Soul Eater but it's Sonic

Chapter 42

Blaze assessed the interior of the storm with a bit of surprise. Sunlight within the vortex suggested a different time of day entirely. Blaze judged the position of the sun, and confirmed that it was much higher in the sky now.

"How could a vortex have its own day/night cycle?" Blaze wondered.

"I heard that New Babylon doesn't follow daylight savings time. Maybe this is where all that leftover light goes?" Silver joked.

The princess tried suppressing a grin, but failed. A few satisfied chuckles rang from Silver's weapon form. They were still floating over sand, but there were many stone structures, both manmade and natural, passing by. Off in the distance was a city.

It reminded Blaze of Death City, with a large main building standing over the township, although this one was directly at the center. Each of it's towers were plump and rounded at the top, with only a small point forming in the middle of each dome. The buildings wore various tones of cobalt, sandstone and gray.

Silver and Blaze hadn't even adjusted yet when everything changed. Their sunlit surroundings flickered as if they were failing images projected from an old TV. The clean buildings in the distance and nearby were replaced with similar, decayed versions. The sky became darkened now that the perimeter of the vortex was visible again. Less than thirty seconds passed before the world became pristine again.

"The vortex is showing us a different version of this place!" Silver observed.

"You're right. I think it's likely that the vortex isn't just changing the time of day, but the time of year as well,"

"So how do we know what period of time is being shown now?"

Blaze shrugged. "We'll need more technology and personnel to answer that question, but that'll take time. Time that we may not have now that the kishin is on the loose. Let's focus on finding as much as we can for now,"

Blaze brought out the timer and gave it a twist. She found Jet and Wave, who were riding just ahead. They noticed Blaze once she got closer.

"Soul protect, off,"

A burst of energy stirred up a gust of wind around Wave, sending sand in all directions. Blaze adjusted her path slightly, just in case she might be knocked off balance. Wave stretched her arms and shoulders, letting out a relaxed sigh.

"Much better,"

The witch swiped her hand through the air. Glowing magical feathers were sent at Blaze.

She responded by steering and pulling her speed back a bit for better control. Each of the projectiles detonated one by one, releasing their own gusts of wind that nearly shook Blaze off of her board. Once she found her balance, she saw Jet had drawn close. He resonated with his weapon.

"Wind Scythe!"

Jet swung the fan, sending a concentrated air current at Blaze. Lines of green energy swirled through the current that cut large gashes into the sand below. Blaze hit the brakes, causing Jet's attack to pass in front of her. It crashed into a pillar instead. The column was sliced into many segments before each piece flew out in different directions.

"Don't worry, we'll try not to do more than knock you off your board!" Jet promised with a wink.

He fell back in line with Wave. Both were still in the lead. They started using the decaying structures around them as ramps. A tipped column or a slanted platform allowed each of the avians to perform a wide variety of tricks while Blaze spent her energy catching up.

"Do a trick, Blaze!" Silver's metallic voice cheered.

"Now's really not the time!" Blaze protested.