"The new Emerald Coast Resort sounds like the perfect place to get away from it all!" Amy said smiling, glancing up from the pamphlet she was reading. "You can hang out on the beach, or float in the crystal clear ocean all day long. Then dine as you watch a spectacular sunset!" She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes dreamily. "It sounds absolutely romantic, I wish we were going to the opening party!"

Cream, who was putting her stuff in the X Tornado, turned to the girl with a smile. "We'll have fun at the Thorndyke's villa! Are you ready to go, Cheese?" She asked, turning to the sky blue chao, who chaoed in delight.

"I'm ready too, Guys!" Tails grinned, glancing up from the cockpit. "My flight will take us right to Emerald Coast."

Chris smiled at the fox. "Be careful, Tails, and try not to let anybody see you."

Chuck smiled at Chris. "They won't be a problem as long as they stay on the grounds of the villa."

"I wish I can hang out with them instead of going to a resort opening..." Chris sighed glumly.

"I know, but your mother can't make it so she needs you in her place." Chuck responded. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You won't have to stay long, and after, you can join the others at the villa!"

"I can't wait to burry you in the sand, Chris!" Penny grinned evilly.

"That's great." Chris grinned. He turned to Sonic. "And Penny and I'll both give you a swimming lesson, Sonic!"

Sonic opened his eyes and frowned at the group. "You guys go on without me."

"Nani?!" Penny squeaked, surprised at the hedgehog's refusal. "But whyyyy? It'll be so much fun with you there!"

"Sorry, Pen." Sonic said, closing his eyes. "I'm gonna stay right here."

Everyone stared at Sonic in shock.

"Sonic, you mean you're not coming with us?" Amy asked, glaring at Sonic and putting her hands to her hips.

Sonic hopped in front of the older pink hedgehog. "That's right. Have fun, I gotta run!" He zoomed off.

Penny sighed sadly, and Chris patted her shoulder comfortingly. "If it makes you feel better, if he actually ends up showing up we can both burry him in the sand for ditching us like that."

Penny gave Chris a small smile, though she was still upset about Sonic not coming along. Chris frowned. "That's weird. I wonder why Sonic doesn't want to go to Emerald Coast with us."

"It must be because Sonic's afraid of water." Amy responded. "He won't come near the ocean because he can't swim."

Chris's eyes widened at the memory of him pulling Sonic out of the water that night they first met and frowned softly. "I forgot that..."

"But Sonic doesn't have to swim." Tails pipped up. "He could go running with Penny on the beach!"

Amy sighed. "It's not going to be as much fun without Sonic..."

"Mr. Chris!"

The gang turned to see Ella waiting in the car with Mr. Tanaka. "We have to leave now or you'll be late for the ceremony!"

Chuck placed a hand on his grandson's shoulder. "Have a great time, Chris."

Chris smiled at him, nodding. He glanced at the rest of the gang. "We'll meet later."

"Okay, don't be long!" Penny grinned suddenly. "I'll be waiting to bury you deep in the sand!"

"I'll be looking forward to it." Chris chuckled, patting the hedgehog's head happily.

"And don't be nervous, Chris!" Amy grinned. "That opening party will be just fine. "

Chris chuckled nervously.

When they finally made it to Emerald Coast, Penny was happily playing with Cream in the water. She and Cream both let out a happy squeal as Tails playfully splashed water with his tails at them.

Amy's head popped out of the water, and she took off her goggles with a wide smile. "This place is unbelievable!"

"It sure is, Amy!" Tails said. "I'm really glad we came!"

"I know I've said it five times," Penny spoke up, "but I just can't WAIT to bury Chris in the sand."

"That's right." Cream chirped. "We'll have more fun when Chris gets here!"

"I'm going to go for a walk." Amy said. "Penny, you wanna join?"

Penny jumped a little in the water, startled by Amy's kind request. After straightening herself, the pink and white hedgehog smiled at the girl. "Yeah, that sounds great!"

The two girls soon found themselves giggling and enjoying themselves as they walked around the sandy beach. "Lovely..." Amy cooed. Suddenly forgetting that Penny was there, she clasped her hands together and started daydreaming. "I just wish Sonic were here to enjoy this with me..."

She sighed happily and closed her eyes. Getting uncomfortable with the ideas the pink hedgehog was getting in her head, Penny frowned and waved her hand at Amy. "Amy..." She let out a yelp as Amy started squealing. "Oh! We'd be so happy!"

She let out a shriek as a coconut fell from a palm tree and landed on her head.

"Amy, are you okay..." Penny winced, quickly looking over the pink hedgehog. Amy lifted her head and nodded, and shot the coconut a glare. She picked it up, roaring, "YOU JUST RUINED MY FANTASY!"

With a mighty heave, Amy hurled the coconut far away into the waters.

"A-Amy, calm down..." Penny sweat dropped.

Amy breathed heavily and then sighed. "Just thinking about Sonic can make me go crazy."

She sighed.

