"Alrighty then, Amy. Which way, now?" Sonic asked, after he and the others have eventually left the Chemical Plant Zone, having fully healed from the Mega Mack poisoning. It had dulled their pace by quite a bit, so he'd like to get back into the swing of things as soon as he's able. It would do everyone some good to make sure they stay ahead of their knowing enemies.

"Lemme concentrate." Amy gently shushed him, as she calmly closed her eyes and played the Mystic Melody again. The light appeared around her fingers, shining sparkles radiating around her, before they all eventually vanished. She opened her eyes and turned to the right. "I can sense something in this direction. Two Chaos Emeralds this time."

"Two for the price of one? I can live with that!" Sonic grinned with a thumbs up.

"Not entirely. It seems that they're kind of split apart upon this path. They're not too far apart, but they're far enough that we'll definitely have to make two trips just to try and get the both of them. They're in two different locations not too far from one another." Amy muttered while holding her head. "And who knows what might be waiting for us there."

"Hey, don't sweat it. We'll have this handled in no time." Sonic reassured while scratching his ear. "Of course, we're once again gonna have to do a little bit of the splitting up routine. Kinda sending a pattern here, guys. I dunno about you, but this song and dance is starting to become a bit more familiar, yeah?"

"I'm not particularly fond of this brand of familiarity given the risks, but because of those same risks, it can't be helped." Sally sighed while scratching the top of her head as well as her ears. "We can't leave it to chance that one of the Emeralds will be vulnerable if we all go for a single one. So we'll once again have to divide ourselves up. And once we're in these divisions, we can't afford to get ourselves separated from them. So as always, we all have to stay together within our respective teams." Sally turned towards Antoine and Bunnie. "We'll go with Sonic. Tails, Rotor and Amy will head in the other direction. We'll beep each other once we've found the Chaos Emeralds. Nicole, have you pinned down where the location of the Emeralds that Amy sensed? We have to be able to get to it without her."

"From what I can gather, it appears Amy's direction will be towards the Aquatic Ruins Zone, likely to be under enemy control. Our own direction is towards a near by remote village, also likely to be within enemy control." Nicole deduced in Holo-Form from her console, eyes glowing briefly. "It's sure to be there, Sally. Though just as likely, stealth is unlikely to be a viable option. At this point they will certainly be expecting us."

"Of course. All the same, we'll have to exercise caution confronting the enemy, as much we need possibly can, at least." Sally nodded to everyone once. "Alright then, we don't have time to waste. We split up and move out!" Sally turned to Sonic as she held Nicole's console within her hands. "You ready?"

"Set and raring to go, Sal." Sonic grinned, gently picking her up in a princess carry and dashing off in their set direction. Bunnies saw them off with a whistle, before turning towards Antoine with a smile.

"Too bad you're not quite as fast as Sugah Hog, Antoine. Otherwise I'd be havin' a good ole' time being carried around by you like that."

"Well, it's not like I-" Antoine was cut from his thoughts as he was suddenly picked up in Bunnie's arms, eyes widened in surprise. "Que diable?!"(What the heck?!)

"D'aw, hush up and let me carry you. Imma flier, it'll be quicka that way." Bunnie smiled cheekily, fluttering her eyes towards the stunned coyote. "Though when you think real hard about it, yah might get tha chance to return the favor. I'll be mighty lookin' forward to that, bein' carried like a princess. Think yer courageous enough to gimme that experience more often?"

"...Ah?" Antoine blinked several times as he was unaware of his blush.

"I'll pin that as a maybe. Hang on tight!" Bunnie smiled as she takes flight, her bionics glowing all the whole throughout her body.

Antoine did take a brief look at them, seeing how the tech within was enhancing her, keeping her going. At one point in her life, things weren't looking good for her. It looked like she would never walk again, or worse, she could have died. But here she was now, flying like it was a simple gesture, smiling all the whole, and looking so happy and free while doing so, smiling brightly even though she's likely to head into the next battle. And she was doing so with confidence and determination. Antoine could see it on her expression, especially within her bright emerald green eyes.

...Magnifique...

The gang went their separate ways to their current destinations, although both Sonic and Sally couldn't help but wonder while moving on ahead, with Bunnie carrying Antoine within her arms rather easily, Nicole being within her console. Amy lead the way with Rotor and Tails in the other direction, towards the Aquatic Ruins Zone. Both of them hoped everyone would be okay, though something within them was sternly telling them that it wouldn't be that easy. As expected, though in a different approach than usual.

Not too far away, two onlookers saw the groups heading in different directions. One of them pounded their fists together, and the other nervously looked after the other group.

"Ya know the plan, Drippy. We'll let the fodder handle the scrubs. We both know our own targets." Surge grinned as electricity danced off her fingers. "You go yellow, I go blue."

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Kitsunami nervously but readily saluted. Surge groaned and facepalmed.

"Ugh, what do I keep telling you about calling me ma'am?"

"S-Sorry Ma'-I MEAN, Surge..."

The Aquatic Ruins Zone.

Deep widespread lakes with crystal clear water, platforms decorated with plenty of healthy flora such as green grass, red-pink flowers, and trees with green crowns. Adding to the mystique of the area, alongside the ruins themselves appearing to have allowed themselves to be covered in both water and flora due to the progression of time.

