A long hallway awaited the duo of wind and magic. The right wall was missing, replaced by pillars to let the moonlight in. The speedster bolted down the marble pathway, noticing the moon shining through. Shahra looked ahead.
A dark silhouette, about five inches taller than Sonic himself, was waiting for them fifty meters down the corridor.
The genie nudged her master to get his attention.
"What is it, Shahra?"
She pointed to the shadow ahead.
Sonic recognized the figure instantly. Erazor!
The evil djinn watched the speedster come close. Mask on or not, Erazor knew who he was due to the shrinking flame in the aerokinetic's chest.
Erazor grunted in disgust. "It's the blue rat again…"
Sonic yanked his mask off, pressing a thumb to the Arrow of Flame. "Hey, looks like I'm running a bit low here! Think you could top me off?"
Erazor would not remove the curse until he had gained what he was looking for. "Have you brought the seven World Rings?"
Sonic tossed his mask to Shahra. "Well, you see, you should really just go look for them yourself! One of them was in your palace after all!"
Erazor tore his cape from his backside and brandished his razor-shaped sword, charging at the speedster. "Very well… I'll carve you to pieces until I find every last one!"
Sonic returned the charge. "Is that so? LET'S SEE YOU TRY!"
Erazor sailed backwards as a supersonic foot connected with his face. Sonic had jumped and launched a wind-powered roundhouse kick to Erazor's jaw, sending the evil djinn flying. Smashing into the ground, the genie got back up as he noticed his adversary coming toward him. Erazor cast a spell around himself. His skin began to glow as the words of the Arabian Nights were absorbed directly into his body. In a flash of light, he grew to twice his size in an effort to crush his enemy.
Sonic stopped running, but was undaunted by his opponent. This guy's nothing in size compared to Perfect Chaos! Chaos was twice as big as a small skyscraper!
Sonic cracked his knuckles as he started stretching. "I've been waiting to finish things with you for a long time!"
Erazor picked his weapon up off the ground. "You filthy rat! I'll shut that mouth of yours permanently!"
"Yeah-yeah-yeah! You're big, I'll give you that. Newsflash: …I've fought bigger!"
Charging up a spin dash, the blue streak blasted at his enemy, striking him in the face again. Arabic text flew out of the evil genie from the blow.
Aha! It's working! Now I just need to keep that up!
The djinn reeled from the blow. "Insolent pest!" Brandishing his sword, he swung for Sonic.
The flat side of the blade hit him square in the back of his head, knocking him flat on his face. Rolling to avoid another attack, the speedster jumped up and fired his aura up again, slamming Erazor in the gut head-first.
More text seeped from Erazor's skin. Coughing from the blow, the angry genie charged at Sonic like a locomotive.
Sonic had been launched backward from the impact of striking Erazor at a high speed. He landed face-down, his back turned to his enemy. He tasted blood as he got up. "Okay… Not one of my brightest moments…"
Shahra contacted him telepathically as he got up. Watch out!
Sonic turned around.
The locomotive hit him.
The blue streak yelled as he was sent flying into the wall. Dazed from the blow, he took a knee as he dropped to the ground.
Erazor moved forward and grabbed Sonic by the throat. Lifting his adversary into the air, he tightened his grip as he cracked the speedster in the face with the butt of his weapon.
Now his nose started to bleed.
Slamming his adversary into the floor, the genie unsheathed his blade and raised it into the air to behead Sonic.
No! Sonic! At the last second, Shahra formed a white cloud around her master, quickly infusing with his skin-tight suit.
"Good-bye, Sonic!" Erazor said coldly as he lowered his blade.
The white accents on Sonic's suit began to glow. The blue accents over the spines of his mask also started emitting light.
A strong gust of wind deflected the sword, causing it to strike the floor instead.
Without warning, the Arrow of Flame expanded and unleashed a pillar of fire at the djinn, singing his eyes. Erazor screamed in agony as he let go of his enemy's throat, reeling back from the pain.
Sonic gasped for air as his neck was released.
