GREEN HILL ZONE, SOUTH ISLAND, 15:34 PM
Sonic was looking fiercely at the man who had stepped down from the capsule. The man was doing the same towards the young hedgehog. Both their eyes were burning, fueled by the mutual hate they had against each other; Robotnik couldn't stand having his bots destroyed, while our protagonist had deep memories related to the man.
Robotnik said, referring to his enemy: "You…you're that blue devilish hedge-boy!"
Sonic replied: "And you…you're that monster…The Eggman!"
The doctor suddenly became very angry at that nickname, replying in a more animalistic manner: "You little…! That's DOCTOR ROBOTNIK to you! I've already had enough of people at the army calling me that way!" The hedgehog simply rubbed his ear, mockingly replying: "So, Doctor…what? I didn't catch that last part. Was it Doctor…Ro-blobnik? Doctor Fat-buttnik? Doctor Ro-baldnik…?"
"ENOUGH!" The doctor shouted, exploding in fury as he pointed his robotic arm towards the hedgehog. Sonic was pretty nervous by that gesture, failing to notice the ladybug-like robot approaching towards him through the rear. The bot's blades, upon making contact with the hedgehog's skin, instantly stripped him away from all his Power Rings, which flew away in all directions. Sonic picked up a few, but most of them were gone. Sonic knew that he couldn't afford taking another hit; doing so would mean that all his rings would be gone, leaving him open to be shot dead.
He simply slammed the robot away with his foot, and when he looked back to where the Doctor was, he was gone. He could see his capsule from not too far away, and without losing a second he began chasing after it. He saw that close to one of the looping formations, there were a gazillion of robots waiting for him. Sonic stopped, charging speed in his left foot, and when he felt he had enough, he propelled himself towards the robots in a spinning manner, where he could kick them all without losing momentum, and span through the loop, picking up all the rings, without losing sight of his enemy.
He had to come to a sudden stop when he saw a wall right in front of him. Even though Robotnik managed to get away, Sonic thought that he couldn't have too far away; even in that transport, he was going way slower than him. Sonic noticed that the wall had a crack, and after going back some steps, he ran towards it at full speed and turned into his fur ball at the last moment, rolling into it and cracking it open. He always did that with tunnels.
He felt the speed building inside him as he entered and navigated the tunnel, and once he was out, he was speeding full-force toward Robotnik. However, he entered a full brake once he found that there was a spike pit below him, with the only exit being a small floating platform. "Nice trick, Eggman. You almost got me there. Almost." When he saw the platform coming closer, he jumped onto it and waited for the platform to read the other side. The moment he looked below and saw other robots, he did a jumping flip to the other side, landing with a fist smash and crushing the machines below, the animals floating out of them in small forcefields. Sonic then looked at the direction where he last saw the Doctor flying, and found a small capsule not too far away.
He headed towards it, doing two full loops in the process. Sonic still felt quite excited about his speeding antics, but he had to focus on finding the mustached madman and making him PAY. Pay for what he did not only to him, but to EVERYONE. He found other robots still on the way, and with a sliding kick, he simply disposed of them. Once he finally saw the capsule in sight, he also saw a small ramp close. He rolled into a ball, went up it and…
BUMP. Sonic fell to the ground, rubbing his head. Once he did, he saw that a box with a ring symbol fell upon his head. He went and destroyed it, instantly feeling a surge of energy. Just how many rings were trapped in that box, and how did the Eggman get ahold of them? He could solve that question later, right now what mattered was…
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the meddling blue needlemouse. I was expecting you'd be here, but this…this is Guiness record-breaking speed. Movement as fast as a bullet-train, if not faster…I'm astonished."
Sonic felt shivers coming down his back as soon as he heard that voice. Needless to say, he tried to remain calm.
"It's the Eggman! And with an Eggmobile to boast!"
"I have told you already that my name is none other than Doctor Robotnik! You WILL treat me with respect, or else…!"
"CUUUUUT! Listen, the only part I'm getting here is the Doctor part. To me, you're Doctor Eggman, and that's it. I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog, but you can call me Sonic. Got it?"
"There is no way in heaven or hell I am letting a blue talking hedgehog give me orders, let alone you."
"Whatever, I don't care. I'm doing the rules now", the hedgehog said playfully. "Hey, you know what? I love that face! That mad expression with your whole mouth down and the big frown…Is it frustration? Anger? It's so, so satisfying to know I'm a nail in your shoe!"
