Chapter 1 (Sonic): The Kidnapping of Princess Blaze

Fireworks brought light to the midnight black sky as the boat slowly made its way ceremoniously across still water. The crowd cheered while the boat passed in response to the sight of the royal figure standing atop it: Princess Blaze, who responded in kind to their ovations.

And why wouldn't they cheer? It's not often the Princess of Soleanna appears in public.

The Soleanna Festival of the Sun was the most significant event in Soleanna's history. Each year, the city of water celebrates the sun god, Solaris, who gives the citizens hope with his eternal flames. Blaze, the princess blessed with those same flames, is a symbol of Soleanna's peace and security.

For the princess to not attend the ceremony, it wouldn't sit right with many.

Consequently, Princess Blaze was there as the festivities proceeded. Not that she minded, anyway. In fact, Blaze enjoyed the change in the town's mood during the festival. Normally, everything was, quite frankly, boring. Even if the people managed to find something they regarded as exciting in town, Blaze was still a princess at the end of the day. She must be protected. She must handle the affairs the people would not deal with and would most likely be frightened to do. She must keep her people calm and happy.

Every day of every year.

Except today, for the most part.

Yes, Blaze did have to deal with some officials from other nations and her usual stack of paperwork, she was allowed to relax when the afternoon arrived to prepare for the festival. It brought the lavender-furred, anthropomorphic cat princess a sense of ease from the stress of being nobility.

If only every day could be like this…she thought to herself.

The boat finally reached its destination: a small marble landmass with six torch pillars on smaller circular landmasses extending outward from the main; in the middle was one larger torch which, like the others, was waiting to be lit.

Being in the middle of a pond, this landmass truly was the Heart of Soleanna's Castle Town.

Blaze strode up the stairs with her entourage towards the members of her council, a few handmaidens and one of the holy priests of Soleanna. The priest smiled sincerely at Blaze as she stopped before him, and she stood in respect as he began the sermon:

"Oh great Solaris, who has given us hope and life with his eternal flames, hear our cries of joy…"

The priest had only begun the homily when Blaze's mind started to wonder, but not of her own wishes. Her gold eyes saw her city burst with a sudden light, leaving Soleanna engulfed in hellfire. When she looked down, she found herself floating above her now scorching city, toxic fumes arising from the flames.

A distant growl brought her attention from her feet to a rising creature in front of her. It, too, was covered in orange flames, but being the source of the destruction, it was indifferent to it.

No… Blaze shuddered in fear.

The creature, as if hearing her thoughts, turned its head towards her.

No, no… Blaze shut her eyes, shaking her head in an attempt to wake up from this nightmarish vision.

The creature roared a monstrous cry.

No! Blaze screamed, but no words resonated from her mouth.

"Miss Blaze?"

The voice of her anthropomorphic rabbit handmaiden snapped Blaze out of her daydream. As Blaze turned her head to meet her eyes, she could see the concern on the handmaiden's face. Blaze tried to hide her distress with a comforting smile. "It…it's alright," she said.

Blaze made an interior effort to relax. She was back in Soleanna, the city of water, not fire. The priest had finished his sermon and was waiting for Blaze to begin the grand finale: the lighting of the torches.

It was just a nightmare, Blaze told herself.

But it wasn't. She had been having these 'nightmares' for the past couple of months, and they were increasing. It was always the same: Soleanna destroyed, a monster of fire and, occasionally, a white anthropomorphic hedgehog looking down at her with sincerity.

Blaze wished she knew what it all meant, but she could never find an exact answer. However, she had a feeling—no, she knew—that the visions were related to her powers.

Nevertheless, the Princess of Soleanna was not going to let these visions interrupt the ceremony.

Blaze bowed before the priest, the priest returning it. In his hands was a lit wooden torch, the flames dancing slowly in the air. Using her powers, Blaze took the flame out of the torch and held it above her hands as she closed her eyes and began the prayer.

"We give thanks for the blessed flames. May we always continue to have peace. Sun of Soleanna, guide and watch over us with your eternal light." As she finished speaking, Blaze walked forward to a small urn filled with gasoline; from the urn were small extensions that led to each of the torch pillars, including the large torch in front of her. After taking a small pause to let the anticipation set it, Blaze sent the flame into the urn, igniting the gasoline. The fire spread to each of the torches, erupting a beauty of light in the night.

The crowd roared in applause as the festival came to a close. Blaze and her companions beside her smiled at the enthusiastic audience around them. More fireworks were exploding in the air to commemorate the lighting of the torches, only increasing the excitement.

Not even bad visions can ruin this moment, Blaze told herself. Everything is fine.

