"We are grateful for your heroism." The leader of Planet Seco told Sonic, Silver, Penny, and the others. "You saved our Planet Egg and our planet! We shall do our best to bestow upon you thanks that you deserve, by holding festival today in your honor, a parade, music, dancing, and a feast, to show your thanks!"
Sonic whistled beside Penny. "Sounds good to me!"
Amy smiled happily. "Me, too!" She grinned. "Especially the feast part!"
Chris smiled at Tails. "Sounds like fun, Tails!"
Tails looked at Chris. "I'm not so sure I'm going to like this..."
"Me neither." Whisper muttered.
"Aw, come on, you guys!" Kat said with a smile. "What could possibly go wrong?"
...
Soon, Penny found herself on a ship standing next to Sonic. "They go all out!" She said.
Sonic nodded at her in agreement. "Yeah."
Hearing Sonic yelp suddenly, Penny looked at him to see that he was being thrown up into the air.
"That's it!" The elderly leader cried. "Now everybody!"
Penny yelped in shock as villagers grabbed her and tossed her up with everybody else. Along the ruckus, she heard Chris and Kat yelling, "Why are they throwing us?!"
"Don't know!" Sonic called back.
The elder leader laughed. "This is how we honor heroes!"
Penny yelped as she landed on the net, and bounced off. Hearing Cosmo call out to them, the girl opened her eyes to see her new friend running along side them, a Chaos Emerald in her hand. "Look what I have!" She called.
"A Chaos Emerald." Sonic said. "Who found it?"
"I did." Knuckles said, raising his eyes at Sonic. "Because I wasn't too busy partying with all the locos!"
"You know, that actually looks kind of fun!" Blaze smiled as she watched Silver yelp as he bounced in the air.
"I agree with you, Blaze!" Cream smiled.
"Chao chao!" Cheese said in agreement.
"Yeah." Knuckles said. "If you wanna feel like a yoyo."
"Why are they bouncing you like that?!" Cosmo called.
"Why?" Tangle asked as she whooped. "It's lotsa fun! You should try it!"
"IT'S FOR GETTING THEIR PLANET EGG BACK!" Cloud yelled.
Sonic smiled. "It's a token of their appreciation!"
"I'm appreciated enough!" Tails whimpered.
"I can't take much more!" Amy whimpered as well.
"This is so wonderful." Cosmo smiled as she walked alongside Cream, Whisper, Blaze, and Cheese. "I can't believe we already found one!" Cosmo said.
"This means we only have six more to find, doesn't it, Cosmo?" Cream asked.
"That's right, Cream." Blaze told the girl.
"You down there! Friends of the heroes! Let us honor you too! Throw them here!"
At the call of the elderly leader, Cosmo, Cream, Blaze, Whisper, and Cheese let out yelps as they were tossed up on the net.
"Come defy the forces of gravity!"
Knuckles waved them off. "I'm actually a big fan of gravity!"
"Ugh, I feel sick!" Penny whimpered, clutching her stomach.
"Just hang in there a bit more, Pen!" Sonic called out to her.
...
Eggman chuckled as he watched the whole thing from his spy box. "So nice for Sonic and his friends to find the Chaos Emerald for me! Let's see. What sort of strategic strategy should I come up with to get it from them?"
"Aren't all strategies stratic?" Bocoe whispered to Decoe.
"Not Dr. Eggman's." Decoe said. "His strategy lacks strategy!"
"And his thinking is like sly!" Bokkun added.
"Since you three are so brilliant, then why don't you come up with a plan?!" Eggman snapped at them.
"Huh?!"
"But whatever you do, do not disappoint me!" Eggman smirked.
At that, Decoe clutched his head. "I've got a head ache all of the sudden!" He groaned.
Bocoe did the same. "Me, too! I can't concentrate right now! It's unbearable!"
"I think I need to lie down for a while!" Decoe added.
"Aww, you have headaches?" Eggman said in an evil coo, and both robots nodded their heads fiercely. "Guess the doctor's gonna have to operate!"
At that, Dr. Eggman hopped out of his chair and started chasing both Decoe and Bocoe around the ship with a hammer. Sensing the danger, Bokkun whimpered. "I'm going to check on the... uh... thing!" He said as he exited the scene. When he was far away from the ruckus, the robot sighed in relief. "Whew! I got away before they could grab me!"
At that, he felt a hand grab him back. He looked up to see Rouge the Bat smiling sweetly at him, her teal blue eyes twinkling.
