It did not take long for Sonic and friends to reach the next location. Bridge Zone as it was called, was the place where water was easily the most plentiful. The place was -given the name- also filled with many bridges made of logs to help people traverse the location easier. The look of the place wasn't all too different from Green Hill Zone. Green grass, brown dirt, though the dirt looked to have a diamond pattern like Sunrise Gate Zone on Christmas Island. There were also some wooden fences, a forest surrounding the place, and some mountains off in the distance. "Great… and here I am without a floaty." Sonic quipped after looking down at the river. "We kept insisting that you should take swimming lessons Sonic." Said Johnny. "Nope! I don't need to if I can just stay away from it." Replied Sonic, trying to shrug it off. "Well, let's get moving guys!" Said Sonic as he sped across the bridge, with Johnny and Porker trying their best to keep up.
Sonic noticed that the path up ahead ended but also saw a small isolated bridge suspended by two wooden pillars coming out from the river; and beyond that was more land. Sonic saw this as a piece of cake, an easy jump. Sonic proceeded to hop across the gap to the bridge with ease, and then hopped to the other part. He looked back to see that Johnny was making it over it without much trouble, unlike Porker. He just barely got across to the isolated bridge. Though as soon as he tried jumping over, a robotic red fish jumped high up out of the river, biting him in the rear. Porker yelled in pain, he reached his hands out to grab onto the grass. "AHH! HELP ME UP HELP ME UP!" Shouted Porker, pleading for help. Sonic sprinted to Porker, grabbing his hand. "Don't worry, I've got you!" Reassured Sonic, pulling him up. "Thanks Sonic. Ow!" Porker thanked as he winced in pain. Sonic and Johnny looked behind him and saw the fish bot still on his butt, they tried to withhold their laughter; but quickly let go. "Come on guys, it isn't funny!" Porker pouted. Sonic and Johnny eventually pulled themselves together and began trying to get the robot off of him. "Man, it's on there pretty tight." Commented Johnny. Sonic pondered for a bit, thinking of how to get it off his friend. "We can't smash it." Said Johnny. "If we did, it might hurt the animal inside, or it might tear Porker's rear right off if this bot is on there really good." Said Sonic. "I brought my tool kit- OW! We could slowly take it apart and free the animal." Porker mentioned. Johnny reached for the tool kit on Porker's person and grabbed a Phillips head screwdriver. Johnny then began loosening the screws off of the robot. After all the screws were removed, Johnny took the metal plate off and found a little grey seal. After removing the seal, the fish bot seemed to lose all power and the jaw loosened up on Porker. "Geez, I hope
it didn't leave any scars." Said Porker, rubbing his rear. "Your butt is fine, let's get going." Sonic reassured, as he helped his friend up.
As they kept moving forward, they saw a new form of robot just up ahead of them. It was similar in shape to the Motobugs the three boys had seen previously, except it was pink and yellow, ran on two wheels instead of one, and had spikes at the top. It looked more like a crustacean of sorts, rather than a ladybug. Porker stopped dead in his tracks out of fear, Johnny quickly stopped after him out of caution, and Sonic… he kept running toward it. "Sonic, what're you doing!?" Porker had yelled. "Showing you fellas how it's done!" Sonic responded. Given it's top spikes, Sonic knew better than to jump on the robot. Instead, he curled up as he ran toward the machine, the momentum keeping him on a forward path as he collided with the face of the robot like a bowling ball collides with pins. Sonic got a perfect strike without a doubt, as the robot quickly bursted into pieces releasing a small penguin that was held inside. Porker sighed with relief. "I'm glad you're ok Sonic." Porker said. "Of course I'm ok, I'm me." Sonic responded confidently. "I'm impressed with what you did there." Johnny complimented. "You two haven't seen anything yet, guys." Sonic said.
