Chapter 6 - Excitement at the Park

The entire brunch was enjoyed...both the food and the company. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and Aura was especially enjoying the way all the heroes present were making her feel welcome. While Sally and Mina offered to help Lisa with the dishes, the rest of the group were talking with each other. Aura was explaining where she had come from, and several present listened with great interest. Teila and Kyle were looking at Amy's new armor with great interest as Amy described the armor and her training to them. Anthony and Tyreke were busy comparing each other's psi abilities.

"Amazing..." Tyreke said, "...and all these powers were deep in your subconscious?"

"Yeah...and I'm discovering new powers from time to time," Anthony commented.

After a short while, Lisa, Sally, and Mina rejoined the group and Lisa spoke up. "Well, shall we get going to Twinkle Park?"

"Definitely," Knuckles said.

"Yeah, just as long as there are no two ton killer robots chasing us," Amy commented.

"You already scrapped Zero, Amy," Sonic said. "I doubt he'll be coming back."

"Well, let's stop yapping and go have some fun," Red Sonic said.

Everyone agreed and headed out towards Twinkle Park.

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Anthony was surprised that he was seeing Twinkle Park for real. It reminded him of Valleyfair back in his hometown, but then it was an amusement park as well.

"It's too bad that cute couples deal isn't going on," Sally said.

"Hey, we got a deal anyway," Sonic said. "I mean...free tickets because you're friends with the Gamemaster...why Anth still wanted to pay, I'll never know..."

"Blame that honor of mine, Sonic..." Anthony said. "So...where shall we go first?"

"How about...THERE?" Lazer asked, pointing at a large roller coaster. "It's called the 'Sonic Rocket', and it's supposed to be the fastest roller coaster around, even compared to Earth versions."

"Gee, I wonder who it's named after..." Tyreke said, sarcasm in plain view.

"Stifle it, Tyreke," Teila said.

Anthony looked at the Sonic Rocket and winced. "You sure it's not called the 'Stomach Churner'? It's got about 20 loop-di-loops and twists in it. Now I'm wishing I didn't have that big brunch..."

"It looks like fun!" Aura said, then looking at Ryndar, who was wriggling in her arms. "Though it might not be a good idea to bring our Chao on that."

"There's a daycare area right there," Lisa said, pointing at what looked like a Chao playpen. "We can leave them there while we ride the roller coaster."

After dropping Ryndar and Hogi-San off at the daycare, the group all filed into the Sonic Rocket. Various screams of delight and/or fear could be heard as the ride went through every twist and turn. Afterwards, the group could be seen each reacting differently to the ride.

"THAT...was awesome," Red Sonic said.

"You said it," Rebecca said. "I thought I was going to be ill, but that wasn't that bad."

"Um...we can't say the same for those guys..." Lazer said, pointing to Tails, Amy, and Anthony, all of whom were getting violently ill in separate garbage cans.

Aura walked up to Anthony and asked, "Are you alright?"

"One moment..." Anthony said, using a Purge power to relieve him of his nausea. "Okay...I'm fine now..." He then went over to Tails and Amy and used the same power on them.

"Thanks, Anthony..." Amy said.

"Okay, let's find a ride that DOESN'T make us ill..." Anthony said. "Like the Twinkle Circuit. Who wants to race?"

"You have to ASK?!?" Sonic, Red Sonic, and Mina all said at once.

Anthony rolled his eyes. "Figures..."

The group decided to all separate to go do their own things. Aura and Lisa decided to go check on their Chao, and Rouge and Amy joined them. It was then that the four ladies noticed what looked like a GUN soldier accosting the person in charge.

"You will hand over those Chao...NOW!" the soldier said.

"Hey! What's going on?" Rouge said. "Who are you to take other people's Chao? GUN has no such authority."

"None of your business, bat girl..." the soldier said, taking a swing at Rouge, but ending up on the ground instead with a deft judo move from Rouge.

It was then that the group saw another soldier fighting his way into the holding area where the Chao were. Amy activated her armor, rocketed towards the soldier, and knocked him down with a gauntleted punch. Unfortunately, this attack also caused the Chao to scatter.

"No, Hogi-San, come back!" Lisa said, chasing after Hogi-San.

"Ryndar! Stop!" Aura said, chasing after her own Chao.

As the park security came and took care of the GUN soldiers, Rouge and Amy noticed Lisa and Aura ran off. "We'd better help them, Amy," Rouge said.

"I'll help Lisa, you go help Aura," Amy said, and then the two ran after their charges.

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STAGE 5 - Twinkle Park Midway
CHARACTERS: Amy/Lisa
MUSIC: Twinkle Park - Pleasure Castle from Sonic Adventure
OBJECTIVE: Find Hogi-San!

Lisa was running like crazy through the midway, trying to see where Hogi-San went. As Amy joined her, Lisa said, "Do you see him, Amy?"

"I wish...wait, there he is!" Amy said, seeing Hogi-San run towards the Fun House.