"Rouge!" Bokkun gulped.
"Hi, there." Rouge smiled. "I just dropped by to ask if you could do me a little favor!"
"I'd have to be totally batty to do any favors for you!" Bokkun snapped at her. "Just wait until I tell Dr. Eggman that you..." He would've said more if Rouge didn't shush him by putting her finger to his noisy mouth. "Really?" She asked.
Bokkun slapped her hand away from his face, glaring at her.
"You don't want to do that, do you?" Rouge continued. "Your little secret might get out."
Bokkun put his hands to his hips and glared at Rouge. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Oh, no?" Rouge smirked as she held up a pink heart shaped locket dangling from a silver chain. She giggled. "Does this look familiar?"
Bokkun whimpered, sweat dropping. "Yeah, it's mine," he said, blushing deeply. He tried lunging for his locket, but Rouge easily dodged away. Bokkun fell to the ground.
Rouge smirked at him. "I checked out the picture inside. She's so pretty."
Bokkun completely started panicking. "Please don't say anything!" The poor bot wailed. "I'll do whatever you want me to do, I promise! Just please don't tell anybody, please!"
Rouge chuckled. "Good boy."
...
When Bokkun finally made it to the control room, Eggman still seemed to be chasing his robots. Bokkun whimpered. "I wish I didn't have to do this..." He took a deep breath and yelled, "HEY DOCTOR EGGMAN!"
"Yes?" The doctor stopped in front of Bokkun, hammer still in hand.
"I just got an idea!" The little robot said, and whispered something into the doctor's ear. After a moment, Eggman smiled, chuckling.
"Excellent!" He said. "One of the most brilliant plans I've ever came up with!"
"Except that I came up with it!" Bokkun said.
"Are you contradicting me, Bokkun?" Eggman asked the messenger bot.
...
"I don't care if it's an honor or not." Knuckles grumbled as he walked away from the party. "No one tosses me around!" Seeing something move, Knuckles looked up and saw Eggman's egg mobile sputtering. A second later, it crashed a few feet ahead from Knuckles.
"Eggman!" Knuckles growled as he hurried over to the doctor.
The doctor turned to him after coughing. "Knuckles, it's you!" He smiled at the echidna. "What good fortune!" At that, the doctor happily raised his hands. "Finally someone who can help me!"
Knuckles lessened his fighting stance, but still glared at the doctor. "Help you?" He asked. "Not a chance!"
Eggman looked pleadingly at Knuckles. "Knuckles, please, you have to hear me out! My ship ran out of power and crashed on this desolate planet! If I don't find a way to leave, I'll be trapped here for the rest of my life!" At that, the doctor started crying and banging his head. "It's my fault! I'm getting what I deserved!" He whined, sinking to his knees.
"Come on, cool it, Eggman." Knuckles said, putting a hand on the doctor's shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself."
"I just got so carried away with wanting to take over the universe! I was evil! And greedy!"
Knuckles' normal stern expression started showing a hint of sympathy.
"It's true!" Eggman said, looking at Knuckles. "I wanted planets and the entire galaxies all to myself! But if I get off this rock, I will never destroy a moon by using a devastating weapon again! I SWEAR! If only I had a Chaos Emerald for my ship!"
At that, Eggman fell to his hands and started crying. "I could leave here and start my new life as a good person!"
Knuckles looked surprised.
Eggman smirked to himself.
...
When Knuckles told Penny and the others the plan, everyone gasped in shock.
"You want us to let Dr. Eggman use the Chaos Emerald?" Sonic asked Knuckles. The echidna nodded. "He's promised to abandon his evil ways if we help him out!"
Everyone stood there, sighing and shaking their heads.
"We've heard that before." Tails said with a smile. Chris nodded. "Tails is right." He said.
"Dr. Eggman is always saying he'll abandon his evil ways, and he never does!" Cream pointed out.
"Cream's right, Knuckles. I mean, come on, think for yourself for once, and not for some losers' pranks." Penny said. Knuckles growled at her.
"And yet every time, he somehow gets you to believe him." Blaze said, shaking her head.
Knuckles growled. "But I wasn't asking your permission!" He growled. He walked over to Cosmo and snatched it away from her.
"Knuckles!" Penny snapped, running over to Cosmo. Knuckles glared at Penny. "I'm the one who found this Emerald, so I'll do what I want with it!"
