Sonic in Between.
Author's Note: Part two of the previous adventure at your service!
Summary of Story 3-part 2: With the Scepter of Illusions now in the hands a giant Cleaner of the Tesrod Museum, can Sonic and Tails stop him from taking over the peaceful village, or is it doomed along with the possibility of the rest of the world?
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
A Giant Problem-Part 2.
"HA HA HA HA HA HA! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" The giant Jeromony bellowed in evil laughter, stomping his way out of the Museum, the Scepter of Illusions in one hand, and two of his first victims in the other. The former cleaner turned self-proclaimed new King of Tesrod Village began marching his way from the building he was certain will be rebuilt into his image, and slowly made his way towards the village itself.
As the Curator and the four Hawk Security Guards raced over after seeing what has happened, they all gasped in horror and fear as, to the dismay of the man who threatened to fire the Wolf earlier, they saw what they had thought was proven false but was now proven to be true all along.
"Good heavens. He...he was right!" The Curator exclaimed softly, his heart hammering in fear and no small amount of guilt. "It IS the real Scepter of Illusions!"
The Mobian Beagle fell to his knees in utter crushing defeat while the four Mobian Hawks couldn't believe what they were seeing. He moaned in hopelessness. "Oh, dear lords, what have we done!?"
"Sir, we must evacuate!" The blue Hawk exclaimed, quickly getting into action as he and his follow guards knew that it was only a matter of time before the giant Mobian Wolf gets them.
"No...It's too late." The Curator shook his head moaning, burying his face into his hands. "There is nothing and no one to save us this time. We were fools to believe that after 60 years, the Scepter was a fake. We are doomed!"
"We are going to evacuate, sir!" The white Hawk grunted, quickly grabbing hold of his superior's right arm while the red one grabbed the left arm, both Mobians pulling their boss to his feet and forced him to run along with them while the other two quickly followed while pulling out their walkie-talkies to issue a warning.
Jeremony in the meantime, not yet seeing them as they had quickly hidden themselves, walking past them as they were hiding in a building to block off their scent, began to make his way towards where the Fireworks Show was, grinning evilly.
"THE FIREWORKS OF FRIENDSHIP IS THE TRUE MYTH. IT'S TIME FOR MY KINGDOM TO SEE THE REAL TRUTH." The evil giant Wolf grinned darkly, crushing the ground as people who were seeing him coming ran away, screaming in fear as they tried to avoid in being stomped on or captured like the two other guards who were held tightly in his grasp.
"I think we're gonna die." The Cow Guard whimpered to his companion.
"Yeah, we're gonna die. Best case scenario is that if we survive, we lose our jobs." The human guard nodded in agreement, his voice a bit high-pitched in fear.
"I'd rather lose my job than lose my life. If we survive this, I'm goin' back to my family to work at the Cherry Factory to make Cherry flavored Ice Cream." The Mobian shivered in fear.
"I'm goin' back to Casino City." His friend added, only to grunt in pain as Jeromony, having heard their conversation, tightened his grip on both of them.
"NOBODY'S GOING ANYWHERE." The giant Wolf bellowed darkly. "YOU SHALL SEE SHORTLY."
The two trapped guards gulped nervously, sweating in fear and shaking and whimpering. They knew then that they were definitely going to die.
Sonic, Tails and pretty much everyone else, still in a state of shock at what was happening, saw that the giant cleaner was heading straight towards them. The teacher had quickly lead the students back inside their room, closing the curtains to keep them as safe as possible. The blue heroic hedgehog on the other hand, knew that with so many people around, they were all in grave danger. The very sight of this reminded him too much of his previous nightmares before arriving in Isalenna.
The first being Eggman fusing with the Nega-Mother Wisp, and the second one night later being the evil doctor merging with his Egg Mobile during an unusual storm. Could they have been trying to tell him about this outcome, only without the late madman this time?
"Everybody evacuate!" The teenage hero screamed out after mentally shaking his head to forget the nightmares, and quickly focused on the most important issue. "It's too dangerous here! RUN!"
At the sound of his voice, it seemed to work and reached into their ears, because seeing that evacuating and running was their only option, people began running and screaming, with some of the police, praising the cobalt young hedgehog's act of somewhat leadership role, guiding the panicked and fearful people towards the exit and to safety as quickly as possible. Sonic and Tails, the latter being terrified but not wanting to leave without helping, quickly helped in guiding as many people as possible.
The two young Mobians helped children who were crying in fear to reunite with their parents who were grateful to both of them, only for the giant Wolf, who saw people beginning to run away, snarled before howling like a Mobini Wolf and shockingly jumped and leaped, landing directly on top of the fireworks display, while the workers screamed and scrambled out of the way to avoid in being crushed. The impact of the landing shook the ground and made everyone lose their balance, stopping most from leaving. The teacher and the students, who decided that it was far too dangerous to stay, were just exiting the building when Jeromony appeared, leering down at them.
"PEOPLE OF TESROD VILLAGE!" Jeromony began to announce with his new authority, where most could only stare in fear, too frozen to even more, while Tails was speechless but tried not to let his fear get to him, and Sonic bravely glared back at the giant. "I, JEROMONY HACKLER, AM YOUR NEW KING! TOGETHER WE WILL REBUILD THE KINGDOM TO IT'S FORMER GLORY, AS WE ENTER A NEW ERA UNDER MY RULE. ANY WHO RESIST ME SHALL SUFFER THE SAME FATE AS THOSE I SEEK TO PUNISH, THOSE WHO WRONGED ME, AND FOOLISHLY BELIEVING THE SCEPTER OF ILLUSIONS IS MYTH."
Sonic was about ask why anyone should follow the evil Wolf's new rule, about to step forward to face the monster that grew and was using the Scepter of Illusions, which Jeromony held up to prove his point when to his and everyone else's horror, the ruby began to glow bright red.
"THE AGE OF FREEDOM, FRIENDSHIP AND TOURISIM IS OVER. NOW, YOU WILL OBEY ME!" The giant Mobian declared, and soon the bright light spread across the area, and towards where Sonic, Tails, Chloe, Gavin, Cody and everyone else were.
"Get down!" The teenage hedgehog screamed to everyone, throwing himself over his best friend who screamed in terror, the two adoptive brothers curling up and squeezing their eyes shut as they knew that in legend the Scepter was also used to brain wash people, to mind control them. Chloe gave a fearfully scream before Gavin held her in his arms, and everyone else who even as much as fell onto their knees shielded their eyes as much as possible, everyone screaming while bracing themselves to lose their free will.
A moment passed as the red light faded and Jeromony grinned, but frowned when he saw that, while most looked to be all zombie like in trance, slowly looking up and opened their eyes which have gone blank and milky white as they were put under the spell and stood up slowly, waiting for his command, four were uneffected; Sonic, Tails, Chloe, and Gavin who were still curled up, their eyes squeezed shut. The blue hedgehog, his heart hammering in fear of being mind controlled and blaming himself for coming here with his best friend, found that he was okay.
Hesitantly opening his still emerald green eyes, the fifteen year old blinked in confusion and realization, as the two-tailed fox did the same, opening his still blue eyes but also unaffected and blinked in bewilderment.
"We're...We're okay?" Tails asked, nervously.
"It sure looks like it." Sonic replied, still uncertain. "You okay, buddy?"
"I think so. What about you?"
"Same."
Gavin and Chloe, realizing the same thing, blinked in confusion before having asked each other if they were okay and once they knew that they were and sighed in relief, saw what happened and, in fear and knowing that Sonic the Hedgehog was their main safety at the moment, hurried over to him.
