In search of the missing Chaos Emeralds, Sonic becomes stranded on an island teeming with unusual creatures as he tries to rescue his friends from powerful forces known as the Titans.
After his last plan failed, Dr. Eggman discovers an ancient technology on the Starfall Islands and installs his AI program Sage to hack in and take over. But there is more to this technology than he realizes, and unintended consequences immediately come to bear. Meanwhile, Sonic finds himself all alone on one of said islands, after flying into a wormhole with Tails, Zipp and Sunny. Now, separated from his friends, he has nothing but an AI voice guiding him to collect the Chaos Emeralds, not knowing that darker forces are behind him and his powers.
At nighttime, Knuckles was at the top of the Crystal Brighthouse, at the balcony, looking at Maretime Bay with his arms crossed and a frown.
Maretime Bay. A peaceful town of civilized ponies, with the most delicious treats I've ever tasted. A place I'm glad I can call... home.
It was raining a lot lately, with thunders included, some even being red. Sonic, Tails, Sunny and Zipp left to search for the Chaos Emeralds at a place called the Starfall Islands several hours ago, and he was the only one left to protect Maretime Bay now, specially after the still very recent events with Dr. Eggman and his Death Egg Titan.
I am their guardian. I watch over the Crystal Brighthouse, my friends and every living thing here. That is to say: all the plants, animals and ponies. Hitch is busy feeling paranoid over Sunny's life, another attack by Eggman and taking care of Sparky; Pipp and Amy are worrying - way too much if you ask me - about Sonic's safety; Shadow and Rouge are touring Omega across Equestria; Misty is looking for a way to traverse Opaline's new and very powerful shield that protects her Castle, and Izzy is being Izzy... So I'm the only protection this town has.
Maybe Knuckles will never confess it, but he was worried about Sonic, Tails, Sunny and Zipp too. However, he learned a long ago to hide his emotions and focus on the task at matter. And right now, his task was to protect Maretime Bay at any cost.
Before arriving to Equestria, I watched over the Master Emerald on Angel Island, and every living thing there as well. Well, the plants and animals, at least. Any other kind of civilization is long since disappeared from the island.
Knuckles watched how Kenneth, one of the birds from Hitch animal crew, stopped by on the balcony and looked up at the sky, then flew away again.
I do things on my own, and that's just how I like it. I don't need anyone else to get by...
Or that's what I used to think.
Sometimes, I did accepted Sonic's help when I required it, or even helped him out. But it wasn't until I met Izzy that I realized how much I hated to be alone on Angel Island. Her cheerful attitude, her optimism, her ideas and invented words... she definitely makes me smile more than I have ever in my entire life.
Knuckles couldn't help but smile at the simple image of Izzy. She wasn't only a very creative unicorn, but she was also a pretty one. And the best part, at least for him, was that she was his girlfriend.
She's the best thing that could ever happened to me, and I wouldn't change that for anything... too bad I have a duty to fulfill back home. I'm the guardian of the Master Emerald, and the protector of Angel Island, that's my real job...
Sometimes... I wonder how things would be if I hadn't been given that responsibility. Why was I chosen for such a duty?
Perhaps... its karma...
Knuckles still remembered that story very well: how his tribe was cursed to protect the same thing that almost killed them in the past, way before he was even born.
Thousands of years ago, my ancestors attempted to steal a power that wasn't theirs.
He could remember those stories about Tikal trying to warn his ancestors about Perfect Chaos, but they were stubborn, and that stubbornness almost caused them to die. Yeah, they did became extinct now, since Knuckles was the last of his own kind, but that time it was extremely close to a point Knuckles could not exist today.
The question is... whose power was it originally?
The rain started to stop, and the skies cleared up to give space to the sun rays, which made Knuckles look up to the sky.
Who built that shrine to the emeralds? And where did they go?
Knuckles saw Kenneth coming back and tweeting at him, while Knuckles simply nodded to the bird and returned to the inside of the Brighthouse.
Knuckles approached Maretime Bay, and looked the whole town for a few seconds before starting to walk down the streets.
To protect this town and its people, I need to know every possible vulnerability.
As Knuckles walked down the street, he could see Rufus opening his Sunglasses Stand, the fillies Seashell, Glory and Peach Fizz running around as they giggled and Dahlia opening her Flowers Stand as well.
I've explored this place top to bottom, but I still manage to find something new everyday. New routes and secret passages, even ruins of what Equestria used to be thousands of years ago... And remnants of some group that came before.
Two earth pony foals where having trouble as they tried to reach on their ball, that ended up at the top of one tree. Knuckles, who passed by, simply punched slightly the tree, and the ball fell. One of the foals managed to catch it, while the other just cheered that the ball was back.
Then, Knuckles started to glide all around the skies of Maretime Bay with a smirk, until he got attached to a building and started to climb it with grunts.
However, he noticed that, not so far from where he was, there was a raccoonicorn grunting and at the edge of crying as he tried to take something out of below a rock. Izzy, Hitch and Pipp where with said raccoonicorn, with Izzy trying to lift the rock with her magic, while Hitch - who had Sparky on his back and his usual animal crew - tried to use his earth pony magic as well, and Pipp... she was livestreaming.
Knuckles rolled his eyes at the last thing, and decided to glide and get near his friends and the poor raccoonicorn.
Izzy kept grunting as she tried to lift the rock with her magic, with no success. "Oh, come on!" she complained. "I can levitate lots of heavy stuff! Why is this rock the exception?!" she groaned.
"My magic isn't working either..." Hitch complained. "I'm sorry, little buddy. But we can't do anything else from here..." he said with guilty.
"Seriously, how heavy is this thing that our magic doesn't work?" Pipp complained, looking at the rock with a frown.
The raccoonicorn decided to not give up and kept trying to push whatever was down the rock, although he started to tear up a bit.
As the ponies watched at him with worry, Knuckles arrived gliding and landed behind. "Hold on, little guy. I'll help" he said with a smile.
"I was starting to wonder where have you been, Knux" Hitch said with a smile.
"Doing my rounds, as usual" Knuckles simply replied. "Stay back, just for precaution!" he instructed to his friends.
As the rest simply stepped back, he got close to the rock and smirked, cracking his knuckles with confidence. Then, he charged up his right fist with electricity and punched the rock, destroying it into lots of pieces. Knuckles smirk grow bigger, and Izzy behind was looking at him with a blush and sparkling eyes, while Pipp at her side giggled. But Knuckles smirk disappeared, once he saw the a tiny piece of the rock fell into the raccoonicorn head, who started to tear up again.
Knuckles panicked and smiled sheepishly at the raccoonicorn. "H-Hey! There-there!" he told the raccoonicorn, patting his head a little, which seemed to calm the raccoonicorn down. He then grabbed what was down the rock and extend it to the critter. "Here! This is what you were looking for, right?" he told him, now with a genuine smile that melted Izzy's heart as she smiled too.
The raccoonicorn grabbed what it seemed to be a mask of a weird creature and left. But as soon as he was gone, Knuckles noticed that there was something else down the mask: a grey gear with light blue lines around. He grabbed the gear and looked at it with a critical eye, while the others came close.
"A gear and a mask down a rock?" Hitch questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"That's both weird and new..." Pipp pointed out a bit concerned.
"Ooh! And it's glowing!" Izzy pointed out cheerfully.
Knuckles had a weird feeling about this gear, and then he noticed that, behind the now destroyed rock, there was an entrance to a cave that he never saw before. And judging by the quiet gasps of his friends, they neither.
"Okay, that it's definitely weird..." Hitch said, pointing at the cave. "I never saw that before!" he confessed.
Knuckles just frowned and decided to approach the cave with the gear down his arm. Izzy decided to follow immediately, and Hitch just rolled his eyes at Knuckles' explorer side as he followed as well, still with Sparky on his back and with his animal crew following behind.
"Of course we're heading to the scary and dark cave..." Pipp complained, following after her friends.
Once inside of the cave, Knuckles inspected his surroundings with a critical look, while Izzy hummed to herself and Hitch inspected the place as well. Pipp, on the other hand, decided to check on her phone to distract herself from... whatever this was supposed to be.
"Hmm... This is different" Knuckles pointed out.
And then, he gasped when he saw a weird broken structure. It was some kind of grey and rusty tower with a circular hole at the top, surrounded by muss and broken in half. Knuckles climbed the structure at one jump, while Pipp flew over it and Izzy used her magic to levitate both her and Hitch.
"It looks... old. Even older than those ruins at Canterlot" Knuckles said, pulling some moss away from the structure and revealing a hole to perfectly fit the gear. Knuckles looked at the glowing gear, and then at the hole. "I wonder..." he said, slowly approaching the gear to the hole on the structure.
"Wait, Knux! Hold on a sec!" Hitch said, trying to stop Knuckles from putting the gear.
Unfortunately for him, Knuckles already placed the thing, but absolutely nothing happened.
"Huh... that was pretty anticlimactic..." Pipp pointed out with a bored expression.
She spoke too soon.
Suddenly, the gear glow brighter, now in color red, and the tower started to react on a weird way. Knuckles and Hitch stood in fighting position, with Izzy, Pipp, Sparky and the critters hiding behind them. But then, all of their bodies started to glow on red as well.
"W-What's the meaning of this?!" Hitch cried out in panic.
"I don't like this! I absolutely don't like this!" Pipp cried out as well.
And in just a red flash, the three ponies, baby dragon, critters and echidna disappeared, while the tower shut down and the gear stopped glowing completely.
In a strange place, a tower exactly like the one found by Knuckles and company, just completely intact, started to glow in red, and the engage at the bottom shone brightly.
Then, Knuckles appeared in another red flash, screaming in panic, until he opened his eyes and realized three things: the first one, he was completely intact. The second one: the others were not with him. And the last one: he was on a new place.
"Huh? What was that?!" Knuckles wondered in shock, not understanding what the heck happened. As he turned around, he double checked that he was, indeed, on a new and unknown place. "What? Where am I?" he questioned.
Knuckles got down the tower and inspected around, looking at the sky thundering with red lightnings and finding himself on a rocky location, because he was seeing just rocky formations around.
"This isn't Maretime Bay..." Knuckles pointed out to himself. "Am I even in Equestria? This doesn't looks like my island either... And where are the others?!" he asked with concern. "Is this another one of your tricks, Eggman?!" he cried out with anger, standing to fight. "Show yourself!" he demanded.
Eggman surely did not appeared. What approached him, instead, were red sparkles and lightnings coming from the ground. He stepped back, still in a fighting position, staring at the red sparkles with a frown. And then, a weird, black creature with a red triangle eye showed up. But it wasn't one, it was many of them, at least 7 or 8. They were all taller, metallic and they all had some kind of weird swords as arms.
"Oh, an ambush, huh?" Knuckles retorted with a snort. "Your funeral" he stated with anger, charging up his fists with his own electricity.
One of the weird creatures jumped to attack him, but Knuckles charged up his right fist and yelled a warrior cry, punching the red triangle eye of the creature and destroying it in the process. The creature, now destroyed, fell backwards, but then another one came in and tried to hit Knuckles.
However, the echidna dodged the attack and punched the other creature in the eye as well, killing it immediately. More creatures approached him from behind, but Knuckles managed to destroy them by punching, Spindashing and kicking with electricity all around his body.
Finally, when a bunch more of those creatures approached even more, Knuckles charged all of his strength in just one fist, and then smashed the ground, splitting the ground in two and making the side were the creatures were standing fall to the abysm. One managed to save, but Knuckles threw a rock to its eye and it fell again, as the echidna cracked his knuckles with a smirk and turned around to frown again.
"Whoever is behind this better show yourself now!" Knuckles demanded with anger. "We'll settle this in a fair fight" he stated. "And after I win, you'll send me and my friends home! Got it?!" he requested and demanded.
However, he could sense a weird presence behind him, and he turned around... just to find a massive creature that seemed to be a titanic version of the creatures he just destroyed. The difference was that this creature had 3 arms instead of 2, and some kind of platforms attached to its head. But that wasn't all: Knuckles saw someone floating next to the titanic creature.
"Huh? Who the––" Knuckles muttered, trying to see better who was at the side of the creature.
A human-like girl was floating next to the titanic creature. She had a short hair, a very, very scary aspect and an aura that made her look intimidating. Knuckles yelled in fright as the girl pointed her palm to him and snapped.
The next thing Knuckles saw was... nothing.
After what it felt like an eternity, Knuckles woke up and gasped surprised. He was in some kind of spiky and red cage, in the middle of a desert.
Knuckles looked at his hands, at his entire body actually. He could still feel and touch himself... but somehow, he wasn't physically present at all. He was, somehow, transparent and digital, and he was panicking a lot. He looked up at the sky in anger, and then he remembered Hitch, Izzy, Pipp and Sparky. They were not with him when he appeared here, but he was sure that whoever trapped him there also trapped his friends.
Knuckles closed his eyes as some tears fell down, and he grabbed his head. Then, he screamed loudly, letting all his frustration out in that single scream. His curiosity got him there, and it trapped his friends too.
They were where they were now because of him.
I do things on my own, and that's just how I like it. I don't need anyone else to get by...
Dr. Eggman was on his Eggmobile, traveling around a forest on Kronos Island, one of the five Starfall Islands located in Equestria.
His research about this place made him discover an ancient civilization once knew as The Ancients. This people had the most advanced technology ever seen, and they created it ages ago, even before Equestria was founded.
They were also related to the Chaos Emeralds, and know that Eggman knew these powerful jewels are originally from this dimension, and not Mobius, he was planning to take advantage of the Ancients' technology and use it to finally make the Eggman Empire a reality. And to do so, he was going to upload his new AI, Sage, to the Ancients Cyber Space.
The best way to explain what is Cyber Space, is saying that is some kind of brain database. Just by entering Cyber Space, everything on your mind gets transported to this place: your memories, your wishes, your thoughts, even your soul.
After being traveling for a few hours, Eggman finally found one of the Cyber Space portals of the Ancients. This portal was a grey and rusty tower with a circular hole at the top, surrounded by muss.
He climbed down from his Eggmobile and walked towards the Cyber Space portal. It was difficult for him to climb up the base since it was a lot taller than him, but he managed to do it anyways. Once in front of the entrance, that was just a red gear for some reason, Eggman took out a disc where Sage was now integrated, and he grinned sinisterly before placing the disc over the gear of the portal.
"Uploading AI program now" Sage informed, hacking on the portals system and turning Cyber Space on.
Eggman laughed maniacally, and then, a red and glitchy light appeared on the circular hole at the top of the portal.
Then, screams of agony were heard as the sky suddenly broke in red and glitchy glass, meaning that the Cyber Space, and therefore, the Ancients technology, was functioning once again.
Then, all around Eggman, weird creatures appeared from small black holes on the ground. These creatures were black, had a single red triangle eye, were all taller, metallic and they all had some kind of weird swords as arms.
"Yes! It's all coming online!" Eggman cheered with she same evil grin. "The Ancients' secrets will be mine!" he added, now looking a giant creature not so far from where he was standing.
But then, the disc containing Sage's AI started to release electrical sparks, startling and worrying Eggman.
"Status report" Eggman instructed. "Answer me!" he demanded with concern.
"Simulations complete" Sage replied. "Executing protective initiative" she informed.
"What?!" Eggman asked in panic. "No! NO!" he exclaimed, now grabbing the disc and trying to remove it from the portal.
However, the portal activated and suck out the disc. Eggman tried to pull out the disc, but he ended up being sucked alongside, getting trapped on Cyber Space with his new AI, and releasing the Ancient's technology to the world once again.
In the skies, three flying figures passed by at high speed.
Two of those figures were ponies: a pegasus and an alicorn, both flapping their wings as they felt and smelled the air. The third figure was a yellow plane, being piloted by a yellow fox with two tails, while on the wing of the plane stood a blue hedgehog.
These 4 friends were heading to a certain place to look after the Chaos Emeralds and find out why they've been gathering on this place lately.
"Watch out for the ground, everybody" Tails instructed with a smile. "We're coming up on the Starfall Islands!" he added.
"Finally!" Zipp said with a tired tone. "I love flying, but we've been in the air for hours! My wings are killing me..." she exclaimed with a bit of pain.
Sunny, on the other hand, squealed excited. "This is so exciting!" she exclaimed with a smile. "Big and large islands with lots of ancient relics and history behind?! I can't wait to research all over this!" she added.
"Hey, I'm supposed to be the researcher here!" Zipp said with a mocking smirk. "I'm a detective, remember?" she added, while both she and Sunny giggled.
"You tracked the Chaos Emeralds here, right?" Sonic asked to Tails with a smile and a raised eyebrow.
"Yup!" Tails replied. "Something has been gathering them on the islands, and now that we know they are originally from this dimension, I want to figure out what is it" he explained.
"Well, then. Let's find out what drew them here!" Sonic stated with a smile.
The plane and the flying ponies started to low down a bit as they approached Kronos Island, considered the first one of the Starfall Islands since legends says that the Ancients found this island first.
However, a red light appeared on the plane's radar, calling Tails attention and confusing him. But he didn't had time to check what was this red light, because the plane suddenly started to spin around wildly and flew towards the sky. Sonic barely hang on the wing before falling, while both him and Tails screamed in fright.
"Guys!" both Sunny and Zipp cried out, as they tried to keep it up with both of them.
Tails managed to stabilize the plane a bit, reading the lectures he got on his radar. "Whoa! There's some kind of atmospheric charge!" he exclaimed. "Hang on, Sonic!" he instructed with a serious expression.
However, while Tails managed to regain control over the plane, both Sunny and Zipp felt that the wind was starting to push them further than they could move.
"There's something weird happening with my wings!" Sunny said, seeing that she was flying faster despite how slowly she flapped her wings.
"Mine too!" Zipp exclaimed with worry.
And soon enough, they were side by side with Sonic and Tails. But as if the sudden atmosphere change wasn't enough, the sky suddenly shattered in red glitchy glass, opening some kind of portal that started to suck out everything that was in the sky.
As the group saw in fright, Sunny and Zipp lost control over their flying, as they started to move wildly on the sky for no reason. Sonic saw this and tried to help, but he accidentally fell from the plane. However, he was still within reach the sudden portal in the sky.
The next thing he knew was that he, Tails, Sunny and Zipp were suck out by the portal, and then he saw nothing.
SONIC FRONTIERSXMY LITTLE PONY
Suddenly, Sonic landed on Green Hills.
"What the?!" Sonic exclaimed confused as he looked around.
In fact, it looked like Green Hills. Yet, somehow, Sonic could tell that this wasn't Green Hills. Perhaps was the fact that, despite the place looking like Green Hills, this place specifically wasn't originally from Green Hills.
That, and the glitchy sky was giving Sonic chills down his spine.
"Something feels wrong..." Sonic muttered. "This looks like my home... but I know it isn't" he stated.
Since it didn't seemed like he had another option, he decided to give it a shot, and started running around the 'level' he suddenly appeared on.
In fact, he got a deja vu as he ran around this site of Green Hills. He was pretty sure that he already did this... on Windmill Isle after he met Chip. So, either his memories were mixed up, or this place confused two different zones and acts and combined them.
Either way, he didn't wanted to be here anymore.
Luckily, as he ran on a last loop, he witnessed a white giant portal at the end of the road. He didn't cared where he went once he was out of... whatever this place is. As long as he's free, he couldn't care less.
"Alright, Sonic!" he muttered to himself. "Let's get out of here and find out what's going on!" he stated, before jumping across the white portal, just for everything around him to fade and turn into nothingness again.
The sound of raining woke him up. Well, more or less...
It wasn't just the rain, but also his body in general began to move slowly. He could feel the rain drops falling over him, and he kneeled a bit before taking a deep breath, since his memory was a bit dizzy...
But as soon as everything became clear, his eyes opened wide and he started to look around for his friends.
"Tails? Sunny? Zipp?!" Sonic called out, before groaning a bit in pain.
He probably fell on his face or something, otherwise his body wouldn't hurt this much.
Since there was no sign of his friends, Sonic looked at the ground in sadness and worry. If he was alone, then where are the others?
"Looks like I'm the only one who made it out of that... whatever it was..." Sonic told himself, shacking his head and grabbing it, since he still felt dizzy.
"Mortal" a robotic voice spoke suddenly.
"Yow!" Sonic exclaimed, turning around to find... nothing. However, he heard a voice coming from the sky, so he looked up to face the sky. "Hello?" he called out.
"You have done the impossible" the voice replied. "You have escaped Cyber Space through your own power. You are the key" they added.
What the heck is 'Cyber Space'? Sonic questioned to himself. Is it that weird place that looked like Green Hills? Weird... he thought. "'Key', huh? Sure beats being called a rodent" Sonic said with a bored expression. "Are you saying I can rescue my friends?" he questioned with his arms crossed and a raised eyebrow.
"Find the Chaos Emeralds" the voice replied. "Destroy the titans" they instructed, while Sonic moved his index finger desperately. "Tear down the walls between dimensions" they finished.
"Yeah––okay––sure..." Sonic replied with a bored expression. "How about a little context?" he requested, but surprisingly, the voice didn't said anything. "Hello?" he called out, but still, no response.
Sonic looked on with a bored expression and shook his head in both annoyance and frustration, not noticing that a mysterious human-like figure was watching him on the skies.
"Oh well" Sonic said as he shrugged, then he tapped the tip of his right shoe on the ground, preparing for running a bit. "Some direction is better than none. Here we go!" he stated with a confident look.
The mysterious figure watching over him disappeared, and Sonic moved forward from the place he suddenly appeared on.
Surprisingly for him, he found a some rings. He approached them to see what they were, but just by touching one, the ring became golden dust and got inside of him.
"Stamina Rings?" Sonic said confused. "I didn't knew this dimension had them too..." he muttered to himself.
Eventually, he just shrugged and grabbed the remaining ones, then climbed up a small hill in his way, not only finding a few more rings, but also a strange and floating white sign with a red interrogation mark on it. Behind said sign, there were three buttons on the floor.
Following his instinct, Sonic stepped over the three buttons, and the weird floating sign symbol changed to a check mark in blue.
As if that wasn't confusing enough, Sonic got some kind of vision, showing him the map of the place: Kronos Island.
"Kronos Island?" Sonic questioned to himself. "How's that...? What was...? What the heck is going on?!" he shouted in panic. "Some weird portal traps me and my friends all of a sudden, then I appear on a digital copy of Green Hills, then I appear on the first Starfall Island, and now a weird map on my brain that shows me where to go!" he shouted. "I mean, the last thing is very useful, but still! It freaks me out!" he kept crying out. "Can someone, on this stupid Island, EXPLAIN ME WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
His voice echoed not only on Kronos Island, but in all the Starfall Islands in general. Unfortunately, no one was replying nor talking back to him, not even the weird voice that told him what to do.
Sonic let out a heavy sigh before smiling a bit. "It's okay, Sonic" he told himself. "This is scary, you don't know where are your friends nor how you ended up on the Starfall Islands. But freaking out isn't going to save you nor them. Stay focused and keep going" he reminded.
Nodding to himself, he decided to keep moving forward, just to step with a small group of weird enemies. Black creatures with a single, red and triangular eye. They also seemed to have swords as arms. Sonic smirked and used his Homing Attack against said creatures, and they vanished in the ground.
"Huh, weird..." Sonic said to himself, then shrugged and kept moving.
Soon enough, he found some rails and boost rings, as well as more stamina rings on said rails and across the boost rings. Sonic smirked again and used his boost ability to use the rail, but at the once he crossed the boost rings, he obtained a weird object... a medal that looked exactly like Sunny's Cutie Mark.
"Okay, those 'piece of cake to defeat' enemies were a thing, but Sunny's Cutie Mark as some kind of medal?" Sonic told himself confused. "This place is giving me the creeps" he added.
And just then, he noticed a series of rails and platforms that lead to more boost rings... all of them having Sunny's Cutie Mark as some kind of medal.
"Something tells me I'm going to have to go a little off the beaten path and get these things" Sonic told himself, putting the medal away. "Maybe they'll help me find Sunny, or even save her" he though.
After 5 minutes exploring the same zone, he managed to get 5 more of these medals.
Thinking that there wasn't anything left to explore, Sonic decided to move forward... just to run towards more of the same black enemies he met before.
Sonic raised an eyebrow, since the enemies came out of some kind of glitchy portals that popped on the ground, but then he shrugged and launched another Homing Attack against said enemies, destroying them on one hit again.
"Either I'm stronger that I give myself credit for, or these things are built with very weak materials" Sonic told himself with a smirk. "Anyway, seems like this... uh... temple?" he said with confusion, since the enemies came out of some kind of temple, but he couldn't tell if it was a temple at all. "Whatever this building is, it seems like it guides to another of those medals with Sunny's Cutie Mark. Better catch it before keep going!" he stated to himself with confidence.
He jumped over a spring, that sent him to another spring, that made him land on the top of the temple. Then, he grabbed a swing that sent him in the air, and boosted towards a boost ring that sent him flying towards another Sunny's Cutie Mark medal.
"I should give these things a name..." Sonic told himself, landing on a structure that seemed like an abandoned temple.
However, he suddenly felt a presence, and once he looked on certain direction, he found a giant version of the same enemies he defeated before.
"Huh?" Sonic exclaimed confused.
Then, the enemy suddenly moved quickly and appeared behind him out of nowhere, attacking him on the back and sending him flying. He also lost 60 from his 83 rings, meaning that this enemy was very strong if he could took out that many rings.
"What the heck?!" Sonic exclaimed, quickly standing up on a fighting position. "Where did he came from?" he questioned.
The weird enemy slowly walked towards him, but Sonic didn't waited for him to attack back, so he just charged a Homing attack, and once he was in front of the enemy, he started to use his bare fists and punched the creature as hard as he could, but the creature prepared to attack him again as it raised its arms.
"Oh, not this time!" Sonic said with a smirk.
Seconds before the creature could touch him, Sonic place his hands together and then pushed them against the swords, parrying the attack and then charging both his Homing Attack and Spindash against the enemy, then doing a quick loop in the air before charging another Homing Attack, cancel it and kick the creature, sending it flying backwards and destroying it entirely.
However, in the same place were the enemy vanished, a floating black gear with light blue stripes appeared. Sonic decided to approach it and grab it.
"So, there's Stamina Rings, Medals with Sunny's Cutie Mark, and Shining Gears..." Sonic listed. "I think I'm calling those medals 'Sunny's Memory Tokens' from now on. Who knows, maybe they are what I need to free her from wherever she's supposed to be trapped" he told himself with a smile, before putting the gear away.
Sonic decided to keep going, now crossing through some more rails and boost rings, where he found more of Sunny's Memory Tokens.
"Mortal" the voice spoke again.
Sonic got startled from the voice and smashed the breaks, once again seeing towards the sky.
"Oh, hey there, mysterious voice in the sky" Sonic greeted. "Are you here to pull another Discord and tell me a very vague hint on where I have to go now?" he asked on a playful tone.
However, what he got by an answer was a weird blue-ish and purple-ish aura surrounding him.
"Be empowered with this technique" the voice replied.
"Technique?" Sonic called out, but the voice didn't replied. "Oh, come on!" he groaned before sighing. "Well, I gotta admit that something feels different" he said with honesty.
After wondering around the new area of the island he accessed to for 10 minutes, Sonic saw another portal of Cyber Space not so far.
He boosted towards it with a determinate expression and stood in front of the pedestal that lead to the portal's entrance.
"Return to the digital dimension again" the voice instructed. "Use that gear to bridge the gap between dimensions" they added.
"If you're just going to pop out of nowhere from time to time, at least try to sent some kind of sign first" Sonic begged with a bored expression.
He climbed up to the platform of the portal and took out the gear, then placed it on the empty spot he found on the portal. However, he realized that the spot where he placed the gear still had enough space for another gear.
"It is not enough to make the connection" the voice spoke again. "One gear will not suffice" they added.
"Are you kidding me right now?!" Sonic shouted in frustration and annoyance.
"Hunt down another target and take its gear" the voice instructed.
"Seriously, you have to tell me these things before, not just assume that I'll understand everything on the first attempt! That's not how this works!" Sonic pointed out with a frown.
Suddenly, a portal opened in the sky, not so far from the portal, and then a massive enemy that looked like a tower landed on the grass.
Sonic got down from the portal's pedestal and looked at the enemy with a raised eyebrow. "First some kind of soldiers creatures, then a ninja creature, and now a tower that pretty much looks like it moves on its own" he assumed. "I'm just gonna call the the small ones 'Soldiers', the big ones 'Ninja' and the towers... 'Tower'? I don't know, I have no other idea on how I should call that thing" he pointed out to himself with a bored expression.
Sonic decided to confront the Tower. But he couldn't even move from his place when Tower started to shot spikes at him. Sonic managed to dodge said attacks just in time, but Tower kept throwing them, so he started to run around it, waiting until it stopped shooting at him so he could attack.
Just like he predicted, Tower stopped attacking, so Sonic used his Homing attack to approach the enemy and started to punch him on the lower base, destroying it not so much later. However, Towers till had plenty of bases, and Sonic had two options: repeating the process until he could punch the top, or find a way to got straight to the top and kill Tower instantly.
"Actually... I have a third option!" Sonic reminded.
He waited for Tower to attack again, and after it stopped again, Sonic slowly trotted around the enemy... somehow realizing a blue-ish and purple-ish aura behind him. Once that aura was completely closed, another of the bases got completely destroyed, startling and surprising Sonic.
"Now look at that!" Sonic cheered with a confident smirk. "I have no idea what I just did, but it was cool!" he added, immediately dodging more of the spikes that Tower shoot at him. "But I'll think on a proper name for that move later. Right now, I need to take you down!" he stated with confidence, charging his Homing attack again, but this time to the top.
He started to punch multiple times the top of Tower, then he jumped in the air and used his stomp move to smash Tower's 'head', which made enough damage to the enemy, making the 'head' fall apart and destroy itself, and therefore, destroy the rest of the bases as well.
Just as he expected, after the enemy vanished, another gear appeared in the ground. He grabbed it, clean it a bit and then looked at it with a proud smile.
"Use the gear as you have done before" the voice instructed.
Sonic putted the gear away and walked towards the portal. Well, he was actually running, but since he was going slow, he considered this as just walking.
"Hmm... I need to find a proper name for that strange new ability I got out of nowhere" Sonic told himself. "But I'll worry about that later" he told himself, waving his hand and not paying so much attention to that.
He arrived once again to the portal, and place the gear on the entrance, not only making a perfect fit, but also reactivating the entire portal as it shone bright on a red and glitchy color.
"Return to Cyber Space. As many times as it takes" the voice instructed.
"I mean, is not like I have any other choice, so..." Sonic said with a bored expression.
Sonic touched the 'button' of the portal, and then a red and glitchy light appeared at the top of said portal, being followed by the energy of said light being transferred to the button that Sonic pressed. The energy of the portal started to suck out his body, turning them into some kind of red particles that disolved and entered on Cyber Space once again.
The stage he appeared on was a resemble of the second act of Windmill Isle.
However, and just like what happened with the previous stage, it looked like Sky Sanctuary despite its structure not even being from that place.
"Knuckles will be pissed if he was here..." Sonic muttered to himself.
The stage in particular wasn't any difficult or interesting, but for some reason, he could tell some people will hate this place in particular.
"Either skill issue or they're too slow!" Sonic mocked up with a smirk.
Finally, after passing on some rails and jumping over some spikes, Sonic jumped over a spring and reached the exit of the stage.
The same red particles from before appeared, materializing on Sonic once again, who looked at his body to make sure he was complete.
Sighing in relief, he turned around to leave, when suddenly a floating key appeared above him. This key was silver, had blue light lines and the key ring had the form of an emerald.
Sonic extended his hand to, as the key slowly descend to it and 'entered' on his hand, while Sonic just shrugged with a smile.
But once he got down from the portal's pedestal, he witnessed a giant blue light pointing to the sky from a hill. Not only that, but a red one also showed up all of a sudden, pointing to the sky as well.
And as if all of this wasn't weird enough for him, two weird structures, that looked like towers, started to shine and made a bridge appear suddenly, connecting the island were he was right now and an island he didn't had access to before.
"Gears for Cyber Space and keys that I gain everytime I clear a stage..." Sonic muttered to himself. "This place may be on the same dimension as Equestria, but I have a lot of vibes from my home. There's some kind of... connection here. I can feel it..." he added with concern.
After exploring the sector of the island one last time, also expanding the map on his mind a little bit and collecting a few more Sunny's Memory Tokens, Sonic crossed the new bridge and jumped over a few string before passing through boost rings that made him land on the hill where the blue light he witnessed before comes from.
Around, he saw some ancient structures and little creatures he never saw before. They looked like rocks, but they were adorable, and they even made a high pitched sound that made Sonic giggle.
"I don't know who you little guys are, but I already like you!" Sonic said with a smile, as he patted the head of one of those creatures and the creature just jumped excitedly.
But then, he saw that the blue light was coming from the blue Chaos Emerald, that was trapped in some kind of capsule on a structure with three towers around.
Sonic approached said structure and extended his hand, with the key that he obtained before turning into dust and entering the capsule of the Emerald. After that, the capsule and the Emerald disappeared, then the Emerald popped up out of the structure and landed on Sonic's hand.
"One down. Six to go" Sonic stated with a smile, then putted the Emerald aside.
After that he turned around... and then noticed the vast new place he had to explore: lots of ruins, a giant enemy, more rails and platforms that felt like home for him. Heck, even more rings of different kinds were around. And don't get me started on the amounts of space he had to run around freely.
Sonic smiled to himself. "A whole new world to explore" he stated with a smile.
Boosting towards one of those enemies he saw, Sonic got a determinate look... but then something caught his attention.
He smashed the brakes and saw something a bit hidden on some bushes, so he decided to stray from the path and move towards those bushes.
Now that he was getting closer, he saw that it was red capsule with spikes around. However, that wasn't it's only feature... it had something inside. Or rather, someone... somepony...
"What the––" Sonic muttered to himself, but once the figure inside said capsule was clear, he smashed the brakes and gasped. "S-Sunny?!" he asked on disbelief.
Sonic had no words to describe how he felt when he saw Sunny trapped.
It was anger? Sadness? Concern? Fault? All of them? He couldn't tell, but he immediately looked at Sunny with a sad frown.
"Sunny? Is that you?" Sonic called out with a worried tone and expression.
Unknown for him, the same mysterious figure that watched over him when he first escaped from Cyber Space was spying on him from the distance.
"Hello? I-Is someone there?!" Sunny called out with worry. "Please, help me!" she begged.
"Hang on!" Sonic told her, even tho he suspected that she couldn't her him at all. "M-Maybe messing with the ruins will fix things..." he added, closing his hand into a fist because of how worried he was or her.
However, in front of him, the Sunny's Memory Tokens he collected earlier as he explored the island popped up and entered on the capsule where Sunny was trapped, startling and confusing him in the process. Suddenly, the spikes around the capsule disappeared, and the capsule itself started to shatter.
"Hah!" Sonic cheered with a smile. "So those things are useful after all!" he added.
However, once the capsule broke, the energy of it entered on Sonic's left arm, which he was using to cover himself from the capsule's sudden explosion.
Sunny looked around confused, then slowly landed on the grass. However, something was wrong with her: she was on a digitalized state, meaning that she was here, but not at the same time.
Sunny looked around a bit confused. She could recognize that this was Kronos Island, since she read about the place before, and also saw some pictures; but she didn't get how she ended up here in the first place.
Sonic lifted up his sight and looked at Sunny, both happy but also half concerned. He technically saved her from the capsule, but her current state was a clear sign that she still needed help.
"Hey there, Sunny-bunny!" Sonic greeted with a mocking tone, with his left hand still absorbing the energy of Sunny's capsule, having a glitchy aspect and a red with black color.
"Sonic!" Sunny said with a small smile, that vanished when she saw Sonic's arm. "Are you alright?!" she asked with concern and worry.
"Me?" Sonic said with a raised eyebrow and a teasing smile. "You're the one who's only half here!" he pointed out at her.
Sunny looked at herself, wondering why she was on such a weird state, but still worried about Sonic. "I feel fine. But that energy that was holding me prisoner went into you!" she said with worry.
"Eh, I've been infused with weird zappy stuff before" Sonic pointed out calmly. "Besides, I feel like it gave me some kind of boost!" he added with a confident smile.
"Still... I doubt that you should be absorbing that energy" Sunny pointed out, still worried.
"It's okay, Sunny. As long as I can get you out of this state, I don't mind" Sonic assured with a smile.
"Well... in that case, we need to get moving" Sunny stated, now a bit more relaxed. "If I was trapped, I'm pretty sure Tails and Zipp are too!" she pointed out.
"Good call" Sonic told her. "This place has the Chaos Emeralds capsuled, so if you could give me a hand to find them, it would be great!" he stated with a smile. "As for Tails and Zipp, I'll scout around to look after them and find you later. Deal?" he added, boosting away from her.
"Deal!" Sunny shouted. "Be careful!" she begged with a worried expression.
Sonic came out of nowhere from behind her and stopped in front of her, turning around with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "Careful? Where's the fun in that?" he asked playfully, still smirking at her.
Sunny shook her head with a smile, knowing fully well that Sonic was going to have as much fun as he could while looking for Tails and Zipp.
Sonic defeated the giant enemy he found earlier, which somehow he discovered was called Azura, and obtained three additional gears: one for defeating the enemy, and two extra for using his new ability on its legs.
He also made a new Cyber Space stage that sent him to a strange city he doesn't remember at all, not even the structure. Still, he felt it was pretty easy to pass and obtained another key for the Chaos Emeralds, even unlocking the Yellow one as he saw its light shining bright from a floating platform.
He just collected the Red Chaos Emerald, and now he was on his way to get the Yellow one. How would he get to the floating platform wasn't his concern at all, to say the truth, but as he ran trough a grass field, a giant creature appeared out of nowhere.
The creature was black, massive, and it literally had a series of teeth inside of his teeth.
It tried to stomp Sonic with one of his legs, but Sonic managed to dodge the creature just in time.
Sonic barely stopped, and then he gasped in both surprise and worry because of how massive was the creature. The only times he saw something this big were when he fought Perfect Chaos and the Death Egg Titan.
The titan slowly turned around to face Sonic once again, while Sonic looked at it with a frown. "I guess that's one of the 'Titans' keeping Sunny trapped" he said with concern.
Suddenly, at the Titan's side, a human-like girl was floating next to the titanic creature. She had a short hair, a very, very scary aspect and an aura that made her look intimidating. She also got some kind of glitchy effect all around her body, that concerned Sonic even more.
She extended her hand to the Titan, and the creature simply 'shut down', which concerned Sonic a lot more now. The girl teleported from her place, now showing up in front of Sonic, who got startled by the sudden appearance of this girl.
"You" the girl called out with a cold stare and voice. "Leave. Immediately" she ordered.
"Where did you come from?" Sonic asked her confused. "Are you trapped too?" he asked a bit worried.
"Do not approach the Titan" she ordered, ignoring Sonic's questions completely.
Sonic, seeing where this conversation was going, smirked confidently and walked away. "Sorry, kid, but I've got a job to do" he said, now running away from her and the Titan.
The girl, however, looked sideways at him, still with the same cold expression. "If we are fortunate, it will destroy you" she said, raising her hand and reactivating the Titan.
The Titan looked directly at Sonic, and raised a leg to stomp once again. Sonic smirked, confident that he'll dodge the attack again, but then, the Titan stomped in the ground, which make it broke and flew in the air. Sonic tried to stop, but then he went flying as well, as he screamed in the air.
He managed to gain composure, and used his Homing Attack against some rocks to get close to the Titan's head. Then, he started to use his Homing Attack several times on the Titan. However, he stopped for a second when he noticed that the Titan was moving his right hand... but got no time to react when it grabbed him.
Sonic grunted in pain, trying to get free of the Titan's grip, but the creature then threw Sonic strong enough towards some pillars, until Sonic crashed on his back against a wall. Sonic rolled on the mountain until he landed on a metallic platform, then he tried to stand up... but ultimately fell unconscious in the floor, while the girl looked everything from the Titan's side.
The girl smiled victoriously, then she disappeared, while the Titan moved to another place.
"Sonic...Sonic... Sonic! SONIC!" a female voice called out, while Sonic slowly opened his eyes.
Once he got his sight fully back, he sat on the ground a breathed heavily, scared and shocked that he's even alive.
He looked at his side to find Sunny, looking at him with a worried expression.
"S-Sunny?" Sonic called out, groaning in pain and standing up. "W-What happened?" he asked confused.
"That... thing! It came out of nowhere, and throw you to some pillars, and..." Sunny explained in panic. "A-Are you hurt?!" she asked with concern.
"My entire body is k-killing me..." Sonic confessed, slowly standing up and grabbing his stomach. "B-But nothing seems broken, so..." he added with concern.
Then, he looked in the direction where the Titan appeared suddenly and sighed.
"I'm not taking that thing down the traditional way" Sonic pointed out. "I'm going to need the Chaos Emeralds... and maybe a little bit of luck" he added with a worried and painful expression.
"I wouldn't worry about the Emeralds yet, Sonic" Sunny said with concern.
"What?" Sonic asked. "What do you mean?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Better look at it for yourself" Sunny said, moving towards a certain place.
Sonic looked at her strangely, but decided to follow anyways.
And then, just as he was about to ask something, he saw the last thing he wanted: an asset of Eggman, with some supplies and resources around of the asset.
"This is what should worry us... I guess" Sunny pointed out.
"Eggman tech!" Sonic said with both anger and worry. "Seems abandoned, though" he pointed out.
"But still, shouldn't we be careful that he's not around?" Sunny asked with concern.
"I know Eggman. He would have already attacked me the moment I came out of Cyber Space" Sonic pointed out with a frown. "However, I think I'm getting a look inside, just to make sure" he added. "Can you keep looking for the Chaos Emeralds while I explore this asset?" he requested.
Sunny just nodded, before walking away and suddenly disappearing, while Sonic looked back at the asset and went inside of it by Spindashing against the door.
The asset wasn't anything fancy in the inside.
Sonic only saw lots of cables and buttons, also a big round hole in the ground.
"I guess he came with his Eggmobile and everything" Sonic said with a little smirk.
Despite how big the place seemed to be, it was empty. He couldn't find any computer, nor tablet... however, he did find an mp3 player abandoned in the ground.
He was going to grab it, but it glitched a bit before he could touch it. Sonic got both startled and confused, but still decided to pick it up.
"Huh" Sonic said with a raised eyebrow. "This thing wasn't here a second ago" he pointed out with concern.
Sonic looked at the mp3 player and decided to press the play button on it.
"Some force is keeping me from exiting Cyber Space. Is it because my AI made unauthorized access to the databases? If so, that's the exact opposite of what it was supposed to do!" Eggman's voice played.
"Huh?" Sonic said with a confused expression. "Eggman? He's trapped too?!" he questioned in disbelief. "Whatever he was doing, it sure backfired if he's trapped now..." he pointed out with concern. "I have the feeling I should carry this, just in case" he added, looking at the mp3 player and putting it on his quills, then boosting out of the asset.
Sonic got in some rails and then boosted towards boost rings in the air.
However, the medal he grabbed this time wasn't Sunny's Cutie Mark... it was Hitch's.
"Huh?!" Sonic exclaimed with shock. "Hitch's Cutie Mark?! But Hitch didn't came with us!" he pointed out with worry. "He can't be in the island... can he?" he questioned with concern.
"Sonic!" Sunny called out, appearing behind him with a worried expression, and he could swear that she was crying since her cheeks seemed wet, despite her current state.
"Sunny! What's wrong?!" Sonic asked with worry.
Sunny tried to reply, but she saw that he was holding a medal with Hitch's Cutie Mark, so she sobbed and looked back at him. "I-I see you already know..." she said
Sonic looked back at the medal he had on his hand and frowned. "Where is he?" he asked.
Sunny pointed with a worried expression at the floating platform in the distance, where the Yellow Chaos Emerald was located as well.
Sonic nodded with a confident look. "Go ahead and keep an eye on him, Sunny. I'll collect more Memory Tokens for Hitch and catch you up later!" he instructed, boosting away from her.
Sunny looked back at the floating platform with her ears down, before nodding and heading there as well.
Sonic, on the other side, ran towards the platform that was below the floating platform, and saw another one of those Ninja enemies. He smirked and used his Homing Attack to get close to the enemy. He used a series of attacks: his punches; then a new attack called Sonic Boom, where he unleashed shockwaves from his hands; then he used a Wild Rush, where he zigzagged in the air at high speed before kicking the Ninja.
All of that was enough to charge his Phantom Rush, an attack that can only be unleashed once he made enough combos. The attack basically gave Sonic enough speed to move so fast around the enemy that it felt like if he was multiplying himself. Finally, Sonic used his Stomp Attack, and the Ninja disappeared and left another gear behind.
But not only that, it also made a spring appear out of nowhere, and Sonic saw that said spring lead to rails that would sent him to the floating pedestal.
"Hang on, Hitch" Sonic said. "I'll collect more of your Memory Tokens first, and then I'll rescue you" he stated with confidence.
Sonic managed to collect 20 of Hitch's Memory tokens.
He also cleared another Cyber Space stage, that unlocked the Silver Chaos Emerald, but he was going one step at a time.
Now, he used the spring he unlocked before when he defeated that Ninja, and jumped on other two springs to get on the rails, where he boosted to get to the top of the platform. Jumping on another spring and passing through boost rings and doing some air tricks before landing near the Chaos Emerald.
Sonic walked towards the capsule, extended his hand and the key appeared, dissolving and opening the capsule of the Chaos Emerald. Then, the Emerald disappeared and appeared over him, landing on his hand.
Sonic putted the Emerald away, and then he turned to see Sunny looking at Hitch's capsule with worry. He honestly didn't noticed the capsule up until now.
Sonic walked towards them, and then stopped to stare at Hitch with worry. The sheriff wasn't alone: he had his animal crew around, and even Sparky on his back, which only made his concern grow.
"How did they ended up here?" Sonic asked. "Only Tails, Zipp, you and I came here" he pointed out with worry.
"I-I don't know..." Sunny said with a sad tone. "But we had to take them out of there!" she added desperately.
"And we will!" Sonic assured her. "The only problem is that I don't know how to give him the tokens" he confessed.
"What?!" Sunny asked in panic. "T-Then how did you free'd me?!" she questioned with an anxious look.
