Author's Note: A new chapter of Sonic X: Different Outcomes has arrived! And now the journey continues for Sonic and his friends!
Happy reading!
I own no rights to Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the related media.
Chapter 9: Double Trouble?
While Sonic and his friends were trying to figure out the new situation with their new guests, Helen's parents had to work on weekends and had to stay in hotels starting tonight, which left the girl home alone with the neighbors spending the night to keep her safe, unaware that Blaze would be potentially staying in the spare guest room to keep herself hidden. Helen was in the living room talking on the phone to her mother while Blaze quietly sat on a separate chair, listening in and having a glass of water.
"I'm sorry, dear. But I won't be home until later this evening." Helen's mother apologetically said, with a tone of sadness.
"It's okay, Mom. I understand." Helen sighed, trying not to sound too hurt despite that she was mostly left on her own all the time.
"I hope there wasn't any trouble."
"Not really." The twelve year old girl sweat dropped a little, gazing an apologetic gaze at the lavener cat Princess, and half-lied. "I did save a small kitten that got stuck in a tree yesterday after school, though, but it kinda got so scared that it ran away from me."
Blaze raised a questioning eyebrow but said nothing, while Helen's mother gasped over the phone. "You didn't fall over when you climbed a tree, did you? You know that you're still learning to get your legs fully mobilized."
"Don't worry, Mom. I didn't. I managed to get to my wheel chair on time before my legs gave out. Plus I couldn't leave the poor little thing up there." Helen reassured.
"I understand, dear. Just be more careful next time, okay, sweetie?"
"I'll be careful, Mom. Promise."
"Okay. Bye, sweetheart. I'll see you tonight."
"Thanks Mom. Love you. Bye." With that, Helen hung up before saying to her house guest. "Sorry about that, Blaze. I couldn't come up with another way to tell her what happened."
"It's perfectly alright, Helen. I have to admit, it was only half of a lie seeing that I am a cat, and...I did have to be saved." Blaze responded, shaking her head. "If I were another species, that would be questionable."
The blonde-haired girl giggled, "Funny enough, our meeting is kinda like how my classmate and friend Chris saved Sonic in his backyard's swimming pool three weeks ago."
"Sonic? Who's Sonic?" The lavender Cat Princess blinked over the unfamiliar name.
"You mean you don't know? It's Sonic the Hedgehog, the hero of Mobius. He's been a hero for a long time now, and he and Chris are actually how humans and Mobians are learning to live together like our ancestors did thousands of years ago." Helen was surprised that her new friend didn't know anything about what happened back then.
"Hmmm..." Blaze murmured thoughtfully. "Interesting. Perhaps I was transported into a different timeline then, or perhaps the future and my history has been erased somehow. Tell me, would the name of the Sol Emeralds be familiar to you in the history of the past?"
"Sol Emeralds? Don't you mean the Chaos Emeralds?" Now the young girl was really confused. "Though I don't know much about the Chaos Emeralds either, besides on what I learned recently."
"I see...My apologies, Helen. It's been quite a rouge week, and I must find the Sol Emeralds as well as my companions, if they are here and find a way back home." The Cat Princess nodded, standing up to take her leave.
The twelve year old girl softly gasped before asking. "Wait a minute, Blaze. Do you even know where to look?"
"I can find them on my own. I've done it before." Blaze kindly reassured.
"Don't you need help? Maybe ask Sonic for his advice." Helen suggested. "He fights for everybody's safety and freedom and beats this mean guy Dr. Eggman."
"Eggman?" The Princess softly gasped in shock. "As in, Eggman Nega?"
The blonde haired girl blinked, then shook her head. "No. It's just Dr. Eggman. He's nothing but trouble and tries to take over the world with the Chaos Emeralds, but Chris and Sonic have said that he's also a weird guy. He uses robots to attack cities all the time and Sonic and his other friends stop him."
'So there is another Eggman, and like me, this Sonic the Hedgehog fights him to protect this world...Could this really mean that I really am in another universe?' Blaze thought to herself in concern, left with more questions and less answers.
She then remembered how Tangle repeatedly tried to help her when they first met and while Blaze didn't want to interact with anyone at first, as time went by, she slowly opened up a bit more to the young Lemur, becoming allies with the Babylon Rogues despite their obsession with jewels and treasure, and becoming good friends with Cosmo that the Princess realized that asking for help was sometimes a good thing, because she learned a hard lesson of trying to do everything on her own. She hated to admit it, but she had no idea what else to do in this world and she had already inadvertently caused trouble since she arrived.
With a reluctant sigh, Blaze finally conceded defeat. "Then perhaps I should ask for this Sonic's help, and for yours as well. Do you know where he is?"
"He tends to run around a lot since Sonic's also an adventurer, but his house is in a village over the continent across the ocean. I can ask Chris to call Tails to take you there. Sonic and the others can all help you, Blaze." Helen explained.
"Thank you, Helen. I'm sorry to trouble you into this mess."
"It's no trouble at all. I've always wanted to have an exciting experience." The young girl giggled.
"You do know that it's dangerous, don't you?" Blaze said firmly.
Helen nodded. "Yeah...I know."
Back at Tails' workshop, Sonic and his friends gathered around in the living room with their new friends Tangle and Cosmo, who, along with their missing friend Blaze the Cat, and their enemy Dr. Eggman Nega, the more deadlier version of Dr. Eggman, all hail from another dimension, to learn more about the situation they were up against.
"So, Tangle and Cosmo, what's the story behind Eggman Nega?" Sonic asked carefully, clinging in one of the arm chairs as he was still terrified over the fact that his archenemy has a counterpart that was just as evil and twisted as the Egghead was.
"Dr. Nega is the meanest guy in the whole universe, not to mention the biggest negative nancy when it comes to life itself. He thinks life isn't worth it and just wants to get rid of it, even himself." Tangle grumbled as she sat next to Cosmo. "Blaze has been up against him for years because he wants to steal the Sol Emeralds from her."
"So, what are the Sol Emeralds?" Chris asked.
"They are powerful emeralds that hold the power over space and time and even the sun, gaining fire abilities, according to legend." Cosmo spoke up this time. "Each seven hold different kinds of power, and Blaze is their guardian. Her family has sworn to protect them for many years."
"That kinda sounds like the Chaos Emeralds, only without the fire part." Amy remarked thoughtfully.
"So, what else can they do?" Sonic shrugged, sensing the similarity in the Sol Emeralds as well.
"Well, the Sol Emeralds are said to burn thoughts into fire, and since Blaze has the power of fire, she's the only one who can use them." Tangle explained, before cringing. "Though Nega tries to use them for his machines to destroy the world."
"Because fire can be destructive if burned out of control." Tails correctly guessed.
"They sound just as dangerous as the Chaos Emeralds." Chris remarked uneasily.
The blue hedgehog folded his arms as he hummed in agreement. "Especially with a crazy guy like Nega using them. All Eggman wants with the Chaos Emeralds is to take over the world and build his stupid Eggmanland Empire."
"But I wonder why Dr. Nega wants to destroy the whole universe and why he doesn't like anything anymore?" Cream muttered, a little frightened as she and Cheese huddled up against her mother who held her close for comfort.
"That's a million dollar question, 'cause nobody really knows." Tangle sighed with a shrug. "I'm just surprised that your Eggman is a little less dangerous compared. And seriously? Eggmanland Empire? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of."
"I know, right?" The blue hedgehog smirked. "Egghead can be pretty dangerous if we're not careful, but that guy's such a clown he usually tends to embarrass himself. I've been fighting that guy for as long as I can remember, with the help of my best buddies who deserve more credit than I do."
"But, what about you, Cosmo? How were you involved in all of this?" Tails asked gently to the young alien girl.
Cosmo hesitated at first, before a gentle gesture from Tangle encouraged her to reveal the truth and that they were among friends who helped them, and she explained. "I am known as a Seedrian, a race of people born through nature of life. We hold the power of plants themselves. My people once lived on a planet callled Greengate, similar to your world and Tangle's. It was a beautiful place and all were among friends. But then one day, a disaster happened."
"Disaster? Whaddya mean?" Sonic asked, as he and his friends quickly grew concerned, given how Cosmo was an alien girl that could hold the power over plant life but she seemed to be a nice girl.
"We were attacked by an evil force known as the Metarex, who fought in a war against another evil force, but it was slowly causing the planet to decay and die out. The Metarex were extremely powerful and eventually, like Dr. Eggman Nega, they sought to destroy life and even themselves..." The young Seedrian girl lowered her gaze in deep sorrow. "Not many were able to escape, and eventually my mother Earthia and my older sister Galaxina...they brought me to a portal which was said to lead me to another planet for my safety..."