"Mr. Sonic!" Chloe cried out fearfully as she and her classmate reached the two Mobians who stood up, surprised that the young girl knew the blue hedgehog's name, but then realized that she must've seen him on the News throughout the years.
"Just call me Sonic." Sonic replied, asking. "You kids okay?"
Chloe nodded, still scared out of her mind, while Gavin was about to ask what was happening when Jeromony's voice brought all four of them back into the reality of the situation and they gasped in horror and shock at what happened to most of the rest of the people who turned to them, all in trance.
"WELL, WELL. IT SEEMS THAT YOU FOUR ARE IMMUNE TO MY ULTIMATE POWER. I GUESS THE SCEPTER CAN ONLY EFFECT THOSE WITH HEARTS SIMILAR TO MINE OR WEAKER." Jeromony stated.
"What'd you do to these people!?" Sonic demanded, swallowing his fear and glared bravely at the newest enemy. Deep down, though, he was utterly horrified. Oh, Chaos, this is what would've happened to the entire world if Eggman's Mind Control Weapon hadn't been destroyed. Except this was by the power of one scepter and not the power of thousands of cute little aliens. Worst part is, the blue hedgehog didn't have the Chaos Emeralds on him as they scattered across somewhere in the world and he didn't know where to look.
How was he going to save the people here in Tesrod Village? Plus, he'd only just used the Emeralds four days ago, so the blue hedgehog was still recovering from using it's power to restore Yacker's mother to her original self.
"I HAVE PUT THEM UNDER MY CONTROL, AND YET IT SEEMS YOUR HEARTS ARE TOO POWERFUL TO SURRENDER AND BOW TO ME." The giant wolf explained obviously.
"So you brain washed them, like the legend says." The blue hedgehog grunted, clenching his fist angrily. Gritting his teeth, he then shouted. "Let those people go!"
"YOU THINK YOU CAN ORDER ME, LITTLE RAT?"
"I'm not a rat! I'm a hedgehog, you stupid mutt!" Sonic yelled, hating it whenever people called him a rat when he looked nothing like one. "Not only you ruined people's lives here, but you're also using a very evil magic stick to do that!"
"EVIL?" Jeromony inquired, chuckling deeply. "THAT IS WHERE YOU ARE WRONG, MY TINY FRIEND. THIS IS THE HOPE OF RESTORING ORDER, TO RIGHT THE WRONG'S OF THE PAST. FREEDOM, FRIENDSHIP, HARMONY OF THE PLANET, THE OUTSIDE WORLD IS WHAT CAUSED THIS KINGDOM TO FALL!"
"Restoring Order? Pfft! Yeah, right." Sonic scoffed. "In case you haven't fully paid attention to history, that thing is what caused the Royal Family to lose their lives in the first place, because some sick guy had a horrible thing for people's heads! What you're doing is no better than what Dr. Eggman would do! It's a good thing that he isn't here to see it, 'cause knowing him he'd go and do what you're doing to the entire world!"
The giant Mobian Wolf snarled at the stubborn young hedgehog angrily. "YOU'RE TOO MUCH LIKE THAT CURATOR, BOY! HOW WILL YOU, A TINY LITTLE BLUE HEDGEHOG, EVER HOPE TO STOP ME!? YOU CANNOT, BECAUSE I HAVE THESE TWO IN MY GRASP!"
Jeromony held up the trapped two guards in his hand to show off his new authority. "THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ANYBODY, EVEN YOU, CHILD!"
He didn't give the fifteen year old a chance to reply while Sonic was horrified and narrowed his eyes, as the evil cleaner-turned-king then commanded those he Mind-Controlled, "SLAVES! SEIZE HIM AND THOSE OTHER CHILDREN, FIND THE CURATOR AND THE BIRD GUARDS! BRING THEM TO ME, AND LOCK THESE BRATS UP!"
The brain-washed people, acting like a bunch of zombies, all moaned and slowly began to approach the group who backed away slightly, Sonic holding his arms out to shield Tails, Chloe and Gavin who were all terrified, the two human children gasping as they saw Cody also having been brain-washed, in trance and grinning evilly.
"Hey, wait guys! Don't listen to him! Snap out of it! Pull yourselves together!" The young cobalt hero cried out, a hint of pleading in his voice as he hoped that he would be able to reach them. To him, this reminded Sonic too much of when Eggman Mind-Controlled Tails before the stolen Hyper-Go-On energy in the Weapon ran out, the weapon that was meant for the teenager but the two-tailed fox had saved him from.
"Sonic! I don't think we're gonna be able to reach them like this!" Tails exclaimed worriedly. "We need to come up with something else to save these people!"
As much as Sonic didn't want to leave these people like this, he knew that his little brother was right. Plus if they were all captured now, then that's the end of Mobius' freedom just when the Planet had gotten it from the demise of the evil doctor.
'I guess freedom and peace are really fragile. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna give up on either one.' He thought to himself, squeezing his eyes shut before snapping them open and ordered his friend and the two kids. "Tails, grab my arm! Kids, hold on tight! I'm gettin' us outta here!"
"But what about everybody else?" Gavin protested, as Chloe tried hard not to tear up.
"We'll save them! I promise! But we can't do that if we're caught! C'mon, hurry!" The blue hedgehog urged, his heart hammering as the possessed people were walking closer and closer.
Hesitating, Chloe, deciding that Sonic was right as he didn't want to hurt these people, grabbed hold of his hand with her right before taking Gavin's with her left, holding on tightly.
"Gotta go fast!" Sonic declared, and after telling his younger companions to hold on, the blue hedgehog sped away past the huge crowd and ran up the street as quickly as he could as Tails, Chloe and Gavin, the latter two screaming at the near-impossible speed, were holding on for dear life, well out of sight and around the corner to find a place to hide and come up with a plan.
The Zombie-tranced people made to follow, but Jeromony, bewildered by the blue hedgehog's speed, ordered them to wait as he knew that they were far too slow and even with the power of the Scepter, he knew that not even this could catch up. There was only one thing left to do to prevent the non-possessed children from escaping and also get rid of the Curator and the four Hawks for good.
"I WANT A HUNTING PARTY FOR THE CURATOR, THE FOUR BIRD-BRAINS AND THOSE CHILDREN. ESPECIALLY THAT BLUE HEDGEHOG. FIND THEM. FIND THEM!" The giant Wolf commanded loudly. The possessed people, citizens and visitors, did as commanded and he even used the Scepter's power to make them search in normal non-zombie like speed while he glared at the direction of where Sonic's group had taken off.
'IF WHAT THE RUMORS SAY ARE TRUE, THEN HE MUST BE THE HERO OF MOBIUS PREVIOUS VISITORS HAVE TALKED ABOUT. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG." He thought to himself furiously, knowing that had another obstacle to overcome. 'YOU CAN RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN, BOY. BUT YOU, THOSE FRIENDS OF YOURS, AND THE CURATOR WILL BE MINE!"
Almost everywhere in Tesrod Village had gone through a horrible transformation in less than 24 hours since Sonic and Tails' arrival. From a peaceful nice place full of friendly people, into a haunting ghost town full of brain-washed people under Jeromony's command by the power of the Scepter of Illusions. While most visitors, parents with small children and babies, had managed to get out in time, the rest found themselves trapped when the possessed people blocked off the entrance.
Now they were gathering up those who like Sonic, Tails, Chloe and Gavin, weren't effected by the evil power, while looking for the four of them as well as the Curator and the Hawk Security Guards everywhere they could think of. Thankfully, the hero of Mobius found another way out and leaped over the wall of people without them even knowing and made it back to where the Tornado 1 was, well out of sight since he and Tails didn't feel comfortable in leaving it for anybody to see and steal.
