While Grandpa Chuck's lab was an epicenter of communication and organized chaos, the rest of the Thorndyke mansion was strangely quiet. For the rest of the world, very few people knew that the few Mobians who'd just left would determine the fate of both worlds. Most of the tension for this epic event, however, was to be found in one of the guest rooms.
Chris Thorndyke, having nothing to do but wait, decided to check on the only remaining guests, Sara and Blitz. As she'd been forced to stay behind, she'd logically been chosen to care for her cousin's infant son. The deep purple hedgehog with glittering green eyes seemed oblivious to the distress painted on his caretaker's face. Chris, however, knew the sad and helpless look Sara carried in her immersive brown eyes.
"Hey..." the human boy said in a soft tone, approaching the bed Sara was seated on. She said nothing as he took a seat next to her. "Umm..." He tried to think of something to say and focused on the babe she cradled in her arms. "He's getting big, isn't he?"
"...Yeah…." She stroked his quills lightly, giving attention to him as she often did to Maria.
Chris attempted a smile. "Amazing, isn't it? I didn't know you guys started out so small…." Sara gave a depressed sigh and his smile faded a bit. His tone turned a bit more serious, "It's going to be all right, Sara. I know it's already been said, but you should really be confident, you know? Shadow would want your support, right?"
Sara thought about it a minute and her hand froze as she finished smoothing out a loose quill. "I do...it's just...different from when I was on Mobius."
"Oh?" Chris hadn't heard her talk much about her past there. "I heard it's a really pretty place...Knothole, right? Sonic said he had friends there."
She nodded. "We all did. Well, not Shadow since he was born here, but..." An ear twitched lightly. "When Eggman would attack us, it was always Sonic who went to the front lines. We depended on him and supported him and...no matter how bad it got, it was okay because he came back." There was a long pause as she gathered her thoughts. "It never dawned on me that he might not come back, he has that kind of attitude...you just believe whatever he says."
Chris nodded, "I never doubted him when Eggman came here. He's always come back; don't you think Shadow will too? I don't know much about him, but he has that kind of spirit too."
"...I'm not so sure." She lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "After all of Eggman's attacks...Sonic just wouldn't quit, but..." she glanced over to the human who was hanging on her every word, "we weren't that close. I worried a lot more when Duo would get in on a fight...and he didn't come back 'til recently."
"Hey...come on, Sonic and the others have saved the world before, what makes this so different?" Chris queried, leaning back on his elbows.
"I don't know...I think I just realized how Sally felt..." She fished around for words to say. "She and Sonic were really close and she'd worry about him, even though she could fight. She has this...brilliant mind and was actually part of the plans, but she still worried..." She sighed. "Well, I'm like that...and I haven't had much of a chance to see Shadow return time and time again... Amy doesn't have to worry so much about Sonic, though, or fighting...she can defend herself, I can't. It's different...because I love Shadow so much, I don't want to lose him!" Her quills trembled slightly as she spoke.
"I know how you feel," Chris offered gently, her eyes shifting to him. "All the times I was in trouble and Sonic came to my rescue...I couldn't do anything. I kept thinking it was my fault or something, always being in danger." He smiled a bit, though. "But I guess it proved we were friends, though. It's hard to tell with someone like him who comes and goes like the wind if he's really paying attention." He laughed a bit, fixing his gaze on the baby. "I think that's why Amy was always so mad at him for running away."
"...And Shadow?" Sara seemed a little bit more at ease, scratching Blitz behind the ears.
"Ahh, you don't have to worry about him." He smiled confidently. "He's already come back to you once, right? He looks a bit uncomfortable around others, but not you. He's definitely coming back."
Sara smiled. "Thanks…."
Chris nodded. "I mean it, though. You make him smile, and he's doing his best for you...I'm doing my best too." He caught her confused look. "Well...I'm like you…. There's not really anything I can do...I can't fight or run machines, heck, I only just got my temp driver's license...but I figured I could help somehow."
"...How?" Sara sat up, shifting the baby in her arms.
"Looking out for you." He gave a smile that really matched his uncle Sam's. "And Blitz." He reached his hand for the baby and gave his exposed soft belly a light tickling, causing fits of laughter from the baby.
A smile spread across Sara's lips. "Now I see why Sonic likes you, you're so hopeful." She handed the wriggling baby to the human, momentarily forgetting the stress she'd been under. "When Shadow gets back, we're going to start hanging around more..."
"Oh?" Chris never minded guests, especially his Mobian friends.
Sara nodded. "Yeah, I think he needs to get to know people like you. I can't be the only one who makes him smile, right?" A peaceful smile came over the two as a stronger friendship was forged.
"Yeah. I'd like that," Chris returned.
The weather was only slightly more favorable as Tails' biplane headed for Needle Canyon, a wide open space with spire-like rock formations framing it. It was out in the middle of nowhere even by Mobian standards; a perfect place to conceal an army. At least there was no lightning; the young vulpine still had a problem with that.
