Author's Note: Four chapters I managed to do for this story before the end of this month and the end of 2020. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do five before New Year's Day(though to be honest, I'm already dreading what 2021 will bring because I don't want to get my hopes up after what happened in the beginning of THIS year), but either way, I will finish this story at some point.
Meantime, happy reading and Merry Early Christmas!
I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. The franchise belongs to Sega. I only own Sun the Hedgehog and Kaiser the Myth Hunter, Keith and Master Koga.
Chapter 16: Day out in Chun-Nan.
To say that Eggman was annoyed would be an understatement. It has been at least a day since that embarrassing send off by the Yeti Tribe that sent him, Bokkun and Orbot far away from Holoska and surprisingly back at the evil doctor's secret base. Now the trio were getting treatment for their injuries while still Decoe and Bocoe, having been forced to pause their work in finding clues on how Sun the Hedgehog was born from Sonic, and helped to bandage up their creator and fellow creations.
"WAAAH! Those Yeti tossed me!" Bokkun wailed childishly, crying his eyes out after getting band-aids and such.
"Bokkun, it could've been worse." Decoe tried to reassure as he and Bocoe stood on both sides of the smallest robot. "You could've been tossed by Dr. Eggman."
"At least it wasn't a kiss by another robot this time." Bocoe added.
Eggman, seated in his chair once more and his right arm in a cast, growled angrily. "Who ever heard of a tribe of Yeti instead of just one?"
"Ergo, it is proof that you are incorrect of the existence of the Yeti, and they are not related to that of Dark Gaia." Orbot stated casually.
"Roll down a hill, you over-sized golf ball!" The evil scientist snapped, glaring at his latest creation and mentally wondered why he even bothered in making some of his machines have personalities. Deciding to worry about that later, he turned to the two other robots. "Decoe, Bocoe! Any analysis on the Sonic Clone's birth?"
"We have at least found the footage, doctor. It wasn't easy." Decoe reported.
"It took us virtually all day and night while you were in Holoska, but what we found would need careful analyzing and go for the zoom to the moment when Sun has been born." Bocoe continued.
"Well, don't just sit there! Show it to me!" Eggman shouted impatiently. "The longer we take, the more Sonic will get away with his clone and get to the next temple!"
"Um, actually, sir, Sonic's already put the continent of Chun-Nan back into place." The tall yellow robot admitted, nervously.
"He's WHAT!?" Eggman exclaimed, dismayed, furious and bewildered. This scared his robots who flinched in fear while he growled. "That little pincusion! I hate that hedgehog!"
"It's nighttime there, and it could be a good time to try and catch Sun the Hedgehog. From what gathered so far, he lacks Sonic's ability of speed and his personality, has strength similar to Knuckles and can stretch out his arms like rubber." The grey robot gulped as he and Decoe immediately went to work to set up the footage. "I don't think they'll be leaving until daytime."
While frustrated that his arch-enemy has already placed three continents back into place and Mobius was on the verge of being restored, Eggman decided that now would be a good time to learn how Sun was born and capture him to further his plans to use Dark Gaia. As he waited impatiently and to his dismay, had to sit through at least an hour through footage until the moment of the day when he captured Sonic, drained him of the Chaos Emeralds to use their power to fire the cannon on order to awaken Dark Gaia several years too early, he then saw the moment when the blue hedgehog had been screaming.
As Decoe and Bocoe zoomed in on the moment it was happening, they, Eggman, and Bokkun all gaped in shock when they saw something appear behind the injured teenage hero who, like they were in the video, was oblivious of the birth of something that formed. It grew arms and legs, and long quills, how the evil man's machine had caused it to happen. As the camera zoomed in further under Eggman's orders, behind his sunglasses his eyes widened as he saw the evidence and the pieces of the clue on what he was looking for.
"Well...it seems Sonic has been so busy he failed to notice the piece of his body has been chipped off." Eggman snickered sinisterly, grinning like mad as he put the pieces of the puzzle together. He then ordered his robots, "Set up the absorbing machine and continue with the original plan. I'm going to pay that brat and his 'brother' a little visit in Chun-Nan."
Now all that was left was to find Sonic and his friends...and capture his clone.
The next morning in Chun-Nan, Sonic and his friends(with the Chaotix and Master Koga stunned and shocked to see Sun in his hedgehog form) had a nice breakfast of Chunese food of omelets before deciding to head out for the search to find the remaining pieces of the Master Emerald. The group decided to split up into three teams with Tails volunteering to go with Shadow and Knuckles, though Sonic couldn't help but feel a bit unsettled by this decision but decided to worry about that later. As such, he, Chip and Sun went down one path helping out with the clean up as the people recognized the dark-blue hedgehog and despite the pressing fear of what they would think of his friend, Sonic was relieved that they thanked and cheered on all three of them for their heroics.
They paid a quick visit to the medical center and were relieved to find that the people whom Kaiser attacked the previous night were making a well-rested recovery with Chip giving them chocolate to make them feel even better. They searched around and asked the tourists and townsfolk of any sightings of the Master Emerald shards. Luckily a nice lady, who happened to be a fan of them(much to Sonic's embarrassment and Sun discomfort), directed them to just outside of the village near the Chunese Garden or within it a few miles away.
'Heh. Miles, she says.' Sonic thought to himself as he sped through the beautiful forest with Chip and Sun holding on, having passed the Great Wall of Chun-Nan after passing some ancient ruins, and the Dragon Road that was the form of a dragon. The sunlight shone through the leaves and trees above them, making it as though it was stars or sparkles that made it more beautiful and magical.
They passed buildings and small homes, and to their annoyance, spotted robots which the two hedgehogs took out easily and even used the air ones as stepping stones. Sonic took the time to mock them and gave the trashed machines a raspberry or two, flipping and cart wheeling in the air and even danced on another, while Sun took out the ones on the ground. Even Chip, er, chipped in by making taunting and silly faces before narrowly avoiding in getting hit or caught as the two robots that charged at him crashed into each other after he flew up.
"Hey, you bolt-bird brain! I'm right here!" Sonic taunted with a smirk at another robot, standing on the head of it's comrade. Just as he planned, it charged straight towards him and with a chuckle, the blue hedgehog leaped off and descended to the ground while the two machines inadvertently destroyed each other.
