Back in New Yoke City, the Chaos Council's Yoke HQ is flying in the sky, and Nine is in the process of being captured by the Council, but we are not focusing on that. Now we are focusing on our two Hedgehog heroes, who had just had their victory.
"Yes! We did it! You guys good?" Sonic asks.
"We're good. Not sure what happened to your "friend" though." Knucks said.
"Hey, I here those air quotes Knucks." Ryder tells him while pointing.
"I don't like this. The Shard could be anywhere." Rebel said.
"You're right. I better find him before he portals out of here again. Back in a flash!"
He runs in a circle around Rebel and Knucks, who flinch.
Ryder shrugs. "I guess I'm following him. I'll see you guys soon alright?" He then zips after Sonic.
The two then run through the streets, calling out for Nine, but get no answer, when suddenly, they see the HQ floating in the sky.
"What in the...? Where did that thing come from?" Sonic wonders after seeing the ship.
"I think it's a ship? Wait, is that Nine's ship? He's been captured!" Ryder realized.
"Oh my gosh. We better check it out." They begin running again, this time performing a Super Peel Out. Suddenly, Prism Energy begins reverberating around Sonic's body, but not Ryder's.
"Huh? What's going on?!" Sonic asked, noticing the energy.
"I don't know!" Ryder replied, equally surprised.
"Keep going! Do not stop!"Â Shadow appears in midair, looking like a hologram to Sonic, sending a message to him from the Void.
"Shadow?" Sonic replied. However, the hologram of Shadow disappears. Sonic becomes determined from Shadow's words and begins to run even faster, to the point where he warps out of the world.
Ryder's eyes widen in surprise. "Sonic? Where'd you go? Sonic!" Ryder is surprised that Sonic's speed could cause a portal to open so suddenly. He thinks about it for a few seconds before remembering what Nine said back at the lab tests. "The Shard! It still has energy inside of us. Like back when I used it in Boscage Maze! I just need to use it and follow Sonic." Ryder then runs back to get a running start, and then pushes off the wall behind him and runs at full speed, and while he is at his current full speed, he still can barely reach his Peel Out. He then looks at his boots. "It's dangerous to be using this so many times, but better woozy and alive!" He clicks it and starts glowing again. He then reaches Super Peel Out, but isn't fast enough to make a portal. "Come on! I'm giving it all I got. Why won't this work?!"
"You need to focus." Rory said, as he runs beside him at the same speed.
"What the? Rory, right? And what do you mean focus? Focus on what?" Ryder asked him.
"You need to draw the power of the prism out. Use it to get faster. To do that you need to show focus and determination. You need to think about what you need to do and why, Ryder." Rory advises him. Ryder feels skeptical on what Rory is saying.
"How do you know so much about prism energy? And how do you know my name?" He wondered.
"There's no time. Just. Focus." Ryder stares at his variant for a few seconds before shrugging and closing his eyes. He takes a breath and focuses on what he needs to do at this time.
"Find Sonic." Ryder whispers before Prism energy starts to appear from him. He opens his multi-colored eyes in determination and cries out as he builds up his speed. He sees he's about to hit a wall, but doesn't stop as he is almost at the right speed. And just as he is inches away from the wall, he manages to warp out just in time.
Rory smirks at the portal as he runs up the wall to get to Nine. "Good work... brother." He said as he pulls out the purple Chaos Emerald and looks at the open platform on the ship. "Chaos Control!" He exclaims, before teleporting to the ship.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A portal opens in the sky in a world Ryder has never entered before. He comes falling out of it, screaming as he sees a world covered in the ocean, with no land in sight.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh oh my gosh. I'm gonna die! No no, please. Please let there be land!" He then sees a small amount of land close. "Oh. Okay. Just need to reach it... without dying. Okay, you've seen him do this a thousand times." Ryder quotes Iris and Nora as he reaches out his arms, spins them around, and creates wind funnels with them to slow down his descent. On the way down, he sees Sonic evading three people with cutlasses. He then aims his rotating arms backwards so he can get closer to them, and then he launches a Spin-dash at the ground and crashes in the middle of them, scattering them all.
