THANK YOU ALL so much for reviewing. I just about died when I saw I had so many reviews. I do feel that I need to address:
Ember113: Thanks, but I know I'm terrible at writing action scenes. This was actually my first ever attempt at writing action. As I've said before, this is mostly meant to be a romance story. And as for the canon-ness of the Hyper forms...there was a reason that I made the three hedgehogs turn Hyper, ok? You gotta trust me on this. I'm going to answer the rest of your objections (concerning Dark Sonic) inside the story, but I'd already thought of them. This is set after Sonic X. Thanks for your input anyway, no hard feelings here, since you weren't mean and sarcastic. I really do appreciate constructive criticism, it's the only thing that will make me a better writer. Besides, you had a lot of praise, too. :)
Alyssacookie, HaosBlossom, :), Mike Prower the Fox, SherryHedgehog, Jacklethekitsune, Ashley, Amyfan111, Stendylover, SonAmy Dreamer: Thank you! I love all of you!
In other news, I'M 18 NOW! (although I don't always act like it) Yay! And, my amazingly awesome parents got me a new netbook for my birthday so I can actually start updating more frequently now.
And now, because I've put it off long enough, here is the next chapter. :) (I apologize up front for it's not nearly as good as the last one)
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Chapter 18: Regroup
"So let me get this straight," Tails said as he cleared his throat and surveyed his teammates. They had all come back after the battle and were now hanging out in his living room. "Shadow's back, the Chaos Emeralds were useless, the Master Emerald was used to manipulate them, the Sol Emeralds might have been gone forever and were used to power some super-bot, Amy was held as ransom and was cut, and everything seemed hopeless until finally Knuckles came along and restored the Master Emerald, bringing back the Hyper forms we haven't seen in ages."
"Yes, I had to bail them all out," Knuckles grumbled. "And you know how they repaid me? Sonic had to go over the top as always and blow up the whole freaking base, which shattered the Master Emerald. It took Rouge and I hours and I had to use Shovel Claw-"
"Oh please, you love using Shovel Claw," Sonic rolled his eyes. "I was doing you a favor."
Tails smiled and shook his head. "Man I miss out on all the fun."
"I'm sure you had fun on your date, Tails," Amy teased him.
The fox blushed. "So did I leave anything out?"
"Oh yeah," Sonic said, and scratched his head a little bashfully. "I borrowed your X-Tornado."
Tails froze. Normally he wouldn't mind, but he didn't like the look Sonic had. "And...?"
"Now it's kinda stuck in the middle of nowhere with no gas," Sonic chuckled. "Sorry 'bout that."
Tails drooped.
"It wasn't his fault," Amy said firmly. "You didn't fill it up when you said you did."
Sonic smiled. "She's right," he said, and planted a gentle kiss on Amy's jagged cut. It had run deep and Tails had said there was a good chance that it would scar. Looking at it now, Sonic was sure it would heal. Tails had done a good job (Sonic wouldn't entrust her to anyone else) and Amy was just too pretty to have such an ugly scar on her face.
"Do you have any idea why we'd turn Hyper and not just Super, Tails?" Sonic asked him.
"Well, hmmm," the fox mused. "You used the Master Emerald along with the Chaos Emeralds, so they were extra charged. And also if they were powered by your hearts...you must have been having some strong emotions then."
"It was simply amazing being in that Hyper form," Silver said. "I've never felt so powerful before."
Tails glanced at him. "You turned Hyper as well?"
Silver nodded.
"That's...strange. That shouldn't happen," Tails said and furrowed his brow.
"He's a hedgehog," Knuckles simply said. "Sonic and Shadow both powered up as well."
"Yes, but they belong in this dimension," Tails said and frowned. "You know, the more I learn about this whole thing the less I know and the more confused I get."
That came as a shock to the whole team. They'd thought Tails had a good handle on everything.
"Well, that's not good. What do you mean?" Sonic asked.
"Well, the more calculations I do and the more I study the data from my scanners..." he paused, not quite sure that he wanted to spring his hypothesis on them just yet. Although this whole Silver-turning-Hyper thing threw in another twist. Hmph. No, he'd better wait until he sure.
"Never mind. I just...I still have some work to do," he admitted.
"You'll figure it out," Cream encouraged him.
"So do we have all the Emeralds now?" Rouge asked.
"No," Blaze said. "I only have 6 of the Sol Emeralds. There's still one missing."
"Hmmm. Well, I'm out of ideas as to where it could be," Sonic admitted.
"I will find it," Blaze said. "I mean, Silver and I will find the last one."
"You don't want our help?" Knuckles asked.
"Thank you, but you've all done more than I could ever ask for already. Thank you all for your friendship, your help, everything...but Silver and I will find the last Sol Emerald," she repeated firmly.
"Oh no, you're not getting rid of us that easily," Sonic said.
"Sonic-" Amy lightly touched his arm. "I think you could use some time off," she pleaded.
The hedgehog glanced into her green eyes and read something there. She wanted to talk, he realized. A lot had happened at the base, he realized, stuff that he had been pushing out of his mind, but he knew for the health of their relationship, they'd have to talk about it. Even if he still shuddered at the memory of her being cut and his reaction...that made twice now. Twice.
"You're right Amy," Sonic said, again pushing the thought out. "Both Eggmans seem down and out at least until they get a chance to regroup, so we'll be safe for a while. So I'll take the day off. But only if I can spend it with you," he said and took her hands.
Amy blushed. "Oh Sonic, really?"
Rouge smiled. "See, Knuckie, I told you. Girls always know best."
Amy smiled back at the bat. "You're right, Rouge. What would men do without women?"
