Back to Chapter 47

“All I’m saying is if they made it out of crisps then we wouldn’t have this problem!”

“Chirps,” Flicky resisted the urge to not slap his friend, “while I appreciate potatoes are a renewable, naturally-sourced product, I really do have to protest- you can’t make a car out of crisps!”

Chirps pondered this for a moment, “I’ll grant you the seat might need to be made of something a little stronger. Perhaps an assortment of leeks”

“Like how your brain ‘leeked’ out of your ears, you mean?” Flicky muttered to himself.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing, never mind”

The two birds had wandered up towards the mountain trail in the direction they’d been given by the Kintobor Computer. True to what Sally had said, the energy signature was definitely nearby and shouldn’t prove too hard to get to. What was proving slightly more difficult, at least for Flicky, was putting up with the inane gibberings of his plucky friend.

“Do you ever wonder where moles come from?” Chirps asked.

“What? No! They just exist! They live underground, they just… well they’re just moles!!”

“Yeah, but where do they come from?”

“Chirps, when a mummy mole and a daddy mole love one another very much…”

“Hey, what’s that?” Chirps pointed upwards.

Flicky hoped this wouldn’t be another game of ‘what’s that strange cloud and why is it looking at me like that?’ but was surprised to see a beautifully cut gem of a rich, bright red colour on a small rocky platform jutting out of a slightly angled cliff face. That had to be the Chaos Emerald, surely. Gems didn’t just grow out of mountainsides, after all.

“That’s got to be the Chaos Emerald,” Flicky noted to Chirps, “We’re definitely in the right location”

“Let’s reach up and grab it then!”

“Chirps, that thing is sticking out of a mountain fifty feet in the air. You’re not reaching up and grabbing anything, I can fly, I’ll get it”

“Oh, let me help, Flicky, come on!” Chirps pleaded, “Please! Sally made us a team, I want to help!”

Flicky was a little put off by this unusually childish display from Chirps, “Alright, you can… I dunno, you can carry it back to the lab if you like”

“Yes! L-A-B! L-A-B!” Chirps posed in time with his rhythmic chanting.

“Alright, this won’t take a second,” Flicky flapped his wings and took to the air but immediately found something pulling against him as he rose, “Hoi! Gerroff!”

“Sorry, Flicky, I got bored of waiting,” Chirps responded, looking up at his bluebird friend while holding onto his leg.

“Chirps, when we get this emerald, I’m gonna deep-fry you!” Flicky grumbled.

With a not inconsiderable amount of effort, Flicky managed to hoist himself and Chirps roughly level with the Chaos Emerald.

“Right, you just sort of hover in place and I’ll grab the emerald,” Chirps instructed.

“Are you daft?! Wait, don’t answer that. Let me come in a bit closer and I’ll land— Chirps, no!”

It was too late, of course. Chirps had already determined he was going to get the emerald by hook or by crook. He leapt for the platform and, twirling in mid-air somewhat against his will, landed as gracefully as forty-two grand pianos being dropped into a canyon, face first on the platform.

“That’s using your head…” Flicky rolled his eyes.

A loud cracking noise startled both the boys as the rocky platform began to split from the cliff face. Before Flicky could say anything, the rock came loose and Chirps began to slide atop it all the way to the bottom, yelping all the way.

Flicky soared downwards as fast as he could but wasn’t quite quick enough to reach the platform before it hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt.

Flicky coughed as he landed, wafting the dirt cloud away as best as he could, “Chirps! Chirps! Are you alright?! Speak to me!”

As the cloud cleared, Flicky saw Chirps holding the emerald aloft with one of his feet, a dazed expression on his face. “Ta-da…” he offered weakly.

Flicky sighed, “I think I see why Sonic and Sally didn’t put you on their teams… Come on, you silly clucker, let’s get that thing back to the lab”

Below the surface of South Island, the Omni-Viewer flashed and crackled into the space in the air of the Labyrinth Zone as Joe Sushi and Tux leapt from his viewscreen-like face- right into the water below.

Tux was exasperated, “You might have told us you were going to do that”

“Or that the water was so darn slimy,” Joe added.

“Sorry, guys,” Omni-Viewer apologised, the Labyrinth Zone isn’t really designed for me to navigate easily. Lots of tight spaces”

“I’m guessing you won’t be joining us for a swim?” Joe asked, already sure of the answer.

