Back to Chapter 68

Nobody knew what the Aquatic Ruin Zone’s real name was. It had been so long since anyone had lived there and all record of the ancient civilisation that once fully populated it had been wiped out that there was no way of knowing. Hence, it was simply referred to by that which remained- an aquatic ruin. Presumably, of course, the flooding must have happened in the centuries since that civilisation abandoned the Zone. After all, what kind of ancient society could live in a Zone that was half underwater?

The Zone was home to another civilisation of sorts, though in much smaller numbers. More of a township than anything, but if you were to tell them that they’d probably go ballistic. When Doctor Kintobor had arrived on Mobius from Earth, he’d brought documents of Earth culture and history with him, some of which had spread far and wide as a matter of interest to historians. One such record had inspired a handful of citizens of West Side Island to take up a new life in the Aquatic Ruin Zone under the leadership of their king of sorts, Caesar. Thus, the Roaming Romans were born.

Of course, most people thought the Roaming Romans were a bunch of nutters in fancy dress. They certainly weren’t a patch on the real Romans- and, in turn, they were nowhere close to the civilisation that once called the Aquatic Ruin Zone their home. But they were harmless enough nutters, if left to their own devices. So most people did.

The Aquatic Ruin Zone itself was quite beautiful in a strange sort of way. The stone structures that remained were largely damaged beyond repair and the plant life was overgrown and untidy. Yet, strangely enough, when married together they created a rather lovely visual.

The Zone was usually quite warm- and today was no exception. Sonic was quite happy for a chance to sweat out whatever gross remnants of Mega Mack might still be in his body, but Johnny, Bunnie and Tails- the fluffiest members of the group- were perhaps less thrilled. Still, the sun was out and the sky was blue so you had to take joy in the small things.

Traipsing through the dense grass, there was a distinct smell of… well whatever the smell of foliage is. Jungle plants had that certain smell, didn’t they? It was as if the trees were sweating too. Rotor and Porker discussed inventing some sort of computerised hedge-trimmer to give the whole place a good tidying up. Porker couldn’t stand untidiness- a whole Zone that needed to be given a tidy was just ridiculous as far as he was concerned.

Sally raised her hand, “Do you hear that?”

Everyone stopped and listened. There was definitely some sort of noise on the periphery of their hearing. A buzzing kind of noise, specifically. As it grew louder, the obvious conclusion was the source of the noise was drawing closer.

“Up zere!” Antoine pointed skyward.

A swarm of Badniks descended upon the friends. Their leader, slightly larger than the rest, called out, “Whisps- attack!”

The Whisps looked like common houseflies, but obviously large enough to house a Mobian or Mobini hostage. As the smaller Badniks buzzed around and got in the Freedom Fighters’ faces, the larger ones swooped in to collide painfully with them. Bunnie swatted at the air around her as the nimble flies dodged her blows. Antoine managed a lucky swipe and cut of the wings of one of the robots.

“Guys, stand still, this is going to take some precision and I don’t want to hurt you,” Sonic called out.

Fast as a flash, Sonic rocketed through the Badniks and left pieces of them everywhere. The remaining Whisp, no larger than Sonic’s thumb, panicked and flew away.

“Thanks, Sonic,” Tails brushed a screw out of his fur, “They were pretty annoying”

“Well, I figured we only need one flying thing around here and we can make do with you”

As the friends passed into a walled area of the Zone’s abandoned city, they noticed a patch of wall which seemed to have been recently rebuilt with new masonry.

“That’s odd,” said Rotor, “It looks like that patch of wall’s been recently rebuilt with new masonry”

Well, he couldn’t read the narration, could he?

“You’re right,” Sally arched an eyebrow, “Stay alert, guys, it might be a trap from Robotnik”

Suddenly the brick work exploded outward, with chunks of stone narrowly missing the heroes. A robotic drilling machine burst free, “You got that right, sister! I’m Grounder- now prepare to get ground up!”

Sonic wasn’t too impressed, “So Robotnik took his Burrobot design, got rid of its hands and gave it more drills? Lazy, even by his standards”

The red robot swiped at Sonic with his drill hands, “Three times the drilling power though, you spiky fool!”

Sonic ducked and weaved to avoid the Grounder’s drills, “Ever heard of quality over quantity, pal? For instance, what good are three drills against one buzzsaw?”

Flinging himself forwards, Sonic whizzed into a Triple Spin and carefully sliced a line up and back down the Grounder’s body. It juddered for a second, then collapsed, falling apart in a heap, freeing someone in a rather nice looking breastplate and cape- a Roaming Roman.

“My greatest thanks, dear travellers,” the Roaming Roman bowed deeply, “Caesar shall hear of your heroism”. He marched off at once, presumably to report to his leader.

“What an odd fellow,” Antoine remarked.

“You were great, Sonic!” Tails gushed.

“Oh, come on, Tails, you’re being too kind,” Sonic waved his friend away, “One little Badnik’s no problem”

Suddenly, the entire wall nearby exploded, raining bricks down. Sonic and his friends covered their heads as a gigantic Grounder burst through the wall.

“And one big Badnik?” Tails was nervous, “That’s still no problem, right?”

“I’ll get back to you…”

Sonic knew this wouldn’t be as easy a fight as the last one. As the Grounder chased him down, it ignored the other Freedom Fighters attempting to launch attacks at it, their attacks glancing off its body and eventually leaving them all far behind in its trail. Sonic, separated from his friends, found himself backed onto a pier with nowhere to go. The giant Grounder drew closer with the rumbling noise of its tread tracks only being contested by the cracking noise of the pier. Suddenly, the pier collapsed under the weight of the Grounder and the machine fell into the deep. Sonic was launched up into the air and down into a large body of water where he immediately sunk to the bottom.

