Sonic in Between.
Author's Note: Part two of story 4 is here! And please stay safe during the crisis we're all going through.
Summary of Story 4-part 2: Sonic continues to reveal his struggles to save Vector and how he restored him back to his original size. Back in the past, things get a lot more complicated with an even bigger trouble.
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Sonic Tales: "Vector-zilla!"-Part 2.
"Things went totally crazy at Station Square with Vector having grown into a giant. The city went into a panic." Sonic continued to explained, as Chris couldn't stop himself from shuddering at this part of the story. Helen covered her gasp with her hands, and Tails fidgeted. The blue hedgehog knew that this was the scariest part of the story, or at least one of them.
Even today he still owed Espio for what the teenager was about to say next.
"So what happened to Vector? Was he still confused?" Helen asked, worriedly.
"Not really. The confused part only lasted for maybe a few minutes, but boy was that enough to freak everybody out. He's a good friend and all, but even I was terrified." Sonic replied.
"Yeah, and I saw him regain his senses as I was heading back home during the test flight." Tails spoke up, knowing that he had to help with the story. "When I first saw him as a giant, I couldn't believe it."
Fully unaware of what was happening with Sonic, the Chaotix and the two members of the S.O.N.I.C.X organization, Tails was flying in his new blue and white Tornado V model that was similar to his previous models that unfortunately ended up crashing. The poor young fox really didn't have much like when it came to his planes lately, and as much as he hoped that his latest design won't suffer the same fate, he had a feeling that this plane, no matter how hard he worked on it or how careful he was, was going to end up in some sort of disaster.
Until then, he decided to enjoy his test flight.
"So far everything's going great. All systems are perfectly in check, but I'd better not go into super speed like I did the last time. Wouldn't wanna crash land again." Tails was saying to himself, smiling as he piloted his plane, flying over the city and the Emerald Coast Zone. As he did, a thought came to him as he also wanted to show Sonic if this model survived it's first test flight.
The thought of showing the Tornado V to his older brother made the young fox smile happily. The blue hedgehog had been very proud of him for the Tornado II before that crashed during the Chaos Crisis. Maybe he'll see Sonic later today, or spot him running around close by.
"I should head back before the engine sparks or blows up." The eight year old muttered, steering his vessel back to the direction of the Mystic Ruins. But as he began to fly over Station Square, the sounds of stomping, faint echoes of people screaming, and an unsual yet strangely familiar growl filled his ears. "Huh? What's that?"
Looking down and deciding to fly a bit closer to investigate, what Tails saw made his eyes bug out in shock, horror and disbelief. Down below was Vector the Crocodile, one of the Chaotix. But what was shocking was that he was unusually taller than he should be; 45 feet tall in fact, and from what the young kit could see, he was somehow growing bigger inch by inch, acting like a giant monster the way he was stomping across the city, with many citizens down below running and screaming trying to escape the giant Mobian.
"V-V-V-Vector!? How can this be? It's impossible!" Tails exclaimed, his heart hammering in disbelief and fear. It could be a giant robot that Eggman set up, but but no, the giant looked too real to be one of the evil scientist's creations. "What's going on?"
As Tails was trying to figure out what happened, the giant Vector, still in a state of confusion, stomped his way through the streets, passing by buildings that were the same height as he currently was with people screaming words like 'It's a monster' and 'run!' while trying to escape. Eventually after another couple of minutes, the Chaotix member stopped in his tracks, his head and eyes swirling a bit before he groaned, coming out of his confused state.
"OOOGH...I FEEL FUNNY." Vector moaned as he placed a hand to his head, with stars circling around it as though he'd been on a really fast merry-go-round. Shaking his head to rid the dizzy spell which made it a bit worse, the twenty year old looked around his surroundings and for the first time since the effects of the mutagen took hold, he noticed that something wasn't right.
Everything seemed smaller than usual.
"HUH? HEY. HOW DID THE BUILDINGS GET SO SMALL?" He blinked, dumbfounded, before looking down and flinched in shock at the crow below him with a sweat drop. "HOW DID THE PEOPLE GET SO SMALL TOO?"
It wasn't until the full realization hit him and his eyes widened in shock and disbelief. It wasn't that the world that gotten smaller; he'd gotten bigger!
Thinking hard with his brain as he tried to figure out what happened, memories came back to him; he'd been sleeping with Charmy and Espio while waiting for a case in boredom, before Sonic arrived asking for their help to figure out what the S.O.N.I.C.X guys were up to since two of them were trailling the teenage hedgehog, and then there'd been the glass shattering and Vector had feel something pinch his butt. This full realization made him think of one solution.
"IT MUST'VE BEEN THOSE PUNKS FOLLOWING SONIC. THERE'S NO WAY EVEN THAT LITTLE GUY COULD PULL THIS OFF!" Vector realization with a growl, before asking himself as he folded his arms while unconsciously walking again. "BUT HOW DID THEY DO THAT?"
Then he looked around and, realizing that he was stuck like this, sweat dropped and added nervously. "AND HOW DO I GET BACK TO NORMAL? THIS IS LIKE OUT OF THE MOVIES."
Up in the air, Tails, seeing that his now giant friend had regained his senses, could only watch worriedly as he muttered to himself. "Man, if Vector doesn't stop moving, somebody's gonna get hurt. How did this happen? I think I'd better go warn Sonic, but he could be anywhere! Guess I'd better go find him and be careful."
With that in mind, the eight year old kit decided to postpone his trip home and focused on flying around the city as quickly as possible to find his adoptive hedgehog brother, while Vector attempted to find a solution on how to turn back to normal himself.
"Espio! Charmy!" Sonic cried out, snapping himself out of his shocked daze at how he just witnessed Vector grow into a giant and turned his attention to the now destroyed building of the Chaotix Detective Agency. The Chameleon and Bee were both inside and now he feared that they were trapped under the rubble.
