Here's chapter 7 of the story.
Disclaimer: You all know it.
Chapter 7: Heroes and the Haunted Ship.
Sonic and Tails had managed to build a radio tower in order to scan something that Blaze wanted to find out. They found out that they could use the radio tower to open a communication channel to their home. Armand picked up the signal and got everyone over there. Sonic and Amy, then Tails and Cream, managed to get some private time to talk, then everyone in Sonic's home was brought up to speed. Now Sonic, Blaze, Tails, and Marine can continue to find a way to get Sonic and Tails home.
Tails was watching the radio tower's scanner, watching to see if it would pick up anything, Marine was doing her own thing, Blaze was wondering if Silver was okay, and Sonic was, as usual, bored out of his mind. He yawned and was about to fall asleep when the tracker started beeping. It had picked something up.
"Hey, listen up, everyone!" Tails said. Everyone turned their attention to him.
"What's up, Tails?" Marine asked.
"You know how we made a tower to detect plasma, electric, and magnetic waves?" Tails asked.
"Yeah, okay, that tower." Sonic replied, acknowledging what Tails said.
"I love that tower! It's perfect for climbing, and the view from the top is a beaut!" Marine exclaimed.
"Well, at least somebody gets some enjoyment out of the tower." Sonic thought to himself.
"So, what about it?" Blaze asked.
"Well, I've detected some strange electromagnetic activity." Tails told them. "It's really weird. It's a waveform I've never seen before."
"Tails, this is Blaze's world, remember. Things might be different here." Sonic told him.
"That's true, I guess." Tails thought to himself. "You're right."
Blaze then thought of something. "Wait. That electromagnetic activity, it's very unusual?"
"Uh, Blaze, do you know something about this?" Sonic asked.
"Yes. We have picked up unusual readings before, but…" Blaze began. "The source is still unknown, and we only have a rough idea of its location. It's near an area known for sightings of ghost ships."
"Really?" Sonic asked. "Sounds like fun. Maybe we can find something there."
"You know, I was intending to take a closer look at that area, so this is perfect." Blaze told them. "So, which direction is this electromagnetic activity coming from?"
"Somewhere from the east." Tails said. "I believe it's somewhere in that foggy area."
Marine was just silent. Apparently, she was thinking about something.
"What's wrong, Marine? You seem awfully quiet." Tails asked.
"Huh? What is it?" Marine asked.
"It looked like you were lost in thought or something." Tails said.
"Come on, where's all that energy you usually have? Let's get going." Sonic said.
Sonic, Blaze, and Tails left, but Marine held back for a minute.
"Are we really going? And there's going to be ghost ships?" Marine asked herself. "But I can't be scared, though. I'm the captain. No ghosts can scare me off."
Marine then exited the house and caught up to the others. They headed into the Ocean Tornado's dock, entered the boat, and left for the area where the signal was coming from. Once they were on the ocean, they started sailing east. The trip was relatively quiet, and soon they came upon an island that looked deserted, save for a small house that looked like only one person could live here. They landed and started looking around. Well, Marine did, anyway.
"Heeeeeey! Anybody there!?" Marine called. The others walked up.
"It looks like there's nobody home." Tails said.
"Well, except for an island and an empty house. This is boring." Sonic said, in his well-known bored tone.
"But it looks like someone still lives here, though. Maybe they just went out?" Tails asked. "We'll come back later. Maybe whoever lives here knows something useful."
"Okay." Sonic said. "Hey, come on, Marine! Let's go!"
"Aw, but I want to 'ave more of a gander about, mate! Maybe there's something else here." Marine said.
"Nobody's here right now, so let's go!" Sonic said.
"Well, sorry for being curious, mate." Marine said in a sarcastic tone.
Sonic was ticked off, and if it were Shadow, Jet, or someone else that had said that, he would have attacked. But he knew that he couldn't since Marine was younger than him. But as they were about to leave, they heard something walk up from behind them. It was yet another koala, this one having green shorts, a straw hat, and weird-looking glasses. He also wore the same sandals that the other Coconut Crew members wore, and he had a red pencil and a notebook with him.
"Huh? What do you want?" The koala asked. Marine knew this figure.
"Oy, it's Kylok!" Marine said. Kylok instantly remembered her.
"Marine, is that really you?" Kylok asked.
"Do you know this guy, Marine?" Tails asked.
"Yeah, sure do!" Marine replied before turning to Kylok. "It's been yonks, mate!"
"Heheheh. You're still as scrappy as ever, you little runt." Kylok said.
Blaze walked up to them and asked Kylok about the signal.
"Right. Well, I've lived here a long time, so I've heard rumors about that ghost ship, but…" Kylok said, but he hesitated about something.
