Everyone was relaxing inside Chuck Thorndyke's bedroom, which was right above the garage. It was filled with desks, cupboards, a TV and even some machines. There were some multi-coloured, freshly washed beanbag chairs that all the Mobians except Sonic were sitting on, experiencing pleasures that Mobius had never taught them. Chuck and Chris were content with some comfortable wooden chairs, while Sonic just took the windowsill.
"So, let me get this straight...this 'Chaos Control' thing that Knuckles knows about caused a warp in time and space, flinging you all to this world," Chris recounted, after having been informed of precisely what took the Mobians to Earth. "But how did Chaos Control even happen?"
"Knuckles said they've got something to do with the Chaos Emeralds. But that's all he knew. Some authority on the Chaos Emeralds that guy is," Amy replied. She remembered the time she spent with Knuckles in the sewers, right after being warped to Earth several days ago. She wasn't particularly fond of that.
"But what exactly IS a Chaos Emerald?" Chris asked. "How is it able to warp things across spacetime like that?"
"Whoa, you don't know what the Chaos Emeralds are?" Luster observed.
"He's from a different world, Luster. You can't expect him to be very familiar with them and besides, there's not even a lot of Mobians that know about them. There's especially no way for the average Mobian to know about the true nature of the emeralds," Tails reminded the cat. "Anyway, as I've explained before, there's no real explanation for why the Chaos Emeralds are the way they are. They just...are. They're the Chaos Emeralds and nothing else."
"From all my travels, I've heard a bunch of stories and myths about the emeralds. Some have said that collecting all seven gives you the power to control the world, while others have claimed they make you go crazy. Others think they grant wishes," Amy added.
"There's one thing we know for sure about them. At least, one thing that Sonic, Luster and I know. Gathering all seven Chaos Emeralds allows you to access a special transformation that boosts your power, speed and durability to insane levels. Sonic's used it before and so have I," Tails continued to explain. "There's even a form beyond that. Sonic's only used it once, but he said it's way too powerful for anyone to ever use. It looked super dangerous, too…"
Chuck turned around in his swivel chair, stopping with whatever he was doing.
"But there's an issue, isn't there? We don't know where they are. They could very well be back in Mobius, or lost within a spacetime rift. I'd imagine they'd have shown up by now, but of course, they haven't. Without the Chaos Emeralds, there's no Chaos Control," Chuck mentioned, yawning. "They've probably all disappeared."
"Nah," Sonic interjected, finally speaking. "Each time the Chaos Emeralds get used, they split apart and fly off to different, random areas. They can be pretty difficult to find when they do that. But they've always shown up when we've needed 'em. I imagine that when Eggman caused Chaos Control, they were probably sent here and scattered like usual."
"And since we've all arrived in this world at different times, it's probably just that the emeralds haven't come out of the time rift yet," Tails included. "Once they do, we'll be able to collect them and reverse that Chaos Control."
"You said that the Chaos Emeralds scatter, right Sonic?" Chris noted. Sonic nodded in confirmation. "Well, how are we gonna find them when they do start showing up?"
Chuck was tired. So tired in fact, he was yawning at random intervals. "Perhaps we can build a radar of some kind. Like a mobile phone call receiver. We pick up the signal of the emerald and we follow it until we find our prize."
"A radar?" Tails rhetorically wondered. "We've never really needed one. The Chaos Emeralds sometimes end up in Special Stages, which are pocket dimensions that have their own rules. Those rules vary between each type of Special Stage. We might have to collect a number of Rings before reaching a certain point, or we might need to smash a bunch of UFOs under a time limit. Anyway, whenever we specifically needed to find the emeralds, they've always been in those Special Stages. I'm gathering that Earth doesn't have anything like them. Now that I think about it, we probably do need a radar."
"How do you plan on doing that, especially since you've never made one before?" Chuck questioned the fox.
"D'you know that Power Ring that I gave Sonic the other day?" Tails returned. "Well, I made those by combining Rings from our universe with the energy that the Chaos Emeralds radiate. I should be able to extract the energy from a Power Ring or two, which should allow me to make that radar. In theory."
Sonic grinned and gave his best friend a thumbs-up. "You should be able to do it, Tails. I believe in ya."
Tails smiled, appreciative of Sonic's praise, especially due to its common appearances. Sonic was just like that - always the one to help others. Even if they don't particularly need it.
Luster the Cat: Season 1 Opening 3 (Sonic Drive - Sonic X, English) -
S-O-N-I-C, GO!
S-O-N-I-C, GO!
Go, go, go, go, LET'S GO!
Oh!
Woooooow!
