Final chapter - Change

It's kinda dark. Soon Ryou will get what he wants. I heard he wanted materials that can restore his skin, and his lost arm. Anyway, we just broke in. I haven't seen anyone following us, so we must be the first. That's Sonic, Tails, Goldie, Jody, Seria and myself. We packed a lot of stuff, since it's apparently very, very deep. Pretty close to the core of the planet. It might even take more than a week to get there. "Hey Tails. How do you know the source we are searching for is at the very bottom of this underground area?" Goldie asks. "I adapted the energy scanner so that it traces the special energy lines the source gives to each hedgehog from another world. After echo-scanning the whole area, I couldn't get a clear vision of what's here, near the bottom. Something is disturbing the vision, but the energy lines certainly go in there. And you're also from another world, aren't you Goldie?" Tails responds. Goldie widens his eyes. "How di" He gets interrupted by me. "Didn't you listen? The scanner shows energy lines connected to each hedgehog from another world. If you're from another world, the line shows it. Hey Tails, shouldn't it show the location of the others then?" I ask. "The machine isn't powerful enough to follow all lines at the same time. Only a few." He responds. Too bad. Could've been handy...

1 day passes, and we don't encounter anyone. By now, we've come at the very bottom part of the tournament. There's supposed to be some kind of hidden entrance here. After 3 hours of search, Seria is the one to find it. It was well hidden. No wonder no one knew about it. A small door opens slowly, and an awful stench comes from it. The stench of rotten and dead bodies. When we step inside, there are a few. There are a few bugs crawling here and there too. Strange looking bugs... but I don't feel like observing them. Though i'm not afraid of bugs, i'm not too fond of them either. There are torches burning to light the small halls and thin paths. Seems they've been burning for a very long time already. Must be some kind of magic force that keeps them burning forever... or something. Another 2 days pass... and then we encounter someone, but he doesn't see us yet. He has short light-grey fur, and wears the same kind of coat and hat Ryou was wearing. He's wondering where to go now. I don't know him... I think... though it feels like I do. He's startled when he sees us. "Whoa... uhm... I wasn't following you or anything! ... ... ... Ah..." He panics, and tries runs against the wall trying to get away, then falls to the ground on his back. Jody walks up to him, and bends over him. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" She asks. She takes a few steps aside then, and he stands up. "Don't you know who I am? I'm Ryou!" He says. Ryou? He can't be, can he "I have already been operated, and as you can see, I have a new right arm, and new shiny fur! It's a shame that it still has to grow a bit. I'm sorry I wasn't polite." He says. "You still haven't told us why you're here." Seria implies. "That's right. ALL your friends forced me to follow you. They shouldn't be too far behind. A pink hedgehog was chasing me with a giant hammer, so I went ahead. Regulus and Overdrive went into other sides." Ryou responds. "Crap... how did they find out?" I ask myself.

"Times a wastin'. Just keep moving forward and let them catch up." Sonic says. He disappears in a flash. His impatience just amazes me. He returns in a flash too, as expected. "Ah... you guys lead. I don't know which way to go, hehe." So we go ahead, and take Ryou with us. I'm sure Lexer or Robotnik made a device to track us, though I didn't want them here in the first place. No use keeping friends out of this kind of stuff, it seems. And i'm sure the lost ones will manage to take care of themselves too. A day passes. We're resting in a big hall with a few entrances. There's still no sign of The Malicious... maybe he won't come? The others catch up while we're resting, at least... most of them. Regulus and Overdrive are still missing. When I ask about Solar, they say he still had some business to take care off. Strangely enough, Blaze was kind enough to take his brother also with him. And surprisingly, Jack is also here. But... I still wonder...

Me: "Why did you guys follow us?"

Summers: "You think I can just assume my sister will be safe with any of you?"

Goldie: "I'd die for her. That's how safe she'll be."

Me: "You'd die for any girl."

Goldie: "Isn't that a good thing?"

Robotnik: "We found out you're planning to destroy the source. I want to research it a bit first."

Me: "That's why I took Tails with me..."

Robotnik: "I'm still smarter than him at the moment."

Amy: "Eggman is pretty cool now the he's a hedgehog. And manly! Too old though."

Goldie: "Look at me while I flex my muscles, pretty one."

Ryou: "I'm sorry to say this... but you're hitting on a 13 year old girl."

Goldie: "She's only 13! I thought she was 16! At least i'll have Jody to comfort me... she's 17 too, right?"

Jody: "If you actually took the trouble to look through my tournament profile, you'd know that i'm nearly 19."

Goldie: "You are? But you'll"

Jody: "Shut up, I won't be your girl. Try someone else!"

Goldie: "Bummer... Seria, will you be my lady?"

Seria: "You don't want me. Trust me on that one."

Goldie: "You're so pretty, I can stare at you for hours."

Seria: "Agh... I want to get rid of you... so i'll reveal my secret. I used to be a guy."

Goldie: "You're kidding!"

Me: "She was dead serious when she spoke to me about it. Truth in it is that she's not attracted to males."

