Sonic Gem EP8: Sonic's Island

Sonic's Island is the eighth episode of season one of Sonic Gem.
== Plot ==
"Alright, that should be everything," Pearl finally decided, the last bit of supplies stored up and ready. Another day, another mission, though while the previous missions might've been a walk in the park for em, the Crystal Gems were especially busy this morning. Out along the nearest shores by the Beach House, along a small yet supporting dock, the supplies found themselves loaded up on a small sailboat. It was a simple boat with large light blue sails with a darker lavender main body, but it was definitely good enough to hold them as they began to board up. They weren't the only ones in this though, Amy, Tails and Sonic standing nearby as well.
"So you actually need us to come this time?" Tails asked, getting his gadget in a water-proof bag for the trip ahead.
"Technically no, but it'll definitely make the mission much easier to handle," Pearl replied reluctantly.
"Well, I'm just glad I get to go and see the world outside of town," Amy said. "A sea-going trip sounds like such an adventure."
"Steven, let's go! We're all ready!" Garnet called.
"Coming! I'm - oof - I'm coming!" Steven called back, almost tripping over his feet on his way down the beach house stairs. Not to say he came down empty-handed however: he had his cheeseburger backpack though it looked A LOT more packed up this time, almost full to bursting. Tossing it into the sloop, the bag actually made the boat shift a little.
"Dang dude, what did you pack in there? Everything in the kitchen?" Amethyst wondered, as Steven hopped in to join them.
"Nope. You said we're gonna be gone for the day so I got everything we could need: sleeping bags, snacks, beach towels, life jackets, even a flashlight for night sailing!" Steven explained, pulling out the flashlight and turning it on.
"And ...?" Garnet asked, arms crossed. Steven looked into the backpack for a bit, this time pulling out an extra something for the road: an artifact by the looks of it, shaped like a coin with markings of both the sun and moon along its rim length. Garnet simply gave Steven a thumbs up.
"No mistakes this time," Steven promised. They didn't need a repeat of the Moon Goddess Statue again. With that, along with Amy and Tails joining them on the boat, all that was left was Sonic standing at the dock.
"C'mon Sonic, hop aboard and let's go," Amethyst called, waving for him to jump in. However, Sonic turned away from them.
"I'll pass. I just came out to see you guys off," Sonic insisted. "I got full faith that you all can handle it without me."
"Not again," Amy groaned, "Don't you want to see the world?"
"Yeah but not on a tiny boat in the middle of the -" Sonic felt a shiver run through his spines, "O-Ocean. *ahem* You guys just do what you wanna do, I'll just watch the house."
Noble from the off set, but that shiver already told everyone the REAL reason he wasn't going. The boat just sat there, Sonic feeling the ever-growing awkward silence nag at him.
"Aren't you gonna go?"
"It'll be fine, Sonic. You've been running around on your own for long enough, why not have an adventure with the rest of us for once?" Amy said, patting a seat next to her on the Gem Sloop. Sonic remained uninterested in even stepping one closer to the water, let alone the boat. Garnet sighed, getting the sails ready.
"We don't have time to argue. This is an urgent mission, we have to go now if we're going to catch it," Garnet stated.
Sonic looked off as far as he could, hand over eyes and squinting best he could. However, all he could see anywhere was just water, and maybe a few seabirds flying about. Not enough convincing from this end. Sonic just shook his head and shrugged.
"You guys enjoy your trip, I gotta dash," Sonic decided, revving himself up and ready to go. However, before he could actually race off, a strong hand from Amy got a hold of the unfortunate hedgehog.
"Hey! Amy!"
"Don't even try to run off this time, Sonic the Hedgehog," Amy stated. "This is the first time the Gems directly asked ALL of us to go anywhere with them, and I for one will NOT have you miss this opportunity!"
"You guys are NOT getting me on that boat, and that's final," Sonic retorted. Amy tried to get Sonic moving, but the stubborn Hedgehog got his arm forced out of the pink Hedgehog's grip ... just to run right into Garnet.
"... I'm not getting out of this, aren't I?"
~~~~~~
Next thing they knew, they were out on the ocean. With a strong breeze at the back, the Gem Sloop was making great progress along the waves of the sea, the seagulls flying alongside in the warm light and cool surf. The other may be having a nice time surfing along, but the only thing Sonic had a good view of was the pole to the sails. Gripping it tightly for dear life, and all. Steven just gave Sonic a pat on the back, though the Mobian couldn't bring himself to budge.
"You holding up okay?"
"Yes, never better, just ... keepin the pole steady. The wind might, you know, blow it off," Sonic muttered, only very slight glances made back at Steven before keeping his gaze firmly on the pole.
"Steven. The artifact," Garnet instructed. With a quick check in the backpack, he fetched the ring and tossed it over to Garnet, not a second missed. With this artifact in hand, Garnet held it up to the front of the boat, keeping it at such a height where the light beamed off from it. It took a few turns, but eventually this artifact began showing some kind of glow to it, that same beaming light now focusing on a specific direction.
"The island stopped towards southeast. We need to pick up the speed before it moves again."
In spite of the water forcing him back, Sonic perked up a little bit.
"Moving island, you say?" he inquired. At least they got his attention now. Pearl was about to explain, but Amethyst was quick to cut her off and pulling something else out from all the supplies they brought with them. Next thing Sonic knew, he was seeing an old picture of some form of island in the middle of the sea (sea monsters included in the water, of course).
