Author's Note: Not much to say here, so, enjoy!
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Episode 15: Dangers Under the Sea-Part 1.
Days had passed since Dr. Robotnik's return and another defeat by Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends. When the evil scientist's fortress had sunk, the News Press have been wildly making various reports on the sky high battle, while the President was on edge. He demanded to know if Robotnik did survive the attack or not, so the royal Navy and the Air Force had been hard at work to find him.
Yet, little did everyone know that the mad doctor was hiding in his still intact but damaged fortress which thankfully also worked as a submarine of sorts. At this moment, Robotnik, Decoe and Bocoe were keeping as silent as possible, the Fortress itself lying on the seabed near rocks. The yellow robot whimpered in dread along with the grey robot, while their creator snickered as he held onto the two robots.
"Doctor..." Decoe began nervously, only for Robotnik to quickly grab him by the neck.
"Shh! Quiet!" The evil scientist hushed in a slightly panicked and angry tone. "Don't make a sound. There's a search team up there, listening for us. If they hear us, we are done for."
"Sorry." The yellow robot whispered, just as a submarine began to pass over them. They tried not to flinch as the vessel, not detecting their sound or movement, or even detecting the Fortress' signal, passed by and continued the search. Once they knew that the coast was clear, the trio sighed in relief.
Once he knew that they would be safe for the time being, Robotnik then roughly tossed his two minions onto the floor and commanded them. "Now go outside and get this ship patched up, you lead heads!"
"Outside, in the water?" Decoe asked in disbelief. Robotnik was expecting him and Bocoe to literally try and swim outside to fix up the ship?
"But we'll short-circut." The shorter robot pointed out.
"Not to mention rust."
Little did the trio and anybody else know that watching over them are two figures spying on the Fortress behind rocks close by and having hidden themselves from the submarine. One figure appears to be a young girl, while the other appears to look like a hedgehog...but when they swim away, their lower halfs are that of...mermaids.
Meanwhile, in the Iron Empire's secret base, Julius and his men watch on through the spy-fish robots as the submarine is still searching for Robotnik's Fortress which was now becoming more dangerous for them by the second.
"They are searching for Ivo Eggman's Fortress, which is somewhere nearby. If this keeps up, they will find us as well." Julius growled in frustration. Not only was his base at risk of being discovered yet again in years, but his plot in capturing Cream and Cheese while destroying Sonic and Robotnik were being put into jeopardy.
"Sir, we would have to leave this base and find another to avoid the government from locating us." One of the assistants advised strongly. "We can no longer stay here."
"NO!" The Iron Empire Leader roared, grabbing hold of the man who let out an unmanly shriek as he pulled the assistant close to his face which was turning dark red in fury. "I refuse to abandon another base yet again! This is gone too far! We will power up the shield and make sure that submarine and Eggman's fortress are destroyed. It will teach those fools a valuable lesson to not mess with the Iron Empire! Do I make myself clear!?"
"Y-Yes, sir! We-we will deploy the Iron Navy under your co-command!" The poor assistant trembled in absolute fear, before he was held up into the air by his leader who heaved him while standing. "No!"
Julius then tossed the man straight towards the door as the assistant screamed, smashing through it and knocked the door down, losing consciousness while the other assistants, fearing for their lives, hurried out to help him and to get on with the job to avoid in facing the evil Leader's wrath.
Panting in anger, Julius then slumped back into his seat and groaned, rubbing his forehead in exasperation and dismay. "I'm surrounded by too many idiots in this world."
The evil man then once again drew out the Sonic doll from his desk and clutched it in a growl of dark fury. "You are too meddlesome for your own good, boy. One day, you will be crushed...I guarantee it." He squeezed the doll very tightly, wishing that it was the real Sonic he was holding onto.
He then noticed something else on the monitor and looked up curiously. As he did, Julius's eyes then widened behind his glasses as he saw two unusual figures swimming about before a wicked grin formed on his terrifying face.
"So the other part of the legend is true...I've finally find them." The Iron Empire Leader whispered evilly.
This could work out to his advantage after all.
