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 9: Thorndyke Jailbird-Part 3.
When Agent Topaz heard the news that Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends were back and already protecting the world from crisis to another and attempting to solve the problems, she felt relieved but was admittedly disappointed that her old partner Rouge, who, while she didn't agree with the bat's thieving ways, was her closest friend and trust ally, hasn't been seen yet, and thought that maybe she was still in Sonic's world.
But when she overheard the strict conversation and one of the men speaking to a group os soldiers of arresting Chris Thorndyke, then overheard their conversations hours later that not only Sonic was under temporary arrest until the Commander says so, then just an hour ago, Chris' grandfather was now in jail, and reports of Eggman flying over the city before the satellite's spotted the X Tornado with Sonic and Knuckles on the wings, she couldn't believe it. Granted, she has witnessed Chris shut down the machine to prevent Sonic from leaving and wrisked him away, but seeing the friendship they shared, she decided against saying anything, and in the end the blue hedgehog managed to return home and the boy had come to an understanding.
She knew it was due to the boy not wanting his friend to leave. He wanted Sonic to stay, but had accepted that to stop the merging, Chris had to let him go, and he did. Could it be that for nine years he missed the cobalt hero so much that he decided to take a drastic action and caused all of this to happen? Or was he innocent and something more foul was at play? Like someone else was behind this?
The return of Eggman was still under investigation, but she was the first that Sonic approached when he arrived earlier just before she was leaving for another mission to handle the Mutation crisis.
Hearing that Sonic wasn't able to have Chris released and was close to being fully arrested himself just for even visiting, it made Topaz very concerned. It didn't help that she couldn't just simply request an investigation, and Commander Tower has become more and more strict and straight-minded without a proper investigation. Everyone began to notice, but they weren't even be allowed to talk to the president about this despite that even he was concerned over Tower's behavior. Plus going to even speak with Chris's family would be against the new orders.
'He's getting worse. What should I do? It's been years since I felt so helpless. And Chris Thorndyke...he really couldn't be the one behind all of this, could he? Sonic's actions always tend to be for the good of the world, and his own obviously. Now the boy's grandfather as well?' She thought to herself as she sat in her office, going through the reports and paperwork.
Something was wrong. She couldn't help but feel like it's the effects of the fog. That thought suddenly made her pause, as she glanced up in realization which made her eyes widen in horror. It wasn't just de-aging humanity. It was beginning to corrupt people's minds. Something that Chris would never make, and neither would Chuck. Now it was too late, as her superior was corrupted with his own thoughts and beliefs. Topaz was torn, though. She couldn't just go out and disobey the Commander just to find proof, but if something wasn't done soon, then...
Sonic's life and freedom were in jeopardy. As were everyone else's, especially Chris. Normally she wouldn't go against orders, but she remembered how the blue hedgehog went out of his way to prove things at the risk of being caught and in the end was proven right. He never stopped.
"This can't go on. I have to do something." Topaz whispered to herself, as a risky idea formed in her mind. Surely she would get caught, and so would Sonic's group. But there were two others that were also friends with the de-aged boy.
With a nod of determination as for the first time in her life, she knew what she had to do, even if it meant the cost of her career.
"Get them, Egg-Dorah!" Eggman commanded.
The Egg-Dorah let out a loud roar before flying forward to catch the X Tornado off-guard. Thankfully, Tails expertly dodged with Sonic and Knuckles holding on tight, before the two teenagers leaped off once the mechanical dragon was close enough for them to attack. The blue hedgehog immediately went for a Spin Attack, hitting the robot on it's side while the red echidna punched it rapidly on it's head, causing the robot to shriek in pain by the combined attacks, and having quite a few dents.
"You little...!" The evil doctor growled angrily as the robot wobbled which had him and his three other robots had to hold on for dear life, while the trio cried out in alarm.
Sonic and Knuckles both leaped away and landed safely on the wings of the X Tornado, while Tails fired away missiles at the Egg-Dorah's chest, causing making holes in it which let out steam. The giant robot in response, with some damage, swiped at the plane, but the two-tailed fox narrowly managed to avoid it even though he yelped in alarm, as did his friends who held on tightly.
"Whoa! That was close!" The young kit cried out with a sweat drop. "We gotta be really careful up here, guys!"
"We can beat this thing!" Knuckles reassured, refusing to give up.
"That's what I like to hear!" Sonic smirked at his friend, which earned him a smirk and a thumbs up in return.
He turned his attention back to the Egg-Dorah which then fired missiles from it's wings, forcing the trio to try and avoid it even more, though some Sonic had to kick away while Knuckles punched them back, avoiding in hitting the buildings or people in Station Square, and directed them back to the giant robot, hitting it against it's chest, causing it to slightly lose altitude, much to Eggman's alarm as he, Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun held on, screaming.
"I think you forgot to add protective armor against self-own attacks, doctor!" Decoe panicked.
"We'd better retreat while we still can!" Bocoe added hysterically.
"Somebody save us!" Bokkun wailed, terrified.
"I'm not through yet!" Eggman protested stubbornly.
"Is that the best you could do, Eggman?" The blue hedgehog taunted confidently.
"This is only just a warm up, Sonic!" The evil scientist shouted back. "You won't be getting out of this easily!"
"Same old song and dance, doctor." The teenage hero scoffed.
Sonic when signaled Tails to fly closer so he could perform another Spin Attack right at the chest, only for their enemy to snicker and pushed another button, which retracted the original hands of the giant robot, and extended larger ones, smacking Sonic away as he cried out in alarm, caught off-guard and went falling 100 feet towards the city, screaming.
"SONIC!" Tails screamed out, quickly making to fly down to save him, only for more missiles to fly towards him and Knuckles who warned him to watch out before the red echidna jumped and punched as many missiles away as possible, forcing the young fox to put his plane onto a risky auto-pilot.
"Hey! What are you doing!?" Knuckles demanded when he saw Tails open up the hatch and unbuckle himself.
"Saving Sonic while you and the X Tornado keep Eggman busy!" Tails replied without hesitation, and leaped out before free-falling to save his friend without second thought.
"Can this thing even fight without you here!?" The Guardian of the Master Emerald asked, sweat dropping nervously.
To his, and even Eggman's surprise, the X Tornado automatically locked onto the Egg-Dorah and fired more Missiles at it's arms and chest, causing more damage.
"...Uh, didn't see that one coming." Knuckles muttered, bewildered. Then quickly deciding to forget about it, he went to continue fighting the robot himself.
"What!? How can that little puny fox have that plane of his on auto-pilot fighting mode!?" Eggman demanded, dumbfounded in disbelief, not only shocked, but also jealous for being up-staged by a fox child.
This just got more complicated for the evil doctor.
The Mutant-Snake hissed before launching itself towards Shadow and Omega who both dodged quickly to avoid in getting bitten, before the robot smacked it by the side of the head, causing the snake to hiss in pain before swiping it's tail at him. But Shadow Spin Dashed right at it's face between the eyes, making it rear back in agony and missed it's target who fired lasers at it. But like when the black hedgehog attacked it earlier up on the surface, it formed a barrier to protect itself.
"Hey! Hurry up and get me down from here!" Rouge shouted, struggling to pull herself free.
"Will you please be quiet!? We're a little busy right now!" Shadow snapped, irritated before leaping back to avoid the snake's really sharp claws from scrapping him.
"Geez, sorry." The bat grumbled, annoyed, then whispered sarcastically to herself. "Leave a girl waiting, why don't you?"
"Chaos Spear!" The black hedgehog shouted, tossing his attack at the large Snake who used it's tail to block the attack despite getting heavy damage and injuries, but it stretched out one of it's arms again and before Shadow could react, this time he was caught and held tightly in it's grasp, his arms pinned to his sides as he was pulled straight towards the monster.
Rouge screamed out Shadow's name while the Ultimate Life-form struggled to free himself as he was being drawn towards the Mutant-Snake's mouth which was wide open, about to eat him.