"What's the hold-up, Kylok?" Marine asked. "If you know something, then fire away, mate."
Kylok had a concerned expression. He started to whisper to Marine. "Marine, are you sure? You always were a bit scared of ghosts, after all."
Marine started flipping out. Blaze was a bit worried. "Whoa, what's the matter? Why are you in such a panic all of a sudden?"
Marine calmed down, then started talking to Kylok again. "Don't bring that up, mate. If you know where that ghost ship is at, then tell me."
"Oh, all right." Kylok conceded. "All you have to do is head east of here. That's where they say the ghost ship appears. It's still just a rumor, so don't think on it too hard."
"Head east of here, right?" Tails asked. "Thanks."
"Alright!" Marine said, her usual energy returning to her. "Let's go raid that ghost ship, then."
The four heroes returned to the Ocean Tornado and left to go to where the ghost ship was rumored to appear. Kylok looked on as they left.
"Marine, are you sure you'll be okay?" Kylok asked, even though she couldn't hear. "Well, it always was her dream to go out and see the world. I am a bit worried. I think I'll swing back by home for a while."
Kylok then headed towards a raft he had built and started to head to Southern Island. In the meantime, the heroes had reached the area where the ghost ship was to be, and sure enough, it was there. But before they could reach it, they saw a familiar green streak coming towards them.
"Oh great. Johnny again." Sonic said, annoyed.
As usual, Johnny sped up to them, this time with a yellow gem.
"I thought you guys would be here." Johnny said as he slowed down. "I found another one of those Chaos Emeralds while I was speeding through, and I thought you guys might want to see if you can get it."
"Is that a challenge?" Sonic asked.
"If you want it to be." Johnny replied.
"Alright, and this time, I'll take you on." Sonic said.
Sonic went below the deck and rode out on the Wave Cyclone. Tails set a course.
"Go all the way around the area, and the first one back here wins." Tails said.
3…2…1…GO!
Sonic and Johnny blasted out of the starting line, with Johnny boosting out into the lead. His speed left behind some yellow rings that Sonic sped through to keep up. Once the ring trail was over, Sonic was only a few meters behind Johnny. Johnny saw this and dropped a bomb behind him. Sonic barely dodged it, and couldn't believe that Johnny did that. But dropping the bomb slowed Johnny down a bit, allowing Sonic to catch up. At the three-quarter mark, Sonic passed Johnny, and they both kicked the booster at the final stretch. Sonic was just an inch ahead of Johnny when they reached the finish.
"Well, it looks like you won. Not bad." Johnny said as he tossed them the Chaos Emerald. "Take it. You beat me, so you get it."
Johnny then sped off, leaving the heroes to continue. Soon, they landed at the ghost ship. The first part of it was half sunk, so it served as a good landing point. They got out of the Ocean Tornado and set foot on the wrecked ship.
"Well, isn't this place charming?" Sonic asked. "Where are we, Blaze?"
"There are many stories of ships mysteriously disappearing in these waters." Blaze replied.
During all of this, Marine was completely nervous.
"It does feel kind of weird." Tails commented.
"I've never put stock in the rumors, but being here, I can't deny this place is odd." Blaze said.
"Wow. It's like a ship graveyard." Sonic commented.
Marine stayed quiet. Obviously, she didn't like this place. Tails noticed, however.
"Marine, are you okay?" Tails asked. "You don't look so good."
"N-n-no, I'm f-fine." Marine stuttered. "I just…you know, figured that, ah…maybe you guys might want a crack at things? Sometimes the captain just needs a break, ay?"
At that moment, a door creaked, which got their attention.
"Blimey! The door's moving!" Marine said, nervous.
"Marine, it's okay. It's only the wind." Tails told her.
"Are you scared?" Blaze asked in a teasing voice, which earned her a light bonk on the head from Sonic, who told her to not do that.
"What? Me? N-no, 'course not." Marine said quickly. "It's not like I'm scared of…ghosts or anything. Besides, even if there are any ghosts, I'll just b-b-beat 'em up! Yeah!"
That seemed to get their minds off of it.
"Are you all right?" Tails asked.
"Yeah, sure." Marine replied.
"Okay, let's keep going, then. Try not to worry, Marine." Sonic said.
"Well, thanks to my top-notch performance, nobody realizes that I'm really scared." Marine thought to herself. "I've gotta be careful, 'ere. I've got my captain's dignity to maintain, after all."
"Come on, Marine, we're going!" Tails called, snapping her out of it.
"Hey, wait for me!" Marine called as she ran after them.