Ryder then uncurls and shakes his head of dirt. "Okay, what is it this time? Aliens? Ghosts? Vampires?"
He looks at the collapsed people and finds the variants of his friends are... pirates.
"Pirates... okay, there are dumber options."
The Tails pirate is the first to get up and raise his cutlass and mechanical arm at Ryder. "And who would you be? Another of the old crew?"
"Old crew? I'm not even on a crew at the moment." Ryder corrected. He then hears an AHEM sound from Sonic and sighs. "Okay, I'm in a little crew with him."
"You know, he's too powerful to be part of the old crew." Black Rose commented.
"Listen, I am not a part of any crew you're looking for. In fact, I've lost my crew. It's a bit of a sore spot, actually." Sonic said.
"I'll give you a sore spot, alright." Batten threatened, pushing her sword close to Sonic.
"Alright, alright. Enough's enough! Gather the coconuts." Black Rose ordered, pointing to some coconuts attached to a palm tree. "The Cap'n would want us to get back to the ship without taking too long. Leave these scalawags for the buzzards." Black Rose added.
"Well, it was fun while it lasted." Batten sighed, fiddling with her sword.
"Wait, you're leaving?" Sonic asked.
Batten uses her sword to grab a coconut from the tree. Everybody prepares to leave.
"Uh, you can't leave me here." Sonic said, running after the trio. "There's literally water everywhere! Uh, where're you going? Somewhere with a lot of land, hopefully...?" Sonic added.
"Back to our ship, and we don't take scalawags." Batten replied, pointing to the wooden boat they will be using to get back to the ship.
"Y'know... With all that speed, this land lover could be useful." Sails said, flying up to Ryder. "Swabbing the deck, raising the mizzen mast, rowing the boat." Sails suggested.
"I hate rowing the boat." Batten sighed.
"Yeah, sure. I'll row, but only if you let us stay with you until we can find proper land." Ryder negotiated offering a hand.
"Deal." Batten agreed, shaking said hand.
"Fine! I, too, hate the rowing. But, there is one condition when we get back to the ship. It's Cap'n's orders... or else!" Black Rose said, beginning to walk back to the boat.
"Or else... the Plank?" Sonic asked, laying his arm onto the side of the boat. It began to drift away, but he pulled it back just in time. "I can assure you that these hedgehogs have no interest in planks. Captain's orders, got it!" Sonic assured, winking at Black Rose. "I love captains." Sonic added, making a heart symbol with his hands.
"Please... too much Sonic." Ryder said facepalming.
"Sorry." Sonic looks down.
Ryder then looks across the sea and became fascinated by the sight of the ship at the distance. "Whoa! Is that your ship?" Ryder asked.
"'Tis indeed." Batten replied, giving the rower to Ryder. "Now move along! You need to hurry to get a good seat."She said as she and the group walks/flies to the boat. Ryder jumps above them and lands on his seat.
"Everybody got seat belts on?" Ryder asked, jokingly.
"Seat belts?" Sails asks as Sonic holds on to the boat for dear life. Suddenly, Ryder starts rowing, and going really fast. The pirates yell in surprise. As soon as they reach the ship, all of the pirates can be seen shaken up from the boat ride. Batten sits frozen, while Black Rose gasps for air in the back, and Sails' lips can be seen shaking.
"Well, that was quick." Batten comments as the boat begins to be raised by two carriers located at the side of the ship. After the boat reaches the top, everybody hops out of the boat. Ryder starts looking around and sees a sleeping Catfish who falls off a hammock. A coconut with a drinking straw inside it rolls over to Ryder's foot.
"Well, he must've had a big night." Ryder commented before walking down the stairs.
"You guys should really consider cleaning that poop deck. Where's this captain you speak of?" Sonic asks.
Suddenly, a voice can be heard from above. Sonic looks up at the person, who is shown as a silhouette. "Argh! Who'd be the scalawag you brought on board?"
"Boys, meet Dread." Black Rose introduces.
"The Dread." Batten adds with emphasis.
