Author's Note: Before we begin, I have a few announcements to make.
While it's still unclear on whether the "Leak" of the supposed Sonic Rift game is real or not since I found out the other day that it was leaked again, so we'll wait and see, there are other things that I'm sure some of you already know.
Roger Craig Smith, the voice actor for Sonic since Sonic Colours in 2010, has announced that he will retire voicing the blue hedgehog, also the other day which has been hinted since last year. While I wasn't too keen on him as I always prefered Jason Griffith, I didn't mind him and it is sad for see him go as well. No word on who will voice Sonic yet beginning with the new games(or post-new games, not sure at this point) though the voice of his movie-self may be most likely.
Secondly, the new 2022 series has been confirmed and it will be titled "Sonic Prime". Though, while I know that you guys will be looking forward to it, I'm a bit skeptical but I may give it a try.
Okay, with that settled, let's start with a new chapter of this story!
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, and another OC who makes an appearance here.
Chapter 24: Memories of Light.
Sonic, Chip, Sun and Star were making a mad dash through the jungle in their search for the Gaia Temple as well as Eggman and stop the evil scientist from reaching it first or destroy it. They followed the path of vines and the river via Gaiver's instructions and so far apart from taking down the robots that stood in the way with the three hedgehogs doing what they did best and Sonic had to say, his brother's Spin Dash was coming along nicely, and Sun was even more interested with Star's gripping hooks. The lavender hedgehog in question was impressed with the dark-blue hedgehog's skills as well.
Chip was doing his best by distracting the robots and even cleverly tricked a couple into hitting each other. After the egg-bots were taken care off, the group continued onward.
"We're getting close to the Temple." Star announced after she and her new friends skid to a stop after passing more ruins, the group finding themselves in the middle of towering cliffs with lots of trees and clear blue sky above them that was bigger than life. She held out her book and checked the coordinates. "Once we pass through here, the access to it will be easy."
"Sweet!" Sonic smirked, giving the 'tour guide' a thumbs up. He then looked around as the smirk faded while he muttered in concern. "Now, where to find Dr. Egghead?"
"You don't think he's gonna find us, do you?" Chip muttered, worriedly. Though it wasn't the possibility of facing Eggman again so soon that was his main concern. The more they got closer to the Temple, the more he felt a more sense of deja vu forming and that, he hated to admit it, began to give him the goosebumps. It didn't make sense though since he, Sonic and Sun have visited five temples already and they all looked the same on the inside.
"Knowing him, most likely. That guy does it all the time and me and the others always beat him." The blue hedgehog shrugged, nonchalantly.
"Given how he snuck up on us three times already, I wouldn't be surprised." Sun sighed in exasperation, shaking his head.
Star was about to say something when she saw something come up towards the group and let out a terrified scream, pointing behind the trio. "G-GIANT SPIDER!"
"Huh!?" Sonic and his friends gaped, spinning around and saw what looked like a giant spider but quickly found that it was similar to the Egg-Beetle only it was shaped like a spider. The group quickly leaped out of the way with Sun scooping up Star into his arms and jumped just as the huge machine sped through missed them, though they were forced to jump back when it fired lasers at them.
"Are you okay?" Sun asked the female hedgehog in his arms who looked pale on the muzzle, a bit dazed.
"As much as I hate to admit it...I hate spiders." Star admitted shakily. "Even robot ones."
The dark-blue hedgehog sighed in relief, ignoring the fact that the girl's quickly well-known phobia was a bit embarrassing, but he couldn't blame her. Sonic couldn't swim, which was obvious. Instead, Sun glared up at the machine, known as the Lancer, which turned around and while the real Eggman wasn't here, a video link opened up on the front as Sonic and Chip quickly rejoined the other two hedgehogs.
"Wha'd I tell ya? He knew he'd find us, even if he's not fully around." The hero of Mobius snickered a little.
"You can laugh all you want, Sonic. My Egg Lancer will take you, your friends and your new brother out! This time you are through!" Eggman snapped in the video, as he was in his base communicating with them via video-link.
"You say that every time." Sonic retorted, folding his arms.
"Well, this time, I'm serious! I bet you ended up running away from the giant Werehog seeing that you three are still alive." The evil scientist growled.
"Actually, Sun and I already took care of ol' Fuzzy." The fifteen year old replied, then glared hard at his nemesis. "But that monster wouldn't have caused trouble if you hadn't kidnapped my brother and drained most of the darkness for your stupid Empire in the first place! I don't regret in meeting Sun, but the whole thing in general is your fault!"
Eggman prodded his fingers in a surprising shame over the reminder. "Well, okay, I hate to admit it, but I didn't anticipate in the beast part being true."
Sun scoffed. "And you call yourself a brilliant scientist? The only thing I can tell is that you had too many eggs in your lifetime that your heads full of them, Ro-butt-nik."
"Zip it, you brat! Since I already got what I wanted from you, your time is up! So I'm going to do Dark Gaia a favor and get rid of you as well as Sonic, his annoying pipsqueak cohort and your new girlfriend in your arms myself!" Eggman shouted in anger, though the comment about the girlfriend part made both Sun and Star blush heavily in embarrassment before the two hedgehogs shared a glance, blushing harder and then looked away.
"She's/I'm not my/his girlfriend!" Sun and Star both exclaimed simultaneously. "We only just met!"
That only amused the madman and he laughed. "Oh ho ho ho ho ho! Deny all you want, hedgehogs! You little romance is about to be cut short! Just like I'm about to cut you all down to size!"
"How about you can it so we can turn your robot into a crushed can?" Sonic suggested in annoyance.
"Ha! The joke's on you, blue boy! Egg Lancer, attack!" Eggman shouted back, the monitor being turned off and the Egg Lancer snapping it's claws open and close threateningly at the group while Sun gently set Star down as they, Sonic and the nervous Chip glare at the giant robot.
"We'll take you, Eight-legged Rust!" Sonic declared, unafraid and ready to fight.