At the Thorndyke Mansion, everybody was just outside of the garage with the X Tornado, having been fixed and patched up, ready for take off as Tails, Amy, Chris, Cream and Cheese, and even Sonic, who they were waiting for, all planned to go to the Grand Blue Sapphire Sea for vacation. Despite the concerns of the threats of Robotnik and the Iron Empire with the Government being warned of the future dangers, and Rouge, having witnessed what happened, promising to not mention anything about Cheese's connections with the Chaos Emeralds.
"Is everybody all packed and ready to go?" Tails asked as he made a final adjustment on the X Tornado.
"Yeah. We're just waiting on Sonic to come back." Chris replied, before gazing out from where he was seated behind the Mobian fox cub. "I wonder how he's doing?"
"He's probably still trying to find a clue on where the Iron Empire's hiding Cream's mother." Amy half-whispered, lowering her gaze before shaking her head, as she pulled up a photo while glaring at it. "But the real problem is this: I look terrible!"
The photo she gained was from the photographer that captured her wielding her Piko Piko Hammer, causing Cream, Cheese, Ella, Chuck and Tanaka to lean in closer to see what the problem is as she ranted on. "Why do people like this photo!? I look like a lunatic!"
"Now, now, Ms. Amy." Tanaka tried to reassure her with a slightly nervous smile. "I wouldn't say it makes you look like a lunatic, exactly."
"He's right, Ms. Amy. You're one of the nicest girls in the whole world." Cream sweetly agreed, with Cheese chirping to add to try and comfort their friend.
But the pink hedgehog wasn't listening as she snarled. "It makes me look like an insane, off-the-wall, out-of-control manic!" She then shouted with caused everyone around her to back away in fright. "I HATE IT!"
Both Tails and Chris sweat dropped nervously before sharing uneasy glances, just as Sonic came speeding back, stopping just instantly as he greeted. "Hey there, guys. I'm back. What's all the excitement about?"
"Excitement? Don't you mean a photo of disaster?" Amy questioned angrily, causing her 'boyfriend' to flinch in fright. "Do you realize how much damage it has caused me!?"
"Uh...What did I do? I didn't take any bad photos of you, Amy." Sonic replied uneasily, holding a hand up in defense as he was scared of her temper yet again.
"No, but this is a terrible one right here!" The eleven year old girl shoved the photo right at the fourteen year old's face. "I look ugly in here!"
Realizing that Amy's furious determination photoshoot was the problem, Sonic sweat dropped as he gently took it before sighing. While he was aware that it wasn't the best he'd seen her as in his opinion that she looked scary, he disagreed on the ugly part.
"C'mon, Ames. You don't look ugly in this photo. None of the pictures of you ever are. Take it from me and everybody else, the ugliest person on the whole planet with or without a photoshoot is..." Sonic chuckled with a teasing grin. "Dr. Eggman. He'd even break the camera."
"Really!?" That instantly made her day, which unfortunately for the blue hedgehog who realized that this only made the pink hedgehog love him even more, she hugged him tightly causing Sonic to cry out with a grunt. "Oh, Sonic! That's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me!"
"A-Amy! Can't breathe...!" The hero of Mobius grunted, while thinking to himself. 'Man, I really walked right into that one.'
"She doesn't feel better when we tell her that there's nothing wrong with the photo, but her love for Sonic instantly makes it all up." Chuck grumbled under his breath with a sigh. He was still slightly annoyed with the blue hedgehog who had again apologized for his reckless actions, even feeling guilty and once again made it his task to find Cream's mother before it was too late.
In the end, however, Sonic had done his best and Cream certainly didn't blame him. If anything, the little girl felt awful for putting the pressure on him and not realizing that searching for her missing parent would be much harder than any of them thought. She liked being with the hero of Mobius, and everybody else. They kept her and Cheese company, safe and happy. Maybe this vacation will hopefully be safe and relaxing for the young children.
After Amy finally let go of her 'boyfriend', she, Cream and Cheese got into their seats while Sonic made himself comfortable on the X Tornado's left wing as the plane itself was large enough for him to enjoy the open space, large and solid enough for him to not feel claustrophobic, and he can hold on thanks to his perfect balance.
"Bye everybody!" Amy waved at the human adults.
"We'll see you later!" Cream echoed, as Cheese chirped a goodbye, both of them waving as well.
"Now you be careful up there. No funny stuff." Ella cautioned them.
"Bye, Grandpa! I'll see ya!" Chris farewelled to his grandfather.
