Story 24: Mars Attacks Part 4: Hedgehog and Martian
Tails covered his eyes, unable to witness Cosmo's demise. Then his eyes began to well up with tears and he stared sadly over the edge of the cliff. Cosmo, his newest friend was dead. And Marik had done it. Speaking of the devil, Marik was laughing like a deranged evil maniac and skipping about, clapping his hands madly.
"Yes!" he cried "I did it! I killed Cosmo, one of the biggest thorns in my side since the war with the Seedrians started! Oh boy will mum and dad be thrilled with me! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Tails then did something he doesn't usually do. He snapped. And I truly do mean snap. He leaped on Marik and began attacking him in such a blind fury that I don't think anyone, not even Knuckles could contain the fox's anger. Even Marik was surprised at the fox's rage.
"You killed her!" screamed Tails as he punched Marik directly in the face "You killed her! How could you? She could never hurt you so what gives you the right to do so?"
Marik blocked one of Tails punches and threw him backwards. Then he stomped on the fox's stomach and kept his foot there to pin him down.
"I'm a peace hater." explained Marik "And we Martians hate peace lovers so we kill them. It's our way of life and I absolutely love it to the bone!"
"But why?" asked Tails "Why do you hate peace? What is possibly so bad about it that you've declared war on it?"
"What use does peace have in this stupid little galaxy?" snorted Marik "All it does is make you weak and unprepared for surprise attacks. If you're me though, you always know the unknown and expect the unexpected because of a lifetime's worth of combat training. You don't get that from your precious peace do you?"
And with that he seized Tails by the tails and held him over the edge of the cliff by them. Tails gulped. Was Marik planning to drop him so he would suffer the same unfortunate fate as Cosmo? Even if he was, it wouldn't work since Tails could fly.
"Go ahead, drop me." urged Tails "I can fly with my two tails you doofus so it won't work!"
"Well I've got just the solution." sneered Marik, pulling his knife out of his pocket and holding it with the blade touching Tails' two tails.
"Let's see what happens if I cut those overgrown paintbrushes off while I'm holding you over the edge by them!" cried Marik, his pupils went tiny and his eyes had a wicked, deranged, demented look in them as if he was mentally insane. Tails went right shaky at that statement.
"No! Please no!" cried Tails.
Marik ignored him. He raised his knife and prepared to make the killer swipe that would slash Tails' tails off and he would plummet to the rocky ground below. Tails closed his eyes tightly and prepared for the inevitable. Marik was about to slash until someone snatched his knife away so Marik slashed at Tails only for nothing to happen. Marik looked at his now empty hand and almost had a nervous breakdown.
"What the Dickens?" he shrieked "My knife's gone!"
"That's because I have it!" cried a voice from behind him.
Marik put Tails down and looked behind him. He was so gobsmacked at what he saw I think he would have had a nervous breakdown right now! He saw Knuckles the Echidna standing there with his knife in hand and Cosmo hiding behind him. Tails almost exploded with joy at the sight of Cosmo behind Knuckles.
"Cosmo! You're alive!" he shrieked.
"Yes I am and I have this echidna to thank." said Cosmo.
Knuckles just smiled at Tails. Tails smiled back. Marik couldn't contain his anger any longer. He literally exploded into a fit of rage and fury.
"Impossible!" bellowed Marik, stomping about madly "How in the name of Mars did you survive that plummet?"
"Well I just coincidentally happened to be at the bottom of the cliff." said Knuckles "And I saw this girl falling off the edge so I leaped out, caught her and glided her to safety. She told me Tails was in trouble from you so I climbed back up and saved him from having his tails cut off."
Marik clenched his fists so hard I think they went a pale white colour. He frowned so hard it would give the average human or Mobian a headache if they tried.
"Well spike fist you've ended up on my long list of people I hate!" snarled Marik "And I'll make you pay for saving Cosmo's life when she was supposed to die!"
"And I'm going to make you pay for all you've done today!" snarled Knuckles "I've been waiting a long time for this!"
