The trip to the next zone was filled with Amy's glare, Amy's whiny voice, Amy's rage.
Amy, Amy, Amy.
It frustrated Sonic, pissed him off even. He tried to avoid her as much as he could; there really was no avoiding Amy Rose. She followed him like an annoying fly, always buzzing in his business. What made things even worse was how intimidated Amy was of Skylar. She was so intimidated, she showed it through her subtle way. She glared at Skylar whenever she came close to Sonic, driving her away from him and to walk with Tails, sending him a smile and a nervous glance towards Amy whenever he looked her way. He really wanted to talk to her, ask her what she had said that made Tails laugh so hard, but Amy wasn't letting that happen. She was acting like an overprotective pup that wouldn't stop her growling.
And she made the journey that much longer.
"This is basically where the zone starts," Sonic announced, the group stopping before a large, purple-bricked complex. It appeared to be a huge mansion with a dungeon feel to it. One could tell that the place was very old; the walls had plenty of holes and cracks, plants weeded their way up against the bricks, and past the doorway that was missing its door was complete darkness. Skylar peered inside, but didn't step inside.
"There's no way around this?" she asked. The dungeon didn't exactly give her a good vibe. She looked at a piece of rotting wood that was nailed above the doorway. In crooked letters the words 'Marble Zone' were written.
"Nope, so suck it up," Amy hissed, walking inside the dungeon. "And get over- ahh!" The floor under her suddenly lurched down at a strange angle, causing her to trip unexpectedly and land on her stomach. She screamed as she slid down the marble floor, quickly speeding up until she landed on the hard ground, dust dancing in the air and causing her to cut her screams short and start coughing. She stood up and dusted herself off. Some bats nearby felt her presence and flew away, screeching. Again, she screamed.
"Amy! Are you okay?" Tails shouted. The three walked towards the doorway, stopping right before the entrance.
"No," she growled, peering up at them. She could barely even see them through the thick web of darkness. A sudden chilly air fell over her, the fur on her arms standing up.
Skylar stepped inside, the emerald on her chest illuminating the room at least a yard in front of her. This gave Tails an idea, and from a brown sack he had made out of ripped up cloth, he pulled out the red emerald, helping illuminate the room a bit more. With their combined light, the three could see marble floor stretching out for a few feet and then dipping down in a sort of strange slide. They presumed that Amy was at the bottom of that slide.
"Marble Zone should be filled with tricks like this," Tails mused. "It's a really old place; I heard this used to be an old prison of a madman."
"Wow," Skylar breathed, peering down. "Cool, as long as we don't die!" And with that phrase, Skylar ran forward and skid down the slide, crouching as to not lose balance. Sonic followed suit, smiling at the smart idea. Tails simply jumped up and flew down where they had landed.
Amy looked over at Tails, at the emerald he was holding that gave off an energetic glow. It looked like part of the glow was coming from somewhere else, though. She looked from Tails to Sonic, and from Sonic to Skylar. Shining through her shirt was a circular white glow. She narrowed her eyes at the sight of it.
"What in the world is that?"
"Nothing," Skylar snapped, quickly averting her eyes. Startled, Amy looked over at Sonic, who only gave her a warning glare. She pouted, turning her back to them and walking forward. The three followed suit.
They kept walking for a good twenty minutes, the darkness creeping on. They stumbled into spider webs, tripped over cracks, and crouched down when bats decided to flap over their heads.
"Hey!" Skylar shouted, smiling. "I think I see an exit!" She pointed at a rectangular light just yards away. It appeared to be another doorway missing its door. Excited at the thought of finally getting out of the dungeon, she raced forward, Sonic calling out her name to stop her. But she didn't stop; she just kept running forward as the light grew brighter than the light her emerald produced. She stepped through the doorway, expecting to step over grass and see the blue sky darkening as the night came.
But instead, she stepped over a bricked floor, and almost fell into a pool of lava.
She gasped, skidding to a stop, a bubble bursting from the molten lava. The heat from the lava fell over her in a wave, slapping her in the face when the bubble burst. She hissed at the heat and stepped back a bit.
