Chapter 34: Jailbreak

"Did you find him at the secret hangar?" Amelia asked Miles on the way their first class of Spring Semester at Central High School.

"Nope, but based on the absence of hotdogs in the fridge he must've been there," Miles replied. "My guess is that Sonny managed to escape G. U. N. and came to the secret hangar, but then he decided it would be too risky to get us involved and so Sonny destroyed the tracking device and went elsewhere."

"That would explain why all these G. U. N. tanks and mechs showed up downtown when I was shopping," Amelia sighed. "I hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Miles said assuredly. "He's got Sonic to protect him."

Upon walking into the classroom, Miles and Amelia were surprised to find the television set that was propped up on a corner of the ceiling turned with the sound muted. The teacher held a remote control in her hand while the students poured in. Once everyone was in, the teacher turned to the class and did roll-call.

Upon reading Sonny's name out loud and hearing nothing back, the teacher turned to Miles and asked, "You're good friends with Sonny, right?"

"Yeah," Miles replied.

"Do you know where he is?"

Miles hesitated for a moment and then he said, "I, um, don't know. He left yesterday morning without telling me where he was going and I haven't seen him since."

"I see," the teacher said as she adjusted her glasses. Turning to the rest of the class the teacher said, "Before we begin the first class of the semester, there is going to be an emergency broadcast made by the President of the United Federation that we have been ordered to watch."

The teacher then muted the TV just as a middle-aged man with short brown hair and wearing a blue business suit began to speak.

"Fellow Federationists," the President said after a brief pause on the screen. "The mysterious anomaly known as The Blue Blur which has baffled our top scientists for three years was finally caught last night by G. U. N. Subsequently, The Blue Blur was taken to Prison Island for further study despite the amount of heavy damage done to the facility after the notorious Dr. Robotnik broke into it a few days ago. Though the motivation for this vile act remains uncertain, the Commander of G. U. N. speculates that something was taken as Dr. Robotnik hacked into a number of encrypted computer files prior to the break-in and was seen going into the lower vaults by security cameras before they were subsequently destroyed. G. U. N. has also claimed that it was The Blue Blur who was responsible for the mysterious jewel robbery two nights ago because the gem that was stolen is believed to be of supernatural origin by G. U. N's top researchers and possibly dangerous if it ends up in the wrong hands. Hopefully more will be revealed in G. U. N's further investigation of The Blue Blur and the files Dr. Robotnik stole but until then, this is the President of the United Federation signing off."

As the screen shifted back to the anchorwoman on the news channel, the teacher turned the TV off. Most of the students were speechless, including Miles and Amelia. They remained that way all the way through class, even when the bell rang to signal the next period.

###

"Sonic couldn't have taken that Chaos Emerald from the jewelry store," Amelia said during lunch break with Miles. "He wouldn't steal, right?"

"I don't think so," Miles replied. "Though maybe that's how Tails feels."

"We've got to do something," Amelia responded nervously. "Who knows what those G. U. N. researchers will do to him."

"I know, but what are we supposed to do? Break into Prison Island and rescue Sonny?"

Amelia grinned mischievously. "You know, that might actually not be a bad idea."

"Are you crazy? That's the highest-security prison in the entire United Federation! No one has ever broken into it."

"Except for Dr. Eggman."

"But he's a genius mad scientist with an army of robots and gadgets at his disposal. We're just a couple of kids with strange spirits possessing our bodies and an airplane."

"True, but I imagine the island's security is lower than usual because of the amount of damage done during Dr. Eggman's break-in, which would be the perfect opportunity for a 'couple of kids' like us to get in there."

"Well, can't we wait until after school to do this?"

"I say we go now. The longer we wait, the harder it will be to rescue Sonny."

Miles finished his sandwich and then he sighed. "Fine, but you owe me big time if we manage to pull this off."

"Deal!" Amelia smiled.