Marik charged at Knuckles, roaring menacingly but Knuckles was ready. He held his hands out and caught Marik in them. Marik continued to push but Knuckles was strong enough to resist. Marik could hardly move Knuckles an inch because the echidna was so strong. Knuckles then lifted Marik off the ground and threw him like a basketball. Marik hurtled through the air and plummeted over the edge of the cliff. Knuckles laughed at his victory.
"All too easy." he gloated.
But Marik suddenly started coming back up to the edge of the cliff! Tails and Cosmo couldn't believe their eyes, nor could Knuckles for that matter.
"Y'know that we wondered if Marik could fly?" asked Tails.
"Yes?" said Cosmo.
"That answers our question." said Tails.
And answered that question it did. Marik was actually flying! His jet shoes were capable of flying abilities as well as enhancing his speed. Marik stood in midair with his arms folded, a gloating smirk on his face and his jet shoes still going.
"Did you really think you could just toss me off a cliff and it'd all be over?" jeered Marik "I am more then meets the eye! I am prepared for anything, be it falling off something, opponent too strong or needing to make a quick getaway. I will always be one step ahead of you Mobian mongrels!"
"Stop boasting and taste my bare knuckles!" Knuckles yelled challengingly.
"As you wish." said Marik calmly.
And with that he boosted his jets and rocketed into Knuckles head first. Knuckles was well pounded by that blow and sent hurtling backwards into the forest. Marik then turned his attention to Cosmo. He flew towards her and grabbed her by the waist.
"Help! Put me down you hideous hobgoblin!" yelled Cosmo, thumping Marik's arms helplessly.
"Save the pitiful fist work girl!" growled Marik, flying a good distance away from the cliff and stopping "Now let's see if anyone can save you from falling now?"
And with that he, well, let go of her of course. Cosmo began to fall but she wasn't falling for long. The wind got caught up in her skirt and it spread out neatly like a blooming flower. The skirt started acting like a parachute and Cosmo was slowly descending to the ground. Marik face-palmed himself as hard as he could.
"Damn it!" he moaned "I forgot Seedrians can do that!"
True Cosmo wasn't going to fall like a stone now, but it didn't mean she was going to be safe at the bottom. You see, Marik had held her above the sea and dropped her. Now Cosmo was going to fall into the sea and probably get swept away by the fierce waves and currents below. Worse, there could be sharks in the water and Cosmo was bound to end up as lunch if one caught her. Luckily, this wasn't going to happen. Tails had taken flight and flown over to Cosmo to grab her and take her back to the cliff tops. He caught her in bridal style and carried her back to the cliff tops. Unfortunately Marik interfered. He swiped the air with his arms and sent an energy wave hurtling towards Tails and Cosmo. They were both hit and sent flying into the cliff top. They hit the edge and were about to slide over and fall but Knuckles caught them just in time and pulled them to safety. Marik began to get really cross. Just how hard could it be to kill a stupid Seedrian? Marik flew towards Knuckles and prepared to attack him but Knuckles was ready this time. He stood to the side and let Marik fly straight past him and crash head first into a tree. Marik slid down to the ground dazed and confused. Knuckles dusted his hands off.
"And that does it I believe." he said.
"Let's tie him up or something before he comes around." said Tails.
"We haven't got any rope." said Cosmo.
"I'm just gonna throw him off the edge." said Knuckles "This demon is too dangerous to live. According to you Cosmo, he killed the king and queen and tried to seize control of the kingdom*. If we let him live he'll doom us all so he must die."
No one suggested otherwise so Knuckles picked Marik's unconscious body up and carried him over to the cliff's edge. Knuckles raised Marik above his head and prepared to throw the Martian over and to his death. But by sheer unluckiness, Marik happened to come around just before Knuckles could throw him over the cliff. Marik kicked Knuckles in the head which in turn, caused Knuckles to drop Marik behind him and rub his sore head.
"So you thought you could chuck me over the cliff while I was unconscious huh?" said Marik crossly "Well unluckily for you, I recover quickly! Now let's see how you like it!"
Marik was about to kick Knuckles in the back and send him tumbling over but Tails and Cosmo seized him by the collar and held him back.
"You grubby little beasts, let go of my jacket!" cried Marik, tugging back.
