Author's Comment: Happy new year (kinda late, I know) and happy new chapter.
Sonic: Vines of Sorrow Ch. 8
Out in space, another blue light was traversing the galaxy and heading toward Mobius, with the goal of finding her sister.
Shamar, a hot and dry desert country, was the next stop for our heroes.
The Blue Typhoon touched down on the sandy plains with the Egg Carrier right behind. Sonic and his crew got out, with Chris, once again, keeping watch on their ship. Sand was swirling all around them.
"Great," muttered Knuckles, "Of all the places the emerald could be, it ends up being in the middle of nowhere, in a sandstorm."
"Hey," responded Sonic, "It could be worse. At least the Donkel are nowhere as well."
"I also fixed the scanner," Tails said, "so we should have landed much closer to the emerald this time. It should be somewhere north of here. Still, the sandstorm will have an effect on our other equipment."
Everyone headed in the direction that Tails indicated.
The crew on board the Egg Carrier got out as well, with Bokkun and Breezy being left inside keeping watch.
Sonic and his team eventually found the place where the next chaos emerald was hidden.
"Found it," Tails said as he picked up the bright blue gem.
"Not for long," the plump, evil genius, Dr. Eggman said as he and his crew caught up to them.
However, before they engaged in another battle, a giant, robotic scorpion emerged from the sand, along with thousands of Gizoids surrounding the crew. Thus, Sonic, Dr. Eggman and allies instead fought their new enemies.
During the battle, Shadow teleported right behind the robotic scorpion.
"CHAOS SPEAR!" he cried and launched an array of bright arrows into the back of the neck of the giant robotic scorpion, doing damage and creating a hole in its armor.
The fight ended when the robotic scorpion shot out a beam from its tail towards the ground that exploded on contact and knocked out Sonic and allies.
Back aboard the Egg Carrier, Bokkun and Breezy spent their time cleaning and checking the ship. In the midst of the silence, Bokkun turned to talk to Breezy.
"Are you still mad at me for what I did?" he asked.
"Somewhat," Breezy responded, "I still can't believe you would go so far as to actually hurting someone. Normally you would pull off all of these harmless pranks that I think are hilarious. They always brighten my day."
"You think my pranks are funny?" Bokkun said.
"Well," Breezy said, bashfully, "I may look like an angel, but I'm not necessarily one."
"I'm happy to hear there's a fan of my work," Bokkun said.
Breezy's face was flushed by the words.
Sonic and everyone else awoke to find themselves in a relatively big chamber. Their communicators were gone, and Grounder's head was the only part of him that was with them, since the rest of his body contained tools that could help the escape of the prisoners.
"Welcome to my base, deep underground where no one can find you," a deep voice said over an intercom, "I am Sand Scorpion; one of the strongest and brightest of the Donkel."
"Well you're not very bright to mess with us," Sonic said as he executed his spinning ability and attempted to buzz-saw his way through the door that led into the chamber only to fail.
Sand Scorpion laughed and said, "You cannot break through this door. This entire facility is made of the strongest material that we can find. This door, in particular, is made of a substance only found on this continent."
"Just you wait," Sonic said, "We will find a way out."
"I would like to see you try," Sand Scorpion said before he switched off his intercom.
"Well Tails," Sonic said, "This would be as good a time as any to figure out how we can escape."
Tails, however, felt discouraged.
"We can't," Tails said, "Sand Scorpion took our communicators. We can't call for help or use any of the tools on it. And, because of the sandstorm, Chris doesn't know that we were caught, nor does he know where we are. We're not going to get out."
Tails turned his back on the group, head hanging low.
"Don't get discouraged," Cream interjected, walking around the kitsune to see his face, "we will get out."
"Chao chao," chirped Cheese.
"We've been through plenty of bad stuff," Knuckles said.
"And there have been plenty of times when your brain has helped us get out of these situations," Amy added.
"So," Sonic said, "buck up and try."
Tails raised his head and looked back at Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy. Then he looked at Cream, who had cheered him up in much the same way as Cosmo had during their battle against the Metarex, during a time when he thought that he and the team were doomed, but his knowledge saved the day.
"Alright," he responded, his face brightening, "I'll try."
"That's the spirit," Cream said.
"Chao chao," Cheese chirped.
On board the Egg Carrier, Bokkun and Breezy started to get worried.