The Egg Lancer responded by firing more lasers which made the three hedgehogs and pixie-dog leap back before it raced down the cliff and path, prompting Sonic and his friends to give chase. The blue hedgehog, being the fastest thing alive, was the first to catch up to the giant robot and while making sure his group were in a safe-ish distance, he dodged more lasers but then the Egg Lancer hit the cliff walls above and behind him, causing a rock slide which was aimed directly at Sun, Chip and Star, much to his horror.
"NO!" Sonic screamed, turning back and sped up to save his friends. The blue hedgehog grabbed hold of Sun and Star's arms while Chip, who was screaming as was the female hedgehog, perched himself onto the cobalt teenager's head and he sped up with his boost to avoid the avalanche, avoiding the falling boulders while his friends held on for dear life.
"Yah! That was too close!" Chip cried out hysterically.
"You guys alright?" Sonic asked.
"I'm fine." Sun replied.
"Me too." Star added.
"Yeah, I think so." The pixie-dog said, shakily.
The blue hedgehog sighed in relief. "That a relief."
Too bad the Egg Lancer didn't see fit to avoid it as while focusing on the group who sped past it, the giant robot was hit by three huge rocks due to it's stupidity in it's attempts to kill Sonic and his friends, and just when the metallic monster opened up it's claws due to this, he saw an opening and smirked. Nodding at Sun who returned it, the two hedgehog brothers let go before the blue hero went for a Homing Attack while the dark-blue hedgehog went for a triple punch, both attacking at it's weak spot, forcing it back and rearing in pain. Star, despite her fear of Spiders as she cringed, had an idea and used her gripping hooks to latch onto it's weak spot and brought herself to it's face where she aimed a good hard kick.
The Egg Lancer reared back just as the group landed back onto the path, but to their horror, it was covered with lasers. Sonic sped up and began running along the walls while Star handed a surprised Sun one of her hooks, giving him a quick lesson on how to use it. He stumbled a bit at first, but found that with the right angle and timing, the dark-blue hedgehog found that he quickly got the hang of it and soon the group were avoiding the lasers on the ground and from the giant robot that was firing at them.
"How's it going with that thing, Sun?" Sonic called up when he saw what his brother and new friend were doing.
"This is actually a whole lot better than using my arms!" Sun remarked with a smirk.
"See? I knew you could do it!" Star said happily, making the dark-blue hedgehog blush a little.
"Incoming!" Chip exclaimed all of the sudden, causing the three hedgehogs to look up ahead and they all cried out in alarm when the Egg Lancer fired three fireballs at them.
"Jump!" Sonic instructed, as he and the others forced to jump down from the wall and the hooks which Star retrieved, narrowly missing the attack and finding themselves in a cave where the blue hedgehog had the others hold onto him and continued to make their way, hoping to find and defeat the Egg Lancer who was attempting to find them. As the heroes raced through the tunnels while avoiding the falling rock from the ceiling, they gasped when they saw even more lasers.
Forced to jump and land outside, too late they saw that they were about to land onto several lasers on the ground. Both Sun and Star activated the hooks and had them perched onto the walls and trees, the two calling out to Sonic while holding out their free hands. With Chip on his head for safety, the blue hedgehog grabbed hold of Sun's right hand and Star's left, lifting his legs up as they all swung over the lasers just as the Egg Lancer was about to fire again.
"Hahahahaha! You're falling into another trap, Sonic!" Eggman laughed through the speakers, obviously seeing the whole thing through the video-link.
It wasn't until Sonic saw the claws open up that he smirked and called out. "Not this time, Dr. E!"
Telling his two friends to toss him and Chip to hold onto Sun, his friends did as instructed and he honed in for another Homing Attack at the weak spot of the robot who was forced back and receiving even more damage, soon joined by Sun's punches and Star's karate skills as all three hedgehogs were putting their best abilities in attacking the Egg Lancer full on, to which Eggman noticed and screamed out in frustration despite that he wasn't getting injured, but just seeing the battle beginning to quickly go into the teenage hero's favor was enough to make the evil doctor furious.
Apparently as the group landed on the ground again, the Egg Lancer was leveled to combat level three which had fire rings shot at them, forcing the group to try and avoid them as they raced past more waterfalls which made Sonic nervous, but he attempted to ignore it and kept up with the giant robot. This time the monstrous machine even shot out laser pillars which forced the group to duck and dodge while the blue hedgehog somersaulted along the way as Sun swung by using the hook to hit one of the claws, forcing it to aim it's own lasers at itself, and Star attacked it from behind. This gave Sonic a chance to attack it full on when it was forced to open it's claws once more.
This time as Sonic performed a series of attacks of all of the skills he had, to Eggman's dismay his robot stood no chance despite it being on the higher level and the blue hedgehog has had a tough couple of weeks. But that didn't stop the young hero from succeeding along with his friends.
"Bye-bye, Spidy!" Sonic taunted with a smirk as he went for a final attack.
"Curse you, Soni-" Eggman's angry rant was cut off when the blue hedgehog smashed straight through the Egg Lancer, destroying the video-link and as the young hero landed safely on the ground with Sun and Star seconds behind him, the giant robotic-spider exploded into nothing but pieces of metal.
"What? Over already?" Sonic asked, frowning slightly in disappointment, before shrugging. "Oh well."
"I can see why you hate spiders. That one was especially annoying." Sun commented to Star who giggled at both his and the blue hedgehog's comments.
"Phew. That was a tough one." Chip sighed, wiping his forehead. "Great work, guys!"
"Thanks, buddy!" The hero of Mobius replied, also giving compliments to his two friends, with his brother shrugging and their newest friend giving out a peace-sign.
However, they heard coughing and when the young Mobians looked up, they all gasped in shock when they saw Eggman emerge from the wreck in his Egg Mobile, charred and covered in soot, revealing that he wasn't in his base after all, but instead having been inside the robot itself. Sonic quickly stood in front of his friends with a glare, which was shared by Sun, Chip and even Star despite the fourteen year old being a little scared of seeing the evil scientist for the first time in person.