Goldie: "... ... ... I'll shut up for now."

Summers: "That's only because you ran out of girls to impress."

We were a bit caught up in our conversation. I didn't notice, but Sonic, Tails, Lexer, Jack, Blaze, Aquis and Knuckles are gone. Where did they go? They left the supplies though. They left a note, saying they went ahead already. It's because they were all impatient, and Lexer always wants to stick with Tails. It might take days, maybe even weeks. Why be in a hurry? Morons that they be. I'm not gonna chase them anytime soon. I'll finish this break. About an hour later, just before we want to go further, Overdrive and Regulus arrive through a different entrance.

Regulus: "Hero, good to see you."

Me: "I knew you 2 would catch up sooner or later! Glad you're here."

Overdrive: "Where's the others?"

Robotnik: "They went ahead."

Overdrive: "Why?"

Robotnik: "Because they had no patience. It's their fault if they get lost, because they left all the equipment here."

Overdrive: "We have to search for them!"

Amy: "They'll manage. Sonic and Tails always do."

Regulus: "But they have KNUCKLES! He always gets others or himself into trouble!"

Me: "He only did it a few times before... okay... maybe a lot."

Amy: "Ah... i'm getting worried."

Seria: "Relax, they'll be fine."

Jody: "Even though their complete idiots."

Me: "You read my mind or something?"

Amy: "You think they're idiots?"

Jody: "A bit."

Me: "Liar..."

Jody slaps me in the face for that. What? I was only telling the truth. Anyway, after some arguing, we go after them. Or at least, they go after them. Jody forces me to carry nearly all of the equipment myself as a punishment. I'm lagging far behind them. Maybe she's the one that needs a few slaps in her face? Pretty soon we encounter the brothers. They're not like buddies anymore. They're arguing.

Blaze: "They went this way!"

Aquis: "No, this way. I can smell it!"

Blaze: "You have a cold. You can't smell it!"

Aquis: "I can, come on now."

Overdrive: "Ah... guys. Both of you are wrong."

Blaze & Aquis: "And who are you to say that! Hey, what are you guys doing he-... hey STOP it! ... ... ..."

Overdive: "I got some kind of map. I'm the navigator. Just follow us."

Aquis: "Why should I?"

Blaze: "Aren't you always supposed to be coolheaded? You're hotheaded right now!"

Aquis: "Silence, foolish little brother!"

Blaze: "I'm a centimeter bigger than you! You're the lit"

Jody slaps both of them in the face. I speak softly towards Regulus and Robotnik, so Jody won't hear me. "Don't you think... she kind of a... slapping machine?" They both nod their head in agreement. Jody's ears jump up, and her face turns a bit mad to me. She looks like she's an evil hedgehog now. Oh... I forgot hedgehogs have much better hearing than humans... "So you think i'm a slapping machine, huh? I'll show you some slapping!" I get slapped 3 times in the face... not just the usual ones. But very hard ones. She even hurts her hand a bit. Just a few more and i'd be KO'ed or something... I noticed her brother hardly objects anything she does. I think he doesn't want to be slapped. Anyway, we proceed, and another day later we encounter Knuckles. He's punching the walls in anger. The others just ignore him and pass him by. I decide to greet him. "Yo Knucklehead, what's up?" He sees me, jumps at me, and holds my neck tightly, while we fall to the ground. "First Sonic calls me Hero! And now you call me the same stupid name Sonic always calls me!" He yells. He angry... "Sorry for that." I say. He calms down, releases me, and we stand up. "Where are they?" Ryou asks. Knuckles points straight ahead. "I'll just follow you guys, and i'll punch Sonic in the face if he doesn't apologize."

We travel 2 more days through the same pathway. We don't encounter a single road split. From above, someone falls right onto me! He was on the ceiling. I have lots of trouble getting up. It's Solar! What the? He was following us too? "Ugh... Act like a real ninja and stay hidden, will you? Anyway, didn't you have some business to take care of?" I ask him. The others have stopped now, and are overhearing our conversation. "Already taken care of." He responds. I should've asked it different. "What did you do, actually?" I ask. "Leaving Chao in good hands. I couldn't take him with me to this place. Might have been too dangerous for him." He says. So that was what he did. Anyway, he joins us. Sonic & co didn't take anything with them? Don't they need to eat by now?

The next day, we encounter a 4-way-split, and Jack is lying on the floor there, unconscious. What happened? We take him along with us, and go straight ahead. Shortly after we finally arrive in another big hall, where we rest. Jack wakes up while we're talking. Most of them are too busy notice. Just when I was about to say something... "So... Jack. What happened?" Robotnik asks him. He's still not very well."Ung... The Malicious and his minions. They surprise attacked us... Shadow too. They... knocked me out and chased after Sonic, Tails and Lexer." He leans against the wall while saying that. "How did you get food and water?" Regulus asks. "Compressed food and water. Very small and compact, but one drop of water and it turns into food and bottles of water. It's something that Lexer invented after perfecting Tails's theories." I didn't know that. Instant food they have... and I have to carry around the full weight of our food. Makes me wish Tails finished working on instant food before we left. I also wish The Malicious wasn't ahead of us...