They started to explore the ghost ship. It was nearly empty, with large holes in the sides of the deck. This was only one of many ships in the area, and none of the heroes knew what they would find in them. Luckily for them, there were no splits in the paths, so nobody could break away from the group. But what they didn't see was a ghostly skeletal robot coming up from behind them. It had a blue bandana, a cyan vest, and yellow armbands. It also had blue drapes that anyone would find on a corpse. Marine had a feeling that they were being followed, so she turned around, and saw the ghostly robot.
"Ahhh!" Marine yelled. Sonic, Tails, and Blaze turned around, only to find nothing.
"Marine, why did you yell?" Sonic asked.
"I s-saw a ghost." Marine said.
"Marine, there's nothing there. Now let's…" Sonic said as they turned around…only to find themselves facing the same ghostly robot that spooked Marine.
"Ahhh!" All three of them yelled.
"I told ya!" Marine pointed out.
It only became worse when it grew five times its size and started chasing them.
"It's coming at us! Run!" Tails called.
They didn't need to be told twice. They started running, with Tails flying while carrying Marine. Blaze was just as fast as Sonic, and was running alongside them. They thought that this was it, but when they came across a long plank that connected two of the ships, a pirate boat appeared alongside them and started to fire cannonballs in front of them.
"Oh great! Is there anything else that can go wrong?" Blaze asked.
Unfortunately for them, there was. As the cannonballs continued, four more ghost-robots like the one that was chasing them appeared. They grew to five times their size and started to chase them as well.
"Can it get any worse!?" Sonic asked.
It could, and did. At that point, ten more ghost-robots appeared in front of them, grew to five times their size, and closed in on them. The heroes were trapped.
"Now what could go…" Marine began, but Tails cut her off.
"WILL YOU ALL STOP SAYING THINGS LIKE THAT!?" Tails yelled, shutting all three of them up.
As luck would have it, the large amount of noise Tails had made by yelling caused most of the ghost-robots to disappear. Only one was left. It quickly ran away. The heroes could finally catch a breath.
"Next time, you three need to stop saying things like that." Tails told them. "It only makes things worse than they are."
"We'll remember that next time, mate." Marine said.
They looked around to see if there was anything that could lead them further, when something caught Sonic's attention.
"Whoa! Check that out." Sonic said, getting his friends' attention. They looked at what Sonic was looking at, and Blaze immediately recognized who it was: The robot pirate, Captain Whisker.
"WHISKER!" Blaze yelled.
"Huh?" Marine asked, then she remembered. "Oh, the bloke with the moustache again, ay?"
Mini and Mum turned and saw the four that they had encountered.
"Boss, look!" Mini said, grabbing Whisker's attention. Whisker turned around.
"D'arr…that there hedgehog and his landlubber pals be seemin' familiar…" Whisker said.
"Boss, your whiskers!" Mum spoke up. "They're the ones who pulled your whiskers."
That's when Whisker realized it.
"Blow me down, you're right! Me poor whiskers. They'll pay for what they did, arr!" Whisker said, then turned his attention to them. "Curse you! Thanks to you, me precious whiskers be a full quarter-inch off-center, arr!"
"Oy, come on, old man." Marine said in an annoyed voice. "Don't be so mad. You can't even tell the difference, mate."
Sonic, Blaze, and Tails laughed at that, but Whisker wasn't too happy.
"You lily-livered landlubber! Mock my whiskers, will ye?" Whisker asked. "I'll have you swabbin' the decks from here to kingdom come!"
"Enough of this nonsense. Return the scepter to me, immediately." Blaze demanded.
"Hmph! My, but you're persistent. If you want it that bad, TRY and take it!" Whisker challenged. Blaze just got a smile on her face.
"You think I can't?" Blaze asked in a confident tone. Sonic noticed this.
"Blaze, don't let him get you worked up." Sonic warned.
"D'arr har har! This time, I've got a secret weapon! Now I'll see you to Davy Jones for sure." Whisker told them.
"Those are some big words. Sure you're not just all talk?" Sonic asked.
"MWAHAHAHA! See for yourself." Whisker said. "Ahoy, Ghost Pirate! Blow the man down!"
"Here it comes!" Marine called.
At that point, Whisker knocked the four down to a small ship that was rocking back and forth. On it was a large gray skeleton pirate which had a black pirate hat and green armor on its arms, legs, and torso. In the center was a red gem that glowed.
"I'll bet you anything that that gem is its weak spot." Tails said. "How are we going to hit it?"
"We'll just have to find a way." Blaze said.
