A/N: And now for something completely Chao Chronicles-related.
Chuck's Garage- 15:09
Swift. Spike. Ahaw Kin. Chuck. Miles. All were looking at one another, waiting for the final moment. Soon, the last card was placed on the table- the Ace of Spades. Ahaw Kin cheered in excitement as he showed his cards. "Read them and weep, gentlemen- royal flush!" Spike scowled as he placed his three of a kind down, Swift placed his straight flush down, and Chuck and Miles their two pair.
"Whose idea was it to teach Ahaw Kin to play Texas Hold'em?" Miles questioned with a swirl over his head as the native dragged the pot towards himself. It had been a week since the incident in Maya. For safety purposes, Team Sonic laid low for a while at the insistence of Ella and Karin, the former worried for Chris' health and the latter saying that she needed the silence and ceasefire to find any anomalies that could be Chaos energy oriented. Suffice to say, Swift and Spike had gotten bored quickly with waiting.
"Dr. Naka," Swift yawned, a question mark over his head. "Have you found anything yet? I'm out of Chao Fruit rations thanks to this!"
"Swift," Karin, who was wearing a plain white sleeveless shirt and green miniskirt, said in an annoyed tone while sitting on the couch, "I told you three hours ago, just like every day, there hasn't been any reports in international news of supernatural phenomena that could only be explained by the Chaos Emeralds being involved. As a matter of fact, I barely even know what the hell I'm looking for! You, Ahaw Kin, and Itzamal-"
"Don't call me that!" Spike yelled with a swirl of annoyance over head at the use of his real name.
Ignoring the outburst, Karin continued, "-have yet to tell me how to know what is a Chaos Emerald-based anomaly and what is just natural. How do you tell? What can the Chaos Emeralds do separately that I should look out for?" Swift's question mark returned to a normal dot.
"Well," the hedgehog Chao thought to himself aloud, "that's simple yet hard to explain for me… I mean, I know I have the Dark Blue Emerald that controls wind, Eggman has the Light Blue Emerald for water. Other than that, I barely know what the other Emeralds can do by themselves."
"I do," Spike stated. "All guardian Chao are taught the elements of the Chaos Emeralds. The Green Emerald is earth-based in terms of its powers. Seeing as we have it, it's not our problem, but it is rumored its misuse once shattered the supercontinent of Pangaea with massive earthquakes." Karin stared at the echidna Chao in shock. Spike, with a heart over his head, laughed, "I'm kidding! It would take a being of about as equal as Chaos himself to cause that much damage with only one Emerald, and not too many humans or Chao these days can live with that amount of Chaos Energy. Consider that joke payback for using my real name."
"Oh give me a heart attack that someone once nearly destroyed the world with one Emerald just because I used your given name as retaliation that since you guys got bored and weren't didn't tell me what to look for, I'm a little pissed that I've been forced to take shots in the dark for the past week!"
"So we're somewhat even," Spike shrugged. "Anyways, doctor, the only four Emeralds unaccounted for are the White, Yellow, Red, and Purple ones… the true troublemakers."
"Why?" Miles asked. With a question mark above his head, he questioned, "What could these four do by themselves?"
"Drive mass populations insane, cause flash fires, massive power outages, and extreme thunderstorms, give people superhuman strength and lust for violence, and absolute extinction of cities, maybe bringing back the dead and the damned as well… respectively." Everyone in the room but Ahaw Kin looked at the echidna Chao like he was insane (both Swift and Miles having exclamation points over their heads). "…What?" Spike asked as if what he just said was common knowledge.
"Why did Chaos bring these things to Earth, again?" Chuck questioned.
"Because if he didn't," Swift offered, "humanity wouldn't have their cuddly Chao who need Chaos Energy to survive? Consequently, now, so do humans. If it wasn't for Chaos Energy, the planet would be pretty barren."
"How can you say that for sure, Swift?" Chris stated as he came into the house, surprising everyone. "I mean, if what you said about not being able to see Frances' levels is true, then what's to say she isn't an exception to the rule?" Swift then realized why he bothered recruiting Ahaw Kin and Spike- Frances Burns. The black sheep to his logic.
Truth be told, Swift learned as a hatchling that every living thing in the world has to have some sort of Chaos Energy in it. Hell, it was even learned that there was Chaos Energy in the massive void of space- that's why the Chao in Space movies made so much sense! However, when he met with Frances, Swift got a blank. But how? All beings had Chaos Energy, right? Well, if he couldn't get a reading, then could Frances… no. That didn't make any sense. It couldn't make any sense.