The trio continued walking until one of the bridge's they were walking on was on the verge of falling apart. "Guys, the bridge is falling, hang on!" Sonic screamed as he grabbed Johnny and Porker by their hands and zoomed through the bridge as it was about to fall. They made it onto safe land, however, Porker was a bit dizzy from the rush. "Thanks Sonic, I'm not the biggest fan of bridges." Porker thanked him. "I'm just happy we made it out buddy. I was just as scared as you, to be honest." Sonic told him. "You know, I think I should take Jogging lessons from you now." Johnny said. "Anything to help you out Johnny, because I am the best." Sonic said as both Johnny and Porker sighed at Sonic's ego. The three continued on until they reached yet another gap. Between them and their destination was more of the river and protruding out were two metal poles. Sonic and the others saw what looked like a seesaw built into it. Sonic just jumped onto it without much caution. Upon landing on it, he felt something rather heavy let up. "Sonic! Look!" Said Johnny as he pointed to the sky. Sonic looked up and saw a heavy looking metal box flying up into the air. The box started to fall back down, Sonic simply smirked as he knew what was about to happen. As the metal box landed back on its side of the seesaw, Sonic was sent flying high toward the other side. "Holy cow!" Porker said in amazement as Sonic landed and looked back to his friends. "Are you guys coming or what?" Asked Sonic. "You go on ahead. We're gonna take a bit to get through here." Said Johnny. Sonic just shrugged in response and began to run ahead. Suddenly, Sonic was sent flying back toward the river by a spring he hadn't noticed. "SONIC NO!" Yelled Porker, reaching his hand out. Sonic looked over to the metal pole and had an idea. Sonic then reached out his hands and grabbed onto it, swinging around it and planting his feet on the side of it. Sonic sighed in relief, still holding onto it. "I'm fine guys! This is nothing!" Sonic reassured. "Watch where you're going next time, ok Sonic?" Asked Johnny. "Alright, fine." Sonic replied slightly annoyed. Sonic looked back to where he was and started pressing his weight against the pole. After a few seconds, Sonic back flipped off of the pole and onto land. Sonic then bowed, with Johnny giving a reluctant applaud, while Porker clapped his hands in awe.
As Johnny rolled his eyes, he saw a spring in the corner of his eye. It was flat on the ground, facing upward. It seemed like it could be used to get up to the elevated point alongside Sonic. Being a rabbit, he jumped quite an impressive distance into the air before descending onto the spring, which propelled him upward to even greater heights, landing perfectly on his feet, standing right alongside Sonic. "Not bad. Not bad." Sonic said, only mildly pleased with Johnny's performance. They looked down to see Porker slowly approaching the spring. "Come on Porker, it won't bite!" Sonic said, his tone culminating from a blend of encouragement and impatience. Porker didn't notice the rock right in front of his foot, which he unfortunately tripped upon, falling face first onto the spring, throwing him upward and tumbling onto the elevated spot between Sonic and Johnny. "It didn't bite, but it really stung!" Porker grunted in pain while laying on his back. Sonic and Johnny pulled Porker to his feet by the arms, and finding it somewhat troublesome attempting to lift Porker. "Geez Porker, you've packed on a few pounds." Sonic teased, half-jokingly. "R-really?" Porker whimpered. Porker always was a little self conscious about how big he was for a ten year old pig. Sonic knew this, and felt bad for saying that. His witty remarks just slip out sometimes. In an attempt to rectify the mistake, he quickly dispatched some positive reinforcement. "Eh, don't sweat it pal, it's not too bad." Sonic reassured. "If it worries you, then you can just join me and Johnny when we go jogging."
