Author's note: Nothing much to say this time around. Enjoy reading!
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Episode 6: Family Matters.
It was a nice sunny day at the Thorndyke Mansion as a week has passed since the fake Chaos Emerald news, yet despite all of that, Sonic and his friends were not even one step closer in figuring out where the Iron Empire's secret base was. Still, they did their best in keeping Cream happy and so far they did a pretty good job considering. The blue hedgehog in question went for a run to try and relax as well as keeping an eye and ear out for any updates. When he was disappointed to find nothing again, he went back and came calmly in to join Chris, Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese for breakfast.
"Heya, guys." Sonic greeted as he joined the others at the dining room table.
"Good morning, Mr. Sonic." Cream greeted sweetly, with Cheese greeting the teenage hero who couldn't help but smile.
'She's such a sweet little kid. How could anybody not like her?' The fourteen year old thought. He felt quite happy with how much the five year old had grown attached to not just to Amy obviously, but to him, Tails, Chris, Ella, Chuck and Mr. Tanaka as well.
After both Chris and Tails also greeted the cobalt hedgehog, as did Amy, the pink hedgehog then asked. "Sonic, where'd you go?"
"Just out. And, you know, hoping for any updates on what's goin' on." Sonic shrugged.
"Any luck?" Tails asked.
Sonic sighed and apologetically replied. "Not even a peep. It's like those guys just appear and disappear whenever they want to. Nothing like what Eggman would do even though he spends sometimes months secretly planning something until he attacks again."
"Should we be worried?" Chris asked, concerned.
"The Iron Empire aren't like anyone I've ever seen. I'm more concerned about why they haven't attacked again to find Cream and Cheese, not that I'm gonna let that happen." The blue hedgehog said. "They're planning on something really big. I can feel it."
"Maybe they decided to stop and are looking for other Chao?" The twelve year old boy suggested hopefully.
"But, the Chao Colonies are really hard to find. Nobody really knows where they are." Cream pointed out, hugging her own Chao worriedly.
"Cream's right. It's very rare to find Chao even though they're not in any danger of disappearing." Tails agreed. "Maybe they got all confused with how the Chao are connected with the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald."
"Maybe they think Chao Cloud made Julius think they're connected with the Emeralds." Amy suggested helplessly.
"Chao Cloud?" Chris asked, blinking in confusion.
"It's a very pretty cloud that appears mysteriously that it looks like a Chao." Cream explained, which amazed the humans while the phone rang and Tanaka excused himself to answer, speaking to someone in the background.
The blue hedgehog smiled. "I just saw the Chao Cloud the other day. First time I ever saw it was ten years ago. One of my earliest memories."
"They say that the Chao Cloud appears once every ten years, or so the legend says. No one really knows the purpose of it, except that it appears to bring happiness and hope and could lead to actually seeing the Chao Colonies." The two-tailed fox explained as he remembered reading that up in history.
Sonic's eyes widened as he actually forgot about that...which brought him back into thinking of his days with his uncle again and despite that he wanted to look forward towards the future and not look back, sometimes memories just came back to him. He remembered Uncle Chuck telling him what Tails just said not long after the older hedgehog told the blue hedgehog of the legend. It had fascinated him into seeing Chao even more until he came to the conclusion that Chao didn't exist which disappointed him, but he moved on...then Cream and Cheese came into his life.
Maybe the Chao Cloud was telling him to not give up on finding Cream's mother and keep that hope alive. Which the blue hedgehog intended on doing anyway. He just wished that he had another clue.
"Master Chris." Tanaka spoke up, bringing Sonic out of his thoughts and had him and everyone else turn to the butler who kindly interrupted their conversation. "Your father has requested that I inform you that he and your mother will be stopping by for a visit this afternoon."
That made Chris happy as he exclaimed. "Wow! They're coming to see me!"
"What a nice surprise." Ella remarked, smiling.
"That's pretty cool. You haven't even seen them since before I met ya', right?" Sonic remarked, happy for his human friend as were Tails and Amy. Cream and Cheese both looked exceptionally happy.
"Yeah, and it's not even my birthday!" The twelve year old said, excited to see his parents again. "You guys will be able to get to meet them too!"
"That's so wonderful, Chris." Cream said happily, though at the sound of that made her eyes become sad and even as she looked away with memories of her own mother resurfacing, the knowledge that she was still in the clutches of the Iron Empire a stark reminder of what happened, she failed to hide the sadness as she frowned.
When everyone else noticed, they couldn't help but be concerned until they all realized that the mention of Chris's parents made Cream feel lonely.
"Uh oh." The human boy muttered, feeling guilty all of the sudden.
"Oh, Cream." Both Amy and Ella said in worry and sympathy.
"Are you okay?" Tails asked, worriedly.
"I'm okay. It's just...I miss my Mama." Cream said, unable to help but sniffle.
As the others were doing their best to comfort the upset little girl, Sonic felt his heart sink in guilt as he was just as upset for not finding her mother like he promised. He knew that words alone weren't going to make his new friend feel better this time and it's been weeks already. The blue hedgehog hated letting everybody down, and felt useless and uncomfortable whenever people cried. The hero of Mobius had to find Vanilla, one way or another. For Cream's sake.
Feeling like he was wasting his time, he excused himself and stood up, making for the door.
"Where are you going, Sonic?" Chris asked, confused.
"To find Cream's mom. This time I'm gonna keep looking even if it takes me all day and all night." The blue hedgehog responded in a serious tone, and without waiting for a response, he walked out of the door and dashed off. This surprised even, even Cream who looked up worriedly.
"Is he angry with me?" The young rabbit girl asked, feeling a mixture of guilt and sorrow.
"No, Cream. Sonic must be feeling guilty because he hasn't found your mother yet." Tails explained, knowing his adoptive older brother too well. "He hates letting everybody down and won't stop until he keeps to his promise."
"He also wants to make sure that you're happy, Cream and so do we." Amy added reassuringly. "Sonic's not one to let anybody be sad forever. And not to make you upset even more because I have a feeling you'll see your mother again soon and just need to be patient, I hardly know who my parents are."
"Yeah, me too. To be honest, Sonic and his parents are my family since he adopted me three years ago." The seven year old kit admitted.
"Really?" Cream, Chris, and Ella asked in surprise, unable to believe that.
Tails shrugged. "Yeah. My parents had gone away since I was really little and...I never saw them again. Sonic's been my big brother since the day we met and he made it official after we teamed up to find the Chaos Emeralds and stop Robotnik for the second time. Well, second time in Sonic's case."
"Wow...Mr. Sonic is so very nice." Cream remarked, amazed by the blue hedgehog's kindness and support. While she was still sad for being motherless, she was surprised that Sonic had took Tails in after he lost his own parents, and Amy didn't know hers.
