Sonic X – A Journey to a New World
Chapter One: The Last Emerald
It was a peaceful afternoon at Cream and Cheese's house, and the girls were currently joining their young bunny friend and her pet Chao on the outside lawn for a tea party alongside Amy Rose, Tails, and even Sonic, who was nearby napping on the wing of the Tornado where Tails had parked it. Making an excuse to leave, Blaze had disappeared into his treehouse as soon as Ash had her back turned.
Seated by her brother, Frieda was enjoying the idle chatter as she politely nibbled into a ripe nectarine that had been passed to her by their hostess, looking up to see Ash's tears as clear as the fake smile on her face.
"Ash …?" Frieda tried to say before Amy looked up, too, to see Ash rise to her feet without another word and just walk off a few steps.
"Ash, where are you going?" Amy tried to ask before she felt heard Cream's soft voice speak up, "Oh Amy, it's alright. I'm sure everything's fine."
"It is, Cream," Frieda said, taking a moment to wipe down her dress before she stood, too, to her feet, her twin tales appearing at her sides as they all watched Ash sit down to her knees, her eyes looking out to the horizon for no particular reason. "This day is hard for both of them."
"I remember," Tails said, going back to the scene that he and their leader had witnessed as Sonic opened up his eyes as his ears picked up on Ash's tears below, a familiar sound that she saw from her for many a time since the incident. Hopping down, Sonic came over to stand next to Ash as she looked up into his patient emerald eyes. "Three years ago, that was when …"
"Yes," was all Ash said as Sonic sat a knowing hand on her shoulder, to which she knew was a rare gesture from Sonic meant especially for her. Managing to smile at Sonic's wink, Ash said, "Thanks."
Standing nearby, Frieda watched this moment between them with a smile, knowing just how much Ash missed her father since he used his connection to the Chaos Emerald to cause his mysterious departure just three years ago. Knowing it left Blaze looking for strength and Ash wanting answers, Frieda knew just how hard it was for the both of them to think on it for too long without feeling sad.
"I'm glad Ash has Sonic as a mentor," Frieda heard Roxanne say as she and Cream's mother, Vanilla, walked out of the house with a tray of cookies and an extra pitcher of lemonade for Cream's friends. Looking down at Cream and Cheese as they both just clapped, each taking a cookie to try, Anne just turned to Vanilla as she said, "Thank you for letting us stay here after what happened."
"It was no problem at all," Vanilla said, smiling at all the children and especially at Roxanne to show that she meant it. "You three have been a joy. Your children are so gifted and helpful in many ways. Why, that treehouse workshop of your son's architecture, that is a real work of art I will say. And, your Ashley …" she said, to which Ash frowned a bit at hearing her full girly name, "She is quite special."
"Yes, she is," Roxanne said, looking right at her daughter as Sonic got her to stand to her feet. "And, I am so proud of her."
"Hey, Ash," Sonic said, hearing Amy's attempts to call him over to his embarrassment. "Want to go for a run?"
"Are you sure?" Ash asked, hearing Frieda, Cream, and Cheese come close to hear what was going on. "That's usually your thing."
"I'm sure," Sonic said, looking over his shoulder in a smile as he heard Cream say, "Can we go, too, Sonic? Please?!" Pleading, too, Cheese added, "Chao?"
Turning his head with a small smile, Sonic saw that Tails was curled up asleep on the picnic mat, so he knew that his buddy wouldn't miss him for a while. However, when his eyes landed on Amy …
"Sonic!" Amy cried, her arms outstretched towards him as she came running. "Oh Sonic!"
"Hi, Amy. Sonic was just going to … Whoa!" Cream started to say before she was picked up by Sonic in a hurry, Chao clinging to the skirt of her dress.
"Cream, hold on. Sorry Amy, gotta go!" Sonic said, taking off to Amy's dismay.
"Sonic … You get back here!" Amy called, summoning her magic hammer out of irritation and chasing after him. "Sonic!"
"Well, I guess we'll have to catch up, won't we?" Frieda said, reading Ash's mind completely as they both laughed.
