Sonic X: Back To Earth.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. The rights of the franchise and all Sonic characters and media belong to Sega, Sonic Team and other connected companies. I only own the OCs.
The Mutagen Saga.
Chapter 8: Thorndyke Jailbird-Part 2.
After having been knocked out when the Mutant-Snake dragged her down into the sewers, Rouge finally began to regain consciousness. She had no idea how long she'd been out cold, or where she was. Memories began to return to her on what happened, the albino bat thief opened her eyes slowly. When she did, it was quite dark and damp, and, to her disgust as her nose wrinkled, smelled really bad.
All around her were dark, concrete walls, the sewer-line down below which looked all dirty and gross, large pipes with waste-water flowing out and into the underground river, and to Rouge's confusion, moss and vines which decorated the place in an ugly way like a slimy underground jungle. To make matters worse, as she tried to move, she found that her arms and legs were pinned against the wall, as she was tied up with more vines which felt all sticky like a spider's web.
"Ugh. It couldn't have at least taken me underground where it wasn't the sewer and tie me up like a spider would?" Rouge complained, struggling to pull herself free from her restrains, but she was kept firmly trapped and wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.
The sounds of dripping and the fact that she was all alone wasn't comforting at all. While normally she wasn't the damsel in distress, since that sort of thing were for girls like Amy and Cream and Sonic was normally the 'knight of the wind' to save them,(he couldn't be named Knight in Shiny Armor unless you count him being Super Sonic as the shiny part), Rouge did hope that someone would come to her rescue.
'Just hope Shadow and Omega haven't left without me, or destroyed each other. But at least one of them is more capable of some sort of rescue. Not like a certain echidna who leaves a girl behind.' She thought to herself, thinking about Knuckles who was probably busy and had found Sonic and the others by now.
Either way, she knew that she was going to be stuck here for a while.
Back at the GUN HQ, Commander Tower was again observing everything that was going on and waited impatiently for any updates of Chris' arrest and what else was happening all across the globe. The later part was not good news.
"The mysterious Fog has spread all across the globe, sir." One of the workers reported from below, listening in from the radio from the Satellite. "The only place not affected is the continent of Sonic the Hedgehog and his people as it was transported here. It's only the hedgehog and his friends that are going back and forth, but only briefly."
"This is precisely the work of Christopher Thorndyke, and he has asked the help from the rogue scientist Dr. Kai Narasu, no doubt. All so to bring Sonic back to Earth, destroy Time and ensure that he never leaves again. That boy wants everything from his childhood to remain the same, wanting nothing more than have the hedgehog to himself and not caring for what becomes of our world." Tower grunted in increasing fury.
'And as for the hero himself, he is blind to the boy's dark ambitions and roams too freely with no leash to hold him down. If Sonic's goal is to do good and protect the innocent, then his place is to be with me, should he continue to follow the traitor's trap. He is better served as a soldier. I want him as my top agent of GUN, should it ever happen.' Tower thought to himself, while unaware that, due to having the mutagen inside him that also caused him to de-age, it swelled and darkened, flowing through his bloodstream and into his mind, and for a brief moment he winced as though he was having a headache.
Unknown to him and pretty much everyone else in the city, the same thing was happening to half of the human population in Station Square, from the Station Square Police Station with the Jail Guard groaning and rubbing his forehead before slowly looking up and his eyes darkened along with his expression, a twisted grin slowly forming on his face, to expensive companies and those who can be quite bitter. Soon they seemed to have recovered slightly, but something strangely wrong was happening.
Back at the HQ, the Commander grunted, as in his mind, he saw images of Shadow, and then the dark thoughts of Sonic being with Chris, and, strongly on his beliefs of the de-aged boy's goals, growled softly to himself, his eyes giving out a glow of purple before it faded.
One soldier came in behind the Commander and reported with a smart salute, interrupting his thoughts and unaware of what was going on. "We have Christopher Thorndyke in custody, sir. He didn't even resist arrest and went willingly at the request that his family and friends are not to be harmed. He has been in there for an hour now or less."
"Good. Now, we storm his lab to find the evidence that we need." Tower ordered, smirking in an evil way. "That should keep Sonic from being lured into the boy's trap."
"Uh, about that, sir." The soldier muttered hesitantly. "There's also reports that Sonic is at the Police Station. Our spies say that he's going to visit Mr. Thorndyke to try and clear his name. He uh, even came here earlier requesting permission to release the boy, but we denied firmly and then he left, presumably to speak with the kid."
"WHAT!?" The Commander snarled, whirling around with an enraged look which frightened the cadet. "He and his friends were not supposed to return until late this morning!"
"Y-yes, sir, but we have reason to believe that Professor Charles Thorndyke has informed Sonic of the situation, sir." He stuttered in fear.
This wasn't what Tower had planned. He had made orders that Sonic and everyone involved in Chris' life were to stay clear, and the boy's grandfather obviously has broken that order. That then also made him think of another reason.
'Of course. Christopher wouldn't have done this alone, even with Dr. Narasu's secret help. Curse that Professor Thorndyke! First Professor Robotnik, then his grandson Dr. Eggman, and now this! It must be a sense of loneliness that makes scientific minds that drives them into insanity.' Tower thought darkly to himself.
"New order. Follow Professor Thorndyke, and then have him under arrest as well. In the meantime, get me online with the Police Station. NOW!" He barked.
"Y-yes, sir!" The soldier gulped, and for a split second thought he saw his superior's eyes glow, but didn't question it out of fear of what the man more powerful than him would do.
Tower turned and waited even more impatiently, glaring down at the people before him. Just when things were looking up, now Chris' grandfather had made things more complicated, alerting Sonic who would no doubt attempt to break the boy free.
Five minutes later, Tower's Iphone than rang, as the now terrified soldier returned, almost visibly shaking as he reported. "The contact to the Police is 2, sir."
Answering and pressing the number 2 on the keyboard, Tower responded. "This is Commander Tower. I hear that Sonic the Hedgehog is there right now, visiting Christopher Thorndyke."
"Yes, Commander, sir. Sonic requested permission to visit the boy. We gave him fifteen minutes to be there before he has to leave." The caller replied.
"Issue that request. I will be there in fifteen minutes to speak with the boy myself, no time limit. Also, have Sonic under temporary arrest and make him stay in Thorndyke's cell until I give the order to release him once my visit is done. I want to speak to him as well." The Commander ordered. "I will not take any chances in that hedgehog in freeing the prisoner."
"With all due respect, sir, we cannot allow unlimited visits-"
"GUN is of the higher bidder of the President! The Police are to keep order in line while we deal with the highest criminals. You will do as I say! Or else you will be fired from your job and jailed as well. Do I make myself clear?" Tower snapped.
A long moment of silence.
"Y-yes, Commander. W-we will keep Sonic the Hedgehog locked up until your call in having him released o-once you wish to leave." Stuttered the caller, sounding extremely terrified himself.
"Excellent. I will see you soon, and no questions asked." Tower replied, then hung up before storming away to head over to the Police Station himself.
It looked like he was finally going to meet the hero of both worlds face to face for the very first time, even after nine years.