"You seriously don't know when to give up, do you?" Sun asked, annoyed.
"You may have defeated my robot and even the giant Werehog, rodents! But this is far from over! In fact, this is just the beginning of the future defeat you will be facing!" Eggman, exhausted, growled.
"Why do you always say that when you know that you're just gonna lose all over again?" Sonic asked, folding his arms.
The evil scientist hissed darkly at this. "One of these days, you will be caught off-guard by my supremacy and then you will realize how overconfident and cocky you are!"
Struck hard by the words to the core, the blue hedgehog attempted to ignore it and yelled back. "Oh yeah!? Well, maybe it'll happen after you realize that you'll never rule Mobius, and even then your plans never work out the way you want to anyway!"
"My plans with Dark Gaia will work this time, Sonic! Have no doubt, you will be destroyed!" Eggman declared, before flying off in his Mobile to return to his secret base.
"Loser." Sun muttered with a grunt as he and the others stared off where their nemesis had vanished into.
Sonic though lowered his gaze, unable to help but feel haunted over Eggman's words. The evil scientist may be right. It was overconfidence and cockiness that got the teenage hero caught in the first place and caused the world to be in this situation. What if he wasn't careful enough and he could really be defeated badly, beaten and captured and then sentenced to death? As the blue hedgehog thought this over, he felt nauseous when he saw an image of himself within his mind, fighting against the mad doctor before being taken out by some dangerous power and enemy, surrounded by more enemies and then captured, the world left to be under Eggman's rule. Sonic even imagined himself uncontrollably of being cuffed by his hands and ankles, locked up in a tiny cell and then finally killed while his friends were helpless to defeat him.
'No. That won't happen. I'll just...have to try and be careful and not make the same mistake or even worse ever again. I'm still me, but...I have to be more vigilant from now on. Eggman won't win. I'll make sure of it!' Sonic thought to himself, mentally shaking his head to rid those horrible images that formed in his mind.
Snapping himself out of his solem thoughts, he sighed before smiling again as he felt his confidence, while a bit down, boost up and said to his friends. "C'mon, guys. Let's get to that temple."
His friends, not noticing the dilemma he had, nodded and followed him, while unaware that Chip was just as nervous, thinking of something different.
'Why am I feeling like this? Is it because I'm nervous of...what I'm about find out? Just...who am I?' Chip thought to himself, feeling like while he was excited to finally and hopefully gain his memories back, there was a part of him that was protesting.
Like he didn't want to let go of who he became, or leave Sonic's side.
"There it is." Star announced, as she lead Sonic, Chip and Sun to the Gaia Temple that stood before them. The four of them slowly walkd as while she was excited to see the inside of it, the others were expecting to experience the same thing the had been doing since their journey began.
But as the three hedgehogs were walking, Chip slowed to a stop as his nervousness only grew until he lowered his gaze which was noticed by his friends, who, in confusion and concern, stopped and turned around.
"What's wrong, buddy?" Sonic asked, tilting his head a little.
"Huh?" Chip blinked, before realizing what his best friend meant and said. "Oh, right...I'm just...scared."
"Scared?" The blue hedgehog was a bit surprised by this as were the other two hedgehogs, before they glanced around and at the temple, not seeing what had the little pixie-dog spooked.
"It's just another dusty old temple." Sun shrugged.
"It doesn't look like there's anyone else around either." Star added.
"That's...that's not what I meant. That's not...Uh, n-never mind. I'm fine. Let's go." Chip shook his head, quickly attempting to hide his nervousness and walked forward, which concerned the three hedgehogs.
"I wonder what's wrong with him?" The lavender hedgehog asked.
"I'm getting really worried. Something must be up." Sonic muttered worriedly.
The dark-blue hedgehog at first was in agreement, until he remembered how he thought he had no memories either, and how his origins had made him nervous and how terrified he was when he learnt of the truth; being Sonic's clone, which to his brother didn't make a difference given their bond they developed and Sun's bond with the pixie-dog, then he realized why Chip was nervous.
"I think I have an idea on what has the squirt spooked." Sun muttered, causing the other two hedgehogs to gaze at him curiously. He sighed with a knowing but concerned expression of his own. "I think he's scared of finding out who he really is, and maybe he's...worried that it could change him. He's been with us for so long that, maybe he's afraid of letting us go."
Realizing that Sun was right, Sonic's eyes widened as he turned his gaze back to his smallest friend. He hadn't even thought of that, and now that they were a step closer in helping Chip in learning of the truth of his past, he realized that Chip didn't want to leave them. Suddenly he felt an inkling feeling that, despite the hope of saving his brother, he wouldn't be just losing Sun. He did remember how Shadow had been struggling to get his memories back and had been horrified to learn the truth of himself even before he ended up with amnesia for those agonizing several months.
'Oh, Chip...' Sonic thought to himself in concern. He then followed his friend with Sun and an even more worried Star, wondering if she made the trio rather upside, following him.
As the group wandered inside, with Star absolutely amazed by the sights since it was her first time being inside the Temple of Gaia, Sonic and Chip got to work in opening up another pedestal. While the blue hedgehog placed the second-last powerless Chaos Emerald which was restored to it's purple colour while he, Sun and the amazed Star waiting as they felt the Adabat's continent return to it's original place, Chip floated up to examine something that was different from the five other Temples.
A large giant painting which looked familiar to him against the back on the wall. But just as he touched it carefully, all of the sudden it began to glow brightly which forced him back. However it began to suck him in and as Chip cried out, Sonic, Sun and Star spun around when they heard him scream and before they could do anything, the pixie-dog was swallowed up into the painting which made the three hedgehogs gasp in shock and horror.
"CHIP! NO!" Sonic cried out, reaching out for his friend. How could this be!? How did that painting just swallow up his friend!? He feared that Chip was now trapped inside the picture.
"That-that wasn't supposed to happen!" Star gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
"What the!? CHIP!?" Sun exclaimed, his eyes widened in bewilderment.
