"...So this Chaos Control created a warp in time and space, and that's how you guys ended up back here." Chris hummed thoughtfully after listening to his friend's story. "Hmm, I think I understand that much. But I still don't understand these Chaos Emeralds you guys are talking about."

"Wow, you never heard of the Chaos Emeralds?" Penny hummed. "Guess we need to teach ya! Right, Tails?" The female hedgehog grinned, turning to the twin tailed fox.

Tails grinned. "Yeah!"

Amy turned to Chris with a smile. "Each Chaos Emerald is filled with a special magical power. So you can imagine what would happen if you found all seven of them."

Chuck turned around in his chair to face the group. "But no one has found all seven Chaos Emeralds, and now it's highly impossible that anyone will ever find them."

"Why is that?" Cream asked.

"I'm confused as well, Grandpa." Penny said from her spot. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, Cream, Penny, every one of the precious Chaos Emeralds has disappeared." Chuck said gravely.

"Oh..." Penny glanced down at the ground. Does this mean they were never going to get home...?

"That doesn't mean they're gone for good!"

Everyone turned to the blue hedgehog, who was relaxing on the windowsill. "Any time the seven Chaos Emeralds come together in one place, they scatter and disappear all over again."

"Then that means they're all still out there someplace." Chris said.

"That's right." Sonic shot the boy a thumbs up.

"Only...we don't have any idea of knowing where. If they're on this planet, then that's good." Tails said.

Penny nodded, finishing the sentence for Tails. "But if they're still on the planet we came from, we may never get home."

Chris glanced down at Penny and Tails. "Listen. If the Emeralds are somewhere on this planet, and if we can find a way to locate them all, then maybe we'll be able to reverse that time wrap." He glanced at Chuck's machine thoughtfully. "You guys will be back on your home planet before you know it." He turned to Sonic and shot the blue hedgehog a cheeky grin. "Right, Sonic?"

Sonic shot Chris a thumbs up. "Yeah, no worries."

Later, while Chris was at school, Cream and Penny snuggled together in the living room. Cream was reading a book while Penny watched TV. The pink and white hedgehog yawned, feeling bored with the channel until a news report turned on. "-An unusual gemstone was discovered today at a department store construction area. Eyewitnesses at the site report that construction machinery seemed to malfunction whenever it came close contact of this strange jewel."

Penny's tired eyes shot open at the word "jewel." Could this mean...

"...The stone does appear to be radiating an invisible, highly-charged energy."

Hearing Cream groan, Penny glanced down at her little sister figure to see that the bunny was drifting off while the news reporter continued. "Now, some of you watching at home may be expecting some static. This is a direct result of the gem's magnetic power."

Cream's book slid from her hands and landed on the ground with a thump, startling her and Cheese awake. They moaned a little, turning their attention to the TV, where the news reporter was holding a sketch of one of the Chaos Emeralds.

"This is an artist' rendering."

Penny's mouth dropped open.

"Miss Penny, that's a Chaos Emerald!" Cream cried. "We've gotta tell Sonic!" She hopped off the couch and ran off, followed closely by Cheese.

"Hey, wait for me, you two!" Penny yelped, hopping off the couch and running after them.

Sonic yawned and stretched. "Man, that was a good nap, I needed that."

"SONIC!"

Sonic opened his eyes. Was that Penny yelling his name?

"Sonic, you won't believe this!"

Sonic glanced from his tree trunk to see Penny, Cream, and Cheese below them, their eyes wide.

"What's up?" Sonic asked, sliding down the tree trunk.

"They found one! They found one!" Cream gasped.

"Found what?" Sonic looked at Penny curiously.

"They found one of the Chaos Emeralds." Penny said.

Sonic's eyes widened.

"Be careful. Don't get hurt, Tails." Cream called. "Please bring Penny back safely!"

Just as soon as Penny told Sonic about the Chaos Emerald, the pink and white hedgehog had run off to collect it. Sonic ran off to find her, and Tails promised Sonic that he'll help search for the Chaos Emerald while he looked for Penny in the air.

Tails turned to Cream and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Cream. We'll be okay!"

"I hope Sonic and Penny know where they're going." Amy said. "If he or Penny both get lost, we won't know where to look for them!"

Tails glanced at Amy. "Don't worry about Sonic. If anyone can find the Chaos Emerald, he can. All we need to do is keep an eye out for Penny."

"Good luck, Tails. And be sure to keep an eye out for Penny and Sonic." Chuck said. "I certainty hope they can find that Emerald..."

When Penny finally made it to the site, she realized she was too late.

Eggman had beaten her to it.

The doctor snickered as he hopped out of his mobile and walked towards the Emerald. Penny knew she had to act fast. Narrowing her eyes, the little female hedgehog ran forward and snagged it under Eggman's hand. Her eyes widened as she held the precious gem in her hands.

