Author's Note: Yeah, another new chapter! Quicker than the previous times!
And to the guest reviewer: Thank you for loving my Sonic stories, I try my best with them. Unfortunately, however, I will not be doing any fanfics based on Sonic Forces as I didn't like how the story went.
Also that in this time-line of the Sonic universe, Eggman has died(well, sort of) in the original ending of "Sonic and the Power of the Wisps" and his fate is further revealed in my nearly complete story "Sonic's Space-Time Adventure". I'm really sorry.
Anyway, let's continue onward!
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Chapter 6: Nightmare of the Flames.
"YOU FOOLS!" Julian hissed darkly in fury, as he has had heard reports just a short time ago that one of the giant snake monsters under his command has been destroyed, and the remaining soldiers had lost contact with the other robots. "You let the Princess and that hedgehog get away! Not only that, he has destroyed some of our fleet! Infidiels! Worthless! I want Princess Elise alive and Sonic the Hedgehog dead! Bring them and the Sun Stone shards to me! IS THAT CLEAR!?"
"Y-Yes, sir! We-we will not fail you again!" One of the terrified transformed Nagas stammered in fear along with the other men who had returned to report the recording done by the monster before they lost signal after it was hit hard by Sonic's attack, leaving them with no idea on where the teenage Mobian and the Princess had gone to now.
"See that you don't, or else...!" The leader of S.N.A.K.E.S hissed, whipping out his new long tail and lashed out at several machines that had transformed into monster and destroyed them with one slash, causing the beasts to wail and squeal in pain before vanishing into golden dust, much to the horror of the transformed men.
Almost screaming in fear at the new power their leader, now the self-proclaimed King of Soleanna, the men quickly slithered away to continue their search for Princess Elise and kill Sonic, while the transformed leader growled before slumping into the throne, his metallic right hand going to his forehead as he felt a migrain coming on. All of his hard work in getting the Sun Stone and force the most beautiful princess on the planet to become his queen, and things had taken a turn for the better and worst; better because he enjoyed his new transformation and power. Worse because one simple blue Mobian hedgehog had gotten in the way and took the girl to safety, no doubt to learn about the prophecy and restore the stone itself and save Mobius.
"I'm surrounded by idiots." Julian grumbled in exasperation and hopelessness. Why couldn't he get what he wanted? "Curse that hedgehog...! No wonder Dr. Eggman hated him so much!"
As if to add salt into the wound, another soldier came slithering in panic, panting while complaining silently to himself on just how hard it is to slither and no longer being able to run due to the loss of his legs in place with a snake's tail, much to the S.N.A.K.E.S Leader who groaned in irritation.
"Sir! We have reports everywhere all over Soleanna! A small plane was spotted with a tiny Mobian fox piloting it and an orange hedgehog! I think they are allies of Sonic the Hedgehog!" The soldier reported, panting away.
While Julian had no idea who this orange new hedgehog was, he had heard tales of Sonic's heroics and some of his friends. But one in particular stood out the most, especially with the events that happened in Station Square almost two years ago. A small fox cub, who can fly a plane with ease. There was only one who could do that and as rumors would say, the child was very close to Sonic in kinship, almost as though they were brothers.
"Miles Prower, the little fox cub who's intelligence matches that of Dr. Eggman. The sidekick of the infuriating hedgehog." Julian hissed darkly, before making his next order. "Find out what that fox is doing, and learn of who this other hedgehog is! Make sure they do not reunite with Sonic!"
"Yes, sir!" The soldier saluted, before turning yet stumbled over his coils and fell flat onto the carpet floor face first with a thumb and an, 'Omph!' which made his leader roll his eyes in annoyance. The former human then pushed himself up and groaned, crawling away as he tried to slither out of the door. "Oh, I hate being a snake-man!"
When the soldier slithered out of the room awkwardly, Julian shook his head while thinking to himself. 'Why did I hire these men to be my servants?'
One way or another, however, as he glared up at the ceiling, his thoughts returned to Elise and Sonic who had managed to escape for the time being. But he will capture them, he will get his queen and he will destroy the cobalt teenager. Julian will rule Mobius as it's king now that Eggman was out of the way. He will make certain of it.
After the successful defeat of the giant snake monster and having managed to escape with their skins intact. But as Sonic carried Elise far from the beautiful fields and found that they were uncomfortably close to the Kingdom, at the Princess's permission with a nod even though he could sense that she was still upset and felt responsible for the events that occured, which he himself felt guilty for letting it all happen, the blue hedgehog redirected his course away from the kingdom and headed for a far off city that would normally take seven days to get to, both via car and air.
Passing by the normally secured city's gates that were left deserted was easy enough despite the chill the two teenagers felt, and hidden themselves in the alley between two buildings where many soldiers that had evacuated the citizens and placed them into shelters across the city, yet were making a fuss over the missing Princess and Sonic didn't want to end up being mistaken for a kidnapper and Elise knew she had her duty to find the Sun Stone, reluctant to rejoin those who could protect her...but would cause her to once again be isolated, perhaps now more so than ever before.
"New City is normally a decent place to visit, even whenever I have my duties." Elise whispered as she and Sonic hidden themselves within the corner of the alley. "I'm worried that the Kingdom's guards and soldiers will mistake anyone for criminals to ensure my safety."
"They sure aren't taking any chances, huh?" Sonic remarked softly. "There's gotta be a way to work our way around here and get a decent hotel room to rest for the night. If that's alright with you."
"I'm sorry for getting you involved in this, Sonic. If I tell the guards the truth, they would only just try and get me to the shards too late and...and I fear they won't be able to combat against those monsters." The Princess whispered, guiltily.
"Don't worry, Elise. It's not your fault. I'm used to stuff like this." The blue hedgehog smirked reassuringly, which did make her feel a bit better which made her smile softly with a nod. He then turned back to the clearing and said. "Maybe I can find a safe route or something. Problem is, how can we get ourselves booked in without anybody recognizing you?"
But before either one could come up with a plan, suddenly something behind him came around another corner and pulled him by the shoulders and covered his eyes, prompting the teenage hero to yelp in alarm and Elise to softly gasp.
"WHOA!" Sonic yelped, his heart hammering for a bit while trying to brace himself for an attack...only to realize that the hands and even the body of his apparent 'kidnapper' felt extremely familiar.
"Guess who?" A bit high-pitched girl's voice spoke in a sing-song tone, before the owner released him.
