Ruby Haze [Archie Sonic SI]

[weredrago2]

I've got an update on Chapter 17. Namely, that I made an error on it.

Basically, I tried to use a fancy text effect on the passage of the magic book the SI was reading, but it came out as a bunch of periods and commas. I don't think QQ supports the effect I was trying to use, so I've updated the section to something more readable. You can see what it says below:

The basic principles of these Ixian arts are derived from the very essence of nature. Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. With mastery over the elements of Mobius comes the mastery of chaos itself. Chaos is power, controlled by your will. With a deep power stone in your possession, the gateway to the crystalline magicks becomes open.

Click to shrink...

As for Chapter 19, it is currently in progress. Stay tuned!

 

[weredrago2]

Ruby Haze
Chapter 19: Burnout at Both Ends

The moment we were out of Hideaway, I knew I only had so much time and power to burn before the main event. I kept a stable portal up so that we could move people and material back and forth as needed. It was a steady drain on my power, but one consistent portal was less intensive than ripping open multiple portals in rapid succession. The strain only increased with portal size, numbers, transported mass, and frequency. Otherwise, I'd repeat that trick where I vanished a few robians into Null Space on the whole army.

♦ 65

The first ambush site was at the new northwestern edge of Deerwood Forest, where the former treeline was beaten flat by a fresh round of clearcutting and firebombing. The High Sheriff has made gradual progress into the heart of the forest, but the fact that there were still seemingly endless acres to go was a testament to how 'ever' these evergreens could get. The second site was easier to defend, being that the most expedient route to Villa Stella included a bridge over a frozen river. Blow up the bridge, and the heavy metal minions fall through the ice into the drink.

Using my newfound influence over water, I lifted up curtains of snowdrift while the Crazy Kritters and the Maquis set down the black, spiked mines Bean was handing them from… somewhere. With a snap of the kooky bird's fingers, the minefields were primed. I used bright, illusory markers to remind everyone where not to step. Bark and I then took strips of metal and bent them into jagged knots. I did the first, and Bark followed my lead.

"Prithee, what didst thou call these unconventional obstacles again?" Rob asked.

"They're hedgehogs," I answered with a wry smile. I was saving that one for when it felt like we could use an ease in tensions. Friar Buck was better at puns and bolstering the spirits of the rebels, but it was deemed better that he stayed behind in case the worst happened. The joke got a smile out of the king and a hearty laugh from the bard bugs.

Figment returned from an aerial sweep of the Outlands as we were placing the last traps at both sites, and Fiona Fox got back from her scouting run of the road to Snottingham not long after that. The two of them did recon under an invisibility spell I cast on them.

"They're a few minutes out," Fiona reported, as she stowed her airboard and high-tech binoculars in the bushes. "About three SWATbot platoons, a pair of sky bikes, a hover wagon, and no sign of the super badnik."

"Same thing on Figment's end," I replied with no small amount of annoyance.

My familiar clicked his beak, flicking his wings up and down. Was he apprehensive? Afraid?

Chin up, Figment. We'll get through this.

He bobbed his head up and down, fanning his tail. That was an aggressive gesture, followed by Figment projecting an equally aggressive image of him tossing a hammer at my head.

Alright, alright. You aren't afraid. You're what, ticked off? At the SWATbots?

The next pictures Figment sent were of a clean, blue sky. I was initially disoriented, until I realized this was not a hypothetical, but a memory.

Figment looked to his back, filled with pride for the rest of his flock in formation. They were migrating east, in search of a good place to roost on their long journey home, when a dark silhouette stole away the sun. Figment only had a moment to look up, and the next thing he saw out of his left eye was the flash of a steel talon raking it out.

You're expecting an attack from the air. Like the raptor hawk.

He clicked his tongue in affirmation.

And… I'm sorry that happened to you.

The flicky quivered slightly, before backing off from the psychic line. I initially thought that Figment was found by himself because Amy said his kind were rare in Eurish. She filled me in on the fact that the Flickies migrated throughout Mobius to other realms via portals, like in 3D Blast. I didn't push him further for more information, because his feelings about the matter clearly weren't something he wanted to get into now.

I went back through the portal to the Outlands and informed the Mercian rebels that the badniks were almost there. With an additional suggestion to keep their eyes on the sky.

"Keep thine wits about thee, pilgrims," Rob o' the Hedge said to his kingdom's defenders. "I suspect we shall have need of them."

A black remote with a big, red button on top was tossed through the portal in my direction.

"Here's the detonator!" Bean shouted. "Have fun!"

I scrambled to catch it before it landed button-first. Once it was secured, I then gently handed the detonator to Rob.

"Thine choice of myrmidons has been… eccentric, to say the least."

"Cheap. Effective. Free of quirks. Pick two."

"Verily."

Rob, Presto, and Chat were going to be the first ones to run in and strike the badniks from their flanks after the bridge went down. Cadence would provide cover from the air by dropping grenades on the armored targets that avoided the traps or could keep themselves floating above the ice. Fifi will provide cover from the hill with her laser rifle. Everyone was ready to enter their fighting positions when I stopped them.

"Real quick, I have one last thing to do."

"Then have a care and be quick about it," Monsieur Chat said curtly.

He had a point. Instead of saying what I was going to do, I channeled the energies of the Phantom Ruby into a pink aura around each of them.

"Mon dieu!" Fifi exclaimed.

The aura stretched around them, transforming into a bright pink force bubble. With further adjustments, the protective sphere became nearly imperceptible.

"Barrier spell," I explained quickly. "It should block a solid hit, but no more than that."

"That didn't take much out a' ya, did it?" asked Presto.

"We wouldn't want ya exhaustin' yerself fer our sake," Cadence said.

"It's not a problem."

♦ 55

"Then your warding spell is much appreciated." He then turned to the rest of the Mercian fighters. "Prepare thyselves! The enemy approaches from the north!"

I took that as my cue to leave, returning to the mystically-camouflaged area where Fiona's team and I would be taking our places for the ambush. Figment was staying behind so that the two teams still had a line of communication. If something went wrong, he'd give me the message to switch venues. Minutes later, the SWATbot company finally came into view.

This was my first time encountering SWATbots, and the metallic enforcers weren't too far from what I remembered. They were tall, armored humanoids with spiked domes for heads. Their helmets had a single red camera eye built into the visor, granting them the profile and depth perception of the mythical cyclops. The bad aim of their singular wrist blasters was hardly a factor when they overwhelmed their foes in a tide of laser fire.

Like Fiona said, this company had two SWATbots on air bikes leading the front, followed by an armored hovervan. The rest marched on foot. They were less than uniform in makeup. I recognized the classic white-and-gray SWATbots, a few in all-black paint jobs, and then a couple of ramshackle ones in warm hats and mittens. Those couldn't be the SWATbots from Sonic Christmas Blast, right? Whatever. It's not important.

The company slowed down as they stepped into Deerwood Forest. As they entered the kill zone. We needed to time this right, to maximize the impact. Bark did a warm-up stretch. Fiona had one hand on the detonator, and another on her holstered blaster.

Several specialist SWATbots with red hot flame decals on their armor departed from the troop carrier and started walking towards the trees. Not close enough yet. Bean looked at Fiona, the SWATbots, then me, and finally, the Phantom Ruby on my glove.

"Hey Mister Scarlet!" Bean shouted in an approximation of Dennis the Menace. "Can I hold that shiny rock you have there?"

Thankfully, I've learned to make these things completely soundproof since last time.

"No, Bean. You cannot."

Several more SWATbots entered their positions for the deforestation mission. Bean siddled a bit closer to me so he could better bask in the Ruby's magenta radiance.

"Oh, come on! How about a little touch?"

"Bean, drop it," Fiona said, her thumb hovering over the detonator. "I need to time this perfectly."

I tried to ignore Bean's antics the best I could. Bean, like the other two, was very good at what he did. He was trickier to wrangle, but I thought I had a handle on him.

"There's gonna be a lot of stimulation out there in a couple of seconds, alright? Try to think about that instead."

The badniks fired up their flamethrowers and prepared to wish us Deerwood Forrest a very warm Christmas. Bean counted on his fingers for a couple of seconds to pass before grabbing my hand and pressing the Phantom Ruby to his face!

"Just a peek!"

"G-Get off me!" I said in a sudden panic.

My left arm reeled back on instinct, causing Bean to go airborne and kick Fiona's hand, jolting the detonator button in shock! Bark tried to pry Bean off of my hand before something regrettable happened, but by that point it was too late.

♦ !!

Suddenly, everything around us was enveloped in an all-consuming explosion! Incendiary, fragmentary, chemical, and even atomic!

(Or plastique, if you're into it. If it's got a fuse, who am I to refuse?)

Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah! All of it was going off in a beautiful cascade of cacophonous detonation! Everything that could explode, DID explode! Planets, stars, and whole galaxies consumed in a vortex of boom, never once again to be repeated!

Pretty cool, huh? One of those relatively, infinitesimally small and humble explosions was the minefield we'd rigged to blow. You never forget where you started!

Wha? The minefield? Who said--?

I shook my head to get rid of the blearing spots in my vision and the deafening ring of onset tinnitus. When I opened my eyes, everything around me was in a state of devastation. I couldn't tell up from down. I was alone, trapped between megatons of force.

What happened?

The twinkling supernovas are oh so shiny…

Who said that!? Get out of my head!!

When I looked further beyond the explosions, and the answer became clear, I all but snarled. I reached past the illusions, past where Fiona and Bark laid in a daze after that sudden burst of ruby mist, until my hand stopped around Bean's neck. It took a bit of applied force to get him to let go of my Phantom Ruby.

"Eep!"

♦ 56

My emergency ring came into play before I could boil over. After that, I didn't need it to tell me how angry I was. Bean just hopped, skipped, and jumped over my quirkiness threshold.

"Never. Ever. DO. THAT. AGAIN."

For a split second, I thought I saw genuine terror in the duck's eyes. Then his tongue poked out of the side of his beak, in spite of my vice grip, and the fear was gone.

"Okay!" Bean said jovially. He kicked his legs in the air. "Can you let me go now? I have this mercenary gig to do, and I don't want to be late!"

I dropped Bean and turned my head when I heard the faint, multiplicative hums of several wrist blasters charging up to fire. The mines took out a good chunk of the badnik company, but that still left more than enough standing to turn us all into Swiss cheese.

"Surrender now, and we WILL shoot!" declared a SWATbot with a blue head.

I raised up my hand and whipped up the illusion of a massive explosion into a very real storm of growing pressure around us.

♦ 53

"Oh, blow it out your exhaust port!" I goaded the SWATbot captain. Nearly all of these badniks have been smart enough to banter. It left them dumb enough to take bait.

"Do you kiss your motherboard with that mouth!? FIRE NOW!" The laser blasts disappeared into the growing whirlwind, which sucked up the traces of wispy delirium that lingered over Fiona and Bark's heads. "FIRE HARDER!"

♦ 50

Bark let out a faint grunt of confusion as he shook himself off and got back on his feet. I tried to help Fiona get steady, but she shoved me away.

"What in Mobius was that?" Fiona almost shouted, thoroughly unnerved. At that moment, she looked more like a scared kid than a hired gun. It made me remember how young some of the people I was fighting alongside were.

I had a theory on what Bean did, but I'd need to mull on it later.

"Backlash," I said simply, as the whirlwind around us reached critical mass. "Can the three of you still fight?"

Bark gave a curt nod and revved up a swing of his arm, while Bean nodded wildly with a pair of bombs in his hands. The two then looked back at their boss for confirmation.

"We're good to go," Fiona Fox said. "Bark, you know what to do." He nodded, and I could see that some tension left his body when Fiona regained her swagger. She then pointed to Bean, who was trying to look innocent. "Bean. When we get back to HQ, you're grounded."

The duck let out a nervous chuckle.

"ARE YOU ALL DEAD YET?" the SWATbot captain shouted through the tempest. "DON'T MAKE ME COME IN THERE AND CHECK!"

I saved the SWATbots the trouble and released the accumulated energies as a tide of force, flinging the badniks closest to us into the hazards we lined along the forest edge. They didn't stop until they were impaled on hedgehogs or sliced into chunks by wire.

♦ 46

I drew my sword and dove right into the horde. Bean hurled black bombs at clustered targets, blowing them to smithereens. Bark battered the badniks with his fists and a beaten-up hoverbike he used as a blunt instrument. Fiona Fox was an agile blur, using the environment to her advantage as she took potshots at the enemy with her blaster. I imagine I would've been overwhelmed if I went against these SWATbots on my own, so I appreciated the extra hands that had some powers in their possession, too.

In an unexpected show of flexible tactics, a few SWATbots realized how bad this was going for them and huddled behind the flipped-over van for cover.

"Does not compute! These soft targets are not soft targets!"

"Game over, mech! Game over!"

I teleported around the van, stretched my arms all around my body, gave my spine an extra twist, and took out a line of SWATbots in a single swing. Enhanced strength and elasticity meant I could put a staggering amount of force behind a blade when I was sufficiently motivated. Morglay's razor edge and physics did the rest.

♦ 44

How was that for putting my back into it?

I raised the Phantom Ruby and shot a series of tendrils into the exposed fuel cells of the bisected SWATbots, draining their batteries for energy. Unfortunately, they were only worth a mote or so of power each.

♦ 52

"This job is too easy!" Bean shouted as he rolled a bomb at a squad like a bowling ball.

"Stay on guard!" Fiona said back. "We're not out of the woods until we see a super badnik!"

We didn't have to wait long for the other jackboot to drop. I heard a whistle overhead and looked up, which was when I saw a lot of firebombs headed straight for us.

"TAKE COVER!"

I immediately raised up thick, pink walls to soak up the damage from the oncoming payload, which collided against the grass and trees. The cold was barely an impediment to the opening salvo, which vaporized the nearby snow banks. Not even my magic shields lasted particularly long under direct bombardment. More whistling firebombs followed after that, until the immediate area was consumed in a massive wildfire.

♦ 45

With all of the fires in the way, I could only barely get a clean look at the super badnik. It was a blue, bulbous artillery platform, suspended midair on four jets. Three mortar tubes extended out of the machine's top, and right below the camera stalk it had for a head was a conical cannon that shot out billowing bursts of flame.

"It's a Fire Breath!" Fiona said.

The super badnik played keep away, only coming into close range to pour more superheated fire on my flaking protections. That was when Bark dug his mittens into the terrain and hoisted a stone the size of a car at the super badnik, forcing the Fire Breath to juke out of the way before it could shell our positions again. "We need to bring it closer!"

Bean and Bark flung more projectiles at the Fire Breath, but the death-spewing bombardier was too far away to retaliate against. I generated an illusory double of myself to test how it'd react to a direct attack. He charged towards the Fire Breath's flank to perform a sword charge, only to get grievously burned when the super badnik whirled around on a dime. It was already unbearably hot, and my lungs were burning from the smoke. Getting closer without better defenses for the heat was out of the question unless I wanted to sweat out all of my Ruby power.

This was possibly the worst time for Figment to chime in with how the team in the Outlands was doing. Their situation was not dissimilar from ours; blowing up the SWATbots was the easy part. Only instead of a Fire Breath, they were being chased down by a giant firefly robot with a yellow and red body attached to a massive light bulb. The big bulb shot down pillars of light at the ground below, melting everything in its path.

I recognized that one as a Hotaru Hi-Watt. The metal lightning bug moved too fast to nail with a bomb arrow, had a protective field that shrugged off laser rounds, and deployed a swarm of smaller clones after Figment cracked its bulb with a ramming beak attack. I felt more than a few of the protective barriers I made pop, which was all I needed to know that I needed to wrap this up before anyone got killed.

♦ 38

I fortified my shields and barriers with a crystal rampart, which drew some heat away from the parts of my defensive line that were coming apart.

On paper, I had five elements to play with. I had to toss out three because earth wouldn't reach, air would burn up, and water was rapidly leaving the equation. That left my crystals and a whole lot of fire.

Dammit! I'd kill for a fire shield right now!

♦ 30

Then I had an epiphany. I focused my efforts away from the standard barriers of crystalline magic, gathering the abundant sparks and embers of the burning forest into an insulated bubble of heat around myself. This improvised power-up was steadily coming together, but it was taking too long to form.

♦ 25

Figment shot me an update: Everyone had to retreat to avoid the super badnik's ceaseless advance, which gave the Hi-Watts free reign to continue towards Villa Stella. The badniks gave up on the rebels and moved on to leveling buildings, their other objective for being there. Figment was following their wake to give me the most up-to-date info on their location, steering away from the laser beams fired at him by the Hi-Watt swarm.

Figment, keep on it! I have a plan!

Before I could act on that plan, I needed to concentrate on the element of fire. I knew the physics behind what made a fire burn, but magic needed more than oxygen and kindling. It needed the spark of an idea I could latch my mind around. The Ars Ixia described fire as sharp, subtle, and mobile. Fire is hungry. It can create, consume, transform, and destroy. For the sake of expediency, I focused on its most ruinous aspects.

Hand me a match, and I'll burn an empire to the ground.

I took a deep, deep breath, and the wildfire surrounding the forest drew itself around me as a glowing flame shield! I flew straight towards the Fire Breath like a missile, shooting a scattershot array of crystal beams to pin the hovertank down.

♦ 20

I could very intensely feel that this prototype element shield had some holes in it, as the Fire Breath's main weapon blasted through the gaps in my protection like a water gun full of molten lead. I kept on firing lances of pink energy until I successfully crystalized that cannon barrel shut. The next time it tried to fire, the super badnik began to sputter and smoke from a catastrophic backfire. I got in close, knocked the badnik off its axis with a red hot kick to the head, and covered the rest of its exposed frame in a crystal shell!

♦ 10

I wrapped my hands around the crystalized Fire Breath and hefted the artillery bot midair. The Hotaru Hi-Watt, having dismantled several other buildings that remained from Villa Stella, now locked its eyes on the cathedral. I tried to stretch open a portal that would be wide enough to get the heavy super badnik through, but a shock of pain ran down my left hand and I dropped it!

♦ 6

"No, no!"

I tried stretching my hands to catch the falling Fire Breath, but I couldn't hold on long enough for the Phantom Ruby to cooperate and open a portal big enough or fast enough!

No! Not now!

Figment ducked past the Hi-Watts and made a beeline for their big brother, leaving a starry trail in his wake. When he flew rings around the Hotaru Hi-Watt to try to distract it from attacking the church, I realized there was one final option we hadn't tried yet.

Figment! You're a Flicky!

My familiar gave me a derisive snort as he dodged and weaved through laser fire.

Figment, listen! Your species makes portals naturally! I'm not a member of your flock, but we're linked! I need you to help me make a new portal, or everyone in there will die!

Figment slowed his pace, causing a heavy weight to settle on my chest. When I was about to give up hope, he accelerated. Going faster and faster, until the start of one red light trail around the super badnik and the end of another became indistinguishable. I felt the connection between Figment and I strengthen, until the anchor became stable enough for me to make the giant gateway stable.

♦ 1

"Bark!" I called out to the polar bear, who was still coughing off smoke inhalation, but decidedly more intact after all of that firepower than most mobians would be. He was until now shielding his team from the stray debris. "Knock it through the portal!"

I weakly gestured to a large gateway. With the Fire Breath in freefall, Bark had just enough time to jump high and spike the super badnik like a volleyball through the vortex.

On the other side of the country, the Hotaru Hi-Watt was bisected by a portal generated around its center of mass. A crystal boulder ran through the top and pulverized the super badnik's brain processor, right before it and all of its orbiting Hi-Watts were caught up in a massive explosion of light and fire.

"Three points!" a singed Bean called out, before he fell over again in exhaustion. A couple of daisies were held in his hands over his chest.

A wave of relief fell over me. Followed by the pull of gravity. I grabbed onto the side of a tree before I could crash, digging my fingers into the dry wood, then slid the rest of the way down to the ground. I didn't feel like doing a lot of moving afterward.

Thank you, Figment. We did it.

He said nothing, but this time, I could feel something approaching warmth.

The good kind. I think I've had enough of the raging inferno kind.

Fiona Fox walked up to me, appraised my injuries, and pulled out a handheld radio.

"Hey, Davey? Or whatever your name is. Can you send for a truck? Our ride broke down."

Bark, ever the trooper, dragged us most of the way through Deerwood Forest until we got a ride home. The night was still young, and since I'd later confirm that nobody died, everyone was in the mood to celebrate.

It was a good idea to celebrate the unambiguous victories whenever we got them.

Spoiler: Author Notes

To enhance the experience of this chapter, play Shudder () from Einhander. It really spices up a boss fight! If you want something more Sonic-y, try this remix here ()! These two super badniks, Fire Breath and Hotaru Hi-Watt, are from Sonic 3 and Mania, respectively. I reckon we've been long overdue for some good old minibosses.

The "barrier spell" is, of course, a nod to the Barrier power-up. AKA, the Shield! They're normally blue, and sometimes green. Pink is a new one. The recreation of a Fire Shield as a protective spell came together as a natural progression after that. More of such shields and other reproductions of power-ups might appear in future chapters.

As for Figment the Phantom Flicky, covering a bit of his background has been on my "to do" list since his creation. The initial drafts for this fic didn't have him at all. He's grown on me since then. Figment's powers are derived from things we've witnessed other flickies doing in groups, but he is a genetic freak, and not normal.

 

[weredrago2]

Please vote on which of these you'd like to see as the next Bonus Chapter!

https://strawpoll.com/ajnEODBAxZW

All Along the Space Colony - Maria Robotnik, age 12, is a bright child with no future ahead of her. She's smart enough to know that Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome has no known cure, and that she won't live to her next birthday. Her only hope was with Grandpa Gerald's groundbreaking research with Project Shadow, but hindsight is 20:20. This version of Maria knows that time is running out, and that radical actions need to be taken if her family are going to survive the tragedy that fate has prescribed to them.

Birdland - Fritz the Cockatiel is among the flying elite of the Battle Bird Armada, a militant order whose wings of terror spread across the skies of Mobius! While outwardly espousing a loyalty to his Battle Lord's desire to reclaim the lost glory of their Babylonian ancestors, Fritz is among a scant handful of those born into their ranks who thinks that generations of "crisscrossing" in the family tree have left Battlekukku XV a bit too coo-coo to be calling the shots. Fritz and his Flying Circus Squadron remain loyal for now, but a borderline maverick strike against the nominally-allied Robotnik regime has put them on the propeller's edge of being declared Babylon Rogues.

Ra Moon Daydream - Far away from the world of Sonic the Hedgehog lies a disparate zone protected from evil by the robotic superhero known as Mega Man! However, the mad scientist Doctor Wily has traveled to the forbidden Lanfront Ruins and uncovered an evil far beyond any that the world has seen before: The alien supercomputer, Ra Moon! However, something has gone amiss in the eons since Ra Moon fell into dormancy. The evil energy it once radiated has disappeared, and its dark consciousness has been replaced with one whose intentions appear to be far more benevolent. Will this new Ra Moon lead humanity into a new golden age, or hasten their invevitable urge towards self-destruction?

Silver Linings - In the year 3437 PXE, Silver the Hedgehog is the last hope for his doomed timeline. Entrusted with one of the seven Time Stones, Silver has traveled as far back as chronos control would take him: Two hundred and three years back into the past, at the tail end of the First Robotnik War. More even-tempered and pragmatic than the Silver of the Prime Zone, this psychokinetic Knight of Chronos will do whatever it takes to change the course of Mobius from a bad future into a good one. Even if he must reach beyond the boundaries of time itself to make his dreams come true.

Valtron Child - On the opposite end of the Cosmic Interstate from the Mobius we might recognize lies its grim counterpart, where good is bad, and right is wrong. The era of the Great Peace was shattered by the destructive acts of Sonic the Hedgehog and his Suppression Squad. Prince Robert's kingdom had weathered the waves of anarchy that Sonic has left in his wake, only for Robert to be overthrown in a peasant revolt led by an enigmatic revolutionary named Jean Valtron. Hopes of reform and liberty under his sapphire blue banner are quickly crushed, as Valtron's reign of terror becomes worse than anyone could have ever imagined.

Closing date is whenever I finish Chapter 20. Do note that going forward, these will only be done once every 10 chapters or so. I'm doing another one now to make up for the fact I didn't have the idea to do these until I was already 15 chapters in.

 

[pingas plight]

Closing date is whenever I finish Chapter 20. Do note that going forward, these will only be done once every 10 chapters or so. I'm doing another one now to make up for the fact I didn't have the idea to do these until I was already 15 chapters in.

Click to shrink...

I wanted to vote for both Space Colony and Daydream, but I could only pick one.

Malding at the fact I can't choose both because they both sound incredible.

 

[weredrago2]

I wanted to vote for both Space Colony and Daydream, but I could only pick one.

Malding at the fact I can't choose both because they both sound incredible.

Click to shrink...

Whatever option that does not get picked can always win next time I run the vote.

 

[DarkLordNeo]

space colony sounds better

 

[weredrago2]

Ruby Haze
Chapter 20: After Dark

The planet Mobius, which was likely Earth before some catastrophe or another, had thus far thrown a lot of challenges at me. I fell from space. I've fought hordes of evil robots who would gleefully shoot me down or ram me through if given the chance, and they got more than a few licks in. I've learned enough black magic to violate moral and ethical barriers that were previously unthinkable. I wasn't sure if I was processing the fact I might be the only human on the continent, but I was at the point where I could deal with it enough that I could keep on living. Keep on surviving.

That being said, I wasn't expecting Friar Buck to invite me to help with catering for our post-battle soiree. There was more than enough food to go around now, so why not do something special to celebrate a solid win against the High Sheriff's forces? A party was good for our morale. The Friar asked if there were any good recipes I knew from my homeland, and I did the best I could with what we had.

"How's it taste? Does it need anything else?"

Friar Buck lowered the ladle into one of the stainless steel pots that was warming on the canister stove. He deftly manipulated the utensil past the strips of salt pork to scoop up some mixed beans to sample. I understood that the Friar was still considered a pacifist because he laid nonlethal traps, bolstered spirits, and didn't directly dirty his hands in combat, but his declared status as a vegetarian was a lot more iffy. I was pretty sure that eating beans boiled in the same pot with meat was cheating.

"I say! The legumes taste splendid!" he said.

"Thanks. I was worried I made a bad call."

Since I didn't have too much time to decide what to make, and whatever I made needed to feed more people than I could spread a pizza or two, feijoada was what I ended up going with. A hearty stew of beans and pork. The national dish of Brazil. Simple enough that I could make it from memory. The recipe normally called for black beans, but I had to work with the kidney and pinto beans that were included with some of the meal rations. I was also able to secure some turmeric for the yellow rice that went with the feijoada during my trip to Casabana, giving my contribution a bit of a Cuban flair.

When it was done, it should almost taste like home. It was nice to do something that didn't involve inflicting large quantities of violence. Maybe I could cook more often? I'd have to try making café con leche or a pressed sub another time.

"Nay. I'd say the dish fares well, John."

If Friar Buck's response told me anything, the feijoada should be received decently enough. He wished me good tidings and stepped away to observe -- as well as subtly taste test -- what everyone else was cooking. The villagers that had been at or around Hideaway were going to be bringing roast mutton, custard tarts, boiled vegetables, cooked haddock, sweet rolls, and meat pies. The Mercians of the Highlands and Outlands were invited as well, which meant we could expect French and Scottish dishes at this potluck. Cuisine that wouldn't be out of line for the Middle Ages… until someone brought out a tray of black pudding on whole wheat smothered in a paste of minced beef, cheese, and vegetables.

I did a double take when I saw that last one being prepared on a tray. Was that a local attempt at a chili dog? It looked like a certain blue hedgehog's influence spread further than his direct contributions to the freedom fight.

Once the preparations were completed, the feast began in earnest. I hadn't seen this many mobians in one place since… ever, really. Except maybe when we got Clan Argyle loose from that landship. Each of the disparate levels of Hideaway, from the treetops to the forest floor, was flush with people enjoying a bit of happiness in an otherwise miserable situation. Rob o' the Hedge was at the center of the festivities, being hoisted up in a makeshift throne for everyone to see. I knew he got flustered in regards to the whole 'king' part of being a king, but he was being a good sport about all of the extra attention. I doubted I'd be seeing much of him one-on-one. Amy followed her cousin's palanquin in a Ren Fair princess costume and chucked confetti until she had to be tucked away for bed.

I was happy for them all, sure. I was enjoying the food, too. It just took some reacclimating to the extra noise and people. In all directions. With the only respite from the buzzing atmosphere being wherever Figment went after he snagged a whole pig and flew away to eat in peace.

Good food or not, I already knew tonight was gonna be a hard one for my nerves.

"~Singing too-ral-li, oo-ral-li, addity,
Singing too-ral-li, oo-ral-li, ay,
Singing too-ral-li, oo-ral-li, addity,
And we'll see you in Priscilla Bay!"

Presto and Cadence, being minstrels by trade, went all-out with putting together a show, whipping up a band from a few villagers who could play instruments and carry a tune. The civilians initially gave the two of them the cold shoulder. There was a general stigma around the entertainers' profession of choice, and people were scared of the mechanical parts they were stuck with, but the two of them gradually won over the crowd with their regular service to the king and their ability to lift anyones' spirits.

They both bowed to the audience.

"Thank ye, thank ye!" Presto said.

"We haven't had this warm a' reception since we played at Scarburrow!" Cadence added.

When the applause died down, Presto cleared his throat.

"Now, we'd like ta play this next song as a tribute to our fightin' wizard!" Presto pointed me out, as though I was possible to miss in a sea of munchkins. "Give it up fer Sir Scarlet!"

The response was tepid, with a few claps and huzzahs sent my way out of obligation. I appreciated the gesture, and I could tell the bards were trying to help sway the opinion of the common folk in my favor, but I didn't expect it to work for me as it did for them.

At the end of the day, the cyborgs were still mostly mobian. I wasn't, and never was. Seeing that I wasn't quite getting the reception they were hoping for, the two salvaged the festive mood with a rendition of their newest fighting song, Come Out Ye Metal Mans.

If I still had a charge of magic, I'd have used them to walk off and rejoin the party with a new face. Blend in with the rest. Instead, I've had to come as I was.

A human. An overlander.

♦ 0

Pushing myself past my limits and going further than that meant I was officially out of juice. The Phantom Ruby's pink hue was replaced with a dull blue. It left me feeling weak and sluggish, not having a constant flow of magic keeping me vertical, but it was preferable to instant death. Dying when the Ruby went dry was a dumb thing to worry about, in hindsight, but I had a lot of dumb worries mixed in with the real ones.

I gave a grateful nod to Presto and Cadence for the tribute and disengaged from the crowd, making my way down one of the spiral staircases around a tall tree to the snowy ground. When I put a hand on the thick bark of the olden oak to hold myself steady, a set of thick spikes popped through my gloves to strengthen my grip.

Not again.

It was one of those worries of mine that was finally coming to roost: That the Phantom Ruby had made me as much a mutant as Figment. I'd noticed one of the most recent modifications to my body, two feral sets of claws, shortly after that last badnik skirmish. They were on my hands when I grabbed onto that tree to stop my fall, and they lingered, independent of whether the gem was powered or not. Shortly afterward, I discovered a new set of fangs that had grown in to replace my incisors or canines. I wasn't a dentist, but my tongue certainly felt the new additions when I nearly lost it while eating. While they weren't retractable like the claws, the fangs were less visible when I kept my mouth shut.

Any one of those changes, several of them in tandem, or some specific alterations wrought to my vocal chords, could've accounted for my voice being rougher and raspier than before all of this. Assuming it wasn't, of course, from all of the screaming.

That cinched it. The Phantom Ruby was turning me into a damn werehog.

There was a pattern of cause and effect to these accumulated changes. The more I was hurt, the more Phantom Ruby energy I burned up, and the more monstrous I became after it healed the damage. What didn't kill me made me stranger.

Fine. Fine! I guess I'm not human anymore, either!

My claws carved a bit too deep into the wood, leaving thick gashes through the bark. With a force of effort, I willed them to recede back into my skin. Now they only looked like unusually sharpened nails. Barely visible through the holes in my gloves.

Why was it happening? Was it a reaction to my desire to be stronger? To not be hurt? Were the energies inside this thing on the same wavelength as Dark Gaia?

Ah, yes. Dark Gaia. The apocalyptic force of destruction that would burst out of the mantle like an egg and end the world. Not exactly something I was looking forward to. With any luck, it wouldn't be a problem for a few more eons.

Then again, that didn't track. Figment's mutations or mine weren't affected by the cycle of day and night. And how could I be a werehog if I wasn't a hedgehog in the first place? Would I be a werewolf? Or a were… man? Is that even a thing?

I took a deep, deep sigh.

You know what? No more thinking, when I can do the rhyme of it.

