1Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic or any of the original cast. However, Rev is a character of my own design, and would like a heads up if anyone wishes to feature her.
Sally wasn't happy. She'd been at the rendeis-vous point for over an hour, and Sonic still hadn't shown up. The Fastest Thing Alive was keeping her waiting. There was something seriously wrong with that picture.
"Hey, Sal!"
The princess turned a dark glare towards the voice. Sonic walked up to her wearing his trademark grin. It faltered slightly when he saw the fuming girl. This could turn ugly if he wasn't careful.
"And just where on Mobius have you been?" Sally asked.
"Oh, here and there," the blue hedgehog said, not meeting her gaze.
"He was running errands for Bernadette." Just then, Tails strolled in behind his best friend. The kitsune laughed. "She's been running him ragged all day long."
The expression her ex had made Sally smiled. "So, I guess even the great Sonic the Hedgehog can't say no to his own mother." The blue hedgehog scoffed.
"You try telling her no sometime, Sal," Sonic deadpanned. "So, what'd you need us for?"
"NICOLE's picked up a strange energy reading coming just south of the Chemical Plant Zone." The princess took out her handheld computer, the location she was refering to displayed on it's screen.
"Any clue what it means?" Tails asked, trying to get a closer look at the handheld.
"Not really," Sally admitted. "But, whatever it is, it's power level is similar to that of the chaos emeralds."
"How do you know it isn't one?" asked the blue speedster.
"The readings I have recieved are not enough of an exact match to be a chaos emerald," a computerized voice said. "There are minute fluxuations in its power level that would never occur if it was one."
Sonic folded his arms and began to tap his foot. "So what you're saying is it's like a chaos emerald, but it's not strong enough to be one?"
"The opposite, actually," Sally said. "In any case, I need you to locate the energy source before someone else gets to it. Odds are that Eggman's monitors picked up the same thing we did."
The Fastest Thing Alive smirked at her. "Sure thing, Sal. Be back before you know it!" With that, the hedgehog sped off. Tails smiled at the princess apoligetically before rushing after his "brother".
"Sonic! Wait up!" he yelled.
Sally rolled her eyes. Some things never change.
#~~~#
The wind was especially strong that night. It sang through the trees, shaking the leaves until they fell and danced through it. Rev smiled. She loved nights like this. Where the weather promised an oncoming storm. She lay in a clearing in the forest, gazing up at the stars. The sky was clear enough, but ink-black clouds were slowly hiding the silver lights from view. It would rain, soon.
Rev stretched before getting up to her feet. As much as she enjoyed the momentary peace, she had better things to do with her time.
The raccoon took one last deep breath, enjoying the damp night air. Then, she sighed and walked off. Rev didn't know exactly where she was going. But something was calling to her, and she needed to know what it was. So she followed her instincts.
She headed for the Chemical Plant Zone.
#~~~#
Sonic stood where he thought the signal came from. The area was mostly desolate, thanks to the effects of the Chemical Plant Zone. There was hardly anything in the place.
Which was a problem.
"You gettin' anything on the transmitter, Tails?" the blue hedgehog asked. The two-tailed fox frowned at his side.
"Not yet. It's weird, though," Tails said. "The signal was strong just a few minutes ago."
Sonic scratched the back of his head. "Maybe something's jamming the signal." Tails shook his head.
"If that were the case, the entire system would be on the frits. Something's not right here, Sonic."
Out of nowhere, an explosion went off beside the two Mobians, sending them flying. Both landed on the ground, allbeit a bit roughly. Sonic rolled onto his feet. His head whipped around as he looked for th cause of the explosion.
"Ohohohoho!" someone laughed from above. Sonic looked up and growled.
"Eggman!" he yelled. Sure enough, the doctor sat in his Eggmobile, floating several feet above them.
"Well, well, isn't this a surprise," Eggman sneered. "Who would've expected my favorite hedgehog to be all the way out here."
"I should've guessed this was a trap." The blue speedster smirked. "Y'know, Doc, you didn't have to fake that signal. If you wanted to play you coulda just called."
"Fake a signal? I did nothing of the sort!" Eggman huffed. "However, seeing as you're already here, I don't mind getting you out of my hair, permenantly."
The doctor hit a button in his Eggmobile. Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. A giant robot marched towards the two Mobians. The machine vaguely resembled a giant bear with various weapons scattered over its body.
Eggman laughed maniacly. "Let me introduce to the latest product of my genius, the EggGrizzly. This will surely put an end to your meddling, hedgehog!"
"Looks like every other robot you've thrown at me," Sonic taunted. "Probably will end up in a scrap heap like the others, too."
"We'll just see about that! Go get him, EggGrizzly!"
The robot bear advanced. It shot several missiles from its arms, each one aiming for the duo. Tails flew into the air while the blue hedgehog charged into battle. Sonic dodged most of the missiles before leaping into the air. He landed on one of the remaining missiles, directing it into another.
"Grrr, you won't get away that easily!" Eggman roared.
"As if your little teddy bear stands a chance against me," Sonic said. He spindashed into the robot, only to ricochet off of its head. Tails managed to catch his friend before he hit the ground.
"You okay, Sonic?" he asked. Said hedgehog shook his head clear.
"Yeah," Sonic answered. "Thanks for the save, buddy."
"Ohohohoho! You were saying, hedgehog?" Eggman laughed. "I've taken extreme care in re-enforcing EggGrizzly's armor. Not even you can drill your way through it!"
All of a sudden, lightning began to flash overhead. Dark storm clouds blanketed the sky, though it had yet to rain.
"That's strange," Tails said quietly as he set his friend back onto the ground. "I don't think it was suppose to storm here today."
"Worry about the weather later, Tails. Right now we have bigger fish to fry." Sonic smirked to himself. "Or is it bears to wrestle? I never could quite remember that quote."
"Laugh it up, Sonic," Eggman growled. "But there's no way you can defeat me now."
Just then, two high pitched noises sounded through the thunder.
"What in the-" the doctor started, only to be cut off by Tails.
"Sonic, the signal's back! And we're standing right on top of it!"