Inside the painting's starry realm, Chip was still being pulled while he tried to escape, fearing that something terrible was about to happen, when he heard a voice, strangely familiar and sounding just like him, speak.
"I welcome your return...Messenger of day, of light, of rebirth..."
Somehow calming down and wondering what was going on, the pixie-dog stopped panicking and turned around only to see a small ball of light shine brightly, and as he stared at it in wonder, it gently flew into both his necklace and into his chest. At that moment Chip closed his eyes and the moment he merged with the light, almost instantly his memories came back, he saw images of himself, standing in the ruins of the world, before spreading his arms out and like magic, life was restored to Mobius. Now everything he learned throughout the adventure made perfect sense.
He now remembered what he had to do.
Back outside of the painting, Sonic was bring restrained by Sun and Star who were preventing him from doing anything reckless like jumping into the painting no matter how hard he tried to escape from his friends' arms.
"Lemme go! I've gotta save Chip!" The blue hedgehog protested.
"Sonic, you can't! What if you end up trapped inside the moral too!?" Star pointed out, while blaming herself for not having read up about this unusual event.
"If you went up stuck in there, you're as good as screwed!" Sun added, grunting as he held onto the blue hedgehog tightly.
Before Sonic could come up with another protest, the picture glowed again and as he, Sun and Star looked up, they all saw in relief that Chip emerged, unharmed and descended down towards them with the fifteen year old calming down.
"Chip! Are you okay!?" Sonic asked frantically, finally released from being restrained and almost immediately hugged his smallest friend. "Thank Chaos, you're alright! I was really worried...!"
"I'm okay. It's alright." Chip replied, strangely sounding more...serious and wise, as though he had grown much, much older.
"Chip?" The blue hedgehog whispered, confused at this sudden change, slowly letting go and allowing his friend to hover in front of him, Sun and Star who both stared along with Sonic, the trio wondering what happened.
Chip gazed at his friends, and said. "Sonic...Sun...I remember now. All of it."
Sonic, Sun and Star's eyes all widened in awe, stunned that Chip, by just being sucked into the painting, had actually regained his memories. Finally the blue hedgehog had achieved his goal in helping one of his new friends to remember, yet that now left the question.
Who is Chip, and what was his connections to this whole thing?
Sonic and his friends, with Chip telling them that he will reveal who he is when they got back to Adabat's village, were making their way back to meet up with Tails, though they made sure to try and find Gaiver since they promised to return to the overly giant gorilla to hear what he had to say. But as they were looking for the huge Mobian, they heard two unfamiliar voices and a trap being sprung right next to them. Alarmed, the four friends looked up and saw two Mobian Chimpanzees, one brown, another grey, wearing black and silver clothes with pathetic masks, caught in a wooden cage to their right that hanged from the trees.
Unaware that as Sun took another step, suddenly another wooden cage came descending and when he, Sonic, Chip and Star looked up, their cried out in alarm before the blue hedgehog grabbed his friends and leaped to avoid it, only to get caught in a third one which sprung them up high once again for the second time today. The group screamed while trying to keep their balance but ended up falling onto the wooden floor of their prison.
"Oh, great! How many traps did Gaiver make!?" Sonic complained in irritation, grabbing onto two of the wooden bars of the cage which continued to wobble.
"Too many just to catch those two chumps." Sun grumbled, glaring at the imprisoned monkeys who were struggling to free themselves. "They're probably the thieves Gaiver was talking about."
"Hey, who're you callin' chumps, spike-boy!?" The brown Chimp yelled as he and his companion glared at the dark-blue hedgehog.
"That's an insult from you, porcupine!" The grey Chimp added angrily.
"The three of us are hedgehogs, you meanies!" Star snapped back.
"Yeah, and you clowns are no good monkeys that always stole Gaiver's fruit every single time!" Sonic added.
"You should stop stealing food from other people! It's not nice at all!" Chip added, seemingly returning to his normal self. Well, normal to the hedgehogs, at least.
"Says who?" The two Chimps deadpanned.
The dark-blue hedgehog rolled his eyes and told the two thieves, "Well, now that you two losers got caught again, you're about to face Gaiver's punishment by being dumped into a pit with dung beetles shoved up your noses."
"He is right, you thieves. As such, I will make sure you learn your lesson this time." Gaiver's voice spoke up, as stepping out from the bushes was the half-giant gorilla who was approaching the trapped two groups, the heroes softly gasping as they saw the furious look on his face and Sonic and his friends knew in that instant they were in trouble.
"GAH! No, not him!" The brown Chimp screamed as he and his companion held onto each other in fear.
"Hold me, cos'!" The grey Chimp cried hysterically, bawling his eyes out. "I think he's gotten bigger than the last time!"
Gaiver ignored the two robbers, turning his attention to the younger Mobians who leaned back in fear, with Sonic exclaiming pleadingly. "Wait, Gaiver! We didn't do anything wrong!"
"Calm down, young Sonic. I will not harm you or your friends." The huge gorilla reassured, carefully taking hold of the group's cage in one hand and untied it with the other, placing them down and opening it up, releasing them. The three hedgehogs and one pixie-dog all sighed in relief before immediately stepping out, as he continued while glaring at the actual prisoners. "As for these two miscreants..."
The two Chimps shivered in fear, as they knew that they were the ones who were in big trouble.
A little while later, after Gaiver made sure to literally dump the two chimps into the dung beetle pit, much to their dismay, he had Sonic and his friends join him in his large humble home which was huge, a tree house where the four of them were seated on the hand-made chair that was just as big as the half-giant Mobian who took a seat in a chair that was his size.
"Now then, I felt the rumble earlier and I take that you have taken care of this Dr. Eggman." Gaiver began.
"Yeah, we did. See, the reason why we're here is because of what Eggman did to the planet." Sonic began, before he and his friends explained everything that's happened in the last couple of weeks, including the Gaia Temples, though Chip was reluctant on revealing his past now that his memories have returned.
