"Two emeralds..." Sonic grumbled. "While this is not too bad, that still leaves 5 others... and Eggman has already two of them!"
"That's not the only problem," Knuckles added. "While we were searching, he already may have found more, and with every emerald he gets, Chaos is getting stronger. So it's also a race against time."
"Doesn't matter," Makoto said confidently. "We defeated Beryl, and she was insanely powerful. We can also defeat some slimy water monster like Chaos."
They were on their way to the Prower siblings' workshop. While Ami was helping her friends, Tails had been working on the Tornado, along with a special 'surprise' for the Senshi. He should have finished by now, Ami said.
But when they passed the lake at the Mystic Ruins, an all-too-familiar laugh echoed down from the air.
"Hahahahaha," Eggman laughed while descending in his Eggmobile. "We meet again, my friends... I guess you have collected some emeralds as well did you? Give them to me!"
"No way!" Usagi shouted. "You just want to do evil things with them. And I can't allow that! In the name of the moon, I'm going to punish you!"
"Well, too bad, 'Sailor Hedgehog'! Here I thought we could be friends. But, if you don't like me, perhaps I should let you play with an old friend of yours... Come forth, Beta!"
And descending from the skies, carried by an attached Jet Booster, came the white robot displaying the number E-101.
"E-101-Beta ready for battle instructions!" ('What do you want THIS time, you egg-head?')
The doctor smirked. "Metal Sonic told me who your little friends are. I believe this one was once a white cat, belonging to the Senshi named... Sailor Venus! Isn't that right?"
"No..." Minako said in a small voice after realizing the truth. "Not Artemis..."
"Correct, little bat," Eggman snickered. "Now, do you want to fight your own little pet? You might be able to beat him, but I cannot exactly guarantee for his safety if you destroy his robotic shell. E-101-Beta, lock-on to the blonde bat!"
"Aye aye, sir! Battle preparations complete! Prepare for firing rocket launcher!" ('Fine, you slimeball! But believe me, I'll somehow get you for this! I'm sorry, Minako...')
They all could see the red laser pointer on Minako's forehead. A direct hit with a rocket, even a small one, at this distance, would cause more then a headache.
"Well, what should it be?" Eggman asked. "The emeralds... or some mashed Senshi?"
"Damn you, Eggman," Sonic yelled. "Your tricks get dirtier day-to-day! Get down here so I can kick your bloated butt!"
His eternal archenemy grinned. "Flattery will get you nowhere, my honorable adversary. You have 3 seconds to decide. One..."
"Usagi, don't think about me," Minako shouted. "He can't be allowed to get the Chaos Emeralds!"
Usagi's gaze switched from Minako to E-101-Beta, from Eggman to the Chaos Emeralds in her hands.
"Two..."
"I'll do it!" she screamed. "I'll give you the emeralds, but please don't hurt Mina-chan!"
Eggman chuckled. "Good girl! Throw them to the ground!" She did as he said, and a green beam came out of the underside of his vessel, transporting them into his cockpit. He held them up and smiled. "I'll show you that even guys like me have a sense of honor... E-101-Beta, abort launch!"
The robot lowered its weapon and switched off the tracking device. "Affirmative!" ('Thank goodness...')
Eggman raised his arms with the emerald. "Come, Chaos! It's time to eat!" And after the water demon appeared, he threw him the two emeralds, which he absorbed.
After his transformation, Chaos resembled a giant shark floating in the air. He was as big as a hammerhead shark, but he kept the green, glowing eyes he had in every form. With 4 emeralds, his power must have doubled since his last transformation.
"And now..." Eggman gestured towards them. "Kill them all!"
"What?" Usagi nearly cried. "But you said you would let us live!"
"I didn't say that," the doctor told her maliciously. "I only said Beta wouldn't turn your friend's head into mashed potatoes... I never said anything about Chaos, though. Have fun, while I'm getting back to my flying fortress... the Egg Carrier!"
And while Chaos roared and flew in front of the Eggmobile, a giant shape appeared behind the mountains... an enormous flying battleship, bearing the emblem of Eggman! It was the Egg Carrier!
