Back to Chapter 53

“Here we go, kids, home sweet home!”

“A perfect landing, Uncle Chuck,” Sally hopped down from the bi-plane.

Sonic leapt from atop the plane, “Well, from one royal knight to another, I think the Tornado’s proven to be a success!”

Chuck clambered down to the ground, “Thanks, Sonic. This converter might prove to be a great breakthrough in reducing air pollution across Mobius! A planet with clean air like the Green Hill Zone, the health benefits alone would be remarkable”

“It’s a shame we couldn’t have visited more of West Side Island,” Sally lamented, “I know Sonic would love some of the Zones out there. The Emerald Hill Zone, the beautiful Aquatic Ruins Zone, the Mystic Cave Zone- some really wonderful sights”

“Well, you never know,” Sonic smiled, “I’m sure the chance to visit will come up again!”

“I really think you’d like it, Sonic. West Side Island’s a beautiful place”

Suddenly, Sonic got a sense of dread foreboding. He stopped, dead still then shot a glance over his shoulder.

“Sonic?” Sally looked at him.

“Everything alright?” Chuck asked.

“I just…” Sonic started, as if he could feel something, not realising it was the slightest change in chaos energy in the Zone which his recent transformation had left him a little more attuned to than previous, “Something’s wrong”

Sonic dashed off, kicking up a burst of air which took Sally and Chuck by surprise. A look of grim determination spread across Sonic’s face. He didn’t know what was going off, but he knew it wasn’t right.

Tails was enjoying a morning walk in the Green Hill Zone. The skies were clear and blue, the air was fresh and clear, the sun was warm. Life was good. He’d really enjoyed helping Uncle Chuck and Ben with their inventions lately and, though his new room wasn’t much for size, it was nice to have a space of his own.

A booming laughter split Tails’ concentration. Tails turned to see a mechanical contraption hovering in the air above him. Not that Tails had seen it before, but he knew in an instant he was looking at the Egg-O-Matic. And he knew the person piloting it, bellowing with foul laughter, was Doctor Ivo Robotnik. Tails did the only sensible thing- he turned his walk into a run.

Tails’ feet pounded at the ground- and he became aware of another pair of feet coming up from behind.

“Sonic!” Tails cried out, “Help me!”

“Hold on, Tails, I’m coming!”

“Sonic!” Doctor Robotnik grinned, “How nice of you to join us! Would you like to see the special thing I found recently?”

Robotnik was too high in the air for Sonic to reach with a leap and moving at a decent enough pace that it meant both Sonic and Tails had to keep moving lest Tails get grabbed.

“I’m not interested in your sick plans, Robotnik, leave my friend alone!”

“Oh, I think you’ll be quite interested in this,” Robotnik snarled, reaching into his cockpit and revealed something which shocked Sonic- a Chaos Emerald, drained of its colour. The emeralds had become see-through when previously unable to return to the Special Zone, meaning they’d evidently failed to return there after warping out when Sonic last saw them.

“Ah, looks like I was right,” Robotnik taunted, “That’s definitely an interested face!”

“Robotnik, I don’t know what you’re planning—” Sonic started.

“Really?” Robotnik feigned surprise, “Then let me tell you! Honestly, I thought you’d have figured it out by now. Total world domination, subjugation of this planet’s pitiful population and the infinite power granted by the Chaos Emeralds. Oh, yes- and your doom!”

“Dream on, ugly,” Sonic spat, “You’ll never beat me”

“Perhaps- but maybe my Badniks will do the trick. Especially the new Master Robots I’ve constructed. There’s one in particular I think you’d love to meet. But first, a little insurance!”

Robotnik swooped low as a claw extended from the bottom of the Egg-O-Matic. The hovercraft dipped down and the claw grabbed Tails by his namesakes before Robotnik raised his machine back into the air.

“Looks like you’re going to have to come and fight me now!”

Tails squirmed, feeling totally useless in the grip of the claw, “Sonic, help!”

Sonic tried to put on a burst of speed but it made no difference- Robotnik was still too high up for him to reach “Tails! Hold on! I’ll find you!”

Robotnik shifted the Egg-O-Matic into overdrive and rocketed away out of sight, cackling all the while.

Sonic roared in frustration.

“Sonic!” a friendly voice called out. It was Ben, who rushed up to his friend, “Sonic, I saw the whole thing!”

“Ben, there’s no time, I’ve got to go stop him”

“Well, it seems to me if you’re giving chase to Robotnik, you might want to know where he’s headed, right?”

“Yeah… he took me by surprise again. But I’ve got to try and follow him!”

“Then let me give you something that might help. You remember Porker’s rudimentary radar we used to find the Chaos Emeralds last time?”

Sonic tilted his head, “Yeah?”

“Well, he and Uncle Chuck have been working on this,” Ben handed Sonic a circular handheld device. It was blue- to match Sonic, of course- and most of its design was a screen, with a button on top.

“What is this?”

“This is the Emerald Radar. Press that button”

Sonic did as told. With a bleep, the screen lit up with six yellow dots. One of them was moving.

Ben explained the device, “The dots represent the position of the Chaos Emeralds. If I had to guess, I’d say the one that’s moving is the one Robotnik has”

“Mutt, I could kiss you! I won’t, obviously, but… Hm, six dots, I guess the seventh emerald is still hidden somewhere. But the six that disappeared when they blasted me are here on Mobius, for sure”

Ben pointed at the moving dot, “It looks like Robotnik’s headed towards that other emerald”

“Not gonna happen. With this device, I’m gonna cut him off and get the other emeralds before he has a chance. What Zone’s in that direction?”

“If I had to guess,” Ben rubbed his chin, “I’d say that’s the location of the Under Ground Zone. It’s a former mine, they had to shut it down after it turned out the miners were working in a volcano… which was a little more active than they’d like. Sonic, you need to be careful, it’s unfathomably hot”

“Then it’s a good job I’m so cool,” Sonic quipped, “Thanks, Ben. Tell Uncle Chuck and Porker thanks too. Let everyone know what’s happened- and tell them I’ll be back”

Sonic exploded away with a burst of speed, the ensuing sonic boom almost knocking Ben over.

Ben didn’t know the extent of the madman’s plans, but Doctor Robotnik was back and that was enough. Sonic had to stop him- assuming he could come out the other side of the volcano.

On to Chapter 55