Chapter 39: Royal Flush Pt 3
Within the hour, Megan went into her daughter's room to see if she was missing. She is deeply worried about seeing a note on the bed to see Sally's handwriting to see she has kidnapped her daughter. "Why Sally, why did you go so low to take your only niece," she said as she rushed to her husband who was in the war room. "Daring, our daughter has been kidnapped," Megan hands the note to Elias is not pleased with this.
"Gee, she has to make it more difficult," Elias said as he pulled back Mina, Sonic, and Rotor. "Time to end Geoffrey's poison on this nation once and for all," he said as within the hour everyone came onto the flagship with Mina fixing up her wound.
"You alright?" he asked showing concern.
"Yes, I am. It's too bad about Alexis. That is so low for Sally to do," Mina said feeling worried about the little girl.
"Yeah, she must be desperate to use a hostage," Sonic said as Mina flexed her arm to see if it was not stinging anymore.
"Perfect," she said as they heard the King's voice on the radio.
"Sonic and Mina, come to the main deck. I will share my plan of attack on South Island," Elias said as the duo headed onto the top to overlook the vast Pearl Sea. "Okay, South Island is the only thing left to overcome for this civil war to end. I will lead this mission personally and we will launch an assault. I and Rotor will head in front while you two will do the same as before but you must rescue my daughter from my sister's hands," Elias said.
"Don't worry, we will find her and get her back safe and sound," Sonic said.
"Yes, I still promise her a birthday concert," Mina said lightly as Elias nodded his head.
"Alright, go into the pod cannon again. We are going to win this today and put Sally and Geoffrey in chains," Elias said as Sonic and Mina went into the pod once again to prepare for the assault. Elias's royal fleet is surrounding the island to begin launching barrages onto the interior of the island.
Sally is in her base to see the map of the island is covered with royal troops and her best commander Bunnie is gone leaving her to command the island's defenses.
"I need to use that mech suit store here to fight Sonic and that mongoose. Your magical enhancements will make it strong enough to fight them?" Sally asked the old wizard.
"Of course, the dark crystal will give it the power to fight those two if they come to the base," Naugus said.
"I will man our defenses in the base," Geoffrey said as Naugus looks the map with wide fields and mountains.
"Green Hill Zone," Naugus said as Sally looked at a map.
"Oh yeah, there used to be an old village nearby called Knothole but Eggman destroyed it years ago," Sally said as Naugus had a feeling he should go there.
"Yes, go on with your defenses. I want to check this place out," Naugus teleports out of the base as he has a feeling he will meet with the Quickster there.
The battle rages on with Mina and Sonic landing in Green Hill Zone in their pod. They get out of the hatch to be within a familiar place. "This forest is near Green Hills and this is where my old village is nearby," Sonic said as he felt comfortable for he used to play in these woods when he was a kid.
"Oh; very interesting. I hope it doesn't bring bad memories," Mina said.
"Don't worry about it, I am way past that now. Now let's go pay a visit to the ruins of Knothole," Sonic and Mina run swiftly to see the forest becoming quite dreadful and dead trees everywhere. Mina has a bad feeling about this as they enter the perimeter of the Knothole ruins to see old buildings being taken by nature. Moss and vines growing all over the place.
"Wow, seal in time. Seems like it would be a nice place to live," Mina said for she imagined in her mind that this village was a beautiful place to live.
"Yeah it was but egghead showed up and destroyed everything. He killed some and took the rest to make them into robot slaves," Sonic said as they began to walk through the old village ruins to spot a building there. "Oh, that used to be the old school where all the orphan kids go to learn and study," Sonic said.
"I don't think you are a school kid," Mina said.
"Not really," Sonic said casually as Mina sighed.
"I knew it but I was homeschooled to prepare for taking over the family business. So, I have no right to judge," Mina said as they looked over to see a burned-out well which has been dry for years.
"We used to pull its water from an underground lake," Sonic said as Mina looked down the well to see no water down below.
"This checks out but no one would be using it anyway," Mina said as they saw another building which is the supermarket.