The two Mobians and the two students peered over the hill from their hiding place which was near a cave after Sonic and Tails made sure that the plane was well out of Jeromony's sight before hiding in there to make sure they were safe. The teenage hedgehog peered around the corner of the rock formation, able to make out the towering figure of the evil giant wolf from the distance before hiding again so that he couldn't see him.
"I think we should be safe here for now. They won't be able to find us if we stay low." Sonic announced, whispering as though afraid that speaking in normal volume would jinx them. He approached his younger companions as Tails and Gavin tried to concel the upset Chloe who was hunched up against the gravel rock behind her in the cave they were hiding in, hugging her knees as she buried her face in her arms.
"I can't believe this has happened. I really hoped that it was all just a myth." Tails whispered, still in shock over the situation.
"Well, I guess they added the fake story of the army thing to make people think what really happened was just a rumor." The blue hedgehog responded uneasily, scratching behind his right ear. He then hesitantly asked the two kids, "How're you kids doing?"
"You said that you were going to save all of those people...!" Gavin began, angrily and clearly just as upset, glaring up at Sonic who felt a stab of guilt perch right into his heart, his stomach tying up into a knot.
"I will, but I had to get you guys to safety first." The teenage hero replied as calmly as possible. "My friend and I just got here today, so none of us knew about that guy being all crazy."
"You still left them with that creep!" The ten year old boy shouted, his eyes stinging in tears. "Our teacher and classmates are there! They're being turned into zombies, and you LEFT THEM!"
Sonic winched, looking away as he found himself unable to look at the distraught kid. Gavin was right. He had been unable to do anything, having been foolish and thought that the guards had it under control, believing that nothing would go wrong today. While the blue hedgehog had nothing to do with the Scepter of Illusion, the heavy weight of guilt of not being able to stop this sooner held him tightly.
But he squeezed his eyes shut to stop himself from surrendering into the ocean of guilt, sorrow and anger and took a deep breath before exhaling to calm down, and turned back to the children.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt them so I could fight that big guy. Look, we'll figure out a way to save them, I promise." The teenage Mobian said with pure honesty. "Leaving them behind wasn't what I wanted, and I never meant to do that...But you gotta understand! I didn't want you kids or Tails to get caught into that fight, or locked up!"
Gavin didn't seem to look convinced, but his expression did soften bit by bit, as Chloe, who had been crying non-stop, heard what the hero was saying and, slowly calming down, began to lift her head and gazed up at the blue hedgehog who sighed, running a hand through his quills while Tails felt heartbroken that his brother was taking sole responsibility over this and it hurt even more that a human boy was blaming the hedgehog over something he didn't have a choice over.
Sighing, Sonic continued with a sad expression. "Being a hero isn't easy. It's not about having cool super powers or being born with special abilities like running really fast, or having two tails that can help you fly that makes a person a hero even if those do help you to your advantage. It's not about how you look, or anything like in comic books or movies."
"Um..." Gavin murmured, instantly beginning to feel guilty when he heard that being a hero isn't being easy, and the more he listened to the blue hedgehog, the more he felt awful for lashing out on the hero who had saved him and Chloe.
"It's about what you do, what you think, what your heart really tells you. To do the right thing even with difficult decisions. When a person, human or Mobian, think of others more than themselves, even in risking their life for what is most important, that's what it takes to be hero. I know I'm the fastest thing alive, but even I make mistakes. Everybody does. Heroes make mistakes, and try hard to set things right." The blue hedgehog explained.
Sonic approached the two human kids and declared with determination. "We'll save everybody, and I'll stop that overgrown wolf."
He sighed again, and looked at them straight into the eye. "I'm truly sorry for leaving them behind."
To his surprise, both kids hugged which made the blue hedgehog yelp, caught off-guard. He froze when Chloe and Gavin began began, the young girl even harder which ached his heart even more. Sonic relaxed a little when Tails, feeling sorry for them and guilty for having convinced the older Mobian that they had to leave yet knew that they didn't have a choice, came over to help comfort the human children, both that were two years older than the young fox and five years younger than the teenage hedgehog. In the ten year old boy's case, he was crying in guilt for having lashed out on the hero.
"I'm sorry, Sonic...! I-I didn't mean t-to blame you!" Gavin sobbed. "It's just..."
"I'm so scared...! I'm sorry for...not helping!" Chloe cried.
"Shhh...Kids, it's okay. Everything's gonna okay." Sonic whispered soothingly, doing his best to comfort them. "Everybody gets scared."
"Sonic's right. We'll figure this out." Tails added, despite being younger but he wanted to help to reassure that everything will be alright.
The two Mobians continued to comfort the students despite the dire situation they were all currently in for another few minutes before both Chloe and Gavin calmed down, wiping away their tears before the four slowly let go, all four of them holding sad but comforting and grateful smiles.
"Thank you for saving us, Sonic and Tails." Chloe said softly. "I've always wanted to meet you, but I never got the chance since you guys are too famous."
"Hey, now. Who says I can't be friends with anybody?" Sonic replied, before adding sheepishly. "Well, okay, I don't do too good when it comes to a huge crowd of fans."
"Yeah, being famous isn't easy either." Tails giggled in agreement.
"That explains why it's rare to see you guys anywhere else apart from the news whenever that Dr. Eggman guy attacks." Gavin thought, shrugging. "Just hope he doesn't come and cause more problems."
"Don't worry. That Egghead won't be causing anymore trouble ever again." The blue hedgehog reassured, sighing a little sadly. "Not that I was his number one fan, but I'm not a fan of...well, not seeing people ever again. He died almost a week ago."
"Huh!?" Both students exclaimed in shock, not having expected to hear this.
"He's gone?" Gavin asked in disbelief.
"What happened to him? Even though he was never a nice man." Chloe asked, unable to believe what she was hearing.
"It's a long story. Let's just say, his latest plan was just like what that giant wolf guy's doing, except the Eggster didn't grow into a giant and he attempted to use a giant cannon to brainwash everybody from his interstellar Amusement Park. Tails and I went up there to investigate using an elevator to that place. In the end, it backfired on him so hard that...well, he got swallowed up by something big that I had to stop, and saved the Universe. But this is a secret, okay?" Sonic explained, folding his arms with another shrug.
While Gavin and Chloe shared a confused glance wondering what their hero meant by that, they decided that there was enough already at stake so they turned back to the blue hedgehog and nodded, promising to keep what they heard a secret.
"Okay. First thing's first, we gotta save everybody in the village, and stop that cleaner wolf who obviously stole the Scepter of Illusions behind people's backs." The teenager began, quickly getting into business. "I'm surprised he managed to get past all of those security guards."
"From what the guidebook says, Tesrod Village never had any security cameras or alarms, and most of the guards usually attend the festivals every year." Tails explained, having managed to hold onto the book itself. "Remember, this place is a little bit behind everywhere else in the world."
"Guess that explains everything. Man, am I glad Eggman's not here or else he would've gotten it instead of the other guy." Sonic shuddered at the thought.
"That guy is a cleaner?" Gavin asked, dumbfounded.
"Yeah, and his boss threatened to fire him if he didn't stop trying to steal the Scepter." The blue hedgehog shrugged. "He had been put into bathroom duty. Tails and I heard the near end of the argument."
"Well, he did have clothes of a cleaner, so that explains a lot." Chloe agreed now that she thought about it. She then asked worriedly. "But how do we stop him? Legend says that it took love to weaken his heart. At least that's what the teacher told us during the assignment."
