-Chapter 216-

Forty Thieves

Skeleton Dome

After parting ways with Sinbad, Sonic, Shahra, and Sally headed for their destination with Ali Baba and Morgiana in tow. When they got there, they saw it was an old mine filled with ancient, desiccated bones.

"What is this place?" Sonic questioned. "The morgue?"

"The Skeleton Dome," Ali Baba corrected. "King Solomon's ancient mines... and the one-time lair of the Forty Thieves."

"I never thought we would be returning here…" Morgiana let out.

"Uh, before we go any further…" Sonic began, "King Solomon isn't some kinda creepy zombie or necromancer, is he?"

"Oh no," Ali Baba assured. "King Solomon is a kind and just ruler. He cares not for your station or family lineage. In his eyes, all are equal."

"Allah himself granted King Solomon a Ring of Wisdom," Morgiana added. "Which grants him true, worldly knowledge."

"An actual ring, not a World Ring," Ali Baba clarified.

"Okay, cool," Sonic relaxed. "I just thought I'd ask, considering... well, you know."

He gestured to the boneyard around them.

"An understandable conclusion," Morgiana nodded.

"His castle isn't too far from here," Ali Baba added. "Follow us."

They make their way to an opulent palace, one that seems devoid of any guards.

"It's quiet," Sally let out. "Too quiet... "

They headed into the throne room, and stopped short at what lay within. The room had been ransacked, and a figure was laying on the ground, either unconscious or dead. The face of said figure, coupled with his condition, nearly gave Sonic a heart attack.

"Uncle Chuck!"

He rushed forward. As he did, the Prayer Ring was glowing like mad, no doubt fueled by many silent prayers that King Solomon would be okay. He flipped him over, shaking him gently.

"Uncle Chuck?" Morgiana repeated, confused. "That's King Solomon."

"Yes, but he looks like Sonic's uncle," Sally clarified.

"Amazing…" Ali Baba remarked.

King Solomon groaned, stirring.

"He's alive!" Sonic cried in relief.

Solomon slowly sat up, rubbing his head. "What… what's happened? Erazor... what have you done?"

"Erazor did this?" Shahra asked.

"Sadly... yes," Solomon confirmed. "He attacked my palace, destroying my guards, and making off with much of my treasures, including the Ring of Wisdom."

Sonic scowled in rage. "How low can that bastard sink?!"

The Rings of Hatred and Rage began to pulsate in response to his emotions.

"Sonic!" Sally cried.

Seeing the rings reacting, Sonic stepped back, regaining his composure.

"Right. Okay," he sighed. "Exploding like this won't get us anywhere."

King Solomon saw the World Rings on his arm, and the flame on his chest.

"The Legendary Blue Hedgehog…" he realized. "A great curse has been placed upon you. I can see it in your eyes, the grim fate that awaits you."

"Thanks for the reminder," Sonic said dryly.

"My apologies, for the reminder, and your fate," Solomon said. "And that I must ask for your aid before I can offer it in return."

"You want us to get your ring back, right?" Sally asked.

Solomon nodded. "Without it, my knowledge and wisdom are limited. I cannot provide you with what you seek without it."

"Well, let's go get it then," Sonic decided. "Which one of Erazor's goons took it?"

Solomon took a deep breath. "It was… Sa'luk."

The blood drained out of Ali Baba's face at that, while Morgiana gasped in shock.

"No…" she insisted. "Your Highness, it can't be. He's-"

"Dead?" Solomon offered. "Yes. Erazor raised him and his ilk as evil spirits and set them upon me."

"Am I missing something here?" Sonic asked, confused.

"Sa'luk was the leader of the Forty Thieves," Ali Baba explained. "Until I slew him. But that was years ago."

"Erazor must have woken him up," Sally deduced. "Him, and the thieves."

"Well, we're gonna have to find a way to send them back to the grave, then," Sonic mused casually.

"How can you be so calm about all this?" Ali Baba questioned.

Sonic shrugged. "I've had an interesting life."

"Ali Baba…" Morgiana perked. "If Sa'luk is back... then he will no doubt come for us... for you…"

"He won't hurt you," Sonic swore. "I won't let him. You have my word."

"You will find them in their old lair," Solomon informed them. "Please hurry, and be careful."

-X-

Ali Baba led Sonic and the others to a cave blocked with a massive rock. Sonic stepped forward.

"Here's hoping they didn't change the password," he mused before speaking up. "Open sesame!"

The boulder began to roll out of the way. Sonic grinned.