Before Sonic could reply, the tokens he collected came out of nowhere and started to get inside of the capsule, just like they did when Sonic found Sunny before.
"That happened" Sonic said with a neutral expression.
Once the medals got inside of Hitch's prison, the spikes around it disappeared, and the capsule immediately broke, freeing Hitch, the critters and Sparky in the process.
However, like the last time, the energy of the capsule entered on Sonic's body, once again on his left arm, while Hitch and the critters landed slowly in the ground, since Sparky was on Hitch's back.
"Hitch!" Sunny called out, running towards the sheriff and embracing him on a hug.
"Whoa!" Hitch exclaimed, taken aback since he didn't expected to see Sunny... at all. "S-Sunny?!" he called out in shock and surprise.
"I-I'm so, so glad that you are fine!" Sunny said, not even daring to brake the hug.
Hitch just laughed a bit sheepishly. "What is happening?" he asked, but then he noticed Sonic behind, with his hand being glitchy, red and black once again. "Sonic! You're here too?! And what is that?!" he asked concerned, pointing at Sonic's arm.
"This? Its nothing! Just the energy keeping you trapped giving me a boost to save you from this digital ghost state" Sonic replied with his usual smirk.
Hitch just rolled his eyes, and Sunny finally got apart from him with a smile and a slight blush. Then, Hitch noticed that Sparky and his animal crew were with him as well, which worried him, then he noticed where they were standing.
"How did we get here exactly?" Hitch questioned.
"You mean the island, or the platform?" Sunny asked back.
"The platform" Hitch replied.
"You were already here when we arrived" Sonic replied. "Now, getting serious here: Why are you here exactly?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking at Hitch with a serious expression.
Hitch scratched his head and looked back at Sonic with worry. His critters started to make sounds, mostly telling him to tell Sonic the truth, while Hitch then looked a Sparky on his back, who just shrugged at him. Hitch let out an exhausted groan and looked at Sonic.
"Well... let's just say that Knuckles kinda brought us here by accident..." Hitch started to explain...
Eggman managed to wake up from his unconscious state, kneeling and catching his breath for a second, before finally realizing where he was: Cyber Space.
He slowly stood up, and noticed that he was on some kind of city, probably created by the data on his memories. To tell the truth, he never saw this city before, so he just assumed it was a mix of many of the cities he has visited in the past.
He walked towards the edge of the highway he was standing on, and started to look around all the possible ways he had on this Cyber Space stage.
"I appear to be in a digital dimension" Eggman stated to himself, recording a memo on his suit. "I've employed similar constructs in my own systems, but this is markedly more advanced" he pointed out.
He suddenly paused the recording after he realized what he just said.
"Note to self: don't admit that to anyone" Eggman told himself, then resumed the recording. "The amount of data stored here defies quantification" he stated.
As he looked around, he was overwhelmed by how many data was stored on Cyber Spaced. He investigated everything he could about the place, and he knew that discovering the secrets of the Ancients to control their technology could take ages, if not his entire life.
But then, he gave a determinate look and tapped his own head. "But it won't stop me from trying!" he declared.
Maybe it will take forever, but for him, it was worth the shot.
Sonic had to go and destroy a few enemies and complete Cyber Space levels to get rid of his frustration.
Hitch basically explained that Knuckles found a gear and a Cyber Space portal back in Maretime Bay, and of course, Knuckles decided to investigate further. It wouldn't had been a problem if Knuckles used the gear and got dragged to the Starfall Islands alone... but Hitch, Sparky, the critters, Izzy and Pipp were with him too, and just as he feared, they got dragged to this place too.
Of course, Sonic didn't took that well, specially with Pipp being dragged to all of this. He though that it would be just save Sunny, Zipp and Tails, then go back to Maretime Bay and act like if nothing of this ever happened... but with the rest being dragged, things escalated quickly. Sonic was now on a race against time, and the sooner he collected the Chaos Emeralds and defeated the Titans, the better.
Right now, he headed to get the Silver Chaos Emerald, and curiously, he found both Sunny and Hitch, with Sparky and the critters, near the pedestal.
Sonic decided to stop and talk with them a bit first. "Hey guys" he greeted with a nervous smile. "Sorry for just run away before... I needed to process things on my way" he apologized.
"It's understandable, Sonic. Don't worry" Hitch told him with a smile. "Honestly, if Knuckles didn't used the gear, either Izzy or somepony else would have" he pointed out.
"Yeah, I know" Sonic confessed. "And I don't blame Knuckles for dragging you here too. He didn't knew what the gear was for, or that the portal was a portal at all" he pointed out as well.
"How did you got trapped?" Sunny asked to Hitch. "You didn't mentioned that before" she pointed out.
"Sparky, the critters and I appeared in front of a portal near the river over there" Hitch explained. "After that, black creatures appeared and tried to attack us, but thanks to my magic and Sparky's fire, we defeated them... until a giant creature with three arms and a weird girl appeared and captured us on that capsule near the Chaos Emerald" he added with a bored expression.
"So, a group of Soldiers attacked you, and then that weirdo attacked with an Asura..." Sonic summarized. "I'm guessing the others are on the rest of the islands, or else I would have run into them by now" he pointed out with a frown.
"Yeah... sorry for the bother, Sonic" Hitch apologized.
"Eh, no biggie" Sonic assured. "I'm used to watch over my friends backs, anyway" he added with a smile. "However, I do wonder why I managed to escape Cyber Space, but you guys are still half ghost" he said with concern.
"Well, we feel fine, despite our... digital state" Sunny said with a smile.
"If you say so..." Sonic said, then looked at the tower that contained the Silver Chaos Emerald with a frown.
Both Hitch and Sunny noticed that, and they looked in the same direction, but found nothing weird.
"What's the matter?" Hitch asked with concern.
"Something's been bugging me about these ruins" Sonic confessed, now crossing his arms. "The whole reason we came was because Tails detected the Chaos Emeralds were drawn here, right?" he asked to Sunny, as she nodded to him. "And now, I'm finding digital keys and confinement towers seem costume-made to hold the Emeralds" he explained. "Like half this stuff was built with them in mind" he pointed out.
"Maybe the Ancients used the Chaos Emeralds in the past?" Sunny suggested. "I mean, you guys didn't knew the Chaos Emeralds are from this dimension until, like, 2 months ago" she pointed out.
"And you have mentioned that other civilizations on your world have used the Emeralds as well, way before even Longclaw was born" Hitch added.
"True, but those groups tried to use them" Sonic pointed out. "The stuff here seems all about containment" he added.
"Hmm..." Sunny said, placing a hoof on her chin. "Maybe they knew something about their power that we don't?" Sunny said. "The Chaos Emeralds are still pretty mysterious, even after all you've done with them" she pointed out.
"True..." Sonic said, rubbing his chin. "Perhaps the Ancients feared the power of the Emeralds, so they just went with the easy route and contained them on those towers" he guessed.
"Perhaps we'll never know, or perhaps we will" Hitch stated. "In any case, we should look for the Emeralds so you can defeat this... Titan, you named it?" he asked.
"Yeah" Sonic said, also nodding his head. "I'll get the Emerald, and then I'll just wonder around until I found the remaining ones" he told the ponies with a smile.
"Well then, we'll see you later" Sunny told him with a smile as well, walking away.
"Take care, Sonic" Hitch told him with a smirk.
As the two ponies disappeared, Sonic walked to the tower and extended his hand, then the key appeared and unlocked the capsule of the Emerald. Once again, the Emerald disappeared and then reappeared, slowly landing on Sonic's hand.
However, once Sonic putted the Emerald aside and decided to keep going, he felt something vibrating on his quills. Sonic decided to check out what was it, and he discovered it was the mp3 player he found on Eggman's asset. The screen said '4 new entries', and Sonic raised an eyebrow.
"I guess I can hear these before keep going" Sonic said with a little smile, then pressed the play button on the mp3 player.
"What are G.U.N. military craft doing in here?! Sage has helped me avoid the worst of it, and it doesn't appear to be manned. Is it a defense mechanism? I need to learn more" the first entry played.
"I've seen some of G.U.N. tanks and helicopters on Cyber Space as well" Sonic muttered with a frown. "And who's Sage? I never heard of anyone with that name before..." he pointed out, then pressed the play button again to hear the next entry.
"The 'terrain' here keeps shifting. I'm finding recreations of regions from South Island, West Side Island, even Angel Island! Where is this environmental data coming from?" the entry played.
"So Cyber Space is some kind of memory extractor... and Egghead hasn't realized that I'm here... yet" Sonic muttered again. "Better keep it like this for a while" he stated, pressing the play button again.
"I have found elements from my own EggNet, United Federation, even Planet Donpa Kingdom race data! But not only that: Canterlot, Crystal Empire, Ponyville, even Manehattan! Places from this dimension are listed in here as well! As best as I can surmise, this Cyber Space extends well beyond the scope of these islands and is gaining information from around this world and mine. Fascinating!" the third entry played.
Sonic's eyes widened on the last entry. "Cyber Space is more powerful than I would like it to be..." he said with a frown. "Perhaps I should be more careful on what I'm thinking whenever I interact with that place" he stated, before pressing the play button one last time.
"I am officially jealous. This entire expanse was constructed by the ancient race who had previously settled on these islands! The level of technology they employed is completely alien to me, so I can't salvage it... yet" the fourth and last entry played.
"Eggman jealous of others tech? Now that has to be quite something!" Sonic snickered, putting the mp3 player away and boosting towards the metallic platform he landed on when the Titan attacked him before.
Cyber Space was a place that, as interesting and amazing as it looked, it could be a double-edged sword and attack him from behind. He was considering to return only when he got enough keys for the Chaos Emeralds, and then never return, even if the voice he heard before didn't liked the idea.
There was also the strange energy of the island entering on his body everytime he saved his friends. So far it wasn't anything bad, but after he free'd Hitch, he started to feel pain. Not something that hurt that much, but still hurts. He only told Sunny and Hitch it was a new power to not worry them, but the truth was that he didn't knew what was that energy.
Still, he wasn't going to say a word either. They were stressed enough with the fact that they're half ghost right now, so they didn't need to feel worried about him as well.
"I know I promised to stop hiding things... but the least they worry, the better" Sonic stated.
After running through half of the island, he finally returned to the metallic platforms... just to find Sunny and Hitch talking with one of those rock creatures.
Sonic raised an eyebrow, approaching to them with a little smile. "Yo, guys" he called out, as Sunny and Hitch turned to finally notice him. "Who's your friend?" he asked.
"Hey Sonic!" Sunny greeted with a smile. "Have you found creatures like them around the island?" she asked.
"Plenty of them, actually" Sonic confessed. "But I have no idea of what they are" he added.
"Apparently they're called 'Koco'" Hitch explained. "They've been the only habitants of this islands ever since the Ancients disappeared" he explained.
"Huh?" Sonic exclaimed confused. "And how do you know that?" he questioned.
"The Koco told us!" both Sunny and Hitch replied with smiles, while Sparky made gibberish sounds on Hitch's back.
"They.... they told you?" Sonic asked with a bored expression, not buying it a single bit.
Then, the Koco, that had a flower on their head, made some high pitched sound as they talked to Sunny and Hitch.
Sunny nodded at her before turning back to Sonic. "This Koco says they need to find their one true love before it's too late" she explained.
"They've been too shy to express their feelings, but if they don't do it now, they may never get the chance" Hitch added with a slightly worried tone.
Sonic just looked at the two of them with a raised eyebrow. Not because of what they explained, but because of how they understood the Koco. "You... got all that, huh?" he asked to them.
"I guess the dimension we are in is translating for us" Sunny pointed out. "I mean, I can even understand the critters, and you know that Hitch's the only pony that can do that" she confessed.
"Yeah, it's something strange, but at the same time, it feels natural" Hitch confessed.
"Well, you guys are the ones trapped in Cyber Space, so who am I to argue you?" Sonic said with a smirk.
Sunny rolled her eyes and looked back at the Koco. "Well, don't you worry! We'll reunite you with your lost love!" she assured to them.
"Yeah!" Hitch said with a smile, agreeing with Sunny's words and plan.
Sonic, however, crossed his arms and looked at them with a bored expression. "I would think we've got more pressing issues, but..." he tried to say, while Sunny and Hitch frowned at him. "... Again, who am I to argue you?" he said, giving up and willing to follow Sunny's and Hitch's plan.
Sonic decided to go and check around the island to look after more Chaos Emeralds, but so far, he got no luck.
Sunny and Hitch, however, were serious about helping the Koco to find their true love. But they eventually crossed paths with another Koco, a mother. She was slightly bigger than the first Koco they met, and she had a purple flower on her head.
She was really sad, and both Sunny and Hitch were worried about her.
Then, a blue blur passed by at very fast paste, and they both knew who it was. "Sonic! Over here!" Sunny called out, raising her hoof.
However, Sonic already disappeared, and they both looked around for a while, looking for him, until he ended up coming back. Sonic stopped and looked on their direction, then saw Sunny moving her hoof on a sign telling him to go to them, and Sonic smiled before reaching them.
Then, the mother Koco made more sounds and looked at the ground in sadness. "This poor mother says she's lost her children" Hitch translated with a worried expression.
"Can you lead her children back? Pleeeease?" Sunny begged with sad puppy eyes.
Sonic putted on a bored expression at first, but then smiled and kneeled to talk to the mother Koco. "Sure thing!" he told her with a smile.
The Koco jumped excitedly and danced around Sonic, while Sonic just smiled and chuckled a bit.
After that, Sonic started to gather some Koco around, making them roll towards Sunny, Hitch and the mother Koco. Some bombs appeared suddenly at times, but Sonic managed to both dodge the bombs and protect the Koco. At the end, he gathered 50 Koco around, and he felt like they were enough.
Suddenly, the Green Chaos Emerald popped out of nowhere and slowly got down until it landed in Sonic's hand. He looked confused at the Emerald on his hand, but since the Koco around him were dancing, he shrugged with a smile, putted the Emerald away and started to dance a bit as well.
After that little dance, Sonic approached to Sunny, Hitch and the Koco mother, with the last one looking after her children. She looked around in search for them, while one of the Koco hid behind other two, looking at the mother Koco. Then, when they saw her flower, realized it was their mother, so they jumped happily and moved towards her.
They both smiled at each other and twirled in the air, then they nuzzled to each other with happy smiles. But then, they started to shine bright, and the light coming from their bodies floated to the sky, where a strange symbol appeared, and the lights disappeared soon after.
And then... the mother Koco and her child fell in the ground, like simple rocks. They were still smiling, but... they were gone. Sunny covered her mouth with a hoof, Hitch looked on with sadness while his ears fell, and Sonic couldn't believe that they simply... died, out of nowhere.
Then, the Koco that Sunny and Hitch met earlier called their attention, telling them that they still needed to find their true love.
"Okay! Okay!" Sunny told her with most honest smile she could give. "We'll keep looking" she assured to them.
The Koco jumped happily and started to roll away slowly, also indicating to Sunny and Hitch to follow them, while the three friends looked on with worry.
"Guys, they act like none of that happened" Hitch pointed out with concern.
"Do we even know what 'that' was?" Sonic questioned with a concerned look.
Both Sunny and Hitch turned to face the bodies of the Koco that just died. "No" Sunny said. "But I got a sense of... completion? Comfort?" she said.
"Yeah, me too" Hitch confessed.
"Weird" Sonic said, rubbing his chin a bit before focusing back on the matters at hand. "Let's keep moving. I want to wrap up our time here A.S.A.P." he pointed out with a serious expression.
Both Sunny and Hitch looked back at him and smiled. "Sounds good to me!" Sunny replied, immediately following the Koco.
"By the way, Sonic. Why did you danced all of a sudden?" he asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
Sonic smirked back and rolled his eyes. "I just got a Chaos Emerald out of nowhere and there were Koco dancing around me" he pointed out. "It would have been dumb of me to not dance!" he added.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say" Hitch said with a smirk, now walking away and following Sunny.
Sonic decided to keep moving forward as well. Probably if he kept helping the Koco, he'll end up finding the other two Chaos Emeralds.
He managed to unlock all the Cyber Space levels of the Island, as well as the entire map.
Now, he could use the Cyber Space portals to teleport around whenever he needed to. However, and for some reason, anytime he kept defeating enemies, they still gave him gears that he didn't needed.
But that wasn't all, he also obtained all the keys from Cyber Space he could, yet no other Emerald showed up.
"I guess I do have to keep helping the Koco if I want to get all the Emeralds" Sonic told to himself.
And so, as he ran through a green hill, he saw Sunny and Hitch with the Koco, so he approached them slowly. However, they seemed to be too focused on their talk with the Koco, who just kept jumping and talking desperately.
Sonic raised and eyebrow and crossed his arms, starting to loose his patience over the two ponies... at least until he heard something, and as he looked on certain direction, he frowned.
"You again?!" Sonic asked with a bit of anger.
The same girl that attacked him using the Titan appeared, and she had the same cold expression as always. Both Sunny and Hitch noticed her presence as well, with the former frowning as well and the latter raising and eyebrow confused.
"Submit" the girl ordered. "Your reckless actions endanger the world" she informed.
"Care to explain how saving my friends is a bad thing?" Sonic requested, still frowning.
"You are an enemy combatant" the girl replied. "I will not share data with you" she added.
"Who's this girl?" Hitch asked confused.
"The creep that used that Titan to attack me" Sonic replied. "By the way, don't you think that was kinda overkill?!" he asked to the girl.
"You are an enemy to be eliminated, and you are powerless compared to its might" the girl replied coldly.
"What is wrong with you?!" Sunny asked with anger. "Sonic is just trying to save us! He wouldn't endanger anyone!" she stated.
"And even if he did, is not intentional!" Hitch added, now frowning at the girl as well. "We've seen everything he's willing to do to help anyone who needs it! Like this Koco! He's willing to take a small detour to help them find their true love!" he pointed out, while the Koco hid behind his leg.
The girl looked at them with a bored expression. "'Love.' An emotional status too vague and varied in its definition" she said with her eyes closed.
"No way. Where did you read that? Wikipedia?" Sonic retorted with a smirk and his arms crossed, while Sunny and Hitch at his side snickered.
"UGH!" the girl exclaimed, now feeling annoyed. "You three are too ignorant to be helped!" she stated, before disappearing once again.
"Again, who... um, what was that girl?" Hitch asked again.
Sonic raised an eyebrow before crossing his arms. "Aside from being a pain? No clue" he said with a smirk.
Suddenly, Sunny noticed something as she ran away. Both Hitch and Sonic looked at each other before following her. Once they reached her place, they understood what called her attention: some giant ruins that looked like pyramids.
"These look like... homes" Sunny pointed out.
"But they're similar to pyramids, right?" Hitch questioned.
"Yeah" Sonic affirmed. "I wonder if the Ancients used to live here..." he wondered.
"It's beautiful" Sunny said with a small and sad smile. "But there's also a loneliness. Not only this place: The land in general feels sad, and empty" she added with concern.
"Yeah, I got the same feeling" Sonic admitted, crossing his arms. "And I think it's tied to the ruins, weird robots, and other stuff we've encountered" he pointed out.
"Gotta say, the more we learn about this place, the less we get at the same time" Hitch said with a small frown.
"True" Sonic admitted, before smirking. "But on the plus side, I've got plenty of room to run around!" he stated.
"And you never know how many new routes you may discover!" Sunny pointed out with a smile.
"Yeah!" Sonic cheered. "But I'll try not to have TOO much fun finding a way to restore you, guys!" he assured with a confident smile.
Both Sunny and Hitch chuckled a bit after that. Then, Sonic suddenly felt his quills vibrating again, and he took out the mp3 player, seeing that Eggman uploaded new memos.
"What is that?" Sunny asked.
"A mp3 player I found on Eggman's assets near those metallic platforms" Sonic explained. "Eggman's trapped on Cyber Space as well, so he keeps updating these memos to the mp3 player. Gotta say, I've been discovering new things with each new memo!" he confessed with a smile. "Wanna check out with me?" he asked.
"Sure thing!" Hitch said with a smile, while Sunny nodded.
Sonic then pressed the play button to hear the new memos.
"It appears the Starfall Islands act as the CPU for Cyber Space. Once I'm out of here, I need to secure them at all costs. I'm not able to access the data too readily, but it appears the entire history of the Ancients is recorded here in Cyber Space. More than that! They logged their memories, their desires... it's almost like they encoded their very souls into this place. Now then - how can I use that for my benefit?" the first memo played.
"So... Cyber Space is some kind of VR?" Hitch asked.
"Yes... and no" Sonic replied. "I don't understand it at all myself, and Eggman has been saying some useful things about Cyber Space, yet is still hard to tell" he pointed out, then pressed the play button again.
"Sonic's on the island. Of course Sonic is on the island. I can't remember the last time I had a good night's scheme without him ruining it. Still, for a purely organic creature, obtaining Mach 1 of his own volition is impressive. I'm man enough to admit that" the second new memo played.
"Well, there goes the surprise factor" Sonic said with a bored expression. "Still, I'm impressed he compliments me as much as he hates me" he confessed with a smirk.
"At least he won't bother us that much" Sunny pointed out, also smiling a little.
Then, Sonic pressed the play button again to play the next memo.
"It appears Sunny Starscout has been dragged into the mix. Clever girl. Tenacious. She's come a long way since our first meeting on that Winter Wishday. Her Alicorn magic is something fascinating, to tell the truth. Too bad she wastes her potential by allying herself with someone like Sonic" the third memo played.
"Of course, Eggman has to mention everyone I'm proud to call my friend and treat them like if I was the problem" Sonic said with an eye roll.
"I'm surprised he thinks I have potential" Sunny confessed. "I thought he hated us" she pointed out.
"Pretty sure he does, but he also respects us at the same time" Hitch guessed. "Kinda weird, if you ask me" he added, then Sonic pressed the play button again.
"Tsk. Hitch Trailblazer is also here. I have to say that it bothers me how straight and fair he gets when nobody listens to him, but I admire how dedicated he is to his work. Anyone else would have given up on the third failed attempt, but he holds his own until the end. I like that kind of attitude; it makes a fight more interesting" the last memo played.
"Guess not even Eggman resists my charm!" Hitch said with a smirk.
"That, or he's just having manners" Sonic said with a bored expression. "That was the last memo, so I guess it would take a while for new memos to show up" he pointed out.
Then, the Koco with the flower arrived and told to Sunny and Hitch to follow them.
"She wants us to follow her" Sunny translated to Sonic.
"I'll go with you this time" Sonic said. "I don't have anything else to do or find in the island, so staying with you seems like my best option right now" he added with a smile.
After a few minutes, the trio arrived alongside the Koco to a zone full of high grass, and the Koco looked with worry as they made gibberish sounds.
"Something wrong?" Sonic asked to Sunny and Hitch, since he couldn't understand the Koco.
"They say their amore was stationed on the far side of the field" Sunny translated.
"'Amore'? Seriously?" Hitch asked Sunny with a smirk and a flirty tone.
Sunny blushed a bit and rolled her eyes. "Not now, Hitch..." she said with a little smile.
"If you start acting like a married couple in front of the child, I'm outta here" Sonic said with his arms crossed and a bored expression.
Now Hitch blushed too, but frowned at Sonic, then rolled his eyes and got back in track. "Anyway. The Koco says that this is the field..." he pointed out.
The high grass was blocking the way, and to tell the truth, the grass looked in very bad conditions.
"I'm not seeing a lot of farming going on" Sonic pointed out.
"Hmm..." Sunny said, placing a hoof on her chin. "Maybe... if you used that new technique of yours, you can clean up all this wild brush?" she suggested.
Sonic smirked at her and cracked his hands. "Leave it to me!" he stated, running towards the high grass and using his new ability to take it away. He also had to dodge some bees on the way, but aside from that, he didn't had any problem cleaning up the grass.
Once he was finished, the Light Blue Chaos Emerald showed up. Sonic looked at it with a smile, then grabbed it and started to dance once again. He had to enjoy this if he was going to help the Koco, right?
After that, he returned with Hitch and Sunny, and he saw the Koco jumping excited. He smiled at the sight, but he also had two questions wondering on his mind.
"Hey, guys" Sonic called out. "All this used to be farm land, right?" he asked to them.
"Yes" Hitch nodded. "The Koco make it sound like it was abundant, but now..." he pointed out with a concerned look.
"I mean... it's grassy?" Sonic pointed out as well with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, yes, but... I've seen this kind of recovery in areas Dr. Eggman damaged back in Maretime Bay" Sunny pointed out. "Something ruined this land, and it's barely begun to recover" she added with concern.
"Then we need to make sure it has plenty of time to heal" Sonic stated with a smile. "By the way, I've been wondering... how you guys feeling?" he asked. "I mean, what's it like being all ghost-y?" he remarked.
"Well, I don't know about you, Hitch, but I don't feel any different since you helped clear my mind, Sonic" Sunny replied.
"Same here" Hitch said. "I guess it feels kind of... detached?" he said. "Have you ever flown around in a dream? Like you're lighter than air? That's what it feels like to me, anyway" he explained.
"Yeah" Sunny said, agreeing on HItch's words before sighing. "I just wish we could finally land and be whole again" she added with concern.
"Hang in there, guys" Sonic assured them with a frown, but not mad a single bit. "I'll figure something out" he stated.
Back in Cyber Space, Eggman was once again on his Eggmobile, talking with the girl that attacked Sonic before with the Titan.
"Keep tabs on the hedgehog" Eggman instructed. "I want constant updates!" he added.
"Yes sir" the girl replied.
"And keep looking for a way to get me out of here!" Eggman added with a frown.
"I am evaluating all safe options" she informed.
"Keep up the good work... Sage" Eggman complimented.
"Thank you, Doctor" Sage replied with a smile. "In other manners, I am extending the range of my control, but I can still only command a few of the Ancients' relics at a time" she reported.
Eggman rubbed his chin a bit as he heard Sage's new report. "Commendable, but what about finding me a way out of this digital dimension?" he asked a bit irritated.
"I have run one million, seven hundred thousand and fifty simulations during this conversation" Sage stated. "There is no scenario to safely remove you from Cyber Space" she reported a bit concerned.
"Unacceptable!" Eggman replied, closing the capsule of his Eggmobile. "Keep looking! Make it your number one priority!" he instructed, then boosted away from her.
"But..." Sage tried to protest, but Eggman left already. "... Keeping you safe is my priority..." she muttered in worry.
Meanwhile, the trio kept following the Koco around, as the Koco jumped away from them. It was already nighttime, meaning they spent the whole day with the Koco.
"Don't get too far ahead!" Sunny told the Koco with a worried expression.
"Hey, Sunny, she'll be fine" Hitch told her with a little smile. "I mean, she's being on her own for years. A few seconds more won't hurt her" he assured.
Sonic, however, felt annoyed, and started to think that helping this Koco was a waste of time. "Maybe we should just let them wrap it up on their own" he said with an annoyed tone.
Sunny turned to see him with wide eyes before frowning. "We have to see this through!" she said with anger.
"No. We. Don't" Sonic replied coldly, now frowning as well. "We still haven't found Tails nor Zipp, nor any of the rest of our friends!" he pointed out. "We've been wrangling children and taking detours the whole way" he added.
Both Sunny and Hitch turned to see the Koco still jumping exciting and moving away, then Sunny growled and looked back at Sonic.
"Are you telling me you would leave behind someone in need?" Sunny hissed with rage.
"No!" Sonic replied, not able to believe that Sunny, of all ponies, would think something like that from him. "But... I'm also worried about you, guys" he confessed with a worried expression. "You can't help anyone if you're stuck in limbo" he pointed out.
Sunny's frown disappeared, and she realized Sonic was right. If she wanted to help, she had to be back on herself, and Hitch as well.
"Sunny" Hitch called out now. "Sonic's got a point here. If we really want to help the Koco around, first we need to go back to be ourselves" he pointed out with a smile. "Let's just keep looking for the rest before we can properly help others" he told her.
Sunny smiled slowly and softly at him. "Alright" she said, then looked back at Sonic. "Then hurry up and save us too so we can find the others!" she stated with newfound confidence.
Sonic smirked at her after this outcome. "Sounds simple enough" he said with confidence as well.
"Also, sorry for snapping at you like that" Sunny apologized.
"No problem, Sunny-bunny!" Sonic told her in a mocking tone. "Now, let's keep moving!" he stated.
The trio followed the Koco around until the sun started to rise again.
Amazingly, Sonic didn't seemed to feel tired, yet he did wanted to take a quick nap before keep going.
Suddenly, the sky broke on red and glitchy glass, startling the trio. Then, the ground rumbled a bit and a light appeared quickly, but as soon as it was gone, all around them seemed to be turned on a sepia effect.
But as if that wasn't weird enough: Sunny, Hitch, the critters and Sparky were back to normal. They looked at each other with confused expressions, then looked at Sonic, who just shrugged since he didn't knew what was going on.
Suddenly, they heard explosions, and when they turned to the direction of said explosions, they saw the Koco... but something was different.
They grew, and now they had a similar aspect to Chaos, the God of Destruction, but with larger legs, arms and 'quills'.
They were running through a battlefield since they looked something, and Sunny tried to follow them, but Sonic grabbed her from a hoof and stopped her, since he didn't wanted her to get hurt.
"Don't" Sunny shouted to the Koco. "It's too dangerous!" she added.
However, the Koco kept running through the explosions and the attacks, and she finally saw her true love, hiding behind a rock until they felt someone else's presence. They got out of their hideout and saw the other Koco.
Despite not having mouths, it was pretty obvious that they both smiled at each other. They ran to each other's arms and embraced in a hug, glad that they felt the exact same for each other.
Suddenly, a giant explosion reached the Koco, and it started to expand, making Sonic, Sunny and Hitch to duck down and take cover.
However, the explosion finished sooner than they expected, and once they opened their eyes, not only the sepia effect around was gone, but also the weird broken sky effect. And Hitch, Sunny, Sparky and the critters got back to their digital state as well, with the critters making complaining sounds and Sparky making gibberish sounds in disappointment.
Then, Sunny noticed the bodies of the Koco on the same place where that explosion happened, and she immediately ran towards them, while Hitch, Sonic and the critters followed walking.
Sunny kneeled and looked with sadness at the Koco, while Hitch placed a hoof on her shoulder and Sonic looked on with sadness as well. But the Koco, however, were smiling, because they could finally find each other and now were resting in piece.
"They were reunited... right before the end..." Sunny said with a down expression.
Hitch then kneeled and moved her head with his hoof so she could face him. "They're together now, and that's what matters" he told her with a smile.
Sunny blushed a bit, but ended up smiling back and nodding with a bit of sadness in her eyes.
Sonic looked at Sunny and Hitch with a smile as well, then he looked back at the Koco... and he couldn't help but think on Pipp. She was trapped too, and all this 'find your true love' quest made him realize how much he missed her now. Just her voice was enough to calm him down in the worst of the situations, but she wasn't here right now...
Sonic shook his head, and looked in front with a determinate expression before looking back at Hitch and Sunny. "You guys rest, I'm going to keep moving" he stated to them.
They both nodded at Sonic with smiles, while the hedgehog ran away.
Sunny and Hitch were sitting in a field of flowers.
After what happened to the Koco early, Sunny has been feeling down. Hitch has done everything he could to cheer her up, but so far, nothing worked, and he was starting to worry a lot about her.
Sunny tried to grab a flower, but her hoof passed through the flower, and she looked at it with a down expression. Hitch noticed that, and he nuzzled his head with hers, which caused her to smile a bit and rest her head oh Hitch's shoulder.
Then, Sonic arrived with them, slowly walking to not interrupt them. "Hey" he greeted. "Still thinking about the Koco?" he asked to them.
Sunny looked at him, then back at the floor. "Yeah. And... more" she replied. "I'm not sure what happened, but I know what I saw: a love that transcended time" she said. "I believe in that power" she replied.
"I always though that all those things were just fairy tales, but... after what I saw today, I believe is real" Hitch confessed.
"When this is over..." Sunny started to speak again. "I want to share that love with the world" she confessed with a weak smile, before looking at Hitch a bit sad. "Even though... it may take us apart" she added.
Hitch couldn't do anything but smile weakly, while his animal crew and Sparky decided to approach Sunny and hug her.
Sonic saw the scene and smiled, then kneeled so he could face both Sunny and Hitch properly. "I know you'll do great, Sunny" he told her with a confident smile. "We want to hear all about it when you come back. Right, sheriff?" he told Hitch with a smirk and a wink.
Getting the message, Hitch smiled back and looked at Sunny. "Right" he told her.
Sunny couldn't help but smile at them, and she decided to hug Hitch once again. "Thanks... guys" she said, with a lonely tear traveling down her cheek.
Sonic once again though on Pipp... and smiled. "Don't worry, Little Pipp" he muttered. "I'm going to rescue you. Whatever it takes" he stated with confidence.
Gosh, it took him a song and a few moments alone with her to finally open about his feelings. And after she said she felt the same way, their relationship was officially a thing.
Now... he had no idea if she was okay. He hoped so, or else he had no idea what he would do if something bad happened to her... nor how to tell that kind of news to her mother back in Zephyr Heights.
The simple idea of not being able to see Pipp again killed him. He recently managed to get her as his soulmate, he wasn't going to loose her now, or else...
"No" Sonic told himself as he ran. "She's fine. Trapped on Cyber Space like Sunny and Hitch, and pretty much the others, but she's fine" he assured to himself.
He needed to stay focused on the now. She was fine, just trapped on a strange place, but he would rescue her at any cost, his life included. As long as he could hear her laugh and see her smile again, he didn't cared what could happen to him.
He kept running through the island, but as he passed by some glowing pillars, he saw that Sunny and Hitch were there, and he also noticed Hitch making a sign to him with his hooves, so he supposed they needed to tell him something. He stopped and then boosted towards them, just to slam the brakes once again and walk slowly.
"What's up, guys?" Sonic asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow.
Sunny turned around and looked at him. "Look!" she say, pointing at the pillars behind her. "Wasn't this region locked off before? I think you can interact with it now!" she pointed out with a little smile.
"I think you can rotate some of them" Hitch pointed out as well.
"Hmm..." Sonic muttered. "Maybe they act like the other puzzle-locks and show me the way to that Titan!" he supposed. "But I guess I'll never know if I don't try" he pointed out to himself.
"It's worth a shot!" Sunny said with a smile.
"Alright... What's the right way to do this?" Sonic questioned, looking at the pillars around.
Sunny and Hitch decided to analyze the place as well, then Hitch noticed that down the platforms there were lines, creating a path as well.
"Looks like there's a pattern on the ground" Hitch pointed out.
Sonic looked at the ground as well, seeing the lines connecting each other and indicating where the laser should be pointing at.
Sonic smirked at this outcome. "This should be a piece of cake!" he exclaimed confidently.
Yeah, just for the record, it wasn't a piece of cake.
Sonic was struggling a lot with the freaking pillars, because whenever he moved one, two of the others moved as well. The process was a pain in the ass for the hedgehog, but not only that: it took him an entire day to finally discover how to move the four pillars until they finally revealed the way.
And what about Sunny, Hitch, Sparky and the critters? Well, Sonic told them he could do it on his own, but he was sure that it will take a while for him to complete the puzzle, so they left for the entire day.
However, when they returned the next morning, they found Sonic, laying in the ground and sleeping deeply, since he was exhausted from trying to discover the right way to place the pillars.
"Uh, Sonic?" Hitch called out.
Sonic was snoring, but then he stopped and slowly opened his eyes, facing Hitch and Sunny facing back at him.
"Hey guys..." Sonic said with a bored tone and expression. "I'm just... resting my eyes..." he added with a yawn.
"Uh-huh" Sunny said with a raised eyebrow, while Sonic stood up. "So... how's it going?" she asked with curiosity.
"I think I already got it" Sonic replied. "I just need to..." he added.
Then, Sonic moved towards the last pillar and rotated it 180 degrees, making another of the pillars move as well. And just as he expected (at least for this try, he already lost count), the lasers aligned perfectly, finally solving the puzzle that he was so glad he would never have to see again on his life.
"THANK YOU, CHAOS!" Sonic shouted with a big smile.
Then, the waterfalls that were at the distance opened up, now showing a pilar that raised from the top of said waterfalls and showed up a secret path behind them.
Sonic, Sunny and Hitch moved towards a rock, near said waterfalls, seeing the pillar that came out of the top.
"Look at that, Sonic!" Hitch cheered with a smile. "You did it!" he added.
"I'm sensing the Titan up ahead" Sunny said, still looking at the pilar over the waterfall. "This is it! The big showdown!" she stated with a smile as well.
"Yeah..." Sonic said with a frown, not really excited to face the Titan.
"What's the matter?" Hitch asked concerned. "You climb up that thing, then face the Titan, defeat him and we're free to go" he pointed out with a confident smile.
"That's exactly the problem" Sonic replied. "If I go to face the Titan now, it'll be a short match if I can't find the last Chaos Emerald" he pointed out. "Things could work out better once I go Super Sonic. But on my current state, I doubt I can do anything to that thing" he said with concern.
"But we search the Emerald everywhere we could!" Sunny said with a worried frown. "And didn't you once mentioned you could turn Super with just 6 of them?" she questioned.
"I can hold the Super Form with 6 Emeralds for a while" Sonic explained. "With the 7 of them, I can go and fly freely around as long as I have enough rings" he added. "With just 6, I could scratch it. But what I need is to defeat it" he stated.
"Well, we're out of ideas" Hitch said with concern. "But if I know one thing for sure, is that you have passed difficult stuff before" he added with a confident smile.
"True!" Sunny said, smiling as well. "You can defeat that thing in the blink of an eye! I know you'll find a solution" she added with confidence.
Sonic couldn't help but smile at his friends. "What the heck? You guys are right!" he said, now with newfound confidence. "It doesn't matter where's the final Emerald. Maybe I'll find it along the way!" he stated. "Also, thanks for everything you did to help out, guys" he added.
"We barely did anything..." Hitch pointed out.
"Nonsense!" Sonic said with a smirk. "Despite my complains, helping those Koco ended up giving some Chaos Emeralds at the end! And you guys even told me what the pillars were for" he pointed out. "You helped me more than you think! Now is time I defeat that Titan to return the favor!" he stated.
"Well then, what are you waiting for?" Sunny asked playfully. "Go on, and put the trash on its place!" she said with a confident smile.
"Consider it done!" Sonic replied with his thumbs up.
Then, he boosted towards the new entrance that opened behind the waterfalls and jumped on a spring. Then, he used his Homing Attack against other spring to elevate on the air and land on a rock. After that, he jumped over another spring and used his Homing attack once again to launch himself against another rock, were he used his Homing Attack against a last spring.
This one elevated him high enough, until he did a series of loops in the air and landed with a superhero pose in front of the pillar at the top of the waterfall.
Sonic smirked as he saw around, but then he heard a big roar coming from a canyon.
"I'm guessing that's the Titan" Sonic said, still with a smirk.
After saying that, he jumped over the water and boosted in the air, until he got to the other side and rolled in the ground, then started to run through the canyon where the roar came from.
He ran through the canyon at sonic speed, and as he got close to the end, he couldn't help but smile.
He was closer to free Hitch and Sunny, he could feel it. Everything he had to do now was finding the final Emerald, turn into Super Sonic and defeat the Titan.
Speaking of it, Sonic slammed the brakes as he arrived to a cliff, and he saw the Titan at the distance.
"Mortal" the voice from before spoke, as Sonic looked at the sky with a frown. "Beware Giganto, the Titan of Kronos Island" they warned.
"Giganto, huh?" Sonic said with a smirk, looking back at the Titan in the distance. "Sounds like I'm giving this Titan a rematch!" he stated, jumping from the cliff and landing on the grass, then running towards the Titan.
But as he ran towards him, he noticed that something was shining over Giganto's head... something purple. Sonic's smirk grew bigger, because he knew that glow very well: the last Chaos Emerald was on the Titan's head, and he was going to get it at any cost.
Unlike the last time, the Titan did nothing but stomp in the ground, hoping it would destroy Sonic, but Sonic did nothing but smirk as he boosted towards the Titan. Once he was near one of his legs, he noticed some kind of blue rings, and so he decided to get through said rings, just to be launched towards the air.
There, Sonic boosted and attached himself on Giganto's body, which was very sticky for some reason. But he didn't cared, as long as he could get to the top of the titan and get the final Emerald.
He climbed up and dodged some red circle waves that came out of the Titan's body, then he managed to reach the back and get through more of those blue rings that boosted him towards the sky, and he landed on Giganto's head.
At last, he saw the Purple Chaos Emerald being protected on a similar tower that contained the first four of them. He walked to it and extended his hand, then the Emerald floated from the tower to him and entered on his body.
Sonic smirked, and then he started to float on the sky, surrounded by the 7 Chaos Emeralds, and once he was far enough from Giganto, the Emeralds entered on his body, turning his blue fur into a golden one, being surrounded by an aura of the same color, and his eyes turned red. He transformed into Super Sonic, and he was ready to take Giganto down.
I'm hanging on to the other side I won't give up 'til the end of me
Sonic slowly descend from the sky with his arms crossed, until he was at the same height than Giganto's head. Once again, he couldn't help but smirk. He had his stack of rings at the top, so he was very confident that he could outmatch Giganto in a one to one battle now that he was on his Super form.
(Go!)
He boosted towards the Titan at sonic speed, while the Titan raised his fist and prepared to strike back at Sonic. However, Sonic himself just kept smirking and raised his fist as well, and then the two of them launched their fists at each other, crashing and fighting to win dominance over the other one.
Unfortunately, Giganto managed to gain more strength and punched Sonic away, but he didn't felt anything now that he had Chaos Energy on his body. Still, he wasn't happy with this outcome, so he decided to start and play serious, boosting towards Giganto again and directly punching his face this time.
(Yeah!)
Welcome to the mind of a different kind Where we've been growing slowly Think I'm on eleven, but I'm on a nine Guess you don't really know me
After punching Giganto for a while, he used his Sonic Boom move on his head, then he used the Wild Rush and the Stomp Attack on his shoulders. all of that charged up the Phantom Rush, and he flew back to Giganto's face, punching him multiple times now that he could multiply himself with the Super form.
Running from the past is a losing game It never brings you glory Been down this road before Already know this story
Face your fear
Suddenly, Giganto prepared to attack Sonic back, but Sonic had a plan for that: he learned he could parry his enemies attacks, so he putted his hand together and waited until Giganto attacked. Then, the Titan spun its arms around, trying to hit Sonic, but in the moment Giganto was about to punch Sonic, he used his fists to punch the Titan back, parrying the enemy and then using both his Homing Attack and Spindash to hit his face, then he moved to the air, where he created multiple copies of himself and hit Giganto's head.
Face your fear
Sonic smirked again, but his smile faded when Giganto recovered real quick and punched him, sending him way back on the field. Sonic shook his head, and looked at Giganto with a frown before boosting towards him once again.
It's time to face your fear 'Cause when your time has come and gone I'll be the one to carry on (carry on)
Sonic parried another of Giganto's attack that the Titan charged up before he could boost, then Spindashed against his head again and multiplied on the sky to attack him.
After that, Sonic dodged the recovery attack and used his Sonic Boom against the Titan's shoulders, then he used the Wild Rush on his face again, punched him, used the Stomp Attack, and once Sonic's Phantom Rush was charged up, he decided to use it all over his body.
And you can throw me to the wolves (throw me to the wolves) 'Cause I am undefeatable
Giganto tried to use the same punch it used to attack Sonic before, but Sonic stopped it like nothing this time, just like he did when he fought Eggman's Death Egg Titan.
Then, he punched Giganto's fist and sent the Titan a bit backwards, thing that he decided to use as an advantage to use his still charged Phantom Rush and attack the Titan's head, stomach and shoulders.
I'm hanging on to the other side I won't give up 'til the end of me I'm what you get when the stars collide Now face it, you're just an enemy
Giganto used his spin attack again, but Sonic wasn't able to dodge it this time, as he flew backwards and almost crashed against a mountain, but he saw the mountain and smirked, looping in the air and landing on the mountain, then using it as a spring to boost back to Giganto and punch his face.
(woah, woah) You're crossing the line (woah, woah)
Then, he used the Sonic Boom and the Stomp Attack once more, making more damage to the Titan.
Now we've run out of time (woah, woah) I'll take what is mine
Giganto was taken aback by that last move of Sonic, so the Titan decided to make things difficult for Sonic: he ducked for a second, just for spikes to come out of his body. These spikes were read, and charged with Cyber Energy.
They suddenly started to launch lasers out of the top, and Giganto couldn't help but roar again, this time looking at Sonic, who descended a bit and looked at him with a frown.
"No more games, Sonic" he told to himself. "It is time to defeat this monster, once and for all!" he stated, boosting back at him.
And when the story ends It becomes a part of me I've given what it takes I'll find another way
He punched Giganto's face two times, but the titan suddenly pushed him back and opened his mouths, charging up a laser against Sonic. The hedgehog was completely took off guard by this, but still he placed his hands in front of him and tried to move the attack away.
I used to never know But now it's crystal clear This feeling's just a ghost
Struggling and grunting, Sonic was able to move the attack towards the sky, and then he boosted towards Giganto's face again, punching him there several times, using the Sonic Boom again and the Stomp Attack as well.
It's time to face your fear 'Cause when your time has come and gone I'll be the one to carry on (carry on)
After that, Sonic punched Giganto on his face again, but then the Titan prepared his spin attack and used it, although Sonic did managed to doge it this time, using both his Homing Attack and Spindash to hit his face, then moving to the air and creating multiple copies of himself to hit Giganto's head.
And you can throw me to the wolves (throw me to the wolves) 'Cause I am undefeatable
Giganto decided to charge up another laser form his mouths, and once again, Sonic placed his hands in front to both block the attack and try to push it away.
I'm hanging on to the other side I won't give up 'til the end of me
This time, he didn't struggled that much, and he launched the laser attack to the sky again.
I'm what you get when the stars collide Now face it, you're just an enemy
Sonic started to punch harder the Titan, not only his face, but also his shoulders, arms and stomach, getting ready for the final act.
However, Giganto suddenly clapped his hands together, trying to crush Sonic, but the hedgehog was quick enough to dodge the attack before he could turn himself into a pancake. Unfortunately, Giganto make another move: he bitted Sonic and tried to crush him with its teeth, but Sonic managed to use his strength to push the teeth up, and then kick Giganto's head.