Ignoring Hector's still stunned and frozen state, and Kai's sudden realization of what has happened as the doctor was also frozen, the blue hedgehog raced back to the building and began digging through the broken pieces of wood and such, desperate to find the other two members of the Chaotix, hoping for any signs of life, to hear their muffled voices, to see their forms moving and terrified to see their dead bodies which he didn't want.
"Oh man! This is all my fault! If I had known those two creeps were trying to get me and what they were up to, I wouldn't have to come to ask for the Chaotix's help." The cobalt teenager muttered to himself, his chest squeezing tightly in guilt, blaming himself for the terrible transformation Vector had gone through, and the potential deaths of Espio and Charmy.
Sonic knew then that if the three detectives did not survive, he would be one to blame for the rest of his life; Vector turning into a giant, Espio and Charmy killed by their friend who hadn't meant to do it, and even worse, the end of their detective agency, the end of the Chaotix...even more worse, the horrible loss of three of his friends, three members of his extended family.
"Espio! Charmy! C'mon, guys, please! Answer me! ANSWER ME!" Sonic screamed out, digging further and further in, but unfortunately was forced to jump back with a gasp as the rest of the shattered roof caved in, blocking access to the inside of the building.
Coughing when the cloud of dust bellowed from the rubble, the blue hedgehog then looked up and his heart sank so low that he could've sworn that it was burning as though it landed into the acids of his stomach, melting away into oblivion. There was no way he could get in without causing more damage, even with his Homing Attack, and digging into the ground and inside could only get him killed as well. The horrible reality began to sink in, and he didn't want to believe it, but the truth was engulfing him, drowning him as though he were underwater.
"NO!" The fifteen year old screamed, falling onto his knees in utter defeat, overwhelming guilt and agonizing loss. He then squeezed his eyes shut as they stung with developing tears, before punching the concrete ground with his fist.
All the while the two humans who hated Mobians watched on, having witnessed the teenage hedgehog's desperation to find his friends, his pleas for them to answer him, the heart-breaking loss. Or so all three of them thought, as to the two men's shock, and Kai's disappointment as he was enjoying Sonic's guilt and loss, and unaware to the devastated hero of Mobius, were Espio and Charmy who, a bit covered in dust, were very much alive as they approached their friend who by then stopped punching the ground and wept, his tears falling free.
"Hey, Sonic? What're you crying for?" Charmy asked, puzzled as he had no idea why Sonic was crying, unaware that the teenager thought he and Espio were dead.
The sound of the young Bee's voice, however, instantly brought Sonic out of his crying daze, hope and disbelief filling up his heart as he looked up to his right and saw, to his relief and happiness was Charmy himself, along with Espio who rolled his eyes at the youngest Mobian's question as he knew why the hedgehog had been weeping, which was a surprise for the Chameleon as he'd never seen Sonic cry before.
"Charmy...Espio...! You're okay!" Sonic exclaimed happily, his tears of sorrow and loss replaced by tears of joy and relief. Standing up quickly, he grabbed hold of Charmy and hugged him tightly, much to the six year old's surprise and alarm. "Charmy!"
"Ack! S-Sonic! I-I'm really happy to see yo-you too! But you're squashing me like a bug!" Charmy squealed, before smiling happily and did his best to hug the very happy blue hedgehog. "But I like hugs!"
"Will you guys be serious?" Espio sighed, already wanting to get this problem solved, only to be pulled into a tight hug by Sonic who let the younger Mobian go, and the Chameleon yelped.
"Espio! I thought you guys were dead!" The blue hedgehog exclaimed emotionally.
"Loosen up, Sonic!" The Purple Chameleon cried out, grunting as he tried to pull himself free from the younger teen's grip. "You're crushing me!"
Sonic obeyed after a minute, and while Espio sighed in relief, the blue hedgehog wiped away his tears and said. "Man, am I glad you guys made it out okay."
"We took the back door before Vector crashed through the ceiling, but a couple of the bricks knocked us out." Charmy explained.
"We were unconscious and were beginning to wake up when you called out to us." Espio added, folding his arms. "But the way how Vector suddenly grew into a giant must have been because of that dart that was on his tail."
"The dart on his-" Sonic began, only to cut himself off as he remembered the dart that shot through the window with a gasp. When it reflected off everything including Espio's gaunlet, Kai's dart must've hit Vector unknowingly and whatever that thing had turned their crocodile friend into a giant.
Growling furiously as he realized the meaning of the evil Mobian-Hater's words, Sonic turned his attention back to the two men who, deciding too late to try and make their escape, were attempting to slink away silently. The blue hedgehog, not willing to let them get away with the crime they committed, dashed back to them and pinned them both back against the wall for answers. Espio and Charmy, seeing the seriousness of the situation, hurried to follow and stood by a few feet away, waiting.
"This is all your fault, Kai." Hector grumbled, trying to ignore the fact that he was trapped between the wall and the very angry teenage hedgehog.
"Well, at least it would've worked." Kai replied sheepishly.
"What did you guys do to Vector!?" Sonic demanded angrily. He already figured that the dart was intended for him the way how they followed him, but he wanted to know why this happened.
The scientist of S.O.N.I.C.X organization sneered at him, explaining darkly with a grin. "That dart that hit him was meant for you. It contains a unique mutagen that causes a uniform expansion of cellular structure."
"In English please?" The teenage hero growled, not understanding the explanation of the man's too highly-scientific language. While he blamed himself for putting Vector on the line, the fifteen year old knew that the full blame for this situation belonged to the doctor in his grasp.
"It made the big galoot swell up like a balloon!" Kai declared.
"So you made that mutant-whatever-it-was stuff and tried to turn me into a giant like it did to one of my friends!?" Sonic hissed, tightening his grip on the two men's shirts. "Do you realize what you've gone!? Not only you've put Vector in danger, but you've also put everybody else's lives at risk, all because you want to make me into a bad guy that I never was and never will be!"
"You always were a villain, hedgehog! All of you Mobians were created by the alien species of Xenomorphs, brought into our planet to slowly trick the human race to slowly put us all into extinction!" The scientist argued.