Sun punched a robot's head right off before smashing another and by that time, the robots around the area were all finished just as his rival-friend landed on the ground with style.
"You have a habit of showing off, don't you?" The dark-blue hedgehog rolled his eyes with a scoff.
"All the matter of having fun when you're beating robots that cause trouble." The hero of Mobius replied with a proud smirk, rubbing his nose casually and posing heroically, making his rival-turned-friend to shake his head. Sonic then shared a high-five with Chip who cheered happily.
It was then that Chip noticed something to the hedgehogs' left and muttered. "Hey, look out that!"
Puzzled, Sonic and Sun looked and their eyes widened in awe as they and the pixie-dog saw the entrance of the garden of Chun-Nan, the Dragon Garden, the people of this land called it, which looked like an entrance to the Chunese Holy temples, and beyond it the most beautiful garden any of them had ever seen. The trio could only stare at the amazing sight as they then walked through the archway and along the dirt pathway that soon turned to a pebble ground, gorgeous flowers native to this place blooming. There were even ponds and man-made small waterfalls where Lotus flowers gently floated, plum blossoms in trees above along with cherry blossoms both in pink and white, almost everything.
There were even flowers that were a mixture of lavender and cobalt blue, like Sonic's fur colour. Needless to say that the trio were utterly amazed and felt at ease with these beautiful flowers all around them as they explored the new area, passing small statues of dragons and other things that were from ancient history.
"Wow! Look at all of these beautiful flowers!" Chip exclaimed, gazing around as he floated along side his two friends.
Sonic let out a huge smile on his face, breathing in almost every scent of the flowers as well as the fresh air, stretching his arms outward. "Ah yeah! This is my kind of place."
"It's pretty colourful, I have to admit. For some reason, they're making me feel so calm and...soothing, I guess." Sun muttered, feeling somewhat very relaxed for the first time since he lost his memories. "I never knew that flowers can make a person feel this way."
"That's because flowers can calm anybody when they let them. They've always been the part of mother nature since the very beginning. They're planted and born and grow on Mobius, just like we do. Making the world more beautiful. Without them, there's not much purpose in life. At least I think so." Sonic explained, pausing to take a gentle sniff at a flower bush and moaned happily, liking it's scent.
"You really like flowers?" The dark-blue hedgehog asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, come on, Sun. Can't a guy appreciate the beauty of life itself?" The blue hedgehog replied with a smirk. "Okay, so some guys think it's girly, but I've always loved flowers since I was a kid."
"Well, I like flowers too! So many of them! I could just stay here all day!" Chip cheered, taking his sweet time to sniff at every and any kind of flowers all around them, making Sonic chuckle at his friend's excitement.
"I'm not saying that it's girly, even though it kind of is. I'm just surprised you adore them so much." Sun stated, placing his hands on his hips.
Sonic turned to his other friend and shrugged, "What can I say? I grew up on South Island, especially in Green Hill Zone that I used to run around and play in. Without nature, what's the point of living life if it was just rock and dust? Or in Eggman's case, metal and oil?"
It was then that the wind gently blew and the three of them notices tiny traces of the pink petals of the flowers above them in the trees flying and floating towards them and landing on the ground. The group looked up as Chip breathed in awe, and Sonic smiled in content as he watched the petals gently descent.
"Mother Nature works like a human, or a Mobian or a Mobini would work. She breathes life and death in many ways. The sun shines down upon us to give us light, making trees grow for birds and bats and other mobinis that leave in trees homes to stay in, shades for those who sleep against trees or just to relax. When it rains, it means that she's crying, and when it's stormy like lightning and thunder, she's in a bad mood. On hot days, it's like she's running a fever, and when winter comes, it means she's cold in some places, like a ever-lasting quick shiver." The blue hedgehog explained in almost a whisper.
As one Cherry Blossom petal floats towards them, Sonic held out a hand to gently catch it, landing in the middle of his palm while he gazed at it longingly.
"She also represents freedom to all of us, to know that she is our home, and we should all share it, treasure it, and appreciate everything Mobius has given us. Because really, deep in space, she's all alone and it's our job to never take the planet for granted, and do our best to take care of her. That's what my family always taught me, anyway." Sonic concluded, smiling warmly at the lone petal, before gently allowing the wind to take it and let it join the other petals flying away.
"Wow...That sounds really beautiful, Sonic." Chip said in awe at the teenager's beliefs of how life really worked.
"I'm impressed the way how you treat the world like it's a person and not just a shelter. Maybe you should be a teacher to tell kids about what you just told us." Sun added, smirking a little. The way how Sonic described how life works on Mobius, and being one to protect it, no wonder the blue hedgehog fought against Eggman to protect it for so long.
"Maybe, but some people just don't see how the world grows stuff like how we grow up once we're born. Eggman definitely doesn't see it. Personally, I think he hates nature and wildlife." Sonic shrugged. "I mean, seriously, you can't make a tree. Trees and flowers grow on their own, but you can at least plant them from seeds."
"Good point." The dark-blue hedgehog responded.
"Hey, Sonic. Speaking of growing up and families, that Koga guy said he knew your uncle a long time ago. What's he like?" Chip asked curiously, remembering how Espio's master mentioned his friend's uncle last night.
The blue hedgehog paused with a soft gasp, caught off-guard by the question before lowering his gaze to try and hide his sudden somber expression. He hasn't really talked about his late uncle to anybody apart from Tails, Knuckles, Amy and the Chaotix. Even Vanilla and Cream knew some things about Sir Charles Hedgehog, but every time Sonic thought about him, it only brought out sadness and heartbreaking memories which was one of the reasons why he couldn't forget, but he couldn't look back to the past.
"You okay?" Sun asked, noticing the teenager's sad expression.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. It's just...It's been a while since anybody's asked about Uncle Chuck. The only ones so far apart from you guys that didn't know are Rouge, Shadow and Omega. It's not something I like to talk about." Sonic said with a sad smile, shrugging a little.
"Whaddya mean?" The pixie-dog asked, now feeling guilty for inadvertently bringing a bad memory up.
"Well, okay, seeing you guys asked, I might as well say a few things about my Unc'." Sonic sighed as he scratched the top of his head, seeing how he wasn't going to get out of this one and he didn't want to make Chip feel guilty just because he was curious.
"You sure?" Chip asked, worriedly.
