Author's Note: Okay, NOW I'm certain this is the last chapter of 2020, I'm certain of it this time. Manging to update in two days in a row and on New Year's Eve! However, even though this is the final day of one of the worst years in our generation's history, we have to be aware that 2021 is unpredictable, so we must prepare for what next year will bring and can't expect it to be fully better, but maybe just a little bit.
Without further delays, here is chapter 19!
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 19: Battle Across the Desert.
"Wow! For a while there, I thought the King was going to make us stay in the dungeons for the rest of our lives!" Chip exclaimed while clinging onto Sonic who raced away from the Palace and up towards the direction the King had directed them and Sun(who was still hanging on for dear life, but he found that he was starting to get used to the blue hedgehog's speed) and nearing the desert where somewhere is where the Gaia Temple rested.
"I'll admit it, I was a wreck for a while there too. Sorry for breaking down like that." Sonic admitted, his heart pumping for the taste of freedom after spending nearly an hour trapped in the dungeons, the negative feelings he felt somehow washed away almost entirely. "Not to mention that when the guards mentioned the guests, I thought it was Eggman and one of his robots having tricked the King into thinking we were bad guys."
"That's a spooky thought." Sun grumbled, coughing as they were now finally reached outside of the city and began racing across the desert itself, and about to enter and pass some ruins. "And this would be a time to at least slow down a little. I still don't have sunglasses and the sand will get into my eyes and mouth!"
"While I can't do anything about your eyes, Sun, the best thing to do is to keep your mouth closed so that way you won't be eating sand." The blue hedgehog reassured, smirking as he added teasingly. "Unless you want some sandwiches! Ha ha ha! Get it?"
"Oh brother." The dark-blue hedgehog rolled his eyes over the lame joke.
"Hey, I wonder if we can make it to the Temple before nighttime? Do you think we'll be able to avoid the Dark Guardian since the monsters of Dark Gaia only come out at night?" The pixie-dog wondered aloud, before yelping in fright as Sonic leaped and jumped across some delicate ruined buildings, with Sun, now free somewhat, doing the similar thing despite that he couldn't stretch out his arms in his hedgehog form.
The two hedgehogs blinked in surprise over this after landing on the ground, before sharing a glance and the hero of Mobius shrugging cluelessly. "It could be possible. Those things haven't come out during the day. The worst case scenario is that we'll be facing more of Eggman's robots."
"Or even that fat loser himself." Sun pointed out.
"That too, and even though we can still beat him, I'd rather we'd do so after we cured you, pal. He's still after you for the darkness and if Koga's right, whatever machine the Eggster would use is gonna be very dangerous." Sonic nodded, mentally shuddering over the thought. "I don't want you to be taken over by the monster inside you, and we can't risk in it escaping, as much as we gotta find a way to get rid of it and save you."
The dark-blue hedgehog lowered his gaze, feeling doubt that it's going to be easy. What happened back in the dungeon aside, Sun still felt uncertain about himself. What if there isn't a way? What if he was destined to die? If he really is Sonic's clone, then his death would ever be by the beast inside him, Eggman using him, Kaiser killing him and selling his Werehog form for money while still mistaking him for a Werewolf, or Dark Gaia engulfing him.
Maybe now would be a good time to ask the question he'd been dreading to ask; like if he was only here to be useful and once this was over, the cobalt teenager would just abandon him.
"We will find a way, Sun." Sonic continued, seeing his friend's hopeless gaze, causing the other hedgehog to glance up at him. "It's like you said, I can't give up now, so neither should you. I was scared back there, and maybe it's the darkness really making me all negative like everybody else who were affected at night, but now that we're free to keep going, we're going to use every chance we got to set things right, and I don't care what that Dark-Furball says about you. Whatever that thing says, he's wrong!"
Sun sighed, shrugging a bit hopelessly. "He still wants me to eat you, Sonic, and says that...that whatever truth comes out...you won't have any need for me."
Both Sonic and Chip stared at him with wide-eyed horror as the two of them gasped in shock. Did the evil Werehog side...really say that?
"Sonic...am I...only useful for you for this adventure?" The dark-blue hedgehog asked hesitantly.
"No way! Not in a million years! I don't use people! Everybody I care about are my friends, and we're all equal in many different ways!" Sonic protested, placing both hands onto his friend's shoulders. "I don't just discard anybody just because I don't need them anymore or because they're just contracts or whatever. I get to know people, I become friends with them, and I let them make their own choices. It's about friendship and teamwork for me, and thinking ahead for a brighter future, and having fun either on my own or with everybody I care about so much with all my heart!"
"Huh?" Sun blinked, stunned and saw the actual seriousness in those green orbs that belonged to the blue hedgehog.
"At first when we first met, I didn't like you because of your attitude and...and how you tried to eat me as a Werehog since none of us knew about the monster inside you at the time. But through out this adventure, I began to see how much you have a good heart, Sun. I got to know you better, and you had every right to be mad at me. It's thanks to Chip that we agreed to stick together, and I vowed to cure you from this curse, and like I said before, I never break my promises. Both of you guys became part of the team, and like Tails and Knuckles, you both are my best friends now, part of my family." The blue hedgehog continued.
"We're...your family like everybody else?" Chip asked as he hovered off from the teenager's head and hovered beside the two hedgehogs.
"Exactly. You can replace items that are made by man or Mobian like vases or tea cups that break easily, but you can never replace friends and family. There's only one of each of us, especially in our hearts." Sonic nodded, smiling warmly, gazing at both of his companions. "I love you, Chip, and Sun. And after this adventure's over...if you both want to go on with your lives, then I won't stop you, but I'll miss you. I'll be thinking about you every day and night until we meet up again with Tails, and go on more adventures."
"Aw, Sonic...I love you and Sun too!" Chip sniffled, and hugged the blue hedgehog on the face which made the latter laugh at the ticklish sensation.
Sun in the meantime just wordlessly stared at Sonic, his words absorbing into his mind, raching through his thoughts. While he felt the beast protest inside him, saying that the blue hedgehog was trying to trick him which felt painful, he remembered everything through out this journey. The day when they first met, the times when they didn't get along, before the hero of Mobius found out the truth from Mnyambo, which started their friendship, how Sun, realizing how he almost had eaten Sonic, had ran away and cried but the blue hedgehog went after him, everything he heard, the advices they and Chip shared, the fun moments, the occasional arguments but cooling off, the laughter, the comfort, and even with the knowledge of him being Sonic's clone, his friend refused to believe it, and that, even if Sun is a clone, the blue hedgehog still wouldn't treat him as one.