"Unhand me, you overgrown worm!" Shadow demanded, grunting in a futile attempt to break free.
Fortunately, Omega sensed and detected what was going on while scanning the Mutant-Snake's body for any weaknesses and found it. It locked on onto the monster's back before opening fire while it was busy attempting to devour Shadow. Due to this, the snake hissed in agony which forced it to release Shadow who almost dropped into the sewer but landed safely on the edge of the sidewalk. One of the lasers was miscalculated because it aimed at the vines that kept Rouge trapped. She shrieked as it nearly hit her before she was freed when the vines broke and fell onto the other platform.
"Ow!" The bat thief cried out, before grumbling. "How about not trying to vaporize me, Omega?"
"Refrain from complaining and be grateful that you and Shadow are saved." Omega responded in a tone that sounded like he was just as annoyed.
"At least you distracted that thing." Shadow admitted as he rejoined the robot's side, while Rouge, now freed, stood up before flying over and in a bent of frustration, sped up before giving distracted and pained Snake a good hard kick on the head, and then clobbered it with a karate punch.
"That's for kiddnapping a pretty lady, worm-boy!" Rouge growled, as she then flew over to rejoin her team members, landing by Omega's right while Shadow stood by his left.
"Are you alright?" Shadow asked the albino bat.
"I'm just fine." She replied, and smiled a bit. "Thanks for the save, boys."
Even though he'd hidden it, the black hedgehog couldn't help but feel relieved that his ally and friend was okay. It wasn't a loss after all. The trio then turned their attention back to the Snake who turned around in pain, and glared angrily and hungrily at Team Dark who glared back. This time they were taking on this thing and defeating it.
Together.
"WHOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAA!" Sonic screamed as he continued falling towards his death, his heart racing wildly as he tried to angle himself to at least descend towards the roof of one of the towering skyscraper buildings so that he could Spin himself to safety, but he knew that he was going to miss, and so he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for his splattered and bitter demise.
It never came.
"I gotcha!"
Feeling slightly smaller hands grab him by the wrists which stopped his descending and held above his head, Sonic felt like he was floating in the air, before hesitantly opening one eye and found that he was. He opened the other before looking up and saw, to his sheer relief, was Tails who had caught him while having his namesakes twirling to keep them both afloat.
"Hi, Tails!" Sonic greeted happily, almost sagging in relief.
"Where would you be without me?" His younger brother teased, as he hovered towards a building to gently set the blue hedgehog onto the roof safely.
"Totally lost." The cobalt hero replied with a chuckle, once he was set safely on the roof and Tails landed next to him. Sonic gave his best friend a thumbs up. "Thanks, bro."
The two-tailed fox giggled, rubbing the back of his head. He and his adoptive hedgehog brother looked back up to the air-battle above them and needless to say, Sonic was shocked that the X Tornado was in a battle mode despite not being as flexible as it would with Tails in the pilot seat and that Knuckles was still fighting the Egg-Dorah, with Eggman screaming at the robot to crush the echidna.
"Uh, Tails? How can the X Tornado fight without you there?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I added an AI and Autopilot mode to combat against Eggman's robots in cases like this. It's programmed to fight in airbourne battles in case I can't reach you in time. Pretty risky, but I just couldn't not save you." The young fox cub explained sheepishly.
Sonic whistled, and while he was concerned for his brother's safety, he smiled proudly that Tails has really come a long way. "Think I've really rubbed it off on ya."
The duo then turned their attention back to the battle as the teenager then said. "But we'd better get back into action! Ready, bud?"
"Ready when you are!" The young kit nodded, which earned him a thumbs up from the blue hedgehog.
Back up in the air, Knuckles had just leaped off the X Tornado which was forced to back away as the Egg-Dorah fired one last missle and missed, and he punched at it's head once more, only for it to swish it and smack him away, causing him to fall before he quickly flipped and used his gliding ability to stop himself from descending.
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho! Stupid, echidna! Without your friends by your side, your kind really truly become extinct!" Eggman laughed evilly.
"Keep telling yourself that! I am not going down without a fight!" Knuckles grunted stubbornly.
"Neither will we!" Said Sonic and Tails in unison from below, getting their friend's and enemies' attentions as they all looked down.
Sonic and Tails were both Spin Dashing straight up towards the robot after the latter carried the former half-way up, performing a double Spin Dash attack, hitting the off-guarded giant metal dragon on the sides and wings and arms so fast that the villains were left in shock and cried out in alarm. The red echidna, admittedly impressed at first, smirked before he grabbed hold of one arm which Sonic had teared off with his quills during his attack, and tossed it straight at the robot.
It hit home and smashed the other arm off, while Tails performed a kick at the robot's neck, which began to cause the metallic monster to malfunction due to the actions of Team Sonic. He then whistled out which signaled the X Tornado to fly back and he hovered back in quickly once he flew back enough to do so and Sonic and Knuckles both landed onto it's wings.
"Sonic! Here!" Tails cried out, reaching into the cockpit once he regained control and tossed a Power Ring towards his brother who caught it, letting it's power flow into his body.
"Hey, Bot-Zilla! Hope you're hungry!" Sonic taunted the Egg-Dorah, leaping off and high and then went Spin Dashing straight into the robot's mouth which shut closed.
Unfortunately for the robotic dragon, Sonic bashed all over inside the robot, creating dents from inside-out and making heavy damage before he smashed his way out from the back and flew away to safety while the Egg-Dorah began to swell up on a verge of exploding, much to the dismay of Eggman, and the terror yet knowledge of Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun who all panicked along with their master.
"I think it's safe to assume that our flight plans to the ARK have been put on hold!" Bocoe cried out.
"We haven't done any damage to the city yet since we got here either!" Decoe added.
"This is so unfair!" Bokkun wailed.
"CURSE YOU, SONIC!" Eggman bellowed, just as the Egg-Dorah exploded and he and his minions along with the Egg Mobile were sent flying up the sky and screamed before vanishing like a speck.
Sonic in the meantime landed onto the wing once more and punched the air above him, cheering. "Team Sonic: 2! Eggman: 0!"
"All right!" Tails and even Knuckles cheered, which earned the latter surprised looks from both of his friends.
Realizing why the two brothers were staring at him, the red echidna blushed, clearing his throat and looked away slightly. "Uh, yeah. Let's just head back to Chris' house before anything else happens."
Suddenly there was a bad turbulence which almost caused both Knuckles and Sonic to lose their balance as they and Tails cried out in alarm, before the former two quickly knelt down and held on while the two-tailed fox struggled to maintain altitude. The reason for this was the bottom of the X Tornado was badly damaged and scrapped during the battle and was now beginning to descend out of control.
"Oh no! The X Tornado took a bad hit! We're gonna crash!" Tails screamed, making both Sonic and Knuckles panic and held on tightly even as the youngest of the trio exclaimed. "Hang on!"
"Tails! Get us out of the city and somewhere more softer to land!" Sonic screamed out, almost falling off as he held onto the wing for dear life. Same with Knuckles as he grunted.
"I'll try!" His best friend strained, struggling to regain control as he did his best to steer the X Tornado out of the city and towards somewhere more wider and softer to land. The trio eventually vanished behind the buildings and landed somewhere along the shores of a beach...which wasn't originally part of Station Square unlike the one at Emerald Coast.
"The enemy's weak point is on it's back. We must distract it to annihilate it." Omega informed as the Mutant-Snake prepared to attack again.
"Good. Then let's counter attack from all sides." Shadow responded.
"I'll keep it busy since I've got a bone to pick with this thing." Rouge suggested.
"Right. Omega, attack it from the side. Leave the back to me." The black hedgehog agreed and ordered.
"Affirmative." The robot replied, for once agreeing with the idea.
With the plan in mind, the trio leaped out of the way when the Mutant-Snake launched it's hands at them, before Rouge flew in and gave it a good hard kick on the beak and poked it's eye with two fingers, causing it to yelp and wail. Omega flew to the pained Snake's side and opened fire once the bat flew out of the way, distracting it enough to try and defend itself while Rouge attempted to dodge it's hands and tail from grabbing her again.
