A/N: Thank you for your patience, folks. Here is your reward. Oh, by the way, when it gets close to Halloween time, I plan to do a spin-off fic for Chao Chronicles. You'll see.

Oh, by the way, I forgot about telling you the difference between thoughts and speech, didn't I?

'Human Thought'= italics and one quotation

'Chao Thought' bold, italics, and one quotation

"NORMAL ROBOT SPEECH"= italics, all caps, and normal quotes

"Humanlike robots/radio/telephone speech"= italics and normal quotes

"Chaos Morpher Transformation"= bold, and normal quotes

Written word outside of Maria's journals= bold and italics

"Normal Speech"= normal quotes.

I'm terribly sorry, people. I promise this goes for all chapters before and after this one, as well.

---

Robot Card: Egg Crower

Model: E-0016

Equipment: Razor sharp talons and wings, drilling beak, capable of shooting eggs out of its hide, the usual chicken death machine equipment

Purpose: Capture or extermination unit

---

Station Square Mall, in the Food Court- 13:36

Now, I'm not going lie. People get angry at the slightest things. For some, it would be eating out at an expensive restaurant and finding out how huge the bill is. For others, it's when their car seems to be working fine when it suddenly breaks down on you. For Swift, though, he gets mad over innocent people being hurt and/or killed, extreme boredom, and, in this case, when his chili dog was destroyed by a giant metal chicken.

Most people would just shrug their shoulders, and say, "Screw it, it's a chili dog. Right now, I have to find a way to stay alive!" Well, that's most people. Swift, in case you haven't noticed, isn't "most people." That, and the best chili dog stand in the mall was crushed during the break between episode parts by another metal egg, so he can't go get a fresh one after dealing with the chicken.

"If you want a war, Ms. Metal Feathers," Swift yelled up to her, "you just got one!" Swift, ignoring the smaller Egg Pawns, rushed up towards the metal chicken, curled into his ball form, and launched himself straight at it. Swift was fairly certain that if the Egg Pawns he has already fought were easy for him to plow through, then why shouldn't the chicken robot? This would be an agreeable argument… had said chicken robot not been made out of more durable metal, making that "running headfirst straight into a brick wall" effect, with Swift's skull pounding as he fell off the chicken, his forehead bleeding.

After the hedgehog Chao felt the blood dripping down his face, he looked up to see the metal chicken towering over him. It then opened its beak, and, oddly enough, there was a speaker in its mouth. "Attention little blue Chao," a man's voice bellowed out of the speaker.

"So wait," Swift asked, a question mark over his head, "this chicken's a rooster?"

"No, you fool," the man's voice explained. "The Egg Crower, I'm just using its radio function to talk to you from a discreet location."

"Lord Chaos," Swift stated with a swirl over his head. "You make this a lot more confusing than it probably has to be, don't you?"

"Enough of that," the man's voice scolded him. After the swirl disappeared, the man continued, "In case you aren't exactly aware, hedgehog Chao, I'm Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the world's greatest mind. I'm not going to lie to you… it took me three months to carefully work out that plan to take over Station Square that you foiled within twohours. Now, normally, anybody who would dare interfere with my work for any reason at all wouldn't exactly be living long enough to tell the tale. However, what you did in that last battle had peaked my interest. A normal Chao would've been dead by now, going head to head against my Egg Crower assassin bot. However, you seem to have mutated enough with super speed and decent amount of strength of stamina. And I know exactly what mutated you: an exposure to one of the seven Chaos Emeralds.

"Now, like I've said before, I would probably kill you for meddling with my affairs, yesterday. However, I'm going to offer you an once-in-a-lifetime chance. Surrender yourself to me, join the Robotnik Empire, and hand over the Chaos Emerald that caused your mutation, and I will spare you and your friend that aided you yesterday. Hell, I'll even make you two commanding officers for the Armada. So, what do you say, hedgehog Chao?"

Swift only blinked at that long speech. "Um… could you paraphrase all of that? You lost me after 'I'm not going to lie to you.'"

There was a sigh on the other side of the speaker. Robotnik briefly answered, "Okay, long story short, I know you have been given mutant powers by a Chaos Emerald, you destroyed my robots, and now I'm offering you a chance to join my empire by handing over the Emerald, and I'll spare your life. Do we have a deal?"

