Author's Note: Hi again! Sorry that the last chapter wasn't as good as I had hoped, but hopefully this one will make it up for it. As for the backgrounds of Sonic, Tails and Amy...well, I don't want to spoil much. *Sweat drops sheepishly*
Anyway, onward we go!
Let's do it to it!
I do not own any rights to Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the related media. All rights go to Sega.
Chapter 11: A Surprising Return.
When Eggman had arrived at the spot hoping to get the Chaos Emerald first before Sonic, the annoying blue teenage hedgehog who had been a bane of his entire existence for many years, could defeat him once more, he was grinning as his evil plan to capture the hero of Mobius and destroy him as well as the blue brat's friends once and for all was already coming along quite nicely. For years he wanted nothing more than to take the Chaos Emeralds for himself to use their power and rule the world as it's emperor and destroy all those who oppose him.
But on his first day of terrorizing the world, a hero was shown, and that young hero was none other than Sonic the Hedgehog, a Mobian child who was born with super speed and a heart that is pure as the sunlight, whereas Dr. Eggman's heart was as black as darkness.
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho! That Chaos Emerald is as good as mine, because one I claim it, I'll be able to use it's power to supercharge my Octoron and get rid of that blue bozo! Not even he can stop me from ruling the planet this time!" The evil scientist declared wickedly, having no doubt in his twisted mind that Sonic was as good as his and dead this time. "Very soon, he will be mine...!"
Eggman clutched his fist as he finished his sentence, determined to claim Sonic's life once and for all, only for his scanner to blare which alerted the mad doctor who gazed at it in confusion to see what was going on and gaped in shock and disbelief that the Chaos Emerald suddenly faded and the tracker had lost it's signal, with the words 'Signal Lost' blinking on the small screen.
"OH NO! How could I have lost the Chaos Emerald so quickly!?" Eggman exclaimed in dismay, placing his hands onto his head as he couldn't understand how one minute his Octoron was so close in retrieving the ancient gem stone, and then the next minute it just disappeared without a trace.
How could that have happened!?
"Stupid lously piece of technology! It must have jammed itself at the last second!" The evil doctor growled in frustration before he pounded at the dash board, punching it repeatedly with his right fist angrily. "Stupid, piece of, malfunctioned, useless, worthless, annoying, JUNK!"
"Yo, Eggman! Lookin' for something?"
Freezing in his mid-rant upon hearing the familiar teenage hedgehog's voice sounding from above along with engines of a plane that sounded like a rocket, Eggman looked up to and saw, to his further dismay and shock, was Sonic himself riding on the wings of the X Tornado with Tails piloting it, and both Amy and Chris behind him, all of them glaring at the mad scientist while the blue hedgehog smirked tauntingly.
"Or is your eye-sight really starting to go? That could be a sign of you retiring, but that'd be a lie, now would it?" Sonic continued teasingly, which made his friends giggle and laugh over the comment.
To his and the others' surprise and suspicion, Eggman just grinned despite being annoyed that the fifteen year old had come early and without a Chaos Emerald, believing that he could still use this to his advantage and come back for his precious gem after he makes sure Sonic and his friends are all gotten rid of.
'This couldn't have gone any better than I had hoped. Now I can rid myself of that blue brat once and for all.' Eggman thought to himself as he began to laugh manically.
"What's so funny?" Chris demanded, narrowing his eyes along with the Mobians who did the same.
"He's up to something." Tails half-whispered in realization.
"When is he not?" Amy asked, though she had a really bad feeling about this as she couldn't help but sense that maybe this was some sort of trick.
"All right, what's your game this time, Eggman?" Sonic growled in demand, feeling very nervous as he could tell that in less than a minute that his nemesis' giant robot was about to emerge from the water considering how they were practically above the ocean. Which in retrospect made him very nervous.
"You fell right into my trap, Sonic. I know you can't swim and you can't do a single thing in this fight without your little fox friend's newly made plane and without trending H20. Even with or without the Chaos Emerald." Eggman explained evilly, which made his young enemy hiss with a hard glare as Sonic clutched his fist and his friends shocked despite that they too were glaring at the evil doctor.
Just then, they heard a rumbling which made the teenager and his friends to look down and saw the water begin to bubble up as something huge and large began to emerge, splashing out which forced Tails to levitate the X Tornado higher to avoid in getting hit. By then, Octoron resurfaced empty handed as it swung around it's two rubber tentacles while the evil doctor laughed.
"Behold, my Octoron! A super powered sea-robot that will dunk you into the ocean, Sonic!" The mad doctor announced.
Sonic just narrowed his eyes before he stood up straight to try and fight this thing. If only he could fight it on dry land and give it a hard beating. Plus even if he tried to kick at it as the blue hedgehog eyed the robotic monster's two tentacles, a bad feeling formed in his gut as his heart began to beat nervously while he took a quick glance at the water below. Seeing the ocean where no doubt he could easily drown made him feel very nervous made him begin to whimper softly with a sweat drop. He was scared over the very idea, especially when they were high up above it.
Suddenly his legs felt almost like jelly, his heart racing rapidly, his breathing all shaky, his palms within his gloves becoming all sweaty, and Sonic suddenly felt like he was about to get seasick. He was scared. Very scared. If there was one thing that made the hero of Mobius besides losing his friends made him so afraid, it was the fear of drowning, the horrible feeling of water going into his lungs, the feeling of being helpless and unable to swim, let alone being able to float. Yet the blue hedgehog quickly tried to push back those fears to get a hold of himself and glared hard to mask his terrified expression.
"Get them, Octoron! Capture Sonic and dunk him into the sea!" Eggman shouted before the young heroes could come up with a plan.
Sonic saw what was happening below with a gasp with the giant rubbery tentacles stretching out straight towards them to capture him and damage the X Tornado.
"Tails! Look out!" Sonic shouted. "Pull us up, quick!"
"AAAAHHH!" Tails, Chris and Amy all screamed in fright as they saw what was going on before the two-tailed fox quickly pulled the X Tornado higher to safety to avoid in getting hit. But to their and the blue hedgehog's horror the tentacles were stretching up as the giant robot's legs extended themselves underwater to touch the bottom and make itself even taller.
Yet none of them, not even the evil doctor, were aware that one or two of Octoron's legs accidentally stepped briefly onto the moving giant clam shell to position itself, which only made the giant shell to react more violently as the last of the strange serum was absorbed into the inner flesh while the Chaos Emerald rolled close and blocked the digestive system, becoming stuck and glowing a bit more brightly. This chain of reaction began to cover the giant clam in a blue and yellow aura which quickly turned purple and dark and the once non-movable living sea creature began to roar softly but deeply, and changing shape.
Despite this as Octoron's tentacles reached out and got too close for comfort, Tails fired missiles at them while Sonic punched and kicked at one that attempted to grab him but it only reflected and went back so he had to hold on and dodge at the same time. The two-tailed fox pulled the X Tornado further away to tried and avoid in getting caught.
"Man, this thing's tough!" The blue hedgehog grunted as he held on for dear life. "I can't even break those things with my axe kicks!"
"Looks like those arms are made out of rubber." Chris remarked worriedly as he and Tails eyed it.
"You're right, Chris. Those arms are too stretchy even for Sonic to kick at them, so his Axe Kicks attacks will have zero effect on it." The two-tailed fox cub agreed grimly and gravely. "If that's the case, then there's no way he can fight that thing with a normal strategy."