'Sonic's trying very hard to make sure Cream doesn't end up the same way the two of us and Knuckles are. I wish he didn't have to go out and search alone.' Amy thought to herself.
"Perhaps I have an idea to make you feel better, sweetheart." Ella suggested, thinking along the similar lines which made the children and even Tanaka gaze at her in curiosity.
She then explained what she had in mind.
Meanwhile, at Robotnik's not-so secret base, the evil doctor who was going through the problems of his own, was attempting to come up with a plan on how to rule Mobius only that the main obstacles that were the most difficult to pass through were Sonic(obviously), and now Julius and his Iron Empire. So far, he had no luck.
"I've got to think of something. I've got to think of a way to conquer Mobius and get rid of Sonic and that insane brother of mine!" Robotnik growled in frustration, spinning in his chair with Decoe and Bocoe standing behind him.
He then thought of his latest defeat after the failed plan to get the Chaos Emerald from Sonic, due to the blue hedgehog forfeiting his fight with Knuckles who figured out the truth and knocked Robotnik away in anger for being tricked again. The evil scientist thought about the young hero's new friends; that human boy who took the Emerald from him, but using him as bait would be too obvious at this point for now. Then there was the little rabbit girl who was hanging out with him, Tails and Amy...and had a pet Chao, as the duo were with Sonic's oldest friends the day Robotnik made his first attack on Station Square.
An evil smirk formed on his face. "Maybe if I use that little bunny and her Chao as bait, perhaps I can find a Chao Colony to use to fuel my robots. After all, no one really knows much about them aside that they're like theropy sessions for people who find them adorable."
"How are you going to do that, doctor?" Decoe asked, curiously.
"Easy. I'll use those two to lure me to the Colony that little small fry originally hailed from." Robotnik snickered. "Now, I know that Chao Colonies are kept secret, but that little girl's Chao is proof that they are not mere myths. Just difficult to find, but not for much longer."
"A flawless plan, Dr. Robotnik." Bocoe remarked.
"Though it still leaves the problem with the Iron Empire." The evil man muttered, placing a hand to his cheek in deep thought. "I hate to admit it, but they're more secretive in plotting something than I am, and they only made a couple of attacks. What could Julius be wanting?"
"Maybe they're looking for the Chaos Emeralds." Decoe guessed.
Realizing that it made sense, Robotnik growled in anger. "Well, if that murderous brother of mine thinks he can copy-cat my evil plans, he's got another thing coming! Let's search the mountains outside of the city as it is an ideal place for Chao to be residing, and if we can't find them, I'll brainwash the kiddies at schools to make them love me and then I'll be able to rule Mobius!"
"Here are your choices." The yellow robot handed out the deck of cards which his creator took and looked through.
"Let's see...This is a tough one." Robotnik muttered as he placed a finger to his chin, before grinning as he placed the cards into the slot. "I'll let the machine decide."
He pulled the lever and it revealed a tree shaped robot with metal leaves that looked quite sharp like spikes. It was named Cutter. "Perfect!"
Moments later, the door of the base opened up to reveal Cutter who was admittedly big. The robot then flew off with Robotnik following in his Egg Mobile to search the fields and mountains, unaware that underwater another robot was following them, undetected...with Julius who had seen what was going on, scowling in anger, inside the vessel.
"Where do you think you're going, Ivo?" Julius hissed darkly.
Meanwhile, Sonic was racing through the Mystic Ruins into the forest, heading towards the mountains while trying to find any sort of clue that could lead him to, well, any sort of lead. Eventually he came to a stop beside a river near a waterfall that was quite close to a place called Windy Valley. The blue hedgehog had his arms folded in sheer annoyance, frustration and concern.
"How is it that Ro-butt-nik's easier to find than his Ju-Loser brother?" The fourteen year old grumbled, before sighing. This really was a lot harder than he thought. He was nowhere near closer in figuring out the location. Where could they be?
As he thought, his mind brought him back to how Cream felt left out and parent-less due to a horrible event when she and Cheese were the Iron Empire's real targets. Sonic lowered his gaze, a sense of helplessness and hopelessness beginning to form. The way how she looked so sad, being away from her mother for so long due to an awful situation. He knew what it was like losing a family member at such a young age. Except out of most of his friends besides Chris who did get lonely but at least he still had his parents and grandfather, Sonic still had his parents back at Green Hill Zone.
Tails was left orphaned long before he met Sonic, Amy only remembered her parents vaguely a year before they left her on Little Planet, or so she mentioned but even she wasn't certain, and Knuckles had the worst luck out of everyone else on the planet, being the last Mobian Echidna in existence.
Sonic did really like Cream and was doing his best to support her and make her happy, and he was her only hope in finding her mother. But the idea of letting her down if he failed Vanilla and all of those other people, having the young five year old and her Chao being the only survivors...and orphaned because of what Julius had done scared him. Sure if it came to that, he could always either rely on Amy to be Cream's adoptive big sister since they seem to have a sibling bond already like he did with Tails, or ask his parents if they could adopt the girl who would be his and his brother's new adoptive little sister. But he refused to give up hope now. That was if it came to it, but he wasn't going to surrender.
"Chao?"
"Huh?" Sonic blinked in confusion, as an familiar yet strangely echoey chirp brought him out of his musings and glanced to his right. To his surprise up stream into the thickness of the forest, was a Chao. At first, he thought it was Cheese and wondered how he and Cream gotten here, but then he saw that this Chao was different; it looked white with blue hands, eyes and bobble on it's head with blue wings, looking just as adorable.
"Chao, Chao!" The mysterious Chao chirped excitedly, and to make things more alarming, it was glowing slightly in white light.
"A white and blue Chao?" The blue hedgehog muttered in amazement. Well, that was certainly a new one. Then again Chao were rare so he had no idea of what they did besides what he already knew. Still, any Chao were very cute, and this one was definitely adorable.
The Chao seemed to be happy to see him before flying off over the river and into the forest.
"Hey, wait!" Sonic cried out, before deciding to hurry over to follow despite that he wanted to find Vanilla. But his curiosity was getting the better of him and as he followed with his speed while staying clear from falling into the water, he couldn't help but think that the mysterious glowing Chao was leading him somewhere.
At school, the students were all having a conversation in groups as Mr Stewart was waiting for anyone to answer a rather very complicated Maths problem. No matter how hard even the most intelligent student in class tried, none of them could solve it and the kids were slowly being driven crazy.
"What do you think this is?" One student asked, puzzled.
"I don't know." Another replied, just as clueless.
"That doesn't make any sense!" Chris cried out softly, scratching the top of his head, feeling as though his mind was about to turn into goo.
"I don't even know where to start." Frances commented.
"I'm totally lost!" Danny exclaimed.
Mr. Stewart by then had been waiting so long that he ended up falling asleep, which Chris and his friends noticed when they looked up to their subtitute teacher. They then shared a glance as Chris asked, "Should we wake him up?"