Now freed and able to see again, Sonic looked over his shoulder to find, to his surprise, somewhat relief and unfortunate dismay, was the familiar twelve year old, coming very close to reaching her thirteenth birthday now, pink hedgehog who had claimed herself to be his girlfriend; Amy Rose. While he was glad to see her, it annoyed the blue hedgehog that she had to be here now of all times.
"Amy?" The fifteen year old responded as his self-proclaimed girlfriend stepped up to stand by his right. "What are you doing here?"
"Fated lovers are drawn together, silly." Amy said lovingly with her hands placed together, and gave him a playful wink.
"Amy..." Sonic sighed, exasperated and impatient, rolling his eyes as he wondered to himself. 'Don't tell me she followed me to Soleanna yesterday...'
Thankfully, the young hedgehog girl dropped her act and explained seriously with a hint of slight annoyance but also fear. "Okay, you got me. I was running away from those snake monsters."
"Ames, why are you here? How did you find me?" The teenage hedgehog asked, placing his hand on his forehead, while feeling embarrassed for having Elise watch all of this unfold.
'Is this girl a friend of his? He doesn't seem to think they are...romantically involved. Maybe she is playing with him?' Elise thought to herself as she watched the two Mobian hedgehogs talk. It was clear that Sonic was friends with this Amy girl, but apparently the pink one seems to think differently.
"Well, first off, I came to Soleanna for the Festival of the Sun, which I would have told you and asked if you wanted to come, but then Tails told me that you already left for it on a new adventure." Amy answered, placing her hands on her hips in an annoyed gesture which made Sonic flinch in fright, scared that she might hit him with her hammer again.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I should've invited you guys and everybody else, but I got bored after being home for a week. You know that adventure always calls me. I was gonna show you the photos that I took and bring home some souvenirs." The hero of Mobius held his hands up in defense.
At first a little angry that he took off for adventures like he always did, the pink hedgehog sighed before replying. "I'll forgive you on that one. Anyway, I just arrived in the kingdom just in time to see a little bit of the festival starting. But then those weird guys showed up attacking, then there was this orange pillar flame thingy that happened and as everybody was running away, I saw helicopters and some of those men turn into snake-like monsters."
"I was so scared!" Amy continued, trembling a little over the memories of her horrifying experience that frightened her. Then as she lovingly cuddled against Sonic for love and protection, much to his dismay.
"Amy, come on...I asked you to stop going all fangirl on me." Sonic pleadingly tried to push his friend off of him. Thankfully she got the message and stepped back, blushing a little with a cute smile she was known for.
"Sorry, Sonic. You know I can't help it. It's just that I missed you so much I hardly get to see you, especially after you and Tails went off to Isalenna for vacation together." Amy giggled.
The cobalt speedster shrugged. "It was an adventure I promised Tails before we found out about Eggman's evil plots with his Interstellar Amusement Park."
"I know, but still...By the way, rumors have been flying everywhere that the Princess went missing before things got so bad, and I've been hearing weird stories that if she were still around by the time the whole kingdom got engulfed by that giant flame, everybody would've been cursed." The twelve year old girl said while acknowledging her 'boyfriend's' promises.
Sighing and quickly remembering that Elise was still watching, looking a bit awkward as he shared a glance at her, Sonic explained while gently gesturing at the Princess in question. "You heard right. In fact, I'd like you to meet her right here. This is Elise. I saved her and I'm helping her out on a very important quest to save the world."
"Huh?" Blinking in confusion, Amy turned her attention to human woman who did a bit of a curtsy before she realized what Sonic was talking about and softly gasped in realization. "Oh my gosh! You mean she's...THE Princess Elise of Soleanna?"
"Shhhh!" Sonic quickly shushed her before he quickly placed a hand to cover Amy's mouth and pulled both his self-proclaimed girlfriend and Elise further into the corner while silently praying that the guards wouldn't hear the pink hedgehog blurting it out.
He risked a peek to check, and thankfully saw that nobody was coming their way before he sighed in relief and whispered with a scolding to the struggling pink hedgehog. "Amy, this is complicated right now, and unless you wanna get us thrown into jail for helping out Elise while her bodyguards mistake us for being kidnappers, you gotta keep your voice down, alright?"
Realizing what he meant and feeling embarrassed for almost blowing their cover despite that she couldn't help but feel jealous over how Sonic seemed to be protective over the Princess, not to mention pretty close to the young human woman, Amy settled down and nodded silently, before he released her and she coughed a little.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize the situation was that bad." Amy whispered apologetically, before turning her gaze to Elise and gave her a polite curtsy. "And I'm so sorry for my rude behavior, your highness. My name is Amy Rose. It's very nice to meet you."
"It's alright, Miss Rose. And please, call me Elise. I...feel more comfortable being addressed by my real name." Elise greeted back politely.
"Really?" Amy replied in surprise, before giggling. "Well, any friend of Sonic's is a friend of mine, and you can just call me Amy."
While Sonic couldn't help but sense that his 'girlfriend' was starting to come up with the wrong conclusion again and lately he couldn't help but feel like he was getting closer to her ever since the whole Dark Gaia crisis, and he still questioned himself on how her leaving him would break his heart, he was glad that the two girls were getting along rather nicely already and smiled.
"But, how come you're here and what's going on?" The pink hedgehog asked curiously.
"Ames, this is very important. Elise is on an important quest to find the Sun Stone shards before those guys who turned into those snake monsters find them. They're both being targeted by this creep named Julian Fredrick. Right now, we're kind of stuck since it's getting late and we'd find a hotel room, but the managers might recognize her." Sonic explained as briefly as possible.
"The Sun Stone shards?" Amy asked, puzzled. Then, seeing the problem as she realized that Elise needed a place to stay for the night without getting Sonic into trouble with the authorities and whatever was going on, Sonic was the only one fast enough to help the Princess in her quest.
Thinking deeply for a moment, the now teenage hedgehog girl beamed as she softly announced. "Leave it to me! I know what to do. Wait here, I'll be back as soon as I can."
Before Sonic or Elise could question the pink hedgehog what she had in mind, Amy ran off with the agenda on solving the problem. The two stood in silence before the seventeen year old young woman couldn't help but comment. "Your friend Amy seems very energetic and bright, Sonic."
"That's Amy for ya'. She's always been that way since I met her." Sonic shrugged sheepishly. "And, actually, I kinda had to rescue her when we first met, only on Little Planet and I had to save her from Eggman and his stupid robot which was supposed to be a copy of me; Metal Sonic. Since then, well, she's been madly in love of me for years."
That made Elise a bit confused and surprised. "And...do you really care for her, Sonic?"
