Act III/Chapter XXIV: Time To Juice

I looked down at my hand and closed my eyes as I gripped with all of my strength onto it, telling myself there was no turning back. Tears began to drip from my eyes. As I began to sob, I felt the urge to speak. Only seconds before I pulled that switch, I said to myself,

"I'm sorry, Amy."

The rope was cut, and she began to fall, her screams muffled under the tape. My eyes still closed to attempt to keep my tears back, I couldn't stand letting her fall alone. At that moment, I hopped onto the console and broke through the window, shoulder first. I had enough momentum to reach her from the window.

I didn't want her to die alone. If she was gonna die, then so would I. I loved her… so much… I just couldn't let her go… not like the others. I owed it to Uncle Chuck to be at least one person as they died.

I flew down at Amy, and I hugged her tight. Surprisingly enough, the drop was far enough to let me yank the tape off of her mouth and kiss her. It wasn't the best kiss we'd had. In fact, our first was probably the best, but at least this one meant something more: goodbye.

I released the kiss and hugged her tightly. I could feel her becoming calmer, but I could feel myself, with my eyes closed, wishing there was a way back up. It was damnation at this point. However, I got this strange, physical feeling… like I'd been stopped. I didn't know what did it at first… but I certainly felt like I was dreaming.

I opened my eyes up, and I saw the lava, simply staying eleven feet away from us. We weren't moving past the walls; we weren't moving past the crane; it was like time had stopped… or so I'd thought.

I looked down more at the lava, but then I noticed something… my hands, wrapped around Amy… they were glowing green. I looked at the rest of my body; they were glowing green, too. I looked over to see Amy, almost completely speechless at this act, saying,

"You can fly?"

I switched her from my left side to my right, as to look at my left wrist. When I looked at it, Silver's ring was glowing. I noticed that I used this power when I wanted something "out of my reach" to happen. It was weird, but it made sense. I looked up at the room, then at the Mobians being placed in the safe zone, then at the lava pit.

I said to myself, "So that's how you use it."

Lifting my hand up, I began to fly upwards. I used the telekinesis on myself. This was a strange experience. I had flown on things like the Tornado before, but that was when I rode them; I was never really into flying solo. That's why I sucked at flying the buzz-bomber near the Egg Carrier… and why I wasn't comfortable when flying in the Metropolis Zone.

I hovered over to the safe zone, the one the Mobians were dropped off in. Letting Amy off, I told her my plan.

"Listen, Amy. You go find the other Mobians. They shouldn't be too far. Tell them to take some parked Badnik carriers and make their getaway. Oh… and tell them not to squeeze altogether into one of them. That doesn't work. Make sure they are divided accordingly."

"What about you?" She asked me.

"I won't find Robotnik in time, with the whole countdown and all, but I can make him anxious."

"How?"

"Just get moving! I'll explain later. Oh, and Amy."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry… for what I said. I just… I-."

"Just do what you have to do."

As she turned to head down the corridor, I turned to view the crane again. There was this humongous machine that held the cranes together. Looking down at the lava, I began to think: If I pull it down into the lava, the countdown may have a reduced time. I'll have to get people out quicker to do that. Ah, it's worth it.

I believed that Robotnik was using this countdown to get all of his resources packed up for more effective use somewhere else. If I could reduce the countdown clock (which was now at 45 seconds remaining), I could make Robotnik scramble and lose track of things, making his final assault (if any) less effective. It seemed stupid, what with the hostages escaping and all, but I had to do the best thing possible: whatever I had to do.

Lifting my left arm, I shot the crane with a green glow. When it lit up like a Chaos Emerald, I knew I was ready. I pulled down, as hard as I could, and the crane lost its bearings and began to fall down into the lava pit.

"T-minus 20 seconds." A voice announced over a loud speaker.

"Time to juice!" I said at once.

I turned to the corridor, and, with my newfound will, courage, and overwhelming strength, I ran past my injuries and sped down the corridor. Every step might've hurt, but I began to build a resistance to it. I built this barrier within me… one that blocked out the pain of others and the pain I endured alone. I realized that speed might've been my greatest enemy… but it was also my greatest asset. It was a love-hate relationship, you could say.

As I went down, I saw Amy running at the end. It wasn't a long corridor, but, to me, she got pretty far in only 10 seconds. As I reached her, I saw the Mobians piling into separate Badnik carriers. I then took control.

"Fly away from here… as far as possible! Don't come back this way 'till we give the all-clear!"

While they began pulling away, I shot over to Amy, picked her up as anyone on a honeymoon would, and sped off down this mechanical road, filled with tubing and machinery that most likely kept the lava in tact.

"T-minus ten seconds." I heard the voice announce in the distance.

The pipes began to burst, and the machinery collapsed. Every small spark of danger I saw, I kept pushing harder and harder, hoping my speed wouldn't give out. Not only was I saving myself, but Amy too. She buried her head into my shoulder. I lowered head and led with it onward. I nearly hit a sonic boom by the time we'd hit the second third of the runway.

"5…"

I closed my eyes.

"…4…"

I held Amy tighter as we progressed.

"…3…"

I felt the grass beneath my feet. No more machinery; only plains.

"…2…"

I began to lose speed. I was losing my strength to push on.

"…1…"

I telekinetically pulled myself up and out to the sky.

And it blew.

The door opened, and I saw Tails, shocked at my arrival. With my injuries weighing Amy and I down, it took us about an hour to get back. Tails, while he was probably sleeping when I was heading back, was now fully awake at the sight of Amy and me.

"Sonic!" Tails gasped. "What happened to you?"

I was carrying Amy like I did when I escaped. She had fallen asleep at my shoulder after the Metropolis Zone had exploded. To my knowledge, the Mobian hostages made it out alive. I never really saw them after that. I guess they went off on their daily lives. But even then, they probably couldn't live the same way again, having been part of a hostage situation.