As Blaze waved to the people, citizens and visitors alike, a series of bangs rumbled the area and buildings around her, but they were not fireworks. The cheers that had once erupted from the crowd transformed into shrieks of terror and fear. Looking up towards the source of the mysterious explosions, Blaze could make out a red militaristic vessel floating in the sky.

"GUN?" Blaze asked herself, too inaudible to hear due to the panic and noise.

No, it can't be, Blaze reasoned. Soleanna has been in negotiations with the United Federation over economic relations. Why would they attack us?

Blaze's logic proved to be valid as the vessel's underbelly cargo door opened, where silver-black robots emerged and dropped down to surround her and her entourage. As she noted each robot had a gun for one of their arms, the sound of a smaller aircraft lowering towards them caught her attention. Standing in this vehicle was a plump man with a red coat with gold buttons and black pants, as well as green goggles atop his bald head. He appeared to be bowing in respect.

"A pleasure to meet you at last, Princess of Soleanna," the man said, straightening himself to reveal a big mustache, an enormous nose, and tinted glasses. His smile, along with the destruction he had just cause to disrupt the ceremony, told Blaze he cared not for formalities but was merely playing along.

It was, at the most, mockery. An action that Blaze resented.

"I am Dr. Eggman," the man continued, placing his hands behind his back. "I've come here to obtain the secret of the Flames of Disaster from you, and to take one of the miracle gems that are the key to its secret…" The doctor pointed at Blaze's neck area, around which was a necklace which a jewel attached to it.

"The Chaos Emerald!" Eggman finished.

Blaze clutched the emerald tightly with her white gloves, staring in anger at the terrorist in front of her. Eggman simply smiled at her. "Now Princess," he said, gesturing towards his aircraft. "This way, please." Blaze took a few steps back, releasing her hold on the emerald resting atop her purple coat and gold collar. She slowly looked around, observing her surroundings. Most of the citizens have fled the scene, only a few remaining brave enough to watch or report on the incident. Her council, however, was still with her, surrounded by Dr. Eggman's robots.

This is insane… Blaze thought.

There was an out to this situation, Blaze knew, yet she was hesitant to follow through with it. Just as she was able to manipulate the flame during the ceremony, she could conjure up her own fire to deal with these mindless machines and the madman in front of her. But her powers were dangerous. If she screwed up, one of her citizens may get hurt by her flames, not to mention this Dr. Eggman may start firing upon them.

On the other hand, he wanted the Flames of Disaster, the power Blaze holds deep inside her, and if he is crazy enough to pull this stunt to try and take it from her, no doubt he wants to use the flames for nefarious reasons.

She was at a lost on what to do.

As Blaze continued contemplating on whether it would be best to obey his orders, a sudden wind picked up around the group. However, this was no ordinary wind, as a blue light could be seen following the wind's trail as it circled around them. Eggman started to stiffen at the wind, a sign, Blaze concluded, that he knew what was going on.

And just as it had started, the blue wind died down instantly.

"My…that's a pretty snazzy performance there!"

Blaze gazed up towards one of the columns where the newcomer's voice was and found a blue hedgehog sporting white gloves and red and white stripped shoes lively smiling down at them. For a moment, Blaze thought back to her vision of the white hedgehog in the destroyed Soleanna, but she knew these two could not be the same. Their mannerisms seemed different.

"You!" Eggman growled in irritation. "All units, priority one hedgehog! ATTACK!"

Responding to Eggman's commands, the robots aimed their weapons at the blue hedgehog, firing round after round of bullets and rockets. The hedgehog grinned in amusement, and leapt up high into the air as the ammunition hit the spot where he was standing. The column tore apart upon the heavy impact, leaving behind smoke and embers.

The blue hedgehog rolled in the air, positioning himself for an air attack on the nearest machine. As soon as he made contact with the metal, a quick cling! could be heard before the hedgehog blindingly moved to attack the next robot. Each machine broke due to the speed of impact, and one by one they fell harmoniously. The hedgehog finally landed in front of the last robot, a strong gust of wind bouncing off the pavement and into the robot, sending multiple screws loose. The hedgehog cockily tapped the robot with his shoe and watched amusingly as it fell backwards over the edge and into the water.

Blaze looked behind her to see Eggman frustratingly pound away at the aircraft's control. When Blaze turned her attention back towards the red vessel high in the smoke-filled sky, she could see more robots emerging.

A lot more in numbers and diversity than the ones this newcomer had taken down.

The hedgehog's screeching shoes brought her attention back to him. "I'm Sonic," the hedgehog introduced himself. "Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Right as Blaze was processing his name, the hedgehog known as Sonic sped to her side and lifting her off her feet.