Penny shuddered. She glanced at Amy. "Actually, I'm gonna head back to the villa..."

"Go ahead." Amy said, waving her off. The pink and white hedgehog nodded and quickly ran off. Amy continued her walk when she saw two people talking. "You're so wonderful, Chad."

"So are you, Wendy."

Annoyed, Amy cupped her hands over her mouth and screamed. "SONIC, WHERE ARE YOU?!

She continued walking when she heard the couple chat again. "Chad, I made something for you."

Amy's ears perked up in interest, and she glanced at the couple.

"For me?"

"Yes, it's nothing, really. But I want you to have it. It's a lucky charm for when you go underwater. It's juts like mine."

"Thank you. I'll wear it and always think of you."

"Oh, Chad."

"Oh, Wendy."

Amy hummed thoughtfully, an idea in her head. She walked back to the villa, collected some shells, and sat on the deck of the villa, making a bracelet out of the shells. Amy hummed at it thoughtfully. "I wonder what Sonic would say..."

She stared at the bracelet, and Cream popped up. "What's that for, Amy?"

Amy jumped and hid the bracelet behind her back. "Uh...oh, nobody."

"You didn't make that for Sonic, did you?"

"No, of course not!"

The girls yelped as a rumble echoed around them. Tails, Cheese, and Penny glanced up from their sandcastle they were making.

"What was that?!" Penny yelped, her eyes wide with fear. Smoke caught her eyes and she turned to see that the resort Chris was partying over was exploding.

"CHRIS!" Penny screamed. She quickly grabbed a pair of binoculars and watched through them. From the glasses she could see Eggman ordering about his robots, building some sort of theme park. "It's Eggman!"

"Out of the way!" Tails announced from the X Tornado. "I'm gonna save Chris!"

Penny narrowed her eyes and hopped into the plane, followed by Amy. Tails' eyes widened. "Amy! Penny! What are you doing?!"

"Sonic's gonna show up to help," Amy responded. "And if he doesn't Chris is gonna need all the help he could get."

"I agree with Amy," Penny said. "I'm not going to let Chris get hurt."

"Okay!" Tails grinned. The window above them closed and they took off.

"Hang on, Chris..." Penny thought, determination in her brown eyes.

...

"BUILD FASTER!" Eggman yelled at his robots. "Don't use too many nails and bolts. Make sure you water down the cement! I want these rides to be the most dangerous in the universe!"

Something blue sped up an unfinished roller coaster track, sliced right through one of the rides, and landed right in the middle of broken robot pieces. The savior smirked at Eggman. "Well, well."

"Sonic!" Chris cheered.

Sonic turned to Chris and grinned. "Hya, Chris! Thought I might drop by for a visit!" His ears twitched and he turned towards Eggman.

Eggman smirked at him. "You fell right into my trap, Sonic! I know that you can't swim, so I lured you to the sea! Get him, Octoron!"

Sonic growled as the Octoron's claws lunged at him. Sonic managed to dodge some of the claw's attacks, but the second time he wasn't so lucky. The claw wrapped around him, squeezing him.

Eggman chuckled as he watched. "You won't get away."

Sonic glared at Eggman from his trap. "Oh, yeah?! Just watch me-" He let out a yelp as the claw forced him under water.

"LET HIM GO!" Chris yelled, his blue eyes wide.

Eggman laughed. "I'm giving Sonic a choice. He can either forfeit the fight, or forfeit his life."

The claw pulled Sonic out of the water, and Eggman glanced at him. "Well, how did you like the ocean?"

Sonic coughed before turning to Eggman. "It's delightful!"

Eggman sneered at him. "Good! Then let's see how long you're able to stay under water."

Sonic smirked, but let out another yelp as Octoron dangled him over the water. Sonic narrowed his eyes and started to try to run him out of his trap

"Don't let Sonic slip out of your grip. Octoron!" Eggman yelled. "Haul that hedgehog back into the ocean and don't let him up for air!"

At that, Sonic sped even faster, desperately this time as Octoron climbed into the water.

"Come on, Octoron!" Eggman yelled from above. "Flex those tentacles!"

From the air, Penny's eyes widened at the sight of her best friend being torched like that. "Sonic..." She gasped, her heart pounding. Behind her, Amy whispered the same word. The hood of the X Tornado opened and Amy jumped down, ignoring Tails' protests.

"I'm going after her!" Penny announced, hopping out herself.

"LET HIM GO!" Amy yelled, unleashing her hammer. She smashed the tentacle claw holding Sonic captive, freeing the blue hedgehog. The tentacle smacked into the octopus-like robot, forcing it back into the waters.

"HOW COULD YOU?!" Eggman screamed.

Amy glared at him, her hammer still at ready. "Keep your rotten robots away from my Sonic or you're going to be sorry!"

