Author's Note: Welcome back to Sonic and the Return of the Wisps, the new and first chapter of 2023! I'll do my best with how the rest of this story will go, though I'm not sure if I will be able to finish this within the year or the next.
Guess we'll have to see what happens. Let's do it to it!
I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Chapter 12: Labyrinth of the Giant Whale.
As the six young heroes traveled into the bellies of the giant whale, glancing around carefully at the dark, creepy and spooky area with their hearts beating inside their chests, the further they went, the more claustrophobic they became. Especially the teenage hero of Mobius who, despite the previous times he had been swallowed up himself, this time it was totally different experience.
But that didn't make this any less comfortable.
"Man, I never thought I'd travel through the esophagus like this before. Sure hope we'll find the sea monster and get it out along with the shard before we end up in the other stomach." Sonic remarked, making a careful pace. But really, traversing through the tunnel that really was the esophagus of the giant alien whale that had two stomachs instead of one wasn't easy.
Especially when the floor was soft, slippery and each time the blue hedgehog was worried that with each step he and his friends made would cause the giant whale to feel hungry...Sonic fought off the urge to shudder and held back the desire to whimper when the image of the giant sea creature moaning in hunger before it would then swallow up gallons of water to hunt down fish and then eat them, gulping down the smaller sea life and accidentally carry the cobalt speedster and his companions with it...to the main stomach where food was stored, formed into his head.
That was a nightmare to get out of and Sonic didn't fancy in being trapped as his huge friend's meal until the Whale was forced to sneeze him out.
"(Esop-what?)" Speed raised an eye ridge, dumbfounded over what Sonic just said. "(I thought we were in the giant whale's throat.)"
"We are. It's just another way calling this...well, tunnel of the giant whale we're in." Tails explained, as he was using his Miles Electric's flash-light app to help them see where they were going, combined with the three cute little Wisps' bodies glowing in the middle of the dark tunnel as they traversed towards the non-food stomach where the sea monster was trapped and located in.
"Pretty everybody much has them. Though calling this place the throat is a lot easier for some people." The hero of Mobius shrugged.
"(...Yeah, you're right. The other name sounds gross. Worse than the throat part.)" The cobalt Wisp dully said, while the Breeze Wisp looked around in fear, awe and wonder.
"Do you think we'll be able to find the right stomach? I mean, we don't even though which way to go when we do find it." Amy asked, worriedly as she rubbed her arms a little. Her heart's rate quickened the further down they went.
A moment of pause...and fearful soft gasps.
"Uh...Didn't think of that," Sonic shakily blinked, gazing up at the tunnel's ceiling. "Maybe we should ask first before we end up being fish food ourselves."
"Technically, we already are food, Sonic." The nine year old cub pointed out with a sweat drop. "I mean, the whale did swallow us up the moment we entered his mouth before he flung us here in the first place. So unless Speed gets us out with his Jumping power and we figure something else, we're not goin' anywhere except for the stomachs where the whale will keep us until the sea monster is gone."
"Yeah, don't remind me." The blue hedgehog deadpanned.
It was already bad enough that they were all trapped despite having volunteered to do this and the whale would let them go if it would swallow up water and then jet them out of it's blowhole, whether they ended up in the second stomach or not. Or if they ended up in the main stomach and become trapped inside, they would have to wait until the massive creature would find seaweed to sneeze them out.
But the sea monster was preventing all of that, plus all the seaweed were transformed into those smaller monsters, so unless they destroyed the monster and got the shard back, or if either Speed used his power or Sonic used his ability to race them all back to the entrance and ask the whale to let them out, they were all here to stay indefinitely as unwilling prisoners...as well as the whale's non-fish lunch.
"Sometimes I wonder if you ever think first before you act." Amy sighed, a little exasperated.
An awkward moment of pause.
"Okay, okay, so I wasn't thinking straight. I was just worried about the big guy and.." Sonic sheepishly shrugged before pausing, lowering his gaze with a soft sigh, his ears drooping. "It's just...I don't want anything bad happen to you guys or anybody else, and I was willing to come in here by myself to try and save our big friend."
"Oh, Sonic..." Amy murmured as she and Tails both felt their hearts ache. While it wasn't as bad as what happened three weeks ago, on their older friend's birthday of all days, it was clear that Sonic was once again blaming himself for things that were beyond his control.
This situation was a past combination of the actions done by the late Dr. Eggman and the linger of darkness from Cormain's body.
The thirteen year old pink hedgehog smiled in sadness, before she gently cupped her boyfriend's left cheek, making the blue hedgehog gaze at her. "We'll pull this through. No matter how scary this is, we're not stopping."
"Amy's right. We made it this far, so we can't back out on this. No matter what happens, we're all a team. A family." The twin-kitsune agreed, reluctantly but gently rubbing Sonic's right arm while hoping it wouldn't cause the sixteen year old to flinch given how it was almost bitten off by the Werehog months ago.
A scarred trauma that made the blue hedgehog rub it as though it would remind himself of how he'd been overconfident and too cocky in the past.
Sonic's eyes widened as he let the words from his adoptive little brother and girlfriend register into his mind, before smiling emotionally over their endless support.
"Thanks, guys." Sonic gratefully responded, pulling his little brother and girlfriend into a warm embrace where they all softly giggled, and he gently gave them a kiss on the head. He then smiled brightly. "When this is all over and we get back home, let's all have a picnic at our favorite palm tree like the last time!"
"The one I showed you?" Amy asked, her and Tails' eyes sparkling in joy.
"Where else?" Was the blue hedgehog's response.
"You do realize we just had one two weeks ago, right?" The two-tailed fox asked teasingly with a chuckle.
Sonic just laughed, winking back with a tease of his own. "Yeah, so? It's one of my new favorite spots! Especially when we're all there together."
"Good point." The three friends all giggled and laughed, continuing to embrace affectionately as they were already making plans on what their future would be like once this adventure was over.
"(What are they talking about?)" The Hover Wisp questioned to the Breeze Wisp quizzedly, only for the later to shrug in confusion. Speed's eyes though widened at just how close the hero of Mobius was to his friends on Mobius, how their happiness radiated through a slight embarrassment, comfort and fun even by just speaking words.
Seeing Sonic bond with not just Tails, but also Amy and even Knuckles, Sun, Star, Cream and Cheese made the cobalt Wisp felt his heart surge with the mixture of warmth and sadness. It was even more clear that the blue hedgehog really did belong to the world where he was born, and while he cared for all Wisps as well, it wasn't his place to remain on Planet Wisp for the rest of his life just so the younger Wisps, namely Spirit, would get to keep him for themselves and never let them go.