I've been breaking the rules 'till yesterday
Now I just wanna break loose today
That's how I'll be!
Always running free!
With this punk philosophy,
That says to always dash away
Go towards the goal!
There's nothing better!
If my rhythm's, been disrupted
The scenery is, just a bunch of lines
So I'll ignore it
And break the world's confines!
Inside, outside, here we go
Attack, attack, everywhere
Break everything, but not a friend
Just make the battle end!
Inside, outside, go Sonic!
Attack, attack, yes Sonic!
Look out there buddy, have a nice fight
Our difference is paper thin and yet I will spin
Through the boredom of today
Start running, find your own way!
S-O-N-I-C, GO!
S-O-N-I-C, GO!
Go, go, go, go, LET'S GO!
The Prime Minister of England was a portly fellow. While his hair was small and uninteresting, his dark blue suit as well as his dark green tie screamed importance to those that were able to see his figure. As of now, the Prime Minister was on a private plane, in a tiny meeting with two of his aides.
"Sir. We've found them," one of the aides addressed the political man.
"Where are they?" the Prime Minister asked. One look at his face could tell anyone that he really wanted to know where 'they' were.
"The animals are staying with an established family in Station Square and a large tower has been found on a nameless island in the Southern Sea, which we estimate to be Dr. Eggman's base of operations," the glasses bound aide responded.
"Excellent! Capture them right this minute! Learning all about them could benefit mankind as a whole," the Prime Minister commanded, even slamming his desk with the side of his fist in a display of his raw desire to have the otherworlders within the palm of his hands.
"Wait, sir! It would be a much better idea to gather as much information as possible before we make any moves against them," the glasses wearing, suit donning aide suggested.
"Fine then," the Prime Minister reluctantly accepted. "But you must monitor that Dr. Eggman person! We can't have him doing anything like he did in Station Square."
"We've already dispatched a reconnaissance team out to the Southern Sea. They'll be watching over everything he does," the man of spectacles informed his superior.
"And what about the animals?"
"One of our undercover agents has already been sent to spy on the boy and we've already got a small team looking at the mansion for any unusual activity. In fact, our undercover agent should be starting his new job tomorrow."
The Prime Minister smiled, appreciating the work his aides have gone through in order to make his plans a reality. Although the correct procedures were being undertaken, there was still a ways to go before he could really learn the truth of those strange alien creatures.
February 21st 1989 - 8:40 AM
Station Square Secondary School
School. A place where kids go to learn and teachers go to grow the seeds for future trees. It's a place where brains are enlargened, life lessons are learned and problems are solved. Station Square Secondary School is indeed just like that.
In one of the many classrooms, several students were talking about some random things, all of them sitting at their designated seats. On one of these tables, Chris was chatting with his friends: a girl that looked like him, except she wore pink overalls, suggesting a peculiarity in her fashion sense as well as a darker-skinned boy who wore a dark green jacket. Everyone agreed that it suited him really well.
"That thing looked so unreal! At first, I thought the news got replaced by a movie or something," the darker boy commented on an experience of his.
"I felt the same way, Danny! Hey Chris, you saw the news, right?" the girl asked, facing the ginger-haired boy opposite her.
"Frances?" Chris responded. He hadn't being paying full attention to the conversation at hand. "Uh, yeah, I did."
Saved by coincidence, all of the students in the room turned their attention to the headmaster, who had just entered the room with a stranger beside him.
"I have news for you all. Your tutorial time teacher has...taken a leave of absence," he announced. The students were either shocked, or upset upon hear this. "Therefore, Mr. Stewart here will be your teacher during tutorials from now on."
"Nice to meet you all!" Mr. Stewart greeted with an uplifting tone. He had glasses, though they didn't seem to be on him properly. His clothes gave him a casual, yet formal air around him that some of the students appreciated.
"Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Stewart," every student replied in almost perfect unison.
This new teacher seemed to be quite pleased with his new position as well as the politeness of his future students. He did have some sort of interest in Chris, though - an interest that nobody in the room picked up on.
Hours later, the bell rang, which was the signal for breaktime. Everyone was rushing to the cafeteria in order to get the best foods before anyone else. Meanwhile, Chris was taking things slowly, since he knew he could afford anything the cafeteria had to offer. He had his back to the innards of the school, waiting patiently for a friend.
"Danny, are you done in there?" Chris called out to his dark skinned companion.
"I'll be right there! Stupid bag...my stuff never fits in here!" Danny replied. Clearly, he was irritated at his circumstance.
Whilst Chris was waiting there, his new teacher came up behind him and got the twelve year old's attention.
