Sonic in Between.
Author's note: I ultimately decided that this will be a two-shot story. Maybe even a mini-series of sorts that takes place between Sonic and the Wisps, and Sonic's Space-Time Adventure.
Summary of Story 2: Shaken by the nightmare, Sonic is worried that Mobius may not be free at all. So he and Tails go to investigate Eggman's Base to make sure. The question is, is the evil doctor truly dead, or was it just a robot Sonic's dream was warning him about? It's up to him and his very best friend, his sweet little brother, to find out and be there for one another.
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega.
Comfort of Brothers.
Even though Sonic had suffered such a horrific nightmare that put him on edge and having accidentally woken up Tails in the middle of the night, the two giving each other comfort, he was very relieved that the new day had finally started ever since his two day adventure up in Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park. But he still couldn't shake off the feeling of the dream giving him warning signs of the evil scientist still being alive.
Thus this was why the two adoptive brothers had located Eggman's base which has been left somewhat empty for days, safe for the last remaining robots that safe guarded it, fully unaware of the doctor's supposed permanent absence. They searched around the place to find the security room and eventually came across the main base itself.
"This is it." Tails announced as he and Sonic approached the largest door of the base, which was a gigantic double automatic door that was about the size of a giant killer robot. It was coloured in the same metal as the walls, but it also had a huge face potrait of Eggman's face and his ugly evil grin that looked so real that people would've thought the real guy had grown into a giant.
"Ugh. As if the painting on the elevator doors weren't bad enough. Eggman's really stepping up on his game." Sonic remarked, cringing as he crossed his arms. "I can't believe I've never seen any of this before."
"Well, I can't remember if any of us have ever entered his main lab before. Not even his security room." The young fox shivered slightly uncomfortably.
"Don't think I've ever done that either. But I do know that he has tons of hidden and not-so-hidden cameras all over the place. I smashed a couple that I could see whenever I bust into his bases." The blue hedgehog shrugged.
"You got a good point. Who knows how much he's recorded since before the Amusement Park." The eight year old cub muttered.
The fifteen year old felt his stomach twist and knot with the anxiety developing, or rather had already developed since last night/early this morning, admittedly nervous to see what was inside the security room or the main base. Despite his little brother's reassurance, he can't stop thinking about Dream-Eggman's words which seemed to keep on echoing in the teenager's ears despite it all being in his head.
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho! Surprised, Sonic? Did you really think I was digested within the Mother Alien's stomach? That was a robot replica made to be like me! I was hiding back on Mobius to wait for the right and perfect moment to strike!" Eggman laughed evilly.
'The right and perfect moment to strike. Is he really waiting for us in there, or was it really all just in my dream? I hope it's the latter, but I won't know until we go in and find out for sure. Oh, Chaos, please don't let the real Eggman be in here or anywhere else on Mobius.' Sonic thought to himself.
So far there hasn't really been any set traps that attempted to kill him or his best friend, not like the times when the teenage hero would break his way through to confront Eggman. But maybe he was hiding out or the evil man truly is dead for real. Either way, the more Sonic hesitated, the longer the dread was lingering on. And unless he wanted to hope for the best, it was now or never.
"Well, no time like the present." Sonic declared, putting up the brave face with a smirk to hide the fact that he was very nervous. He cautiously pushed the button on the side of the wall and stepped back a bit, having Tails stand behind him as they both waited with precaution. They wondered what kind of security alarm would go off; a net to capture intruders, like Sonic himself? Lasers to vaporize them? A metal cage? A huge robot to scare them away?
DING!
The dinging sound like that of an elevator was heard, but to the bewilderment of the two young Mobians, the doors didn't swing open. Instead, the 'mouth' of the Eggman painting of the doors opened up wide upward and downward like as though it was a real mouth opening up to suck anybody in. On the otherside lights lit up, revealing a large room similar to that of a University Class Room, with many monitors and in the middle was the main dashboard. The wall was covered with a series of screens that had shown footage of live cameras hidden all over the place, including the passages that Sonic and Tails had been in not that long ago.
"...That's a really creepy entrance." Tails gulped nervously.
Sonic agreed, as seeing how this entrance opened up made him shiver as another horrid memory of his nightmare resurfaced, one that he wanted to forget. One where the Egg-Wisp had gobbled him up whole, which was at the end of the horrible vivid dream that the cobalt teenager had woken up screaming in fear. This was too much like it, but he was very glad that it was just a door and not the real mad scientist fused or mutated.
"I seriously will never understand Egg-Brain's tastes. Tropical Resort is the only place he ever built that at least has everyone else's and won't give anybody nightmares." The blue hedgehog muttered, fighting down the urge to step back in paranoia.
The duo shared a look before nodding, and the older Mobian allowed his younger friend grip his arm nervously as they carefully stepped inside, keeping their eyes peeled for any ambush attacks or traps that could be set up to catch intruders. Sonic forced himself to ignore the fact that he was stepping into the mouth entrance and treated it like it was any old door.
'Chill, dude. It's not the real Eggman or Egg-Wisp. It's just a door. Get a grip.' The young hero thought to himself to calm down. But the fact that the single chair in the middle remained in place didn't help with his nervous system.
SLAM!
"AH!" Sonic and Tails yelped in fright when they heard the loud slamming behind them and spun around, quickly on high alert while expecting to see a giant or at least a tall-ish robot coming to attack, only to see that the door just slammed shut. The two waited anxiously for something else to come and jump out on them. But apart from the noise of the monitors, there was nothing.