"Woah!" Blaze exclaimed at Sonic's chivalrous act, and she threw her arms around him as he immediately started running away from the scene, hopping over the gap of water between their position and the rest of the city with ease.

"Why are you always getting in my way, you pesky little hedgehog!?" Eggman screamed in anger as his robots finally arrived. Entering in a set of commands on his console, Eggman turned to his robots and pointed at an increasingly distant Sonic and Blaze. "Don't just stand there!" he yelled. "Capture the princess and kill the hedgehog. Remember: I want the princess alive!" The robots, acknowledging his commands, chased after their targets obediently.


Blaze held onto Sonic tightly as he ran past civilians and structures effortlessly with her in his arms. During this time, she tried to process everything that had just happened: the attack, Eggman's desires, and Sonic's little stunt against the doctor. The way Eggman and Sonic behaved around each other indicated, in Blaze's mind, that they knew each other, and given how Sonic was opposing the man who wants the Flames of Disaster from her, maybe he was a good person.

Still, Blaze preferred to err on the side of caution.

"Um…" she began, trying to capture his attention for a moment. "Why are you helping me?"

Sonic's emerald eyes met her golden eyes, simply answering, "No special reason."

Immediately after his response, Sonic leapt across another stream of water that divided a part of the landmass of the city, landing gracefully on the other side. He then passed into a small alleyway, dimly lit by the windows on the buildings.

"Sonic!" Blaze noticed the five robots before Sonic did, yet the moment their presence registered in him Sonic skidded to a halt and set Blaze on her feet. "No problem!" he proudly remarked, and he initiated his attack. Starting with the robot closest to the two of them, Sonic pressed hard against the ground to launch himself straight into the machine, his shoes making contact with the robot for a second only for him to bounce up into the air. The impact sent the drone flying backwards, parts flying off onto the pathway ahead.

Landing right in front of another of Eggman's robots, Sonic waited for the robot straight across from the two of them to mark his position before letting loose a flurry of bullets. A mistake on the robot's part, as the hedgehog jumped straight up at lightning speed; the bullets, instead of the intended target, wound up assailing the robot right behind it before it could turn quick enough to move. Gazing down at the remaining opponents with a smirk, Sonic let gravity do its work as he fell right on top of the robot that tried to skewer him a second ago, ricocheting off of it and the other two remaining robots like a ball.

Upon completing a flip in the air for finesse, Sonic regained contact with the ground, kneeling to handle the impact. He then stood up to admire his handiwork. The robotic minions of the mad scientist now laid in heaps of scrap metal around the alleyway, never again to torment anyone.

This is too easy, Sonic thought to himself.

He quickly regretted it.

"Ah!"

"…!"

The sound of Blaze's scream reached Sonic's ears in a heartbeat, the blue hedgehog turning quickly in shock at his own inattentiveness. While he was busy dealing with Eggman's robots, Eggman himself had arrived and captured Blaze using the metallic hand extensions from his floating aircraft. Blaze struggled to break free of the arms to no avail, even with the use of her powers.

"I'm afraid our little game ends now," Eggman declared smugly, the aircraft rising higher away from Sonic's reach.

Fortunately, Blaze was able to loosen one of her arms out of her confinement. Realizing she had no way out, she did the only thing she could.

She ripped off the emerald hanging from her neck and threw it towards Sonic.

"Sonic! Take this!"

Sonic's reflexes allowed him to catch the blue Chaos Emerald in midair. He could hear the emerald's mystical hymn as it found itself in the palm of his hand. "I got it!" he exclaimed. "And don't worry! I'll rescue you!"

"Don't worry about me!" Blaze responded. She had a feeling Sonic would probably try to help her as he had been doing all night, but she didn't want him to get hurt protecting her. Instead, given his speed he may be able to assist her in a different manner. "Just take the emerald and get out of here as fast as you can! I'll be fine!"

Dr. Eggman huffed at the two's exchange. "It's only a matter of time before its mine. Until then, you can hold onto it for me!"

The aircraft then rose at a faster pace to the Egg Carrier high above, docking itself within the doctor's red flagship. After picking up its passengers, the Egg Carrier's engines increased in thrust and sped off in the night sky.

Sonic could do nothing but watch as the Egg Carrier flew over him and away from the city, contemplating the princess' wish concerning him and the Chaos Emerald as he did. "'Forget about me,' she said," Sonic wondered aloud. He then chuckled at the thought. "Sorry, your highness," he apologized, "But I never abandon a person in need. Especially from Eggman." Putting the Chaos Emerald away, Sonic started considering his next move when a familiar voice rang in the air.