Johnny, curious to know what lied ahead of them, looked behind himself. Before the three boys laid out a massive bridge over a body of water. It was about twelve feet long and two people wide. On the other side of the bridge was another capsule. As they approached it, Sonic pressed his foot on the bridge to test it's stability. It made a subtle but noticeable creaking sound. This bridge had certainly seen it's fair share of uses over the years. Sonic looked to Johnny and Porker to know if they were ready to make their way across. Johnny nodded in agreement, and Porker slowly nodded a little bit after. Porker stood behind Johnny and Sonic as he was still a little skeptical of the stability of an old wooden bridge. The three boys began walking across the bridge. As they traversed the bridge, Porker shook a little. His body quaked in fear each time he heard the creaking of the bridge, as if the aged lumber began to wince in pain. Suddenly, the three boys froze in place as they began to hear something. It sounded like a smaller version of a blow horn to a cruise ship. It also sounded like it was coming from the water… and it was getting closer.
Suddenly, a pod emerged from the waters, just to the side of the bridge where Sonic, Johnny, and Porker stood. It looked like one of the floating pods used by Robotnik and his nephew, except the top was closed off by a metal cover, almost making it resemble a plastic egg you'd see during Easter. Needless to say, this was obviously a submarine in nature. There was a small window at the front of the sub, and peeking through it were blue spectacles, a pointed red nose, and a large brownish-orange mustache. "Eggman!" Sonic exclaimed. "Stop calling me that!" Robotnik barked in irritation over a microphone, which projected his voice to the outside of the sub via waterproof speakers. He was by no means happy to see Sonic was still pursuing him. "Unbelievable! I go drop off Cluck, get my proper clothes on, and address a land dispute… only to find my nephew has been assaulted and my assets are being taken! Why couldn't you have just stayed back on Christmas Island?". "You think I'm just going to be stuck in one place?" Sonic asked rhetorically. "Not a chance pal! I prefer to live fast and free!". Sonic jumped upward and curled into a ball. He slammed directly downward on the top of the sub, rattling it around. Sonic quickly bounced off of the pod and back onto the bridge. He nearly fell backward and could've slipped off the other side, but Johnny and Porker caught him quickly. Robotnik could be heard pulling a lever from inside of the sub, quickly descending back into the water. Sonic listened carefully as the submarine began shifting through the water. He lowered his head to the ground as he heard the pod go under the bridge, then jumped upwards as he heard it resurfacing on the opposite side. Boom! Sonic landed another hit on the capsule. "Are you aware that your robots left the animals inside of them unconscious?" Porker questioned, worried that Robotnik would yell at him. Porker doesn't like when adults yell at him. "I-it could be draining too much stamina. T-t-that could potentially even put them into comas." Robotnik's face went to pure shock, having not realized such a thing was possible. "I…. I actually didn't realize…." Robotnik stammered. His train of thought was cut short as Sonic thrashed against the side of his submarine yet again. "I'll get to the energy consumption issue soon! I'll admit, this idea for a fuel source needs some ironing out.". "I'd say it needs to be dropped." Sonic interjected. "The same goes for your plans for world domination." Robotnik began doing a double take at hearing this. "R-Really!? You think I'm out here, trying to take over the world!?" He said, baffled and annoyed at such an accusation. Sonic assumed Robotnik was playing dumb. That he was trying to get one over on him. Sonic wasn't gonna let this fat old man deter him so he could take the planet. Sonic didn't buy his words for a second "Really now?" He said with a hefty amount of skepticism. "Well then why did one of your buzz bombers attack me?" Ivo tilted his head trying to figure out which one of his robots the blue pincushion was referring to. "You mean the security robots that look like bees?" He asked. Sonic nodded. "Those are security robots. They're meant to deter some of the less friendly people on this island, as well as trespassers like you!" Sonic got annoyed again. He looked and noticed Robotnik's submarine was rather close to the bridge. Sonic walked up and kicked the front of the sub. He hit the watercraft heel first, causing it to teetered side to side upon impact. Robotnik's submarine swung backward quite a bit before swinging back forward, smashing against the side of the bridge. Porker immediately B-lined it to the other end of the bridge where the capsule of animals was. The bridge shook violently as Sonic and Johnny followed Porker soon after. Sonic got to the other end in no time flat, on account of his speed. Johnny on the other hand just barely made it to land before the entire bridge had collapsed. Robotnik let out a loud yell of anger as he flipped a switch. The top of the submarine popped off, landing into the water, and revealing the doctor's new getup. He wore black pants made from -rubber of all things, really?- with round white buttons at the front, just at his waistline. He had clean white gloves, as was the trend in fashion across most of Mobius, a bright red, long sleeve shirt, and a yellow cape which looked rather tiny draped across his large body. The submarine began to ascend from the water and into the air, as it was, in fact, his floating aircraft as well. It seemed the doctor had built his vehicle with a great deal of versatility. Robotnik looked over his shoulder to see Sonic already opening the capsule, releasing the many animals Ivo and Snively had worked so hard to herd together. Gritting his teeth, he began flying off to a new area of the island. "Guys, Eggman's getting away!" Porker exclaimed, pointing to the fleeing scientist, drifting through the sky with the grace of a falcon. "Don't call me that!" Robotnik yelled as he flew beyond the trees and out of sight.