After Sonic ran off to get permission to at least visit Chris once Chuck told him, Tails and Cosmo on what happened and the elder Thorndyke calling the President with the aid of Nelson, but failed to convince him to bail the youngest Thorndyke out, Tails and Cosmo went back to their continent and pick up Knuckles, Amy, Cream and Cheese, and the Chaotix since the situation was quickly becoming more dire by the hour.
The rest of the group had been horrified upon hearing what has happened, demanding answers which Chuck couldn't provide. Instead, he made a suggestion to check the center of the city since he had a bad gut feeling on where the beam actually came from.
So with that, Amy, Cream and Cheese, Chuck, Tails, Cosmo, Knuckles, Vector, Espio and Charmy all drove to hopefully and finally find the first clue of the fog's origins.
"So, Chuck. What's in the center of Station Square these days anyway?" Vector asked as they all drove in the limosine driven by Tanaka.
"Quite a few places. One of them is actually Chris' old Lab where he spent six years developing his own Porthole in hopes of reaching your world. He waited all those years to go on another adventure with Sonic." The elder Thorndyke explained.
"Chris once told us that somehow managed to use it all by himself, using a sample from his body or something." Amy remarked, recalling how Chris mentioned during the Metarex crisis.
"Yes, he designed the machine so that he was the only one who could enter." Chuck responded. "That, and material objects connected to him or rather, the ship I designed in hopes that he would get home by using it as well."
"So it was you who sent that ship for Chris?" Espio asked, slightly surprised as he recalled how the space ship he, Vector and Charmy used to deliver Chris' stuff to him on the Blue Typhoon just appeared out of nowhere.
"Wow, you managed to fit that thing through the Porthole? That's awesome!" Charmy remarked.
"That is impressive, but it must've caused a side-effect on Chris, since when he came to our world, he was the twelve year old kid when we first met him and in our case, it's only been six months since we got back home." Knuckles stated, still confused over this even after three months in their world.
Chuck blinked, then thought deeply as he remembered his grandson mention that. "Perhaps it's due to Time dilation between both worlds."
"What's Time Dilation?" Cream asked, puzzled as Cheese muttered in confusion.
"It's a difference in the elapsed time measured by two clocks, either due to them having a velocity relative to each other, or by there being a gravitational potential difference between their locations. In other words, time in your world is slower than it is here on Earth." The kind scientist answered.
"I see. So I was right; Months in our world is years here. And as such, weeks is months, days is weeks, and hours is days. It must've effected Chris's body because it's like traveling back in time." Tails realized.
"I never thought of anything like that. Time is such a mystery." Cosmo stated, stunned.
"It certainly is, but it's also important in everyone's lives. Without Time, life can't move on, which is why it is very important to stop the merge as soon as possible, and the only way to do that is find the Chaos Emeralds. Unfortunately, that is delayed due to what's happening in our world." Chuck nodded in agreement.
"It's not your fault. Nobody knew about any of this." Cream reassured.
"Cream, you're so kind." The older man smiled.
"Uh, months is years, and days is what?" Charmy muttered, trying to understanding this logic, before finally giving up and plainly said. "You've lost me."
"You're not the only one." Knuckles admitted with a shrug. "If that's the case, then why aren't we older than we are and why is everybody still how it was months ago in our world?"
"Maybe the fog really did come from Eggman's Porthole and it spread all over Earth because our continent and Angel Island were brought here." Amy said, worriedly.
Tails shook his head. "I don't think so, Amy. It may be possible, but Eggman designed the machine to return to Earth, not spread some kind of fog all over the place to make everybody younger and then turn most of Earth's animals into monsters."
"And Chris has shut down his Porthole and hasn't been in there for years." Chuck agreed. "Even so, it could be that someone here on Earth may have used his lab as a secret base for a mysterious purpose."
"Well, the only way to find out is investigate the area and not stop until we find those clues and solve the biggest case in our Agency's history!" Vector declared with determination.
"Professor Thorndyke..." Tanaka spoke up, sounding rather uneasy. "Neither of you are going to like this."
When he pulled the limo to a stop and everyone got out of the car, they were all stunned to see the mess that was left behind of Chris' old lab; broken glass from the smashed windows, a hole in the roof, and the entire building almost in ruins. Almost everyone was speechless.
"Well, looks like the mystery's gotten even bigger." Charmy remarked as he broke the fourth wall by gazing at the viewers/readers with a slightly unsettled expression.
Minutes later and careful on where to step since the building could collapse, Chuck lead the three teams minus Sonic down the small hallway. The building was left mostly in rubble, and as the group ventured into the main lab, their eyes widened as the place that the elder Thorndyke was familiar with was also in a mess. The Porthole was somehow still intact, but damaged, computers were smashed, pieces of paper were everywhere, furniture was crippled.
"Look at this mess." Amy gasped softly.
"Is this Chris' main lab?" Tails asked, gazing at the Porthole. "It looks just like the one we built to get us and Sonic home."
Chuck went over the Porthole to examine it, before frowning in concern as he noticed a couple of wired plugs. "It looks like I was right. Someone was here, and clearly attempted to use the Porthole for their own purposes."
"What? What do you mean?" Knuckles demanded, as everyone else gasped in shock.
"I'm not sure." The human scientist responded.
Tails, approaching to get a closer look himself, noticed, unknowingly to him and everyone else, the portable machine Narasu used for the Mutagen, as well as vials that were attached and now broken and empty, safe for a single drop dried up inside one of the vials and another onto the metal box itself.
"Whoever it was might've tried to use the Porthole to make everybody younger by plugging it with their own machine and using some sort of chemical, which could be where the fog came from." He announced, causing his friends to gaze at him in confusion.
"How do you know that, Tails?" Cream asked.
"This machine and these vials right here." The two-tailed fox replied, moving aside a little so that his friends could get a better look as they got closer. He turned back to the machine and muttered. "Problem is, these things are empty."
"Well, at least we know where the weird fog came from." Charmy pointed out with a shrug.
"We know that it was in liquid form, and somehow managed to turn the Porthole into a laser beam or something of sorts. For what purpose though, remains a mystery." Chuck corrected in concern.
"Aren't they any security cameras we can look up?" Tails asked.
"There are, but I'm afraid in the state of the building and with the power out, we won't have much luck." The kindly man shook his head, making everyone else all sigh.
"Aha!" Vector suddenly hollared, causing everyone else to look at him in confusion, as he looked at the floor, pointing. "Now we're gettin' somewhere. Suspicious footprints!"
When they looked, the saw that there were indeed footprints, and not belonging to any one of them. They looked all muddy as though someone had walked into a mud puddle or damp soil.
"They definitely don't belong to Chris' footwear, not even when before the de-aging thing happened." Chuck remarked, blinking in surprise. "Plus they're a bit too narrow for mine."
"It belongs to whoever is behind this. Who, though, is still yet to be answered." Espio stated in realization.
"Well, whoever came in here obviously wasn't careful enough." Amy said, a little bit surprised by the lack of stealthing skills the culprit behind this had.
"So if we find whoever has the same foot size as these, we can find the real mastermind behind the mysterious fog." Cosmo realized, feeling some sense of hope.
"Leave it to the Chaotix Agency!" Charmy declared excitedly, pulling out a camera and took a couple of photos of the muddy trail which came from the back entrance. He then held up the camera in victory, announcing. "Look out, bad guy! The Chaotix are about to catch ya'!"