Tails and Cosmo continued to pull on him whereas Marik pulled back in a desperate attempt to free himself. Knuckles decided that now was the right time to attack since Marik was unable to fight back. So while Tails and Cosmo held him at bay by pulling on his collar, Knuckles landed several powerful blows to Marik's stomach. Punch after punch after punch, Marik could feel the wind getting knocked out of him. Blimey where those punches hard! Then Knuckles punched Marik in the face and decided to finish him off with an uppercut to the chin. Marik shot straight up into the air like a rocket and fell straight back down. He landed with a thud in some nearby bushes. The three Mobians ran over to him. They saw Marik, lying in the bushes, clutching his stomach as if he had a tummy-ache (I think I would have had one if Knuckles went to town on me like that!). He looked like he wouldn't be getting up in a hurry. Then Tails noticed something. A glowing green diamond was lying in the grass next to the bushes. Tails went over to the diamond and picked it up.
"What's this?" he asked.
"That." said Cosmo grimly "Is an Energy Diamond. Martians use those to enhance their strength and speed momentarily. You mustn't let Marik have it or he'll be invincible."
"In that case I'll throw it into the sea!" cried Tails "He'll never be able to use it that way!"
Tails began to run off but Marik came around and saw Tails running away. He swiped his arm and hit Tails in the back with an energy wave. Tails fell over and dropped the diamond. The diamond began to roll closer to the cliff's edge. Marik leaped to his feet and dashed over to grab the diamond. He only just caught it before it could tumble over the edge. Marik sighed with relief. But he wasn't relieved for long, Knuckles came charging into him and punched him in the back. Marik dropped the diamond and the glowing jewel rolled backwards. Cosmo grabbed the diamond and tried to throw it over but Marik caught her with an energy wave. The diamond then flew into the air and landed into Tails' hands. Again, Marik caught him off guard with an energy wave. Tails fell over backwards and sent the diamond flying backwards into the forest. Marik sped off to catch the diamond. He caught it before it could hit the ground. Then he turned his attention to the Mobians.
"Enough is enough!" he growled "It is time to end this pathetic conflict!"
And I bet Marik would have used the Energy Diamond to power up if he wasn't interrupted by a blue blur spin-dashing him in the back and causing him to drop the diamond. Marik got back to his feet and stared in disbelief at what he was suddenly faced with. It was none other then Sonic the Hedgehog! He still looked a little bit battered from his fight with Marik earlier** but he seemed in fighting condition. He had Amy Rose and Cream the rabbit beside him, looking like they were ready to fight. Tails, Cosmo and even Knuckles were very pleased to see Sonic here.
"So did I miss anything?" asked Sonic.
"Well not much." said Tails "But boy am I glad you're here!"
"Im-possible!" spat Marik "How can you possibly be on your feet right now? I gave you a hideous pounding earlier so you should still be lying on the floor unable to move!"
"Let's just say I recover just as fast as I run." joked Sonic "Now it's time to kick your butt all the way back to Mars!"
"You're toast Marik!" declared Amy, brandishing her Piko-Piko hammer.
"Your evil ways are over!" cried Cream.
"Chao!" piped Cheese.
Marik soon found himself surrounded by the six Mobians. Although Marik was strong, there was no way he could possibly take on six Mobians at once. Well only Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy could fight well enough to defeat him but Cream and Cosmo would probably be good support.
"Oh come on, that's not fair!" whined Marik "I'm outnumbered six to one! Don't you think that's going too far?"
"We'll go as far as we can to get rid of you!" said Sonic angrily "Everybody, leap on him and pin him down!"
And they did so. Marik braced himself as the Mobians were about to land on him. Then the sneaky Martian swiped both of his arms at once, one forward and one backwards. This caused two energy waves to fly out in different directions and hit three Mobians each. The Mobians all fell down to the ground like falling birds. Marik cackled at the Mobian's failed attack.
"You are gonna have to do better then this you pathetic creatures!" crowed Marik.
"How about this?" snarled Amy, leaping onto her feet and charging at Marik like a bull to the matador.
