Sonic in Between.
Author's Note: I've decided to forgo in starting yet another story and continue this one as a mini-series, with the rest of the chapters set after first two chapters, directly continuing from the Epilogue of Sonic and the Power of the Wisps and before the events of Sonic's Space-Time Adventure, the latter which I have several ideas how it would continue, but it's in gaps. I will get back to it, just had to get this out first.
Summary of Story 3-Part 1: *One day after the Epilogue of Sonic and the Power of the Wisps* With their adventures in the Interstellar Amusement Park behind them, Sonic and Tails, on their second day of their Isalenna adventure, arrive in the peaceful town of Tesrod Village where they hear of the legend of the Scepter of Illusions. But just as things seem to be going quite well, a sinister plot may put them and the entire village in danger, because the legend may actually be true.
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
A Giant Problem-Part 1.
"Man! Yesterday turned out great, and today's lookin' even greater!" Exclaimed Sonic the Hedgehog, the world-owned hero of Mobius, as he and his best friend Miles "Tails" Prower were making their way to their next destination on their adventures in the region of Isalenna, a continent neither have ever been to before.
"You're telling me. I can't believe we got to see Sun again. It's been so long!" Tails said in agreement while piloting his plane, the Tornado 1, from the town of Clocksworth, to their next stop on their latest adventure. It had been four days since his best friend had saved the universe from the evil Dr. Eggman who, after four and a half long years of conflict, had finally met his end in the most unexpected way.
At first it had been a little strange, and not even Sonic was immune to nightmares, but to get his mind off of them and to settle down, he and the two-tailed fox were now on their promised adventure, and after arriving in the new region of Isalenna, explored Clocksworth Town and met up with Sun the Hedgehog, an old friend whom the blue hedgehog traveled with along with another special friend two months earlier.
Now they were on their way to the next town on their Isalenna journey, Tesrod Village, another England-like place that resembled to Cerne Abbas and a 19th-Century Kingdom, and even from the distance, the brotherly duo could make out the nice and beautiful town with a large building that resembled to a palace in the far edge of the town itself. The two adoptive brothers let out their own expressions of awe, and while Tails let out an excited 'Wow!', Sonic let out a long whistle.
"That's gotta be Tesrod Village!" The two-tailed fox exclaimed.
"Looks more like a kingdom than a village." The blue hedgehog remarked.
It wasn't long before the two Mobians landed just outside of the village itself and then made their way through the entrance of the magnificent place. It had a peaceful, homey feeling to it, filled with life of the friendly neighborhood and villagers who welcomed the teenage hedgehog and his fox cub companion, even though there were some stares directed from everybody, mainly humans as this was another human city while Clocksworth had only about 12% of human population and 50% of Mobians, were thrilled to see them in their village, at the latter due to his twin tails, which made the young kit a bit nervous, but relaxed when the fifteen year old placed a comforting arm on his shoulders.
Eventually the stares cooled down once they saw just how close the two were, plus making the villagers realize that they were frightening the young child, and instead simply waved at them, making Sonic and Tails, who was still nervous but relaxed a little, wave back with smiles.
"Nice neighborhood. I like this place." Sonic stated.
"According to the guidebook, Tesrod Village was once a kingdom that was great neighbors with that of Camelot under the rule of King Arthur. Or so the legend says." Tails explained as he pulled out the said book and began reading. "Now these days it's a tourist attraction under republicans since this land's castle had been under attack around 60 years ago. The castle itself has been badly damaged on the inside, and has been rebuilt as a museum."
"Ouch. What happened to the rulers?" The blue hedgehog winced slightly.
"It says here that the royal family has been..." The eight year old fox paused uncomfortably, gulping nervously as he suddenly felt nauseous as he read. "Well, it's pretty scary even just in words."
"Can I take a look?" The fifteen year old hedgehog requested, quickly growing concerned on what has spooked his younger brother, who nodded hesitantly and gave it to Sonic who scanned it with his emerald green eyes. A few seconds later, even he felt a little nauseous at the details with a sweat drop. "Whoa. I can't believe that a bunch of crazy guys would do that to people. It's like out of fantasy movies."
"Or horror movies." The younger Mobian shuddered, before noticing that they were just reaching the famous look out of a green hill and pointed it out to his friend. "But that's not all on what they say. The clue is right there."
"Huh?" Sonic gazed at him curiously, before following where Tails was pointing at with his gaze and softly gasped in awe, pausing at near the look out porch where on-lookers could see the hill but had no permission to even climb onto or slide down on just for fun, because of a massive landscape turf-cut picture of what appeared to be a giant human. The clothing almost invisible but no doubt medieval, appearing to be surrounded by zap like linings, almost like some kind of aura or something.
