Sonic walks through the Lost Angels sewers alongside a new person he met earlier, the two-tailed yellow fox Tails. He met him through…some inconveniences, saving his life from some criminal douchebags and is now currently walking with him to Tails's home. They like each other and are making fast friends.

"Are you sure you can walk with that injured leg, buddy? I would gladly lend a shoulder!" Sonic offers to Tails who is walking sloppily and breathing in exhaustion.

Tails, who is getting more annoyed by the second, said. "Stop it! I already told you 7 times I can walk alone just fine! Thank you for being nice, but please stop when I tell you to stop!" He complains in a polite manner.

Well, at least Sonic thinks of him as a friend. In his mind, two people who are nice to each other are friends. That's why Sonic The Hedgehog has "so many friends", as he has been told a few too many times by some people.

"Why did those rats attack you anyway?" Sonic asks out of concern.

"The killer of my parents is neither in prison nor dead…I can't stand the thought of criminals running around freely! Because of that, I go out every night to test my gadgets against villains like them. Those rats were gangsters looking for me to avenge their members I've taken down. I could have handled them well enough but they caught me off-guard and…"

"Woah! You are a fellow vigilante like me?! And you build your own gadgets?! Cool!" Sonic interrupts him and praises him.

"R-really?" Tails blushes.

"Why do you look so surprised? I can't imagine people not complimenting your work…" the hedgehog comments while putting his hand below his chin.

"The bullies called me a nerd for it…" the fox replies while looking down.

"How are you a nerd? Those bullies were probably just jealous!"

Tails is surprised by Sonic's kindness, but stops when he sees on the map on his arm phone that he and Sonic are very near Tails's home.

"Hold now. We have to go down now." Tails informs.

"What do you mean with 'down'? The bridge only goes forward right now. Wait, you don't mean…?!"

"Notice how the water here is not as high as usual? It's so low that we can walk on the ground there. We have to jump down below the bridge to get to my home." the fox explains while pointing with his finger down. Then he jumps down.

"What?! Ugh, I just took a shower last night!" Sonic complains before jumping too.

They land on the ground with the dirty green water coming all the way up to Sonic's knees. The two boys then march through the water stream, until Tails stops not long after at a spot which has a yellow exclamation mark graffiti on a nearby wall.

"Wear these. Come when I call you." Tails tells while handing over his goggles to Sonic, who is raising an eyebrow.

Tails then stores the arm phone into his cargo pants, then takes a deep breath. Then suddenly, he dives into the water and disappears.

"What the heck?!" Sonic shouts before seeing the faintly visible hole Tails disappeared into. Sonic trembles, because he is afraid of drowning, but he also doesn't want to betray Tails. He takes a deep breath, puts on the goggles and then dives his head into the water. He sees that it is a small tunnel going diagonally down. Then he leaves the water, smiling at an idea that makes him skip the scary swimming part.

"Alright, you can come now!" Sonic hears Tails calling. Sonic then jumps highly and spins before landing into the water. He rolls and then jumps into a spinning ball, then rolls in the tunnel. Eventually the underwater tunnel goes up, like a ramp, but Sonic is fast enough to roll up. Then Sonic rolls out of the exit in a cool way. He lands on the ground nearby Tails who is solving a number code on some metallic door, but Sonic trips due to the ground and his shoes being wet. To not look embarrassing, Sonic lands with a cool pose on the ground: Laying sideways with the shoulder on the ground, his cheek on his hand and the legs crossed.

"You could have just swimmed fast." Tails assumes without looking at Sonic, disappointed that this cool hero who saved him earlier tripped like that. At least Sonic thinks that's how Tails is feeling, it's kinda difficult to tell from his facial expression considering he almost never smiles to begin with.

"That is an obvious solution, yeah. But the thing is…I can't swim!" Sonic shrugs his shoulders after standing up. "I was afraid of drowning since I was a toddler, that's why I never swam in my entire life."

"If you learned how to swim, you wouldn't be afraid." Tails states.

"It's not as simple as you think!" Sonic tries to defend himself.

"Oh? Then try convincing me." the fox grins, thinking that Sonic's fear is funny.

"Ok, so the reason it's hard is because…uhh…uhhhhh" Sonic scratches his head.

"Anyway, the door is open now, let's go in." Tails informs him.