Shadow in the meantime raced around behind it and once he saw the Snake far too busy with his comrades, he attacked with a Spin Dash on it's back, causing it to hiss in pain, lowering it's defenses enough for Rouge and Omega to get a better chance in attacking it. As he leaped back and landed, he saw that it was getting weaker, so he and his allies kept on going while dodging it's attacks that kept on getting weaker and weaker until it just simply couldn't defend itself anymore.
"Time to finish this." Shadow declared, jumping high before going into one final Spin Dash, combined with a Chaos Spear immediately afterwards, pierching it into the back where the Mutant-Snake gave a final hiss before slumping onto the sidewalk, moaning in defeat.
As Shadow and his team landed safely in front of it with hard glares, panting a little but otherwise okay, they watched as like with what they witnessed back in the forest, it de-transformed and returned to it's original state; to their confusion, that of a stray ginger kitten who blinked it's now innocent and tired eyes, before standing up and looked cutely confused.
"Meow?" The kitten squeaked, which had Rouge, despite not one for cute little animals and that this cat almost had her for lunch as a mutant-snake, carefully approached before picking it up with both hands.
"Well, who's the bad little kitty? Hard to believe one as cute as you would become a monster." She stated with a look of someone scolding another.
The kitten just stared at her before letting out a sad meow like a small child who had misbehaved, while Shadow and Omega stared on in bewilderment, before sharing a glance, speechless.
While the battle between Team Sonic and the Egg-Dorah went on, Team Rose, Tanaka, Ella, and Chris' parents waited inside as the News went crazy, from the increase of the mutating species, to some people in Station Square behaving mysteriously and badly, and even the Breaking News of the battle that was going on. They had been cheering on for Sonic's group, gasped when the blue hedgehog nearly fell, cheered on his, Tails and Knuckles' victory, and then gasped in horror when the X Tornado took damage, forcing Tails to exit the city and land somewhere.
"No...!" Cosmo whispered, horrified as she covered her mouth with her hands. Her thoughts went to not just Tails whom she was in love with, but also Sonic and Knuckles who, like Amy and Cream, were her closest friends along with Chris since their journey together.
"Sonic!" Amy screamed out, horrified, leaping off of her seat.
"I hope they're okay." Lindsey muttered worriedly, even though she still worried about Chris and Chuck as they were both still in police custody.
"They will be fine. If Sonic, Tails and Knuckles survived previous battles in the past, they can survive a plane crash." Tanaka reassured, despite that he was worried about the welfare of the trio as well.
"Mr. Tanaka's right." Cream added, and despite that she was very worried as well, she held onto strong hope that Team Sonic would be alright, and could feel it. "They'll be okay. Sonic always gets hurt, but he recovers very well and quickly too. It will be alright."
"Sonic certainly is fast in everything." Ella remarked. "Even being a fast healer."
"It still leaves the problem with not just the fog that's spreading and causing all kinds of side-effects apart from the de-aging process, but also our son's and my father's arrest for something they didn't do. Not to mention the culprit needing to be found and we still have no idea how to stop the merging between our worlds." Nelson pointed out, concerned.
"And without the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic can't do anything to prevent Time from being destroyed or even save the two worlds." Cosmo added, and while she was still worried about Tails, Sonic and Knuckles, she began to calm down a little and held onto the hope and belief that Cream was right.
Amy, while hoping and yet also knowing that Sonic would be fine as he always was, realized that since arriving back on Earth, they had been so busy trying to figure out the mysterious fog problem as well as stopping Eggman from finding the files on Shadow's birth that they forgot about the Chaos Emeralds for a little while. They were out there, here in this world, and needed to be found soon. Then a thought came to her; if Sonic's group were handling Eggman as well as most likely begin a quest to find a way to stop the fog, and the Chaotix were out looking for the true mastermind, maybe she and her new established team could go look for the Emeralds.
Plus it would give her a chance to find Sonic and make sure he was okay, and maybe along the way find more clues on the situation. Narrowing her eyes with determination as her mind was made up, the pink hedgehog knew what needs to be done.
"Well then, let's go find the Chaos Emeralds!" Amy declared, earning surprised looks from everyone else. "If we don't find them soon, then Eggman certainly will since he's already attacking the city again and when he finds out that the files are gone, he'll go looking for them next!"
"But Amy..." Lindsey began, worriedly.
"Amy's right. Maybe we can help by looking for the Chaos Emeralds while Sonic and everybody else are stopping Eggman and we can also help try and help Chris and his grandfather." Cream almost instantly agreed, standing up. More than anything and despite Sonic's strict orders, like Amy, she wanted to help as well.
"Absolutely not!" Nelson denied firmly.
"Master Nelson is right, Amy. Sonic did give strict orders to stay behind for your safety." Tanaka added.
"Sonic can say all he wants! He needs all the help he can get! Besides, I'm not the type to sit around and wait!" Amy argued, balling her hands into fists. "The more we waste time, the more chances are Eggman's gonna win and with Sonic and everybody else busy, it's up to us to do what we also need to do! I'm going, whether all of you and Sonic like it or not!"
"Cheese and I will help you look for them, Amy." Cream immediately volunteered.
"Chao chao, chao!" Cheese added in agreement.
"So will I. You're right, we can't waste anymore time. Sonic needs all the help we can get." Cosmo agreed, also coming to the same realization and decided to join in to help as well.
Despite the protests from the humans, they all realized that the three of them weren't going to change their minds, with Ella being the first to smile in exasperation and resignation. "They certainly are brave and determined young ones, just like Sonic, Tails and Knuckles."
"Perhaps you are right, Ella." Tanaka agreed, while Chris' parents shared a concerned look, before sighing in defeat. Still, Sonic wasn't going to like this.
"I'm ready when you are, Amy." Cosmo declared with a brave smile.
"And so are we!" Cream added, excitedly with Cheese cooing in agreement.
Amy smiled proudly at her two friends, her own team members and declared. "Then it's settled! We're going to hunt down the Chaos Emeralds, for our friends and the boys we love!" She then sighed as she clasped her hands together. "Isn't it romantic?"
Everyone just sweat dropped at that, with Cream having a slightly exasperated giggle with a knowing smile. Some things never change, especially Amy's undying love for Sonic.
At Helen's house, the de-aged girl was gazing out of her window in solemn silence as she thought about what has happened. Just a few hours ago, she heard the dreaded news that Chris, her fiancee she was going to marry in months to come, along with Chuck hours later, had been arrested and charged over the situation. But she knew that the de-aged boy was innocent.
She wasn't the only one who knew. Danny and Frances, who were both also de-aged and had come to visit to keep her company, were discussing the situation not to far from her as they tried to figure out what to do or how to help their friends.
"I'm worried. Why would the military think Chris caused the fog to appear out of nowhere? It doesn't make any sense at all." Helen sighed, clasping her hands together. "I hope Sonic will be able to clear his name."
"I knew GUN had a bad reputation of being really strict, but this is just crazy. It's like the whole fog thing and Sonic coming back just made things worse." Danny stated, staring at the coffee table, concerned.
"Yeah, it's almost like they think Chris wanted it to happen. But we all know that isn't the case." Frances agreed with her arms folded. "I wish there was something we could do to help. Being kids again or not, Chris has always been our friend for years."
Helen wheeled over to her friends, and added. "But we can't. The GUN organization won't let us or even Sonic and everybody else. Even Chris' family are told to stay away or else face jail too."
"That won't stop Sonic, though. Remember, he was wrongly arrest one time too." Danny pointed out.
"That's true, and even when Eggman blocked out the Sun tricking everyone that it was a permanent Eclipse, Sonic already figured it out and went to stop him. If anyone can figure this out, it's him." The blonde-haired de-aged girl smiled a little with hope.
