-Chapter 84-
Fire and Ice
Diamond Dust Zone
The Freedom Fighters made their way up the mountain, soon finding themselves in a snowy area. Icy walls decorated the area, along with pine trees covered in snow. Amy shivered profusely, while Sonic seemed largely unfazed.
"Wish we could've gone back for my long johns," she lamented before turning to Sonic. "How can you stand this cold?"
"It's all in your head, Amy," Sonic replied. "You just think you're cold. Think 'I'm not cold,' and you won't feel it."
"You're delusional if you think that works," Amy retorted.
"Yeah, pretty sure your jacket is doing all the work," Knuckles added.
Sonic shrugged. "Believe what you want to."
"Besides, I'm a delicate lady," Amy argued. "I chill easily."
"Really?" Sally asked. "I thought for sure Mercia had snow in the winter."
"Not this badly..."
"Guys, focus!" Tails insisted. "The sooner we find the Flickies in the area, the sooner we can get somewhere warmer."
There were murmurs of consent from everyone, especially Amy. They headed in, soon coming across a field decorated with numerous snowmen wearing green hats and matching scarves.
"Snowmen?" Knuckles asked. "Think Eggatha's here and she decided to have some fun?"
"No way," Sonic replied. "They're too uniform. Too identical."
"Sonic's right," Tails agreed. "Something fishy's going on here."
Sally approached one of the snowmen before trying to push it over. It didn't budge, and everyone tensed when the snowman's hat opened up to reveal a cannon.
"Sal, hit the deck!" Sonic shouted.
Sally dropped as an icy blast shot out of the cannon. She used her Ring Blade to slide through the base of the snowman, revealing circuitry and servos.
"They're Badniks!" Knuckles exclaimed. "They're all Badniks!"
"Which means there are Flickies inside!" Sonic added. "Let's get to smashing!"
He took off running for the nearest one. It began rapid firing at him, trying to hit him with an icy blast. One managed to hit his foot and he was instantly frozen to the ground. Knuckles came and kicked the head of the snowman off, then came over to Sonic, shattering the ice around his foot.
"What was that?!" he demanded. "You're usually a lot faster than that!"
"Dude, this place is solid ice," Sonic defended. "I have barely any traction on this kinda terrain."
"So you're basically useless up here," Knuckles sighed. "Great."
"Rude much?" Sonic deadpanned.
More snowmen fired on them, forcing them to scatter. Despite his handicap, Sonic did what he could to attack the snowmen, tucking into a ball and bouncing off several of them. Soon, all of the snowmen were scrapped, and a few Flickies came flying out. Many of them were shivering, their small bodies unable to properly handle the cold.
"Oh, you poor things," Amy said sympathetically.
Sonic slipped out of his jacket, bundling it into a makeshift nest for all the Flickies. "It's not much, but it's better than nothing."
Amy whistled and chirped for a bit at the Flickies, who replied in short order.
"There are more Flickies in an ice cave not too far from here," she translated. "Eggman's got them in a cage under heavy guard."
"Let me get these guys out of the snow, then we'll go get the rest," Sonic decided.
One Flicky tweeted, flying up and rooting around in the snow nearby for something. Tails walked over as the Flicky nudged the cyan Chaos Emerald out of the drift.
"A Chaos Emerald!" Tails scooped it up. "Thanks."
The bird chirped, then nestled itself back into the jacket nest.
"I'll be right back," Sonic said as he ran off, returning a minute or so later with his jacket replaced. "Alright, let's go save the rest of the Flickies."
-X-
They headed further up the mountain, soon coming across a cave built into the side. They could hear low chirping, warbled by the cold and obvious shivering.
"We have to hurry," Amy insisted. "The Flickies will freeze at this rate."
The quintet hurried inside, seeing the Flickies locked in a cage hanging from the ceiling.
"Let's see…" Sonic mused. "Flickies hanging from the ceiling, just waiting for us to bust them out. Trap?"
Tails nodded. "Trap."
Knuckles balled up a snowball, throwing it at one of the cages. Once it got close, turrets came out and shot the ball, turning it into a large block of ice and dropping it onto the ground.
"Freeze rays," the Echidna sighed. "Of course."
"We go in there, we're popsicles," Sally noted.
"Maybe we could confuse the motion sensors," Tails suggested. "Lob several snowballs and give someone the chance to open that cage."
"Sonic's the only one fast enough to get past them," Amy mused. "But with all the ice around…"
Knuckles looked around, then spotted a rock. He went over and punched it, shattering it.
"Sonic, come here," he urged.
Though confused, Sonic did so. When he did, Knuckles grabbed his ankle, lifting up one of his feet. He then began taking shards of the rock and sticking them into the soles of the shoe.
"Hey, what the-?!" Sonic let out.
"Makeshift ice cleats," Knuckles explained as he picked up Sonic's other foot and did the same. "They'll help you maintain your footing."
