- Chapter 25 -

Submerged Sonic

Launch Base

While Knuckles was busy trying to hunt down Sonic, Robotnik and his surviving Badniks had managed to get the Death Egg to an old, uninhabited industrial area past the mountains. While Swatbots and Troopers patrolled the ground, Robotnik looked over an old sign, faded but readable.

"'Launch Base'..." he read aloud. "Never expected to see something like this on this island."

He began looking around, surveying the area. "Quite a large amount of tech here. I wonder who built this place. Clearly not that Knucklehead. He looks like he's still in the Stone Age."

Before he could ponder the matter further, one of his drones approached, having finished recon.

"Knowing my luck, I'm going to go out on a limb and say Sonic is on the island," Robotnik said flatly.

"Correct," the drone confirmed. "He is traveling with a two tailed fox and a pika."

Robotnik gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"I've had it with that blue rat!" he spat, stamping his foot. "No more Mr. Nice Guy. I'm putting him down permanently. Deploy the Flying Battery!"

"Affirmative," the drone replied. "Your orders?"

"Simple," Robotnik answered. "We're going to blast him from here to Holoska."

"With all due respect, sir, don't you think that's overkill?"

"No," Robotnik said, grinning. "I think it's just enough kill."

Angel Island Zone

Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, and Relic made their way through the jungle.

"A living echidna," Relic mused. "He very well may be the last of his kind. Oh, the secrets he could tell me…"

"If he doesn't punch you to the moon first," Sonic deadpanned.

"Eggman lied to him," Tails reminded him. "We just need to convince him of the truth."

"Yeah, you do that, and I'll stop running, give up chili dogs, and we'll all meet back here at half-past 'never gonna happen,'" Sonic insisted.

"Sonic…" Tails sighed.

"I'm serious!" Sonic cut him off. "He made it quite clear he wants nothing to do with any of us. Have you forgotten he specifically said he'd kill us if he saw us again?"

"Technically, he specifically said he'd kill you," Relic clarified.

"Gee, thanks. That makes me feel so much better."

"Hey Relic, if he really does just want Sonic, maybe you should go off on your own," Tails suggested. "No offense, but you're not a threat to him."

"And frankly, I'd rather take the hits than let anyone else do it for me." Sonic agreed.

"If you're sure, then I'll be on my way," Relic decided. "Good luck, and try not to get obliterated."

She headed off, Fixit following behind. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"She knows just what to say, doesn't she?" he snarked.

At that moment, they heard a low droning sound, and looked up to see a massive gray and yellow metallic blimp floating overhead, blocking out the sun.

"Great," Sonic let out. "One of Eggman's toys. He knows we're here."

Hatches opened up in the bottom, revealing bombs ready to be deployed.

"Aaaand he's gonna carpet-bomb us," Sonic went on, dissonantly calm. "I'd say it's time to start running."

"Good plan!" Tails agreed.

They began running, and sure enough, loud whistles sounded, followed by explosions as bombs rained down on the dynamic duo. Fires began erupting around them, much to their horror.

"Oh, great!" Sonic shouted. "How could this get any-?"

"Don't say it!" Tails cut in sharply.

"Right, sorry."

The two took off at that, eventually coming to a sizable lake in the midst of the jungle. An old sign read "Azure Lake" in faded letters. Tails perked, an idea forming.

"Sonic! Maybe we can use this to put out the fire!"

"Good idea," Sonic admitted. "Let me try something."

He sped around the lake, running around it faster and faster. The water began rising up out of the lake, swirling in a large funnel. Once the funnel was high enough, Sonic stopped, and all the water splashed down, putting out the wildfires.

"Talk about making waves," he quipped.

Once things settled down, the two looked up, seeing the Egg Mobile flying overhead.

"Eggman!" Sonic shouted.

"That's going to stick, isn't it?" Robotnik grumbled. "Great."

Nonetheless, Robotnik continued on his way. The two quickly followed him, eventually crossing a wooden bridge. The minute they set foot on hit, Robotnik smirked and pressed a button in his hand. A beeping sound reached the duo's ears, just before the bridge exploded. The two screamed as they fell down.

