Sonic The Hedgehog: Sol Terra Arc.
A/N: Hello, welcome to another fanfic which is, again, due to writer's block and it may end up being one of the shortest Sonic stories on record, but we'll have to wait and see what happens. I've been struggling with ideas now and even then I still have ideas for new stories that just won't go away.
This is based on the issues 29, 30 and 31, and 32, but similar to my "Passion of the Heart" one-shot story set in a slight AU, and with a number of changes. In any case, happy reading!
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Part 1: Recovery.
'Ugh...W-Where am I?' These groggy thoughts filled the mind of Sonic the Hedgehog, the hero of the planet who had in the last more than half a year went through a living nightmare that would've broken a person, but somehow he managed to hold on despite the disasters that occurred recently.
As he fought against the fuzzy blur in his brain, he began to remember what has happened to him, and to all of his friends: Fighting against Eggman's robots led by the power-hungry Metal Sonic, the amnesic Eggman who got his memories back, Dr. Starline, the Metal Virus which almost destroyed the entire world, many getting infected easily including Sonic himself and his friends, the return of the Deadly Six, finding the Chaos Emeralds which cured the blue hedgehog, destroying the virus and curing the world...the Warp Topaz which swallowed the teenage hero himself and then...
'That's right. Me and Silver transformed into super hedgehogs to beat the big red ugly giant, I send the metal virus to the sun and Silver cured the world using his power...Then the Warp Topaz ate me. Or, something like that.'
Still feeling tired from that nightmare of events yet somehow not as sore as he would've imagined, he felt like he finally managed to get some much needed sleep after nearly turning into a Zombot several times which the thought made him shudder, and very glad that the Chaos Emeralds saved his life, Sonic sat up while rubbing his head with a groan.
"Boy, that was some ride. I thought I was a goner." He managed to mutter to himself, before looking around to find himself lying in a very large and comfortable soft bed in a grand suite of a bedroom, overlooking a balcony of a very familiar place he should know, but couldn't remember at the moment.
Where did he end up anyway? Were his friends alright?
The doors across the room then opened and suddenly on his guard, Sonic snapped his attention, then relaxed in confusion and relief to see a familiar lavender cat enter, his good friend Princess Blaze the Cat, the protect of the Sol Dimension...which he then quickly realized is where he was. He was in her castle!
"Ah, Sonic. Good to see you awake. How are you feeling?" Blaze greeted, feeling very relieved to see her good friend and heroic ally safe. She approached slowly to his side.
"Heya, Blaze. Good to see ya." Sonic waved, smiling. Since the battle against Metal, he hasn't seen her in a while and was glad that she didn't have to deal with the Metal Virus. That was the last thing he wanted her to get involved in. "How long was I out for?"
"For about two days. You were seriously wounded and left with heavy fatigue. My friend and assistant Scarlet found you in the crater when you crash landed from the sky." The Sol Princess answered, standing by the cobalt hedgehog's left. "Fortunately, you received the best of care and should be fine in another day."
'Guess that means very single trace of the Metal Virus really is gone. That's a relief.' The fifteen year old thought, resisting the urge to sigh. Thank goodness, now he can sleep normally again. "Thanks, Blaze. I owe ya' and your friends for helpin' me. You have no idea what me and the others had been through."
"Judging by your injuries, I could tell. How are you feeling?"
"Much better than I had been in the last week or a few. It was crazy." Sonic chuckled, smirking. It was right then that his stomach decided to beg for differ as it grumbled loudly. Flinching a little, he then felt his face heat up with a pink hue covering his cheeks. "Um...Mind if I having something to eat? I'm starving."
Blaze tried to resist the urge to giggle, even though she did smile warmly. "Of course. Let us go to the dining room and my chefs will serve you the best of meals."
"I'd love to have a chili dog right now, but anything you have to offer is okay too."
'Oh, brother.' The Guardian of the Sol Emeralds now fought off the urge to roll her eyes. The blue blur and his obsession over chili dogs. One of these days it's going to be the death of him.
Around an hour later, after breakfast which had Sonic scarf down hungrily like his life depended on it, he joined Blaze for some tea while the hedgehog explained what happened during her absence. Starline, Eggman regaining his memories, the Metal Virus and how Sonic himself ended up here.
"...So yeah, that's basically the whole story." Sonic concluded, relaxing. "In the end, me and Silver took care of it.
