Sonic Runaways

Sonic ran along the ocean's wall, through a fissure that had sliced through Tropical Coast's sea eons ago. Tails flew between the two parallel tides, as Zomom clung onto his hands for dear life. Zik rolled along on the water's edge, balancing atop a giant apple she had summoned beforehand. Zoga rode through on a large float adorned with ribbons and flowers.

Sonic felt weightless, and the adrenaline coursing through his veins covered up any fear that the ocean might have brought otherwise. Even when he descended into a tunnel, he didn't slow down. He hardly even acknowledged his aquaphobia. He instead took this time to take in the sights. There were large fish he had never seen before, that must have been native to the Lost Hex. Large fantastical coral reefs that seemed unbound by any law of nature. "T'be honest, I didn't ever get the whole fuss over the Hexagonal Eclipse. I only really participated because it's tradition back on Erius," he told Zomom. "But after this is all over… I'll be getting a nice vantage point every year." As he ran, he pushed his hand into the ocean and let the salt water sink into his glove.

"I'm glad!" Zomom exclaimed. "Part of me wishes I could see the Lost Hex cover the moon…" She looked to the ocean, her reflection looking back at her from the water. It looked happy.

"I'll bring snacks," Zik replied. Zomom's stomach growled, and she realized how long she had been operating on just a small few bites of fried fish. Then, it felt like lightning had struck her.

"Wait… that tone in her voice…" Zomom thought to herself. "What did she mean by that?" Tails started to lower onto a path of coral reef that was sticking out from the water. "Huh? Why are we landing?" Zomom asked him out loud.

"Sorry, I can't really fly that long when I'm holding so much w— people," Tails panted, only realizing how inappropriate that was to say midway through. Sweat rolled down his face when he realized he had failed to save the sentence. Zomom was mortified.

"Ah… I see…" Zomom replied, looking down to the ground. She walked ahead on the coral reef. Sonic watched as she passed him, and then glared at Tails. He looked guilty. Zoga stood there awkwardly, and Zik hopped down from her apple, walking along slowly. Sonic sped over to Zomom, and then, they were both far ahead of everyone else. He slowed down and walked alongside her, now faced with a view of the deepest part of the ocean just outside the otherworldly tunnel. Sonic noticed Zomom was shaking.

"Hey, it's okay," Sonic consoled. "He didn't mean it like that."

"I know," Zomom mumbled. "But it's exactly what everyone's thinking." Sonic looked to the ground. That was hard to refute completely. "That's what I'm thinking."

"What?" Sonic asked, stopping in place. He averted his eyes, but when he did, he saw that Zomom's reflection in the water was different from the woman that stood in front of him. It was larger and more monstrous than her. The orange beast was mostly obscured by shadows. Zomom didn't seem phased. "Zomom… what is that?"

The beast pounded against the other side of the ocean mirror with its large meaty fists, shooting sharp watery webs into the thin pocket of air that they were inside of. Sonic evaded the beams of salt water, grabbed Zomom, and ran back around towards the rest of the group. However, he didn't make it far before he realized that the monster in the mirror was following them. It seemed to shift along in the water to match wherever Zomom was. As Sonic realized this, the ogre-like apparition smashed its fists down. The coral reef began to sink into the ocean. Sonic jumped back, and ran the other way. Zomom was completely motionless and completely emotionless in his arms as all this was happening. As if consciousness had left her completely.

Sonic had to precisely yet quickly jump in between the webs of the entanglement of barbed wire made from solidified water. Like they were lasers protecting a vault. The coral reef was falling apart behind him. From the distance, he could hear waves splashing as the tunnel was filled with water. He noticed Tails carrying Zik and Zoga away from the tides as they came crashing in.

"Tails! Something's wrong with Zomom!" Sonic shouted over the sounds of the torrent. Tails' eyes were fixated on Zomom's weird reflection. "And I think it has something to do with that weird monster in the water."

"Got it!" Tails exclaimed. "Any ideas? Because we're running out of road!" Sonic skidded to a stop as the reef in front of him sunk along with the ground behind him. He was cornered. "I don't think I can carry us all…" Zik summoned a circle of fruit around her. She telekinetically crushed all of it into fruit juice, and shot it forward. It created a trail.

"Quickly! This trail is our only shot," Zik shouted. She ran forward and skated along the fruit juice. Everybody followed, being swept forward by the current of nectar.

"Arright! Gotta juice and cut it loose!" Sonic exclaimed, rail grinding on the current. This exclamation got him some weird looks from everyone else.

"Sonic, we're almost to the surface!" Tails stated, watching as the sunlight became more abundant through the thinning veil of water. Suddenly, one of the webs shot right for Zomom. This one looked almost harpoon-like, yet had no barbs. It nearly speared Zomom, but Tails Spin Jumped right through the web, and it lost its form. The cold water splashed onto Zomom's face. She woke up. Not a second after she did, they were all flung off of the fruit juice current, onto dry land.

Sonic tumbled into the sand, rolling to a stop in spinball form. Groaning, he got to his feet and turned to the ocean. He immediately sprinted over to see if the beast had followed them out of the water… only to find that the beast was nowhere to be found. It had just vanished into the tides.

"Is everyone okay?" Tails asked, getting to his feet. "Where'd that monster go?"

"What monster?" Zomom asked. Everybody turned to her. "One second I was walking with Sonic, the next I'm flying off a stream of fruit juice." Everyone looked to Sonic, their glares prying at him for answers.

"She completely spaced out. Then that thing appeared in place of her reflection in the water," Sonic recounted. "I'm sure you all noticed, but… it looked like it was linked to her." Zomom's eyes widened.

"Whoa…" Zomom gasped, fearfully. "Am I possessed or something?!"

"Technically, yes," Zik replied. "I sense great darkness in you. Great sin."

"Wh-what???" Zomom cried, distraught. "But I'm not evil. Robotnik controlled me to do bad things. You understand that more than anyone else. Probably even more than I do!"

"I've known this for some time. For about… well, how old are you now?" Zik sighed, under the sunset. Zomom had a look of betrayal on her face.

"Master, you kept this a secret from me?" Zomom asked. "Why?"

"Under normal circumstances, things like these are better left untold," Zik answered. "But… I suppose you must learn the true nature of that beast before it strikes again." Zik turned into a blur, piecing together sticks from a nearby collection of trees in a mixture of speed and accuracy that could almost be comparable to Sonic's abilities. She then lit it on fire by tapping the wood with her finger.

"What??? Please don't burn me at the stake!" Zomom begged, terrified. "I promise I didn't sin!"

"Excuse me? We're not burning anybody," Zik replied, looking at Zomom confusedly. "This is just so my boobs don't freeze off." She sat down on a piece of driftwood.

"Yeah! We wouldn't want that," Sonic exclaimed.

"Okay. Another word out of you and I'll reconsider the not-burning-people thing," Zik groaned. Sonic put up his hands in surrender. "Everyone cozy? Good, good. Class is in session. This is the tale of the Hexi's ancestors… the Zeti."