Cosmo looked at Penny, and the human girl smiled apologetically at her.
Sonic and Silver both sighed, and the two darted in front of Knuckles. "Silver and I can't let you do this, Knuckles!" He said.
Knuckles glared at Sonic. "You're going to have to fight me to stop me."
"Yeah." Sonic smirked. "We know!"
"If that's the way you want it!" Knuckles smirked.
Cosmo watched the whole thing with fright. "Sonic, Knuckles, Silver, what are you three doing?!" She yelped, leaving Penny's side. "Cosmo!" Penny yelped. "I don't think you should go near them..."
Penny was right. For as once Knuckles put the Emerald down, the three frenemies started fighting one another.
"They're... fighting..." Cosmo whispered.
The trio continued fighting.
"Penny, we've got to do something to stop this fighting!" Cosmo said to Penny.
Penny looked down at her, worry in her eyes. "But what?" Penny asked. "Sonic never lets me get in the way with fights!"
"But we have to try!" Cosmo told the girl. She turned to everyone else to try to get the three fighters to stop fighting, but everyone looked like they wanted to enjoy their stay.
"Excuse me," Cosmo said. "Shouldn't we stop Knuckles, Sonic, and Silver?"
Whisper shook her head. "Cosmo, I think you should let them be," She whispered, putting a paw on the girl's shoulder.
"This is how they work their problems out!" Hiro smiled at her, adjusting his glasses.
"Yeah." Cloud nodded. "They do this all the time!"
"They'll just fight until they get tired of fighting!" Kat smiled.
"That's right!" Tails said.
"It isn't a big deal." Cream said.
But by the look on Cosmo's face, Penny could tell it was a big idea to the young girl. "I just don't understand these creatures." Cosmo said, looking at Penny.
Penny sighed. "You know what? You're right. This is crazy!"
Cosmo nodded, taking Penny's hand. The two were about to run to them when an nearby explosion startled them.
"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Cosmo yelled, running over to them.
"COSMO, WAIT!" Penny yelled, and luckily pulled the girl back before she got beaten up in the fight. "This isn't right..." Cosmo whispered to Penny.
"I now truly think we shouldn't get any closer." Penny told the green haired girl. Penny turned around to see Amy standing over a fallen Eggman.
"Amy?" Tangle asked in surprise. She used her tail to hop over to them. "Eggman!" She snarled. Soon, Cosmo, Penny, Cloud, Kat, Hiro, Chris, Amy, Tails, Cream, and Cheese surrounded Dr. Eggman.
"Eggman!" Knuckles growled, pushing Penny aside, which Sonic found himself growling at. "What are you doing here?!" Knuckles asked.
"You mean me?!" Eggman asked. He picked up a banana. "I was just about to consume this delicious banana!" At that being said, the doctor took a bite. "Tasty!"
Tangle frowned at the doctor. "I know exactly what you're doing here, Eggy." She said. "You went to Knuckles because you knew he'd have pity for you, and he and Sonic and Silver would fight about it, so you could go behind their backs and steal the Chaos Emerald!"
"That's right." Amy growled, slamming her hammer by the Emerald.
Eggman sweat dropped over Knuckles' glare. "Eggman, is that true?" Knuckles growled.
"No, of course not!" Eggman said. "She's lying, Knuckles!"
"PAYBACK TIME!" Amy yelled, raising her hammer.
"No, Amy!" Knuckles said, and to everyone's surprise, Knuckles swept the doctor out of the way.
"I know I could always count on you, Knuckles!" Penny heard Eggman say, and the human girl frowned. "Knuckles. You have got to be kidding me!" Penny frowned, standing next to Cosmo and shaking her head.
Amy nodded. "How many times are you going to fall for Eggman's tricks? Think about it!"
He did.
"Seriously?" Amy continued. "Eggman's never gonna change!"
Knuckles frowned at them. "Eggman says he's seen the light, and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and help him get off this planet!"
"Here we go again." Sonic said with a shrug. He and Silver and Knuckles faced each other.
"Here we go again." Cosmo whispered, and darted over.
"Cosmo!" Penny yelped, following the girl.
"Stop fighting, you two!" Cosmo cried. "We have to focus on the bigger crisis that is threatening all of us! If all we're going to do is argue and fight, then how are we supposed to ban together and save the universe?!"
"Out of the way, Cosmo!" Knuckles snapped.
"Yeah." Silver said.
