Sonic X: Season 3: Shuffle Edition

by KatherineTheMoth

When Sonic had accidently discovered a mysterious board game, he soon asked his friends to play it with him. Little did the gang realize that the board game is cursed and that they are now forced to finish it for the curse to be over. This resulted in a crazy adventure where they have to play the game in order to save their planet, their lives, and the entire universe. Now Game On!

4. Continue? Why Yes, Indeed!

Sonic X: Season 3: Shuffle Edition

Continue? Why Yes, Indeed!

The entire gang had gone to Tails' place for their next move in their travel plans for outer space. Cream had also carried the board game with them so that they won't lose it. They all went down to Tails' huge basement lab under his house. As they were walking down the stairs, Chris spoke out loud to Tails.

"Okay, it's great that we had all agreed to go to space, but how are we going to travel there? You would need a spaceship for that sort of thing!" Chris said with a concerned look on his face as he walked down the stairs with the gang. Once they had reached the halfway point, Tails had grabbed the lights as he had asked coyly with a grin, "Did you say...spaceship?".

Once he had clicked the lights on, the huge basement had been lit up with bright lights. It had soon revealed the gigantic spaceship in the middle of the lab basement. The gang had gasped by how huge the thing had looked. It was a highly advanced spaceship that had white, blue, and yellow colors on it and had a long backend with three rooms on top of each other. And at the front of the ship, there appears to be a runway with some palm trees on each side of the huge deck. The gang was stunned by how impressive the size and the advancement the spaceship is since it was made by an eight-year-old fox. Even Sonic was impressed since he whistled to show it.

"This is incredible!" Amy and Cream exclaimed with amazement in their eyes.

"This gigantic aircraft is called the Blue Typhoon. I made this thing during our six-month long vacation we had together. I made it to be more like a flying battleship just like how Dr. Eggman had made his flying fortresses in the past. It only needs some modifications in order for this baby to fly into space!" Tails explained with a proud smile on his face. Cosmo was beyond impressed that a kid like herself had made such a huge spaceship like this.

Tails then frowned as he then continued sadly, "...However, there is one major problem".

"What problem is that, Tails?" Chris asked calmly in curiosity with a little frown as he looked confused.

"This aircraft could only fly into space by using the Chaos Emeralds as an energy supply. But now that they're gone, we can't fly into space with this thing. Now, how are we going to go into space now without the emeralds?" Tails replied calmly with a sad look on his face as his arms are on the railing.

"Hmm...Yeah, that is going to be tough. But wait! How about we-?" Chris replied calmly with a smile before Cream had interrupted him.

"-We could try using the board game to get it to help us!" Cream exclaimed as she then stood by Tails' left side with the board game in her hands. She held it to Tails while having a hopeful expression on her face. Chris looked confused as he thought. How the heck could a board game ever help us in this situation?

"Cream...do you honestly think that this board game will help us now after having to deal with unlucky events that we've been having lately?" Tails asked as he frowned in sadness.

"Of course, I believe that it will help us! I mean we got Chris as our ally now ever since Sonic had made his turn!" Cream replied with a bright smile.

"Say what?!" Tails and Chris exclaimed in shock. They looked at each other with wide eyes before they looked at Sonic in confusion.

Sonic turned around and looked at the two of them with a grin on his face. He can tell that the two of them had the same question on their minds. So, he answered to them by saying, "Yep! When I had made my turn on that board game, I got a card that said an ally will come along in our travels! Apparently, that ally turned out to be you, Chris! I guess that board game really did bring you along for the ride! Congratulations, Chris! You're our ally in our game!".

"What?! You mean to tell me that I just happened to successfully come here...due to random luck decided by a board roll?!" Chris yelled in shock as his face was flabbergasted right now.

"Uh huh! You're our 'lucky charm', Chris!" Sonic exclaimed happily with a thumbs-up and with a wink.

…...Is this...Is this even happening right now? Chris thought in his mind as he felt like everything turned black. He brooded some more. Am I really just a pawn used by fate? Just something to be toyed with and thrown away? Am I supposed to be here? Was I meant to come here or was I...or was I...supposed to die after that dangerous experiment with the teleporter?

He could feel his body in another alternate timeline where his body had evaporated into particles and dying as a result of it. He shuddered as he slowly wrapped himself in his arms as he is having an existential crisis. What is the purpose of me being here? If I could easily die due to the power of the universe, then what is the purpose of my life? I've been only thinking about meeting Sonic and the others again for over six years! If I had died right then and there in my lab, then my entire life would've been a complete waste! I hadn't done remotely beneficial to anybody except for myself! Is my life just trash that deserves to be thrown away? Can I not do anything useful?! Why am I even alive right now?! I should be dead! Not alive thanks to some magical board game that has the powers of the cosmos! WHY AM I EVEN HERE?! Chris brooded as his eyes lost its color and sweat had formed on his head.

Sonic looked a little worried as he asked curiously, "Chris? Umm...Are you okay?".

"..." Chris didn't say anything while he stood still with wide eyes and while holding himself as he shivered.

"Uhhhhh...Riiiiiiggghhhttt..." Sonic awkwardly replied with sweat coming down from his head as he turned to look at Tails. Tails just looked at Sonic in a stunned expression too.

After a bit of silence, Tails replied quietly yet tiredly, "Ugh. Of course, you were the one with the lucky roll".

"What do you mean 'of course'?" Sonic replied calmly in slight annoyance with a little frown and with a raised eyebrow.

Tails rolled his eyes as he replied calmly, "Never mind. Is it true that Chris came due to the board game sending him here? I thought that he came here due to traveling through the teleporter".

Sonic smiled as he shrugged his shoulders while he replied, "Beats me!".

Tails sighed as he looked back at Cream. Chris was still having a mental breakdown, but the others were now focusing on Tails now.

"Cream, are you really sure that I should try that board game to get something for our ship?" Tails asked with a sad expression on his face.

"Definitely! You won't know if you don't try!" Cream exclaimed with a smile.

Tails sighed again as he replied, "Fine. I give up. I'll try it out. Give me that board game, Cream. Please?".

Cream nodded as she gave Tails the board game. Tails took it from Cream and opened the game in order to make his move. As he held the board game, he then tried to push the red button to make his turn.

However, to his surprise, the roulette wheel wouldn't start spinning even when he had pressed the button.

"Huh? What the-?" Tails replied in confusion. He pushed the red button a few times to see if he wasn't imagining things. But every time he had pushed the button, the roulette wheel wouldn't go no matter how hard he had pushed it.

"Is something wrong, Tails?" Cream asked with worry in her voice as she is watching a frantic Tails pushing the red button very fast now.

"I can't make my move! This game is busted!" Tails yelled in panic. Sonic's eyebrows were raised as he looked over Tails' shoulder to see what's going on.

"What?! How?!" Sonic yelled as he looked at Tails.

"I don't know how! For some strange reason, the roulette wheel won't go no matter how many times I had pushed this button! It's stuck!" Tails yelled as he panicked.

"Does...Does that mean we can't play the game anymore? (Chao chao chao)" Cream asked sadly as Cheese replied too in a sad tone.

"I...I don't know! There has got to be an explanation as to why it won't work! But what is it?!" Tails exclaimed as he looked worried. If they can't continue on with the game, then their world is doomed!

"There is one reason why it won't take your turn Tails," Cosmo spoke up after being quiet for a while.

Sonic, Tails, and Cream turned around to stare at Cosmo. Amy also looked at Cosmo with curiosity in her eyes while she asked calmly, "Do you know what's causing this, Cosmo?".

"Yes, I do. It could be not working because there is another player who hadn't taken their turn yet. There are five players who could participate in this game you know. Someone who isn't part of the game itself can be a player. Therefore, you can count Chris out of the list of players you could bring to the game," Cosmo patiently explained. Meanwhile, Chris still hadn't said anything, however, he was screaming mentally of course.

Sonic and Tails both put their fingers under their chins as they pondered on what Cosmo had said. Hmm...So, we need another player to help us move this game forward. But who would be stupid enough to-! Sonic and Tails thought at the same time before an idea had struck into their minds. They both turned to look at each other with smug grins on their faces.

"Heh. 'Another player', huh?" Sonic replied with a grin.

"I think that I'm on the same page as you, Sonic," Tails replied calmly with a grin too.

They then thought at the same time. We need a knucklehead!

While they thought that, Chris was still screaming in his broken mind. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[A Few Minutes Later]

"No way," Knuckles replied as had his arms crossed while glaring coldly at the group in front of him.

"Aw, come on, Knuckles! Board games are-" Sonic replied with a teasing grin before he was cut off by Knuckles.

"-If you say that board games are fun again, then I'm going to shove that board game into that fat mouth of yours to see if it really is fun like you say they are!" Knuckles yelled in irritation as he glared at Sonic.

Sonic just held up his hands in mock surrender as he exclaimed back with a sheepish frown, "Okay! Okay! Sheesh! I was just joking, Knuckles! You need to lighten up sometimes!".