"I'll be waiting." Chuck replied to his grandson, turning to Sonic and added. "And Sonic, and Tails be careful as well."
"Will do, Chuck. This time, I'll make sure of it." The blue hedgehog promised, vowing to not repeat his mistake. He would have to try and keep an eye on his friends, as much as he didn't like the idea of going near water, Sonic didn't want to have them get hurt, killed or kidnapped.
"X Tornado, take off!" Tails announced as the trees were tilted to make way for the X Tornado to take flight without causing damage. He pulled the lever as his friends held on expectantly, with the plane taking flight and flew away from the Thorndyke Mansion and soon Station Square.
Yet as the Mobians and young human boy were out of sight while the adults waved them a goodbye one last time, Chuck frowned in concern, knowing that there would be trouble and despite Sonic really wanting to try and protect his friends this time, the elder man thought that they would need help.
"Tanaka, go keep an eye on the children, but make sure they don't see you." The Elder Thorndyke instructed the butler.
"Yes, sir. I will be invisible." Tanaka chuckled at the joke part of the statement.
Flying through the air and over the ocean towards their destination, the X Tornado was cruising rather nicely while Sonic was content on the smooth ride, even by falling asleep. His friends in the meantime discussed on their latest little adventure they heading into.
"Ms. Amy, are we going to go somewhere that's sunny?" Cream asked, curiously.
Amy nodded as she was reading the Mobius World Tour Guide, and showed it to her youngest friend, revealing pictures of a beautiful blue ocean and tropicl beaches and resorts. "Uh huh! Look! The Grand Blue Sapphire Sea, AKA: Sapphire Ocean. This travel guide says it's one of the most beautiful places of the whole planet."
The pink hedgehog then sighed happily, once again fantasizing on what would it be like with her and Sonic. "I bet the sunsets are very romantic."
"Hey, Amy!" Chris called up from the front, unintentionally distrupting the eleven year old girl's daydream and getting her attention to her confusion as he pointed at below. "Do you read me? Check out the scenery down there. It's really pretty awesome!"
Annoyed by the interruption, Amy shook her head and turned her gaze back to the guidebook. "I'm not looking. I only care about one thing...and that's getting to the sea ASAP!"
"But that's what I'm trying to tell you! We're flying over the Sapphire Ocean right now!"
"Huh?" Shocked and now curious to see if the human boy was right, Amy, Cream and Cheese both looked down and their eyes widened and sparkled in awe as the sea below them was much more spectacular than the other places they'd been to. The ocean was as blue as the sky, a blue Chaos Emerald and Sonic's cobalt fur colouring, the water sparkled with the sun's reflection and creating a magnificent beauty, a picture perfect scene.
"Wow...! The water looks amazing! Look how it sparkles!" Amy breathed.
"It's so beautiful!" Cream murmured at the wonderful sight, with Cheese chirping in agreement.
Now even more excited, the pink hedgehog cheered excitedly. "Yeah! I wanna go swim, and water skiiing!"
"We should go sailing!" The five year old rabbit girl added in agreement.
"I can't wait!" Chris added in agreement to the ideas.
Though as Cheese peered out of the window at the amazing sights of the Grand Blue Sapphire Sea, something in the distance below in the ocean caught his attention. He noticed a couple of Dolphins jumping in and out of the water which amazed the little Chao as he has never even seen Dolphins before, not even at the Emerald Coast. But what really caught his attention were two strange figures.
"Chao?" The little Chao blinked, leaning in closer to the glass to get a better look, and saw strangely two figures peering out of the water's surface; a light blue female hedgehog and a young girl with matching coloured blue hair who, upon seeing the plane fly above them, quickly dove back into the ocean.
To Cheese's surprise, as the two girls both dove, instead of legs, fins were briefly shown before going into the sea. Shocked and stunned, he turned to Cream and chirped. "Chao! Chao! Chao!"
"Huh? What's the matter, Cheese?" Cream asked, puzzled.
But before Cheese could tell his friend what he just saw, Tails this time interrupted and sounded very concerned. "Hey, guys."
"Huh? What's wrong, Tails?" Chris asked, noticing how his younger friend looked concerned.
"Check out the Chaos Emerald." The two-tailed fox cub gestured at the green Emerald that was still installed.
