Ghostkid33: Haha, yeah, Sonic has a few moments of hilarity in Sonic Colors, I'll admit. Glad to hear that you're enjoying it so far!

DanceDream: Thanks, DanceDream! I was a little skeptical on Sonic's personality the first time I wrote this, but now I'm back on track, so things should be pretty smooth. ;) I used some DS dialogue to make the chapter feel a little fuller and make it less choppy. I can't say that other characters will appear, but at the very least they will get a mention. :)

As for the italics, they're Sonic's thoughts, which is a throwback to my Unleashed adaption, and also basically how I write from Sonic's perspective. It's kinda like he's really narrating what's going on and giving his own thoughts on things, just to make the story a bit more relatable and personal. :3

Nope, all of Eggman's announcements will be one hundred percent from the game...but now that ya point it out, maybe I should slip in one or two of my own. ;) And I only mentioned the Shadow adapt because I unintentionally raised some hype about it, and I've gotten messages pestering me about when it'll be posted, and I figured those people would be a TAD upset to see Colors came first. xD;

X-X

Hey-lo! As you can see from above, that's how I'll be responding to anonymous reviews from now on. I mean, everyone's doing it now, about time I started too! I'm also really surprised at the positive reaction this has received already- it's nice to see some new and old faces too. :) Anyway, this chapter is rather generic and straightforward compared to other chapters, but it had to be done like this. Things pick up later, promise. Nothing happens without a reason. ;)


I had finally caught up with Tails after introducing myself to the resort, and I was showing him a few choice areas of the park. Our gazes now lingered on the lumbering neon orange "WELCOME" sign plastered to a spinning globe. Eggman's voice was echoing all throughout the Tropical Resort yet again, continuing to try to persuade people into thinking he wasn't up to anything suspicious.

"He loves to hear his own lips flap, but I gotta hand it to the Eggster, this place is epic!" I admitted, motioning for Tails to follow me as I carried on. "Everyone and their brother is gonna want to come here!"

"No doubt!" Tails pulled himself away from all the eye candy surrounding us and hurried after me. "…but now I'm not sure why we're here! This place looks totally harmless!"

"Because Eggman plus secretly built amusement park equals evil plot for us to foil!" I explained again. "Lucky for us he's not very good at keeping things hidden."

Ha, no kidding there!

"True, it would be pretty hard to miss a giant floating space amusement park surrounded by planets." He then frowned hesitantly. "Still, an evil plot? …I don't think so."

Oh well- I'd prove it to him eventually.

I stopped walking to glance over the edge of the resort, Tails wondering what I was looking at and following my stare. Just beyond the amusement park was our home planet from an even better angle. The various parts of the resort actually seemed to compliment the scene quite nicely.

"Whoa…"

"Plot or not, you can't be mad at this view." I smiled as the undeniably true words escaped my mouth. "This place is takin' beauty to the next level! I'm just surprised that it was so easy to sneak in here."

Tails nervously scratched his head, thinking back to the elevator ride. "Uh, I wouldn't say it was THAT easy…Ugh, just thinking about it makes my head feel like it wants to-"

Tails' griping was interrupted by a sudden boom somewhere behind us, and I instantly rushed off to investigate.

"Yee-haw! Git along, li'l aliens!" a yellow cube-shaped robot bellowed, swinging at two aliens with a butterfly net. One of them was white like the ones I had come in contact with earlier, but the other was a cyan color and looked a lot different. Orbot, Eggman's repainted assistant from my last major adventure, was chasing them as well, except he was trying to bring the creatures down with several green lasers.

Good thing he had terrible aim.

"Your voice chip is stuck on cowboy again! Stop talking and net those aliens!" Orbot ordered Cubot, his companion. Cubot continued to mutter incoherent cowboy musings while Orbot kept shooting, only to realize he wasn't going to hit the aliens anytime soon and gave up. He started to lie on his side to watch Cubot try to round them up. I observed them both intently, and I certainly didn't like what I was seeing- they were trying to catch the aliens to stuff them into capsules, huh?