Sonic began changing his voice tone from playful mockery to anger and insanity. He was slowly losing his temper, and cracking his knuckles was a very significative sign of it. "And you know what?! I'm going to be your personal nail…You're the one who trapped everyone in these robot machines, I know it. I'm going to make you suffer for what you did. And when I'm done…You'll be begging for me not to kill you, you greasy fat piece of—"
The doctor cut his speech short. "Oh, you wouldn't dare. Not if I can stop you, which I completely and effectively can, by the way. Besides, that doesn't affect my ultimate plan, which for I needed both your people…and this." He pulled a blue, shiny stone out of his pocket, showing it arrogantly to a clueless Sonic.
"The Lucky Rock? What do your dirty mutts need it for?"
"Oh, I'm guessing you don't know about it's true nature. Let me illustrate you then, about this 'Lucky Rock', or going by its actual name…a Chaos Emerald."
Nicholas woke up. He was surrounded by two things; large piles of ash, and his fellow Mobian comrades. One of them, Ricky the Flicky, helped Nicholas get up and told him what happened. He also told him that Sonic was going after the Doctor, thing that quickly upset Nicholas.
"If Sonic is going after the Doctor, he must not know about the Doctor's evil plan! We must go after that poor boy, or else…I don't know what he could do to him!"
Ricky lifted an eyebrow in doubt. "What are you talking about, Papa Nick? I perfectly know that he's trapping everyone around for his robot army, but what else could that terrorist human be up to?"
"The Emerald, Ricky. He's after the Chaos Emerald. In fact, I hate to say this, but…I believe he found it."
The whole town gasped in terror. They already knew that the stone that Nick had found and protected ever since Christmas Island was discovered had special qualities in it, even going as far as being adored by the ancient Echidna tribe. But they soon returned to calm, since they never thought of it really seriously; the Emerald looked like a simple diamond-shaped rock from which no apparent power could be harnessed.
"It isn't just a rock." Nicholas began whimpering, realizing the unsuspecting look of his neighbors' faces. "The Chaos Emerald is a powerful object, that remains something exclusive to our planet and our planet alone. Its power can be harnessed by any lifeforms, and it can be said to perform miracles, such as splitting water apart…or regaining a person's youth. Does that sound…familiar to you, Lola?"
The chimp looked at her clean, unwrinkled hands, realizing that maybe what Nicholas said was true. She let out a groan of sadness, the shame of not believing their dear leader and friend weighing her down. "Not only that," Nicholas continued, "I'm not the owner of the only Emerald in the world. There are six in total, each possessing the same power as the other ones. 'Fear their power, seal them away, for the one who possesses all six Chaos Emeralds, is truly the owner of this world, as no other life form can match its might…' The Echidna tribe shouldn't have trusted us with that prophecy. That day we first met Robotnik, I managed to fool him into thinking the Emerald wasn't here so he could leave us all be…but not only did the island get destroyed, the Doctor said that he would still look out for them…" Nicholas broke down, sobbing, the memories of his past deeds haunting him now as a failure. Everyone patted his back or gave him a hug, trying to comfort him. But they all agreed in one thing: if what Nicholas said was true, the only one who could stop Robotnik…was Sonic.
"It's more than just a rock. It is a powerful object, that remains something exclusive to this planet and this planet alone. Its powers can be harnessed by any life form, and it can make something as impossible as a miracle become true. Not only that, it is not one of a kind. There are six in total, each being as powerful as the other. 'Fear their power, seal them away, for the one who possesses all six Chaos Emeralds, is truly the owner of this world, as no other life form can match its might…' The Echidna tribe shouldn't have trusted them with foolish poems. That day when we first met, he tried to fool me into thinking that the Emerald was not with them. Nevertheless, I went to search for the other ones, as there was no time to be wasted for my plan. A search which eventually gave its fruits; not one, not two, but THREE Chaos Emeralds were obtained by my hand! Counting the one that I took away when I ran away from the government, it makes four. Add this one, and how many do we have?"
Dr. Robotnik finished his exposition speech as he stored the Emerald inside his pocket, watching gleefully as the hedgehog despaired in understanding of what menacing power did he have. Sonic shook his head from side to side, preventing himself from falling into the desperation. He knew that there was a more important task in front of him, and that was stopping the actual menace in front of him. He stretched his legs, declaring with determination: "Keep counting stones if you want to. But if you're trying to damage my family, and the people of this island…then I'll have to defeat you, HERE and NOW!"
