Author's Note: Now onto one of the two episodes I've been meaning to write before I changed things a little with the two-parter the last time.
Here comes a crazy speedy chapter!
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Episode 24: How to Catch a Hedgehog.
In Sonic's search for the Iron Empire Base while having ended up taking Amy along since she insisted on coming this time a week after the cruising vacation, and his parents having decided to stick around while taking in the familiar sights of Station Square after years of being away from the city, the young hero ended up once again facing Dr. Robotnik who had yet another giant robot that looked like a metal chicken, named E-88 Lightning Bird, with the evil scientist hovering behind it in the Egg Mobile. They were facing off at a farm in the middle of the fields outside of Station Square, the blue hedgehog standing ready with his nervous self-proclaimed girlfriend behind him.
Then the E-88 robot made it's move by stomping towards the two Mobians before it opened it's mouth which shone a bright red light, forcing Sonic and Amy to shield their eyes. When it died down, he heard a noise before looking over his shoulder and his heart dropped to his stomach when he saw a horrifying sight.
"SONIC!" Amy screamed fearfully, as she had been caught by the back of her dress and was now held captive in the beak of the robot who flew away.
'NO!' Sonic thought before demanding angrily at his enemy. "Let her go, Eggman! Bring her back!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Robotnik laughed manically, loving how he can use Sonic's friends as bait. "If you want her, come save her!"
The eleven year old girl, attempting to free herself by at least damaging the robot, quickly brought out her hammer and began bashing at it's head behind her. But this only made her dress begin to rip slightly and her heart froze up while she paled in horror, realizing her mistake. If she fell now, she was in further trouble.
"HELP!" Amy screamed loudly, before glaring at the Lightning Bird. "Hey, that's a brand new dress, buddy!"
"Amy, you just hang on tight!" The fourteen year old called up. He had to save her and fast!
Glaring hard, he quickly spun into a Spin Leap, rolling along up towards one part of the farm house and soared into the sky. But as Sonic bashed right into the giant robot who was forced to drop Amy, neither one were aware that a chip-like piece that came from it flew into his right ear. He then continued upwards towards a now scared Robotnik who mentally gulped as he realized he had just lost again.
"Get lost!" Sonic shouted, kicking the Egg Mobile and the evil scientist so hard that his enemy went flying.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Robotnik screamed as he vanished into the distance.
Sonic then free-fell after kicking the mad doctor away while Amy fell screaming. Fortunately, he managed to successfully catch her in his arms and held her close, much to her surprise and relief.
"Don't worry, Amy. I gotcha." The fourteen year old reassured.
"You're my hero!" The eleven year old beamed happily, blushing. Her heart leaped that her 'boyfriend' had saved her life again and that they were close. Just like on Valentine's Day.
The two then landed safely into the large haystack. A few moments later Sonic and Amy emerged, the former asking. "You alright?"
Even more deeply in love, the latter happily hugged him tightly which made the blue hedgehog yelped and cringe as she nuzzled her head onto his chest, purring. "Oh, Sonic! I love you!"
"Uh..." Sonic murmured awkwardly before he sighed, reluctantly hugging her back while thinking to himself. 'I really like her as a friend and a sister, but I wish she'd stop going all fangirl on me. I'm really not interested in romance.'
This was going to be a long day.
Deciding to take a break and for Sonic to try and continue his search tomorrow since he felt he was getting closer, but it still felt so far away especially with Robotnik now having one Chaos Emerald again, the last purple one still unaccounted for, and the Iron Empire still holding Vanilla and her villagers hostage along with the Master Emerald and Angel Island, the blue hedgehog and his friend rested on the haystack, the hero of Mobius lying down while Amy sat next to him. It was a nice day, the breeze felt great and it was all peace and quiet.
"Isn't this just beautiful? I wish we could stay here for days and just listen to the wind." Amy remarked happily, and began to blush while daydreaming again. "Oooh. Wouldn't that be...romantic?"
But then she hears a noise which made the Piko hammer wielding girl turn to her left and to her annoyance and confusion, Sonic was picking at his right ear as, unbeknownst to her, he felt something suddenly irritating it and it was already driving him crazy.
"Have you been listening?"
"Say what?" The fourteen year old muttered, before groaning as he attempted to slap the left side of his head to get the chip out. 'Come on! What's in there?'
But that only made the chip sink deeper.
Believing that he was simply ignoring her, Amy groaned loudly. "Oh! You men! Hmph!" She then looked away in a huff.
Seeing her reaction but not realizing it, Sonic shrugged cluelessly. "What's wrong?"
Little did they know that this was just the beginning of the troubles that lied just ahead.
Returning home back to the Thorndyke Mansion, Sonic was now on the garage roof while still trying to get the chip out of his ear, but to his frustration he couldn't no matter how hard he tried. Amy on the other hand, believing that he was ignoring her on purpose and let his mind drift, stood on the ground getting just as frustrated.
"You're impossible! You never hear a thing I say!" Amy shouted angrily, shaking her fists.
"What's wrong, Ms. Amy?" Cream asked as she, Cheese, Chris and Tails approached, becoming confused and concerned on why her big-sister figure was mad.
"Sonic's acting weirder than usual!" The eleven year old complained.
"What do you mean he's acting weird?" Tails blinked.
"He's off in his own little world!"
The others looked up to see and saw the blue hedgehog still scratching at his ear.
"That's not really weird, Amy." The two-tailed fox pointed out. "That's just Sonic."
"He's worse than ever!" Amy insisted. "He hasn't listened to a single word I said all day!"
Chris, seeing how Sonic was poking at his head, suggested. "Maybe he's still worried about Cream's mother and trying to find the Iron Empire's base is harder than it looks."
That didn't make her any better. "I knew you wouldn't understand!"
"Maybe his ear is itchy since he's scratching it. He might have something stuck in there and can't get it out." Cream however, suggested as she noticed how Sonic really was picking at his right ear.
"Chao, chao, chao?" Cheese chirped, wondering if his best friend was right.
But if things weren't bad enough, as soon as Tanaka pulled into the drive way and pushed a button onto the remote to automatically lock up the car, suddenly the chip in Sonic's ear activated which caused a painful and terrifying sensation through out his entire body. Feeling as though an electrical jolt shoot through his veins, the hero of Mobius clutched his head and squeezed his eyes shut, screaming loudly before he leaped off of the roof and ran off towards Station Square, leaving his now bewildered friends behind.
"He looks like he's stressed." Chris remarked, now beginning to grow very worried.
"He thinks he's stressed?" Amy growled, still not getting what the real problem was. "Try being me!"
"That'd be horrible." The twelve year old boy murmured under his breath.