"Enjoy your trip, Sonic!" Robotnik taunted before flying away, laughing wickedly.

Meanwhile, Relic and Fixit walked around the jungle.

"This is absolutely beautiful," Relic mused. "I remember seeing some ruins up ahead. We'll start our search there."

The two went ahead, and soon, the jungle parted to reveal ancient, Aztec/Mayan-style ruins. Within the center of the area was a large temple.

"Whoa…" Relic let out in awe. "This must be the city of Albion…"

She broke into a wide smile. "Fixit... this is it! The capital city of the Echidna Empire!"

"Indeed it is, mistress," Fixit agreed. "Shall we begin our examinations?"

They started looking around, but hadn't gotten too far when…

"What are you doing here?!"

Relic yelped, turning to see an angry Knuckles standing behind her. He grabbed her by the back of her shirt, glaring at him.

"How dare you defile this place?!" he roared.

"I was just looking around!" Relic insisted.

"Do I look stupid?" Knuckles demanded. "I know you're with that hedgehog!"

"I mean this place no harm," Relic pleaded. "I'm just an archaeologist. See?"

She turned her duffel bag upside down, dumping out a mess of excavation tools. Knuckles looked over the tools before gently putting her down.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"I've devoted my life to researching ancient cultures. Like those of the Echidnas," Relic explained. "I hitched a ride with Sonic and Tails to this place."

"Then you are with Sonic," Knuckles deduced.

He visibly tensed, his fists clenched as Relic held up her hands in a warding off gesture.

"Wait, wait! You've got it all wrong!" she insisted. "Sonic's the good guy here, not Dr. Robotnik!"

"Don't lie to me!" Knuckles shouted. "I've seen the destruction he caused with my own eyes! I saw the despair he's caused!"

"I've got no reason to lie to you," Relic said. "Not when my life is in your hands."

"Robotnik is just a humble inventor!" Knuckles shot back. "He said so himself!"

"You didn't hear the explosions? See the massive mechanical blimp?" Relic demanded. "Robotnik just fire-bombed a good portion of the jungle to try to kill Sonic! Now why would a 'humble inventor' have access to explosives?"

That gave Knuckles pause, but he soon shook his head.

"I'm not gonna be swayed," he insisted.

Relic sighed in resignation.

"Your prolonged isolation has had quite an effect on you, I see," she mused. "But if you don't believe Sonic isn't the villain, then at least believe all I want to do is study the ruins here. Find out what became of your people."

Knuckles perked at that last bit.

"What became… you can do that?" There was a note of almost childlike desperation in his words.

Relic tilted her head. "You mean you don't know yourself?"

Knuckles shook his head. "I've been on my own since I was ten. Right after I completed Guardian training, the other echidnas, and our city of Echidnaopolis, simply vanished."

"Then let me help you," Relic offered.

"Why should I listen to you?" Knuckles demanded.

"Because I'm no threat to you," Relic deadpanned. "Look at me. I'm a pika who's spent her life studying. You're a warrior born and bred. What could I possibly do to you?"

Knuckles turned that over in his head before nodding.

"Alright, fair point," he conceded. "I'll let you study the ruins. But if you even breathe wrong…"

"I know, I know," Relic assured. "I won't go anywhere you don't want me to go."

"Then for starters, you don't even think about setting foot on the Master Emerald Shrine," Knuckles warned.

"Wasn't planning on it."

"Smart," Knuckles turned away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a hedgehog to hunt."

He departed, but even as he did, something in the back of his mind insisted that perhaps Relic was right about Sonic and Robotnik.

Hydro City

Sonic groaned, feeling someone shaking him.

"Sonic…" Tails' voice came. "Sonic, wake up!"

Sonic slowly came to, seeing Tails looking over him.

"Ugh…" he moaned. "What happened?"

"We fell," Tails replied. "Good news is, we're not seriously hurt. Bad news is, I have no clue where we are."

Sonic slowly sat up... and froze when he saw they were in a massive underground city filled with water.

"Of all the places we could've landed…" he grumbled.

"Well… at least it's not raining," Tails pointed out.