"I can't lighten up because I'm busy guarding the Master Emerald. I don't have time to play any board games with you or your friends, Sonic. They're a waste of my time. I don't know why any of guys had asked me to play that board game with you, but I'm not doing it. Now, get lost!" Knuckles replied seriously as he frowned at his friends in front of him.

"Oh, don't be that way, Knuckles! We're just asking you to try it out! We're still not sure if this board game is picky on who's playing it besides those that are involved with the game itself. Just push this red button and then we'll see if it will work again!" Tails exclaimed while holding up the board game for emphasis.

"That just sounds stupid! What kind of board game is selective on who's playing it?!" Knuckles yelled in irritation as he put his arms down to his sides and tightened his fists.

"Look! I don't know why this board game is very particular on who's playing it! But we're just trying to move the game forward in order to lift the curse! Listen, if it doesn't work, then we'll leave! I promise!" Tails exclaimed as he panicked a little. Tails still feels intimated by Knuckles to this very day, even if he had known him for a long time now.

"Still, I won't do it! It's just pointless to me!" Knuckles exclaimed back in annoyance with a deep frown. Tails' shoulders slumped a bit. Great. At this rate, we'll never move the game forward. Tails thought with a frown on his face. Cream looked at Tails for a bit before she grabbed his shoulder.

"Huh?" Tails replied as he looked at his left to see Cream holding his shoulder.

"Please give me the board game, Tails. Let me try to convince him to play it," Cream requested with sympathetic eyes.

Tails was about to object to that idea, but he decided that he should at least give Cream a shot at it. "Well...if you say so," Tails replied slowly before he gave her the board game.

Cream beamed at him as she replied happily, "Thank you, Tails!". She then said to the girls, "Hey, come here for a second!". Amy and Cosmo gathered around Cream and whispered to each other.

"Hey! What are you girls talking about anyway?!" Knuckles yelled in annoyance. The girls stopped whispering and smiled at him. Cream nodded at the girls to follow behind her as she walked up to Knuckles with the board game in her hands. She then stood across from him and lifted the board game up to him. Knuckles just growled as he placed his hands over his hips and glared at Cream.

"Just what do you want?" Knuckles asked rudely with a grimace and with furrowed eyebrows.

Cream ignored the rude remark as she politely asked, "Mr. Knuckles, can you please join us for our game?".

"No," Knuckles answered curtly with a frown.

"Pretty please?" Cream asked again.

"No!" Knuckles exclaimed with a scowl on his face.

"...Pretty please with a cherry on top?" Cream asked again innocently.

"Grrrrrr!" Knuckles growled while feeling more irritated. Can't he just say "no" to these guys and be done with it?

"Aw, come on, Mr. Knuckles. It will be fun if you had played the game with us! Not only that, but we are also going to space to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds as we continue to play the game! Isn't that lovely?" Cream replied sweetly with a bright smile.

"Oh, that just sounds like a grand ole time! But it won't happen because I'm going to stay here and guard the Master Emerald!" Knuckles replied sarcastically before he yelled again in frustration.

Cream then felt frustrated with Knuckles as she saw how stubborn he is acting right now. She then yelled, "Are you a quitter, Knuckles?! You had just quit the game before you even started to play!".

Knuckles blanched a bit as he felt surprised that Cream had yelled at him. He even noticed that she dropped the "Mr." part in addressing him. With a sweat drop on his head, he replied, "What? Me? A quitter?".

"That's right, Knuckles! I thought that you had prided yourself for taking on any challenge head-on without quitting! How could you just refuse to play the game?! That's just cowardly!" Cream yelled as she felt angry at Knuckles.

"C-C-Cowardly?!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock as his eyes went wide and as his mouth gaped.

"She's right, you know. Without another player for the game, the entire universe will die due to the board game's curse, and you are being cowardly for not trying to play the game. That is quite unfortunate," Cosmo added calmly while sounding disappointed as she stood in front of Knuckles now.

"H-Huh? But! I...I'm just—Ack!" Knuckles stuttered before he turned to look at Amy and exclaimed in surprise by how she looked. She had her hammer ready and had a look that was ready to kill too.

"The game is meant to be played, Knuckles! And if you are planning to forfeit the game, then you are going to have to deal with the Hammer of Discipline! This is for being a coward, you big, red idiot!" Amy exclaimed while looking devious as she held her hammer at her side.

"Wait! Guys! Come on! This isn't fair!" Knuckles exclaimed back in panic as he was backing away from the three girls. The girls swarmed him while chanting, "Play the game!" repeatedly.

"Sonic! Get these girls off of me!" Knuckles yelled in panic while struggling to get out of the girls' hold onto him.

Meanwhile, Sonic was just smiling as he had crossed his arms while he replied calmly, "Just play the game, Knuckles, and then it'll be all over".

Since Knuckles knew that he was in a losing battle in this situation, he then shouted in frustration, "ALL RIGHT! I'LL PLAY THAT CRUDDY GAME! JUST GET OFF OF ME ALREADY!".

Amy and Cream got off of him and exclaimed, "Yay!". Cosmo got off of him with a smile on her face while the girls continued to cheer. Meanwhile, Knuckles just brooded with his arms down and his back hunched over as he had a deep frown on his face. Joy...

Cream then held the board game up to Knuckles again. Knuckles took a long sigh as he grabbed the game from Cream and opened it up. He looked at it as he calmly asked in confusion, "So...what do I do again?".

"You just have to push that red button on the side of the board game. That is how you take your turn. Teehee, it seems like you get the red spaceship! Isn't that great?!" Cream explained with a smile as she pointed at the board game.

"...Simply wonderful. Whatever. Let's just end this already," Knuckles replied sarcastically as he rolled his eyes before he pushed the red button with his thumb. Just like Cosmo had said, another player was definitely required here since the roulette wheel had started to spin again. Knuckles stared at the spinning wheel before it had stopped. The red spaceship had moved...to one space.

"A one?! You gotta be kidding me! All that hassle for me to play this stupid game, and I got a one out of it!" Knuckles exclaimed in irritation as he glared at the board game in his hands.

Heheheh...About time someone got worse rolls than me. Tails thought calmly in amusement with a smug grin on his face. Sonic did his best to not burst out of laughter as kept a huge grin on his face. The girls giggled a little at this reaction. Cream tried to reply without laughing too much, "Hey, at least we got the game to work again! Thank you, Mr. Knuckles!".

Knuckles was growling for a bit before he heard something from the game.

KACHING!

Knuckles blinked a bit before he looked down at the board game to spot a white card from the card slot. He felt confused as he stared at the card for a bit. To answer his question, Cosmo politely said, "For every turn a player takes on that board game, a white card will come out. The card you read will tell a riddle that reveals the next game event. Please take the card out and read it out loud for the rest of us so that we can know what's going to happen next".

Knuckles quirked an eyebrow at Cosmo. He is starting to feel even more suspicious now since he can tell that Cosmo is well-informed on how this board game works. However, for the time being, he pushed past that line of thinking to take out the card and do what Cosmo had asked him to do.

He flipped the card over in order to read it. "'When someone runs out of energy to spare, always give your energy to someone you care'. …...Just what does that mean?" Knuckles read the card out loud before he asked in confusion after a bit a silence.

POP!

And suddenly...the Master Emerald just disappeared from Angel Island and had conveniently reappeared inside Tails' spaceship.

Meanwhile, Knuckles and the gang all had shocked expressions on their faces. Knuckles slowly turned his head around to see if the Master Emerald was still there and that it wasn't what he was thinking. Unfortunately for him...the Master Emerald was already gone.

Aw crud...Knuckles thought for a bit as a vein popped in his head before he turned around and yelled angrily at the gang.

"Just what did you guys do?!" Knuckles yelled angrily while still holding the board game in his hands.

"Ack! W-We did nothing, Mr. Knuckles! Honest!" Cream exclaimed as she hid behind Amy in slight fear of the furious echidna.

"Oh, yeah?! Then how the heck do you guys explain yourselves on how you managed to steal the Master Emerald from me while standing still! IN FRONT OF ME NO LESS!" Knuckles yelled some more in fury.

"I swear that it wasn't us, Mr. Knuckles! It was that board game that did it!" Cream exclaimed in panic while holding Amy from behind.

"WHAT?!" Knuckles shouted in confusion as his eyes went wide at that statement.

"She's telling the truth, Knuckles!" Amy yelled with a frown on her face as she put her hands to her hips.

"Stop blaming that board game for everything! You guys did something to steal the Master Emerald in front of my eyes and got away with it! Now fess up!" Knuckles yelled as he gripped the board game tightly in anger.

"Do I literally have to hammer this in into your thick skull, Knuckles?! It was the board game that did it! It's cursed! Get it?! Cursed! Meaning that everything that had happened before was due to the curse that board game has!" Amy yelled as she threatened him by pulling out her hammer again.

"Oh, yeah?! Well, I don't believe in curses! It's all superstition! You guys are idiots into believing that all the bad things that had happened was due to some stupid board game! You're even more stupid than me if you guys believe that!" Knuckles yelled in frustration as he closed his eyes and growled a bit.