They breathed a sigh of relief and Sonic gave out a nervous chuckle. "Uh, heh heh...I've been having way too many nightmares lately."
"Must you always barge you way in without knocking, you irritating little hedgehog!?" That voice...While sounding a bit static, it was clear as day. As the two young Mobians looked around frantically in alarm to see where it was coming from, the teenage hedgehog felt his heart drop into his stomach like a rock hitting a bucket.
"No...No, please, no!" Sonic shakily pleaded. He began to hyperventilate, his mind whirling and spinning, his heart stopping and his blood freezing. He couldn't believe it. Didn't want to believe it. "This can't be!"
"Sonic!" Tails exclaimed, having turned around to where the monitors were, and saw something that made his hyperventilating older brother to spin around to look, half-expecting Eggman to spin his chair around to glare at them.
Instead, a small TV monitor descended from the ceiling, static before it fixed itself up to reveal the very man Sonic had dreaded to see alive, and in that instant all of his hopes that his nightmare wasn't true were completely dashed faster than he was. It was true; it really was true.
"Eggman!" The blue hedgehog yelled, quickly getting into defense as he glared at the monitor. "I should've known, you slimy sleazeball!"
"What's even more annoying is that I'm not here right now to face you myself, Sonic. If you're looking for me, then you're a little too late!" Eggman replied.
"I can see that!" Sonic responded.
"What you see now is a recording before my monthly absence."
"Huh?" The blue hedgehog and the two-tailed fox blinked in confusion, before sharing a glance and then turned back to the monitor, which made Sonic realize that he'd been talking to, possibly, a recording of the evil man.
"If you are looking to stop me from my latest scheme, then unfortunately for you, I am in a special place that you may notice in the sky, but here's a tip; you and everyone around you will be under MY control soon! Assuming that I'm willing to let you live long enough. Bwahahahahahahaha!" The evil scientist in the recording bellowed, before Orbot emerged from behind him.
"Begging your pardon, boss, but Cubot's voice chip is stuck on a Cowboy mode." The round robot peeped up, only to be shoved back by his creator who looked over shoulder as he did.
"I'm a little busy giving Sonic a message! You four go and deal with him!" Eggman growled in sheer annoyance. "I don't have time fixing up my latest creation!"
"He really loves the sound of his lips moving." Sonic muttered dully, while still on edge. While he was relieved that this was just a recording, he was still on edge on whether the villain really is still alive or not.
"This must've been recorded before he went up to his Interstellar Amusement Park. I don't think we really have anything to worry about." Tails nodded as Eggman continued to argue and yell at his robots in the footage.
'I hope you're right, li'l bro.' The blue hedgehog thought, turning his attention back to the screen. For that split second, he had really thought that the nightmare had given him a warning sign to not fully expect Eggman to truly be dead had really been true. Now he was back to square one.
Eggman by then had ordered Orbot to leave very unkindly before clearing his throat and turning his attention back to the screen to finish his message. "*Ahem* Now then. Where was I...Ah, yes. For you see, Sonic, I have built an Interstellar Amusement Park to lure all of Mobius in once I Mind Control the planet. If you have come to me before I succeed, then prepare to say farewell to your freedom and free will, hedgehog! Because this is something you will NEVER be able to stop me! And if that doesn't work, I have something you usually use against me!"
"The Chaos Emeralds..." Sonic muttered in realization. "He must've hunted them down without any of us even knowing."
As expected, the evil madman revealed the same container that the blue hedgehog saw on the elevator shaft that held the Chaos Emeralds themselves, revealing the aforementioned crystals.
"As you can see, the Chaos Emeralds are mine, and this time you won't be getting them back, little hedgehog. I'll be observing this somewhere here in Mobius that you will never find me, while my creations watch over and guard my Amusement Park!"
That instantly made Sonic's heart drop even heavier. His eyes widened in horror and dismay, his legs feeling weak and ready to give out, and for that brief moment he forgot how to breathe, because he was certain his vision was starting to darken, yet his eyes stung with the moisture of tears that began to form and leak. It wasn't that Eggman had the Chaos Emeralds, because this was not long before the blue hedgehog and his best friend ventured up into the Park.
No, it was because the mad scientist was observing, his creations guarding the Amusement Park itself...Including the extremely convincing robot that was exactly like Eggman, but had been destroyed by the Nega-Mother Wisp.
"That was a robot replica made to be like me! That was a robot replica made to be like me! That was a robot replica made to be like me!"
"NO! NOOOOO!" Sonic screamed, placing his hands over his ears, falling onto his knees, trying to block out the repeated words from his nightmare that he was certain the real Eggman was going to be mocking him for once he saw him again. But the words kept on repeating over and over like a ghost haunting him.
"Well, that's all I have to say, and assuming that you are still free and alive by the time you see this message. I'll be seeing you when I get to see your expression that I have won, Sonic!" Eggman sneered in the message, which was enough to make the blue hedgehog snap.
"SHUT UP!" Sonic shouted, purposely Spin Dashing right into the Monitor and smashed it's screen so hard that it creaked and snapped from the ceiling and crashed onto the floor. But he didn't stop there as he stood before stomping onto the cracked broken monitor repeatedly. "I hate you, Eggman! I REALLY HATE YOU! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO TRICK ME LIKE THIS!? WHERE ARE YOU!? WHEN I SEE YOU AGAIN, I'M GONNA-!"