“I’m afraid not. I’ll have to hang around here until the two of you finish up”

“Very well,” Tux responded, bringing up the map of the Zone on Sonic’s Kintobor watch, “Then Joe and myself shall make haste to locate the missing Chaos Emerald. According to the map provided by the Kintobor Computer, Joe, we need to swim deep below this area into a cavern”

“At least we’ve got breath control skills Sonic doesn’t, eh?” Joe commented.

“Well, quite”

The two animals dove beneath the water, slimy though it was, and pushed on downwards. Tux led the charge, being the more agile of the two and thus able to more quickly ascertain which way they should swim- if, after all, he wasn’t going to be able to fit through a gap, it was beyond belief that the larger Joe would be able to.

The two friends were largely forced to communicate underwater through gesturing, though the Kintobor Computer, talking through the watch, had no such issue.

“Tux, up ahead you need to turn left,” Kintobor commented.

Tux spotted an opening like a door frame ahead of him and took note of a purple glow emanating from within. The penguin swam towards it and Joe duly followed before of them turned left as instructed in the passageway on the other side.

The duo shortly came to a series of underwater stairs and swam upwards. In no time at all, they came to a somewhat ornate chamber, finding the room was free of water, a pocket of air large enough for them to clamber out into and walk about the room.

Tux helped Joe out of the water and the two took in their surroundings.

“It’s certainly lavish,” Tux remarked.

“Sure is,” Joe replied, before giving out a low whistle. Beautiful carvings adorned the room, with unusually grumpy-looking fish being a recurring motif.

It didn’t take much for the two friends to spot the source of the purple glow- a particularly purple Chaos Emerald, more radiant in its beauty than even the riches present in the chamber. The emeralds was seated atop a pedestal high up near the ceiling.

“It’s times like this, I regret being a flightless bird,” Tux commented drolly.

“Well, I reckon I can’t climb a wall like that, so we’ll try something else,” Joe responded.

“What did you have in mind?” Tux asked, immediately regretting doing so as he found Joe hoiking him up and rearing back, “I say, Joe, this is most improper!”

“Hold still, Tux, I’m gonna hurl ya at it. Don’t you go hurling yourself, you hear?”

With a mighty throw, Joe used every ounce of strength to fling Tux up towards the pedestal, which he managed to cling on to and pull himself up.

“I must say,” Tux stated, straightening his bowtie, “I rather thought Rotor was the stronger of you two walruses”

Joe slapped his stomach, “Nah, my muscles are just tightly packed!”

“If you insist,” Tux’s usual unflappable façade slipped a little and he allowed himself to smile just ever so slightly at the corner of his beak.

“Okay, Tux, hop on down and I’ll catch you,” Joe called up.

Tux stood up straight, picking up the emerald as he did so. Unfortunately, the mighty pedestal was not as sturdy as previously thought and it began to wobble a little. Tux, thrown off guard and off balance by this, managed to throw himself forward towards Joe- who caught him expertly, it has to be said- but didn’t anticipate the pedestal going in the opposite direction. With a tremendous slam, it crashed through a wall and a chain reaction started. The ceiling began to cave in as pieces of masonry fell loose. Cracks formed in the walls and the floor. Joe and Tux turned back to the water but found it had already been blocked off by falling rubble.

As the two shared a look of panic, a bright flash signified they would be alright as the Omni-Viewer teleported in.

“Oh, it’s really roomy in here!” Omni-Viewer noted, taking in the room, “I could have dropped you off down here had I known there was no water!”

“No time to chat!” Joe shouted, leaping towards and into Omni-Viewer.

Tux concurred, “As they say in the common parlance: scarper!”

As the two animals dove through Omni-Viewer’s face screen, they found themselves transported safely back to the Green Hill Zone.

“Remarkable work, dear boy,” Tux complimented Joe.

“Aw, shucks. It weren’t nothin’,” Joe shrugged.

Tux bowed deeply, “Omni-Viewer, we owe you our lives”

“No need to thank me, Tux,” Omni-Viewer responded, “Let’s just get that Chaos Emerald to Doctor Kintobor’s laboratory. We have to hope the others will be along soon!”

Coming through the other side of the warp, Sally, Bunnie and Antoine found themselves in a strange world completely unlike anything they’d ever known. Colours melted and merged and spiralled and exploded, patterns twisted and turned and dotted and spun and zig-zagged wildly, images of animals and landscapes morphed into one another.