Though judging by the slightly horrified look on her face, yet her topaz eyes told that it was much more than that, the heroic hedgehog knew that she felt very chilled and terrified over what has happened. Frankly, he couldn't blame her. Not after what he has been through and if he was being honest with himself, Sonic, despite having fully recovered from being partially a zombot, was still scared. It was very likely that the scars of that crazy metallic pandemic near-apocalypse would last for the rest of his and everybody else's lives.
Heck, even Eggman might be having nightmares over it and he literally agreed to Starline's insane idea. Which made the cobalt teenager wonder if the evil scientist would regret that forever. Probably not, but that's one idea he won't be using again, not when he became a zombot himself, that's for sure.
"I hate to say it, Sonic, but Shadow may have been right. You shouldn't have left him unguarded. Not when there are other evils out there who would, could and did already side with Dr. Eggman, if they are not worse than he is." Blaze shook her head with a sigh.
"Yeah...I know. I should've just listened to him and my gut instincts. But I thought it would be okay if Eggman never remembered and if he did, he would've regretted his actions, maybe spend the rest of his life as Mr. Tinker. Boy, was that a screw up on my part?" Sonic admitted a soft sigh of his own, looking away slightly. "Worst part is, I think Cream must've figured it out, 'cause she gave me a cold shoulder. Not that I didn't deserve it considering what happened to her mom."
He knew that by the time he went home he was in big trouble. But Sonic knew he had to make it up for it. His heart sank with everything that's happened, and how disappointed he was when Eggman point blank said that he would always be evil.
Not one to let sadness and guilt hold him down, deciding to ultimately make it up for his friends, Sonic mentally shook those negative emotions away and smirked. "But hey, all things considered, the world's saved and everybody's back to normal. Now's just the matter of fixing up everything and recovering. If you don't mind, I'd like a trip back home. Gotta get back to my friends, make sure Egghead doesn't cause trouble again too soon and all."
"You know that I would send you back home to your dimension in a heart-beat, Sonic, and I'd gladly like to help. But, I'm afraid that's going to have to wait, as you came at, shall we say, a good and bad time." Blaze apologetically lowered her gaze, now her expression lingering with guilt, anger and frustration.
"Don't tell me: Eggman Nega stole the Jeweled Scepter, or the Sol Emeralds, or both?" Sonic sighed in exasperation, rolling his eyes as he could already guess the main cause of his delayed trip back home. Not that he could blame his friend, but couldn't that Nega-head just get a life without throwing it all away?
"Dr. Eggman Nega for once isn't responsible for any of it. I have sent him into prison three months ago and had to help clean up his mess for the attack he made in the other continent outside of my Kingdom. Which was one of the reasons why I couldn't reach to you earlier. He has been securely locked up with the highest of security known to many." The Princess explained.
'Huh. Guess I should take some lessons from Blaze. I wish Espio didn't encourage me to do that. Then again, I'm mainly to blame for what's really happened. If it weren't for that Starline creep, the Metal Virus wouldn't have happened.' Sonic thought to himself, while aloud he blinked in confusion. "So then, what happened?"
"For one reason I cannot explain, the Sol Emeralds have mysteriously lost all of their power a week ago and two days later the Jewel Scepter has vanished. I went to the prison cells to see if Nega has escaped, but he was there and so far as denied any wrong doing. While I an inclined to suspect that he has a robot of sorts attempting to break him out, but there are no news of him getting away. Which leaves me to believe there is a new enemy out there attempting to use the Jewel Scepter and has drained all of the Emeralds' powers for whatever evil cause and motivation they have in mind." She informed him.
"Man, this kinda sounds like the time when Eggman sucked the Chaos Emeralds dry to split up my planet into pieces and control Dark Gaia." He winced, resisting the urge to cringe over the slight deja vu. It was pure luck that his friend didn't turn into a Were-Cat or anything like that.
Either way, he knew that without Blaze being able to transform into Burning Blaze, the Sol and Chaos Emeralds installed into the Ocean Tornado, and/or the Jeweled Scepture, the blue hedgehog was stuck here in the Sol Dimension indefinitely.
"I'm sorry I can't help you return to your dimension at the moment, Sonic. I'm afraid to ask seeing how much you have been through, but I need-"
"Say no more. I'd be happy to help ya' out." Sonic gently cut her off, holding up a hand with a knowing smirk. "Not just because I'd like get back home, but you gonna need all the help you can get. However this new creep is clearly needs some serious Princess and Hero scolding. With you and me, it'll be a piece of a cake."