"Christopher Thorndyke...your father is Nelson Thorndyke, the CEO of Rimlight Corporation, who has about seventy percent of the shares in the world of technology. Your mother is Lindsey Thorndyke, or rather, Lindsey Fay. She's a famous movie star," Mr. Stewart stated.
"Are there any problems with that?" Chris wondered, unsure of what to think regarding the purpose of what his teacher just said.
"No. It's just that I've been a fan of your mother's for a long time," the new teacher answered with a friendly-seeming smile.
"Oh, I understand..."
Chris sighed. He knew exactly what his teacher meant.
"It's nice to meet you, Chris," Mr. Stewart offered his ginger-haired student a handshake.
"Nice to meet you too, sir," Chris accepted the gesture.
Although he liked his new form time teacher, there was something odd about him that Chris couldn't explain to himself. He just felt weird. Even the handshake had an element of irregularity to it that went beyond mere words. And his next question made it even worse.
"By the way, what kind of animals do you like the most, Chris?"
"Uh, well…" Chris was nervous to ask such a strange and random question. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, so he chose the first thing he thought of. "Hedgehogs, I guess...is that weird?"
"No, not at all," Mr. Stewart seemed to accept this.
Christopher smiled. Not fully because he was bonding with a half-cool, half-weird teacher, but because the adult actually believed his haphazard response.
"Chris!" Danny called, rushing out of the classroom he was in. "Thanks for waiting. You'd think they'd invent bottomless bags so we'd be able to carry around our books and sports clothes super easy."
"Yeah, I totally agree. That's the reason I hate Thursdays so much," Chris nodded in agreement. He turned to Mr. Stewart for a moment. "Thanks, Mr. Stewart! Have a good day!" He ran off with Danny, leaving the mysterious teacher to be interested with the boy.
Later, in the cafeteria, Chris and Danny were able to get pretty much what they wanted. Danny didn't have enough for a drink, but Chris was easily able to help him out with that. They had to make the monetary exchange in secret, since if one person were to catch wind of Chris' charity, every other student in the entire school would be on his case. Luckily, such a thing didn't happen and the two boys were able to eat at a table with no problems.
"So Chris, what was Mr. Stewart talking to you about just now?" Danny asked, drinking some of his juice.
"He asked me what my favourite animal was," Chris replied after finishing off a piece of his burger.
"What's up with that?" Danny wondered.
On one of the cafeteria's walls, a television that was broadcasting the news had come on with something that interested Chris greatly. Even some of the Mobians back at the mansion were watching the news report.
"A strange stone was found at the construction site of a department store on West Jingle street. It appears to be a gemstone, though the construction workers' machines have been malfunctioning whenever they approached it. It's quite possible that some of you viewers are seeing the effects of this stone on your TV. You might hear, or see, static, which is caused by the energy that this stone emits. Here is an artist's rendering of what the stone looks like," the female news reporter held up a drawing of a peculiar green jewel, one that the Mobians recognised very well.
February 21st 1989 - 11:07 AM
Dr. Eggman's Fortress
But the Mobians and Chris' classmates weren't the only ones watching the broadcast. Dr. Eggman as well as his robotic assistants - Decoe and Bocoe - were viewing it from the fortress' central control room. When the reporter held up the image of the jewel, Eggman grinned.
"There have been no signs of radioactivity within several kilometres of the stone. Scientists are baffled as to why this stone makes machines go haywire. Answers have yet to be found. This was Scarlet Garcia, reporting for SSTV."
The broadcast then ended. Eggman knew exactly what he was going to do next.
"The Chaos Emeralds! So they are here in this world," the scientist commented aloud. "Hey, Decoe, get me those cards!"
"Yes, sir!" Decoe responded, promptly bringing the tray that carried the deck of cards in question.
Eggman started up his Selection Machine once again. This time, it ended with three consecutive images of a purple and orange bird-like robot. The scientist smiled menacingly once he remembered which one this was.
"Bingo! E-11 Beacon is a perfect choice!" he commented.
Once the new E-Series robot launched from the narrow and dark launch bay that was deep within the fortress, several sneaky humans were able to witness the departure of Eggman's robot without detection. But this wasn't enough to prevent the launch from happening anyway.
February 21st 1989 - 11:27 AM
Station Square Secondary School
Back in Chris' school, all the students and teachers returned to their respective lessons. Chris was in a mathematics class, learning about some numbers and how to solve a particular type of equation. His teacher was incredibly boring, which only made the subject difficult to learn for the majority of the students.
As he was attempting to solve the problem on a little sheet of paper, Chris caught sight of a particular blue biplane flying around outside. He quickly put two and two together, deciding that he needed to leave right there and then.