"Thanks, Amy!" Sonic yelled. He ran up the unfinished roller coaster. Tails shot him a ring, and the blue hedgehog quickly smashed through Octoron, destroying it. Hearing yelling, the blue hedgehog looked up and his eyes widened at the sight of Penny falling. He narrowed his eyes and quickly caught her as well, pulling her safely in his arms and landing on the ground at the same moment Octoron exploded.

"OH, NO!" Eggman yelled.

Penny clung to Sonic, her heart pounding. She knew for sure she wasn't going to do a jump like that again.

"Penny, you still in there?" Sonic asked her worriedly, shaking her gently. "C'mon, wake up. You're safe."

Penny opened her eyes and glanced at Sonic, smiling at him. "Thank you."

He placed her to her feet, helping her stand.

"SONIC!"

The familiar feminine cry ruined the moment, and Penny was rudely pushed away as Amy lunged for the blue hedgehog, grasping him in a hug. "Whoa, lighten up, Amy!" Sonic stuttered.

"You won this time, but I'm not through!" Eggman yelled, shaking his fist at the trio.

Sonic turned to Amy. "What you did was crazy."

Amy smiled, her eyes sparkling. "I know, but you make me do crazy things."

Sonic sweat dropped.

"EVERYTHING OKAY DOWN THERE?" Tails yelled, flying ahead of them.

"Yeah, Tails!" Sonic yelled, waving his hand. "Thanks to you!" He turned his attentin back to Amy, forgetting about Penny, who was sulking in the corner. He smiled at Amy. "Thank you."

He noticed Penny's downcast expression and was about to walk over to her when Amy stopped him. She held out her hands, holding the bracelet she made back at the villa. "Sonic, this is a bracelet I made to protect you in the water."

Sonic glanced at the bracelet curiously. "You made it for me?"

"If you wear it, it will bring you good luck."

"Really?"

Sonic was about to take the bracelet when a rumbling sound was heard. Penny let out a shriek, falling to the ground as Amy clung to Sonic. The bracelet flew from their grasp.

"YOUR BRACELET!" Amy cried. Her eyes widened with horror as building cubes stacked themselves right on top of the bracelet.

"I-I can't believe it!" Amy cried.

Eggman flew up to the finishing robot and smirked at the three. "I told you I wasn't through with you, Sonic, didn't I? My Quizzon have merged to Serpenter, and it's ready to strike! Impressive, isn't it, Sonic?"

"Well, that thing is pretty tall, but I bet in battle, it comes up short!" Sonic smirked, still standing protectively in front of Amy and Penny. Amy stared in shock at the broken pieces of the bracelet.

"You need more than speed to survive this robot, Sonic." Eggman retorted.

"Really? Yo, fang face! Let's see how quickly you can slither!" He sped off, followed closely by Serpenter, leaving Amy and Penny on the ground. Amy scooped up her bracelet, shaking. "I guess my lucky charm wasn't so lucky..." She cried, clenching her fists. Penny was about to go up and comfort her, when Amy suddenly snapped.

"All right, Serpenter!" Eggman sneered. "You know what to do. Put the squeeze on Sonic and then toss him out to sea!"

"YOU'RE GONNA PAY!" Amy screamed, raising her gigantic hammer over her head threateningly. She lunged towards Eggman, followed closely by Penny. "DON'T MESS WITH ME!"

Penny grabbed a near-by weapon-a long pole shaped like a staff-and smashed the robot along with Amy, stunning the males. One by one, Amy smashed the robot, scaring Eggman. "Looks like I'd better go..."

Penny and Amy both lunged at the robot, and its head sprung up like a jack-in-the box, sending both girls sailing in the air up towards Eggman.

"Amy, tag me in!" Penny yelled, reaching for the girl's hammer. The hedgehog nodded, much to Penny's surprise, handing Penny the hammer and jumping to safety on the shore in Sonic's arms.

Penny smashed Eggman into the sky, but realized she made a bad mistake on doing so. She was so far from the shore, and she began panicking as her body smashed into the water.

Sonic saw everything. He narrowed his eyes, yelling Penny's name as he dove into the water.

"Sonic, no!" Amy and Chris cried.

Penny opened up her eyes slightly, seeing Sonic reaching desperately for her.

That was the last thing she saw before everything went black again,

Penny opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Cream's worried eyes. "Penny, you're alright!"

The pink and white hedgehog sat up, looking around. "Where am I...?"

"You're back at Chris's villa." Cream responded. "They bought you here after you were pulled out of the water."

"Who bought me?"

"Tails and Chris in the X Tornado."

Penny glanced around. "Where's Sonic and Amy? Are they okay?"

"Yes. Amy's inside." Cream said softly. "Sonic went home."

"Oh..." Penny mumbled.

Amy heard it all from inside the house. She glanced at her empty hand, mumbling, "I guess Sonic had good luck anyway..."

Sonic sat on a boulder in front of a giant lake. He shook as he let out a sneeze, chuckling softly to himself. "Sonic, you gotta stay out of the water."

He stood up, and on his wrist was Amy's bracelet, tied securely to his wrist.