Sonic continued to run as fast as he could, until he arrived in a neon-filled city. There, he was greeted by a swarm of Eggman's robots. Two attacked him but he jumped out of the way, only for two more to lunge at him. This time he slammed their heads together and proceeded to Spin Attack every last robot.
"Whew," Sonic sighed heavily. "Another round of that and I'll be pushing daisies. I gotta find that bad egg fast! Don't tell me he's here... in Spring Yard.."
Episode 3: High Stakes! The Battle Drags into Spring Yard!
Sonic looked around the city, wondering just where he was. Up ahead he saw a platform, escalating up and down. He walked onto the platform in interest.
"Hey," Sonic laughed to himself. "This place could be fun!"
However, Sonic's idea of fun was soon thrown out the window as a barrage of metal spiked balls swung towards the hedgehog. In response, Sonic narrowly dodged the balls, only to find himself knocked backwards by a strange ball, back into the spikes.
"Not good!" he cried. "I can't believe I hit a bumper!"
Luckily, he landed on safe ground. The hedgehog panted heavily as he lay on his back, looking at the sunset above him. He sighed heavily while looking above himself at the sky.
"If I don't stop Eggman," Sonic said to himself. "Then this could very well be the last sunset the world ever sees. I have got to make sure that I stop Eggman, before it's too late. The only problem is, I 'beat' him twice and I still haven't beat him for real. But, I have no choice. I must defeat, Eggman no matter what! Time to take out the trash, leave nothing but the yolk!"
Sonic rose to his feet and clenched his fist tightly. He simply shook his head and smiled, before taking off in pursuit of Eggman. The blue hedgehog leaped between spiked balls and extended his range with bumpers throughout the area. He tried his hardest to reach the good doctor.
After a long while of running and searching, a glimmer out of the corner of his eye caught Sonic's attention. The glimmer itself was mostly buried under the ground, but the reflective object protruded slightly above the ground. Sonic inspected the object a bit closer, before trying to dig it out of the earth. After a few hard tugs, he finally loosened the object, revealing it to be none other than a Chaos Emerald!
"So, this thing is a Chaos Emerald...," Sonic said with a slight glimmer of interest. "It's not very big... Sure, it's shiny, but I don't see how these could possess 'ultimate power.' Maybe Eggman's cracked his shell a few too many times."
"Is that a Chaos Emerald?" called a voice from the shadows.
An old bear crawled into view from the shadows. He weakly limped towards the interested blue hedgehog.
"Hey, old man," Sonic asked. "What do you know about these stones?"
"Funny you should ask," the bear answered, turning his head towards the fading light of day that slowly crept beneath the mountainous horizon. "I don't know much, but they say that there are six stones filled with Chaos Energy. The stones are said to stay close together, and travel from island to island as the years go by."
"They travel?" Sonic asked, not believing the bear. "How could stones move?"
The bear pulled a pipe from his torn robe and lit it as he spoke. "You could say that the Chaos Energy that attracts the Emeralds migrates to a different location when their powers are used."
"Why would they do that?" Sonic asked. "Sounds bogus if you ask me."
"Like I said," the bear replied as he removed the pipe from his mouth. "It's only a rumor, I can't say for sure if it's true or not. However, I do believe that the Chaos Energy feels threatened when it is used, so it flees to a new location to keep the secret hidden."
"I see," Sonic replied.
Suddenly, Sonic heard a massive explosion nearby. He waved goodbye to the old bear as he sped in the direction of the explosion. As Sonic thought, Dr. Eggman was the culprit.
"Hmph," Eggman scoffed when he realized Sonic arrived. "Leave now, you petty rodent. I have no time to deal with you, hedgehog. I am looking for the Chaos Emeralds, so shoo!"
"Now, now, Eggy," Sonic scolded as he bounced the Emerald in his hand. "I thought you were looking for this?"
"The Emerald!?" Eggman gasped. "Give it here this instant!"
"You mean you don't wanna play?" Sonic asked glumly.
"You want to play games, rodent?" Eggman asked as a sharp needle-like object protruded from the Eggmobile. "How about playing with my toy, the Egg Piercer."
"Oh no!" Sonic cried sarcastically. "What ever will I do?"
However, Sonic flicked into serious mode when Eggman bore a hole into the ground and ripped it from the earth, revealing a bottomless pit below.
"Ugh," Sonic gulped. "If I get hit with that, I'm dead! But, if I fall, it's over as well!"
Eggman continued to bore and rip and bore and rip until only a small piece of land remained for Sonic to stand on.
"It's over, Sonic!" Eggman cackled. "Time to die!"
Sonic jumped from the ground as Eggman bored it away.
"Not quite, Doc," Sonic laughed as he floated in the air, turning into a ball once more. "It's all fun and games until someone cracks. And the egg that cracks is you. Spin Attack!"
Sonic once again defeated Eggman, but little did Sonic know, he dropped the Emerald before fighting.
"Huh, where's the Emerald?" Sonic cried, until he noticed it on the ground nearby. "There! I got it!"
However, before Sonic could grab it, Eggman snatched it away.
"No!" Sonic cried.
"I'm halfway done here! Hohohoho!" Eggman laughed. "Goodbye, Sonic."
Eggman flew off once more, causing Sonic to shake his head and shrug his shoulders.
"Some fools never learn," Sonic laughed before racing in pursuit of the villainous doctor.
Next Time: When Eggman learns that Sonic can't swim, he gives Sonic trouble in the Labyrinth, where the fourth Chaos Emerald lies. Don't miss Sonic's Weakness! The Great Labyrinth Chase!
C/C: I liked this chapter better than last week's, but it is still in the bottom three chapters of the arc. About the Chaos Emerald theory, it's only a theory, doesn't mean I can't change it later if something new comes along in one of the games. I've also got my work cut out for me, since there might be a hiatus between Chapters 7 and 8, depending on how much of the second story arc I have written. Just a quick notice :) Enjoy!