A/N: Alright, then. Now, if you all have been waiting for more Chao Chronicles, well, here you go.

---

Thorndyke Manor- 09:14

Swift hated only two days of the week. Swift loathed Mondays, because usually bad things happened to him on this particular day of the week. As for the reason why he hated Saturdays, well… they were flat-out boring. At least Mondays mixed it up with what happens to him, but Saturdays are completely bland. Nobody gets into serious trouble on Saturdays, anymore, which made them boring.

And the worst thing about today, so far, was that it was Saturday.

So, Swift, being rather used to living life in the fast lane and in the heat of the action, was bored of the luxurious mansion of his gracious host. After last night at Chuck's home, Swift and Miles agreed to stay at Chris' for the night. After a brief tour of the house and Ella and Tanaka laying out some very serious ground rules, they were allowed to stay. Right now, Miles was working on the Morpher, utilizing the recovered Emerald to do so, while Chris decided to tell his parents about "Flight Test 19's" success, as well as "adopting" Swift and Miles. This left Swift to do whatever he wanted as long as he didn't leave the premises unsupervised or make a mess.

So, here Swift was, working on his tan in a pool chair a good enough distance away from the water, flicking his sunglasses up and down while lying on his back. As he did this, he couldn't help but think of what happened, last night.

---

Last Night at Chuck's Garage

"…I think I finally found our thief back in Latin America," Swift announced, holding the Emerald in one tiny hand, and Chuck by the collar in the other. "Isn't that right, old man?"

Both Chris and Ella gasped at this declaration. Chuck blinked, "EXCUSE ME!? What do you mean, I stole this gem?" Swift casually jumped off of Chuck's shirt, and held the Emerald in front of Chuck's face.

"About a week ago," Miles calmly stated, "you were in the ruins of the Mayan Empire as a part of a human excavation of the place, am I right?" Chuck calmly nodded- proud of his visits to Latin America, of course he'd admit to going there. "Stop me if I'm wrong, but during that excavation, several relics were discovered there. One of which was a seeming abandoned Mayan home. There wasn't much there but a couple beds small enough for Chao like us… and an ocean blue gem the size of a baseball, kind of like the one my colleague has in his hands. Did you happen to remove the gem?"

Now, this question Chuck had to struggle with. Of course it was the truth, but he didn't know whether to tell them. On one hand, he could tell the truth and accept the consequences, which couldn't be that severe, anyways. He had studied Chao code, and Chuck knew that if Wild Chao such as these two were invited into his home- and what better way to invite them in than by calling over Ella to give them baths, polish up their stuff, and letting them sleep in his guest room- then they couldn't actually hurt him and get away with it. On the other hand, though, lying to them wasn't a bad idea, either- he could say that he bought it as a gift for his daughter in-law. Lindsey's 40th birthday was coming up in three weeks, and with the movie shoot, there would be no way that she could have seen it, yet. Besides, they looked gullible enough, and for all he knew, they could have been partners with that thief Chao on the news. However, he had taught Chris better than to lie- now was not the time to be a hypocrite. So, with a heavy conscience, he answered Miles' question.

"…Yeah, I did," Chuck solemnly admitted. Swift, content with the confession, placed the emerald in his quills.

"It looks like the mystery of the missing Chaos Emerald has been solved," Swift smiled. "I can now sleep better at night with this thing by my side."

Chris, confused by the name, asked, "Wait, an Emerald? Last time I checked, emeralds aren't exactly blue, they're usually green. If anything, that would be a sapphire."

Swift took the Emerald back out, and said, "Not Chaos Emeralds- they're each different colors… at least, that's what my mom told me years back. Though, she did mention that there is a green one… but that's not important." Holding out the gem to Chris, he explained, "Each Chaos Emerald holds limitless power, and Chao exposed to them at young ages can practically be mutated by the Chaos Energy… kind of like me with my speed and Miles with his two tails, over there."

Miles sheepishly stated, "Well, while we look- and probably act- weird, deep down, we're still Chao. Just genetically altered Chao courtesy of overexposure to Chaos Energy at a juvenile age." Swift blinked at this description, a question mark over his head. "Mutant Chao."