"More like a living island," said Amethyst, "It keeps showing up everywhere, but nobody can actually find it. You know, because it's moving around and all."
"It's NOT ALIVE," Pearl corrected, yanking the picture away, "But Garnet says it's just offshore, so if we don't go to it now who knows where it'll appear again."
"How long has it been since the last time you found it?" Tails questioned, intrigued by the idea of a living island same as the others. Pearl took some time to think it over, looking around the sky as if the answer was up there.
"If I had to guess ... a few hundred years ago."
*SPEW* went Steven's juice he conveniently drank at that moment. Luckily nobody got hit with the spraying juice from his mouth, but Steven had something else to focus on.
"You saw it HOW LONG AGO?" exclaimed Steven.
"A few hundred years. It's hardly anything, really. For a Gem," Pearl explained, nonchalant.
"A few hundred - ... how old are you guys?"
"Much older than any human," Pearl replied, almost proud of it herself.
"Yep. Rockin 5,000 over here," added Amethyst. The very fact was surprise enough, but they especially got shocked with Amethyst's 5,000 number just casually tossed in that conversation.
"Are you serious?!" exclaimed Amy, dumbfounded, "None of you look any older than your twenties! How do you look so young at that age? I need the details!"
"Amy, you're only 14," Tails remarked.
"And I'm keeping that look," Amy shot back. Tails dropped it and looked back to the Gems.
"For real though, you're all thousands of years old? Does that make you all ageless? Immortal?" Tails inquired, curious mind in overdrive. Steven was starting to get hyped for the answer too: having three immortal caretakers sounded like such a cool idea.
"No, no: Gems don't age, but we can still get hurt and die," Pearl explained.
Down went Steven's smile immediately. So much for immortal caretakers. Before this conversation could continue, the Gem Sloop suddenly stopped, the halt abrupt enough to knock them all forward a bit, some stumbling onto the deck. It only took them a second to recover, seeing Garnet not even budged from the impact.
"Can you warn us next time we hit land, Garnet?" Amy insisted. Sonic suddenly felt the most relaxed since leaving shore.
"We're on land?" Sonic perked up. Immediately, he released his vice grip on the pole and making a beeline right to land. However, not even his lightning speed stopped Garnet from grabbing him by the quills before he could splash in the waves. Sonic ran in midair for a good second or so before resting his feet on the tip of the boat.
"We DIDN'T hit shore," Garnet stated. Blunt, but true, as everyone looked around the boat and still were finding themselves nowhere near anything. They couldn't see sand, sea rocks, not even any seaweed. Just clear blue water. It was only a matter of time before someone had to ask.
"Then what did we hit?" Steven asked.
*WOOOOSH*
Their answer came in the form of a colossal wave! An explosion of white water erupted just a foot away from the o so small Gem Sloop, sending it and its passengers swirling and rushing off a good twenty feet in the abruptly rough surf of the sea. It was a miracle nobody got swept off of the boat, but the same couldn't be said for the destroyed sails of the boat, nothing but rags by the time the water finished seeping off of it.
As for WHAT struck them down? It was a bit hard at first to tell, but the group found themselves in the presence of a colossal beast. The breach by the beast turned into a corkscrew soon as it launched out, blinding the group with its pure white underbelly before absorbing each fabric light in its darkened back. Its frontal fins, sleek and rounded at the tips, graced the skies. The head was rounded out, with a flattened face that almost looked like some kind of mask staring down at the feeble-looking creatures under it. Just one tip of the fin alone could crush the tiny boat!
With a low, guttural bellow only matched by a blue whale, the beast slowly surrendered to gravity, slamming all of its weight right down upon all of them! Only pure luck made the beast miss them, but the wave coming from it launched them clear thirty feet through the air before landing roughly back into the now fierce surf.
"Is that the monster?" Steven asked, hands gripping what remained of the mast.
"It must've sensed we were coming through. Arm up!" Garnet shouted, summoning her Gem gauntlets. Amethyst and Pearl followed suite with their spears and whips -
"FORGET THIS!"
"Sonic?!" exclaimed Amy. Suddenly, despite all things making any sense, Sonic leaped off the back of the boat, his hands making a death grip on the rims of the deck, and his feet submerged in the water.
"The heck are you doing?! We can take that thing!" Amethyst shouted.
"We're in the middle of the ocean with a giant Kaiju-looking whale, in this EXTREMELY RARE CASE, I am NOT dealing with this! HANG ONTO SOMETHING!" Sonic snapped, panic-stricken. Not another word later, and Sonic began kicking his feet as fast as he possibly could just to get them moving. Everyone on the boat nearly fell off just from the kickstart.
Even at top kicking speed, without any land to grip onto Sonic's top speed just matched a top speed of a speedboat, white foam of the water kicked up behind him like a real motor. The beast didn't even hesitate, and began following suite, a huge swell of water flowing from it as if the ocean itself was hunting them down.
"Where're you even going?!" Pearl asked.
"Don't know, don't care, as long as it's away from - GAAHHH!"
SPLASH! A colossal swing of the frontal fin nearly flattened him in his crazed swim. The oncoming wave launched the ship off again, sending Sonic flying through the air with the Gem Sloop spiraling away from him. For all his power, all Sonic could do was scream in his flailing fall before crashing headfirst into the ocean.
