Back to Chapter 23

The Marble Zone represented one of Mobius’ shifts in environment frequent across the planet. Much like the Green Hill Zone, lush grass covered most every footpath in the Zone. Unlike the Green Hill Zone, the Marble Zone had not water flowing through it but boiling, bubbling lava. The Zone had been home to one of South Island’s oldest civilisations in times past. In modern times, the entire Zone was something of a city-sized museum, a look through time at an age past. Not that you’d sell many tickets to the Official Marble Zone Guided Tour, of course, when the chances of an errant ball of fire leaping from the lava were so high. Following an ancient volcanic eruption that had wiped out much of that civilisation, the Zone had largely remained uninhabited, conspicuous by how quiet it was at the side of both the Green Hill Zone and Spring Yard Zone which neighboured it on either side.

Sonic wasn’t in the mood for a history lesson. He certainly wasn’t in the mood to be atomised by bursts of lava, meaning he had to watch his step- meaning, in turn, that he had to move slowly. Sonic wasn’t massively keen on moving slowly when there was a megalomaniacal scientist on the loose turning his friends into killer robots. However, Sonic knew there wasn’t much he could do to save his friends if he was reduced to nothing more than a singed pair of shoes and socks, so forced himself to take his time.

Sonic spied a long, purple, segmented Badnik crawling its way around the Zone. It looked upward as a Buzz Bomber flew overhead and came to a halt, hovering in the air.

“Any signs of the hedgehog, Caterkiller?” asked the Buzz Bomber.

“None,” the Caterkiller responded, “But if he comes through here, I’ll be sure to clamp down on his ankles and hurl him into the lava!”

“Do as you must. Dr. Robotnik wants the hedgehog dead or alive”

The Buzz Bomber flew off at some speed.

The Caterkiller wasn’t so fast, Sonic reasoned. He could probably sneak up on it. The only problem was its segmented body was covered in spikes. There’d be no leaping onto that from any angle. A front assault was Sonic’s only realistic option, which would cost him the element of surprise. Sonic took a moment to watch the Caterkiller, studying its movements. Sonic deduced that the antennae on the Badnik’s head were likely simple radio wave receivers and were unlikely to shoot laser beams at him like most of the Badniks he’d encountered in the Green Hill Zone. The Caterkiller turned and began to make its way back in Sonic’s direction.

Sonic decided to be proactive in his approach, rushing the Caterkiller before it could react. Sonic figured it wasn’t as if the Badnik was about to stand up and surprise him with a sucker punch. Taking a different tack to usual, Sonic landed on the ground and curled his body up into a roll, allowing momentum to carry itself at high speed towards his metal foe.

The Caterkiller, using its mighty computer brain, weighed up every option it had at its disposal. It calculated Sonic’s trajectory, his speed, his angle of approach and other factors such as wind speed and direction.

“I—” said the Caterkiller, before Sonic smashed its face and broke it.

Sonic stood up to survey the wreckage. No animal inside the head. Sonic picked up one of the segments of the Badnik’s body. They were obviously solid throughout- the head was clearly where Robotnik intended for someone to be placed. Odd. The bottom of each body segment seemed to be made of rubber.

And then it hit Sonic.

No, really. One of the segments that Sonic had smashed off with his assault had flung away, rebounded off various walls and pillars before hurtling back towards Sonic, hitting him in the back and sending him tumbling down a hill.

Sonic, unable to stop himself, fell down a hole into an underground structure. He stood up and rubbed his head. Nothing seemed to be broken, which was definitely a good thing.

Sonic looked up at the way he’d come in. The hole was too high up for him to leap out and the brick work offered no handholds for him to climb out. Sonic decided he’d have to explore and see if he could find another way out.

Sonic crept further into the somewhat sinister underground building. Spotting some bars over a window-height gap in the wall, Sonic wondered if the place may have been an ancient torture chamber. He got his answer when an enormous spiked masher fell from the ceiling and slammed into the ground, points first, mere centimetres ahead of him. If he’d been any more like in his daydream, the spikes on his back wouldn’t be the only ones for Sonic to worry about. Sonic looked up as the chain on the back of the trap seemed to retract. Thinking he saw a light up above, Sonic hopped onto the back of the flat surface of the masher’s top side and allowed himself to be slowly winched up.