"We haven't heard back from Dr. Eggman in a long time," Breezy said, "Something must be wrong."
"Then let's check it out," Bokkun recommended, "They should have headed north."
Bokkun grabbed his bow, an arrow, and a couple of bombs, then he and Breezy left to find Dr. Eggman.
In his head quarters, Sand Scorpion analyzed the light blue Chaos Emerald and told his findings to Dark Sapling via televised transmission.
"It appears that these Chaos Emeralds share a similar energy signature," he told the leader, "Using this energy, we can be able to track down the seventh and final Chaos Emerald."
"How fortunate," Dark Sapling responded, "I will see to it that the last emerald is obtained. And, as usual, you came prepared."
"Yes," Sand Scorpion said, "I had landed on this planet and set up my own base within five days and have been able to capture the hedgehog, his crew, and one of the emeralds. While I do admit that having the emerald be so close to my base was a matter of luck, I-"
He was interrupted by an alert from the machine that was analyzing the Chaos Emeralds.
"Interesting," he said, "According to these readings, these emeralds are able to take on another form. This new form increases their energy output tenfold."
"The Super Emeralds," Dark Sapling inquired, "Only a select few know about its power and can harness it."
Back in the cell, Tails paced the room, pondering how he and his group could escape.
"Phew," Dr. Eggman said, "I need a drink."
"Just in time," Sand Scorpion said over the intercom, "I'm sending you cold water right now."
"You know," Sonic said, "If you want to stay cool, you'd better burn off those calories."
"I'm sure you're thirsty as well, Sonic," Dr. Eggman retaliated, "You might need the water as well."
'Water,' Tails thought. It then came upon him what they needed to do.
As soon as a package of water bottles was dropped into the cell, Tails grabbed a bottle, opened it, and sprayed it against the metallic door.
"Hey!" responded Knuckles, "Is the heat getting to you or something?"
"This door is made out of metallic material that can only be found in Shamar, right?" Tails said, "That is because this metal is extremely sensitive to moisture, making it rust easily."
To their surprise, Tails was right. As the water hit the metallic door, there was a rusting color that appeared where it made contact. Sand Scorpion watched in surprise from the security cameras.
"How did you know?" Sonic said.
"When it comes to building things, you should know about the material you use to make it with," Tails said.
"So you haven't lost your head after all," Sonic said. He then noticed Grounder's head, still without a body, giving him a stern look. "What?"
Sonic and the others sprayed the water from the water bottles over the metal door, creating a larger spot of rust.
"Now," Tails said, "Sonic, Knuckles, let 'em have it."
Sonic and Knuckles held hands and spun around where their hands met. They launched themselves at the door and were able to make a hole where the rusted spot was made, just big enough for everyone to go through.
Sand Scorpion took action and called for the security Gizoids. Sonic and the team were able to fight their way through and get to one of the storage areas. They grabbed their communicators, Grounder got his body back, and they raced to find the exit.
"Initiate lockdown sequence," Sand Scorpion commanded.
However, before the action was taken, the power in the facility went out.
Sonic and the crew were startled by the lights suddenly being turned off, but the flashlight functions on their communicators helped them continue with their escape.
Outside the base, Bokkun and Breezy were flying over the sand, attempting to find out where Dr. Eggman and the robots were. The sandstorm was a major problem in their quest, however, and neither of them knew where to go. They then stumbled upon an air duct.
"I wonder where this leads," Bokkun said.
"Hopefully to where Eggman is," Breezy replied as she and Bokkun got in.
Back in the base, Sonic and the team ran up a ramp that led to a huge room, where a set of giant, double doors marked their exit.
"We're almost there," Sonic said, "We're gonna get outta here."
Suddenly, they found themselves surrounded by Gizoids again and Sand Scorpion was with them
"I'm sorry," the giant robotic scorpion responded, "That would be an exercise in futility."
Sonic and the crew tried to fight their way out, but they were vastly overpowered by their surrounding adversaries.
"Don't you see," Sand Scorpion stated, "Being Dark Sapling's smartest commander, I was able to calculate your escape down to the last detail."
As Sonic and the rest of the crew stood helplessly surrounded, nobody suspected the little black and white robots popping out of the air vent above the giant door.
Bokkun looked upon the site and noticed an open area in Sand Scorpion's neck that was left by Shadow's Chaos Spear attack. Strapping a miniature bomb onto his bow, he took aim and fired the arrow into the opening.
