Credit goes to Ian Flynn and Sonic Universe Issues #14 and #15, and Archie's "Sonic the Hedgehog" Issue #165 for some of the dialogue in this chapter.

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36. "Is There An Echo In Here?"

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"Hisssssss!"

"I'm still learning the local lingo," said Sonic as he stared down the Yagyu bat ninja floating over his head. "…But I think that means, 'Beat the snot out of me!'" With that, the blue hedgehog rolled into a ball and threw himself at the purple bat, hitting him in the stomach.

The heroes were halfway through Nocturne Island when they were ambushed by more and more purple bats clad in black. "Stinking Yagyu scum!" cursed Monkey Khan. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted their summons!"

"We had no choice," frowned Sally nearby. "Julie and Antoine are in danger; we've got to get to them before…"

"Leave it to me, princess!" Sonic called out, giving her a thumb's up before shooting himself down a path of bat ninjas.

"Hey, wait for me!" yelled Knuckles as he tried catching up with Sonic.

As the red and blue heroes raced on, Sonic smiled to Knuckles, "Hey by the way, thanks for saving my bacon back there."

"What're you talking about?"

"When you came in, Amy was about to ask me if I like Sally."

"Yeah? …So what if you do like her? It's your life, man, not hers."

Sonic stopped in his tracks; by now he and Knuckles were miles ahead of the team. "I'm not saying I'm interested in Sally."

"Then why're you acting like this is a big deal?"

Sonic narrowed his eyes. "It is a big deal. If Amy thinks I like her, then she's gonna get all uber-jealous and take it out on me."

"You don't even like Amy in that way."

"I know."

"Then why do you care if she gets jealous or not?"

"Because she has a giant hammer!" Then Sonic made a small pout; "Besides," he added, "I'm not even sure if she even likes me."

"Amy?"

"No, Sally."

Knuckles paused to rub his cranium. "Dude, you're making my head hurt. Let's just beat up some more ninjas."

"…Yeah, okay. I can do that," shrugged Sonic.

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- NOCTURNE ISLAND ZONE -

-ACT II-

Selected Team: Best of Frienemies (Sonic and Knuckles)

"Try and keep up," said Sonic as he took off into the lead. He made a mad dash down a runway of cobblestone, then blazed straight up a steep slope, over a long loop-de-loop, and through an obstacle course of gigantic anchors that dropped from a higher ledge.

Ring Count: 15

Sonic then jumped onto the last anchor that dropped, then allowed it to lift him onto the higher plane where he was met with three flying Newtrons and two bat ninjas armed with katana swords.

"Let me at 'em!" growled Knuckles enthusiastically as he came into play. With a high jump connected to a ground pound, he managed to use enough force in his "Ground Breaker" to wipe out all of the ninjas. He then zoomed past the Newtrons and ran straight down a slide that took him all the way down to the pool below.

Ring Count: 25

Knuckles skimmed the water for a little bit, but soon his weight pulled him under, where he met Chompers swimming by with their metal jaws chattering. He spin-dashed across the ground level quickly enough to jump onto an anchor that elevated him back to the surface.

"I'll take it from here," smiled Sonic as he was tagged into play. Dashing across the runway, Sonic came to a water cannon which he aimed to the high right. The water spray trounced a Newtron in mid-air, then the hedgehog rode it upward onto a higher platform.

Ring Count: 37

Sonic then jumped onto a large catapult device and with a boulder he was swung clear over the pool below. The boulder slammed through a wall, letting Sonic land in a new area, where four katana-armed bat ninjas were waiting.

"This one's mine!" said Knuckles as he used his "Ground Breaker" move once again. With the ninjas on their backs, the echidna ran to the ledge and jump-glided over to a high wall. He climbed up to its top, where he found three Ten Ring bonus boxes.

Ring Count: 67

Knuckles then jumped off the ledge and glided onto a grind rail that took him on a zig-zag course straight to the water. With no momentum in his speed, he sank like a rock into the pool.

Ring Count: 82

"Too slow," teased Sonic as he took the lead. Though he wasn't much of a swimmer, he would soon have assistance from a white dolphin. He jumped onto the dolphin's back, and it took off through the water as smoothly as any torpedo. Sonic even steered it up and down, left and right, to grab Ring rows and to pummel the oncoming Chompers.

Ring Count: 86… 90… 94… 98

Then Sonic carefully aimed the dolphin upward to the surface, so that he could breathe. He and his new pet skimmed the top of the water while passing by waterfalls and marble stone pedestals, before they dove back down into the water. The dolphin guided Sonic through three blue hoops which increased its speed, so that when it came to a tunnel full of Rings, Sonic was in no danger of drowning.

Ring Count: 101… 105… 109- Full Power!

With a great splash, the dolphin broke through the surface, allowing Sonic to jump high into the air and land on the next marble runway. On the runway, Sonic stopped at an anchor, which only carried him halfway up a building and stopped at a Shell Cracker. He just missed getting hit by the Shell Cracker's claw by double-jumping over it, then rushed over to a second anchor to reach the top of the building.

On the roof, Sonic came to a row of ten ninja bats, all armed with katana swords.