Tears began to form in her eyes as she had forced herself to recall those memories, seeing the brutal attacks of her world, everything on fire, trees and plants dying out, many of her people missing or killed, the Metarex taking many people, her running away with her family into a giant tree where a magical portal was, and her mother and sister kissing her head, bidding her goodbye before pushing her into the portal, just as a fiery explosion engulfed the area and as far as Cosmo could tell before she was swallowed up completely into the portal, the entire world.
"They said that it would take me to another world where I would be safe...but instead I landed far beyond my dimension and landed in Tangle's world instead...I was the only survivor. My home...all my friends...my family...all gone...!" Cosmo couldn't hold back anymore as she cried, gently hugged by Tangle who wrapped her tail around her distraught friend, while Sonic and his friends felt their hearts break, with Amy, Cream and Cheese both close to crying themselves, Vanilla, Tails, Chris and even the blue hedgehog himself having tears in their eyes over the tragic story.
Sonic knew that Cosmo has been through so much already and Nega certainly didn't make things any better. That evil guy was only making things worse. He wished there was something he could do to take away her pain, but no one can be revived and be brought back from the dead. Now the poor girl was just like Knuckles, but in a more worse situation. Even worse, if the Government around the world mistake her for being evil, she could be put under arrest along with her friends...
Even Sonic himself and his friends could get into big trouble and then things would only get more difficult and dangerous.
"We're sorry, Cosmo." Chris half-whispered. It was really terrible for Cosmo to lose her entire planet, leaving as the only survivor with nowhere else to go.
When it became clear that Cosmo needed some time to calm down, Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Chris left the living room to allow Tangle and the kindly rabbit family to comfort the young Seedrian and headed into the garage to discuss the other important issue of the situation.
"I can't believe a bunch of jerks would do such a thing, and that Dr. Nega...Poor, Cosmo." Amy murmured, her gaze low in sadness as she clasped her hands together.
"That's just way too low. Eggman was already bad enough, but his other self is just as bad, and if he's here, it's just as dangerous." Sonic grunted, angered himself and feeling terribly sorry for the heroes of the other universe.
"I'm more worried about what the people would think about Cosmo and Nega. Tangle and those guys they mentioned probably wouldn't have too much trouble because they alternate Mobians from another dimension." Chris felt uneasy over the trouble they were all in.
"There's more than that, Chris. We still don't know who the other guys are, and Blaze has always been giving people trouble with her fire abilities. She could be anywhere hiding, and with Cosmo being different, it might be a better idea to keep her out of the cities and stuff just in case." Tails pointed out.
"Easier said than done, bro." Sonic shrugged. "'Cause humans in the dream Chris and I had certainly didn't make things easy and I don't want history to end up being repeated in reality."
"Yeah, the government in our dreams wanted to capture you guys since they were way too suspicious. Could you imagine people's reactions in seeing Cosmo, especially with evil aliens separating everybody in the first place?" The twelve year old boy shuddered over the thought. He was still scared of what might happen; they could be forced to separate again for real this time and possibly forever.
"That's why I'm going to find Blaze and stop Eggman and Nega, and maybe find the Sol Emeralds as well as the Chaos Emeralds. It's the only way to get them, Tangle, Cosmo and their friends back home." The hero of Mobius decided firmly, knowing that if nothing was done now, then disaster would really strike.
"Tangle and Cosmo can come stay at my house, since our area's pretty quaint and quiet. Nobody would suspect a thing." Amy suggested.
"Great idea, Amy. I'll see if I can talk reason with Blaze when I find her. I know what she's going through. Or, at least, I kinda had an experience in that super long dream." The blue hedgehog nodded, shrugging a little as he had to keep reminding himself that his Earth adventures were just a dream which lead to the events that happened three weeks earlier.
"I'll go to Angel Island to talk to Knuckles about this. He should know about it too." Tails decided.
"And I'll tell Grandpa about it. Maybe like in the dream, we can build a portal that'll help Tangle, Cosmo, Blaze, their missing friends and even Nega to get back to their world." Chris announced, which was another thing he and Sonic remembered in their dreams.
"The Porthole...Chris, you just reminded me of that way of getting us home in the dream. Not in a happy way, but given the experience, it'll work. Just be sure to write it down in a diary so we won't forget." Sonic snapped his fingers in realization.
"Well, better early than late, I guess." The human boy shrugged, sheepishly.
Knowing what to do, Sonic and his friends formated the plan, unaware that the situation was only going to get more and more tricky.
Meanwhile, at Eggman's base the next day, the evil scientist and his counterpart were putting their plans into full motion by swapping places to catch their arch-enemies Sonic the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat off-guard, even by swapping robots thinking that none of them would be the wiser. Though Eggman didn't seem to happy with the way he looked.
"Does this outfit make me look fat and old? I look like I'm in my grandfather's 70's." Eggman wondered aloud, as he looked at his reflection in the mirror...using the device Nega gave him to disguise himself as the latter and vice versa.
"I don't look any much better, either. If my mustache was still white, it wouldn't go so well with this red suit of yours." Nega admitted as he too looked into the mirror, now being disguised as Eggman.
"This is going to be too weird in seeing both of them switched places." Decoe remarked uneasily as he, Bocoe, Orbot and Cubot looked uncomfortable with their creators' plans.
"I don't think it's going to make much of a difference with Sonic. Any robot the doctor sends out, he'll just destroy anyway." Bocoe stated knowingly.
"I'm inclined to agree, because Blaze destroys our doctor's creations as well. Except for Cubot and I." Orbot shook his head.
"Yeah, everytime that fire-cat-lady comes near, we skedaddled outta there!" Cubot shuddered. "I'm too young to melt into goo."
"We can hear you." The two Eggmen grumbled, making their four robots to back away in fright.
"Now then, I believe it's time to cause a little more trouble. Don't you think, Dr. Nega?" Eggman suggested while choosing to ignore the four dumbots.
"I couldn't agree more, Dr. Eggman." Nega responded, while thinking to himself, secretly grinning. 'Soon these fools of this world will learn to never underestimate the greatest scientist of all Space and Time. Heheheheheheh...'
With that thought in mind, the hatch of the secret base opens up and the two Eggman fly off in separate Egg Mobiles with two robots following them; one was the Beacon which followed the disguised Eggman, and the other was a insect-like Robot that looked like a two-legged Praying Mantis which followed the disguised Nega, heading into separate parts of Station Square to cause terror, destruction and to defeat each other's enemies.
Sonic had searched around his village in hopes of finding Blaze around, but so far nobody in the neighborhood did, while Amy had kindly invited Tangle and Cosmo into her home where they would be safe, Tails had already gone to tell Knuckles about the situation, and Chris was informing his family and school friends as well. Right now the hero of Mobius searched through the mountains and forests before checking out Station Square again to find any updates.
"You'd think that finding a lavender coloured cat girl with fire abilities would be easy." Sonic muttered to himself as he raced through the streets and then launched himself up onto a pole, hoping for a better birdseye view. "Guess I'll just have to wait for Tails and the others to search through midair."
There was more than that, given what Tangle and Cosmo had told him and his friends. This was far too much like his and Chris' shared dream, only worse. Sure Blaze, Tangle and their three other friends, who Sonic had been shocked to hear were the Babylon Rogues as he met Jet yesterday, plus the news of the green hawk stealing a Chaos Emerald during a robbery, much to the Lemur and the Seedrian's own shock, they could pass on as normal Mobians of this world even though Blaze and Jet could land themselves in jail for causing trouble.
Then there was Cosmo, who was definitely not safe. Not only would the human and Mobian government see her as a threat since she was an alien, Sonic was worried about a huge misunderstanding that would make things worse, especially since he, Tails, Amy and Chris were hiding her. How were they going to fix up this mess that Dr. Nega has caused? The blue hedgehog found himself getting more and more scared just thinking about the possibilities of things going disastrously wrong.
'Oh man...Please don't let this be the beginning of horrible things coming on...' Sonic prayed in his mind, hugging himself, trying hard no to whimper in fear. All he wanted was things to be peaceful and that Eggman would eventually just give up being evil.
A loud noise then brought the teenage hero out of his increasingly frightened thoughts and had him gaze up from further head. To his annoyance yet expectation, Sonic saw Eggman with another big robot that looked like a humanoid Praying Mantis.
"Guess Blaze will just have to wait. I can't let Dr. Eggman make things any more worse than they already are. At least it looks like he hasn't met up with his More-Negative-Nancy self yet." The blue hedgehog said, mentally shaking his head to calm down and focus on the more important matters that just unfolded: Like taking out Eggman's giant robot.
