29. "Welcome To My Parlor"
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Aquatican Kingdom; Southern Island Zone.
A clear blue sky, calm seas, and a tropical paradise lying in wait. Things couldn't look better for the approaching airship…
(Whistle) …KA-BOOM! (Whistle)…KA-BOOM!
…except for the fireballs being flung at it from the mainland.
BOO-OO-MM!
"Yahh!" screamed Rotor as he frantically steered the wheel from the far left to the far right. "…There's no getting around them! We're gonna have to abandon ship!"
Amy ducked for cover nearby, gasping, "Who is it? The Dark Legion? Robotnik?"
Tails was atop the crow's nest, trying to pinpoint the assailant with his telescope. "…It's Blaze!"
Indeed, Blaze the Cat was summoning up her fire power to make cannonball-like fireballs, and then flinging them into the air at the airship.
"Why is she attacking us?" Amy wondered.
Rotor called out, "Maybe it's because this used to be a Dark Legion ship?"
"That's it!" replied Sonic, snapping his fingers. "Tails! Gimmie a lift to shore, stat!"
"On it, Sonic!" called out the little fox. He jumped straight down from the crow's nest, but spun his tails around before he landed. Sonic jumped up and grabbed ahold of the boy's hands, and off they flew to the main shore, trying to dodge as many incoming fireballs as they could.
Meanwhile, Antoine and company were scrambling around the ship with buckets of water to douse the flames. "Sacre bleu!" panted the coyote. "At zis rate, we are never going to land in one piece!"
"Stay cool, sugah, I'm on it!" called out Bunnie as she stomped on the flames with her metallic feet. Smoke was rising, causing her and everyone else to cough heavily.
Finally, Shadow could take no more. He pulled out from behind his back the blue Sol Emerald. "Why don't we just use this Sol Emerald that Lupe lent us?"
Knuckles nearby heard this and gasped, "Shadow, wait! You don't know how to use that!"
"It looks simple enough," replied the black hedgehog with a narrowed eye. He then held it up to the air. "SOL, CONTROL!"
Whoosh!
A great blue breeze enveloped the ship, and within seconds the entire ship was encased in ice. Everyone on board was unchanged, but now they could see that with the engine frozen over, the ship was about to freefall out of the sky.
Shadow's eyes bulged and his ears drooped. "…oh."
"Eeeee-AAAAAHHHHHH!" screamed everyone on board, as the ship gave in to gravity. Shadow was quick to say, "Quick! Everybody grab my hands!" He grasped onto Amy's hand, then Rotor's, then he clutched onto Knuckles and he to Julie, and Amy clutched onto Bunnie who clutched onto Antoine, and Antoine to Sally.
"CHAOS CONTROL!" Zip!
With a mighty crash, followed by a great tidal wave, the ship plummeted into the sea just a mile off shore. And with another "Zip," the gang reappeared on shore unharmed. Dazed and shaken, but unharmed.
Knuckles then marched up to Shadow and bluntly snatched the blue gem out of his hands. "No more Sol for you," said the echidna. Shadow frowned and hung his head in compliance.
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In minutes, the fireballs stopped flying and all was calm again. But the ship was badly beaten, and upon landing on shore by means of the tide, Rotor and Tails assessed the damage grimly. The sails were torched clean off, the sides burned almost to the bone, and whatever else wasn't burned was still thawing from the ice.
Blaze was standing by Sonic while the rest of his team came to shore. "I'm really sorry," she frowned, "I thought you were an enemy coming in."
"Aw, that's okay," Sonic smiled. "We can always 'borrow' another one from the DL. …So, how've things been, Blaze?"
"It's been two days since Ken and I arrived here, and still no sign of Marine."
"Well, maybe she's hiding out somewhere."
"You know her, Sonic; she never hides. She's usually the first to greet people to these islands."
"…I guess you're right."
Sonic and Blaze started to walk along the beach together, taking their time to talk and observe their surroundings. Sonic looked back toward the giant dead volcano at the center of the mainland. "…You know, it's been a while; I've almost forgotten how nice this place is."
Blaze frowned again, "It's not as nice as it seems. There's no sign of the Dark Legion here, but it's safe to say that Robotnik's laid claim to it; this place is crawling with Badniks and SWATbots. …There's another problem, but it's minor."
"Lay it on me."
"Four ninja clans have come here; each one has a base on one of the four outer islands. They seem like they're nothing more than a bunch of brutes, but it's been said that they're working with The Iron Queen."