The person who was located at the top of the ship slides down a rope, eventually hitting the bottom. The person who was at the top is revealed to be the captain, who is named Knuckles the Dread. Ryder recognized him from a vision he had before they arrived in this whole mess, along with Thorn Rose, Nine, and... Rory... he saw Rory in his vision. And he was angry at him for some reason. Ryder not only learned he have a premonition... he just learned that he might have to view Nine's friend as an enemy.
"The Dread is... Knuckles?" Sonic said, shocked, taking Ryder out of his thoughts."Yeah, does make sense." Sonic admits.
"True, but he's Pirate Knuckles... and pirates are known to be scum so..." Ryder zips past Sails and Batten, taking their swords in the process. He then passed one to Sonic and aim at Dread.
Suddenly, a scent spreads out within the air. Sonic sniffs to figure out what it is. "Fire?" He motions to a fireplace, which has a burning fire inside. "Fire!" Froggy pops out from behind. "Wait... Dinner?" Catfish can be seen holding a coconut, until putting it onto a box. He raises his sword and smashes open the coconut. Coming out of it is copra. Sonic becomes excited. "Dinner!"
"Sonic! Focus!"
"I will take those swords of yours for these nice, shiny apples." Dread holds out an apple to Sonic and Ryder.
"What? So you can stuff it in our mouths and cook us like non-sentient pigs? No thanks." Ryder said with a glare. Dread slightly smiles at what Ryder said, and soon bursts out laughing, along with the other pirates, much to Ryder's confusion. "Uh, what's going on? Am I missing something?"
Dread walks past Ryder. "Don't ye worry. The fire isn't to cook you... it's to welcome you!" Catfish can be seen behind a cannon, firing it straight at the Hedgehogs. They gasp and cover their faces, hoping that they aren't about to be attacked. However, coming out of it is confetti. All of the pirates begin to cheer, and the Hedgehogs open their eyes, looking around in confusion to what's happening. Catfish and Froggy then begin playing instruments together; Froggy is playing a drum, while Catfish is playing a bass guitar. He begins playing to Froggy's beat. The camera swoops past crates, balloons being hung up, and party lights.
"Definitely not the Knuckles I know..." Sonic mentions.
"Yeah... I don't know if this makes me miss Knuckles more, or think I should just replace him." Ryder admitted
"Besides, have you seen the light ones legs? I've seen more meat on a starfish!" Dread jokes. Sonic looks down at his legs.
"Wait... This really is a party?" He becomes delighted by the fact that a party is about to start.
"Sure is! But we don't cross new adventurers that often." Dread winks at Ryder.
"You're officially my favorite Knuckles ever." Ryder smiles. Suddenly, he hears a gasp coming from Sonic. He runs over to it. He then starts to loom over a table, his pupils big with excitement. "Is this a Chili Dog?"
Dread rests his arm behind Sonic's back. Sonic picks up the food. "More like a Sea Dog."
"A Sea Dog? What's it made of? Sea weed or something?"
"Trust me landlubber, you don't want to know." Ryder then hears his own voice. He realizes that it must be his doppelganger. Ryder slowly turns to greet him.
"Oh thank God. I had a feeling I didn't exist he-. Oh my GOD! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Ryder stares in shock at his doppelganger's form.
"It be a thrilling but personal tale. The name be Ryder. Metal-bone Ryder. They call me that because of me metal bones." Metal-bone raised his hand to greet his new friend.
"Uh, I noticed. It's just Ryder for me. It's good to meet you." Ryder nervously shakes his counterparts hand.
Metal-bone stares at him with suspicious eyes. "You share my name, and you look familiar. Could ye be a ghost of my fallen ancestors of the deep blue sea?"
Ryder quickly shakes his head. "No, no. You see, it's kinda a long but much simpler story."
Metal-bone shrugs. "Nothing going on right now. Feel free to tell." He then starts leaning on the rail.