After Gaiver understood and apologized for having had the teenagers trapped again, Sonic then said. "Hey, Gaiver. You said something about a scientist who made you grow into a half giant. If it wasn't Eggman, then who was it?"
"I had a feeling you would ask." The 35 foot Mobian sighed, then explained. "He was a Mobian Platypus, who goes by the name of Starline. He had a disturbing desire to experiment on other people, whether they were Mobian or even a human, or Mobini animals."
"Starline? He experimented on other people? No way." The blue hedgehog muttered, shocked as Chip and Sun shared a shocked glance while Star was horrified.
"That's terrible. Did his experiment caused you to grow?" Star asked, trembling.
Gaiver nodded. "He wanted to see if his sample he collected out of something he created would allow Mobians to grow into giants. He received such an idea from Dr. Narasu of Station Square, from an incident that happened months ago."
"WHAT!?" Sonic exclaimed, horrified. "I didn't know that creep from the S.O.N.I.C.X guys had a fan!"
"Huh?" Chip and Star both muttered, confused.
"S.O.N.I.C.X?" Sun asked, dumbfounded. "Is that supposed to be a name of your own fan club or something?"
The fifteen year old shrugged, "When I first heard their full name, I half-jokingly thought they were, even though they were a bunch of Mobian-haters who thought our ancestors came from space. It's actually short for Society for Observing and Neutralizing Inter-dimensional Creatures and Xenomorphs. Some lame name idea from the President's former aid Jerome Wise who got fired a long time ago for negotiating with Eggman to force me to race against a friend of mine's uncle who was just as competitive with speed as me. Mainly because Jerome wanted the President to be re-elected or make himself president."
A moment of pause.
"Oh, give me a break!" The dark-blue hedgehog snickered while Star giggled and Chip burst out laughing. "That race so that he could keep his job? No wonder he got fired."
"You know those people, Sonic?" Gaiver asked.
"Like I said, they were Mobian-haters who had a grudge against me, thinking that I was a bad guy without even realizing they were the ones who were causing trouble. Last time they did that before eventually getting arrested was when Narasu made this Mutagen stuff that was supposed to turn me into a giant, but that guy had a lousy aim and ended up hitting my friend Vector who grew into a giant. The only to cure him was giving him a bottle of Aspirin." Sonic explained, much to his friends' shock.
"No way!" Sun exclaimed, shocked to hear that Vector the Crocodile who he just met in Chun-Nan had ended up growing into a giant as well.
Sonic nodded.
"So then, whatever this Mutagen is must've been a fully developed one, because this Starline must've given you a faulty version, right?" Star theorized.
"Yes. He thought that he would create a world where giants would be dominant. But his attempt with me to grow instantly failed and I was sent here to spend the rest of my life living outside of Adabat. I didn't want anyone to see how much my life was ruined or hurt them. Then Starline's plane crashed into the ocean and he was never seen again. Not that I know of. Each year, I slowly grew bigger and bigger, and resolved my life to stay in hiding." Gaiver said, and instantly Sonic's group felt sorry for him.
"Is there anything we can do to help you?" Chip asked.
"Do not worry about me, little one." Gaiver kindly declined. "I will be alright. Though I do ask you all to keep my identity a secret."
"Sure, no problem, and if we find a way to fix up this mess, we'll come back and cure you. I promise." Sonic agreed, and while both Sun and Chip felt uncertain about this promise, Star nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, Sonic. I wish you all the best of luck to complete this journey of yours." The half-giant gorilla nodded as he smiled softly, to which Sonic gave him a wink with a thumbs up.
'Sonic...I wish I could stay to help. But...it's not that simple. Not anymore.' Chip thought to himself, lowering his gaze in sadness, as he knew that despite everything he and his friends had gone through...
Sun may not be the only one who would have to leave the teenage hero's side.
After saying their goodbyes to Gaiver, Sonic and his friends returned to Adabat just before sunset, where the four of them stared out at the timing with the sun sinking into the horizon, marveling at it's beauty even though Sun the Hedgehog wasn't looking forward in becoming a Werehog again, he did advice Star that he will look frighting, but she reassured him that since she knew, she thought it would be alright.
As they listened to the calming waves of the ocean, Chip finally gathered enough courage to reveal to his friends who he really was. "My...My real name...is Light Gaia."
Sonic, Sun and Star stared at him in surprise and no small amount of shock, their eyes widening. In the minds of the two male hedgehogs, they were thinking in disbelief. 'Chip is...THE Light Gaia!?'
'How can that be!?' Sonic thought, while he said nothing and allowed Chip-Light Gaia to continue.
"I draw power from day and light, and guide the planet to it's rebirth." Light Gaia explained as he took a couple steps forward. "My job was to protect the planet from Dark Gaia."
"So, wait. That's why you're the opposite because you're the true Light Gaia that Sierra talked about, and not the chosen one by your necklace?" Sun asked, bewildered, blinking.
"That's right." Light Gaia confirmed as he turned around with a serious expression. "But Eggman broke the world apart himself, and Dark Gaia and I were awakend before we should've been."
"I'm sorry, Chip. I mean, Light Gaia." Sonic muttered, and while he was still shocked by this truth, he felt guilty for failing to prevent Eggman from doing as such.
Light Gaia shook his head. "It's not your fault, Sonic. That's why Dark Gaia broke apart, and I didn't know who I was. I didn't remember what I was supposed to do! All because this isn't the proper time of awakening."
"Time of awakening?" The blue hedgehog asked. He felt relieved that his fall earlier wasn't the cause of Chip's amnesia. Again that had to do with the evil scientist's goal to control and rule the planet. It still didn't make him feel better that he failed to prevent it from happening.
"Remember what I said before?" Star spoke up, now that she knew of Chip's true name. When the other two hedgehogs glanced at her, she explained. "This happened because it's 20,000 years too early. Light Gaia is the one who would revive the planet from the destruction Dark Gaia would cause."
"She's right. Dark Gaia grows over millions of years, then rises to destroy it. And I...put it all back...together. We've been doing this over and over, again and again...since the very beginning of time." Light Gaia explained.