"We don't want you getting hurt. Stay back with Penny!" Sonic ordered.
"Cosmo..." Penny whispered, kneeling next to the fallen girl. "You've did your best."
Hearing the ground rumble, Penny and Cosmo looked up to see a huge robot looming above them. In an instant, Penny felt the ground rumble, and she and Cosmo yelped in fear as the robotic hand scooped them out of the ground and into the air.
"SONIC!" Penny screamed.
"Dr. Eggman! We're sorry we kept you waiting!" Decoe said.
"We're here to rescue you!" Bocoe added.
"Meddlers! I don't NEED RESCUING!" Eggman yelled at them.
"Bokkun told us that you were in trouble!" Decoe continued.
"What did he say?" Eggman asked.
"He told us that nobody fell for your plan on stealing the Chaos Emerald!" Decoe said.
"What's going on?" Penny wondered to herself. Finally, the hand released the tension on her and Cosmo, and the two strained as they tried keeping the hand from squishing them.
It all happened so fast, that Penny didn't know what was going on. The next thing she knew was the feeling that she was being flung out of the hand. Penny and Cosmo yelped, but luckily Sonic and Knuckles broke their fall. Knuckles caught Cosmo, and Sonic caught Penny in his arms.
"Are you okay?" Knuckles asked Cosmo.
"Forget me," she said. "Get the Emerald!"
Penny looked up from Sonic's arms to see the Metarex that had now approached them. It looked like a giant frog! To her biggest surprise, Eggman seemed to be fighting the frog. However, the frog pushed Eggman away.
Sonic placed Penny to the ground, and he and Knuckles darted over and started fighting the frog themselves.
"I cannot allow you to deterrer me!" The Metarex growled. "I have a mission! I have come for the Planet Egg!"
"Do you think they could stop it?" Cream whimpered.
"They have to!" Cosmo said. "If it captures the Planet Egg, the whole planet will flood again!"
"We're open for suggestions, Cosmo." Blaze said.
"Just let us know what to do!" Whisper said, readying her wispion.
"Don't worry, guys!" Chris smiled. "I've got an idea!"
Penny watched as he and Tails ran off. Soon, he stood upon the look out on the ship, holding something white. "OVER HERE!" He yelled.
Cosmo gasped. "He has the Planet Egg!"
The Frog Metarex turned to him.
"CHRIS!" Penny screamed.
But Chris had an plan in his head. The ship started moving, and the frog started hopping towards him. Penny's heart nearly stopped when Chris took a daring jump from the lookout, but thankfully the net of the ship kept him from colliding with the ground.
"SONIC!" Chris yelled. The net tossed the boy high in the air, and Chris tossed the ball to Sonic. "CATCH!"
Knuckles caught the ball.
Sonic hopped into the Sonic Power Cannon, and Tails launched him directly into the Metarex, destroying it in a single blow.
"Knuckles?!" Penny yelped at his shaking form. "Are you okay?!"
"Yeah, and I think the planet egg is okay, too!" He said. However, just as he said it, the ball popped.
"I didn't do it!" Knuckles gasped.
"Is that a beach ball?" Kat asked, walking up in surprise.
...
"I owe all of you a really big apology." Knuckles said.
Sonic smiled at him. "We're not going to hold against you!" He smiled.
Silver nodded. "You made a bad call!"
Kat nodded as well. "I agree."
"I guess so," Knuckles said, looking at Chris. "How could I let Eggman fooled me?"
"Eggman knows he tricked you once before." Penny said. "And it worked again!"
"Don't feel bad, Knuckles!" Cosmo told him gently. "You have a very trusting heart, and you want to believe there's good in everybody, and just like me, you have a dream that everyone in the universe will unite one day!"
"Uh, thanks for looking at it that way, Cosmo." Knuckles said. He stood up. "Who knows? Maybe that is the reason," He said, smiling at her.
They latched hands. "I think it is." Cosmo said.
"That's a nice way of looking at it, Knuckles!" Sonic smirked. "But it doesn't change the fact that you're a sucker!"
"Again?!" Knuckles complained.
...
"It'll work out next time." Rouge smiled at Bokkun. "There will be a next time, won't there?"
"Not for me!" Bokkun complained, glaring at her.
Rouge smirked and held up the locket. "You sure?" She asked.
"Whatever you say." Bokkun whimpered. "I'll do whatever you want!"
And at that, Bokkun started crying as they sailed away.
