Ch 4: Reunion
"Yeeesssssssss…. This is the place… the great treasure is near…"
"What are your orders my lord?"
"We shall go into teams… one squad will handle the distraction as the rest will go after the treasure…"
"Whatever do you want as a distraction my lord?"
"Something happened in a kingdom not to far from her that almost cause this stupid planet's destruction. All of that centered around a young princess. Chase her for awhile until it is time to leave. Understood? The job is…"
"…Yes my lord!"
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It was a nice and clear day in the Italy like town of Soleanna. The people in town their doing were their normal routine: Walking around town, going shopping, eating at a restaurant, waving to other people as they walk by, or just enjoying the view of the scenery.
Over on a small island, there is a castle. On the balcony of the castle, there is a seventeen year old woman, who looked like a princess. She had short red hair, she wore a white dress, and she was wearing white heels. This teenager's name was Elise, and she is the current princess of Soleanna.
Right now, Elise was staring at the view of the city, watching the people doing their everyday routine. She smiled, seeing the view from the castle. But then, she frowned, why she was frowning could be anyone's guess but to herself.
'It's been three days since Eggman spilt the planet up. Everything is whole now, but I wonder who he's doing... and I wonder if anyone else remembers me...'
Suddenly, one of her maidens approached her. "Miss Elise, is something troubling you?" She asked.
"Hmm?" Elise turned to her. "I'm sorry, what was it you asked me?" Elise asked.
"I asked if something was troubling you." The maiden answered.
"Oh... No. I'm fine."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes. I'm sure."
"Very well, then. I'm sorry if bothered you." The maiden bowed politely, as she walked away, leaving the princess alone.
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"S...So...Oni...Sonic...Sonic..." The soft voice filtered through Sonic's dreamlike state in pieces, entering his consciousness as nothing more than a vague, yet insistent, idea of presence. Not quite awake enough to respond coherently, Sonic rolled over, mumbling "go away." Clutching his pillow tightly, he began to sink back into the darkness of sleep.
That was when Tails decided that enough was enough and called in an old friend known only as Wet Willy. Sonic yelped, flipped over, and slammed his head into the floor.
And he'd been having such a nice dream, too. Rubbing the bump on his head, he pulled himself to his feet, still less than fully awake. "Tails... why ya gotta be wakin' me up at a time like… zzzzzzzzzzzz..." Sleep took over, and Sonic began drooping back towards the couch. Tails rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers in front of Sonic's face a few times. When that didn't work, he hightailed it into the refrigerator and obtained a spoonful of vegemite. Sonic hated the bitter taste vegemite.
And boy was it bitter. After scrambling towards the sink and half-drowning himself under the tap, he glared at Tails with bleary, bloodshot eyes and asked, "What the hell was that all about? I thought you were trying to kill me!"
"Sorry, Sonic. But you've been asleep since you put the world back together. It's been three days already."
"Three days?" Sonic blinked as his eyes returned to normal. "It was that long? Wow, that Werehog form must have been more tiring then I thought. I'm not always this sleepy..."
"Yeah, as soon as you got back, you went right to dreamland… what happened to that Werehog form anyway? You haven't been shifting."
"I have Dark Gaia to thank for that. He took away the dark energy I was exposed to. So no dark energy, no Werehog." A loud barking noise was heard near the door and a cute little purple puppy with golden eyes and a gold collar with a green orb ran in and jumped on to the hedgehog. Sonic found the puppy during a rainy day in Spagonia. It was just lying there and Sonic couldn't bear to leave it, so he took it to South Island with him. He named the puppy "Chip" after the friend that helped him bring the world back together. "Sorry, Chip! I was sleepy… but you look hyper as always. So what do ya wanna do today, Tails?"
"Hey, I know! Wanna play with the EX Gears again? We never know when we have to face the Babylon Rouges again!"
"Ok, let's hit it!"
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Sally jumped out of the Leaf Storm and stretched out her arms as she looked around the valley before her. It was grassy and full of trees. It was so much like Mobius.
"So this is where the medallion lead us?" she thought out loud, "It look's like our home planet."
"Looks really beautiful I'll say," Honey responded as she walked next to her, "But do you think that he really around here?"
