Chapter 2: Echoes of a Marble Ruin
Groaning, I felt a weight leave my body as I made an attempt to get up. Leaning over I looked to where I was previously standing. Next to the capsule sat a small crater, overshadowed by a rather large checkered wrecking ball. Attached to said wrecking ball by way of a chain was a big, sphere shaped flying object. Or at least it appeared spherical at first glance. If you took the time to look, you'd notice that the top half of said sphere shaped flying object, was in fact a sphere shaped man. A sphere shaped man that was currently in the business of throwing a tantrum. Of course, if you looked to my side you could tell why he was so angry. The weight I had felt wasn't the wrecking ball, but the blue hedgehog that stood quite confidently in Eggman's way.
"Good thing you can count on me being so fast. A second later and you would have been a pancake!" said Sonic the Hedgehog, with a cocky grin on his face.
I'd think I was starstruck if I wasn't actually seeing stars. Turns out getting shoved out of the way was still quite a shock when you hit the ground head first. Shocked as I may be, I don't think that held a candle to what my would-be attacker seemed to be going through.
Sitting in his egg shaped hover car stood one Dr. Eggman, throwing a verifiable temper tantrum. He seemed to be bouncing in his chair with anger as he suppressed a growl of absolute disbelief.
"Not only did I miss getting rid of one pest, he seems to have multiplied!" Eggman wailed in what seemed like despair.
"Multiplied? I thought you were supposed to be a smart evil scientist Robuttnik. We're barely similar." Sonic said with a shrug.
And at that I had to raise an eyebrow.
"Is this supposed to be a bit? I'm pretty sure we could pass as twins." I said, to which Sonic replied with laughter.
"Oh come on. I'm a cool blue, you're not. I'm fast, and you just barely avoided getting smashed. You're welcome by the way."
He came off as an asshole about it, but he was right. Despite trying to stay aware of what was going on around me, Eggman almost made me a- how did Sonic describe it? Ah yes- a pancake. Watching as the wrecking ball attached to his hover car rose slowly in the air, I felt apprehensive as I looked at the damage left behind. A small, wrecking ball sized crater sat where I stood just moments before.
Don't think about it. Bouncing to my feet I shook off the dirt from my body, ignoring the goosebumps on my arms. Don't think about it. Facing Eggman with a forced grin, I tried to keep to the confidence I had before.
"How about I pay it back to you. I'll deal with big and angry, while you sit on the side and relax." I thought I sounded pretty confident. Or at least main character-y enough that neither of them could tell how scared I was. Whether he picked up on how I felt or not, Sonic laughed with a grin himself.
"And miss out on all the fun? Robotnik made it personal, and I wouldn't give up a butt kicking for the world right about now!" The way he said it was something special. Like watching a timer hit zero, it felt as though what he was saying was absolutely true.
"Don't think I'll stand for another failure you rodents! My Egg Wrecker will be your undoing!" Eggman cried as his newly dubbed death machine hurtled towards us.
Jumping back out of the way of the wrecking ball, I landed before turning and running towards more open space. Looking back I noticed that Sonic seemed to have the same plan as me. Unfortunately, he didn't have the same freedom, as Eggman's Egg Wrecker swung like a pendulum right on his tail.
While he should have been worried, Sonic seemed like he was having the time of his life.
"Come on Robuttnik! That the best you can do?" Sonic's confidence before wasn't just for show. Running backwards just out of range of the wrecking ball, he taunted Eggman, grin never leaving his face. Leaning back, he avoided the wrecking ball on its way towards him, and jumped to the side to avoid it on the way back. Like a daredevil, both attacks came within an inch of his face.
Not wanting to leave Sonic alone against the doc, I dashed towards the two of them myself. Coming at them from Eggman's blind side as Sonic landed from his jump, I aimed for the Wrecking Ball on its return swing. Jumping for it, I used it as a makeshift platform, launching myself high above the two.
Not one to be outdone, Sonic launched himself right at the base of the Egg Wrecker, nailing it with a spin, and sending it in my direction. Bracing myself once again, I flipped forward before nailing my heel as deep as I could at the machine. Hearing the sound of something shattering, I looked towards Eggman as I fell towards the ground. My leg had made contact with the light on the front of the Egg Wrecker, and I could faintly see newly exposed wires, as I made my descent. Those wires were nothing compared to the vein it looked like he was about to burst.