Sonic nodded in agreement. "You're right, and I don't think that guy is the romantic type."
"I'm still scared about having nightmares about the last giant being in love with the princess while wanting the...well, you know. The more horrible part." Gavin shivered over what he and Chloe who rubbed her arms nervously, had heard.
"Yeah, that's too much even for horror movies." The fifteen year old smiled nervously, before turning to his best friend and asked. "Hey Tails, isn't there a clue for any sort of Plan B on how to stop the giant guys or an Exit Clause or somethin'?"
Tails scanned the book for any sort of clue in case he missed something, before sighing in disappointment. "Sorry, Sonic. But the closest the book says that the Scepter of Illusions was created 400 years ago, and it was used back then, that the people based it on that instead of what happened 60 years ago. Problem is, the Scepter's existence was only proven when the royal family died, and people came up with love being the only solution."
"Dang." Sonic grumbled, slumping half way to the ground in disappointment and frustration, while Gavin and Chloe both sighed with saddened groans.
The young fox sighed, before he noticed something quite odd on the ground on the opposite end of the wall in front of him, his friend and the two students. Blinking in confusion at this new discovery, the eight year old went up closer to investigate and could see that just behind a small boulder at the opening of the cave, a mysterious light blue slip of paper stood out.
"Huh? What's that?" Tails murmured to himself, reaching out and pulled out what it appeared to be an really old letter protected by plastic sealing that was showing signs of cracking and foggy, possibly due to heavy weather. Luckily it was easy to open, so he opened it up and pulled out the piece of paper. After a quick scan, he gasped in shock.
"Sonic, look what I found." He softly called out, quickly approaching the blue hedgehog, Chloe and Gavin who turned their attention to him. "I think this may help us out."
"An old letter? What's that doing here?" Sonic asked, puzzled as he noticed that it was indeed a letter. "Looks pretty old and sorry looking."
"It looks like it was written a long time ago." Chloe remarked, blinking.
"What's it say?" Gavin asked, curiously.
The young kit glanced at the letter again, and began reading it aloud but not loud enough to get anybody's attention, yet loud enough for his friends to hear as Sonic made sure that there weren't any possessed people or a certain giant wolf looking for them.
""Should anyone find this letter, please pay attention. It's very important. Long, long ago, the Scepter of Illusion was created by a powerful Sorcerer named Anstar, who was thought by the ancestors of our family to be a kind-heartened man, but he was a liar and dangerous."" Tails paused as he the others shared stunned expressions.
"No way. The person who wrote this was a member of the royal family?" Sonic asked in disbelief, before coming to a realization and wondered. "Could it have been...the Princess who the last giant fell in love with?"
"That would make sense, since nobody knows what did happen to her after the giant was defeated." Chloe nodded, believing in the logic of the blue hedgehog's guess.
"I guess everybody thought she died and left the letter here in case something like this happened, which it did, considering." Gavin guessed, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah, probably." The fifteen year old hedgehog agreed, before gesturing his little brother to continue.
The young fox nodded, and resumed reading. ""He wished to kill our family and rule the kingdom one day, as the Scepter is cursed. As secret to our family as nobody else should know, it has sealed away the soul of the very first wielder who gave up his life to defeat Anstar who was killed by power of the Scepter of Illusions. But it came at a cost; he warned that should anyone use it's power, the first holder shall forever be sealed away while the next generations of holders with dark desires shall fall under the curse of becoming giants unless love conquers the hearts of those people.""
"That Anstar guy sounds like a real nutjob." Sonic remarked, angry with how an evil Sorcerer from four hundred years ago would cause all of this, and a guy who killed him had actually used the Scepter of Illusion to do so at the cost of his freedom, which only made the curse worse. This reminded him far too much of how Tikal sealed herself away along with the back-then enraged Chaos inside the Master Emerald up until Eggman showed up.
"That horrible sorcerer sounds really awful." Chloe whispered, shocked and horrified over this, while Gavin clenched his fist in anger, unable to believe how this mess had really started.
""However, there is another way to which no one has done yet, as the Scepter still exists. I am the Princess, Katrina, having survived my ordeal of the man who had taken away my family, and wanted to force me to marry him and become his queen. But that is not important as I cannot return, because many of my people believe I am dead, and I am not fit to rule the Kingdom. It pains me to leave it without the rightful heir, but our people are already furious with my father for failing to have prevented this disaster to happen."" Tails continued reading, and he and his friends gasped in horror.
"What!? Oh, come on!" Sonic grunted, growling softly. "How can it be her dad's fault if that guy stole the Scepter and was crazy over people's heads? It's not her fault that it happened either."
No one argued with him on that, knowing that the blue hedgehog was right. Yet they knew that there wasn't a thing the could do to change the past now. So Tails continued reading, ""As for the other way should love may not be the answer should it happen again, the Scepter must be destroyed for the curse to end. According to our ancestors, if it is destroyed, the new giant will shrink, the trapped soul will be freed and the Scepter of Illusions will be gone forever. I am asking you, anyone who is benevolent, to destroy the Scepter for good as I am to hide and never return. Please, end our family's curse and save the land, or else the whole world is doomed. -Katrina.""
The four of them shared a glance of surprise, stunned that no one has even found this letter and that someone who has found the Scepter, claiming it to be fake, has locked it up to be set up as a display for the Museum to make people believe as such until it was too late, and the only hope was for anyone to find this letter, someone who is benevolent, to destroy the Scepter and save Mobius.
"What's benevolent?" Gavin asked, puzzled.
"It means somebody with kindess and being warmhearted." Chloe answered.
Sonic felt his heart ache for what Princess Katrina, the princess who had gone through such a horrible experience 60 years ago and left on self-exile mainly because of something that wasn't her or the last king's fault. That the true way of ending the 400 year curse was for someone who was benevolent to destroy the evil Scepter for good, was never found until now. It made him feel worse that those people in Tesrod Village were trapped by the cruel Wolf who was doing this with no love at all.
The young cobalt hero knew what he had to do, thinking to himself. 'Don't worry, Katrina. I'll destroy that cursed stick, and I'll save the world before that giant creep makes things worse. I promise.'
Clenching his fist with determination, Sonic nodded to himself and began to walk out of the cave, catching the attention of his friends which prompted Tails to softly call out to him. "Sonic? Where are you going?"
"To stop that guy and save everybody." Sonic responded, pausing in his tracks and glanced over his shoulder. "I'm gonna smash that stupid Scepter into pieces to end this curse. No way I'm gonna let it go on like this. If I don't, then we're done for."
"You're gonna do that by yourself?" Gavin asked in disbelief. He knew that the blue hedgehog was the hero of Mobius, but he was worried about Sonic's safety.
"Sonic, you don't have those crystal things that helped you before." Chloe pointed out worriedly.
The blue hedgehog smirked confidently with a thumbs up and wink. "Don't worry, guys. I've destroyed Eggman's giant robots, and I've even defeated giant monsters too. All I have to do is smash that Scepter, and with my speed, that wolf creep won't even catch me! Besides, if I destroy that stick, that'll not just free the guy who's been stuck in there for centuries, but it'll also turn everybody back to normal."
"He's right." Tails realized with hope rising. "The Scepter is the main power source of most of the people being mind controlled."
"Even Cody." Chloe muttered, her eyes widening in realization, before shivering. "Brr. I'm so glad he didn't hold onto the Scepter, or else things would be just as horrible."
"Yeah, especially since Cody has this crazy dream of wanting everybody to live with him and be his pets toys, including you and Tails, it makes him sound a lot like Dr. Eggman, and he's just a kid like us." Gavin shuddered at the very thought.