"'Course I do. She's one of my friends. Just a little crazy when it comes to her affections over me, and let me tell you, she's a strong fighter, especially when it comes to her hammer when the situation calls for it." The blue hedgehog explained, sighing as he scratched the top of his head again. "Her heart's in the right place when it comes to caring for others, just like my little bro, Tails. They're both part of the family to me, two of the first three real friends I ever met."
Though as Sonic explained it to the human girl in front of him, he felt bad for having seemingly rejected Amy like that and still wasn't sure why he was finding himself closer and closer to the pink hedgehog in the last three months. Especially when he remembered how he had been so scared and heartbroken due to coming to the belief that Amy would leave him because of how Eggman stripped him of his power and the Chaos Emeralds to split Mobius apart and awakened both Dark Gaia as well as Light Gaia.
It had been a huge relief when after both Sun and Chip had repeatedly told him to tell her what happened, Amy had instead stuck by him, telling him that it wasn't his fault and that she would never stop loving him no matter what. That day was when Sonic began to fully appreciate her in his life, so much so that he returned the hug she gave him, and felt reassured during the adventure up in space a month ago. Almost like she, Tails, everybody he cared about so much were all a joint moral compass to help him get through tough times.
'But...would she and anybody else forgive me for not stopping Julian from touching the Sun Stone and breaking it?' Sonic thought, realizing to his dismay that it was yet another screw up on his part. He should've stopped him when he had the chance. Once again the blue hedgehog messed up royally.
Despite that he realized he was going into the guilt rising in his heart again, the hero of Mobius tried to mentally shake away those thoughts while unconscious squeezing his eyes shut and turned his head to the side in an attempt to calm down.
"Sonic? What's wrong?" Elise asked suddenly, sounding very worried when she saw what her friend was going, making the younger teen softly gasp and looked up at her before realizing what he was going and sighed.
"Oh, sorry. Just...remembering bad memories, is all. I'm okay." Sonic replied, more than a little uneasy as he unconsciously rubbed his right arm after lowering it.
Seeing this made the young Princess even more concerned as she bend to the hedgehog's height in level. "Are you hurt?"
"Huh?" Blinking, then mentally cursing himself for going into the unintentional habit on rubbing his right arm he has been doing ever since...ever since the Werehog-Beast within Sun tried to eat it off in Apotos. Lowering his left hand he shook his head. "No, no. It's just, well...force of habit, I guess. I'm sorry for making you worry, Elise. And for..."
Sonic closed his eyes in guilt. "For messing up and getting you into serious danger and go through a really tough quest to save the world. It's...it's all my fault that it's happened. I really should've stopped that creep from even touching the Sun Stone. I'm sorry..."
"Sonic...please, I told you to not blame yourself." Elise softly pleaded, her heart beginning to ache to see him take the blame for Julian's actions. "Did you not tell me earlier today that not everyone would know everything that happens around the world? No one knew of those horrible men or their existence."
She gently held a soft smile as Sonic gazed at her in surprise, before he realized that she had a good point. It still didn't make it any better, though and he just wished he was a mind reader or at least having the ability to see the future and how he could change it before anything horrible ever happened.
"She's right, Sonic. I don't know what happened last night, but how could you blame yourself for what they did?" Amy's voice suddenly spoke in agreement.
"AH!" Sonic yelped in fright as he and Elise jumped startled to see his closest friend right there as they didn't hear her approach, as though she had just materialized into thin hair. "A-Amy!"
"And what did I just say about going into the guilt mode when you were being a hero like you always are?" The pink hedgehog added in a playful scold, despite that she was also firm about it. "I've told you before, Sonic. You're not a psychic and everyone makes mistakes. Eggman might not be around anymore, but that doesn't mean you can just blame yourself for what other horrible villains do, like those guys that are the cause of everybody's problems."
She then smiled warmly at her 'boyfriend' and said. "I asked you to not have anymore thoughts of what-if's or have any self-blames for something you didn't do on purpose or even know of."
Knowing that this was part a little payback on him asking her to quit going fangirl on him as well as reminding him of the important lesson, Sonic chuckled while feeling a little bit better thanks to the support of his two friends with him. They were right, of course, and while he still felt guilty over it, the only thing he could do now was help Elise on her quest to save the world so that he can go and kick Julian's butt and put him in jail for his horrible crimes.
"Sorry, I kinda forgot." The blue hedgehog half-sheepishly and apologetically replied, reminded of how much his friends/family really love him.
"Well, you'd better remember that next time, Sonic the Hedgehog, if you know what's good for you." Amy playfully scolded.
"Yes, ma'am." Sonic saluted in a playful manner in return.
Elise couldn't help but giggle over just how adorable the two hedgehogs were with each other. While she wasn't certain of how their relationship was and she couldn't help but feel a bit jealous even though she didn't want to risk in falling in love with Sonic because one, his heart may already belong to someone else, such as Amy Rose right here, and two, a human and a hedgehog cannot have such a relationship at all. Though to the blue hedgehog his relationship with the pink hedgehog is of that of siblings in his mind and heart. Plus he did have an aura of a brother who loved his family more than anything else.
When Sonic and Amy turned to the human teenager before them, the Princess tried to stop yet couldn't help but smile. "I apologize. It's just, you both seem to be very close to one another. It's so cute."
That made the fifteen year old and the thirteen year old blush before they shared a glance and looked away slightly, Sonic rubbing the back of his head and Amy holding the bag of clothes she just bought, pretending to not even notice while embarrassed by the compliment, though the pink hedgehog did still believe that it was because she and her 'boyfriend' were meant for each other.
"Well, anyway, I did the best I could in guessing your size and fashion, but I hope this will do." Amy began, holding up the bag to show the Princess.
"While you ladies go and put on the disguise, I'm gonna keep watch in case those S.N.A.K.E.S creeps are around and see if the coast is clear." Sonic shrugged as he quickly hurried to where originally hid, and also to give Elise some privacy.
"He's such a gentleman, isn't he?" Amy sighed dreamily.
"He is very brave." Elise added in agreement.
While Amy was almost immediately suspicious over the Princess's comment, she shoved aside that thought as best as she could, especially with what the seventeen year old had said and instead smiled while turning to face her. "Okay then, now that settled, let's get you into your new travel clothes. We can't have you go on an adventure and ruin your princess outfit, and as Sonic said, people around here will recognize you."
"That's very kind of you, Amy. I wish I could repay you." The Princess commented, a little embarrassed but even she understood Sonic's logic.
As the girls behind him were busy in getting Elise dressed, Sonic kept his eye out on the streets while hoping that nobody would suspect anything suspicious. In hindsight, considering how he had been in the kingdom before the organization attacked, he had a feeling that many people who might have witnessed in seeing him battle S.N.A.K.E.S' soldiers and machines, there was no doubt that people would begin to suspect that he saved the princess and took her to a safe place.