"That long?" Sun asked, his eyes widening in further shock.
"So you were asleep all this time? For millions of years?" Sonic asked in disbelief.
Light Gaia nodded. "Yes. For ages and ages."
"But because of what has happened, our ancestors of both Mobians and humans must've built the temples as a fail-safe in case something like this happened." Star theorized. "Of course, creating the ancient history for us to learn, I think, was a mistake."
"I think they should've hidden those things so that Eggman wouldn't have found them to begin with." Sun pointed out, before shrugging. "Well, too late now, but at least there's only one continent left, right?"
The others nodded, though before they could say anything else, the sun had fully set and the dark-blue hedgehog twinged a little, though he found that this transformation wasn't as bad as the previous times and was once again a Werehog. Star blinked in shock at first, before seeing that his eyes were the same and she almost immediately relaxed.
"Wow...so this is what you look like as a...Werehog, right, Sun?" Star asked.
"Yeah, pretty much. I'm surprised you're not scared of me." Sun replied, shrugging a little sadly.
"After what I've heard, what's there to be scared of?" The lavender hedgehog replied, smiling softly.
The Werehog blinked in surprise, then smiled softly.
"I think I get it now." Sonic muttered to Light Gaia, turning to him while continuing. "I bet it's thanks to you."
"Hm?" Light Gaia murmured, puzzled.
"Even at night, when Sun's like this and he's close to being consumed by the monster inside him before it was destroyed, even when I was full of guilt, anger, fear and sadness, I was still myself and I was able to get through to him. It was your idea that had us be a team that made it all possible. Not like all of the other people we've seen. You were protecting me and Sun this whole time!" The blue hedgehog explained, smiling warmly.
"I haven't done anything, Sonic." The Protector shook his head. "You're the reason you haven't changed at all, and the reason why Sun was able to defeat the beast inside him. You're too strong to lose yourself."
"I'm the reason?" Sonic asked, shocked while pointing at himself, while Sun and Star stared in surprise.
Light Gaia nodded. "Even through out this journey, you never fully doubt yourself despite that you were feeling emotions for what's happened. It's because you feared you hurt the planet when you didn't. You never gave into the night or the darkness in your heart. You hold a connection with my powers, and it's because of your strong soul and kindness, you have linked yourself to my power, causing you to share it by awakening it in times when Sun needed you the most, and even at the Gaia Temple in Shamar."
The blue hedgehog was silent on that.
"That's why, even without my memories, you are the true chosen one. It is you who has been bestowed to sharing my power, because you are the hero of Mobius, Sonic. You protected the world from many, many dangers, and have helped others without hesitation. That's why I wanted you and Sun to help me." The healer of the world continued.
"I never knew..." Sonic muttered, tears forming in his eyes before he willed them back before they became noticable.
"Okay, now I'm a believer. Sonic and you are something else." Sun remarked, sighing.
Light Gaia nodded, before sighing in sadness which concerned the three hedgehogs as he said while hovering in front of his friends. "It's been so fun, getting to see the world! I've lived here since the planet began, but I didn't know a thing about it! That it's so pretty, or that food tastes so good, or the people are so nice, except for Eggman and Kaiser...I'm so glad I got the chance to discover it with both of you, Sonic and Sun, and I'm so glad that you helped me find my memory."
Sonic and Sun remained silent, as their friend then said in a form of farewell. "Sonic, Sun, I'll never, ever forget either of you. Once this is over, just call out to me and I will do everything I can to cure you, Sun, and turn you into a real Mobian. Thank you, guys. Goodbye."
Sonic softly gasped, trying to stop himself from crying before he wiped away his tears and called out, "Hey! Don't go!"
"Whoa, not so fast, squirt!" Sun called out, stretching out his arm and grabbed Chip who yelped and was drawn back. "Don't think you're getting rid of us just yet."
"Yeah, where do you think you're going off to all by yourself?" Sonic added, hiding the fact that he was emotional, placing his hands on his hips.
"What?" Chip blinked, then pointed out as he was let go. "But, my memory's back now, and...well, from here on out, it's my responsibility, so, um, I mean there's no reason for either of you to come along, so I should just..."
Sonic shook his head, smiling softly. "Do I need a reason to help out a friend?"
"He's right. Plus, we made it this far, why should we stop now if there's only one continent left? Might as well see it together to the end. Face it, Chip, we're your friends no matter what." Sun agreed.
"I never give up on helping others, and I'm not gonna start now." The fifteen year old vowed.
Chip stared at his friends in disbelief, before smiling emotionally and nodded. "Thanks, guys and you can still call me Chip. I've grown so used to it, I really like it."
Sonic and Sun both chuckled before they and Chip shared a high-five, while Star smiled emotionally, sniffling while wiping away a tear. Though as they did, Sonic then came to a sudden realization which began to break his heart.
Once this adventure was over, Chip would go back to sleep and...the blue hedgehog would never see him.
It was such an emotional flight back to Shamar, so much so that after they met up with Tails with Star coming along and was hanging out with Amy, Sonic asked if he and his three 'brothers' could make a trip back to Rooftop City for a special sleep over as it was where most of their adventures began. Despite the confusion, Pickle granted the permission, so now Sonic, Tails, Chip and Sun(still as a Werehog) had headed back to Spagonia where they spent the night at the professor's place after the kindly human given them his keys.
Yet despite all of this, Sonic had snuck out through the balcony and went outside. He had been unable to sleep, many thoughts of what he and Sun had learned today when Chip, finally having his memories back, had revealed who he really was. Given what has been happening, Sonic had a feeling that Chip was connected, which added to what Mnyambo told him.
But to think that his newest friend was really Light Gaia, the opposite of the monster that Eggman had unleashed at the wrong time and wrong wake up schedule...It was unbelievable.
