The Chaos Emeralds.
It is a thing of immeasurable power. It grants joy to the suffering, victory to those on the verge of defeat, life to the dead...shining like a star in the hands of it's wielder, it possesses the power to turn one's thoughts into reality. It makes the impossible possible. Men honor it and worship what it can do. People believe it to be a gift from God.
Yet what is required to make it...
Is the work of the Devil.
Episode Thirteen:
Nobles of the Kingdom of the Sun!
太陽の王国の貴族!
"Well, well, hello there little brother." Sonia remarked as she put one hand on her right hip, the other hanging low as she grinned a little. "How did your mission to the South go?"
"Well, it was exactly as we'd hoped. Miles "Tails" Prower and Tikal Nahuatl are good candidates for sacrifice." Dr. Eggman announced as he held his hands behind his back in the middle of a large palace.
There was a purplish, abyss-like floor beneath him, and tall golden pillars all around, with a central "throne" A dark ocean was beneath his feet in this place...a palace dedicated to a being that cared only for himself and his desires…a pitiless, horrible place that gave you the chills just being IN it. At the far end was an enormous, towering throne of gold and purple, with several circular orbs placed strategically on the thorny "tops" of the throne...five, actually. One red, one white, one green, one blue, and one yellow.
:"And there was something else that happened on the way there...look who I caught!" Dr. Eggman commented, pointing upward at somebody who was suspended in midair, tied hard to a heavy metal cross, spikes stuck into his wrists and through his knees. He had not only been impaled there, but there was a large red band of electrical energy swirling around him, acting like a giant magnet to keep him stuck to the cross.
"Well, I ain't seen YOU here for 100 years." Sonia commented, looking White over as he turned his head to look back at her. "How interesting that we catch you 100 years on the dot, eh Selfishness? I think you'd find this funny. You know, if you weren't too busy pissing your pants in fear over what'll happen to you."
"Your tongue is almost as sharp as how you dress, Flippancy." White commented, giving her a bit of a grin as she stepped forward from the pillar she was standing near. He then turned to his left and looked over the familiar face of the Biolizard, who scratched his head, looking White over.
"Oh! You! Uh...um..." Biolizard blinked stupidly. "...uh...you're...um..."
"Ah, Ignorance. You haven't gotten any smarter, have you buddy?" White snickered. He then noticed Metal was sitting nearby, rubbing two claws together to get some dust out of his joints. "Ah, Racism. Can't you try out a different color scheme? Haven't you heard? GOLD is the new black."
Metal "harrumphed" as White looked around. "Hey, where's ol' Fanaticism?"
"We ain't seen that hothead in a while. He's never around cuz he's always working." Sonia remarked as they all stood together underneath White but, considerately, in his view.
"You ain't changed one bit in 100 years, eh? So I wonder...who are you then? You're clearly not just Dr. Eggman of the Eggman Autocracy. What's the deal?" White wanted to know, looking Eggman over.
Eggman adjusted his goggles. "I'm Cruelty."
"He's a new Golem. Our "Daddy Dearest" made him."
"A Golem that can age? Who knew?" White commented.
"What happened to Mr. "If You Have Power, Everything Is Possible"? Or are you going senile in your old age?" Metal sniggered.
"Aw, shut your trash can lid, uggo." White snapped.
"...what." Metal did not so much ASK as demand. "Did. You. Say."
"Oooh, NOW I get a rise from you." White said, pink eyes glittering darkly, looking into demonic red. "C'mon, I can take you with one hand tied behind my back. Unchain me and we'll SEE who's got the stronger ideology!"
"I'm going to rip you into so...many...chunks..." Metal Sonic hissed furiously, a foul, sickening dark undertone going through his body.
"Stop it. Both of you." A voice spoke up, distinguished and cultured. Everyone turned their head to look at the person sitting in the throne. "I don't want any ugly brotherly quarrels before me. It's...unappealing."
"Well, well. I ain't seen you in YEARS, daddy-o. Boy, the years have not been KIND, have they?" White laughed a little.
