Why are battles so hard to write (even if you have a good picture of it in your head lol)?
Aw well, I did my best. I hope you enjoy! :)
NOTE: I ONLY OWN MY OC(s)! EVERYTHING ELSE BELONGS TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS!
CHAPTER 7: THE HUNT FOR THE EMERALD, PART 2
After following Elise's directions, everyone made it in the forest and are now looking around for the Chaos Emerald.
There was just one problem…
"THIS FOREST IS TAN GRANDE!" Verde shouted. "How are we supposed to find the Chaos Emerald in a place like this? It's like finding a needle in a haystack!"
"I could make more adjustments on my tracker to pinpoint a specific area," Tails suggested.
"Good thing we brought some tools," Petri smiled. "It shouldn't take long, but feel free to go on ahead."
"Nah, we'll wait," Knuckles said. "With two smart kids, I'm sure you'll be done in no time at all."
"Still, that doesn't mean we can't admire the beautiful forest," Amy said. "Right, Sonic?" She blinked when she didn't hear a response. She looked to where the blue hedgehog was supposed to be standing, but to her shock, he wasn't there. "Sonic?"
"Where did he…?" Curry thought Sonic was standing next to him when they entered the forest. He was about to ask Selene if she had seen him walk off, but he was horrified when he realized that she wasn't around. "Wait, where's Selene?!"
"Probably exploring," Verde answered nonchalantly.
"BY HERSELF?!"
"Calm down, pretty boy," Knuckles said, making the merhog glare in his direction. "I'm sure Sonic's with her so she doesn't get lost."
"Oh, hell no!" Curry began marching away, but Verde grabbed one of his back spines. "I don't care if he defended my sister; I'm not gonna let him or any boy be her guide! Let me go, Verde!"
"No," Verde deadpanned.
"DAMN IT, UNHAND ME!"
"No."
Everyone sans Petri sweatdropped at the exchange; the merterfly just sighed and rolled her eyes.
I don't exactly like the idea of Sonic being alone with a girl, Amy looked up at the sky in worry. But please keep her safe.
Selene was walking through the forest with a look of pure awe. In all her years of living in the ocean, she always dreamed of seeing the wildlife of the surface world. Sure, she had books, but it was nothing compared to the real thing. All the trees, flowers, and other kinds of flora were just as majestic as the ones underwater, and she giggled seeing some squirrels fighting over an acorn.
She caught movement in her peripheral vision and looked up at a tree. What she saw made her stop walking: it was a bald eagle. It stared right at her, and she stared back, a soft gasp escaping her mouth at seeing such a beautiful creature.
The eagle let out a cry and flew off the branch; it circled around the merhog before flying away. Selene watched in awe as her quills blew in the wind.
"Beautiful, huh?"
Selene looked behind her to see Sonic standing there with a smile on his face, his hand resting on his hip. She smiled at him. "It's even better than I imagined…" She looked up at the sky with fondness in her eyes as Sonic walked up next to her. "Never in my wildest dreams would I see the world outside of Mermobius." She frowned a bit. "Too bad it's because of a madman."
Sonic shrugged. "Eh, you take what you get, I guess."
"I suppose so," she looked at Sonic, gratitude written all over her face. "By the way, I want to thank you for defending me back there."
"Aw, come on, I didn't do much," Sonic rubbed his nose, blushing in embarrassment. "You wouldn't believe how many guys I had to deal with when they made moves on Amy and Blaze."
"What about Rouge?"
"I tried, but I think she likes the attention."
Selene laughed a bit. "I can definitely see that."
"Yeah," he chuckled before frowning. "Do you always have to deal with guys like that?"
Selene sighed, sorrow and agitation filled her eyes. "Ever since I became a teenager. They only appreciate my looks and that I'm royalty. Not once have they gotten to know the real me. No matter how hard I push them away, they just keep coming back."