----
In the end, they won. Chaos was a fearsome beast, but in the end, they could overwhelm him by simply outnumbering him. But what he managed to do was shielding Eggman's escape, so he and Beta could reach the Egg Carrier without being stopped by Sonic, Knuckles or the Senshi.
After his defeat, Chaos simply merged with the nearby lake's water to escape.
They all looked up into the sky, to the retreating form of the Egg Carrier.
"We can't let him get away with it, right?" Sonic said. "So I say we get back to Tails' workshop and follow him with the Tornado!"
"Good idea," Minako nodded. "Even though I hope Tails has finished it by now..."
"You guys go on without me," Knuckles said suddenly. "After all, we won't be able to fly in that thing at once, right? Besides, there are still some Master Emerald shards that wait for me to be collected."
Rei sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, he's right! I think I will join him as usual... If you guys manage to get on that ship, give Eggman some pounding from me, okay?"
Minako nodded. "You got it!" And while the two echidnas left towards their fallen island, the others hurried back to the workshop.
----
"Tails!" Sonic shouted as he barged in. "You better have the Tornado ready, we need to follow Eggman!"
"I just finished my work, Sonic," the fox-boy said proudly. "And that's not all: I also managed to build something for Usagi and her friends. Ta-daah! I present to you: The Moon Jet!"
The Senshi just gaped at the aerodynamical plane that was standing in the middle of the hangar. It was sleek, looked powerful and was a gleaming white. On its wings, motives like a crescent moon and a black cat were being painted. "Ami designed the motives," Tails explained while gesturing towards his sister. "It's even faster than the Tornado, and there are three seats. Ami also constructed some special guns which would be able to concentrate your attack powers. You can use them to lock on easily to any flying objects or enemies."
Minako grinned. "Awesome! Ami, you really are a genius, but this... you have your cool side, after all!"
Ami didn't know if she should be offended or pleased, so she just blushed.
"Now let's hurry up," Sonic shouted. "Or Eggman will get away!"
"Roger," Tails nodded. "I think I should take control of the Tornado, while Sonic can sit behind me. I'm afraid that the Moon Jet doesn't provide enough space for everyone of you all though..."
"It's okay," Ami said. "I'll stay behind this time. You three do fine without me."
"You will get your chance for action the next time, Ami," Makoto said. "It's a promise!"
Usagi sat down in the pilot seat, while Makoto and Minako manned the gunner seats.
"You know how to fly an aircraft?" Makoto asked Usagi in a surprised voice.
"Well, kinda," the moon princess said in a sheepish voice. "Shingo always lets me play with his video games, and I realized I'm pretty good with those flight simulator games."
Tails and Sonic already had jumped into the Tornado, while Ami opened the hangar doors.
"All right, everyone ready?" Sonic asked. "Time to blast away!"
The engines of the two aircrafts came to life with deafening roars, while they began rolling over the maneuvering area Tails had constructed behind his workshop. While the Tornado ascended smoothly, Usagi got a little nervous as she gripped the joystick.
But she quickly got the hang of it, and only seconds later, the Moon Jet soared up into the blue sky.
"Up, up and away," Minako shouted.
"To boldly go where no rabbit has gone before," Makoto added.
"To Infinity and Beyond," Usagi whooped.
Well, let's just hope they fastened their seat belts.
----
The two airplanes swooshed through the blue sky, their pilots always keeping an eye on the massive form of the Egg Carrier.
"Watch out," Tails told the Senshi per radio. "Eggman's sending out some jet fighters. Don't hesitate to shoot them down, they're only manned by robots."
"Here they come," shouted Makoto and got ready to use her guns.
And the battle was on. Sonic used the Tornado's machine gun and lock-on-missiles to blast the jets from the sky, and Minako and Makoto used their magical attacks, firing them with the help of the special cannons: "Crescent Beam!" "Supreme Thunder!"
Then they reached the Egg Carrier, but got no chance of landing, because of the assault of the fighters. On top of that, there were multiple turrets on the Egg Carrier's surface shooting at them as well.
"Use the new lock-on-system," Tails told his friend. "Try to shoot three of them down at once!"
"Right," Sonic shouted and did as he was told.