"What was that!?" The pink hedgehog demanded angrily, causing her human friend to hold his hands up in surrender, scared of facing her wrath.
"Something's gotta be wrong. I've never seen Sonic act like this, even back on the cruise ship." Tails frowned worriedly.
Cream, despite being told by the blue hedgehog over and over again that it wasn't her fault, felt a twinge of guilt rise up inside her chest. "Maybe he's going to try and find my Mom again and is really mad at the Iron Empire."
"Chao..." Cheese squeaked softly.
Not only that, the little five year old girl had another nightmare three days ago, similar to the one with the giant figure holding her mother, Sonic, and another girl with a white Chao in his grasp while having sought Cream and Cheese out just like Julius. She couldn't help but worry that something terrible was about to happen soon. Very soon.
"The only way to find out what's really going on with Sonic is to follow him in the X Tornado." Chris declared, and the seven year old cub nodded in agreement.
It wasn't long before the five remaining friends boarded the plane and took off to find out where Sonic has gone off to.
Little did they know was that even Sonic had no clue either. Because as he ran down the road into the city and up on the highways, the teenage hero had felt the strange sensation with somehow made his legs run as though they had minds of their own and the itching in his ear couldn't stop.
"I don't get it! I can't stop my feet!" The fourteen year old cried out, bewildered, while unaware that the chip continued to blink, shooting through his nervous system.
Upon approaching incoming cars, the blue hedgehog was forced to veer to one side and leaped over another vehicle, inadvertently causing a traffic jam and a few cars skidding to an alarmingly stop, with angry drivers shouting out to him as well as other drivers and each other for the recklessness.
'Uh-oh...' Sonic thought while looking over his shoulder and apologetically called out. "Heh...Sorry!"
Meanwhile, in the middle of town, Jules and Bernadette had just exited a gift ship with the former sighing, carrying a gift bag. "Man, the city sure looks mostly the same, but there are so many new shops and businesses around here. I really missed this place. It brings back memories."
"I agree. It's so wonderful that one just couldn't leave." His wife agreed, before sighing. "Still...I feel so terrible. Poor little Cream, being without her mother for so long. It...it reminds me of...how you, Charles and I had to go through the similar thing in our pre-teen years, and our little boy Tails since he was two years old."
Seeing where Bernadette was coming from, Jules lowered his gaze in sorrowful understanding, He knew that she was right, and what's worse, their own sons were going through the trouble just to find the little girl's mother all because of the cruelty of one man who, in a way, reminded him so much of another horrible person he himself encountered and fought when they and his late brother were all teenagers.
"I know. I just hope Cream's mother will be found soon. It's putting a lot of pressure on Sonic." The male hedgehog murmured in agreement.
Unbeknownst to them, Sonic was running out of control and when he saw two familiar blue figures coming into view, he gasped in horror before screaming out at the top of his lungs, not wanting to run over anybody, especially his own parents. "MOM! DAD! LOOK OUT!"
"Huh!?" The two adult hedgehogs gaped in surprise, before seeing a familiar fast-pacing blue blur coming their way, and with alarmed yelps, Jules pulled Bernadette out of the way just as their teenage son came dashing by, nearly knocking them over and leaving them blinking, bewildered. "Sonic!?"
Wondering what has Sonic run so fast in such a hurry, Jules and Bernadette shared worried glances before deciding to cut their day out short and hurried to get a taxi for the Thorndyke Manor.
Further up ahead, Sam Speed had just pulled over a reckless driver, who was a man with a mohak hair-style and black sleek car. The racer/police officer told the man sternly. "Listen, punk. Just because your car looks cool, if you don't wear a seat belt, you're a fool."
All of the sudden, Sonic came running past, which alarmed the racer who, recognizing him and unable to suddenly pass up the urge to race him again and this time defeat his young rival, quickly informed the other man. "Thanks to him, you're not getting a ticket today. Now go get a haircut!"
Leaping into his original speed car, Sam then did a U-turn and drove off after the teenage Mobian, while declaring. "I got ya' now, Sonic!" He then radioed his S-Team. "This is S-Team leader to debate. In hot pursuit of high-speed Mobian hedgehog going south on Broad Street! Over."
"I can't stop!" The fourteen year old cried out, struggling to control his legs. 'Why is this happening!? Let's like somebody's controlling my body or something!'
While he loved to run and his speed was his freedom to allow him to go wherever he wanted, the blue hedgehog knew his own limits, and this was quickly starting to scare him.
Up in the air, the X Tornado managed to find Sonic still running like crazy, before the four children and the little Chao noticed a familiar car going after him.
"There's Uncle Sam." Chris remarked, surprised.
"Looks like he's trying to catch up with Sonic." Tails guessed, as it was no secret that the human man was just as competitive and speed crazy as his older brother.
"Maybe Mr. Sam wants to race Mr. Sonic again." Cream thought.
"Chao, Chao?" Cheese blinked, just as puzzled.
"I'm gonna radio him." The twelve year old boy decided, before signaling him to his uncle and reported. "Hey, Uncle Sam. This is Chris."
"When you're on this frequency, it's S-Team leader, got it? Besides, I can't chit chat right now, I'm on a mission." Sam reported back, focusing on his one major goal and that was to defeat Sonic in a race once and for all.
"Sorry, but I need to talk to you about Sonic."
"If you're calling to ask me to take it easy on him, forget it!"
"But he's acting really strange today. We're worried that there might be something really wrong with him." Chris tried to point out.
But unfortunately the older human didn't see reason as his ego overfilled his senses of common sense. "There must be if he thinks he can beat me!" And with that he pushes the pedel to the metal, speeding up to catch up to his rival.
"He acts weirder than Vector and Sonic." The young Thorndyke scratched the top of his head, dumbfounded. Sometimes he really did wonder why not only his mother, but also his uncle acted so crazy and delusional. Maybe it was the Fair Family thing that they don't take things seriously?
If so, then the young boy was glad he got the more common sense from the Thorndyke side of the family...and more normal common sense too out of all of them. It made him mentally shudder to think if he would act strange when he gets older.
Just as Sam thought he got Sonic now while the blue hedgehog was unaware of the unexpected race, to their shock the latter's legs suddenly went into turbo speed mode which made him run twice as fast.
"Hey, what's goin' on!?" Sonic exclaimed, now out-running his rival yet again.
Not willing to allow the teenager get away, the S-Team Racer attempted to break the speed rules and made to go faster...only to suddenly slow down and much to his shock while wondering what was happening, his car came to a complete stop in the middle of the road.
"Great. Out of gas." Sam grumbled, before glaring up at the increasingly vanishing hedgehog while softly growling as he vowed to win next time. "That kid may have outrun me this time, but there's always next time! I'll get 'em."