"That's not true! You guys are just a bunch of animal-haters making up stupid stories and clearly watched too many alien movies! Okay, yeah, the Black Arms were close enough, but they have nothing to do with the real history! Besides, where's your proof about these Xenomorph guys anyway? I never even heard about them 'til you guys showed up." Sonic shouted.
'He has a point.' Hector thought to himself now that Sonic mentioned it. There had been proof that the Chaos Emeralds had mutated regular animals into the first and earliest Mobians ten thousand years ago, maybe even longer, at least links to it that made much more sense, whereas Kai's theory of the Mobians' history still had below zero evidence and there had been no sightings of the Xenomorphs at all.
"I'm a scientist. I don't believe in the magic of the Chaos Emeralds or these 'great' abilities you animals were born with." Kai grunted.
"Well, then that's your biggest problem. You guys think that everything that's happened is all my fault, and that Mobians and humans shouldn't live together is because you're a bunch of a cowards. Yeah, not all Mobians are good, same goes for humanity, like Eggman for example, and especially a group of creeps like you and the rest of S.O.N.I.C.X. But let me make this clear; I'd never hurt anybody unless I have to, and most of the time I've fought against Egghead's killer robots, and monsters like Chaos and those black creatures Black Doom sent out." The blue hedgehog pointed out firmly.
"You are calling us humans cowards?" The scientist hissed.
"No! I'm calling you S.O.N.I.C.X punks cowards! But we'll argue more about that later! Right now, I've gotta turn Vector back to normal! Is there anyway to reverse this?" Sonic demanded, knowing that precious time was wasting and the more Vector crossed the city, the more dangerous the situation was getting.
"Hmph! If there was, I would never reveal it to you." Kai muttered stubbornly.
"Look, pal! My friend's out there all confused and huge, and not only his life's at risk, but if we don't do something, he's gonna get hurt and everybody else in the city will be in further danger!" The blue hedgehog yelled impatiently. "Station Square's in trouble all because of you! Lots of people are gonna get killed all because you guys were trying to make me into something that I'm not! The real monsters as far as I'm concerned is you and the rest of the S.O.N.I.C.X!"
While the scientist growled at Sonic's words, Hector felt them stung like a bunch of brick walls. Not once did the cobalt young hero hurt anybody, not even causing a traffic jam when out of the road. The fifteen year old went out of his way to help people, to fight off the real enemies, to save the planet. Many people worshipped him as a hero, along with his friends. And yet some of them didn't appreciate him, since GUN were too focused on authority and public safety even if they had caused terrible deeds, like killing Gerald Robotnik's deathly-ill granddaughter Maria fifty years ago, the truth of Shadow's origins of the ultimate life-form being created to cure the young girl, to save the planet from the Black Comet.
S.O.N.I.C.X were those people who didn't appreciate Sonic the Hedgehog's heroic deeds, believing that Mobians were never to be trusted because they didn't believe in the truth of their origins, wanting to believe in Kai's theories of a false truth of a group of aliens that did not exist. During the times when Sonic was saving the day with occasional help from his friends, the organization repeatedly tried to prove that he was the enemy, and had recklessly put people's lives at risk to make themselves heroes, when in reality, the biker began to realize now, they were the true villains.
Sonic was right. The S.O.N.I.C.X organization are the real monsters.
When Kai refused to answer, Sonic's patience was getting thinner and thinner, his anger increasing as he was desperate to find a way to save Vector and Station Square. It wasn't until Espio's thoughtful humming, as the Chameleon closed his eyes when he then came with an idea that the blue hedgehog felt his anger cool off a bit and looked over his other friend with hope filling up within his heart.
"Do you have an idea, Espio?" The blue hedgehog asked, hopefully.
"Perhaps." Espio replied, explaining as he remembered something very important. "There is an ancient ninja remedy that might be able to save Vector."
"Bah! What a bunch of traditional hocus-pocus!" Kai scoffed, while Hector rolled his eyes in exasperation, now growing tired of the scientist's babbling. The Mobians ignored them as Sonic and Charmy turned to their purple friend for further explanation.
"Do you know where to get some?" Sonic asked, feeling relieved that there was a cure of sorts. If this ancient ninja remedy stuff existed, then it was their only hope in restoring the giant crocodile to his original size if the evil scientist of the Mobian-hating organization refused to help.
"Yes. I know one place in the city." The Chameleon replied, and the blue hedgehog sighed in relief, and while he had no idea why this ancient stuff was in a modern city rather than at places like the Temple in the Mystic Ruins, he would take what they've got.
"Sweet! Let's go get it! Lead the way, Espio!" Sonic declared, smirking with determination as he let the two men go, deciding to deal with them later as the lives of Vector and the citizens were the top priority right now.
"Roger." Espio nodded in agreement, before turning to Charmy and instructed him. "Charmy, watch these two until we get back."
"Roger Wilco-Roonie!" Charmy saluted beamingly, before turning his attention to the two men and hovered over to them with a glare, taking his task very seriously. Knowing that they were stuck, Hector and the now very worried and nervous Kai stayed in their place while Sonic and Espio raced away, the teenage hedgehog following the teenage Chameleon towards their destination.
"Are you sure leaving Charmy to guard those two is a good idea?" Sonic asked, concerned.
Espio nodded, "Of course. He's one of the Chaotix!"
While Sonic was a bit doubtful, he decided to take his friend's word for it and instead followed him to find the cure and fast.
In the meantime, Charmy pointed at the two villains firmly, warning them. "Now, don't you two try anything, or I'll sting you!"
While Hector, having thought over the situation and letting Sonic's words echo in his mind and struggling with his own inner turmoil on how to set things right as well as get himself and his stupid companion out of this mess, Kai gulped nervously, holding his hands up in surrender with his life on the line.
"Actually, I'm allergic to-" The scientist muttered, about to reveal that he was allergic to bees.
