I apologize for the late update, I was grounded over the entire summer and someone hacked into my computer right after that. I had to re-read my own story because it had been so long since I had a chance to update. I thank you all for waiting. Without further ado, here is chapter 9.

By the time Tails had regained enough composure to talk, half of the plane trip had passed. Sonic had not been dreaming or lying when he had told those stories of him going through stories and taking part in them. It was all true.

Tail's POV:

I tried to make sense of all that had happened, but failed miserably. I know I'm really smart, but this situation made me feel really dumb. None of it made any logical sense. Swords didn't talk, the technology was crazily advanced, and Sonic actually managed to cross the dimensional barrier with a genie and sorceress' spell. The things that I make are kindergarten compared to the complexity of the new machines that I use to build with. I said, "I find this all so hard to believe."

I heard Sonic say, "it's okay, buddy. I didn't believe it either at first. Some things take time, y'know." I relaxed a bit from my still-shocked state. I was finally getting over the medieval sword that didn't have any technology in it talking. After all, when you've been around with Sonic a lot you learn to believe in many things like ghosts, gods, monsters, aliens, magic, and now talking swords. I guess I should have learned by now, but old habits tend to be hard to brake.

"This sword is also Excalibur, is that right?"

"Yep, despite how sorry it looks right now."

"Well, you don't look too fit for your specialty either, knave." The sword didn't seem to like Sonic very much. I could feel some kind of connection between them, though. I thought this all over as I flew the plane to Dr. Tenma's house.

Five minutes before Tails arrives:

The by now infamous Egg pod drifted slowly down to the finely decorated porch. The egg-shaped genius climbed out of his personal vehicle, walking up to the front door. Upon reaching it, he rang the doorbell and waited patiently for it to open. Dr. Tenma himself opened the door, Astro behind him. He greeted Eggman like a perfect gentleman "Good afternoon, doctor. I have been waiting patiently for you. Please, come in." Eggman followed Dr. Tenma to the living room, consisting of two couches and three recliners set up around a lavish coffee table.

The doctors sat down on the recliners opposite each other and stared. Astro sat in the third recliner, confused but still willing to trust his father. This lasted a full minute until Dr. Tenma broke the silence. "You have made quite the display of power, doctor. Almost as dangerous as mine. It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person. Although, as you could surely agree, your attempts at intimidation have been quite superfluous." Eggman smiled, clearly savoring the recognition.

He replied, "well, I have hacked into the city's mainframe and looked up all I could on you. I daresay that your attempts have not been much different than mine, just in a smaller package, for instance, Pluto is not near then size of the Metal Overlord, yet Pluto would give my mechanical monster quite the beating before it finally brings Pluto down." Dr. Tenma laughed, almost in a taunting fashion, at the egg-shaped mad doctor before him. "You forget my ultimate creation, a most formidable opponent under any circumstances. If you beat him, you will also beat Astro."

Eggman didn't know that Dr. Tenma had created something potentially stronger than Astro, so he started to sweat despite the air conditioning. "You forgot about Shadow." At this Eggman broke out laughing. This doctor was obviously a joke; Knuckles could take out that tin can without so much as a drop of sweat. Even with Robotopia and its army of robots, Metal Sonic could easily rip the Blue Knight and his cohorts to enough scrap metal to fill a small bucket. Shadow had no chance.

Unless... "I thank you doctor for your fabulous idea. You will soon know to fear me, as will all of Metro City. This house is where I will start to build Eggmanland, where my dreams will finally be realized. Sonic will be crushed under the heal of my boot; Astro's Kokoro, electronic brain, and the blue core his body is powered by will be mine; and I will enjoy watching your own creation end your pitiful existence. Hohohohohohoho!" The words hit Astro like a slap to the face, and suddenly two and two were put together.

Tenma knew he had made a mistake this time, but he was not just going to let the mad doctor walk out with such destructive information. He was going to have to earn it. "I apologize, doctor. But information such as this does not come without a price." At that instance, ten of Dr. Tenma's infamous robot dogs leaped out of their respective hiding places and positioned themselves around their creator and the door. Eggman yelped at the surprise, but was not without one of his own.

He quickly reached into his pocket, and pulled out a remote as he pressed a button. "Egg Walker, activated" rang out a feminine voice from the box. Instantly, the Egg pod materialized under Eggman, and he allowed himself to fall into it. Just as he did, the Egg Walker started to assemble around it. He shot the dogs guarding the door and made a run for it.

Astro sat in the recliner, dumbstruck. Tenma did not chase him. "I have finally made a stupid mistake" he said, "and already, it may be my last." Eggman wasn't about to just declare his death and walk out without repercussions, though. He had crossed the line, twice. Dr. Tenma would not let the foolish man live, he would learn how dangerous it was to play around with him. "You do not just walk into other people's houses and tell them you will kill them and their descendants. If we meet again before what you said has transpired, Dr. Eggman, consider yourself dead."

Dr. Tenma's house upon Tails' arrival:

Sonic's POV:

Things were getting beyond confusing. What did the secret rings and Caliburn have to do with Eggman's latest plot? I asked Tails, and he had about as good an answer as I had. I decided to ask Dr. Tenma where Astro was, then deal with the problems from there, but as I asked him the question, I noticed he looked scared and angry at the same time. I had gotten used to angriness being an ever present emotion on his face, but fear was new. I decided to ask about it later.

