Out of a disused club there were guards that were taking into custody the handcuffed staff and audience of an underground fight club known only as 'Fighters'. The guards had gotten word of it but the people involved became more hush-hush and it was decided by some to ask Sonic for help who had gotten the details after spying on a meeting including the location and password. Wearing a wire and disguise he had became a new competitor and made short work of the club's reigning Champion.
"I must say Bark; not bad with your punches. Without my speed; I could have really felt that..." Sonic said patting on the back the massive 17 year old Champion of Fighters who wasn't looking to happy to see him. He was a yellow furred polar bear with a red winter cap, a green scar, brown gloves and brown shoes.
"I will get my rematch and I will punch you until you can't be punched no more! No one is stronger than Bark!" the former Champion known as Bark ranted as he was being pulled away.
"Let's hear it for Sonic the Hedgehog!" cheered one of the guards and the guards began changing his name with some civilians looking by as Sonic smirked and tried to look modest.
"All for lil ol me? You shouldn't have..." Sonic said with a bow and waved to them before deciding to head on home to Green Hill Zone. In no time at all he was at Green Hill Zone and went through the open door to Tails' workshop where Tails was hard at work building a containment device along with Nicole who was now his assistant/partner.
"How is it going? I suppose the holding thing for the Portal Gem is ready yet?" Sonic asked greeting them with a wave that they returned with Sonic and NIcole doing their new hand shake/fist bump.
"Well Sonic my main hedgehog; the containment for the Warp Topaz as it actually is called is pretty much done. We are actually just waiting for the guards to help pick it up and we can have it installed. Our studies on it have been tremendously fascinating; a possible gateway to other dimensions and universes! Quite possibly as dangerous as the Chaos Emeralds themselves." Nicole informed him and Sonic nodded along with her.
"That's good and I know you have been busy; working with Tails and date nights with Sal." Sonic said as Nicole grinned and showed off some dancing moves that she had done with Sally. Sonic gave a resigned smile; Nicole was who Sally was happy with and he will be happy for the both of them. Tails gave him a look and Sonic shook it off; nto wanting to talk about it.
"So how are things with your new tech that used to belong to Nicole's dad?" Sonic asked Tails who gave a big smile.
"Wonderful Sonic; Doctor Ellidy was working on something big things and all of his technology... It feels like a dream that it's all mine to use... Shame that he is in prison now though..." Tails answered finishing with a sigh and looking guiltily at Nicole for bringing it up but Nicole put a hand on Tails' shoulder to reassure him that it was alright.
"Say Tails... You want to tell Sonic about the security drones that we have set up? Connected to a secret network that King Elias can access and they are hidden through the streets. Just in case that Robotnik's Badniks try to invade the city again." Nicole brought up and Tails brightened up wanting to show his big brother figure another invention of his.
Back at the palace; Captain Armand was doing his best to plead his case for an idea to Elias only to keep being rebuffed. "Your highness; you have to reconsider and think of the benefits that this will bring... We have this powerful artefact in our possession and with it we could use it to search the entire Mobius in a matter of a week possibly! We could locate Robotnik's base and set up a raid from nowhere to capture him; we could locate the remaining 2 Chaos Emeralds and retrieve them before Robotnik even finds out where they are..." Armand pleaded only for Elias to shake his head.
"The possibilities are indeed endless Captain but that goes for the negative as well as positive; we do not fully understand the Warp Topaz and misuse could end up with horrible results! Tails and Nicole recommended that it stays locked up with the Chaos Emeralds and so shall it be. Consider the matter closed. I believe that you are in charge of security for the transfer of the Warp Topaz." Elias replied as polite as he could and he gave a motion to say that he was dismissed and Armand left in a huff.
On his way out he glanced at Princess Sally in her royal dress instead of that awful field outfit that no princess (certainly not one that was first in line for the throne before the King married and produced a heir) should wear going to her next lesson chatting with servants about her latest mission with Sonic; what a bad influence she had with Sonic and his lot. He had feared her getting with that delinquent but it was actually worse now that she chose to be with what was nothing more than a computer program that she believes to be her friend that was nothing more than dead.
The sooner he could fix this by setting her up with a proper gentleman like his pride and joy son Antoine the better.
He had gone out and noticed in the distance the statue of the younger King Elias shaking hands with Bushnell and while most of the Kingdom saw the statue as a symbol of pride; he would always internally scoff at it and faced it with nothing but contempt.
All the praise worldwide that King Elias gets for working through his trauma of losing his father in front of him and having to assume the crown at such a young age and leading his Kingdom to victory in the War; dictating the terms of surrender to the United Federation forcing them to admit defeat. Everyone conveniently seems to forget that none of that wouldn't' be possible for the already in progress mission to find and retrieve the discovered location of the Chaos Emerald; which was set up by the brat's father King Maximillian Acorn.
King Maximillian was every bit the King that his offspring could never hope to live up to; fair but firm and stern; unrelenting to possible threats. He was willing to discuss peace with those hairless apes but when they striked and declared war; King Maximillian didn't hesitate to declare war back and rallied his Kingdom to fight back. He would never be lenient to threats to him or his people. He had guts and the heart of a true monarch.
Armand himself mourned his passing more than anyone who wasn't in the royal family; they were practically brother in arms. Armand fought through his grief and figured that he could guide and mould the new young King; act as the unofficial Regent in all but name and main advisor until he was old enough to properly rule by himself.
King Elias proved to be nothing but a disappointment; way too lenient on the UF and would pretty much ignore his advice and go against it; yet he gets the praise for leading them to victory while his father and the Guard did all the actual legwork?
Like not long after the War ended; Armand did his best to stress the potential of the Chaos Emeralds as a pre-emptive weapon to use against potential enemies of the Kingdom but no; they were to be locked away so no temptation to use them.