"No, don't!" Danny warned.
"Maybe he'll put us to sleep." Frances suggested in agreement.
Despite that the twelve year old Thorndyke didn't like that, he knew that they weren't going to get out of this one and gazed out of the window, thinking to himself as he thought about how Cream was doing, and that how his parents' arrival made her feel upset and maybe even jealous. Amy and Tails didn't seem to mind since neither of them had blood families, and the two-tailed fox had been adopted by Sonic and his own parents.
But the five year old girl had no idea where her mother was, and the blue hedgehog was doing his best to find her.
'I wonder how Sonic is doing?' Chris thought to himself, worriedly.
"Hey! Where are you leading me?" Sonic cried out, still following the strange Chao, as the river soon seemed to be shallow enough for him not to panic as it would only be up to his legs. He made sure to keep up with the little one, and wondered that maybe it was leading him to a clue.
'Maybe there were other Chao in the village, or it came from the one near Cream's home. Something weird's going on.' The cobalt teenager thought to himself. 'But why is it here?'
The deeper they went into the forest, the more he realized that the Chao was leading him towards one of the mountains he knew of, only he was on the other side. There was an unusual large waterfall flowing out on the side from a cave in the middle of landmass, looking very fresh and clean. There were rigged cliffs leading up to it, with another tunnel right next to it. Sonic skid to a stop as he stood next to the huge flowing water pouring down as the mountain was also surrounded by fresh green grass.
"Check this place out." Sonic remarked in awe. "Can't believe I missed it."
It seemed to be undiscovered by humans and Mobians, and the Chao squealed again at the blue hedgehog, gesturing up to the waterfall.
"You want me to go up there?" The fourteen year old asked, quizzically. The white Chao nodded before flying up to the tunnel. Not sure what to make of this, he just shrugged and leaped and jumped his way up easily as heights never bothered him.
Making it to the top, Sonic peered into the tunnel that was small enough for Mobians his size to walk into without any problems. It was a bit dark, but the glow of the white Chao seemed to lighten the way. Looking over his shoulder as he felt that this wasn't the right way in finding the Iron Empire base, he was too curious on where this would take him, so he simply walked to follow the cute creature.
After what felt like an hour which was only about maybe five or ten minutes, Sonic followed the mysterious Chao into the light at the end of the tunnel and when he emerged, to his confusion the Chao seemed to have disappeared.
"Huh? Where'd you go?" He muttered, blinking.
But as he looked around his new surroundings, his eyes widened in disbelief.
"No way!" The blue hedgehog exclaimed, shocked as right before his very emerald green eyes, was a small but beautiful and peaceful looking canyon within the mountain with an opened gap above the ceiling to reveal the sky and sunlight yet safe enough to not be seen around, cleverly camouflaged by the rest of the ground outside.
There were trees and cliff-sides, one which he was standing in front of via the entrance right next to river leading to the waterfall outside which was a small stream and not enough for anyone to flow out unless one makes a mistake to go through. Even then the only way in and out for anybody like Sonic was the way he came. There were even smaller waterfalls flowing into cliff pools and down into a larger lake that was only waist deep, fresh green grass all around, tropical and forest trees filled with fruit, and the most surprising of all, were Chao. Dozens of Chao identical to Cheese without the red bow, all flying and playing around until they noticed that they had a visitor.
"This is...a Chao Colony. Right inside a mountain near Station Square. Or, near in my case." Sonic muttered in awe, looking around. He couldn't believe it. While the blue hedgehog had no idea where the white Chao went even though he thought he was seeing things, the fact that he was lead right into a Chao Colony in a place he didn't even expect to find was an amazing mystery in and of itself.
As he wondered why the mysterious Chao lead him here, the other Chao hovered towards him with smiles and hovered around the blue hedgehog which slightly surprised him, before Sonic smiled as they seemed to be greeting and welcoming him.
"Well, hi. Aren't you all friendly and cute?" Sonic greeted, gently patting two on their heads which they enjoyed so much, before they and other Chao to gently rub their tiny hands on his face, making him laugh. "H-hey! You're tickling me! Ha ha ha ha ha!"
While Sonic did still want to go out and find Cream's mother, he couldn't help but feel very relaxed in this place. All these years, he had finally discovered a Chao Colony, with the aid of the mysterious Chao.
Back at the Thorndyke Mansion, two planes had arrived with Ella, Tanaka, Chuck, Amy, Tails, Cream and Cheese meeting Chris' parents, Nelson and Lindsey for the first time with the two house servants helping the reunited couple with their luggage. Chris had arrived home from school to happily greet his parents who were hugging him and, to the boy's embarrassment, his mother was treating him like he was five instead of twelve, but he coped.
Chris had already told his parents, with some hesitation, about what happened and why the Mobians were staying with them for a while and had reassured his mother that he was okay, that his main concern was Cream who was seemingly getting along with Lindsey.
"You're such a sweet little thing. How could anybody not love a dear like you?" Lindsey was saying, obviously comforting Cream who was already cheering up.
"I hope so, Mrs. Thorndyke. I wish I could help you, Mr. Thorndyke and my friends for helping me." The five year old girl replied, currently sitting on the nice human lady's lap, as Chris was sitting next to them.
"I have no doubt that you are, Cream." The Thorndyke woman said, gently patting Cream on the head. "I'm so happy that my baby boy and Sonic are taking good care of you."
Chris in question blushed. "Mom, I'm not a baby. I'm almost a teenager. But I am doing my best."
"I know, sweetie, and Mommy's is so proud of you." Linsdey said, pulling her son to an arm embrace and kissed him on the forehead, hugging both the twelve year old boy and the young rabbit girl into a hug as the latter returned it for both of them.
"Things have been quite busy here, hasn't it?" Nelson remarked to his father who nodded.
"I have a feeling it's going to be a bit busier in the near future." Chuck said, his arms folded to his chest.
"Chris's dad sure is a nice guy." Tails whispered from the corner.
"His mom is really pretty and caring, too." Amy added, having been told that Linsdey was a movie actress, and from what the eleven year old hedgehog girl could see, she adored her son and quite possibly feels guilty for not spending more time with Chris due to her job.
She then sighed as while Ella's idea seemed to have worked and cheered Cream up which made the pink hedgehog happy, Amy couldn't help but wonder how Sonic was doing and what his reaction would be if he came back. She hoped that he could find a lead, but if he couldn't, she was worried that it would start to wreck him.
Up near the mountains on the other side that is normally seen, Robotnik was following the Cutter with Decoe and Bocoe with him. Yet it seems that the evil scientist has kind of lost track of it.
"Hmm...I wonder if Cutter has been slightly sucessful on at least gathering the Mobini in case there aren't any Chao. I'd better track it and see how it's doing." Robotnik thought to himself, pressing a button on his dashboard. The small screen opened up from his satellite and to his shock, Cutter wasn't causing any trouble at all!