"Sonic! Calm down!" Tails cried out, hesitating to reach out for his friend as he was scared of the blue hedgehog's temper. His heart ached that his best friend may have been right all along, but he still believed that the evil scientist was only saying that just to break the teenager's resolve and it seemed to be working.
Sonic froze mid-stomping, realizing what he was going to do, what he was about to say. His body went cold by just how angry he was, how upset he was. Lost, devastated, and defeated for the first time in his life, the fifteen year old hero slowly lowered his foot before falling onto his knees once more, covering his face with his gloved hands and wept.
"Why? Why!? WHY!?" The cobalt Mobian shouted, pounding fist onto the floor repeatedly in frustration, all the while he sobbed before ceasing the pounding and just cried. "It's true...All my nightmares of Eggman winning...Oh Chaos, they're coming true."
"Sonic..." The two-tailed kit whispered tearfully, biting his lip as he slowly approached his distraughted brother, heartbroken that it was coming to this. "I'm sorry."
"...No, Tails. It's my fault. I should've...I should've known. Now I really have no idea where he is. The real Eggman...he's out there somewhere. What'm I gonna do? How can I find him?" Sonic tearfully replied, helpless.
"I can still look at the monitors and footage to find out. If he made the message for you in case you did come here, he must've had footage of where he was last before...well, you know." Tails suggested.
Sonic nodded in agreement, knowing that it was the only way to find out now. That way he could get a head start. He wiped away his tears while forcing himself to calm down. "It's our only hope left."
He then narrowed his eyes, determination in setting things right settling in. "When I find him, he's gonna regret in tricking me three times in a row. He's really crossed the line this time, bro. I'm gonna send him off to another dimension somehow, so that way he'll never be a threat to Mobius ever again...!"
"It's not your fault." Tails told him softly, hugging his best friend with tears falling, and Sonic instantly hugged him back, needing the comfort and warmth, now more than ever.
"Thanks, buddy. I'm so sorry. I really thought that..." The blue hedgehog trailed off, before sighing and muttered in sadness. "Guess when we're done here, we'll have to break the bad news to everybody else. It was a nice wishful thinking that Mobius was finally free while it lasted."
The two stayed like this for another full ten minutes before reluctantly let go and then stood up, before they approached the main dashboard and Tails, being the intelligent fox that he was, easily worked out the controls and got straight to work in going back to at least three or four days before the whole adventure began, while Sonic waited impatiently.
He paced back and forth behind his best friend/little brother who was still analyzing the security footage half an hour later, getting more and more agitated and restless as time moved too slowly for his taste. He really wanted to go out and find the real Eggman as soon as possible, beat him to the pulp for messing with him for the last two months. The more Sonic thought about facing his enemy for real again, the more the blue hedgehog was thinking about how seeing the fake Eggman made him hallucinate.
'Oh, man. What if my hallucinations come back with full force? Just when I finally found in within me to forgive myself, now this happens. I wish I could talk to Chip. He'd tell me what to do.' Sonic thought, glancing each time at the screens and not once has he seen any evidence of the Eggman Robo-Replica being built, unless it was secretly made in a basement or something. Maybe he should check it out once he and Tails knew for certain how the evil scientist has managed to pull this off.
"Aha! Here we go!" Tails stated triumpthly, getting the older Mobian's attention and immediately came over standing beside the younger Mobian. "This is dated back last month."
"So Eggman's been up in space for a whole month? He must've craved for pizza by then." Sonic remarked half-sarcastically as he looked up.
Surely enough, the footage showed the real Eggman with his five robot minions with familiar capsules that had been empty at the time, with several robots that Sonic recognized as the ones he smashed in his time traveling in the main park and the five planets that were taken across the Universe.
"That should keep Sonic busy if he sees this message." Eggman had said, apparently having just finished his recording, before spinning his chair around as though about to speak to someone. "How are my tractor beams coming along?"
"They have gathered five new planets into the orbit, boss. One that is made out of sugar, another entirely of water, another that's all light and starry, one that is an Asteriod looking like a Caterpillar, and one that is full of small aliens safe-guarded by a giant one, all with very unusual high readings, but they seem to be living in peace and harmony." Came Orbot's voice.
"Aliens, you say? Living in peace and harmony? Well, that's different. There really must be peaceful lifeforms outside of Mobius after all, not like that dreaded Black Doom and his miscreant army." Eggman remarked, with a look of surprise.
"Yacker..." Sonic whispered, as he and Tails knew what their enemies were talking about.
"This is how he found out about Planet Wisp." The eight year old kit muttered in realization.
"They all come in different shapes and colours!" Becoe suddenly appeared perking up. "They're actually really cute."
"Yeah! There are Cyan coloured ones, pink spiky ones, blue square ones, rocket-shaped ones-" Decoe added, giving out a mental list of the types that the blue hedgehog knew all too well.
Eggman groaned in exasperation, facepalming himself, before snapping at the robots. "I don't care if they're rainbow coloured or black and white or even shaped like a party hat! What are the high readings of these aliens!?"
"At the moment, it's unknown. However, they seem to have high readings of powers that are beyond imagination, connecting to their life-force. To know more, we may need to descend onto the planet itself." Orbot explained.