"SONIC!" Pearl had to grab Amy before she could jump for Sonic, but that didn't stop one two-tailed Fox for getting up onto the boat's side.
"I'll get him!" Tails shouted. Before anybody could grab him, Tails jumped right off of the boat, and with a clap of the hands dove straight into the violent surf! All the others could do now was hope the Gem Sloop didn't completely capsize. It also didn't help that the beast noted Sonic's plummet into the water and dove down to look for him.
Underneath the crashing surf, Tails found himself barely able to even move around, either being pulled back towards the surface or rocketing down towards the bottomless depths, and leaving the fox being knocked around as if he was inside a washing machine. Despite this thrashing, Tails had to keep his mind focused as he tried to find his close friend within the Deepsea blue mixed with whitewater. His head spun around, eyes darting everywhere he could for some simple clue. With the slight burning of the salt messing with his already water-blurred eye, the blue Hedgehog could just barely be made out several dozen feet away from him. 
Forcing himself straight in spite of the water forcing him around, Tails began spinning his tails behind him into a makeshift motor and got himself flying through the water right towards the struggling Sonic. Sonic meanwhile was as frantic as he could ever be, kicking and flailing in the water with eyes focused directly above him. Tails couldn't shout for him, but he just narrowly managed to reach the hedgehog, both hands grabbing hold of Sonic's hand. Sonic made sure a death grip was on those hands, especially when they both took a look down.
Even in the muffled waters, even the distant Gem Sloop could hear them scream. The colossus was directly underneath them! The soulless eyes locked onto the tiny creatures within its domain, and its mouth began to open wide like an engulfing cave. A cave that was quickly trying to suck them in. Tails yelped and further tighten his grip on Sonic, turning his tails downward and tried his absolute best to get them both out of there.
One slip, and it would be over for both of them.
Tails tried his absolute hardest, but with his focus split between swimming away from the beast and keeping Sonic in his grasp the draining currents. Tails' teeth gritted, his muscles tensed up, his tails completely blurred they were spinning so fast. As for the beast, it could only suck in so much water through that gaping maw, and eventually its gullet was completely filled up. The brief moment of freedom got Tails rocketing like a missile right to the surface. Only NOW did the two finally breathed and gasped as loud as Mobians could.
"Finally, fresh air! You holding on Sonic?"
"Back on the boat, back on the boat," Sonic pleaded, curling up to keep as much distance between the water and himself as possible. Tails waved down to everyone else on the Gem Sloop.
"They're okay," exclaimed Steven.
*WOOOOSH*
"Dude, you just jinxed them," Amethyst remarked. Right on cue, the water underneath them bubbled and erupted in an explosion of a powerful water geyser. Tails glanced down and shrieked, flying forward fast as a flying fox could while Sonic could only hold on for dear life. It was a stroke of pure luck, but Tails and Sonic moved just fast enough to avoid the full blast, but they still got a good soak behind them, enough to throw Tails off balance quickly.
Before either of them could realize what was happening -
*WHAM!*
...
~~~~~~
Sonic, with a bizarre feeling of both his headache and deja vu, took quite a while before coming to again. His head was pounding, soaking wet with his ears clogged up from the seawater, and a bad mixture of sand and salt coating his quills. He could barely get back up to his knees, though if he wasn't slightly hit by a wave from the water, he probably wouldn't have even tried. A quick shake of the head, and he was fully up and about, but ...
"Uggh, not again. ... GUYS?! STEVEN?! TAILS?! ANYBODY?!"
No reply. Sonic's surroundings didn't really help either. Sure, he found himself standing on a beach with a jungle to one side, and the sea on the other, but he hadn't the slightest clue where the island was. He looked left and right, darting his eyes up and down the beach for any signs of anybody. Although his eyes saw nothing, he just needed a few steps before -
*oof* "... Sonic ..."
"Tails?" Sonic jumped back, and sure enough there was Tails in the sand, partially buried. Sonic got Tails out of there quick, grabbing him by both his tails and yanking him free.
"You okay buddy?"
"Yeah ... I'll be fine," Tails muttered, spitting out some sand, "You okay?"
"Just a bit water-logged," Sonic replied, picking one of his ears in vain to clear it out. After the two dried off a bit more, they turned over towards the jungle flora just a few feet away from the beach. It looked so thick, they couldn't see beyond just a foot into it, darkened in a deep green.
"Did you see anybody else?" Tails asked.
"Not really," Sonic sighed, looking out to the sea, "We'll look for them in a minute. If we got washed up here, they couldn't be THAT far away."
All he could do was wring out his tails of the remaining salt and take the moment of silence to check the place. Tails felt his doubts creep up on him as he tried checking around the beach front. Sand, water, and foliage was the best he could manage to make out, not a single sign of any Gem, Mobian, or anyone. Not a soul anywhere aside from himself and his old friend.
"Do you really think they made it?" Tails asked.
Sonic smirked. "Sure. Those Gems are pretty tough, it's gonna take more than that to slow them down. And besides, AMY's with them on that Gem Sloop. I'm more afraid for the monster's safety."