"Iron Queen? Never heard of her."
Blaze stopped walking to explain. "There are legends on my home in Felidae about a sorceress who went by that name a long time ago. Her real name was Regina Ferrum. She had power over all metal- possibly from a Sol Emerald- and tried to use that power to take my land. She was only defeated by a meager group of seven samurai…"
Bemused, Sonic paused. "So, this new Iron Queen is trying to repeat history?"
"It looks that way, but no one seems to have seen her. I've talked to most of the locals here."
"Locals? Wasn't this place deserted?"
The purple she-cat smiled. "Oh, that's right, you don't know. Ever since our adventure with Marine here, she spread the word of this place, and it became a tourist attraction almost overnight. Within a year, it's become its own little country, with Marine as one of its main guardians."
"Then, that means…?"
"Yes. When I had to give up six of m Sol Emeralds, the first person to receive one was Marine."
Sonic hopped backward in surprise. "Woah! …Wait, then she really must be in trouble! We gotta find her, or else-"
Blaze stopped him. "Trust me, I've looked all over this island. The only places left to look are home to those ninja clans."
"Then what are we waiting for?" came the voice of Monkey Khan, who floated into the scene on his magical cumulous cloud. "Let's go after them."
"We'll split into groups to cover more ground," Blaze advised. "Ken, you're with me. Sonic?"
"I'll go get Tails. Don't worry, Blaze, we'll find her." Sonic was then off in a flash.
Ken, still floating, turned to his feline leader. "He seems a bit too… hmm. What's the word I'm looking for?"
"Overconfident?"
"Cocky."
"Heh."
"You sure we can trust him with this mission, my princess?"
Blaze the Cat smiled. "Believe me, Ken, when it comes to saving the world, there's no one better to call."
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Aracne Island Zone (formerly Plant Paradise Zone).
"EEEEEEEK! SONIC, HELP! SONIC! SAVE ME, HE-E-E-ELP!"
"…Amy will you relax? It's just a spider web."
The pink she-hog looked rather silly as she was screaming her head off for just having a cobweb stuck in her quills. Sonic and Tails stood by, the blue one tapping his foot impatiently.
Amy took a few deep breaths to regain her composure while gently pulling the web out of her hair, when she said tearfully, "How could you say that? 'It's just a web.' Look around you, this place is covered in webs!"
Indeed, the once beautiful landscape of the tropical island was now painted almost completely grey in webbings from the very small to the colossal. Yet, the boys remained undeterred.
"Amy," Tails explained, "we went over this with Blaze. She said this island was the base of the Gossamer Clan. It's a whole group of ninja spiders."
"SPIDERS!" Amy shrieked again, jumping over to Sonic and embracing him with a grip tight enough to cut off his circulation. "You didn't say anything about a bunch of spiders!"
"Amy… chill…" said a winded Sonic through gritted teeth. "They… only eat… other bugs… Gack!"
"They still creep the heck out of me," cried Amy as she let go of her protector.
"So," replied Sonic with narrowed eyes, "go back to Antoine and the others on Coral Cave Isle. If you can't handle spiders, then you should handle a group of bats."
"…Bats?" Amy sighed with relief. "Whew! Okay, I know Rouge the Bat, so maybe it's not so bad."
"Uh, actually" argued Tails as he scratched his nose, "I heard these bats are kinda ugly." This was not something that would amuse Amy; she made a pouty face at Sonic. All he could do was give her a sheepish shrug.
"Hey, guys?" called out Sally, who stood with Bunnie on a hill up ahead. "If you guys are taking a break, we'll just go ahead without you."
"I'm coming, Sal!" Sonic called back, hurrying away from Amy.
The pink she-hog gasped and protested, "Oh no you don't, Sonic the Hedgehog! You're supposed to be protecting me!"
As he watched her take off after her would-be beau, Tails shook his head with a grim frown. This wasn't going to be the walk in the park he had hoped for.
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As the heroes trenched through the dense jungle, they came to a grand open plain where there were small markets and large circus-like tents in the area- all of which were roofed by thick spider webbings. Curious, the gang entered the market place, surprised to see fellow Mobians walking about in kimonos and other Japanese-style outfits.
"What is this place?" wondered Sonic out loud, passing by one table of cheap food after another.
"G'daye, mates!" welcomed a tall tan kangaroo at a weapon stand. "Welcome to Aracne's Market. Would you care for a kitana, or a pair o' sai?"
"No thanks," Sally shook her head. "We're just passing through."