"Oh," Swift realized. "Well, I have to take some things into consideration first… well, you tried to kill innocent people, started burning a city to the ground, stuck me with a kid whose butler is a black belt in martial arts and black mail, and now you're demanding that I just hand over the only thing I have to remember my mom bye without a fight? Not to mention that the messenger you sent just happened to choose my chili dog as a nest to lay her egg on! It's times like this I wish that I had a middle finger. (A/N: Imaginary cookie to whoever finds the series that the previous sentence is said and imaginary cake to whoever names who said it and when.) However, since I don't, I'll say this. I'm going to find you, and break the thing that you hold dear for that chili dog. But for now, I'm going to be shooting your messenger!" He then disappeared, and reappeared on top of the Egg Crower, where he started pounding on its head.

Robotnik chuckled, "Very well. It's your funeral, hedgehog Chao. Egg Crower, please don't show any mercy." The Egg Crower's eyes started to glow a burning red.

"He's upset over a chili dog?" Frances asked while dodging a swipe from one Egg Pawn's lance and then kicking it in the stomach before thrusting an open palm into it, smashing its head clean off. She, Chris, and Tanaka were busy fighting off the remaining Egg Pawns while Danny, Helen, and Amy headed to hide behind benches- the three weren't as strong as their two martial arts trained friends and the deadly butler.

"I know," Chris replied with a slight scowl on his face as an Egg Pawn tried to shoot him with its blaster. He quickly crash tackled it into the wall, and then punched it repeatedly, smashing it's head in. "It's not something I'd risk my life over, but Swift has proven himself crazy several times before." Just then, a dark blue ball flew barely an inch over his skull, and slammed into one of the mall's indoor trees. (I don't know why they're even there, myself; it seems kind of odd to have plants in the mall.) Swift looked rather annoyed after looking at the fallen tree.

"Okay, that's it," the male hedgehog Chao growled while pulling out the Chaos Emerald from his new vest, and placing it near his cobalt bracelet. "Now, I'm pissed." With the extreme boost of Chaos energy, Swift felt like he could take on the world. The Egg Crower he was facing only walked towards him, planning on finishing this with one painful stomp. However, as the machine brought its large talons down, Swift vanished. He then reappeared on the upper levels of the mall. His sunglasses were placed over his eyes- I forgot to mention earlier that Swift had pocketed his sunglasses to prevent them from being broken.

Speaking of things I forgot to mention about Swift's sunglasses, it was the fact that as cool as they were, they weren't ordinary Chao sunglasses. They were tricked out by Miles various special optimizer upgrades. Swift's personal favorite was the "Battle Scanner," which changed his normally blue lenses jet black. While Swift's vision of everything around him except hostile targets and various objects faded into the darkness, he could focus straight at the thing that was the center of his attention- the Egg Crower, and its weak spot. That weak spot was located directly below its drilling beak… that odd red dangling thing that Swift was pretty sure wasn't the punching bag often found in the mouth. (A/N: If anybody can name this, please tell me, I'm curious.)

Swift grinned, "Gotcha." He then kicked off the railing he was standing on, curled into a ball, and screamed, "FOR THE CHILI DOG!"

"Oh for the love of God," Danny yelled at Swift from his hiding spot behind a bench, "it was only a chili dog, Swift!"

The Egg Crower, had it had actual emotions, would have been shocked that one Chao would get so worked up for a tube of pork byproducts covered in chili. However, that shock probably would have given away to annoyance as Swift slammed straight into its weakness. This Chao had just become one stubborn fly that was doing what flies do best- annoying the hell out of it.

Swift casually landed on a different bench- the one Helen and Amy were hiding behind- and looked up, expecting the Egg Crower to fall. However, it just looked slightly angry with him. "…Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time," he honestly admitted. Now, the beak of the behemoth started to spin around, and started to head straight towards Swift, Helen, and Amy. The three moved, but not fast enough. The Egg Crower brought the beak down on the bench hard, knocking Swift airborne and making him drop the Chaos Emerald, and Helen and Amy to the ground, out of Helen's wheelchair.

Chris saw this happen in shock. "HELEN!" he gasped, looking at what happened to his best friend. She looked dazed as she sat up, and Amy rubbed her head with a swirl over said head.

"Lord Chaos, that drill hurt," Amy moaned in pain as Swift crashed into the ground behind the giant robot chicken. The Egg Crower didn't seem to notice the blue hedgehog Chao. Right now, it was searching for a new target. It didn't take long to find one, though, practically right in its line of sight: the downed Helen Rose.