Just as the boy behind him wondered if it was another Chaos Emerald close by, just then the whole plane began to shake and wobble like it was caught in a suddent turbalance, and awoke Sonic from his nap.
"Wha!? Hey, what's going on!?" The hero of Mobius cried out in alarm as he tried not to slide off, quickly then holding on for dear life.
As the others held on while crying out as well, it wasn't until realization hit all six of them and all thoughts of their vacation quickly slipped from their minds as this suddenly turned into another mission/adventure.
"The same thing happened before when I went to that stadium." Tails realized, struggling to get the X Tornado back into position. "So that means..."
"Since we're flying over water, there must be a Chaos Emerald underwater." Cream finished in realization.
"You're right, Cream." Amy nodded in agreement.
"Then we have to find it, before Eggman or the Iron Empire do." Chris declared.
Sonic held on as not only he realized the same thing, but he could actually sense it. Problem is, it was in the one place he was dreading the most and had hoped to avoid today; the water.
"Hang on. I see a landing spot. I'm gonna take us down." The seven year old kit told his friends, pushing to make a slight emergency landing as the port to their destination came into view.
But as they flew, none of them were aware of the two mysterious figures that had seen them and watched the X Tornado about to make port.
Having landed safely in a coastal town that looked a bit like a tourist attraction and a marketplace, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Chris, Cream and Cheese began walking along the streets and shops.
"Nice place here." Sonic happily stretched his arms upward, breathing in relief. However, when he and his friends noticed the large crowd of human civilians, with about at least maybe 30% of Mobians also being here, such as walruses, beavers, storks, elephants, and cats, the people were staring at them.
So he took the lead and firmly advised his group, hoping to not catch too much attention. "Let's try to keep a low profile, okay guys?"
Unfortunately despite other Mobians around, the blue hedgehog was very noticeable among the humans along with his friends and as they had been saving the world countless times already, it was difficult for them to blend in the crowd. Especially since Sonic the Hedgehog was the hero of Mobius and thus the fans couldn't leave him or his loved ones alone.
"Hey, isn't that Sonic the Hedgehog?" A male Mobian Walrus asked, recognizing the teenage hedgehog passing by.
"Yeah, it's him." A female Mobian Beaver agreed, amazed to see the fourteen year old.
"What's he doing here?" A male human man wondered excitedly.
"There he is!" Another man shouted.
"Let's get his autograph!" A woman cried out.
Sonic tried to ignore the commotion and focused on maybe finding a decent quiet spot of town to relax. Sadly it wasn't meant to be as everyone was closer to Station Square and thus they wanted nothing more than his autograph, ask questions and hang out with him and his friends. The cobalt teenager and the others then heard a loud rumble and turned around to see a huge crowd of people, humans and other Mobians alike, with note pads and pens, coming straight towards them!
"AH! Stampede!" Chris exclaimed as he and the others flinched in fright.
"We'd better get outta here quick! RUN!" Sonic cried out, taking the lead with his friends following as they ran away from the crowd.
Thankfully the group managed to outrun the crazy crowd of fans and found themselves at a small beach, panting at the close call.
"Well, so much for keeping a low profile." Sonic sighed, wiping his forehead.
"We can't escape crowds no matter where we go." Chris panted in agreement.
"Being famous isn't any fun." Amy complained in disappointment. "Even with Mobians around, we still can't blend in."
"We stick out too much." Cream murmured in sadness.
"It was a lot easier being mostly in Chris' house and in some quieter parts of Station Square." Tails said.
"Well, at least we lost that crowd for a little while." The young Thorndyke shrugged.
Amy agreed as she removed her back-pack off of her shoulders, beaming. "Yeah, why don't we all go for a swim while we have a chance?"
"Yeah, and we can build sand castles, and look for pretty sea shells." Cream agreed, with Cheese cheering.
Though while most of them were enthusiastic about this, Tails and Chris both noticed that Sonic was staring out of the ocean with his arms folded to his chest, deep in thought.
It wasn't until Tails realized what his best friend/big brother was thinking about and asked. "You thinking about trying to find the Chaos Emerald, Sonic?"
The blue hedgehog said nothing at first, his gaze at the ocean and while the view was beautiful, he was worried as water always scared him. Why did it always have to be water? Couldn't the Chaos Emerald have been buried in another beach or something?