"Oh," the hedgehog Chao realized, the question mark fading. Swift then looked at Chuck- after being told that the gem was a Chaos Emerald, Chuck's normal look of interest turned into a serious look, as if he was thinking about something. Perhaps he wasn't too happy about the fact that they've spent an entire week tracking him down for a gem. To Chuck, he stated, "Sorry for all of the stalker trouble. We'll just take the Emerald off of your hands and head back to the ruins." He and Miles

"Wait a minute," Chris interjected. "Can't you at least stay for a while? You guys are welcome at my house for as long as you want."

"Isn't that like adopting us?" Miles asked. He thought about it. "Well, a mansion sure beats the heck out of that shoddy ruin home, but we'll have to go back, sooner or later."

"Hey," Swift growled, a swirl over his head, "I happen to like that shoddy ruin home!" Everybody else got a pretty decent laugh at Swift's expense. Eventually, after some convincing from Miles, Swift agreed to move in… for now. Chuck had even let them keep the Emerald without a fuss. So, after grabbing their gear and the Morpher, the two Chao headed out with Chris and Ella.

---

Episode 2: The Blue Blur! Enter the Hero, Sonic the Hedgehog!

---

Back to Present

After reviewing last night, Swift flipped over onto his stomach, thinking about the Chaos Emerald. It had been a comfort object to him ever since the day he hatched from his egg. It was his mother's gift to him as a baby Chao. Now, it was all he had to remember her after she passed away. After that, Swift had traveled across the world, making sure that his Emerald was safe.

As far as he knew, Miles also had contact with an Emerald, too, when he was born, as well as a pair of baby foxes- hence, the two tails. While Miles had contact with the dark blue Chaos Emerald, the one Miles had contact with was currently unknown in location, but he said it was red, giving him the power to fly.

Speaking of Miles, as the hedgehog Chao was getting ready to take a nap, the fox Chao started to tap on the glass window that led into the house, trying to get Swift's attention. The dark blue Chao looked up, and saw Miles holding the Chaos Morpher in his hands. Miles yelled something, but it was muffled by the glass.

Swift, confused, tilted his head to the side. Miles, obviously annoyed enough to have a swirl over his head, took in a deep breath, and released it, fogging the window. He then quickly wrote a message onto the window in the fog. Sadly for Swift, it was backwards. The only thing he could get out of it was "!DEHSINIF YLLANIF SI REHPROM SOAHC EHT", and that didn't exactly click with his brain until he looked at the reflection in the pool. (A/N: Spell that entire message backwards, and you'll understand what Swift saw, because I'm not typing the real message.)

Swift, eager to see what was up, kicked off of the chair, and rushed over to the glass door as the message and fog faded. Looking at his friend, Swift was instantly disgusted- Miles had quite the bags under his eyes. Two days of nearly no sleep with do that to just about anybody, human or Chao. Swift slightly cracked open the door, and whispered, "What have you been doing, buddy?"

Miles yawned, "Well, while you have been resting, I spent the night peacefully catching up the final adjustments to the Morpher that were a week overdue. Now, all that's left is the field test, and for that, you need a human partner."

"What are you two talking about?" Chris asked them, opening the door. Today, Chris was wearing a dark blue and white striped t-shirt over a white long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. Swift and Miles looked up at him, the former having a shocked exclamation point over head, and the later yawning while holding up the Chaos Morpher. Curious, Chris took a look at it. "What exactly is this thing, anyways, some kind of hi-tech Chao-made wristwatch?"

"Oh, Chaos," Miles groaned, "I don't wanna explain this for the twenty-first time this week. Swift, please tell me you remember what I've told you… I'm way too tired to explain it, myself."

"You should've gotten some sleep," Swift replied. Turning to Chris, he began, "Okay, promise to keep this a secret between us. Anyways, here's the short version of that thing- that's a Chaos Morpher, a special device of Miles' own design, which he used some old research notes of one of the scientists that was using our Mayan headquarters to instruct him in building it. It uses Chaos Energy to spiritually bond the souls of both a human and a Chao to create… um… well, we don't exactly know yet, but from what the notes said, it looks like it could recreate the Mobian species that has been mostly wiped out."