Before Sonic comes in, he takes a look around the room they're in. On first glance, it looks just like every other part of the sewer. But something seems very strange to him. Everything else in the sewer was connected, but this here is seemingly a single room which can be only accessed by diving into a basically invisible spot. How strange that Tails found this room. Or was this made for him? But that doesn't make sense, Tails said that no one helps him…

"Are you coming or not?" Tails asks the hedgehog who is lost in thought.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Sonic answers excitingly.

Sonic enters Tails's home. The lights are on because obviously there are no windows in a home in a sewer. It is a single floor with the walls coloured white. There is no decoration there, but a home in the sewer probably doesn't need it. Tails pulls out a towel out of a cupboard that is standing on the main hall and hands it over to his visitor.

"Please go to the kitchen over there and wait. Put this on a chair to sit on it without making it wet." Tails tells him while pointing at where the kitchen is. "I have to treat my wounds."

"Why do you have a kitchen? You can't have food in your home, you would have to carry it through the dirty water. That would kill your belly instead of filling it!"

"Actually, swimming through the water is not the only way to my home. There is also a ladder in my home that goes up to the surface." Tails explains.

"WHAT?! You mean, I didn't have to get my cool clothes wet?! Why didn't we take the ladder?!" Sonic reacts very upset.

"The way through the water was shorter."

"But still, we cou-"

"I'm sorry! I didn't think about it!"

"...sorry. I've got a bit carried away, buddy." Sonic apologized for making Tails upset.

"I'm not your buddy…" the fox answers without looking at him while rushing into his bedroom.

Sonic was confused by Tails's behavior, then walks into the kitchen like he was told to. But when he turned the lights on, he is shocked by how boring the kitchen looks. No decoration whatsoever, just a boring, clean kitchen. No way! Sonic imagined the life in the sewer to be far more interesting than this!

Sonic looked in the toilet room. What is that?! That's the most bland toilet ever! No comics to read while shitting?! Sonic's mind can't process that.

Then he enters another room. Finally something that is cool: a room full of self-made gadgets, weapons and computers! He is now very excited. He would love to test them out, but unfortunately doesn't have the permission to do so. Sonic may be an energetic person who thinks of himself as a cool dude, but he's not the type to break any rules besides not having the authority to fight crime.

He then leaves the room, but then suddenly gets punched to the head and falls to the ground. That punch really hurts, but more importantly…it feels familiar.

Sonic opens his eyes and can't believe who he's seeing. It's the echidna from yesterday…

"HUH?! What are you doing here?!" Sonic shouts in fear.

"Why are YOU here?! Where is my ally?! What have you done to him?!" Knuckles shouts in anger, walking with clenched fists towards the hedgehog.

"Wait, I'm not here to fight you! I already lost to you yesterday! I know I can't win. I don't pick fights I can't win, losing is way past uncool!" Sonic desperately explains while putting his hands open in front of him.

"Who says you're in the position of picking fights?!" Knuckles asks in a murderous tone while walking towards him menacingly.

Sonic is sweating in fear, but luckily Tails comes rushing out of his closed room to save the day.

"Wait, Knuckles! I brought him here! Don't hurt him! Sonic saved me before he even knew who I am!" Tails desperately interferes.

"What?! You seriously trust this fool!?" Knuckles asks Tails full of confusion.

"Hey, I am right here!" Sonic says while being completely offended.

"Knuckles, this guy here is very strong! He can move at sonic speed! Instead of fighting him, you should recruit him!" Tails recommends.

"What?! Why should I ever trust this guy?! He attacked me yesterday!" Knuckles disagrees while getting louder.

"If you fought him, then you know yourself how strong he is. And as I mentioned before, he is a hero. Don't pass over this good opportunity!"

"Yeah, Knuckles, listen to him! I am a very great opportunity!" Sonic bragged despite the difficult situation.

"Grr…fine! Alright, you're with us now! But if you turn against us, I will beat you up to the skies!" Knuckles 'welcomes' him. Sonic didn't expect to meet the echidna here, but is very happy to join him. Sonic always wanted to go on an adventure to find all seven Chaos Emeralds, but despite knowing a lot of people, he never found someone capable or brave enough to join him. Going to find them all alone instead would be too difficult. But now…

"All right!! Yeah, wooooo!!" Sonic yells excitingly while Tails and Knuckles stand there silently. "So what is our next course of action? I can't wait for our adventure!"