In spite of it all, Tails couldn't help but chuckle. Just imagining Amy's hammer swinging like mad for "revenge" on that monster was at least proof enough for the young fox. Sonic joined him on the laugh but was just glad to not see his friend so bummed out after that kind of hit. With the mood now lighter, Sonic took a moment or two before finding a seaside rock along the shoreline to hop up onto.
"Okay, now that that's settled, think you can fly up and see if you can spot em from here?" Sonic instructed. Tails was already flying off the ground, ready for takeoff. Sonic gave the little pilot a thumbs up and, sure enough, Tails was already up high in the sky. It was nothing for the two-tailed Fox to get a good 50 feet in the sky, just high enough for him to at the very least get a better view of the island above the treeline.
The island, to his surprise, looked pretty small, him being able to actually see the otherside of the island itself just from that height in the air. In between, he only saw the deep thicket of the forest: tall palm trees branching out from thicket bushes, leaves, shrubs, and who knows what else. He didn't see any mountains, or hills either, as if the whole island was some kind of platform or garden it was fattened so much. Tails squinted as he peered beyond towards the other shore. It took a good minute of searching, but his eyes finally locked onto a fragment of hope just on the otherside of the island.
"Sonic, I see them! They hit ashore across the island!" Tails called down to Sonic. Sonic's fist struck the air.
"Alright! Race you to the other side, buddy!" Sonic called.
Tails nodded. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes.
Sonic began his run as Tails kept to the sky. Usually, Sonic would just make a straight dash across the island to the other shoreline, but he wasn't in the mood for crashing through trees so instead he kept a steadier pace.
Sonic's rush through the thicket of this island was more like an obstacle course for the hedgehog: darting between trees, rolling over rocks, leaping over bushes, and so on. Just another racetrack for him to ace through. Still very fast, but not blindingly so. That, and he also had a good eye to the sky, keeping an eye on his buddy the whole way there. The trees and leaves did muddy the view a little bit, but overall, it wasn't an issue.
... Until Tails suddenly disappeared in a dash of green leaves.
"What the?" Sonic immediately skidded to a stop. He could've sworn he wasn't moving that fast and come to think of it Tails wasn't moving that much faster either. Tails wouldn't just bolt away, would he? He tried looking around, but there was no sign of his two-tailed friend anywhere. It was as if he just ... vanished.
"Tails?! Where'd you go buddy?! You left me alone over here!"
No answer apart from the distance rustling of the wind going through the trees. Feeling annoyed, the blue hedgehog took the quick answer and ran right up the nearest tree. ... Or, tried to, rather: he got a good running start, but for some reason these trees were especially slippery. His feet just weren't able to get a grip along the smooth bark, and all that came of it was him sliding back down to earth again.
He tried a second time - not much better.
He tried a third time, got at least twice as tall ... before falling on his head.
"What the heck is up with these trees?" Sonic groaned.
You okay?
Sonic's ears shot up. That wasn't any voice he recognized. It sounded young, child-like almost but also rather distant, like an echo. Not to mention when he got to his feet to check the area, he didn't see anyone anywhere. He even picked into his ear just to make sure nothing was clogging it up and gave it another listen.
... Nothing.
"Ehh ...... yeah?"
That's good.
Sonic jumped. That sounded right next to him, but spinning his head there wasn't anything there again. His eyes darted around, head swinging this way and that, but he still found nobody.
"Alright, very funny. Who's talking?" Sonic asked.
I am.
THAT was right above his head.
"Okay, for real. If you're gonna talk to me, be somewhere where I can see you. I'm not gonna hurt you, but this is getting weird."
As weird as a human-sized blue Mobian Hedgehog in the Human world?
Sonic paused.
"... Touche. Got a name?"
....... Sage. ...
"Sage. Well "Sage" where are you? Are you in my head?" Sonic asked, still trying to find some figure somewhere in the area. There was just silence at first, getting Sonic to start walking.
No. ... I'm here. On the island.
Sonic groaned a little. It didn't take rocket science to tell this wasn't gonna be straightforward as he liked.
"Debatable but I'll take your word for it. So ... how do you know me? I'm new to the world."
... So am I.
"... Ok, this is getting weird. Look, my friends are waiting for me, I gotta go. Nice chatting with you, Sage," Sonic decided. He began reeving up for another mad dash through the island forest. As he was though, the distant voice cut through Sonic's spinning feet.
Wait! Don't rush off!
"Well how else am I gonna catch up to my buddy? See ya -"
"STOP!"
"WHOA-!" THANK THE STARS for good breaks: Sonic's sudden burst of speed was immediately stopped seconds after takeoff, leaving Sonic staring face to face with ... somebody. No one he knew that was for sure.
The figure was about as tall as he was, though that could just be from the white hair. The eyes - or one eye since the other was covered by said hair - were a vibrant red color that almost seemed to glow. In fact, there were a number of parts on this figure that glowed a mix of black and red: a black dress with interior looking like red DNA of code, the ends of the hands and feet mimicking that, and even a bit of the hair. It was as if the figure itself wasn't even organic. Another notable detail though was the figure appeared human in a way, a young human female no older than Steven.
"Careful there, I could've ran you over," Sonic stated, stepping back as the figure kept her hands up and spread to keep him from rushing off again.
"Don't. Please don't," she stated.
"Yeah, I heard that part. ... You're Sage?"
The figure nodded, hand to her chest. "I'm Sage."
