Chapter Text
Now the time had finally come, the hunt for the legendary treasure was drawing to a close. As expected, Rouge and Knuckles were already waiting at the jewel in question. Captain Shadow and his crew were just about to enter the cave, which led them to a huge cave opening further back.
The room and everything inside was covered in white color and was as hard as stone. Ivy that hung from the ceilings. The waterfall behind the legendary treasure, as well as the jewel itself, were nothing more than stone structures. And around this strange structure, which had the shape of a large jewel, were seven pillars that were just as pale and cold as the rest.
There was only one exception. In front of the oversized stone jewel was a slab that stood out for its color and material alone. It was decorated with strange symbols and despite the fact that this slab was also made of stone, you could still tell the difference from the rest. "Good to see you! It's been a while." The pirate queen greeted the crew of the Golden Mary, pretending to be innocent and unaware that she still hadn't settled her betting debts.
Although the bat was clearly trying to provoke the black hedgehog, he didn't let on and simply played along for the time being. "So, this is the legendary treasure? It looks like a lonely sculptor's cave." He muttered sarcastically. It wasn't as if Shadow didn't know that there was more to it than that. Nevertheless, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to shove one in Rouge's face!
"Wow! It looks like everything has just been frozen!" Sonic interrupted, looking around the room happily.
"That is exactly the case! To be more precise, it's time itself that's been frozen!" Everyone looked in the direction of this new and unfamiliar voice. A tall man was standing at the entrance to the cave. Probably a little more than six feet tall. Although his legs were rather slender and relatively long, the man's upper body was spherical, making him look a bit like an egg on sticks.
"You!!!" The blue hedgehog suddenly hissed in the man's direction. However, the man remained unaffected by this threat.
The egg on two sticks, took off his glasses and cleaned them with a cloth as he spoke. "What an unexpected pleasure to meet you here again of all places, young Nikolas!"
"Quite a one-sided pleasure, if you ask me!" Sonic snorted back, which got him the attention of everyone present.
"Do you know him?" Black Rose asked anxiously.
"You bet I do!" Snarled the blue pirate. "That's one of the potential buyers!"
"May I introduce..." The pirate queen suddenly interrupted and fluttered over to the man to present him with a hand gesture. "This is Dr. Ivo von Preußen! A talented and well-known alchemist! He also studies mythologies and legends. With his help, we got all the information we needed." The man just mentioned grinned with self-satisfaction.
"You forgot 'slave trader'!" Sonic added almost silently.
"THE Dr. Ivo von Preußen, who made the science of magical beings flourish?" Sails mentioned, sparkling at the doctor with admiration.
"Yeah!" Snorted the blue hedgehog angrily. "By dissecting them like cattle for slaughter!"
The Doctor kept an amused grin and tried to walk towards Sonic, but when he got too close to the blue hedgehog, Shadow stood between them with his arm outstretched. The moment the egg on two sticks felt the captain's gaze, he stopped abruptly and cleared his throat. "Ahem, little Nikolas, don't be so vindictive. I only asked for a small vial.
The blue hedgehog didn't say anything back and just looked angrily to the side. Black Rose quickly rushed to him and put her hands on his shoulder to calm Sonic down. "Could we finally get back to what we're here for?" Knuckles suddenly intervened, gesturing with his thumb in the direction of the possible treasure.
"Right, right!" Said Dr. Ivo and went to the oversized jewel and began a small presentation of his knowledge to reveal this treasure. "First we have to distribute the seven gemstones among the stone pillars." He explained. "Starting from the left, we have the green one first!"
The black hedgehog had a bad feeling about this so-called doctor, so he gave Sails the green gem to stay by Sonic's side. Whatever happened between the two of them. It can only be that the blue pirate should have been the merchandise.
As the fox and Shadow briefly looked into each other's eyes during the exchange of the gem, the ruby red eyes briefly peeked over at the egg-shaped man and Sails responded with a nod. Then the gunner of the 'Golden Mary' brought the jewel to the first stone pillar, as mentioned earlier. There was a small notch in the direction facing the different looking slab, into which the green gemstone fitted perfectly. And so Sails finally set the stone.
"Very nice, very nice!" Said the doctor. "The next one would be the blue one." Rouge fished the aforementioned gemstone out of her pocket and threw it playfully into the air, catching it again as she walked past Shadow with a grin on her face. Whatever the bat was up to, the captain certainly wouldn't like it. "The third one would be the yellow one!"
"Oh! How fitting!" The Pirate Queen said as she placed the blue gem and then made a circular motion with her hand to playfully conjure up her next jewel. "That's mine too."
