- Chapter 18 -

Clash of the Sonics

Mystic Cave Zone

Leaving the Hill Top Zone behind, the Freedom Fighters soon found themselves descending into the depths of the Mystic Cave Zone. They took in their surroundings, seeing all the spiraling tunnels filled with moss-covered rocks and dangling tendrils of ivy, the caves themselves being a dull purple with old mining equipment strewn about.

"Nice place," Sonic said flatly. "Just digging the 'prepare to die' ambiance."

"Personally, it gives me the creeps," Tails admitted.

"Everyone stay close," Sally ordered.

Tails raised the Miles Electric, checking the readings. "The energy signature's coming from somewhere up ahead. Follow me."

They all followed him as they moved through the tunnels, eventually coming across a broken bridge over a deep pit. Tails double-checked the radar, nodding.

"Down there," he confirmed.

"So how do we get down?" Sonic asked.

"Jump?" Shortfuse offered.

"There's no telling how deep it is," Sally replied.

"Maybe Tails and Shorty can fly us down," Rotor suggested.

"Honestly, I don't see any other way," Tails confessed.

"That'll be a lot of trips," Shortfuse pointed out.

"You have a better idea?" Bunnie questioned rhetorically.

"Yeah, better safe than splattered," Sonic agreed.

So that's just what they did. Tails and Shortfuse flew the other Freedom Fighters down the pit, two at a time. Last was Rotor, who they worked together to get down. Once they all landed, they took in the surroundings. They were in a massive area, littered with various multi-colored gems and crystals.

"Those are a lot of Chaos Emeralds," Sonic remarked.

"Not quite, Sonic," Porker said. "I think those are Power Gems."

"What's the difference?" Sonic asked.

"Power Gems are similar, but weaker," Porker explained. "They say they're the source of power in every Lake of Rings on the planet."

Sonic blinked, looking them over again. "You mean, these are what Power Rings come from? Uncle Chuck and his buddies always said they were byproducts of the Chaos Emeralds."

"It's not implausible to assume there's a connection," Rotor confessed.

Before the conversation could continue, Sonic perked, hearing a footstep. He raised a hand to quiet them down.

"What's-?" Antoine began.

"Shh!" Sonic covered his mouth. "I don't think we're alone down here."

Everyone fell silent, listening closely. Sonic tiptoed over to where he heard the sound, motioning for them to follow. Once they were in position, he held up three fingers.

"On three," he whispered. "One… two… THREE!"

The Freedom Fighters all lunged out, dogpiling the figure and pinning them to the ground.

"Oi!" the figure shouted in a familiar voice. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Sally blinked at the sound of the voice, and looked down to see who they had grabbed.

"Relic?!" they all exclaimed.

Sure enough, it was the Mobian pika they had run into back at the Aquatic Ruins.

"You guys?!" Relic realized. "What are you all doing here?"

They all backed off, letting Relic get up.

"What are you doing here?" Johnny asked. "And how'd you get here before us?"

Relic dusted herself off, readjusting her glasses. "Every girl has a secret or two, Johnny. Let's just leave it at that."

The group exchanged looks before shrugging.

"So what are you doing here?" Sonic questioned.

Relic's face lit up, having clearly been waiting for someone to answer that question.

"I'm glad you asked," she declared. "Through hours of tireless searching and digging, I believe Fixit and I have come across the fabled Hidden Palace Zone of Westside Island."

She was met with a group of blank looks at that.

"It's another remnant of the Ancients," she clarified. "According to the texts I've read, it was here they conducted experiments into harnessing the power of the Chaos Emeralds." She gestured to the crystals around them. "This gave birth to the Power Gems you see before you."

"Guess that explains all the mining equipment we saw on the way down here," Shortfuse mused.

"That's not all," Relic added. "I found something truly amazing. It's easier to show than tell."

She led them to a wide open, cathedral-like chamber. The group took in the sights, and were amazed at the sight of several Power Gems in the process of fusing together, forming what appeared to be new Chaos Emeralds. Everyone was in utter shock at the sight.

"No wonder my Emerald Radar went crazy," Tails remarked.

"So this is how the Chaos Emeralds are made?" Sonic questioned.

"At the very least, the Ancients discovered a way to make more," Relic replied.

"Whoa…" Sonic let out. "Maybe we could do the same. Get the edge on Robuttnik."

"Possible, but unlikely," Relic said. "The art of Chaos Emerald forging is a forgotten method only the Ancients knew of."

Sonic took that in silently, then stiffened as he felt a tingle in his quills. He turned around toward the door they came in through.

"Everyone look out!" he shouted.