"That's a great idea," Tails noted. "I'll add those to the list."
Knuckles finished his work. To test it out, Sonic jogged in place, pleasantly surprised to see he wasn't slipping.
"Alright, get into position," Sally ordered.
They did so, making snowballs as Sonic got into a runner's pose.
"Ready…" Sally began. "Set… NOW!"
They began throwing snowballs at the same moment Sonic took off running. The turrets fired on the snowballs and tried to hit Sonic, but his improvised cleats made it easier to dodge. He even used one icy blast to completely freeze the lock so he could snap it. He threw the cage open, snatching all the Flickies out and taking off. Once they were clear of the cave, the firing stopped and all the Flickies were safe.
"Nice work, guys," Sonic remarked, handing the Flickies to Amy before sitting down and pulling the rocks from his shoes.
"Okay, we got the Flickies and the Chaos Emerald," Amy declared, suppressing a shiver. "Can we please get out of this frozen wasteland already?"
"No argument here," Sonic told her.
"Ask them where to head next," Sally requested.
Amy did so, the Flickies tweeting back.
"Eggman's base isn't too far from here. A straight shot through the Volcano Valley Zone."
"Volcano Valley, eh?" Sonic let out as he finally got back on his feet. "So first, we freeze our tails off, then get baked in superheat. Now I know how a frozen pizza feels."
"Quit your bellyaching and let's get going," Knuckles insisted.
Volcano Valley Zone
After an hour or so of walking, the Freedom Fighters left the cool slopes of Diamond Dust behind. As the air got hotter, Sonic removed his jacket, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Black leather and volcanic heat," he grumbled. "Not a good combo."
"Leather in general and volcanic heat sucks," Knuckles agreed, taking off his hoodie, tying it around his waist. "Go on and ditch the shirt too. With those leather pants of yours, you'll want as much exposed fur as possible."
After a minute, Sonic nodded and removed his shirt. At the sight of his bare chest and spines, Amy's eyes widened, her jaw dropping. Tails sighed, closing her mouth.
"Show some dignity, please," the fox deadpanned.
Amy shook her head, clearing her thoughts.
"Don't feel embarrassed," Sally told her. "I reacted the same way the first time."
Sonic smirked. "I am hedgehog perfection."
Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Someone build a wind farm in front of his mouth."
"Oh, like you haven't bolstered yourself in front of someone you liked," Sonic shot back.
With that, they headed further in. In the distance, between the mounds of solidified lava adorned with crystals, dead trees, and lava pools, they could see a makeshift facility.
"In there," Sally said.
They made for the facility, entering to see numerous glass capsules with red caps on the tops. Inside sat what looked like fiery icons.
"That's new," Sonic remarked.
Tails headed for the nearby computer, typing away for several minutes.
"Whoa!" he let out at last. "These capsules contain some sort of Flame Shield. It's to help fireproof Eggman's Badniks."
"Flame Shield, eh?" Amy repeated. "Those could definitely come in handy."
Tails plugged a small gadget with his two tailed insignia on it, pressing a button to download the info. "Hope's gonna love this."
"Maybe we should snag some," Sonic pondered. "Would make traversing this place easier."
"Getting a little ahead of yourself," Knuckles pointed out. "How do we even activate these things?"
Amy took her hammer, smashing one of the capsules. Flames instantly surrounded her, swirling in a hypnotic pattern.
"Like that," she said.
Sonic shrugged. "Works for me."
They all broke the capsules open, surrounding themselves in Flame Shields.
"This is beyond weird," Sally mused.
"I would've said trippy," Knuckles replied.
The group exited the facility, and the ground began rumbling before it separated, revealing a magma deposit. They all dropped, Tails spinning his tails and managing to catch Sally and Amy. Knuckles dug his fists into the sides, stopping himself. Sonic, however, wasn't so lucky and landed in the lava with a splash.
"SONIC!" Sally screamed in horror.
Shockingly, Sonic surfaced, quickly scrambling out of the magma.
"Whoa…" he let out. "That was one of the scariest things I have ever experienced!"
"How are you not dead?!" Knuckles demanded.
"I have no idea," Sonic confessed. "Flame Shield, maybe?"
"Let's discuss this when we're on solid ground, please!" Sally insisted.
They climbed out of the pit, Sonic taking several deep breaths.
"Can we sit for a minute?" he asked. "My heart's beating too fast, even for me."
They all rested at that, Tails studying the swirling fire as they did.
"Definitely gonna get Hope to reverse engineer these," he decided.
"Yep," Sonic agreed. "Perfect for when we gotta deal with hot lava."
Once all of them had more acceptable heart rates, they got back up and continued onward.
"So, how long do you think these shields will last?" Amy asked.
"Hard to say," Tails replied.
"Let's just hope we get out of here before we find out," Sally decided.
As they went along, they soon came to a small island surrounded by lava, on which sat one of Robotnik's prison capsules.
"The Flickies!" Amy exclaimed.