Sonic smirked as he replied, "So, is this a confession that you're stupid? It's about time that you're finally admitting to it!".

"Shut up, Sonic!" Knuckles yelled as he glared at Sonic. Cosmo kept watching both Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy argue for a while. She bit her lip as she brooded. Oh no! If the fighting keeps on going like this, then there will be a stalemate in the game, and it won't continue. It'll...It'll stop.

Cosmo then boldly stepped in front of Knuckles as she yelled, "Please listen to me!".

The arguing between Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy stopped once they all heard Cosmo speak up. They were a bit surprised on how loud she had just yelled. They can tell that it isn't like her to do that. Cosmo then took advantage of the silence to speak to Knuckles, "I understand how valuable that emerald is to you, but, I swear in my heart that it actually was the board game that did it".

Knuckles was about to interject but was stopped when Cosmo grabbed his shoulders suddenly. She continued saying, "I know that it sounds crazy, and that it doesn't make any sense. But it really did happen! That board game is more powerful than you think! We really are innocent here in regard to stealing your gem. When you had made your roll and had gotten that card, the board game then immediately had transported your emerald into Tails' spaceship. It was completely out of our control! We can't stop any game event that is going to happen and what will happen! It's all part of the game! And you are now a player in that game too!".

Knuckles blinked at Cosmo for a moment as he processed that information. His eyes went wide as he realized the implications on what she just said. "OH, NO WAY! I'M A PLAYER NOW?!" Knuckles shouted in shock as he shook off Cosmo's grip and stepped back.

Cosmo frowned as she clasped her hands and answered calmly, "Yes, you are a player now. The game had accepted you as its fifth player. Therefore, all players in this game are here and accounted for. Now, that you made your turn, Tails can make his move, and the game will continue thanks to your participation".

"BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO PLAY THE GAME! I WASN'T THERE WHEN SONIC AND HIS FRIENDS WANTED TO PLAY IT! I'M UNINVOLVED HERE!" Knuckles shouted in fury.

"Yes, you are, however, the game is very accepting to players who come in later. It makes the game more interesting," Cosmo replied calmly.

"'It's makes the game more interesting'. LIKE HECK IT MAKES THE GAME MORE INTERSTING! DID SONIC MAKE THIS CRUDDY GAME OR SOMETHING?! WHY WOULD PLAYERS BE SO SICK INTO DRAGGING THEIR FRIENDS INTO THEIR GAME WITHOUT EVEN CONSULTING WITH THEM FIRST?! I DIDN'T ASK TO BE A PART OF THIS GAME, AND I STILL DON'T WANT TO!" Knuckles replied mockingly before shouting angrily again as he ranted.

Sonic shrugged as he grinned teasingly at Knuckles while replying calmly yet casually in amusment, "You are part of the game now, Knuckles. So, deal with it".

Knuckles growled in fury for a bit before he threw the game down into the ground very hard in frustration. He crossed his arms and looked away as he shouted, "NO! I DON'T WANT TO PLAY THE GAME! IT'S STUPID!".

"Just play the game, Knuckles," Sonic replied with a grin as he too crossed his arms.

"NO!" Knuckles shouted in a reply.

"You're being childish, Knuckles. Just play the game so that you can get your emerald back," Tails replied calmly with an annoyed expression as a sweat drop formed on his forehead.

"I DON'T CARE! I WANT MY EMERALD BACK WITHOUT PLAYING THE GAME!" Knuckles shouted as he pouted a lot. He didn't care if he acted childish here. This whole scenario is completely unfair to him. That's why he won't play.

"Knuckles! This isn't Monopoly! We can finish this game way faster than we could with that one!" Amy yelled as she felt irritated with Knuckles' stubbornness.

"HOW CAN FIGHTING FOR YOUR LIFE AGAINST POACHERS COULD POSSIBLY BE ANY LESS TIME CONSUMING THAN MONOPOLY?! THAT IS SUCH AN UNTRUE STATEMENT IF I HAD EVER HEARD ONE!" Knuckles shouted in frustration as he glared at Amy.

"I have to agree with Amy here, Knuckles. It will definitely take less time to finish this game than that game! Besides, I would rather die by poachers than die of boredom! Monopoly bores me to tears! Shuffle is where it's at!" Sonic replied calmly yet brightly with a grin.

"You stay out of this!" Knuckles yelled as he glared at Sonic. Really?! At a time like this?! Knuckles thought in annoyance as he felt irritated with Sonic's enthusiasm.

"Mr. Knuckles...just...please play the game with us. You can get your emerald back after you had played the game with us," Cream replied with a frown. Cheese looked sad with her.

"Grrrrrrrr! N-Never!" Knuckles yelled as he closed his eyes. He refused to be suckered into his so-called friends' schemes again, and he isn't going to fall for anything this time. Not even to the puppy-dog eyes trick that Cream has.

"Knuckles, seriously! What's your...wait a minute. Heh. Now, I get it," Sonic replied a little irritably before he stopped and grinned widely.

Knuckles sighed as he opened his eyes again to glare at Sonic. "What is it now, Sonic?" Knuckles replied in annoyance.

"You're just scared into facing those poachers again, aren't ya?" Sonic replied in a teasing tone.

Knuckles' eyes went wide as he heard this. Oh no! He isn't! Knuckles thought as he growled.

Sonic continued to tease. "Why am I not surprised? The way you got beaten up by that huge robot must've put in the fear into you so that you would not want to face them again!" Sonic said with a grin.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!" Knuckles growled in frustration. Sonic is really messing with him now.

"I thought that you were a brave guardian, Knuckles. Not a giant chicken!" Sonic teased with a devious grin.

OH, HE DID NOT! Knuckles thought angrily as another vein popped in his forehead. He then immediately dashed over to Sonic and held his shoulders. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" Knuckles shouted as he glared coldly at Sonic.

"Well, just come with us in space then and play the game with us. If you want to prove me wrong, then do that," Sonic cheekily replied. Knuckles just growled for a bit before he released Sonic's shoulders just to clench his fists at his sides.

"You are the most insufferable rival that I had ever met!" Knuckles yelled as he knows that Sonic got him trapped now. His pride is now at stake, and he can't do a dang thing about it except to comply to Sonic's challenge.

"Yeah, I know. So, are you in or what?" Sonic replied with a grin as he placed his hands over his hips.

Knuckles growled some more before he took a huge sigh. There's no escape is there? Knuckles brooded as he finally relented. "Fine...I'll play the stupid board game with you," Knuckles muttered tiredly in defeat.

"Aw, was that so hard?" Sonic teased with a playful smile.

"Shut. Up." Knuckles replied through gritted teeth.

"Well, looks like that's settle then! Come on, gang! Let's get started into preparing for our trip into space!" Sonic exclaimed happily to everyone as he motioned the others to head towards the X-Tornado. The girls were happy to go as Amy grabbed the board game and walked with them towards the stairs.

"Yeah! Let's get started!" Amy exclaimed in happiness as she walked past Sonic.

"I guess I should get back into the pilot's seat then," Tails replied with a smile. He too turned around and walked down the stairs with the girls.

Sonic grinned at Knuckles as he cheerfully replied, "You coming too?".

"(Sigh)...Don't start," Knuckles replied calmly yet tiredly with a sigh and with a little frown as he then walked past Sonic. Sonic just chuckled and shook his head as he shrugged. He turned around too and started to walk back to the plane until he stopped next to Chris. Chris was silent throughout the entire exchange between himself, his friends, and Knuckles. Chris still had that blank look and that wide eyed stare that he had back at Tails' lab. His mind was still screaming. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"Um...Chris? Are you okay?" Sonic asked in worry as he stared at his friend.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"We're going to leave now," Sonic replied with a frown.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"So...Are you coming?" Sonic replied with a sheepish grin.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

…...

Chris was standing still in silence while Sonic stared at him in confusion. Geez, what's with him all of a sudden? Sonic thought with a frown. He had got to snap Chris out of this strange trance he's in, and he knows how.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-

SLAP!

Sonic slapped Chris' face to try to get him to pay attention. This jolted Chris out of his mental breakdown. "What?! Where?! Who?! Huh?!" Chris yelled in shock as he looked around quickly before he looked at Sonic.

"Hello, Chris! Welcome back! Had a good time in La-La-Land?" Sonic joked with an amused grin.

"Uhhh...Ummmm...Yeah? So...Ummmmm...What are we doing right now?" Chris asked in confusion. His mind went blank after he was told he came here due to a board game, so, he wasn't aware of what happened after that.

"We're going back to Tails' lab! We got Knuckles' Master Emerald now! Also, Knuckles is part of the game now! Come on! Let's hurry back to Tails' plane!" Sonic exclaimed happily as he quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the stairs.

"Ah! Alright! I'm going! I'm going!" Chris exclaimed as he was being dragged by Sonic down the stairs. He didn't question anything else right now. Instead, he just followed Sonic back to the X-Tornado so that he and the gang could fly back to Tails' basement lab to work on his spaceship. Just...What just happened in the last ten minutes? Chris thought calmly in confusion with a sheepish look on his face while in the plane as he held Cream in his lap.

