Author's Note: With Christmas come and gone, I found time to post at least one last chapter of this story for 2020, but don't worry, it's not the end of it all together. It just means I'll hopefully finish this sometime in 2021 along with my other stories.
Until then, we're still far from reaching the end, but we are getting closer! So, happy reading!
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 17: Dangers Hiding in Darkness.
"GRRRRRAAAAAAAAARRRR! ARAAAAAAOOOORR!" Kaiser roared like a beast in fury, thrashing and crushing trees in a distant isolated part of Chun-Nan where he had landed hours ago, which was where his plane was. He took out his anger on nature for the failures of getting the Phoenix as well as both of Sonic's friends three times in a row ever since that night in Spagonia. He had taken off his gloves and literally clawed the bark that made the trees topple over.
Kaiser Bakuvu, the Myth Hunter and the most dangerous living being of all of Mobius, losing to a mere teenager Sonic the Hedgehog, the hero of the planet, who has failed to stop Eggman from splitting it apart and now was putting it back together. The murderous Cheetah now understood how the evil doctor felt. Should things be different, the fifteen year old wouldn't have been such a nuisance.
"Curse that boy! And that buffoon doctor! I should've killed that man the moment I got ten years ago! At least that child wouldn't be that annoying little hero, then I would have gotten WHAT I WANTED! I HATE THAT BRAT! I HATE THEM BOTH!" The Myth Hunter roared, whipping his whip at five trees that were cut in half with ease.
After spending the entire night and most of the day destroying the forest, Kaiser finally calmed down to take a breather, panting slowly like a deadly predator in a fight against one of it's own in a battle of life and death. He clutched his fist as he thought of a way of how to get Sonic's friends Sun the 'Werewolf' and that little pixie-dog he calls Chip. He remembered what the blue hedgehog had told him in that chamber the night before.
"Forget it, Kaiser! I won't let you hurt or kill anymore lives, and I'm not gonna let you get to my friends!" Sonic snapped, glaring at the evil hunter angrily.
"Why? Why must that child be in the way? How does he even know where I am, and why does he appear in places close to the legendary Gaia Temples-" Stopping himself in mid-sentence, Kaiser then realized something.
Each time he'd seen the boy and his friends, he was in cities were the Temples of Gaia were, and being native to Mazuri, Kaiser knew of his former homeland's sacred place. It was possible that Sonic has gained knowledge from Mnyambo or Professor Pickle in Spagonia. Legend says that they hold keys to saving the world in a times when darkness should arise again, and light of the one who had the power to restore life would awaken. The key to enter the temples though required a special object.
An evil grin formed on his face. "Of course. Dr. Eggman has done this and the Temples of the legend are related, and that little pixie is the key. Sonic and my Werehog and pixie are restoring the planet with the Temples. I should meet them in the next temple somewhere and take what is mine. The world is beyond saving now, so it's a small price to pay. Soon the world will know that I am superior and all Myths will be made facts, and no one shall conquer me! Not even that fool Dr. Eggman! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
Now all he had to do was to see which temple Sonic's group would be heading to next and set up his perfect trap.
The trip back to Spagonia was a somber one, that Sonic and his friends knew. After an awkward goodbye to Knuckles who left to find Shadow to take him back to Angel Island, and the Chaotix who wished the blue hedgehog and his three companions well, and that Sun had eventually stopped crying, the two hedgehogs, Tails and Chip(who decided to sit on Sonic's lap this time) hadn't said a word since leaving Chun-Nan behind to continue their quest in restoring Mobius, left in their thoughts of the Ultimate Lifeform's theory of Sun's origins.
Not to mention that the dark-blue hedgehog himself came up with the same theory, and given the thought of it, it terrified him. Sonic saw that, and he himself didn't want to believe it either. There was just no way one of his two new friends could be his clone. Sure he cried, he felt the negative emotions mainly due to having fallen into Eggman's trap and unable to do anything to stop the mad scientist from splitting the world apart, but he hadn't been injured enough to get even a tiny cut for blood to spill out, or a piece of his body to be chipped off. He had been electrocuted.
'It's all my fault. Everybody's in this mess because of me. Kaiser's been on the loose and I didn't even know it for the past four years since I became a hero and is still on a muderous loose, Mobius's been split into pieces, the Chaos Emeralds lost their powers, Chip and Sun lost their memories, Sun's stuck being a Werehog at night, now the theory of him being my clone is driving us crazy, all because of Dark Gaia...! I wish I hadn't gone and fallen into that stupid trap! All of this would've been avoided if I'd been more careful, but I was reckless! I was overconfident with myself! I was cocky!' Sonic thought to himself, his heart aching so much that he almost couldn't bear it.
Even worse, he knew that his guilt, sorrow and anger for all of this, and his fear of the Werehog soul inside of Sun was making the beast become stronger, but he couldn't help it. Sonic knew that he can still save the world at least, like he always did. He can save everyone, since it was what the blue hedgehog did best. He was still himself. But no matter how had he tried to take up his friends' comforting words and support, it did not change the fact that he was responsible for all of it.
"...I'm an idiot." Sonic whispered miserably, placing his hand to his face. Not realizing that Tails, Chip and Sun could hear him as they were brought out of their own troubling thoughts, the blue hedgehog continued. "How could I have let Eggman trick me so easily? I always knew he was tricky, but this is the whole new level of my stupidity...I easily fell for it, and even me being skeptical wasn't enough..."
"Sonic, it's not your fault." Tails tried to reassure.
"Yeah, how were you supposed to know that Beach-ball-Man would do that?" Chip added.
