Chapter 75

The Tornado blasted through the skies, over the Xyaxis Sea. Sonic and Buck stood on the wing, while Tails, Sonja, and Pico all sat in the seats. "Are you sure this is safe?" Buck asked.

"Perfectly safe," Sonic assured Buck. "I do this all the time."

"We're almost at South Island," Tails stated. "It's gonna be a bit of a rough landing. According to my sensors, the land there has been devastated by the storm. The ground is uneven, so it'll be bumpy!"

"Is there ever not a bumpy landing?" Sonic asked. His joking demeanor washed away as out of the storm, came a barrage of lightning bolts. They narrowly missed the Tornado, but it sent them off-course until they hit another bolt. The Tornado went hurdling down to the ground.

"Hold on, everyone!" Tails exclaimed as he landed the Tornado on a hill. Sonic hopped off the plane and looked around.

"Green Hill..." Sonic mumbled. His eyes softened, as a frown made its way onto his face. Green Hill had been through a lot. Especially during the Great Eggman War. But nothing like this. Everything. Everyone... it had all been taken away into the storm.

But there was still a glimmer of hope. The faintest light in the distance, shrouded and threatened to be put out by the darkness surrounding it. This could still be fixed. But it wouldn't be easy. Sonic turned to his team.

"Alright, guys!" Sonic exclaimed. "It's time we put a stop to whoever did this to the world! Even if we're walking right into their trap, we'll break out of it and show them what we're made of!" Sonic looked at all his friends. "I know we can do it, if we stick together! If we work together! So c'mon! Let's save the world!" Sonic held up his pointer finger, waggling his finger back and forth.

"Yeah!" Sonja, Tails, and Buck exclaimed. Pico trumpeted in a war cry. Everyone ran off towards the mansion.

Past the loop-de-loops, over the hills that Sonic once knew... everybody made a mad dash for the mansion. Robots and monsters from all different time periods, even some Sonic didn't recognize, attacked them and tried to get in their way. But they were no match for their combined power.

Up off a damaged dash panel that crumbled under them... Sonic looked around to see if everyone was okay. Everyone... Sonic didn't know how many people he lost to this calamity. But he knew one thing. He still had these guys. Tails, Sonja, Pico and Buck. Even if the world was doomed... even if they wouldn't make it... amidst the pain and sorrow this experience had brought him, it still brought him new friends. New journeys. And he felt his bond with Tails had strengthened. It didn't matter what happened in the end. Sonic still had the time of his life here.

They were at the mansion.

As they ran past the strangely rusted Motobug parts, a faceplate cracking open under Sonic's shoe, a cockroach ran out of the eyehole. It ran the other direction.

It felt so familiar, yet so distant as Sonic entered the house. Walking up the porch, the stairs were wet and moist. They bent under Sonic's shoe. But none of them fell apart completely like Sonic had expected.

The door was broken down, giving them an easy entrance. Someone wanted them here. Likely the voice from the sky. Sonic felt a shiver go down his back as he huddled his arms together. He walked into the open doorway, and into the entrance. Immediately, the walls stretched together behind him. He was trapped.

"Grahahahahahaha!" A voice laughed as Sonic pounded on the walls to no avail. "For a fast man, you take a while to get places!"

Sonic turned towards the source of the voice, but nobody was there. "Who are you?!" Sonic shouted. "Let me out!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, my friend," The voice replied. This time it came from behind Sonic. "You and I..." The voice chuckled. "You and I have something to attend to."

"What are you talking about?!" Sonic asked. Suddenly, he felt something sharp and hard hit him in the back of the head. The lightbulb overhead shattered. He fell to the ground. "Ow!" Sonic exclaimed. He felt the back of his head, and looked back to his hand. Blood stained the fur on his hands. He felt weak, but not weak enough to stop fighting. He would never give up the fight. But he only knew one person who could hit that hard.

Sonic felt like the world around him was spinning as he looked around, prepared for something to jump out at him. He was ready.

But was he really?

He heard the whoosh of wind from behind him as something landed behind him. He turned around, and saw nobody there. Then, he heard what sounded like wood clacking together from in front of him. Looking forward, he saw a feint image through the darkness of just who he expected.

Knuckles.

Continue to Chapter 76