"Hey," Swift growled, trying to sound tough, but wasn't in the best shape. He had quite a few cuts and bruises all over his body from his previous attempts to attack the Egg Crower. If it wasn't for the Chaos Emerald, he would have been worse off, even with his fast healing. "I… didn't hear a bell."

The Egg Crower paid no attention to Swift; it was focused more on the prey that couldn't run away, even if she actually was in her wheelchair. Chris took note of this. "Hey!" he yelled at the Egg Crower while rushing towards it, trying to get the machine's attention. "Get the hell away from her!"

The Egg Crower looked at Chris, drew back one of its wings, and swatted him away as he leapt towards it, sending him crashing into the wall near the beaten Swift. Tanaka, who had just used a katana he borrowed from a nearby arms shop to scrap the last of the Egg Pawns, instantly gasped, dropping the oily katana.

"Master Chris!" he yelled. "Are you okay!?"

Helen looked over to Chris, who had his face dripping in blood. "Oh my god… Chris, you're bleeding!"

"I'll… be fine," Chris replied to them both, getting up. His forehead was cut open, and he hit his back pretty hard, but that wasn't going to stop him from protecting his friend. In fact, anything short of his death wasn't going to stop him from saving Helen. He then ordered to Tanaka, "Don't worry about me, though! Mr. Tanaka, get Helen and Amy out of there!"

"Y-yes sir," Tanaka agreed, picking the katana back up. As much as Tanaka would rather be getting Chris out of the mall and checked up, the boy's orders came first. Chris would be concerned with his friends rather than his own personal safety. He would never forgive Tanaka for dragging him out of there before at least attempting to save Helen. Tanaka rushed towards Helen and Amy, hoping to be able to pick them up and get away before the robot attacked. Unfortunately, he didn't get far before the Egg Crower caught sight of Tanaka heading towards its prey. Defending its claim, the robot smacked Tanaka away with its long, metal neck. Tanaka crashed into one of the remaining tables in the food court, spilling mustard and soda all over his good suit. He got back up, only to find himself facing more Egg Pawns. With this, as well as his bruised ribs slowing him down, there would be no way he could complete his master's orders.

Chris and Swift looked back at the Egg Crower just in time to see Helen being picked up by the robot with its beak. "Helen!" Amy gasped at the terrible sight, an exclamation mark over her head. Helen was dangling in its beak by the back of her dress, helpless like a worm.

"…Damn it!" Swift growled while taking the sunglasses out of Battle Scanner mode and placing them on top of his head. "That girl shouldn't have been there! Why did this have to happen!?"

"You got careless, that's why!" Chris answered, obviously angry with both Swift and the Egg Crower. "Had you not gotten angry over a piece of food that I can easily buy you later and pissed that robot off, Helen probably wouldn't be in the bind she is in! Now, we have to get that… that thing to let her go!" Swift looked up at his new friend. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now he realized that taking it on solo wasn't smart. As much as it hurt his pride, Swift had to admit that Chris was right. He let a chili dog get in the way of his focus, and he accidentally brought two innocent girls into his battle when he could- and probably should- have escaped to regroup with Miles. If he didn't do something to help her, now, Helen was going to die. Problem was, that none of his attacks even made a scratch on the Egg Crower's armor. All he did was annoy the thing into attacking Helen and Amy. Not to mention Chris and Tanaka also got hurt. He owed them, somehow, but he was in no way able to take down the Egg Crower, and neither was Chris.

But that wasn't what drew his attention- it was Chris' seriously determined expression. He didn't even need to activate his Chaos Sense to see it… Chris had Chaos energy pouring out of his body. In fact, enough to be about his level… maybe they could take the robot. The possibilities were risky, but right now, totally worth it.

"…Chris," Swift calmly began. "I'm totally sorry I got your friends involved in my fight." Chris started to calm down, himself. "Now, you're right. I got carried away and let something so ridiculous get to me, and your friend Helen is paying the price. However, let's face the obvious… nobody, human or Chao, can take the monster head on. All I did was make it mad, and you and Tanaka got swatted away like insects. So… do you still have that Chaos Morpher Miles gave you, earlier? If so, place it around your wrist."

Chris pulled out the device, looking straight at it. "What about it?" Chris asked, placing it around his wrist.