Sonic then took off to once again battle his enemy and his newest creation, unaware of who he is really facing as he raced along the buildings and leaped from one roof to another, while 'Eggman' and the Praying Mantis robot were making their way across the city to cause yet more problems.
"A city full of people who share my skin. These foolish humans have no idea what they're in for." The disguised Nega snickered evilly to himself, flying over the streets of Station Square as some of citizens took notice of him and his robot, both humans and Mobians gasping in shock and horror.
"What is that?" One blonde-haired woman asked, fearfully.
"It's Dr. Eggman!" A man exclaimed in dismay.
"Not again!" A Mobian Hound cried out, terrified. "RUN!"
The crowd, fearing for their lives, all ran away or drove away in their cars to try and escape from Eggman's robot which began to open up it's chest and set out a flame thrower, setting empty cars alight as people scrambled to get out of the way and the vehicles exploding.
Nega bellowed in laughter. "Oh ho ho ho ho ho! I love a good destruction! Go forth, my Frying Mantis! Show these weaklings what you are made of!"
The robot, known as the Frying Mantis, obeyed his command and continued to set everything on fire as people continued to run. Yet one little boy, five years old with dark blue hair, tripped and was cornered by the robot. The terrified child whimpered, beginning to cry.
"Mommy!" The little boy screamed out tearfully.
"John!" His mother screamed frantically, trying to reach her son only to gasp in horror as she would never be fast enough to save him as the Frying Mantis loomed over the helpless little boy and Eggman Nega chuckled evilly. "Please, let my little boy go! He's just a child!"
"Sorry, miss. I hold no sympathy for brats." Nega responded cruelly.
"Noooooo!" The mother wailed in devastation as the evil twisted scientist ordered the robot to burn the child to a crisp while the boy screamed, squeezing his eyes shut.
But just before he was about to get hit, a blue blur suddenly appears from above and bashes the robot on the head before it could even open fire. The Frying Mantis stumbled before hitting the side of a truck. The blur in the meantime then scooped up the boy and vanished before reappearing; it was Sonic who, having seen this from another building and had been horrified, had come to the rescue.
"What!?" Nega exclaimed in shock and disbelief. That blue blur...the one the real Eggman of this world told him about...Could it be?
The young mother, hearing the commotion, hesitantly opened her eyes just as Sonic stopped right in front of her with the boy in his arms as he greeted. "Hi there, ma'am. I believe this young boy belongs to you."
"Mommy!" The boy exclaimed happily as the blue hedgehog handed him over to his emotionally relieved mother who hugged him tightly in her arms.
"John! My baby!" John's mother exclaimed in relief as the two reunited mother and son embraced, while Sonic gently stroked the child's head comfortingly.
"There you go, kid. It'll be alright." The teenage hero reassured softly.
"Thank you so much for saving my little boy, Sonic. How can I repay you?" The young mother gratefully said happily.
Sonic just smiled. "No need to. Your smiling faces are all the thanks that I need. But you gotta get yourselves to safety. I'll handle Eggman and robot."
'So he's the one that my counterpart has told me about: Sonic the Hedgehog, hero of this world.' Nega thought to himself, grinning wickedly. So the cobalt hedgehog really is a hero. Remarkable, and his speed was astonishing, as much as he hated to admit it. Perhaps he would be a worthy opponent besides Blaze after all. Not only that green bird brain Jet of the Babylon Rogues.
The woman nodded as she carried her son, who gave his thanks to him and giggled when the blue hedgehog playfully gave the kid a high-five to cheer him up, before running off to find shelter. Once he knew they would be safe and out of harms way, Sonic turned his attention to who he thought was his arch-nemesis who, covering up his grin, gave a scowl to pretend in being his counterpart instead.
"That's a new low for you to try and hurt innocent people like that, Eggman! Let alone little innocent kids!" Sonic scowled angrily, glaring at the evil scientist and readied himself for battle.
"Curse you, Sonic! Must you always stand in my way?" Nega growled, though more than a little more calmer than his counterpart, a tone of calmness which the cobalt teenager noticed.
'Why is Eggman sounding less angry and more calm? This doesn't sound like him at all.' The hero of Mobius thought to himself, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. None the less, he just responded. "Like you can keep your egg-stained hands to yourself? Your rotten plans are about to get scrambled, like usual!"
'Quite a cocky and overconfident little boy. He has no idea what he is in for.' The twisted evil scientist thought, grinning hideously. "We'll see about that, hedgehog. Get rid of him, Frying Mantis!"
The Frying Mantis, recovering and under Nega's orders to attack Sonic, stood before waving it's arms for an attack, standing tall for about at least the height of three men. The fifteen year old hero was quite shocked to see it having recovered before he quickly leaped out of the way when it unleashed another flame attack to burn him. Realizing that he had to get this robot out of the city, Sonic smirked.
"Frying Mantis? What kind of a name is that, Eggman? Ya' might as all call it Bug-beque!" Sonic teased, before racing away to get it's full attention on him.
"Bug-beque!?" Nega exclaimed, shocked by the insult before growling. "After him! I want that hedgehog burned into ashes!"
Roaring in obedience, the Frying Mantis flew to catch up with the blue hedgehog who grinned as he raced up along another building and turned just as the large robot was about to make contact. Sonic then Spin Attacked right into it's chest moments before it could fire flames yet again. The impact caused Nega's creation to lose altitude and fall straight to the ground, crashing and sending pieces of concrete flying everywhere.
"Huh!?" The evil scientist exclaimed, bewildered by the skill the cobalt teenager had just displayed, as Sonic landed and ran over the Frying Mantis while taking off to where Nega and his robot had came from. Narrowing his eyes in calm anger, he then commanded his robot. "Don't let him get away! After him!"
"You heard your boss, Hop-boy! Come and get me!" Sonic taunted as he raced away to get the robot out of the city and into an opened area to avoid in civilians getting injured or caught up in the cross-fire.
The Frying Mantis stood before it took flight once more to destroy the cobalt hedgehog, with the disguised Nega following to ensure the plan would go very well, yet he wasn't aware that the SSCTV News had caught the moment while another News report were catching the disguised Eggman's attack in another part of Station Square.
Back at Helen's house, the young girl and Blaze were in the living room having tea and snacks as the former was speaking on the phone once more and the Cat Princess listening in while waiting almost impatiently.
"What!? You mean Blaze is actually with you?" Chris exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yeah, but how do you know about that, Chris?" Helen asked, confused as she had just told her friend of what she went through yesterday.
"Helen, Blaze isn't a normal Mobian from this world. She and others come from another dimension, just like how Sonic and I had that dream of the two worlds thing weeks ago!" The twelve year old boy pointed out, continuing after his friend softly gasped. "We meet her friends Tangle who's a Lemur and a really nice alien girl named Cosmo who's home planet was destroyed and she's...well, the only one left."
The more she listened, the more Helen gazed in silent shock at Blaze who was in deep thought of her situation and where to find not just her friends and allies, but also Dr. Nega and prevent him from gaining the Sol Emeralds. The blonde-haired girl almost felt her heart stop a little and suddenly she wished she knew more about what happened and how she could help. Given Sonic's experience in his dreams despite that it never happened in reality, he would be the best choice to pick for helping out the Cat Princess.
'So Blaze really did come from another world...and an alien girl who's home is gone went to her...? That's so awful. How could this have happened?" The twelve year old girl thought to herself with sympathy and worry.
"I guess that means there are two of Eggman, because Blaze told me a little bit about him." Helen responded after a moment.
"Yeah, Tangle and Cosmo told us about him too, and he's even worse than the other Eggman. Way worse." Chris shuddered over the phone. "I'll tell Tails to pick you guys up and meet at his Workshop. Tangle and Cosmo are staying with Amy and Sonic's still looking for Blaze to try and help her."
"Thanks, Chris. I knew I could count on you." Helen smiled happily, before quickly remembering how she met the lavender cat girl and whispered. "Um, but fair warning: Blaze doesn't like heights so much, so tell Tails to go easy on the flights, okay?"
At Chris' House...
"Uh...Sure. No problem." Chris sweat dropped, upon hearing that Blaze had a fear of heights, before sighing to himself. "Why is this really a strong case of Deja vu?"
"Chris!"
Hearing the sound of his grandfather calling out to him, the twelve year old boy turned to see the elder Thorndyke approach as the youngster asked after telling Helen to hang on for a few minutes. "Grandpa. What's wrong?"