"What's wrong- whoa," Sonic mused, staring at the pool of lava that stretched out before them. Floating over the lava, somehow not having melted, were chunks of brick floor. They could use those to get across, but the heat from the lava made it difficult to even think. Tails and Amy gasped as they took a look at the obstacle set before them.
"Holy crap, how far down are we?" Skylar asked. She tried to cover her hands in ice, but it instantly melted, the water dripping onto the floor and making a hot, sizzling noise. Skylar frowned nervously.
"We'll have to use the platforms to get to the other side," Sonic said, turning to Tails. "Tails, you fly above us and carry Amy. We'll try to jump from one platform to the next, but if we need your help, fly over to us. Sounds like a plan?"
"Yep!" Tails and Skylar exclaimed. Amy wasn't so happy about the plan; it involved Skylar and Sonic together, and that didn't sound good to her. But the heat was enough to convince her, so when Tails offered her his hand, she took it without complaint, and let herself be carried to the other side of the lava pool.
"Ready?" Sonic asked, turning to Skylar. She smirked.
"Of course." Before Sonic could act, Skylar raced forward, jumped, and landed unsteadily on the platform. It rocked a bit under her feet and made the lava swoosh to one side. She gasped, her eyes wide, and Tails sent her a worried glance. She shook her head, motioning that she was fine, and hopped to the other platform just as Sonic leaped onto the one she had been standing on.
The two got to the other side in less than a minute, their faces sweaty, panting for breath. But they had made it, and they were relieved that if they climbed the stairs before them, there might not be a pool of lava waiting.
And there wasn't, but the heat remained.
"I can't stand this heat," Amy spat, rubbing away the sweat trickling on her forehead. Sonic held a straight face, wiping away some sweat every once in a while, but Tails and Skylar looked the worst. They weren't used to being under such extreme conditions, whereas Sonic and Amy had shared enough adventures under Eggman's crazy plans to be able to at least withstand this heat. Amy smirked at that, but the heat was still horrible. Skylar and Tails panted, leaning against each other and walking forward with a horrible wobble. Skylar was ready to pass out when she felt a familiar twinge of energy go through her, and her emerald glowed ever so gently.
"Wait," she breathed out, everyone stopping and looking over to her. "I think the emerald is near."
"How do you know?" Sonic asked. She pointed at the emerald on her chest, and he nodded. They looked around, but all they saw was a long hallway, a purple wall, and photo frames nailed onto the wall here and there.
"I don't see anything," Amy said, staring behind them. "We've been walking through a clear hallway for the past thirty minutes."
"Not exactly," Sonic said, turning to the photo frame nearest to them. The photo it held was faded, and showed a grinning man with a twitch in his eye. Might have been the madman. As he looked at his bald head and frizzy beard, he thought that he looked quite familiar. Sonic shrugged it off, pulling the frame off. Behind it, tucked away in a small square hole was the green Chaos Emerald glowing in response with Skylar's emerald. He tossed the frame aside, grabbing the emerald and turning to grin at them.
"Got it," he said, tossing it to Tails who secured it in his brown bag. "Let's keep going."
It wasn't five minutes later that he heard two thuds behind him while he was walking forward. He and Amy turned around to see Tails and Skylar passed out on the floor, chests heaving.
"Oh no," he groaned, kneeling down before them.
"What happened to them?" Amy asked, rushing to them. Sonic stared at them worriedly, then looked back up at Amy.
"They passed out from the heat," he said, placing his hand over their foreheads. Both were hot to the touch, a thick layer of sweat making it even worse.
"We'll have to carry them out as quickly as we can," he commanded, already pulling Skylar into his arms. Amy opened her lips to protest, but instead pulled Tails into her arms. The sooner they got out of that hot dungeon, the better. After having picked up Tails, she picked up her speed, trying to catch up to the blue hedgehog.
"He's really heavy," Amy whined, shifting the orange fox in her arms. His head lolled to the side a bit, tails limp and fluttering, and the look on his face strained. "I think he's getting worse."