The titan was bleeding a purple substance, and his body was glitching the same way Sage's body does. Sonic knew that a few punches more were everything it would take to defeat the Titan, so he once again used his Homing Attack and Spindash on the Titan's face, then multiplied himself and stomped him.
I'm hanging on to the other side (to the other side) I won't give up 'til the end of me (end of me) I'm what you get when the stars collide (stars collide) Now face it, you're just an enemy
Once again, Giganto tried to bit Sonic, but Sonic repeated the same process from before and kicked Giganto's face, before landing a punch that finally weakened the Titan entirely.
Welcome to the mind of a different kind We've been growing slowly Think I'm on eleven, but I'm on a nine Guess you don't really know me
Sonic made a small loop in the air, then smirked and boosted towards Giganto, going through its chest at Super Sonic speed.
Running from the past is a losing game It never brings you glory Been down this road before Already know this story
Giganto opened its mouth in pain, but then his whole body exploded and turned into a red and digital ball that became smaller and smaller, until it exploded and destroyed the Titan entirely.
Sonic looked at the ground, where a few of Giganto's body parts remained, but suddenly...
"No! We'll find another way!" A strange creature, that looked exactly like Chaos and had a Koco inside of their body, exclaimed with worry.
Sonic looked around, both confused and startled. He didn't expected to have some kind of vision after defeating the Titan, nor to see a figure so similar to Chaos, the God of Destruction.
"The first seal is broken" the mysterious voice spoke suddenly, while Sonic looked at the sky with a frown. "The next foe awaits on the sand-scarred island" they instructed.
"Right" Sonic replied with a bored expression. "You said 'Titans' earlier. Plural" he pointed out, shacking his head in disappointment. "But of course, no one said this would be easy" he added, smirking a little.
Then, he saw both Sunny and Hitch in the ground, running towards him, so he decided to descend even more to have a chit chat with them.
"Well, that was definitely something!" Sunny said with a smile.
"Dude, you were fantastic!" Hitch added. "I didn't expected you to be able to defeat a thing from that size so easily, though" he admitted with a sheepish smile, also scratching his head.
"Yeah, well, what can I say? I'm really a miraculous guy" Sonic said with a smirk. "But, why are you still half ghost?" he questioned with worry.
Both Hitch and Sunny looked at their bodies, noticing that they were still trapped on Cyber Space. "Darn it..." Sunny muttered with a bored expression.
"Well, this sucks" Hitch added, with a bored expression as well.
"I guess this isn't over until I bop all the big bots" Sonic guessed. "Sorry, guys" he apologized with a worried frown.
"Well, I do feel like my old self, so I guess it's working!" Sunny pointed out with a little smile.
"Yeah, we're slowly going back to be normal again!" Hitch cheered as well. "But it will be amazing if you could keep going and don't keep us waiting" he added with a mocking smirk, while Sunny at his side nodded in agreement.
Sonic smirked back at them. "I'll be back before you can even miss me, sheriff!" he stated, then looked at Sunny. "Make sure he doesn't make anything stupid while I'm not around. See ya!" he added with a smile, boosting towards the next island and getting lost on the sky.
Both Sunny and Hitch waved their hooves as they saw Sonic flying away, then looked at each other.
"So... what do we do now?" Hitch asked.
"I guess we should wait for him to come back" Sunny guessed. "Let's just hope it doesn't take him so long" she added with a worried expression.
"Now come on" Hitch said, nuzzling at her with a smile. "It's Sonic we're talking about here. What's the worst that could happen?" he asked with confidence, while Sunny smiled back at him.
Sonic flew across the ocean, arriving now to the dessert island, a.k.a. Ares Island.
However, he was flying so fast that he didn't noticed a defensive mechanism activating and shooting two lasers to him.
"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed startled.
One of the lasers passed by, but the other one hit him. He started to fall to some sunken sand, rolling in the air and finally landing in the sand.
He shook his head, feeling a bit of pain on his back, but he still managed to stand up and look at the sky with a concerned expression. There, he saw the 7 Chaos Emeralds, spinning in the sky until they split up across the island.
Sonic sighed a bit concerned, not liking the idea of having to search for the Chaos Emeralds again. "Nah. That's cool" he told himself with a tired expression. "I didn't want this to be easy, anyway" he added.
After verifying his surroundings, he nodded to himself and got out of the sunken sand. He saw more of those rails, springs, climbing spots and stamina rings around, as well as the boost rings. He also noticed two new Memory Tokens: the first one was some kind of military medal, and the second one was Izzy's Cutie Mark.
"Let me guess: Knuckles and Izzy, huh?" Sonic told himself, then he grabbed both Memory Tokens and putted them aside. "I'll better start looking for those two before another of those titans shows up and decides to launch me against a mountain... again" he said with a bit of annoyance, before boosting through the desert island.
However, it didn't took him so long to recognize another of those capsules where he found Sunny and Hitch before. He approached to said capsule, just to find Knuckles inside of it, sitting inside his prison and looking absolutely bored.
"Knuckles? Can you hear me, buddy?" Sonic called out, but just as he expected, Knuckles didn't replied anything. "Never mind–– I'll get you out. Hang on!" he assured.
Conveniently, he found one of those mystery chests that could only be opened with his new ability. After he used said ability, he obtained 8 of Knuckles' Memory Tokens. He felt he needed a few more to free Knuckles from his prison, so he decided to go around the Island and look after more Memory Tokens.
After 30 minutes, Sonic defeated some enemies and gained a gear, which he used to open a Cyber Space portal that took him back to the first act ever he cleared on Green Hill Zone.
After passing the stage, he gained 4 keys, enough to make the Blue Chaos Emerald to shine and reveal its location for Sonic to go and take it.
However, he also got enough Memory Tokens to save Knuckles, as well as a few of Izzy's Memory Tokens to save her as well.
So, Sonic ran back to the capsule where Knuckles was trapped, and once the Memory Tokens got inside of the capsule, Sonic smirked, because he was ready to mock Knuckles about the fact that he got trapped on the capsule.
Once the spikes of the capsule disappeared, the capsule itself broke, and the Cyber Energy of it went straight to Sonic's right arm, while Knuckles himself grunted a bit as he landed slowly in the sand.
Sonic grunted in pain because of the Cyber Energy on his body, while Knuckles looked at his hands, noticing he was still on a digital state. None of them noticed that Sage was looking at them from the sky.
"Some rescue" Knuckles complained, turning and looking at Sonic with a frown. "I'm still half-ghost!" he said.
"I'm working on it, okay?!" Sonic groaned with a frown as well.
Sage looked a bit confused at Sonic before disappearing.
Sonic raised his hand when he saw that Knuckles wanted to punch him, but Knuckles' fist went through Sonic's hand because of his digital state.
"What's going on with you?" Knuckles asked, noticing the Cyber Energy on Sonic's right arm.
"Ah, just a little side-effect of the island's weird energy" Sonic explained, still smirking.
As the Cyber Energy on Sonic's arm disappeared, Knuckles smirked back at Sonic, before starting to look at the surroundings with a critical look.
"By the way, I met Hitch on the previous island and he told me that you brought him, Izzy and Pipp to the islands by accident" Sonic said with a concerned tone. "Care to explain?" he asked.
"We were investigating some strange ruins when we were transported here" Knuckles explained. "I got trapped eventually, and I'm guessing the rest got trapped as well" he guessed, walking around Sonic as he looked at the surroundings.
Sonic couldn't help but smirk more. "Never a dull moment with you" he mocked up.
Knuckles rolled his eyes at Sonic's attitude. "I'm just glad to hear that Hitch is safe" he said. "Now, just bring me up to speed" he begged.
Sonic's smirk disappeared once he remembered that Knuckles wasn't the only one trapped in this island. "Listen, I need to look for the Chaos Emeralds to beat-up some big robots" he started to explain, while Knuckles rolled his eyes again and crossed his arms. "But first, we need to find Izzy and free her from her prison" he stated.
Now that called Knuckles attention, as he turned and looked at Sonic with a panicked expression. "Izzy?!" he asked in panic. "She's in this island?!" he asked again.
Sonic nodded with a serious look. "Once we free her from her prison, we'll look for the Emeralds. And once you two are free from this half-ghost state, you'll be back to guard Maretime Bay with Hitch in no time!" he assured with his usual smile.
Knuckles closed his eyes, thinking on Sonic's suggestion, before opening an eye and smirking playfully at him. "Sounds like a plan!" he said on a mocking tone.
Sonic growled, and stared back at Knuckles, since he wasn't a big fan of him. Yet, he knew he had to help him and Izzy as well.
Before going to free Izzy, Sonic decided to recover the Blue Chaos Emerald first, using the keys he gained from Cyber Space and freeing the Emerald from the tower as usual.
After that, he collected more of Izzy's Memory Tokens and decided to meet with Knuckles... but as he ran through the desert, he couldn't help but sense that something was wrong.
And then, in the sky, a strange figure appeared out of nowhere: Ares Island's Titan. This one was very different to Giganto: it was some kind of giant snake with two arms and a big mouth with really sharp teeth. It also had spikes all around its body.
Sonic looked at the Titan, both impressed and disturbed, but since the Titan was just flying around, Sonic sighed in relief since it didn't noticed him.
However, Sage appeared suddenly at his side, startling Sonic, who stepped back and looked at her confused.
"While I cannot fully control it, I can awaken its rage against you" Sage told Sonic with a cold tone and stare.
Then, Sage turned and raised her hand, that shone bright as she instructed the Titan to attack Sonic. The Titan turned around, and Sage disappeared, while Sonic just looked at the Titan with a frown. He was scared, since he didn't had the Chaos Emeralds, he literally just recovered the Blue one.
The Titan approached Sonic, and opened its mouth as it roared, while Sonic stepped a bit back, but still frowning.
"I need to find someplace safe!" Sonic said, before boosting away from the Titan.
As he tried to run away, the Titan roared once again and started to shoot several missiles from its body. Sonic managed to dodge all those missiles, boosting across the island as he tried to find a place to hide from the Titan.
He reached some platforms, where he collected some stamina rings, more Izzy's Memory Tokens and even managed to gain a bit more of speed thanks to the boost rings.
Finally, he reached a place with some rocks, perfect for him to hide, but then he noticed that a missile almost crashed against him, so he jumped in the air, but as soon as he saw more missiles, he used his stomp ability and landed in the ground, then jumped again to dodge some more missiles, landing once again on the ground and running away from one last missile, hiding behind a rock.
He fell to the ground and lay his back on the rock, breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath after that chase with the Titan.
Speaking of it, a few more missiles fell in some rocks ahead of the one he was hiding on, while the Titan flew away since it couldn't detect Sonic anymore.
Sonic sighed in relief, standing up and cleaning some dust from his body, but then he heard something and looked at the sky, finding Sage floating there once again.
"You cannot run forever" Sage told him with a cold stare. "Final warning: leave" she added, once again disappearing.
Sonic stared at the sky confused before frowning. "Tch. That was a 'warning'?" he said with anger and sarcasm. "I barely escaped alive!" he said with frustration. "Better go find Knuckles and see if he found Izzy already, or any Chaos Emerald for that matter" he told himself, boosting away before Sage or the Titan returned.
Sonic ran through the desert once again, this time towards some ruins where he agreed to met with Knuckles.
However, as he approached to said ruins, he couldn't help but notice that Sage appeared once again, so he stopped and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Father was right about you!" Sage told him, for the very first time, showing an emotion: anger. "You're reckless and destructive!" she added, still mad.
"I have no idea what your deal is, but if we could just talk..." Sonic tried to resonate, raising his hands and trying to calm her down.
"No!" Sage cut him off. "No discourse, no bartering, only elimination!" she exclaimed, raising her hand and preparing to shot a laser to him.
However, Knuckles came running at top speed, and once Sage let the laser go, Knuckles quickly moved in front of Sonic, who's eyes opened wide when he saw Knuckles, then he closed his eyes while Knuckles placed his hands in front of him and repealed the laser. After all, he was also in Cyber Space like Sage, so her attack didn't affected him.
Sage frowned at Knuckles, while the echidna placed his fists together and ran towards her, ready to have a proper fight with her. Sage stepped back, but then Sonic himself stopped Knuckles from going any further.
"Whoa-whoa-WHOA! Time-out!" Sonic told Knuckles with a concerned expression.
"Time-out?! She attacked you!" Knuckles pointed out with anger.
"Yeah, it's kind of her thing" Sonic told him with a neutral expression and a calmed tone. "But she's trying to protect something... Or someone" he pointed out, then looked back at Sage and walked towards her, while raising his hands like telling 'calm down' to her. "I'm willing to help, but first I need to know what's going on" he told her with honesty.
Sage gasped after hearing that. A part of her wanted to listen, to reveal against her 'father' and accept Sonic's help... but that wouldn't make her any better than his father's previous creations, so she denied with the head and frowned at him again.
"No! You don't know what you're talking about!" Sage replied with anger and concern, before disappearing once again.
Sonic and Knuckles stared confused at the spot where she was a few seconds ago, before Knuckles groaned again and looked at Sonic with a frown.
"You're too trusting, Sonic" Knuckles told the hedgehog with concern.
"No, I'm not" Sonic told him with a neutral expression, before smirking playfully at him. "Trust me!" he added with a mocking tone, while Knuckles groaned in annoyance, still frowning at him. "By the way, why did you wanted to meet me here?" he asked, now with a more neutral tone.
Knuckles kept frowning, but ended up sighing and looking at him with a serious expression. "I think I found Izzy's location" he told Sonic with a worried tone.
"About time!" Sonic said in relief. "The sooner we rescue her so we can collect the Emeralds, the sooner I'll defeat that Titan so I can free you both" he stated with a smile. "Lead the way, Knucklehead!" he told him.
Knuckles simply boosted away, with Sonic following up close behind.
After a while, Sonic and Knuckles hid behind some rocks, staring at Izzy's capsule... that was right below a giant enemy named Strider.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..." Sonic groaned.
"That thing gives me the creeps" Knuckles muttered with anger. "Think you can take that down?" he asked.
"Eh, it shouldn't be a problem" Sonic said with a smirk. "I'll save your girlfriend in no time, Knucklehead!" he added with a mocking tone, while Knuckles looked at him with a bored expression. "Be right back!" he assured, launching himself towards Strider.
Once Strider detected Sonic's presence, he launched several circular rails around the area. Sonic jumped and used his boost on of them until it became full circle, then jumped into the next one and did the same, and then he jumped to a third one to repeat the process before umping straight to the three rails around Strider.
There, Sonic used his boost ability to fill the first rails into a blue color that should make a bit of damage to strider. A laser came out suddenly from the enemy, but since it landed on a place where Sonic already passed by, he just smirked and jumped to the next rail to do the exact same thing. After going full circle in the second rail, Sonic jumped to the third and final one, while Strider launched another laser... on the second rails that Sonic already completed.
Once he completed the final rails, some kind of platform appeared around Strider's weak point, and so, Sonic used his Homing Attack and started to punch the enemy there until he charged up his Phantom Rush. But instead of using it, he moved aside and used his Wild Rush attack instead. Then, he decided to use a new ability he just learned: Homing Shot, a move that allowed him to launch a volley of energy spheres at his enemies. After using this attack, he decided to keep punching Strider until he charged the Phantom Rush again, and started to attack him even faster now.
But then, the platform he was standing on disappeared, and so he realized that he had to do everything again from the ground. So, he got onto the circular rails again and boosted in them, until he reached the ones around Strider's weak point again. After repeating the same process from before, the platform appeared again, and so he started to punch the weak point again, once again using the Homing Shot and finishing the enemy with a Wild Rush.
After Strider exploded and disappeared, Sonic landed in the ground, and even obtained a new gear for a Cyber Space portal. He grabbed the gear and putted it aside, then he noticed the capsule where Izzy was trapped, and Knuckles standing at its side with his arms crossed.
Sonic walked towards them and stopped in front if the capsule, extending his hand and making the Izzy's Memory Tokens appear, as they got inside of the capsule and made the spikes around it disappear as always.
After that, the capsule exploded, and Izzy landed slowly in the ground, looking at her body confused, since she was still on a digital state. In the meantime, Knuckles ran towards her with a smile, while Sonic drained the energy of the capsule again. He grunted in pain, not liking to deal with this Cyber Energy, but if it was necessary to save his friends, then he was willing to accept this energy, and therefore, to deal with the pain.
"Izzy!" Knuckles shouted.
Izzy herself turned, and was embraced on a hug by his boyfriend. Again, since they're both in Cyber Space, they can interact with each other.
At first, Izzy didn't knew how to react, but she eventually returned the hug to her boyfriend with a smile. "Knuckie!" she said with joy, and then Knuckles broke the hug so they could share a kiss.
Sonic, still processing the pain on his right arm because of the Cyber Energy, smiled at Izzy and Knuckles moment, before looking down to the ground with sadness.
Once again, he started to think and worry about Pipp. Again, he didn't blamed Knuckles for dragging her to the islands since it was an accident, but a part of him was a bit mad that he wasn't more careful.
He wanted to make sure his Little Pipp was okay, but of course, he had to focus right now on finding the Emeralds and defeat that Titan. After all, if Pipp wasn't on this island, she was probably on the next one, as well as Tails and Zipp.
So, he decided to walk towards his friends, once they finally broke their kiss and smiled at each other.
"What happened, Knux?" Izzy asked to her boyfriend. "And where are we?" she added with concern.
"Welcome to the Starfall Islands, Izz" Sonic said, approaching to the couple with a weak smile since he was still in pain because of the Cyber Energy.
"Sonic?" Izzy asked confused. "Wait, what happened to you? And why aren't you ghosty like us?" she added with concern.
"This?" Sonic questioned, showing his hand with the Cyber Energy. "Nothing important, just the island energy trying to stop me from saving you, guys" he said with his usual smirk. "As for why I'm not half-ghost like you, there's a weird voice guiding me around, and they told me that I escaped thanks to my own power, or something like that. The point is, I'm not trapped because something prevented me to stay trapped" he explained. "How did you ended up trapped, by the way?" he asked her with concern.
"Well, after Knuckles placed that gear on that weird tower, we all poofed and then I appeared below a strange creature that looked like a giant spider" Izzy explained. "Then, some weird girl just snapped and sealed me on that capsule. And... then I saw nothing until something freed me" she added.
"Yeah, that something was me" Sonic said with a smirk. "I'm glad you two are free now, but we should keep moving. We have Chaos Emeralds to find and a Titan to beat-up!" he stated.
"Titan?" Izzy asked confused.
"I'll explain you later" Knuckles told her with a smile.
"You two go and look for the Emeralds, or even for Cyber Space portals, any of those work for me" Sonic told them before boosting away. "I'll go and explore the island a bit more" he added before disappearing from their sight.
"Does he ever stop running away like that?" Izzy asked to Knuckles.
"Not that I remember, no" Knuckles replied with a small smile.
After running across the Island for the millionth time, Sonic remembered something important: he needed to unlock the map.
Well, not unlocking it since part of the map just popped up on his mind after completing a certain puzzle, but still, you get the point.
He couldn't calculate how much of the island's map he unlocked, but he could now travel with no trouble through the first half of the island, meaning he still had to unlock the other half.
Right now, he was running towards the ruins where Knuckles saved him earlier, just that he ran through them so he could see what was at the end. Once he stopped, he saw a pond, a giant chain with a seal in the water, and a floating pyramid where the chain came from.
He also found Knuckles and Izzy staring at the water, so he decided to approach them.
"Hey guys!" Sonic greeted. "What are you doing here?" he asked curiously.
"Can you see that seal in the center on the pond?" Knuckles asked back to Sonic. "If we could pull it out, we could drain the water" he pointed out.
"The problem is that were still ghosty, and you're not in good terms with water" Izzy pointed as well with a sheepish smile.
"Yeah, I'm no friends with water, and I doubt I'll ever be" Sonic said with a bored expression, also crossing his arms. "Anyway, if I can jostle the device holding the chain, maybe I can get it to reel it in?" he suggested.
"Worth the shot" Knuckles said, before smirking playfully. "Just don't slip and fall. We can't haul you out" he added on a mocking tone.
Sonic rolled his eyes and turned around, finding some kind of old canyon at one side of the pond. He turned to the other side and found some kind of missile resting over a rock, so he moved towards said missile. It was on a high rock, and despite hating to do it, he admitted that he wasn't strong enough to carry that thing... then he remembered his new ability.
"I still need to find a proper name to that thing" Sonic told himself, before using the ability around the missile, and then it moved from the rock to his hands... or something like that.
The missile was actually floating, but Sonic could tell he was the one carrying it since it moved alongside with him, so he decided not to question the logic behind this.
He moved with the missile towards the canyon, then placed the missile inside of it and pointed the canyon straight to the center of the floating platform. Once he let go the missile, it crashed against some kind of red button that turned blue, with the lines around it turning blue as well.
After that, the chain started to elevate back to the pyramid, removing the seal from the bottom of the pond. The water started to drain away, while Sonic walked slowly towards the edge of a high zone.
He cringed a bit when he saw the pond completely empty, thinking it wasn't a good idea to drain it after all.
He saw Knuckles and Izzy standing at the other side, and so he ran to reach them and have a chit chat with them.
"Guys, was draining the oasis the best idea?" Sonic asked them with worry and concern, also crossing his arms.
"Well hey, you revealed the way forward" Knuckles pointed out with a smirk. "That's what's important" he added with confidence.
"Says you" Sonic complained with a bored expression. "You two can't feel this heat thanks to your 'trapped in Cyber Space' state!" he pointed out with boredom.
Suddenly, Sonic felt his head vibrating, and h e took out the mp3 player, just to find that Eggman uploaded 2 new memos.
"What's that?" Izzy asked curiously.
"A little device I found on Kronos Island" Sonic explained. "Eggman's also trapped on Cyber Space, and so he's uploading some memos from there" he added. "By the way, no. I'm not planning on saving Eggman because, one way or another, he's gonna get out on his own, so it's not worth the shot" he said with annoyance.
"You're telling me" Knuckles said with an eye roll.
"So, wanna listen what's he up to?" Sonic asked with a smirk. "I'm not lying when I say that he's actually finding out really useful things" he confessed.
"Well, I don't mind!" Izzy said cheerfully.
"Ugh... fine" Knuckles groaned with a bored expression and his arms crossed.
Sonic then pressed the play button to play the first memo.
"Who were the Ancients? They predate any civilization by a wide margin. The echidnas? Pfft. The Black Arms? Please. The Babylonians? Hardly! The owls? Don't make laugh! And yet they didn't seem to influence the world beyond these five piddly islands. Why? What stopped them from conquering the world? What stopped them from conquering the entire multiverse?" the first memo played.
"Hang on..." Knuckles said with a frown. "The Ancients... are older than my people?" he asked with concern.
"And older than the owls too..." Sonic pointed out. "The Ancients are probably the very first civilization that used the Chaos Emeralds in history, but we never heard of them, and it's not because they're from Equestria" he added, then pressed the play button again.
"I'm finding multiple connections between the Ancients and the Chaos Emeralds. Their technology seems built with the Emeralds in mind. It's almost like they share the same origin. While I'm aware that the Emeralds come from Equis - apparently that's the term for 'Earth' on this dimension -, their true origin remains a mystery. Heck, I do enjoy a good mystery, but not when the answers are more mysteries! Argh!" the second and last memo for the moment played.
"'Equis'? Seriously?" Knuckles deadpanned.
"So the Ancients and the Emeralds share a stronger connection than I thought..." Sonic said with a worried frown. "Man, the more I hear these memos, the more story I learn about the Emeralds past in Equestria... the more confused I feel..." he confessed.
"I hardly understand a thing" Izzy confessed. "I only got the 'Equis' part! I thought you guys already knew that?" she asked confused.
"I honestly though this planet was called Earth as well" Sonic confessed. "But I guess you learn something new everyday!" he added with a smirk.
"If there isn't anymore of these weird memos, can we please keep going?" Knuckles asked with a tired tone.
"Aw, don't be such a killjoy, Knuckie" Izzy told him with a smile, also nuzzling against his shoulder.
"He has a point, tho. We gotta keep moving if I wanna get you guys out of your current state" Sonic pointed out, before smirking. "Race you to the next Emerald!" he declared, then boosted away to look after more Chaos Emeralds.
"... He does know we can reach the Emeralds before him, right?" Knuckles asked with a bored expression.
Izzy kissed his cheek to cheer him up, and it worked since Knuckles finally smiled. "I don't think so~" she said playfully, as the couple disappeared to meet with Sonic in another location of the island.
Sonic used 2 gears to active another Cyber Space portal.
This stage was settled on Chemical Plant, but he couldn't remember if the structure of said level was mixed up or not. In any case, he gained 4 new keys and unlocked the Yellow Chaos Emerald. Now he only had to find its location and take the Emerald with him.
But as he ran across the desert to go and catch the Emerald, he noticed that Knuckles and Izzy were with a group of Koco, that were all lined up as soldiers. They even had some kind of military helmets.
Feeling curious on what was going on, he decided to approach them. "Hey guys! What's up?" he asked them with a raised eyebrow.
Knuckles turned with a small frown, placing his hands on his hips. "These Koco are supposed to link up with another unit, but an enemy has them pinned down here" he explained.
Sonic looked at the echidna with a bored expression and crossing his arms. "Aren't you supposed to be helping find the Emeralds?" he asked with concern.
"I already told him that, but you know how stubborn he is" Izzy replied instead, also with a bored expression, while Sonic rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"I'm not stubborn!" Knuckles complained. "I can do both. Hurry up if you want in on the fight, hedgehog!" he instructed to Sonic with a smirk.
After saying that, Knuckles and Izzy suddenly disappeared and reappeared far away, while some Tower enemies appeared above certain Koco, that were now divided in groups of two.
Each duo had a Tower enemy above them, and Sonic guessed that he had to grab the Koco and bring them to Knuckles and Izzy as soon as possible.
So, Sonic quickly grabbed two of the Koco and lined them up as a small tower that he carried towards Knuckles and Izzy. Once those two Koco were safe, Sonic returned and grabbed four this time, but he also noticed that he was moving a lot faster for some reason.
Not bothered at all, Sonic managed to move the 4 Koco to Knuckles and Izzy, and then went back and forth with either two or four Koco on each round, until he gathered the sixteen Koco.
Then, the Green Chaos Emerald came out of nowhere and slowly descend until it was in front of Sonic. As usual, the Koco he just helped were dancing around him happily, so he smirked and decided to screw it, grabbing the Emerald and starting to dance alongside the Koco once again.
"Nice work Soldiers!" Knuckles said with a proud smile to the Koco, while they just saluted at him. "Now let's link up with the main force!" he instructed.
"Knux..." Izzy scolded with a small frown.
"Let him be, Izz" Sonic advised with a side smile. "You make a great supervisor, Knux. But maybe try fighting next time, though?" he added with a mocking tone and smirk, also crossing his arms.
Knuckles looked back at him and groaned in annoyance and frustration, also frowning and placing his hands on his hips, with Izzy at his side trying so hard to not burst out laughing at him.
None of them noticed Sage on the air, looking at everything Sonic was doing to help the Koco.
"He is aware of what the Koco are, isn't he?" Sage told to herself with a slightly confused look. "Why does he try to help them when their fate is already decided?" she questioned, still confused.
Despite being an AI turned into a little girl, she was still new to how the world in general worked out, even to emotions she never felt before since she was only a computer.
After a while, Sonic went along Knuckles, Izzy and the Koco towards some kind of old and destroyed defenses of the Island.
The Koco were marching like soldiers, but suddenly, the trio noticed the sky broking into that glitchy red glass again, and after a light shone bright and they covered their eyes, everything around them got a sepia effect again. Also, Knuckles and Izzy were not half-ghosts anymore.
Then, they all looked towards the group of Koco again... and their forms changed to the ones that looked like Chaos again.
They were marching together towards another one of them, one that seemed like their leader. Once they stopped in front of the leader, this one raised their right hand in the air, and then some giant walls came out of the ground, elevating high enough to cover the same wall that was destroyed in the future.
The Koco cheered with movements, despite no actual sounds coming out of them as they celebrated that the defenses were ready.
"Wowie! Those things are huge!" Izzy exclaimed, looking at the massive walls that came out of the ground.
"I've experienced this before! In the other island!" Sonic said with a surprised expression. "We're somehow seeing a battle from the past" he pointed out.
"Those defenses are impressive!" Knuckles praised with a smile. "Maybe I should get some notes for Angel Island?" he added in a joking tone.
However, just when they though that this was impressive enough, Sonic witnessed something that made his eyes grow wide and his jaw to drop: a group of male Owls and some kind of Hedgehog warriors arrived with the Ancients,
The Owls all looked pretty much like Longclaw, just with male traits and some even had beards, while the Hedgehogs all had some fancy spears and were wearing masks that covered their entire faces, but their quills were still out, so you could tell they were Hedgehogs like Sonic.
The Ancients spoke in some weird language that neither Sonic, Knuckles nor Izzy ever heard before, because they didn't understand a single word of it, but then...
"The Ancients said that the defense mechanism is up" one of the male owls translated, while other owl replied to the Ancients in their language, with the Ancients replying back. "They said that this should be enough to stop the imminent menace incoming" the owl translated again.
"Hopefully" one of the hedgehog's spoke. "The kid can't control her powers at all yet. If we wanna stop this enemy long enough until she's ready, I'm afraid we're all loosing our home" he finished with worry.
"Wait, a kid? With powers?" Knuckles questioned.
"Please don't tell me they're talking about––" Sonic tried to say as well, but then something started to attack suddenly.
The trio, the Ancients, the Owls and the Hedgehogs saw giant purple lasers being shot to the defenses, and the Ancients turned to see in pure fright at something in the sky.
"Hedgehogs! return to the basement, protect the child and the Emeralds!" one of the older owls ordered. "We'll protect the Ancients!" he stated.
The hedgehogs only nodded and moved away, actually running at speeds similar to Sonic's, but still a bit slower than him.
But then, as soon as the hedgehogs disappeared, a laser destroyed the defenses, as well as the Ancients and the Owls in the middle. Therefore, the defenses exploded on a massive explosion, and just like before, there was nothing but a flashlight.
Once the light was gone, Sonic opened his eyes again and stared at the sky, seeing that broken glitchy red glass effect again. The colors become normal, but Knuckles and Izzy were half-ghosts again.
The three of them saw a weird symbol in the sky, while the Titan's shadow passed by, and then Knuckles ran towards the Koco's bodies on the ground.
"I guess the defenses didn't hold after all" Knuckles said with grief, kneeling in front of one of the Koco and placing a hand on his chest as a sign of respect.
Izzy approached the rest and looked at them, both worried, confused and scared. "W-What happened to them?" she asked nervously.
"They finished their mission on this land" Sonic explained in a serious tone, walking even forward than her. "They found peace. Now, they're resting forever" he added.
Izzy's ears fell down, and now she looked at the Koco with sadness. She might not be the smartest one of the group, but she understands the concept of death, and she didn't like it a single bit.
Knuckles stood up and walked close to her, carefully caressing her back, while Izzy rested her head on his shoulder. Knuckles looked at her a bit worried, but then looked at Sonic, who was staring at the same direction that the hedgehogs from the vision ran towards.
"Knux..." Sonic spoke before Knuckles could. "Those hedgehogs... they... they are my ancestors" he said with both shock and concern.
Back in Cyber Space, Sage was reporting the most recent update about Sonic and how was he doing in the outside world.
To say that Eggman was satisfied will be nothing compared to how happy he felt, 'cause he was laughing a lot at what Sage was telling him.
"Then the robot hit him again!" Sage told Eggman with a very, very little smile.
Eggman couldn't help but keep laughing at hearing his worst enemy getting smashed by a Titan.
"I look forward to your battle reports once we're home!" Eggman stated with a joyful smile.
Sage suddenly stoped smiling and leaned her head a bit confused. "Home?" she asked.
"I'll integrate you into my system" Eggman explained. "Give you control of the whole EggNet! I'll have you network all my robots" he instructed with pride, genuine pride for the very first time in a long time. "You'll be a refreshing change of pace from all my previous creations! Metal Sonic, Orbot and Cubot, whatever Metal Sunny and Metal Pipp tried to do..." he listed.
"They were all your creations... like me..." Sage said, placing a hand on her chest. "That would make them like... my brothers?" she asked curiously.
"Hmm... I suppose so" Eggman replied unsure.
Sage smile slightly again after hearing that. "I look forward to that" she said.
After what happened near the destroyed defenses, Sonic spent some time alone, standing on the border of a cliff, while tried to put his thoughts in order.
Soon enough, Knuckles and Izzy arrived at his side, with Knuckles being the first one to brake the silence. "I supposed you wanted some 'you' time after what we saw earlier" he said.
"Yeah..." Sonic simply replied, looking at the entire desert island with a neutral expression and his arms crossed.
"I know we shouldn't do this, but... How are you feeling? After seeing people like you for the very first time, I mean" Izzy asked with concern.
Sonic sighed heavily before replying. "Ever since I can remember, it was just me and Longclaw. That's it" he started to explain. "Before meeting Tails... heck, before meeting Eggman, she raised me like her child, like her own son. I never cared on who could be my real parents, not only because I did believed they ditched me, but also because I had Longclaw. She loved me like any mother loves their children, so why care at all for people that never wanted you in the first place?" he questioned.
"I guess with Tails arrival, her love just grew bigger, right?" Knuckles guessed.
"It did" Sonic replied with a little smile, that faded away as fast as it came. "But after seeing her message, after learning that my mother gave me to her to prevent my death... I couldn't stop and wonder if it was true that there's other hedgehogs out there beyond Shadow, Amy and I that we haven't met yet. Maybe I still have family somewhere, but I simply haven't find it. I wonder as well if that girl those hedgehogs mentioned has the same powers I have. Maybe that'll explain a lot of things I still cannot understand..." he added.
"Sonic, you have a family, you know" Izzy said with a little smile. "We may not be related, but... we're here for you" she added.
Sonic looked at her for a second before smiling back at her. "I know, Izz... But it doesn't stop me from wanting to meet my blood relatives" he pointed out with concern. "Maybe I'll never met them, or maybe I will... I don't know... But... it felt so nice to see more like me... more hedgehogs beyond the ones I already know..." he added with a bit of sadness.
Knuckles crossed his arms and started to think on his words, before looking back at Sonic. "Wether if we find it out or not, you are still the same old Sonic. Hedgehog, Owl, alien, or even an ancient god reborn on a mortal... I made up that last part, okay? The point is that you're still you, no matter what happened in the past with your ancestors" he assured to him with a smile.
Sonic smirked at Knuckles in a playful way. "Look at you, Knucklehead. I never knew you could give such helpful advises!" he mocked up.
"This exactly why I never do it with you" Knuckles said with a bored expression.
"Ow!" Sonic said with a mocking tone, acting dramatically like if Knuckles comment hurt him.
"I'll never understand how's that you two are friends" Izzy said with a smirk.
"We've been wondering the exact same thing for the last 18 years, Izz" Knuckles joked.
Sonic couldn't help but burst out laughing, while Knuckles ended up joining him. Izzy giggled a bit at their attitude as well, and none of them noticed Sage looking at the entire conversation, also analyzing their situation.
Soon enough, she disappeared again and went back to Cyber Space.
Speaking of Cyber Space, Eggman asked Sage about Sonic and his journey through Cyber Space and the Starfall Islands.
"I can confirm that Sonic has made multiple breaches into Cyber Space and escaped" Sage reported.
"Through raw talent and no shortage of tenacity, I'm sure" Eggman said with both surprise and anger, letting scape a short and sarcastic laugh. "Impressive" he added, crossing his arms.
Sage leaned her head a bit. "You speak of him with respect as often as you curse him. I do not understand" she said with a confused expression.
"Oh, I hate that hedgehog" Eggman remarked with a frown. "But that doesn't change the fact that he is a formidable adversary" he pointed out. "I respect him, but I don't have to like him" he finished.
Sage analyzed Eggman's words and started to create a few more simulations, before obtaining really interesting and positive results.
"Your genius. His skill" Sage muttered to herself, placing a hand over her mouth as she though a bit more. "If only you two could work together..." she pointed out to herself.
Sonic went through another Cyber Space level, but for some reason, he couldn't remember what stage this was.
In fact, after that last level, he forgot for a second where he was and what was he doing, until it all came back in a flash... except for the level he just made.
But he unlocked the Silver Chaos Emerald, so he went for it and recovered it as usual before going back to explore the Island.
However, as he approached to another challenge to unlock more space on his mental map, he saw Izzy and Knuckles standing next to the sign that marked an already completed challenge.
Feeling curious on what they were doing there, he decided to go out of track and approach them.
"Hey guys!" Sonic called out. "What are you doing here?" he asked confused.
"Have you been here before?" Knuckles asked Sonic. "The island, I mean" he pointed out before Sonic misunderstood him.
"Yeah, you're navigating the island like it's nothing" Izzy pointed out as well.
"Oh, no" Sonic replied, putting a hand on his hip and smiling. "See, when I interact with these things marked with this symbol, I automatically learn the lay of the land" he explained. "It's like the island is beaming a GPS signal right into my brain. Pretty cool, right?" he finished with a smirk.
"Ooh! So it's making some kind of mental map?" Izzy asked cheerfully.
"That's the best way to put it, yeah" Sonic replied with a smile.
"I'm sure that's the Ancients' doing as well" Knuckles said. "I wonder what that symbol means in their language, tho" he added, looking at the symbol of the already completed puzzle.
"Come to think of it, you don't actually see it printed anywhere in the villages" Sonic pointed out with a worried frown. "I guess the true meaning is lost to time" he suggested.
"It is the highest chance of all" Knuckles said.
"Wish I could understand all of this..." Izzy said. "How's that we are like this... what were those weird visions before... or what's going on in general... I feel a bit dumb in here to be honest..." she confessed, while her ears fell.
"Izz..." Knuckles said, kissing her cheek and caressing her head. "You're not dumb. To tell the truth, we can barely understand what's going on here as well" he confessed.
"Knuckles is right, Izzy" Sonic added as well, kneeling and facing her. "None of us are dumb, and you are not dumb. It doesn't matter what's going on here, my mission remains the same: to kick whoever's butt got us in this situation and go home with the rest of our friends!" he assured, and Izzy smiled a bit at him. "Now come one, we have Chaos Emeralds to look after and friends to rescue from Cyber Space!" he stated with a confident smile.
Knuckles and Izzy were waiting for Sonic to come back from Cyber Space, but Knuckles was walking back and forth since something was frustrating him.
Izzy would usually try to calm him down, but she knew it wouldn't work since Knuckles was very stubborn.
Then, Sonic came out of the Cyber Space portal as usual, turning away from the entrance and grabbing the few keys he obtained. He also witnessed the red light in the sky that located the Red Chaos Emerald... but he couldn't recognize it at all.
He walked down from the portal and stared at the red light confused, even passing through Knuckles without noticing it.
"HEDGEHOG!" Knuckles voice shouted, and Sonic got startled by it.
He finally noticed both Knuckles and Izzy, while he panted and tried to calm down from Knuckles' sudden outburst. "H-How long have you been in there?" Sonic asked confused.
"You literally walked through me!" Knuckles pointed out, more concerned than mad. "What's going on with you? I called you six times, and you never replied!" he asked.
"Sonic, are you okay?" Izzy asked as well, more calmed, but also worried about her friend. "You kinda just... zoomed out suddenly" she pointed out.
Sonic shook his head and scratch it a bit before looking at the ground confused. "Y-Yeah... I think I am now, at least" he replied. "Lately, whenever I get out from Cyber Space, I kind of... forget stuff. It's like my mind goes completely empty before I remember everything, and then... I'm back to normal" he explained. "Sorry for scaring you... and sorry for passing through you, Knux" he apologized with a sheepish smile.
"... You're forgetting things?" Knuckles asked, frowning with worry.
"Again, only for a moment... although... this time was longer..." Sonic said, as his eyes widened on the last thing he said.
"Longer?!" Izzy asked in shock and panic.
"... Maybe I shouldn't go back to Cyber Space at all..." Sonic said on his mind. "Even if that creepy voice tells me otherwise, I'm not returning. Not if my mind is going to be affected" he stated with a confident look.
"For the very first time since you free'd us, that's the only thing I'm actually agreeing with you" Knuckles said, conserving his worried frown.
"Me too" Izzy said, putting on her most honest smile.
"Hey, speaking of you two being trapped..." Sonic said suddenly. "Sunny and Hitch said their Cyber Cages weren't a fun time. How was it for you two?" he asked to them, placing a hand on his hip.
"Miserable" Knuckles replied first. "Like a living nightmare. It was the most alone I've ever felt ever since I was guarding the Master Emerald on Angel Island. And at the same time, I was drowning in terrible visions and emotions. Like I said, nightmare" he explained with a frown.
"It felt the exact same way as you describe it for me" Izzy said to Knuckles with a worried frown. "I hate loneliness..." she added.
Knuckles rubbed Izzy's mane to calm cheer her up a bit, then looked at Sonic with a raised eyebrow. "How come you get to jump in and out of Cyber Space and we're stuck half-way? It's not fair!" he complained and pointed out to him.
"Beats me" Sonic said with honesty, crossing his arms. "It sounds like we all experienced the dimension differently" he pointed out.
"Well, we didn't see any way out of there" Izzy said with concern. "Seems like your trips to this Cyber-place are less complicated" she pointed out with a little smile.
"Well, yeah, I guess" Sonic said. "The spooky sky voice says I just have to trash the Titans to get you guys back to normal, so we have a plan!" he stated with a confident smirk.
"Oh yeah?" Knuckles asked with anger. "Why isn't it talking to the rest of us, then?" he pointed out with his arms crossed.
"Yeesh..." Sonic said with a fake hurt expression, crossing his arms. "Okay. You've got a good point there, Knux" he confessed. "By the way, Knux. These visions you mentioned earlier... they weren't like what Tikal showed us way back when, were they? Do these ruins sync up to when your ancestors were wiped out?" he questioned. "I mean, the Ancients had connections with my ancestors and Longclaw's; maybe they had connections with the Echidnas as well" he suggested.
"I don't think so" Knuckles replied, and then he frowned at an idea. "But if you're right, and that prison was bringing back those memories? That's cruel" he said with anger. "If I find out who designed it, they're gonna pay for putting me and my dear Izzy into a living nightmare!" he stated with anger again.
"Count me on board on that one!" Sonic said with a confident smirk. "Anyone who messes with my friends can't leave without a small taste of their own medicine!" he stated.
But suddenly, Sonic felt his quills vibrate again, so he took out the mp3 player and saw that there were 4 new memos from Eggman.
"That Eggman again recorded more stuff?" Izzy asked curiously.
"Yup" Sonic replied, immediately pressing the play button for the first entry.
"The Ancients seem to have employed a set of strange icons as keepsakes or totems. That same imagery is being used by the Koco running around the islands. Did the Koco inspire the Ancients? Or did the Koco adopt the leftovers once the Ancients were gone? Hmm..." the first entry played.
"Well, we saw the Ancients with the Koco inside of them" Knuckles pointed out. "Maybe they were the original form before evolving in that Chaos-like form?" he guessed.
"Maybe" Sonic said. "However, it still doesn't explain why they looked so much like Chaos" he pointed out with concern, then pressed the play button again.
"Something wiped out the Ancients, that's for certain. A catastrophic event caused dire environmental shifts across the islands. It appears they made some effort to rebuild, but they were living on borrowed time. They died out within a generation" the second memo played.
"Aww, poor people" Izzy said with sadness.
"Yeah... such amazing stuff, such interesting traditions... all lost because of a mysterious enemy" Knuckles said with a bit of sorrow as well.
Sonic nodded in agreement with the couple, then pressed the play button a third time.
"I don't believe this! I had Sage run a diagnostic on the recorded genetic data of the Ancients and then against archives I have with me. They're relatives of Chaos, the God of Destruction! After countless years, their DNA corroded to the point they were completely transformed into a new species. Some kind of radiation affected them for eons, making them unrecognizable -- except to a genius like me!" the third entry played.
"WHAT?!" the three friends shouted in shock.
"The Ancients and Chaos are relatives?!" Sonic asked in disbelief.
"But that's impossible!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Chaos was a Chao that got infected by the power of the Master Emerald and turned into a monster! And all of that happened in Mobius!" he pointed out.
"But... wouldn't that mean that those 'Chao' you mentioned and the Ancients are related as well?" Izzy pointed out.
"Maybe they are..." Sonic said. "God dang it, this is a lot to take in..." he pointed out with wide eyes. "I never though I would say this, but Eggman's right on this memo: is hard to believe it" he said, with Knuckles and Izzy nodding in agreement.
Sonic decided to press the play button again to play the final memo of the moment.
"I'm deploying my most advanced artificial intelligence into the ancient network spanning the Starfall Islands. I've code-named it "Sage." Sage will take over the alien network, take control of all its resources, and give them to me! HAHAHAHAHA! ... Once I'm out of here..." the final memo played.
"This is the second time he mentions someone called Sage" Sonic said with a frown. "But he didn't mentioned that it was an AI before" he pointed out.
"Another AI?" Knuckles said with a playful smirk. "Eggman has a big record on failed AI that either betray him or they are a failure" he pointed out, while Izzy at his side giggled.
"I feel like we shouldn't laugh about this one, Knux" Sonic said with a worried frown. "Just to be careful" he added, putting the mp3 player away while Knuckles rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Now come on. We have Chaos Emeralds to look for" he stated, boosting away from them.
Izzy and Knuckles just looked at each other, nodded and disappeared, while Sage in the sky saw and heard everything.
"... Perhaps he do knows a thing or two about me" Sage said with a neutral expression, before disappearing into Cyber Space.
Sonic went and got the Red Chaos Emerald, then he saw Knuckles and Izzy staring at some pillars.
He decided to approach and look at the pillars too, then he noticed how familiar the looked. He couldn't tell why at first... but then, realization hit him like a bullet train.
"Hey Knux" Sonic called out. "I know they're completely different islands, but some of those ruins are making me think on the ones back on Angel Island" he pointed out.
"Why? Because they're made of stone?" Knuckles asked confused. "There are multiple architectural style across the island" he pointed out. "It's different types of stone, too" he added.
"Wait, you can tell the difference between stones~?" Izzy asked on a flirty tone to Knuckles.
"The same way you can tell the difference between crystals, honey" Knuckles replied, also on a flirty tone.