Sonic and Tails saw the evil doctor's expression turn thoughtful, and as they dreaded, it turned into that of an evil smirk and, oh Chaos, they knew that look; This is when he was about to go out and capture the Wisps and learn about their Hyper-Go-On. Or, as the blue hedgehog had thought, send out a secret robot version of Eggman himself while he went off somewhere else.
"Hmmm...If it's anything more powerful than Dark Gaia, then this could be my chance. I needed a power source for my Mind Control Weapon anyway, and I am curious about their leader." Eggman said evilly, chuckling. "Maybe I won't be needing the Chaos Emeralds to get rid of Sonic this time. Ha! I can even Mind-Control that blue pest, and he'll be my number one body guard!"
"Suddenly I don't feel right." Sonic muttered, rubbing his arms as he shuddered, memories of what happened back up at Starlight Carnival resurfacing. "Four years and he still wanted me either dead or work for him."
"Now I'm even more scared of Eggman." Tails shuddered in agreement. His older brother responded by rubbing the younger Mobian's back to comfort him.
"But how are you gonna Mind Control an entire planet, Dr. Eggman? That'll take ages!" Bokkun asked, curiously as he and Cubot approached.
"Are you ginna do brain surgery on everybody with the laser weapon?" Cubot added in the Cowboy voice.
"Of course not! There's no need for any surgery! It'll be similar to the cannon I used with the Chaos Emeralds to split the planet last month, only without them around, and without Sonic!" The evil man yelled, scaring his minions before regaining his composure. "As clever as I am, these things don't take overnight."
"That's true. Only Sonic would get to places that takes about three days in less than one hour." Decoe agreed.
"So um, who are you gonna sent up to bodyguard the Amusement Park and check out the other planets?" Becoe asked, curiously.
"You idiots! Do you really think I would stay here on Mobius while sending up all of you and the other robots to my Amusement Park without my supervision?" Eggman shouted angrily.
"That'd mean you're comin' wit?" Cubot asked, curiously.
'Here it is...This is the answer.' Sonic thought to himself, ready to hear out where Eggman was really going and where he was now.
The answer he got was the last thing he'd expected in the last few hours, and the answer he'd actually being hoping for.
"No, I'm going to ask my mother to go up there." The madman replied sarcastically, before yelling once more. "Yes, of course I'm going! Everything I said in my message is so that hedgehog will be going on a wild goose chase, making him think I'll still be here by the time for the Grand Opening and never realizing I'll be up in space during that time. I can't observe the construction and the aliens' planet if I'm not there to supervise!"
"Why not send up a robot version of you?" Becoe suggested.
Eggman raised an eyebrow. "Need I remind you of Metal Sonic? That rouge robot pretended to be me to take over the planet after locking ME up. Besides, Sonic would notice if I even left a robot copy of myself here. I've already wasted enough time as it is."
While Sonic was shocked that Becoe of all things would have made the suggestion that almost made his nightmare come true, one from last night, the sudden wave of overwhelming relief washed over him. It hadn't been true after all. Eggman had lied to him in the recording, not even knowing that the blue hedgehog had even thought that the evil scientist was simply plotting another plan that would take another five months, and it had been sheer good luck that the teenager had noticed the elevator shaft and opted to investigate, fully unaware of this until now.
"Now then, it's time to get moving. The sooner we get to this new alien planet and learn of aliens' origins, the better! Start up the Egg-Shuttle." Eggman ordered.
The five robots did as commanded, even though Cubot then asked in confusion. "Who's Metal Sonic? Is he Sonic's brother or somethin'?"
"No, he's a robotic copy of Sonic who has defeated the creation twice. Just get moving!" Eggman replied impatiently, causing the newest robot to scurry away before he grumbled to himself. "How is he not intelligent like I built him to be? Oh, nevermind. Sonic will NEVER know where I am."
It was the last the footage had captured of Eggman from a month ago before the evil doctor and his minions left. Tails then followed the directions with the other footage, and as he and Sonic had hoped upon hearing what the man had said, the Egg Shuttle took off from the base and vanished into the sky. To make doubly certain, the young fox searched through the cameras of all the other rooms including the hidden basement he and the blue hedgehog didn't even notice.
Not a single trace of the Eggman Replica Robot as Sonic had been dreading to see.
"That's pretty much it, 'cause the rest of the footage just shows Eggman's robot Body Guards that we already took out." Tails announced after another few minutes of analyzing. He breathed a sigh of relief before turning to his big brother, saying with a soft smile. "See, Sonic? Nothing to worry about."
"Oh, thank Gaia." Sonic breathed in huge relief, placing a hand to his chest and felt dizzy over this acknowledgement. He almost couldn't believe it. Mobius was well and truly free. He was free. The horror and fears of Eggman still being alive and his nightmare telling him that it had been a robot replica that was eaten by Yacker's mother all had really been false.
For the first time in his life, the blue hedgehog was relieved that the evil man had lied, and never even knew that Sonic would really go up to the Interstellar Amusement Park, and even dismissed the idea of the very thing that the teenager had invisioned last night. Now the sense of the raw feeling of not being able to save Eggman came back and while he once again felt guilty for the evil man's death, knowing that he didn't have to worry about him coming back brought back that sense of freedom.
"You okay, big bro?" The young fox asked, noticing that the blue hedgehog was shedding tears once more.