His father frowned, closing the book he was reading and sighed, shaking his head. "Why must you insist upon being a "problem child"?" He wanted to know.
"Why? You ask me WHY? You of all people would know. I'm selfish, remember?" White rolled his eyes. "That's the Spark of Real Emotion you ripped out and give this hunk of chaos energy protoplasm true life! If I'd stayed with you, I would have never been happy!"
"So you won't work for me again?" His "father" inquired, placing his pointed nails together and tilting his head to the side slightly.
"Let me say it slowly so you don't misunderstand. NOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooo." White commented.
"Oy, you're steppin' into MY turf, bright eyes." Flippancy snapped.
"...well, well. This IS a shame." Their creator shrugged. He clapped his hands, and everybody moved away from an enormous circular pit that was rising up from the floor, directly underneath White.
There was a foul, diseased smell rising up from the pit, choking and almost GAGGING the albino. "Well, this is cheesy, what OTHER Bond Villains have you been ripping off? Gonna paint me all gold? Stick me in a vat of sharks? Shoot me with the Golden Gu-"
There was a sickening hissing sound as dozens of snakes slithered around at the bottom of the pit, looking up intently at their new meal as White sneered at the others. "You think I'm gonna break down and cry cuz of some slimy snakes? Do you expect me to beg?"
"No, Mr. White, I expect you to DIE." Their father quipped.
"Heh-heh-heh! Couldn't resist one last one-liner, could you?" White laughed as the snakes began to crawl up his body, helping to pull him in deeper...deeper...it was becoming so HOT...they were wrapping around him like a thousand harsh ropes...
"Time to go back to where you were once belonged."
"Well don't go blaming ME if you get diarrhea, heh-AH-HAH-HAH-HAH-"
The laughing was quickly silenced. A few moments later, pinkish energy dribbled out of a small, tiny drain and flowed down the floor towards a grate. It slithered into the grate, then a pipe beneath made it run up the wall and into a nearby "shower" that bathed over their father as he held his hands up, brushing off his clothes and calmly taking a relaxing moment to himself. His sons and daughter stood there, simply watching as he finally finished and licked a bit of the chaotic lifeblood off of him. "Well...it's time to get back to work." He told them all. "That day is coming. You'd best all be prepared..."
...
...
...
... "Heyyyyy!"
Dr. Eggman turned around to see two people rushing up towards him, and he was happily hugged by a young little rabbit and a cutesy chao with a pink bow tie. The rabbit, who had brown-tipped ears, chestnut brown eyes with a vermillion dress and a cute little cobalt blue dual-flap tie on her chest. "Daddy, you came back early!"
"It's good to see you again, my big man, and you too, honey." He told the little chao and the rabbit. He gently patted the little bunny on the head, picking her up and twirling her around. "Oh, what a GREAT day I've had!" He informed her.
*Be careful, you're not as young as you used to be!* The Chao "said", it's little bow tie lighting up as it's thoughts were vocalized. *You sure you don't just wanna retire? Maybe we could move to Switzerland. I've heard it's nice.*
"Heyyyy!" Dr. Eggman remarked. "I'm not ready to be mothballed yet! By the way, you'll both never guess who I ran into down there...the Blue Blur himself?"
*Ooh, you ran into Short, Fast and Squishy himself?* The chao squeaked happily, flying around on it's little wings, clapping it's "hands" together as Cream beamed.
"I can never get tired of hearing about all the amazing things Sonic's done." Cream admitted, nodding up at her father.
*He IS the youngest State Metallurgist, and he's so cool! I wish I could learn Metallurgy too...* Cheese said wistfully.
...
...
...
... "Oh! You're back!" Nack remarked nervously as Omega entered the small little hut they were shacked up in. "Uh, somebody...er...found us."
Omega blinked a few times. "...somebody? Who's this "somebody"?"
"G'day, Mate!" A girly voice spoke up.