"That Chaos Emerald's out there somewhere, but I can't find it unless I get to the bottom and stay there for a while." Sonic responded, feeling a little uneasy and nervous.
While most of his friends gazed at him worriedly knowing his inability to swim, sinking like a rock despite being in perfect health and shape, and the fear of drowning, Chris looked back and forth between the blue hedgehog and the ocean, realizing that Sonic would have a lot of problems due to having the lack of an air supply. The twelve year old boy then had an idea, and slammed his fist into his palm.
"Leave it to me! C'mon, Sonic. I know just the thing." The young Thorndyke declared, taking the surprised Sonic by the wrist will telling Amy and Tails. "You guys keep an eye on Cream and Cheese. We'll be right back."
"W-whoa, hey! Where're we goin?" Sonic asked, immediately worried as he asked. "Shouldn't we be keeping an eye on the kids? I don't wanna run the risk of them or even the others and your getting into serious danger again."
"Don't worry, Sonic. We'll be fine." Amy reassured, realizing what the human boy had in mind. "And we'll definitely keep an eye on Cream."
"We'll be alright, Mr. Sonic." Cream added sweetly, with Cheese chirping in agreement.
"We're more worried about you right now, big bro. But if there's any trouble, we'll handle it." Tails added.
Despite the memories of what happened the other day coming back to briefly haunt him as Sonic feared for repeating his mistake, he just hoped that the Iron Empire wouldn't attack. Then again, he didn't want to ruin everybody's fun, so finally he conceded defeat.
"Just be careful, okay. If you see any signs of the Iron Empire or Eggman, hurry to the village and hide. Don't let them see you." The hero of Mobius replied reluctantly and firmly.
With a promise that they would, the girls, the two-tailed fox and the little Chao waved at the two boys who walked away to head back into town without drawing a crowd.
A short time later, Amy and Cream both changed into their bathing suits, looking ready to have fun and being stylish at the same time. Then they both played in the water with the little five year old rabbit girl in a swim tube, twirling around as she squealed happily 'Whee! Whee! Whee!' while the eleven year old hedgehog girl swam close by. On the shore, Tails and Cheese both wore sunglasses while they rested against a rock, taking a tan and a little Mobini crab skittering to head into the water.
As Cream played, she then briefly noticed something further into the ocean, two figures floating in the water which caught her attention.
"Huh?" Surprised, the young girl stopped twirling and blinked, only to miss the two figures, unaware that were the same ones that Cheese noticed earlier, dive quickly back into the ocean and swam away, but she did softly gasp when she saw...two fins briefly splashing into the air before vanishing under the sea, that resembled to...Mermaid tails. Cream tilted her head slightly in confusion, wondering if she had imagined it or not.
"What's wrong, Cream?" Amy, who noticed her friend staring out at the ocean, swam up to the five year old.
"Amy, I think I...I think I saw mermaids in the water. Real mermaids." Cream murmured in surprise.
"Huh? Mermaids?" The eleven year old hedgehog girl blinked, gazing out to the horizon but only saw dolphins leaping out and into the water, before giggling, thinking that her youngest friend misunderstood. "Oh, those aren't mermaids, Cream. They're just dolphins. You probably just thought you saw mermaids."
"But I did see two girls and the tails. Maybe they're real mermaids!" Cream stated.
"I wish I could believe you, but you were probably seeing things. C'mon, let's get back to shore, okay?" Amy calmly told her, gently dragging her friend by the floatie to bring her back to the beach.
Despite being certain, the five year old began to think that maybe she was seeing things. But something within her said otherwise.
"So, Chris? Where exactly are we going?" Sonic asked, as he followed his human friend by the rocks.
"The place where you'll get the right equipment to breath underwater so you can breathe and have air at the same time." Chris replied knowingly, before admitting sheepishly. "I had thought of using an Air-Hose for both ends, or a Diving Bell to bring air with you."
Despite having a fair idea on what the twelve year old boy meant, the blue hedgehog found himself skeptical and worried as his mind whirled into two crazy thoughts over those ideas.
Diving Imagination 1:
"Our problems solved!" Chris declared as he and Sonic stood by the rocks of the shore...with the blue hedgehog having one end of a long hose in his mouth with an annoyed look on his expression.
