Chapter 7: A Sandy Situation
Mirage Saloon Zone Outskirts
It was scorching hot in Mirage Saloon Zone, obviously, because it was a desert. Among the sand layed a figure in the sand. The figure stirred.
"Ow! That was pretty lame." Sonic groaned as he sat up. "Hmm, Tails and the others have to be somewhere around here."
He got up and dusted himself off.
"Well, no time to stand here, I need to get back."
Sonic readied to take off before he hearing a...
"Hold it right there!"
He turned around to see a cloaked figure pointing a laser gun at him.
"Uh-oh!" Sonic said to himself.
Mirage Saloon Zone Common Area
The Sky Warrior managed to land safely in the sands below. Everyone went outside to see the damage, as well as see if Sonic was nearby.
"I can fix this easily, but it could take some time. Knuckles, take this wrist communicator. It has a built-in Chaos Emerald locator, and go with Shadow, Blaze, and Silver. Amy, you, Cream, and Rouge go see if you can find Sonic." Tails ordered.
"Already on it!" Amy said, taking off.
"Amy, wait up!" Cream called out as she and Rouge flew after the pink hedgehog.
"Marine, I may need your help with some of these repairs." Tails pointed out.
"Gotcha, mate." Marine answered.
Team Rose
"Any clues?" Amy called out.
"No." Rouge replied.
"We have to keep searching! Sonic must be close!" Amy proclaimed, running through the sand.
Rouge rolled her eyes as she and Cream continued to follow Amy.
"Wait, what's that over there?" Cream asked.
She pointed toward a strange object protruding out of the sandy ground.
"Is it a Chaos Emerald?" Rouge asked.
"No, it looks metallic." Amy said.
"It could be Eggman related." Rouge replied.
Then, the girls' eyesight was nothing but pitch black as sacks were placed over their heads.
"Wha-what's this?" Cream panicked.
"It was a trap!" Rouge gasped.
Three guys were behind the girls. They pulled their hands behind their backs and ziptied them, along with their ankles.
"Are we really getting kidnapped AGAIN?" Amy complained.
The three guys threw the girls over their shoulders, made their way to a car, and threw the trio into the trunk.
The girls were very confused, but now a tad bit scared. They had been kidnapped in the middle of the desert, and their friends had no idea.
With Sonic
"Now hold on, I'm not trying to do anything bad." Sonic said, pleading his case to the figure currently holding a laser to him.
"What's your name?"
"Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog." Sonic said, running over and taking the laser gun away from the figure.
"Aha?"
"You have heard of me, haven't you?" Sonic bragged, looking at his gloved nails.
"Y-yes. Are your parents named Jules and Bernadette?"
Sonic then got a serious look on his face.
"How do you know my parents?" Sonic eyed the figure, ready to fight if need be.
"I'm your sister."
Sonic froze.
The figure pulled off her hood to reveal a magenta hedgehog.
"Hello, Sonic. It's been awhile."
"You ain't kidding." Sonic said, hugging his sister as she started crying.
"I didn't think I would ever see you again!" She cried into his chest.
"It's fine, sis." Sonic rubbed her back.
"You don't remember my name, do you?" She asked.
"Nope."
"Sonia."
"Now noted." Sonic said.
"Come in. It's very hot out here."
Sonia led Sonic inside.
Knuckles and Team Dark
"Guys, I'm getting a reading!" Knuckles exclaimed.
"How strong is it?" Blaze asked.
"It's faint, but it suggests the emerald is to the north." Knuckles said.
"That means it's somewhere in Oil Ocean Zone." Shadow stated.
"Well, we better get going." Silver said as the four made their way to Oil Ocean Zone.
Oil Ocean Zone
"What's the signal look like now?" Silver asked.
"It's getting stronger."
The group zigzagged through the oil refinery, sliding down oil slopes, dodging hazards, and flying around in the cannons.
"Hold up. It's right here. The signal says it's below us."
They looked over to see a sub.
"It's inside the submarine." Knuckles said.
"Well, let's go get it."
Shadow opened the hatch and they went down. Upon landing, they caught the attention of a large group of robots.
"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Blaze growled.
The robots looked at each other, then charged at the heroes.
