Tails the Fox
Chapter 18 - War on Sonic!
Stage 09 - Aqua Isle
Boss 11 - E-3X Terra

2BIT: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?

Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and SPOT had all returned to Tails Workshop. Once there, SPOT informed them that he had detected a Chaos Emerald. It was on an island off the coast of the Mystic Ruins. Upon hearing that, Amy insisted upon going with them. "I've heard that Aqua Isle is really romantic!" she had said, "We gotta go together, Sonic!"
"It's too dangerous!" Sonic insisted, "What if Eggman attacks again?"
"Then you'll be there to protect me!" Amy said, lost in a romantic daydream.
"It sounds like fun!" Cream added, "I want to go, too!"

Thus, Tails had to make two trips with the Tornado. With a second seat added to it, and since Sonic always rode on the wings, Tails could take up to three people at a time, counting himself. So, he brought Sonic and Amy there first, then returned for Cream, Cheese, and SPOT.

Sonic, afraid of being alone with Amy, ran ahead to look for the Chaos Emerald on his own. Aqua Isle was actually two islands, a large one and a small one. They were joined together by a large bridge. It was a tropical island, with beautiful sandy beaches, palm trees, and, as its name implies, water. Rivers and lakes covered much of the island, and almost all of the island was also covered with sand. Not the best place for moving at high speeds. On the far side of the island was a large, icy mountain. The mountain was constantly bombarded by blizzards, and since GUN had built a base up there, it was called Blizzard Warzone.

At the foot of the mountain, there was a large lake. A waterfall crashed down onto it from the mountain. Next to the lake was the "gateway" to Blizzard Warzone. A GUN building that housed the starting point for the cable car that led up the mountain. A few feet from the door to the building, a sparkling white Chaos Emerald was waiting. After some time searching, Sonic had found it. But something wasn't right...

"The white emerald?" Sonic looked at the emerald they obtained from Glitter Casino. Also white! One of those emeralds was a fake!

Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and SPOT ran toward Sonic, since SPOT was detecting the emerald, they managed to get there quickly. "Sonic! Stop!!" Tails shouted. Before they could reach Sonic, a battalion of GUN Trooper robots dropped from the sky, blocking their path! Sonic turned around and shouted at the robots. "Have you blown a circuit!?" He then picked up the fake Chaos Emerald. "Or maybe this was some sort of trap!"

The door to the cable car building flung open, and Sargent Gunner stepped out, aiming a pistol at Sonic. "How observant of you, freak! This trap is payback for your treachery! You furry freaks broke Experiment 2 out of prison! Then you helped him take our Chaos Emerald from the Security Tower!" Gunner said with rage. Then, Spy's voice came from Gunner's walkie talkie, "We destroyed the bridge, Sarge! They left their plane on the small island, so now they're trapped!" Gunner smiled devilishly. "Excellent! You freaks are going to pay for all you've done!"
Sonic's eyes widened in disbelief. "I already told your Commander! I had nothing to do with any of that!"
"Save it!" Gunner snarled. "I've been waiting years for this..."

"And you'll have to wait a bit longer!" came a voice from the sky. Eggman's plane lowered from the air where he had watched the whole thing! "Go back to your board room, Gunner! Leave the exterminating to a professional!"
Gunner fired his gun into the air, getting Eggman's attention. "Ivo! We had a deal! You would provide that fake Chaos Emerald, and we would eliminate the furry freaks!"
Eggman stroked his moustache, grinning. "Why, Sarge, I thought you wanted the job done! Your troops already let Sonic escape once today, so why shouldn't I offer a little help? Like this!" Eggman turned to face Sonic again. "You may have beaten E-2X, but there's no way you can stop E-3X! Come on out, Terra!"

The purple and black robot, which had previously looked like Chaos Gamma, now resembled Beta Mark 2, but with more lasers mounted on its arms. It hovered from the sky to Sonic's position. "Target aquired! Destroy Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Gunner, not one to be ignored, called out to the Troopers. "GUN troops! Attack the other freaks! Don't let them get away!" The robots then caused a rain of bullets to soar towards Tails and the others. SPOT brought out its shield again, which they all ducked behind. "The shield won't last long at this rate!" Tails realized. "We gotta do something!"
Amy pulled out her hammer. "Something like this!" she shouted, tossing the hammer over the shield and smashing a robot. "Now what?" Tails said, "You lost your hammer!"
Amy pulled out another hammer. "I got spares!"

Meanwhile, Sonic was running circles around Terra, dodging laser fire from the robot. Terra was fast, but not fast enough, and he just couldn't hit Sonic. Gunner lost patience with this quickly, and tried to shoot the hedgehog himself. Sonic noticed this and then got an idea. He jumped onto Terra's large, cannon-like arms and stuck his tongue out at Gunner. "Freak!" Gunner shouted, "I'll show you!!" He fired at Sonic, who jumped off of Terra, causing the shot to take out one of Terra's eyes. "Bzzzzzt!! Damage taken! Anger levels rising rapidly! Must have vengeance!" Terra screeched.

SPOT's shield was soon destroyed, forcing Tails and the others to scatter. SPOT began firing lasers at the robots, damaging but not destroying them, while Amy would finish the job with her hammer. Cream and Cheese flew about, avoiding the shots of the robots while Tails attacked the distracted troops with his tails. However, they were greatly outnumbered, and even Terra was keeping Sonic on the run. It had become a war of attrition. Something had to tip the scales in someone's favor...

That's just what happened. Amidst the chaotic fighting, Gemini the Dragon dropped down into the middle of it, Knuckles sitting on her back. "Looks like they ran into some trouble here." Knuckles observed. "Gemini, take care of the enemies! Use your magic!"
Gemini flipped through the pages of her spell book in a panic. "I can't find anything... Wait, here! Abra-ka-Blastra!!"

Just then, a blinding flash of light erupted from Gemini's wand! It covered the entire area, and was the last thing Sonic saw before blacking out...

The first thing Sonic saw waking up was Amy's worry-filled eyes. "Thank goodness, you're awake!" she said, hugging him tightly. Sonic struggled to get her off him and then stood up, looking around. "What happened? Where are we?"

They were near the bridge that had been destroyed by GUN's troops. How did they get so far away? Amy looked as confused as Sonic. "I'm not sure what happened, but I think everyone was scattered all over the island!" she said. Sonic looked around. No one else was in sight. "We better find Tails and Cream before Eggman or GUN!" Sonic declared. "Try to keep up, Amy! We're going back to that lake! It's as good a place to start as any!"

So, their journey began. But with Eggman and Gunner's troops scattered all over the island, even Sonic would have a difficult time finding his friends...

To be continued...