She remembered the day when she first met him, how she got stuck in the mud near the lake, and Sonic had just been running by when he noticed her, and being one for helping others in need, he immediately wheeled her out with a friendly greeting. The blue hedgehog had been so kind, having a fun personality, and was the one who brought her to the island filled with flowers despite the back-then President's Aide determined to force Sonic to join the party by sending in the army with no questions asked. It was the first time in her life that Helen felt so alive, had so much fun, having such an adventure.
Sonic always kept to his promises to everyone he meets and befriends. It was because of him that Helen and Chris had finally gotten to know each other. He changed their lives for the better.
"Even with everybody else helping, they might need some more." Francies admitted, adding. "I don't care what those guys at GUN think, Chris is our friend, and we've gotta do something to help him and Sonic and figure this out. The more help they did in solving all of these problems, the better."
Despite the risk of being made wanted criminals just for wanting to help their friend, both Danny and Helen nodded in agreement, just as someone began knocking on the door. Confused, the three of them shared a look before Francies volunteered to get it. As she stood up and approached the door, when she opened it, her eyes widened in surprise to see a familiar face, which, given the situation, made her feel uncomfortable.
"Uh...Officer Topaz?" Francies muttered slowly.
"Ah, good. So you're here. Is Helen home?" Topaz smiled in relief.
"She is and and Danny's here too." The ginger-haired de-aged girl replied, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. "What's going on here, ma'am?"
"Don't worry. I'm not here to arrest any of you. In fact, as much as it's a huge risk for all of us...I..." The female agent paused, before continuing in a whisper. "I need to ask you and Danny a favor, and Helen should know. It's to help both Chris and Sonic."
Francies, and even both Danny and Helen, who overheard this and felt just as uneasy with the de-aged boy standing up and stood by his friend's fiancee, all blinked in confusion, wondering what kind of favor Topaz needed in regards to both Sonic and Chris.
They were about to find out.
After departing from their human friends at the Thorndyke Mansion, Amy, Cosmo, Cream and Cheese took another one of Tails' planes and took their flight across Station Square to first track down the X Tornado to see if Sonic, Tails and Knuckles were alright while beginning their search for any traces of the Chaos Emeralds.
"Do you think Chris and Chuck will be alright? Why would Commander Tower think they are both responsible for all of this?" Cosmo wondered, worriedly.
"I hope so." Cream admitted. "The Commander scares me."
"Chao, chao." Cheese muttered, feeling just as uneasy.
"Chris did tell us that even the new President was worried about that guy." Amy recalled as she glanced over her shoulder. "Plus given what Sonic told us, and now he saw the weird purple glint in his and the Prison guard's eyes, I'm beginning to think that he's right about that weird fog doing more harm to humans than just making most of them nine years younger."
She paused, before adding. "Plus, just arresting Chris and Chuck for something they didn't do? If you ask me, that guy's a creep who needs discipline."
"This cannot simply be created by anyone even at the most intelligent mind. Can it?" The young Seedrian asked.
"You'd be surprised about that, Cosmo." The pink hedgehog admitted, turning her attention back to up ahead to make sure they didn't crash. "Eggman's grandfather did create Shadow and he's capable of being just like us, not like Eggman's robots. It's not just human beings who can do that sort of thing. Some of our kind, while very well hidden and maybe doing so for the good or for bad, can do this sort of thing. Maybe better or worse. Chris and Chuck are the good types of scientists and would never make things like creating a life-form or a mind-control liquid stuff or weapons."
Amy lowered her gaze a little, continuing. "But science or people with huge authorities like Tower can let those kind of skills and power go to their heads and not care about anybody but themselves, believing that they are right about everything and have the power to make people do what they want, something that Sonic's always been against. He's been fighting for everybody's peace and freedom and happiness and not just his own or ours."
"Not every scientist are nice people. Doctor Eggman is one of them." Cream added.
"I suppose you're right. I never paid much attention to this sort of thing back in my world. To tell the truth, I wanted to travel across planets to meet new people, to make new friends and hope to one day find peace across all worlds without them fearing one another. I never thought the day when the Metarex attacked would change everything." Cosmo said, thoughtfully.
"But you still traveled across different planets, and we're your friends, Cosmo." Cream pointed out kindly. "We went on a lot of adventures together."
"And right now, we're on another adventure too. You don't have to worry so much, Cosmo. With us and Sonic around, this will be a cinch." Amy added smiling as she gazed at her friend once more, winking in the same way Sonic would always do.
Despite everything that was going on, Cosmo did remember the good times she shared with her friends, who didn't make her feel alone even after her planet had been destroyed. The reassurances and kindness they all displayed, Sonic's promise, Tails' kindness and love, hanging out with Cream and Amy, everything, and in the end despite her sacrifice and the sacrifice of Shadow, the Universe has been saved and the Metarex were finally defeated.
Now she was back, and ready to face another adventure to help save both the human world and Sonic's world, the latter which would be her new home once they all returned and everything is back to normal.
"You're right. I know we can do this." She replied, smiling with relief and determination.
"Yeah! Now then, let's go find those Cha-Huh!?" Amy suddenly yelped as, when she looked up ahead once more, a trio of GUN helicopters began approaching them, and didn't seem to be making any movements to move out of the way.
"W-what's going on?" Cream asked, nervously as she, Cheese and Cosmo saw this as well.
The answer they got was them hovering in front and not moving, forcing the pink hedgehog to quickly pull the Tornado 3 into a hover as well, she grunted angrily. "Hey, what's the big idea!?"
In one of the helicopters, one of the pilots inside took out a walkie-talkie and radioed at Amy's plane. "This is GUN authorization. You are to turn around and land this plane. Return to your home and stay indoors until further notice."
"They want us to leave." Cosmo muttered in worry as she and her friends heard the order.
"But why?" The young rabbit girl asked, puzzled and frightened.
"We're about to find out." Amy said, as she radioed back. "This is Amy Rose. We do not want any trouble. We're just looking for Sonic the Hedgehog who crashed landed nearby in the X Tornado after fighting Doctor Eggman."
"You do not have any authorization or permission of Commander Tower to fly around the city. By orders of the President, you are to remain well clear away from Christopher Thorndyke and not clear his name." The pilot responded firmly.
"What does that have to do with Chris? This is about stopping making sure Sonic's okay and stop Eggman from causing anymore trouble!" Amy pointed out.
"Don't make any attempts to lie and do as you are told, or you will all be arrested for attempting to help the traitor of the planet. We know that Sonic attempted to speak with Commander Tower once Doctor Eggman was dealt with." The pilot growled darkly, which made the pink hedgehog and her friends' eyes widen in shock and disbelief on what they were hearing.
"This is nuts! You can't just assume that!" Amy exclaimed.
"Fine. Then we'll take you in ourselves. You have been warned." The pilot declared, turning off the radio and prepared to hit the button. "Make no hesitation on capturing allies of Sonic the Hedgehog or anyone in relations of Christopher Thorndyke."
Getting the affirmative from the other GUN helicopter pilots, he then grumbled under his breath. "I hate animals and aliens, anyway. This is my chance to prove that they are against humans and they're the reason why this mess started, aside from Eggman. To think that I made that hedgehog an exception."
To the horror of Amy's team, the helicopters are preparing to fire the grapping hooks to capture them. As the first pilot gave the signal to fire, Amy quickly steered the Tornado 3 up and narrowly avoided in getting caught. All three girls and one little chao screamed at the close call.
"They're after us!" Cosmo cried out, as she, Cream and Cheese saw the Helicopters begin to give chase.
"What do we do now?" Cream asked, fearfully.
"We have to shake them off or else Sonic, Tails and Knuckles will end up arrested wrongly too! Hold on tight, guys and Cheese!" Amy exclaimed, boosting the plane's engines and made it fly faster to outrun their pursuers.
"Alert! Pursuing escaping corhots of the traitor! Don't let them get away!" The first pilot shouted, grunting furiously as, unknown to anyone, his eyes glinted in a purple glow in a dangerous way.
