Chapter 2: Welcome Back to Space Colony: ARK

"Wha? Where are we?"

"We were just at the Metropolis Park, weren't we?"

"But…we aren't. How on Mobius did we get here?"

The kitsune came running from a dirt pathway to the rest of the group, "Uh, guys, I don't think we're on Mobius anymore…" he motioned to the path which had a large sign about a half mile down reading, "Welcome to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada!"

"Canada?"

"Apparently, Chaos Control transported us to Earth, or more specifically, Canada." the kit explained.

"But where's Egghead? Shouldn't he be here with us?" Sonic glanced around the area & discovered that he, Scarlett, & the kitsune were the only ones there, "Oh great! Now we have to find the others!"

"I can remember when the Professor & I had to come to Buffalo, for supplies. The police station should be this way." she pointed to a street that ran in between several little shops & restaurants & began walking down that street.

The fox & the hedgehog glanced to one another, shrugged, then followed the Italian, who was already halfway down the street & ran after her.

The minutes passed like hours, & they soon noticed the people who were staring at them, are now following them; a cue to start running as fast as they could away from the crowds.

The kit tugged at Scarlett's skirt, "Scarlett, I don't like the way they're staring at us."

She glanced down at her little friend & noticed that he looked a sickly pale, "Tails are you feeling alright?" she felt his forehead.

He shook his head, "I haven't been feeling well since last night."

"Do you have any symptoms? Nausea, diarrhea, head ache, body aches?"

"Body & head aches, & I feel like I'm going to throw up all the time."

She turned to the cobalt hedgehog, "Sonic, have you kept an eye on him at all?"

"I always do. He hasn't complained of anything that I know of so far." he knelt down next to the kit, "Tails, why didn't you say anything to me?"

"Because you always say that it's not good to be sick. That's why I didn't say anything."

"That's not what I meant lil' bro, I meant that it's not good to be sick all of the time because sickness can cause your immune system to break down & get you even more sicker."

"Oh…I'm sorry Sonic."

"No, no, it's alright. Just promise me that whenever you feel sick, tell me. Alright?"

"Alright." the kit moaned & grasped his forehead, "I don't feel so good now."

Sonic picked up the kit, "Scarlett, we need to rest somewhere. He's not feeling too good & I'm afraid he'll get sicker."

She watched as the kit's ears flattened flat against his skull, "It'll be a few more minutes; it's on the next street over."

"Okay."

TASH&MB2

"Don't worry Miss Macioci, we'll find your family & friends soon. You said that there were six missing hedgehogs: two pink ones, a white one, a black & red one, a green one, a lavender one, & a gold one, there were two echidnas, one red & the other orange, two rabbits, & a cat? & lastly, there were six missing humans, three females, three males. Correct?"

"Yes & no. You forgot, an orange & black hedgehog, plus nine other baby hedgehogs, & one baby puggle."

"What on Earth is a puggle?"

"A baby echidna."

"Okay…so now we have twenty-seven missing persons & animals."

"Plus any others that may have tagged along."

"How many?"

"There's close to fifty in our family. Most of them would have gotten lost at the same time."

"Fifty? Miss Macioci, that's quite a family."

"Grazie. Oh, I almost forgot…hey Sonic-"

"Who's Sonic?"

"You mean to tell me that you've never heard about me before?" the cobalt hedgehog stepped into the office from where he was originally sitting in the waiting area.

"Y-you're-you're…S-Sonic the H-Hedgehog!" he used his index finger to point directly at the hedgehog, who simply did nothing.

"I think we should. Officer, you know of Dr. Robotnik, or also known as Dr. Eggman. Right?"

"Yes, Mr. Hedgehog, I do."

"Please, Officer, call me "Sonic" instead. I don't really like it when people call me "hedgehog." "

"But that's your last name isn't it?"

"It's actually Maurice."

"That name sounds so familiar…I can barely remember…"Sonic" really isn't your real name…it's something else. If only my noggin would just work!"

"It's Olgilvie. Olgilvie Kay Michaels Maurice, is my full & real name."

"Oh…um…let's get back to the missing persons: there are at least fifty people who could be missing. Correct?"

"Correct."

"I'll need a list of their names & species." he gave her a notepad & pencil.

"Grazie." holding the notepad, she thanked him once more before leaving for the waiting area.