"But it Sonic tries to attack it, then that thing could easily catch him and dunk him into the ocean! He could drown!" Amy exclaimed fearfully as she and Chris came to the horrible realization.
Even though Sonic gulped fearfully as he had a quick horrible mental image of him being captured, dunked into the ocean and most likely drown, feeling petrified over the very idea, he tried to force that fear down while narrowing his eyes despite gazing at the ocean again.
"I'm open for any suggestions that doesn't involve in getting wet." Sonic stated with a sweat drop, a little too shakily which he grimaced at the sound of how terrified he sounded in his voice.
"We're gonna need to distract Eggman since he's watching us and directing that robot." Tails reminded, attempting to come up with a plan.
Chris, while a little bit scared over the situation, tried to come up with a plan before an idea formed. "Maybe Sonic could use his Spin Attacks and using my new base ball club we got last week and Amy's hammer to hit Eggman and the robot?"
The Mobians gazed at him in surprise, before Tails realized that he was right. "That's it! Combination attack! If we can do that, we can beat this thing!"
"Yeah! We're gonna need a lot of team effort on this one." Sonic agreed before adding up to the plan. "Amy, Chris, you both distract Eggman with your best shots, and Chris, give me your bat. Tails, you power ring me!"
Suddenly the Octoron robot stretched out it's tentacles again which forced the four friends to cry out in alarm and the eight year old cub to maneuver the X Tornado up, but unfortunately one of the rubbery arms hit the bottom of the plane which caused it to be tilt backwards slightly and all of them screamed while Sonic began to lose his balance but he managed to hold on tightly but was left dangling on the wing, much to his friends' horror as they called out to him.
"Now that Sonic is left hanging like a fish in a hook, I'll just continue my search for the Chaos Emerald and have a front row seat to watch that hedgehog forfeit his life." Eggman grinned wickedly, before commanding. "Get him, Octoron!"
"Sonic!" Amy screamed out, opening up the hatch forcefully and ignored the winds blowing against her while both Chris and Tails winced. The pink hedgehog climbed out despite the two boys' protests and she carefully hurried to where the blue hedgehog was left hanging and she grabbed hold of his right hand and began to pull him up. "I got you!"
Sonic grunted as he pulled himself up with his self-proclaimed girlfriend's help and was about to thank her when he saw one of the two tentacles about to grab her from behind. He gasped. "Amy, behind you!"
Surprisingly, Amy didn't stop what she was doing. Instead, she held onto Sonic's hand into her own, and used her free right hand to summon her Piko Piko Hammer and smacked the tentacle without even looking which caused it to be flung back and hit Octoron on the head. It began to lose his balance as the robot stumbled backwards, unknowingly stepping onto the increasingly mutating giant clam as a result.
"Do you mind!?" The twelve year old hedgehog girl snapped as she looked over her shoulder angrily, glaring at the shocked Eggman and falling robot. "I'm saving my boyfriend here!"
"How could you do that!?" Eggman exclaimed, his hands on his head in dismay.
Amy didn't respond as she pulled Sonic back onto the wing while the latter stood up and breathed a sigh of relief as she asked him worriedly. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Amy!" Sonic replied gratefully.
His younger friend smiled happily, before she spun around and stood ready handing Chris over her hammer. "Here, Chris! You'll need this!"
"Whoa!" Chris yelped as he fumbled with the hammer, before asking worriedly. "But, what about you?"
Eggman also noticed what was going on and grinned confidently. "What indeed? You just gave that boy your hammer. How can you possibly fight now?"
The pink hedgehog just glared silently at the evil scientist and shockingly summoned another Piko Piko Hammer, much to the surprise of both Chris and Eggman who gaped in disbelief.
"She has more hammers than a Hardware store...!" The twelve year old boy stated, bewildered. How in the two worlds could someone summon not one but two hammers at the same time? Deciding to forget about it, he quickly reached into the side and tossed Sonic his bat as the teenage blue hedgehog caught it swiftly in his right hand with a nod.
"Get ready, guys!" Tails instructed, and his friends nodded in affirmative before the two tailed fox flew in closer to both Eggman and Octoron which was beginning to recover.
"Here we go!" Sonic shouted with a smirk as Chris awkwardly climbed out, he and Amy both making sure their human friend wouldn't fall. "You okay, Chris?"
"Yeah. Good thing I took those athletic classes seriously." The Earth-Boy replied, stumbling a little. "Though I'm not used to standing on wings of planes."
"It'll be okay. Just stick close to Amy." The blue hedgehog reassured, and his friend nodded while Amy held onto the boy's hand to make sure he was safe as possible.
Before the evil man could give out another command, at Tails and Sonic's signal, both Amy and Chris tossed as hard as they could as the two hammers headed straight towards Eggman who was first hit on the head by Chris' burrowed hammer which caused him to yelp in pain, and then falling with his Egg Mobile being hit by the much more powerful hit by Amy's second hammer, causing it to lost altitude and plummeting into the ocean.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Eggman screamed before he crashed into the ocean with a big splash.
"Keep your rotten robots away from my Sonic, or you'll be sorry!" Amy warned as she and Chris, who sweat dropped in slight embarrassment over that comment as he knew that Sonic really didn't have much of romantic feelings with her but he still cared about her as a close friend, glared at their enemy.
"Sonic, here comes the ring!" Tails shouted, firing a golden ring as Sonic jumped with the bat in his hand, and caught the ring with his left hand, absorbing it's power and glowed in blue aura.
Eggman in the meantime managed to resurface with his Egg Mobile flipping the right way up since he landed upside down and thankfully was used as a mini boat. He spat out the salty sea water and coughed to get air back into his lungs, soaking wet as well as humiliated. He then looked up and saw what was happening and gasped in horror, realizing what was about to happen next.
"OH NO!" Eggman screamed in dismay, shivering in fear as he knew that if he didn't get out of there quickly, he was in for another painful and embarrassing defeat and take off.
The hero of Mobius then whacked the tentacles with his extra strength before going into a super Sonic Spin Attack, speeding straight past the arms and straight into the robot's head, bashing his way out and then back in, attacking it and creating destructive dents from the inside before smashing his way out and up to safety. The Octoron wasn't as lucky as it the damage caused by the blue hedgehog caused it to topple backwards and explode and causing waves to wash over towards Eggman who screamed and held on for dear life, pushed back further while getting even more wet as a result.
Sonic in the meantime landed safely on the X Tornado's wing when Tails flew in to catch him with Amy and Chris holding on, the human boy nearly stumbling but managed to keep his balance.
"Everybody okay?" The fifteen year old asked almost immediately, feeling bad for having the twelve year old boy stand on the plane when it was admittedly too dangerous even for him.
"Yeah. First time I stood on a plane like this. It's like out of the action movies." Chris admitted, a little nervously but excitedly at the same time.
"It's like that with us all the time." Sonic replied with a wink and a thumbs up. "We all make a great team."
"You sure came up with a great idea, Chris." Tails praised happily.
"If it wasn't for you, we never would have beaten that giant octopus robot." Amy agreed.
Once again surprised by the compliment and feeling bashful, Chris blushed while scratching the back of his head. "Well, I just wanted to help out. You guys did all the work."
