Penny, Blaze, Cloud, and everyone else yelled in fright as the mob chased them. Penny dashed into the house first, running as far away from the crowd as she could. Behind her, she could hear Blaze, Hiro, Kat, and Cloud running behind her. Chris, Chuck, and Tanaka quickly closed the doors to the mansion. Penny's eyes widened when the mob furiously broke through the hold and stormed into the house, and soon cornered the Thorndykes and Mobians.
"Where's Sonic and Silver?!" Jerome yelled at the family. The crowd echoed his demand.
"They're not here!" Chris yelled. "So go away!"
"Then tell us where they are!" Jerome threatened.
Tails walked forward. "We know you think he knocked those towers down," He began. Amy stepped up. "But they'd never do that!"
"Yeah!" Penny said. "Sonic and Silver are on our side, don't forget that!" She realized then and there that the only person Sonic and Silver were against was Eggman.
"Yeah, right!" Jerome growled. He pointed accusingly at Penny. "She's just trying to protect them! Let's get 'em!"
Penny whimpered and Ella grasped the girl in her arms protectively.
"All right, back off!" Amy yelled, raising her hammer.
"AMY!" Chuck yelled in warning.
Amy smashed the wall of the mansion, leaving a hole for the Thorndykes and Mobians to escape. "GO!" She ordered.
Penny ran as fast as she could, but stopped short in panic to see another huge crowd of people right outside. Before she thought all was done for, police sirens were heard, and Penny smiled in relief as her Uncle Sam's racing car team broke through the mob. People screamed as they tried to get away.
Uncle Sam stood up. "All right, everybody." He said. "Listen up. If any one of you yahoos lays a finger on them, you'll have to deal with me."
After a lot of grumbling, the crowd left.
"They're leaving..." Chris sighed. Penny and Blaze soon released each other, and Penny sighed as she felt all the tension leave her.
"That was certainty a close shave." Ella said, putting a hand to her heart.
"Looks like the S Team showed up just in time." Sam said, taking off his helmet. He walked up to his niece and nephew. "You doing okay, buddies?"
"Yeah." Penny said. Chris nodded in agreement.
...
Sonic and Silver dashed right through another mirror tower, smashing it to bits.
"All right!" Sonic cheered victoriously.
"Bull's eye!" Silver smirked. He and Sonic gave each other high fives.
...
"I'm warning you, Mr. President." Eggman said. "Sonic and Silver will stop at nothing! NOTHING! They must be eliminated!" The doctor frantically slammed his fist on the table and looked pleadingly at the President.
"Now, don't get excited, Eggman." The President said nervously. "Just calm down." He raised his hands at Dr. Eggman, at hopes to calming the doctor down.
"CALM DOWN?!" Eggman yelped. "HOW CAN I BE CALM WHEN THESE MENACES ARE ON THE LOOSE?! I've worked hard to bring light to your people, but all Sonic and Silver want to do is stop me!"
"Yes," The President said. "I believe you're right. They are public threats!" He turned to Christian. "Instruct my commanders that I want Sonic and Silver stopped immediately!"
"Yes, sir!" Christina said.
Soon, every one of the President's robots and agents went after Sonic and Silver.
Eggman coughed a laugh. "Those mossbacks sure are gullible, aren't they?"
"He sure is!" Decoe said. "Right, Bocoe?"
"Ha ha!" Bocoe laughed. "Sonic and Silver are finished!"
They laughed, but were stopped short in surprise when they saw a huge crowd of people outside, wearing Eggman T shirts and yelling the doctor's name gleefully.
"Thank you all!" Dr. Eggman said, addressing his crowd of fans. "Very kind!"
"Isn't it funny, Bocoe?" Decoe asked. "Who would've thought this would ever happen! Now Dr. Eggman is the hero! And Sonic and Silver are the bad guys!"
"I'm so happy I could blow a fuse!" Bocoe said, and the two robots laughed as they waved at the crowd below them.