Fiddling with his controls, Eggman once again came to attack, only this time his attention had shifted. In an attempt to make myself scarce I dived and narrowly avoided another hit from the Egg Wrecker's ball. Reminding Eggman I wasn't alone, Sonic nailed the Egg Wrecker again. With a well placed spin attack to the same spot he hit previously, another hole exposed itself on the machine.
"Hey 'buttnick, don't tell me you're forgetting about lil ol' me?" with a cocky grin Sonic tore Eggman's attention away from me again.
"Arghhhhh! Why must you rodents always try to spoil my plans?" Pressing at the buttons in his cockpit again, the wrecking ball seemed to move less like a pendulum and more like a loose yo-yo. Swinging it around counter clockwise, he made a swing at Sonic while I positioned behind the Egg Wrecker once again.
With a sigh Sonic laughed at Eggman's poorly placed attack as he once again maneuvered expertly out of the way.
"Swing and a miss. Come on doc, put some heart into it!"
What I couldn't notice was Eggman's grin as he pressed a button on his controls. Leaping back to avoid the wrecking ball myself, I was caught by surprise as the chain seemed to lengthen itself. Teetering on consciousness, I was launched back the way we came, spinning with the force that I was hit with.
Flying back, I couldn't tell up from down. All I could tell was that I was spinning. I kept going until I hit something that wasn't quite solid. Whatever it was, it didn't stop my fall. All I felt was that I was falling, and spinning.
Falling, and spinning.
Falling, and spinning.
0.0.0
Sonic watched in surprise as the other hedgehog took a nasty hit from Robotnik. That hit would probably put even him out of commission, which meant he was stuck with the tyrant one-on-one. Sonic was starting to get sick of Robotnik's terror. Now someone else has gotten wrapped up in this mess. Drawing Robotnik's attention with another taunt, Sonic ran in full speed, keeping the doctor's attention on him.
Running into the open area, he lured Robotnik further away from the other hedgehog and the weird box that he had found him by. Noticing an area with several floating platforms he veered off to the more helpful terrain.
Leaping towards one of the platforms, he jumped between a few more of them as the wrecking ball tried to nail him again and again. Growling in anger, Robotnik pressed a button in his hovercraft, the wrecking ball rising up once again. Approaching the platform Sonic was standing on, Robotnik flipped the hovercraft over while letting the wrecking ball loose again.
Almost caught off guard, Sonic leaned back off the edge of the platform, before converting the lean into a full handspring. Throwing himself towards the ground and into a run, he watched as Robotnik turned his previous foothold into chunks.
Slowing down to give Robotnik time to get closer, he slid underneath another platform, evading another swing of the wrecking ball. Speeding up once again, he pulled away from Robotnik in order to give himself a running start.
Barreling towards the Egg Wrecker once again, he aimed right for the chain connecting the wrecker to the egg. Curling into a ball, he cleaved right through it, leaving Robotnik weaponless.
"NOOOOOO! My beautiful Egg Wrecker!" With a distraught cry, Robotnik made to escape before taking another blow directly to his aircraft.
"See ya Robuttnik! And don't come back!" Uncurling from his second spin, he landed with flair, and gave a faux bow. As Robotnik's aircraft went up in smoke while it flew off, Sonic stared off at its retreating form. Turning around, he made his way back the way he had dragged Robotnik from.
0.0.0
Curling up tighter, I rolled around in my bed a bit more. Scrunching my eyes tight, I tried to gather a bit more warmth as I tried to go back to sleep. Grabbing hold of my shoes, I tried to tighten up to conserve what little heat was left in my sheets. Wait… shoes?.
Eyes shooting open, I found myself once again someplace completely unfamiliar. This time however, unlike when I woke up in Green Hill, it felt as though my senses were being assaulted. Before me was nothing but the sky, adorned with weirdly shaped objects that seemed to shift between squares, birds, and fish. All around me I was surrounded by various colored blocks that seemed to trap me onto some kind of predetermined path.
Trying to uncurl myself I found that my arms and legs were stuck. Struggling to escape my invisible bonds, I felt myself roll onto something round, before finding myself launched further into the abyss.
Landing on another platform, I found that the way I was just ejected from had closed off, this time by a large peppermint colored orb. It was then that I found myself falling once again, bouncing off another round, star adorned orb. Seemingly acting like some sort of trampoline, I was once again launched, only this time I found myself colliding with another, dark orb. Feeling everything around me shift, I was thrown in another direction, colliding with ground once again.
Struggling to stretch myself out again now that the falling had seemingly stopped, I started to notice a sound ping at my ears. Almost as if someone was ringing a bell. Hearing it a few more times as I rolled around, I suddenly felt the ground give out below me once again as I fell.
