Chapter 3: Unraveling History in Springopolis
"Oh yea, this looks like it'll be fun!"
Stopping myself from approaching the giant ring, I looked back at the blue hedgehog. I had just talked him out of chasing Eggman, and here he was, ready to throw himself into more danger.
"I just stopped you because of your arm. What makes you think it'd be ok for you to-" but of course, Sonic was already mid leap towards the giant ring. I reached out an arm to try and stop him, but he had already vanished; a shower of stars trailing from inside the ring being the only evidence that he was even here to begin with. Not willing to let the injured hero go it alone, I jumped in after him.
Entering the ring, I was met with what seemed like a black void. Despite the clear lack of a light source, I could still make out my own features against the darkness. Of course, my focus was more so on what was below me. Or rather, on what I could only assume was below me.
Having jumped forward into the giant ring, I would assume that gravity would have pulled me downwards. Instead it felt as though I had been shot like a missile deep into the darkness. What was straight ahead for me initially had become my new down. Before I could gather my bearings however, the darkness made way to a flash of light.
As my surroundings quickly changed around me, I felt the gravity shift in an unnatural way. Despite the lack of wind as I fell, I only felt myself tumble as I lost control. Being twisted through the air against my will, I could only feel the pit in my stomach grow as I fell further and further. To make matters worse, it seemed as if I could finally make out something resembling a floor in the distance.
Approaching closer and closer was a sheet of green. I sucked in a breath of air as I continued to tumble towards what was surely a terrible impact. Getting my body to move with what little force I could muster, I aimed to hit the ground back first. Twisting with as much as I could, I was able to twist my body so that I couldn't see the ground anymore. Pit in my stomach growing more and more, I braced myself for impact, and prayed I was still alive after I hit the ground. Grit your teeth. Any second now, I'll probably feel an excruciating pain.
Staring up at the void of white, I could practically feel the impact coming. Only, it didn't. I continued to fall, as the ground I should have hit flipped around my form like a revolving door. Taken aback, my body flipped back around to see what could be described as the open sky.
Continuing my free fall, I was greeted with a sea of blue. Gazing up at the tiles, I watched them shift into a familiar form. Before I could put two and two together however, my vision was clouded over. Literally. Caught by surprise, I flipped back around as I passed through a cloud. Off further into the sky, I could see what looked like a cluster of blocks. It had a clear opening, and I could already tell from where I was that it was a labyrinth.
Feeling another indescribable pull, I was once again dragged towards the maze. Losing complete motor control, I felt the pull turn into a push. Slowing down, I was eased into the web of blocks. I was tightly tucked into myself again, but this time I was prepared. Bouncing from brick to brick, I used all my strength to throw myself into something resembling a jump as I spun with minimal control.
Finding a corner amidst the maze, I rolled myself through the air. Pausing to catch my breath, I took the time to survey the Special Stage from my forced state as a ball. Despite being stationary I could feel the magical labyrinth move around me. Mustering up energy again I threw myself upwards towards one of the bumpers, intent on making more progress.
It was then that I was reminded that I hadn't entered the Special Stage alone.
The maze seemed to shift around me, and I once again felt a pull. Reminiscent of a certain block that I knew I hadn't made contact with, the maze shifted around me in the opposite direction. Hitting the bumper, I was thrown in a completely different direction than I had intended. Sliding into an off passage of the maze, I felt fear grip me. There seemed to be an opening here, but not like one that would lead to the emerald. Clamoring at the walls, I tried to bounce my way out of the exit.
My actions were proving futile. Pushing as hard as I could, I could practically feel the adrenaline course through my veins. Putting in the strength for a final push, I reached out with my body to make it to the edge.
It was all for naught as the maze shifted back around. Feeling the pull once again, I just barely missed the corner of the exit, and being forced into a ball meant that I couldn't even reach out to save myself. Slipping down into the hole, the feeling of dread creeped back in as the pit in my stomach grew. And I fell.
I watched as the maze shrank from my view, becoming a speck in the distance. And I fell.
The blue sky, filled with clouds, started to fade into a bright light. And I fell.
I could feel my stomach drop. More time passed, and the light gave way to darkness. And I fell.
