Sonic X: Back To Earth.
Author's note: Hello again, and yes welcome to another new fanfic of Sonic the Hedgehog. This time it's a fanfic fourth season, or maybe a movie series of Sonic X that is a slight cross-over between a couple of games, the anime itself, and the Sonic X Archie Comics. I'm sorry that it's sudden, but I just had to get this out of my head and start.
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.
The Mutagen Saga.
Chapter 1: It begins.
World Location: Earth-Three years after the events of Sonic X...
Nine years. It has been nine years since Sonic the Hedgehog, all of his animal friends, the evil Dr. Eggman and his robots have left Earth. Ever since they have arrived, the world hasn't really been the same. People have come to learn so many things, including the origins of their world and Sonic's world, and that their departure was the only way to prevent both to once again merge and cause Time to halt.
Then three years ago, that boy, Chris Thorndyke, had made a machine similar to the one that sent those from Sonic's world back home, and used it to go there alone. Five months later he had returned in a ship and only told his family of his recent adventures, and the disappointment in never being able to use his device to visit his friends again.
Yet all of these had disgusted Dr. Kai Narasu, a formally respected scientist until he was kicked out of the science department due to mistakenly believed that Sonic was a robot, and had joined an organization to prove that the blue hedgehog was evil. But eventually the President caught wind of the S.O.N.I.C.X organization's crimes to frame the young hero, and were all arrested.
He had been spending his days working strictly under observation and forbidden to ever be a scientist. Now driven mad for being proven wrong and no longer respected, all Kai wanted was to continue research, and get his revenge. He couldn't get revenge on Sonic since he wouldn't be returning to Earth, and he hated the government and all those who worshipped the cobalt hero. Plus it seemed everyone was against him, so he finally lost his mind and began to go down the similar path as Eggman's late grandfather had done.
Get revenge on humanity itself.
Hidden under his new lab he had constructed, and thankfully finding the five vials of his Mutagen drug which had intended to use to turn Sonic into a monster and instead had turned his friend Vector the Crocodile into a giant before being restored to normal thanks to a couple of Aspirin, Kai was secretly working on a new device using it as well as other vials he created.
"One little drop of this...two drops of that..." Narasu muttered to himself, pouring the ingredients into a large pot, before pulling out a needle and grinned to himself. "Now, for the sample of my blood, and soon the world will see what a mistake it was for not listening to me all those years ago...and get rid of that foolish Christopher Thorndyke."
With that, he pulled up his sleeves and grinned to himself before injecting the niddle into his arm, winching a bit at the stinging sensation, but ignored it while taking a little bit of sample from his blood. He was one step closer in getting his revenge.
"Not only will I get my revenge on humanity, but even though the Aspirin that evil hedgehog Sonic used to cure his friend, the Mutagen is still inside that stupid lizard. In fact, within nine months when they have returned, their world is most likely destroyed now, and there is no way of curing it. Christopher has spend five months searching for a way home, I bet, and only lied to make people believe him. Well, no more! Soon they will regret in making a fool out of me! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" He laughed manically.
Soon Earth will learn it's lesson. Dr. Kai Narasu will make certain of it.
World location: Sonic's World-Three months after the events of Sonic X...
It has been three months since the ultimate defeat of the Metarex, that Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends have saved the Universe and returned the Planet Eggs back to their rightful places. Yet while everyone was happy that things have relatively returned to normal, sadness and recent past events still haunted them yet they were slowly recovering.
The loss of their dear friend Cosmo, who had sacrificed herself to help Sonic and Shadow, which the only thing left of her was a single seed which Tails had planted to honor the girl he loved. The permanent loss of Shadow who sent Sonic away to keep him safe, and then used Chaos Control to stop the explosion, and ultimately died as a result.
Plus some of them had nightmares. Especially Sonic who had been having them for the last three months, but thankfully they began to become more vague and less frequent. He kept on having dreams for the first three weeks of the Water Planet which acted as Dark Oak's stomach after the evil alien-robot swallowed him after every three days. It left him feeling shaken and uneasy. Thankfully, like everyone else, he began to recover and went on his usual runs.
Like today for example.
Well, he did have a run at first, before deciding to simply relax against his favorite tree in the Green Hills with a smile on his muzzle, his eyes closed as he was taking a nap.
"Ah...It's a beautiful day. The sun's nice and warm, the breeze's calming, you can't ask for a better relaxing day than this." Sonic said to himself, hands behind his head and one leg over the other, enjoying every moment of it. "No way there'd be anything to interrupt my nap this time."
Though given the circumstances after defeating his nemesis Dr. Eggman again three weeks ago, Sonic wouldn't be surprised if the evil scientist would come up with another evil plot to build his Egg Empire, if he wasn't doing so already. That fat guy just doesn't know when to quit. And despite that today was relaxing, there was something borthering the blue hedgehog but he couldn't figure out why.