Sonic couldn't help but sweat drop at that. "Think that kid's watched too many bad horror movies. No offense."
"Sonic, the entrances are all blocked off. The only way to get there is by flight. I can get us back on the Tornado 1." Tails spoke up.
"Good idea. Plus, I really don't wanna hurt all of those people. Fighting robot guards is one thing, but people guards that are all zombie-like? Forget it." The blue hedgehog nodded in agreement. "But we need to take it low, 'cause that giant guy will see us since he's really tall. We need to come up with a plan."
The blue hedgehog's first thought was keeping Gavin and Chloe out of harms way, but the two children, not wanting to be left behind, insisted on going with to try and help despite his protests as he told them that it was far too dangerous. In the end, he and Tails gave in but told them firmly to stay with the latter in the plane just in case.
They soon began discussing what has to be done.
Hours later somewhere after midnight but still long before dawn, Jeromony still had no luck in locating Sonic and his friends, but he had gathered up everyone else who hadn't been effected by the spell but unable to escape during the crisis, so they'd been imprisoned inside buildings that were barricaded along with the entrance with a new rule under the giant Mobian's command that no one shall enter or leave Tesrod Village.
But all wasn't lost for the former cleaner, because during the search, his mind-controlled servants have located the Curator and the four guards who, not wishing to harm the citizens, surrendered under their superior's request and all five of them were now brought before him in the area where the Fireworks Show had been set up, now turned into a temporary throne area.
"IT'S NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN, CURATOR. MY FORMER BOSS." Jeromony greeted evilly as he was seated in a make-shift chair he had his 'slaves' build for him.
"Jeromony, please. Have mercy." The Curator pleaded, as he and his guards were forced onto their knees, with pitch forks held at their backs by the possessed farmers that were used as weapons in case they did anything funny.
The giant Wolf laughed manically. "THERE IS NO MERCY FOR YOU. YOU HAVE WRONGED ME, AND NOW YOU SEE THAT I WAS RIGHT! YOU NEVER BELIEVED IN THE LEGEND, AND FOILED MY ATTEMPTS TO RESTORE THE KINGDOM TO WHAT IT ONCE WAS. NO MORE! FOR THAT, YOUR FATE HAS BEEN SEALED."
"What fate?" The black Hawk grunted.
"Jeromony, you're crazy!" The white Hawk grunted angrily, only to be poked at by one of the brain-washed farmers and hissed. "Hey! Watch it!"
"SILENCE!" Jeromony roared, making everyone freeze. He then answered the question. "FOR DEFYING YOUR NEW KING, AND NOT BELIEVING IN THE LEGEND, THE PELNATY...IS DEATH!"
"No!" The Curator exclaimed in horror, while the four security guards gasped in shock, sweat dropping while the two other guards that were nearby, all tied up against a tree, paled before they both fainted dramatically.
"BY ORDER OF THE SCEPTER OF ILLUSION, YOU ARE ALL CONVICTED-"
"Not guilty!" Sonic's voice shouted, interrupting seemingly from nowhere.
"WHAT?" Jeromony grunted.
Suddenly a blue blur zoomed by, snatching the pitch forks which along with the Curator and his guards seemed to have simply disappeared. Then the blue streak hit the giant Mobian who yelled out in pain as he was struck on the side of his face, making him tumble and fall over, his chair collapsing as it went and his grip on the Scepter of Illusion loosened and flown out from his grasp. It clattered and landed on the ground where it shrank to it's original size. The blue blur didn't seem to be finished there as it then gathered up the zombie-like people who screamed and all landed in piles of hay far away from the site before it now stood where they, the Curator and the guards had been, revealing to be Sonic himself.
"The jury's been decided, big guy." The fifteen year old added, calmly as he folded his arms, bravely glaring at the evil enormous cleaner. "You're the one who's wronged everybody."
"Bless my soul...it's Sonic the Hedgehog!" The Curator whispered in shock, disbelief and a huge amount of sheer relief as he too has heard of the young Mobian's heroics. "Oh, thank Chaos! We're saved!"
"Sonic!?" The black and white hawks exclaimed, their eyes bugging out in disbelief.
"No way!" The blue hawk shuttered, his mouth almost literally dropping to the ground.
"Guess we have our work cut out for us." The red hawk sighed, both relieved and embarrassed in being saved by the young cobalt hero.
Sonic turned to the five of them and waved at them with a confident smirk. "Have no fear, Sonic's here. I'll handle this over-grown dog."
The blue hedgehog then turned his attention back to Jeromony who, pushing himself up and standing up to his fullest height, glared down at him with a snarl and made to grab him. Frowning and gasping softly, Sonic leaped back before the giant wolf could clasp him and landed in a bit of a safe distance, standing ready for the fight.
"You're gonna have to do better than that!" Sonic taunted with a glare.
"THAT WAS JUST A WARM UP, BOY. I KNOW THAT YOU'RE SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, THE SO-CALLED HERO OF THE PLANET. HAVE YOU RETURNED TO FACE YOUR PUNISHMENT AS WELL? YOUR FATE IS THE SAME AS THE CURATOR." Jeromony declared darkly.
"The only fate you'll see is your own, and that'll be you shrinking back to normal and put into jail! What you're doing is wrong and cruel!" The teenager argued boldly. "You say that you want to restore the Kingdom back to before 60 years ago. But all I see is that you just want to take over the village, and with the power of the Scepter of Illusions, you'll just treat everybody like Dr. Eggman would with his robots!"
The giant wolf glared hard at the small hedgehog, bellowing. "DO NOT COMPARE ME WITH THAT BALD-HEADED IDIOT! YOU KNOW THAT ONLY LOVE CAN STOP ME, TINY HEDGEHOG."
"Which you don't have in your heart at all. All you care about is yourself." Sonic pointed out. "But in truth, there's always a catch and a shortcut in everything, even in legends. That wicked witch's wand is no different."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" Jeromony questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Sonic's lips curled up into a smirk. "It pains me to say it as it was a Museum artifact, but today just proved just how evil and dangerous it really is. I know how the first part of the legend goes, but did you know that it was actually created by some guy named Anstar, who wanted to kill the royal family's and created the scepter to first be used right up to what happened 60 years ago? The first guy who ever held it to defeat him is trapped in that thing, and the only way to end the curse is for it to be destroyed."
"WHAT!?" The giant wolf exclaimed. "WHAT FOOLISH NONSENSE IS THAT!?"
"It's not nonsense. I have proof." The blue hedgehog answered, pulling out Katrina's letter from his quills. "It's written by the Princess who was the one the last giant guy fell in love with. She had to disappear because of what happened even though it wasn't her or the last king's fault. It's been secret up until this point, and the true way to end this for good is for the Scepter of Illusions to be smashed into pieces..."
"...I thought I heard something a little bit about Anstar, but I didn't think he was the one who created the Scepter of Illusions." Murmured the red hawk, blinking.
"That explains everything." Said the blue hawk.
"But...it belongs to the Museum! It can't be destroyed!" The white hawk protested.
"Sonic, wait! You can't destroy it!" The black hawk shouted.
"Wait. The young man's right." The Curator held up a hand, causing his bodyguards to stare at him in shock and surprise, before he lowered it and sighed. "We were fools to have kept it in the Museum for years, never knowing the truth of it's origins. As of this moment, Sonic knows that the lives of all of us are much more important than artifacts and the Museum."
He knew, as of this moment, Sonic had a heart of pure gold and he believed in the good of others, understood more than anybody else. The blue hedgehog was very benevolent, brave, loyal, fast obviously, and strong, for someone so young.