At that very moment, a torrent of water rained down on them from a pipe. Sonic gave Tails a deadpan look.

"You know that's your fault for saying that."

Tails just nodded. With that, they shook themselves dry and looked around.

"Much as I hate to say it, looks like the only way we're going forward is by swimming." Sonic cringed at the thought.

"We can make it," Tails assured, offering a hand. "Just take my hand."

Sonic did so after a minute, and they jumped in. Once they were submerged, Tails began spinning his tails underwater, propelling both the two through the depths. As they swam, something moved underneath them. Sonic saw the shadow, and immediately lost his cool. Seeing this, Tails quickly surfaced.

"What's wrong?" he questioned.

"There's something down there!" Sonic yelled.

"Sonic, it may have just been your shadow," Tails suggested. "You need to calm down."

"I know what I saw, Tails. I'm telling you there's something in the water."

The water began to ripple at that, before a massive creature began to emerge. It was a squid that towered over the two Mobians, its main body pure machinery.

"Still think I need to calm down?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, but for different reasons."

Tails quickly lifted Sonic out of the water to avoid the flailing tentacles, flying him to dry land above.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Sonic demanded.

"The massive size, the general aggression…" Tails perked. "It's gotta be a Mutate!"

"And what's it doing down here?"

"My guess? It's a guard," Tails replied. "An ancient Echidna experiment to patrol the waterways."

"Fantastic," Sonic grumbled. "You know this is so not helping my aquaphobia." He sighed. "So… any bright ideas?"

"The machinery in its head has to be important," Tails theorized. "If we manage to destroy it, it'll shut down."

"That I can do!" Sonic declared. "Get me in close!"

Tails took to the skies with Sonic in tow, flying toward the squid. He lined up a shot, taking a breath.

"NOW!"

Tails threw him and Sonic curled into a ball. Unfortunately, the squid smacked him aside. Tails quickly caught him before he could take a plunge.

"We need to neutralize the tentacles!" Tails realized.

"Good plan," Sonic nodded.

"Without getting squeezed into paste." Tails tacked on.

"Ooh, better plan."

Getting a hand free, Tails reached into his belt and pulled out a small bomb. He lobbed it at one of the tentacles, the bomb detonating in a shower of what looked like Power Rings.

"Uh… what?" Sonic asked.

Tails just grinned as the Rings themselves detonated, each sending a charge of electricity through the squid.

"Whoa…" Sonic let out. "Nice trick, Tails. How long have you been saving that?"

"For a rainy day," Tails replied. "They may look like Power Rings, but whoever grabs them is in for quite a shock."

He then tossed Sonic again. This time, he plowed right through the Mutate, the beast sparking.

"A shame we had to do that," Tails lamented as he caught Sonic again. "Mutates are one of the natural wonders of Mobius."

"It was him or us, pal," Sonic pointed out.

As the squid sunk below the waves, it exploded, sending a massive jet of water upwards. Before Sonic and Tails could react, they were caught in the jet and shot up and out of the city.

Launch Base

As Troopers and Swatbots patrolled the grounds and alternatively worked on repairs, a drone floated over to Robotnik, projecting an image of Commander Brutus.

"How goes it, Commander?" Robotnik asked.

"Things are progressing smoothly on my end, Doctor," Brutus assured. "Though I still question dividing our forces between the Death Egg and constructing an amusement park on the other side of the mountain. It seems a tad frivolous."

"I keep telling you. Carnival Night is tactically important," Robotnik insisted. "With the Casino Night Club out of commission, I need a new source of income."

"While I see your reasoning, shouldn't we be focusing solely on repairing the Death Egg? Especially with Sonic on the island?"

"We'll leave him to the knucklehead," Robotnik insisted. "By the time it's finished, Sonic won't be anything resembling a threat."

Author's Note:

Another one gone.

The Mutates Tails mentioned, of which the squid is one, are a classification of monstrous creatures used in Archie pre-Super Genesis Wave. Stuff like yetis and giant animals like snakes and squids.

Next chapter, Sonic and Tails discover more than they bargained for in the Marble Garden Zone.

Please R&R. Until next time!