The Tornado 3 went as fast as it could as the Helicopters gave chase to Team Rose who were beginning to panic as they found themselves in confusing dangerous due to what was happening, making them realize that Commander Tower is now mind-set on virtually arresting anyone who was just friends or family to Chris, and even wanting Sonic for himself.
"Amy, I'm scared!" Cream cried out.
"Everything's gonna be okay, Cream." Amy reassured, yet deep down she was panicking as she thought to herself. 'Sonic! I wish you were here!'
But as soon as she thought that, she almost instantly remembered how Sonic sacrificed himself to push her out of the way when, even with all the times she helped him and he mostly saved her, Dark Oak used a water spout to pull the blue hedgehog towards his giant-dragon form mouth and swallowed him alive before attempting to drown him in that water planet. Amy at that moment heart-brokenly thought he died after seeing her boyfriend being eaten just to save her.
When they found that he was still alive but on the verge of death, she didn't hesitate and with one of Tails' planes, she leaped in to rescue him herself even though she almost drowned and, after Sonic regained consciousness, he went for her and held her in his arms, with a look of surprise before the Planet Egg drifted them out to safety, allowing Sonic to carry Amy to another plane which Chris piloted, both hedgehogs having managed to escape alive.
Since then, she felt herself being useless, but there was one time during their trip home that Sonic gave her reassuring words.
Amy had been crying in the corridor again for the past few days, and Sonic, having had a chat with Tails who was still heart-broken for the loss of Cosmo, and the blue hedgehog himself feeling guilty for the loss of a very dear friend and trusted ally, was trying to comfort her as they both sat on the floor together.
"Amy, c'mon. Please don't cry." Sonic muttered, as he gently rubbed his self-proclaimed girlfriend in his best effort to cheer her up, despite what has happened.
"Cosmo's gone...so is Shadow...I almost lost you, Sonic..." Amy sobbed, her face buried in her hands, her tears still managing to leak through her fingers and soak her gloves.
"I'm sorry, Ames. It's all my fault." The blue hedgehog sighed heavily in guilt.
"How could you say that?" The pink hedgehog demanded, tearfully looking up at him, which made the teenager look away awkwardly. He disliked tears, and he felt horrible for what has happened.
"If I hadn't thrown away the Chaos Emeralds, none of this would've happened. But I couldn't think of any other way to prevent the Metarex from getting them. I wish I...I wish I'd been stronger. Then you guys wouldn't've risked your lives for me, or for the universe." Sonic confessed, running his free hand through his quills.
"I feel so useless. I should've done more. I'm always useless, always-always the damsel in distress." Amy sniffled. "I couldn't protect our friends...I couldn't save you...! Not once!"
Sonic looked at her in shock, before he firmly but gently tilted her head to make her gaze at him, gently holding her chin in his right hand. "That's not true at all. You're not useless, you never were. Amy, look at me, please."
Strangely hesitant to do so, she did as she was requested, her jade green eyes still full of tears, as the blue hedgehog smiled reassuringly. "You're a great fighter, Ames. You're strong and brave, and very determined when you put your mind into it. You have the purest heart along with Cream and Tails. I can't keep up how many times you even saved me and not just when you jumped into that water world to save me after Dark Oak had me for lunch."
Sonic shuddered as he mentioned that, admitting. "I have nightmares about that and I think I'll be doing so for a while."
He then shook his head and continued, "Anyway, you're not always a damsel in distress. You're part of the team, and yeah I wish I could've saved Cosmo too, but nobody's perfect. Not even me. But if it weren't for you, I would've drowned and fallen into the Metarex's control with that dream they made me go through. I knew you guys wouldn't forget about me, and ignored what they said that you would. You having jumped in and woke me up, I was surprised you did that for me, and you proved that I was right."
Amy gazed at her 'boyfriend' in shock, surprise, and admiration at such support he was giving her.
"Amy, I can't thank you enough for saving my life. I'd never live with myself if anything happened to you and anybody else, and I got a feeling I'll be kicking myself for what happened to Cosmo and Shadow for a very long time. But the point is, you and all of our friends mean so much to me. I love you guys so much, Ames, and I care about you like nothing else." Sonic concluded, giving Amy a wink.
That brought her to more tears, but not of sadness, but of happiness. Everything he said was one of the sweetest things he ever said. While Sonic didn't actually confess his love for her, Amy will take what she got, and to her, it meant so much. His encouragement and support, and knowing that he'd be lost without her(and anyone else in the team) made her heart leap. In the end, like he was to her, she was one of his heroes.
"Oh, Sonic..." Amy trembled, before hugging him tightly and cried into his chest, and while Sonic cringed a little, he relaxed and hugged her back, bringing her closer to him, as he continued to comfort her and give her as much support and love as he could offer.
Remembering that time made her realize that she was doubting herself, and that Sonic knew all long that, despite times when she needed rescuing herself, she was a strong and brave fighter. He protected her because he cared, and at the same time when it wasn't as much of a danger, she helped him because she knew it was the right to do, just like he would go out of his way to help others in trouble.
'NO! I'm not gonna be a damsel in distress over this! Sonic needs me! I didn't come all the way out here just to get caught by superstitious creeps like GUN!' Amy thought furiously to herself, narrowing her eyes in determination to keep going and won't stop until she found Sonic's group, as well as the Chaos Emeralds to help solve the crisis and to help Chris.
She then had an idea and as much as it made her feel guilty for doing this, the pink hedgehog knew there was no other choice.
"Cream, Cosmo, when I say jump, we jump! Then, I'm gonna need you guys to be my flight so we can land safely!" Amy informed her friends, who stared at her in shock, confusion and wondered if she was crazy, which in hindsight, she knew that she was, but there was no other way out of this. "I know it's risky, but if we don't, then we're good as captured! Can you trust me?"
Despite the nervousness of Amy's plan, Cream, Cosmo and Cheese shared a glance, and realizing that she had a point, both nodded with determination and the two other girls chorused, "We trust you, Amy!"
"Okay! Hang on!" Amy ordered, getting the plane into full speed and turned it around the corner towards Emerald Coast beach, flying around the building and in a safe good distance, the three helicopters only managed to get a glimpse of this happening.
"They're heading towards Emerald Coast! Hard to Starboard!" The first Pilot shouted.
"Roger!" The two other pilots said in unison, picking up as much speed as they could.
Once they were out of sight for the time being, Amy then put the plane on auto-pilot and opened up the hatch. "Okay! On the count of three!"
"Right!" Cosmo and Cream both replied, as they and Amy unbuckled themselves.
"You better hold on tight, Cheese!" Cream instructed her Chao who did as he was told, muttering an 'okay' in chao language.
"We're ready." Cosmo informed.
"Okay! One, two..." Amy counted.
"THREE!" All three girls chorused before leaping off from the plane and let themselves fall, while the Tornado 3 closed the hatch and flew away across the beach and over the ocean. The helicopters, not seeing Amy's group jump out, foolishly continued pursuing the plane.
Cream in the meantime flapped her ears to fly, calling out for her friends who responded. She descended slightly to allow Cosmo to grab her ankles, and Amy did the same with the Seedrian's, slowing their descending and despite the youngest girl being only six years old, she surprisingly held on with much straining herself.
The little rabbit girl then gently flew down towards the more deserted part of the beach and lowered her two friends to the ground, where Amy touched down first, before Cosmo let go and floated down beside her, and finally Cream landed next to them, all three of them sighing in relief.
"We made it!" Amy exclaimed happily and in disbelief.
"We sure did." Cream replied happily.
"Chao Chao!" Cheese cheered.
"And it's all thanks to you, Amy. If you hadn't come up with this idea, we would have been caught by those GUN soldiers." Cosmo praised with a beaming and grateful smile.
The pink hedgehog blushed in embarrassment, giggling as she placed her hands behind her back. "It was more of desperation and determination. I couldn't let my friends down. If you know what I'm saying."
"It was kind of scary, but I think it was a great idea, because we're okay." Cream stated. "I knew we could trust you, Amy."