"The medallions never lie," Sonia said as the rest of the Freedom Fighters stepped out, "We gotta go around and see what he can find."
Fiona removed the glowing medallion from her neck and handed it to Sonia, "The brighter it glows the closer he is, right? You guys go on; I'll stay here with Cosmo."
"You're not coming?"
"…No. I'm not feeling too good right now. And the kid is still traumatized. Someone's gotta look after her…" she walked back into the spaceship as the other Freedom Fighters watched.
"What's with her?" Bark asked.
"Not sure. She's been acting that way since that medallion started acting up," Ash stated.
"Well, we can see what's up later," Manic said as he caught his sister with a narrowed looked, "What's up?"
"It's them… there coming here too…"
"What?!" Mina gasped.
"Okay guys," Ash frowned, "The least we could do is defend this planet as well! Everyone, spread out!"
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"Hey, Tails! Watch this!" Sonic called out as he jumped from a half pipe and did a 360 with a nike and a handstand.
"Awesome Sonic. Now check this out!" Tails jumped onto the rail and grinned on it. He jumped off and did a mid air back flip with a "daredevil" trick.
"Sweet, bro! You're getting good at this!"
"Ha ha! I learn from the best!"
"Aw, you didn't have to say that!"
At that minute, the radio in the skate park played a small news jingle before turning to the anchorman, "Good morning. Today we bring you breaking news. The Kingdom of Water, Soleanna is under attack by strange robotic beings. The G.U.N. has conformed that Dr. Eggman is not responsible as they are not his robot types but are sending troops to investigate. So far nothing is known about these monsters or what they want but this reporter's opinion is that it could get out of hand very quickly…"
Sonic's eyes widen, 'Soleanna? Oh no! Elise!'
"Sonic? How come that name Soleanna sounds so familiar…?"
"Come on, Tails! We gotta go see what's up! And as for that hit in the head, I'll explain on the way!"
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In Central City, Shadow, Rouge and Omega listened to the instructions from the Commander as he gave them the info, "So you three heard the news right? A strange robotic army is attacking Soleanna but our source tells us that Eggman is not responsible. So far no one else has taken responsibility but we need you to find out what's going on."
"Do you have any idea who's behind it?" Rouge asked.
"Not as of yet. Still… be careful."
"Roger that," Shadow nodded, "Over and out." When he turned off the communicator, his eyes suddenly widened.
"Is something the matter, Shadow?" Omega asked.
"Chaos Energies… someone is approaching," as he said this, a blue flash of light came in front of them. As it faded, a silver hedgehog and a purple cat was before them.
"Look's like we've made it," the hedgehog said to the cat before noticing Shadow and sis crew, "Oh it's you guys again. Shadow, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. Nice to see you again, Silver."
"So you are the guys Silver told me about, huh?" the cat blinked, "I'm Blaze. Nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is all ours," Rouge smiled.
"So since you both are here, I'm betting that your world is once again endanger, I'm I right?" Shadow inquired.
"Yeah, it was taken over by a race of alien robots called Metarex," Silver elaborated grimly, "Not only that, but they've also taken over most other planets of the galaxy."
"Do you think it may have something to do with that strange attack on Soleanna?" Rouge asked Shadow.
"Hmmm…. Mostly likely. I think you two should come with us."
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Amy watched the outside intently from her window. It would seem that this was what she did all day unless something else caught her attention. A little extra money might persuade her to go shopping, someone visiting would mean she'd have to play hostess, if she felt frisky, she'd go out and chase what she was waiting for to come to her window: Sonic the Hedgehog.
She'd sit there all day and fantasize until her eyelids grew heavy. She would then drift to sleep on thoughts of emerald eyes and blue fur against her own...
Amy was jolted from her thoughts with a knock at the door. She turned to it quickly and craned her neck to see who was at the front door from where she sat at the window. Cream noticed her, waved, and pointed to the door perkily. Amy smiled back, leapt up, and hurried to open the door for her friend.
"Hey, Cream, Cheese! What's up?"
"You were watching for Mr. Sonic again, weren't you?"