"GIVE THAT BACK TO ME!" Eggman hissed at her.

"I...found it!" She muttered, shocked. Her shock disappeared and was replaced with a grin. "I FOUND it! Man, Sonic'l be so proud! Can't wait to see his face when he sees I found one!"

She was about to walk off when Eggman tapped the hedgehog's shoulder. Penny turned around, and her heart nearly stopped to see Eggman menacingly looming over her. Penny glanced up.

The moment she was distracted, Eggman snatched the Emerald from Penny's grasp.

"Hey, no fair!" Penny snapped. "That belongs to ME!"

"Not anymore." Eggman smirked, glancing at his prize. "Besides, hedgy, you'd hardly know what to do with such a thing." He laughed as he climbed into his mobile.

Penny gritted her teeth. She couldn't loose that Emerald...that was one of their tickets for home! She ran up and hopped onto Eggman's mobile and reached for the Emerald, but Eggman shoved her off. "Buzz off, hedgehog!"

"But it's MINE!"

"Let go of me, pipsqueak!" Eggman finally pushed Penny off of his ship, but the female hedgehog grabbed the antenna from the bottom of Eggman's mobile and hung on for dear life. She looked down and realized she made a mistake...they were so high up.

"SOMEONE HELP ME!"

After dealing with his own problems, Sonic was about to zoom to the sight when he heard someone cry for help. The blue hedgehog looked up to see Eggman's mobile flying away, and dangling from the antenna was...

"Penny!" Sonic yelped, his eyes wide. He zoomed as fast as he could towards Eggman's mobile.

"Hang in there, Penny..." Sonic gritted his teeth as he zoomed faster.

Penny grunted as she climbed her way up to the top of the Egg Mobile. She couldn't give into her fear...she had to retrieve the Emerald so they could get home.

The pink and white hedgehog managed to climb to the wing of the plane, and quickly ducked at the sight of Eggman.

But Eggman noticed her, and started jerking his mobile, trying to shake her off. She yelped, but still kept a good grip on the mobile.

Eggman snickered as he made the plane jerk again, and Penny let out a shriek as she fell, but grabbed onto his beard. Eggman let out a roar of pain.

"I'll never let go unless you give me the Emerald!" Penny hissed, wincing as she felt her fingers slip. She yelped as Eggman grabbed her hand, trying to pry her tiny fingers off of his precious mustache. "You grubby, little beast! Let go of my mustache!"

One final jerk, and Penny fell, but she managed to grab the Emerald from Eggman's grasp before she exited the mobile. She let out a scream as she neared the ground.

Eggman grumbled as he straightened his mustache. "that caterwauling brat certainty was a handful!" The doctor paused, and glanced at his empty hands.

"AH! MY EMERALD!"

Just when she thought it was all over, Sonic zoomed up and caught her in his arms, rescuing her from her supposed fate.

The little hedgehog clutched the older one as he ran, burying her face in his shoulder. She felt him tighten his grip on her as he ran, not daring to let go.

As he ran, Penny clutched the Emerald tightly in her hands.

When they got home, everyone stared in amazement at the jewel in Penny's hands.

"Man, you found one!" Chris grinned, really excited about this news.

Cream nodded. "Now that we have one, we just need six more!"

"That's right, Cream." Amy said with a smile.

Chuck frowned. "I'm not certain we should keep it in here. After all, it might have an effect on my equipment."

"Good point..." Penny frowned. She glanced at Sonic. "Now what?"

He didn't answer.

Tails grinned at Chuck. "No problem! If anything were to go wrong with them, I'll fix them for you!"

Chuck chuckled. "All right, it's a deal."

Tails grinned. "Okay, grandpa!"

Penny sighed and turned to Sonic. "Sonic, I-I'm sorry..."

Sonic turned to Penny curiously. Why was she apologizing? He glanced at her. "What for?"

"F-for losing... and leaving for the Emerald when you told me not to...was careless enough to let Eggman grab it..."

"Got it back, didn't you?"

Penny glanced at Sonic, her brown eyes showing that she was surprised. She expected that she was going to get scolded for being so reckless. "Y-yeah..."

"Then that's all that matters." Sonic hopped from the windowsill and gave the smaller female hedgehog a side hug. "I think you did a good job."

Penny blushed. "I...I did?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Sure thing, Pen." Chuck said, kneeling down to her height level. "Just be a little more careful next time, huh?"

To Penny's surprise, Chuck burst out laughing.

"T-thanks..." Penny smiled, looking down sheepishly. She glanced up at Sonic, and he smiled, nodding in her direction. She glanced around at her other friends, who were nodding.

She dug in her skirt pocket and pulled out the green Emerald, smiling to herself.