"Guess that answers that. Ladies first?"

"How chivalrous," Sally deadpanned before going inside.

The others followed behind, soon coming out in a massive treasure room.

"Damn…" Sonic let out. "This makes the vault in Casinopolis look poor."

"This is King Solomon's treasure alright," Ali Baba mused.

"We just need to find the Ring of Wisdom," Morgiana added.

Suddenly, the ground exploded, a skeletal hand popping up. It narrowly grabbed Morgiana, but she got out of the way in time. More hands began to sprout from the ground, entire skeletons rising from the dirt.

"Well, that's not terrifying or anything," Sonic remarked.

Sally drew her Ring Blades as the skeletons finished rising from their graves. She did a quick count of them, realizing the number.

"Sonic... there's forty skeletons."

"So these are the Forty Thieves," Sonic noted. "That saves us the trouble of tracking them down."

The skeletons parted ways, making way for a larger skeleton in golden robes, a sabre in one hand and claws on the other.

"Ali… Baba…" he rasped.

Morgiana ducked behind Ali Baba. "It's him!"

"Hello, Sa'luk," Ali Baba greeted. "It's been a while."

Sa'luk's bony fist clenched around his sabre, a glimmering ring on his middle finger.

"The Ring of Wisdom," Ali Baba noted.

"Look, bonehead. I'm on a bit of a time limit here," Sonic began. "How about you hand over King Solomon's ring, and I won't have to crack some skulls?"

Sa'luk didn't even acknowledge Sonic, flaming eyes focused solely on Ali Baba.

"Wish…" he hissed. "Wish for... your... death!"

He charged at the woodcutter. Sonic was faster on the draw, tackling him aside.

"I don't think so!" he shouted.

"This... doesn't... concern you!" Sa'luk rasped. "He... killed me!"

He threw Sonic off, several skeletons grabbing him.

"Sonic!" Sally screamed.

Ali Baba backed up, his foot catching on a discarded sabre. Quickly, he picked it up.

"I beat you once, I'll do it again!"

"You can't... beat me this time!" Sa'luk growled. "You... cannot kill... what's already dead!"

The two clashed, the undead thief forcing Ali Baba back. The remaining 39 thieves kept Sonic and Sally busy, overwhelming them.

"Shahra!" Sonic screamed, rubbing the ring. "I need you!"

Shahra appeared, waving a hand over Sonic. "Speed Break!"

Sonic became a blur of movement, ripping through the skeletal thieves like they were nothing and leaving flames of friction in his wake. As Ali Baba fended off Sa'luk, he saw something glinting in his ribcage. He looked closer, seeing the white World Ring in his chest right where his heart would be.

"I don't need to beat you, Sa'luk," He charged forward, his sabre piercing the undead thief's chest and hooking the ring. "I just need to be smarter."

He wrenched the sword out, the World Ring still hooked on it. Sa'luk barely had time to let out a bellow of rage before he collapsed into a pile. The rest of the skeletons followed suit, the thieves crumbling to dust. Ali Baba approached Sonic and Sally as they caught their breath.

"He was being animated by a World Ring," he reported, pulling it off the sword and handing it to Sonic. "I think it will be in much better hands with you."

Sonic took the ring, which began to glow as he was plunged deep into his mind. Images began to play over and over in his head, the word "wish" repeated on a loop. He saw Kat in the arms of a red haired man and a Chun-ese woman, the girl devoid of scars and with a smile on her face. He saw Hope being held by Agnes Hopkins as Julian ruffled her hair, both of his arms intact. He saw Bunnie and Antoine on a date, the former completely Mobian as they held one another. Each image was one of his most heartfelt desires, wishes he had begged for over the years. He came out of it before long, looking down at his wrist.

"Wishes. Desires," he said. "That's what this ring represents."

The yellow ring was pulsating softly, as if what he'd seen had filled his heart with a bit of joy.

"Sounds pretty powerful," Sally noted.

"It is," he remarked.

While they spoke, Morgiana collected the Ring of Wisdom from the remains of Sa'luk.

"To think these rings could cause all this trouble," Sonic went on.

"Such great power can bring people either happiness or misfortune," Shahra remarked. "There are many such stories told of in the Arabian Nights."

"Well, now it is time to bring this tale to a close," said Morgiana. "Let's bring this back to King Solomon."

-X-

Some time later…

After his ring was returned, King Solomon explained why the Ifrit Golem and other such spirits had gone so bad.