She took the notepad with her to the waiting room & sat in one of the chairs there. Sonic & Tails followed her & sat beside of her, "Scarlett, do you remember the last time Chaos Control was? Most of us were sent around the world into totally different continents! How do you expect them to find them?"

"Easy. The Canadian Police Station will notify the local television stations to put up a bulletin about the others, & when word spreads around the area that Sonic the Hedgehog's friends & family are missing, it'll soon spread to America, & when it hits America, then it will spread to Europe, Asia, & other parts of the world. Thus, the others will learn of our location & find us."

"Okay…but how do we find the Blue Typhoon in the meantime?"

"If we find Eggman, we find the Blue Typhoon."

"What makes you so sure about that?"

"Simple. Look behind you." she pointed behind the fox & out the window where the Blue Typhoon & the Eggship lay amongst several buildings under construction & a small field of [what were] flowers a few miles away from the police station.

"That's not our fault!" they cried.

TASH&MB2

"Espio…Aleena…& Yoshi. Is that all?"

"That's all of them who could be missing."

"Okay. I'll notify Channel 8 that you're here & tell them to notify you when they have word on any of their locations. They should be able to send the news it around the world & you'll soon find your team members."

"Grazie Officer. Umm…I don't mean to change the subject, but how do we get to where that airplane is?" she pointed to where the Blue Typhoon was.

"You go down three blocks, make a right & follow that for three miles & it should be on the left."

"Grazie Officer."

"Anytime Miss Macioci, anytime!"

"Ciao, & thank you again for helping!"

"You're welcome Miss Macioci! Goodbye! Come back to visit soon!"

"We will!" she & the others called back as they exited the police station.

As they were walking down the sidewalk, Scarlett picked up the kit & carried him for a while, then Sonic scooped Scarlett up bridal style & started running.

Frightened, Scarlett held onto the hedgehog, "Sonico! Sonico, what are you doing?"

"Running. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"I don't know." she held onto him more tightly.

"Scarlett, are you afraid?" he looked to her half worriedly & half mischievously, "You're never afraid when we run back home."

"I-I'm…not used to running at these speeds in high traffic areas Sonic."

"It's alright Scarlett," the kit hugged her as they continued running through the streets, "Sonic knows what he's doing. Right Sonic?"

"You bet!"

"What was that?" someone called out.

"It looked like a blue blur!" called another.

"Could it be-no, it couldn't. But could it?"

"Be Sonic the Hedgehog?"

"Come on! Let's go find out!" the crowd began running at full speed towards the blue speedster.

Just then, Sonic had to stop because of a road blockage. In the distance, the people who spoke of him could clearly make him out talking to the police officer.

"It is! It is Sonic the Hedgehog!" the fan girl began running toward the small group screaming.

"Uh, oh! Sorry Officer, gotta juice." & the cobalt hedgehog took off faster than the speed of sound in a whirl of blue, "He said to take the next street up & go around that way. Right?"

"Sì."

"Okay…here goes!" a loud sonic boom was heard as he turned the corner & stopped abruptly next to the Blue Typhoon.

"Here we are. Safe & sound at our home."

The fox walked up to the main door on the massive ship, "Okay, just let me type in the code…& we're in!" the doors slid open, then shut after they entered.

"Sonic, get to your controls & we'll be ready to take off as soon as I can get the ship turned around to face that field. Scarlett, you monitor the radar, & be sure to notify any airplanes on the radio on our current status & all."

"Roger that!" she playfully saluted the kit before returning to her "desk," as she calls it, to receive radio messages.

TASH&MB2

"Tails, it looks like we have another message coming through!"

"What does it say?"

"You've found whom? Uh-huh…uh-huh…pink? Can I talk to her? Grazie. Hello? Amy or are you Sonia? Amy? Hey girl! How are you? & the kids? Good, good. Where are you? Where? Good grief. How on Mobius, did you get there? Oh yeah…Chaos Control…welp, it looks like we're going to pick you up when we pick up Tikal & then the Marios. Maybe we can pick you up when we pass by Christmas Island to go to Australia, to get the Marios & the Chaos Emerald. Alright? Okay, talk to you when we get there. Hmm? Oh, the ones I just listed are the last ones & then we'll all be back together again. Yeah. Okay, ciao Amy. Oh, alright, here's Sonic. Sonic, Ames wants to talk to you!" she called to the blue hedgehog who was there in a blue flash. She handed the radio to him as she stood up.