And fell.
And fell.
Hitting the ground face first, I groaned as I rolled off a rather large rock. Opening my eyes again, I found that I was once again in the real world. To my side, I could see the capsule that sat at the end of every zone, and made an effort to lean against it. Grabbing at my head, I tried to remember what had happened.
Let's see… I fought Eggman, got hit, fell, fell some more, probably got high (because frankly that was the easiest explanation for the birds and fish and the squares), fell even more, and then woke up. Leaning up as I held my stomach which was probably bruised by now, I watched as a large golden ring spun around in the air. Thinking back to it, this was probably how Eggman had snuck up on me. If he had come out of the giant ring, I wouldn't have been able to hear a thing. Despite its ominous presence and rotating motion, the Ring itself didn't make a sound. As if to confirm my thoughts, it rotated a few more times before disappearing in a shower of sparkling stars.
Blinking at that, I looked towards the rock that I had landed on when I fell- no, "was kicked out is more accurate"- from the ring. Sitting there was not a rock, but one cleanly cut diamond. Shining with a faint blue color, it glowed oddly as I picked it up. Well what do you know, stumbling around like an idiot in there turned out to pay off. Raising it to the sky, I admired the Chaos Emerald that I had obtained; my only spoil of war today.
Leaning back, I took the chance to catch my breath. Even if it was a delusion from when I was half passed out in the Special Stage, I was really missing the feeling of curling up in bed. Sighing, I picked myself off the ground before turning and looking at the capsule behind me. Climbing to the top, I jumped before stomping hard on the switch on top. Feeling a shake, the doors blew themselves open, and a large amount of animals made their way out, now free.
Sliding off the capsule, I watched as a blur in the distance grew in size as it approached me. Skidding to stop in front of me, I was greeted by a blue hedgehog that looked none the worse for wear. With a grin and wave he greeted me casually.
"Yo! Doing ok?" He looked me over up and down, checking for injuries. Seeming satisfied he looked towards the capsule behind me.
"Seems like you already beat me to the punch. Well then, I'm going after Robotnik. Maybe we'll see each other again sometime!" With a wave he ran off away from me.
"Ah, hold on!" Stashing the Chaos Emerald between my quills (and hoping I didn't poke myself with it) I ran off after him.
Surprisingly enough, I caught up without much struggle. Sonic seemed to be surprised too, noticing me keeping pace with him. Grinning, he faced forward while speeding up.
"Think you can keep up?" He challenged. I wasn't really planning on a race, but if I let him go any faster than me, he'd probably pull away and leave me in the dust.
This is about the sixth time I've pulled ahead. And the sixth time I've been passed. I didn't think I'd be faster than Sonic the Hedgehog. I mean, being fast is kind of his whole thing. But damn if I didn't hate losing so much. Pumping my arms and legs even harder, I pulled ahead of him again before I found myself weaving around the thicker trees that were starting to dot the land.
Actually, now that I looked around, it seemed we were well out of Green Hill. The lake that seemed to always be in sight was now long gone from view. The palm trees and flowers that had previously made up the scenery were now gone; replaced with thick trees and pillars in disrepair. The grass may still have been green, but the ground it grew on was different. From what little peaked out from the hills that made up this new area, purple tiled brick made itself visible.
"And victory goes to me!" Distracted by the scenery, Sonic had pulled ahead of me again before coming to a stop in front of a desolate ruin. And while the competitor in me wanted to protest, the sprinter in me had to stop and take a breath at what had to be the equivalent to the fitness gram pacer test.
Coming to a stop myself, I rested my hand on the ruins Sonic had just declared as the finish line. Speaking of the blue hedgehog, he seemed to be pacing back and forth, examining the ruins that we had stopped at. Taking another minute to catch my breath (and holy shit was that hard, how the hell is he just walking around unfazed), I waved to get his attention.
"What are you- what are you looking- looking for?" I got out between breaths.
Grinning at me, he took a seat on one of the dilapidated steps before leaning back.
"Nothing in particular. Just find this place interesting is all. South Island's got a rich history; kind of the whole reason I came here in the first place."
Finding that surprising, I let myself catch my breath some more before responding.
"You're not- you're not from here?"
Catching on to my meaning, he raised an eyebrow.
"From South Island? Nah I'm just visiting. Holed myself up on an island in Green Hill. This whole island has such a low population count, I doubt anyone will notice." He said, waving me off.