“WELCOME, TINY ONES,” a deafening boom of a voice roared, “FEIST HAS BEEN EXPECTING YOU”

Antoine shuddered a little, unnerved by Feist’s size. He’d been in the Special Zone before, of course, but he was no less terrified of the gigantic panda.

“Great Feist,” Sally took a step forward, for all the difference it would make, “we have come in search of a Chaos Emerald. We have reason to believe one resides within this domain”

“FEIST KNOWS WHY YOU CAME. FEIST HAS DOMINION OVER THIS ZONE. FEIST IS UNEASY WITH THE HOARDING OF THE CHAOS EMERALDS. AND YET…” the might panda paused, “FEIST MUST ADMIT, IF THE EMERALDS ARE TO BE KEPT IN ONE PLACE, IT IS BETTER THEY ARE LOOKED AFTER BY THOSE PURE OF HEART SO AS NOT TO ABUSE THEM”

“Then you’ll help us?”

“YOU KNOW FEIST ENJOYS WATCHING YOU ALL PERFORM IN HIS CHALLENGES. AND SO A CHALLENGE MUST BE UNDERTAKEN”

Bunnie glanced at Sally, “Ah reckon Ah knew that was comin’”

Sally ignored Bunnie for the moment and kept her eyes on Feist, who was admittedly difficult not to look at, “We will gladly face one of your tests of skill, Feist”

“NOT THIS TIME. THIS TIME, YOU WILL FACE A TEST OF YOUR CHARACTER”

Without warning, as if in the blink of an eye, the world went black. Sally, Antoine and Bunnie each found themselves alone in the darkness without the others nearby.

Sally watched as the black melted away. She was in the throne room of her father’s castle. Curious.

“Sally, there you are!”

Sally turned. There before her was her father, King Nigel Acorn. She rushed to give him a hug, “Father! Thank goodness, I—"

“There isn’t time for that now. Why aren’t you in your ceremonial dress? Must I forever chase you around, Sally? One day, this kingdom will be yours to rule, you’ve got to take your responsibilities more seriously!”

“I guess… it slipped my mind” Sally was deeply confused, “What… ceremony exactly?”

Nigel sighed, “The unification of our great kingdom”

“Unification?”

“Yes! With the Robotnik Empire!”

Sally’s eyes almost popped out of her head, “Robotnik— Empire?!”

“Come now, Sally, Doctor Robotnik has conquered three quarters of Mobius after all. That’s as worthy an empire as they come!”

“How can you entertain a unity with that monster?!”

“Sally, you know all too well the agreement Robotnik and I have made. He’ll allow the kingdom to continue as it always has and leave our people to their own devices. All he asks in return is our fealty!”

“Our subjugation, you mean! What makes you think you can trust that bloated eggy creep?”

The door slammed open. From behind it, the figure of Doctor Robotnik entered the room, his yellow cape swooping along the ground as he walked, “Come now, Sally. Is that any way to talk about your dear friend Ivo?”

Sally stomped up to Robotnik, “Friend? You tried to conquer South Island!”

“Tried? Sally, that was five years ago! I succeeded! And the year after that, South Island was renamed Robotnik Island!”

Sally choked, “That’s impossible. Sonic would have stopped you”

“Sonic was the first to fall. My Silver Sonic robot saw to that. An ingenious design and no question, if I do say so myself. After he was no more, the rest of your little friends soon fell into line. You fled back home to your kingdom and there you’ve remained ever since. Until this day. And that is how things will be allowed to continue, provided you and your father go ahead with this ceremony”

Sally stared at the king, “Father… this is wrong”

“Sally,” Nigel protested, “we’ve been over this twenty times”

“Then maybe on time number twenty-one you’ll hear sense!”

“Ivo, I am so terribly sorry. I’ll see to it that my daughter is kept out of the way of the ceremony until she’s suitably calmed. Please accept my sincerest apologies”

“Not at all,” Robotnik smiled a disgusting grin.

“Guards!” Nigel yelled.

In a moment, the room filled up with the royal guard. In that instant, Sally assessed the situation and made a split-second decision. She leapt towards her father and whisked the ceremonial sword around his waist from its sheath.

“Sally, what are you--?!” Nigel gasped before he found his own sword pointed at him by his daughter.

“I’m sorry, father. This ceremony is wrong. And I have to stop it any way I can!”

Bunnie shook her head as the world came into view. She was in some kind of factory. Machines were being built on a construction line. She couldn’t quite tell exactly what sort of machines they were, however. Bunnie wandered the factory floor in search of a clue.

Bunnie’s heart almost pounded out of her chest as an alarm sounded.