"Okay so..." Ryder took a breath and tells the story about Eggman in Green Hill, him later entering New Yoke City shortly after Sonic shattered the Paradox Prism and took him with him, chased Nine in the train station, taking tests from the Chaos Council, being attacked by Dr. Deep, being hit by Thorn Rose's hammer, hitting a wooden border in Boscage Maze, slashing Thorn Rose's cheek, and entering No Place, with it concluding with him crashing to the ground. The flashbacks end. "And then I ended up here."
"Wow. I would've just taken the ghost thing." Metal-bone said with wide eyes. "There's something called the Shatterverse, there are five of me, and there are a bunch of scientists as smart as Sails trying to steal this 'Paradox Prism' you keep talking about?"
"I wouldn't say that part about Sails, but... yeah."
"Wow. I do not envy you chum. And if it helps... I believe I can help you. I've heard tell of a powerful gem stone, and I think it matches the description of the Shards you told me about." Metal-bone's news was shocking to Ryder. He didn't expect to find a lead on this world's Shard so quickly.
"You did?! Oh my gosh. Can you take me there? Right now?" Ryder asked, grabbing his counterpart's shoulders and shaking him.
Metal-bone moves Ryder's hands away. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy scalawag. There be plenty of time to talk about it after the party. Besides... I don't believe the Cap'n is ready to speak of it... Nor am I." Metal-bone then looks at his missing parts in despair.
Ryder looked into Metal-bone's eyes and saw sadness and trauma in them. He decided not to pry and go sit down to drink from a nice coconut. He doesn't take any time for the limbo contest and after the times he's had without any sleep, he decides to take a nice warm nap. He closes his eyes and has a peaceful sleep.
TEN HOURS LATER
Ryder begins to wake up after a long and relaxing sleep, and before he can even stretch, he is completely awakened by the sound of a cannonball hitting the water near them. He stands up in surprise as he sees another ship in the horizon. "We're under attack!" Ryder alerts the crew.
"It would be the old crew... again." Batten said with less than exciting feelings about the situation.
"Argh! Take yer positions!" Dread ordered as the crew begin to get into their positions. Ryder and Sonic remain in their normal spot, though.
"Ready Sonic?" Ryder asked as he takes his battle stance.
"Darn right. They want to fight? We'll give them one! Right, Dread?" Sonic notices that Dread, Metal-bone and the other pirates are gone. "Uh, Dread? Dread...?" He turns around, seeing him hiding behind two barrels. "Is he... hiding?"
"Seriously? Cowardly pirates? One world where people have no brains, a world with no heart, and now a world without courage. Where are we, OZ?!" Ryder exclaims, annoyed.
The ship that is attacking the Angel's Voyage begins to get further and further towards the ship, until finally stopping at its side. Six pirates, including the captain, can be seen preparing to board the Angel's Voyage.
"Sorry, but this hedgehog is not about to roll over for a few lousy pirates." Sonic said.
"Neither am I." Ryder adds.
"But we be pirates!" Batten said, confused.
"Not you fool!" Ryder yells at her, causing her to recoil.
A wooden bridge is placed down from the ship preparing to attack the Angel's Voyage to the Angel's Voyage itself. The pirates begin to board the Angel's Voyage, each wielding weapons.
"Take them for everything they've got!" The captain orders his pirates.
"Boy, I do love messing with this bunch!" Some purple person who looks like Commander Red said with a smirk.
"Nothing beats sticking it to our old Cap'n!" One of the pirates a part of the crew can be seen carrying a plate full of sea dogs. The Captain takes a sea dog for himself. "And these tasty sea dogs."
"I'd like to watch old Dread quake in his boots, and then take them for every last sea dog in that galley." The pirates begin to laugh. Ryder glares at them for a second before stepping forward.
"Alright you monsters. You have two options. 1#, you hand over those sea dogs, walk away, and never come back, or 2#, I beat you guys up and throw you off the plank. Your choice."
"Bold talk for a lad with no sword." The captain said with a smirk.
"Bold talk for a lad with no soul." Ryder shot back at him.
The Captain's face transforms into one of anger and points his sword at him. "Charge!" He orders as the crew advances.