"Let me at 'em!" cheered Knuckles. He then used his Ground Breaker, only this time the force was enough to shatter the platform the ninjas were standing on. They fell, and didn't fly either because they were too stunned from the attack or they just couldn't remember they had wings. Either way, Knuckles was now staring down a big hole, but was patient enough to glide over it. He then glided over the ledge of the building and onto an anchor, which dropped so heavily that it crashed through a floor and straight into the pool below.

Knuckles was fortunate to find another white dolphin in the water, and by jumping onto it the dolphin took him on a fast ride through the pool, passing some Choppers and ramming into others, while collecting more Rings.

Ring Count: 109… 115… 123… 127

The dolphin stopped at a wall, but Knuckles wasn't out of the water yet. He had to use a bouncer to jump onto a small platform that was floating just on the water's surface. The bouncer did at least save him from drowning, but proved to pack enough power for him to completely miss his target. He had no choice but to swim back to the bouncer and try again. This time it worked; he landed safely on the floating bouncer, and that one carried him onto a building. All the while, a beautiful waterfall was looking over the obstacle course.

"Leave it to me," said Sonic as he charged forward. On the corner of the building he ran into a bouncer, which took him straight up a left-veering ramp, then a second bouncer shot him up a right-veering ramp. Then on the very top of the building, a catapult was waiting to be triggered. When Sonic used it, both he and the boulder went flying through three walls, causing the building he landed on to collapse. He had to book it across a runway crowded with Newtrons in order to reach the ledge.

Ring Count: 140

"My turn!" yelled Knuckles as he jumped into a glide just as the building's end fell to pieces. The echidna guided himself downward to an open field full of bat ninjas. There were ten in total, all armed with two swords in hand.

"TEAM-UP!"

Ring Count: 40

For "Wrath of Angel Island," Sonic pulled a Ring from within his body, and tugged at it in one direction while Knuckles pulled in the other, until the ring was expanded into a large Warp Ring. But just as they had planned, the Warp Ring they summoned opened up the Special Stage of Angel Island, with its brown and tan checkerboard globe cluttered with large red and blue spheres. As the curious bat ninjas peered into the vortex, those giant red and blue spheres came pouring out of the Ring like gumballs from a raided candy machine, pummeling them into oblivion.

"Don't touch the red spheres!" joked Sonic.

"Hell, don't touch the blue ones either!" added Knuckles.

Then once the enemies vanished after being rushed by the spheres, so did the Warp Ring.

"Here we go," said Sonic as he made a mad dash for the Goal Post on the other side of the course.

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-ACT II: CLEARED!-

Ring Total: 40

Bonus Points: 20,000 (10,000 for Team Attack, 5,000 for each Ground Breaker)

Level-Up! –Sonic Team-Ups now cost 50 Rings!

Level-Up! –Knuckles Team-Ups now cost 50 Rings!

Rank: S (You've Earned a Continue!)

Continue Count: 4

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"There," smiled Knuckles as he gently nudged Sonic with his fist. "And we didn't even have to break any hearts."

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The fortress of the Yagyu ninja clan stood on the edge of the island looking over the beach from a grand cliff. A palace unto itself, it was built for a rich lord, or perhaps even a multi-millionaire. But for reasons unknown, its original owners had deserted it, leaving it wide open for the ninjas to stake their claim.

Inside, Antoine and Julie-Su were locked in a birdcage large enough for the two of them, but Julie was the one making a struggle for the door. Unfortunately for her, a white bat with purple wings, and an all-black bodysuit with a pink heart in its middle, was taunting her from outside the cage.

"Aww, how cute," smiled Rouge. "She's just like Knuckles, only prettier… and shinier too! Love your accessories, hon." With that, she picked at Julie's one cybernetic quill-lock.

"Let go of that, you bi-Oof!" went Julie as she tried to pull back her quills. Before she could finish her outburst, Rouge gave her a harsh shove, pushing her into Antoine and making the two of them fall in the cage.

"Bat," snapped Rouge. "Remember it."

"Heehehehehehehee… Bravo." The lord of the Yagyu clan clapped at the sight of the squabble from his stone throne, smiling at his newest recruit. "I knew when we saw you wandering around on our island that you'd be of use to us, Miss Rouge."

The white she-bat turned to him with a cunning smile. "It's always a pleasure to be working with someone that shares my taste in gold and jewels."

Julie reared herself back up, more furious than before. "When my friends get here, they'll make you all pay for…"

Creeeeeeak! Went the front door. From behind it marched the Freedom Fighters, much to the bat king's amusement. Sonic and his team realized that the majority of the bat ninja clan was present and accounted for, along with Rouge standing by the king's throne.

"Oh, dang! We're late to the party," frowned Sonic sarcastically. "I knew we shoulda hung a left at Albuquerque."

"And so," smiled the ninja lord, "our little heroes finally show themselves. And it appears we have a special guest: Princess Blaze. A pleasure."

"Cut the baloney, King of Rich Nights," growled Blaze as she marched forward, with Ken right behind her. "We came here to free our friends."

"And," added Monkey Khan, "to give you a chance to break free from the Iron Queen."