###

Later at the secret hangar, Miles prepared the biplanefor takeoff. Since the Chaos incident, he had done a few upgrades to the plane and decided to rename it Tornado 2 with a new color scheme of yellow and purple. While Amelia excitedly climbed into the backseat of the plane, Miles placed their school bags in a storage compartment on the plane's underside and then he grabbed something off a laboratory-style table before hopping into the pilot's seat.

"What is that?" Amelia asked.

In response, Miles unfolded his fist to reveal a pale yellow Chaos Emerald. "It's a fake Chaos Emerald I created not too long ago, but it gives off the same energy signal and provides almost as much power as a real one."

"Are you going to use it for fuel?"

"No, it would be too risky," Miles said as he put the fake Chaos Emerald in a glove-compartment and took out the Yellow Chaos Emerald. "For now we'll use this."

"Where'd you find it?"

"On the side of the road near the entrance to the secret hangar. Pretty ironic considering it's the same Emerald I used to fuel The Tornado the first time I flew it with Sonny and Chuck."

"I would've been there if only I hadn't gotten myself kidnapped."

"There's no point in blaming yourself for it, especially since you're about to fly in the Tornado 2 now."

"Yeah."

The doors to the runway opened as the lights along the track lit up. Miles pressed a few buttons and the Tornado 2 moved forward. In a matter of seconds, Tornado 2 was accelerating toward the edge of the ramp but Miles managed to lift the steering-wheel upward which caused Tornado 2's landing gear to vanish underneath the plane and fly into the air. During this time, Amelia was squealing fearfully and then she laughed once they were flying over the sea.

The ocean stretched before Miles and Amelia as the mainland vanished behind them. Then Miles banked Tornado 2 southwestward and stayed on that course. Eventually, they came to a small island that consisted of a vast jungle with steep cliffs and one lone aircraft carrier.

"According to my plane's sensors, there are three Chaos Emeralds being held here," Miles said. "And I'll bet that's where they're also keeping Sonny."

"Then follow it already," Amelia said impatiently.

So Miles complied and they flew over the jungle toward the source of the signals. However, they were soon met by rapid gunfire coming from below and then a few rockets came hurling towards them. Fortunately, Miles managed to dodge the rockets and swerved Tornado 2 out of their range.

"You go on ahead and find Sonny!" Miles shouted nervously. "I'll try to find somewhere to land."

"Okay!" Amelia said as she got out of the passenger seat. Miles then gave her a small tracking device before she jumped out of the plane.

Immediately, Amelia summoned the Piko Hammer and transformed into Amy. After doing a few midair spins to dodge the incoming gunfire, Amy eventually landed on the bottom-half of the hammer while holding onto the staff of it. The G. U. N. soldiers were too busy shooting at Miles to see Amy running past them at a speed that was almost as fast as Sonic's but not quite. She soon reached a large steel building with several armed guards shooting at something that zipped past them. Thinking it was Sonic, Amy ran to join the fight. However, the guards were soon knocked out, and the thing that did it was not Sonic but Shadow. Amy stopped running just as Shadow turned to face her.

"Shadow," Amy said in mild shock. "What are you doing here?"

Before Shadow could answer, a loud clanking sound shook the ground. Amy turned around and saw Dr. Eggman piloting a sizable mech. She attempted to run away, but Dr. Eggman immediately intervened.

"Where do you think you're going, Amy?" Dr. Eggman said maliciously. "I assume you're here to rescue your boyfriend?"

Amy blushed angrily. "Sonic, yes, but Sonny's not my boyfriend."

"Even though they are the same person?"

"Ugh, I don't have time for your stupid mind-games," Amy said as she lifted the Piko Hammer in a swinging position. "If you're going to prevent me from rescuing Sonic, then I will pulverize you till your machine is nothing more than a pile of scrap-metal!"

Dr. Eggman chuckled then said, "Shadow, go ahead to the armory and set the detonator for ten minutes. I'll take care of this pest!"

