Sonic appeared back in the flooded Station Square, next to his friends. In their eyes, it looked as if he had vanished only for a few seconds.
"You see, Sonic," Tikal told him. "The best way would not be to kill Chaos, or just to trap him back in the Master Emerald... you should be able to neutralize his anger and his powers by using the positive powers of the emeralds... for you see, Chaos only used their negative powers."
"She's right," Sailor Moon added. "I would have to use the Silver Crystal and all my strength to banish Chaos, but only the power of the Chaos Emeralds can turn him back into his old self."
"You can do it, Sonic," Amy cheered.
And from all over the surrounding buildings, Sonic could hear the shouts of the people who had climbed there to avoid Chaos' flood.
"Yeah, Sonic! Sonic! Sonic! Sonic! Sonic!"
Sonic closed his eyes and concentrated on positive feelings... on the feelings he had for his friends... and for Amy...
In the Mystic Ruins, Big raised his head. He felt like something important happened, but he really couldn't say what it was. "I hope our friends are all okay," he told his green little buddy, who sat next to him.
Cream looked out of the window. As the mansion of her parents lay on a hill, the flood hadn't reached it. She looked down at the waters that surrounded Station Square's buildings and sighed.
Her Chao friends had gathered around her. Cheese and Chocola were sitting on her shoulders. "I hope everything will be all right," she said to her friends.
Cheese and Chocola hugged her, while the other Chao looked down to town. They looked at each other and nodded. Then, they all flew downwards, out of the window.
"Hey, wait a minute! Where are you going?" Cream was worried. What was wrong with her friends?
The Chaotix managed to save her valuable instruments from the flood. Together, they stood on the roof of their apartment building.
"So that's it," Vector said. "Sonic is gonna be the hero again."
"Looks like it," Espio commented.
"Wanna cheer him on a little?" Charmy suggested.
A broad smile split Vector's muzzle. "You know, sometimes, you sure have good ideas, little buddy!"
Espio just nodded and grabbed his guitar. Charmy his drums. And Vector the mike.
And together, they started to sing their newest song, which Vector had named:
Open Your Heart!
Sonic slowly rose up into the air. The Chaos Emeralds regained their colors and powers. They began spinning around him, faster and faster.
The Senshi surrounded him. "Let's lend him our powers, too," Sailor Moon said. "Moon Power!"
"Mercury Power!"
"Mars Power!"
"Jupiter Power!"
"Venus Power!"
Amy stared at her only love. "Sonic, I'm always with you..."
And with a bright flash of light, Sonic transformed into Super Sonic. His quills turned long and his fur a shining gold. A shimmering field of energy surrounded his body while the power of chaos ran through his veins.
"Time to finish this," he shouted and dashed forward, hovering directly over the water and causing a big fountain of water that trailed behind him.
Two massive whirlwinds caused by the monster caused the Outer Senshi to fall off their buildings. Neptune quickly grabbed Uranus and held her as they fell into the water. Saturn created a shimmering shield around her and Pluto, which caused them to hover slightly above the water level.
Uranus and Neptune surfaced next to some rubble that rose out of the water. Saturn and Pluto landed next to them.
"Well, that was all we could do for now," Pluto sighed. "Now it's up to Sonic!"
And Perfect Chaos' head jerked around as he saw the approaching form of the golden hedgehog. He roared and sent out several bursts of energy.
Super Sonic nimbly dodged the projectiles and sped up. A blue aura began forming around his body.
Chaos was getting furious and decided to use his most powerful weapon: A broad beam of blue-white energy, shooting directly out of his mouth.
The beam wandered over the water surface and approached Sonic. But he dashed to the right and continued heading towards his opponent.
He burst through the barrier of Perfect Chaos' body and used his momentum to spin around and at the same time, propelling his body upward. With a final burst of speed, he rocketed his body through Chaos' gel-like brain, and out of the beast's muzzle.
Perfect Chaos screamed as his head was breaking apart in a shower of water. His body collapsed as it merged with the water that surrounded him.
"Did I get him?" Sonic shouted while looking around. "This must have neutralized at least a big part of his negative powers."
But then, the giant sea serpent rose once again out of the waters, far away from Sonic's current position. The golden hedgehog sighed. "Guess I have to go one last time..." And he launched his body forward.
This time, Chaos' didn't want to risk anything. He send a barrage of energy projectiles, whirlwinds and beams at Super Sonic, while the hero approached him.
Sonic concentrated. He jumped over one energy blast, got launched into the air by a whirlwind, grabbed onto a flagpole that jutted out from one building, spun his body around several times, and let go just as a deadly beam ripped through the building. And head-first, he was being shot directly at the monster's brain. He once again concentrated on his positive feelings towards his friends.
And when he shot through Chaos' head, he cried: "End of the line for YOU!"
Everything was silent. The powers of the Chaos Emeralds had consumed all the rings Sonic had collected previously, so he dropped down on some rubble.
In front of him, something rose out of the water. It was Chaos... in his Zero form. The creature pulled himself out of the water and knelt down before Sonic.
"So, you got enough, eh?" Sonic smirked. "I hope you'll be good now!"
Suddenly, several light-blue shapes came fluttering through the air. The Chao were excitedly chattering in their own language, as they circled around Chaos' body.
