The Secret Rings Saga Episode 1: The Vanishing World of the Book
One evening, Sonic is lying on the couch as he listens to Eve who is sitting on the chair and reading Maria, Cosmo, Cream, Cheese, and Jazz, along with the little ones, Shun, Dimitri and Ichigo a story.
"And so Aladdin married the princess and peace was restored to the kingdom. And for many years, Aladdin has been proven to be a great sultan who cared about the people and was beloved by everyone, especially the princess who loved because of the goodness in his heart. The End," Eve reads the book and closes it.
"Yay!" Everyone cheers and applauds even the two Chaos.
"That was a great story, Eve," Maria says.
"I agree. My favorite part is when Aladdin is able to marry the princess. It's very romantic," Cream says.
"Chao Chao," Jazz happily says.
"I agree. I have never heard of this story before. It's amazing that there's a being that can grant wishes," Cosmo says.
"I'm glad you like it, everyone," Eve says.
Just then, Sonic lets out a yawn, "How long are you going to keep reading these stories? You've been reading those stories from that book for days. They all seem to be about a lot of people who have adventures in a desert."
"Come on Sonic, the book 'The Arabian Nights,' has tons of stories. One Thousand and One Nights, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. There's like tons of stories, and reading them makes you feel like you're part of the adventure," Eve explains.
"Didn't you say that the Arabian Nights and this One Thousand and One Nights are the same story?" Sonic questions.
"Yes. Yes it is," Eve says.
"What is the story about?" Cosmo asks.
"Well um, it's actually a bit scary. However, the story is about a woman who became the savior of the kingdom she lived in," Eve says.
"How?" Cream asks.
"Well, for a long time, the sultan, King Shahryar, became scorned when her wife became unfaithful to him and ran off with love. Broken-hearted, the Sultan decided to marry a new woman each night, but had them executed the following morning. Many women's lives continue to die for the past three years," Eve explains.
"That sounds scary," Cream says.
"I know, but the rest isn't so scary. So then one day, Scheherazade, the daughter of a vizier, offered herself to marry the sultan, even if it cost her her life. However, during the night she then tells the sultan a story. However, the sun rose up before she could conclude her story, and so the sultan who was eager to hear the story, decided to spare her life. And so, she continues to tell him a story each night, until she reaches the one thousand and one night. And that time, the sultan ends up forgetting his madness once and for all, and ends up falling in love with her," Eve explains.
"Sounds like a hassle, but gotta admit, that Scheherazade is brave to become the sultan's wife, even if it means herself getting killed," Sonic says.
He then grins, "Kind of reminds me of you, Eve."
"It's kind of what we do to stop Eggman," Eve says with a grin on her face.
"So where do you get the book?" Maria asks.
"I got it from Rachel during one of our visits to Station Square. She said that I can keep it so I can read it to you guys and the other young ones in the city," Eve says.
Eve then turns to the clock to see that it's a quarter past seven.
"It's starting to get late. I think it's time I get everyone home," Eve says.
"You're right, mama would want me home soon," Cream says.
"Yes. I promise Galaxina I wouldn't be home too late," Cosmo says.
"Well, we better go before it gets too dark," Eve says.
Then turns to Sonic, "You wanna come."
"Nah. I'm going to head to my room and get some sleep," Sonic says.
"Sonic, you've been napping a lot today," Eve says, rolling her eyes.
But then says, "then again, you were just getting over your cold so you're still feeling a bit out of it."
"That, and I just like to nap a lot," Sonic says.
"Obviously," Eve replies.
Then turns to the others, "Come on guys, lets do." and turns to Sonic, "I'll be back."
"See you sis," Sonic says.
And with that, Eve and the others take the little ones and are going to head back home for the night.
Sometime later, Sonic is now lying down on his bed and is fast asleep with the book Eve is just reading covering his face.
Sonic continues to snore, "ZZZ…'
Suddenly, a sound appears, "Um…
"ZZZ…" Sonic continues to sleep.
Then the noise appears again, "Hmph!"
Followed by a shout of a woman, "Hey, wake up!"
Sonic soon wakes up as he takes the book off his head.
He lets out a yawn as he stretches his arms, and says, "Boy, is it that late already?"
Sonic then reaches for the clock, but instead of the clock on the table. He ends up grabbing the ring at its place.
"What time is it?" Sonic asks about looking at the time, but finds a ring instead, "Huh?!"
At first glance, Sonic thinks it's the ring he's familiar with, but it has a unique design on it.
Suddenly, he hears the voice, "You are the blue hedgehog."
And with that, a woman appears from the ring.
"Ahh... what the...!" Sonic reacts in surprise.