As he was lifted higher into the light, Sonic noticed a rather large weight that seemed to be acting as a counter to the spiked platform. Stabbed by enormous spikes of flattened by a weight- whoever ran this particular torture chamber certainly liked to drop things on people, Sonic noted.

As more light filtered into the chamber, Sonic thought he heard voices up above on the surface. Possibly laughter? No, definitely laughter. Not the sort of laughter you make when you’ve just heard a really funny joke like the one about the builder and his sandwich. The sort of laughter you might make when you intend to cause pain to a hostage and derive sadistic pleasure from it.

As the platform drew level with the counter-weight, Sonic threw himself towards the weight and swung on it towards the opening up above. Whoever was in trouble, he’d have to save them.

***

“You shouldn’t have come here!” sneered one of the cruel Badniks.

“Coming here was the worst mistake of your life- and it’s about to be the last too!” another cackled.

“P-please! You don’t have to do this!” begged the young and fearful captive.

“Oh, we know that,” replied one of the robots, “But it’s so much fun!”

A bat-like Badnik fluttered up above.

“Henny lest vurds before ve turn you into vun ov us in ze name of Herr Doktor Robotnik?” it asked in an accent Robotnik had programmed into it for no readily apparent reason.

“Just one word, actually…” the prisoner responded, “HELP!!”

As if launched from a cannon, Sonic burst from the opening in the ground and slammed into the various Badniks, shattering them in turn.

“Ask and you shall receive, pal!” Sonic smiled before turning to look at the captive- Prince Tufftee!

Sonic’s eyes widened. He had to save Sally’s youngest brother at all costs. What was he even doing here?!

“Bah! You vill regret ze day you crossed ze genius intellect of Batbrain!” the robot cursed Sonic before flying well out of Spin Attack range. Sonic looked around to see if there was a stone he could throw at the Badnik but none were evident.

Sonic knew Batbrain would alert Robotnik at the earliest convenience. He had to pick up the speed again. The only problem was he now had the young Prince to keep an eye on.

“Thank you, Sonic,” Tufftee looked up at the hedgehog, “That was amazing!”

“Prince Tufftee, what are you doing here?” Sonic found himself asking.

“Please. Just call me Tufftee”

Just like his sister, Sonic thought.

Tufftee continued, “I came over from West Side Island to visit Sally but then a load of robots attacked the Green Hill Zone. The guards who were protecting me got captured and I ran. I ran right into some old computer monitor, in fact. Smashed it open when I collided with it. You’ll never believe what was inside”

Sonic looked down at Tufftee’s feet.

“Oi! Are those my Power Sneakers?!” Sonic asked, indignant at having his style aped, “Er, with respect, your highness”

“Something’s wrong with the relay system. Every monitor I’ve seen is displaying an image. Haven’t tried opening any of them but, yeah, I thought free shoes, why not? Had to be better than running barefoot anyway! So I put them on and… well, suffice to say, they made me run a little faster than usual. It’s worn off now, though, they’re just regular shoes. But when I stopped to catch my breath, here I was… and that’s when those Badniks surrounded me”

“Weird. Interesting… but weird,” Sonic rubbed his chin, “We have to get you to safety. Anyone could attack you while you’re out in the open like this”

“Oh, quite so, hedgehog, quite so!” came a sneering voice. Sonic turned to see Snively in his Egg-O-Matic.

“I wondered when I might run into you again, Sniv-nose!” Sonic gritted his teeth, “You know my friend Doctor Kintobor thinks you’re suffering from some evil gene”

“Really?” Snively smiled sarcastically, “How fascinating. You simply must tell me more over a fireside chat. I’ll even bring the fire!”

The underside of the hovercraft slid open and Sonic noticed a glow emanating from inside. Without warning, Snively swooped towards Sonic and dropped balls of fire towards the blue hedgehog. As Snively laughed a high-pitched, annoying laugh, Sonic dove out of the way. The embers of the flames scorched the grass where Snively had dropped them. Mercifully, they didn’t spread too far before exhausting themselves.

Sonic leapt towards a stone structure ahead of him. There were two parallel, square platforms made of the same purple bricks that the underground cavern had been constructed from. The only problem was they were floating in the lava. Sonic looked over his shoulder as Snively bore down upon him. He didn’t have much choice in the matter. Sonic jumped onto the platforms.

