Chapter 8: A Sonic Adventure (Part Two)

The final blow to the Egg Tyrannus's weak point caused a huge explosion. Sonic added further speed to his spin so he'd rebound far enough to avoid getting torched by the blast. As usual, the cockpit of the big robot detached as the whole thing fell apart, revealing itself as a standard Eggmobile. Although being too close to the explosion, Eggman made his escape with nothing worse than a face full of soot.

Sonic looked around, tapping his foot impatiently. "Hey what gives?" he said. "Shouldn't this ugly place be blowing up by now?"

It was a fair assumption. Normally, all Sonic had to do was take out Eggman's final weapon, and then make a speedy getaway as the villain's fortress started to self-destruct.

"Oh, I get it. You've got another trick up your sleeve, don't you, Doc? Bring it on!"

Fully cloaked, Pia the Hedgehog watched her ancestor dash through the narrow gap between the closing metal doors in hot pursuit of his long-time foe. Sometimes she wished her job was that easy; just rushing right at the enemy with no worries and playing everything by ear as she pleased. But Sonic only put his own life at risk. He didn't have to worry about all of history riding on every choice he made. Well, actually, that wasn't true, but Sonic didn't seem to care. Anyway, the blue hedgehog would make it fine in spite of all the risks he took.

Stay focused, girl.

-

Dr. Pretorious carefully lifted the large container down from the top shelf of the storage room. Thank goodness for compulsive habits of organisation. Eggman was every bit as thorough with his inventory as he was with his robot designs. Pretorious needed only check the index on the console next to the door to find exactly where the item he sought was located.

The raccoon looked through the very thick glass, and watched the blue liquid move within its prison.

The scientist was dying to get back to his notes. He hadn't had a single free moment since the Chaos Anomaly allowed him the opportunity to complete his first objective. Now that the second objective was already fulfilled, Dr. Pretorious couldn't stand the thought of rushing any further without taking the time to write down his thoughts and findings. He would unashamedly admit that he was every bit as obsessive as his main idol Miles Prower when it came to documentation.

Pretorious carefully put the container down on the floor, then sat down on top of a crate. He pulled out his notebook and pen, and happily got to work.

There was a reason why Pretorious signed every single entry with his full name. The thought of dying didn't frighten him nearly as much as the thought of being forgotten. If only one single page was found by future historians, then it should be enough to ensure his name was not forgotten. Of course, when and if Trevor Kronus Pretorious reached the end of the path laid before him and returned to his own time with the ultimate prize, there'd be no risk whatsoever of EVER being forgotten.

Dr. Pretorious wanted immortality the old-fashioned way. If he could gain the more literal version as well, then that would certainly be a bonus, though not a goal.

-

"Sonic, I found you!"

"Uaah!" Silver shouted as a he was suddenly grabbed from behind by someone.

"What are you doing hidding behind bushes for?" Amy Rose went on, still not having opened her eyes since she squeezed them shut with joy at the chance to catch Sonic. "Were you hoping for a romantic game of hide and seek?"

"Um...I'm not Sonic. Really! I'm nobody! Just let go and forget you saw me, please."

"Huh? Oh!" Amy jumped away, and then slapped Silver out of embarrasment.

"I should just-" Silver began, trying to make a run for it.

"Hey, I know you!" Amy shouted.

"Oh please don't say you do."

"You're Silver! You helped Sonic save me when that awful Eggman Nega turned me into a card. What are you doing here? Maybe I can help!"

That girl was incredibly persistent. Even Sonic wouldn't be able to keep her at bay more than another five years before he finally admitted that their attraction wasn't as one-sided as he'd made it out to be. There was probably no other female anywhere in the world who could compete against Sonic's love of pure freedom with no ties or strings, but this girl was going to beat the odds through sheer determination.

Silver could recognise a hopeless situation when he saw one, so he gave up right away.

"I'm helping a friend chase down a fugitive from the future. You haven't seen a tall raccoon in a suit, by any chance? He doesn't have a tail, if that helps."

"Hmmm... Nope, sorry!"