And wow, I'm certain that's totally legal. Deciding to ignore that, I went back to the original topic.
"What was that about this place's history?" At that, Sonic grinned and sat up.
"See that's why I'm here. So apparently South Island is known as a place filled with treasure and ruins, kinda like the ones behind us." Hopping off the stairs he started pacing again. "Now among those treasures, are these things called Chaos Emeralds. Nobody really knows where to find these things, or what they do, but they've apparently got some crazy powers tied to them. I'd even bet that they're the reason South Island moves around all the time."
Wait a minute, this island moves? That's… kind of crazy. Voicing that, Sonic laughed.
"Yeah, the few people that do live here complain about it all the time." Stopping again, he looked up towards the trees and smiled. "That's the only real complaint though. The nature in this place is almost untouched. It's like the perfect playground, but the size of a continent."
Looking around, I could feel he meant it. I hadn't quite grown up in a city or anything, but I don't think I've smelt air this clean in years. Taking a deep breath and letting myself appreciate the area around us, I felt another question come to mind.
"How are you not- out of breath? Like at all?" At that he just laughed.
"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. There's no one who can run faster, or longer than me."
We took a bit of a break before heading deeper into the ruins. Well to be more accurate, I took a break while Sonic impatiently tapped his foot. I was tempted to wait longer to annoy him, but a certain five minute timer came to mind and advised me against it.
Wishing I had a bottle of water, we took a casual jog deeper through the forest. Thinking back to our conversation earlier, I thought of something Sonic said earlier that seemed surprising.
"Hey, where did you hear all this info about South Island anyway?" Sonic spun around to run in reverse (did he have to show off at every step of the way?).
"A book. South Island Historian to be exact." At that I almost stopped.
"Hold on. So you can't let me take a break for a few minutes, but you can sit still long enough to read an entire history book?" I was met with a shrug.
"Reading and waiting are two very different things. For one, I actually like reading." Well what do you know? Sonic the Hedgehog is a bookworm. Who would have thought.
Twisting back around, Sonic seemed to go on alert as he looked off into the distance. Approaching a larger structure of ruins he slowed to a stop beckoning me to quiet as well. Complying, we both quieted until a noise could be heard. With a smirk, Sonic leaned around the corner of the pillar we stood by.
"And I think we've found our good doctor once again." Down a hill just in front of us, we could see a swarm of Buzzbombers, seemingly patrolling around the area. Reaching out, I went to stop Sonic but was too late; he was already making his way down the hill, intent on breaking some badniks. Not willing to let him get too far ahead, I made my way down the hill myself.
Of course I didn't expect to lose my footing on my way down. Tripping on the tail end of the slope, I turned to see that the ground had fallen to reveal an entrance. Feeling the ground begin to rise again, I quickly decided to enter the entrance, just barely slipping in before the ground rose again.
Despite the sunlight being erased from view thanks to the rising ground, I could still see inside, albeit just barely. Dotting the walls were torches, lighting up the inside of these ruins rather well. Taking steps deeper in, the purple bricks I had seen below the grass before were on full display. Running a hand across the wall, I could tell it wasn't just a weirdly colored brick. Much like the lightly colored structures above ground these walls were a smooth texture. Despite the purple stain, the zone was aptly named: the walls were made of marble.
Looking further ahead of me, I noticed an odd shine in the darkness, accompanied by a strange metallic sound. Approaching it with caution, I noticed as the light seemed to lower closer to the ground, before jumping out at me. Turning to the side, I just barely avoided the spiked protrusions from the side of whatever jumped at me. Taking a step back, I watched as the badnik turned to approach me again. While a bit difficult to see due to its aptly designed purple camouflage, I identified the light as the eyes of a Caterkiller. Priming itself to jump at me again, I ducked, letting the Caterkiller sail clean over my head. Ready to catch it off guard, I ran towards the badnik, only for the strange noise I had heard before stopped. Accentuating the silence was the dropping of what looked like a chandelier; only instead of being adorned with lights or candles, it was decorated with very sharp spikes. Stopping short, I watched as the trap slowly rose, allowing a small animal freedom as its spikes had cleaved right through the Caterkiller that had previously threatened my life.
Keeping an eye on the now very clearly dangerous ceiling, I walked around where the trap could land and crush me. Making sure to stay clear of anymore falling objects, I paid closer attention to my surroundings. Approaching a ledge, I found that the dungeon seemed to go even deeper. Before I could even make a decision on whether I should go deeper, a large flaming chunk of debris was ejected from the wall in my direction. Sliding down the ledge, I landed on another platform before I had to jump out of the way again. Hitting the wall with a slam, I avoided another makeshift fireball that had fired at me from the ceiling.
