Chapter Seven – Proposal

The Merhogs were actually far more difficult to permanently take down, then expected. That was why Eggman was here. Those who had been chasing Sonic fell first, Eggman shoot their breathing devices off of them, but not every Merhog had been on his tail, and suddenly, they appeared from the nooks and crevices of Aquila. The Merhogs who had been chasing the Aquahogs down the canyon were finally back and immediately joined the fight. It quickly became a full on battle.

Eggman immediately zoned in on General Zellick as he swam for his life from the submarine and it's lasers, which left Sonic and Shadow to deal with the rest of the Merhogs. Sonic didn't want to kill, so Shadow didn't ask, however the Blue Blur did agree to lame the Merhogs first, thus making it easier for the Ultimate Lifeform to kill them. So Sonic went high, and Shadow stayed low, and as working together, they took out the rest of the Merhogs. Sonic swam up and then dived down, curling into a ball, and the used the side of his tail to speed thwack them senseless. As the Merhog thrown to the floor, Shadow was immediately on top of them, throwing an almighty hand back, full fist, and thrusting it at the air tank at the back of the neck. One punch was all it took from the Ultimate Lifeform to instantly break the breathing device, of which Shadow just ripped from the Merhog, then moved on, leaving him to drown.

It was brutal and ruthless efficient. But Sonic didn't like it but he didn't have a choice. It was simple, us or them. The Aquahogs or the Merhogs, and Sonic knew that if he left any Merhogs alive, the Aquahogs would never live in peace again. Constantly being hunted by them. For his people's sake, he had to do this, because in the end, that was why they were doing all this.

Those little, innocent, rather cuddly, swimming Water Hedgehogs of whom Shadow was beginning to get rather fond. Sonic fought for them, hard, and finally, Shadow understood why, as seeing General Zellick with his hands on Sonic's throat made his blood boil, the anger pouring through him like fire. It wasn't because Sonic was the Blue Blur, or his arch rival, that Shadow defended him. It was because he was an Aquahog, and what the species, as a whole, now meant to him. He knew that General Zellick would rape him. He could see it in his eyes, and that, even for the almighty Ultimate Lifeform was just going too far. He downright objected, and was something he never did. Heavily dominate, yes, ravish, yes, sometimes it even turned violent, but it was always with full consent. If he didn't get it, he didn't do it. He always knew where to finds girls who enjoyed his type, or he did, before he was exiled and banished to that dreaded island.

Shadow anger was building and building, until it outright exploded at General Zellick, the last Merhog still swimming. Both Sonic and Shadow went for him. Eggman was still at the other end of Aquila, which meant he was several minutes away as they had caught the General trying to flee. They both attacked, one from above, one from the side, and here, speed was king. Both Sonic and Shadow both dived and ran for the him, they super-span into balls and hit him as hard as they could. Shadow smashing him with his quills, Sonic his tail. Again and again, they rammed, until finally the General was down. Even Sonic's anger exploded as finally he smashed the General and then rammed his almighty tail right under his chin, an Aquahog's only weapon. General Zellick whimpered.

"But Princess, you can't do this. What of your people, your city?" He stammered. Looking around, Aquila had been flatten. There was nothing left. The almighty citadel gone. But Sonic growled, leaning right into the General.

"My people are safe. Aquila will live again." He hissed, but then he leered. "But I'm no Princess." He spat, and which the General's eyes widened, of which he looked down as saw Sonic's distinctive but extremely subtle maleness for himself, and then gulped. Suddenly, Sonic roared, his own anger exploding and he threw his fisted hand back, and swiped it right across the nose of the Merhog. Sonic was nowhere near strong enough to break the breathing device, but he did knock the almighty Merhog to the floor. Shadow raised an eyebrow, smirking. He'd never seem Sonic loose it that badly, but saw an opportunity the Blue Blur gave him. Immediately he struck the back of the breathing device, as the General was knocked to the floor. But Shadow may have broken the device but General Zellick wasn't giving up without a fight, and he grabbed the breathing apparatus with everything he had. He forced Sonic and Shadow to work together, pulling in an almighty tug-of-war, to rip the device off of the Merhog.

Finally they succeeded, the General left screaming for air, Shadow immediately back off, instinctively putting himself between the Prince and the Merhog. Sonic immediately notice, putting his hands on his shoulders, but then Shadow felt his large tail begin to curve around of which Shadow instantly battered away. Sonic gulped, getting absent-mindedly carried away.

