Chapter 7: Unity

When Sonny came to, the sun was rising above the trees. He was lying on the ground with his face down, and his feet ached unbearably. But then in a moment, everything came back to him. He remembered breaking into the G. U. N. base, stealing the remaining three Chaos Emeralds, and then running away. Afterwards, Sonny got to his knees and removed his knapsack which was surprisingly light. Then he opened it, and found the six Chaos Emeralds inside.

"Well, at least I wasn't dreaming," Sonny said to himself. "Now to find Dr. Robotnik."

While he no longer had the letter, Sonny vaguely recalled it saying something about heading for the volcano at the northern part of the island. Unsure of which way was north, Sonny made his way through the thick tropical underbrush till he came to a dirt road. He followed it all the way back to town, but discovered several G. U. N. soldiers and tanks lurking about.

"What are you doing out here, boy?" said one guard who noticed Sonny as he tried to sneak away. "You should be inside your home."

"Uh, why?" Sonny asked.

"There's a new menace on the island that may be connected to Dr. Robotnik. It attacked our base and may be heading for this town, so go home and stay inside."

Figuring that the soldier was referring to his other self, Sonny decided to question the man further. "Do you know what this menace looks like?"

"I haven't seen it myself, but I've been told that it appears as a streak of blue that moves faster than the blink of an eye. Hence, we have dubbed it 'The Blue Blur.'"

"I see. Well, thanks for letting me know, officer," Sonny replied, and walked away.

###

Once he got to his apartment, Sonny went on his computer and figured out where the volcano was located. Then he had a quick meal consisting of a leftover chili-dog and some soda. After that, Sonny made sure nobody was around outside before stepping out of his apartment. On the ground-floor, Sonny stretched his arms and legs before taking off north in the direction of the volcano. Like yesterday, the Sonic Phase kicked in immediately and he was standing before the volcano in a matter of minutes. There were two robots circling around a certain patch of ground that was circular with two eyes and an overgrown mustache. Sonny hesitated, but then he took the six Chaos Emeralds out of his knapsack and carried them over.

"Um, is this the entrance to Dr. Robotnik's secret lair?" Sonny said, getting the robots' attention.

"What business do you have with Dr. Robotnik?" one of the robots said, pointing its laser-gun at Sonny.

"I came to bring him these," Sonny said, showing the Chaos Emeralds. "I've been told they're important."

"He has Chaos Emeralds. Six in total." The other robot scanned the gemstones with his eyes and then he looked at Sonny. "Are you Sonic?"

"Yeah," Sonny said hesitantly.

"Dr. Robotnik is expecting you," replied the first robot.

Then Sonny followed the two robots over to the circular patch of ground. In a few minutes, the patch began to sink into the ground until it came to an underground hallway made of some kind of metal alloy. The robots hovered down the hallway, with Sonny behind them. Several doors unlocked and closed behind the three, until they came to a chamber with several control panels on the floor-level with a spiraling metal staircase leading up to a platform where a second set of control panels lay. In the center was a circular seat cloaked in shadow while in front of it a beam of light held a royal-blue Chaos Emerald within. Sonny kept his eye on it as he ascended the stairs with the two robots on either side of him and stood before the circular seat.

The seat turned around, revealing a shadowy figure who spoke in a gruff but menacing voice. "Welcome to my underground lair, Sonic, though I must admit that you look more…different."

"Where are my friends?" Sonny said abruptly.

"They are fine, Sonic. My robots are fetching them now as we speak." The figure extended his hand out, which was gloved in white. "Now hand over the Chaos Emeralds."

Sonny didn't loosen his grip on the Chaos Emeralds in his arms. "Not until I see my friends, Dr. Robotnik."

The figure's hand gripped into a fist, then he reclined it back into the shadow. "I see your impatience hasn't improved with this new form you've taken, Sonic."

"New form? What are you talking about?"

"Surely, you must've figured out by now that these bodies we now occupy are not the same as our own. But despite my brilliant intellect, I'm not sure what caused this."

"But you said on the walkie-talkie that you know a lot about me. Were you lying?"

"No, Sonic, I meant what I said. I know everything about you based on our previous encounters, but this current predicament puzzles me."

Before Sonny could respond, a pair of rocket jets caught his attention. Behind the shadowed figure appeared two robots who held Miles and Amelia in their arms. They landed on the platform as Amelia and Miles looked at Sonny with surprise.

"Sonny," Amelia said. "What are you doing here?"

"To save you guys," Sonny replied.

"Don't give the Chaos Emeralds to Dr. Robotnik," Miles said as he struggled against the robots' tight grip. "He's planning to use them as an unlimited energy source for his machines so he can eliminate the G. U. N. forces and take over South Island!"