Vector smirked proudly at the youngest member of his team, giving the young bee a thumbs up. "Well said, Charmy!"
"That means we can save Chris and prove that he didn't do anything wrong!" Cream said happily, with Cheese cooing in excitement.
"Let's go back and wait for Sonic and tell him the-" Tails was cut off when the sounds of helicopter repellars, and police sirens filled the air due to the roof having a hole in it, which as they looked up and saw a strangely human-shaped hole with a couple of jet engines(that Charmy also took photos of), they then heard some crashing outside and all gasped.
Outside, Tanaka was surrounded by armed forces of GUN, with many more appearing and attempting to storm the abandoned lab. He stood there with a glare as the men had their weapons aimed at him.
"Stay where you are, buddy and don't try any funny business! We're here for Professor Charles Thorndyke!" One of the soldiers ordered.
"First Master Chris and now Professor Charles? What is this world coming to?" The bulter muttered in disgust.
"Move in! We'll keep this guy company and make sure he doesn't move." The soldier ordered to some of the men.
"Yes, sir!" Seven of the soldiers replied, and quickly raced over towards the lab, smashing their way in to find Chuck.
Hearing the loud bang outside, everyone inside began to get worried and tense, with Knuckles, Vector and Espio looking ready to fight just in case.
"What's happening?" Cosmo asked, a little scared while Amy held Cream and Cheese close to her, the rabbit girl looking very scared.
"Just when things couldn't get anymore complicated." Knuckles grunted.
"We'll handle this!" Vector declared.
"Indeed. I will not give in without a fight." Espio added, readying his shurikens.
Chuck on the other hand felt he knew what was happening and told them gravely. "Wait. Don't. It's GUN. I think they have figured out what we're attempting to do. They are intelligent and have the authority of spies and even the Satellite."
"Well, what're we gonna do!? Just let ourselves get arrested like Chris!?" Knuckles argued.
"No. All of you go and hide and return to the Mansion with Tanaka. I'll give myself in. If I pretend that I'm the one who did all of this and Chris didn't even know it, that should hopefully at least release him until all of you clear my name after finding the true culprit." Chuck explained, earning him shocked, fearful, and horrified gasps from the group, realizing he was going to sacrifice himself.
"Chuck, no!" Tails pleaded.
"You can't!" Amy cried out.
"You're just as crazy as Sonic!" Knuckles exclaimed, unable to believe this.
Ignoring the protests, Chuck shook his head and told them firmly. "Just hide and don't make a sound. Better me than any of you or Sonic." He then added with a slightly sad smile. "Besides, I'm not as young as I used to be."
"If you think this could work..." The purple chameleon muttered with uncertanity, only for the doors and rapid footsteps to be heard and getting louder and louder, alarming them even more.
"There's no more time. Hurry!" The elder man urged.
Seeing how serious he was and that he wasn't going to change his mind, despite the girls' and Tails' protests, Knuckles and Espio gestured them, Vector and Charmy to hide. Seeing the door leaving to the back, the eight of them quickly and silently hurried there, sharing soft whispers of goodbyes and wished Chuck to be careful, and as Knuckles closed the door and waited along with the others, remaining silent as possible with Cream gently telling Cheese to not make a sound, the seven GUN soldiers came barging in and surrounded the elder Thorndyke to stood there firmly, awaiting his fate.
"Professor Charles Thorndyke. You're under arrest for attempting on bailing Christopher out of jail, trespassing on private property, and against Earth's rights." One of the soldiers stated firmly.
"I guess you found me out." Chuck began, lying while attempting to be as convincing as possible. "But I can say that it was not my grandson who has brought the fog upon us all, or used the Porthole to bring Sonic the Hedgehog back. It was me; I wanted to make him happy. Chris is innocent, so I ask you to take me in his place and release him from all charges."
From behind the door, Tails' felt his heart break as the lie did sound almost convincing, while Charmy attempted on saying something, only for Vector to quickly cover his mouth and shushed him. Everyone else waited with held breaths and slightly shaking hearts.
Unfortunately, the soldiers were not convinced, as the first one scoffed. "Ha! Nice try, old man. But we know that you two worked together on this thing, so there's no point in trying to bail the kid out when he's equally guilty as you. Just like Professor Robotnik and Doctor Eggman."
"What?" The old scientist muttered in disbelief, unable to believe that his plan has been cut short, and before he could do anything, three of the men raced over before restraining him. He grunted in discomfort before being handcuffed and despite his protests, he was being dragged away.
Tails and the rest of his friends were horrified to hear this as well, and could only share dismayed glances. Even Chuck's plan had failed to get Chris out, and now the elder Thorndyke was arrested mistakenly as well.
'Sonic...I hope you have better luck. This is getting even worse.' Tails thought to himself, unable to believe that this was happening.
At the same time...back with Sonic...
Back in the Station Square Police Station Jail, Sonic and Chris could've sworn they stared at each other for a good fifteen minutes tops which would've been useless. Thankfully it was only just fifteen seconds, before Chris finally spoke up.
"What is it you want to talk to me about?" He asked, a little uneasy.
Sonic sighed. He hadn't meant to make his human best friend uncomfortable, but he had to be sure he was right about coming here. "I want you to be honest with me. I know it's hard, given how things have gone all crazy here, but on the day when all of this started, before the fog appeared that night when I came back. What were you doing?"
"I was helping out Grandpa with finishing up a new invention, one a bit more advanced than those Walkers people like Helen who can't walk use to be able to move their legs. Like canes for example." The de-aged boy explained truthfully. "This new design was to strap around Helen's legs so that way she could walk and do things like you and me instead of using the hold fashioned crutches and the wheel chair."
"Ah. So that way she can walk down the aisle when you two get married, and be able to do things she couldn't do even as a kid." The blue hedgehog quickly caught on. "I thought I noticed something like that in the lab. That's really cool. She'd love that."
"Yeah, she would. I was planning on surprising her months ahead of time, or a year at the latest before the wedding. Even though it's finished, it still needs a test run in case there are any tinks and bugs that still needs to be cleared." Chris replied. "We've been spending the last year in building it, when I was preparing myself to...well, you know."
"What about the last three years since you got home?"
"First thing I did, when I turned back into my current age, being eighteen, I apologuised to Grandpa, Mom and Dad for leaving without saying goodbye." Chris explained, taking a seat on his bunk bed.
As Sonic made himself comfortable by sliding onto the floor on the wall, leaning against it and had his hands behind his head and one leg over the other, he listened in on what else his friend told him as briefly as possible due to their time limit. Chris explained how he caught up in telling his adventures with the blue hedgehog in beating the Metarex, how he had decided that, given what Eggman had told him before his departure, had ultimately shut down the Porthole for good and closed off his Lab since it wouldn't do him any good anymore like it had in the previous six years since Sonic's departure.
He also explained how he decided to use his scientific skills in helping people with disabilities instead with the help of everyone including Helen, who opted to delay her own treatments of being able to walk, living a normal life but with many people to keep him company but never forgetting about Sonic's group, that for years the Lab had been closed off and never used. He would also help other scientists in producing cures for certain diseases without doing any sort of experiments or dangerous chemicals, but took no part in actually making them since Chris felt very uncomfortable with them.