"Hey, what's that over there?" Hector pointed out behind the young Bee suddenly.
"Where!? What is it? Is it candy? Or balloons?" Charmy exclaimed, turning around to try and see what the biker was looking at, unaware that he had just fallen for the oldest trick in the book. Because while he wasn't looking, Hector silently pulled Kai and the two snuck away towards the former's bike.
"Seriously, where is it? I don't see anything." The young bee asked, and by the time he looked back at the duo, to his shock, they already had their helmets on and were on Hector's motorbike and took off. "Guys? Hey wait-!"
Too late, the two members of the criminal organization were gone, and Charmy realized that he had been tricked.
"Phooey." He grumbled in disappointment, scolding himself for being tricked that easily. Espio wasn't going to like this.
Meanwhile, Eggman, still all battered up from his latest defeat by the hands of Sonic, grumbled in fury and frustration as he walked into the main room of his secret base. Oh, how he lothed that teenage hedgehog for foiling his evil plans yet again. In the room were Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun, who were waiting for their creator's return while the smallest robot was munching away on a packet of chips.
"Hey, boss! How did your fight with Sonic go?" Decoe greeted, only for him and Bocoe to flinch at the sight of the evil doctor looking worn and teared.
"Guess." Eggman growled sarcastically, clenching his fists angrily. "I hate that hedgehog...! One of these days I'll get him! I'll make him regret he was ever born!"
"At least that's not the worst of it, doctor." Bocoe stated as he and the other robots have been watching the monitors that viewed Station Square.
"If it makes you feel any better, sir, a monster is ravaging the downtown Station Square." Decoe added, gesturing at the monitor.
"Really?" The evil man asked, puzzled as he wondered what the light-yellow robot was talking about. When he turned his gaze at the monitor, he saw why; a giant Crocodile monster was roaring and stomping his way through the city, with many frightened people running and screaming as they tried to escape with their lives.
There was something oddly familiar about the giant monster, but Eggman was too stumped by his defeat in the hands of Sonic, before grumbling as he at least was perfectly safe right here. "Hmph. Serves them right."
As soon as he said it, however, the evil madman then thought of something. Clearly Sonic would jump right in to fight the massive beast, but what if...Eggman had something else to beat him to the punch and fought the monster himself, or rather have a giant robot fight it instead? He could be worshipped as a hero, and then maybe the grateful citizens will thank him and then obey him, making it easier to conquer Mobius.
"On the other hand, if someone were to stop that beast, other than Sonic, the citizens would probably throw themselves at their feet." He muttered evilly, rubbing his hands in glee as this could be the best idea he'd come up with.
"Yeah, but where would you find a giant monster-fighting robot at this time of day?" Decoe pointed out.
"Let alone make one in one day before Station Square is smashed into rubble?" Bocoe added.
"I don't need to make one...If I can grow one." Eggman snickered evilly, rubbing his hands in glee with a glint on his glasses.
"Huh? How can you do that?" The two robots asked in confusion. The response they got was their creator turn slowly at them in a menacing way which quickly made both of them nervous. They then realized that he was looking downward and, their eyes widening, turned their gaze at Bokkun who, his back turned to them, obliviously munched until he noticed that Eggman was silent and looking at him oddly.
"Why do I get the feeling I don't like this sudden silence?" Bokkun asked with a sweat drop.
"After we left Charmy to keep an eye on those two creeps, me and Espio were racing around the city to try and locate this ancient remedy to help Vector. But that didn't mean it was an easy task." Sonic continued explaining.
Sonic and Espio raced through the deserted streets that was usually full of life, but now was empty like a ghost town. Everywhere they looked there was not a single soul in sight. They both skid to a stop and looked around to make sure there wasn't a single person left behind.
"Looks like everybody's ran away." Sonic remarked.
"Good. It should make things easier and less dangerous." Espio replied.
"Or maybe Vector's in a more crowded area." The blue hedgehog pointed out, worriedly. He hoped that no one got too badly hurt, or hurt at all. He hoped that everyone was out of Station Square until the situation was settled.
Just then, he heard a loud and huge rumbling and stomping, and felt it vibrate beneath him. It felt like...a giant robot or monster walking through the city, and it was getting louder and bigger. The teenage hero was starting to get really nervous.
"Do you feel that?" His friend asked, feeling and hearing the same thing.
Both of them stumbled a bit as it was so close that Sonic felt it was right behind them. In fact, the light suddenly dimmed and his quills stuck up a bit when he could hear the sound of heavy breathing and he quickly realized that he and Espio were covered in the shadow of something, or rather, someone that was giant. Whimpering in fear, the blue hedgehog looked up and over his shoulder and gasped in horror as Vector, fully unaware of the two normal-sized Mobians beneath them, raised up his foot to take another step that would no doubt squish them.
"Look out!" Sonic screamed, one second before the Chameleon noticed and his eyes widened in shock, and the two of them quickly jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding in getting crushed as the giant foot came dangerously close in stepping on them. They screamed in alarm as they landed clumsily on the ground, thankfully out of range as the giant Vector walked past them slowly. The blue hedgehog panted as the adrenaline coursed through his body.
"This is a nightmare." He wheezed as Espio, recovering himself from the sheer close call, hurried over as Sonic slowly stood up, shaken from the experience.
"Are you alright?" The purple Mobian asked, and the blue hedgehog.
"I'm okay. How 'bout you?" He replied.
"Just fine."
The fifteen year old smiled in relief, before he and his companion looked up and saw in shock just how big Vector was, especially when the giant crocodile stopped and looked around, but what horrified the two was the fact that he seemed to be bigger by another five feet. Their hearts hammered as they could only stare in disbelief.
"I think he's getting bigger." Espio remarked.
"He's needs to hold still, or somebody will get hurt!" Sonic exclaimed, before he and his companion gasped in horror as they saw a somewhat familiar plane that looked like a newer model fly in. It reminded the blue hedgehog of the previous Tornado planes; in fact, as it got closer as the engine began to spark, it was another Tornado, because he could pin-point the pilot of yellow and white inside.