"Hey Ames! where are you? You're where? Okay…yeah?"

Scarlett left the hedgehog & the radio to themselves & went to visit the kit.

"Where is she anyway?"

"Donados, Antarctica."

"Isn't that where Nazo is from?"

"I'm from Donados, for sure!" called the ice blue hedgehog from his seat near the window.

"Tails, how're you feeling?" she felt his forehead, "You've got a fever now! Tails, I think someone else should take over now. I don't want you to get any sicker than you already are."

"Did I just hear what I think I heard?" the blue hedgehog stopped next to them.

"Tails has a fever & someone else is going to take over for him until he's better."

"I'll put the plane on autopilot. It'll stop at our first location, India."

"Good. Now Miles, get to bed now otherwise you won't have any kind of mints until the turn of the next year."

"No more mints? I'm going to bed!" he stood up & began running to the door.

"Whoa there little bro., you're ain't gonna get any worse a temperature than you already have." he picked up the kit & carried him to his room, where he was given medicine & slept for the rest of the night.

TASH&MB2

"He's fast asleep," the cobalt hedgehog informed Scarlett, "& I don't think that even an atomic bomb or a sonic boom could wake him!" he laughed.

"Grazie Sonico. Now could you help me wi-Uh-oh! We've got trouble!" she typed several codes into the computer.

"What do you mean?"

"Eggman tapped into our conversation &, according to the radar, he is flying out to Australia, where one of the Chaos Emeralds are."

"But the ship is set for India!"

She held up a finger to the hedgehog, "Don't forget: Shadow & I can Chaos Control to Australia & find it while the rest of you find the other Emeralds."

"We'll meet you there in…six hours, at Sydney."

Shadow glanced up to the clock above the door, "Alright…I guess we'll see you at ten o'clock tonight." he grabbed Scarlett's hand, "CHAOS CONTROL!"

Both the hedgehog & the Italian were transported to Australia, instantly, where they searched for the Chaos Emerald, "Shadow, it's been almost five hours already since we've come here; can't we take a break?"

"Are you sure you're feeling alright Scarlett?"

"Shadow," although she did not mean to, she said it rather sternly, "if I've told you once, I've told you a million times! I'm fine! I just have the cramps. Okay?"

"But when you have the cramps, you're edgy."

"I am not!"

"I notice that whenever you're on your period, you're always more tired, edgy, more easily irritated by the smallest things, & you're definitely more emotional. Which doesn't help since Italians are naturally emotional to begin with. Scarlett, are you sure you're okay? I could probably find a store around here to buy you some medicine for your cramps."

"Okay, so I am a little edgy. But Shadow, I've been walking all day long, & I don't feel well. I want to get some rest. Can't we please stop for a moment?" she wrapped her arm around her best friend who was walking next to her & gently hugged him, "& no thank you Shadow, but I appreciate your concern."

"You're welcome Scarlett. We'll stop…but only for one second." he teased his best friend.

She elbowed him, "Shadow, quit it!"

He stopped at the nearest fallen log & sat down patting the seat next to him, "Alright, about ten minutes."

"Grazie Shadow." she hugged him once more, "I don't think I could've taken another step in this Australian bush!"

"Prego."

TASH&MB2

"Alright, look Mario, we can't stay here on Earth too long; Eggman is heading to Australia, where Shadow & Scarlett are to find the last Chaos Emerald."

"Mia Scarlatto is in Australia?" in English or Italian, the sentence can still be easily understood…

"Sì, Scarlatto is in Australia, & if we don't get moving, Eggman will soon get there & find the Chaos Emerald before we do." he shot off like a bolt of lightening to Tails' room.

"Tails," he shook the kit gently until he woke up, "I don't mean to wake you little buddy, but, how do we set the autopilot to go to Australia?"

"Huh? Sonic? What are you doing here?"

"How do we set the autopilot for Australia?"

"You first go into the programs file on the desktop of the main computer, then you select "autopilot" & enter in the information."

TASH&MB2

"I'm not a geek!"the cobalt hedgehog yelled out of frustration. The computer seemed to be doing something completely different than what he wanted it to do.