While he listened, Sonic had to admit he was proud of his friend's accomplishments and having moved forward since their time together, but he found himself fidgeting a little at the mention of producing chemicals, but he still trusted his instincts that Chris would never do anything as harmful as what Narasu attempted to do with him, and ended up doing to Vector.
"And to think that I was so close in helping Helen to finally being able to walk for the first time...now all of this happened." Chris sighed.
He could see the absolute truth in the human boy's eyes. As such, Sonic shared that feeling, but there were still questions lingering around this mystery. Like who would frame Chris? What was the interest in the middle of the city where the beam that formed the fog came from? He didn't want to believe that his human best friend would do this sort of thing, especially when he wanted to marry Helen and proposed to her. The engagement rings were the evidence of that.
"Did ya' get any sleep last night, bud?" He asked curiously, noticing the dark circles around his human best friend's eyes which told him that the boy hardly got any sleep.
Looking at the blue hedgehog in surprise, Chris then remembered what he had been thinking which prevented him from sleeping before GUN broke into his house and arrested him over false claims, and gazed at the floor with sadness and guilt. For that moment, Sonic's heart stopped for a moment. He didn't know what kind of guilt it was yet, but he felt he had a pretty good idea, and hoped that he wasn't about to hear the ultimate betrayal which he couldn't handle.
"No. I didn't even change into my pajamas before I got arrested." The de-aged boy admitted. "I was thinking and I couldn't get to sleep."
"Is it because of me? That you don't want to see me go?" Sonic asked gently, and when Chris looked at him in shock, he continued. "Or is it something else?"
Realizing that Sonic had caught him with his thoughts, Chris looked at the floor again, and said. "It's kinda both. I was looking forward in getting ready to be married before the whole de-aging thing started, and for three years I...accepted that I would never see you again. Then the other night you came back, which was mainly Eggman's doing. I...I was so happy to see you, Sonic. But it's like you said, this is our last adventure together before things go back to normal and you would go back home. I'm trying to prepare myself for that, so I wouldn't end up like how I stopped you from going back nine years ago until you made me realize I was risking both worlds."
Chris then began to tear up while trying not to cry, "But now...I'm torn. It's almost like-like I'm losing all of the maturity I gained over the years and being reduced to being a kid again, mentally as well as physically. I feel awful in feeling like this, and for the sake of both worlds and Time, I have to accept it eventually since it's the only way to fix things up...I just..."
Sonic remained silent, he knew what his friend was going to say. It was like back when the human boy shut down the machine to prevent him from leaving Earth out of fear and loneliness, taking him away from everyone else and wanting nothing more than to keep him forever and at that moment didn't care what would happen to both worlds or Time itself.
"You want me to stay here forever, don't you?" The blue hedgehog whispered in sadness.
"...I'm so sorry, Sonic! I-I feel horrible in-in wanting to-to take away your freedom...but I-I don't want you to go!" Chris sobbed, tears falling freely and dropping onto the concrete floor like raindrops. "M-Maybe it's-it's the fog that's making me so selfish...! I'm really sorry...!"
"Oh, Chris..." Sonic muttered, feeling awful himself. At that moment he felt the more mature one out of both of them, but his heart broke to see his friend have a mental struggle. Fighting with himself to stop the more selfish-child desires to trap the teenage hedgehog on Earth for the rest of his life, and it was becoming difficult. The poor kid was in turmoil.
Standing up, Sonic approached his distraught and guilt-ridden friend, and took a seat next to him, gently rubbing the crying boy's back to give him as much comfort as he could, whispering. "Hey, don't cry, Chris. I told ya, I'm always with you in your heart. Just like you are in mine."
"I know...I remember that. It's just...it's tough. Like I said, I feel horrible in wanting to force you to stay, when I know...when I know that we can't take the risk. Not when Eggman pretty much did all of this. I'm not even sure where the fog came from or how it started." Chris sniffled.
Sonic looked away with guilt forming on his face, muttering. "I'm sorry, Chris. It's all my fault. If only I stopped Omega from shooting at Eggman's Porthole, the new horrible merging and Time being at risk in being destroyed never would have happened. But I didn't think quick enough."
He looked up at his friend and quickly said with a sad smile, "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see you again. It's just, I wish we could at least visit each other without Time and our worlds being put into danger. But let's face it; sometimes life isn't fair, no matter what we want. But we have to accept it."
Chris couldn't help but chuckle despite his mood, and replied. "Yeah, most people know that. But it isn't your fault that Eggman's caused this to happen, and it's not your fault for me sounding really selfish. I just wish I knew who's responsible for the weird purple fog, though or who would frame me."
"C'mon, Chris. You're not selfish. You're just...afraid of letting go. Put it this way, it's just like old times. You're only selfish if you truly don't care what other people think, what's really important, only care about your own interests and not feel guilty about it." Sonic pointed out. "The fact that you do feel terrible and you're fighting to stop yourself from going down that path just proves that you do care. You've really grown up, buddy, and I couldn't be more proud of you."
"Thanks, Sonic." Chris said gratefully, wiping away his tears. He would be remembering everything Sonic told him, and will do his best to fight his deep desires in forcing his best friend to stay which would take away the blue hedgehog's freedom. That thought made the de-aged boy shudder, thinking that he was starting to sound like Eggman which gave him the goosebumps.
Sonic smirked while giving his friend a thumbs up, which the de-aged boy returned.
"Sonic the Hedgehog." The voice of the prison guard called up, causing the two friends to look up and saw him approach with the cell keys in hand.
"Well, that was fast." The blue hedgehog muttered.
"Guess time flies when you're having fun." Chris sighed, resigning himself to be alone again.
"We'll figure this out, and get your name cleared. I promise." Sonic whispered reassuring after he hopped off the bed. "Okay?"
His human best friend nodded with a soft smile.
"Well, see you later, then. I'll tell the others you're doin' okay." The blue hedgehog waved, and began approaching the doors. But he was puzzled when the guard just stood there with his arms folded, keys still in hand.
"Not so fast, blue boy." The guard said darkly. "I didn't say you were leaving yet."
"Huh?" Sonic muttered, feeling a sense of dread and deja vu forming. While he managed to remain calm, he couldn't help but feel paranoid and was unable to stop himself from gulping nervously. "Wait, whaddya mean? Aren't my fifteen minutes up yet?"
The way how the prison guard smirked smugly made the teenager's blood run cold. "Yeah, fifteen minutes is up, but it looks like you're staying here a little bit longer, Mr. Hero. Or should I say, a lot longer?"
"What? Am I arrested too?" Sonic asked, and he could already picture the guard shoving a prison garment at him, telling him to put it and 'enjoy his stay for a very long time' and not allowed to leave until proven other wise.
"That's right, Sonic. Ordered by Commander Tower, 'cause he's the reason why your 'visit'," The prison guard paused, before faking a cough and corrected himself with a nasty 'evil' grin on his face and a dark chuckle that made both boys feel trapped and frightened. "*Ahem* I mean, your 'stay' is extended. He wanted to speak to both of you and make sure you don't get out. Besides, you're already in a cell, so it saves the authorities the trouble in trying to find you, since you're fast and all. Nice way to keep the fastest thing alive from escaping now. Heh heh heh heh heh..."