"Maybe she has some sort of anti-Chaos Sense thing that blocks me out," Swift suggested. "I'll have to look into it even harder than I did last time."
"I feel as though this is going to end badly," Tanaka added his two cents, coming into the room as well. "Master Chris, where is Master Daniel?"
"Studying some martial arts with Frances," Chris answered. "Anyways, guys… if we can't find anything, let's hope Robotnik doesn't have better luck. We could use the peace."
"Just wish there was something we could do," Swift muttered with a swirl over his head. "I mean, don't most superheroes in comic books go on a patrol every once in a while?"
"We'll do that when there's a spotlight in the shape of Sonic's calling card shining in the night sky," Chris retorted. While Swift rolled his eyes, Ahaw Kin blinked in confusion.
"…What's a spotlight?"
Episode 9: Chaos Crisis! A Race for the Cure!
Station Square- 16:06
"So," Danny, wearing a black t-shirt underneath a white gi, honestly asked Frances as he popped his shoulder back into place from where someone (Frances) kicked it. "How did I do, today?"
"Well," the freckled girl, also wearing a gi over her violet shirt and a gray phanny pack around her waist, announced, "there's a lot of room for improvement. However, you're somewhat better than you were when you first started practicing." After another lesson in martial arts, Danny and Frances were just waiting for the latter's parents to pick them up and head home. And Frances, to kill time, liked to walk around downtown, knowing where her parents were going to pick her up- in front of the arcade.
"Well, it's a start," the young pilot commented. "That's at least something…"
"Actually, if you want me to be critical," Frances began to list, "you blocked my left open palm too early, not paying attention to my footwork. If I wanted to kill you, I would have aimed for your face with my kick, not your shoulder."
"Why my face?" Danny questioned, concerned that Frances supposedly could have ended him today.
"Danny," Frances yawned, "I kicked you in the shoulder hard enough to pop it out of socket… and you know I don't really have to try to kick your ass when I'm mad. If I was completely serious about fighting you, I would have kicked your nose hard enough that I jammed it into that big brain of yours." Danny realized how right she was about that statement- Frances, despite her cheery demeanor and her cute face (only highlighted by the freckles), was a huge threat to somebody's health in a fistfight. That's why nobody in the school bothered to mess with their mutual friend Helen for her handicapped position whenever Frances or Chris were around.
A lot of kids knew what Chris was capable of even without Tanaka's help- and Tanaka has beaten the dog crap out of armed grown men just for looking at Chris the wrong way. To make matters worse for those bullies, Tanaka, at an early age, began teaching the young heir self-defense in the form of karate and a brief overview of samurai style swordplay- which explains how Chris Thorndyke single-handedly at the sensitive age of three stuffed a whole kid into a washing machine. Danny had seen Chris' combat skills grow over the years- they really showed whenever he was Sonic.
However, there was only one other person that Danny knew very well (besides Ahaw Kin) that could match Chris in that kind of skill- Frances Burns. Frances, of the group, was the plain one… which only belied how dangerous she was. Frances had trained from an equally early age in quite a few forms martial arts, her favorite being northern Shaolin kung fu. Back about a year ago, there was a gang of bullies who terrorized the incoming freshmen of Station Square. Chris and Danny, who were on their 13th plane back then, were left alone, as Chris' fighting skills were already the talk of the school system… as was Tanaka. They left Danny alone as they secretly feared that Chris and Tanaka would one day force them to be the test dummies in one of Danny's famous planes. However, they chose Helen… which was still a bad choice. For right as Chris was about to intervene, Frances shows up. Two of the members dropped out to get as far away from the redhead as possible… the others just disbanded and left kids alone. Though many praised Frances, they also feared her wrath.
Some guys would say that getting your ass kicked by a girl is an insult to your masculinity. However, if said girl in question knows four forms of martial arts plus was a hell of a street fighter if the situation calls for it and had a very short temper… then yeah, you were hosed before the fight even started.
"In fact," Frances spoke up, making Danny snap back into reality, "there were at least five times in our spar where, if I was a real threat to you, we wouldn't be having this discussion. There were also six moments in that spar where you could have at least made it even."