"The watch is still a prototype," Miles replied, despite being plum tired. "And for all we know, those notes that the scientist left in the sight could have been complete bull crap. They are over half a century old, and from the looks of it, they had never been put to the test. Still, as a scientist Chao, I'd be damned if I didn't at least try it out. We came here on two missions- one was to recover the Emerald, which we've already done. And the second was to finish and test the Morpher out, which since it has had its proper exposure to Chaos Energy to charge the battery, we just need to find a human subject."

"How hard could that be?" Chris asked. "There are millions of people in this town."

"Problem, though," Swift remembered. "The ideal human test subject would have to be compatible with the Chaos Energy levels I have, since Miles and I have long ago agreed that I'm going to be the first Chao to do this. Everybody has Chaos Energy in their veins- that would be the cause of the Emeralds spreading out throughout the years. Now, the average human wouldn't even have that much energy I can use, so not too many humans would be able to work on sync with me."

"Guess you're going to have to keep looking," Miles yawned, handing Swift the Chaos Emerald he had borrowed. "I'm going to be sleeping for a few hours to get back a few days worth of it." He then headed upstairs to Chris' room, planning on using the bed to get comfortable.

Swift shook his head. Looking at the Emerald, he thought, What was that reading I got last night? It was just like mine…. Now, he knew for sure it wasn't Miles- that Chao had plenty of Chaos Energy, but not the kind that he had. It wasn't Chuck, either- not only was there too much of an age difference between them (Swift was about five in human years, but fifteen in Chao years, while Chuck was around his mid-sixties, and sixty-five times three was too great of Chao years to even consider) but there wasn't enough Chaos Energy to pass Miles. Now, he was sure it wasn't Tanaka- he didn't come home until after dropping Danny off, and he wasn't there when Swift reclaimed his Chaos Emerald, and even if he was, Tanaka's readings were just in between Miles and Chuck. That only left Chris and Ella as possible candidates, and he'd rather not have to use Ella- crazy woman yelled at him this morning when he got too near the flower bed in the front. Not to mention that Swift rather not attempt to break any gender boundaries.

That meant that out of his possible human partners, then Swift could only guess that the energy signal he detected… came from Chris. But Swift didn't want to accept that- Chris seemed like a nice enough kid, and he'd rather not put him in any danger unless necessary. Perhaps it could've been combined with Ella's signal…

Before he could ponder this any further, Chris' cell phone rang, pulling Swift out of his thoughts. Chris took the phone out of his pocket, and answered it. "Good morning," he greeted the person on the other side of the phone.

"Hey Chris!" Helen's voice replied over the phone. "I heard from Danny that you found those two Chao from yesterday." Swift's ears, being slightly more tuned than most humans, heard this part, and blinked. Was that the same Helen from yesterday?

"Yeah," Chris admitted. "But right now, only one of them is up and moving- the other didn't get much sleep, last night. He was curious about something, I believe." Swift thought this was a reasonable answer- Miles could have spent the night being curious about the mansion. However, Swift had just sworn Chris to secrecy about the Morpher.

"Oh, too bad," Helen sighed. "Well, if they're okay for now, do you want to hang out at the mall, later? You can bring the other Chao to keep Amy company!" This made Swift blink- there was another Chao, yesterday. It was the pink hedgehog Chao. The only female hedgehog Chao he ever had any real interaction with was his mother. It would rather be kind of awkward… but then again, that hedgehog Chao complimented him. That, and he had never been to a mall, before, so he didn't know what it was like.

Well, Chris had made the decision for him by saying, "Well, I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Hopefully, not too many people recognize him, today!" Swift had an exclamation point over his head- he had totally forgot that during the whole incident, he was seen by about thirty people. They had most likely told everybody they knew that there was a really fast Chao going around and saving people, and people would most likely want to cuddle or keep him- and he had reluctantly let Chris keep him in the first place.

