Capítulo 144: Dear Father
"Sonic, we don't have much time," Sage hissed, flying by Sonic as he darted headfirst towards the portal. "Wyvern is behind schedule. It's planning something, we must hurry to the Cyber Portal and release that weapon." A deafening screech. Wyvern shot out of the sea, and began flying after Sonic. Sonic Cylooped a shimmering cactus, shooting it into the sky like a rocket and having it explode. Wyvern lost track of the two in the midst of the fireworks, as Crunk watched the bursts from inside the stronghold.
"Ready the Zappers," Crunk ordered. The Sumos behind him rushed to the cannons, and shot lasers at Sonic. Sonic sped up, weaving between the lasers and skating along the sand. However, as the lasers tried to refocus on Sonic, they collided with each other. Forming a huge blast that sent Sonic tumbling across the dunes.
"S-Sonic!" Sage cried, floating down to his side. She held his head up, as he flickered bright blue. Sage felt his cold skin regain some warmth. Wyvern eventually turned away and floated off to some other corner of the island. Sage looked to Strider Stronghold, fury crackling in her crimson eye.
Sonic slept under a sky full of stars. Unlike most nights, he didn't dream. He only rested, a soothed smile barely visible on his face. The rock he slept on was hardly soft, he didn't have a blanket, but for a short moment, he was at peace.
Sage stood above him, trying frantically to wake him up. He couldn't have been comatose, his eyes would sometimes open. Very briefly. He wasn't in Cyberspace. It was clear that he just didn't want to get up yet. Sage knew what had to be done.
"Poke…" she whispered, quickly jabbing her finger against Sonic's abdomen. RED-CODE spread through his body once more. "Wake up." Sonic jolted awake, hyperventilating.
"Sage?! Ugh… what happened?" Sonic asked, his arm aching.
"Well, we arrived at the Cyber Portal. The journey was a success, despite some hiccups," Sage replied, showing off the Cyber Portal. "Are you about ready to unlock the weapon?" Sonic reached for the Cyber Portal, and put his hand on it. His hand clawed, before jolting back. "What is the matter? Did the portal reject you?"
"Must have," Sonic sighed, scratching the back of his head.
"No. This can't happen. You've been able to access Cyberspace for years now. Why is it only rejecting you now?" Sage hummed in thought. "Of course, they took your Cyber Energy! When the Sumos zapped you, they must have drained the data stored within your blood. But…" Sage trailed off.
"Why?" Sonic continued. Wyvern then meteored down from the sky, crashing into the Strider Stronghold's core unit and turning the entire monument to dust. What was left of the alarms blared, before they were consumed by explosions and the screeching sandstorm.
"Don't die on me, men!" Crunk shouted, scurrying out of the wreckage. He was surrounded by a strange red aura and the remainder of his soldiers. "Get me to that portal! After that, we can have as many Striders as we desire!"
"Those rats…!" Sage hissed. "Since Cyberspace only reacts to your biodata, they're going to use your Cyber Energy to get the weapon for themselves. C'mon… there has to be some juice left!" Sage pressed Sonic's hand onto the Portal Gear. Nothing. Sage's darting eyes landed on the Sumos as they crashed onto the mountain.
"I never thought I'd see the day," Crunk muttered, Wyvern looking all over for them amidst the smoke and flame. "Sonic, you've been a big help. You've also been a huge pain. If I could keep playing this game with you, I would. But we're out of time." Crunk approached the portal.
"Move out of the way."
Sonic and Sage stood their ground, watching as Wyvern zipped by overhead. Sonic smirked. "Make me," Sonic chuckled. "One on one, me against you, Crunk!" Sonic put up his fists.
"Very well, hedgehog," Crunk replied, forming a ring around himself and Sonic. Sonic looked to Sage, then they pressed their hands together from other sides of the ring. "I'll kill you, as you watch my men crush your companion into RED-CODE DUST."
Amy of the Roses swept some leaves and sticks up into a pile, the harsh winds of the night before had ravaged Aphrodite Woods Zone like a sonic boom. She was no longer tangible, she couldn't wield a rake. Every leaf had to flow into place via the Cyber signals running through the air. The energy she harnessed. The energy that was all she was at this point.
Amy looked up at the dead tree above, its naked branches so close to breaking off. Once a natural monument of beauty and love, it had now been reduced to a carcass. She heard thunder off in the distance. A stampede of Koco phased right through her as they rolled off to find shelter.
"Come now, miss," Elder Koco said, emerging from the bushes and following his charges to a nearby cave. "You mustn't stay out here."
"Why not? It's not like the rain can hurt me any," Amy sighed, clutching her head with one hand. "Besides, the woods need to be in tip-top shape for when Sonic comes back."
"You know he isn't coming back, right?" Elder Koco asked, shaking his head.
"Right, cuz he left for the mainland. Don't worry, he'll remember to come and get me," Amy sighed. The Elder turned around.