Cream landed next to Sonic, together with her two friends Chocola and Cheese. "Hello, Mr. Sonic," she smiled. She looked at Chaos and her friends. "Ooooh, I get it! Those must be the Chao he protected when he was the guardian of the shrine."
Indeed, Chao had a very long life span, longer than most of the other creatures living on Earth. And they all recognized their old friend, their protector.
Chaos looked at them with wide eyes. He had believed them to be dead when the echidna soldiers had punched them away.
"That's right," a female voice said. "These are the Chao you were protecting." Tikal floated down next to them. "They survived for generations and lived peacefully alongside the humans. And they want you to become friends with the humans as well."
Chaos looked down at the ground. He looked like he was in shame. He made a gurgling sound. The Chao came close to him and hugged his watery body.
Tikal turned around to face Sonic. She smiled. "He says he's sorry for what he did. And he promised never to interfere with human life again."
"So, what does this mean for us?" the blue hedgehog wanted to know.
Tikal looked up into the sky. "The fighting's over, harmony is restored and peace has returned... thank you so much!"
"Aw, it was nuthin'... so where are you going now?"
Tikal smiled at Chaos happily. Her liquid friend looked back at her. "We're going back to a special place... a valley full of happiness! And we are trying to start a new life there. The Master Emerald and its servers are in good hands... so we don't need to worry about them anymore."
She turned back into a ball of pink light. Chaos turned into a ball of blue light. "Goodbye, Sonic! We'll meet again! Take care of yourself and your friends!"
Sonic raised one of the seven jewels. "And of the emeralds?"
Tikal giggled. "Yes, and of the emeralds."
Slowly, the two gleaming lights floated up into the air. The Chao followed them while flying around in circles. They all vanished behind one big building.
Sonic sighed. "Well, that's that. I'm going to go back to my friends, Cream."
Cream smiled. "Shall I carry you there?"
"You?" Sonic asked in surprise. "All by yourself? Are you that strong?"
The little rabbit giggled. "Of course! I even managed to carry Mr. Big for a while... you know, the nice cat with his frog friend?"
Sonic was speechless. If she was able to carry THAT big guy, she really must be stronger than she looked.
"Okay then, just let get me the emeralds, then we can go... huh?" He scratched his head. "Now that's weird... three of the emeralds have vanished? Now where could they be?"
Some time later, in the GUN headquarters.
"Here you are, sir," Rouge smirked as she handed the commander the bag with the three emeralds. "I brought them back, as promised. Now, let's talk about my payment..."
Commander Bullet opened the bag and looked inside. "What? Only three of them? Why didn't you bring us all? And what about that thief?"
Rouge chuckled. "Why, you only told me to return the three that were stolen from your base. And you also didn't tell me about capturing the thief. Now are you going to pay me or not? It would be a shame to hear that GUN isn't able to keep a bargain... especially if the president hears about it... I think a chest with 6 sapphires was the agreed fee, right?"
The commander squinted his differently colored eyes, then he snarled at Rouge angrily, pulled a small chest out of his jacket and forcefully put it into the bat's awaiting hands. "Here! Take them! Now get out of my sight!"
Rouge counted the sapphires, put away the chest and nodded, while silently mumbling: "With pleasure..."
After the Senshi and Sonic's friends helped re-building the town, a ceremony was being held in front of City Hall. The mayor complemented the bravery of the heroes, especially that of the town's national hero, Sonic the Hedgehog. And while Sonic handed three of the Chaos Emeralds to the director of the town's largest bank, to keep them safe, the mayor told him to keep at least one of them, as a 'token of appreciation'. Sonic shrugged and nodded while accepting the yellow Chaos Emerald.
Sailor Saturn was standing with the other Senshi, when she saw someone standing on a nearby roof, watching her. Her heart made a small jump... it was her father. He watched her with sad eyes as she was standing there, together with the other 'heroes' of town.
After a while, he seemed to sigh, then he smiled at her. Letting out a sigh of relief herself, Hotaru nodded back at him. Dr. Robotnik turned around, climbed aboard his Eggmobile and flew away.
Next to Saturn, Pluto let out a sigh as well. "I don't believe he will ever change his ways, but... at least I think he is proud of your decision. While he doesn't really believe in helping others, he is proud that you are ready to fight for a better world... just not the world he has in mind."
Hotaru nodded. "What about you? Can you accept your new role in life?"
SAILOR Pluto looked down at her fuku and smirked. "I really don't think this suits me... but I'll wear it, if I have to. But sadly, I cannot stay."
Hotaru's face grew disappointed. "Why not?"
Pluto smiled at her. "I still have to find my brother. He's out there, somewhere, waiting for me... But don't worry: If you and the others need my help, I'll come running! I promise!"
Saturn hugged the older hedgehog. And one Chaos Control later, she was gone.
And when the mayor got ready to thank every single Senshi for their deeds personally, he frowned. "Where is Sailor Pluto?"
Saturn giggled. "I think she had something important to take care of."
Author's Note:
This was the first tale of Pluto's adventures, but there will be more. For now, the story will return to the Esper HQ, so please continue with 'Ranma's interdimensional team of heroes', chapter two.