Chapter 2: Panic in the Sky

The world of Mobius was once a beautiful place, for creatures big and small, until it became scarred with the effects of war and pollution by the evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Sonic and his friends of the Freedom Fighters stand as the last line of defense against his evil machinations. It is, however, thanks to this battle that Sonic met a strange lone echidna named Kicks, who protected the Floating Island from intruders. At first, their introduction to each other was wrought with misunderstanding, they were able to make amends and work together against Dr. Robotnik. Now living alone once again, Kicks is unaware of the changes made to her island and what destruction it may bring.

Starring:

Kicks the Echidna - Sole Guardian of the Floating Island

Dr. Ivo Robotnik - Evil Dictator

Sonic the Hedgehog - Hero of Mobius

Miles "Tails" Prower - Sidekick

*Kicks is sleeping under a tree, a faint breeze keeping her cool as she sleeps. In her sleep, she recalls an event that happened when she was young. When she wasn't the only echidna left on the island. She was with her father, Locke, in front of a wall of flames. The two share a glance before Locke, unflinchingly, walks through the wall of fire, ignoring Kicks' cries for him to come back. That was years ago and though the memory still haunts her, Kicks has grown used to it. Even as she awoke, she did not sweat nor did her breathing get heavy.*

Kicks: "The same dream, huh? Ugh… Yeah, brain, you're gonna need new tricks. I've gotten over that by now…"

*She sits up, noticing the breeze getting unusually faster.*

Kicks: "Uh? What's going on?"

*She jumps to her feet before jumping into a flight, arms outstretched as she decides to fly up, noticing the palm trees starting to bend in an unusual way. As she tries to make sense of this strange occurrence, she finds a baby kangaroo without a parent.*

Kicks: "Gonna be one of those days, eh? Hang on, kid!"

*Kicks flies down, grabbing the kangaroo kid as she continues to fly.*

Kangaroo: "Wah! M-Miss Kicks?"

Kicks: "Just Kicks, kiddo. But enough about me, let's talk about you. Why are you without your mom?"

Kangaroo: "I-I got separated from her. I heard a scary noise and then… A sudden quake tumbled me so far away from home! I miss my mommy!"

*The kid starts to cry, though Kicks was there to calm him down as she thought about what the kangaroo said.*

Kicks: 'Sudden quake? Yeah, I felt a light tremor but I honestly left it alone at the time because I thought it was my imagination. But now that I'm certain the quake happened… Is it Robotnik? Or Sonic? Tch. Been a while since I've seen either of them, but while I do tolerate the blue boy wonder, I wish he kept his war off my island.'

*Kicks soon catches sight of a crying kangaroo mother and descends down to greet her.*

Mother: "Kicks! You found my baby!"

Kid: "Momma!"

Kicks: "Yep. He just rolled out of the wrong side of the bed. Just keep a closer eye on him next time."

*As the mother thanks Kicks, the echidna stares at the sky, watching as the sky seems to move… unusually fast. She jumps into the sky to fly off, heading to the other end of the island. Upon reaching her destination though, Kicks finds a small crater of soot and small footprints leading somewhere.*

Kicks: "Huh? Footprints… Not deep enough to be Robotnik, but not big enough to be Sonic… Another intruder on my island?"

*Kicks starts to follow the footsteps, curious as to where they would lead.*

*Meanwhile, as Kicks' adventures were going on, Sonic's Freedom Fighter friends were gathered in their hideout as, unknown to Kicks, the Floating Island was moving towards Knothole Forest. Rotor starts to report on what witnesses have seen.*

Rotor: "...The landmass was sighted several hours ago, as it crossed over into our air space! Witnesses claimed the sky was falling; though from what I can tell, exactly the opposite is true!"

Sally: "Amazing! Any idea what's keeping it aloft, Rotor?"

Rotor: "I couldn't tell you, Princess. But I do know this…"

*Rotor points out the movement pattern of the island.*

Rotor: "According to my readings, it's headed straight for Knothole Village!"

*As Rotor finishes his report, Sonic and Tails walk in, arriving just a bit late for the report.*

Sonic: "Hi, gang! Did we miss anything?"

Sally: "Plenty! And you wouldn't have if you have the common courtesy to-"

*Sonic and Tails then notices the Floating Island, shocked to see it moving toward Knothole Village.*

Sonic: "Holy-!"

Tails: "It's the Floating Island!"

Sally: "'Floating Island'? Mind filling us in, genius? What do you two know that the rest of us don't?"

*Sonic then starts to recount his and Tails' adventure on the Floating Island and their meeting with its guardian, Kicks, who at first was antagonistic towards them, but left on seemingly friendly terms.*

Sally: "Hmm… Whose side is this guardian really on?"

Sonic: "That's… hard to say, Sal! For an echidna, she's one strange girl! Far as I could tell, she's neither for us or against us…"

Sally: "Which makes second guessing her all but impossible. Until his intentions are clear, it's best to assume the worst!"