He'd treat him...as his brother, just like he did with Tails and now Chip.
Plus, there was the thought of the future; once this was over and Sun(hopefully) could be cured and survive, would he really have memories of a past he couldn't remember, or not? And even so, either way, he realized that he didn't have a goal on what he would do next. Thinking ahead for a brighter future...
But what if he had no future?
"Guys..." Sun began, causing his two friends to gaze at him, as he admitted with tears beginning to form again, looking quite frightened yet emotional. "I...I love you both, too. Or at least, I think I do. I don't know or even remember what love really means."
Sonic smiled comfortingly, gently rubbing his friend's right arm. "Love can be anything, but it really comes from the heart, and not just romance. It's to show how much you really care."
The dark-blue hedgehog again said nothing, but he felt his own heart ache and warm up at the same time. Yes he could feel emotions, and he acted like every other person in the world, and never questioned it. He only questioned his memories and his past. He got to experience life, whether it was new or just...life itself, he didn't know. Not once he thought about storming off or being on his own. Could that mean...it wasn't Sonic who was dragging him along on purpose...but Sun himself was following him like his shadow? The beast inside him terrified him, and he didn't want to eat Sonic. Not anymore.
Not when he got to see just how kind and caring the blue hedgehog really is.
"I'm scared..." Sun whispered, beginning to tear up.
"Don't cry, Sun. It's gonna be alright. C'mere." Sonic muttered, pulling his other friend into another hug as the trio embraced once more. "Shhh...It'll be okay."
Even though he didn't what to do at the moment, the dark-blue hedgehog began to feel better and maybe, just maybe, he did understand what strong feelings were. Then he thought that it was because he was scared of learning who he really is, and what will happen to him. More than anything, clone or not, Sun had nowhere else to go. Maybe he should ask for Tails' advice on how he managed to cope and gain a better life thanks to Sonic.
"Right..." He finally muttered and nodded, and after a few more moments, the three of them moved away and smiled. "Thanks, Sonic. I think I understand how you're able to make so many friends."
"I'm not only guy with that kind of gift. There are other people out there that can do the same as me, maybe even better." Sonic shrugged, "But you're welcome, Sun."
Despite still feeling uneasy, Sun felt better at the same time, and this time happily shared a high-five with his two best friends before the trio took off to the desert through out the ruins once more to continue their journey. But as they left the ruins and onto towards the main stretch of the desert, Sonic and his friends saw more of Eggman's robots called the turrents appear from the ground, which made the two hedgehogs roll their eyes.
"These guys will be easy, right?" Chip asked, smirking a bit.
"Piece of cake!" Sonic chuckled, letting go of Sun and Spin Dashing into a couple while dodging the machines' attacks of lasers and such, but as he was too fast for them, he managed to take them out like a pinball game. Though as he did, he couldn't help but feel like his was a mixture of his old self and...what he had been going through in this adventure.
'Huh. I've been miserable yet still being myself at the same time back to front. Maybe it's the darkness inside me that's making me like I've been split into two personalities. If I got rid of the darkness within me, would I ever go back to being my normal self?' Sonic thought to himself as he took out the robots with ease, leaping and dodging their attacks.
Sun in the meantime was punching the living(or artificial living anyway) lives out of the annoying robots, jumping and flipping over more and causing a couple to crash into each other, exploding in the process. When he then saw how Sonic kept on performing his spin attacks like Spin Dash or Homing Attack, he couldn't help but remember and memorize how the blue hedgehog was able to do it; curling up and dashing away like a ball all over the place, and remembered him saying that Tails can Spin Dash too and the eight year old was a fox with two tails that can help him fly.
'Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try it out too. Might not get it right the first time, but...better late than never, I guess.' The dark-blue hedgehog thought, and while he quickly leaped back to avoid a net that was shot at him by another robot, he tried to pay attention to how the blue hedgehog was doing it. 'Well, here goes.'
Hoping to get it right, Sun leaped a bit before curling up into a ball and, remembering Sonic's technique skills as best as he could even though he hadn't paid too much attention through out this journey, he spun around and surprisingly did his own Spin Dash which hit the robot so hard that it went flying backwards and crashing into the ground, exploding. Unfortunately for the amnesic hedgehog, he couldn't stop and ended up screaming before flinging himself into the air and then crashed head first into the sand, half burying himself with his legs sticking out. By the time Sonic and Chip who tried to help but only ended up distracting them which made the cobalt teenager get easier access, had defeated all of the robots so far, they saw what happened and gasped in shock before hurrying to help their friend.
"Sun!" Sonic exclaimed.
"Sun, speak to us! Speak to us!" Chip cried out frantically.
Fortunately, the dark-blue hedgehog was fine, just stuck as he tried to pull himself out, which had his friends to grab his legs and yanked him out, though all three of them stumbled onto the ground. Sun, freed and sitting, coughed and spluttered as he spat out the sand that got into his mouth, and sadly for both Sonic and Chip, the impact on landing and falling caused some sand to get into their mouths as well and they ended up doing the same as their friend.
"Yuck!" Sonic groaned in disgust. "I take it back about the sandwiches joke. Blegh!"
"This is worse than the snow! Co-egh!" Chip whined as he sputtered and brushed his face off.
"Yeah, well, you try having a whole mouth full of-*cough* bleh-sand." Sun grumbled, spitting out hopefully the last traces of sand. "Doing a Spin Dash is harder than I thought."
"I saw what happened and boy, you sent that robot flyin'! Not bad for your first try. What made ya' want to start learning it? Not that I think it's uncool for other people to try it out like me, Tails and Shadow." The blue hedgehog asked, once recovering from the sandy episode.
"I don't know. I guess I figured since I wouldn't be able to use the fighting skills as a Werehog and my attacks as a hedgehog are limited, I might as well learn something new. Just wasn't expecting to go crashing into the ground, though." The dark-blue hedgehog shrugged. "I learned it from you."
Sonic couldn't help but smile softly and proudly. "It's not an easy thing to learn, and Tails is a fast learner, but you'll get the hang of it. I'll help you learn how to Spin Dash without crashing. How's that sound?"
"That sounds cool..." Sun replied, smiling back, and he felt a bit proud of himself when he was told that his first attempt wasn't bad at all. He just needed practice.
In the new lab, Tails was reading and studying a book related to the situation with Amy doing the same close by and Pickle doing his own research while having a plate of, as usual cucumber sandwiches. The human professor had explained to the two young Mobians that he knew the King for years which was why he and the pink hedgehog went to the palace first and when they heard of the misunderstanding arrest of Sonic, Tails himself, Chip and Sun, Pickle had told him that the four of them were not bad people which led to the King, realizing his mistake, to tell the guards to release them and have them brought to the Throne Room.