"Hmm, I was taking a nap the whole time after yesterday. I'll think of something…"

"I suggest we leave this city. There is a lockdown recently because the G.U.N are everywhere to look for you, Knuckles. Too dangerous to stay in Lost Angels." Tails suggests which seemed to frustrate Knuckles.

"What?! We can't leave Lost Angels! There is a Chaos Emerald in this city!"

"A Chaos Emerald is in this city? How do you know?" Sonic asks in a confused manner.

"See this mark on my forehead? That is the Guardian's Mark. It gives me special skills, one of them being able to sense the presence of a Chaos Emeralds within a radius of an average city. I can't sense their exact location, however." the wise echidna explains, pointing at his mark.

"The Guardian's Mark, huh? Sounds interesting…well, I agree with Knuckles, we should stay to get the Chaos Emerald!" Sonic says, surprising Knuckles by trusting him so easily.

"Please, think this through! There are armed soldiers everywhere in this city right now! We are putting ourselves in huge danger!" Tails warns out of concern.

"Knuckles and I have magic! We will be fine, none of us three will drop dead!"

"Don't underestimate the G.U.N! Lost Angels has the weakest G.U.N soldiers, they are still trained adults who know how to aim with their gun! Not only that, there are also many soldiers and we are only three, they have a huge number advantage! We don't even know where the Chaos Emerald is! Staying here is nothing but pure ins-"

"Tails, I have a strong hunch where the Chaos Emerald might be." Knuckles suddenly interrupts. "When I first came to Lost Angels, I only came to rest. I didn't sense a Chaos Emerald until a few days ago, meaning that the Chaos Emerald was delivered here."

"Yes, you already told me that earlier." Tails replies to Knuckles's explanation.

"What I didn't tell you is that I am very certain that it is at the G.U.N headquarters. It is the most likely place for keeping it safe. The reason I invaded Shining Tower and other spots first is because they were easier targets and because of the possibility that the Chaos Emeralds might be mistaken for jewelry. But it wasn't there, so it had to be at the headquarters."

"So? You're just proving my point. Before I was worried about the possibility of an encounter with the G.U.N, now it's something that is guaranteed to happen if we continue trying to get the Emerald." Tails turns down Knuckles's argument. Suddenly Sonic's eyes get very wide with a grin on his face.

"Ohhh…I know what you're getting at, Knuckles! You told Tails to cause a power outage and invaded the renowned Shining Tower to draw the G.U.N's attention so that their headquarters are less protected!" Sonic figures out while being very proud of himself.

"I see you're not as foolish as I thought." Knuckles nods, while Tails looks a bit frustrated because he wasn't told the full plan. "However, I made some changes to the final plan."

"What would you change? The plan sounds great." Tails wonders.

"I planned to invade the headquarters just by myself again. But there is a better solution:

Sonic will do that. Alone." Knuckles explains while leaning against a wall.

"Oh, great choice! I am the fastest thing alive, after all!" Sonic brags again and pointed with his thumb at himself. But Tails looks very confused.

"What?! You were just not trusting him a minute ago!"

"Yes, and I still don't. Him getting the Chaos Emerald for us is a test of trust. If he gets the Chaos Emerald for us, then he has earned my trust." Knuckles clarifies with his eyes closed.

"But what if he runs away with the Chaos Emerald?" Tails asks concerned.

"He can't. You will build something that will track him so that I will find and beat him in case he runs off." the echidna replies with glaring eyes.

"Ugh, alright, if you say so…"

"Ok guys, can you end your argument, please? I already agreed with Knuckles's plan. And my tummy's starting to roar…" Sonic complains while holding his hand at his belly.

"Alright, I'll see what I have in my fridge." Tails reassures him and walked into the kitchen.

"By the way Knuckles, that 'Chaos Aura' you mentioned…is that the cool magic you and I are using?" Sonic asks.

"Yes. When a Mobian touches a Chaos Emerald, they obtain energy named Chaos Aura. That's why Tails joined me, because he doesn't have one yet." Knuckles explains before asking a question. "That reminds me, do you know where the Chaos Emerald you touched is? Is it at your home?"

"No idea where it is! Actually, I never remember touching a Chaos Emerald to begin with." Sonic answers.

"I see. Well, that's too bad."

"Huh?! You're reacting surprisingly chill! I didn't expect that from you!" Sonic praises with a thumbs up to try provoking him.