By then, the hero of Mobius began to return to his normal speed and, still completely clueless, broke the fourth wall by shrugging at the readers/viewers.
At a newspaper stand, the Chaotix were having a conversation on where the Iron Empire could be while buying a Newspaper to find more clues, when Sonic suddenly came dashing by and not only causing all of the papers to go flying everywhere, but also accidentally knocked Vector, Espio and Charmy down which made them scream and crash onto the floor...and the green crocodile on top of the purple chameleon while the young bee was on top of the oldest detective's back, slightly crippled while seeing fireworks go off in their heads.
The trio all groaned in pain, slightly disoriented.
"Sorry, guys! I'm having trouble with my feet today!" Sonic, recognizing the three detectives, called out as loudly as possible before he got too far ahead for them to hear him.
"Ow...That hurt." Charmy grumbled, before looking up ahead and blinked in surprise. "Hey, that was Sonic! Wonder where he's going in a such a hurry today? Did he figure out where the Iron Empire's base is yet?"
"For a little hedgehog guy, he sure knows how to knock everything over..." Vector moaned, opening his eyes which were comically flashing with fireworks, still dazed.
'Something must be wrong. Even I know that Sonic is careful whenever he goes on his runs in our short time in knowing him.' Espio, somehow being the least dizzy out of the trio, thought to himself in concern, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. He could sense in almost in instant that Sonic had no control over his speed today.
He then winced in pain before attempting to turn his head as far back as possible while groaning in agony. "Vector...as a friend, ally and co-worker of our agency, I kindly ask you to get off of me. You're really heavy and I can't get out of my own."
Once again Sonic ended up still on the road and was about to collide with an incoming bus with the driver honking at him, making him yelp worriedly. "Oops!"
Quickly changing his course to his right, the speedy hedgehog ran out of the way and ended up running into the train station metro, apologetically excusing himself while leaping into the train tracks as well as the moving vessels themselves, running along on top of the one going in the opposite direction before jumping off and continued onward towards his unknown endless destination.
"I hope the exit's not too far from here!" He cried out, worriedly.
This was starting to become far too dangerous even for his standards.
Eventually Sonic emerged through the other exit and ended up racing into the desert just as the late afternoon arrived. Tails, Chris, Amy, Cream and Cheese in the meantime found him and were just confused on why he was racing into the middle of nowhere, so they followed their speedy friend who strangely ended up going faster again.
"Why is Mr. Sonic going faster again?" Cream asked, utterly confused.
"I don't know." Amy replied, just as puzzled. It wasn't until she noticed her heroic 'boyfriend' scratching at his ear again, and then, remembering earlier how he saved her life, began to realize something yet still unaware of the micro chip that was still stuck inside the teenager's ear. "Maybe something happened to Sonic when he was battling that robot! That could be why he's acting this way!"
"And if what Cream said is true, there must be something inside him which could be causing him to lose control of his legs." Tails, realizing the same thing, theorized.
"Could be." Chris nodded in agreement, gazing worriedly at Sonic before deciding. "Let's go back to my Grandpa. He might figure out what's causing this and if Cream's right, we have to get that thing out of Sonic's ear."
"I hope so." Amy sighed, despondent as the seven year old cub turned the X Tornado back towards the Thorndyke Mansion. Plus Sonic's parents will most likely want to know what is going on, while thinking to herself. 'Please be okay, Sonic.'
If anything horrible happened to Sonic, the eleven year old hedgehog would never forgive herself.
Meanwhile, after recovering from yet another loss against Sonic as well as failing to gain the other Chaos Emeralds by using Amy Rose as a bargaining chip, Robotnik was once again in his Egg Fort with Decoe and Bocoe in the co-pilot seats while scheming yet another evil plan to get rid of the teenage hedgehog.
The aircraft at this moment was flying over another part of the desert until Decoe noticed something, and beamed in excitement, saying to his creator. "Doctor, here is something I think you will enjoy."
"What is it?" Robotnik, annoyed over this, grumbled.
"See for yourself." The yellow robot responded, and turned on the monitor to reveal life footage of Sonic racing through the desert by himself and showing no signs of stopping.
"Well, well." This did seem to interest the evil scientist, grinning. "Looks like Sonic's working up quite a sweat, and in a major hurry to find the Iron Circus' Clubhouse at this time of day."
"Perhaps you might want to do the same, doctor. You have been getting a bit round around the waist lately." Bocoe suggested.
"What!?" Robotnik shouted, feeling insulted while causing his minion to recoil in fright. Deciding to forget about his dumbot's comment, the mad doctor turned back to the monitor and murmured thoughtfully. "Hmm...Perhaps if Sonic does find the Iron Empire's base, I can beat him do it by stealing Julius' plans and use it against him as well as that irritating hedgehog."
This may work out to his advantage. Only problem is...not even Robotnik was aware that even locating the Iron Empire's base was on Sonic's mind today.
Back at the Thorndyke Mansion, everybody met up in Chuck Thorndyke's lab including Sonic's parents and the Chaotix who all heard of what was going on with the cobalt teenager.
"...He doesn't stop. Sonic just keeps running." Chris explained. "Cream and Amy think that there's something in his ear that's making him act like this."
"So that's why he can't stop, huh?" Jules remarked, frowning deeply in grave concern, his arms folded to his chest.
"If Sonic is unable to control his speed at this moment, then I'm afraid Cream is right with her assumption." Espio stated.
"But what could it be? I'm so worried about him." Bernadette asked, her hands clasped together. The very thought of her son being unable to stop running because something may be wrong with him terrified her to no end.
"What do you think is in Mr. Sonic's ear?" Cream asked, worriedly.
"Well, for one thing, if Sonic was fighting against Dr. Eggman's robot today, then a tiny piece of that thing must've fallen into his ear without anybody realizing it." Vector, after some serious thinking(for once), suggested with his hand under his chin.
"Of course." Chuck realized, his eyes widening. "It could be that it is a computer chip which is somehow activated from Dr. Robotnik's machine."
"There's a computer-flavoured chip?" Charmy asked, dumbly. This prompted almost everybody to sweat drop and groan at the five year old bee's cluelessness despite his age.
"It's a chip made to work in computers and machines, not to eat!" Vector snapped in annoyance.
"Sor-ry!" The youngest detective replied sarcastically after jumping a little over his older friend's outburst.
"What we really oughta do is get Sonic and check inside his ear to see if we're right!" The green crocodile continued, calming down as he thrust his fist into his palm with determination.
"To do that, we have to catch him." Espio pointed out, as he felt that this wasn't going to be an easy task at all. Considering that Sonic is the fastest thing alive, it would be next to impossible.