"More than okay, li'l buddy. I feel great! You were right!" Sonic happily said, joyfully and tearfully pulling his best friend into a tight hug which caused the latter to yelp in surprise and then laugh when the teenager ruffled his head. "Tails, I'm so proud you! If it weren't for you, I'd be going on a real wild goose chase and go all crazy for months! Thank you."
Tails smiled happily, and when Sonic loosened his grip, this allowed the former to hug him back as they laughed. They stayed like this for a long moment before letting go. The blue hedgehog wiped away his tears.
"You feeling any better?" The eight year old asked.
"Totally." The fifteen year old replied, sighing as still felt giddy. "Though I still kinda feel guilty about Eggman being eaten, but I'm so glad that the whole robot-clone thing was just the dream. It's gonna take me a while to get over this."
"It'll be okay. You'll see."
"Yeah." Sonic nodded in agreement, bro-fisting Tails before suggesting. "Whaddya say we get outta here and enjoy the rest of the day just for fun? After the hysterical paranoia, I'm really ready to celebrate the no more Eggman party!"
"I'm in! Plus, this place gives me the creeps." The young kit agreed.
The two rejoiced brothers then proceeded in shutting down the monitors since they knew that Eggman wouldn't be needing it. As they walked out of the door which opened up to let them free, Sonic paused before looking over his shoulder to gaze at the room one last time, and while he still felt awful that his enemy was gone, knowing that he didn't need to worry about him ever again was a whole new experience, especially since the cobalt young hero had the greatest friends and family he could ever ask for. It was a whole new beginning.
"Sayonara, Eggman." Sonic whispered, before turning to follow Tails and leaving the abandoned and empty base of the evil man who was forever in people's memories.
After leaving Eggman's base, Sonic and Tails decided to hang out together, having their planned lunch of Chili Dogs and coincidently bumped into Amy, Cream and Cheese and, since he was such in a good mood while not even wanting to think about the late evil doctor, decided that they should all hang out together. They went to the park to play around before deciding to go to the movies.
The five friends were now waiting in line to get tickets for the latest film that came out last week, one that they had been waiting to see, called, "Resistance Squad 2: Age of Mammoth Mogul."(1)
Right up until...
"ROUGE!"
Blinking in surprise, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese looked over their shoulders to find, to their surprise and no small amount of annoyance for the former three, Rouge straining herself by carrying the familiar large giant emerald while being chased by an enraged Knuckles who was attempting to catch her without breaking the Master Emerald.
"It's Mr. Knuckles and Ms. Rouge." Cream softly exclaimed.
"Chao." Cheese murmured as he was carried in his friend's arms.
"Poor Knuckles. He can't win around her." Amy sighed.
"That's for sure." Tails agreed.
Sonic shrugged with a knowing smile and a shrug. "You guys go on without me. I've got a Knucklehead to help."
Before his friends could even respond, the young hero of Mobius dashed off to help the guardian echidna to get the Master Emerald back, making the others smile a little, especially Tails who couldn't help but sigh and shake his head. None the less, he was utterly relieved that Sonic has returned fully to his normal self for the first time in two months. Especially since the blue hedgehog had been fully convinced by the recording that Eggman had still been alive, and the two-tailed fox had been convinced himself. He was glad to have gone with and found proof that the evil man was no longer around anymore.
'Sonic's really been through a lot. I'm sure glad that he's finally back to normal and that he came home safely. I can't think of a world without my big brother.' The eight year old cub thought to himself as he watched his adoptive hedgehog brother race over to help Knuckles to chase after Rouge.
By the time Sonic helped Knuckles get the Master Emerald back and Rouge once again left empty handed, the blue hedgehog along with the others were invited to spend the rest of the day on Angel Island after the movie. During this time he and Tails explained how they investigated Eggman's empty Base to make sure that the evil man was definitely gone, with the teenage hero admitting that it was due to a horrific nightmare that made him uneasy.
Their friends had been shocked at first, but were glad that Mobius was ultimately free from the madman for good. After watching the sunset which was beautiful on a bright sunny day, everybody else went home with promises to visit Knuckles again soon. Sonic and Tails afterwards had their planned dinner of pizza and Chocolate, Vanilla Sundaes with Mint Chocolate Cookies crumbled on the eight year old fox's for dessert.
They had just finished off with the dishes and then watched a late night movie before finally heading off to bed. Before entering his room, Tails paused before gazing at his best friend.
"Hey, Sonic?" He spoke up.
"What's up, buddy?" Sonic replied, blinking.
"I'm really glad that you're okay, and that your nightmare wasn't real." The eight year old fox said with a warm smile, to which the fifteen hear old hedgehog returned and gently pulled him into a loving embrace, softly kissing him on the head.
"Me too, Tails. Sorry that I haven't been myself lately." The blue hedgehog replied.
Tails shook his head as he returned the hug. "It's okay. Everybody has their bad times."
"True." Sonic chuckled in agreement, gently ruffling his younger brother's head which made the latter giggle. "Night, Tails. See ya in the morning."
"Night, Sonic." The two-tailed kit nodded, entering his bedroom while the cobalt teenager retreated to his own, hoping for a better night's sleep.
Sonic once again laid in his bed, this time curling up slightly on his side after covering himself up in his warm blanket. It felt a little bit empty without his best friend with him, but unlike the previous night, the blue hedgehog, while still uncertain of how he should really feel with the demise of Eggman, felt more relaxed even though he still couldn't get his mind off of what's happened.
