Ch.2-Chaos reasoning

Dr.Eggman clapped with joy as he watched the symptoms wash across his nemesis's face. Inside the room was a new poison gas that couldn't be seen and its ingredient was a green Chaos emerald. The Chaos emerald was cut up, thus creating a silent but deadly enemy. By now the hedgehog's speed will be cut and his mind should be exhausted, Eggman thought expectantly. His one plan to rid Sonic actually worked, but he needed to know if his plan was spotless. "Decoe, Bocue I got you an assignment."

"Coming your evilness," Decoe said obediently. Eggman caught sight of the tall metal droid and behind him was his silver companion Bocue. Eggman swiveled in his chair to face his assistants, both reliable to carry out a job, never reliable to return successful. Then again there was a first…

"Listen I have a very important mission for you," Eggman said authoritatively, "that blasted hedgehog may finally be gone, but he left before I could confirm it. Find him and if possible…finish the job." Both saluted awkwardly and rushed out. I never liked creating them; he thought with much clarity, I guess I'm use to a losing streak. Turning back to his monitors he grinned mischievously, soon Sonic, soon you'll be gone… and your annoying followers too.

The sky was a aqua blue today on an early Tuesday when the clouds parted to reveal a huge ship. In the pilot's seat was a 10 year old fox named Tails; his name came from the 2 set of tails in back. Looking out the window his face held disappointment and his gloved hands never faltered at the X Tornado's controls. Sonic had been missing now for 24 hours and on one in the whole city knew where the blue hero was. I hate when Sonic leaves me out of his adventures, Tails pouted, it makes me feel…useless. In fact he never really had that kind of recognition Sonic had, it took true leadership, which to him meant Sonic slipped on his solo mission. We're a duo, Tails pondered, and yet for the past month he's been going out and retrieving every Chaos emerald within his grasp, without even telling me. "Still no sign of Sonic, where is he?"

"Keep looking Tails," Amy said concerned, "he couldn't have gotten far with Eggman's depleting factories, keep trying." Tails knew Amy's concern about Sonic, and so did Chris and Cream, but at times Sonic didn't notice. Chris Thorndyke had been kind to give them a home, after theirs was left behind in a time rush.

"Will do, search for Sonic still on." Checking the readout on his search he found 0 confirmations on Sonic's whereabouts. Chris was probably at home bored out of his mind; and here I am doing search and rescue, Tails thought glumly, Chris should be here too, but his family is at what they call "jobs". Nothing came up on radar and worst his fuel gauge was running on empty. "Tails to group, report home, no good going on at night, continue on morning of Wednesday, Tails over and out." Turning the X Tornado around he flew back to the Thorndyke mansion to regroup. As he spotted the landing pad he saw Chuck Thorndyke, Chris's grandpa waiting.

"Didn't have any luck? Don't worry, if that hedgehog is as Chris elaborates, I'm sure he'll turn up by morning," Chuck said with a hopeful smile. Tails twirled to the ground and let Chris's grandpa lead him in. Stopping suddenly he felt his heart and leaned in the doorway. "Tails…go get help…"

"Sure Chuck…don't go anywhere now," Tails said nervously. The hospital was in town and he could reach there by late night, hopefully he'll still be here, he thought looking over his shoulder. His tails spun and he set off towards town. The town was in panic; more like the whole city. The townspeople were in panic, but at the sight of Sonic's sidekick they brimmed with hope. A black bot circled towards him and finished a blow to a burning building. Tails avoided the hurtling debris and flew faster to his destination. The crowd of people moaned as he left. The city was in ruin and Sonic's No #2 replacement, had left in a cowardly fashion. The black bot spotted a family huddling near a flaming car and took thunderous steps towards them fast.

"Hey mechanical dimwit, this isn't your town to mess with," a strong voice challenged. Standing before the black bot was a red colored echidna by the name of Knuckles. A huge black knuckle crashed to the ground and Knuckles grabbed hold as it flew up. "Eggman sure has a mechanical mind," Knuckles said as he was face to face with the crusher. Its eye plates were bright red and Knuckles knew that his time to act was now.

"Echidna; destroy the one called Knuckles, destroy the city!" Front flipping onto the head of the bot, Knuckles raised his fists and slammed them into its core memory. Electrical circuits buzzed and with a gentle wind's push, the bot fell into the building. Coughing as the smoke cleared, Knuckles found himself in an office building. No one is inside, he thought, what a relief.