It was cutting down trees and gathering firewood for a bunch of campers who, looking nervous at the robot, seemed to have calmed down and were thanking Cutter and the chef of the group was making some kind of stew. The robot then began cutting up vegatables with it's razor leaves.
"What's this!?" The evil man exclaimed in disbelief.
"This makes cooking lunch and gathering firewood a lot easier!" One camper said.
"It is my pleasure to be of assistance of cutting wood and vegatables." Said Cutter and he did seem to be enjoying himself in being of assistance.
Robotnik couldn't believe it. His robot that was meant to be of terror was actually helping others, and it wasn't even at a school either.
"Cutter sure is a hit with those campers and at hard work. They love him." Decoe commented.
"He's supposed to be looking for Chao, not help make Chow!" The evil scientist yelled angrily.
Suddenly just as things couldn't get any worse, there was a huge explosion that could be heard from where Robotnik and his two robots were, which echoed due to it also coming from the screen. Yelping in alarm, the trio looked and saw that a large gust of wind nearly blew the campers and Cutter away, with trees cut down and another robot emerged, about the same size as Robotnik's creation...in fact, it almost resembled to it as well, only it looked meaner and more like a giant thorn with several spikes instead of a tree. The campers screamed and when Cutter was hit on the head, it's eyes went all red and soon it sparked before it went into a berserk battle mode.
Cutter then quickly engaged to fight the other robot, named Slice, who fought hard against it.
"That robot isn't nice anymore!" The first camper remarked fearfully.
"Let's get out of here!" A second camper cried out.
It wasn't long before the people hurried to make a run for it, while the two robots were now engaging a heavy battle.
"Now where did that other robot come from!?" Robotnik demanded, shocked as while he was relieved that Cutter didn't lose it's battle sequence, he was angry that not only it was malfunctioning, but the other robot's presence put him on edge.
"Doctor, look!" Decoe quickly pointed at the screen.
"There's a symbol on the invading robot!" Bocoe added.
When the mad doctor did, he almost immediately went pale and did more so when the creator of the robot battling his own appeared behind it in a similar hover craft but less egg-shaped was a man that almost resembled to him, grinning twice as terrifying as he would.
"GAH! It's-it's...IT'S JULIUS!" Robotnik screamed in horror.
Now he knew for certain that things were looking quite bad. Which meant he had to go and face his past if he wanted to get what he wanted.
While things were going on outside of the mountain, Sonic was given a slight tour around the Chao Colony where the cute little creatures were just as happy and in peace as he has ever heard of. Some of the Chao were playing and swimming in the water, others were playing tag, and some were sleeping that made the blue hedgehog think they were like sweet little babies, and some were eating orange coloured berries in the trees, happily gobbling the fruit up.
"Heh, and they say I eat fast. These little guys sure really love those berries." Sonic remarked, smiling as he adored the Chao that were living here. It still confused him on why the mysterious 'ghost' Chao lead him here. Maybe there was some sort of clue.
As the blue hedgehog was thinking about why he was brought to this Chao Colony, there was a gentle but frantic tap on his shoulder which confused him until he noticed that another Chao was floating next to him, looking quite worried and upset.
"Hey, what's wrong, little guy?" Sonic asked, immediately concerned. When the Chao gestured behind it, he followed it's gaze and to his horror, a group of Chao were gathered around another Chao, looking unhealthly green and pale, lying on a pile of leaves that was made into a bed, looking to having trouble sleeping or waking up.
Gasping in shock and worry, the hero of Mobius hurried over to see what was wrong and knelt beside the sick Chao's side as it's friends moved back a little to help the kind Mobian see what was wrong.
"What happened?" The blue hedgehog asked, carefully placing his fingers onto it's forehead and was even more alarmed when he felt the unneeded heat which told him that the poor little Chao was running a fever. "Oh man! You're burning up big time!"
This was bad. If nothing was done soon, the sick Chao might not last much longer. Attempting to remain calm, Sonic immediately but carefully zoomed around the Colony, found a large palm leaf and plucked from the tree, bent it to turn it into a make-shift bowl and scooped up some water from one of the ponds and returned to the little one's side. He also picked up a smaller leaf as he didn't have a cloth with him and wet it enough to gently rub it onto the Chao's head. Next he used another to scoop up more water and gently lifted the sick patient's head.
"Here, little guy. Ya' need to drink this, okay?" He said softly and gently, carefully placing the leaf-cup to the Chao's mouth, as it then slowly drank the water while the other Chao, all worried for their sick friend, hovered around in worry, with some of them already having tears in their eyes.
Thankfully the coolness on it's forehead and the water seemed to be helping a little as the sick Chao sighed softly in relief, much to Sonic's and the rest of the Chao's own relief. But they knew that it wasn't out of the woods yet.
"So far, so good. But, how can I take care of this little guy and make it feel better?" Sonic wondered, gently laying his new friend back down. He turned to the other Chao and asked. "Um, don't suppose you could show me how to cure your friend?"
The Chao sadly shook their heads and then attempted to show the teenage Mobian how they usually tried to take care of their own. But what got his attention was that there was actually a dead tree nearby, with the brances all empty and while they couldn't speak the same language as Mobians and Humans, they were trying their best to communicate with him. They played Miming while hoping that it would work, and given his experience, he got the picture.
"I get it. That tree had some kind of healing berries that helped make you guys get better whenever you're sick, but it recently died...because something unusual happened?" Sonic gathered, and the Chao all nodded. He felt horrified as the only source known of healing Chao properly was dead and from the looks of it, it was unusual.
'What do I do? I've gotta find the same kind of berries that healed them up, but how can I-Wait! That's it! Cream would know!' He thought to himself as it was only best shot.
"I have an idea. I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise! Just try and keep your friend as cool as possible, okay?" Sonic declared, and after showing the Chao a quick demonstration on how to keep the sick Chao's forehead as cool as possible and have it keep it's fluids up, he immediately raced out of the Chao Colony to head for home and ask for Cream's advice.
He could only hope that it wouldn't be too late.
At the spot of the Campsite, Cutter was still busy fighting Slice who performed a shockingly stance of martial arts. Robotnik's creation attempted to do the same and fired several spikes at it, but Slice was deflecting them with each kicks and punches, prompting Cutter to fly up with it's rocket engines to dodge. Observing the battle was Julius who at first found it amusing, was getting agitated.
"Hurry up, Slice! Smash that robot of Ivo's! Take care of it!" Julius growled, only to hear a laser suddenly appear and when he looked up, he cried out in alarm before moving his craft up to avoid the green laser from hitting him, though it did hit the ground hard and creating a small crater. "All right, who did that!?"