"Well, at least I can finally relax now that I know the whole Eggman-robot replica thing was all just part of the nightmare." He whispered to himself, sighing a little. "Still, no more Ro-butt-nik. Too bad."
A moment of silence, before Sonic shrugged and closed his eyes. "Well, even without him around, I'll always be a hero, and I'm still me. Besides, I got my friends, and there's still the whole world to explore, freedom to live, my speed to take me wherever I go, and people to meet and help if they need it. What more can I want?"
With these positive thoughts despite the lingering unease of his enemy's demise, the cobalt hedgehog drifted off to sleep, hoping for some pleasant dreams for a change.
Sonic was chasing after the familiar Egg Mobile that belonged to Eggman who was attempting to get away from him, the vessel holding a container little Mobini animals who were helpless and crying out for help, terrified. The blue hedgehog had no idea how this was happening, but he was determined to rescue them and defeat his enemy once and for all.
They sped through the everglade fields of green hills and dandelions, but while the blue hedgehog would normally admire the scenary, being the lover of nature, he was focused on saving his friends.
"Will you stop foiling my plans, you little pincushion?" The evil scientist growled angrily as he looked over his shoulder, glaring at the young hero of Mobius who glared back.
"Give back those critters, Eggman or I'll make you!" Sonic demanded as he continued to run after them.
"Oh, I'll give you something, hedgehog..." Eggman sneered evilly with a nasty grin, holding up a small remote with a red button, and snarled. "THIS!"
The bottom of the hovercraft opened up, revealing a huge pair of mechanical hands with laser-rockets on top, firing at the teenager who rolled his eyes and easily dodged them without a single scratch and kept running.
"Give me a break. You seriously think that'll slow me down? You're way outta your league, Egghead!" The cobalt hedgehog scoffed with a wide smirk.
Sonic then jumped and went for a Homing Attack to smash his way against the arms that easily broke off and at the back of the Egg Mobile, causing it to lose altitude and control, much to the madman's horror as he screamed and began to panic. The fifteen year old didn't stop there as he then Spin Dashed into the arm that was holding the capsule of trapped animals and quickly back down, landing and easily caught it despite the container being heavy, but he set it onto the ground and cracked it open, letting out the poor traumatized critters who cheered and chittered happily.
"Hey, guys. Don'tcha worry! Everything's okay." Sonic greeted the critters who ran up to him, and hugged him, making him laugh at the ticklish sensation.
"Don't celebrate yet, hedgehog!" Eggman's voice snapped the teenager and the animals back to reality, and when they looked to see, they gasped in shock with their eyes widening, as the evil doctor's Egg Mobile managed to recover, with the man glaring angrily at them. "I'm not through!"
"Ooh, I'm terrified." The blue hedgehog deadpanned, glaring back as he stood protectively in front of the critters who huddled up behind him, frightened. He then said to his enemy seriously. "You're gonna have to try harder to scare me off, Baldy McNosehair!"
The evil scientist was about to retort when the sky then turned dark, clouds turning from fluffy white to ominous dark grey, the sounds of a storming brewing in getting everyone's attentions. As they looked up, they quickly saw that it was no ordinary storm, as the lightning bolts were pink and red. The sky itself was a mixture of black and red, and to make things worse, a vortex rippled into existence. It was making Sonic, the critters and Eggman nervous.
"Eggman...?" Sonic trailed off, half-expecting this to be another one of the doctor's latest unknown evil plots.
"D-don't look at me! I have nothing to do with this!" Eggman stuttered, shakily.
The next thing that happened came too quickly even for Sonic to comprehend, because the lightning strikes hit the ground, he jumped back after scooping up as many animals as possible. Eggman however wasn't so lucky, as one or two struck him and his Egg Mobile, electrocuting him and covering him. The evil man screamed in terror and agony.
"Eggman!?" Sonic gasped in horror, just as the hovercraft exploded in a mixture of fire and lightning, forcing the blue hedgehog to shield his eyes and looked away along with his friends who all gave out horrified cries. When the flash and screams stopped, there was the sudden chill of a horrific evil laughter that sounded huge, metallic and...booming.
Slowly opening his eyes and lowering his arm, the teenager and the critters looked up only to gasp in horror as they saw what has happened; the unusual storm has struck the evil doctor, but has also merged him with his Egg Mobile, and to make things worse, Eggman grew into an enormous size, about the same height as his giant killer robots.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHA! AH HA HA HA HA HA!" Eggman bellowed evilly, already adapting in his new form, half robot half giant human.
Sonic felt his heart stop, backing away slowly while shielding the even more terrified animals. Neither one could believe what just happened. The cobalt speedster felt his confidence dim and fade as fear took it's place. He tried not to show it, and was about to warn the critters to make a run for it before he would begin fighting the evil doctor that was affected by the storm.
"SCARED NOW, SONIC?" The evil doctor sneered, leering down at his enemy who felt himself shake and quiver, but tried not to show it on his expression.
"In your dreams, Eggman! I can still beat you!" The blue hedgehog snapped, before quickly looking over his shoulder and told the animals. "Run, guys! Get outta here, quick!"
"NUH UH UH!" Eggman mocked, reaching out and quickly stretched out his robotic arm, and to the shock and horror of Sonic by the time he looked back, he and his animal friends were clasped by the giant hand before being drawn back to the evil man who held them close to his still human face. "GOING SOMEWHERE?"