Jeromony on the other hand, simply laughed as though he found this very amusing. "HA HA HA HA HA HA! YOU THINK YOU CAN DESTROY MY POWER, BOY? I AM THE TRUE NEW KING OF TESROD! AND SOON, THE REST OF THE WORLD SHALL FOLLOW! NOT EVEN YOU, OR THE SO CALLED WORLD GENIUS DR. EGGMAN SHALL OVERCOME ME!"
"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" Sonic faked a yawn, scratching his ear as he put away the letter. "I fell asleep around the new king part."
"YOU FOOL! I CAN SEE WHY THAT DOCTOR HATES YOU! YOU ARE TOO MEDDLESOME FOR YOUR OWN GOOD. AND NOW, SEEING HOW YOU ARE DISOBEYING MY LAW, YOU WILL DIE FIRST!" The giant wolf shouted.
"You're gonna have to catch me first! I'm the fastest thing alive! I don't need some stupid stick! I've got things way more important and that's friendship, family, freedom, speed, and my love for them and the world itself, and everybody in it. Everyone has the right to decide their own futures, and not even you or Eggman can change that!" Sonic declared, now standing his guard as he means business.
Jeromony roared angrily before stomping to catch Sonic, who sped away far too quickly, making his way towards the Scepter of Illusions to Spin Dash into it. To his horror, the evil giant saw this and leaped to clasp him. Yelping in alarm, the blue hedgehog sped up while being forced to move out of the way before he would end up in the giant hands that would easily trap him. The wolf then grabbed the still large Scepter, held it up before pointing it at Sonic as a large red beam flared up towards him. The cobalt teenager zig-zagged out of the way to avoid in getting hit, doing a U-turn and then ran around, dragging away the unconscious people and placing them to safety despite that they were still mind-controlled.
The giant Mobian growled in irritation, rising the Scepter to move the ground and force the young hedgehog to lose his balance. But since Sonic had experience in all of his previous adventures, he leaped and jumped, ran up and inside newly made loops to increase his speed, using it to his advantage. The fifteen year old Mobian then jumped and performed his Homing Attack right into Jeromony's chest, catching him off-guard as he yelled out in pain, stumbling back and almost losing his balance before he regained it. The teenage hedgehog leaped onto his right arm and ran up towards it to smash the Scepter.
"I've gotta destroy this thing or Mobius is doomed!" Sonic whispered to himself as it ran along the huge arm.
"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, BRAT!" Jeromony bellowed, flicking his arm high and fast that the blue hedgehog lost his balance and began falling, screaming in alarm.
"Wooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" The young Mobian screamed as he descended to the ground, only to be caught by the giant wolf's left hand, his upper half and arms free, but was held tightly and brought towards the evil cleaner's face. Sonic cried out in alarm, his heart beating wildly in horror before he then tried to pull and wriggle himself free to get out of Jeromony's grasp.
The Curator and the guards gasped in horror and dismay to see the young hero captured, and began to lose hope.
"BWAHAHAHAHA! YOU'LL NEVER ESCAPE, LITTLE HEDGEHOG." Jeromony sneered evilly. "YOU BELONG TO ME NOW!"
"Oh yeah!? In your dreams!" Sonic shouted, refusing to give up despite that he was terrified. This was too much like his mental battle against the giant Werehog, and his recent nightmares. But he knew that if he gave up now, all was lost. He kept on trying to pull himself free, desperate to stop Jeromony, desperate to save Tesrod Village.
"Hey, Pea-Brain!" A young boy's voice shouted from above, calling out to the giant Wolf who, trying to decide what to do with the trapped hedgehog, stopped before looking up at the source of the voice.
"Let him go!" A girl's voice quickly added angrily.
When he looked up, he saw a red and white plane in the sky, flying towards him and Sonic who saw this and felt worry and relief wash over him; Tails, Gavin and Chloe, the latter two having called out, were heading straight towards them with determination.
"Give back my brother!" Tails shouted, while Gavin used a sling shot to shoot a pebble right at Jeromony's eye, and Chloe threw a palm-sized rock at the giant wolf's nose. Both were the perfect bullseye as the cleaner yelled out in pain.
Sonic saw this his chance as, having an idea while chastising himself for not having thought of it before in his previous adventures, though most of those times were robots and during the times of the giant Werehog, he'd been too terrified to even think, he leaned back before biting at the giant thumb hard in an attempt to dig his teeth in as hard as he could. He didn't intend on tasting the blood, just cause enough distraction to escape.
"AUGH!" The giant Mobian grunted in pain, inadvertently flinging the blue hedgehog away, losing his grip on him and causing the younger Mobian to be sent flying and falling.
Sonic would've fallen to his death had Tails not call out to him as the latter swung his plane towards his best friend/big brother, flying right underneath him which gave the blue hedgehog the perfect position to right himself and somersaulted before landing in a crouch on the right wing, holding on tightly just in case.
"You okay, Sonic?" The eight year old fox asked, worriedly as Gavin and Chloe gazed up in concern.
"Yeah. Thanks, Tails!" The fifteen year old replied, giving his adoptive little brother a wink and a thumbs up. He then turned to the two human kids and added. "Nice shot, guys! Thank you too."
"Well, didn't you say that being a hero means doing the right thing?" Gavin asked with a smile, copying Sonic's trademark gesture.
"You saved us, we wanted to help you too." Chloe added.
Sonic nodded with a smile, and while he still feared for their and Tails' safeties, he was really proud all three of them. He turned his attention back to Jeromony who was still reeling from the sudden attacks, and informed his friends. "We've gotta get that Scepter away from his sight."
"I have an idea! Leave the blind-shot to me!" Tails called out, and at the confused murmurs, the young kit pushed a button on the panel. The bottom of the plane behind the propeller opened up and revealed some kind of small cannon that was not in the way or in any danger of taking the plane down, aimed at the giant wolf.
"Target locked on...Rocket away!" The fox cub shouted, pushing the button again. The small cannon fired a small rocket which shot out straight towards Jeromony who looked up to glare at the group, only for his eyes to widen as when he attempted to use the Scepter to blast them, the rocket exploded into dust and was replaced by a huge blue gum-like stuff that spread out and completely covered the giant wolf's face as though he'd burst a bubblegum and can't get it off since it was too sticky.
"Whoa!" Gavin exclaimed in disbelief.
"What's that gum?" Chloe asked, amazed.
Sonic let out an impressed whistle, smirking as he couldn't help but joke. "Guess that was a cool sticky situation. When'd you built that, Tails?"
"It's a special blinding gum that can only be washed off by water or rain. I haven't given it a name yet, but I made it in case we had a situation with Eggman's robots. I thought it'd be a good idea to distract him in cause he controlled a giant robot again, but since he's gone, there was no need." The younger Mobian explained sheepishly.
"Well, I'd say it sure came in handy now, Eggman or no Eggman." The blue hedgehog chuckled with a shrug, laughing as Jeromony was having trouble seeing and in the midst of trying to get the gum off of his face, his left hand got stuck in the sticky goo that he ended up repeatedly slapping himself in the face.
Seeing his chance, and telling Tails to fly closer, Sonic then jumped off the plane and Spin Dashed right at the giant's right wrist, hitting it hard before Homing Attacked him all around the body except the face as he knew that he'd end up getting stuck as well. The giant Mobian muffled a scream in pain as first he lost his grip on the Scepter of Illusion which fell and once again landed on the ground, skidding to a stop, then at the rest of the blue hedgehog's attacks, he stumble and fell onto the ground, hitting his head against the mountain, narrowly missing the artwork.