The blue hedgehog nodded. "Positive. From the beginning, Uncle Chuck was there the day I was born. He and my folks told me that when I saw him for the very first time, like I did with my parents, I reached out for him, smiling and laughing a bright beautiful smile, snuggled up against his chest and fell asleep. You could say that I instantly knew I felt safe around him, and I always did. I mean, it's not to say that I didn't love my mom and dad, which I do, and I should check up on them when I get the chance."
"They sound like a really nice family." Sun admitted.
"To me and Tails, they're the best. Dad and Unc' would go out and help out other people out of compassion like I do, and my Mom would cheer people up whenever they felt sad or scared even during the night. Uncle Chuck also used to like making things just like Tails does, a great inventor. In fact, it was his machinery and ideas and Dad's courage that what saved the Kingdom of Mobotroplis once from an evil group when they were about my age. They'd been awarded by the city's King by being knighted as heroes, with the help of Mom, of course." Sonic explained.
"Wow! No wonder you're a hero and the way you are!" Chip exclaimed in amazement.
"That explains the way you are. You take after all three of them." The dark-blue hedgehog remarked. It was clear that Sonic took the traits of compassion from his father and uncle, and the gentle nature of cheering people up from his mother. That statement made Sonic chuckle while scratching the side of his face, blushing slight pink on the muzzle in embarrassment.
"Well, I do also take my confidence and cockiness from my dad too. He was quite adventurous just like me." The blue hedgehog admitted. "My speed on the other hand was natural to me. None of them can run super fast like I can."
Sonic sighed before gazing up at the sky, continuing. "Anyway, even while he was busy with his work, Uncle Chuck would always put family first and be there for us, especially me. I always thought of him the same way I saw my actual dad; a father. Whether or not he would babysit me when I was a kid, he'd cheer me up and would tell me that everything would be okay. He was one of the greatest guys on the planet."
He then sighed as he looked down again, his smile fading. "Sadly, he never got the chance to see me actually grow up even to my 10th birthday."
"...Something bad happened to him, didn't it?" Sun asked, surprisingly in a soft, gentle voice.
"Yeah. He went out on a job on a special assignment sent by the King himself from the mainland. Dad was with him that day and...there'd been a deadly attack and they both got separated. He tried to find Unc' 'cause no one really knew who was responsible...He was never found, along with fifty others. No bodies, no blood, no traces, nothing. It's like they just disappeared into thin air. Dad never found out what happened, and neither did the authorities. In the end, it was believed that they'd been taken and drowned in the ocean and dumped there, not bothered to be retrieved." The blue hedgehog confirmed, struggling not to breakdown as he remembered that haunting day.
The day when he'd been home with his mother after playing, and a few hours later his father came back with injuries and a heartbreaking, guilt ridden expression...and having been crying. Sonic recalled, as a child, that Jules told him and his mother Bernedette that Charles was gone and would never be seen again, blaming himself for failing to save his brother. The blue hedgehog remembered crying for days, wishing for his uncle to come home but in the end accepted the tragic reality that he was gone.
"...I was only six years old when he died." Sonic concluded, tears forming and his voice cracking. "The last thing Uncle Chuck said to me was...was that he loved me, and he would miss me...!"
"I'm sorry..." Sun whispered, finding that even he wasn't immune to the tragic loss, and such at a young age as well. No wonder Sonic never talked about his uncle to anyone else, because it always brought back memories of the day when the blue hedgehog discovered that his uncle, who he loved as an equal father to his own, was never coming home.
"...I miss him so much." The fifteen year old muttered, sniffling before wiping away his tears before they would fall. "Sometimes I even have daydreams of him visiting me as a ghost. And there are even days I wish I could see him again."
"I'm really sorry, Sonic...what a horrible way to lose a family." Chip sniffled, hovering over and gave Sonic a gentle hug as best as he could. "I'm sure Uncle Chuck is always watching over you."
"You got that right, squirt." Sun agreed, placing a hand onto the cobalt hero's shoulder. "I don't remember my own parents or if I even have an uncle or an aunt or not, but I think you're the luckiest guy to have great parents, a great uncle, a smart little brother and tons of friends...even us, too."
"Aw, guys...Thank you." Sonic smiled emotionally, bringing his two new friends in a group hug, as they both hugged him back that even Sun welcomed for once. "I really am the luckiest hedgehog in the world."
"What a sweet moment, between two friends and a fake." A familiar and unwelcoming voice sneered.
Gasping at the unexpected voice, Sonic, Chip and Sun spun around and saw, high above them ten feet away from the entrance, was the man behind the current situation who was in his Egg Mobile with a megaphone as he spoke through it, chuckling evilly. "But your luck is about to end this time, hedgehog!"
"Eggman!" Sonic grunted angrily after he and his friends raced back out of the garden, knowing that if the evil doctor who had suddenly appeared was here, he would damage and destroy the beautiful place. The trio stood standing, ready to fight just in case.
"Not that loser again!" Sun growled. Trust this guy to ruin their quality time and their mission to find the Master Emerald shard.
"Heheheheheh...Well, if it isn't my favorite dark-blue hedgehog, aka; Sonic's twin brother." Eggman cackled, grinning like mad.
"...What?" Sun raised an eye, dumbfounded.
"What're you talking about, Egghead?" Sonic asked, folding his arms skeptically. "Since when was one of my new friends your favorite, unless you're still sore from when we beaten you back in Mazuri? By the way, how long have you been wearing that cast?"
"Well, erm...Let's just say, as much as you're not going to believe it, the resident Abominable Snowmen, and yes, I mean snowMEN, have thrown me away from Holoska while I was attempting to find the Gaia Temple as well as your new companion Sun the Hedgehog." Eggman admitted, twiddling his fingers onto his bandaged arm. "Not to mention getting lost in that dreadful blizzard."
"Ha! Serves ya right! Glad to hear that our new buddies threw you out before we even got the chance to see you." The blue hedgehog chuckled. He and his friends were relieved that Korso and the Snow Tribe had kept Eggman at bay, and tossed him out.
"Guess you have a really bad sense of direction, you moron." Sun smirked, adding with a tease. "Pity you didn't get a frost bite."
"Yeah, you're not welcome anywhere, Beach-ball-Man!" Chip added angrily, waving an angry fist at the evil scientist.