"Chris, when it comes to teamwork, it's not just about fighting, it takes planning and thinking, and working together to set things right." Sonic pointed out kindly. "You and Tails are the brains of the team."
That made the two younger boys beam happily and laugh despite being a little embarrassed. But before they, the blue hedgehog and Amy could continue the conversation, they were interrupted when they heard Eggman's angry growl which made the four friends look down to see their evil nemesis, all wet and miserable as he floated back towards where the supposed spot of the Chaos Emerald was located.
"You may have won this match, Sonic, but I know something that you probably sensed far too late!" Eggman shouted, waving an angry fist before grinning. "I trust that since it's underwater, I can give you a guess on what I am looking for."
"Yeah, I know. You're after a Chaos Emerald, which I did sense even though it's blocked off by water and something else and the fact you mentioned one earlier." Sonic responded in annoyance as he folded his arms, while the rest of his friends glared down at the evil scientist.
"Does Eggman know you can sense them, Sonic?" Chris whispered, worriedly.
"Yeah, but that's never been a major problem. My biggest concern now is where that Emerald is...and why it's not just water that's blocking it off." The blue hedgehog admitted, gazing at the water again. He knew that since Dr. Eggman was quite close to it, Sonic had a feeling this would take another complicated struggle to get it back.
"And since we all know your weak spot is water, you can't get that Chaos Emerald without taking a little dip. So I'll be getting it first." The evil scientist taunted.
"With what? A submarine?" Sonic questioned firmly.
"Uh...erm..." Eggman paused, realizing that with his controls all wet and this particular Egg Mobile not being equiped with underwater claws and can easily malfunction, rust and break, even he can't get the Chaos Emerald either. He scratched the top of his head sheepishly over this. 'Uh-oh...'
"You can't either, can you?" Sonic smirked teasingly as his friends all giggled.
"Unless you want to go for a swim." Amy teased.
"If Sonic doesn't bash you first." Tails added.
"They're right, Eggman." Chris shrugged, smirking.
"Oh, shut up!" Eggman snapped, only for the water to suddenly become just as rough as before which caused him to yelp and nearly fall overboard.
Sonic, Tails, Amy and Chris all gasped in shock as they saw that the water was becoming more swelling and dangerous as though there was a storm coming.
"What's going on?" Sonic gaped in shock.
"The water's going all crazy!" Chris exclaimed.
"But there's no storm. The weather forecast is supposed to be sunny for the whole week!" Tails exclaimed in shock.
"So then...why is the water acting up?" Amy asked, uneasily.
Before anyone could respond, Chris suddenly felt a strange jolt coming from below and winced, leaning over as he placed his hand to his head which alarmed his friends who softly gasped and Tails quickly pulled the boat to a stop, everyone crying out the boy's name.
"Chris, what's wrong!?" Sonic exclaimed worriedly, as he and Amy quickly both held him gently to stop him from falling over.
"I feel a little...dizzy..." Chris murmured, shaking his head to try and rid the dizzy spells. He couldn't remember the last time he felt light-headed besides getting the flu one year. Except he didn't feel sick. It felt more like...well, he wasn't sure what it was.
"Maybe you should sit this one out." The blue hedgehog suggested, wondering what on Mobius was going on. The human kid seemed fine just minutes ago. Could this be a side effect of the Chaos Energy?
Just then, Sonic felt his Chaos Energy flare up a little as he and Chris both suddenly saw the image of a blue Emerald flash into their minds, making them look down simultaneously which made their friends confused as the two gazed at the ocean...close to where Eggman is.
"Sonic...You thinking what I'm thinking?" Chris murmured.
"Sure do. That's gotta be where the Chaos Emerald is." Sonic replied, before turning back to the human boy and asked. "You alright?"
"I...I think so. Still a little bit dizzy, but I don't feel sick." The twelve year old boy replied.
"Let's get ya' back inside the plane, 'kay?" The blue hedgehog suggested gently.
As he said this, Sonic couldn't help but now feel scared for his friend, feeling even more guilty for not being careful enough when Eggman's machine caused the unbalanced Chaos Control that connected to whatever teleporting device on Earth to merge and accidentally engulfed Chris to be transported from there to Mobius and now being infused with Chaos Energy. First the healing power, now the ability to sense the Chaos Emerald which, by getting closer to it, was causing the human boy to have dizzy spells.
If anything horrible happened to Chris, Sonic would never forgive himself.
While the others wondered what was going on as the two hedgehogs helped Chris, the rumbling became worse as they heard some monstrous roar gurgling within the ocean as Sonic and his friends gasped while gazing at the water again with huge bubbles forming. The four of them gaped in shock, and they weren't the only ones.
At the beach house, Cream and Cheese could see the waves acting wildly as they wondered what was happening, and not too far from it, Shadow finally made it to the beach and skid to a stop and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. The feeling he got grew stronger the closer he got and then he noticed that it was strangely blocked off somehow, but it was still there. The waves were moving strangely yet the weather was still clear and there were no signs of a storm coming at all.
But that wasn't what caught his main attention. The black hedgehog spotted what was on the water's surface as well as hovering in the air; Dr. Eggman in his Egg Mobile who was hanging on for dear life. And the X Tornado having four individuals; a young fox cub surprisingly piloting the plane and while he was barely seen, Shadow could make out the yellow blob within the cockpit. The human boy and two hedgehogs, one pink wearing a red dress...and the other was what made Shadow's eyes widen; blue...blue with peach arms and red and white shoes.
Sonic the Hedgehog.
"It's him..." Shadow whispered, narrowing his eyes. "The blue hedgehog in my visions...What is he doing out there with the boy and those other two children? And what is that Dr. Eggman doing?"
By then, Rouge appeared as she landed on the ground next to him, only for both to nearly lose their balance when the shock-waves from the ocean began to rock parts of the shore as they cried out in alarm. It was felt through other parts of the Emerald Coast as tourists and workers screamed in alarm, and at the beach house, Cream and Cheese screamed while crouching on the floor in fright.
"W-what now?" Eggman asked nervously, gazing at the water's surface before screaming as the waves nearly knocked him over while something huge began to emerge.
"Tails, pull up!" Sonic shouted as he quickly helped Chris and Amy back inside the plane, before hanging on while his best friend/little brother told them to brace themselves as he pulled the X Tornado up higher as something huge came out of the ocean.
What the young heroes and their evil enemy saw horrified them as they saw a mutated sea creature, with it's head being that of the Clam Shell Amy saw earlier, but it grew a pair of red and black eyes, a throat which went down into the inner parts of a huge body lanky but muscular, a pair of arms with fish fins on it's hands and elbows, the lower part of it's body being that like a whale and a sea-snake, it's tail that of one but with a fin on it's back like a dolphin or a shark. While Sonic stared in disbelief, his friends all screamed in fright and panic, their hearts stopping for a moment or two as each and every one of them were terrified of this creature.
"O-oh..." Sonic murmured speechlessly with a nervous sweat drop, his heart hammering in fear and shock. He'd seen a sea monster in his nightmares before weeks ago, but this wasn't what he saw. The one in his dreams was more watery and dragon like with tentacles.
"Oh my..." Even Eggman couldn't believe what he was seeing, and he shivered in fear. Never in his entire life he has seen anything like it and now he was worried that the sea monster was going to eat him.
"It's a Sea Monster!" Chris exclaimed in terror, having always thought that there were no such things as monsters, let alone sea monsters.
