Just a few minutes later, Sonic was speeding through town, trying to reach the Remingtons before early evening. And as he was running past a small gift shop, he spotted a little orange fox in the window. He slowed down and backed up to take a closer look through the window.

Why, it was Tails!

"Tails?" Sonic scoffed in disbelief. He pressed his nose up against the glass window, and a little boy noticed him.

"Hey look, Mama! Did you see that?"

His mother turned around, only to find a sign in the windowsill.

"I'm sorry, dear, but there's nothing there," she said.

"But . . . but . . ."

"Look, darling," his mother sighed while holding up a stylish summer dress from the rack, "does this make me look fat?"

Sonic rolled his eyes and walked right in. The store clerk who had a bunch of different on-sale signs in his hand stared at the mysterious blue hedgehog, and in his failure to notice what he was doing, he accidentally put the 100% Off sign on top of one of the racks instead of the 10% Off sign. Then he walked back to the counter with his eyes still on Sonic as though he were in a trance.

"Tails?" asked Sonic. The fox didn't move. Sonic put his hand on its shoulder and turned it around to face him. He was horrified to realize that it wasn't Tails. It was a bomb with only twenty seconds remaining. Sonic stumbled back and then dashed over to the clerk.

"Hurry! Ya gotta to get everybody outta here! There's a bomb!" he warned him, waving his arms up and down.

"A BOMB?" the man exclaimed, and before he had any time to think, Sonic sighed and rushed over to the bomb with only twelve seconds remaining, and then swooped the heavy object up with both hands. Then he carried it as fast as he could outside the shop, and then stumbled onto the sidewalk near the streets filled with a long line of traffic. There was only four seconds left, and Sonic had no other choice but to throw it up into the air.

So he swung his arms around and around before finally releasing the bomb from his grip, which thankfully exploded in midair, causing a loud boom to fill the city. People stopped and covered their ears from the loud explosion and look up to see a heavy gray cloud of smoke. Then people began to murmur to themselves around Sonic, and he began to feel a little uncomfortable. The little boy from the shop ran outside and jumped up and down for his mother to see the blue hedgehog he was referring to earlier.

"Well, gotta run!" Sonic said before taking off again.

The little boy's mother walked up to the doorway and looked out.

"Cutie pie, what are you talking about? I don't see anything," his unbelieving mother said.

"But he WAS here, and then he ran off!"

"Sweetie, what ARE you talking about?" his mother asked him, still holding both the same dresses as before. "Oh, and by the way, which colors do you prefer?"

"Not fair," sulked the little boy with a huff.

Sonic ran through the city, heading towards Alexa's house, where he would have to confront her parents about her kidnap. What he didn't realize, however, was that a robot was watching his every move. Sonic raced up to the door and down on the doormat laid a letter he had written for Alexa's parents. It read: I'm afraid Alexa won't be making it to dinner tonight. She's been captured, but don't worry, I will rescue her. Sonic.

He knocked on the door twice and then took off into the sunset. A small hovering robot came out from behind a tree and zoomed in on the note Sonic had left on the veranda. Then it disappeared into the sky right as Mr. Remington opened the door.

"Hmm . . ." Mr. Remington wondered as he stooped down to pick up the piece of paper, and Mrs. Remington came out with him to see what was taking him so long.

"What is it, Dear?" she asked when she saw the expression on his face.

"Alexa has been captured?" Mr. Remington exclaimed, falling to his knees.

"WHAT?" his wife exclaimed in astonishment, now snatching the wrinkled paper from his hand.

Meanwhile, Sonic was running through town when he saw Shadow and Rouge encircled by a small crowd.

"Hey Shadow," he said, a bit surprised to see them standing there as he halted to a dusty stop. The people separated into two sides in order to form a straight, narrow line for Sonic to pass through.

"Not you again," Shadow sighed.

"Well, well. It's a small world, isn't it?" Rouge chuckled as Sonic and Shadow shook their heads at each another.

"So what's the big commotion about, huh?" Sonic asked Shadow.

"Don't you have better things to do than wasting my time?" Shadow huffed coldly.

Rouge noticed one lady in the crowd had a glistening pearl necklace and a shining red ruby ring on her finger, thus becoming instantly attached.

"I think I'll just grab a few souvenirs before I leave this dump," she said, gazing into the ruby on the woman's finger.

Both Sonic and Shadow looked up to see Dr. Eggman flying overhead in the direction of the clock tower. Sonic gasped and remembered where he was going now. Once Rouge had procured the ruby and pearl necklace, Sonic glanced at her.

"What?" Rouge shrugged. "I'm a natural jewel thief, remember?"