Amy closed her eyes briefly. "The Chaos Emerald is here. It's definitely here." She soon opened her eyes. "Though I can't exactly tell where this time. Something about these ruins is throwing off my senses, just slightly. Like a slight shift that isn't noticeable until you really focus on it."

"Do you think the ruins themselves shifted around to hide the Emerald?" Tails tilted his head. "Given their immense mystical power, it probably wouldn't be surprising. But it's more likely that something within these ruins is inherently making it a bit harder for you to sense them. So going k. me looking for ourselves should further resolve the issue."

"I'm quite fine with that, little buddies. Though there's just one thing we gotta take note of." Rotor casually pointed forwards. "Who's that?"

Amy and Tails blinked as they looked towards where Rotor pointed. Both of them tilted their heads as they realized someone was there sitting around one of the edges of the lakes. And furthermore, the person seemed to be..

...fishing?

That in of itself was confusing enough, but their puzzlement quickly grew into surprise and slight panic once they realized that not only was the person fishing almost with no awareness to the world whatsoever, but that they were also being attacked by surrounding robots. Yet despite this, they were somewhat content to just ic time fishing and ignoring their attackers. This clearly did not endear them to said attackers, for they reached out and began to attack the fisherman.

"Oh man, they're in trouble." Rotor noted while slowly clenching his fists. "We should try and think of a way t-"

"PIKO!" The sight of a Piko Hammer being thrown forth, and ricocheting off of the heads of two of the Troopers and knocking them both far back due to the momentum, then returning to Amy's hands, occurred in a span of seven seconds. She twirled her hammer with a huff, as Rotor looked at her in surprise and scratched the top of his head.

"I...well, whatever works. No complaints here."

Amy huffed again as she rushed over towards the fisherman, eying the downed troopers for any sign of movement. She soon tended to the person. "Hey, are you alright? Those Troopers were giving you quite a lot of trouble, weren't they?"

"...Hmmmm?" The fisherman soon turned towards Amy. "Oh, hello. When did you get here?"

Amy tilted her head. "Just now. Seriously, are you alright? These robots were about to attack you!"

"...I was being attacked?" The fisherman blinked as he looked towards the fallen Troopers, and lightly hummed. "Oh. More came around. Well, how about that. I hardly noticed them." He turned back to the water, mostly ignorant of Amy's increasingly disbelieving face. "Sorry. I was just so caught up in my fishing, that I might have just tuned out the rest of the world for a moment. That tends to happen sometimes." He turned back towards Amy. "I didn't cause you any trouble, did I?"

"I...you didn't even..." Amy sighed as she massaged her forehead. "No, no nothing's wrong. At least now they're isn't. I'm just glad you're not hurt."

"I'm glad you're not hurt, too." The fisherman said sincerely, as he reeled in his line. "Fish just aren't biting today. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow." He soon sits up, and Amy was briefly surprised by just how big the fisherman was when he was standing at his full height, and he looked down towards her. Not to mention, he was a cat. A really REALLY big purple cat. "Anyway, I'm a cat. And my name is Big. So I'm Big the Cat."

...Of course. Amy sighed. She smiled politely regardless.

"Amy Rose. Charmed to meet you, Big." She held out her hand, though was surprised when Big simply pulled her into a hug. "O-Oh! Well, I'm not exactly against hugs, but a little warning would..." Amy slowly stopped as she was hugged against Big's warm and fluffy, white furred stomach. He was quite large indeed, and she was quite a bit smaller, so he was hugging her mostly to his chest whilst above his golden belt buckle. She lowered her eyes, pleasantly sighing as she allowed herself to wrap her arms around it and nuzzle his fur. "It's like I'm hugging a floofy poofy cloud..."

"I've been told that a lot." Big slowly hummed.

Tails blinked as he scratched the top of his head. "He seems... incredibly laid back. Possibly even more so than Sonic."

"Gonna agree with ya there, little buddy. Just from his tone, I can tell he'd rather stay away from the loud commotion. Sonic will run right towards it if he thinks it'll lead to something fun." Rotor rolled his neck as he and Tails found it safe to come closer.

"It's so soft I could sleep on it..." Amy shamelessly admits in her coziness induced state. Rotor sighed as he eventually had to pull her away from Big, to her unhidden disappointment. "Awww, but fluffy tummy..."

"We gotta stay on task, Amy." Rotor reminded her, setting her pouting form down. "So anyway, Big. Do you have any idea why these Troopers were attacking you? You know, besides being jerks and bullies and all that?"

"Hmmm. I'm not too sure. I haven't done anything but sit here fishing with my best pal, Froggy." Big turned towards a frog that was currently sitting idle by his side, quietly croaking.

"Hi, Froggy." Amy waved to Froggy. Wow, now that I noticed him, Froggy didn't even flinch when these robots came about. Jeez, these two are so easygoing that they were barely bothered by killer robots! Amy shook her head. "Anyway, Big, like Rotor asked, do you have any idea why these robots were attacking you?"

