Disclaimer: If I owned this game, I'd have bashed the inventor of those flying pillars over the head with his own creations.
Alex Warlorn: To put it bluntly: No. 1) The main characters from the stories have already been consumed, so it would be very unwise to leave your friends stuck in roles where others have already disappeared. 2) The roles are not very fitting – Knuckles, the world-wise traveller, and Tails the man married to several wives who doesn't have a problem with his servant killing off people….? 3) It's Sonic – you really think he'd go, sit down and ponder whether he should let his friends' bodies continue to be overtaken by foreign memories, just to have a tactical advantage? If you want them as 'Sindbad' and 'Ali Baba', then play the game, if you want to read to about Knuckles, Tails and Amy, read the fanfic. Simple as that.
Asher Tye: I think the 'Defurrer' would actually be a horror movie I'd want to watch…XD And yes, the level was *very* annoying. ;) And I had to play the 'Special Mission' for this new chappie, too! Glad you liked the cut scene, tho, and one confrontation coming right up…thanks a bunch for the comment!
Michigo-Sinsiter: Weeeeeell, considering I've written more than 100 000 words so far and I just updated again…take a guess?
dr-fan/mai-lover: "Bervo"? What on earth...? As for Shahra's powers: It's magic, which she gets from the rings.
crimson-obsidian-rose: Heh, glad to hear it! Always looking forward to your reviews. :D Aww, I personally could never read depressing fanfics – so the most cruel thing to do to me would actually be write your fic really fluffy to lure me in, then, when I'm hooked, make it a death-and-angst fest extraordinaire. Believe me, it has happened. (rocks in a corner) Thanks for your comment!;)
Pokelad: Read on to find out! Thanks for the comment!
: You weren't the one who had to play through it a gazillion times for a silly fanfic….XD And yes, the third World Ring was blue – thanks for pointing that out, I only now realized I had forgotten to write it! I'll fix it in the description in this chapter.:)
FantomoDrako: Aaaaaand longest review-award for the last chapter goes toooo Fantomo! :D Thanks a bunch. And yes, your surmise about the effect of the constant talking is surprisingly accurate…XD As for whether the 'adventurer of adventurers' manages to distract Amy…well, read on to find out! Sonadow may be my OTP, but in my regular fics it's still canon Sonamy. ^^
Ri2: Heheheh, sucking and spinning. XD But of course Tails Doll, I wrote this chappie around Halloween…;) As of now, Mecha and RK have not yet taken over the world, but have been planning to purchase Switzerland for over a couple of chapters so far. ;) Thanks for the review!
Omicron the IceQueen: (bows) thank you! :D I'm happy you enjoy the characters' relationship and like the tone of the story – always love to hear what you think. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Lupus Silvae: wow, thanks a lot! :D I'm glad to hear you like the story so far and thanks for the detailed review! I do like my references, yes…;) As for SatsR, I merely loved the concept of being literally in a book. Hope you like the new chapter (and maybe my other stories;) ) as well!
Dunehazard: Heheheh, your review made me laugh. I do adore cliffhangers of all sorts too much. ;) Glad you like it, have fun with this one!
Tutis: But why, Rainbow Road is awesome! (gets bricked) Well…it's only awesome because it makes everybody else in the room hate you…XD But thanks for the review!
CerberAsta: Hmm, interesting theory! Unfortunately will be a COUPLE of chapters until you're proven right or wrong…:P Thanks for your review, hope you enjoy the plot development in the new chapter! :D
YumeTakato: Heh, glad to hear it! Hope to have you aboard when this ficcie finishes
Avitala: I sure hope it'll be! Thanks for commenting, again!
