See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer
Chapter 16: Discovery & Rescue Mission
The next morning, on Angel Island, Ruby-Emerald awoke to the sound of Flickies chirping in the trees as she usually did; she yawned and rubbed the grit from her eyes as she looked around, that was when she realized something was wrong. Her friends were all still around her, sleeping in their sleeping bags as were her babysitters; her parents told her they'd come home late and her friends' parents would pick them up, but they were still there and she didn't see her parents.
Ruby stood up and ran over to Vector, who was leaning against the Master Emerald snoring his head off. "Uncle Vector! Something's wrong, my parents aren't here and the others weren't picked up by their parents!", she said as she shook him awake. Vector quickly woke up as he realized she was right, he told her to go wake up everyone else as he pulled out his cellphone and dialed Amy's phone number.
"Hi, you've reached Amy Rose. Please leave a message after the beep, BEEP! Tee hee".
Vector was stunned by the fact that the phone went straight to voicemail, he tried calling Sonic but it was the same; Vector tried calling the others but all their phones went to voicemail immediately, he looked around and saw his friends and the kids waking up, and looking around in confusion. "Hey, why am I still here? Mom and Dad said they'd pick me after the movie was done", said Finn. Speedy and Turbo looked around in confusion, wondering where their parents were also; even baby SJ noticed the absence of his parents and began crying until Gadget reached down to pick him up.
"What is going on here? I doubt Sonic and the others would forget to pick up their children, something is not right here", said Espio. Just then, they heard the sound of an engine coming close before shutting off; they looked up to see it was Tails in the X Tornado, "Tails? What are you doing here?", asked Charmy. "I'm guessing you've noticed that Sonic and the others didn't come back from their movie last night. Hop in and I'll explain when we get to my workshop", he said. "Vector, you and Charmy go with Tails and find out what's going on. Gadget and I will stay here, and look after the children and the Master Emerald", said Espio.
Vector nodded as he and Charmy jumped into the X Tornado and Tails flew them to his workshop; they hopped out and rushed inside to find Tempest, Levi, Orbot, Cubot and Metal Sonic all standing around an examination table. On the table laid an unconscious Maria, "What happened to her?!", shouted Vector. "A mailman was delivering a package when he found her lying on the ground passed out with no sign of Shadow, Silver or anyone else around. He brought her here and I took a look at her and found this", said Tails.
He then held up the dart that Maria was shot with, a small amount of the purple fluid was still inside it. "I analyzed the liquid and it turns out it's a very strong sedative cocktail, I'm actually surprised that Maria is even still breathing because after analyzing it further, I found out this stuff is powerful enough to knock out a full grown rhinoceros", he said. "Alright Tails, but that doesn't explain why she was found lying on the ground or where the others are", said Tempest.
Just then, Maria suddenly shot awake; she sat there breathing heavily until she looked up at her surroundings and realized she was in Tails' home/workshop. "Uncle Tails? How...how'd I get in your house?", she asked in confusion. "A mailman found you unconscious in town with this dart in your leg. Maria, where are your Dads and what happened to you?", said Tails. Maria racked her brain as she tried to remember what happened last night, and that's when it came flooding back.
"Tails! While we were leaving the movie theater last night, a ship full of these bug soldiers came through a portal and attacked my Dads and their friends. They fought back but then the bugs shot them with darts that knocked them out, and as they were loading them onto their ship, I tried to fight back using my Chaos Spear but then they shot me and I passed out. Those bugs took my Dads and their friends, Tails! We have to save them!", she said.
Tails let the information soak in as he called Espio and told him everything Maria told him; about two hours later, they were all gathered together on Angel Island to discuss what to do next. "I think I can create a portal machine for us to travel through, I can use the Chaos Emeralds to power it. It might take a while but it shouldn't be hard", said Tails. "Alright, so when do we get going?", asked Maria.
Tempest turned to her with a stern expression, "We are going as soon as Tails is done with the portal machine, you kids are staying here with Levi, Gadget and the three Robo-bros. If you guys honestly thought we'd bring you with us on this mission, you're sadly mistaken; it's too dangerous for you little squirts", she said. Maria grunted in frustration and went to sit where the other kids were, they also had equally frustrated scowls on their faces after hearing they couldn't join in to rescue their parents.