Amy moved out of the way and motioned to a nearby chair for Cream and Cheese to sit. The rabbit sat down and Cheese landed on the armrest beside her, "Who wants to know?" Amy replied bluntly as she sat down in her favorite chair.
At that comment, Cheese took to the air and began pestering Amy, nudging and tickling to make her spill. Amy finally caught the tiny chao in midair and held her tight. "Alright, alright! You're one persistent little chao, aren't you, Cheese? Yeah, same as always." Amy began to hug Cheese to her chest, her daydream mistaking her for Sonic, "Oh, I'm waiting for the day when my darling Sonic will finally come to his senses and propose to me!"
Cream watched as Cheese choked and gagged, wrestling to be free of Amy's grasp, "Um...Amy?"
"What is it, Cream?"
"I...I think Cheese doesn't like you holding her so tightly..."
Amy glanced down and saw the chao glaring back up at her. She let her go swiftly and clapped her hands together in apology, "Whoops...Sorry, Cheese!"
With a brief, "Chao, chao," Cheese went to sit back down beside Cream.
At that minute, a blue and yellow blur dashed by the window. Amy quickly sat up and looked at the window as she knew exactly what… no, WHO it was, "I knew he'd pass by here! Come on Cream! We've got something to do today after all!" she squealed as she ran out the door and after the blurs.
"There she goes again!" Cream laughed as she followed suit.
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"So let me get this right… about a month ago Eggman was after the princess of Soleanna because of a demon inside her."
"Yep."
"And there was a crystal hedgehog that looked like Shadow who was the main cause of that?"
"You got it."
"And that hedgehog actually managed to kill you but the princess revived with a kiss?"
"That's about the size of it."
"And the reason why no one remembers is because the princess turned back time to fix the damage."
"That's right."
"Wow. That sounds like a reversed version of sleeping beauty or something. Of course if Amy found out, she'd be really peeved."
"And that's why we are not gonna say a word about it to her."
As they raced to Soleanna, Sonic filled in Tails about the forgotten events of the Flames of Disaster. He and Elise were the only ones who remembered so he didn't expect anyone else to remember. Still, if someone was after his human friend, it was never a good omen. When the finally reached the kingdom, Sonic gasped as he saw it was flooded with a bunch of…
"Metarex!"
"Metarex?" Tails asked.
"There a bunch of aliens that my ancestor Queen Aleena I trashed! What are they doing here?"
Just then, several Metarex rushed at them and prepared to attack, "Incoming!" Tails alerted. Before they could strike, a red blur knocked them down into pieces.
"Yo! Thanks, Knuckles!" Sonic smiled.
"No problemo!" the red echidna smirked, "What's the 411?"
"These guys are Metarex!" Tails explained, "They must be looking for something, maybe the princess. Whatever they want we have to stop them!"
"Got it!"
"Come on, guys!" Sonic said as they raced forward, "Let's blast through with sonic speed!"
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Around the same time, Amy and Cream arrived to the kingdom on the other side. Amy was starting to feel weird now.
"Hmm…. There's something about this place that's so familiar…"
"What was that Amy?" Cream asked.
"Sorry Cream. I just feel a sense of dajavu that's all. I feel like I've been here before…"
"I don't know about that…"
"Well, never mind though," Amy shook her head as she whipped out her Piko Piko Hammer and ran forward, "Those freaks look like they don't belong here. Come on Cream, let's take them out and then Sonic can fall head over heels for me!"
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"Come on, Manic! Hurry up!"
"Take it easy, Sonia! You're wearing me out!"
The two twins were running through the kingdom under siege with the older sibling pulling the younger sibling by the arm. Sonia was using the sapphire pendent as a beckon to find the one they were looking for. With all three medallions together, Sonia could use their power to clear out all the Metarex in the kingdom. As they were about to cross a bridge, five fighter Metarex blocked their path. Sonia rushed forward with acrobatic flips and drop kicked one into the water. She swept another one and used a spit kick on the other two.
"Heh heh. How ya doin'? Manic chuckled nervously as the last Metarex cornered him. It lunged but the green hedgehog ducked and pushed him into the water, "See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!"
"Let's go, little brother!" Sonia grunted as she grabbed his arm again and continued running.
