Chapter 2: Sonic
"Are we almost there?" John asked his companion.
"Yes, we are," the fox replied. "Stop being so impatient."
John sighed. He had been excited to meet this Eggman that Tails had told him about. He really hoped that Eggman knew something about memories.
"Remember, the truth will only bring pain," the voice in his head said.
"Yeah, sure," John replied. "You just won't tell me what this truth is. Come on, what could be so bad about remembering?" The voice stayed silent. "Fine, don't tell me, but at least tell me this, what is that weapon that I have? How did I get it?"
"The weapon you wield is called a Keyblade," the voice said. "As for how you got it, that is part of the memories you must remember for yourself."
"John, help!" John snapped out of his thoughts to see Tails surrounded by Heartless. There were three shadows and a strange new Heartless John had never seen before. It was about his size, it wore a helmet, had red claws, and a symbol of a heart on its chest.
"That heartless is know as a soldier," the voice explained.
John hurled himself at the nearest of the Heartless, which was a shadow, and summoned his Keyblade to himself. He slashed the Heartless with his weapon and the creature exploded. The other Heartless turned to face this new threat. John cut threw another shadow before it could respond. The remaining shadow jumped at him but he simply put his Keyblade in its path and it impaled itself. John turned to face the soldier. It suddenly spun towards him and kicked him in the ribs. He stumbled back, coughing.
"Don't let you guard down," the voice warned.
John readied himself as the soldier spun towards him again. This time he was ready. He cut the foot off of the Heartless making it stumble, then he drove the Keyblade into its chest and it exploded. The Keyblade vanished from John's hands as he turned to check on Tails.
"Are you alright?" he asked his friend.
Tails seemed shaken. "I'm alright. Whew! That was close. Thanks buddy!"
John nodded and he put his hand to his head. He felt a little dizzy. "Of course. Now, on to Eggman." He and Tails walked off down the beach. John turned to his companion with a questioning look on his face. "You said you would tell me who this Eggman was."
Tails nodded. "Yep, okay. First, his real name is Ivo Robotnik. Eggman is just a nickname Sonic made up to tease him because he does look like a large egg. Robotnik is usually the problem around here but since the Heartless showed up he dropped out of the picture. We think the Heartless attacked him or something like that but we can't be sure. That's why I was going to him myself, to see if he could help us." Tails smiled at his companion. "And maybe he can help you recover your memories!"
"That's what I'm counting on," John replied.
"Oh, look, we're here," Tails pointed to a building up ahead.
The duo walked up the building and John looked around. "I don't see any door."
Tails shrugged. "That's Eggman. He doesn't want anyone to know how to get inside, but I've seen this before. It's simple really." He reached over to a part of the wall and pressed on it. Suddenly a door opened in front of them.
John was impressed. "Nice work Miles."
Tails grinned. "Let's go." They walked into the base and began their search, but they couldn't find anything. All the hallways and rooms were empty. John was starting to worry that they wouldn't find anything but then Tails stopped in front of a door. "This should be it," the fox said. Beside the door was a keypad and Tails typed on it for a moment and the door swung open to revel a staircase. "I was right."
John blinked. "How do you know all this stuff?"
Tails tapped his foot on the floor impatiently. "I told you, we have to deal with Eggman all the time, and these are all locks and passwords that I've seen before." Then Tails sighed. "But that's what bothers me. You see, why would Eggman reuse all his old things? It's almost like he wants us to come to him."
John thought about this for a moment then began to walk up the staircase. "Well, there is only one way to find out. Come on Miles." They walked up the staircase and when they reached the top they were confronted by another door. Tails dealt with it swiftly and the two walked into the room. The room was fairly big; it contained a huge, complex computer and a man who was operating the computer. At the sound of the door opening the man turned around. He was a little taller then John but had a bulging stomach and over sized hands. John smirked. Cut off his hands and legs and he did look like an egg.
"Finally you have arriv-" the man's hopeful look changed to one of disbelief. "Wait, who are you?" he asked John. "Where's Sonic?"
Tails looked uncertain. "Sonic sent me to get you. Why do you need him?"
The man turned back to his computer and slammed his fists on it. "NO! This isn't possible! Where's that stupid hedgehog when you need him?"
