Chapter 89

"Marilyssa!" Sonic, Sonja, and Buck shouted. Tails and Knuckles looked at each other and shrugged. Pico immediately tried jumping out of Sonja's arms and swung his limbs around at Marilyssa, while screaming and crying. He made angry trumpet sounds from his trunk. Sonja tried to keep her grasp on him while looking at Marilyssa in disbelief.

"Why yes, it is I!" Marilyssa flaunted, doing a curtsy. "It seems you've really gotten through everything I've laid out for you. Of course, of course! How would I have beaten Sonic the Hedgehog myself, hmm?"

"How do you know my name?! And why would you do all of those horrible things?!" Sonic shouted, pointing his finger at Marilyssa.

"Horrible things?" Marilyssa asked, cocking her head with a slight frown. Her glasses were all fogged up, not allowing one to see her eyes. "Oh no, you must be mistaken!"

"You killed Sonja, Ramona, Baxter, his family!" Sonic interrogated. He wanted so bad just to end her right then and there. He knew it was her who was behind this. He didn't know how, but he knew. But he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't be as bad as her. He'd find another way.

Marilyssa laughed, boiling Sonic's blood. Sonic looked to Sonja, who had tears streaming down her face. Pico was now trying to lap them up or otherwise wipe them away with his hands. "What do you mean, horrible things? I was doing humanity a favor! Not so much you, but the rightful owners of this planet!"

Marilyssa turned to Sonja, eyeing Pico with disdain. "Ugh..." She grumbled. "Sonja, you've really gotten attached to that THING, haven't you? Have you just forgotten our REAL child?"

Pico whined, looking at the scary woman who the others called Marilyssa angrily. "SHUT UP!" Sonja shouted through tears.

"Ahahahahahaha!" Marilyssa laughed. She looked like she couldn't contain herself. "You and your little pets must be fooling around. There's no way anyone's gonna take those freaks seriously, and there's no way I'll let them live!" Marilyssa grew a sort of purple, convulsing slightly see-through orb around her chest region and shot a white beam out of it with an earsplitting sound. Everybody dodged out of the way with a yell.

"Too slow for you, huh?" Marilyssa asked. "Hmm... I guess that plan won't do me any good." She threw the button backwards, where it broke upon impact with the ground. "Allow me to explain the story before you die."

Sonic Homing Attacked Marilyssa, but was knocked back by a slap. He went skidding on the ground. No way. No human was that powerful, let alone with a basic slap. Sonic looked up at her, dumbfounded. Nobody thought it was a good idea to attack her anymore. She spoke.

"A long time ago, I was a simple scientist working for the greatest man on Earth..." Marilyssa reminisced. "Dr. Ivan!" Sonja watched Marilyssa speak, as though every word from Marilyssa's mouth sparked a new memory in Sonja.

"Oh, we did wonders for the world together!" Marilyssa gushed. "Miles and Scroobly and so many others were there, too. But they're not important. We made cures for the worst of diseases! Rings that could carry on souls after death! Devices that made living a breeze! Supercomputers! Mutant replicas of beings from other times!" Marilyssa paused, donning a more serious expression. "And then... they came along. The Xorda."

"In the late 21st century, exactly 12,191 years ago today, an alien race called the Xorda came to Earth," Marilyssa muttered. She looked to the ground, gritting her teeth. "Of course, we, as the greater species, captured their ambassador and dissected it for the sake of science! Very strange creatures, they were!" Marilyssa smiled, and put her arms behind her back, leaning forward. "I could say a lot of things that they were, but one thing they aren't is forgiving..." She cleared her throat. "After that, they sent a legion of gene bombs towards Earth. While it was supposed to take us humans back to pre-intelligence, it just took off one of our fingers! Can you believe it? The fools!" Marilyssa pointed to her other hand's ring finger.

"Earth?! So what are you doing meddling with Mobius?" Sonic asked, getting up.

"Don't interrupt. Know your place, mutate," Marilyssa hushed Sonic. Mutate?! What?! "When the bomb was on its way, we built domes to protect select wealthy families, sent others to another planet much like Earth... and called it Earth! I don't know how that subspecies is doing, but they've forgotten all about our now ancient history! They are too far detached from their roots to even be considered real humans."

"Hey! Those are our friends you're talking about!" Tails shouted. "Like Professor Pickle and Chris!"

"Your cumbersome cucumber man is none of my concern..." Marilyssa chuckled. "What is my concern is taking back what's rightfully ours from you mutates! When the bombs went off, they caused a chain volcanic reaction that sent dangerous particles into the air, killing every living and breathing organism on the face of the planet that wasn't under a dome!"

Team Sonic gasped. "I know, I know... it's horrible, right?" Marilyssa asked. "But that's not all..." Her glasses glinted, Sonic able to see his reflection in them. "When this happened, leftover animal and human DNA mixed together in a kind of primordial soup. It's kind of gross, but it's what made you and your kind! Your very existence is built off of the destruction of ours, and I can't let it stand!"

"Marilyssa... you know, every world will have its end! I know it's kinda sad, but---" Sonic started, but was interrupted by Marilyssa.

"I've heard the speech..." She groaned. "Do you even know who that hourglass belongs to?!" She shouted, pointing at the hourglass in Sonic's bag. "It's me! I created it! I own it! With it, I've seen it all. Your adventures, your downtime... every second worth observing, I've seen! I've documented everything about you and your friends, hedgehog. I knew if anybody would try to stop me, it'd be you three!" She pointed at Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles with three fingers. "I need it back. I was toying with you before, but now times are dire. Drop it, boy! Give it to me!"

Sonic held the hourglass away. "Yeah, we will stop you..." Sonic replied, taking a step forward with everyone else. "Just like we'll stop anyone and anything that threatens Mobius and its people!" Sonic dashed forward, but was swatted away by Marilyssa. He fell to the ground, this time the hourglass falling out of his bag and shattering. Sonic gasped as the Yin and Yang symbol rolled on the ground like a penny, and then fell on its face. The rock that had internalized itself in the hourglass then floated up, and towards Marilyssa. It landed in the orb in her chest.

Marilyssa then swung her head backwards, as the orb grew larger. It enveloped her. "YES! YES! I CAN'T BE STOPPED NOW!" Marilyssa screamed. She cackled. "I'll now erase everything you know and love from time! Along with the cursed Xorda! Humanity will rule this planet as it should be!" She turned to Sonic. "And you, Sonic, will rue the day you ever entered this place!"

"No!" Sonic cried, as he ran forward. He tried attacking, but couldn't pierce the orb no matter how much he tried. Sonic grunted as he tried to push through, but... eventually... it expanded further, sending everyone flying.

Sonic landed on his back, but didn't have time to get up before Sonja placed Pico in his arms, and then zoomed off. What could she be doing?

Continue to Chapter 90