"I'm afraid Espio's right. It's not going to be easy." Chuck shrugged with one shoulder in agreement, before he began to think deeply on how to capture Sonic without hurting him and see if there really is a computer chip of some sorts. Then an idea formed in his head and he perked up. "I think I may know a way!"
Curious on what the elder Thorndyke had in mind, everyone listened in on his plan. But while most of them seemed to agree to this, there were a couple who didn't think it would work.
Amy who was worried sick about her 'future husband', and Espio who, having a sudden feeling something was bound to go wrong with this plan, sweat dropped with a disturbed expression. The way how Chris' grandfather explained it, the purple Chameleon had huge doubts about this.
Later that night, while most of them went to bed, Chuck and Tails, who was asked to help with this new project in order to help and capture Sonic, were working really hard in the former's lab, Amy was standing on the balcony of the guest room, watching the duo from the window where they were seen with a sad expression on her face, her heart sinking with guilt and sorrow. She continued to blame herself for the blue hedgehog's current situation and feared for his safety.
She loved him so much that if anything happened to him, more so to the point that he could get killed and never be seen again, the pink hedgehog would never forgive herself and would be heart-broken for the rest of her life.
"Oh, Sonic...I hope you're okay." Amy whispered worriedly, gazing up at the moon. Her 'boyfriend' must be pretty tired by now. "Where are you?"
If only she could help him now instead of just waiting. She prayed that he was at least running in a safe area.
Back out in the desert, Sonic was still running and he did feel pretty tired. But his legs refused to stop, making him worry that he could exhaust himself at this point. What scared him even more was that if he fell asleep now while unable to stop, the Iron Empire or Robotnik could catch him off-guard, imprison or kill him, and then it would be the end of Mobius as everybody knew it.
"Almost there, almost there!" Sonic exclaimed, looking around as it was dark, the moon being his only source of light, and he found that he was lost. "Where am I going anyway?"
'I wish I could stop. At this rate I could be sleep-running, never mind sleep-walking!' The teenage hero thought to himself, lowering his gaze slightly in concern. Why was he running out of control?
First something landed in his ear and now this happened. Could it be related?
While the cobalt hedgehog was still running around, at least he wouldn't have to worry about the Iron Empire who were unaware of this, or even Robotnik. Because in the Egg Fort, the evil scientist got bored in just simply keeping an eye on his young teenage enemy that he fell asleep and snored. Behind him, Decoe and Bocoe both went into sleep-mode and were dozing quite peacefully despite the uncomfortable-looking positions.
The next morning in the another part of the desert, Amy and the others had arrived and made camp while having set up a make-shift lab to keep tabs on Sonic. Chuck in the meantime had pulled out a billboard while explaining the plan to his grandson and friends.
"With the help of Tails, I have devised a plan that I believe will work. It's actually quite simple." The kindly scientist explained, tapping the board with the stick. "Step one: We locate Sonic from the X Tornado. Step two: We launch a specially designed bubble bomb which will hold him securely and lift him off the ground. And once Sonic is off his feet, we can discover if it is a computer chip that is causing him to run amok or not. Now, let's get to it!"
"Right! And after that, Sonic should go back to normal!" Chris declared, hoping that this plan would work.
"Yeah!" Everybody else except Espio cheered on.
'I hope they know what they're doing. This plan may not work out at all.' The detective ninja thought to himself. This was going to be a disaster and he knew it.
Shortly afterwards, Tails and Amy flew in the X Tornado with the latter holding a bazooka launcher, hoping to find the hero of Mobius. Fortunately, since the plane was designed to go even faster with the help of a Chaos Emerald, they can keep up woth Sonic's speed and soon found him still running.
Sonic in the meantime was trying to figure out how to get back to Station Square and hopefully ask Tails and Chuck to see what was wrong with him, when he heard a familiar sound of engines in the sky, confusing him at first as he looked up before smiling in relief at the very sight of the X Tornado.
"I've got company!" He cried out happily. It looked like his friends were already attempting to help him and figure out what the problem was.
"Target spotted." Amy reported.
At the campsite, the rest of the group including Ella, as well as Sonic's parents, were keeping tabs as they saw the teenage hedgehog approaching fast.
"Roger. Stay alert, Amy and don't let him out of your sight." Jules responded as he and the kind human were at the controls, especially when the adult blue hedgehog had years of experience in his days as a soldier.
"I'll stay on him, Mr. Hedgehog." The eleven year old girl replied.
As Tails flew the plane closer, the two-tailed fox turned the plane to the left and Sonic, seeing this, managed to gain some control and followed, leading him to the small camp-site. Chris, Cream and Cheese, Bernadette, Vector, Espio, Charmy, and Ella were waiting while Tanaka stayed behind to keep an eye on things in the house. By then Amy took aim as thankfully the launcher had something that wouldn't harm the fourteen year old.
"Fire!" Amy exclaimed, firing a small harmless dart which instantly hits Sonic on the back, causing him to yelp in slight pain with an 'Ow!' and everybody else smile just as he suddenly feels it pull at him, finally causing him to skid to a stop.
"Hey, whoa! Ah!" The blue hedgehog cried out as an inflatable pink balloon suddenly grows from the dart on his back like a bubble and lifting him off the ground.
"Alright, it worked!" Chris cried out in relief.
"It really did work." Amy murmured in surprise. Maybe this will help Sonic after all.
"Hey, that looks like fun!" Charmy remarked excitedly as he watched Sonic float.
As Sonic hovered, he found that it wasn't really bad.
'Hey, this is kind of fun.' The blue hedgehog thought, as he turned to his friends and parents, calling out to them while the bubble grows slightly bigger. "Look, guys! I'm flyin'!"
But as Sonic chuckled, unfortunately the plan hit a flaw because it grew even bigger and much to his and everybody else's horror, it began to lift him up even higher into the sky before the wind carried him away from the campsite. He screamed in alarm as now he couldn't get down.
"Sonic!" Bernadette cried out, fearfully.
"Hey, get me down! I'm floating away!" The hero of Mobius exclaimed.
"I'll save ya', Sonic!" Charmy declared, but just as he was about to fly up to save the blue hedgehog, a tumble weed rolled in and caught the five year old bee and rolled him away, much to his dismay. "Whoa! Hey! Get me outta of this thing! Ahhh!"
"I knew this would happen." Espio groaned in exasperation, facepalming himself with a sweat drop.
"Perhaps I used too much helium." Chuck remarked in dismay.
"You think?" Jules glared at the elder human in annoyance, unable to do anything now to save his own son.
