Ellen and Amy had arrived on the floating Egg Carrier, now mostly disabled after its fall from a while back. Amy remembered that time vividly, as she had met that robot and been rescued by Sonic and Tails…as always, right? It was things like that which made her want to better herself.
They were now in the main control room, enjoying a light lunch while Ellen's high-powered laptop downloaded the data still present within the Carrier's computer systems.
"Have you ever thought of starting a restaurant, Amy?" Ellen asked.
"Not really…"
"You're a very good cook, you know."
"T-thank you."
"You look pensive," Ellen commented as she nibbled on her sandwich. "Is it about Sonic?"
Amy said nothing, but nodded softly all the same.
"You're remembering what I told you…I see. Listen, I don't mean him any harm…"
"I know. But…it's not just that. I have this bad feeling, about everything. Not necessarily what you're doing, but the outcome of all of this fighting that will start…"
"Fighting? I doubt that there will be any fighting any time soon. And if we play our cards right, there won't be anyone to stop us."
"Stop us…from what?"
Ellen sighed and beckoned Amy closer. Looked like it was time to explain everything.
"I have a selfish dream…ah…" She felt herself go faint for a moment, and Amy rushed to catch her as she fell backwards.
"Ellen…it's the sickness again…"
"Don't worry so much about me, Amy. Um, the medication should be in the basket."
"Yes." Amy found the small pill bottle and handed one pill to Ellen, who swallowed it and sipped her tea along with it.
"I should be fine now," she said with a smile. "Anyways…what I was saying, my selfish dream. I want to live, Amy. Not just for the rest of my natural life, but beyond that. But you know, I…have another dream. That Earth will become a peaceful place, a happier place. I want some kind of freedom for us all."
"Freedom…?"
"The end of tyranny and people being bound by their so-called leaders. Something of a revolution, perhaps. The first thing to do would be to stop this invasion of Earth. The next, to defeat Doctor Eggman once and for all, and the last would be to free those oppressed parts of the Earth, so that people could live freely and peacefully, for real this time. And to that end, I'd devote the entirety of my continuous existence to that purpose. Beyond Earth, the entire universe could experience this kind of peaceful existence. I…I realize that it's a crazy dream. I guess I'm no different than those other extremists, am I?"
"Are you…using me, Ellen?"
"I'm sorry, Amy. I was using you, and I would continue to do so."
"…I understand."
"…"
Amy gave her a warm smile. "Use me however you have to. That dream of yours can come true if you just try."
"Amy…"
"As long as I'm not a burden…like I've always been…"
"You've never been a burden to me, Amy. In fact, I'm so grateful for your help that I can't truly express it in words. You mean a lot to me, taking care of me like this. The very least I could do is carry out your wishes in exchange."
"Ellen…thank you."
"No, thank you, Amy…"
The computer sounded, signalling the end of the data transfer. "Ah, it's all done. Shall we go, Amy?"
"…Maybe not yet…I want to know something."
"What is it?"
"There was this robot…I don't remember his name, but I met him here, on the Egg Carrier. He helped me to escape…and even though he was one of Eggman's robots, he actually listened to me, understood me somehow. It was just a brief time, but…"
"Anything specific about him?"
"Um…one of his arms was a laser blaster, and he was red…I think there was some kind of symbol on his body as well…"
"Can you draw it? Here, use the touch screen." She did so, and Ellen recognized the shape. That was…
"Okay, I think I can crack this. Give me a moment…" She searched the database as Amy looked on curiously. "There. This should be your friend."
"Yes…that's him. I remember it clearly. We met another time as well, when Emerl was still around…"
"Emerl?"
"That's what Sonic named him. He apparently was an ancient robot from many years ago…"
"Ah, the Gizoid…that's interesting. Well, I think we could give your friend Gamma a new lease on life. Just would be helpful if his original personality data was intact…oh. Never mind," she said while reading the files. "Found it. Eggman's 100 Series, huh…if that Omega fellow is any indication, those types are quite hardy…"
"You're going to rebuild him?"
"Yup. If that's okay with you, of course."
"Yes, it would be. Thank you, Ellen," she said with a smile.
"No trouble at all. Now…I think we should head home for the time being, gather our information up and what not. After that, we'll return to the Oil Ocean in the morning. Those distractions should be taken care of, and I have a way of making us inconspicuous to some extent."
"Are you going to start your plans now, Ellen?"
"Soon, Amy. Quite soon."