Omega turned his head to look at the raccoon that had a blend of orange and brown fur. She wore a green and white tube top with black, skin-tight shorts and green and orange shoes, with bright blue eyes and a pair of rings attached to her ponytails. She bowed deeply, then grinned and held out one hand. "Name's Marine! Nice ta meetcha!" She said as a small, grayish bear-like thing with slightly tufted ears and stubby black eyes lay on top of her shoulder, so small it could have fit in her palm.
"Your boss saved my skin when I went and crashed on the side 'a dah road. I was sooo tuckered out, y'know?" Marine went on.
"...well...if you've recovered, you should be on your way." Omega commented. He then growled and held his leg. "Gah."
"I take it the mission didn't go off without a hitch?" Nack wanted to know.
"There was ONE hitch in bringing Whiskers down, I admit." Omega said firmly as some oil leaked out onto the ground.
"Oooh. That ain't good. Here, lemme fix ya up." Marine said, quickly taking out a small piece of paper from her pants and quickly taking off her glove. She bit into her thumb and some blood oozed out, and on the spot she wrote some strange letters onto the paper, which she stuck onto the leg wound Omega had as he and Nack looked on in surprise. She then clapped onto the page, closed her eyes...
SCHUDDA-THWOOOOMBAAAAHH!
Brilliant greenish/blue light shone and the wound healed up before their eyes. Omega gasped. Nack gaped. "Wh-WHAAAT?"
"It's Yakin Shīru, from Soleanna." Marine explained happily.
"Soleanna?"
"Yeah, apparently this girl crossed the enormous desert to the East just to come here. How silly!"
"It wasn't all by myself, mate!" Marine said, putting her hands on her hips and gesturing with one thumb at Omega. "It was me and him!"
The koala gave Omega a look with it's eyes. He immediately felt the urge to reach out and pet it, and his arm was outstretched before he knew it. He was inches away when he suddenly actually THOUGHT about what he was doing. "...what am I DOING?" He mumbled.
"Hmm? Oh, you like Tabby, do ya, he's-ohhhh." Marine noticed the robot's chest. "I can SENSE it." She carefully reached up and tapped the chest, and it quickly opened up, revealing a circular, glowing life ring with strange symbols circling around it. Or rather, HALF a life ring. The other half looked slightly...beaten. Charred. As if somebody had-
"Yes, that's it. The art of reading the rhythm of the Earth. You definitely have some experience with it." The young raccoon commented, looking the core over.
"...my brother...he researched Yakin Shīru and Metallurgy. This core...is the result of that research." Omega explained.
"Wow, your brother's pretty dang smart!"
"Well, whatever. Your wound's healed, so we can head to Central City, right?" Nack inquired.
"Ooh, Central City? Alright, let's get a 'movin, mates!" Marine said, holding up a small knapsack in the air. "I got me rucksack and tucker bag all ready!"
"Hey, girl, this ain't kids stuff!" Nack told her, poking her in the head.
"I'm SERIOUS." She snapped.
"You can't really mean you BELIEVE that delusional stuff about immortality, can you?" Nack wanted to know. "You've gotta be the dumbest broad I ever-"
The koala promptly jumped up on his face.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Nack ran for it, screaming, running around and around in a circle as Marine rubbed her chin, thinking to herself.
Immortality can't be reached through OUR ways. But maybe...by using metallurgy...I MUST find that man I've heard so much about...the blue-furred wonder...green eyes like emeralds...gallant and brave...Sonic the Hedgehog! Marine thought to herself, eyes going all starry as little roses floated by her in the air for some strange, strange reason.
"...how does she get those roses to float by her?"
"...I've decided I neither know why, nor do I think I care. Let her come." Omega decided.
...
...
...
...the streets were pale and empty, and barely lit as Rouge slowly made her way down the alley, holding onto some groceries with one hand, the other texting a cell phone message to Shadow. She hit the "Send" button just as something caught her attention...the smell of dried blood. And close.
"...okay, come out." She muttered, turning around and putting the cell phone away in her pocket as she noticed the being that was standing in the crook of the alley far behind her, who had been waiting for his chance.
"You know...it ain't smart for you to be walkin' alone. Us girls gotta stick together." A vaguely metallic, high-pitched voice sniggered as an orangish robot stepped out, blue eyes glittering. "If you're not careful, you'll get shot up by SCYLLA!" Scylla cackled, rushing forward.