"That place had so much food and served some amazing chili dogs," Sonic said as he remembered Ms. Buckbeak buying his favorite foods there.
"Does this place have farms?" Mina asked.
"I guess, there were fields filled with corn and wheat before Eggman burned them down," he said as they finally found the building of the orphanage. "This is it, time to find out what Buckbeak was talking about before," they enter the wrecked building to see all the memories flowing through his mind.
"So, this is where you once lived for most of your younger days," Mina is awed by this for her inner fangirl is flaring up.
"Yep, my mother's friend Buckbeak took me in and raised me here. It was very simple until it wasn't," he said as he headed for her room with everything still there for it seems like this place is frozen in time.
Sonic checks her old room to see a weird coin placed on a desk with dust covering it. He takes it and blows on it to clean it up. "This is weird, this isn't a credit coin," Sonic noticed a weird set of engravings on the back.
Mina looks at an old photo to see a bunch of Mobian kids looking happy and filled with life. She sees her boyfriend Sonic as a 12-year-old kid for she finds him very adorable. "Hey baby, you look so cute here," Mina said as she went over to show him the photo.
"Oh yeah, did I always look that pudgy?" Sonic wondered as Mina playfully poked his lean stomach.
"Now you are very handsome now," Mina said.
"Damn straight but I found this thing in Buckbeak's room," Sonic shows her a coin that is nothing like the credit coins they are used to.
"Weird, it could be used to open something like a secret door," Mina said.
"Oh, that sounds like spy stuff," Sonic said as they looked around to find something that could match this coin. Mina goes into Buckbeak's room to look under the bed to see a coin-shaped dent in the wall.
"Sonic, come over here," Mina uses his Hover to lift the bed above her head to see a secret door there.
"Good work seems like this is a key," Sonic inserts the coin into the dent as the secret door slides open to reveal a fleet of stairs.
"Interesting, let's go inside," Mina said as they went into the hidden room to see there was a box. Sonic opens it and they find something they didn't expect.
"This is a holo diary," Sonic said as he looked at the disc-shaped device to see his mother's name displayed on the back. "My mom's holo diary is here," Sonic said as Mina was very interested in what his mother had to say.
"Come on, let's go back upstairs and check this out," Mina said as they went into the main area to place it on the table. Sonic clicks the button as a large hologram appears with a young 21-year-old Bernadette Hedgehog sporting a simple purple dress fitting her shapely figure with her blond tuft of hair on her head matching her blond highlights at the tips of her purple quills. Her sky-blue eyes were filled with warmth and understanding as she was sitting on a bed.
"Hello Son, I gave this to Buckbeak so she can give this to you when you are old enough. I wanted to say more but I don't have much time. I am going on a mission to find out a weird human who had landed here on South Island without permission. The King has sent me on a critical mission due to me being their top agent to use my speed and gear to sneak into the base unnoticed," Bernadette said as Sonic could feel the sweetness and gentleness within her voice.
Sonic's heart is swelling with happiness to hear the beautiful sounds of his mother's voice which he barely remembered as a child.
"Gee, this is so hard but I don't know how this mission is going to go. I am operating in unknown waters. This nation has suffered terrible pain from fighting rebel groups and human pirates. I did my best to protect our home to make sure you are safe. Now I made this to make sure you remember that I deeply love you Sonic," Bernadette said to continue her message.
"You are gifted with my speed. I had it since when I was little. People used to make fun of me and think I was a freak. Now people see me as a hero with her speed being used to protect my home. I hope you use my gift to you to protect those you care about. The time is near for my mission, just always remember I will always be in your heart and watch over you. You can be a hero like your mama, I hope I see you soon," Bernadette said as she gave a lasting smile for the hologram turned off.
Mina looks in awe as she looks over to see Sonic looking so somber with tears going down his face. "Sonic, are you okay?" she asked as Sonic tried to act cool and wiped away the tears from his eyes.
"No, I got something in my eyes," Sonic said but Mina saw through this to grab him tightly and hug him close.