"Oh ho ho ho! That would be me, you murderous punk!"
Almost instantly recognizing that voice, the evil leader of the Iron Empire glanced to his left and turned to see Robotnik fly closer before stopping halfway in the Egg Mobile, having used it's craft's laser to hit his brother but ultimately missed. Despite that the evil scientist was admittedly terrified of his own sibling, he hidden it with his usual grin.
"Ivo...!" Julius hissed darkly.
"Hello, Julius. It's been ten years since we last saw each other, hasn't it?" Robotnik greeted sarcastically.
"And forty-four days, thanks to you, you second-rated scientist." His brother growled.
That in turn made Robotnik growl in frustration, ranting. "Second-rated scientist!? I'm the most brilliant genius in all of the planet, you jealous, murdering, copy-cat! Mobius is mine to rule, and mine alone! Go take your meddling piece of junk somewhere else, like your own universe or something!"
The Robotnik-Sibling scoffed. "If I'm a copy-cat, how do you explain my plans in being secretive and attacking the world?"
"I know you're after the Chaos Emeralds, and if it weren't for that irritating Sonic the Hedgehog and his pipsqueak friends who have one of them, I would've gotten it already!" Robotnik grunted angrily.
"A correct guess." Julius growled, furious that his brother had managed to correctly assume his own plan, before asking. "But did it ever occur to you that he is friends with the little girl and her precious Chao?"
"Are you mental? Any friend of Sonic is either a sheer annoyance or bait to lure him into my traps in order to make him make difficult decisions. If it wasn't for Knuckles or Sonic figuring out my plans, it would've worked! But those brats are a pain in the neck!" Robotnik responded in disbelief. "How did you know about those two little pipsqueaks? Unless you're after my plan in gathering Chao for fuel as well! Let me tell you something, dear brother, I've been near Station Square for six months already!"
Julius just laughed. "Who's the copy-cat now, hm? I've been plotting in using Chao for a year, yet the only way to find all Chao Colonies lies within the little girl and her pet. They and the Chaos Emeralds are the keys in learning the truth about the emeralds."
While Robotnik was furious to have not seen that, what he couldn't understand was the meaning of his brother's words. "Wait a minute. That bunny is just a little girl and the last I checked, Chao do not have any connections with the Chaos Emeralds! Besides, using those two to find a Colony was my idea!"
"It seems you haven't paid attention to your homework, Ivo. I have more than you, my second-rated brother." Julius smirked victoriously. "Father should have picked me as his favorite!"
"Oh yeah!? Well, it would've been a lot better if you hadn't killed him ten years ago! Better yet quit complaining when you and I were children! How was it my fault that I took the more cautious approaches from our mother?" Robotnik challenged angrily. "I've had about enough of this! Let's settle this score and the winner gets to find the Chao Colony and capture Sonic's new bratty friends first!"
"Father made a mistake to favorite you, Ivo. You will be joining our parents in the Underworld!" Julius declared. "I will be the winner!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! The only victor around here will be me!" Robotnik declared back, before ordering his combat robot. "Cutter! Get rid of that dull blade that can't slice even a piece of cake!"
"Yes, doctor!" Cutter responded, this time obediently as it was still fighting Slice anyway. The robot then said to it's opponent. "You will be nothing but scrap soon enough!"
"Slice! Finish off that wrecked toy! Pull out it's batteries!" Julius commanded.
"Affirmative." Slice replied simply, swinging it's blade-arm at Cutter who quickly ducked and made to cut it's legs off, but it somersaulted over Robotnik's robot. They then fired missiles at each other while wrecking the campsite and forest, but not each other. Robotnik, Decoe, Bocoe and Julius made sure to be out of the firing line while the two brothers were angrily and impatiently telling their fighting-bots to destroy each other.
"What are the chances of Dr. Robotnik winning this fight against his crazy brother?" Decoe asked, nervously as he and Bocoe held onto each other in fear.
"I'm more concerned about his chances of survival, which if we don't get outta here soon, it's about seven below zero." His companion replied, just as scared.
Back at the Thorndyke Mansion, everyone was in the living room chatting away quite happily as Tails and Amy had joined them, with Ella having made some delicious snacks and drinks for them.
"So when is this Sonic going to join us? I'm quite excited to meet the young hero." Nelson asked, curiously.
"Well, he's kind of out at the moment. Thought I am getting a little worried." Chris replied, yet he felt more than just a little worried. "Sonic should've been back by now."
"I hope everything's okay. What if Mr. Sonic's hurt?" Cream muttered, worriedly as the fear of losing one of her new friends would tear her apart. She felt guilty for Sonic going out of his way just to find her mother and he has been doing so for weeks now. The five year old girl wanted to believe that she will see Vanilla again, but now she felt guilty for the blue hedgehog looking all over even to the point of being serious when he said he would look all day and night if he had to.
"Sonic will be okay. He's probably still trying to find your mother." Tails reassured, even though he was getting really concerned himself.
"He shouldn't be looking all by himself. What about the police?" Lindsey remarked, worriedly.
"Sonic's already asked them, but so far there's still nothing." Chris answered, shrugged helplessly.
"Maybe we really should've gone with him. He's only going to run himself into exhaustion." Amy sighed, patting Cheese on the head as she sighed. "And I hate to admit it, but Cheese doesn't seem to be feeling well. I think he's getting a fever."
That got everyone's attention as Cream immediately hurried over to her beloved Chao who was looking a bit green and she picked him up into her arms, saying worriedly. "Oh, Cheese! I'm so sorry! I forgot about picking the Sugar Berries!"
"Sugar Berries?" Chris, his family and house servants asked in confusion, despite that they were all worried about the little Chao.
Unaware that Sonic was now standing outside of the room and was about to knock on the window when he saw not only Chris' parents, but to his horror, Cheese beginning to look sick as well. He softly gasped in shock and placed his hands onto the glass.
"What's a Sugar Berry?" Amy asked, gently patting Cheese to try and comfort him, while Ella immediately hurried to gather a wet cloth and some cold water to keep the fever down.
"It's the only kind of berries that helps Cheese feel better whenever he would get sick. There were plenty around home and everybody would use them to make yummy Sugar Berry Cup Cakes without adding sugar. You can even plant one berry and it would grow into a whole new Sugar Berry tree in a week. It was until my Mom and I began raising Cheese that we found out it was to cure sick Chao." Cream explained, holding Cheese close and beginning to tear up again. "But..it's all gone."
"Well, there's gotta be other Sugar Berries around if it can cure sick Chao." Tails pointed out.
"Hmm, you know, I remember seeing a strawberry milkshake coloured berry bush near the forest during Camp last year halfway to the Mystic Ruins and they tasted like sugar drops. Could they be the Sugar Berries?" Chris said thoughtfully, placing a finger to his chin.