"They have a point, Sonic." Sun added, causing the blue hedgehog to turn to the dark-blue hedgehog who continued. "I'm sorry for blaming you on the day that we met. You were just doing your best, I know that now."
"Yeah, well, I'm supposed to be the hero everybody wants and needs. But in the end, I...I'm just a fifteen year old hedgehog. I can't do everything by myself, and I hate letting everybody down. Face it guys...I blew it, and all of you and everybody else got caught up in this because of me." Sonic sighed, gently patting Chip on the head. "There are times even I need help, and I do get scared. I'm scared of losing everybody I love since Uncle Chuck died, scared of the world being destroyed or taken over by evil, scared of many people dying, and scared of water-which is nothing compared to all of my other fears. I just...I'm so scared of failing."
"It's okay to be scared, big bro." The eight year old kit pointed out, softly with tears forming in his eyes. "You told me once that everybody gets scared, even heroes, and that even heroes make mistakes and do need help from others. It's not your fault."
Even though Sonic still felt responsible for everything that's happened this time, he remembered the day when he himself told Tails that. For four and a half years, he had been a hero, but then he realized that he forgot he wasn't the only one. His friends helped him and did their own heroic deeds, just as he helped them. The blue hedgehog wouldn't be here if it weren't for any of them. Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, even Big the Cat, Cream and Cheese, Vanilla, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Shadow, Omega, and now Chip and Sun. Sure Sonic had grown up with his mother and father up until he left and occasionally visited, but he'd been a lonely little hedgehog up until his adventures on Westside Island.
Now he had so many friends, having gone on so many adventures and saved the worlds heaps of times even in the most dire times. The blue hedgehog sighed, realizing that he was at it again. So the world was in pieces, but he and his friends, his entire family, were fixing it up and had already put three pieces of it back together. Despite feeling down, why should he stop now when they were one step closer?
"Thanks, Tails. Sorry for feeling so down lately." Sonic replied with a sad smile, carefully reaching over and playfully ruffled his younger brother on the head, making the young fox cub giggle. "Plus, the whole idea of Sun being my clone is unbelievable. I don't see how it can be."
"Well, I still haven't remembered anything." Sun stated, sighing leaning back in his seat. "I...just don't understand it, but at the same time, it just makes more sense considering how I appeared out of nowhere. I just...don't know what it really feels like to be a clone. Shouldn't I be like a robot or a baby or something?"
"That's just it, Sun. You're not a robot and you definitely weren't acting like a newborn when we first met. Sure you don't remember much, but you at least have the everyday knowledge of other things. Plus you have emotions. You can be angry, you can laugh, you can cry, and even feel pain and fear and guilt, everything that's not artificial. You can't clone a soul. Your soul belongs to you, and you alone." Sonic pointed out.
"He's right, Sun. Emotions isn't something that can be made. Even Eggman's robots can't really feel much. A soul just...grows on it's own, I guess." Tails added.
"Yeah, life can't be made like books." Chip agreed.
The dark-blue hedgehog, despite feeling a little bit better with this knowledge, he couldn't help but feel otherwise. Other than that, he felt that it was better that he agreed with Chip's idea instead of going out on his own and then...really become the monster the beast inside him wanted him to be. There was still something missing about his past. Sun then jumped slightly and looked up when he felt and then saw the blue hedgehog having reached over and gently touched his hand, comfortingly rubbing it.
"It's gonna be okay. And...well, even if you are my clone, there's no way I'd treat ya' any differently. Heck, I'd treat ya more like my new brother, just like I do with Tails and Chip." Sonic reassured with a warm smile.
"...Me, your new brother?" Sun asked, his eyes widening in shock and surprise.
"And me?" Chip added, just as surprised.
"Totally. You guys and everybody else are my family. The three of you and Amy and Cream who're like sisters are the closest. Even Knuckles can fit into the brother and sister group." The hero of Mobius answered, winking. "I don't care any anybody else says about us. Family means both sharing blood and strong bond with each other, and sometimes even the blood part doesn't matter."
"You're family to us too, Sonic. I wouldn't be here without you." Tails said happily.
"Wow..." The pixie-dog sniffled happily. "Sonic, you're the best guy on the planet!"
Even Sun felt very touched. To think that a week ago he and Sonic started out as bitter rivals, with the dark-blue hedgehog having the desire to kill him, then he grew to regain(or just gain) his more softer side, learning that the cobalt hedgehog was compassionate and brave, reckless and a daredevil, but definitely caring, being there for him in his time of need, the two having become friends even when he almost lost full control of himself because of the monster inside him. Now...Sonic was considering him to be another brother in his life.
Maybe his body was artificial, but his soul...it was his, and his alone.
"Maybe I'm starting to get the hang with all the mushy stuff, but...You really know how to make people feel better, Blue." Sun finally said, smiling emotionally.
Sonic blushed with a light chuckle. "I'm not the only one. There are plenty of people in the world who have compassion."
Feeling his determination return once again, he nodded to himself, "Okay! Then it's settled. We're going to finish what we started and fix everything up and save everyone, even each other!"
"Yeah!" Tails, Chip and even Sun(who felt embarrassed by doing this) cheered in agreement.
"I wish I knew about Kaiser a lot sooner, though. I'm just freaked out that he hasn't been caught yet, and he's been this sort of thing even before I was born." The blue hedgehog added as he scratched his head, shuddering. "Now with him wanting Sun and Chip, and...what he did to everybody for years, especially in Holoska and Chun-Nan...That guy's a monster."
"I'm more scared that the darkness from Dark Gaia hasn't made him even worse, or turned him into a real monster." Tails agreed, gulping. "But then again, none of us knew and he's been silent for the last nearly five years."