"I hope you're sticking the other end of this thing in a milkshake." Sonic muffled sarcastically, hands on his hips.
"No, this air hose will help you. I'll hold this up here so you can breathe. Just make sure you don't lose the hose or you'll be in trouble." The human boy replied, holding up the other end in his right hand.
"Yeah, and out of air." The fourteen year old responded dryly, before finally conceded defeat and exasperation. "Okay, I'll give it a shot."
With that and being told to have good luck, Sonic reluctantly dove into the ocean, keeping his mouth firmly around the hose and breathed through it. Due to not being able to swim, the teenager simply walked as far as he could, trying to keep to his nerves. Unfortunately he couldn't go very far as the hose roller got stuck and ended up falling into the water with the alarmed Chris holding onto the end of it.
As Sonic walked on, he suddenly felt a tug which made him stop and turned around to see that the roller is now stuck firmly between the rocks. Now annoyed and trying not to be scared or run out of air, the cobalt speedster tried to tug it and pull it free, at first unaware that to his right near another sea rock, a small crab saw him as an intruder and it's eye gleamed to teach him a lesson and force him to drown.
'Ugh, c'mon you stupid thing!' Sonic thought in annoyance, only to sense and see movement. When he looked, his eyes widened in sheer horror as he mentally gasped, the crab swimming over with it's pincher ready. 'AH! OH NO!'
True to his horrible prediction, the crab cut the hose and Sonic's air supply, causing him to now suck in the salty sea water. Horrified and now gasping for air, the terrified hedgehog gurbled and gagged before flailing his arms and legs that he surprisingly swam up with the crab now pinching his tail. The hero of Mobius then came leaping out of the water and gasping for much needed oxygen...and yelped in pain as the crab pinched harder before he flung the now laughing sea creature back into the water.
This plan was a failure.
Diving Imagination 2:
As Sonic waited by the rocks, Chris came back with...a bell as big as the blue hedgehog, and really heavy that the boy was struggling to hold it as he began to sweat, due to the weight and the heat. Was that really the diving bell?
"Here, this'll work. You can bring air with you. It's a diving bell, see?" Chris replied, apparently after the hose idea failed.
Sonic sweat dropped as he exclaimed incredulously. "This is the most ding-a-ling thing I've ever heard of!"
None the less, the hero of Mobius eventually agreed to this idea, and moments later was carrying the heavy bell over his head with air to keep his head dry this time as he walked underwater. While he was thankful to be able to breathe, it was quickly beginning to feel stuffy that he began to sweat.
"It's hot in here, but it sure beats breathing through a hose. Only I can't see where in the water I'm going. I wish this thing had a window." Sonic commented...
Only to end up tripping on a small rock causing him to cry out in alarm, and lost his footing and lost the grip on the bell which fell, trapping him inside, much to his dismay.
"Oh, great! I'm stuck!" Sonic shouted angrily. "This diving bell's useless! I can't even ring it to get help!"
To make things worse, not only he was trapped at the risk of drowning, the Iron Empire or Eggman could find him and finish him off like this...Or worse, as he heard unusual creepy singing noises he has heard before, but it was muffled due to being stuck inside the bell...sharks or whales...On top of that, Sonic's mind began to play tricks on him as he could just imagine sea monsters swimming around the bell outside, like a giant octopus, or a giant whale, or an Orca Whale, hoping for a quick meal.
Or even a combination of Eggman's rebuilt Octoron robot, Julius's shark robot, real whales, sharks, and sea monsters swimming around him that Sonic began to quiver in fear and the coldness of the water despite losing air due to the heat. He began to breathe and hyperventilate in terror, hugging himself as for the first time in his life, he was trapped with no way out.
He was doomed.
"HELP! HELP ME! HEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPPP!" Sonic screamed pleading, banging on the bell from the outside. "Get me outta here! Chris! Amy! Tails! ANYBODY!"
In desperation, the terrified blue hedgehog made the risky move to bash his way out while holding his breath as he did, before using the bell to bash away the robots and other giant sea monsters before hurrying away as fast as possible. Eventually despite the dangers following him as Sonic looked back, whimpering while trying very hard not to drown, he managed to leap out of the water and landed onto the rocks, collapsing as he coughed and panted.