'(If Mama and Big Brother Yacker really did do what Spirit is trying to do and keep Sonic and Tails on our planet...everybody in Mobius would miss them so much, just as they would miss their family and friends.)' Speed thought to himself, lowering his gaze in guilt.
Now he could only hope that Spirit and the rest of the Mischief Five could understand that Sonic's heart longed to do and go where he wanted to, and not be kept like a toy or a pet.
Once the three Mobians ceased their laughter and feeling their determination renewed, Sonic, Tails and Amy reluctantly departed before the blue hedgehog placed his hands on his hips, glancing around the tunnel of the throat. "Okay, so back on the subject on where to find the entrance to the second stomach and hopefully we don't end up going down the wrong way."
"And end up trapped for a very long time too." Tails added nervously.
"Yeah, well, it's like you said, Tails. We're already food," Sonic shrugged, before smiling nervously. "Especially since the big guy gulped us like a few kernal of popcorn."
"Well, it's not like anybody can look into their bodies themselves. If only we knew which way to look." Amy muttered worriedly, her hands clasped together.
As much as Sonic hated to admit it, his girlfriend made a very good point. "Well, I guess we'll have to make a guess and if we end up in the wrong stomach, we'll just have to find a way out and get into the right one. Not sure how to do that yet and I hope we really don't get even more swallowed than we already are."
He then glanced around the colossal-sized throat tunnel once again and sweat dropped. "We're probably more than half-way through..."
But before the blue hedgehog could continue, suddenly there was the sloshing sound of disgusting movement which caused the three Mobians and the three Wisps to freeze in their tracks. When they looked further up ahead, their eyes widened as not only did the large sea monster forced the giant whale to swallow it up, but the trail of seaweed and clams it left behind began to shift and form. Right before the heroes' eyes, about at least ten normal sized sea monsters about their height or a bit taller appeared, roaring with anger and mindless goals to destroy any who dared to intrude and defeat their master.
"WHOA!" Sonic yelped with a sweat drop, recoiling in fright while Amy placed her hands onto her cheeks, horrified.
"AAAAAAHHHH!" Tails yelped in fright, jumping a foot in the air with his eyes nearly popping out. He and two of the Wisps whimpered and shook.
"I can't believe it! Where did those things come from?" Amy exclaimed. "I thought the giant whale only swallowed up the bigger sea monster!"
"(Whatever it is, we gotta stop 'em and fast!)" Speed, while having recoiled and yelped in fright as well, narrowed his eyes as he made karate-movements with determination.
Realizing that the little cobalt alien was right, Sonic narrowed his eyes as well as he quickly took a stance. "Yeah, let's take 'em on before they give our friend a sore throat!" Even though he was worried they could accidentally hurt their giant friend from the inside, the blue hedgehog hoped that they can take out their opponents before it was too late.
Seeing that the hero of Mobius had a point despite fearing the same thing, Tails, Amy, the Breeze and Hover Wisps all shared uneasy glances before nodding in agreement, with the pink hedgehog summoning her Piko Piko Hammer, ready to fight. The monsters then roared and charged straight towards Sonic and his friends.
"No bad bacteria allowed in OUR whale!" Sonic shouted mockingly as he charged quickly, easily dodging their attempts to punch or grab him, leaping into the air in a mid-air somersault before axe-kicking at their hands which caused two of the monsters to roar in agony.
Sonic then Spin Dashed into them, his sharped quills slicing through the seaweed bodies even as one of them managed to grab him. But because he was still spinning and used to fighting Knuckles sometimes, he was able to break free with a hiss and leaped away. Just as the same monster who grabbed him made it's move to charge with a snarl, he smirked before spinning once more, this time using his Insta-Shield to protect himself. This caused the sea monster to be thrown back and crashed into the first two opponents, disappearing from sight.
Speed, the Breeze and Hover Wisps flew around and around three more monsters who attempted to grab them to take to their master, only to repeatedly fail due to how fast the little aliens were to the point of, after seeing their heroic blue hedgehog idol made opponents dazed, getting dizzy that they nearly fell over. But the cobalt Wisp then held a mischievous glint in his eye and flew right underneath them, flipping the three monsters into crashing into each other, getting all tangled up into becoming normal piles of seaweed in defeat.
"(Nah nah nah nah nah nah!)" Speed mocked, waving his arms about, making his two brothers laugh hysterically, the three of them all sharing a high-five.
"Take this, you weeds!" Tails, while still scared, glared at two more monsters that were charging towards them. But he flew upward which caused the seaweed creatures to stumble and punched each other in the faces with pained grunts. Smirking in amusement, the two-tailed fox then Spin Dashed into their heads, squashing them as they looked up too late with terrified wide-eyed expressions.
"UGH! You sea-weeds make me totally sick!" Amy snarled in fury, which matched to her power of extending her Hammer as she glared at another seaweed creature who flinched, sweat dropping.
Yet apparently little did she know that another one was appearing behind her and prepared to grab her hammer...Only for the pink hedgehog girl to switch hands and held her larger one in her left while summoning another in her right, bashing the bewildered monster backwards, and then thrust her first one right at the first who, now fearing for it's short-lived life, tried to run away but met it's end.
"Yeah! Just one more to go!" Sonic cheered victoriously, quickly rejoining his friends who smirked proudly, before they glared at the lone sea monster who glared back.
But as it prepared to make it's move, while the blue hedgehog briefly touched the side of the throat tunnel's walls, due to the battle of the seaweed monsters repeatedly landing on the ground in defeat and the six Mobians landing on the floor as well and briefly brushing against the flesh walls, he and his friends then yelped when there was as small movement of the entire room that they nealy lost their balance.
"W-Whoa! Hey, wait, big guy! Settle down, will ya'?" Sonic shouted, while he and Tails both ended up being thrown against the soft and squishy walls, grunting while Amy against the blue hedgehog who quickly caught her in his arms.
While outside of the giant sea animal, the guardian creature itself began to shift a bit uncomfortably as it never felt anything or anybody alive travel down it's throat before for so long as though something was stuck inside, and it even began moving about with an uncontrollable smile since, unbeknownst to Sonic and his friends, they and the sea monsters were accidentally tickling it.
"Whoa! Hey, what's with the big guy?" Sun exclaimed as he and the others struggled to hold without falling off.
Star, sensing that something was up, frowned in concern before using her telepathic powers once more and focused really hard.