Marik swiped his arm and hit Amy with an energy wave once more. Then Knuckles leaped on him from behind and grabbed him. He held Marik back so the Martian was vulnerable to any oncoming attack. Sonic and Tails attacked while they could. Sonic spin-dashed into Marik several times while Tails tail-whipped Marik across the face. Marik felt like he was being whipped repeatedly by Tails' twin tails. Then Amy added insult to injury by giving him a hard thump on the head with her Piko-Piko hammer. And finally Knuckles picked the overwhelmed Martian up and held him over his head. He then began to spin Marik around above his head. The echidna began to pick up speed drastically by the second while the others watched him with interest. Soon Knuckles was spinning Marik around so fast he was nothing more then a red, black and gold blur spinning around above Knuckles' head. Then finally, Knuckles tossed the spinning Martian away and Marik, spinning wildly out of control, hurtled straight into a very large oak tree. Marik smacked into it so hard he ended up embedded into the tree's thick bark and acorns were shaken so much they fell off their branches and to the ground like rainfall. Marik, groaning like a ghoul, slowly slid out of the Martian shaped impact he made into the tree and fell to the ground head first. After falling to the ground, he fell onto his back and grimaced. Sonic stood over the downed Martian with a triumphant smirk on his face.
"We win Marik!" he declared "Now get out of Mobius and don't come back! That's my last warning!"
Marik slowly began to sit up. He opened one eye and glared at the arrogant blue hedgehog. Marik was in pain all over his body and he knew it. He was in no shape to fight and he probably couldn't retrieve his Energy Diamond since he'd likely be too slow to get it. Still, surrender was never a word Marik was associated with so he was willing to try anything to win.
"You cannot defeat me hedgehog!" grunted Marik, clutching his arm "And I've said a million times already, I am not leaving Mobius until I've turned it into a war zone!"
"Marik, why won't you just give up?" snapped Tails "Look at you! You can't possibly keep this fight up any longer! Just give up while you can!"
"Martians don't surrender!" snarled Marik "And I will go to any lengths necessary to achieve my goal, even if it means I die trying!"
Then suddenly, as if Marik had recovered from the beating he had taken; he got back to his feet and leaped over the Mobians in a perfect rainbow arch. He landed behind a few feet away from them and right next to the Energy Diamond. He grabbed it and quickly tapped into its power to heal himself. He was surrounded by a dazzling flash of light. The Mobians turned around and saw what he was doing.
"What's he doing?" asked Amy "Is he teleporting again?"
"No!" cried Sonic "He's healing himself! We've got to get that diamond off of him!"
The light died down and there stood Marik, looking like nothing had happened to him the past few minutes. The moment the light died down, Sonic pounced on Marik and grabbed the diamond. He tried to wrench it out of the Martian's hands but Marik refused to let it go. He held on tightly and wrestled with Sonic over the diamond. This was going to be a tough match everybody could tell.
"Let go of it Marik!" grunted Sonic as he continued tugging on it.
"You let go!" snarled Marik "This diamond is not for Mobians!"
Seeing as no one was going to win this tussle, Tails and the others decided to interfere with Marik. Knuckles ran up to Marik and delivered a massive punch to the Martian's face. The punch was so powerful, Marik was thrown aside like a rag sheet and he let go of the diamond. Marik hit the ground and rolled across it painfully. Sonic smiled at the fact he know had the Energy Diamond.
"Now let's see what happens if I use it against you!" said Sonic.
"No Sonic don't!" cried Cosmo "You have no idea what…"
Sonic ignored her. He tried doing what Marik did and tapped into the diamond's power. Sonic had no idea if the diamond would work for him since the diamond was probably from Mars, Marik's Homeworld, but he was determined to try everything. Marik got back to his feet and gaped at what he was seeing. Sonic had his Energy Diamond and now the blue hedgehog was trying to use it.
"Stop!" cried Marik "You don't know how to use it!"