"We have to speed up, then," Sonic commanded. Amy frowned, inhaling deeply then sighing.
"They'll pay for this," Amy groaned.
"They're not used to this like we are. You can say Eggman prepared us for this."
"The only good thing he's done," Amy grumbled. She paused. "Why are we doing this?"
"Hm?"
"Why are we going through this hell? What is Eggman up to this time?" Sonic looked down at Skylar, her face calm with sleep but uncomfortable with the heat. He knew she didn't like being so clueless and lost. She probably liked to be under control, and probably didn't like anyone knowing how weak she felt. But if he told Amy, would she at least back off?
"We're doing this for Skylar," he finally replied. "Eggman wants her because of that glowing sphere lodged in her chest. That sphere, it's a powerful Chaos Emerald, and he wants it badly."
"Why does she have that in her chest?"
"I don't know," Sonic said, staring forward. "I found her like that. And the thing is, she's not from here. She just woke up here, and told us she used to be human before all of this. That's why we're gathering the emeralds. We're going to get her home with them." He stopped, turning to Amy. "She's lost and scared. I know she comes off as strong, but she's really not feeling that way on the inside. So… if you could just-"
"I get it," Amy said, startling Sonic. She felt a bit bad for the way she had acted, the glares and rude tones and such, but only showed an understanding face. "You're just trying to help and, well, I'm not helping by being, uh, jealous, I guess. But I'll stop the act now."
Sonic beamed at her. "Thanks Amy. Look, I see an exit up ahead. Well, I hope that's an exit." As they walked closer, they saw the darkness of the sky and prickly green grass. The two hedgehogs sighed in pure bliss as the cold breeze cooled the warm sweat on their bodies.
"Finally!" Amy exclaimed, dropping to her knees and setting Tails down on the grass. Sonic did the same, checking Tails's bag for a water bottle. Inside the bottle was just a drop of water. He groaned, getting to his feet and walking over to a hollow on the ground he thought was a pond of nice, cool water. Instead he saw a pond of lava.
"Really?" he grumbled, turning away from it. Just as he did, he heard the familiar roar of a certain floating mobile a man drove around in.
"Can't take the heat, Sonic?" Eggman croaked, grinning cruel. He hovered a long finger over a red button, a feeling of evil excitement falling over him. The light tinted his glasses, making him look crazier than he already did. "Let me help you adapt to it."
He pressed the button, and from the bottom of the eggmobile shot out a hose that sunk into the lava and slurped up some of it. The hose retracted, pointed at Sonic, and with another push of a button, the hose shot out a ball of lava at Sonic. He quickly ran off, dodging it, the ball hitting the purple bricks instead.
"Sonic!" Amy shouted. Sonic looked back at her, giving a stern look.
"Just take care of Skylar and Tails, okay?" Before he could hear Amy's response, another ball of lava was shot his way, and he had to run off. Amy watched in horror, her arms aching to reach for her hammer. But she had to stay out of Sonic's way for now. He knew what he was doing. Right then, she had to take care of the two unconscious bodies before her, and had to find a way to get them to wake up. She heard Eggman laugh evilly and grimaced.
"Can you two wake up?" Amy asked in frustration. Whether it was pure luck or the ruckus Eggman and Sonic were creating, Skylar's eyes began to flutter open. Amy smiled in relief.
"Skylar! Wake up Tails! We have to help Sonic!"
"W-What's going on?" Skylar asked. She sat up and looked to her left, taking in the familiar eggmobile that was shooting what looked like balls of fire, maybe lava, at a blue hedgehog that could barely keep up. "How long were we out?"
"No time for that!"
"Sorry," Skylar mumbled, turning to Tails. It didn't take her much thought on how to wake Tails up; she punched his shoulder, not too hard but just hard enough to stir him awake. He had about the same reaction that Skylar did. Relieved to be out of the dungeon, clueless on how long he was asleep and what was going on, and surprised to see lava balls being thrown at Sonic.
"What do you propose we do?" Skylar asked. Tails looked over at the eggmobile, narrowing his eyes.