And fell.
And fell.
And just like that, I was thrown out of the Giant Ring.
Flying out of the Giant Ring, I slid across the ground before coming to a stop. Clutching my chest, I felt as though I had just resurfaced from water after holding my breath. I took a deep breath, and then another. Patting myself down, I tried to remember how to breathe. Calm down. Calm down. Taking a breath again, I tried to even out my rhythm. Anything to distract myself from what I could only imagine death felt like. Of course, it was now that my brain decided it wanted to shut up.
Normally I'd find my thoughts filled with whatever song's chorus I had most recently heard, but the shock of falling was sending my brain into radio silence. Focus on something else. Taking a look at myself, I focused on what I was wearing again. White socks, white gloves, red high top converse.
Grabbing at the laces, I pulled them tight before tying them up. Untying them, I made a motion to re-tie them. Using the monotonous motion as a distractor, I tried to keep my thoughts from wandering to the giant ring behind me.
Was Sonic still in there? Was he having any luck with the Special Stage, or had he fallen like me. And great, now I was thinking about it again. What I wouldn't give for some music right now. Just about anything to distract me would be nice.
Of course, when I thought this, I would have expected the distraction to be something I could see coming. Feeling a tap on my shoulder, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I jumped. Damn near snapping my neck as I turned, I was thankfully greeted with a familiar face.
"Yo! Didn't keep you waiting too long, did I?"
Perpetual grin plastered on his face, Sonic greeted me with a wave. Judging by his carefree attitude, I could only assume he was oblivious to just how much of a fright he just gave me.
"Dude, you just scared the shit out of me!" I breathed out. Sonic raised an eyebrow before turning around contemplatively.
"So these things really don't make a sound, huh? Interesting." Sonic seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, before turning back to me.
"Well, unless that freaky dimension just has normal diamonds sitting around, I think I owe you an apology." Reaching behind his back, Sonic pulled out an Emerald. I reached between my quills for the Chaos Emerald that I had gotten myself, bringing the two of them closer together. Like two wire ends being brought together, the blue and yellow emeralds seemed to spark to life. Sonic let out a whistle.
"Well what do you know? I guess you weren't pulling my leg." He went to reach for the emerald before flinching. Watching as his injured arm slowly lowered, I was reminded of the whole reason I had even chased him into the Special Stage. Damn, that was a bad injury.
"Ok, we're taking you to a hospital, that's not something you should be trying to walk off."
"Oh please, it barely even hurts anymore. I'm not gonna let some injury slow me down from putting the crack down on the doc." He tried to wave me off, but did so with his injured arm. And it wasn't exactly hard to see it still hurt.
Examining the injury however, told a different story. What had initially been a large, scorched gash across his arm was now nothing more than a scar. Even though it clearly still hurt, the injury wasn't nearly as big as it was before we had entered the Special Stage.
It was strange though. Does everyone over here heal from injuries this fast? Was it just Sonic? Or maybe it was the Special Stage. Hell it could even be from having the emerald on hand. I don't quite remember the emerald being able to heal, but I wouldn't be surprised if they could.
Tossing the emerald towards Sonic, I made up my mind.
"Listen, we'll take you to at least get checked out. Based on the way you're healing it shouldn't even take long. We'll head out right after you're cleared." Sonic tapped his foot in an act of impatience.
"Robotnik's not gonna wait for a couple of doctors to finish twiddling their thumbs. I've got animals to save."
"Yeah, but he would take advantage of an injury. And apparently we're the only ones trying to stop him. Why make your job harder for yourself?"
Sonic stared at me with a frown, still tapping his foot. I met his gaze head on.
"Fine, fine. You're right. You win." With a shrug, Sonic relented before walking off.
"You sure do know how to argue," he said. "Convincing though at least." He started to pick up the pace and I matched him.
"Hey, as much faith as I'd like to have in myself, I'm pretty sure Robotnik would take over if you bit it." Especially with no one else around yet. It was a wonder I was able to fight at all, but with no Tails, no Knuckles, no Shadow, was there really anybody around to put a stop to Eggman?
"Well you're certainly right about that. I can think of a few people, but they aren't on the island. And you aren't exactly the greatest at this." Sonic said with a laugh.