"Thanks, Cream. But you did all the flying in getting us down safely. You're really brave and strong and determined when you put your mind into it." Amy replied warmly, and then realized that what she just said in the praise was exactly what Sonic told her, and in a way, it wasn't because she was repeating his words, it was because they both meant it in slightly different ways.
Cosmo nodded in agreement, "Amy's right, Cream. Your mother will be very proud of you, just like the rest of us."
"I just did my best." The little girl replied, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"But, without the plane, we're quite far from reaching Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, and I'm not familiar with this beach." Cosmo admitted.
"Well then, it's a good thing Cream and I are. All we gotta do is get going and look for them as well as the Chaos Emeralds and avoid in getting caught by GUN." Amy declared. "I don't care what those guys think, we're gonna get to the bottom of this. Ready?"
Despite the close call and that they had inadvertently made themselves fugitives by the corrupted organization, Cream and Cosmo nodded in agreement, knowing that it was up to them, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and the Chaotix to set things right.
"Okay! Let's go!" Amy announced.
"Yeah!" Cream and Cosmo cheered, along with Cheese.
With that thought in mind, the group of three girls and one Chao, making sure that they weren't seen by the military, began racing their way towards their own adventure to find the Chaos Emeralds as well as Team Sonic.
When Chuck explained to Chris what has happened and what he, Tails and the others had found during Sonic's visit to the de-aged boy, to say that he was shocked and horrified was an understatement. The two Thorndykes sat together side by side on the bunk bed in the coop-up cell, the youngest once again staring at the floor. Chuck in turn was just as horrified when he heard that Sonic was kept in the cell longer by Tower who refused to let him go until the Commander was ready to leave and even though the teenage hedgehog was released, it became clear that even the young hero was in serious danger, now more so than ever before.
"I can't believe this has happened. Who would try and use the Porthole just to make the fog?" Chris asked, his heart hanging heavily in guilt.
"Who knows? Hopefully Sonic and the others can solve this problem soon enough. But that's not all what troubles me." His grandfather stated, his arms folded to his chest. "I'm not sure if I was seeing things, but I could have sworn I saw the prison guard's eyes glint in purple. Like he was under an influence of someone controlling him, like a ghost."
That made the de-aged boy gasp in shock and looked up at his oldest relative, asking. "You saw that too?"
"Oh?" Chuck looked at his grandson in surprise.
"'Cause I saw it too, and not just in that guy's eyes, but in Commander Tower's as well, and I'm pretty sure Sonic saw it too. I think it has something to do with the fog and it's effecting everybody's minds." Chris explained, and shuddered while rubbing his arms. "I'm scared to think what it would do to you and me, and everybody if we all had that kind of purple glint."
"Yes, you're right. It is very concerning." Chuck agreed, sharing the feeling. He could only hope that Sonic and the others will solve the mystery behind all of this soon, or else things were about to get worse.
Just then, the duo heard footsteps and saw, to their dismay, the same prison guard approach with a couple of GUN agents, one of them being Topaz who held a guilt-ridden look in her eyes, but kept her expression firm and stern.
"Commander Tower has orders that you two are to be transferred to Area 51 immediately. No questions asked." The male agent said darkly. "Both of you are to travel separately, and no funny business."
"I'll be taking you personality, young Mr. Thorndyke. Nothing personal." Topaz added, trying to hide the tone of apology in her voice.
Both Chris and his grandfather shared a worried glance, before sighing as they resigned to their fates and stood up just as the prison guard opened the doors. While the male agent roughly grabbed hold of Chuck who grunted before he was hand-cuffed, Topaz was surprisingly a bit more gentle as she did the same for Chris, muttering to her partner that she will be right behind him.
"Don't forget to write, and if you see Sonic, tell him that I'd like to have him come back here." The Prison Guard grinned darkly.
Chris just sighed, and allowed Topaz to lead him towards out of the Police Station, where two parked vans waited.
"Don't take too long, Topaz." The male agent ordered.
"Understood." She replied, leading the boy to the van behind the first one.
"I'll see you, grandpa." Chris sighed.
"Everything will be alright, Chris. You'll see." Chuck replied, only to grunt as he was forced forward.
"Move it and shut your mouth, old man!" The male agent grunted, all but shoving the elder Thorndyke into the back and slammed the doors shut.
Chris and Topaz watched as the van carrying the former's grandfather then drove off, and turned around the corner. Then, the latter told him that they should get going and lead the de-aged boy to the back as well.
"In you go." Topaz said, surprisingly gentle as she helped him in, before closing the doors shut.
When Chris was about to take a seat on one of the uncomfortable seats of the back of the van, to his confusion and surprise, were both Danny and Francies who sat there waiting for him, in their normal clothes and with a few accessories including a couple of back-packs. They smiled softly at him, looking relieved that he was okay.
"Danny? Francies?" Chris muttered in surprise.
"Hiya, Chris." Danny greeted with a wave.
"Thank goodness you're okay." Francies said in relief.
"What're you guys doing here? What's going on?" The de-aged Thorndyke muttered in confusion.
"You'd better sit down and get comfortable, Chris, or you'll fall all over the floor." The de-aged girl suggested.
"We'll explain when Topaz drops us off." Danny added.
Not sure what this meant, Chris just shrugged and took a seat next to the dark-skinned de-aged boy as Topaz then drove off with three of them in the back, and despite what she told her fellow agent, she instead drove to the left rather than following the other van towards Area 51.
"So what's going on?" Chris asked. "Why are you guys here?"
"To save you, in case Sonic wasn't able to do." Danny answered.
"Huh?"
"Topaz came to Helen's house while the three of us were making plans to help Sonic and everybody else to clear your name as well as protecting Sonic as best as we can." Francies explained.
"Really? But, I was gonna wait 'til Sonic and the others found out the truth on who's really behind this." Chris pointed out, while slightly surprised that Topaz, one of the top agents of GUN, would turn her back on the organization she served and asked his two childhood friends to help him get out.
"We know, but Topaz felt that Tower was going to arrest him and the others either way, especially after we all heard that your grandpa was arrested too. That's why she asked us to help you and Sonic out. We're just sorry that we couldn't save Chuck as well." Danny responded.
"That's why we didn't hesitate that much. We wanna help you and Sonic, as friends." The de-aged girl added.
Chris couldn't believe what he was hearing. Even though he still strongly knew that Sonic will figure things out, the fact that even the blue hedgehog's life and freedom were on the line because of what was happening, he wanted to help him. Now two of his childhood friends, and even one of the trusted agents of the GUN organization were helping him out by risking in being fugitives themselves by going through a surprisingly successful jailbreak, meaning that all they had to do now was learn the truth, help Sonic and the others to find the culprit, and not only clear Chris' name, but also his grandfather's as well as save him from Area 51.
"Guys...you're the best." Chris smiled emotionally.
Danny just scratched the back of his head while Francies giggled and winked at the ginger-haired boy.
Topaz was able to hear the conversation, and while she knew she was going to get fired for this as well as running the risk of being arrested herself, she knew from experience that Sonic always solved things on his own, having learned from experience with all of his battles against Eggman, and she knew that Chris was innocent. She was putting all of her faith into both of them.
Besides, she already gave the President a secret heads up just in case due to his own concerns with her superior, and urged the man to be careful with Commander Tower.
Seeing the deserted point of the streets and a manhole close by, not usually attracted by anyone, she pulled the van to a stop before hopping out and hurried over to the back, opening the doors to let the de-aged children out.
"The coast is clear. Come on out, kids." Topaz whispered to the trio.
"Okay." Chris, Danny and Francies all chorused, before the latter two picked up their things and hopped out with their friend who was then freed from the hand-cuffs.
"I'm not sure how much time you have, Chris, but you better get out of the city before they realize that I let you free. Your friends will by with you while you find and warn Sonic of Commander Tower's corruption." Topaz responded while she unlocked the hand-cuffs from the boy's wrists.