Chris let out a gasp of shock, while Sonic almost lost most of his cool, not liking this at all, and felt terror and fear wash over him. The blue hedgehog none the less hid his horrified expressions with narrowed eyes, though deep down he was scared out of his mind.
'I can't believe it. GUN must've thought I was gonna break Chris out and decided to arrest me too and told the police station to keep me locked up, having me exactly where they wanted me. I knew I shouldn't have trusted those guys.' Sonic thought to himself in fear and dismay. Now he was wrongly arrested all over again, only this time Sonic and his friends had no idea who framed Chris or why GUN felt the need lock them both up. They were stuck.
Sonic then demanded. "So the Commander of GUN thinks I'm a bad guy and wants to keep me trapped here?"
"Only if you attempt to bail that traitor out." An unfamiliar voice said darkly behind the Prison guard who jumped, and whirled around.
All three of them looked up to see Commander Tower approach with his hands behind his back, a dark frown on his face. The guard stuttered the man's leading name and saluted to him while the older man paused in front of the cell.
"I wish to speak with the hero and the traitor alone. I will call you when Sonic and I are ready to leave." Tower ordered.
"Y-Yes sir!" The Prison Guard gulped, now terrified himself, before sending a more timid nasty grin at Sonic before rushing out of the room, leaving the wrongly imprisoned de-aged boy and sudden-arrested blue hedgehog who had a glare of distrust at the man responsible for him being trapped with his friend.
"So, Sonic the Hedgehog. We finally meet." Commander Tower spoke after a moment of silence.
"Likewise, Commander." Sonic replied as calmly as possible, willing to get to the bottom of this. "I heard a little bit about you. But not much."
"And I have witnessed and heard all of your heroic deeds during your time here on our planet." Tower stated in a tone of disgust. "But this crisis is a matter of GUN matters. When I heard that you were visiting this boy, I had to make sure you didn't break him out, so I ordered the Station Square Police to have you on temporary arrest under my authorization."
"So this is what it's all about? I'm not allowed to visit my friends?" Sonic argued. "First I got wrongly arrested just because my face is surprisingly identical to Shadow's when he framed me since we're both hedgehogs, and now this? So unfair, Commander. I didn't do anything wrong! Let me go!"
"You will be released when I say so, hedgehog. Until this conversation is over, you are staying in there." Tower stated, before turning his gaze to Chris and added. "As for you, Mr. Christopher Thorndyke. I know you have created the substance and spread it across the world, to make everyone young again, and by using your teleporting machine, the Porthole you and your grandfather call it, to bring Sonic the Hedgehog back, to destroy time and ensure he never leaves. Yet something has gone wrong and caused this mess to happen. Why did you do it?"
"Wait, you got it all wrong, sir!" Chris protested, standing up quickly. "I didn't cause the purple fog to happen, and I didn't bring Sonic and everybody else here. It was Eggman! Sonic tried to stop him from returning to Earth! I'm just trying to help in figuring out where the fog came from so we can find or make a cure, and return Sonic and everyone back to their world to save Time!"
"You can't fool me, boy. I will find the proof of that. In a little over 24 hours, you will be moved to Area 51, where once we find evidence of your betrayal against humanity, you will be found guilty for treason." The Commander grunted darkly.
Sonic growled angrily, clenching his fist. "Who do you think you are saying that to my best friend!?"
"Stay out of it, hedgehog! Or else you will be joining him!" Tower shouted. "Anyone who attempts to even raise enough money to release Mr. Thorndyke on bail will all be charged, also for treason."
"What about when we prove that Chris is innocent and found the real culprit?" The blue hedgehog asked. "You can't just assume things without a logical reason."
"Yes, I can. GUN is never wrong." The Commander hissed darkly. "I am in charge of this operation. This is your final warning, Sonic. Stay out of this, or you will be locked up in this cell where I will keep you as long as I want. If you ever interfere with our mission or attempt to aid this traitor, you are mine."
"You can't keep me!" Sonic exclaimed. "I've got both worlds and Time to save, and if I don't, who will? There's nobody else in any worlds that can use the Chaos Emeralds like I can, and I have to go find them!"
The dark look in the Commander's eyes made the teenage hero's heart freeze up, and for a split second, Sonic could've sworn he saw a glint of a purple glow within those multi-coloured pupils which made his own emerald green irises shrink back in confusion and fear.
"What the...?" The blue hedgehog whispered. Where did that come from?
"Commander Tower, please! Let Sonic go!" Chris pleaded, unable to watch this anymore and the more his best friend tried to reason with the man in charge, the more he was scared that the blue hedgehog was closer in not being released. "It's me you want and you got me! I'll behave if you promise to let him go free. Yes, I did want Sonic to stay here forever, and I feel guilty for that, but there's no reason to arrest him when he didn't do anything wrong!"
Commander Tower paused for a long moment, turning his glare to the boy who, like Sonic, saw the same purple glint which shook him right to the core. As soon as the two friends saw it, the mysterious glow was gone, before the man grunted darkly and stood back.
"Fine, Mr. Thorndyke. But if he or anyone else you both know attempt to help you, they will join you for a very long time. Except for Sonic." Tower replied, glaring back at the aforementioned young hero. "He is to stay well clear away from you until if, and only if, the true mastermind is found. But I highly doubt it."
Sonic glared back to hide the fact that he was terrified and shocked, having a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Tower then muttered to the teenager. "Your visit is over, Sonic. Next time if you go near the boy again, you are mine. Even then, you may never leave freely ever again. You are not Shadow as he is dead, but even though you're a hero, you're close enough."
"You don't scare me, Commander Tower. I've faced giant robots and even monsters that are just as terrifying." Sonic replied, his eyes narrowed.
Tower didn't respond this time. Instead, he looked over his shoulder and barked out loudly. "Guard! The visit is over. Release Sonic the Hedgehog as well."
'Finally. I hate jails.' The blue hedgehog thought to himself, as he waited impatiently. Though he turned to look at Chris who held a very worried look, mixed with a terrified gaze in his eyes, and while Sonic tried to hide it from his face, he shared that feeling. He could tell that his human best friend had seen the same glint in Tower's eyes and wondered if the purple fog was starting to cause another terrible side-effects on humans.
When Tower's back was turned to them, Sonic and Chris shared a quick hug, the blue hedgehog whispering in his friend's ear. "We'll figure this out. I promise. Hang in there, Chris."
"Be careful, Sonic." Chris whispered back, believing in his friend.
The two reluctantly but quickly let go before turning around just as the Prison Guard returned, this time unlocking the cell and opened up the door wide to allow Sonic go free. Despite what he said, the blue hedgehog was admittedly intimidated by the Commander and resisted in nodding at his friend who also felt that giving each other nods would give the man more wrong convincing ideas. Sonic walked out quickly so that neither of the older men would simply just slam the doors shut to keep him imprisoned, and turned back to stare at his friend who stood not moving, obediently staying put while the guard closed the cell once more to keep Chris locked up.
"It's kind of a pity that you didn't get to stay in there, Sonic. Because I liked seeing you in a cage. Maybe you should go the zoo." The Prison Guard chuckled, grabbing hold of Sonic's arm, only for the teenage hedgehog to yank himself free quickly.
"I'm not an Earth animal, buddy. And if I wanted to hang out with some, I'd rather visit the Nature Preserve since it's more fun and free there." Sonic replied with a glare, feeling uncomfortable with this guy.