"Whooooooooaaaaaaaa! Help me!" Sonic screamed pleadingly, as he floated into the forest, and above a river, unable to free himself from the dart's balloon. "Somebody get this thing off of me! Whoaaa! WHOOOAAA!"
Struggling to reach behind his back, the blue hedgehog couldn't even pull the dart off since the balloon was in the way, and to make things worse, his quills didn't even poke into it to make the thing pop.
"Oh man! First I can't run fast, now I can't stop floating! This is definitely not my week!" The fourteen year old exclaimed, his heart racing and as he looked down to see how high he was, and above the water, it only made things worse.
Fortunately for him, near by to his right on the shores, Knuckles, who was attempting to still locate the Chaos Emeralds and the Iron Empire's Base, was standing there when the red echidna noticed his younger rival's predicament.
"What now?" The fifteen year old muttered to himself, his arms folded as he wondered what has Sonic gotten into this time and why he was floating on a...giant bubblegum on his back?
Seeing the Guardian of Master Emerald in confusion and surprise, Sonic cried out to him loudly in desperation. "Hey, Knuckles! I'm stuck! Help me, HELP ME!"
Once Knuckles saw that the hero of Mobius really couldn't get down, he decided to help him the old fashioned way. He picked up a rock and tossed it at the balloon-bubble, bursting it and freeing the cobalt hedgehog who fell screaming. Though the fourteen year old did end up hitting a couple of branches and bushes which softened his landing and panicked in fear as he landed into the water.
'AH! NO!' Sonic thought frantically, though once he touched the surface, his legs acted up again and this time he shockingly ran across the water, despite that this was his saving grace to prevent him from drowning, hurrying towards the shore as while now he was back to square one, at least he was safer on the ground...once he gets to it.
Knuckles, thinking that the younger Mobian was now looking for a battle, got ready and stepped aside to avoid impact...
"THANK YOU!" The blue hedgehog exclaimed as he raced past his older friend, accidentally splashing water everywhere and ran into the forest, leaving a bewildered red echidna behind as he stood there, dumbfounded...
"Huh? What the?" The Guardian was stunned, unable to comprehend on what just happened, and when he felt something wriggle and squirm in his arms, he looked down to see that he caught a Mobini Fish that Sonic accidentally splashed up.
Well, that was unexpected. Maybe he should ask the others on what was going on.
Back at the campsite, everybody gathered around once Vector and Espio freed Charmy from the tumbleweed, and talked about the failure of the plan.
"Well, now what do we do?" Vector asked, frustrated that things aren't going the way they want.
"You think Sonic will come back?" Chris asked, worriedly.
"I'm really worried." Cream murmured, lowering her gaze.
Amy, still heart-broken that the plan failed and that they still couldn't help Sonic, closed her eyes in guilt. "This is all my fault...!"
"Don't blame yourself, Amy. Eggman's the one who caused this to happen, remember?" The twelve year old boy pointed out reassuringly, trying to make her feel better.
"The problem with the plan was not only it was impossible to keep Sonic on the ground without him running off, you used too much helium." Espio stated to Chuck who nodded in agreement.
"I guess it was a downside to that plan." The elder Thorndyke sighed with his arms folded.
Cheese then noticed something approaching and chirped up in alert, causing Cream to look to her right and gaped in surprise. "Look, everyone. Here comes Mr. Knuckles."
The rest of the group looked to see that she was right as the red echidna in question approached, still holding the fish in his arms.
"Hey there, Knuckles! Long time no see!" Charmy greeted with a wave.
"Why do ya' have a fish in your hands?" The green crocodile asked, pointing at the Guardian.
Knuckles frowned, answering. "Well, Sonic just tried to run me over."
"Great!" Amy exclaimed in relief, walking up to him as the latter handed the fish over to Ella. "Did you stop him?"
"He missed me!" The red echidna grinned, feeling proud of himself with his reflexes.
Which didn't improve Amy's mood as she, angry that the guardian didn't even make any attempts to stop Sonic's problem despite that fact that Knuckles had saved him from the dart problem, pulled out her Hammer and held it up which made everybody else sweat drop nervously, scared of what she could do to Knuckles.
"Well, I'm not gonna miss you!" The pink hedgehog snarled, threatening to squash him flat.
'What did I do?' Knuckles thought to himself, suddenly nervous as it was rare for him to see his rival's 'girlfriend' act this way, before pointing out with a sweat drop. "What's the big deal? All I did was step aside."
"The fact that you didn't stop him is her biggest problem." Vector whispered to himself, gulping in fear over one little girl's strength...and anger issues.
"It's not Mr. Knuckles' fault, Amy." Cream gently protested, also with a sweat drop as she hoped to try and prevent her older sister-figure from lashing out.
"Chao, Chao." Cheese responded in agreement.
"Calm down, sweetie." Bernadette gently placed her hands onto the younger female hedgehog's shoulders. "Cream's right. Knuckles just doesn't know what's going on with Sonic's legs and ears at the moment."
"Mrs. Hedgehog's right." Ella agreed, holding out pot of freshly cooked stew she served up during the conversation. "I bet you come up with a new way to help Sonic after you have a nice, hot lunch."
Deciding that having lunch would give them hopeful new ideas on how to help the teenage hero of Mobius, the group, after inviting Knuckles to join them which he was reluctant to do so but accepted none the less, sat down having the delicious stew with bread, though it did nothing to help Amy's concerns for her 'boyfriend'.
"I bet Sonic is feeling very hungry by now." The eleven year old girl murmured, sighing in sadness.
"I'm sure he's fine. Sonic's a tough young hedgehog, and I've seen him go without a meal for a day or two when he was younger." Jules reassured, despite the fact that even he was worried his son.
"Maybe he'll run into a giant tumbleweed and get stuck like I did? 'Cause that wasn't fun at all." Charmy suggested, before munching on his stew and bread.
"Nah, that won't work. It's gonna take more than that to get him to even stay in one place without even rolling around." Vector shook his head dismissively.
It was then that Chuck, hearing the conversation, instantly had another idea and perked up brightly. "That's it!"
Once again after eating, the group gathered around once he told them what he had in mind, and explained. "Knuckles and Vector will both wait at the top of a hill with a specially engineered wheel trap. As Sonic approaches, we'll give the signal and the two will roll the wheel down the hill, trapping Sonic inside! He'll be like a hamster in a cage!"
Again most of the group cheered deciding to give this a shot, except for Espio who sweat dropped as he found this to be uncomfortable, and Knuckles who calmly folded his arms.
"But, isn't Sonic a hedgehog, though?" Charmy pointed out, confused.
That made his two friends stumble over and collapse onto the ground with groans, while Knuckles raised an eyebrow, whispering to himself. "What's with this kid?"