"Beach-Ball-Man!?" Eggman shouted angrily, feeling insulted by the latest taunting nick-name before growling furiously as he recognized the small pixie. "I remember you! You're Sonic's new annoying pipsqueak cohort who tricked me! You're nothing more than a little fly that's hard to squash! I should've brought in a bug spray."
"And you're a horrible man who's caused the world nothing but trouble for four years! Why don't you just give up and do something nicer? Like playing golf or bowling!" Chip retorted back.
"Well said, buddy." Sonic praised with a smirk, while Sun snorted in amusement.
"I find it hard to picture Ro-butt-nik playing any kinds of sports. Not even the olympus unless he goes on a diet." The dark-blue hedgehog grinned, making Sonic burst out laughing.
That made Eggman even more irritated. "Oh, great! Let me guess; Sonic has told you about how we both met, hasn't he?"
"Only that your real name is Robotnik, but he used to call you Ro-butt-nik just for fun, 'til he decided to call you Eggman that even you just stuck with it." Sun waved dismissively.
"You little...!" Eggman hissed, before grinning which confused the trio. "Then again, this seems to be that you are developing Sonic's personality, a side effect of your little problem."
"What are you talking about?" The dark-blue hedgehog asked, suspiciously.
"Do tell me, Sun the Hedgehog. You wouldn't happen to have been told of a Werehog that shares the same fur colour as you? Or perhaps you are that Werehog that turns into one at night?" The evil scientist questioned, almost instantly horrifying the trio who gasped in shock.
Eggman knew about Sun's curse!?
"Where'd you hear that!?" Sonic demanded, immediately standing in front of his friend to shield him.
"I am collecting samples of Dark Gaia's power since it hasn't fully awakened properly, and before you go and accuse me, Sonic, yes I know that I woke it up a little early, yet some of it's pieces went missing and some of it is inside that hedgehog that bears your appearance aside from the colour differences. Besides that, it's not that hard to figure out the connection between the two, and even you have a connection with him as well." The evil doctor said.
"You sleazeball...!" The blue hedgehog hissed angrily, before yelling out. "It's your fault that Sun's stuck being a Werehog at night, and responsible for how the world's like this! Not to mention that both of my new friends lost their memories and can't even remember their real names!"
"Why, Sonic. I'm hurt!" Eggman mocked, before grunting impatiently. "You can keep that little fairy-dog or whatever that little rat is, but Sun the Hedgehog belongs to me. Now hand him over!"
Sonic growled while Chip clutched his fists, and Sun grunted. "Great. First that idiotic Myth Hunting creep who still thinks that I'm a Werewolf at night, now you want me for your stupid plans!? What am I, a first place trophy!?"
'This is bad. If Eggman already knows about Sun, he's gonna find out about the monster inside him and that'll cause that thing to either take over my friend's body or set it free! I've gotta protect Sun, and figure out how to beat that thing.' Sonic thought to himself, remembering the warnings from both Mnyambo and Koga. If Eggman captured Sun and tried to absorb the darkness, they were done for.
"Myth Hunting..." Eggman trailed off in confusion at first, before he paled as he remembered something that made him terrified. "Oh no...You don't mean the Myth Hunter, do you?"
"I'm gonna take a guess and I say you know that monster, right?" Sonic muttered, glaring hard.
"Of course I know that monster! I almost got killed by that insane Cheetah ten years ago! He's relentless, selfish, cruel, sadistic, delusional and evil! Worse than me obviously, and almost as bad as Black Doom and Metal Sonic combined! He kills for pleasure!" The evil scientist snapped, before stating to Sun. "Not to mention blind, because when I first saw you as a Werehog, you looked nothing like a Werewolf."
"Yeah, we noticed. Had to fight that guy twice already since this mess started." The blue hedgehog admitted, before declaring. "But either way, I won't let you or Kaiser get to either of my friends! We're going to save the world and beat you again, Eggman!"
His nemesis just grinned with cruelty. "Not this time, Sonic! Today you're about to be Dragon food!"
As soon as he said this, there was a metallic roar that filled the air and from above. Soon enough a huge red Dragon-like robot appeared from the sky and descended, forcing Sonic, Chip and Sun, who all yelped in fright, to leap back to avoid in getting crushed or captured as it landed with a huge thud. It was about at least 49 feet tall, wings that had engines on it, glowing robotic red eyes, spikes on it's back and as usual, a cockpit fitting to which Eggman attached his Egg Mobile on top of it's head.
"My Eggragon is the last robot you will ever see!" Eggman declared, before commanding. "Kill them, except for the dark hedgehog! I want him alive!"
The Eggragon roared, rearing it's head back and instead of breathing fire as Sonic and his friends had expected, it instead fired sharp giant knife-like spikes right at them, forcing the trio to quickly dodge, but gasped as one of the spikes came dangerously close to the garden, and to their anger, their evil enemy laughed manically.
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho! It seems like your quills have become quite dull as of late, Sonic!" Eggman cackled.
"Ha! That's what you think!" Sonic smirked, only the slightest worried. "I was kind of expecting that thing to breathe fire like a real dragon, but I guess you forgot to add in a flame thrower."
"Sonic! We can't fight around here! That thing's gonna destroy the beautiful garden!" Chip cried out, worriedly.
"I can take care of this!" The blue hedgehog reassured, before speeding to the side far from both the garden and the village, calling out tauntingly to the giant dragon-robot. "Hey, you over-grown lizard! Catch me!"
"And me!" Sun added, hurrying to Sonic who stared at him in shock. "He wants me, so it's logical that he chases after both of us, right?"
"I'm helping too!" Chip added, making karate movements despite that he was scared, but he didn't want to leave his friends behind this time.
"Gotcha." Sonic whispered, before nodding and grabbed hold of Sun's hand, and had Chip hold onto him and then speed off further into the forest.
"Get them! Don't let those brats escape!" Eggman ordered, piloting the Eggragon who took flight and then followed the trio who ran away, mainly to keep the evil doctor from attacking the village and destroying the Dragon Garden.
Sonic, Chip and Sun ran as fast as they could(or Sonic was since his friends were holding on for dear life) through the forest, hearing the Eggragon roar and as the trio looked behind them, the saw that the giant robot was already about to catch up to them since it could fly. The pixie-dog screamed in fright while Sun groaned and Sonic gritted his teeth with a glare at the metallic monster with the evil scientist controlling it. They made it through a clearing of a large grassy field near a canyon which unfortunately took away their chances of using the trees to hide them.