Meanwhile in a large room lit by bright blue lights, Shadow groaned as he felt someone shaking him by the shoulder; he struggled for a bit to open his heavy eyelids before he looked to see it was Silver who woke him up. The two looked around to see Sonic and Amy, Knuckles and Rouge, and Nyx and Infinite in the room with them; they were all waking up as well, although Sonic took much longer to wake up.
They all noticed they were inside the strange room, and that's when they noticed that there were thick metal cuffs on their wrists with some sort of rope of blue electricity connecting them together, limiting their arm movement. "Ow...my head hurts...what happened?", said Knuckles in disorientation. "I remember fighting off a bunch of bees...in armor...but then everything went dark", said Nyx.
Suddenly the sound of a metal door opening caught their attention, they looked to see where the door was opening and in walked Queen Vespa who was flanked by Yellow Jacket and another unnamed soldier on either sides of her body; she looked down at them with a glint of greed in her eyes while they all looked at her in suspicion. "Bow before her glorious royal majesty, Queen Vespa! Bow before her, you feeble mammals!", shouted Yellow Jacket in his shrill and nasally voice. He pushed a button on the side of his spear, which caused their cuffs to spark and turn yellow.
This caused the cuffs to suddenly yanked them to the ground until they were on their knees, making it look like they were bowing down. "Who are you people? Where are we? And why are here?", asked Infinite. "You are in my kingdom, which is located in the center of a large Island. As Yellow Jacket, my second-in-command, said I am Queen Vespa the ruler. And you are here because I've developed a plan to conquer the entirety of this dimension and your dimension, cementing myself as Supreme Empress of both and you are all crucial components for my plan to succeed", said the queen.
Before any of them could argue, Sonic suddenly let out a strained gasp and fell over; the others looked to see that his eyes had rolled back into his head, foam was coming from his mouth and his body was shaking uncontrollably. "What's happening to him?! SONIC!", shouted Amy as she was panicking with tears coming from her eyes. Queen Vespa looked down on him with visible fear in her eyes, "He's having a seizure! Quickly, take him to the infirmary!", she ordered the unnamed soldier. He nodded as he slung Sonic over his shoulders with surprising ease and carried him to the infirmary.
Vespa then turned to Yellow Jacket in anger and grabbed him by the chest with her large clawlike hand, "How much of those tranquilizer darts did you use on him?!", she screamed. Yellow Jacket shook in fear, "My Queen...he had transformed into some sort of snarling beast when we shot him with the first dart...so...we shot him four more times before he finally lost consciousness", he croaked. Vespa screamed in rage before dropping Yellow Jacket onto the ground and then backslapping his in the face.
"You stupid idiot! That tranquilizer is potent enough to render a giant, two-ton Mantizon! Using four of them on something as small as that blue rodent is liable to caused death and my plans cannot work if one of these mammals or even all of them are dead! They all need to be alive and in perfect health; you had better hope and pray that he survives or else you'll be severely punished!", she yelled.
Yellow Jacket cowered in fear as he crawled over to her feet and began kissing both of them as he grovelled beneath her with tears in his eyes. "My queen, forgive me! I didn't mean to inadvertently sabotage your plans, please forgive for my recklessness and ignorance! It shall not happen again your majesty!", he begged.
Vespa took a deep breath and exhaled, calming herself both turning to the others, "I apologize for my subordinate's lack of sense. Worry not, my scientists and doctors are quite skilled at what they do. Your friend will live, he has to if my plan is to be successful. Now then, I have to go attend to a personal matter; when I return, I'll inform you all what you shall be doing until the first phase of my plan is complete", she said as she left the room dragging Yellow Jacket behind her by his wings.
Back on Angel Island, the Chaotix were putting supplies onto the old ship they had used back when they had fought the Metarex; Tails wasn't done with his portal maker but they felt it would be smart to prepare for their mission beforehand. The kids sat nearby watching, all the while thinking about how stupid it was that they weren't being allowed to join in to help; in fact, as the Chaotix were preparing, the kids were having a quiet conversation about it.
"Its not fair! We're all pretty capable of saving our parents just as much as they are, we should be allowed to go with them!", whispered Maria. "Yeah! We're fast, you and Ruby got Chaos powers and Finn can just make an army of goblins to squash those bugs!", whispered Turbo. "Well I say tonight, we get on that ship and go by ourselves. We can take Orbot, Cubot and Metal Sonic both to we'd have someone to fly the ship and take care of SJ", whispered Finn. "One problem: how are we going to get to this alternate dimension? Uncle Tails isn't done with his portal maker and even if he was, he's not just gonna hand it over", whispered Speedy. Ruby sat in thought before her face lit up with realization, "I have an idea for how to get us to the other dimension", she said.