"Sorry." He stuttered. But Shadow growled

"Concentrate." He spat, but then he rolled his eyes. Aquahogs. Definitely tactile. It was nice to see Sonic finally relaxing around Shadow, but as the Ultimate Lifeform found out, maybe it was a little to much. He roared under his breath which immediately got the Blue Blur to let go of him. But Sonic's head was down, ears back, looking somber. A look Shadow now hated on a Aquahog. He heaved.

"Don't do that." He snapped, to much confusion of the Blue Blur, but he just shrugged it off, as they watched General Zellick finally drown, his enormous body becoming cold and still on the ocean floor. But it wasn't over yet, they still had one last villain to deal with.

Eggman.

Finally, the Human was done and moved his submarine back round to the centre of the city. By the time he got there, Sonic and Shadow were gone, but Eggman wasn't convinced Aquila was empty. It had a sense of foreboding about it, that sent chills down his spine. The submarine had taken a beating from the sharks in getting here, and now running low on air and at these intensive water pressures, Eggman was somewhat keen to leave. But he also wanted to finish the job. Experience had proved that unfinished jobs always came back to bite him. He wanted to make sure the Ultimate Lifeform himself was dead. He'd rigged that breathing device to fail, knowing of his Merhog origins, the gills in his lungs, from his grandfather's work. With just about enough air left, he searched, shining spotlights everywhere, as the light of Aquila dimmed.

He had been surprised to find a city down here, but seeing battered, broken and ruined, whomever it was who ruled here, was long since dead. Regardless, he spotted the mine next door, and the stash of recovered treasure. Eggman smirked. Time to collect, as he sent the last of his deep sea Badniks over to retrieve. But suddenly, out of nowhere, they were destroyed, as something fast and black, whizzed all around, him, ripping apart every last one of them, until just the submarine was left. Then he landed, on the nose of the submarine, right in front of cockpit.

The Ultimate Lifeform was very much alive. Eggman screamed, falling off his chair, stammering in horror. He stared. Shadow was looking at him, through the glass, his eyes narrowing, wearing nothing. No breathing device, no gadget whatsoever, to allow him to breath down here, at these enormous depths. But he was just doing a rather strange motion with his mouth, as he gulped water to breath. That was when Eggman finally noticed the gills on his neck, knowing full well, they weren't there before. He gasped.

"How?" He stammered, unable to believe what he was seeing, finally realising he'd been duped. Not only was the Ultimate Lifeform alive, but acquiring new abilities. This made him even more dangerous. Shadow just smirked, though the glass.

"I have friends in high places." He hissed, under his breath. He heaved. Sonic, was he a friend? That was debatable, but it was becoming more borderline, especially after this fight, and high places, the royal Prince of Aquila itself, you couldn't get more grander then that. He knew Eggman couldn't hear him, though weirdly, he could hear the Human. Only those with gills can hear each other speak under the water. A wall of glass and the air above, and nothing would be heard. Then he looked up, and suddenly, Sonic smashed into the submarine directly from above. Shadow immediately jumped down, and immediately joined in the fray. They both super-span rammed the submarine. Again and again, as the mighty vessel began to buckle and creak under both the attacks and the water pressures.

With absolutely no choice, Eggman turned tail, and fled, his submarine, on the verge of collapsing within minutes. It sent it skywards and immediately ascended upwards, right out of the Devil's canyon, through the sharks and directly to the surface. He made it with seconds to spare, as the vessel broke apart all around him, leaving the Human with nothing but treading water, his head bobbing just above the mighty ocean.

But as the mighty engines of the submarine suddenly and without warning, fired, sending the vessel upwards, they caught both Sonic and Shadow off their guards, and violently throw them right across Aquila. They toppled over and over the ocean floor, as Shadow was slammed into a ruin building, before crashing to the floor, and Sonic was thrown much further, hitting the remains of the citadel itself. He collapsed on the floor, knocked out cold. Shadow was extremely dizzy, extremely angered to see the submarine leave, but as darkness fell, he too passed out.

Suddenly, the Blue Blur was being shaken awake. Someone was over him, sounding desperate for him to come back to them. Their voice was extremely panicked.

"Sonic, wake up." It squealed. "My Liege, your Highness. Please come back to me." It cried. He frowned, eyes still closed, then he growled. He didn't like being called 'Highness', let alone, 'Liege', and woke with a start, to be immediately hugged by something absolutely pure white. Sonic heaved, madly gulping water as he was sat up. He stared, and as the blurriness cleared, he finally recognised his rescuer. He gasped.