"If you ask me, he shouldn't been turned into a Werewolf instead of me being a Werehog at night." Sun grumbled, rubbing his arms at the very thought of not just the theory of being Sonic's clone, but also the monster inside of him. "Even worse, whenever I'm a Werehog, I can actually see the darkness inside monsters or in people that were posessed, which is creepy."
"We'll just have to be careful in case he shows his face again, and avoid Eggman 'til we find a cure." Sonic advised.
His friends nodded in agreement as they continued their course for Spagonia.
By the time Sonic, Tails, Chip and Sun returned, it was unfortunately nighttime, which ultimately meant the dark-blue hedgehog becoming a Werehog yet again. It still hurt a little, but he tried not to let it get to him. The four of them headed straight towards the University where Amy was waiting for them, along with Keith who was keeping a very careful eye on two ancient-looking objects that looked more like tablets than keys, but the group guessed they were what they needed to get to the Temple here.
"SONIC!" Amy shrieked happily the moment she saw them, making a beeline for her 'boyfriend' and before he could do anything to escape, the poor blue hedgehog was once again stuck in her traps after she tackled him. "Guess what!? Keith and I found the keys! Now you can fix up Spagonia straight away! Isn't that great?"
"T-that's great, Amy, but can you let go of me, please?" Sonic pleaded, trying to push his overly-excited self-proclaimed girlfriend off. Tails just smiled in exasperation while Chip and Sun, who rolled his eyes, shared a glance with the smallest of the group shrugging.
"Well, glad that you're here. Do you know how long it took just to find these things? It took us all...day..." Keith began to rant as he approached, only to trail off when he saw Sun and, not recognizing him at first, the hound froze at the sight of the Werehog.
"What?" Sun asked, raising an eyebrow before realizing why the dog looked terrified. "Oh..."
"A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A...!" Keith stuttered, only to promptly faint with the keys still in his hands, dramatically collapsing onto the ground, which caught the attention of the two hedgehogs, the two-tailed fox and the pixie-dog who looked at him worriedly before they remembered what was going on.
"Oh...I forgot that Keith doesn't know about Sun's Werehog problem." Sonic sheepishly shrugged as best as he could, with Amy still hugging him despite that she loosened her grip.
"Oh! That big baby!" The pink hedgehog pouted in annoyance.
"You got that right." The Werehog muttered in agreement, facepalming himself.
"Oh, Mr. Keith! Wakey-wakey!" Chip called out as he floated over, and tapped the side of the unconscious Mobian dog's face.
This did the trick, as Keith yelped in fright, jolting awake. "AAH! A MONSTER!"
When he saw Sun again, the dog screamed literally like a girl, tossing the keys to Tails who cried out in alarm, clumsily catching them and tried not to drop the items, before Keith then leaped into a nearby barrel and pleaded to the Werehog. "DON'T EAT ME! Or disembowel me or anything like that!"
Sun groaned, before answering in irritation. "I'm not going to eat or kill you, idiot! It's me, Sun the Hedgehog."
"What!?" Keith shouted, fearfully poking his head out of the barrel before incorrectly gasping. "You're a Werehog that ate Sun the Hedgehog! He's in there, and you're wearing him as a disguise like in the stories!"
"Keith, calm down, dude! This IS Sun. Long story short, the whole mess with Dark Gaia has cursed him to turn into a Werehog at night and we're trying to find a cure while fixing up Mobius. He's really not going to hurt you or eat you. I promise." Sonic reassured to try and get the Hound to calm down.
"He's right. Sun isn't going to hurt anybody." Tails added.
"If I wanted to eat you, I would've done it already." The aforementioned Werehog added, folding his arms.
While still suspicious and nervous, Keith slowly emerged from the barrel and seeing that the others were telling the truth, he climbed out and slowly approached, gulping. "Um...Why didn't anybody tell me that?"
"Well, I told you and wanted you to keep it a secret, but you didn't believe me. So I stopped trying." Amy sighed, letting go of her 'boyfriend' and placed her hands on her hips.
"I thought it was a nightmare you had." The Mobian-Hound defended himself.
'I wish this was a nightmare. I hate being a Werehog as much as you're scared of me.' Sun thought to himself, before feeling a painful jolt in his mind as though he was suddenly having a headache.
"Feast...on the Hedgehog...we...are...from...him...Clone...you and I...are...part of..." The dark familiar voice, one that made Sun's blood run cold, spoke in his mind. His heart hammered in terror, and given what he has heard, the beast...it was speaking more clearly now.
Could he and the monster...really be from Sonic?
'NO! That isn't true!' Sun thought in his mind, squeezing his eyes shut to try and shut the monster up.
"Dark Gaia...Eat...Sonic the Hedgehog...You two...are mine. Ha ha ha ha ha ha..." The beast continued, laughing evilly.
"Sun, are you okay?" Sonic spoke up, which made the Werehog pant and, much to the blue hedgehog's concern, along with everyone else's, Sun looked rather damp in the fur. "What's wrong?"
Sun didn't respond at first, but his mouth and throat felt dry. He gulped in fear, placing a hand onto his face as he tried to calm down. "Sonic...it's getting worse. I...I need water...and sunlight...!"
"Oh no...!" The blue hedgehog softly gasped in horror, while Tails and Chip both looked on in horrified worry, all three of them instantly knowing what their friend was talking about.
"What? What do you mean getting worse? What's going on?" Amy asked, worriedly as she and a very nervous Keith wondered what was happening.