"She's really acting up!" Black Rose muttered annoyed, still holding Sonic reassuringly the whole time. But the aforementioned hedgehog didn't react, and just stared at the doctor with a cold look that was unusual for him.
"Whatever she's up to. It can't be good." Shadow replied, still standing protectively between the two hedgehogs and the rest. At the same time, he didn't take his eyes off Rouge for a second.
"Now for the next one!" Dr. Ivo said after the Pirate Queen had inserted the third stone. "Let me think, what was that again..." The doctor scratched his chin thoughtfully and as his gaze wandered to Knuckles. "Oh yes, that's right! Red!"
"Heh! That's ours too!" The echidna said mockingly, pulling the red gemstone out of his pocket with a flourish. As he did so, the hedgehogs and the fox gave him a disdainful look. However, Knuckles remained unimpressed and walked to the next stone pillar with his head held high.
"They're acting like they did all the work..." Sails said snappishly and sulkily.
"Somehow I have a bad feeling about this." The pink pirate added. The two male hedgehogs, on the other hand, continued to watch their respective nemesis.
"After that comes, cyan!" The crew of the Golden Mary stared at Sonic, who in turn stared at the jewel just mentioned. Needless to say, he hesitated, but he didn't want to be a buzzkill. So, the blue hedgehog was about to make his way to the pillar, but his captain blocked his path.
"Sails!" was all he said, and the fox saluted before accepting the gem from the perplexed Sonic. Before Sails made his way to the pillar, however, Shadow gave him the remaining two jewels.
“That should at least speed things up!” said the doctor. "Good! Then comes the white one," he continued after Sails had inserted the stone. "Then the purple one!" No sooner said than done and the last of the stones was inserted into the pillars, but nothing happened. "Last but not least, the mermaid sacrifice!"
Without giving it much thought, the black hedgehog took a few steps back and held his arm out in front of Sonic to tell the others that no one was going to get near the blue pirate. Needless to say, this made the blue hedgehog suspicious. Had Shadow known all along?
Black Rose tightened her grip on Sonic a little, too, but the blue hedgehog already knew that she was aware of this. And even when Sails heard these words, his face wore a shocked expression. Whereupon, he immediately took to the air to return to his crew more quickly. "Did you all know?" Sonic finally asked the group in astonishment.
"Well, you talk in your sleep!" The fox replied.
"Of course, how stupid do you think I am? I've been watching you the whole time!" Was the captain's reply. All the while, his eyes remained stubbornly on the pirate queen and the egg-shaped man.
"You already knew about me." Black Rose added with a shrug.
However, these answers did not have the desired effect. Instead of Sonic feeling safe, he felt rather uncomfortable. Was he just a commodity again? He could manage on his own, he didn't need protection. And are they only protecting him because they know how much he's worth? Panic suddenly rose up in the hedgehog. No one had ever treated him like this. The blue pirate simply couldn't trust reality. He thought the whole time that the others would accept him as he was. But suddenly thousands of doubts arose in him. "I can manage quite well on my own!" He finally blurted out.
The Pirate Queen immediately spotted an opportunity when she saw the doubts rising in Sonic. The boy panicked because, despite the good intentions of the others, he didn't know anything like this. And that scared him! It made him vulnerable and susceptible to lies. "You're absolutely right, sweetheart!" Said the bat. "You already proved that to us with the fish people. They're only protecting you because they want you for themselves!"
"Don't believe her lies!" Shadow tried to intervene, but it was in vain.
"And what about your lies?" Replied the blue hedgehog. "Why didn't you tell me?" The captain's ears flattened. Had he done something wrong? Had he...messed up again?
Rouge didn't need to be asked twice and took the opportunity to flutter over to the strange platform in front of the oversized jewel. "How about a little deal, youngster? You give just a small drop of your blood, and I'll give you the medallion in return?" The pirate queen revealed the jewel in question out of nowhere and let the jewelry slide down, while she kept the chain in her hand. She then swung the jewelry back and forth like a pendulum. As if she was trying to cast a spell over the blue hedgehog.
“Don't worry, a small amount of mermaid blood is enough to restore time in this room!” Dr. Ivo tried to reassure the others. “Only then will the great treasure be revealed!” Afterward, the doctor stepped far enough away from the jewel to show his good will. He didn't want it to look like he was going to pounce on the blue hedgehog as soon as it came near him!
