Chapter #8: The Search for the Antidote

10:41 AM

Mystic Ruins Jungle

The Mystic Ruins was a vast region of rainforest that sat next to Station Square. Only a tiny portion of it had been mapped and set aside for tourists; the majority of the land was wild and uncharted. Deep in the jungle were the ruins of an ancient civilization of echidnas—gigantic temples that rose higher than the trees and humble houses of stone built into the sides of mountains. The rainforest had grown over many of these buildings, and history had forgotten them. But they still stood there, ghosts of their people's golden age.

In one of these ruins was the antidote that meant life for a poisoned hero.

Sonic raced down old paths, across streams, and through thick jungle growth in search of the antidote. Eggman's vague description of the antidote's location left him with no choice but to look in every ruin he came by, and always he emerged from the building empty-handed. He also had to take every path he found, in case he missed a house or temple; unfortunately, the paths often intertwined, leaving him at a loss and wasting his precious time.

After finding himself at a familiar junction for the third time, the hedgehog fell down on his knees to take a breather. He was going nowhere fast, and his search was fruitless; he had to form a plan instead of looking everywhere mindlessly. But moments after he halted, the terrible migraines and pain spasms came back, and he fell to the forest floor in a heap. Groaning in misery, he tossed and turned on the ground like a kid having a nightmare.

When the pain seemed to subside, he forced himself to stand up and walk down the path he had chosen. He tried to run, but the headaches pounded in his head too much. Because of this, he had to keep the pace at a fast jog. The path twisted on and on, until he recognized the path. This was one of the ways to the rainforest's biggest Echidnean temple.

Maybe that's where the antidote was; after all, Eggman had said, "the Echidnean ruins", and that temple was the most prominent ruin in the entire rainforest. It was worth a try.

Quickening his pace as much as he dared, Sonic raced down the dirt path and searched the forest for any sign of the temple. Finally he came to a large stone wall, which must have once surrounded a village or fortress. Inside was the ruined temple in all its faded glory. For a moment the hero just stared at the magnificent ruin, with its echidna statues guarding the entrance and its towering stone spire. The sun, which was at the very top of the spire, shone in his eyes, and he had to look away. But then the glint of metal brought his focus back on the spire…

…And he spotted Metal Sonic standing on the temple's summit.

"Metal…" Sonic muttered to himself in a low tone.

The robot had also spied his enemy, and he leaped off the spire, landing perfectly on the ground before the hero. "I'm surprised you made it this far, hero," he said calmly…a bit too calmly.

Sonic kept his guard up; something fishy was going on, and he had to be careful. "Well, you know me; I'm full of surprises," he replied with his trademark grin. In a second the smile vanished, and he said in a serious tone, "Now where's that antidote?"

Metal chuckled. "Getting desperate, aren't you? I can tell: sweating, shaking, breathing difficulties…"

"Answer me!"

The robotic hedgehog opened one hand. A clear tube of green liquid sat on his palm. "Here it is, in my grasp. If you want it, then you must get it." He closed his hand again and darted out of the clearing, with Sonic in hot pursuit.


"Hurry, guys! We've gotta find Sonic!" cried Amy as she darted ahead of the others through the jungle brush.

The foursome had been running hard through the Mystic Ruins for five minutes, and already Cream and Knuckles were starting to fall behind. Amy and Tails, however, seemed to have endless supplies of energy, and they barely noticed their companions' decrease in speed or heard their pleas for a break. Finally Knuckles tripped over a fallen tree branch, and he didn't get up; he was finished running. Cream halted beside him, torn between following the other two or staying behind to help the echidna. She reached a compromise.

"Cheese, go after Tails and Amy!" she commanded her Chao friend. "Tell them I'm staying with Mr. Knuckles." Cheese nodded and flew after the fox and the girl hedgehog.

"Drop the 'Mr.', will ya, Cream?" the Guardian said as he slowly stood up and checked for any injuries. He looked down the path where Tails, Amy, and Cheese had gone; they had vanished from sight. Sighing, he said, "I guess we should take that other path," and pointed at the dirt path that had been hidden from view previously. As he and the rabbit walked, he grumbled, "We're running all over the place, but we don't even know where Sonic is. He could be anywhere in this maze!"

"Maybe we should call his name," Cream suggested timidly.

"Yeah, and run the risk of getting caught by Eggman again? Not a chance!" When he looked at her, he saw tears welling up in her eyes. "Uhh, but it wasn't a bad idea, really…"

While he was trying to stop Cream from crying, Knuckles failed to watch his step. Suddenly he walked right into a shallow stream, and mud oozed into his shoes. Groaning, he tried to pull them up out of the muddy bottom without success. Cream also tried to help, but she only got herself muddy.

As the two were tugging at Knuckles' legs, a huge shadow came up behind him and Cream, stalking slowly closer…and closer…

Cream heard a twig snap and whirled around. She saw the shadow creeping up to the pair, and she shrieked. Knuckles turned around halfway, and his eyes widened in terror. The rabbit began yanking on her companion to set him free from the mud, but it was no use.