"Hm? I dunno." Big tilted his head with a slow blink. "... Actually, maybe I do. One sec." Big turned about and reached into his bag, getting the others curious. "Here it is." And after a while he pulled something out, and the others were absolutely shocked by what they were seeing.

"A Chaos Emerald?!" The trio gasped as a Big showed them the yellow Chaos Emerald in his rather large hands. "Big, how in the world did you find this?!" Tails asked, his eyes still wide with shock.

"I didn't mean to find it. I kinda fished it out of the many lakes you can find here. Did you know that there was lake of Rings nearby? I found it around one of those." Big hummed slowly. "I didn't know what to do with it, but I knew it was pretty important. So I kept it with me, just in case someone else comes by who knew what to do with it. Until then, I treated it as a sort of lucky charm." Big tilted his head as the thoughts began lining up. "Oh. That's probably why they were attacking me, wasn't it? That's not very lucky at all..." Big hands the Emerald to them. "Do you want it? You look like you need it more than I do."

"Big...are you sure?" Rotor noted as he gently took the glowing yellow gem. Big nodded softly.

"It's okay. If it will help you with whatever you need, then you can have it. I don't mind."

"Wow. And you even kept it safe all this time, which you saved us a lot of time! Thanks, Big!" Amy hopped up to kiss Big's cheek, to which he nodded softly again.

"You're welcome."

Amy couldn't help but wonder, as Rotor and Tails were going over what to do next, she sits down near Big as he also sits near the lake they were closest to. "So, Big. What does bring you all the way out here, besides looking after this Emerald and fishing?"

"Hmmm? I've been here for a while. Mostly after having to move from my old home."

"Your old home? You don't live here?"

"Not really. It's a nice place to fish, though, so it's fine." Big looked towards Amy. "Me and Froggy used to live in a forest very very far away from here. It's called the Mystic Ruins. A swampy rainforest filled with lots of trees and plants. It was nice and quiet there, so I spent lot of my life there. It's also where I met my best pal, Froggy." He heard Froggy croak again, with the amphibian hopping onto his head. Big acknowledged him but otherwise continued on. "The hustle and bustle of the cities were too noisy. The Mystic Ruins were far away from most people and technology. It was nice and quiet."

"I can kinda understand that. Technology is cool and all, but sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming, and way too annoyingly complicated. No offense, Rotor, Tails."

"None taken." Both boys responded simultaneously.

"So, Big. The Mystic Ruins is your home. If that's so, what are you doing out here in the Westside Islands, here in the Aquatic Ruins? That's the wrong ruins, buddy." Amy tried to lighten things, lightly elbowing Big's tummy. He did smile a little at it, though he soon looked towards the water once more, mostly towards his own reflection.

"...It's not our home anymore."

Rotor and Tails stopped discussing and turned towards Big. Amy immediately realized the drop in Big's tone once he said those words. "...Why is it not your home anymore, Big?" Amy gently asked, placing a hand over his own. "Can you tell us what happened?"

Big hummed while still gazing at his reflection. "Froggy and I used to live in the Mystic Ruins for a very long time. Though, we couldn't live there anymore. There were a bunch of enemies beginning to come into the area, and we weren't able to get them to leave no matter how hard we tried to. So we had to leave the Mystic Ruins on our own. After a while, we ended up here." Big lightly kicked his feet. "We managed to find someplace to be peace and quiet like these Aquatic Ruins, another nice and quiet place to fish, so it ended up working out."

"...Big. You were chased out from your own home by invaders. That's...that's terrible." Amy muttered as she placed her other hand on Big's. "You didn't try and fight back against them? Why didn't you?"

"I didn't want to fight." Big hummed while once again gazing at the water. "I don't like fighting. I've tried to keep myself away from all the fighting, as much as I could. When trouble starts, I try to stay out of the way. I don't wanna bring trouble to anyone by fighting back, so I figured I'd just keep going away to where there isn't any fighting, and thus no trouble. No trouble means everyone and everything is fine." Big scratched the top of his head. "I guess I'm still not very good at avoiding trouble either way, though..."

"Ah, man." Rotor shook his head, while Tails ears and namesakes drooped slightly.

Amy blinked, as she realized that Big's rather docile and peaceful nature meant that he couldn't bring himself to fight when trouble came to interrupt his peaceful life. And rather than fight back, he ran away to avoid any further trouble. And from the sounds of it, he does not because he was afraid to fight, but that he didn't want to escalate the conflict by resisting hostile forces. Amy could feel it through his words and mannerisms. He heavily disliked conflict to the point where he would rather abandon his home he lived in almost his entire life than fight for it.

That said, she did notice one thing.

What he said about the Chaos Emerald. Despite probably knowing that holding onto it would get him into the trouble he's specifically trying to avoid, he knew that just letting the bad guys have it was not something anybody wanted. So he kept it on hand, just in case someone more benevolent we're in need of it. This meaning he considered holding and hiding away the Chaos Emerald more important than fighting for his own home.

He's probably much more aware than he lets on.

Even so...

"Big..." Amy began, standing up to better meet his eyes. "The Mystic Ruins was your home. You really cared about it, and the peace and tranquility that you could enjoy there. And then some jerks came and kicked you out, and you didn't look back. Doesn't that hurt?"