Back in the other dimension, Sonic slowly opened his eyes as he saw, through blurred vision, that he was in some kind of hospital room; he was strapped down to a cot by his waist with a white sheet draped over his body. There was an oxygen mask strapped to his face, an I.V. drip attached to his left arm and a tube that was siphoning a purple liquid from his blood attached to right arm. As his vision began to clear up, Sonic saw a Hornetite wearing a lab coat standing next to the machine that was sucking the purple fluid from his body.
"Wha...what's going...on?", Sonic asked weakly. The Hornetite looked up at him in surprise, "Oh I wasn't expecting you to wake up so soon! Well, you were having a seizure due to too much of the tranquilizer being pumped into your body, so this machine is carefully withdrawing it from your bloodstream. Once we're sure you're stable, the guards will take you back to the prisoner hold where your companions are", she said.
Sonic sighed as he fell back onto the cot, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a few Hobidons being led into a different room by metal cuffs and chains; none of them fought back, but they did have a look of unadulterated terror in their eyes as they were being led away. Before Sonic could say anything or even think about what he just saw, he felt the strong pull of sleep bringing back into unconsciousness.
In another part her palace, Queen Vespa was led by a nurse Hornetite inside what looked like a child's bedroom, except it didn't have a bed in it. "How has been fairing with his lessons?", asked Vespa. "Very excellent, your highness. He's only one and a half years old, yet he has the mental maturity of a teenager; he's quick to learn and adapt, and he's quite strong and quick on his feet. Right now, he's learning how to weave a cocoon to sleep in", said the nurse. Queen Vespa looked up to see her son, Prince Fluke, weaving a cocoon on the ceiling out of green slime he expelled from within his mouth.
What the nurse said before was correct: Fluke did indeed look like a teenager, he was almost the same height as Maria, his purple hair was longer and more spiky, and he was wearing a pair of white gloves and green boots. "Oh son, come down here so I can see you", said Vespa. Fluke heard his mother call him and flew down to the ground, landing in front of her; Vespa looked at him with a genuine expression of affection, "Look at you, so strong and intelligent at such a young age. It seems I made the right in choosing to breed with Hobidons males instead of Hornetite males, it produced a perfect future king and I know you'll command our people and spread fear to those puny mammal slaves", she said.
Fluke then looked at his mother with questioning expression, "M...mother, why must you keep the Hobidons as slaves just as you do with the lesser Insectoids? Why do we have slaves at all? Can't what they do be done by the servants? It just...doesn't seem ethical to enslave creatures for no reason", he said. Vespa sighed as she gently placed her hand upon his head, gently ruffling his hair and antennae. "My son, despite your mental maturity being that of an adult, you still much to learn about being a ruler. We enslave mammals and Insectoids far below our social standing because it's our divine right as the strongest, most intelligent and most beautiful of the Insectoids.
"Now then, go finish making your cocoon so you could go to sleep", she said. "But it's the middle of the afternoon, Mother", said Fluke. "And who's to say you can't sleep during it? That's the benefit of being royalty, you can do what you like and no one has the right to tell you otherwise. And besides, a growing prince needs his rest", she said. Fluke sighed as he flew back up to his cocoon to finish constructing it while his mother leaves the room, "I don't understand this whole "ruling" and "being superior over lesser beings" thing. Aren't we all creatures made by the same Gods and placed on the same planet to call our home? The way I see it, we're basically one people. No one is stronger or weaker than the other", he said begrudgingly.
The nurse Hornetite flew up to him and gave him a look of sympathy, "Your highness, you may have your reservations but you must understand that her majesty only wants what's best for special little grub. After all, you are our future king and you must learn the necessary ways of being a great ruler if our people are to prosper; it's too soon for you to worry about that now, so just lay your head and rest, young Master. Queen Vespa will handle that responsibility while you just grow and be happy, as I previously stated you are a special little grub", she said.