"Hey, what the hell! I'm new to this whole 'fighting evil robots' thing. Give me some credit, I think I'm doing pretty good."
"Well you aren't a hindrance." Sonic admitted. "You lack finesse, but this is certainly the first time someone's been able to keep up with me at least. By the time you get the hang of it, Robotnik will already be packing his bags, I guarantee it."
Well the vote of confidence was nice. Although I guess it wouldn't really matter. I'd probably be home by the time I got any good at this. Letting that thought sit, I continued to run after Sonic as he sped up.
Sonic's pace was insane. He's the fastest thing alive, sure, but it's hard to really understand unless you try to keep up. Emphasis on try.
See the speed isn't really the craziest part. I wouldn't say I'm faster than him, and it'd be too hard to tell considering neither of us were going all out. No, the thing that made him a nightmare to keep up with was his stamina.
Forty minutes. We've been running for forty straight minutes. He hasn't slowed down, not once. And I can't see a hint of fatigue on his face. We haven't just been running either. We cut through a patch of trees, and while I took to clumsily maneuvering between them, Sonic was able to slide between them like a knife through butter. Springboard, handle bar, rope. You name the gym equipment and he could probably have found something in the thicket of trees to match it. He didn't just move better. It's like the environment served as a rubber band for him
I'll admit I almost lost him there. Of course, once we broke through the trees, I had more free space to maneuver, but it was clear he wasn't joking when he said I lacked finesse. A gap of a few steps had widened to about a school bus's worth. Close enough for me to keep up, but far enough for me to realize I was outmatched. Bad enough that he was widening the gap between us, but he also seemed to lack any fatigue.
I'm not invincible. Turning into a fast, acrobatic, flexible hedgehog didn't change that fact. While I certainly had more energy to expend than I did before I got to this world, it wasn't an infinite supply. To be fair, Sonic the Hedgehog probably wasn't a fair metric to go off of for comparing myself. But man, was it excruciatingly annoying to try to keep up with Sonic, while he seemed to be treating his surroundings like a jungle gym.
Thankfully, we had left the forest and found ourselves running down a barren highway. It was hard to tell since the trees had obscured our vision, but we had been inching closer and closer towards the mountains. Speeding up to try and catch up with Sonic again, I looked on as the street rose to hug the mountain range. While our destination appeared to be on the other side, we thankfully wouldn't need to go up the actual mountain.
Following the road as it curved right, we entered a tunnel that passed right on through the mountain. Lights illuminating the inside, it was quite hard to tell whether or not the tunnel was man-made. Considering how Sonic talked about how much nature seemed to be on this island, I wouldn't be surprised if it was a natural structure.
Speaking of the blue hedgehog, he seemed to be having the time of his life. The tunnel had a curve, but Sonic didn't seem to care as he ran towards the wall with almost reckless abandon. Of course, it's not as though he made a habit of giving himself CTE. Approaching the wall at a slight angle, he lifted himself until only his legs and momentum were enough to carry him around the bend.
Light shining in the distance, he leapt arms spread as we both exited the tunnel. Landing in a ball, Sonic only sped up more as the two of us went down the incline of the mountain road. While his theatrics were impressive, I was more surprised by our environment.
The highway we had found ourselves on had led us straight to a rather large city. I had been to plenty of cities before, of course. It certainly wasn't a New York City, or a Toronto. No, what made it stand out was that it existed on an island that had so far seemed like it was abandoned by society. And didn't Sonic say the island had a low population count? Why the hell was there a whole ass city here? As if he heard my unspoken question, Sonic flipped up into a back pedal, spreading his arms to the wind.
"Welcome to one of the three Cities on South Island! If you'll pull your attention to your right, you'll notice we've just crossed the zone line." I guess he wouldn't be Sonic the Hedgehog without a sense of humor. Keeping to the tour guide aesthetic, he spread his arms as we took in the city. "Bye bye Marble Zone, hello Springopolis!"
Leaving the street, and slowing to an actual jogging pace, we entered the city. I was expecting us to just sprint to the nearest hospital, but Sonic seemed to have other plans.