They all ducked as a silver blur darted in, narrowly missing them.

"What in the name of-?!" Antoine exclaimed.

The blur stopped, revealing Robotnik's Silver Sonic prototype, which turned to face them.

"It…" Porker stammered. "It's a robot Sonic!"

"Seriously?" Sonic demanded. "Robotnik made a robot clone of me?"

He looked it over, scowling in disapproval.

"First of all, I'm much more attractive than that."

The robot seemed to glare at him before launching at Sonic. Sonic met him halfway, the two clashing. The two became blurs, speeding around one another and clashing repeatedly. Eventually, Silver Sonic lashed out with one of his clamps, his arm stretching and grabbing Sonic by the neck before slamming him against the wall.

"Argh!" Sonic spat. "Cheap shot!"

Silver Sonic soon got the better of Sonic, flinging him around before tossing him into a cluster of Power Gems. The minute he landed in them, the gems seemed to react to his presence, glowing brightly. Relic wiped her glasses before doing a double take.

"That's… unexpected," she remarked.

All eyes were on the gems as they produced a Power Ring. Tails gasped.

"So that is where Power Rings come from!" he exclaimed.

Silver Sonic immediately tried to grab the ring, but Sonic was quicker on the draw.

"Sorry!" he taunted. "You're too slow!"

The minute Sonic grabbed the ring, he was powered up and began running circles around Silver Sonic.

"Sorry, robo-fraud!" he declared. "There's only room for one Sonic on Mobius, and it's not gonna be you!"

With that, he dashed right at Silver Sonic, plowing right through him and tearing him to pieces. As the ring energy faded, he caught the robot's still-intact head.

"Alas, poor fake," he recited in a faux-dramatic voice. "I knew him well."

After a minute, he shrugged. "Well, not really."

With that, he nonchalantly tossed the head aside before turning to see his friends looking at him oddly.

"Yes, I've seen some classical literature and all that," he deadpanned. "Try not to faint."

Sally just rolled her eyes. "Tails, can you find anything useful?"

Tails searched around with the Miles Electric, eventually finding the cyan Chaos Emerald sitting around.

"Four down, three to go," he noted.

"Why can we not just take the others around here?" Antoine asked.

"They're still merging from the Power Gems," Rotor pointed out. "No telling what might happen if we separate them or disrupt the process."

"It's never a dull moment with you lot, is it?" Relic questioned.

Sonic grinned. "Not if we can help it."

Tails held up the Miles Electric once more, pressing a few buttons before getting a reading.

"Alright," he said at last. "There's another Chaos Emerald somewhere outside the caves. In the Wood Zone, from the looks of it."

"Really?" Sonic snorted. "Of all the Zone names they could've come up with, someone drew the short straw and came up with 'Wood Zone'?"

"This coming from the guy who likes to run around the Green Hill Zone," Sally shot back.

"Yeah, but I'm not the one who named it, am I?" Sonic retorted.

Sally just shrugged. "Let's just go."

"The exit's this way," Relic told them, pointing. "Straight ahead, you can't miss it."

Robotropolis

On the monitor, Robotnik watched as Silver Sonic faced off against Sonic, giving the blue hero a run for his money before ultimately being destroyed, upon which the screen went black.

"Damn," he cursed. "Waste of a good robot."

After a minute, he shrugged. "Still, I believe we've achieved enough data to move onto the official model."

"Wonderful news, sir," Snively mused. "Though I must admit, I half-expected you to be far angrier."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm quite annoyed," Robotnik clarified. "But that was the entire point of deploying it. Whether the prototype defeated Sonic or not, any bugs or flaws in its design would be made apparent for us to iron out. Regardless of the outcome, I win."

"Brilliant, Doctor," Grimer congratulated. "I imagine next time, the outcome will be quite different."

"Oh, it will be," Robotnik vowed, chuckling menacingly. "Sonic's days are numbered."

Author's Note:

Another one down.

The Power Gems are from Archie, whereas the part of them producing Power Rings is taken from the Power Rock/Stone from SatAM; the idea of them slowly fusing together to create new Chaos Emeralds is my own spin. Also, the Hidden Palace Zone is a deleted level from Sonic 2, restored in the 2013 rerelease for mobile systems; the Chaos Emeralds forming down there is a reference to the original plan, where Hidden Palace would be where Sonic unlocked Super Sonic after getting all seven Emeralds.

Next chapter is the Wood Zone, a level deleted from the original Sonic 2, but featured in Archie in the post-first Mega Man crossover comics. What awaits Sonic and co. there?

Tune in next time to find out. Please R&R.