Rouge quickly drew out a small submachine gun she hid in her pants. BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA!
"GAAAAH! Whatcha doin' THAT for!" Scylla groaned, dancing around in the alleyway, the bullets pinging off her body. "That frickin' STINGS!"
"That's the POINT. I heard about you, you know. From Tails. He talked about the not totally "robotic" guardians of the Fifth Laboratory."
"Ohhh, HIM? You mean Fox-Boy? You're a friend of his?" Scylla remarked eagerly. She then sighed wistfully and Rouge blinked. "Wow. You know...you're HOT."
"...eh?" Rouge raised an imaginary eyebrow and sweat-dropped.
SOME TIME LATER...
Charbydis was tied up as Shadow, Rouge and Vector stood together in an "abandoned" warehouse, a single light between them and the incapacitated, very insane robot. "So...it seems there's a good possibility that the military's senior staff has been working on creating Chaos Emeralds. And there are those two freaks that Sonic talked about...are they the ones that turned you into this?"
"No, it was really my own doing." Scylla explained. "Charybdis and I were on this quest for self-fulfillment and we didn't think too hard about the consequences. You know, having your soul ripped out is VERY painful."
"If we could find the other researchers at that place, that would be really helpful." Vector brainstormed, rubbing his large chin.
"Yeah, that's a dead end. THEY'RE all dead, got turned into Chaos Emeralds themselves!"
"Hmm. Hushing them up AND using them as ingredients. Well at least we know they're a FRUGAL bunch." Shadow muttered balefully as he wrote it all down on a notepad. "...one more thing. Did you recently kill a military officer who had just been finished with making a call at a phonebooth near a library?" He asked softly, dangerously.
"Unless his face looked like guacamole, it weren't me." Scylla told him. "Which is a darn shame, because that means somebody stole MY kill."
Shadow was quiet for a few moments, and then he let out a sigh. "Nevermind..."
...
...
...
... "You are SO lucky that the Bible says "THOU SHALT NOT MURDER"." Amy muttered as she walked alongside Sonic Westside City with Tails meekly following behind. "And if I wasn't worried about being stuck in the 9th Circle of Hell with the rest of the traitors, I'd make it EXTRA PAINFUL!" She'd had to patch Sonic up all over again since he was incredibly beaten up from his latest fight.
"Which we're eternally grateful for." Sonic gulped.
"By the way, any progress on the "finding a way to get your old forms back"?"
"Bit by bit we're making progress." Sonic insisted as he sipped a nice glass of "Orange Crush", the three of them making their way down Main Street. He suddenly noticed Amy was going into a shop. "Where you going?"
"I have to shop for vitamins. You go kill some time."
"Wait! This place has...nothing but...mystic stores...UGGGGGH." He moaned and hung his head, shaking it as people bustled by him and Tails...
Wait. Where was TAILS? He looked up to see Tails was kneeling down by an alley. "Oh. Hey, did you find a cat or something?"
"...or something, yes." Tails admitted, picking up a limp form.
"SNAAAAAAAKE!" Sonic screeched, jumping back a few feet. The person Tails was lifting was a snake sapient, a serpent anthro. He had had green, scaly skin and a smooth underbelly, and three clawed fingers on each hand. He wore a pristine white robe-like jacket with shamanic pants and a necklace to match. He had on sandals, and his tail was hanging limp, along with the rest of him. The snake also had blue hair that flowed down slightly past his neck in thick locks, thought it spiked up at the top like a Mohawk. And, most interestingly of all, he was carrying a scimitar on his back.
"Sonic, he's really, really out-of-it. He looks starved to death." Tails said.
"...I know I'm gonna regret this." Sonic sighed deeply. "I HATE snakes."
SOME TIME LATER...
"Ohhhh." The snake held up it's hand to it's mouth and suppressed a small belch. "Thank you so much! You really saved my life!" He told them. He had a slightly sibilant voice that was soft, and rather kindly in tone. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'm so glad to have found such kindness in this foreign land!" He said as he and the two brothers sat in an outside diner at a table that HAD been loaded with food.