"I'll explain later. Let's get him inside the University, quick!" Sonic quickly said, taking hold of Sun's right arm and gently gestured him towards the front doors.
"We should tell Professor Pickle about this. He'll know what to do." Tails suggested as he and everyone else followed, hoping that there was some clue in at least helping Sun to control the beast inside him.
Sonic by then was gently rubbing the Werehog's back, struggling to hold back his fear of the beast inside his friend and knew that because of what was happening, his guilt and fears were getting worse, thus it was making the monster become more powerful. Whatever the Werehog side of Sun was telling him, he could tell that the beast could now speak full English. The blue hedgehog had to try and fight off his own negative emotions, and protect Sun from both Eggman and Kaiser, or else he would lose him and the beast would either take over or escape to become a separate individual.
'Hung in there, Sun. I won't let that thing win.' The cobalt hero thought, determined to save him.
Fifteen minutes later, everyone was gathered in Pickle's office where the man, though not a doctor but knew first aids at least, checked up on Sun, poking and prodding him while the Werehog had the refreshing ships of water. He, Sonic, Tails and Chip explained to the human professor, Amy and Keith what was going on, even admitting of the beast inside Sun and the cursed dark-blue hedgehog deciding to tell them his and Shadow's theory about him being Sonic's clone, much to the trio's shock.
"Hmm...This is very concerning. And you haven't remembered anything from your past?" Pickle asked, frowning in concern.
"Not a single blur image. The only thing that's growing is the beast inside me. Just now...I realized that it was mentioning about Dark Gaia." Sun sighed, his gaze low to the floor as he sat on the sofa since a chair was too small for him.
"Sonic, why didn't you say anything sooner?" Amy asked, shocked by this new revelation.
"I thought it would've been a good idea so you guys wouldn't have to worry." Sonic shrugged, feeling guilty for not saying anything. "I just wanted to help Sun to get his memories back and find a cure. I don't believe that Sun is my clone. There's just no way!"
"Well, there had been monsters that came out of people the other night after I took a picture, when you had to save Amy." Chip pointed out, shrugging. "Maybe the monster inside Sun is trying to trick him into thinking he's your clone, Sonic."
The blue hedgehog nodded in agreement. "That sounds logical."
Sun groaned. "I'd prefer having that problem than the idea of both my and Shadow's theory being true."
"Well, do you share the same abilities as Sonic? Or picking up his personality traits?" Pickle asked curiously, and when the Werehog shook his head, the human scientist thought deeply. "And to think that it is Sonic's stress and guilt that is making the beast stronger...it seems the connection between you two is very strong."
"Mnyambo did mention that my guilt is only making things worse, and I've been trying not to dwell into it. I just want to stop Eggman, save the world and help my friends." Sonic said, again struggling with his fear and guilt over what was going on. "It doesn't help that not only Kaiser is after Sun and Chip, but Eggman wants Sun now too."
"Well, I do hope that your friend Sun the Hedgehog is not your clone either. However, I'm afraid that, from what he and Shadow had said, it does make a lot of sense for the poor boy. Remember, in the Manuscript, a being born from the body sample of a human or a mobian or an animal of a pure heart along with tears, a great power that is drained and anger and sorrow will appear, both as a creature of darkness, and heart-given new life form with a heart and mind of their own." The professor grimly reminded.
The blue hedgehog felt his blood freeze up, before shaking his head in denial. "IT'S NOT TRUE! He can't be my clone! I mean, it's not like I bled or anything! I would've noticed and okay, I shed a tear or two, and I was upset when Eggman split Mobius apart, but there hasn't been a single part of me that even fell off or whatever!"
"Didn't the Manuscript also say that the clone of the person would also have to be sacrificed?" Tails asked fearfully and worriedly.
Everyone else froze up in horror, but none more so than Sun who's eyes widened before gazing at his hands. He forgot about that detail. Which meant that if he really is Sonic's clone...would that mean he would have to die? Just like those before him?
Sonic himself was just as horrified. He didn't want to believe it. Just when he finally became close friends with the dark-blue hedgehog cursed to be a Werehog, he would have to lose him either to Dark Gaia, Eggman or Kaiser? Would that mean...Sun's fate was already set? If he is the blue hedgehog's clone...then he was doomed to begin with?
"NO!" Sonic shouted, startling everyone else. "I won't let Sun die! I made a promise, and I never break my promises! He's our friend, and I'm going to make sure he's cured, and keep Eggman and Kaiser away from him and everybody else!"
He then turned to Pickle and said, "Isn't there a way to keep him alive if he is my clone, which I hope he's not?"
"I'm afraid not." The man replied, before adding. "Although, given how Dark Gaia's awakening has been forced by Dr. Eggman, and if the machine has drained you and the power of the Chaos Emeralds, as well as your emotions, it may be a different story and since the monster has not fully awakened, it could mean, with some hope and luck, Sun may survive and may have actually been born by the Emeralds as well as your emotions and tears."
"So you're saying that instead of a body part of Sonic being used to create Sun if he is a clone, it was the Chaos Emeralds that may have played the part instead?" Tails theorized.
"Exactly. However, there is still the beast inside him that's the problem, and finding a cure is difficult." The professor replied.
"I don't care." The blue hedgehog said stubbornly. "Nobody else is going to die on my watch! It's my fault that all of this happened, and I'm going to fix it! I'm going to save the world and everybody in it, help Chip and Sun get their memories back, and I'm going to cure Sun and help him beat that thing inside his body, no matter what it takes!"