[Back At Tails' Lab]

The gang started working on the modifications to Tails' spaceship as well as preparing for their big trip to space. Tails was showing Sonic some of the blueprints to show him where the spare parts should go. He understood and did as he was told. Meanwhile, Knuckles was carrying a huge load of parts such as beams, boxes, and containers. You know...pretty heavy equipment. A few seconds later, Sonic sped past him while carrying a couple of beams with him just as Tails had requested. Knuckles looked at him as Sonic sped away from him and thought. Show off.

Meanwhile, Tails and Chris were working together in a control room where the Master Emerald is being held. They were getting very close to finishing the last modifications to the spaceship. The board game was next to Tails. Amy gave the board game to Tails since it was his turn now. The board game was set in between him and Chris. Tails hadn't made his move yet, however, he is about to after talking with Chris.

"Say Chris?" Tails spoke up as he looked at Chris. He stopped working on his computer to talk to him.

"Huh? What's up?" Chris asked.

"I really didn't want you to get involved in this game. I never thought that board game would cause this much trouble for all of us. You probably just wanted to visit us. And yet...this game happened...and now you're caught in the middle of it. I'm very sorry that we also got your life in danger too, Chris," Tails apologized with sad eyes.

But to Tails' surprise, Chris was smiling as he replied, "Relax, Tails. I actually wanted to have another adventure with you guys. That was why I wanted to see you and your friends again. You always had interesting lives together since you fight Dr. Eggman and go on crazy adventures. I'm very excited to go on this adventure with you!".

Tails smiled as he said, "Well, that's good to hear then. Thank you, Chris!".

"Right! Now are we ready for lift off?! I'm ready as you are, Tails! The Master Emerald is prepared to be powered on!" Chris exclaimed as he got back to typing on his side of the computer monitor.

"Man! This feels good! I miss this exciting feeling that these adventures gives me just like the ones back in Station Square!" Tails exclaimed brightly.

"Yes! But this time, we are dealing with dangerous poachers! I highly doubt that Grandpa will believe me that I had survived through an adventure while poachers were chasing me! He will be totally shell-shocked with this story!" Chris exclaimed with a smile.

"Yeah! This is quite unbelievable, but maybe we'll even have fun during this dangerous journey!" Tails exclaimed optimistically.

"I hope we do! Because it'll certainly be stressful!" Chris exclaimed back while beaming.

"Hahaha! Yeah! …...Umm...Hehehe, of coarse, that is until I make my move first," Tails replied as he chuckled sheepishly as he turned to look at that cursed board game on the computer panel. Tails then looked nervous as he stared at the game. He frowned a bit as he pondered. Should I really make my move now? Wouldn't it be easier if we got into space first? But then again...Hmmmm...I don't know why, but I think that I should be brave and make my move now. I shouldn't let a board game scare me. I need to be brave!

With a determined look, Tails then grabbed the board game and put it in front of him. Chris then turned to look at Tails. He was surprised to see how serious Tails is as he opened the board game to make his move. I wonder what's going to happen now as he makes his move? I guess I'll have to just wait and see. Chris pondered as Tails pushed the red button on the game. The roulette wheel kept on spinning as it takes Tails' turn. As Tails waited for the spinner to stop, he counted how many spaces there are in the board game. Apparently, there is a total of 78 spaces on the board. It'll certainly take a while for any of his friends to reach the end. Tails pondered at this. No wonder the roulette wheel goes up to ten. You have to be extremely lucky to get seven tens in a row. I highly doubt that Sonic is even that close to be that level of lucky. This is going to be a long journey indeed.

KACHING!

Tails got out of his thoughts as he heard the chime of the card being popped out of the slot. Tails looked down to see where his is at. He moved three spaces which got him to space 5 on the board. He frowned a bit, but he shook his head as decided to not let the bad roll get to him. Instead, he took the card out of the slot, turned it over, and read it.

"'The start of a journey might be easy, but don't let that idea get to you or else you might feel queasy'. Ugh. That doesn't bode well. I hope that it isn't another Metarex attack. We haven't even taken off to space yet!" Tails read the card before he spoke to himself.

Poor little Tails hadn't realized that it was exactly what he had thought as a Metarex robot flew above Sonic's planet and was ready to land there. Dark Oak spoke as the flying robot orbited over Sonic's planet, "It is time for the hunt to start. Let us now hunt our next prey. Do not let them get out of this alive. We need to stop them before they leave their planet. We had already stopped others from leaving the planet before, so, this should be a breeze for you to do. Now go!".

The robot complied as he said, "Yes, my Master. I shall kill them now!". The robot then flew down towards the planet to hunt its prey. The robot felt determined into beating its new prey.

How much trouble could these creatures really be? Dark Oak thought as he watched his minion to go kill his targets.

-Meanwhile With Amy and Cream-

"Man, this packing thing is such hard work. But at least we got everything we needed for our trip, so, we'll be okay," Amy said casually as she carried her bags as well as a yellow backpack. Cream was walking with her while carrying a blue bag in one hand while carrying the white bag in the other. Cheese was doing his best to carry his own bag. It's amazing how strong little chao can be sometimes.

"I bet Cosmo must be excited to go on a trip with us! Don't you think so, Che-" Cream replied happily before she stopped as she spotted Cosmo herself as she sat on a log in the distance.

Amy and Cream then frowned as they saw how Cosmo was sitting by herself all alone. Cosmo was in her thoughts at the time. I wonder how far Sonic and his friends will go as they continue to play that cursed game. Many of the other players hadn't even went past the first group turn, and others had died before they had went beyond the second group turn. I've seen so many failed runs that I am somewhat doubtful that Sonic and his friends will be the chosen ones to actually finish the game. I wish that I could believe in them but—Ah! Cosmo brooded before Cream walked up behind her and spoke up, taking her out of her pessimistic thoughts.

"Hey there, Cosmo! Don't be sad!" Cream exclaimed happily.

Cosmo turned to look at Cream with curious eyes. Cream put down her bags as she said, "Maybe you could take your mind off by helping us carry the rest of the bags to the ship! We could really use your help, Cosmo!".

She was hesitant as she replied, "Uhh...are you guys sure?".

"We trust you, Cosmo! You can do it!" Cream encouraged with a smile.

"I...uhh...I'm not sure if I should do it. I'll...I'll mess things up...like I usually do," Cosmo replied sadly as she mumbled the last part of her sentence.

"Nonsense! My momma had always said that anyone could be useful in their own way! Come on! Try it!" Cream exclaimed with a brighter smile.

Cosmo gasped when she heard that. Is that...Is that really true? …...Even someone like me? Cosmo pondered as her eyes widened in wonder.

"You got this, Cosmo! We believe in you! You're our friend now, and friends stick together!" Amy replied with a happy grin.

"I...I think Sonic had said something like that earlier. Is it...true?" Cosmo replied quietly.

"Of coarse, it's true, silly! That's what good friends do!" Amy exclaimed happily.

"Good friends" huh? Sigh. If only I could believe that. I've seen many strained friendships as people played this cursed board game. Because of those terrible friendships, many players had lost in this game and had died as a result of it. It's only a matter of time that Sonic and his will have ruined friendships thanks to this terrible game. Cosmo brooded with a sad frown.

Amy and Cream frowned as they saw how sad Cosmo had looked. "Cosmo...it'll be okay. We'll be here for you if you ever feel upset again. Understand?" Amy replied softly as she looked concerned for Cosmo. Cosmo looked up and gasped again.

"Y-You mean that?" Cosmo asked in surprised. She hadn't felt this much comfort from anyone in a long time.

Amy and Cream smiled as they replied happily, "Of coarse we do!". Cosmo blinked some tears away as she felt touched by that bold statement.

She then nodded as she replied, "...Thank you...Amy...Cream. You guys are too kind to me".

Amy and Cream giggled in happiness before they looked to Cosmo again. "So, are you willing to help us now, Cosmo? We would love it if you come with us to help us pack! (Chao Chao!)" Cream replied with a smile while Cheese exclaimed happily.

"Ah! W-Why yes, o-of coarse! I'll gladly help!" Cosmo exclaimed as she then stood up and walked over next to Cream to try to lift up the bags from the ground. Cosmo struggled to lift them up. The bags are a lot heavier than they look.

Cream and Amy looked concerned as Cosmo kept on trying to lift the bags up. "Umm...do you think you can handle that? It's seems that you're having a tough time," Cream replied with a concerned look on her face.

"N-No! I...I can...do...this!" Cosmo exclaimed as her wobbly arms tried to carry the heavy bags. Unfortunately for her, the bags were too heavy, and she lost her balance. She yelped as she suddenly fell to the ground and rolled downwards from the hill while holding the bags. Cream and Amy were alarmed at this as they looked where Cosmo was tumbling down in the ground.

As Cream held her hands over her mouth, she exclaimed, "Whoops! Looks like the bags were too heavy for her!". The girls then heard a loud THUD! as Cosmo had crashed down at the bottom of the hill.

With the food sprawled around the grass, Cosmo replied weakly as laid on the grass on her stomach, "S-Sorry...".