Meanwhile, up in his treehouse, Blaze looked through his eyeglass to look down at Ash as he heard her laughing, glad that he could hear that sound coming from his sister. Seeing his sister flip up into the air in joy and stay there, his keen eye noticed the small glowing pocket on her belt. Making a note to ask her about it later, he almost tripped as he decided to take another look when he saw the way Ash looked back at him with an expression like she knew something he didn't. Seeing a brief gleam of the diamond-shaped gem on her belt got his immediate attention as he rushed from his room to the treehouse door in hope to reach his sister in haste.
"We need to go," Ash said, falling expertly to the ground and back on her feet. Grabbing Frieda's hand, both girls started to run as Ash just took off as fast as her physical feat allowed her, fast enough that it left Frieda with the decision to depend on her twin-tail 'wing' flaps to catch up, calling, "Ash! Wait up!"
Pushing herself to fun faster, Ash closed her eyes as she concentrated on the advice that Sonic had given her about two years ago, "So, you want to run fast, huh? Okay, the first thing to remember is don't be afraid at what you can already do." Knowing that her abilities were different from her mentor's, she still chose to use running as an excuse to get her heartbeat pumping and her adrenaline going to a point to where she knew she wanted it. Plus, she found out that running gave her a medium that allowed her to physically channel her telekinetic abilities even further.
"Ash, what are you doing?" Frieda asked, close enough to see her take out the now-glowing gem out of her belt sack. "Where did you get that?"
"Never mind. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" Pressing the orbs on the top of her gloves, Ash smiled as she felt the stored up energy surge over her fur in a way that told her she was canceling the gravity beneath her feet. "See? I'm fine … Whoa, Uh …" she said, however, feeling another strange pulse that wasn't her own come over her when she launched herself off of the ground. "Maybe I'm not. What's … What's happening?" She called out, shocked to find out she was streaming forward mid-air at a miraculous high speed that made Amy duck, lowering herself just in time below Ash as she called out, "Whoa! Sorry Amy! Help!"
"Ash!" Amy cried, a cry that even reached Sonic's ears as he stopped and turned, seeing Ash coming in fast.
"She's got a Chaos Emerald!" Frieda panted, seeing the now shimmering gem in Ash's procession shine with a greater proficiency than normal as Ash panicked and shut her eyes, causing her flight pattern to turn erratic as she flipped head over feet and around several trees. Scared, she instead clutched the gem and just wished for it all to stop. In shock, they all watched as Ash just hovered and floated absolutely still, the gem slipping from her fingers to simply orbit around her as she cringed midair in trepid fear.
"Ash!" Flying towards Ash, who still had her eyes closed in stunned silence, Frieda took ahold of her friend's hands as the Emerald slightly altered its course where it then hovered just above them both, to the fox's curiosity. "You've got to calm down. What … What is it?" Wanting to help her friend, she suddenly found herself feeling a sudden empathic surge of hurting coming from Ash's mind, where Frieda suddenly got a picture of why Ash had the Emerald in the first place. "Ash."
Opening her eyes, Ash guiltily looked away as they both heard Sonic yell up, "Is everything alright?"
"Yes," Frieda said, speaking up for Ash as she only turned her head away as Sonic turned up an eyebrow and looked on straight at her. "She's just afraid to come down."
(Meanwhile, back on the ground and next to the picnic)
"Tails!" Blaze said, running over to where he saw Tails still sleeping on the blanket and shaking him a bit. "Tails, wake up."
"Huh?" Tails said groggily, his mouth yawning as he looked up to see a pulsing green brightness in weave of the sun's rays. Closing his eyes once more despite Blaze trying to coax him awake one more time with a hand on his shoulder, the sound of the Tornado's locator alarm was enough to make Tails snap right awake as they both jumped to their feet. "What's … What's going on?"
"Ash took off after Sonic with a Chaos Emerald, Tails," Blaze said, catching the younger fox's direct attention as he flew over to check the Miles Electric that was attached to the Tornado. "She was booking pretty fast, too."
"Well, Sonic has been showing her a few tricks or so. I know that much," Tails said, pressing a few buttons on the plane. Looking up past the turbine, they both saw the strong green burst of light as both of their expressions grew grim. "Get in! I don't think we're the only ones who has seen that glow."
Climbing up into the other seat behind Tails, Blaze heard the plane start up as he asked, "Why do you think that?"
"Look," he said, pointing as Eggman's excited and hooting laughter filled the Miles screen.