"You mean, you saw the purple glint in his eyes too?" Chris asked, surprised while rubbing his wrists as they felt a bit sore from being hand-cuffed during the ride.
"I guess you did as well. But if anyone can find out the source of all of this, it's you and Sonic. You two are out town's only hope, along with your friends. This is the best I could do and I'm willing to take the necessary risk." She replied. "Now go, before they catch up to you."
"Thanks, Officer Topaz." Chris replied, gratefully.
"We couldn't have done it without you." Danny replied.
"I hope you don't get caught." Francies added.
Topaz smiled sadly. "Knowing my luck, I probably will. But better me than you and all of your friends."
Even though the three of them were worried about the female agent's well-being, they nodded before Danny and Chris opened the manhole, and one by one, the three of them, with their bags dropped into the sewers below, began climbing down and closed the vent as Topaz watched them go.
"Good luck." She whispered.
Now the rest was up to Chris's friends. Especially Sonic and his group.
Sonic had no idea how long he was out. The last thing he remembered was hitting the ground hard after the X Tornado crash landed, being flung from the wing before losing consciousness. As his world seemingly began to return to him, the blue hedgehog opened his eyes slowly, then sat up quickly as everything returned to him instantly.
But what he found was even more alarming. He wasn't at a beach where he was certain he and his friends had crash landed. Instead, Sonic found that he was in some very ancient yet new looking kind of village. Like in the medieval times. It was foggy as the mist hung around the empty streets and there was a chill in the air.
"Huh? Where am I?" Sonic wondered aloud, as he glance around his new surroundings.
As the cobalt hero looked up ahead, his eyes widened in shock with a soft gasp. Walking out of a building made of sandstone, was a familiar hedgehog. At first Sonic thought it was shadow, but then he realized that the hedgehog in front of him was red. Except this time he was wearing a brown cloak, about to cover his head with his hood, but there was no mistaking of the boots and gloves.
"It's that guy. What's he doing here in a place like this?" Sonic whispered to himself, narrowing his eyes in suspicion as he realized that, seeing the red hedgehog from his previous dreams, he was dreaming again. "Well, only one way to find out."
While Sonic was aware that somehow he was seeing a dream before the mysterious hedgehog went to the desolute wasteland, which meant this was similar to the time when Tikal showed him and Knuckles her past involving Chaos, he had no idea why he was dreaming of an ancient past which was, like with the time of Chaos's corruption due to what Tikal's father had done in greed, he never heard of.
Deciding to secretly follow the suspicious red hedgehog that may want him to merge the two worlds and destroy time, the blue hedgehog stood up and began following him as silently as possible. The mysterious figure rounded around the corner to his left after looking from side to side, as though making sure the coast was clear, and Sonic sped up a little to see where he was going. He leaned against the wall of the building and peered around the corner, making sure he wasn't seen.
The red hedgehog kept walking into the alley and slowly vanishing into the darkness.
"Where's he going?" Sonic whispered to himself, and, making sure that no one was noticing him, he silently sped up to catch up with his target, and then walked in an easy pace once he was five meters behind the one who wanted the merge to happen and Time to stop.
Eventually the red hedgehog came a stop at a dead-end, which made the cobalt teenager pause as well. Why would he stop here? What was going on.
He got his answer as the red hedgehog knocked on the wall, and strangely enough, a deep, menacing voice spoke from within. "Password."
"Servers of 7 Chaos." The red hedgehog spoke in a near-whisper, much to Sonic's surprise, as he heard the praise of the 7 Chaos before, which meant the Chaos Emeralds.
That thought made him realize that he'd actually forgotten about the Emeralds and felt like smacking himself. He'd been so busy in trying to stop Eggman from finding the files on Shadow, and with the crisis involving Chris' arrest that he didn't put much thought on the Chaos Emeralds. How could he have done that?
"You may enter." The same voice from the wall replied, and to Sonic's amazement, it slid open to the side, revealing a dark passageway from within.
"Whoa...A secret door." Sonic whispered to himself, softly gasping that he made a slip, but found that the red hedgehog didn't seem to hear him. Instead, he just walked straight in, and the blue hedgehog's eyes widened before he quickly raced in to catch up just as the doors slid shut.
As Sonic looked around, he found himself in a cave-like tunnel which was lit up by flaming torches attached to the walls on both sides. He noticed no one save for a tall, dark and stern looking Walrus also wearing medieval clothes, his arms folded to his chest as he seemed to stared ahead. The blue hedgehog gulped, realizing he made a slip and could easily get caught.
"Uh...Hi? Nice weather we're having, huh?" Sonic greeted, nervously, only to blink in confusion that the figure, apparently the guard, didn't seem to move. "Hello? Hey. Anybody home?"
The blue hedgehog stepped in front of him and waved a hand in front of the Walrus's face while standing on the tip of his shoes as high as he could. Still no response. He glanced over his shoulder and found that the red hedgehog was getting well ahead. Shrugging in confusion at the readers/viewers, Sonic then raced forward to catch up to the guy, and again the Walrus didn't even flinch.
'Maybe it's because I'm seeing something from the past that nobody here can see or hear me. This is different compared to when Tikal showed me and Knuckles her past. But why am I seeing this? What am I meant to see?' He thought to himself as he kept going.
Seeing light at the end of the tunnel, Sonic slowed to a stop and placed himself firmly against the wall, peering around the corner and saw a large chamber that looked like a tribian throne room or something. It was lit up with more torces, and decorated in very medieval fashioned curtains and rugs, pot plants here and there, and to his surprise, guards on both sides of a path leading up a throne that were not just some of his kind in his world, but also humans as well, standing side by side.
"What the...?" Sonic whispered, and softly gasped as sitting in the throne that the red hedgehog, who took his hood off, was approaching, was a human man in rich garments like a king, having dark brown hair with blue, sharp eyes, and a thin goatee to match the hair colour.
The red hedgehog knelt and bowed before the man, greeting in full respect. "My lord. I bear troubling news."
"Please explain...Rusca." The man gestured.
"Rusca?" Sonic muttered in confusion, hearing the name of the red hedgehog for the first time, just as the room suddenly filled with light from the side and the blue hedgehog grunted while being forced to shield his eyes and soon his world went white...
Gasping as he awoke from the dream, Sonic found that he was again lying on his back, with both Tails and Knuckles looming over him.
"Tails!" Sonic exclaimed as he bolted upright into a sitting position while startling his adoptive brother and friend. "Knuckles."
"Sonic! You're okay." Tails responded in relief.
"Are you alright?" Knuckles asked. "You looked like you were having a nightmare."
"I was. I saw that hedgehog guy again, only this time he was in some village and snuck around about to talk to somebody in this secret passage. It was filled with not just our people, but humans too." Sonic replied.
"Say what? How can that be?" The red echidna asked, surprised.
"Maybe it's the time when both of our worlds were still one before they split into what we know today." The two-tailed fox suggested.
"I think you're right, Tails. How else do you explain that?" The blue hedgehog agreed, and continued. "Not only that, the guy he was about to talk to about some 'troubling news' mentioned his name being Rusca."
"Rusca?" His two friends asked, blinking.
Sonic nodded, "Yeah. Rusca the Hedgehog. Or whatever else he calls himself. I'm not sure what this means, but at least I know what the guy's name is now, so the next time I have those weird dreams, I'll be keeping that creep in mind."
"Well, it's a start." Tails muttered in agreement.
"Yeah. Anyway, are you guys okay?" The blue hedgehog asked.
"We're okay. The X Tornado on the other hand isn't so much." Knuckles answered, gesturing with his thumb behind him.
When Sonic looked at where his friend was pointing at, he flinched as the X Tornado, while still in one piece, did get beaten up quite heavily due to Eggman's attack and the crash landing.
"Ouch..." Sonic cringed, feeling sorry for his little brother's beloved plane having gone down like that.
"Yeah, I did the best I could in fixing up as much, but I'll have to send it back to the Blue Typhoon for repairs. But that's not the main problem." Tails replied, frowning in concern as he looked around their surroundings.