Just at the giant's feet were miniture turf-cut people, humans and mobians looked on with positions that looked like they were terrified, which was no surprise to the hero of Mobius since the giant's face looked to be...evil, all of the helpless people kneeling down before it with their arms raised, or some looking like they were crying, with many more looking like they were dead, weapons scattered, and the giant was actually holding a person in it's hand, a human girl who was just as helpless. In the giant's other hand was some kind of scepter or rod or a spear, Sonic couldn't tell, and unlike the rest of the picture, it was actually painted in red dye which faded through out the years, so now it was a dull grey colour.
"A giant?" Sonic muttered as he and Tails walked up to get a closer look, giving the book back to the young fox, the two stopping just a few inches from the fence. The blue hedgehog folded his arms in thought, remarking. "Not as scary as Chaos in his perfect form or the Werehog, but still kinda creepy."
"From what the guidebook says, legend has it that the giant, whom many people here in Tesrod Village call the Discord, was once a human who had a terrible desire to make his selfish wishes to kill the royal family and...well, turning them into stone and shrinking them to add into into a royal toy collection." Tails read on, shuddering again.
"Say what!?" The fifteen year old softly exclaimed, shocked with a huge sweat drop. "Some crazy guy wanted to collect the royal family likes toys? That's horrible!"
The eight year old fox nodded, before reading on, "All except one, who was the princess he'd actually fallen in love with, and wanted her to be his bride. To make it all happen, he gained the dangerous artifact known as the Scepter of Illusions, which says that it will grant the power of the user any wish of the dark desires that they want, and even have the power to brainwash those who had weak hearts of their own."
Tails paused, before continuing. "The price would be is to become a giant and unless reasoned into learning their lesson, they are to remain that way forever. They say that the giant was so selfish that it took a great power of love to weaken his heart before he perished. Or so they say. Theoretically, it was just a some guy who had an army into following him before they were all taken down and imprisoned the royal family who disappeared."
Sonic sighed in relief, before saying with a bit of a scared smile. "Well, if the legend was true, then it's a good thing o'l Eggy isn't around anymore. Knowing him, he wouldn't miss the opportunity to find that Scepter to take over Mobius, and I already had a nightmare of him fusing with Yacker's mom the other day."
"Yeah, Eggman's giant robots were bad enough, and then there were Chaos, the giant Werehog..." His best friend shuddered at the thought.
"And Dark Gaia who's twice as big." Sonic added, shaking his head. "Man, am I glad we don't have to worry about any of that right now. Not that trashing Baldy McNosehair's toys hadn't been fun sometimes, but you know..."
"I can't imagine what would happen if Amy gotten hold of it just to make you marry her." Tails couldn't help but tease.
That made Sonic's blood run super cold as he tensed up at the very thought, going all pale in horror as the image of a giant Amy grabbing hold of him to so that she could marry him. Okay, sure she'd never do that because she was far too kind for that sort of thing even if she was still crazy over him, but had actually shimmered down a little after the Metal Sonic crisis, but that was enough to make him terrified.
"Tails! That's not funny!" The blue hedgehog cried out, waving his hands quickly, horrified. "It's bad enough that she's chasing me around in her normal size, but her catching me as a giantess!? That's one of my worst nightmares, man!"
"S-sorry. I couldn't help it." The two-tailed fox struggled not to laugh as he didn't want to hurt his big brother's feelings, especially since everything he's been through.
Sonic, forgiving as always, sighed before scratching his head. "S'okay. But seriously, I'm more happy that she's the same size as us. I can't imagine her being a giantess. Come to think of it, even if she did have the scepter, I think she'd be more scared than anything else. Eggman on the other hand..."
A moment of silence, before Sonic and Tails shared another look as memories of the former's false theory about the giant pie factory back on Sweet Mountain, and the nightmare of Eggman fusing with the Nega-Mother Wisp resurfaced, and they both shuddered violently at the thought.
"That's one plan that he might've tried for himself. Not like the times when he tried to control giant monsters." Tails said, shivering.
"Well, worse case scenario for him if the legend is true, if the guy remained a giant, and if they both ended up in the Underworld, I'd say Egghead would be running from a giant ghost." The older Mobian shrugged with one shoulder.
With Eggman, in the far distant dimension...
"FOUR WHOLE DAYS AND WE'RE NOWHERE NEAR ANY CLOSER IN FIGURING OUT THE TRUTH!" The very much alive Eggman bellowed impatiently from within his still broken Egg Mobile, smashing the dashboard before grabbing his bald head and felt like screaming even more. "Why is it always me!? WHY!? WHY!?"
"It would be an accurate guess that it is because you are a villain, and villains always lose." Orbot stated obviously, as he and the other four robots were taking break just outside of the city they were just nearing, though neither one knew what kind or where they were.