Fluke sighed as he made a hole in the cocoon to crawl inside of and made himself comfortable in its warm and squishy interior, the nurse smiled as she flew towards the door, shutting off the lights and closing the door; the lights went off and a blue bioluminescent light filtered into the room. Fluke grumbled as he curled up into a ball, "I'm not special! I'm no different than any of the other grubs my mother has birthed and I don't want to be king if it means I have to be arrogant and selfish", he whispered as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Back on Angel Island, it was nighttime as the Chaotix had finished taking stalk of all the provisions and other supplies on their ship; Espio and Charmy were inside the cabin getting ready to head over to Tails' home while Vector was busy making sure the ship was fueled up. "Ready, guys?", Ruby whispered to the other kids as they all hid behind a big rock. They all had backpacks full of clothes, their hair and toothbrushes, sleeping bags and a few toys and comic books; the twins had also made sure to pack up SJ's baby bag with extra diapers, extra wipes, baby powder, clothes, his favorite rattle and stuffed rabbit, several jars of baby food, his bottle and a tub of powdered baby formula.
Behind them stood Orbot, Cubot and Metal Sonic who they were bringing with along them so they'd have someone to pilot the ship and babysit them; they watched as Vector finished fueling up the ship before walking back into the cabin to join Espio and Charmy, "Okay...he went inside! Let's hurry up and do this!", whispered Maria. Metal Sonic walked over to the Master Emerald and pulled it from the alter, he quietly carried it onto the ship as the others followed him; he placed into a special fixture on the main deck of the ship, using two large metal clamps to hold it in place.
Maria shut the door as Orbot and Cubot went over to the main controls, Ruby opened a burlap bag and placed its contents in front of the Master Emerald, revealing the seven Chaos Emeralds. As the three robots started the ship's engine, Ruby placed the Chaos Emeralds in a circle around the Master Emerald before standing in front of them. "Are you sure about this, Ruby? What if it doesn't work?", asked Finn. "I have to try, I have the same chaos abilities as my Dad which means I can do this...I hope", she said.
The Chaotix walked out of the cabin just in time to see the ship up in the air, "What the Hell is going on? Someone's in our ship!", said Vector. Back on the ship, Ruby took a deep breath as she lifted her arms up and closed her eyes. "The servers are the seven Chaos...Chaos is power...power enriched by the heart, the controller serves to unify the Chaos. Master Emerald, I need you to help us...create a portal to the dimension our parents were taken to", she chanted.
The Master Emerald began to glow as a bright green portal appeared in the sky in front of the ship, Metal Sonic initiated the thrust and the ship sped off into the portal which closed behind it. The Chaotix stood in wide eyed disbelief before Charmy looked around, "Um...Vector...Espio, where are the kids?", he asked. The other two adults looked around and suddenly felt their stomachs drop as they slowly pieced together who was on their ship.
The kids screamed in fear as the ship blasted through the wormhole at warp speed before suddenly coming to a stop, but the sudden stop happened too fast for the three robots to react and the ship fell from the sky, crash landing in the middle of a forest. Miraculously, none of the children were hurt nor were the robots damaged; they were all just disoriented as SJ was crying and Finn whimpered in embarrassment as he just realized that he was so scared that he peed himself.
As he ran into the ship's bathroom to change his pants, the others tried to assess the situation. "The ship is wrecked, we need to leave and go find help to repair it if we're gonna save our parents", said Maria. Metal Sonic picked up SJ and placed him inside the baby carrier strapped to his chest, Ruby tied some ropes around the Master Emerald and using her innate strength to carry it on her back while putting the Chaos Emeralds into the burlap bag; Finn came out of the bathroom with clean pants and he, the twins and Maria grabbed their backpacks.
The small group left the ship and began walking through the forest, they were surprised by the fact that it was midday in this alternate dimension when back in theirs in was almost close to midnight. They continued walking until they heard something, it sounded like someone shouting and something banging the ground.
"Take that, you overgrown rust-bucket!"
The twins' eyes lit up with joy, "That's our Dad! We're coming, Daddy!", they shouted. They ran in the direction of Sonic's voice with the others following close behind, they came to the edge of forest that broke off into what looked like a small town; the twins looked around and smiled as they saw a familiar blue ball spinning across the ground and smashing into a giant one eyed robot. "Wow...did our parents free themselves that fast? If so, why haven't they come home yet?", asked Maria.
But that's when she was proven wrong when the blue ball stopped, the twins' smiles dropped as they realized something was off: this Sonic was quite tall, his arms were covered by blue fur instead of peachy fur, he wore a dark brown neckerchief and had...bandages around his wrists, ankles and shoes. "Guys...I don't know who that is, but...that's not our Dad", said Turbo.
Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 16. What happens next? Find out next time in Chapter 17, sorry but I don't have much to say in these blurbs. This is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!