"I thought of every, possible- OW!" the giant commander exclaimed as he felt the arrow that Bokkun shot hit his neck and explode. He looked back and saw the little robot and his accomplice.
Using the distraction as an opportunity, Sonic and allies launched an all out attack on Sand Scorpion, knocking him out.
Sonic, the crew, Bokkun, and Breezy made their escape through the doors.
"Who would have expected that someone outside would come in and distract me, giving Sonic ample time to retaliate?" Sand Scorpion sighed, "I guess no one is absolutely perfect."
He got up and shouted, "CHARGE!"
All the Gizoids ran after the escaping prisoners.
Sonic and the crew ran and made it back to the Blue Typhoon, unaware of a yellow light that was heading back with them. Dr. Eggman and his goons went back to the Egg Carrier. Sonic and the gang got inside, prepared the Sonic Power Cannon, and launched it at Sand Scorpion, piercing him just like with the other leaders.
"I never thought that I would ever lose," Sand Scorpion cried out before he exploded.
After all the action that happened during the day, Sonic and his crew settled down, watching the sunset from the bridge before they planned their voyage for the next and final emerald. Suddenly, they noticed a blue light shoot across the sky.
"What was that?" Cream asked.
"I don't know," Tails said.
Nobody in the room knew.
"Well," Knuckles said, "I'm going to put the new Chaos Emerald with the other Chaos Emeralds and check on the Master Emerald. You need me, give me a call."
With that, Knuckles left the bridge.
Down in the bay where the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds were, the yellow light, the green light, the cyan light, and the purple light hid in a corner of the room.
"We cannot hide forever," the purple light said, "they will find us eventually."
Suddenly, the blue light phased through the walls into the room.
"Where are you?" it said.
"Big Sister," the green light said, "Hide."
But it was too late. The doors opened and Knuckles quickly noticed the blue light.
"Huh?" he exclaimed, as he observed the glowing orb.
"I guess we will not hide anymore," the cyan light said as it left its hiding spot.
The yellow, purple, and green lights left their hiding spots as well, for the red echidna to see.
At a speed not close to Sonic's but still swift, Knuckles got to the intercom to call the bridge.
"Everyone," he called.
"What?" Sonic replied, "You needed US, so you gave US a call?"
Knuckles rolled his eyes, annoyed by another one of Sonic's usual sarcastic remarks, and said, "I think you all should come down here."
Soon the crew was gathered in the room where the orbs of light were.
"I'm sorry," the blue light told the other lights, "I didn't mean for this to happen."
"It's okay," the cyan light said.
"Besides," the green light said, "I wish to talk to Tails and Cream."
Tails felt his heart skip a beat. The voice that came from the green light was gentle and soothing, much like the girl who gave her life to save the universe and gave Tails grief. The fact that the green light knew his name, as well as Cream's, only amplified his hypothesis.
The green light moved forward, towards the two tailed kitsune. It suddenly shown bright for a couple of seconds, and was replaced by the transparent form of that girl, the one whom Tails thought would never see again: Cosmo the Seedrian, looking just like she was the whole time she was with Sonic and the crew.
The other lights shined and revealed their true forms. The cyan light was Earthia, the purple was Lucas, the blue was Galaxina, and the yellow was Emerl.
In the urban areas of Empire City, a large space vessel made its landing, crashing right into the streets, and creating a crater that damaged the surrounding area. Emerging from it, Hera sped off into the direction where the last Chaos Emerald to be found would be found.
On the outskirts of the town, she came across a jewelry store, where, according to the energy between the cyan Chaos Emerald and the emerald still to be obtained, the target object was located. Hera kicked down the door and walked in. The other customers fearfully looked at the figure, an echidna dressed in dark red armor.
She looked at the crystals that were showcased in a glass container and laid her eyes upon a purple jewel. Sensing the immense power that it had, she knew that she found what she was looking for. She raised her right hand, snapped her fingers, and produced a red axe in her hand. She then brought the axe down on the glass container, smashing it into pieces. An alarm rang out. Hera quickly grabbed the purple Chaos Emerald.
"CHAOS CONTROL!" she cried and disappeared.
Author's Comment: Okay, okay, okay. The easily rusted door is the last Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog reference I will use, until the epilogue.