"Wait...foreign? Where are you from?" Sonic wanted to know.
"From Soleanna, oh blue, fat and fuzzy one."
"Don't call me fa-WHAAAA?" Sonic's eyes widened. "Ya mean that big 'ol kingdom to the East? Across hundreds of miles of desert?" Sonic wanted to know.
"Oh yes." The snake told them, nodding firmly. "Crossing the desert was quite tough. I probably would have gotten here sooner, but I wanted to make a stop at the ruins of Babylon, home of the famous gardens."
"Babylon? I thought there was nothing there. Why would you check that place out anyhow?"
"Well, to see if there was anything related to what I came HERE to examine. Yakin Shīru. I believe in your country it's called...ah...Metallurgy, correct?" The snake went on, holding up a small tea cup and pulling out a tiny white bag from his robe pocket, emptying the contents into it and adding some hot water. "Green Tea?" He asked, holding the cup out to Sonic.
Sonic nervously accepted it and sipped it. "...MMMMM!" He remarked, eyes widening. "This is amazing!"
"I make it myself." The snake said sheepishly. "I'm glad you enjoy it!"
"I'll have to put THAT on the list." Tails thought as Sonic put the cup down.
"Wait. You're visiting our country just to find out more about Metallurgy?"
"You see, in our country, the art is called Yakin Shīru, and it's primarily related to the field of Medicine. Much of it centers around being able to repair the most terrible of wounds."
"Different strokes for different folks, I suppose." Sonic said, sipping the green tea. "Here, it has a lot of military uses. There are unending skirmishes at the Eastern Border, at the country of Maginary, and to the South at the Jungle Kingdom."
"And of course we can't forget Nocturne to the North." Tails added. "It's huge and icy and cold. We've got a nonaggression treaty with them at the moment, mostly because the fabled Ice Cap Mountains keep them from attacking us."
"What a restless country." The snake remarked, an invisible eyebrow raised.
"Things started getting more militaristic when Dr. Ivo Robotnik, who became Dr. Eggman of the Eggman Autocracy, took power." Sonic admitted.
"Hmm. I'm interested in this Yakin Shīru." Tails told the snake.
"Yes, it does sound really useful. We should learn more about it. We're always looking for new techniques." Sonic added.
"You're...metallurgists, then?" The serpent wanted to know, leaning back in his chair.
"Yes, I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, State Metallurgist! This is my brother, Miles, but everyone calls him Tails." Sonic said, as Tails shook hands with the serpent sapient.
"I'm King. It's a pleasure to meet you!" the snake told them all.
"So could you teach us about Yakin Shīru?"
"Ah, fraid not. I've got no experience in it." King admitted sheepishly.
Sonic and Tails sweat-dropped, their heads hanging low. "...if you don't...practice it...WHY are you here?"
"I'm looking for something. You might know of it..." King leaned back calmly in his chair and took out some more tea mix, making another cup for himself. He sipped it lightly before going on. "The Chaos Emeralds?"
Sonic and Tails drew in a harsh breath, their eyes staring into King's glittering golden/yellow ones. "...would you happen to know anything about it?" King asked quietly, almost dangerously.
"...no. We don't." Sonic said, looking away.
"...I think you DO." King commented calmly, letting out a whistle.
THWOOSH!
"GAH!" Tails and Sonic gasped as suddenly two people stuck sharp swords at their throats. Both of these people had pearly white armored outfits with a golden bell insignia stationed in front of a beautiful sun on their chests, and they appeared to know how to use those swords WELL. There were belts loaded with various items around each of their waists, including one around King's as well.
"Now, would you be so kind as to just tell me about it?" King asked gently.
"Why do you want the Chaos Emeralds?"
"Simple." King said, holding his arms up. "Immortality."
"...immortality? What a crock." Sonic muttered.
"You know, just because I don't have "ears" doesn't mean I didn't hear that." King said calmly. "I'm being quite serious."