"You two are so meant for each other" Sonic said with an eye roll and his arms crossed, but also with a smile.
"Plus, these ruins pre-date anything on Angel Island by a wide margin." Knuckles kept telling. "After all, Eggman said it in one of his memos: the Ancients are older than my people, so these structures were made way before they even born" he pointed out. "Although... the spiritual spaces and military structures do share some similarities" he confessed.
"Okay..." Sonic said with a raised eyebrow. "So, the Ancients and Echidnas weren't related since they are from two separate dimensions. But somehow, the Echidnas got inspired by the Ancients architecture..." he explained. "Maybe if I explore deeper, I can find an answer on how the Ancients and the Owls travelled from Equis to Mobius. I could even get some answers about my own people..." Sonic suggested with some hope growing on him.
"Well, while you go and do that, Izz and I will keep looking around for the two remaining Chaos Emeralds" Knuckles said.
"Okay then! See ya!" Sonic told them with a wave of a hand, and then boosted away.
While Izzy waved back with a cheery smile, Knuckles couldn't help but look back at the structures. "Now that I see them better, Sonic's right: they do look like the ones on Angel Island..." he pointed out with a worried frown.
Sonic spent an hour and 20 minutes running around the Island, but he didn't find anything about his ancestors, nor about how the Ancients travelled from Equis to Mobius.
He could feel that, if the Ancients had the Chaos Emeralds, then those were the way to travel for all of them to Mobius. How is it that they were related with Chaos, however, was still a Mystery, as well as who's this girl with powers they mentioned earlier.
Still, Sonic wasn't going to give up so easily, but he will let this subject aside for now.
Suddenly, Sonic didn't noticed that he collected the maximum amount of rings he could, and his body started to spreed electrical sparkles. He noticed until he stopped and looked at his shoes.
"What?" Sonic muttered to himself. "This is the first time since I arrived to the Islands that my powers awaken again... I wonder why that is, tho" he said with a raised eyebrow. "Oh well, at least they're back... kinda..." he stated with a smirk.
He kept running, noticing that he was going a lot faster now, and then he stopped when he found Knuckles and Izzy staring at a giant satellite. It was build with the same materials than most of the islands ruins, but at the same time it looked a lot more modern that some satellites he saw back on Equestria, and even in Mobius.
"Look at the size of this... what-do-you-call-it? Satellite dish?" Knuckles questioned to Sonic, while he nodded. "It's for communications, right?" he asked again.
"Yeah" Sonic replied, crossing his arms. "I've seen al sorts of crazy high-tech ancient tech across both islands" he explained.
"But if this is really old, how does it seems so fancy and modern?" Izzy questioned. "It's like if these Ancient guys were way too updated for the age they born" she pointed out.
"It's sturdy too. I punched it, and it didn't moved at all" Knuckles said with a smirk.
"Knux... don't punch the ruins" Sonic warned him with a bored expression. "Once I find Tails and Zipp, maybe they can use them to figure out what happened here, and finally give us some answers..." he pointed out.
"Hey! I already discovered that it's sturdier than anything we've encountered" Knuckles pointed out with a small frown. "I don't think this material is from this world" he added with a bit of concern.
Suddenly, Sonic's quills vibrated once again, and so, he took out the mp3 player and saw 3 new entries on it.
"Well, you know the drill" Sonic said with a smirk, pressing the play button.
"I don't know why, tho, but I couldn't help myself to remember that Sonic's the one who named me 'Eggman.' Except the joke's on him! I embraced the name! I made it my own! His mockery is now a name feared across the ages! I'm not going to adopt 'Baldy McNosehair,' though. My dignity has limits" the first entry played.
Izzy suddenly bursted out laughing after she heard the second nickname.
"Yeah, I know. Too bad Egghead cannot see the beauty of that name" Sonic said with a mocking smirk, then he pressed the play button again.
"It appears that Knuckles is here too. What a rube. That hair-trigger of his is a problem, but also a boon when I can get him to go off in the right direction. It was a lot of fun to trick him whenever I needed to get rid of Sonic... at least before he actually used his brain and realized I tricked him. Now he even has a unicorn mare as a girlfriend... How cute..." the second memo played.
"Too bad for him that he can't trick me anymore" Knuckles said with pride.
"I hope so..." Sonic said with a bored expression. "I don't wanna deal with another week of any broken bones because of those monsters you call hands" he added in a mocking tone, while Knuckles rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, and Izzy at his side giggled a bit.
Sonic pressed the play button to play the last entry Eggman uploaded for now.
"Izzy Moonbow is on the island. Hmm... She acts naive, but I see she has a higher IQ than any of the other ponies, I'd say even higher than her own friends. *Sigh* If only she wasn't dating Knuckles, I could help her unleash her full potential! Oh well, there's a rip for a rip, I guess..." the final memo played.
"... Okay..." Sonic muttered. "That was... unexpected..." he confessed with a sheepish smile.
"I... I have a high IQ?" Izzy asked on disbelief.
"Well, if Eggman, of all people, says so... then it must be true" Knuckles told her with a smile. "He may be our enemy, but he has his own and wacky way to show respect to us" he explained.
"That's... kinda true" Sonic said with a little smile. "But you shouldn't doubt your intelligence, Izz" he pointed out. "Just because you don't understand a lot of things, that doesn't makes you dumb or oblivious. Like Eggman said, sometimes it seems like you're the brain of the group!" he added with a confident smile.
By hearing their responses, Izzy couldn't help but smile back as well. "You guys really think so?" she asked with little tears of joy.
"A rock should fell on us if we're lying" Knuckles stated, as he hugged his girlfriend softly. "You're a lot more smarter than anyone, myself included, gives you credit for, Izz. Never forget that" he added with a smile.
Izzy sobbed happily after hearing that, and she decided to return the hug.
Sonic watched on with a smile and sighed heavily. "I will join in to the hug, but..." he said with a bored expression, then he passed a hand through Izzy's shoulder, since he actually wanted to touch her. "I can't still touch you, guys" he said. "But the sooner we're done with those Titans, the sooner I'll get you back to normal!" he stated with confidence.
"Well then, go out there and get us back to normal!" Izzy said with a confident smile.
"Consider it done, Izz!" Sonic replied with a smile. "I'll go around the island again, and I'll catch up with you later" he stated, then boosted away from there, while both Knuckles and Izzy waved 'goodbye' at him.
This time, Sonic wasn't running.
For the very first time in his life, he didn't felt like running. He simply couldn't this time. And why? Well, he's trying to piece together the mystery related to his ancestors, the Owls and the Ancients.
"My own people and the Owls traveled from Equestria to Mobius with the Emeralds, that's for sure" Sonic muttered to himself, as he walked peacefully around the island. "But if the Ancients left as well... why we never heard about them? And how can they be related to Chaos? This is so confusing..." he kept muttering.
After walking for a while, he saw Izzy and Knuckles in the distance with some Koco... but for some reason, Knuckles seemed to be mad with the Koco, and Izzy was trying to calm him down, but not even that was working.
Sonic sighed and looked at Knuckles with a bored expression. "Better check on him before he does something stupid" he muttered again, before boosting towards them.
As he finally approached them, he could hear the Koco shacking and complaining, or at least it seemed like they were complaining.
"I don't care if you're afraid!" Knuckles scolded with a frown and with his hands on his hips. "Those are your people out there!" he pointed out to them.
"Knux, could you be nicer to them? You're just scaring them even more" Izzy told him with worry.
"Hey, coach" Sonic called out, while Knuckles and Izzy turned to him, and Sonic could tell by Izzy's expression that she needed help to calm Knuckles a bit. "What's with the pep talk?" he asked to Knuckles.
Knuckles groaned a bit at Sonic, while he just smirked at him in a mocking way.
"With the defenses down, the soldiers are supposed to fall back to a bunker" Knuckles explained, still frowning.
"But they're too scared because of the bombs around, and Knuckles is just scaring them even more instead of helping" Izzy added, while looking at her boyfriend with a frown, and Knuckles just scoffed, crossed his arms and looked away, still frowning.
Sonic looked back and forth between the couple, before smirking and replying. "Then I'll round up the stragglers and you supervise, commander!" he said to Knuckles with confidence.
Knuckles raised an eyebrow to Sonic, before looking at him neutrally. "That sounds... that sound good" he replied, and turned back to the Koco.
Sonic just crossed his arms and smirked at Knuckles' attitude.
Then, both Knuckles and Izzy appeared in front of the bunker where Sonic needed to lead the Koco, while the Koco were spreed around as they still felt nervous about this.
Sonic nodded to himself and started to move around to guide the 15 Koco back with Knuckles and Izzy. The Koco were 'running away' from him, but that's exactly what he needed: make them move towards the bunker. It was an easy task, right? Well, not when there's random smoke bombs popping out of nowhere.
Sonic managed to dodge the impact of the bomb, but he had to wait at least 5 or 6 seconds for the smoke to disappear, and once it did, he returned to guide the Koco towards the bunker.
He repeated this process, until he finally managed to take... only 14 of the Koco. He was missing one.
Once he saw where the last Koco was trying to hide, he quickly grabbed said Koco this time and dodged the smoke bombs again, until he reached the goal and placed the Koco down, as he moved towards the rest of the Koco.
However, some of them started to dance around him, and Sonic knew that, even if he didn't got a Chaos Emerald this time, the least he could do was dance along the Koco, and so he danced with them.
After that, he noticed that Knuckles was staring with his jaw dropped to the ruins, a.k.a. the bunker.
"Knux?" Izzy called out.
However, Knuckles didn't replied... he was busy remembering something...
Years ago, Knuckles was guarding the Master Emerald on Hidden Palace in Angel Island.
Back then, he was only 9 years old, and he recently lost his mother. However, he 'didn't had time to cry', and instead, decided to fulfill his duty as the new guardian of the Master Emerald.
However, this time, he could tell that something was wrong, because he felt suddenly felt the whole island shacking for some reason.
"An earthquake?" Knuckles said with a confused expression. "But Lava Reef hasn't give any signs of eruptions..." he said.
Looking back at the Master Emerald, he groaned and decided to transport towards Sky Sanctuary to check out what the heck was going on, even if that meant he had to leave the Master Emerald for a while.
Once he reached Sky Sanctuary, his eyes widened when he saw some kind of planet with a face, that crashed against the 'ceiling' of Hidden Palace.
"So that's why the entire island was shacking..." Knuckles muttered with a frown. "Wait... that's Hidden Pal–– The Emerald!" he shouted with worry, before quickly transporting back to Hidden Palace.
Once he returned, he found the 'face' of a robot, and soon enough, from said face came out a man.
I'm not lying when I say that this man was literally round. His body, at least, was fat, the fattest man Knuckles has ever seen in his life. He was wearing a red suit with black pants and boots, he had his head shaped as an egg, literally, and he had a long mustache. He also wore glasses.
The man was groaning and complaining aloud, also throwing a tantrum like a baby who did not buy a candy.
Knuckles looked at him with a bored expression, since the man's attitude was very childish... but as soon as he saw that the man looked at the Master Emerald and extended his hand as he walked towards it, Knuckles quickly moved towards him and tapped his shoulder.
The man got startled, and turned around to face him a bit scared.
"Alright, pal" Knuckles called out with anger, raising his fists against him. "Give me one good reason to not beat your ass out of my island!" he threatened, while the man stepped back until he fell in the ground.
However, and for Knuckles' surprise, the man kneeled and started to sob loudly.
"P-Please, young man!" the man pled. "D-Don't hurt me! I-Im the victim on all of this!" he said between sobs.
Knuckles raised an eyebrow, and for once, he let his guard down. "Elaborate, old man" he said.
"Y-You see..." the man started to explain. "I-I was trying to protect some little animals from a guy called Sonic... He wants to take over the world!" he explained. "H-he has 7 powerful little gems, and a partner with two tails. T-They want to rule everyone! They attacked me because I was trying to protect the animals, b-but..." he added with sobs.
"7 Powerful gems... but the only powerful gems I know are... the Chaos Emeralds..." Knuckles muttered, placing a hand on his chin. "And if they had the Emeralds, and attacked this old man... they must be coming for the Master Emerald!" he yelled in worry and anger.
He looked back at the old man and extended his fist, while the man ducked for cover. But then, Knuckles smirked at him and opened his hand.
"I think we haven't introduced ourselves properly, partner" Knuckles said.
The man smiled and took Knuckles' hand, standing up and shacking it. "Excuse me, young man. My name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik" he presented himself with a grin.
"I'm Knuckles. Knuckles the Echidna" Knuckles presented himself as well. "I'll usually wouldn't ask this to anyone, but would you mind to look after the Master Emerald? I need to make sure this 'Sonic' guy won't approach the greatest treasure of Angel Island" he stated with a frown, also cracking his knuckles.
Robotnik looked at the Master Emerald and grinned sinisterly. "Oh, it will be my pleasure to look after your treasure, Knuckles" he said in a friendly tone. And also use it as the new battery for my Death Egg he though.
Knuckles nodded, blindly trusting Robotnik, and then ran towards Secret Temple's exit.
Once he was out again on Angel Island, he glided down until he landed near some ruins, then he dig a hole on the ground and hid there for quite a while.
Finally, he heard the sound of someone approaching, and once he felt they were near by, he jumped out of his hideout and punched whoever was coming by.
Luckily for him, he punched Sonic himself, who was using the 7 Chaos Emeralds until Knuckles punched him. Quickly, Knuckles grabbed the Emeralds and started to juggle them, at least until Sonic slowly stood up as he shook his head.
"What the––" Sonic said, confused on who punched him and why.
"If you think you can come to my island and steal the Master Emerald, then you're terribly wrong!" Knuckles stated with a chuckle and his arms crossed.
After that sudden flashback, Knuckles couldn't help but feel nostalgic... and sad at seeing the ruins on the island.
"Knuckie, what's wrong?" Izzy asked, nuzzling on his shoulder, but Knuckles still didn't replied, worrying his girlfriend even more.
At that moment, Sonic arrived, also looking at the ruins, but in his case, he was more curious than confused.
"Is this the place?" Sonic asked, but he got no response. "Yo, Knux?" he called out with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, but then he felt surprised when he saw Knuckles expression.
"Sonic... You... You were right..." Knuckles finally spoke. "These ruins... they... they look like the ones from back home..." he pointed out in disbelief.
Sonic looked back at the bunker ruins, and then he remembered when he met Knuckles for the first time. Near by, there where some ruins... and now that he thought about it, they did looked similar to the ones in front of him right now.
"What if the people of these islands survived and resettled on Angel Island?" Knuckles asked.
"That'd make this pretty important" Izzy said with an awed expression.
"And that makes my theory of the Ancients traveling with the Owls and my ancestors to Mobius more credible" Sonic pointed out as well.
However, none of them noticed that the Koco were marching like soldiers, but one of them suddenly stopped when they noticed something, and then they started to make sounds in fright that startled the rest of the Koco as well.
Sonic, Knuckles and Izzy turned and saw the Koco starting to panic around.
"That's... not a GOOD sound" Sonic pointed out with a frown, while the Koco were running away in fright.
And then, literally out of nowhere, 4 giants Tower enemies appeared and landed in the ground at the same time, making a little earthquake that startled Sonic, Knuckles and Izzy.
The Tower trope had the intention of destroying the bunker, and therefore, the Koco inside of it.
Knuckles wasn't going to stand and watch the bunker fall, but as soon as he positioned himself to fight, he looked at his hands and frowned, remembering that he can't fight back on his actual state.
"They're going to assault the bunker!" Knuckles said, turning around and looking at the bunker with a worried frown.
Suddenly, the flashback from back where he met Sonic returned...
Soon enough, Tails arrived as well, but as soon as he saw Knuckles with the Emeralds, he hid behind Sonic.
"Who the heck are you supposed to be?" Sonic asked with a frown, standing on a defensive pose to protect Tails and to fight Knuckles if necessary.
"Name's Knuckles" he said with a mocking smirk. "And luckily enough, Robotnik warned me about you" he stated, now frowning. "You won't get your dirty hedgehog hands over the Master Emerald! The same goes to your fox buddy behind you!" he warned.
"Dude, I have no idea what Master Emerald are you talking about, but I'm pretty sure Egghead is just tricking you" Sonic replied with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, sure thing" Knuckles said sarcastically. "If I were you, I'd leave the island immediately. So be wise, you two, and get out of my island!" he warned.
After that, he boosted away with the Emeralds, startling both Sonic and Tails because of his sudden move.
"Whoa!" Tails exclaimed. "Did you see that?! He's as fast as we are!" he said with awe.
"Maybe" Sonic said with a frown, before looking back at Tails with a smirk. "But he isn't as cool as we are! Now come on, we gotta find the Emeralds and stop Eggman before he does something to that guy, or to us..." he said with worry.
After that, they both boosted through the island, passing by some ruins near by.
After the flashback finished completely, Knuckles opened his eyes and looked at the bunker with worry.
"I can't... I can't lose this..." Knuckles muttered with worry.
Izzy placed a hoof on his shoulder to give him some comfort, but Sonic wasn't going to hear anything else.
"We've got this, buddy" Sonic stated with a confident smile, as he stood ready to fight against the Tower trope. "I've got your back" he added, then boosted towards the Tower enemies.
Knuckles wanted to say something, but since Sonic was already gone, he only smiled a bit. "Thank you, Sonic" he said, before nodding both to himself and to Sonic.
Sonic ran towards the first of the Tower enemies, which floated once it sensed Sonic's presence. The Tower suddenly stomped against the ground, and it made spikes came out of nowhere.
Sonic could barely dodge the spikes, and then he started to climb the Tower as fast as he could. Once he reached the top, he used his Stomp Attack, destroying the Tower entirely in the process.
After that, Sonic quickly went towards the remaining three Tower enemies and repeated the exact same process, until he finally destroyed the last Tower, and therefore, saved the Koco bunker.
After he destroyed the Tower enemies, some Koco appeared dancing around him, and then the Light Blue Chaos Emerald came out of nowhere, slowly coming down until it was in front of Sonic. He smirked, grabbed the Emerald and, once again, started to dance along the Koco, celebrating that he got another Chaos Emerald.
After the dance, Sonic approached Knuckles and Izzy with a smile. "I told you I've got this, buddy" he said in a mocking tone.
"Yeah, sure thing" Knuckles said with a mocking tone. "You didn't did a bad job... But it could have been a lot faster If I was doing it with my bare fists" he stated, also punching his fists together.
"Uh-huh, sure, now keep saying it until you believe it, Knucklehead" Sonic replied with a smirk.
Knuckles groaned and rolled his eyes, also shacking his head at Sonic's attitude.
"Well, if we're getting anything good out of this, the Koco seem to be celebrating something" Izzy pointed out with a smile.
It wasn't until Izzy mentioned it that both Sonic and Knuckles noticed the Koco dancing around happily that the Tower trope was defeated.
They started to walk towards the Koco, and once the Koco noticed their presence, they all started to gather in front of them, standing on lines and waiting for Knuckles to make a move or give an order, since he was considered the commander right now.
But before Knuckles could say or do anything at all, the Koco used what could be considered their ears as an arm and saluted at them.
Knuckles frowned, stood like a militar and saluted back, with Sonic and Izzy repeating his action at his side.
After that, the Koco started to shine brightly... and just like what happened to that Koco mother on Kronos Island, their bodies slowly fell to the ground, completely absents of life.
Their souls floated to the sky, and that weird symbol from before appeared again.
Knuckles stopped his salute, then closed his eyes, feeling bad for the Koco that recently died. Then, he looked back at the bunker ruins, and that nostalgic sensation came back. He might not say it out loud, but recently, he couldn't help but think about Angel Island, and the fact that something in this dimension hit so close to home for him... it was hard to take in.
Both Sonic and Izzy sighed, frustrated that the Koco died, but then they noticed Knuckles' attitude and look towards the ruins, and they looked at each other with worry for him.
Sonic explored the island one last time, and unlocked the entire map on his brain.
That meant that he also could use the Cyber Space portals to travel around the island even faster... but he liked the old running style better, so he wasn't going to use the Fast Travel thing.
However, while exploring the island, he couldn't help but feel worried about Knuckles.
The way he wanted to protect the ruins... something told him that Knuckles was hiding something, but he couldn't tell what exactly. And he also wanted to ask Knuckles directly, but Izzy told him that she would take charge for the moment.
Yet that didn't made him feel any better. Perhaps the way he treated him said otherwise, but Sonic considered Knuckles like part of his family, like that elder brother that he loves to mess with, yet he cares about him like any brother will.
Therefore, he needed to talk with Knuckles and find out what was going on, but he looked around the entire island for 2 hours, and yet he couldn't find him nor Izzy... until he went back to the bunker ruins.
There, he saw Knuckles sitting on the top, as he looked at the sky with a sad expression.
Sonic felt bad for his friend, and so he climbed up until he reached the top of the ruins, and he also found Izzy, sitting a few meters away from him, with her ears down as she also looked a bit sad.
So, Sonic decided to approach to her first. "Hey, Izz" he greeted with worry. "Is he still down because of the ruins?" he asked.
"Yeah..." Izzy replied, frowning with worry as well. "I've been trying to cheer him up, but... nothing seems to work..." she said.
Sonic looked back at Knuckles, and so he decided to walk towards him and try to cheer him up himself. But as soon as he sat at his side and tried to say anything positive, his mouth closed slowly when he realized that he had nothing. So, he turned to look forward as well... at least, until Knuckles decided to finally say something.
"... Ages ago, my people were wiped out by a cataclysm" Knuckles started to tell, while Sonic payed close attention, while Izzy decided to join by sitting at Knuckles' other side. "I know the Koco faced something similar. Yet, they still had each other, one way or another. But still, it reminds me I'm the last echidna... That I'm alone..." he said with sadness.
"Knuckie..." Izzy muttered with worry. "Is... Is this how you've been feeling lately?" she asked.
"For a while, to be honest" Knuckles confessed after a heavy breath. "It's just... I really love Equestria and Maretime Bay, I really do, but... I also miss Angel Island sometimes. And this place... these ruins... they just hit a lot like home, so... I guess I'm more nostalgic that I've ever been before" he said with a guilty expression.
"Knux, if you've been missing your home, even before coming here to the islands, then why didn't you said anything?" Sonic asked confused.
"I didn't wanted to make you guys think I was abandoning you... I got scared, I guess..." Knuckles confessed. "And now, with me accidentally bringing our friends here, making you run from a place to another just to have a small talk... I didn't wanted to worry you, guys... But it seems I did a terrible job..." he said with sadness again.
"Knuckie, no one would have though you wanted to abandon us" Izzy told him with a soft smile. "I also miss Bridlewood sometimes, and I also feel lonely as the only unicorn in the group... but I know that having you and the others in my life means I'm never alone" she added, perking a kiss on his cheek, making Knuckles smile a bit.
"And you may be the last echidna, but you're not alone" Sonic said with a smile as well. "You've got us, knucklehead!" he added, pointing at himself, but also talking about the rest of their friends.
"You see? Even Sonic knows it!" Izzy said cheerfully.
"I'll admit, Sonic, I do envy your lifestyle" Knuckles confessed with an honest smile. "Freedom to go where you want, when you want. You respond to no one, and you always do what you like without a care about second opinions" he pointed out.
Sonic smirked proudly before extending his arms in the air. "So do it!" he told him. "Get out there, and live a little. I'm pretty sure Hitch won't mind if you choose to take a little vacation to go and feel alive" he assured to him.
"Oh, that actually sounds like fun!" Izzy said cheerfully. "Just think about, Knux: you and me, traveling around and having all kind of crazy adventures? It would be the best of the best!" she said excited. "We could have a blast by living and learning all over Equestria!" she declared with a smile.
"Hmm... Maybe we could..." Knuckles said, closing his eyes for a second before open them and wink at Sonic playfully. "But first, we need to be back to normal" he said, while Sonic smirked playfully at him as well. Then, Knuckles stood up and looked at Sonic with a raised eyebrow. "So hurry up and get us back to normal!" he said in an acted angry tone.
Sonic smiled, stood up as well, crossed his arms and looked at Knuckles with a bored expression. "Anything to get you away from me" he said with a smirk.
However, his smirk slowly disappeared as he stared at Knuckles, while Knuckles stared back. Izzy didn't understood what was going on between those two, but she didn't cared either when they bursted out laughing, and then they fist bumped each other.
How they did it if Knuckles' still on a digital state? No one cared back then, so we don't care here either, okay?
The three of them kept talking normally, not noticing that Sage was hiding down in the ruins, hearing the entire conversation, and surprised on how Sonic was willing to cheer Knuckles up.
"He helps those he is at odds with" Sage pointed out. "He is quick to make peace" she added with amazement. "Perhaps..." she said, closing her eyes and lifting her head to the sky, but then she shook her head and opened her eyes. "No. I have run the simulations. They are doomed" she said with grief, while the three friends kept talking happily.
Sonic managed to reach the Yellow Chaos Emerald, the only remaining one since he was pretty sure the Titan had the Purple Emerald.
But before recover the Emerald, he noticed that Knuckles and Izzy were near by, and so he decided to have a small talk with them.
"Yo, guys" Sonic greeted. "What do you think of the weird spires being used to contain the Chaos Emeralds?" he asked.
"Contain?" Knuckles asked confused. "No, I think they're meant to protect them. Even harness their power" he said, looking at the tower with the Yellow Chaos Emerald on it. "You've experienced yourself the limitless power of the Chaos Emerald multiple times" he added.
"As far as I understand, the Emeralds each has lots of power" Izzy pointed out. "Even if they didn't have them all, I bet some would've provided enough energy to live comfortably for them" she added.
"Enough to power the ruins, Cyber Space..." Sonic listed, also crossing his arms. "I wonder... If the Ancients somehow lost their access to the Emeralds, would that have caused them to disappear?" he wondered.
"Hmm... No, I don't think so" Knuckles said. "Remember Longclaw's message?" he questioned to Sonic.
"The one where she confessed that my parents took me to her? Yeah" Sonic replied.
"She mentioned that the Emeralds arrived to this planet with a long lost civilization, and that her ancestors and yours used them to travel to Mobius to run away from a long swore enemy of said civilization" Knuckles explained. "We know now that the Ancients are the civilization Longclaw was talking about, and I'm guessing that they disappeared because of something else... something not even the Emeralds could control" he explained with a worried frown.
"So, and unknown enemy... something so powerful that not even the Chaos Emeralds could stop forever..." Sonic muttered with worry. "Can something that powerful be even a thing? Gosh, I got goosebumps just imagining the chance of something like that being real..." he added with a bit of fear on his tone.
"I hate to admit it, but me too" Knuckles confessed. "Hopefully, Longclaw was not talking about something like that" he said.
"She also mentioned something about your powers" Izzy reminded as well. "Something that all your ancestors had, but you were the first one that didn't awaken them on birth" she said. "Maybe... you were destined to come here for a reason. Like... closing a cycle..." she pointed out.
"Maybe..." Sonic muttered. "Whatever's the case, I'm just glad to know that this is almost over. I take that Emerald, and then I can finally go against that Titan!" he said with a smile. "If me arriving here is really closing a cycle, if it's really helping my ancestors to rest in piece... then I'm more than glad to help them out!" he stated.
After saying that, Sonic jumped over the tower and free'd the Emerald from the capsule, then putted it away and boosted towards a closed door in some hidden ruins.
Once he arrived to said hidden ruins, he didn't felt surprised to find both Knuckles and Izzy already there. He was more surprised to find some giant balls and giant holes, as well as a giant mechanical arm.
"Sonic! Check these out" Izzy called out cheerfully.
"I don't think this ancient machinery was active before" Knuckles pointed out. "Any idea what changed?" he asked, as he turned to look at him.
"Something similar happened on the last island" Sonic confessed. "Let's just call it a little 'divine intervention', okay?" he said with a little smile. "If I can solve the lock's code it should open the way to that flying Titan" he stated.
"Wait" Izzy said, raising her hoof. "If I recall correctly, there's 7 Emeralds, right?" she asked, while both Knuckles and Sonic nodded at her. "But you're still missing one, aren't you?" she asked with worry.
"Izz has a point, Hedgehog" Knuckles said with worry as well. "That thing will tear you to shreds" he added, not even joking.
"The last Titan was holding the final Emerald" Sonic explained calmly. "I'm willing to bet it's the same deal here. After all, if the Chaos Emeralds are the power source of half the stuff on these islands, it makes sense at least one of them is necessary to make the Titans work as well" he pointed out. "But first, I need to play this crane game. Lemme see..." he stated.
In just one glance, he noticed that the giant balls and the holes were sharing color schemes, so he managed to find out what to do even faster than he expected.
"The stones and the ports seem to have corresponding colors..." Sonic muttered to himself.
After that, he ran towards a wall that he could climb and 'pressed' a button that turned on the arm.
He used the arm to grab the stones/balls and place them on their respective hole/port. After 5 minutes of struggling a bit with the arm, he finally placed th final stone on its place.
Then, the ground started to rumble, and an even bigger ball came out of nowhere, creating a hole in the wall and revealing the path towards the Titan.
Sonic got down from the place he climbed before and approached the entrance of the new found cave, with Knuckle and Izzy following.
"Huh" Knuckles said. "You did it. Nice work" he praised with a mocking smirk.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Sonic mocked back. "Ready to go face impossible odds?" he asked to them.
"Ha! We faced worse" Knuckles pointed out. "Here we go!" he stated, turning to face the entrance of the cave. "Try to keep up!" he added with a mocking tone and smile, before disappearing along Izzy.
"Whoa, hey!" Sonic groaned. "That's my line!" he shouted, but of course, Knuckles already left. "Knucklehead!" he shouted again in anger and frustration.
After that, he sighed heavily, and decided to enter the cave.
Crossing the cave wasn't any difficult.
In fact, he managed to collect some more ring thanks to the spring, boost rings and platforms that he found as he crossed the cave. He will need the rings to stay as Super Sonic long enough, so it was a good thing.
After he exited the cave, he saw a tower in the distance. But he also saw the Titan flying around it, so he guessed that, if he wanted to reach the Titan, he had to climb to the top of that tower.
"Mortal" the voice from before spoke, and Sonic looked at the sky. "Beware Wyvern, the Titan of Ares Island" they warned.
"Wyvern? But that thing looks like anything but a dragon! I literally know one myself!" Sonic said with a frown.
Suddenly, Wyvern roared as it saw Sonic and moved towards the sky, while Sonic smirked and decided to go and climb the tower to face the Titan once and for all.
Using rails, climbing platforms, springs and collecting a few more rings, Sonic reached the top of the tower, where Wyvern roared at him again as it started to move slowly around the top. Sonic took advantage of that and used his Homing Attack and grabbed one of Wyvern's spikes.
By feeling Sonic over itself, Wyvern flew to the sky and opened his mouth, roaring again as well. Then, out of its mouth came some kind of road that started to surround him and follow him.
As Wyvern finished to create the road, the Titan began to shake violently, while Sonic started to struggle to hold Wyvern's spike. Unfortunately, his hand he ended up slipping, and he started to fell, but thankfully he saw some some kind of floating lasers above the road that Wyvern created, so he used his Homing Attack on the lasers before boosting a bit ahead of the road and land on it.
Once he was safe, he boosted again as he passed through the road, dodging attacks and collecting a few more rings, just in case.
There were some points where Sonic had to use his Homing Attack against some lasers again, since the road suddenly seemed to come to an end, but it started again beyond the lasers.
Then, as the road made a loop over the Titan, Sonic jumped from said road and landed on Wyvern's back with a smirk.
He approached the Purple Chaos Emerald, and he extended his hand. Then, the Emerald came out of the tower and entered his body.
Sonic smiled once again, before being surrounded by the 7 Chaos Emeralds, and once again, he transformed into Super Sonic.
Once Sonic was shining on a golden aura, he moved forward to reach Wyvern's face.
Yeah!
Wyvern immediately flew away from Super Sonic, and he decided to chase the Titan, who was flying all across the island. Then, it started to shot multiple missiles towards the hedgehog.
Don't look down! Don't look down!
Sonic dodged all the missiles, and also collected some more rings in the air, so he wasn't going to run out of them anytime soon. Then, Wyvern launched even more missiles, but Sonic kept dodging them easily.
I've been here waiting for the longest time I can't believe it's real
Then, the Titan moved in the air and tried to hit Sonic with its tail, but Sonic placed his hands together and embraced the attack, parrying it fast enough and making Wyvern spin in the air, stunning him for a while in the process.
You lose the battles that you never fight Can't hide from what you feel
Sonic then punched Wyvern three times, and after that, he used the Homing Shot Attack, creating yellow energy spheres and launching them towards the Titan, making even more damage to it. Next, he punched it again and then used the Stomp Attack and punched him another five times. Then, he used a new attack he learned called Loop Kick, where he makes a looping and rapidly accelerates a kick attack in midair.
(Come on!) No more compromise, this is do or die And now you've crossed the line You'll wake the beast inside
After that, Wyvern moved away and repeated its tail attack, but Sonic parried the attack once again, and this time he made something amazing: he quickly moved towards the tail, taking advantage of the fact that Wyvern was stunned again, and then he grabbed the titan from its tail. After that, Sonic turned the Titan around 2 times, before launching him towards one of the mountains, causing a lot of damage on Wyvern.
No more compromise, this is do or die I'll warn you one last time You'll wake the beast inside!
Wyvern shook its head, and then it started to fly across the island, and away from Sonic again. It also launched more missiles to the hedgehog, who dodged all of them and collected rings in the air.
You'll wake the beast inside!
Wyvern launched another batch of missiles, which Sonic again dodged like it was nothing.
You'll wake the beast inside!
After that, Wyvern used his tail attack again, and Sonic parried it like the last time. Then, once Wyvern was stunned again, Sonic started to punch him multiple times.
Don't look down! Don't look down!
He managed to charge up the Phantom Rush, and so he punched Wyvern at super speed before finally using the Stomp Attack again.
After that last attack, Wyvern roared with rage, and shook his entire body to make some spikes pop out of his body. Those spikes began to shot circular lasers around, and Wyvern roared in rage once again before starting to fly around the island again.
So break through it all and don't look down You won't fade out, 'cause the fire in you never dies
Sonic decided to follow up Wyvern, but now dodging the missiles he launched at him became harder, because besides the missiles, he also had to dodge the circular lasers that came out of those weird spikes that popped on the Titan's body.
It comes around to light the flame They'll know your name, burned into their memory
However, Sonic though of doing something different: when Wyvern launched the next batch of missiles, instead of dodging them, Sonic placed his hands together and parried the missile, making more damage on Wyvern and making him to fly even faster across the island.
(So break through it all) Don't stop, we're on a mission Overdriving over all the competition Counting up the damage when it's done
After that, the Titan stopped and make his tail attack, that Sonic parried it again, but then it made the move again, and Sonic barely parried it as well, stunning him for a moment again.
After that, he punched him once and then used another new ability he learned: the Spin Slash, an attack where he surrounds an enemy with a multi-hit spinning attack.
(So break through it all) We can't pretend to listen Sorry if it puts you in an imposition We won't stop until the battle’s won
After that attack, Sonic used an attack named Cyclone Kick, a powerful attack that delivered a flurry of hits as Sonic ascended.
What goes around comes back around again
Once he make that last attack, Wyvern roared and surrounded Sonic, then launched a bunch of missiles towards him.
However, Sonic was able to stop time for a second, and not only managed to dodge all the missiles, but he also gathered them together in one improvised bomb, and then he threw it to Wyvern's face, making the Titan spin around and scream in pain and agony.
And if we don't come down, we'll be lost in the wind
After this, Sonic used the Spin Slash attack again, and immediately after finishing with that attack, he punched him and also repeated the Cyclone Kick.
(What goes around comes back around again) I know that we will find our way We'll do whatever it will take
Tired of this fight, Wyvern roared at Sonic and boosted towards the sky at the speed of light.
Sonic covered himself, but then frowned at the sky and boosted towards it as well.
Then, Wyvern came down at top speed, spinning around while still roaring at Sonic, and creating some kind of barrier that protected itself.
Sonic charged some Chaos Energy as well as he was about to crash with the Titan.
(And if we don't come down, we'll be lost in the wind) And if we never reach the crowd We'll take the whole thing down
Once Sonic and Wyvern clashed against each other, Sonic struggled as he tried to stop the Titan from spinning around at top speed. But he managed to gather enough strength to do so, and the Titan slowly but surely stopped spinning, and then Sonic punched it on the face hard enough.
After that, Wyvern shook its head, and then the Titan shoot more missiles towards the hedgehog, in hopes of finally finishing him up.
Sonic, however, stopped time again, but this time he boosted through the sky as he tried to stay away from the missiles.
Once he made sure the missiles were a bit away from him, he approached to Wyvern's face, and the Titan tried to swallow him in one crunch.
However, Sonic was strong enough in his Super form to prevent being chomped by the Titan, and instead, he opened his mouth, then kicked Wyvern's face and flew backwards, also ducking a bit to prevent being blow up by the missiles the Titan launched before.
Don't look down! Don't look down!
And just like Sonic planed, the Titan was the one who ended up eating its own missiles, and so, its whole body exploded and turned into a red and digital ball that became smaller and smaller, until it exploded and destroyed the Titan entirely.
With Ares Island Titan destroyed, Sonic knew he only had one Titan left to destroy if he wanted to free'd his friends from Cyber Space.
However, as he saw to the floor with a frown, he suddenly got another vision...
"They're... gone. It killed them" another of the Ancients said with a sad tone.
Sonic took a deep breath after the sudden vision. After that, he looked down to the ground, and smiled when he saw a red point and a purple one.
Knowing pretty well who were those points, Sonic boosted towards the ground, still on his Super Form, and then landed in front of Knuckles and Izzy, with the former having his arms crossed and the latter covering herself, at least until Sonic was on the ground again, that is.
"Not bad" Knuckles said with a mocking smirk. "Things would've been over faster if I'd been 'Super Knuckles', but you did all right" he added on playful tone.
Sonic chuckled and looked at Knuckles with a mocking smirk as well. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that" he said playfully.
"I seriously can't stare at you like that" Izzy said. "Yellow doesn't suits you, at all!" she confessed.
"Default settings design, I guess" Sonic said with a smile, but it faded away and frown also came in when he remembered that he still had job to do. "I've got one more Titan bot to go home. Hopefully, I'll find Tails, Zipp... and Pipp too" he added, crossing his arms and, somehow, making his frown even bigger. "I'm worried about them" he confessed.
Both Knuckles and Izzy looked at each other with worry, but then they smiled and nodded before looking back at Sonic.
"They'll be all right, Hedgehog" Knuckles told him with a confident smile, while Sonic looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Tails is a smart little fella, Zipp is just as smart as him, and Pipp has proved to be full of surprises" Izzy pointed out with a cheery smile. "I'm pretty sure the three of them are fine, even if they're trapped on Cyber Space!" she assured.
"And, with everything you have accomplished so far, freeing those three should be a piece of cake for you!" Knuckles added. "Now hurry up, and save the day already" he declared, while pretending to launch a punch to Sonic.
Sonic was taken aback by this action, both because he didn't saw it coming and because last time Knuckles did that, he lost his Super form.
Still, Sonic smirked back at Knuckles and Izzy, then he kneeled to charge Chaos Energy, and finally boosted away from Ares Island, ready to go to the next one to free his remaining friends.
Both Knuckles and Izzy covered from Sonic's sudden boost, before looking back at the sky, seeing that he already left.
"Knuckie..." Izzy called out. "Do you think he really will help us?" she asked.
"So far, Sonic hasn't failed us" Knuckles replied and pointed out. "Let's hope he won't dare to start now..." he added with a worried frown.
The third Island was a lot more active than the previous ones. Was it because of the volcano in the middle?
Nope.
It was because of the many lasers being shoot towards the sky, while a golden aura kept dodging all the lasers professionally.
Said aura was Sonic, still in his Super form, as he tried to dodge all the lasers so he could search for Tails, Zipp and Pipp as Super Sonic... but this wasn't his lucky day, because he didn't saw one of the laser coming, and the Chaos Emeralds ended up spreading all around the island again, while Sonic himself crashed against a mountain.
He stood up, and he grabbed his head, feeling a massive headache as he shook his head, trying to make the pain go away... but it only made it worse.
"For Chaos sake!" Sonic exclaimed, now grabbing his head with both hands. "Why does it hurt so much?!" he cried out.
After a few minutes of struggling because of the headache, it finally stopped, like if it was never there on the first place.
"Huh..." Sonic said with a raised eyebrow. "That was... weird. But it doesn't matter! This is the third island, so I must find Tails, Zipp and Little Pipp ASAP!" he stated.
This time in particular, Sonic saw a few tokens around the island, as well as more of those platforms and rails that reminded him so much of Mobius, but he ignored all of those.
He didn't wanted to waste any more time: He needed to free'd his friends, his girlfriend, find the Chaos Emeralds, defeat that Titan and finally leave the Starfall Islands to never go back.
Yes, he found out that the Hedgehogs and the Owls are originally from this place, and yes, Eggman was still trapped in Cyber Space, but if he knew something about Eggman is that he always comes back. Always. And as for his ancestors discovery, while he was still curious, a part of him didn't wanted to keep investigating, and so, he decided to left that side.
Boosting like a maniac through the Island, Sonic reached the some ruined pillars, and then he saw one of the capsules.
Recognizing the figure wasn't any difficult this time: it was Tails, and it was enough reason for him to approach his best friends and place his hands on the capsule.
"Tails!" Sonic called out, almost crying out of joy. "Tails, can you hear me?!" he asked desperately, but he got no response.
And so, realization hit him hard: he was so desperate to find Tails and the two sisters that he forgot he needed to collect Memory Tokens to free'd all of them.
He facepalmed and groaned in frustration, and then he looked back at the capsule, where Tails seemed to be looking around confused and scared.
"Hang tight, little bro!" Sonic said with a determinate look. "I won't make you wait much longer!" he assured.
After staring at Tails' capsule a little loner, Sonic nodded to himself and boosted away.
This time, he started to collect all the Memory Tokens he could, traveling across some of the platforms and rails he ignored before. Tails' Memory Tokens where yellow wrenches, while Zipp's and Pipp's Memory Tokens where their respective Cutie Marks, just like in the previous islands.
After 30 minutes, he crossed his path with an enemy called Excavator. It was basically a more powerful version of Tower, but this enemy launches more missiles and has more health.
"It seems like I'll will need to use that new ability..." Sonic muttered to himself. "Hopefully, Tails or Pipp can help find a proper name to it so I can stop calling it 'my new ability' already" he added.
After that, it was just repeating the same process as any Tower: dodge the missiles, wait for the enemy to dig into the earth, use his new ability, then use the Sonic Boom, then the Homing Shot and finally defeat the enemy entirely by punching only the top of Excavator.
By defeating it, he obtained a gear for Cybers Space, but before grabbing it, he started to question if it was a good idea to go back there.
Everytime I go into Cyber Space, I lost my memory for a second... Sonic though with worry. "If I go back, I'm risking every single memory of my life... but if I don't, I won't save my friends..." he pointed out to himself out loud.
At the end, he grabbed the gear and putted it away. He hated the idea, but if he wanted to free'd the Chaos Emeralds from their capsules to defeat the last Titan and save his friends, then he had no choice but go back to Cyber Space.
Once he made sure he had enough of Tails' Memory Tokens, he boosted away to go and free his little brother.
Once he returned with Tails, he noticed that he was looking around his capsule, like waiting for something... or rather, someone.
As he got in front if the capsule, the Memory Tokens appeared out of nowhere, and they got inside the capsule.
The spikes around it disappeared, and the capsule exploded, while Tails landed in the ground after a little gasp, with the Cyber Energy of the capsule entering Sonic's body, this time spreading in both of his arms.
Tails looked around confused on how he got free, while Sonic shook his head as he struggled a bit from the pain that the Cyber Energy was causing, but he still looked at Tails with a smile.
"Tails!" Sonic called out happily.
Tails turned and saw Sonic, then smiled as well. "Sonic!" he said, and then he ran towards him for a hug.
But since he was algo on a digital state, he literally passed through Sonic, not able to touch him at all.
"Sorry, lil' bro" Sonic apologized, now smiling sadly. "But you cannot touch me on your current state" he explained.
Tails looked at his hands confused before looking back at Sonic, and gasping when he saw that his arms were affected by the Cyber Energy. "Sonic, what's happening to you?!" he asked with worry.
"Oh, you mean this?" Sonic asked, pointing at his arms and fading the Cyber Energy away. "The island trying to stop me from rescuing you!" he said with a smirk. "I'm glad to see your... half okay, Tails" he added with a smile.
"Well, I half feel right, but... how is it that you're not like me?" Tails asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Knuckles asked the same back on Ares Island" Sonic said with a sassy look. "I'm just incredibly talented that I escaped on my own" he replied, making Tails smirk and roll his eyes.
"Of course..." Tails said in a mocking tone. "Wait! You said Knuckles?!" he asked in panic.
"Yeah... apparently he brought himself, Izzy, Hitch and Pipp to the islands by accident" Sonic explained. "The good news is, you are one of the last ones I need to rescue!" he added in a cherry tone.
"And the bad news are?" Tails asked.
"We still need to find Zipp and Pipp before I can explain what's going on" Sonic replied.
"Hang on! Zipp's still in trouble?" Tails asked in panic, and he would totally shake Sonic if he could. "Don't stand there while waiting for a miracle! We need to find her ASAP!" he declared, before running away and disappear, just like Sage does.
"Well... at least he got the message!" Sonic said with a smile.
After that, he boosted away to help Tails out and look after the sisters as well... but then he came across a Cyber Space portal.
He stared at the portal with a frown, not sure if he should go back there... but then he remembered that he needed the keys to open the capsules of the Chaos Emeralds.
"What am I getting into?" Sonic muttered with worry.
With his decision made, he jumped over the portal platform and placed the gear on it. Once the entire portal turned on, he placed his hand on the entrance, transformed into red particles and got inside Cyber Space again.
Sonic was very confused.
One second, he was running across Green Hills as any other day, and the next one, he appears in front of a strange pillar, in the middle of a volcanic island, with a massive headache and with no memory on how the hell he ended up there.
"W-What is this place?" Sonic muttered, grabbing his head and trying to remember how he ended up there.
As he got down of the platform, he inspected his surroundings, still not knowing where he was, or what was he doing there at all.