"Sonic!"

Behind him was a orange and cream furred fox with two tails, a look of both concern and cheerfulness on his face. His appearance brought surprise to Sonic's face.

"Tails!" Sonic replied in kind as his friend came to a stop in front of him. "Long time, no see."

Tails nodded in affirmation. "I was invited to come to Soleanna to assist in creating a new self-marketing machine; I was developing it in one of the local shops when I saw what Eggman did on TV." Tails looked around for a brief moment in confusion. "Didn't you save Princess Blaze from Eggman."

Sonic shook his head in earnest. "I did, but Eggman got the drop on me. Blaze is with him on the Egg Carrier as we speak."

Tails expressed disappointment for a second, but then appeared to have realized something. "You're going to rescue her, aren't you?" he asked. Sonic responded by crossing his arms and giving a simple nod. Tails, knowing Sonic wouldn't give up so easily, then said, "Let me help. I may not know what Eggman's up to, but it can't be a good thing!"

Sonic didn't take long to answer Tails' offer of assistance. "Ok. With your help, this should be a piece of cake!" He ended his statement with a thumbs up of approval.

Tails chuckled sheepishly. "I'll do my best!" he exclaimed. "Let's head back to the place I've been staying at. I can calculate Eggman's trajectory and see where he's heading." Sonic agreed, and the two headed off.


"Hello?" Tails called. "Mr. Robert?"

Sonic and Tails had made their way to the southeastern portion of Soleanna's Castle Town, where Tails resided in an annex atop of Soleanna's main item store. The store, situated near a small fountain and one of the three bell towers overlooking the town, was surely old-fashioned in terms of texture, yet it was easy to find despite blending in with the rest of the city.

By now, the town was starting to liven up again as people relaxed now that Eggman had departed. Conversely, the news of Princess Blaze's capture quickly spread, troubling the citizens with regards to the loss of their ruler. While standards have been made to deal with such scenarios, Blaze's reputation and actions as Princess of Soleanna have helped brought about peace in the city; without her, will such a peace continue? Even the guards who were there when Eggman attacked the Festival of Light could do nothing but watch as the evil genius with his superior weaponry take the one person they were assigned to protect while they couldn't put a dent in his forces. How could they protect Soleanna and its prosperity if someone akin to Eggman (or worse) were to show up and assault the town?

Fortunately, Sonic and Tails kept their spirits up amid the tension as the latter had begun tracing the Egg Carrier's path of travel on their way to the shop. Now that they had reached the shop, Tails wanted to see if the owner of the shop was still awake.

"Oh, is that you, Tails?" An old-sounding voice echoed from above the shop's floor. An old man came down the creaking stairs and smiled at the two-tailed fox, but expressed surprise at Sonic. "I see you've brought a guest," he said. "Will he be staying here for the night?"

Tails shook his head. "Not now, but maybe later. He and I are working together to rescue the princess."

The shopkeeper's eyes widen when he heard this. "Wait a minute…that was you trying to protect Princess Blaze on the TV?"

Sonic smiled. "Yup," he said. "Name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."

The shopkeeper returned the expression. "My name is Alberto Robert, the owner of this store." He paused for a moment to cough lightly, then continued. "I think I speak for everyone in Soleanna that we appreciate your assistance."

Sonic shook his head humbly. "Don't worry about it. I do this stuff all the time."

Alberto chuckled at Sonic's pride. It seemed that the town didn't hold Sonic responsible for failing to save Blaze from Eggman, and the citizens may find it much more reassuring that he is still trying to save her.

Tails, who had gone up the stairs while Sonic and Alberto conversed with each other, popped his head out from above. "Mr. Roberto," he said. "Given the circumstances, I think I'd like to give Sonic his surprise now. It wouldn't happen to be ready, would it?"

Alberto, knowing full well what Tails was talking about, nodded in affirmation. "I just finished them today. I'll get them for him."

Tails smiled appreciatively at Alberto, then turned his attention to Sonic. "I'm almost done. I just need to make a few more calculations."

Sonic shook his head in understanding. After Tails went back upstairs, Sonic returned his gaze to Alberto. "My surprise?" he questioned.

Alberto, having retrieved a box from one of the cubicles in the store, handed it to Sonic. When Sonic opened the box, he found a set of shoes bearing the same red-and-white-striped look as his Power Sneakers.

"I've been making shoes in this town for a very long time," Alberto explained. "But I wanted to make the ultimate shoes for someone, someone who would try to wear them down constantly, be it on purpose or not. When your friend Tails asked if I could make a special pair of shoes for you, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to make them. With Tails' help, I was able to make these."