"Are you in contact with Tails?" Chuck demanded urgently.
"No. I'm about to. Why?" Chris asked, suddenly concerned.
The older man said nothing except for a grunt and turned on the TV to reveal the Breaking News on the Channel. A man reporter was informing the audience of Eggman's latest attack with an insect-like robot and even showed captured footage from witnesses of Sonic fighting it while keeping the machine away from the citizens, and 'Eggman' giving out orders in a strangely calm way.
But then the footage changed to something that had the twelve year old boy gasp in complete shock, nearly dropping the phone as he couldn't believe what he was seeing; another Eggman but with a white mustache and his clothes reversed in colour, with a familiar robot, the Beacon that Sonic fought in his and the young Thorndyke's shared dream.
"Chris? Chris, what's wrong?" Helen asked, noticing the silence.
"Helen, turn on the TV, now! You've gotta see this on the News!" The twelve year old boy exclaimed, almost instantly knowing who the Eggman-look-alike is.
Back at Helen's House...
Hearing the urgency in her friend's voice and wondering what was going on, Helen quickly wheeled over for the TV remote as Blaze questioned. "What is going on?"
"Chris is telling me that there's something on the News that we should see. I have a feeling it's something really bad." The twelve year old girl replied, turning it on and saw the same news report, making her and her new friend gasp in shock.
But what shocked them and pretty much the audience all around the globe were the footage of Eggman causing trouble yet again with another robot which Sonic is fighting to safe the world, and the footage of Nega before the News brought up two images of the two evil doctors as the reporters questioned if Nega was related to Eggman.
"Blaze...! Is that guy in the white mustache...?" Helen asked, sounding really scared. One Eggman was scary enough, but two? That's everyone's worst nightmare right about now.
"Yes, Helen. I'm afraid it truly is." Blaze narrowed her eyes in anger and determination. "Dr. Eggman Nega...so he is here."
She now knew what she had to do to prevent her arch-nemesis from destroying this world and her own. Blaze would do it on her own while Sonic deals with the Dr. Eggman of this world.
"I have to go stop him! Now!" Blaze stood up immediately, and hurried outside to head back into the city.
"Blaze, wait! It'll be dangerous and you'll get caught if the authorities still think you're trouble!" Helen protested worriedly.
"I will be alright. Nega is dangerous and I have to stop him. This time, I will not fail." The Cat Princess declared, and ran as quickly as she could to defeat Dr. Nega and stop him from causing anymore problems.
Not yet realizing what she was really in for.
While one part of Station Square was facing problems with Nega disguised as Eggman, the latter disguised as the former was causing more problems at another part of it with the Beacon smashing through vehicles and forcing more people to run for their lives.
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho! I love causing fear to those who underestimate my power!" Eggman bellowed evilly, grinning as he whispered to himself. "Best part is, they don't even know it's the real me while my alternate self is pretending that I'm over to the left side of this town, which will soon be re-established into the Eggmanland Empire!"
As the Beacon robot flew through the city, nearby X Tornado, having been remodeled by Tails, who was piloting it at this very moment, and Chuck, under Sonic and Chris' suggestions given their Dream-Link, was heading straight towards it. He and Chris, who had wanted to come and had been picked up a short time ago, had been on their way to help Sonic to try and distract Nega while trying to reach Helen's house to meet Blaze when they heard of the troubling news.
Tangle was sitting behind them as she, along with Amy and Cosmo had gone back to Tails' workshop to finally meet up with Blaze, heard of the news and ultimately decided to join them while the rest of the girls stayed behind.
When Tails and Chris saw 'Nega' right there with the robot, they were quite shocked, but none more so than the twelve year old boy as he recognized it. "Hey, wait a second! Why is Nega controlling that robot?"
"You mean you know it, Chris?" Tails asked, surprised along with the girls.
"Sure do. At least from Sonic's point of view in our dreams. He fought that thing that was under Eggman's control that gave him a hard time 'til you and Amy gave him a Power Ring to destroy it. That was when I risked in getting the Chaos Emerald back from Eggman that he stole and Sonic saved me when I fell." Chris explained.
"What are you talking about?" Tangle asked, confused.
"It's...pretty much something to do with how my continent and all the other human continents rose up from the ocean. That, combined with how Eggman's machine messed up three weeks ago which was caused both me and Sonic to have the same dream which felt so real we both thought it actually happened." Chris explained, a little sheepishly.
'Not to mention that it's really happening but in reverse. Just hope I don't end up...like how I stopped Sonic from getting back home so that he would stay with me forever.' He added to himself, lowering his gaze a little over the reminder of the near end of the dream in having wanted to keep Sonic all for himself.
The young Lemur just stared at the human boy, dumbfounded. Amy had mentioned something like that yesterday, but she had no clue what the pink hedgehog was really talking about.
It wasn't before she noticed something down on the streets with a streak of fire racing across the streets yet not causing any sort of damage at all. Tangle's eyes widened as she let out a gasp of shock, almost immediately recognizing that blurry flaming trail. Could it really be?
"Hang on tight, guys! Not sure where Sonic is but I have a feeling he's busy dealing with Eggman by now!" Tails, deciding that Nega needed to be stopped at the same time as his surrogate brother was dealing with Eggman, declared and thrust the X Tornado into full throttle.
"Hey, Tails! I remember that Sonic had to use a power ring to beat this thing since it gave him a hard time while in midair. He might need it for real if he comes by quickly!" Chris, a little nervous about having to be in this battle for real since he had been busy trying to get the Chaos Emerald from Eggman in the dream, informed.
"Way ahead of you. I installed a Ring shooter in this baby and with the X Tornado being able to fly at 300 miles per hour, this will be a cinch." The two-tailed fox cub replied, in a rare moment of being fully confident just like Sonic.
When Eggman disguised as Nega heard a noise just as he was about to command Beacon to attack, he looked up and saw a newly styled super plane that was two times bigger than Sonic and Tails' planes. But it was when he saw the yellow-orange fox cub at the pilot's seat, the evil scientist couldn't believe it.
"Grrr...! The little two-tailed fox brat built a brand new plane!? Well, if he thinks he can stop me, that twerp is sadly mistaken!" Eggman growled angrily, severely annoyed that Sonic's lnfluence in having his friends to become meddling has gotten so contagious that it was like a fly he couldn't get rid of. "We'll worry about this crummy city later, Beacon! Get rid of Sonic's friends and then get rid of him! He can't be too far from here!"
But before the robot could even do that, a burst of flame was shot up from down below and nearly hit both the Beacon and Eggman who yelped in fright as he had to maneuver his Egg Mobile to the side and forcing Tails, who along his group also saw this, to pull the X Tornado into a hover to avoid in getting hit as well as Chris and Tangle both screamed while trying to hold on while the two-tailed fox cried out in alarm.
"Who, what-what!? Where did that come from!?" Eggman demanded, looking around quickly, feeling quite nervous at the unsuspected fire attack that came out of nowhere. This wasn't normal for fire to just appear into thin air. Someone must have caused it to fire at him, but who?
"How did fire shoot up like that!?" Chris asked, sweating bullets as he held on for dear life.
"I don't know! I'm picking up strange energy from the main system, but it isn't a machine or from the Chaos Emeralds. It's very strange with a different kind of source...almost as though it came from a person or a Mobian." Tails explained, his heart beat racing as he tried to will himself to calm down. His eyes then widened as realization hit him. "Unless..."
"I know that flame attack!" Tangle exclaimed, interruping the kit's thoughts, shocked and relieved at the same time. The young lemur looked down to see if she was right and her eyes widened just as two of her new friends did the same, as did Eggman.
Standing in the middle of the road was Blaze who glared heatedly at who she thought was her worst enemy and the most dangerous threat of all the universe, her flames dying down.
"Nega! I have finally found you! You will not be getting away with what you have done!" The flame-wielding Princess declared, narrowing her topaz eyes with full determination to defeat Nega once and for all.
"It's Blaze!" Tangle cheered happily, feeling relieved to see her other best friend again.
"That's Blaze?" Tails and Chris both asked at the same time, amazed that not only this was the lavender cat they heard about, both from the media press and from their new friend behind them and Cosmo, but she can really use the power of fire.
'So that's the cat princess brat Nega has told me about. She certainly has a more of a hot temper than Sonic, but with my robot, she cannot defeat me!' Eggman thought to himself, before chuckling in a calm manner just as his alternate counterpart would. "How lovely to see you again, Princess Blaze. But you have fallen right into my trap. I know that you can't stand your fear of heights, so I lured you here and this robot will carry you up so high you would be helpless!"