He then marched up to Sun and glared at his friend's chest, and, though he knew that the others would see him as crazy and he felt the paralyzing fear surge through his body, the blue hedgehog attempted to ignore the stares and made to try and at least make the monster inside the Werehog's body hear him.
"Ya' hear that, Fuzzy? You're not gonna stop me in saving my friend you're attempting to control! One way or another, Sun is going to live and you're gonna disappear!" Sonic declared with as much determination and courage as possible.
A moment of pause even though Sun could hear the beast inside him growl, but to his surprise and satisfastion, it sounded insulted and very annoyed with Sonic's choice of nicknames, making the Werehog mentally smirk.
"You're talking to a thing that can't hear you, right?" Keith deadpanned.
"I gotta leave an impression somehow." The blue hedgehog shrugged.
"I think it heard you, and it sounds really annoyed that you called it Fuzzy." The Werehog informed, this time smirking for real. "Maybe you should call it that from now on."
"Works for me." Sonic agreed while Tails, Amy and Chip chuckled and giggled, the Professor chuckling and Keith blinking before shrugging. The blue hedgehog then sighed and said. "Sun, we'll figure this out. Okay?"
Sun nodded, and while he still felt that maybe he really is a clone, he was grateful that whether it was true or not, and that his friend remained determined to prove eitherwise and still help him, he wouldn't treat the Werehog any different. "Thanks, Sonic."
The blue hedgehog smiled warmly back, and, with slight nervousness and hesitation, held out his right hand and, attempting to fight the urge to simply grab him and eat the arm off, the Werehog slowly reached out and gently grasp it, the two of them shaking hands before Sonic placed his left hand onto the back of Sun's, holding it in both hands. It was surprising how the two had gone from heated rivals to close friends in a matter of a week, but the hero of Mobius was always full of surprises.
It hadn't been hard to find their way and once they used the 'keys' to make their way through, Sonic, Chip and Sun, after making a quick departure from the others who promised to now see if there was any other clue on proving that the Werehog was a full born Mobian or the blue hedgehog's clone as well as keeping an eye and ear out for Eggman. The group felt that they didn't have to worry about Kaiser for the time being, but as they made their way through out the unexplored parts of Spagonia, the trio spead through the place that resembled to both France and England, especially the clock tower and making it to the top, avoiding traps that were set up.
Along the way they also fought off against the monsters that lingered due to it being nighttime until finally Sonic and his friends reached the place close to the Temple of Gaia. Yet as they arrived while worried that Eggman could be nearby, ready to attack and kidnap Sun due to the darkness inside him, all of the sudden there was a whooshing sound that made Sonic's heart beat, before they spun around and saw a huge robot that looked like part sting-ray, part fish, and part scorpion, and it was being piloted by a white andriod robot.
It was called the Egg-Devil-Ray.
"Ugh. Not another robot." Sun groaned.
"At least it's not piloted by Eggman." Sonic pointed out, narrowing his eyes before smirking. "We can take this thing out, no sweat!"
He then turned to Chip and said, "Chip, you leave this to us."
"Okay. I really want to help, but good luck guys!" The pixie-dog nodded, and flew over around the corner to hide, while Sonic and Sun glared up at the giant robot who then fired a laser at them. The two quickly leaped away to avoid in getting vaporized, but were shocked when it fired a missile that launched a net and almost got to them had the blue hedgehog not grab the Werehog and dashed out of the way to avoid in getting caught.
Sonic then dashed forward and made to find it's weak spot and hit it. He used his Homing Attack at several places while avoiding the lasers and soon fireballs that were shot at him and his companion, but to his shock, there was a protective force field that knocked him back as he attempted to hit it. It knocked him back as he screamed before flipping and landed safely to avoid in crashing onto the ground. He then gasped before leaping out of the way as it fired fireballs in a V shape, which forced Sun to move out of the way too while smacking away the missiles that were made to grab him.
"Oh, great!" Sonic grunted, cart-wheeling out of the way again until he noticed the shield being powered down the moment it fired, which gave him an idea. Chuckling and using his boost to make him faster, the blue hedgehog sped forward and bashed the robot that sent it flying.
To add to the insult of the Egg Devil Ray's injuries, Sun stretched out his right arm and gave it a powerful punch which broke off one of it's arms, causing it to crash onto the ground hard, with pieces of metal flying off. The Egg Devil Ray though stood up and prepared to attack again, rotating and firing more fireballs at the duo who had to zig-zag their away around and attempted to avoid the attacks, though it then fired at laser at Sonic who leaped back and flipped, but it then fired a missile at him. The blue hedgehog ran to the side but the impact of each attacks nearly made him either lose a couple of quills or vaporize him.
"That's it. I've had it with this thing!" Sun growled, as he used the poles and his arms to swing up and around the robot, distracting it as it saw him do this, before firing heaps of missiles to try and capture him, under orders by Eggman. With a howl, he leaped off and severely punched away the cannons which gave Sonic the chance to Spin Attack it once it's shield was unable to be set right back up, cracking glass and creating deep dents in the metal with the robot starting to go up in smoke.
Though it had another trick as it then fired several more lasers and missiles once the two friends backed away, forcing Sonic to run all over the place to avoid the former, while Sun attempted to punch and smack away the latter, sending some back to the Egg Devil Ray which, giving out a pained yell, fired several more fireballs which nearly scourched the blue hedgehog as he was too fast for it. Unfortunately, the Werehog wasn't so lucky as he was hit in the right arm which caused bad burns as he gave out a pained howl while stumbling backwards, clutching his wound with his left hand.