"Well, don't you worry," Sonic assured. "If someone makes you uncomfortable, just say the word, and I'll be there." At the merhog's raised brow, he chuckled. "Relax, I'm not like those guys; I may be a world-renowned hero, but I treat all women with the utmost respect…unless they're villains."
Selene couldn't help but giggle at that last part. He's certainly charming, and he made a valid point. Not once had he made a move on her, which was a very nice change for once. Sonic smiled softly. He liked it when she giggled; it's cute.
Sonic blushed. Wait, did I just say her giggling's "cute" in my head?
Before another word could be said, the ground began to tremble, as if a herd of elephants were stampeding. Selene stumbled and Sonic caught her before she fell. They looked up to see birds squawking and flying away from one area.
Both hedgehog and merhog looked at each other; and with a nod of understanding, they went in the direction the birds flew away from.
Lots of trees were being cut down as Dr. Eggman was controlling a robot with extendable drills and saws on the side. Piles of dirt and holes were everywhere as the evil genius kept digging.
"Where is that blasted Chaos Emerald?!" He growled as he drilled the ground. "The tracker says its right around here, and I've already dug up everything!"
"Tsk, tsk."
Eggman yelped and turned around to see Sonic and Selene glaring at him.
"Don't you know you're supposed to plant new trees after cutting them down?" Sonic scolded, even wagging his finger as if lecturing a troublemaking child.
"Who has time for gardening when there's an entire world to conquer?" Eggman retorted. "Now back off before I drill right through your skulls!"
"Morbid much?" Selene muttered.
"Tell me about it," Sonic replied.
"YOU!"
Eggman, Sonic, and Selene turned around to see everyone else appearing from the trees. Curry was the one who shouted, and he glared at the human with hatred in his brown eyes.
Eggman looked at Curry, Petri, and Verde in confusion. But after a moment, he widened his eyes. "Wait…I know you three! How in blazes did you get here?! The Moon Door's sealed shut!"
"That's none of your business!" Curry roared.
"Besides, you don't have the necessary requirements!" Petri added and stuck out her tongue at the evil scientist.
Eggman growled. "Is that right? Well, it doesn't matter! It'll all be worth it once I have all the Chaos Emeralds and your friend's moon powers to get what I want by the next full moon!" He snapped his fingers, and a swarm of badniks came out of nowhere, startling the group. "Badniks, ATTACK!"
At the Doctor's command, the menacing badniks charged at the group and fired lasers and missiles. Luckily, Sonic and the others dodged.
The Blue Blur smirked. "Let's do it to it!" He did a Spin Dash and launched himself at a group of Crabmeats, knocking them over as if they were bowling pins.
Everybody else immediately sprang into action. Tails took to the skies and fired off energy projectiles from his arm cannon at some Buzz Bombers. Petri looked astonished that a fox could fly. She noticed when she first met that he had two tails, but she had no idea they were used for something as amazing as flying! She flew up to the genius fox.
"I had no idea you could fly!" She gushed with sparkles in her fuchsia eyes.
Tails couldn't help but giggle at the merterfly's expression. "Yup! I bet you didn't expect that from a fox, huh?"
Petri just smiled. "Nope!" She then gasped. "Heads up!" She took out a light blue ball from her pocket and threw it at an approaching Buzz Bomber. The ball hit and the robot immediately became incased in ice. It fell to the ground with a thud.
Tails was stunned at the display and looked at the merterfly. "What was that?"
"A Chem-ball," Petri answered with a look of pride, even fixing her glasses that gleamed in the sun. "My favorite invention that showcases my love for chemistry. I have all sorts of colors with different affects."
Now it was Tails' turn to look starry-eyed. "Whoa…"
Back on the ground, Verde didn't look the least bit concerned when she was surrounded by some Crabmeats. They menacingly pinched their robotic claws at the merchidna.
She smirked. "¡Hora de subir el calor!" She pounded her fists together and they immediately ignited in orange and yellow hues.