Blaze's eyes narrowed even further, trying not to let her fear get to her as she suddenly felt like smacking herself for not seeing this sooner. Yet at the same time she was suspicious over what the evil scientist has said to her. 'Why is Eggman Nega speaking like this? He has never told me about his plans with his robots like this before. Something strange is going. But I have to focus and stop him!'
"Get her, Beacon!" Eggman commanded.
The robot flew in to attack the purple cat who readied herself, and jumped to avoid it's attack before sending a ball of fire right at it. Unfortunately, as Beacon flew up, it repelled the attack and to her, Tails, Chris and Tangle's shock, it seemingly unscathed and began poking at her. Blaze screamed in pain as she was then flown upward before attempting to try again, but the robot kept on bouncing her while flying higher and higher into the air.
"Oh no! Blaze!" Tangle exclaimed in horror with the two boys gasping in shock, knowing that Blaze had a terrible fear of heights given what the lemur, Cosmo and even Helen said earlier. Even worse, they can't get to her since the robot had her trapped in this situation.
Blaze, narrowing her eyes, flipped before grabbing hold of the 'beak' of the Beacon robot to prevent it from bouncing her like a ball of yarn. But then as she looked down to come up with an idea on how to defeat this thing since it was protected from her powers, the cat princess felt her heart drop into her stomach as she let out a terrified gasp as she realized just how high she was.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Blaze screamed while clinging onto the robot for dear life, shaking violently like a leaf as she squeezed her eyes shut, absolutely terrified. "No! I hate heights! Someone help me!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! A little kitten, trembling in fear. This is too easy." Eggman laughed. 'Best part is, that fox cub can't save her without causing harm to my robot! Finally, both Sonic and Princess Blaze will be out of the mustache of the two greatest evil geniuses of all the universe!'
Things don't seem to be looking good at the moment.
Meanwhile, Sonic was still being chased by the Frying Mantis to try and get it away from Station Square, with it still flaring out flames ot try and burn him up. To make things more complicated, it kept on burning things everywhere he went while he tried to attack it from either side.
'Eggman built this robot to use flame thrower and being able to fly. How can I put out it's fire if it can easily dodge a water hose?' Sonic thought to himself, getting more and more agitated and worried. This whole situation was frightening him and he had to do something quick, or else it was all over. If he didn't so something now, he was literally toast.
Having another idea, the blue hedgehog raced up along another building and to the right just as the Frying Mantis flew up after him, setting out another dose of flames which licked him at his heels, causing Sonic to yelp in alarm that he nearly lost his balance, but he kept on going until he jumped backwards in a midair somersault.
"That the best you can do, big guy?" Sonic taunted with a smirk confidently to hide back his fear, determined to end this fight once and for all. He quickly went for an Axe kick, hitting the robot on the back to send it back towards the ground before landing himself and took off towards the beaches and hopefully to the outskirts in the desert.
"Don't let him get away! Block off every exit!" Nega shouted as he followed, while thinking to himself. 'That blue hedgehog is faster than I thought. If he is this difficult to keep up, no wonder my alternate self has trouble with him even with his best creations.'
The Frying Mantis, receiving more damage, stood up before taking off to chase after Sonic even to the point of blasting another set of flames to block off the blue hedgehog's attempts to reach desert. The hero of Mobius, shocked by how fast this thing was, cried out in alarm and was forced to alter his course to the beach even further towards the water. Thankfully the people who saw Nega disguised as Eggman earlier had ran off for shelter, so the beach was pretty much deserted. But that left with another problem as Sonic was forced to run along the beaches while the robot was getting closer and closer, forcing the teenager to run even faster.
"Whoa! This guy's faster than I thought!" The cobalt teenager remarked with a bit of a sweat drop.
Unfortunately his luck has run out as Sonic attempted to cross the bridge to the smaller islands connected to the mainland that also resurfaced after thousands of years, when the Frying Mantis set another flame attack which forced him to dodge and duck at the same time without falling into the ocean, burning the bridge in front of him where it collapsed into the water. When he saw this, the cobalt hedgehog gasped in horror to see that his only way to escape was destroyed. The tall robot then landed in front of him and when Sonic tried to run around it, it used it's flames to block him, forcing the teenager to try and go underneath it only to be forced to run back and was left trapped on the edge of the small sea stone platform.
"Oh no!" Sonic cried out in dismay, knowing that the water was too deep for him and he couldn't run across it unless it was shallow first. Now terrified, he looked over his shoulder before turning around with a small gasp as the Frying Mantis towered over him. "Oh man...! I can't get away!"
If he jumped, he would drown. If he stayed where he was, he would be burned. Either way, Sonic was cornered, and all he could do was lean as far back as he could, back away slowly until his heel was met with the edge and he softly gasped again to see this before gazing at the robot that had him trapped. What was he going to do? If the blue hedgehog didn't do something now, he was as good as dead, and then Eggman and Nega would both win. They would first take over the world, then the more twisted evil scientist would destroy it and his alternate self before destroying everything.
This couldn't be happening! It can't be happening!
"Heheheheheheheh...End of the road, Sonic. I know you can't swim, so I lured you out to sea and now you get to make your choice on how you shall die." Nega declared evilly, as the young Mobian glared at him to mask his fear.
Back on the other side of Station Square, Blaze was screaming in fear as the Beacon attempted to toss her off where she would fall to her death. "S-Stop! Stop it, you fiend! Put me down but don't drop me!"
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho! This is the best thing that's ever happened!" Eggman laughed evilly. "Drop her, Beacon! Shake that annoying little kitten off and see if she can land on all fours!"
Tails, Chris and Tangle, still having trouble on what to do, narrowed their eyes as they attempted to distract 'Nega', but had to hold off while trying to find a correct point in saving Blaze before things could get any worse.
"We've got to do something, quick!" Chris cried out worriedly. He hated being useless, especially when he couldn't do much but be in the X Tornado's seat while Tails did all of the flying.
"I'm trying, Chris! But I can't get to a good point and if Nega is smarter than Eggman, then he'll have us directing at Blaze and we can't risk that!" Tails argued nervously, sweating bullets while wishing that Sonic was here, yet also fearing for his adoptive big brother's safety at the same time.
Tangle, fearing for her best friend's safety given the situation, narrowed her eyes as she had ultimately decided that enough was enough. Nega has gone too far this time and whether he was acting more weirder than before, she couldn't care less. Knowing what to do in her own act of adventure and bravery, the young lemur unbuckled herself and forced open the watch, the wind currents causing her, Tails and Chris to wince at the gusts, before the boys saw what she was doing.
"Tangle, what are you doing!?" Chris exclaimed, shocked along with the two-tailed fox who gasped.
"I know that Sonic is somewhere in town facing the other Egghead, but he might need your help! I'm going to save Blaze, since heights never bothered me!" Tangle declared, climbing and standing onto the left wing as she prepared herself to jump, closing the hatch so that her two new friends wouldn't end up losing altitude.
"Tangle, wait!" Tails cried out, but he was ignored.
The adventurous, if not crazy, lemur then leaped off as she heard the two scream out in horror which caught Eggman's attention as he turned to see what was going on and he raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Who is that? That can't be one of Blaze's friends I've heard about." Eggman whispered to himself. "What a crazy Zebra-tailed Squirrel."
"I'm coming, Blaze!" Tangle screamed as she descended towards a tower pole, which her voice caught the cat Princess's attention as she dared to look and gasped in shock and relief.
"Tangle...! What is she doing here? How did she know where to find me?" Blaze wondered.
What surprised Sonic's friends and Eggman was Tangle's tail stretched out so quickly and far that she used it to grab onto the pole. She began to swing around with her tail suddenly twice as long as she hollared. Tails and Chris both had their eyes widened in disbelief over the Lemur's special ability, while Eggman was flabbergasted.
"Huh!?" The disguised evil scientist gaped, bewildered. How on Mobius could that girl do that with her tail!? When Nega said Blaze's best friend was like a rubber rope unable to be cut, he wasn't kidding!
The Lemur then launched herself so high that the Beacon robot was too slow as she then punched it in the stomach with her tail, causing it to be flown backwards and Blaze to lose her grip. Thankfully, Tangle caught her by wrapping her tail around the Cat Princess and pulled her straight towards the roof of the building where the former landed safely along with her friend who, once released in a short drop, landed safely as well, sighing in relief.
"Here, Blaze. You're gonna need this!" Tangle told her friend, digging into her pockets and pulled out a red ring that looked identical to the Power Rings that Sonic uses, except this was known as the Fire Ring, a special ring capable of increasing Blaze's pyrokinesis.