*Sally then orders Antoine to accompany Sonic and Tails as they head off towards the Floating Island.*

*Back with Kicks, the echidna had made her way to the desert part of the island as she continued to follow the footprints.*

Kicks: "Someone's been very busy… Between the weird winds, the noise the kid mentioned, and the footprints, I'm curious how it all relates…"

*Kicks then finds herself in front of a large set of ruins of the Sandopolis Zone. With a stern look, she enters the ruins, wary of any traps.*

Kicks: "Make this easy on yourself and come out! If you do, I won't kick you as hard! Just enough to send you flying off my island!"

*With no response, the echidna enters the ruins, passing some pillars. As she walks in, a trap is sprung, not by her, but by the one who left the footprints. She looks up and finds rocks and boulders falling at her. She quickly starts kicking her foot up, slamming a barrage of kicks at the boulders above her. Once that was cleared, she stepped over the rocks and glared heavily.*

Kicks: "Okay. Soft kick is off the table. Come out or I'll really get mad!"

*Kicks runs through the halls, looking for whoever set off the trap. As she runs, she comes to a sudden halt as an axe almost slams down and takes her head off. She sighs before finding a strange door.*

Kicks: "A door? …Yeah, I don't like it…"

*She investigates the door and slowly enters. She finds a room of usual shapes decorating the wall. It almost seems like hieroglyphics, but these weren't familiar to her.*

Kicks: "I've been up and down the island a few times or so in my life, but even I've never seen this… Just what is-"

*As Kicks contemplates the pictures on the wall, sand starts falling onto her head, like a heavy waterfall.*

Kicks: "Ah! Sandfall!? Now!?"

*The floor under Kicks' feet collapses as she falls into a pit. She hits a cliff hard, but manages to kick off the wall and land on a platform, now ending up in the Lava Reef Zone.*

Kicks: "From the frying pan into the oven, huh!? Just my day…"

*Kicks finds the platform she's on sinking, prompting her to jump off and fly out. But finds her flying unsteady due to a hurt arm, causing her to crash onto the wall. Thankfully, she was able to climb right out through an exit.*

Kicks: "Ugh… My dad should've given me a more in-depth tour… Because there are some things I really should know about…"

*She looks up, shocked to find herself under the Mushroom Hill Zone. Convenient, but certainly very odd how that chasm led her here. But then she hears voices, but ones she found familiar.*

Voices: "Me and my big mouth!"

*Following the sound, she finds Sonic hanging from the edge of a cliff.*

Sonic: "Lucky I managed to snag this ledge, or I would've been in deep, deep trouble!"

Kicks: "Well look what the hedgehog dragged in."

*Kicks peers over the edge, seeing Sonic look up at her.*

Kicks: "Hi, there. How's it hanging?"

Sonic: "Oh, you know. Living on the edge."

Kicks: "Huh. Well, I hope I'm not spoiling your fun. But I hate cliffhangers."

*Kicks extends a hand to help Sonic up as Tails flies down from above. Once Sonic was on his feet again, the trio took a breather.*

Tails: "Sonic! Are you alright?"

Sonic: "Yeah, thanks to the local guardian. Thanks for that!"

Kicks: "Yeah, yeah. Enough of the thanks; what are you two doing here?"

Sonic: "Well… Long story short, your island is moving towards Knothole Village!"

Kicks: "WHAT!?"

Sonic: "Sally sent me and Tails to investigate since we knew about you and the island, but when we arrived, we were attacked by cannons added to the island."

Kicks: "Cannons? We shouldn't have those though…"

Sonic: "After making an emergency skydiving, we landed in some mushroom forest, finding a robot chopping down trees. We destroyed it thankfully, but after that, I… uh… fell into a sinkhole…"

Kicks: "Which landed you here."

*Kicks starts to think about what she was told. And everything started to click together, making her snap her fingers.*

Kicks: "No wonder the winds were out of whack today. Someone hijacked my island and turned it into some kind of fortress! That would explain the noise that kangaroo kid heard too!"

*Kicks jumped to the wall above them and started climbing out.*

Kicks: "C'mon you two! I have a feeling I know who hijacked my island and where they are!"

Sonic: "Great minds think alike! Let's go, Tails!"

Tails: "Right!"

*Tails grabs Sonic and flies him up and out of the cave, back into the Mushroom Hill Zone. With a dash, Kicks starts to lead the two through the mushroom infested jungle.*

*About an hour's worth of running later, the trio arrive at a cliffside wall, Kicks walking up to it as Sonic looks on, curious.*

Sonic: "Not to seem impatient, but we got our in potential danger here."

Kicks: "Back off and let me find the key."

*Kicks then presses down a rock in the ground, opening the wall to reveal a slide down.*

Tails: "Whoa! A hidden passage!"

Kicks: "In a manner of speaking, this is where I moved the Chaos Emerald after our last meeting. Down the slide!"

*Kicks goes down first, followed by Sonic and Tails before the trio come into the Chaos Chamber, a crystalline room with the single Chaos Emerald in the center. However, next to it was a device that was siphoning energy from the Emerald.*

Sonic: "Whoa… Where are we?"

