-Chapter 197-

Rise of Babylon


Pit Stop

At the group's collective pit stop, they were joined by Sonic, who was smoothing out his fur while Team Thorndyke was doing rock-paper-scissors to decide who ran the last race.

"Finally feel clean again?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah," Sonic nodded. "That stuff did not want to wash out."

"Oh, come on!" Kat exclaimed.

"Alright, Hope, you and me," Keith declared.

They did one more round, Keith choosing paper, and Hope choosing scissors.

"Yes!" she cheered. "I race in the finale!"

"I'm good for now," Sonic decided, kicking back. "This one's all you, Tails."

"Sounds good to me," Tails decided.

"Sorry, pipsqueak, but you're not racing. Sonic is."

They turned to see Jet approach, Wave and Storm behind him and Jet visibly irked.

"Uh, excuse me?" Sonic piped up. "Last I checked, you're not in charge of my team."

"Let me rephrase," Jet said. "I'm racing in the finale, and so are you."

"Boss, chill," Storm insisted. "No matter who wins, we can still use the key to-"

"It's the principle of the thing, Storm! I'm Jet the Hawk, master of Extreme Gear! And I got beat by a rookie hedgehog who's never rode a Gear in his life?! Damn it, I have a reputation to uphold!"

Kat snorted.

"Wow, and I thought Eggman was a sore loser."

"We could've won if you'd gone with my plan, y'know," Wave muttered.

"Shut it!" Jet snapped.

"I'd listen to him," Knuckles warned, "unless you want to become a bald eagle."

Kat playfully flipped her hair, showing off the feather in it, and Wave wisely shut her mouth.

"So, you won't be satisfied unless I race in the finals, eh?" Sonic rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Okay, fine."

"Good luck," Jet said. "And I'll see you on the track."

He departed, Wave and Storm following.


Sand Hill

Later, the racers were gathered in a coliseum in Sand Hill, the spectators filling the seats as Omochao floated overhead.

"Now, our race has reached its final stage. The remaining competitors are pacing, anxious for the race to begin. Only a few minutes left. Who will win this big event?"

Von Koiti stood up from his own seat, speaking into a microphone.

"And now, it's time for the final event! And it's set here... in Sand Ruins! The rules are still the same; anything goes in this extreme race! Although it needs no further explanation, the first one to reach the goal will win this race! But remember, the prize will be won by the racer who's performed the best throughout this competition!"

The racers lined up, Sonic, Jet, Hope, and Eggatha.

"Sweet, we're racing again," Eggatha grinned.

"I thought Eggman would be in the finale," Hope mused.

"Nope," Eggatha shook her head. "Keith ruined his gear."

"Oh no, what a nightmare," Hope deadpanned.

Jet turned to Sonic, smirking.

"You've done pretty good to make it this far. But your luck runs out here, Sonic."

Sonic scoffed. "Luck has nothing to do with it, buddy."

"On your marks!" Omochao declared, the racers getting into position. "Get set!"

Jet and Sonic exchanged looks, Hope and Eggatha doing the same.

"Go!"

They took off, heading into the desert ruins. Hope and Eggatha once again found themselves neck in neck, Eggatha leveling her pie gun at Hope. Thankfully, the young Kintobor saw it in time and ducked, narrowly avoiding a lemon meringue pie launched at her.

"Oh, I'm awfully sorry," Eggatha told her, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I've made a terrible mistake." She cocked the gun and aimed once more. "You wanted cherry pie!"

She fired again, and the pie rebounded off Hope's shield.

"Really, Aggie? Really? Did you seriously forget my shield?"

"No, but it was worth a shot."

The two girls laughed as they raced. Meanwhile, Sonic and Jet were neck in neck, neither able to overtake the other.

"When this is over, I'll be the one who reigns supreme," Jet declared. "Your victory last time was a fluke."

"Oh, what's the matter, Jet?" Sonic mocked. "Can't stand the thought that somebody might actually be faster than you?"

"No matter what, I'll win!" Jet swore.

He swung his fans at Sonic, blowing him back, only for Sonic to rebound and ram into him.

"Nice try!"

They continued to be even throughout the race, until finally, the finish line loomed ahead. The two pressed ahead, going neck and neck as they pushed their gear to the limit. Finally, they both passed the finish line at seemingly the exact same time.