"Thank you, Tangle." Blaze nodded as she took the ring, and closed her eyes to focus, the ring glowing a deep red like the red Chaos Emerald, and like with Sonic's connection with the Power Rings, the Cat Princess could feel the power of the Fire Ring flow into her body, covering her body in an orange, red and yellow aura. "Let us end this."
As Eggman, Tails and Chris watched on as the way how Blaze glowed reminded them of how Sonic would use the Power Rings, the Cat Princess glared up at the Beacon robot which flew in to attack her and Tangle, before she jumped high and then surrounded herself in flames and then materialized a brighter and more fiery red orb before tossing it straight towards the robot and despite it being fire resistant, not even that could save it from the super heated power of a Fiery Blast as it burst straight through it, causing it to explode almost instantly.
"OH NO! How can that cat destroy Beacon's fire protection!?" Eggman exclaimed in dismay, placing his hands on his head as he couldn't believe this was happening.
"Tails, Chris! Go find Sonic! We'll meet up later!" Tangle instructed as she swung herself upward towards where Blaze and the Beacon robot were.
"Okay! Be careful!" Tails, finally making the hard choice in doing so, agreed and prepared to take flight.
"You brats! Get back here!" Eggman commanded, as the X Tornado flew away to find where Sonic was as the evil scientist realized that unless Nega has already taken care of the blue hedgehog, the evil plot they both schemed up together was about to ultimately fail...which it already was at the rate this was going.
Now Sonic's little brother was going to help him to defeat Nega and his Frying Mantis!
"Hey, Eggman!" Tangle's voice shouted, causing the disguised scientist to gaze down to the two young girls glaring up at him, making him now extremely nervous as Blaze, who had landed, had flames in her hands ready for an attack. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Er..Urm...Just a little flight?" Eggman squeaked nervously.
"Huh?" Blaze and Tangle both blinked before sharing a confused glance. This didn't sound like Eggman Nega at all. What was going on? It was then they both remembered and realized how Nega would disguise himself with a special kind of technology he invented, and would sometimes pass it on to potential allies to trick the heroines and the Babylon Rogues, except none of Nega's temporary allies could get his personality right.
This was just like that, except it was somewhat similar but more...clown-ish?
"Wait a minute...You're not Nega, are you?" Tangle asked, suspiciously which made Eggman sweat drop and flinch nervously.
"Drop your disguise and show us you really are, imposter!" Blaze demanded, flaring up her fire even more.
Flincing even more in fear, Eggman knew instantly that he was in trouble. He then growled before pushing the button on his device he pulled out from his pockets. "Alright fine, you brats caught me through me disguise, but this will shock you to know that you are half-correct..."
As the Disguise Device dropped the illusion that surrounded him, Eggman was back to his normal self, causing both Blaze and Tangle to gasp in shock and disbelief. "I am Dr. Eggman of this universe, and I know that you two are the sworn enemies of Dr. Eggman Nega: Especially you, Blaze the Cat!"
"No way!" Tangle exclaimed in disbelief. "You're the Egghead Clown that Sonic told me about!"
"So Nega has given you his disguise device, to trick me into thinking you are him. Even though the resemblence is uncanny since you both are almost identical." Blaze narrowed her eyes, gritting her teeth.
"Yes, I am y-Egghead Clown!?" Eggman cut himself off when he realized what Tangle just called him. "You Zebra-stripped Squrriel! The cat may be Dr. Nega's sworn enemy, but you're just as obnoxious as that irritating hedgehog!"
"Man, Sonic was right. You are a big loser. More so than Nega is." The Lemur girl remarked, shaking her head, before realizing. "Wait. If you're here, then that means..."
"Sonic the Hedgehog...is fighting against Nega who has disguised himself as you!" Blaze finished in shocked realization, with her close friend gasping.
The evil scientist in red grinned with a cackle. "Yes, and it was hoped that Nega would lead Sonic to his weakess while I had my Beacon robot focus on yours."
"Except that Tails is going to help Sonic." Tangle pointed out smugly. "And you're about to face the wrath of the two coolest heroines ever!"
Again, Eggman flinched and quivered in fear as Blaze prepared to launch her attack again. "Um...On second thought, perhaps I'd better go..."
Unfortunately for the evil scientist, he didn't even get the chance to move his Egg Mobile, because Blaze launched her fire attacks again, engulfing Eggman while his ride exploded into thick smoke.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Eggman screamed as he, burnt and covered in soot, spin in midair as he blasted off again.
"Now that's what I call an exit." Tangle admitted, shielding her eyes with her hand as she and Blaze, who finally dismissed her flames, watched their enemy's counterpart being flown away.
"Tangle, are you alright?" The Cat Princess asked, only to be quickly hugged tightly by her friend, causing her to yelp in alarm and cringed in discomfort.
"Blaze, you're okay! You're really here! I'm so glad! Oh man! Cosmo's gonna be so happy to see you!" Tangle cheered happily, almost to the point of crying as she was ultimately relieved that both of her best friends were safe and sound now. Now it was the matter in finding Jet, Wave and Storm and the whole gang would be together again.
Despite the discomfort as even though she was close friends and more open thanks to the Lemur and Cosmo, Blaze was still careful in not to fully open herself to anybody, as part of her duties as a Princess of her Kingdom and a Guardian of the Sol Emeralds, she couldn't deny that she was utterly relieved to see her friends again, or at least one of them. So with a small but warm smile, she embraced Tangle back as they were finally reunited.
"It's good to see you safe as well, Tangle. Is Cosmo alright?" Blaze finally responded.
"Yeah! She's with this nice girl Amy, who found me at the beach yesterday. Her and Sonic's friend Tails found Cosmo and with the help of the nice rabbit family, nursed her back to health." Tangle confirmed after she and her friend reluctantly departed slightly.
"So what Helen says is true. Except, we must find Sonic and help him to defeat Nega." The Lavender Princess nodded, feeling even more relieved.
But before the two girls could make a move to head over to where Tails and Chris went off to in order to help Sonic defeat the disguised Nega, suddenly the doors to the roof burst open and to Blaze and Tangle's shock, it was the human authorities who, despite seeing the heroics they both did, were under orders to take Blaze in for questioning due to her misadventure the previous night before.
"Stop where you are, the both of you!" One of the soldiers ordered, guns raised at the two of them.
"Uh oh...I think you might've caused a little too much trouble, Blaze." Tangle half-whispered worriedly with a sweat drop.
"I was uncertain with these people before I met Helen. I didn't know who they were or why they were intereacting with our people, or at least this world's version of our people." Blaze said defensively, while glaring at the men.
"Put your hands in the air and don't do anything funny!" The same soldier commanded.
"Hey, chill out, guys!" Tangle cried out in annoyance, yet holding her hands up none the less. "We just helped to save the city from a bad guy and a lousy robot."
"A likely story. You two ladies are coming with us to the station." The man scoffed skeptically.
Blaze narrowed her eyes, considering on fighting them as she didn't want them to get in the way, but a small coughing sound and a stern but conceded look from her friend along with a shake of the head told her to not push it since it would only cause even more trouble. Despite that she didn't want to be held against her will and she had accepted Helen's hospitality, the lavender Cat knew that it would only complicate things even further. So with a reluctanted sigh, she too raised her hands in surrender.
"Before you take us, I heard of Sonic the Hedgehog only yesterday and this morning. I need to speak to him as soon as possible. I deeply apologize for the trouble I caused last night. I was confused and lost, and for that, I am deep sorry. I don't want anymore trouble." Blaze politely announced.
That caught the men off-guard over her speech as they all shared bewildered glances, not sure what to make of it. Despite that they were ordered to take her into custody, now alongside those who allied with her like Tangle, at least this cat had proper manners and apologized and if she was telling the truth, then she knew nothing much of the teenage blue hedgehog who along with the young Chris Thorndyke had brought humans and Mobians back together after thousands of years.
"Forget the cuffs. Let's bring them to the President." The man ordered the other soldiers, after a moment of thinking.
Blaze and Tangle both blinked and shared another glance in confusion and surprise, wondering why they were about to be taken to the President instead of the police station.
Maybe Sonic did much more than they heard.
Back with Sonic, he was still cornered, his heart racing rapidly as he tried to think of a way out without drowning or getting burnt into crisp. Still cornered by the disguised Nega who, making him think he was the original Eggman, was much more darker than the other, the blue hedgehog was left helpless and unable to figure out how to escape.
"So, how would you like to die, Sonic? Drowning into the depths of the sea, eaten by the Orca Whale and Sharks, or death by the Frying Mantis? It is your choice, because the option to live is out of question." Nega continued darkly.