"I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU, USELESS JUNK HEAP!" The evil scientist shouted angrily, glaring at the red robot who, along with the others, flinched in fright. "Quit slacking off, and keep pushing! We're about to enter this new city and we need something to fix up my Egg Mobile!"
"But what if we get kicked out?" Decoe asked, worriedly, gazing up at the dark buildings nervously. "Plus, I don't think it's safe."
"Sure is pretty dark and spooky." Becoe added in agreement.
"Spooky, Smchooky! I bet it's just an empty place." Bokkun scoffed, smirking proudly to himself. "I'm more scarier, 'cause I scared Sonic one time!"
"You scare anybody, Bokkun." Decoe and Becoe both deadpanned.
That made the smallest robot whine upon hearing those words. "That's what Sonic said!"
"Really? You don't look that scary to me." Cubot said, confused. "Sonic ain't scared of even the boss's giant robots."
Eggman growled, "Will the five of you just shut up and push!? We need to get back to Mobius, before we run into something that is even beyond my control with this piece of junk broken as it is, and I'd like to examine the oxygen around here! Besides that, I'm thirsty and starving!"
That seemed to perk up Bokkun, because he then quickly brought out his chef's hat and apron and cooking utensils, saying happily. "I can cook something!"
"Thank you, but the last time you cooked, you gave that little fox slight food poisoning." The evil man deadpanned, and after the embarrassment of not having known about fish always being in sushi, he didn't want to end up with food poisoning like Tails did.
Bokkun was shocked to hear this, then bawled his eyes out like a baby. "WAAAH! That means I'm fired from cooking duties!"
"Well, you did put in crab legs, a burger beef, a two day old fried chicken, an apple of all things, and a small tentacle in each sushi, which are not what you put in." Orbot pointed out.
The smallest robot responded by giving him a raspberry, and Eggman could only facepalm himself with a groan of dismay. Suddenly there was a loud sound of someone screaming, coming from their left. When the group of six glanced over to see what the commotion was about, they saw a figure of what looked like a man but with dark gray skin with blue linings across his body, wearing some kind of tribe clothing, pointy elf-like ears and was running away from something in a look of pure fear.
"Hey, what's with that giant and his obsession with turning royal people into stone and keep them like toys!?" The man exclaimed, screaming like a banshee and not taking notice of the bewildered evil doctor or the dumbfounded robots who watched him run past them. "This place is more and more CRAZY!"
"...What was that about?" Cubot asked, confused, scratching the top of his head.
"A giant...with an obsession with royal people into stone?" Decoe asked, nervously.
"Was that guy a King or something?" Becoe wondered aloud.
"I'm suddenly getting a bad feeling about this." Eggman admitted, nervously. If there were giants around with an insane obsession with turning those of royalty into stone and collect them, if not all people around, then getting back to Mobius may not be as easy as he thought.
"STONE...ROYAL STONES..." A voice, bellowing voice echoed suddenly, making the evil doctor and his minions tense up and flinch, shakily and slowly turning to look. They all gasped in fright as the answer of the robots' questions was stomping straight towards them; a huge giant about 100 foot tall, wearing olden medieval clothes, but all ragged up and the man with dark red hair, his skin all pale like a zombie, and he certainly moaned like one, repeating his words for stones.
Decoe and Becoe both screamed in panic, hugging each other in fear. Bokkun jumped before hiding behind Orbot who looked just as nervous and worried. Even Eggman was quivering in terror at the very sight, knowing that he had nothing huge with him to fight this thing and that put his chances of survival at the moment in doubt.
"Wowie! That's one big guy! How much vitamins did he have?" Cubot exclaimed in shock.
"Urm, boss? Would you like us to push so we can escape?" Orbot asked nervously.
"T-that would be a wise choice..." Eggman replied, terrified as he leaned back into his seat. "He may be after royal people and turn them into stone, but I'm not taking my chances in case he wants to turn my body into stone."
"A very wise choice, Dr. Eggman." Decoe and Becoe both said simultaneously.
"RUN FOR IT!" Bokkun screamed, hysterically.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Eggman and the other robots screamed, before five of the metallic minions quickly stood behind the Egg Mobile and pushed and ran as hard and fast as they could while the evil doctor held on for dear life.
"Push, you useless pieces of metal! PUSH!" He yelled at them hysterically, panicking beyond belief, and while the giant still moved slowly, he didn't want to become giant food, or worse, head his head taken off.
Looks like his plans to investigate the dark city was put on hold for a while longer. But at the moment he didn't care.
Back with Sonic and Tails on Mobius...