Beckoning me to a stairwell connected to an overpass, we walked up and were greeted with a railway station. And just in time too; a train was sitting there almost as if it was waiting for us.
"Don't worry, the trains here are free," said Sonic. Following him onto the train, I grabbed onto one of the bars while Sonic reclined into a free seat. Peering out the windows, I watched as the city flew by.
It was… a city. Not to undermine it or anything. The most surprising part about it to me was that it existed. That, and the name. Spring Yard Zone, at least from what I remember, was a casino themed zone. Well, it was more of a spring themed zone in my opinion. And it certainly wasn't named Springopolis. But I digress.
Pulling my attention away from the train window, I took notice of the passengers. There weren't many on board, but I was certainly reminded that I was in a different world. Various other anthropomorphic animals took up seats in the train, but I paid them no mind. It seemed that no matter the universe, people tended to mind their own business on trains. And just like back home, kids tended to ignore that rule.
Crowding around Sonic were a group of kids. One was a… penguin I think? Black with a yellow crown of hair, he seemed to be talking Sonic's ear off the most. Close to the chest of his sweatshirt, he was clutching onto a skateboard. The other two kids were a seal that had a helmet that looked a little too big for him dangling off his head, and a chicken with a red Mohawk. His two friends also had sports equipment as well. The seal had a scooter that he was holding on to, and the chicken had a pair of roller skates hanging over his shoulder.
"You should have seen me, Sonic! I hit the sickest flip out of the half pipe!" The penguin exclaimed, waving his arms around.
"Yeah, yeah, you should have seen Peck!" The seal chimed in. "I think he could have flown if he went even higher!"
The chicken kid stuffed his hands into his pockets trying to play it cool, but even he had a big grin on his face. "It was pretty sick, even I'll have to admit."
"Oh really? You might just take my spot as the best skater on South Island if you keep it up!" Sonic said with a grin. The kids started waving their hands in disbelief.
"No way!" The penguin kid, Peck, said. "That 1980 you hit last time you were here was legendary!"
The seal chimed in too. "Five and a half spins is crazy!" Oh great, they were stroking his ego even more. Grinning as broad as he could, Sonic let out a laugh.
"Five is nothing! Next time I come to the park, I'll show you guys something special!" The kid's eyes sparkled in wonder at the prospect of Sonic coming by.
Taking his eyes away from Sonic for a second the chicken kid seemed to notice me. Half lidded eyes widening in surprise, he looked at Sonic before looking back at me.
"Dude… I didn't know you had a twin brother." The other kids turned at the chicken kid's exclamation. So excited to talk to Sonic, they had initially ignored me. Now that they were aware I existed, I was like the hot new toy on the shelf. Peck and the seal kid ran up to me, eager to start asking questions.
"Can you skate too?"
"Can you run as fast as Sonic can?"
"Do you know any tricks?"
"Oh! Oh! Have you been to Gigalopolis?"
Stars in their eyes, they asked questions faster than I could prepare to answer them. Before they could fire off anymore, Sonic cut in.
"Woah guys! Can't believe I'm saying this, but slow down!" The two over eager kids seemed to blush at being called out.
"Why don't you guys start with names? He can't exactly respond if he doesn't know who he's talking to."
Stepping forward, Peck went first. "My name is Peck, and my buddies here are Bobby and Chirps."
Bobby, the seel, waved shyly, still flustered from being called out by Sonic, while Chirps, the chicken, gave a simple "Yo" in response.
Before I could respond the train suddenly lurched to a stop. Reaching out, I grabbed hold of Peck before he could fall face first.
"This is a Spring Yard Bound Q Express train. The next stop, 53rd Street. Stand clear of the closing doors please."
"Shit, we nearly missed our stop." Sonic swore, grabbing hold of me. Running out the doors with me in hand, he gave a wave to the kids, flinching slightly at his injured arm again.
"We'll see you guys later!" Sonic said. The kids gave a final wave, although they were clearly disappointed that we had to go.
"Come on, this way. It's only a few more blocks down." And sure enough, there was a large general hospital. The word 'EMERGENCY' helped it stand out, although we went right to the main entrance. Sonic went right up to the counter while I took a seat in front of a low table.