As Sonic landed on the ground, he quickly turned his attention back to the evil Scepter which, to his surprise, shrank back to it's original size. Not sure what to make of it and decided that he'd worry about that later, the blue hedgehog immediately ran over to grab it before Jeromony could recover. He turned around to find that the evil giant Mobian was still trying to get the gum off of his face and seized his chance. Noticing a small boulder that would destroy it, the blue hedgehog headed towards it and glared at the rod that was the cause of the 400 year trouble.
"Anstar created you to do so many evil purposes for four hundred years, and it's because of you that many people's lives were put into danger. Well, never again! I'm going to destroy you, and I'm going to free this peaceful land from this curse! First wielder of the Scepter of Illusions, I set you free!" Sonic declared.
He held the Scepter above his head and thrust it as hard as he could, smashing the ruby at the pointy part of the rock. It broke and shattered like glass. Bright red light burst out, causing Sonic to drop it and stumble back, crying out in alarm as he shielded his eyes with his arms as it spread through out the area. Tails, Gavin and Chloe did the same, and virtually everybody did. Somehow it melted the goo from Jeromony's face, but by the time he was able to see again, it was already too late as he saw that the ruby part was destroyed and as the light spread, he was soon covered in it and felt a painful sensation across his body.
"WHAT!? NO! NOOOOOO! WHAT...WHAT HAVE YOU...DONE!?" Jeromony screamed in pain, anger and horror. The light was so bright that he screamed louder and soon shrank and seemingly vanished. It also caused the golden rod itself to shudder before it turned grey, and then crumbled away into dust, blown and vanishing into the wind.
After what felt like an eternity when in reality it was only about a few minutes, the light finally died down, and everything was silent. Soon everyone slowly looked up, and, those who had been effected by the Scepter's spell, had began to return to normal as their eyes were no longer blank, and each and every one of them, in a confused state, wondered what just happened. Especially Cody who blinked, looking around as he didn't remember being brain-washed.
"Huh? W-what happened? Where's that giant hairy dog cleaner?" The raven-haired boy asked, puzzled.
Sonic, sensing that the bright light was gone, lowered his arm as he opened his eyes hesitantly with a warm light shining in front of him. As he did, he gaped in awe and shock because in front of him, was a tallish ghost of a Mobian: an owl in an appearance of the early 20's, wearing garments of that of the olden times with brown feathers and he was transparent, glowing in white.
"Whoa..." The blue hedgehog murmured. "You must be the guy who was sealed in the Scepter, aren't you?"
The ghost of the owl nodded with a warm, kind smile. "I am Noah. I was sealed inside the Scepter of Illusion because I had no choice. You have saved us all, young hedgehog. It is because of you, the curse is finally broken. Tesrod is free at long last. You have the most benevolent heart of all."
"Uh, heh heh...I couldn't have done it without my friends." Sonic replied, sheepishly scratching the top of his head. "Or that letter Princess Katrina left behind 60 years ago."
"Your heart knows what is most important. Thank you, and live free, young hedgehog." Noah said.
"Thanks, and you can just call me Sonic. I'm glad that you're finally free too, Noah." The teenage hedgehog replied warmly. He felt more comfortable knowing that this was like the time with Tikal.
Noah the Owl nodded once more, and with a wave of farewell, the spirit then hovered away towards the skies, being led into the light of the Afterlife to finally reunite with his loved ones after all these years. Sonic watched on, as Tails, who landed the plane, Gavin and Chloe raced over and joined his side, to see the ghost vanish from sight forever, the light fading as the early signs of dawn began to rise, with the sun rising.
"Sonic, was that...?" Tails trailed off in wonder.
"The first wielder who was trapped inside the Scepter." The blue hedgehog confirmed. "Now he's finally free from that stick of a prison."
"Where did he go?" Gavin asked curiously.
"I think he's gone to Heaven." Chloe theorized, before turning to the hero of Mobius and asked. "What do you think, Sonic?"
"You're right. He's gone off to be with the people he hasn't seen in a long time, and now has a chance to be with them forever. The curse is gone, guys. Tesrod Village is free from the 400 year old nightmare." Sonic explained, knowing that the ten year old girl is right.
"Awesome..." The ten year old boy murmured, then turned to the hero and said happily. "You did it, Sonic!"
"Thanks to you guys." The blue hedgehog shrugged with a chuckle. While Tails sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, both students held confused expressions, making the teenager explain. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to escape and I'd have a harder time in smashing that stupid stick. As far as I can see, we all did it together. So...Thank you."
The two-tailed fox blushed as did Chloe who felt really happy to have helped and finally be friends with two of her heroes, with Gavin being another while the boy rubbed the back of his head, feeling rather embarrassed by the compliment. Sonic chuckled and held out his arms for a group hug, which Tails gestured the two kids to join in. Stunned by the invitation, they all laughed happily and the four of them embraced with victorious laughter that also symbolized their strong friendship.
This was seen by everyone who, realizing what happened and that Sonic has saved them with the help of his best friend/little brother, and two young students who had been saved earlier, all smiled warmly at the heartwarming scene, including the Curator and his guards, including the two who, having woken up, smiled emotionally.
"Awwwwwwww..." The restored people around the area all sighed happily.
"So...beautiful..." The Beagle sniffled, wiping away a tear of joy.
"I'm not gonna cry...I'm not gonna cry..." The red Hawk tried to tell himself, tearing up emotionally.
After a few more moments, Sonic, Tails, Chloe and Gavin let go, before the young boy realized something and asked, looking around. "Wait a second. What happened to that cleaner?"
Sonic and the others blinked as they realized that he was right. However, as they looked around for any sign of him, the blue hedgehog realized where the Mobian Wolf was before hearing a...tiny almost non-audio-able voice from close by. Blinking in confusion, the teenager looked around before looking down and his eyes widened in shock and disbelief as he found...
A 2-foot tall Jeromony? No bigger than his extend finger?
"...What the? Jeromony?" Sonic muttered, bewildered as the now tiny wolf stood by his shoes. Tails, Gavin and Chloe looked down to see what he was looking at and they shared his bewilderment.
"He's...shrunk." Chloe muttered, very surprised.
"I thought he was only gonna shrink back to normal." Gavin said, scratching the back of his head in confusion.
"Well, I guess Katrina wasn't very specific when she said that how the giant would shrink, and the power of the Scepter caused it's curse to now turn onto Jeremony since the last giant turned most of the royal family into stone and shrank them. This must be a side-effect for the evil one if it's been destroyed." Tails suggested with a shrug.
Even though Sonic was still in shock at the wolf's current situation, Jeromony glared up at the young blue hedgehog who put him into this mess despite the intense fear of now being towered over by everything and everyone instead of the other way around.
"You! This is all your fault, Sonic the Hedgehog! What have you done to me!? Look at me! I'm doll-sized! Ugh!" Jeromony shouted, shaking an angry fist.
Despite feeling a little(no pun intended) bit sorry for the guy even though Jeromony was the one that started this mess, Sonic couldn't help but burst into laughter at the tiny wolf. Soon Tails, Chloe, Gavin, and everyone else who also noticed and, having remembered what as happened once they all gathered around and recognized the wolf, all joined the blue hedgehog.
"Stop laughing! I'm miniaturized!" Jeromony yelled.
"Yeah, well, it's your fault, Shorty." Sonic grinned through laughter. "You wouldn't be in this small situation if you hadn't stolen the Scepter in the first place. By the way, how's the weather down there?"
That made everyone laugh harder over the teenager's continuous teasing over the wolf who growled furiously in sheer anger and complete embarrassment.