"Sorry about this!" he called to his passengers. "Without a Chaos Emerald, the X-Tornado just won't run!"
"Ahh! Don't worry about it!" Knuckles replied, though he'd been given the passenger's seat instead of Shadow.
The darkened hedgehog had taken up Sonic's usual place on top of the wings. It rather suited him, as he felt the wind whip through his quills and the rain lash at him. His body wasn't near ready to quit, and it just helped prepare him for the task at hand.
"Oi! Shadow! You all right up there?" Knuckles called after he gave Tails no reply.
"Yes!" he said loud enough that the two could hear him. It was funny, returning to battle; he'd forgotten about any bruised flesh or cracked ribs, and it was even kind of invigorating. Maybe it's being here that's done it... He glanced around the Mobian landscape, what of it he could see. It was the home world of the Chaos Emeralds after all, and the whole place had a feel to it that just didn't compare to Earth. The emeralds must have made the link between the two planets in the past; how else could he have been so truly Mobian?
"Hey, guys! There's something else I have to tell you!" Tails piped up, "It's just...Eggman might not be our enemy!"
"What?!" Knuckles snapped. "All the times he's tricked me? The fact he's massing an army? And he's not our enemy? Tails...!"
The two-tailed fox continued undaunted, "I know! But I mean...the more emeralds he's collected, the more stable the dimensional shift has been. At this rate, Mobius and Earth really could merge safely!"
"So we leave the machines alone, that what you're saying?" Shadow's calm tone was almost lost to wind and rain.
"Yeah! Does us no good to beat Eggman and have the world destroyed," Tails replied. His sensors were starting to detect Eggman's floating armada; that would be his first real combat test with the retooled aircraft. Of course, he constantly tinkered with his machines even after they were "complete."
"Does Sonic know that where he's headed?" Shadow's tone was less than trusting.
"Yeah! He should...Uncle Chuck set up communications before we left," Tails said, warning lights starting to blink in front of him. "Hang on!" Afterburners on the biplane sprang to life, the vehicle speeding ahead at a doubled pace. Though it had jostled Knuckles into a heightened state of alertness, it did nothing to Shadow, who merely braced himself for evasive maneuvers.
The future's path was a bright one as Sonic blazed through the forest followed by his two female companions. Despite the brisk pace, it was relaxed for him. He stole a glance back at Amy to his left; he could run backwards a while and stare, but he knew she'd scold him for not taking things seriously. Of course he seriously enjoyed seeing her wear something other than a red dress, and the V-neck on her shirt amplified her bosom in a favorable way. She was practicing a few flips and twirls on the board, which Sonic was mildly impressed with. "Still got it?" he called back to her.
"Of course!" Amy glanced to Blaze, who was understandably having a more difficult time. She'd never been on an Extreme Gear, aside the brief bike ride with Shadow, and adjusting to skating from her usual runs was difficult to say the least.
"I...I'm getting the hang of it I think...!" Blaze fretted; she was worried about Silver. He'd been her friend and aid in a world where the skills of the psychokinetic far outnumbered a pyrokinetic like herself. It was probably her bloodline that had demanded any amount of respect, but it came with few real friends. She just knew she couldn't afford to lose him. She looked up, and Sonic was no longer running ahead of her. "Wha?!"
Sonic's hands were suddenly holding the cat's sides in a steadying fashion, "You're thinking about it too much! Just let it flow," he encouraged.
"Ahh... Thanks, I think…." Blaze stumbled a bit, however.
Sonic sighed, "Come on! Sorry it has to be a crash course, but you can do it!" Sonic smiled. Amy was rolling her eyes and giving her mate a slightly acidic look. He made a face back at her, which Blaze didn't catch. "How's your ankle?"
"...Fine, patched well enough for this…." Blaze was released by the blue hedgehog and glided along at a still somewhat unsteady pace.
Amy flew in close to the lavender cat. "Don't listen to him, he's a horrible teacher!" She sighed as Sonic sprinted ahead, bounding off trees and lush foliage. "It's like dancing, you just have to get into a good rhythm." She did a 360 on the Pink Rose as a demonstration.
"You aren't afraid of heights?" Blaze mustered her courage and used a wide tree trunk as a launching pad. The air gauge on her Ex Gears rose slightly.
"No," Amy replied simply, finally grasping that the Ex Gear itself might not be her problem. "Look straight ahead! Don't think about where your feet are, okay? Just trust every step," Amy encouraged, wheeling about on her gear in a much more flashy way. She raced ahead of the feline, hoping she would follow.
It worked. Blaze swallowed her fears and followed the pink hedgehog in her path. Jumping, flying, wheeling, she copied her teacher's steps, always with her eyes ahead. A kind of rush surged through her at the feeling of flight she experienced with every trick she pulled with the gears. Maybe when this was all over, she'd have to bring them back, though most psychokinetics had no need of such things.