Cream exclaimed as she and Amy ran down the hill to meet her, "Oh no! Cosmo! Are you okay?!".

"Yeah! Is everything okay?! You're not hurt, are you?" Amy exclaimed in concern.

"No, I'm alright. Thankfully..." Cosmo replied as she got up to her knees.

Suddenly, the area turned dark. All three girls noticed this, especially Cosmo as she looked up at the sky. She looked terrified as she gasped repeatedly in shock. Amy and Cream looked up too to see what Cosmo saw. They saw another huge Metarex robot as it flew over them while causing wind to blow onto them. The robot then landed roughly onto the ground as brown smoke came off from it. The robot landed a little ways off from where Amy, Cream, and Cosmo were. They all got closer to see it from a far.

Cosmo then said with fear in her tone, "Another Metarex robot had landed here. The Metarex must be now ready to initiate their hunting game. We're in big trouble now".

The Metarex robot had landed and was now pushing itself up with its hands after its rough landing. The smoke had cleared after the robot had landed. As the huge robot had stood up, it said while looking at the camera and all around him, "Shhhhh! Be very, very quiet. I'm hunting lifeforms. Eheheheheheheheha!".

The robot then began shooting at the trees while trying to find the spaceship that its leader had instructed it to find. The robot shot its blue lasers from its hands and had hit the trees with it. An explosion had happened after the lasers had hit one part of the forest. It was ready to fire another part of the forest.

The robot had said, "Man, do I love my job!". Before he began to shoot another part of the forest, a blue streak went up past him and was about to hit him on the head. Sonic had showed up just in time to protect Tails' spaceship from being blown up.

Sonic then jumped up on his head as he replied jokingly, "Ehhhh, what's up, 'bot?". While the robot was distracted, Knuckles took his chance to leap at him to knock the robot down...just like a cartoon character would. The robot was then knocked down completely on the ground as dust soon surrounded the robot. The robot was now buried in the dirt. Knuckles then landed next to Sonic on his left. They both thought that was over, however, the robot then produced a yellow sword from one of his hands. Both Sonic and Knuckles were slightly surprised by this as they got on their guard again. The robot quickly got up halfway and quickly slashed its sword at both Knuckles and Sonic. However, they both jumped up to dodge the attack, and the sword instead slashed a tree in half. The tree fell to the ground after that.

Knuckles and Sonic soon landed away from the huge robot as they talked to each other. "This poacher is more vicious than it looks. We'll never stop it by using any of our moves. It's too tough!" Knuckles said out loud as he looked at Sonic.

"I have to admit that you're right! If it can't be damaged with any of our moves, then what should we do then?!" Sonic exclaimed as the robot stood back up. They both stared at the robot as it had talked.

"Know your place, prey! I'm the hunter, and you're the hunted! So, prepare to be killed graciously by me!" the robot said with its sword ready in its hand.

As the robot kept on attacking, Tails and Chris looked out from the window of their ship to see that the Metarex robot had arrived. Chris turned to look at Tails with a serious look on his face, "We can't stay here any longer. We need to get off of this planet! If we don't, that Metarex robot will kill us!".

"You're right!" Tails exclaimed as he ran up towards the main deck of the ship to check the ship's condition. As he typed on the control pad, a screen went up. He then said, "It's almost complete, but I think we could still fly the ship right now. We could finish upgrading the ship later!".

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's get the heck out of here!" Chris exclaimed with a smile. They both nodded in agreement with that.

Meanwhile, Amy was messaged by Tails to come to the ship immediately. "What?! Already?!" Amy exclaimed in surprise as she held Tails' new invention, the wrist communicator, up near her face.

"Yes! If we don't leave now, the Metarex will get us! And I don't want us to lose before we barely even started to play the game!" Tails exclaimed in determination.

Amy smiled as she replied, "Oh, look! Now you're interested into playing the game!".

"Y-You know what I mean, Amy! I don't want us to die before we had left our home behind! We got to try our hardest if we are going to stop the Metarex!" Tails exclaimed while blushing a little in embarrassment.

Amy nodded as she replied, "I understand! So, what do you want me to do?".

"We need Knuckles to activate the Master Emerald. We need him to power the ship. Can you please find him for me?" Tails replied while looking sheepish in the end. Amy then closed the little wrist communicator down as she replied, "I'm going to take a guess that Knuckles is fighting that Metarex robot with Sonic. Oh boy, convincing him to stop fighting is going to be just as tough as me convincing Sonic to actually show up on a date".

She shook her head before she ordered the girls on what to do now. "Cream, you should be the one to tell Knuckles to come back to the ship. You need to tell him that he should go there to power up the ship with the Master Emerald. Please do your best to convince him for me. I can't convince that knucklehead to do as he is told. You have a better chance in doing that than me," Amy said to Cream.

Cream nodded as she and Cheese said, "I got it! (Chao!)".

"Cosmo, you're coming to the ship with me. We need to get all of the supplies on the ship. We're going to leave soon. So, we better hurry!" Amy said as she turned to look at Cosmo.

Cosmo gasped as she replied, "Wha? We're leaving? But why?".

"Tails is about to power up his spaceship with the Master Emerald, and we need Knuckles to do that. We need to leave now! If we don't...the Metarex will get us soon enough," Amy explained seriously.

Cosmo and Cream gasped out loud. They fully understood the situation now. If they don't leave right now, that Metarex poacher will soon be successful into killing them. The robot could possibly destroy the spaceship so that it could have more time to kill them. Cream and Cosmo looked at each other with worried looks before they nodded to each other and exclaimed, "Let's get out of here!".

Meanwhile, the huge robot was still fighting Sonic and Knuckles. The robot was busy fighting Sonic now. The robot kept on swinging its sword, but Sonic kept on jumping backwards in order to dodge the attacks. The robot managed to slash down another tree. Sonic then jumped up to a different tree.

He then exclaimed cockily while crossing his arms, "I thought that you are a hunter not a lumberjack!".

The robot was not amused as it had stood up fully to aim its finger lasers at Sonic. At the same time, Knuckles jumped up behind the robot to attack it. Before the robot had attacked, Knuckles then punched its head down and jumped onto the tree that Sonic was on. The robot soon stood up again and stared at Sonic and Knuckles. The robot didn't do anything but stare at them.

"Did I...break him?" Knuckles asked in confusion as he wondered why the robot had stopped attacking.

The robot then said, "Make a fool out of me, will you?". The holes on his chest were then loaded with missiles. The robot then added, "Now you will face the wrath of my missiles, you meddlesome prey!".

Knuckles and Sonic then felt very alarmed as they saw the missiles aiming towards them. Sonic the replied to Knuckles, "Nice going, Knucklehead! You made just him lost it!".

"Hey! What did I-ACK!" Knuckles angrily replied as Sonic quickly grabbed him and jumped up very high into the air as the missiles hit the tree first. The tree exploded and got caught on fire. Knuckles was busy gliding up in the air in order to aid Sonic.

"Get off of me!" Knuckles yelled in irritation as Sonic held onto Knuckles for dear life.

"Knuckles! Now is not the time to be a jerk!" Sonic yelled back in slight irritation as he glared into Knuckles eyes.

"Sonic! Don't be such a-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Knuckles yelled before he panicked as the missiles still kept on firing at the two of them. While holding Sonic tightly in his arms, Knuckles did his best to glide to side to side to avoid getting hit by the missiles. Both Sonic and Knuckles were screaming as they were being attacked by the missiles. While in the middle of his panic attack, Sonic saw several missiles heading towards the Blue Typhoon. He gasped as he exclaimed, "Shoot!".

He then quickly pushed himself off of Knuckles. Knuckles was completely confused as he saw what Sonic did. Before he could yell out Sonic's name, he noticed more missiles heading towards him. He panicked some more and began dodging them quickly again. As Sonic fell, he quickly used his power ring to turn himself into a Super Sonic Spinball. He then moved through the air to get the missiles. I'll save you, Tails! Sonic thought as he got closer to the missiles.

Meanwhile, Tails was busy as he was continuing to operate onto his computer as he was sitting in the commander's chair...well, at least that's what he called his seat. He then yelled out, "The radar is turned on now! …...What the heck?". He turned to see the missiles heading towards him. He had a strange, worried look on his face. He then thought. Aw crud. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Tails screamed in panic.

Luckily for Tails, Sonic destroyed the missiles with his spinball move. Thus, all of the missiles had exploded. Tails sighed in relief as he wiped his head. "Whew! That was a close shave! Thank goodness that Sonic was able to save me in time or else I would've been toast!".

Sonic then finished his spinball move as he then landed on a tree branch that was near Tails' spaceship. He then replied, "Of coarse, you do realize that this means war!". A missile had hit a tree behind him as a way to emphasize his point.

He gasped as he noticed that the robot is now standing up really high up. The robot then fired its finger lasers past Sonic in order to try to hit the Blue Typhoon. Sonic saw that and grimaced. Yep, this is war now! Nobody tries to hurt my little buddy and gets away with it! Sonic thought with a frown.

