Back to Chapter 39

The Jungle Zone was one of the most vibrant, beautiful locations on Mobius. Its gorgeous, leafy forests and clean, flowing water made it one of the most idyllic places you could want to visit. Sonic soon realised why the waters in the Bridge Zone had been so rapid as he eyed up the enormous waterfall of the Jungle Zone, far bigger and wider than any of those in the Green Hill Zone. The waters flowed from here to the Bridge Zone where the narrow waterways led to the rapid rush of water. Naturally, with Green Hill Zone having much larger waterways, the flow was always calmer in Sonic’s home Zone.

Not that any of that helped him get over his fear of water, of course. Sonic looked around and realised climbing the cliff around the waterfall was his only option for forward progression. Sonic looked at the lush greenery of the Zone. Beautiful bright flowers sprung up everywhere you looked and the trees bore fruits in combinations that seemed impossible. Apples, pears and oranges on the same tree? That was Mobius for you, a big melting pot of everything. Sonic, realising he was a little peckish, helped himself to an apple and crunched into it. It was quite the juiciest apple Sonic had ever tasted and its flavour was absolutely divine. Sonic decided he’d be making fruit runs here in future.

Sonic looked up at the waterfall. He watched as a large piece of timber floated down it, carried slowly by the water in an act that seemed to defy science. Eventually, the wood came to the bottom of the waterfall, bobbed up and down a few times and began to float downstream.

Finishing his apple, Sonic decided to try something reckless. There was no way he was going to wade in these waters so he figured he’d use his surroundings to his advantage. Sonic waited for the timber to float towards him and hopped atop it. Sonic turned with his back to the waterfall and began to run in place on the timber. As he did so, the wood began to rotate, acting as a big waterwheel and drive him towards the waterfall. Sonic was very pleased with this outcome, not least of all because he hadn’t truthfully anticipated it actually working.

Actually riding the “log” proved somewhat difficult as Sonic had to try and steer it while looking over his shoulder, trying to avoid any other debris in the water or bits of rock that were poking out. Eventually, Sonic drew near enough to the waterfall that he felt droplets of water splashing up at him. Slowing his run to a reasonable pace to as not to be immediately flung off upon stopping, Sonic eyed up a nearby rock jutting out of the cliff and decided to make that his target. Sonic bent his knees and leapt with all his might, hurling his body towards the rock and fortunately making his target, grabbing on with both hands. Sonic pulled himself up and watched as his ride floated back downstream.

Sonic took another look upwards. The waterfall somehow seemed even taller now he was stood right by it. But if Robotnik was about, he had to be up above as there was no sign of him at the foot of the waterfall.

Sonic remembered all his climbing training sessions with Sally. Sally! It suddenly occurred to Sonic that he’d left her and everyone else to defend the Green Hill Zone! He hoped they were all doing alright… Still, Sonic supposed, he was the only one who could reasonably catch up to Robotnik- and with his friends to defend it, the Green Hill Zone stood a better chance than none.

Sonic had to put those thoughts out of his mind. He didn’t have much time to stand about pondering, he had to remain on Robotnik’s trail. Climbing this waterfall was going to be much harder than climbing a tree or even the cliffs in the Green Hill Zone. One false move and Sonic would slip and fall into the water below. He had to make every move count. Unfortunately, his options for handholds were limited. Rocks jutted out from the waterfall at random intervals and they weren’t exactly designed for standing on. Most of the inhabitants of the Jungle Zone didn’t have to worry about making this kind of climb as they were generally tropical birds or fish, or animals skilled at climbing- and those that weren’t generally stayed away from the waterfall. No such luck for Sonic.

Sonic realised this would be where all that jumping practice paid off. He wasn’t going to be able to scale this obstacle in the ordinary way. This time, he’d be forced to leap from rock to rock. As he threw himself at his next target, a rock poking out of the waterfall, and pulled himself up, Sonic also became aware he’d have to be careful of the rushing water making the rocky surfaces slick and slippery, adding another element of danger.

A few precarious leaps later, Sonic looked up once more and noticed something else was floating down the waterfall. He hoped it wasn’t another piece of timber as it might be a touch difficult for him to avoid a giant tree trunk as it inexorably drew nearer. Sonic’s wishes were granted as, sure enough, the object wasn’t wood- it was metal. As the shape came closer, Sonic recognised what it was- a Crabmeat Badnik.

Sonic looked behind him and saw a flat surface jutting out of the cliff face. This wouldn’t be his smartest move but with a mechanical fire-spitting robot programmed for his execution floating towards him, he didn’t have time to be smart. Sonic leapt backwards towards the flat surface, flipped feet over head in mid-air and kicked off the wall, launching himself higher and up to meet the Crabmeat. The Badnik barely had time to register Sonic’s presence before Sonic bounced off its head, smashing it to pieces, and bouncing up to a ledge. Sonic watched as pieces of robot tumbled into the drink below. That was twice in one afternoon Sonic had dumped Badnik parts in the water, he was beginning to feel guilty.

Sonic stood up and took in his surroundings. The ledge led to a small cave. Water glistened off the smooth surface of the cave and Sonic couldn’t help but be curious- especially as one part of the cave seemed to glisten much more than the rest. Sonic had heard that curiosity killed the cat but reasoned that he wasn’t a cat so having a look was probably alright.