"Um...We're still not sure on that one, Knuckles." Tails whispered even though he knew his older friend wasn't talking to him.
Short time later, unaware that his friends had come up with another plan to help him, Sonic kept on running as he was starving and wanted nothing more than to eat and sleep for the rest of the day. He really had to be burning quite a lot of calories by now and at the rate he was going he could end up turning into the thinnest hedgehog in the world.
"Huh? What's that?" The blue hedgehog looked up ahead to see, strangely enough, an arrow pointing to his left on a rock. Thinking that it was another plan his friends had set up, he decided to follow it and turned sharply to the direction, and then went right as another arrow instructed.
In a matter of minutes he was heading straight towards the 'trap' his friends and family had set up for him, with Knuckles and Vector waiting up on top with a giant wheel with the others standing by.
"Alright, Chris and Jules, he's almost in position." Chuck called out.
"Right, Grandpa!" Chris replied, holding two red flags, while his best friend's father was holding two green flags.
"Roger that." The older blue hedgehog responded.
As soon as Sonic gets to where he was needed to be, the elder Thorndyke signals out, and the two flag-bears waved at Knuckles and Vector with the latter giving them a thumbs up and the two Mobians then pushed the wheel down the hill where it rolled towards the approaching teenage hedgehog. As soon as the hero of Mobius is right next to the wheel, Chuck smirked before he pushed a button and the wheel's machine quickly traps Sonic inside while implanting itself on the ground so that it won't roll away.
While the kind scientist grinned and laughed, Amy, who was now wearing an apron, looked on in surprise that the plan actually worked and everybody else looked on in awe with mixed reactions.
"Grandpa, it worked!" The twelve year old Thorndyke exclaimed softly in awe.
"Of course it did!" His grandfather replied.
As Sonic kept running, he couldn't help but comment. "Thanks for helping me, guys, but I kinda feel like a hamster in here."
"That's the idea, kiddo." Jules teasingly replied.
Just then, a tray opened up in front of the cobalt teenager, revealing a plate with a Chili Dog and a glass of water. The sight of the food and drink made him realize just how hungry and thirsty he really is.
"I thought you might be hungry after all this running. You Mom helped me make your favorite." Amy answered her 'boyfriend's' unasked question with concern.
Sonic smiled in gratitude before taking a bite out of his meal, moaning in delight and replied. "It's tasty. Thanks, Ames, thanks Mom."
"You're welcome, sweetie." Bernadette giggled in relief, knowing how much her son loved his chili dogs.
After the fourteen year old finished his lunch with his friends and family trying to figure out and see if he would stop running, he was so tired that he yawned before he started to finally fall asleep.
"Looks like Sonic's falling asleep." Chris remarked.
"After all that running, who can blame him?" Jules shrugged, knowingly. "If he falls asleep now, he might stop."
"Maybe I can help." Amy suggested hopefully, confusing the adults and the twelve year old boy, before she called out to the hero of Mobius. "Do you want me to tell you a bedtime story?"
"No...Thank you...Amy..." Sonic replied, trailing off as he was very sleepy.
To the group's great confusion, despite that he was now sleeping, he was still running and staying upright.
"I heard of sleep-walking, but never sleep-running." Charmy blinked, dumbfounded.
"Yeah, this might be added on the list of sleep-trances." Vector agreed, rubbing the back of his neck.
Meanwhile, Robotnik was once again monitoring Sonic's movements and saw what was going on and, thinking that he was now having his own little gym, the evil scientist wondered if this was how the hero of Mobius always stayed fit despite running around to other places exploring and staying thin.
"That looks like fun. Exercising I mean." The mad doctor grinned, thinking that maybe he should take it up himself to keep himself nice and fit, before he declared. "I'm going to start."
"You should!" Decoe and Bocoe both nodded in agreement, happy to encourage their creator.
"Tomorrow." Robotnik added, as today he wanted to really know more about Sonic's movement and decided to enjoy the show by eating his Egg and Ham Sandwich, much to the dismay of his two robots.
"Oh, Dr. Robotnik!" The duo cried out in disappointment as they knew it now won't happen. "Tomorrow never comes!"
Then again, every time Robotnik claims he will begin to lose some weight and be fit...he never does and spends most of his time coming up with evil plots and building machines and robots instead.
Around an hour later, it seemed not even sleep slowed Sonic down as he woke up, rubbing his eyes after another yawn even though he needed more hours than that.
"I need a nap where I can lay down even on the grass or something." He tiredly said.
"Looks like Sonic's nap didn't slow him down at all. It only made him faster." Chris blinked, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"He does have a higher case of Chaos Energy than anybody else. It must be the chip that's really inside his ear." Jules frowned in concern. It didn't help that the younger blue hedgehog was panting and really did look exhausted. He has never seen his son this way before and it worried him and his wife to no end at all.
"I've never seen anything like it. His energy is positively boundless!" Chuck was really surprised by how Sonic could just keep running. "Or perhaps the chip is really controlling his speed."
"Sonic has more power than my food processor alone." Ella remarked, amazed as well.
Unfortunately, disaster was about to strike as Sonic wished he did stop but it was against his will.
"Sonic! Is the thing in your ear still itchy? We believe it's a computer chip controlling your speed and it may have come from the robot you fought yesterday." Jules cried out, as he and Chuck saw that the machine won't last much longer.
"I knew this was somehow related!" Sonic grunted, narrowing his eyes angrily as he realized it made perfect sense. "Robotnik must've planned this or something. That robot must've had something it flew into me and I didn't realize it. I thought it was something else."
"Sonic, that wheel wasn't built to withstand this intensity!" Chuck warned in alarm. "You need to stop!"
"That's the problem! I can't!" The blue hedgehog exclaimed, just as the machine's engine was really heating up to the point that it was making a creaking noise and beginning to break...with Knuckles, Vector and Espio standing right in front of it!
"Knuckles, Vector, Espio, look out!" Tails and Charmy both exclaimed in horror as they saw what was about to happen, their eyes widened.
Too late, the stand breaks and the wheel is now rolling with Sonic inside, and the aforementioned trio, who sweat dropped with their eyes widening in sudden fear, screamed in alarm before quickly turning to run away...Only for it to roll onto the red echidna, purple chameleon and green crocodile flat onto the ground, nearly flattening them painfully and comically like pancakes. In the meantime, Sonic, who let out a horrified gasped to see what he just did when he looked over his shoulder after hearing them scream, ended up having the wheel fall sideways on the ground and ended up digging deep into the earth like a wheel-driller.