I limped through the doorway, Tails stepping aside to let me have the right of way. When I looked around, I noticed that Knuckles was sitting on the futon. He had healed up and freshened up in the time I was away. He stood up when I made eye contact with him.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"It's a long story." I replied.

"Obviously, those scrapes and burns you have acquired came from a nearly endless struggle, plausibly from a beast-like creature."

I looked over to the side table next to the kitchen to see Omochao standing on it. He began to hover when I set Amy down on the futon.

"Is she alright?" Tails asked.

"Her vital signs look normal." Omochao answered. "She is merely resting. Exhilarating experiences such as the ones the doctor has been through would give the feeling of having to rest."

"The doctor?"

"He means me, Tails." I explained.

"He just thinks you're the doc?"

"More or less."

"What's that on your left wrist, Sonic?" Knuckles asked me.

I looked down to see, along with the Crystal Ring, Silver's wrist ring.

"I got this from Silver."

"You saw Silver? How is he doing?"

"You mean how he was doing."

"Wait… no."

Tails didn't think that Silver had died. He sat on the futon, careful not to wake up Amy. He simply stared off towards where the horizon would be, most likely trying to come to terms with the loss. I knew just how he felt; Silver's death put psychological tribulations on my mind as well.

"Did you just take it from him?" Knuckles asked.

"He sacrificed himself for my sake… this ring was all that was left."

"I'm reading high-energy signatures coming from the ring." Omochao observed. "What exactly is being stored in it?"

"You really want to know?"

"It'd help us all-AHHH!"

I began to lift up, down, and all around the living room. Knuckles and Tails were shocked at first, but Tails remained in awe while Knuckles began to just laugh.

"The prophecy really is becoming true." He said while trying to make it understood his laughter.

"Now all we need is a dark evil, and we'll be all set." Tails said.

I placed Omochao down on the floor.

"Robotnik is the dark evil." I explained to them.

Knux and Tails didn't think of him in that way. I guess they were expecting some great god to crush us. But I guess that just comes with repetitive encounters with them. I explained the whole situation to them: the message from Uncle Chuck, Fang's ties with Robotnik, the new armor, and his idea of my purpose.

"Has Robotnik made this armor?" Tails asked.

"I'm not sure." I replied. "As far as I can tell, it's still in the development stage."

"Well, it's best if we can stop him soon." Knuckles said. "He owes me a day of fighting."

"We need time to rest. She needs time to rest. I need time to rest."

"Sonic, I think we're capable of-."

"Knuckles, did you not hear what I just said? We need to rest. We won't be efficient in our last battle with Robotnik if we're tired as heck."

"Our last battle?" Tails asked. "You really think so?"

"Well, with all the assets we've gained, I think a final assault is necessary."

"You think we could actually win this?"

"Tails, I nearly doubted our efforts before. I believed that I wasn't the hero and was never meant to be. But now I know the truth: I must do whatever I have to do to defeat Robotnik one last and final time… and I'm not letting Uncle Chuck down on this one."

Tails and Knuckles agreed, nodding their heads in unison. We had reached an agreement.

"How long will you need to rest up, doctor?" Omochao asked.

"Considering my injuries," I began, while limping over to him, "I think I'll only need tonight. That suits everybody?"

"Works with me." Knuckles agreed. "I an get some training in,"

"There's an exercise regime down in the lab." Tails commented. "As for you, Sonic, I say we should put you on the lab bed. You suffered lots of trauma back there. Medical attention is most likely critical at this point."

"What about Amy?" I asked, concerned for her well-being.

"I'll stay up here to keep track of her life signs." Omochao answered. "She'll be fine as long she gets enough sleep."

"Good. We need all the help we can get."

"Wait, Amy's gonna help on the assault?" Tails asked.

"Tails, if we went in as a squad of three, we'd be butchered to death. We need not only Amy, but a few good groups of individuals who we know will help."

"I already know them."

"Alright. Try to contact them, and tell them to be ready to charge."

"Wait, Sonic." Knuckles demanded.

Tails and I were next to the elevator. I turned to face him.

"Where is Robotnik's actual base?" He asked.

"I know that." Omochao stated.

"Really?" Knuckles asked, turning frantically towards the mini-bot. "Where? Where is he?"

Tails and I had just started our trip down by the time he asked that. I was relieved. I'd been through so much that day. First, I lost Bark. Next, I lost Silver. Finally, I nearly killed myself trying to save Amy. What a day.

Tails led me to the bed, and I rolled onto it. After pressing some projected buttons, Tails told me I'd be fine as long as I was asleep. He said that he'd have everything sorted out by the time I woke up. He told me to close my eyes, and I did.

This was it: the final countdown. When I fell asleep, I remember thinking of our final journey to Robotnik's base. I didn't know what would happen, but I knew that we'd win no matter what the cost. However, there were some costs that were… surprising… but I'll get to those later. Right now, just taking a nap sounds like a battle plan.

That is Chapter XXIV. Hope you enjoyed. I was hoping to enter more chapters in tonight, and maybe I will, but don't count on it.

Anyways, this chapter picked up where the prologue left off, and I thought I'd put in a little bit of it to substantiate what happened after he started down the hill. Anyways, I wanted the discovery of telekinesis to be strange and unthinkable. Besides, I didn't want to leave Sonic and Amy in such a bad end of a relationship. By the way, they're still together. Things are just a little… sour… between them.

These last several chapters are of the final assault. Strangely enough, Act III will contain the least amount of chapters, mostly because it is the climax of the book. I hope that this was a great beginning of Act III. And I also hope you like the title change (tell me if you have better ideas for Book I's title.).

Anyways, don't forget to review! Read ya later!