The Crabmeats didn't have time to react and were immediately destroyed by the merchidna's fiery punches. Knuckles saw the display from his corner of the arena and looked impressed. Verde noticed, but instead of looking annoyed, she just smirked and continued the assault. This made the echidna chuckle. And without looking away, he punched an unfortunate Moto Bug that failed to sneak up on him.
Amy, meanwhile, was smashing badniks left and right with her trusted Piko Piko Hammer. As for Curry, he closed his eyes and summoned a large broadsword in his hands. He let out a warrior cry and slashed the robots to pieces as he made his way to the large digging robot.
Eggman saw him approach and used one of the robot's drills to hold the merhog at bay. Fortunately, Curry saw the drill coming and brought his sword forward to block the drill. He gritted his teeth as he held on, sparks flying between the drill and sword. He felt his feet begin to move a few inches back, causing him to grunt and tried to push back.
Seeing his brother in trouble, Selene ran forward and slashed at the drill with her waterbending, causing it to detach and fall to the ground.
Curry let out a sigh of relief and gave a thankful look to his little sister. "Thank you."
Selene smiled and winked. "No problem."
Eggman growled. "Okay, that's it!"
With a push of a button, the madman launched a missile at the two. The merhog siblings gasped, but then Sonic jumped in front of them and caught the missile.
"Return to sender!" Sonic smirked and hurled the missile back at the robot.
It hit its mark and the robot stumbled back from the blast. Everyone else gathered around, waiting for Eggman to make his next move. The man looked around to see piles of robot parts on the ground; this made him livid. He snapped his fingers again. This time, a group of Egg Pawns appeared.
"I can do this all day," Eggman sneered.
The Egg Pawns marched forward, ready to take on the Sonic Heroes and Mermobians. But before they could even do a thing, they froze in place and are enveloped in a cyan aura.
"What?!" Eggman gasped.
Suddenly, a silver-white hedgehog with a unique quill style and gold eyes fell from the sky, landing in front of the stunned heroes. With a yell and a wave of his arms, the Egg Pawns were thrown back, breaking into tiny pieces.
Sonic blinked before grinning at the new arrival. "Yo, Silver!"
Silver turned around and smiled at Sonic. "Hey, Sonic! It's been a long time."
Eggman let out an annoyed huff. "Oh, great. Not the time traveler."
Time traveler? The Mermobians thought with wide eyes.
Silver faced Eggman and smirked. "It's not just me."
This made the Doctor tilt his head. "What do you—AHHHH!" A huge fireball came out of nowhere, hitting the robot. It stumbled and fell on its back, sparking from the intense heat.
A female cat with lavender fur came out of the trees, looking regal. One of her gloved hands was smoking, indicating that she was the one who threw the fireball. A familiar rabbit and Chao appeared from behind the cat.
"Hello, everyone!" Cream chirped.
"Cream!" Amy smiled happily. "And Blaze, too!"
Blaze gave a friendly nod to the pink hedgehog. "Hello, Amy."
Eggman groaned and detached the Egg Mobile out of the destroyed robot. He looked at the new arrivals and growled before admitting defeat. With a psychokinetic hedgehog and pyrokinetic cat, they would destroy the rest of his bots in no time.
"You win this time," Eggman vowed. "But mark my words, I will get the Chaos Emeralds, and destroy you all!" He flew away.
As soon as he was out of sight, Selene, Curry, Petri, and Verde let out breaths they didn't know they were holding.
"Man!" Curry breathed as he made his sword vanish. "I thought he'd never leave!"
The merterfly and merchidna nodded in agreement; that was quite a workout. Before Selene could comment, she spotted a blue glow coming from one of the dirt piles. She walked over to it with a look of curiosity and went on her knees to dig through the dirt. Everyone else watched as the merhog pulled out a palm-sized blue gem from the pile.
Selene brushed off the particles of dirt from the glowing jewel and held it delicately in her hands. She turned around to show it to the others. "Is this…?"