"You could be right, Chris. If we can find them and bring them back to have Cream and Cheese taste them, it should confirm on whether they are or not." Chuck replied, quite proud that his grandson managed to remember that.
"I'll go find them and maybe I can find Sonic and tell him what's happening." Tails volunteered.
"Mom, Dad, can I go with Tails to show him where it is? He might need help and I wouldn't want him to get lost." Chris asked his parents.
"Of course, son." Nelson nodded, smiling.
"Please be careful, sweeties." Lindsey replied and while she was worried about her son, she felt that her little boy was their best bet for directions.
None of them though were aware that Sonic, taking in the directions and what the berries would look like into his mind and now that he had to Chao to save, he had to use his speed big time.
'Thanks, Cream, and Chris. I'll be back as soon as I can, promise.' The blue hedgehog thought to himself, feeling uncomfortable to make his presence to his new human friend's parents only to leave again for an unexplained emergency. With that in mind, he quickly sped off again to find the Sugar Berries and hoping that it wasn't too late.
He did make sure to make a quick stop at a gift shop to buy a small bag to carry as many berries as possible and hurried to find the tree, or at least he hoped it was the Sugar Tree. Sonic raced around into the forest and near around the Mystic Ruins while trying to find what he was looking for. All the time he tried to remain calm despite that the thoughts of both Cheese and the even sicker Chao ran through his head.
'Sugar Berries, Sugar Berries, Sugar Berries...please let me see at least one or two!' Sonic thought, glancing back and forth and up and down until finally he spotted something pink and green up ahead and skid to a stop, his shoes heels slightly digging into the dirt.
There standing was a tree that was about the same height as the Chao Berries in the Colony, only these berries were, as Chris described, were the same colour as a strawberry milkshake and it also had the similar colour to Amy's quills and fur. Hopeful and relieved, the blue hedgehog raced over and leaped onto a branch, carefully plucking one and gobbled it, chewing experimentally. Immediately he tasted the sugary sweetness as though they were sugar plums, but smaller.
"All right! Sugar Berries!" Sonic cheered happily, and pulled out his bag before picking as many berries as he could fit, until it was almost completely full before he closed up the bag and carefully tucked it into his quills while making sure that they wouldn't get squashed.
As much as he wanted to get back to Cheese, he knew that he had to return to the Colony first as he feared that the sick Chao wouldn't last much longer. So Sonic leaped down from the branch and made his way back to the other side of the mountain, to hear loud explosions like missiles being fired and clanging punches filling the air. When the blue hedgehog looked up and saw to his shock on the viewable side of the mountain, were both Cutter and Slice fighting each other, both holding the symbols of Robotnik and the Iron Empire.
"Robotniks. So they are fighting each other and they're too close to the Chao Colony!" Sonic said sternly, narrowing his eyes. "I'd better put a stop to this, fast!"
Hoping that he could make it to the Chao in time, the blue hedgehog hurried to the battle field to take out the robots, beat Robotnik and get answers out of Julius before beating him as well.
The more both Cutter and Slice were fighting each other, the more damage they were doing to the area, and only made a single equal dents into each other, but neither one seemed to be on the winning side, much to the frustration of their creators who were unfortunately related.
"Come on, Cutter! Don't let that over-grown knife cut you down to size!" Robotnik shouted furiously.
"Destroy that wrenched robot, Slice! Then take out Dr. Robotnik as well!" Julius yelled.
"You share that same family name, you know!" Robotnik deadpanned to his brother.
"My men don't need to know that! They know me as Julius Iron! The only one who knows this is that annoying Mobian brat Sonic!" Julius argued.
"Which is unfortunately the only thing we have to agree on for once and if you want to take out Sonic, then be my guest! That little pincushion is like a mutant cactus!" The evil scientist argued.
"You take him out, you lazy fat idiot!" His brother shouted.
"Ha! Look who's talking, Mr-I'm-a-jealous-Copy-Cat!"
"You stole my idea in using Chao!"
"You've stolen my idea of locating the Chaos Emerald and ruling Mobius which is mine to rule!"
While the two disdained brothers argued and their fighting machines, well, fought, Decoe and Bocoe were getting even more worried. Suddenly a blue blur came passing the arguing Robotniks who ceased their bickering in surprise, before turning in the same direction as it then easily knocked down both Cutter and Slice at the exact same time before falling onto the ground hard and when everyone looked up, Sonic, who had been using his Spin Dash, uncurled himself and landed in a safeish distance from the robots and their creators, his arms folded to his chest.
"Well, I never thought I'd see the day I'd get into a family reunion with my worst enemy." Sonic said mockingly.
"Sonic!" Robotnik growled furiously.
"You again!" Julius hissed darkly.
"Stay out of this, hedgehog!" The evil scientist snapped. "Can't you see I'm busy with an annoying copy-cat here, and how'd you know about a family reunion!?"
"Well, I guess the not-so-secret's out. I bumped into your Buttnik bro here a while ago. Sorry if I'm interrupting your conversation, Eggman." The blue hedgehog replied in half-sarcasm.
"My. Name. Is. Dr. Ivo. ROBOTNIK!" Robotnik shouted furiously that his face was turning as red as his jacket.
"You brat! I can understand calling my stupid brother Robotnik or Eggman, but if you dare to call me those names, you will wish you were never born!" Julius growled, though he did find it amusing that the blue hedgehog had decided to call Robotnik 'Eggman'.
"Stay out of this, you big-toothed murderer!" The aforementioned doctor snapped at his brother.
Sonic froze at the last part of the sentence, his stomach dropping. Yes, he did remember the Iron Empire threatening to kill the girl they were attempting to kidnap weeks earlier, but how could Robotnik possibly know that? And...would it mean that it was already too late for Vanilla and the villagers?
"Murderer?" He half-whispered. 'No...please, no, please! Vanilla...!'
"Doctor Robotnik's father has been murdered by Julius Robotnik ten years ago over jealously." Decoe inadvertently explained with a sweat drop.
"And he has feared his brother since then." Bocoe added, nodding.
"What!?" Sonic shouted in disbelief. "This has to be some kind of sick joke!"
Realizing that his idiotic minions had spilled the beans despite that his enemy was the enemy of his murderous brother, Robotnik groaned before admitting in frustration. "Oh, alright! Since you already confronted my brother, yes, he murdered our father ten years ago since I was always the favorite child! We disowned each other since then! You happy now!?"
"Do I look happy to you, Eggman!? How could I ever be happy that people have been murdered by monsters like Julius!?" Sonic argued, then turned to the aforementioned Iron Empire Leader, demanding. "Is this true!? Or is Ro-butt-nik trying to trick me!?"
Julius simply laughed evilly. "Yes, it is true. I was never a favorite child, so I finally had enough of my rebellious father and killed him for revenge. I attempted to do the same with Ivo, but the coward ran away and we haven't seen each other until now."