“ALERT! BACK IN LINE, CITIZEN RABBOT. RETURN TO YOUR WORKSTATION AT ONCE!”

Bunnie looked around desperately, trying to work out exactly what was going on but drawing a blank.

“Oh-ho, my my, how silly,” came a voice as its owner pressed a button which silenced the alarm, “I’m ever so sorry, Miss Rabbot, I must have forgotten to reprogram the machine to recognise your new role!”

“Mah new… Ah’m sorry, who are you?”

The diminuitive scientist stepped out of the shadows and walked over to Bunnie, “My dear Miss Rabbot, I’m Doctor Snively. Don’t you remember? Oh, of course, the new computer chips we implanted in you are most likely interfering with your short-term memory”

“Snively? You creep!”

Snively chuckled, “My, that’s going back some time! It’s been a while since you called me that! Why it’s six years since the fall of South Island! Come now, do be calm- I’ll run a diagnostic on the chips and we’ll get you back to normal!”

Bunnie took a sudden step back, “You stay away from me”

“Miss Rabbot, really. You’ve been one of the most valuable assets to the Robotnik Empire since the day Silver Sonic crushed the life out of your blue friend! I promise you, you and I- we get on quite famously, I dare say!”

“You… No way, never!”

“Let’s see if I can jog your memory. Ah, yes! You asked about the possibility of full roboticization- in order to better serve the empire! Flesh and sinew have their limitations- but metal? So much sturdier and more powerful! Think of the good you’ll be able to do when both your arms have the strength of your robotic one!”

“N-no. Ah wouldn’t!”

“Come now, don’t be so jittery. We’ve prepared a roboticization chamber for you already! You’ll be a much more efficient servant of Doctor Robotnik this way, it really is for the best!”

“Ah won’t! Ah won’t do as you say!”

“Dear me, I really hoped it wouldn’t come to this,” Snively drew another control from his pocket, “This will override those pesky computer chips and bring you back to normal. In fact, why don’t I just save us the bother? I’ll use those implants to force you to change your mind! I know that sounds bad but since you agreed to full roboticization anyway, I’m really just cutting out the middle part!”

Snivelly pressed a button on the control and Bunnie’s body jolted. Her brain felt like it was being electrocuted.

“No…” she struggled, “Won’t… give in!”

“Please, Miss Rabbot. It’ll be so much easier if you stop fighting”

“Ah’ll… never… stop… fighting… you!”

Snively twisted a dial on the control and Bunnie let out a curdling shriek of pain.

Antoine, already nervous, found himself distinctly on edge as the darkness sort of exploded away to reveal a warzone. Guns fired loudly around him, cannons boomed and the roar of battle proved almost too much to take. Antoine realised in astonishment that the soldiers were attacking the king’s castle.

Antoine looked over his shoulder, almost entirely unsure what was going on.

“Commander D’Coolette!” a soldier cried out.

Commander? They couldn’t have been talking about Antoine’s father, the General. But Antoine was a Lieutenant.

Antoine looked down at his uniform. It most decidedly bore the mark of the Commander rank.

“Commander D’Coolette,” the soldier ran up to Antoine’s side, “they’re saying the Princess is coming out onto the balcony now. Do you suppose she’ll have… her bodyguard with her?”

Antoine’s face contorted in confusion. He was the one who was duty bound to the Princess! So who could the soldier have been talking about?

Another soldier called out, “Hold your fire!”

There, on the balcony, stood Princess Sally Acorn- in a red, black and yellow colour scheme that brought to mind that fiend Robotnik. And next to her- no! It couldn’t be! Bunnie? But… she was fully mechanical. Antoine’s heart sank in grief to see Bunnie in such a way.

“Soldiers of the rebellion,” Sally addressed the soldiers, “I offer you one final chance to join the glorious Robotnik Empire. These seven years have been a triumph, but with your strength the empire can grow to cover the remainder of Mobius!”

Antoine didn’t understand what was going on. Why would Sally join the Robotnik Empire? And, more importantly, since when was there a Robotnik Empire?! All Antoine knew was he had to stop it.

“Join forcez wiz Robotnik? Nevair!” Antoine shouted, defiant.

“My dear Commander D’Coolette. I see our old friendship means nothing to you,” Sally sneered, “Fortunately, you mean nothing to me! Since Silver Sonic isn’t here to kill another pest, I’ll leave things to you, Bunnie!”