TASH&MB2

Opening the bedroom door caused light, in the shape of the doorway, to shine through, along with the shadow of a familiar, blue hedgehog, "Tails…"

TASH&MB2

"We're all set for Australia! Everybody in their seats;" the kit instructed, "we're taking off in three minutes."

"10…9…" the computer began, "…8…7…6…5…" the engines were beginning to start up with a loud rumble, "…4…3…2…1…0…" the ship began to shake violently as it lifted off the makeshift runway & into the wild blue yonder!

TASH&MB2

"I found it!" cried Scarlett as she lifted up a large emerald.

"Good!" Shadow ran over to where Scarlett was standing in a large clump of bushes, "Now all we have to do is go to Sydney, & wait for the others."

"& right on time too! It's already five 'till ten!"

She gasped as Shadow picked her up bridal style, then played the part of a romantic actor as best he could, "Then we'd better be going." he laughed as he was greeted with the playful hit to his chest, "Hang on tight!"

& that is what she did, she held on tightly to his neck as he took off at sonic speed.

The duo arrived at Sydney just in time to greet good ol' Eggman, who stole the Emerald on the spot.

"Get back here Eggman!" a black fist shook at the receding airship.

"Sonic is not going to be happy."

"Speaking of him, here they come right now." he pointed to the Blue Typhoon as it came in for a landing in the nearby field.

TASH&MB2

"You what?" if the red echidna had hair on his head instead of dreadlocks, he would certainly be tearing it out right now.

"We didn't even see him anywhere; he just popped out of nowhere & took it from us & left with it. & he didn't even stick around to see the robot Shadow beat up for him."

"Emergency takeoff!" the kit called as he climbed into the driver's seat of the massive ship as everyone raced to their seats, not wasting a single second, & took off after the airship.

"Where on Earth is he going?"

"I don't know."

"Look, he's trying to escape the atmosphere & out into Space!"

"Fasten your seatbelts everyone; it's gonna be a bumpy ride!" the kit switched several switches on in a very complicated pattern, & seconds later, the ship's engines worked harder & escaped the atmosphere following Eggman's airship to the Unknown.

Their enemy, Eggman, took them on a wild goose chase, orbiting the Earth several times in an attempt to through them off course while launching missiles & other destructive weapons at their ship. One missile actually managed to hit the wing of the ship, forcing Tails to make an emergency landing on the closest thing to them, the Moon.

"Wait! Tails," began Shadow, "if I Chaos Control to ARK, I'll be able to open the door leading to the aircraft garage, then you'd be able to land in there."

"There's no garage on there-if there were, we'd know about it."

"There is Tails. Just let me & Scarlett go there now & you'll be able to land safely."

"According to the map, the distance to ARK, is several miles & you'd only have three minutes until we're there & land."

Scarlett unbuckled her seatbelt, as Shadow had done a few minutes before, & stood up, "I'm willing to take that chance."

"Alright, but hurry!"

"You're talking to the 2nd fasted thing alive Tails, you know we'll be fast." he grabbed Scarlett's hand, "CHAOS CONTROL!"

The two arrived in ARK's aircraft garage, "Do you remember what the password was?"

"I'm sure it was…" he typed in the password, "GINGER & CINNAMON."

"Incorrect. Access denied." the computer answered back, rather rudely to the hedgehog.

"Or was it…" now Scarlett tried, "CINNAMON & GINGER?"

"Correct. Access permitted. Please stay inside the oxygen room until the aircraft has safely landed & come to a full stop."

"I was sure it was reversed!" the hedgehog glared at the machine.

"Sorry Shadow," she shrugged, " the computer said otherwise."

"Do you always have to make those smart remarks?"

"No, it's only when I feel like it."

" 'It's only when I feel like it.' " he imitated her voice, "Phhbt!"

A/N: I LOVE the "GINGER & CINNAMON" part! It's so funny! I pretty much put Scarlett & Shadow's relationship as brother & sister, & this shows it perfectly! They're constantly teasing each other affectionately & just, plain teasing!

& no, Sonic's full name isn't "Olgilvie Kay Michaels Maurice," I just made up his two middle names…"Kay Michaels."

I also made up Donados, Antarctica. It's located at 107° longitude by 70º latitude.