Chapter 6.
Eggman raised his blade above his head ready to deal the final blow that would rid him of the Time Lord for good. He smiled and brought it down full tilt only for it to connect with something else with a hollow BONG! He did it again and again getting the same results.
"How are you doing that?" He damanded, "Stop being clever and let me kill you!" The sword bounced off a couple more times, "Stop it !"
"It's not me!" The Doctor called back equally confused. Each time Eggman swung his sword the blade would hit some kind of shield. He slipped on his 3D glasses to get a better look. The blade hit again and the shield shimmered around him in a bright blue hue. The Doctor's face slowly broke into a smirk. He knew who it was now. "Oh, Eggman. You poor, old fool." He leaned against the smooth surface in a casual manner returning the specs to his inside pocket. "You think you're so smart when really you're a big, fat idiot."
"I'm warning you, Doctor. Any more of you're insolence and I'll strike you down where you stand."
A brow arched, "Really? OK, then. Strike me down if you like, if it'll make you feel manly." The laser sword hummed as Eggman charged it to full power. "But before you do, " the Egg-Bot wavered, "my last words."
Eggman sighed, very bored now. "And they are?"
The Doctor grinned, " Yippie-ki-yay, fat man!" In a flash of gold the Doctor dissappeared leaving Eggman standing all alone and the confused one this time.
"Impossible! H-He couldn't have!" Switching to his internal radio he contacted all available EK units in the area. "This is a code red! The Doctor has escaped,last seen in the tunnel heading for sector K-57. All units search the surrounding town and when you find him bring him to the Goddess. Alive. Do you understand?"
"UNDERSTOOD." Came the faint reply. "UNITS FROM THE SURFACE REPORT THAT THE DOCTOR'S SHIP HAS BEEN CAPTURED. THEY'RE MOVING IT TO THE LABS AS WE SPEAK."
"Eggcellent. Egg-bot returning to Base." Re-routing what ever power he had left, Eggman turned and headed back down the tunnel. " This time, Doctor your secrets WILL be mine!"
The Doctor came screaming from the heavens plummeting into a cart loaded with brimming sacks of some sort of local grain. On impact dust flew every where coating him from head to toe in a fine layer. The Doctor heaved a great sigh, took a moment to gather his thoughts and then slowly sat up.
He had crash landed in the middle of a deserted market place- judging by the wooden stalls and forgotten baskets that lined the streets. Scanning the area his eyes caught a small flicker of light coming from the shadows. He narrowed his eyes as the light slowly edged closer and then they widened when the cause revealed itself.
A girl, no more than six or seven years old, stopped just shy of the alley way opening. She looked both ways before desperately beckoning him over, when he didn't move she scowled at him. " You are the Doctor, yes?"
"Why should I tell you?"
She sighed," You know the Blue Blur? The one they call..." Leaning forward slightly she whispered, "...Sonic?" He nodded and she grinned,beckoning him a second time with finger that was adorned with a bronze ring. The source of the flickering light." Your friends are hiding nearby. Come, I'll take you to them."
"Any funny stuff and I'm telling your parents." Scrambling off the cart he joined her in the shadows and just in time too. Coming around the corner were the tell-tale sounds of stomping feet, a second later and a patrol of black EK's fanned out and started searching the market place. Together the Doctor and his new friend huddled deeper into the shadows to avoid detection. It was a long while before the EK's turned to each other, bleep and then stomp off. Once they were gone both breathed out sighs of relief.
" We must hurry. You follow." Quickly the girl ducked out into the street and for the first time the Doctor got a good look at her. Dressed in a knee-lenght tunic in blue and brown sandals, she had pale green skin with a light covering of darker green freckles across her nose, deep red hair that was tightly curled and rested on her shoulders. But it was her eyes made him blink in surprise, they were a vivid shade of violet." Come. Quickly." she said again.
The odd pair ducked and dived through the dusty streets and alleyways before coming to a stop outside a crumbling curch of some Doctor followed the little girl through the big double doors of the building, carefully edging his way pass stone pillars and old statues. The girl wondered around, finally coming to a stop beside an elderly man dressed in a simular tunic and sandals, his hair was very grey and in a ponytail that reached the middle of his back.
"Ah!" He grinned, "You, sir, must be the Doctor-man. We hear you will set us free from the Goddess." He extended a hand in greeting.
The Doctor, covered in flour dust, shook his offered hand warmly. " Uh...Guess I am. So, what do I call you then?"
"Midus." Came a soft voice behind him. The Doctor cringed knowing who it was and half turned. Seeing a blur of yellow he raised his hands to cover his head. He heard a sigh, " I should, but I won't." Amy lowered her Piko-Piko hammer. She glared at him, "You left us!"
" I know and I'm sorry." Came his mumble along with a shuffle of feet." But,hey,it worked out. We found each other,didn't we? That's a good question; how did you lot end up here the same time as me?"
" Well...We don't know." She said lamely.
The Doctor cocked his head to one side, "You don't know." He repeated. "Could it be something to do with a small ball of shimmering blue light?" Amy's mouth dropped slightly open and her hammer vanished in a shower of sparkles. He smirked, "Thought so."
Amy leaned closer, "You saw him too?" He nodded, "But what does that mean? Is he...Is he..." She couldn't finish, she didn't want to say it out loud.