Meanwhile, Venus came up with a smart way of getting rid of some chasers. "Venus Love-me-Chain!" Her chain of shining hearts wrapped itself around one turret on the Carrier's surface, while they other end attached itself to one of the following jets. Now connected to the turret, the jet had no choice but to fly around it in circles, wrapping the chain even closer to the turret. Finally, it collided with the turret, and both of the weapons were destroyed.
----
On the bridge of the Egg Carrier, Eggman was smoothing his mustache with his fingers. "Those kids... they're nothing but a nuisance!"
"Shall I go outside to take care of them?" Metal Sonic asked with gleaming eyes. But the doctor shook his head. "No need for that! I have everything under control..." He lowered some kind of complex periscope and looked through it. Before his eyes, he could see the air battle. He kept his eyes especially on one certain red plane, manned by a two-tailed fox and a blue hedgehog...
"Now I have you where I want you," he chuckled. He raised a finger. "Metal Sonic, get the cannon ready..."
The robotic hedgehog nodded and went to his post.
"Three... two... one... FIRE!"
----
Sonic already had a bad feeling when the front of the Egg Carrier opened up to reveal a big, circular object hidden underneath.
And when he saw the broad laser beam being shot out of the cannon, he had only time to yell: "Look out..." But it was too late.
Any jet fighter that was between them and the cannon got instantly obliterated. Tails tried to dodge, but still the laser hit the side of the Tornado, ripping off one wing and half of the landing gear.
"We're hit!" Sonic shouted. "Tails, are there any parachutes in here?"
Tails sweat-dropped. "I knew I forgot something..."
And then, the plane plummeted down towards Earth, wildly spinning around. Sonic had to hold on tightly to not being thrown out of his seat.
"Oh no," Minako shouted. "Sonic and Tails are hit. They're falling..."
"Quick, we have to try to catch them," Usagi shouted and turned around the Moon Jet. "We have to catch Eggman some other time."
When they turned around, the remaining jet fighters stopped their pursuit and returned to the Egg Carrier.
When Tails saw the Moon Jet descending, he said: "Sonic! Try to jump over to the Senshi's plane! I'll try to get away using my tails."
"You'll be okay, buddy?" Sonic asked in a worried tone.
"No problem," Tails assured him. "Besides, there's no way they would have enough space for two of us."
"All right," Sonic nodded. "See ya on the ground, Tails!"
Tails twirled his tails and flew up into the air, thereby abandoning the pilot's seat. Sonic looked down nervously. He could see the outskirts of Station Square, and closer than he would have preferred.
As the Moon Jet came flying underneath the plummeting Tornado, Sonic concentrated. It was now or never!
He jumped out of his seat, almost got hit by the spinning wing of the Tornado, fell towards the Moon Jet and grabbed Makoto's hand in the last second. While Minako and Makoto pulled him to safety, Usagi steered the jet around to avoid being crashed by the Tornado.
From above, Tails watched as the airplane crashed down to Earth. "Too bad," he sighed. "The Tornado was one of my greatest inventions..." But then, a stiff breeze caught him and blew him away from the others.
"Whoa," Tails cried. "Nonono! Back there, back there!"
But the wind was never known to listen for anyone's pleads, so it continued blowing the little fox away from his friends. Back towards the Mystic Ruins.
----
Hotaru Robotnik was bored. She hated it to stay at home, while her daddy was out again, trying to take over the world. And the only company she had were robots of various intelligence... dumb or even dumber. The only interesting dialog partner was Metal Sonic, only he wasn't exactly a nice guy.
Besides, he wasn't here either...
And while Hotaru could be a good girl, she rarely was patient. A trait she inherited from her father...
And so, she got out of her room and decided to leave for a walk.
Some Eggpawns were guarding the main entrance to the Final Egg. They blocked Hotaru's way with their spears. "Passing here is prohibited," they said in their monotone voices.
Hotaru groaned. Then she thought of something. Smirking, she put her hands on her hips. "Do you know who I AM? I am the daughter of your creator! Therefore, I am a Robotnik as well! And I COMMAND you to let me pass!"
The two Eggpawns looked at each other while their simple computer minds tried to process this information.
"Primary directive... Robotnik is our master! Every command he gives has to be followed. Please, master... go on through!"
Hotaru giggled. That was too easy. "Thank you!" she simply said as she walked outside.