"The friend of my enemy," an observer said. The observer hid in the shadows and his eyes never left the echidna. He was not good, but evil inside…and out. He watched as the echidna searched the building for those precious humans. "This is my challenge of the day-destroy Knuckles!" Stepping into the light it was revealed then that the observer was a hedgehog, but a dark colored one with a hidden motive. "None of them are here."

"Who-." Knuckles eyes flashed at first with recognition, then to horror. The speeding blur of darkness crashed into him and sent him out the window. The ground met him fast and instead of a handshake, he received a deadly bye. His ribs cracked and his body rolled in the debris until at last he lay before the crowd. His eyes were closing and his mouth wanted to say a few reassuring words to the kids. A creation…a clone, what did it mean? Trying to turn he felt a pain and tried to hold back his tears. He knew that life was short, just never expected it so soon. He couldn't fight the darkness any longer and his eyes closed.

Tails was far beyond the dark bot's reach now, and yet felt his job as a hero slip. The hospital was up ahead and Tails landed before the big doors. Rushing inside he yelled, "I need a doctor!" He was only 10 and was losing a friend, and the urgency of this quest couldn't fail…it mustn't fail.

"Well hello Miles," a doctor said. Tails didn't hide the surprise from his face as he heard his first name. The doctor was medium height with soft brown hair and brown caring eyes. Tails told the doctor about Chuck Thorndyke's condition and about the black bot terrorizing downtown. "Miles, the black bot was destroyed. After you left, Knuckles the echidna took care of him, but someone saw his victory and pushed him out a window. He has quite a few ribs broken and his left eye is hurt. About Chris's grandpa, where is he now?"

"Knuckles got hurt? He wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for my cowardness." The doctor led Tails to a seat and he put a comforting hand on his soft coat. "I'm sorry...just being here and Knuckles in there, makes me see my fault. Mr. Thorndyke was leaning against the door frame when I left, but…" The doctor rushed over to the phone and Tails got up.

"We need an ambulance at the Thorndyke's now!" Tails was about to leave when the doctor put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Stay here with Knuckles, Miles; Chuck always was a crazy man, I don't think he'd let death take him now."

"But…alright," Tails said in defeat. Tails dragged his feet into the emergency room where unconscious, Knuckles rested. His body was bandaged and his left eye was a shade of purple. Tails's blue eyes watered up with tears and he put his face on the bed. "I should've been there…I should have been the one facing that black bot, not you Knuckles."

"You had…your reasons," Knuckles said weakly. Tails's head came up and he smiled with relief as Knuckles woke up. "I heard about Chuck, don't worry…he's a fighter…a crazy one too." Tails began to ask him questions about Sonic, but the echidna was too drowsy to think. "Before I reached the city…I saw a big factory, one that wasn't touched by wildfires…or Sonic. I was surprised it wasn't destroyed, so I took a quick tour. The Chaos emerald was gone, but the evil Eggman was still there. He said that the hedgehog has caught a flu and should be lying around. I punched the lard in the belly before his security system came on."

"Sonics never had the flu," Tails said. Sonic has had a cold, Tails thought, but a flu is…to me a cover-up. "Knuckles, did Eggman say what caused the flu, before you knocked him on his butt?"

"Something about an invincible enemy, one that can cause much pain, in the beginning, but relief in the end." No sooner had it left his mouth that both heard the hidden enemy, and it was no flu. Tails began to get up and Knuckles lay there, not in any rush to leave his frozen position. "Go save Sonic."

"Alright, Sonic I'm coming," Tails said with purpose. As he ran down the white corridors he could hear the sound of his sneakers and his panicked breath. This time he had a mission, more important then fame, it was friendship.

Chris held his flashlight out and played the beam across the dark forest entrance. Somewhere in there was a hurt Sonic, and he had to put all his fears aside to rescue him. Taking a deep breath of fresh air he boldly went where not many 12 year olds went. Once inside the forest he was greeted by hoots and growls and the sound of rushing water. His teeth were chattering from the cold and his ears were assaulted by a low flying owl. "I'm not…afraid!" A pair of yellow eyes peered from the bushes and then a pair of black nails next. Chris didn't notice and cautiously stepped over the trap. In the next area he had to jump over a small lake that happened to have a green foamy form of a creature. "Hey, Sonic, where are you hiding pal?"

"Chris…" Chris's face expressed hope as he ran over to the garbage drain where a limp Sonic lay. Near him was a very wet Chaos emerald; even as Chris tended to his friend the thing in the lake started to rise. Its challenging roar was for its dinner…Sonic. Chris aimed his flashlight to it, but to no avail.