The Doctor had no hints of concern on his look. In fact, he was oddly serene after Sonic made his statement. Once he let out a small chuckle, the reason behind his confidence was evident to Sonic: he wasn't coming without a plan. "Very well, hedgehog. You're gonna take me down, HERE and NOW? We'll…have to see about that."
He then pressed a button on his Eggmobile, releasing a huge checker-patterned wrecking ball tied to a chain from its bottom. Wearing a creepy, yet confident smirk, he sinisterly taunted Sonic: "The look of your mugged face when we're done…is gonna be very relaxing."
Sonic rapidly dodged the oncoming ball, knowing that something that size would knock him away to space if it hit him. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, not noticing that the Doctor had already changed direction towards him. The ball swung at full force, knocking Sonic a few feet away and stripping him from all his rings. He managed to catch back 5 of them, but all the others vanished on sight, leaving a whimpering hedgehog rubbing his butt. Soon enough, Sonic saw the ball backing away, ready to come at him again. He shrieked out of panic, looking desperately for higher ground. And once he saw a small platform upwards, he felt like he found an oasis in the middle of a desert.
After jumping up and getting on it, the ball stopped at a certain height before pulling back. Robotnik did a double-take and realized that, with the hedgehog out of his deadly ball's range, he was on the losing side now. The blue hedgehog's movements turned into a blur, not visible by the nefarious doctor. And finally, with a very strong and very quick feet-clamp, Sonic discombobulated the Eggmobile's systems, rendering the ball unusable. To Sonic's surprise, the ball and its chain detached themselves from the main vehicle, making evident that they were but an addition.
"You will regret this, blue hedgehog! Next time we meet, I'm going to have you grilled with my eggs!" spouted the doctor as he flew away. Sonic could try to catch up to him, but he had a priority. He jumped up to where the capsule's button was, and it pressed itself down due to Sonic's weight. The capsule opened, and the animals inside quickly ran away, shouting happily. Sonic felt relieved, but some of them were still nervous. He clapped his hands, quickly getting their attention:
"Listen to me! I know that Dr. Eggman did this to you. I know that he seems quite unstoppable right now. But, I managed to defeat his robots, and even him, in the front lines. And since I can stop him, I'm going to stop him. I'll go to wherever he is and beat him down so badly he's going to be scrambled eggs. The safest village is over there, you can leave all the fighting to me! I promise it. I'll help you all."
The animals cheered Sonic as he gave them all a thumbs up. One of them made their way in-between the crowd, hoping to meet the hedgehog. Once she was there, he realized it was Ms. Gelda, Nicholas's dear wife. She simply said: "Thank you for saving me. I'll go back to my husband, but before that, I wanted to give you this. It's from your parents. They told me to give it to you once you were older."
It was a long scarf, all red with nothing but a white horizontal stripe in the middle. Sonic took it in his hands, a single tear dropping from his eye. He remembered his deceased father and even his 'Pops' wearing a similar scarf around, with the excuse that, as a symbol of the wind, they could fly away as far as they wanted to. Nicholas was a pilot, and he always let Sonic ride with him in his plane, which he called the Tornado. Since Sonic's mother made another scarf for her son, he promised Sonic that he would give it him, but only when he was old enough to travel the world on his own. That moment was now.
Sonic thanked Gelda for the scarf, wrapping it around his neck, and blasted off to where he saw Eggman moving. He knew that this was but the start of a journey, and that his intervention would surely change history one way or another. With all his courage mustered, he raised his head and kept running, but no longer was he running away.
Right now, he was running forward.
TO BE CONTINUED
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It me. BlackTorii18 here, apologizing for the delay. Most of this chapter was written with established ideas, but no way to particularly string them together and making them as epic in paper as they were in imagination. So I made up these different situations and tried to make the exposition as coherently given as possible. I'll make sure that the story goes at a rapid pace, but not too fast enough for me to miss any details. Next up is Marble Zone, and Sonic FINALLY learning to use his balled-up form for extra perks. He still won't be able to Spin Dash though, that'll be seen in 2. If you like this story, please make sure to favorite it and follow it if you want to see more. Again, I don't promise too much, but I do promise that I will try to deliver this piece of my mind to you. Also make sure to comment, as comments are probably the most important part for a fanfiction writer. I won't bother you with my rambling anymore. BlackTorii18 out.
P.D.: Make sure you check out Sonic The Hedgehog: 16-bit Unity by RetroSonicHero if you haven't yet. It's much better than this fanfic, and it's done with a lot of love towards the classic Sonic games and their lore. You're going to love it.