"Alright, Chris," Helen told him. "Meet us at the entrance to Tracey's around noon. See ya then." With that, Helen hung up. (A/N: I don't suppose you won't guess the reference to the store name, here. But still, imaginary cookie to the first who gets it.) Chris closed the phone and pocketed it as well as the Chaos Morpher, and turned to Swift.

"Hey, Chris," Swift asked. "Not to be rude, but you wouldn't happen to have anything that can disguise me, do you?"

"…Uh, sure," Chris awkwardly replied. "I'm sure we have something to hide your identity around here… but why do you need that?" Just then, the doorbell rang. Swift quickly turned to the front door in shock, and then dashed into the kitchen. Chris shook his head at the randomness of the Chao's antics. So, he walked over to the door, and opened it.

In the doorway stood a familiar man to Chris- a man about Tanaka's height with orange-red hair, sky blue eyes, a rather handsome face, and tanned skin wearing a dark red jumpsuit. "Well," the man began, "if it isn't my favorite nephew! How are you doing, Chris?"

"I'm doing great, Uncle Sam," Chris replied. "And for the record, I'm your only nephew."

Samuel Speed, the leader of Station Square's special SWAT unit known as the Speed King, also known as quite ridiculous titles such as "Speed King, Highway Star, Saint of the Road, Lord of the Car, God of Turbo," and his personal favorite, "Fastest Thing Alive," just happened to be the older brother of Lindsey Speed-Thorndyke, therefore Chris' uncle. He and Tanaka were the reason why the two first met. Now, usually the godparent of a child is either the most trusted sibling of one of the parents or a really close family friend. And considering how slightly immature Sam acted at times (coming up with all of the nicknames and the overall insanity and risk that came with his job) as well as Tanaka's superior martial arts training and willingness to help Nelson and Lindsey, they decided to go with Tanaka. As far as Lindsey and Nelson were concerned, Sam didn't take it badly- in fact, he could still come and go as he pleased, and he helped Tanaka with watching Chris- who else could help Tanaka get to San Francisco in time to raise hell on Li Yan's men and get back in one piece before anybody noticed that Chris, Chuck, and Danny were gone?

Sam chuckled, "Of course you are. But I'm not just here to chat." His normal grin turned into a serious expression. "Have you watched the news of what happened downtown, yesterday?"

Chris blinked at this. Of course he had seen the news, this morning. He didn't exactly need to see that on the news- in fact, he saw it all with his last flight test. But did he actually need to tell his uncle that? Well, his uncle did agree to cover up flight test eighteen…. "Y-yeah," Chris replied. "That looked terrible, yesterday."

"It was," Sam replied. "However, that's not what concerns me." Looking around inside the house, he asked, "Did you happen to see a really fast blue thing? It looked like the racing type." Chris mentally started to sweat. His uncle was called downtown to help deal with the threat, yesterday, so of course he had seen Swift plowing through robots.

"…I don't think I did, Uncle Sam," Chris lied. He hated lying, but he promised Swift that he wouldn't tell anybody about the Chaos Morpher. And right now, that promise also applied to the two Chao. Christ just hoped that Sam believed him.

Sam didn't exactly look convinced, but he'd rather not pressure his nephew. "Well," Sam sighed, "if you happen to find out what that blue thing is and happen to see it, tell it that the Speed King wants to defend his title as Fastest Thing Alive at the Station Square Speed Highway at 2 pm, sharp. And that's a message from me; the commissioner gave me a different message to deliver: 'Whatever the hell that blue thing is as well as the yellow-orange thing, they are both under arrest for speeding and vigilante acts.'" He then walked away from the front porch, and headed to the street, where his signature dark red formula-one model high-speed pursuit car was waiting. He took out a helmet from the driver's seat, and yelled, "I'll see you later, Chris!" He then placed it over his head, and jumped into the car. Moments later, the car's engine bellowed, and mere seconds after that, Sam Speed was practically flying down the road.

Even though he had only seen that every time Sam left, Chris couldn't help but stare at the sight of a blazing red vehicle moving that fast. Swift casually walked out while holding a really large apple, and saw the sight, himself. Whistling, the hedgehog Chao announced, "Now that's what I call fast!" Chris looked down at the Chao, who was curiously looking at the apple. There were bits of food already on Swift's mouth, and he looked ready to eat an apple the size of his head.