Shrugging, Sonic muttered as he began to doze off. "It's probably me being paranoid. The Metarex are gone, I'm home, everything's back to normal. I'll just take another run after...a...few...Zzzzzzzzz..."
Deep in his slumber, Sonic began to have a very strange dream. He found himself standing in an unusual ruined wasteland. It was dark, the clouds were black, the ground was grey, and the air smelled of dust and smoke that it was kind of hard to breathe. It was just rock and sky all around him. No trees, no grass, no sun, not even the wind...it was an empty world.
"Huh? Where am I?" Sonic asked, glancing around the unfamiliar terrain.
It felt so cold and dead, that Sonic decided to run to see where he was and find any source of life. It wasn't long before he noticed something up ahead on a small dirt hill and came to a stop three feet away. There stood what appeared to be a hedgehog a bit like him, only red in colour which also covered the arms, wearing medieval-like gloves and boots, a silver cloak draped over it's shoulders, and the quills...
Sonic's eyes widened as the quills were styled just like someone he once knew.
"What the? Shadow?" He breathed in shock, feeling a chill run down his spine. "It can't be!"
The Shadow-Look-Alike, apparently not noticing Sonic's presence, only gazed over the horizon of the ruined land. Then, it spoke in a male voice, nothing like Shadow or his own, but smooth and wise.
"The merge...must be complete." Spoke the mysterious hedgehog.
"What?" Sonic asked, before a bright light from in front of the other hedgehog shone and he was forced to shield his eyes...then he heard another voice, one gentle and familiar.
"Sonic...You must go to Tails..."
"Whoa!" Sonic yelped awake, jolting up a bit and panted before looking around to get his bearings. Realizing what just happened, he groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. "Man...what kind of a crazy dream was that?"
While he was relieved that it wasn't another nightmare of Dark Oak swallowing him into his Water World stomach, Sonic was a bit rattled with what he saw. That hedgehog with quills that was like Shadow's...who was he? What did he mean by 'the merge must be complete'? And that female voice...
"Sonic...You must go to Tails..."
It sounded familiar, and said he should meet up with Tails. While Sonic knew that his best friend wasn't as sad as he had been since coming home, he was still worried about the young fox. In fact, now that he thought of it, maybe the blue hedgehog should check up on him to see how he is doing.
With that in mind, and stretching with a yawn, Sonic got up before speeding away to meet up with his best friend. While the young kit had returned to his normal self, the loss of Cosmo still lingered. Maybe Tails would like some help with whatever he was doing, and hopefully Eggman wouldn't cause trouble again.
Sonic considered on taking Tails out to the park, but quickly decided against it. The trees and the flowers would remind his little brother too much of Cosmo, and while it had been three months, it was still too early to get fully back to normal. They all remembered fondly of the Seedrian, as she was someone very special to them all.
By the time Sonic made his mind up, he was already standing in front of his best friend's house and workshop, and peered through the garage door which was opened as usual. There rested the plant of the seedling the blue hedgehog retrieved and given to two-tailed fox, now blooming into the most beautiful flower he ever saw. It was a mixture of a lily and a white rose, only pink with fresh green leaves. If Sonic didn't know any better, the plant may be needed to be put into a bigger vase, or replanted outside in case it decided to grow into a tree.
"Wow...Cosmo's flower is looking more beautiful everyday." Sonic muttered to himself with a fond smile.
"Hey, Sonic."
"Hm?" Blinking, the blue hedgehog looked to find that Tails was approaching from the back of the room with a watering can, apparently coming to give the flower another healthy dose. He smiled at his approaching young friend.
"Hiya, Tails." Sonic greeted back with a wave.
The two talked for a bit while Tails watered the plant, with Sonic explaining his reason of coming here, with the younger Mobian asking in slight surprise. "A weird dream about some kind of merge?"
"I thought it was strange since he kinda looked like Shadow, only the guy I saw was red and was wearing a cloak. Plus that voice sounded familiar, so I thought I'd check up on you and see how you're doing." Sonic replied with a shrug.
"I'm okay." The two-tailed fox replied, before admitting. "At least, I'm getting better."
"That's good. So, what've you been up to?" The blue hedgehog asked.
"Well, I am working on giving the Blue Typhoon and the X Tornado some upgrades, and I've even been busy building a new device that'll help us out even further in future adventures. Wanna see?" Tails explained.
"Sure, I'd love to." The teenager replied, and while he wasn't too big on understanding stuff like Tails did, Sonic was always proud and impressed with his little brother's gadgets and gizmos, and his pride for his flying machines. Plus, seeing the young fox smiling today made him feel relieved. The fact that the kit was building a device that would be useful in the future just made him convinced that he was getting there in recovering.
After Tails finished watering Cosmo's plant, he lead Sonic into the basement, where sitting on his desk was a small yellow hand-held device that kind of reminded Sonic of a video game device on Earth.