"A little." Big admitted with a hum as he turned back towards the water. "But I didn't let it linger within me for very long. Froggy and I both managed to make it out of it okay. And we managed to find another place to be at peace. So I think we did kind of okay."

"But you've seen what happened, haven't you?" Amy clasped her hands. "Those enemies that tried to hurt you before, and the ones thring to hurt you now. They don't care that you don't want to fight, or how much you want to avoid it. Some people will want to hurt you simply because that's within their power. Some people don't need reasons to hurt others." Amy clenched her fists. "And when you come across someone like that,and you can't talk them down...then you have to protect yourself against them! You can't let them push you around!"

"Amy..." Tails briefly stepped forward, but Rotor placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him in place. He whispered a subtle 'wait' to the fox, who could only watch with a bit of unease.

Amy took a deep breath, then sighed. "...Big. I'm not saying you have to actively go out and pick fights. But sometimes the fight comes to you, and there's nowhere else to run, the only choices you'll have is to fight back, or lose something you care about. Whether it be a precious treasure, a cherished memory, a comfortable home, your own life even! And perhaps, a little friend." Amy gestured to Froggy. Froggy croaked and hopped into Amy's arms. She blinked in surprise, as did Big. Though soon she smiled. "Fighting isn't a pretty or nice thing, I can understand that. But under the proper circumstances, it also shows you and those around you just how much these things mean to you."

Big hummed as he gazed at his reflection, then towards Amy and Froggy. "Hm. Well, I do care about Froggy a whole bunch, he's my best friend. Mostly the only friend I've ever had."

"...Until today." Amy smiled brightly as she gently hugged Froggy while gazing up towards Big. "You don't have to live in isolation with Froggy as your only friend. If you want, I'll be your friend, too."

"...You will?" Big blinked in sincere surprise.

"Absolutely. That way, you won't have to protect Froggy all by yourself. I'll help you do that, since he means a lot to you."

"Really?" Big asked again, to which Amy smiled.

"Really really." She nodded warmly to Big, and the shared warmth behind her gaze seemed to be reaching out to him now. "It's a lot easier to protect something you care about, when you have someone by your side who cares about you enough to help you protect these precious things. It looks like you haven't had someone like that for a while, but I intend to change that starting today."

Tails blinked, as his ears twitched. "Guys, I think the enemy's heading this way."

"They must have quickly realized some of their patrolling Trooper Badnik buddies got wrecked." Rotor grimaced as he noticed several more of them coming through the passageways. And on top of that, a flying Badnik was zooming about in the air, which got their attention especially quickly. "And they've got a flier!"

"Okay, EW! What is that?! It looks like a hideous combo between a moth and a spider!" Amy gagged. She gasped and had to jump out of the way as it launched a fireball towards her and Rotor, who also had to leap out of the way. "And it blasts FIREBALLS?!" It soon fires again, this time multiple web shots, much to Amy's exclaimed disgust, and several of them impacted Big, and almost completely webbed him up in moments.

"Uh-oh." Big drawled, though he didn't seem very panicked about his predicament, moreso surprised.

"Not good!" Tails narrowed his eyes towards the Spider-Moth and flew towards it, dodging it's fireballs and web shots mid-air, before spinning about and slicing right through it with his spinning tails like a buzzsaw. He huffed as the pieces shattered and exploded onto the ground. "That takes care of that thing..." Tails nodded, unaware of the watery whips menacingly hovering behind him. "Now to-GWAH?!" He exclaimed as his limbs were ensnared by water, and he was dragged away deeper into the ruins.

"Tails?! Tails?!" Rotor grunted as he jumped over the whip of a nearby Trooper Badnik and punched it's head right off. "I'm not liking this, guys! I think they're trying to split us up!" He took a breath as he tried to rally them away from Amy and Big, in order to find some way to reach Tails again. Though his luck in that endeavor was limited, for he was surrounded by more Troopers in time. "This is getting bad..."

"I don't care how many of them there are, I won't let them have their way!" Amy exclaimed as she hastily dodged the blaster fire heading her way, careful to make sure that Froggy didn't get hurt. But eventually a combination of the blasts exploded violently around her, launching her across the ground, tumbling and crashing against the wall.

Big's eyes widened at the display, as the webs he was ensnared in began to tear as if they weren't even there.

"Ugh...are...are you okay, Froggy?" Amy grunted as she shook her head, trying to get the ringing out of her ears. She staggered to her feet, still having the panicked and croaking Froggy tucked in her arms. She didn't let go for his own good, he's undoubtedly get hurt when worse if she released him now. She turned around to see the Trooper Badnik marching towards her. "You all...don't look so tough. You think I'm gonna tremble, ugh, after you got a lucky hit in? Think again...!"

Amy grit her teeth as the large Badnik swung it's massive hammer down onto her. Despite her bracing, Amy couldn't help but turn away and flinch in preparation for the incoming intensity of pain, though noticeably turning her back so she would be hit and not Froggy in her arms.

Though she was briefly surprised by it never arriving.

She slowly peaked her eye open, then widened both of them fully as she saw Big holding back the mallet with naught but his bare arm. And despite how much power was behind the blow, enough for the ground around them to crack immensely, Big not only didn't budge, but he didn't seem very hurt at all.