"…Where did you get that apple?" Chris asked. "You didn't take that from the kitchen, did you?"

"Hey, I was hungry," Swift scowled before letting out a small burp. "Now, can I borrow a knife? I think I have an idea for a disguise."

---

Unknown Location- 10:46

The red robots never could compute why their creator preferred to work in the darkness. Perhaps it was because he was a living vampire who couldn't operate in the sun. Perhaps he was albino behind his dark blue glasses, and the light burned his eyes. Or perhaps his preference to the dark symbolized how the world of the light shunned his family's work. But they weren't exactly programmed to ponder why their creator worked in the darkness… they were programmed to be the ultimate soldiers to aid in global conquest. If you haven't caught onto what these robots were, I'm going to come out and say that they're the red Egg Pawns from the previous episode.

And right now, the Egg Pawns were studying secretly obtained footage of the lost battle of Station Square. They were ordered to observe the mistakes of their brethren, brush up on covering their weaknesses, and, of course, analyze the two meddling Chao that attacked and destroyed their comrades that should have by now have Station Square rotting under their feet. They were, however, to take specific note of the dark blue hedgehog Chao that destroyed the Egg Pawn Elite.

There was one human among them studying, though. The man was rather tall, and looked rather odd with his long, thin legs supporting his quite literally egg shaped upper body. The reason why he had such girth wasn't because he was out of shape- as a matter of fact he exercised on a regular basis, and even did lucha libre on the side. It just happened to be a genetic curse of the males of his family. His grandfather had the egg shape, his father had the egg shape, and should the man actually settle down and have a sun, the poor boy would most likely have an egg shaped upper body, too. Anyways, the man had a long, hooked nose, a bald head, dark red mustache, and tanned, slightly wrinkled skin. He was wearing a pair of dark blue glasses over his eyes, a crimson red lab coat over a large black jumpsuit, and a pair of white gloves, and a serious look on his face.

"So…" the man began in a sinister voice, "my plan to start the invasion in America was somehow foiled by two mutant Chao?"

"That would seem like it, sir," a tall, thin golden robot with a pill shaped head announced while walking up to the man. And no, this was not C-3PO from Star Wars, in case you're wondering. "We're currently investigating what could possibly have caused such a mutagen to develop in them."

"Please," the doctor scoffed. "I don't need you all to investigate such a trivial matter… I already know what gave that hedgehog Chao his super speed and that fox Chao the two tails that give him the ability of a helicopter."

"You do?" a short and stout silver robot with a rounder head questioned.

"But of course, my loyal creations," the man began. "My grandfather, Prof. Gerald Robotnik, before he met his end and made the Robotniks fall from grace, had been researching a special set of seven gems called the 'Chaos Emeralds.' These Emeralds were brought to our world by the Chao, and is their life source. Should newborn Chao be too close to one of the seven Emeralds, though, they develop mutant powers that- if not handled properly- could destroy a small country. If all seven are reunited, however… the destructive power unleashed could wipe out all life on a planet." Both robots were shocked by this news.

"Sir," the gold robot queried, "are you saying that our soldiers were dealing with the deadliest Chao alive?"

"Quite possibly," the man calmly replied. "But it's not to be said that they aren't gods. They can be killed. And from the looks of the combat video, these Chao were pushing their limits at the end of the battle, suggesting they're mortal. This is why I'm sending one of deadlier inventions to finish them off before they can continue interfering with any future plans." With this, he casually walked over to a large computer monitor, and started pressing buttons. He found a robot he liked for the job. It was a giant, robotic hen with a drill beak, powerful egg launching cannon, razor sharp wings, and armor piercing talons. Now, if it just had the ability to fly, it would be the ultimate destruction tool.

Dr. Ivo Robotnik only grinned as he gave the orders. "Dispatch the Egg Crower to Station Square, and draw out the blue Chao. I want him either to join us or be destroyed."