"I can't believe it!" Tails cried out, wondering if he was having some sort of crazy and terrifying nightmare.
"I didn't even see this thing before!" Amy screamed, shivering in fear, before she noticed that something was oddly familiar about it. More specifically, it's head. She then gasped softly as she suddenly realized why it looked so familiar.
That head of the clam shell...The pink hedgehog gasped in realization. "Wait! It's that giant clam I saw earlier! I thought it was just that!"
"Whaddya mean, Amy?" Sonic asked immediately. "Care to share the details?"
"When I was snorkling, I saw a giant clam shell at the ocean floor that I stayed away from. That monster's head...it's the same clam shell!" His self-proclaimed girlfriend explained fearfully.
"WHAT!?" The boys shouted in disbelief.
"It must have hidden it's body in the sea bed or something...!" She continued.
"That can't be right, 'cause nobody's even heard of this thing before!" The blue hedgehog pointed out, bewildered. Suddenly he and Chris both heard and felt the same tingle and jingle which made them softly gasp as they realized the Chaos Emerald was somehow closer and a bit less covered...
When Sonic and the human boy turned to look at where it was coming from, both of them sweat dropped when the monster opened it's clam-mouth to let out a roar, there they saw a glimmer of something shining dangerously close to the throat which was pretty tiny compared that even Eggman's radar picked up the signal. Neither one of the three could believe it.
"The Chaos Emerald's inside that thing!" Sonic exclaimed. "That's gotta be why it's a monster and acting so crazy!"
"But it can't be possible." Tails, shocked by this along with Amy, pointed out.
"But, why not? If the Chaos Emerald's inside that giant Clam monster, wouldn't it have been made some sort of effect if it was accidentally swallowed without any of us knowing?" Chris asked, as he and his friends realized that the Chaos Emerald must've been underwater and maybe schools of fish knocked it accidentally into the giant clam causing it to swallow it up, and transform it into a monster.
The two-tailed fox shook his head. "Even so, Chaos Emeralds don't have the power to turn even Mobini animals 'cause like humans, they can't have any effects of the Chaos Energy unless they were exposed. In that giant clam's case, it was just underwater and an ordinary clam. Though they can effect machinery if done wrong or not protected enough by them."
"He has a point. From the looks of it, not even Eggman has a clue, so I doubt he's the cause of that big guy's mutation problem." Sonic agreed, sweat dropping.
True to his word, Eggman indeed was shocked as he exclaimed in disbelief. "That thing's ate the Emerald, but how could it transform into a giant sea monster!? It's impossible!" He couldn't even understand the cause of it before the sea monster glared up at the heroes, then turned around to gaze at the evil human scientist who looked and yelped in fright.
"I don't like the way it's looking like that." Chris murmured as he thought the clam was giving out a frightening smile of evil.
"Hope he's not hungry..." The fifteen year old hedgehog added nervously.
"Oh no..." The evil scientist gulped, attempting to levitate his Egg Mobile as he drove it backwards. "Perhaps I'd better go and come back with another robot...later."
The Clam Monster then rose up it's right fist and smashed it against the water while attending on hitting Eggman who screamed and narrowly avoided in getting hit, but was washed away and sent flying out of sight. Sonic and his friends watched the event before they all gazed at the monster again as it roared, splashing about and causing huge waves that were getting more and more dangerous, heading straight towards the shore much to their horror, unaware that while their beach house was safe and the people at the main part of the Emerald Coast ran away fearing that there was going to be a Tsunami, Shadow and Rouge were dangerously in the firing line of the wave itself.
"Look out!" Rouge shouted, quickly grabbing hold of Shadow's wrists and flew up high into the air carrying which slightly startled her friend. Thankfully they avoided in getting wet or washed away as it hit the shores.
"Rouge, what is that thing?" Shadow demanded, not sure if he has seen this before or not.
"No idea, except that it's obviously a sea monster." The white bat answered. "Never seen this ugly thing before."
"That strange energy...it's coming from inside that thing." The black hedgehog remarked, his eyes narrowing again as he could see the problem even from the distance. They widened as he saw a glowing gem right within the mouth. Could it be...a Chaos Emerald? "Rouge, do Chaos Emeralds come in all sorts of colour?"
"Yeah, wh-wait a second...are you saying that thing has gobbled up a Chaos Emerald?" Rouge gazed at her companion in disbelief, realizing what he was saying and that he could sense them.
The Ultimate lifeform nodded firmly, declaring. "I need to get to it, and that hedgehog over there."
Confused over the declaration, the jewel thief looked over to the horizon and saw the X Tornado with Sonic on it's left wing along with his friends glaring at the monster from a somewhat safe distance. Realizing that they also were after the Chaos Emerald due to the teenage blue hedgehog also having the ability to sense them which was probably why he and the others were here in the first place, Rouge knew that this was probably the only opportunity Shadow had now in asking Sonic for answers.
"Jump first, ask questions later?" She sweat dropped in exasperation.
"I will not be fighting the hedgehog...but is there a rule against fighting sea monsters?" Shadow smirked challengingly.
Seeing the point, Rouge then smirked back. "I wouldn't mind turning that thing into seafood." She then flew up further while telling the black hedgehog to hang on as they decided to join in on the fight.
Back with Sonic's group, the giant Clam Monster growled while Chris groaned again, placing a hand to his head, feeling somewhat dizzy over this. Why did the Chaos Energy giving him so much trouble, and the Chaos Emerald having to be inside that thing's mouth?
"We gotta get that Chaos Emerald and beat that thing!" Sonic grunted, narrowing his eyes as he knew that, while he never been one to harm other creatures unless he had to since he was more experienced with destroying robots, this was a different case and he hoped that if he pulled the Chaos Emerald out of it's mouth it might be able to return to it's normal giant clam self.
Despite that Tails told him firmly that it's going to be tough, the blue hedgehog wasn't all that worried, except that if he fell into the water, that would be an issue. As the Clam Monster roared again, Sonic took the risk of leaping off and performed his Spin Attack right into it's chest, causing it to nearly fall back. But it was only agitated before the monster whacked the teenage hero back before he could recover, sending him flying as he screamed. It then splashed gallons of water towards him, creating a tidal wave which would cause him to be washed into the sea and most likely drown.
"SONIC!" Tails, Amy and Chris screamed out as the two-tailed fox quickly flew in to rescue the blue hedgehog, only for his plane to be smacked by the other hand and causing everyone to flip and roll over as the X Tornado was spinning out of control, the trio screaming in alarm while hanging on for dear life.
Sonic saw this as he began to descend and his eyes widened in horror, his heart stopping for a few moments before screaming out. "GUYS, NO!"
Yet there wasn't a thing he could do to save them or even himself as the fifteen year old then noticed how he was getting dangerously closer to the water and screamed louder while Tails struggled to reposition the plane and the monster roared to attack again. By then, Sonic unfortunately crashed into the ocean. He quickly resurfaced and flailed helplessly while trying to stay afloat, fear and panic and needing to get to solid platform overtook his senses, as he quickly began to sink.
"HEY, HELP ME!" Sonic screamed pleadingly, splashing about.
"SONIC!" Chris exclaimed in horror, seeing his hedgehog best friend quickly beginning to sink and, attempting to try and save him while ignoring the dizzy spells caused by the Chaos Emerald, opened up the hatch despite the others' protests for him to wait and leaped out, diving into the ocean with a splash just as the tidal wave quickly swallowed them both as they screamed before going under.