"AAAH! No, not now!" Tails screamed as, having seen Sonic and Espio down below while attempting to find the former, tried to get closer to them only for the engine of his Tornado V malfunctioned as he feared, and even worse, at the wrong time as well. The young fox struggled to regain control as he cried out. "Mayday! Mayday!"
"Tails!" The blue hedgehog cried out, before gasping as his eyes widened in horror when Vector, noticing something and gapped with his mouth wide open, didn't even notice that Tails was about to fly straight into his gob.
The eight year old did and when he looked up, his blue eyes widened in horror as he realized that he was about to fly into the giant crocodile's mouth which would end up with him getting eaten.
"AAAAAAAH! Sonic, help me!" Tails screamed in fear.
"Tails! Tails, get outta there! Jump!" Sonic screamed, quickly racing forward in a desperate attempt to save his best friend/little brother, ignoring Espio's protests to stay back.
Hearing his big brother's voice, and after a quick look at the blue hedgehog before seeing that he was about to enter the mouth, the young kit, fearing for his life more than his plane's upcoming destruction, quickly unbuckled his seatbelt in panic as his heart hammered in fear and desperation. Thankfully free, Tails stood up and made the risky move to climb and then, his life flashing before his eyes, jumped while squeezing his eyes shut and fell, screaming as he went. Just in time too because just five seconds after he jumped, the Tornado V flew right into Vector's mouth, causing the giant to close it shut with a muffle as though following a fly.
"I gotcha, buddy!" Sonic cried out, leaping high and caught his younger brother in his arms, spinning before landing safely on the road and then ran out of the way back to where Espio was.
Vector in the meantime, groaned as he tasted something awful and metal, not to mention whizzing, before he coughed and spat the bi-plane out, which it, without it's pilot who safely got out in time, flew and then crashed onto the ground. He winced and, horrified at what just happened, instantly felt guilty, fearing that either the pilot died in the crash or worse, he'd accidentally swallowed the guy up.
"SORRY!" He cried out apologetically, the crushing guilt weighing him on his shoulders.
"Tails, are you okay?" Sonic asked worriedly, his traumatized little brother panting in fear at the close call. Tails, unable to believe at how close he'd come in being eaten even though he knew that Vector hadn't meant to, and that he was still alive and safe in his big brother's warm and protective arms, nodded shakily.
"I-I think so. Man, for a second there, I thought I was gonna be eaten! I even saw my life flash before my eyes!" Tails exclaimed, shuddering at the thought. "Ooooh! Now I know how Krill feel when they're swallowed up by a whale. I dunno how you felt when you went into Chaos' mouth, Sonic."
"Yeah, well, I'll confess to ya', I was pretty scared too. But I knew that I didn't have a choice. Besides, I was Super Sonic at the time." The blue hedgehog shrugged with a weak smile, gently ruffling the young kit's head. "Boy, am I glad that you're okay, buddy. Sorry 'bout your plane, though."
Despite the realization that his latest model had suffered it's early demise and the disappointment of having to start from scratch again, the two-tailed fox was more relieved to be alive and felt a bit better thanks to the comfort his best friend was giving him.
"It's okay. I'll just start over again. But what I really wanna know is how Vector grew into a giant. What's going on?" Tails replied, which made Sonic and Espio, who was waiting somewhat impatiently, remember the situation and the three of them turned back to their huge friend who now stood there, his head down and gave out moans of guilt and it hadn't taken them long to realize that he thought he'd eaten the pilot of the downed plane, or the pilot had gotten killed in the crash.
"Vector needs to know what's happening and what the plan is to turn him back to normal. But how do we get his attention?" Espio stated.
Knowing what he had to do and not wanting to have anymore lives at risk, especially when he mentally cursed at Dr. Narasu for causing this to happen which almost made Sonic lose his friends more than once today, the blue hedgehog narrowed his eyes and knew that he had to get Vector's attention.
"I'll back, guys!" The young cobalt hero responded, and before Tails and Espio could ask him where he was going, the blue hedgehog sped off towards the giant crocodile.
He jumped onto the massive tail before leaping up the spine scales like a ladder, and then he landed on top of Vector's head. But as Sonic was about to call out to him, the giant Mobian blinked in confusion before raising his head too quickly as he wondered what was on top of it, making the blue hedgehog struggle to keep his balance.
"Whoa! WHOA!" The blue hedgehog yelped before losing his balance, and began sliding down the side of the giant's head while screaming in alarm. Thankfully it was a short slide because the only slid for about a second or two before stopping. "Mmph!"
His saving grace was the right side of the headphones(how that grew as well, he had no idea), his feet touching them and he crouched slightly, using his hands to support him as much as possible. Though Sonic struggled to hold on as Vector kept moving his head from left to right, wondering what was on his head before moving his right hand to grab the blue hedgehog unknowingly, much to the horror of Tails and Espio who saw what was about to happen.
"Sonic, look out!" Tails cried out.
Sonic looked up and gasped in horror, his eyes widening in fear as he saw the giant hand rise up and draw closer to grab him. His heart froze along with his blood, the image of being grabbed and held in Vector's giant hand forming in his mind frightened him. While he knew that it could also get his friend's attention, the teenage hedgehog didn't fancy in being held in the giant's grasp. He already has enough experience of that of some of Eggman's robots in his previous adventures. He knew that he had to get his friend's attention quickly or else he was in real bigger trouble.
"Vector! It's Sonic!" Sonic shouted as loudly as he could, using his left hand on the side of his side to make his voice louder. "Don't grab me! I'm on your head, and I need you to pay attention!"
Despite the confusion, Vector blinked before realizing what was happening and froze in his tracks, his hand stopped just inches over Sonic who, having gasped when it was very close in clasping him before squeezing his eyes shut and braced himself, opened them to see it stop and then sighed in relief.