But if that were the case and if they saw him now with Elise who would be under disguise and Amy, what would the people who heard of the rumors think? Would they try and interrogate him? Quickly hiding himself around the corner when a couple of the Soleannain soldiers were about to turn to his direction, his eyes widened in realization. Oh, Chaos. They could demand him where she was, and if Sonic told them a lie and they fell for it only to realize that he tricked them, he would be branded a kidnapper. If he told them the truth, they would take her away and take over his job or take her to a place to prevent her from finding the rest of the Sun Stone shards because they would only care for her safety and not much of the world.
'Oh man...What'm I gonna do? I can't let Elise get into anymore danger, but I can't stop her from doing this either. Plus the Sun Stone...the more I think about it, the more evil it feels. How'm I gonna fix up this mess?' Sonic thought to himself, panicked thoughts racing through his mind. What if he and his friends get caught and put into jail? He hated jails. Especially when he didn't do anything wrong.
The blue hedgehog's panicked imaginations were put to a halt when he heard one of the men in a small distance mutter in a panic himself. "Do you think the legend is true and our Princess is the only one to save us all?"
Blinking in confusion, Sonic listened in as three soldiers of the Soleannian army stood together, a second man saying. "As much as we were told to protect her, those men are far too dangerous and we can only hope that she's safe."
"I heard that Sonic the Hedgehog was in town, so maybe he rescued her and knows of the legend." A third man said, trying to be optimistic. "If anybody can keep her safe, help our Princess to save the world and save us all from those snake-monsters, it's him."
"I sure hope so, 'cause the curse may not have hit us directly, but it's already spreading across the country." The first man whimpered, hugging himself. "The legend is true, because I'm already getting nightmares of my mother as the mean witch and I'm dressed up as Hansel with my girlfriend as Gretal, who's supposed to be a sister, not a girlfriend! Even worse, Mom was gonna throw me into the fireplace before the whole house was set on fire and we all burned to crisp with a giant fiery dragon monster towering over us! It's the nightmares of flames I tell you! THE NIGHTMARES OF FLAMES!"
The first soldier by then began to bawl his eyes out and collapsed onto his knees, sobbing with tears flying out like waterworks. The other two soldiers shared wiry glances with sweat drops, while Sonic sweat dropped, bewildered as he heard the conversation. Nightmares of flames? What was that guy talking about? Granted, even the blue hedgehog heard of the story Hansel and Gretel his mom used to read to him along with other fairy tales when he was a kid, but most of that never scared him. In fact, it made his dream to go exploring far greater to his wild imagination.
"Oh, Sonic..." Amy whispered in a sing-song voice, startling the hero of Mobius into turning to face her to his left. "All done. Meet the newly disguised Elise. Ta-da!"
When the pink hedgehog stood aside a little for Sonic to see the results, his eyes widened in stunned awe. Gone were Elise's white dress, cotton gloves and high-heeled shoes. In their place was a violet skivy with a dark blue thin jacket, navy blue tights with pockets, black comfortable travel boots that went up to her ankles, silver bracelets on her wrists, and hair being loosened and tied up into a pony-tail, with a pink and white cap and fake prescription glasses for the effect in perfectly disguising her. He almost didn't recognize the princess.
"How do I look, Sonic? Do I look any different?" Elise asked, shyly.
Sonic let out a whistle. "Lookin' pretty good, Elise. There's no way anybody would recognize ya'."
"Y-You think so?" The Princess asked, blushing over the compliment.
"Totally!" The blue hedgehog gave out a wink and a thumbs up, both to the young woman and then to his self-proclaimed girlfriend, praising her. "Way to go, Amy. I knew I could count on ya'."
"Thanks, Sonic. And, starting today in the public eye, you're not looking at Princess Elise." Amy beamed happily as her heart hammered and her stomach fluttered like butterflies over the praise. At the confused expression from the hero of Mobius, the pink hedgehog continued. "You're looking at Elena "Ellie" Crystina! I came up with the new fake name myself."
"She thought it would be good to put up with a fake identity until everything is back to normal while we're out in the public and I agreed." Elise, now under the fake identity as Elena, or Ellie, muttered blushing in agreement.
Sonic thought over it for a moment before smiling and nodded in approval. "Sounds good to me. Elena "Ellie" Crystina it is."
Once things were sorted out, after making sure that the Soleannain soldiers, who two of them had to try and comfort the third before walking off, and Amy had Sonic put on a coat to hide his face as she told him that it wouldn't be a good idea with rumors now flying everywhere which he agreed with, the trio soon found themselves in the nearest hotel that wasn't fancy or expensive, but not worn out or sad either, and entered without any problems since surprisingly enough there wasn't much people around.
Before long, he and his friends booked themselves in and were now in a room with three beds, a couple of chairs that looked somewhat comfy, a dining room table in the corner with three wooden chairs, a small 8' inch TV, three night tables and a window with dark curtains with a night lamp. The place also had a small cafe with an all you can eat resturant and best part was, they could bring the food to their room.
Once they finished eating which Elise thought the food was delicious as she had never tried anything outside of the fancy schmancy gourmet food she grew up with, the trio rested as the blue hedgehog stared out of the window, making sure that the coast was clear before closing the curtains.
"Looks like we're good for now. I think we're safe for the night." Sonic softly announced to the two girls who sat on the edges of their beds.
"I hope so. I would hate to think what would happen if were caught by my people, or worse, by Julian and his soldiers." Elise whispered, shuddering over the thought.
"That Julian guy sounds like a big creep. What does he want anyway?" Amy said thoughtfully, already disgusted with the evil organization's actions.
"Oh, he's a total creep alright, Amy." The blue hedgehog began as he flopped onto his bed and laid on his comfortably. "He wants Elise to marry him so that she could be his queen and he plots to take over the entire world."
"What!?" The pink hedgehog softly exclaimed while careful not to be loud this time.
"Yes, and he also seeks to use the Sun Stone to become immortal. But as he is not of the royal blood and his heart is dark and cruel, he has caused the Flame Ritual." The Princess confirmed before she and Sonic explained everything to Amy in every detail they knew of so far, including the Solar-Beasts like Kronah, the mysterious guy named Angalf and what had happened before they got here. They didn't leave a single thing out of their adventure so far and the more they spoke, the more the hammer-wielding girl was shocked, horrified and angry for various reasons.