When Tails, Charmy, Chris, Amy, Cream and Cheese, Ella, Chuck, Jules and Bernadette carefully peered into the newly-made hole, they suddenly felt the ground tremble and it didn't take the male adult hedgehog long to realize what was happening.
"RUN!" Jules screamed, and he and the others cried out in fear as they quickly moved away with their legs running quickly, and a huge gyser of water came shooting out with Sonic on top of it, screaming.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" The fourteen year old exclaimed before he was thrown off and landed back onto the ground, and once again took off while unable to stop. Yet he still managed to call out to all of his friends and family, especially to Knuckles, Vector and Espio. "Sorry about that, guys!"
"I think that was a real washout." Charmy commented, admittedly impressed.
Once again, another plan to help Sonic failed.
Later that afternoon, the group returned to camp where Bernadette and Ella were both treating Knuckles and Espio while Vector was already seen to and the crocodile detective was left moaning, lying on his stomach. Needless the say the three Mobians hissed, grunted and groaned over their sore backs.
"Your plans haven't been working out at all, professor." Vector grumbled to the elder Thorndyke, left with not just as injured back, but his right eye was bruised, his left arm was in a sling, and he had a tissue paper in his left nostril.
"Not quite, but I'm confident that if we just keep trying, we'll eventually come up with a plan that will work." Chuck reassured, despite that Amy looked skeptical and worried, Chris was uncertain, Cream and Cheese both looked at each other, and even Tails didn't think any of this would work out.
"Why am I feeling the next plan will ultimately fail like the others?" Espio questioned, suspiciously before wincing in pain.
"I don't think any plan will work at all." Charmy leaned over in agreement.
Either way, the group could only hope that they can figure this out before something else would go terribly wrong.
As night fell, Sonic was having trouble staying awake since he was still running around like crazy. He can't fall asleep. Not when he could get attacked.
In the Egg Fort, Robotnik kept on watching the blue hedgehog and grinned wickedly as he saw just how tired the fourteen year old was, enjoying this. "Sonic is running himself ragged! He must be as worn out as an old sneaker. This would be a perfect time to launch a sneak attack against him!"
He knew that he had the chance to attack the hero of Mobius and questioned his two lackies who were also excited to catch Sonic off-guard and destroy him once and for all. "Ready?"
"Aye aye!" Decoe and Bocoe saluted, ready to have some fun.
'Hope you have a good time with your little 'training', Sonic, because it will be your last!' The evil scientist thought to himself, pushing a button to launch his attack. "Hasta la bye bye, Sonic!"
The hatch of the giant fortress opened up, revealing another robot resembling to a rhino but humanoid, a green face and hands, and seemed to be on wheels(1), because it rolled straight towards Sonic from his right as the blue hedgehog, very exhausted, heard the loud sound which snapped him wide awake and looked to see what it was. He gasped in shock and dismay to see a 50-foot giant robot coming his way, letting out a metallic roar, holding out a sphere capsule ready to capture him.
"Oh, great! I knew Eggman would do something like this!" The hero of Mobius complained, glaring at the monstrous machine with his eyes narrowed. The problem is with his out of control running, he couldn't use his Spin Dash or Homing Attack to fight it. "Guess I'll have to come up with something else to beat that thing!"
By the time the horned robot, known as E-70 Mogella(2), opened up the capsule and approached, Sonic attempted to dodge but was captured instantly the moment it was right next to him due to the lack of sleep and concentration. He cried out in alarm and yet he ended up still running inside while the huge robot held the sphere with him trapped inside, bringing him close to it's face.
"Let me out, you giant rhino on wheels!" The fourteen year old shouted angrily, realizing that he was trapped in a sphere that was similar the wheel he was in earlier, and another sphere within it to stop him from rolling out of it's hands.
Seeing this on the monitor, Robotnik laughed manically in victory while Decoe and Bocoe cheered on. "AH HA HA HA HA HA! Finally, I got him! Now, crush that hedgehog like a pest he is, E-70 Mogella! Don't let him escape!"
He did it. He finally had Sonic in his grasp! Now nothing was going to stop him from taking over Mobius by stealing the other Chaos Emeralds...Or so he thought.
Hearing the command through the intercom, the E-70 robot began to do as it was ordered, and squeezed the capsule, trapping Sonic within it's hands. But the hero of Mobius, sweating nervously with his heart pounding in fear, shuts his eyes tightly as he prayed and willed his speed to increase, hoping that the pressure he used on the wheel earlier would work twice. Fortunately he went into his boost mode and as he hoped, the sphere grew so hot that even the giant robot felt the heat, making it sweat drop nervously until the sphere broke with the glass shattering, and the blue hedgehog smashed his way straight into the right hand, damaging it badly.
"HUH!? The evil trio gasped in shock and horror when they saw this, unable to believe what just happened.
"Sonic just burst out of that sphere!" Decoe exclaimed in dismay and disbelief.
"He must have increased his speed since the sphere wasn't built for such intensity!" Bocoe cried out, worriedly.
Now free, Sonic glared over his shoulder and decided to teach that robot a lesson before it could launch another attack. He forced his legs to do a U-turn and then raced around the E-70 Mogella, creating a Sonic Wind Tornado. The winds grew stronger and stronger because of it to the point that not even Robotnik's creation could even withstand it, causing the machine to be lifted up so high it went flying while it roared in alarm...and straight towards Robotnik's ship.
"Oh no! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Robotnik screamed in horror, realizing that he just lost yet again, while Decoe and Bocoe, horrified and fearing for their batteries, held onto each other.
The giant robot crashed straight into the Egg Fort where it was damaged again, sending it and it's passengers flying away and crashing to the ground in a loud tremor-like thud. Sonic in the meantime, sighing in relief for having managed to escape, raced away while hoping his friends could help him with his current problem.
He then yawned again as the fatigue really got to himself, beginning to doze off again as he muttered. "Well, now that Eggman's dealt with, maybe I could catch...a...few...Zzzzzz..."
Sonic couldn't even finish his sentence as he once again fell asleep while still running. Fortunately there were no other attacks tonight so he can at least sleep while running until the new day comes.
As for his enemies, he knew that they would be fine...but what else was new?
The next morning back at camp, the group were trying to come with a new plan as Tails and Amy both once again took the air to catch up with Sonic. Unfortunately, no matter what method Chuck could think of, it was rendered to a failure. He'd come up with the idea of asking Sam Speed for a race, but Chris had pointed out that his uncle would treat it as an opportunity to simply race against Sonic instead of actually helping him.
Jules thought about asking his old friend Ferrell, but then realized that even Sonic could ruin the giant spider-web with his speed, not like the last time he accidentally fell into one at the abandoned Iron Empire base.