"Sure thing, Shiela," smiled the kangaroo, "but while you're here why not enjoy the Gossamer Circus while it's in town?"
"A circus?" smiled Tails enthusiastically.
Sally was perplexed; "Are these ninjas we're dealing with, or acrobats?"
"Both," smiled the sunny kangaroo. "Ya see, these spider folk don't always plunder; they make a living out of showin' off their agility and whatnot. In fact, they're givin' a special performance in a few hours. I hear they got their Ribbon Mistress dancin', hoo-hoo-hoo! She's a stunn'r, that one!"
The boys turned to Sally, who shrugged, "Well, we might as well check it out."
"Ripp'r!" cheered the kangaroo. "Name's Walt Wallabee. 'Ere, I got some tickets for a fair price."
Sonic and Tails paid the man in Rings they had collected during their trek through the jungle.
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Underneath the big spider-spun tent, a crowd of marsupials ranging from kangaroos, koalas, to wombats and even a Tasmanian Devil or too, gathered along with the Freedom Fighters. Sonic and company were just two rows above the front; Bunnie snagged a bag of popcorn before the show.
"This sure is strange," mused Amy as she took a seat in between Sonic and Sally. "I thought we came here to fight ninjas. Now we're gonna watch them perform?"
Sally replied, "Maybe Walt was right, maybe they're clan's not as strong as we thought."
"Maybe the Iron Queen's just usin' them t'scare us," guessed Bunnie who sat beside her.
"Oo, the show's starting!" whispered Tails excitedly, as the crowd quieted down.
As the lights faded to darkness, afew spotlights of blue and yellow took center stage, as did a troop of six spider ladies, all dressed in black from head to toe. Their faces were also covered by black veils; underneath, one could see that their flesh was pink. They also had red sashes wrapped around their waists like belts, and had they not come with two pairs of arms, one wouldn't suspect that they were of the bug race. They came tumbling onto the stage in the form of rolling balls, as the music began to play.
Song: "Three Ring Nightfall" ("Carnival Night Zone" Remix)
Artist: Hadyn, from the album "Project Chaos"
The spider ladies were all holding balls of red ribbon, which they would not unleash until it was time to cue the music's main rhythm. In the meantime, they showed off their acrobats through cartwheels, flips through the air, and ballerina twirls. Amidst their dance, the center of the stage slid open, revealing a trap door. Rising from the trap door was yet another dancer, one also dressed in black but with her top cut off from her belly, exposing her middle.
This one, the main dancer it seemed, wasn't a spider at all. It was a vixen, with crimson red fur. Underneath her faint dark veil was a tuft of skin-peach fur on her muzzle, matching the end of her tail. Her hair was a rusty reddish-brown and like Sally's it was pulled back into a small swoop at shoulder length. She had on an outfit stylized like that of a traditional Indian belly-dancer, but with long black sleeves cut from the elbow that extended at the cuff like that of a Japanese kimono. Atop of her head was a bright yellow hair bow, the ends of which stretched as far out as seven feet or more. All of that ribbon was pulled into a ball, just as the red ribbons of her fellow dancers. She came out standing on one toe, with her other foot pulled backward toward her spine, her tail curved the same way.
Then at last, her dance began; on cue with the music, she and her fellow dancers threw out their arms and unraveled their super-long ribbons. They flung them through the air, making them appear to be weightless as they spun and kicked about. And the longer the song played on, the higher they jumped and the stronger they spun, as if they were trying to mesmerize their audience.
One audience member was already spellbound; with just one look at her dark blue eyes, Tails was instantly smitten. "…wow…" he whispered in his gaze.
In the middle of the lady's dance, Bunnie couldn't help but whisper in Sally's ear, "Hey Sal… Does she look familiar to you too?"
Sally passed and squinted her eyes at the veiled vixen. "…Kind of. But… No, it can't be her. There's no way."
Then, during their finale, two spider ladies held out their hands and from their palms spewed a small thread of webbing. They latched onto the vixen, and with a great jump they hurled themselves over the balcony high above, and came back down to earth while the webs were thrown over the balcony to give lift to the vixen. They pulled her upward, making it seem like she had just been given the gift of flight. Her golden ribbon swirled around and around to make the illusion all the greater; this made the audience applaud. She spread her legs out in a perfect split, once, then twice, then three times, and the crowd went all the wilder.
"That's amazing!" cheered Tails.
"Way cool," smiled Sonic.
Amy jealously turned her head; "I've seen better."