"I...was almost sea-food!" The soaking wet and traumatized teenager gasped, before passing out with a groan.
End of Diving Imaginations:
Once those thoughts faded from his mind(though in fear while hiding it, he came up with the escaping part of the second horrible imagination) as he shuddered, Sonic couldn't help but softly gulp as either one of those ideas were a possibility, sweat dropping nervously as he tried not to sound so scared when he muttered. "I hope you're not considering either one of those. Any brighter ideas?"
"Calm down, Sonic. I said I thought of them, but then I realized they were terrible ideas." Chris reassured, as he could sense his older friend's hesitation, continuing to lead him. "Besides, if we wanna search underwater, the best way to go is to rent some scuba gear. You always need to use professional equipment or else diving can be really dangerous."
While sighing in sheer relief that he wouldn't have to go through the dangers of the more stupid ideas like the air hose or the diving bell that will definitely cause him to drown, killed by deadly robots and/or get eaten by sea creatures, Sonic frowned as he grumbled in irritation, both at the fact that his friend almost didn't consider the scuba gear first and that the blue hedgehog himself hadn't been lucky in the previous times he had to go under water.
Within the Ocean of the Sapphire Grand Blue Sea, in a huge cove in a cavern on the ocean floor, the young Mermaid and the young Merhog had just entered while looking back and forth to make sure they were out of sight from dangers such as sharks and Orca whales, and even Robotnik's Egg Fort as well as the Iron Empire. The two swam until they found a large cave with the walls covered in rich smooth pearl like carvings, and before them was an elderly figure that was a giant grey and blue humpback whale resting.
The young mermaid was about Chris' age with the blue hair, deep blue eyes, white clam sea-shells around the upper part of her body and a topaz-golden fin/tail, while the female Merhog was about Sonic or Amy's age, light blue at the upper-half with a sea-cloth around the upper part of her body, beach arms and muzzle with long dark-blue hair, light blue eyes, and a long jade-emerald green tail/fin.
"Oh, Great Sea-Sorcerer, Oracle. We come to seek your aid once more." The Merhog greeted as she and her companion bowed their heads in respect.
"Welcome, children of the sea. I have expected your return." An echo of a male deep voice spoke, yet the whale didn't move his mouth. Instead, he glowed in a light-blue aura, indicating that this whale could speak with telepathy. "I also have come to knowledge you and young Marina have found a new discovery in the surface world."
"Yes, Elder Oracle. We believe to have found the chosens." The young Mermaid, Marina, spoke this time with a nod. "Children of the surface about our age and younger were seen in a flying machine unlike any other. Merna(1), and I have sensed a Chao, a three Chaos Emeralds on board, and we have also discovered who they are: Mobians of a blue hedgehog we suspect is the chosen one, Sonic the Hedgehog as the land dwellers call him, a fox as young with strange two tails, a pink hedgehog girl, a human boy, and a little rabbit girl who resembles to the one of the past years ago. We believe she and the Chao have spotted us before we could return to the ocean."
That surprised Elder Oracle as he made a humming noise, before speaking with his mind once more. "Hmmm...I see. Meaning the time has come as the future is to turn bleak should Sonic the Hedgehog fail to protect and save the little ones."
"Meaning the prophecy is true, Elder?" Marina asked, worriedly.
"Yes, child. As I have predicted, a Chaos Emerald rests in our world but it is in danger of being discovered by the enemies more dangerous than the human, Dr. Ivo Robotnik. However, he too is connected to what will transphere." The giant whale responded.
"What should we do, Elder?" Merna questioned, a hint of urgency in her voice.
"You, Merna, and Marina, are to aid these surface children to locate the Emerald of Chaos, and share your powers with Sonic the Hedgehog as he cannot swim nor can he breathe underwater. The blue child of the surface world is unable to use his gift in the sea. The time has come for you two to make contact with the land dwellers, but caution them to keep your identities a secret." Elder Oracle nodded, telling them of what they should do.
Despite being shocked to hear this, both Merna, and Marina shared a glance and, knowing that the Sea-Sorcerer was right, and that the world above and below the sea was in grave danger. Sonic the Hedgehog would need all the help he could get in finding the Chaos Emeralds and protecting the little girl and Chao.
"Yes, of course, Elder. We will find them immediately." Merna replied as she and Marina bowed once more.