"Sonic!" Tails' voice called out.
Sonic turned to see his best friend, and while he panicked at first by seeing Tails on a digital state, he sighed in relief soon enough, since looking at Tails like that made his memories come back in a flash.
"Hey there, Tails..." Sonic greeted with a worried expression and a fake smile, something that Tails noticed.
"Whoa... What happened?" Tails asked, now worried as well.
"W-What? W-What do you mean?" Sonic asked nervously.
"You're sweating, something you barely do, and you're using that fake smile of yours" Tails said, now frowning.
Sonic sighed in defeat and looked at Tails with worry. "Sorry, lil' bro... It's just... I kinda forget things for a minute after visiting Cyber Space..." he explained, grabbing his head again. "But it's over now. I'm fine, for real!" he tried to assure, but he sounded unsure himself.
Tails didn't liked what he was hearing, but as much as he wanted to make more questions, he needed to focus on the important task first. "I don't like the sound of that, at all, but I'm questioning you on that later. I was looking for you because I found Zipp" he explained.
"... Oh, right!" Sonic said, after feeling confused at first. "We still need to... Sorry, seems like some of my memories aren't fully back yet..." he said with concern, making Tails frown at him with worry.
He literally was saved by Sonic like 30 minutes ago, and Sonic's already doing a lot of stuff that was worrying him a lot.
"Anyways, lead the way, lil' bro!" Sonic said, recovering his iconic smirk. "We need to save Zipp and Pipp!" he stated.
Tails' frown remained, but he nodded anyways, and leaded Sonic to another place in the island.
None of them noticed that Sonic got enough keys, since the Blue Chaos Emerald was revealing its location.
"Oh boy..." Sonic muttered frustrated.
"Oh boy indeed" Tails said with a worried frown.
The two of them were staring at an enemy named Shinobi. Basically, it was Ninja, but more powerful and with a different color scheme.
However, this Shinobi wasn't moving anywhere, because it was protecting something: Zipp, encaged on her own capsule.
"It seems like I need to get rid of that thing before freeing Zipp" Sonic said with a confident smile. "Fortunately, I learned some cool moves before coming here, and I also have enough of Zipp's Memory Tokens... I think" he added with a raised eyebrow.
"Memory what?" Tails asked.
"They're basically the keys I can use to free'd you all from your prisons" Sonic explained. "Now stay here, while I take charge of that thing!" he stated, then boosted towards the Shinobi enemy.
Tails didn't liked the idea of stay on the sidelines... again, but right now he couldn't do much like a digital ghost, so he had to stay hidden for the moment.
So, Sonic used his Homing Attack against Shinobi, taking the enemy by surprise. Once Shinobi turned to face the hedgehog, it tried to use its arms to damage Sonic, but he parried the attack and then used Spin Slash over it. Then, Sonic used a stomp attack and finished the enemy with a new attack called Cross Slash, an attack were Sonic circled the enemy and let loose a stream of shockwaves.
Shinobi fell defeated to the ground, and Sonic landed as well, but he got a bit panicked when he saw another gear for a Cyber Space portal. He didn't knew if he should took it at all, but considering he still needed to find 3 Chaos Emeralds - since he felt the two of them required to help Koco and the remaining one was for sure with the island's Titan - and free'd them from their capsules, he knew he had no choice.
Still reluctantly, Sonic grabbed the gear and looked at it with a frown, before putting it away and then approaching to Zipp's capsule, where Tails was already waiting for Sonic to free her.
Zipp seemed to be confused as well inside of her capsule, and Tails was worried for her. Luckily for him, once Sonic approached, Zipp's Memory Tokens appeared and got inside of the capsule, freeing the pegasus from her prison.
Zipp landed slowly in the ground, looking around even more confused than before, while Tails suddenly wrapped her in a hug and the Cyber Energy of her capsule got into Sonic, this time expanding the effect on both his arms and half of his chest, making Sonic groan in pain again.
However, he was completely ignored, since Zipp was busy blushing like a tomato while Tails kept hugging her happily, with his tails unconsciously making the shape of a heart.
"I'm so glad that you're fine, Zippy!" Tails said with an honest smile, also blushing a bit.
That just made Zipp's blush to increase, but she also smiled a little and returned the hug.
"I'm glad to see you too, Tails" Zipp replied with a warm smile. "Although, I kinda wanna know where we are..." she pointed out.
As they broke the hug, Sonic approached them with a hurt look, but still smiling. "Hey there, Zippster" he greeted to the pegasus. "Glad to see you're okay" he said.
"Sonic?" Zipp called out, worried about the hedgehog's look. "What happened to you?!" she asked.
"It's hard to explain..." Sonic replied, as the Cyber Energy faded away again. "Look, I'm willing to explain everything, but we need to find your sister first" he explained.
"My sister?" Zipp asked, confused at first, but then her eyes widened. "Pipp?!" she exclaimed in panic.
"Knuckles accidentally dragged himself, her, Hitch and Izzy here" Sonic explained again. "I'll give you the entire details later, but right now, let's focus on finding Pipp, okay?" he requested.
"Of course we need to find her!" Zipp said with worry. "In fact, why are we even standing here?! Let's get moving, gentlemen!" she stated, flying away as she disappeared.
"Zipp! Wait!" Tails shouted, as he flew as well and also disappeared, leaving Sonic completely alone.
Sonic sighed heavily and looked at the sky with a frown. "Guess I'll have to look after her on my own" he told himself. "Hang on just a bit more, Little Pipp. I'm coming for you!" he stated.
After that, he boosted away and started to look after his girlfriend through the island.
After 2 hours of searching, Sonic found both Tails and Zipp at the edge of a cliff.
Sonic approached, and then gasped worried when he saw Pipp's capsule... being guarded by a new enemy: Spider, a totally new one since he never saw any enemy like it before in the other islands.
There isn't anything to explain about this one: it is literally a mechanical spider, and that's pretty much it.
"That thing looks... dangerous" Tails pointed out with worry.
"We've gotta do something!" Zipp said desperately. "Gosh! Why do I had to become half-ghost on the worst moment possible?!" she cried out in worry.
Sonic didn't even said anything, he straightly launched himself from the cliff and landed on a 'superhero pose' in front of Spider, then slowly stood up and frowned at the enemy.
Spider itself raised one of its four mechanical legs and tried to smash Sonic, but he stepped back and used his new ability on the leg, damaging it and hurting Spider.
The enemy repeated the same process with the rest of its legs, and Sonic repeated the process with his new ability as well. Once he could use his Homing Attack, he tried to used it, but Spider ducked, and it the exact moment Sonic was over it, Spider lifted up and sent Sonic flying in the air.
However, Sonic saw this as the perfect chance to finish up the enemy, so he charged up his Spindash and boosted towards the ground and straight to Spider's 'head', charging up lots of electricity as well. And finally, Sonic straightened up and used the stomp attack, charged in electricity, passing through Spider's head and killing it instantly.
Sonic then jumped away and landed, then turned to see the place where Spider was a few seconds ago with a frown. Once the smoke of Spider's explosion was gone, Sonic saw another gear.
He took it hesitantly again and putted it away, and when he turned to a certain direction, he saw Zipp and Tails with wide eyes and jaws dropped, as Zipp's wings were open and dropped in the floor.
"Wow... just... wow..." Zipp said, completely speechless on how cool everything she saw was.
"Dude, I have no idea what's that new circular trick of yours, but it was awesome!" Tails declared excited.
"Yeah, yeah, I know" Sonic said with a smirk. "But let's not focus on how cool my new ability - with no name yet - was" he added with a frown.
After that, he walked over towards Pipp's capsule, seeing that his girlfriend seemed to be both scared and confused, making his hearth flinch in pain.
So, he extended his hand and made Pipp's Memory Tokens appear, then they got inside of the capsule, and you already know the drill: the capsule exploded, Pipp landed on the floor confused, and the Cyber Energy of the capsule went to Sonic's body.
However, this time, the Energy got all over his body. Literally his entire body got affected by the energy, making Sonic kneel and groan in pain a bit louder than usual, but nobody was paying attention again.
Zipp embraced Pipp in a hug, and Tails was too focused smiling at the two sisters reunion.
"Pipp!" Zipp exclaimed with a smile. "I'm so glad to see that you're okay!" she added.
"Zipp?" Pipp asked confused. "What happened to you?!" she asked with worry, seeing that her sister was digital just like her. "In fact, what happened to us? And where are we?!" she questioned again.
"It's a long story" Tails said, as he approached the two sisters with a nervous smile.
"Tails!" Pipp said with a smile, side hugging the fox, as he returned the hug. "Oh my gosh! You two went on a trip to some islands, right? You were with Sunny and––" she tried to add.
However, they all heard a loud cough, and they turned to see that Sonic was now completely covered in the Cyber Energy.
"Sonic!" Tails shouted in worry, running towards the hedgehog.
"Blue star!" Pipp exclaimed in panic, following Tails, and Zipp followed soon enough as well.
However, once the three of them were in front of Sonic, they stopped when he raised his hand and coughed a bit more.
"J-Just catching my breath" Sonic replied, lifting his head and smiling a bit with a closed eye, while the Cyber Energy dissipated a bit, but not entirely.
Unknown for the group, Sage was watching them from the distance, confused on how Sonic seemed to be willing to hold the Cyber Energy on his body.
"He never stops" Sage pointed out to herself. "Clarification: he never gives up" she corrected herself.
Back with the group, Tails seemed to be analyzing Sonic's state, as well as his and the sisters'.
"How's that... Why aren't you half-ghost like us?" Zipp asked concerned.
"I escaped Cyber Space on my own..." Sonic replied, grabbing his left arm as he tried to pull the Cyber Energy away. "How remains a mystery for me too, tho" he added.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Pipp asked with worry, as she tried to touch Sonic's shoulder, but her hoof passed through his body, making her gasp with worry. "I... I can't feel you..." she said with sadness.
"Yeah... sorry, Little Pipp" Sonic said with a sad smile. "But until I free you from Cyber Space... talking is the furthest we can interact" he explained.
"Hmm..." Tails said, thinking he already has a clue on Sonic's state. "The spatial anomaly that affected us seems to have left me, Zipp and Pipp in a digitalized state" he started to explain, looking at his arms, and the walking a bit away from Sonic as he kept explaining. "But those same energies are manifesting into some worrisome mutations for you, also causing a critical dementia on you" he added with a proud smile.
Sonic looked at him with a raised eyebrow, while Pipp understood nothing and Zipp was kinda lost too, despite that she did understood the first half.
"Those sure are words you said just now!" Sonic stated with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, while Tails turned and looked at him with a smug grin.
"Yeah, you got me completely lost too, Tails" Pipp said with a confused look.
"I understood you at first... and then you lost me too" Zipp confessed with a sheepish smile and a slight blush.
"I'm saying we're fine" Tails told both Zipp and Pipp, but then he turned to Sonic with a frown. "Buy you are not, and I'm worried" he explained.
Sonic looked at Tails surprised, but then he smiled, closed his eyes, crossed his left arm and denied with his right index finger. "I'll be fine!" he assured, getting close to Tails and pointing at himself. "And, I need this power to rescue you, guys" he added, now looking at both Zipp and Pipp as well.
"... He's even enduring the cyber corruption better than I calculated he would" Sage told herself with surprise.
"Wait, you mentioned that Hitch, Izzy and Knuckles were here too, right?" Zipp asked with a frown.
"Yeah. But just like I told Tails before: you three were the last on my list" Sonic explained with a smile. "Now, let me explain what's going on: there's these really powerful bots called 'Titans' that are apparently keeping you trapped in Cyber Space. So far, I already destroyed the first two of them, and now I need to get rid of the last one to properly save you" he finished.
"Hang on... Titans?" Zipp asked confused. "But... I never read any of that regardless of the islands..." she said, placing a hoof on her chin.
"There's a lot a need to explain and tell... including something related to my ancestors... but I'll explain all of that later. Right now? I need to get you guys out of Cyber Space" Sonic stated with a determinate look.
"But how?" Pipp asked with concern. "I get that you already said something about defeating those 'Titans', but how are you gonna do it? How's that you even did it with the others?! How––" she wanted to keep asking, but...
"Pipp! Pipp, my sweet Little Pipp, breath in and out" Sonic told her with a calmed smile, and Pipp did so, she started to breath in and out to relax. "There. Now, I had to transform into Super Sonic to defeat the Titans. Unfortunately, the Chaos Emeralds spread all across the Island once I arrived here..." he explained, not adding the detail that he was shot for it, since he didn't wanted to worry Tails nor Pipp more than they already are.
"So, you need us to what? Help you find the Emeralds?" Zipp asked with a raised eyebrow.
"More or less" Sonic replied with a smirk.
"But are you sure you'll be fine? Returning to Cyber Space, risk your life for the millionth time..." Tails pointed out with concern.
"Tails, relax! As I already said, I'll be fine. And this power is what keeps you trapped, so I need to contain it on myself if I want to rescue you, guys" Sonic stated with a confident smile.
"Well... you're always rescuing us and..." Tails tried to point out, scratching his head ashamed, but then he shook his head and looked at Sonic with a determinate look. "Let's focus on the now! What do you need?" he asked.
"Tails is right. I am worried about you, Blue Star, I really am, but if we can help you out, then tell us what to do!" Pipp stated as well.
Sonic smiled at his brother and his girlfriend. "Like Zipp said: Chaos Emeralds" he explained. "You guys think you can help me track them down?" he asked.
"On it!" Tails stated, before waving his hand and then ran away, disappearing soon enough.
"We'll tell you if we find any Emerald, Later!" Zipp added, flying away on Tails direction and also disappearing.
Pipp, however, looked back at Sonic with a worried frown. "Sonic, please tell me that you're not getting yourself into something that's gonna kill you..." she begged.
"Little Pipp, don't worry" Sonic assured with a smile. "I'm okay, but I will be better once I can free you and the others" he added.
Pipp wasn't convinced, at all, but if she knew Sonic, and she does, then she knew nothing she says is gonna change his mind, so she sighed defeated and smiled a bit at him. "Alright... just try to be careful" she pled, and then she flew away as well, also disappearing.
Sonic smiled, but then the Cyber Energy extended all over his body again, making him kneel and cough in pain again.
Sage saw all of this with... shame, sadness and grief. "It's so sad someone so impressive will be lost in the end" she said with a sad expression. "It's... it's not fair..." she added with concern.
Sonic managed to contain the Cyber Energy after a while, but it was now affecting his health.
He could still run, but the headaches were even stronger now, and he had to stop at times just to catch his balance again.
And now, he was in front of a Cyber Space portal that required two gears, and he casually had two gears... but he didn't wanted to go there again.
He couldn't care less if going back to Cyber Space was going to give him more keys to unlock the Chaos Emeralds, he didn't wanted to forget why he was doing all of this in the first place, or forget anything at all.
As much as he wanted to help his friends, and his girlfriend, Sonic knew that his current state was critical, and entering Cyber Space wasn't ideal. But still, he knew he needed to help out his friends, even if it menas sacrificing all his memories with them.
"Ugh! What am I doing?" Sonic cried out loud with a frown. "I know I need the keys if I wanna get the Emeralds and turn into Super Sonic to defeat the Titans... but I don't want to risk my memories... I don't want to forget anyone... to forget her..." he added, crossing his arms and tapping his foot desperately.
After having a mental fight on what he should do, he ended up sighing in defeat and walking over to the portal's entrance, then he placed the two gears, activated the portal... and then he entered Cyber Space once again.
Why was he here? This wasn't Green Hills, nor any place he recognized. And if that wasn't enough, he also had a massive headache.
"Tails? Longclaw?" Sonic called out with a raised eyebrow. "What is this place, anyway?" he questioned confused.
Just like last time, he didn't noticed that he unlocked enough keys, and now the Yellow Chaos Emerald was shining bright in the distance, but he was so confused that he didn't even turned to see the glow.
"Gosh... my mind feels so fuzzy right now..." Sonic muttered with concern. "Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something... and someone?" he added confused.
He got down the platform of the strange portal he suddenly appeared on, and he saw Tails on the distance, staring at some weird green rock... but he was different, more digital, and even more weirder was that he had two ponies with wings at his sides.
"What is Tails doing with those... horses?" Sonic questioned confused.
He wanted to boost towards them, but his headache didn't allowed him, so he decided to walk.
Once he arrived with them, he made a quiet groan because of his headache, but Tails, Zipp and Pipp did heard him, so they turned to see he was limping a bit.
"Blue Star! Are you okay?!" Pipp asked first, approaching to him with a worried tone and look.
Sonic was taken aback by the pony, since he didn't expected them to talk. Yet, he could see something familiar with this one in particular...
"Uh... yeah... I think so?" Sonic replied with an awkward smile. "I-I'm sorry, uh... little pony, but my mind is fizzy right now, and I have no idea what it's going on or where am I..." he confessed.
Now Pipp was the one taken aback. "W-What?" she asked in panic.
Tails decided to step in by standing between them. "Sonic? Did... Did you went back to Cyber Space?" he asked with a gulp.
"Cyber what?" Sonic asked confused.
"Oh no... you were not lying with the memory loss thing..." Tails said with worry.
"Memory loss?!" both Pipp and Sonic asked with concern.
"Tails, what are you talking about?" Zipp asked, also concerned.
"... Sonic, don't you remember Zipp? Or Pipp? Or Equestria and our new friends there?" Tails decided to ask directly.
Sonic was really confused, and the new names Tails' mentioned just made his headache worst. "Ugh... They... their names ring a bell in my mind, but... I... I don't remember..." he replied.
Pipp gasped and stepped back, while Zipp got an anxious look and Tails frowned with worry.
"So you don't remember the islands? The 'Titans' you mentioned? The Chaos Emeralds that we need to find?" Tails asked a bit mad.
"Titans... islands... Chaos Emeralds..." Sonic muttered, and then he groaned in pain when the Cyber Energy suddenly appeared again, but it disappeared as soon as it came.
Pipp covered her mouth with a hoof, and Tails closed his hands in fists, trying to contain his curse word towards Sonic. And then, Sonic shook his head and looked back at the others, with his eyes going wide since... well... he not only recovered his memories, but he also still remembers that he literally said he didn't remembered Zipp and Pipp.
"Z-Zippster... Little Pipp" Sonic said with a trembling tone. "Gosh... I'm so sorry... Cyber Space keeps erasing my memories... and now it's getting worse..." he said with worry.
"What do you mean with 'keeps erasing your memories'?!" Pipp asked with panic and a frown, also opening her wings with anger.
"Sonic says everytime he goes back to Cyber Space, something wipes out his memories, and he gets out of there confused" Tails explained, also frowning. "Can't you just stop thinking on others for a minute and think in yourself for once?" he asked him in rage.
Sonic smirked and looked at him. "You should already know that it is asking for to much, lil' bro" he replied. "And while I don't like the idea either... if I don't go back to Cyber Space, I cannot get enough keys to free the Chaos Emeralds from their capsules. I still need the Emeralds to defeat the Titans and rescue you" he pointed out.
"Isn't there another way to recover the Emeralds?" Zipp asked with concern. "One that does not involves you going back to that place?" she added.
"If you're willing to wait for a starfall every 4 nights to get just one key, and also stay here for 3 or 4 months, making your own mother to die in worry, and probably sadness as well, then sure, go ahead. We can wait" Sonic said with a sarcastic tone and a bored expression, also crossing his arms.
Zipp was taken aback by that, and the reminder that her mom will be really worried if she didn't went back ASAP make her grow nervous.
"So... if we wanna leave soon... you'll have to keep going back there... don't you?" Pipp asked with concern.
"I'm afraid I have no choice..." Sonic replied with a worried frown.
"Ugh! I can't believe we cannot prevent this!" Tails groaned with anger. "And this is isn't an ideal working condition, either" he added, looking at his hands that glitched a bit. "If I just had my body––" he was going to add, but Zipp cleared her throat, and Tails saw the two sisters glaring at him. "If we had our bodies..." he corrected himself with a bored expression, making Zipp and Pipp smile and nod at him. "... We could be so much more efficient!" he added, frowning again.
"Now that you mention it... Sunny and Hitch said they felt like they were in a dream" Sonic said with a neutral look. "Does that sound about right?" he asked.
"It's the best way to put it, yeah" Pipp replied.
"Couldn't explain it better myself" Zipp added with a smirk.
"That's pretty accurate" Tails said as well. "I can think clearly and I'm aware, but there's no physicality to it. Everything feels just out of reach" he explained.
"It kinda feels like flying, but... we're not actually" Zipp added as well.
"And even if it looks like we're over something... we're actually not" Pipp commented too. "We don't actually feel the ground" she added with concern.
Sonic crossed his arms and frowned a bit. "Maybe that's why the Ancients made the Koco" he suggested. "So they could have something 'real' to put their spirits into. Otherwise, their souls would vanish with their bodies when their time arrived eventually" he pointed out.
"It's... one hypothesis" Tails replied. "We certainly can't rule it out" he added.
"Well, maybe we'll find out if we keep exploring the islands" Sonic suggested with a smirk. "I'll go grab the Blue Emerald while you guys find the remaining ones. And I'll try to not return to Cyber Space, don't worry. I'll only will if I find a gear, and right now? I have none, so I have no way to access" he pointed out.
"That actually sounds good" Pipp replied with a smirk, before looking at Zipp mockingly. "Bet I can find another one before you, sis!" she said, before pushing Zipp a bit and then flew away, disappearing.
"Oh, it's on!" Zipp stated, following Pipp as she also disappeared.
Sonic chuckled at the sigh and shook his head on disbelief, but when he turned to Tails, he noticed that he was feeling down all of a sudden.
"Tails?" Sonic called out. "What's the matter, little buddy?" he asked with concern.
"Sonic... sorry for the sudden question, but... do you think I can... change?" Tails asked with a worried expression.
"What do you mean? Like... like a tire? Or the Tornado's engine oil?" Sonic asked sarcastically, trying to cheer him up.
Tails chuckled a bit, but he still looked sad and worried. "No! I mean... when I was lost in Cyber Space, I was confronted by another version of myself. He said I was just a follower... that I couldn't think or act on my own" he explained with concern. "I wanted to argue, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything back" he added. "I worry he's right and that I haven't changed at all..." he confessed with concern.
Sonic analyzed Tails for a minute, before smirking and crossing his arms. "Whatever!" he said happily. "Some spooky cyber copy hasn't seen you in action, while I've seen it first-hand" he stated confidently, making Tails to smile a bit. "You've definitely grown, and I know you'll keep on working hard!" he assured. "So cheer up, lil' bro! You've got so far right now, why stop when everything's gonna be even better?" he added with a smile.
"Right... Right!" Tails said with a smile. "I won't let a copy of myself pull me down!" he stated. "Now, if you excuse me, I have Chaos Emeralds to find. See you later!" he said, waving his hand and disappearing as well.
"And I have a Chaos Emerald to recover!" Sonic stated with a smile.
However, just when he was about to boost away, he felt his quills vibrating, and he groaned, since he knew really well what it meant.
He took out the mp3 player and saw that 3 new entries where uploaded. Groaning in frustration again, Sonic ended up pressing the 'play' button anyways.
"Sage is performing at peak efficiency! Makes me wonder where I went wrong with Orbot and Cubot. Not only is she taking control of the Ancients' network, but she's harassing Sonic as well! I love it!" the first memo played.
"Who the heck is Sage?!" Sonic groaned once again. "And why is she helping Eggman? Is this one of those occasions where he promises something before stabbing in the back? Or is this... something else?" he wondered, pressing the play button again.
"Despite her best efforts, Sage can't seem to control the Titans. Phooey. She can prompt them to act, but something is blocking her from assuming total control." the second memo played.
"Hang on..." Sonic said with a frown. "She... can make the Titans act? But then that means... Could the girl that's been attacking me all this time be Sage?" he wondered again. "Eggman said Sage was an AI... but if Sage and this girl are the same thing... why does she looks like a human girl and not a program? Man, this is so confusing..." he said with worry, pressing the play button again to hear the last memo of the moment.
"Sage keeps running the numbers by me and it's getting tedious. Yes, the power that wiped out the Ancients was formidable. Yes, unleashing it on this world would be catastrophic. But I'm a genius. Once I'm out of here I'll find a way to handle it. Better yet, weaponize it against Sonic!" the third memo, and final for now, played.
Sonic rolled his eyes and shook his head after hearing the last memo, putting the mp3 player back on his quills. "My gosh, Eggman is brilliant, I admit that, but sometimes his obsession over killing me is ridiculous" he said with concern. "Oh well, better live and learn, I guess. Now, let's get that Emerald!" he stated with a smirk.
And then, he boosted towards the Blue Chaos Emerald to collect it.
You know the drill: he extended his hand, the keys he got on Cyber Space appeared, the keys unlocked the capsule, the Emerald disappeared and appeared again, slowly descending until it landed in Sonic's hand.
Sonic smiled and putted the Emerald away, and then he started to walk away slowly. However, and literally out of nowhere, the Titan from this island emerged in the sky.
Sonic turned and got startled, since this one was by far the weirdest one of all: it had 4 legs that seemed to have wheels instead of feet; it had some kind of mask that reminded a lot to that guy from Metal Gear Rising; the 'forehead' of the mask had some kind of large horn; and it was really hard to describe the rest of it's body, but it also had two large 'normal' arms... the right one having a freaking, giant circular saw.
"Well?" Sage asked, appearing suddenly and startling Sonic a bit, but also making him frown at her. "What will you do?" she added.
Sonic looked back at the Titan, noticing that it was charging the saw to launch it at him, and then he looked sideways to an enemy called Squid, which has been causing him lots of trouble since it always came out of nowhere in the worst possible moment.
But this time, he smirked at the squid, because that enemy was his escape route away from the Titan.
"The best I can" Sonic replied to sage.
After that, he boosted away from the saw, and started to run over the path Squid was making as it flew away, both from Sonic and the Titan's saw. It also started to shot against Sonic to both slow him down and kill him, but Sonic was able to dodge the attacks. He was also able to boost away in time before the saw split him in a half.
"Man! Why does everything in these islands wants to kill me so badly?!" Sonic questioned with a frown.
After dodging the saw and Squid's attacks a few more times, as well as using boost rings, collecting stamina rings and running over platforms to stay away from Squid's attacks, Sonic reached the end of Squid's road, with the saw on his heels. Then, Sonic jumped and Spindashed towards the ground, while the saw passed by and ended up killing Squid.
Sonic landed in the ground, and sighed in relief, since he saw when the saw destroyed Squid. And then, Sage appeared once again.
"So?" Sonic asked with a confident smirk. "Impressive right?" he added.
"Within expected parameters" Sage replied, before looking at the sky and disappearing once again.
Sonic shook his head on disbelief and with a bored expression. "Guess I'll have to keep going if I want to get all the Emeralds" he pointed out to himself.
However, his quills vibrated again, and he groaned out load, not able to believe that Eggman uploaded new memos so quickly. He took out the mp3 player and saw 2 new entries were uploaded.
"This is starting to get a bit annoying" Sonic said with a frown, but pressing the 'play' button anyways.
"Sage has been crucial to my survival here in Cyber Space. Early warnings of hostile entities, guiding my past firewalls, keeping me updated on progress in the real world - she's the best. 'She?' 'It.' It's a program. An adorable program. A very personable program. A... hmm. I wonder if... she... has a preference?" the first memo played.
Sonic's frown turned into a surprised expression after hearing that, and for the very first time, he had nothing to say. No jokes, no comments, nothing. He wasn't sure on how to react, so he decided to play the other memo.
"I never really knew my cousin, Maria. Everyone spoke of her like she was very special. All that love for someone who was gone when I was! Right! There! But I have to wonder. Back then, was she anything like Sage is now?" the second memo played.
Once again, Sonic was speechless. While it wasn't the first time he heard about Maria, it was the first time he heard Eggman mentioning her. And if that wasn't weird enough... Sonic was feeling bad for Eggman. He, for once in his life, felt like Eggman wasn't such a bad guy after all, despite his actions saying otherwise.
"... Perhaps... perhaps you're not a monster after all... Ivo" Sonic muttered to himself.
He putted the mp3 player away, and then he noticed that, where Squid exploded, there was a gear for a Cyber Space portal. Sonic sighed in frustration again, but picked up the gear anyways and putted it away, then he boosted to look after a Cyber Space portal, if he ever found one.
Back in Cyber Space, Sage was reporting Eggman about Sonic's journey through the island, as well as other things.
"I have found a possible scenario for your escape" Sage informed.
"It's about time!" Eggman said. "Report!" he instructed.
"After reviewing your entire campaign history, I have found the most optimal course of action is to... create an alliance with Sonic" Sage reported.
And of course, Eggman was not happy with this result. "WHAT?!" he asked in anger, smashing his own Eggmobile as he frowned at Sage.
"B-But together you stopped the ARK! Overcome Neo Metal! You...!" Sage tried to point out, but the doctor was stubborn.
"I don't want to hear it!" Eggman interrupted abruptly. "Those alliances were purely out of desperation!" he stated, smashing his own Eggmobile again.
"But time is running out!" Sage pointed out with worry.
"I. Don't want. TO HEAR IT!" Eggman yelled in rage once again. "Find me another option!" he instructed, closing the capsule of his Eggmobile and flying away.
Sage looked at the ground with both sadness and disappointment. "Your tenacity is legendary. But I do wish you'd reconsider..." she muttered with concern.
He didn't found any portal at the end, but he did recovered the Yellow Chaos Emerald.
However, he had no idea on how he ended up on a floating platform in the middle of two of the island's sectors. He only knew that he found Tails, Zipp and Pipp looking at some towers that looked like a Cyber Space portal, but it had neither the platform nor the entrance.
Pipp barely understood what it was, Zipp was analyzing the top and Tails inspected the bottom of the pillar. He touched it like if he was knocking a door, and then he placed a hand on his chin, trying to think carefully on what could it be, before smiling since he though he finally got a conclusion.
Sonic approached and whistled at the sight of the pilar, calling the other three's attention. "What's that?" he asked.
"I think it's an environmental analyzer" Tails replied.
"A what now?" Pipp asked confused.
"It scans the entire island and tells what happened years ago before the Ancients disappeared" Zipp explained with a smirk.
"Okay, that's a lot more understandable" Pipp said with a smile.
"All of the Ancient technology is networked to Cyber Space" Tails kept going. "If we can get it back online, we can maybe get some answers..." he stated.
However, just when Tails placed his hand on the pillar, it started to glow all of a sudden, with the top shining a bright re light that looked like the one that appeared whenever Sonic entered to Cyber Space.
"Tails..." Pipp called out nervously. "Please tell me you did that..." she begged with concern.
"I don't think so..." Tails replied nervously.
Suddenly, the glitchy and broken effect on the sky appeared again, and then everything turned white for a second, before slowly revealing another event from the past.
The sepia effect was also back, and Tails, Zipp and Pipp were back to their physical forms.
"Whoa!" Zipp exclaimed, as she checked her whole body, and even started to flew a bit, now that she had her form back.
Tails was also checking himself, noticing he was feeling his body again as well.
Pipp checked on her hooves, and even on her wings, then she realized something. "Hang on, if we're physical again..." she said, then she turned to see Sonic and immediately wrapped him a tight hug.
Sonic was taken a bit aback by the sudden move, but he ended up smiling and hugging his girlfriend back.
"Gosh, I forgot how fluffy your wings are" Sonic muttered to hear ear with a flirty tone.
"Oh, getting flirty already, handsome~?" Pipp muttered back, now braking the hug and kissing Sonic softly, while he kissed back and even caressed her mane a bit.
"For once, I'll be glad if we go back to be digital since this won't happen so often..." Tails muttered with a bored expression.
"Ditto" Zipp replied with a bored expression as well.
Suddenly, the four of them felt the ground rumbling, and they all turned to see lots of cannons pointing and shooting towards the sky. Said canyons were controlled by the Ancients, but there were some being handled by Owls and Hedgehogs as well.
"Uh, Sonic?" Pipp called out.
"Remember I told you I had something to tell about my ancestors?" Sonic asked. "Well, there it is. My ancestors and the Owls used to live with the Ancients before moving to Mobius" he explained.
"So that makes Longclaw's message more understandable" Tails pointed out. "An ancient civilization that helped your ancestors and hers travel to Mobius using the Chaos Emeralds" he reminded.
And then, something boosted around the battlefield, then that something stopped in the middle of two cannons... revealing to be a hedgehog. This one seemed to be light blue and with an eye patch, also having an ear 'bitten' and clothes that resembled the Incas.
This hedgehog was frowning at the sky, and his frown increased when he saw that the sky started to turn in red.
"Where's Nora and my wife?!" the hedgehog asked to one of the owls controlling the cannons.
Sonic, Tails, Zipp and Pipp gasped in shock, since that hedgehog sounded almost like Sonic, but his voice was a lot deeper and serious than Sonic's.
"They're on the hidden bunker with the group that will escape if we fall here!" the owl replied.
"Good. Now, let's put The End to a sleep once and for all!" the hedgehog stated. "If that prophecy it's true... if we die here, and Nora's far descendant is the chosen one to kill them... then we shall show them the power of the Chaos Control!" he stated. "Everyone! FIRE WITH EVERYTHING WE HAVE!!!" he ordered.
Everyone let out a battle cry, and then they started to shoot at full power towards the enemy in the skies. But once the sky was fully red, the triple of lasers the Ancients, Owls and hedgehogs had started to shoot back and destroyed both the cannons and the pilots, killing thousands of warriors in the process.
The hedgehog with the eye patch groaned, and both his eyes and his quills turned blue, then he covered himself in an electrical shield, while one laser from the sky fell into him.
The hedgehog shouted another battle cry as he tried to resist the attack... but the shield disappeared eventually, and his entire body was reduced to dust.
And then, a massive explosion happened than ended up splitting the island apart into different sections, and Sonic placed his body to protect Pipp as she hugged him, while Tails did the same with Zipp.
After the explosion passed, everything was back to normal. Or well, everything got back to the current time, because Tails, Zipp and Pipp were half-ghost again, and the broken glitchy effect in the sky disappeared as well. The pillar also shoot down after the 'flashback' was over.
"So... that was a thing..." Sonic said with a frown, while Tails and Pipp nodded with worry and Zipp also nodded with a frown.
"Whatever assaulted the island sure packed a punch" Tails pointed out. "That was on par with Dark Gaia, easy" he added.
"And those people..." Zipp added, before turning to see Sonic. "That hedgehog... he looked exactly like you. Well, almost, but he did sounded similar" she pointed out.
"He was my ancestor for sure" Sonic stated. "And that child named Nora... in the previous island, someone mentioned a child with powers like mine. If that hedgehog guy was my ancestor, and Nora is her daughter, then she's also an ancestor of mine... I wonder how old she was when this happened, or if she remembers it at all..." he confessed with concern.
"So, even if you didn't wanted to tag along with Tails, you'll eventually end up here anyways" Pipp supposed. "It's like if you're closing a cycle that's been open for so long" she pointed out.
"And that 'chosen descendant' the hedgehog guy mentioned..." Zipp called out again. "I wouldn't be surprised if you are that chosen one, Sonic" she added with a smirk.
"Honestly, with everything I've been finding out about my ancestors here, I wouldn't be surprised either" Sonic confessed. "I wonder if they could also use the new abilities I've learned so far... even that weird loop I still can't name" he wondered.
"You mean that weird thing where you make a circle and something pops up or something activates?" Zipp questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, that one" Sonic replied with a bored expression.
"How about Cyber Loop?" Tails suggested.
"Or Digital Loop?" Zipp said as well.
"Why not combine it? Like... Cyloop?" Pipp suggested too.
Sonic's eyes widened at the mention of the last one. "Cyloop..." he repeated. "Ohohoho! I like it, it's spicy! Cyloop! It makes a lot of sense. Nice call, Little Pipp!" he complimented with a wink towards his girlfriend.
"Well, if we're done questioning this stuff, perhaps we should keep going... and figure out more things about the past later" Zipp pointed out.
"Right" Sonic said with a determinate look. "We need to find the Chaos Emeralds, pronto" he stated.
"Agreed" Tails replied, looking at the pillar again with a frown. "We'll rendezvous later!" he stated.
After that, Sonic used a dash platform that was on the floating structure and boosted back to explore the island.
Back in Cyber Space, thousands of G.U.N. helicopters appeared out of nowhere.
Eggman was standing in the middle of one of the roads from the city level that Cyber Space created, looking around with a frown and sweating at all of the helicopters surrounding him.
The worst part was that all these helicopters pointed to him, ready to shot and destroy him.
However, Sage appeared suddenly, and literally with just moving her hand, she gathered all the helicopters and disappeared them like nothing.
Eggman ducked for a moment since the helicopters exploded, and then he straightened up once everything was clear. "I've lost count of how many times you've saved me from the hazards here" he admitted.
"It is my function" Sage replied. "I live to serve" she added.
"You've exceeded your function!" Eggman pointed out with a grin. "I'm very impressed with you, Sage" he stated. "No! I'm proud of you!" he corrected himself with an honest and warm smile.
Sage couldn't help but feel something warm inside of her, as well as she felt her face smiling brightly.
One of the best things about the Cyloop was that it allowed Sonic to access to some Chest icons spread around the island.
Thanks to that, Sonic got three keys just by using the Cyloop on the Chest icons, and he unlocked the Red Chaos Emerald, meaning that he only needed to go back to Cyber Space once. It was good for him, because it meant no more memory loss but one time.
However, as he ran across the island, he couldn't help but notice how high the island's sectors seemed to be.
He decided to stop in front of the start of one of the floating platforms, and stared down to see if he could see anything beyond the giant clouds, but... he saw absolutely nothing beyond that.
Tails appeared suddenly at his side, also staring at the clouds. "We're at a pretty high altitude" he pointed out. "It's hard to say how high due to all the clouds!" he added.
"Pretty harsh conditions for anyone to be living and working under" Sonic pointed out as well.
"The Ancients must have had a reason for coming up here" Tails said with his hand on his hips. "Given the infrastructure, I don't think this was a residential area. It seems more like military frontlines" he pointed out.
"A first strike position, huh?" Sonic said, crossing his arms. "I mean, those cannons aren't just for show. With everything we've seen, just what kind of enemy were they preparing for?" he questioned. "In fact... what kind of enemy they confronted on that vision we saw before?" he added.
"I don't know" Tails replied with honesty. "And to be fair, I don't think I want to know... at all..." he added with concern. "By the way, there's something else I need to tell you" he confessed.
"Really? What is it?" Sonic asked with curiosity.
"You see, I analyzed one of the Cyber Space portals the last time you were accessing it" he confessed. "While you were online, it opened up a flood of data. It was way too much to process, but I did get a glimpse of the Ancients' personal data" he revealed.
"Oh, so... what?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow while crossing his arms. "You know all of their birthdays now?" he asked sarcastically.
"Much more than that" Tails replied with a worried frown. "Sonic - it was their very essences! Their hopes, their dreams, everything that made them what they were" he explained. "Do you see the correlation?" he asked.
Sonic's eyes went wide once he realized what Tails meant. "Sounds a lot like what happened to you, the Mane 5 and Knuckles" he realized with concern. "I'm glad you're all intact, but why where you all uploaded like that?" he questioned with a worried frown.
Sonic finally started to pass the challenges of the island to unlock the map on his brain.
He was so focused on rescuing the rest and collecting the Chaos Emeralds that he forgot about the map. Thankfully, he was progressing very well, and he already unlocked a big portion of the map, but he knew he was still a long way to unlock it all. Still, he could travel across the island better now that he had the map to guide him.
But when he arrived to a new challenge, something started to bother him a bit.
"Yo Tails!" Sonic called out.
"Yeah?" Tails replied, appearing suddenly at his side.
Sonic looked back at the symbol of the challenge before replying. "Can you tell if there's anything special about the ruins with the symbol?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking back at him.
"I can't be sure without a proper analysis, but it doesn't seem remarkable" Tails replied. "What is remarkable is the data retention after all these years" he explained. "The corruption is negligible, and the maps are so accurate!" he pointed out. "Not to mention the way they can imprint the map data directly into the user's mind! It's hard enough explaining yourself to your peers, let along some long-distant civilizations!" he added.
"Yeah..." Sonic replied with a concerned look. "Too bad they can't give all the answers to the island's mysteries" he pointed out.
"But then all the fun will be lost!" Zipp suddenly said.
Sonic got startled by her sudden appearance, stepping back and even charging electricity on his fist, but then sighing in relief when he saw it was just Zipp and looked at her with a bored expression.
"Sorry, Blue Star" Pipp apologized with a sheepish smile. "But Zipp was desperate to find Tails, then we arrived and hear you talking and... that happened" she explained with a bored look as well.
"The amount of mysteries on this place is amazing! My inner detective is loving every single one of them!" Zipp exclaimed, for the very first time in public, squealing in a very girlish way that didn't fit her at all. "So it may be too bad for you, hedgehog, but it's a bless for me!" she added with pride, making Sonic roll his eyes.
"Uh-huh, sure, whatever you say" Sonic replied with a tired tone, then he looked back at the challenge symbol. "You're right, though, Tails. Pretty amazing to have a civilization based on brain-power" he pointed out.
Suddenly, he felt his quills vibrating again, and he took out the mp3 player to see 5 new memos uploaded.
"Oh, great. Egghead uploaded this thing again..." Sonic muttered in annoyance.
"What is that?" Pipp asked curiously.
"A device I found on the first island" Sonic replied. "Eggman's trapped on Cyber Space, so he's updating this thing with random memos. Some said some useful things, some shocking ones, and then... it got personal, so... I don't know, it's hard to explain what has become of these memos" he confessed.
After that, he decided to press the play button, while the others gathered close to listen to the memos too.
"Sage told the funniest joke during her report. 'How fast can Sonic screw things up? Instantly - he's the fastest thing alive!' I tell you, she's a chip off the old block. Well, for a program, I mean. It's not like she's alive. Or family. Or... hmm." the first memo played.
Sonic rolled his eyes, Tails facepalmed and both Zipp and Pipp groaned because of the terrible pun.
"I don't know who's Sage, but her humor has to be lame if it made Eggman laugh" Tails said with boredom.
"Agreed... that was terrible" Zipp added, with Pipp nodding at her side.
"You see what I mean when I say I have no idea of what has become of these memos?" Sonic asked with a bored expression, pressing again the play button.
"Who says I can't create life, huh? Just a bunch of proteins bumping together. Anyone can do that. A true genius does it with code and electrons! And if I did created life, she would be brilliant and loyal and perfectly effective! And you know why? Because her dad is a genius, that's why!" the second memo played.
"What a showoff..." Pipp muttered with annoyance.
"That's Eggman to you" Sonic said with a smirk, pressing play again.
"Sonic's here, so it's no surprise Tails is too. It's a pity. Young Prower has a keen mind and loads of potential. Yet he's fixated on worshipping Sonic. Then again, maybe that's for the best. Given all the trouble he gave me in Station Square and on the ARK, I think I prefer him wasting his potential lingering in Sonic's shadow" the third memo played.
"And there he goes again, dragging me along 'cause he does not has enough messing with Sonic" Tails said with a frown and his arms crossed.
"Again, that's Eggman for you, and I think I know what are the next two memos about..." Sonic said with a frown, pressing the button again.
"It seems like the whole pony gang's here. First those two earth ponies that can't declare to each other, then that overwhelming positive unicorn, and now the pegasi sisters. Pipp is a 'I don't care unless Sonic's involved' to me, but Zephyrina... Gosh, I can't stand her. Opaline is completely justified with hating her and her damn curiosity. Like Tails, she's brilliant, but she wastes her potential with 'Royal stuff', mysteries no one cares about and helping Sonic. Hopefully, is her own curiosity what ends up stabbing her back one day..." the fourth memo played.
"Yeah, I knew he will mention you eventually..." Sonic said to the sisters with a bored expression.
"This guy has a serious anger problem" Zipp pointed out with a frown. "He's even worse than Knuckles and Posey when they get mad... together!" she added.
"That's... crossing a line..." Tails pointed out sheepishly.
"Am I wrong, tho?" Zipp questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Tails chuckled nervously, and Sonic decided to play the last memo.
"Pipp Petals. I usually couldn't care less on influencers. Those talentless good for nothing hide behind a camera and a fake smile just to win some money and attention no one else ever gave to them. However, Pipp is one of those weird exceptions. She's passionate, talented, has lots of potential! Her voice reaches everyone, and everyone replies back. She might not be a good addition to my empire, but I understand why Sonic's into her. She's one of the few things I can respect from that hedgehog. He better not be an idiot and take good care of her, or his defeat will be even more delicious for me if he ever screws it with her! Hahahahaha!" the final memo played.
Sonic managed to resist the urge to launch the player away after that last part, although he was surprised to hear Eggman, of all people, saying he should take good care of his girlfriend.
"Wow..." Pipp said with wide eyes. "I'm, like, both flattered and disturbed at the same time" she confessed.
"Ditto, sis" Zipp added, also with wide eyes.
"Well, Eggman should know at this point already that I will rip my own arms first before hurting you, Little Pipp" Sonic stated with a smirk, making Pipp smile and blush a little. "And too bad for him, he won't even defeat me even if he wanted" he added confidently.
"That is, if you're wise enough and stop going into Cyber Space" Tails said with a frown and his arms crossed.
"Just one more time, and then never again" Sonic stated. "Promise! Next time we see each other after I'm done in that place, I'll still remember you" he stated.
After that, he waited for no replies and boosted away, leaving Tails, Zipp and Pipp with uncertain looks, not convinced on Sonic's words at all.
Sonic threw the mp3 player at some point as he boosted towards the last Cyber Space portal he was willing to go through.
He didn't wanted to hear anything else of whatever Eggman had to said. Also, he wanted to make the Cyber Space level quickly and collect the remaining Emerald already.
So, he repeated the same process: he placed the gear in the portal, accessed to Cyber Space, completed the level and obtained keys... but this time, his memory was intact.
He could still remember everything... what started to feel wrong, on the other hand, was his entire body. It was not only a headache now, but also pain in his hips, legs, back, even in his arms. Everything else hurt, yet his memories were intact.
"N-No biggie..." Sonic said to himself. "Lots and lots of physical pain is better than not remembering your own friends..." he added with a smirk.
Eventually, the pain started to decrease, and so he took advantage of this to boost towards the Silver Chaos Emerald, the remaining one in a capsule, since he still needed to collect the Red one he unlocked a while ago, and also help Koco to obtain other two Emeralds before face the Titan to get the final one.