Falling from the wall, I found that the drop was a lot longer than I thought it would be. Crashing into the ground with little finesse, I found myself holding my side. Looking at my arm, I found I had started to bruise. Groaning in pain I sat up, simply thankful that it hadn't amounted to a burn. Wincing as I used my arm to get to my feet, I shrugged off the pain before going deeper into the ruins turned dungeon death trap.
0.0.0
Sonic was currently flying it solo. Of course, he didn't do so intentionally. After a race between zones, Sonic was sure the other hedgehog could keep up with him. Hell, he almost gave him a run for his money (almost. Sonic was still the fastest thing alive if anyone asked). The guy might have seemed a little uptight, but he at least wasn't slow. Did he go off on his own? Or maybe he didn't cross the lake of lava that he had found before he ran into the entrance of the ruins.
Evading trap after trap, Sonic was starting to get bored. Everything in here was so straight forward. Spike trap over here, fireball over there. Caterkiller around one corner, more spikes around the other. Running deeper in, he found himself met with a dead end. Or at least it would have been if the ground wasn't a different color and there wasn't a very obviously positioned button. Gasping in faux surprise, he approached the button.
"Oh no, a dead end! However will I solve this dastardly puzzle designed to slow me down?" Stepping on the button, he heard something shift out of place, before a slam and a cry was heard.
Caught by surprise, Sonic rushed to the newly created edge, peering down to see the new area he had opened up. Looking down, he saw that the oddly colored ground was actually a set of pillars, which had fallen with his button press. Peering down further, he saw another hedgehog peering back up at him, mirroring the same look of surprise.
Hopping down, he joined the hedgehog that he had previously lost track of. Raising his hand for a greeting he was met with a glare. Surprised, he raised an eyebrow.
"Why do you, uh… look more upset than usual?" he asked. The other hedgehog looked pointedly back towards the barrier.
"You almost crushed me." Sonic shrugged, since it's not like he knew that would happen.
"My bad? I didn't really know someone could even be below the thing." The hedgehog stared at him again before walking forward, taking the lead.
Ok so Sonic had nearly screwed up. Honest mistake! He couldn't fault the other hedgehog for being mad, but he didn't have to drag it. Watching as the other hedgehog glared forward, he felt his conscience take a hit.
"Listen, I'm serious, it's my bad, okay. I promise I'll make it up to you later or something." Scratching his cheek, he watched as the other hedgehog blinked before looking back his way.
"Why? It was an accident." Well now Sonic was just confused.
"You were the one glaring into the distance. I thought you were still mad about it." The other hedgehog looked away.
"I wasn't glaring. I just look like this." Ah so he was just naturally this dark and gloomy. Sonic could already feel like this was gonna be a long trip. Deciding to move faster, if only to break the awkward silence, Sonic ran up ahead of the other hedgehog. Keeping an eye out, it seemed as if there weren't any other traps in the general vicinity. It was, however, beginning to get much hotter. Down the hallway the path seemed to take a sharp right, and a bright light seemed to be making its way from around the corner.
Taking a jog around the bend, he was met with a literal pool of lava. Hearing an impressed whistle behind him, he turned and watched as his short time companion went to turn around.
"Yea you couldn't convince me to even try and find a way across." He remarked.
Sonic smirked. He'd take that challenge. Looking around for anything he could use, his eyes traveled to the ceiling above the lava pool. Noticing some large and loose marble up there, he approached the wall before giving it a swift and hard kick. The sound grabbing the other hedgehog's attention, they both watched as the marble brick became dislodged from the roof, landing with rather loud plop into the magma. They both watched as it floated in the magma, before more of the ceiling started to come down as well.
Having created several new footholds, Sonic took a gutsy leap across the floating bricks. Bobbing as his feet left them, Sonic made a few jumps before landing safely on the other side. Meeting his companions' look of skepticism, he grinned.
"Come on across! I promise it's like 90% safe." The other hedgehog looked at him like he was crazy, and he was sure that the sweat dripping from his brow wasn't due to the heat. Tapping his foot in impatience, he watched as the other hedgehog stepped back to give himself space for a running jump. Clearing the gap easily, Sonic sat at the edge of the lava pit and watched the other hedgehog make his way across. His breath stopped a bit when the other hedgehog nearly overshot the next platform, but Sonic relaxed as the other hedgehog's balance tipped him butt first backwards.