"I sealed away various creatures, and their imprisonment deranged them. It is my fault that they became the minions of the Erazor Djinn. However, by carving up the words that make up our world, new spirits have also appeared. His power is nearly godlike."

"I thought this was another planet, not just a story book," Sonic pointed out.

"Words have power, young one," Solomon said. "And the power of the 1001 Arabian Nights… Well, there is a reason our tales have been told throughout your history."

"Makes sense to me." Sally nodded.

"Even so, supernatural beings like the Erazor Djinn always have weak points that are told of in stories," Solomon went on. "In truth, he is a Genie of the Lamp. Somehow, though, he has escaped. If we had the lamp he belongs to, it could be possible to seal him away again... forever."

"Yeah, about that…" Sonic held up the crushed orb Shahra gave him.

"The lamp…" Solomon held out his hand, and Sonic handed it over.

"Can we fix it?" Sonic questioned.

Solomon looked it over, then shook his head. "Sadly, not even I possess the knowledge to fix this."

"Damn it…" Sonic cursed, reclaiming the crushed lamp.

"One thing I don't get," Sally piped up. "Shahra said Erazor wasn't always this evil. What happened to him? What does he hope to gain by destroying Shanazar?"

Solomon turned to Shahra. "You did not tell them?"

"It wasn't my story to tell," Shahra defended.

Sonic and Sally exchanged confused looks.

"Very well. I will do so," Solomon sat up straight. "The truth is... the Erazor Djinn is no mere genie of the lamp. He is the genie, from the story of Aladdin."

That surprised both Sonic and Sally.

"He's... that genie?" Sally asked. "I'm guessing he and Aladdin didn't exactly see eye to eye like they do in most iterations of the story."

"Long ago, Erazor was a plague upon this world," Solomon began. "He committed many malicious misdeeds, until I hunted him down and punished him by sealing him within the lamp. He would not be forgiven or released until he had granted the wishes of one thousand people. Aladdin was one of his many masters."

He sighed. "I am partially to blame for his current state. I had hoped that this punishment would mellow Erazor out, so to speak. Calm him. Instead, I just made things worse. Once he had served his sentence, all Erazor gained was a renewed hatred of humanity and the creator of the Arabian Nights."

Sonic thought back to his talk with Marina, and how genies under contract were considered property. He glanced down at the ring on his finger, remembering the pained expression Shahra had worn when those words had been spoken.

"I can see why that made him worse," he mused.

"Now I kinda feel sorry for him," Sally admitted.

"Don't," Solomon said, not unkindly. "Erazor is a tragic figure, but not a sympathetic one."

"He's right, Sal," Sonic agreed. "Erazor brought that punishment on himself, so he has no one but himself to blame. He didn't learn a damn thing from it, and just started committing even worse crimes as soon as his sentence was done. Save your sympathy for someone who actually deserves it."

"For now though, your focus should be on getting the final ring," Solomon said. "Then, the final battle will commence."

"Where is it?" Sonic questioned.

"You are in luck," Solomon said. "The final World Ring is housed within Erazor's Night Palace in the sky. Hold the White Ring up to the palace gates, and they will open."

"Alright then," Sonic nodded. "We still have that carpet?"

"Indeed we do," Sally confirmed.

Night Palace

They took to the sky, and it wasn't long before they found the Night Palace. It looked like an Arabian palace had been built around a rocket, with several towers branching out horizontally. Lights were erupting from every window, and Ma Djinn could be seen floating around. They disembarked the carpet. Sonic just barely managed to hold up the White Ring when he had another attack. Sally and Shahra could only watch in horror as he collapsed, lifting himself up on one arm before passing out cold.

"Sonic!" Sally ran over to him, feeling his neck for a pulse.

"His vitals are dropping like crazy! Like they're in free-fall!" She frantically shook him. "Wake up, Sonic! Please!"

-X-

Sonic could hear Sally's voice, but it was being drowned out as the door to the Night Palace swung open to reveal a bright green light at the end of a tunnel. He weakly looked up to see it, along with the figure of an older hedgehog in tribal garb.

"You..." he rasped. "You're..."

"Yes," the figure confirmed. "I am your ancestor, Solaran. And you have fought long enough." He held out a hand. "Come. The Chaos Force awaits."

Drawn in, Sonic reached for his hand...

Author's Note:

Oh, no! Is this it for Sonic? Will he accept death, or go save the day like he always does?

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Sa'luk - Richard Moll (Two-Face in Batman: The Animated Series, Death and King Minos in Dante's Inferno, Scorpion in Spider-Man: The Animated Series)

Please R&R. Until next time!