"Grandpa, I hate to break it to you, but we really need to come up with something else that will actually work." Chris suggested with a sigh.
"Unfortunately, Chris, you're right." Chuck conceded, sighing as he ran his hand through his aging hair.
Up in the air, Amy sighed as she gazed out of the window. "Do you think Sonic will be okay, Tails?"
"I hope so, Amy. But no matter what we do, we can't catch him at all. If it is that chip that's causing Sonic to lose control of his speed, then it's somehow affected his body abilities for whatever reason." The two-tailed fox cub sighed, before he noticed his scanner beeping. Curious and concerned, he quickly decided to see what it was and radioed the elder Thorndyke. "Hey chuck, I'm picking up something weird on my scopes. Do you see it down there, too?"
Chuck, also witnessing this, responded as the others gathered around behind him in confusion. "Yes, I've noticed it myself, Tails."
"I recorded the wave patterns. Maybe you could analyze it and figure out what it is."
Nodding in response, the kindly scientist did so while typing down and once he finished, he frowned in deep thought. "From what I can gather, it's some kind of strange magnetic force field. It appears to be emanating from that ranch up ahead."
"The same ranch Sonic and I were at the other day?" Amy asked in shock, before she and Tails gasped as they shared a sudden realized glance. "Then that means-!"
They instantly knew what it was, and so despite still being worried about Sonic, they ultimately decided to take of it before something else would go wrong.
At the ranch itself, the seemingly somewhat bandaged and repaired E-88 Lightning Bird was once again active...and being chased by a cow who 'mooed' loudly. If there were an audience around, this would've been either comical or completely weird. It was the very robot that was sending out the wave patterns.
Deciding that maybe the robot needs to be completely destroyed in order to turn off the chip and save Sonic, Tails flew the X Tornado in more closely while Amy stood on the left wing with her Piko Piko Hammer ready. She was determined to not let it cause anymore damage this time, especially when she knew the robot was to blame for her sweet, handsome and brave Sonic for being unable to control his speed.
"Ready up there, Tails?" The pink hedgehog girl asked, standing in position and ready to strike.
"I'm ready when you are!" Tails replied bravely.
"Okay! Keep it as steady as you can."
As the plane drew closer and closer to the giant robot, Amy aimed carefully before she swung as hard as she could at it once they were close enough. But to their shock, the Lightning Bird saw them and narrowly avoided in getting hit, causing the eleven year old to miss. As she gasped, the E-88 robot flew above them and used an electrical field net, trapping and shocking her, making Amy scream in pain.
"Amy, no!" The seven year old fox cub screamed out in dismay.
The Lightning Bird clucked as it used it's power while holding it's prey in place. But then suddenly due to the intense pressure and the poor repair job, it's left leg sparked before falling off, causing it to look at it in shock and surprise.
'Huh? Uh-oh.' The robot thought, sparking and beginning to fall and losing it's net power on Amy who winced.
"AMY!" Sonic, having seen his friends and followed them while somehow being lured back to the farm, cried out in horror and anger when he saw the same bird he defeated just days ago hurt his friend. He growled in fury and hissed. "That's it! That robot is roast!"
If there was one thing that angered him the most, it was seeing his friends and family hurt, captured or killed. Nobody was going to do that or take them away from him! Not on his watch! Forcing himself to make a leap with a brief control of his legs, the hero of Mobius leaped and bashed against the robot's head with all of his strength with his own, glaring at it. As a result, the impact rattled his head a little and at long last the chip came flying out of his ear, freeing him from it's influence.
The E-88 Lightning Bird in the meantime, with the chip gone and damage more severe, was thrown into the air and exploded harmlessly. Sonic in the meantime landed and ran straight into the haystack, and to his confusion and sheer relief along with his friends', he finally stopped.
Seeing this made Amy cheer happily as she jumped off of the plane's wing.
"Sonic!" She laughed happily, landing into the haystack while making her boyfriend grunt.
'Ugh...' The blue hedgehog thought, exhausted, wincing, and even though he was glad whatever it was in his right ear was gone and he finally stopped running, Sonic emerged and now felt his left ear itch and began poking it.
"Sonic, I was so worried!" Amy cried out, just as she emerged behind him. But then the pink hedgehog saw what he was doing.
"What's wrong now?" She asked, annoyed.
"Something's in my ear again." He complained.
Softly gasping as she saw this was the problem, and having an idea before he could potentially run amok again, Amy got up close, carefully removed his hand and gently blew into his ear with the frew straws of hay flying out, clearing it, much to his relief. She smiled when she saw the smile on his face.
"Hm...Aw, yeah, that's much better. Thanks." Sonic said gratefully.
Finally able to stop and for once not minding in staying put after two long days of running around without proper sleep, the hero of Mobius laid back on the haystack with his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes before falling asleep comfortably, with Amy very relieved that he was okay and now he can rest to his heart's content.
"Sweet dreams, Sonic. You earned a good long rest." The eleven year old girl whispered, and her heart leaped at just how adorable her hero looked in his sleep.
Tails in the meantime, also relieved and happy to see his big brother now back to normal, landed the X Tornado and instantly noticed the chip. He radioed in Chuck to inform him of the good news before hand, and was now examining the computer chip.
"So it was a chip all along. I guess it really does send in electrical surges to a living body. To think that it was connected to Sonic losing control of his speed and then that robot reactivating itself." The two-tailed fox cub thought to himself aloud, but not that loud since he knew his adoptive big brother needed his rest.
Nodding to himself as he knew what to do, the seven year old dropped the chip onto the ground and crushed with his foot, smirking to himself as now it was no longer a problem, dusting his hands off.
"That should do it." Tails whispered, before gazing up at his two friends and smiled happily and hurried over while climbing up to sit by the sleeping Sonic's right, whispering to Amy. "He'll be okay now. He just needs a good long rest."
"I'm so relieved. Sonic's had such a crazy few days." Amy whispered back, gently caressing the cobalt hedgehog's head, as he moaned but didn't wake up straight away. "We should let him sleep for a while before we take him back home."
"Yeah, good idea." The youngest Mobian nodded in agreement, and laid down beside Sonic, with Amy doing the same and decided to stick close to their heroic friend, watching him.
While nobody knew when their next adventure will happen, with Sonic having a good long nap, it was clear that he would be alright.
A/N: The next chapter/episode will take Sonic and his friends to one last exploration adventure before the real final parts begin and the current arc for this story will end. After that, it's onward to the next arc I've been wanting to write ever since I began this.
(1) This robot is based on the Galleom robot from the Super Smash Bros Brawl game, one of the games I used to play a lot with my sister.
(2) The name is an anagram for the said robot.
See you later!