"Tada!" Tails announced.
"Whoa...What is it?" Sonic asked, genuinely impressed.
"It's a part communicator, part digital location map. I call it the Miles Electric, or PAD for short. It's like a tv and a mobile phone people on Earth used, except that it can also pin point locations anywhere in the universe, but only on the same planet. It can also help us locate wherever Eggman built his secret bases and make it easier to find whenever he causes trouble." The young fox proudly explained.
Whistling, the blue hedgehog smiled at his friend. "Now this is super high-tech. Both Chris and Chuck would've loved to see this baby."
Tails rubbed the back of his head, bashfully. "Well, I still have to clear out all the kinks before I can use it. I was actually taking a break to patch up Cosmo's flower when I saw you."
He then sighed as his ears drooped, his name-sakes dropping as his smile faded into sadness, admitting. "...I still miss her, Sonic. I wish she could see this."
"I know, li'l buddy. We all miss her. But I think she'd be happy to see you smile again, knowing that everything's okay. I know I would when I'm gone." Sonic reassured with a sad smile.
"Yeah..." Tails nodded, smiling a little. He didn't resist when Sonic gently pulled him into a comforting hug and returned it, knowing that the blue hedgehog wanted him to be happy, to let him know that he wasn't alone.
Because Sonic would always be there for him and everyone else.
Meanwhile, at the Chaotix Detective Agency, things aren't quite as normal as most would think. For one thing, Vector ended up getting sick for a mysterious reason since yesterday and was lying on the couch with a hot water bottle on his head, a thermometer in his mouth, wrapped up in a blanket and looking a bit red in the face. Another thing, due to this, he, Espio and Charmy all agreed to take some time off until the sick crocodile recovered.
"AH-CHOO!" Vector sneezed. "I haven't been this sick since I got that frost bite at the Ice Cap Zone, and it's not even winter yet."
"It is very unusual for you to get a cold without any known source." Espio muttered, folding his arms in agreement.
"Maybe you ate something and got an allergic reaction?" Charmy asked, puzzled while wiping his oldest friend and boss's face with a damp cloth to keep the fever down.
The sick detective grumbled, "Yeah, you're probably right, Charmy. Can't think of how else why I'm feeling so run-down. Problem is, I can't remember what was it that I ate set me off either."
"Well, nothing like a nice bowl of soup to perk you up!" The young Bee suggested with a bright smile.
"Perhaps it would be best to call the doctor first, and figure out what's wrong." Espio suggested wisely. "We can't be certain until then."
That made Charmy alert and, not being the smartest of the trio, asked in alarm. "You mean like somebody made Vector sick on purpose?"
"Come on, that's the stupidest thing I've-I've-AH-CHOO! I've ever heard." Vector pointed out, having sneezed in mid-sentence.
Remembering something, the purple Chameleon then stated. "Well, the Mutagen that Dr. Kai Narasu created that was meant for Sonic did hit you and caused you to swell up."
"But that didn't make me sick. All it did was make me have a growth-spurt and I ended up turning into a giant!" Vector protested.
"He has a point, Espio." Charmy agreed with a shrug. "Besides, I thought you and Sonic figured out how to shrink him with a bottle of Aspirin."
"Good point. Plus, while it has only been nine months in our world, on Earth it's already been nine years, considering the time difference between both worlds according to Tails." Espio sighed, rubbing his face with one hand. "I'll call for a doctor-who isn't Eggman-and see what we can do. Until then, you just get some rest, Vector."
"Don't worry, boss. You'll be better in no time." Charmy reassured.
Vector sighed, coughing a bit before answering gratefully. "Thanks, guys."
However, despite what his have been saying, little did they know that deep within the blood system of Vector's body, the tiny particles of something purple and liquidy was beginning to bubble up and increase slightly, slowly but surely, yet it was starting to begin to grow a bit faster.
"I wonder if Tails will feel better?" Cream asked as she, Cheese and Amy were walking down to Tails' home with a basket filled with baked goodies her mother made, as like Sonic, they had been very worried about him. When Amy and Cream both suggested in doing something nice for the two-tailed fox, Vanilla decided to make some muffins with flavors of chocolate chip, blueberry, and even added chocolate mint for Tails.
"I hope so, too. It's been three months, but I hate to admit it, I'm still a bit nervous even though the Metarex are gone." Amy replied.
"Tails has been so sad since Cosmo had to go away. I really miss her." The little rabbit sighed, looking all sad as she lowered her gaze. "I wish she could come back to us."
"Chao, chao..." Cheese cooed sadly, hovering by his best friend's side.
Amy nodded in agreement. "I miss her too, Cream. But she'll always be with us on the inside."
"Yeah." Cream nodded with a small smile. She knew that her friend was right, and while she did deeply miss friends they would never see again, such as Chris, Chuck, Ella, Mr. Takana, Francies, Danny, Helen, and especially Cosmo, she knew that she would never forget any of them.