Sonic grunted as he tried to squirm himself free while the animals were screaming and crying out, but it was futile. They were trapped. The evil doctor grinned in victory before reaching out to pick up the discarded container that was still open and held them over to the opening. The blue hedgehog noticed and gasped, realizing what his enemy was about to do.
"YOU BETTER MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE, HEDGEHOG, BECAUSE YOU AND YOUR LITTLE FRIENDS ARE MINE NOW." Eggman told him cruely.
"You're gonna pay, Eggman!" Sonic shouted angrily, trying to hide the fact that he was terrified. He and the animals then screamed when the evil giant scientist dropped them all into the capsule before sealing it shut, trapping them inside. The blue hedgehog glared up at him. "Let us go!"
"YOU ALL BELONG TO ME, SONIC, AS WILL THE REST OF MOBIUS. NOW THEN, YOUR LIVES WILL BE SETTLED AS MY FUEL, AND YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF ANOTHER DAY. OH HO HO HO HO HO!" The evil man laughed, as his robotic chest opened up to reveal a circut similar to that of fitting in batteries. "HASTA LA BYE BYE, HEDGEHOG!"
Terrified now as the full reality of being used as Eggman's battery along with the animals he worked so hard to free, Sonic leaned back as much as possible, his back touching the glass of his prison while his critter friends huddled up against him, shaking in fear and he held them in his arms back, doing his best to keep them as close as possible. They were about to spend the rest of their lives as living fuel for the giant Eggman.
"No! No, please! Eggman, don't do this! I beg you!" Sonic pleaded, only to scream when Eggman all but shoved him, and his friends in the capsule right into the man's chest, attaching it to the contraptions. The terrified fifteen year old could only look as the chest then began to close, and for a brief moment saw the familiar sight of the Tornado 1 in the distance approaching.
Even from far away, Sonic could make out the horrified expression on the face of the yellow speck that was his little brother.
"Tails? TAILS! Tails, get outta here!" The blue hedgehog screamed out in warning, not wanting his best friend to be captured as well just as the chest's robotic shutters closed, trapping him and the animals inside and left them into darkness.
Even so, Sonic could still hear the horrified and pleading scream from Tails, as though he was right there with him, blocked off by the doors.
"SONIC!"
Gasping in fright, Sonic bolted upright in bed and panted too quickly, shivering and covered in cold sweat of the adrenaline of fear that held it's grip on him. Blinking in confusion as he glanced around, it took not even a second for the blue hedgehog to realize where he was and sighed in relief, wiping his forehead from the sweat that developed.
It had all been another nightmare. Not as bad as the one the night before, but it was still horrifying enough, and it left him shaken. Still, Sonic, remembering that Eggman was gone, reminded himself that there wasn't anything to worry about.
Except for one thing at that very moment.
"SONIC! NO!" Came Tails' scream, which matched that from the Dream-Tails' scream that actually work him up. The blue hedgehog gasped in alarm and, realizing that his adoptive brother's scream was what really work him up in reality, knew that something was wrong.
"Tails!?" Sonic cried out, quickly leaping out of bed and raced out of his room, barging into the young fox's. He froze halfway through when he saw the eight year old kit still in bed and clearly still asleep...only that he was having a nightmare as well, because even from where he stood, the teenager saw that the two-tailed cub was crying.
Sonic raced over to his best friend's bed as Tails had shoved away his blanket and was squirming and wriggling, before he grabbed hold of the younger Mobian's shoulders and began shaking him to help him escape from his own nightmare.
"Tails! Tails, wake up! You're having a nightmare!" The cobalt hedgehog exclaimed, hoping that his voice would get through, just as the young kit's had done.
It worked. Tails gasped as his beautiful blue eyes snapped open and he began panting, confusion filling up before the very sight of his adoptive hedgehog brother above him made him feel the mixture of relief and sorrow.
"S-Sonic?" Tails muttered, still rather dazed as though unable to believe what happened, before the reality of the situation kicked in. Overwhelmed by the horrors of his nightmare, the eight year old fox quickly sat up and threw himself into Sonic's chest, his arms around the blue hedgehog's waist as he sobbed. "Sonic!"
Being the adoptive brother and caring hedgehog that he was, Sonic quickly wrapped his arms around his traumatized friend's body, rocking him back and forth as he sat on the edge of the bed to calm him down, rubbing the young kit's back, all thoughts and fears of his own nightmare that Tails had saved him from all forgotten.
"Shhhhhh...Tails, it's okay. It's okay. I'm here. It's alright, little buddy." Sonic whispered soothingly.
"Y-You didn't make it..." Tails sobbed, quickly explaining what he saw in his nightmare. "The I-Interstellar A-Amusment P-Park exploded a-a-and...You and Eggman were caught in-in it! I-It was a-after you p-pushed me into-into the elevator, l-like you did when you f-fought him...!"
The eight year old resumed crying, and the fifteen year old felt his heart break, mentally shuddering on the very thought. Worse part was, Sonic could actually see it happen in his mind's eye; had things been different at that point, oh Chaos, that was too horrible to even think about. The blue hedgehog knew, however, that his little brother had only been dreaming of what could've happened, like the teenager himself had the other night.
"Tails...I'm here. It's okay, li'l bro. I'm not going anywhere. It was all a dream." Sonic comforted, pulling his best friend closer. "What you saw was just a nightmare."