Confused on what his best friend was talking about, Sonic looked around and gasped in shock, his eyes widening in disbelief at the sight of a familiar beach and area became apparent. It wasn't the Emerald Coast as he had been expecting, but instead it was one far too close to home, and far up ahead he could see their continent in the distance, with Angel Island floating nearby. He recognized it almost instantly.
"Seaside Hill Zone?" Sonic exclaimed in disbelief, a feeling of dread filling him like nobody's business. "Oh no! The merge's already happening!"
"If this is true, then we're running out of time. We need to solve this right away." Knuckles informed seriously.
"With so many things going on, we don't even have the Chaos Emeralds." Tails muttered worriedly.
"Well, even so, we've gotta get to the bottom of this, quick, or else there won't be a tomorrow. Plus, I'm worried about Chris and Chuck, and Earth being put into danger by not just the fog, or even Eggman, but also Commander Tower." Sonic declared, immediately standing up, with both Tails and Knuckles standing up as well.
Just as his two companions nodded in agreement, they both heard a familiar high-pitched robotic voice laugh from above. When they looked up, to their annoyance, it was Bokkun who was again carrying a bag which meant he held yet another message from Eggman.
"It's Bokkun." Tails muttered.
"Not again." Knuckles grumbled, as the small robot landed in front of the trio who glared at him.
"Glad to see you all in one piece. I have another important message from Doctor Eggman." Bokkun greeted, pulling out the message TV while adding. "Here, and you'd better pay attention."
As he turned it on, Eggman's face appeared as the evil doctor began with an evil grin in place while Sonic and his friends glared hard. "You may have gotten a head start, Sonic, but know this I have another plan in mind. While you were busy recovering, my Egg-Dorah was a distraction for me to unleash my ultimate weapon. In three days, I'll conquer the world. Think you can stop me? Oh ho ho ho ho ho!"
The message turned off, with Sonic's group alarmed before the blue hedgehog asked skeptically. "What? No exploding TVs or Eggman making you do things embarrasing to make you cry this time, Bokkun?"
"Uh...No, he decided to give me a break for once. I uh...I gotta go! Bye!" Bokkun replied nervously, waved before putting the TV back into the bag and flew off, much to the confusion of the trio who watched him leave.
"That was weird." Sonic remarked.
"This is bad." Tails muttered worriedly. "What are we gonna do, Sonic?"
"Relax. We've got this at least." Knuckles said, confidently.
Despite what was going on, Sonic smirked and replied. "Knuckles is right, Tails. Whether this sounds strange or not, it sounds like an invitation to party. Maybe along the way we can solve the other problems that's going on and find the guy who's behind the fog stuff. I saw we get this party started!"
Even though Tails was worried, he knew that Sonic was right. So with a nod of agreement along with Knuckles, the trio then hurried onward across the beach that once belonged to their home world was now merged with Station Square, running along the familiar terrain.
Just walking along the Emerald Coast itself and wandering aimlessly to find any clues on the situation, Vector, Espio and Charmy came to a pause as they looked at the photos the young bee took.
"There's gotta be a clue around here somewhere." Vector grumbled.
"Maybe we should ask if anybody's seen a guy shaped like the human hole?" Charmy suggested cluelessly.
"We could, but then we would run the risk of getting caught by GUN ourselves. This is something we have to do on our own." Espio pointed out.
"What about that creepy purple glow in that Tower guy's eyes that Sonic saw? I dunno about you guys, but I've got that image of seeing somebody like that stuck in my head and it's kinda giving me the creeps." The young bee asked.
Vector rubbed the back of his neck as he admitted, "Yeah, so do I. Question is, who are gonna find help with this sort of thing without getting caught?"
Just then, as though the answer came from above, like, literally, something square and wrapped in a paper wrapper fell from the sky and hit his head hard before landing on the sound. The crocodile grunted as he rubbed his head, "Ow! What was that?"
"What's this? A secret present?" Charmy asked, landing on the ground and got a closer look to what he and Espio realized was a package of sorts, and soon Vector saw it as well. To their surprise, it was adressed to them.
Sharing a confused glance, Vector picked up the package and ripped it open hurriedly, revealing that it was a walkie talkie, which, to their surprise, was already turned on.
"Hello? Who's this?" Vector spoke into the communicator.
"Greetings, Chaotix. I am your client and I know that you're seeking to solve the mystery behind the mysterious purple fog, and wish to send in my assistance. I've heard good things about you and require your detective services. And I can pay handsomely!" A mysterious voice spoke from the other end. "I will keep my tabs on you three as you go along."
As soon as the call started, it ended, and while both Vector and Charmy knew that they and Espio had a job to do under Sonic's request, they couldn't help their eyes lighting up with dollar signs.
"Hmm...A mysterious package and somebody requiring our services? I've got a bad feeling about this." Espio muttered, frowning in concern.
"Come on, Espio. We never turn own on anybody on the job. Besides, this guy said he's gonna help us solve the problem with the weird fog, so I say we go along with it!" Vector declared with determination.
"Right behind ya' all the way, boss!" Charmy agreed immediately and in excitement.
"Come on, guys! Let's go!" Vector announced.
"Yes, sir!" The young bee saluted, quickly following his friend and leader.
Espio stood for a moment, before sighing as he shrugged while shaking his head, and hurried after his friends. Despite that he had a bad feeling about this, he knew that there was no other choice. Given the situation, at least it was a start.
After reaching down the sewers, Chris was changed back into his childhood casual clothes that were inside one of the bags, and came around the corner to meet up with his friends who shouldered the back-packs.
"Sorry for the wait." The de-aged boy spoke up as he rejoined his friends.
"That's okay, at least the coast is clear." Francies replied.
"We should get going. The sewers here lead a way out to Emerald Coast. With any luck, we should be able to search for whatever clues we can find without getting caught." Danny suggested, handing Chris the third back-pack which he gently took and slipped over his shoulders.
"I hope you're right. We should probably find Sonic and tell him more on what's going on. Knowing him, he's probably already one step ahead." Chris announced.
His two friends nodded, and with that thought in mind, the newly formed Team Chris, placing their hands on top of each other's to being their own new quest, began walking through the sewers to find a way out. All the while, Chris thought about what was happening, hoping that his family and other friends and Helen were alright.
Unaware to the trio of de-aged humans, on the other side of the sewers, Shadow, Rouge and Omega were nearing the other exit as well.
"Ugh, finally. I can't take the stench of this disgusting place any longer." Rouge sighed in relief.
"Destination reached; Emerald Coast Westside." Omega detected.
"The beach, huh? Not the kind of place I had in mind to continue our search, but we'll have to manage. Let's move out." Shadow declared.
His two companions nodded, and they all marched forward to continue their own quest.
Racing through the Sea Gate of the main entrance of Seaside Hill, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles were determined to get to the bottom of the situation that was happening, from the slow merging of both worlds, to the mysterious fog that was effecting humans and Earth Animals badly, the corrupting it may be causing on Tower who had Chris trapped along with his grandfather, the mysterious dreams the blue hedgehog was having, and now Eggman's latest plot that would have the evil doctor conquer the world in three days if he is not stopped.
"Time to speed up ahead, guys!" Sonic declared.
"Yeah!" Tails and Knuckles both chorused.
All the while, Sonic thought about his human best friend, and muttered in his mind. 'Chris, I'll set you free one way or another, and clear your name. Just hang in there, buddy.'
While unaware of each other's new quests that would eventually lead into a huge reunion, and many challenges up ahead, Team Sonic, Team Rose, Team Chaotix, Team Dark, and now Team Chris were all about to begin a long, perilous journey as the fate of both Earth and Sonic's world now rested in their hands.
All five alone, they were their own teams. But spiritually and soon psychically together, they were the Sonic Heroes.
A/N: So the five teams begin a long quest that puts the fate of both worlds in their hands, especially with Chris now freed, but on the run. Can Sonic solve this and once again save the day with all of his friends?
See you later!