"Ugh," Danny groaned. "I really need to improve if that's what you have to say…" He then took a drink from his water bottle.
"Maybe we should talk about a different subject rather than me beating the crap out of you," Frances suggested. Looking up at a billboard, the freckled girl spotted a blown up wanted poster of Sonic the Hedgehog. "Danny, have you wondered what Sonic is really up to?" This resulted in the pilot spewing up his water, coughing at the question.
"W-what are you talking about, Frances?" Danny laughed off. The girl placed her hand on her hips. "Why the hell would I want to know about Sonic…?"
"Don't play dumb," the girl accused, looking at her friend with a smart smile. "We were all in Guatemala last week, unless my jetlag made me hallucinate about it. We all know that Sonic and his friends made the news… even though it was completely in Spanish on every channel and I had to spend five minutes begging Ella to translate them. Don't tell me for a second you aren't curious about where he came from, who he really is, what he's really doing, and why."
"Okay, why are you bringing this up?"
"Talking with Chris' mom and uncle made me realize there is something strange about Sonic and his team," the redhead explained, looking. Danny's eyes grew wide- did Frances know about them? "I know they're here to help, but there's more to that than I thought. Whatever they're doing, it must be something big…."
"How do you know that for sure?" Danny cautiously questioned. Frances smiled.
"They wouldn't be going up against a psycho like Robotnik all of the time if it wasn't something huge," Frances stated. "Something nobody knows about but those involved in the conflict. It could change the world, and yet the police and even GUN are hunting them down like dogs."
"They are giving Team Sonic a rough time, aren't they?" Danny agreed.
"Sure it's partially justified by the fact that Sonic is an unknown factor, a vigilante crime fighter, and the first Mobian to walk the Earth since prehistory times," Frances pointed out. "He can't be trusted by officials 100 percent, as those who trust too soon could risk a lot of face. However, I know since he's saved Helen twice and has stopped other disasters, he's not here to destroy us."
"Yeah," Danny nodded. All of a sudden, a large man in a brown trench coat rushed by, bumping into Frances and Danny. "Hey!"
"Watch where you're going, asshole!" Frances called after him. The girl rolled her eyes, and reached for her side… only to realize her phanny pack was gone. Danny looked at his wrist, and noticed the orange Chaos Morpher was gone as well. "Son of a bitch!" Frances called, running after the retreating trench coat man. Danny, realizing that the man stole both Frances phanny pack and his Morpher (the latter of which was more important to him), aiding Frances in her pursuit.
While Frances was could easily keep up with the target (as running after a thief was easy when compared to martial arts class), she noticed two things off about this chase. One, Danny- while he was not on her level of athletics, he was pretty close now. It was as if he's been training in basic parkour for a while, now- he could improve, though. As for thing number two, the movements of the thief seemed a little… off. It was as if the thief was floating rather than running. In fact, she couldn't hear his footsteps, even as she closed the gap.
Not that it mattered, though… she wanted to get her phanny pack back. "Give that back, you bastard!" She then leapt at the thief, grabbing his coat before falling to the ground, coat and all. Danny, concerned for his friend, stopped running to help her up. When the two looked up, they saw the Morpher, coat, and phanny pack on the ground… but the coat's owner was gone.
"What the hell?" Danny questioned as he strapped the Chaos Morpher back onto his wrist, surprised that the thief could disappear like that (and steal the Morpher easily). Danny looked at the coat dropped by the thief, and noticed a bulge with a faint yellow light while Frances focused on reattaching her phanny back. Curious, Danny pulled out his cell phone, calling a specific number.
Chuck's Garage- 16:09
"So," Chris spoke up, breaking the long silence for the group, "Ahaw Kin… can I ask you something?"
"What is it, Sonic?" Ahaw Kin questioned. Chris rolled his eyes.
"This being a habit we're going to have to break aside, I want to know something." Rolling up his sleeve, Chris showed Ahaw Kin and Spike the birthmark. "Have you ever seen a mark like this?" The others in the room noticed the birthmark of the Emeralds on Chris' left shoulder. While everyone else in the room was curious about it, Ahaw Kin and Spike just looked at each other, a bored look on their faces.
"So he's been branded by Chaos, too, huh?" Spike questioned as if it was not a big deal. Ahaw Kin nodded in a casual manner.