Once he passed through a hell of a section just to get to the pillar where the Silver Emerald was, he noticed that Tails was already waiting there with a smirk on his face.
"Why are you so happy?" Sonic asked with a smile, also approaching him.
"I made a bet with Zipp on who will get here first" Tails explained. "She owns me 15 bucks now!" he added.
And right at that moment, both Zipp and Pipp arrived, with Zipp groaning in frustration when she saw Tails, while he just waved his hand on a mocking way.
"I told you this will happen" Pipp told Zipp with a smirk. "Bold of you to assume you can defeat the fastest thing alive's brother" she pointed out.
"Ugh! Please don't say it like that!" Zipp begged.
"You better pay up once we go back home, Zippy" Tails said with a smirk.
Zipp groaned again, while Pipp and Sonic chuckled at her. However, Tails' attitude suddenly changed, and now he was staring at the Silver Emerald with a frown and a hand on his chin.
"Hmm..." Tails muttered. "The reason we came here was because we detected the Chaos Emeralds were drawn here..." he pointed out.
"Did you figured something out?" Sonic asked.
"I'm trying to put the pieces together" Tails replied. "The Ancients' technology was built specifically for the Chaos Emeralds and runs on their power" he explained.
"All of the Starfall Islands systems, even Cyber Space, were in a kind of stand-by mode without the Emeralds to power them since they were out of Equis for so long" Zipp added to the explanation as well.
"But they returned when Sonic fall on Eggman's trap in Mobius" Pipp supposed. "And after you used them against his robot on Maretime Bay, the Emeralds must have been dragged here" she added.
"Once the power supply was restored, though, someone would've had to boot up the systems and get them running" Tails finished explaining.
"I think I can guess who" Sonic said with a frown. "The same pain in the ass I have to deal with almost everyday" he added with annoyance.
"Uh... Sonic?" Zipp called out, standing at the border of the platform and staring at something with wide eyes. "Now that Pipp mentioned the robot... where did you sent him?" she asked.
"Honestly, I don't know" Sonic shrugged. "I just threw it far away" he said.
"Well, I think I know where it is now" Zipp said, pointing at something with her hoof.
The rest moved towards her, and they saw at the distance the Death Egg Titan, still with its arms destroyed and completely inactive in the middle of nowhere, although it seemed to be a computer and some other materials and resources near the left 'hip' of the robot.
"I can never catch a break in this place..." Sonic complained.
"How is it that it's still in almost one piece, though?" Pipp questioned.
"It's a good question..." Tails said. "Perhaps we should go and check it out closer" he suggested.
"Sounds like a plan!" Sonic said with a smile. "But first. I'll go and recover the Emerald, so you guys can go ahead and I'll meet you there" he instructed.
After that, he went to grab the Silver Emerald, making the keys appear and unlocking the Emerald, that disappeared form the capsule and appeared again, slowly descending until it landed on Sonic's hand.
Then, he putted the Emerald away, and boosted from the floating platform and towards the ground.
Sonic reached the Death Egg Titan, and for some reason, he felt it was even bigger than when he confronted it.
"Huh" Sonic said with a frown. "I feel like it has grown bigger ever since I threw it away from Equestria" he confessed.
"Yeah, it also feels a lot bigger for me too" Zipp confessed.
"It looks even more entrenched than I remember" Tails pointed out as well. "I'll take a look around. Let me know if you guys find anything!" he stated, before starting to walk around the area.
Sonic whistled and crossed his arms at the sight of the Death Egg Titan. "I gotta say... even if they're a struggle to take down, Eggman's machines always impress me" he confessed.
"While I don't like the idea of the whole 'take over the world' thing of his, I gotta agree with you" Pipp confessed as well. "His machines are really something whenever it comes for their design" she added.
"Too bad he's both a genius and an idiot" Zipp said with a smirk, making both Sonic and Pipp chuckle.
"Hey guys!" Tails called out suddenly, moving his hand in a way that he instructed the other to come with him.
The rest did so and they moved towards a small platform with a computer at the side of the robot.
"I found this remote control panel" tails explained. "And it's still online!" he added with a smile.
"Hmm..." Sonic said, rubbing his chin a bit before looking between the direction where the robot's head was pointing and the robot itself.
It seemed that the Death Egg Titan was pointing towards the isolated sector of the island... where the Red Chaos Emerald was located. He smiled, with an idea popping on his mind.
"Maybe I can use the robot's laser to open a path towards the Emerald on the island's sector over there" Sonic said, pointing at the island in the distance, and then he looked back at Tails. "But if it goes bad, shut it off" he instructed to him with a frown.
"Consider it done!" Tails stated with his thumbs up.
Then, Sonic walked towards the machine, activated his electrical powers and started to type on the computer like a maniac at super sonic speed.
"Uh..." Pipp said with a raised eyebrow.
"Does... Does he knows what is he doing?" Zipp asked confused.
"Nope, and believe it or not, that's exactly what we need right now" Tails replied really calmed.
After a while, the computer started to smoke, then Sonic made a flip backwards and the computer exploded. After that, the Death Egg Titan's head moved a bit, the eyes and mouth turned on in a red light and the eyes launched a massive laser that opened a secret path between the isolated sector and this part of the island.
"Woo! That did the trick" Sonic said with a smile, walking towards the new path revealed thanks to the robot's laser.
"Yup!" Tails replied, as he approached as well with Zipp and Pipp. "The laser revealed a subterranean pathway!" he pointed out.
"Still, I think you should be careful, Blue Star" Pipp said with concern. "You never know what dangers you'll meet running around the path" she pointed out.
"I hear that" Sonic replied with an assuring smile. "Thanks, guys! I'll see you later" he stated.
After that, he boosted away and passed though the secret passage to reach the Chaos Emerald.
It was complicated, but he managed to reach it at the end.
Now, he was just missing the two Emeralds he always gets by helping the Koco and the one the Titan had.
So, he looked after his friends and his girlfriend across the island, until he found them talking with a Koco wearing aviator glasses on their forehead.
As he approached them, the Koco seemed to be worried about something, despite only making gibberish sounds, or at least that's what Sonic could hear since he does not understand the Koco.
"Yo!" Sonic called out to the others, with Tails being the first one to turn towards him.
"Hey" Tails greeted. "This Koco is an apprentice to their top pilot" he started to explain.
"They need to find the parts to complete their final weapons" Zipp added, looking at the Koco while Sonic did the same and crossed his arms.
"Something tells me you're already familiar with this by your expression" Pipp guessed. "What did you do?" she asked.
"Well, I helped them out" Sonic replied calmly, separating his arms.
"But isn't that... cruel?" Tails questioned with a worried expression. "Their battle is long over. This feels dishonest" he said with concern.
"Tails has a point" Zipp said with a frown. "They already had their fight. Why add more salt to the wound?" she questioned.
"We're not fixing the problem they think they have, but we are bringing them peace" Sonic explained. "We're helping them to finally rest, to forget about the battle that wiped out the Ancients from existence long ago" he added with a smile. "That's what a hero does, right?" he said with confidence.
"Well... When you put it that way..." Tails said, thinking about Sonic's words for a while, before looking back at the Koco with a smile. "Let's get to work!" he stated with a determinate look.
The Koco started to dance around him happily after hearing that, making the rest chuckle at their attitude.
Eventually, the four of them and the Koco reached a lava river with a cannon not so far from there, while the Koco kept making more gibberish sounds.
"We need a few more pieces, but we're having trouble finding them" Tails said with worry.
"The little guy says we need enough pieces to make the cannon from over there to work properly" Zipp added. "And then he mentioned something about someone getting mad, but I honestly don't get that part" she confessed sheepishly.
"Still, he says we need those pieces as soon as possible" Pipp stated with a worried frown.
"Got'cha" Sonic stated with a confident smirk. "Be right back!" he added.
After saying that, he boosted towards a platform in the middle of the lava river that came out of nowhere, with boxes that had tons of pieces inside.
Sonic used his combat abilities like the Cyloop, the Homing Attack, Homing Shot, his bare fists and even the stomp to destroy more boxes, and he ended up collecting around 600 pieces for the Koco.
Once he returned to the regular ground, away from the lava river behind him, the Green Chaos Emerald popped out suddenly. Sonic, however, smirked, with the Koco he helped out jumping excited at his side. Then, Sonic grabbed the Emerald and started to dance again, with the Koco dancing around him as well, and he finished by posing and smiling to the camera while holding the Green Chaos Emerald.
After that, he walked over to the cannon, where Tails and Zipp were waiting for the Koco to use the pieces to finish the cannon.
However, Sonic couldn't help but notice that Pipp was giggling a lot at his side. "What's so funny?" he asked.
"S-Sorry... But that little dance you did... Oh my glitter, it was so cute!" Pipp exclaimed while flapping her wings happily. "I so wished I could have recorded you! You are such a goofball!" she added.
Sonic felt a bit ashamed that Pipp saw him doing that, with his face blushing a bit. No, he didn't forgot she's his girlfriend now, but he feels ashamed when he does something that people will consider 'cute' or 'adorable' in front of her, mostly because of how she treated him now.
"I-I mean... T-The Koco needed help, and the Emerald appeared, s-so..." Sonic tried to explain something, but he was feeling really nervous now.
Thank Chaos Tails arrived along Zipp and the Koco.
"Well, that's it" Tails said.
"The cannon is complete" Zipp added.
However, the Koco started to look round, and then they started to make crying noises.
"Did I get the wrong parts?" Sonic questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"No" Zipp shook her head with a worried expression.
"Their hero didn't show" Pipp decided to explain this time. "They're worried something's happened" she added with concern.
Tails looked at the Koco with sadness, since he could understood the feeling better than anyone. "It's like how I couldn't handle it after Infinite attacked" he confessed. "One wrong turn, and I fall apart..." he added with concern.
Sonic's eyes went wider than ever after hearing that. "Whoa, what?!" he asked with worry and concern.
Tails looked at him for a minute, before looking back at the Koco with a determinate look. "Listen to me: The others are counting on you" he pointed out to the creature, who turned to face Tails. "We're here to help, right Zipp?" he asked to her with a smile.
Zipp also got worried when she heard that Tails was feeling down, but she decided to ignore it for now when she smiled back at Tails and nodded. "Right" she replied, then looked at the Koco. "It's not the time to give up, okay?" she added with confidence.
The Koco smiled a bit and made happy noises at both Zipp and Tails.
"In case you're wondering, they're just thanking them" Pipp muttered to Sonic, while he simply nodded as he looked at the ground, and then he looked back at Tails.
"You've got me worried, Tails" Sonic confessed with a worried frown. "You wanna talk?" he asked.
Tails shook his head with a smile. "Not right now" he stated. "Let's just focus on finding the remaining Emeralds" he stated.
Sonic frowned more as he crossed his arms, but since Tails seemed determinate to keep going with the search, he sighed in defeat. "Alright" he replied, still feeling very worried about him.
Sonic started to feel that pain again.
His entire body hurt a lot, and he could tell it was either the Cyber Energy finally making a negative effect over him, or visiting Cyber Space so much not only affected his memories, but also his physical health.
Still, he managed to reach the weird structure Zipp, Pipp and Tails were fixing along the Koco.
The only one who seemed to feel worried about him was Pipp, because of his tired expression and the fact that he was holding his right arm.
"Hey!" Tails greeted. "Almost done here. Can you take our friend and find a couple more parts?" he asked, pointing at the Koco, who was jumping excited and with a smile towards Sonic.
Sonic sighed and smiled in pain. "Can do!" he assured with his thumbs up.
"Blue Star?" Pipp called out. "Don't you mind if I go with you?" she asked.
"Sure, Little Pipp" Sonic assured.
After that, he started to walk away slowly because of the pain, moving his left arm to motion the Koco and Pipp to follow him, as the Koco jumped and rolled away happily, while Pipp followed Sonic with a worried expression.
Tails waved his hand as they got away, and Zipp landed at his side, looking with a raised eyebrow at Sonic's slow paste.
And then, Sage suddenly appeared at Tails' side.
Tails slowly turned to see her, and jumped backwards in surprise. "Yipe!" he exclaimed.
Zipp turned to his direction and saw Sage as well, immediately stepping in front of Tails in a protective way.
"Miles Prower" Sage called out, disappearing and appearing again behind Tails and Zipp, who turned to face her again. "You have known Sonic most of your life" she added.
Tails tilted his head confused, and Zipp opened her wings to try to intimidate Sage. "Yeah. And?" Tails asked to Sage.
Sage appeared at their side once again. "Your imprisonment within Cyber Space. The defeat of the Ancients' Titans. Do you trust how he is handling it? With your life?" she asked.
"And why should you care?" Zipp asked with anger.
However, Sage moved again to be in front of Tails. "Of course!" he replied with a confident smile. "I'll admit he isn't perfect, but Sonic has overcome impossible odds over and over again" he explained. "I know he'll save us all!" he stated.
Sage moved away, appearing at his side again. "So you're saying you have faith in him?" she asked.
"More than faith, he has a life of data to back up his observations" Zipp decided to step in. "In fact, I can even backup him with data of my own" she added with a confident smile as well, while Tails at her side nodded in agreement.
"Your loyalty is founded on empirical data. I can appreciate that" Sage said. "The feelings he inspires in you and the others... is that a facet of being alive?" she asked.
Tails and Zipp looked at each other and shrugged as Sage was thinking on something.
"And yet, all your love and loyalty will amount to nothing" Sage said suddenly. "It cannot be prevented" she added.
Tails looked at her with a worried expression. "What do you mean?" he asked with concern.
Sage got startled by the question and disappeared. "Perhaps it is kinder if you don't know..." she whispered.
Tails and Zipp looked around, both confused and worried by Sage's words.
The Koco jumped excited as it looked around for more pieces, while Sonic was limping as he placed a hand on his hip.
"Blue Star..." Pipp called out. "There's something you're not telling me... why are you limping all of a sudden?" she asked.
"Last time I went to Cyber Space, I didn't lost my memories" Sonic replied. "Instead... it seems it is affecting my physicality" he added with concern and pain.
"Have you been––" Pipp tried to ask.
"Resting?" Sonic finished for her. "Yeah... lots of, actually... but the pain remains..." he added with concern.
Before Pipp could say something else, Sage appeared suddenly again, making Sonic look at her with a bored expression, while Pipp tilted her head confused.
"What is your end goal?" Sage asked.
Sonic raised his eyebrow at her, and tired of her crap, he decided to say something really intelligent. "Ah, it varies. Sometimes it's a spinning sign, sometimes it's a big ol' ring..." he replied with a mocking tone and smirk, causing Pipp at his side to giggle.
"No!" Sage said, now with a bit of anger, startling Sonic a bit. "I mean what do you want to accomplish!" she said.
Sonic rolled his eyes and groaned lowly in frustration, before looking back at Sage with his hand on his hips. "Gather up the Chaos Emeralds and save my friends" he stated with anger as well.
"And you're sure that's wise?" Sage questioned.
"Kinda the story of my life?" Sonic replied.
"And the voice that commands you. What if it is leading you to disaster?" Sage questioned once more.
"If they want to start trouble, I'll stop them too" Sonic stated with a relaxed tone.
"You certainly make it sound simple" Sage replied. "But your arrogance will be your undoing" she added with a frown.
"What the heck is your problem?!" Pipp asked in rage. "You think being so mysterious about this makes you better or wiser? Why not give context about what's going on? Because if you're just here to say a lot of nonsense without explaining yourself, then skedaddle!" she stated with a frown and flapping her wings madly.
"There would be no point" Sage simply replied before disappearing once again.
Sonic crossed his arms and looked at the sky with a bored expression, then he looked back at Pipp, who seemed to be breathing heavily after that outburst.
"You okay, Little Pipp?" he asked with concern.
"Yeah..." Pipp said, finally calming down a bit. "J-Just... My hoofness, what's the deal with her?" she asked, still mad, but not as much as before.
"I've been wondering the same for a while now" Sonic confessed with a frown.
And then, the Koco came back with them and with a new piece floating on their head.
Sonic kneeled and smiled at them. "Nice find! Now let's bring it back to Tails and Zipp before they start to worry" he stated.
"But what about you?" Pipp asked with concern.
"I'll be fine, little Pipp" Sonic assured. "Come on, we still have work to do" he stated again, following the Koco that was already a bit ahead of them.
Pipp was not so sure, but knowing that Sonic won't listen to any reason, she sighed in defeat and followed as well.
Sonic was limping a bit more, but he didn't wanted to keep pushing anything else, so he decided to resist the pain, although he did was grabbing his right hip with his hand.
Pipp was even more worried than before, and Zipp was just following the Koco that rolled away happily.
Tails, on the other hand, seemed to feel down for something, and as he walked along Sonic, he suddenly stopped.
"Sonic..." Tails called out, making both Sonic and Pipp to stop and turn to see him. "Am I a burden to you?" he asked suddenly with a worried expression.
Zipp suddenly stopped walking, and turned to see Tails as well with a panicked expression, while Pipp's eyes went wide after hearing that.
Sonic, however, only raised an eyebrow before gave off a smirk. "Wow. And how did you come to this well-thought-out concern?" he asked on a joking tone.
But Tails' attitude remained the same. "Whenever there's a crisis, I'm either running away or standing on the sidelines!" he said with almost a cracked voice, closing his fists and his eyes as he fought the urge to cry. "You're always rescuing me when all I do is follow you around!" he pointed out with concern. "I've been always asking for your help, not being able to do anything on my own. And that's not even the worst!" he added.
"Tails..." Zipp said with a worried frown.
"Infinite attacked you, and instead of doing something, anything... I just... stood there, watching you being punched almost to death..." Tails began to list. "Chaos 0, Chaos 0, tried to attack me, and instead of fighting back, just like you will... I ducked and asked for help... I had to be saved by the other you..." he added. "And when you disappeared for 6 months... I also felt lost... I kept saying to myself that I was building that machine because I wanted to bring you back, but... I just needed to distract myself... to not think that I'm useless and worthless without you..." he finished.
Tails looked at the ground with sadness and shame, also closing his fist in anger, while Zipp and Pipp were speechless about everything they just heard, specially Zipp, who never expected Tails to feel this way.
And worst of all, she didn't even noticed that Tails was feeling like this.
Sonic, however, looked at Tails with a raised eyebrow, before crossing his arms and step closer to him. "Hey!" he called out. "Who was it who stopped Eggman from blowing up Station Square? Huh?" he pointed out. "And who broke me out of prison, or saved me from the Deadly Six's trap?" he added. "Who has always been saving me whenever I fall to a certain death? Or who confronted Eggman on a cave with a broken tail that fixed itself? Who saved me from being shot in the back by Metal Izzy and Metal Hitch? And who's the one that's been helping me with data about the Ancients all around the Island? Who's been helping me to collect the Emeralds?" he stated with a confident smile.
Tails looked at him with a thoughtful expression. "I... then I'm wildly inconsistent!" he replied, crossing his arms and turning away with a frown.
Sonic chuckled lowly as he looked at him with his eyebrow still raised, then he slowly approached him with a smile. "Dude! Relax!"
Tails turned to him, still frowning, and Sonic approached his hand to Tails' shoulder, but then he remembered that Tails was till half-ghost. Yet, he decided to suspend his hand in the air to pretend he was placing it over Tails' shoulder anyways.
"You've got brains like Eggman, speed like me, and can fly with your butt" Sonic told him with an assuring smile. "You have helped me pass though the most difficult stages of my life, and you have accomplished so many things on your own that I cannot even number them. Everyone says you're my sidekick, but that's not true. You're my little brother, my best friend. I'm not lying when I say that I wouldn't be half of the hedgehog I'm today if you were not there by my side" he assured.
Tails' face seemed to light up a bit, and a very, very little smile appeared as well.
"But It's okay if you still need help sometimes" Sonic added, still smiling. "That's just part of growing up!"
Tails' smile grew bigger, and now he smirked at Sonic for suddenly saying all of that so casually. "When did you get to be so insightful?" he asked after a chuckle.
"I have my moments." Sonic smirked back.
"But he's right, Tails" Zipp said suddenly, flying from her place and landing at his side. "I've also have seen you in action. How you have helped out others... me..." she added, blushing a bit at the last part. "You have even builded up your own business from scratch! That's something to admire!" she pointed out, with her blush increasing a bit.
Tails blushed too, but his smile remained the same. "Y-You guys gave me the workshop, tho" he pointed out, scratching his head a bit ashamed.
"But it doesn't change anything of what Sonic and Zipp said" Pipp assured as well. "Tails, you are as valuable as any of us. You have proved your worth and skills to us so many times, and you're also a hero like Sonic!" she pointed out with a smile. "Never forget that you are a great friend and hero by just being you" she added.
"And never forget how worthy and valuable you are for me, Tails" Zipp added suddenly, but both she and Tails blushed a lot after she realized what she said. "F-For us! I-I mean for us!" she tried to correct herself, flapping her wings nervously.
Tails blushed decreased a bit, and he started to chuckle at Zipp's attitude, while she was just saying weird things because of her nerves. Sonic and Pipp were smirking at them, since they knew perfectly how they felt.
"Reminds me of how we used to be before becoming a thing" Sonic pointed out.
"Yeah. Do you think they'll confess faster than us?" Pipp asked.
"Nah. They're probably take their time as well" Sonic replied with a smile.
But then, the Koco came back with the group, jumping and mumbling things with a worried expression, as they got close to Tails and talked to him.
"They say the bridge is out" Tails translated to Sonic with a frown.
"I'm sure we can fix that" Sonic assured. "I'll have a look around!" he stated with confidence.
Tails nodded and turned his sight to the bridge with a determinate expression.
Sonic ran across the elevated bridge with a smirk, charging up his Spindash and launching himself towards the sky.
After that, he started to fall towards the ground at top speed, passing through a series of boost rings and also collecting some stamina ones in the air, until he finally landed in the ground with a 'super hero' pose.
Then, he saw the button that could activate the bridge and smiled, walking towards it and pressing it. Well, instead of pressing it, he just placed his hand on the air and near the button, that turned on and made the bridge descend anyways.
With the bridge back in place, Sonic's smile grew bigger, and then the Light Blue Chaos Emerald appeared out of nowhere, slowly descending until it was at his height. He smirked and grabbed the Emerald, then started to dance and finished by striking a pose and smiling to the camera with the Emerald on his hand.
Then, the Koco arrived along Tails and the sisters, and they all walked towards the cannon at the end of the bridge. Well, the Koco ran instead, the others walked, and Sonic had to grab his hip again since he was still feeling the pain. It suddenly started to rain as well.
Once they arrived with him, they heard the Koco making happy noises. The Koco jumped excited, then they turned and smiled at Tails, as they told something to him.
"They say this was the last of the defensive measures" Tails translated.
Despite the pain, Sonic still smiled and kneeled to face the Koco. "Way to go! Your hero will be thrilled with all your hard work" he assured to them.
The Koco smiled and nodded to him. Then, they closed their eyes, and a light started to shine around them. Said light floated away towards the sky, and the Koco's body fell to the ground with no life left on it.
The four of them looked in sadness at the Koco's dead body, and they all head their ears down.
Sonic, however, perked them up and looked at Tails. "And I'm proud of you. Don't forget that" he told him with a worried expression, but also with honesty on his tone.
Tails deep breathed and looked at him sideways. "I won't" he stated with confidence.
He turned to see Sonic with a smile, and Sonic smiled back at him, glad to see that his little brother was in a better mood now.
Sonic decided to explore what was left of the island and completed all the challenges, also completing the map of Chaos Island on his brain.
That meant he could use the Cyber Space portals to fast travel across the island, but again, he preferred to ran across the Island on his own. Also, his condition was critical, he was in a lot of pain and he didn't wanted to forget anything either, so he was going to run normally one way or another.
He arrived with Tails and Zipp, since Pipp decided to make him company on his way there, while the other two were studying another pillar that looked like a Cyber Space portal despite not being one.
"Hey, little bro" Sonic greeted with the most honest smile he could make since he was still in pain. "Feeling better?" he asked.
"Yeah" Tails replied then turned to him and smiled. "This experience gave me a kind of clarity" he admitted. "When this is all over... I think I need to go it alone for a while. I can't grow into my full potential if I always fall back on you!" he pointed out.
Sonic felt surprised by the sudden news, since he didn't expected Tails to grew that fast, but he still smiled proudly anyway.
Zipp, on the other hand, landed at his side with a worried look. "Wait, are you sure?" she asked with concern.
"Totally!" Tails stated, but then he felt Sonic's sight on him and felt a bit nervous suddenly. "I-If that's okay!" he said nervously.
Sonic chuckled and walked over near him as he closed his eyes. "You're free to go your own way" he said with a relaxed tone and his arms crossed, before separating them and look at Tails with a sad look. "I guess you just... grew up on me a little faster than I expected" he confessed with a sad smile.
Tails worries disappeared, and he smiled back at Sonic. "Are you saying I outpaced you?" he asked with a mocking tone.
Sonic smirked and snorted a bit. "Yeah, don't push it" he said with a mocking tone as well, also pointing at Tails playfully before stepping back and looking sadly at the floor, while Tails scratched his head ashamed. "It's kinda ironic how I panicked a lot on New Year's Eve when you disappeared suddenly... and now that you're flying away on your own, I just feel both proud and sad" he added with a melancholic tone. "It's going to take some getting used to, but... here's to you reaching new heights--partner" he finished, now smiling brightly and extending his hand.
Tails looked at his hand confused at first, but then he smiled and extended his hand as well. However, because of the Cyber Space effect on Tails, their hand passed through each others.
They stared at their hands, then they looked at each other for a few seconds... before pulling their hands away and burst out laughing at the sudden move.
Despite all, they were still brothers at the end of the day, blood-related or not. Eventually, Pipp and Zipp ended up joining their conversation and even laughed a bit at their little mistake with the failed handshake.
Sage heard and saw everything, hiding behind the pillar... with tears on her eyes.
Yup, she was actually crying.
"Such a beautiful friendship..." Sage muttered with sadness. "A family born of love and not genetics... Everything I want..." she added as she hold a sob.
However, the loud laughs of the group were not helping, and Sage red and black colors started to glitch on light blue and white, as tears fell down her cheeks.
"I wish I'd never seen this. It was so much easier accepting the future when they were simply enemies" Sage added, as one tear fell on her hand.
And after that, her mind was invaded by the memories she made with Eggman on Cyber Space. Not only the times she reported everything about Sonic in the islands, or the times she saved her father from getting killed by Cyber Space, but also the times she was simply acting as a girl with him, when she made jokes that make him laugh, whenever she impressed Eggman and make him proud of her.
Basically, she remembered everytime she felt happy with Eggman... with her father.
Sage realized that she, somehow, was crying actual tears, and tried to wipe them away... but more tears kept falling, and she ended up accepting them. She looked to the sky with sadness, and by how silent everything felt suddenly, she guessed Sonic and the others already left.
So, she lay on the wall, slid until she sat on the ground and buried her head between her knees, as she sobbed silently.
Sonic was limping a bit as he walked towards and edge, where he found Pipp sitting as she seemed to be thinking about something.
"It's something bothering you?" Sonic asked, as he sat at her side.
"I... I don't know at all" Pipp confessed. "Zipp... she said that she wants to tag along with Tails on his journey" she confessed.
"Really?" Sonic wondered, and Pipp nodded. "Let me guess: you feel like you're being left behind, don't you?" he supposed.
"You know me so well..." Pipp said with a heavy sigh and a sad smile. "It's just... Sunny's gonna be traveling around Equestria, Knuckles and Izzy are going on their own adventure, Tails wants to fly alone for a while, Zipp wants to go with him... and I'm still here..." she said with concern.
"Little Pipp, we might be separating for a while from our friends... but it won't be forever" Sonic reminded her. "We'll met with them again one day. And, if being left behind is what's bothering you... then why don't we go on our own as well?" he suggested to her.
Pipp looked at him with a little sparkle on her eyes. "R-Really?" she asked with a little smile.
"Have I ever failed you, my pegasus angel?" Sonic asked rhetorically with a flirty tone.
Pipp giggled and blushed a bit at the nickname, also placing a hoof on her mouth. "Sounds good. But where do we go?" she asked.
"Wherever we want!" Sonic replied with a smile. "It can be to the mountains to appreciate the amazing view of Equestria, or the snowiest place ever to play with the snow... You just tell me where, and I'll take you there for granted!" he stated with confidence.
"You really are a Blue Prince, Sir Hedgehog" Pipp said on a flirty tone.
"I think the proper title is 'Knight of the Wind', Princess Petals" Sonic replied on a flirty tone as well.
For some reason, that made Pipp burst out laughing, and Sonic joined in as well.
"But I'm serious here, Pipp" Sonic said after they finally calmed down. "We can go and have our own journey. It doesn't need to have a purpose at all, but it can help us to relax from everything that has happened in here" he assured with a smile.
Pipp smiled back, and resisted the urge to nuzzle against him since she knew her current state won't allow it. "Thank you, Blue Star. For doing this for me" she said.
"Anything for you, Little Pipp" Sonic replied with a smile.
After that, they stood up and walked towards Zipp and Tails, that were standing in front of a closed cave right below the island's volcano.
"Oh, there you are" Zipp said once she noticed them.
"Hey guys" Sonic greeted. "What are you up to now?" he asked on a mocking tone.
"We've been studying this door while you were exploring the island" Tails replied.
"It sounded like it unlocked from the inside!" Zipp pointed out.
"Great... So how do we open it?" Sonic asked, crossing his arms.
"See that switch next to the door?" Tails asked, as he pointed to the switch. "I think it'll react to the Cyber Energy stored in your body" he explained.
"We cannot tell what's on the other side, but we bet it's important" Zipp added.
"If you're going inside there, be careful, Blue Star" Pipp told him with worry.
"I will" Sonic said with a nod and a confident smile.
After that, Sonic boosted near the entrance, that opened alone when it detected his presence, and then he boosted to the inside of the cave.
Several minutes later, Tails and the sisters felt the earth rumbling, and the volcano erupted.
They immediately moved away, and Sonic came boosting out of the cave, just in time since the lava of the volcano came down and covered the cave's entrance, but it also moved far enough to reach the ground and make part of the clouds disappear, showing up the Titan's location, who roared in anger after the clouds disappeared.
"Whatever you did triggered an eruption!" Tails pointed out.
"And the lava burned away the cloud bank and revealed... uh... whatever that is..." Zipp added, looking confused at the Titan.
"I've seen my fair share of pinball machines. I know one when I see one" Sonic said suddenly. "Were those really part of the original ruins?" he questioned, crossing his arms.
"I'm sorry, pinball machine?" Pipp questioned.
"It's what I found inside of the cave, and what caused the eruption after I beat it apparently" Sonic explained.
"Sonic!" Tails called out with a worried expression. "That Titan down there... do you really plan on fighting that?" he asked concerned. "Even as Super Sonic, that thing is..." he tried to add.
"Keeping you and everyone else trapped. So yeah, I'm going to take it down" Sonic stated with confidence. "Sit tight, guys. I'll take out this last Titan and get everyone back to normal!" he assured with a smirk.
"Be careful down there, Blue Star" Pipp said with a worried frown.
Sonic nodded with a reassuring smile at her, and then he boosted towards the hole where the Titan was waiting for him.
He launched himself, spin several times before landing on the ground and looking up at the Titan, that was roller skating around the hole until it jumped in the air, and landed in the ground, causing it to rumble.
"Mortal" the voice from the sky called out. "Beware Knight, the Titan of Chaos Island" they warned.
Sonic didn't said anything this time, because he was only concerned to defeat Knight and free'd his friends once and for all.
Knight roller skated in circles, making giant spike appear in the ground, but Sonic dodged them all. Then, Knight launched its hand to the ground, and Sonic ran towards it, since the arm was now divided in three rails. So, Sonic dodged more spikes coming out of the ground and now moving towards him, and he reached the middle rail.
Then, he climbed up Knight's torso and reached its head, where the Purple Chaos Emerald was resting. He extended his hand and the Emerald moved inside of him. Sonic smirked, got surrounded and elevated by the 7 Chaos Emeralds, and then transformed into Super Sonic.
Knight grabbed the horn on its head and turned it into a giant sword, making Sonic gasp a bit.
"Okay, now you do look like a Knight!" Sonic said with a smirk. "Too bad I'm a Knight myself! Now get ready to be scrambled by the Knight of the Wind!" he stated, boosting towards the Titan.
I'm here to go beyond my limit, not to compromise And you can tell me if I mean it, looking in my eyes
Knight raised its sword and tried to hit Sonic, but he stopped from his boost and parried the attack. Then, Knight placed its shield on its face, and Sonic started to punch it, even using the Loop Kick.
Cause I've been waiting for my moment to strike So come close, let me show you what it's like
But then, Knight parried the attacks as well and charged the shield, turning it into the saw Sonic escaped from days ago. Knight launched the shield against Sonic to cut him.
Yeah, you can try to stand in my path But you're gonna regret it I'll be the one who laughs last While I’m making my exit
Sonic however, waited for the exact moment and parried the shield away, but then he also launched himself in the air and landed in the shield.
Cause this is only for the strong of heart Nod if you get it And no matter what the outcome You better accept it
Then, Sonic started to control the shield with his own feet, moving towards Knight, who was launching missiles at him.
I can cut right through steel I can bury thе pain So don't doubt for a second Just get out of my way (Out of my way)
However, once Sonic dodged the missiles and got close to Knight, the Titan used its sword and parried the shield away. But Sonic didn't gave up and approached the Titan again anyways.
You cheat and you steal I'm not lеtting it go So take this as a lesson Cause it's all that we know
Once he got close again, the Titan wasn't fast enough to bring its sword again, and the saw of the shield ended up damaging it on the face.
Will the whole world know your name When we dance with destiny?
Now that Knight was stunned, Sonic started to punch him several times, then he used the Loop kick and punched him a bit more, then he used the Cyclone Kick, punched him again and finished with a Stomp Attack.
I've been there, and I've seen it I'm never gonna stop believing You'll find your flame
Knight tried to use its sword again to make damage to Sonic, but Sonic parried the attack and started to punch the Titan's face again, then he used the Homing Shot and the Spin Slash as well, finishing the combo with another Stomp Attack.
Oh, we can save the day (The day!)
Knight stepped back, and then roared in rage, making spikes came out of its shoulders and launching tons and tons of lasers towards the air.
We won't back down, we won't (Yeah, alright)
After that, Knight extended its right arm and activated the saw shield again, but this time it didn't launched it at Sonic, it just launched towards a wall.
It's like I'm seeing double vision Take a seat, I'm on a mission We got everything to gain (Everything to gain, yeah)
Sonic felt confused at first on why the Titan did that, but as soon as he saw the shield bounce off the wall and now moving towards him, he understood Knight's game. And if that wasn't enough, the Titan was roller skating around him, like dodging both his attacks and the shield.
To become everything you're not You just give it all you got And take the pleasure with the pain
That's when something came up to Sonic's mind: Use Knight's shield against Knight itself. He smirked, and waited for the shield to bounce on the wall again. Then, he quickly moved to be on the shield's way and stopped time for a second.
Yeah, I can feel my fire awaken No time for being complacent There's a dream on the horizon You know we gotta chase it
He calculated the exact spot where Knight will be moving, and then he parried the shield to move it towards the Titan.
And when we get to where we're going Then we start the invasion Best me? Naw, you must be mistaken (Hey)
Knight received the attack, and got stunned again, so Sonic started to punch it on the face once again, also using again the Cyclone Kick. He also used the Wild Rush, and then activated a new attack named Quick Cyloop, where he used said ability at high speed and then Knight was elevated in the air and tied up by golden chains.
You know I'll turn you into rust Grind you right down to dust You thought you were the best Well, you haven’t met us
Then, Sonic started to punch the Titan several times on its face and shoulders, enough to charge his Phantom Rush, which he used only on Knight's face. He used another Wild Rush, then a Homing Shot, then a Spin Slash, and finally used Quick Cyloop again, which free'd Knight from the chain, but a golden laser came from the sky and passed through its chest.
I'll bring the fire and rain Call me the hurricane I'm not letting it go Cause it's all that I know
Knight fell to the ground, then it got up again and prepared to use its sword, but Sonic dodged the attack once again.
Will the whole world know your name (Know your name) When we dance with destiny? (Destiny)
After that, Sonic charged up its Spin Dash and started to fly around Knight, hitting its legs multiple times until the Titan lost balance and fell to the ground again.
Yeah! I've been there, and I've seen it I'm never gonna stop believing You'll find your flame
Then, Sonic kept Spindashing in the air and charged against Knight's face, sending the Titan to the air. There, Sonic flew at high speed and punched its face, just to spin in the air and use a powerful Stomp Attack that sent Knight back to the floor.
Now here we go, it's the end of the show Hear them, they're calling your name
Tired of games, Knight stood up and roared once again, then it extended its sword, that seemed to dived on little sections to cause more damage on Sonic. Knight raised the sword and prepared to split Sonic in two, but Sonic grabbed the sword in time and smirked.
However, Knight wasn't done there, and it jumped in the air, then landed and spin the sword around, before crashing it against a wall. Sonic was struggling a bit to hold the sword, but he managed to push it and then he kicked it, making Knight spin around and stand in a defensive pose, willing to keep fighting.
Cause in the end It's you and your friends You'll find your flame (Go!)
This time, however, Sonic was the one tired of games, and he charged up Chaos Energy around his body before boosting towards Knight.
Knight raised the sword and prepared to attack again, but Sonic flew around the sword and the Titan's arm, then he punched Knight in the face hard enough, to the point Knight raised its hand and let go the sword by mistake.
The sword landed in the volcano, and Sonic used the Cyloop around it. Then, the sword started to separate from the ground and it elevated on the air, but here's the thing: Knight didn't took the sword, Sonic did.
Now here we go, it's the end of the show Hear them, they're calling your name
"Alright, Caliburn. Let's put those lessons to good use!" Sonic stated with a determinate look.
After that, he raised the sword and split Knight in half with a warrior cry.
Cause in the end It's you and your friends You'll find your flame
The Titan split, and one of the half's began to descend slowly, making the entire Titan's body explode. Knight turned into another one of those giant spheres that reduced little to little, until it exploded completely, leaving no trail of what the Titan once was.
Sonic looked at the Titan's explosion with a frown, but then he suddenly got another vision...
"We can't let their sacrifice be in vain! They had a plan! Let's do it!" the Ancient in the vision exclaimed with a determinate look.
Sonic opened his eyes and sighed in relief.
After that, he looked to the sky and nodded, also closing his hand in a fist. And then, he boosted away towards the next island, despite knowing very well that there's no one else to save now... or that's what he thinks...
Rhea Island was considered the black sheep of the Starfall Islands.
The main reason was that there was little to no information regardless of this island in general. While the rest of the islands at last could tell what the Ancients did there, there's no data of activity in Rhea Island.
If this isn't enough, the place is empty. There's no sign of the Ancients' technology and there's no other sign that says they even approached to this island in particular.
However, the ground in the island suddenly began to rumble, and six massive towers (they all were 1483 feet long) emerged from the ground. Once they elevated completely, the top separated from the rest of the tower and began to float in the air, opening some kind of barrier that protected the entire island.
In the new top of the towers, the buttons that could turn the entire tower off shone in a red neon color, meaning that the towers were ready to be deactivated if necessary.
Sonic couldn't remember how he lost his Super form once he arrived to the island.
In fact, he could barely remember how he ended up there. He knew he was fighting against something keeping his friends as prisoners, and that he needed to... well, he actually didn't knew that part, and right now, he didn't cared either.
The massive headache he was experimenting didn't allowed him to think well, and his entire body felt heavy and it hurt a lot, so he had to kneel because of how painful he felt. Still, he knew he had to stay strong and focus is he wanted to free'd his friends and his Little Pipp.
Speaking of them, Tails soon enough arrived to his side, along with Zipp and Pipp. They were still trapped on Cyber Space, but they were also worried about Sonic's current state. Tails tried to touch his arm, but his hand passed through Sonic's body, and he frowned in worry.
Sonic, on the other hand, was panting and trying to recover his concentration, and to reunite all the strength he could to keep going.
"The final lock has been revealed" the mystery voice said, and Sonic looked at the sky with effort, since even moving his head felt painful. "Silence the six towers. Tear down the walls between dimensions" they instructed once again.
Pipp and Tails were very worried about Sonic's state, and Zipp raised an eyebrow when she saw him looking at the sky, but she saw nothing there.
"Oh, good..." Sonic said suddenly. "I thought you were going to say there was a surprise Titan..." he said with a relieved tone and smile.
"Sonic?" Tails called out with worry.
"Who are you talking to?" Zipp asked confused.
"Are you okay?" Pipp questioned with worry as well.
Sonic didn't even replied to any of their questions, he just stood up with effort and smirked at them. "Hang tight, guys. We're almost through this" he stated with confidence.
"What do you mean?" Zipp asked, a bit more harsh than she would like to.
"Just have to... destroy those towers... and then we can leave... and never come back here..." Sonic replied tiredly, also grabbing his head.
"That... doesn't sound like a good idea..." Tails pointed out.
"Well... if this is really it, then... Be careful, Blue Star" Pipp begged with a broken tone.
"'Careful'?" Sonic questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Where's the fun in that?" he added with a smirk, and then he chuckled in pain.
Pipp frowned after hearing that, but before she could say anything, Sonic boosted away from them. Despite the pain, he was willing to go to the end of this if it meant he could finally save his friends and leave the Starfall Islands.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Tails said with worry.
"Yeah, me too" Zipp said with a frown.
Pipp just gulped, and prayed deep down that Sonic came back in one piece.
Sonic reached the top of the first tower.
The fact that there was rails and boost rings all around the tower helped a lot, but his headache and pain became stronger once he reached the top.
Still, he approached to the button and pressed it, turning off the spinning mechanism on the top by sending a weird signal that came from the pillar where the button was.
But the thing didn't ended there: Sonic suddenly got another vision...
The Ancients were staring at the Purple Chaos Emerald, capsuled on one of the towers that looked like the ones on the Titans' heads.
"The Chaos Engines are harnessing the Emeralds' powers perfectly" one of the Ancients said.
"Finally, some good news" the other Ancient replied. "Hopefully their power will be enough to let us escape" they added with concern.
Sonic shook his head and grabbed it confused after the vision was over.
He still couldn't understand what was going on since his mind was worst than it was five minutes ago. And yet, he was willing to keep going.
Whatever is the reason he ended up there, whatever is the reason he is seeing all of this, he doesn't care. He only wants to free'd his friends out of Cyber Space and leave as soon as he can.
So, he jumped from the tower and took a nosedive, landing in the ground curled in a ball and then boosting towards the next tower, that he managed to climb up as well in less than 3 minutes.
Then, Sonic approached to the button and pressed it again, turning off the second tower as well.
And just like it happened before, he got another vision...
Thousands of ships escaped from a planet that was suddenly covered by something... or rather, someone.
Whatever or whoever covered the planet, launched a massive laser and cut the planet in half. No, I'm not even kidding here, IT LITERALLY SPLIT UP A PLANET LIKE NOTHING.
And of course, the planet exploded after it was cut in half. The worst part? It was the Ancients' home planet, and now it was gone.
In one of the ships were the Ancients escaped, three of them were crying and shouting in despair of loosing their home, while a smaller Ancient, a kid apparently, hugged one of them in search of comfort.
And so, the ships got stuck in space for years, because the Ancients had no where to go...
Sonic shook his head again and started to walk away.
He wanted to move to the next tower, but his body suddenly released some Cyber Energy, and Sonic almost tripped. His headache was more painful, and his entire body was begging him to stop, to take a small rest if it was necessary.
But of course, this is Sonic we are talking about, and he simply stood up and smiled. Despite the pain in his body, he still smiled, and kept moving forward... but he didn't went to far when Sage suddenly appeared again.
"Your Cyber Corruption is accelerating" Sage pointed out. "How can you smile when you can barely stand?" she questioned confused.
Sonic didn't even bothered to reply, he looked back forward, took a deep breath and kept smiling before keep walking, despite the Cyber Energy on his body spreading at fast paste.
Sage looked at Sonic surprised. It was clear to her that he wouldn't give up that easily, or at all. For a second, that weird glitch that changed her color scheme to white and blue came again, but she shook her head, and the glitch stopped, then she left.
Sonic, on the other hand, managed to contain the Cyber Energy again and boosted towards the ground again to reach the next Tower.
Once he was on the ground, he boosted towards a spring that impulsed him to many boost rings, and then said rings launched him towards some rails that took him to the top of the tower.
Once again, he pressed the button and turned off the tower, and like in the last two towers, he got another vision...
After years of being stuck in space, the Chaos Emeralds suddenly began to react and guided the Ancients' ships towards a planet: Equis.
Inside the main ship, the one 'leading and guiding' the others, the Purple Chaos Emerald shone bright after it reacted to something coming from the planet it was guiding the Ancients.
"What are the Chaos Emeralds reacting to?!" one of the Ancients asked, as they covered their face from the glow with their left hand.
Suddenly, a third Ancient entered the room and looked at the other two with worry.
"We've lost control of navigation!" they said with concern.
"What?!" one of the other Ancients said.
"Our lectures says there's a source as powerful as the Chaos Emeralds drawing them in!" the Ancient that just arrived explained. "Now we have no control of the ships!" they added.
"A source as powerful as the Emeralds?!" the other Ancient questioned. "But that's impossible! We found the six of them ages ago!" they pointed out.
"Perhaps there's a seventh Emerald we never heard about?" the first Ancient suggested.
"If that's the case... then maybe there's still hope for our people after all" the second one replied with a hopeful expression.
The Starfall Islands were just as peaceful as always.
The Owls, one of the oldest civilizations that ever existed, lived alongside the Hedgehogs in piece and harmony, one of the best equipped and trained civilizations in combat, at least for the time..
The Owls thought everything they knew about strategy to the Hedgehogs, and in exchange, they trained the Owls in every way of combat they know, as well as a place were to stay.
The Starfall Islands was their home, and they had no choice but to move there after their ancestors had a massive war with the ponies on a distant unnamed land. And how did they found these islands? How they've been able to survive this long?
Well, they have to thank the powerful Gem of Miracles to that. This Gem wasn't an ordinary gem, no: this Gem literally floated, and despite its small size, it contained a great power capable of miracles. It was thanks to this Gem that they found these islands and stablished there for the rest of their lives, and for the next generations as well.