"Hm? Well, this is interesting." Pickle spoke up, finding something quite useful, which brought both Tails and Amy out of their thoughts as they looked up. "I just discovered the new location of another Temple."
"Really!?" Amy asked, excitedly as she hopped off of the chair she'd been sitting on. "Where?"
"Where is it, Professor?" Tails asked, eagerly.
"It is located in the region of Adabat, so by the time Sonic, Chip and Sun restore this continent, the four of you can get there straight away. However, I still need to do more research on what it's there that could get in the way." Pickle explained.
"Wow! That's great, professor! That means we just need to figure out where the last Temple is and Mobius will be back to normal in the next few days!" The two-tailed fox exclaimed happily. Finally, they were edging even closer in restoring the world.
While Amy was happy that they were almost there and she cheered on about it, there was one thought that got to her. How Sonic, while doing a great job, was handling it. He had a bit of darkness within him, he blamed himself for what happened to the world, to Chip and to Sun, and he just wasn't...acting like himself lately. Plus it broke her heart on how the King just bluntly informed Sonic of the latter's failure to stop Eggman from splitting up the planet in the first place when the blue hedgehog was only trying to stop him.
Then there's the problem with Sun, and she couldn't help but wonder if he really is Sonic's clone or not.
"Um, Professor. I was wondering." The pink hedgehog began, "Was there anything that said there was a cure to help Sun turn into a normal hedgehog again? Or anything like that?"
The other two gazed at the twelve year old in surprise, before Tails, remembering that information, glanced up at the human researcher who sighed and sadly shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. But I did find that Light Gaia is involved, and from the little information I have found, combined with what Sonic, Chip and Sun have discovered in Holoska, the moment Dark Gaia destroys the world, Light Gaia appears to restore it." Professor Pickle explained.
"Oh...I see." Amy whispered, disappointed.
"Sonic did say that he and Chip are somehow both connected with Light Gaia, and Chip's necklace is the key in opening the Temples. Plus since Eggman woke up Dark Gaia on purpose, this is different now since we're trying to restore the planet and restore the Chaos Emeralds too." Tails recalled.
"Maybe there's a chance that we can save Sun if we stop Dark Gaia from coming fully back." The pink hedgehog perked up the moment her eight year old friend said that.
"Yeah!" The young kit nodded, only for his Miles Electric to buzz which confused the trio, before he hurried over to the table and answered. "Hello?"
"Tails! Where's Sonic!?" It was Knuckles who's face appeared on the screen, as he was riding in Shadow's plane with the black hedgehog and Rouge.
"Oh! Hi, Knuckles. Sonic, Sun and Chip are heading to the Gaia Temple here." Tails replied, before asking as he could hear and see the urgency in the red echidna's face and voice. "What's going on?"
"Bad news. Shadow found out that Eggman is heading your way and given what's going on, he'll be there to get to Sun." Knuckles replied firmly.
"WHAT!?" Tails exclaimed in horror, making both Amy and Pickle gasp in horror, just as the lab suddenly shook a little and a loud, ear-hurting sound could be heard from outside even from a far distance, causing the three of them to scream.
As the Guardian of the Master Emerald frantically asked what was wrong, the trio looked out of the window and saw from the distance was a huge robotic Eagle that flew safely past Shamar's City and into the distance...straight towards where Sonic's group were.
"It's Eggman!" Amy exclaimed in anger and worry.
"Oh dear! This is horrible!" Pickle exclaimed in horror. "Those boys are in grave danger!"
"Dang it! And we're still too far from them!" Knuckles cursed angrily and in frustration.
Even though he knew that his big brother and two new friends could handle it, Tails feared that something horrible was going to happen and felt that he should do something. He hadn't been much help like he used to, but Sonic needed him, and so did both Chip and Sun. He was really scared with the idea of going into such a dangerous situation, but by the time Knuckles and Shadow(and unknowingly to the two-tailed cub, Rouge) would get here to Shamar, it may be too late.
"I'll catch up to them! We'll meet you when you see us!" Tails finally declared, much to the shock of his friends and mentor.
"ARE YOU NUTS!?" The red echidna shouted, and ignored Rouge's voice in the background for him to calm down. "It's dangerous!"
"I don't care! If we don't do something, Sonic and the others will get hurt and if Eggman kidnaps Sun, Sonic's gonna need to get to that giant robot to save him! I'm the only one who can get there fast enough in the Tornado 1!" The young fox pointed out with some fear, but mostly courage and determination to help out. "I'll be careful, I promise."
Despite the protests from Pickle and the others, it became apparent that he was serious about this.
"Well then, if you're going, then I'm going too!" Amy declared, surprising everyone again as she held her own determined expression. "I'm not gonna let you go on your own and Eggman's gonna pay for hurting my Sonic, Chip and Sun! And nobody's gonna stop me!"
The boys sweat dropped over the pink hedgehog girl's fierce determination and once she was, nothing could cool her off until she done it on her own. Plus, Tails knew that she was right, and he could use some back-up just in case.
"Okay! Let's go!" He nodded in agreement, then turned back to the Miles Electric. "Don't worry, Knuckles. We'll handle it!"
Despite their concerns, Knuckles, Pickle, and both Shadow and Rouge who overheard the conversation as they flew towards Shamar, all knew that Tails and Amy were right. The two of them were Sonic's only chances right now.
So they had no choice but to agree and told the duo to be careful and once they did and promised Pickle they would be back soon, Tails and Amy quickly hurried to the Tornado 1 and buckled up before taking flight towards where Sonic's group where, both thinking and pleading for Sonic to be safe.
To think that he was able to discover that Sonic and his friends were in a place he hasn't been to in twenty years was a surprising first guess. Kaiser had landed his plane near the small village just outside of the main city itself, hiding in the Oasis as he waited for the blue hedgehog, the 'Werewolf' in hedgehog form, and the small pixie to come and find the Temple of Gaia. This was actually the first place he decided to investigate and as he snuck around the city earlier, he overheard hearing a little boy happily cheering that his birthday was saved by a blue hedgehog as his older sister giggled.
And since the Myth Hunter has seen the Temple himself while looking for the cave that, to his disappointment, was not real and remembered the way by heart, he decided to prepare for an ambush and kill the group by first killing the fifteen year old, then the pixie and then hold Sun captive until nightfall before ending his life and then sell his true form along with Chip's body for a profit.