"Um...I don't think dead giants would eat normal sized dead guys, even in the Underworld." Tails pointed out, rubbing the back of his head.
"Yeah, but you never know. Heaven is supposed to be a very peaceful place. The Underworld on the other hand is a place full of endless punishment and nightmares. Or so they say." Sonic chuckled even though his best friend/little brother had a very good point.
"Do you think anybody who did briefly die would remember?" The young fox couldn't help but ask curiously.
That was an interesting question. Not that the blue hedgehog was in any hurry to find out himself, but it did bring back sudden uncomfortable and horrible memories of two certain deaths he'd been convinced were permanent but by miracle and wishes, both were reversed; Shahra in the Arabian Nights when Sonic used his first wish from Erazor Djinn to bring her back, and Yacker when the blue hedgehog, in his grief, wished with all his heart for any kind of power to bring him back and unknowingly triggered the resurrection power of the Chaos Emeralds that were there and brought the adorable, sweet little alien who had sacrificed himself to save Sonic back as well.
"Who knows? I...Kinda didn't ask Shahra or Yacker about that." The blue hedgehog shrugged, scratching his head over the memories.
"Oh...Sorry, Sonic. I didn't mean to make you remember those times. And to think that I wasn't there when Yacker...and that you almost..." The eight year old trailed off in growing guilt, and the very thought of what could have happened if the Chaos Emeralds didn't revive Yacker, and memories of his nightmare of Sonic not coming back two nights ago, nearly brought him to tears.
"Hey, it's not your fault. I wish I could've saved them and stopped both of them from dying in the first place. I really owed them for saving my life, more times than I can count." Sonic reassured with a warm smile, placing a hand gently onto the young cub's shoulder.
Then, remembering how Tails had almost lost his free will permanently after risking his life to save his, the fifteen year old added, "And I owe you for saving me from Egg-Brain's Mind Control Weapon. If it weren't for you, I'd be under his control, but then losing you to him would've been worse for me."
"You saved me, Yacker and the other aliens from Eggman's robots, and pushed me into the elevator to protect me. I owe you more than you owe me, big bro." The young fox pointed out.
Sonic just laughed. "Who says we're keeping score? You know I'll always be there whenever you need me. And I know that you always got my back. Besides, things turned out okay in the end. All in the past. Keep moving forward-"
"And don't ever look back!" Tails finished with him, and the two deeply bonded brothers shared another laugh, unaware that a group of human children, being lead by a kind woman in her early-thirties who was giving them a tour on a school field trip, were passing back and had only just arrived. One little girl, about ten years old with blonde hair that stopped half way down her back, ocean blue eyes, wearing a purple shirt and lavender skirt, white socks and black shoes with pink lines, noticed the two mobians, wondering what they were doing.
Her name was Chloe from Soleanna, and, seeing Sonic then pull his adopted little brother into a warm hug which was returned, made her smile a little at the adorable scene. Seeing them made her realize who they were, the blue hedgehog being easily recognizable on the news anywhere, but being a child, and being a school student, she knew she'd never be friends with him or his sweet and cute fox friend who was also a hero for saving Station Square from Eggman's missile. They were too famous.
"C'mon. Let's grab a bite to eat and then we'll continue our tour around here." The hero of Mobius suggested, and his best friend nodded in agreement, before walking away to find a good dining place, restaurant or even just a little cafe to have some lunch, with Chloe being the only one to notice, while the rest of the students and their teacher were focused on the giant art on the grass hill.
"Hey, Chloe. Snap out of it." A boy's voice snapped her back into reality, causing her to blink and turn her head to the owner of it, and groaned in dismay and annoyance as it belonged to an eleven year old with raven hair, dark blue eyes, wearing a red jumper with a black vest, dark blue trousers and dark green boots with a bad boy expression.
"Quit daydreaming and pay attention." The boy sneered with a smirk.
"I'm sorry, Cody, but I just noticed Sonic the Hedgehog and his friend Tails. I think they're here visiting Tesrod Village too." Chloe replied politely despite the rudeness of the boy.
"You're just imagining things, but it would be cool to have them and many other people live in my house where they'd stay forever." Cody scoffed, grinning somewhat evilly over the thought. "Imagine; I'd have people, normal people and Mobians as pets and toys for me to play with."
Chloe glared at him as she gently scolded. "Cody, I told you before, those ideas are horrible. You can't just force people to do what you want to. You're starting to sound like that mean man Dr. Eggman."
"You worry too much. One day, I'm gonna have as many people as I want. Like that giant guy, only without turning people into rock. THAT is really creepy." The mean boy dismissively waved off, while pointing at the giant's art and shuddered at the last part.
