a rough temple…

"Hey Sonic, come here!" Sally's voice instantly pulled him from his ornery state of mind. He walked over to her and looked down at a miniscule, clear dome, then stared at Sally. "We found the emerald, now help me open it!" Sonic glanced back at the dome, and sure enough, the blue emerald was lying within it.

Sonic nodded, kneeling down as he put his arms near the bottom of the dome. "On three," Sonic ordered as Sally put her hands in a similar position. "One, two, three!" the two pulled with all of their might, but it didn't budge. Sally sighed as they both stood up.

"Will chaos powers work?"

Sonic shook his head, "Nope, it's protected by chaos energy. But I think I know what will." He walked back over to the podium, and sighed. Unfortunately, he had been right. "A puzzle. Of course, every water temple has to have a stupid puzzle!" he growled, looking down at it. Strange symbols, colors, and many other things lay on what appeared to be a slide puzzle. Another piece lay underneath it, but it wasn't a part of the puzzle. It appeared to be something that would be touched when the puzzle finished. "Man, I wish that green hat guy from that book was here. He'd solve this no problem. But no, we're just going to have to use our minds. Whoopie." He sighed.

"That's not much to work with." Sally sighed as well.

"Oh thanks," Sonic growled, starting the puzzle despite not knowing what it was supposed to look like.

"Sonic, you know that's not what I meant." Sally put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Sonic sighed, moving the pieces around.

Sally took a deep breath in, looking around. "Let's just hope that we can get this over with soon."

Sonic did not respond, but he agreed nonetheless. The last thing he wanted to do was spend a good three hours figuring out a puzzle was sure to do incorrectly. Silently the hedgehog continued as Sally looked around. She typed a few simple commands onto Nicole, then began playing the game she had spent so long on earlier.

After a few minutes, frustration morphed into fury. What the puzzle was supposed to be was a mystery to him, as there was no example before him. Plus, he had no knowing of what the symbols were supposed to say. Anger was no longer the correct turn for how he felt. Fury was too calm to fit his mood as well. After what seemed like an eternity and a half, the hedgehog felt confident that he had finished it correctly. Now all he needed to was to see if Sally agreed with him.

"Hey Sal, come here." Sally had sat down by the wall, but leapt up as soon as she heard his voice. She walked over and looked down at the puzzle, "I think it's done. What do you think?"

She hummed for a second, putting Nicole away in her pocket. "It's looks good… expect for this part." She pointed to a spot he had spent only a few minutes on.

Sonic furrowed his brow, "No, I'm sure I did that part correctly."

Sally shook her head, then stepped into his spot. "Well, we'll just have to find out." She began to move the tiles around, and Sonic grunted in disapproval.

"Sal, that part was right! Can't you just listen to me for once?" Before long, she had rearranged it to her liking, and without even asking for permission, she slammed her fist into the button below. "Sal!"

Sonic pushed her out of the way, looking down at the puzzle. It then—to their surprise—faded away. He gaped in shock. "Sally, what did you do?"

Sally's eyes lit up as he looked at her, "I freed the emerald, that's what I did!" She rushed over to where the dome used to be, then grabbed the blue emerald. "See?"

Sonic took in a breath of relief. He had been sure she had made a mistake, but it was apparent that she hadn't. She smiled, and Sonic smiled softly back. "See," she grinned, tossing the emerald to him as she walked forward. "There was nothing to worry about!"

He nodded, catching the emerald effortlessly. "I guess not." He turned with her, putting his hands behind his head. "That means we have three emeralds now." Sally grinned and nodded as the two began to walk from the podium. "Now we just—" Sonic stopped mid-sentence. A disturbing sound from behind him made his heart stop. He turned, but he knew what it was before his eyes found it.

"Sonic, now we just what?" Sally asked, not realizing Sonic had stopped.

"Sally…dam."

Sally's head whipped back, "Sonic! Watch your language!" But what she saw made what he said make sense.

"No Sal…" the dam above them began to crack, and water began to spurt out. "The dam is breaking! We've got to move!"

Sally gasped, and without even a look, the two turned around and ran. There was the sound of breaking stone, the explosion of millions of gallons of water, and before they could reach the hallway, the water overtook them.


Sonic, Sally, don't die!

If you guys haven't noticed, cliff hangers are my specialty. Anyways... how many of you noticed how little I've talked about the Freedom Fighters? Who remembers what was said in the previous chapter? If I recall, it has something to do with the Freedom Fighters and a certain skunk, if you catch my drift. ;)

And now Glass Rose and Fragile are caught up, so I won't have to do my weird pattern anymore! Woo-hoo! I hope you guys look forward to the next chapter!