"Perhaps. But I do fear he won't make it back to you, nor to the mainland," he rasped as he slinked off into deeper woods. "As much as I hate to admit it, sometimes I allow the Digital Dream speak to me, too. Its temptation is as strong as its hunger for new subjects." Amy watched as he slinked off, then at the stormclouds as they drifted ever closer.
Sonic bashed into Crunk, only to be thrown into the electric wire making up the ring. "I trust you know what happened to the Ancients. Their cities burnt, their souls turned to stone. I do not want the same thing to happen to my people," Crunk preached, shoving Sonic against the wire as Sonic convulsed. "You can understand that, right? We must do everything we can to survive. It is our duty as a tribe to etch our names into the stars themselves. I will show… that I'M HERE!"
Sonic looked outside of the ring, at Sage as the other Sumos threw spiked jacks her way. He clenched his fists, before Cylooping Crunk. He shot into the Sumo like a meteor, knocking him into the rings and electrocuting him instead. The rings closed. Sonic Spin-Dashed into Crunk and split his armor.
Crunk then grabbed Sonic by his entire head and squeezed until Sonic's skull might break. Sonic sharpened his spines, piercing Crunk's hand and flipping backwards to slam him into the ground. Crunk released him. "Heh… you're resilient. I respect that. My men will build statues of you."
"No need," Sonic said, as he stomped onto Crunk's head. "I'm not the one becoming a memory tonight." Sonic Spin-Dashed, severing the ribbon around Crunk's body. Instinctively, Crunk held the Memory Token that gave him life close to his chest.
"Wait… no… the Enmity Medallion is mine!" Crunk yelped, only to be blindsided as Wyvern shot into him and turned him to dust. The medallion landed in Sonic's hand.
Sage was hit by one of the spiked jacks, and fell to the ground. She looked on as the remaining Sumos charged towards her. She readied herself for the inevitable, before the entire army was taken out by a swipe of… Wyvern's jaw? Sage looked up above, and saw Sonic up in the sky. Shining a blood red as he swung Wyvern around by its tail. He smirked at her for a single second, before throwing Wyvern into a mountain range, shattering it with an ear-exploding crash. The Titan used its million legs to coil around the roots of the mesa, and then shot a thousand Cyber-infused hydrogen bombs at HYPER SONIC CAMELLIA.
Sonic closed his eyes as the warheads approached. Sage covered her mouth in shock as the bombs exploded, covering Ares Island in a light brighter than the sun. But before it could consume Sage, the explosion pulled back. Sonic hovered in the middle of it all, channeling the energy into his hands. He then raised his hands to Wyvern, shooting its own power back at it in a split second. After the shock wore away, Wyvern flew off, as battered and burnt as Sonic's own gloves. Sonic then gave chase.
Wyvern flew through the maze-like valleys of Ares Island in a blind hysteria. Its microscopic eyes darted around each turn, every direction Sonic could possibly come from. It was then forcefully shackled by a red energy beam. Sonic chained Wyvern into a tight canyon and pulled off its leg cannons one by one. Wyvern screeched and screamed before Sonic came crashing down, breaking Wyvern's exposed ribcage. Sonic laughed, tying Wyvern into a sphere. He swatted it into an afterimage of himself, who swatted it back. The battle of gods had become a game of ping pong, and Wyvern had become the ball. Despite his invincible form, Sonic felt a festering pain deep inside of his head. Despite the ongoing desecration of Wyvern, Sonic still felt the need to further surpass it in every way possible.
Sonic opened his arms and flew into the sky, allowing all his afterimages to consolidate. Sage watched from Portal Peak as the clouds parted, and a large orb fell down from the skies. Sonic shot towards the bewildered insect beneath him, Wyvern tried to scurry away only to be caught in the vortex of Sonic's Mondo-Spinball form. Wyvern tried to reach for the island it was tasked with defending, but to no avail. It didn't have any legs left. Out of options, it boosted right at Sonic full speed ahead. Screeching and letting its body crumble due to the velocity. Prosthetic entrails and metal bones fell out from its sundered lower half. Wyvern reached Sonic, and… Sonic turned it to ash in a second.
…
Sonic crashed onto the ground, huffing and puffing as he took a knee. "Sage? SAGE?!" He cried, looking all around in a panic. "Those damn Sumos… I hope they burn! Aw, geez… where is she?"
"They're gone…. it…. killed them," a familiar voice rambled from behind Sonic. Sonic spun around, and backed away. Standing there was a red echidna who looked like he could mess Sonic up. If he wasn't completely intangible, that is. "Ugh… So you're the one who got me out of that giant tank. Nice work, feels good to breathe fresh air again. What's your name?" Sonic shivered as Knuckles shot his fist forward, only for his arm to phase through the hedgehog. Sonic exhaled, feeling the RED-CODE spreading to his chest.
"You'll learn my name soon enough. Right now, I have a… daughter… to find."
"Alright, I get it. Don't leave me hanging!" Knuckles exclaimed, twisting his own wrist slightly.
"Alright. Until next time, Knucklehead," Sonic fist bumped Knuckles, before running off into the desert.