Meanwhile, Knuckles was busy fighting the robot in a unique way. As the ground under the robot started to sink, Knuckles ran around the robot in circles. The robot was confused as it stared down at the ground while Knuckles ran around the robot as fast as he can. After he stopped, the ground gave away and the robot fell down into the hole that Knuckles had created.

"Hah ha! Who's the prey now?!" Knuckles taunted triumphantly as he had stood still while looking down into the hole. He then heard Cream yelling for him in the distance.

"Knuckles! We need to leave!" Cream yelled while she flew with her ears. Knuckles turned to look at Cream with intrigue.

"Tails already got the Master Emerald ready! You need to get on the ship so that we could leave! We need to leave now before the Metarex kills us!" Cream exclaimed seriously.

"But I already did destroy the Metarex! That poacher robot is really just a prey on the inside!" Knuckles exclaimed cockily.

However, the robot was still active as it had tried to attack Knuckles. It got up and swung its sword at him, however, Knuckles was quick on his reflexes and jumped out of the way. Cream shrieked in fear as she saw that. Her eyes widened in terror as the robot turned around to look at her since it had heard that shriek. Cream placed her hands over her mouth in fear. The robot then said, "There you are! You waskily, wittle wabbit!".

But then, Sonic came in just in time to attack the robot on its head. He jumped onto the robot's head and made it go down bit again. The robot got back up, and Sonic jumped away again. The robot then looked over at the other side. Sonic then landed onto the ground in front of the robot's line of sight.

Sonic then exclaimed to Knuckles, "Leave this one to me, Knuckles! Leave the professional 'hunters' to me!".

Knuckles then yelled in irritation, "Oh no! Not again! You are not getting all the glory in this fight!".

"Knuckles! Seriously! This is no time for games!" Sonic yelled while looking annoyed now.

"Says the guy who is all for this stupid game that we are playing now!" Knuckles yelled back. He smirked as he then yelled, "Need I remind you that I'm a player in this game now?! That means that I am allowed to participate in any events that this game is going to put me through! And I'm going to milk this in for all its worth!".

Sonic had a sweat drop on his head while having an annoyed expression on his face. He then replied, "Knuckles...you can't be serious,".

"Oh, yeah? Well, let's see how you like it when I'm treating this as a game! Just like how you would do it!" Knuckles exclaimed with a teasing grin. Cream would like to tell Knuckles that he should leave right now, however, she knew that there was no way she could convince him when he's in his fighting state of mind right now. Oh, Knuckles...I hope you could understand that this is not a game. This is a dangerous, real-life situation that you're going through, and you need to wake up and realize that we need you right now to the ship! Cream pondered as she held onto Cheese for comfort.

"Hey! You poacher thing! Yeah! Over here!" Knuckles yelled as he raised a fist at the huge robot. The robot turned and looked at Knuckles.

"Yeah! You! Come here and fight me! You hear that?! Fight me! Come on! Fight me! Fight me! Fight me!" Knuckles yelled as he jumped up and down while waving his arms quickly. Meanwhile, Sonic was staring at his friend with his hands on his hips and while having a sweat drop going down on his head. Ugh. This is just embarrassing. Sonic thought as he looked annoyed.

The robot at first didn't made any attacks at Knuckles. Knuckles felt a little irritated that the robot isn't fighting him. He then shouted at him in anger, "HEY! YOU WERE FIGHTING ME TOO EARLIER IN THE FIGHT! JUST WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME! FI-!".

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

The robot was slashing its sword very fast at Knuckles since it was annoyed by now. Its job was to hunt down prey, not being annoyed to death by an irritating pest. Meanwhile, since Knuckles didn't expect the robot to swing its sword very fast, he was screaming while dodging very fast as he jumped around a lot.

"AAH! OOH! WAH! ACK! EEP! AAH! YAGH! AAAH! UHH! UHH! HEY! CUT IT OUT!" Knuckles screamed while jumping wildly as he dodged the sword attacks.

Sonic ran a bit closer to Knuckles but was still far away enough to not get hit by the sword. "Umm...are you done, Knuckles?" Sonic replied weakly as he had lowered his eyelids at him in annoyance.

"NO! I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU HAVE THE GLOR-EEEK! AH! WAH! UH! AAAAAH!" Knuckles shouted before he screamed again in a panic.

Sonic face-palmed before he quickly ran and grabbed Knuckles out of the sword attacks and jumped up towards Cream. "Hey, Cream! Catch!" Sonic yelled before he swung Knuckles up into the air.

Knuckles yelled in surprise by this. "Wah! Sonic! What do think you're doing?!" Knuckles yelled as he flew up to the air.

"Got ya!" Cream exclaimed as she quickly grabbed Knuckles' arms with her hands and then quickly held him around his chest to carry him. Almost like how she carried Sonic that one time when they were all fighting Emeral.

Knuckles ignored this as he yelled at Sonic again, "Sonic! What is the meaning of this?!".

Sonic yelled back, "I'm giving you a chance to stop embarrassing yourself and make you do as you were told to do! You can thank me later! Now help Tails immediately! We don't have much time! Cream! Quick! Fly towards the Blue Typhoon and get Knuckles to move his stubborn butt to the engine room!".

Knuckles growled when Sonic said that about him. However, Cream nodded to Sonic as she yelled back, "Okay! I will! Please Mr. Knuckles! Forgive me! But we got to go now!". She then quickly flew away from the huge robot while carrying Knuckles to the ship. Cheese followed her also. Sonic then got ready again to fight the robot.

He then said, "It's just you and me now!".

While Cream was flying back to the Blue Typhoon, Knuckles was growling in humiliation and frustration since Sonic had forced him into this situation. He was a warrior! He would never back down from a challenge! But now...he can't go fight that robot even if he wanted to! Knuckles sighed as he put his head down. Cream was frowning as she said meekly, "What's wrong, Mr. Knuckles?".

Knuckles looked back up to Cream as he replied more calmly this time, "I just can't believe that Sonic had just forced me to leave the fight! It's just as bad as either Tails or Amy had to be forced to leave since they couldn't do anything to fight back! And this time...Grrrr...It's me this time who is considered useless in a fight. It's utterly humiliating!".

Cream frowned again in sadness. Her friend Cheese also looked sad. Cream gently replied, "But you did your best to fight that huge, scary robot. You even managed to let that thing fall into the ground you just made. Even I thought that you had beaten that thing then".

"Yeah, but that stupid robot had to still be up and fighting again! And to make matters worse, Sonic just had to show up in order to get that thing's attention! I'm pretty sure that I could've beaten that robot all by myself! I just know that I can, but...but! Grrrrrrr! It's so annoying!" Knuckles exclaimed as he still felt angry.

Cream felt sympathy and sad for Knuckles. She didn't say anything, but just let Knuckles continue to rant. "I've been beaten by TWO robots by now! I don't care if they are super powerful or not! I am the strongest person on this planet, and yet, I just got defeated by two cruddy robots! What good am I if I can't fight those stupid robots?! Huh?! What good am I then?!" Knuckles yelled in frustration. Cream felt a little scared of Knuckles now. Even Cheese could sense the rising fury in the red echidna. Cheese then said to Cream, "Chao chao chao!".

"Yes, I know, Cheese," Cream replied sadly.

"Huh? What did Cheese say?" Knuckles replied curiously while still wearing a frown on his face.

"He says that you are scaring him right now. Even...Even me. You're scaring me, Mr. Knuckles. Please don't be angry anymore. Please," Cream replied sadly while going soft in the end as she begged.

Immediately, Knuckles' anger vanished as he raised his eyebrows at Cream's plea. He then lowered his eyelids in sadness. Why is he always bad with kids? Tails is only the exception here since he's more of a genius. But with kids like Cream for example...somehow, he can't help but feel guilty every time he had scared her with his unbridled rage. He felt like a monster to her. He didn't want to act like a monster, but he always does that when he has negative feelings and acted out on it. He can't control it. He wishes he could, but he couldn't. It's times like this he wished there was someone who was so powerful that that person could be able to hold him back. Someone who gets to moderate and remove his feelings of anger, jealousy, bitterness, and hatred and replace it with inner peace. Unfortunately...he still hadn't found that person yet.

Regardless, he took a huge sigh as he apologized to Cream for now. "Cream...I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I had been yelling, even if it was not directed at you. I'm sorry that I got you scared. Please forgive me. I'll calm down now. For...For you, Cream," Knuckles apologized as he closed his eyes. Cream was still frowning, but she then did smile at little after she heard his apology.

"It's okay, Mr. Knuckles. I forgive you," Cream replied with a smile. Cheese replied too with a happy smile, "Chao Chao!".

Knuckles opened his eyes and looked at her. He smiled a little at her to show her that he's trying to be calm again. He then replied softly with a smile, "Thanks, Cream. Let's just get this whole thing over with by getting to the Blue Typhoon, okay?".

Cream happily nodded as she exclaimed, "Yeah! Let's go, Mr. Knuckles! We're almost there now! Hang on tight!". She soon flew a bit faster to the Blue Typhoon.