"That's a Chaos Emerald," Tails beamed.
"Whoa…" Selene was in awe of the Emerald's beauty. She gently rubbed her thumb against the shiny surface; the blue Emerald seemed to glow a bit more at her touch. She looked up when she heard clicking heels to see Blaze approaching her.
"I heard a great deal about you, Selene," she said and placed her hand on her chest to do a little bow. "I'm Blaze, Princess of the Sol Empire."
Selene bowed back. "It's an honor to meet you, too."
They both looked up and couldn't help but giggle at bit at their silly display. Sonic couldn't help but smile at this. Blaze has certainly come a long way in making friends. And the fact that she decided to bow was something else; she's not one for bowing, especially if someone else bowed to her despite being a princess.
Even Silver smiled at his friend. He then felt someone tapping his arm and looked to see Petri watching him with curious eyes.
"Are you really a time traveler?" She asked.
Silver smiled. "I sure am! I'm Silver, and I'm from two hundred years in the future."
Curry gave him a suspicious look. "Are you really?"
"Of course!" Silver pouted. He then heard his stomach growl, which didn't go unnoticed by everyone else. He blushed. "Um…maybe we can talk more over some lunch?"
"Good idea!" Amy smiled. "I know this cute restaurant back in Soleanna that has just about anything."
Everyone else smiled at the idea; even Curry couldn't help but admit that he was getting hungry. With the Chaos Emerald secured, everyone left the forest to head back to the city.
After a long day, everyone went back home to get some rest. Hopefully they'll hear from Team Dark about their progress in finding the other Chaos Emeralds. As for Silver and Blaze, Cream offered them a place to stay at her house when they decided to stick around.
Nighttime soon fell, and everyone's fast asleep.
All except one.
Selene was swimming in a lake near the entrance to the jungle part of Mystic Ruins. After doing a few twirls and tricks underwater like a ballerina, she broke the surface with a contented sigh. Who knew breaking the water's surface would be so refreshing?
The merhog princess swam toward the edge of the lake and looked up at the night sky to watch the stars. She then saw the moon, which is in its waning gibbous phase, causing the merhog to smile. She crossed her arms and rested her head on them, watching the moon with fondness in her eyes.
"Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars," Selene sang softly. "Let me see what spring is like on Jupitar and Mars. In other words, hold my hand. In other words, darling kiss me. Fill my heart with song and let me sing forevermore. You are all I long for all I worship and adore. In other words, please be true. In other words, I love you."
"Wow…"
Selene yelped and looked at a tree near the lake to see Sonic laying on a high branch. He was looking at her with interest in his eyes, a soft smile appearing on his face.
"Those are some nice pipes," he commented.
Selene blushed and lowered her ears in embarrassment. "Oh…t-thank you. Sorry, did I wake you?"
Sonic shook his head. "Nah, I couldn't really sleep." He jumped down from the tree and sat down near the lake's edge. "What about you?"
"I couldn't sleep either," Selene admitted. "I figured a nice swim could help."
Both were silent after that, and they looked up at the moon.
"No matter what phase the moon's in, I never get tired of looking at it," Selene said softly.
"Yeah," Sonic agreed. "At least it still looks good, even after half of it got blown up."
"Yes, I suppose that's—wait WHAT?!" Selene gasped and looked at Sonic in astonishment. "What are you talking about?!"
Oops… Sonic thought with a drop of sweat. He sighed, realizing there's no point in going back now. "Yeah, Eggman used a weapon out in space to destroy half the moon as a test subject a long time ago."
The merhog looked horrified. How could someone so evil destroy most of the moon? Did he even care about the tides if he managed to destroy the whole thing?
She then let out a small growl. "No wonder I had the biggest migraine of my life! Remind me to give that human an extra beating the next time we see each other."
"Noted," Sonic chuckled. "Still, according to some scientists Rouge knows, only the dark side of the moon got destroyed. So, we're okay, and the moon itself still has its phases."