...
Rouge had been flying for some bit when she felt a pain in her head. She grunted and fell. Topaz had witnessed it from her window, and she called out to her friend. "What is it, Rouge?!" She yelled. "Have the copter blades gotten to you?!"
"I'm okay." Rouge said. "But I'm sensing something weird!" And with that, the bat took a dove for the presence she felt.
Topaz watched Rouge fly away, and turned to the pilot. "Follow her!" Topaz ordered.
...
Meanwhile, Helen stared out her window. She sighed. "I miss the light..." She mumbled.
Walking beside her house, Knuckles stopped to look at Helen. "Poor little kid..." He mumbled to himself. He closed his eyes, and turned away, and found himself standing in front of a crowd.
"Knuckles!" One of the men said.
"We've got a really big favor to ask you." Another man said.
"Favor?" Knuckles asked.
"If Sonic and Silver keep knocking down the mirror towers, we'll never get out of the dark!" A woman said.
"They'll listen to you." A man said.
"Help us!" Another person pleaded.
Knuckles only glared.
...
Sonic and Silver were running to another mirror tower, when one of the government's robots attacked them with missiles. Luckily, though, the two hedgehogs sped out of the way. Two more robots hopped in their ways, but the two hedgehogs managed to defeat them both. The two hedgehogs fought their way through the robots, and made a dashing move for the next mirror tower.
"OK!" Sonic thought, as he and Silver destroyed another one.
...
"Only you can stop Sonic and Silver from knocking down the towers!" Another person said to Knuckles.
"Please, Knuckles, we don't know who else to turn to!"
"We're begging you!"
Finally, Knuckles closed his eyes, then opened them again, a hint of determination written on his face. "All right." He said. "I'll give it a try."
"You think you'll really talk to him?!" A man gasped. "Thanks, Knuckles!"
Knuckles growled. "You've gone too far, Sonic and Silver. Now I'm gonna stop you!" He thought.
...
Penny sat on a fold up chair near the pool, looking glum.
"Hey, Penny?" A voice asked. Penny turned around to see Tails and Blaze standing there, looking at the girl with worry. "Is something bothering you?" Tails asked.
"No." Penny said, rubbing her nose a little. "I'm fine."
"You haven't been yourself lately." Blaze said, walking up to Penny.
"Me?" Penny asked. She sighed in defeat. "Well... I know in my heart that Sonic has been doing this for a good reason. But... sometimes I doubt myself. I don't know what to believe anymore." The girl looked down, and she remembered Tails saying something in Sonic and Silver's defense earlier. "We know you think he knocked down those towers earlier." And Amy said right after, "But they'd NEVER do that!"
Penny looked up. "I wish I could have total faith in Sonic. Silver, too."
"If you want to know how to have faith, ask Amy. Or Blaze." Tails looked over to Blaze, and the cat smiled. "It's easy!" Blaze said.
Penny sighed. "Maybe for you." The girl sadly looked down into the pool. She knew that Eggman was up to no good and Sonic and Silver were going to stop his evil doing, but sometimes she found herself not knowing why this was happening. She felt completely torn from believing that two of her closest friends would do this for good, or they were just doing it out of jealousy. And that really put her through a lot of pressure on that one thought. Penny sighed as she clutched Shadow's bracelet again.
"Listen." Blaze said. "There are a lot of times where Sonic and Silver did something and didn't do something that made me wonder why I like Silver. I know that Sonic will always come through to you." Blaze smiled softly. "They may do crazy things and they may do stupid things, but he never does dishonest things! That's why you and I should always have faith in Sonic and Silver!"
"Blaze's right!" Penny thought. "I always trust Sonic. Silver, too! It is easy! I do have faith in them!"
Penny smiled at Blaze. "Thanks a lot, Blaze."
"Sure!" Blaze smiled. "Any time, Penny."
Penny looked down at Tails. "Come on, Tails. We'd better go and look for Sonic and Silver!"