The food was nice. Great, even. It's just that this was what I was looking forward to all night. Moving around the mass of mobians who were loitering in one spot of this liminal fairgrounds or another, I made my way to a congregation that had formed around the base of the tree. Several wooden barrels were rolled out and stacked together with faucets on tap; the centerpiece of an improvised outdoor pub, stocked with what everyone could scavenge from a kingdom's worth of abandoned cellars and hidden distilleries. I sat down at the counter and waited to be served.

And waited. I rapped my fingers against the table, which went from a tapping to a rhythmic series of clacks.

And waited. The sloth tending the bar was slowly, very slowly, serving everyone. I appeared to be at the bottom of the list. If I was even on the list.

"Barkeep! Three more sarsaparillas for our adventuring party!" Bean shouted, causing the sloth to slowly turn around again before he could hand me a drink. Any kind of drink.

So much for an open bar.

It was time to take matters into my own hands. Still seated, I stretched my arm around the counter and helped myself to a bottle of genuine Highlands whiskey on the other side of the pub. It was sitting on a table next to several other whiskeys and several bottles of Villa Stellan vintage wine, the lot of which were the subject of a heated debate between Finella and Chat as to which beverage was superior. The whiskey tasted like warm, malty ambrosia burning a path down my throat. I made sure to replace the bottle with a low-shelf beer; the two of them could bond over how much they both hated it.

I went back and replaced a bottle of wine, too, because I didn't want to look biased.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see David Dormouse nursing an ale next to Gilbert Woolhand and Arthur Boar. Arthur gave me a dirty look, but didn't say anything. Probably because he'd have to grab his crutches and brave the snow if he wanted to confront me. I doubted whatever he'd say to me would be about the alcohol.

It's a party. Just. Drink. And try to be happy for a night.

I liked the Not Scotch, but it needed something more. I reached to where someone laid out the sodas in the snow to cool off, ignoring the cries of alarm as my arm sailed high over the crowd to reach the bottles. I wasn't sure if the ultra-sugary drinks would take off on their own here. Which was probably the best for Mercia's long-term health, but tonight I wasn't worrying about the long term anything. Or whether or not this Whiskey and Coke was actually a Whiskey and Chaos Cola with the label ripped off. I just needed to sit down and pour myself an easy cocktail on the rocks.

"Was it three fingers Jack, or three fingers Coke?" I asked myself, before erring on the side of more Jack than Coke. Not exactly a highball anymore. The horn shape of my drinking horn also skewed the numbers a bit. Who's to say if I poured too much whiskey on the first go, and had to drink it back down so I could get the measurements right?

Once I got it down, I drank. The smokiness now had a complement of sweetness to it.

I could've used one of these months ago.

It's a shame we didn't have anyone here to represent the virtues of rum. Then I could put together a Hurricane or Mai Tai. Or a Mercia Libre!

Heh. Now it really was like a vacation. Being trapped in another world, depending on how you thought about it, was just a permanent kind of vacation. Severed all of the old problems, since no one ever came back from these kinds of things. My Earth felt like it was one bad day away from destroying myself anyway. I made my escape, and I was free!!

For all of its problems, Mobius was a clean break. This was a place where I had power. Actual power. I'm more important now than I'd ever been as a cog in a machine. People needed me here. Genuinely so. Even if they didn't always give me the respect I deserved.

Who cared? I was free now. No old job, no old money woes, no old family keeping me down.

But no old friends, either.

I wonder if they still thought about me.

Are they still wondering where I went, after I never logged back in again?

Do they miss me?

I'd… hoped I'd be the happy kind of drunk, too thoroughly hammered to think long before these thoughts came back to haunt me.

The best I could hope for was that they kept their health, and I kept mine.

…

I refilled the glass and took another drink.

Feeling relaxed enough to slide back into old habits, I pulled out my communicator to check my messages. It didn't take Ruby energy for me to draw small things like that from Null Space anymore, though the biggest thing I could bring out like this was Morglay.

There were a couple of unread emails on the device. A timetable for the training of Doberman's armored regimen, which was coming together nicely. They said they were happy with the crates of beer being deployed to their location. A reply back to the warning I sent Hector and the Dire Wolves about the extra scrutiny in the North Central Sea, mentioning they were staying in the south until things died down. An RSVP for when the Cult of the Ruby Flame planned to ritually consume my flesh next week.

The only video message was a holographic recording, a few hours old, sent by Wes--

Who plans to do what??

I reopened that email chain from the hyena biker gang, catching up on a trickle of messages that this discount communicator I got from Wes Weasley erroneously marked as spam. I like to think I would've noticed that I had a cult sooner otherwise!

The first one was only a couple of days old. An introductory statement peppered with awe of my divine power, sent with devotional regards from my high priestess. The hyena in the picture bore a resemblance to the forewoman assigned to manage the motorpool, Benzina. No, scratch that. It was Benzina. The image was grainy, but I could see that she now sported a fierce, magenta mohawk that was dyed the same hue as the Phantom Ruby. Benzina wanted me to rest well in the knowledge that she made sure none of my adherents were slacking on the job. They were all really excited by the opportunity to bask in my glory, and would stick around for at least a month to fight in my honor after I 'departed'.

It'd be commendable, if it wasn't for the whole 'they want to eat me' part. I tried to pinch the bridge of my nose, only to poke my eyes with the new claws.

"Ow!"

The other messages were updates on the process of the Ruby Flame changing their leather jacket patches and paraphernalia from the generic spikes and bleached skulls I found them with to things that more strongly invoked the imagery of Figment and I. Pink, red, and purple accessories. Even new tattoos, which took the form of bizarre, geometric shapes.

The most recent email was the invite to the upcoming feast, with a diagram for seating arrangement around the altar. The upcoming event was why they declined to participate in this one. They had to abstain from certain foods or drinks for religious reasons in the lead-up to the ceremony, and the Crimson Flame didn't want to spoil their appetites.

How pious of them. I poured myself another one and dialed up Weasley. After a few rings, I was taken to his answering machine.

"Wes Weasley here! I'm busy with another client at the moment, but if you can leave a message, I'm sure I can--"

"Pick up the phone, Weasley," I harshly whispered into the mic. "Or I have the hyenas serve you as an appetizer when they take me out to dinner. As the main course."

The voicemail abruptly cut off, replaced with a live feed of Wes Weasley, who was still scrambling to switch out his night cap for his fedora.

"In my defense, I thought they only did that to their kings! And that the rest of their mobian-eating talk was a scare tactic! You must've made a great first impression on them for them to go to all the effort of doing it for real!"

"Do I have to worry about them getting rowdy if I refuse?" A dark thought occurred to me. "Did they already get started?"

He waved his hands furiously.

"No siree, sir! No need to worry about that second one! Look, palsy! Am I right to say they've gone and made themselves up as your new fan club?"

I haven't exactly pushed it, but they have been following my commands when I asked them to do things. How was I supposed to know they'd take it this far? I officially regretted bemoaning that no one appreciated me. This was easily too much in the opposite direction.

"Of a sort."

"Then what's the big problem? Just tell them you don't want to be a served man! And besides, I saw how you handled those super mercs and the sandcrawler. They did, too! Do you really think a mere pack of hyenas could cook your goose unless you wanted them to?"

He… actually had a point. Besides, I probably shouldn't do anything rash while I was in the middle of attempting to make myself blackout drunk.

"You're right. This is… manageable."

"Exactly! You just sit back and let old Wes handle the business side of things."

"Any word on a chaos emerald?" I asked, unsubtly changing the subject.

He cringed.

"I've got good news and bad news. Good news first?" He didn't stop to receive an answer, instead turning his communicator's camera to a gray, angular tank. It almost looked like an Abrams, with a pair of Browning M2 machine guns mounted on top of the turret hatches. "We're getting this bad boy gift wrapped for you to pick up. A prize gift for a valued customer! On the house!"

I smiled.

"Oh, the places we could go with more of these. I'll let you know when I'm back in Casabana."

"Unfortunately, I ran into a bit of a snag trying to find you one of those, ah, aoschay emeraldsyay." He was pretty cautious about those, preferring if I didn't mention them in calls any more than I had to. "His Egg-cellency has the distribution chain for those things under lock and key. And by the way I hear it on the Krudzu vine, Robotnik hasn't had much luck in finding any new ones since Nack dropped the ball on his last contract."

"That's a shame. No other clues for where I might find one?"

"Your best bet would be to go fishing around in a pocket zone for a stone of your own, or to try and settle for a power gem. I could probably make that happen with some capital up front! But if a you-know-what were to, say, fall off the back of a hovertruck? You'd keep your rights to first refusal, no butts about it!"

"Ees this seat taken?" a voice to my side asked.

I turned to face Fifi the Poodle. I only knew two people with that accent, and the only way Sir Bruin was getting buzzed these days was with an electromagnet.

"I'll talk to you later," I said to Weasley.

"Ta ta for now!"

I snapped the hologram phone shut and turned back to face my friend. By this point, I was feeling especially lightheaded, and a lot more conversational. I wasn't gonna let a little bad news get me down!

"Heya, Fifi! Sit on down!"

She took a seat next to me, and gave a sigh of relief.

"Merci. Now zat Le Duck fellow might take ze hint." Looking at my back, I could see that a tipsy William Le Duck was giving her the goo-goo eyes until he tipped over. I doubted he'd be deemed airworthy come tomorrow morning. "He ees friendly, bus let us just say that he ees not my type."

"How'd the battle go after I left? I heard you took out, like, fifty SWATbots on your own!"

"Eet was only twenty five at ze most!" she said bashfully. "Much of ze hard work was done by ze bombs, and by Monsieur Chat's bravery and skills with ze sword. And zen you took out both of ze super badniks! And without ze shields, we would have been--"

"Details, details!" I pulled out two glass flutes from behind the counter. "How about a toast to the best sniper in the kingdom?"

"I would be honaired, but I was hoping you could help moi with something first? A little thing, before ze night gets too late."

"Sure! What can the resident wizard do for you?"

"Not too loud!" she whispered. She did a sniff. "Sacre bleu, are you drunk already?"

"Nah," I gestured to the whiskey. "I've only had…"

When I looked, the whiskey bottle was knocked over by my hand and completely empty.

Whoops.

Fifi shuffled out of her chair.

"Maybe zis was a mistake. Sorry for ze bother. Good evening, Monsieur Scarlet."

I held out a hand.

"Hold on! If you came to me, you definitely need some magic done. Is anyone else offering magical consultation that I don't know about?" She shook her head. "For free, even?" She shook her head again. "Didn't think so. From that angle, what do you have to lose?"

Whatever it was, I hoped I could fake it without actually having magic. And significantly drunker than I thought I was moments ago.

No sweat!

"V-Very well. Do you have a spell that can make me more…" She struggled to get the next words out. "Valorous? I have a, erm, thing I must do tonight. I need to be very brave, or I will not do eet. Een fact, I would put eet off another day! And zen another! FOREVER!"

I glanced back at Chat and Finella. They were both holding the cheap beer bottles, pointing and yelling at each other to figure out which one of them sullied their table with it. Taking another look back at Fifi, I could see that she was still staring wistfully at her debonair hero, her heart aflutter.

I was probably intoxicated enough that Figment would feel it in the morning, sure, but I could've manually blinded myself earlier and still see the torch Fifi was holding for that behatted cat. At this point, I was confident enough that it went both ways, and neither of them had noticed enough to act on it.

Let's see if I can fix that.

"Finally working up the nerve to tell him, huh?"

"H-Him?" she stammered. "Oh! I mean, um. Whoever could you mean?"

I gave her a look. She was blushing furiously.

"Your poker face? It's garbage. Get a new one."

She sighed.

"Fine, fine! It ees Chat. Will you do eet or not?"

My eyes went back to the flutes.

"I'm all out of spells for the night," I said honestly. Fifi's ears and tail drooped, until I followed that truth with a massive lie. "But I have just enough magic left to brew a potion."

"Y-You do?" Her eyes narrowed. "It ees not a trick to make me as drunk as a lord, non?"

While I was curious about how alcohol would affect mobians, given the difference of average body weight, that wasn't my intent.

"Not at all. I don't know how long you guys live, but if you're anything like me, then you've only got one life to live it. So I'm gonna do you a solid."

Doing a spin of my wrist to make what I was doing seem more impressive than it really was, I exorcized a gin off the shelf and poured the spirit into a metal mug. Next, I took a lemon from an opened crate and crushed it, the fresh juice going into the mug with the gin. Then I started to shake.

"What ees zat concoction you are brewing?"

It was a classic cocktail. Since cocktails didn't really take off back home until the 1800s, it might as well be a new artifice. With some humorism mixed in to make the bluff stick.

"A little bit of alchemy I picked up on a trip to New Orleans. An elixir to… boot your sanguine and choleric humors! They call it a French 75."

"Soixante Quinze?" she asked. "Why would you need so many Frenches? What even ees a French?"

I laughed off her question and poured the mixture into one of the flutes, before topping it off with the Outlands white wine. I made a gesture of sprinkling an infinitesimally fine powder into the cup. The only reason she couldn't see it was because it didn't exist.

"Ta da! Gin, lemon juice, and champagne. Plus a pinch of fairy dust."

"Zat does not sound so bad. Except for ze poor fairies." I sliced a bit of lemon rind to hang atop the glass for extra flair. "D-Did you always have those claws?"

I slid the glass to her.

"Come on, drink it! Before the magic wears off." She stared at the glass, not drinking it. My mood darkened a tinge, and I frowned. "Remember what I said a second ago about only having one life to live?"

"Yes?" she fielded cautiously.

"You're a freedom fighter. Chat's a freedom fighter. Dangerous line of work. There might not be another chance like this one, and you know exactly what I mean by that."

I slid my thumb across my neck. Ignoring the facts that people died and that this celebration was half a memorial for those lost didn't change the fact that Fifi might not get another shot. Better to do it now, failure or not.

"But what if I am rejected? What if I ruin what we already have?"

"Won't happen."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Experience. And not the magic kind. You're in love, so stop making yourself miserable second-guessing it!"

It's a sad day for romance when I'm the one who has to speak on it's behalf. She considered my words of wisdom and, with some reluctance, took a test sip. Then her eyes opened wide.

"Ooh! Eet has a kick! Like ze recoil of a cannon!"

Fifi drank the rest without further prodding.

"Took you long enough. Can you feel the elixir fortifying your soul?"

"I think I feel eet!" she exclaimed. "I feel incroyable!"

I picked her up out of her chair and gave Fifi an encouraging push in the right direction.

"Then go over there and follow your heart, girl!"

She took the cue, running straight towards her knight. Chat turned towards her, holding one of the beer bottles in his hand.

"Fifi, can you believe one of these blackguards would be so uncivilized as to place this swill next to the pride of our--"

Chat was interrupted by Fifi embracing him to deliver a passionate, film-worthy kiss. He seemed confused and shocked at first, only now being shocked out of the phase where he didn't know they were already an item yet. Once he figured out what was going on, he was quick to reciprocate the unspoken declaration of love.

He also did the leg-raise-up thing after they started making out. If this doesn't get Chat off my case, I don't know what will.

Lady Finella looked at the young lovers with a joyous, if wistful, twinkle in her eye… until her eyes landed on the empty bottles next to me. Not wanting to disturb them, Finella started stomping towards me with a rolled-up sleeve and a spoon.

Where'd the spoon come from?!

"Scarlet! No one dares take a drop of Highlands whiskey without tryin' my haggis first!"

Seeing that my good deed for the night was done, I started walking in the other direction at a fairly upright gait. This had to be a power thing, because I didn't feel like I'd trip or fall over if I got into a serious situation.

Then again, I was very, very drunk. I extended my arms up to the treetops, flung myself onto the walkway, and then tumbled straight over the railing I installed to prevent that sort of thing from happening. When I landed back on the ground, entangled in my own limbs, it was Lady Finella who dragged me up by the ears and forced me to finish a plate of haggis in front of her. I managed the feat, made my leave, and threw up only after I was absolutely, positively certain that she wasn't around to misconstrue the act as an indictment on her cooking.

Once the last trial of the evening was complete, I started making my way back to my hut. It was probably a good idea to call it quits while I was ahead.

"Hey Wizard," Fiona Fox said, leaning on the side of the rail I overshot. "Heading to bed already?"

The red fox was sitting on top of the railing I put along the walkway, in the way that people do when they've never fallen several flights before.

"Yeah?" I said. "That was the plan, yes."

"I've got an offer to make."

I waved her off.

"You and your team did good out there. Just eat, drink, and be merry for the night."

"They won't let me drink!"

What, really?

"How… old are you, again?"

She crossed her arms.

"Thirteen and a half," she grumbled.

Huh. I guess I needed to remember that Tails could fly a plane with a machine gun on it at like, eight? I almost forgot that, with how relatively normal Amy behaves. Mobian kids could be way more competent than their ages would suggest.

"Whatever. I'm sure your offer can wait for tomorrow."

"That depends. Will your blue rock there change back to pink in the morning on its own?"

I frowned. Clearly, she had a hunch it wouldn't.

"It's not any of your concern, Fiona. You're a merc."

She made a falsely innocent face.

"Not any of my concern, huh? Then I guess you aren't interested in finding out where you can get a chaos emerald."

"You know where I can find a chaos emerald?"

She shrugged.

"I might. But if you wanna hit the hay now and get some shut-eye, old timer, then it's like you said. I'm sure it can wait until tomorrow."

I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, fine. Start talking."

"Good wizard. Here's my offer."

At some point after Fiona Fox started talking, my hippocampus stopped recording. It tended to happen when you drank far too much than any doctor would find advisable.

When I next woke up, I was sitting in the passenger seat of a biplane over Angel Island.

- - -

Spoiler: Author Notes

Not much to say this time, really, save that every time I tried to finish the chapter, it got a little longer instead! I had to chase it down and nail it to the wall so that it was postable.

At his request, I include here a credit for the chili dogs, inspired by a comment from @Storyteller222. I also didn't explicitly mention beans in this version of the chili dogs for the sake of @N'Oni, because there's a lot of contention as to whether or not beans belong in chili at all. I don't want to spark a firestorm of a debate about it here.

The next chapter will be the non-canon bonus: All Along the Space Colony!

 

[weredrago2]

Ruby Haze
Chapter 21: Touching Base

"Are we there yet?"

The island that was steadily coming into view was astonishing in its beauty and scope. Lush with natural life, the nearest half of the landscape that I could see was covered in thick, tropical jungles. Another third was consumed by a large, foreboding desert and surrounding dry shrublands.

"Are we there yet?"

Between the diverse biomes of the island were other striking features that drew the eyes. Rivers, lakes, canyons, and just enough mountains linked together to qualify as a mountain range. One of the high peaks was powdered with thick layers of snow, while the one across from it was glowing red with flush flows of volcanic lava. I'd done a fair bit of traveling thus far, but nothing could've prepared me for the sweeping vistas of the landmass below.

"Are we--?"

"For the last time, Bean!" our pilot, Fiona Fox, shouted in exasperation. "YES!"

The view was made especially impressive by the fact that the island below us was a good eight miles above sea level. It was kept afloat by the grace of the Master Emerald, and little else. Take that mother lode of a gem away, and the island would fall straight down into the barren savannahs below. The island was a flying miracle, with nothing else like it on Mobius.

"Angel Island…" I said in awe, before a sharp pain reminiscent of an ice pick jabbed into my skull. The hangover I'd been dreading from the party we had last night was picking now to make itself known. "Oww."

Bean climbed up the wing like a gremlin and got very close to my face.

"GOOD MORNING!" he screamed, managing to make my headache even worse.

"A little quieter, please," I tried to say over the rush of wind and the aircraft's engine. With the intensity of the sun beaming down on me, I could really do with a pair of sunglasses about now.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. Looking to the wing across from Bean, I could see that Bark was sitting a bit precariously on the other one. He was offering me a water bottle.

"Thanks, Bark," I said hoarsely. I opened the water bottle, and its contents splashed all over my face because I wasn't used to drinking in an open-cockpit plane. "Refreshing."

"Sounds like you're awake," Fiona said to me.

"Awake enough."

"Good. We're gonna be landing in a few minutes."

It was just enough time for my memories of how I got here to piece themselves back together.

- - -

"Ever heard of the Floating Island?" Fiona Fox asked.

"You mean Angel Island?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Angel Island. Floating Island. Whatever you call it. You know any other islands that fly?"

"Do the Lost Hex and Little Planet count?" Fiona gave me a funny look, which made me aware that I should probably not talk about those while thoroughly hammered. "Yeah, I've heard of the 'Floating' Island. Why do you want to go there?"

I could think of a few good reasons, but this wasn't my idea. I kept my guard up, understanding that the liquor made me much more suggestible than I would be otherwise.

"It's got a trove of leftover badniks and other junk from when Robotnik tried to take over the island." Sonic & Knuckles happened already? "We can borrow Le Duck's plane, take a haul of premium salvage, and then head back here once we've reaped the rewards. One day trip!"

"What about the chaos emerald?" I asked pointedly. If that was what Fiona was going to dangle in front of me to get my attention, then I wasn't going to let her overlook it.

"Rumor has it that Doctor R lost one over there, and that Nack the Weasel was sent to retrieve it for him. He got beat up by the Guardian of the place and left the island empty handed. His rep's been in the dumps ever since."

"So?"

"That means the island should still have a nice, green emerald to match your pink one, just waiting for us to pluck it!"

I wasn't convinced.

"That's implying the emerald is where a vague rumor last said it'd be."

She frowned in irritation. I was drunk, not dim.

"Okay, I'll admit, it's a bit of a long shot! Your rock runs on electricity, too, doesn't it?" She cut me off before I could deny it. "You weren't all that subtle when I saw you drain those SWATbots for power mid-fight. Or when you asked Wes Weasley if he could fence you a chaos emerald."

"Ah."

"You aren't gonna get a lot of wattage out here in the boonies. That's a fact. But Robotnik built whole power plants and badnik factories on the Floating Island. We can use those to restore your energy, and then some!"

I stopped to think. If Sonic & Knuckles happened a few months ago, then the infrastructure that Eggman set up around the different zones would still be reasonably intact. If nothing else, this was the ideal excuse to go and see the place for myself!

"What do you get out of this?" I asked flatly, not wanting to be misdirected.

"A modest finder's fee," she said coyly. "A girl's gotta save up for her retirement fund."

"At age thirteen."

"And a half," she insisted. "Are you in or out?"

I briefly weighed the pros and cons. The pros were that I could go to Angel Island, which would be incredible. I could explore the zones from my childhood. I could restore myself to full charge. I could meet Knuckles! I could see the Master Emerald!

The cons were that Fiona transparently had another angle she wanted to exploit, and by leaving now I risked abandoning Mercia to the massive threat that still loomed over it. Not worth it.

"Out. The High Sheriff could pull another move tomorrow, and we barely stopped him this time."

She scoffed at my concerns.

"Oh, please! All of Robotnik's stooges need to send reports whenever they ask for backup from Robotropolis. People roboticized, resources extracted, and badniks lost. I don't think he's going to be in a rush to announce how badly he lost a SWATbot company and two super badniks, unless he wants to spend the rest of his days as a garbage cube."

By that logic, we had at least a day or two while the High Sheriff covered his aft and padded out his numbers on the paperwork, if not longer.

"Hypothetically speaking, how far is the island from here? Do you have a way to track it?"

"I pulled some strings and spent my advance on one of these."

She unfurled a crisp, printed map of Mobius. A far cry from the aged parchment that Rob showed me of Mercia. I kneeled down to get a better look.

"See the dotted line that winds around the page?" I nodded, and she pointed to a spot in the middle of Efrika. "I did the math. Right now, the Floating Island is close enough to Eurish that we could fly there and back in a few hours. But it won't be hanging around there forever."

Did I miss Angel Island on the way to Leonus? Was it closer to Eurish when I crashed into Mercia? I closed my eyes and tried to focus through my lightheadedness.

"In other words, this is the best opportunity we'll get before Angel Island is long gone and the High Sheriff receives reinforcements."

"Exactly."

This was beginning to sound like a pretty good idea. Which meant, given my current state, I needed a second opinion, ASAP.

"I wanna run this by Rob first."

"Suit yourself," she said coolly.

I steadied myself on the guard rails as we went to check on where Rob ended up at the celebration. He was standing at a warm fire, arms wide, regaling a group of villagers and freedom fighters as to one of our adventures.

"To which Sir Scarlet replied: 'Tis not thine ears deceiving ye, mechanical varlet! 'Tis I! And our fair wizard smote the Dark Horse of Snottingham with his crystal hammer!"

There were cheers and 'a hey nonny nonnys' from the crowd, especially at his slurred approximation of my Central Florida accent. Rob o' the Hedge stood up and towards me when he saw us, a bit uneven on his feet.

"Hail and well met, John! I was just recounting the tale of our conquest of the deforester!"

It was funny how long ago that felt. Less funny how terrified I was at the time. Now, I was pretty sure I could dismantle that robian knight in a couple of seconds.

"Hey Rob. Fiona had a proposition that I needed to run--"

"We're going on a quest to the Floating Island!" Fiona declared boldly, causing a stir of surprise and awe to erupt through the crowd.

"The Floatin' Island?"

"That fairy land? Poppycock!"

Taking a count at the empty bottles around the fire, I realized Rob might've been even more tanked than I was. He embraced Fiona's slapdash mission statement with open arms.

"A journey to the mystical island of the good folk? Huzzah!"

Fiona didn't miss a beat. She did a curtsy and imitated the King's royal tongue.

"Verily, milord! We need but your say to venture off on this virtuous mission!"

"Then ye both have my full approval!" he said with merry mirth. "Be sure to bring back tales worthy of the bards' retelling!"

Friar Buck rose from his seat, more composed than either of us. He affixed a disapproving stare at Fiona before turning back to Rob.

"Still thyself, my liege. Perchance thee should have a decanter of water, and--" Suddenly, Friar Buck's face became a shade of green and he covered his mouth. "By Aurora, I'll be right back!"

He bolted off, in the direction of the nearest bathroom. Not so far that we couldn't still hear him.

Yeesh. Poor guy.

Waiting a few seconds to make sure he wouldn't be back any time soon, Fiona pulled out a previously unopened bottle.

"A toast to a quest well under way!"

"Hear hear!"

I could've pulled the plug on her unvarnished scheme then and there, saying I wouldn't go and going back to bed. It's not like anyone but Fiona would remember the fact she was trying to hoodwink us into sponsoring this expedition in the morning. Once she had the king's approval, Fiona had Bark drag out and fuel up Le Duck's plane for takeoff.

I could've called it off at any time. However, I couldn't blame the alcohol on the fact that I really did want to go to Angel Island at some point. It simply helped nudge that decision into me deciding to go right away.

Unfortunately, I forgot to hydrate before taking off.

- - -

We touched down on a narrow strip of pavement on the edge of Angel Island, adjacent to an industrial facility built out of purple tiles, red steel, and yellow bricks. The Robotnik-designed command station surrounded a large lake full of thick tubes that snaked in and out of the surface, in a rounded-out valley flanked by craggy orange rocks.

Hey, this is Launch Base Zone!

Alas, my migraine only intensified after we landed. Going to Angel Island was risky, but not a bad idea on its own merits. Going to Angel Island with a hangover, though? That was dumb. As I was now, I might not be able to get a word in before Rad Red knocked my block off. I groggily climbed out of the passenger seat and stretched, relieving no small amount of tension in my back and neck. The stretches I learned from physical therapy were once again coming in handy.

Bean and Bark got off the wings, the latter especially relieved to be back on stable ground. Fiona Fox hopped out of the plane next, seemingly no worse for wear from the trip. Not a hair out of place. From the plane's storage, she drew out an electronic device shaped like a stopwatch and popped it open. She frowned at whatever she was seeing on it.

"The jewel radar's on the fritz." she said.

"Is that going to be an issue?" I asked.

"No. We'll just have to search by eye."

"Searching for what, exactly?"

"Salvage and treasure. Duh." She closed the device. "Oh, and your chaos emerald."

She turned to Bean and Bark.

"Alright, boys! Look around for anything that isn't nailed down and still has a resale value. Bonuses for the first one of you that finds a terminal I can hack into."

They were an efficient team. Fiona would point out items worth taking, Bark carried them back to the plane in a neat stack, and anything that was rooted to the ground, Bean would unroot with his bombs. While they got started on that, I drew my left hand towards a yellow and purple machine that resembled an electrical transformer. Arcs of electricity flew off it until the transformer snapped, crackled, and popped.

♦ 10

The Ruby flashed from blue to magenta, and I felt the familiar veins of energy creeping down my arm once again. In an instant, the most severe side effects of my hangover faded into the background. I was now revitalized, and a bit more aware of my immediate surroundings. However, my extrasensory vision, like Fiona's radar, was interspaced with a gloomy, green mist.

Is this chaos energy? An effect of the Master Emerald's presence?

Whatever it was, it caused my own radar to become fuzzy. I couldn't get solid readings for anything past line of sight. Nor could I tell where exactly the spectral miasma was coming from. Even so, I could determine that the whole Launch Base had a lot of machinery that was still powered by the hydroelectric dams connected to the water. Fiona, noticing that I was standing around and seemingly not doing anything, assigned me a task.

"Mister Scarlet, if you'd be so kind as to carry our things?"

I made a portal and deposited the group's collected junk into Null Space.

♦ 8

We passed checkered floors, miniature minarets, and exotic machinery that I couldn't identify. After a good half hour of observing the trio loot the Launch Base, watching for any oncoming dangers from leftover security badniks, and playing their bagman, I cleared my throat.

"Fiona? A word, please."

"Yeah?" Fiona said, disinterested. She was still tinkering with the radar, attempting to get a signal through the interference I'd encountered. "What's up?"

"In private. From employer to employee."

Fiona frowned and put the gadget away.

"Bean, you're on plane duty," she ordered.

"Break time!" Bean exclaimed.

"Bark, you're on Bean duty."

Bark nodded. Seeing that this was a break from the heavy lifting, Bark popped open a bottle of ginger beer from the cooler they brought along for the trip. Bean sat down next to him.

"Ooh! Pass me a Primal Venom!"

Fiona and I walked away from the biplane, until we stopped at the lake edge. The body of water was surrounded by verdant bushes and greenery, which were undisturbed by the industrial developments surrounding them.

"Alright, what is it?" she said testily.

I waved my hand at the lake, causing a water spout to refill my bottle.

"Do you have a plan? Besides venturing into uncharted territory on a scavenger hunt."

"Of course I have a plan. And it's not a scavenger hunt. It's a treasure hunt. How's about you kick back and take a chill pill while the professional treasure hunter does her job?"

Take a chill pill?

It was officially time to put my foot down.

"Simmer down with the attitude, Fiona, and try to remember who is paying whom to do what."

"We're still looking for your chaos emerald," she said dismissively. "It's taking longer because the jewel radar isn't working, but it'll go a lot faster when we find the computer room. Let's head back and do that, shall we?"

She started to walk away, until she noticed that I wasn't moving.

"Don't you think I've given you enough leeway by letting you order me around and take me away from Mercia to use as a backpack while you do your little 'side hustle'?"

"Backpack?" she said, caught off guard by my accusation.

It came to me not long after my hangover wore off. I held a small portal in my hand to demonstrate.

"The real reason you brought me here. How else did you plan to carry the salvage to your dealer without a cargo plane? Were you gonna have Bark balance all of the scrap metal and copper wire on his shoulders?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Right. Did you think I wouldn't notice your so-called radar is a hand mirror?" I had a crystal hand remove it from her possession and deliver it into mine. With it, I could determine that my eyes were still quite red. "I can sense energy around me, and I couldn't help but notice this device didn't have any power running through it."

I then tossed it into the water.

"Hey! Do you have any idea how much a chaos emerald detector costs?"

I didn't have the time or energy to go in circles with her over this. Wanting to move things along, I cast a faint cloud of ruby energy over her mind.

"Anything else you'd like to steal behind my back while you spent the whole day leading me on a wild goose chase and hoarding the premium goods for yourself?"

♦ 7

"Ancient echidna relics are worth a fortune on the black market!" she answered greedily, before swiftly covering her mouth in shock that she just gave away the grift to my face.

"Uh huh. No mention of that emerald that you were so sure about?"

"W-Wuh?! How? I mean, I didn't mean--!!"

She took a step back, terrified. The magenta cloud around her thoughts darkened and stormed up. In this moment, I could more thoroughly feel the fear she had for my powers. Not wanting to take things too far, I willed the ruby haze to dissipate.

"Do I look like the kind of person who would care if you stole from Robotnik?" I didn't give her the chance to answer. "Of course not! I'm more annoyed that you felt the urge to lie about it. To my face. Badly. Going through hoops to try and sell me on this treasure hunt while I was drunk!"

"Now what?" Fiona said defiantly. "Gonna pack up and go home? Throw me in the brig?"

I massaged my temples. She was acting completely different from the mercenary I thought I hired. If it wasn't for the fact I knew Rouge had a kleptomaniac streak wider than Bean's, I expect I would've vastly preferred the bat on an Angel Island excursion to this bratty teen fox.