"...Bullying my friends isn't nice."

With naught but a swing, Big slammed his fist right into the heavily armored Badnik, with enough force to heavily, badly dent it inwards and sending it hurtling backwards and crashing right into the wall. Though he didn't stop there, for he used his fishing line to grab the fallen heavy Badnik, and swing it around himself, thus knocking through the other gathering Trooper Badniks in the area, smashing them to pieces with one of their own, until there were none left standing at the moment.

Amy and Rotor were left in awe, as Big balanced the fishing rod over his shoulder. Rotor rubbed his chin. "...Well I'll be. I'm plenty tough myself, but not 'utterly wrecking a Heavy Badnik in one hit' tough..." Bunnie's capable of some similar strength feats, but she's been cybernetically enhanced, both to save her life and to give her a fighting chance. From what Rotor could currently see, that sheer physical might of Big's was completely natural.

"Amy? Are you okay?" Big turned around to gently ask Amy. She was slightly stunned, though she flashed him a smile.

"Heh, nothing I can't walk off. Ow."

Big hummed as he could see more Troopers Badniks on the way. "More are coming. They're probably going to be bullies too, aren't they?" Big briefly turned towards Amy again, who could only nod as she tried to get her strength back, with Froggy croaking in her arms. Nodding back, Big turns towards the oncoming horde, feeling resolute. "Bullies came around to take my home, so I left without a fight so that nobody else would get hurt. But now even more bullies are hurting my friends here anyway, which is even more mean than just attacking me." Big's eyes narrowed, only slightly. "If they're not going to be nice to my friends, then I really do have to make them go away."

It was a lot easier for Big to turn around and simply leave the conflict behind, before. The Mystic Ruins was a cozy and quiet home to him for a while, and he was admittedly sad to leave it. But so long as he had Froggy, things would work out and their search for a new home was mostly successful. And most importantly, he was the only one at risk. He was even fine with getting hurt a little, so long as nobody else did.

But then Amy Rose appeared and fought in his defense, readily decided to call herself his friend so she can help protect what he thinks is precious, and even defended Froggy and weathered attacks for him at great harm and risk to herself to prove she was serious about it.

Big was not the brightest person in the world, he'll be the first to admit to it and peacefully accept it. That being said, with all of the above in mind, Big can't turn away and pretend that a friend getting hurt for his and Froggy's sake didn't genuinely upset him. Turning away was not going to fix this or make him feel better.

It was about high time he stood his ground.

Meanwhile, Tails grunted and struggled as the water tendrils kept him mostly locked in place. "Huh?! What's going on?! Who?! Where?!"

As soon as he asked this, he came across an opening in the ruins, where to his surprise, another fox appeared to be waiting for him. A fennec fox by the looks of it, who was simply sitting on one of the platforms with his legs crossed and his hands clasped. The water around him was constantly rippling and pulsing, and the eyes behind his drooping head fur were flowing menacingly.

Hydrokinesis? Tails wondered, very quickly getting a peek towards the pack attached to the fennec's back. Is that pack being used to channel his power?

"Hello, Miles Prower. Or perhaps I should go by your more well-known nickname, 'Tails'?" The slightly smaller fox declared clinically, and it's with a closer eye that Tails noticed that he was the one wielding the water tendrils. "I am Kitsunami the Fennec. You are my designated target for elimination."

"Elimination?!" Tails uttered in disbelief, before he spun his namesakes rapidly and dispersed the water around him, using them to also slice through the tendrils that tried to grab him again, thus he remained airborne. He held out placating hands. "Hold on! Elimination?! What for?!" Tails eyes widened. "Wait. Are you working with-"

"No. Not Julian Robotnik. There's only one sole person I've dedicated myself to, and it's not him. But doing what he says now will ultimately help her in the long run, thus here I am." Kitsunami slowly pulled himself off the ground with his watery tendrils. "So for her sake, I need you to die here, Miles 'Tails' Prower."

"Hold on, who's-?!" Tails shook his head as a water tendril shot out towards him, forcing him to roll out of the way in midair to avoid being hit. He gasped and tightened his scarf around his neck. "Can you please wait a second?! I'm sure there has to be-"

"Sorry, but time is not on your side here. So unless you're going to make this easy and let me drown you, I suggest you prepare yourself for a fight. Speaking of which, I'm very glad you chose to come to this particular location."

Kitsunami raised his hand, as the volume of water around him began gathering and increasing thanks to the nearby water found within the Aquatic Ruins. And as more and more water gathered around him, his slowly growing smile turned sinister, and his eyes flashed with menace.

"Because in a place like this, I'm in my element."

Sonic's quills began tingling for a few moments. His eyes narrowed as he slightly, only slightly, turned towards the direction that Tails and the others went in. He couldn't place his finger on it, but he could definitely tell that something was amiss, dangerously amiss. And he had a feeling that his sworn brother might have gotten himself into trouble. Antoine sometimes told him that he was ridiculous for trusting his quill tingles to the extent that he does, but Sonic disagreed. While he doesn't have an exact idea of what might be amiss, he was certainly sure that something is happening whenever he feels the quills tingle.

Hope you're doing alright, big guy.