The woman appears to have tan skin, gray eyes, and elegant magenta hair in a bun with a large amount of hair sticking on the top of her head, and has pointed ears. She is wearing a lavender sleeveless top with golden-circulated and magenta trim, a white shalwar, a pink ribbon belt around her waist, along with a transparent lavender skirt with white trim, and pink sandals with ribbons attached in the back. She is also wearing jewelry like a gold hair cuff, gold lifting eye bolt attached to a gold ring with light blue jewel, gold head chain with light blue jewel, gold earrings with light blue jewels, gold necklace with light blue jewels, golden tape, gold armlets, and gold bracelets.
"Do not be alarmed! I am Shahra, the Genie of the Ring," The woman says.
Then levitates the book into her hand, " ...you know, like 'Aladdin and the Magic Lamp'...?"
"Don't think I've read that, but my sister did," Sonic says.
"What? You've got to be kidding me!" Shahra replies in shock, "It's the best story of all the Arabian Nights? Or at least the 2nd best…"
But then says, "But that's the point. Please, look at this!"
Shahra then opens the book and shows him the pages. Sonic stares at the book and turns its pages.
However, he notices something off, "Hey, the page is blank!"
Then says, "But… Eve was just reading it a while ago."
Then Shahra says, "Our world... The world of the Arabian Nights is vanishing."
To prove her point, she shows the remaining pages with characters and words, but soon vanishes.
"Vanishing? But how?" Sonic asks, confused.
"This is the work of an incredibly evil spirit... the Erazor Djinn," Shahra explains.
"Erazor... Djinn?" Sonic says, confused.
"Yes," Shahra answers.
Then explains, "He used his evil magic to become even more powerful. He could not to bear to simply remain in the book any longer. And so he has begun to set the inscriptions free, absorbing the power of the book itself."
"The power of the book?" Sonic says, confused.
Then Shahra says, "If our world ceases to exist, then not only will those stories be silenced forever, but the Erazor Djinn will then be unleashed into your world."
"That definitely sounds like trouble," Sonic replies.
Then asks, "But, what do you want me to do?"
"I want you to stop him... You must stop the Erazor Djinn. Only you, the blue hedgehog, can do it," Shahra says, desperately.
"Hmm. So, this guy needs someone to put him in his place, does he? I suppose I can help out with that. It might even be fun." Sonic says, taking an interest.
He then asks, "But... this is all just something out of a storybook, right? How am I supposed to do anything about that?"
"That's easy," Shahra answers, "You are my master, having called forth the Genie of the Ring. As such, I am able to grant your wishes. Simple wishes, at any rate. Bringing you into the world of the Arabian Nights is within my power."
"What?! Inside that book?" Sonic asks, shocked.
And then, Shahra transforms herself into a ring.
From the ring, Shahra says, "Now please, place the ring on your finger!"
And with that, Sonic places the ring on his finger as he asks, "Like this?"
Sparks suddenly comes out of the ring, causing him to yelp, "OUCH! Hey, take it easy!"
"My apologies, o Master. But now, the contract has been sealed," Shahra says.
"Contract?" Sonic says, confused.
"Yes," Shahra answers, "As Master of the ring, I am now bound to protect you. Now, rub the ring!"
"Like... like this?" Sonic asks, rubbing the ring.
The ring soon disappears in a puff of smoke, and Shahra reappears.
"O Master of the ring, what is thy wish?" Shahra asks and takes a bow.
Just then, Sonic sneezes, "Achoo! Achoo! How about a handkerchief for starters! Make that a few!"
And soon, Shahra grants his wish and Sonic is buried in a pile of handkerchiefs, leaving his head.
"Thanks! You're a lifesaver. You see, I caught this cold, yesterday, and…" Sonic says as he wipes his nose.
But Shahra interrupts him, "Please, be serious!"
"Okay, okay. Thanks for the hankies, though," Sonic replies.
"Oh, please, someone tell me that this isn't really happening…" Sharha says, starting to have doubts.
Just then, Sonic says, "Alright... let's go!"
Then says, "Take me to this world of the Arabian Nights!"
"As you wish, Master!" Shahra replies with a bow.
Sonic quickly says, "Quit it, will you! My name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog!"
"Very well, then, Sonic. ...the Legendary Hedgehog," Shahra replies.
Then says, " Here we go! Into the world of the Arabian Nights!"
"OK!" Sonic answers.
With her magic, Shahra makes a magic carpet appear.
Sonic quickly boards on the carpet, "Now THIS is first-class! Here we go!"
And with that, Sonic and Shahra fly in the air on the magic carpet and dive into the pages of the book, entering the Arabian Nights.
Soon, Sonic and Shahra find themselves in some kind of open wide abyss. Nothing, but a single stone path that goes two ways, forward and back.