Seeing her friend, who was like a little sister to her, and even to both Sonic and Tails, still sad despite the smile, the pink hedgehog gently hugged her which was returned and Cheese joined in as they paused just near Tails' house. The trio stayed like this for a few moments before slowly moving away and beamed comforting smiles, and then approached the open garage to peer through in case Tails was making arrangements or something and saw Cosmo's flower blooming beautifully.
To their surprise, and Amy's sudden delight, not only was Tails there, standing in front of the X Tornado, holding the Miles Electric, but also Sonic who was trying to understand how the new device works when the two brothers heard movement behind them and looked over their shoulders.
"Sonic?" Amy muttered, pleasingly surprised.
"Hello Tails! Hello Sonic!" Cream greeted, surprised and happily.
"Chao chao!" Cheese waved.
"Hey there!" Tails greeted back as he and Sonic waved.
"Hiya, girls. What's up, Cheese?" Sonic added.
The two girls and the Chao approached as Cream replied, "We thought that we'd bring some muffins for Tails for a little picnic, to help him feel better."
"Cream's mother made different flavors, including your favorite, Tails; Chocolate Mint." Amy added.
"Wow! Thanks, you guys. This makes my day even better since Sonic came over to cheer me up too." Tails replied, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the support. He knew their reasons; it was to help him try and fully recover from what happened.
Sonic smiled, gently ruffling his best friend's head. "Hey, you know that we'll always be there for ya, Tails. Of course we'd go and cheer you up."
His little brother nodded, and despite that he would always miss Cosmo, the fact that he still had all of his friends always lifted his spirits.
But the peaceful day and normal-ish life would be coming to an end, as in his Base, the evil Dr. Eggman was plotting yet another scheme. In fact, he was already working on it in the lowest construction rooms with a large ring porthole, similar to the ones he, Tails and Chuck invented to transport everyone of this world back here from Earth to stop the merge of both planets, sitting and nearing on completion, with his assistants Decoe and Bocoe making final adjustments and arrangements.
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!" Eggman cackled evilly, stroking his mustache. "This is my most devious plot I have ever come up with! It's a good thing I had all of this memorized in the past nine months! I should be thanking Sonic's little human friend and his grandfather for having made this possible."
While the evil doctor was laughing at himself, Decoe couldn't help but mutter as his robotic companion. "Is it just me, or does he seem confident that his plans will succeed and Sonic foils them every time?"
"Knowing him, Doctor Eggman is always overconfident when it comes to Sonic, and even with holding his friends hostage, it always ends in his favor." Bocoe muttered in a whisper.
"I heard that, you useless scrap metals!" The aforementioned villain growled, scaring the two robots. "This time, Sonic won't be getting in the way! No then, we power up this machine to return to Earth even without the use of the Chaos Emeralds, and receive the rest of these files left behind by my grandfather without that blue pest knowing! Once we're done, we return here and begin the next phase of my plan."
"Wouldn't it be easier to use the Chaos Emeralds to power up the machine?" Decoe deadpanned.
"Especially since Chris used his own to get here one time and it took your rocket to send him back to lower the defenses of Sonic's team, which didn't make any much of a difference." Bocoe added.
"That was a fluke and he didn't have the right materials! I'm smarter than that brat, so I can do better than he ever could! Besides, no one will ever know I was even there to begin with, and if they do, Sonic won't be there to save them this time." Eggman shouted, getting irritated of their continuing criticism. "Besides, those brats have them and the last time I tried to steal them, they defeat me three weeks ago!"
He turned around and snickered. "The Chaos Emeralds are a back-up once we return to this world after we get the files of my grandfather he had left behind. The files of Shadow's creation."
"You're not thinking of creating a new Shadow, are you!?" The two robotic minions exclaimed in shock.
"No, I'm going to make a mutant Ice Cream machine." Eggman replied sarcastically, before explaining with a deadly serious and calm tone to try and keep his temper in check. "I won't have the right materials to make a new Ultimate Lifeform, but I can use the details to make a Shadow-look-alike android army, which is exactly what I'm going to do."
Eggman then began laughing manically. "With an army of Shadow Androids, Eggman Empire will finally be made a reality and that meddling blue hedgehog is finished! Bwahahahahahahaha!"
"That is very impressive, doctor." Decoe and Bocoe both said, admittedly impressed with this plan now that they got a better picture, while their creator continued his evil laugh.
What they didn't realize was that in the venilator shaft, Rouge, spying on them out of habit and to keep Sonic's group updated with what the evil doctor was about to do, felt her blood run cold when she heard the entire thing.