Be that as it may, he chose to trust Tails. Whatever was happening, he was certain that he could handle it. Not to mention Amy and Rotor would be there with him as well, further filling Sonic with confidence. But he still couldn't help but be a little worried, as the mission's I creased urgency means increased dangers, inevitably. Though if he kept worrying to this extent, he's sure he's going to start forming some sort of sync with Sally.

Speaking of Sally, she was keeping her attention on Nicole and her console, even though Sonic was carrying her at the speed he currently was. Likely she was currently keeping on the lookout for the next Emerald, which would likely prove somewhat difficult to obtain. Depending on what sort of opposition they would be facing, which would definitely tip the scales one way or the other. In any case, Sally and Nicole were attempting to compile as much possible information as they could before they actually got to their destination.

Bunnie and Antoine were hovering above them with the latter being carried by the former. Antoine was in a mixed state of having so much fun, yet being slightly scared. Meanwhile Bunnie was just having a ball. Sonic chuckled at the two of them, mostly subdued and quiet, though.

Something beeped on Nicole's console, and it immediately got Sally's attention. "Here, Sonic. Everyone, stop here!" At her request Sonic eventually skidded to a stop, and Bunnie overhead also halted. The suddenness made Antoine help, but fortunately he wasn't dropped out of Bunnie's arms. He really didn't want to give Sonic more ammo to laugh at him over. Sonic soon sets Sally on her feet, and Nicole manifested her quasi-physical form by her side. "Nicole, we're close, aren't we?"

"Very." Nicole noted while displaying the a holographic viewing of the area. "The Chaos Emerald should be somewhere within the village up ahead. Under enemy surveillance. Stealth might not be an option with the amount of enemy forces roaming about, not to mention their more troublesome ones."

"I might have a little reason why, Nicole." Bunnie got a look around as she held up her had, several leaves falling onto it. "No wonder this place is so remote. This is the Leaf Forest, ain't it?" Bunnie blew the leaves away as they swirled with the oncoming wind. "Strange little place, this is. Didn't get its name for nothin'. No matter how much or how many leaves fall, the trees here never become bare."

"The greenery here is also one of the healthiest in all of Mobius. Forests, vegetation, plants. All things green tend to grow here, and they grow nice and well no matter the outside conditions." Sally nodded while leading the way, pushing through some of the very extended leaves on the trees as she spoke.

"Huh, Leaf Forest sure knows how to tough things out then." Sonic smiled while gazing up upwards, seeing that even the taller trees were having leaves spread about and fly freely. "Maybe once we've earned some more R&R, I could chill here for a bit and just lay on the leaves as they fall. Sounds like a pretty chill day waiting to be appreciated."

"Only you can find something relaxing about laying on a pile of leaves." Antoine sighed.

"You mean every kid who's ever had to take leaves into piles and then jump in them for fun?" Sonic smirked while clasping his hands behind his neck. "Besides, even someone like me likes to occasionally stop and enjoy nature. Gotta appreciate the finer and quieter things in life, bud. I'm still plenty capable of doing that."

"Coulda fooled me."

"So anyway, how'd you like being carried around by Bunnie?"

"THAT...is none of your concern." Antoine nearly balked, before he caught himself and coughed into his fist, turning away. Sonic simply smirked at him with his hands behind his neck, before his ears twitched.

"Hey, guys. Think something's coming our way."

"Something approaches indeed." Nicole confirmed.

"Is it an enemy?" Sally cautiously asked, lightly holding her blue rings.

"Confirmed. But they are several meters behind the more immediate presence heading in our direction."

"What do you-" Sonic began to ask, before something came blurring out from the woods, and bumped into him. "Ouch! Hey, what the-" Sonic briefly stopped as he saw that it wasn't something, but someone bumped into him in a hurry, like they were trying to get away from something. And upon closer inspection, he could see that it was a little girl. Likely a rabbit due to her long and floppy ears, and cute little dress. He didn't even get to ask her her name, before she suddenly stood up and latched tightly onto him, shivering badly. Immediately, he went to gently hold her. "Woah, hey little buddy. What's the matter?"

"Ah can think of a good guess." Bunnie narrowed her eyes towards the other presence slowly approaching, until it knocked a nearby tree out of the way, sending it toppling over and scattering leaves all over the ground.

"Yo! That was a completely innocent tree! What'd it ever do to you, eh?!" Sonic exclaimed, slightly outraged.

Sally rolled her eyes and returned her focus towards the one before them, very quickly gathering that they were enemies as Nicole predicted, due to the fact that they were leading a squad of Badniks, and Swatbots. She turned back towards the child that was currently latching onto Sonic terrified out of her mind, guessing that she was probably running from these enemies.

"That little rabbit over there has been running from us for quite a while." It would seem the one in front, a wolf of tall and imposing stature, stood up towards them with a growl. "We've only been trying to return her to her mother, but she's being very difficult about it."

"Forgive me if I don't take your word on that." Sally deadpanned.

"I'm hurt! We're only trying to do our part to help out in this territory, and we've only wanted to reunite this little one with her mother." The wolf gestured to the young rabbit currently holding onto Sonic for dear life. "Come along now."

Her response to the words was to clutch onto Sonic even more.