"Psst! Chloe, Cody! Shh." Another boy, named Gavin, with dark blue hair, a light-yellow jumper, dark blue shorts, white socks and light blue shoes with dark blue eyes whispered, turning once he heard the conversation. While Chloe blinked apologetically and turned her attention back to the lesson, Cody rolled his eyes and just stared at the giant, but obediently listened to the teacher who was unaware of the conversation.
Though when he heard about the scepter, the bad boy gazed up at it in wonder and narrowed his eyes a little in deep thought.
'I wonder if the story is true. Could that stick with the red rock really grant people's wishes?' Cody thought, wondering that if it was, then maybe his own wish could come true. A smirk formed on his lips.
An hour later after lunch, Sonic and Tails continued their own tour around Tesrod, visiting such amazing places like the Botanical Garden that had an open maze with flower beds that didn't make people get lost, twice as beautiful flowers and stone old fashioned but wonderful fountains, art galleries of art from olden times to modern, both kinds were amazing in their own ways, and right now the huge Museum that was once the Palace.
The duo stood outside as they arrived in the front courtyard and gasped in awe with bright smiles.
"Wow!" Tails breathed. "It's the Museum that was once the Palace of the royal family!"
"It still looks like a Palace than a Museum." Sonic remarked, already excited to see the inside of it. "Way past cool!"
The building itself looked grand, almost glowing as though it made out of gold and jewels. The two Mobians shared an excited look before hurriedly approaching the building, unable to wait to see what the inside looked like. Again they were unaware that the children on the field trip were entering the museum as well, almost as they they were going to the exact same places as the blue hedgehog and the two-tailed fox.
The inside was just as amazing as the outside. Old items were sealed off with glass cases and cotton wires in iron to stop people from stealing them, certain areas like the old bedrooms were shut and not permitted to enter. In fact, the only things that did remain after six decades were the old paintings of people that Sonic guessed were the royal family. He and Tails automatically followed where everybody else were going as they all marveled the Museum's history.
Eventually the duo found themselves inside a huge exhibit were numerous glass boxes that held old pottery and items inside to be looked at but only touched and carefully cleaned by the staff members that worked here. Needlessly to say the two Mobians were thoroughly impressed.
"Whoa...Look at the size of this room." Sonic muttered as he glanced around more of the size of it than the items themselves, surrounded by tons of windows that viewed the outside. "It's huge!"
"The guidebooks says that this room used to be the Ballroom where the royal family and the attendees come to dance in royal balls of any and all kinds of celebrations." Tails explained as he read the aforementioned book, also amazed by the sheer size of it. "It's a lot prettier and bigger than I thought."
"Ballroom huh? Heh, if this place was still as such, knowin' Amy, she'd wanna make me dance with her here." The blue hedgehog chuckled, shaking his head in exasperation over the thought, before saying a girly voice as he attempted to mimic his self-proclaimed girlfriend's excitement. "It would be so romantic!"
The young fox giggled over his brother's attempts to sound like a girl. "Sonic, you sound too silly to speak like a girl."
Sonic coughed to clear his throat and spoke in his normal voice. "Yeah, you're right. That kind of voice is no good for my coolness factor."
"What part of no don't you understand!?" A man's voice shouted all of the sudden from the side, causing both adoptive brothers to pause in their steps and look to their left in confusion, wondering what the commotion was about.
Just about five feet away from them were a small group of Mobians, the owner and workers of the Museum, having some kind of argument which was becoming more noticeable for the tourists. The man that had been shouting was a brown beagle wearing a deep red suit with a white shirt underneath the jacket, a black tie with black leather boots, a mustache that reminded Sonic of his late uncle, and he didn't look happy.
With him were four tall hawks, one blue, another red, one black and one white that were obviously the security guards, and all five of them were glaring at the man that seemed to be causing trouble; a dark grey Mobian Wolf about the size of a human man, or maybe a bit shorter, wearing a junitor's clothes meaning that he was one of the cleaners...and from the looks of things was about to lose his job, because they were all standing around a long glass case with a golden scepter that had a hand-sized ruby on top. The eyes of Sonic and Tails widened as they recognized it almost instantly, and softly gasped.
"I've told you time and time again, this is NOT the Scepter of Illusions, and it's not to be taken! It's an artifact made to look like the one from the legends!" The Beagle, clearly the Curator of the Museum, continued angrily.
"But no one knows who made this, sir! It was found years ago! It IS the real Scepter of Illusions! Besides, you wouldn't even let the other cleaners touch it for cleaning! That makes it a little suspicious, don't you think, sir?" The Wolf Cleaner pointed out.
"Jeromony..." The Curator growled angrily, unable to come up with a logical answer to that. "This has gone too far! If you don't stay away from it, you are fired! Do I make myself clear?"