On the table sat a pile of magazines and other papers. While I wouldn't normally distract myself with them, my attention was drawn to one of the pamphlets. It was a map of the city, and the date on it showed it was recent. Scanning over it, I found the hospital we were located at.
Glancing up, I noticed Sonic approaching me. Plopping into the seat next to me, he let out a sigh.
"Looks like I'm gonna be here for a bit. Nothing that requires the ICU, but I can't really do much without an appointment." Tapping his foot in impatience, he stopped before reaching out for a magazine as well.
He really did like reading, huh? Thinking back to our conversation in Marble Zone, I took another glance at the map. Tracing my finger, I found what I was looking for, about 40 or so blocks down. Taking a peek at the clock on the wall, I came to a decision as I rose from my chair.
"I'm gonna drop by the library real quick." Waving the map, Sonic gave a shrug as he reclined further back into the chair.
"Be my guest." He said with a huff. "Not like I'm going anywhere anytime soon." Leaving him be, I made my way out of the hospital. Looking between the street and the sidewalk, I decided I wasn't suicidal enough to try sprinting between cars. Deciding on the more scenic route, I walked towards the library, taking glances at the map every so often.
The trip to the library held little fanfare. Much like I had determined on the train earlier, there was little difference between the cities back home, and the cities on this planet. The "scenic" route got rather stale when I started to ignore the people around me.
The library itself was also rather, well, standard. Sitting at a solid 7 floors, I'm sure there were more books in here than I could possibly imagine. That worked better for me though. It meant I was likely to find what I was looking for. Glad that I could count on libraries being sorted well, I gave a silent greeting to the librarian behind the counter at the entrance before making my way to the upper floors. Lurking through the bookshelves, I found what I was looking for in the S section: South Island Historian.
Taking my prize with me, I walked until I found an empty corner where I could go unbothered. Finding a secluded set of tables hidden deep between the shelves, I slid out a chair situated next to a window with a nice view of the city. Cracking open the rather large history book, I decided to start my search at its table of contents.
Let's see here… Chaos Emeralds, Chaos Emeralds… no luck. Is there a treasure section at least? Thumbing through I found a chapter on Ruins and History. Chapter 27 to be exact. Flipping deep into the book, I started to skim through the chapter. Marble Zone's ruins were mentioned, along with a set of caves hidden underwater. Oh, and the last set of people who went to find them returned with only one member left of their crew.
Really starting to wonder what Sonic found so interesting about this island. Actually scratch that, he'd probably love a natural death trap.
The book was certainly helpful though. Reading a little further, I was met with a section on the local historical legends.
"South Island holds a connection with six mystical gems. Known as the Chaos Emeralds, these rocks are presumably the reason why South Island never stays in one geographical location. While these Chaos Emeralds have never been discovered as of recent history, their displacement may result in the entirety of South Island sinking."
Sinking…? Well that doesn't sound right at all. For one, there are seven emeralds, not six. And they certainly aren't localized on South Island. Unless there were more than just the main seven. Or I guess in this case, there would be a set of emeralds for every large land mass? The island didn't seem to be sinking and Sonic and I already had two emeralds, so hopefully that's not something we have to worry about.
Unfortunately that's all the info I could find on the emeralds. No mention of giant rings either. Although I'm sure that it's unlikely that anyone who actually found one of these rings was able to actually get their hands on an emerald. Thinking back to our last trip into the Special Stage, it was a wonder how I even got out.
Deciding not to think too much about it (because boy did the thought of falling in an endless void not really sit well with me), I flipped from the section I was in to the chapter on Spring Yard Zone. Might as well do some research on where I am.
Section on Springopolis, the history of the creation of the city, yadda yadda. Skimming through the sections, I stopped on the origin of Spring Yard's name. "Spring Yard gets its name from the mysterious phenomenon seen only in this regional Zone." Interesting. I always figured they were man made, and by Eggman.
"Those who have observed this phenomena have noted the appearance of large, spherical objects, colored red and adorned with the emblem of a star. Interacting with these spherical objects have shown them to have properties that cause anything to come into contact with it to bounce off. These spring-like bumpers have been attributed directly to the naming of this Zone."