"Okay... you're choice. Now!" Ryder jumps out of the way when Sonic climbs into the cannon and spin-dashes the other pirates, much to the Angel's Voyage crew's shock. Sonic takes down more of the crew by jumping on their heads and then spin-dashing the last standing one.
"Don't say we didn't warn ya." Sonic said, flicking his nose.
Jack's crew gets up, and charges towards Sonic. "Argh! Argh-argh-argh!" Sonic stands on two of the pirates' swords, smiling proudly as he does so. He jumps off. Ryder then steps forward.
"My turn." Ryder spin-dashes and knocks down most of the pirates into the water. After he has done so, he begins walking backwards, proud of what he has done. Suddenly, he bumps into a few barrels behind him. He rolls on one of them, desperately trying to run off as it is rolling nearer to the water. "Oh! No, no, no, no, no! Dang iiiiit!" The barrel rolls into the water. Ryder thinks he's going to land into the water and have to swim back if possible, but suddenly, he begins "running" on the water, as in floating above it with his new shoes. It seems to possess some sort of hover technology that allows his to hover over oceans. Too bad he can't keep it later. He gets launched up into the air as his shoes begin to activate hovering boards to let him stay afloat. He looks down at his shoes. "Whoa! Okay. Sure beats swimming back. Speaking of which, I gotta get Sonic signed up for lessons. He does know Hedgehogs can swim right?" He then begins running back towards the Angel's Voyage. After he gets back up, the hovering boards on his shoes deactivate. He lifts up his leg, looking at his shoe in fascination. "Oh, so cool! Huh?"
[Sonic looks ahead and sees that the rest of the Angel's Voyage crew, except for Dread who is still hiding, have joined in on the fight. Sails knocks down Bunny Bones using two swords, while Catfish grabs one of the other pirates. Jack begins charging at Sails, but Batten takes him down just in the nick of time. A sword hits one of the barrels that Knuckles the Dread is hiding behind. He closes his eyes and then opens one of them up, continuing to look on at the fight. The camera cuts to Black Rose and Stormbeard fighting each other using swords, until Black Rose gets knocked down, dropping her sword. Stormbeard aims his sword at Black Rose. "You're done for!" Suddenly, something gets knocked over Stormbeard's and the other pirates' heads. Metal-bone can be seen holding a large barrel with his mechanical arm, looking at the other pirates as they fall down one-by-one.
"Enough! We surrender! We surrender!" Bunny Bones tells them in shame.
Batten flies down in front of the fallen pirates. "Argh! Givin' up already? Takes the fun right out of it, don't it?" A
"Oh!" Black Rose aims her sword towards Bunny Bones "I've waited a long time to deal out some pirate justice!"
Ryder moves in front of Black Rose. "Whoa, whoa. Hold your horses Rosey. They technically didn't make a choice yet." Ryder turns back to the enemy pirates and puts his hands on his hips. "So what'll it be? 1# or 2#?" The pirates' eyes widened, remembering what he was talking about. They all stick their hands out and point one finger out. "Aw, such a shame. I would've enjoyed throwing a few of you off the plank. Alright, return what you stole, everything you stole, including the stuff you robbed in the past and go, and never bother us again." Ryder said with a glare towards the captain, who nodded and ran to the ship behind them to get the stuff, with the rest of the old crew following them. In a matter of minutes, all the things they lost to the old crew was returned to them, including golden treasure and whatnot. Jack's crew begin to sail away. The Angel's Voyage crew begin cheering for themselves, proud of the work they have done. Black Rose hugs Ryder, to which he smiles at her.
"Show them, scalawags! Woo-hoo!" Black Rose cheered as Ryder smirked. Ryder then looks back at Dread, who picks back up his pirate hat.
"Okay, Dread, tell me where the Shard is?" Ryder said with a determined tone.
Black Rose jumps in front of Ryder, holding her arm out in front of him. "Enough stalling! Tell Cap'n Sonic what he wants to know."
"'Captain'? I love the newfound respect, but I'm not interested in the captain life."
"You have given us a taste for the pirate life, and we want more, Cap'n." Batten tells him as the other pirates begin dancing around. Dread just stares with a neutral look on his face.