"...Yes, sir." Jeromony the Wolf hissed in fury, before he was pushed and shoved back by two of the security guards, pulled away and out of the room.
"You're on bathroom duty for two months, Jeromony." The red hawk guard growled as he and the black hawk hauled him away from the scene, while the Curator made an apology to everyone that had witnessed this and told them to ignore what happened and enjoy their visit.
The Beagle and the other two guards then walked away while Sonic and Tails stood with sweat drops, bewildered over what happened.
"Um...Did I say that it was a nice neighborhood?" The blue hedgehog whispered to his best friend.
"Yep." The two-tailed fox nodded with a whisper.
"Guess every place has to have their pros and cons." The cobalt teenager shrugged, a bit sheepishly before he gazed at the case that held the Scepter. "As for that thing...I hope it's just a replica and not the real deal."
"Me too. What if somebody who heard of the legend tries to steal it?" The yellow kit shuddered nervously.
Sonic rubbed his best friend's back to comfort him and reassured, "Don'tcha worry about a thing, bro. If it does happen, they'll have me to worry about. Besides, the guy who made this replica probably didn't get enough credit or something."
"Maybe. But then again, what would it take to stop the person if it is real? The legend says that it took love to stop the giant 60 years ago." Tails said, a little uneasy.
"It'll be okay." The blue hedgehog told him, ruffling the young cub's head. "With us around, we'll handle it."
The eight year old fox, despite still feeling uncertain, nodded with a soft smile as he knew that whenever there was danger going on, Sonic would be there to save the day even when he was in trouble himself. It was rare for him to hesitate in risking his own life for others, especially those important to him.
Again the two were unaware that the students and their teacher, who had also seen the commotion, were puzzled as they gazed at the Staff of Illusions, with the teacher stating that it's just a replica. Most of the children were relieved to believe this, but Cody, gazing at it, was disappointed grumbling under his breath.
"I should've known that the whole legend was just a story. Too bad." The raven-haired boy muttered, smirking to himself. "It'd be pretty cool that it was the real deal."
Little did everyone know that the ruby on the staff began to glow ominously red, turning dark for a moment before it faded, as though it happened even happened. But then no one even noticed, except for one who right now was on cleaning duty in one of the bathrooms of the Museum. Jeromony was growling darkly to himself as he mopped the floor as a sinister plan filled his mind.
'I will get that Staff, and I will get what I want. That Curator won't stop me this time!' The Wolf hissed in his mind. But in order to get the Scepter of Illusion, he must first come up with a plan in order to take it without getting caught. As he was stuck here, an idea then came into mind as he felt like slapping himself for not realizing it sooner.
If he couldn't get it during the day...then he'll just have to get it at night. No one in Tesrod Village has ever attempted to steal anything even at night time before. So why not start now? Oh, this was perfect because no guards would be awake at night.
As the Museum had closed around 4:30 PM, hours after everybody left, Sonic and Tails went to a nice restaurant to have the village's delicious food a couple hours later as the sun set and the stars were coming out. While Pasta wasn't traditional, since it had gone global, it was tasty. The young Mobians had Spaghetti Bolognese with Garlic Bread for dinner, and Chocolate Pudding with Ice Cream for Dessert and they enjoyed every moment of it.
"I gotta hand it, this place is cool." The blue hedgehog remarked, leaning in his seat with his hands behind his head. "I love Isalenna already."
"Yeah, it's definitely a place I wanna come and visit again." The two-tailed fox agreed with a beaming smile.
"We should bring the whole gang over. They'll love it!" Sonic suggested, before realizing what he said and chuckled as he closed his eyes when he thought of a certain echidna and black hedgehog. "Well, 'cept Knuckles since he wants to babysit that giant rock of his, and Shadow since he's such a lone wolf and a grouch."
Tails giggled in agreement, knowing that the cobalt speedster was right. Then colourful lights began flashing from the side and light up the streets, making him and Sonic blink before they looked over to the side and gaped in awe from the outside table of the cosy restaurant. Over the hill for this part of town, if not the most of it, can see, were a beautiful display of fireworks that lit up the sky.
"Guess we're just in time to see the Fireworks Show." Sonic said with a warm smile, before asking. "Wasn't there something about celebrating 70 years of friendship?"
"The Fireworks Show is to reminder the people of Tesrod Village of how much they mean to each other. It's also to remind people from other countries the same thing." Tails explained.
The blue hedgehog chuckled, playfully ruffling his best friend's head which made him giggle. "Who needs to remind us? You'll always mean a whole lot to me, little buddy. Can't think of a life without you, bro."
"I can't think of a life without you either, big bro, 'cause you mean everything to me." The young fox replied sincerely, which made the cobalt hedgehog wrap one arm around him and gently pulled him into a loving brotherly hug, the two brothers nuzzling in each other's embrace.