"Prepare, my old friends. Just before the sun will set, the Werewolf and the pixie will be mine." Kaiser whispered to himself, chuckling evilly.
But as he was waiting for the trio to come this way, he heard a distant engine roaring in the sky and, puzzled and annoyed what or who was here, the Cheetah looked up from his hiding place and, peering out from the palm leaves and taking out his binoculars, he saw a giant robotic fortress-like Eagle flying towards where he was, very far away but edging closer and closer as it went. Yet what made it more noticeable was the painted logo of a man's face with a large mustache and ugly large toothy grin on it's chest.
"So, Dr. Eggman is here. Well, this kills three birds in one stone and not just two." The Myth Hunter muttered to himself, as he had also been wanting to kill Eggman since ten years ago yet he didn't tell Sonic that. This made things easier for him to get what he wanted yet more challenging.
However, he was the Myth Hunter, the superior of Mobius. Soon everything will be his.
He then heard a whooshing sound and turned to see, to his delight, a blue blur coming this way. Kaiser grinned evilly and, being close to another building and pulling out his whip, as he knew who it was, he whipped it so hard that it caused the building to easily tumble and fall, jumping back while laughing while creating a small dust cloud of sand while the large building fell to the side and blocked the path slightly that couldn't be avoided unless Sonic and his friends leaped over it.
Sonic, Chip and Sun, unaware of the approaching dangers after passing by a couple of small villages and beautiful Oasis, speeding through the desert while taking out more robots and had quite a few close calls with more ruins, saw the dust cloud up ahead and gasped in surprise.
"What's that?" Chip cried out, alarmed.
"A sandstorm?" Sun asked, before he and his two friends gasped as when the sand cleared, they saw a building having toppled over.
"A road block!?" Sonic exclaimed, shocked. He then sensed something from their right and slowed down just in time to see a menacing figure charging towards them, with a familiar whip with caused him to gasp horror. That shape, the shape of a Mobian Cheetah.
Acting quickly, the blue hedgehog skid to a stop and leaped back with his friends holding on tight, narrowly avoiding the super deadly whip thrusting at the sand, sending more flying into the air and as the trio landed in a safe distance, they heard an animalistic roar before the figure of Kaiser leaped up from the dust and was seen above them. Sonic, Chip and Sun's eyes widened in disbelief as the sun's light was slightly blocked off by the silhouette of the evil Myth Hunter who descended down towards them.
"Watch out!" Chip screamed hysterically.
Sonic and his friends leaped away again just as Kaiser clawed the ground, forcing the trio back slightly before glaring up at the evil Cheetah, with the blue hedgehog grunting angrily. "Kaiser!"
"You again!" Sun growled, irritated and furious as Kaiser stood up, grinning at the group back.
"You-you-you horrible Cheetah!" Chip yelled angrily despite being really scared.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! So, we meet again, Sonic the Hedgehog. With my Werewolf in a hedgehog form, and my little pixie." Kaiser laughed evilly.
"They're not yours!" Sonic snapped, holding his arms out to shield his friends. "And Sun's not a Werewolf at night! He turns into a Werehog, and I'm going to cure him and turn him back to normal! Leave him and Chip alone, or you'll be sorry!"
"Your words are a waste of your breath, boy." The evil Cheetah growled, whipping his whip to the side as he prepared to kill the trio. "They belong to me and me alone!"
"Newsflash, Myth Loser. You've cause a heck of a lot of trouble for the past decades. We know what you did to the people in Holoska and what you did here in Shamar. Why are you so obsessed with proving Myths are real and then killing those things as well as other people in the world?" Sun grunted.
"And how did you know where to fun us?" Chip added.
Kaiser grinned as he explained. "It is quite simple, my Werewolf and Pixie. Each time we met, it was in cities were the ancient Temples of Gaia were located; Spagonia, Chun-Nan and this place are the examples. It then occurred to me that each of those places have restored the continents of the shattered world, so this was the first place I knew I could find you two and the blue hedgehog. It was pure luck that I came here, and waited...waited for the moment to take what I want!"
"NO! I won't let you!" Sonic shouted, standing in a fighting stance. "You're not getting to my friends or anybody else, Kaiser! Plus, we're busy right now in fixing up the planet and we're one step closer in saving it!"
"Fool. Mobius is beyond saving now, because of Dr. Eggman's actions...and because you have failed to stop him! Once I kill you and take my prizes, I will kill that idiotic doctor and soon what is left of the planet will bow before me! I will prove that all Myths are facts, I will be superior to the people, humans and Mobians alike, and all who resist my strength will die and I will bathe in their blood!" Kaiser declared with a new, twisted insane look in his eyes and on his face, which, despite their best efforts to hide it, terrified the group with what he was saying.
Plus the blue hedgehog felt his guilt increase again by those words of failure. It echoed and repeated in his mind rapidly, his heart thumping wildly in horror. Was it really...all his fault? That his failure to stop Eggman from awakening Dark Gaia caused Kaiser to lose more of his sanity even further? To become...such a terrifying murderer that he wanted to actually roll into pools of other people's blood!? He squeezed his eyes shut to try and block out all of those negative thoughts, especially when there were only three continents left to put back into place.
"You...YOU MONSTER!" Sonic screamed as he snapped his eyes open, glaring furiously at the evil corrupted Cheetah. "Not only you hunt Myths for entertainment, but you've been so obsessed with them and killing other innocent people's lives that you've become a monster, a murderer, and a psychopath! How could you not care about the world when it's close in being fixed!?"
"It's a small price to pay, child. And I will enjoy bathing in YOUR blood, I could even taste it!" Kaiser grinned wickedly, his eyes looking monster-like.
"GAH! Now he's become a cannibal!" Chip screamed in horror.
"Don't think even cannibal's the right word for this psychopath." Sun blinked, admittedly now scared himself.
Sonic, absolutely disgusted with Kaiser's cruelty, clutched his fists which shook in horror and fury he never felt before, as the Cheetah's actions were much worse than both Eggman and even Tikal's father combined. Maybe a bit more than even Black Doom's and that guy wanted to feed Mobius to his entire kind. The Myth Hunter simply enjoyed killing for his own liking and only cared for himself. All the killings this Mobian Cheetah had done, to half of Mnyambo's people, one of Korso's people, the attempted murder in Chun-Nan, and who knows how many more lives that were lost in the past few decades, and attempting to kill his friends...his family, and take them away from the hero of Mobius...
"That's it...! I know we haven't been enemies for long, Myth Hunter...but already...you've really...gone and done it this time, Kaiser!" The teenage hedgehog growled furiously, his green eyes darkened slightly in pure rage. "I'm gonna stop you!"