There wasn’t much going on inside the cave, just a few drips of water. If this had gotten the cat killed, Sonic figured it must have been a pretty clumsy feline. Sonic peered around the corner of the stone walls towards the extra-glisteny-glisten.

“Looks like curiosity paid off this time,” Sonic smiled to himself.

A third Chaos Emerald. Crystal clear like the last two and identical in size, shape and weight. Sonic picked it up and considered giving himself a pat on the back for giving the cave a look. As with the previous two, the emerald blinked away and Sonic felt a buzz of energy, even better than the time he poured the remnants of sugar from the bottom of the pack of Jelly Buttons directly into his mouth and got a sugar rush for the next hour.

Renewed and reinvigorated, Sonic used his energised state to push onward up the waterfall. In no time at all, he’d reached the top. The mouth of the river that was feeding the waterfall was a lovely spectacle, but Sonic had no time to appreciate it. He looked up on high and saw his next target- a Prison Egg Capsule. Of course, Sonic knew Robotnik had to be nearby.

With no waterfall to scale, Sonic took note of the foliage, specifically, the vines in the area. He’d seen a film once about a guy who lived in the jungle and swung from vine to vine while making a weird shouting noise. Sonic had no interest in yelling like a weird warbler, but he was definitely on board with climbing the vines if it’d help him reach the Prison Egg Capsule.

Sonic found the vines were surprisingly sturdy and able to hold his weight with no problem. Still, they were hardly the most sure footing he’d ever known and he found himself slipping a little, not helped by the fact his shoes were still carrying a lot of moisture from the waterfall climb.

As the platform where the Prison Egg Capsule stood drew closer, Sonic heard a familiar voice from above.

“How predictable of you to show your face, hedgehog!” Robotnik bellowed.

The Egg-O-Matic descended from above. Sonic found himself stood on a vine that sagged somewhat in the middle. Robotnik had his path to the Prison Egg Capsule blocked.

“I wish you hadn’t shown yours at all,” Sonic fired back, “Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

“Always making jokes- you’ll be laughing on the other side of your face in a moment. Unfortunately for you, it’ll be nowhere near the rest of your head!”

A panel slid open on the underside of the Egg-O-Matic and a sort of large tube extended from it. Before Sonic could make a remark, a round, black ball shot out of the tube. It didn’t take a hedgehog with a genius-level intellect to figure out the ball was explosive.

Sonic found it difficult to avoid the bomb as it rolled backwards and forwards on the sagging vine ledge. Robotnik bellowed with laughter up above, his wobbling stomach giving him the appearance of a sadistic jelly.

Sonic decided to play things cautiously- as one usually has to where explosives are concerned. The bomb detonated with a minor concussive force, not necessarily enough to tear Sonic to shreds as Robotnik had implied, but certainly enough to send him hurtling hundreds of feet below if he got knocked off the vine. Sonic counted in his head how long each bomb took to detonate and then how long Robotnik took to drop a replacement.

Just as one of the bombs blew, Sonic leapt high, curled into a ball and rolled down the vine, his momentum acting upon him as if he were a skateboarder on a halfpipe. Just as Robotnik dropped another bomb, Sonic used his speed and momentum to launch himself high into the air, level with Robotnik.

“Lovely view up here,” Sonic remarked before uncurling and shattering the Egg-O-Matic’s windscreen with a kick.

“You pest! You good for nothing brat!” Robotnik roared.

“Forgetting something, egg breath?” Sonic smiled as he clung on to the Egg-O-Matic.

“What are you--?”

“I’m not the only one who can roll, you know”

Sonic glanced downward. Robotnik followed Sonic’s eyeline. Sure enough, the bomb ball had rolled on the vine, much like Sonic had, gathering enough momentum to fling high up into the air. And now it was coming for the Egg-O-Matic.

“No!” Robotnik cried as Sonic dove to the Prison Egg Capsule.

The bomb wedged into the tube and exploded, setting off a chain reaction. Robotnik screeched, red-faced in fury as the Egg-O-Matic careened out of control and out of sight.

Sonic stepped on the release switch on the Prison Egg Capsule and freed its grateful inhabitants- including one Max the Monkey.

“Sonic!” Max exclaimed, getting to his feet, “Am I glad to see you!”

“Don’t mention it, bud,” Sonic gave his friend a handshake.

“I’m going to guess we’re not making the concert today,” Max tilted his head.

“Yeah, I think Robotnik had other plans, unfortunately. Are you going to be okay getting to safety?”

“Sonic,” Max raised an eyebrow, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but I happen to be a monkey. Monkeys live in jungles. I’ll let you figure out the rest”

“Alright, smarty-pants, suit yourself,” Sonic rolled his eyes and smiled, “Just stay safe as best you can. And be careful going through the Bridge Zone”

“Got it,” Max gave a thumbs up as he watched Sonic head off through the jungle, “Oh, and Sonic? Be careful of the drop down the waterfall”

“How do you think I got up here?” Sonic asked.

“Actually, I didn’t mean that one”

“What do you meeeee---!” Sonic yelped as he walked through some particularly dense growth and found himself cascading down a waterfall.

Max sighed to himself, “I meant the one that drops you in the Labyrinth Zone…” Max reached for an orange off a nearby tree, peeled it and took a bite of a slice from within, “So reckless, some people…”

On to Chapter 41