Even more so that the full reality of what was going to happen hit him hard like a ton of bricks. Sonic found himself on the roof of one of the buildings in the Rooftop City, sitting on the edge with his knees to his chest and his arms hugging them, gazing mindlessly at the horizon before him. He had thought that Chip would find his way home after regaining his memories and Sonic would be able to visit him, and maybe they and Tails would go on more adventures together, not Dark-Gaia related, and have more fun.
But now...now it was nothing more than a figment of his imagination, and wishful thinking. Because knowing that Chip was Light Gaia, once the planet was fully put back into place, he would have to go back to sleep for another tens of thousands of years...and Sonic would never see him again.
He'd never been good when it comes to saying goodbyes. What hurt even more was that this was a permanent one, and it felt like he had to depart from a dear friend who had passed on.
"...It's not fair." The blue hedgehog whispered miserably to himself. It was already bad enough that the very idea that Sun could be lost as well was hurtful. But to possibly lose BOTH of his new friends? How was the hero going to cope?
"Sonic?"
Blinking out of his thoughts, Sonic glanced to see Chip hovering beside him and he felt a case of deja vu. "Oh. Hey, Chip. What's up?"
"Are you okay?" The little pixie asked with a concerned expression.
Normally he would reply that he was fine, and he wanted to say it, to reassure his friends, and not make them worried. But this time it was different. He was anything but. The world had split into pieces, Sun's true origins were revealed, and now knowing that Chip would have to leave, Sonic's heart felt like it was being stabbed several times.
This time, he decided to be fully honest.
"No. Not really." The blue hedgehog muttered, looking away. "I'm so sorry, Chip. You got woken up at the wrong time because I was too overconfident and got caught, and then I couldn't do a single thing to stop Eggman from using the Chaos Emeralds. Everything happened is all because of me."
"It's not your fault–"
"YES IT IS!" Sonic shouted in inadvertently, his eyes stinging with tears even as he closed them. "If I had been more careful, none of this would've happened! Sun wouldn't be in this position and at the risk of being eaten by Dark Gaia, I wouldn't have been constantly hunted and haunted by his Werehog half including the monster inside him, the world wouldn't have been in pieces in the first place, the Chaos Emeralds wouldn't have lost their powers, you wouldn't have lost your memories, and I..."
As he continued yelling out his pain and guilt, he paused as the very last thing he had to say couldn't seem to come out, because it hurt the most. But Sonic, the hero of Mobius, who had been crushed by his own actions and unable to be the said hero that he used to be, knew that he had to force them out. By then, tears leaked and as he opened his eyes, the slid free like streams of a river.
He was crying. Sonic didn't normally cry and he had been good in keeping his sadness in check, but he couldn't right now. Like he couldn't back a few times, but this time it was full-on crying. He dared to gaze at Chip who's eyes widened in shock to see his friend crying.
"...I wouldn't have to say goodbye to you forever, little buddy. I know it's selfish, but...I don't want you to go. I don't want to not see you again." Sonic finished, turning away once more and sobbed.
The blue hedgehog felt embarrassed and even more guilty for openly wishing for Chip to stay, but he couldn't help it. Even though he had been reassured that the reason he hasn't changed much because of his own heart, not doubting himself, right now Sonic blamed himself for everything. He continued to cry until he felt a gentle warm touch of someone gently patting him on the head. The blue hedgehog slowly looked up to see the sympathic and apologetic Chip in front of him.
"Sonic. None of this is your fault." The little pixie reprised.
"Then why does it still feel like it is?" Sonic asked hopelessly.
"Because you love the planet so much, you've taken the responsibility of protecting it from evil solely onto your shoulders. Your love for the world and it's people is so strong that you have taken upon yourself to be it's guardian, it's protector, it's savior, it's defender. The hero of all Mobius." Chip explained, understanding Sonic's dilemma. "You're afraid of failing everyone, and that is one of your three greatest fears."
Despite himself, Sonic couldn't help but chuckle sheepishly, rubbing his nose as he replied. "Guess that means you can sense that I'm scared of Eggman winning and capturing me and then locking me up, right? Never woulda thought you can read my mind and my nightmares."
"Um, actually, I could sense it from your heart. Plus...Knuckles pretty much told me earlier that he thought you were scared of Beach-Ball Man winning and you try very hard not to let him do that." Chip admitted sheepishly, that behind Sonic's back in Chun-Nan that Knuckles told him of the blue hedgehog's fears besides water.
"Thanks alot, Knuckle-head." Sonic grumbled under his breath. He felt even more embarrassed now; had he really been that transparent?
"And not only that," Chip continued, getting the blue hedgehog's attention once more. "I...I don't want to say goodbye to you or anyone else, either. I had so much fun going on adventures with you. It's because of you that I had been able to fully live, to be what you and everybody else are. You are my very first friend, Sonic. I can't thank you enough for making me experience this journey. But we both know that it's for the best. You have the purest heart in the entire world."
More tears swelled up in Sonic's eyes, as he muttered choakily. "Aw, Chip...C'mere, buddy." He held out his arms to his friend who immediately accepted it and the two embraced each other tightly and longingly.
After what seemed like an eternity, the two reluctantly let go and gazed at each other, and Sonic noticed that Chip had a few hints of tears in his eyes, even as the latter reached out and wiped away one from his emerald ones. Sonic wiped away the rest with a sniffle.
"Want some chocolate?" The little pixie then offered, handing out yet another bar, this time to the blue hedgehog who smiled emotionally, knowing that it was to make him feel better as well as wanting to share this last moment together before their and Sun's final trek tomorrow.
"Thanks, Chip." Sonic replied, gently taking the chocolate, then had a second thought and broke it into four pieces, and handed one back to Chip who blinked in confusion. "One for each of us; you, me, Tails and Sun."
"Huh?"
Sonic chuckled and winked, explaining. "To celebrate our brotherhood."
Getting what he meant, Chip nodded and plopped himself by Sonic's left and each took a bite of their pieces of chocolate while the blue hedgehog promised himself to give the other two pieces to Tails and Sun before their departure. The two friends shared this last moment of their friendship by gazing at the starry sky, knowing that they would have to say goodbye, but would always cherish this moment together forever.