"Aw, but I always wanted a hedgehog for a pet." The guard mocked a pouting, grinning.
Sonic was about to retort when he noticed something made him gasp softly. The same purple glint he saw in Tower's eyes happened again in the Prison Guard's eyes. Was it his imagination? Or was the purple substance beginning to bring forth certain desires that was turning humans to the dark side? That latter thought actually scared him.
"Time for you to leave, Sonic." Tower said before the argument could heat up. The blue hedgehog gazed at him while the Commander continued darkly. "But, do not get in my way and don't even think of hoping to proving the boy's innocence. He betrayed humanity, and betrayed you."
The teenage hero's eyes narrowed, before turning back to Chris who silently and pleadingly gestured Sonic to get going before things could get ugly.
"You're wrong about my friend, Commander. I hope you'll feel bad for accusing him when the real culprit is found." Sonic muttered in return, and without another word and despite that he didn't want to leave Chris, he didn't want to spend even another second in this place or around the two people who either threatened to imprison him as well, or sickly wanted to keep him in jail for their own cruel desires, the blue hedgehog sped out in a blue blur.
"You say that now, but I will prove that I am right." Tower said darkly, casting a final glare at Chris who gulped nervously with a sweat drop, before turning and walked away himself.
Chris attempted to suppress the urge to shudder, but when he turned to the Prison Guard who grinned cruely at him, the de-aged boy blinked in shock when he saw the same purple glint in the man's eyes and shook his head and looked again. As he did, he caught sight of the glint fading away before the guard walked off to do the next part of his job, leaving the former twenty one year old once again on his own.
"What was that? Both Commander Tower and that Prison Guard having purple gleams in their eyes? Did Sonic notice that too?" Chris muttered to himself, and scratched the top of his head uneasily. "This keeps getting more and more creepy."
"Where can that snake have taken Rouge? I thought Snakes didn't live in disgusting places like sewers." Shadow grunted as he and Omega traversed through the sewers on the sidewalks with speed, and thanks to E-123 being a robot, he could use his eyes as a flash-light to help both of them see through the dark.
"The unnatural substance has mutated not only the Snake's body, but also it's mind. I also detected it is also beginning to effect the minds of the human race." Omega reported as he scanned the area for any potential dangers.
"Hmph. As if humans aren't already greedy enough." The black hedgehog scoffed, skating his way along the sidewalk. It also gave him a bit of a mental pause. He was aware that not all humans were bad; Maria, and the boy Chris that Sonic was close to were the examples.
The thought of the human boy suddenly made Shadow realize that, if what Omega says is true, then no doubt that the child was also de-aged. Given out he briefly heard from Rouge, Time runs faster here on Earth than it does in her world. Months in Sonic's world is years in the human world. Which meant that Chris is an adult now. Or rather, he was before the mysterious fog appeared.
A faint hiss that sounded familiar brought the black hedgehog out of his thoughts. Looking up and skidding to a stop as Omega also detected life movement, Shadow could see the tail of the large Snake disappear just around the corner.
"Mutant Snake sighted. Processing immediate elimination." Omega said, preparing to give chase and open fire, only for Shadow to hold his arms down and lower them.
"Wait. We need to follow that thing in order to find Rouge. Once we do, then we can destroy it." Shadow reasoned, knowing that if they didn't follow the Mutant Snake, it would take even longer to find their bat companion.
"...Affirmative." The robot replied in annoyance after a moment.
"Let's go." The black hedgehog muttered, powering up his skate shoes and as silently as possible followed their target, with Omega attempting to do the same despite being clunky. All the while, he thought. 'Rouge, you'd better still be alive.'
They were very close, though. He could feel it.
Back at the Thorndyke Mansion, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cosmo, Cream and Cheese, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Ella, Mr. Tanaka, Lindsey and Nelson all stood on the first floor of the house with grave concerns on what was going on after Tails' group returned with Tanaka, managing to avoid the military, but now with Chuck in custody as well, things are not looking good.
"I can't believe this has happened." Knuckles grunted, his arms folded to his chest.
"I'm worried about Chuck." Tails muttered, attempting to hold back tears.
"What's taking Sonic so long?" Amy asked, extremely worried.
"Why were Chris and Chuck arrested?" Cream asked, trying not to cry.
"This keeps getting crazier and crazier." Charmy said, looking just as worried.
"My baby, and now my father-in-law." Lindsey sobbed.
"This is really getting on my nerves." Vectors growled, his hands on his hips as he tapped his foot impatiently.
Ella nodded in agreement. "So is mine. Those Bigshots!"
"I don't understand this at all." Cosmo muttered worriedly.
The random conversation was cut short when Sonic burst through the doors and slammed them behind him, finally feeling safe in a much more welcoming place, leaning against them as he panted, his heart still racing from everything he had witnessed and been through during his visit with Chris. The threats of Commander Tower, the evil aura the Prison Guard had around him, the accusation against Chris, and the purple glint in both of the men's eyes that seemed to pierch right into his soul, it was enough to even make the heroic hedgehog on edge.
"Sonic?" Everyone asked, noticing how tense and, alarmingly, frightened the blue hedgehog was. While they were very relieved that he was okay and safely back home, well, in Chris's home anyway, the fact that he looked really scared as though he had been running away from something that terrified him worried them even more.
"Huh?" Glancing up and realizing that almost all of his friends had gathered, Sonic felt a little embarrassed and, attempting to hide the fact that he had been scared out of his mind, grinned a little and waved while trying to keep his cool factor intact. "Uh, hey, guys. I'm back. Sorry for the wait."
"Where've you been!?" Knuckles demanded angrily.
"I was in jail visiting Chris hoping to clear a few things up. Everything he told me obviously makes him totally innocent." Sonic replied, calming down a little even though he knew he still had a lot to tell. "I was given a fifteen minute time limit before I had to leave."
"So why do ya' look like you were trying to avoid being eaten by a dragon or something?" Charmy asked, puzzled.
"And why did you take so long? You've been gone for almost an hour." Espio added, sensing that there was more to Sonic's story than the slightly younger teen was saying.
"When my given time was up by the guy who's in charge in making sure prisoners don't escape, when he came, he acted just as creepy as when he let me in, slamming the door and locking me up. Anyway, when he came back, he said that I wasn't going anywhere, and that I was staying for a bit, or as he would've liked as far as I can tell, a lot longer. For that moment, I thought I was suddenly arrested wrongly again too." The blue hedgehog explained.
"What!?" Everyone else exclaimed in shock.
"Why'd he keep ya' even longer!?" Vector asked in disbelief.
Sonic mentally gulped, answering. "Because Commander Tower showed up."
"Commander Tower?" Nelson asked, stunned in disbelief.
"The Commander of GUN was there, Master Sonic?" Tanaka queried, even he was stunned in shock.
The blue hedgehog nodded. "Yeah, that's him. He somehow found out that I was visiting Chris, and ordered the Police Department to keep me locked up so that he could talk to the both of us, and he thinks he has the evidence and proof that Chris is guilty of what's going on. That guy thinks he's right and even threatened to have me fully arrested, and wants me for himself if any of us try to bail the kid out. He's crazy and dangerous, and won't believe anything we've been telling him."