"Sonic, it's okay. Stop trying to act cool and let it all out," Mina said as she felt him crying onto her shoulder.
"Mom, you didn't just leave me like that," Sonic wept with his girlfriend feeling hurt by his crying. She is not ashamed of him for showing weakness.
"Yes, she loves you very much," Mina soothed him to let him flow out his feelings.
Within 30 minutes, Sonic collects himself to put his mom's holo diary in his bag. "Thanks for the hug, I needed that," Sonic said as Mina kissed him on the cheek.
"No problem. I am not the only woman who loves you deeply," she said.
"Yeah, Mom is something alright," Sonic said as they ran off to go toward Green Hill Zone. "It's nice to have something from her to remember," he said.
"Indeed, it is a very sweet gesture and I wish I could have met her. It would be cool to know the mother of Sonic Hedgehog," Mina said.
"I would like to know too but we need to know about her last mission to find out what happened to her. Scrap Brain awaits us," Sonic and Min rush through the familiar rolling mounds and lakes of Green Hill but the duo is feeling unease by the sudden change.
"What is happening here?" Sonic wondered as Green Hill looked dead and lifeless the greenery was replaced with rotting plants and the lakes beginning to dry up.
"I don't recall you saying Green Hills looks like this," Mina said as it feels like Naugus's influence is felt here. "This is the dark wizard's doing. What has he done to this place?" she questioned his logic.
"Simple," a big beam of energy slams into Mina to send her flying against the sky to crash into a lake.
"Mina!" Sonic shouted as Naugus teleported into the sky to freeze the lake to trap Mina inside leaving Sonic to face the dark wizard alone.
"I used the life force of this place to summon one of my dark creatures. Now sections of it are dying," Naugus said as Sonic was in his combat stance.
"So, we finally meet face to face," Sonic said as this old wizard loomed over him sporting a muscular build and standing twice the height of Sonic.
"Of course, Quickster. I knew I would meet you here in this disgusting place," Naugus is wielding his magical staff to land his feet on the dirt. "This is a good surprise. I would destroy the Sword of Light but you are being here is a good bonus. I will kill you as well," Naugus said as Sonic was preparing a Spin Dash.
"As if, I am going to teach you a lesson," Sonic launches himself at the dark wizard.
Naugus looks with amusement as Sonic hits through him like he never was there at all. Sonic is confused by this as Naugus disappears into a mist. "How can you teach me if you can't hit me," Naugus said as he appeared behind him.
Sonic kicks him to hit a magic barrier as Naugus breaks the shield to make an explosion to knock Sonic backward.
"Let me play with you for a bit before I end your life," Naugus gathers power into his staff to tap the ground to summon huge pillars of stone to rip through the terrain to block his path.
"What the hell?" Sonic questioned as the ground around him was hostile with him running away as the rocks were trying to hit him from all sides. The rock pillars start to pop out of the grass with increased speed blocking Sonic's paths with him trying to maneuver but he keeps getting cut off.
"I am an Ixis Wizard which means I use the power of negative Chaos Energy to bend nature around me as a weapon among other powerful Magicks," Naugus's voice booms through the stone walls around him. Suddenly a large rock forms into a fist to fly towards Sonic.
He uses his Spin Dash to drill through the stony fist but it implodes to knock him back onto the dirt. Sonic gets trapped in a stone dome and it slowly begins to press into him about to crush him. "Crap," he uses his Spin Dash to drill underground to avoid being crushed.
Naugus closes all the stone pillars to make them go toward Sonic as he pops out of the ground. He sees all the stone pillars closing in as they are going to turn him into a bloody pancake.
"Gee, can't catch a break," he leaps onto a stone pillar to run upward trying to reach the top.
"Break this," Naugus lines the whole pillar with spikes but Sonic is fast enough to not get impaled. Then stone towers with Sonic getting caught by tons of stone shards cutting him up. He then calls a massive tornado to entrap Sonic inside as the razor winds are tearing into him.