Deep in her mind, she could see the first non-fish long ago that were accidentally swallowed up, got a bit stuck in the throat and tried to move their way out only to cause the giant whale to laugh before swallowing water to gulp them down into either stomach before using it's powers to set them free or sneeze.
Then she saw Sonic and his group fight against materializing sea monsters, only to repeatedly and carefully land on the floor, and that triggered a ticklish feeling to the point where some of them ended up leaning against the wall while trying to keep their balance.
"Uh oh...!" The fifteen year old girl murmured worriedly with a sweat drop, causing concern for her friends.
"Why am I getting the feeling that 'Uh-oh' is worse than I think it is?" Knuckles asked.
"You guys know that when you sometimes get a tickling feeling in your throat before you cough, right? Or when something gets stuck in there?" Star began, and when they all nodded, she continued with a shudder. "Sonic and the others are accidentally causing the giant whale to get tickled and when that happens...he laughs and sometimes needs to wash down those who he accidentally ate."
"AHHHHHH!" Sun and Knuckles both exclaimed bewildered, their, Yacker, Cutie, and Cube, Hammer and Burst Wisps' eyes nearly popping out of their heads while Ghostly, Cream and Cheese gasped.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" The former Werehog exclaimed in dismay.
"That's just great...!" The red echidna grunted, gazing at the giant whale's head, fearing for the worst. "If Sonic and the others don't get the shard outta there soon, they won't be able to escape unless the Jumping Wisp uses his power."
Without even thinking about it even though it felt guilty and hoped that it's six much smaller friends who were attempting to save it's life were getting closer to it's non-food stomach, took a few couple of sips of water and much to the horror of Knuckles' group who gasped in shock, it gulped the liquid down and swallowed out of habit to wash Sonic's team further inside.
As much as it hated doing this due to how it's tiny non-sea friends were not inside it's either two stomachs yet, especially since the giant whale swallowed them up yet they managed to prevent themselves from entering the main stomach that could cause problems as it's main diet was fish, the large sea animal right now hoped they would be alright yet feared for their safety and freedom.
Their only chances of escaping at the moment was for Speed to use his teleportation power to get them all out even if or when the giant whale would be forced to wash them as it's food.
Back inside, Sonic and his friends heard a giant 'GULP' once more which made them flinch in fright before they heard splashes of water coming from the mouth up above.
"(Uh...Guys?)" Speed nervously looked back from where they came from.
When Sonic and the rest of the group looked, they all gasped in horror when they saw small but still large enough waves sliding straight towards them, before they screamed and attempted to run up ahead but they were splashed and knocked over, being forced to slide down even further quickly, while the last sea monster was hit and vanished almost instantly due to how hard the waves currents were. Their hearts raced inside their chests while they screamed before the Wisps immediately used their powers to conjor up their shield again, slowing their descend until they all came to a stop.
"Phew...We'd better hurry, or we'll really be real food at the rate this is going." Sonic shakily sighed in relief as he wiped his forehead, standing up while helping Tails and Amy.
"Yeah, the longer we stay inside the throat, the more the whale will try and wash us down by force." Tails agreed.
"Not to mention the big guy kinda being forced to go off of it's diet." The blue hedgehog winced nervously, looking around. "Hate to say this, but if we don't find that shard..." He gulped in fear. "...We're lunch."
"Please don't say that, Sonic..." Amy pleaded, she and the two-tailed fox and the Wisps whimpering before they all huddled up together with Sonic, all six of them squeezing their eyes shut in embrace. "I'm getting really scared..."
"Me too..." The nine year old kit added.
"Sorry, guys. If only we could have found seaweed and had the big guy in sneezing the monster out, then we wouldn't have to be here in the first place." Sonic deeply apologized, doing his best to hold his loved ones very close. "I'm scared too...I wanna get outta here, but we can't leave our friend to die."
As much as his friends didn't like to remain inside the giant whale's body, they knew that the sixteen year old was right. They made it this far, so this was their only chance they got. Taking deep breathes to calm their nerves, the group relaxed enough to re-enforce their courage, love, teamwork and determination to set things right as they knew that the longer they stayed in here, the more chances of the giant whale keeping them as food lingered, while it's death could be made a reality by the giant sea monster.
"(Hey, guys! Look at this!)" The Breeze Wisp, who had been hovering to find some sort of clue on where to find the right stomach entrance, pointed at the floor.
Curious and cautious on what the little blue and white wisp was pointing at, Sonic and the rest of his friends noticed a trail of sea-weed and coral shells leading onward further down into the giant hole. The group's eyes widened in shock and disbelief that there was even one.
"Well, that would work. Looks like the big ol' sea-plant left itself a nice little trail of bread crumbs." Sonic remarked in relief and a smirk, his fingers placed onto his chin.
"What do you think?" Amy asked, a bit skeptical over this.
"Well, it could work. Who knows what could happen if we end up in the wrong stomach." Tails nervously shrugged.
"Let's give it a try," Sonic decided with a nod. "Hold on!"
With that, the teenage hero carefully took hold of his two closest friends' hands and speed super fast following the trail with the three Wisps quickly following, yet the blue hedgehog knew he had to be careful into not setting off the giant whale's instinct and urge to gulp down more water and then unintentionally swallow even more water, maybe even feast on actual fish which could result in them being washed down into it's main stomach and end up trapped for a little while...hopefully.
"Sonic! The signal's getting stronger!" Tails exclaimed, managing to gaze at the Miles Electric without losing it, the bleeping noise becoming quicker.
"That means we're getting closer! I hope we'll make it to the second stomach and not end up in the food one!" Amy cried out hopefully, terrified that they would end up becoming the giant whale's actual meal along with the fish if it got too hungry to resist in eating all of them for real.
"Here's hopin'! But which one will open up first?" Sonic asked, mentally gulping in fear. He didn't want to be stuck here for the rest of his life, or have his friends trapped forever either.
Eventually the group of six friends found themselves racing carefully through the giant hole, only for Sonic to slow to a stop and carefully letting his little brother and girlfriend down. But when the group then looked up to see how much further they were in, they all gaped in shock as in front of them was a flesh-made labyrinth with cliff sides, a pool of more water leading to a tunnel blow, and a little further up on the ledge, another hole. To make things more weird and gross, was giant bubbles about the Mobians' sizes materalizing in a light shade of a blue glow before bursting all over the place with sparkles.
"(Oooooooh...)" The Breeze Wisp surprisingly murmured in awe.
"That's weird. Where are we?" Sonic was confused, yet feeling grately relieved that this wasn't as terrifying as he thought it would, but it was still scary enough since he knew they were all still trapped inside the giant whale.