Bunnie leapt down off the balcony, her fist outstretched as she rocketed towards Antoine.

“I do not understand what is happening,” Antoine gritted his teeth, “but I know I will be stopping it!”

Antoine drew his sabre and leapt fiercely at Bunnie.

Everything grew black.

Then, the blackness melted away once more.

Sally, Bunnie and Antoine were stood back in the Special Zone.

The three of them looked at one another, confused.

“VERY WELL DONE, TINY ONES” Feist nodded.

Antoine, uncertain, ventured, “Zen… it was all an illusion?”

“QUITE SO. FESIT TESTED YOUR CHARACTERS BY CRAFTING A SHARED DREAMSCAPE FOR YOU IN WHICH YOUR WORST FEARS WOULD COME TRUE. YOU, PRINCESS, HAD YOUR FAITH IN YOUR FATHER TESTED WHEN YOU SAW HIM ALIGN WITH EVIL. AND YOU, RABBIT, FOUGHT YOUR OWN INNER DEMONS AND FEARS THAT YOU MAY ONE DAY BECOME NO MORE THAN A MACHINE. AND AS FOR YOU, COYOTE, YOU WERE FORCED TO STAND AGAINST YOUR HONOUR-BOUND DUTY- AND THE ONE YOU LOVE”

“One I…?” Antoine asked.

“BUT EACH OF YOU STOOD FIRM. IT IS NOT EASY TO STAND UP TO YOUR PARENTS, YOURSELVES OR YOUR LOVE. BUT EACH OF YOU DID SO AS YOU KNEW IT WAS THE RIGHT CHOICE. YOU FIGHT FOR THE FREEDOM OF YOUR WORLD. YOU HAVE PROVEN YOUR CHARACTERS- AND YOUR RIGHT TO THIS CHAOS EMERALD”

Feist uncrossed his arms and opened his palm, revealing the blue Chaos Emerald.

“Thank you, Great Feist,” Sally curtsied, “We will look after it with great care”

“FEIST SHALL RE-OPEN THE PORTAL THROUGH WHICH YOU ENTERED THE SPECIAL ZONE TO ALLOW YOU PASSAGE HOME. SAFE JOURNEY, TINY ONES”

With a wave of his hand, the portal back to Mobius opened up.

“Did any of y’all dream of somethin’ called the Silver Sonic?” Bunnie asked.

“Oui”

“Me too. I hope that was just part of the dream- because if it’s real, we need to be worried”

“Are you sure you’re okay carrying my weight on your back, Dulcy?”

“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, I’m a little bulkier than your usual passengers…”

“Rotor, don’t think I’m belittling your size here, but I’m a dragon- we’re pretty strong”

“Oh, well… if you’re sure then”

“I’m sure. Besides, it isn’t the flying I have problems with?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s the landings. Going down!”

The two friends had arrived at the Marble Zone and Dulcy prepared to make a descent. As per the norm, she picked entirely the wrong angle of trajectory and speed of descent, lawndarting herself into the ground and hurling Rotor off her narrow shoulders, high into the air, before he tumbled to the ground, rolling three times before coming to a stop.

“…ow…” Rotor winced.

Dulcy’s head spun woozily, “I’m sorry, ma, I just plain forgot to return the book to the library…”

Rotor picked himself up and cracked his neck and elbow. He wasn’t too fond of the rough landing but at least he’d arrived in one piece. Dulcy shook the cobwebs out of her brain and stood up, dusting off her outfit.

“You okay?” Rotor asked, pulling a handheld radar out of his belt.

“Never better,” Dulcy shrugged, “One day I’ll stick that landing”

Rotor pressed a button on the radar and it pinged into life, “Well, fortunately, according to this little beauty Porker put together, you’ve dropped us down right by the emerald. It’s about seventy-five feet away. Looks like it’s underground. Maybe in those ruins?”

The two slowly approached the purple brick work of the ruins ahead of them. The Marble Zone was a dilapidated mess, in truth. It couldn’t have been much further from the modern world Rotor so enjoyed. He peered at the carvings, trying to identify some kind of clue as to the ancient civilisation that had once resided there, but nothing was gleamed. He thought there was some sort of a fish in one of the pictures but since it seemed to have what looked like a goatee or a big chin, he assumed he was looking at it wrong.

Rotor wiped his brow, “Phew. It’s boiling here. Aren’t you warm?”

Dulcy smiled and raised an eyebrow, “Um… dragon?”