The Gem of Miracles, as they decided to call it, was sealed on a cristal cage and placed on a guarded temple by two Hedgehogs and two Owls, who guarded the Gem day and night.
The Owl in charge was named Adam, and he was a brown fur, tall man with a brown scarf that had yellow and blue stripes at both ends. He also had a spear on his back, prepared for any eventuality since he was the leader.
At his side, there was the leader of the Hedgehogs: Knave the Hedgehog, a light blue hedgehog with an eye patch and a green eye, also having an ear 'bitten' and clothes that resembled the Incas. However, he had a 'hero name', or a nickname that makes his entire people cheer at him: the Blue Blur.
You see, Knave wasn't a regular Hedgehog like the others, oh no: he was born with sonic speed and electrical powers. He could literally ran across the entire island in less than 10 seconds and return to the exact same point were he left. But he also had unique abilities and attacks thanks to this powers of his, like the famous Spindash, or the Homing Attack. But he had a long list of exclusive abilities, actually: Sonic Boom, Homing Shot, Wild Rush, Loop Kick, Spin Slash...
And on top of having incredible abilities, he was happily married to a blue hedgehog girl named Light. Now you get why he's the leader, right? He's the most OP of the Hedgehogs. and all his people admires him, as well as many of the Owls respect him. Yet, Knave isn't a selfish or a bad leader: he's actually a good hearted person that seeks for the safety of his people, his family and his allies. Same thing with Adam: he's the most skilled Owl of his tribe, and everything he wants is for both Owls and Hedgehogs to live in peace and harmony.
But one day, an Owl seer had a vision, about an alien civilization running away from a very powerful enemy, and that said enemy will be defeated by a Blue Hedgehog surrounded with the golden power of 7 powerful jewels.
At first, many though that the seer lost its sanity, but one day, those who doubt the seer were proven to be wrong.
Many ships from space arrived to Kronos island, and they all slowly landed in the grass. Soon enough, Adam and Knave arrived with tropes of their respective tribes, expecting an attack from said ships. Thanks to the warp rings created by the Owls, traveling from one site to another was a piece of cake. Knave rather ran across the island, but since this seemed like an emergency situation, he couldn't care less about running.
Soon enough, the main ship opened up, and two creatures that seemed to have a liquid-like body, with stones inside that seemed to have faces.
These creatures seemed a bit surprised when the Owls and they Hedgehogs pointed their spares to them, and both Adam and Knave were frowning as well, with Adam holding a very large spare and Knave charging electricity in one fist.
"I'll only let myself clear: Whatever you're doing here, you must get yourselves clear, or we'll eliminate you!" Adam warned with a frown.
The two creatures looked at each other and leaned their heads confused.
"Hate to be that guy, but I think they don't understand our language" Knave said, still with his fist charged up.
"Then how are we suppose to know their intentions?" Adam questioned.
Suddenly, another warp ring opened in the middle of the creatures and the soldiers, and the Owl seer came out of it, looking at the creatures with a soft smile.
"Tupanka!" Adam called out to the seer. "What do you think you're doing?!" he questioned in anger and worry.
However, Tupanka ignored him and moved towards the creatures. He made a little reverence, and then... he started to speak in a weird language.
But for everyones surprise, the creatures replied in the same language, and they seemed to be explaining their situation to Tupanka. Soon enough, Tupanka walked back with Adam and Knave with a worried expression, and the owl and the hedgehog leaders looked at each other, both confused and worried.
"Mr. Adam, Mr. Knave" Tupanka greeted with a little reverence again. "I'm afraid I'm not as crazy as you all though" he said.
"What?" Adam questioned with a confused frown.
"Tupanka, can you explain yourself?" Knave requested, turning off the electricity on his hand.
Tupanka sighed heavily, and then looked back at the leaders. "That vision I told you about a while ago... is finally happening" he said with worry.
Sonic shook his head again.
This time he felt intrigued. Once again, he saw his ancestors, and now it seems that he learned the true origin of the Chaos Emeralds. Or, at least, where they really came from: not only they're from a different dimension, but from space as well.
Also, it seems like both sides had a different perspective at first: the Ancients though there was only 6 Emeralds, while his ancestors and the Owls didn't even knew there was more of them.
"W-Why do I keep seeing all of this...?" Sonic wondered, as he grabbed his head since the headache was becoming worst. "W-What am I not seeing...?" he questioned.
He had no time to wonder more, since he still needed to save his friends, so he shook his head again and repeated the same process: jumped from the tower, landed in the ground and climbed up to the next one thanks to springs, rails and boost rings.
At the top, he did the same thing he's being doing so far, and then the next vision came up...
20 years later, the Ancients stablished on the Starfall Islands along the Owls and the Hedgehogs.
At first, there was a lot of distrust between the Ancients and the other two tribes. Learning that the Gem of Miracles was just one of 7 powerful jewels called the Chaos Emeralds was a big chock for both the Owls and the Hedgehogs, and it took them a lot of time to process it and accept it.
Same thing with the Ancients: getting used to the Starfall Islands was one of the most difficult things they had to do. On top of that, they had to study the Light Blue Chaos Emerald, which existence they recently discovered, since they always thought there were only 6 Chaos Emeralds.
Still, they learned to live and cooperate with time. The Ancients even shared their technological achievements with the other two tribes, not only creating an entire virtual reality, but also making bigger and better weapons to protect the islands.
Adam and Knave were the only ones that learned the language of the Ancients to communicate with them properly, but the other members of their tribes were learning too, step by step.
In all these years, Tupanka insisted that the prophecy of the Ancients enemy coming to the Islands, and a Hedgehog using the power of the 7 Chaos Emeralds to defeat and destroy said enemy, will come true eventually, but now even the Ancients refused to listen.
One particular day, Adam and Knave were with Elder, the oldest of the Ancient, as they taught to their children about the story of their alliance with the Owls and the Hedgehogs, as well as the creation of Cyber Space and the Koco that resided inside of them.
"And although our home world was lost, our history was not, thanks to Cyber Space" Elder narrated, making their Koco to shine bright, also activating the Cyber Space portal behind them.
The Ancients kids gasped in awe at the sight of the Cyber Space portal working, and even tho this wasn't the first time they saw it, Adam and Knave also felt surprised by the portal working perfectly.
"All our hopes, our dreams, and memories can be uploaded to Cyber Space and accessed at any time" Elder explained.
Suddenly, another Ancient entered running to the place, and it approached first at Adam and Knave, whispering at their ears that they were needed for a moment.
Both leaders looked at each other with worry after hearing that, so they moved aside and waited for the Ancient to talk with Elder.
"Elder! You are needed" the Ancient said with worry.
Elder moved aside and gathered with the Ancient, Adam and Knave to talk a bit more privately, and to prevent the children to listen.
"Why? What happened?" Elder questioned.
The Ancient sighed heavily and looked at the three leaders with worry. "It followed us. This world is in danger. All of our people is in danger" they said with a worried tone.
Elder stepped back with wide eyes, Adam's haw dropped in shock and Knave felt really mad. He turned and punched his own palm with anger, while Adam grabbed his head as he felt a sudden headache and Elder looked at the floor with worry.
Sonic began to walk away once the vision was over.
More Cyber Energy came out of his body, and this time, he wasn't able to hide it. He was suffering a lot, he was in pain, his headache was worse than ever and he could barely stand... but he wasn't going to give up.
"This is... for your friends" Sonic reminded to himself. "Don't look down, Sonic. You... still need to... save them... to save her... remember!" he told himself with pain and grunts.
He suddenly fell on his knees, and started to pant heavily as he tried to recover energies, when Sage suddenly appeared again.
"I believe I have come to understand you" Sage said, moving around Sonic as he tried to get up, but he kept loosing his balance, and still he tried to keep moving forward despite the protests from his body. "Both of us will do anything to protect those who are precious to us" she added, before looking at him with sadness. "But your fate... is what I calculated" she said.
Sonic finally stood up and kept moving. He was dying, or at last that's what he thought it was happening, and he still kept walking forward, in pain and with a massive headache that didn't wanted to leave, but he couldn't care less: he was saving his friends, even if it was at the cost of his own life.
"Farewell, hero" Sage finished, glitching on the new color scheme again before disappearing.
After finally putting the Cyber Energy under control, Sonic repeated the same process he's been doing for the past 4 towers, and once he pressed the button to turn off the fifth one, the next vision came in...
An Ancient was along an Owl and a Hedgehog.
The three of them were using the Green Chaos Emerald on a tower to create a massive machine, one of four giant robots that they decided to name as Titans. This one was called Giganto... it is pretty obvious why they named it like that.
Then, Elder, Adam and Knave arrived with the three of them, who made a little reverence to show respect towards their leaders.
"These Chaos Emerald-empowered Titans will be the keys to victory this time" the Ancient assured with confidence.
The leaders looked at Giganto in the distance with doubt. "If not... it's been decided a small group of the three tribes will use and take the Chaos Emeralds to a parallel dimension, were a larger one has been discovered" Elder instructed.
"This parallel world... it seems to have its downs, but... at least the next generations will grow in a more peaceful situation than us" Knave pointed out with his arms crossed.
"And the Emeralds will be hidden in temples all across that universe" Adam added. "If they ever run out of power, the temples should be enough to restore them... but I highly doubt someone can be that smart to drain their power" he said with confidence.
"Hopefully, our battle won't become to a point were we have to travel towards this parallel dimension" the Ancient said.
"Hopefully..." Knave added with worry.
After that, he opened a warp ring towards a new place, and made a sign to Adam, indicating him to come along.
Once they both crossed the portal, they were staring at the sun setting in the distance, at the top of one of the mountains in Ares Island.
"Too bad we won't enjoy views like this one anymore..." Adam said with sadness.
"Yeah... too bad..." Knave said with a worried frown. "Adam... I need you to leave with the group if we loose" he added suddenly.
Adam looked at him in disbelief, then blinked a few times and frowned. "Excuse me, what?!" he said in anger and concern.
"I'm not the Hedgehog destined to destroy... how did the Ancients called them again? 'The End'. Whatever they're supposed to be..." Knave said with concern. "The Emeralds do not react with me, and I know Nora is not the chosen one either" he pointed out.
"But Knave––" Adam tried to protest.
"She's just 8, and she can't even create a sparkle without struggling" Knave pointed out again with a frown. "That's why I need you to leave with her and my wife. I need you and your descendants to take care of mine until the chosen one finally arrives to the world of the living" he said.
"Knave, I can't––" Adam tried to protest once again.
"I'm not telling you this as a leader... but as a friend, and as a father. Please... look after Light... and most importantly, look after Nora" Knave begged this time with a worried frown.
Adam felt a lump in his throat after hearing such a petition. Yet, a part of him felt he had no choice... so he looked at Knave with a determinate look.
"I... I'll inform of a change of plans then..." Adam replied. "Be careful out there, Knave" he added, before turning around and opening another warp portal.
"Careful?" Knave said suddenly, causing Adam to stop. "Where's the fun in that?" he added in a playful tone.
Adam smirked after hearing that, and then he crossed the portal ring.
A series of visions began here...
The attack against The End failed, and Knave died along many Ancients, Owls and Hedgehogs while fighting them.
Elder used the Chaos Emeralds to open a portal to the parallel world named Mobius, and the three tribes crossed it safely, although Nora didn't wanted at first after finding out her father will never came back.
Years after establishing themselves on a place called South Island, more specifically to this place named Green Hills, Adam took his promise about taking care of Nora serious, since he was some kind of... father? Master? Friend? Pretty much all of the above.
Then, time passed by, and Adam's descendants kept looking after Nora's descendants for thousands of generations.
Finally, we reached a certain point in time... when Longclaw was the leader of the Owls, and Sonic's parents approached their baby, obviously Sonic, to the 7 Chaos Emeralds.
Unlike with all the previous hedgehogs, the Emeralds reacted with Sonic. They all shone bright and floated over him, as they also seemed to be communicating with the baby hedgehog.
No one could believe it: the chosen one by Tupanka's prophecy of so long ago was finally here: Sonic the Hedgehog was the chosen one to defeat The End...
Too bad they could never celebrate, because they were suddenly attacked by thousands of missiles coming from the sky.
Sonic couldn't believe it either.
Whatever was The End, he was chosen by the Chaos Emeralds to destroy it, he was chosen to avenge his fallen ancestors... but he didn't knew if he could do it all.
His current state wasn't of help, his headache was killing him and he felt he needed all of his energy if he wanted to defeat the very same thing that killed his ancestors so long ago... but then again, he was Sonic after all, and he never gave up.
So, he decided to close this cycle once and for all: after destroying the towers to save his friends, and if he was still alive by then, he will destroy The End to avenge his family.
That's why he boosted as fast as he could towards the final tower, but his body was reaching the limit once he arrived there. Still, Sonic was able to press the button and turn off the final towers, also suddenly getting another vision...
Giganto, Wyvern, Knight and a fourth Titan with a sniper were in space, being piloted by Ancients and fighting against The End.
Or at least trying, because their attacks had no effect on the enemy.
"This isn't working" the fourth Titan's pilot said. "If we can't beat it, we'll seal it!" they stated, putting the sniper aside and turning to the other Titans. "I'll bind it to my Titan. Then you guys seal us in Cyber Space!" they instructed.
"No! We'll find another way!" Giganto's pilot exclaimed.
But the fourth Titan denied with its head, and then it turned around to face The End. After that, the Titan began to contain The End's soul and essence inside of it, not only losing control over itself, but also killing the Ancient inside of it.
"They're... gone... It killed them..." Wyvern's pilot said with grief and sadness.
The fourth Titan began to fall towards Equis, until its image was completely lost by sight.
After a few moments of silence, Knight's pilot decided to brake it. "We can't let their sacrifice be in vain! They had a plan! Let's do it!" they stated with a determinate expression.
Then, the three Titans looked at The End, and their pilots shouted warrior cries before boosting towards it, ready to seal it on Cyber Space as they were instructed to do so.
The entire background became red suddenly.
Sonic's body was full of Cyber Energy, and Sonic himself was trying to move somewhere... but his headache finally reached the breaking point.
Sonic grabbed his head and shook it, as he grunted in pain, before shouting loud and clear, not able to hold it back anymore. His entire body was glitching, and the red and black colors suddenly became a really dark blue before covering his entire body.
Sonic's hands fell and let his head go, while his head looked at the ground. His eyes were widely open... but there was no emotion in them. After all the pain and struggle he passed through... this is how destiny rewards him: No emotions, no breathing, no feelings, no memories, no nothing.
And just like that, Sonic the Hedgehog, one of the greatest heroes of all time, was no more...
Sunny and Hitch appeared suddenly on a strange place, along with Sparky and the Critters.
They were finally back to normal, but none of them noticed it yet since they were wondering were the heck the were, since they saw nothing but red. No, seriously, this place was red and that's it, there's nothing else to tell here.
As they walked forward, they didn't noticed that Knuckles and Izzy were there too, and then Tails and the sisters came as well. None noticed none, because they understood little to nothing about what was going on.
Eggman, who finally escaped from Cyber Space, appeared a few meters away from them, with Sage at his side, but the rest didn't noticed them either.
And then, Sunny looked forward and gasped by seeing the rest. "Guys?" she called out.
Hitch looked forward as well and gasped too, and then several mores gasps came as the group finally saw each other.
Hitch and Knuckles fist bumped, Izzy gathered Sunny, Zipp and Pipp in a hug, Tails side hugged Knuckles and Sparky jumped to Knuckles' head.
"Oh, I'm glad to see you're all okay!" Sunny exclaimed with a smile.
"Me too!" Izzy said joyfully. "Too bad we have no idea where we are, tho" she added with concern.
"It doesn't seem like Cyber Space... but it doesn't looks like the islands, either" Knuckles pointed out.
"It's some kind of reality between our world and Cyber Space..." Tails deducted. "But why are we here?" he questioned.
Suddenly, the red scenario around disappeared little by little, and revealed the actual place they were at: it was midday, and with the exception of Sage and Eggman since they were flying, they were all standing over the sixth tower of Rhea Island.
"Whoa!" Izzy exclaimed surprised.
"Holy cow!" Knuckles exclaimed. "How high are we?!" he asked in concern.
"Apparently? ... Really, really high... that's everything I can say, unfortunately..." Zipp said with a sheepish smile.
Pipp raised an eyebrow, but when slowly turned away, she gasped and covered her hoof after seeing something alarming: Sonic was also there... but his body was totally covered on Cyber Energy, he was standing and looking at the ground, but his eyes had no life nor emotion, and he was very, very still...
SONIC FRONTIERSXMY LITTLE PONY
"Sonic!" Pipp cried out, immediately running towards him.
The others heard Pipp's cry, and they all turned around as well, also gasping when they saw Sonic on his current state.
Pipp stopped once she was near Sonic, and she approached her hoof to Sonic's chin, but a part of her was afraid that touch him will either hurt him or her. She slowly pulled her hoof away, but her worry only increased when Sonic didn't even reacted at her voice.
The others approached as well, and except for Tails and Knuckles, they all seemed worried about Sonic.
"What happened to him?" Knuckles questioned confused, while Sparky jumped from his head and landed on Hitch's back.
"He took on so much Cyber Energy... and now his mind is stuck between realities..." Tails explained with a sad expression.
"Meaning?" Knuckles asked him, now feeling worried.
Tails seemed to have a hard time as he tried to find the proper words, but he was also fighting the urge to cry. "He's... corrupted..." he ended up replying, closing his eyes and looking away.
Knuckles frowned and closed his fists harder than ever after hearing that.
"Corrupted? What does that even mean?!" Pipp asked desperately.
Tails flinched, and he still had to fight the urge to cry again, but this time he didn't replied anything.
"Tails..." Zipp called out this time. "Buddy... is there anything we can do to help Sonic? Just nod in yes or no instead of using words" she instructed, placing a hoof on Tails' shoulder.
Tails seemed to calm a bit after that, then he looked at Zipp on the eyes and nodded in negation with his head.
Everyone else, Zipp included, gasped quietly at that, and one by one, they felt their ears falling, as well as sadness getting on their bodies.
Pipp began to hyperventilate again, and Zipp immediately moved to try and calm her down, while Knuckles punched his fists in anger and started to curse quietly.
Eggman heard and saw all of this... and unlike the others, he was obviously happy about Sonic's fate, because he began to laugh maniacally in sign of victory. After so long, after so many failures, after so many ruined schemes, his long sworn enemy was gone.
"My only regret is you denied me the pleasure of finishing you off, rodent!" Eggman stated with a happy smile and his arms crossed.
Sage then turned and flew to face Eggman on his Eggmobile. "We must get you back into Cyber Space! Immediately!" she said with concern.
"I just got out! That was the whole point!" Eggman complained, smashing his Eggmobile in anger.
"I ran millions of simulations! The only way I can keep you alive is if you're not here when it gets out!" Sage explained with worry.
Eggman seemed to calm down a bit, but he raised an eyebrow confused. "When what gets out?" he questioned.
Suddenly, a maniac laugh was heard echoing all across the island, and everyone started to look around in search of the origin.
"What the hay was that?" Hitch asked with concern.
The laugh was heard once again, but this time it was closer than before. Then everyone turned to see Sonic, Eggman and Sage included, with the latter hiding behind the Eggmobile, while Sonic's body glitched a bit.
Then, Sonic lifted his head and looked at his friends... But his eyes glitched a bit and turned red, as he grinned a bit sinisterly, sending a weird chill on everyone else. Then, Sonic looked at one of his hands, admiring it like if he just woke up from a dream.
"... Since time immemorial, I have languished here..." the voice that's been guiding Sonic spoke to everyone, but the voice was now distorted with Sonic's voice, and it sounded way too menacing. "The locks are broken... Now, I shall tear down the walls between dimensions and consume all!" he stated, followed by another maniac laugh.
Knuckles, Zipp and Hitch looked at him with frowns, while Tails, Sunny, Izzy, Pipp and Sparky looked with worry.
"No. No you don't! I'll mobilize the Egg Fleet from Mobius if necessary and blow your life out of your body!" Eggman warned with a menacing tone and look.
Sage approached and placed a hand on the Eggmobile with a concerned look. "It won't be enough! It triumphed over the Ancients' technology!" she pointed out with worry. "My simulations show a success rate of zero percent!" she added, closing her eyes in concern and fear.
Eggman groaned, and smashed his Eggmobile in frustration again.
Everyone heard the conversation Sage had with Eggman, and felt worried after hearing that... except for Tails, who finally started to connect two and two.
"Hang on... that thing defeated the Ancients' technology..." Tails said, placing a hand on his chin. "Then that means... that whatever we're facing, is the reason the Ancients disappeared!" he shouted out of nowhere. "Those visions we had, about the Koco fighting against something... about Owls and Hedgehogs that fought along with them... we were seeing battles from the past, events that happened long ago on the islands!" he explained.
"The Koco... they're the Ancients..." Knuckles kept going, once he got what Tails was talking about. "They're their souls... more than a lucky charm, they're their physical essence. That's why their souls left the Koco after they found peace, because their role was fulfilled... their function..." he added, and then he looked at Sonic with a frown. "You destroyed the Ancients home... and then you seek to destroy their new one! Why?!" he shouted in pure anger.
'Sonic' just laughed maniacally again. "I am a destroyer. It is what I live for. To destroy. Worlds? Stars? Civilizations? Same thing to me. All I care for is their destruction!" he stated.
"But you already destroyed everything the Ancients had! Why not just leave them alone?!" Pipp shouted as well with anger.
"Because no one escapes from me. And I never leave my job unfinished" 'Sonic' replied, and then, he started to laugh maniacally again. "You know what's the best part out of all of this? An Owl seer from millions of years ago had a vision. My arrival to this planet was inevitable, but someone among the living ones here was destined to destroy me..." he said.
"Someone among the living ones here?" Tails questioned.
"The prophecy... talked about a blue hedgehog, using the power of the Chaos Emeralds to destroy me..." 'Sonic' revealed, and it was really obvious of who he was talking about. "But now... Now, that 'chosen one' is under MY CONTROL" he added, followed by another maniacal laugh.
And then, Sonic's body was completely covered in Cyber Energy, and some kind of laser light was launched towards the sky. Everyone stepped back after this happened, and they all panicked at his transformation: His quills lifted up until they looked like Shadow's quills, his mouth was gone... and his eyes were completely white when he opened them.
"Sonic?" Pipp called out, and she tried to move towards him, but Knuckles placed his arm and stopped, while he looked at Sonic with a frown.
"Didn't you heard? He's under his control now!" Knuckles reminded.
"I must consume everything in this world!" 'Sonic' said suddenly. "I MUST TEAR THE WALLS BETWEEN DIMENSIONS! I. MUST. KILL YOU ALL!" he stated with a menacing tone.
Sonic, or Cyber Sonic since now he was corrupted and under the voice's control, raised his left arm, somehow charged up some kind of laser and shoot at the group. Well, more specifically to Knuckles, who placed his hands in front to try and resist the attack like he did on Ares Island when Sage did the same... but big was his surprise when it was Sage the one that received the attack and sent it away.
Knuckles looked at Sage in awe, while she returned to Eggman's side, who looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Let's just say I owe it to him" Sage replied without giving any further context.
Suddenly, Cyber Sonic quickly disappeared just like Sage does. And then, everyone heard something.
They all looked on every direction, but Izzy was the one who spotted the sound's origin. "Um... Guys?" she called out nervously. "I think we have a problem..." she said, pointing at the first two towers of the island literally tearing apart and falling to the ground, completely destroyed.
Soon enough, the third tower began to fall as well, and then the fourth one. When the fifth was traversed by an object traveling at full speed, everyone panicked, but Knuckles managed to say something.
"Everyone!" Knuckles called out, suddenly grabbing Izzy and than grabbing Tails' left hand. "Get into the air! NOW" he instructed.
The object traversed the sixth tower, and that was the final sign they needed to obey Knuckles. Zipp, Pipp and Sunny elevated on the air flapping with their wings, Tails used his tails and lifted Knuckles as he carried Izzy, and Sunny used her magic to levitate Hitch, Sparky and McSnips, since the birds could fly on their own as well.
Once the sixth tower fell entirely, the object revealed to be Cyber Sonic curled on a ball and causing a massive Spindash to destroy the towers. Then, it straightened back and kept floating in the air, staring blankly at the group.
"What's the matter with him?" Izzy asked. "Why is he attacking us?" she added with concern.
"His mind is trapped in Cyber Space. Therefore, his body is an empty shell, a brainless body. He's like a walking zombie that only obeys orders now..." Tails explained. "He's... not our friend anymore..." he added with sadness.
Cyber Sonic then made his hands shine, and the entire island began to shake suddenly. The environment began to shatter like crystals, and now the real world was connected with Cyber Space.
Then, he opened his palm and raised it, making a big portion of earth from the island come and take the group away towards the sky, with Eggman and Sage being the only ones that saved themselves.
Once Cyber Sonic turned to them, Eggman gulped, knowing very well that he was next. "Sage! Get us out of here!" he instructed.
Sage nodded, and as she disappeared, she managed to take Eggman and his Eggmobile along.
Cyber Sonic couldn't care less, and then he boosted towards the giant piece of earth he made float, were the others were laying over and groaning in pain as they slowly stood up.
They looked around, and the place they were now was weird: it literally combined all the Cyber Space levels Sonic visited and more. Green Hills, Chemical Plant, Sky Sanctuary, Maretime Bay, Zephyr Heights, even Bridlewood... they were all combined in this place
"What is happening?" Sunny questioned, as she looked around confused.
"Son–– Cyber Sonic... He destroyed the wall that separated Cyber Space from our reality... now they're the same reality" Tails explained with worry.
"And how do we stop it?!" Hitch questioned, as he hugged Sparky in a protective way.
"There's only one way to seal this, or at least the only logical one I can think off..." Tails replied nervously.
"Which is?!" Pipp asked desperate.
"If we want to close the wall again.. we have to defeat the very thing that opened it in the first place... that is..." Tails tried to explain...
But then, a massive boom at the other side of the small island they were standing on made him gulp, and as he and the others turned around, they saw a dust cloud, and a pair of mad white eyes walking slowly towards them. Once the figure came out of the dust, it revealed to be Cyber Sonic, ready to destroy them.
"So, if we want Cyber Space to stay away from our world... we have to defeat him..." Knuckles summarized with a frown, and Tails simply nodded nervously.
"B-But he's our friend!" Sunny pointed out with concern. "W-We could never...! I could never..." she tried to add, but she couldn't, and Hitch placed a hoof on her shoulder to calm her down.
"I'm with Sunny on this one..." Pipp said with a sad expression. "I... I can't hurt him either... He might not be the Sonic I love anymore... but I could never punch him even if I tried to..." she confessed.
But as it seemed like hope was lost, Zipp suddenly realized something. "Hang on... Hang on!" she suddenly called out, and everyone looked at her with curiosity. "Our world is now part of Cyberspace and vice versa, right? Doesn't that means that Sonic's mind could fight to recover control over his body now that both things are on the same place?!" she theorized.
Tails though about the theory for a second, and his eyes went wide. "That... that could actually work!" he said with a smile. "I mean, it still requires some calculations I cannot make because we're out of time, but... if we can weaken Sonic on his 'mind controlled' state..." he started to explain.
"His real mind could fight over to recover control!" Zipp finished for him.
"And if Sonic comes back... the wall between Cyber Space and our world will close!" Sunny deducted as well.
"And so, we'll kill two birds with one shot–– Not literally!" Hitch said with a sheepish smile to the birds at his side, that sighed in relief. "We'll get our friend back, and we'll stop Cyber Space to take over our reality!" he said with confident smirk.
"Wait... are you saying that..." Pipp wanted to ask, with a little spark of hope igniting in her.
"Yep! We can save Sonic!" Tails stated. "That still means we have to literally beat the hell out of him, tho..." he added with a sheepish smile, also scratching his head embarrassed.
Pipp looked back at Cyber Sonic, who kept walking with a frown and a blank expression towards them, but she looked at him with a determinate look.
"I know what I recently said... but I don't mind! If fighting against Sonic is what will save him... then fighting it will be!" Pipp stated with confidence.
"That's the spirit!" Knuckles said with a smirk, punching his fists and charging them up with electricity. "Now... let's get this party started..." he stated, frowning at Cyber Sonic.
Said you'd keep me safe Now you're tearing me down Am I laid to waste Now that you're not around
"So... the plan is just to attack him?" Izzy questioned confused.
"We need to weak him enough for his mind to fight for his body's control" Tails explained, using his powers to create two giant and metallic gloves.
Everyone else nodded and prepared to fight against their now mind controlled friend.
Come and leave your mark Vandalize my heart!
Cyber Sonic, seeing that his opponents were preparing to fight back, chuckled in a playful way, so he stopped in his place and raised two fingers, indicating with them to the rest that, if they were going to attack, they should do it now.
Knuckles smirked, not needing any more signs, and he immediately boosted towards Cyber Sonic.
Yeah! Alright!
Knuckles began launching a bunch of random punches towards Cyber Sonic, while he simply dodged all of them easily, and then he punched back, making Knuckles to struggle as he tried to slam the brakes and stop sliding backwards.
Thunder, rain and lightning Danger, water rising
Then, Cyber Sonic charged his Homing Attack against Knuckles, but he cancelled the Attack and instead opted to use Spin Slash, and Knuckles placed his fists together to shield himself from the attack.
Clamor, sirens wailing It's such a bad sign
However, Cyber Sonic opted to use Loop Kick now, but something unexpected for him happened: Tails stepped in the middle by placing one of the metallic gloves in front of Knuckles, and once Cyber Sonic's feet was on the glove, Tails sent him flying towards the sky.
An open world of freedom It's full of such possibility For the brand new generation To run and follow their heart
Once there, Tails took advantage of the fact that Cyber Sonic was a bit stunned, and then he punched him multiple times and at a really fast paste in just a few seconds.
With hope for regeneration Make new what once was old We say hello to an old friend Uncover the new adventure!
But then, Cyber Sonic grabbed both gloves and ripped them away from Tails hands, so Tails had to create a shield to protect himself from Cyber Sonic's Recovery Smash (a counter move Sonic used multiple times against the Titans).
Said you'd keep me safe Now you're tearing me down Am I laid to waste Now that you're not around Come and leave your mark Vandalize my heart!
After that, Tails created two giants missile launchers and sent a bunch of missiles to Cyber Sonic. But he didn't dodged any of them, and once all of the smoke caused by the missiles exploding was gone, Cyber Sonic simply glared at Tails and used Wild Rush against him.
Fight the pain away My head is in ruins Need you in my veins Don't know how you do it Come and leave your mark Vandalize my heart!
Tails barely created a shield that protected him, because the impact of the attack still reached him, and he ended up being sent backwards and crashing against a rock, getting stunned for a moment.
But Cyber Sonic couldn't attack him forward, because he was suddenly kicked in the face by something that passed flying by at fast paste.
I am... I am, I'm all of me I am... I am, I'm all of me I am!
He could barely saw Zipp when she kicked him again, then she used a floating rock and boosted back to Cyber Sonic, kicking him again, then she used a tree's trunk and kicked Sonic again. She kept repeating this process until she was as fast as him and was kicking him on weak spots and his body in general.
I see no, hear no evil Black writings on the wall Unleashed a million faces And one by one they fall (I am)
Eventually, Cyber Sonic got tired of games and grabbed Zipp's tail, who got startled by the sudden move. Then, Cyber Sonic started to spin her around, until he released her and launched her towards a rock, where she also got stunned for a second.
Black-hearted evil (I am) Brave-hearted hero (I am) I am all, I am all, I am
Once Cyber Sonic 'got rid' of Zipp, he was suddenly he was suddenly blinded by a camera flash. He had no idea of who did it, but he still tried to recover his vision so he could fight back... just to receive a kick on his crotch. As any man will, Cyber Sonic covered his parts and groaned in pain.
In this world... Where one is all In this world... Never fear the fall
Of course, this was all made by Pipp, who regretted having to kick his boyfriend on such a place, but if it was going to save him, then she knew she had no choice.
Said you'd keep me safe Now you're tearing me down Am I laid to waste Now that you're not around Come and leave your mark Vandalize my heart!
Cyber Sonic didn't even had time to recover when he was sent towards a rock by a golden laser. He shook his head, but his vision was still a bit blurry because of Pipp's camera flash, and he didn't saw the punch from one of Sunny's hooves coming either.
Fight the pain away My head is in ruins Need you in my veins Don't know how you do it Come and leave your mark Vandalize my heart!
Sunny seemed to regret it, but Cyber Sonic looked directly at her with anger, and with his vision restores. He charged up another laser like the one he launched to Knuckles before, and he shoot it to Sunny, who created a golden shield to protect herself from the attack.
Live and learn Hanging on the edge of tomorrow Live and learn From the works of yesterday
After the laser dissipated, Sonic launched against Sunny, and Sunny shoot another golden laser to him. But Sonic received the attack and felt nothing, as he kept approaching Sunny at fast paste. Still, Sunny managed to shoot the entire laser on a desperate move, and sent Sonic to the ground.
Live and learn! If you beg or if you borrow Live and learn! You may never find your way!
Once there, a vine grabbed his foot and began to smash him from one way to another, until it sent him flying and he crashed on a rock with his back. Hitch caused all of this, if it wasn't clear.
Can't hold on much longer But I will never let go! I know it's a one way track Tell me now how long this'll last!
Once Cyber Sonic kneeled in pain, he shook his head and hardly stood up, but then several warp ring portals opened up... and a massive laser attack from Izzy's horn came out of ALL of the portals, hitting Cyber Sonic and causing more damage on him.
I'm not gonna think this way Nor will I count on others! Close my eyes and feel it burn Now I see what I gotta do! Open your heart, it's gonna be alright!
Finally, the portals closed and Cyber Sonic began to wobble in pain. Then, Tails and Knuckles came by and used their watches to create a lasso with their electrical powers to keep Cyber Sonic still by tying his arms, and Hitch helped as well using his earth pony magic to create some vines that grabbed his feet.
Said you'd keep me safe Now you're tearing me down Am I laid to waste Now that you're not around Come and leave your mark Vandalize my heart!
"Everyone: NOW!" both Tails and Knuckles shouted.
In a flash, the Mane 5 appeared around Cyber Sonic, and they made their Cutie Marks shine. Then, their Cutie Marks blasted five colorful lasers towards him, and he started to groan in pain and struggled to get free, but it was useless at the end.
Fight the pain away My head is in ruins Need you in my veins Don't know how you do it Come and leave your mark Vandalize my heart!
Finally, the lasers sent Cyber Sonic towards the floor, traversing the small portion of the island and getting out from Cyber Space, landing in Rhea Island on the real world once again.
Soon enough, everyone else arrived by a warp ring portal and stared at Cyber Sonic, who seemed to struggle as he tried to stand up. He managed to, but he was wobbling in pain, and yet, he raised his right hand to try and shoot another laser.
Sunny immediately stood in front of the rest and activated a shield with her magic, but then she saw something that made her smile and deactivate the shield away.
Cyber Sonic was ready to charge his attacks, but then a white glove trapped in Cyber Space grabbed his hand. He got startled and turned to literally face himself. Or, well, to face Sonic, trapped on Cyber Space like the rest were on the other Starfall Islands.
Sonic raised his free hand and shook his index finger to Cyber Sonic. "If I were you, pal, I wouldn't do that" he said with a confident smirk. "Which is pretty ironic, because I am you" he pointed out.
Then, Cyber Sonic's body began to squirm in pain, and a bright red light was launched towards the sky. Sonic smirked again, and then he entered to his own body. The wall between Cyber Space and the real world got closed by the red light that came out of Cyber Sonic, and he stopped being controlled by the enemy.
His body stopped shining, his quills got back to normal and he shook his head as his entire body was restored completely. No amnesia, no Cyber Energy, no headache, no pain. Sonic was finally back.
Everyone stared at him, not knowing if they could trust him at all, and once Sonic noticed that, he smirked at them, also placing a hand on his hip.
"What?" Sonic asked. "You guys are acting like if you just saw a ghost or something!" he said in a playful tone.
Tails and Pipp immediately moved and wrapped him in a hug, almost squishing him, but he didn't minded at all, because he returned the hug to them.
"Never scare us like that ever again!" Pipp said, not braking the hug and fighting the urge to cry.
"You know me, Little Pipp. I can't promise that even if I wanted..." Sonic replied with a smile, also kissing her cheek softly.
Everyone else gathered around him as well, relieved that he was fine, while Eggman and Sage saw this from a certain distance in the sky.
"Oh good. He's back" Eggman said in annoyance.
However, he got startled when Sage suddenly approached him and smashed the front of the Eggmobile. "This is our chance" she said. "I never simulated a scenario where Sonic helped since you never authorized it" she pointed out.
Eggman smashed his Eggmobile in anger and frowned. "I still don't want to..." he tried to say, but Sage cut him off.
"Please!" Sage begged this time with a worried expression and sad puppy eyes.
Eggman couldn't believe that he softened so much for this girl, and yet he putted a deadpanned expression before turning to Sonic, who was still talking with his friends and didn't noticed Eggman yet.
Back with the gang, Sonic fist bumped with Knuckles before finally speaking. "I'm glad to see you all again, and even better, out of Cyber Space!" he said with a smirk, before putting on a serious expression. "But we're not done with the islands yet. We need to defeat The End..." he pointed out with concern.
"I'm sorry, who?" Hitch questioned.
"That thing that controlled my body, that talked to me all this time and tricked me... their name is The End" Sonic explained. "I learned that while my mind was trapped in Cyber Space. There's still a fourth Titan, too, and if we want to defeat The End for good, we'll have to get rid of this one, too" he said. "No more tricks, no more games, this time we're attacking with everything we have!" he stated with a smirk.
However, they all heard Eggman's Eggmobile approaching, and while the rest frowned or looked at him with bored expressions, Sonic raised an eyebrow.
Eggman stood up and cleared his throat. "Sonic! I here-by induct you into the Eggman Empire temporarily and order you and your friends to save us all! Understand? This is not an alliance!" he stated.
The rest groaned in annoyance, but Sonic just smirked at Eggman's attitude. "If that's how you want to spin it, Dr. Ego-man" he stated with a mocking smirk.
Eggman groaned, and then turned to Sage. "Sage, you will help me find the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic won't be fast enough. Or Zipp, for that matter" he instructed.
"Hey wow!" Sonic complained with a frown, and Zipp rolled her eyes.
"As you command!" Sage said with a smile.
Then, the doctor boosted away, Sage turned to face Sonic, and they nodded at each other, ready to find the Chaos Emeralds.
Ouranos Island is the last of the Starfall Islands.
It wasn't as big as the other ones, and it actually looks very similar to Rhea Island... but at least this place did had rests of the Ancients' technology at plain sight, and not hidden like the previous island.
The Mane 5 and Team Sonic haven't arrived to the island yet, however, since Sonic was running on the water at top speed as he tried to reach Ouranos Island, while the rest followed by flight, with Tails carrying Knuckles who carried Izzy, and Sunny used her magic to carry Hitch, Sparky and McSnips.
Once Sonic reached the coast, he quickly ran on the wall and stopped once he had a good sight of the entire island. The rest arrived soon enough, landing behind him, and they all awed at the sight of Ouranos Island.
However, that wasn't the only surprising thing: Blue, yellow and red lights were pointing at the sky, meaning that the Blue, Yellow and Red Chaos Emerald respectively were already unlocked from the containment towers.
"It seems like Sage has been busy with the Chaos Emeralds and Cyber Space" Sonic pointed out.
"This doesn't mean you have to return there... right?" Pipp questioned with concern and a worried frown.
"You're kidding, right?" Sonic questioned with a raised eyebrow, before turning to face her and everyone else as well. "Last time I returned there, an ancient entity from before Equestria was a thing tricked me and took control over my body, using me as a brainless puppet that attacked you!" he pointed out a bit mad. "Do you really think I'm crazy enough to go back to Cyber Space after that?" he asked with a frown.
"Yes" Tails replied with a bored expression.
"Bold of you to assume you won't" Knuckles added, also with a bored expression and with his arms crossed.
Sonic stared at Tails and Knuckles with a bored expression as well, and then facepalmed in annoyance, also groaning with frustration. "Look, I won't return to that place ever again... And if I do, I'll use that sunflower suit Amy gave me when I turned 23 for an entire week" he deadpanned.
"Deal" Tails said with a smirk.
"Now you have my attention" Knuckles said with a smirk as well.
"You... never mentioned a sunflower suit..." Hitch pointed out with a smile, while Sunny and Izzy at his sides were trying so hard not to burst in laughter.
"The only way I could say something so embarrassing is being drunk" Sonic replied with a frown. "Moving now to things that do matter: We have six Chaos Emeralds to collect since the last one is gonna be in the Titan for sure" he stated with a determinate look.
"But we only know were are three of them because of the lights" Zipp pointed out.
"How are we going to find the rest?" Sunny asked.
"Sage is already doing that for us, so... I guess this is a matter of wait until she gets them all" Sonic guessed.
"Okay... but if there's three of them, and we're running out of time, how are going to collect them all?" Izzy asked as well.
"Well... there's three Emeralds, and if we count Sage, there's nine of us, so... we split up in teams of three?" Tails suggested.
"Sounds good to me!" Zipp said with a smirk, before making a loop in the air and landing in-between Sunny and Hitch, dragging them on a side hug. "Come on, you love birds! We have an Emerald to get!" she stated with a smirk, before flying away again with a smile.
"Hey Zipp!" Tails called out, and when Zipp turned to him, she barely caught Tails' watch with her hoof. "So we can stay in contact!" Tails shouted, as his watch made a beep sound in Zipp's hoof, and Sonic and Knuckles' watches did the same.
Zipp smiled, and putted the watch on her left hoof. "Thanks, Mr. Prower!" she said with a smile and a wave of her hoof, before flying towards the Yellow light, with Sunny and Hitch following her by earth.
"Well, in that case, Izzy and I will go with the ghost girl" Knuckles said, punching his fists together with a smirk. "I have a pending conversation with her, and I really need to punch something here before I lost my cool" he added with a frown.
After that, he grabbed Izzy in bridal style, startling the unicorn since she blushed a lot, and then he boosted towards the Red light.
"So, that leaves the three of us" Sonic said with a smirk to Tails and Pipp, who smiled back at him. "Let's go get the Blue Emerald and save the world!" he stated with confidence.
Tails and Pipp nodded at him, and they all moved towards the Blue light, with Sonic running a bit slower than usual so Pipp could keep up with him and Tails.
Sunny, Hitch and Zipp eventually reached the Yellow Chaos Emerald.
The problem was that they knew little to nothing on how to remove the Emerald from the tower.
"Well, this is gonna be a problem" Zipp deadpanned.
"I mean, Sonic used some kind of key, but since the Emeralds are now unlocked, shouldn't they just appear on our hooves and that's it?" Hitch questioned.
"No, it cannot be that easy..." Zipp said, placing a hoof on her chin.
"Guess we'll never know if we don't try..." Sunny pointed out.
And so, she approached to the tower, but once she stood on the platform, the Emerald immediately shone and disappeared from the capsule, then it appeared again and slowly descended until it was right in front of Sunny. She smiled, and she made her horn appear to surround the Emerald with her magic, then she walked back with her friends.
"Seems like it was that easy after all!" Sunny cheered.
"This place goes against everything I can explain, and its starting to annoy me..." Zipp deadpanned again, but then her eyes went wide when she thought about something. "Hey! Ghost-girl–– I-I-I mean, Sage!" she called out.
And so, Sage did appeared suddenly, looking at Zipp with a curious look.
"Sorry to interrupt... um... your excursion through Cyber Space, I guess? But I really need to ask something" Zipp said with a serious look. "Did Cyber Space actually interacted with our brains? Not only the ones that we were trapped in there, but also Sonic" she asked.
"It was designed to catalogue neural networks, among other things, so yes" Sage replied.
"Hang on..." Sunny said, stepping in the conversation. "All those locations Sonic visited, and the ones that popped up suddenly when Cyber Space connected to our world, they were pulled from our memories?" she questioned with curiosity.
"That is plausible" Sage replied. "It imported the data of all your memories and applied to Sonic's surroundings so he could comprehend them" she explained.
"Huh... Maybe that gave Sonic the edge to escape each time" Hitch theorized. "Since he was familiarized with the ground, escaping was pretty easy" he pointed out.
"Again, that's plausible" Sage said. "By the way, now that you have called me..." she added, and then a Green light pointed suddenly to the sky. "The next Chaos Emerald has been unlocked" she added, before disappearing without saying anything else.
"I know she's on our side now... but she still gives me the creeps..." Zipp said blankly.
"Yeah, she keeps creeping me out as well" Hitch confessed.
Once all was said and done, the trio began to make their way towards the Green Chaos Emerald.
Knuckles and Izzy arrived to the tower with the Red Chaos Emerald.
Knuckles did the same thing as Sunny: he stood on the platform of the tower, and then the Emerald glowed brightly, before disappearing and then appear again in front of Knuckles, slowly descending until it landed on his hand.
He putted the Emerald away, and then he looked at the sky with a frown. "Ghost girl!" he called out.
"Um, Knuckie?" Izzy called out. "I think you should call her by her name..." she pointed out with a smile.
"But I don't remember it!" Knuckles said with a frown.
Izzy looked at him with a bored expression and rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Sage!" she called out.
And so, Sage appeared in front of them with a blank expression.
"See?" Izzy said with a mocking smirk.
Knuckles deadpanned at her and rolled his eyes, before turning to face Sage. "Look. I understand things have changed and that we have a common enemy now, but that still doesn't tells me why you protected me even when I wanted to attack you back on Ares Island!" he pointed out with concern. "I'm not even mad, I just... why? Why did you helped me?" he asked, now more out of curiosity.
"Well... Sonic attacked you, even if he was mind controlled" Sage pointed out.
"Even if he wasn't mind controlled, he's usually like that, and..." Knuckles began to say, before his eyes widened at what he say, and how familiar the situation felt. "Oh... oh..." he said, finally realizing why Sage saved him before.
Sage just smirked a bit at him. "Since you called me, the next Emerald has been found" she said suddenly, while a Light Blue light shone in the distance, and then Sage disappeared.