"THIS is the attitude you use to ask people for things? I don't think so." Sonic commented. He quickly slammed his fist towards the person pointing the sword at him, but that person leapt up through the air, spiraling up, then coming back down.
KA-CRACK! A good kick sent Sonic flying and Tails quickly ducked, kicking out and knocking the other person back, flying over to Sonic and helping him off the ground. "Daaaaang...they're strong. They must practice martial arts." Sonic told Tails as his brother lifted him up. "...but they're no Tikal, I tell you." He remarked.
"Let's get to it, then!" Tails said, and the two of them ran off in opposite directions.
Sonic raced off through the city, jumping on the top of a long set of telephone wires that were running side by side. He skated along the top of them, jumping through the air, punching and kicking at the cloaked person who swerved and swayed, effortlessly dodging all of his attacks.
"Dang, you're annoying!" Sonic announced as he jumped again, aiming another kick at the white-masked being. He couldn't see anything but her eyes, the mouth and nose region were covered up with cloth, and even the EYES were hard to see unless up close. "What are you and that stupid dust-crawling idiot up to?"
The being's eyes went wide and she suddenly jumped at HIM...and he jumped off.
THA-THWONK! She fell off and landed in a garbage bin, and Sonic leapt down after her, grinning as he stood outside the alley she'd landed in. "Ha! I actually-"
THAM! She jumped out and kicked him across the alley. He hit the wall, rubbing his nose, but an idea hit him. The minute he'd insulted that snake...
Ideaaaaaa!
Elsewhere, Tails was running for his life from the elderly-looking masked man, trying to save his flying for when he would head back to Sonic. The cloaked man frowned as he chased after Tails, eyes narrowing. "This is very odd. I don't sense any "Flow" from within him. That's just plain damn weird."
"Dang it, I've got to think of something fast!" Tails commented. He then noticed somebody was running alongside him. "Huh?"
"Just making my obligatory cameo!" Christopher Thorndyke remarked, holding something up for Tails to look at. "Lemme help you out."
His hands reached up and turned the wind-up key at the top of the black, orb-like thing in the palm of his hand, and the elder man running after Tails frowned. "What do you think you're doing, bringing other people into..."
He then noticed that the red-haired child had dropped something and it was...walking towards him? He blinked, stopping in place as people shrieked and ran.
"AAAH! It's a Bob-omb!"
"He's got a Bob-omb!"
"It's a Bob-omb!"
"...Bob-omb." The elder man remarked as it went up to him.
"C'mon, you're gonna have to do better than that! If this is the best his flunkies can manage, that King guy must not be hot stuff!" Sonic laughed as he dodged a flurry of strikes from the masked person he was facing.
The eyes narrowed and the being leapt up to try and kick his head, and Sonic grinned. The minute this person's master got put down, they lost their cool. And then it became EASY to read them. "I've gotcha NOW!" Sonic roared out, ducking and suddenly jumping upward, grabbing ahold of the cloth region that covered most of the being's face. "Time to get a look at your face!"
He ripped it off...
And suddenly he was not facing a fighting phantom, but a very pretty, red-haired human girl with soft skin. She had vibrant blue eyes, as blue as his own fur, and he stood stock still in shock. "You're a GIRL?" He exclaimed.
Unfortunately, though HE might have been distracted by that fact, she was not...and had just pulled out what was unmistakably some kind of grenade that looked sort of like-
"AAAH! It's a Bob-omb!"
"She's got a Bob-omb!"
"It's a Bob-omb!"
"...Bob-omb." Sonic remarked as it was thrown at him.
BOB-OOOOOOOOOOMB!
Two explosions rippled through the air and the townsfolk all gasped and coughed and spluttered as smoke billowed everywhere. One side, the smoke cleared to reveal Tails had managed to knock the other man off guard and was now tying him up. He was an elderly human man with a silver beard and a slightly large nose, who couldn't believe he'd been so easily tricked.
"I can't BELIEVE I've been so easily tricked." He muttered.