After the break, we continue. Yet again, another long path and no splits. This time it's a wide path though. Within several hours, we see Revenant. She's walking back, with a big bag on her back, and Lexer! She's also eating something. Looks like brains... though not very fresh ones. I think the bag is filled with the brains of hedgehogs that lost their lives here. "What are you doing with our friend?" Jody asks. "I'm going to eat his brains in a nice spot. Something wrong with that? These dry brains taste good, but fresh ones taste special." She says while taking a bite from the dry brain. Looks more like hard dust or something... I wonder why she likes it. Even more so... did she- "Did you kill Lexer!" Jody asks her. "Meh... not yet." She says. "No, I'm taking him with me! His brains are mi-" She gets assaulted by Jody, Regulus, Seria and Blaze. We tie her up, and take her with us, and we take Lexer with us too. Another few hours later he wakes up. "I have such a bad headache... what happened to me?" He asks. "Your girlfriend was about to eat your brains." Regulus responds. "My girlfriend? ... Revenant? No way! Lilly's my girlfriend!" Lexer says a bit irritated. "No, she's not. Only in your dreams... Anyway, Regulus was just joking about it." I said. "Now I can tease you about it. Lexer and Lilly, sitting in a tree, K I-" He gets interrupted by Lexer. "Shut up!" Heh, kind of irritated he is. "So you like older girls?" Jody asks him. "Hero and Jody, sitting in a tre-" Jody slaps him very hard. Ouch, that must hurt. But he deserves it. What the hell is Lexer thinking? Bad mood? She's just a friend, like everyone else. Guess it must be his age that gives him that slightly perverted thoughts. "Don't talk trash about my sister, will ya?" Summers says.

The hall keeps getting wider and wider. Several hours later, someone is waiting for us. Zero Zaca he be. As soon as he sees he, he starts firing Wind Blades. Many of them. Most of us get hit a few times, but we're a big group. Within minutes we have him pushed against a big door, with no way to go. Not much later he's tied up, just like Revenant. That'll teach him for trying to go against a whole group on his own. I wonder what's behind these doors. They're HUGE. "The rest of them is behind that door. I don't know what's going on, but they've been in it for about 16 hours already." Zero informed us. We leave everything behind, except the weapons before opening the door. What awaits us?

The HUGE door isn't nearly as tough to open as it suggests. "What? I couldn't get that door open, no matter what I did!" Zero says. Slowly it opens... then it suddenly flies all open. A warm wind and very bright and colourful room welcome us. Everyone of my friends suddenly fall to the ground, all of them lose consciousness. I see Sonic, Shadow, Tails and Jackal lying on the ground in the room too. Then I see a really big, black emerald. It's not the master emerald, that's for sure. "Hero! This is... the source. It will grant me ultimate power." I turn my head to The Malicious. He's protected by a shield, that probably explains why he isn't unconscious. As for me... I think it's because of my energy draining ability. I grab Exal Grando out of the right hand of Summers. "Why haven't you claimed this ultimate power yet?" He looks me briefly in the eyes, then looks down at the ground, before admiring the source again. "I haven't figured out how. Not yet, at least." I look at the source. It's really beautiful, a marvelous sight. I get a headache, a very heavy one. And my body seems to lose control too? I haven't given in to my desires? Why is an evil force trying to take me over. Summers suddenly transforms again, into his evil side again. Then he blows me and The Malicious right against the source. The shield of The Malicious breaks, but he won't go down just yet. "Damn it!" He yells, and he quickly creates a new shield. I think... yeah... I should do that. My body hardly listens now, but with brute force I can still control it a bit. I turn my head around, and look at the source. "What are you doing? You can't do that!" By using the evil energy within me, Exal Grando turns into the light sword. I stab it into the source. It slides in very easy. "Nooo, damn you!" The Malicious yells. He hits me with his fist in my back. Summers fires a very thick energy blast at us, but behind me... the source explodes. Then... a flash... must... hold... on...

I wake up. When I stand up, it feels like i've been lying there for months. It takes me a while to realize... but i'm in my own bedroom again. It's empty. My PC, my bed, even my Nintendo DS, Xbox and Gamecube! All gone! So time passed while I was gone... I'm still small though. I take a good look at myself. Still a hedgehog? When I go out of my room and explore the house, I find out that it's empty. So... they must've moved. A lot of time must've passed, it would be strange if they were still living here. I go outside, and I see some humans. They don't notice me because it's night. I run around a bit, to see what going on with the world right now. I find a newspaper on the ground. Looking at it's state, I'd say it was from today. There's an interesting article on the main page. It's about an outbreak of about 100 hedgehogs roaming around the world! Some causing mass destruction too! It's titled... Hedgehog Mania. Pretty cool. I'm going to visit my friends... after i've payed a little visit to my mother, brother and sisters of course. But first... i'd have to find them. Shouldn't be hard at all. Adventure here I come!

End of Sonic: Hedgehog Mania!