"Quiet, boy!" Dr. Robotnik shouted and snapped his finger.

The robot that held Miles suddenly radiated with electricity, causing Miles to get electrocuted in the process.

"Miles!" Sonny cried, and was held back by the two robots who escorted him before he could move.

Amelia turned to Dr. Robotnik. "You monster!"

"That was only a minor electrical shock, Amy, so your friend will recover," Dr. Robotnik said. "But the next shock could be fatal unless you give me the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic."

Sonny looked at the two robots, Amelia, the unconscious Miles, and Dr. Robotnik. "All right. If you want the Chaos Emeralds so badly, then here they are!"

Dragging the robots with him, Sonny dashed toward the dark-blue Chaos Emerald in the beam of light. But the beam prevented Sonny from grabbing it, and instead sent an electric current that shocked him and the two robots. Then the Chaos Emerald and the other ones Sonny held suddenly started to glow and levitate around Sonny. There was a flash of light and Sonny found himself standing in a white void with no beginning or end to it dotted by vague colorless structures on the horizon.

"About time you showed up, Sonny Hedge," said a voice.

Sonny turned around and saw a boy that looked exactly like himself, only with spiked hair that ran down past his shoulders, slanted green pupils, white gloves, sporting blue hedgehog ears and a tail.

"Are you…the other me?" Sonny asked, though he already knew the answer.

"The other you? I'm Sonic the Hedgehog," the other boy replied. "You're just the owner of this body I'm inhabiting right now."

Sonny hesitated and then he asked, "Are you a ghost?"

"A ghost?" Sonic scratched his head, and said, "That would explain a lot."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't remember exactly how I got here, but the same images keep coming back to me consisting of fire and smoke with my friends being slain by something."

"Then the nightmares I've been having lately…were your memories?"

"Yeah, I guess so. In any case, I somehow merged with your body and that's why I look the way I do."

"So let me get this straight," Sonny said with exasperation. "You're a spirit, or something like one, with partial amnesia who has merged with my body and occasionally takes it over when I'm in trouble. Correct?"

Sonic shrugged. "It seems that way."

"What about Amelia and Miles? Are they possessed by spirits like yourself?"

"Yes. Miles is possessed by Tails, who is my best friend, and Amelia is possessed by Amy, who is my self-proclaimed girlfriend."

"Do you know if there are others?"

"I know Dr. Robotnik is possessed by my arch-nemesis Dr. Eggman, and that Chuck guy might have a spirit. But otherwise, I'm not sure."

"How do you know everything about me if you're a ghost from another world?"

"Like I said, I'm merged with your body. So I share my memories with you, and you share your memories with me."

"I see." Sonny folded his arms. "Well, can you please leave my body? I didn't asked to be taken over by some strange being from another dimension that can't remember anything. It also doesn't help that every time you take over, I'm left with blank spaces in my memory, which make me question what happened or what I did."

"I understand how you feel and I wish I could, Sonny, but I can't."

Sonny blinked. "What do you mean you can't?"

"I don't know how," Sonic said as he started doing warm-up stretches in front of Sonny.

"Then I'm stuck with you. Is that it?"

"For now, unless we find a way."

"Like what? Help you regain your memories?"

"Well, that's a start." After he finished his warm-up stretches, Sonic held his hand out to Sonny. "How about this? If you help me regain my memories, I'll only possess you when you want me to. But if I don't leave your body when that happens, then I won't possess you at all."

"Fine," Sonny replied, and shook Sonic's hand. "Now let's kick Dr. Robotnik's butt together!"

"You bet!" Sonic said eagerly.

###

The beam fizzled out, and in its place floated Sonic, whose hair had turned yellow and was standing on edge. His eyes had gone from forest-green to ruby-red, and a gold-colored aura surrounded him. Miles and Amelia were astounded while Dr. Robotnik started to lean back in his chair.

"What's the matter, Dr. Eggman?" Sonic grinned. "Did you think I rammed into that light beam just to kill myself? It was the only way I could get that last Chaos Emerald and achieve my Super Sonic form, which I'm going to use to beat you."

"Damn you, Sonic!" Dr. Robotnik pointed his finger at Sonic. "Robots, destroy him and his friends!"

The two robots that held Sonny fired their lasers at Sonic, but he dodged them and flew behind them to kick them from behind. One robot knocked into the one that held Amelia captive while the other ran into Miles' robot captor. It forced the robots to let go, allowing Amelia and Miles to run over to Sonic just as the four robots exploded, revealing the children inside them. Dr. Robotnik, or Eggman, responded by pressing a button that caused his chair to be encapsulated in a white half-sphere that emerged beneath the floor while small rockets appeared beneath it and levitated it into the air.