"SUN!" Sonic screamed out in horror when he and Chip(who shouted in worry) saw what happened. But he was unable to reach him when the robot fired another laser to block him off, but the impact was still enough to send him flying as he hit the ground hard. Grunting in pain, he looked up and gasped in horror when he saw what was about to happen next.
"Sun, look out!" He shouted, standing up while attempting to ignore his injuries with a couple of burns from the laser and attempted to reach him, but was forced back as more and more lasers and fireballs stopped him from getting to the Werehog.
Sun was so busy in clutching his wound that he heard the blue hedgehog's warning too late, as he looked up just as the robot fired another missile, this time successfully catching him in the net. He grunted while being pinned to the ground, struggling to get up and break free. The Egg Devil Ray then shot out a hook which attached itself to the net the Werehog was trapped in while multi-tasking by keeping Sonic away from reaching him, even by jumping and leaping.
"Let him go! Give back my friend!" The blue hedgehog shouted angrily.
As the Werehog struggled against the netting and the robot wheeling him in as it opened up it's hatch to imprison him, Sun heard what Sonic had said even as he felt the familiar painful jolt in his chest.
"Friend? That hedgehog is not our friend. He...is...our feast...Join me, Gaia Clone...devour Sonic...eat him, his fear, his guilt, his anger, and his sorrow...give us power...! Once he accepts the truth, he will cast you out! He will only see you as a monster! Devour him now!" The beast spoke once more inside Sun's mind, which he struggled against, trying hard to stay focused and not let the monster win. It still wanted him to eat the blue hedgehog, all because he could be his clone?
Would Sonic really see him as a monster if he is a clone? He then remembered what the blue hedgehog had told him back in Chun-Nan and on their way back here.
"I'm a monster..." Sun muttered, tears beginning to form in his eyes.
But Sonic smiled softly, shaking his head in disagreement. "No, Sun. You're not a monster. You're a hedgehog who's scared and alone, but also very brave and caring in your own way. A real monster is someone who doesn't care about anybody but themselves, likes to hurt or kill or eat others, and have no regrets in doing so. The beast inside you, Dark Gaia and even Kaiser and Eggman are the real monsters."
When Sun actually shed a tear, Sonic gently wiped it away with a gloved finger, causing the Werehog to look at him in confusion as he continued sympathetically. "A monster wouldn't feel sad or afraid or even fight to do the right thing."
"It's gonna be okay. And...well, even if you are my clone, there's no way I'd treat ya' any differently. Heck, I'd treat ya more like my new brother, just like I do with Tails and Chip." Sonic reassured with a warm smile.
"NO! I...am...not...a MONSTER!" Sun roared at the beast inside him, though Sonic and Chip heard what he said, while the Werehog grunted, struggling to break free from his restrains, even to the point of, to the duo's horror, began being covered in the mist of darkness like back at the chamber.
"No...no!" Sonic whispered, realizing what was happening as he backed away. "Not again!"
Just as the teenage hero feared, his friend once again began to grow into a giant Werehog, though now that they were outside, the fifteen year old assumed his friend was at least 85 feet tall, five feet taller than Korso frightfully enough, which was enough to easily break free from the net and towered over the Egg Devil Ray who stared up at it, with it's andriod pilot, seeing what was going on, actually sweat dropped worriedly.
"Uh-oh." It muttered, sounding quite scared and for once, Sonic didn't blame it, even if it was just a robot.
"DON'T MESS WITH ME..." Sun hissed darkly, rising his fist upward, which instantly had Sonic to dash back to safety just as the giant Werehog punched the robot and it's pilot into nothing but a flat cripple of metal, destroying them instantly, going up in smoke and flames.
To his horror, one piece of it went flying towards Sonic who, upon the impact of the destructive punch, created a bit of a shockwave that knocked the blue hedgehog off and sent him flying to the ground, crashed onto the floor. Knowing only one thing to do, Sun stretched out after calling out his friend's name, and as the hero of Mobius looked back, seeing both the piece of metal as well as the giant hand heading straight towards him, a huge wave of fear washed over him, too out of breath to get up in time.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Sonic screamed, squeezing his eyes shut and covered his head with his hands, bracing himself for impact. He was then clasped within the giant hand and pulled out of the way just as the piece of metal hit the ground.
Sighing in relief, and fighting back the monster inside him who growled in anger due to Sun's resistance and listening to the cobalt teenager he just saved, the giant Werehog opened up his hand to see Sonic all curled up, shivering in fear while he tried to hold it back to avoid in the beast taking over his friend's body.
"SONIC. ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Sun asked, concerned.
Hearing his friend's voice, huge but soft enough to not burst his eardrums, Sonic hesitantly looked up and lowered his hands, then saw to his relief that, giant or not, the Werehog's eyes were that of Sun and not the monster. Despite still feeling terrified, he sighed and slumped, relaxing a little as he knew, despite the terrifying moment, he had been rescued.
"Y-yeah. Just shaken up. Thanks for saving me again, buddy. Sorry that I couldn't save you." Sonic replied, wiping his forehead in relief.
"I THOUGHT YOU SAID WE WEREN'T KEEPING SCORES." The giant Werehog smirked, which made the hedgehog chuckle.
"Man, that was quite a punch. You squashed that robot like a bug!" The blue hedgehog remarked, giving his friend a thumbs up with a wink. He then looked down, peering over the 'edge' of the giant hand to see the remains of the robot and smirked. "Not a bad toy, though."
"Sonic! Sun!" Chip cried out, flying up towards them and hovered next to Sonic. "That was...whoa! I can't even-and Sun! You turned that robot into a fish-cake!"
A slight awkward moment of pause...Before Sonic began to burst out laughing.