"Before I tell you what we're going to do," Swift warned, "you need to know the possible consequences of this. This thing works, and you're going to probably be branded a freak or outcast for the rest of your life. If this thing's a bust, Helen may not be the only person to die, today. We may end up blowing ourselves up, turning into some kind of monster, hell, the thing may not even work like Miles said it would. …But you seem determined to save her and your friends no matter what happens, don't you? "

"If something happens to me," Chris answered, "who cares? As long as they're safe, I don't give a darn that happens to me." Swift only grinned as he pressed a button on the side of the Morpher, and the center of the device started to glow.

"All we need to do," Swift answered, "is press the center button, and it should start on its own." Chris casually pressed the center of the Chaos Morpher, and he felt the energy inside of him surge.

Chris had only one thing to say as the transformation took place. "Chaos Soul, Activate!" The next thing he knew, his body started to alter itself while Swift's body turned into a light blue flame that soon surrounded Chris. His hair started to grow longer and spike out, his skin turned dark blue, his eyes closed in slight pain as two spikes grew out of his back, as well as a short tail. When they opened again, they were a burning emerald green.

Not that this was seen by the others, who were more focused on the giant robot that was deciding whether or not to eat Helen. "Hey," Frances yelled up to the Egg Crower, "put Helen down before I find a way to break you!" To emphasize this point, Amy helped by banging a hammer that she just found lying around and smacking it on the robot's toes. This all did nothing more than bug the Egg Crower. God these humans were so demanding over one of their own.

The Egg Crower decided to put the girl dangling from her beak down… however, the human girl that demanded this didn't exactly say where. So, since this was the case, it decided to casually toss her up in the air, and then have her land straight into its beak. So, the next thing Helen knew, she suddenly went airborne by an upwards toss. She could barely register that the Egg Crower had sent her skywards, and looking down, she found that her desired landing spot was in the gullet of the metal monster, the beak wide open to catch her in. This being her final moments, Helen screamed.

However, something that, at the time, would be unexplainable happened. A large blue blur jumped just a mere three feet above the Egg Crower's waiting beak, and caught Helen bridal style out of the air before safely landing on the floor of the mall. Helen felt the jolt, thinking that the machine ate her. However, when she felt that there wasn't any blood over her body and her heart was still beating, she was confused. But what gave it away the most was Amy's shocked voice questioning, "Who in Lord Chaos' name is that with Helen!?"

This drove Helen to open her eyes, and look to see a male, dark blue being that looked half human, half hedgehog with burning emerald green eyes, a tan muzzle and arms, a small, long black nose, long spiked quills that looked like hair, and a calming smile on his face. Helen was surprised to see this- she had once read about Mobians, a race of evolved animals that spoke, thought, and seemed like humans, but for all she knew, they died out countless millennia ago. However, his clothing seemed to fit the modern day style. He was wearing a white medium sleeved shirt, a pair of red elbow pads with yellow stars in the middle of them, a pair of fingerless white gloves, dark blue slim fit jeans, a pair of red running shoes with white stripes in the middle, and a pair of blue sunglasses perched over his head. There was also a red and white vest over his shirt, a cobalt blue bracelet on his right wrist, and a light blue watch on his left. There was an odd insignia on his shirt that looked like a pure blue version of his face staring straight at her.

The first thing the creature asked her was, "Are you okay?" Helen thought his voice sounded somewhat familiar. The voice, although slightly deeper than his, sounded slightly similar to that of Chris.

"Y-yeah," Helen honestly answered. "I thought I was going to die there for a minute. Thank you for the help." Looking around, she asked, "Where did Chris and Swift go?"

Unbeknownst to anybody but the creature, the creature actually was Christopher Thorndyke and Swift. The Chaos Morpher bonded Swift's soul into Chris' body, transforming the boy into a human-animal crossbreed that looked as human as Swift could possibly get. However, was the creature going to tell her that? No, Helen was scared enough, so there was no way she could possibly right now take that kind of news without possibly having a heart attack or something. "…The boy Chris regrettably asked me to help you out," the creature finally answered. "I made sure he and the Chao were fine. They seemed strong, but they weren't strong enough to stop that thing."

Helen just smiled, "Well, when you see them, tell them I said, 'Thanks for trying!'" The creature had to turn away from her smile to hide a blush on his muzzle.

'Aw,' Swift's voice rang in the hedgehog's head. 'So that's why you wanted to save her, Chris! Do I sense puppy love?'