Naugus lobs the twister into a hill to bash Sonic into the dirt. "Come on, you can't fight me head to head," Sonic demanded as the mad wizard laughed at him.
"Why Quickster, I already got you on the ropes. This is too easy," Naugus said as he floated above a huge lake blasting energy beams with Sonic avoiding his strikes. He uses Light Speed Attack to head right for Naugus as he puts up a barrier to block his attack. He triggers an explosion to break the shell and knock him away.
The evil wizard gathers water from the lake to create large explosive bubbles to orbit his body. Sonic gains his footing to speed towards Naugus. Sonic is avoiding the bubbles which let out violent blasts with Sonic getting knocked around but still holding his path towards the wizard. Naugus creates more bubbles to aim at Sonic as he dodges the bubbles to see they let out smaller bubbles which catch Sonic off guard. The many watery bursts send him flying into the air as Naugus fires a concussive beam to push Sonic into a boulder. "Taste my power," Naugus moves all the water in this massive lake to drain it completely to gather it into a condensed water ball at the tip of his staff.
"As if, graybeard," Sonic uses another Light Speed Attack to overpower with raw speed but Naugus grins at this challenge or lack thereof.
"Aqua Laser," Naugus unleashed a massive ray of water which shook the entire island from the raw power the spell was producing. The Light Speed Attack and the Aqua Laser clash with each trying to overpower the other but soon enough Sonic loses ground. The Aqua Laser breaks Sonic's attack and sends him flying several hills and crashing into a dirt mound.
"Damn it, I can't believe how powerful he is. It's unreal," Sonic is dumbfounded by the wizard's raw power with him floating in the air looking down at him.
"All too easy Quickster, I must say. You are much weaker than the blue hedgehog in my world," Naugus said as he downplayed Sonic's power.
"What did you say," Sonic collapses onto his knee for he has taken too much damage from the battle.
"All too easy and I wasn't even going 5% against you," Naugus said as Sonic was blown away by how powerful the gap between them was. "Oh well, farewell Quickster," Naugus said as he prepared to fire an energy beam to kill him off.
"No, I can't die yet," Sonic tried his hardest to move but the pain was too much to move. Naugus has a devilish smirk as he fires the beam at Sonic.
"No!" Mina screams for the lake to explode with power as Mina uses Cyan Laser to swiftly knock the beam away with a kick. The beam hits a nearby hill to turn it into a big smoking crater.
"Mina," Sonic said as Mina pulled out a needle filled with healing gel to stab it into his arm.
"This is a little pick me up," Mina said as Sonic felt his pain numbing a bit allowing him to move.
"Thanks, babe. This guy is very strong," Sonic said as Mina's aura is flaring up with rainbow-colored energy.
"Sonic, go to Scrap Brain. I will handle this guy," Mina said as Naugus looked on, curious about Mina's power.
"You sure?" Sonic begins to walk away from Mina.
"Yes, remember my Hyper-go-on energy can counter his dark magic. I can handle this," Mina said.
"Okay, good luck babe," Sonic rushes off with Naugus summoning a wall but Mina destroys it with her fireball.
"I am curious Miss Mongoose. Your powers seem to be able to deal with my magic better than others," Naugus said.
"I have the power of a Mother Wisp and I am quite strong with it," Mina begins to power up with her hair flashing rainbow colors for a moment. "Laser + Drill," Mina launches at the wizard putting out a powerful mystic shield to block her strike.
He counters by bursting his shield to knock her backward to land on her feet. Naugus summons a huge gust of wind with Mina increasing her density making her unmoved by the winds. "Ghost + Laser," Mina goes intangible and speed blitz through the magic shield to slam her foot into his chest making the wizard flinch.
"Bad mistake," Naugus turns himself on fire making Mina burn her boot to back away as the wizard hits her with a blast of ice strong enough to flash freeze in place. Mina begins to heat her body to melt the ice and protect her from frostbite.
Mina rushes at him with a Flame Boost with Naugus trying to freeze her again but her flames are making his ice spells not as effective. She makes clones to distract him with her phasing through his mystic shield to kick him in the head. Naugus breaks his focus as the shield goes down with her clones hitting their mark.