Shadow nodded and ran off into the jungle. Meanwhile, Eggman circled around Amy till he was blocking the entrance to the building. Amy immediately charged forward and then she leaped into the air to strike Dr. Eggman inside his cockpit. Unfortunately, a metallic lid covered Dr. Eggman causing the Piko Hammer to strike solid metal instead of flesh and bone. Unfazed, Amy struck the metal covering again, but it didn't dent. Then she was picked off by one of the mech's mechanical arms and flung to the side. Amy landed rolling on the concrete floor with a few scratches, but her Piko Hammer was to far away for her to reach. As Dr. Eggman closed in, another mech fell out of the sky and landed in front of him that was purple and yellow.

"Tails!" Amy said, recognizing the pilot of the purple and yellow mech. "I didn't know the Tornado 2 could turn into a mech."

"So you've picked up a few new tricks, Tails," Dr. Eggman said snidely. "I'm impressed."

"Oh, yeah, wait till you see what it does!" Tails responded. Then he looked over his shoulder at Amy. "Amy, get inside the prison and free Sonic. I'll keep Eggman distracted."

"I'm on it," Amy said, and sped past Eggman into the prison entrance.

###

Meanwhile inside the prison, Sonny was pacing impatiently back and forth in his cell when a pink-colored blur came crashing down from the ceiling. It startled the two guards but then before they could fire their guns a pink hammer knocked them out cold. The wielder of this hammer was none other than Amy, who smiled when she saw Sonny staring at her wide-eyed.

"Have no fear, Sonny," Amy said before Sonny could speak and changed back into Amelia. "Amelia's here!"

"Amy — I mean, Amelia," Sonny said correcting himself. "How did you get here?"

"I came with Miles in his new plane," Amelia answered as she took a key-card off of one of the unconscious guards. "This morning the President of the United Federation announced that you stole the Chaos Emerald from the jewelry store, but I didn't believe it and so me and Miles came to rescue you."

"All right," Sonny said with relief. "I was starting to go crazy in this nuthouse. Not only is the head of G. U. N. Rouge's father but Rouge is also a G. U. N. agent and it was she who told G. U. N. about Sonic."

Amelia's hands went limp. "Wait, so you're saying that Rouge ratted out on us?"

"Yep," Sonny nodded. "She took pictures of us when we transformed in the Chao Garden and secretly recorded the private conversation you had with her to explain our situation."

In response, Amelia clenched the key-card so tight that it crumbled to pieces in her hand. "When I see that traitorous minx again, I'm going to give her a beating she'll never forget!"

"Amelia! You just crushed the key-card," Sonny exclaimed.

"Not to worry," Amelia said picking a similar-looking card off of the other unconscious guard. "The other guard has another."

"Okay, now will you please let me out?"

"Only if you promise to take me out on a date once everything's been settled."

"What?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been having these…romantic feelings lately. I'm not sure if it's me or Amy's feelings for Sonic, but nevertheless I want to at least go on one date with you to see if my feelings are genuine or not."

"Um, ok, I'll do it."

Amelia smiled and slid the card through the slot next to the cell, causing the electricity flowing through the bars to die down and the cell-door to open automatically. Sonny stepped out nervously, and then he looked down the hallway. There were no guards in sight, and then the intercom went on with the Mr. Baxter's voice blaring over it.

"Attention all personnel! An intruder has been spotted! We will proceed by commencing a lockdown of the entire facility! This is not a drill, I repeat, not a drill!"

"We got to get out of here," Sonny said as he transformed into Sonic. "And fast!"

Amelia followed his lead and changed into Amy. Together, they jumped up into the ventilation shaft that Amy used to get in and they quickly crawled their way through it. Eventually they came to the front entrance which was locked, forcing them onto the roof of the building. Unfortunately, there weren't too many guards posted and they didn't seem to notice Sonic and Amy at the moment.

"By the way, Sonic," Amy said quietly. "I ran into Shadow on my way into the prison."

Sonic flinched and looked at Amy with a determined expression. "Did he say where he was going?"

"Dr. Eggman told him to go to the armory to set off some detonators, and then he took off into the jungle northwest from the prison."

Upon hearing those words, Sonic took off in the same direction Shadow went before Amy could stop him.

To be continued…