The base was situated deep in the jungle, but the local wildlife was pretty tame around here. Maybe it was because they were afraid of Eggman's machines.
Hotaru followed the muddy path that was leading through the jungle. She remembered when her father came here for the first time and decided to build a base. His robots constructed the hideout in less than two days at the bottom of the deep canyon and connected it to the upper cliff with a bridge that lead to the base's central tower. In there, an elevator would allow every person to descend to the main entrance. From there on, only the doctor and his very few followers would be allowed to proceed. Everyone else would be attacked by the guard robots.
By now Hotaru had reached the river. There was no bridge, but the river itself was very small and shallow. She could easily cross it by using several stepstones.
Suddenly, something big and green jumped out of the water and sat down on a rock. It was a frog, but it was the strangest frog Hotaru had ever seen. It was as big as a cat, and the strangest thing was: It had a tail! The frog looked directly at her.
Hotaru smiled. "Hey there, little guy! How are you? My name's Hotaru! Wanna be friends?"
The frog didn't even croak a response. He just turned around and jumped to the other side of the river. Afterwards, he hopped further into the jungle.
"Wait," Hotaru shouted and hopped over the river herself. Then, she ran in the direction the green amphibian had taken. "Where did you go?" she shouted and looked around. She heard a croak and followed it.
Finally, she entered a clearing. There was nothing here, except for many leaves that had fallen from the trees. The frog was sitting on the ground next to a big pile of leaves.
Hotaru smirked. "Gotcha!" And she jumped towards him, trying to catch him by his tail.
But he jumped away in time and vanished into the jungle. Hotaru fell onto the ground, right into the middle of the leaf pile. The leaves were flying everywhere and covered Hotaru's head and back. She spit some out that entered her mouth. "Well, that was stupid, Hotaru..."
Then her hands grasped something solid underneath the leaves. It felt hard and heavy. She grabbed it and pulled it out.
It was a big, shiny gem, as green as the leaves themselves.
Hotaru smiled. "Pretty!" And she stuffed the green Chaos Emerald into her pocket.
----
The frog watched her from the bushes. It's croaking somehow resembled a sinister snicker. The tail couldn't get back to its master on its own, so it simply merged with that green creature. The Chaos Emerald contained the powers of its master, so it had to take it along as well. But its host body was far too weak to carry it. So why not use that girl to carry it?
For a tail, it was pretty smart...
----
Somewhere else, another big creature was searching for something.
"Yoohoo," it called. "Froggy! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
Big the Cat was tired and sat down on the stairs of the Station Square train station. "Oh man, where could my polliwog pal be, anyway?"
"Excuse me, sir, but have you lost something?" a sweet voice asked.
Big turned around his head. A young rabbit girl was glancing up at him, a smile on her face. Around her head, a small blue... something was circling.
"I'm trying to find my lil' buddy," Big said in his slow voice. "But he's gone! How I miss my Froggy..."
"If you like, I'll help searching," the little girl replied. "My name is Cream, and this is Cheese! And you are...?"
"Um... the name's Big! I'm a cat!"
Cream smiled. "Very nice to meet you, Mr. Big!"
----
The little two-tailed fox-boy was happily walking through the forest, when suddenly, he saw something blue shoot past him.
Surprised, the boy saw a blue hedgehog, zipping around the tree at an astounding speed. That was incredible. He had to try it, too.
But no matter how hard the little fox tried, he was never nearly as fast as the hedgehog. Finally, he tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground. He sniffed and was almost ready to burst into tears, when suddenly, a gloved hand reached out to help him up.
"Careful there, little guy," the hedgehog said while smiling at him. "Don't try to run faster than you can. When I was your age, I wasn't really much faster than you. I managed to reach this velocity with years of hard training... and special sneakers." Grinning, he gestured towards his cool shoes.
From that day on, the little fox-boy decided to train hard so that one day, he would be as fast as the blue hedgehog, who became his idol.
But no matter how hard the little fox tried, his new friend was always faster. Finally, Tails had enough, and during a friendly race, he began twirling around his tails in desperation. To his astonishment, this caused him to be propelled forward much faster then before. And while he never managed to outrun his hedgehog friend, he always was able to keep up with him.
----
Tails opened his eyes. "Miles, are you awake?" a concerned voice asked him.