'Swift!?' Chris' voice asked, shocked that the Chao was still there. 'W-what the hell are you doing in my head!?'

'It seems that this new form requires us to share a mind,' Swift replied. 'So therefore, no secrets can be kept with either of us. Like the fact that you're holding the girl of your dreams in her arms….'

'H-hey,' Chris mentally scowled at the Chao, 'that's personal, Swift!'

'Not anymore, it isn't,' the hedgehog Chao shot back. Getting serious, Swift explained, 'While we do share a mind, my powers and apparently some of my looks have been transferred over your human body, kind of like a barrier.'Chris had to look at himself- he looked kind of like a genetics experiment to crossbreed man and animal, only with the fur dyed ocean blue. 'However, you're not immortal, so don't do anything reckless like I was. Besides, we still have to deal with that thing.'

Speaking of "that thing," the Egg Crower wasn't too keen on the fact that somebody just stole its lunch. And that somebody was a mutated hedgehog the size of a human teenager. It activated its drill beak, and prepared to crush the hedgehog. However the hedgehog moved like lightning, disappearing out of its attack range with ease with Helen in tow. He casually placed her in her wheelchair, handed her Amy, and rushed her over to Danny and Frances.

"Watch over them, okay?" the creature asked the two. Both of them rather awkwardly nodded- well, it wasn't everyday that a Mobian was talking to them in perfect English, had super speed, and just saved their friend's life. The Mobian turned towards the Egg Crower, and rushed towards it.

Now, considering it had already beaten several others that dared try to stop it, the Egg Crower drew back its wings, preparing for a strike. However, the hedgehog moved faster than the Chao ever could, duking out of the way at the last second. 'This is pretty sweet,'Swift thought to Chris. 'Most humans would either be freaked out that they look like this or puke at these speeds, but you seem fine. Why's that?'

'Oh, I am,' Chris thought back to Swift, not taking his eyes off of the angry machine as he ran up its leg. 'We can hear each other's thoughts, I have all of your powers, and I look like a fashionable circus freak.' (A/N: Chris' insult here is in the spur of the moment. He doesn't really mean that, so don't be offended if you are part of a circus or a carnival… whatever. Long story short, please don't kill me!) 'Who wouldn't be freaked out!?'

'Then why are you so calm?' Swift asked as Chris curled into a ball and started to spin up towards the weak spot that he analyzed before.

'Right now,' Chris answered, 'my friends are more important.' With that, he plowed straight through the dangling thing from the Egg Crower's neck straight through its head, splattering oil everywhere before landing on the ground. 'Ugh, gross,' Chris sighed while looking at himself, covered in oil. He ran his hand across his shirt, accidentally pulling off the insignia. It looked and felt like it was made of computer paper- a calling card. When Sonic looked at his shirt, again, the insignia was still there. Odd. Focusing on the oil, Chris thought, 'Hope I can get the stains out.'

'Now you know how I felt, yesterday,' Swift chuckled.

"You did it!" Amy smiled at the hedgehog rushing over to him and cuddling his leg, a heart over her head. "I don't know who you are, but you're a real hero!"

"Um, thanks," the hedgehog creature nervously replied, rubbing Amy on her head. "But I don't think we're safe, yet?"

"Why's that?" Danny asked him while they all came over, with Tanaka eying the hedgehog awkwardly.

"You guys know that thing where a chicken gets its head chopped off?"

"…Oh," Frances realized. Sure enough, the Egg Crower, now pretty much decapitated, was running around in circles, searching for its severed head, spewing oil just about anywhere. After about thirty seconds of this, the Egg Crower fell, destroyed. "Well, we're safe now."

"So," Tanaka scowled at the creature, "what exactly is your name, Mr. Hero?" The hedgehog looked like he was ready to answer, but there was a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him otherwise.

'They'd kind of be freaked out to know that their new hero is their friend,' Swift pointed out. 'So, we need a name people wouldn't forget, but isn't exactly ours. Kind of like "The Dark Knight", or "Man of Steel", or "Ghost Boy!"'

'One, have you been reading comics? And two, you do know that Mr. Tanaka will find out, later, right?' Chris rhetorically asked, doodling a message with the oil that had gotten on his fingers.

'Yeah,' Swift answered, 'but you made him a calling card, before we even moved. Besides, we need a name for this body, anyways. Got anything in mind?' It took what seemed like minutes, but the two agreed on one name. That, and a nearby restaraunt kind of helped with a name that meant fast.