- Meanwhile Back On the Blue Typhoon-

Amy had finally dropped all of her bags into the spaceship. She wiped her forehead in relief that she had finished packing her stuff. She turned around to see Cosmo carrying a big, orange bag on her back.

She then replied, "That's it, Cosmo! Just keep that up and we'll get all of this stuff into the cargo hold!".

Cosmo nodded as she replied, "You're right! I should get another-Wah! Aaaaah!". Cosmo tried to turn around to get another bag, but the weight on the bag she was carrying was also heavy for her because it made her lost her balance again. She was spinning around before she fell on her back with the bag she was carrying.

"Eep! Help! Help!" Csomo yelped as she was flailing her arms and legs.

Amy had a sweat drop on her head as she meekly replied, "Maybe it is best if you took a break".

Meanwhile, Tails was preparing to power up the main engine on the motherboard of the ship. He clicked on a few buttons to turn on the engine of the ship. "Okay! I got the main engine running! Now to connect it to the Master Emerald! Are you guys ready?!" Tails exclaimed as he talked to Chris.

The engine was powering on as a yellow light was visible as it was making a circle on the outside of the engine. Chris then replied as he was in the main engine room while typing onto the computer, "I'm ready! The main engine is now connected to the Master Emerald. But I'm still waiting for Knuckles to show up. Where could he-".

"Sorry, I'm late!" Knuckles yelled out as he ran inside into the main engine room.

Chris smiled as he told Tails, "Never mind. He's here. We're about to start lift off soon. Hang on tight, Tails!".

Knuckles then jumped up towards the top of the mechanical altar where the Master Emerald is hooked up at. He stood before it as he was ready to command the Master Emerald itself. Chris then pulled down a lever so that more power is transferred from the engine to the Master Emerald.

Knuckles then calmly recited his prayer to the Master Emerald, "The seven emeralds are the servers, and the controller is the master. Chaos is that which is controlled by the heart and the one the unifies the chaos is the controller itself. Only you can control the emeralds for you are the master. Please grant us your power so that we can find the emeralds for you to control it!".

The Master Emerald glowed brightly as more energy is giving off from it. Chris noticed this as he exclaimed, "Ignition! Turn on!". He then lowered another lever. The other energy tank is sending off the Master Emerald's power to the huge engine of the ship. With the combined forces of the main engine's energy and the Master Emerald's energy, the huge engine in the ship was able to start running.

"Yes! We got the entire engine running! We are ready for take off!" Chris exclaimed in determination. They were all ready to leave.

-Meanwhile At Cream's House-

Vanilla was happily doing her knitting in peace when she heard the door open. She stopped and looked at the visitor in her room. It was Cream the Rabbit. After dropping off Knuckles to the Blue Typhoon, Cream quickly flew towards her home to say "goodbye" to her mother.

"M-Mom, I'm so sorry to say this, but...I have to go to space with Mr. Sonic and the others. We need to be together in order to save our world from those awful poachers. I'm sorry that I had to say this so unexpectedly, Mother. I...I didn't mean to," Cream apologized while standing at the door to her mother's room. Cream then walked to her mother as she then said, "Please...can I go?".

"Why Cream. It's alright, dear. As long as Sonic is there to protect you, you can go wherever you want. Now please behave yourself, my dear. You know how dangerous space can be. So, please protect yourself too," Vanilla replied with a calm smile on her face.

Cream gasped for a bit before she smiled brightly as she felt relieved that her mother isn't mad for being told at the last minute. She walked up to her mother and laid her body on the top of her mother's lap. "Mom...you're the best. Thank you so much for letting me go," Cream replied with a smile. Vanilla looked at her daughter while she was resting on her for a bit. Vanilla smiled too as she gently put her hand onto her daughter's back and rubbed it a little.

"Anything for you, my sweet daughter," Vanilla replied gently with a fond smile.

I'll miss you, Mother. Please take care of yourself too. Cream thought as she laid on her mother's lap for a bit longer.

-Meanwhile Back With Sonic-

Sonic was busy fighting the robot. He jumped up to punch the robot in the head, kick him in the legs, and jumped onto him in the chest. However, the robot was able to block him from doing that. Sonic and the robot soon landed down to the ground. Sonic had noticed that the robot hadn't took any damage during that whole fight. The robot stood up again.

The robot replied to him, "You are a troublesome little prey. Surrender now!".

Sonic grimaced as he looked back for bit. The Blue Typhoon was still on the ground. He then said out loud, "How much longer are you going to make me wait, Tails?! I can't hold on to this guy any longer! And he's not taking any damage either! Please hurry it up!".

Just as he said that, Sonic and the robot noticed that the ground was rumbling under their feet. The Blue Typhoon was about to take off. Tails exclaimed as he looked at the bars in the screen increase in length, "Yes! The acceleration is increasing! …...Let's get out of here!".

The ground started to crumble as the huge spaceship was rising up from the ground. The robot noticed this as he replied, "Aha! I found the target! Prepare to be destroyed!". Then the robot fired more missiles at the spaceship.

Sonic saw this and replied in annoyance, "Seriously?! This again?!". He then went into his Super Sonic Spinball move again and went to destroy more missiles. He was able to destroy the missiles very easily. He then landed onto the Blue Typhoon after he got all of the missiles.

As he stood with a smile on his face, he then replied cockily to the robot, "Looks like you're not gonna hunt any prey today, 'bot! You lose, sucker!".

Meanwhile, Knuckles, Chris, and Tails were doing their best to power the huge spaceship with energy. Knuckles was still praying to the emerald, "Please! Master Emerald, we need your power to control the chaos! You are the only one who can do it!".

"We're getting closer! …..We're at 80...no...90...wait...95...hold on for a moment...100! Yes! We're at max power!" Chris exclaimed while looking determined. The ship flew higher and higher in the sky since it was at full power.

However, the robot was not amused. The robot then flew up to counter the spaceship. The robot said, "I will not lose! I will get my prey if it's the last thing I do!".

Sonic saw that the robot was coming towards the spaceship. He then heard Tails said through the speaker, "Sonic! Get into the main cannon! We're going to use that to fire you towards that robot!".

Then Sonic turned around and saw a giant cannon come up in front of him. He then whistled as she said, "Now that's a HUGE cannon if I had ever seen one!".

Tails continued to speak through the speaker, "All power is transferring to the main cannon from the main chamber room!".

Chris said through his own speaker, "The cannon is being loaded with power! I'm ready when you are, Sonic!".

Sonic asked while he was running inside the cannon, "So what are you going to call this cannon? Did either of you or Tails came up with a name?".

"Um, no, we hadn't," Chris replied.

"Then how about we call it the Sonic Power Cannon?" Sonic replied with a smile.

"Umm...well..." Chris replied awkwardly.

"Hey! Why should you call the cannon's name after your own name?! I'm the one giving power to the Master Emerald to power that cannon, so, it should be called the Knuckles Power Cannon!" Knuckles yelled loudly while still standing next to the Master Emerald.

"What the-! Knuckles! You can hear that?!" Sonic exclaimed as he then landed onto the core of the cannon.

"Yes! I can hear you over the speaker!" Knuckles yelled back. Both Chris and Tails were confused as to how Knuckles was able to hear that. He wasn't anywhere near a speaker, yet he could hear Sonic just fine.

"Knuckles! Listen! We should just-" Chris replied before he was cut off by Sonic and Knuckles arguing.

"No, Knuckles! We should call this cannon the Sonic Power Cannon! I'm going to deliver the final blow to that poacher and destroy him anyway! Only a powerful Sonic Power Cannon can do that!" Sonic yelled back.

"Sonic...you're not helping," Tails replied sheepishly.

"No way! It's the Knuckles Power Cannon because I'm the one doing all the work here, and you are just going to steal all the glory from everyone again, including me!" Knuckles yelled back as a vein popped in his forehead.

"Yeah, right! It's Sonic Power Cannon, Knuckles! Sonic Power Cannon!" Sonic yelled as he then got into his Super Sonic Spinball move. The energy from Master Emerald surged into Sonic's spinball move as blue electricity surrounded him. Even while in this state, he was still arguing with Knuckles.

"No, you blue idiot! It's the Knuckles Power Cannon! Knuckles Power Cannon!" Knuckles yelled back. Meanwhile, the robot was slowly hovering down near the Blue Typhoon itself.

The robot then replied, "I found you, you pesky little prey".

Meanwhile, Cosmo, Cream, and Amy were still boarding the ship with boxes and bags as a part of their trip. Cosmo and Cream were sitting down next to the huge cargo behind them as they felt tired from packing their stuff into the ship. Amy was carrying the last bag to the ship. She then replied, "Finally, the last one...".

She then heard Chris speaking, "Okay! Everyone! Prepare for lift off! And please be-" Chris said through the speaker before Knuckles' and Sonic's yelling can be overheard from the speaker.

"Sonic Power Cannon!" Sonic yelled.

"Knuckles Power Cannon!" Knuckles yelled back.

"Sonic Power Cannon!" Sonic argued.

"Knuckles Power Cannon!" Knuckles argued back.

"Sonic Power Cannon!".

"Knuckles Power Cannon!".