"What do you mean, 'too'?" Chuck questioned. "You guys have seen it before?" The next thing anybody knew, Ahaw Kin took off his shirt and showed the group his back- on the right shoulder blade was the exact same symbol.
"I have had this for as long as I can remember," Ahaw Kin replied. "It seems that I was right to ally myself with you, Sonic… we both share the Brand of Chaos."
"What does it mean for us, Ahaw Kin?" Chris questioned, not bothering to correct the guardian this time.
"It means we have been chosen by Chaos himself," Ahaw Kin replied. "Whether it is for good or bad, we are bonded to the Chaos Emeralds until the day that we die." The others blinked at the casual attitude Ahaw Kin had as he placed his shirt back on. "There are eight humans on Earth marked by Chaos each generation, each representing an Emerald… I no doubt represent either the Master or the Emerald of Power, and you may represent the Emerald of Wind. Still, whoever truly controls both the Emeralds and those branded by Chaos will have no problem controlling the world, so Sonic, you and I must not allow the Chaos Emeralds to fall into misguided hands." As Chris let this insight of knowledge by Knuckles sink in, his cell phone went off, causing everybody to jump, Ahaw Kin and Spike especially.
Pulling out his phone, Chris noticed Spike's initial reaction- growing his claws while Ahaw Kin, who was still getting used to technology, stared in shock. "Don't worry," Tanaka told Spike and Ahaw Kin. "I got Master Chris that phone… must be important.
Chris decided to do everyone a favor and answer the phone. "Hello?"
"Chris, it's Danny," the pilot's voice whispered, which Chris did not find odd- he was used to Danny talking silently on phones. Danny, whenever he was onto a big idea that he wanted Chris in on but the two weren't in the same place, would try to get him over in as discrete of a way as physically possible. Chris did not really know if this came off as a sort of paranoia that someone was out there trying to steal his ideas or if Danny was often involved in an emergency. "Listen to me… I need you and Swift to come downtown right now… I think I might have stumbled on something huge."
"Can't you tell me over the phone for once?" Chris questioned.
"This time, I really can't. Just come to the arcade, and I'll meet you there."
"Why not?"
"Hey Danny," Frances' voice questioned, "what's with the new watch?" Danny let out a surprised gasp before hanging up the phone.
"…Oh," Chris realized. Frances was with him… and it must've been a Sonic-related thing, and he didn't want her finding out. And unfortunately, she just did.
"Are we going at Sonic-speed?" Swift asked, a heart over his head- finally, something to bust his boredom.
"Oh sure," Tanaka stated, sarcasm dripping off every word. "Since this is so important, not only are you going to draw attention to yourselves by running through a town where Sonic is the most-wanted criminal, and then show up to reveal to Frances that your best friend Danny knows who exactly Sonic is… Swift, how smart is that?" However, Swift didn't respond. Everyone noticed the small dust cloud that led outside.
"You know," Miles remarked as he pushed off the couch, "considering how he can't sit still to save his life, we should have seen this coming."
Downtown- 16:12
"Seriously," Frances questioned, looking at Danny's Morpher, "that's one fancy watch. Where did you get it?" Danny looked at the Morpher, concerned with how he was going to get out of this one.
"Um… I built it," Danny lied. Truth be told, Miles built it, but was teaching him how to build Morphers- during the past week, any of Danny's free time between school-related activities, training with Frances, and chores was spent working on Ahaw Kin's new Morpher- they had to get rid of the Robotnik one soon. Still, Frances would never believe that a small fox Chao with twin tails could build such a high-tech device… and Danny has built far more complex-looking devices than a watch, so it works.
"Okay," Frances stated. Looking closer, she questioned, "But why doesn't it tell time?"
'Oh hell!' Danny thought in a nervous sweat. "Um… I haven't adjusted it so it tells time yet?" he offered. The girl shrugged- Danny had forgotten vital things before. She bitterly remembered plane number 8- he forgot to install the landing gear, and crashed into her garage. If Chris hadn't paid for it, Danny would not have kept his arms… or his unmentionables.
"Typical Danny," the freckled girl shrugged. Looking around, she questioned, "Where the hell did that thief go, though?"
"That's not important, Frances," Danny insisted. He decided to change the subject. "Your parents might already be at the arcade, and we have our stuff. Go on ahead… I'll catch up in a minute."
