Chapter Six: Miserable defeat

Warning: This chapter really sucks. I had little inspiration to do this chapter...so, meh. DX The next chapters that I churn out should actually have QUALITY to them, instead of this lame thing that I have produced.

As they arrived back in the city, Sonic took a moment to reflect on what had happened so far. The adventure had gone rather spontaneously, going from one point to the next, with him and his friend Tails in tow. He looked at the clock and also where the small camera had been, and he sighed before he began to leave. Tails followed after him, and she asked, "Something bothering you, Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog replied, "Lots of things are bothering me, Tails. This entire thing with Chaos and Eggman is bothering me. Chaos seems a lot more able to destroy the entire world than Eggman ever could have been, even with his Death Egg that he didn't necessarily know how to use. And, did you notice how sadistic Eggman's become?"

The twin tailed fox nodded, gnawing a bit on her lower lip. "I don't know what to think of all of this, Sonic. Something's changed in him. Maybe a bit of his brain was damaged after that explosion, and it made him even more demented and evil? I don't know anymore."

They were now outside of the station and Tails pulled out her small radar again, deciding to take a look around and see what was there. The emerald was still in the same location as last time, and she zoomed out to find the casino in relation to where they were. "Alright, if we head through the hotel and out another one of the doors, we should arrive on a street that'll take us right to the casino. From there, we can just use your fame to get us that Chaos Emerald and get out."

Sonic shrugged and said, "Maybe. Maybe my fame will elude me like it almost did in the train station...with that one other guy that was heading the train tickets."

Tails placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Sonic, you know the person in there, don't you? Mr. Edelburg?" She was hoping that the notion would calm him down and allow him to think instead of being an emo over his fame catching up to him in a negative way.

Sonic's ears perked at the name and he turned to her and asked, "What about him? Are you saying that he runs Casinopolis?"

The fox brightened and nodded. "Yep! He does! He's been hoping that you'll turn up and try it out at some point! Since he's been head, he's made a number of improvements to it and it's become the most popular casino in the world! Well, okay, it's not the most popular, but still!"

A smirk crossed Sonic's face and he said, "That's going to make this far easier! He would understand if there were a crisis and just give over the Chaos Emerald for the time being and be done with it! Let's just hope that Eggman hasn't found this one already."

With that, the duo made their way through the confusing city streets, into the hotel that Sonic had been staying at, through one of the side doors, and headed to the casino. The front of Casinopolis was a sight to behold. Bright neon lights that were always active radiated orange and yellow outwards from the large sign above the sliding, glass doors. The name of the casino was placed right up against a red circle and was flashing for all to see right up against a huge orb in the back. It was a rather snazzy place, perhaps a bit too flashy for Tails' liking but it still looked pretty cool.

The inside was truly a sight. Inside, it was simply amazing. The first thing that almost anyone who walked in would find, was a huge, golden statue of Sonic, just standing there as if watching over the casino. On the second floor above them were a bust of a giant lion head and the paws, a pirate ship that had fake fires on it, and then some other banners and curtains for the games that were in the casino. The bottom floor was all slots machines, crap and poker and blackjack tables, roulette wheels, pinball games, the works for most any casino plus a few extras. Sonic looked for one figure that, to him, stood out from the rest, and finally found him standing in front of the great vault. People bustled about the duo as Sonic made his way to his old friend, and Tails managed to stay right behind him.

There he was, Sonic's friend, and had been ever since he had started his adventures against the evil Doctor Robotnik. He was an aging man, yet he still had brown hair, wasn't balding, and in no way looked like any signs of aging had started to catch up to him. He was wearing a brown business suit, complete with a Casinopolis tie as well as matching brown slacks and brown boots. His eyes were wandering about as he watched the people come and go, and then he happened to notice Sonic and Tails approaching. His eyes practically zeroed in on Sonic, and he called, "Well, if it isn't the famed Sonic the Hedgehog!"

The blue hedgehog stopped in front of the man and he said, "Good to see you again. Mr. Edelburg. I see that you're in just as great shape and as young looking as ever!"

Edelburg gave a nice, hearty sounding laugh as he shook his head. "Sonic, you haven't changed much over the years either. Tails, on the other hand, has seemed to become more adult seeming in her own ways."

The twin tailed vixen blushed and she turned away while Sonic rolled his eyes. "Anywho, Edelburg, we're here to claim the Chaos Emerald that we heard that you have here. Eggman is back and he's trying to get all of the emeralds for some master plan of his, and we need to get to them all beforehand."