Fully unaware that the Lunanina Comet Shard within his quills was glowing in the golden light, as though in a synic with the bubbles.
"Hey, this isn't the entrance to one of the stomachs...Is it?" Amy asked, blinking.
Tails frowned thoughtfully, before he made a quick scan on his Miles Electric, sweat dropping in horror as he let out a soft gasp. "This is awful! The sea monster's using the Lunania Comet Shard's power to forcefully change the esophagus into a maze-like tunnel, making it more difficult to reach the two stomachs..." He shuddered nervously. "Let alone for the giant whale to eat up fish and swallow those it accidentally catches."
"Huh!?(Huh!?)" Amy and the two remaining Wisps gaped in disbelief.
"How do you know?" The pink hedgehog asked.
"Given how this isn't normal from what Sonic told me, this is definitely the power of the shard itself. Making it very painful for our friend." The two-tailed fox cub explained.
'Oh man, this is bad!' Sonic thought to himself worriedly, before he turned his gaze to the labyrinth before them, narrowing his eyes as the urgency to save the giant whale and return it's throat and stomachs back to normal came more dire than ever before. "Guess we'll have to cross our way through this maze to get up there and hopefully to the non-food storage."
"But...Which way do we go?" Amy asked, worriedly.
"Let's try the one at the top. Something tells me that the one in the big swimming pool is the new short cut to where all the food would be stored. Especially the fish." The hero of Mobius suggested.
'That and...I'm just not ready to take a dip, yet.' He added to himself with a frightened glance at the deep water below waiting to engulf him, despite the sinking feeling in his stomach over what Knuckles had told him earlier. The blue hedgehog knew that his friend was right, he would have to eventually get over this fear sooner or later.
But that was a problem for another time. Right now, Sonic had to focus on saving a friend first and protect his loved ones.
Nodding in agreement nervously, and having decided that the Wisps need to save their strength for real emergencies from here on out, Sonic scooped up Amy into his arms before making a daring dash and leap onto one of the ledges with his girlfriend yelping in alarm as she held onto him, while Tails, Speed, the Breeze and Hover Wisps flew to reach the top. The blue hedgehog found, much to his and everybody else's surprise, sprung him and the pink hedgehog up like a launch spring pad.
And when they got too close to falling and screamed with the sixteen year old planting his feet onto the top of the bubble expecting it to burst, to his and his girlfriend's further astonishment, not only they ended up feeling that it was solid, but as he bounced off and landed inside another getting accidentally trapped inside with Amy, Sonic gasped as their friends cried out both their names. Yet the bubble glowed in a blue aura before it floated them to the next platform
"Whoa!" Sonic and Amy both yelped as they came to land onto it, and were set free when the bubble burst in an audiable 'Pop!', before the sixteen year old quickly realized what this meant and smirked, using this to his advantage. "Hey, this is kinda fun! Reminds me of the spring clouds on Angel Island."
"A squishy spring pad and bubbles used for platforms or carrying people inside the labyrinth of a giant whale...? I can't tell if this is weird, amazing or just simply gross." The thirteen year old girl groaned, mentally shaking her head over this. But then again, her boyfriend was known to find entertainment in over very unusual things like this, so she shouldn't be too surprised.
"Uh...I think it's a combination of all three, Amy." Tails awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, unable to come up with a better scientific or logical explanation.
"You gotta admit, though, it makes this place a little less scary and way past cool. Harder but less scary." Sonic stated, adjusting his footing as he glanced around where to to leap next to reach the entrance at the top, also using the bubbles when another edge was too far, as though the whale was using it's magic to help them out.
"(Uh-oh! Incoming!)" The Hover Wisp quickly yelled in panic, pointing up ahead which made the other two Wisps and the three Mobians look up to see, to their horror, six more monsters emerge from the top entrance with sea-weed ropes held in their grasps from their bodies, snarling at the six young heroes.
While his friends were horrified yet frustrated, Sonic was just as annoyed as he snarled with his blood boiling. "This is getting on my nerve!"
"We don't have for this, Sonic!" His two-tailed little brother protested urgently. "The giant whale could be getting weaker by the minute and we have to be careful or else he'll trap us inside his food storage!"
"But how can we fight them off without hurting him?" Amy pointed out.
"(I have an idea!)" The Breeze Wisp declared bravely, getting the attention of it's friends while pointing at itself and the Hover Wisp. "(Me and Hover will take care of this! Right?)"
Realizing the plan instantly despite that Sonic, Tails and Amy quickly grew concerned for the aliens' welfare, the green Wisp narrowed it's eye with determination. "(You got it!)"
"Hold on! Let me help!" The cobalt teenager volunteered, gently putting his girlfriend down. "It'll take the three of us to stop these monster creeps!"
Despite their protests and that Sonic could easily fall into the pool leading to, potentially, where the main stomach was and become trapped as the giant whale's non-sea-food meal, the two Wisps nodded in agreement before they, Speed, Tails and Amy who, narrowing their eyes, summoned her Hammer once again, readied themselves as the monsters leaped for an attack.
"Here we go!" Sonic quickly spun into using his Homing Attack, bashing away two of the seaweed monsters who looped their ropes to capture him. But his quills sliced them into pieces before the creatures met the same fate. He then uncurled himself and leaped further away while using the ledges to bounce to safety.
Amy tossed her Hammers at two more, but was shocked when one of the creatures whipped her weapons away and sent descending into the pool below with a couple of splashes. She sweat dropped in horror with a gasp, before quickly summoning another while Tails and the Wisps used their abilities to do the same, only for them to be forced to leap away to try and evade the monsters who began charging after them.
Having an idea, Amy then bashed another monster straight towards one of the bubbles where it went straight through and became trapped before it popped, only for the sea-weed monster to vanish as well.
"Wow! These bubbles must be the whale's doing!" She remarked in awe.
"Maybe this could work to our advantage!" Tails suggested, hovering into the air and spun his namesakes to force two more monsters to lose their balance while Speed used Sonic's Spin Dash to knock one of the two, both ending up hitting the bubbles and vanishing as well.
"Thanks, big guy!" Sonic called out, smiling in relief as he felt this was working out in their favor.
The two remaining Wisps, seeing this and also having an idea, narrowed their eyes before they flew towards Sonic who nodded in agreement. The cobalt hedgehog made a daring leap and quickly Homing Attacked more monsters several monsters who lassoed their seaweed ropes to catch them, only for him to slice them with his sharpened quills and knocked them back into the bubbles, resulting the same fate.