"If you want to catch me before I blow the place up, then I dare you to follow!" Dr. Eggman shouted as a steering wheel appeared from inside the sphere.

As Dr. Eggman flew the egg-shaped vehicle above the platform and through a large opening a few levels up, Sonic turned to Amelia and Miles. "I'm going to go after Dr. Eggman. You two should free the hostages and then get out of here in case I don't make it."

"But, Sonny," Amelia started. "Why do you look like that, and why's your voice different?"

"I'll explain later," Sonic said. "Now get going!"

Before Amelia could stop him, Sonic flew up towards the opening and vanished into it.

"Miles, what's going on?" Amelia said, turning to Miles.

"I think Sonny just…reconciled with himself," Miles responded hesitantly.

###

Through the opening, Sonic traveled down a long corridor where robots started appearing out of the walls and shooting at him. But he blazed right through them and nearly caught up to Dr. Eggman's vehicle when a large metal door separated them. Sonic then curled up into a ball and slammed into it multiple times before it caved in. Then from there, it was another platoon of robots who like the previous ones didn't have children inside them, and then at the top of a metallic ramp Sonic came to the inside of the volcano with the cone exposed. Here, there was a conveyor belt that ran all the way out into the volcano where Dr. Eggman was waiting inside his vehicle.

"Nice view isn't it, Sonic?" Dr. Eggman shouted. "But unfortunately, it will be your last!"

Then lasers fired from the front of Dr. Eggman's vehicle, forcing Sonic to dodge them.

Then he flew towards Dr. Eggman at such a remarkable speed that not only did he hit Dr. Eggman's vehicle directly but he also decimated it. As parts of it fell into the magma boiling below, Dr. Eggman fell screaming. But Sonic flew down and grabbed Dr. Eggman, flying him onto a ledge along the cone.

"Sonic, you saved my life," Dr. Eggman said rubbing away non-existent tears. "How can I ever repay you?"

"By leaving South Island and never coming back," Sonic said firmly.

"But aren't you forgetting something, Sonic?" Dr. Eggman reached into his coat-pocket and pulled out a small remote with a big red button on it. "I still have the detonator."

Sonic reacted by kicking Dr. Eggman's hand, which caused the detonator to fly into the air and over the ledge.

"Not anymore," Sonic said as he smirked.

###

On the ground, Amelia, Miles, and the children they freed were met by a legion of G. U. N. soldiers who were marching toward the volcano. They stopped when they saw the children, and the head soldier stepped forward. Amelia and Miles met up with him and explained the situation.

"So you're telling me that Dr. Robotnik used the hostages he kidnapped during the first attack to power his robots in the subsequent attacks, and this was all to distract G. U. N. from his real goal which was to collect gemstones with unlimited energy that were scattered about the island called Chaos Emeralds?" the head soldier summarized. Then after a pause, he said, "That's a lot to swallow, but how did you kids escape?"

"We had help from…a friend," Miles said sheepishly.

"Well, whoever he is, I'd like to thank him," responded the head soldier.

Then suddenly, Dr. Eggman came falling out of the sky with his hands and legs bound by the tails of his yellow and red coat. The G. U. N. soldiers looked up to see where he came from, but saw nothing. However, there was a small note sticking out of the inside of Dr. Eggman's coat which the head soldier grabbed. He unfolded the note which said,

Take good care of Dr. Robotnik and be sure to return the kids to their parents.

—The Blue Blur

At the bottom of the note was an insignia that looked like a flaming blue ball with ears and eyes.

"All right, boys," the head soldier said, putting the note into his vest-pocket. "Let's get these kids home and take Dr. Robotnik back to the base with us."

"But, sir, what about The Blue Blur?" asked one of the soldiers.

"He's no longer our concern. He saved the hostages and stopped Dr. Robotnik from taking over the island, so I think we should consider him a hero, wherever he may be."

"A lot closer than you think, sarge," Sonic said watching the scene under the cover of foliage. His hair had gone back to blue and his eyes to green.

The blue aura appeared around him once more, as Sonny regained consciousness. He remembered everything that happened, so he wasn't surprised when he saw the seven Chaos Emeralds floating around him. So he smiled and went on a long run across the entire island, finding new resting places for the Chaos Emeralds to keep Dr. Eggman or G. U. N. from finding them. Once he was done, Sonny returned to his apartment where he found Amelia and Miles waiting for him.

To be continued…