"You're acting just as crazy as you ever did before, Eggman! Do you really think you can get rid of me?" Sonic snapped back, clutching his fist as he refused to let his arch-nemesis know just how scared he was right about now.
"You can't escape, hedgehog. This is the day when you will ultimately die and I will build my Eggman Empire!" The dark evil scientist responded. "Seeing how you're not making your decision, perhaps all three shall surfice. Starting with a flame of death."
He snapped his fingers, and the Frying Mantis reared back to let out another large set of flames that had Sonic shield his face with one arm, screaming as he closed his left eye while terrified beyond belief, desperately pleading in his mind. 'Someone help me!'
Just then as Sonic thought he was done for, he and Nega both heard the sound of a jet ski and looked over to across the water where there was one coming straight towards them, with a man in his early thirties driving it, having the similar hair colour and eyes as Chris and his mother Lindsey, wearing a purple water proof t-shirt and shorts.
"Have no fear, Sonic! It's the Speed King of the S-Team to the rescue!" Sam "Speed" Fair declared with a smirk.
Sonic softly gasped in shock before smiling and smirking in relief to see his human best friend's uncle at the right moment. He cried out happily. "Sam! Great timing!"
"What!? Who is this now?" Nega demanded.
"Sonic, jump on!" Sam instructed as he drove closer.
Taking the message, Sonic leaped and narrowly escaped from the Frying Mantis's dangerous flames. He quickly landed on the seat behind his speedy rival and held onto the human man's shoulders as the racer/police officer drove away from the small island rock, forcing the robot to take flight and chase after them.
"Thanks, Sam!" The blue hedgehog exclaimed in appreciation.
"Hey, just because we're rivals, doesn't mean I'd let people get hurt. Based on the stories you and my nephew told everybody about, you're an okay guy, for a hedgehog." The man responded with a grin.
"You're just as the same as I've seen ya' in my dreams, in a good but crazy way." Sonic chuckled a little sheepishly, which was a relief. Even though he still had to be fully re-aquinted with the obsessed racer, he was glad that Sam, like Chris and everybody else he met in his dreams, were all the same. He had been worried that they would be slightly or way too different, but after three weeks, Sonic began to relax even more.
"Hey! I'm not that crazy, am I?"
Before Sonic could respond to that in a deadpan tone, he and Sam both looked up behind them to see the Frying Mantis about to attack again even at the speed they were going, forcing the human driver to tell the blue hedgehog to hold on and sped even faster, narrowly avoiding the attack while Nega growled, keeping a perfectly good eye on the teenage hero who was proving to be more of an annoyance than Blaze and all of her friends are.
He was about to order the robot to not let Sonic or his sudden companion get away, when Nega, and even Sonic and Sam all heard the sounds of an airplane coming at high-speed, causing all of them to look up and saw the familiar white plane speeding straight towards them.
"Now what?" Nega growled under his breath, not familiar with this plane.
"The X Tornado!" Sonic exclaimed in relief as more help arrived.
"There's Sonic, and he's with Uncle Sam!" Chris exclaimed, as he and Tails both saw their hedgehog best friend having hitched a ride on a jet ski driven by the former's uncle.
"Guess word went really fast, huh?" Tails remarked.
"When it comes to Uncle Sam...he's even more speed crazy than Sonic, and not in a good way." The twelve year old boy grumbled in embarrassment.
"More of Sonic's friends." Nega hissed darkly, before turning to his robot and commanded. "Frying Mantis, get rid of that hedgehog and that fool and then go after that plan! Destroy them all!"
As the Frying Mantis prepared to do so to unleash it's flames again, the duo on the ocean speeding away narrowed their eyes while Tails quickly opened fire to try and hit the insect-like robot only for it to dodge and to the two-tailed fox and Chris' horror, almost accidentally hit Sonic and Sam who both cried out in alarm.
"AH! Sorry, guys!" Tails exclaimed fearfully.
"Tails, look out!" Chris cried out, as he saw Nega turn his attention to them, the evil scientist having decided to deal with them himself and fired missiles at the X Tornado, much to the horror of Sonic and Sam below.
"TAILS, CHRIS! NO!" Sonic screamed in dismay, having also seen his human best friend inside as well, fearing for his two younger brothers' safeties and lives. It didn't help that the Frying Mantis was about to his the blue hedgehog and Sam's attentions on the younger boys to it's advantage.
Fortunately, Tails quickly maneuvered the X Tornado to avoid the missiles and fired back to destroy them, causing a mid-air explosion which blocked Nega's sight of the plane and forcing the evil scientist to shield his arm. Unfortunately for him, the smoke floated towards him and engulfed the mad doctor, which was no good for his disguise device since it wasn't protected from smoke even through material. As he coughed, the device began to spark and malfunction, getting his attention as he looked to his pocket, his eyes widening behind his sunglasses.
"Oh no! My device!" Nega exclaimed, and winced as his red Eggman disguise faltered and fizzed out, revealing his real identity.
While Sonic and Sam both sighed in relief, they saw that the Frying Mantis was still firing flames at them yet kept on missing, before the blue hedgehog suddenly remembered how Eggman used a large robot that also used flames at the City where Chris' parents celebrated their wedding anniversary and how Knuckles smashed the glass holding up water which dosed the flames, saving the blue hedgehog's life.
"I have an idea! Sam, think you can rear this thing to make a big wave?" Sonic questioned.
"Can do, Sonic! I used to do this alot in the underground lakes and oceans for fifteen years. Hold on!" Sam smirked, as he reared around doing a 360 U-turn with the blue hedgehog holding on tightly. Just as the robot was shooting out another set of flames, the jet ski sent out a big wave of water which caused it to engulf the Frying Mantis, soaking up and completely dosing the flames, rendering it now only being able to fly.
In the meantime, the smoke began to clear and Chris, not yet seeing Nega's real self and fearing that the evil scientist could still see Sonic and Sam, attempting to stop them, narrowed his eyes before he did what Tangle did a short time ago. He climbed out of the X Tornado and with trained balance despite knowing this was a crazy idea, he stood on the wing and prepared to jump.
"Chris, wait! Not you too!" Tails screamed out in horror, trying to stop his older friend, but couldn't.
But the young Thorndyke didn't listen, determined to help out his friends and refused to be a scared little boy anymore. For weeks he had trained to be braver and stronger, and while he still had a long way to go, he remembered what Sonic told him in their dream before their emotional goodbye. He couldn't rely on the blue hedgehog or anybody else to protect him and he had to do something to protect them as well.
"You leave them alone, Eggman!" Chris shouted, jumping off and with surprisingly good timing and angle despite Sonic and Sam's fearful screams when they saw what was happening, the twelve year old boy landed right on top of Nega who shouted in alarm and trying to hold on, the boy grabbed hold of the evil man's mustache, just as he did with Eggman in the Dream-Link.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Nega screamed in agony, tears coming out of his eyes at the unexpected tug and pull. But when the smoke cleared, Chris, Tails, Sonic and Sam were all shocked and stunned to see the real identity of their foe.
"Huh!? You're not...You're...!" Chris trailed off, shocked yet still keeping his grip on the man's mustache.
"What the!? It can't be!" Sonic exclaimed, before his eyes widened in shock and realization, the reason why this Eggman sounded so different. They both somehow swapped places using some sort of high piece of technology from Tangle's world to disguise himself...meaning that the real Eggman of this world was given the same thing to disguise himself as Nega!
"I don't believe it! It's Dr. Eggman Nega!" Tails cried out, coming to the same realization as, unbeknownst to the fox cub, his older hedgehog brother did. Then another realization came to him; the Eggman that Tangle and Blaze were facing now was the Eggman of this world, using the Beacon robot just like in Sonic and Chris' shared dream.
"Hey, that's the Eggman-wanna-be I saw in TV earlier! Just what's going on? How did this guy get here?" Sam exclaimed in confusion, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"That's just just an Eggman-wanna-be! That's Eggman Nega from an alternate universe!" The blue hedgehog explained, only confusing his friend's uncle even more. "I'll explain later, but we gotta take out that robot first!"
"So you're the one causing trouble just like Eggman too! You won't get away with it!" Chris grunted, narrowing his eyes as he struggled against Nega, holding his grip and trying to keep his balance.
"You little brat! Let go of my mustache!" Nega hissed, tugging at the boy's hands to get him out of his face-literally.
"Chris!" Sonic cried out, his heart hammering yet again. 'No! No, please, no! Don't make him fall! What is that kid thinking!?'