Sonic gripped both of the shoes out of the box and admired them. The detail on the leather shoes were exquisite, and the gold buckle felt smooth to the touch. But what truly caught Sonic's eye were the back of the shoes, for a set of different colored gems lined the bottom of the shoes.

"These shoes," Alberto explained, "Use the power of Soleanna's mysterious stones to change the user's physical attributes." Taking a pause, Alberto lifted his hands grandiosely. "I'm calling them…Custom Shoes!"

Sonic sat down in a chair, taking off his Power Sneakers and placing the Custom Shoes on in their place. The shoes fit like a glove, and the interior made for a comfortable feel. Sonic smiled approvingly. "These are great!" he stated. "Thanks!"

Alberto's face filled with joy. "You are most welcome. The best shoes in the world, worn by the best runner in the world. I'm so happy!"

Tails raced down the stairs as soon as he verified his results. He overheard Sonic and Alberto's reaction and wanted to see how the shoes looked on his friend. Seeing them on Sonic's feet, Tails asked how the shoes were.

"They're perfect," Sonic said. "I've been needing a new pair for a while. Thank you!"

Tails rubbed his hand behind his head, embarrassed at Sonic's appreciativeness. "Aw, it was nothing!" Tails responded. "Besides, Alberto did most of the work." Alberto smiled at the compliment. Tails then smirked. "I've figured out where Eggman's going. He's going to stop at Wave Ocean. If we hurry, we can save Princess Blaze while he's there!"

Sonic grinned, looking down at his new shoes. "Looks like I'll best testing these first at the beach." He then looked back at Alberto. "Thanks again!"

Alberto bowed his head. "It was an honor to make them, as well as to meet you, Sonic. Please save our highness."

Sonic silently shook his head as a promise. "Let's go!" he said to Tails, and the two headed off for Wave Ocean.


The sun was up high in the sky by the time Sonic and Tails reached the closely nested set of isles that was Wave Ocean. The rocky formations, palm trees and marine wildlife made for exotic sights, but the only thing the two heroes found themselves focusing on were Eggman's robots patrolling the islands.

"This has got to be the place," Tails assumed. Sonic nodded, and glancing down from the top of a rock formation on one of the islands, he became stiff at the sight of the amount of water present in the area.

Sonic hated water. To be accurate, he didn't hate the water itself but the act of drowning in it. Unable to swim, if he were to fall in Sonic would not be able to survive for long. Having found himself in numerous situations underwater, he had grown accustomed to dealing with oceans and ponds.

In the end, experience did nothing to eliminate his fear of drowning. However, he was able to push back his misgivings about the environment and focus on the situation at hand.

"Come on," Sonic said. "We've got to hurry and save Blaze!"

Tails agreed, prompting the two to race down the rocky slope towards the enemy ahead. While Sonic was able to use his speed to allow him to travel on top of the ocean water, Tails was able to traverse in a different manner. Using his two tails, he was able to spin them at the right velocity to create lift, allowing him to fly above the water while keeping up with his teammate.

The first patrol of robots ahead took note of the heroes and began firing a stream of bullets. Undeterred, Sonic and Tails dodged the bullets instantly, the bullets striking the seawater instead; drops of liquid shot up from the areas of impact only to fall back down into the now-rippled water.

Once the two were in range, the heroic duo began their counterattack. Sonic swamped the robots on the left with a continuous string of homing attacks. The unfortunate machines were sent flying back into the hard rock behind them, their bodies shattering from the force. Tails, the slower and weaker of the two, chose a different manner of assault. Instead of using his fists, Tails relied instead on capsules that contained miniature mine bombs that spread out and blow up upon contact with their intended targets. Due to the bombs' resemblance to golden rings, Tails suitably named the bombs "Dummy Rings." Throwing a Dummy Ring capsule at the other group of robots on the right, Tails watched in satisfaction as the rings reduced Eggman's machines to rubble.

As robotic parts found a new home on the sand, Sonic and Tails nodded at each other and continued moving forward. Similar situations occurred as they hopped from island to island in search of the Egg Carrier, but every time the same case of dodge and attack yielded success.

"This is too easy!" Sonic exclaimed. Tails couldn't help but laugh at Sonic's comment. He was right, of course. For Eggman's IQ of 300 and façade of terror, his robots were, for the most part, effortless to defeat.

Racing up and down one of the small hills, Sonic sped off the stony ground and once again found himself running on water. When he looked back to make sure Tails was following close by, he noticed a black-and-white object moving towards him. Upon close examination, the creature was not a machine but was, in fact, an orca swimming towards him. Whether it wanted to eat or play with Sonic, it did not matter to the hedgehog.