Tucker from Blood Gulch: Woah, easy there, first I need to finish THIS mammoth off! Not to mention 'Life could have been so different'…(shudders) but I'm happy to hear you're enthusiastic about it. Thanks for commenting! :D
Rebell: Heh, I wish I could be so lucky where my fav stories are concerned...XD Glad you liked the characterization of Robotnik - we're writing for a fandom full of talking animals, we need all the badassery we can get! ;) And yeah, Shahra needs to work on her advice...but I'm happy you enjoyed the story nonetheless, always looking forward to your reviews! :D
Skyblaze: (bows) Thank you! :) Hope I get around to Hold On in a minute now that I've finally got some free time - glad you enjoy the adaption, I'm taking special care and pride in making it readable for non-players. ;) Also, I'm happy you liked the Dr. Who reference - gods, I've been waiting way too long to make that silly joke. XD Thanks for your comment!
lokoforsonic9559: (any special meaning to the numbers...?) Thanks! :D
whosezicantreadfanfictions? I'll be sending your screen a get well soon - card...heh, happy to hear you're starting to write yourself. :) and yes, even the rockets are purple. I checked. And I think I'd like to watch one of them Defurrer movies. XD
Chapter 25: Rescue Sindbad!
„Is...is that Sindbad?" Amy asked, voice trembling only ever so little.
The cage they were looking at was about two and a half metres in diameter and about three metres tall. It was round and shaped like an old-fashioned aviary, golden metal bars no thicker than a thumb descending in an intricate pattern from the spike-topped centre of the cage's dome down to the round metal plate that was the floor of the prison. A door with four heavy, green glowing pad-locks at the edges completed the set-up, the reddish evening sunlight and winds at the top of the tower filtering through the bars and bathing the figure inside in their flow.
But of course, to illuminate the inmate's fur, red sunlight was hardly necessary.
"Knuckles? Is that really you?" Tails finally managed, his brain having a hard time to process the words 'Last of the Echidnas' and 'Bling-King' in one and the same sentence.
It was undoubtedly the Guardian of Angel Island trapped in the steel cage, but, once again, his attire had changed…considerably.
The echidna now wore a white headcloth, fastened across his brow with a metal band containing two shining rubies. The dread locks to the left of his face were adorned with bronze rings, glistening in the evening light. As for clothing, he'd chosen a light, loose, long white vest, fastened across his waist by a purple fabric belt. It matched his eyes nicely and also contained a weapon called a scimitar, but which was mentally labelled by Sonic again as 'banana sword'. His gloves were now held in place by silver bracelets – the blue hedgehog briefly wondered whether Story-Tails might have gotten his fashion sense from this, or whether Shadow would develop bracelet-envy if he ended up here – that were at least three inches wide and intricately carved. And then, of course, his lego-boots had been replaced by funky gold-topped shoes. Pointy funky gold-topped shoes.
"Knuckles, how…how'd you get here?" Amy asked, trying to recover from the sight.
The echidna, who only had regarded the troupe suddenly on the roof with surprise, now seemed to have recovered pretty quickly. He tossed his head backwards with a grin, the sunlight only ever so coincidentally catching on his teeth and rings. Uncaring that this seemed to provoke many disbelieving stares, he proceeded to thump his chest and pointed with one hand heroically at the sky.
"I am Sindbad of the Seven Seas, Adventurer of Adventurers!"
Then he raised an eyebrow. "…one of your group seems to have been seized by evil spirits. Is something wrong?"
"Err, no, he's just, err…" Tails tried to explain, but a convulsing Sonic on the ground, writhing with suppressed laughter and hammering his fist on the floor was kind of hard to sum up otherwise. Shahra floated forward quickly, trying to rescue the situation.
"Oh Sindbad, it truly is you, the great adventurer?" she asked, sounding reverent, her hands clasped in front of her chest akin to prayer. "Would you be willing to give us some of your worldly wisdom?"
"Well, Miss…er…?" the echidna started, again frowning at the spectacle in front of him which consisted of the twin-tailed fox and hedgehog girl pulling the older Mobian frantically to his feet again, the venture made difficult by the hysterical giggling the blue hedgehog was seized by again and again. Sweat-drops were not yet standard fairy-tale equipment, but the way the situation was developing they soon would be.
"Shahra. My name is Shahra," the genie quickly explained, hoping to focus the attention of the Guardian on her again. "This is Ali Baba and Sheherazade, and my Master Sonic the Hedgehog."
"Shahra." The echidna repeated the name, twitching slightly as he tried to block out the background commotion. "Listen, I hate to break it to you, but I'm kind of stuck and – look, I'm refusing to talk to you if that blue freak doesn't stop giggling whenever he looks at me. Did you bring the village idiot along for your adventure?"