"Don't be ridiculous. We're not leaving without a full haul of tech, including enough parts to build a generator we can hook up to a water wheel or two back in Mercia. Just remember which one of us is in charge of this mission going forward. Understood?"

Fiona glared petulantly.

"I said, am I understood?"

She kept trying to stare me down. I stared back, until she inevitably broke eye contact. She backed down.

"You wanna be the one calling the shots so badly? Fine! What do you want me to do, boss?"

It'd have been more accurate to say I was in charge again, but I'll take it. I pointed to a yellow castle connected to the water pipes that stuck out on the otherwise serene lakeside. I could tell from the external rotating cylinders and active flamethrowers that the castle still had power.

"That has to be the powerhouse for the Launch Base. The computers that run this place can't be far behind. When I'm at full power, we'll use any land surveys Robotnik saved on the drives to cut down our search time for his other remaining strongholds on the island."

"Then we'll head over there after we pick up Bean and Bark. Will that make you happy?"

"Happy enough."

Another thing I could do when I had full power was get another bird's eye view of Angel Island and better reorient myself to find the other zones. Fiona wasn't wrong in that any one of them could have useful salvage.

Wait. Bird? Did I leave Figment behind?

Uh oh. I hope he didn't have a hangover, too.

My concerns for my familiar were interrupted by a sudden, rustling sound from behind us. Fiona was quicker on the draw than I was, firing her blaster pistol at a large, bulbous entity that rose out of the bushes! Her shot was deflected by a flicker of the big red and yellow machine's spindly arm, which was hauling a laser cannon with a barrel bigger than my head. It then elevated itself further upwards on its rocket pack, nearly blotting out the sun from its rotundness.

If that wasn't bad enough, I could see a few more of the ovoid 'bots dropping in right behind it.

"The leader of the invading force has been identified!" the Egg Robo shouted, before swinging his gun around to point it at my face. "Prepare to be scrambled!"

- - -

Spoiler: Author Notes

Welcome to Angel Island! I've always wanted to take the fic here at some point. Why not now? Apologies for not having All Along the Space Colony be the next update, as I said it would, but that one needed more time in the oven before I could post it.

The top view of Angel Island from the start of the chapter is modeled on what I could find in the CSE, and cross-referenced with what I could determine from other guides. The specifics of Launch Base are derived right out of Sonic 3, because you can't beat the classics.

Egg Robos only had two appearances in the comic proper, but considering how striking they are in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, it'd be weird if I didn't use them while I had the chance.

 

[weredrago2]

Ruby Haze
Chapter 22: Lo-Spec Robo Go!

Time ground to a halt as I considered my options for how to resolve the problem of a bunch of Egg Robos crawling out of the ironwork to kill us. It wasn't an act of chaos control; I hadn't cracked that move yet. Rather, I was able to reap the benefits of my enhanced reflexes and savor a bit of bullet time.

The first one that'd have to go was the one pointing its heavy-duty blaster in my face. I was without armor and on very low power, so I couldn't do anything fancy. The Egg Robos were too wide in all directions for me to get a clean slice through their bodies with Morglay, so I popped out my claws and dealt with this one au naturale. One firm hand on the badnik's forearm, and a steady grip on its eyes. In two ripping motions, the badnik went from a problem to a solution.

"He tore out my optics!" the Egg Robo screamed. "MY OPTICS!!"

Gotta love super strength.

"Grab the gun!" I ordered Fiona, gesturing to the dropped limb and blaster while using the defaced, disarmed robot as a shield. She picked up the firearm and started firing upon our attackers, though she had to hold it with two hands to avoid being knocked back by recoil.

With my fingers already past the badnik's hard, external shell, I drained it of energy and tossed the smoking husk of its remains at the oncoming jetpack troopers. Once my hands were free, I cast a pink barrier on Fiona.

♦ 6

"Huh?" she sputtered, slowing her rate of fire. "Why are you--"

I hoisted her onto my shoulders, and she grabbed on to my neck as I broke out into a run.

"H-Hey! Put me down!"

"Keep shooting!" I snapped.

Fiona used my collar as a stabilizer while I jumped high and stretched my arms around a thick water pipe, leaping over a giant bomb with Robotnik's face on it that one of them rolled into the spot where I stood. Once I had grabbed on, I used the pipe to swing through air, Tarzan-style. The badniks' laser shots went wide, causing one of them to fire a hole into the high-pressure pipe and spray itself into a short-circuit.

"How many of them are there?" I asked, as my fist expanded in size and swatted down another Egg Robo on its way to another pipe.

"Like a dozen! Hard to count when you're shaking me like a sack of potatoes!"

No more than the amount of eggs you'd find in your average carton. Typical. Bad jokes aside, I simply wasn't going fast enough to shake them. Regardless of the Egg Robos' goofy shapes and builds, they had no issues keeping pace with me. From the heavy weapons they were packing to their swift and relentless pursuit of us, I could tell these things were a massive step up from the SWATbots that made up the dregs of the badnik horde.

"Eat plasma, freak!" shouted one of the Egg Robos, who cranked up their thrusters and appeared right in front of us! The badnik switched their blaster to automatic, abandoning any semblance of precision for the chance that one of the beams would hit its mark.

I crossed my arms around my chest to block the lasers, which only did so much to protect me when one of the stray beams hit its mark.

♦ 3

I let out a frenzied roar and drove my now much larger hands into the airborne badnik's torso, the sudden change in weight causing it to enter an uncontrolled spin!

Werehog made this look easy!

"GET OFF ME!" the badnik screeched, as it tried in vain to break my grapple hold.

"I'm gonna hurl!" Fiona yelped.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" I said as I failed to pry my fingers out of the Egg Robo's steel chassis. "AND LET ME WORK!"

If these things weren't going to let up, then neither would I. Lacking the ideal amount of leverage needed to get my hands loose, I opened wide and tore the badnik's faceplate open with my teeth! An electrifying flush of energy flew off my claws in a rain of sparks!

♦ 5

The Egg Robo's tinny hollers only got louder, until I spat out what looked like a voice box. I then went with the rip and split the Egg Robo in two, slamming both halves against the ground so that the hi-powered jets of this DIY rocket sled could carry us away from the squadron.

♦ 4

We skidded away from the open air where they'd have a much easier time of picking us off, passing through a purple tunnel into one of the yellow-brick forts that dotted the surface of the Launch Base. Once we were inside, I let go of the Egg Robo and it crashed into a wall. I knelt down to try and catch my breath, which Fiona used as a good excuse to hurriedly hop off my shoulders. She tossed the blaster, having expended the fuel cell while covering me.

"That should buy us a few seconds," I said tiredly. "You okay?"

"Okay?!" she echoed incredulously. "You went all freakshow and bit that bot's face off like a sundrop junkie!"

I was disappointed (but not terribly surprised) to hear they had hard drugs on Mobius. Plenty of reasons why people would want to get high and forget their problems for a while. Not like I had high ground on which to advocate for temperance, when it's been less than twenty four hours since I went on a binge and woke up on a different continent.

"Are you hurt?" I clarified.

"My head's spinning, but… no," Fiona answered hesitantly. "I'm fine."

I felt something fluid sliding down my chin. I wiped it off with a towel from Null Space, thankful that it was only oil from the robot I took a bite out of.

"Good. Any idea where all of these badniks came from? I could've swore this place was supposed to be abandoned."

"I thought these bases were cleaned out of any live badniks when Robotnik packed up and left!" Fiona said defensively. She gave the Egg Robo head an angry kick. "Ugh! Leave it to Sonic the Coward to leave a job unfinished!"

Definitely a story there that I won't prod.

I tried to think of the order of events surrounding Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Or at least, my understanding of them. Eggman crashed the Death Egg at the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, he needed time and resources to repair it--

"Did Robotnik make anything called a Death Egg?" I asked. "Big, egg-shaped ship? Anything like that ring a bell?"

"Never heard of it," Fiona said flatly. "Can we focus on getting out of here?"

Problem. For. Later.

The Death Egg may or may not exist yet. I had some ideas for dealing with it or the Egg Fleet… provided this Mobius had a specific level I needed from Shadow.

Or a Shadow.

Back on track. Knuckles had to be convinced by Eggman to let him build whatever he wanted on the island. When that relationship fell apart, Eggman left, and Sonic hadn't been back to check on things since to make sure the remaining robots were dealt with. Could that be it?

That might be the answer. When the hedgehog's away, the badniks will play.

"You're right. Do you know which way the plane is from here?"

Fiona took a shy glance out the open window, ducking under it when she heard the thrum of the Egg Robos' thrusters.

"We can follow the pipes back to the landing strip. Cut our losses."

I shook my head.

"We need to make sure that Bean and Bark weren't ambushed first. Help them if they need it."

She nodded. After a pause, Fiona asked a question I should've seen coming.

"Why did you save me?"

I was trying to focus the remaining energies of the Phantom Ruby into a thin, pre-loaded crystal beam. Without enough energy to warp us all off the island, I needed a spell I could fire off as a last-ditch attack. Or a signal flare.

I dropped all of that when she asked me that question.

"Excuse me?"

"It doesn't make any sense! You could've told Bean and Bark I didn't make it! Cut me out of the score, take the goods for yourself, and then hire them full time. I know Bark likes steady work and free food. He's easy to please. Bean is trickier to manage at the best of times, but--"

What the hell had this girl gone through?

I held up a hand. A now blessedly normal hand.

"Fiona. I'm mad at you for trying to trick me, and I might not be able to give you as much trust as I did until you earn it back, but I don't want you dead. Is that so hard to believe?"

Fiona opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out. She had nothing to say. My anger gave way to a more sympathetic perspective, which she unfortunately misidentified as pity.

"Are you pitying me!? Don't you dare pity--!!"

Fiona went quiet when we heard more Egg Robos approaching from the other end of the tunnel. I kicked the emptied blaster in the direction of the badnik scraps and wordlessly ushered her into a corner beside me. With a wave of my hand, we were cloaked. Invisible. An illusory copy of each of us was left in close proximity to the wreck.

The badniks rushed in and covered 'our' positions around the damaged robot. Nice and clustered, exactly where I wanted them.

"Hand where we can see them!" ordered one of the Egg Robos.

I decided that it was for the best to comply, seeing that 'we' were outgunned. I had the illusions raise their hands, while I rummaged through Null Space for one of the heavy weapons I purchased for low-power emergencies like this. One of them pointed at my double.

"You! Overlander! Hand over the source of the anomalous reading!"

I stopped. Did they mean the Phantom Ruby?

"I don't know what you're talking about!" my copy said.

"Don't play dumb, meatbag! We're built to detect exotic signatures!"

They could detect the Phantom Ruby's power?

"Final warning! Surrender the chaos energy power source! NOW!"

Not gonna happen.

My hands grasped on to one of my 'rainy day' weapons of choice: A six-shot grenade launcher. I dispensed with the illusions, removed the safety, and fired a 40 mm round at the mass of targets. The Egg Robos and the fortress wall exploded into so many loose chunks on impact.

It was safe to say that I've had easier days than this one. The sound of a frag grenade going off in close range was nearly deafening, but not as loud as the sudden cacophony that had sprung up past the now-exposed outside.

Dammit, what is it now?

Against my better judgment, I looked outside. From our vantage point, I could see a whole lot of bad news. Not only was the plane wrecked. Around the burning remains, I could see a heavily injured Bean and Bark were fighting a singular Egg Robo piloting what looked like a souped-up eggmobile. 'Fighting' was a bit generous; Bean was throwing bombs that had no effect on the red, spiked armor plating that covered the ovoid hovercraft, while Bark was struggling not to get crushed between the machine's set of massive, mechanical hands--

Oh.

Oh come on!

Fiona caught up to me.

"What the heck is that!?" she said to me.

"It's Big Arms!" I replied, before I slid down a pipe tube towards it.

"What's a Big Arms!?"

I didn't answer. I was too busy firing grenades.

"Let's go to Angel Island!" I said.

I fired on its back.

"It'll be fun!" I said.

I fired on its back.

"It'll be a one-day trip!"

I fired.

"See the sights!"

I fired!

"Meet the locals!"

I fired!

"Get mobbed by a FINAL BOSS AND A HORDE OF MOOKS!!"

I fired… and the grenade launcher went click. By which point, the Big Arms turned around, dropped Bark, and swung one its fists towards me! I only barely teleported out of the way!

♦ 2

"Should've aimed for the glass!" Bean contributed. "And people say I've got a screw--!"

Bark put his mitts on Bean's beak and quietly pulled him away from the fight. They were both too roughed-up to help. The ground was pulverized by the catastrophic impact of Big Arms' fist, the dent it left in the ground deep enough to lose a car in. Not having a specific destination in mind when I dodged the attack, I ended up a few feet back and still in the mech's line of sight.

"You!" the Egg Robo behind the yoke of the Big Arms boomed at me. The badnik's eyes glowed a furious red. "You are the source of the exotic energy reading that has eluded us for so long! Relinquish it immediately, so that we may return to our master and put an end to this ceaseless, demeaning assignment!"

I wrapped my hands around two minarets. They kept steady, holding my weight as I took several steps back.

"Come and get me!" I said when my arms became taut. "Unless you're planning to hatch into a chicken?"

The Big Arms put up its dukes.

"If. You. INSIST!"

Big Arms charged at the same time I let go of the pillars and slingshotted myself at the mech! Slipping between its malicious fingers, drove my arms forward and rammed Morglay straight at the Egg Robo behind the narrow strip of glass!

♦ 1

Everything went dark.

After a few seconds, I realized that, at the moment of the Hail Mary attack, I closed my eyes. Nothing else happened until I slowly opened them. When I did, I could see that my blade made its impact. The glass was shattered, the Egg Robo was impaled, and Big Arms was offline. The only light from the cockpit were those from behind the erratically flickering eyes of the badnik.

"I did it!" I said in genuine awe. "Guys, we did it! It's down! I WON!"

You break it, you buy it, and now I had a whole Big Arms in the bag. What would I do with it and the rest of my armored regiment, I wondered?

The idle thought was enough of a reprieve for me to mistakenly lower my guard.

"SCARLET!" Fiona shouted at me from the upper window of the fort. "GET OUT OF THERE!"

Those were the last words she got in before Big Arms turned back on and clasped its hands around me!

"HEY! Let go of me!" I cried in vain.

"How thoroughly organic!" the Egg Robo with a sword sticking out of it said with a sadistic glee. It flicked the cabin lights back on with its free hand and switched its eyes back to normal. "To claim victory while being crushed between the jaws of defeat!"

I pushed against the hands, but the mech's strength was much greater than mine. Big Arms lifted me even higher into the air, its crushing grip becoming even more suffocating. Before I could worry about not being able to breathe, Big Arms powerbombed me with all its might.

♦ !!

In an instant, what few dregs of strength I had were violently rattled out of my body. All of my remaining power evaporated, as I rapidly stretched and squashed on contact with the ground like a human accordion. Somebody screamed during all of that, but I wasn't in a great state to determine who it was. Without the Phantom Ruby moving the healing process along, I had to experience my bones and joints decompressing a few agonizing seconds at a time.

An unfavorable downside of my new body was that I didn't think I could die of shock anymore.

I was starting to miss that feature already.

"Any more pithy comments? Do you still think of yourself as clever as Priority One, for taking out the rest of my kin?" Nothing that came to mind. "No? I thought not."

The Egg Robo dropped my body into the pit that it made with that penultimate attack. As it reeled back its fist, I imagined the next punch would be our last. With the sun in my eyes and the rest of me not going anywhere any time soon, the only thing I could hope for was that the Egg Robo would stop monologuing and kill me already.

"Now to extract the gem and return to Robotropolis, where I shall be granted the laurels I deserve! What all badniks strive for!"

A guy could dream, right?

"SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, YOU POMPOUS EGG-NORAMUS!" shouted a loud baritone voice from the heavens.

As though the Ancient Walkers themselves were punishing the Egg Robo for making us listen to its rambling, the Big Arms was interrupted in its coup de grâce by a broad, angular figure landing atop it like a hammer on fine china.

"NO, NO!" the Egg Robo screeched in a panic. The external speakers on the Big Arms were broken. "NOT WHEN I'M THIS CLOSE!"

Big Arms fell to the ground. My mysterious rescuer leapt off of Big Arms with a loud thump, took aim, and tossed a round bomb into the opened cockpit, blowing the Egg Robo inside to bits.

It was over. Again. For real this time.

It was dead.

I hoped.

At least I could breathe again. When the dust and debris settled, the newcomer walked up to the pit and extended a gangly arm that ended with a red boxing glove.

"Let's get you back on your feet," he said.

"Bean? Bark?" I asked weakly as he helped me stay upright. "Some fusion of the two?"

"Afraid we haven't met before, chap. I imagine I'd remember a fellow with as striking an appearance as yours if we did!"

"We?"

"Allow us to introduce ourselves!" the stranger bellowed.

The sun reflected off the stranger's all-encompassing metal armor, making them even harder to see with my blurry vision. Then their cooking pot lid of a head popped open with a giant spring for a neck, disgorging a black and red bomb with arms and legs.

"Ping!" the bomb robot pinged as it rolled onto the gray robot's glove and towards my face.

"BOMB!" I said as I tumbled back into the hole in alarm. I let out another pained yelp when I hit the ground.

"Bomb, you'll give the man a heart attack!" the stout, kettle-shaped badnik chastised.

"Ping! Ping!"

"No, he didn't guess your name correctly! He thought you were a weapon!"

"PING!"

"Don't twist my words around!"

I gradually climbed back up the hole to see the two robots bickering.

"Hands where I can see them!" Fiona said as she pointed my empty grenade launcher at them. Bean and Bark had squared up right behind her. "Name, rank, and serial number!"

The robots saluted her.

"Heavy and Bomb!" Heavy the Robot said. "We're the Mechanix, at your service!"

"Ping!"

Heavy & Bomb!? From the Chaotix game!?

"Our serial numbers are as follows!"

Heavy began reading out a series of numbers.

"H-Hold fire!" I said as I tried and failed to stand on my own two feet. "I've heard of them!"

They were a pair of badniks that went straight. Or something like that. The first of Eggman's robots to go rogue, before Gamma or Omega.

Heavy's ambiguous head piece wobbled up and down from the recognition.

"No doubt you've heard of us from our efforts of rescuing the guests of the Happyland Amusement Park from our despised designer's clutches!"

That loosely sounded like the story brief in the American and European versions of the Knuckles' Chaotix manual.

"What he said," I said wearily. "They're on the level."

Bark slackened his combat stance. Bean was as difficult to read as ever. Fiona tossed the grenade launcher.

"Loan me a gun?" she asked me.

"Can I get a please?"

Instead of asking for a firearm nicely, Fiona pulled a small rod from her glove. With a swing, the rod extended into a metal baton she attached to the loose belt on her hip.

To each their own.

"Ping! Ping!" Bomb said. Bean then picked the good badnik up off the ground and began caressing him. "PING!?"

Bean then presented him to Fiona.

"Can I keep him?" the duck pleaded. "It's the most amazingest thing I've ever seen! Look, it even knows my name!"

"PING! PING! PING!"

"He didn't mean that!" Heavy said hastily.

Fiona rolled her eyes.

"We already have a team pet," she said dryly. "Put it down."

"Aww…"

Bean put Bomb down, and the walking explosive went back to sitting on Heavy's shoulder.

"Follow us, new friends! It's high time you received a proper welcome to the Floating Island!"

- - -

Spoiler: Author Notes

For me, this whole Angel Island segment has been a trip down memory lane. Big time. More than anything else in the fic. I can't wait to show you guys what I'm cooking with it.

Egg Robos (AKA EggRobos) were the elite mooks of Eggman's forces before he cooked up the E-Series. For Sonic and Tails, they'd float around and look tough in the Sky Sanctuary Zone part of S&K. For Knuckles, though, an Egg Robo was promoted to being Rad Red's nemesis! One of the Egg Robos (if not the same one each time) would show up to harass Knuckles at the end of each stage, taking Eggman's place and using different attacks than him.

Big Arms was the final boss of Sonic 3. A real doozy of a final boss, too! In the original game, it could grab Super Sonic and hit him so hard he spilled all of his rings! This was probably a glitch, seeing as it got patched in S&K/Origins, but still! Sonic Generations on the 3DS did the fight dirty, but the music that went with it was top notch.

Heavy & Bomb are two characters that I knew I liked and wanted to use, but I forgot how much fun I was having with them in my VeloSONIC campaign until I began writing them again for this fic. The chapter was just gonna keep going and going with them talking to the characters, at which point I realized it should probably be cut off where the chapter ends now. The rest of their introduction will be seen in the next chapter.

I'm on a roll. I don't know how, or why, but I'm on fire. Gonna roll with it.
[/spoilers]

 

[weredrago2]

Ruby Haze
Chapter 23: Where the Boardwalk Ends

We relocated to the command center of the Launch Base, which was in the biggest of the yellow forts that doubled as the facility's powerhouse. Putting the lack of a Death Egg aside, this place functioned as Robotnik's temporary headquarters during his short-lived control of the island. The Mechanix made hot-fix renovations to the dictator's accommodations, until we ended up with a pleasant sitting room in which to chat. We boiled up tea and had snacks from the provisions that survived Big Arms smashing the biplane.

Oh, right. I don't think Le Duck's gonna like that we accidentally turned his plane into a total loss. Seeing how handy they were with machinery, I had to ask what Heavy & Bomb could do about that before we left.

Honestly, it would've been a bit hard to believe Robotnik made them without my outside-context knowledge. The badnik duo were built to make and maintain all sorts of things at Robotnik's behest. Instead of making weapons or war machines, they insisted on building me a wheelchair out of Egg Robo parts since I couldn't walk yet.

"You're with the Chaotix?" Fiona asked the badniks, still skeptical of them. She was approaching the odd paradox of their existence from a more cynical angle.

Bark was using a first aid kit to treat the injuries Bean got during the battle, while the latter stared wistfully at Bomb in a trance. It was the only time I'd seen Bean stand still, and Bark took the only chance he was going to get to clean and dress the wounds without his patient squirming. Bark got pretty banged up while fighting Big Arms, but the polar bear was moving around and holding himself as if he wasn't bothered by it. Fiona's boast that he was one of the strongest mobians around might not be too far off. He offered to patch me up, too, but the most he could do was straighten my legs back into shape.

I suggested it as a joke, but Bark took it at face value before I could stop him. Ow. I got the impression he'd done it before.

"Indeed! We couldn't have saved the Freedom Fighters from the funhouse mirror prison dimension and sent that malcontent Metal Sonic packing without the rest of the Floating Island's defenders at our sides!"

What'd that make the Chaotix here? A local superhero team for Angel Island? I was assuming their membership included at least Vector, Espio, and Charmy. If Knuckles, Heavy, and Bomb made the cut, then maybe Mighty did, too?

I let the mention of a 'funhouse mirror dimension' slide without further appraisal. It was better not to get lost in the weeds.

"Thanks again for the rescue," I said, extending my hand to the robots. "If I didn't say it before, I'm John Scarlet. With me are Bean, Bark, and Fiona. I'm with the Freedom Fighters in Mercia, and they're my backup."

"Think nothing of it, John!" Heavy replied. "But I must say, you seem to have taken a nasty beating from those no-good loyalist machines!"

While I'm relieved to be alive enough to complain, a sharp spike of pain in my spine ran down my legs and motivated me to bring up how I could make it go away.

"I just need power to, ah, recharge my batteries."

"My word! You wouldn't happen to be a rogue auto-automaton, would you?"

For a flash of a second, I saw Fiona freeze up. I was the only one that caught it.

"No, I'm not a robot. I'm an… overlander. Let's just say I'm a special one. Any chance you could wheel me over to the generator?"

Heavy rummaged around in his internals. It was where he stored all of their tools and accessories. Moments later, he pulled out an orange electrical cord and offered it to me.

"Help yourself to a charge-up!"

I warily took hold of the cord in my left hand.

"Are you sure?"

"It's the least we can do for showing up late once we heard the commotion. Our dynamic partnership is only as fast as its slowest member. And I am, as my name would imply, rather slow-going."

I stuck my thumb on the prongs and slowly, cautiously, drew power from Heavy's internal generator. As I did, I could feel a steady flow of power coursing through it.

✧=✧ ♦ 5

I stood out of the chair. The pain faded, and all of the mangled parts of my body were instantly healed. I was initially elated, only to realize I was once again taking advantage of a power I'd refused to share with Mercia's wounded.

I can't keep doing this. Maybe there's a way I can--

"Any compatibility issues?" Heavy asked, concern evident in his voice. "I should have a DC converter in here somewhere."

✧=✧ ♦ 10

"No, not at all," I answered quickly. Whatever these guys used to fuel themselves felt more like when I was absorbing rings, rather than draining pure electrical energy. "What exactly are you powered by?"

"Ping! Ping!" Bomb answered.

"As my compatriot said, we have a pair of premium-grade power gems stored in my reactor. One for him, and one for me."

✧=✧ ♦ 15

Power gems? I heard Weasley mention those, but these two seemed less likely to lie about or oversell what one of them could do.

"What's a power gem?"

"A highly-energized beryl," the robot exposited. "It's no match for the infinite output of a chaos emerald, but there's worse you can use for energy needs than a stable power gem."

"Ping!"

"Indeed. Seeing as Bomb goes through bodies as a matter of his duties, his power gem is connected to mine to save a backup of his blueprints and core personality."

✧=✧ ♦ 20

"Where do they come from?"

"Mines," Fiona said simply.

Was she still rattled by whatever Heavy said to set her off?

"The young lady is correct. Though, as far as we're aware, all of Robotnik's power gem mines have been exhausted. The gems without cracks or impurities that would make them dangerously unpredictable are vanishingly scarce."

✧=✧ ♦ 25

Lacking a chaos emerald, a power gem was sounding exactly like what I needed. I considered siphoning more power from Heavy and Bomb, but I refused to abuse their generosity. Silicon-based or not, they were really nice people.

Admittedly, I couldn't understand a single word Bomb was saying. I returned the cord.

"Is there anything we can do to repay you?" I asked.

"Think nothing of it!" Heavy said jovially.

"Ping!"

"How much will it set us back to fix the plane?" Fiona segued.

"We couldn't dare impose on a fellow Freedom Fighter! We'll fix your plane post haste, free of charge!"

Fiona brought her hands together and flashed the robots a winning smile. An expression that, with context, appeared alien on her normally jaded face.

"Thank you so much!" Her tail did a swish. "You're too kind!"

I shook my head. 'Too kind' was right.

"No, no. There has to be something we can do for you. You saved our lives, for Pete's sake."

Fiona's 'cute' face switched to a dirty look in my direction, which the robots didn't catch.

"Ping! Ping!"

Heavy rubbed the bottom rim of his metal cap; the place where a chin would be.

"Well… I don't have any Petes in my memory banks, but Bomb makes a fair point. Knuckles and the rest of our Chaotix compatriots have been unexpectedly out of contact all day."

"Do you want us to help search for them?"

Heavy waved off my concern.

"They're probably on an impromptu expedition to the old ruins in the Sandopolis Desert, or elsewhere on the island with spotty radio reception. Happens all the time! Our friends are certain to turn up again in a few hours, though we'd prefer to examine the remains of the island's theme park with the strength of numbers on our side."

"What, Happyland?" Fiona asked. "Hasn't it been abandoned since Metal Sonic tore it up?"

It made some sense that Metal Sonic would've been there, if that event was their version of the Chaotix game. On that note, who would put a theme park on Angel Island? Unless…

"Given the unexpected amount of activity that has kicked up around the island, Bomb and I agree it's better to be safe than sorry. We've even had to upgrade ourselves once or twice to keep pace with all of the Egg Robos piloting Robotnik's war mechs!"

"There's more of them?" Fiona said, blanching.

"We've spent months clearing out Robotnik's bases on the island, with varying levels of resistance. Now that the Launch Base has been rendered harmless, Happyland, otherwise known as the covert stronghold of 'Carnival Night', should be the last of our cretinous creator's blights on the Floating Island."

Aha! Called it.

"Ping!"

I was beginning to get a better picture of things. Kinda.

"We'd be happy to help you clean the place out and make things even," I said.

Fiona frowned, setting her teacup on the checkered table.

"I don't know if we can commit to that with our poor friend in dire need of getting his head checked." She gestured to Bean, who had a single strip of gauze wrapped around his head like a bandana. I think he put that one there himself. "Who knows if he'll ever recover his mental faculties without immediate medical attention?"

Bean crossed his arms indignantly.

"I have faculties!" he protested. "The faculty has a CFO, a general secretary, and a horse I made consul!"

She lowered her hand.

"I rest my case."

Bark took a sip of his tea without further comment.

"Perhaps your friend does need a doctor," Heavy said worriedly. "We can fix many things, but broken mobians are out of our wheelhouse."

"Ping!" Bomb said. He made a swirling motion with his hand, an index finger pointed towards his body.

"Let's save those kinds of diagnoses for the professionals," Heavy said to Bomb dryly.

Fiona was embellishing to get us out of the obligation, though her point was a fair one. The chances of anything worse than a damn final boss coming down on us were very low, and they could probably still fight if it came to it, but was it a risk I needed to put on them?

"Bean, Bark? You guys okay with sitting this one out? I can make a portal back to Hideaway and let you two recover. You'll still be paid for your time."

Bark gave me a thumbs-up.

"But won't you miss my insightful zingers?" Bean asked.

"We'll survive."

"I'll be going with them," Fiona said. "I got hurt during the fighting, too."

She didn't seem that injured. A few scuffs at the most, since I put a barrier on her.

"Suit yourself." I turned to Heavy. "Say, what are the odds that we'd be able to find salvage that can be recycled for the public good? Machine parts, computer components, spare power gems, and the like."

"Practically guaranteed," Heavy replied earnestly.

"Change of plans," Fiona said without skipping a beat. "You two head back. Mister Scarlet will need my expertise."

"Hear that, Barkie? We're gonna fly over the Kukku's nest!"

Bark let out a neutral grunt and tossed his sandwich wrapper away.

Bomb shrugged, and Heavy raised a fist in the air.

"Capital! Shall we be off, then?"

"Need to make a call," I said. "Meet you outside."

I stepped away from the group and headed down to the massive generator that kept the Launch Base running. Not sure where to start drawing power, I just lifted up the Ruby and let it decide. One of the many pink tendrils that flew out of the magenta stone found purchase and began draining the facility's electrical output.

♦ 50

I brought out my crystal ball and sought out Hideaway. It only took a minute of skimming around to find who I was looking for. Rob was at a table drinking a cup of water, his hood brought up over his head and most of his face. He wasn't the only one around the village trying to shake off the aftereffects of the party.

"Hail and well met," I said through the glass. Long-distance calls were energy-intensive, which is why I hooked myself up to a generator first. Direct, focused application of ruby power cut through the emerald fog like a knife.

"Not too loud," Rob moaned morosely. "Royal decree."

"Sorry." I lowered my voice and modulated the connection. "That better?"

"Yes. My thanks… John?"

Rob turned around to face me, only to realize I wasn't there at all. He checked his glass again, just to make sure there wasn't anything untoward in it.

"Talking through the crystal ball."

"Aye," he said, letting the statement wash over him. "Where didst thou run off to last night? We hadn't been able to find ye, or any of thine elite myrmidons this morn."

He doesn't remember at all, does he?

"You ah, gave us a mission last night."

Rob blanched.

"I did? I mean, I didst? Wherever to?" I told him. "Ye what?"

I gave Rob the abridged version of what happened. Someone -- not mentioning who yet -- came up with the idea at the party, I wanted to see where it went, and he approved it.

"Ye should return to Hideaway with a magenta gateway post-haste," Rob suggested. Not quite an order, but he expected me to follow it, unless I had a really good reason not to.

"Afraid I can't yet. The local defenders of the island saved us from an ambush, and I gave my word I'd stick around to help them with a problem they had before I left."

"And you don't give your word often," Rob said resignedly. Even with a hangover, he remembered one of the first things I said to him when we met.

♦ 75

"It shouldn't take more than a day. The High Sheriff needs at least a week before he can mount another attack like the last one."

"Please have a care while you explore the Floating Island," Rob said more seriously. "The warnings of dangers hidden on such a fae land are not to be taken lightly. You've already stated you've been attacked once before."

"I understand. You should see two of them I'm dropping off back at home base shortly"

"Good man. And should ye feel like you're getting in over your head, leave. We still need ye here to help deliver the Sheriff his just desserts."

"Wouldn't miss it."

He smiled.

"May the Walkers guide your way."

"You too. I'll be back soon!"

The last thing I saw was him wincing. I put the crystal ball away as the generator shut down, exhausted of its energy.

♦ 100

I stepped out onto the landing strip of the Launch Base, where the Mechanix had cleared out the Big Arms and biplane debris. They fired up one of Robotnik's teal hover units as the new aircraft of choice for our day trip. My trio of mercs were waiting beside it.