"...Please don't go." The rabbit whimpered against his chest. Sonic blinked, then lightly pulled back slightly to get a look at her face, and his eyes widened when he saw that the right side of her face was bruised, and bleeding from two claw marks across her cheek. Then he looked up towards the wolf in front of him, noticing that two of his claws have been covered in slight blood.

Immediately putting two and two together, Sonic's eyes slowly narrowed, his brow furrowed, as he held the girl tight and looked towards the wolf. "You know, that's alright. I think she's better off with us. We can take her to her mom ourselves." He raised a brow. "Of course, that's not gonna be a problem, is it?"

"Actually-" He didn't have much of an opportunity to finish, for he was immediately socked in the face by Bunnie before he could react, sending him tumbling across the ground before he crashed into a tree, which proceeded to fall on top of him. Bunnie's eyes glowed as her cybernetics powered and channeled energy through her.

"Actually nuthin'."

The Badniks didn't hesitate to open fire upon them after that, which forced everyone to split up and avoid the ensuing assault. Antoine ducked behind a rock and covered his head for several moments and keeping our of sight.

"Well, that's been decided, I guess!" Antoine winced as several of the blasted fire chipped across the rocks. "No choice but to fight back. It certainly beats handing that poor girl over to that heathen."

"Though we don't know the full story, we do know that her mother is involved." Nicole relayed as Bunnie smashed a nearby Badniks into the ground with an axe kick.

"We gotta find her quick, Sally-Girl!"

"Leave it to me!" Sonic notes, while also taking note of the rabbit in his arms. "Hey, don't worry. Can you tell me your name real quick so I can look for your Mom quicker?"

"H-Huh?" The girl stuttered before she gasped and nodded politely. "M-My name is Cream. C-Cream the Rabbit. Y-You're Mr. Sonic."

"Huh, you heard of me too? Geez, how well known am I?" Sonic shook his head as she picked up Cream in his arms. "Alright then, Cream. Point me to where your Mom is and we'll save her in a flash!"

"T-That way..." Cream pointed north in front of her.

"Right then. Everyone, I'm gonna go on ahead!"

"Sonic, wait!" Sally called out, but Sonic has already rushed off with Cream in tow. Sally groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Good grief. Bunnie, please back him up."

"Oh it, Sal!" Bunnie thumbs up, before she follows after Sonic to support him. Sally sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, before she turned around, her ring blades glowing to life. She dashes forward and deflects blasted fire heading her way, hiding behind one of the sturdier trees as several shots managed to pierce some of them.

"I honestly can't believe that things went awry so quickly..." Sally sighed and shook her head. "Oh, what am I saying. Of course they did." She peaked around to see Antoine managing to slash through one of the mechas with his sabre, though he winced as a near miss sent him crashing to the ground, and he rolled away before they could continue the onslaught any further. "We're going to have to hold the line here, Nicole, Antoine. Spread out and take them down one at a time!"

"I'm on it! Hopefully!" Antoine winced as he ducked under another onslaught of blasts, as he glared towards the horde of mechs heading their way. "It's a pretty big hope..."

Sonic was running across the forest with Cream cuddled close in his arms, and Bunnie flying overhead keeping up with him. Her cybernetic lines glowed along her body, hovering whilst surrounded in a green technological glow. Bunnie narrowed her eyes as she could see something up ahead, and her eyes wide es at the sight of it whilst pointing.

"Sugah Hog! I see a base up ahead! They've gotta be holdin' Cream's Ma in there!"

"Gotcha! Then let's bust right in and-" Sonic suddenly stopped on a dime, digging his heels into the ground whilst doing so. His ears twitched slightly, before he turned around towards a certain direction. His ear twitched once more, and he felt his quills beginning to tingle. "...Bunnie. Do me a solid and take Cream off my hands for a bit."

"Um, sure?" Bunnie responded cautiously, though didn't hesitate to take Cream into her own arms, hugging her tight. "I'll take care of you for now, darlin'."

Sonic strained his eyes, the wind around him blowing throughout Leaf Forest. He clenched his fists while narrowing his eyes. "Bunnie, for real. You and Cream gotta go inside and find her mom. I've got something to handle out here."

"Why? Do you sense something comin'?"

A crack of lightning.

"...Call it a hunch."

That was the last thing Sonic said before he crossed his arms, and what appeared to be a bolt of lightning crashed right into him. He vanished in an instant.

"MR. SONIC!/SUGAH HOG?!" Cream and Bunnie exclaimed separately, before both of their ears shot up at the sound of something heavy landing on the ground. Cautious, both of them slowly turned around as they noticed yet another mech arrived on the fray, one much larger than the ones previously, and it came with a giant mallet and a similarly giant mechanical gauntlet. A hammer tank, if she recalled correctly .Bunnie immediately recognized the mech, and sighed. "Ya gotta be kidding..."

"Alright kid, I'm through playing games!" The wolf from before growled, having a black eye from Bunnie decking him. Taking point in managing the mech, he glared heatedly towards the two rabbits. "No more chances, brat! Tell me where you've hidden the Chaos Emerald, NOW!"

What?! Bunnie's eyes widened, briefly looking towards the whimpering Cream clutching onto Bunnie for support.