"Oh, my! Looks like a photo finish, racing fans!" Omochao exclaimed. "Let's show a little frame by frame, shall we?"

Overhead, a screen powered on, showing Sonic and Jet passing the finish line. Much to Jet's horror, Sonic passed the finish line mere seconds before he did.

"And that's it! Sonic the Hedgehog brings home the gold!"

The crowd exploded into cheers as Jet began fuming. A vein popped in his head as he began to turn red as a lobster, clenching his fists and seemingly about to explode before the episode passed just as quickly as it started.

"Well…" he sighed, "at least I finally found someone to keep me on my toes."

He went over to Sonic, holding out a hand. "Good race, hedgehog."

Sonic shook his hand. "You didn't do too bad yourself."

"Sonic the Hedgehog!" Von Koiti declared. "You won fair and square! Now come claim your prize!"

On cue, an altar came up, revealing the seven Chaos Emeralds donated by the racers, which Sonic quickly ascended. As soon as he got to it, Jet raised the key. Seemingly resonating with the key, the Chaos Emeralds began glowing and spinning around before shooting a small beam of light into the control box, which ignited a glowing sphere inside it. Said sphere fired a beam of light like the Emeralds, but aiming it out at the desert. In the distance, mountains of dirt were thrown out as a loud rumbling started. Every spectator and racer watched in awe as a floating ruin emerged from the sand, floating into the sky.

"Whoa…" Jet let out. "Babylon Garden… finally…"

He was so dazed and awestruck by the sight that he didn't notice when a blue blur darted forward, snatching the key out of his hands. By the time he noticed the box was missing, he heard a laugh, turning to see Metal Sonic handing the box to Robotnik, who was standing triumphantly next to Von Koiti.

"Metal!" Sonic exclaimed. "But… you were just pit crew!"

"Like I told you and your buddies before, I just earned my chance to prove myself," Metal retorted. "Did you honestly think I was going to spill his plans? Besides, you looking down on me made it easy for me to complete my true mission."

The Freedom Fighters and Team Dark immediately gathered en masse, glaring at Robotnik.

"So it's true!" Sally exclaimed. "Von Koiti's been in league with you this whole time!"

"Oh, so close. But that's not it," Robotnik smirked. "Think about it, Princess. No one has ever seen Von Koiti before now. He's only communicated through emails and the like. And hello? His name?"

Omochao clicked and whirred as he mentally rearranged the letters, projecting a hologram for all to see. As they watched, "Rob Von Koiti" became "Ivo Robotnik", getting a collective gasp as they realized it.

"That's right! I'm Rob Von Koiti!" For emphasis, Robotnik grabbed Von Koiti by the face, yanking it off to reveal a cybernetic skull beneath. "This one is an Auto Automaton I whipped up just for this!"

"Holy…" Sally facepalmed. "How did he not put it together?!"

"That's why he had your diary..." Sonic realized. "And why he was able to get his hands on your old base. Because he was never real!"

"Bingo, Jack!" Robotnik taunted. "The Battle Kukku told me all about Babylon Garden, how the key Jet stole needed all seven Chaos Emeralds. So I talked the Babylon Rogues into an alliance and set up the grand prix, knowing no matter who won, Babylon Garden would be revealed!"

The Egg Mobile flew in at that, Robotnik boarding.

"You and yours have served your purpose, Jet! But now, the Treasure of Babylon is MINE!"

"You bastard!" Jet screamed. "That treasure is my birthright, not yours!"

"You know what they say: finders keepers, losers weepers!"

Robotnik took off, laughing wickedly. Immediately, Jet boarded his Gear and flew off. At a look from Sonic, Tails pulled out the Miles Electric, pressing a button and calling in the X-Tornado.

"C'mon!" he shouted.

Team Sonic boarded the X-Tornado, Sally quickly joining them.

"Be careful, Sonic!" Keith called.


Babylon Garden

The X-Tornado took off in no time, landing in the midst of Babylon Garden. As they got off, they took in the sights of a lavishly decorated city of mosaic plazas, Byzantine domes and buildings, and winding roads for Extreme Gear traffic. Surrounding Babylon Garden was a fractured ring of tall arch bridges connected to the main structure by bridges at each of its cardinal points. Additionally, lawns, trimmed hedges, trees, and giant hanging plants grew all over the island.

"Wow…" Tails let out. "This is incredible."

"This is… wow," Knuckles said.