Seeing that we were already burning daylight, I tore open a portal back to Hideaway.

♦ 95

Bark stepped through the gate without much fuss. Bean, however, was harder to convince to go away. Or stop crying. Or let go of my leg.

"Oh please, Mister Scarlet! Promise me you'll let me visit my spirit animal! We're meant to be together!"

"Ping! Ping!" Bomb said from the peanut gallery.

"Let him have the moment, Bomb."

"PLEASE! I'll even change my name to Ping!"

I detached Bean from my leg with as much grace I could muster. What could I say that would convince him to buzz off?

I took a shot in the dark, answering his nonsense with my own.

"Bean, what kind of music has no sound?"

"Sheet music!" He pranced through the vortex. "See you in the Author Notes!"

"In the what?"

The portal closed behind him.

That bird is only tolerable in small doses. No more than that.

I entered the back hatch of the hover unit with Fiona, where rows of seating were installed along the sides of the cabin area. It was reminiscent of a military helicopter. The two badniks were in the pilot and copilot seats up front, with the latter driving.

"Let's go to the carnival," I said with only a little mustered enthusiasm.

Going to Carnival Night Zone? Kinda cool. Going into another fight? Not cool. Unless we jump them first and I turn the badniks' inside out before they even know what hit them.

Bomb turned the key to the engine and the hover unit took off.

"Ping!"

"Welcome aboard!" Heavy said. "It'll be a brief flight over the scenic Mushroom Hills and the indigo bogs of the Isolated Island. Sit tight, and it shall be over before you know it!"

I listened to Heavy describe the various locales of the floating landmass, almost like we were on a guided tour, until we reached our destination.

- - -

Bomb landed the hover unit right outside the entrance to the Happyland Amusement Park, which was a tall, white gate with a metal sphere on top. An askew yellow band on the globe welcomed guests to the park in bold, red letters. If the park was open, I imagine it would've rotated. The decoration was reminiscent of the massive, spinning globe at Universal Studios, or the globe tower at the entrance of Disney's Hollywood Studios.

I felt a pang of sadness that I wouldn't ever be going on group trips with my friends to theme parks again. While I was distracted by memories of better times, Fiona did the honors and opened the gates to the walled-off Carnival Night with a pair of bolt cutters.

"Come on!" Fiona shouted at me. "It's not like there's lines!"

Heavy, Bomb, and I followed her in. We stood relatively close to each other, no one wanting a repeat of what happened with the Egg Robos.

At least I can take out the Egg Graviton much easier than Big Arms.

We canvassed the area slowly and methodically. The interior of the park reminded me of old photos from Coney Island's golden age, with striped tents and amusement rides chaotically scattered around the colorful fairgrounds. There was a carousel, a roller coaster, a ferris wheel, and other staple attractions in varying states of disrepair.

"This place is a dump," Fiona said bluntly.

On further analysis, I had to agree. This place was more like an old Coney Island park with one foot in the grave. Light bulbs and neon signs were broken and smashed. The metal rides were rusting, and the wooden ones had warped from the rain. Seeing the place in the late afternoon and in such a sorry state initially made it hard to recognize as being Carnival Night. At the end of the day, the fact that it was done up in striking red, white, and yellow meant that it was difficult to confuse for anything else. A non-insignificant chunk of the park was flooded, lending the place a foul odor that aggravated my migraine.

Shouldn't the pain have gone away with the recharge?

The spectral mists that clouded my ESP felt heavier and thicker than before. More oppressive, for lack of a better word to describe it.

Maybe that's what's getting to me?

"Steer clear of the stagnant water," Heavy warned. "I suspect our last visit caused a water main connected to the nearby Hydro City to rupture."

I hovered over the puddles and tore down parts of the Happyland park as needed to clear a path over it for the others. Heavy and Bomb cleared the rest of the way, blowing things up with remarkably more precision and restraint than Bean.

"I thought it was called Hydrocity," Fiona said. "Like 'velocity'."

"Hydrocity isn't a word," I replied irritably. I was hoping I wouldn't have to deal with those arguments again.

Once she took notice of my reaction, Fiona's lip quivered into a mischievous smile.

"No, I remember now! It's a word derived from the echidna style of aqueduct design, which used the lost technique of hydrocitic piping."

"You made that up."

"The Hydrocity was the high-speed aqueduct network that transported water to the capital. It's one of the Seven Wonders of the Floating Island! What kind of treasure hunter would I be if I didn't know that?"

"You're lying."

"It does sound plausible," Heavy admitted.

"Ping!"

"Still not a word!" I insisted. Seeing that this was a losing argument, I snagged one of the less moth-chewed maps of the place from the information booth and gave it a read. "Oh, forget that. Who in their right mind would put a boardwalk on a park in the sky?"

"Hard to say if Renfield ever had a right mind," Fiona said.

"Who?"

"Renfield Rodent," Fiona clarified, as she thumbed a poster of a brown rat in a suit with a grin that was a bit too white. "He used to be a frontman for other peoples' dirty laundry in the Mobius Underworld. We did a few 'security' gigs for him, and the guy just couldn't shut his trap about saving up his mobiums to make a theme park."

"Was it one of those obsession things, or was he trying to break into legitimacy?"

"Whatever it was, I didn't think he'd be willing to work with Robotnik," she said sourly. "I hope the rat rots in that tiny cell they stuck him in."

I let out a "hmm" in understanding.

In time, we reached a shattered house of mirrors that looked like it'd weathered heavy damage from a battle.

"Is this the place where Robotnik trapped the Freedom Fighters?" I asked Heavy. "It doesn't look like much."

"Ping!"

"Looks can be deceiving." Heavy turned to Fiona and I. "Do you two mind stepping back? We'd like to take the building down with a controlled demolition."

I nodded, and I began walking around it. There were scattered pings and booms behind me.

"You don't trust those badniks, do you?" Fiona whispered as she followed along. With Bark gone, I was the next effective living shield.

"If they're with the Chaotix--" I began.

"Don't be a sap!" she hissed. "We don't have any proof they're with the Guardian or his new backup dancers, except what they told us."

"Look. If they're evil or something, they'll be easy enough to get rid of. Heavy isn't exactly a fast runner, and he strikes me even less as a swimmer. We can verify they are who they say they are when we catch up to Knuckles. I imagine he'd be willing to hear us out, provided we don't take anything we aren't supposed… to…"

I trailed off, stunned by what had come into view.

"Mobius to Scarlet!" She snapped her fingers to get my attention. I put my hand on her head and tilted it in the direction of the mother lode. "What are you--!"

She stopped when she saw it, too. Right across the corner from the hall of mirrors laid the corpse of an iron giant. Built out of red and gray steel, the behemoth of a super badnik had to be at least two stories tall. Precise measurements were difficult, as the entity was broken up into jagged chunks that left deep indentations in the dirt where it fell. Its face was a mangled parody of the source material, designed to strike terror across Mobius in the way that the original brought hope.

I knew exactly what I was looking at: The remains of Metal Sonic Kai.

"Is it dead?" she asked after almost a minute of us looking over the mechanical kaiju without saying a word.

I wasn't taking any chances. I closed my eyes and raised the Phantom Ruby, tuning out the interference from the chaff of chaos energy surrounding the island as I extended my voice across the boardwalk.

"If you're alive, say something! I've had a long day!"

♦ 94

Metal Sonic Kai didn't move. The machine was, by all appearances, long gone. Then something from deep within responded to my summons. Something that tasted distinctly green, the texture not too far off from what powered the Mechanix.

⬧ !!

"I felt something!"

I felt something, and I had to have it!

I walked past the twisted debris of the massive Metal Sonic chassis, and towards the energy source. Climbing over it, and into the hollowed cylinder that stored its reactor.

I could feel it! This power gem was mine to take!

Or at least, that's what I thought, until a blob of viscous blue metal pounced out of the giant Metal Sonic's chest cavity and melted onto my hand!

♦ 74 ⬧ 20

In an instant, I felt the metal blob draining my energy away at a rapid rate!

Oh no no no! Please don't be the metal virus! Don't be metal virus!!

"H-Hey! Get off me!"

I tried to rip it off with my free claw, but it oozed through like putty! When that failed, I drew Morglay and attempted to pry whatever this was off the Phantom Ruby!

♦ 64 ⬧ 30

The slashes, while ineffective at killing this thing, caused it to retaliate. The blob became more cohesive. Several metallic pseudopods grew out of the mass. One of them shifted further, becoming a full arm in order to sock me in the jaw.

"Ow! FIONA! A little help here?!"

"With what?" Fiona said angrily. "You didn't give me a gun!"

"Does this look like something a gun can hurt? Just think of something!"

Fiona paused, studying the creature while I fought for my life.

♦ 54 ⬧ 40

"Lead it to the water!" Fiona said.

Now there was an idea. I shot straight up into the air, searching for the first pool of water I could find. When I did find one, near the roller coaster, I dove down to it, leaving a trail of pink energy to mark where I was headed.

♦ 49 ⬧ 45

The metal blob, growing increasingly restless, transformed its hand into an arm cannon. With only a split second to react, I shoved the cannon away from my head, causing the shot to blow a hole through the merry-go-round and hit something that turned it on!

"Watch where you're aiming!" I shouted at the metal mass as I wrestled it into the water.

The liquid metal, perhaps sending my intentions, tried to submerge me before I could submerge it. The blob stretched across the rest of my arms, legs, and face.

I let out a muffled chuckle. These days, suffocation was pedestrian. I launched the amorphous heap and myself into the pool of water. It only took Fiona a few seconds later to acrobatically vault across the ruins of the park, hit the switch on her metal baton, and plunge the sparking end of her electric prod into the puddle.

♦ !! ⬧ !!

The metal blob tore itself off my body with a robotic screech, the oozing mass coalescing into something far more recognizable. Roughly mobian in build, with a blue body, red feet, and gray arms. The remaining pseudopods atop the blob straightened up into a trio of swept-back quills. A red, diamond-shaped gem stood plainly on its chest, matching the glowing red pupils that stuck out of its pitch black eyes.

I blinked. How? When? Why?

♦ 44

"You aren't Sonic or the Knucklehead that smashed me to bits," Metal Sonic said snidely. Unlike the model I knew, this one had a mouth under its spike of a nose with which to give me an impish grin. "I should be thanking you for giving my automated recovery process a jumpstart, but the chatter on the local Robotnet is that you're a real pain in the--"

I didn't let him finish the sentence. I ran a massive portal over Metal Sonic, from top to bottom, and he was gone.

♦ 39

"Was that Metal Sonic?" Fiona asked, stunned. "Did you just take out Metal Sonic?"

In an instant, Metal Sonic was banished to Null Space. No longer my problem in the immediate future. I could check on him later, once his batteries had gone dry.

"Did you think I was gonna fight it?" I asked back. "After Big Arms? No way!"

I stomped away from the puddle, drying myself off with a flush of wind magic.

"Where are you going?"

I opened another portal, this one big enough for two people.

"You know what, Fiona? You're right! And so was Rob! We should've gotten off this rock while the getting was good!" I extended my voice. "HEAVY! BOMB! I SAW A METAL SONIC! WE'RE LEAVING!"

"What about the rest of the big robot?"

"Keep it! It's all yours! I don't care any--"

I looked away from the portal to shout, because the last thing I expected was that something would come through the other end. Suddenly, a blue and gray blur rammed me into the base of the ferris wheel!

♦ 37

"That was a pretty good trick!" Metal Sonic said excitedly. He had one hand on my neck, and another one morphed into a sledgehammer. "There's a whole maze in there, you know?" He pretended to wait for me to respond. "Anyways, how's about we take it from the top? Overlanders aren't exactly Priority One, but now? I wanna see what you can really do!"

- - -

Spoiler: Author Notes

With this chapter, we continue onto the next leg of the "I Angel Island" arc!

"So long, and thanks for all of the fish!"

Thank you, Bean.

Heavy & Bomb, as previously stated, are from Knuckles' Chaotix on the Sega 32x. Heavy is very slow, but indestructible. Bomb is fast, but blows up his allies whenever he takes damage. They're both pretty lame partners when the game is played normally, but if they were working together they'd make for a really good team.

Power gems were an invention of the comic, possibly inspired by the mention of a "power emerald" in the English manual for the game that grants Carnival Island all of its electricity. The comic ran with the concept, periodically using them as an alternative to giving everybody chaos emeralds.

Next Time: Magic versus machine! John Scarlet and Metal Sonic 2.5!

 

[weredrago2]

Ruby Haze
Chapter 24: Red Versus Blue

My rose-tinted memories of Angel Island were no longer smelling like roses. It's only been a few hours since those Egg Robos and Big Arms almost got me. Only a day or two since the Fire Breath. Now here I was, pinned to a ferris wheel by one of Eggman's most dangerous creations: Metal Sonic. It was a version I didn't recognize, but I doubted it'd be a pushover. Not if it could fly fast enough to escape Null Space.

I forgot speedsters could even do that!

My attempt to formulate a way out of Metal Sonic's grasp was hampered by my futile attempts to wrap my head around precisely why I pounced on that power gem like a starving dog on a bone. That was more than stupid, greedy, or reckless. It was like…

I felt a pit form in my stomach.

Was the Phantom Ruby affecting my mind again? It couldn't, right? Right? I should be focusing on the enemy, but how can I know it isn't affecting me right now?

Does it matter? If I don't act now, Metal Sonic will--

Yes! Yes it does matter!

I needed to find another ring. Badly. I couldn't risk spiraling out of control, or being strung along by intrusive thoughts. I pushed my energy senses past the thickening fog of spectral mist that flooded the evening air, trying to feel around for anything I could--

Metal Sonic roughly jostled me, clearly getting impatient.

"HEY! Don't tell me you're tapped out already!"

"Egads!" declared Heavy. He had finally trundled into hearing distance, the reformed badnik standing near the entrance of the attraction with Bomb at the ready. "It really is Metal Sonic! Our short-lived nemesis!"

"Ping!"

"No thanks to you!" Metal Sonic said, having turned his head around to do so. He morphed his hammer hand into a blaster and began shooting at the Mechanix. "You had your chance to take me on, roboto a roboto, so wait your turn!"

As this super badnik was about to find out, taking his eyes off me was a mistake. I used the distraction to drive my hand into the glowing red power gem mounted onto his chest!

♦ 45

"Hands off the merchandise!"

Metal Sonic shot his thrusters into reverse to get out of touch range, then curled up into a ball to rev up for a spindash! I warped away, and Metal Sonic blasted through the steel beams like a cannonball. The attraction on its last legs went tumbling down to the ground.

♦ 43

When the dust settled, I could see that Metal Sonic was back in the air, his eyes and gem flickering between red and green, before settling back on red. Those cold eyes locked onto mine when he found me standing next to Heavy and Bomb.

"You're full of tricks, aren't you?" Metal Sonic said in a goading manner. He beckoned me closer with a curling of his mechanical fingers. "Come a bit closer and show me some more!"

I went invisible and sent up a phantom copy to test what he could do. Metal Sonic went in for a high-speed assault, switching between rapid-fire blaster shots and mad dash attacks to try and injure it. The stalking horse dodged, but my reflexes were only barely able to follow what was going on enough to maintain the illusion. I fired off a couple of crystal beams to try and pin Metal Sonic down, managing only to paint the fairgrounds pink.

♦ 39

"I don't suppose Metal Sonic has a shut off code you'd know?" I inquired to the Mechanix.

"Not one we know," Heavy said humorlessly. "We'll have to shut him down the same way we did last time, before he replenishes enough power to achieve his titanic transformation."

If that happened, I'd be fine with plucking a planetoid out of orbit and dropping it on him.

"Do you have any spare rings?" I asked quickly. The alternative was searching for one elsewhere on the island, presumably while Metal Sonic was chasing me.

"Only two," Heavy said, as he pulled out a pair of rings. Clacking the rings together, a band of light made up of glistening white sparkles appeared between them. "This looks like a job for our Chaotix-original ring tether technique!"

The bound rings? I could only hope they worked better in person than in the game.

"How do these work?"

Heavy pulled the rings away from each other, causing the light field to stretch.

"Treat this chaos energy field as you would a large rubber band. Together, we can--"

"Ping!" Bomb said as he pointed up to Metal Sonic.

The super badnik went even faster, quicker than I could see, and drove a drill hand through my illusion's chest. It shattered into ruby dust.

"Come out and take me on for real, faker!"

"Best to get moving now while we buy you time to find your friend," Heavy said, as he handed me both rings on the tether.

A gray visor slid down over Metal Sonic's eyes. I had a bad feeling that his energy detection kit was better than mine, so I teleported to the top of a purple drop tower ride while he analyzed the fairgrounds below.

♦ 37

"We're not out of the fight yet, you lead-lined rapscallion!"

"PING!"

Heavy chucked Bomb at Metal Sonic, and then threw him a few more times, giving me a few seconds to pull together a plan of attack. The supernatural miasma around the island only got stronger as the sun sank under the horizon, sabotaging my attempts to think clearly.

I can't outrun a Metal Sonic. Can't hide forever. He'll kill Heavy, Bomb, and Fiona if I abandon them. If I take all of them and then leave, Metal Sonic will move on to the next available targets. Or take what he learned from the Egg Robos and rat me out to Eggman.

Angel Island was supposed to be isolated from the outside world, but that clearly wasn't the case here. People had planes, and a desire to hide out where Robotnik's grip on the planet was just a little bit weaker. I saw more than enough houses on the way here that could attest to that. I couldn't cut and run knowing Metal Sonic would hit them up next.

The fact of the matter was that I was directly responsible for letting this genie out of the bottle, and I wasn't going to stop until I beat it back in.

Another power drain might work, but he moves way too fast. Could I make another illusion and trick him into staying still?

I idly toyed around with the two connected rings as I pondered how I was going to outwit something that could act and think circles around me. I attached one of them to my wrist. I couldn't tell if it was doing its job as a mystical antipsychotic, but what I could feel was the attractive force that dutifully connected one end of the ring tether to the other.

A tremor reverberated through the drop tower, causing the far ring in the tether to slip out of my hands. My will to pull the other end up, like I would a singular ring from the lake of rings, caused both ends to snap back together.

Jackpot.

I doubted this idea was what Heavy had in mind. The mental gears churning, I scoped out the ruins of the park for Fiona Fox. Searching around, I saw that she'd taken cover behind one of the crystalized tents. It was good protection from the explosive badnik brawl, which seemed to be causing quakes to knock over everything in its vicinity.

I switched back to stealth and approached her quietly from the air.

"Fiona." She swiveled around and jabbed her shock prod at the source of the noise. I reappeared and caught the baton in my hand. "On your side, remember?"

"Excuse me for being paranoid! Now open the portal so we can get out of here!"

"Not yet. I have a plan to take it out before it attacks any civilians on the island."

"Why do you care? They aren't overlanders, or Mercians like your friends in Eurish!"

"That never mattered to me. Why would I start caring about that now?"

"You don't make any sense!" she spat back. "Are you a goody two-shoes like Sonic? Is that it? Caught the hero bug so bad that you're desperate to please those wimps?"

"Excuse me?"

"I've seen what your power can do! When I--" She cut off whatever she was going to say next and started over. "I know that if I had that kind of power, I'd be the one telling them what to do! And all you've been doing with it is cleaning up other peoples' messes, acting like their overlander errand boy!"

Another quake shook the park, causing her to stumble. I grabbed Fiona's hand to stop her from falling. I affixed her a glare.

"Fiona. Do you need me to pull the 'I didn't report you to the Crazy Kritters for trying to pull a fast one on me' card for you to cooperate? Or will the 'I saved your life' card do it?"

"I--" she stammered, flustered by my words, my actions, or the chaos happening around us. It could've been any one of them on their own, or because all three were happening at once.

"We need to stop this thing now, before it gets someone killed! Will you help me or not?"

Fiona looked away, back towards the entrance of the roller coaster, where Heavy and Bomb were still keeping Metal Sonic busy.

"What do you need me to do?" she asked reluctantly.

I handed her a Javelin-esque missile launcher from Null Space.

"Can you lift this?"

She hefted it up on her shoulder.

"I-I've got it. This thing have IR guidance?"

"It's fire-and-forget. I'm going to lure Metal Sonic out into the open. When I give the signal, you're going to lock on and shoot him."

"That's your plan?"

I warped us to the onboarding area of the ride. The end of the line.

♦ 34

"I like to keep things simple."

I made Fiona invisible, and covered her in another barrier. I doubled down on both, making sure she wouldn't get noticed early or hurt by debris.

♦ 30

"And what'll you be doing?"

"The hard part," I replied curtly. Instead of elaborating further, I hovered towards where Metal Sonic had Heavy and Bomb on the ropes.

I saw now that I'd overestimated how durable Heavy was. Metal Sonic had redecorated Heavy's chassis with several deep dents and tears. His remaining arm was twisted the wrong way, and yet, he had one more toss of Bomb in him. Bomb was put together in a slapdash manner, not all of the joints welded together perfectly.

"We both knew that a life spent in defiance of Robotnik's mad orders would be a short one," Heavy said raggedly. "Only enjoyed a few months of freedom, at the most. But I can't say that it wasn't a life worth living."

"Ping!"

"Well put, old friend."

Metal Sonic powered up his laser cannon. I was charging up a crystal beam to stop him, but I didn't want to shoot until I was sure I could stop him from firing.

"Can we move this along? Got places to go, hedgehogs to strike off my hit list. I hope he didn't forget how he melted my engines the last time we raced. Because I sure didn't."

"Ping!" Bomb said, shrugging. "Ping. Ping."

At this point, they had to have seen me. Were they buying time?

Metal Sonic lowered his weapon slightly.

"What'd he say?" asked Metal Sonic.

"Bomb? Oh, nothing important. Carry on with destroying us, as per your directives."

"Ping."

"Come on, out with it!" Metal Sonic insisted, once again pointing his blaster at them.

"It's merely that Bomb observed that, in addition to your new appearance and weaponry, you're much more talkative than your last iteration. We'd like to congratulate you on your upgraded personality and increased show of independence!"

"Ping!" Bomb added.

"It's more than the personality that's upgraded. I'm Metal Sonic 2.5. Bigger, badder, and faster than ever before. I'm the Doctor's greatest creation. Hands down."

I don't know what exactly clued him into the fact I was behind him. Perhaps his sensor suite could detect the Phantom Ruby through the interference. Or his audio receptors picked up the disturbances in the air from my presence. Whatever the case, when I came at him at an angle to disable his blaster arm with a crystal beam, Metal Sonic hovered away at the last possible second so that the banked shot struck Heavy and Bomb instead.

♦ 27

"Heavy! Bomb!"

The two badniks were trapped in a crystalline shell. They didn't look like they were in danger, but I had to be exceptionally careful when I let them out so as not to break them.

"So that's what you were up to!" Metal Sonic said eagerly. "But it's like I said. I'm the fastest thing Robotnik ever made! And now, I'm faster than Sonic will ever be!"

I was starting to hate that smug grin of his. More than if I was fighting another dumb machine. This one talked back enough that he was getting under my skin, like the red-hot brand that was scarring new shapes into the back of my hand. Something about the chaos-tinged atmosphere went from agitating it to driving it into a frenzy.

It was time to demonstrate that this was a dialogue, and not a monologue.

"Is that why I found you in a carnival scrap heap? Because you were so useful?"

Metal Sonic's red pupil twitched, like a glitch on a digital display.

"What was that, meatbag?"

Left to his own devices, Metal Sonic was too fast to predict which way he'd move. Unless, of course, I coaxed him into moving towards a specific target.

"Robotnik left you to rust after the whole Happyland scheme didn't pan out. I mean, can you blame him? Your last performance wasn't exactly a showstopper."

"You don't know anything about me," Metal Sonic growled.

He wasn't wrong. While I didn't know what exactly happened between him and Sonic or Knuckles, that didn't matter as long as I implied that I did.

"What's there to know? You were left behind. Thrown out for recycling. The only thing Robotnik cares to remember you by is the battle data that went into the next draft. He'd be at, what, Metal Sonic 3.0 by now?"

"You take that back!"

I raised my feet off the ground, hands glowing to prepare for when he moved.

"The only thing I'm taking is the garbage out."

"SHUT UP!" Metal Sonic screamed as he charged me at full tilt!

I went into reverse, flying as fast as I could while he chased me down the track! I shot a few crystal bullets his way, but he darted around them and kept his heading.

The Phantom Ruby, on paper, could do anything. Even go faster than Sonic.

How the hell is he still keeping up with me?

♦ 25

Metal Sonic tore up the track as he rocketed after me, firing plasma blasts to stop me. I was making extra illusions and copies of myself to keep him busy, but those too were taken out by the enraged super badnik. The shields and barriers I set up in his warpath were removed with extreme prejudice.

♦ 20

Metal Sonic boosted forward, bulldozing past all of my traps in a wrecking ball of destruction. He tackled me to the ground, knocking the wind of my chest before I could juke away. Metal Sonic turned his hand into a power drill and shoved it down, attempting to rearrange my face!

"I. AM. NOT. GARBAGE!"

I put all of my strength into pushing the drill away, but I was only strong enough to prevent it from going further. With my back to the ride, I could see that I was facing the full moon from the peak of the roller coaster.

Seeing the full moon caused something deep and primal to stir within me. A roaring engine in my chest, akin to the last time I pushed the Phantom Ruby into overdrive. Only this time, I didn't have any rings to hold the changes back. I wanted to resist it, but on the other hand, did I have a choice?

Yes! I have a choice! The Phantom Ruby wants to make me into a monster? Fine! Make me into a monster, and I'll sort out the rest!

♦ !!

I felt a rush of energy surge through my arms, until I could overpower Metal Sonic's motors and shove the drill into the white metal of the track!

I let out a wild roar and lunged, devolving this battle between technology and wizardry into a brutal street brawl. There were punches, kicks, scratches, and hair pulling. In close quarters, where Metal Sonic couldn't zip around wherever he wanted, the advantage had shifted slightly back into my favor.

That didn't mean he made it easy while I transformed into something distinctly inhuman. Weary bones shattered, elongated, and hardened into sturdier shapes. Muscles ballooned under the skin, the seams of my outfit shredding under the strain. Parts where my flesh broke open scabbed over with ruddy, magenta plates, until the whole of my body was covered in reptilian scales. Obsidian daggers stabbed out of my head, hands, and feet, which stood in place as a new set of horns and claws.

The Phantom Ruby sunk beneath the skin, leaving a rippling scar in its wake.

In my new form, Metal Sonic was accumulating more bumps and scrapes than his systems could auto-repair. He fired a burst of energy from his chest, knocking me back. It felt like I was on fire, but the only burns I felt were from the internal furnace raging inside me.

♦ 10

"Is that all you've got, freakshow?" I rose to my full height, and suddenly Metal Sonic was looking much easier to break down into bite-sized chunks. "A new set of-- HEY I WAS TALKING!"

Metal Sonic aerobatically dodged claw swipes, a snapping chomp, and a sweeping strike from the serrated thagomizer on the end of my muscular tail. All the while, his gem and eyes shifted between red and green. He was still faster than I'd ever be, but that last dodge was noticeably slower than the others.

He's running low on power! Time to finish this!

I revealed my trump card, pulling back my fist and yanking on my end of the ring tether! With the other ring being forced onto his hand during the struggle, Metal Sonic was pulled along by the attracting force of the tether and went hurtling straight into my arms!

"FIONA! FIRE NOW!"

Looking down, I could see she clearly had Metal Sonic and I in her sights. I held the super badnik in place so that he wouldn't go anywhere while she delivered the killshot.

"LET GO OF ME!" Metal Sonic shouted, and the ground trembled once again, shaking the framework of the rollercoaster. "I thought you were doing the quakes!"

I wrapped my tail around the track to keep myself steady. The new appendage was surprisingly prehensible.

I was only now realizing that I had a tail. What the hell was I?

"Why would I be doing the quakes?" I asked in a low grumble.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because you're a big, fat mobosaur!"

I squeezed Metal Sonic a bit harder to stop him from squirming. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like she was in a hurry. I could see her crouched down, with the launcher on her shoulder, but her finger wasn't pressing the trigger. Metal Sonic only got more difficult to hold on to as she hesitated.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! SHOOT! IT!"

The track beneath us shook for a final time, and the earthquake that rippled through the whole park was more than the damaged ride could bear. The missile striking the side was icing on the unstable cake. Foundations snapped beneath us, as a wicked, sulfurous burst of green smoke and flame erupted from a mountain on the opposite side of the island. My spectral senses were utterly overloaded by the ethereal shockwaves of whatever caused it, and the malevolent presence blocked out the rest of my senses until they recovered.

Get. UP! I need to survive!

Who said that!? Was that… me?

Focus!

♦ !!

"…kill you to lose some weight?"

The next thing I heard and saw when my senses returned was the now airborne, green-eyed Metal Sonic complaining. I was still attached to the super badnik via the ring tether. The magic prevented him from simply taking it off, forcing the super badnik to apply a blowtorch to the power ring.

"That missile might've taken me offline if it wasn't for that earthquake," Metal Sonic said with an unexpected amount of trepidation. Then he resumed his prior cheekiness. "But now, I've gotta jet! I wanna check out what that explosion was all about."

Before I could grab him again, the blowtorch broke the ring. The tether instantly disintegrated, dropping me loose. I was helpless to watch as he made his escape.

"GET BACK HERE!" I roared at him. Licks of pink sparks danced past my lips in lieu of spittle, clear as day in the moonlight.

In the far distance, I could see he turned around for a split second to give me the finger, before he resumed his heading.

That tears it! I'm gonna crush him into a metal cube!

I rose out of the rubble with a pained, furious grunt. The heavy debris gave way with ease, confirming that I'd become even stronger than before. I slammed my hands down into the ground, tossing myself airborne. I tried to take off with the Ruby, but it didn't respond. Instead, I felt a second pair of limbs extend out of my back and catch the wind. They flapped up, then down, propelling me upwards and onwards towards the mountains.

Towards the source of the green lights on the other side of the island.

- - -

Spoiler: Author Notes

Here continues the "I Angel Island" arc, with a battle against Metal Sonic 2.5! Since the SI can't fight Metal Sonic in the same way Flesh Sonic would, I had to get creative with how to stage things so it felt on brand. Having the brawl take place at Carnival Night was the best way I could set up the send-up to Sonic 4: Episode 2.

From a certain point of view, a Javelin has "lock-on" technology. Like Sonic & Knuckles! Like with the Egg Robo battle, I was split between using the grenade/missile launcher or a gatling gun. The missiles felt more right here. While it may seem strange that I've leaned on all of these realistic weapons and vehicles, all of them have been plucked from Sonic media. So really, you'd have to take it up with Shadow the Hedgehog.

As for our SI's transformation? There should be enough evidence to guess what he is now. If not, then I'll post a picture later.

 

[DawnsGate]

... yeah I have no clue what he turned into, Cursed Seal Sasuke?
I definitely don't know enough about Sonic to make an informed guess.

 

[Fullmetalblazer]

Is it me or is the ruby trying to change him into infinite Is infinite mind trapped inside the ruby. Is That why his body is transforming. To make a new vessel for him.

 

[weredrago2]

New art for the new chapter! Put in spoiler bars for image size and to build suspense.

Spoiler

This art is brought to you by NoniTheArtist!

 

[cazador]

Looks like a Spyro dragon

 

[SleepingIsGreat]

"Florida Man turned self-proclaimed wizard breaks into local theme park and gets into fist fight with the animatronics."

Ever since he said he was from Florida I've been thinking up headlines. Great story here! Love how even with the Ruby very little is trivialized. Also, the interactions have been great to read. Everyone seems to have their own voice, which can be pretty difficult to accomplish at times.

 

[weredrago2]

"Florida Man turned self-proclaimed wizard breaks into local theme park and gets into fist fight with the animatronics."

Click to shrink...

"It was self defense!"

Florida is a state of madness. That much is true.

Great story here! Love how even with the Ruby very little is trivialized. Also, the interactions have been great to read. Everyone seems to have their own voice, which can be pretty difficult to accomplish at times.

Click to shrink...

Thanks! It frequently takes a lot of practice and working with a character for me to get their "voice" down. Other times, it just clicks. Then I need to double-check my work before I post the next chapter, just to make sure I didn't get them wrong. Or at least, I'm consistent with character changes from since I last wrote them.

It's a bit stressful at times, but I think it's worth the effort.

 

[weredrago2]

All Along the Space Colony
Non-Canon Bonus

"What island is that, Maria?"

My younger brother and I were planetgazing, through the long windows of the austere observation deck of the ARK. I liked coming out here to relax, though I was less enthused about the fact that Shadow had to drag me out of my experiments now because he was enforcing one of my mandated breaks from the junior lab. Grandfather's heart melted like a chocolate bar whenever I pulled out the old Shirley Temple doe-eyes shtick, but the magic went away when he noticed the red veins percolating around them. So me taking a break went from being Grandpa Gerald's request to Professor Robotnik's orders.