Chip and Sun stared at Sonic in shock, neither one having seen him so enraged before, and while the dark-blue hedgehog felt just as disgusted and furious, the fact that the cobalt hero was in this state of anger...it was worrisome and terrifying.
Kaiser on the other hand chuckled evilly as he prepared to kill the heroes. "Go ahead and try, boy. This time, you will not defeat me!"
"Oh yeah!? We'll see about that!" Sonic shouted, before instructing his friends. "Chip, Sun, you go on ahead of me and get to the Temple! I'll handle Kaiser!"
"No!" Sun snapped, coming out of his shocked daze. "I'm not leaving you to this insane hunter!"
"You've got to. I'll give you the Chaos Emeralds and-"
"Look out!" Chip screamed, alarming the two hedgehogs just as Kaiser pulled out his rifle and was about to shoot them, which forced Sonic to grab hold of Sun's right arm and wrapped the pixie with his own before jumping away quickly with his speed.
But the Myth Hunter then used his whip to slash at another building which forced them to jump back and further blocked off from the Temple and unless they jumped over and risked in Kaiser chasing after them even with the blue hedgehog being the fastest thing alive, they realized that he would still follow them and kill them in the Temple, stopping them from restoring Shamar.
"Neither of you will be leaving alive! You all belong to me now!" Kaiser declared, becoming even more insane and charged with a mighty roar, forcing the trio to leap and dodge his attacks which, unlike the last time in Spagonia and what they witnessed in Chun-Nan before the Phoenix knocked him out. He then fired more shots at them with his rifle, forcing Sonic and his friends to dodge while the Cheetah chased after them all around the area they found themselves trapped in as he was bent on killing them and selling both Sun and Chip's dead bodies to the highest bidder.
The group were forced to repeatedly dodge the attacks and no matter where Sonic tried to hide Sun and Chip, Kaiser was shockingly faster than before, more insane and ten times more deadly and dangerous. The blue hedgehog had been forced to skid to a stop when the evil Cheetah somehow managed to shoot in front of him and blocked his path, and was unable to go back when the monster of a Mobian whipped at the ground, creating another cloud of sand flying everywhere, forcing the two hedgehogs and the small pixie to shield their eyes and coughed when the dirt got into their mouths again.
'Kaiser's gotten even faster than the last time. How'm I gonna stop him if he has the advantage around here?' Sonic thought to himself bitterly, trying to figure something out fast while trying to avoid in the sand getting into his eyes.
Kaiser waited with a twisted grin as the dust began to clear and the three younger Mobians were still recovering, giving him the chance to kill them as he aimed at the unsuspecting teenager who would be his first victim for today.
'Your days are over, Sonic the Hedgehog!' The evil Cheetah thought with a grin, ready to shoot him dead.
However, Sun, struggling with the beast inside him, heard the dreaded sound of the rifle cocking and when he risked in opening his eyes, he gasped in horror when he saw Kaiser take aim at Sonic and, without thinking for a second as he didn't want his friend to die, quickly moved over to shove the blue hedgehog out of the way.
"SONIC, MOVE!" Sun screamed.
"What!?" Sonic shouted, only to cry out in alarm as the other hedgehog pushed him to the side...
Just as Kaiser fired and the gunshot hit the dark-blue hedgehog on the lower part and left side of his waist, causing Sun to scream in agony before he fell to his knees, his hand clutching to the newly made wound which quickly bled and slowly seeped through his gloved hand. The dark-blue hedgehog hissed in pain, shaking and feeling rapidly dizzy from the rapidly blood loss, his eyes squeezed shut and leaked with tears. Sonic and Chip both saw what happened and felt their hearts stop, and their blood freezing up in devastation and horror, seeing that Sun had just risked his life to save Sonic's.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Sonic screamed angishly, kneeling in front of his wounded friend and placed his hands onto Sun's shoulders, guilt-ridden, horrified, and devastated, tears leaking in his eyes. "SUN! Sun, don't leave us! Hang in there! Don't-Don't leave me!"
"SUN!" Chip screamed out, horrified and devastated himself, tears forming in his eyes as he began to cry. 'How could this be? How could...how could Kaiser do such a horrible thing!?'
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That is just the taste of what you are all going to get! Prepare to DIE!" Kaiser roared, taking another aim to this time kill all three of them with ease, starting with killing the distracted Sonic and Sun who, the former looking up, gasped in horror and, unable to stand up in time due to what was about to happen, could only pull his wounded friend closed and try to shield him as much as possible while squeezing his eyes shut, bracing himself for his bitter end.
Yet like Sun, Chip, unable to stand seeing his other best friend being shot despite being terrified, flew in front of the two hedgehogs and spread his arms out to sacrifice himself and save them, much to Sonic's horror as he heard and then saw what was about to happen.
"CHIP, NO!" The fifteen year old screamed, reaching out for him, but he knew that it was already too late. One of his new friends was about to die, the other was potentially dying, and he failed to protect them.
But as Kaiser fired and Chip shut his eyes while bracing himself, his necklace glowed once more and like back in Chun-Nan, a green sphere of light formed all around them which forced Sonic to shield his eyes with one arm to avoid in being blinded, and the shield of light itself blocked and disintigrated the gunshot into nothing, saving all three of them.
"What!?" Kaiser exclaimed, shocked at what just happened.
When Sonic slowly lowered his arm and looked up, he gazed in awe at how Chip's necklace had saved them again and this time he actually saw it glow, having magically formed the protective shield that saved his life when all of this began, and how it saved him and his two friends from crashing to the ground in the Dragon Garden. He was right; it was the necklace that protected them.
To make it more astonishing, small steam-like waves of green light, which Chip noticed as well as the shield and gasped in awe as well, appeared and gently flew towards the two hedgehogs while the pixie looked over his shoulder in wonder, and Sonic watched the lights flew onto Sun who was still holding onto his side as he bled, too dizzy and exhausted to notice until he felt warmth flow into his body, making him open his eyes and saw what was going on. It seeped into his body and while he winched as it burned, neither one noticed mists of darkness that were seeping out of the wound vanish and the light began to close up the gunshot wound and heal it, even vaporating the blood on his fur and hands as though he was never wounded to begin with.
"NO! That-that ligh-UGH! I...am...losing...control...of...you!" The dark-blue hedgehog heard the beast grunt in agony, apparently feeling the effects of the light and obviously in pain while Sun himself...felt somewhat healed.