-Just a small drop?- thought the blue hedgehog. That shouldn't be so bad! The others tried to warn Sonic, but their cries only fell on deaf ears. He was an adult, he could make his own decisions! Just as the blue hedgehog was about to take his first step. “I don't need that stupid thing, anymore!” Shadow tried to argue, but that still didn't convince the blue pirate.
“Why? Because I'm worth more?” He asked snappishly.
“Yes!” shot out the captain without hesitation. Unfortunately, that was exactly the answer Sonic didn't want to hear. The blue hedgehog felt as if his heart had shattered into a thousand pieces. Was he really, all this time, only of material value?
It was kind of ironic, considering Sonic had worked all this time to be useful to Shadow, but now that he heard it from the other's mouth, directly. It did... hurt... But why? If only he can stay useful enough... maybe the black hedgehog wouldn't give him up like Sonic's father did? Exactly! That must be how it works, if he got the medallion back, the captain would surely praise him! “I'm an adult, I'll handle it!” Replied the blue hedgehog, with his typical cheeky grin.
Black Rose tried to stop him as he walked on, but Shadow stood in her way and shook his head. “Leave him be.” At the same time, the captain did not dare to look the others in the eye. Even a small child would have understood how dejected he was, his expression was so obvious. “He's all grown up. He can make his own decisions.” However, Sonic was so intent on getting the piece of jewelry back from Rouge that he didn't notice it, and went straight to the pirate queen.
The bat held out her hand to Sonic and waited for a handshake. She kept the medallion in the palm of her hand, which she extended towards the blue hedgehog. The two held hands and remained in that position. Rouge then pulled a dagger out of her pocket, but before she could do anything, the blue pirate interrupted her. “Uh... Let me do that! Feeling more comfortable and all! You know!” He explained as he took the dagger from Rouge.
Sonic put the blade to his forearm and with one swift movement he cut himself a small gash. Everyone stared in amazement as a trickle of red liquid dripped from the blue pirate's arm and splashed on the strange platform below them.
Suddenly, the previously placed gemstones began to light up and each one formed a beam of light that met above the plate. A violent shockwave emanated from the strange platform and, as if by a miracle, the stone structure suddenly transformed into pure nature. The ivy was green and moist. The waterfall was blue and flowed inexorably into the spring below. And the oversized jewel took on a shimmering, shiny green hue. Rouge was thrown backwards violently and although Knuckles tried to catch her to break her fall, he was too slow and had to watch in despair as the bat was hurled past him.
Luckily for her, someone else was quick enough. Shadow jumped behind his old friend, but because the momentum was too strong, the captain was caught by it and slammed into the nearest wall together with Rouge. “You ‘do’ care!” She yelled in realization and she immediately set about making room for the black hedgehog so that he could get up.
Although Shadow had taken the brunt of the blow, he gritted his teeth, ignored the pain and tried to get up as quickly as possible. “I always have!” He called to Rouge as he dashed past her to rush towards Sonic.
The blue hedgehog wasn't thrown away, but something was still wrong. It almost seemed as if the blue pirate simply was about to vanish into thin air. Completely panicked, Sonic looked at the captain and stretched out his hand in his direction. “Help me, Shadow!” He shouted in panic.
Just before the captain managed to reach the other, he suddenly disintegrated into small pieces that were simply scattered by the wind. The only thing Shadow could grab was the medallion that the blue hedgehog had been holding the entire time. “And with that, the mermaid sacrifice is done.” Spoke the malicious doctor. Completely unaffected by the fact that he had just extinguished an innocent life.
The Pirate Queen stared in the direction of her old friend with a mixture of shock and panic. “No, that's not what I wanted!” She stammered in dismay. Knuckles, on the other hand, didn't know exactly how to react. He knew the situation wasn't a pretty one, but he wasn't thrilled about how the sneaky Dr. Ivo had tricked them, either. They hadn't agreed to it that way!
Black Rose fell to her knees and covered her mouth with her hands, so that if she was unable to hold back the tears, at least she would be able to stifle her sobs. Sails couldn't hold back his tears either and turned his head to the side. As he did so, he covered his eyes with his forearm.
At first, Shadow also fell to his knees and stared in horror at that cursed piece of jewelry, in his hands! This stupid thing was to blame for everything! If only he had never accepted that foolish bet! The captain was almost swallowed up by his self-loathing when he suddenly heard the doctor's vile words. Crimson eyes gave the man the most bloodcurdling death stare he had ever seen in his life. “I'm going to claw your eyes out, then drown you to death!!!” Shadow roared in a frenzy of blood.
As it turned out in the end.
The great ‘plundering’ of the legendary treasure
had been a complete failure...