"Aw, Tails." Sonic whispered, his heart warmed and more than happy to be by his sweet and adorable little brother's company. The blue hedgehog loved his adoptive sibling so much, the bond they shared will always stay forever.
Nearby watching from the balcony of their hotel room, Chloe was watching the fireworks display and while Cody was lying in bed in boredom, and the teacher having told the students that some people believe that Fireworks can grant wishes, she clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.
"Oh Fireworks of Friendship, please grant me my wish." The ten year old girl whispered. "I wish to make friends and to meet Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails, and help whatever way I can to do the right thing."
Unknown to her, Gavin was doing the same thing, except he was whispering. "I wish I had the courage to be friends with Chloe and stop Cody from being such a bully to her and anybody else."
As for Cody, who didn't believe in the wishes of the Fireworks, his hands behind his head and staring up at the ceiling, whispered to himself of his dark desire. "I wish the Scepter of Illusions was real so that my own wishes can come true."
What nobody knew was that Tesrod had no upgraded security systems, the current ones not getting a replacement until next week, and almost everyone was at the Fireworks Show. Thus it was easy for Jeromony the Wolf, having practiced stealth for months, to sneak back into the Museum, passing by only the few guards that remained. The place didn't have any security cameras or Laser detectors, which was the town's biggest mistake at this moment.
'Almost there, almost there...' The cruel Cleaner thought to himself, knowing the hallways by heart, and grinned coldly as he reached the former Ballroom. Silently creeping closer to the very object he was looking for, Jeromony gave a toothy grin as the closer he got, the supposed replica of the mythical staff was glowing red, as though sensing his presence.
"Heh heh heh...I knew it. It is real. Those fools think that it was myth. I'll prove them wrong!" Jeromony whispered to himself with an evil chuckle. Having a dark heart and wanting a better life for himself, having grown sick and tired of being a lowly cleaner and wanting to be king of the Museum, to rebuild it as it's former glory under his rule, he was willing to sacrifice his normal size for this.
Having stolen the keys to open the case, the evil Wolf unlocked it before opening and removing the glass. As predicted, the ruby of the Scepter glowed brighter even as it gave a dark shadowy mist that formed. Thinking no less, Jeromony grabbed the golden rod and held it high above his head.
"Yes! Finally! The Scepter of Illusions is mine!" Jeromony whispered victoriously, and knew then that he will get what he wants. Holding it in both hands, he began to say in a commanding voice. "Scepter of Illusions! I, Jeromony Hackler, sacrifice my current size to make my wish come true! I wish to be King of Tesrod, rebuild the Palace to it's original state, and send those fools who oppose me, the Curator and those guards...TO THEIR DOOM!"
Having heard his wish and sensing his dark heart, the Scepter of Illusions glowed brighter and brighter, filling up the entire room in red light, spreading it across before the evil Wolf cleaner, groaning in pain as he suddenly felt the strange effects of the dark evil rod, began to laugh manically as he suddenly began to grow in a near rapid state. All the while several items of the royal family shifted and some of the cases broken, and as he reached the ceiling, the near giant wolf did not hesitate and, confident that he'll have his new slaves to fix it up later, punched right into it and crushed his way through.
Outside of the front doors, two of the security guards, a Mobian Cow and a man with blonde hair in his late thirties, fully unaware of what was going on, stumbled a bit as they felt the ground shake, and then heard an evil laughter followed by the dreaded sound of stone crumbling and glass shattering.
"What the heck!?" The Cow exclaimed in shock and alarm.
"What's going on?" The man asked, quickly fearing that something bad was happening.
Looking up as they heard the laughter echo and gotten louder and even larger somehow, the two guards spun around and, seeing that something huge came crushing through the roof, rapidly growing, ran off from the door and paused onto the courtyard. The two gasped in horror as they saw a giant Mobian Wolf stop at 115 feet tall, laughing manically, Scepter of Illusions and all.
"I thought the Scepter was pure myth!" The Cow guard exclaimed, dumbfounded.
"Well, it looks like the legend is true, because that's that sleazing wolf Jeromony the Cleaner!" His human partner muttered with a terrified expression as he instantly recognized the rouge cleaner who had become traitor, and just proved that the legend is true.
"We'd better warn everybody to evacuate!" The Mobian Guard exclaimed.
"Right!" The human guard nodded, only for both of them to be clasped tightly by the giant Jeromony's hand as he had spotted them and brought the two helpless guards close up to his face. The two struggled to free themselves, but were held tightly.
The giant Jeromony grinned, laughing evilly. "UH, UH, UH. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, BOYS?"