"SONIC! CHRIS!" Tails and Amy screamed in devastation and horror upon seeing their best friend and new friend engulfed by the water.
Even as Chris was spinning around and around while trying to hold his breath, remembering his swimming lessons he quickly did an underwater somersault and managed to rightened himself before shaking his head and saw a few away was Sonic who was struggling to hold his breath, sinking deeper and deeper like a rock, struggling to reach the surface.
'SONIC!' The twelve year old boy thought, before quickly swimming towards his friend as fast as he could to save him.
'HELP ME! HELP ME!' Sonic helplessly reached out while trying to hold his breath, before clutching his throat trying to not lose his air, but he had trouble holding in as he sank deeper and deeper into the depths of the sea towards his watery doom. This was it. He was doing to die for certain.
Just when he thought he was going to drown, the cobalt Mobian then noticed Chris swimming straight towards him and grabbed hold of the stunned, shocked and relieved hedgehog's right wrist before pulling him up as he swum to the surface.
Up on the surface, despite that Tails attempted to fire at the sea monster in hopes of defeating it, failed to hold back his tears as he cried and his heart sinking much faster than stone. He furiously fought against the giant mutated Clam despite that he and a heart-broken Amy who said nothing as she could only stare at the water where her 'boyfriend' and new human friend had gone under and most likely drowned had lost two of their friends.
"Sonic...my sweet Sonic...and poor Chris...I guess coming here was a...horrible idea after all..." The heartbroken, guilt-ridden and sorrowed pink hedgehog girl tearfully croaked, pulling out a beautiful seashell bracelet from her dress pocket that she made and gazed at it. "And my charm I was going to give to him...wasn't so lucky."
She could only gaze at it in her hands before clutching it and began weeping and crying. Then, fury began to overcome her senses as she suddenly glared up at the Clam which she had thought was innocent but had taken both her true love and new friend from another dimension away from her and Tails, her eyes firing up. That clam is going to regret in doing this!
Tails was about to fire again when he noticed something in the water and looked curiously while flying back to avoid the Clam Monster's attacks and his eyes widened when he saw two familiar figures come out. He let out a shocked and very relieved gasp before exclaiming happily. "Amy, look!"
"Huh?" Amy blinked, before Tails directed her to see and when she did, her eyes widened with pure relief she and her friend saw their two friends who had managed to survive.
By then, Chris resurfaced as he and Sonic both gasped for air while the blue hedgehog held onto his taller friend, coughing to get water out of his lungs. "I gotcha, Sonic!" The boy held onto his friend to keep them both afloat.
"T-Thanks, Chris..." The blue hedgehog shivered, groaning as he held on for dear life. He whimpered and shook, breathing heavily as his aquaphobia was kicking in, struggling to calm down as he didn't want to worry his human friend who had just risked his life to save him.
"SONIC! CHRIS!" Amy exclaimed happily and tearfully, relief filling her heart to see her 'lover' and new friend alive and well.
"They're okay!" Tails tearfully cheered.
However, before Tails could even fly down to collect their friends with Chris struggling to hold onto Sonic when the Clam Monster, seeing it's victims still alive, growled before roaring once again and was about to splash the water with it's tail to create another tidal wave and the two in the X Tornado gasped in horror while the two in the water noticed this and gasped in horror. They both let out terrified screams as they were left helpless and braced themselves to be tossed back underwater.
Before it could however, a sudden Spin Attack from a black and red blur came into view and hit the monster right on the head, cancelling it's attack as it stumbled before crashing into the ocean, creating a smaller wave which nearly knocked Sonic and Chris down but the latter managed to keep them afloat. The two boys and their friends above were shocked to see this before the blue hedgehog and the Earth-boy were suddenly lifted into the air when two arms wrapped around their waists, carrying them out of the water as they heard a familiar female grunt.
"I think either you need to start taking swimming lessons or you need to lay off the Chili Dogs, Big Blue." The one who was now carrying them was revealed to be Rouge who, having to hold onto both boys in one arm each, was struggling to lift them up towards the X Tornado. "Though since I'm carrying you and this kid here, guess I can't complain."
Sonic, seeing the GUN Agent/Jewel Thief having saved him and his new close friend, smiled in relief despite that they weren't exactly friends and he was suspicious of the Organization, but he trusted her enough to call her a worthy ally.
"Thanks, Rouge!" The blue hedgehog said gratefully, especially when he knew that she was only just teasing.
"Thanks a lot, ma'am." Chris added, surprised to see someone who not only that Sonic obviously knew, but also had arrived just in time to save them, before asking in confusion. "But, who also saved us?"
"See for yourself and don't thank me. I'm just doing all of the carrying. You should be thanking him." Rouge smiled as she gazed up to the black blur, and when Sonic and Chris both looked up to see the ball uncurl itself, the cobalt teenager's eyes widened in shock as he left out a soft gasp of disbelief.
In the cockpit of the X Tornado, Tails and Amy both let out a shocked and stunned gasp of their own as the other savior revealed himself. A black hedgehog with red stripes...who looked determined and was glaring at the Calm Monster who narrowed it's eyes back at the unsuspected rescuer.
"I-Is that-!?" Amy cut herself off, speechless which made everyone else turn around and soon they were shocked as well, the only ones not recognizing them were the human children, yet the sight of the black hedgehog made them gasp in disbelief.
"I don't believe it! It's-!" Tails couldn't finish his sentence either, as thought he was dreaming.
"No way...!" Sonic murmured, his heart leaping and jumping, his mind going into a spin-dash, his emerald green eyes going all wide and his mouth gaped open as he wondered if he was seeing a ghost, seeing that the figure was none other than Shadow the Hedgehog.
The very same Shadow who was still fresh in his memories, and to see the supposedly dead Ultimate Lifeform made him wonder what was going on.
As Shadow still remained in mid-air even as he descended, despite still not having the full extend of his memories, somehow automatically summoned a yellow orb in his right hand and shouted while thrusting the attack. "Chaos Spear!"
His attack, an attack that formed into several light arrows, was a direct hit as the Clam Monster repeatedly tried and failed to block all of them as even with the power of the Chaos Emerald within it's mouth, it struggled against the Ultimate Lifeform's power. It roared in sheer agony as it couldn't defend itself. By then, Rouge gently placed Sonic and Chris onto the left ring of the plane before landing next to them, while Shadow allowed himself to land on the right wing as the four of them held on while Tails, still shell-shocked, quickly hovered the X Tornado higher to ensure they wouldn't suffer another surprise attack.
Even so, Shadow was greatly surprised by what he just did and gazed at his hands in wonder, feeling that the attack was familiar to him. 'Did I just...do that? How did I do it?'
Sonic, still in shock to see the Ultimate Lifeform alive and well, then smiled in relief to see his former enemy and rival.
"This is unbelievable! How is it...even possible?" Tails asked, nervous to have Shadow close to where he was sitting and wondering if he was having some sort of crazy dream. 'I've gotta be dreaming. There's just no way that Shadow's here!'
"...Who is that and why does he look like Sonic?" Chris asked, worriedly and in disbelief, being the only one not recognizing Shadow yet was shocked that he shared a resemblance to Sonic in the face, nearly identical.