The Breeze Wisp then held a smug look and used it's icy power to freeze up two more monsters just in case the sea monsters tried to escape, causing them to fall and end up hitting the pool of water below, evaporating. The Hover Wisp forced other sea monsters into the bubbles from below where they would end up stuck and disappeared in defeat, crying out in comical alarm with their eyes nearly bulging out of their heads.
"Get a load of this, ya' pieces of sushi!" Sonic grinned confidently at the four monsters who sweat dropped nervously at the way he looked.
Not wasting anymore time, once they were certain the others were safe as they continued to knock back the decreasing enemies, the two Wisps flew over to Sonic who leaped by using the bubbles as spring platforms, cheering in excitement since this was becoming more and more fun by the second, allowing the Breeze Wisp to fuse it's power into him.
"ICE!"
In his Icicle form, Sonic flew up and spun around and around the four monsters who tried to catch him with bewildered expressions which was the last thing they ever did before they were frozen in solid ice. Now trapped and unable to move, the seaweed monsters lost their balance and fell towards the pool below. But the hero of Mobius wasn't done yet as he quickly defused from the Breeze Wisp and merged with the Hover Wisp for the next phase of this battle.
"HOVER!"
Now using the power of the Hover form, Sonic shoved the monsters high up and once he quickly returned to normal, having another idea he whistled out to the others who, getting the message with a new change of plan, Tails nodded and flew over to catch him by the arms, the two brothers holding each other's hands as the nine year old cub hovered to make this count.
"Ready, partner?" Sonic asked, having quickly came up with this idea.
"Whenever you are!" Tails winked bravely.
"DOUBLE SPIN!" The two brothers chorused, performing their combined attack and bashed up the monsters into oblivion, causing the creatures to vanish without a trace.
"Yeah, alright!" Amy cheered happily with the three Wisps flying around and sharing high-fives for the successful match.
Grinning and sharing a bro-fist in mid-air, Tails carried Sonic back to where the others were, thankfully now close to their actual destination. The two, Amy and the Wisps then all shared a high-five of celebration, cheering. "YES!"
"Are you guys okay?" Sonic asked, despite knowing that he knew they were more than capable of defending themselves.
"Yeah...Boy, that was really crazy but kinda fun." Tails admitted, smirking a little.
"For a weird transformed place, at least these bubbles and ledges come in handy." Amy remarked, glancing around the area once more.
"No kidding. You'd think this was more of a fun-house than the inside of a giant whale." The blue hedgehog agreed, rubbing his nose. He then sighed and gazed at the labyrinth once more. "It's too bad it's causing more harm to our big guy than anything else. I hope he's doing okay outside."
Though before Tails, Amy and the Wisps, who all softly gasped and lowered their gazes realizing that Sonic was right, they all heard a loud, gigantic moan of the whale which alerted the Mobians and Wisps who gasped and looked up. But just as the entire chamber was about to rock violently again, some of the glowing bubbles popped when they touched the walls slowly one by one, the sparkles seeping into them. Then they heard the pained moaning settle down a little, into a bit of a sigh of relief, much to their confusion.
"Huh? What's going on?" Sonic asked, glancing around at the bubbles. "Are these bubble's easing our buddy's pain?"
"It's almost as though they are acting like the whale's immune system or anti-bacteria of sorts. I can't exactly explain why, though." Tails theorized, in much confusion as his friends.
"(Huh? Imu-what and Aunty-What-Now?)" Speed quirked an eye-ridge, dumbfounded while the Breeze and Hover Wisps floated with blank expressions.
"Well, you see, everybody has an immune system that prevents certain kinds of diseases from making us sick, and anti-bacteria inside our bodies act as shields to hold off bacteria which are so tiny they can't be seen but they can cause a lot of harm. Imagine us being exactly that of the whole universe which is enormous. Same with our planets, suns, everything scientifically proven." The two-tailed fox-cub explained.
Which only resulted in the three Wisps to stare in utter confusion that you could practically see question marks pop up all around them.
"Let's just say that it's sorta like how the seaweed monster is making our whale friend sick, only way smaller than a speck of dirt on the ground." Sonic translated sheepishly as he quickly understood the cute little aliens' sheer lack of scientific knowledge.
"(Ooooooh.)" Speed, the Breeze and Hover Wisps all murmured, half-understanding. Well, sort of.
"But if we don't hurry, the whale might not last much longer." Amy reminded in deep concern.
Nodding in agreement as he knew she was right, deciding to take these strange bubbles as some kind of painkillers, Sonic called up as loudly as possible. "Hang in there, big guy! We're gonna save you! Just hold on a bit longer!"
Not certain if the massive sea animal could hear him or not, and whimpering with the thought that they may end up trapped as the giant whale's food for the rest of their lives, the hero of Mobius held onto his friends after telling them to hold on, before he and the Wisps, who sensed that time was really running out, hurried up into the passage and raced along through to hopefully the right entrance of the second non-food stomach.
Unaware that the shard in his possession was still glowing...along with the Chaos Energy deep within his heart.
Taking a lot of twists and turns, one tunnel to the next and even a fork in the road while defeating the slightly harder seaweed monsters and nearly being washed down whenever the whale ended up being accidentally tickled to the point that it was struggling to hold back the urge to simply swallow them into it's food stomach, the group raced towards another large hole while getting tired of the labyrinth of the sea guardian.
"Man, that comet shard's really messing up with everything and everyone, isn't it?" Sonic remarked, getting tired of being trapped here and having no luck in finding the right entrance or even the sea monster at all.
"I'm more worried about how Spirit and the Mischief Five are going to use it's split up power than anything else," Amy stated, lowering her gaze. "Even with the little bit of Cormain's darkness within him, what if it will...cause even more problems worse than this?"
"I'm just as worried as you are, Ames. But we gotta think more positive and set things right. Still not sure how we can save him without the Chaos Emeralds, but like I said, we can't rely on them forever. Who knows what'll happen if we do." The blue hedgehog responded, and really, who can blame him? Craving for power can turn people against loved ones, then eventually to many people until they are consumed by that dark goal.
Which is something that Sonic never wanted to go through. He didn't care if he had to die fighting, as long as his loved ones and the universe are safe, that's what really mattered to him the most.
'Spirit...You gotta be strong. I know that all of you Wisps wanted to see me and Tails that badly, but you gotta think about each other, your love for one another, and the happy memories you have, and the understanding of people's feelings too.' Sonic hoped that whatever this light within his heart was, it would help the Jade-Ghost Wisp to understand and become resistant to the darkness.