They stayed like this for another few minutes before Tails slowly ceased his crying as he began to calm down, snuggling into Sonic's chest as though afraid he would just disappear. The blue hedgehog continued to comfort him, gently giving him another kiss on the head as he always did whenever the two-tailed fox had nightmares that traumatized him. Sonic knew that the young kit needed as much comfort and love as he did, and the teenager was going to give it to him.
"S-Sonic...Please don't leave me...!" Tails softly pleaded.
"Hey, I haven't broken my promises yet, and there's no way I'm gonna start now or anytime soon." Sonic reassured, smiling warmly at him as he carefully patted his sweet little brother on the head, making the young fox giggle despite still being in tears. "I won't leave you, Tails. I promise."
Still sniffling in sorrow and fear, but happy, grateful and lucky to have the best friend/brother he could ask for, Tails looked up with a smile of his own as the two let go, but still in each other's arms. Sonic raised a hand and carefully wiped away the younger Mobian's tears with his fingers.
"I love you, li'l bro." Sonic whispered.
"I love you too, big bro." Tails replied, and the two shared another brotherly-loving hug.
Even though Sonic was still shaken of his own nightmare, his little brother needed him more right now, and felt comforted himself knowing that he was comforting Tails like he always did since the day they met, and the time when they had their very first adventure together. Then an idea came into mind as a memory returned to him, something that he couldn't believe that he actually forgot about until now, and while felt like slapping himself, it perked him up.
"Hey, speaking of promises. Remember the promise I made to you that we'd go on an adventure together?" The cobalt hero of Mobius spoke up.
"You mean before we discovered Eggman's Amusement Park?" The two-tailed fox asked, looking up at him.
"Yep! I uh, kinda forgot that we were gonna plan it over Chili Dogs since my nightmare the night before kinda threw that out. But hey, what better time than thinking about it now? I'm sure we both could use it after what we've been through for the last few days." Sonic suggested, feeling sheepish as he scratched his head.
Tails beamed a smile almost instantly. "Great idea! Actually, I was gonna tell you about a new place I heard about today when we were having lunch, but then we ran into Amy, Cream and Cheese, so I kinda forgot too."
"New place, huh? Now that's what I'd like to hear." The blue hedgehog smirked. "What is it?"
"It's a continent of the country of Isalenna, a place of a folklore with beautiful fields and amazing terrians and caves. I actually bought a guidebook of that place three months ago, but I forgot about it until now." The eight year old explained.
Sonic whistled. "That sounds way past cool. I've never heard of Isalenna before."
"I know. That's why I'd thought I'd mention it."
"Well then, looks like we have ourselves a destination of our next big adventure. Whaddya say? Wanna hit the road and air tomorrow?"
The young fox nodded happily. "Yeah, and we don't have to worry about Eggman being there!"
The blue hedgehog chuckled, and gave his best friend a thumbs up and a wink. "Then it's settled. Our new adventure in Isalenna is over the horizon."
Tails couldn't agree more, before he let out a tired yawn, rubbing his eyes, and Sonic smiled, adding. "But first, let's catch up on some sleep. Want me to stay with you tonight?"
"You sure? We did it last night in your bed." The two-tailed kit replied, blushing a little.
"It's okay. To tell the truth, I was having another nightmare of Eggman myself, but it was your voice that got me out of it." The blue hedgehog replied, shrugging sheepishly.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." Tails lowered his head a little, only for Sonic to gently lift it back up a little with his finger.
"Hey, you know that I'll always be there for you, even far apart, because I'm always in your heart, bro. Just like you are in mine. You, Amy, Knuckles, Cream and Cheese, and everybody else we know mean a whole lot to me. You've grown up a lot since we met, but no matter how old we get, we're friends and family for life." He told him sincerely.
"Thanks, Sonic. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me." The younger Mobian replied emotionally.
Sonic nodded, before he and Tails settled in together like they had the night before and after wishing each other a good night, the two adoptive but closely bonded brothers fell asleep, both of them dreaming of their adventures in Isalenna tomorrow.
The next morning after breakfast, and after informing everyone of where they were going with promises to bring back souvenirs from Isalenna, Sonic and Tails packed up everything they needed for their new adventure in the region that was new to both of them.
"Everything's all set, Sonic." Tails announced as he buckled up in the pilot's seat.
"Sweet! Ready when you are." Sonic praised, giving his best friend a thumbs up with an excited smirk.
The eight year old fox nodded before starting up the engine, and like many times he's done before, the Tornado 1 took off into the skies with the fifteen year old hedgehog cheering on without falling off.
"WOOO HOOO! Yeah! Isalenna, here we come!" Sonic declared excitedly.
With the promise of their next adventure together fufilled, Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails flew into the skies as they began their flight towards the region of Isalenna with the new beginning of pure freedom of Mobius in sight.
To be Continued
in
"Sonic and the Power of the Wisps-Epilogue"
A/N: Another one-shot story done within the story of Sonic In Between. I am kind of thinking of making a series of short-stories of Sonic and Tails' adventures in Isalenna, but maybe I'll post those in this story instead and turn it into a mini-series set between "Sonic and the Power of the Wisps" and my worked on story "Sonic's Space-Time Adventure".
Depends on how I feel.
(1)A spoof of "Avengers: Age of Ultron" even though I'm not an Avengers fan.
See you later!