Elsewhere, the girl sighed as she saw the figure of a single arm trapped underneath a ton of rubble. "Oh dear. I overdid it. I'm sorry, are you alright?" She asked, carefully approaching the arm as the smoke began to clear away...
Revealing that, in fact, it was nothing more than a glove on a very arm-like stick. The girl blinked. "...what the-"
THWOOSH! A net suddenly wrapped around her, tying her up as Sonic popped up from a hidden alcove behind her and he grinned. "Heh, not bad, huh? I used to catch rabbits as a lil' dibbun all the time, so I know a thing or two about traps." He told the girl as Tails brought the elder human over to him.
"Not bad! I got one too." Tails told his brother, putting the older man down on the ground nearby the enormous, wrecked factory that Sonic had been fighting by.
"Hey, not a bad job at all!" King announced, waving his hand in the air, cheerfully standing nearby.
"You're awfully chipper about your "girlfriend" here almost blowing up half the town to get to me!" Sonic yelled.
"And yet here you stand before me! You're really very skilled!" King admitted, clapping his hands and smiling happily. "Why don't you work for me and we'll rule the country together?"
"Stop talkin' nonsense!" Sonic snapped, getting in his face. "Go crawling back-"
"HEY!"
Sonic and the others turned their heads to see a large assembly of townsfolk were there, looking VERY angry. "You sure did a number on your factory! It was the ONLY business in town that has NOTHING to do with the Arts!"
"Now how are we going to produce the materials we need for our ceremonies?" Another snapped.
"Your bomb-omb ruptured our water pipes too!" Another added, pointing at Tails.
"And you ain't paid your café bill, man!" Another person spoke up.
"Hey, don't blame US! Blame this foreigner and his trigger-happy cronies!" Sonic said, pointing at King.
The serpent anthro held his hands up. "No hablo ingles! Adios amigo!" And with that, he immediately hopped backwards into an open sewer grating and was gone.
"GAAAAAH! Get back here, you CHEAT!" Sonic yelled out, shaking his fists in the air.
"Ah, the other ones got away too." Tails moaned. "...damn, they're GOOD."
"Oh MAAAN." Sonic moaned. "Major uncool."
"It's okay, I'll clean it up." Tails said. "Since I got my memories back, my magic skill's really increased."
Sonic thought this over. "...so..he can fly...he's a better fighter than me...AND now he's pretty much gaining as much magical skill as I...OHHHH." He held his head. "At this rate, I'm not gonna have ANY advantages."
...
...
...
... "Ammmy! We're baaaack!" Sonic called out as he and Tails entered Amy's shop to see...
"Hello! We meet again!" King announced, holding his hand up, the other hand raising a cup of tea to his lips.
Sonic promptly beaned him over the head with a shoe from off his feet and Tails plugged his nose as Sonic walked over, picking the shoe up as King picked HIMSELF up. "Don't just sit there, drinkin' tea!" Sonic exclaimed.
"How cruel! And to think, we're friends!"
"Who you calling "friends"? You gave us one REAL HARD TIME." Sonic hissed, getting in King's face.
"Oh, relax, please. I'll give those two a stern talking-to later." King promised. "And, by the way, she's NOT my girlfriend."
Sonic blinked. "I never said she was-"
"You were thinking it, I can tell." King said, sipping some tea. "The girl's name is Elise. The old man is her father, David. They're members of a family that's served Soleanna for generations."
"You must be really important to warrant having two people escort you here."
"Well you see, Soleanna happens to be ruled by the Metatron, voice of God, for Soleanna is a holy kingdom. And I am his son." King told them.
"Wait..." Sonic and Tails blinked in surprise. "So you're...a...PRINCE?"
"Yes, I suppose you could say that." King admitted. "In fact, all of our kind get blessed with royalty or leadership-related names."
"...HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" The two brothers began laughing. "HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! The guy we found passed out on the side of the road is a freeloading son of-"
"HEY!"
They were suddenly aware of creepy Latin chanting as Elise poked her head over the windowsill to glare at them intently.
Koyanisquanti...
Koyanisquanti...
"...we'll stop laughing." Tails squeaked out.