Stunned and healed like he was never hurt, Sun looked at himself while Sonic and Chip looked on in awe, amazed by this incredible shield and healing power. Kaiser on the other hand, roaring in fury and disbelief, attempted to fire another shot, only for his rifle to give out the sound of an innocent click, meaning that he was out of castings, much to his frustration. As the trio, amazed and relieved that Chip had unknowingly saved their lives and healed the dark-blue hedgehog, and the blue hedgehog feeling dizzy with relief, heard this, they looked up just as the shield faded and glared hard at the evil Cheetah who almost took away Sonic's two new friends.
"You crossed me the last time!" Kaiser roared furiously, whipping out his whip and his knife. This only made Sonic glare just as furiously back, standing up slowly as Sun was still recovering, and Chip, who had hovered towards them, floated by the dark-blue hedgehog as they both watched hesitantly, the blue hedgehog taking a couple steps forward.
"You tried to kill my friends. You killed so many people for the past several years, even before I was born. You killed a Yeti, and destroyed the peace and harmony Holoska had. You killed half of Mnyambo's people, who had been your people too...I've had it, Kaiser. I've had it with your evil ways." Sonic spoke calmly with a look of absolute fury. "How much more...will you kill?"
As Kaiser glared with pure hatred at the teenager, he noticed something he never noticed before; for a split second, he saw an older hedgehog with light blue fur, blue eyes, and a white mustache who stood in the same stance, before his vision returned to reality. His eyes widening in disbelief at first, the twisted Cheetah then grinned and began chuckling.
"Ah. Now I see. It's no wonder you are a hero, and why you looked somewhat familiar, other than you being the world-famous savior. I should have known. You are the nephew of Sir Charles Hedgehog, and the son of Jules, his only brother." Kaiser said darkly.
That struck Sonic to the core, his eyes widening when he and his friends(who gasped in horror) heard this. "W-what? How-how'd you-!?"
"It was almost ten years ago, on that day when I attacked that city, the Empire City in this very region. Your weak and too pure-hearted father never saw me, but your Uncle had fallen into my trap along with the other fifty people. I was seeking a Jeweled Scepter that would lead others to another dimension, where they would die and never return. Charles pleaded like a baby." Kaiser explained wickedly, recalling that day when he confronted Sonic's beloved uncle.
Flash-Back: Nine years and six months ago...
Kaiser was standing in front of a group of innocent people, most looking terrified and husbands holding their wifes and children who whimpered and began crying, and in front of them, was a middle-aged blue hedgehog, Sir Charles "Chuck" Hedgehog, who was doing his best in trying to find a way to get these people away from the dangerous murderer. In Kaiser's hand was a Jeweled Scepter that was glowing in red and purple lights.
"Surrender, Charles Hedgehog." Kaiser ordered darkly. "Join me to learn the further secrets of the ancient Scepter, to show me the power to see the secret hiding spots of all Myths!"
"Never! I will not let you use me, you evil hunter! Let these people go!" Charles shouted back, while having hoped that his brother managed to get away with the rest of the survivors. As much as he had promised his sweet and pure-hearted nephew Sonic, who, for a six year old, had the purest heart he'd ever seen, and while he was Jules' son, Charles couldn't help but see the young hedgehog like his own son as well, he had a feeling he would never him or anyone else again.
This only made the Myth Hunter laugh manically. "Why borther? These people are worthless, and those children are parasites. Perhaps a place where you all will fall to your room will be a nice final vacation any of you will ever have!"
To the horror of Charles and the fifty people he was trying to save, Kaiser held up the Scepter and bellowed. "ANCIENT SCEPTER! I, Kaiser Bakuvu, command you to send Sir Charles Hedgehog and all of these fifty people to another dimension, where they will perish and die by the darkest of evil, into the void of NO RETURN!"
"NO, wait!" Charles cried out, but it was too late. The Scepter began glowing brighter and brighter and with a whooshing sound behind him and the other people, a huge vortex of distoration opened up and appeared through Space and Time, and all of the fifty-one people including himself struggled against the powerful pull, but were unable to escape it.
Soon group by group, the people were lifted off from the cliff and swallowed up by the portal, screaming in fear and as Charles tried to save two children who were crying in fear, he too along with the youngsters were eventually unable to escape while Kaiser laughed evilly.
"Death awaits you, Charles Hedgehog!" The evil Cheetah bellowed.
'...Jules, Bernadette...Sonic...my Sonny Boy...' Charles thought tearfully, knowing that he would never see his beloved family again, and can only hope that they would be safe from the Myth Hunter, as he was then lifted off the ground and hugged the screaming children close to him in his best effort to shield them before they all vanished into the portal which closed off shut, all of them trapped in the Death Void forever.
Kaiser grinned wickedly, only to notice his hand becoming lighter and when he looked to see what was going on, to his shock and dismay, the Scepter disappeared into particles of light.
"What!?" He gasped, before growling furiously before turning to the spot where Charles and the other people had been in, shouting angrily. "Curse you, Sir Charles! You did not tell me that the Scepter vanishes after it is being used! Now I'll never be able to use it again! Pray hope that you will die the second you land wherever you are!"
None the less, despite the failure to keep the Jeweled Scepter as his own, at least he got rid of the worthless people from Mobius.
End of Flash-Back:
"The Jeweled Scepter could only be used once every 300 years, and sadly, I used it's power already to send that old fool and those other worthless people to their demise. They are most likely dead by now the moment they entered the Void of Death." Kaiser continued evilly.
"You twisted son of a snake!" Sun hissed furiously, wishing at that moment to be in his Werehog form just to kill the Myth Hunter for doing such a thing, having taken away someone very dear and important from Sonic and his family.
"How could you, you horrible Cheetah!?" Chip shouted angrily, horrified that one of his best friend's family member was killed by the monster in front of them.
Sonic was unable to believe it. All these years of never knowing what happened or how his uncle had died, along with all of those innocent people. Now he learned of the truth; it had been Kaiser who killed Uncle Chuck. Sending him and fifty others into another dimension, which explained why no bodies had been found, or any traces of blood. Because they all died in a different world by something else evil.
Tears formed in his eyes, the full tragic truth finally been revealed...and the monster who had been behind the attack all those years ago, one that almost killed his father, and had killed his uncle. The blue hedgehog then glared in further rage, his fists shaking.
"KAISER!" Sonic screamed in rage, immediately Spin Dashing right into the murderous Cheetah's chest, sending him flying backwards and causing the Myth Hunter to scream in agony and crash onto the sand hard. He didn't stop there as the devastated and angry hero dashed towards him before attempting to attack the monster responsible for killing Uncle Chuck.