"Call me Sonic," the creature finally answered. "My name is… Sonic the Hedgehog." Just then, the police started to rush into the mall, their guns trained on the hedgehog. The police seemed to be shocked that they were aiming at a creature that resembled a Mobian, but quickly shook it off.

"Attention blue vigilante," one of the officers told him via a bullhorn. "By the order of Station Square Police Department's Commissioner Watson, you are hereby under arrest. Place any and all weapons you have on you down, put your hands above your head, and step away from the civilians, right now."

"Hey," Danny yelled at them, "he just saved our lives, here! Had he not shown up, we all could be dead!"

"We weren't talking to you, kid," the same officer shot back. "We're talking to the mutant hedgehog!"

'Time for a quick exit,'Swift thought to Chris. 'Think we can outrun the cops in this form?'

'Well,' Chris answered, 'I wouldn't think that it would be a good idea… well, if it wasn't for the fact that we need to leave, anyways. Besides, it would keep my friends out of trouble….' So, the being now known as Sonic casually crouched down into a running stance, and dashed straight for the Chaos Emerald just lying on the ground, and moved behind Tanaka to straight in front of the police. The police didn't know what to think of this until Sonic dashed straight past them, and used the wind that he created as he ran to knock them all over. After they got up, they ignored the group of kids and butler, and started to chase after Sonic.

Frances could only say two words at that. "Holy crap." Tanaka then felt something in his pocket, and pulled it out. It looked like the insignia on the hedgehog's shirt, only it was made of paper, and had writing on it in oil.

The calling card read: Tell nobody about this, Mr. Tanaka. Take the guys home, and I'll see you later. Chris and Swift. Tanaka was shocked that whatever that hedgehog creature was, part of it was Chris, while the other was Swift. What he wanted to know was how on God's blue and green Earth did those two transformed into one super powered mutant hedgehog. Then, he remembered the piece of technology that a certain fox Chao was messing with before he went to bed.

"Miles," Tanaka simply told himself. 'That Chao has some explaining to do….'

---

Station Square Speed Highway- 13:58

It took some doing and one heck of a police chase, but Sonic outran the cops. I'd go into detail, but let's face facts, they are ordinary people in dark blue/black uniforms driving specialized cars while Sonic is a Mobian hedgehog (or what looks like a Mobian) that has superhuman speed and incredible leg strength that allows him to run at least two-hundred miles an hour. It wasn't too hard to escape them and get to the unfinished Speed Highway. Now, here he was on the highway that was blocked off due to the fact that it was incomplete, looking at himself in the reflection that the Chaos Emerald was giving off. He left Tanaka a calling card that seemed to be made out of the insignia on his chest. All he had to do was run his hand across it, and a replica of the insignia came off as a piece of paper, but it would appear again on his chest. But that wasn't what mattered, right now. Helen, Danny, Frances, and Tanaka… they were all safe.

'I'm not going to be stuck like this forever, am I?' Chris asked while looking at himself in the reflection of the Emerald.

'We should be able to return to normal somehow,' Swift answered, not really seeming to care.

Sonic held up the wrist that had the Chaos Morpher on it. The bad news is that he had no way of telling time on it, considering Miles never built a clock inside of it. The good news is that judging by the buttons, all he had to do manually deactivate the Chaos Morpher was press the button in the center. However, according to the battery life- which shocked Chris to know that the Chaos Morpher even had a battery life- there was approximately a half hour left of morph time.

'Looks like we can only be Sonic for only an hour', Chris pointed out.

'I wouldn't be too sure of that,' Swift disagreed. 'Miles said that the Morpher needed Chaos energy to charge itself. If he's right, then exposing it to the Emerald again should give us a boost in energy.'

Sonic casually pressed the Chaos Emerald to his left wrist, and the Morpher started to recharge itself. 'Hey, it's recharging!'

'Of course it is,' Swift smirked. 'The Morpher feeds on Chaos Energy. Tap it with an Emerald, and instant juice for us.' Sonic calmly returned the Emerald into his pocket before turning towards the outskirts of Station Square.

Sonic started to run down the highway streets, hoping to get back to the manor without any more trouble. However, the next thing he knew, two formula-one police issued pursuit cars pulled out right in front of him, blocking his path. So, the hedgehog did the natural thing of turning around, only to be faced with two more formula-one pursuit cars. The four cars were orange, yellow, green, and violet in color. Members of Station Square's high-speed pursuit SWAT Division Speed Team. The only missing car was the red one. Chris then remembered his uncle's words- he challenged the "blue vigilante" to a race on Station Square's Speed Highway at two in the afternoon. Well, that answered what time it was.