"The bottom of his eggmobile is always it's weakest point. And it looks like his form of attack is that fire ball hose thing. Try taking that out."
"Alright!" Amy and Skylar exclaimed, getting to their feet and looking to the eggmobile.
They glanced at each other after having witnessed the mobile's hose suck up some of the volcanic matter and throw a ball at it Sonic's way. Sonic dodged it swiftly, making sure Eggman's attention stayed on him and not Skylar or the glowing from Tails's bag.
"We have to get him away from that pool of lava so he'll eventually be unable to attack Sonic with those lava balls."
"On it," Amy said, grabbing her hammer from where it was strapped on her back. She aimed it at Eggman's ship, the hammer's head enlarging a bit right before she flung it at him. The hammer hit the back of the ship, making it lurch forward and almost hit a dead tree. Eggman got control of his ship and sent a glare the girls' way. His glare soon went back to Sonic, though, as Sonic spin-dashed into the front of the ship and sent it back a little. Tails flew up behind the two girls.
"I'll get you to that hose," he said. He held out his hand, which Skylar took, and flew her towards the eggmobile. They hovered right under the machine, the hose pointed at Sonic but still not shooting. Sonic looked over at them, giving them a slight grin, then looked back at Eggman, who grunted and called out, "Not so hot now, are ya?"
"I've got an idea," Skylar whispered. "Grab me under the arms. I need to bend this hose." Tails nodded, following her directions as she grabbed the hose, heat seeping through her gloves. She winced in slight pain, but bared with it, and bent the hose as well as she could. Whatever it was made out of, it was strong, strong enough to be able to stay together with all the lava in it, and strong enough to give Skylar a hard time. But she managed, sending all her strength to her hands and arms. Just imagining that every ounce of strength was being streamed to her arms helped, and with a metallic clank, the hose bent and was pointed straight up to the bottom of Eggman's ship. Eggman didn't notice any of this going on. He didn't notice his hose was pointed at an angle that would only hurt him, and he didn't notice an orange fox and a black hedgehog retreating, looking back with sly grins. All he saw was the smirk Sonic was giving, that smirk that managed to annoy him too easily. He clicked the button, and instead of seeing Sonic dodge a ball of lava, something hit under him. Heat began to seep into the soles of his shoes, and the metal under him felt weaker under his legs. It took him a few seconds to realize what was occurring.
"Damn you," he growled, pressing one of the many buttons on his dashboard. A small beep went off and the seat of the eggmobile shot up and off the mobile, a small propeller on the bottom of the seat elevating him up. "I'll be back," he said grumpily, steering his seat towards the direction he had appeared from. The sight was quite comical to Skylar. She didn't think she'd ever seen a small seat flying a huge, round body with long skinny legs dangling under him and equally skinny arms gripping onto the sides of the seat. She held back a laugh, and instead smiled triumphantly at her partners in crime.
"Thanks guys," Sonic said after having walked to them. "Egghead probably would have kept blasting fire balls at me until he sucked the lava pool dry."
"No problem," the three said in unison. They decided that since the sun was already setting, they'd rather journey toward Zone 3 the next morning and set up camp that night. They lied down next to a dead tree, it's branches skinny and long enough to touch the ground and surround them like a big hand with multiple bony fingers. Looking through those bony fingers, they could see the night sky, the stars up in the sky never ceasing to amaze Skylar. Skylar and Tails nodded off first, even if they had been unconscious for a while. When he knew they were asleep, he spoke.
"That was cool."
"What?"
"How you two worked together," Sonic said, smiling at Amy. "See? There's nothing bad with making friends." Amy glared.
"I can make friends fine," she snapped back, looking back at the stares. She felt herself drifting off but she smiled at herself. She was glad she didn't end up making an enemy, and instead a friend she didn't think she would like at first. But she liked her, a lot actually, but she wouldn't admit that to Sonic either.
Nara: It's late and I don't know how to greet you all O~O
I hope you enjoyed this~ I worked on this on and off at school because it's getting pretty hectic and stressful. But I managed to do all the editing today, which is good c: I guess...
Hope you liked, please review, and thank you for stopping by n.n