"Knux, man, you're awesome!" Sonic grinned as if he'd swallowed a banana square, having finally stopped laughing enough to utter a sentence. He bounded over to the cage as if to get a closer look. "Chaos, I so wish I had a camera right now…you didn't even dress up for last Halloween!"
"I pity you, genie." The echidna had backed away from the bars a bit, shooting the happy hedgehog a suspicious glare. "Your master speaks in tongues and is obviously insane. Plus, he appears to be...on fire," he pointed out, now sounding slightly disturbed.
"Sonic, maybe you should better leave him…" Tails started, tugging at his big brother's arm. "I know how scary it was for me before you restored my memory." To Knuckles he added: "Don't worry about the fire, though, it's okay for now. It's, err, magic," he said, obviously feeling a bit sick at having to give that as an explanation.
"Nah, come on, he can't have forgotten everything already!" Sonic piped up. "He wasn't even that far apart from us!"
"I'm sorry, but a story might very well have claimed him completely," Shahra whispered. "Don't you remember he wasn't with us in Chapter 23 at all?"
"What?" Sonic asked, confused. He turned to the trapped echidna again. "Hey, Knuckles, come on! You can't have forgotten about – andIcantbelieveImsayingthis– the Master Emerald, right?"
Something seemed to briefly glint in the purple eyes but then the echidna shook his head. "Emerald? I don't know of any emeralds. In fact, the only gem stones I can see are the ones in this gorgeous beauty's eyes…" he smiled and let his gaze wander admiringly over Amy, who immediately blushed a fierce crimson. Sonic put a hand across his face.
"Gods, no. The only way this could get even more grotesque is if you started hitting on me, Knucklehead. Now leave Amy alone and- Amy!"
"Yes, Sonic, are you alright?" The pink hedgehog asked innocently, briefly fluttering her eye lashes at him. She was currently snuggled up against the bars of the cage, one arm of hers stuck through and being caressed by the echidna. "I just complimented Sindbad on his manly physique. Not upsetting you, I hope?"
"Why, you - he…we-!" Sonic stuttered, mouth opening and closing like an angry goldfish's.
"Yes? You want to say something, Sonic?" Amy smiled at him. At this point the echidna placed the lightest of kisses on her gloved hand. "Oh, but Mr. Sindbad!" Amy giggled, delighted by the effect her imitations of Rouge seemed to have on the blue hedgehog. Sonic's cheeks by now were doing a nice disco-effect of reddening and blanching at intervals (while Tails merely wore the disgusted expression all nine-year-olds assume at the kissing scene in a movie). Amy raised an eye ridge. "Not jealous, are we?"
"That…that is totally not the point!" Sonic tried to defend himself. "But you simply can't take advantage of Knuckles in this state!"
"My state is perfectly sound, hedgehog," the echidna threw him an irritated glance. "Apart from being stuck in this cage, that is. You should be helping me, instead of fooling around."
"You're the one…canoodling, and you accuse me of-?!" Sonic began, incredulous, but then stopped himself, trying to take a deep breath. Shahra's muttered comments of 'unfaithful females in my time were incinerated, you know…' weren't helping him any at this point.
"Right. Forget this. How are we supposed to help you?"
"I feel a strong magical force here," Shahra spoke up. "It must be the work of the Erazor Djinn!" ("So what else is new?" sighed Sonic.) "Which means if we can break the spell, we can undo this lock."
"Now you're talking! That's the ticket, Shahra!" the trapped echidna enthused and Sonic winced.
"Urgh. Can't we just magic back his memories with that blue World Ring we just found? The original Knuckles would surely be strong enough to break that cage anyway. Plus, he never sounded so damn cheesy…"
"I'm sorry." Shahra shook her head. "But Erazor's magic prevents me from reaching him in that cage. We have to open it first."
"Hey! Who are you calling cheesy? I am the adventurer of adventurers!"
Sonic shot a glance at Tails and Amy. "Let's have a vote for just leaving him here, kay?"
The echidna glared at him. "Hey, listen, hedgehog! Life's a game of give and take, see? You help me get out of here, and in return I'll help you out later. Not a bad deal, right?"