---

Station Square Mall, in front of Tracey's- 11:56

"So," Tanaka said while driving a black Lamborghini, looking at Chris with his rearview mirror. "Let me get this straight. We're now housing two vigilantes not even a foot tall."

"Yep," Chris solemnly replied. "But as far as anyway affiliated with the police know, they don't know where Swift and Miles are."

"Still, Master Chris," Tanaka stated, "this makes me wonder if the success of flight test number nineteen went to your head. And more importantly… what is Master Swift wearing?" He was looking at the dark blue creature with a huge, red apple for a head with large holes for eyes in the backseat next to Chris.

"Well," Swift stated, "it was either this apple or an orange, and that fruit clashes terribly with my fur scheme." Both Chris and Tanaka were slightly disturbed by the statement. "Now that we're done arguing that, can you guys tell me what goes down in a mall?"

"Well," Chris began, "malls are placing for people to hang out and shop in. Why? Haven't you ever been in one?"

"No," Swift replied. "Where I come from, we didn't exactly have malls, and I'm normally too busy looking for people to help out to even consider. Well, I've officially wasted my time, today."

"Why's that?" Chris questioned.

"Are you kidding?" Swift asked. "You honestly expect me to just stick around and go with you shopping, Chris? I like you, man, but I can't just stay still like that. I'll find my own thing to do." Swift unbuckled his seatbelt, and reached for the button to lower the car window.

As Tanaka parked, he slyly asked Swift, "Are you really going to go on your own, Master Swift? Do not forget that you are wanted for acts of vigilantism, and the moment you leave Master Chris' side to go explore the town you are practically asking to be arrested and possibly experimented on by the military. And since we know about you, we can report you to the authorities at anytime." Swift stopped reaching for the button, and blinked.

"…Does he blackmail people like this all the time, Chris?" Swift intrigued.

"Only those he helps cover for," Chris answered. Swift had to think about it for a bit. As much as it pained him to admit it- to the point that the visible green dot over his head became a swirl- Tanaka was right. They knew too much about him, and he was only safe in their custody. The moment he left was the moment that he could be arrested, and from what he could tell from the little amount of television and business experience he knew, that the man in charge of a business getting arrested for any reason at all wasn't exactly the best way to start out the business. And should Swift actually attempt to escape, he'd have to return to the Thorndyke residence, sooner or later, because Miles was there. He then sighed, and scowled.

"Chaos damn you and your logic, Mr. Tanaka," the Chao admitted in defeat. "Fine, I'll stay with Chris. But don't think for a freaking minute that I will like it."

After the three got out of the car, they walked over to the entrance to Tracey's, and saw Danny, Frances, Helen, and Amy. Danny's outfit for the day was a gray vest over a yellow t-shirt and a pair of tan cargo pants; Frances was wearing a light blue blouse and a pair of jean shorts; and Helen was wearing a pale green sun dress and her hair tied in a ponytail. Amy was looking at Swift's apple disguise, confused. "Hey, guys," the little pink Chao asked with a question mark over her head while jumping out of Helen's lap. "Who's this Chao?"

That ridiculous disguise actually works? Tanaka questioned in his head. Not letting anybody see this, he greeted, "Good day to you all."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Tanaka," Helen, Frances, and Danny all greeted the butler. They all looked at Amy's confusion.

"Seriously though," Amy asked, "does anybody know who this Chao is?" Swift casually lifted the apple disguise off of his head, shocking Amy. With an exclamation point over her head, she gasped, "Hey, there!"

"…I'm not going to lie," Swift admitted while placing the apple mask on his face and the exclamation point over Amy faded. "I'm not going to like this trip, but I'll endure."

"Why's that?" Helen asked while Amy jumped back into her lap.

"Some people hate Mondays," Swift replied. "I hate Mondays, myself. But I'm really not a Saturday morning Chao. Especially when I know nothing cool is going to happen on Saturdays."

"Swift," Chris glared at the Chao.

"…Well, nothing usually happens on Saturdays for me."

"So," Danny asked while looking at him. "Your name is Swift, and the other Chao is Miles." Swift had a question mark above his head. Seeing the confusion, Danny answered, "Frances told me that the fox Chao's name was Miles."

