I do hope that this version will be much better than the original. There were many plot holes that would've made the future chapters very confusing, thus, my reason for taking it down and revamping it.

Those of you who have bore with me as I've struggled in getting the revised version off the ground, I thank you.

Those of you who took time out to read the original version, I thank you, and hope that you find this enjoyable, hopefully more.

So, without further adieu...

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

The Onyx

1

Numb with emotion did the weary and solemn travelers aboard the X-Tornado feel as the jet hummed a nonchalant path home, minus a beloved comrade. Normally teeming with conversations that covered everything from thwarting another one of Dr. Eggman's plans, to baking apple pies, there was nothing to be heard but the engines on that night as their future had now become an uncertainty.

Though there was no real hierarchy to the band of friends, it was simply assumed that Sonic was the intrepid leader of the pack, but even that seemed moot compared to the intense deluge of anger, fear, frustration, and sadness weighing like the proverbial ton of bricks on his mind. He looked up to the full moon above for any advice he thought it might give him, fighting back tears triggered by the aforementioned stream of emotions, so that he could at least put his mind at ease and allow what little hope there was left to come to the forefront. But the moon could only offer its solemn glow, paled by its permanent metallic half.

In despair, his mind began lapsing backwards. Everything was going so right, he thought, how could this have happened? Why?

Nine years had passed since Chris Thorndyke made his unannounced departure from Sonic's world, courtesy of Dr. Eggman's contraption that somehow breached the time continuum to allow Chris to return to his world without the use of chaos control. Though it was never explained how, it, nevertheless, rejuvenated his determination to defeat Sonic and build his empire.

Again, the daily routine of thwarting the evil doctor's plans began for the team until the seemingly endless supply of mechanical creatures and weapons were finally depleted, causing Dr. Eggman to flee into submission, where he had not been heard from for a long time.

The resulting peace that had long been awaited had finally come, though it was tough to settle down for the first few months, as no one really expected the maniacal genius to actually lay low for so long. But as a few more months passed with, still, no sign of activity, the reality gradually set in, allowing the gang to finally take advantage of some well-deserved personal time, engaging in endeavors they normally would never have had time for.

By a mutual agreement, it was decided that the chaos emeralds would be held alongside the master emerald so that their powers would be neutralized by the giant gemstone, guarded by Knuckles day and night.

The echidna had no problem with the decision, as he knew how careless Sonic could be. After all, it was him who had set off chaos control that sent everyone into Chris' world in the first place.

"What about Rouge?" Sonic had asked him, knowing that the two had started a close relationship with each other. He knew the notorious jewel thief would stop at nothing to get her hands on the chaos emeralds, and even the master emerald. She knew of their potential power, but never knew how to tap into that power. She just liked the way they looked. Sonic was simply worried that Eggman would be able to manipulate her into giving the emeralds to him, as he had done before with promises.

"She's not going to touch any emeralds," Knuckles had concluded gruffly. He defended the fact that although he may have started a relationship with the voluptuous bat, he swore to the rest of the team that his lifelong duty of guarding the master emerald came first, as that had been entrusted in him by his ancestors, as would protecting the chaos emeralds. And with a deeply furrowed brow rippling with seriousness, the team understood. However, Tails made it a point to keep one back so that the X-Tornado could still have some kick to its engines.

It turned out to be a wise decision, as within a few months, Knuckles approached the group bearing news that Eggman had somehow managed to nab the emeralds, courtesy of a note from Rouge, who had vanished herself, not having been seen or heard from again.

Sonic knew Knuckles would've been taken advantage of, as well as what would've happened once the thief had the jewels in her greedy hands, but decided to hold off on telling him, as a face full of angry fists wasn't all that inviting.

They would just have to go get them back.

"Vacation's over, everyone," he had said, after calling everyone together at Tails' lab. The mission was simple: sneak into Eggman's base and steal back the emeralds that were stolen from them. They'd done many times before, and this would've been no different.

Upon arriving at Eggman's latest hideout in the X-Tornado, it was pretty clear to the team that the evil doctor was losing his edge in mechanical engineering, as the base looked rather dilapidated, looking as if things had been thrown together in a careless rush.

"This is almost insulting knowing how easy this is gonna be," Sonic laughed.

And it was, at first, as Tails easily hacked the security code using the password: EGGMANRULEZ. Almost casually, the team advanced through the base, using the same password upon every door they came to. There were no sensors, no motion devices, nothing that would detect their presence and set off a chorus of klaxons that would even awaken the narcoleptics.

Once into the main storage room, they noticed a crude mechanical storage unit that held the emeralds in place. It looked as crude and beat up as the rest of the base.

Sonic felt a troubling sensation tiptoeing up his spine. This is too easy, he mused as he stared at the metallic ceiling tiles, mismatched in dull, pale colors. Way too easy.

"Let's just grab them and get out of here," Amy said, plucking one of the emeralds free from its housing. "This place stinks."

But as soon as she grabbed the gleaming blue emerald, a large cage-like structure suddenly dropped from the ceiling, trapping the pink hedgehog inside with a scrambled security code on the adjoining control panel.

"Amy!" Sonic shouted, dashing over to join Knuckles as he began to pry at the bars.

Though everyone was taken by surprise, it wasn't something Tails' tech savvy or the sheer strength of the echidna and the blue hedgehog couldn't handle. But what they didn't know was that they were about to become victims of bad timing.

So, was this better? Worse? Nauseating? Let me know so that future chapters won't be affected. Thanks!