The eyes of Chris' parents, Ella, Tails, Amy, Cosmo, Vector, Knuckles and Charmy widened so big that they nearly popped out in horror, while Espio's widened as he softly gasped, and Tanaka's jaw dropped in shock.
"Oh no!" Cream cried out, covering her mouth with her hands in fear. "That's horrible!"
"Chao, chao!" Cheese echoed in frightened agreement.
"You didn't just say you would leave Chris, did you?" Amy asked, worriedly.
Sonic shook his head. "No, of course. I promised Chris that we'd figure this out somehow before that guy showed up. It was Chris who at least managed to get Tower to let me go, and while I didn't like it, I knew that there was no other choice, especially since he wants us to stay very far away from him. But that's not what concerns me the most."
"So what's got you so worried?" Tails asked, feeling really scared.
"Well, one, in a bit over 24 hours, Tower's gonna move Chris to Area 51 and wants him to be found guilty for, and I quote, treason against humanity if he finds evidence just to prove that he's right." The blue hedgehog began, gravely gazing at his human best friend's parents who gasped in horror when they heard the news. "I tried everything I could to tell him otherwise, but that guy's really stubborn and straight-forward minded. I'm really sorry, Mr, and Mrs. Thorndyke."
Sonic bowed in guilty and apology to Lindsey and Nelson who were both devastated, the mother of Chris sobbing even harder which made the blue hedgehog feel even worse, feeling his eyes begin to swell up in tears. He deeply wished he could've done more to prove Chris' innocence.
"I'm so sorry." Sonic whispered, humiliated when his voice cracked with tears, which those in his eyes grew and threatened to fall. He quickly fought down the urge to cry himself and dried his eyes with his gloved hand. It didn't help that Amy, Tails, Cosmo and Cream all looked ready to cry themselves, Knuckles looked at the ground in shock, both servants were silent in dismay and guilt for failing to protect Chris, and Charmy sniffled before immediately bawling his eyes out which accidentally caused his two best friends to get wet by his waterworks.
"Hey, Charmy! You're soaking us here!" Vector cried out, cringing.
"Stop crying!" Espio exclaimed, wincing.
Even though Charmy was still upset with what was happening with Chris, he instantly stopped crying and replied to both of his friends. "Sorry."
"My baby, being treated like a criminal...Now he'll never get married...!" Lindsey sobbed.
"Honey, honey. It's going to be okay." Nelson tried to comfort his wife, but deep down he was devastated as well.
"We'll get Chris outta there, and prove that he's innocent. I'm not giving up on him!" Sonic declared, quickly putting up his determination with a balled fist. "I promised that we'd figure this out and clear his name, and I never break my promises. I'm a hedgehog of my word!"
Despite that his friend's parents were grateful for his determination to save their son, Nelson couldn't help but state. "But Sonic, even if you do try, you're only putting yourself in the risk of being locked up as well and you yourself said you came dangerously close in being so today."
"I don't care. That guy can threaten me all he wants, but I'm gonna prove Chris' innocence!" Sonic replied, before continuing as he scratched the top of his head. "Thing is, I don't think he and the jail guard guy are even acting themselves. Not mostly, anyway, and that's the second thing I have to mention."
"How come?" Cream asked, confused.
"This is gonna sound crazy, but I coulda sworn I saw their eyes glow all purple, like they were being possessed or something, and I'm pretty sure Chris noticed that too." The cobalt teenager answered. "I think it has something to do with the weird purple fog that's de-aged most of everybody here on Earth, and if that's the case, then the de-aging thing and the mutation aren't the only things that stuff is capable of doing."
"A purple glow in their eyes? You must've been seeing things, Sonic." Knuckles scoffed, not believing that part.
"Hmm, even so, it is something we do need to be concerned of, just in case." Espio thought deeply, folding his arms.
"We need to find the guy responsible fast." Tails spoke up, which surprised everyone including his best friend/older brother. "The first clue was those footprints back at Chris' old lab where Chris' Porthole is."
Sonic blinked in confusion. "Say what? What'd you go there?"
He then finally realized that they were one person short and glanced around, asking. "Come to think of it, where's Chuck?"
"Oh, that's right. You weren't there when this happened." The two-tailed fox muttered in realization, before saying gravely. "Chuck's...been arrested too, earlier. When we were investigating."
"WHAT!?" The blue hedgehog exclaimed in horror. "NO! No, not him too! Why would they do that!?"
"When we went to the center of the city to find clues on the substance, we found that the lab Chris used to built the porthole that took him to our world was all slightly blown up, and then GUN stormed in. They wanted to arrest Chuck, so he attempted to like to them and say that he was the one who made the fog and asked them to free Chris and take him in his grandson's place." Tails explained in guilt.
Sonic frowned, "But that only just made them decide that Chris and Chuck worked on whatever's going on together and simply arrested him wrongly, right?"
His friends nodded, and the blue hedgehog clenched his fist in dismay and anger. Just when things couldn't get any worse, now both Chris and his grandfather were in jail, and on the verge of being transferred to Area 51 against their will.
The young kit then continued. "Anyway, Charmy took photos of the footprints as well as a suspiciously human-shaped hole in the ceiling, and found this machine that was hooked up with the Porthole and these vials which we believe is where the fog came from. But they were already empty, so the guy who's behind is is our only chance in figuring out what it is and make a cure."
"And without Chris and Chuck to figure out what's in that fog and help to make said cure, we're even more stuck." Knuckles grumbled.
"And that means we can't figure out how to cure Vector's weird cold, either." Charmy added in realization, making Vector flinch in shock and realization.
The detective crocodile groaned with a facepalm. "How much worse can it get than this?"
Suddenly there was a loud engine sound that seemingly rocked the whole mansion, causing everyone to cry out in alarm. Sonic, being the closest to the door, went straight out and looked up at the sky before narrowing his eyes in annoyance. There he saw yet another giant robot, one that looked like a mechanical dragon with huge jet engines which was the source of the noise, and the unmistakably ugly face logo of Eggman's grinning face. Everyone else raced outside and saw what the blue hedgehog was glaring at.
"It's Eggman!" Amy exclaimed in alarm and annoyance.
"Not again!" Ella grunted in irritation.
Espio, in annoyance, turned to Vector and muttered. "You had to ask, didn't you?"
"What? I didn't know this would happen!" Vector protested defensively.
"But where's he going?" Charmy wondered.
"I think he might be looking for those files on Shadow and could attack the city to keep them out of the way." Cosmo thought, worriedly.
"Yeah, or he could be attempting to go to the Moon and do something similar like he did in blocking out the sun." Tails added, since he noticed Eggman's robot was getting suspiciously higher in the air.
"Not if I can help it!" Sonic declared, then looked over his shoulder to his friends and instructed the butler. "Tanaka, you make sure Mr and Mrs Thorndyke, Ella, and the girls stay in the house just case something bad happens."
"Of course, Sonic. I will protect them even at the cost of my life." Tanaka replied, which made Chris' parents and Ella look at him with deadpanned expressions. The same with the rest of Sonic's friends apart from Cream who looked on worriedly, and Cosmo who looked concerned and confused over everyone else's gazes at the man.
Deciding to ignore the last part, Sonic then turned his gaze to the Chaotix, and asked the crocodile leader. "Vector, can I count on you, Espio and Charmy to keep looking for anything on the weird fog and maybe find the bad guy responsible for this mess? Me, Tails and Knuckles are gonna take down Eggman."