"Best wishes, children. Be careful." The giant Whale responded, sastisfied before watching the two mermaids sharing a farewell to him then swam away to make contact with Sonic and his friends. But as they did, the elder closed his eyes as he thought to himself. 'Forgive me, children of the sea. I could not tell you of what else is yet to come. You must focus on ensuring the little ones must not be captured...and I must aid you when the time is right.'
The dangers were only going to get worse. That the giant sea creature knew of.
A short time later back in town, the two boys found themselves in the boat rent shop where Sonic looked around as he waited, while Chris went straight up to the counter to rent out what they and their friends needed in order to find a Chaos Emerald. As his friend asked for five air tanks, snorkles, ect., the blue hedgehog couldn't help but notice a painting on the wall above a shelf that had decorations, water safety supplies and whatnot, even toys based on ocean life. Curious, the fourteen year old got up close to see it was a portrait of a beautiful cove of magnificent waves and sea life including dolphins jumping out of the water, but what got his interest were who was in the painting.
"Whoa...Mermaids and Mer-Mobians? That's different and really cool. Somebody must've had a really big imagination." Sonic whispered to himself, as he gazed at the perfectly details of merpeople and even mer-Mobians, such as a female merhog, a male merhog, and others along with Mobini fish and sea life, even a humongous humpback whale that a beautiful merhog girl was patting on the side.
As Sonic was marveling at the painting, Chris was paying for the equipment when he noticed the ship model on the counter and also the painting which surprisingly were identical. "Wow, this awesome ship model is exactly like the one in that painting, right?"
The owner, who had been curious and cautious on where the twelve year old boy and his friend, the famous Sonic the Hedgehog, were going along with three other friends, took notice at the change of subject and responded about the ship. "Oh yeah, they're the same. You see, this ship was lost at sea a long time ago and there's a legend it sank near here with a huge load of gold. It's also said that the survivors were rescued by the merfolk that live beneath the sea. Folks here think the legend is true, except for the mermaids part since most people know that they are just pure myth."
Chris gasped in awe while Sonic, having heard this, turned his head to the conversation and blinked in surprise as well before gazing back at the painting. 'Hmm...Maybe somebody had a dream of being saved by mermaids after they almost drowned and their descends live right around here. Guess that explains this painting.'
What they didn't know was that the legend was more true than they thought.
In another part of the ocean, a huge robot about the size of a giant Humpback whale, but more like an Orca Whale with sharp metal teeth, black and silver with red glowing eyes, razor sharp fins and a huge air-chamber inside it's body along with a power core within the ceiling of it to trap it's prisoners for the Iron Empire, it's symbol on the side of it.
The giant Orca-Robot was swimming along which caused the schools of fish to swim away in fear. Even the fish that were being chased by trio of sharks quickly swam into separate directions which confused the sea predators at first. But when the predators of the sea saw what they thought was a giant Orca Whale waiting to eat them, their eyes nearly popped out in fear as they panicked before fleeing in terror, making the wise decision to forget about their lunch for the time being and swam for their lives.
Inside his underwater base, Julius, who had sent in the Orca-Bot to capture the unbeknownst Mermaid and Merhog, grinned evilly as he had also sent in another fish spy-bot to keep on eye on things.
"This is going according to plan. Once I get those two, they will tell me the location of the so called ancient Sea-Sorcerer I've been studying for years, and once I know if the legend is true, then I'll be certain the little brat and her Chao will be mine. With the death of Sonic the Hedgehog, Dr. Ivo Eggman, in my hands." Julius chuckled coldly, once again squeezing the Sonic doll in his grasp. "All of you will soon...Be MINE!"
He then laughed manically as his next evil plot was about to really begin.
Will Sonic and his friends be able to get away from this new incoming danger? Or will they sink low into the depths of the sea, and the clutches of Julius "Iron" Robotnik?
To be Continued!
A/N: Sorry for the lack of action of this part and as I am trying to make the chapters of this story shorter, it still wasn't working out, so I had to resort in cutting this episode into two parts, so the second part will continue the Sapphire Grand Blue Sea adventure as soon as it's done.
Again, I'm really sorry for this in advance.
(1) Merna is based on Merna the Merhog from the AOSTH with the same name, so I don't own her.
See you later!