Sorry, not today.

"I'm not sure of what's going on…but I'm sure of what I'm gonna do!"

I bounced from structure to structure, gliding secretly over Cubot's head. With the way he was staring at the aliens he was about to capture, I was confident that he hadn't noticed me. I did see that the white alien, with a cute blue curl on the top of his head, was floating in front of his cyan colored friend trying to protect him.

And lucky for him, I was going to be their protector!

Within the same amount of time it took Cubot to swing the net, I ran up in a rush, scooped the aliens into my arms, and jumped back on top of a building. It took Cubot a few seconds to realize that his net seemed to lack aliens.

"Huh? !"

"Hey!" I called down to him, releasing the aliens to show them that I meant no harm. "What's going on?"

I never received an answer- the cyan alien had started spinning in fast circles around me, and I stared at it curiously. Next thing I knew, it had turned into energy and zapped inside of me!

"Huh- WHOA!"

A bright light suddenly consumed me as I felt myself transform, leaving the white alien behind while I ricocheted off buildings as a cyan-colored laser.

One of the weirdest feelings ever: the energy of an alien taking over your body for a brief amount of time. Pretty trippy.

. . .

Before I knew it, the energy that caused me to turn into a laser had worn off, and I found myself running around somewhere in Tropical Resort- lost in a way that I didn't want to be. Tails was out of sight, there was no sign of the white alien (or the cyan one), and I was running even though I didn't recall ever starting.

"Well that was peculiar…" I muttered, glancing around at my surroundings to see if I could spot anything familiar.

The answer to that was no- hovering cars and tour buses flew over my head, and I was running under several archways and bridges. Oh well- I'd find my way back to Tails no problem, considering I had done it once already.

"Okay, so the White aliens give me the power to Boost, while the Cyan one caused me to turn into a laser?" I asked myself. "…awesome! I wonder if there's more of them out there…"

The Cyan alien's power was much different from the White one's. here the boosting power gave me a feeling a freedom, that single moment of zipping around as a laser was…bold, almost.

"I wonder if I'll see any more of the Cyan ones- they've got a pretty impressive speed record, if I do say so myself," I said with a grin. "I'll bet that even- Whoa!"

I snapped out of my thoughts once again as my mind registered that I was about to crash into a wall. Thinking quickly, I sidestepped out-of-the-way and onto a ramp, leading up to a red handle.

"Cool, a zipline!" I exclaimed, grabbing it and whizzing down the line. "Woo!"

I let go before the line ended and skidded a bit on my landing, crossing over another dash panel and flying through a very narrow area. I quick-stepped to and fro several times, barely missing walls inches away from my face. I was finally free once I ran straight into a spring, bouncing from one to another like a Ping-Pong ball until gravity finally took effect, grabbing me with its invisible pull and dragging me down again. Upon dismounting, I found myself face to face with another alien capsule.

The only difference from before was that it contained Cyan aliens rather than white ones.

"Huh, so Eggman did nab some of you guys too…" I trailed, touching it and freeing the creatures within. They spiraled around me for a few moments before turning into energy and absorbing into me. This time, I didn't transform into a laser straightaway, and I assumed it was because that the aliens weren't eager to go anywhere like the other one.

"Maybe it's like with the Boost…I can activate it when I need to…"

I braced myself, thinking about how I was supposed to tap into their power. After all, with the white alien's abilities, all I had to do was starting running and it would kick in eventually.

"Hmm…" I mulled, striking several incredulous poses to see if anything would activate. "I guess the boost power is easier for me to use because running is my first nature…"

Darn it, I was going to figure out how this worked…

I paced around, trying to put nothing on my mind other than blasting through the resort as a single beam of energy, a bold strike against Eggman's efforts…

"Okay, lessee, um…Laser?"

Apparently this did the trick, because I had suddenly jumped up and began spinning rapidly in place before whooshing off in a beam of light. I zoomed through a line of rings in my path, the laser-form only lasting until I crashed into a wall.