"That girl has a really weird sparkle..." Izzy said with a small frown, before turning to Knuckles. "Also, what's that about she attacking you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Let's just say Sonic owns me one" Knuckles replied with a smirk, before grabbing Izzy on bridal style again.
And then, he boosted towards the Light Blue Chaos Emerald.
The Blue Chaos Emerald was located on a strange place.
Near the tower with the Blue Emerald, there was a big statue with a panel control on the bottom, and the Blue Emerald was located at the other side of a massive bridge that didn't even seemed to exist.
Fortunately, Sonic, Tails and Pipp found Sage near the statue.
"I believe you can proceed once you find a way to activate the starting device and power the statue" Sage instructed to the trio.
"Sure would've been smoother sailing if we'd been working together from the start" Sonic pointed out, before smirking and place a fist on his hip. "But I guess I had to earn your trust first, huh?" he added in a playful tone and raising an eyebrow.
That seemed to cause a weird reaction on Sage, since she didn't seemed to have words and felt nervous, with her body glitching and changing colors to white and light blue again for a moment.
"Is she okay?" Pipp asked in concern, also cringing a bit to Sage's sudden glitch, that stopped after a few seconds.
Sage slowly turned back and looked blankly at the trio. "Do any of you know how to activate the starting device?" she questioned, abruptly trying to change the subject.
Sonic's smirk grew bigger, and then he turned to see Tails, who was moving his tails in excitement and fighting the urge to jump around excited.
"I guess he can" Sonic replied confidently, and Tails was now using the keyboard and activating the statue in a matter of seconds, while Sage disappeared without saying anything else.
"Wow..." Pipp said with a little smile. "He really loves all this stuff, doesn't he?" she asked rhetorically, but Sonic still nodded as a reply. "By the way, Blue Star..." she called out, and Sonic turned to see her a bit surprised when she suddenly nuzzled her head on his chest. "I... I've missed you..." she said with a worried look.
Sonic smiled softly, and he kneeled to nuzzle his cheek with Pipp's. "I've missed you too, Little Pipp" he said with happiness. "This is almost over, this time for real, and I promise that once we go back to Equestria, I'll do what I promised, and I'll take you wherever you want" he assured with a smirk.
Pipp couldn't help but kiss Sonic on his lips, and Sonic returned the kiss by caressing her cheek softly. "I actually don't care were you take me, Blue Star, as long as I'm with you" she said in a flirty tone, but with an honest smile.
However, their moment was interrupted when they heard someone clearing their throat and they slowly turned to see Tails laying on the pane control with a bored expression.
"Sorry to interrupt you, love birds, but we gotta move" Tails said with annoyance, before pressing the space bar on the panel's keyboard.
Then, five small statues behind them launched laser towards a gem in the center of the bigger one, activating the big statue that created the missing bridge so they could cross to the other side and get the Blue Chaos Emerald.
The trio moved to see the bridge, and Sage appeared again at their side. "The way is clear" she said, before turning to face the others. "We must acquire the Chaos Emeralds with expediency" she stated with concern.
"You got it, Sage!" Sonic stated with a smile and his thumbs up, before chuckling a bit suddenly and cross his arms. "We've run into each other so many times, but I recently learned your name... well, kinda. I actually found out hearing some 'Egg Memos' about you, and yet I didn't knew you are Sage. You could've told me sooner, y'know?" he pointed out.
"Yeah, instead of going all mysterious and acting so 'edgy', you could've told us your name and what was actually going on" Pipp pointed out as well.
"We were enemies" Sage also pointed out. "Furthermore, my name holds no meaning" she added.
"You're kidding right?" Tails questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Of course your name means something! Maybe not for us, but it does for Eggman! He didn't named you like that because he wanted, he named you like that because he cares about you. You're really important to him, if that's the case" he explained with a smile.
Sage suddenly began to glitch again, since her color scheme changed at times. "You... think he cares about me?" she asked.
"Sure!" Tails assured with a nod and a bigger smile. "In his own way, of course..." he added sheepishly.
"Time's a-wastin'. Let's wrap this up!" Sonic stated with a determinate look.
After that, he boosted away towards the Blue Emerald, and collected it as usual, except that the Emerald directly got out of the capsule with not keys needed.
Once he had the Emerald, he saw a Silver light pointing to the sky and smirked.
"Guess I know were I'm going next..." he said with a smirk, that faded away once he suddenly remembered the visions he had on the previous islands.
The memory of his ancestors and the Owls being so desperate to protect their home, his direct ancestor dying in front of him, that vision of the Chaos Emeralds dancing around himself when he was a baby... he couldn't believe that he was destined to arrive here all the same, that he'll eventually find this place even if Eggman never discovered Equestria's existence.
Yet, here he was, on the last Starfall Island, in search of the Chaos Emeralds to defeat the last Titan, and after that, defeat The End, just like that vision Tupanka had predicted so long ago.
Tails and Pipp arrived and stood a bit apart from him with worried expressions.
"Blue Star?" Pipp called out with concern.
Sonic, however, didn't replied, and instead took a deep breath before looking on with a determinate expression.
"Sage..." Sonic called out, and soon enough, she appeared at his side, so he looked at her and crossed his arms. "If I understood those visions correctly, the Ancients came from space, right?" he asked her.
Sage nodded at the question, and Tails and Pipp joined the conversation after hearing Sonic's question.
"And those things inside of them looked like Koco, but... they didn't seemed alive" Pipp pointed out.
"Sage, do you know what the Koco really are?" Tails asked her. "We have our own theories, but we'll like to hear the actual answer" he explained.
"They originated as lucky charms for the Ancients" Sage replied. "They were never designed to contain their data... their wills" she pointed out.
"Yeah, but the Koco we've found do hold the memories of their creators" Sonic pointed out as well.
"Maybe the Ancients changed them to do that?" Pipp suggested.
"Yeah, or maybe the Koco wanted to keep their memories alive after they were gone" Tails added. "By the way... just out of curiosity: you were created by Eggman, right?" he asked to her.
"Correct" Sage replied. "My base code was complied by him. However, I was created long ago, way before coming to these islands. According to the doctor, he created my program after a failed plan of stealing something that could grant his wish to create his Empire" she explained.
"Hold on..." Pipp said with a small frown. "Stealing something that could grant a wish? That... sounds exactly like what happened when he tried to steal the Wishing Star!" she pointed out.
"Wait, so Eggman created you after that happened?" Sonic questioned confused. "But then... why we never heard of you until now?" he asked.
"Back then, I was just an AI program on his computer" Sage explained. "He wanted to create a definite AI, a program that could be the perfect sync between someone caring for him and someone loyal to him" she added. "If my comprehension is correct, he actually combined two of his previous AI's to create me... two programs called 'Metal Hitch' and 'Metal Izzy', I think" she confessed.
"Oh! So Eggman really cared about those two, after all..." Tails said with surprise.
"But he probably didn't wanted to keep losing them like with Metal Sonic" Sonic guessed with a frown. "So... he combined the best of those programs and created you" he finished.
Sage nodded once again, and then she suddenly looked away. "Also... Several of the attacks you suffered the months following your holidays were organized by me, under his orders" she confessed again.
"Eh, Eggman attacks us even using decoys, so don't feel bad or ashamed. You're just doing what he tells you to do" Sonic told her with a smirk, separating his arms.
"But how did you transformed from a program on a computer into an actual girl?" Pipp asked her.
"The scope of my capabilities was vastly modified once I integrated with Cyber Space" Sage explained. "But overall, Dr. Eggman is my creator" she added, glitching on that light blue-white color again.
"Heh, oh man. I bet he never expected his his genius AI would advise him to work with us!" Sonic chuckled with a mocking smirk.
"I put forward the scenario with the highest likelihood for survival. That is all" Sage replied, although the last part made her glitch increase, and her voice even sounded nervous.
The trio looked at each other with mocking smiles at her attitude, knowing she's just playing rude and careless at compliments.
Sonic then looked back at the tower where the Blue Emerald was minutes ago, and crossed his arms again, also tapping his foot on the ground. "I'm so used to using the Chaos Emeralds it's still hard to accept they are not only from a different dimension, but also from space" he pointed out.
"Yes. They were central to the Ancients' power and native to their world, and they are the only thing that can awaken all the functions on the island" Sage explained.
"Oh! So that civilization Longclaw mentioned on her message were the Ancients!" Tails realized. "That explains how the Emeralds ended up on Equis, and how they were found by your ancestors, Sonic" he pointed out.
"The last survivors took them away to another dimension, followed by Owls and Hedgehogs" Sage added. "Eventually, the Ancients evolved, and their forms changed with time. At first, they turned into the Koco themselves, but their forms evolved until they turned into creatures you might know as... the Chao" she revealed.
"Chao?!" Sonic and Tails asked in disbelief.
"So... those little adorable creatures are actually evolved Ancients?!" Tails questioned. "This changes absolutely everything we believed about them!" he added with excitement.
"And that explains why they're connected to the God of Destruction, Chaos: because the Chao are the Ancients!" Sonic realized.
"Wow..." Pipp said. "All of this is incredibly well connected..." she pointed out. "Perhaps... that tapestry we found a while ago did predicted your arrival here" she added with a little smile.
"And with me being this 'chosen one' to destroy The End, it is clear that I was going to arrive, one way or another" Sonic added with a serious expression.
"So... without the Emeralds' power in Equis anymore, the islands' functions eventually shut down" Tails guessed, looking at Sage.
"That is why I drew them here" Sage confessed. "I hoped to use the Ancients' technology to stop the emergence of their old foe" she explained.
"And then we arrived..." Sonic said with a frown. "You didn't encaged my friends and tried to do the same with me because you were our enemy... in a way, you were trying to protect us, to prevent The End to escape from Cyber Space, even if that meant keeping us trapped there" he realized with concern.
"Again, if you didn't tried to be mysterious and directly told us all of this, we could have avoided a lot of problems" Pipp pointed out with a bored expression.
"I know that now... But I'm afraid we cannot change the past" Sage replied. "Perhaps you should move towards the Silver Chaos Emerald location now" she added suddenly,
"Why?" Tails questioned.
At that moment, Sonic's watch biped, and he pressed the button in front to answer the call.
"We have the Red and Light Blue Emeralds!" Knuckles' voice spoke.
"And we have the Yellow and Green ones!" Zipp's voice said as well.
"Great! Then let's meet on the Silver Emerald's location!" Sonic replied with a smile.
"On our way!" both Knuckles and Zipp replied before ending the call.
"Huh, guess you knew that they were–– Huh?" Pipp exclaimed, turning to see where Sage used to be, because she was gone now.
"I'm never getting used to her doing that all of a sudden..." Tails confessed with a bored expression.
"Yeah, me neither" Sonic added. "Anyways. Let's move! We're an Emerald away, and the sake of the world depends on us now! Besides, is getting dark, and we definitely shouldn't push this for anything!" he stated.
Tails and Pipp nodded in agreement, and then they all boosted towards the Silver' Emerald's light direction.
The entire gang reunited near some kind of closed cave with another control panel in front.
The others gave the Chaos Emeralds they found to Sonic, and he putted them away as they all walked towards Sage, who was next the control panel and facing them.
"The Chaos Emerald is inside" Sage said, referring to the cave. "Your power is required to access it" she told to Sonic.
"First, we've got to open that door" Sonic pointed out as he crossed his arms.
"Hey, Sage" Sunny called out. "Are you good with hanging around? I thought you were supposed to be looking after Eggman while he helps us hunt down the Emeralds?" she asked.
Sage turned to face Sunny. "I will be at his side when he needs me. For now, we must focus on the task at hand" she replied, then she looked back at Sonic. "Use your power to start the system. Hurry, our time is limited!" she pointed out with concern.
"Don't need to tell me twice!" Sonic stated with a smirk, moving towards the panel control.
One he was in front of the panel, he activated his electrical powers and started to type on the keyboard like a maniac at super sonic speed.
After a while, the panel started to smoke, then Sonic stepped backwards and the panel exploded, making the door of the cave to open up and show the way towards the Silver Emerald.
"Emerald number six! Here we come!" Sonic stated, adjusting his right glove and the boosting towards the cave.
"So..." Zipp called out, as she stood now at Sage's side. "Earlier you said we had zero chances of winning. You change your mind yet?" she asked to her with a smirk.
"No" Sage confessed. "But... I have not run a simulation on our present circumstances, either" she added with honesty.
"So you're saying there maybe is a chance?" Pipp asked next.
Sage shook her head and closed her eyes. "I am saying we are in a desperate situation. The threat we face is beyond imagination. They've been able to destroy thousands of planets before, and Equis is their next objective" she pointed out.
"Well, if Sonic does something better than anyone is to turn anyone's desperation into hope! He won't disappoint you on that, promise" Tails said with a confident smile.
"The little guy is right. Sonic may screw it often, but he knows how to turn the tables for everyone's safety" Knuckles added with a smirk as well.
Sage glitched again, with a little smile forming in her lips as well after hearing all of that.
Sonic reached the other side safely, and slowly but surely walked towards the Emerald.
Once in front of it, he extended his hand, and the Emerald came out from the tower directly and slowly descended until it landed on his hand.
Once Sonic putted the Emerald away, he noticed that the walls of this cave had many hieroglyphics around, telling both the story about the Owls and Hedgehogs friendship that surpassed generations, about a war against ponies that didn't wanted them, and of course, about the Ancients arrival and the discovery of the Chaos Emeralds.
"All these years you have suffered in silence, not able to rest..." Sonic muttered with sadness.
His sight stopped on a hieroglyphic that looked like Adam and Knave, looking at the sundown. Sonic smiled softly after seeing that.
"But now, I will avenge you. I was chosen to destroy The End for a reason... It's time to find out what that reason is" Sonic said with a determinate look.
After that, he turned to the exit of the cave, but stopped when he heard a sudden roar from the outside.
"And this looks like the proper time to do so!" Sonic said with a serious expression, before boosting out of the cave.
Outside, the entire group was staring at a group of trees that left an empty space in the middle.
The roar that Sonic heard seemed to come from there, and everyone in the island knew perfectly what that meant...
"The Titan awakens..." Knuckles said with a frown and his arms crossed.
Tails took out his Miles Electric and detected a strange energy coming from the Titan's direction. "And it seems like The End is controlling it!" he pointed out with concern.
"So, if the Titan is defeated, The End should be defeated too, right?" Hitch questioned.
"That should do it." Zipp stated with a frown.
"One more Emerald..." Sonic said. "We gotta hurry up!" He stated with a determinate look.
"Sonic!" Sage called out, making him and everyone else to turn and face her.
However, they also noticed that someone else arrived with her: Eggman, who slowly descended on his Eggmobile with a frustrated expression.
Sage turned to him and pointed with her hand at the group, while Eggman looked at her in annoyance.
"I know!" Eggman said annoyed, opening the capsule of his Eggmobile and getting down of it. He walked near Sage and looked sideways to the others with a frown. "You're not fast enough, so I found it for you" He stated.
Sonic, Tails and Zipp looked at him with a bored expression, Knuckles facepalmed in annoyance and the rest rolled their eyes.
Eggman looked back at them with annoyance, and then he took out the Purple Chaos Emerald. "Go ahead and beat that giant!" He ordered.
Then, he threw the Emerald into the air, before Sonic catch it with his right hand and looked at it for a minute before looking back at Eggman with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't you dare to lose it!" Eggman warned.
Sonic smirked at him and threw the Emerald again before catching it and pointed it at Eggman. "Now why would I want to disappoint you?" He stated with confidence.
Then, he putted the Emerald away, just to be surrounded by the seven Emeralds and elevated to the air, where the Emeralds entered his body and turned him in Super Sonic once again. Then, he boosted away, towards the group of trees that left an empty space in the middle.
Eggman rubbed his chin intrigued as he saw Super Sonic flying away, but when he saw that the everyone else raised their eyebrows at him, he immediately looked away with a frown, making Sage chuckle at his attitude and everyone else roll their eyes.
In the middle of the group of trees, 2 kind of drones appeared suddenly, as well as Supreme, the fourth Titan Sonic saw on his visions in Rhea Island.
Supreme was being controlled by The End, and it stomped strongly in the floor before roaring in anger.
Follow me I'm standing on the border of everything Listen close
Then, the Titan took out from its back a red sniper with a black protector.
Sonic looked at Supreme with a frown, boosting to get close to the Titan and finish this once and for all.
Can you hear the spirits sing Lost messages of long ago?
Around the Titan, six smaller drones surrounded it, and Sonic punched one of them like five or six times before it was completely destroyed. Then, he began to punch Supreme constantly, changing sometimes to a Wild Rush, some others to the Stomp Attack, and after charging the Phantom Rush and strike several punches at super sonic speed, he used Cross Slash, an attack were he circled the enemy and let loose a stream of shockwaves.
Leave the life you knew before See a new world worth fighting for Find the truth of who I'm meant to become Another path I must now walk on
After that, Supreme made the same spin attack that Giganto did on Kronos Island. Sonic managed to dodge it, but he was then shot by the two giant drones at Supreme's sides, and he was sent backwards in the air. He shook his head, and when he tried to boost back, he noticed that the six small drones aligned on a semicircle, and Supreme shoot 6 golden lasers.
I'm here Reaching far across these new frontiers With my life I fight this fear In my hands I hold the ones I love Walk forward through the cold dawn Always to new horizons
Sonic smirked and parried the six lasers at once, destroying the six drones at the same time and then boosting towards Supreme's face, where he punched the Titan multiple times before using a Loop Kick and then another Stomp Attack.
That was enough to trigger Supreme, as the enemy roared in anger, and then three pillars came out from its shoulders, letting out red sparkles as they started to create something... but it wasn't lasers like the other Titans. Instead, what Supreme created with those pillars were two massive pink wings that elevated it from the ground.
Once it was high enough, it extended its arms and looked directly at Sonic, who frowned at Supreme as the Titan roared once again and began to fly across the island, just like Wyvern did on Ares Island.
Come with me We'll travel through the trials and tragedy Blessed and bleak
Sonic followed the Titan, that seemed to be trying to fly away from him. Then, the drones flying around Supreme began to shoot golden spiky diamonds to him. Sonic started to dodge said diamonds, and then he used Spin Slash in one of the drones, immediately destroying it.
Can you hear the spirits shout The secrets in their melodies?
Unfortunately, Supreme stopped flying abruptly, and the Titan punched Sonic , sending him flying backwards and very far away. Sonic shook his head, and then he noticed the drones aligning as a semicircle again.
Dream Explore the mysteries Breathe A new life is revealed to me
Six lasers were launched in pairs against Sonic, who parried the first pair, destroying two drones in the process. Then, he parried the next two lasers, that also destroyed other two drones, and the last two drones also got destroyed when Sonic parried the last pair of lasers.
Once again we'll start our story anew Don't be afraid, I will be with you
After that, Sonic immediately began to punch Supreme's face again, also repeating his Wild Rush attack, then punched the Titan again and proceed to use Spin Slash on its chest.
I'm here Reaching far across these new frontiers With my life I fight this fear
After that, Sonic used a combo of different attacks at once: Homing Shot, Wild Rush, Cross Slash, Cyclone Kick, another Spin Slash, Loop Quick and then finished with a Stomp attack.
In my hands I hold the ones I love Walk forward through the cold dawn Always to new horizons
After that, Supreme tried to make Giganto's spin attack again, but Sonic parried it in time, and then he used the same signature move he used with Giganto of Spindashing on the Titan's face, then moved to the air and multiply his body to finish up with multiple Stomp Attacks made by his copies and himself.
Supreme punched Sonic away, but really, really far away, since Sonic was now flying over the ocean, far from Ouranos Island.
He recovered quickly and boosted back to the island, but then Supreme took out its sniper and pointed at Sonic, then shoot a massive and potent golden laser to him, that flew across the sky at super sonic speed. However, Sonic dodged the attack like if it was nothing, and then boosted towards Supreme, punching the Titan on its face again.
Then, Sonic used Cyclone Kick on the Titan's face, followed by Homing Shot. That seemed to leave Supreme stunned, since it started to wobble on its place, and so, Sonic decided to use this as and advantage to punch the Titan one last time on its face.
Standing here The way ahead's becoming clear
The Titan looked at the sky and roared... but what kind of roar was that?
Pain? Regret? Hate? Anger? All of these emotions? None of them? It was hard to tell.
The Titan stepped back a bit as it wobbled in pain, before letting out a second roar, this one announcing its defeat by Super Sonic.
All across these new frontiers In my hands I hold the ones I love Walk forward through the cold dawn Always to new horizons
Slowly, and still with its head looking at the sky, Supreme kneeled in the ground and made the entire island rumble, then its head slowly descended until it faced the ground, and all of the Titan's systems turned off entirely.
Suddenly, from Supreme's body came out a dark aura that began to ascend towards space, until it left the Titan's body completely empty.
Speaking of empty, that's exactly how Sonic felt right now. Defeating the Titan was incredibly easy, compared to the rest. Usually, he wouldn't complain, but... this Titan was supposed to be controlled by an entity that destroyed thousands of planets and civilizations, and yet, he defeated this Titan in 4 minutes more or less... it was too simple to be over...
Also, the fact that the other Titans exploded while this one just turned off didn't helped, either.
"Is that it?" Sonic questioned confused, not willing to believe this was over just like that.
In the distance, the others saw Sonic staring at the Titan, also feeling confused about why it didn't exploded like the others.
"Where's the big explosion?" Izzy asked confused. "Isn't that supposed to happen right now?" She added.
"It should've..." Knuckles pointed out with concern, also crossing his arms.
"The lectures of the Titan are... normal, I guess, but The End's stats haven't decreased... at all!" Tails pointed out with worry, staring at his Miles Electric with a worried frown. "In fact, they're growing within seconds! Whatever Sonic did, it didn't destroyed it!" He explained with concern.
"But then what do we do now?!" Sunny asked with worry. "If we don's stop that thing, the entire planet is going to blow up!"
"So far it was an easy job... why did it complicated so suddenly?!" Hitch groaned.
"Because we didn't did anything." Sage said with worry. "All we did was chase it out of its shelf. It's retreating into space to regain its true form. Even Super Sonic won't be able to stop it." She pointed out concerned.
"But what about that prophecy Sonic saw?!" Pipp questioned desperate. "It said he's the one who will destroy The End! Why are you saying now that he won't be enough?!"
"Because The End has become stronger." Sonic said, as he suddenly joined the conversation. "Chaos Energy isn't enough to defeat an entity like him. We need something else to backfire him..." He added, now looking at Sage with a concerned frown.
Somehow, Sage got what Sonic was trying to tell her with his eyes, and his nod to her only confirmed what she already suspected, which caused her body to glitch again. She nodded back, and then she turned to see Eggman, who was frowning and had his arms crossed.
"I know what I must do. I must... leave you..." Sage told him with sadness, and the doctor seemed to grab one of his arms with more strength than he would like to.
After everything Sage did for him, after all the hard work and the amazing results he got from her... now he had to let her go. And, deep down, a part of him felt that this wasn't an 'until the next time', but a 'goodbye'.
"I understand..." Eggman finally replied, and sadness was everything he could felt, even if he tried to hide it. "Go fulfill your... function." He added, not daring to look Sage at her eyes.
Sage herself resisted the urge to cry a river, but then she turned away completely and her body glimmered brightly. Then, she boosted towards Supreme, and Sonic was going to follow her, but then he turned to see Eggman... and for the very first time, he actually felt bad for the doctor.
After hearing the memos, and after seeing the kind of relationships they had... Sonic knew Eggman didn't wanted Sage to go with him, just like any parent will hate their child to do something reckless or dangerous. And yet, he still allowed her because the situation at hand right now was the sake of the world.
So, Sonic followed Sage, but stopped in front of Supreme when he saw Sage entering into the Titan's body, activating it again and controlling it. The red light's from Supreme's body changed to light blue in this occasion, perhaps because they were controlled by someone else now, who really knows.
"Hurry! Before it regains its full strength!" Sage told Sonic with concern.
"Ladies first!" Sonic replied with a confident smirk.
Sage turned on Supreme's engines, and then the Titan's rocket's from its back roared before making the Titan boosting towards space, with Sonic following up at the exact same speed.
As they turned in just two glowing points in the sky, the others looked on with expectation that Sonic and Sage will defeat the Titans.
"Take care, Blue Star..." Pipp muttered with worry.
"Be careful... dear daughter..." Eggman muttered with concern and a worried frown.
In space, the moon began to be covered by something... another moon.
However, this 'moon' seemed smaller, it had a purple color, and it seemed to move on its own, so it wasn't neither an actual moon nor a planet... it was The End.
But why a moon, you might wonder? Well, there's no actual form to The End. It never shows its real form, and from person to person, The End's 'true form' varies, altering their perception to appear as a visual representation of what they perceive death itself to look like.
Sonic and Sage were approaching The End at top speed, and then Sonic began to remember everything he saw: the Koco dying, the warriors dying, his ancestor sacrifice, everything he saw and experimented on the islands... when he opened his eyes, he felt anger going through his entire body, and he was ready to unleash that anger on The End.
"He took your home world! He took your lives!" Sonic began to speak with the spirits of the fallen Ancients, Owls and Hedgehogs. "Are you going to let him do it all over again?! I need your help! We can end this! Please!" He begged, while Supreme at his side, controlled by Sage, took out the sniper and pointed it to The End.
As Sage began to shoot light and dark matter lasers against the enemy, Sonic stood near by in case things got out of hand.
"Mortal..." The End spoke, and Sonic felt surprised to hear the voice that guided him again, but he frowned in anger once he remembered who he was dealing with. "You have served your purpose. Now face your end. I am the all-consuming void. What can one mote of golden light illuminate within the abyss?" The End said, with his voice distorting.
"Oh great... big bad guy monologue cliché..." Sonic complained with a deadpan, also rolling his eyes.
"Countless stars. Countless worlds. Countless lives... all fell to me. All brought to nothing. All the teeming chaos of creation... brought to order. To neutrality. To nothing." The End kept talking, and now Sonic started to feel two things:
The first one; The End's monologue wasn't the cliché he was so sure it will be, it was terrifying, menacingly even. And the second one; he got a clear vision of The End's morality. He didn't destroyed things because he can, he destroys them because the universe started as nothing, and The End's mission is to return everything to be that: nothing.
"I saw your mind as you ran through my prison. You have fought machines and gods, they were mighty. They were finite. I am infinite. I am nothing." The End spoke again, with his voice and tone being more terrifying with each second he spoke.
Suddenly, The End's body began to glow bright, making both Sage and Sonic to stop moving, and Sage stopped the Titan from attacking.
"You struggle as so many have done before. You will be consumed, like all those before you." The End kept talking, as its form began to change. "I saw your mind, your courage never wavered. Why? Arrogance? Ignorance? Stupidity? I was contained once. Once. Is that why?" He added.
The moon form of The End disappeared... and what he turned into was far, far worse than a talking purple planet: He transformed into a creature with the long body of a purple snake, but his head was resembling a dragon with purple eyes and teeth, with three glowing pink scales on his forehead and three more on his parietal bone. Also, twelve long pink tails came out if his head, working as some kind of hair. The End turned into a monster, ready to destroy Equis once and for all.
The worst part? This wasn't his true form, either.
"My captors bent time and space. My captors built a whole reality to contain me. My captors burned their souls away to fuel their engines." The End spoke, making Sonic frown in anger as he boosted alone against him. "And you?" The End added.
Sonic charged up Wild Rush, the punched the creature's face and then Used Spin Slash, but that did little not nothing to the enemy.
"You glitter. You fly about me like a nat." The End said in an even more menacing tone, if that was even possible.
After that, The End moved and made the same 'tail attack' from Wyvern, but he did it so quick and sudden that Sonic wasn't able to dodge the attack, and he got sent backwards.
He shook his head, and then he boosted back against The End. The enemy used his 'hair' to create several missiles and launch them to Sonic. Those were easy to dodge for the hedgehog, but the The End made the same bite move Giganto did on Kronos Island.
Sonic used his hands and feet to separate the teeth of The End and prevent to be swallowed, but after he kicked The End's face, the enemy launched a massive laser towards him, once again sending Sonic backwards, as he crashed against Supreme's chest.
"Sonic!" Sage exclaimed with worry.
"What the heck is happening? I can barely touch that thing!" Sonic complained.
"The End is a powerful entity." Sage pointed out. "If we want to destroy him, we need to coordinate our attacks." She explained.
"So a team up, huh? Sounds good to me!" Sonic stated with a smirk. "Sage, get his attention with that sniper of yours. He would be too focused on dodging your attacks to even notice me!" He instructed.
Supreme nodded, and Sage took out the Titan's sniper, pointing it at The End.
Sonic then boosted to the left instead of moving forward, causing confusion on The End, who returned his sight to Sage and Supreme's sniper, that shoot a massive golden laser against The End. The enemy charged up a laser himself and shoot it back at Sage.
A war to gain strength over the other began, with The End being a lot superior since his lis laser was outmatching Supreme's, but then something hit him on his face, and with his mouth still open, he ended up swallowing the golden laser from Supreme, getting damage on his insides.
The End turned and saw Super Sonic smirking, since he was the one who punched him in the first place, and then Sonic used Homing Shot, followed by Cross Slash.
Then, Supreme putted the sniper away and grabbed The End from his abdomen and head, while The End fought to get free from Supreme's grip. Sonic then charged up his Spindash and began to attack The End several times at super sonic speed.
But eventually, The End got tired of games, and it slapped Sonic away with his tail, leaving the hedgehog unconscious for a couple of minutes.
In that little time, The End got free from Supreme's grip, and he even bitted the left arm of the Titan, ripping it off entirely and causing a lot of damage to it. The End also launched another massive laser towards Supreme, damaging more the Titan, sending it backwards and shooting it down for a few minutes.
"Sage!" Sonic shouted, then he looked back at The End with rage, boosting against the Enemy once again.
However, what he got in response was another massive laser launched by The End, so he stopped midway and placed his arms together to try and protect himself. But the attack was so powerful that Sonic was struggling, and despite having the power of the Chaos Emeralds all over his body, he could feel how his skin began to burn because of the laser.
Sonic was actually suffering in pain, and as much as he tried to move or dodge the laser like with Giganto, the pain became worse and worse, until he was screaming in agony and pain.
"I... I cannot lose this!" Sonic managed to say. "I-It cannot end like this... I cannot end like this..." He added, letting out tears of pain.
"Don't give up just now!" his own voice, but a lot deeper, told him suddenly on his mind.
Sonic got startled by the sudden call. "...Knave?" He questioned in disbelief.
"You're almost there, kid!" another voice spoke, and he could tell it was Adam's voice.
"My dear Sonic..." Another voice said... Longclaw's voice. "You have got this far. Show him who you really are. Show him you're not like any other threat he destroyed. Show him with who he's dealing with." She said in an inspiring tone.
Sonic smiled softly at hearing his mother's voice, and he looked at The End with a frown once again, getting surrounded by Chaos Energy and now creating a golden shield that protected his body from The End's attack. However, he soon enough saw a giant hand also protecting him from the laser, and when he looked sideways to his back, he smiled when he saw Sage controlling Supreme's remaining arm to return the laser to The End, which is exactly what they did.
The End got impacted by his own attack, and what it caused was... well... The End's skin got completely burned, his 'hair' was entirely separated from his body and half os his face was destroyed.
Sonic frowned and looked at The End, waiting for it to do something, anything... but all he got was some coughs and a try to speak from the enemy.
"I am inevitable... I cannot be denied..." The End spoke weakly, slowly raising his head to face Sonic, who looked back at him with a frown and a deadly glare. "You strike this incarnation with all your might. It changes nothing" He said, and Sonic growled in anger. "You are not brave, you are not victorious. No matter what form I take... The End comes for you all." He finished, as he stared back at Sonic with pure hate and anger.
"Now or never!" Sonic stated with a determinate look.
Then, Supreme grabbed Sonic with the remaining hand, and then, the Titan launched him at super sonic speed against The End's open mouth. Sonic literally passed from The End's face to destroy his tail as he came out of that zone... but when Sonic turned around, he felt terrified when he saw that The End was about to explode, probably planning to launch itself against Equis and destroy it along with this form.
Sage also saw that, and she also felt terrified. "NO!" She shouted.
Then, she boosted with Supreme's damaged body towards The End, which body was about to explode.
"Sage!" Sonic shouted, moving towards her and trying to stop her. "What are you doing?!" He questioned to her with concern.
But Sage didn't replied anything. Instead, she gave him an mp3 player, whispered something to him and then she grabbed him again, launched him towards Equis and boosted back to The End.
Inside of the Titan, she seemed to feel bad for what she was going to do, but she still did it with a smile.
Soon enough, Supreme crashed against The End, and once the creature exploded, he and Sage were completely gone.
"Please... look after... father..." Is what Sage whispered to Sonic before he was launched towards Equis.
In Ouranos Island, everyone else saw The End's explosion.
"Whoa!" Hitch exclaimed.
"Did he did it?" Sunny asked.
"Apparently!" Tails said with a little smile.
"Can anyone see him?" Pipp asked desperate.
Suddenly, a shower of stars began in the sky, with thousands of stars moving and moving on at fast paste. One of them seemed to be moving towards them... in fact, it was moving.
That's because this wasn't a star: It was Sonic, descending at fast paste towards his friends, also smirking victorious.
As he approached the ground, the Chaos Emeralds left his body, and this time they spread around the entire world, while Sonic himself landed on the ground safely. Collecting the Emeralds again was going to be tricky for sure, but let's not focus on that right now.
Once Sonic was safe on the ground, he looked at the shower of stars in the sky with sadness, but then he was suddenly embraced on a hug by both Tails and Pipp again. The difference this time is that now everyone else joined in, and while Sonic appreciated the intention, he was running out of breath.
Once they all let him go, Sonic couldn't help but smile and chuckle a bit. After all he went through just so he could save his friends, he finally did it. They were all safe, and with The End defeated for now, this entire adventure was finally over... well, except for one little thing that made him feel sad again.
"Sonic?" Pipp called out when she noticed his expression.
Sonic slowly looked back to the sky, fighting the urge to cry a river. "Sage... She... She launched me, and then... I couldn't even..." He tried to say, but the words simply didn't came out of his mouth.
Pipp simply hugged him again, while Sonic while he felt a lump in his throat as he kept staring at the shower of stars.
"Maybe I gave The End the final blow... But Sage... she was the one who saved us all..." Sonic said with sadness.
Now the others seemed to understand what was bugging him, and they felt sad for Sage as well. Perhaps they didn't knew her that much, but at the end of the day, everything she did was to protect a loved one... to protect Eggman, her creator... her father.
Speaking of him, Sonic looked sideways that he was kneeling in the edge of a cliff, not so far from there.
Eggman then stood up and looked at the shower of stars, then he extended his right arm to the sky... and immediately looked down with sadness and grief.
Sonic walked towards him and stood at his side for a few seconds before finally say something. "She told me to look after you... Ivo." He said with a serious expression, before pulling out the mp3 player she gave him and extended it to Eggman. "She also gave me this before she... Whatever it has recorded, I think it's fair if you're the first one to hear it. You are her father, after all." He added with a compassionate look.
Eggman took the mp3 player carefully, and simply nodded to Sonic. Despite still wearing glasses, Sonic could perfectly tell that he was crying, or he was sad at least. Still, he sighed and turned around before walking back with his friends.
Once Eggman pressed the play button, the sad piano melody made his heart broke already. He felt the urge of crying, but he still resisted.
Sonic also stopped suddenly, and he felt guilty for Sage's sacrifice... but he couldn't do anything now, and so, he resumed his walk.
Father, I just wanna tell you Thank you for all that you've given me I'm really going to miss you I hope you're not mad at me
Took me time to realize My heart is for what data can't do Feelings growing deep inside They've taught me what it means to love you
I know now that love is beautiful I know now the reason why these tears fall from my eyes This is goodbye I'm happy to have been your creation, to have been your child
Father I wanted to make you proud Father I will keep you safe I wish I could've found a way to stay with you forever Then maybe we... could be a family born of love
Be a family born of love Be a family born of love Be a family born of love
Hope that you feel the same 'Til we meet again Hope that you feel the same 'Til we meet again Thank you for everything
Eggman felt tears falling from his own eyes, and then he launched the mp3 player to the sea out of anger.
After hearing that song, he was devastated... but he wouldn't let these sad feelings stop him. He closed his right fist with a determinate look, because he was planning to bring back Sage, one way or another...
No one was going to stand on his way to bring her back. Nor Sonic, nor Opaline, nor anyone else.
After a few days of work, the Mane 5 and Team Sonic managed to restore the Tornado IV.
Tails insisted that he didn't wanted to redo the entire thing with just a snap, that he wanted the actual plane that got destroyed when he arrived to the islands with Sonic, Sunny and Zipp.
And so, they returned to Kronos Island and managed to do that: the three seats of the plane, the 4 blade propeller, everything was restored, and Tails only used his powers to only restore some slight and minor details.
But as he checked on the engine for a last minute pre-fly check, Sonic stared to the sunrise with a smile, sitting on the ground and laying his head over Pipp's who was sitting at his side as she covered his back with her wing.
"It's hard to believe it's finally over." Pipp commented after a while.
"Yeah... these have been the two wildest weeks of my life." Sonic said with a smirk, then he looked back at Pipp. "But I'm glad it's finally over. I could get you and the others out of Cyber Space." He added, slightly raising Pipp's chin a little, but not daring to make the first move to kiss her.
If he knew at least something about a relationship, is that he always has to ask consent from his lover if he wanted to do even the slightest move, or at least at first that is. Still, he never kissed Pipp if she didn't wanted him to, so most of the time it was her who made the first move.
However, this time she could appreciate that at least he tried, and then she leaned to crush her lips against his. Sonic moved his hand from Pipp's chin to her cheek and caressed her softly, while Pipp placed a hoof on his chest.
They placed their foreheads together and smiled after they broke their kiss... but even if they both had their eyes closed, Pipp could sense that something was wrong with Sonic, because he usually said something flirty of dorky after kissing with her, and this wasn't the case.
"... Blue Star?" Pipp called out, opening her eyes, and once Sonic opened his and looked at her, she could see worry and a bit of sadness on them. "What's wrong?" She asked him.
Sonic didn't replied immediately, and instead took his time before finally replying. "Sage..." he confessed. "Pipp, she sacrificed her life to save us all... to save me, and to save Eggman... and I couldn't stop her... I-I couldn't save her..." He explained with concern. "I just wish... I just wish I could have done something... anything..." He finished.
Pipp understood now, and smiled softly at him before kissing his chin, making Sonic smile unconsciously. "Blue Star, that wasn't your fault. And, judging by how determinate she was to protect Eggman, I think nothing you said or tried to do could save her. Still, I understand why it bugs you, and let me promise you that I'll be here for you if it keeps making you upset, okay?" She told him with a bright smile.
Sonic couldn't help but smile and finally kiss her with no precaution, while Pipp returned the kiss with a smile. "I don't deserve you, Little Pipp." He said with honesty.
"I should be the one saying that, handsome~" Pipp said on a flirty tone, making Sonic chuckle at her attitude. But then, Pipp frowned with worry all of a sudden. "Do you think... do you think you really defeated him?" She asked.
"Who? The End?" Sonic questioned, and Pipp nodded slowly. "Honestly... I don't think so. He said that destroying that form changed nothing, so... I guess we'll eventually run to him again." He said with a frown, before looking back at Pipp and smiling. "But until then, I say we just enjoy our time together, as we always do. And when he returns, we'll be ready to confront him again, and if possible, defeat him for sure!" He assured to her with a smile.
Pipp smiled back, and once again leaned to kiss Sonic, who returned the kiss to her.
Eventually, they both stood up and walked back with the rest, who seemed to already have finished the Tornado IV, and they also smiled at the couple arriving.
"So... that was fun!" Sonic said with a mocking smirk and a relaxed tone.
Everyone else groaned after hearing that. Tails denied with his head and with a worried expression; Knuckles and Izzy just looked on with bored expressions; Sunny placed a hoof on her face and denied with it, Hitch and Zipp facepalmed, and Pipp looked at him with boredom before kicking him with one of her hind hooves and scold him with a glare, that caused no effect on him since his smirk just got bigger and he even raised an eyebrow.
"But I guess it's time we got moving." Sonic added, now placing his fist on his hip and smiling normally at the rest. "I know you all have big plans." He pointed out.
"You're gonna hardly recognize me when we see each other again!" Tails assured with a smile, while Sonic smirked at him.
"I'll be a little busy traveling around Equestria, so you might not see me in a while." Sunny said with a smile.
"I can't wait to be finally back home. Maretime Bay cannot be protected without the sheriff, after all!" Hitch said, smiling as well.
"I think I will tag along with Tails for a while. There are still some parts of Equestria I will love to explore and research." Zipp said with a smirk.
"It'll be good to get back doing my rounds. At least... for a while." Knuckles said with a smirk as well, and Izzy chuckled at his side.
Sonic couldn't help but smile brightly, so he jumped to the plane's wing and looked on with optimism. "We're wasting daylight. Let's go!" He stated confidently.
After that, Tails sat on the pilot's seat, with Hitch sitting behind him with Sparky and the critters, while Izzy sat behind Hitch. Knuckles stood on the other wing of the plane, and Sunny summoned her Alicorn form to fly along Zipp and Pipp.
Then, Tails turned the Tornado IV on and flew off from the island, making a quick loop in the air before boosting back to Equestria, with Sunny, Zipp and Pipp following behind.
The skies ahead Are vast and clear I hold my breath Step up a gear
Feel the wind Smell the air Chances are Everywhere
Our sights are set Beyond the moon We'll show the world What we can do
Dreams are big Eyes are wide Hear the voice Deep inside
Obstacles are no excuse Come with me, there's nothing to lose Turbulence won't stop us We'll keep pulling through
Challenges life throws our way Make us even stronger today This is how we ignite
Boost your spirit off the ground I'm a spark that won't go out We can go much higher now Gravity can't hold us down We're only at the beginning of this One Way Dream
Ignite Dreams To life
They said we'd break They said we'd lose But here we are What else is new?
Stronger with Every fall Faster with Every mile
You and me we're built on trust That's why we can always get up Even if they laugh we'll never Bite the dust
Heads up high reach for the top Give it everything that you've got This is how we ignite
Boost your spirit off the ground I'm a spark that won't go out We can go much higher now Gravity can't hold us down We're only at the beginning of this One Way Dream
Ignite Dreams To life
Boost your spirit off the ground I'm a spark that won't go out We can go much higher now Gravity can't hold us down
We're only at the beginning of this One Way Dream
Eggman spent an extra week on the Starfall Islands.
When The End was destroyed along Sage, the entire Ancient tech was deactivated, Cyber Space included. However, Eggman managed to hack the entire data base of the islands and reactivated it. But how?
Well, it was a large and difficult process, but by connecting all the possible cables he could extract from all the assets he sent across the islands to some Cyber Space portals from Ouranos Island, and then connect said portals to a new computer created exclusively for Cyber Space, he managed to gain access to said place once again.
Now, he was typing on his computer at fast paste, trying to find the files from a certain girl he just got attached to.
When he first realized how 'weak' he became after treating Opaline for dismissing Misty's job, he got a bit scared that this newfound parent side of his will make him regret the idea of create the Eggman Empire...
Big was his surprise when the exact opposite happened.
Protecting Misty and creating Sage didn't made his desires to fade away, no: they boosted even more, because he wasn't making this just for himself, he was creating this to give them a home, an actual home were to grow. No more nonsense battles with Sonic, no more loses, no more defeats; just a place where he could be 'trusted' and were he could see Misty and Sage become better than he ever was.
Loosing Sage that way... destroyed him in ways not even he knew were possible. However, he was also reasonable here, and didn't hated Sonic because of her sacrifice. After all, Sonic seemed to feel bad that he couldn't stop her, so it was clear to him that Sage decided to made that last move by herself... all so she could protect him.
Eggman stopped typing on his keyboard all of a sudden...
He apparently found Sage's code on the Cyber Space data, which did gave him a bit of joy, but... he was also afraid, afraid that Sage will still remember the last thing she did, her sacrifice...
And that's something he couldn't allow, something he wouldn't allow. He tapped something else on the keyboard: a memory eraser code. Sage will still remember everything up to the point where Sonic defeated The End controlling Supreme. Everything else that happened after that battle will be completely erased.
As far as Sage knows: she never piloted Supreme, she never fought The End along Super Sonic, she never went to space, she didn't sacrificed herself to save the entire world and she never made a goodbye lullaby song to Eggman.
It was the perfect plan, nothing could go wrong with this, or that's what Eggman says so.
So, after creating this memory eraser code, Eggman tapped the 'enter' button on his keyboard. And slowly, his computer began to glitch and make weird sounds.
The same strange logo that Sonic and company saw whenever a Koco's soul rested in peace appeared on his computer after a few glitches... and then, a voice spoke.
"F-Father...?" Sage called out... she was back.
Eggman smiled brightly at this, and even resisted the urge to cry. "That's my girl." He said with happiness.
Sound the alarm Shatter me like glass Covered in scars But roses are coming through the cracks
Time that you killed You promised to help me rebuild It caught me off guard Sound the alarm
Said you’d keep me safe, now you’re tearing me down Am I laid to waste, now that you’re not around? Come and leave your mark Vandalize my heart
Fight the pain away, my head is in ruins Need you in my veins, don't know how you do it Come and leave your mark Vandalize my heart
Did we make a work of art just so you could deface it? Did you let it fall apart just so you could replace it? Had your name on the side of a burning bridge Watch it fade when the smoke rolls in
Time that you killed You promised to help me rebuild It feels like you planned it Took us for granted, oh
Said you’d keep me safe, now you’re tearing me down Am I laid to waste, now that you’re not around? Come and leave your mark Vandalize my heart
Fight the pain away, my head is in ruins Need you in my veins, don't know how you do it Come and leave your mark (come and leave your mark) Vandalize my heart
Oh, you’re freaking crazy Hate me, love you, breaking bottles on the pavement Just to watch it crash
Said you’d keep me safe, now you’re tearing me down Am I laid to waste, now that you’re not around? Come and leave your mark Vandalize my heart
Fight the pain away, my head is in ruins Need you in my veins, don't know how you do it Come and leave your mark (come and leave your mark) Vandalize my heart
Said you’d keep me safe, now you’re tearing me down Am I laid to waste, now that you’re not around? Come and leave your mark (come and leave your mark)
