Chapter 74: Condition
Back in Spagonia, Sonny and Miles met up with Professor Pickle in his study where Amelia was seated as well. For a few minutes, Sonny and Amelia stared awkwardly at each other. Then Sonny said, "Amelia, I—
"You don't have to explain," Amelia interrupted. "Professor Pickle told me everything about your condition."
"Oh, I see." Sonny scratched the back of his neck briefly before asking, "You're not mad at me, are you?"
"I was, but now I understand," Amelia said as she got up from her chair and held Sonny's hands in hers. "But in the future, don't hide anything from me."
Sonny nodded. "I won't."
Then as Sonny and Amelia shared a quick kiss, Miles walked over to Pickle. "Any luck on finding the Spagonian temple?"
"I did some more research, and I believe I have found it," Pickle responded. "It is located along the aqueducts on the outskirts of the city."
"All right, then let's go," Sonny said as he turned towards the entrance to the study.
"Do you want me to come along?" Amelia said holding Sonny's hand tightly.
"I would feel better if you stay here and help Pickle translate more of the Gaia Manuscripts," Sonny responded.
"That's what I've been doing since you were gone," replied Amelia. "I don't want to just stand back and let you endanger yourself."
"He'll be fine, Amelia," Miles said assuredly. "Even in Werehog form, he can kick serious butt."
"Werehog? You mean that thing I saw last night?" Amelia pondered.
"Basically," Sonny said as he gave Amelia a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll be back soon."
While Amelia instinctively placed her hand on the cheek that was kissed, Sonny and the others left through the study entrance.
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Once Sonny had reached the aqueducts, he was immediately attacked by a giant robot shaped like a Devil ray that was piloted by three smaller robots inside. Figuring it was Eggman's creation, Sonny immediately rammed himself into the robot as he dodged the lasers and gunfire that came from it. Like the Egg Beetle, the Devil ray robot went flying through the air and bounced on the aqueducts several times before it exploded completely. After making sure nobody was around, Sonny and Chip walked up to the Gaia Temple entrance which was carved into a seaside cliff at the end of the aqueduct they were standing on.
Inside, they found the structure to be identical to the temples they found in Mazuri and Chun-Nan. After Chip's necklace glowed to make the pedestal rise, Sonny placed the next Chaos Emerald on it. The Emerald glowed brightly and changed to blue just as the ground started to shake once more. Sonny and Chip immediately got out of the temple as it closed behind them and then met up with Miles who showed them satellite footage of the Spagonia continent sinking back to its original place on top of the planet's core.
"This is so cool to watch," Chip said wide-eyed.
"Yeah, it's amazing that G. U. N.'s still able to send you these considering all the crazy stuff that's happening in the world right now," Sonny said.
"They've definitely got their hands full, but they figure sending me these images will then encourage you to keep going," Miles responded.
"Sounds like something The Commander would do," replied Sonny. "By the way, do you know if Angel Island's been affected?"
"According to Chuck, the Master Emerald's power was able to keep the islands around Angel Island from drifting along with the other continents," Miles answered.
"Well, that's good," Sonny said after a sigh of relief. "So what's Chuck doing?"
"He's helping the Chaotix Detectives who are helping G. U. N. fight off Dark Gaia monsters in Empire City."
"Doesn't it seem strange that Dark Gaia hasn't been trying to attain his true form since his premature release?" Chip asked.
"Maybe he's taking it slow," Sonny said. "Anyway, let's find out where the next Gaia Temple is at Professor Pickle's place."
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According to the Professor, the next Gaia Temple was in Cool Edge which lay off the coast of Holoska. It was a northern continent that mostly consisted of ice and snow. There was a small tribal village nearby, but Miles decided to park the Tornado-1 a little ways from it as night had fallen and Sonny had transformed into Werehog Sonic.
"It's a good thing you grow fur when you're in that form," Chip said through his teeth. "I'm freezing over here."
"It's not that much fur," Sonic responded. "Only my wrists and ears are covered."
"I did bring along these winter-coats for us to wear," Miles said passing out one of each to Sonic and Chip. "Hopefully, they'll keep you warm."
"Thanks, Miles," Sonic said as he put on his which was blue and lined with white fur.
"I really appreciate it," Chip said putting on his chestnut brown one.
"I'll stay here to make sure the Tornado-1 doesn't get attacked or destroyed," Miles said wearing his yellow one. "Good luck finding the temple."
After giving Miles a thumbs-up, Sonic took off across the snowy tundra on all-fours while Chip flew close behind.
"Why are you running on all-fours?" Chip asked.
"It makes me go faster in this form!" Sonic replied.
Chip thought about it for a moment and then said, "Yeah, I guess you can't run very fast upright with all that upper-body weight to deal with which would explain why you ran so clumsily back in Apotos."
"Exactly."
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Several hours later, Chip and Sonic managed to find an open cave in the ice that led them into a circular chamber with a frozen thing in the center. In a matter of seconds, the ice broke apart to reveal a moving dragon head that was dark magenta with light-blue highlights. There were green lumps located along its neck which Sonic noticed as he ran towards the dragon which roared at him in response. While Chip cheered Sonic from the sidelines, the dragon attacked Sonic with its ice breath and extra heads which popped out along the circumference of the platform it emerged from.
Using canisters of cold air to freeze the heads, Sonic was able to pummel the green lumps so hard that the dragon eventually keeled over. Once this was done, the entrance to the Gaia Temple was revealed which Sonic and Chip stepped into. This time, after the pedestal was raised, the Chaos Emerald Sonic placed turned cyan-colored and the ground shook a little. Once Sonic and Chip reached the village, they were not only greeted by Miles but also the villagers.
"We thank you kind strangers for vanquishing the Dark Moray which has been attacking our village since our land was lifted from the world's center," said the eldest of the villagers. "To show our appreciation, we were wondering if you could spend the night in our humble village."
While Sonic retreated into the shadows, Chip said, "That's very kind of you, but we've got to go."
"This is true, Elder," Miles said turning to the elderly villager. "We need to restore the Chaos Emeralds at the remaining Gaia Temples before Dark Gaia regains his full power."
"I see," the elder said thoughtfully. "Well, we will send prayers to you on your journey."
"Thanks, Elder," Miles replied and went off to join Sonic and Chip who were already heading for the Tornado-1.
To be continued…