Eventually they came to slide down another tunnel when it was impossible to keep their footing. They all cried out and screamed before they made a bit of an awkward landing. Wincing, they all then helped each other up before looking around their surroundings. It looked normal enough, and another hole laid before them. Sharing a glance and a nod, Sonic and his friends all hurried to where it would lead, coming to a stop when they saw two entrances. To their deep concern, the one on their right was slightly opening wide, making the group sweat drop nervously.
Close by from where they came from was a seemingly river stream with water flowing straight towards the opened entrance, trickling ever so slightly.
The mere sight of them was horrifying as never in any of their lives would they ever expect to be this close to a stomach entrance. Let alone two. Well, for Sonic it was three times. First in his inner battle against the Werehog, and the other two being the Bamboo Jungle Dragon and the Past-self of the real Werehog to save both Red and his former evil brother and Sonic's alternate counterpart Scourge.
"Now which way?" Amy asked, worriedly. "Which one is which?"
"Well, the trail looks like is coming from the left one, and I got a feelin' the right is where all the food goes." Sonic remarked, gazing solely onto the now almost miniascule but still visible trail of sea weed traces and coral-shell parts lying on the floor.
"You're right, Sonic," Tails shuddered nervously, edging closer to the left stomach entrance where the signal was getting even louder and quicker. "The Lunania Comet Shard's readings are coming through this way, along with the energy slowly changing it inside out. The sea monster is definitely in this one. That's the real second stomach where those like us would be kept inside until the giant whale let's them out through it's blowhole. And from this river, it's a safe bet that it's where the pool we nearly fell into earlier also leads to here, but way too risky for us to take without us slipping."
"(Wait a minute, if that's the case and it's not opening, then that means...)" Speed trailed off, both deadpanned and terrified at the same time, with the Breeze and Hover Wisps both sharing incredulous looks of terror.
"Yep. Definitely was afraid of that. Which means that our friend here is gettin' pretty hungry." Sonic nervously replied with a sweat drop.
"So how do we go inside the other way?" The pink hammer-wielding hedgehog glanced at the second, closed up entrance.
While uncertain how to do so, Sonic knew that maybe asking would help. So he stared up at the ceiling and took a deep breath, before yelling out as loud as he could to get the giant whale's attention. "Yo, big guy! Think you can give us a bit of a magic help to open the no-food stomach door? We're at the two entrances and we don't wanna end up going in the wrong room."
Silence.
"Hello? Whale Dude? Can ya' hear me?" The blue hedgehog called again, becoming more and more nervous with the lack of response.
"Um, I don't think he's gonna hear you even if you get louder." Tails dully pointed out, before suggesting. "But maybe we can get the others to ask for us."
Another awkward moment of silence.
"Yeah, that'll work." Sonic sheepishly agreed, causing Speed to hold a bewildered expression before the little Wisp groaned while facepalming himself with one tentacle, Amy sighed with a soft giggle at how silly her boyfriend sounded, and both the Breeze and Hover Wisps blinked, dumbfounded.
Deciding to go for this approach, the teenage hero fiddled with his WCS to call one of their friends.
At that moment outside of the Whale, Knuckles, Sun, Star, Cream and Cheese off heading straight towards a sand dune that stretched out quite a bit.
"Hey, I don't know about you guys, but do you think we should give our friend a break from giving us a ride while we're waiting?" Sun suggested, starting to feel like a heavy load despite the giant whale being much bigger and therefore neither he or the rest of his friends weight even a ton.
That, and he was getting sick and tired of not being on land after so long. While he had been taking a bit of swimming lessons lately with Espio happily obliging to help him, the tangerine hedgehog knew he wouldn't be a full on decent swimmer until he got comfortable enough to do so. But he wasn't worried about that since the former Sonic clone found out how to stay afloat without sinking.
It was the real Sonic he was really worried about. Even though the words were directed to his cobalt brother who held the ashamed look that concerned Sun, Knuckles' words rang heavily into his head for whatever reason.
"Sonic, I hate to say this, but you really gotta get over your phobia with water. I know you hate getting wet, and you can't just keep on avoiding it and whether you do have the Sea Mask or not, you have to face it sooner or later. Otherwise it will end terribly."
While Sonic did admit his faults for his phobia which even he admitted he had to get over one day, Sun felt a twinge of anger towards the older Mobian for bring brunt for his choice of words.
'I know Knuckles is right about that, but did he have to hurt Sonic's feelings over it?' Sun had thought that Sonic finally recovered fully from the traumatic experience five months ago and, his birthday adventure aside, the sixteen year old was a lot more happier than he ever was.
Feeling guilt surge heavily into his head, the former Werehog lowered his gaze as the realization hit hard for him, remembering what Sonic said yesterday back in Mobotropolis.
"Well, how can I not? I mean, let's get real here, guys. Things are going really crazy and I'm not sure how or why Spirit felt the need to suddenly gather up followers to go against their own mother and Yacker just to make me and Tails stay and 'liven things up'." Sonic confessed, looking away in guilt as he swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. He sighed while rubbing his right arm again. "If only I had stopped Eggman from doing what he did, but at the same time...things would've been a whole lot worse if he were still alive."
Squeezing his eyes shut, the cobalt speedster felt guilt rise up once more. "I...I don't want to make enemies out of everybody I care about and love, especially the sweet and kind and gentle and fun Wisps...All of this mess is because of me...!" Unable to bear it, he placed a hand to his face to try and calm down.
'I guess the scar is still fresh on his mind. Maybe he thinks he's unworthy in being a friend and a hero.' Sun's heart ached as his ears drooped, cursing Cormain for reopening his wounds even if the monster was gone.
But he knew now that Sonic will not relax and be fully happy again until the darkness is purged from Spirit's body. If only there was something he could do to bring back Sonic's full confidence and happiness again.
Ding ding!
A tingling sound brought Sun out of his thoughts, making him and the others, confused, glance around before Knuckles realized it was coming from his WCS and answered it's communication mode.
"Sonic, is that you?" The seventeen year old guardian asked, immediately.
Much to his and the rest of the group's relief, the blue hedgehog's face appeared on screen. "Hey, Knux. You guys still together?"
"Yeah, we're just heading over to a sand dune right now." Knuckles replied, just as the others hovered over him...and causing him to yelp when they nearly squashed him over. "Wha-hey!"
"Mr. Sonic! Are you, Amy, Tails and the Wisps okay?" Cream asked, immediately in concern.
"Chao, chao?" Cheese chirped.