"When I took on this journey, I never expected it to be easy. Of course the seven Chaos Emeralds aren't headed over to me like birthday gifts." Knuckles replies calmly. "Besides, I don't remember touching a Chaos Emerald myself. I was given it as a newborn due to…"

"Hey, are you coming to eat or not?" Tails interrupts.

At the same time, Lt. Omega arrives at the G.U.N headquarters. He is in a very bad mood today, his metallic footsteps are louder than usual and he also walks faster than usual. So it would be a pretty bad idea for the cyan mouse Omega isn't fond of to approach him and try to get his job back.

"Lieutenant! Please, forgive me and g-"

"GO HOME, MORTAL.

THERE IS A LOCKDOWN FOR EVERYONE NOT WORKING IN PUBLIC SERVICE." Omega interrupts immediately without looking at him.

"Please listen! I wanted to apol-"

"YOU CANNOT APOLOGIZE FOR CHOOSING NOT TO GO HELP INNOCENTS.

AND NO, I WILL NOT GIVE BACK YOUR UNDESERVING JOB.

IF I WAS FORCED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN GETTING BLOWN INTO PIECES AND REAPPOINTING YOU, I WOULD CHOOSE THE FORMER.

YOU LACK THE MINDSET AND SKILLS TO BE A SOLDIER AND YOU ARE UNABLE TO LISTEN TO BASIC ORDERS.

HAVE I NOT ORDERED YOU TO NEVER SHOW UP HERE EVER AGAIN?

YOU MORON COULD NOT EVEN FOLLOW THAT.

NOW STOP BOTHERING ME, I HAVE A MEETING TO ATTEND TO." Omega interrupts again while walking through the entrance door. The robot is obviously really pissed. But the mouse is insistent and follows him.

"Please! I have learned my les-"

"ARREST HIM." Omega orders the confused soldiers present near the entrance while pointing at the gasping mouse. "HE WILL BE ARRESTED FOR FOLLOWING REASONS:

IGNORANCE OF LOCKDOWN RULES, ENTERING THE G.U.N HEADQUARTERS WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION AND HARASSING AUTHORITY."

"W-what?! How have I harassed you?" the scared mouse asks while being put handcuffs on.

"WITH YOUR PATHETIC EXISTENCE." Omega expresses bluntly before entering an elevator.

The elevator has 8 numbers on it, the numbers 1-7 for each stock, and number 0 for the basement prison. Omega clicks number 6, the stock where the weapons are held, but then also clicks the numbers 2 and 3, followed by 2, then 0 twice and then 1 at the end.

Then the elevator goes down. But not down to the basement…it seems to go even lower. In fact, this elevator takes a long time to reach its destination. When it's over, Omega enters a weird room which seems to be an underground cave. It has a single light to prevent the room from pitch darkness. In the middle of the room is a big round table coloured dark blue with the G.U.N logo on it. On a wall there is a big TV screen and a few chairs to pick up. Other than that, the cave room seems to be empty.

Omega walks to the roundtable and waits. Then, a blue hologram of a female bat appears. The color of her fur and her makeup is unknown because the hologram technology is not advanced enough to show a color other than blue but what is visible is…her wearing her G.U.N jacket more open to…attract criminals into dropping their weapons, maybe?

"Hi, Omega. Have you missed me?" the bat lady greets sarcastically.

"YOU CAME EARLY.

THAT IS UNUSUAL." Omega states.

"Oh, of course I come early! I feel lonely without you two around." she replies.

"HOW ARE YOU LONELY?

YOU OWN A NIGHTCLUB."

"Oh, Omega, how much I love your lack of understanding psychology! It's not about being alone, it's about feeling alone!"

"WHAT?!

WHY ARE YOU FEELING ALONE WHEN YOU ARE NOT?!

YOU MAKE NO SENSE!" Omega rages whilst the female bat is laughing.

And then the G.U.N authorities show up as holograms. They're around 9 people, and they look stressed. Obviously they have their hands full due to their high rank, and this meeting only comes off to them as a nuisance. The authorities consists of a female cyborg tarantula, a male big buff boar with square glasses, a male pelican with a hat, a female falcon with a scouter, a male rhino with a helmet, a female badger with aviator goggles, a female lion with bandages, a female panda with a mask and a male cockroach with a bandana.