Kicks: "The Chaos Chamber. The Chaos Emerald releases energy which is then spread throughout the island from here. You guys should be the first… But judging by the siphoning device, you aren't."

*A voice then echoes in the room; the trio turn, finding a projection of Robotnik's head speaking to them.*

Robotnik: "Quite right, you maggot eating hooligan. Good evening, gentlemen and lady. I've been expecting you."

Kicks: "I knew it! Robotnik!"

Sonic: "I always wanted someone to bring me your head, but this is ridiculous!"

Kicks: "What did you do to my island, grease breath!?"

Robotnik: "Isn't it obvious? No… Of course not… For only I have the vision to recognize the Floating Island's vast untapped strategic military potential! Since discovering its existence, literally hundreds of hours have been devoted to Operation: Flying Destroyer! Phase one involved attaching a mobile command base to the island's foundation, and unleashing a series of paradroids - complex automated mechanisms designed to refashion its shape from tropical paradise to engine of destruction! And speaking of engines… Using power from the Chaos Emerald to fuel them, I began to move my freshly armed weapon of war due east toward Knothole Village! In mere moments, once the island is directly overhead, the shock-cannons mounted along its underside shall fire! And then…"

*Robotnik's head was then surrounded by flames as he started to laugh evilly, showing just what he intended to do with Knothole Village.*

Robotnik: "But I admit, your coming here has caused me to accelerate my plans a bit. Not helped by your teaming up with you, Kicks. But don't think you can stop me now! Try as you might, you won't be able to destroy the shock-cannons in time! And my energy siphon has a shield around it, keeping anyone who dares to even scratch it from destroying it!"

Kicks: "Why you…!"

Tails: "Sonic! What do we do!? Knothole's in danger!"

Sonic: "I know, little buddy! But-"

Kicks: "So my island's being used to destroy another's home? Well that just won't do."

*Kicks approaches the Chaos Emerald, Robotnik simply scoffing as she does.*

Robotnik: "What do you think you can do? With the energy siphon, you can't pull the Emerald away!"

Kicks: "Oh I'm aware… Which is why…"

*Kicks then slams her heel onto the Chaos Emerald, shattering it to pieces, deactivating the energy siphon and causing the island to stop moving and start to lose altitude.*

Sonic: "W-What's happening!?"

Kicks: "Without a Chaos Emerald, this whole island is coming down!"

*Within Robotnik's mobile command base, the dictator growls at having lost his only power source to his machines.*

Swatbot: "Master. We are falling."

Robotnik: "I know, buckethead!"

Swatbot: "We will break up in-"

Robotnik: "No! We're breaking off!"

*Robotnik then has the base detach from the island as it drops, flying away to safety as the evil doctor starts to chuckle.*

Robotnik: "The fool! She forgot they were eight miles high! Now Knothole Village will be destroyed without me having to fire a single shot!"

*Back in the Chaos Chamber, as Kicks destroys the siphon, she turns to Sonic, who's a bit worried about the fact the island was falling.*

Kicks: "Is the big oaf gone?"

Sonic: "Knowing him, he's well on his way back to Robotropolis by now! But now we have a different problem!"

*Kicks only smirks before kicking a crystal wall down to reveal a spare Chaos Emerald.*

Kicks: "Like mom always told me… Never leave home without a spare Emerald handy!"

*Kicks places the Chaos Emerald in the place the original one was, stopping the island's descent in its tracks. The shaking subsides as the island reorient itself.*

Sonic: "Whoa! You had two Chaos Emeralds?"

Kicks: "Yep. Remember when I said I moved the one from before down here? I had it stored behind a fake wall just in case."

Tails: "Amazing, Kicks!"

Kicks: "Heh. Don't mention it."

*Later, Kicks escorts Sonic and Tails to the edge of the island hanging above Knothole Village, but as they walk, Sonic decides to toss in a question.*

Sonic: "Hey, Kicks. While I'm happy things worked out, I do have to ask whose side you're on. If you're a free agent, why not just park the island here and join us?"

Kicks: "No thanks. I'd rather not be involved in your little war. I have my own responsibilities to tend to here. …As well as a few questions that need answering…"

Sonic: "Eh. Alright. Suit yourself."

*Sonic then leaps off the edge, with Tails flying down to catch him.*

Sonic: "Don't be a stranger, Kicks!"

*Kicks waves Sonic off, but then places a hand to her hip.*

Kicks: "Well that's one problem solved… But there's still the issue of those footprints… Who made them… and why did they lead me to Sandopolis?"

*Unbeknownst to Kicks, as she ponders these questions, a figure watches from the shadows, staring at her from where she would not see.*

Stranger: 'Those are questions you should indeed be asking, Guardian. As they are part of your first lesson. A lesson we'll soon see if you are capable of learning.'

Who is this mysterious intruder spying on Kicks? And though the echidna denies it, has she already been unwillingly dragged into Sonic's war with Robotnik? What strange secrets and adventures await our heroine next time? Find out next time!