Shahra nodded. "You are right." To Sonic, she added. "We will have to find the key to that cage. We were looking for Sindbad the Sailor because he knows how to deal with the Ifrit in the factory, remember? If I restored the Guardian's memories before we have a chance to ask him, the worldly wisdom of Sindbad would be lost!"
Sonic quirked an eye ridge. "Knuckles….wisdom?" he enquired, sounding much like someone trying to connect the concepts of 'Mother Theresa' and 'Blitzkrieg', but then quickly shook his head, grinning again. "Ah, never mind. Come on, Amy, let go of our hero's arm and we can go find that key!"
"Yeah," Tails nodded, sounding relieved. "No worries, Knu – Sindbad, we'll have you out in no time!"
"Glad to hear it, Ali Baba," the echidna nodded, then pointed to something in the distance. "Besides the one we are on now, this building has four surrounding towers. On each of them is a…device of some sort that is supposed to open one of the locks. They are connected to this tower by flying fox devices. I heard the gargoyles talking about them."
"What, you can understand them?" Sonic cocked his head.
The red-furred Sapient gave him a condescending stare. "I am Sindbad of the Seven Seas, adven-"
"Okayokay, I get it! Come on, team, let's move!" Sonic hustled the others away hurriedly. At the other end of the roof, the four flying foxes were waiting for them, as the echidna had specified. The hero of Mobius rubbed his chin.
"I think we should split into teams. You two are immune to this story thing by now and we'd have this done much faster," he finally managed. "You okay with that?"
"Yeah, sure!" Amy perked up. "Shahra and Tails can be one team and we'll be the other, right, Sonikku?"
"Uh…Amy, I'm not even sure whether Shahra can remain separate from me that long while I have the ring…" the blue hedgehog tried to evade the question, secretly thinking there was a reason why girls featured so seldom in early adventure stories. To his dismay, Shahra had a much less fuzzy answer.
"Yes, I can, Sonic, as long as we stay in the same chapter. But that is not the point – as your genie, I am bound to protect you! We will make one team, surely?"
"No, I will go with Sonic! He's my brother and I always go with him!" Tails protested at this and immediately levelled his bright blue gaze at the older Mobian. "You wanted to go with me, right?"
"Squabbling isn't leading anywhere," Amy declared, crossing her arms. "Sonic, you decide the teams now."
The hero of Mobius tried very hard not to show a pained look. He was currently facing a choice that would lead to at least two people developing abandonment issues no matter what he did. He sighed. Knuckles and Shadow might have tried to rip his head off numerous times, but travelling with them suddenly gained a whole new advantage.
"…we'll make two teams," Sonic said finally. "Meaning, I'll be one, and you three the other." And I'll take the tower furthest from here.
"What?!"
"But-!"
"Master, I-!"
"No arguing." Sonic, fists on his hips, tried to use his stern voice. (He had developed it earlier when Tails would refuse to eat his vegetables, claiming his fox-ancestry would exclude him from 'green stuff'. Sonic usually had retorted that if that was the case, his feral ancestry would also prevent him from eating triple-frosted chocolate cake, which had always worked marvellously well.) "This world is dangerous and I'd feel a lot better if the three of you stuck together. Amy can take care of any gargoyle, Tails is able to lift you from any traps and Shahra's got her magic up her sleeve. We'll each take two towers and Knux will be out in a jiffy, alright? Please, guys."
The two Mobians and genie mumbled something that could have been grudging assent. Sonic nodded. "Cool. I'll take the tower on the left first, see you in a bit!" he smiled at them, before leaping onto the flying fox and soaring toward the tower that was his first destination. Shahra, Amy and Tails watched him go.
"That isn't fair…" the fox kit moaned. "I can handle things myself just well, he knows that!"
"Yeah, me, too," Amy nodded. "I wish he'd take me more seriously."
"And with the new magic from the Ring I'm also fairly certain I could do more on my own…" Shahra added hesitantly, not wishing to contradict the wishes of her master.
"Right." The pink hedgehog crossed her arms. "That settles it. We'll split up, too. We'll show Sonic we're not just sidekicks!"
"You mean…each one takes a tower?" Tails asked, ears pricking up.