Okay, fine. I have to take breaks. Can't burn myself out yet.

Not when I'm so close.

Planetgazing was a new word and a new hobby Shadow picked up, once I introduced him to the concept of having a hobby. A harmless ploy to help the little guy might come out of his spiny shell more. It was really just geography under a different name, because I knew Shadow had more than a passing interest in that wild green-and-blue yonder we were suspended above. As one of the more talkative fruits of the Space Colony ARK's labor, everything Shadow knew about Mobius was gathered second-hand, and he wanted to know what to expect when I was healthy enough to give him the live tour.

Mobius. No one's called it Earth since the Q-M extinction event some three millennia ago. "Earth" was about as academic to today's humans as Pangea was to me, before I was reborn into this ailing body. A body that could've begun treatment much sooner if the doctors in Megacentral hadn't misdiagnosed the seizures from my old memories kicking in as epilepsy and called it a day. They stopped short of checking me for Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome until I was old enough to force them to take my "attention-seeking" complaints about my symptoms seriously. By then, my only options from there were radiation or chemotherapy in the United Federation, which my parents, bless their hearts, knew wouldn't have any guarantees of success. That was when Grandpa in the United Federation took me under his wing, sweeping me high above the clouds, where my immunocompromised body was no longer at risk from being ravaged by foreign contaminants.

Almost funny how Professor Gerald won't be able to help me, either.

"Maria?"

I blinked.

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?" Shadow asked, concern showing clear across his face.

At less than a year old, my brother had an innocent heart. His hybrid body was at full maturity thanks to his accelerated development, leaving his mind a blank slate to be filled with new info. Shadow and I made a bonding experience out of me teaching him about stuff when Grandpa wasn't available, or when I got grounded for using Grandpa's computer to "play games" after he left it "unlocked". Ever since Shadow came out of the nutrient tank, I made it my new life goal to help him hold on to that innocence for as long as I could.

My name was Maria Robotnik, and yet, I wasn't pure and innocent like Maria Robotnik should be. I loved Shadow like he was family, because he was a member of our mussed-up family, but I didn't think I had it in me to ask him to forgive the humans down there if I got double tapped by a trigger-happy jarhead.

"Do you need to sit down?" he offered gently. Shadow knew I could be kinda prickly about that, but he couldn't help but be concerned about me.

I gave my brother a shaky nod, letting him assist me onto a bench that one of Grandpa's colleges installed by the window for me during their free time. In some ways, I was worse off than the original Maria. She didn't use a cane to get around, at least not before she…

Before she got gunned down like a mobini mutt.

Anyways, that kid let the specter of death wash over her like a spring breeze. Not a care in the world. She didn't insist on engaging in more rigorous procedures to purge the rogue white blood cells trying to enlist the rest of them in a civil war against my nervous system. The kinds of treatments that had yet to be approved for use on United Federation citizens, and I didn't have time for them to catch up with my disease.

Anything to buy a little more time.

Alas, I felt that I was one more dead end away from yanking my cute blonde curls out.

"I'm fine, Shadow. Just… thinking. Did you say something?"

I broke myself out of my dark thoughts, registering that Shadow was pointing at one of the many oddities that dotted the world below.

"What is that strange island near Eurish? I don't think I've seen it there before."

"Which one?" I asked, squinting. My eyes weren't the best, either. I could tell I was overdue for a stronger glasses prescription. "Actually, could you grab my--" Shadow became a streak of black, red, and yellow light, using his rocket skates to blast from one end of the station to another before the rest of the words could leave my mouth.

"--Telescope?" He returned with the small hand telescope I kept in my room before I could fully register that he left. "Oh! Thank you, Shadow."

I gingerly accepted the telescope into my hands, and he sat down next to me on the bench. Always wanting to indulge in his curiosity, I took a minute away from my morose musings to figure out what he was gesturing towards. Not all of the landmarks and other geographic features of the globe could be seen from Low Mobius Orbit. During the day, we could see the Dragon Road that snaked across Yurashia, the Great Pyramids of Mobigypt, and the massive mountain enclosures concealing the humans from the mobians. At night, we could see the brilliant lights shining over the urban megaregion of the Overland, in Northamer.

Couldn't say that I missed the Overland. The smog was awful for my lungs. I wish I could've stayed a teensy bit longer in Station Square, but the rockets they send up and down to Mobius run on a strict schedule. Grandpa says they've been using his clean, chaos-based energy to keep the lights on for years now, same as the ARK.

"Now, where's that island of yours…?"

Once I saw what Shadow was trying to show me, I realized which island he was talking about. After all, there was only one landmass on Mobius that was totally detached from the firmament. The levitating, mountainous terrain was closer than the rest, which made it easier to make out. Though out here past the atmosphere, closeness was a relative thing.

"Oh wow, that's Angel Island!" I said jovially.

I had to make it sound like whatever was bothering me had been swiftly forgotten, while Shadow was still naive enough to buy it.

"Angel… Island?" he said in confusion. "What is that?

"It's also called the Floating Island," I explained. The reason why people called it that should be fairly self-evident. "The place is always on the move, just like the ARK!"

Shadow's red eyes opened in unvarnished wonder.

"How does it fly? And… How come I've never seen it before?"

"No one's a hundred percent sure why it flies," I fibbed. "The reason we haven't seen it yet is because it's closer to Mobius than us, so it moves across the surface at a faster rate than the ARK. I've been trying to spot it for months, so good job, Shadow!"

Shadow smiled. It was a rare thing, and I cherished it whenever he smiled. I'd take a picture, like the one Grandfather had the two of us do when I first arrived on the ARK, but the little brat wouldn't stay still enough to get anything more than a blur.

"What is Angel Island like?"

I took a closer look. The Floating Island had a variety of biomes. Tropical jungles, sandy deserts, mountains with volcanic activity, and mountains with ice caps!

I'd love to go down and see it some time.

If I could.

"Well, it's hard to tell from up here, but if you ask me? It doesn't look very grounded."

Shadow the Hedgehog groaned.

"Maria…"

I let out a playful giggle, handing the telescope to Shadow so he could look for himself.

"Okay, okay! I don't know a lot about the place myself, but I heard it has a lot of ruins."

"What are ruins?"

"They're buildings left behind from old civilizations, like the ones around the Shazamazon!"

Or the temple ships left behind by the Black Arms, who even knows how long ago?

"I see," Shadow said pensively, staring down at the mysterious land through the scope.

We spent nearly an hour looking at Angel Island. It was an appreciated distraction from my failed attempts to reverse-engineer CRISPR from first principles. We were starting to run out of lab rats from stock, and I was told they were on backorder.

Maybe I could get Shadow his own telescope for his first birthday?

I think he'd like that. Me making his first birthday a really special one.

While I wasn't surprised when Grandfather informed me in private that he'd be going on a "research trip" to Angel Island months back, he'd been uncharacteristically cagey about what happened down there that made him change course at the last second. He ended up going for a scaled-down expedition to the echidna archeological sites on the outskirts of Station Square instead. Being the littlest NIDS patient, I wasn't allowed to go with him into the Soumerican boonies that were under stalked and patrolled by the native Felidan hunting parties. Grandfather was able to share photographs of the ancient altar and mural he saw, but I knew he would've been a lot more disappointed if he didn't stumble on an artifact from the "Fourth Great Civilization" while he was out there.

The Gizoid. What a machine that was! It was downright tragic that I was forbidden to access the Gizoid myself. G.U.N. had been watching the ARK like a hawk since the incident with the Artificial Chaos, and Grandfather was watching me like a hawk after Shadow let slip that I'd remilitarized an old Dom walker to help my brother deal with them.

I wasn't even going to pretend I thought he was right to punish me for helping save as many lives as the researchers on the colony as I did. What, did he really think I'd keep out of the way while half the station was on fire? When we were one misaimed tentacle strike away from losing the other half in a mass depressurization incident? I needed the data on how the mech's inbuilt heal unit would be able to make up for the strain that piloting put on my body, and then he confiscated it!

I thought he was joking, but no! He actually did it! Grandpa took my Plan A for survival away from me for being too dangerous, when nothing else he'd siphoned out of the millions in research money that G.U.N was throwing at Project Shadow fire was actually working!

Did he think I wouldn't be making backup plans for when he failed to save me?

Did he think it was an error when he saw the amount of green blood in the vials Doom left behind were smaller than last time he checked? He has to know I'm trying my best!

I'm this close to begging Shadow to cooperate with the transfusion process so I can put this waking nightmare to bed--!

"Maria?" Shadow asked me, once again worrying about me. He'd put down the telescope and was looking at me again, having noticed that something else had made me upset.

"I-It's nothing, really--"

"Is that a newspaper?"

I froze, having taken note of the crumpled paper that slipped out of my big lab coat. It was the wrong size, but it wasn't like I'd have the time to grow into one.

"Yeah," I answered reluctantly.

There was no way I could hide it from him now. Shadow had his gullible moments, but he wasn't stupid. If I tried to hide it, then he'd know for certain that I was trying to hide the bad news away from him. Geraldo and Meredith tried to do the same thing to me, and I hated it. I couldn't hate them, because they were trying their best to be the most supportive parents they could be under these trying circumstances, but I hated when they wanted to keep me in the dark. They couldn't help but treat me like the child they thought they'd brought into the world. Not an adult suffocating in the failing tissues of one.

If one of them hadn't absentmindedly wrapped my Christmas present -- a clockwork music box that somehow slipped past the Overland's embargo with the Kingdom of Acorn -- in last week's copy of the Station Square Times, then I might've stayed totally clueless.

I let out a weary sigh and uncrumpled the newspaper so that he could read the headline.

"Calls for audits on the Heritage Project?" Shadow read out, dumbstruck. I could only mutely nod, confirming what he was reading. "What is the Heritage Project?"

I tried to pick my words carefully.

"The Heritage Project is… the joint mission between the United Federation and the Overland. To link both peoples together."

"I don't understand."

I stood up, so I could wave to the whole world.

"You know how I said not everyone on Mobius looks like Grandpa or me, right? Or anyone else on the surface? They look more like you do, Like the pictures of other mobians."

"I remember," Shadow said, in such a way that he didn't comprehend where I was going with this line of thought.

"The Overland and the United Federation… they're scared. They feel outnumbered, because the rest of the world is so different from them."

"That doesn't make any sense," he said back, confused. "Why would they be scared of what's different?"

"I don't know," I said simply. "But when the humans and the overlanders met each other, they weren't so scared anymore. They decided to be friends."

It was a lot more tenuous than the fairy tale that was sold to me, that I was now selling to Shadow. The only reason the overlanders weren't able to play nice with their neighbors in the south was that the Magistrates in charge of the individual states that made up the Overland were a bunch of insane xenophobes. They found the United Federation, or the UF made contact first when the Overland figured out radios, and the UF has spent decades trying to warm them up to a less wasteful, less self-destructive, more democratic-inclined society. The shining cities under the hills, as they put it.

They still haven't changed, only magnifying the amount of monuments they were building to pronounce their "inherent superiority" over the mobians. All the while, their remaining resources and standards of living went down the drain. We gave them a damn copy of the Statue of Liberty to stick on the coast of Megaopolis, and they still didn't get the hint!

It was so idiotic. All of them.

Shadow looked at the front-page article again. I didn't regret teaching him how to read, but I wished at this moment that he'd conveniently forgotten how. For a while longer.

"So… the humans are upset that the ARK is costing too much?"

"Not just that," I said earnestly. If somewhat forcedly. "The ARK is only one of, like, a hundred satellites the Overland shot into space."

Honestly, I had no idea how much Aunt Bertha and her husband knew about the mounting costs of keeping all of this space junk in orbit. It was doubtful that the Overland had a free press to complain about the ballooning budgets of their space programs.

"But this is something that's making you upset," Shadow said directly.

"A little," I conceded.

"Why?"

"You know that if G.U.N. doesn't like what they see…" My eyes flickered to one of the cameras on the observation deck. "We might have budget cuts. Less resources. Less staff. Anything not directly related to Project Shadow could get… sent back home."

By this point, it had to be an open secret amongst the research staff that the black hedgehog wasn't the biggest financial leech on the project he was named after: It was me. Professor Gerald was hitting brick wall after brick wall in trying to cure my NIDS.

Shadow picked up on my implication right away, frowning at the mere suggestion.

"Do you think they'll make you go back? Without… me?"

I wished I could lie to him, tell him that it would turn out okay if I had to go back for a while, but I was so tired of lying.

I was so tired of lying that I told Shadow the truth.

"I won't let them separate us," I said resolutely.

Before he could argue, I pulled my little brother into a tight hug.

"M-Maria?" Shadow squeaked out, startled. So much for his perfect reflexes.

"I won't ever abandon you. You know that, right?"

"Maria, what are you--"

I only hugged him tighter.

"You know I promised I'd protect you, right?"

Once he realized that I was serious, and I wasn't letting go, he gently hugged me back.

"Yes. It was one of the first things you said to me. That you'd keep me safe."

"That's right. So don't worry, okay?"

"Okay," Shadow replied, after a moment of us holding on to each other. "I won't."

I knew he wasn't completely convinced. Shadow was one of the fastest, most powerful things in the universe. If he wasn't careful, he could accidentally snap me like a twig.

The timer on my watch went off, and my mandatory break was over.

"Good! I'm, uhm, going to be going to bed early."

I slowly disentangled myself from the stunned Shadow's embrace. I'd usually head right back to work when the timer went off, and this was downright uncharacteristic.

"Maria? Do you need help--?"

I tossed him the telescope again and walked away, back to the cabins.

"Nope! Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog! I'll see you in the morning."

In the reflective windows, I could see him giving me a funny look.

"Okay? Say… o… nara."

I went back to my room, with more pep in my step than I've had in a long while. I almost couldn't tell why. Setting down my cane and coat by the door, I locked the cabin and pulled my secret project out from underneath my bunk. Normally, it would've been cruel to stow a normal pet away like that for most of the day, but this was a special exception.

My pet was anaerobic and more than a little photosensitive.

"Good morning, Orfeu!"

My tiny, baby spark of hope gave out a squeak of delight as he scratched at the confines of its wire cage to greet me.

"I bet you missed me, huh?"

My lab rat let out another squeak of excitement, as I slipped him a dried slice of processed biomass and refilled his water tube. He could take solid foods just fine, being a couple of months old now, but these red fruits I'd been harvesting were special treats!

Orfeu retained his standard body plan of his host species: Four limbs, a long tail, and a big cute head with round ears! He never developed the white fur that his peers did, instead growing a velvety black skin that tapered off into red growths of flesh at his paws, feet, ears, and tail. Orfeu's solid yellow eyes popped open for the first time exactly two weeks in, with seemingly no deviations from standard micky behavior. He wasn't that much bigger than a normal mobini, and I took his red blood as a sign that the process went off without a hitch.

I did it. I brought my own kind of life into the world.

My pet was the second successful Earthling/Black Arms hybrid, after Shadow. Or, now that I thought about it, would that make him the second Mobiusling?

Whatever.

He was the first successful mobini/Black Arms hybrid, which I imagine was a lot easier than the wizardry that needed to happen for Shadow to work. What my Grandfather did with the full cooperation of Black Doom, I was going to have to do with a lot less.

I'm done with my parents and my Grandfather making all of these sacrifices for me. I'm not gonna make Shadow make them for me, next.

No. We were all getting out of this alive. As many people on the ARK as I could save, regardless of what G.U.N. had planned once they decided that we needed to go. When they decided that a loaded gun was the fastest way to cover up for their sins.

I gave Orfeu another treat, and once again took stock of how far along I was into Plan B.

I was going to be making the next sacrifice for us all.

- - -

Spoiler: Author Notes

Kept ya'll waiting on this one, huh? Sorry for the delays! I wanted more experience under the belt when I tackled this one, due to the more intense subject matter. That meant a break of sorts while I trained up my writing prowess with NaNoWriMo, but now I'm ready and raring to go for a brand new year!

Thanks to everyone who's reading for following along with my journey through the strange twists and turns of this fic. Enjoy the chapter!

 

[weredrago2]

Ruby Haze
Chapter 25: Chaos Coming Out (of a Pumpkin's Head)

I am a dragon now.

It was one of the more coherent thoughts I'd been able to string together since I started chasing that Metal Sonic to whatever topological fixture was spewing green lights and smoke on the far side of Angel Island. My mind was racing furiously. I was determined to stop that thing before it could cause any more damage, but Metal Sonic had a head start and a rocket attached to his back. The island was large enough that, even going at a fair clip, I had to travel for a while without any more sightings of the badnik that struck my ire. Or any other signs or life, not counting all the birds headed in the opposite direction. It gave me a moment of respite, with which I didn't know where to start.

"I'm a dragon now," I slowly repeated to myself. Just to make sure it fully sank in.

This wasn't a disguise or illusion. Nor a parlor trick from the Ars Ixia book, which only hinted at dragons in the margins. My human form was gone, replaced by the Phantom Ruby with the shape of a monster. Rather than human skin, I was draped in neon scales. Not only flying with a pair of wings on my back, I could feel the wind resistance from a smaller pair of wings stuck to my feet. Those two winglets worked as rudders, complementing the heavy counterweight on my tail so I could navigate. Riding the wind currents felt all too natural, once I had gotten into a rhythm. Like riding a bicycle, only in three dimensions.

I soared through a noxious cloud of ash and dust, which was shot up into the sky by a rush of volcanic activity across the island's Red Mountain range. A fresh outflow of lava bled from the exposed veins and pores atop the rocks, threatening to burn down the rough grasslands and vaguely Grecian ruins of the Marble Gardens further down the hills.

I've been having a bad feeling about the island all day, and now this?

Nothing was adding up here in regards to what I would've planned to deal with on Angel Island. I couldn't pin this on one of the traps Eggman left behind; Metal Sonic seemed unaware of what caused the explosion, and only used the distraction to escape. Did it have something to do with my sixth sense being on the fritz? Or the Phantom Ruby messing with my head again? All I had been receiving from it now was a grave sense of forbearance, which only got worse since I began flying in the direction of the disturbance.

At the bare minimum, I knew the Master Emerald had to be in its normal place. Which also meant Chaos had to remain sealed within it. If it broke, or was stolen, then the island would've begun falling out of the sky.

Could it be something I'd never seen before? Another blind spot I couldn't see coming?

My only other major 'blind spot', besides the specific details of Mobius and the countries therein, had been whoever was behind the Fearsome Foursome. The name and face of the entity guiding that powered goon squad, watching their progress through those green diamond sigils marking their heads, remained an open question.

Why is everyone trying to test me? Test my patience?

A spurt of lava erupted out of a fresh outcropping, forcing me to kick up my legs and use the winglets as emergency brakes for a sharp turn away from the air hazard!

"STOP! STOP!"

It wasn't enough. For a terrifying second, I was splashed by what felt like warm soda left out of the fridge for too long… until the molten rock slicked harmlessly off my body. I examined my scales further, as they repulsed the lava away with no lingering damage.

"I-I'm fireproof?"

Upon further reflection, the bike metaphor didn't hold any more water than a t-shirt would stop a bullet. I needed to figure out how this new transformation worked before anyone else did. I took a deep breath, feeling my lungs expand and well up with a nebulous pressure that swirled between hot, cold, wet, and dry. Aiming at a dead tree, I exhaled a magenta fireball that burned it to a crisp.

Dragons breathe fire. That tracks. Sensing a theme here.

Not willing to take the plunge into the Lava Reef in the hopes that I might find the Hidden Palace, I kept going towards the green glow. Eventually, the scorching mounds gave way to a bone-dry valley littered with perilous spires and canyons. These barren wastes were eerily derelict, with the skeletons of abandoned settlements dotting the terrain.

There was something implacably wrong about this place. My sense of woe reached its zenith. Surrounded by a suffocating aura of dark emanations, part of me wanted to turn and run back the way I came.

I squashed that impulse. Metal Sonic was still on the loose, and now there was a new threat. Knuckles was sleeping on the job, so his problem became my problem.

I landed down on a solid cliff that looked like it would support my increased weight, from which I could take a better stock of the badlands. My center of balance in this new body felt off-kilter, a sensation I hoped I could shake before it became a life-threatening concern. The haunted hoodoos of this new region looked as inviting as the rest, with capstones carved like jack-o'-lanterns grinning at me in every direction.

"Pumpkin Hill, too?"

Now that I was seeing more places that resonated with my memories, I could safely say that it was phenomenally grating. Like this was another joke at my expense. This whole world was a sick joke being played on me. Presenting me with all of these familiar things so they could twist the damn knife. Making me get my hopes up, and then turning those hopes into more problems for me to solve!

"What's so funny?" I called out to the mocking pumpkins. "You got something to say?"

I looked around at the faces, their smiles betraying that they knew something I didn't. I could see it in their glowing eyes.

"Answer me!"

They gave no answer but the laughter carrying on the graveyard wind.

Stop laughing at me!

I dove down and jabbed one of the pumpkin pillars with my reptilian arm, smashing it. I then moved on to the next one, thrashing it with my tail. My limbs, both old and new, retailed their prior elasticity. Strikes with my extremities were now punctuated by punctures from ebony, shear-like claws.

Only when I broke a couple of them did all of their eyes stop glowing. The mocking laughter was replaced with a dead silence, because, from what I could tell, there was no one else out here in the first place.

"Why did I…?"

I stopped, and looked down to my shaking hands. My final ring, which was the remaining piece of Heavy's broken tether, was gone.

There was no one there.

"No."

There was no one there. Lacking a threat to lash out against, I'd hallucinated one.

"That couldn't've…"

Was it a ghost?

Was I seeing things?

Was I finally well and truly losing it? I was trying very hard to stay calm, because even with the scattershot amount of information I had to work with, I couldn't imagine a delusional weredragon would make things better.

I had to survive until morning. Then I might become human again at daybreak. If I couldn't find another ring around here, then waiting out the dusk hours was my only option.

More cautiously analyzing my environment for peculiarities, at least in regards to how I thought this zone should look, it wasn't long until I located the odd landmark out. One of the largest hills had been shattered open with tremendous force, rocky debris spilling out from the center onto the surrounding ravines and gullies. Out of the pit was a fading emanation of sheer, caustic malevolence, thick enough that it could be seen as an emerald smog. The Phantom Ruby gave me a peculiar range of emotional awareness, and the half-life of this decaying hatred was so strong that I could practically taste it.

It was almost like what I'd expect out of Dark Gaia, which was supposed to be beneath the surface of the planet. The kind of energies that would turn me into this. Worst of all, I was drawing a blank on what else could've caused it.

Was it a meteor strike? An alien invader like the Black Arms?

No, that wouldn't add up. For the blast pattern to look the way it did, the source of the impact had to be from inside the smoking crater where a mountain once stood.

So something came out?

I raised one of my clawed hands to summon my communicator from my pocket zone. In my haste, I didn't stop to tell Fiona Fox where I'd been going. I also could have stopped to free Heavy and Bomb from the crystal beam I stuck them in, but I didn't.

At this point, I couldn't tell how much of my short-sightedness was the Phantom Ruby driving me mad versus me authentically being an idiot. When I got my communicator, I had half a mind to warn them to stay away from me until I was back to normal.

I continued to hold out my hand, waiting for my comm to appear sooner or later. It didn't. Attempts to make portals or other Phantom Ruby-based spells were also fruitless. I then realized that, in the same way Sonic the Werehog exchanged his speed for strength, my change must've caused my magic to get bent out of shape.

"Oh, come on!" I roared in frustration.

The wind changed again, whipping up a dust devil that wouldn't be out of place in the nearby Egyptian desert. I raised my defense, well aware that a sudden whirlwind would be the most suitably dramatic way for this snide version of Metal Sonic to make himself known again. However, instead of one blurry figure in the storm, I saw four. Two normal-sized mobians, a taller one, and a more slight figure hovering midair.

There was a touch of green to their auras, confirming what I already knew on sight.

They've come all the way up here to screw with me?

I'm gonna make them regret this.

"You again?" I snarled at the Fearsome Foursome. "Back off! Final warning!"

Sergeant Simian stepped up to me with a braggadocious swagger.

"Back off? You're on the Big Man's turf, man! So step off or get stepped on!"

That was an odd turn of phrase to hear out of him, from what scant interactions we've had, but he said the man behind the green diamond was here, on the island!

"Take me to him. Now."

Simian chuckled. He didn't look nearly as formidable now that I was roughly a foot taller than him.

"Don't be a drag, dragon! You're hardly worth our master's--!"

I slugged him in the chest with all of my strength, launching the ape into the air and through the doors of an old church. If the Foursome were so eager to jump the queue, then Metal Sonic could wait until I was done pounding them into the dirt!

"I'm not asking for permission!"

The other three circled around me. I forced them to keep their distance with a broad tail swipe, which took Flying Frog off his feet. Predator Hawk came at me from above, attempting a dive kick, and I nearly singed his feathers off with a stream of fire breath.

"Yipe!" Hawk cried. "Anyone remember what we did to tick this guy off?"

"Flying, grab his tail!" Lightning Lynx exclaimed, performing a ukemi to recover after I pulverized the hollow tree where he once stood.

"Don't act like you don't remember!" I shouted back.

As I approached, the Lynx batted me in the eye with his elongated tongue!

I stumbled back, taken by surprise. That was Flying Frog's move!

Wait, how'd he--?!

I felt a tug on my tail, and my whole body being lifted into the air by Flying Frog!

"You're a big one, ain't ya?" he said coarsely. "Well, the bigger they are…!"

I didn't hear the second half of that, as he tossed me into the direction of the church. Whereas Simian went through the door, I was sent headfirst through the stone wall. I shook off the old cobwebs and masonry, all too raring to get back into the fray.

"I'm not done with you yet!" I growled, getting back to my feet.

That was when I heard faint, tinny rock music, coming out of a broken cassette player that didn't look too far off from an old Walkman.

"What is that doing… here?"

Looking around, growing increasingly wary, I followed the personal stereo to a large pair of headphones that were illuminated by the cracks in the roof. The headphones were being worn by a long and thin green reptile with a broad chest and narrow arms.

I recognized him right away, and my boiling blood felt as though it turned to ice.

No, no, no!

"Anybody get the number of that ute?" Vector the Crocodile slurred, a large goose egg on his head and more severe bruising on his torso where I struck him.

That wasn't Sergeant Simian. Which meant the others weren't the Fearsome Foursome.

I was trying to kill the Chaotix!

Aghast, I scrambled to get Vector back on his feet, ramming down the blinding rage that'd nearly caused me to end the life of an innocent man.

"I-I'm sorry! I-I thought you were someone else!"

It was easily the dumbest thing I could've blurted out, but I didn't care.

"Brother, right now I feel like a sack of potatoes," Vector said numbly. "But whatever you did, you snapped me out of that bad mamma jamma's mojo!"

I could barely understand what he was saying. I was worried that my attack gave him brain damage, until I tumbled the words over in my head to uncover what he meant.

"You mean you were under a spell?" I asked.

Vector shook himself off, picking up what remained of his headphones.

"Got it in one, daddy-o!" It was too early to call if he sustained a concussion. "I'd say thanks for knocking some sense into me, but the job ain't done yet!"

The rest of the Chaotix poured into the opening. The purple, horned chameleon with green shoes had to be Espio. The small bee in all black and yellow was Charmy. That left the red-shelled, blue-eyed armadillo lugging around a huge cudgel of rusty rebar as Mighty.

Oh my god, I almost incinerated Charmy!

"Look, I don't want to fight anymore!" I shouted to the three.

"That's not gonna work!" Vector said. "That whacked-out warlock's got them in a trance!"

Mighty slammed his bludgeon of scrap metal down on the ground.

"Too late for saying sorry, Hot Breath! You've made an enemy of Lord Enerjak by stomping around his island without giving him tribute!"

"I don't even know what an Enerjak is!"

I tried to focus my own mesmerism effect, to try and break up the spell that has them under its sway, but it wasn't working! I was out of magic, and out of luck.

"Then allow us to hand-deliver you to him!" Espio said.

I took another deep breath, this time trying to emanate an effect that was less intense than a fireball through my nostrils. The internal energies got jumbled up in my throat, and while I was predicting smoke, what came out of my nose were two chilling rays of frost!

"Look out!" shouted Charmy, as the trio were surrounded in a thick cage of ice!

"If you aren't gonna fight, then we've gotta jet!" Vector shouted.

I nodded, running out of there with Vector in tow. I slid down one of the less steep hills, while Vector rolled down it as a living wheel. It wasn't exactly advisable with a head injury.

"Where are we going?" I said to Vector.

"We've gotta search for Knuckles and that Archy guy! Enerjak sent them away to who knows where and had the rest of us homies acting as his cronies!"

I didn't know who Archie was, either.

Another blind spot?

We kept running, passing the pumpkin-shaped part of the island entirely. Soon, we stopped at a region with more sedate peaks and plateaus, broken up by the occasional windmill.

"Do the Chaotix have a fallback place where you meet up?" I asked.

"Knuckles' lookout is crawling with Enerjak's 'bots right now, but we ain't too far from Rock Hill. That's where Mighty shares a place with Heavy and Bomb."

"Then let's head there and see if we can regroup."

Awkwardly, I picked up Vector and flew us towards where he was directing. After a few minutes of silence, Vector stared at me curiously, a glint coming over his yellow eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"You know, in all of that ruckus, I didn't stop to ask what a dragon was doin' all the way out here on the Floating Island. A long way from home, huh?"

I frowned. It seemed like, retro look or not, this Vector remained a detective at heart.

"You could say that," I replied warily. "Sorry again for going overboard."

"It's all water under the bridge. Enerjak's magic was messing with all of us, right?"

"Right," I answered slightly too fast.

The crocodile didn't comment for another minute.

"By the way, the name's Vector."

"John Scarlet. I'm with the freedom fighters in Mercia."

"No kidding," Vector said as he rubbed his jaw. "You've got a real mean southpaw, you know that? Could've given Rad Red a run for his money with that one."

"Thanks?"

I landed down atop a rugged hill with a tunnel sticking out of it.

"This the place?"

Vector nodded.

We cautiously entered the spacious abode that'd been carved into the rock, which already had lights on before Vector could flip the switch. The place had two major rooms that I could see past the common area, with the first being a studio/gym hybrid and the second looking like a sci-fi auto shop. I was surprised to see Fiona Fox had gotten there before us, alongside a Heavy and Bomb that were covered in pink crystal flakes.

"Our friends have returned!" Heavy said in joy.

"Ping!" added Bomb.

"What the--!" Fiona started, when she turned around and locked eyes with me. "Where'd you fly off to, you numbskull?"

"I was trying to find the Metal Sonic," I said apologetically. "Lost track of myself. It's hard to… control my impulses like this. Trying to stay level."

Vector crossed his skinny arms. It was surreal to remember how thin he was in his 'Classic' incarnation versus his later one.

"Hey, who let a chick inside Mighty's crash pad?"

Fiona shot a withering glare at Vector that made him wince.

"Shut up, croc! Mighty owes me big time!"

She already knew Mighty?

"And that would have been us who invited them in," Heavy interjected. "The situation out there has been deteriorating rapidly since the entity was unleashed from Mt. Fate."

The entity? Wait, who's 'them'?

"What exactly is going on?" I asked.

"Haven't you heard there's a crazy chaos god out there?" Fiona said.

"There's a what?"

"Oh, he hasn't heard!" drawled a half-disassembled and vulnerable Metal Sonic, partway through a rushed repair job on one of the workshop tables. "After I left your fat tail eating my dust, I doubled back and--"

I walked over to the table and prepared to finish what I started.

"PARLAY!" Metal Sonic squeaked out. "PARLAY!"

Fortunately -- or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it -- the others were able to force me stay my hand and listen to what he had to say. At the least, his story was able to help me wait out the clock until sunrise.

It turned out that, as of that night, the Floating Island was under new management.

- - -

Spoiler: Author Notes

With Bonus Chapter 2 out of the way, we're back on track with the Angel Island Tour!

Angel Island's size is never given hard numbers within the story. At least, we aren't given real numbers. We're presented with made up units with no real-world comparisons, which are worthless. Toss 'em in the trash. I've been using the maps of Angel Island from both the Complete Sonic Encyclopedia and Super Sonic Digest #2 as points of reference for where the different locations lie, with the latter serving as an effective update of the former. I'll use the names of places used on either map as I deem appropriate.

The Chaotix here, like their introduction in the comics, are modeled on their appearances in Knuckles' Chaotix. Vector has yet to work out, Espio wasn't officially a ninja, Mighty was there, and Charmy is about the same age as the rest of them. Strange, isn't it?

Who is Enerjak? For those of you who don't already know, you'll soon find out.

 

[weredrago2]

Ruby Haze
Chapter 26: The Mislaid Plans

Fiona Fox thought of herself as a schemer at heart. Someone to whom deception and trickery came to her as naturally as breathing. It was not an instinct that Fiona thought she had in her when she was just a dumb kid. Before she realized that the only person you could rely on in this messed up world to have your back was yourself. Now that she was grown up, Fiona knew that her clever mind was the sharpest weapon in her arsenal. With her two go-to goons being a close second.