Once they finished their story, with Sonic concluding. "And that's pretty much it. So now we've got two more pieces to find before those guys get to them."
"Ooooh! The nerve of that man! Not only he's done something worse than even Eggman did and that's saying something, but the way how he wants to make Elise his queen!? I wish I could confront him myself and bash him so hard that he'll shrink like a tiny doll! Just like that weirdo Jeremony back in Tesrod you and Tails talked about!" Amy hissed, summoning her Hammer as you could practically see a fiery aura glow around her and she swung her weapon with grunts while careful not to hit anything or hurt the others.
Sonic just sweat dropped as he shrugged nervously. "I'm just glad that Eggman isn't around going for the same thing. That'd be even worse. I wouldn't be surprised that he's probably complaining in the afterlife or the Underworld seeing this right about now and not being able to use the Sun Stone for his usual rotten take over the world scheme."
In the Mysterious Dimension where Dr. Eggman is currently trapped in...
"ACHOO!" Eggman sneezed suddenly as he laid against a tree after discovering that this new world that he and his robots were trapped in thankfully had oxygen so he didn't have trouble breathing, being stuck here for a month now. The evil scientist, still unable to find a way out of this nightmare of a place, grumbled while rubbing his nose with a handkerchief. "I must be coming down with something."
Near by were his five dumbots Decoe, Bocoe, Bokkun, Orbot and Cubot who were currently re-fixing the Egg Mobile with the available tools they stole from the dark city of this place, hence of narrowly avoiding the creatures that ruled the unknown planet they were all still stuck in, when they heard their creator sneeze and paused their work to gaze at the human egg-shaped man.
"Here I am, stuck on this Chaos-forsaken place for an entire month now since the giant Wisp Mother swallowed me whole, with no way of getting out so far, and for all I know there are other ancient mysteries hidden on Mobius just waiting for me to conquer and control to take over the planet, build my Eggmanland Empire and destroy that irritating hedgehog and there's nothing I can do about it...!" He continued, ranting.
"I think he's getting homesick." Decoe tiredly remarked to the other robots, holding a wrench in his hand.
"That's an understatement. He's caught the Out-of-Mobius-Syndrome." Bocoe replied sarcastically.
"Hey, I bet somebody's talkin' about him. I heard that when someone talks about a person from really far away, the other person can sense it by sneezing!" Cubot perked up, which only made the other robots glance dryly at him.
"That's just a dumb superstition!" Bokkun pointed out in annoyance.
"What? I just read it in a book of reality guides right here." The yellow cube-shaped robot held up a book from out of nowhere which ironically had a title called "Reality Checks and Unnatural Events Guides for Dummies" in his hand.
Orbot facepalmed himself before he grunted in sheer annoyance. "Honestly. What did I say about reading books filled with nonsense?"
Eggman growled as he overheard the conversation and snapped. "Be quiet and get back to work, you lazy kitchen hardware! I'm already in a foul mood as it is while Sonic's probably lazying around relaxing and unaware that I'm in fact still alive! The sooner we get back to Mobius, the better I can crush that blue brat in my giant robot's hands!"
He clutched his fist tightly and squeezing it. "Just you wait, Sonic...! You're going to get what you deserve."
Though it wasn't likely that Eggman would be seeing Sonic anytime soon or return to Mobius at all at this rate.
Back on Mobius...
"Anyway, what also concerns me is what the people have been saying around here in this town." Sonic continued after he and Elise waited for Amy to calm down as the pink hedgehog ranted. He didn't blame her, considering how cruel Julian is. That, and he was still suspicious over Angalf's actions. He seriously left them in the middle of the open to be captured by S.N.A.K.E.S and barely got away with their lives.
Just what was on that sorcerer's mind? What did he really want with Elise?
"You mean the...Nightmare of the Flames?" Elise asked, worriedly.
"Nightmare of the Flames? What's that?" Amy asked, now even more worried.
"I don't know much about it, but from what I learned growing up, as the Flame Ritual takes place, even though many of those who have managed to escape from being cursed like those who have shattered the Sun Stone, the curse will still spread slowly but quickly across Soleanna to cause people's worse fears to form into terrifying nightmares, from their childhood to recent traumatizing events they had gone through before any of this happened." The Princess of Soleanna explained, and the more she did, the more the two Mobians felt even more frightened.
"That's terrible!" The thirteen year old hedgehog gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
"So that's what that guy meant. The Nightmares of Flames. Based on people's worst fears." Sonic whispered in realization, lowering his gaze as even he was beginning to become even more scared himself. "We'd better fix up the Sun Stone quick and stop those creeps before it's too late."
"I wanna help too. I can't just stand by knowing that things have gotten so bad." Amy declared with determination, as her heart was telling her that she should help Sonic and Elise in their goal to save the planet. Unlike the times when Eggman caused trouble, for some reason she could feel her insides squirm in discomfort almost like she wanted to shudder. Like Sonic, something about the Sun Stone, even just one piece of it as she could somehow feel it from Elise's body even when she helped her get dressed, made her uneasy.
The pink hedgehog could feel something terribly wrong with it. She wasn't sure why, but she did anyway.
But Sonic shook his head firmly. "No, it's already bad enough Elise is in danger because what she has to do. I don't want to put you into anymore risk than you already are right now. Those guys are dangerous and the monsters that used to be robots or helicopters are kinda like the monsters Dark Gaia sent out, except worse."
"Sonic! I'm not as helpless as you think I am!" Amy argued.
"I'm not saying you are, I just can't put anybody else into further danger! The sooner the Sun Stone is back in one piece and those guys are stopped, the less chances of you and the rest of our friends being put at risk!" The blue hedgehog argued back.
"Is it because you want to hang out with someone else other than me?" The pink hedgehog asked dangerously, which shocked both her 'boyfriend' and the Princess who stared at the two in disbelief over the bickering.
"What!? No! Where'd you get that idea from?" The cobalt speedster sweat dropped.
"Look, Sonic, I know you're worried but right now, you might need all the help you can get and I'm not just going to sit around worrying about you again!" The pink girl grunted, ignoring the question yet satisfied as she knew then that it confirmed that he was worried about her. She then began to tear up as memories of when he almost died filled her mind. "I'd never forgive myself if you died. I know you can handle a lot of things but...but for months lately you almost died. By the Werehog, by Eggman, even up in space when told us how the Wisps saved you after you saved their mother...I can't bear-I can't bear the thought of losing you."