"Actually," Frances corrected after fishing out her surprisingly in-tact cell phone from her phanny pack, "if your watch could tell time, then you'd know that it's 4:15 in the afternoon on Friday- my parents don't get here before 4:30. We've got fifteen minutes to kill-" She then stopped in mid-sentence, a look of shock plastered on her face. That shock soon turned into a devious grin as she returned her phone to the bag. "Daniel Prower," Frances accused, "you're hiding something from me."
"W-w-what?" Danny gasped in surprise. "What makes you think I'm hiding something from you by insisting you go ahead?"
"The fact that you just admitted it," Frances said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Man, for a super-genius, Danny, you are a terrible liar when it comes to secrets." Danny smacked himself on the head- why did Frances have to be able to see through him? However, this annoyance turned back into surprise when Frances grabbed his right arm with one hand, twisted it behind his back, interlocked his left leg with her own, and with her remaining arm pulled Danny into a sleeper hold from behind. "Another quick thing," Frances stated. "Don't let your guard down... it's easy to get caught in. Now, Danny, I'm only going to ask this once- what the hell is going on."
"I promise not to tell," Danny answered.
"Danny," Frances warned, "I'm capable of breaking your neck, breaking your arm, or at the very least, knocking you out due to a lack of oxygen. I'm more patient than I used to be, but if that watch and you wanting me gone are related to some big secret that I should know about, I suggest you spill… now."
"Frances," Danny stated, trying to breathe, "this… doesn't involve… you. Just… trust… me."
"Like hell it doesn't involve me!" the freckled girl shot back. "Now that I think about it, Chris has been secretive, too! Is he in on it as well? Because if he is, I want in, too!" The pilot groaned- no matter what he said, he'd be betraying one of his closest friends. And unfortunately for him, both could kick his ass to Los Angeles and back. It's just a matter of who would show more restraint. However, a blue blur rushed into the alley, making Frances let go.
"What's going on, here?" Swift asked Frances as he walked in, a question mark above his head. Frances let go of Danny, letting him breathe.
"Alright, Swift," the redhead scowled, "ever since you and Miles showed up, strange crap has happened around you! I just want to know what's going on, here… and I think Danny and Chris are in on it." The Chao's question mark returned to normal.
"Calm down, Frances," the hedgehog Chao smiled, walking past her. "All will be explained soon."
"Swift…!" Danny hissed, but the Chao raised a hand.
"Danny," Swift scowled, a swirl over his head, "let's be honest; Frances was going to find out about us. I'm glad I was here to tell her. But what's your emergency?" Danny blinked- Swift was going to reveal it? Well, he did want her on the team before Ahaw Kin and Spike… so he shouldn't be as surprised.
"It's in the coat," the pilot sighed.
Glad someone was seeing things his way, Swift turned to the coat jacket, and noticed his Chaos Sense going off the charts. "Oh Chaos… that's an Emerald. Definitely a stronger reading than mine!"
"Guys?" Frances questioned. "What the hell are you two talking about?"
"Frances," Danny scowled as Swift shook off the overstimulation caused by the Emerald's power, "what I'm about to tell you will not only freak you out, but you have to keep it secret…" Swift reached into the coat pocket, and pulled out a yellow colored jewel. "Yes. Chris, Swift, and I are all part of a secret organization."
"I knew it!" Frances grinned. However, that grin faded just as quickly as it came, being replaced with a hurt look of confusion. "So why didn't you tell me… you guys thought you couldn't trust me?"
"Oh trust me," Swift smiled while holding the yellow gem. "You'd be my first pick for the team with your skill. However, I can't get much of a reading with my sense." Walking back to the two, Swift smiled, "We'll talk about the team soon enough. But now, we have three Emeralds- saving the world just got easier!" This part actually caused Frances to freak out a bit.
"…Saving the world?"
"Yep," the hedgehog Chao grinned, a heart over his head as the three walked out of the alley. Frances then picked the Chao up from behind with one hand, snapping him back into reality and making the heart fade. "…What?"
"What the hell do you two mean by saving the world?" the redhead questioned as she brought Swift to face her. Looking at the Emerald, she added, "And how the hell are these things supposed to help with that?" She then reached for the Emerald in Swift's stubby hands-
And that was when the Emerald reacted. What happened next, not even Swift, who is practically an expert at the Chaos Emeralds, could predict what would happen. Swift and Danny were blown into the streets by what appeared to be a huge shockwave that shattered the windows around them, flipped over any parked cars nearby, and damaged buildings. Both sat up with Danny's hair puffed out into an afro (A/N: humor out of a dark situation… yeah, bad timing) and Swift's quills all sticking straight up, both crackling with electricity. Swift, however, noticed the burn marks on his vest.