Sonic looked Sage over up and down, Sage actually floating off the ground rather than simply standing.
"Nice of you to show yourself," Sonic noted. "Now ... what are you? Are you another Crystal Gem or something? Definitely look the part."
"I'm Sage," she repeated.
"I know that, but WHAT are you ...?"
"Sage. I'm Sage."
Well this wasn't getting anywhere. Sonic glanced up to the sky, in particular where his friend was just at before disappearing. Whether or not Tails meant to, Sonic was left behind and he needed to catch up. The Hedgehog, with that in mind, started reeving up for a good peelout dash again, Sage looking concerned.
"Don't! It's too dangerous."
"Danger or not, I gotta catch up with my friends. Thanks for the warning."
Without another word, Sonic sped right off into the waiting forest before him, leaving Sage only able to watch him disappear into the foliage. Sonic had more than enough time to tell the others about this later, but for now he had to go and catch up with them.
It shouldn't take him much longer to reach the shore, he was sure of that. While running through the forest, dodging trees and jumping over rocks, he still was left thinking about what Sage told him. What danger was she even talking about? The sea monster? No, they already dealt with that.
While trying to wrap his brain around, he failed to notice that his mad dash pushed off some foliage off the ground ... and something beginning to wake up. It started off as a faint, pinkish glow. It wasn't until this same strange creature shot itself out of the ground like a rocket, did the speeding Hedgehog turn back.
One creature turned into three. All aimed right at him!
"Uh oh." Sonic kicked up the speed, but with his weaving through the forest, it was strangely easy for these three objects to keep up with him. In fact, they were catching up fast. Sonic, in his mad dash, could only glance back one time just before all three of them struck the ground directly behind him!
The impact left a barrage of explosion, like three missiles going off at once, launching Sonic forward in the blast. Thinking fast, the Hedgehog curled up tightly, rolling off easily a good fifty feet forward and crashing through rocks, shrubs, and a few trees before he could finally slow himself down with a deep grinding halt. If he were any faster he would be leaving fire behind him in that screeching stop.
"... Good thing for brakes," Sonic gulped. Looking forward, he did find himself right by the edge of the island looking out to the sea ... only instead of a soft beach, he was right at the edge of a steep rocky cliff! A second more and he'd be falling straight down into the surf below. Sonic checked the area around him.
"Okay, took a wrong turn. Let's just head back and - ... and ..."
The forest was completely gone. No trees, no shrubs, not even rocks. Just grass, and hills.
... Sonic brought his arm up and quickly took a bite into it. The pain shot through him like mad, but at least it helped confirm things for him and keep him to reality - whatever that was at this point. Sonic took a DEEP breath.
"My friends have to be around here somewhere. Tails said they're by the coast, so just stick by the water and you'll be good to go," Sonic concluded.
"Told you it was dangerous."
"GAH!" Sonic leaped back from Sage, stumbling onto the grass as she just floated next to him. Sage didn't look too phased by Sonic's freakout either, as the hedgehog got to his feet.
"Where'd you come from?!" Sonic asked.
"From where you left me. Back down that way," Sage answered, pointing inland. Sonic wasn't too amused, but he had enough problems so he didn't press it. At least he had somebody to talk to. Sonic and Sage looked back inland.
"So umm ... that's the danger you were talking about."
Sage just nodded. Sonic didn't take much time to think before he started walking along the edge of the cliff. Sage herself floated alongside him.
"You have to leave the island. Please," Sage said. Sonic just kept walking.
"I'll leave when I figure out where my friends are. I'm not just gonna leave em shipwrecked on the beach," Sonic stated. He was just about to speed off again, but this time Sage got in the way right then and there.
"It's too dangerous for you to stay here," Sage insisted.
"I'll be fine," Sonic retorted, reeving up his feet. Sage still refused to budge.
"But you don't know what's here, Hedgehog," Sage insisted.
"Firstly, my name's Sonic. And secondly, it's nothing I can't handle. Gotta give em credit for keeping up with me though."
"You're so sure about that," Sage noted. Sonic just stretched with a smirk on his face.
"Whatever this island has in store, I'll take care of it," Sonic reassured. Sonic could see the concern on her face, and simply gave her a wink.
"Well we better get moving."
"... We?"
"You're worried about me, aren't you? You can tag along with me if you'd like. I could use the company going through this weird place," Sonic offered. Sage still felt a bit unsure about it, but it was painfully clear that this Hedgehog wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. All she did was nod and floated alongside him again.
It's the least she could do.
~~~~~~
Whatever happened, however it happened, Sonic found himself somewhere COMPLETELY different from the island he was just rushing through that morning. From a tropical paradise, now a quiet grassy plain, the Hedgehog kept running along the colder beaches of this new coastal region. With one side along the deep blue sea, and the other nothing but grass, hills and rocks, the running this hedgehog was doing was ... leading him basically nowhere.
Yep: no matter how far or how long he ran along this apparently endless stretch of beach, Sonic the Hedgehog wasn't finding anybody. Tails, Amy, Steven, the other Gems, not even the boat they crashed in on.
That run turned into a jog.
That jog turned into a walk.
That walk turned into -
*thud* "uuuuuugggghhhh. Where are they?"
"Nothing?" asked Sage, sitting on a nearby rock. Sonic didn't even bother answering her, having only enough energy to get back to his legs.