"Oh," Swift replied, the question mark fading. Sighing, he thought, Let's get the shopping over with.

For the next hour, Swift was horribly bored as he went with the humans and Amy from store to store, either looking at clothes or games, talking about whatever came to mind, and whatever else that the average person does at a mall. And the prices of some things that actually peaked Swift's interest made his eyes go wide.

"Seventy-eight US dollars!?" Swift questioned while looking at a red and white vest that looked like it could fit him, an exclamation point above his head. The vest had pockets on the inside, so it allowed storage for later. "It's a vest!"

"…This is your first time in a mall, isn't it?" Amy asked while looking at the vest with him. Swift casually nodded. She giggled, "Yeah, I should probably mention that the stuff here is ridiculously pricy."

"Now somebody tells me!" the blue hedgehog Chao scowled beneath his apple disguise.

However, Chris did buy the vest for him, as well as a similar tan and yellow vest for Miles. So, all he had to do was put that on, place the sunglasses over his eyes, take the Emerald out of his quills and place it in one of the pockets while nobody was looking, and he could safely get rid of the apple head. A good thing, too, because was starting to get hungry with it on, and even after eating it with Amy's help (aw, that's sweet… moving on), they were still hungry.

So, here they were in the food court. While Chris and Tanaka were getting them all food, Frances, Helen, Danny, and Amy were left alone with Swift. So, they decided to ask him questions. "So," Helen began, "you're clearly not from around Station Square, Swift. Where do you and Miles come from?"

"That answer depends," Swift replied. "Are you asking where we originally were before we came to the States, or where we were born?"

"Before coming to the States."

"Ah, that's an easy one. We were in the ruins of the Mayan Empire in Latin America before coming here."

"You guys came all of the way from Maya to here?" Danny asked.

"Yep," Swift replied. "We could have been here sooner than a week had we not stopped and checked a few towns for food."

"That reminds me," Frances stated, remembering Swift's order. "Why would you ask for a foot long chili dog? I thought Chao were herbivores."

"I'm not," Swift replied. "Most Chao choose to be on a strictly Chao Fruit diet. If Miles is right, it's because Chao fruit provide us with most of the nutrients we need to survive. However, they naturally don't provide us with protein. And, being a wild raised Chao, we sometimes have to hunt for our own meals."

"Interesting," Amy thought aloud, hooked on Swift's every word. While Swift didn't seem to notice, Helen could tell that her Chao had a crush on him. "I never really knew too much about how Chao survived in the wild. I just happened to hatch in Helen's rose garden."

"See," Swift smiled, "it amazes me as to how Chao are so versatile in terms of living environments, even after having a couple different ones, myself! We can practically live anywhere except in outer space. It's just so cool to actually meet a hedgehog Chao that was born in the city." Amy just turned away, hiding a blush that only Helen and Frances saw. Just then, Chris and Tanaka arrived with their food.

"So," Tanaka asked Swift after they all began eating, "do you still feel like leaving?"

"Partially," Swift replied before taking a bite out of the chili dog he ordered. After swallowing, Swift continued, "But right now, I'm fine. But don't think you guys have me sold into staying, just yet."

"By the way," Frances asked after taking a sip from her strawberry milkshake, "how are your ribs, today? You said that robot cracked a few, right?"

"Oh, they're fine," Swift answered. "The average Chao heals at least three times as fast as a normal human. However, a hedgehog Chao heals twice that amount. From a minor bruise, it'll heal up within seconds. But even I can't keep on the move for long, hence last night." He was about to take another bite when his ears twitched. Swift's sixth sense, the sense of Chaos, was pouring into his sense of hearing. With levels of Chaos energy so high that they were practically coming out of his ears, Swift could hear the sound of a feather falling on the ground, a pin dropping, and even the giant metal feet that were approaching his location. Wait, what?

"What's wrong, Swift?" Chris asked the Chao, making him break from his concentration. Swift blinked, but then remembered. They didn't have the trained senses that he practically had.

"We may wanna leave," Swift casually answered. "I've suddenly got a bad feeling about staying here."