“Right. Give me a watery Zone over this any day. Joe and Tux landed lucky”

“We’ll be fine! With that radar doohickie of yours, we’ll find the Chaos Emerald and be out of here in no time. As a matter of fact, I—WHOOP!”

Rotor reacted with surprise as Dulcy slipped through the ground, a mess of grass and brickwork following her. He peered through the hole she’d left and saw her on a brick floor below.

“Are you alright?” he called.

“Yeah. Cave in, I guess. Maybe they don’t make these stone structures like they used to!”

“I don’t suppose you can see the emerald?”

“There’s some kind of glow. I could check that out…”

Dulcy stood up and walked towards the glow, realising too late she’d stepped on a pressure plate, activating an ancient trap.

“Uh oh,” she let out sheepishly.

“Dulcy?”

“Rotor, I don’t want you to be too alarmed, but maybe you should get away from that hole. I think I’ve found what’s causing the glow and I—”

Suddenly, a rush of lava like a huge tidal wave smashed into Dulcy and filled the tunnel she stood in. Rotor gasped and wanted to yell but was too stunned. As the lava bubbled upwards, he leapt backwards to avoid being melted by it.

Rotor looked on in panic, having just watch his friend get melted to nothingness. There was no way he could get the emerald now! Maybe with some kind of protective suit? His mind raced as he tried to wrap his head around what he could do but also try to process the fact he’d just watch Dulcy get vapourised.

Without warning, a portion of ground up ahead began to crack and bubble as the lava pushed its way to the surface. Rotor crawled backwards against a marble structure from the ancient world, trying to work out his odds of survival.

The ground burst open- and, to Rotor’s relief, out sprang Dulcy.

“YEEHAW!” she cried out, a look of joy on her face and nary a scuff on her or her clothes.

“Dulcy?! But I just watched you—”

Dulcy smiled, “Dragon”

Rotor felt relief wash over him, “I’m glad you’re alright. Don’t do that to me”

“Sorry for the scare. Maybe this’ll cheer you up”

She revealed the contents of her palm- the orange Chaos Emerald.

Rotor punched the air, “Yes! Dulcy, you’re amazing!”

“Don’t compliment me just yet- save that for when we land back in the Green Hill Zone!”

What remained of the Sky Base Zone lay surrounded by trees in the Jungle Zone. Most of the bodywork had been broken in the explosion and the remainder of the balloon canvas was shredded and full of holes. It likely hadn’t been a soft landing.

“How come this thing’s even still here anyway?” Johnny asked out loud.

“It makes sense when you think about it,” Porker noted, “Sonic used the Chaos Emeralds to undo all the damage caused by Robotnik’s influence. The Sky Base Zone is really just a huge vehicle- vehicles themselves aren’t damaging, even if their output can be”

“I guess that’s why the Scrap Brain Zone is still standing”

“Right. A lot of that area was reverted to greenery but the central factory itself is still in place- though how much power and function it has we don’t know. I’ll have the Kintobor Computer run some tests”

“I think we’d all like to see it gone for good”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing Robotnik gone for good”

Johnny had to admit Porker was right, “Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be so lucky. But if anyone can figure out a way to turn him back into Doctor Kintobor, it’s you”

The two friends stared at one another before realisation dawned on them.

“That’s it!” Porker exclaimed, “We’ll use the emeralds to revert Robotnik to Kintobor!”

“But can we even do that without the R.O.C.C.? And with the seventh emerald still missing…”

“You’re right,” Porker tapped a finger to his chin, “but if Doctor Kintobor could create an artificial emerald, perhaps the concept could be refined and made to work as he intended!”

“Maybe we ought to just focus on finding the real emerald,” Johnny smiled gently at his friend, “I’m not sure we want a repeat of the accident if it’s going to turn you into the evil Rekrop Siwel!”

“Maybe you have a point there”

The two stepped closer to the Sky Base Zone and found a hole large enough for them to walk through. Inside, only a few bulbs of emergency lighting were still working and they seemed to be running down to their last shred of power.

“I wish I’d brought a t-torch,” Porker stammered.

“Don’t worry, pal. We’ll find the Chaos Emerald and get out before you know it. Let’s try through that door”

The two friends turned at a huge metal wheel to open the door to the next room, somewhat tricky when the whole structure was on its side. Clambering through, they entered what appeared to be a store room.

“EEYIKE!” Porker yelled.

“What is it?!” Johnny spun around, then breathed a sigh, “Porker, you scared me!”