"Why am I not surprised?" Blaze shook her head with a knowing smile. "And I am going to guess you will say no to a much longer needed rest that you need? After all, you are still recovering from your ordeal."
"I had two days of sleep since I got here, plus relaxing since I woke up. I'm more than ready to get back into action. I feel so pumped up, I can't wait to start running again, this time without the need to simply keep running without stopping for a break or two." The blue hedgehog grinned excitedly.
'Even though he has been exhausted and been through such terrible things in the last several months, he still the same as I have met him. I'm glad to see that Sonic hasn't changed even the most trying of trials. I can only hope his heart's desires and compassion do not fade.' Blaze found herself feeling relieved. Even though she was worried about her friend and one of the most trusted allies not fully recovered yet given what has happened, it was good to see that not even almost turning into a full zombot was enough to keep Sonic the Hedgehog down for long.
It was thanks to him and Cream that the Cat Princess has opened up her feelings, being able to be herself around others she can call friends. Now it was her turn to keep on helping him, even though in order to get Sonic back home, she must solve the mystery of how the Sol Emeralds lost their powers and get the Jeweled Scepter back at all costs.
"Thank you, Sonic. I am forever in your dept."
"No need to pay me back or anything. It's what friends are for." Sonic chuckled with a shrug, earning a light giggle from his friend. "So, when do ya' wanna head out?"
"Well, first I need to figure out who was responsible before I can find the thief. I do have a fair idea, however. It is unlike any I have seen before. If you come with me to my private office, I will show you the coordinates." Blaze nodded, standing up and indicating that her friend should do the same.
"Right behind you." The blue hedgehog finished off his tea along with his friend, before following her back into the castle as he was more than ready for another adventure, which was now the only way for him to get back to his dimension.
Meanwhile, in the dark cave up in the mountains laid the entrance of a giant cavern with a fortress built in, a satellite dish aimed at the sky with rainbow like coloured energy being sucked in and transcended into a capsule inside a huge cyan-coloured lab. Inside the room itself had various tubes, computers, monitors, and a large cage holding a winged creature that resembled to a gargoyle, a demon with a lion's head complete with a mane, hoove-like feet, claw-like hands with oval coloured body and green-like lines which glowed on the arms, torso and legs, curled up in a statue form.
Standing before the caged monster about the double of at least five human men, half the size of Zavok in his giant form, was an anthropomorphic rat of albino white fur, a thick pink nose with slit-like brown-black eyes, pale coloured muzzle and inner ears, leather black gloves, a dark red vest with a cloak draped over his body, and matching coloured boots, grinning evilly at the creature before him.
"This coming along nicely. So nicely in fact, I am pleased to see that soon it will come to fruition." The Rat, who goes by the name of Professor Nicolus Rattoulous, grinned wickedly with a dark chuckle. "Oh, how I have been waiting for this moment."
Like Dr. Starline was to Dr. Eggman in Sonic's Dimension before the near end of the world disaster of the Metal Virus, Professor Rattoulous was a huge supporter of Dr. Eggman Nega, except unlike Starline who wished to serve his now former idol, Nicolus wanted to succeed Nega and he felt that his latest project help him make his life-long dream come true.
He turned back to the controls and his grin grew when he checked the computer's system, gathering data to see how much energy from the Sol Emeralds he was absorbing for his latest experiment. Turning back to the creature inside, Rattoulous felt triumpth surge into the very core of his being.
"Patience, my friend. You will awaken at any moment now, and no one, not even that foolish little pryokinesis girl, Princess Blaze, shall stop us. The time has come for your awakening and bring forth a curse upon this world: Dark Terra." The evil Rat snickered.
The creature, Dark Terra, who was the Sol counterpart of Dark Gaia, seemed to be in deep sleep, yet the creature who brought upon destruction and another curse could feel it's awakening increasingly creeping up and a dark power which would only take it's light counterpart to stop it.
No one, not even Blaze or Sonic, were aware that they were all in for another catastrophic calamity.
Meanwhile, back in Sonic's Dimension:
It has been two days since the world was finally cured from the Metal Virus, and soon the Resistance began to help rebuild and recover parts of the world that dealt with heavy damage from the Zombots. Yet like many people who had returned to normal, the group were left shaken and traumatized by what happened. Knuckles decided to remain on Angel Island to deal with the damage in his home, while Tails, Amy and the rest returned to the surface.