"I've got you now!" Eggman grinned, controlling the robot to swoop down to capture or kill Sonic's group(except for Sun) who saw what was going on and gasped.
"Look out!" Sonic screamed, using his boost ability to run faster as he didn't want a repeat of the giant robot that clasped him and forced him to use the Chaos Emeralds in the first place. It narrowly missed them but the force of the winds, despite how fast the blue hedgehog was in missing it, was so strong that it knocked him off his feet. He and his friends screamed as they were blown off the ground, being caught in the winds before crashing hard onto the hard soil, while the Eggragon swooped around and flew back into the air, circling around to strike again.
Sonic stood up along with his friends and was relieved that they were alright after asking them, before glaring up at the robot that was aiming to kill him and Chip and capture Sun. He looked one before an idea hit him; the canyon walls which two were gaped and leading into a pathway trench of sorts. Making a signal to his friends, he grabbed them again before racing up towards one of the walls and ran all the way up before leaping up and backwards just as the Eggragon fired it's sharp knives again. At his signal, he first tossed Sun who smirked and threw a punch on the side of the head, causing it to nearly lose it's altitude, while Chip distracted Eggman, making taunting and silly faces at him, much to his annoyance.
"Gah! You again!" Eggman yelped, getting irritated as Chip flew around him and giving him multiple raspberries, as though he was a fly. The evil doctor growled before trying to swipe at him with his un-injured arm. "Go away, you little pest! Get lost!"
While his friends made a great effort so far, Sonic then Spin Attacked in mid-air, hitting the robot on the head and back, creating several dents that were very deep that the robot already began to malfunction and when Chip flew up, the blue hedgehog appeared in front of his enemy who flinched upon seeing him while the teenager stood in front of him on top of the head, his arms folded to his chest.
"Hi there." Sonic greeted, just as Sun who leaped up and Chip joined him with glares and/or smirks of their own. "Get ready, you're goin' down!"
To their confusion, Eggman grinned as he declared. "Not this time!"
He pushed a button which the blue hedgehog, suddenly feeling a terrible case of deja vu and was mentally kicking himself for falling into another trap again, gasped before he quickly grabbed hold of Sun and Chip and jumped off, screaming. "Incoming!"
Sonic jumped along with his friends just in time and narrowly avoided another contraption similar to the one that caught him back up in the Space Fortress before they began descending towards the ground. The cobalt young hero then held his friends together and made to use Spin Dash to make his way down to land safely, when Eggman had another trick up his sleeve. He pushed another button which made the Eggragon's neck stretch out quickly, it's mouth wide open and catching up to them.
"Time for a little hedgehog snack!" The evil doctor declared in a half-sing-song voice.
When the trio landed safely on the ground, Chip screamed out, "EGG-DRAGON ALERT!"
"HUH!?" Sonic and Sun both gasped only to scream in fear just as the Eggragon's head was about to engulf them. They and their smallest companion only had enough time to crouch just as the robotic monster gobbled them up whole, trapping the trio inside it's mouth while it's head immediately went back to it's body and like a real dragon would, swallowed them.
"Bwahahahahaha! Right where I wanted them!" Eggman laughed manically. "Now it's time to return to my base, where I will get rid of Sonic and his little friend, and use his clone for my Egg Empire! Let us go, Eggragon!"
The Eggragon roared and turned around to leave Chun-Nan behind with it's captives inside it's metallic stomach. Or so the evil scientist thought.
Sliding down the metal throat and towards a chamber that would be their prison, Sonic, Chip and Sun screamed while unable to stop their descend. Terror and dismay filled their hearts as the smallest member of the group was ranting about how the Eggragon had eaten them up.
"We're going to be digested!" Chip wailed.
"We're not going to be disgested, squirt! This thing's probably got a cage or something that we're about to be trapped in!" Sun shouted in annoyance.
"It's still bad enough!" Sonic screamed, blaming himself for having been caught so easily again, while terrified as while he had allowed himself to enter the mouths of giant robots before, this was the first time one had actually eaten him up and knowing Eggman, not even the blue hedgehog's Spin Dash or Homing Attacked was going to break the cage or whatever the fake stomach was.
It was worse when he found himself imagining how the giant Werehog would eat him; sliding down the real throat, landing in the real stomach and then end up being digested to death. This couldn't be the end! It just couldn't!
'HELP! Somebody help us!' Sonic thought pleadingly, then he and his friends screamed as more spikes appeared, apparently ready to kill him and Chip, yet they seemed to be jerking and malfunctioning as they were about to pass the deadly weapons. Confused at first, Sonic then had an idea.
"Hey, Sun! Try punching one of those things off and grab it!" The blue hedgehog instructed. "I've got an idea!"
While not getting what this idea was, the dark-blue hedgehog then realized what Sonic was talking about and nodded.
"Right!" Sun replied, and in an awkward position, he managed to punch the nearest and lowest one off when it didn't come out, and grabbed it. He then gave it to Sonic who asked for it.
"Hang on!" Sonic ordered, grabbing Sun's arm with his right hand while Chip held onto his back, and with his left hand, the teenager stabbed onto the floor of the throat as hard as he could, digging into it as it made a very loud and horrible screeching sound, creating a trail of a long hole through the neck and the upper chest.
It was so loud and terrible that the tip of the blade that Sonic was holding and had used to stab from inside out made it ear-hurting. From outside and feeling the Eggragon began to malfunction and Eggman, who was wondering what was going on and why his robot was slowing down and not even half way over the forest, screamed while covering his ears to try and block the terrible sound, even using his injured arm which only made things worse for him.
"AAAH! The blades haven't been perfected yet! That hedgehog is a pain in the neck and ears!" Eggman screamed, wailing. "Stop it! Cut it out!"
Inside the robot's throat, the blade thankfully slowed the group's descend towards the fake stomach until it came to a stop, and because they were so high up in the air, the tear that Sonic created began to widen and pieces of metal began to fall off from the bottom. It was already destroying the robot which began to catch on fire and electricity, much to their delight and worry, and the horror of their enemy.
"Get ready to jump!" Sonic instructed, as he and Sun awkwardly stood up when the robot leaned forward, making it easier to stand and hurry to their exit. "This is our stop! GO!"