But Kaiser, reeling in pain, growled before rolling out of the way and narrowly avoided the enraged teenager's attack. The Myth Hunter then responded by whipping at Sonic who easily dodged the attack and kicked at the evil Mobian's wrist, but Kaiser held a tight grip on his whip and instead punched Sonic squarely in the face, sending him flying backwards, but the hero flipped and landed safely on the ground, wincing at the bruise he would no doubt have.
"If you wish to see your dear uncle again, then I will gladly grant you your wish! And all others you cherish will follow!" Kaiser declared cruely, which made Sonic gasp and remember everyone else he loved in his life; his parents, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Cream and Cheese, Vanilla, the Chaotix, Big the Cat, Rouge, even both Shadow and Omega, and other friends he hasn't seen in a while...and now both Chip and Sun.
No. He couldn't lose them too. Realizing that he was attacking in rage and vengeance instead of fighting to protect those who were still alive, the blue hedgehog panted and squeezed his eyes shut and despite feeling the pure hatred towards the Myth Hunter, Sonic knew that he couldn't attack or kill. He had to fight in order to stop him and save Mobius. He quickly dodged Kaiser's whip as the Cheetah roared and charged to attack him with his bear hands and his knife which was pulled out, but Sonic jumped and kicked at the wrist that was holding the knife and made sure it was kicked into the far distance, and jumped onto Kaiser's head, shoving him down to the ground.
"You killed my uncle, you monster! You took away one of the people I loved so much away from me! You tried to do the same to my friends, and many others! I won't let you get away with all the murders you committed! But I'll let GUN handle it after I knock you out cold!" Sonic declared after he landed swiftly on the sand.
"NO ONE WILL SURVIVE MY DESIRES!" Kaiser roared, standing up and landing a punch in the blue hedgehog's gut, causing him to wince in pain before being kicked to the ground.
Hissing in pain, Sonic quickly rolled to the side when his opponent attempted to do it again and began running around and around the evil monster in Mobian disguise, creating a sand-tornado with his speed which caused his friends to shield their eyes while Kaiser was left trapped inside and he felt a flash of deja-vu, feeling himself being lifted off the ground as he cried out in alarm.
Once the teenager stopped his attack and stood near the Oasis, the Myth Hunter flew high into the air before falling to the ground hard, crashing. Moments of silence followed as Sonic waited anxiously, panting hard due to the mixture of Shamar's heat, the emotional breakdown and heart-ache he had endured, and the fighting he had to go through. His friends watched on with worry, never having seen the blue hedgehog like this before. However, to the trio's horror, Kaiser, though injured and exhausted, pushed himself up and with a mighty roar, charged forward and just as Sonic was about to dodge to the right and with a swift kick, the evil Cheetah grabbed his leg and spun him around and around before letting go.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" Sonic screamed before hitting a palm tree hard, sliding to the ground and hissed in pain, his eyes shut as he tried to dull the injury, with both Chip and Sun screaming out his name. Kaiser, rolling his shoulder and cracking his neck, calmly approached the blue hedgehog and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up as he began to strangle the life out of him. Sonic grasped the Cheetah's wrist and tried to free himself through wriggling and squirming, feeling his air running out.
"It looks like you are the last of your pathetic family's generation, because I will enjoy killing you, and soon the Werewolf and the pixie, will be mine, as will the lives of the rest of all you cherish. Burn in the Underworld, Sonic the Hedgehog...!" Kaiser whispered darkly, preparing to whip Sonic to death as the fifteen year old struggled to free himself.
"NOOOOOOO!" Sun screamed, racing over before using his new Spin Dash, which still wasn't perfect given he only just started to learn it today, and hit Kasier on the back hard.
"UGH!" Kaiser roared in agony, forced to drop Sonic who fell to the ground, before the dark-blue hedgehog, stumbling but thankfully not sending himself flying, punched the Cheetah squarely in the face which sent the latter flying and the evil Mobian hit the fallen building hard, almost knocked out cold.
Sonic coughed as he rubbed his throat, looking up to see Sun glare furiously at the Myth Hunter, panting.
"Don't, touch, my best friend!" The dark-blue hedgehog warned darkly. "If I were a Werehog, not Werewolf for the millionth time, I'd do worse than that!"
"Sun...!" The blue hedgehog wheeze, breathing in and out to recover before he stood up and ignored his injuries.
"Sonic, are you okay?" Sun asked, gazing at his friend.
"I've had worse." Sonic shrugged, smiling in gratitude while still heart-broken for what he had learned, but tried to force it down. "Thanks, bro."
While stunned to being called 'bro', the dark-blue hedgehog smiled back and nodded, just as the sound of huge deafening engines and robotic Eagle-shriek was heard, causing the four Mobians(especially the injured Kaiser) to look up and to their dismay, horror and annoyance, a huge black and brown Eagle-like Fortress was flying towards them. It was Eggman's Egg-Eagle, and within the main control room that was similar to his base, the evil doctor himself along with his robot minions were waiting as they watched through the monitors.
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho! Well, this is a surprise! That little blue hedgehog and his clone are right where I want them!" Eggman laughed manically, and while he was terrified to see Kaiser the Myth Hunter there as well, the evil doctor felt confident that he was safe and sound within his robot-fortress, and that Sonic and his friends had seemed to have defeated the evil Cheetah already.
"Eggman!" Sonic hissed, glaring hard at the giant flying robot. Of all the times for his nemesis to show up, it had to be in the middle of the fight against Kaiser.
"It's Beach-Ball-Man!" Chip exclaimed angrily.
"Oh great...not now." Sun groaned in sheer annoyance, though he felt more than a little nervous, given how he was on top of Eggman's wanted list at the moment.
In the Egg-Eagle, Decoe and Bocoe were quickly setting up the cannons to launch an attack before they saluted at their creator, the former saying. "The missiles is all set, doctor."
"Waiting permission to attack." The latter added.
"Granted." Eggman declared, and as the engines fired up, once he knew that it was ready, he shouted his command. "FIRE!"
The Egg-Eagle's chest opened up to reveal a large cannon, and to the horror of Sonic, Chip and Sun, it began to power up before firing a huge missile, forcing the trio to try and leap back, as they and Kaiser, who had been too injured to move, screamed just as it hit the ground, exploding upon impact. Fortunately it only caused a large crater and sink hole, sending out smoke and sand everywhere but enough to distract the Mobians who coughed and wheezed but mostly unharmed. Unfortunately, however, this was just a distraction because the giant robotic-fortress's mouth opened up and shot out a large grabbing claw, easily grabbing Sun around the waist thanks to the scanners within the fortress itself.