"Both such noble causes," mused the lord as he scooped up a batch of grapes and shoving them in his mouth. "…But…" he chewed, "I really don't see why we should give in to your demands." He swallowed his food while some grape juice ran down his chin. "For your friends' lives, we will offer you a chance to prove yourselves. As for the Iron Queen, I shall talk only to Princess Blaze and her pet monkey."

"Pet. Monkey." Ken growled, looking as furious as Blaze ever was; had he gripped any tighter onto his staff, it could have split in two.

"Easy Ken," whispered Blaze, "he's all talk. I can tell."

Sonic then stepped forward and asked, "So, what's it gonna take to get our friends back?"

The ninja lord paused with a chuckle and wiping his mouth of grape juice before he responded. "…I propose a duel of honor; since you're clearly outnumbered here, an all-out battle would be unfair."

"Ninjas with honor? Huh," muttered Knuckles.

The ninja lord snapped back with, "Said the echidna!" Knuckles had to be retrained by Shadow before he could charge at the big purple bat. "Still," smiled the ninja lord, "we will not stoop so low as to take you all down in one shot. Therefore, a one-on-one duel will take place. If our champion wins, you will all be taken to the Iron Queen as prisoners."

"And if our champion wins," smiled Blaze as she winked at Sonic, "you will release our friends and consider my offer of peace."

"Agreed," nodded the bat lord. "You shall do battle with our newest protégé: Rouge the Bat!"

Rouge fluttered from her pedestal by the captives' cage to the center of the room, smiling eagerly at Shadow and Knuckles. "Hey, boys," she waved with a wink. "Consider this my resignation from G.U.N."

Blaze then turned and bowed before the blue hedgehog, saying, "The kingdom of Felidae humbly requests Sonic the Hedgehog to fight as our champion."

Sonic playfully bowed back smiling, "Sonic the Hedgehog happily accepts, but thinks all this honorific hoity-toity is silly."

"Him?" gasped Rouge worriedly. "I was all set to fight Shadow or Knuckles."

Hearing her, Sonic grinned, "Sorry, bat-babe, but I'm the hero of this adventure."

Rouge braced herself for battle. "I'm not scared of you, cutie pie. You're just a stepping stone on my way to glory."

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-MINI-BOSS BATTLE: vs. ROUGE-

Rouge came out with a spinning kick at Sonic, but he rolled out of the way and grabbed three Rings to ensure he would survive certain damage. Rouge then took to the air on her purple wings and floated left and right to confuse her opponent, before spinning her body into a drill and pummeling down on Sonic.

He had lost two of his Rings in the attack, but rushed to save one. Now with two Rings in his system, Sonic used his homing attack on Rouge while she was grounded. He managed to get two hits into her before she reeled back and jumped into the air on her wings.

Then Rouge pulled out smoke bombs from her suit and started to throw them onto the ground. Their explosions let out a great dark cloud, making it hard to see the she-bat's next attack. But all Sonic had to do to clear the smoke was spin-dash across the field. When he did so, he missed getting hit by Rouge's screw kick.

Sonic then used his homing attack on her again, hitting her three times in one second. Rouge was now slowing down. She threw out a smoke bomb at her feet, and she disappeared within the black cloud. Sonic cleared the smoke with his spin-dash, but it seemed as though Rouge had disappeared. So he stopped in his tracks and waited for her to come to him.

When she did, she reappeared in a puff of smoke, charging at him with her feet spinning in drill-like fashion toward him. He then double-jumped to dosge the attack and landed on her head. She fell onto her feet and was clearly dazed; one more homing dash to her middle, and it was all over.

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-MISSION: CLEARED!-

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Rouge fell to her knees, looking both dazed and stunned at her loss. Sonic, meanwhile, took a bow while his friends applauded. Then he soon realized that the ninja lord was also clapping for him.

"Bravo, bravo!" cheered the king in his deep, cynical tone of voice. "Granted, I'm not completely pleased with the outcome, but you heroes do put on quite a show."

"Aw gee, that almost sounded sincere," smiled the blue hedgehog.

"And now," said the bat king as he rose from his throne, "I shall talk to the Felidae advocates, as promised."

"What about our friends?" asked Sally sternly.

The king then glanced back at the caged heroes. "…Oh yes, them. Guard, release them."

As the ninja lord walked past her, Rouge was still on her knees, her heart bleeding in humility. He gave her one glance, then said, "Men, kindly escort these trespassers from my castle."

As two bat ninjas reached down and grabbed Rouge by her arms, she gasped, "No, wait! I'm one of you, aren't I?"

The king, having his back turned on her, replied, "This battle was a test to see if you were truly worthy of the clan. Clearly you've failed, and so we have no further interest in you."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

And just like that, Rouge's pride was all but shattered. She was motionless while the ninjas dragged her out of the room and ultimately to the outside world. Meanwhile, the heroes were also leaving the castle, along with newly released Antoine and Julie-Su.

But while most of them headed in one straight path out of the castle, the Yagyu lord led Blaze and Ken to a courtyard where they would discuss the future of their kingdoms…

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TO BE CONTINUED…

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