Both just scowled as the Doctor spoke out, "Well, well, well. You have been keeping my Emerald safe." Laughing, again, he started chortling as Blaze climbed over the top of Tails' seat. "Well, why don't I just come over and get it then …?"
Growling, Blaze pulled the screen out of the dash right with his sharp claws as Tails was taking off, which caught him off balance. Dropping it, the tablet screen fell from his grip as he scrambled to keep from falling out of the plane as it flew up and forward. Sliding, he felt a hand grip his as he looked up to see an annoyed look on Tails' face to keep him from falling off.
"Tails, I'll help make another one," Blaze said, reading Tails' expression as it hardened yet softened at the same time. "And, thanks."
"I'll hold you to that," Tails said, letting go enough for Blaze to slide back into his seat. Turning around, he pressed a few more buttons on the plane's dash saying, "Hang on!"
"Very funny," Blaze said, knowing a smirk was going across Tail's face as he side chuckled, his expression going back to neutral as he willed the Tornado to go as fast as it could go.
(Back at where Ash was still floating mid-air with the Emerald a ways off)
Having put Cream and Cheese down, Sonic zipped up into a tree that was closest to Ash as he said, "Ash, we have to talk about this." Finally seeing her look up at him, Sonic's hard expression only changed to benign as he instead reached out a hand towards her. "Come on, Racs, let's get you down from here first."
"Sonic!" Cream exclaimed, pointing up to where Eggman's came barreling in on his hovering egg-mobile, stopping right before the girls has he noticed the still spinning and rotating gem. Smiling with a greedy yet sympathic smile, the Doctor only laughed as Sonic yelled, "Eggman!"
"Ho, ho, ho!" Eggman chortled as the girls' looks of terror reflected across his blue rims. "It's not easy to wield the pure energy of an Emerald, is it? My dear, I have to admit it … You impress me. However, why don't you make it easy on yourself, Ashley, and hand it over … Ooh, did I touch a nerve?"
Hearing her full name, Ash's eyes went straight down in a scowl as a small stream of static weaved its way through her fur in her irritation, making Frieda utter "Uh oh" and Sonic's eyes went straight up in concern.
Noticing the change on her face, Eggman kept his gaze on her as face as he secretly punched a key or two as he heard her say, "How many times do I have to say it, Eggman? Don't call me … AHHHHH!" Frieda's shock was added to Ash's as they felt a weird tractor beam appeared below them and encased them as they both just floated there, Ash's power dissipating to her horror. "What is this, Eggman?!"
"My dear, meet E-2 Negatron. It temporary negates electric fields and interrupts Emerald activity powerless," Eggman said, seeing Ash feebly seethe as Frieda grabbed her, supporting her as the Emerald fell between them and was headed towards Eggman's extended hand. "I'm sorry, dear, but it was necessary …" he relented, breaking off and hearing Sonic's instant rage.
"Stop this, Eggman!" Sonic said, seeing the girls in trouble. "You're hurting them!"
"Actually, my spiny blue heathen," Eggman said, resorting to taunting. "I assure you that it's quite harmless …"
"Not so fast, Eggman!" Knuckles said, revealing that he and Amy were at the bottom thrashing the salamander-sized robot to shreds. "Sonic, now!"
"Hey, do you know how long it took me to make that?!" Eggman cried out, seeing the tractor beam being disrupted, forgetting all about the Emerald for a second right as Sonic dived right for the girls as Frieda flapped her tails faintly hard to ease them both to the ground, which was a little hard due to Ash's not being weightless anymore. "It took me almost three years to perfect that … Sonic?!"
Catching them, Sonic twisted himself lightly to kick the Emerald up into the air and away from Eggman's attempt to grab it, the gem twirling with a revived glow as it flew up and over them all.
"Sonic!" Tails called over the turbines as the Tornado came into view in front of them all. Seeing that he was getting quickly outnumbered, Eggman watched the Emerald's trajectory as he saw who was going for it and smiled at his opportunity.
"I got it, Sonic!" Cream said, catching the gem in her hands as Cheese cheered, as they both were then interrupted by a menacing shadow. Looking up, the Doctor only laughed as his grabbing egg capsule went towards them as he said, "Well, Creamy, it looks like you both are coming along with me."