"Well, we'd die out eventually," Silver noted.
Everyone paused for a second to process, and then Rouge laughed, Knuckles snorted, Blaze blushed, Sonic slapped his forehead, Amy giggled, Tails blinked, Cream was confused, and then Silver realized what he'd just said.
"Oh."
"Nice one, kid," Rouge said.
"Silver" Blaze said and shook her head slightly, "Let's go and find that Sol Emerald." The cat got up and headed for the door, followed by an embarrassed chrome hedgehog.
"Uh, wait," Tails said, and the two stopped to glance at him. "Um, before you two leave, would you mind if I took a blood sample from you? For DNA purposes," he clarified.
Two pairs of golden eyes met. Silver frowned a little.
"If you believe it will help you," Blaze said.
"It will," Tails said. "I think."
"Uh, ok," Silver agreed.
Tails gathered two needles. "Thanks. I'll only need a little bit."
After surrendering 3 drops each, Silver and Blaze left to find the last Sol Emerald, and both Sonic&Amy and Knuckles&Rouge parted ways to go on dates. And once again Tails found himself paired up with Cream. No, no, bad choice of words again - the others were the ones paired up.
But when Cream smiled at him, Tails knew he wasn't even fooling himself anymore.
"Tails, I just wanted to thank you for coming to the mall with me and letting me help you."
"Aww, it's no problem," Tails said, his blue eyes gleaming as he studied Cream's face. "I like spending time with you. You're a sweet and pretty girl." The second adjective slipped out, but it wasn't far from the truth.
"I also wanted to say..." the rabbit hesitated for second. "I...like you, Tails."
The foxes twin tails, which had previously been floating freely, suddenly froze in an awkward position.
"Y-you do?"
Cream nodded and kept that cute little smile on her face, though she was now blushing a little and bashfully moving her shoe back and forth. Tails suddenly wasn't so sure what to do with his normally dexterous hands, so he placed one behind his head and the other just dangled.
"I uh, I like...like you too, Cream," he stuttered.
Her eyes got big. "You do? Oh, that makes me so happy!" she exclaimed. "I wasn't sure if you did or if I was just annoying you."
Tails somehow worked up the nerve to glance back at her, and was rewarded with her smile. He noticed she had walked up a little closer to him. "You don't annoy me. I...thought I bored you. I thought you didn't like me."
Cream giggled. "You're not boring, Tails. At least not to me. I think you're really smart and nice." She then lessened the distance between them completely by hugging him. "Will you...be my boyfriend?" she queried innocently.
Tails was now blushing so hard he was sure all of his other organs were suffering blood loss. "If you'll be my girlfriend."
The rabbit giggled again and then to the foxes surprise she kissed him on the cheek. The fur on his cheek was so fuzzy that it tickled Cream's lips.
"Thanks, Tails. But I have to go home now, I promised Momma. I'll see you later."
Tails watched the rabbit smile at him and skip off, wondering how he'd gotten so lucky as to have a nice girl like Cream like like him, and quite sure he would not be getting any work done this afternoon.
...
"I don't know, Froggy. But it sure is pretty," Big the Cat gushed as he untangled the shiny rock from his fishing line.
"Ribbit," was all his amphibian friend said in reply. As always.
Setting the glowing jewel next to him, the simple cat hoisted his line back into the swamp of Mystic Ruins and sighed contentedly. Today had been such a relaxing day, although there had been a big boom off in the distance awhile ago that had scared the fish off. But now they were back to biting again, and Big was content to just laze the day away. He leaned back into the familiar waiting posture when suddenly voices pierced the quiet stillness.
"I told you this was a bad idea."
"Charmy," a deeper voice warned. "Shut up."
The next sound was a loud sigh exhaled by the third member of the party. Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered. This was supposed to be a stealth mission, but that was one quality that his colleagues severely lacked.
"We're only doing this because Vector likes-"
"Charmy."
The bee giggled at how easy it was to make the crocodile angry.
Espio was about to shush Charmy so he could actually think for once, but the detectives had come upon a motionless, seemingly sleeping cat. Espio spotted the Emerald immediately, but he when he tried to grab it, Big snatched it.
"No, this is my shiny rock!" Big protested. "I found it, it's mine!"
Espio had to close his eyes and count to 10. Focus. Calm. Relax. This is the way.
"Big," he started, but before the chameleon could finish his thoughts, he noticed that Froggy had jumped, his springy hind legs propelling him towards the Emerald. Everyone immediately saw what would happen, but none of them could stop the frog from swallowing the Emerald and hopping off to who knows where.
"Froggy!" Big yelled desperately. "Come back!" The cat got up and awkwardly lumbered after his elusive amphibian friend.
The members of the Chaotix detective agency all blinked in unison, and then Vector started chasing after the odd pair.
"But Vector, have you forgotten that we're on another mission?" Espio protested.
The crocodile turned. "We can do that one later, Espio! We have a frog to catch!"
The chameleon turned to Charmy, but the bee merely shrugged and flew after his boss, leaving Espio to do nothing but sigh, knowing that this job certainly wouldn't be earning any money...
...
It's official. Tails and Cream are just too cute. ^_^
And yes, the Chaotix, and Big and Froggy, just because I can. I know it's kinda random, but hey, the last Sol Emerald had to be somewhere...Sorry that this chapter wasn't as good as the last one.
Ok, as you know, I still have one more couple to hook up. I feel like I've been putting it off long enough...but yet, it won't be next chapter, becuase I gotta write the Sonamy talk...*dodges keyboards from impatient Silvaze fans* Don't worry guys, I got huge plans for that couple coming up. :)