Porker had come face to face with a Ball Hog Badnik leaning against a metal shelving unit before realising it was inactive, “S-s-s-sorry, Johnny. I just get so n-n-nervous!” He took a deep breath and huffed at the Ball Hog, “Is this Robotnik’s idea of what a pig looks like? I ought to be offended”

Johnny laughed, “Hey, I’d rather have him here as the only Badnik on board, wouldn’t you?”

“Y-yeah, I guess so!”

A shrill voice cut in, “How unfortunate for you, furry creeps!”

Porker and Johnny spun round in the dark. Suddenly, with a shimmer of light, the room was fill with Newtron Badniks!

“They must have been using camouflage!” Johnny noted.

“Or c-c-cloaking d-devices!” Porker suggested, correctly.

“Quick, Porker, pass me that sweeping brush in the corner!”

Porker did as told, “Wh-what for?!”

Johnny popped the head off the brush, “I’ve been practicing a little”

Swinging the wooden pole so fast it looked for all the world like a helicopter blade, Johnny unleashed a fury on the Badniks, smashing them in the heads like a martial arts master in a cheesy kung-fu movie. Porker huddled into the corner of the room in fear, watching as his friend did the work for him. He was aware of a slight pinging noise on his radar, identical to the one he’d built for Rotor.

“Porker watch out!” Johnny shouted as one of the Newtrons lunged at Porker. With surprising speed, Johnny grabbed the Badnik by its tail and slammed it into the floor, shattering it into pieces.

“Th-thanks!”

“Don’t mention it”

With one final crack, Johnny swung his stick down on the last Newtron, blasting it to smithereens.

“Nobody inside them. I guess they were just waiting for people to turn into their sick ‘organic batteries’”

“Thanks, Johnny,” Porker breathed deeply, “I owe you one”

“No you don’t,” Johnny gave Porker a thumbs-up, “Any idea where the Chaos Emerald is?”

“Just one, actually,” Porker glanced at the Ball Hog. Following a hunch, he lifted the panel on its chest and found not a bomb- but the yellow Chaos Emerald.

Johnny raised his eyebrows, “Nice hunch”

“Thanks. Now if it’s all the same to you, let’s get out of here before we set off any more traps. The computer won’t hold the Star Post portal back home open for too much longer anyway”

“I hope the others have had a better time of things…”

Skidding to a stop at the outskirts of the Scrap Brain Zone, Sonic was determined.

Ben was gasping.

“Sorry, pal,” Sonic knelt down so his friend could climb off his back, “I guess it’s a little hard to breathe when you’re not used to it, huh?”

“I’ll… be… fine…” Ben panted between wheezes, “Just got… to get… breath… back… Give… ten… years”

“No time like the present, Mutt, my man. We’re headed into the danger zone”

Ben cleared his throat, “I thought we were headed into the Scrap Brain Zone?”

“Might as well be the same thing. Here be dragons”

“I thought she’d gone to the Marble Zone”

“Would you knock it off?”

“Sorry. I’m a little nervous. Evil superlaboratories have that effect on me”

“Yeah,” Sonic weighed the situation up, “Like imagine Uncle Chuck with a place like this, huh?”

“I don’t think he’d ever create something so ugly. Or fuel inefficient”

“Well, the plus side is this: the factory is still running on low power, so if the emerald is up high in a window or something, it’s not going to be obscured by the clouds of smoke and smog”

“That’s a relief. I didn’t bring my inhaler anyway”

“I didn’t know you needed one”

“Nah. Just trying to lighten the mood”

“Fair enough. Right, let’s get down to it”

The two friends headed into the Scrap Brain Zone. There was a very quiet, almost inaudible hum permeating the Zone which just made things seem eerie.

“When I was a kid, this was all trees as far as the eye could see…” Ben mused.

“You’re still a kid,” Sonic reminded him.

“Sonic, here’s a thought- even with you using the Chaos Emeralds to reduce the size of this place, it’s still huge. How are we going to find one emerald here? It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack”

“Well, the extra pair of eyes is certainly going to help! I have a feeling things are finally going to go in our fav—UNGH!”

A metallic voice belonging to the owner of the fist Sonic had just had thrust into his mouth replied, “Incorrect. All will go in the favour of Doctor Robotnik”

“Sonic!” Ben gasped, “Is that--?!”

Sonic brushed himself off as he stood up, a grim look on his face, “Hi, dad”

The roboticized Jules stared at Sonic, “You will leave this place now or be destroyed. It is quite simple”

“Sonic…” Ben tried to get Sonic’s attention.