'A whole army of Shadow Androids? And he's planning on going back to Earth to find those files? That's not good. I'd better let Sonic know, or it's bye-bye both worlds!' The bat thief thought to herself, sweat dropping worriedly. Not to mention that she was disgusted with Eggman's latest plot considering that she had viewed the real Shadow as a friend...and using a robotic clone of the Ultimate Lifeform who had sacrificed himself to save the Universe just so the evil doctor could take over both worlds is sickening.
World Location: Earth...
At the Thorndyke Mansion in the early evening, Chris, now twentyone years old and back in his adulthood since returning home from Sonic's world three years earlier, and despite what his friend had told him, had given up on ever seeing him again and focused on trying to keep the memories of his time with Sonic and everyone else alive while making life for himself here on Earth, was busy fiddling with his tie while looking himself at the mirror in his room.
He was wearing a nice evening suit for a very special occasion, and for once it wasn't anything to do with what his parents would ask him to do even though since Sonic's departure nine years ago, they had kept to their promise and had been spending more time with him up until he built the machine six years later, transporting himself to Sonic's world and went on the adventure to stop the Metarex before Eggman sent the boy back home.
A photo of his younger-self, Sonic, Amy and Tails rested on the bedside table with a new frame and as Chris finished his work with a sigh, he gazed at it with a fond smile, the memories of his childhood still fresh on his mind, as though his friends were still here.
"Well, wish me luck, Sonic. Tonight's the night I finally make it official." Chris muttered, feeling very nervous as he pocketed a small cube-like box into his pants pocket just as the door knocked and he gave the visitor permission to come in.
The door opened, revealing Mr. Takana, noble as always as he announced. "Master Chris, it's almost time and you mustn't be late for lady Helen or the Diner you have booked for this evening."
"Don't worry, Mr. Takana. I'm ready, anyway." Chris replied, then admitted sheepishly. "At least...I look ready, but I'm feeling very nervous. I mean, you and grandpa are the only people who know that I'm gonna ask the question, but I can't help but dread for the worst."
"It happens to every man who ask their true love in a hand of marriage. You mustn't be worried. It all depends on whether she will say yes or not." The kindly butler reassured.
The twentyone year old shrugged, groaning a bit. "I know. That's what worries me."
"It will be fine, Master Chris. Have faith." Mr. Takana encouraged.
Sighing, and despite that he was still feeling nervous, Chris couldn't help but smile in appreciation at his butler. "Thanks, Mr. Takana."
At the old laboratory that Chris once used as his main lab in having spent six years building his own porthole device, which had since been sealed off and left untouched for three years, with no security guards and the power off, Kai was sneaking in using not-so-well-trained stealth after completing his latest formula and was now powering on the machine, with a portal device and a large vial that contained the mutated mutagen with new ingredients including his own blood sitting on the table as he hacked into Chris's computer.
"Well, this is interesting. Using his own body sample so that only he could enter that evil hedgehog's world and no one else, when I use my own devices, it may even spread to the world itself, assuming it's still intact. But no matter. It's gone, and soon this world will learn it's valuable lesson. All I have to do is reverse it so that it would not enter the alien planet, but spread out across Earth itself." Kai grinned as he read through the files once the hacking is done.
Now it was time for the final phase of his plot, one that may be more disastrous than he thought.
World Location: Sonic's World...
Back at Tails' workshop, Sonic and his friends decided to have a picnic in the backyard with Tails having brought Cosmo's plant with for some sunshine. The group of six, if you want to include the plant, sat in a circle on a picnic blanket, eating the delicious muffins(except for the planet, obviously), happily chatting away with Sonic making jokes that made Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese laugh. Some could've have sworn they heard Cosmo's spirit laugh as well, as though she was with them as of this moment.
Though there was one thing that Sonic admitted, such as the unusual dream he had and the oddly familiar voice that lead him to Tails today.
"A red hedgehog that looked a bit like Shadow?" Amy asked, puzzled as she paused in drinking her tea Tails had set up.
"Yeah. I have no idea who he was, or what was happening." Sonic nodded, a bit concerned. "It's probably just a crazy dream, but what he said...left me kinda worried."
"What did he say, Sonic?" Cream asked, worriedly.
The blue hedgehog shrugged, "He said something about, 'The merge must be complete'."
"The merge must be complete...?" Tails repeated, feeling something wrong with that. He wasn't the only one.
"I don't like the sound of that." Amy said, worriedly. "That reminds me too much of what would've happened if we said on Earth any much longer and both it and our world merged and time would've stopped forever."
Sonic frowned at that. "Hmm...You're right, Ames. I hope it was just a dream, but it sounds awfully big to be a coincidence."
"You never had any weird dreams before, have you?" Tails asked.
"Nope." Sonic shook his head. "And what Tikal showed me and Knuckles doesn't count, since she literally sent us back in time to show off her and Chaos' past."
"Maybe Knuckles might know about what it means, since he knows about things like that." Cream suggested, making her friends look at her in surprise at the suggestion.
Sonic, realizing that she was right, snapped his fingers in realization. "Good idea, Cream! If anybody would know about ancient pasts of our world, it'd be him."