Whatever Bean and Bark were doing before she found them wasn't important. They needed someone with brains to direct them, and get them gigs. Be the shot caller. Bark wasn't going to speak up for himself, and Bean wasn't going to let the clients get a word in. She was the brains of her gang, with Bean and Bark providing the muscle needed to make her tactics stick. Not as strong as Bark, or as explosively deranged as Bean (the latter of which she was grateful not to worry about), Fiona was the one who laid out the game plan.

However, with her mark having changed into a dragon and gone flying after a smart aleck super badnik, her plot to steal Scarlet's magic ruby had gone completely off the rails.

"This was supposed to be easy!" she shouted as she climbed out of the rubble.

Fiona heard a pop, causing her ears to perk up in alarm. Examining her immediate surroundings, Fiona saw that the ground was covered in crystal dust from one of Scarlet's magic bubbles. The debris around the hole she was hiding in gave way and collapsed. He must've put a shield around her, and if it wasn't for that holding up the rubble…

Fiona Fox dismissed the thought. She couldn't afford to get distracted.

She looked around, taking in the absolute state of desolation that Scarlet and Metal Sonic left the Happyland park in after their fight. The rollercoaster was spent, having broken down into heaps of splintered wood. The merry-go-round had made its last rotation, the ferris wheel had lost a couple of spokes, and the carnival games were totally spent. Fiona hated Renfield, so she wasn't going to be shedding a tear for his dream going down in flames. Her only regret was that she didn't bring a camera.

With her ride having taken off, and this mission turning out to be far riskier than she initially bargained for, Fiona's next idea was to make her leave with that spare hover pod. Then a glimmer in the scrap pile caught her eye. Getting closer, she identified the shining object as the Mechanix. Scarlet hit them with one of those spells he cast by mistake, trapping Heavy and Bomb in a big, pink crystal.

After spending a period of weeks getting to know what he was capable of, Fiona could admit, if only to herself, that what Scarlet did was real magic. Technology that could open portals like he could wasn't portable enough to do the job. It wouldn't be something that just anybody could get their hands on, and Scarlet definitely wasn't smart enough to build it himself. The same went for the force fields, flight, and other powers.

Then there was the fact that technology didn't show you your greatest desire when you touched it. While everyone else was stunned by what Bean conjured up by touching the ruby during their ambush mission in Mercia, they weren't watching her trying to pull him off of it. The wizard completely missed that she'd accidentally touched the stone herself. What she saw while everyone else was distracted left her stunned.

Fiona saw herself, a few years older. Stronger. Sharper. More experienced. She wasn't the ruler of Mobius, because she knew what she wanted was well within the means of being a crime lord. For those who she let know her name, 'Fiona Fox' was a name associated with wealth and power. Feared and respected in equal measures, she'd spend her days surrounded by more money, opulence, and security than anyone else could ever ask for.

Robotnik's machines couldn't catch her. The Freedom Fighters would go to her to beg for scraps, and she'd only give them when their so-called 'hero' was the one they paraded out to do the begging. The power of the ruby made her completely untouchable. With but a wave of her hand, anything she wanted was within her grasp.

Never again to want. Never again to need. Never again to feel pain, or fear, or spend her nights being afraid of getting hurt again.

Never again to be powerless. Forgotten. Left behind.

All she had to do to make that happen was separate the magic gem from its current owner.

Did that overlander know how much power he was sitting on? How could he not?

Fiona got close to the badniks and started hammering at the crystal, using her spent missile launcher as a blunt instrument. She knew from asking around the Mercian rebel camps that those crystals weren't impossible to shatter. Scarlet's crystals broke apart over time, and got weaker when he wasn't focusing on keeping them there. After the repeated impacts caused cracks to form along the surface, she performed one last strike along the largest crack to wedge the crystal containing Bomb free from the rest.

"Ping ping," Bomb uttered weakly, half of his body sticking out of the crystal mass.

"Hold still," Fiona said, before lighting Bomb's fuse with a match.

"PING?!"

Fiona crouched down behind the sturdiest thing she could use as cover for miles, which was Heavy. Bomb detonated, damaging the pink crystal surrounding the larger badnik. With Bomb's body destroyed, Fiona could hear what sounded like a jammed crank or other mechanism building tension from inside the crystal, until Heavy's head spring broke out of the top and a fresh Bomb was released.

"Ping!" Bomb accused, pointing at her.

"Of course I knew that would work!" Fiona shouted back. "Now do it again!"

"Ping," Bomb grumbled, exploding a second time so he could get his partner out of there.

Heavy stumbled out of the crystal trap, magenta flakes sticking to both badniks' hulls.

"Gadzooks!" Heavy exclaimed. "What'd I miss?"

"Ping ping!" Bomb whined.

"Scarlet went after Metal Sonic, but there's something wrong with the island," Fiona answered, paraphrasing everything they missed. "Now a volcano's gone off!"

"This is most disturbing," Heavy said solemnly. "Do you have John's communicator code?"

She tried the number, but the line was filled with static.

"He's not picking up."

Heavy's lid rose again, a collapsible radio antenna sticking out of it.

"There appears to be a high amount of background radiation affecting my radar. Let's take you back to our workshop in Rock Hill so we can regain our bearings."

Resigned, she joined the Mechanix in the hover unit to their other base. She stared out from the forward window, taking in the darkened landscape of the Floating Island.

This was supposed to be simple. Tricking him into carrying all of their salvage from Robotnik's bases was only one part of it. Bean and Bark were going to take Scarlet out when she gave the signal, after he'd burned out his energy reserves, but then they had to escape the ambush from the Egg Robos. Her Plan B was to convince the Guardian and the Chaotix to do the heavy lifting for them, using the emotional blackmail she had on Mighty to sway him into taking the wizard down. Then Metal Sonic happened, and Scarlet went out of his way to make sure she wasn't hurt.

Why?

She didn't get it. Was he playing her? What was his angle? Did he already know what she was doing, and was giving her a window to back out before either of them lost face?

Was he really just being… nice?

Fiona had no idea, and the uncertainty was what was getting to her.

A green flash of light blinded the drivers, causing them to slow down until it passed.

"What was that?" Fiona asked.

"Ping!"

"I haven't the foggiest, either, but I believe that eerie light originated from the direction of the echidna ruins at the island's center!"

Heavy tilted the yoke up, setting the vehicle gently onto the outskirts of where the glowing flashes were focused, near the long river that wound around the island. Past the green lights, they could see massive rocks rising out of the ground, suspended by green auras. The loose stones arranged themselves into new forms, the jagged cliffs and spires forming into the rough shapes of walls and towers. Before their eyes, the constructions became increasingly defined, turning into finely-masoned bricks and architectural marvels.

"What on Mobius…?" Fiona gasped. "Is that a city?"

"No city we've seen on the Floating Island before," Heavy said.

The edges of this strange place were patrolled by tall, gray robots that Fiona hadn't seen before. They were as tall as SWATbots, yet their designs were subtly off in a way she couldn't place. Though, after years of dealing with Robotnik's machines, she could tell on instinct that these weren't made by him.

"Ping!" Bomb called out, pointing at the glowing figure at the center of the city.

The glowing being was the average size of a mobian, covered in immaculate gold and blue armor. His jagged, golden mask covered only the top of his white-eyed face, leaving a twisted rictus grin that was clear to see. Out of the back of the entity's head, she could see striped rows of red echidna dreadlocks. In one hand, he possessed a serpentine scepter of emerald green, which he waved to and fro like a conductor's baton.

Where the glowing man moved the staff, the masses of earth fit into place. He swung the rod forward, building a cyclopean, black citadel that stood tall above the rest.

"RISE, MY NEKRONOPOLIS! MAY YOUR DARK MAGNIFICENCE BLIND THE DENIZENS OF THE SURFACE WITH THIS MONUMENT TO MY GLORY!"

The warlock's insane cackles of delight spread far and wide, until they were cut off by a bolt of energy to the face.

"Who dares strike the almighty Enerjak?!" the being howled, superheated plasma dripping off his mask.

Enerjak turned to where the shot came from at the same time Fiona and the others did, where they all saw the red-eyed, sneering Metal Sonic.

"What, do you live under a rock or something?" Metal Sonic quipped. "Now that I lost that purple lizard and had a little pick-me-up from your energy turbines, I regret to inform you that you're squatting on Doctor Robotnik's property! So kindly vacate the premises and--"

The snarling Enerjak waved his hand, releasing a broad wave of destructive power!

"NO! The Floating Island is MINE TO CONQUER!"

Metal Sonic fired up his rockets and juked out of the way of the attack, which carved a deep groove into one of the distant mountains. Fiona didn't even need to put on her binoculars to see the devastating damage Enerjak was capable of.

While Enerjak was reveling in his power, Metal Sonic flew in a corkscrew and delivered an uppercut to the echidna's jaw with a sledgehammer attachment over his fist.

"Yours to conquer? Take a number, Enerjoke!"

With that, it was on. Enerjak projected his green blasts of energy at the evasive Metal Sonic, in what almost felt like a repetition of Scarlet's fight with the super badnik.

"You have made a fatal error, robot! Now perish for it!"

The key difference was Enerjak clearly reveled in his power. Scarlet fought with a lot more care and precision, being seriously rattled after his foray into friendly fire. This chaos sorcerer, on the other hand, threw his weight around with an almost childlike glee. His beams of force, bolts of lightning, and explosions of green energy went wide, bombarding his own city and robots. Enerjak was far more concerned with hitting Metal Sonic than the damage he was doing to his 'previous' city and the robots he put around it. Should this battle continue, he'd have to start over from the ground up.

As the two of them battled in the sky, Fiona began ripping foliage out of the nearby trees and putting them on top of the hover pod.

"What are you doing?" Heavy inquired.

She tilted her face towards Heavy and Bomb, not slowing down from her task.

"Camouflage! Now help me keep us out of their sight!"

The Mechanix got to work, helping her disguise their hovercraft until it was as concealed as they could on such a tight time budget. Meanwhile, Metal Sonic swiftly darted towards Enerjak for another attack. One that would turn out to be a tactical miscalculation. Two beams of light poured out of Enerjak's eyes, trapping Metal Sonic in a green energy field.

"C-Cheater!" Metal Sonic shouted, now totally paralyzed.

"For over four centuries, I have been denied my righteous destiny! I will not be defied by an arrogant machine for a second more!"

Enerjak spread his arms out wide. Fiona had a bad feeling about what he was planning, and screwed her eyes shut. Everything went white, and when Fiona opened her eyes again, Metal Sonic was gone.

Enerjak is untouchable.

"Let that be a lesson to all who would stand against the new god-king of Mobius!" Enerjak proclaimed, to seemingly no one.

Unless, of course, he knew they were hiding, and that was an open invitation for them to come out before he made them come out. Fiona froze, waiting to see when Enerjak would call them out, only for the divine being to fly away.

"That was a frightening display of force," observed Heavy. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah. Fine."

Fiona realized that Enerjak, for all of the blatant power at his disposal, hadn't noticed them at all. For a so-called god, his awareness left a lot to be desired.

That begged the question: Did he have other weaknesses she could exploit?

"Y-Yo! Mind lending me a waldo?"

Fiona and the Mechanix spun around. Behind them, they saw the smoking crater where Metal Sonic crash landed. The super badnik was in a sorry state, one leg and both arms twisted at right angles. His head was half buried in the dirt, one green eye indicating that he was critically low on power.

"Metal Sonic!" Heavy shouted, his arms raised into a boxing pose to go with his mitts.

"Ping, ping!" Bomb declared.

"Not too loud!" Metal Sonic said. "Think that chaos dynamo's gonna go easier on you three if he comes sniffing this way?"

"Give us one good reason why we shouldn't have you stripped down for spare parts while we have the chance to make it stick!"

"Maybe Robotnik will take you back?" he offered. "I'll put in a good word--"

"Don't," Fiona interjected. Not to silence Metal Sonic, but to stop Heavy or Bomb before they could permanently shut him up. "We need him alive."

"We do?" asked Heavy.

"Ping?" asked Bomb.

"You do?" asked Metal Sonic.

"We do. For all of the worthless words that came out of your motor mouth, you got one thing right. None of us stand a chance against Enerjak. Not if we're doing it alone."

"You aren't suggesting that we work with this thug, do you?" Heavy asked, incredulously.

Metal Sonic laughed.

"Look, fox! I don't think you know how this whole 'super badnik' shtick works. You help me, and I don't have the big man with the XXXL Egg-O-Matic send you to the roboti--" Fiona placed an orange and yellow boot on Metal Sonic's back. "H-Hey!"

She flicked the multitool she palmed off the Mechanix's hover pod to the flathead screwdriver, the end aimed at Metal Sonic's remaining good eye.

"You want to get fixed, you cooperate. You don't cooperate, I let those two break you down and turn you into Mister Scarlet's new punching bag. Capisce?"

"Alright, alright!" Metal Sonic said in surrender. "You've got my help for this, but after that, I'm jetting back to Robotropolis. Deal?"

As cathartic as it was to threaten to take a screwdriver to a Sonic's eye, Fiona had work to do. She took her boot off the badnik and gestured for Heavy to load him into the pod.

"Deal."

That was how Fiona Fox played the game. She used her head. She balanced personalities. She made arrangements. Now, she was going leverage what she had to pick off that wannabe god getting in the way of her ruby.

- - -

Spoiler: Author Notes

There goes our second POV switch up chapter. I wanted to do another one since the one with Rob O' the Hedge in Chapter 13, and now felt as good a time as any to do another!

Alas, I don't have a lot to say in the notes this time, except to say that I've considered writing my own datafiles for various countries and such in regards to Ruby Haze. Expansions of the material presented in the Complete Sonic Encyclopedia, with my own additions based on what's needed for this fic. If the people reading this have suggestions for where I might want to focus these hypothetical datafiles, then let me know.

Thanks for reading.

 

[weredrago2]

Ruby Haze
Chapter 27: Ring and a Prayer

It was an agonizingly long time until the sun rose over Angel Island.

After Fiona and Heavy caught us up on what they saw out there, we planned to sleep in shifts. However, with Vector as hurt as he was, the robots not needing to sleep, and Fiona too rattled by seeing Enerjak carve a hole in a mountain to want to sleep, it left the crocodile and I as the two sleeping. At least, Vector got to sleep after he was cleared of a head injury that would make losing consciousness a very bad idea. Mighty the Armadillo was still under Enerjak's mind control, same as Espio the Chameleon and Charmy Bee. If any of them mentioned that one of the likely places we were hiding was Mighty's home, then the plan was for someone to wake me up before they brought the house down.

We held our breath, waited for the danger to come, and Enerjak never showed up.

He was still out there. I didn't need to see Enerjak to believe what I was told. His presence was like a shadow cast across the island, enveloping it in negative energies that the Phantom Ruby disagreed with. Out of everyone in our slapdash task force, I alone was able to sense his overwhelming aura of evil.

The hard part was keeping that wicked energy out of my head. I could hear Enerjak's mad laughter on the fringes of my restless dreams. I was able to intuit the outline of his glowing figure whenever I closed my eyes. I didn't think I could stand another day of it.

With the morning came a degree of relief. When the sun's rays touched my scales, my draconic form went up into ruby smoke. My body was my body, and my mind was my mind.

Mostly.

I was relieved to be human again, though I could feel the dragon in a state of reluctant dormancy beneath my skin. Though I wasn't sure of the exact cause of me acquiring the transformation, I doubted it would 'settle down' as long as Enerjak was in town.

That was too close for comfort. I didn't know for sure if the day would fix it.

I was able to admit that, in a better set of circumstances, becoming a dragon would've been pretty damn cool. The extra strength was greatly appreciated, but more than any other time, my mind as the werebeast was at the mercy of the Phantom Ruby's manipulations. I was two for two on attacking my own allies last night. As a weredragon, I almost went further than beating Vector within an inch of his life.

"How do you feel?" Heavy asked, once I'd returned from an extended session of morning stretches to help me reacclimate. I also spent a couple of hours meditating, during which the machinist machine hammered out a skeletal steel limb on a workbench.

I pulled my left arm back, and felt a familiar 'pop' from the motion in my shoulder. I've had that since a car accident a few years back that totaled my car and needed months of physical therapy to recover. It didn't hurt, but it was loud enough to startle the hell out of people when they took notice. A pretty fun party trick.

My body didn't feel like my body without the little things, and I wasn't able to hear that percussive flair as a dragon.

♦ 5

"Would you believe me if I said I was feeling drained?"

"That's to be expected. You put up a great showing against Metal Sonic!"

"It was a lucky shot," the super badnik said from the other side of the room.

As much as I wanted to ignore him, the Metal Sonic with emotional maturity matching his number was leaning on one of the stone walls. Heavy and Bomb spent the night fixing our temporary ally, replacing Metal's damaged parts with fresh ones that his systems would identify as authorized repairs. The super badnik was refurbished, with a new paint job to replace the sections stripped bare by energy burns. He had a black torso that should reduce his power gem's profile against instruments (or individuals) that could detect its signature, the alabaster streaks going down 2.5's quills making the badnik look like a cross between Neo Metal Sonic and a decked-out sports car.

Fiona had done what I would've thought was impossible, convincing one of Robotnik's most dangerous troubleshooters to agree to a temporary ceasefire. I was impressed enough to consider looking past her raging attitude problem.

Then again, was it that hard to believe? The Mechanix went turncoat of their own volition. Gamma and Omega are bound to rebel if they get built in this universe. There's been at least one disloyal Metal Sonics in the games, so maybe we could get this one to defect?

"We're on the same side now," I reminded him. "You can stop trying to get under my skin."

"Is it working?"

"…No?"

Metal Sonic laughed.

"How else am I going to test out my material while you guys make with the clever organic planny-plan thing?" Metal Sonic drawled, making a theatrical gesture with his remaining arm. I didn't react. "Bah, you guys are no fun!"

"I don't have a lot of time for 'fun' these days."

Metal Sonic brought his hand to his chin.

"What do you do for fun, Wiz? Curl up by the fireplace with a nice spell book?"

"No comment."

Heavy brought the new arm into range of Metal Sonic's shoulder socket, where it locked into place.

"The auto repair from your power gem matrix should do the rest," Heavy said sternly. "Be on your best behavior, Metal Sonic. We won't have any patience for funny business."

Metal Sonic tested out the new arm by making a lackadaisical 'W' shape over his chest. It was a gesture borrowed from the Walkers faith.

"Cross my power gem and hope for a system failure!" Metal Sonic trilled.

You and me both.

"Speaking of power sources," I segued, circling back to a previous subject. "I'm overdue for a recharge. Do you have anything I can siphon?"

Heavy's ball joint shoulders sagged.

"I'd offer to let you use our power gems as before, but our reactors have been overtaxed," Heavy said dejectedly. "Unlike the chaos emerald's eternal output, a power gem can only yield infinite energy over time. We'd need another day to return to our full capabilities."

It didn't sound far off from a chaos drive.

"And just so we're clear, I'm not offering," Metal Sonic contributed.

I racked my brain for other power sources on the island. The Launch Base was a no-go because I may have broken it. Lava Reef could have viable lava pumps, but I wasn't very heat resistant without prepping a fire shield first. That didn't seem to stop Sonic, so I could consider it as a viable option.

"Is there a Lake of Rings on the island I could collect rings from?" I asked.

Absent a neck, Heavy rotated clockwise and counterclockwise to simulate shaking his head.

"The only ring lake I know of is in the isolated swampland Vector calls home, but its output is approximately two in a blue moon."

He just had to say 'moon', didn't he?

"Good to know. If anyone needs me, I'm gonna go check the others."

"Before you go," Heavy said, pulling out a steel chest from under his bench. "I do have something you could use as a stopgap."

"Stopgap?"

Heavy popped open the chest, enveloping the room in a yellow glow. The box contained half a dozen gems of varying shapes and sizes, each one resonating with chaos energy.

"These are lower-grade power gems. Slower, less efficient, and less predictable. Should it become damaged, your best recourse is to throw it very far and hope for the best."

"And how bad would it be if it breaks?"

He plucked a small, triangular stone out of the pile and handed it to me. It was the size and shape of a 1D4.

"We don't have hard data for the upper limits of spacetime distortion a misaligned power gem can instigate. This is the safest one, but the advice remains the same."

My takeaway was that I should throw it at Enerjak the second it started acting funny.

"Understood."

I gingerly accepted the volatile gift, the yellow gem latching itself onto the surface of the Phantom Ruby like a fridge magnet.

⟁ ♦ 6

I could feel the effects right away. It was a steady trickle of energy, rather than the bucket of power I got per ring.

"Thank you," I said, before walking to the other side of the tunnel to check on the others.

Traversing around dumbbells and barbells of varyingly intimidating sizes, I found Bomb and Fiona at the former dining room and current war room. They broke down everything they had on Enerjak so I could be better debriefed. It amounted to a lot to handle and not much to work with. The impression they got was that the chaos-slinger was obsessively focused on completing that city before expanding his gaze upon the rest of Mobius.

Obsession felt like the right word to describe Enerjak's goal of constructing his 'Nekronopolis', as he was pouring all of his individual efforts on it. Fiona saw him fix the damage Metal Sonic caused with a mere thought. From that perspective, he was taking his time with the process by choice, in the same way a hobbyist might do the same with making a miniature town for their model trains to circle? Attacking Enerjak's vanity project to distract him was an option, assuming we weren't too attached to whoever got sent to try it.

"Okay, but how are you guys holding up?" I asked them once the chance arose.

"Ping!" said Bomb, who supplemented his answer with a thumbs-up.

"Good to hear. Fiona? You okay?"

Fiona was drooping. Her hair was mussed up, and her eyes were reddened. The fox's entire body was sluggish, yet twitchy from her attempt to pull off an all-nighter by using Mighty's tea stores as a surrogate for sleep.

"Hwa?" she murmured.

A new tactic was needed.

"Fiona, what's Vector's status?"

She sat up in her seat, at attention. Fiona ended up doing most of the first aid on Vector, because I was floundering to get it done right with my claws getting in the way.

"The croc's stable. He's lucky I could pull that off with the contents of a medicine cabinet and a roll of sports tape."

Steadily, Fiona started sliding again.

"I think you should get some rest," I said lightly to her, pouring a cup of tea for myself.

She shook her head.

"No no, I'm up. Now that you're awake, I need your feedback on this magic… stuff."

I offered Fiona a tissue so she could wipe the drool off her face. She'd accumulated some from when she was snoozing.

"You're absolutely sure you don't want to take a minute and freshen up?"

Fiona snatched the tissue out of my hands, then got up and headed for the bathroom.

"Fine, fine. Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back."

I unwrapped a protein bar from off the shelf and skimmed through the detailed (if increasingly incoherent) strategies Fiona had been working on overnight. Definitely gonna have to reimburse the armadillo later. In regards to the plans, I could see she was struggling to get around the fundamental issue that Enerjak was a rogue super form. He might be impervious to harm, making any full-frontal assaults a losing battle from the start. If we knew what he was drawing all of his strength from, then we could separate him from his power source and wail on him.

All I had to do was make a strategy to defeat myself. This was an outside context problem, when I thought I was the outside context problem to everyone else.

There's only one way we're going to match a super form, and I'm really hoping we find Knuckles before I have to do it myself.

I brought my index and middle finger to my temple.

Any luck out there?

Figment the Phantom Flicky let out an irritated tweet. In my mind's eye, I could see he was on the edge of a red desert that looked more like the Australian Outback than the sandy dunes of Efrika. The occasional breach of the surface by hungry sandworms chasing prey was enough to tell me that the disparate locales still had something in common.

Good work so far, Figment.

My familiar let out a snort.

He wasn't ecstatic to hear that his faithful service against a SWATbot horde led by twin super badnik commanders was being rewarded with more work. Enerjak's oppressive aura made it hard for me to extend my portals past the boundaries of Angel Island, with my bond to Figment being the exception. I couldn't tell if that was intentional, as a way to lock down 'his' island, but the end result was that we were on our own. I was able to rope Figment in to help us keep track of what was going on out there. At the moment, he was doing a full circle around the island so that I could establish a familiarity with the terrain. Every place he went at my behest counted as one I did for the purposes of my crystal ball.

While waiting until the Phantom Ruby was at max charge would be the smart thing to do, it wouldn't be the right one. Figment reported that Enerjak's strange, humanoid robots were stomping into the nearby settlements. The fungus-shaped huts in the Mushroom Hills, a vibrant jungle village of chameleons sequestered in what appeared to be Botanic Base, and the windmill-laden houses at the base of Mt. Ice Cap were all visited by his 'mechanauts'. The only directive of the mechanauts thus far has been to proclaim Enerjak's sovereignty; the enforcement phase hadn't started.

That could change in a matter of days, hours, or minutes. What's worse was that the Chaotix members that remained under his control were being used as the tips of Enerjak's spears. Espio, Mighty, and Charmy were spread out as the leaders of the mechanaut troops, asking the bewildered civilians that used Angel Island as their refuge from Robotnik if they'd seen Vector or a purple dragon around. I must've upset Enerjak by stealing away the leader of the Chaotix, but not to the extent of him wanting to investigate where we went himself. That, too, couldn't be gambled on to last.

Back at Rock Hill, my eyes went to the yellow strip of pleather that'd been set on the dining room table. It was Vector's belt, which had the remains of his tape player and a smaller pouch on the side. Opening his pockets on a hunch, I found one last pair of rings, which had been shrunk down for ease of transport.

Vector's a smart cookie, and lives close to the Lake of Rings. Of course he'd have a backup.

I went to the bedroom door and gave it a knock.

"Vector, you awake?"

The crocodile let out a pained groan.

"Johnny, izzat you?"

"Yes, are you decent?"

"Am I what?"

Oh. Right. Pants are more an exception than the rule here.

"Forget it. I'm coming in."

I entered the room, which was a humble den reminiscent of a Mercian abode. With the adrenaline out of his system, Vector was looking significantly worse for wear. The mobian's head and torso were bandaged up like the top half of a mummy costume. He looked frail, which was the last thing that should come to mind when you see Vector the Crocodile.

Vector looked at me with surprise and alarm.

"Yo yo yo! Who the heck are you?"

I frowned.

"Vector, we just--" I remembered that happened when I was a dragon. "It's me, Scarlet. I'm not usually a dragon. That was very much a new thing."

"So you're an overlander? That's whack, Mac."

"Why are you talking like that?" I couldn't put off asking anymore.

Vector tensed, furrowing his brow.

"Like what?"

"Like--"

Like a bad stereotype of how old people thought youth culture sounded like decades ago. I wasn't going to say that out loud, but Vector didn't give me the chance not to.

"Whaddya mean? This is how everybody talks the talk on the mean streets! If you can't handle the way the V-Man speaks, then stay out of the V-Man's heat!"

I was beginning to receive the impression he genuinely talked to everyone this way, in spite of it sounding incredibly fake. I flicked one of Vector's backup rings into the air, expanding it to full size. The ring hovered an inch above my finger.

"Look. Try to keep the funky lingo to a minimum, and I'll heal you back to normal."

He stopped, taken aback.

"You can do that? For real?"

"Yes," I said unreservedly. "Actually, I was gonna do that anyway because I feel bad for punching you. But still. Do you consent?"

"Consent to what?"

"I need you to say that it's okay for me to do this."

"Why's that? So I can't sue?"

Is there still a legal system that can sue people?

"You know, in case anything goes wrong."

"What could go wrong?"

I took another deep breath.

"I wish you phrased that literally any other way. There is some risk involved in this."

Vector laughed, and his laugh was also a cough.

"Man, you think I'd let a little risk stop me from saving me friends?" He sat up in bed, beating his chest confidently. This caused him to start coughing again. "B-Bring it on!"

I nodded, accepting that this was something I kicked down the road for long enough.

I needed Vector fighting fit. I needed him to show me where we could get more rings. I also needed to do this for myself, and Vector was volunteering to be the test subject.

No more dress rehearsal.

The ring drifted between us. If ring energy healed me, and I healed Figment using energy I got from the rings, then I could use the rings to heal Vector.

It's showtime.

I raised my hand, trying to repeat the steps I took to psyche myself up to fire off a healing spell last time. Taking it slow and steady.

What was I thinking about last time? Trying not to fail? Being worried that I'd traumatize Amy if I killed the little flicky with my power? Worried that it'd go totally fine, establishing that the forces of life and death were at my fingertips?

It was a month or two ago, so I couldn't actually remember.

What I should've been thinking about was how funny it was that, in this timeline gone awry, Amy Rose of all people ended up looking up to me. The positive, do-anything girl who was able to face her fears to save an innocent bird from Doctor Eggman. The gal who broke through the programming of Gamma to help the robot regain their heart. She convinced Shadow that people were still worth fighting for after the world took everything away from him. Helped talk Silver out of his dogmatic agenda to kill the Iblis Trigger. Over time, she became one of the most kind and empathetic characters in the cast.

This time, I used a singular mote of Phantom Ruby energy to initiate my connection to the ring, expending the rest of my concentration on the ring itself.

For some reason, this Amy looked up to me. I'm not sure how that happened, but 'Mister Wizard' couldn't let her down now, could he?

No. I couldn't.

The ring was covered in brilliant white sparkles. Focusing on the pinpricks of light, I closed my eyes and sent a clear message to them.

I need you to heal Vector. Please. His friends need him, and so do I.

The magic ring flew straight into Vector, tearing away the layers of blankets and sports tape covering him as it evaporated into his body.

"Wowza!"

The crocodile stood up in a jolt!

"How do you feel?" I asked.

He flexed his muscles. I couldn't see any on his skinny arms, though he was practically radiating with good health compared to how he was before. I felt my legs get wobbly, until Vector energetically took me by the arm and we both stepped out of the room.

"Man oh man, I feel like a million mobiums! I reckon a deal's a deal, mate!"

"Hmm?"

Vector's inauthentic 'street' accent gave way to a more natural tone.

"I'll lower my lingo for your sake, Johnny. After seeing you do a magic trick like that, I'll even sing the blues if you ask me to!"

"No need to sing me the blues, Vector. And it wasn't that hard once I got the ball rolling. All it took was a little… positivity."

Suddenly, it clicked. A breakthrough. One that was staring me in the face.

We've known since Sonic Adventure that the energy generated by the Chaos Emeralds had two polarities: Positive and negative. When the Chaos Emeralds were drained of their negative power, the positive energy remained.

Positive energy, plus positive thoughts, equaled positive outcomes. Super Sonic, freedom from Robotnik's control, curing wounds, miracles.

Negative energy, plus negative thoughts, equaled negative outcomes. Perfect Chaos, Dark Gaia, Enerjak, the Phantom Ruby.

Rings carry a positive charge, and the Ruby doesn't.

Vector walked over to one of Mighty's exercise machines. He pulled out another music player from the seat, headphones and all.

"I knew I loaned him my backup stereo!" Vector said. He looped the earpiece over his head and reattached the music device to his belt. "What else can you do with those rings?

That was a great question.

Curious, but running low on patience for its cryptic nonsense, I pulled out my copy of the Ars Ixia and willed it to show me anything it had on them. A passage I'd overlooked in my prior readings made itself known via bright magenta text. The interior of the two-page spread was decorated in intricate, interlocking circles of gold leaf.

Finally, a search engine!

"I was right about the spell book!" Metal Sonic said when he barged in. "NERD ALERT!"

"Power rings are the lifeblood of the Ixian Magicks," I read out aloud from the manuscript, trying to ignore Metal Sonic using his VTOL capabilities to read over my shoulder. "They congregate in places where the barriers between Mobius and the Otherzone grow thin. One ring alone can grant great strength, heal the infirm, or reveal a glimpse of insight beyond mortal ken. A multitude of rings forms a chain that unifies the… did that say 'insight'?"

"It means the ability to see and know stuff," Metal Sonic said.

"Very funny."

"All I'm seeing is that you've got a funny idea of allies for a freedom fighter," Vector said warily. "You sure we've gotta keep him?"

"Ping?" Bomb pondered.

"That ain't what I meant, Bomb! You and Heavy are hip with it!"

"Ping!"

"Does everyone understand what he's saying except me?" I asked. "And trust me, Vector, this'll be a temporary arrangement."

"I hear you, brother," Metal Sonic said.

"That's it!" Fiona shouted, her hair still dripping from an express shower.

"What's it?" Vector asked.

I thought she was exclaiming that she was done with our banter, when she clarified the purpose of her statement.

"Scarlet! You can use a power ring to tell us where the Guardian went!"

I blinked.

"I can?"

"That's what your book said, didn't it?"

I looked back at the book. The book didn't provide specifics, merely alluding to the fact that a ring could be tapped for knowledge.

"I guess?"

"Then try it! Unless anyone has any better ideas on how to find Knuckles?"