"Stay away you Chaos! If I have to…I'll use my secret weapon." What came out of the Chaos's mouth was mock laughter; it didn't slow its pace. The creature was standing its full height of 6'6 and it extended its 3ft long teeth. His hands shaking, Chris resorted to what he had; unscrewing the top of the flashlight he poured the batteries out; the creature was a nose length away, he then put the Chaos emerald in and screwed the top on. "I warned you, now face your fear!" A green beam poured out and enveloped the Chaos in a burning light. It slowly erupted in a design of pure horror with its chest burning to its core and its eyes died out. "Wow, a secret weapon," Chris said stunned.

"Chris…" Shaking off his fantasy he picked up Sonic and proceeded back to the entrance. It was now daylight and Chris figured his grandpa had returned to his lab by now. In their path was Eggman's lackeys Decoe and Bocue. Each held a tool; one was a wrench, the other a hammer. Sonic moaned from the pain.

"Dr.Eggman was right, he is dieing," Decoe said. Chris felt like a blow was done to his heart. In his hands was a sick hedgehog…and he should've known Eggman was responsible.

"But remember he said to finish the job," Bocue reminded him. As they advanced on Chris he tried one more attempt to revive his flashlight, darn no luck, he thought frustrated. Just then a loud roar was heard, as it drew closer the shape was an X, it was the X Tornado. Two beams flew to the ground and sent Bocue and Decoe tripping over one and the other as they headed back to the base. As the ramp lowered Tails came down. Chris was overjoyed to see Tails and ran up to the ramp and explained to Tails of his rescue and what Bocue and Decoe said. Tails absorbed this all in with acceptance.

"So Sonic is…dieing?" Tails piloted the ship off the ground, but his eyes were on the pale Sonic. Whatever was killing Sonic wasn't external, which meant it could be either a gas or bug that kicked him. "Chris…your grandpa is in the hospital."

"What, what did you say!" Tails stared out the window as he heard the pain in Chris's voice. First Chris's grandpa, then Knuckles, and now Sonic. Taking another look in the passenger area he could see many questions in Chris's eyes, but it seemed his voice was dry.

"He first looked nauseated, then he fell clutching his heart, I was scared. While going for help…I avoided a black bot that was tearing up the city. Knuckles picked up my mess and he ended up in the hospital too. Oh Chris, it's all my fault!" Sobbing at the controls he felt his heart weaken, probably it's my time too, Tails thought sadly. The X Tornado was spinning to the ground and crashed. It skipped across the lake and made a crash landing in the Thorndyke pool. "See, my fault again."

"It's ok Tails," Chris said, "grandpa has been feeling under the weather lately, we just noticed too late. If it wasn't for you, grandpa would be gone now, so what if a black bot is doing chaos, if it takes running away to save a friend's grandpa, I'd do it in a lick." Tails hugged Chris and the two made their way to the exit. Popping the hatch they were greeted by a flood of water that quickly filled the cabin. "Sonic!"

"I'll get him," a voice said from above. Chris looked up to see a large cat, it was Big! He held a fishing pole and was slowly lowering it to Sonic's pale form. Big reeled in his catch and lowered Sonic to the cement. "Need assistance?"

"No thanks Big, thanks anyway." Grabbing hold of Tails's hand he held on as they flew out, not a minute too soon either. Tails sealed the hatch and when he looked up he saw Amy Rose, Cream and Cheese, Lily, and Mr. Tanaka. It would've been a happy reunion, except for the wounded Sonic.

"Chris your grandpa is in the hospital," Mr. Tanaka told Chris, "the doctor told me he had a mild stroke. If Tails hadn't had passed up that robot…" Having said enough Mr. Tanaka went to Big and the two talked about fishing. Lily, the little blue bird companion of Amy, cheeped sadly for Sonic. It didn't make sense, why a poison? It was so simple, even for Eggman, and yet he sent Bocue and Decoe to finish the job at hand.

"Maybe the poison hasn't taken full effect yet," Tails said aloud, "maybe it's at its lowest point, just so it could kill its victim while paralyzed. If it was a Chaos beast, then that would mean the cure lies in the emerald. It just might work, but time…" The party knew what was before them, and knew for Sonic's sake and theirs…they would need to find a Chaos emerald; yet it had to be the opposite of the poisonous beast. "I have an idea, but you may not like it."

Authors note: Another cliff hanger, what can I say, it is an enjoyment because it keeps the reader on suspense about what is about to happen. Thanks for the reviews, and keep them coming. Ch.3 is underway, so catch you all later.