With his eyes only on his sister, Blaze jumped from the Tornado to run over to where Sonic laid her down on the ground, his focus not on Eggman as they all heard Cream scream.
Turning towards where Eggman was flying away with their friend and her Chao, Amy pointed up and said, "There he goes!" Laughing, Eggman drove off at high speed as Sonic only frowned, knowing what was going to have to happen now.
"Sonic," Ash said, getting his attention as Knuckles only crossed his arms, upset too. "I … I didn't mean to … I only …"
"You know that he has all seven Emeralds now, right?!" Knuckles said, an annoyed look going across his brow right as Ash looked down in emotional sadness.
"Easy, Knuckles," Amy said, pushing him back to show that she was dismayed, too, but softened as Ash only pulled her knees up to her chest and sat there. "I'm sure Ash didn't mean for this to happen, right?"
Shaking her head, Ash only broke down as Sonic put a hand on his side, a small grimace going across his mouth at her tears, and only listened as Tails said, "Why didn't you tell us about that last Emerald?"
Still crying, Frieda sighed and spoke up for her friend as she said, "Because it was the same Emerald that her Father disappeared with three years ago." Looking into Ash's teary eyes, she said, "I saw it. That's why Eggman never found it after …"
Placing a hand on her friend's hand to not say anything more, Ash only said, "I'm sorry everyone." Sighing, she weakly stood herself to her feet as she looked up to hopefully see Sonic's eye, to which he was instead looking onward towards Dr. Eggman's base. "Please, I will do anything to help get them back."
"Ash, you can barely stand!" Blaze said, coming almost forward before he was stopped by Sonic, who walked over to her first.
"Ash," Sonic said, waiting until he had her full attention as he calmly continued. "You can help, but not this time. I'm sorry." Turning away from her, he spoke to Tails and Amy to take the Tornado. They were going to have to act fast to infiltrate Dr. Eggman's base and save Cream and Cheese.
"Sonic," Ash said, seeing his almost paternal eye touch hers again as he sighed, having already made his decision.
"We'll talk later, Racs. I promise," he said, taking off with Tails and Amy in pursuit from the air via the plane. "Stay here and be safe!"
"And, there he goes," Blaze said, seeing Knuckles take off, too, knowing that blindly approaching Eggman's base was dangerous. "Knuckles?"
"You heard Sonic," Knuckles said, in full support of the order after what happened. "You three stay here. We'll handle this!"
After he was gone, Ash let Frieda help her up as she thought about something else. "Wait!"
"Ash, what now?" Blaze said, knowing that his sister was getting a crazy plan. "You heard what the others said."
"Never mind that," Ash said, thinking about why Eggman needed all seven Chaos Emeralds. "What does the Doctor want them all when one is just enough for Chaos Control?"
"Ash, I don't like this," Blaze said, knowing where she was going with this.
"No, Ash is right," Frieda said, taking out a little mini handheld communicator to check something about the Emeralds. "Here is it. 'Chaos Emeralds are legendary and mystical stones that are bestowed with magical and powerful abilities. They are the seven servers of the Master Emerald …"
"The Master Emerald?" Blaze asked, admitting that he was hooked in interest, too.
Shrugging, too, Frieda continued, "… Anyone who possesses all seven can command near un-surpassed power.' That's it!"
"Now that Dr. Eggman has all of the Emeralds," Ash said, looking towards where they left and were told not to follow. "He's going to try and use all seven Emeralds at once!"
Looking at his sister, Blaze knew what Ash had planned, "You aren't thinking of going, are you? Sonic told you to stay …"
"I know what he said!" Ash said, feeling humiliated that she had resorted to raising her voice towards her big brother. "I have to help someway, guys. It's my fault that Cream and Cheese got captured when the Doctor used me to get the Emerald. Now, are you guys with me?"
Frieda was already in support of their trio's self-proclaimed leader as Blaze only groaned begrudgingly, but didn't want to admit he wanted to give Eggman a hit or two for hurting his sister.
"Then, let's go!" Ash said, running back towards the treehouse in the distance with the others where she knew her brother kept a motorcycle they could use to catch up to the others.
Just to note, this is before the first episode of Sonic X and our version of what leads to Cream and Cheese getting captured. We hope you enjoyed this chapter, because we enjoyed putting this together. Until next time!