"Well...well how do you think I would feel if I lost you, Tails and/or everybody else?" Sonic tried not to sound weak even though he could tell that Amy was scared of him dying for more than just the obvious reasons. He wouldn't be able to handle it. He lost his uncle as a child, he'll never Chip ever again due to the million of years sleep, Shahra died after sacrificing herself to save his before he used his first wish on Erazor Djinn to bring her back to life, and Yacker did the same thing only it took the Chaos Emeralds to bring the sweet, kind and brave little Wisp back from the dead.
"Sonic...Please, let me help you. I know that I'm not fast like you, smart like Tails, or even as strong as Knuckles, but friends should be helping each other, remember? What would you have me do? Everybody else is back home, though if you think about it, don't you think Tails might be on his way if he saw the News and you were on TV last night? He might be coming to try and help you too for all we know and you have inspired him in his life." Amy pleaded, struggling hard not to cry.
Sonic softly gasped, realizing that she was right. He hadn't even considered it given all the years he had known his friends. Each passing day even as he went out on his own, his bond with each and every single one of them has gotten so strong that he would do anything to keep them safe. Even far from home, his friends were still at risk in being put into danger. He could only hope that Tails hadn't gotten caught by the evil organization. It now made him feel very worried about his best friend/little brother. Either way, whether he liked it or not, Mobius was in danger, his family was in danger and at the same time he had it in his mind that he might not come back alive.
He had thought and foolishly believed that everybody back home were alright and so far the crisis only spread within Soleanna. What had he been thinking? The blue hedgehog lowered his gaze, both in guilt for lashing out on his self-proclaimed girlfriend and not thinking straight. But then again, he was street-smart and usually didn't come up with a great plan. He learned that the hard way three months ago.
"I'm sorry, Amy. You're right. Everybody's in danger no matter where they are in the world." The fifteen year old conceded defeat, closing his eyes in guilt. Whether he liked it or not, he began to fear that if Amy was left behind and the organization find out that she had connections with him, she could be used as a bargaining chip just like how Kaiser threatened to kill her if the blue hedgehog didn't hand over Chip and Sun even though Sonic managed to avoid it and save his self-proclaimed girlfriend.
Trying very hard to hold back his tears, Sonic reluctantly looked back up to the pink hedgehog and, deciding that he did need help as well as need to protect her as much as possible without being overprotective, sighed.
"Fine. You can come with. Just promise me, that you'll...be really careful." He finally said.
Amy couldn't hold back anymore either, feeling terrible for making her boyfriend look so guilty and afraid because he feared in losing her despite the times he would run away from her but would still come to her rescue, and did hang out with her even though it was never a real date besides Valentines Day one year. So she began to cry herself and raced over towards him, throwing herself into his chest and wrapped her arms around him, sobbing. Sonic winced a little, but then he allowed himself to hug her back to try and comfort her.
"Shhh...Don't cry, Amy. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." Sonic whispered, gently rocking Amy back and forth to get to calm down while he tried to his own tears from falling.
As the two hedgehogs hugged, Elise felt her heart sink in guilt and sorrow. She had not known that the burden of being the hero was taking a heavy toll on Sonic even after the death of Dr. Eggman. Seeing him embrace one of his closest friends and take on the responsibility for keeping her safe out of compassion, plus blaming himself for not being able to stop Julian from attacking the Kingdom made her wish the blue hedgehog hadn't been involved.
'Sonic, Amy...' Elise thought to herself. 'I'm deeply sorry for failing Soleanna, and having you both help me with my burden. I really am...deeply sorry.'
She began to shed tears as well even though she tried not to, wishing she had been stronger and prevented from all of this from ever happening.
They didn't want to go through any more trauma, yet they knew that they didn't have a choice. Sonic could only hope that Tails was at least safe and maybe with one of their friends who also might've gotten involved with all of this.
Everything was up in flames. The Kingdom of Soleanna was burning everywhere. Sonic felt nothing but horror feel up his senses, the heat from the fire which destroyed the kingdom, and he sheer guilt of not being able to do a thing about it.
"NO! No, this can't be!" The blue hedgehog shouted in despair. How could have this happened. He then began screaming out for everyone he knew, all of his friends. "Amy! Elise! Tails! Anybody! Where are you!?"
But instead of his friends calling back to him, the cobalt speedster quickl found himself surrounded by familiar snake-monsters that were once robots and to his shock, familiar and ugly egg-shaped robots. Where did they come from!? Why were they here!? Left unable to get an answer, Sonic was forced to Spin Jump and use his Insta-Shield to protect himself when the opened fire at him before he Homing Attacked every single one of them with the combination of kicks and punches.
"You can't beat me, you pieces of junk!" Sonic grunted, kicking another robot squarely in the head before he spun dashed off to try and find the others and also fight and defeat Julian, having no doubt in his mind that the evil leader of S.N.A.K.E.S was the one full responsible for all of this.
Along the way he fought more of the snake monsters and the Eggman robots while quickly saving as many lives as possible, though even though some did thank him and ran for shelter, others demanded at him in such loathing angry glares about the whereabouts of their loved ones or why he hadn't come sooner, which made his stomach turn, but he quickly advised them they would see their families again and kept going, hoping that he could save more people on time.
"Alright! Where are you hiding, Julian!? Where're my friends!?" The hero of Mobius demanded as he raced further ahead and around the corner to rescue his friends.
But what he saw made his blood run cold. There stood Julian Fredrick, the leader of the evil organization S.N.A.K.E.S...trapped inside an amber-like stone in his human form. Along with him were his soldiers suffering the same fate and among them were...Oh, Light Gaia, no...!
"AMY! TAILS! ELISE!" Sonic screamed in angish, because his friends were also victims of being trapped inside the Sun Stone like prisons. Tears swelled up in his eyes, his heart feeling like it was being ripped right out of his chest. How could have this happened? Was this...the source of Solaris? But if so, if it didn't pick Julian as a vessel, then who was behind all of this?
Then he heard it. The hauntingly familiar evil laughter he never thought he would hear again, nor see the one enemy ever again. But when he looked up to his right, he gave out a horrified gasp when he saw a giant humanoid tower over him and the Kingdom.
"E-E-Eggman!?" Sonic exclaimed in shock, seeing his evil enemy now about at least 90 feet tall and having the terrifying aura of fire flare around him and his skin holding some kind of flame liner.
"OH HO HO HO HO HO!" The giant Dr. Eggman bellowed, grinning wickedly as he gazed down at the blue hedgehog. "SONIC, I'M BAAAAACK!"
The teenage hedgehog stood frozen, horror beyond horror engulfing him as he somehow fit the pieces together as he cried out. "Solaris...You're the vessel of the Sun God!?"