Suddenly, there was a beeping noise that alerted the group. Glancing around in confusion, Tails then realized where it was coming from.
"Huh? Could it be?" He asked, stunned.
A few minutes later, everyone gathered back in the garage as Tails had placed the plant back to where it was before checking out his Miles Electric, stunned that even though he hadn't thought it would suddenly work, found that he accidentally turned it on and now the screen was showing off the map of the continent and giving out details of Eggman's base.
"I can't believe it! The Miles Electric works!" Tails exclaimed, amazed and happy. "It's showing off Eggman's base, which we know where it is already."
"Way to go, buddy!" Sonic praised, gently slapping his friend on the back.
"What is it doing, Tails?" Cream asked, curiously.
"It's showing us a warning signal on Eggman's latest activities, which, theoretically speaking, is also showing off something he just built recently." The two-tailed fox explained, before pushing a few buttons carefully to ensure himself that he wouldn't break it and all of his hard work would've been for nothing.
"But, we just beat Eggman a few weeks ago. When will that guy just give up?" Amy protested, annoyed with the evil man's endless goal for world dominion.
Sonic shrugged, "Maybe when he finally retires. That'll take a long time, though. But it's nothing to worry about as long as we stop him every step of the way!"
Tails was about to agree when he made a last adjustment on figuring out what was going on, before blinking in shock with a soft gasp. "Uh-oh. Looks like Eggman built something that'll cause heaps of trouble, bigger than before."
"What is it?" The blue hedgehog asked, his expression quickly turning serious.
"I'm not sure if it's connected, but the energy coming from it...it's similar to the Porthole that took us back home and lead Chris here..." The young kit muttered, shakily.
"WHAT!?" Sonic exclaimed, shocked while Amy and Cream both gasped and Cheese chirped in shock and horror. "What the heck is that guy thinking now!? Sending us to another planet where we can't come back!?"
"Actually, it's a lot worse, big blue." A familiar woman's voice interrupted, causing the blue blur and his friends to look up and saw that Rouge, having managed to caught wind at the end of the conversation and was just landing in front of the doorway of the garage. For the first time any of them could remember, she looked...pale in the muzzle which almost matched her white fur colour.
"Rouge. What do you mean?" Sonic asked, blinking. He was aware that Rouge was known for sneaking into places, being a thief and all, and had been trained to be better at it since her time being with GUN on Earth for spy skills.
"Well, I was looking for anything valuable that Eggman might have, but what I heard wasn't pretty. It's like your little fox friend said, he's built a Porthole that's, in his words, better than what your human friend Chris made." Rouge answered.
She then explained on everything she heard of Eggman's latest plot, from finding the files from Professor Gerald Robotnik on Earth, to returning here and creating an army of Shadow Androids to stop Sonic himself once and for all. To say that the group were horrified was an understatement. Amy covered her mouth with her hands, Tails almost dropped his latest device, Cream let out a terrified 'Oh no!', Cheese quivered in fear, and Sonic was speechless, his eyes wide and his pupils shaking after shrinking back a little.
"WHAAAAAAAT!?" Sonic screamed, horrified beyond belief. This caused everyone to jump in fright, even as he continued. "Eggman's returning to Earth!? NO!"
"Sadly, it's true. I was shocked when I heard it too." Rouge replied gravely.
"A whole army of Shadow Androids!? That'll make things even harder for us to stop him!" Amy exclaimed, horrified once she recovered from the unexpected scare her 'boyfriend' displayed.
"Worse part is, none of us are sure if the Government had destroyed the files on how Shadow was born or not." Tails added, worriedly.
"What do we do?" Cream asked, frightened and worried, with Cheese chirping as she held him in her arms.
Sonic clenched his fist, his eyes narrowed in anger over Eggman's newest evil plot. Using Shadow was bad enough, but to use the files left behind by the crazy scientist's just as crazy grandfather to make an entire robotic army of the dead black hedgehog for world dominion, and threatening Earth to find said files while he's at it was the last straw.
"Tails...fire up the X Tornado." Sonic instructed, deadly calm. "We're going to stop him and smash that Porthole before that Egghead even turns it on."
"Got it!" Tails nodded firmly, knowing that if they didn't stop Eggman now, no one was safe.
"Rouge, can you give us an idea where the Porthole is being built in?" THe blue hedgehog asked their bat ally.
"It's in the basement at the lowest level." Rouge replied.
"Thanks."
"I'm coming too." Amy declared with determination. "If Eggman thinks he can get away with this, he's got another thing coming!"
"No, I want you to go with Cream and Cheese back to their place. Me and Tails will ask Knuckles instead. I won't risk in the same thing that happened the first time we went to Earth happen again." Sonic firmly told her.