"Chris is going to kill me," the Chao breathed, an exclamation mark above his head. "This vest wasn't cheap…."
"I think money is going to be the least of our concerns," Danny voiced as he looked at the scene around him. This part of downtown was badly scarred by the explosion of energy released by the Emerald. While it didn't look anything near the ground zero of the beginning of inFAMOUS when the Ray Sphere activated and wiped out thousands of people, Danny had to admit things looked pretty bad. The whole block looked totaled- cars were wrecked, some debris had blocked the entrances to buildings, two fires had started, and the arcade now had a car driven through its front.
"…Oh Chaos," Swift gasped in horror, looking at the scene. However, a scream of agony tore the two's attention away from the destruction that happened and looked towards Frances, who was still holding the Chaos Emerald. However, things weren't looking so good as the Emerald was unleashing energy at close range to her, electricity and flames threatening to engulf her. Swift remembered Spike describing the Yellow Emerald as one of the troublemakers of the Chaos Emeralds. Could it be so powerful that it could kill humans just by contact? Or was there more to it? "Frances…?"
"What the hell is going on, here?" Chris' voice spoke up as he ran over to the group. Swift, with a nervous swirl over his head, pointed at Frances with the Emerald.
"Okay, let's set the record straight before we go Sonic," Swift announced. "I have nothing to do with why the Emerald's killing her. In fact, I'm stumped!"
"Well, let's get the Emerald away from her!" Chris scowled, activating his Morpher. "Chaos Soul, Activate!"
Frances, meanwhile, was in so much pain. She didn't expect touching that stupid little gem Swift got from the thief's coat to cause this mind-numbing pain. Now, here she was, practically on fire and being tortured with God knows how much electricity pumping into her body. With that much power inflicted on her, she could only wish for the sweet embrace of death. However, the next thing she knew, the pain had stopped, and she had collapsed onto the ground, barely breathing. Every sight was practically a blur.
"That was too close," Sonic's voice spoke up. Once her vision returned, she turned her gaze to see Sonic holding the offending gemstone before pocketing it. The hedgehog knelt down to place his hand on her head, and closed his eyes. Frances placed a bleeding hand- cut open by the power surge- on the hedgehog's shirt.
What happened next, Frances wasn't quite sure. She didn't know if it was her thoughts or someone else's, but she swore she heard two voices in her head. Both of which seemed familiar. 'Wow… she looks terrible. Burn marks and electricity. Not to mention the fever she has… and the cuts on her hands just bled on my shirt.'
'Other than the obviouscrap, is she going to be okay?'
'Barely… in fact, it's a miracle and a half that she's even alive with these wounds. What happened?'
'I wanna say an explosion of Chaos Energy when she touched the Emerald?'
'That explains a bit… but she just touched the Emerald and a block and a half are totaled?'
'Eggman was right… certain Emeralds are stronger than each other.' Frances was now left confused. Did this voice say 'Eggman', the guy who kidnapped Helen to get Sonic to come to him? Helen said that Eggman was really Dr. Robotnik. If the voice knew that, then did the owner of voice- as much as she didn't want to conclude it to be, but it could only be Sonic- really work for Eggman?
'What's wrong?' the first voice asked, surprised.
'…All of that energy pumped into her and I'm even up close, and I can't get a positive reading for normal Chaos Energy,' the second voice answered. 'It's like… no. I do not believe this. I refuse to accept this.'
'…So that's why you can't get a reading,' the first voice realized. 'She doesn't have any normal Chaos Energy… just what she just absorbed from a direct source.' Frances was barely able to understand that. What did he mean?
'I want a second opinion. Hell, a third.'
'You have the best Sense I've seen besides Spike and Ahaw Kin- you can't deny it.' Ahaw Kin and Spike- who were these guys? More members of Sonic's little group?
'Even if they confirm it,' the second voice stubbornly announced, 'I want to be absolutely sure. Besides, we're at essentially ground zero of an explosion of energy. I'm pretty sure we should grab Danny and get the hell out of here before the police and ambulances show up.' So, Sonic personally knew Danny and Chris. Frances realized that the pain was still there. It was hard to keep conscious, but she had to- she needed to know more.