Selene grumbled in annoyance. "I suppose so…" She then widened her eyes. "That reminds me!" She took out a grey ocarina and showed it to Sonic.
The blue hedgehog let out a whistle. "That's a nice ocarina."
"Thank you," Selene smiled and held the instrument with the utmost care. "This ocarina was made from a moon rock that supposedly fell from space thousands of years ago. It has been passed down to each Moon Keeper since the very beginning." She frowned a bit. "The last one to have used it was Khonsu; the others after him didn't really use it as much…"
Sonic couldn't help but frown at this. "Seriously? Man, they must've been lousy Moon Keepers."
"Perhaps…" Selene then smiled a bit. "I really like playing it, and the Leviathan likes the notes, too. I even wrote a song that it likes. Do you want to hear it?"
Sonic nodded happily. "Sure!"
(Play: Follow Fi)
Selene smiled and brought the instrument to her lips and began playing a soft tune. Her fingers moved to each hole with absolute precision. Sonic smiled and closed his eyes, listening to the tune as the notes echoed into the night.
Back in the magical realm of Mermobius, an elderly, male, blue-eyed merrabbit with gray and white fur, a white beard, half-moon glasses, and an indigo tail with gold fins slowly swam to a giant stone tablet that's blocking a cave. It depicted a giant sea serpent with a draconic head and the seven Chaos Emeralds surrounding it, a crescent moon in the background.
The merrabbit placed his hand on the stone's surface. "Remarkable…" He smiled softly. "Even in another world, you're still maintaining the Leviathan's anger."
"Oracle."
Oracle turned around to see two adult merhogs swimming toward him. One's a male with brown eyes and maroon fur with peach skin on his muzzle, inner ears, and torso. He has six long quills, two of which curve upward, and two spines protruding his back behind his shoulders. His tail's blue, and his fins are light blue; he's also wearing a gold crown and gold wristbands.
The other merhog's female with aquamarine eyes and yellow fur with peach skin on her muzzle, arms, inner ears, and torso. Her two front quills are long while the rest reached her shoulders, and she has wavy bangs. She's wearing a magenta shell top, and her tail's spring green with white fins. Like the male merhog, she's also wearing a gold crown.
"King Garnet and Queen Willow," Oracle bowed.
"There's no need for that, Oracle," Garnet chuckled before frowning a bit. "How's our guardian?"
"The Leviathan's resting peacefully," the merrabbit answered with the utmost confidence. "All thanks to your daughter."
Both merhogs widened their eyes at this and looked at the Moon Door that was a short distance away. Their daughter was still maintaining the guardian's anger? Even though she's in Mobius?
"Incredible…" Willow breathed. "The people of Aquaria and all of Mermobius will surely rest easy tonight…" She then got worried. "But I'm still worried about the children; even Igneous' worried about his daughter."
"Not to worry, My Queen," Oracle said with reassurance in his tone. "I believe your children and their friends will be alright. They are in good hands, I'm sure."
"I sure hope you're right, my friend," Garnet said. "Come. We better head back." He swam off back to the city with the merrabbit following suit.
Willow looked at the stone tablet for a moment before following her husband and advisor. She closed her eyes, saying a quick prayer to the beloved guardian that she knew was still with them.
Please, watch over the children…
Translations:
Tan grande = So big
Hora de subir el calor = Time to bring up the heat
All of my OCs have been introduced for this story! Same question as before, what kind of voices do you picture them with?
I was curious why the moon in the Sonic games looked fine after the events of Sonic Adventure 2. I had to look it up on the wiki and according to Takashu Iizuka, only the dark side of the moon got destroyed. Which explains why the moon looks like it's still completely intact in later games. And because Mermobius is separated, they didn't see a big laser in the sky and the moon blowing up, so they are in the dark about that lol
I also have Selene's reference sheet posted on my DeviantArt account if you're curious about what she looks like. It'll be a while until I do the other characters.
See you next time!