"The pilot from that plane you gobbled up before spitting back out is Tails and he's okay! He got out before it flew into your mouth!" He then continued.
"REALLY?" Vector asked, before sighing in relief very carefully to avoid in having his smaller, younger friend in falling off his head. "PHEW. THAT'S A RELIEF. I THOUGHT I'D ACCIDENTALLY EATEN HIM OR HE'D ENDED UP BARBECUED IN THAT CRASHED PLANE, WHICH TASTES AWFUL BY THE WAY."
"I'll bet." Sonic chuckled to himself, before continuing loudly. "Espio has a plan, but you need to not move until we get back!"
Relieved that his fellow Chaotix has an idea on how to fix this problem, the giant crocodile responded with a promise to not move which he was worried about hurting people if he did. "SURE THING, SONIC!"
"Good man!" Sonic praised with a smirk, before using the support of the giant headphones to stand up and then ran up back to the top of the head and then leaped off from the other side, giving his friend a thumbs up to which Vector returned with his own. The teenager then flipped and landed safely on the road in a styled crouch, as Tails flew over with his twin-namesake, and Espio racing over.
"You okay, Sonic?" The young fox asked frantically.
"I'm okay. Don'tcha worry about me, little buddy." The blue hedgehog replied as he stood up, giving his best friend a wink even though he was more than a little shaken in almost being grasped in the giant hand that wasn't metal, but he hidden it to focus on the mission.
"Well? How did it go?" Espio questioned.
"I got through to him." Sonic answered confidently.
"Excellent. Now hurry! We're close to the ancient remedy!" The Chameleon responded, taking the lead once more.
"Tails, you should come with us, just in case. I'll explain what's happening along the way." The blue hedgehog instructed his two-tailed fox friend who, realizing that he was right, nodded in agreement.
"Right behind ya', big bro!" Tails replied, and quickly followed Sonic who dashed off in high-speed, the younger Mobian whirling his twin-tails once more to fly after his two friends.
'MAN, THAT WAS CLOSE. I REALLY THOUGHT I'D HURT OR KILLED SOMEONE. BEING A GIANT IS NO FUN AT ALL.' Vector thought to himself as he caught sight of his friends vanishing down the street, hoping that Espio's plan to shrink him back to his normal size would work. He had faith in his best friend and fellow detective.
Lost in his thoughts, the giant Mobian failed to notice someone his size approach him from behind, until he felt a tap on his shoulder, and a strangely familiar child-like robotic voice speak. "HEY, MONSTER."
"HUH?" Vector muttered in confusion as he turned around, only to be slugged in the jaw by a shockingly giant Bokkun who was the same height as he currently was, and stumbled back in pain and almost losing his balance.
"I'M GONNA TURN YOU INTO LUGGAGE!" The giant Bokkun, having grown due to Eggman's latest scheme and having built a growth-ray, declared.
Crying out in alarm, the giant Crocodile stumbled before stopping and held onto two buildings to keep himself from falling. Glaring up at the giant immature robot that he knew was yet another one of the evil doctor's plots, he yelled out angrily. "WATCH IT! YOU ALMOST MADE ME SIT ON SOMEONE!"
"THAT'S RIGHT! COWER!" Bokkun declared, adding with full of pride of his new size. "THIS CITY WILL BE SAVED BY SUPER-MEGATIZED BOKKUN!"
"THE CITY SAVED BY SUPER-MEGATIZED BOKKUN? OH, GIVE ME A BREAK! DO I LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT?" Vector scoffed, not buying this for one second.
The terrified crowd, hiding inside buildings and looked on in confusion and fear, watched and gazed up before they heard a familiar dreaded voice fill the air. "Oh ho ho ho ho ho! That's right, folks!"
When they looked up, they saw Eggman fly over them at medium level, passing by while declaring. "Super-Megatized Bokkun is here for you! Once your beloved city is rescued, you will have me to thank!"
Eggman then stopped and turned around, continuing while pointing at the giant Vector who, noticing him, rolled his eyes before an idea formed in his mind. "Praise me! That stupid brute will trouble you no more!"
'STUPID BRUTE? WHO'RE YOU CALLING STUPID, EGGMAN?' The giant detective thought to himself, sneaking up behind Eggman who continued as the people, seeing him approach, ran away once more.
"The ugly, stinking beast will..." Eggman continued, only to trail off when he suddenly felt a shiver down his spine as a huge shadow loomed over him and he got a bad feeling that something big was towering over him, and it certainly wasn't Bokkun. "...Will..."
Slowly looking over his shoulder, the evil scientist flinched in fear as the giant Vector stood with a somewhat evil grin on his snout, gazing down at the egg-shaped man. Shivering in fear at the sudden realization that he was in bigger trouble, and quickly regretting his words, Eggman gulped nervously.
"Hello..." He greeted sheepishly after clearing his throat.
Snorting in amusement at the tiny man's fear, Vector took a deep breath before he blew which, due to his size, it was more than enough to cause Eggman to end up sent flying out of control by the powerful gust of wind while the evil scientist screamed as he held on for dear life, vanishing across the street in a glint.
"NEXT TIME, DON'T CALL ME STUPID, UGLY OR STINKING." Vector called out to the now gone scientist, before turning his attention back to Bokkun for more pressing issues, knowing that if he fights, he would end up causing accidental damage and break his promise to Sonic.
"LOOK, BOKKUN. I KNOW EGGMAN SET YOU UP FOR THIS! WE DON'T HAVE TO FIGHT!" The giant Crocodile informed him with a hard glare.
Unfortunately, due to being under orders of the evil doctor, Bokkun refused to listen and kept on pretending to be the so called hero, declaring. "THE MONSTER IS CONFLICTED! WHAT'S THE MATTER? AFRAID OF BEING BURIED IN AN AVALANCHE OF PAIN?"
That did it for the detective. Despite the risk of damaging Station Square, he knew that if he didn't to something until Sonic, Espio and Tails got back, it's bye-bye Mobius.