"We're okay, Cream. Don'tcha worry." Sonic chuckled lightly, smiling brightly to see the others, giving him such huge warmth and relief in his heart. After being stuck inside the giant whale for what felt like eternty, he was happy to see them, as did Amy, Tails and the three Wisps who carefully peered over his shoulders.
"Where are you guys, besides the obvious?" Sun asked almost immediately, getting straight to the point, ignoring Knuckles' protests in the background that sort of sounded like, 'Hey-get off of me! Come on, guys! I'm being s-squashed here!'
"Well...This is gonna sound completely gross, but we're in front of the two stomachs doorways," The blue hedgehog replied, shrugging sheepishly. "Problem is, we can't get through where the shard and the sea monster are, since it's all closed up and..."
"(The other stomach's hole is opening a bit and we're worried that the whale's getting pretty hungry.)" Speed piped up with a worried expression.
"HUH!?" Everyone else on top of the giant whale couldn't help but gasp simultaneously, the eyes of Knuckles, Sun, and even Yacker nearly bulging out of their heads.
"Yeah, so we were hopin' if you guys could ask the big guy to let us through the left entrance before he goes off having a snack or somethin'." Sonic chuckled nervously, a scared look clearly shown in his eyes.
That made the group all slump with Sun, Star, Knuckles, and the Wisps all sweat dropping with groans of annoyance.
"That's just great." The orange hedgehog grumbled.
The giant whale in the meantime, feeling utter shame since it's food stomach was beginning to rumble as it was getting pretty hungry, had it's expression droop with it's heart heavy yet somehow it was feeling rather comfortable enough to use it's power to at least open up it's second entrance once more briefly.
It made a musical mournful sound which got the attention of the remaining Mobians and Wisps, Yacker, Cutie, Ghostly, Lily, and the Cube, Hammer and Red-Spiky Wisps listening in before they jolted in dismay with squeals, yet when they heard what else it had to say, they somewhat relaxed a little but still felt horrified.
"Okay, what's going on now?" Sun asked, warily. Though judging their expressions of horror, he knew almost instantly that it wasn't a good sign.
"(He says that having the sea-monster inside it's second stomach, and Sonic and his friends travel down his throat for so long even when it washed them down earlier are making him hungry. It's like Star said. Whenever something gets stuck in his throat or tickles when he can't get them out without sneezing, he ends up swallowing both food to keep himself healthy and those who he accidentally and sometimes unknowingly gulped down into his food stomach and needs to relax before he can set the non-fish free.)" Yacker explained in deep concern, while Cutie and Ghostly were being comforted by Lily.
"What!?" Everybody else screamed in horror, sharing dismayed glances.
"(And because of that, he said that he can't hold it in any longer...But he also said he can open up as long as Sonic and the others hurry through quickly. After that, he has to eat right away.)" The curl-headed cute Wisp continued, which while it did ease some tension from both groups, it didn't make them feel any better.
As Sonic and his friends all listened in, the group trapped inside the whale all shared uneasy glances. None the less, if they did hurry, at least they still had a chance, and now that they thought of it, the blue hedgehog smirked with his confidence returning.
"That's not much of a problem with me around. The big guy opens up, I can speed us in there in a sonic second!" Sonic reassured, which instantly gave his group fresh hopes and relief with another shared glance.
"That's right! With Sonic's speed, we can get through without any problems." Tails agreed wholeheartedly, and the three Wisps began to cheer on excitedly.
"If anybody can get us through even with the time limit, it's you, sweetie!" Amy beamed, happily pecking her boyfriend on the right cheek which made the blue hedgehog blush with a light chuckle.
"Well, I'm not the fastest thing alive for nothin'." He replied, his heart leaping over the gentle kiss. Sonic then turned back to his communicator, responding to the group outside. "Yo, Yacker! Can you, Cutie and the other Wisps tell the big guy to open up his second stomach and then once we're through he can eat the fish?"
Listening to what Sonic had requested, the rest of the group also shared relieved glances, understanding the logic of this as Cream, feeling hope surge, beamed. "That's right! Mr. Sonic can run straight through and carry our friends with him before Mr. Whale eats."
"Chao, chao!" Cheese cheered in relief.
"Sometimes I forget that Sonic's incredible speed is unlike any other." Star giggled sheepishly.
"Yeah, no kidding. I may have come from him, but even I can't run as fast as Blue, or Shadow." Sun chuckled, shaking his head with a relieved smile. That was one crisis averted, at least.
Nodding in agreement, Yacker flew over in front of the whale's face which surprised the latter, before the little curl-headed alien explained the situation as well as the plan Sonic's group had formed. While even more reluctant and horrified over it, the giant sea animal felt a little bit better and, despite that it's insides were being forcefully transformed, it nodded and spoke to the Wisp on what it should do. Nodding back, he flew back up to the others.
"(Okay, Sonic. The whale says that he can open up his second stomach, then you are to speed through straight away, or else you will have to wait. But he will need to rest for a bit before he can let all of you go by sneezing once he's done eating.)" Yacker informed.
"Thanks, Yacker! We'll check back with you guys soon. Team Sonic out." Sonic gratefully replied, winking before he hung up.
"Well, guess we'd better get ourselves off before we end up taking a dip into the ocean." Knuckles declared firmly.
"They'll be okay, Mr. Knuckles. They've got Mr. Speed and Mr. Sonic there." Cream now reassured, even though it was mainly to hide how scared she was for her friends.
Despite the anxiety over this plan and how may fail, the guardian of the Master Emerald knew that she was right, so he nodded silently hoping that it would work.
With that in mind, the remaining Wisps used their powers to levitate the Mobians and Cheese off of the whale who, once seeing that they all landed safely on the sand dune and gave a nod to the heroes, began to glow once more, and, unbeknownst to all of them, the magical bubbles it didn't actually created and that it was Sonic's heart and the Lunania Comet Shard he carried that helped, it began to feel a little bit better despite what it was going through.
The moment Sonic hung up before he and his friends stood back a little hoping to not end up trapped inside the main stomach, much to their greatest surprise and relief, the second stomach's entrance, which to their surprise, was opening up to reveal the promising tunnel to where they needed to go.
Beaming, the hero of Mobius smirked telling his friends to grab on which they quickly did, and shouted excitedly. "Alright! Here we go!"
Careful not to cause too much friction with his speed and be as light as possible, Sonic dashed straight into the left entrance with Tails, Amy, and even the Wisps, despite being able to fly even faster than him, held on as they didn't want to take any chances, yelping in alarm. Once they made it through in just a few short seconds, they were already half way through the left stomach's entrance when he slowed to a stop and gently set his companions down.