Having made it halfway across, Sonic figured there wouldn't be any more problems. As if to taunt him for even having the idea, jet-like sounds seemed to emit from the holes above in the ceiling. Both hedgehogs were shocked as a flock of bat-like robots dropped out of the ceiling, aiming directly at the hedgehog who was mid jump.
Already getting ready to help, Sonic leapt across as the bat robot in between the two hedgehogs hit the darker one dead on.
0.0.0
Having just taken a shot to the body from one of the Bat Brain's, I felt my heart sink as my trajectory was all but shot in the foot. Twisting against my will, I felt my heels make contact with solid ground. Back facing the opposite direction, I could only pray as gravity grabbed hold of me with a vice grip.
So this is how I go out, huh? He already felt like jumping across the lava was stupid, but instead of thinking it over more rationally, here he was. I'd like to say something corny, like "This is where my life flashed before my eyes", but all he could do in the moment that felt like it would drag on forever was berate himself for even putting himself in this situation.
Tumbling to what was surely my demise, another impact hit my back. Careening forward, my hands hit the marble with a slam as I just barely caught myself from going over the other edge. Landing on the platform behind him was one Sonic the Hedgehog, who had just barely kicked me in the back to save me from burning alive.
"Hey! Look alive, there's still more!" Turning around at the direction Sonic was pointing, I noticed about three more Bat Brains flying at me. Twisting his body to the side, he narrowly avoided one of them. Leaping over another one, he flipped forward to nail the third one with a kick downwards in the floating marble.
Whipping back around after watching the animal free itself from its metal prison, I watched as Sonic boldly jumped backwards onto another floating platform without even looking. The two other Bat Brains had redirected towards Sonic, but he was more than ready. Curling up, he bounced clean off of the first Bat Brain, gaining enough height to reach the ceiling. Grabbing hold, he swung his body forward and just barely evaded the third bot.
Sonic's weight seemed to be too much for the ceiling however, as several pieces dropped again. Debris falling, the third Bat Brain was broken mid turn. Both hedgehogs let out a sigh of relief, before the ceiling part that Sonic held onto also fell loose. Landing on his butt with a slam, Sonic rubbed at his rear while wincing at the pain. Having just had a close brush with a body wide third degree burn, all I felt was a laugh bubble up. Sonic seemed to squint at me like I was crazy.
"So Mr. Dark and Gloomy can actually crack a smile. Who would have thought?" Letting another laugh out I pointed at him in exclamation.
"I don't want to hear it from Mr. Bruised Backside over here. Speaking of cracks, are you sure you don't have another one opening up down there?" Hearing my outburst, Sonic stared at me.
It wasn't long before he cracked a smile too. Soon enough we were both sitting over the lava, laughing away the fear of death.
Stepping out from the pool of lava, the two of us shared another laugh to get it out of our system before continuing our press through the dungeon. We kept a light jogging pace (for us at least), for a long while. Turn after turn and it felt like we weren't getting anywhere. Blazing through several more hoards of badniks, the two of us were making some good progress. Further down the hallway, the ceiling opened up, revealing the only way forward was up.
"Finally, something new!" Sonic exclaimed. I watched as he ran up to the open ceiling, before I got a bad feeling. Grabbing at his arm, I stopped him right before another spiked chandelier impaired him on the way down. Sonic let a sweat drop from his face at what would have been a swift and painful reckoning.
"Thanks for the save. I was almost a shish-kabob." I returned the thumbs up he gave me as he picked himself up.
" I thought we hadn't run into traps in a while. Figured, better safe than sorry." Walking up to the now rising trap, I took a peek in the small space. Surely enough, there was a way up, although squeezing by the trap might be a little more dangerous than I would like. Peering at the walls, I could actually make out a crack in the wall. Figuring I'd rather take our chances with that, I decided to tell Sonic the plan.
"Think you can break through that wall? There's a way up but it seems like kind of a tight squeeze." Sonic walked up before looking at the crack I had pointed out. Nodding his head, he started backing up.
"Just give me a running start, I'll have these dungeons looking like the ruins up top." Grinning as he prepped for the spikes to fall and rise again, I raised my hand as if to act like a track official giving the starting signal. Staring at the spike as they fell, I waited for a hedgehog size gap to be available for Sonic to slip through.
Throwing my hand down, the blue hedgehog sprinted towards me before he curled into a ball. Crashing into the wall, and thankfully not off of it, a makeshift doorway appeared. Dashing through myself, I just barely made it in before the trap came crashing down on my head.