"Well, that's another capsule taken care of." Johnny said, dusting off his shoulders. "Yeah, but we've still got our ways to go." Sonic added. "I'm not sure if he's gonna listen about the animals." Porker noted. "He seems pretty angry.". "An angry mad scientist is even more dangerous than a normal mad scientist." Sonic said. "Wouldn't saying 'angry mad scientist' be kinda redundant?" Johnny asked. "No, because by mad, I'm referring to crazy, not upset." Sonic corrected. "I mean I guess it checks out then." Johnny shrugged, not really caring about if it was correct or not. There were much bigger issues to deal with, so Johnny wasn't gonna die on that hill. Sonic, Johnny, and Porker continued their trek through the island. As they traversed the area, Sonic noticed the abundant amount of rings in the area. While Johnny was wondering why they were all over the island, and Porker's imagination went wild as to what they were meant for and what they were capable of, Sonic just thought they were useful… and tantalizingly shiny. Sonic began running about the area, touching and absorbing every ring in his sight. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through him as he kept running. Running was the most fun feeling for him in his life, and with all these rings to collect, he had a perfect excuse to do it. Faster and faster, Sonic blitzed about the area, jumping through the air, taking sharp turns, and curling up into a ball as he rolled through shuttle loops. Johnny and Porker could barely keep track of Sonic, let alone how many rings he had collected. Suddenly, Sonic came to a screeching halt. "What's wrong Sonic?" Johnny asked, confused as to why Sonic of all people would stop in their tracks. "Is it another robot?" Porker asked with great worry. Sonic simply motioned for his friends to follow as he walked up to a few large stones on the ground. He had noticed a golden glimmer from behind these stones. It was much like the shine of the other rings, but what caught Sonic's attention was that it appeared… larger.