Sonic Power Cannon!".

"Knuckles Power Cannon!".

"Guys! Seriously! Stop fighting!" Chris yelled out in frustration.

"NO!" Sonic and Knuckles shouted together in unison.

Amy sighed in exasperation as she sat down next to the cargo. Good grief! Those two will choose anything as a reason to fight each other! Even childish ones! Amy thought as she felt annoyed. And she wasn't the only one who is annoyed.

"(Sigh)….Tails...just do your thing and aim at the robot. Let's stop this bickering now," Chris spoke to Tails in the other speaker.

"Right! Targeting Metarex robot! Hmm...looks like the robot is dead ahead of us!" Tails exclaimed while locking onto his target on the screen in front of him. The screen then showed the phrase "LOCK ON" to as a sign that the target is locked on.

The robot then fired more missiles onto the ship again. Sonic and Knuckles were still arguing.

"Sonic Power Cannon!" Sonic yelled.

"Knuckles Power Cannon!" Knuckles yelled back.

The missiles got a bit closer to the ship.

"Sonic Power Cannon!" Sonic yelled.

"Knuckles Power Cannon!" Knuckles yelled back.

The missiles gotten even closer than before, and the ship's cannon is aiming upwards to shoot at the robot.

Sonic smirked as he then mischievously yelled out, "Knuckles Power Cannon!".

"Sonic Power Cannon! Fire!" Knuckles yelled out in determination.

BOOOOOOOOM!

Sonic was then shot out of the cannon in a stronger spinball move than before. His spinball is completely covered in a light-blue aura to show that it is stronger than his normal spinball move. He blasted through the missiles as if it was nothing. The missiles exploded after being hit by Sonic. Sonic went past through the missiles and aimed at the robot. He then hit the robot's chest and went through it, creating a hole in the robot. That attack was critical to the robot as its chest had exploded first from the inside until the entire body had exploded too. It had caused a white explosion from that. Smoke can be seen from above as the destroyed robot's ruins sank into the sea.

Meanwhile, Sonic was still spinning upwards. Sonic soon got out of his spinball move, but he was still spinning in the air. The spaceship was safe and was now taking off at last. Chris knew that he had to catch Sonic in the air. So, after when Sonic was launched from the cannon, he quickly ran towards the white aircraft in the hangar. He got onto the aircraft and flew towards Sonic.

"I knew that I can't leave you hanging like this, Sonic! I'm coming for you!" Chris replied as he flew the plane closer to Sonic.

As Sonic was falling down now, he opened his eyes and was pleasantly surprised to see Chris flying in a white aircraft. "What the- Chris?" Sonic said in confusion yet in relief.

Chris had the window out and had his arms out to Sonic. "Sonic! I'm here!".

Soon, Sonic's and Chris' hands were held despite a bit of a struggle to hang on. He then pulled Sonic into the plane and closed the window again. Chris continued to fly the plane back to the ship.

"We're going back, Sonic!" Chris yelled out as he flew towards the flying spaceship.

"About time, Chris!" Sonic replied with a smile as he sat on Chris' lap.

"Wow! That was a great save, Chris!" Tails exclaimed with a smile. He then said, "We're moving out to space now! First we're setting the cannon back! And next! We're activating the thrusters on this ship! With this power, we can go beyond the atmosphere and head into space!".

The ship was boosting more fire power in the back, and more wings were added in the landing airstrip.

"It is time to go," Tails replied seriously as he steered the ship in the commander's seat. The Blue Typhoon had boosted some more and flew higher into the sky. Chris' plane soon followed behind.

Meanwhile, back at the cargo hold, Amy then replied, "We must be up very high into the sky now! Let's go check it out on the bridge of the ship!". Cosmo and Cream nodded as they soon stood up with Amy. Amy soon ran towards the deck. Cream and Cosmo soon followed her with smiles on their faces.

While on the bridge, Sonic, Chris, and Tails are already there while staring out into the high sky. Amy soon showed up along with Cream and Cosmo.

"Hey there Sonic!" Amy said.

"Hey, Amy! You're looking well," Sonic replied with a smile and a wave. Amy giggled at that.

Cream then replied as Cheese exclaimed with her, "Wow! This is so amazing! I had never seen this planet this high before! It's so wonderful! (Chao!)". Cosmo looked at Cream and smiled at her.

Amy was beaming at Sonic while Sonic kept on smiling at her. He didn't notice Knuckles walking towards him from behind. Knuckles cleared his throat. Sonic jolted a bit and turned around with wide eyes.

Sonic then grinned as he replied, "Ehh...what's up, Knux?".

"You're despicable," Knuckles replied as he glared at Sonic. He still can't believe that he had fallen for Sonic's dirty trick.

Sonic grinned at him sheepishly while he scratched his head. He was about to reply before he felt a tiny object onto his quills. He pulled the tiny, mechanical object out of him and looked at it. "Huh? What's this doing here?".

"What's 'what' doing there, Sonic?" Knuckles replied.

"This thing. It's so tiny! I wonder what it is?" Sonic replied.

"Well, whatever it is, I think that you should throw that away. It looks useless the way I see it," Knuckles replied with a frown.

Knuckles had the right idea since that little "thing" was a bug.

-Meanwhile In Dr. Eggman's Base-

"Umm, Doctor? We have a problem. Sonic just found the bug that you had planted onto him," Decoe said as he typed into the computer.

However, Dr. Eggman just laughed. "Hahahahaha! Oh, relax, Decoe. I'm not that broken up if he did find that bug. I only wanted some information for what's going on around here anyway! Now that we know what that hedgehog and his friends are up to, we can go chase them in our brand-new spaceship!" Dr. Eggman replied calmly.

"When did you build this spaceship? We had never seen you working on it!" Decoe replied in curiosity.

"It was a secret project, Decoe! I made it during that six-month vacation that I took. I didn't just take a break from my usual evil ways. I was actually working on my spaceship during that time. It must've been peaceful for that hedgehog and his friends during that time, but this vacation is now officially over!" Dr. Eggman replied with glee.

"Fire up those engines and chase after that hedgehog and his friends! We got find those Chaos emeralds before they do! And the only way to know where they are is to follow them!" Dr. Eggman ordered as he looked at Bocue.

"Understood, sir! Engine thrusters are on! Let's move out!" Bocue exclaimed as he pulled the lever down. The rocket thrusters on Dr. Eggman's spaceship burned faster, and his purple, egg-shaped ship was then lifted up from the ground.

"Keep on working, you slackers!" Bokkun exclaimed with a fist held up.

"Hmm? What do you think you're doing, Bokkun?! You are not the commander here! I am!" Dr. Eggman yelled at Bokkun while his ship went higher and higher into the air.

"Waaaah! I'm so sorry!" Bokkun cried in fear.

"You better be," Dr. Eggman warned with a frown.

Meanwhile, Rouge saw that Dr. Eggman's ship is flying away. She was in her own little aircraft that she stole from a government lab in Sonic's home world. She smirked as she thought. Bingo. If the Doctor is really going to find those emeralds along with Sonic and his friends, then I have an even greater chance in finding them myself. Chaos Emeralds, here I come!

She then followed Dr. Eggman's spaceship while Dr. Eggman is following Tails' spaceship. Currently, things are relatively calm for now, but the game is now afoot.

-Few Minutes Later In The Blue Typhoon-

"Hey, Knuckles? Guess what?" Sonic asked in a sing-song voice. He walked up behind Knuckles while holding his hands behind his back. He was in the main engine room with Knuckles. Knuckles was just cleaning the Master Emerald for bit before Sonic startled him.

He growled as he turned around and yelled, "Would you leave me alone, Sonic?! I'm not in the mood!".

"Relax, Knuckles! I just want to let you know on something!" Sonic replied in mock-surrender as he held up his hands while still smiling.

Knuckles put his hands on his hips as he replied, "What is it, Sonic?".

"Well, you know how long we had our vacation together right?" Sonic began with a huge grin.

"Six months," Knuckles replied in a dead-pan tone.

"Uh huh. And now that we are all on an adventure together..." Sonic replied playfully as his grin got wider.

Oh no...don't tell me...Knuckles thought in despair as he didn't like where this is going.

Sonic beamed as he then pointed at Knuckles while exclaiming, "...You're going to stay with us for much longer! Isn't that great?!".

"..." Knuckles didn't say anything for a bit. He stared at Sonic with a wide eyes and with a wide-open mouth. He is trapped with these idiots while playing a stupid board game together...and there is no way out of this. This might be...his worst nightmare ever. He screamed as the Blue Typhoon flew farther into space away from home.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

…...Yep, the game is now afoot.

Thus, part two of episode 54 is now complete! Now, I will cover each episode fully again! Sorry if this was a little late, but I hope this chapter was worth the wait! You can clearly see that I had edited in more scenes and changed some scenes a bit in my version of the episode. I hope you had enjoyed those silly Monopoly and Looney Tunes references being made in this chapter! This story isn't just going to be serious all the time, so, some stupid humor will find its way in there just how the actual show really was. With that said, hopefully I would get the next chapter up next week! See you guys next chapter!