"Look, as fun as it is to go pillaging and sinking pirate ships, that's a long-term job, and I can't stay here. Just tell me where I can find the gem." Ryder said to Dread, and partially Metal-bone too.
Dread growls. "I begged your friend to leave it alone, but you're just too stubborn, aren't ye?"
"That would be accurate."
"Fine." Dread sits down on a crate. "Black Rose, tell the tale."
"Yes!" Ryder, Sonic and Sails both look at Black Rose. "Oh. Sorry."
"Just remember, you're the one who asked for this." Dread said.
Black Rose clears her throat. "It was years ago."
Flashback, No Place
A flashback shows Dread sailing his ship on a dark and stormy night with a not-so-metal-bone Ryder navigating. "Knuckles the Dread was the most feared pirate that sailed the seas." The former members of Knuckles the Dread's old crew, Jack's crew, can be seen raising the sails to keep the ship going forward. "Fame, treasure, power; he had it all. But there was one prize that eluded his grasp..."
Pause
"The Devil's Lighthouse!" Sails interrupts and gets pushed away angrily by Black Rose.
"Let me tell the story, Sails!"
"Sorry."
"Now, where was I? Oh, right."
Resume Flashback
"The Devil's Lighthouse. Cap'n'd spent years looking, and he'd finally gotten his mits on the map that would lead him to it." Pirate Ryder holds the map in his hands and tells Dread where he needs to go.
Pause
"What's a pirate need with a lighthouse?" Sonic interrupted.
"The Devil's Lighthouse isn't a lighthouse at all." Metal-bone explains. "It's a magical gem, priceless beyond imagining, whose heart glows with a light enough to pierce the densest of fogs!"
"The Shard!" He quickly runs up to Dread] "Where is it? Do you have it?" Dread kneels up closely to Sonic, growling at him. "Right, listen to the story. Sorry."
"With the map, we knew the location. All I needed to do was get to it."
Resume again
Knuckles the Dread, who is in the flashback, can be seen looking through a telescope at his desired treasure.
"Keep that sail full o' wind! Steady as she goes!" Dread ordered as his ship continues to sail across the sea towards the treasure.
"Aye aye, Cap'n." Pirate Ryder saluted before raising the sails even more.
"Cap'n, change course!" Jack begs the Captain.
"We'll wreck on those rocks for sure!" Bunny Bones pleads.
"Turn around, Cap'n! We're beggin' ya!" Stormbeard begs but gets grabbed by Dread.
"Get offa me, ya yellow-bellied dog!" He then throws Stormbeard. Dread continues to steer to the treasure.
"The crew thought I'd lost me marbles." Dread said, while telling the story.
"Cap'n, ye lost yer marbles!" Bunny says in the story.
"Oh quiet down you fool!" Pirate Ryder yelled.
"And they were right. My only thought was getting my hands on that stone, no matter what." [The camera cuts to Knuckles the Dread's ship, as it continues to steer back-and-forth with the former members of his crew sliding all over the place on the ship in the flashback.]
"You've gone too far, Cap'n." Stormbeard falls over.
The ship continues to move quickly, with Dread smiling at the fact that he's getting closer to claiming the treasure as his. Suddenly...
"No!"
[...the crew is surprised by the appearance of a monster. A monster that was taller than any cliff they've seen so far. It had a roar unlike anything they've ever heard. "And we were not prepared for the giant monster who roamed those seas." Metal bone told them. It somehow had the ability to control the water surrounding them, and moved their ship towards a cliff. The ship was then damaged and began to sink into the water, along with both Dread, Pirate Ryder and the former members of his crew. Pirate Ryder was then knocked off onto a small amount of land. Before he could get up to help the captain, he is surprised to see a giant chunk of rock was falling fast towards him. All he could do was scream before it landed on the left half of his body, knocking him unconscious. Soon, Dread can be seen swimming back up to the surface. After he gets back up, he grabs onto one of the lifeboats and sees that the former members of his crew have a wooden boat of their own, though it is only small. Bunny Bones helps one of the other pirates onto the ship.
"Over here! Pick me up! And find Ryder! That's an order!!!"