"I WON'T LET YOU HURT ANYONE!" Vector roared angrily, standing in a fighting position.
"THE MONSTER IS OVER HIS CONFLICTION!" Bokkun stated, getting into a battle position himself. "LET'S TUSSLE!"
The two giants charged before they met with a hand wrestle, both attempting to push each other over, one to try and not cause any damage and save the people as long as possible until his friends got back, and the other attempting to make people be falsely grateful for him(or mainly Eggman) so that the evil scientist can rule the world. After that, the fight was rather comical.
Bokkun punched Vector while taunting randomly, apparently having watched too many movies and getting names of certain attacks wrong. "TOPICAL ROTARY OVERWHELMING GLOARIOUS DREADED OUTRAGEOUS RUB!"
Vector counterattacked by recovering and wrapped one arm around the former small robot's neck and noggied him on the head roughly, taunting while Bokkun squirmed and struggled to escape. "NOGGIE! NOGGIE! NOGGIE!"
Eventually the giant robot managed to escape, jumped into the giant crocodile's shoulders and pounded him painfuly on the head while the latter cried out in pain and for that moment wondered if he would be needing ice for his head later, and some painkillers for the mother of all headaches.
"INDIGNANT OF A BULLYING MONSTER'S HEAD ATTACK!" Bokkun chanted.
"OW, OW, OW, OW, OW, OW!" Vector shouted, before pointing out angrily. "YOU STARTED THIS!"
Growing tired of this, Vector reached up and grabbed hold of Bokkun's arms, much to the latter's confusion before pulling him off and thrusting him onto the ground. Wincing at the damage of the road at first, the giant Mobian quickly pushed that thought aside and pulled up the stunned giant robot, before carrying over to a man-made lake and held him upside down, dunking him head first into the water as Bokkun gurgled and struggled to breathe.
"SAY UNCLE! SAY UNCLE! SAY UNCLE!" Vector taunted with a smirk.
While this was going on, Hector was driving recklessly around the city while Kai was complaining about how his latest plan to frame Sonic had failed. The driver was left to his thoughts, thinking about what Sonic had said, and the more he did, the more the biker realized that the blue hedgehog had been right all along.
"Station Square's in trouble all because of you! Lots of people are gonna get killed all because you guys were trying to make me into something that I'm not! The real monsters as far as I'm concerned is you and the rest of the S.O.N.I.C.X!"
'Hate to say it, but he's right. Not once have anybody's seen that hedgehog hurt people. No news of kidnappings or anything. It was us who were trying to make it so that people and Mobians would be forced to live into a war. How could I have been so stupid? All I wanted was to prove that I can be the fastest. Not hurt people.' Hector thought to himself, his hands squeezing the handles in self-disgust over the carelessness.
The more he thought about it, the more his consciousness began to fully form for the first time in years, and it was telling him that what S.O.N.I.C.X had been doing was wrong. Mobian or not, Sonic the Hedgehog was a hero, fast, brave, reckless, fun-loving, adventure-loving, very loyal, determined, kind and caring, only taunting those who cause trouble or who are evil.
Hector could now see the truth, and it has been in front of him all along. Dr. Kai was wrong, as always. His research was all false. He knew now what he had to do, for the sake of everyone, and he knew that if anyone can help Vector and save the city, it was the teenage hedgehog.
Steering his bike into another direction of the streets, Hector peeled while his companion gave out a high-pitched scream as he demanded, "W-What are you doing!?"
"I'm taking a short-cut back to the base." The biker lied, going into the direction he knew that would label him a traitor to the organization that hired him, but for what it's worth, he and his collegues deserved it. Ignoring the scientist's protests, he sped faster and faster as he could hear the commotion of a battle but ignored that as well.
He contined to do so all the way until he pulled to a stop at the right place. Hector was hesitant, but he told that annoying selfish voice that was screaming at him to run to shut up. Kai in the meantime, woozing from the crazy driving, moaned before racing over to the nearest trash can and threw up everything he ate today.
"Are you insane!? No wonder the High Police fired you!" The older man shouted once he stopped vomiting, only to flinch as when he turned back to look at him, Hector went up to him and before the scientist could speak even further, the biker slugged him hard on the head, knocking him out cold. The doctor slumped and collapsed onto the floor.
"Sorry, professor. But S.O.N.I.C.X is finished. It's for the good of humans and Mobians, and I'm tired of your constant whining and false research." Hector said coldly to the unconscious man, before picking him up and slumped him over his shoulder, and then made his way inside the Police Station for the next phase, by handing himself and Kai in before revealing the whereabouts of the Organization's base.
Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails and Espio were continuing their way towards the place where the ancient remedy was located, all the while the blue hedgehog explained to his best friend/little brother on what happened to Vector and how Kai and Hector had caused all of this.
"So this liquid stuff, the mutagen, is what caused Vector to 'swell up like a balloon' and is meant for you?" Tails repeated to understand.
"Yeah, something like that. I dunno how he made it, but if this ancient remedy can cure Vector, we can save him and the rest of Station Square." Sonic replied, as he still had trouble processing on what Kai said apart from the last part of the explanation that sort of made sense.
"But why would it be here in the city instead of places like the Mystic Ruins?" The two-tailed fox asked.
That was a good question now that the blue hedgehog really thought about it. Maybe there was some old guy Espio knew about that sort of thing and kept it in case of emergencies? Like an old shop that sold ancient things that were magical and only known for ninjas like the purple Chameleon, and Sonic was aware of certain movies like the D-Battles about a kid accidentally opening up a box that made him the chosen one to find the princess and protect her from the evil dark lords and monsters and dragons, or something like that.
"We're here." Espio announced as he came to a stop. But as Sonic and Tails did the same and looked at the building they'd been waiting to see, to their utter confusion, it wasn't what they had in mind.
"A pharmacy?" Sonic muttered, puzzled.