Above, the Rogues' airship floated overhead, the trio jumping out..

"Sightsee later!" Jet snapped. "We gotta stop that rotten egg!"

"Right," Sonic nodded. "So, considering how important this place is, I'll bet my sneakers that it has some sort of guardian. Any idea what that may be?"

"Search me," Wave replied. "All we know is that it guards the Garden's inner sanctum."

"Be ready for anything," Sally cautioned.

They hurried forward, soon arriving at an open door, the Egg Mobile off to the side.

"Oh no!" Storm exclaimed. "He got here first!"

They hurried inside, finding a large chamber inside. Robotnik was there, box in hand.

"Eggman!" Jet shouted. "Like hell you're getting the treasure! You don't deserve it!"

"And you do?" Robotnik turned to face him. "As I told the Kent boy, you and your ancestors stole your treasure and the like. You're nothing but a bunch of thieves, trying to take something that isn't yours. And frankly, so am I, but I got here first."

"That is my birthright you have in your hands!" Jet snapped. "Hand it over!"

Robotnik scoffed. "In case you've forgotten, birdbrain, if it wasn't for me, you never would have gotten the box to work or found Babylon Garden in the first place. So for doing all the hard work for you, I'm entitled to a little... compensation."

With that, he hefted the box, a door on the other end opening. They entered to find an altar, with nothing other than a yellow and red bottle.

"That's the Treasure of Babylon?" Sonic pondered. "An old wine bottle?"

As if in response, the bottle began to shake back and forth. They recoiled as sparks and smoke burst out of it, forming into a massive being that towered over them. The creature resembled a humanoid genie with vague bird features, was very broad and muscular, covered in lavender feathers, and his lower torso resembled a twirling tornado above his yellow and red bottle. Possessing no visible neck, he had a broad mouth that looked like a stubby beak with sharp canines, white eyes with no pupils and black rims, and feather-like hair with darker purple tips. For attire, he wore a magenta and orange vest with white-feathered shoulder rims, a thread necklace with three yellow metal pieces strung on, golden armbands and fingerings, and a magenta and orange waist-cloth with a magenta sash. In his hand, he held a massive scimitar.

"Infidels!" he declared in a deep, booming voice. "Thou will not take that which hath been placed here by the children of Babylon! Return to whence you came or face the consequences! So speaketh Angelus, Babylon Guardian!"

"Well… I think we found the Guardian." Knuckles remarked.

"Maybe if this guy protected the Master Emerald, it wouldn't keep getting stolen or shattered," Sonic pondered, getting a dirty look from Knuckles.

"I didn't come all this way and go through all this trouble just to get told off by a big purple lout!" Robotnik snapped. "Now hand over the treasure, or else!"

In response, Angelus raised his massive scimitar, attempting to bring it down on Robotnik. Metal Knuckles quickly caught the blade, his spiked hands actually denting.

"Run, Doctor!" he shouted.

Robotnik immediately gave the guardian a wide berth. The Babylon Rogues flew around it, for Angelus to snatch Jet off his Extreme Gear and toss him aside. Sonic and Knuckles both tried their luck, but did little damage before having to jump back. Tails was running a scan with the Miles Electric for any weaknesses.

"I got it!" he declared. "And… it actually makes a lot of sense."

They crowded around at that.

"Angelus is a genie, right? And what happens if you destroy a genie's lamp/bottle?"

"I dunno, but I'm dying to find out," Sonic said before narrowly dodging a scimitar strike.

"Poor choice of words, Sonic!" Sally cried.

"Sonic, that's the point!" Tails said. "His weak point is the bottle! Smash the bottle, destroy the genie!"

"Got it!" Sonic quickly looked around, then spotted Jet. "Jet! The bottle! Destroy it!"

"I'm on it!"

Jet dove for the bottle, knocking it off its base and into the air. With lightning speed, Sonic grabbed it out of the air, looking up at Angelus with a smirk.

"Alright, meanie! Game over!"

He flung the bottle to the ground, and the effect was instantaneous. Angelus began sparking and convulsing, what appeared to be digital distortions crawling along his skin as he roared in pain before spinning around and exploding into dust (1).

"Whoa," Tails let out. "For a moment there, Angelus looked like a hard light hologram."

"Geek out later," Knuckles chastised. "We need to find the treasure."