The young fox shook his head as he saw his sister's face. "I'm fine, Ami. And please, don't call me Miles, okay? I always imagine Mom is around when I hear it."
Ami giggled. "Sorry, Tails! I'll remember it."
Tails sighed. "Wow, that dream I just had brought back memories..."
"What dream?" his blue-furred sister asked curiously.
"I dreamt about my first encounter with Sonic. I owe so much to him..."
Ami smiled. Her brother's friendship to that hedgehog must be similar to the friendship between her and the other Senshi.
"I found you outside, unconscious," Ami explained. "What happened? Where are the others?"
And Tails told Ami about their unsuccessful assault on the Egg Carrier.
Ami began thinking. "Hmmm, looks like the Tornado was not powerful enough."
Tails nodded. "Yep, that's what I thought as well. I think the best solution would be to finish my prototype... but for that, I need a Chaos Emerald."
"Then I suppose we should take a look around, right?" Ami said.
----
Hotaru was still following the frog through the jungle. "Where are you going?" she shouted. "I only want to play with you."
But the frog didn't stop. He only stayed close enough that she wouldn't lose him. But once she saw him again, he hopped away.
Hotaru didn't realize it, but the frog chase brought them closer and closer to the little desert valley that was situated next to the jungle. She only realized that the ground beneath her feet got more and more sandy, and suddenly, she was walking through a narrow chasm between two high cliffs. And then, the ground became steeper and steeper, until finally, she slipped and rolled down the sand hill.
She shook her head and looked up. The frog was sitting right in front of her. She smiled. "There you are!"
Suddenly, the ground under them began shaking. Without a warning, something big made from stone erupted from beneath the earth and took them with it, up into the air.
Hotaru screamed as she realized what it was: One of the giant stone snakes that lived in this desert. Moving around by unknown magical powers, they were the remains of an ancient civilization.
She quickly grabbed the frog so he wouldn't be in danger, stuffed him into her pocket and held on for dear life.
----
Ami and Tails were walking through the jungle, searching for a clue leading them to an emerald.
"Man, these jungle paths are really confusing," moaned Tails and they rested for a while. "Why are there so many junctions and cross-ways?"
Ami shrugged. "No idea. Ask the people that made the paths." She looked up. They were standing near the western cliffs, separating the jungle from the desert. It was hot, and they were panting.
All of a sudden, they heard a scream coming from Sand Hill. They looked at each other, then ran towards the path leading to the desert.
They just arrived in time to see a young human girl with violet hair riding an enormous stone serpent... and it looked like she didn't do it willingly.
"We have to save her," Tails shouted. "But... how?"
"Well, what would Sonic do in this situation?" Ami asked.
"Um... dunno! I guess he would just grab a snowboard and slide across the sand."
Ami nodded. "Yes, that's what I thought as well. Good luck I prepared for such a case when we had to think like him." And she pulled out two strange, metal plates. She pressed on two buttons, and extensions came out of both sides, turning the plates into something resembling a snowboard.
The snake by now had pulled its whole body out of the sand, and began slithering down the hill... with an enormous speed. The girl seemingly was too scared to just jump off.
"After her," Ami shouted as she threw her brother one of the boards and jumped on the other one. Tails nodded and did the same. And they began sliding down the Sand Hill, in hot pursuit of the stone snake.
Tails and Ami dashed down the sandy slopes, trying to catch up with the snake. But while the enormous rock creature could just smash every obstacle that was in its way, they had to dodge all the rocks, cacti and whatsoever.
Tails decided it was time for a desperate move.
"Watch out," he shouted to his sister. "I'm going to try something!"
"Okay, just don't try to be too brave, you hear?" Ami responded.
Tails steered his board over to a rocky ledge that looked like a ramp. With skill, he jumped on it, slid along its length, and when he reached its tip, he did an enormous spin-jump towards the snake. He landed on its body, glided along it, grabbed the surprised girl, reached the monster's head and jumped into the air, just as it was going to snap at him with its mouth.
He used his propeller tails to safely land on the ground, while the snake continued slithering downwards. He skidded to a stop and put down the trembling girl.
Ami zipped towards them and braked. "Wow, Tails! Good job! I think Sonic is a good influence, after all."