Suddenly the shadow tripped and tumbled through the brush in an unstoppable roll. Knuckles managed to free his legs, and he shoved Cream and himself out of the way. Inches from their feet, a giant purple ball crashed past them and landed in the stream with a splash. The ball uncurled itself, and someone moaned, "Ohhh…what happened, Froggy?"

Recognition shone on Cream's face. "Mr. Big!" she cried, and she rushed to help him up.

Knuckles just sat there and glared at the huge cat as he sat up and hugged Cream. They had been scared of this oaf? Suddenly something wet and slimy landed on his head, and he cried out in surprise. "Augh! Get it off me! Get it off!"

"Froggy!" exclaimed Big.

A green frog with an orange stripe on its back leaped off Knuckles' head, and with a croak hopped into Big's outstretched paw. It turned, stared at the echidna, and said, "Ribbit."

"Aw, 'ribbit' yourself, you stupid…" growled the Guardian, once again seething because he had been taken by surprise.

Big put a finger to his mouth. "Shh!" he warned, as he fearfully looked around, searching for…something. "Fat guy in machine is here, looking for us."

"Dr. Eggman?" whispered Cream fearfully. "But why is he looking for you?"

"I heard him talking about some hedgehog guy, and he doesn't want me to tell anyone what I heard," replied the cat.

At that moment they heard the sound of Eggman's hovership, and Knuckles and Cream climbed into some trees. Sadly, Big was too heavy, and he had to duck into a cluster of ferns; still his tail stuck out like a sore thumb. The ship and its grumbling pilot came into view. But Eggman didn't search the area for them, as they had expected; instead he kept his eyes on a green radar screen.

"Sonic has found Metal…good! The chase should keep him busy!" he muttered as he passed the hiding places of Knuckles, Cream, and Big. "Metal should be leading him to the drop-off like I told him. I should check." He said other things, but they were inaudible; he was too far away.

Once he felt it was safe, Knuckles dropped out of his tree. "Something is going on, all right…just like I thought."

"What do you mean, Knuckles?" asked Cream as she slid down the trunk of her tree.

"I don't think Eggman is going to play this one fair; if he did, it would be the first time. He and Metal are up to something…and we've gotta find out what."


Amy and Tails had finally run out of breath, and Cheese's wings had grown tired. While Amy drank from the nearby river and the Chao rested on a boulder, Tails pulled out a small Palm Pilot. Amy noticed it. "Why did you bring a Palm Pilot with you from the workshop, Tails?"

"It's no ordinary Palm Pilot, Amy," the fox replied. "I gutted its real parts and made it into a sort of digital map of the Mystic Ruins." He scrolled through the map and pointed at the symbol of a house. "We're very close to Big's house, I think. We could ask him if he's seen Sonic."

"Good idea. Let's go!"

"Chao!" Cheese agreed heartily.

Amy darted away down the path, with Cheese flying behind her. But Tails remained still for a second, searching the surrounding forest; he had heard a strange sound. When his ears didn't pick up the sound again, he shrugged and walked after his partner. He found her at Big's little hut, standing on his bed made of wood.

"He's not here," she said disappointedly. "Probably out fishing with Froggy."

Tails sighed. "Well, why don't we try the big temple? Maybe the antidote…and Sonic…are there."

"Sounds good to me!"

The trio started off again, but they had gone no further than ten yards from the house when they heard the unmistakable sound of a hovership.

"Eggman!" exclaimed Tails. "Quick, hide!"

Amy said in bewilderment, "But where?"

Tails swiveled on his heel as he searched for a hiding place. But there seemed to be only one: in a marshy area filled with reeds. "We'll need to duck down there," he said.

"Eww! I don't wanna get my new dress soiled!" Amy whined.

"It's wet from saltwater anyway! Hurry!"

Not waiting for an answer, Tails shoved her into the reeds. Simultaneously they dropped down into the thick mud, holding their breath and watching the path. Eggman came into view, with his vehicle slowly gliding. Was he looking for them? Had he heard them talking?

Then the trio heard the voice of Bokkun on the ship's communications screen. "They're really goin' at it, Doc! Sonic's right on Metal's heels! He must be really desperate for that antidote!"

"Good. That's how I want it," Eggman said. "He's taken the bait—hook, line, and sinker! Ha ha! Sonic thinks that he'll live once he gets the tube from Metal…but all he'll be drinking from that tube is useless water! Ha ha!" Still snickering, he pulled out a tube of green liquid like the one Metal Sonic had with him.

The hovership rounded a bend, and Eggman disappeared from sight. Once his laughing had faded away, Amy, Tails, and Cheese crawled out of the marsh and wiped the mud off of themselves. Amy made a move to go wash herself off in the river, but Tails went in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going, Tails?" she called to him.

He turned around and said, "We don't have time to bathe, Amy. We need to warn Sonic."

"About what?"

"Weren't you listening? Eggman has the antidote!"

"Metal Sonic does too."

He shook his head. "No, Amy. Metal Sonic's tube contains just water. Eggman has the real antidote. It's a trick, and Sonic is falling for it!"