"Yes. And we'll also make this a race. The winner…" her jaw set firmly. "…gets to hug Sonic."
Shahra and Tails, their expressions now as serious as graves, nodded grimly.
"Agreed."
xxx
Sonic, rushing high above the ground on the flying fox wondered why he had just felt a cold shudder run down his spine.
xxx
"Alright! No time to lose!" Amy called, immediately grabbing hold of the handle nearest to her and rushing off.
"H-hey! No fair!" Tails called after her in dismay. Then he growled, dropping down to the next flying fox, pushing off from the ground and using his two appendages to propel himself faster as he soared along. Looking back for one last second, he called: "Good luck, Shahra! Be careful!"
"You too, Envoy!" the genie called back, then immediately looked for the fourth and last line. She didn't need it as she could fly just as easily, but it would guide her nonetheless.
"Do not worry, Sindbad the Sailor!" she waved at the trapped echidna. "We'll rescue you!" she assured him, before jumping on the next breeze wafting toward her destination.
The red-furred Mobian, who hadn't been worried before he'd seen his rescue transformed into a game between three apparently star-struck kids and one blue-furred total nutter, sunk against the bars of his cage.
"Yeah…any day now, thanks…"
xxx
Sonic dropped down on the Rukh the flying fox had brought him to, falling onto a broad, cobbled street that was tilted wildly to the side. In front of him a broken tower loomed, a strange, circular thing standing on top which the blue hedgehog presumed to be the contraption Knuckles-Sindbad had talked about. Grinning, he set on his way, destroying a couple of spinning henchmen with a well-aimed homing attack series before he entered the greenish building. He jumped onto another bouncing pad placed in the middle of the empty floor with a laugh, being propelled upwards to the first ridge inside on the wall of the tall ruin.
Once there, his features lit up even further as there was no physical way to the next ridge, but instead only a speeding pad on the end of his ledge, which he gleefully used to run sideways along the vertical wall to get ahead…
Woo-hoo, this is the life, isn't it, Shah - drat, that's right, you're with Amy and Tails now…shot through his head, almost unaccustomed to the sudden mental silence. Then he shrugged. As easy as this tower was, they'd be re-united soon enough. Next up, the ledge became so slim he'd have to shuffle across it sideways…which was almost no problem at all until a (purple) rocket suddenly screamed past him and had almost blown him to pieces.
YIKES! Gotta be a bit more careful here, I'm just glad the others can all watch out for each other…
xxx
"WOAH!" Amy had just dodged another projectile that had almost taken her head off. For some reason, the entrance of the tower the flying fox had brought her to had been blocked by a giant black stone and guarded by some of Erazor's henchmen. And as soon as she had punched them into next chapter, suddenly the stone block had exploded…
"Whacko," mumbled Amy, carefully poking her head from behind a fallen pillar to check whether any other freaky things would decide to explode, too. Oh, if Sonic didn't at least give her a peck on the cheek for this…!
She made her way inside the tower, which seemed harmless enough – until three other monster puppets formed from thin air and one of them spewed a fountain of fire in her direction. Shrieking, she dived to the floor.
SONICSAVEMESONICSAVEMESONIC – no wait, I'm actually alright. Amy breathed a sigh of relief, then scrambled away hurriedly against a wall. Lucky for her, the creatures did not seem to be that intelligent, none of them pursuing her. The fire breather continued to exhale its deadly magic, but as long as you didn't approach it from the front, you would be fine. Amy considered her next action. She couldn't summon her hammer any more at the moment, Chaos knew why it was getting difficult again. Yet surely she needed to defeat the monsters. Then suddenly, as she leaned against the wall for support, she noticed one chief sensation. Namely, that her lower backside suddenly seemed to feel the stone directly instead of being separated from it by fabric.
"What-?!" Amy whirled around mortified, twisting her head to look down her back. Right unto the giant, burnt hole in her ivory harem pants, exposing her delicate pink tail and everything beneath.
The girl hedgehog slowly turned around to the monsters again, the flames the leader of them still spouted nothing compared to the volcanic fires roaring in her scorching gaze.
"Oh no, you didn't…"
xxx
Sonic's ears perked up as he wondered whether he'd just imagined the terrified screaming riding on the wind.