"Where are we?" Sonic asks.
"This is the path that we need to go in order to get to the Arabian Nights," Shahra says.
She then floats to one direction and says, "We will need to go this way in order to get to the entrance."
"Sounds easy. Let's get going," Sonic says.
And with that, both Sonic and Sharha begin to travel along the path to get to the entryway to the Arabian Nights.
Time has gone by since Sonic and Shahra travel through the lost Prologue of the story book world. Which feels like a while, but not for Sonic's speed.
Sonic then asks, "Okay, so who's this guy who's trying to make the world disappear again?"
"You mean the Erazor Djinn?" Shahra questions.
"Yeah, that's right. Can you take me to him?" Sonic answers.
Shahra looks ahead and says, "There is no need."
"Whaddya mean?" Sonic asks.
"He's here!" Shahra quickly answers.
Sonic quickly looks ahead and comes to a stop to see a purple light in front of them. Just then, three magical circles appear, and the being known as Erazor Djinn appears before them.
Erazor Djinn is a tall, muscular, humanoid being with predominantly pink or purplish skin traced with red markings. His beard and hair are a cardinal red and his hair has a ponytail which curls upwards. His eyes have black sclera and red pupils and he has pointed ears and sharp nails. Erazor's attire consists of a long brown cape held up by a blue and gold jewel, blue-beaded earrings on his left ear, golden armbands, baggy white pants held up by a brown and gold sash, and brown, curly-toed boots, equipped with bronze gauntlets on them.
He tries to slash Sonic with one of his razors, but Sonic backflips to avoid it.
"What's that all about... talk about close shaves…" Sonic asks, surprised, "Maybe you know where I could get my quills sharpened, too?"
Shahra then cries out, "Sonic! That's him! He's the evil spirit who is striking the words of our world from the pages!"
Razor notices Sonic, "You... you must be that blue rat that just got added to the story…
"Don't you know anything? I'm not a rat! I'm a hedgehog," Sonic says, feeling offended.
Erazor evilly chuckles and says, "I am Erazor Djinn! I am the one who shall carve up this world as I see fit."
"Yeah... well if you're going to do that, at least you're doing it after my sister finished reading it" Sonic replies.
"Sonic…" Shahra replies, not too pleased with his amusement.
"One hundred of the One Thousand and One Nights have already been wiped clean! And soon, the rest shall join them, night by night. And then, with the seven World Rings…" Erazor says.
"Seven World Rings?" Sonic says, confused.
"You have gathered the seven World Rings for me, have you not. Shahra, my dear?" Erazor questions, turning his attention towards Sharha.
"Are you still going on about that?" Shahra questions.
Then says, "I told you, those things don't exist! And even if they did, I'd never give them to you!"
"Oh? Wouldn't you, though?" Erazor questions.
Shahra then turns away in denial.
"I suppose a suitable punishment is in order, then…" Erazor says.
And with that, Erazor then points his finger at Shahra and a flame appears at it. He then fires it at Shahra.
Sonic cries out, "Look out!"
Sonic quickly gets in front of Sharha and the female that's meant for Shahra has pierced in his chest, "Ugh!"
Shahra cires out, "Sonic!"
And Sonic falls to the ground. He then sits up and looks to see the flame that is attached to his left chest.
Erazor maniacally laughs, "Aha... hahaha. So, this is how Judgement is dealt, is it?"
Then think for a little, "Hmmm. This should be interesting."
He then says to Sonic, "You listening? Bring me the seven World Rings before the arrow of flame extinguishes. If you do not…"
"...your life is forfeit. Next, I think I shall collect the life of King Shahryar and Scheherazade…" Erazor adds.
He then uses his magic to disappear the way he has appeared.
Shahra says in concern, "King Shahryar and Scheherazade are the creator of the Arabian Nights and the main character of the story!"
"King Shahryar and Scheherazade? I think I remember who they are," Sonic says.
"Yes. They are also the main characters of One Thousand and One Nights, and know every last story of the Arabian Nights," Shahra says.
"That's that. Eve actually just told me about their story. And if what you're saying is true. We need to get to them first," Sonic says.
Then asks, "Do you have any idea where they are?"
"I suspect that he must be at the royal palace. We must get there before Erazor can get to him," Shahra says.
"With my speed, we'll just have to make sure we get to him first!" Sonic says.
And so, Sonic and Shahra continue through the path. The two continue to speed forward until they see a door that is already open, and it's glowing.
"There it is, Sonic," Shahra says.
"Alright, let's go. It's time to enter the Arabian Nights," Sonic says.
And so, the two then speed through into the portal and through the doors, beginning their journey to the Arabian Nights.