"J-Jeromony Hackler! Y-You're under arrest of plot of trespassing, kidnapping and destruction!" The human guard grunted, glaring hard at the giant Wolf, only for him and his friend to give out girly screams when their captor held them straight at his eye.
"YOU ARE UNDER MY RULE NOW, SLAVES. IF YOU WISH TO AVOID THE DEATH PENALTY LIKE YOUR BOSS AND FOUR CO-WORKERS ARE ABOUT TO FACE, YOU WILL OBEY ME!" Jeromony warned darkly, tightening his grip.
"...We're doomed." The Mobian Guard whimpered, shaking to the point of nearly wetting himself in fear.
"YES! HWAAAAAAH!" Jeromony declared in victory, holding up the Scepter of Illusions high up above him. At last his wish has come true. Now it was time to show the people of Tesrod Village of his new ultimate power, with nothing to stop him and no one to fight him.
Save for one group.
At the exact same time during Jeromony's dark wish fulfillment, the impact from the Museum spread through out the village, and while the red light didn't spread, the quakes certainly did, because everyone, including the Hero of Mobius, his best friend/little brother, and the teacher and students in their hotel room felt the impact, nearly losing their balance, concrete and bricks began to crumble from buildings which shook, chairs, tables, plates and such all falling over.
"Whoa!" Sonic cried out in alarm, grabbing hold of Tails who stumbled into his older brother, just as it suddenly stopped, but everyone in the village were still on edge. "What the!? What's goin' on?"
"Ah!" Chloe screamed as she nearly fell over, before Gavin, seeing this, raced over and caught her in her arms while struggling to hold his balance.
"Chloe! Are you okay?" Gavin asked, worriedly as they both fell onto their knees and held his classmate in his arms.
"I-I think so." The blonde-haired girl nodded, blushing a little as she realized that the dark-blue haired boy had stopped her from completely falling. It was very sweet of him and he smiled in relief.
"Okay, what's with the Earthquake?" Cody, having fallen out of bed, demanded as he raced over and while he always acted cool and collected, deep down he was afraid of Earthquakes and sounded shaken while looking very pale.
As everyone outside of the hotel stepped out from where they were standing and into the middle of the path, including Sonic and Tails while wondering what was going on, all of the sudden they all heard a mighty roar of something, or rather, someone huge echo through the dark night sky, the full moon being the only light with the lamp posts cracked.
"HWAAAAAAH!"
Tails, being the first to turn to look, gasped in shock as he saw in the distance of what happened. He pointed at the direction, exclaiming in pure horror. "Sonic! The Museum!"
Quickly looking in the same direction as his best friend, everyone else unknowingly doing the same, Sonic gasped in shock, disbelief and horror as he saw a giant wolf cleaner having emerged half way from the roof of the former Palace. What really horrified him the most was that he saw the very thing that quickly answered the question of how Jeromony had grown into a giant in the first place, memories of what he had heard today, the picture of the giant with the same object that caused the disaster 60 years ago, flooding his mind.
The Scepter of Illusion, the evil object that grants the wishes of those with dark hearts, was in the giant wolf's hand, and whatever wish the new villain had sought out, the blue hedgehog knew it was very bad. He really hoped and believed that the attack all those years ago as rumored in the guidebook was just false. But now...now he knew that it was true.
"No...The legend is true." Sonic whispered, his heart pounding.
"It's the Scepter of Illusion...!" Tails whispered in fear, coming the same realization, and shook in terror.
Chloe, Gavin, their teacher and most of their classmates watched on in horror and fear at the mere sight of what was happening. Cody, while stunned and in awe that the Scepter is real, was unable to believe what he was seeing, and shuddered at the sight of Jeromony the Giant Wolf, since wolves, both Mobian and Mobini, always gave him the creeps. At the same time though, he secretly smirked.
'Cool...! The Scepter is real.' He thought to himself. But at the same time though, the destruction that was about to happen...he was starting to have second thoughts.
Jeromony began laughing evilly which spread through out the once peaceful village for 60 years, that has now quickly turned into a place of terror, and as everyone could only witness the great terror of history repeating itself with most people, residents and tourists being frightened, and the eight year old fox's heart ready to burst in fear, the blue hedgehog, not sure what to do to fix this situation, knew in that instant he had to do something as he narrowed his eyes since he also knew that he was in for another battle.
Sonic had to stop the evil Jeromony before it was too late.
To be Continued!
A/N: The next part will be out as soon as I'm able to get it done, and I know that it's strange, but let's just say...I'm in a bit of a giant mood. *Shrugs*. Hopefully Sonic will be able to solve this problem in the next chapter.
(Update: Re-edited on 5th March 2022. Next part will also be re-edited as soon as possible.)
See you later!