Eggman, for once extremely shaken by the experience, decided to leave for a much needed break(and most likely to come up with yet another evil plan to retake the world and rebuilt his Egg Empire) and left with the heavily damaged Metal Sonic, Orbot and Cubot. Starline was found and arrested along with Zavok and the rest of the Deadly Six with Tails creating Zeti-contollers to keep them in line while building a rocket ship that would transport them back to the Lost Hex for a one-way trip, designed to explode once it landed.
Amy decided to resign as Commander of the Restoration and handed her position to Jewel the Beetle who, understanding the pink hedgehog's decision, accepted. Silver decided to stick around to help with the clean up. Tails also attempted to try and rebuild Omega who was heavily damaged but thankfully found by Rouge who reunited with the recovered, irritated, but shaken and guilt-ridden Shadow.
Yet despite everyone's efforts, they had been unable to locate Sonic who had been swallowed up by the Warp Topaz and disappeared.
Right now, Amy was visiting the rabbit family with Vanilla finally cured, and having been emotionally reunited with her daughter who cried for hours upon her return, and G-Mel, also having damages, helped to sort things out.
"Do you think Mr. Sonic will be okay?" Cream asked, seated on a sofa holding Cheese in her arms, recovered from the Metal Virus while having happily reunited with her mother.
In the days as she had been angry with Sonic, the little rabbit girl, coming to terms that Sonic and Silver had saved the world again, now felt awful for being so horrible to him. Even though she knew that letting Eggman go was a wrong decision regardless of the mad doctor's short-lived amnesia, she still cared for the blue hedgehog and now she feared that something bad happened to him. She wanted to apologize for giving the teenage hero the cold shoulder.
"I hope so, Cream. He's probably somewhere out there recovering and getting much needed rest that he really needs." Amy tried to sound hopeful and optimistic. But even she couldn't hold back her deep concerns for her cobalt hero.
She had seen how awful he looked, how scared, guilt-ridden, and exhausted he was. Even the pink hedgehog knew that Sonic had his limits, and he had to keep on running or else he would've have surcumbed to the Metal Virus. A few times he almost did, and if it weren't for the others, all would have been completely lost. The poor thing couldn't even get any sleep until the cure was found.
'Who would have thought that it would take the Chaos Emeralds to cure him and pretty much everybody else? If we had known that, we would've found them a whole lot sooner.' Amy thought to herself, sadly gazing at her reflection in her tea cup. Her heart sank over the terrifying nightmare that would have been only known in horror movies.
"We all need a break after going through that." She continued, smilingly sadly before turning her gaze to the guilt-ridden and worried little rabbit girl. "Sonic will come back. He always does. Nothing keeps him down for long."
"I hope you're right, Miss Amy. I wish I could talk to him right now." The six year old sighed, gently squeezing her hold on the worried Cheese who chirped in sadness while attempting to make his mistress feel better. "I didn't mean to be mad at him."
Cream looked ready to cry, sniffling as her heart sank for thinking that Sonic deserved to be infected. 'Please come home, Mr. Sonic. I'm sorry for being mean to you. You and Mr. Silver saved all of us and made us feel better. I...I miss you.'
Seeing her friend so sad, Amy gently pulled her into a comforting embrace, rocking her back and forth to make her feel better. Yet despite all of this, nothing could be done and nobody will feel fully better until Sonic came back.
If he ever came back this time. The pink hedgehog can't help but fear that the combination of Chaos Control and the Warp Topaz simply didn't transport him to somewhere else...but it may have actually killed him...meaning that he won't be coming back home ever again.
'Sonic...Wherever you are. Please come back. We need you. Everybody misses you.' Amy gazed out of the window, half-expecting the hero to simply peer through the window and give out his trademark wink and thumbs up, while dramatically making his grand entrance like he always does.
Little did everybody know that Sonic's trip home would take a little while longer than they expected, and that while their world managed to avoid the complete end, another was about to face a similar destruction with another deja vu event put into the mix.
A/N: This idea as well as another have been driving me crazy that I couldn't hold back anymore, and I'm sorry that I haven't started on the requested story yet if you are reading this, Koa Eton Anatole. I'll try and get to it as soon as I can once I come up with the right ideas how to begin it.
In the meantime, hopefully things will settle down soon and I'll be able to post the next chapter and update my other stories in the near future.
See you later!