"...GOOD." Elise said, her head sinking back below the windowsill.
Koyanisquanti...
"Sorry about that. Usually she's VERY nice, but when it comes to me and my safety, she gets very...sensitive." King apologized.
"...so you're really a son of the Metatron?" Sonic asked.
"It's not that big a deal. You see, he gives that title to all the guardians that were chosen to look after the Bell of the Heavens, which allows him to rule justly and act as God's voice. He chose different women and gave them virgin births but I'm not the only one he did it to. You see..." He cleared his throat. "Soleanna is made up of 25 ruling families, with the Metatron at the top. He oversees all final decisions that concern ALL of Soleanna and the rest of the great kingdom is divided up amongst the families who deal with the...day to day things." He sipped some of his green tea.
"Okay...I get it." Sonic nodded his head.
"The problem is that the Metatron feels that it's time for a single ruler of all Soleanna. He foresees a time in the near future where it will need a powerful, wise and noble ruler to lord over the people and care for them. It is the duty of people to look after each other, to make the world as it ought to be by living in the way they SHOULD. And God feels he cannot keep doing that by holding our hand and having the Metatron reign over us. He seeks to pick an heir."
"That heir is going to have to have something really special going for them if they're going to rule over a Kingdom of God." Tails remarked. "...wait..." His eyes widened. "So THAT'S why..."
"You want to gain immortality. That would make you a "cut above the rest", alright." Sonic commented. "...too bad! We ain't telling you anything! The Chaos Emeralds are not tools for you to "shortcut" your way to first place you-"
"I'm baaaack!" Amy announced, walking into the room, holding up some groceries. "Hey, Mr. King, guess what? I packed enough for a three day trip!"
Sonic blinked and looked in her direction. "Huh?"
Tails scratched his head. "What's all this about?"
"I didn't tell you? King's coming with us to Central. I want to stop by Mighty's place. They were so nice to me before, I wanna check in with them again! And see how cute little Venus has gotten!"
"Ooh, I cannot wait to see what Central City is like!" King announced happily as Sonic sweat-dropped, knowing he wasn't gonna win this argument.
"So we're really just letting her come along?" Nack asked quietly as he drove the car he and Omega were riding in. Marine and her pet were sleeping soundly in the backseat of the truck, snoozing away.
"Yes. We are." Omega said simply as he folded his arms.
This is a road I must take. And as I walk along it...I am prepared to leave behind all the gifts life has given me. Come...what...may.
SEASON TWO ENDING CREDITS!
(Sonic and Tails sit at the top of a hill, with Amy far behind them, watching their backs as the wind moves the clouds overhead. She sighs sadly.)
Let it all ooouuuut, let it all ooouuuut...
tsuyogaranakute ii nda ne...
dareka gaaaa...kaitettaaaa...
kabe no rakugaki no hana ga yureru!
(The remains of Sonic and Tails's house are shown as the two stand in front of it, their fists clenched, a single tear escaping down to the ground as a sweep is done to show King, Elise and David standing together, looking at the two brothers sympathetically)
Jibun rashisa nante daremo wakaranai yo...
Nagai nagai michi no tochuu de nakushitari hirottari...
kyuu ni samishiku natte...naichau hi mo aru kedoooo!
(Scenes of the brother's past are shown as Tiara flips through a scrapbook, Amy looking over her shoulder whilst Sonic and Tails's "ghosts" walk together, away from the house.)
Namida mo itami mo hoshi ni kaeyou,
ashita o terasu akari o tomosou!
chiisana te kazashite futari de tsukurou,
hoshikuzu o tsuyoku hikaru eien ooooo!
(A solitary figure floating in the air, sitting in a tree watches the boys pass by. He sighs deeply, and then vanishes as the boys slowly approach Tiara's house, the lights going on inside to welcome them in.)
Sayonara itsuka wa kuru kamo shirenai,
kisetsu wa sore demo megurimegutteku...
chiisaku mayotte mo aruiteku...
kimi to aruiteku sore dake wa kawaranaideiyou neeeee!
(They walk inside...
And are home.)