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At the same time, the Freedom Fighters were holding there own against the other Metarex, "Damn it! Where are all these guys coming from!?" Bark snarled as he slammed his icy fist into another Metarex, "There popping up everywhere!"
"Hang in there everyone!" Ash shouted, "We need to give Manic and Sonia more time!"
"Manic, Sonia!" Sally pleaded as she jumped from a laser blast, "Hurry up! I don't think we can keep this up much longer!"
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"Heads up, Knuckles!" Sonic shouted as he kicked a bomber Metarex him and he used a ground smash move to destroy it.
"Sonic, 8 ball corner pocket!" Sonic curled into a ball and landed into Knuckles hands as he flew up into the air and threw the spinball into several more Metarex.
"Awesome guys!" Sonic cheered as they high fived, "Just a little more though!"
"Sonic! Help!"
The three heroes turned up and saw several monkey Metarex chasing the princess on the other side. Sonic quickly rushed there and knocks them away with his Homing Spin, "You alright?"
"Yeah, thank you, Sonic." She nodded as Tails and Knuckles ran up to them, "Oh, you guys are Tails and Knuckles right?"
"Huh? How do you know us?" Knuckles blinked.
Before she could answer, some more Metarex jumped in front of them. Tails and Knuckles got in front of Sonic and Elise.
"Sonic! Get the princess out of here!" Tails signaled, "We'll take care of this!"
"Watch yourselves!" Sonic said as he scooped up Elise and ran off in a burst of wind.
The Metarex were about to attack, but then a blast of yellow light blasted them into bits, "Look's like we aren't the only ones on the job," Shadow said as he approached with his teammates following.
"Yeah, look's like a big party is going on here," Knuckles nodded.
"Hey guys!" Amy shouted as she and Cream ran up to them, "Look's like great minds think alike huh?"
"Look's like it!" Tails nodded.
"Blaze!" Cream squealed as she jumped at the purple cat into a hug, "I missed you!"
"Hey there kiddo," she smiled, "Long time no see! And you got so big!"
"No time for reunions," Shadow frowned, "We need to find out what's going on!"
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Manic jumped down onto a lower pillar and searched around until he spotted a blue hedgehog and a girl in a dress being cornered by a large number of Metarex, "…Unreal! Sis! You were right! He's still alive!"
"Then it's time to go to work!" Sonia looked at the glowing pendant in hands for a second before finally throwing it into the air and at Sonic. The pendant caught Sonic's eye as he looked up. His eyes widened as he knew what it was. A secondary force within him reached out and grabbed the medallion. He opened his hands to see it glowing brilliant blue.
"What is that?" Elise asked in awe.
"It's my medallion!" Sonic gasped. Instinctively, he moved the pendent to his neck. As that happened, the medallion flashed wildly as it floated from his chest. On the pillars, Manic and Sonia's medallions did the same.
"Ready, Manic?" Sonia asked from above. Manic nodded. Her eyes began to glow in sold purple as she began chanting, "Nettos Natos Nayatos... Nettos Natos Nayatos ... O great sprits of the past, lend us your strength to crush evil into dust. Give us your power to liberate all those with darkness in there hearts… RELEASE!"
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As Tails, Knuckles and the others fought off the Metarex, there was a loud sound and three pillars of light flashed up one by one. First purple, then green and finally blue. There was a huge shockwave and the Metarex vanished instantly. "What just happened?" Blaze blinked, "They just… disappeared."
"Did have something to do with those pillars of light?" Silver asked thoughtfully.
"The pillars are generating high amounts of energy," Omega calculated, "The readings are off the charts."
"I've never sensed anything like it!" Shadow gasped.
"We need to find out what's going on!" Knuckles shouted as he ran to the pillars with everyone else following.
Meanwhile, the original Freedom Fighters watched happily as the pillars destroyed the remaining Metarex, "They did it," Sally whispered, "They found him…"
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The light died down and Sonic looked down at the medallion he wore. He really did not expect to find it again, he thought he lost it, "If that's your medallion, then how did it get all the way here?" Elise asked.
"I think I might have an idea…"
"SONIC!" Sonia jumped off the pillar and landed on top if her brother and gave him sisterly kisses all over his cheek, "It's you! It really is you! Everyone thought you and Tails were dead!"