"NOT A VESSEL, YOU MEDDLING HEDGEHOG. I ABSORBED THE POWER OF SOLARIS FROM THAT IDIOTIC FOOL OF THAT SNAKE ORGANIZATION. I HAD A BACK-UP MACHINE AN ATTEMPT TO REVIVE MYSELF IN CASE I DIED, BUT WHAT I NEEDED WAS POWER FAR GREATER THAN EVEN THE MASTER EMERALD. NOW THAT I HAVE THE POWER OF SOLARIS, MOBIUS IS MINE TO RULE! ONCE I GET RID OF YOU, SONIC, FINALLY I WILL ACCOMPLISH MY GOAL TO BUILD MY EGG EMPIRE!" Eggman explained, gazing down at the frozen states of Sonic's friends and grasped the trapped Elise and held her up close, much to Sonic's horror as the teenager reached out for his friend.
"Elise!" Sonic cried out, terrified.
"IT'S THANKS TO THE LITTLE PRINCESS BEAUTY HERE THAT I HAVE WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED. SHE IS QUITE A PRETTY LITTLE THING, ISN'T SHE?" The evil giant scientist remarked gazing at the imprisoned princess in his hand.
Feeling hopeless and utterly defeated as without the Chaos Emeralds and the power of Solaris now within the horrible doctor's body, there wasn't a thing Sonic could do. His friends were trapped, he couldn't defeat Eggman now, and the world was doomed to be under the scientist's rule.
"No, please! Let my friends go! Eggman, I beg you!" The blue hedgehog pleaded, tears in his eyes as he got to his knees as he felt the crushing defeat. "Please let them go. Take me instead! Do whatever you want with me, but please! Don't hurt the ones I love!"
Eggman just grinned cruely as he mocked the defeated and crushed hero. "WHAT'S THE MATTER, SONIC? FINALLY REALIZING THAT WITH MY NEW POWER, YOU ARE NO MATCH AGAINST ME? THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF YOU NEVER GOT IN MY WAY. THE KINGDOM OF SOLEANNA HAS BEEN DOOMED AND JULIAN FEDRICK HAS GOTTEN TO THE SUN STONE, GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO GAIN CONTROL..."
He then loomed over Sonic and bellowed with accusion. "AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG! YOU HAD LET HIM BREAK IT APART AND ALL YOU DID WAS STAND THERE! YOU CALL YOURSELF A HERO, WHEN YOU'RE JUST A NUISANCE!"
The words crushed him on the inside as Sonic felt the unbearable guilt, before he shook his head denying, tears falling freely. "I didn't know! I didn't know this was gonna happen! I'm not a psychic! I did what I could! I'm not immortal! I can only do my best! It wasn't-It wasn't my fault! Julian's the one who's behind-AHHHH!"
He was cut off when Eggman was about to clasp him. Sonic had screamed and sped out of the way, and in desperation used his Homing Attack to hit the giant scientist repeatedly, but screamed in agony when all he felt was dangerous burns on his body the moment he made contact and fell. Just as the blue hedgehog began to fall, the mad doctor held out his left hand and had the fifteen year old land on it before clasping the blue hedgehog tightly. Sonic cried out and grunted, before he tried to wriggle and squirm to get free.
"AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Eggman laughed manically. "YOU'RE MINE, SONIC! HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE ON THE CRUSHING END OF DEFEAT?"
"Let me go!" Sonic exclaimed, struggling to escape as he was now fully terrified and winced and hissed in pain over the intense heat he could feel within the grip of Eggman's hand. "Someone help my friends! HELP! HELP!"
"IF YOU WANT TO JOIN YOUR FRIENDS, I CAN MAKE AN ARRANGEMENT FOR THAT. THINK OF IT OF HOW SOLARIS FELT FOR ALL THESE YEARS. NOW YOU AND YOUR COHORTS WILL KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE...FOR ALL ETERNITY!" The evil scientist grinned, as his body began to flare up in fury aura and his eyes behind his glasses glowed.
Before Sonic could comprehend what was happening, fear and alarm filled his senses while feeling his body suddenly become frozen and paralyzed. Screaming as he then saw swirls of flame fly around him forming the same amber-like crystal that held his friends and the S.N.A.K.E.S soldiers trapped and realizing he was about to become Eggman's latest victim, the fifteen year old whimpered and then screamed which was cut off as he was fully frozen inside the newly formed crystal, trapped forever.
"NOW NOTHING WILL STOP ME. QUITE AN ADDITION TO MY NEW LITTLE COLLECTION. I'LL DEAL WITH PUTTING YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS IN A NEW BE SHELF MADE JUST FOR YOU." Eggman muttered, putting the two frozen teenagers back onto the ground with the rest of the trapped group of heroes and villains. "SEE YOU SOON, MY LITTLE COLLECTION. HEHEHEHEHEH..."
As Eggman then began to walk away which was creating shock waves, Sonic, frozen but still fully aware as his soul was trapped within his body, powerless to escape, he could only watch helplessly as he watched. He then heard a hissing sound and was able to move his eyes and saw, to his horror, a freed and now giant mutated Julian in the form of the same flying Snake Monster only that the evil villain has fused with it.
'No! NO! NOOOOO!' Sonic thought screaming as the mutant Julian then launched forward, engulfing Elise, Tails, Amy and soon...the blue hedgehog himself...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Sonic screamed in terror, snapping his eyes awake as he came out from the terrifying nightmare which was followed by the screams coming from both Elise and Amy, all three of them jolting up-right as the blue hedgehog panted, frightened and disoriented, his mind still clouded with the haunting images of the dream.
In the beds to his left, the two girls were in the similar terrified trances with Amy looking ready to cry and Elise shivering in terror, her hand placed to her chest where her heart was beating wildly, much like the hearts of the two hedgehogs. Sonic looked around looked quickly while trying to get his bearings while terrified that Eggman could be here, his senses began to return as his emerald green eyes laid upon his two friends who looked just as terrified as he felt.
Seeing them was a huge relief as he immediately got out of bed and while still traumatized over his own nightmare, he shoved it aside in worry for the pink hedgehog and the princess, asking. "Amy, Elise! Are you alright?"
Upon seeing him as though they had witnessed his death, both Amy and Elise felt tears sting their eyes, yet it was the youngest teen that went up to the blue hedgehog, hugging him tightly.
"Sonic!" Amy wailed as she cried on his shoulder.
"Oh, Sonic! Amy!" Elise sobbed, joining in on the hug and Sonic hugged them both, weeping once again himself.