He however carried out his orders and met with the guards sent to retrieve the machinery to hold the Warp Topaz along with the Warp Topaz itself with Tails and Nicole joining them so that they could install the containment unit. To be kept in the same facility where the Chaos Emeralds were kept.
He came across the guards taking the illegal fighting circuit Champion known as Bark into custody. A risky idea came to mind and he decided that it was worth the risk; "I will take care of it men; dismissed." Armand ordered them and they saluted and let him take care of the new prisoner. "I got your file Mr Bark; multiple assault charges and expelled from school because of your temper... I could help you get out of here and escape from the Kingdom with enough pay to start a new life somewhere but I need you to do something for me... Assault me and proceed to steal something to give to me in private..." whispered Armand to Bark unaware of something watching him...
Inside the facility; Tails was humming to himself as he was hard at work with Nicole; the nanites in her allowing her to go from solid physical form to her holographic form to pass through stuff at will. Handy to avoid being hit like the fight with Knuckles and to get through strong panels. Nicole got an idea and asked Tails "say Tails; does Sonic ever talk about Sally? Like what does he think of her?"
"Oh he really likes her..." Tails answered awkwardly knowing that Sonic was finding it hard with her feelings for her and seeing her with Nicole; not something he wanted to discuss with someone else. Especially when it was Nicole in question.
"Like friends or wants to be more?" Nicole asked with a smile as Tails avoided her gaze acting as if she hadn't said anything. "Come on Tails; don't be shy and I promise that I won't be mad at the response!" Nicole encouraged and Tails sighed thinking about what to say.
"...He won't get between you and Sally; don't worry about that." Tails said as Nicole shook her head.
"I know he won't; I bet he is stubbornly trying to push his own feelings away. I know he likes him and can you keep a secret but the feeling is mutual. Perhaps we can both help him with that if you want to keep that between us and Sally?" Nicole suggested as Tails was open mouthed.
"Are you asking to help have Sally cheat on you with Sonic?" Tails asked as Nicole sighed shaking her head.
"Not at all... I will explain later..." Nicole sighed but then they noticed the guards nearby being tossed around and they went for cover but there was Bark beating up the guards and then smashed the containment device intended for the Warp Topaz. He managed to grab the Warp Topaz making a break for it as Tails and Nicole looked serious as they gave chase; Tails activating his miniature device to send the signal to the rest of their team.
Bark was then attacked from behind by Sonic smirking at him and Bark looked furious at him as he tried to punch him. "Stop moving so I can crush you into dust!" snapped Bark as it was clear that Sonic was playing with him as more guards came including a concerned Armand who wasn't happy to see that Sonic had managed to arrive on the scene.
"I need to beat you and then escape so I can get money to go where I want like a tropical beach..." Bark fumed but then the Warp Topaz in his hand glowed and he ended up seeing a portal to a tropical beach and he was stunned. "Here I can go wherever I want myself..." Bark smirked and Armand felt tense as this wasn't going to plan.
Bark was about to jump through the portal but was hit by a blast from Tails and his blaster and a wave got through the portal and splashed Sonic before it closed. "Take me to anywhere not here..." Bark ordered opening up a portal but before he could jump through Sonic tackled him and Bark ended up accidentally throwing the Warp Topaz through the portal as it closed with Sonic and his team yelling no.
Soon more guards came to get the report and statements from the team and Antoine joined them along with Sally as Sonic was being lent a jacket by one of the guards to dry off and he was embarrassed to see Sally spotting him like that. But Sally sighed as the team apologised to her saying that the Warp Topaz was gone through a portal.
"It's okay; it's no one's fault but Captain D'Coolette." spoke Sally seriously making them surprised and Armand jumped up in anger.
"That's a strong accusation to make Princess!" fumed Armand staring down Sally but she stared up not backing down at all.
"Thank you very much for those security drones Tails; they were quite useful and it spotted Captain D'Coolette taking over the arrest of Bark. The audio for the drones is quite good and picked up whispering and it went back to a network that my brother has sole access to." Sally said and all colour drained from Armand's face as he looked close to panic.
"Father..." hesitatingly asked Antoine not liking where this was going and neither were the guards; Sonic and his team glared at Armand having a feeling as to what could have happened.
Sally sighed and told him "Captain D'Coolette; my brother asked me to tell you that you are to immediately report to him in the throne room and well... Let's just say that he isn't happy..."
Nack groaned as he walked through the thieves' market where treasure hunters and thieves haggled their recently gotten spoils; from here he managed to get his hands on clues to where the remaining Chaos Emeralds where but no way to get to them. Robotnik was going to want results soon or else...
However something caught his eye in a crate of recently found jewels; from what data he had gotten from his new employer it resembled the exact description for some sort of portal artefact that Naugus had. With the vendor not looking; he managed to swipe it and made his way out. He imagined his hideout and smirked as a portal came up and he went through.
This was just what he needed...
"...I knew father had his faults like being dismissive of Nicole's existence but to set this up to get his hands on the Warp Topaz undermining the King and going against his role as Captain?" sighed Antoine seeking out Sonic to talk to at Green Hill Zone after getting word of his father's punishment.
"Prison guard duty for 6 months and seeing if he can return to being Captain after that; considering he was planning on messing about with the Warp Topaz and now it's lost... I think he got off easy..." Sonic sighed using both hands to break all sorts of paddleball records.
"All his decades of service and achievements are the reason why he still has a place in the guard and a chance to keep his position as Captain..." Antoine brought up and Sonic thought that Antoine wasn't so bad when he wasn't being an arrogant blowhard; plus they could relate to being out of Sally's league now with her happy with her girlfriend.
Unknown to him that in Tails' workshop; said girlfriend was recruiting his best buddy/little brother figure to help set him up with her girlfriend.