This brought a frown to the aged man's face, and he scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Sonic, you know that I can't just give away the Chaos Emerald, even to you in this apparent time of crisis! I could lose my business here!"

Sonic crossed his arms and he asked, "Do I need to get the mayor down here to explain everything? Or are we going to have to wait until Eggman comes busting in to try and claim the emerald to act as heroes and then get out with it ourselves?"

Edelburg sighed and shook his head. "Sonic the Hedgehog, you are the world's greatest hero. Everyone knows this, and they all owe something to you. However, there is something that just...well, it doesn't fit. The government has, apparently, placed something that you are to be treated as a normal citizen in all respects, despite your heroic acts. So, you might well be famous, but for all purposes, you are to be considered a normal, everyday citizen. That is the law, Sonic."

Sonic's eyes went wide as he heard this explanation, and he looked down at the ground. "Wait...but then, who would do that? That's so unreasonable for them to do that!"

Edelburg chuckled and said, "I know, Sonic! I know! For them to say that is a mockery to you, and they are failing to see that, if it had not been for you, this world might not even exist as it is today thanks to that maniacal mad scientist! Unfortunately, crisis or no, I would have to have permission from the government itself to just open up the vault and let you take the Chaos Emerald. Heck, I would need that kind of approval if you happened to win the games to get it! It's...it's just not going to be able to happen, Sonic. You know this as well as I do now, right?"

Tails was rolling over ideas in her head, however, and she smirked before saying, "I have an idea, you two! What if, say, the vault doors were left unattended and Sonic had to go in there to get it out, because an "unidentified thief" was in there going to take it?"

Edelburg ran that idea through his head as well and he said, "That's not a bad thought. Though I certainly have no clue who the unidentified person would be at this point, unless you've thought of that."

Sonic was about to open his mouth to speak, but then something happened that completely cut his words off. Something crashed into the casino, through the roof, and landed among the crowd. People went scattering and screaming, and Sonic saw a tall, humanoid robot stand up. It was plated with armor that was painted black, and it had green lights where the eyes would be as well as a gun for one of its hands. The legs also had wheels in the back, presumably for easier movement along the ground. It looked over at Edelburg and aimed its gun at him. "Open the vault," it said, the voice being monotone and electronic sounding.

Sonic smirked and he said, "You must be one of Eggman's robots, right? Well,seeing as you won't be able to win against us, why don't you just go and scram and tell your master that he's going to lose this race!"

It now turned to examine Sonic. "Target identified as, Sonic the Hedgehog. You are the prime evil in the good doctor's plans. You will die." However, before it had even moved its gun hand more than an inch, Sonic was right up next to it. He bounced upward and spun as he shot up, sending the machine falling back onto its back, sparks flying from the front. Sonic then performed his homing attack to slam into it and hit the core directly. He leaped away just as the robot exploded, sending pieces scattering everywhere.

"Well, that was most unexpected, Sonic! I had thought that you wouldn't just beat me here!" A voice called. Looking up, Sonic saw the egg mobile floating down into the casino. Eggman was just shaking his head as it came down and stopped at just a couple of inches above the ground. "Really, Sonic, I would have thought that if you were already here, you would have gotten the Chaos Emerald and would have just been on your way by now."

Sonic shrugged and said, "The military and the government here is complicating things, so...no, I haven't gotten it. However, I can stop you now and then get it still."

"Ha! So you'd think! Unforunately, today is not the day that I plan on killing you, Sonic!" Eggman said. What looked like two flamethrowers popped out, but instead of shooting flames, they shot out clouds of sleeping gas that enveloped all three of the people standing there. Tails was the first to succumb, as she had gasped when they shot out and gained a huge amount in her lungs. She collapsed, and then Sonic tried to hold his breath. Mr. Edelburg, however, fell on top of him and caused him to lose his breath. He had to breath in now, but that meant that he succumbed as well. "Darn you...E-Eggman..."

The last image that Sonic saw before he slipped into total darkness, was Eggman blowing open the vault and claiming the chaos emerald. Had Mr. Edelburg and the government not been in the way, this would have been one of the emeralds that Sonic could have saved. His last thoughts were how he had failed, miserably.

This is long overdue, and probably sucks as a chapter. However, I promise to get back into the hang of things and start producing chapters again instead of just letting this one slip back into death valley. :P The next chapter SHOULD be interesting, I hope.