What mattered was that the orca was chasing him.

"That's a big one!" Sonic shouted, and increased his pace as he made his way for a nearby wooden platform. Ascending up to the platform's level, his shoes brought an echo with each step to the floorboard beneath them.

Floorboards that the orca seemed to have no consideration for, for it charged right through the timber platform. The wood broke apart and flew up in the air like confetti, leaving no way to go back the same way for the hedgehog. Not that Sonic minded; he was one for always moving forward, never backwards—well, unless he was running backwards, but that's another thing.

Still, this whole incident—the orca chasing him in such a manner, Sonic trying to help a friend—it brought back memories from a far-gone adventure.

Following the ever-changing path of the walkway, Sonic glanced ahead to find himself not only running out of road but that two other orcas were there, one of which was tearing up the other end of the walkway.

"Jump!" Tails yelled. Sonic, making split-second judgements, leapt upwards towards one of the larger chunks of board and bounced off of it towards another, repeating the process until he began to run out of areas to leap. Acknowledging this, he jumped off the last piece and, vaulting over the orca that rammed into the walkway, caught hold of the other orca's top fin.

The sudden feeling of a stranger on top of the orca caused it to swim purely out of instinct, rising and falling cyclically. The sound of the water being disrupted by the motion of the orca would make any marine biologist gasp in astonishment.

Sonic, meanwhile, was holding on for dear life. Lose his grip now, and his last destination will be the seafloor. Despite this predicament, the blue hedgehog was enjoying the moment, the thrill making adrenaline surge through his body. Besides, he could use the orca to travel via the ocean for a bit in search of the Egg Carrier.

That is, if the orca didn't exit the area through the open black gate ahead.

"Tails!" Sonic shouted. "Go on ahead and push the gate switch so he doesn't get out!"

"Ok, Sonic!" Tails replied. "I'll be right back!" With that said, Tails flew past Sonic and the orca, heading straight towards the gate itself. Examining the gate critically, Tails found no platforms where the gate's controls were. However, he did notice a string of protected cables extended from the bottom of the gate. Tracking the cables, he found they lead to one of the islands which, compared to the previous ones, was swarming with Eggman's robots.

Unlike the robots they had been dealing with up till now (which were present in the bunch), a different variety of robots were stationed on the sand. Both were smaller but took up more space horizontally-speaking. One set flew and shot missiles instead of bullets, the other continued to take up residence on the ground but used plated arms to attack. The difference between the two was that for the latter set, one of the robots in the group was painted black and red in contrast to white and black.

Knowing Eggman, Tails recognized the misfit as the controller, and by destroying it the other robots would fall as a result. As such, Tails stopped flying and let gravity help him build up acceleration as he aimed to land right on top of the controller. But the controller reacted to Tails' attack by locking its shielded arms above its head. Tails made contact with the plating and rebounded, flipping himself 180-degrees in the air and throwing a capsule of Dummy Rings at the controller, now completely exposed. The bombs ripped the robots to shreds, and its companions fell in the sand due to losing connection. The sight made Tails proud, showing how much he progressed.

The other set of robots flying above locked their sights on the orange fox, firing a string of heat-seeking missiles. Tails dodged just in the nick of time, the resulting explosions sending sand up in the air. Tails coughed as some of the sand got caught in his mouth. Glaring at the robots, he took to the skies again, preparing another set of Dummy Rings for his opponents. After missing another round of missiles, Tails dropped the bombs right on top of the machines, the bombs exploding on contact. The machines broke much faster than the previous models, most likely due to their more exposed bodies. Nevertheless, the formerly flying robots joined their comrades on the beach below in disrepair.

"Tails!" Sonic shouted in distress. "Hurry up!"

Regaining his focus, Tails looked around for the cables again. Having found them extending upwards towards the top of one of the rocky structures on the beach, Tails flew up and found the gate controls.

Eggman probably put this up here to avoid trespassers from messing with his operations, Tails thought. Flipping the switch, he watched as the gate closed down just as Sonic and the orca were drawing near it. The orca, seeing its path blocked off, went in the direction of the beach Tails was stationed at. As the creature drew close enough to the shore, Sonic let go of the fin and stepped onto the beach.

"Thank you, Tails," Sonic said relieved. "You saved me!"

"Heh, heh!" Tails chuckled bashfully. "It was nothing!"