Before they knew it, the song had ended and the red vixen came back down to earth to give a bow with her fellow performers. The audience rose to their feet in applause; many threw rose petals onto the stage. Amidst the rose petals, the vixen cleverly reached into her top, pulled out a pink slip, and tossed it into the air. It fluttered about until it landed in Sonic's hands, just as the vixen had planned.
Sonic unfolded the paper and read aloud, "Meet me in my dressing room in ten minutes."
"Dude!" gasped Tails. "You are so lucky; I wanna meet this girl too!"
"Okay little bro, you can come with," winked the blue boy.
Still showing jealousy, Amy crossed her arms. "What am I, chopped liver? Why can't I meet this girl?"
"Fine, you can come too Amy."
"No, no. You go ahead and get an autograph or something. Just leave me behind, all by my lonesome."
"We're here too, Amy," said Sally beside her.
"Just go, Sonic!" said Amy, ignoring Sally and Bunnie. "Go and meet Miss Hot Stuff With The String. See if I care."
"Fine. Come on, Tails."
As the boys got up and started to walk away, Amy looked at them with a dropped jaw. "…You're just gonna leave me here? You're both a bunch of jerks!"
Sally and Bunnie exchanged looks of annoyance.
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A nerve-wracked Tails followed closely behind a chilled out Sonic as they walked down a hallway toward a dressing room door with a golden star on it, labeled simply, "The Ribbon Mistress."
Sonic looked back at his little friend and noticed that he was grooming his bangs. "Dude, Tails, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine! Just fine… Why, do I look okay? Do I need to brush my fur back?"
"Well, no but-"
"Aw, I should've bought roses! Or a card, maybe. How else am I gonna get her autograph?"
"Tails!"
"Huh? What?"
"Heh-heh-heh. You're so nervous. Don't be; we're just gonna go in there, say 'hi,' ask her what she knows about the Iron Queen and whatnot. Okay?"
"Y-yeah, okay… But Sonic?"
"Yeah, bud?" asked the hedgehog as he knocked on the door.
"You… you think she's cool, right? I mean, on our side?"
"Can't say for sure, dude." Right after he said this, Sonic felt a cold hand grab his arm from behind the door. Tails was pulled in just as quickly.
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The crimson red vixen slammed the door behind her as her admirers were still spinning from her pull into her room. Her outfit was less formal now, but her black top, mid-drift and baggy black pants were still present. Her long black sleeves were thinner now, with fingerless black gloves. Her yellow hair ribbon remained, though its super-long threads were now wrapped around her waist like a belt, and around her wrists like joint bracelets. Her black veil was gone though, showing her full face for the first time. She stared at them with a cunning smile before making her approach.
"…I'm terribly sorry about that, boys. Here, come sit down and make yourselves more comfortable." The red vixen pulled out a chair, gesturing to Sonic to sit down by a round table. He obliged himself, with Tails taking the seat right next to his.
The ribbon dancer sat opposite Sonic and introduced herself. "My name is Fiona the Fox. And yours?"
"Sonic the Hedgehog. Nice to meet you."
"And your friend's?"
"…fiona…" mused Tails, who was clearly hypnotized by her beauty.
"Heh, that's my name," she replied slyly.
Sonic softly kicked Tails in the ankle, snapping him out of his trance. "Woah! I- I mean Tails! M-my name is Tails."
"Oh… So I see," nodded the lady as she glanced at his twin tails. "That's… interesting." She then cleared her throat to readdress Sonic. "Hmm. So. You're new here to this island, aren't you?"
"Well yeah, sort of. I've been here before, I mean long before the spider gang showed up."
"You speak of the Gossemer Clan. They've taken me in and made me one of their own, while I was homeless and without purpose."
"Aww, gee that's sad," frowned Tails.
"Oh, don't worry about me, kiddo. I'm a survivor," she winked. "Anyway, I've invited you here, Mr. Hedgehog, because I have a very strong feeling that you're… special." As she said this in a soft, almost seductive voice, she leaned in on the blue boy. He pulled himself back in reaction.
"Um… well, I… I'm okay, I guess," he gulped.
"I know when someone's special," smiled the lady fox with a purr. "…Isn't there something really unique about yourself? Something so rare, it's almost impossible to find?"
"….Well, uh… Oh! Oh, yeah! I run really fast."
"…What?" her rouse dropped suddenly.
"Yep, they call me The Fastest Thing Alive!" he smiled proudly.
"You're a Speed Type?" she asked, plainly disappointed in her tone.