'Danny's already taken care of,' the first voice answered. 'But I'll admit, we should leave- the police don't like us.' The next thing Frances knew, Sonic removed his hand from her head, and picked her up bridal style. Frances watched as Sonic grabbed a calling card, and placed it in front of the arcade.
"Hang on," he whispered as she began to finally drift off. "We'll see what we can do."
Human Card: Francine "Frances" Burns
Occupation: High school student, martial arts instructor
Known Family: Duncan (foster father), Chloe (foster mother)
Hobbies: Martial Arts, painting, detective work (picking up)
Kingdom Rider92's Notes: I know, sad chapter with sadder cliffhanger. Trust me, G.U.N. will show up in Part 2, further complicating things. Also, right now, the Emerald scored just changed.
Sonic Team Sonic: 3
Robotnik: 1
GUN: Still hasn't caught on, yet!
Mysterious Thief: 0
Okay, between this chapter and next, I'm gonna give you a chance to guess who our thief was. Whoever guesses right wins an internet. On that note, time for Edge to do his review thing.
Edge's Corner: With pleasure! Now, joining me in the booth is a Mr. Edward Tanaka.
Tanaka: That is correct, Mr. Edge. Now, first review….
Hanzo of the Salamander by Edge: Well, you know how to sign up for the Pirates of Arcadia! Just go to Kingdom Rider92's page, look at the sign-up sheet, fill all three parts out, and apply for us! We'll save the world! And bring down PETA! Just like Epic Meal Time!
Samswimmer by Tanaka: Well, in her defense, her father was the one who got robbed when she trusted him to watch the Emerald. And considering what it just did to downtown, I'm just glad the damage caused by the Emerald was limited. We got there just in time to prevent both the city and Frances from suffering similar fates as those in Moscow. Speaking of which, I believe that our author did that specifically to set up this arc. And yes- that's the correct answer. The Egg Pawn Elites are actually named "Egg Knights". However, we're too far in right now to change the name- we'll do so in season 2.
Jyn-the-Raccoon by Edge: Alright, about Maria's Log- she's kind of a way to transition between story arcs. When Kingdom Rider92 says we're done with an arc, she shows up with some research that conveniently transitions into the next arc. She'll also be the first and last chapter of each season. That's kind of her update schedule. Anyways, we all know she's going to get a Chao to use- we're not saying anything else right now. And yes- we're incorporating the Chaos Drives from SA2! Truth be told, the Chaos Drives are crystallized Chaos Energy. Not as powerful or long-lasting as a Chaos Emerald, but lasts long enough as a power source, can upgrade Chao, and is a lot more stable and predictable.
Sozic by Tanaka: Our author doesn't have a real update schedule. It's when he's in the mood. And… no. HELL NO. Master Chris, as the heir to the Thorndyke name, is not allowed to have any scandalous actions slander his name. And that include harems- this story takes place in the United States, no way could he get away with it. As much as our author is a pervert who enjoys harem anime, he also enjoys action anime even more- and that's what this falls into. Besides, we can all tell that Master Chris likes Helen the most, him and Frances are good friends and sparring partners, and he hasn't even met this Maria. Not saying that he won't….
Mattardis by Tanaka: Please see Edge's answer to Jyn-the-Raccoon for the specifics, but yes- the Chaos Drives are the Chaos batteries. As for your second question, we're not allowed to talk too much about Shadow… yet.
Zohaku by Edge: Wow… you didn't say much. But the author gives his thanks.
SuperSpeed by Edge: Alright, last one. 1st, yes, Lindsey does know. We figured it would be a great idea to let her be one of the few people close to Chris to know. And you know what they say about moms- they know everything. Hope we explained the Mark enough… and yeah. Chaos Energy poisoning sucks. 2nd, yeah, Maria's log is pretty much a scientific private journal. The reason it's scientific is because it records her findings in her quest to study Chao and the Chaos Emeralds, following in the lighter footsteps of her family's legacy and trying to prove not everything her great-grandfather did was evil. However, it's private, because what she goes through cannot be publicized just yet without making her seem crazy… the last thing her family legacy needs because the world government is practically staring at her.
Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Well, I hope this helps people. Don't expect another update until May at the earliest- I've got finals that need taken care of on the first week of May, so no promises. Kingdom Rider92, out!