"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! A robot-fish-cake! HA HA HA HA HA! Why didn't I think of that one?" Sonic laughed hysterically, rolling on his back while holding his stomach.
"FUNNY. I THOUGHT I TURNED IT INTO SUSHI." Sun remarked sarcastically with an amused smirk, which set off Sonic even more, and even caused Chip to laugh, before the giant Werehog joined them though he was careful not to drop his, from his point of view, tiny friends.
"Heh heh heh heh heh! And here was me thinking it was a grilled fish!" The blue hedgehog joked, breathing hard through laughter as he wiped away his tears of the same feeling. That set his friends to laugh harder and he rejoined them to the point where their stomachs began to hurt, until after at least three minutes, the trio calmed down but still held smiles.
"I'D BETTER SHRINK BACK TO NORMAL SIZE, BEFORE ANYONE ELSE SEES ME LIKE THIS. IT'S BAD ENOUGH THAT I'M SEEN AS A WEREHOG." The giant Werehog said, gently lowering his hand to the ground which allowed Sonic to hop off and Chip joined him, before Sun then, remembering how he could grow and shrink by will and wishes, shrank back to his original size.
"You feeling okay?" Sonic asked, approaching him, this time with more courage.
"Yeah. I have to admit, while I hate being a Werehog, especially a giant one, it does have a few advantages while it's lasted. Just hope I don't have to go through that again." Sun replied.
"You managed to stop the beast from controlling you. That means your will's getting stronger too." The blue hedgehog remarked, smiling in relief.
His friend sighed, before pointing out as he gently rested a hand onto the cobalt teenager's shoulder. "It's thanks to you, Sonic. Your words and wisdom were what made me realize that you're right. I'm not a monster, and what I did...it was the only and right thing to do."
"See? Told ya." Sonic winked happily. "We'll get ya' back to normal and beat that thing inside you. Though it was pretty cool that you handled that robot as a giant Werehog, and the way how you stretch out your arms to get to high places and swing is awesome too."
"You guys are both really cool. I wish I could do something as awesome like both of you." Chip remarked.
"I'm sure you will, buddy. I mean, your necklace is amazing. We all make a great team." The blue hedgehog reassured, before suggesting. "Hey, when this is over, why don't the three of us and Tails go on another adventure together? I can show you Station Square, or Green Hill Zone, or even Angel Island, assuming Knucklehead would let us visit."
"Yeah! That sounds like fun!" The pixie-dog said happily.
"Sure, why not. But I'd like to take a break first..." The Werehog said, before sighing as he added. "Assuming I'm not...your clone."
"Oh..." Sonic murmured as he and Chip both lowered their gazes, remembering the possibility of that as well, before he shook his head and said, looking up at him. "We'll find out the truth, because one way or another, you're our friend. That won't change. Nobody's in control of your life except you."
"Right." Sun nodded, and was a bit surprised when his friends gave him comforting hugs, to which, feeling the need of such, returned it. They were all slightly surprised that they had spent virtually most of the night given they had arrived late in the evening that the sun(his namesake until he learned if he had a real name) began rising, which turned the Werehog back into a dark-blue hedgehog.
None the less, the trio, smiling at the morning light, still embraced and took this moment to watch the sunrise as a new day dawned.
Around ten minutes later, Sonic and his friends finally reached the temple where Chip flew ahead of them once more, his necklace glowing and the pedestal rose up for the Chaos Emerald. Sonic and Sun both walked up the small steps and after they shared a nod, the blue hedgehog pulled out another powerless Emerald and placed it there.
It began to glow and like the other three Emeralds, it returned to full power, this one being the dark blue one that matched the young hero's fur colour. Though given what they had been through, they forgot that it would cause the ground to shake. Sonic and his friends screamed as the former held onto the pedestal for dear life while the dark-blue hedgehog lost his balance and fell onto his bottom.
"Ow!" Sun yelped.
Outside of the scattered and slowly healing Mobius, a blue aura surrounded the continent of Spagonia before slowly fitted back into it's original position, the fourth piece of the planet back where it belonged. Which meant there was only three more pieces to go.
Back in the temple, the quakes stopped before Sonic, Sun and Chip looked around before they remembered this was somewhat normal, and had different reactions to this for overreacting.
"Oh. I forgot that this happens whenever we put a piece of the planet back together." Sonic muttered sheepishly.
"And we've only been back from Chun-Nan for maybe...five hours." Chip added.
Sun groaned as he stood up while rubbing his back. "Yeah, well, they could've at least given us or whoever else would've done this a heads up."
"You sounded just like Knuckles just now." Sonic half-teased, though he was in full agreement.
"Shut up." The dark-blue hedgehog grumbled, but he didn't feel as annoyed as he felt when this journey began. Even with the beast growing stronger, he felt like he was growing closer to his rival who was now his friend, along with Chip, and even Tails.
Still, that didn't change the fact that his origins were a mess.
'I wish I knew who I really am. But...what if I am just Sonic's clone? Shouldn't clones...act just like their originals?' Sun thought to himself, before feeling a gentle pat on his right shoulder, causing him to see that the blue hedgehog was smiling softly at him with a reassuring look and he couldn't help but smile back.
Maybe Sonic was right. Whether he was a clone or not, at least his body may be cloned...his soul definitely wasn't.
The trip back to the University was quicker than Sonic had thought, even with his speed. He began to think that now that four continents were back to normal and so were the Chaos Emeralds, they only had three more of each to go and were closer in restoring Mobius. Plus the remaining continents were places he might not have ever been to before, which added to the excitement of checking out new places. He did wish that he was one step closer in helping both Chip and Sun(assuming he wasn't his clone) get their memories back and curing the former.