The Mobians and Wisps looked over their shoulders just as the second stomach's entrance was then squeezed shut tight and all sighed in relief.
"We made it through!" Tails celebrated.
"That means we won't have to be stuck in the food stomach and wait any longer. Now we can get that shard from the creepy sea monster!" Amy beamed, clasping her hands together.
"Thanks for opening the door for us, big guy!" Sonic praised loudly, and while he knew the giant whale couldn't see him, he gave it a thumbs up none the less.
Back outside, the giant whale then stopped glowing and gave a moan of slight exhaustion, yet it felt huge relief as it could now feel it's tiny friends inside the tunnel of it's non-food stomach yet felt it's main one gurgle, demanding for food. As much as it felt guilty for still having it's friends trapped, at least it didn't have to worry about them being forced to become it's food now. The look of discomfort didn't go unnoticed as Knuckles' group watched on, worriedly.
"Do you think Mr. Whale is okay?" Cream asked, concerned.
"Chao chao?" Cheese chirped.
"(I hope so. I'm really worried about Sonic and everybody else.)" Cutie murmured.
Just then, the waves departed slightly as to the group's surprise, nearby where they were, a small pod of young dolphins, seemingly oblivious to the dangers and managed to avoid in getting caught up by the monsters, emerged and began splashing about happily. The girls of the group and the little Chao all beamed in awe with their eyes sparkling, Cutie clapping two tentacles together.
"(Oh, cute!)" She squealed excitedly.
"Look at all the pretty dolphins!" Cream remarked.
"Chao!" Cheese squeaked in agreement.
"Huh, didn't see that coming." Sun blinked, surprised.
The dolphins, about maybe four or five, were not only splashing about, but they were also playing a game of kicking an empty clam shell with their tails in the hair, either within the water or jumping out to get a better score to their advantage. Yet, as the youngsters of the sea played, one of them accidentally knocked it straight towards where the Mobians and Wisps were like a jet missiles...and straight onto the red echidna who yelped in fright.
CLANG!
"OW!" The seventeen year old screamed as he fell backwards onto the ground, much to the bewilderment of his friends who all awkwardly watched the incident unfold.
SPLASH!
"Uh...Knuckles?" Sun reached out, dumbfounded.
Just as Knuckles groaned while rubbing his head with the clam falling next to him, he sat up and glared angrily at the dolphins. "Hey, watch where you're kicking things!"
The group sweat dropped, while the tangerine hedgehog shrugged with an awkward chuckle. "Didn't see that coming either."
This was definitely not the red echidna's day.
As this happened, the giant whale saw what transferred and held a look of exasperation before it drifted off to the young pod who, seeing the massive sea creature approach, flinched with worried expressions before sinking slightly in embarrassment and guilt. Those feelings grew as they communicated in sea langauge when the giant guardian gave them a gentle scolding about playing kick the clam and that they had accidentally hurt someone. The young dolphins made squeaks of apologies before sinking back beneath the sea.
"(And I thought some of the younger Wisps were a handful...)" Yacker muttered to himself, shrugging in disbelief over the display. Who would've thought that dwellers of other worlds had the same or similar kind of problems when it comes to kids?
"Ugh, I wish Sonic and the others would hurry up so we can get the heck out of here." Knuckles grumbled, standing up while rubbing the sore spot on his head. If this went on for much longer, he was about to go crazy.
"Are you okay, Mr. Knuckles?" Cream asked gently.
"Yeah, I'm fine." The red echidna replied, sighing. 'This is a nightmare.'
By then, the dolphins all made promises to be more careful in the future before wishing their guardian the best and dove back into the ocean before the giant whale returned to it's spot where the Mobians and Wisps waited. The Wisps, being the translators, listened in very carefully before they widened their eyes with sweat drops.
Star also listened in carefully, before she frowned thoughtfully. "Hmmm...It looks like you're kind of like the father figure to those young dolphins, aren't you?"
The Whale, once again astonished over the hedgehog girl's ability to read it's heart and mind, nodded.
"(Mr. Whale said that they are like his own children, but sometimes it's hard to keep up with them especially when they're playing. He also said that they lost their parents two years ago and has been taking care of them whenever he could.)" Ghostly translated sympathetically, Cutie, Lily and Yacker going up to the saddened Whale who lowered it's gaze a little, the three Wisps gently patting it on the face.
"Aw, those poor dolphins." Cream murmured to the giant sea animal, sharing the feeling with the Wisps.
"Tails, Knuckles and Star can vouch for that." Sun, hearing this, sympathized.
"Whoops." The aforementioned echidna lowered his head, now feeling ashamed for having yelled at the dolphins like that when they were orphans just playing a game, and that the giant whale had been taking care of them as though they were it's own kids.
In a way, the massive sea guardian was kind of like Sonic and Gaiver in many different ways, being kind, caring, adopting an orphan like Tails, and in the former giant gorilla's case, being a fatherly figure to even those who already had families.
The Whale, despite feeling very hungry, decided to hold off the urge to dive into the ocean and eat fish in order to give Sonic's group more time to fight off the giant sea monster and teleport out with Speed's power. So it rested once more and waited along with the rest of the group who, feeling it was taking far longer than they would have liked, hoped that their trapped friends would be alright.
While their friends were getting a bit of an unexpected entertainment, Tails then checked the Miles Electric and found that the signal was bleeping like crazy, then he and the others looked up to see the larger hole up ahead. "It looks like the second stomach is right there, where the sea monster is waiting."
"Well, then, I guess it's time to fertilize the big, bad, weed! Ready for an element of surprise?" Sonic, now feeling a rush of hope flow through his body, confidently declared with a grin. His friends all cheered silently, as they all knew that they had to take it nice and slow to avoid in getting attacked.
"C'mon, let's go!" The hero of Mobius gestured, taking the lead with his friends following in hopes to defeat the sea monster and retrieve the Lunania Comet Shard to restore the giant Whale's health.
Yet unaware that their adventures in the transformed world was still far from over.
A/N: Sorry that this world's exploration is going to be longer than the last time, but each time I struggled in how to go through the journey inside the giant whale's body by adding in certain parts I wanted to put in without making the chapter super long. I originally was going to have the battle and exit put into the one chapter, but in the end I had to break it up into three parts for this.
Hopefully, the next chapter will have Sonic and his friends leave the giant whale, reunite with their friends and continue their quest throughout the Tropical Frost(Aka: Aquarium Park) world for the rest of ideas I wanted to put in. In the meantime, welcome back to this story for 2023, and hopefully I'll post the next chapter sooner than the last time.
See you later!