"Okay, okay! Yeah, I'm still alive and kickin'! C'mon, lay off some, will ya?" Sonic laughed as Sonia got off and helped him up. Manic quickly jumped down.
"Yo! Sup bro!" Manic grinned, "We thought we went to the stadium in the sky!"
"Yeah, well I sure ain't!"
Elise watched the exchange with a smile. Siblings will be siblings after all…
"SONIC!" Amy screamed as she latched onto Sonic, "Oh, you're okay! You're okay, you're okay! I was so worried!"
"Easy there, Amy," Sonic said, trying to gently push her off of him. "Of course I'm okay! It's me!"
"Sonic," Knuckles said as everyone else ran up to him, "What just happened? And who are they?"
"Guys, these are my brother and sister, Sonia and Manic."
"Brother and sister?" Silver blinked.
"Sugar-Hog!" a robotic arm grabbed Sonic and pulled him over to the rabbit cyborg that crushed him in a hug, "Sonic you're still alive! It really is you!"
"C'mon, you too??"
"HEY! What the devil?!" Amy snarled with an angry vain on her forehead.
"Hey look! He is alive!" some other unrecognizable creatures came running up to Sonic. The yellow female mongoose with purple hair grabbed him in a hug, "Sonic, you're alive! We thought when the Final Egg collapsed, you and Tails were… everyone was so sad!"
"Man, you must have had some wild ride!" the older mongoose grinned.
Next, the brown squirrel caught him in a hug, much to Amy's chagrin, "Thank God, you're alive! Look's like you can get out of anything!"
"Heh! You know me, Sal!" Sonic grinned, "Never a dull moment!"
"Aunt Sally!"
"Tails!" Sally squealed as she hugged the fox, "You're here too huh? You look like you're doing well too!"
"Don't worry, Aunt Sally!" Tails smiled cheerfully, "Sonic's been taking care of me the whole time!"
"HEY!"
Everyone turned to see an impatient Knuckles with his arms folded and his foot tapping, "I hate to interrupt this odd reunion but WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?"
Before anyone could answer, lighting flashed in the sky and a faint image of a metal head could be seen as everyone else came, "My, my, my," the figure frowned, "The third triplet is still alive. This is… unexpected."
"What is that ugly thing?" Rouge frowned in disgust.
"He is called Dark Oak," Bark answered coldly.
"You all managed to defeat my army, congrats. I am sorry to say that you only delayed my plans. I all have what I need."
"You are NOT taking her!" Sonic swore as he stood in front of Elise with his arms out. Dark Oak only chuckled for a moment and then he began to cackle.
"What so funny??" Silver demanded.
"You stupid little fools! You honestly thought I was attempting to kidnap that child? No, no. This invasion was all a trap and all of you fell for it! My troops have already taken someone else's treasure!" the monster laughed as he faded away.
"I don't get it," Blaze frowned as she scratched her chin, "What did he mean by 'someone else's treasure?'"
Knuckles was wondering the same thing, but then his eyes widen as he realized what Dark Oak meant. Without a word, he flew off.
"Hey, Knux! Wait up!" Sonic shouted as he and Tails flew after him.
"I think they might have an idea," Shadow frowned, "Let's follow."
So all of them chased the three to Mystic Ruins, and when they got there, they were in for a shock, "No…" Knuckles gasped as he fell to his knees, "I'm… too late…!"
What was going on was that several ships where circling Angel Island. So to that sense, it was not Princess Elise the Metarex were after, it was the Master Emerald.
"I don't believe it!" Amy shouted, "We've been duped!"
"Wait!" Honey pointed, "Look!"
The ships began to latch some ropes to the shores of the floating island. Slowly, they pulled it higher.
"They aren't just taking the Master Emerald," Silver gawked, "They're taking the whole island with them!"
"But… why?" Cream wondered as the ships and the island disappeared into the sky.
TIME BREAK
"So let me see if I follow you… Sonic, Tails and Eggman are all from another planet."
"Yes."
"And Sonic is… of all the things… a rebel prince?"
"Yes!"