"Hey, Shadow. Didn't expect to see you again. Talk about stubborn and full of surprises." Sonic greeted his former enemy with a smirk that formed on his face. More than anything, while he wasn't sure he liked the strange confused and suspicious look in the older hedgehog's eyes and expression, the teenage hero was deeply relieved. Now the weight of guilt and sorrow he held for months and tried to move on from had been lifted.
"...So you do know me, but as much as I wish to chat, now isn't the time for one, stranger." Shadow responded, which shocked and surprised Sonic, Tails, and Amy. Did they hear right?
"Whaddya mean 'stranger'? Don't you recognize me, Shadow?" The fifteen year old asked, blinking in bewilderment.
"Shadow? Wait, you mean he's...!?" Chris's eyes widened in shock, before he said to the blue hedgehog. "I thought you said he'd...well, you know..."
"I did, but believe me. I didn't expect to see him again either." Sonic shrugged, just as clueless. "I'm not sure why he's acting like he's never seen me before."
"Sonic, now's not the time! We gotta get that Chaos Emerald before that thing causes a Tsunami and destroys the entire Emerald Coast!" Tails quickly cried out urgently, knowing that as much as he was just as confused as his friends were, the battle was not over right.
Knowing that his little brother was right, the hero of Mobius nodded and glared down at the monster again, narrowing his eyes. "The Chaos Emerald's inside that thing's mouth. We've gotta get it out somehow."
The two-tailed fox then had an idea despite it being risky, and formed the plan. "I've got an idea! If one of you use your Spin Attacks, the other can get inside that thing and pull out the Emerald and maybe use Chaos Control to teleport safely."
While Sonic quickly realized that as much as it was risky, he liked it and smirked with a thumbs up, even Shadow saw the logic of the plan, the others protested.
"You want Sonic and Shadow to go inside that thing!?" Chris exclaimed in horror.
"But either one will get eaten!" Amy cried out.
"She's right, kid. That plan's like a one way trip." Rouge agreed, wondering if the two-tailed fox cub was finally losing his mind.
"No, Tails is right. It's the only chance we've got." Sonic pointed out firmly. "I'm not sure what's going on with Shadow's head right now, so I'll go inside that thing since I've used Chaos Control before."
"Sonic, you'll be swallowed up!" The twelve year old boy cried out.
"Trust me! There's no other choice!" The blue hedgehog argued, and when Chris fell silent, he grudgingly admitted defeat and nodded. The fifteen year old nodded with a silent promise that he'll be careful, he turned his attention to the ebony hedgehog. "Shadow, can I count on you to distract that thing?"
Despite the memory of the younger hedgehog seemingly hating him for stealing the Chaos Emerald and thought that it was the reason why Sonic volunteered to go in as though he didn't fully trust the Ultimate Lifeform, he could see that the teenager held a much different expression; an expression of forced trust and willing to take the risk. So he nodded in agreement.
"You better not die, hedgehog. I have questions for you." Shadow warned.
"I'll answer any question you want to ask, Shadow." Sonic promised with a smirk and a wink.
The sight of the overly confident and optimistic personality within this young hedgehog felt strangely familiar to Shadow, which was somehow more welcoming than the memory he saw, but he forced it back for later as they had a monster to take care of. As everyone turned their attentions back to the giant Clam, Tails distracted it by firing more lasers at it, and once he flew in closer while everyone else held on, both Sonic and Shadow leaped off and dove, the latter using Spin Attack to attack it repeatedly while the form landed right into the Clam's opened mouth. Yet the moment he was inside it slammed it shut, trapping him despite the black hedgehog's repeated attacks to stop it from even swallowing the fifteen year old. Tails, Chris and Amy gasped in horror while Rouge flew in using her Screw Kick to help out just in case.
Sonic in the meantime, struggling to keep his balance before pinching his nose in disgust as he groaned. "Phew! It smells like dead jellyfish in here! What did this guy actually eat?"
Then he sensed the large amount of power coming from the Chaos Emerald and looked up to see it stuck to where it's digestive system was. Narrowing his eyes, the cobalt speedster raced over and grabbed hold of it, struggling to pull it out, straining while hoping that he wouldn't end up being swallowed into the tiny hole that he began to worry might expand large enough for him to squeeze through. After a few hard tugs, Sonic successfully yanked it and held it in his right hand, feeling it's power as he focused on his energy. Thanks to Shadow demonstrating months ago, he taught himself how to use for teleporting uses and got the hang of it whenever he stumbled upon it.
"Chaos Control!" Sonic chanted, holding up the blue emerald above his head as it glowed brightly, allowing it's power to flow into his body and under his command, both vanished out of the mouth and then reappeared onto the left wing, much to his friends' surprise and relief.
"Sonic! You're okay!" Chris exclaimed happily as he, Tails and Amy cheered. Sonic smiled at his friends with a thumbs up and wink.
"Piece of cake!" The blue hedgehog responded, mentally relieved to have avoided in becoming seafood himself.
Not a moment after he did and both Shadow and Rouge who caught him before he ended up falling into the sea and flew back up, saw this, the giant monster groaned and roared as it then began to glow brightly in light, moaning in defeat as it then vanished and seeming disintegrated, reforming into it's original form which fell into the ocean in a big splash, sinking deeper and deeper before it ended up back to where it started, seemingly back to normal and recovering.
Everyone stared at the ocean where it landed, bewildered.
"What just...happened?" Chris asked.
"That's weird. I thought the Chaos Emeralds wouldn't turn Mobini into monsters." Sonic muttered, just as clueless as he frowned in concern.
"That's news to me too." Rouge admitted, never having seen or heard anything like this before either.
Sonic and his friends shared confused and concerned glances while the blue hedgehog held a firm grip on the Chaos Emerald as he knew that with both Rouge and Shadow with them now, he wasn't sure what to think. None the less, they were all relieved that not only they had one while Eggman had none, but they defeated a monster and turned it back into it's original self.
A few minutes later, Tails landed the X Tornado back onto dry land and as Sonic, Shadow and Rouge hopped off, Tails shut off the engine before he, Amy and Chris climbed down safely.
"Sonic!" Amy cried happily as she raced over and hugged the blue hedgehog tightly and lovingly, much to his discomfort.
"Whoa! Amy, lighten up, will ya'?" Sonic slightly choked while trying to get out of the suffocating hug, holding her back a little. Still, he was really glad that she was okay and he smiled softly. The two hedgehogs were then quickly joined by Tails and Chris who joined in on the group hug to which Sonic allowed Amy to hug him again, this time a bit more softly.
The four friends laughed happily that things turned out okay once again and they were all safe and sound, having been so worried in losing one another.
"Is everybody okay?" Tails asked immediately.
When the others replied that they were and were glad that the two-tailed fox was alright as well, Sonic held his friends closer to him as much as possible, admitting, his chest swelling with emotions he managed to keep in check. "You guys had me scared. I thought I'd lose ya's."
"We thought we were going to lose you too, Sonic." Chris replied, tears beginning to form and leak in the corner in his eyes.
"We thought we lost both of you and you drowned." Tails sniffled, hugging Sonic and Chris as much as possible.
"We were all so scared. I thought we'd never see you and sweet Chris again, my sweet Sonic." Amy tearfully smiled, the background behind her seemingly formed with stars and hearts floating, and while Sonic was embarrassed with by this comment as he mentally groaned, not sure what to say about that.