Nah. Musta been my imagination driving me nuts. I mean, that sounded like somebody getting his innards torn out alive…
Shuddering for no reason, he turned toward the lianas that wanted to be crossed again. Only one more storey to the top…
xxx
"Heh. Piece of cake," Tails smiled as he soared past a narrow ledge that was booby-trapped with spikes coming out of the wall if you tried to shuffle along it. Life was a lot easier with an appendage propeller.
"I'll win that race in no time. If all the towers are like this, not even Sonic can beat me!" the little fox kit assured himself. "I'll get that hug for sure…" Then, he shrieked as a giant spiked ball suddenly soared down in front of him, the thing floating freakishly in thin air. Tails yelped and immediately flew into a wall.
"Ahhh – where'd that come from-?!" he wailed as he desperately tried to regain some balance in the air again, managing to break his fall enough so he wouldn't break his bones as he impacted on the stone floor again. He glared upwards at the bouncing spike ball, which was still floating serenely (and, in Tails' opinion, extremely smugly) up and down in the air where it had first obscured his path.
The little fox scowled. That wasn't fair, only he was allowed to fly, not the stupid obstacles!
Ahem, yes. Way to be a grown-up, Tails. The small kit shook his head, blushing at his childish reaction and less than dignified screw-up just now. He was a little bit glad Sonic hadn't been around to see that.
He picked himself up from the floor, and, trying to growl as deep and impressively as Knuckles and Sonic in these situations always did, leapt upwards once more.
xxx
"Oh no…more henchmen from Erazor…" Shahra bit her lip as she regarded the brutish monsters blocking her path. She was sure that once she was inside her tower, she'd be able to float to the top easily, any obstacles would just pass through her if she decided it to be so. But the entrance door was blocked and three spinning monster puppets of the evil Djinn were guarding it, meaning she somehow had to defeat them if she wanted to get inside…
"Oh Sonic, I can't let you down…" her face creased in apprehension, as she was no physical fighter like the others. She pressed her lips together. "Right. I am full of magic right now, so you better watch out," she said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. The genie raised her right hand to cast an incantation. As she had explained to Sonic and the others earlier, the 'monster puppets' were actually called Mary Sues, horrid patchwork creatures that were created from ruins of what once had been great legends, and they would suck stories dry of life and do terrible things to the characters they found inside them… ('Fortunately not very intelligent, though' she had added.)
Now her pretty face became a rigid mask as she tried to concentrate and recall the ancient spell that she had once been told would destroy the monsters…she had never understood the meaning of it, but surely what was written in the old scrolls couldn't be wrong, right? She took a deep breath and recited:
"Oh vile Sue of Mary, thou art badly written and thine authoress sucketh so hard…"
xxx
Again, for some reason Sonic suddenly had the feeling as if something like a joke had just soared over his head.
"Heh. Whatever." He would have shrugged, had not his arms been trembling right now with the exertion of letting their owner cling to the umpteenth ivy liana he was swinging along. Another haphazard jump brought him onto a stone ridge again, a rather uncomfortable resting place as sand kept pouring onto his head from the mouth of some sort of goblin head-like sculpture sticking out of the wall like a particularly tasteless water fountain. Sonic shivered inside as he remembered what Shahra had told him about the river of sand back in Sand Oasis and quickly crawled along the ledge on all fours to get out of this stuff. Then, his lips stretched into his trademark grin as he spied the next thing up ahead.
"Plot hole. Oh boy, awesome!"
Sonic leapt, securely being caught by the (toothless) circular contraption which was pointed straight at the sky visible through the broken roof of the tower. Sonic only hung in the air for a second, before the thing contracted and he was blasted upwards with a whoop of joy. He spun in the weightlessness at the apex of his jump for the sheer pleasure of it, then came to land securely on what remained of the roof of the tower. His gaze immediately fell onto the thing he'd seen from the ground, which he could now make out to be some sort of giant oval mirror. It was mounted onto a stand, its surface pale and milky, framed by greenish stone. In front of it was a lever, almost as tall as Sonic himself. The hedgehog carefully walked closer.