My third eye flipped back to Figment, who appeared to be in a heated argument with a white mobini cockatoo that was squawking at him from a tall tree.

"This is my tree, bird brain!" the cockatoo said. He said. "Get your own!"

Mobini aren't supposed to talk, right?

Figment furiously cawed back, as the parrot was making hand gestures with his wing feathers in such a way that my familiar didn't appreciate.

"No, I didn't see Knuckles the Echidna! And I wouldn't tell you if I did, outlander!

Figment chirped out a bitter response to the sharp words of the cockatoo. He scratched the ground in annoyance, talons tearing grooves into the stone. If that cockatoo kept pushing his luck, it wouldn't turn out well for him.

"Whatcha gonna do about it, you freaky feather duster?"

Figment studiously observed the mobini's wings. In a great feat of dexterity, Figment bent his own feathers in such a way that allowed him to give that cockatoo the bird.

"That's it, you drongo! I'm gonna make your scars match!"

The cockatoo dove off his perch to strike Figment, only for him to get pimp slapped by Figment's wing. The loudmouthed bird was sent flying, and not in a good way. When he landed on the forest floor, my familiar trotted towards him.

"Not the face! Not the face!"

Figment, please don't kill him.

Figment obliged, and began kicking the cockatoo in the ribs.

"John?" Fiona said.

"That Enerjak fella said he was gonna check on Knux and Archy after he'd 'settled in', so wherever they went, he wanted them alive for a while longer," Vector said. "The power ring's the best lead we've got."

"I don't have any better ideas," I said finally.

I brought out the remaining ring from the tether, doing much as I had for the ring I used to heal Vector. It was floating, and I was focusing on getting a result out of it.

The last ring I used went pretty well! Whatever this one did, I could handle it.

"Okay, ring. Show me…"

I faltered. How do I get it to 'reveal' exactly what I wanted to see? What if I worded it wrong and got a wrong result? Thinking it over, there was only one way I could ensure the ring would show me either Knuckles or the other person attached to the Master Emerald I'd want to contact.

It might be a bit early to speak to Tikal, but we're already far off the beaten path. Why not take the story arc with her and Chaos off the rails, too?

"Show me the echidnas on Mobius?" I said, assuming that would be specific enough to filter out the Nocturnus Clan.

Fiona looked aghast.

"John, no!"

The ring blasted me with a formless mass of light, bypassing my skull and filling my brain with a multitude of faces! It was a horde of identities, clashing into each other in an attempt to make room in my headcase!

⌾⌾ Athair ⌾ Bimmy ⌾ Bolland ⌾ Darwin ⌾ DIMITRI ⌾ Finitevus ⌾⌾

I fell to my knees from the inflow of information. In the real world, which felt rather distant, I heard voices.

"Strewth! What'd it do to him!?"

"He's having a seizure!"

I needed to be more specific before I developed a cerebral hemorrhage.

S-Show me the Guardian!

Rather than experience a release from the pain when I narrowed the breadth, I instead received a greater amount of depth. The mob of faces gave way to a myriad of histories that swirled around my mind. The snippets of their existences became harder and harder for me to parse or ignore. They were an entire lineage, burrowing into my soul!

⌾⌾ Hawking, son of Mathias ⌾ Tobor, son of Hawking ⌾ Spectre, son of Tobor ⌾⌾

I cut off the information deluge at the source, reinforcing my control over my mindscape by using my ruby power to dominate the fragmentary remains of the ring! The gleaming embers of knowledge went from gold to pink!

Enough!

I shoved all of my newfound, unwanted knowledge back into a ring shape, shaking it!

This is my mind! There's only one person in charge here, and that's me!

Show me Knuckles the Echidna!

The pink ring crumbled in my hands, this time showing me exactly what I wanted to see.

⌾⌾ A red echidna with a white crest on his chest, spiked gloves on his fists, and colorful sneakers on his feet. He was in Sandopolis Desert, braving the intense environment beside a tiny fire ant wearing a brown cowboy hat and matching accessories. ⌾⌾

I held on to that image as the rest of the mystical vision faded, my hands reaching for my crystal ball through the convulsions so that I could chart their location!

Heavy and Vector helped me get up, once I'd shaken off the feedback from the ring. I wasn't planning to do that again for a long while.

"You alright?" Vector asked, helping me get steady.

"What kind of question is that?" Fiona shouted at him. "He's bleeding from his nose!"

"I-I've found them!" I said when I'd caught my breath.

"Then let's go find 'em, Johnny Boy!"

I used a flush of magic to clean my face. Finding the room to make the portal, I created a gateway to the desert at the general area they were standing.

⟁ ♦ 5

Vector turned to Fiona.

"He could do that the whole time?" he asked.

"Only when he remembers," she answered.

"Hey Knuckles!" I shouted to the red echidna.

Knuckles the Echidna turned around, running towards the sound of my voice.

"Over here!"

He jumped into the air and entered a glide to pick up speed, which was when I realized he wasn't slowing down. He raised one fist higher than the other as he aimed for my head!

"ENERJAK!" cried the red echidna, who was near-delirious from sunstroke. I didn't notice sooner because red was his default color.

"Wait, wait!"

This was how I met Knuckles the Echidna. Naturally, it started with me receiving a Knuckles Sandwich.

- - -

Spoiler: Author Notes

I wanted to get one more update out before going to the Sonic Symphony over the weekend. The surprising part was that I actually did it! If you're reading this on the night of posting, then I'll be there tomorrow. I'll take pictures… if the concert lets me!

Vector the Crocodile was introduced to the comic at the same time as all of his friends, in the Knuckles Chaotix special. His early claims to fame in the comic were his borderline incomprehensible slang, rhyming without reason, and kind of acting like an incel. He outgrew all of these horrendous character traits when the comic exchanged hands. Vector could also overclock the volume on his headphones to shoot powerful sonic blasts, which really made me wonder how he wasn't deaf by the time the reboot happened.

Next time: We do what I've wanted to do for a long while. This story is based on a Knuckles miniseries, and we can finally say hello to the main character!

Unlike in the stories with his name on them, I promise he'll be important to how this ends.

 

[Epitome of Eccentricity]

KNUCK KNUCK, IT'S KNUCKLES!

There's really not enough good sonic fanfiction. Bravo

 

[weredrago2]

Ruby Haze
Chapter 28: Knuckles Dust Off

My first interaction with Knuckles the Echidna was one I'd been dreading as an inevitability for quite some time. Almost as badly as I'd been worrying when I'd meet another 'person of interest' like Sonic, Tails, or Sally. What would I say when it happened? How would I introduce myself? Would whatever I said get fully vetted and approved by my brain before it left my mouth? I was able to hold it together when I met with Amy because I hadn't pieced together who she was at the time, and with Bean & Bark because I wasn't nearly as attached to them. I thought I'd act weird around Vector or the Chaotix, but they ended up beating me to the punch in terms of weirdness.

My first interaction with Knuckles was happening right now, and it was happening in the worst way I could imagine.

"Wait, wait!"

Knuckles gilded towards me like an echidna-guided missile. His aim was lagging due to the heat stroke he'd suffered during his stint in the desert, but the glowing bullseye of my portal meant he had no trouble finding where to plant his fists. The hero of Angel Island made it clear he wasn't holding back, shifting his gliding punch into a lethal corkscrew drill!

Dodge? Block?

An awful lot of soft targets were standing near me.

Block!

I stowed my crystal ball and drew my extreme gear from Null Space. The Red Chimera wasn't just a piece of metal standing between myself and danger. It was purpose-built as a combat shield, with increased size and weight that made it much sturdier than your average air board. Reinforcing the dense materials of the board with crystal matter, I planted my feet and braced for impact!

⟁ ♦ 4

When Knuckles made his two-fisted landing, the crystal shell around the extreme gear shattered. A pair of fissures from the force of the strike tore through my hardware, stopping a direct hit by a hare's breath. Were I not able to stand my ground against his spiraling charge, I would've been sent tumbling into Mighty's weight collection.

"Get off!" I said as I swung both halves of the broken shield forwards.

Knuckles detached his spiked gloves from my gear and flipped back, landing on the ground with a thump. The super strong echidna was unsteady on his feet, eyes unfocused, and no less dangerous for it. Spending all day in the hot sand thinking about what he'd do to Enerjak when he caught up to him did Knuckles no favors now that he's in a rage.

That wouldn't be doing me any favors, either.

"Knuckles!" Vector called out, relief clear in his voice. "We've been searching all over for you!"

Knuckles turned towards his friend, confused.

"Vector, what're you…?" His expression rapidly hardened. "Wait! This is a trick, isn't it!?"

Vector was put on the backfoot.

"What? Get your head on straight! We need to get our friends back from Enerjak!"

"You're not gonna fool me!"

Knuckles threw a woozy haymaker at Vector, which he dodged by contorting his narrow body around the oncoming fist.

"Yo yo yo! I just got off the mend!"

"Ooh, fifty mobiums on the echidna beating his friend into a leather handbag!" Metal Sonic jeered.

"PING!" shouted Bomb, who attempted to be the voice of reason.

I had to act fast. Vector had good reflexes, but he wasn't durable. Bomb was standing between them, trying to mediate, which meant any stray attack sent his way would trigger a detonation. If Vector said I hit like Knuckles as a dragon, then I stood no chance of putting him in check as an augmented human.

That left me with one last option. At least, one that wasn't taking my chances with a gun.

"Simmer down!" I commanded, using magic to halt Knuckles before he could rush them.

⟁ ♦ 3

Knuckles' body was paralyzed by a ruby haze around his mind. He was under my sway.

"NEVER!" he cried defiantly.

Scratch that. I thought he was under my sway, when gnarled spikes of willpower tore at the edges of my influence. Unlike the Fearsome Foursome, who surrendered out of obligation, or Fiona, whose composure broke when she was taken off guard, Knuckles was mad enough that he threatened to break loose at any second.

"We aren't your enemies!" I intoned, dropping my busted board so I could bring additional focus to bear on Knuckles. Keeping my hands free seemed to help my concentration. I knew that I could push further, but I didn't know how far I could go before something broke.

"Yes. You. Are!"

"Be calm! Be at peace! I command you to listen to the words I am saying!"

⟁ ♦ 2

Knuckles was adamant, and above all else, stubborn. He let out a wild snort, lunging at me to disrupt my spell! We were both on the ground, where I struggled to get loose from his hold! The echidna grabbed me by the collar with one hand, reeling the other one back for a skull-caving wallop.

"Listen to crunch time, Dimitri!"

That name again!

"Who the hell is Dimitri!?"

My claws popped out on instinct.

It was happening again. I knew the Phantom Ruby was altering my judgment, trying to make me act more violent. More reckless. The thoughts sounded like my own, but twisted and distorted. I tried to force the claws back behind my fingertips, but not all of them were cooperating.

Stop! I don't want to hurt him!

And I don't want him to hurt me!

It's not a binary decision!

Right before Knuckles delivered his coup de grâce, or I could counter by raking his face, the two of us were doused with enough water to take the wind out of our sails.

"H-Hey!"

"What the--!?" Knuckles sputtered out.

"How about both of you cool off?" Fiona reprimanded, the sprayer attached to the kitchen sink in one hand.

Knuckles looked down at me, his delirium-induced wrath having melted away.

"Who the heck are you?"

I manifested a towel from Null Space and dried my face.

"Freedom Fighter," I said curtly.

Knuckles gave me a dubious look, an eyebrow raised.

"You sure about that?"

I furrowed my brow and handed him the towel.

"Pretty sure."

"What're more of you Freedom Fighters doing on my island?" he asked bluntly.

"Saving your life," I replied in exasperation. "You're welcome."

"For Walkers' sake, would you get offa the overlander already?" an unfamiliar, gruff voice groused from behind my back.

I tilted my head around, identifying the source of the request as a dark red, mobian ant. The body plan of the ant was vaguely in line with other insect mobians, such as Presto and Cadence. I saw four arms sticking out from the four holes of his vest, two legs, a set of antennae that poked through the sides of his cowboy hat, and a pair of vestigial mandibles.

Most notably, the stranger was half a foot tall. Small enough to fit in the palm of Fiona's hand, where he currently stood. I didn't notice him a moment ago, as he was easily the smallest mobian I'd encountered thus far.

"My bad."

Knuckles bashfully obliged the ant and climbed off my neck. I got up from the ground, drying myself off with a light whoosh of wind.

"Thank you. As Vector was trying to say earlier, Fiona Fox and I are with the Crazy Kritter Freedom Fighters in Mercia."

"Sir Scarlet's a local legend," Fiona added.

I turned my head towards her, not sure if she was making that up to try and sate my ego or make me seem more impressive.

Wait, did I get knighted and no one said anything?

Knuckles looked back to where Vector was standing, doing a double-take.

"Vector?"

The crocodile shot him a thumbs-up, tossing him a water bottle.

"I'm the real deal! And so's Scarlet! The fly wizard freed me from Enerjak's control and brought us back to Mighty's place so we could get ready for a rematch!"

Knuckles twisted the cap off the bottle, showing a lot of dexterity with his boxing gloves. He paused to rehydrate before speaking, a couple of emotions flashing across his face. Anger at Enerjak, fear for the safety of his friends, shame that he was taken for a ride, and almost did even more damage in the process.

I can relate.

"Wizard, huh?"

"So I've been told."

"And if you're all real, that means…" Knuckles started, his eyes looking around until they locked onto the super badnik in the room. "Metal Sonic!?"

"Thought you would never notice!" he said cheekily.

"What're you doing here? Trying to take advantage of me being away to--!"

I raised a hand before Knuckles could raise his fist. Again.

"Alliance until Enerjak is dealt with."

"You're kidding, right? Do you know what it's capable of?"

"Yes, and that's why we need him on our side right now."

The echidna stopped his pre-emptive attack, letting out a frustrated huff.

"Fine. But keep it on a short leash."

Metal Sonic stuck out his tongue. Not sure why he had one of those, but he did.

"I'll see what I can do."

"What about the others? Espio? Charmy? Mighty? Heavy and Bomb?"

"Present and accounted for!" Heavy shouted as he trundled in. "We were on an expedition to the wreckage of the Happyland theme park with our new allies when that eruption of chaos energy occurred and the Enerjak entity made itself known."

"Ping!" Bomb corroborated.

"That was right before Enerjak attacked us at the Grand Conservatory," Knuckles explained, while explaining nothing to me.

"They were fighting me!" Metal Sonic said.

"The others are still under Enerjak's mind whammy," Vector said. "Johnny Scarlet here's got some magic in his corner we can use to get them back."

"Is that so?" the ant asked skeptically.

By the way the ant talked and carried himself, I got the impression that he was more seasoned than the others. Definitely spent time in military or law enforcement. Couldn't pin an exact age on him, or recognize him from any Sonic media I was aware of. If he was supposed to be important, like Vector implied he was, then the ant would be another blind spot I'd need to approach with care.

"You're… Archie the Ant, I take it?" I asked the red insect.

"Archimedes the Fire Ant," he corrected. "I appreciate you fishin' us out of the Sandopolis Desert. Another day or two out there without water, and we'd both be goners."

"I was happy to--"

Archimedes cut me off.

"That bein' said, I'd appreciate you a lot more if you didn't pull that 'whammy' on any of us again. No matter your intentions, that ain't the kind of magic you sling out willy-nilly."

I nodded, not wanting to get too used to using it on people anyway.

"Are you with the Chaotix?"

Archimedes let out a laugh.

"Hardly! The Chaotix are the Guardian's friends and teammates. I'm his mentor."

The fire ant vanished in a puff of smoke, reappearing on the table. Gazing into the smoke, I could tell it was some kind of short-range teleportation spell with the lingering essence of fire. Clearly, he knew a few spells of his own.

"Never heard of the Guardian having a mentor," Fiona said as she shook the excess of soot off her glove. "I take it you're new?"

"Knuckles only overcame my trials this year," Archimedes clarified. "I trained his father, and his father before him. If you want to point fingers to anybody and call 'em new, it's the flush of outlander tourists flyin' in from the surface makin' my job difficult."

Taking his claims at face value, the ant had to be pretty old. He also seemed familiar with Knuckles' family line, something that remained an enigma in the material I recognized. A blank space full of gaps remaining to be filled.

However, one of his comments irked me. Caused me to hesitate to trust him outright.

"Does that mean you chose not to intervene the first time the island was invaded?"

My eyes flickered to the other people present, and it looked like everyone overlooked that issue, Knuckles included.

"I didn't even think of that!" Vector shouted. "What's the deal, Archy? We could've used the help with Metal Sonic!"

"Got that right!" Metal Sonic said.

Fiona shot him a look. Metal Sonic switched gears to an innocent whistle on his speaker.

Archimedes, for his part, was dismissive of Vector's line of questioning and my own.

"Vector, do ya really think I was sleepin' on the job? I was watchin' from afar until Knuckles was old enough for me to reveal myself. He handled the past couple of attacks just fine without me stepping in, thanks to Sonic passing through and then you kids forming up the Chaotix to be his support team. If he needed the extra help to deal with small fries like Robotnik, then I would've given it without hesitation."

Vector rubbed his chin uncertainly.

"I guess that makes sense."

"Glad you think so. Now that Knuckles is of age, I've taken it upon myself to make sure he's ready for the trials to come."

I closed my eyes for five seconds, considering if I should leave the comment be.

Knuckles handled it just fine?

After everything else I've had to put up with, I didn't have it in me.

"Are you really going to call Robotnik a 'small fry'?"

"We sent Doctor Robotnik packing two times before!" Knuckles said boastfully. "Then we beat up his treasure hunter, Nack the Weasel! I'll beat up as many badniks and mercenaries as the fat man sends my way!"

"So they're just gonna pretend I'm not here?" Metal Sonic whined.

"Ping!"

For a guy who's supposed to be watching the Master Emerald, his vigilance could use work. I know for a fact he couldn't take on an Egg Fleet by himself, and he certainly couldn't handle Enerjak. I didn't even know if he could keep up with Rouge if he kept that mindset, the Chaotix being present or not.

"Knuckles, you fended him off in the short-term. The man has a planet full of resources at his disposal. He'll be back again when he really wants to make his conquest stick."

"I don't know if you noticed, but up here on the Floating Island, the rest of the world ain't any of our concern!" Archimedes said brusquely. "Right now, Enerjak is top priority!"

Not any of your concern? Are you kidding me?

I lifted both halves of my board, fused them back together with magic, and twisted the internal turbine until it coughed up more power I could use.

⟁ ♦ 10

"You need as much help as you can get to contain this 'island concern' before it becomes a planet problem," I said, the words spilling out more harshly than I intended. "If you're going to receive that help, then we're going to need more intel. What is Enerjak?"

The fire ant hopped off the table and onto the tip of the Red Chimera, antennas twitching. That put him at more or less eye level.

"You know what? Upon further review, I've decided you and the little lady have done enough for us. You're free to go."

"Excuse me?" Fiona said, affronted.

Archimedes pointed two of his right hands to the door.

"You heard me. You're done your part, and now you're through. We don't need mavericks with bad attitudes causing us any more headaches while we deal with Enerjak. Shuffle back to your princedom in Eurish, and we'll take things from here."

My nerves have been dangerously frayed as-is, and Archimedes wasn't helping. I warped the board away from under Archimedes' feet, placing him on a much more precarious crystal platform.

"We don't answer to your authority," I stated. "Unless you're withholding some very pertinent information, none of you can handle an insane super form on your lonesome. You need our help to stop him, and you're hardly in a position to turn us away."

Archimedes clicked his mandibles irritably, making me reassess my earlier assumption that they were completely without purpose. I thought I saw a spark fly off them.

"And you think you can, tough guy? You might be hot guano where you come from, but don't act like you run this place when you don't know the first thing about the Floating Island!"

That was rich. I could recite Tikal's Prayer by heart, and it seemed like I was the only person who knew this place was called Angel Island.

"I know more than you might expect," I said coldly.

"Fat chance of that! You said it yourself that you don't even know what Enerjak is!"

I know that all I need is one touch, and Enerjak's power is mine.

You again!

I honed in on that second voice in my head and focused, the rest of the world slowing to a crawl. The slower the world got, the hazier it became, until I was lost in my own head.

⟁ ♦ 9

I was well past the point where I could pretend that I was alone in here. Not too long after I woke up in space, I suspected that there was something within the Phantom Ruby trying to steer my movements. Later, it started taking over when I gave into extreme emotions, and it tried making decisions for me until I could wrest control back.

Since this thing was really bad at making decisions, I was long overdue for a chat with the squatter in my mind palace.

Look. I don't know if the Phantom Ruby is talking to me, if it's my runaway id, or if Infinite is stuck here. Been guessing that one for a while. At this point, I don't care which it is. Whatever you are, we aren't in immediate danger, so come out and have a chat.

…

Are you listening? Good.

Are you stupid?

⟁ ♦ !!

It's a genuine question, because your short-sighted hijackings of my body to grab for the nearest power source are gonna get us both killed!

I was so close!

We aren't playing with horseshoes or hand grenades here, you're playing with my life!

I know I can lay the false god low!

Oh, I'm sure! After all, you're the one that's the Enerjak expert around here!

…

I conjured the image of Enerjak back into my mind. Gold and blue armor. Red skin, and dreadlocks. Snake on a stick. Chaos green eyes that leaked with noxious, negative energy.

The image burned magenta in my mind.

Enerjak isn't from any of the video games I played, shows I watched, or comics I read. And yet, my dreams told me what he looks like and what he's capable of as if I did. Care to explain how that got in my head?

There was no response.

⟁ ♦ 8

I might be going crazy in here, but if it can't be me that's familiar with Enerjak, then it's obviously you! So talk to me. Tell me what I need to know!

I felt something inside the Phantom Ruby resonate. For a time, my mind was eerily quiet. Normally, it should always be this quiet in my own mind when I wasn't thinking, but this?

This silence made me feel alone. I was quietly glad that it didn't stretch on longer.

…Enerjak is a reality warper running on the high-octane chaos power. The eleven emeralds powering him mean he can't be exhausted by sheer force.

Wait, eleven emeralds? That's impossible.

I'm talking here.

Oh, excuse me. Go ahead then, Mister Snippy.

I know there are far more than seven in this zone, and that all of the ones on Mobius are green. Seven are needed to stabilize a super form, and Enerjak has four more than that he doesn't strictly need. I can take this information as-is or leave it.

Fine, more emeralds. That's good for me, I guess.

It occurred to me that there's no use in sneaking in close to touch him if he's going to turn me to salt on contact.

Okay, we're making progress. How do we stop that from happening?

Everything I need to pin him down, stop him from escaping, is already on the island. I just need to arrange them all in order. Make a trap, lead him to it, and put him down for good.

Now you're speaking my language. What can I use that could prevent a physical god from moving or acting long enough to sap his energy?

I wracked my brain, both hemispheres working in tandem.

Phantom Ruby, Master Emerald, a lot of guns, a power gem, miscellaneous machinery yet to be decommissioned by the Mechanix--

That's it!

When it finally clicked, the trick I used to speed up my thoughts wore off.

"Got anything to say for yourself?" Archimedes chastised, foot tapping.

"I have a tentative plan on how to stop Enerjak."

Archimedes began fuming, smoke and all.

"Now listen right here, you arrogant--!"

I turned to Knuckles, ignoring the ant. Time was of the essence, and if Archimedes wasn't going to cooperate, then I'd aim higher up the chain of command.

"Knuckles. You're the Guardian. By my understanding of the situation, that makes you the local authority here. Is that right?"

"I guess?" Knuckles said, before correcting himself. Becoming more confident in his statement. "It's my duty to protect the island, and the people on it."

"Then congrats on the promotion to being its leader. Do you want to bench us as well?"

Knuckles finished the water bottle and crushed it, a pensive look overshadowing his face.

"Not yet. I don't like Sonic, but Tails and the rest of the Freedom Fighters weren't too bad. What exactly can you do? You didn't seem like much when we threw down."

I rattled off a list of my most pertinent abilities.

"Long-range portal generation, augmented attributes, crystal constructs, projectiles, seamless illusions, mind control, ring manipulation, and the ability to drain energy."

"And he can turn into a dragon!" Vector contributed.

"But only at night," I specified. "Hopefully a temporary affliction, because being a dragon shuts down the rest of my powers."

Knuckles gave me a stern look-over. I don't know what he was looking for, but he must've found it satisfactory.

"Think your magic can help us get the rest of the team back?"

"A little bird gave me a lock on where they were last stationed by Enerjak. The Mushroom Hills, Rainbow Valley, and Mt. Ice Cap. Figured we could jump 'em with my portals, rip Enerjak's enchantment out by the roots, and get your friends back to normal."

Or hit them really hard in the head. That did the trick for Vector.

Knuckles nodded, and extended a hand.

"Sounds simple to me. Once that's done, we all take the fight to Enerjak. You in?"

I extended my hand.

"I'm in."

Knuckles grinned.

"Then let's get cracking!"

Instead of a handshake, the echidna gave me a painful fistbump.

⟁ ♦ 7

I suppressed a yelp. Metal Sonic laughed at my expense.

"T-Then let's get going," I whimpered.

Archimedes' antennae flickered, his onerous senior citizen mood cooling down to a terse frown as he got back onto the table.

"If Knuckles wants to risk it all on you outlanders, then I won't try to argue with him."

"Thanks, Archimedes," Knuckles said. "I appreciate the support."

"Don't thank me. I'm not arguing because you'd be too dang obstinate to take my advice."

"Hey!"

"I'll be keeping my eyes on you!"

Archimedes teleported into another puff of smoke, and this time, he chose not to make it known where he was popping out from. Expanding my senses, I could see that he was watching us from one of the natural holes in the Rock Hill ceiling.

A moment after I clocked his presence, he teleported again. That time, he was totally out of sight.

"That was… pleasant," Fiona said diplomatically. "Scarlet, you said you figured out a plan? Because if that wasn't a bluff, we're all ears."

I looked around at everyone I'd gathered around me. Fiona Fox, Vector the Crocodile, the Mechanix, Metal Sonic… and Knuckles.

"Okay. Metal Sonic, you're on distraction duty."

Metal Sonic made a face.

"Against Enerjak? Nah, I'm good."

"Not against the Big Kahuna. You're going to be picking off Enerjak's robot mooks while Knuckles, Vector, and I liberate the remaining members of the Chaotix."

Metal Sonic shrugs.

"I dunno. Still sounds kind of boring."

I leaned over and whispered a proposition to him. A very devious proposition.

"Wait, you can do that? For real?"

"As long as you promise to play nice?" I need to figure out how to set up a geas right now. "Then I don't see why not. After all, we're on the same team."

Metal Sonic patted me on the back.

"You're not too bad, overlander!" the super badnik said amicably. "Don't worry about what those other guys were saying about you when you weren't looking."

I shrugged him off.

"Fiona, Heavy, Bomb? I need you to head back to the fairground and pick up a prize for me. Spruce it up, get it back in shape, and we'll have the perfect trap for Enerjak."

Fiona cocked an eyebrow.

"What do you need us to steal?"

"You don't mean the glut of floating barrels flooding the storage units, do you?" Heavy asked. "I don't expect them to be of use here."

"Ping?"

"No." I paused. "Actually, the barrels might be useful for later, but it can wait. The thing I need fixed should be something you're all more familiar with than Fiona or I."

Vector scratched his head.

"What's that supposed to--" I all but saw the lightbulb form over the crocodile's headset when he put it together. "Oh snap! You don't mean that, do you?"

I smiled.

"Mean what?" Fiona asked.

I made an illusion of my ace in the hole, shrunken into the palm of my hand.

"Heavy, do you think this might work?"

"Theoretically!" Heavy speculated. "Though the machine's never been used on anyone of such a magnitude as Enerjak."

"Then it's worth a shot."

I was still running low on power, and had to perform a few additional jumps across the island to power up. The Guardian had spent his whole life here, and was able to direct me to various electrical sources I had no idea of. There was a whole power grid under the island that I could tap into, though Knuckles was hesitant to show me anything more than which ancient idol to stick my hand for a recharge.

⟁ ♦ 100

At the base of Mt. Ice Cap, an iron behemoth roared for attention. The gargantuan monstrosity was decked in a brilliant blue armor and bristled with terrible might. It stood larger than the tallest windmill poking out from the nearby village.

Or at least, it would've stood that tall if it had legs. I shoved Metal Sonic into the remains of Big Arms, gave his power gem another boost with the Phantom Ruby, and let the crime against nature take its course from there. The kaiju-sized Metal Sonic ripped its gigantic claws through the snow, tearing its way towards the encampment where Enerjak's robots were set up. His stainless steel fangs bared, as he was all too eager to test out his new transformation.

"Alright, you suckers! Titan Metal Sonic is back in action, so COME AND GET ME!"

Figment confirmed that the mission had begun. On further reflection, Operation: Narcissus was all too fitting a designation.

- - -

Spoiler: Author Notes

I like Archie Knuckles. He's a cool dude. Unfortunately, at this time in the story, and for much of his tenure on the series until the Guardians get yeeted out the cosmic airlock, he's encumbered by so many adults trying to tell him how to do his job! Or doing his job behind his back! For those familiar with the mini I'm riffing off of, you know this story ends with him thinking he saved the day while actually doing nothing. This was somehow a recurring theme in the book that would carry forward. To my continued frustration.

I hate it. It's icky. Yeck!

Archimedes was one of those characters I'm talking about, but he becomes obsolete when the other meddlesome authority figures are shoved in to complicate Knuckles' life so fast that I felt kinda bad for him. As well as the rest of the Fire Ants, whose jobs were to be the ever-suffering Jiminy Crickets to the echidna civilization. He's also the only one that realizes what they did to Knuckles was wrong, so he earns some sympathy points for later.

The original Titan Metal Sonic in the comics was derived from the Metal Sonic Kai change form that Metal Sonic underwent in Knuckles Chaotix. Titan Metal Sonic as he was actually executed was pretty lame, so I let Metal Sonic 2.5 have another go at being a giant monster on a rampage. The new design is inspired by Giga Metal Sonic from Sonic Mania.

The next chapter will be called "Plucking Narcissus," or something to that effect, as the cunning plot the SI came up with in like a minute comes to its fruition.

 

[FKorus]

Nice Chapter

 

[weredrago2]

RUBY HAZE DATAFILES
ENTRY #1: POST-XORDA FAUNA

The Quaternary-Mobian Extinction Event in PXE 0000 led to the extermination of 99.9% of all lifeforms preceding it. All life on the surface of the Earth was disintegrated into a slurry of biomatter, which congealed and evolved into new species at an accelerated rate.

Not counting the flora and fungi, there are two major categories of Post-Xorda fauna: Mobians and mobini. These categorizations exist independent of the strict designations typically assigned to species classifications; you can be a mobian pig or a mobini pig, but not both.

In the most basic of terms, mobians are a broad family of sapient, humanoid animal people. They average about three feet in height, but can vary in size greatly by "species" from a couple of inches to seven feet tall. The animal species that a given mobian corresponds to has little bearing on their capacity to reproduce with mobians from different clades. In such pairings, the results are either twins (one of each parent species with a few blended traits) or a hybrid child that strongly resembles one parent while retaining a striking physical feature from the other. These mixed couples are as common as those of matching species.

Mobians can be found all over Mobius… except maybe the Lethal Radioactive Zone. They tend to gather together based on loose families of similar animals, such as the busy bees of the Golden Hive, the insurgent gorillas of the Mobian Jungle, or the felidae warriors of the País Misterioso. Villages of multiple mobian races living together are by no means unheard of, but due to their general tendency to avoid congregating in large numbers, multicultural settlements with over a thousand residents are scarce. The cosmopolitan Kingdom of Acorn and later Kingdom of Mercia were exceptions to the rule, neither older than a few centuries before they were conquered by Robotnik. The mountainous Dragon Kingdom is another example of different mobian races living in close proximity, but to describe its warring factions as "coexisting" would be an embellishment. Aquatic mobians can be found in the Great Mobocean and connected bodies of water. These oddballs are descended from pre-Mobian marine life, and are significantly less anthropomorphized; anglers are encouraged to ask their catch if they are capable of higher reasoning before taking them home for dinner.

Culturally speaking, mobians across the globe have some commonalities. They tend towards kindness to one another, open-mindedness to new ideas, and generosity to strangers. They're rarely ones to partake in cruelty or xenophobia, though there's always counterexamples. Unfortunately, the mobian tendencies towards mercy and trust are sometimes taken advantage of by those who don't share them. Being a bit naive or amenable to peace does not make them foolish or defenseless, and a surprise attack or sudden betrayal from an unwarranted aggressor is often enough for people to reassess their stance on turning the other cheek.

In terms of attire, your average mobian fellow wears what he needs to go about his day and be comfortable in his environment, which is typically a good pair of gloves and shoes. Everything else is optional. The presence of fur and scales has made the concept of nudity a tricky one to articulate or reinforce shame about, though mobian women wear more than their male counterparts on average anyway. A mobian may wear extra clothes as deemed appropriate for their livelihood or social status. The occasional outlier may forgo wearing any clothes at all, which no one comments on or thinks is weird, and therefore probably not exhibitionism.