…
"Sage! There you are," Sonic sighed in relief, approaching Sage. She was sitting by an oasis, the cool air providing a sense of respite to her and her father. "I was worried about you." The two sat in silence for a brief moment.
"Why didn't you open the portal?" Sage asked. "I saw you using your new techniques during the battle, I know the Sumos didn't siphon all of your energy."
"I'm gonna be honest, I just didn't want to let that thing in Cyberspace loose… whatever it is," Sonic yawned. "Seemed dangerous."
"I see. Well, I guess you prefer doing things the hard way," Sage groaned. "Speaking of which, I had run two-hundred simulations on a particular subject during our travels. You are capable of walking across Ares Island and back in sub-Planck time. Why did it take so long to reach Portal Peak?" Sage asked. Sonic sighed, then smirked.
"Look around you, Sage. Parts of this island are really pretty," Sonic said, waving his arm from the pond to the sky. "Y'know the problem with running faster than light?"
"For any other being, I imagine it would be the rapid disintegration of their flesh and bones as what's left of them also collides with trillions of oncoming obstacles," Sage replied.
"Geez, you and your descriptions," Sonic grumbled. "No! The problem with running faster than light is that you can only live in darkness. If I did that all the time, I wouldn't be able to take in the view." Sonic kicked back and exhaled.
"You were so ready to leave Kronos," Sage sighed. Sonic opened his mouth to speak. "And Amy. You broke Cyberspace, the one thing able to remind you of when you were happy. Come to think of it, your escape from the empire was premature. One day, you just returned on one of your many adventures. You realized how much you had missed it." Sage gritted her teeth. "All in a hasty effort to craft a perfect future with your best friend." Sonic frowned.
"I'll find a way to get Amy back to normal. Knuckles too, I know it. I needed to glitch Cyberspace if I was ever going to save them from the Titans," Sonic replied. "I dunno about the rest of that stuff, but I'm not that person anymore. As soon as I get out of here, I just want to take care of you. That means no more rushing things, no more putting targets on my back."
"That can't happen," Sage muttered. "I saw everything that you wished for within Better Place. You still yearn for that perfect future, you want a home on the beach with a beautiful family. A family I'm not apart of." Sage sniffled. She wiped the tears from her eyes. Sonic frowned.
"Well… to hell with all that, then!" Sonic cried, standing up and repeatedly kicking mud and gravel into the once perfectly clear oasis waters. "I've seen perfect! I saw it all the time in Cyberspace. It sucks! Everything stays in one place, I'm OVER it!" He shouted, kicking so hard that the toe of his boot could scrape off. He turned to Sage, breathing heavily as his leg started to cramp up. He fell onto his back and looked at the prismatic meteor shower above. "Even the stars can fall, Sage. And I think that's pretty cool." Sonic took off his left glove and looked at the egg symbol branded onto his hand many years ago, faded but still very visible. "I dunno what this symbol means, but it's probably a bad thing. So next time you worry about whether or not you're good enough, just remember the world's coolest hedgehog has a blemish too." Sage stared at his hand, then gasped.
"Sonic… Sonic!" She exclaimed, leaping in front of his face. "I… you… we have the same—!" She stammered, before taking a deep breath. Hyperventilating, she swept the hair out of her face, and Sonic's eyes widened as he saw what was underneath it the whole time. That symbol. The same egg symbol was placed where her covered eye would have been. "So we share the same origin… we were already in the same family, in a sense."
"Sage… that's so cool!" Sonic exclaimed. They embraced and twirled around in pure glee. "What'd I tell you? We're FAMILY! Believe it now?"
"I do! I do believe it!" Sage laughed. "I love you, dad!"
"Heh, love you too, Sage," Sonic laughed, smiling. For once, he was truly happy on the Starfall Islands.
…
Sonic stood on a worn-down, rotting wooden dock. The lake below was blue, acidic. The skies above were red. "Sonic… you're back?" Big asked.
"Yeah! Yeah, sorry. Just dozed off for a second, there," Sonic gasped. It was so cold all of a sudden. "Find Froggy, yet?"
"No, Sonic. Weird things have been happening lately. I'm not sure what's going on, but Froggy's missing. So are Amy and Cream," Big whined, sitting down and shakily casting his line. "I think we need to rest. Maybe if we try to remember what happened, we can find whoever's causing this mess. Maybe then we can get everybody back. So sit back and remember."
"Remember."
"R…E…M…E…M…B…E…R…."
"SONIC RUNAWAYS: LOST" is done. What can Sonic do when it all comes crashing down in "SONIC RUNAWAYS: END OF THE ROAD"?
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
NatQuin
NatQuin Hey there! Sorry about the wait between chapters. I love Sonic Runaways more than you could possibly know, but lately I've been taking time off to tend to my video game, "Super Mario Continuance". I probably could have planned that hiatus better, given that Sonic Runaways Season 1 is coming to a close soon and I need to get to work preparing for the season finale arc.
Thank you for your reading this far. I would love to hear your thoughts, so why not leave a comment or review? Until the next chapter, stay way past cool!
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