The next morning, after Sonic admitted to Tails of the truth about Chip, the eight year old kit was shocked and felt sad that the pixie would have to leave, but was reassured that they would always be friends and brothers forever. It brought the four of them, even Sun who admitted that he was going to miss Chip, even closer than ever before. Then the four of them returned to Shamar and reunited with Pickle, Amy, Star, Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge, and to their surprise, the Chaotix who had arrived earlier who had great news which were shared by the others.
"This next one's the last temple. Right, Sonic?" Amy asked, eagerly.
"Yep, sure is." The teenage blue hedgehog nodded.
"So the next temple's the last one, huh?" Sun muttered, before sighing. "I can't believe we're already here. It's like it's only yesterday since we started this crazy journey."
"Time flies when you're having fun." Sonic said, his hands behind his head, hiding his sadness and instead opted for his usual optisim, as much as possible. "So, any idea where the last Temple is?"
"It's underneath some continent that Eggman built his secret base on!" Charmy answered helpfully.
"Meaning that he might've already built his Eggmanland." Knuckles grunted, clutching his fists. "When I get my hands on him...!"
"Not to worry, Knuckles. As soon as we put the last piece of the world back together and beat Eggman, I'll bring him over so you could give him a good beating of your own." The blue hedgehog reassured with a smirk. "Maybe with a black eye or two."
"I'd like to turn him into one giant bruise." The dark-blue hedgehog snorted in amusement.
"I'd like to see that!" Vector said, smirking.
"It would be pretty funny." Star giggled.
"You can do it." The pink hedgehog told her 'boyfriend', adding happily and in excitement as she clasped her hands together with her eyes sparkling and you could see more stars and hearts behind her in the background. "I believe in you, and when you're done, the world will be at peace and we can finally go out! It's been a year since we last did this!"
Sonic flinched in fright with a sweat drop, before moaning helplessly as he scratched the top of his head while trying to figure out how to figure this one out. Last time they went out was on Valentines Day in Station Square a year ago. Seeing the teasing looks from his friends however, made him realize that he wasn't going to get out of this one and knowing his oldest friends, they weren't going to let him live this one down if he passed the offer.
Sighing, he shrugged with an awkward smile since he couldn't hurt her feelings. "That could be fun."
"You... you mean it!?" Amy exclaimed, then cheered as she gave Sonic a crushing hug, squealing. "YAAAAAY! It's a promise!"
'Why do I always get roped into this?' The blue hedgehog thought hopelessly, grunting and squirming within his self-proclaimed girlfriend's grip.
The pink hedgehog then finally let go and told him. "Now, go! Hurry up! Go save the world already, geez!"
"Looks like somebody's a little impatient." Rouge giggled, knowing that the sooner the world was back together, the sooner Amy could go on her 'date' with Sonic. That earned her a glare from the twelve year old, but she ignored it.
"From what we gathered, Eggman built the his Empire on the last continent, which is Eggmanland itself." Tails explained, worriedly and also to get everyone's attention back into the situation.
While he was angry that the evil scientist had already built his dream Empire, Sonic knew that Eggman hasn't conquered the world yet, and as long as he and his friends can fix up the planet and crush the mad doctor's base, the Empire wouldn't last even another month.
"Don't worry, Tails. Egghead's Eggmanland is gonna be torn before he can even touch another continent." Sonic reassured with a smirk, this time confident that they had a chance for this.
"Be careful, who knows what you will find in that horrid place." Shadow cautioned.
Sonic nodded, "We'll be careful. I promise."
"I can't believe Eggman named his base with a lame Theme-park name. Seriously, that guy has no imagination." Sun shook his head in annoyed disbelief.
"There is always a flaw in every man's minds. You can't expect men of science to come up with better names for anything." Espio pointed out.
"If you guys can seal the last Temple before Dark Gaia fully awakens, he won't wake up for another millions of years and things should be okay and with luck and strong bond, Sun will be saved too." Star said after she, Pickle and Tails, with Amy's help, went through more of the Gaia Manuscript.
"Then I guess we'd better get moving." Sonic declared.
"Good luck, boys and safe journey." Pickle said.
"This is it, Sonic. No looking back now." Tails said.
"I never looked back anyway." The blue hedgehog pointed out.
"The world will be in peace again." Chip said, sad that his time with his friends was almost over.
"Once we go through, it's victory or oblivion." Sun nodded.
"Please be careful, Sonic, and don't get hurt." Amy said.
"You guys will be fine. I know it." Knuckles said, smirking.
"Go get 'em, guys!" Charmy cheered, with Vector cheering on and Espio nodding along with Shadow and Rouge winking.
"You can do it. We believe in you." Star added.
Sonic nodded, and made to turn around before reconsidering and, feeling uncertain on why he was feeling this way, turned back to face his friends who looked at him in confusion, and to their surprise, he held an emotional smile.
"Thanks, guys..." The blue hedgehog muttered, tearing up a little before willing them back, and held out his arms. "Who wants a group hug just for the heck of it?"
Tails, Amy, Charmy, Chip, and even Sun, Star, Vector, Rouge and reluctantly Espio, with Rouge pulling the protesting Knuckles who grumbled while giving up, and the scowling Shadow who then sighed in defeat, all joined in hugging Sonic with laughter, and despite that Cream and Cheese and Omega weren't here, this was as close as to the wonderful dream he had yesterday even though Amy tried to kiss Sonic on the cheek.
"Guys...I love you." Sonic whispered softly, for once not caring for being all mushy or if anyone heard him or not. He just wanted to let it all out, to reveal how much they meant to him.
This was it. The final Gaia Temple was about to be discovered, and little did Sonic and his friends know, the greatest battles of their lives were also there...
On the continent that was known as Eggmanland.
A/N: Not the best of chapters, but now we're finally reaching the climax of the story! The next chapter will have Sonic, Chip and Sun infiltrate Eggman's Empire! The final battles are soon to begin!
See you later!