Meanwhile, Sonic was sent spiralling out of control before his back hits the wall. He lands on the ground coughing and holding his chest, as a crack of lightning sounded in front of him. He slowly looked up as he found a pair of blue eyes glaring towards him with a vicious grin. Sonic grimaced slightly from the lightning but was otherwise mostly occupied trying to get breath back into his lungs.

"Hey...that was kind of a cheap shot. You didn't even introduce yourself before punching the heck outta me." Sonic coughed as he stood up and held his head. "I'll start. Hi, my name's-"

"Yeah yeah, I know who you are. The rabble like talking about you like you're some kinda uprising big shot. When they should be talking about me, Surge the Tenrec." The new arrival folded her arms and looked Sonic up and down. "And now that I'm seeing you up close and personal, pfft. I don't see what the big deal is about. You don't look that tough to me."

"Dang, such harsh words. We've barely gotten to know each other." Sonic rolled his arms while kicking the sole of his foot in the ground. "So, Surge the Tenrec. Sonic the Hedgehog. There, see? Now we know each other's names. That's a start towards a more friendly conversation, where we don't have to fight. Whaddya say we avoid this song and dance and just have a few snacks together with my buddies? Sound good?"

Surge slowly grinned as lightning powers up around her. "Oh, but I've been itching for a fight with you for a bit now. It's about time someone wiped that smug smirk off your face."

"Geez, the number of people trying to beat me up seems to be growing by the day." Sonic scratched the back of his ear. "I don't have a clue why anyone would want to. I have such a charming personality and all. A total winner when it comes to being friendly with people. No clue at all why people wouldn't like me." Sonic stretched his legs a bit with another grunt. "In all seriousness...Surge, was it? I'm gonna have for a rain check on...whatever this is. I've got a crying rabbit to help and a mother to save."

"Oh? Is that so? You sound pretty busy." Sonic immediately puts up his arms to block again as Surge slammed into him with an elbow, lighting powering around her. "Like I CARE! You don't get to decide when and when not to fight for your life, blue boy!" She exclaimed as she proceeded to kick him in the gut sending him crashing through several trees before colliding right into a rock. Surge landed on her feet with a disapproving huff. "Tch. You're not off to a very good start. If you're just going to be knocked sound by me all day, then I really don't see what the big deal about you i-OOF!" Surge was struck dead on by a speeding spin dash from the recovering Sonic, right in the gut, sending both of them crashing through the rock behind her and skidding further through the Lead Forest. Both of them ended up skidding to a stop, with Surge glaring at Sonic for several moments. Though soon enough she smirked as a thumb wiped her lip of a bit of red. "Now that's more like it! And here I thought you'd be too goodie goodie to hit a girl."

"Pulling my punches for a reason like that would just get my butt kicked even harder." Sonic shook a bit of dirt off of his gloves while clenching his fists. Surge got ready to attack again, lightning powering up around her.

"Hope you're ready, blue boy. I've been training my butt off exactly for a fight like this! You'd better not make this easy for me, or else it wasn't worth my time!" Surge bolts forth, with Sonic raising his arm as he blocks a punch from her. The impact caused several bolts of lightning to crash down around her. "In a contest of speed, the speed of sound has nothing on the speed of light!"

"Maybe so. But I'm also as fast as the wind." Sonic ducks under one of Surge's punches and kicks her across the face, sending her tumbling across the ground before coming to a stop. She shoots her head up to see Sonic standing on a perch, folding his arms as the wind began blowing around him. "And when it comes to what wind can do, the sky's the limit!"

Surge growled as she spits into the ground, before she smirked again and stands up, cracking her neck and knuckles as a manic look made its way into her eyes. "Prove it."

Both of them vanished in a spark of lightning and a whirlwind, before they reappeared elsewhere trading fists. The car collisions caused crashing elements of wind and lightning to slam against each other when each of them landed an impacting blow one another. Across the nearby facilities throughout Leaf Forest representing the enemy forces, they were left swept away by explosions of lightning and blasts of wind scattering them all about. One particular clash between them had spiraling wind around Sonic and sparking electricity around Surge, and they both crashed into each other with their respective spin-dashes. They both jumped away from each other for a moment as the resulting clashing elements between them blasted an entire crevasse across one section of Leaf Forest, destroying an entire patrols of SWATbots and Badniks without even noticing.

Both of them met each other once again in a cross counter, lightning and wind spiralling each other as their fists crashed into each other's faces. They reeled slightly from the harsh blow, but aside from that, both of them couldn't help but grin at the competitive challenge they've now encountered within one another, even with everything else going on.

It would be a tough battle for the both of them.

IDW!Sonic swindled Surge pretty easily in their first bout, since he's had plenty of experience with fighting fellow speedsters by that point. Here that's not quite the case, so he and Surge are slightly more evened out experience wise. It was a tough battle either way, and the same will apply here, to an extent.

Throughout all this, Big the Cat was around and had a Chaos Emerald, Cream the Rabbit is here, and she's potentially hiding a Chaos Emerald. That makes two more for the hang to acquire if everything works out nicely. Which is unlikely.

We'll see how things chaotically progress, next time!