"Sonic! Take the ring!" Tails shouted, knowing that Chris needed to be saved and both Nega and the Frying Mantis needed to be stopped.
"Right!" The blue hedgehog called back, and as Sam speed over, Sonic leaped off while the Frying Mantis attempted to now fly away due to losing it's function to shoot out flames.
As the eight year old fox pulled a lever and a Power Ring came flying out, the fifteen year old hedgehog reached out, grasping it in his right hand and held it tightly, absorbing it's power as it glowed alongside him. With determination and glaring at the evil robot, Sonic spun into his Super Spin Attack and smashed straight through the Frying Mantis' chest, emerging through it's back while the robot promptly exploded, ultimately destroyed.
"Sonic!" The two-tailed kit flew the X Tornado underneath Sonic who flipped and landed safely on the left wing, giving his younger brother a thumbs up with a smirk. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Now let's go save Chris!" The blue hedgehog replied.
Nodding in agreement, Tails flew the plane towards where Nega, who was losing altitude, still continued to try and fight off Chris who held on more tightly until he heard his two best friends calling out his name. The young Thorndyke looked to see Sonic riding on the X Tornado's wing with determination to save him. Knowing what to do, Chris then glared at Nega again before kicking him on the back.
"AUGH!" Nega grunted, being forced to let go and hold his left side, while Chris awkwardly stood up and prepared to jump.
"That'll serve you right, you creep!" The twelve year old boy exclaimed, before jumping out, yelling. Fortunately, the X Tornado flew right underneath him and Sonic jumped up before grabbing him, flipping and landed safely back onto the plane. "Sonic!"
"Ha ha!" Sonic laughed, smiling in relief at the boy in his arms. "Chris, that was crazy! Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry about that, Sonic. I just...have no idea what came over me to do that, except to try and distract him." Chris apologetically replied, realizing how reckless he had been in doing that, lowering his gaze in guilt.
"You guys had me scared, buddy. I thought I was about to lose ya's." The blue hedgheog responded, becoming tearful even though he tried to hold back his tears.
The young Thorndyke, stunned to hear the hero of Mobius say this, smiled back just as emotional but decided to leave the hugging session for when they were back on the ground and for Tails and his uncle Sam to join in. Before they and Sonic could say anything further, they heard Nega growl.
"So you and your friends have defeated me." The evil scientist hissed, causing the group to gaze at him as he glared back. "You are just as meddling as that infuriating Princess, boy. But I must admit, you have such determination and will power."
"So you're Dr. Nega. I've heard about you, and it looks like you're already teamed up with Eggman." Sonic narrowed his eyes, glaring at the more twisted scientist.
"As have I heard of you. But still...Ha ha ha ha ha..." Nega laughed evilly which sent chills run down the group's spines. "You're so cruel...You taunt me by not using my full title."
"You're the one that's horribly cruel!" Chris retorted, as Sonic gently set him back into the plane after Tails opened up the hatch.
"That's right! You hurt so many and we know what you're up to!" Tails added.
"Besides which, you lost! Why don't you save yourself the humiliation and surrender?" The blue hedgehog added, ready to strike at the dark scientist.
"I may have lost this battle, but real fight is just beginning. In the end, soon, you will be destroyed...by Dr. Eggman Nega! I won't forget this, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Nega said, before putting his Egg Mobile to full throttle, chuckling evilly as he pushes a button which sent out a huge stream of smoke which covered the area.
Sonic and Sam both screamed while Tails and Chris cried out, the former two coughing as no one could see, but they could hear Nega's evil laughter. Though the blue hedgehog caught sight of the Eggman-Twin's silhouette disappearing, making the teenage hedgehog gasp.
"Wait! Eggman Nega!" Sonic cried out, but by the time the smoke cleared, Nega was gone as his friends had noticed and gasped in shock.
"He's gone!" Chris exclaimed.
"He got away by using that smokes screen. Nega sure is more tougher than Eggman is, and I have a feeling the battles are gonna get more and more dangerous from now on in the future." Tails remarked, worriedly.
'Eggman Nega...Who is he? I got a bad feeling about this. Could Tangle and Blaze know how to beat this guy?' Sonic thought to himself, narrowing his eyes as he could only gaze at where he thought he'd seen the dark scientist take off. More than that, the cobalt teenager was more scared of this guy and he had a horrible feeling that this situation was just as bad as what he went through inside his dreams.
Now he understood why Tangle and Cosmo warned everyone about Nega.
Five minutes later, the X Tornado landed back onto solid ground where Sonic hopped off, and both Chris and Tails came climbing out, before the blue hedgehog pulled his two younger surrogate brothers into a desperate and warm embrace, surprising them before they, relieved to see him safe as well, returned it.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again. I was really worried!" Sonic nearly sobbed, tears nearly coming out as he desperately held his best friends close to him while they held him at the same time.
"We were worried about you too, Sonic...Nega really had us tricked." Tails whimpered, tears already falling from his eyes as he softly cried.
"I'm sorry for being reckless like that. I just...I didn't want to be useless." Chris wept.
"Shhhh...It's gonna be okay. I promise that everything will be alright." Sonic softly shushed, sniffling, while Sam watched on with an emotional smile to see the three young boys being this close in a matter of weeks.
It amazed the racer/police officer that all it took was some sort of mechanical mess on Eggman's part while trying to take over the world and a dream that Sonic and Chris both shared unknowingly to bring them and the rest of the world of both humans and Mobians together. He was about to say something when he got a phone call and quickly answered, thankful that his phone's cover was also water proof.
Eventually the trio reluctantly let go of each other, wiping away their tears and Sonic said. "Well, all things considered, we kicked the two Eggheads' butts."
"Yeah. Tangle helped out to save Blaze who was fighting Eggman's robot, and you wouldn't believe how she could stretch her tail out like a rubber band!" Chris remarked, with Tails nodding to confirm it.
"Really? Tangle can do that?" Sonic asked, surprised to hear the lemur's special ability.
"Yeah. She can stretch out her tail as long as she wants. That's how she helped to save Blaze when she had trouble with that flying robot." Tails explained.
"It's the one that gave you trouble and when I first found the first Chaos Emerald in our dreams." The twelve year old boy added, making the blue hedgehog softly gasp in shock.
'The Beacon...I remember that one. Then that means...' Sonic thought to himself, lowering his gaze in horrified realization, given what Tikal has told him. 'Most of the stuff I've seen in my dreams are coming true, but in a different outcome.'
If that was the case, then Sonic, as he had been writing in a book he bought to keep up to date with his dreams so that he would be able to read them for reminders and what to expect, had a feeling that all the other events were coming up soon and that scared him a whole lot; Chaos' rampage, the release of Shadow...and Emerl. Heck, even with Blaze's group and Nega around now, the merging of the two worlds could still happen, but Sonic and his friends would not be forced to leave the planet since they and their human friends had all been born in the same world unaware of each others' presence.
"Hey, kids." Sam spoke up, bringing Sonic out of his thoughts as he, Tails and Chris turned to the older human who, having just ended to phone call. "Sorry to interrupt but I've been asked to find you and bring you to the President. He needs to see you, or at least you and Chris, Sonic."
"The President wants to see us?" Chris asked, dumbfounded.
"How come? Is it to do with what's going on?" Sonic questioned, becoming more and more uneasy by the second as he shrugged.
"Yeah, pretty much. Don't know if you knows heard or even seen, but that cat girl's been brought to the Big Man himself and apparently wants to meet you. She's with a lemur girl too."
"Whaaaaat!?" Sonic, Tails and Chris exclaimed in horror, before sharing a glance as a terrifying realization kicked in.
'Oh no! Blaze and Tangle have been arrest! I knew I shouldn't have left them on their own! This is all my fault!' Tails thought to himself in horror, guilt and dismay.
'This is bad! If the President is meeting with Blaze and Tangle, then it's even more trouble!' Chris thought, horrified.
'No...Please, don't let it be as bad as I think it is...I didn't even get the chance to talk to Blaze and ask for answers from her yet...!' Sonic thought to himself, horrified beyond belief as he sensed that more complications were beginning to arise.
He just hoped he could talk reason with the President to not take any drastic action. Sonic knew he had to do something about this quick.
Very quick.
A/N: I had been stuck on this chapter trying to figure out how to continue it, and while I am aware is not as great as I had hoped, but I came up with so many ideas that I struggled which ones to pick. Plus this year has gotten into a really bad start, but hopefully things will settle down soon. Also, sorry that's really long.
I'll try to make future chapters shorter and update this again as soon as possible and hopefully bring back the Babylon Rogues in the next chapter.
See you later!