"AAAHHHH!" Sun screamed as he was then lifted off the ground and pulled into the air towards the fortress, much to the horror of Sonic and Chip who heard him scream and due to the thickness of the smoke and sand, could only see him vanish and pulled out into the air but towards the robot's mouth.
"SUN!" Sonic screamed in horror and dismay, quickly racing blindlessly through the dust and smoke, covering his mouth as he coughed. "Let him go, Eggman! Give him back!"
Sun in the meantime struggled to pull himself out of the claw's grip, squirming and wriggling to escape, shouting. "Let me go!"
"HA HA HA HA HA HA! Yes! Sun the Hedgehog is mine! Reel that cloned hedgehog in, and make sure Sonic doesn't catch up!" Eggman laughed evilly.
"Yes, doctor." Decoe and Bocoe replied, fiddling with the controls.
"Hang on, Sun! I'm coming!" Sonic shouted, and was about to Spin Jump to make his way up to save his friend, but at Chip's warning that came too late, another missile launched and forced the blue hedgehog to skid to stop, but when it hit the ground exploding, the impact sent him flying backwards screaming before crashing onto the ground hard, landing on his front and winced in pain.
"SONIC!" Sun screamed, reaching out for his friend, horrified as he was getting closer and closer to the Egg-Eagle's mouth.
Hissing in pain, Sonic could only push himself to his knees and gasped in horror and dismay, reaching out helplessly to his friend. "SUN!"
"SONIC!" The dark-blue hedgehog continued, just as he was then pulled inside the Egg-Eagle's mouth which closed shut with him trapped inside, and then pulled towards the main control room where he would be imprisoned and much more.
"Let's get a move on so that blue hedgehog doesn't catch up." The evil doctor commanded.
The Egg-Eagle, it's mission complete, gave another shriek before turning around and began to fly away, out of reach and too far for Sonic to jump up and reach.
"NO!" Sonic screamed, pushing himself up weakly as he tried desperately to reach for the Egg-Eagle, but it was already too late as his enemy's giant fortress was too far and he couldn't reach it without a plane, and the closest one was back in the City.
Shocked, helpless and devastated that one of his two new friends had been kidnapped, Sonic stopped before falling onto his knees. Sun was gone. He was captured by Eggman, all because of him. To be used for his evil plot, and if the scientist used a machine to try and absorb the darkness from the dark-blue hedgehog's body, then the beast inside him would either take it over...or be inadvertently released. The blue hedgehog felt tears of sorrow and frustration form before he screamed angishly, punching the ground hard.
"Give him back...! Give me back my friend, Sun...!" Sonic sobbed after a few moments of punching the ground, as Chip, feeling guilty for not being able to do anything to help, slowly floated over and gently patted his distraught friend on the head.
"Sonic...I'm sorry." The pixie-dog whispered, tears silently falling free from his eyes.
"I've gotta save him...I have to save him!" The blue hedgehog whispered, breathing in and out, and despite that he was blaming himself for the dark-blue hedgehog's capture, he knew that he had to try and act now before it was too late. He looked up and gave Chip a soft smile of gratitude for him trying to make him feel better, gently patting him on the head.
Just then, they heard propellers from a familiar plane from the small distance and as both Sonic and Chip looked up in confusion, to their surprise and no small amount of relief, it was the Tornado 1, with Tails and surprisingly Amy calling out to them while waving even though they looked horrified to see that Sun was already captured and they arrived too late.
"Hey!" Sonic waved, standing up as he attempted to try and ignore his injures.
"Whoa! Tails sure knows how to get here fast!" Chip exclaimed in surprise.
"Well at least it saves us the trip back to Shamar." The blue hedgehog said, knowing that this was their only chance in rescuing Sun. "Ready to go rescue Sun? I know we're supposed to get to the Temple, but that'll have to wait."
"I'm more than ready to rescue our friend! It's like you said, Sonic. Friends and family can never be replaced!" The pixie-dog said with determination.
"Okay! Let's go!" Sonic declared.
"You..." Kaiser hissed weakly, causing both Sonic and Chip to look over their shoulders, and saw that the Cheetah was too exhausted and injured to move for at least about an hour or two. "I will...get you both...and my...Werewolf...stay...where you are!"
"We'll settle this later. Right now, I've got a friend to save and keep everybody away from you!" Sonic said, glaring at him before Chip held onto him on this head and the blue hedgehog quickly sped up towards the Tornado 1, using the trees to make a daring leap despite the pixie-dog's protests.
Fortunately Tails flew the Tornado 1 close enough for Sonic and Chip to land onto the plane's wings and immediately took off to catch up with the Egg-Eagle, leaving the injured and evil Myth Hunter behind, to which the Cheetah could only growl dangerously. He will get his revenge on those children. He will make sure of it.
"Tails, Amy! How'd you know where to find us?" Sonic greeted, relieved to see them.
"Knuckles called earlier that Shadow learned that Eggman was heading towards you guys. He and Shadow are on their way here." Amy explained.
"We couldn't let Eggman get away, so we both decided to try and find you guys. I'm sorry that we came too late." Tails added, feeling guilty for not reaching them in time.
But Sonic, being the forgiving type, shook his head as he pointed out. "It's not your fault, li'l bro. In fact, it's perfect timing that you came, 'cause it saves me and Chip the trouble in having to come to you guys and explain the situation. Couldn't ask for a better timing than this."
"But what was that Myth Hunter creep doing here?" The pink hedgehog asked, worriedly.
"He's still after me and Sun and still thinks that our friend is a Werewolf, and he's even more crazy now than ever! He wants to kill everybody and rule the world the way it is!" Chip explained frantically, much to the shock of the other two who gasped in horror.
"We'll explain later. Right now, we've gotta rescue Sun before Eggman does something awful to him." The blue hedgehog quickly said. "Tails, full speed ahead to that Eagle-Robot!"
"Right! Powering up to Boost-Mode!" The two-tailed fox nodded, adjusting a few settings before telling his friends to hang on before charging straight towards the Egg-Eagle, which was already beginning to be seen from the distance and they were getting closer to it.
'Hang in there, Sun. I'll save you. I promise.' Sonic thought to himself, glaring hard at the Eagle-fortress, determined to save his friend and stop Eggman from using him.
This was going to be a very difficult rescue mission, as, unaware to any of them, the truth of Sun's past was about to be revealed.
A/N: As much as I dislike cliffhangers, I can't help it. None the less, the next chapter will finally reveal the truth behind Sun's origins and fair warning, it's not going to be pretty and the situation will only get worse before it gets better.
See you later and (this time for real) Happy(sort of) New Year!