Naturally, they met up with Tails, Amy, Professor Pickle and Keith, who was again in shock to see Sun, this time back as a hedgehog instead of a Werehog.
"How did-where-how the fudge-?" The baffled dog blabbered, pointing at Sun with a shaky finger.
"Don't ask, and just to let you know, my transformations are not pleasent." The dark-blue hedgehog groaned, giving Keith an annoyed look.
"Welcome back, boys. You're just in time." Pickle greeted warmly.
"Sorry we took most of the night. Had a giant robot to handle and Sun smashed it like a pancake." Sonic waved.
"I'll bet Eggman won't be happy about that." Tails laughed.
"Well, that's his problem. Besides, that fat idiot deserves it." Sun scoffed, folding his arms.
Amy nodded in agreement, "Great minds think alike. But really, I felt the whole place shake like it was an Earthquake! Did the robot cause that?"
"Nope. That's how the other continents put back into place went. Don't worry, you won't be expericing that again." The blue hedgehog reassured.
"Oh, good." The pink hedgehog sighed, placing her hand to her chest. "It was scary."
Sonic sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, I would've told ya that, but even I forgot when we went to the temple here. But hey, we're one step closer in putting Mobius fully back to normal!"
"That is wonderful. Now then, your next stop will be in Shamar as another Gaia Temple is located there. It also has more information of the Gaia Manuscripts, and we will be relocated there." Professor Pickle announced. "So when the next time you, Chip and Sun will see us, Sonic, it will be there after you've restored the continent."
"So it's goodbye Spagonia for a long time. I'm really gonna miss this place. It had a lot of research to explore." The two-tailed fox sighed, a little sad that they were leaving this place behind.
"It's okay. We'll come back some other time." The blue hedgehog reassured, gently ruffling his brother's head, making the eight year old kit smile. "In that case, we should get going. The quicker we get to Shamar, the quicker we can check it out and put it back into place."
"See you at Shamar, Sonic!" Amy cheered as the twelve hear old wrapped her arms around her 'boyfriend' once again, though this time the fifteen year old managed to be quick and got into a position where he wouldn't be crushed.
"I'm going to head off back to Station Square and take a week off. After the last couple of days, I'm exhausted." Keith announced, already taking his leave and the others waved him a goodbye.
"Well then, Shamar it is." Sun shrugged.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Chip cheered excitedly.
Sonic grinned as Amy let him go. "All right, let's do it to it!"
With that thought in mind, Sonic, Tails, Chip and Sun said a farewell to Amy and Pickle before racing out to head over to the fifth continent, unaware of the further dangeres that were lying ahead of them.
Meanwhile, back at his secret base, Eggman and his robots were watching on the large monitor as a large horde of Dark Gaia monsters were creeping closer and closer to a large tower that looked suspicious, and despite the failure in capturing Sun the Hedgehog, things were going according to plan.
"All systems are green, doctor. Dark Gaia activation is confirmed on all seven continents." Decoe announced, just as he and Bocoe had finished their earlier order.
"Electromagnetic homing signals are locked on. All units converging on point zero." Bocoe added.
Eggman grinned evilly, pleased with the results that things were coming along nicely. "Yes, yes, perfect! Gathering Dark Gaia's pieces is such a pain. I'll have them come to me instead, which leaves me easier access to capture Sun the Hedgehog when the time comes! A brilliant shift in perspective! An idea worthy of Dr. Eggman, super-genius! Oh ho ho ho!"
"Yay for Dr. Eggman!" Bokkun cheered happily.
"Your skill at self-aggrandizement is unparalleled." Orbot said while clapping sarcastically, which made the other three robots flinch, and while Eggman continued to laugh, he realized what his latest minion said and growled angrily.
"SILENCE!" The evil doctor snapped, slapping the round robot so hard that he ended up in a slightly broken state.
"Orbot sure fell for that one." Decoe whispered, a little scared.
"I'm more worried about what he would do if the doctor's plan fails." Bocoe whispered back, shrugging.
Normally Eggman would've snapped at both of them, but he decided to ignore the two other idiotic robots and instead turned his attention back to the monitor, ordering Orbot. "Activate the Dark Gaia fusion furnace, and while you're at it, get those energy conversion circuits warmed up!"
"Understood." Orbot saluted after repositioning himself. "Commencing "Project Dark Gaia". Requesting final clearance."
"Granted." Eggman nodded, slamming his fist onto a large red button, before ordering his other robots. "Decoe, Bocoe. Status on Sonic's whereabouts."
"Yes, sir." The two robots replied, typing away as they sent out a flying spy-bot and soon enough, they spotted a signal on Sonic's group, heading towards another continent, which to Eggman's disappointment, Spagonia's continent was now back in place.
"It appears to be Sonic and his friends are heading towards the continent of Shamar." Bocoe announced.
"Requesting clearance to power up the absorbing machine." Decoe said.
"Take it to the Egg-Eagle. I want to take flight when we capture that annoying hedgehog's clone and make sure he doesn't come. And if he does, he certainly won't be gaining access that easily." The evil scientist said, grinning devilishly that was soon followed with an twisted laugh. "Finally, my ambitions will be achieved! Gaah ha ha! Oh ho ho ho ho ho!"
If only Eggman knew that his plan to capture Sun and stopping Sonic was going to be one of his biggest mistakes he will ever make.
A/N: In the next chapter, we arrive in Shamar, the fifth continent to be restored! But it won't be an easy quest for Sonic and his friends, as the dangers are about to become more severe.
See you later!