His self-proclaimed girlfriend looked ready to argue, but the pleading look in Cream's eyes, the concerned look on Tails' face, and even Rouge looking worried made Amy hold her tongue. While she wanted to help badly, memories of the last time they transported to Earth lingered in her mind, and while she didn't like it one bit, knowing that Sonic, Tails and Knuckles could end up trapped on Earth again, she understood the logic. The less of them got transported to Earth, the better, even if it meant Sonic and Tails needing Chris and Chuck's help to help them, Knuckles, and Eggman to get back home without those files.
"You'd better come back, Sonic the Hedgehog." Amy finally said, resigned and with tears forming in her eyes.
"We will. I promise." Sonic vowed, smirking confidently with a wink and a thumbs up.
"I might be a bit of a help Tails to disable to machine while you and Knuckie fight off Eggman's robots." Rouge smirked.
"Thanks, Rouge." The blue hedgehog replied.
It wasn't even five minutes later, that after Tails made a silent promise to Cosmo's plant that he'll be back as soon as he could, he fired up the X Tornado and took off, while Sonic once again held on tight on the wing to first pick up Knuckles, and then head over to Eggman's base, with Rouge flying closely behind to Angel Island. Amy, Cream and Cheese watched them leave with worry on their expressions.
'Sonic...Please be okay. I almost lost you so many times. Please come back safely.' Amy prayed in her mind.
Back at the Chaotix Detective Agency, rather than slowly feeling better, Vector felt like he was getting worse. Even the doctor was baffled by the sick crocodile's condition that he couldn't figure out what was wrong. He suggested to Espio and Charmy to take their friend to the hospital in the morning in case Vector's illness got any worse.
"I don't get it. Shouldn't colds start to go away if you got plenty of rest?" Charmy asked, bewildered and becoming increasingly worried.
"That's what I thought..." Vector replied, right before giving out another violent sneeze.
"Something's wrong. This shouldn't be happening." Espio muttered, trying to hide the fact that he's getting extremely worried.
"Do you think it's either Eggman or the Metarex?" The young Bee asked.
Vector shook his head, "No way. Eggman ain't smart enough to make people sick, and the Metarex have been gone for the-the-AHCHOO! For the past three months."
"He's right, Charmy. This is something else entirely." The Chameleon agreed, before asking his sick friend. "How do you feel?"
"Like my insides are boiling all over, but I'm freezing on the outside at the same time, and my snouts all stuffed up..." Vector replied, suddenly feeling very dizzy and light-headed. "Ooogh...not to mention...I feel funny. Just like when...I ended up growing...into...a...giant."
While Charmy didn't understand and looked ready to cry, no longer being able to be optimistic over his oldest friend's condition, what the sick crocodile said made Espio's eyes widen as he suddenly felt a sense of deja vu, yet he knew that it shouldn't even be possible. At the same time, however, he began to fear that the theory he just came up with was starting to make sense even though it has been several months since the last time it happened.
"Uh-oh...I have a bad feeling about this." Espio muttered, almost in a whisper.
"What? What is it?" Charmy asked, alarmed.
"Vector...I'm afraid that our doctors may not be able to cure you." Espio told Vector gravely, ignoring Charmy's inquiry.
"What're you talking about?" Vector asked, dumbfounded and alarmed.
"WHAT!? You mean Vector's gonna die!?" Charmy exclaimed, horrified, which made their sick friend wince.
"Ow...Charmy, not so loud. I've got a headache as it is." The detective on the couch groaned, only to flinch when the youngest detective then hugged him.
"No! Vector, don't go! You can't leave us! I don't want you to die! WAAAAAAAAAAHH!" Charmy wailed, his tears raining out like water-works.
Vector cringed, before protesting. "Hey, don't cry, Charmy. I'm not dying!"
He then paused before asking Espio, hopefully. "Right?"
"Charmy, Vector's not going to die and I have a feeling that he's not dying either." Espio reassured as calmly as possible, which in that instant, Charmy stopped crying.
"Oh, phew!" The young bee sighed in relief.
"However, the situation is a lot worse, and the only way to find out whether it is true or not is to seek help from those who would know about this sort of thing and see if the ancient remedy can work permanently, if my theory is right." The chameleon continued firmly, making his two friends gaze at him in confusion.
"Uh...what?" Charmy muttered, blinking.
"Wait a minute, are you saying what I think you're gonna say?" Vector asked, realizing what Espio meant.
Espio nodded. "Yes. We must return to Earth and seek help from Chris and his grandfather."
It looks like the situation has gotten a bit more tricky.
World Location: Earth...
Chris had arrived with Helen to the nice looking restaurant and were seated at the preserved table, happily chatting away as they had been growing closer and closer over the years, eventually having fallen in love. All the while the young Thorndyke felt fingering the box in his pockets, trying very hard to not be nervous and hoped for the best. Despite the encouragement from Mr. Takana, the twentyone year old couldn't help but worry.