Seeing as there wasn't much left to the name origin section, and the rest of the chapter only seemed to go on about people in the Zone's history that wouldn't really help me, I decided to close the book. And my timing seemed to be impeccable; I could see the sun setting across the horizon.
It was halfway back to the hospital when I noticed them across the street, rushing down the stairs from another train stop. Running in a panicked rush were two of the kids that I had met earlier on the train. Chirps and Bobby looked like they had seen a ghost, and had no intention of sticking around to deal with it.
Weird, the skates and scooter they seemed to have been taking such good care of were also missing. Before I could think too hard on it, a familiar unwelcome presence rushed down the stairwell and around the corner after them: Buzzbombers. People on the streets screamed in fright as the robots aggressively chased the kids.
Running to chase after the kids myself, I sped up and weaved through the traffic on the street.
Watching the kids run down an alley, I grabbed hold of a stray garbage bag before leaping towards a fire escape ladder. Grabbing hold with one hand, I swung myself towards one of the two Buzzbombers. Altering its flight course, I used the garbage bag I was holding onto as a makeshift projectile. Nailing the other bee robot before it could take aim at the kids, I shifted its focus over to me while it tried to regain its flight direction.
Letting it take aim, I jumped from the Buzzbombers I was already sitting on and back to the ground. Nailing my previous robot platform with a blast, the Buzzbomber slammed into the wall of the tight alleyway. Watching it hit the ground, I slammed my foot on it/ head for good measure. Sure enough, a small flicky crawled its way out of the main body.
"…Woah." Surprised by Chirps' exclamation, I remembered why I was in the alley in the first place.
"Weren't there three of you before?" No wait, that's not what I wanted to ask first. Mentally face palming, I closed my eyes to give my brain time to catch up to my mouth.
"Are you guys oka-"
"OhmygoshtheyattackedusoutofnowhereandPecktriefightthemand-" before I could even get my sentence out, Bobby started practically wailing as he panicked between tears.
Did I just make him cry? Before I could beat myself up over it though, Chirps cut in.
"Peck is still at the construction site!"
Construction site? Seeing my questioning look, Chirps elaborated.
"At the end of the train line, past the forest at the edge of the city, is a swamp. There's been construction there for as long as I can remember. I don't know what they're building there, but we've been sneaking in to mess around and skate."
"And that's where Peck is?" I asked. Chirps and Bobby nodded.
"We got attacked by more of those flying robots. Peck nailed one with his skateboard before telling us to run ahead of him. We ran as fast as we could but lost him after the forest." Nodding at Chirps explanation, I made to leave the alley.
"Wait, where are you going?" Bobby said.
Peaking over my shoulder, I gave them a wave. "I'm going to the construction site. Someone's gotta bail your friend out, right?" Leaving the alley, the two boys followed me as I made my way up the stairs to the train tracks.
"But the train's already left by now, how are you going to get there?" Ignoring Bobby, I looked down the tracks towards the end of the line. Looks like a straight shot, but it was hard to tell. The horizon was filled with the setting sun, hitting my vision dead on. Reaching for the map I had held onto before I cracked it open before handing it to Chirps.
"You see this hospital right here?" pointing at the map, I made sure they were both looking. "Sonic is staying here right now. Go get him, and tell him the same thing you told me."
Jumping on to the tracks, the people at the station looked on in surprise. Getting into a sprinters start, I ignored the calls of the train goers as they yelled at me to get up from the tracks. Taking off in a sprint, those yells faded completely as everyone at the station watched me fade into the distance.
0.0.0
Chirps watched as the hedgehog made like a rocket down the tracks. Getting over his wonder, he grabbed hold of Bobby while the rest of the station crowd looked on in amazement.
"Woah Chirps, what are you-" with his dried tears nearly forgotten in the shock of the new hedgehog's speed, Bobby was dragged down the stairs and pulled down the street.
"We should have never left Peck behind." Bobby went quiet. After all, Chirps was right. Bobby was the shy one of their little group. He found confidence was often hard to come by. They loved to joke that Peck had enough for the both of them.
Bobby wanted to change that. He wanted to be more confident. He wanted to be cooler. And well, Peck wanted to go to the construction site. So Bobby decided he wanted to go too. Thinking back to earlier in the day, that was probably where everything went wrong.