"...is everyone present?" the female tarantula asked out of annoyance.

"Our commander isn't here, he obviously has no time for this!" the female falcon said while folding her arms.

"Oh, and our teammate is still having his 'long sleep', you know." Omega's bat friend informed sarcastically with a more pissed off tone than before.

"Alright! Omega, why did you initiate an emergency meeting?! Explain yourself quickly, there are people out there that need my help!" the male boar orders.

"ALRIGHT.

I ENCOUNTERED A THIEF IN A WAREHOUSE RECENTLY.

THE THIEF IS AN ECHIDNA.

HE MANAGED TO ESCAPE ME.

HE HAS A CHAOS AURA WHICH LETS HIM MANIPULATE EARTH." Omega explains as he is showing the photo he shot last time on the big TV screen.

Then everyone in the room besides Omega and the bat lady start panicking and start chaotically arguing. Hard to understand who is saying what. Then it's stopped by Omega raising his robotic voice.

"SILENCE!

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ARCHIVING BY COMMUNICATING WITHOUT ANY SENSE OF ORDER?"

"Did you just give me orders?!" the female lion shouts back. "Do you know who you are talking to?! You are a mere lieutenant, and I am-"

"Not now, please! You know he is right!" the female badger interrupted.

"17 years ago, the home place of the echidnas, Angel Island, drowned into the ocean, getting all of them killed…for years, there is no sign of even a slightest hint of how it happened. But now…" the female panda wonders.

"The echidnas have the ability to somehow sense the presence of the Chaos Emerald. This makes it possible for him to find all seven Chaos Emeralds! We have to arrest him!" the male goose requested.

"IF A SINGLE ECHIDNA SCARES YOU THAT MUCH, HOW WAS A FULL ISLAND OF THEM HANDLED?" Omega questions out of curiosity.

"Even though the echidnas lived differently than everyone else due to their culture and all that, they still had a border surveillance. If an echidna wanted to leave, they had to inform their authorities where they're traveling, why they do it and when they return." the male cockroach explained. "That kept them in check, because Angel Island can't be left without public planes. However, this single echidna…"

"One with all seven Chaos Emeralds will have the power to destroy all of Mobius! We can't risk that! We should arrest him!" the badger demanded.

"Wait, wouldn't it be smarter to let him find some Emeralds first before we arrest him?" the bat lady offers. "I mean, we ourselves only know the location of two Emeralds. We could let him find the other ones for us, you know."

"Pah! If we want him to find Emeralds for us, we can just force him to work for us after we arrest him! Besides, we want info from him about the death of all the other echidnas!" the boar disagrees while looking down at her with folded arms.

"Fair enough." the bat replies while looking away.

"So the arrest of the echidna to force him to work under us and give information has been requested. Any objections?" the female tarantula asks, with only Omega raising his hands.

"ELABORATE HOW WE ARE GOING TO CATCH HIM.

THE AVERAGE SOLDIER IS NOT ALLOWED TO KNOW ABOUT CHAOS AURA, ONLY HIGH AUTHORITY IS ALLOWED TO KNOW.

AND ANY ENCOUNTER WITH HIM COULD RISK THE PUBLIC EYE WITNESSING AND RECORDING CHAOS AURA.

THE WORLD WOULD BE IN CHAOS IF THE PUBLIC GETS PROOF OF CHAOS AURA."

"We will send special forces to hunt the echidna. And those special forces are you, Team Dark!" the boar orders suddenly.

"Omega, you said earlier that the echidna escaped from you, right? Only natural for Team Dark to have this mission entrusted to you. Do you object?" the cyborg tarantula questions.

"Oh, this will be fun…no objections from me!" the bat lady replies excitingly.

"NO OBJECTIONS FROM ME, EITHER.

I WILL NOT DISAPPOINT." Omega follows.

"Alright, then. Anything else you wanted to talk about?" the cyborg tarantula asks.

"NO."

"Good. We will take our leave. Remember, the echidna must be captured alive!" the cyborg tarantula orders, before turning off the hologram. The other authorities disappear as well. Only Omega and the bat are in this room now.

"Bye, Omega! Call me when you need me!"

"NO, STAY HERE.

I HAVE IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE ECHIDNA I HAVE TO TELL YOU." Omega demands.

"Information about him you didn't tell the others about? Interesting, let me hear it." she wonders.