The two hedgehogs and the pixie-dog leaped out of the wide-open lining hole and out into the open towards the forest below towards freedom, while the Eggragon was being destroyed from inside out.
"OH NO!" Eggman screamed in horror, already realizing that his captives had managed to escape and his robot was about to explode. Without any other choice, he quickly de-attached his Egg-Mobile and flew away just in time while his latest creation exploded into a thick layer of dust and fire like fireworks.
Sonic held his friends close and the three of them squeezed their eyes shut as they realized that they were too high to simply Spin Dash down, and with Eggman still up the air with his Egg Mobile, they would either fall and crash to their deaths or he could easy capture them again. Chip shivered as he felt that the end was coming.
'I wish I could save my friends and myself like my necklace did before!' The small pixie thought, wishing hard and focusing somewhat for a miracle to happen and save them all.
Then, as though granting his wish, the necklace glowed green and brightly and before anyone knew it, a sphere formed around the trio which instantly slowed their descend just before they would hit the trees. After a few terrifying moments, Sonic, Chip and Sun realized that they were okay and still alive. Confused, they opened their eyes and saw, to their amazement, they were floating in a green sphere bubble and were gently floating down into the forest and to their surprise, back into the Dragon Garden and then were gently dropped just an inch from the ground. The two hedgehogs landed on their feet, not like the last time, while the pixie-dog landed on top of Sonic's head as the sphere then vanished.
Eggman saw what happened and while he didn't know the meaning of the green flash, he realized that the mysterious power was what made Sonic and Sun survive the fall days earlier and growled angrily.
"That little fairy-mutt must be the one that saved them...! I need to get rid of him and that hedgehog!" Eggman hissed darkly, adding even though he knew that his young enemy wouldn't hear him as he flew away to return to his base empty-handed again. "You will pay for this, Sonic, and I will get your clone! Mark my words, he will be mine!"
Back in the garden, the trio saw the glimpse of their enemy flying away before sighing in relief, with Sonic wiping his forehead. "Man, that was close. For a moment there, I thought Eggman got us for sure."
"He did, 'til you figured out our escape route." Sun reminded. "Good thing that robot had a mechanical problem."
"More like a sore throat." The blue hedgehog joked.
"I thought we were goners for sure! I almost had a heart attack!" Chip exclaimed, panting.
"We would've been if it weren't for you." Sonic pointed out, smiling gratefully as he finally understood and knew the meaning of Sierra's words. "I was right. It was your necklace that saved us before."
Chip blinked before realizing that Sonic was right, and glanced at his necklace before murmuring worriedly. "Well, I just thought about wanting to save all three of us and then, well, that weird green ball thingy came out of nowhere! But that means...I'll be forgetting again!"
Even though it quickly worried the two hedgehogs as they remembered Sun's theory, then found that not only was their friend still awake...he didn't forget them.
"Actually, I think Sun's wrong about his theory." The blue hedgehog stated. "Just in case, do you remember when we first met?"
"Um...yeah, you fell from the sky, I was out cold, you told me to wake up, I got scared, you asked if I was okay and I realized that you were a nice guy. That's when I realized I couldn't remember anything and you volunteered to help me get my memories back and that's when we met Sun when he was Mister-Monster-Guy, the Werehog. I remember everything else since then." Chip nodded, before sighing in relief. "Phew! For a second, I thought I was gonna forget you guys!"
"Glad to hear that. Guess it must've been that Dark Gaia thing that was the main cause of you and me losing your memories, considering your connection with this Light Gaia." Sun shrugged, sounding really relieved.
"Well, either way, Chip saved us from crash landing." Sonic shrugged, turning back to their friend who he now knew was their savior, and smiled gratefully. "Thank you, buddy. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."
"Yeah, what he said. Thanks, squirt." The dark-blue hedgehog nodded. "You really are the chosen one of that thing of yours."
Chip felt stunned by the compliment and gratitude his friends were giving him, plus he felt like for the first time in days that he actually felt really useful. He saved Sonic and Sun on the day they met, protected them and the Holoska Village and tamed a Yeti, and his necklace helped him to understand the Yeti language and being the translator. Not to mention being the key in opening up the Gaia Temples to allow the Chaos Emeralds to be restored as well as restoring each piece of Mobius back to normal.
"And not only that, you're a great friend." The blue hedgehog added.
"Sonic...Sun...you're guys are the best!" The pixie-dog sniffled happily, and in that moment, the trio shared another hug with laughter, happy that they managed to survive and outwit Eggman after a close call.
Just then, there was a glow nearby from where they were standing which got their attention. Confused at first, Sonic, Chip and Sun shared a glance when they saw that it was coming from a small pond, before approaching it as it looked familiar to the hero of Mobius. Puzzled yet curious, the teenager reached into the pool and pulled out a familiar jade-green shard that was filled with a little bit of power that felt instantly familiar to him. He felt it before, used the full power once before. Instantly, he knew what it was.
"Whoa! Is that...?" Chip stared in awe.
"Yep...This is the Master Emerald shard!" Sonic declared, smirking.
"Well, that was easy." Sun remarked, blinking in surprise. He has seen the bag that Knuckles carried which held a piece of the Master Emerald, but the dark-blue hedgehog didn't get to see an actual shard of it until now.
Chip cheered while he and Sonic shared a high-five and, with Sun being reluctant, doing the same. Another mission success.
About an hour later, the heroic trio left the beautiful and now safe Dragon Garden and returned to the village where, before they would meet up with Tails and the others, felt hungry and decided to wait for them at a restaurant where they got food for free due to their heroics the night before in saving the elder as well as helping to fix up their village and helping the wounded who were attacked by Kaiser to seek out aid.
They had a delicious meal of noodles, rice, won tons, and a round tin of bun-cakes, eating away happily with chopsticks. Sonic has had Chunese meals before and knew how to use the chopsticks, and Chip learned how to use them easily. Sun though had a bit of trouble and, as much as he felt embarrassed to do so, asked the blue hedgehog to help him since he kept on slipping them or dropping his food. Eventually the dark-blue hedgehog got the hang of it and ate, in a much slower pace compared to his fast-eating companions.
'When Tails said Sonic can eat fast, that kid wasn't joking.' Sun thought to himself as Sonic and Chip both ate the bulk of the buns before leaning back in their seats with happy sighs as their bellies were nice and full from all the eating.