"Sonic is dealing with the Heartless right now," Tails glared at Robotnik. "Where have you been? The Heartless are a threat to you too. Why aren't you helping us?"
Robotnik spun around and gave Tails a death look. "You dare to speak to the greatest scientist in the world in such a manner?" Then the man sighed and turned back to his computer. "But it doesn't matter. We're all doomed anyways. Fine, you want to know where I was. I was hiding. The Heartless ambushed me and destroyed all my robots. None of my creations could hurt them! All my great work was destroyed! Do you understand me fox boy? I have nothing to help you with. I'm ruined." Robotnik slumped into a chair next to his computer.
Tails looked at the floor defeated. "Then it's over. With Shadow gone and you like this there is no way we can win. Let's go John." Tails walked to the door.
"Wait! Shadow is gone?" Robotnik was aghast. "But he is just as strong as Sonic!" he sighed. "You're right. It is over. The only thing that is keeping me alive now is this base. The Heartless still don't know how to get in. As long as the outside door is closed I'm safe."
"Uh-oh," Tails muttered.
Robotnik sat up. "You didn't!"
"I did," Tails nodded his head miserably. Suddenly there was noise from below and they could see the Heartless coming up the stairs to the room.
"NO!" Robotnik gasped. "This can't be happening." The Heartless marched into the room and began to crawl towards them.
John had had enough. He stepped towards the Heartless and summoned his Keyblade and crouched into his fighting stance. "You monsters! I've had enough of this! I'm taking you all down!"
Robotnik's mouth dropped open. "What are you doing boy? If I couldn't beat them then you certainly can't win."
"Be quiet!" John hissed at Robotnik. "All you've done is moaned about how awful your situation is. Well I'm going to do something about this!" He faced the Heartless and counted. "Alright, only five shadows. Not a big deal."
"Are you so sure John?" the voice said. "Be careful. Something isn't right about this."
"I'll be fine," John replied. He drove into the Heartless and cut three of them down instantly. "Looks like I'm doing all right."
"Help!" John spun around to see Tails and Robotnik were surrounded by three soldiers. He began to move to help them but something slammed into him from behind and he fell to the floor. He stood back up to see both of the shadows moving towards him. He slashed both of them with his blade and ran over to the soldiers. He drove his Keyblade into the closest of them, destroying it. The other two turned to face him. They both spun towards him kicking at him. He rolled out of the way of their attacks and slashed one on the side of the head. It dove towards him but he stabbed it with Keyblade destroying it. He stood to face off with the last of the Heartless. It immediately began its spin attack towards him but when he thrust at it; it jumped over his attack and kicked him in the face. He fell back, but hurled himself back at it, surprising it, and slammed his Keyblade into it. It exploded and the room was finally clear.
Robotnik stared at him, amazed. "Nice work boy."
"So…tired…why?" John fell to the ground. As usual, fatigue set in after the battle. Suddenly six soldiers popped out of the ground, and surrounded John! He stood back on his feet weakly and readied himself for battle. Why did they have to come now? The soldiers all spun towards him. He raised his Keyblade to stop the Heartless in front of him but it stopped its attack. John cried out in pain as the other five Heartless kicked him. One of the Heartless tackled John, pinning his arms to the ground. One of the others moved forward and reached towards him with its claws. "No…can't…" John gasped.
John heard a shout. "Sonic!" it was Tails. He sounded gleeful. John observed as a blue blur spun above him, destroying all the Heartless with apparent ease. Tails and Robotnik were smiling. The blue blur stopped and John could see it was some kind of creature with spikes.
"That's good," John thought. "At least now they're safe." Then he drifted into darkness.
Meanwhile
The man was standing back at his window again when the girl walked into the room. He sighed as he turned to face her. "You know it is more polite to knock," he narrowed his eyes. "More healthy too."
The girl looked agitated. "I'm sorry sir but this can't wait. It's about the renegade."
The man crossed his arms. "This better be good if you ignored regulations to tell me."
"It is important," she gasped. "We've discovered his power. It's a Keyblade."
The man turned back to his window. "Go then. You go and get him. Now!" The girl nodded and rushed from the room. "A Keyblade," the man thought. "How could it have gone so far?"
EN
Thanks for the review Greggorion. You were right, knightofdestiny! The beginning did come from Riku's story in Chain of Memories. Hope everyone likes the next chapter.