Sonic tried not to break eye contact with Jules in case he gave him even a moment’s opening to attack, “Ben, we need to be careful”

“But, Sonic…”

“Ben, please, I’m trying to think of how we can escape unharmed”

“But, Sonic! Look at his hand!”

Sonic did so. In Jules’ left hand was a rock. A gemstone to be precise. A green gemstone.

“The green Chaos Emerald!” Sonic gasped.

“Correct,” Jules responded, “With this gem that this unit discovered in the area, Doctor Robotnik will be able to bring the Scrap Brain Zone to full power within a matter of hours”

“Sonic, we have to get that emerald,” Ben urged.

“I know…” Sonic replied reluctantly, “But I really don’t want to fight my dad”

“Sonic, listen to me. I know it’s hard. And I can’t imagine what life must be like for Jules right now. If he’s even aware of what’s going on. But here and now, that is not your dad. That’s some robot Robotnik made that stole his look. You have to fight him if we’re going to have any hope of saving him”

“But I can’t go all out in case… what if I break him?”

“I see your point…” Ben furrowed his brow, “What if we use the emeralds to turn him back to normal?”

“I… maybe? Do I have that right?”

“Sonic, you’ve saved the planet twice already, you tell me!”

“Well either way, we need that emerald… darn it, I really didn’t anticipate this when I woke up today. Alright, dad, here I come!”

Jules responded with the usual cold monotone, “Is this unit to understand you have finally concluded deliberation? And that you will commence attack? Be advised: you cannot win but this unit has no qualms in attacking”

Sonic clenched his fists, “We’ll just see. Right now, I’m focusing on one thing- rage at you for stealing my dad’s body!”

Out of nowhere, Sonic burst forward and hit Jules with the force of a shotgun shell, staggering the roboticised Mobian. Ben watched tensely as the two got into a fight. Sonic couldn’t hope to match Jules for power, but Jules had no hope of coming close to Sonic for speed. Sonic was managing to rattle off the odd hit here and there but Jules shrugged them off effortlessly. Jules, on the other hand, was failing to hit Sonic. It was a stalemate. The only problem was, of course, Sonic would eventually tire- and Jules would not.

Ben looked around frantically to see if there was anything he could do. He spotted a toolkit nearby and rushed over to it, flipping open the lid. That spanner looked nice and weighty. He picked it up. It felt nice and weighty. With no time to lose, he rushed back towards the fighting hedgehog.

“Hey, metalhead!” Ben yelled at Jules, “Cop this!”

Ben flung the spanner at Jules, who shoved Sonic out of the way as he lunged not out of the path of the tool but towards it, ignoring any impact it may have had, straight towards Ben! Ben held his breath as Jules swooped behind him and grasped him, his left hand around the pup’s face to smother him and his right balled into a fist.

“Ben!” Sonic shouted, fearful for his friend.

“You will leave or I will crush his head like a grape,” Jules threatened.

“You’ll what?!” Sonic exclaimed.

“I will not repeat myself. You will leave or your friend will die”

“…fine. Let him go and we’ll both leave. You have my word”

Jules paused.

Then he relented.

Ben sucked air in through his nostrils as Sonic raced over to him to pull him to safety.

“This isn’t over,” Sonic warned Jules.

“Agreed. For this planet, it is just beginning”

Sonic zipped off, Ben riding on his back once more. The two of them rushed down the mountainside to the edge of the Star Light Zone.

“It’s… it’s okay, buddy,” Sonic sighed, “You were only trying to help”

“Trying?” Ben smirked as he spat something from his mouth into his hands, “I thought I did a pretty good job”

Ben showed Sonic what he’d concealed in his mouth: the green Chaos Emerald.

“The--! But then you--! When he had you by the--! You must have--!” Sonic was incredulous, “Ben Muttski, you are brilliant!”

“Thank you. Would you like to carry the emerald?” Ben offered.

“You’re kidding, slobberchops. You can have your spitty emerald. That thing’s getting a wash as soon as we get it back to the lab”

Ben shrugged and smiled, “Labs are nice, but they’re not my favourite kind of dog”

“Buddy, right now, you’re my favourite kind of dog! Come on, let’s put a sprint on before dad realises he’s been had. I don’t imagine he’ll let Robotnik know he let the emerald slip through his fingers! Then maybe once Porker’s run some tests… maybe we can save him after all”

On to Chapter 49