That ticked the hero of Mobius off that he narrowed his eyes in anger and disgust. "You monster...! You're even worse than Eggman! I can't believe you would do that to your own family all because you were feeling left out! I thought he was bad enough, but what you did is unforgivable! Not defending him here, but still!"
"Well, this is a secret you're taking to your grave, because once I'm through with you, I'll just have to worry about taking out my brother! I thought he vanished on the face of the earth!" Robotnik declared, and while he was annoyed yet not surprised that Sonic wouldn't be defending him, he knew that the teenager was against murders. The young hedgehog had a pure heart and would never fight to kill.
"Get rid of that boy and then take out Ivo!" Julius ordered Slice.
"Cutter, get rid of Sonic and Slice!" Robotnik ordered his own robot.
Sonic stood his ground as the two robots fired simultaneously at him, and prepared to slice, but he easily dodged the attacks and raced around them, avoiding the knives and missiles aimed at him until he landed in the middle before they opened fire. Unfortunately, he planned it and Spin Jumped high to safety while the two robots' attacks hit each other which ultimately caused the missiles and knives to go through and the two machines exploded in thick smoke.
The blue hedgehog in the meantime emerged from the smoke safely and landed on the ground, turning back to the two Robotniks who scowled at him.
"That hedgehog put a tie into our battle!" Robotnik groaned.
"You mean he destroyed yours first with my robot?" Julius sneered.
"No way! My robot destroyed yours first!"
As the two argued on who's robot destroyed the other first, Sonic, Decoe and Bocoe just watched the brothers fight, and the hedgehog just shrugged while the two robotic minions groaned in dismay.
"Begging your pardon, Sonic, but I am Decoe and this is Bocoe." Decoe said to the teenager hopelessly and in exasperation. "We're both Dr. Robotnik's newest assistance created from four months ago."
"Could you do us a small favor before things get worse?" Bocoe requested.
Sonic raised an eyebrow at the two robots that, like Bokkun, he never seen before and stared at them questioningly.
"Can you please stop the arguing before they destroy each other!?" The two robots cried out, clasping their hands together as they begged. "Whichever way you want to, we don't mind!"
Not saying anything at first, Sonic glanced back at Robotnik and Julius who looked ready to fire their weapons on their Mobiles ready to kill each other and felt just as uncomfortable. Still, he needed answers from Eggman's Ro-butt-nik brother, and the only way to do that is to first knock away his long-time enemy and the worry about the newest one.
"Well...alright. Just brace yourselves for your first blasting off flight." Sonic finally replied to the two robots. "This is getting ridiculous anyway."
"Thank you!" Decoe and Bocoe exclaimed, and while they weren't looking forward in joining Robotnik in his usual 'blasting off' flight for the foreseeable future, they would rather that than being destroyed along with their creator.
Nodding, Sonic then whistled out loudly which got their attention and before Robotnik and his brother could say anything, the blue hedgehog jumped up and to the evil doctor's shock, the speedster gave his Egg Mobile a good hard kick that sent him and his two minions flying away as they all screamed in alarm and vanished into the distance in the sky.
"Bye, Eggman!" Sonic called out, before landing on the ground and glared up at Julius. "As for you..."
"You meddlesome rodent...! This isn't the end, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Julius growled, preparing to leave.
"Hold it!" The blue hedgehog demanded. "Where's Cream's mother!? And the other villagers!? Let them go!"
The evil leader grinned darkly. "I told you, boy. They are safe with me for now. All I require is the little girl and her Chao."
"You're not getting to Cream and Cheese! And you won't get to any more Chao either! Give back her Mom or else!" Sonic shouted.
"Why should I?"
"Because you've torn too many families including your own! And if you done anything horrible to Vanilla and those people, I won't forgive you!"
"You should stay out of other people's businesses, Sonic." Julius warned, "Why the little girl would approach a stranger like you is beyond me. Shouldn't see be afraid of you, or is she too young to understand? Her mother should be ashamed that her own daughter disobeyed the oldest rule in the book to never trust strangers, even the most famous people."
Sonic clutched his fist angrily as he tried to remain calm. "Cream came to me because I was her only hope in rescuing her mother! I promised I would bring her back, and I never break my promises! Besides that, don't you dare say anything bad about them! Cream's the sweetest little girl I've ever met, and she's my friend. Her Mom would be proud of her, and I would never hurt anybody that are kind and caring, or anyone in general, unless it's people like you!"
That only amused the evil man who chuckled. "I see why you are struggling against my cowardly brother. You are far too nice for your own good, and as they say, nice guys finish last."
"Yeah, well, I know another saying that's also true. Heroes are winners, and villains are losers." Sonic retorted, prepraing himself. "The only reason you're not in trouble yet is because one, I'm not a monster like you, two, I'm going to find your base one way or another and rescue Vanilla and the villagers, and three, you're the new Ro-butt-nik now, 'cause from now on, your brother's Dr. Eggman since you took his old title away!"
Before Julius could come up with a retort or even an angry response in being called Ro-butt-nik while Robotnik was now officially known as Eggman, Sonic went for a homing attack and hit the man's craft so hard that it exploded and sent the Iron Empire leader flying as he screamed in panic and fury.
"I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!" Julius roared before he vanished the same way as Robotnik did.
"Hmph! Yeah, no doubt about it. They're brothers, alright." Sonic commented, before sighing as he punched the tree behind him in frustration. "But I still haven't found Cream's mother!"
It wasn't fair. He'd been so close, and yet he was still so far away. Sighing, Sonic looked over the mountain which almost instantly brought memories of what he was actually meant to do right now came back.
"The Chao!" He exclaimed, before hurrying over to the other side of the mountain as fast as his speed could take him.
Finally making it back to the Chao Colony moments later, Sonic hurried over to the group of Chao who were doing their best to keep their sick friend as comfortable as possible until they saw the blue hedgehog who had returned, and as he praised the group for their hard work, he took the bag out from his quills and was relieved that the Sugar Berries weren't squashed.
"Are these what used to grow here?" Sonic asked, holding out one and the Chao beamed happily, all nodding to confirm that he found the right berries.
Sighing in relief, he gently scooped up the sick Chao who was still warm but had cooled off, cradling it into his arm as he carefully plopped the Sugar Berry into it's mouth.
"There you go, little guy. Down the hatch." The blue hedgehog said softly.
The sick Chao felt the sweet berry in it's mouth as it gobbled up the fruit before swallowing, with everyone waiting anxiously before it opened it's eyes, and to Sonic's amazement, it almost instantly returned to it's original colour, it's fever gone completely, and it's energy restored. The now restored Chao chirped happily as it hovered out of the relieved blue hedgehog's arms and was nuzzled by it's friends.