"Oh, man...You're both okay! You're not-you're not trapped in crystals...! Eggman didn't turn into a-a giant fiery monster...!" Sonic sobbed, hugging his two friends as tightly as possible. The nightmare he just had, and he was so relieved that it was just a horrible dream, was by fear one the worst ones he ever had in his life, and it had been years since he woke up screaming and crying after having one.
Now he wasn't sure if the one he had three months ago involving the Werehog-Beast or the one he just had now was the worst. Either way, it was his greatest fears attempting to destroy him from the inside.
"I was so scared! I thought those men joined together turned into a giant fiery-dragon monster and burned the whole world and you-you were burnt to ashes...!" Amy wept, describing her own nightmare which left her utterly shaken and terrified.
"I had a horrible dream that Julian w-was turned into the vessel of Solaris...he stole the Sun Stone shards from my body, killed you two and others by thro-throwing you into flames and I-I was possessed t-to become a Naga myself...to be his queen..." Elise cried.
While Sonic was horrified that even his friends had different, traumatizing nightmares involving Solaris and...each of their horrific dark fates which made him feel scared that unless the Sun Stone was fixed up soon, it could very well happen. Well, maybe not the return of Eggman since as the blue hedgehog sniffled and began to calm down, but none the less, it was definitely alarming.
Half an hour later...
After spending half an hour crying and embracing each other, Sonic, Amy and Elise finally calmed down and were seated on the blue hedgehog's bed going through what they just saw each in their sleep and tried to figure out the meaning of these nightmares.
"...Okay. So we all had nightmares involving Solaris and his flames of disaster in different situations." Sonic began, his arms folded to his chest as he had calmed down enough to be serious this time. Really serious. "If I'm gonna guess, I'd say it's definitely the effects caused by the Nightmare of the Flames itself."
"It would make sense. We all had nightmares of fire which is a relation to Solaris' rage and power." Elise nodded in agreement.
"Do you think everybody else had similar nightmares too?" Amy asked worriedly.
"No doubt about it, Ames. Maybe not of Solaris himself, but other people have most likely been having dreams of fire. Like that guy I heard earlier." The blue hedgehog opened his eyes with a concerned frown. "He said something about his Mom being the wicked witch while he and his girlfriend were the roles of Hansel and Gretel and he had been put into the fiery oven to be cooked, before a giant fire dragon burnt up everything into crisp. It's getting worse and now we've been affected by these nightmares."
Sonic then remembered what Eggman had said, and while it had just been a terrible dream and the real Eggman was gone, he couldn't help but feel like that the evil scientist was right. Then, realizing he was doing it again, he mentally shook his head to get a grip.
'No! I can't let my guilt take control over me. Julian is the one responsible for all of this, and he's going to pay for his crimes. I just have to help Elise to find the other shards and hope that everything will go back to normal.' The blue hedgehog thought to himself, focusing hard on what was at hand and began to feel his guilt ease down a little.
"Either way, there isn't much time. We've gotta get to the other shards before those snake-creeps do." He declared, narrowing his eyes with determination. Sonic then turned to Elise and asked. "Elise, you got any idea where the other pieces could be?"
"Hmm...I'm...not so sure, but I thought I felt the warmth within the shard inside me react somehow, like a heart beat close to the path nearby on our way to this city. I think it was near..." Elise trailed off, thinking hard before remembering the name of the place she heard of. "Kingdom Valley."
"Kingdom Valley? Where's that?" Amy asked, curiously.
"Near the Jungle Sonic and I passed. Legend says that it was where the first of the royal family ruled until they rebuilt their kingdom where it is now. It was once said that it is where a guardian of Nature would protect from intruders and only allow those who have pure hearts and connections to unnatural powers and companions close to them to enter. Or, so I was told." The Princess explained.
"Well then, there's only one way to find out." Sonic decided as he hopped off the bed. "We're goin' to Kingdom Valley to see if the shard's there or not."
"Sonic, it'll be dangerous. Are you...sure you can handle it?" Elise asked, uneasily as she still felt guilty for having her new friends get involved in all of this.
"C'mon, 'Ellie'. My speed, your senses, and Amy's strength and hammer, it'll be a cinch." The blue hedgehog reassured with a thumbs up and a confident smirk as he winked, already back into business as he felt like his old self once again take-hold.
Elise was stunned by just how Sonic recovered and put faith in not just himself, but also in her abilities and even Amy's. It was still clear that even he was frightened, but he wasn't going to let fear overcome or stop him. He was determined and brave, and something as terrifying as a nightmare wasn't going to slow him down.
"Sonic's right, Elise." Amy began, getting the older girl's attention and the latter saw that the pink hedgehog held the similar if not the same determination. "Sure we all had nightmares, but there's not way we're gonna let them stop us. Besides, we're used to things like this. Right, Sonic?"
"You bet." Sonic grinned in agreement. "We already got one piece and we have an idea other the second one is. Nightmare or not, there's no way I'm going to let the world be destroyed. We just gotta be careful and watch out for whatever comes right at us."
Amazed by the confidence and reassurance, Elise realized that they were absolutely right and, feeling safer and more encouraged, she finally smiled with a form of determination rising in her chest she never felt before, a burst of courage beginning to surge and nodded in agreement.
"Then, let's go." She declared, and the two hedgehogs nodded, glad that they were starting to get somewhere.
Yet none of them were aware that they were being watched through a crystal ball by Angalf who watched and listened their every move.
"You are heading into the right direction, Princess Elise. But soon enough, the truth will come to you and to Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends." Angalf muttered to himself, his wispy companions suddenly appearing before him and he caressed them affectionately. "Well done, my little ones. You have given the people of the land more fear and hope into their hearts."
The wipsy ghosts flickered and flew around playfully, before the golden-robed man turned his attention to the Crystal ball once more and waved his hand to change the image from Sonic's group to another...
"Except many obstacle stands in the way...Julian Fredrick...these young Mobians...my old friend...and The Chaos Emeralds." He muttered, narrowing his eyes as his gaze stared hard at several images of a dark-cloaked man, of Julian...
And onto Sun the Hedgehog and Tails who were flying across Soleanna to find the Chaos Emeralds and locate Sonic...and onto a black and red hedgehog whose face was ironically like that of Sonic and Sun, standing in the middle of the cold mountain somewhere close by.
Shadow the Hedgehog.
A/N: Yep, you guessed it. Shadow will be appearing in this story at some point as the next chapter will return to Sun and Tails as they try to find the Chaos Emeralds.
It looks like Sonic's suspicions over Angalf is beginning to be proven correct, but just what does he want? How is he involved with all of this? What is the Flame Ritual?
Only Space and Time will tell as the story continues.
See you later!