"Chris, is there something wrong?" Helen asked, as she was wearing a beautiful lavender silky dress and despite still being wheelchair bound, that didn't stop her from living life or falling in love with her childhood friend.
"No no, everything's fine. It's just...well...We've known each since we were kids, right?" Chris began, trying to calm his nervous system.
"Mm-hm." The young woman nodded.
"Each passing year, three years ago aside, we grew to love each other and go on dates. Helen, you mean a whole lot to me and, I want to spend the rest of my life with you." The young man continued, blushing. "So, I've been meaning to ask you for a long time."
Chris then got up from his chair and walked around the table before bending on one knee, pulling out the box and opened it, revealing a beautiful silver ring with a lavender gem which made Helen's eyes widen as she finally realized the meaning for tonight's date and her heart leaped.
"Helen...Will you marry me?" Chris asked, softly.
"Chris..." Helen whispered, before happily replying as tears filled up her eyes. "Yes! Yes, of course I will."
Chris beamed a smile, all nervousness and fears being washed away. He almost couldn't believe it, and half-thought that he was living in a dream and would end up waking up disappointed. But no, this was definitely real.
Unfortunately, the happy moment between the newly engaged couple was about to be cut short.
At the same time at Chris' old lab, Kai had just finished the final adjustments and plugged in his device, poured the mutated Mutagen into the capsule, powering on the Porthole while having smashed open the ceiling and window to make things easier, tilting the machine upward towards the night sky. It began to glow and form with purple dark energy mixed with the liquid.
"I hope you all enjoyed your happy moments, everyone. Because today will be your last and soon you will know that I am the greatest scientist on the planet. As for you, Chris Thorndyke, your freedom days are over! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Kai laughed madly, turning on the switch and stepped aside just as the Porthole, transformed by his own interference, soon roared to life before shooting up a huge beam towards the sky and onto the newly repaired Moon.
It then shot back down towards Earth and hit the ground just outside of the lab before it spread like a purple fog, through out quickly across Station Square and causing the ground to shake violently, alarming everyone who were either just heading home from work, going into late night shifts, or enjoying their evening in every way possible.
It was felt across the city as everyone, feeling the effects, began screaming and panicking. It was even felt inside the resturant just as Chris slid the ring onto Helen's finger, both of them crying out in alarm, the lights flickering, the tables shaking and falling.
"AAAAH!" Helen screamed as she lost her balance in her chair and began falling over.
"Helen!" Chris cried out, quickly catching his fiancee in his arms, and pulled her close to him. "Helen, are you okay?"
"I-I think so." The young blond-haired woman nodded, shakily. "Chris, what's going on?"
The ginger-haired young man shook his head, looking out of the window and noticing the purple spreading across the streets. "I don't know. Whatever it is, it's really bad. This is not a normal Earthquake!"
Something was disastrously wrong. He could feel it.
World Location: Sonic's World...
It wasn't long before Sonic and Tails arrived on Angel Island and informed Knuckles of the situation while Rouge, deciding to not bother him for once as the situation with Eggman is much more severe, waited for them. Despite not wanting to leave the Master Emerald behind, the red echidna, shocked to hear the evil doctor's latest plot, agreed to join them to stop the mad scientist.
Now the group were making their way towards Eggman's Base with both Sonic and Knuckles holding onto the wings of the X Tornado.
"We're almost at the Base, you guys. Better get ready." Tails informed with a serious expression.
"Ready when you guys are!" Sonic replied.
"That slime-ball of Eggman...! I can't believe he'd go as far as this! He's gonna regret in messing with us once we're through with him!" Knuckles hissed, still shocked and angry over what he has heard. He then asked his blue friend. "Sonic, you do have the Chaos Emeralds this time, right?"
The blue hedgehog smirked, pulling out one from his quills. "Making sure not to lose them again like last time, and if I have to, I'll go into Super Sonic mode!"
Knuckles nodded, satisfied, before he and the younger teen turned their attention back to their destination.
Nearing the familiar shores of Dr. Eggman's hideout, Sonic's emerald eyes glared hard.
"You better not have packed your bags, Eggman. 'Cause your little vacation's been canceled!" Sonic declared under his breath, ready to stop the evil doctor's latest plot and prevent him from returning to Earth.
All the while, Sonic also thought about his human best friend who was unaware of the dangers that was coming if Eggman succeeded. 'Hang in there, Chris. I'm not gonna let Eggman hurt you again.'
But what Sonic and everyone didn't know was that Eggman wasn't their only problem, as things are already taking a turn for the worst.
One that could change everything forever.
A/N: Thus begins the first chapter of the Mutagen Saga, and no, it's not inspired by the Metal Virus like in the IDW comics, and most definitely not like what's happening in the real world. You will soon see when I post the second chapter as soon as possible.
I hope I did okay with it, as I am suffering writer's block and unable to continue my other stories until I get through it again.
See you later!