"I got this," Sonic declared.
Before he could get to it, they heard a laugh, and saw the ground open up. From it extended multiple pipes, in the midst of which the Egg Mobile was plugged in.
"Feeling the heat yet?" Robotnik cackled.
"Eggman!" Sonic shouted.
"No way, it's not him," Sally insisted. "It has to be an Eggbot."
"Yeah," Amy agreed, "that fat tub of lard is still in his full coat."
"Clever girl," The Eggbot commended. "So sorry I can't join you in person., but I'm quite busy at the moment."
"Too busy terrorizing innocent birds," Sonic sneered. "Seriously Eggman, has your ego taken such a hit that you have to get your kicks making birds cry?"
"I do what I have to in order to bring my brilliance to Mobius." The Eggbot then looked them over, scowling. "Using my Flame Shields against me... you thieving rats!"
The group exchanged looks.
"This coming from the guy who stole my Uncle Chuck's Roboticizer schematics for his own plans," Sonic retorted bitterly. "Wow. Wow. You know, you've got some nerve, I'll give you that."
'And you're running out of time," the Eggbot taunted. "How long has it been since you put on my fire shields? Ten, twenty minutes?"
"I don't like where this is going…" Amy let out.
"Nor should you. You see, my shields have a thirty minute timer, as well as a limit on just how much they can take." The Eggbot turned the guns on the Egg Mobile towards the group. "Here, let me show you!"
He started firing on them, forcing them to scatter. "Either by my hands or the lava, you're dead meat!"
"We can't let him hit us!" Sally yelled.
"I don't even know if it's been thirty minutes!" Amy cried. "What if these shields give out before we can stop him?!"
"Stop psyching yourself out!" Sonic snapped.
"I'll knock his block off before he gets the chance!" Knuckles shouted.
He charged at the Eggbot, jumping and preparing a punch, only for a bullet from the Egg Mobile to hit him square in the chest and knock him into the lava.
"KNUCKLES!" everyone screamed.
Sonic gasped, his shock turning to rage as he began sparking.
"Sonic!" Sally exclaimed, pointing at him.
Sonic looked at himself, seeing the lightning was flickering between blue and black. He grabbed his stress ball, squeezing it as he desperately tried to keep his emotions under control.
"Aww, having trouble there, Sonic?" the Eggbot taunted. "Maybe a nice hot bath will do you some good!"
He fired on Sonic, only for the hedgehog to nimbly dodge.
"You think this is a game, Eggman?!" he roared. "It's not! Knuckles was one of my friends, and YOU'RE ABOUT TO LEARN WHAT THAT MEANS!"
"Hey genius, this isn't the real me, remember?" the Eggbot retorted.
"When I'm done with your bot here, YOU'RE NEXT!"
His lightning a brilliant blue, Sonic plowed into the bot, utterly destroying it. He landed, taking several deep breaths as the thing collapsed in on itself. Once he calmed himself, he dropped to his knees, punching the ground.
"Damn it!" he cursed, looking at the lava where Knuckles went down. "What am I gonna tell Knuckles' folks? Or Kat?!"
Suddenly, Knuckles surfaced in the lava, swimming for the edge. They all looked up in shock.
"Hey!" Knuckles snapped. "Quit staring and pull me out! This lava can't burn me right now, but it's still hot as hell!"
Sally quickly grabbed his hand, yanking him onto solid ground. He shook himself clean, sighing in relief.
"Aw man, you finished without me?" he sighed. "Damn."
"We thought your goose was cooked, man!" Sonic pointed out.
"Frankly, so did I. But I had a good reason for staying under," Knuckles pulled the red Chaos Emerald from his pocket. "I found this."
"The fifth Emerald!" Amy exclaimed.
"Good thing, too," Knuckles went on. "If any of the Flickies had tried to get it for us, they'd be roast chicken."
"Speaking of which…" Sonic darted to the capsule, jumping atop the button and popping it open.
The Flickies all flew out, swirling gratefully around the group. As they did, the Flame Shields all popped out of existence, and all five were hit with a wave of heat.
"Whew!" Sonic fanned himself with one hand.
"Let's leave," Sally insisted. "Now."
"Agreed," Sonic said. "From here, it's Eggman's base."
Gene Gadget Zone
The doors to the lab opened, Robotnik strolling in.
"What's the word, Doctor?" Grimer asked.
"Sonic destroyed the Eggbot at Volcano Valley," Robotnik replied. "He'll be here soon."
"You don't sound worried," Snively pointed out.
"Because I'm not," Robotnik said simply. "After all, this is one encounter Sonic won't be walking away from."
He stole a glance at the six culture tanks around them, the purple Chaos Emerald plugged into the console and feeding energy to their occupants. "My hour of victory is nigh."
Author's Note:
Well, things aren't looking good. What could these six creatures in the tanks be? Could it be that Sonic has finally met his match?
Please R&R. Until next time!