So he decided to just nod while gently wiping away her tears, which to her, was the closest she could get in her 'boyfriend' to show how much he deeply cared about her and it made her heart leap in happiness, before Sonic carefully ruffling Tails on the head prompting a giggle out of the two-tailed fox to help make him feel better as well, then turned to Chris with a warm yet worried smile that the boy had saved his life from drowning.
"And Chris...What you did was crazy." The blue hedgehog remarked in gratitude despite that he had been scared half to death, having flash backs of when Tails had done the similar thing at the time when they were on their very first adventure. "Crazy but very brave."
"I just...thought of you guys more than anything else." Chris shrugged apologetically for scaring his friends like that, but at the same time he didn't regret it. For the first time in his life, he felt the need to be there for them as they had done so much for him in the last nearly two months.
Even though the Mobians had been worried sick about their friend and he still looked a little pale due to having sensed the Chaos Emerald for the first time, Sonic, Tails and Amy were all relieved that he was alright and the blue hedgehog nodded. The twelve year old Earth-boy's heart was definitely as pure as gold.
"Great job, guys. Thanks for the help and saving me." Sonic praised his friends who smiled happily, before he turned to Rouge and Shadow, adding. "And thanks for helping us out. You sure came at great timing."
"I just went along for the ride. Shadow's the one who sensed the Chaos Emerald and found you all here." Rouge replied, before smirking teasingly. "So, do I get an reward in one of the most priceless and beautiful gems in the world?"
"No way." Sonic said flatly as he, Tails and Amy gave the white bat annoyed and knowing looks.
"We told you before, Rouge. The Chaos Emeralds are not pieces of jewelry." The eight year old cub added.
"When you are going to learn that the Chaos Emeralds are too powerful even for you?" The pink hedgehog girl asked, folding her arms.
Rather than arguing with them, Rouge sighed in disappointment but brushed it off. "Just asking. There are still six others out there."
While Chris felt a little uncomfortable with how Rouge was saying this, he decided to worry about that later and gazed at the blue gem in Sonic's hand, surprised by it's colour and asked in awe and confusion. "So, that's really a Chaos Emerald?"
"Yep. Pretty cool, huh?" Sonic replied, showing it off to his human friend.
"But, how can it be called an Emerald? I thought Emeralds were all green." The Earth-Boy blinked.
The three young Mobians laughed slightly as the blue hedgehog responded. "Yeah, that's what we thought too, but at least there's one that's the right colour. They come in other six different colours, except for pink."
While Amy knew that her 'boyfriend' was just teasing and before Shadow, who was staring at the Chaos Emerald as well as Sonic as well as he happy reunion the four young friends had which showed the Ultimate lifeform they were just as close as he thought, could finally get his answers out of the teenage blue hedgehog, she remembered something and pulled out the bracelet once more.
"That reminds me." The twelve year old girl spoke up, making Sonic turn to face her, as she held out her handcraft bracelet. "Sonic, I made this bracelet that will protect you in water."
"Oh..." Sonic gazed at it in surprise, amazed at the beautifully made bracelet that his self-proclaimed girlfriend made. "Amy...You made it for me?"
His friend nodded, blushing bashfully as her heart leaped with overwhelming love and slight shyness. "If you wear it, it will bring you good luck."
"Really?" The fifteen year old asked, and he was even further surprised to see how she was blushing with a radiant shy smile as he realized that, given their history together ever since they first met, her flirting wasn't just because of their friendship despite her going all crazy and claiming to be his girlfriend, but because she really did love him.
Slightly embarrassed as he saw Tails who was trying not to laugh at the cute scene before them, Chris who shrugged while silently saying that he was staying well out of it, Rouge who smirked teasingly with a knowing smirk, and Shadow who raised an eye-ridge skeptically and impatiently, all staring at him, Sonic found himself blushing before sighing as he then smiled and gently took the bracelet, placing it around his left wrist.
"Thanks, Amy. I-" But before Sonic could finish his sentence, suddenly the ground shook and caused everyone to almost lose his balance. He quickly caught Amy who stumbled into him to prevent her from falling.
"What's going on!?" Chris cried out.
"AHH! LOOK!" Tails screamed out as he pointed out at the sea, as huge metal pieces appeared out of nowhere from the sky and began stacking themeselves up, forming into a giant robotic serpent.
"Not again!" The twelve year old boy exclaimed as he and the others saw what was happening, while Sonic gritted his teeth as the blue hedgehog stood in front of his friends.
"Does he ever know when to take a day off?" Rouge grunted in annoyance, while Shadow, again not remembering much of anything, glared hard.
The giant robot then sprouted out two deadly claws and a head with insect like fangs as Eggman, recovering and back, hovered behind it. "I did say that you may have on the match, but that Chaos Emerald is mine! My latest creation Serpentor will crush you all like little bugs!"
"Well, only if it can crush us, 'cause even though it's pretty tall, I bet that Fang-Face will come up short in a battle." Sonic responded smugly, as he handed Tails the Chaos Emerald for safety.
"You'll need more than speed to survive this robot Son-huh?" Eggman then cut himself off when he noticed not only Rouge being here but also, much to his shock, a very familiar and very alive black and red hedgehog standing with them and he was nearly rendered speechless upon seeing him, spluttering in disbelief, horror and quickly growing fear. "GAH! S-Shadow!?"
How could it be!? The evil scientist had sworn that Shadow had perished even when he had been sealed away after saving his grandfather's creation during the messed up Chaos Control. But to see him alive and well now, Eggman was now very worried, especially when he had originally thought that the black hedgehog would be rendered into permament coma. To see him with Sonic and his friends, it just made things worse for him.
"So, this is Doctor Eggman? The one who had imprisoned me." Shadow hissed darkly, glaring at the man who was also responsible for his memory loss, another who had answers to his missing past alongside Sonic.
That got Eggman's attention as he frowned at the Ultimate Lifeform. "You mean to tell me you don't remember me, Shadow? I'm surprised that you are with Sonic and his annoying little friends. Then again, considering what has happened, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."
That shocked Sonic and his friends before the blue hedgehog glared at his enemy, demanding. "So you're the one who's caused Shadow to act like he doesn't know us! I should've known, you sleazeball! Hasn't he suffered enough as it is!?"
"Silence! This is between Shadow and me, hedgehog!" The evil scientist growled.
"Really? 'Cause a few minutes ago, you wanted to destroy me and my friends so you could take the Chaos Emerald! You're just lucky that the giant sea monster we fought didn't get to eat you!" The hero of Mobius snapped back.
"You are the cause of the loss of my memories, I demand the answers from you and Sonic the Hedgehog, Doctor. You will answer them, or else." Shadow declared, taking a step closer as he prepared to take on the mad scientist. He may have agreed to talk to Sonic civilly, but that didn't mean he couldn't force answers out from Dr. Eggman since he is the world's enemy.
The more Sonic and Eggman, who felt nervous about the black hedgehog's response, now argued and Shadow was demanding the answers, the others watched on in anxiety, before Amy, shocked and angered that her moment with Sonic was interrupted, furious over Eggman's actions today that nearly made her lose her true love, and now being the cause of Shadow's apparent amnesia, growled angrily as she had about had it.