"STOP!" Halting at Sonic's cry, another spiked wall came crashing down in front of me. Climbing on top of it, Sonic joined me as it rose to become level with a staircase. Of course, the staircase had to go out of its way to be unsafe as well. Taking steps in two, we had just barely hit the jackpot; Every step we didn't hit had spikes jut out to clip our ankles clean off. Making it to the top, we had to both dive out of the way to just barely avoid more fireball based traps.
Just in front of the staircase, above the way we had come, stood another platform. More fireballs burning at our backside, we took the executive decision to leap across. Grabbing at the edge of the platform, I rolled up, only to be yanked backwards by Sonic. Just as he did, spikes protruded from where I was just previously sitting. Moving around the death trap, we saw another gap to cross. Of course the way across wouldn't be simple. The gap was extremely large, and the only way across were smaller versions of the spiked chandeliers: they were barely wide enough to fit one of us, and they lacked the aforementioned spikes.
Leaping at the platforms with a speed befitting his title of fastest thing alive, Sonic had made it across safely. Avoiding another spike trap with a turn, he didn't notice the badniks creeping up behind him while he waved me across.
"Get down!" With a cry as I made my way across the platforms myself, Sonic just barely avoided a quick trip down a floor, and into a pit of lava. Diving over the badniks sideways, I twisted in the air, turning it into a backflip. Landing into a 3 point slide, I made a break for what finally looked like an exit as more bat badniks came flying in from deeper in the ruins.
Climbing our way out of the ruins, we were practically flash banged as the natural light hit us. Once again out of breath, I rolled over onto my back, letting my eyes adjust to the sun above us. It seemed as though in our time underground, it had become rather cloudy. Sitting up, I watched Sonic as he too caught his breath. Unable to help myself, I smirked as he noticed me looking.
"So even you can run out of breath, huh?" Receiving a playful jab to the shoulder, Sonic laughed back at me.
"I don't want to hear it Mr. Dark, u ran just as hard as I did." I stopped at that.
"What'd you just call me?" Raising an eyebrow, Sonic just grinned at me.
"Well I figured I'd drop the 'and gloomy' bit. I'd like to think it rolls off the tongue better." I just rolled my eyes at that response. This little nickname better not stick.
"It's a shame the Marble Zone ruins were a bust tho." said Sonic.
"What were you even looking for down there? Because if it wasn't traps, I'm pretty sure you were outta luck from the start." Getting a laugh in response, we both stood and began walking from the ruins.
"No, I was looking for a Chaos Emerald. You know, those treasures I was talking about before?" I eyed him strangely.
"Why would you have found one down there?" I asked. Sonic raised an eyebrow back at me.
"Well I wasn't aware you were such an expert. Where then, pray tell, would you have looked?"
"Hey don't get snippy at me." I said, as I reached for the emerald I was still holding on to. Sonic watched me in surprise as I flipped it around in my hand. Noticing his gaze, I smugly tossed the blue emerald in his direction. He looked at it for a little before tossing it back.
"Dude this is a diamond." was his surprising response.
"What? No, it's very clearly a Chaos Emerald." Meeting his stare of skepticism head on, I couldn't really deny him without proof. Despite being called Chaos 'Emeralds', they've never been shaped like emeralds; they had the look of a clean cut diamond. Eying the mystical rock myself, if I didn't know any better I'd probably agree with him.
"You know what, when we find the next one we can compare them, and you'll see that I'm right." Stowing the emerald away, I was met with a shrug. Before he could respond however, Sonic stopped, glaring at something in the distance. Curious, I followed his gaze to see a large capsule.
"Look alive Dark, we got a doctor somewhere around, and I don't remember scheduling any appointments." He was really sticking with that nickname, huh? Ready to protest, we were interrupted by an out of this world sight.
0.0.0
Appearing out of thin air was another gigantic ring, and out shot one Dr. Robotnik. Whatever he was doing in there, it seemed as though he had failed. The doctor was throwing another tantrum, and had not noticed either hedgehog. Messing around with something in his hovercraft, he seemed to be completely focused on the giant ring he was just ejected from. Well, leave it to Sonic to be as much of a distraction as possible.
"Yo Robuttnik! Can't believe you're so eager for another butt whupping that you'd let a ring beat me to the punch!" Drawing Robotnik's attention with a taunt, Sonic could see him get visibly upset from the jab.
"You damn rodents again? I don't have time for this!" Robotnik growled.
