Doctor Fukurokov sat in a plush office with a half dome of windows before his desk and a half dome of bookshelves and catwalks behind him. Directly before him was a posh desk littered in paperwork which he fussed over from a large red armchair. As a window on the glass dome before him opened he adjusted his glasses and watched as a rocket powered pod of his own design entered his office. Laying his pen down to match the landing of the craft he leaned back and laced his fingers as he awaited the report of the two uniformed birds before.

     “Dr. Fukurokov, sir!” A scrawny sapient bird of a non-flight family among their non-sapient cousins snapped a salute to the owl who led them. “Forgive our intrusion, but the hedgehog continues to be a persistent problem. It’s unlikely that we’ll be able to descend without engaging him once the treasure hunter fires off the signal flare.”

     “You primitive flightless are so lost without me,” Fukurokov sneered. “If the treasure hunter provides the flare the hedgehog won’t have any ground to stand on, and the flight I grant all of you will be his undoing. It’s to our advantage that he is pursuing us so fervently. In fact, should we fell the hero Sonic the Hedgehog it alone will be the perfect vengeance against the foolish fox who has brought the Great Battle Kukku Armada so low.”

     “It’s true,” the scrawny bird’s more rotund partner agreed. “With both Great Battle Kukku XV and XVI no longer with us we surely would have fallen apart if not for your intervention. And to think they would pull us to a horrible place like this with no treasures and people to assert our rightful dominance over.”

     “You are only half right,” Fukurokov corrected the soldier. “There is plenty of treasure here, but without people to lord over our victories it is useless. It’s what makes our recent victories over the fox and his friends so delightful. And knowing the secret of acquiring Rings in this miserable prairie is the advantage we have which will assure our victory. We need only find the next ruin here and resupply, destroying Sonic the hedgehog while we’re at. Now, what is taking that blasted treasure hunter so long?”

     Leaning forward in his seat, Fukurokov reached for a collection of pipes with spring loaded caps over their ends and lifted one such cap. Leaning his beak towards the open pipe end that was curved towards him he yelled into it, his voice carried by a series of pipes to lookout posts all throughout the Battle Kukku Armada’s floating island. “The first one to spot the treasure hunter’s flare will be allowed a full tenth of whatever treasure remains within the ruin as we resupply! Whoever can confirm the hedgehog’s death will be granted a full half!”

     Letting the cap snap back down, Fukurokov leaned back and sneered with amusement at the two soldiers who could not partake in the hunt as long they remained in his office. Departure was not an option for them though unless the owl gave them leave. The tension, anxiety, and general unease proved an entertaining show for Fukurokov, but it was barely a momentary distraction. Away from his labs he desired nothing more than efficiency and soon dismissed them with a wave of a hand and delighted at their desperate scramble to leave as they had arrived. They would not be fast enough to claim any prize though as one of the caps on the array of pipes beside Fukurokov began to rattle. With a smile he lifted it and spoke in.

     “Report.”

     “We have a flare Doctor Fukurokov, sir! We can reach the site in less than 180 seconds.”

     “And the hedgehog?” Fukurokov asked coolly. “He should arrive before us should he not?”

     “If he goes to investigate, sir!”

     “Then let’s give him a reason to.”

     Receiving the bearings for the flare, Doctor Fukurokov issued the entire fleet to head for it and numerous warning lights and sirens came alive on the island as it prepared to change course. As preparations began however, Doctor Fukurokov gave one last order, “Do not deploy the ground rotor until we are assured that we are over the ruin and the treasure hunter and hedgehog have made contact. We wouldn’t want to miss you flightless feather cushions.”

     Despite his best attempts to use his speed and the angle of the various hills in the prairie to try and get some altitude, Sonic could not reach the Battle Kukku Armada at the altitude they maintained. Nor could he hear the warning sirens. He could though see the fleet of airships changing direction alongside their artificial floating island. Following their lead Sonic turned his attention to anything in the path of their new course and spotted the green smoke of a flare.

     “A flare huh? Now what could you bird brains be up to,” Sonic pondered aloud and moved to beat the Battle Kukku Armada to their destination. It was far from a difficult task as no airship built by anyone could out pace Sonic, but that did not prevent him from being surprised as he drew near the source of the flare. “Is that really…? Don’t tell me he hitched a ride with those bird brains. He isn’t still after the kid is he?”

     As Sonic drew near it became unmistakable who it was who fired off the flare. The treasure hunter working with the Battle Kukku Armada was none other than a certain “weasel”, in actuality a rare hybrid of any two sapient species. Fang the Sniper. A bit of wolf and a bit of jerboa made him a very cranky and skittish individual, and as he leaned back supported by his tail, he drummed his fingers on his crossed arms. He was watching the approaching airships with an irritable twitch in his eye and had no idea that Sonic was going to reach him well ahead of the fleet. He leapt clear over his air bike however, the Marvelous Queen, as Sonic greeted him.

     “Hey, weasel, what brings you out here?”

     “Gah!” Fang screamed before his pride made him peak over his air bike and aim his pop gun at Sonic to correct him. “I’m not a weasel, that was just an alias!”