"Leave him be. There's not enough room!" Stormbeard told them.
"You showed us that you don't care, Cap'n. And that Ryder cares just as little. You can find him over there, buried behind the rocks you drove him to." Jack said, pointing at the possibly dead former companion of theirs.
"You're the captain now, Jack."
Dread had then realized that his crew was never going to come back for him, that he was now alone, and had no one but the unconscious first mate. "Nooo!!!"
Flashback End
"Dread eventually found Sails, and he was able to fix my body... but my mind will always remember." Metal-bone looked at his cybernetics in sadness.
"The Devil's Lighthouse took me reputation and me courage. I swear I'd never go near that cursed stone again."
Sonic runs over to them. "But you're Knuckles the Dread and Metal-bone Ryder! You survived a shipwreck, you've got a gold tooth! And you survived a monster and got a cool robot claw. You are pirates, guys, pirates! Help me find that map, and I'll help you get your pirate on."
"That map's at the bottom of the sea, sunk with me old ship. I've lost my way, boyo. You want the map? Find it yourself." Dread tells him
"Gone? But if we can't get to the Shard then that means..." Ryder realizes what is at stake.
"We're trapped here." Sonic finishes.
"If it's not too much of a bother, Ryder, Sonic, would you mind me taking a gander at them fancy boots of yours?" Sails asks them.
"Yeah, sure. They're pretty awesome." Sonic steps closer to Sails, until... "Of course!" ...he looks down at his shoes again, even with putting his hands out at them. "We don't need the map." [The camera cuts to Sonic's shoes] "We can find the Shard with our kicks!"
Ryder's eyes widen at that realization. "You're right! We actually have a shot." Ryder then starts running around the ship, looking for a glow, until he very front of the ship. "I got it. It's this way! Black Rose, plot a course for the Devil's Lighthouse." Ryder said that last part in a pirate voice.
"Aye-aye, Cap'n!"Â Batten flies to the top of the ship, with Black Rose taking the wheel. The ship begins to set sail again. Sonic runs back, sliding down a rail of a set of stairs along the way, and landing in front of Dread.
"So yer stealing me crew, me ship, and me job?" Dread stands closely to Ryder, threateningly.
"Look, buddy, I don't mean to steal your job. I just need to borrow it for a while until we get the-"
"Fine."
"You can have it back la- -did you just say 'fine'?"
"Did ye not just listen to me tale of terror and despair?"
"I'm sorry, but I need that Shard." Sonic apologizes.
"Then their fates are in yer hands." Knuckles the Dread takes off his pirate hat and places it onto Ryder's head. Ryder looks up at the hat on his head and takes a breath.
"Okay, here goes everything." He said.
"Cap'n! There's something in the water off the port side!" Batten called out and points to her left. "Could be a whale."
"Crud." Ryder zips off to the edge of the port side of the ship and sees some sort of large thing inside of it. Only, it's not like any fish Ryder's ever seen before. In fact, if he squints just right... oh no. "That's no whale." Ryder realizes.
The large thing swims up to the surface. It is a metallic, tube-like ship that is larger than the Angel's Voyage ship. The ceiling to it opens up, and Eggforcers begin activating. Suddenly, a certain someone steps out of the ship. She climbs up to the edge of the ship, looking straight at the Hedgehogs.
"Rusty Rose? How are you here?" Sonic asks.
"You underestimate the council. Time for you to go down with your ship. Fire!" Rusty Rose points at the Angel's Voyage, with the Eggforcers beginning to fire lasers at the ship. The pirates begin to panic.
"Oh shoot." Ryder said.
So, we're almost at the end of the season. How does it feel? Also, no one commented on Luck of the Irish. Come on guys, I need you guys to help me out here. Any who I hope you enjoyed Metal-bone Ryder. If not, I promise I'll do a better job next chapter. I also thank you for giving me over 500 reads and the 1# ranking for Sonic Prime Stories. I am eternally grateful. I hope that we can get to 1000 by the end of the second season, but I guess I'll have more time for other stories with the season over. Thank you, and see you next time.