Sonic's eyes furrowed, sensing her change in attitude. "Um… yeah?"
"I can fly!" Tails spoke up, hoping he could impress the lady. But she was clearly no longer in the mood to flirt with anyone.
The vixen rose up from her chair, staring down at Sonic with frustration in her eyes. "You're telling me you're not gifted with the Healer's Touch."
Sonic shook his head. "Nope, sorry. I'm not."
Fiona turned around, pausing to rub her brow in deep thought. "…This doesn't make any sense. The Web of Fate clearly said that a colorful hedgehog with a Healer's Touch would come to our island."
Sonic heard this and perked up. "Oh! You mean Amy!"
Fiona turned back to him, looking surprised. "What?"
"Yeah, Amy Rose. She's a pink hedgehog, and she's a Heal-Type."
That only make Fiona all the more frustrated. "Augh!" she growled, holding onto her head as if pained. "I'm so stupid! I got the wrong one!" She stomped her foot, then noticed the concerned look in the eyes of her guests. She quickly calmed down. "…I'm sorry, I really am. I was hoping you'd be the one who'd… Nevermind."
"No, no! Go on," encouraged Sonic. "Tell us more."
"Yeah, tell us more Fiona," added Tails.
The vixen took a deep breath and sighed, "Like I said, I've joined the spider clan. I've been trying to study a special map they have called the Web of Fate; it's supposed to foretell certain things in the future."
"Yeah?" said an interested Sonic.
Fiona went on. "Well, I haven't interpreted everything yet, but I do know that one line of the web tells of a hedgehog with special gifts, one that can Heal people and even free those who've been imprisoned by, say…"
"Robotnik," nodded Sonic.
"Yes."
"Oh!" gasped Tails. "I get it now; you're looking for someone that can undo Roboticizing."
"Yes," nodded Fiona solemnly.
"So does this mean you're on our side?" asked Tails with a look of hope in his eyes.
All Fiona could say to that was, "…It's complicated."
The boys glanced at each other, then back to Fiona. "How so?" asked Sonic.
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While their conversation went on within the room, someone was spying from the outside. Sally was surprised to see Amy having her left ear pressed up against Fiona's dressing room door. The squirrel playfully tiptoed up to her.
"Whatcha doing?" she whispered, giving Amy a scare.
"Gah! ….None of your business," Amy snapped back.
"Looks to me like you're spying."
"Ssshh! Sonic's in there. With that girl."
"Oooh," nodded Sally. "I get it. You're jealous."
"No I'm not, I'm just worried for Sonic…. And Tails."
"Uh-huh… Look Amy, I don't see what's to worry about. She's just a dancer, after all."
"Nuh-uh, listen." Amy coaxed Sally into joining her by the door. Sally wanted nothing to do with it at first, but then something within her gave in. She pressed her right cheek onto the door as Amy did her left side.
Unfortunately, in their haste the girls had unintentionally twisted the knob, and their combined weight was enough to push the dolor wide open. Both pink hedgehog and brown squirrel fell into the room on their tummies, with a startled trio looking on.
"Amy!" gasped Sonic angrily.
"Aunt Sally?" gasped Tails.
"What're you two…" started Sonic, until his attention turned back to Tails in curiosity. "…Aunt Sally?"
Tails blushed. "Eh-heh-heh…"
While her counterpart was still on the floor, Sally was quick to crawl back onto her feet. "Sonic, I am so sorry. I tried to stop her, I really….!" She stopped. Her eyes widened.
Fiona's eyes widened, looking back at Sally's.
Their blood ran cold.
"Princess…!"
"You…!"
The red vixen then turned to the boys and smiled, "Gotta run, boys. We'll talk later." She then made a back flip for the window, then exited straight through it.
Meanwhile, Sally called out in the hallway, "Bunnie! Bunnie, quick! It's Fiona!"
"Fiona!" Bunnie cried out, as she came running down the hall and into the room on her rocket heels.
In her rush, Sally pulled out her magic thunder staff and huffed, "Come on Bunnie, we can still catch her!" Together, she and the cyber rabbit jumped through the open window after the red vixen.
"Wait! You girls…" Sonic started, but just like that, they were gone. "…know her?"
Sonic, Amy and Tails all glanced at each other with the same dumbfounded looks, then they shrugged and took off after their friends.
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-NEW TEAM!-
TEAM ACORN:
Sally Acorn (Speed Type)
Bunnie Rabbot (Power Type)
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LOADING ZONE…
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