Naugus flies towards the shadows of a hill to merge with it to disappear from view. "Very interesting, this mongoose is vastly more powerful than the one in my world," Naugus is observing from the shadows as he is warping from one shading point to another.
Mina feels his dark power but it's all over the place. "He is changing his tactics," she thought as she prepared for his next onslaught. Naugus begins to cover the tip of his staff with green crystals making it into a makeshift spear.
Naugus summons four rocky pillars as tall as a skyscraper to speed toward her trying to crush her. "Oh crap," Mina runs up the pillar for the gap is closing fast. The tower is sporting spikes but she turns into a drill to bash through the rocky spikes and punch through them to escape.
The wizard appears behind her to stab her in the back to draw blood. The sharp sting made Mina swiftly turn around and kick his spear. Both are engaged in close-range combat with Mina's speed and increased strength in her kicks, but Naugus is unable to manage with his hand-to-hand combat skills.
The wizard focuses his power as he backs away. Mina delivers strong kicks to hit nothing but air with Naugus laughing at her. He draws in Mina with an explosive energy wave to knock her onto the dirt. "Ghost + Laser," Mina becomes invisible to begin bypassing his defenses to mark him with a special energy tag. She exits out of her ghost state for the energy tag explodes dealing damage to Naugus.
Naugus is quite confused about what her power is for he is not familiar with the powers of the Wisps. "Burst + Lightning," Mina gathers Plasma into her palms to lob them at Naugus. He summons stone walls but they get smashed into dust with her plasma orbs overpowering his shields.
"I need to push more power to deal with this pest," Naugus said as he powered up his staff. "Sunflare," he conjures a large orb of flames to begin spitting out tons of fireballs to track Mina's movements. She evades them but their fast-tracking is making it hard to lose them. Soon enough she gets hit as all the fireballs hit their marks causing some damage. "Purge into the flames," Naugus tosses the large flaming orb to connect and unleash a huge fiery explosion.
Naugus hovers over another lake to begin gathering water at the tip of his staff again. " Aqua Laser," he fires another powerful beam of water. Mina shakes off her burns as she matches his attack with her own. She makes a fire beam from her hands to clash with his attack. Naugus is soon overpowering her attack for it falls apart and then gets hit by the Aqua Laser.
Mina gets sent into a rock to break it in half as Mina is feeling pretty bad. "Oh, little mongoose, where did that fire go?" Naugus is mocking her as Mina is getting back up.
"This!" Mina powers up with her rainbow aura engulfing her body as Naugus notices something odd happening. Mina's hair is flashing rainbow colors but this time it becomes solid and her yellow fur is becoming white while her green eyes become sliver.
"What is this?" he questioned as Mina tapped into the deeper wells of power from within as her Hyper-go-on energy was overflowing out of her body. Naugus is noticing he is getting weaker from the weird energy hitting his body as he tries to perform his magic but it's not as effective.
Mina suddenly powers down as she falls onto her needs. Naugus is left confused by this as he thinks Mina triggered some sort of transformation but can't maintain it for too long. "This girl is a threat and I didn't think I would have to go beyond 30% now. This is more trouble than it's worth. Sally can deal with them on their own. I need to rethink my plan," Naugus goes away to recover as he abandons Sally to her fate.
Mina gets back onto her feet to see all her wounds have been healed by the overflow of her energy. "What the hell was that?" Mina wondered as she felt very powerful in that state. "I think I transformed like Sonic when he goes Super using the Chaos Emerald but I can't maintain for too long," Mina said as she was curious about how to activate this.
"Okay, now that I have recovered. I can follow after Sonic and help him get back Alexis," Mina said as she rushed after him. "What do I call my new form," she wondered to see her rainbow hair and rainbow-colored aura. "I know, I would call myself Rainbow Mina. That would be perfect after I am done with this mission. I need to work on it and make it my own," Mina said as she went to catch up with Sonic to continue their mission.