"Hmm, seems as if I should pull it…"
(Then again, the thing could have been fenced off with barbed wire and marked 'End Of The World – Please Do Not Push' and that still would have been his primary reaction. There just was a very basic Sonic-ness about that concept.)
Sonic grabbed the lever in both hands and pulled.
xxx
"Arrgh. Finally. I swear, if any monsters try to give me any more shtick while we're in this book, I will-" Amy muttered under her breath as she pulled herself up. Her tower had involved numerous jumping pads and had been a bit of a maze of ledges but now she had managed to pull herself onto the roof. There were no monsters at all in sight anymore. "Oh hey, the…thing!" she managed somewhat more enthusiastically as she set eyes on her own magical mirror and lever.
Being Amy, the first thing she did was using it to check whether the solution she had devised for her pants dilemma really covered everything. Honestly, Knuckles could wait a bit.
Being somewhat satisfied, she then turned to the tall lever. Thin arms reached out.
xxx
"Stupidstupidstupid-RRRRRGH!"
Tails had been indeed the first on top of his tower, but for the youngest and smallest team member, his lever turned out to be little bit of a stubborn one.
xxx
"Oh, this – this is fantastic, I really made it…!" Shahra breathed out excitedly as she floated through the roof, her transparent from becoming solid once again as she had finished her journey. Almond-shaped eyes grew wide as she beheld the fourth of the mirrors.
"This…this magic is ancient…" she whispered as she ran a hand along the contraption, feeling the tingle of light magic contained in there. This mirror would, she suspected, turn with the lever and catch the light of the sun, focusing and reflecting it to hit the locks on the cage…being comprised from dark magic, they would dissolve. A simple, yet effective concept. She stiffened momentarily as she felt the presence of yet another spell but then relaxed again as she recognized it as merely a simple teleport. Whoever was to open the cage by pushing the lever would automatically be transported back to the first tower – perhaps a caution so the prisoner would never be unattended when released. Here, it came very much in handy, as it meant that once everyone had accomplished their goal they'd be teleported straight back to the Guardian and they wouldn't have to go chase down any missing team members. Shahra smiled. This little solo venture had actually been…exciting…
"Oh legendary hedgehog, is that how you feel all the time…?" She wondered. This pure joy for life…
Then, quickly before guilt could flood back into her mind, she waved her hand again and a green glow enveloped the lever, forcing it slowly to the right…
xxx
"Okay, so what's gonna happen now…?" Sonic questioned thin air, taking a step backwards and craning his head to see the large mirror rotate slowly on his stand. With a blinding glint, the sun suddenly caught on it and the thing shone brightly, the light being focused into a single ray, blasting toward the general direction of the cage.
"Uh-oh…" Sonic mumbled, worried that Knuckles might get hurt and he leant over the railing of the roof trying to get a better view. But as far as he could ascertain, the light only hit the cage – and then, with only seconds delay in between, three identical rays shot forward from other towers, all focusing on the trapped echidna. Sonic frowned.
"Waitamoment, all three already…?"
Which was as far as he came before a white glow enveloped him and suddenly both mirror, lever and surroundings had disappeared.
Sonic dropped onto the stone roof.
"Well done, hedgehog. You got me out of there," Knuckles' voice roused him from his confusion and the blue hero quickly got up and noted with slight surprise that he was back where he'd started, the echidna now standing outside of his cage, its door lying on the floor.
Some kind off oddball teleport. But where are-?
Three identical flashes where the next surprise. Sonic's eye ridges rose a bit as Shahra, Tails and Amy appeared, all at first blinking at the sudden location change, then their gazes all falling on him and their faces lighting up.
"Sonic!"
"Master!"
"My darling Sonikku!"
And then, all of them: "I WAS HERE FIRST!"
The echidna didn't even quirk an eye ridge as the crazy hedgehog was buried beneath his even crazier companions.
Bloody march hares, the lot of them.
To be continued…
And the Adventurer of Adventurers is saved! Can he tell them how to defeat the Ifrit? And more importantly, will Knuckles ever live it down?
Also, before you ask me why I spell him 'Sindbad' instead of 'Sinbad', both of them are possible and legit transcriptions from the Arabic into the Roman alphabet. I just happen to prefer the first one because that's how I came across it first. :P