"Then make time." The other hedgehog said, walking up with a glare pointed at the doctor. Sonic let a whistle ring out.
"Don't let your eyes cloud over too much. You might burn a hole through him at this rate." Surprisingly, Robotnik seemed to be the one to laugh at Sonic's exclamation.
"Thanks to my Egg Scorcher, the only thing that will be burning today are the two pests sitting in front of me!" Maneuvering his newly dubbed Egg Scorcher (which didn't look all that different from his last hovercraft) over the hedgehogs, Robotnik pressed a button which sent a fireball hurtling down upon their heads.
Splitting apart and moving away from the drop zone, the hedgehogs watched as the fireball dropped and burst apart like a water balloon. Robotnik's attack made quick work of the grassy ground, and was spreading towards them fast. Sonic however, was faster.
Dashing towards Robotnik, he leaped over the spreading fire before nailing the side of the Egg Scorcher with a spin attack. Tumbling away from Sonic, Robotnik was met with another slam from his blindside. Having initially ran away from the fire, the other hedgehog was in the prime position to follow up. Nailing the Egg Scorcher with a drop kick, Robotnik was sent careening towards the ground.
"And score another win for the Hedgehogs!" Mocking Robotnik with a sports-like cheer, Sonic approached the tipped over Egg Scorcher. Getting close to inspect it, he was met by a fireball being ejected in his direction. Sonic moved to the side, but he wasn't quite quick enough.
Getting clipped in the arm, Sonic let out a yell as he slid away on the marble. Robotnik's Egg Scorcher slowly lifted itself off the ground, and Robotnik laughed as he watched Sonic clutch his arm in pain.
"Serves you right rodent!" Robotnik cackled in glee. "I told you that you would be burning today, and I'll make good on that-"
Before Robotnik could gloat anymore he was met with an extremely hard force; only it didn't come from either hedgehog. Having positioned himself above a moat of lava after rising, a geyser shot up and nailed the underside of the Egg Scorcher. Despite the machine's fire based attacks, it wasn't quite able to receive punishment of the same variety.
Both Hedgehogs approached Robotnik from opposite sides. One carefully held his arm, attempting to stifle any pain, while the other prayed they gained enough height to avoid the hot underside of Robotnik's craft. In tandem, the hedgehogs leaped into the air, both nailing Robotnik's Egg Scorcher with kicks to the upper side. Landing in a crouch (roughly in the case of Sonic) they watched as Robotnik crashed into the ground hard.
Just as they started to relax, the Egg Scorcher rose into the air again. Preparing themselves for another attack they watched Robotnik press a button in his craft. And then press it again. And then press it again. Slamming the button once more, Robotnik let out a scream of anger.
"Heh, looks like the Egg Scorcher is just an egg now. And freshly cracked too." Sonic taunted him, although it seemed as though the bravado was only there to hide his pain.
Nevertheless, Robotnik had no means of dealing with the two hedgehog's who were slowly approaching him.
"I'll get you meddlesome rodents back for this!" Yelling at them in anger, Robotnik flew away in a panic. Moving to chase after him, Sonic felt an arm on his shoulder stop him in place.
"Hey Dark, what gives!" Raising an eyebrow at the nickname again, 'Dark' wordlessly grabbed hold of Sonic's arm. Sonic barely suppressed a yelp as his arm was inspected.
"Well the good news is he didn't blow your arm off." the darker of the two hedgehogs joked. "Bad news is it looks bad. Like dangerous, see a doctor, kind of bad." Before Sonic could speak up, he was cut off again.
"When I say doctor, I'm not talking about the evil one." Realizing these were valid points, Sonic stopped tapping his foot in frustration.
"Fine, fine, there's a city nearby. We'll stop by there before going after Robuttnik again." Satisfied at Sonic's response, the other hedgehog smirked before pointing back the way they came with a thumb.
"Oh don't worry. If you're in the mood for something dangerous, how about I prove that I really did pick up a Chaos Emerald?" In the direction he pointed was one giant ring; the same one Robotnik was ejected from before they came upon him.
Sonic let a grin fly back. He didn't particularly care if he was right about the emerald or not. At the prospect of something new, he felt himself getting more and more excited.
"Maybe slowing me down was worth it after all." Sonic said, eyeing the Giant Ring.
"Oh yea, this looks like it'll be fun!"
Author's Note:
I didn't expect to get this out in a month, but I beat the writer's block demon. Thanks to everyone who followed and commented, genuinely you guys gave me the dopamine to push through and write more.