"You got it, Sonic!" Vector replied readily,
"Leave it to us!" Charmy cheered, excited to be going into action.
"Consider it done, Sonic. We will not allow whoever has framed Chris get away with the crime they have committed." Espio promised with determination.
"C'mon, guys! Let's take down that tin-can lizard!" The blue hedgehog instructed his own team who nodded in agreement.
After the girls told Team Sonic to be careful, the trio quickly boarded the X Tornado, with both Sonic and Knuckles on the wings while Tails piloted it into the sky, taking off after Eggman's new Dragon Robot while the Chaotix went off into the city to continue the investigation. Amy, Cream, and Cosmo could only watch with worry with their human friends, hoping that everything will be alright soon.
While high in the air, Sonic thought about why Eggman was suspiciously going up into space, then figured that he may be attempting to go to the Moon and go back to his plan in blocking out the sun. Then he had another thought which made him narrow his eyes in growing anger.
'If Eggman has something to do with Chris being in jail and Commander Tower framing both him and Chuck for what's happening to his advantage, then he's really in for it. That fathead framed me through Shadow. I'm not gonna let my friends go through what I went through. We'd better hurry!' The blue hedgehog thought to himself, determined to stop Eggman's newest evil plot.
Back in his cell, Chris scrapped another line on the wall with a single stick as he had done for the past few hours since his imprisonment, sighing as he wondered how much longer it was going to take before either his family and friends were going to prove his innocence, or he was to be sent to Area 51 for further imprisonment. Either way, he hoped that Sonic and everyone else would be able to figure the entire crisis out without getting arrested themselves.
His thoughts were once again interrupted for the second time today as he looked up, wondering if he was being transferred yet. To his shock and dismay, it wasn't the case. Instead, the same guard from earlier that wanted to keep Sonic in jail was ushering Chuck, who was also made to wear prison garments, into the cell.
"Grandpa? Not you too!" Chris exclaimed softly, standing up as he was unable to believe that his grandfather has been arrested as well.
"You're not Sonic, but at least the kid has some company. Never liked scientists in the first place." The Prison Guard smirked, opening the doors and shoved the old man in.
"Easy. I'm not putting up a fight." Chuck grunted, only to blink in alarm when he saw a glint of purple in the younger man's eyes as the guard snickered before slamming the doors shut and locked both Thorndykes and then walked away.
That purple glint...could it be what Sonic saw in that guard's eyes as well as the eyes of Commander Tower?
"Grandpa!" Chris cried out, racing over to his grandfather and hugged him, bringing the old man out of his thoughts as he turned to his grandson.
"Chris. Are you okay?" Chuck asked, hugging his grandson back.
"Sort of. What happened? Why'd they put you into jail too?" The younger Thorndyke replied, worriedly.
His grandfather sighed, before beginning. "Your friends and I were investigating your lab and...we discovered something very disturbing."
Chris blinked in shock. If his lab was involved in this, then that meant proving his and now Chuck's innocence was going to be a lot harder for Sonic and everyone else.
Meaning that even they were in further danger.
Flying over Station Square high enough to avoid in getting detected as possible, Eggman, and his four robot minions were making their way towards their next destination; to blow up the GUN headquarters by first forcing the military to surrender or else face elimination. Then the next phase is to head to the Space Coloney ARK to find the files of Shadow's creation.
"Just a little further and once those GUN fools are out of the way, we're into the ARK without any hassle. Grandfather's documents on Shadow's creation should be there." Eggman sneered evilly.
"Are you sure Professor Robotnik would've left those on the Space Coloney ARK, Doctor? What if the military burned them and this trip was all for nothing?" Decoe asked, concerned.
"Not to mention that Sonic could see this thing from a birds-eye point of view, just like the rest of the city would." Bocoe added.
The evil scientist scoffed, "Even if Sonic does, by the time he gets here, he'll be too late! For the 'Fastest Thing Alive', he is rather slow in stopping my evil plots."
"Who're you callin' slow, Eggman?" Sonic's voice asked from a short distance.
At the sound of the teenage hedgehog's voice, Eggman and his robots flinched, before turning to their right and saw, to their dismay, was Sonic and Knuckles riding on the X Tornado with Tails flying it, all three of them ready to fight with looks of determination.
"Hold it right there, Eggman!" Tails exclaimed angrily.
"You're not goin' anywhere except jail back at home!" Knuckles grunted.
"Not you!" Eggman complained in anger. "How many times do you brats have to foil my evil plots!?"
"As many times as we can take, Egghead!" Sonic declared, glaring back. "Get ready, 'cause you're goin' down!"
"Oh, yeah!? Well, we'll see about that! My Egg-Dorah will vaporize you and your friends into crisp, hedgehog!" The evil doctor declared, pushing a few buttons to make the giant Dragon robot, dubbed Egg-Dorah, to change it's course and turned to face Sonic's group and simply floated.
Tails did the same as he and his friends glared, while Eggman snickered evilly.
Shadow and Omega were still following the Mutant-Snake and peered around the corner, to see it having returned to it's nest where, up against the wall was the struggling Rouge who, still trying to escape, had her eyes widen when she saw her captor arrive, with it's teeth dripping with saliva. It didn't take all three of them long to figure it out.
It was going to eat her.
"Oh no, I am not being bat food here, mister! Go find some Earth-Rat instead!" Rouge shouted, renewing her attempts to break free.
The Mutant-Snake didn't listen. Instead, it slithered closer, with it's hands extending it's claws much to the shock and surprise of Shadow and his team. As Rouge let out a shriek of terror, the black hedgehog narrowed his eyes as he knew, he and Omega couldn't wait any longer.
"Now we attack it." Shadow whispered to Omega.
"Finally. Proceeding battle mode." The robot replied with what sounded like a sigh.
The duo then left their hiding place and Shadow shouted loudly. "HEY!"
Hearing his voice made the Mutant-Snake stop from it's attempts to slice Rouge, who, looking over it's shoulder while the monster turned around, to her relief and it's annoyance, Shadow stood on the other side of the river with Omega just behind him, ready for battle.
"Well, it's about time. I was thinking you guys forgot about me." Rouge muttered in sheer relief.
"Please. Even if I did forget about you for a while, you still managed to find me." Shadow scoffed with a small smirk. "I'm returning a favor for what you did to me, but you'll have to wait until this overgrown worm is dealt with."
"Must destroy Mutant-Snake!" Omega declared.
"Oh, don't mind me. Just hanging on the wall here while you boys go and play." The bat replied sarcastically.
Shadow ignored the sarcastic comment and focused on the snake who fully turned around, hissing as it prepared for round 2 against the Ultimate Life-form who glared at it back.
At the same time back above in the air, Sonic was glaring hard at his own opponent to stop the villain from taking over the world once more.
"Let's do this!" Sonic declared.
"Let's do this!" Shadow declared.
While the two battles were about to commence, and the investigation was still taking place, things are taking a turn for the worst.
A/N: This was originally going to be a two-parter, but due to the length of this chapter and ideas thrown in, this will instead be a three-parter, and things are taking a twisted turn along the way, as things are becoming more dire for Sonic and his friends.
See you later!