"MP IS WORKING FOR THE ECHIDNA.

HE CAUSED A POWER OUTAGE IN LOST ANGELS TO HELP HIM INVADE A WAREHOUSE."

"MP…oh, you mean the wonder child? Well, I can't say I am surprised to hear he is a vigilante now." the bat lady reacts while holding her wrist.

"BUT I DO NOT UNDERSTAND!

HE HATES CRIMINALS MORE THAN ANYONE!" Omega shouts.

"YET HE COMMITS SUCH A BIG CRIME, JUST LIKE THAT…"

"Omega, if you want to know why he did that, go ask him yourself." the bat demands.

"...WHAT?"

"What did you expect me to do, jump to conclusions on why he did it? That would get us nowhere. If you want answers, ask him."

"GRR…HOW HELPFUL OF YOU." Omega grunts while walking away.

Later in the day, close to sunset, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles appear at the surface to wander to the headquarters. Tails and Knuckles are very concentrated, they are mentally prepared for this day. But Sonic looks like he regrets something.

"Oh, man! I really should have used the lockdown as a chance to run through the whole city! Running around at super speed while not having to watch out for civilians and cars…that sounds straight out of a dream!" Sonic nags while folding his arms behind his head.

"Hmph, get that out of your mind. What if someone breaks the lockdown rules or looks through the window, sees you running and happens to record it? You could put the whole world into turmoil by making them know that Chaos Aura exists! That's why you should never use your speed outside of fights and escapes!" Knuckles denies.

"But I run on rooftops everyday!" Sonic mentions proudly.

"What?! How are you not a wanted person right now?!" Knuckles shouts with clenching fists.

"Uhh, well, maybe mobians don't look up, I guess. Or maybe I am too fast for the average noob to see. Wait, what about the Chilli Dog lady? She must know about my CA! Well, I guess the media won't believe her. What about the rich owl I saved recently? Well, he only looked at the mugger's gun when I was coming, so-"

"Wait, what is CA?" Tails interrupts.

"Oh, I just cut Chaos Aura short to CA!" Sonic replies. This makes Knuckles angry.

"What?! Don't say that ever again! Don't you know the history of the Chaos Emeralds?! In ancient times, the gods created them to give the mobians the power to protect themselves! That's why you should not replace the word Chaos Aura with slang! Have you understood?!" he lectures.

"Eh, Chaos Aura is too long of a word for how much we will have to talk about it." Sonic turns down the argument.

"Too long a word?! How the hell is that too long?! IT'S ONLY FOUR FUCKING SYLLABLES!!" Knuckles shouts loudly.

"Stop arguing about a word, Knuckles! You're the leader of this team, so act like it!" Tails demands while pointing with his finger at Knuckles's face.

"But it's…wait, I see the headquarters!" Knuckles enlightens.

It was a large building coloured dark blue and black with the logo at the front. It had a private parking space for the G.U.N cars. It also had a parking spot for helicopters at the top of the building.

"It looks kinda cool…" Tails praises.

"Yeah, especially the blue color!" Sonic adds jokingly.

"Focus on our mission." Knuckles states bluntly.

"Oh right, sure. Sonic, put this on your arm." Tails tells him whilst handing Sonic over an arm ring with a phone attached to it, looking identical to the one Tails has for himself.

"Cool, nice!" Sonic complimented while putting it on. But then Tails tips on his own phone, making Sonic's arm ring firmly.

"Ugh, this thing's kinda hurting my arm a bit…" Sonic complains.

"Your ring has a chip in it that allows Tails to detect your location. He and I will hide here in a hole I'll create. If you don't come here after leaving this building, I will come for you and knock you out." Knuckles enlightens threateningly.

"Don't worry, once you pass the test of loyalty, I will make it less firm again." Tails reassures.

"I was never worried! But why the phone alongside it?" Sonic asks.

"If you're in real trouble, you can call for help!" Tails explains.

"So I can cheat this test of loyalty? Nice!" Sonic jokes with a thumbs up.

"Of course we will back you up, otherwise this test would be impossible!" Knuckles chuckles with his arms folded. This makes Sonic angry.

"What, you're underestimating me?! Grr, I'll show you! I will bring you the Emerald faster than you can say your beloved word 'Chaos Aura'! I'll not only pass the test, I'll ace it!"

...will he, though?