"Oh man, that was good..." Sonic sighed, rubbing his stomach. "The food here's delicious!"
"Yeah, I have to admit, I wouldn't mind coming back here sometime." Sun shrugged, adding to himself under his breath. "Plus, anything's better than having cucumber sandwiches."
"You're telling me. I still got one more yummy bun to-"
"Say what? There's one more?" Sonic cut Chip off, and as he leaned forward, lo and behold, there was indeed one more of the tasty Bun in the tin.
"Yep! I'll just take it-" Chip reached over.
"No way! That one's mine!" The blue hedgehog protested, earning a glare from the pixie-dog as the two quickly got into a glaring contest, the fate of the sweet little bun to be decided, as the dark-blue hedgehog paused in having the last of his bun and stared, about to witness the heated battle.
To add to the affect of the tension showdown, someone hit a gong in the background as the two competitors leaned in slowly, their chopsticks ready to make the attack like predators hunting their prey. Then, Sonic and Chip stabbed their 'weapons' into the bun and began to fight over it, though Sonic had the advantage as he was bigger and his grip was tighter. Sonic just smirked as he just held on with one hand while poor Chip struggled and hauled and pulled and tugged to get the treat first.
'Oh brother.' Sun rolled his eyes, watching the ridiculous performance.
As Chip struggled, he then had a cheeky idea and pretended to look surprised, looking up and pointed frantically behind Sonic. "Hey, what's that!?"
"Huh, what!?" Sonic yelped, falling for it and turned around while still holding his grip on the bun, trying to see what his friend was seeing, but then realized what was going on and, decided to pretend that he was trying to look for what his friend was seeing. "I don't see anything."
"Uh, Sonic..." The dark-blue hedgehog murmured, having seen the trick.
But as Chip tried to pull the bun and began to panic when this wasn't working, he was caught off-guard when the hero of Mobius when the pixie-dog lost focus a second and the fifteen year old grunted, "Ha hah!"
Though when Sonic punched the air in victory and swiped his sticks towards him with the bun, he was shocked that he accidentally took Chip and the tin with him, leading into an all chopstick war. He threw his friend away and was about to eat the bun when Chip's sticks returned and dug into the treat, causing the two of them to get into a tug of war until Chip's chopsticks broke, causing Sonic to accidentally stumble back and throws his up into the air along with the bun.
"AAAHHHH!" Sonic and Chip both screamed before racing towards the flying and falling treat whie shoving each other out of the way.
Being the fastest thing alive, Sonic grinned in victory and jumped high to grab it with his hand. But Chip, wanting the bun more, used the teenage hedgehog's head as a platform and jumped up, shoving him back down with a yelp, while the pixie-dog flew up towards it and everything was like it went into slow motion. While Sonic fell to the ground, Chip flew up and successfully gobbled up the bun, savioring the delicious flavor...
Which distracted him so much that he ended up falling and landed head-first into a pot, getting stuck.
"Omph!" Chip yelped the moment he landed, while Sonic stood up and walked over...then burst out laughing.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Sonic laughed hysterically, placing one hand to his stomach while pointing at his poor friend's situation which began to make the blue hedgehog's cheeks and sides hurt. He laughed even harder when Chip tried to pull himself out only to fall completely inside.
"Not a dull moment with those two." Sun chuckled, shaking his head in exasperation, but still smiled none the less, as he calmly finished up his meal.
Even with the childish embarrassment, the dark-blue hedgehog really started to like hanging out with these guys. At least it was entertaining.
After getting Chip out of the pot, which Sonic was still letting off light giggles, they and Sun soon met up with the other two teams at the entrance of town and were quite pleased that they found the last of the Master Emerald shards and both Sonic's team and the Chaotix handed their pieces to Knuckles who placed them and the one he, Tails and Shadow found into the sack.
"Thanks for the help, guys. Not that I needed it." The red echidna told them.
"No problem, Knux. All in the day's work." Sonic said to his friend, giving him a thumbs up with a wink. "And, we gave Eggman a real beating while we were searching."
"I thought I saw Eggman earlier along with a giant dragon-looking robot." Knuckles stared.
"I take that thing's already taken care of." Shadow stated.
"Yeah, though it was pretty close." The blue hedgehog admitted.
Chip, still recovering from his pot prison, shuddered. "Beach-Ball-Man made that thing eat us, and then Sonic and Sun used one of it's mouth spike thingys to get us out, and my necklace saved us from crash landing when we got out!"
"He what!?" Tails exclaimed, shocked.
"Like I said. Pretty close." Sonic shrugged sheepishly. "But at least we managed to escape before he could imprison us."
"Why not just try and kill you guys, not that killing you is a good thing?" Vector asked, shocked.
"There's...something that's a huge problem." Sun spoke up, as since after lunch, he had been thinking about what Eggman had said. "He figured out that I turn into a Werehog at night, and that I have some of the darkness from that Dark Gaia thing inside me."
"I see. He wants you for his evil plots." Espio muttered, catching on what the dark-blue hedgehog was saying. "That's why he had you captured before you all escaped."
"That no good man's really crossed the line this time!" Charmy yelled angrily. "I wanna sting him so hard that he'll be a bumpy cusion!"
"That's not the main problem. Eggman said he's been collecting the darkness spread out across the world since he woke up that thing and I have a feeling he's going to use that darkness to fuel up his Egg Empire. Still, now that he's found out, Sun's in even bigger trouble." Sonic stated, folding his arms uneasily as he remembered what Mnyambo told him.
"Yet should he learn of the truth of Sun, it will lead to great danger to him as well as you."
It was then that he gasped in shock, realizing the connection and how Sun ended up growing into a giant Werehog last night. "He must've known before we came here! That's why Sun ended up...well, like what happened when we were fighting the Phoenix!" Sonic softly exclaimed.
"And if Eggman catches Sun to try and drain away the darkness, the monster will either take over Sun's body or come out!" Tails softly added in horror.
Everyone else shared horrified glances that even Shadow was shocked, before the black hedgehog narrowed his eyes and firmly said. "Then it's best to stay away from Eggman until the planet is back to it's original self."
He turned to the fifteen year old and told him. "Sonic, you'd best keep Sun with you at all times and steer clear from the doctor. Keep on looking for the Temples. I'll find Eggman and do my best to keep him busy."
"Right." Sonic nodded, already knowing where this was going.