Snively pressed a button on his control panel and more fire rained down on Sonic, who dove to the opposing platform as Snively’s shrill, sadistic laughter filled the air. Snively repeated the process and Sonic pounced back to the first platform, still warm from the fire which had fortunately been unable to take hold on the stone. For a split second, Sonic looked away- a Prison Egg Capsule was on the other side. Sonic had no way of knowing if there was anyone inside or if Snively’s “bait” plan was just a stalling tactic, but he knew he couldn’t afford to lose and risk anyone’s life.

Sonic looked back to Snively just in time to see the maniacal little dweeb bearing down upon him at top speed once again. Sonic hurled himself onto the platform but slipped and lost his footing. The stone was red hot beneath Sonic’s fur and he yelped in pain.

“Ooh, yes, go on, Sonic- do please let out more of those wonderful cries of agony! I’m so going to enjoy this!” Snively grinned wide, his teeth a frightening piano keyboard of malice.

Sonic forced himself back to his feet, but Snively was already preparing another onslaught. How long could he keep this up?

Suddenly, from above, a smaller frame dove from a nearby pillar! It was Tufftee, leaping into Snively’s cockpit! Tufftee covered Snively’s eyes and kicked at the control panel.

“Let’s see you fly this with your eyes shut, ugly!” Tufftee shouted.

Snively screeched and flailed his arms at Tufftee. Eventually, Snively managed to throw the young squirrel off him, fortunately throwing him to the grass near the Prison Egg Capsule. Snively opened his eyes and saw he was hurtling towards the lava.

With a terrified scream, Snively pulled hard up on his steering wheel and the Egg-O-Matic just narrowly grazed the lava. It was enough to do damage to the exhaust of the machine, however, which let out a loud bang as warning noises beeped and buzzed from Snively’s controls. As Snively yelped and shrieked, desperately trying to regain control, the Egg-O-Matic careened wildly over the skyline and out of view.

Sonic took a look over at Tufftee and smiled, “That was very brave, your highness. But I think you’d be better off not telling your sister about it”

Tufftee shrugged, “Didn’t like the look of his face”

Sonic leaped gracefully over to where Tufftee stood. The two of them walked up to the Prison Egg Capsule.

“Care to do the honours?” Sonic smiled, hoisting Tufftee onto the roof of the capsule before standing aside.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Tufftee responded.

“Fair enough!” Sonic grinned, happy for another chance to free some prisoners, stomping down on the release catch.

The sides of the capsule blew off and its inhabitants were free. Not too many Mobini this time, but two familiar faces- Dulcy and Johnny Lightfoot.

Sonic hopped down, “Are you guys okay?”

“I am now I can breath fresh air again!” Johnny responded.

“I’d have used my fire breath to get us out,” Dulcy said, “but in an enclosed space like that I’d have probably grilled everyone else”

“Smart move not doing that then,” Sonic nodded, “Dulcy, I need favour of you”

“Anything,” Dulcy replied without hesitation.

“I need you to take Prince Tufftee to safety back in the Green Hill Zone- don’t argue, your highness. With your ability to fly, you should be able to get him to safety quick enough. I haven’t seen your mother, do you know if she’s alright?”

“Alright?” Dulcy chuckled, “Sonic, those Badniks couldn’t possible catch my ma off guard! She’s… a bit better trained than I am”

“Okay, well, try to find her out. I’m guessing a couple of dragons might be a handy defence against these things. Oh, and, Dulcy- easy on the fire breath. There are people inside these Badniks!”

“You got it, Sonic. Alright, your highness- hold on tight. This is gonna be the wildest piggyback ride you’ve ever had!”

Tufftee climbed onto Dulcy’s back and before he could ask what she meant, the two of them were off at rocket speed.

Sonic turned to Johnny, “Sorry, Lightfoot. I didn’t think Dulcy could carry both of you and Sally would kill me if I didn’t protect her brother. You okay to find your own way home?”

“Are you joking?” Johnny raised an eyebrow, “Sonic, I’m not going anywhere. I’m sticking by your side and we’re going to stop Robotnik together”

Sonic smiled, “Works for me, bud. Just try to keep up, okay?”

The two friends gave one another a firm handshake before crossing the Zone’s border line towards their next threat.

On to Chapter 25