"Uh, sir? I have to go the toilet..." Chris said, running out of the classroom after quickly getting permission from his teacher to do so.
Outside of the classroom and in the hallway, Chris ran past Mr. Stewart, who was intrigued by the fact that the boy was going in the opposite direction of the nearest toilet during lesson time. The strange teacher knew something was up. He began to secretly follow Chris.
In the streets of Station Square, Chris was running as fast as his small body could carry him, searching for his friends while doing so. He was insistent on helping them out in any way he could. Perhaps, if he was lucky enough, he could get the Chaos Emerald before them.
February 21st 1989 - 11:31 AM
Station Square, Construction Site
At the site of Scarlet Garcia's earlier news report, she and her cameraman were taking a break from work. Though in the cameraman's case, break meant that he had time to combat the effects of the strange jewel they were reporting about, messing around with various settings the camera had in order to do so.
While he was doing all that, he found himself chatting to a stranger about sports. Their conversation distracted him from his 'break', which made it all the more surprising when a giant robot and a floating pod began approaching the area from the skies.
"It's Dr. Eggman!" he informed everyone else that was at the construction site. As soon as they heard that, everyone fled the scene, creating a large group of people that ran in different directions while screaming in terror. Sonic was running towards the construction site to grab that Chaos Emerald, when he came upon the fleeing masses.
"What's going on?" the hedgehog wondered to himself, albeit aloud. He looked to his right, immediately spotting Eggman and Beacon as they were moving above the city. "So, Eggman's come for the emerald, too? Guess that makes it a race!" He zoomed across the rooftops, then landed onto the ground as he closed in on the construction site.
"There it is!" Eggman noticed as he too approached the site. However, he caught wind of Sonic doing the same. "It's him...E-11, we'll get the Chaos Emerald later. Get rid of Sonic first!"
E-11 complied. As Sonic was speeding along the rooftops, he was caught unaware by a sudden attack from Beacon, thus sending him upwards. Sonic kept underestimating his opponent, which resulted in him being continually smacked around in the air by E-11's metallic beak.
Luckily, Sonic was about to receive some support. The Tornado 2 was approaching at a high speed with Tails and Amy ready to help out their blue friend.
"Amy, quick, the ring!" Tails exclaimed.
Amy grabbed a Power Ring from a compartment next to her seat. "Sonic, catch it!" she waved around the hand that held the Power Ring, which did indeed catch his attention.
Tails steadied the plane so that Amy's throw wouldn't be suddenly adjusted for the worse. She threw the Power Ring, but Sonic completely missed it, much to his dismay.
"Amy..." Tails sighed.
"Sorry, I messed up. Do you think you could get closer?" Amy requested, embarrassed over her poor throw. "I only came out here to help…"
"It's gonna be tough, but I'll try my best," Tails replied. He steered the Tornado 2 a little closer to the E-Series robot.
Eggman, meanwhile, was keen to get on with his initial mission. "There. Now that Sonic and friends are busy, the Chaos Emerald is mine to take!" he said to himself as he descended to the construction site.
He pulled himself out of the Egg Mobile and removed the blue cover that was hiding his prize. The scientist dug in place with his bare hands until the green Chaos Emerald finally emerged from the depths of the dirt. He smiled. However, just as he was about to pick it up, Chris came in out of nowhere and nabbed it.
"Hey! Who are you?" Eggman demanded to know.
"So this is a Chaos Emerald..." Chris completely ignored the doctor and stared at the shimmering jewel that now rested in his palm. Unluckily for him, Eggman wasn't very happy, causing him to smack the emerald out from Chris' grasp and into his own.
"You thief!" Chris accused, now the angry one.
"How rude of you, boy! Dr. Eggman is not a thief. I'm only obtaining what is rightfully mine," Eggman returned, getting back into his hover vehicle.
"Give it back!" Chris yelled at the scientist, as he tried to wrestle the Chaos Emerald back into his ownership.
The boy's efforts continued even as the Egg Mobile hovered back into the air. He held onto the Egg Mobile's pointy underside as tightly as possible, fearing for his life all the while.
February 21st 1989 - 11:40 AM
Station Square, Above the Construction Site
Sonic wasn't having much luck with his battle. Neither was Tails or Amy, for that matter. The blue hedgehog was still being knocked around by Beacon. Each time he failed to judge when the robot would land a hit, Sonic became increasingly mad.
"Quit it, will ya?!" he barked.