Chirps was against the trip to the site. After all, the last time they went they had got caught. His dad had nearly grounded him for a month, but Peck took most of the ire. Chirps was certain that Bobby would have taken his side. But while confidence was hard to come by for Bobby, it wasn't impossible.
"It'll be fine!" Peck had said. "This time we'll keep an eye out for any of the workers. This time if we see anything, we'll run before they can catch us." Chirps had relented too. He figured someone had to actually keep an eye out. Peck would be too focused on his board and the next trick to actually keep an eye out.
Sneaking in was easy. They had found a hole in the surrounding fences, same from the last time they had snuck in. Of course, they probably could have snuck in through the front gate; the site seemed to be void of any of its workers.
Chirps was on edge, Peck was excited, and Bobby was feeling like maybe nothing would go wrong this time.
Finding a good spot, Peck got straight to work. Pulling a camera from his bag, he put Bobby on camera duty. They had barely gotten to film before Chirps caught their attention and told them to hide.
Ducking behind another green fence and around a purple pillar, the three kids waited while they listened for the vehicle that was passing by. With the sound of wheels screeching to a halt, the boys expected to see something like a car, or maybe even a golf card.
What they weren't expecting were robots. In the open sat a small army of pink robots. Adorned with large spikes, if it weren't for the color and the wheels, one could mistake them for overgrown porcupines.
The spikes on their backs were more than enough for the boys to decide to call it quits. They had come expecting at worst a stern talking to, not a futuristic uprising. The boys all snuck back the way they had come, darting between fences and behind whatever cover they could find.
Of course, today hadn't quite met its quota for 'Things that could possibly go wrong, would'. Just before they were home free, they were spotted. So focused on the pink robots roaming the ground, Chirps and Bobby hadn't bothered to look up.
Feeling a shove from behind, Bobby lost his footing. Turning in fear, he was met with Peck's outstretched hands as a robot flew right where Bobby was previously standing.
"RUN!" Peck yelled out, and the three boys ran as hard as they could towards the broken fence. The boys weren't fast enough however. And the flying robot was certainly to be gaining on them.
They weren't going to make it. Chirps was sure of it. Peck was certain of it too. Coming to a split second decision, Peck stopped before whirling around, with skateboard in hand. Wielding his board like a baseball bat, Peck mustered as much force as he could, smashing it into the side of the robot.
"Go!" Peck yelled, as more robots creeped out from the construction site. "I'll catch up with you!"
Chirps had grabbed hold of Bobby to pull him towards the crack in the fence. Bobby didn't want to leave Peck behind. But confidence was hard to come by for Bobby, and he had used all of it up already. So they ran.
All the way back to the train station, they ran while quietly looking over their shoulders. Hopping on the train back towards the City, the two boys hoped they could find someone who could help. Of course, they were blissfully unaware of their trail, hot in pursuit of the train car they were on.
And so here they were now, their group of three down to two, and rushing to someone who they hoped could help them. Sonic was like a cool older brother. And if that other hedgehog, who had taken off at a speed that looked like it could rival the self proclaimed (but very likely) fastest thing alive, told them that he would need Sonic's help, then they were glad to get him.
Bobby and Chirps wanted their friend back. They didn't know if Sonic could take on evil robots, but they knew one thing: they could count on him to save Peck.
Author's Note:
Hey guys, sorry this is getting out a month late. I kinda got screwed over by exams (and funnily enough I have another one tomorrow). Good news is I'm making good progress on Chapter 4, so expect that in a month. Figured I'd also drop some of the songs I've been listening to while writing these chapters, so you can get an idea of the kind of headspace I was in. For chapter 1 and 2, I was basically listening to Love You "Sonic" on repeat. I wanted to try and recapture the feeling of the Sonic CD ending cutscene with the different zones. For this chapter, I listened to a fan PC Port version of Collision Chaos, and a fan made Sonic CD Present Time inspired remix of Spring Yard Zone by Moonster on YT. If you guys are the type that like to listen while reading, I'll keep including these from now on.
Remember to Follow, Favorite, and Review, and I'll see you guys in about a month.