"That's alright," said Silver, trying and failing to edge away from the pink hedgehog.

"Ooh, I know! I'll call Tails. I saw him fly past in the Tornado 2 just a few minutes ago."

"No, please. That's really not necessary!" Silver was practically begging at this point.

"Oh, he won't mind, and it's the least I could do after you helped me and my precious Sonic."

Already imagining Pia's rage, Silver watched as Amy pulled out a cute little pink cell phone and dialled a number.

-

Drawing power from the Master Emerald is extremely difficult. Channeling the natural output of the large gem into electrical energy is simple enough, as Dr. Eggman did when he employed the Master Emerald to fuel his Death Egg - but to draw out pure unaltered Master Emerald energy is almost impossible for a non-echidna.

The Chaos Anomaly was a god-send. At any other time, I would've traversed the guardians of the Emerald, only to find myself completely unable to tap into its power. But thanks to the Chaos Anomaly, the Master Emerald was discharging energy at a constant rate for just a short period on that one day in history. As planned, I was able to store the energy within the sample I removed from the Chaos Core.

(Dear reader, whomever you may be, do not bother to check my other records for the "Chaos Core" reference. Aware of my obsessions, I have through great force of will prevented myself from storing information regarding the Chaos Core anywhere within my extensive files. If my mission is succesful, then rest assured that the final pages of this journal will contain all the information necessary. Should I fail, then it is for the better that the existence of the Chaos Core be lost to obscurity. Suffice it to say that it is a tremendously dangerous object that should not be touched by anyone who does not understand and respect it.)

Although I have only had the charged sample with me for a short time, I am certain that no amount of energy will leak from it until I am able to return it to where it belongs.

Side-note: The Angel Echidnas felt the effects of the Chaos Anomaly even before the quakes rose damaging levels. Could the echidnas' link to the Master Emerald be more responsive than the floating island's link to the source of its gravity-defiant nature?

There was another minor confrontation with my nemesis and her father before I had the chance to take my leave from Angel Island. I shall have to kill them or incapacitate their means of transcending time before I attempt to return to time period of the Chaos Core. If either of them knew of it, it would be unfortunate, to say the least.

Currently, I am in at a point in time that I'm sure you all know very well. It's damn near impossible to avoid hearing too much to stand about Sonic the Hedgehog in any lifetime. The location is Soleanna. Aheeheehee. I'm sure that's a reference you'll have to look up, though. I came here in order to retrieve a specific item.

The tail of Chaos. Strange that hardly anyone ever questioned why Chaos Zero, as it appeared in the aftermath of the battle in the flooded ruins of Station Square, once again lacked its tail. I can't imagine how Dr. Eggman managed to sort out which lump of water left in the wake of the disaster was the tail of the mutated chao, and frankly it doesn't concern me. I need the tail, and I have it now. I can only hope my next destination will yield its prize as easily as this one has.

Doctor Trevor K. Pretorious

-

A sudden explosion caused a large block of reinforced wall plating to fall down, missing Pretorious by inches, and smashing the container flat.

"Well, drat," the scientist said, as he watched the lump of gelatinous blue liquid escape from the narrow gap and speed across the floor towards the door.

There was a scream as something invisible trod in the blue liquid and slipped backwards.

Dr. Pretorious sighed. With a slight "click", he attached a little blue speck to the tip of his futuristic handweapon and pressed a button on its side. The blue spot flew through the air and hit the cloaked cat.

"What's this?" Pia asked, switching off the cloaking field and taking a look at the blue spot stuck on her belly.

"Just a little tag," Pretorious answered. "In a moment you're going to appear on the scanners of every robot in this installation as 'Blue Hedgehog'. Do have fun."

"If you think-" Pia began, only to be interrupted very rudely as an Eggpawn tackled her from behind.

Pretorious hurried past his struggling enemy, and looked around the corridors.

"Where the devil did that little blob go?" he wondered aloud.

-

In the next chapter:
- More of the same.
- Eggman gets a very surprising upper hand. Surprising to him, as well.
- Dr. Pretorious is finding that even the best laid plans can go wrong in embarrasing ways.