Chapter Thirty-Four:
On the Trail of a Hedgehog Sibling
Rumbling motorcycle engines cut through the lush countryside, and a large dark-red motorbike rolled past a tree, driven by a female hedgehog with pink hair, sporting a glowing piano medallion around her neck. Princess Sonia the Hedgehog studied her surroundings, looked down at her medallion, and then, glanced up to focus on where she was driving.
A red-white hoverboard flew next to her, with a green hedgehog wearing a red vest next to Sonia. The princess' brother, Prince Manic, and the top drummer of the Sonic Underground. They had been looking for their brother Sonic for the past two days, and it had not been very easy.
Well, not many could recall that their brother was the fastest thing alive, and he was very, very fast. But, Sonia, and Manic were not about to give up, not when their medallions' magic was working overtime.
"He's got to be close by." Sonia remarked, staring past a tall oak tree.
"Searchin' for our bro ain't like searching for mom." Manic quipped, "But, I know it won't be much longer before we find him, and thanks to the increase of magic in our medallions."
"I really do not like the look of those clouds..." Sonia glanced up at the sky in a wary manner, "...something really serious is undoubtedly at play, and those clouds do not look like they're formed from pollution that's being churned out by Robotnik's machines."
A loud boom cut through the air, the sound of thunder, and the two hedgehog siblings slowed the speed of their rides. Sonia tapped her medallion, and summoned her guitar blaster. She rolled through the terrain, looking all around in a cautious fashion, as she surveyed the landscape for a sign of trouble. Her weapon continued to let off a glow, then it flashed a blue light for a brief moment.
Manic reached into the pocket of his vest, and the green-colored hedgehog drummer pulled out a deep blue-colored compass, which emitted a flashing blue light and beeped, as the arrow moved in various directions before settling in the left area, indicating that Sonic was somewhere in the west.
"What's the compass saying?" Sonia asked.
"Like you wouldn't believe." Manic chuckled, "Sonic's in the west."
"How far west?"
"Don't look at me, the compass just says he's west. If he's west, then we go west. C'mon, sis, we can't delay all day when our bro is waiting. Let's juice already!"
Sonia rolled her eyes, then she tapped her blaster, and it faded back into her medallion. The pink hedgehog's foot hit the gas, and the bike's engines got louder. Sonia tore across the landscape with Manic following close behind, his hoverboard's engines burning harder than ever. The two hedgehogs headed up the nearby hillside, and the glow of their medallions got stronger with each passing second.
Both hedgehog freedom fighters kept their eyes open, and made their way to the peak of the hill right as the sky got darker with more, and more eerie-looking clouds rolling their way in. Manic's eyes widened as he stared down the hill, and he stopped his hoverboard, and Sonia parked her bike.
"Bummer manjores!" Manic exclaimed, "Are you seeing this?"
"Yeah. I can't believe this is where we're picking up Sonic's trail." Sonia commented, gazing at the structure in the valley below that had the symbol of the dreaded Eggman Empire etched into it.
"We're certainly not looking at Robotnik's HQ in Robotroplis, that's for sure, and there's somethin' far more sinister about that place I can't seem to put my drumstick on. Totally not hip-lookin', but someone is in for a butt-whooping, and Sonic's there for a reason. I just hope we didn't get here too late."
"Less talk time, and more juice-and-jam!" Sonia shouted, she hit the throttle on her bike, and sped towards the sinister Eggman fortress ahead with a battle cry, leaving Manic behind as he watched his sister drive.
Manic agreed with Sonia, and it was obvious they weren't going to stand by while something happened to their brother. Sonic was going to need their help, a whole lot of it. The green-hedgehog hipster tapped his board with his foot, and raced down the mountain towards the fortress, oblivious that a dark hedgehog was watching from behind a rock with disdain in his eyes.
The shadowy hedgehog clicked his fingers, and vanished in a bright light...