Blaze smirked at the readers. "Am I good, or what?!"
As the X Tornado flew off, Penny smiled thoughtfully at the sky. "Hang on, Sonic." She thought. "You too, Silver. Your friends are on the way!"
...
Knuckles stood near a mirror tower, waiting for Sonic and Silver to arrive. He frowned as he looked forward... and saw Sonic and Silver running towards him.
"At last." Knuckles grumbled. He watched as Sonic and Silver dodged the lasers of the government's ships. When they were finished, the two hedgehogs soon sped up to Knuckles, who was giving them death glares.
"Hey, Knuckle." Sonic began. "Good to see ya, old buddy!"
"Yeah, how are things going?" Silver shot the echidna a thumbs up.
"What's up?" Sonic asked.
Knuckles growled deeply. "This." And after that, he lunged a punch attack on the two hedgehogs.
"HEY!" Sonic yelped.
"What's gotten into him?!" Silver yelled in shock.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're trying to pick a fight!" Sonic shot at Knuckles, rubbing his cheek.
"RIGHT!" Knuckles lunged another attack. He managed to hit both hedgehogs, but the two also managed to dodge. "This is no fight if that's all you got!" Sonic growled. Knuckles gave a yell of frustration as Sonic and Silver started high-kicking the echidna. Knuckles lunged again, but Sonic easily kicked him down. Knuckles fell down with a grunt, and glared at them. "Come on!" The three continued. "I'm gonna teach you a lesson, Sonic and Silver!" Knuckles growled.
Sonic, Silver, and Knuckles grunted in pain as they collided with each other.
...
Topaz and Rouge were doing the best they could to try to get into Eggman's secret base, but no avail.
"NO LUCK!" Topaz called up to Rouge. "It doesn't look like there's any way in, Rouge!"
"That's too bad." Rouge said. "'Cuz this looks like the power station." She looked up at a blinking ball at the top of the roof, with the Eggmoon behind it.
...
Finally, Penny spotted Sonic, Silver, and Knuckles fighting below. Her eyes widened. "Tails! Look down there!" She cried, pointing to the fighting trio. "Sonic, Silver, and Knuckles are fighting!"
"That's news." Tails said.
...
Sonic, Silver, and Knuckles grunted in pain as they faced each other.
"Wanna call it quits?" Silver snarled.
"Not until I make you pay for the damage you two have done!" Knuckles growled. The two jumped up again, and threw punch after kicks at each other. They were about to strike each other again, when the X Tornado suddenly broke through them, separating them and stopping them from fighting.
"All right, you guys." Penny snapped from the X Tornado. "Cut that out right now!" She hopped from the passenger's seat and made her way towards the three.
"Don't interfere!" Knuckles growled.
"SONIC!" Penny yelled, and Blaze, who had also came with them, joined her on the wing, yelling, "SILVER!"
"Hey Blaze." Silver said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Hey, I'm all for keeping the peace here, Pen." Sonic said. He pointed at Knuckles. "It was Knuckles who started it."
"YOU BET I STARTED IT!" Knuckles yelled. "DO YOU TWO EVER STOP TO THINK ABOUT THE TROUBLE YOU'RE CAUSING INNOCENT PEOPLE!? DO YOU?!"
"HUH?!" Sonic and Silver asked, truly confused. "What trouble?"
"Okay, that's it!" Knuckles growled. He was about to fight, when a bright light filled the area.
"Sonic and Silver the Hedgehogs!" A cop announced from their robot's speakers.
"Huh?" Penny asked in worry and confusion. "What's going on?!"
"Stay where you are, Sonic and Silver!" The voice continued. "We've got you surrounded! Just turn yourselves in quietly and there won't be any trouble!"
Sonic and Silver stood their ground.
"LOOK OUT!" Penny yelled.
"I'll take care of them!" Knuckles growled, and Penny shot him a pleading yet worried look. "Knuckles, no!"