"Wow! You're a fast healer. Those berries work like a charm." Sonic remarked, and the Chao he managed to heal cheered before hugging him, being joined by it's friends as he laughed at the ticklish sensation while they were thanking him. "Aw, you're welcome, guys. But I had help from two special friends."
All of the Chao celebrated over Sonic's heroic kindness, and as soon as they stopped hugging him, he planted at least six berries in different spots in the Colony, brushing off the dirt from his gloved hands.
"That should so it. Now you can have as many Sugar Berries as you want and need in case this happens again." Sonic informed the Chao. "I'll be back for a visit. I promise."
The Chao thanked him for his help as he began to head back home for Chris' house as he knew there was another Chao that needed him. "See you later, guys. Take good care of each other."
His new friends waved him goodbye as he did the same, before the blue hedgehog exited the Chao Colony for the second time to head for home with the remaining berries safely tucked away. He did hand out some for the Chao who happily ate to their hearts contents, and even had some for himself, but he made sure to share around.
By the time Sonic got back to the Thorndyke Mansion, he had quickly joined his friends' side as they had been worried and explained what happened to Cheese, stunned that he actually found some Sugar Berries which had Chuck to call Tails and Chris back home before the blue hedgehog fed Cream's Chao the same berries and like with the Chao in the Colony, he healed up almost instantly.
This amazed everyone else while Cream happily hugged her best friend. "Cheese! You're all better! I'm so happy!"
"Chao, Chao!" Cheese squealed, hugging his friend back.
"I'm so relieved!" Amy said happily.
"Oh, the little cutie healed up so quickly! I'm so glad." Lindsey said, her hands clasped together emotionally.
"This is quite extroadinary. I never knew any kind of berries that would heal a living creature up that fast." Chuck remarked.
"You're something else, Sonic." Nelson said to the blue hedgehog. "I'm very glad that my son has saved you and you really are the hero of Mobius."
"Hey, anybody can be a hero by doing the right thing." Sonic shrugged, glad that things turned out fine again. Plus he was finally getting a chance to meet Chris' parents without anything much to worry about.
Nelson chuckled. "Well, I knew there wouldn't be anything to worry about! You know, when I was Chris' age, I was held back at school quite a few times."
"I think I've only been held back once, but I didn't do anything wrong." Chris said, shrugging.
Lindsey giggled as she said to her husband. "Oh, I'm sure Chris is better behaved than you were, dear."
"That's for sure." Chuck said knowingly with a smug smirk. This made his son blush in embarrassment while the blue hedgehog handed out the remaining berries out for everyone and needless to say, they were all greatly surprised.
"Wow! They're sweeter than the last time I had them." Chris exclaimed in surprise.
"They're the yummiest berries I've ever had." Amy said happily.
"They taste just like sugar plums." Tails said, enjoying his berry.
Sonic chuckled, "That's what I thought when I first had one, buddy."
"How did you find them, Sonic?" The twelve year old human boy asked.
"Well, it's kind of a long story." The blue hedgehog shrugged, thinking that it wasn't a good idea to reveal the Chao Colony's location. At least not yet.
"Really? Did you find anything?" The pink hedgehog asked.
Remembering the battle in the forest which added up to his failure in finding Cream's mother, he sighed and ran a hand through his quills as his smile faded. "No. I even had to put a stop to Robotnik's fight against Julius and beat them both, but that guy's brother still wouldn't tell me anything on where he's hiding Cream's mom."
Everyone gasped softly in shock, with Tails asking. "So then, they're really not working together?"
Sonic shook his head. "As far as they're both concerned, they sworn enemies. Julius is as bad as Robotik. Worse even. He heard that he did something very horrible I don't wanna say it right now."
The group stared at him worriedly, but none more so than Cream who felt upset that the teenager still couldn't find her mother, but as he looked away, she caught the look in his eyes. He felt awful for letting her down, and he had been trying so hard that he was risking his life to actually confront the cruel man again but even that was a failed attempt. But remembering what Amy and Tails said to her earlier, the little girl now felt terrible since Sonic had been trying so hard and he didn't even hesitate in helping Cheese.
Later that night after dinner, everyone had began chatting once more, except for Sonic who had retreated to the rooftop of the garage, lying on his back as he stared up at the stars, deep in thought. He was glad that he saved Cheese today, as well as another Chao and having prevented both Robotnik and Julius from finding the Chao Colony, but the blue hedgehog couldn't help but begin to fear that by the time he finds Cream's mother...
It would be too late.
"Oh, Cream...I'm so sorry. It isn't fair." Sonic whispered to himself. "I feel awful for not finding your mom yet. How could I let you down?"
"Mr. Sonic?" The aforementioned girl's voice called out, causing the blue hedgehog to blink in surprise and glance below, surprised to see that Cream was flying up onto the roof, and landed next to him, careful to keep her balance as she never went to the roof before, but she had been so worried about him.
"Cream? What're you doing here?" The teenage Mobian asked, sitting up as his newest friend took a seat next to him.
"I was really worried." Cream replied. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just...I feel bad for not being able to find your Mom like I promised. I really want to find her, so that you can be together again. And all of those other people. It's not fair that you had to go through all of this right now." Sonic sighed, before turning to her as he said with determination and softness. "But I won't give up. I'll do my best in finding her."
"I know you will, but please don't be sad. I know you want to make me happy, and you've been doing that." Cream said, and when Sonic blinked in confusion. "Mr. Tails and Amy told me that you don't like seeing anybody sad, and try your best. I don't mind waiting and, you all, Chris, his family, Mr. Tanaka and Miss Ella have been taking good care of me, and you saved Cheese today too. Thank you, Mr. Sonic."
The more Cream spoke to him or just spoke in general to anyone, the more Sonic saw that the little five year old girl was such a good girl and brave, and knew that she was safe, having made the right choice. He was even more surprised as she snuggled up against him, which melted his heart and he carefully wrapped an arm around her shoulders, gently rubbing her.
"You're welcome, Cream. We're all friends." Sonic said, glad that she didn't hold a grudge against him and that she wasn't selfish or spoiled. He found himself grow closer to her, as though she was like a little sister to him.
The two gazed up at the sky once more, as the blue hedgehog then thought about the promise he made to Uncle Chuck all those years ago and while he was sad that he'll never get the chance to tell him, the fourteen year old was happy to finally have found the Chao Colony.
'Well, Unc'. I finally found a Chao Colony, and until the time's right, I keep that location a secret. Once I find Cream's Mom and all of those villagers, I'll tell Mom, Dad, and my friends of that place.' Sonic thought in his mind, and for a moment, thought he saw his uncle's spirit in the sky, smiling down at him and nodding to him before the image faded.
It has been such a day, and Sonic had a feeling that there will be more exciting days to come.
A/N: The friendship between Sonic and his new friends seem to be getting getting closer even though I should work on his friendship with Chris. I'll do what I can there.
See you later!