Too late. Sonic had managed to tap into the diamond's power and now he was glowing with a bright green outline around his body and his quills were waving up and down as if they were blowing in the wind. Sonic had no idea how he managed it, but he didn't mind, he could now use the diamond's immense power against Marik and defeat him once and for all. Sonic then revved his feet. They were going so fast you couldn't see them, not even as a blur. Sonic felt a feeling he had never felt before, a feeling of going at an unimaginable speed. He had felt something like this when he was Super Sonic during the Mecha Sonic agenda*** but this felt more thrilling then even that! Sonic then rocketed into Marik the Martian at the speed of light. He hit Marik so fast it looked like he was being attacked by thin air. Then Sonic began to repeatedly attack him over and over just like Marik did to him earlier. Marik was getting pummelled and pummelled by the second and he felt like he was getting hit by a sea of trains because Sonic was going so fast and pounding him so hard. Then Sonic gave Marik one final mighty wallop in the stomach. That wallop was so hard Marik was heavily winded by the blow and sent hurtling backwards at about one hundred miles an hour. Marik hurtled backwards so fast he actually hurtled over the cliff and, crying with anguish and defeat, plummeted into the roaring sea that awaited him at the bottom with a huge splash.
Sonic stopped what he was doing and came to a halt at the edge of the cliff. He peered over to see what had become of Marik. His body did not come back up to the surface. That only meant one thing; Marik had been defeated and was dead. Sonic chucked the now useless diamond into the sea, never to be found again. Then he cheered and punched the air with his fist.
"Way past cool!" cried Sonic "Marik's gone! Forever! Whoo Hoo!"
The others ran out of the forest to meet him.
"Sonic, you did it!" cried Tails.
"You've defeated that ugly wretch once and for all!" squealed Amy.
Cream and Cheese did a little dance for joy whereas Knuckles just gave Sonic a smile that suggested "Congratulations bud". Even Cosmo smiled with appreciation at Sonic.
"Now Marik's gone, I have one Martian less to worry about." she said "Thank you Sonic.
"Don't mention it Cosmo." said Sonic, giving her the thumbs up "That's what I do best, help those in need."
Cosmo beamed like a sunrise.
Later that day at Mobotropolis, the five Mobians and Seedrian were at Castle Acorn and were being thanked for their efforts by Sally Acorn, who was now wearing a shoulder less, flowing, elegant pink dress, pink gloves that came up to the elbow, golden lace around the waist and Queen Alicia's old crown. She proper looked like a queen now and the fighters were impressed.
"If it wasn't for you brave fighters." said Sally "The kingdom would be in total collapse and chaos. I'm sure my parents would have been very grateful to you all."
Everybody nodded in agreement.
"Now Marik the Martian is gone," continued Sally "Castle Acorn won't have to worry about being ransacked. Thank you, all of you."
"You're welcome Princess…uh, I mean Queen Sally." said Sonic, bowing at her.
Sally giggled. "I have one special thank you for someone else though before I finish." said Sally "Where's the plant-like girl?"
Cosmo shyly stood forward and curtsied to Sally.
"Your Majesty." she said politely "My name is Cosmo and I'm from another world. I'm afraid I'll be here for a while since my kind is at war with the Martians and I'll have to wait until it's over."
"Well for the time being you're welcome to stay on Mobius." said Sally happily "Especially since you were the one that saved my life earlier. Thank you Cosmo."
Cosmo beamed with pleasure. Sonic gave her the thumbs up.
"Not bad eh Cosmo?" he said "You haven't been here long and the new Queen of Mobotropolis congratulates you. That's real swell!"
"I thought I wouldn't be welcomed." said Cosmo "But I feel like a fit in very well. I think I might like this planet after all."
"You will Cosmo." said Tails happily "You will."
And Cosmo knew deep down that Tails was probably right. She had no idea what she would get up to on this strange new world, but she had a feeling she would like it. And if the Seedrians won the war with the dreaded Martians, she would have one heck of a story to tell her mother…
Footnotes:
* See the first two parts of this saga (Stories 21-22) for more details on Marik's nefarious scheme
**See the previous story for Sonic's less then pleasant tussle with Marik
*** Surely you haven't forgotten the Mecha Sonic Saga (Stories 12-14) have you?
And that's it for the Mars Attacks saga! Marik's gone and Cosmo has a new home to settle in to. Join me next time for it is my very FIRST milestone chapter next time! OK technically I've already done twenty-five chapters since we have the prologue in Chapter 1 and the twenty four chapters currently uploaded but I don't include the prologue when I count these stories. Reviews are welcome as always.