"AH! That does it!" She roared, summoning her Piko Piko Hammer once more which, due to her controllable anger, was even bigger than she was and held it up which caught everyone else's attentions which stopped the argument all together. Amy launched herself forward and yelled, ready to strike. "Don't mess with me, Eggman!"
She smashed Serpentor's tail so hard that it was flattened and the giant robot roared in apparent agony. The sheer anger radiating from the pink hedgehog made everyone pause and stare at her, now all nervous and scared. Once again Sonic was speechless with a sweat drop, terrified.
"Uh oh..." Eggman muttered, now even more scared for the third time today.
"She's scary..." Chris remarked nervously as he, Tails and Rouge all sweat dropped, never having seen the usually sweet and kind hedgehog girl like this before.
"When it comes to her anger, it's best to stay well out of it and let her vent." Tails shakily explained.
"Eggman's really in for it this time." Rouge muttered, admittedly impressed.
Even Shadow was rendered speechless over the little girl's unbelievable temper and strength, especially when Amy began to bash apart the robot with each powerful swing of her hammer, causing the Serpentor to get smaller and smaller while her 'boyfriend', friends and former enemies watched on in fearful silence.
"Um...on second thought, maybe I should take a vacation..." Eggman nervously said to himself as he began to hover backwards, fearing for his life.
Amy didn't stop as she smashed the robot's head flat and stomped onto it before it sprang her up into the air. She used it to her advantage and with a loud yell and mighty swing to take her revenge as well as everyone else's while Eggman screamed in pure panic, she whacked him and his Egg Mobile so hard that he once again was sent flying and disappeared in yet another humiliating and painful defeat. The pink hedgehog was then about to land in water when Sonic, gasping worriedly, raced over and leaped before catching her in his arms and flipped before landing just close to the waves but thankfully on shore.
Sighing in relief as his self-proclaimed girlfriend panted to cool off before he gently set her down onto the ground, and backed away slightly to give her some space.
"I hate that Eggman...!" Amy hissed, breathing heavily.
"I don't think there's anybody on Mobius that likes him at all..." Sonic nervously stated with a sweat drop, before deciding to praise her. "That was amazing the way how you smashed that robot, Ames."
"It deserved it just like he did." The pink hedgehog grumbled, finally beginning to calm down as she folded her arms, which only made her 'boyfriend' get a bit more nervous.
While Tails and Chris shared an uneasy glance with the former shrugging with a look that said 'It's a long story', and Rouge couldn't help but think that even she underestimate Amy and her strength, Shadow, though feeling admittedly nervous over the twelve year old girl's temper and strength, approached the younger two hedgehogs while clearing his throat, getting their attention.
"Now then, even though Dr. Eggman has been taken care of before I could get my answers, I've been looking for you, Sonic the Hedgehog." Shadow began firmly, his arms folded to his chest.
That caught Sonic and his friends off-guard at the proclaim, with the cobalt teenager blinking. "Looking for me? Wait, is this due to what Eggman said? You really...don't remember any of us?"
"Sadly, he doesn't." Rouge spoke up as she, Tails and Chris who were both slightly nervous, approached. "Shadow's lost his memories. He doesn't even how a clue who he is."
"So he has complete amnesia?" Tails asked, then realized that it made sense considering how he didn't even recognize Sonic and why he called the fifteen year old stranger.
"Rouge, what's going on? How did you find Shadow and what happened to his memories?" Amy demanded, placing her hands on her hips.
"Oh, you know me. I was searching through Eggman's base for anything valuable when I stumbled upon Sleeping Beauty here in a capsule and freed him. I can only guess that the doctor found him and put him there for who knows how long, but I'm not sure how Shadow lost his memories." The bat thief explained casually which only made Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream and Vanilla sweat drop in annoyance over her choice of words.
Shadow in the meantime glared at his companion and grunted. "Please don't call me Sleeping Beauty again."
'This is really Shadow that Sonic and the others told me about? No wonder some people got them both mixed up at first. They look just like each other in the face! But...how did he survive that fall from space itself? Nobody could survive that.' Chris thought to himself as he could see that Sonic and Shadow did look alike if it weren't for the fact that they both had different fur colours, Shadow's chest having white tuff of fur, black and red arms, different shoes and even the older hedgehog's quills were slightly curled up while Sonic's was curved downward.
"But, if that's the case, why are you guys following us, if you don't mind me asking?" Sonic questioned, sounding more curious than suspicious as he folded his arms.
"You were in a memory I saw earlier. I saw you and your friends in the city." Shadow began, as calmly as possible, trying to act civil as he didn't want to cause problems to a young rabbit girl and her mother despite that had a slight distrust with the three humans around. But seeing Chris up close up, the feeling he felt was stronger than usual and he had no clue how or why.
"I was?" Sonic blinked, now surprised before he jokingly remarked. "Heh, even without your memory, guess I'm just that hard to forget."
'How is it that in that memory we were supposedly sworn enemies, yet he's speaking to me as though I were an ally of his, and that he trusted me enough for us to work together against that sea monster? Who is this cocky hedgehog? He's certainly childish, that I can understand.' Shadow thought to himself with a frown, before sighing, albeit uncomfortably, trying very hard to take up Rouge's advice.
Especially when she gave him a knowing look with a frown and her arms crossed, gesturing him to continue. The black hedgehog then confessed. "You are so far the only lead I have in unlocking my memories. I...I need your help."
Seeing how Shadow was actually serious and could even detect a hint of desperation in the ruby eyes, Sonic smirked and placed on hand on his hip. "Sure thing, Shadow. I'll see if there's anything I can do to help you bet your memories back. Let's start off with re-introducing ourselves, though I kinda get the feeling Rouge's told ya' about me already: I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog."
"Yes, I know. I may not remember, but I have been watching you and your friends for weeks now." Shadow responded, surprising his rival again. He then turned his gaze to the others and said. "These are your friends, I imagine."
"Yeah. They're my best buddies; Tails, Amy, and our new cool friend Chris who moved into the neighborhood a little over a month ago." Sonic, recovering, introduced as his three friends gave their hellos despite the uneasiness.
Shadow just nodded in greeting, realizing that this was going to be more complicated than he thought. Unbeknownst to the Mobians, Chris couldn't help but feel sorry yet guilty for the black hedgehog. Here he was, a kid from another dimension pretending to have amnesia in order to protect himself from revealing the truth of his origins and living a much better life with friends he never had, but now he met someone who was thought dead yet was still alive and now had amnesia for real.
He was happy to have met Sonic, but now Chris was unsure, especially when he gazed at the Chaos Emerald still in Tails' hand and gave a sad look. The Chaos Energy within him was getting worse and he wasn't sure what to do anymore.
Ever since he ran away, his life, as much fun and better as it was since he began living with Cream and her mother and Cheese, has turned completely upside down.
"Let's head back to the beach house and talk there. It's getting late." Sonic announced as he and his friends finally noticed that the sun had long since almost set with the stars beginning to peak out.
His friends and two allies nodded in agreement, and began to make their trip back to the house itself where Cream and Cheese were waiting. Yet what they didn't know was that this was just the beginning of what was yet to come.
A/N: So Shadow finally (re)meets Sonic in hopes in learning more of his origins, and the heroes of gotten the first Chaos Emerald! What will they learn about this and what will Chris do with his increasing Chaos Energy? Can Sonic and his friends solve this mystery soon? Only time will tell.
See you later!