"Oomph! Yeah…I might need some practice…"

I dislodged myself from the wall, only to flat on my back. Glancing up, I saw a small crack under the wall that I could only get through by crawling, so crawl I did. I then stood back up and started jogging again, sliding under another wall without missing a beat. This took me into a dash panel that blasted me around a bend. The path hovered over a small pool with large Tikis jetting out of it. I whistled.

"Nice touch, Eggman…"

So from there, it was pretty much straight forward running and jumping and ducking. All child's play for me, considering I maneuvered my way around all the obstacles like I was the one that had planted them there. Not even the advancing Egg Pawns made me blink- with a jump and spin, I put them out of commission swiftly, hopping back onto the ground and running off like nothing had ever been there.

This finally ended when I located a discretely hidden zipline. A small hum escape my lips when I reached up and griped it with one hand, letting the makeshift transportation bring me through a rainbow ring and into another cyan alien capsule sitting on yet another "WELCOME" sign.

I think I've been welcomed enough by the surprise alien powers, fantastic views, and monster robots, thank you.

I leaped off the sign and alighted on a spring, rocketing up and catching sight of another crystal. Now that I had the Cyan's power in me, I wondered if I had finally found the purpose of the crystals…

"LASER!"

Suddenly shining with a blinding shade of cyan aura, I transformed again, aiming right at the crystal. Bolting off as nothing but a streak of neon, I struck the crystal, and since I was now a beam of light, I reflected off of it and ricocheted through a series of them, making the pattern of a star before landing on an upper area and claiming another capsule of cyan creatures.

"You guys are everywhere!" I exclaimed as the creatures in this capsule absorbed into me as well. "Yeah, yeah, give me your power, why not? A guy can't even introduce himself first? Yeesh!"

Subtle objecting aside, I noticed a long line of Spinners in my path, and I smirked to myself, crying out with "LASER!" again and shooting right through them all. I left them in exploded pieces, whisking away in an excited hurry. Several paces away, I transformed back to normal, and the white aliens that were sealed within the Spinners came floating over to me. I greeted them with a grin and waved them over.

"Hey guys! I figured having a robot as a new apartment space wasn't doing anyone any good, so let's just say I evicted ya!"

The aliens stared at me with some perplexity before responding with squeaks, squeals, and chirps. Now it was my turn to look puzzled, my left ear going crooked as I tried to comprehend the high-pitched message I'd just received.

"Wow, clearly we've got some communication issues going on. Either I need to get out the ol' English-to-Alien dictionary, or I have to start talking in squeals myself…and I'd probably sound like a fan girl. Somebody scratch that idea."

The horror of the image I just created for myself…

Since the aliens had no idea what my words and hand motions were supposed to translate to in the slightest, they simply used action to show that they were gratified. They caught me off guard while I was gaping in revulsion at my thoughts, loaning me their power and sending a supercharged shockwave through my nerves. Feeling hyperactive again, an overeager and downright stupid grin appeared on my face as I glanced to the path ahead.

"Well, this is one thing we don't need words for."

Bursting forward with new unbridled energy, my footfalls hardly hit the ground with how fast I was moving; it only took a second's touch for each step to push me forward. The thrill of the speed increased with every passing moment, slowly dragging me into a state of euphoria…I was so deep into it, I hardly acknowledged that wall coming at me at several miles an hour-

"Grah!"

The sense of reality came flooding back, with me jumping up at the right moment, positioning myself in the air just before my face got up close and personal with the wall. Instead, I targeted another Spinner out of the corner of my eye, hovering around with its buddies.

"Time to make a detour!"

The sound of a dozen crashes came afterward, robot remains plunking out of the air and scattering across the floor. I stayed suspended in midair for a few gravity-defying seconds, making cocky faces before flipping around and taking off once again.

A dash panel helped me regain lost momentum, catapulting me ahead towards another yellow-bricked wall. I leaned down and slid under it without missing a beat.