"Yeah, nothing. I don't get it: that's the tenth time I ran circles around this island. They wouldn't leave without ME!" Sonic remarked. Sage tilted her head.
"Maybe they knew the dangers here, and left while they still could," Sage guessed, though the glance in her eyes told Sonic a different tune. 
"Sage, they CRASHED on the beach. I'm no boat maker, but I know a boat turned into kindling won't float for a minute. TRUST ME, they won't be going anywhere without me. ... Not if Amy could help it."
"Who?"
"Uh, nothing."
Despite his tired legs, he still found the energy to pace back and forth, trying to make sense of what was going on. Without any boat to find, or any friend to locate, the Hedgehog found himself just flat out stuck. Eventually, his pacing paused as he turned back to Sage.
"Ok, I don't know about the rest, but I know at least ONE of em's stuck with me. You seen any two-tailed flying foxes around here?" Sonic inquired.
Sage paused briefly before she looked upwards to the sky. "No. Nothing."
The Hedgehog snapped his fingers in frustration. Stuck in who knows where, with only one new friend for company he knew little about, and anyone he did know disappearing to who knows where. It was Day 01 of Earth all over again. Sonic looked on out towards the water again, the still waves just barely moving about as a seagull or two flew around the place in the distance.
"No problem: I'm sure I'll run into him while looking around," Sonic concluded.
"But it's too -"
"I know, I know, it's too dangerous," Sonic cut in, bugged himself, "you've been telling me that for the last three hours. Seriously, what's so dangerous about this island anyway? The worst I got hit with is those spike things, and real talk: that's not very much from what I handle."
"And what do you handle?" Sage questioned. It was the first time all day did she actually sound upset with the hedgehog, in spite of her apparent worry over him. Sonic hopped up onto the rock beside her like a stage.
"I told you earlier: I usually fight off against a madman bent on ruling the entire world and turning it into a robot-run amusement park. Yeah I'm talking missiles, guns, saws, lasers, axes, bombs, and literal death bots about five to six times. And look: I'm still alive and kicking!"
Sage just ... kinda stared at him for a minute. However, even after saying all of that, Sage shook her head.
"No. You need to leave before you get hurt. ... You don't know what's here."
"Then lay it on me." Sonic sat downright next to Sage. "If you're gonna keep telling me how dangerous this place is, at least let me know what I'm up against. You know, to make YOU feel better."
Sage glanced around nervously, caught off guard as it were. She had to say SOMETHING if it meant getting Sonic to go away from the island, but with all he just said, what COULD she say? Her eyes moved to the ocean in front of her, then back to Sonic. All that came out was the following:
"You wouldn't understand."
Okay, NOW it was getting annoying.
"Whelp, I'm done with this," Sonic remarked, jumping off the rock and onto the grass, "Sage, we literally CRASHED here, so whether you like it or not, I'm NOT leaving until I get them. And if you're just gonna float behind me and nag the whole time, then you talking to the wrong Hedgehog."
"Mobian," she corrected.
"Whatever - I'm not against you coming, but either help me out here, or just stop nagging," Sonic made clear. He turned inland, and reeved up his running speed one more time, this time not even waiting around for Sage to answer him.
Running along in a more open-space now, Sonic had enough leg room to clock it at his usual top speed, nothing but dust behind him as he raced along the plains. Nothing too out of the ordinary all things considered, but Sonic still kept his eyes and ears up and open for anything familiar. As he kept going further inland though, he was starting to note a few unique details on his race through the grasslands. It was one particular mental note that made Sonic stop on top of a nearby hill and giving him time to check around him.
"Hills. LARGE pains. mountains? When the heck did this island have mountains? Wait, better question. ... when did this island get so big?!" Sonic thought.
Try as he might, but he couldn't see any of the shorelines. No way no how Tails could see the otherside of the island if it were even half as big as it was now. Nothing beyond the open plains of grass and the mountain range around him, as if he ran into a valley. This just left Sonic to scratch his head, though the mountain peaks did give him an idea.
An idea he acted on almost immediately. In a swift dash, he raced straight for one of the mountains along this valley range, and he wasted no time in getting right to the top of it, standing directly on top of the thin peak within half a minute. Squinting and peering ahead, what did he see? ...
"Nothing? Come on, I know I'm fast, but I didn't fly over continents already! ... Maybe I'll have better luck on the other mountainside," Sonic remarked (to no one). He stayed up there for what felt like hours, but still no such luck this time. In the end, all the hedgehog could do was roll right back down the mountain and into the valley. As he began running though, something began to happen. something ... weird.
In spite being the fastest thing on this planet, Sonic somehow wasn't getting any closer to the mountainside. He ran and ran, faster and faster, but it was either the mountain was moving away from him, or the valley was like a giant treadmill. 
"What gives?!" Sonic kicked it to the highest speed he could muster ... and still wasn't getting any closer.
Only now did he decide to stop.
"Okay, this is getting weird. ... Let's try back on the other mountain range."
At least, he would've if he could: he turned around and tried to make his way back to the other mountain, but he just ran into the same problem: the mountain wasn't getting any closer or further away from him. They just sat there, as Sonic was running at top speed. He gritted his teeth, his feet digging harder and harder into the dirt for some traction, but all that did was kick up grass and dust.