Since most of us didn't know what to do next, I asked Caliburn, and got a pretty big surprise. "We need to gather enough energy to contact the royal wizard Merlina; she has some experience in these situations."

"Contact Merlina, but how much power do we need, exactly?"

"I haven't the slightest idea, are there not any shops, or perhaps traveling sages that have gone by this town?"

"No offense Caliburn, but here sages and magic are no more than a myth."

Caliburn stayed silent for a few minutes, and then said, "This poses a problem that cannot be ignored. We must find a way past it." I thought about it, and an idea surfaced in my head. "How about we use the power of the Chaos Emeralds to do it?" Caliburn looked confused, "the what?" Tails decided to step in and answered, "the chaos emeralds are seven jewels that turn thoughts and emotions into power. Collecting all seven can build up enough power to do things that would be impossible otherwise. Sonic uses the seven emeralds to become some kind of super being capable of stopping gods, I'm sure they have enough power to cast a spell or open an inter-dimensional tunnel we could use to contact Merlina."

I nodded. At first, it looked like all we had to do was gather the Chaos Emeralds and Chaos Control home. With all the information we've gathered so far, though, it looked like Eggman was bent on staying. I wasn't gonna leave just to let Astro have to deal with Eggy. I was taking him with me, but I'd have to wreck whatever scheme he had and capture him, first. Way easier said than done. It would take a miracle to catch him, although the opposite could be said about stopping his schemes.

"Hey Caliburn, you got any idea what the world rings are?"

"Yes, actually. I have minor knowledge of them. They originated in the Middle East, did they not?"

"Uh, I think so. Anyways, I was hoping you'd know where one was or might be hiding."

"I was not forged with a tracking system, you know. Even then, I thought I sensed something of importance in the cavern with me. It would be a good idea to look around for them there."

"Thanks, maybe all that time trapped in the cave actually made you sharper for a change."

"Or it made you slower." I smiled at the comment, even shadow couldn't make insults that were as hilarious at the same time as much as Caliburn did. His connection to me was also unmatched, only Tails was a closer friend. I guess that was how the Knights of the Round Table got so good, I've heard in the connection between a sword and its wielder, but never bought it 'till I met Caliburn. I had to admit, using him WAS like putting on an old boot. I just hope he can cut through the various metals Eggman uses in his robots, or he won't be as much use here.

I went for a quick run while we waited for Astro to show up. Embarrassing as it may sound, the little tin can actually beat me to the house. I went for a two minute jog, and he was there by the time I was halfway done. An army of kids showed up about five minutes later, their leader looking to be a girl that had black hair with purple stripe. "Cora..." Astro whined. He didn't look too happy to see purple-stripe-girl.

"Sorry Astro, but we want to help, too" they argued a bit more, but I didn't hear it because I dozed off half a minute into the argument. Sleeping right then was definitely not one of my brightest ideas. It started with me looking over the city form one of the piles of trash that were hurriedly disappearing in front of me. Replaced by a red, black, and gold theme. From the outskirts of the city, each building grew rounder and darker. Like an enormous storm cloud, it spread.

Infecting other buildings just didn't seem enough for it. The ground also was turned into the dark red of a volcanic floor. The thing that I soon came to call a virus consumed the entire city in a matter of minutes. I had seen enough, I ran as fast as I could away from the virus. Nothing stopped it or slowed it down, even water turned a nasty glowing black color on contact, chasms or canyons were cleared almost as easily, and it steadily gained speed. It was catching up to me.

I ran through a forest trail, hoping I would lose the virus when a Chaos Emerald past right by me. I stopped to grab it, but the virus was inches away from it. I stood stock still, not knowing if a Chaos Emerald was more valuable than whatever the virus would do to me if it got me. Suddenly, the virus decided for me and lunged out to spread its sickly influence on the green emerald. Black tendrils reached into the emerald's glowing core, fusing together to turn it the same glowing black as the water the virus transformed.

It quickly gained supersonic speed, and reached me. I was too surprised to react fast enough, so black tendrils surrounded me and closed in on me. For once, I actually felt fear. Then I woke up, shaking like a wet dog. Everyone stopped talking and looked at me, "oops, sorry. I need to go out for a jog; I'm a bit restless today." I said with a small smile.

I quickly got up to go, but couldn't help but notice Tails' suspicious expression as I left. When I got back, Astro clearly looked like he lost the argument with the girl named Cora. He sulked sadly in a corner; I was surprised to see an enormous amount of concern in them. He obviously liked her, and therefore had no chance of winning in the first place. Tails walked up to me after a minute and said, "Sonic, can we talk for a bit please?"

I didn't want to, but complied nonetheless. We walked to the left into the room I was given and sat down on opposite sides of the bed. "Sonic, that look on your face worried me, what exactly happened while you dozed off?" I looked at him with as serious a look as I could muster and told him, "bring Knuckles first, he's gotta hear what I've got to say. I don't think it was just a bad dream, I think it was a warning."