They headed into another room, finding a treasure chest. Jet immediately opened it up, everyone looking inside. As they took it in, they heard a gun cock, and turned to see Robotnik, his rocket launcher attachment primed.

"Too awestruck by the treasure to notice me, eh?" he taunted before holding out a hand. "Now hand it over!"

Sonic and Jet exchanged looks before laughing, which just confused the doctor.

"W-What's so funny? Hand over the treasure right now!"

"Okay, take it," Jet declared, tears in his eyes from laughter.

He pulled it out, tossing it at the doctor, who fumbled to catch it.

"Yes! The Treasure of Babylon is…" he looked to see what he had just caught, "a piece of cloth?"

Indeed, what he had in his hands was, by all appearances, a perfectly ordinary-looking blue, purple, red, white, and yellow carpet. A small piece of paper fluttered to the ground.

"Hey, what's this?" Tails went to reach it, but Robotnik snatched it up first.

"I'll take that!" he cleared his throat and began reading. "'At long last we've created our ultimate invention. With this, our lives will be easier, without the need to work so hard to keep ourselves flying. Stolen, the 13th leader of the Babylon Rogues…'"

He looked over the carpet.

"It's amazing! The carpet's rich texture is a sight to behold! And the way it feels is extraordinary... something such as this could only have been created in Babylon! Undoubtedly, this carpet will be in high demand from all around the world."

That was when it hit him. He scowled, looking it up and down at arm's length.

"No way... this is the famed treasure? I went to all that trouble, wasted so much time organizing the World Grand Prix... for an Aurora-damned rug?!" In a rage, he threw it at the group, where it completely blanketed Tails. "Metal! MK! Agatha! We're leaving!"

"But, the rug-!" Eggatha objected.

"Is completely useless!" Robotnik snapped. "And to think I ruined my ultimate disguise for this!"

With that, Team Robotnik got into the Egg Mobile and took off. Tails pulled himself out from under the rug, looking at it.

"Guys, take a look at this," he said.

"Good eyes, shorty," Wave remarked as they gathered around.

"What is it?" Sonic asked.

"This isn't just a piece of fabric, Blue," Wave explained.

"Exactly," Tails confirmed. "Take a look at the material. It's the same stuff we use for our Extreme Gear. It just might be the original Gear."

"You don't say…" Jet held out the key, the light within resonating and causing the carpet to float off the ground. "I'll be damned. A magic carpet. Never imagined that we Babylonians could be descendants of real genies."

"Man, Eggman has no idea what he just gave up," Knuckles chuckled.

Sonic caught the carpet, rolling it up. "Here, Jet. Like you said, it's your birthright."

Jet looked it over for a minute before shaking his head.

"Keep it," he decided. "You won the race and earned it."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Yeah. Besides, there's plenty of other good stuff we can find in the garden," Jet smirked. "But enough of this friendly banter, Sonic. You better make sure you're ready when we meet face to face once again."

Sonic smirked back. "You got it."


Robotropolis

In his throne room, Robotnik ranted and raved over the situation to the Battle Kukku.

"A carpet! A useless, flimsy piece of fabric! THAT is your legendary treasure?!" he shouted. "You promised Babylon Garden would have great technology! A true treasure to behold! Instead, all we found was a worthless carpet!"

"Uncle Ivo!" Eggatha shouted, exasperated.

Robotnik turned to her. "What?!"

"I've been trying to tell you this entire time! That was Babylonian technology!"

"...Excuse me?"

"That was a magic carpet. An early form of Extreme Gear. And you just gave up, assumed it was useless, and let the Freedom Fighters have it without so much as a single threat!"

Robotnik stood there in silence, his eye twitching under his glasses. After a minute, he went over to the wall before beginning to bang his head against it in annoyance. Eggatha turned to the Battle Kukku.

"Just… show yourself out," she sighed. "We're done here."

The Kukku immediately did so as Robotnik pulled away from the wall, his forehead bruised as he slumped in his chair and rubbed his eyes.

"Just once, I wish things would go my way…" he lamented.


Author's Note:

(1): For visuals, think Jafar's death in The Return of Jafar.

And there we have it! The Riders arc is complete! What will happen next? Stay tuned.

The Babylon Guardian comes from the game, of course; his name comes from Archie.

Voice cast:

* Angelus - Frank Welker, in his Cave of Wonders voice from Aladdin

Please R&R. Until next time!