Eventually tripping over his own feet finally made him stop ... and get launched back! The momentum launched him easily twenty feet or so, leaving him rolling and flopping in the dirt before coming to a complete stop.
"Is the ground fighting me too ...?" He grumbled.
There it was. All of Sonic's running, as it turned out, only moved one part of the island underneath him like an actual treadmill track. As the greenish area continued to spin in place however, Sonic stepped back as this same spot slowly began to rise up from the earth, colors shifting away from the green of grassy plains, into the silver of metallic plating.
A robot. A simplistic looking one: only a giant round orb about nine feet wide and tall, but still a robot regardless. Any stray dirt and grass were flown off of it by now, and once it finally stopped spinning, it locked its singular "metallic eye" directly onto the annoying Hedgehog before it.
Sonic took a second to take in the situation, but then gave this new adversary a smirk of his own.
"And here I am thinking this is just gonna get boring. You wanna go, you bowling ball?"
"SONIC! Get away from it!"
Sage. Guess she followed him after all. Sonic glanced back as Sage rushed up to his side, almost immediately grabbing him by the arm. She tried pulling him away, but Sonic yanked his arm back.
"Relax, Sage, I can handle this thing."
"But Sonic, that's -"
"You know what, it doesn't matter what it is: it's just a robot looking for a fight, and I'm gonna send it to the scrap heap. What's there to know?" Sonic reassured, fists clenched and ready to go.
Sage felt herself pause, looking between him and the Orb. Regardless of what she said, or tried to do, as fight was gonna happen, and all she could do was watch. Not like she could fight it off anyway.
"As for you," Sonic said to the Orb, "Let's see if you got a squirrel, or a bird in there."
Sonic made the first move.
Sonic raced forward directly towards the Orb. Giving off a low hum, the Orb began rotating in the air at rapid speed, not dissimilar to one of Sonic's spin dashes. If this Hedgehog was gonna fight, so will it. Both fighters basically had the same idea, and with Sonic rolling into a ball the Orb touched the ground and rocketed forward. Sage closed her eyes, worrying for the worst.
Sonic and the Orb met head on, but while Sonic had the speed, the sheer girth and strength of the orb made it like charging into a truck. The Hedgehog did leave a slight dent, but still got knocked back good and hard. In spite of that, Sonic still rolled aside before the Orb could roll over him, getting right on his feet before the Orb could turn itself around. With confidence of any hero, Sonic gave a quick stretch before racing after the Orb, kicking up dust and dirt in his pursuit. As for the Orb, it did finally slow down, levitating off the ground just as Sonic caught up with it to give it yet another spin dash slam to the back, leaving it with yet another dent.
"That all you got, robo?" Sonic mocked.
The Orb answered back with a faint glow emitting from its eye, alongside another low hum and a few compartments opening on each side of it. It started to spin again, but instead of just rolling right at him again, the robot began spitting something out from the sides, these same projectiles that nearly got Sonic earlier.
Sonic just danced around them though, now familiar with em.
"So, it's YOU shooting these things, eh? You better take some marksman practice - I've seen Eggy's bee-bots shoot better than you," Sonic teased. The Orb didn't care though. After shooting several more at Sonic, it closed the compartments and NOW did it roll on the ground at him again.
*BAM!*
Next thing the Hedgehog knew, he was on the ground in a daze.
"SONIC!" Sage shouted.
The voice was just enough to snap Sonic back, the hedgehog rolling to the side to avoid another attempt on the Orb to roll over him.
"Playing dirty, eh?" Sonic remarked, springing up to his feet, "Two can play this - ACK!"
The Orb stopped rolling after twenty feet or so, but when it got up, the Orb lost sight of the hedgehog. Sage got a hold of Sonic now, and before Sonic could even realize what happened, he was suddenly stuck hidden behind a hill with Sage keeping a grip on him, one hand over his mouth. It took a surprisingly large amount of struggling, but Sonic did finally force Sage's hand off of his mouth.
"Sage, what're you doing?" Sonic snapped.
"I can't let you fight it," Sage insisted, "It'll kill you!"
Sonic admittedly felt a shiver run down his spines on hearing that word of hers, but he didn't need to lock up just from that.
"Sage, I'm telling you, this isn't the first time I fought things like this!"
"You have to leave! Trust me, please, Sonic?" Sage begged. Hearing the Orb nearby, Sonic finally lost patience and shoved Sage back.
"For crying out loud, will you quit it?!" Sonic snapped, "You're putting yourself in danger right now, if anything! Just leave the fighting to me and STAY WHERE IT'S SAFE!"
Sonic readied to go out, but Sage grabbed hold of him by the legs in desperation.
"Sonic, please! You're gonna get hurt, I KNOW you'll get hurt!" Sage pleaded.
Their argument couldn't continue further than that, as the Orb rocketed by them in another rolling attack! The hill though, lucky for them, didn't crumble under the Orb's weight and made it rush over their heads. This roll halted just feet away from them, the Orb levitating up and locking its gaze on both of them. Sonic only had one thing to say to Sage by then.
"Watch. I'll prove it."
Nothing was gonna stop Sonic now. To make sure Sage didn't get into any more danger, Sonic kicked up some stray rocks right at the Orb, keeping its attention on him and not her. The Orb was quick to respond with projectiles of its own, the hedgehog bolting away and darting right and left to dodge these attacks, all the while Sage was scared out of her mind.