"Good goin', Blaze!" Sonic smiled as he caught up to the girls.
"Sonic! Where did you run off to?" Amy scolded.
"Ahh...just watching you two." His smile broadened. His eyes caught a flash in the distance and the smile shrank back a bit. "I think we have company...look sharp!"
Amy and Blaze tensed as they caught the slight glint of metal as well. "Mecha 3..." Blaze said in a hushed tone.
Okay, where are you? Sonic's eyes shifted over the scenery, which was blurred to a normal eye traveling at his speeds. Branches, dirt, and stone were trampled under his feet, which barely seemed to touch the ground. His senses were on high alert, and being the one to carry the future's red emerald, he had to be.
"AAAHHH!" Amy's scream came from behind him. As he made his quick U-turn he was forced to duck under the flying Ex Eear she'd been riding moments before.
"Hang on!" Sonic shouted, though his eyes quickly caught hold of Metal 3, whose long metal fingers curled around her delicate neck. His quills bristled at the sight of her flesh and bloody fingers trying to pry his cold metal fingers away in desperation. Eggman's robots weren't known for using ploys like this unless instructed to, but this was Nega he was dealing with, and it just dawned on him he might be playing with a crueler set of rules.
"Stay back," Metal ordered, fixing his red glowing optics on the speedy blue one. He and Amy were still in motion until her quills wedged painfully up against a thick tree and he held her there. She couldn't let go or risk choking to death, a grim game indeed. His sensors detected her heart beat, her biorhythms every bit as much as Sonic and the glowing gemstone in his quills. "So we have a reason to fight after all. This time, though, I am allowed to kill you," he said in a dispassionate tone as Sonic came to a halt at his words.
"Let go of Amy!" Sonic said in his bravest and most demanding tone. The fear etched in his vitals did not impress the metal assailant, who seemed to be enjoying himself. His body tensed as he searched for a way to release her before Metal could do any harm, but he was coming up blank.
"Amy? Yes. That is this one's name, isn't it? What is a name, though? Your classifications are the same…. Both hedgehogs, both flesh, both weak." His hand pressed more firmly against her windpipe, causing the female hedgehog to gasp for breath. "And you're angry undoubtedly."
Sonic growled in contempt. "Damn straight…. Now let her go!"
"Hmmm...I don't know." Metal's tone held a bit of curiosity to it. "Nega said I could play with you." There was a delicious amount of malice in his mechanical tones, something wholly unwholesome. "I could ask you for the emerald in exchange for her life, but then we wouldn't be able to play, would we? I would lose all purpose for our fight. That is the objective after all. Then again, I am allowed my own prerogatives, so it doesn't matter when I take the emerald from you. Over your dead body would be more enjoyable I think..."
Sonic made a movement toward the robot, met with a pained squeal from Amy. "Not so fast," Metal continued casually; one of his knifelike fingertips was piercing Amy's abdomen just enough to draw blood. "I said I wanted to play. I think I need to beat you at full power, so I need to make you angry." He hadn't moved, but Sonic knew the blade had just dug deeper into her flesh. "I suppose if I play with her enough, one of two things will happen...I'll anger you enough to act, or I will break your spirit before I snap your neck like a twig."
"I'll give you the damn emerald! Just let her go!" Sonic growled. A slight breeze whipped by the pair as he spoke in anger.
"Sonic...don't!" She coughed. "I...I'll be fine!" If only she could focus enough, the hammer of legend she summoned from nothing could appear. It was her only hope to escape, she felt, but to let go meant a grave risk if she failed.
"Oh, it's not you I'm trying to kill..." his tone became quite sinister. "I wonder if he even knows about the small collection of cells in your uterus?" he said, addressing Amy.
Sonic's eyes shot wide as tears formed in Amy's eyes. He had no idea she was... "BACK OFF, YOU MONSTER!!" Blaze's tone interrupted as a fiery tornado slammed into the robot's side. Since Mecha 3 had turned to Sonic, his advanced sensors gave no warning of the oncoming whirlwind.
"Amy!" Sonic quickly went to grab the precious pink bundle that slipped from the tree now that nothing supported her, relieved of the crushing grip around her neck. "Oh Amy…." He held her tight as Blaze engaged his metal counterpart in combat.
"I'm sorry...I knew you wouldn't let me come if you knew I was..." Amy trailed off.
"Go get your board, we have a monster to take care of first. We'll talk later." Sonic's green eyes glinted fiercely as he let her down on the ground gently. "Heh...afraid of heights my ass." He glanced overhead as the two combatants flew higher under the fiery siege. Blaze's hands were on fire, an inferno which carried her skyward swiftly at the metal abomination. Sonic's hand reached back to his quills, drawing from it the crimson gemstone he carried. In a strangely calm way the shout went out, "Chaos...CONTROL!"