"Hey, hey." Sonic said as he walked up to the cops. "Chill out, everybody!"
"Let's all stay calm." Silver added.
"YOU STAY CALM!" Knuckles yelled at the two hedgehogs.
"KNUCKLES!" Penny yelled, clutching her fists. Knuckles turned to face the worried girl. "Wake up, kid!" Knuckles snapped, and Penny flinched at his fierce tone as he continued. "Don't you know it's Sonic and Silver knocking down those towers everywhere?!"
Penny sighed, and closed her eyes. "Yes, I know. It's just..." She paused and looked up. "But I have faith in Sonic and Silver. And if they're doing it, there must be a good reason!"
"OH, YEAH?!" Knuckles yelled at her. "Then what good reason could there be to tell me?! I'd like to hear just one!"
"I'll give you one, Knuckles." Sonic said. "Up there!" He pointed towards the Eggmoon.
Everyone looked to where Sonic was pointing.
"There's something about that Eggmoon that's been bothering me."
"Me, too!" Penny volunteered from the ship, connecting the dots to the situation. But this was all Sonic's job to do the explaining.
"There's a lot about you two that bothers me!" Knuckles yelled fiercely. He ran up, but Silver stopped Knuckles. "If you give Sonic a second, he can explain!"
"What is there to explain?!" Knuckles yelped. "The Eggmoon won't move until it gets fixed! We know that!"
"Maybe you do." Sonic said. "But I know differently."
"What?!" Knuckles growled.
"Let me give you a little astronomy lesson," Sonic said. "If the Eggmoon was really standing still, it couldn't block the sun all the time!"
"Sonic's right!" Penny said. "It only looks like the moon is standing still because we're moving too!"
"And there's one more thing you can't forget." Tails said. "This planet and the moon are both revolving around the sun!"
Penny thought for a moment, then yelled in frustration, clutching her head. "I'm confused!"
"Penny, in order for the Eggmoon to block the sun, it's gotta be moving too!" Tails exclaimed.
Sonic nodded. "Eggman's been controlling it so he could con everybody into buying those silly sunshine balls he invented. It's just a cheap get rich quick scheme."
"It all ties down... to his true plan." Silver said, crossing his arms.
"That lousy..." Knuckles growled. "Everybody thinks that he's a great hero!"
...
Knuckles was right.
For about now, Eggman was snickering to himself as he waved to his crowd of fans below him.
"Just listen to those cheers, doctor!" Decoe said gleefully. "Doesn't it make you feel good?" Bocoe asked. They turned to their doctor, who was crying happy tears. He muttered something, then smirked at his robots. "It's going just as I planned."
"Oh?!" Both robots looked surprised. "What do you mean by that, doctor?"
"Don't tell me you metalic meatheads think this hero act is for real." Eggman sneered. "Why, I planned this crappy old coup right from the beginning!"
"You did?!" Both robots asked in surprise.
"Certainty I did." Eggman said. "Look closely at those yahoos down there."
The robots looked closely at the crowd. The people were repeating the same lines over and over again. "It looks like they're in a trance!"
"Here's my secret." Eggman said. "Every Sunshine Ball emits a hidden submit message that compels everyone who has one to hail me as their hero."
"You mean all those people down there are hypnotized?" Decoe asked, pointing to the crowd.
"To think you are good?" Bocoe asked, surprised.
"And that's not all." Eggman said as he continued to wave to the hypnotized crowd. "The Eggmoon is in place, and ready for stage two."
Eggman laughed. "The Eggman Empire is nearly here!" He leaned back and laughed evilly.
"Oh." The poor robots moaned. "We are not the good guys after all!" Bocoe nodded. "It was fun while it lasted." The robots sadly looked down.
...
"So Eggman's no hero." Sonic said, finishing his explanation.
Knuckles was furious. "Why didn't you explain this before you knocked down the towers?!" He yelled.
"I thought it was obvious," Sonic said. Silver nodded. "We can't help it if you're slow."