Sonic had enough of this thing by this point, and if Sage was gonna be this worried over him he had to just end this. With this in mind, Sonic turned around and rushed right for it, head on as any fighter would do. The Orb kept firing its projectile missiles at the hedgehog, some getting very close as he honed in. One in particular was dead-on him ... at first.
"U-turn!"
In a swift, and almost fluid move, Sonic got hold of this projectile, spun around, and launched it directly back at the Orb! The Orb was struck right at the center, the explosion, sending it rocketing back in its own dazed spiral with the front of it severely damaged: a huge, dented front with smoke bellowing out of it. Before the Orb could get itself together, Sonic leaped at it, using its own body as a jump pad.
"AND ... BREAK!" Letting gravity take him, Sonic, bolted down like a bit of lightning, foot aimed like an arrow directly into the top of the Orb! For just a brief moment, the kick looked as if it bent the entire orb inside of itself, but sooner after that it just flat out exploded.
As expected, when any robot fights against this Hedgehog. Sage looked on, now not sure what to even think as Sonic simply stood there, looking on to the remains of his robotic opponent. A few parts here, a metal plate there, and Sonic just had to bring out his hand for the robotic eye to fall into his hand.
"Hey, Sage! Still think I can't fight now?" Sonic asked.
Sage ... didn't answer. Sonic just dropped it from there, looking back to the remains of the robot eye.
"Well isn't this cliche: a robot shows up to make today my last day ever ... and it doesn't work." 
*hummmmmmmmm*
That same low hum still echoed inside the remains of this machine.
... Then the ground began to shake.
"Aaahhh, what is it now?!" Sonic groaned, trying to balance himself.
Then came the explosions. The mountainside in the distance suddenly started to collapse in on itself in a cloud of smoke, as if the island itself was falling in on itself! Sonic could barely keep two feet on the ground when he started running, but not before rushing right towards Sage and pulling her along by her hand.
"What're you doing now?" Sage asked.
"Making sure you're not crumbling along with the island! Hold on tight," Sonic instructed.
With the world caving in behind them, Sonic kept up his high speed out of the plains and back through the forest, all the while making sure his grip didn't loosen on Sage's hand. The girl didn't know how to take any of this, but she didn't for a second loosen her grip either, not wanting her nor Sonic to be destroyed. The forest was just as difficult to go through, but it was only made harder thanks to the tremors behind them, and the oncoming smoke clouds. Sonic was lucky not to keep crashing through every tree and every shrub on the way, but that was the least of their problems.
That same seaside cliff again, and they were heading straight for it. Only one thing to do.
"HANG ON!"
Jump.
At lightning speed, Sonic launched straight off of the clifface just seconds before the explosions finally caught up to them, the cliff itself disappearing in a heap of smoke. In fact, it looked so severe they couldn't even SEE the island anymore. Nope, all they could see was a cloud of dust, sky, and ... sea ...
"Oh boy. I gotcha, Sage," Sonic began to hold Sage closer to him, Sonic putting himself in between her and the ocean below. Swimmer or not, Sonic wasn't gonna give Sage the full brunt of the hit.
...
And neither did she.
In one swift move, Sonic felt Sage suddenly bring the Hedgehog around. Just like that, it was HER who was blocking SONIC's impact. Covering Sonic's head, all Sage could do was brace for impact. As for Sonic, well, he didn't have time to correct this.
......
*KER-SPLASH*
The impact into the cold waters of the ocean immediately separated both Sonic and Sage, the two spiraling within the abyss. Sonic could barely turn himself upright, and yet he couldn't see any sign of Sage anywhere. Not even a silhouette of her. It was as if she simply vanished. Sonic would try and look for her, but he was hardly able to even tread water, let alone stay afloat. With his hands flailing about above him, and sinking quickly, Sonic could only hope that the part of the ocean wasn't THAT deep ...
Next thing he knew, a hand reached down, grabbed hold of him, and pulled him right up to the surface.
"Sonic!"
So many familiar voices at once, but Sonic was happy to hear all of em as he was set back onto the Gem Sloop.
"Guys? You're all okay," Sonic breathed out.
"Yeah we're okay, but the bigger question is are YOU okay?" Amy asked, looking him right in the eyes. Sonic picked at his ears to get some more water out.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What the heck happened? Why was the island blowing up?" Sonic looked back, but now the island was ... well, not there. At least, not as big as he remembered.
"But ... the Island ... Somebody catch me up, please?"
"After you and Tails got struck down," Pearl explained, "the rest of us hit the shores to get you two. Tails caught up to us, but for some reason you weren't with him. Next thing we knew we saw you just rush off the cliff into the sea."
"We also got our target while you were gone," Garnet added. Just to her word, Garnet then showed Sonic the gemstone of their latest gem target. No sooner after she did, she got the thing bubbled, and sent off back home. Just like that. Sonic looked back to the island, taking in what Pearl just said.
"So ... NONE of you saw the island blowing up just a minute ago," Sonic said.
"... No."
...
"Let's just go home, this is getting too weird," Sonic bluntly stated, sitting right back to the Gem Sloop sails without another word.
"We can: we got what we came for," Garnet replied.
Sonic had A LOT to think about on this ride home.
Category:Sonic Gem