Mobini are thankfully much simpler to explain. They're organisms akin to Pre-Xorda fauna, most of them skewing towards being less than a foot in size. Exceptions exist, and such creatures are often massive apex predators that would give pause to the most foolhardy of trophy hunters. Mobini of either stripe are unintelligent animals for most intents and purposes. You'd be given the side-eye if you opted to engage in deep conversations with, say, a mobini frog. There's anecdotal examples of mobini pets showing uncanny insight or intellect.

The small size and mild temperment of your average mobini, while making them easier to tame, have led to less robust meat, wool, and leather industries. For bigger mobians, you'd need a couple of tiny sheep or a lot of patience to knit a sweater! The demand for quality hides remains high, and has inevitably given way to a robust market of plant-based alternatives. On the subject of diets, vegetarianism is common practice among mobians. The reasons vary from moral conscience, being too squeamish to slit a helpless critter's throat (thereby becoming vulnerable to being guilted into adopting them), being without mobiums to spare on livestock, or simply not wanting to compete with predators for a food source. At the bare minimum, most mobians adopt a quiet "I won't eat anything that has my face" policy. As has been the case for much of human history, a wealthy mobian can afford meat when they want it, and a practical-minded mobian will eat meat when they can get it. Mobius has a diverse array of meat substitute recipes for those who want their chili dog fix without somebody bringing up how a chili dog gets made.


That's all for this datafile, which may or may not be the first of a series. I considered going over the technology various mobian cultures use, but… no. That is its own can of sandcrawlers and I'm not touching it here. You'll note that I didn't mention the echidnas or overlanders at all, because they warrant their own datafiles, too.

For now, I'll leave you all with these questions.

• Where did Uncle Chuck get the meat for his chili dogs?
• Would Lanolin and other sheep sell their wool if the money was worth it?
• Which characters do you think are wearing real leather and which are wearing imitation?

 

[weredrago2]

ENTRY #2: MOBIAN RELIGIONS
AUTHOR NOTE: Any resemblances these fictional religions may have to any real-world religions, while obviously not coincidental, are not worth the headache of bringing up in the thread. Let's not, shall we? I'd appreciate it.

The world of Mobius has several religions practiced by the people in it. The three largest, most widespread ones are the Church of the Ancient Walkers, Gaianism, and the Way of the Golden Lotus. There are also several others that will be mentioned here.

The largest organized religion on Mobius is the Church of the Ancient Walkers. The core belief of the Walkerist faith is that the world is watched over by three divine beings called the Ancient Walkers. They are the almighty, all-knowing, and benevolent stewards of Mobius in the Walkerist religion, represented in stained glass and frescos as a trinity of giants wearing ornate masks. One with wings, one bearing a staff, and another bearing a pestle. The three holy books of the Walker faith, the Tome of Recollections, Tome of Mysteries, and Tome of Prophecies, are among the most printed books on Mobius. A popular offshoot of the "main branch" Walker faith is Aurorism, which venerates the prophet Aurora, who penned the three Tomes and spread their words during her life, as an intermediary between the Walkers and the common mobian.

The Walkerist faith is widespread throughout Northamer, Eurish, and parts of Downunda, where it has given birth to colorful exclamations such as "By Aurora!" and "Walkers preserve us!". The religion promotes peace and harmony in all things, the Walkers' friars being regarded as the wise moral compasses of their community. In a break from their otherwise pacifistic nature, it is said in generations past that knights would be called on holy quests from the gods themselves to bring practitioners of black magic to justice. The Church and its followers traditionally frown upon sorcery as consequence, seeing the performance of miracles with powers not received from the Walkers themselves as highly suspect. However, a noble thaumaturgist acting in the service of the public good could be argued to be keeping the faith in their own way.

Rather than a specific religion, Gaianism refers to a broad category of localized belief systems with similar elements to them. These common elements include a strong respect of nature, the reverence of natural landmarks such as lakes of rings as sacred ground, and a concern for mobini welfare. The latter takes on a more frightful edge in places such as Soumerca, which contains widespread legends of terrible beasts that split the land with thunder, rain, and lightning as retribution against those who would abuse their protected flock. This respect of natural wonders also extends to dragons, which are seen by many as noble, graceful creatures that can spread no falsehood. A non-insignificant number of people who've seen Dulcy fail to land in a clear field in broad daylight suffer from crises of faith related to the "graceful" part, but no one's told her yet because she'd be absolutely devastated and start crying.

(Please pretend you didn't read that, for Dulcy's sake.)

If Gaianism was to be counted as its own religion, then its followers would outnumber those of the Walkers by a wide margin. However, since the Walker faith does not strictly conflict with the basic precepts of Gaianism, people in places where both are common go about their lives practicing a mix of traditions from both. A Walker wedding with an ordained priest, Gaianist rituals for the deceased that have been in the family for generations, celebrating Christmas (a popular holiday named after the island from which it originated), and so on. It was Gaianist principles that encouraged the Kingdom of Acorn and Wolf Pack tribes of Northamer to build eco-friendly cities in harmony with the natural world surrounding them.

In the Dragon Kingdom, where the Church of the Ancient Walkers hadn't taken root outside of a few missions to the far-off Yurashia, exists the Way of the Golden Lotus. Inspired by the teachings of the great dragons, who only experienced peace by letting go of the incendiary wrath that shaped the mountainous region into its current form, the Way encourages its followers to meditate. Only through meditation and letting go of the earthly attachments that chain your mind can one attain a state of enlightenment known as zen. The key figure of the Way is the Golden Lotus King, a powerful zen master who is prophesied to return from his journey to the west when the Dragon Kingdom needs him most. The Golden Lotus King is frequently depicted in art as a monkey of some kind; this has inadvertently led to countless statues of smiling orangutans clogging low-end market stalls throughout the land.

The Way of the Golden Lotus, in some form or another, is practiced all over Yurashia. The Golden Lotus Temples are frequented by the Free People, the humble farmers and tradesmen that hold no allegiance to the Four Houses or the Iron Dominion. These temples are treated as sacred ground by many, and are rarely touched by the warring factions. The avaricious bat ninja of the Yagyu Clan aren't ones to be kept away from valuable goods by convention, though the martial traditions of the Linshao Monastery have thus far protected their vaults of ancient relics from invasion. The monks of the Linshao temple believe that the Golden Lotus King will arrive not only as a spiritual leader, but as a protector of the Free People who suffer under the current status quo. Their warriors patrol their temple grounds for any threats to their way of life, and time will when those vying for those ancient scrolls will test the strength of their convictions

While the Overland was generally characterized as being fairly secular (if not "godless") by their counterparts in the Kingdom of Acorn, the overlanders had rites and rituals of their own. The average overlander holds their merited ancestors in great regard. The old noble houses had long genealogical records that detailed the achievements of every departed warrior and scientist, as an extension of the Overland's longstanding tradition of filial piety. The overlanders also had a zealous reverence for the office of the Overlord, around which the unity of the modern Overland was formed. The strength of this imperial cult waxed and waned with the popularity of a given Overlord, though they were all believed to have the will of the people behind them. The Overlord was to be loved, feared, and respected, as the sword and shield against the "animals" that would despoil their land if they were ever to breach the Overland's gates.

That was until Overlord Charlemagne's defeat at the hands of King Maximilian Acorn, in a duel between the ruler of one polity and the ruler of the other. The defeat of Charlemagne and his subsequent disappearance were catastrophic to the morale of Overland, whose people lost the will to fight. With the confidence in the infallible might of the Overlord shattered beyond repair, the trust the overlanders held in their own institutions unraveled shortly afterwards. The Church of Solaris, which had until this point maintained a minority presence in the Overland throughout its history, surged in popularity. In addition to the fact that the Overland was coming apart at the seams, it was doubtlessly the prospect of living closer to the holy land of the sun god's chosen people that encouraged many overlanders to immigrate to the United Federation.


Thus concludes my second datafile. I was going to post this tomorrow, but I thought it'd be really weird to post this on Easter. So I moved it along.

New chapter Monday!

 

[weredrago2]

Ruby Haze
Chapter 29: Plucking Narcissus

The surface of Angel Island, covered end-to-end in autumnal forests and hostile wildlife, was only one layer of the mysterious landmass that has eluded the denizens of Mobius for generations. Finding the place was a challenge, considering how often it moved. To learn more, discover more, and uncover more, you had to go deeper than that veneer on the uppermost slice. Beyond the tropical canopies, past the ancient mechanisms the echidnas used to deter intruders, and around the singular echidna left behind to stand guard, to the hidden tunnels that ran deep into the floating island's core. It was only there where one would find the sole chaos emerald keeping this big rock afloat, and without it, the island would drop like a rod from God onto any city unfortunate enough to be standing where it fell.

We were too close to Port Mobius for me to let that happen. The tidal waves unleashed by Angel Island crashing into the ocean alone would wash away everyone and everything the Ruby Underground had been working so hard to protect. I doubted Robotnik would be too broken up about that, since we overthrew the local powdered wigs and changed the town into a Resistance stronghold. Converting a place of legends into a kinetic bomb as a lesson to any other settlement that might rise against him was certainly a move in the dictator's playbook.

With Sonic, Sonia, and Manic tangling with Doctor Robotnik from inside his newest airship, and Knuckles manning the perimeter guns to shoot down his smaller air drones, I couldn't help but notice Sleet and Dingo had taken a light troop carrier and slipped out the back. I took that as my cue to slip away from the skirmish happening topside. All I had to do was shadow the former bounty hunters and their SWATbot platoon to its end destination, a subterranean maze surrounded in reflective walls of fluorescent green crystal. The trip was a silent one, save for when Robotnik's bright orange goon almost saw me.

"What was that?" the musclebound, muscle-headed Dingo said as he heard me emerge from the murky lake. "Sleet, I think I heard somethin' back there!"

I clung to the side of one of the amphibious landing crafts. Dingo looked past the dozens of SWATbots they'd brought along to try and spot the source of the disturbance.

The Phantom Ruby tied to my neck was covered in hundreds of small facets, like a mirror ball in miniature; it soaked up the noise of the splashing water and reflected it outward, clouding my presence in the smog of vehicle emissions. The mystical ghost light of the Ruby enveloped my body, protecting my leather jumpsuit, starry cape, and silver helmet from water damage.

It'd be a lot harder for me to put on a show if my costume was soaking wet.

Dingo's partner was Sleet, a conniving gray wolf in a colorful cape and armor who spoke like a bad Peter Lorre impression. Sleet slapped his counterpart on the back of the head.

"Dingo, you eediot! We need to keep it down so that we can steal the chaos emerald while those pesky Freedom Fighters are distracted."

"I know, but I'm getting the heebie jeebies out here."

Sleet sighed.

"Dingo, are you still fretting about the Phantom?" Dingo nodded. "The Phantom Prince is a propaganda tool used by the Resistance, to make it seem like they have anyone to rely on besides those meddlesome siblings!"

"I could've sworn we fought him back in Port Mobius, when he--"

"Nothing more than tricks of the light," Sleet said, brushing him off.

"Must've been a real strong light to sink a whole submarine."

Sleet sneered.

"If you let those Freedom Fighters get to what little you have of a head in there, then we'll have already lost. You don't want to let the boss down, do you?"

Dingo rubbed the back of his head, not completely reassured by the purple and red enforcer bots surrounding them. Each one armed to bear and programmed for loyalty to Robotnik. He looked back to the smoke on the water, where he couldn't see the Phantom Prince.

"I guess not," Dingo answered reluctantly.

Sleet pointed to a pair of SWATbots, standing at attention to secure the area.

"You two! Put the chaos emerald in the container so we can get out of here!"

Sounds like my cue.

Since my escape from the dungeons of Robotropolis, I'd lurked in the shadows of this alien realm. Where the desperate people straddled the line between hope and despair. Everybody was screaming for liberty, but their voices were beaten down and their instruments were shattered. Anyone who screamed too loud, or went against the grain, was silenced by the roboticizer. The Phantom Ruby was the only reason I was spared that fate, as it was the only thing in the world that could weave the ambiance of the world into music.

Robotnik knew damn well what he was doing when he banned music. The magic of this world had deep, instinctual ties to it. Anyone with the potential who arranged sounds into a way that expressed complex emotions -- created wonder, beauty, or awe -- could evolve a powerful song into a powerful feat of magic. The skalds, bards, and rhapsodists were the first ones that Robotnik rounded up and shot once the military was dealt with. All of the maestros who could have stood against him were long dead, and Robotnik was crushing all remaining forms of music to starve out the greatest threat to his power. At its current rate of cultural genocide, Mobius was only a few years away from the death of music itself.

If you'd asked me months ago, I wouldn't have known how to make music at all. With the arcane masterwork plugging me into the musica universalis, the Harmony of the Zones, that wasn't the case anymore. The Phantom Ruby made me one of five people left who could weaponize the power of music, and the only band on the planet was mid at best.

You've got to save music, John. The very concept.

I didn't hold any scorn for Sonic Underground's rough sound. They were self-taught. Thanks to Robotnik, your average mobian literally didn't know what good music sounded like.

No pressure, eh?

I refused to let music die. A concert could boil over into a riot, and a riot could explode into an all-out revolution. It's not as though Robotnik hadn't already given the people ample motivation.

▁▂▃▄▅▆▇

It was more than raw sound that the Phantom Ruby could use. Emotions worked as well, if not better. Normally, this would be where I picked a track to rev up the crowd, but I had all these SWATbots to deal with on my own, plus Sleet and Dingo, without an audience's catharsis to draw power from. I could only pick one song before I went dark, and I needed to pick it wisely.

Putting my hand to the gem, placing it close to the patch of machinery that replaced my throat, I called up an old classic from back home to convey how exactly I felt about them all.

►

When I activated the Ruby, flashing lights and a chaotic arrangement of instrumental sounds emerged from the stone. The lights reflected off the shimmering materials on the inside of my cape and the exterior of my metal mask, bouncing across the crystalline cavern!

"What's that?" Dingo said, stymied.

He turned around when Sleet did, same as the SWATbots.

When the song started, my bones took on a bright blue gleam that bled through my skin and clothes, flesh them becoming pale and translucent. It was as though I was under a supernatural x-ray. For anyone who was still doubting, a series of wild howls and a deluge of magenta fog announced my haunting presence!

"It's the Phantom!" Sleet shouted in alarm.

"But you said he wasn't real!" Dingo argued.

Sleet's canine face twisted into a sinister grin as he pointed at me.

"Whoever's wearing that suit is about to become a ghost either way! SWATbots, eliminate him!"

The SWATbots approached my spectral form, firing their blasters without hesitation. The gesture was to little effect, the lasers seeming to go right through me.

When the lyrics kicked in, so did my weapon. A magenta bolt of lightning streaked into my hands, the jagged end becoming the long blade of a scythe as I began to sing.

"You worry too much
You make yourself sad
You can't change fate
But don't feel so bad
Enjoy it while you can
It's just like the weather
So quit complaining, brother...
No one lives forever!"​

I hovered across the cave and drove my scythe into the SWATbot horde!

"Let's have a party
There's a full moon in the sky
It's the hour of the wolf
And I don't want to die!"​

This song required me to get my hands dirty. No playing keep away, like with Great Balls of Fire.

"I'm so happy dancin', while the Grim Reaper...
Cuts, cuts, cuts
But he can't get me
I'm as clever as can be, and I'm very quick, but don't forget:
We've only got so many tricks
No one lives forever!"​

Another downside was that, unlike when I stomped around with Bulls on Parade, this form had zero defenses. My skeletal frame made for a harder target, but any shots that landed would shatter my bones. The swings of the scythe, driven with superhuman force and a blade that was so sharp as to be two-dimensional, dismembered the badniks like they were made of butter.

"Now what?" Dingo asked.

"I'm thinking!" Sleet answered, taking a few seconds to think before pointing his remote at Dingo. "You take care of him!"

I wasn't privy to the details, but Dingo had received exotic treatments that made his molecules malleable. With a press of Sleet's remote, Dingo was transfigured into a bulldozer with a face.

"Fine! I'll flatten the Phantom myself!"

"You think you got it rough?
What about your darling doggy?
Ten short years
And he's getting old and groggy!
I don't think it's very fair
Cold, chop, low, but it's all relative, my friend, 'cause
No one lives forever!"​

I flew circles around the metamorphosed thug, incensing him with the occasional nick of the scythe across his chassis before leading the slow-witted industrial vehicle on a chase.

"Let's have a party
There's a full moon in the sky
It's the hour of the wolf
And I don't want to die!"​

"Stay still, would ya!?"

The robots were trampled under Dingo's bumbling dozer blade, and the only thing I had to watch for was to make sure no one hit the emerald.

"Dingo, no!"

Dingo spun around, realizing he'd done more harm than good.

"Oops."

"I'm so happy dancin', while the Grim Reaper...
Cuts, cuts, cuts
But he can't get me
I'm as clever as can be, and I'm very quick, but don't forget:
We've only got so many tricks
No one lives forever!"​

I gripped the handle tightly and cut, cut, cut out Dingo's treads while he was distracted, rendering his vehicle mode inoperable.

"There's got to be a way to stop him," Sleet growled, his expression betraying his fear.

Sleet shifted Dingo through a variety of shapes, in the hopes that he'd find one that could defeat me. A large serpent, a giant rat, a boulder, and many others that didn't work. Dingo was dense, on multiple levels, and I couldn't get a clean cut that wouldn't be repaired with the next one.

"Did you figure it out yet?" an exasperated Dingo gasped out, before reverting to his base state out of sheer exhaustion.

Sleet pressed the remote again, only to realize that Dingo's body wasn't responding. Either Dingo was too tired to transform, or the remote had overloaded. Regardless of why, the ground had become cluttered with the remains of SWATbots, and they were the only targets left.

I approached the two of them, my scythe making my intentions clear.

"Oh!" Sleet said. "I was thinking we'd--" He turned and ran! "RUN FOR OUR LIVES!"

The duo of minions for hire hoofed it, turning this encounter from a fight into a chase that they couldn't possibly escape from.

"You worry too much
You make yourself sad
You can't change fate
But don't feel so bad
Enjoy it while you can
It's just like the weather
So quit complaining, brother...
No one lives forever!"​

I pursued them with haste, the two survivors running until they reached a dead end.

"I see a wall!" Dingo exclaimed. "Just a wall!"

"Then ram it!"

"Let's have a party
There's a full moon in the sky
It's the hour of the wolf
And I don't want to die!"​

Dingo barged into the wall at full speed, creating an exit where there previously wasn't one.

Couldn't have that. I put myself between them and freedom. They could now see the light at the end of the tunnel, but they could never reach it.

"But no one beats him at his game
For very long, but just the same
Who cares; there's no place safe to hide
Nowhere to run -- no time to cry!"​

"Let's be reasonable!" Sleet pleaded, hands slowly rising now that he was backed into a corner. "Surely we have something you want that we can--!"

I lashed out, nearly taking a couple of Sleet's fingers as he unsuccessfully went for his holdout blaster. He let out a yowl of pain as I sliced the armor around his glove instead.

"So celebrate while you still can
'Cause any second, it may end!
And when it's all been said and done...
Better that you had some fun!"​

"We have information! Assets! A-And lots of money!"

"Instead of hiding in a shell
Why make your life a living hell?
So have a toast and down the cup
And drink to bones that turn to dust!"​

With his bargaining having fallen on deaf ears, the craven collaborator fell to his knees.

"Please, Phantom Prince! HAVE MERCY!"

"Sleet, w-why's he smiling?"

My voice answered in a chanting mantra that echoed over itself, again and again.

"'Cause… No one, no one, no one…"​

I raised the scythe to those who are long overdue for a visit from the Reaper.

"No one lives forever!"​

Sleet and Dingo screamed as I brought down the blade!

"Hey--!"​

"STOP!"

My scythe dissipated before it could cut down the woman standing in the way!

◼

All the Phantom Ruby's enchantments vanished when the song concluded and the gemstone lost its luster. My body snapped back to mortality, ligaments and sinew locking into place. I fell from my state of weightlessness, to lingering upon the weight of who I almost struck.

The mobian woman had periwinkle fur with a peach muzzle. Stern, yet gentle green eyes framed by a majestic mane of purple quills, scarcely contained within the confines of her drab blue cloak. Add in her distinct voice, which could range from authoritative to remarkably gentle, and Robotnik's troublesome troubleshooters recognized her right away.

"Queen Aleena?!" Sleet exclaimed, dumbstruck.

"The Queen?" Dingo echoed dumbly.

▁

"Aleena," I greeted flatly. When the Ruby was at low power, all I could utter out was a vocoded, synthetic shadow of how I used to sound. "We have to stop meeting like this."

Now that her identity was obvious, she dispensed with the hood, letting her hair flow free. My head was supposed to be back on straight, no longer caught up in the music. However, Aleena showing up meant I was still thrown off my groove, my mind was awash in conflicted emotions.

Why was she here now, of all times?

"And these traitors need to be alive if they're going to stand trial for their crimes," Aleena chided.

I narrowed my biomechanical, red and black eyes at her.

"You can't be serious."

"I am absolutely serious. Phantom, you know quite well that the Resistance has naught the permission to take a single life without my approval."

As usual, Aleena refused to call me by my false royal title. I wasn't particularly attached to it myself, but after staging a massive prison break to a rendition of My Name is Prince with bolts of divine lightning flying off my hands, the nom de guerre took shape of its own volition.

"It was a firefight!" I protested, straining what emotion I could out of this subpar voice box. "Do you expect me to win every battle with my hands tied behind my back?"

Aleena crossed her arms.

"The battle has already been won with scarcely a drop of blood shed. As per the Mobian Articles of War, you must allow combatants to surrender as prisoners of war."

Sleet let out a sigh of relief.

"Surrendering sounds good to us?"

Dingo nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, yeah! We give up!"

I ignored them.

"Mercenaries aren't protected by those laws. Nor do I have a means to restrain them. They don't get any slack from me, and they shouldn't get any from you."

"They've been press-ganged by Robotnik, making them his soldiers."

I appraised her, trying to determine why Aleena was going the extra mile for these scumbags.

"Is this about the MontClairs?" I not-so-subtly accused.

Her face flushed red with anger.

"You had no right to subject the MontClairs to mob justice!" she snapped.

The very mention of them made my scars ache. The MontClairs were one of the wealthiest citizens in Robotropolis, having rode out the rough years investing in Robotnik's empire while everyone beneath them toiled to death beneath its heel.

Emphasis on was. The Ruby Underground rode onto their estate on mechanical horseback, raided their coffers, and reallocated their ill-gotten gains for the public benefit. I would have been lenient on their son Bartleby, assuming that he was innocent of his parents' crimes, but a short look into his history made it clear that the young MontClair heir was the most guilty of them all.

"Bartleby was lucky I talked the crowd down from the guillotine to a tar and feathering."

Aleena grit her teeth. A very ignoble habit she'd picked up as of recent.

"Do you have any conception of how much damage control I have had to do for your anti-noble crusade? Clearly, you must think the Resistance is funded by mobiums that grow on trees!"

"For every sympathetic aristocrat we have on our side, there are two that are indifferent to the suffering of the masses and three that are part of the problem!"

"While their material suffering is clearly less than that of the poor, can't you see the affluent are victims under Robotnik's tyranny as well? The crushing tithes they pay are the only means they can protect their families!"

"Dropping your favorite f-word doesn't automatically make you right!"

Sleet interjected, one finger raised.

"You know, I was always secretly a quiet supporter of the royal family--"

I drew my high-calibur light phaser from its holster and fired a shot between Sleet's legs.

"Then remain silent."

He lowered his finger.

I turned back to Aleena and stared down the fallen queen, who stood resolute. The Ruby Underground was loosely aligned with the mainstream Resistance. Not beholden to the queen. Her son, Sonic the Hedgehog, was an active Freedom Fighter before he ran off at the summons of the Oracle of Delphinus. The queen abandoned her throne to chase a vague fortune revealed in spoken word poetry, so she held no sway over me.

Not in the slightest.

"If we let them go, you know they're going to try and attack your kids again," I stated.

It was a low blow, but she stared back at me, not a shred of doubt in those brilliant green pupils.

"I am well aware of the risks, and have faith my children can handle them. My decree is final."

We were locked in a staring contest for several seconds, waiting for the other to break.

…Fine.

I took a deep breath and sighed, before turning back to the pair.

"The queen's given you a stay of execution," I said in resignation. "Don't waste it."

Sleet wrung his hands together nervously, trying to look as grateful as possible.

"Oh, thank you, Queen Aleena! Your mercy and generosity know no bounds!"

Dingo was less impressed, giving me the side-eye.

"Y'know, Mister Phantom, you oughta be nicer to your girlfriend!"

I paused, turning to him in bewilderment.

"What did you just say?"

Sleet was frantically whispering something to the effect of SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP, but Dingo was not one to be deterred. Or pay attention to blatant warnings of danger.

Dingo puffed up his chest and pointed at me.

"You've got some nerve to act all tough and talk to yer lady friend like that! You need to treat 'er like royalty, or she'll leave you hanging high and dry!"

"I am royalty!" Aleena said, scandalized and… flustered? "More importantly, I am not this wrathful vigilante's 'lady friend'!"

"And we aren't dating," I added.

Aleena and I met under mutually false pretenses. She was pretending to be an oil baroness seeking asylum so she could scope out my faction's intentions. I accepted that asylum so I could pump her for the information on Robotnik's supply chains. Things were civil until we caught each other in our deceptions, we clashed on ideals, at some point the argument moved to the wine cellar, the middle part was blurry, and she was gone the next morning.

Every encounter since then has been like this, with us bickering or being at cross purposes more often than not. Whatever the hell that was, it wasn't dating, and we weren't an item.

I think.

Dingo stopped, realizing that he had had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to speak to the most wanted woman on the planet. Sleet must've realized what Dingo was about to say, because the wolf was inching towards the exit.

"Y'know, I was gonna propose to your daughter and I was wonder'n if I could get your bless--"

Aleena furiously snatched the blaster out of my hands and started firing it into the air.

"GET LOST BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND!"

Sleet and Dingo scampered away into the jungle, thankfully without so much as another word. Once they were gone, Aleena tossed the smoking blaster with a huff.

I let out a low whistle. She then cleared her throat, somewhat bashful.

"Apologies. That outburst was unbecoming of me."

I slid the melted gun into the water with my boot.

"No complaints here. I'm surprised you let them off with a slap on the wrist."

We walked out of the cave. Her facial features softened, now that we were alone, away from danger. The sounds of gunfire outside had dimmed.

"I need to set a good example. We shouldn't have to stoop to their level to liberate our world."

It was no big secret who Aleena was trying to set a good example for. She hadn't seen them in years, but the triplets were her guiding star. At the same time they tried to find their mom, the kids helped Aleena remember why she was fighting.

She has something to fight for besides her anger.

"Maybe you're right," I conceded.

Now that the highest tax bracket knew I could separate any of those fools from their wealth when I felt like it, I'd been considering offering the less odious ones an exit from underneath Robotnik's heel. For the sake of Aleena's blood pressure, if nothing else.

"I wouldn't be too distraught if Sleet and Dingo were to meet their end by Robotnik's hand," Aleena admitted ruefully. She frowned at her own comment. "It's a fitting reward for treachery."

I raised an eyebrow. I wasn't surprised that she'd had these kinds of thoughts, after all she'd been put through. I simply didn't think she'd confess them to anyone who she wasn't close to.

Are we… close?

I kept everyone else at arm's length. The Ruby Underground were loyal soldiers, but my lieutenants weren't exactly my friends. I couldn't afford to have those. Robotnik sowed the wind by turning the musical caste into a dead march, and I was conducting the whirlwind as the Phantom Prince. The truth that I wasn't some kind of supernatural revenant, that I only put on the mask to hide my own face, would only hurt our efforts.

Aleena saw right through all that. That made her the only person I could actually talk to.

"Then what was that argument about? The principle? The moral high ground?"

She shook her head.

"I didn't want your soul to be burdened with the act of taking a life. Their deaths aren't worth it."

It was only now, when I was forced to confront it head-on, that I realized I couldn't think of anyone else I was closer to on Mobius.

"I wouldn't have felt a thing," I lied.

"You always do after your first."

From the vantage point of the cavern opening, we could see several vents on the side of Robotnik's spherical air carrier popped open with bursts of flame.

"Aleena… I didn't know you cared."

Aleena gave me a small, amused smile.

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I care for you."

A smaller craft ejected out the side of the Fortress of Altitude. By the blurry blue, pink, and green spots centralized around the small ship's cockpit, it looked like Sonic, Sonia, and Manic were able to make a clean getaway.

"They made it!" I shouted from our vantage point on the rocks. "You were right not to…"

I turned around, only to see that she was already making her leave. Making her way towards the jungle, where she'd doubtlessly stowed a hoverbike with which to get off Angel Island.

"…Worry."

My heart sank. Aleena turned back, giving me a guilty, apologetic glance. She looked at me in the same way as if she'd accidentally kicked a puppy.

"I'm sorry, John. You know I can't linger."

It was the same answer she gave every time.

"You made a vow," I repeated cooly, turning away. "I know."

"I can't let them know I was here. Not yet. Not before it's time. Forgive me."

In fear of the Oracle's prophecy being rendered null and void if she reunited with them before the time had come, Aleena had to stay one step ahead of her own children while fighting Robotnik from the shadows. She had an unshakable, almost religious faith that everything would turn out alright in the end. More hope than I could ever muster.

Hope rides alone.

It also made her miserable. Tore her up inside. Suffering above and beyond what I could see her put herself through for another day. I knew the signs, because it did the same thing to me, too.

Not anymore.

I almost let her get away again, but a surge of emotion overcame me.

"Wait! Let me help you!"

I ran after her, grabbing her hand.

"You can't!" she countered. "Only the prophecy of the Council of Four can save Mobius!"

"Aleena, please! You don't have to be alone anymore!"

She tore her hand away.

"But what if they were to use you to find me?" Aleena pleaded, tears forming around the edges of her beautiful eyes. "I can't let that happen before they're--!"

The airship exploded, erupting into brilliant light. I reacted quickly, shielding Aleena from stray debris with my cape. When the most dangerous flashes faded, the air was full of smaller, luminous streaks. Like a fireworks display in the evening sky.

"Can't we just watch the lights?" I reluctantly asked, closer to her now than in months. "Please?"

Aleena looked at the sky, in awe of the display, then down to me. Not at the Phantom Prince, but the human underneath the helmet.

"On one condition," she said finally, easing the pressure that had been building around my chest. "One condition, John, and I will entrust the destiny of Mobius to you for the night."

"Name it," I answered instantly.

"Take off your mask."

My hands were on the latches right away. It was a gradual process, detaching the sides of the helmet from the bolt-like audio receivers that were installed where ears once stood. Nothing I hadn't practiced a thousand times before. I slung off my helmet, letting it roll into the fresh grass.

"I know I'm not much to look at, but--"

"You look dashing."

I short-circuited.

"I, uh. Dashing?"

Aleena said nothing more, patting down on a patch in the grass next to where she sat.

We sat down together and, after fighting so hard to secure a better future, enjoyed the untamed joy of a sunset. These moments were rare and fleeting, so we cherished them where they could be found. Away from the pollution and strife that plagued the rest of the world.

▁▂▃

It was moments like these that I could see myself fighting for.

- - -

Spoiler: APRIL FOOLS!

Ruby Underground has been a bonus chapter idea in my back pocket for a while now. I thought it'd be funnier to drop it as a prank than a voting option.

The funniest part is that I realized I could make it even better by taking Sonic Underground completely seriously. The setting of the show is the ideal rock opera dystopia. Music is outlawed, freedom is limited, robots are everywhere, etc etc. All they got wrong was the music, the animation, the writing, the insane idea to kill SatAM so they could make a new show with songs to reap the residuals from, and the music. I gave another listen to classic concept albums like Killroy Was Here, 2112, Time, The Protomen, Year Zero, and Love Symbol to get into the mood for writing this chapter.

Next up: The real Chapter 29.

 

[FKorus]

It's a joke chapter and all but did you have to go so hard as to make me want more?

 

[DReznov]

Very few people do anything romantic with Aleena, if you get the urge to write more of this please do so. (maybe in its own thread)

 

[weredrago2]

It's a joke chapter and all but did you have to go so hard as to make me want more?

Click to shrink...

I take my April Fools very seriously! Same with the bonus chapters.

Very few people do anything romantic with Aleena, if you get the urge to write more of this please do so. (maybe in its own thread)

Click to shrink...

I'll consider it, but I may not revisit Ruby Underground for a while. Main story first, bonus chapters later. It'd be one of those "we'll see when the mood strikes again" things, though knowing people would like to see more is always good info to file away for a rainy day.