"And the old enemy of his ancestor is trying to finish what they started eons ago?"
"Yes, yes and YES!"
After watching Angel Island being stolen right under their noses, all characters decided to introduce one another. The original Freedom Fighters told the next-gen heroes about what happened and the situation.
"I guess that all makes since," Knuckles frowned thoughtfully, "But still… Sonic a prince?!"
"There's no way I can picture the faker sitting on a throne!" Shadow exclaimed. His face was a direct copy off the Scream portrait, "It's… just too freaky!"
"Gee thanks a lot, Shadow," Sonic grumbled.
"And Dr. Eggman… is he… still around?" Sally asked.
"Unfortunately yeah," Rouge nodded, "Hopefully he hasn't gotten wind of this."
"So now what do we do?" Amy asked.
"My bets are that the Metarex are headed back to Mobius now that they have what they want," Ash explained, "We have to get there before they do."
"Unfortunately, the Leaf Storm has a certain capacity and weight amount," Sally frowned, "It can't carry all of us."
Silver thought for a minute, and then snapped his fingers, "Sonic, Mobius is your home planet, right? You and Tails go ahead; we'll find a way to catch up."
"Huh? You sure about that?"
"Don't sweat it, okay?" Elise smiled, "You go on."
"…If you say so."
"Amy, you know that project I was working on?" Tails told her, "It's a spaceship. You can use that to get to Mobius."
"Okay, got it."
"Okay, yall!" Bunnie said, "We don't have a lot of time so let's get a move on!"
"Got it!" Sonic nodded as he Tails and the original Freedom Fighters as waved, "Catch yall on the flipside!"
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The original Freedom Fighters lead Sonic and Tails into the jungle were the Leaf Storm was hidden. Sonic looked at it in amassment. It was a large but not too large brown and green vessel with jets and wings armed with missiles.
"Wow. That's a cool ship," Sonic whistled.
"It's been in my family for decades," Sally said proudly.
"Even sweeter. Never thought you guys had this princess... uh, I can still call you princess, right?"
"Well, don't forget that I come from a neighboring kingdom. My duties are unknown for now, but yeah. I'm still a princess."
"Come on in," Mina motioned him, "There's more to see inside."
Sonic and Tails looked around the ship in awe. As the reached the cockpit, they heard a voice.
"You guys back already?" Fiona Fox asked as she walked in and suddenly stopped as she saw them, "Tails… Sonic… you're still alive…"
"Uh… yeah… it's us," Sonic said uneasily.
She continued looking at them, well mainly at Sonic for a few moments before finally, much to his surprise, bursting into tears and jumping at him in a passionate hug and began sobbing, "S-S-Sonic! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry for all the rude things I ever said to you!"
"Hey, it's okay Fiona," Sonic smiled meekly as he hugged her back, "I forgive you."
The older fox looked up suddenly, eyeing everyone else staring at her with teasing smirks. Almost immediately as just hugged him, Fiona pushed Sonic away, her cheeks red. "Yeah, yeah..."
"Fiona?" Cosmo asked as she came in, "What's going on?"
"Oh, Cosmo. Everyone's back. These two are Sonic and Tails."
Cosmo bowed politely at Sonic, but when she saw Tails her eyes couldn't leave his and the same applied to him. Their faces went completely red.
"Um… hello," Cosmo said with a soft smile.
"Hi…" Tails responded shyly.
The older ones could only smile at the amount of cuteness being displayed. It was obvious that the two like each other already. A lot. Sally went to the controls, still smiling, and activated it, "Come on, guys, let's go."
The Leaf Storm took off again and went out of the planet. "So uh, how long was the flight to Earth?" Sonic asked.
"About a month," Honey said, "Why?"
He grinned as he pulled out his yellow Copy Emerald, "I have an even faster way to do that." He put both of his hands on the Emerald and closed his eyes. The Emerald flashed for a while before he opened his eyes, which were now glowing solid blue. Everyone looked at him in wonder and amazement.
"Sonic?" Sonia stammered, "What's-?"
"Hey, he's focusing" Tails said, "Don't bother him or it won't work."
A giant ring opened up and the Leaf Storm slowly entered it, unaware that an invisible vessel was following.