Sonic shook his head and said, "No, that's not it. I need your help."

"My help?" Rouge laughed. "And just why would I help you?"

"I need both of your help. My friend Alexa has been captured and is being held captive at the clock tower by Eggman," Sonic said.

Shadow looked at him and thought a moment; Rouge put her finger to her chin and hummed.

"Let me think . . . All right mister, you've got yourself a deal," she said with a nod of approval. "Are ya with me, Shad?"

Shadow sighed, "Fine. Count me in."

Sonic's face lifted in determination to for once put Dr. Eggman to an end. Finally, the three of them left quickly to follow the doctor to the clock tower, for they hoped to arrive before he did in order to rescue Alexa, but he was already there when they reached the tower. The sun was already beginning to set by now.

"Ah, so I see you have received my friendly letter," Eggman chuckled into a microphone when Sonic was the first to arrive.

"What do you want from me, Eggman?" Sonic asked Eggman, who steadily glided lower to his level.

"I want the seven Chaos Emeralds," he said in his serious voice and with a minute note of satisfaction in this evil game of his, "and since you've managed to come five hours earlier than I'd expected, I will give your girlfriend another chance."

"Chance for what?" Sonic asked.

"Before she is exploded into millions of pieces by my time-bomb, along with the rest of the clock tower! Muaah ha ha ha ha!" he cackled as he clicked the only big bright red button on his entire Egg Mobile.

On the very top of the large clock tower sat a ginormous hourglass inside which Alexa was being held. Sonic ran vertically up the side of the extremely tall building and tried to break the glass, but it was almost as strong as titanium metal.

"Ho ho ho ho!" Dr. Eggman laughed as he flew his vehicle to the top of the clock tower. "I just love to see you on your knees before my hostage in agony and torment. It hurts, doesn't it? Ho ho ho!"

Just then, Shadow and Rouge scurried off and were no longer at the scene, and when Dr. Eggman searched the area of town below with his eyes, he noticed this.

"Where are your little friends now, hmm?" he asked Sonic, moving closer to him and the hourglass which strangely had no sand in it at all. Sonic didn't even notice them missing, for he was too worried about Alexa.

"Sonic, help me!" Alexa cried from inside, but her voice could not be heard. Sonic tried smashing the glass, kicking through the invulnerable material, and even speeding through it, but nothing was working against this stainless steel.

"Just so you know this type of glass is one hundred percent impenetrable. So I'm afraid you won't be crashing through it anytime soon," Dr. Eggman sighed, becoming bored very instantly. "Come on now, she can't last in there forever. Bring me the emeralds and then I'll let her go."

Sonic fell to his knees, staring down at the ground with his fists clenched. Then a sense of negative energy came over him, and then his body's natural shade of blue became darker and darker each second. Visible streams of fumy dark, watery substances began floating around his navy-colored quills and spikes. His eyes glowed brightly white and the quills of his head began to change form.

Dr. Eggman stopped laughing his sinister laugh and paused to watch.

"S-Sonic? What is happening to you?" asked Alexa, quivering with fear.

"Dark Sonic," Dr. Eggman stated simply.

Sonic looked up to the sky and then shouted a horrid long echoey shout of anger and pain, causing even some of the doctor's robots to flee from the scene. Suddenly, the earth began to shake, and Alexa was beginning worry about Sonic.

"Sonic!" she cried inside the glass. "Noooo!"

The sinister Eggman chuckled to himself in satisfaction. "You might want to hurry if you plan to return the emeralds to me by midnight. So you've got about five hours before the destruction of this clock tower along with the rest of the entire South City."

Sonic's anger raged inside him, and so he yelled again and then jumped up to punch a hole in the Egg Mobile, sending it spinning far away through the sky along with Dr. Eggman in it.

"Don't worry, I'll be back to get you as soon as I feed that big baby his pacifier," Sonic tried telling Alexa as he cooled down and turned back into normal Sonic. Although she couldn't hear what he had to say, she nodded in approval of whatever his plan was.

Soon, a bunch of squad cars pulled up below at the foot of the building as police officers piled around with their guns loaded and in hand.

"We've got the building surrounded! There seems to be a giant hourglass on top of the clock tower in South City District! We'll need a helicopter up there pronto, over!"

"All right! North Metropolis is sending one on its way right now. Over!"

Sonic took a few steps back from the hourglass and looked over his shoulder to find the whole blue-and-red city parked just below him and the twenty-story building. He turned his head back to Alexa one more time and then leaped off the tower with a free-falling pose. Flashes filled the night sky as people gathered all around to see this strange blue alien falling from a tall clock tower with a gigantic hourglass on top.