"Now that's how to dodge a wall-with style!" I called brightly, vaulting back to my feet. Now back to running, I leaned forward into the speed, running down a sharp incline in the path. It eventually curled into itself, leading up to a highly convenient spring. I threw myself against it, taking off into the air and greeting another set of Spinners with a happy two-fingered salute…

…before brutally beating the robots, with me armed with nothing more than fists, feet, and a head full of quills.

"Here we go again…" I told myself after, freeing another round of white aliens. No awkward conversation -or lack of conversation- followed this time, as the aliens swirled around and aimed for me. I braced myself as their rainbow boosting power took effect, and I shot across the path in a blur. The path itself looped around twice, and then launched me in the air, but I anchored myself back down by slamming down on a robot like a meteor.

It didn't know what hit him!

Climbing up, I noticed a rather large gathering of Spinners hovering over a gap in the path. It took me a few seconds to think up what to do, but then I broke out into a grin and curled into a ball.

"Heh, I'm looking forward to this."

Like a hailstorm, I rained down on the robots like no tomorrow, trashing them all until I started to make my way to the other side of the abyss. I was in the process of making a mental note to thank Eggman for his "strategic placing of robots" when I honed in on a group of Egg Pawn Greeters. I struck the one nearest to me, causing its' welcome sign to spiral into the air before finding its way into my grip. With an unquestionably pompous smirk, I turned to the other Egg Pawns.

"Talk about a welcome surprise, hah?"

Signaled by the lame pun, the Egg Pawns started panicking, but it only lasted until I used the sign their comrade left behind to whack them with. Their heads were spinning as fast as tornadoes…until I finished them both off by kicking them off the edge. Two white aliens came floating up to me moments later and gave me their power as a form of thanks.

The world went slightly fuzzy again as the Boost power overtook me again, sending me down the path, up a wall, and around a u-turn. I could hardly comprehend what was going on in my surroundings after that, but I was going too fast to care! I finally regained some insight on what was happening when I realized that I was zigzagging through a set of springs. I also noticed I had rescued yet another Cyan alien. However, this one didn't directly absorb into me.

"Uh…hi?"

It just sort of stared at me, as if trying to decide upon something. I then saw robots trudging up to us, and I had to act fast. I jumped up and went to touch the alien to see if making contact would transfer the power, but to my surprise it gave me a high five and then transformed me. The robots just gathered around, staring as if it was some sort of laser light show.

Which it was just about to be.

"LASER!"

I gave the robots a show all right- the last show they'd ever see! Mechanical pieces clanked as they hit the ground, me with the power of my cyan friend continuing to shoot across the Resort, and at some point, Eggman's voice kicked in again.

"Please feel free to fill out a brief survey after your visit. Your opinion matters to us. ...Unless you didn't have fun, then we don't care."

I don't think Eggman would appreciate finding out that I was having fun, though.

I don't see why being so serious about everything is such a virtue to people- I've saved the day so many times in the past, and I can smile while doing it! 'Sides, in a way, treating it as a game makes it all seem less stressful…and why be unhappy if you can help it?

Still a Cyan Laser, I blasted right through a set of gray blocks and hit a candle-like thing, which absorbed my laser form and sent me rocketing through a very tight-squeezed nook. Before I knew it, though, I had exited via another "candle" and reverted back to normal.

"Radical."

Jumping up, I came crashing back down on a set of gray blocks clogging up the path, me and my fist slamming into them and leaving them as rubble. Surveying the new area I was in, I slightly twitched when I found another cyan alien trapped in a capsule. I didn't really want its powers again, but I still wasn't about to leave it helplessly in captivity.

It was a wonder why Eggman left them lying around like this…

"Oh well," I shrugged, freeing the alien nevertheless. Even if I was getting a little tired of the constant lasering around, there was no denying that it was fun. I could go fast normally, but being a laser while going fast was a whole different experience!

I made my way upwards, freeing a set of white aliens as well. When I reached the top, I slammed into two robots, then latched onto a zipline and rode it all the way down to the next area…which contained a Goal Ring!

Ah, memories.


I debated on including Goal Rings again, but they existed in Unleashing Sonic, so, why not? They won't be mentioned as abundantly this time, though. X)

Thanks for reading!