Tails laughed bashfully.
Only then did he recognize the girl he just saved. "Hotaru?"
The girl looked up and smiled. "Tails! So it was you, huh? I knew it would be handy to have such a good friend of yours. You just saved us in time."
"Us?"
Hotaru pulled the frog out of her pocket. "I was following this little guy here, when suddenly, this huge snake appeared."
"Is she a friend of yours, bro?" Ami asked.
Tails nodded. "Um, yes! Hotaru, this is my little sister, Ami Prower! Ami, this is..."
The violet-haired girl bowed. "Hotaru Robotnik! Nice to meet you!"
Ami blinked. "Wait a minute... Did you just say ROBOTNIK?"
"Yes!" Hotaru looked down. "Dr. Ivo Robotnik is my father..."
Ami gaped at her brother. "And she... is your friend?"
"I know what you're thinking, sis... But don't worry! Hotaru isn't anything like her father. She's the sweetest person you could ever imagine... Well, right after Cream, of course!"
Hotaru, who had met Cream once, smiled. "Yes, nothing surpasses the cuteness of a little bunny." They all laughed.
"But how did you get here, Hotaru?" Tails wanted to know. Hotaru sighed. "After Daddy left with his Egg Carrier, I was all alone on the base... Well, alone with all the robots. And I was so bored... Daddy never has time for me. Always going to take over the world..."
Ami smiled. "Must be hard with a father like that, huh?"
Hotaru nodded. "That's right! But... I love him, in spite of everything. He is my father, after all... And when he has the time, he's taking good care of me."
Ami shook her head. "Dr. Eggman, a loving father... Who would have thought it."
Suddenly, a gleaming ball of light came floating out of nowhere and surrounded them all with a bright flash.
----
They looked around. They were standing in a deep valley, as before, but there were no sand or rocks anywhere. It was green and lush, and a stone bridge was leading over a deep river. And nearby, they could see a strange building... "I thought we were in the desert," Ami said. "What's this place?"
Tails looked at the big shrine-like building near them. "Well, it looks familiar somehow..."
Then he gasped as he saw what was lying on top of this shrine. "The... Master Emerald! But... how? I thought it was in pieces!"
Hotaru pointed to the pillars surrounding the shrine. "Look at that! These stones... they look just like this green one I found."
And indeed, resting on the pillars were the seven Chaos Emeralds, every single one of them.
Tails looked at the green one in Hotaru's hand and back to its counterpart on the pillar. "That's crazy," he murmured. "There can't be more than 7 Chaos Emeralds."
"Wait, I hear someone coming," Ami whispered.
Across the bridge, a young, orange-furred echidna girl came running. She looked at the shrine and gasped. Then, small shapes came out of the surrounding bushes. They were blue, cute and had floating yellow dots over their teardrop-shaped heads.
"You're the... Chao!" the girl said in amazement. The little creatures seemed to be nervous around her, though.
"Don't be afraid," she said. "You're safe with me!"
Careful, the Chao approached her. The echidna girl smiled and scooped one of them up in her arms. The little guy smiled happily and cuddled into her embrace.
Suddenly, a strange, gurgling sound came from the water basin surrounding the shrine. Startled, Tikal looked over to the shrine.
And just as something rose out of the water, another bright flash surrounded Tails, Ami and Hotaru...
----
When they opened their eyes, they were standing at the Mystic Ruins, in front of Tails' workshop. "How did we get here?" Ami wondered. "Doesn't make any sense..."
"I wonder who that girl was..." Tails mumbled. "Perhaps... we all had a vision?"
"Could be," Ami said. "But that doesn't explain how we got transported from the desert to the workshop.
"Oh, little froggy," Hotaru shouted, as the green amphibian slipped out of her grasp. He hopped away. She sighed. "Well, I guess he didn't want to play after all."
Tails looked at his human friend. "Hotaru, may I have a look at that emerald?"
"Um, sure," she said. "Here, you can have it!"
Tails examined the jewel and nodded. "Yes, definitely a Chaos Emerald! Well, at least we now have something to power up my new plane!"
Ami smiled. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's finish your great invention!"
They looked at Hotaru. "Do you wanna come along, Hotaru?" Ami asked.
She nodded. "Sure!"