In the meantime, the Kingdom of Soleanna had made a pronouncement that blasted any sort of terms for surrender or the like. The United Federation, for all intents and purposes, told Soleanna to shut up and go along with it, but the Duke of Soleanna would have none of it. Diplomacy and foreign affairs fell into the lap of his daughter, Princess Elise the Third.
Needless to say, this was not her cup of tea.
"My father, a wonderful man, isn't he?" she said aloud, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Lady Elise, this is a necessary task for the well-being of-"
"I don't believe that's the truth," she said, interrupting her lady-in-waiting. "Marsha, he could have co-operated with the Federation instead of embarrassing them like that."
"That is true…"
"Besides, why send me? Can't he go himself?"
"He's busy reassuring the people of Soleanna of their safety…"
Elise rolled her eyes at that and stepped into her chambers to change. A few minutes later, she emerged with several helpers on her heels, as she wore a shimmering blue dress that stopped just below her knees. The feathers on either side of her head rested neatly in her brown hair, and she draped a shawl over her shoulders as she went.
"Marsha, take care of things until I get back."
"As you wish, milady."
"And another favour?"
"Yes?"
"Please…tell father to calm down. He'll give himself an ulcer at this rate…"
Marsha smiled a bit at the comment. "Duly noted."
Elise smiled back before heading towards the royal family's airfield. At the least, she'd have some time to catch up on her reading before they reached Washington…
Well, Sonic figured that he was in for it now. Taking the Chaos Emerald wouldn't do any wonders for his and Knuckles' relationship, that was certain. Right now, five different groups with interests had turned into six, with himself running around.
"This is the last one," he mused, looking at the blue Chaos Emerald in his hand. "It's gotta be the key to getting the others back, if I try hard enough. I get Knuckles' plan, but that'd leave us in a really tight spot if I didn't interrupt it. And that whole vision…what did it all mean? Could he change anything about it?
Sonic focused on the Chaos Emerald again, and this time the vision was a lot clearer, more straightforward. But there were several large gaps in it…
He recomposed himself and viewed it several more times, each time being more painful than the last…but he had figured something out from them. At those 'blank' spots, the vision could go in different directions. There were preset paths that they fell back towards, but there was at least some variation. The ending…it was always the same in some ways, but certain details were mysteriously absent or fuzzy. Those were dependent on the actions beforehand, he realized.
So…it was all clear, now. The first 'checkpoint', where he could make a change to the ending, was coming up tomorrow. The vision had been clear: negotiations would fail between the aliens and Earth, but there was another variable that he could control. It was one that only he could control, from the looks of it.
"Guess I'll set out tomorrow…gotta make this count."
"Tails, are you absolutely sure about that?"
"I wouldn't joke about this sort of thing, Rouge. Listen, Knuckles and I will make it down as soon as possible. Can you wait for us?"
"We'll be here, Shadow, Omega, and I. Come over when you can, sugar."
"Much appreciated. This is Tails, over and out."
"Copy that, over and out."
Knuckles and Tails were on their way to the prototype of Tails' newest incarnation of the Tornado bi-plane. It was a bit shaky, but it flew well enough for its purpose.
"Knuckles, I don't think it's quite sunk in for me yet," the fox said as he prepped the flight controls. "Sonic stealing a Chaos Emerald…"
"It happened, buddy. But I saw something…strange in him."
"What do you mean?"
"He was really scared, fearful of something. I don't know what he could have seen in that space of time."
"…" Tails didn't have a handle on it, either. But one thing was for sure, something big was going on. Once Sonic got himself set on some idea, he was hard to stop. "We'll need to bring our A-game, Knuckles. If Sonic's got an agenda of his own, it won't be easy to stop him."
"I've been training, Tails. The only reason he got away was because he had time…but I won't give him a second to think about his next move the next time we meet. Count on it."
Tails eased the plane into the air, all the while wondering about the blue hedgehog.
What are you thinking, Sonic…?
The next morning came all too quickly for some, and not quickly enough for others. Sonic was operating on four hours' sleep, but was amped up and ready to go. Amy and Ellen boarded the latter's private plane to West Side Island once more. Tails and Knuckles took off from the second's workshop towards Station Square and the G.U.N headquarters there. On the opposite coast, Princess Elise was driven with a heavy escort towards the White House. High above them all, Crown Princess Reina descended through the atmosphere in her spacecraft, and some distance away from that, Eggman prepared himself.
As the clock struck 8 A.M., the parties moved simultaneously. This morning would be one to remember.