Notes: up next we have…

Disclaimer: I do not own the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise

Sonic 2 & Sonic Chaos

Ch. 3: First more water, then a vaguely familiar place

Sonic was coming up to the next area. The architecture looked very old. There were different types of fountains shooting out water all over the vicinity.

"This place looks really aesthetic. Oh…here we go again."

There was a large, deep pool of water just ahead.

"This time I have an ace up my sleeve."

Sonic built up speed, then as he reached the water, he curled up into a ball and ricocheted across the surface.

"Water, I have you beat."

Unfortunately for Sonic, there wasn't much past the water. In fact it was a dead end.

"Which can only mean that I have to go under. Brilliant."

Down he went into the depths. As he attempted to run, harpoons shot out of the ground. There were also lobster Badniks called Zaririn swimming around. Most actually seemed to be avoiding Sonic, but he thought it best to destroy them anyway. Just when it seemed the annoyances were past, he came to a wall he couldn't quite jump over. He was running out of air, but what could he do but return to the surface? Just when he was starting to get worried, a giant bubble came up from the floor. This wasn't the air bubbles he'd seen before, these were bigger. He took a chance and jumped towards it.

"Whoa, I did not see that coming. This bubble is big enough to float around in. Not to mention breathe in. Well let's see if we can maneuver this thing in the right direction."

He managed to get it past a set of spikes, but as he came to a long tunnel, the bubble popped upon hitting the ceiling. If he could have sighed, he would have. He proceeded deeper into the ruins, which were entirely submerged underwater. Farther and deeper he went, always on the lookout for air bubbles. Several of the walls were structurally weak enough to break through, but all Sonic found was more spikes and ruins. At last, there was something different: a long transport tube. Sonic decided to leave it up to chance and stepped inside. The tube sped him off in seemingly random directions. He tried to fixate on one direction, and wound up in an open area, albeit still underwater. It was a small room, with a spike-covered ceiling, but it held the purple Chaos Emerald. Grabbing it, he went back through the tube and out the other end. It seemed there was no way to go but up, and there was another giant bubble nearby.

"Man it feels good to talk. I thought this was just a lake, but having to go through all this just to get to the next area, it's like a massive Aqua Lake. That name doesn't make a lot of sense, but I'm just happy to be heading to the surface."

Sonic had at last reached the surface. He took a deep breath.

"It's great to be on land. Now what stupid robot will Eggman send next?"

"I'm glad you asked, Sonic. Say hello to my Mecha Sea Lion."

It was a grey, robotic sea lion that came complete with whiskers. Instead of eyes, it had a pair of pointy sunglasses. It also had a prominent red nose.

"What's this thing gonna do, clap at me?"

As Sonic ran in to hit the mecha, it lifted its head and inflated its nose into a large red ball. Sonic bounced off the ball and landed on the opposite side of the room. As he regained his footing, the ball deflated back to looking like the mecha's nose.

"How's that for a performance, Hedgehog?"

"Pretty clever, Eggman, but this thing's a one trick pony."

This time, Sonic smacked the sea lion before it finished blowing up its ball. It flopped around like a fish out of water before sitting back up and attempting to inflate its ball again.

"The goose was more intimidated."

After five more hits, the Mecha Sea Lion exploded. Sonic merely shrugged and kept going. After a while, he came across some familiar territory. The land was rich and green. The grass extended for miles, with trees and flowers dotting the landscape here and there.

"This place looks an awful lot like Green Hill, except for different types of trees. As such, and also because I'm in a hurry, I shall dub it Green Hills."

After clearing the area of Badniks, Sonic used nearby springs to get across the hills in no time at all. He also managed to find the silver Chaos Emerald on a high hill. He at last arrived close to the end of the hills, and before him lay a sharp dip in the ground. On the other side of this ditch, was another of Robotnik's robots.

"Get ready for another fight, Hedgehog, because my Mecha Pig is taking you down."

"A pig, really? You're running out of ideas, Eggman."

The Mecha Pig was bipedal, and it was stomping around in one place like a sumo wrestler. It then curled into a ball and hurled itself across the ditch towards Sonic. He responded by jumping over the pig. Seeing it missed the target, it fell to the ground like a rock. This robot was obviously quite heavy, as its landing caused quite a tremor.

"Prepare to be squashed, Sonic."

"I think I'll pass."

The pig again starting stomping around and blowing steam from its nostrils.

"Got an attitude, big guy? How about a readjustment? This is how you hit someone in ball form."

Sonic did just that. The pig seemed madder than before. It again went into ball form, launched itself through the air, and slammed into the ground. Sonic responded in kind with a boot to the head. The pig, while having a slightly wider attack range than the sea lion, was still very predictable. In no time it exploded after too many hits.

"This is just getting ridiculous. It's like Eggman isn't even trying."

Sonic decided to keep moving.

Elsewhere

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you weren't even trying."

"Put a sock in it, fox boy. Everything is going according to plan. Sonic is getting closer to my base, and I've saved the best for last."