Sonic smiled sincerely. Tails had gotten stronger since the day they first met, which coincidentally was on a beach. Sonic found the young inventor fine-tuning his airplane on the shore of a beach somewhere just for the sake of his passion. Given his ability to fly at a relatively fast speed and his desire to be as cool as Sonic, the hero let the two-tailed fox tag along with him on many adventures since then.

In a way, their friendship was akin to that of brothers, and Sonic was proud of how far Tails had grown.

Returning his attention to the island, Sonic said, "I saw the robots you were dealing with. The fact that there's a lot of them must mean we're getting close."

Tails nodded in agreement. "I was thinking the same thing. Let's explore the island for Eggman and the princess."

Just as the two were about to begin their search, a mysterious new robot dropped down on the beach in front of them. Its body, colored a deep shade of blue and silver-grey, rose to the same height as Sonic; its crimson red eyes burned bright with determination.

Perhaps most shocking about this robot was how similar it looked to Sonic.

"Metal!?" Sonic exclaimed in surprise. The hero knew this robot all too well. While most of Eggman's robots were easily breakable and common, Metal Sonic was specially made to take any pounding Sonic could throw at him, as well as match his speed in a fight. Sonic had beaten the robotic hedgehog plenty of times before in the past, of course, but each encounter Sonic found his doppelganger had learned a few new tricks, making him one of his most dangerous adversaries.

Metal Sonic emitted a series of beeps, pointing one of his sharp fingers at Sonic.

"It sounds like he can't talk," Tails noted. Sonic figured this as well. Last time he faced Metal Sonic, the robot was capable of expressing his jealousy of being Sonic's copy and tried to prove his superiority by eliminating the blue blur.

Sonic smiled amused. "Guess Eggman wanted payback for you locking him in a cell, huh?" Sonic asked Metal. The robot growled in rage, and challengingly pointed at Sonic with one of his sharp fingers; he then turned the hand he was using to point at Sonic with and, through his eyes, pretended to crush Sonic's head with it.

Sonic stared blankly at Metal Sonic for a moment, only to return a cocky grin at the robot and take a fighting stance. "If you're here to stop me," Sonic said, "Then bring it!"

Tails also positioned himself for battle with the machine. He remembered the grand fight he, Sonic, and Knuckles had with Metal Sonic a little while back, one of the moments he personally felt he helped Sonic the most. Comparing the situations, Metal Sonic wouldn't be too easy to beat, but he won't be as tough to fight this time around.

Metal Sonic charged at Sonic full-speed, launching a fist straight towards the hedgehog's face. Sonic reactively blocked the fist, adjusting his back foot for the force. Metal followed up with a series of similar strikes, throwing in a few roundhouse kicks in an attempt to land a hit in, but Sonic kept his guard up.

Tails tried to initiate an attack from behind, but Metal, seeing this, exhaled a cloud of smoke from his exhaust port on his back, a new modification the robot was glad Eggman built into him. The smoke burned Tails' eyes as he coughed for air. Metal used this opportunity to launch himself up in the air using the thrusters in his exhaust port and fire a yellow beam of energy at Tails' location. The beam struck the ground with a seismic impact, leaving a burnt area of sand in its place.

But Tails' deceased body was nowhere in the area.

Sonic held onto Tails tightly as his friend tried to regain his vision and breath. Seeing what Metal was planning, he grabbed Tails and hid behind one of the rocky structures out of Metal's line of sight. "Hang in there, little bro," Sonic whispered silently. "I'll keep him busy!" Tails, though disoriented from the smoke, nodded to concur.

Metal Sonic, having scanned the area, found where Tails was taking cover and was about to finish what he started when Sonic leapt from a nearby palm tree and landed an axel kick on the hovering robot. The kick left no dent in the robot, but the force was enough for Sonic to clench in pain a little. It appeared Eggman improved Metal's pain absorber among other things.

Still, Sonic's faced worse threats, some of which involved enemies far tougher than Metal Sonic right now.

Landing on the sandy surface below, Sonic turned to gaze his doppelganger in the eyes. "Hey faker!" he yelled. "You're still slower than me!" Metal became enraged, but only his eyes projected this onto Sonic. Calmly, the robot opened the area inside his circularly caved in body, and from it pulled a glowing red gem that shone brightly in the sun.

Sonic stood agape. "A Chaos Emerald!?"

The gem, clenched in Metal Sonic's hand, reacted to his anger and desire, and in a flash Metal and the Chaos Emerald disappeared. Sonic crunched his teeth tightly as he found himself sent flying by an unseen kick in the head, knowing exactly what had transpired. Landing near the water's edge, Sonic looked at Metal intensely, but smiled at the robot. "Ok," he said, "If that's how you want to play, I can live with that."