"Watch it." Knuckles growled.
Watching the whole thing, Rouge and Topaz looked at each other. "Now what?" Rouge asked. Topaz took out her comunicator watch. "This is Topaz. I need to speak to t he President imediately."
...
After his talk with Topaz, the President was sweating.
"Mr. President." Christina asked. "What is it, sir?"
"Dr. Eggman." The President turned around to glare at the doctor, who was sitting on the President's desk. "He's tricked us again!"
Eggman laughed. "You found me out."
"You made a fool out of me for the last time!" The President growled, pointing his finger at Eggman. "You hear?!"
Eggman laughed. "From the sound of the crowd, I'm the hero, and you're the fool, Mr. President."
The President looked torn. "This is terrible."
"Just listen to those numskulls." Eggman sneered, pointing to the chanting crowd out the window. "They're calling for me to be their new leader!"
"But..." The President asked. "What about me?!"
Eggman sneered. "You, Mr. President, are my hostage."
...
Penny and the others stood in front of the Thorndyke garage.
"So, now what do we do?" Penny questioned her friends.
"Well, I say that if we can't destroy the Eggmoon controller from down here..." Rouge pointed to the Eggmoon. "Then we'll just have to get rid of it from up there."
"Well, what do you say, Knuckster?" Sonic asked Knuckles teasingly.
Knuckles growled angrily at Sonic. "The name's Knuckles, wise guy."
Penny and Topaz, who were standing next to the boys, took that notification to leave the two in case Knuckles launched another attack at Sonic.
"Hey." Rouge said, eyes wide as she raised her hands at Knuckles. "Easy, boy!"
"If I may, I would like to pilot." Tanaka's voice appeared from behind, and the crowd turned around to see Mr. Tanaka in a space suit, a look of determination on his face.
"Works for me." Topaz said.
Rouge only sighed.
...
As the crowd continued cheering to Eggman, police officers tried to get through to the President's rescue.
"No good, sir!" A cop called. "There are just too many people out here!"
...
Mr. Stewart had managed to push a brick out of the wall underneath the President's house. Smiling to himself, Mr. Stewart called his homeroom.
"Home room, I'm inside." He announced. "And starting the search!"
...
While this was happening, Eggman and his robots had started writing in paper money, installing their faces on it in front of their tied up hostages, the President and Christina. Eggman smirked as he held up a one dollar bill, with his face on it. "Perfect. This is the new Eggman dollar bill!
"That is nice, doctor." Bocoe said. "But I've made a Bocoe $100 dollar bill!"
"I have got a Decoe $1,000 dollar bill!" Decoe announced excitedly.
Eggman growled. "KEEP YOUR TWO UGLY MUGS OFF MY MONEY!" He yelled. They would've continued to make more, if the X Tornado hadn't shown up at the right moment. The genius and his robots yelped as the X Tornado nearly knocked them over.
A hood of the X Tornado opened up, and Sonic hopped out. Penny sat behind the blue hedgehog, and stayed in her seat as Sonic glared at Eggman. "Let's go, Eggman." He grumbled. "Your little political party is over!" He hopped down from the X Tornado.
"Yeah, Sonic?" Eggman sneered, and grabbed the tied up President. "Stop there!"
"Yeah, right!" Sonic growled, and hopped down and ran towards the Doctor.
"I'm warning you!" The doctor growled. "One step closer, and he's finished!"
"You better be careful you don't squeeze the air out." The President's voice said proudly from the background. Eggman looked so shocked, that when he looked at the President, he realized that he'd been tricked.
Watching outside, Mr. Stewart smiled through his mike. "Mission accomplished." He announced.
"Nice work!" Sonic smirked. Penny grinned as she watched Sonic spin towards Eggman, and Eggman litterally freaked out and pulled the fake President balloon in front of him. "KEEP AWAY!" Eggman yelled in panic. With one kick, Sonic kicked Eggman out of the President's office.
...