Sonic watched as the massive Grounder broke into pieces. Another Prime Badnik- nobody inside it. It had done its job though. Slowed by the water, Sonic had no time to react as a falling pillar that once previously held up the pier tumbled downwards and pinned him down. He could see a crack in the ground nearby and recognised he’d likely be able to get an air bubble from it if he waited- but he couldn’t afford to wait. And, more to the point, he couldn’t move. He was stuck. The others hadn’t even seen him go into the water. He had no chance of getting free. This was it.

Or so he thought.

A huge hand scooped Sonic out of the water and held him high in the air. The hand, naturally, was attached to a body- that of a ginormous and apparently living statue, which seemed to be a human with a beard and a large helmet. The statue was wearing attire not unlike the Roaming Roman the Freedom Fighters had met just before- presumably it had provided the inspiration for their garb.

“Let me guess, tiny,” Sonic quipped, “You’re another Prime Badnik and you’ve come to finish the job for Robotnik”

“Robotnik?” the statue responded, “I do not understand. I do not know this Robotnik”

Sonic stood in the palm of the statue, “Then… who are you?”

“I am a Sentinel,” the enormous figure responded, “I was built by the ancient ones who once dwelled here. For two thousand years I have lain dormant. Once this was a thriving civilisation…”

“How can a civilisation build a place like this and just disappear?” Sonic asked, “What happened to your people?”

“I do not know. One day, my masters were here, the next they were gone. Perhaps once I did know the answer to your question, small one. But that information is long gone, forgotten to the ages. Forgotten like the great people who once lived here”. The Sentinel placed Sonic down at the shore of the water and continued, “I was built to protect the people of the city. The city is now deserted. Therefore, my work is finished”

Without warning, the enormous stone Sentinel began to crumble to pieces. Sonic outstretched his hand, “Wait! No! We could use your help against Robotnik!”

But it was too late. The Sentinel’s limbs and head crumbled to nothing and fell into the water below, leaving little trace it had ever been there.

“Well thanks for nothing,” Sonic groused.

“Sonic, look out!”

Sonic turned just in time to see an arrow hurtling towards him. He leapt backwards in a flip and allowed the arrow to sail past him.

“Drat you, you orange pest!” Robotnik ranted at Tails, who had come out of the undergrowth mere seconds before. The Egg-O-Matic loomed in the sky above, a huge hammer attachment having just given a severe thwack to a pillar. The pillar bore carvings of Robotnik’s face- clearly a trap of his own design- and the side had opened to reveal a spring-loaded arrow launcher.

The element of surprise now lost, Robotnik charged at Sonic in the Egg-O-Matic, the hammer poised to strike, “I’ll splatter you all over these ruins, Zone!”

“Eurgh, no thanks,” Sonic scrunched up his face, a little revolted. Unfortunately, he realised that as with the giant Grounder before him, Robotnik had got Sonic’s back against the wall- or, rather, the water.

Robotnik gave a sick grin and pressed a button on his control panel, “Chop-chop, Chop Chop!”

Another huge Prime Badnik like the Grounder before it emerged from the water, this one a blue and yellow piranha.

“What is it with you and piranhas?!” Sonic demanded, “This is the fourth one! You’re weird!”

Robotnik was taken aback, “Y—… no I’m not! Shut up!”

Angered, Robotnik swooped towards Sonic with the hammer. Sonic was left with the choice between becoming fish food or becoming flat. Sonic shrugged to himself, “I’ve always wanted to try aquaplaning…”

Running at such top speed gravity couldn’t take effect, Sonic’s feet slapped into the surface of the water with a ferocity and impact that allowed him to run across the surface of the water. He knew, of course, that if he stopped for even a fraction of a second, he’d sink like a stone. Naturally, he had no intention of stopping.

“Hold still, you accursed rodent!” Robotnik yelled.

“Fat chance, fat face!” Sonic retorted.

Blinded by rage, Robotnik chased Sonic over the surface of the water. He primed the hammer, ready to knock Sonic beneath the water.

Suddenly, Sonic was lifted into the air- Tails had swooped in to make the save.

“You accursed pest!” Robotnik snarled.

“I’d look where I was going if I were you, Robotnik,” Sonic advised.

“What do—” Robotnik turned to see what Sonic meant. The huge Chop Chop Badnik loomed mere feet away, “Oh dear”

With a huge explosion, the hammer collided with the Chop Chop, which in turn exploded with astonishing force, sending the hammer attachment careening to the bottom of the water. The Egg-O-Matic shorted out and fell to the water, carried away by the current. Robotnik huffed at Sonic, “I don’t like you!”

“Feeling’s mutual, tubby,” Sonic smiled. Tails placed Sonic down on firm ground once more. “Nice work, little buddy,” Sonic gave his friend a thumbs-up.

“Hey! Down there! Hell-ooo!”

Sonic looked up to see his friends waving at him. Porker sat atop the remains of an opened Prison Egg Capsule.

“Way to go, guys!” Sonic shouted up, “Keep this up and you’ll not have much use for me!”

“Yeah, right!” Johnny laughed.

A beeping noise cut through the amusement. Sonic looked down at his watch, where Kintobor’s holographic face looked out at him, “Sonic, I thought you should know- I’m getting reports of Robotnik-related activity in a nearby city. Maybe you should check it out?”

“Without doubt, Kintobor. Come on, everyone, no time to lose- let’s keep moving!”

On to Chapter 70