"So, you made it," Sam's voice began as his car pulled out from behind a nearby sign, and he got out of said car. Sonic eyed the man suspiciously as Sam came over. Sam looked Sonic up and down, and grinned. "You're bigger than what the media said you'd be… and you look familiar… but enough of that. You're right on time, Mr. Vigilante. I take it you've heard of me, right?"

'Chris,' Swift asked, 'who is this guy?'

'My uncle,' Chris answered. 'He's pretty famous, but he'll probably brag about it anyways, so….'

Sonic decided to play along, and ask, "Who are you, anyways?"

"Figures somebody that looks one of those Mobians I've heard about wouldn't know," Sam only shook his head. "I'm Sam Speed, founder and leader of the world famous Speed Team. There isn't a soul alive that can go faster than me. But that's beside the point. I've gotten word that you've been involved in two separate incidents against Dr. Robotnik. As cool as this is, we here in Station Square do have a legal system and non-law operatives are advised to stay out of the way. So, the Commissioner wants me to bring you in. However, not only did you peak my interest with your use of speed to destroy Robotnik's robots, it's against my nature to not give anybody I go after a fighting chance, so here's how we do this." Pointing the opposite way he was facing, Sam explained, "We're going to go down this incomplete highway all the way near the end. Should I beat you there, then you have to surrender yourself to the police, no questions asked. However, if- and that's a big 'if,' by the way- you somehow beat me and my boys… then we let you walk."

"Please, Sam," the man in the orange car scoffed over his radio. "Sure, that hedgehog may be faster than the average human, but going against us? He won't even get beyond me, let alone, you! We may as well save this rodent the embarrassment and book him, now!" Chris' mental ears twitched at that voice- Hector Drags, the second fastest member of the Speed Team, and an overall "ego-maniac" that actually made Sam look humble. He keeps gloating that he'll beat Sam in a race one day, but so far, that day hasn't come.

"Hector, please," Sam casually ordered. "You know me, I never say 'no' to a possible race." Turning to Sonic, he asked, "So, what do you say? Racing may be the only way off of this highway outside of a police car, for you."

Sonic looked at the cars around him, and the ones in front of him. They were blocking his path, and he needed plenty of momentum to even jump far enough to get away from them. So, outrunning them was his only option. He had to face down Sam in a race to escape the highway. So, he answered, "Let's do this!" Sam grinned.

"See you in the winner's circle," Sam told him as he got back in, and Sonic and the cars took up their starting positions. "We do this on my three." Sonic crouched down, waiting for the magic number. "One… two… three!" Sam's car roared to life, and flew down the road. Sonic flew out straight after him, followed by the other members of the Speed Team. The race was on.

---

Human Card: Samuel Speed

Occupation: Police SWAT Division, Leader of Speed Team

Known Relatives: Christopher Thorndyke (nephew), Lindsey Speed-Thorndyke (sister), Nelson Thorndyke (brother in-law)

Hobbies: Racing, Blackjack, peacekeeper, competing against Sonic

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Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Before anybody complains as to how short this part is to the others, hear me out. This part was originally (by Word document count) twenty-three pages long. It could have been longer had I not deleted the original exchange between Miles and Ella at the beginning of Part 2. That, and Part 3 is on its way with the entire first race between Sonic and Sam, and some other dialogue about the Morpher. I just regret being forced to split it all in a crude half.

White Hunter: Swift's a wild Chao. Wild Chao, being somewhat scavengers, don't like it when people get rid of their food. And I believed I answered why Swift can't buy another by crushing his hopes... literally. God, I'm evil!

Zohaku: I hope it was everything you wished for. Sorry I had to chop it in half.

Salamander Hanzo: You added one more word this time, AND you probably had your caps key on! Thanks! ...Okay, I'm sorry for the dry humor, and I don't mean to offend anybody.

SPark681: Well, here's Sonic... you know, that was pretty corny of me. Really, I've had over a week to finish this, but with my senior year of high school starting up, this is all I could think of.

Okay, well, I'll guess I'll finish this up later on. If I don't get this taken care of by the end of today, have a great Labor Day, everybody. Kingdom Rider92 out!