Retrieving the blue Chaos Emerald Blaze entrusted to him, Sonic held it tightly as Metal prepared to initiate another attack. "Chaos Control!" Sonic yelled, the emerald reacting to his command. To the two of them, nothing had really occurred, but to someone like Tails, who had just managed to get the last of the gunk of his eyes, the two had vanished. In reality, the power of the emeralds distorted the time around the two opponents as they continued engaging in combat, allowing them to move faster than was clearly visible to the onlooker.

After a few seconds, the two had reappeared in the air, bouncing off each other with equal vigor. They then disappeared again and reappeared in a different location, only to do the same thing over and over. Eventually, they reappeared and both slide away from each other, the sand leaving trails behind as they skidded to a stop.

Sonic was getting a little exhausted from the battle, but he still had enough energy and will to fight on. Metal Sonic, too, appeared to be running out of steam, but he would never yield to his copy.

Tails realized Metal didn't see him yet. Slowly, he grabbed a nearby branch that had fallen off of one of the palm trees near him and began to make his way towards the robot. Sonic, seeing this, tried to keep Metal's attention on him. "Had enough yet?" he asked tauntingly. Metal, refusing to back down, prepared to start another barrage of attacks when Tails struck him in the head from behind. The bark snapped upon collision, but the velocity was just right to send Metal's body crashing into the yellow sand that he had just left a path in. Miraculously, he was able to hold on to the Chaos Emerald as his body hit the ground with a thud.

After waiting a few moments to see if Metal would get back up, Sonic glanced up at Tails. "Nice swing!" he commented. Tails smiled humbly. "You saved me, remember? Just repaying the favor."

Their brief exchange of flattery was interrupted when Metal arose from his spot ticked off. But after looking at the two heroes, he uttered a few electronic beeps of frustration and took for the skies.

Sonic and Tails looked confusedly at each other. "Did he just…give up?" Tails wondered aloud. As Sonic wondered that himself, the two heard a large set of thrusters starting up, a strong breeze soon following. Rising from the other side of the island, the Egg Carrier could be seen blocking the sun's light on the heroes' side. "The Egg Carrier!" Tails exclaimed. The two noticed Metal Sonic flying into the cargo bay of the vessel's underbelly, the doors slowly opening and closing for his arrival.

Sonic finally grasped what had happened. "He was stalling us!" Sonic said annoyed. "Darn! we're not going to make it."

Tails glanced at the Egg Carrier one last time as it began to move forward before turning to Sonic saying, "Sonic, run! I'll catch up. Just go!"

Sonic didn't waste any time and ran along the shore of the island in pursuit. It may be a lost cause, but if he could find a pathway that could get him close, then with the right velocity he could leap from the ground straight upwards and grab onto the Egg Carrier.

He kept running as mach speed until he found a structure that fit just the bill: a series of rocky loops that left a ramp right at the end, directly in line of the Egg Carrier's path of travel. It was a long shot and if he was too slow, he would fall right into the water below, yet Sonic decided to risk it. Life's no fun without a little danger, right? Sonic told himself.

Racing up the structure's steady slope, Sonic prepared himself to jump when the loops finished, upping his speed with each loop. With the last loop finished, Sonic leaped from the structure up into the air towards the Egg Carrier. He reached his hand to grab onto one of the metallic wings extending from the flying ship.

Only to miss by an inch and fall, fortunately, onto the sand of a nearby island.

Breathing heavily, Sonic could do nothing but watch as the Egg Carrier flew over the island out of sight. Sonic knew there would be no point in following on foot now. The Egg Carrier was too high up in the air, and there weren't any islands left to travel on.

After a short time later, Tails arrived to find Sonic staring at the sky. The sight of Sonic alone told him he was unable to catch the Egg Carrier. Since Sonic was chasing the Egg Carrier, Tails decided to explore the area Eggman was stationed at to find that it was merely a supply depot. Plenty of robots and devices were present, but in terms of databases, there were none, meaning Tails could not find any information about where Eggman was heading next.

Sonic took notice of Tails, hoping to hear good news, but Tails regretfully shook his head. Sonic sighed, trying to think of what to do next. Tails broke the silence, though. "Let's head back to the city! GUN is stationed there right now. Maybe they might be able to lend a hand?"

Sonic thought about it for a moment. He and the Guardian Units of Nations hadn't exactly had a good relationship at first, but ever since then he has proven to be a valuable ally to them from time to time. Even a few of Sonic's friends (at least in his mind) were agents of GUN. Smiling, Sonic nodded in agreement, and the two began their journey back to Soleanna's Castle Town.