As Sonic and his buddies got close to the stones, Sonic began moving them outta the way, coming face to face with a massive version of the rings they've found. It was lying flat on the ground, and had strange symbols on the outer rim of it. "Why, just look at those peculiar markings." Porker said with great fascination. As Sonic reached his hand out to touch the ring, he felt a small jolt from his finger upon contact. The Ring began to slowly lift off of the ground. The markings began to glow an ethereal sky blue as it spun rapidly, until finally, it stopped spinning. Within the center of the ring began the formation of an other-worldly sight. The space within the ring began to distort and spark, and a hole ripped open as if space itself was split apart. Within the hole was a blue night sky, full of stars, and structures of pink blocks. "What in the world is this!?" Johnny yelled, as if anyone could explain what was happening in front of him. "I-I don't know!" Porker stammered. "I-I-It looks like a p-portal of some kind.". "But a portal to where?" Sonic pondered aloud. As the blue hedgehog stepped forward, he felt Porker and Johnny each pull on one of his arms. "What're you doing!?" Johnny questioned. Porker suddenly felt a ringing in the left pocket of his jacket. He pulled out his small flip phone and opened it up. "PORKER WHERE IS MY BROTHER!?" Said an angry female voice that was all too familiar to the boys. It was Sonic's sister, Sonia. Sonic immediately leapt through the portal, which then closed as the giant ring collapsed to the floor. "Porker? Porker!? You there, dude?" Sonia asked. Porker and Johnny were dead silent, staring at what had just happened to their friend. "U-Uhhh…" Johnny stammered to try and respond. "We're uhhhh… out getting some chili dogs. You know how much Sonic loves chili dogs." Sonia let out an 'mhm' in noticeable weariness of Johnny's answer before hanging up the phone. Porker put his flip phone back in his pocket and he and Johnny proceeded to stare at one another. They both inhaled for a full second before utterly screaming their heads off in fear. "WHAT'RE WE GONNA DO!?" Porker schreached. "I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE HE WENT!" Johnny hollered with equal fear. Suddenly, the ring began to ascend again, with the rip in space bursting open within the ring's center yet again. To the relief of both Johnny and Porker, Sonic hopped out. Johnny and Porker immediately ran up to Sonic and hugged him tightly, making contact with him almost in sync with the giant ring hitting the floor once again.
"DON'T DO THAT AGAIN!" Johnny demanded. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW SCARED I WAS!?" Porker muttered through his shaking lips. "Guys, chill! I'm A-Okay!" Sonic said, trying to calm them down. "The place was a little weird, but it wasn't too bad. Besides, I got this out of the deal." Sonic lifted his hand to the faces of his friends, showing a large blue gem. "It must be an emerald of some kind." Sonic noted to them. "Something about it was drawing me in. It was just sitting around in the open, so I decided to take it since there's no way it could have belonged to somebody." Johnny and Porker looked at one another and then back to Sonic. "Sonic…." Johnny addressed him, staring right into his eyes. Sonic saw genuine concern and fear in Johnny's eyes. He also saw Johnny's sky blue iris'. Sonic was a little jealous of how Johnny already had his eye color. Mobian's iris' are the same shade as their pupils at first, until the color sets in over time. Rabbits mature faster than most other Mobians, so Johnny's eye color had set in sooner than Sonic or Porker's. Sonic was jealous because well… Johnny's eye color had set in faster, and Sonic takes pride in how fast he can do things. It wasn't that big of a deal to Sonic though, at least not in this particular moment in time. He could tell his friends were scared for him, and for good reason, so he wasn't gonna worry about that. "... Please don't do that again." Johnny told him. Sonic turned to see that the look on Porker's face was filled with just as much fear, if not more so on account of Porker's already worry filled nature. "Alright." Sonic said with a sigh, feeling bad for how much he had scared them. "I'll give you fellas a heads up next time before I go through one of those… those… Warp Rings, I guess we'll call them?". "Why would you go through one of those again?" Johnny asked, puzzled by what Sonic just said. "If there are any more emeralds like this one, they might be useful." Sonic answered. "Look, I don't know why it is I think that, but I get the feeling they will be VERY useful. This emerald just has that kind of… energy to it, I guess you could say." Porker looked closely at the emerald Sonic was holding. He'd swear, he could see a faint glow to it. Maybe the 'energy' Sonic referred to could be quite literal. "I'll hold onto the emerald for you." Porker said, taking the emerald from Sonic's hand and placing it in an inner pocket of his jacket. "It's kinda piqued my curiosity, as with the rest of this island." Porker and Sonic turned to Johnny. "Well… I guess if you think we could use them, and that you can handle it…" Johnny reluctantly began to agree. "Great!" Sonic interrupted. "Now let's get this done before the day is up.". "You know you're gonna get an earful from your sister when we get back home, right?" Johnny added. "Yeah, I can't wait." Sonic said sarcastically as the three of them moved onward to the next zone.