Shahra telepathically communicated with her master. I gave your suit some extra abilities. As long as you have a source, you now have full control over wind and fire!
The speedster smiled at her, then turned to glare at Erazor who had just recovered from being burned. Even more of the Arabic words had been released from his body.
Sonic stood up from where he was smashed into the floor. "What's wrong, Erazor? You don't look so good!" He himself didn't look the best from the fresh wounds and bruises he had received.
The genie scoffed taking another swing at him. "Enjoy your moment of pride, rat! It shall be your last!"
The aerokinetic back-flipped over his enemy's blade, landing in a spider-like pose. You shouldn't have done that. Now you're starting to tick me off!
Erazor swung sword and fist at his adversary in a desperate attempt to decapitate him.
Sonic was knocked backward one last time. Landing on his feet, he clenched his teeth and fists tightly as the accents on his suit glowed again. Even the ring on his finger started emanating light. Blue wind started to spiral around his feet and body as the glowing intensified. Bits of fire were pulled from the Arrow of Flame, engulfing his fists. Fully armed with two of the four elements, Sonic angrily stared down his opponent who charged for him again.
"Okay, bub… Let's try that again!" Unleashing a yell of rage, the speedster connected a fire-fueled right cross with the djinn's face. A swift, blazing uppercut followed, sending Erazor skyward. Swinging his legs, Sonic launched a powerful gust of wind in the genie's direction, slamming him into the ceiling. As Erazor dropped down, a tornado of wind and fire encircled him, swirling him around inside. It was like being in a burning washing machine.
With a wave of his arm, Sonic commanded the blazing cyclone to launch Erazor far down the hallway. The djinn was now rapidly losing the Arabic text. But he still refused to be beaten by someone a third of his size.
Erazor straightened up and readied his sword. "Come, you filthy rat, and face me!"
Sonic crouched down in a running position. "You want it, you got it!"
The two enemies charged for one another as Sonic rubbed the ring on his finger. "Time Break!"
Colors turned greyscale as time slowed to a near stop. Erazor was suspended in the time freeze.
Charging up aerokinesis around his feet, Sonic leaped high into the air, yelling as he somersaulted and delivered a wind-powered axe kick to the top of Erazor's skull.
The time flow returned to normal as the blow landed.
Erazor yelled in pain as the rest of the words escaped him, causing his size to return to normal. Weakened, he sank to one knee. "N-no… This isn't… possible…"
Sonic walked threateningly towards the evil djinn. "All right, Erazor! Give up! You've lost!"
The genie changed into a plume of black smoke as he retreated down the hall.
Sonic gave chase, not about to let him get away.
The smoke cloud escaped through the hallway's exit, up some stairs, into a room, and through the cracks of a pair of small, violet doors. A golden diamond-link fence-like design was engraved in the gateway.
Sonic could do nothing but stand and watch the rest of the smoke retreat through the cracks as Shahra caught up with him, still holding his mask.
Worried, she hovered by her master's side. "Sonic?"
Bloodied and tenderized from the fight, Sonic looked at the flaming dart in his torso. "Uh, I'm okay. I'm still…"
Shahra noticed the purple doors. She moved closer, intrigued. "That door… What is it?"
The speedster remembered a section in the book he'd read right before he fell asleep: a portion from "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves". His eyes lit up as he playfully elbowed Shahra. "I have an idea. Watch this! Open, Sesame!"
The gateway remained closed.
The aerokinetic kicked the floor. "Ah, it didn't work! That stinks." Looking closer, he realized this same door was painted on the cover of the Arabian Nights itself. Seven different colored loops were carved into the door around the giant golden handles in the center: one above, three more on each side.
Shahra observed the ring-like carvings into the gateway. "There must be some kind of… offering we need to make… Seven…" The answer dawned on her. "Sonic!"
It was like he read her mind. He remembered a passage from the book, quoted to him by Shahra at the start of their journey. "'When the seven rings that control the world are gathered, the portal between the worlds shall open'… We've got the seven World Rings… This must be the door that they open!"