Haunted Ship: Ghost Pirate
Blaze went on the first offensive. She covered herself in a small twister of fire as she jumped towards the Ghost Pirate. But it proved to be futile, as the pirate slashed in her direction, forcing her to back off. Tails attacked next, trying to find a weak point from the top. The pirate breathed some fire in one spot, which crated a fire column that Tails barely avoided. Marine decided to try her luck, but when she approached the pirate, it just grabbed her and looked like it was going to stab her. It raised its scimitar and aimed it at her, but Sonic found a chance to attack. He started a spin dash, and launched himself at the red gem. Once he hit it, the gem came loose and started moving around, settling down on the top of the mast.
"Guys, it's dislodged from the pirate. We can attack it now!" Sonic called.
There were a couple of swinging hooks on both sides of the pirate ship. Sonic and Blaze grabbed them, one on each, and swung up there. Tails grabbed Marine and took her up there. The pirate followed, determined to stop them from destroying the gem.
"Hey, who wants to play a little Pirate in the Middle?" Sonic asked as he picked up the gem. Tails, Blaze, and Marine all agreed.
Sonic started it off by kicking it up into the air, right towards Blaze. She caught it, surrounded herself with fire, and blasted it back into the air. All this time, the pirate was trying to get it, but to no avail. It fell towards Marine, who just hit it back into the air. Tails hovered over it and slammed his tails down into it, which sent it to the ship's deck. After the impact, it started shaking violently. They knew it was close to being destroyed.
"Alright, who should destroy it?" Sonic asked.
"I think we should all destroy it." Blaze replied. "When I say so, we all jump at it and smash it together."
They surrounded it, and when Blaze gave the order, they all jumped at it. The pirate tried to intercept, but it was too late. All four heroes slammed their fists into the gem, which shattered it. The pirate then disappeared.
Ghost Pirate: Destroyed
Whisker saw that the ghost pirate had been destroyed, and decided it was time to leave.
"All hands on deck, mateys! It's time we be weighin' anchor!" Whisker called. "Don't count this here buccaneer out just yet, hedgehog! D'arr har har!"
The boat began to leave. Sonic and Blaze tried to stop it, but it was too late. The ship disappeared into the fog.
"Agh! He got away!" Blaze said. She wasn't too happy.
"If there's one thing he's good at, it's that." Sonic said.
"I must get the scepter back from him." Blaze said, determined.
"I'm also concerned with what those pirates might have been trying to do here." Tails wondered.
"I'm not sure." Blaze said. "But for now, let's get back on the ship and think up a plan."
They all agreed that it was a good idea. But before they left, they noticed a lot of silver pieces, as well as a yellow square-cut gem.
"The yellow Sol Emerald!" Blaze exclaimed. She picked it up while the others picked up the silver pieces that were lying around. Once they had collected everything they could get, they left. Soon, they were out of the foggy area, and back into sunlight. Everyone calmed down. But Marine was ready to get going.
"Okay, mates! Let's go get those pirates!" Marine exclaimed. "I think they went…that way!"
She pointed towards the northeast, but Blaze stopped her.
"No! Let's hold back. The waters ahead of here are too rough for this ship. Up ahead are ice floes and other floating obstacles. This ship doesn't stand a chance." Blaze explained.
"Can't we just tempt fate?" Marine asked.
"I'd rather not." Sonic replied. "But if this ship won't do, then what ship will?"
"The best way would be to go right over them, but…" Blaze began, but Marine stopped her.
"Leave it to me." Marine said as she pulled out the book and began looking through it.
"Hmm. I bet a hovercraft would work." Blaze said.
"Be quiet! Lemme think for a sec!" Marine said. "A hov…hover-what?"
"A hovercraft moves by floating just above the surface of the water." Tails explained. "This way, it can avoid things like floating obstacles and move through the shallows."
"Right. So, if we had one of those, we'd be able to go after the pirates." Blaze concluded.
"A hovercraft? Can you handle that, Tails?" Sonic asked.
"Just leave it to me. With these Materials, it'll be a snap." Tails said.
He held up the red Material, then the silver Material as he explained them. "I got this red Material when we were in that undersea cavern, and this silver Material while on that ghost ship. This one is special. It gives off very powerful electromagnetic waves, making it especially useful."
"I see." Blaze said, amazed. "This Material must be the cause of the electrical current in these waters."
"Well, at least that won't be a problem anymore." Sonic said. "Since the ghost pirate was made of that material, and it was here, then we're clear."
"It's perfect for making our hovercraft." Tails said. Marine finally decided to give up.
"Oh, whatever. Let's get on with the adventure, you lot!" Marine said as they headed back to Southern Island.
End of Chapter 7.
Another long chapter! The other chapters may turn out like this, and I suppose that's good, in a way.
Well, more Material has been found, three of each emerald has been collected, and Whisker is on the run again. Where will they go next? Well, that's what the poll was for. And the winner is…Blizzard Peaks.
Read and Review.