"I'll get you and your friends for this, boy!" The wolf exclaimed, only to scream in terror as the blue hedgehog, shook his head with a sigh, carefully reached down and picked up the tiny Mobian by the collar of his shirt and held him up to his face. Anger washed away instantly and now fear fully in place, Jeromony screamed even louder.
"See, that would work if you were a giant. Right now you're not, and I have no idea if this is temporary or permanent. So basically, you're stuck like this." Sonic pointed out with a shrug, glaring at him.
Jeromony quivered in fear and, seeing so many people glaring at him, especially the Curator and the guards who looked absolutely furious with him, he knew that his authority was gone and he was in real deep trouble.
"AAAAHHH! P-please, please! Don't-don't hurt me! Sonic, I'm begging you!" Jeromony cried out, terrified beyond belief and placed his hands together, begging for mercy.
"Now you know what it was like for everybody else. Terrifed of a giant, and let me tell you, I've destroyed robots about your size, and I've faced giant monsters that were bigger than you." Sonic said with a serious tone, which made his captive shake even more, almost to the point of wetting himself. "But I'm nothing like you or Eggman, so I won't hurt you like this."
The wolf gave a big sigh of relief...
"That doesn't mean you're getting off that easily." The blue hedgehog quickly continued, which dashed the tiny Mobian's hopes as the latter paled. The teenager then grinned evilly. "I'll let the Curator decide what to do with you. So you'd better get used to it, and hope that you'll eventually return to normal. If not, well...you can always live in a doll house."
"Noooooooooooo!" Jeromony wailed, tears streaming out like water-works.
"Hey, Sonic." Chloe spoke up, making the blue hedgehog glance at her. "I think I have an idea."
The ten year old girl then told Sonic and everybody else what her idea was.
Two days later, Tesrod Village was beginning to return to normal as the repairs of the Museum had began. People that had been possessed recovered, and Sonic, Tails, and their two new friends Chloe and Gavin, who had began to become best friends already, were given a hero's welcome for saving the town. Jeromony in the meantime, as punishment for his crimes, was given to Cody as a toy and a pet even though the bully, seeing the damage and realizing that the ten year old girl had been right, decided that Jeromony was enough and promised to change his ways and views on life, and even apologized.
So now he was also a good friend to the two students.
At this moment, everyone was standing outside of the Village with Sonic and Tails in front of their plane as they prepared to depart from this place and continue their Isalenna journey.
"We cannot thank you two enough, Sonic. You, Tails, and these young students have saved us from the curse not many would know." The Curator spoke with deep gratitude.
"Always happy to help. All's well that ends well." Sonic replied with a shrug.
"Would it be okay if we come back to visit with our friends?" Tails asked hopefully.
"Of course. Visitors are still welcome." The Beagle said. "After all, you two have the deepest bond of friendship Tesrod Village has seen in many years. I believe it was really the both of you that have reminded us of what is more important."
The two adoptive brothers shared a glance and chuckled happily.
"Will you come visit us in Soleanna someday?" Gavin asked, hopefully.
"I hope you do. It's been so fun meeting you and Tails, Sonic." Chloe added.
"You bet! Can't have too many friends, after all." The fifteen year old promised eagerly, with his best friend nodding in agreement, and the two children cheered happily.
Cody smiled, before smirking when the locked up Jeromony who was inside a hamster cage he'd bought was making threats at Sonic, making the ten year old boy say to the tiny wolf who was still stuck being small. "If I were a girl, I'd make you wear a doll's dress, Jeromony."
"So, where are you two heading off to next?" The red Hawk asked curiously.
Sonic shrugged, "Who knows? Wherever there's adventure. Isalenna is a place Tails and I haven't been to before, and there's still so much of it to explore, like the rest of the world. Besides, I'm a guy who loves adventure. No matter where I go, the whole world is my home. Everybody's home. Mobius should never be taken for granted."
Tails smiled fondly at his adoptive hedgehog brother's words as they were always his favorite, while everybody else were amazed by the young teenage hedgehog's wisdom and after the events that happened, they realized that he was right. The planet belonged to everyone, not just a group or a single person. They all smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Well, we'd better get going. See you later, guys." Sonic waved.
"Bye, everyone! We'll miss you." Tails waved, turning to follow his best friend to the plane as everybody else waved their goodbyes as well while Jeromony sat on the floor of his prison, pouting in defeat.
The two Mobians climbed onboard the Tornado 1, and soon enough, they took off into the skies, waving down at the people below once again, with Sonic giving them a two-finger salute with a wide smile on his muzzle. Once in the air, the two brothers soured through the bright blue sky of a new day.
"Hey, Tails." Sonic spoke up, and when the young fox glanced over his shoulder in confusion, the blue hedgehog smiled a little sadly. "Sorry that our trip to Tesrod Village went all crazy."
"That's okay, Sonic. You don't have to apologize. Besides, where's the fun if some crazy thing or another don't happen once and a while?" Tails replied, winking.
That made Sonic laugh and returned the wink. "I think I'd rubbed it off on you, bro. You're starting to act like me."
Tails joined in the laughter while focusing his attention at in front of him. "Our next stop should take us at least a few hours. Plenty of time before I have to refuel. Lucky for us, there's a repair shop at the town we're going to, and I heard there's a Chili Dog Restaurant too."
"Sweet!" Sonic cheered happily, already eager to get to the next place. "Chili Dog Restaurant, here I come!"
The two brothers happily laughed as they continued to fly towards their next destination on their Isalenna adventure, with the adventure of Tesrod Village now behind them. What their next adventures will be, only time will tell.
Meanwhile, back with Eggman in the distant dimension...
"Faster, faster, faster, faster, faster!" Eggman screamed hysterically in sheer panic despite the lack of sleep from the last three days. Except while he, Becoe, Decoe, Bokkun, Orbot and Cubot had managed to out-run the crazy giant that was obsessed with turning royalty into stone and keep them, they were now unfortunately in another giant problem.
Literally, because they were being chased by at least three rock giants that were about 100 feet tall and boy they didn't look happy.
"We're pushing as fast as we can, Dr. Eggman!" Decoe screamed hysterically as he and his robotic brothers were doing their best to push the still broken Egg Mobile.
"Those rock giants may be slow, but this thing's still really heavy!" Becoe added, panting and wheezing.
"This is all your fault, Cubot!" Bokkun yelled in a mixture of fear and anger.
"What? All I did was return a rock to them 'cause I thought it was their baby!" Cubot protested, clueless as always.
"It was a normal rock, and the way how you threw it hit their head and disrupted their sleep! Therefore, you are the cause of our upcoming demise which, in calculations, shall be within the next few to 24 hours if we do not escape!" Orbot pointed out in sheer annoyance.
While the robots were pushing, screaming and arguing, the evil doctor moaned in dismay while leaning back as he placed his hands on top of his head, wailing. "I bet Sonic is having a much easier break for the first time in almost five years since I got to this horrid nightmare of a world!"
The rock giants roared in anger as they began to throw boulders at the group, making all six of them scream louder and prompting the robots to push even harder and faster in every attempts to not get crushed, or in Eggman's case, squished, and figure out how to return to Mobius...If they ever can.
"UGH! I HATE THAT HEDGEGHOG!" Eggman's scream echoed through out the air.
Sonic's Next Adventure Awaits...
A/N: I don't know how many chapters there will be for this story as it leads up to Sonic's Space-Time Adventure, but I will get back to both this, the other Sonic stories, and I'll try to get back to my other non-Sonic stories as soon as possible.
Edit-2022: I edited and redid both the previous chapter and this one due to not liking how I did them earlier.
See you later!