     “Well, I guess it’d have to be, otherwise I couldn’t see these bird brains working with you,” Sonic motioned back at the nearing fleet with a wave of his hand. He obviously felt unthreatened by either Fang or the battle Kukku Armada as he continued. “Speaking of which, what’s the big deal working with pirates? I thought you did most of your dirty work in places where no one could fight back.”

     “Aren’t you just full of questions. But really, it’s all worked out. I’ve gotten quite the haul already by tagging along and once I get my treasure tracker back; I’ll be even richer in no time.”

     “Still after Amy then?”

     “Still refusing to play along with her whims,” Fang countered with a shake of his finger watching the fleet and island start to arrive overhead. He was hoping to buy some more time for a retrieval and was ignorant of Fukurokov’s plans, but Sonic’s own fearlessness was playing into both of their plans.

     That was until he sneezed.

     “Ugh, not again.”

     “Something the matter hedgehog?” Fang questioned as Sonic began to look around for what could be setting off his danger sense. “I’ve got a cork or two here with your name on it more than glad to take your worries away. Seems a fair price to pay for getting my treasure tracker back.”

     “Yeah. I’m thinking if you want a chance it might be best if both of us leave,” Sonic noted that the island had blotted out the sun and seemed to be descending. It would not be long now before it landed, but Sonic could still make it out. He could not say the same for Fang, who surprised him when he shrugged and holstered his pop gun.

     “I guess it’s time to make my exit, though that doctor of theirs is going to get an earful from me,”

     “Tell him hi for me,” Sonic played along with Fangs decision to leave as he watched him straddle his air bike. “And let him know I’m done running from him. I’ll be running at him before he realizes it.”

     “If I were you, I’d just try running!” Fang laughed as he revved up his air bike and sped away for the horizon.

     Sonic smirked at the sight knowing he could catch up easily enough. It was just a matter of not letting Fang gain any altitude before he did. “Who would have thought a nuisance like you would help me out. What a funny day this has been. A treasure hunter and a Ring thief all in one day. You really are a trouble magnet you little rascal.”

     Rubbing his nose absently as he pinned the day’s affairs on Rosy, Sonic watched Fang for just a while longer. The treasure hunter continued to surprise him by not ascending at all, rather keeping full speed ahead towards the horizon.

     “Okay, and now I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”

     A bead of sweat ran down the side of Sonic’s muzzle as he looked up again to see the island filling the sky. It looked as though they were going to crush him, but it turned out to be far worse as the bottom of the island opened and a massive propeller descended and unfolded from within.

     “Yeah, that’s definitely bad,” Sonic remarked finally recognizing his situation was going south faster than he was. Running in place to build up the speed he would need to get away Sonic could feel the ground beneath him begin to move as the impossibly massive rotor began to turn. “Uh-oh!”

     His feet becoming a ribbon of red Sonic bolted for the edge of the island’s shadow. The ground was not holding though as the turning of the giant rotor tore it from the ground in massive chunks that forced Sonic to redirect his path. Before he realized it, he was practically running up towards the rotor.

     “Now you offer me an invitation! When I have to refuse no less! You bird brains definitely know how to make a hedgehog feel unwelcome!”

     Though he joked Sonic knew he was in more danger than he could get out of with ease. He was going to have the fight the pull of the rotor and run back towards the ground. There was almost no ground left though, but rather a massive monolithic ruin that had been revealed as the earth was pulled away in what was becoming a tornado of unmatched destructive force. Unlike a tornado though the island that formed it was descending towards the earth and the ruin complex Sonic desperately scrambled to reach. If he could just reach it and make his way deeper underground. It seemed so close, yet so far out of reach.

     “Come on Sonic, you ‘re more than fast enough!” Sonic shouted as he forced himself ahead of the descending island and the death it offered him. “Run!”

     Sonic’s shout would be heard by no one as the island collided with the ground, the massive rotor tearing away everything beneath it. The shock wave of earth rolled like a mountainous tidal wave through the prairie and Fang and his air bike were thrown far from where they attempted to out race it. Tumbling through the air Fang shook a fist back at the Battle Kukku Armada air fleet. “You absolute nincompoops! Is this any way to treat your partner!”

     Even through his own temper, Fang could easily tell from his vantage point that there was no way anything under the island could have survived. As he watched in awestruck horror at the swirling cloud of dust that rose around the island and connected earth and sky, he smiled nervously.

     “That never gets old, and never any less terrifying either. That owl has more than one screw loose.” Righting his air bike and seating himself upon it once again, Fang’s smile turned more malicious. “But at least it means one less obstacle between me and my treasure tracker. So long Sonic the Hedgehog. It was dreadful knowing you, so go on and rest in pieces!”

     With a howling laugh Fang steered himself back towards the ground to wait for his opportunity to ask about the location of the rest of Sonic’s friends. With the hero seemingly gone, it was time to claim his prize and scram before Doctor Fukurokov turned on him.

Scene 9 · CLEARED

Doctor Fukurokov’s Descent, End