"What do you mean by that?" Danny asked. Suddenly, the ceiling collapsed, sending pieces of glass, concrete, and metal everywhere as a large, metal chicken crashed down onto the ground, surrounded by red Egg Pawns. The metal chicken crowed in rage, looking around the mall as several people started to run. "Oh my god, what the hell is that thing!?"

"The bad feeling from earlier," Swift replied, taking another bite out of his chili dog. "…I'm going to make this quick. This is going to be a fireworks show. At least there's plenty of Spin Dash fodder for me to scrap." Swift casually placed the chili dog down before disappearing in the blink of an eye, heading straight towards a red Egg Pawn.

The Egg Pawns started to casually patrol the mall. According to the doctor's scanners, the blue hedgehog Chao that had destroyed their brethren before was here, somewhere. But where, exactly, they didn't know. Malls are the one of the worst places to get lost in, considering that they have way too many people in them. However, one of the Egg Pawns found him… however, I'm pretty sure that through one's chest is not exactly where you'd like to find a spiky blue ball of death. Swift actually avoided being covered in oil this time, since he made the attack fast and furious. And with a Chaos Emerald safely tucked away in his new vest pocket, Swift had virtually unlimited energy.

"Hey, bolt brains!" the Chao began yelling at the Egg Pawns. "I heard there was a huge party at the local scrap mill, and you all were on the guest list! Allow me to give you directions!" The robots all turned to him, and Swift casually ran a few through with his super speed and strength. I'd describe it for you, but Swift did it so fast, not even my typing can keep up with his speedy dismantling of four robots. However, the large, metal chicken took notice of this, and swatted the hedgehog Chao away from its remaining fellow machines with but a wing. Swift hit a food court table hard enough to crack it in half, much to the shock of Chris and his friends.

"Swift, are you okay?" Amy asked in worry while Swift picked himself up, a swirl of annoyance and pain over it.

"I'm fine, just a little pissed off, right now," Swift growled, looking at the large chicken. "That thing's gotta go!" The chicken simply turned away from Swift, and pointed its backside at him. Swift had a question mark at this gesture, until he saw the large egg come flying out from its behind- by then, it was an exclamation point. "Great Gatsby!" the hedgehog Chao gasped before jumping out of the way of a large, metal egg that ran straight through the table that Chris and company were sitting out earlier, crushing their food, including Swift's chili dog. "…Oh Lord Chaos."

"Swift," Danny yelled at him while he and the other five that were with him hid behind a bench. "I don't think that hen is in your league! Get over here, and we'll figure a way out of this!"

"…No," Swift answered, a scowl of annoyance on his face behind his sunglasses. "…Nobody crushes my chili dog and gets away with it scot free. This just got personal."

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Human Card: Edward Tanaka

Occupation: Butler to Thorndyke family, and Bodyguard of Christopher Thorndyke

Known Relatives: Christopher Thorndyke (godson), other relatives deceased

Hobbies: Watching action movies, martial arts, blackmailing Swift

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Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay, this took too long to write. That and I've actually been playing Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves too much. God, I fail at that game. Oh, yeah, reviews.

Zohaku: Um, yeah. I thought that would make you figure it out. Also, it's impressive that martial arts can crush robots. I mean, look at the games, and you'll notice that Sonic can destroy most of the robots sent after him in one hit. Sonic Heroes made the minor enemies a bit more complicated by adding health meters. So, either the robots are made of not really durable metal or the Sonic characters are that strong. I'm going with a little of both on this issue.

White Hunter: Thank you. I'm sorry there's not much action in this chapter, but Swift's just being introduced to Chris' life.

SPark681: You win an imaginary cookie for guessing the reference. By the way, Blaze the Cat is in the Sonic series. She was first introduced in Sonic Rush, then Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, and her final major role has been in Sonic Rush Adventure. I plan to use Blaze in the series, but don't know how to properly introduce her until later.

Salamander Hanzo: Shortest review I've ever read. And I've seen a lot of short reviews. Still, thanks for the review.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I'll try to get the next part out soon enough. Rest in peace, Swift's unfinished chili dog. Rest in peace. Kingdom Rider92 out!