"I don't think so. I think he's hanging on in there,Amy. We'll get him back before time runs out, I promise." He gave her a quick hug. "Now,then, where are the others?" Midus coughed queitly and jerked his head to a side door. The Doctor grinned in thanks and, taking hold of Amy's hand, headed through quietly. To their great surprise the little girl joined them. "Oh, hello...Uh..."
She pointed to herself, "Petra."
"Is he ready now?" Somebody asked in a gruff tone. The Doctor saw Shadow walking up to them, his eyes were cloudly and his mood matched. "Glad you could join us, Doctor. If you'll excuse me, I have work to do."
" My Gramps can see you now, black hedgehog. Please to follow me."
Once Shadow and the girl had left Amy let go of the Doctor, whirled round and smacked him hard on the arm. The Doctor yelped loudly, rubbed his arm and pouted. But before he could get a word in Amy shushed him and nodded towards where the other two were gathered around a single table. The Doctor raised his brows at her in question but again she shushed him. Following the pink hedgehog they found Rouge and Tails bent over a stone tablet. Half of it was missing but they all knew who it was depicturing;
A large serpentine dragon with stick thin arms and sharp talons rising from a vast river of lava surrounded by spiky towers of rock.
The Doctor whistled under his breath and leaned in for a closer look. " Hang on. I've seen this before."
" No, you haven't." Scoffed Rouge with a flick of hair.
"No, seriously.I have." He started turning out his pockets, rumaging, re-organising until he pulled out a big leather bound book and dropped it on the small table with a heavy thunk. "There we go!" He annouced happily, and then at their stunned looks, "What?"
"I...Tha...How did that fit in there?" Sputtered Tails.
"Pockets." He grinned, " They're bigger on the inside." Whipping out his reading specs he started flipping through the dusty pages. "It was just here... right after the four headed spider beastie... but before your watery Chaos monster...where, where ,where are you?" He sang softly and then, " Ha! Here she is," Turning the book upside down the others blinked at the completed picture. " So this Celosia in her final form,eh? Nasty." He read the passage on the opposite page about his new foe.
"You don't have to tell us, Doctor. " Went Rouge . " Cliff notes; she's a bad ass, big time."
"Yeah, I got that. Says here she's the Goddess of Fire,one of the Order of Seven. Her brothers feared her lust for power that they made a sword like no other from the first rays of light that travelled through-out the you used last time, right?" The Freedom Fighter nodded. " OK... Hm...Well, how about that."
"What? What have you found?" Tails peeked at the page closely that his nose brush it. "What?"
"It says here that Celosia fought with her brothers before they imprisoned her. Something about a doomsday device hidden in the dark regions of deep space. A terrible demon with the power of all four elements was discovered, four of the Order engaged it in a fierce battle that went on for ten life times. They did defeat the beast by blinded it and scattering its eyes across the cosmos. But Celosia uncovered one of the locations before she died." He stopped suddenly and stood back, eyes narrowing.
" Why'd you stop? It was just getting good."
" Because I can read it." He said quietly. "It's being translated. Do you know what this means?"
"Nope."
Tails shrugged, " Don't have a clue. Sorry, Doctor."
Amy gasped, "Oh! I get it! I get it!"
"No, you don't." Rouge folded her arms and gave her a pointed glare.
" I do! It's being translated because it's about the Nazo Serpent and one of the Eyes is nearby. Namely the eye of Fire. That's right. Right?"The Doctor smirked at her, she stuck her tongue out at the bat. "See? I know some stuff. But what gets me is the how."
"Then allow me." The Doctor started pacing the small room, putting the pieces together. " The passage of the Nazo Serpent in this book has been written in old picture graphs, so old that the TARDIS didn't know where to begin. Remember this book came from the Lost Library,a place filled with all kinds of mystic powers and what-not. Now this is my guess... I think this book is suffering from anmesia. If it comes into a certain range of any of the Eyes it will sense it and start to translate about the Nazo Serpent's history."
" So, if we find the Eye of Water..." Whispered Rouge.
" We'll know alittle bit more about it and where it might be hiding." Finished Tails.
The Doctor grinned," Exactly."
Now they some kind of plan, Amy and Rouge poured over the book for any other references to other members of the Order of Seven and the other elements that the book mention, the Doctor and Tails huddled together in a corner the furthest away for a hasty decussion.
The fox quickly peeked over at Rouge before speaking in hushed tones," OK, Doctor, I want it plain and simple. You know a lot more about mystical powers and stuff, so tell me... What's happening to Sonic? Why could we see him as a ball of light? Is he OK?"
"Whoa! Hold your horses,little guy." Turning them around he put an arm around the cubs' shoulders. "Look, I'm 98 percent sure Sonic is fine. As for what's happening- I'm not sure but likely situation is that the protective shields of the golden ring are breaking down allowing Sonic's soul to show it self as a ball of light. The bad news is if the shields continue to fall apart then Sonic's condiction will be excelurated and we will lose him for good."
Behind them came a loud gasp and a thump. They turned back to find the book on the carpeted floor and, not Amy, but Rouge staring at them looking like her whole world had fallen apart. Amy had one of those looks that could kill mixed with complete fear.
"Wh-what did you just say?"