Back to Chapter 28

The coldness of the water shocked Sonic awake. Scrabbling wildly, he managed to kick himself up to the surface and breath deeply.

There was no doubt about it, Robotnik had dropped him right into part of the Labyrinth Zone. Now the only questions were how would he get back up, and what would he find when he did? Sonic knew he had no time to lose. Every second he spent in the murk was time Robotnik would be able to use to prepare his defences or, worse, launch another attack. Sonic couldn’t allow that to happen.

Sonic dragged himself onto a dry surface, the stone floor of the Zone. Small spotlights of light shone through the cracks but this was a dark and unpleasant place. Sonic had no desire to be stuck in the Labyrinth forever, but he couldn’t see well enough from where he was to figure out a way out.

Turning to look behind himself, Sonic spotted an ancient, dilapidated structure that may have been a temple in years past. It didn’t look dissimilar to the sorts of stone temples that the Marble Zone housed. Sonic reasoned a higher vantage point might help him find a way out sooner rather than later, so walked towards the remnants of the building

Sonic eyed the pillars holding the structure up. They were large but they’d suffered enough weathering over the years that there were decided footholds he could use to clamber up to the roof. Each time Sonic pulled himself further and further up, he felt the weight of everything catching up to him. This was insane- here he was, little more than a kid, fighting to save everything he knew. He was exhausted. His bones and muscles ached more than he’d likely ever let on to his friends, his brain was full of scribbles and he’d never felt further away from his bed in all his life. But he had to push on. If he didn’t, there was no telling what Robotnik might do to everyone he cared about.

Eventually, Sonic reached the top of the structure and heaved with all his might to pull himself up onto the roof. He looked around, hoping to find something- anything- that might point him in the right direction.

Stone. Stone in every direction. Well, stone and gross, oily purple water that smelled bad. Sonic wasn’t sure his socks would ever recover from the impromptu dip he’d just taken. But then- a light. Blinking in the darkness. A tiny dot of green. There it was again! It didn’t take a genius to figure out a blinking green light isn’t too commonly occurring in nature. It had to be related to Robotnik’s scheming in the Scrap Brain Zone up ahead.

Sonic heard a loud, low rumbling. He realised he’d come all this way since waking up without a single bite to eat. His stomach was definitely in need of a recharge.

But, then, if he hadn’t been distracted by the thought of food those fateful weeks ago, Dr. Kintobor wouldn’t have gone to the fridge and got that accursed rotten egg. He’d never have become Dr. Robotnik. And Sonic wouldn’t be stood in a cold, dark, wet, smelly labyrinth.

Sonic put the thoughts out of his mind for two reasons. Firstly, they weren’t helping. The situation was dire and he needed to focus.

Secondly, because he realised the rumbling wasn’t actually his stomach.

Unfortunately, he realised this a little too late- precisely the instance, in fact, that the structure he was stood on began to crack and crumble. He’d evidently knocked something loose in the pillar he climbed as a great big chunk of it fell off and hit the floor with a crack. That really did it- from there, the whole pillar began to give way. As it did, it started a chain reaction which saw the structure collapse forwards awkwardly, throwing Sonic into the water once more.

Sonic twisted in the water to see chunks of stone from the building he’d been stood atop mere seconds ago follow him. His eyes widened but he knew he didn’t have time to panic- if those lumps of masonry pinned him to the floor, he’d not have time for anything ever again. Sonic forced his arms and legs to move with all his might but, try as he might, his swimming lessons were all still for naught. Sonic decided to do things his way as a chunk of granite dropped down beside him. Kicking off the stone, Sonic pushed away from the falling debris, just as the remainder of it passed him by on a permanent trip to the bottom of the water. His lungs shouting at him, Sonic forced himself to kick upwards as best he could.

Gasping for air once more, Sonic emerged from the water and realised that he’d almost been lucky. He was certainly closer to the green light than before and now he could make out there was something written next to it. Deciding to try something new, Sonic laid flat in the water, facing upwards and kicked his legs with the force he’d usually apply to a run. The effect saw Sonic propel himself through the water like a tiny blue motorboat, eventually guiding himself towards land.

Sonic dragged himself to safety and shook the water out of his fur. He trotted over to the light, which he could now see was part of a control panel and read the sign next to it: ACCESS HATCH – MAINTENANCE BADNIKS ONLY.

“Sorry, Robotnik,” Sonic said to nobody in particular, “I’m going to have to break your rules”

Sonic pressed a button marked “FLIGHTLESS BADNIK ACCESS” on the control panel and the floor slid way, much like it had back in the Spring Yard Zone. And there, much like the launcher in the Spring Yard Zone, were a row of springs ready to launch Sonic upwards.

Sonic looked up into the tunnel high above. It was still quite dark but the sides were clearly metal. This was probably his only chance to get back to the Scrap Brain Zone any time soon.

Sonic braced himself, “Okay… here goes nothing”

With a leap, Sonic pounced onto one of the springs- and was shot upwards at astonishing speed and with equally astonishing force, back towards the Scrap Brain Zone high up above.

This was it.

He was coming for Robotnik.

Sonic was going to end this here, now, today.

On to Chapter 30