"Zephyr!" He stammered. The Albino Aquahog nodded, grinning inanely. He giggled.

"We came back for you." He grinned and then looked over his shoulder. A fellow crimson Aquahog, Rusty, was just glimpsed searching the ruins for someone else. Sonic heaved, somewhat relieved, but then gasped in horror, when he noticed the enormous gash in the Albino's back. Thankfully, it wasn't bleeding. He gulped.

"Zephyr?" He sniffed, but then he just brushed him off. He giggled.

"I'll be fine. I've had worse from those sharks." He smiled. "But it was worth it, finding you here." He smiled, it's infectiousness penetrating deep into Sonic. He heaved. "I'm just glad your alright. I take it, it's all over." He asked, looking around especially at the dead Merhogs lying everywhere. Sonic looked up and nodded. Eggman was still left to deal with but yes, as far as the Aquahogs were concerned, it was over. Zephyr then squealed in delight as he pulled Sonic up and upright hovering in the water. The mighty Aquahog was aching all over, but he just couldn't take his eyes off that Albino, as he all over him.

Suddenly, he went for him. The Albino Aquahog immediately grabbed Sonic around the middle and then wrapped his tail around the Blue Blur's own extremely tightly. Then, facing each other, he put his arms around his shoulders, and then promptly licked him on the cheek. Sonic didn't stop him and just smiled, holding the Albino in place, staring deep into his eyes. He frowned.

"What's your name?" He asked, but the Albino just grinned, rolling his eyes.

"Zephyr." He grinned, but Sonic just sighed. He beamed.

"No, your real name, female?" He asked, of which Zephyr just giggled. But Sonic just rolled his eyes. "Hey, I may have been gone for a while, but I can still tell the difference between the genders of my own species." He smirked. The Albino smiled.

"Bianca." She finally admitted, going slightly red. Sonic looked at her. The pupils of his eyes dilated, and his eyelids drooped, he beamed at her.

"Bianca." He repeated. "I like that." He grinned, then suddenly he licked her back on the cheek. "I accept your proposal." He grinned, the Albino absolutely delighted. The female had been throughly after his own heart. The same high-speed antics, the same cocky attitude. Sonic had known the truth from the very beginning, immediately realising it, but had to pretend that 'she' was a 'he', to keep her safe. Protected. It worked, and now she had braved the sharks to come back for him, which right now, as they kissed, meant the absolute world to him.

He immediately fell for her, but Sonic's thoughts did turn to Amy. He loved her too, but that was different. They were more friends then lovers, and unfortunately, it could never be more, as they just weren't compatible. Even if Sonic got his legs back, he was still an Aquahog, that was never going to change. But Aquila now expected him to find a wife and breed, and as he kissed her deeply, it wasn't a bad idea at all. As far as Amy was concerned, he had an excuse. He was saving his kingdom. Aquila desperately needed him to father a royal-born daughter of Magic. Only then would be city be fully restored.

Suddenly, screaming was heard right across the ruined city, when out of nowhere, Rusty was violently thrown across the main square, skidding to a halt on the ocean floor. The crimson red Aquahog, whose eyes were streaming with tears, was sporting some serious cuts and now, very large fresh bruises. Bianca immediately let go of Sonic and swam for her friend. She cried.

"Scarlet!" She screamed, as plumbs of sands were kicked up in the distance ahead of them as someone left in a hurry. The two females cuddled as Sonic swam over, his temper absolutely exploding. No one treats his Aquahogs that badly. He growled, especially a female. Then his anger deepened, his blood absolutely boiling as he finally realised the truth of what happened, and knew the Ultimate Lifeform would pay for this insult. Any comradery they had, was now gone, blown out of the water. This disgrace was that bad. Suddenly, Sonic's temper broke, as tears fell down his face, unable to believe that Shadow would do this to him. To them, the Aquahogs. This betrayal ran extremely deep. Shadow was one of them, Sonic had shared the Aquahog Gift of Breath with him. Now he felt so stupid for trusting him. Still in tears, he grabbed the girls, and pulled them in for a hug, comforting them. Both battered, bruised, and they had risked their lives, all just to find them, and now their own tears poured down his chest.

But Scarlet wasn't giving up, and forcibly threw herself from Sonic's grip and before he could stop her, she immediately swam out for the deep plumbs of sand, and into the darkness.