"Hard way it is!" Knuckles yelled as he and the others charged back at the robots.
Despite being outnumbered, the heroes weren't even breaking a sweat. Within a matter of minutes, the robots were nothing but piles of scrap metal.
Shadow collected the yellow Chaos Emerald.
"Looks like the score is tied now." Silver said.
"Yea, it is. Come on, let's head back. Maybe the girls found Sonic by now." Knuckles pointed out.
"Chaos Control!" Shadow and the others warped back to the Sky Warrior.
Upon arrival, they were greeted by Maria and the kids.
"Dad, you're back!" Precious ran over to hug her father.
"Hello, Precious. Is your mother back?" Knuckles asked, hugging his daughter back.
"Nope, she's not, and neither are Aunt Amy and Aunt Cream." Karson said.
"Hmm, that's not right. Either they're lost or they're in trouble." Shadow claimed.
"Perhaps." Blaze added.
"Guys, some kind of message is appearing on the TV." Maria yelled, holding Shadic.
"It's probably from Eggman." Tails said, hopping from the wing. "Did you guys find the Chaos Emerald?"
"Right here." Shadow answered, pulling the yellow emerald from his quills.
"Nice job, guys. Now let's go see what this message is." Tails told them as they headed inside.
Sonia's House, Outside of Mirage Saloon Zone
Sonic and his sister were sitting on her couch, talking and catching up.
"Sonia, don't we have a brother?" Sonic asked.
"Yes, his name is Manic, and he lives here, too, but..." Sonia trailed off.
"But what?"
"He's a thief in these parts. He means no harm, but he does it to help pay for this house." Sonia explained.
Sonic frowned.
"So where is he now?"
"Out on a job. He's working with three other guys. I don't know who they are, or what they're doing. Manic stays pretty secret about his work, and for obvious reasons."
"Got it, I guess." Sonic said, shrugging his shoulders.
Then, the door opened up and a green hedgehog walked in.
"Manic!"
"Sup, Sis." Manic said, but froze when he saw Sonic.
"Sonia, who's this?"
"Manic, you're not going to believe me when I tell you who he is." Sonia smiled.
"Who is he?" Manic asked, grabbing a soda out of the fridge.
"He's our brother."
"Wha, no way! If this is our brother, then he would know our parents' names."
"Jules and Bernadette Hedgehog." Sonic said.
"Is your name Sonic?"
"Yep."
"Bro, it is you!" Manic ran over and hugged Sonic.
"Good to see you, too, little bro." Sonic said.
"I gotta show you guys something. It's from work."
Manic pulled the two into the living room and flipped on the TV.
"Hello to anyone watching." said a voice.
It was the same message Tails and the gang were seeing.
"What are they up to now?" Sonia sighed, already knowing that this was one of the goons her brother worked with.
"The guys told me they kidnapped three girls in the desert."
"What?" Sonic gasped.
"Yeah. They set up some trap and they ambushed them. A pink hedgehog, orange rabbit, and a white bat." Manic explained.
"It couldn't be."
Sonic's fears were brought to life when Amy, Cream, and Rouge appeared on screen, tied to chairs and blindfolded.
"This is not how you treat a lady!" Rouge complained.
"Sonic, if you can hear this, come beat the hell out of these guys!" Amy shouted.
"Sooner rather than later." Cream added.
"How does she know your name?"
"She's my wife." Sonic said through gritted teeth.
"What?" Sonic's siblings gasped.
"Bro, I'm sorry. I can fix this. I can convince them to let her go."
"No, let them all go. They're friends of mine."
Fang appeared on screen.
"It's been 3 years, Sonic. It's time to match wits again." Fang said with a grin.
A green duck appeared alongside a polar bear.
"We'll be waiting."
The TV went static.
"Manic, take me to them, now!" Sonic commanded.
"You got it, bro. I've been wanting to get out of this operation for quite some time now, and I'm willing to save my sister-in-law." Manic said.
"I'm coming, too." Sonia pitched in.
"No, you're not." Manic argued.
"Yes the hell I am! She's my sister-in-law too, you know!"
"True."
"Ok. Now that that's settled, let's roll!" Sonic said as the triplets made their way to the hideout.