While all this was happening, Topaz and Tanaka flew the rocket towards the Eggmoon.
"You're amazingly good at this, Mr. Tanaka." Topaz said, quite surprised at Mr. Tanaka's piloting skills. Tanaka smiled. "As a butler, one must have a skill more than simply answering doorbells."
Rouge looked at her scanner. They were getting closer. She looked over at Knuckles. "Okay, Knuckles, hit it!" She ordered.
"Here it goes!" Knuckles grunted, and he dove towards the antenna of the Eggmoon, and smashed it.
A pause.
Then the Eggmoon moved away from the sun.
...
"It's back, honey!" Helen's mom said excitedly as she and her husband pushed Helen's wheelchair towards the sun.
"Yes." Helen said happily. "And it's still beautiful."
...
At home, Penny and the others FINALLY were able to celebrate the first sunrise of the new year.
...
As they flew home, Mr. Tanaka turned to Topaz. "We should watch the sun rise from here sometime." He said, smiling at her.
"We should." Topaz smiled back.
Rouge frowned as she watched them, when she heard the door open. "That's that." Knuckles announced as he walked towards her. Noticing her downcast face, Knuckles asked, "Hey, what's the matter, Rouge?
"I liked it better when it was in the dark." Rouge muttered.
...
Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe ran as fast as they could, huffing along the way.
"I liked it better when we were heroes!" Decoe whined.
"Quiet!" Eggman growled. "Just keep running! They're after us!"
They kept running until they saw Chris holding a yes and no sign. "Question one: Penny and I first met Sonic the Hedgehog when he fell into our living room. Yes or no?"
Eggman and his robots quickly answered, "NO!"
They continued running when they ran into Tails. "Next one: The X Tornado can fly more than three hundred miles an hour and can withstand a task by changing into battle armor mode!"
"YES!" Eggman yelled, and he and his robots ran off, and stopped in front of Amy. She smiled, her eyes sparkling. "Yes or no: Sonic says I'm the prettiest girl in the whole world!"
"No way, hosey!" Eggman yelled as he ran in the direction of no.
Amy sighed in disappointment. "Well, you don't have to rub it in."
Cloud stood next to Hiro, holding a sign. "In this story, Hiro is my twin brother." Cloud smirked at Eggman. "Yes or no?"
"YES!" Eggman answered, and continued running. He and his robots stopped in front of Penny.
"Yes or no: My best friend is Sonic the Hedgehog." Penny said. Eggman ran in the yes direction.
Next was Silver. "Yes or no: I am a lover of nature." Silver grinned. Eggman ran off answering, "YES!"
Finally, he ran into Sonic. Sonic was smirking, and he held a sign with Eggman and Sonic's faces. "Just one more to go." He said.
"Think carefully, doctor." Bocoe said. "If you answer this one correctly, you will be the big winner!"
Eggman smirked. "Don't worry. With my Egg-exceptionally high IQ, I'm bound to get it right!"
Sonic smirked. "Who's the coolest guy around...me or you?"
"WHAT A RIDICULOUS QUESTION!" Eggman growled. "IT'S ME, OF COURSE!"
"Wow." Penny said as she walked up to Sonic. "Taken down by his own pride." Sonic chuckled in response.
Eggman had continued running, when something hard knocked him out. The police dodged right on him, and put the doctor in cuffs.
Soon, Eggman and his robots found themselves trapped behind bars. "I'll be back!" He grumbled in anger as he clutched the police door's bars.
"And to think this morning we were flying high..." Bocoe said sadly.
"Now we got us...JAILBIRDS!" Decoe wailed.
"YOU FOOLS!" Eggman growled. "LET ME OUT OF HERE!"
The doors slammed shut, and the police drove away.
"From a big hero to a a big zero." Sonic said, high fiving Silver. Hearing the audience call their name, the hedgehogs gulped and ran off. Penny smiled off in their direction.
"Looks like Sonic and Silver are the real heroes now!" Penny thought proudly.