"Not that I need any babysitting, it's already bad enough that the squirt and I have an insane Cheetah breathing down our necks. As much as I'd want to punch Eggman's face so hard that it ends up stuck inside his head, I'd rather wait until I'm cured...and get my memories back." The dark-blue hedgehog agreed.
"I'd like to help, but I need to get back to Angel Island and restore the Master Emerald. But I'll be back once that's done. You guys are going to need all the help you can get." Knuckles informed.
"Thanks, Knuckles." The blue hedgehog replied.
"We'll keep an eye on things here and see what else Master Koga will tell us." Espio added, with Vector and Charmy nodding in agreement.
"Cool!" Sonic said gratefully.
"We should head back to Spagonia and meet up with the others. I bet Amy and Keith found the keys to the Temple there by now." Tails declared.
"Well then, guess we'll be seeing you guys later. We'll have the planet back in one piece in no time!" Sonic declared, waving Knuckles, Shadow, and the Chaotix off.
"Sonic, hold on. There's something you should know." The Ultimate Lifeform quickly spoke up, and while Sonic and most of the others looked confused, Knuckles looked a bit uncomfortable, as he knew what the older hedgehog was going to say.
"What? Whaddya mean?" The younger hedgehog asked, blinking.
Gazing at Sun who stared at him, confused and a bit suspicious, Shadow then told Sonic. "I may be wrong, but has Sun remembered anything yet?"
Sonic blinked, before gazing at his rival-turned friend who sadly shook his head, then turned back to the black hedgehog. "No. Why?"
"I'm thinking, because of how the legend says of a clone being created by Dark Gaia as well as a human, a Mobian or a Mobini through darkness, tears and negative emotions as well as any body of the body that has samples of the DNA..." Shadow explained.
It was then that Sun, Sonic, Chip and Tails suddenly all went pale, getting what Shadow was talking about, remembering how Sun himself came to that same conclusion days earlier on their way back from Mazuri.
"What-if-I'm-like-whoever-it-was-in-the-past-and-that-I'm-Sonic's-clone!?" Sun said in a single sentence that made it hard to understand.
Then they remembered what Eggman had said.
"I am collecting samples of Dark Gaia's power since it hasn't fully awakened properly, and before you go and accuse me, Sonic, yes I know that I woke it up a little early, yet some of it's pieces went missing and some of it is inside that hedgehog that bears your appearance aside from the colour differences. Besides that, it's not that hard to figure out the connection between the two, and even you have a connection with him as well." The evil doctor said.
"So...that means...I really am...?" Sun muttered, horror forming as his heart skipped a beat. Would that mean...the beast inside him was right? They both came from Sonic himself?
"No...No! No, that can't be!" Sonic shook his head, shaking his head in denial. "Sun can't be my clone! He can't! What proof is there!?"
"Sonic's right! Sun's nothing like him at all! Aside from the appearance, but you look just like him too, Shadow!" Chip agreed.
"Even so, Eggman has more proof and while asking him to give it to you is out of question, it's clear that he has all of the evidence, especially since he now knows that Sun turns into a Werehog in dark places and during the night." Shadow pointed out.
"But it can't really be true, can it?" Tails asked, horrified.
"I don't believe it! Sun isn't my clone! He's a hedgehog who's lost his memory! It's obvious that Eggman kidnapped him as part of his plan! You know how that guys has loop holes and doesn't tell anybody everything!" Sonic denied stubbornly. "This isn't like what happened before, Shadow, and you know it!"
The two heated rivals stared down at each other, the blue hedgehog glaring at the black hedgehog who stared at him calmly, while the others watched on worriedly, and Sun lowering his gaze at utter and complete loss. He wanted to believe that Sonic was right. He wanted to know the truth about himself, to find proof that he is a normal Mobian, cursed to be a Werehog at night with a monster growing inside his body.
But what if both he and Shadow were right? What if he had no memories, and no past? Eggman had the evidence. Sonic had nothing. What could they do?
"As I said, I could be wrong. But we shouldn't brush off this theory until we know more." Shadow finally said, with Sonic growling softly. The black hedgehog then turned to Sun who, to his surprise, held a frightened and disheartened look, muttering to him which caused the dark-blue hedgehog to look at him in confusion. "Sun...It's going to be alright. You're in safe hands."
"How's that comforting? What do you know, Mr. Vampire-Hog?" Sun grumbled sourly.
Shadow paused, before turning away and walked off, muttering. "Because I wasn't born a Mobian, or a human. But I wasn't created by Dark Gaia, either."
The group of Mobians watched the Ultimate Lifeform go, with many thoughts running through their minds before Knuckles groaned. "I told him Sonic wouldn't take this lightly."
"You knew about this?" Sonic asked, glaring at the echidna in shock.
"Since a place called Soleanna, yeah. I wasn't convinced with what he said either, and even now, I'm still not." The Guardian replied.
"Why didn't you tell me last night!?" The blue hedgehog asked.
"We were busy and it was already late." Knuckles pointed out.
"Sonic, it's not his fault. We'll figure something out." Tails tried to reassured.
Chip hesitantly hovered over and added. "He's right, Sonic. It'll be okay."
While Sonic was still upset with how Shadow came up with the same theory that Sun had, he knew that his friends were right. Until they knew more, he was still holding onto his own beliefs that his rival-turned-friend was just like them.
"Yeah...I'm just really worried." Sonic admitted, turning to Sun who looked uncomfortable, and the blue hedgehog approached him before giving the distraught hedgehog a gently embrace, whispering. "I won't let Eggman touch you, as best as I can. And if he does, I'll come for you. I promise."
"...Thanks, Sonic." Sun whispered, finding himself hugging his friend back as tears leaked and to Sonic and everyone else's concern, he began crying.
"Shhh...It'll be okay." The blue hedgehog whispered, gently rubbing his friends back to comfort him. "Don't cry."
But Sun continued to cry, and all Sonic could do was try to support him, and was soon joined by Tails and Chip who hugged the upset dark-blue hedgehog, the four friends hugging each other in a heartbreaking embrace. Knuckles and the Chaotix could only gaze on with worry.
Things had just become more and more distressing.
A/N: Looks like things are really getting intense now, especially with the truth of Sun's origins creeping closer and closer. The next chapter will see Sonic's group return to Spagonia before they head over to the fifth continent and Gaia Temple.
See you later!