Lisa and Amy ran into the Fun House after Hogi-San. After chasing him into the Hall of Mirrors, both girls got themselves lost.

"Oh no...not now..." Lisa said, and then cried out, "HOGI-SAN!"

Amy still had her armor activated and used an internal radar to get her bearings. It was then that she heard a tiny squeaking noise near her. She then noticed a small Chao dressed as Sonic. "There you are, Hogi-San..." Amy said, picking up the small Chao. She then noticed Hogi-San acting scared, and decided to deactivate her armor. "It's okay...it's just me, Hogi-San..."

Hogi-San recognized Amy and immediately nuzzled her. Amy then found Lisa and they made their way through the Fun House.

"What do you suppose that GUN soldier wanted with the Chao" Lisa asked, hugging Hogi-San closely.

"I don't know..." Amy said, worriedly. "We'd better tell the others."

Lisa nodded in agreement, and both of them ran to find the others.

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STAGE 6 - Twinkle Park Concessions Area
CHARACTERS: Rouge/Aura
MUSIC: Twinkle Park - Fakery Way from Sonic Adventure
OBJECTIVE: Find Ryndar!

"RYNDAR!" Aura called out, looking through the crowd worriedly. She then saw Ryndar darting into a group off booths, and ran after him. Rouge saw where Aura and Ryndar went as she glided above the crowds, and followed after them.

Aura then noticed several kids trying to capture Ryndar, and Ryndar acted scared. Aura called out, "That's my Chao, kids! Leave him alone!"

The kids moved off, but Ryndar was still scared and ran off again. Aura chased after him, and noticed Rouge scoop him up and land on the ground.

"Thanks, Rouge," Aura said, taking Ryndar from her and hugging him close, even helping to wipe what appeared to be tears coming from Ryndar's eyes.

"My pleasure," Rouge said, and then scowled. "What is GUN up to? I'm going to have to report this..."

"Let's meet with the others first," Aura said. "They'll probably want to know what happened as well."

Rouge nodded in agreement, and they went to find the others.

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After an exhaustive search, the entire group had gotten back together. Lisa and Aura told them what had happened at the daycare area while Rouge used a nearby pay phone to call her superiors.

"Some vacation THIS is..." Anthony said. "What does GUN want with the Chao?"

"Not sure, Anth..." Red Sonic said. "After that fiasco on the ARK, they've been staying out of the public eye for the most part. Mainly because no one trusts them as much...not even the president!"

"Well, hopefully we'll be able to stop whatever they're..." Knuckles started to say, and then looked skyward. "What the...?

All of them looked where Knuckles was and saw Angel Island coming in close. "The heck?" Julie-Su said. "What is that doing here?"

"We've got something else to worry about guys..." Sonic said. "LOOK!"

Everyone looked where Sonic was, and saw a large GUN vehicle approaching. Anthony recognized the model.

"A Bigfoot?" Anthony said. "The HELL?!?"

"Looks like they mean business..." Sonic said. "Shall we, Anth?"

"Let's do it..." Anthony said, activating his armor and his lightsaber.

BOSS STAGE: F-6T Bigfoot
CHARACTERS: Sonic/Anthony
MUSIC: Digimon World 3 battle music

Anthony and Sonic ran up to face the overgrown vehicle, wondering what GUN was up to that required the heavy machinery. The Bigfoot started its attack by floating high and firing missiles down at Sonic and Anthony. The two had to scramble to avoid the attack.

"GEEZ!" Anthony said, and then fired a Force Blast towards the Bigfoot, forcing it to land. Sonic took that as his chance and ran towards it, dodging the gunfire and then sending a Sonic Spin into the cockpit area. As the vehicle reeled, Anthony decided to disable it further with a slash to the legs, causing it to crash to the ground. The pilot barely escaped before the Bigfoot exploded into a mess of sparking metal and oil.

Anthony finally caught up to the pilot and grabbed him by the collar. "What's the big idea? What are you doing here?!?"

The pilot didn't respond, save for biting down on something in his mouth. Anthony took a look inside and found the remains of a cyanide capsule.

"Dammit..." Anthony said, and then noticed the others running towards him, including Rouge. He deactivated his armor and asked, "You guys alright?"

"We're fine," Aura said. "The Chao are a little spooked, but alright."

"I've informed the president what happened," Rouge said. "He's giving us full clearance to check out GUN."

"Can't he just fire them?" Tyreke asked. "I mean..."

"Not that simple," Rouge said. "GUN is no longer, officially, working for South Island. Still...its head said that they will be glad to help with any security needs."

"...though it looks like they have their own agenda now," Ryan said, and then looked towards Angel Island. "And why is Angel Island floating nearby?"

"I'd better check this out," Knuckles said. "Anthony...if you would..."

"Of course..." Anthony said, grabbing Knuckles's arm. The two then disappeared as a Teleport power was activated.