After some time, E-11 knocked him further away than usual. This gave the Mobians enough breathing room for Amy to successfully throw another Power Ring at Sonic. He used the power boost to Spin Attack straight through his opponent, destroying the E-Series mech and landing on the wing of the Tornado 2 safely.
However, it wasn't a total victory, as the Mobians heard Chris' cries for help as he kept hanging underneath Eggman.
"Chris!" Sonic called. "Don't you worry, we're comin' for ya!" The Tornado 2 shot ahead, aiming to save the twelve year old boy that was hanging for his life.
Within the Egg Mobile's cockpit, Eggman sat with the green Chaos Emerald in hand. Unfortunately for the scientist, Chris managed to climb onto the top half of the vehicle by using a small red ladder. Eggman was smart. He titled his machine sideways, making it much harder to hang onto, especially for a normal boy like Chris.
Chris persisted. But eventually, he slipped and began to drop. However, he was able to grab onto Eggman's moustache, thus saving himself from the fall.
"Let go!" Eggman demanded with a roar. He smacked, slammed and smashed Chris as much as he could, completely forgetting about the object that he left in his hand.
The boy couldn't take much more punishment, so he started falling - Chaos Emerald in hand. Eggman returned to piloting his Egg Mobile. He straightened his moustache, mostly concerned for that at the moment.
"How dare he pull on my moustache! He must've pulled some hairs out..." Eggman quickly found that he was no longer in the possession of the emerald. Therefore, he screamed.
Meanwhile, Chris was still falling. Falling to certain doom. He was able to hold onto the Chaos Emerald, but the question of whether he would be able to hold onto life remained to be seen. Luckily, Mr. Stewart was nearby. He found Chris as the boy was getting closer to the ground. The teacher knew what he had to do.
"Please make it in time..." he pleaded with fate. Mr. Stewart opened the roof of his car and made his back seat puff up, as if it was some sort of balloon. He slammed down the gas pedal, thus making the car speed ahead. While he perfectly intended to be the boy's rescuer, he was slightly relieved to see Sonic do the deed instead.
"At least that was taken care of," Mr. Stewart said. "Oh right! The school, I forgot...gotta get back for next period…" He returned his car to normal and quickly made his way back to his job, letting Chris remain in the care of Sonic.
February 21st 1989 - 11:50 AM
Thorndyke Mansion, Chuck's Room
After saving Chris' life, Sonic safely returned the boy back to Chuck's bedroom. Amy, Cream, Cheese, Chris and Chuck were marvelling at the sight of the glowing green gem as it remained on Chuck's metallic worktable. They had never seen anything quite so mystifying before. Sonic, Tails and Luster were plenty familiar with the brilliance of chaos.
"Since we've got one, we only need six more, right?" Amy wondered, her eyes fixed on the Chaos Emerald.
"That's correct!" Tails nodded with a smile.
Chuck, while he was impressed with the gem, he felt worried about it and its potential. "We shouldn't keep it here, since it'll make my machines go crazy like it did with those diggers," the old man pointed out.
"No problem! I'll just fix 'em up for you if they go wrong," Tails reassured him.
"Really? Well, thanks!" Chuck smiled, appreciative of the fox's efforts.
Chris made his way over to Sonic, who returned to his windowsill post. The boy seemed upset as the hedgehog could easily tell. He immediately turned his attention to the brave pre-teen.
"I'm sorry..." Chris said.
"Why apologise, dude?" Sonic wondered, leaning back against the edge of the windowsill.
"For making you worry and for losing the emerald..." Chris' head drooped.
Sonic paused, thinking of a good way to respond. "Hey, Chris…you were cool out there."
"I...I was?" Christopher asked in disbelief. He blushed, unaccustomed to praise.
"Indeed! You did a good job. Just try not to do it again, because you're not some super soldier or a Mobian with a special ability," Chuck commented.
"Thanks, grandad."
He took a quick look at everyone in the room. From Sonic, to Chuck, to Amy, to Tails, to Luster, then to Cream and Cheese. He switched back to the Chaos Emerald, gazing at it with a strong, childish wonder. He now understood its brilliance.
Luster the Cat: Season 1 Ending 3 (Mirai - Sonic X, English) -
Are you ready for this trip?
There's just one more day to go
Put on some brand new clothes
Let's sneak off and defeat our woe
The sleepless city even today
It is still looking over us
And that's what I like 'bout what you say
To be shine, to be free
Hey, there's nothin' to be confused about
The waves, of time, are gentle now ya see
Soon I will meet you there my friend
Let us light up our world
To be shine, to be free
Nothin' to be afraid of
We have, rode the, waves of time ya see
To the other side of that far off road
Soon I will meet you there my friend
Let's go and find our future there and reload