"Why are we here?" Tails asked, confused as the three stood before a regular pharmacy instead of the ancient store or building the younger two Mobians had been expecting, while the sixteen year old Chaotix walked inside.
The two adoptive brothers shared a glance before entering themselves, glancing around for anything that resembled to what Espio was talking about, only to stare dumbfounded with wide eyes that he was already at the counter, buying a bottle of aspirin.
"Will that be all?" The lady clerk asked kindly.
"Yes, thank you." Espio replied, paying for the bottle of the medication before thanking the lady again, and then walked out, gesturing both young best friends to follow him which, in complete confusion and not understanding his motives, did as they were told.
"Um, Espio? What's going on?" Tails asked, blinking.
"Yeah, where's the ancient remedy? You just bought aspirin." Sonic added with a shrug. He couldn't understand how pills were going to solve Vector's giant-growth problem. Yes they did help with certain body pains under recommended doses, especially headaches, but he never heard anything about shrinking giants back to normal size.
"When used properly, Aspirin can reduce inflamation and swelling." Espio explained as he and the younger two Mobians paused.
An awkward pause.
"That's not ancient!" Sonic pointed out, slumping with as he and Tails both sweat-dropped.
"On the contrary." The purple Chameleon explained with a smile, not seeing the problem. "The first uses of this compound have been traced to Apotos in the fifth century B.C.E."
"There weren't any ninjas in Apotos!" The blue hedgehog corrected in disbelief, wondering how Espio got his history lessons so wrong.
"I think you need to re-learn your history, Espio." Tails stated, rubbing the back of his head as he agreed with his older brother's assumptions.
The conversation was then cut short when the three of them heard the sounds of planes in the sky and, looking up to see why they sounded so close, their eyes widened in shock as they saw jet fighters zooming past overhead. In that instant they knew what the planes were and their hearts dropped in horrified realization.
"GUN Jet Fighters!" Espio exclaimed.
"This is bad!" Tails cried out, worriedly.
"Oh no! Vector!" Sonic shouted in horror, knowing that if they didn't shrink Vector now, he would be killed as the giant Crocodile was seen as a threat to the city, and thus the GUN organization was called in.
*With Eggman*
Sore and battered for the second time today, except this time having had his Egg Mobile crash land onto the middle of the road and slumped forward, Eggman groaned at the unscheduled flight done by the giant monster he still didn't recognize as Vector the Crocodile. Just as he was unable to believe that his plans had foiled twice today, he heard the Jet Planes as well and looked up with a horrified realization.
"Oh no! My worship hero!" The evil doctor exclaimed in dismay, knowing that thanks to Vector, Bokkun was going to be shot down since both were seen as threats.
*Back with Vector and Bokkun*
"OH NO!" Bokkun wailed, as he was losing his battle against Vector...in a thumb war with his thumb underneath the giant Mobian's. "I LOST!"
"ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR! I WIN THUMB WAR!" Vector smirked, while he and his opponent, who was crying childishly, were unaware of the upcoming danger from the Fighter Jets.
"Vector and Bokkun were fighting in a Thumb War?" Helen asked, puzzled.
"I still find that hard to believe." Chris admitted.
"Well, that's what Vector told us after I shrank him back to normal, even though I had my doubts about the Aspirin. But when GUN sent in the military, I knew that it was the only hope left in turning him back to normal." Sonic shrugged, sheepishly as even now he still found that part of the story a bit weird, before continuing the near ending of the adventure.
*Back with Sonic's group*
"We've gotta do something, quick!" Tails exclaimed, fearing for Vector's life.
While Sonic still had his doubts about the medication that was clearly not the ancient remedy as Espio made it sound like, time was running out and he didn't save their friend, the Crocodile's life was about to come to a gruesome end. He could only hope that the aspirin would work.
"I've got to shrink Vector! Now!" The blue hedgehog exclaimed, before snatching the bottle from the surprised Espio's hand and immediately ran off back to where their giant friend was.
"Be careful, Sonic! And hurry!" The eight year old kit called out.
The fifteen year old hero looked back to his little brother and gave him a reassuring smirk and a two-finger salute before looking back to his agenda. It took him a promising ten seconds before he found Vector, thought not where he, Espio and Tails had left him. To the cobalt hedgehog's shock, annoyance and anger, he saw a giant Bokkun who was crying due to his loss over the thumb war against Vector.
'Bokkun!? Oh, great! Eggman must've found out about this and grew that dumb robot into a giant to attack Vector and pretend to save the city! Must've built a growth-machine or something. Well, he ain't gonna taking over the world today, and if Vector shrinks, at least the Fighter Jets have something to shoot at. One less thing to worry about.' The young Mobian thought to himself, furious over the evil doctor's latest plan but focused on the risky part; giving Vector the aspirin.
Sonic skid to a stop before quickly opening the bottle and poured at least five pills into his right palm and clenched them tightly so that he wouldn't lose them, closing the bottle again just in case before placing it into his quills.
"Hey, Vector! Say "Ah"!" He called out loudly.
"EH?" Vector muttered, puzzled as he looked down at Sonic in confusion, with some sense of relief that the blue hedgehog came back while wondering what the teenager was talking about.
"Close enough!" Sonic replied, spinning into a ball and boosted himself upward, bouncing on and off Vector's chest and onto Bokkun's chest and head to levitate himself to the giant Mobian's head level, or rather mouth level since it was open due to the crocodile's confusion.
Despite the horrifying sight of being this close to a giant mouth and for a split second thought he could end up landing inside and swallowed whole himself, Sonic pushed that fear aside and bravely narrowed his eyes, tossing the five pills of Aspirin right into Vector's jaws as hard as he could. Luckily, Vector, not wanting to accidentally gobble his tiny friend up and feeling the five miniature pills land onto his massive tongue, closed his mouth before the blue hedgehog would end up as his unwilling food, and swallowed the Aspirin.
At the awful taste despite how tiny they were form his perspective, the giant crocodile felt a bit sick before letting out a huge burp with a cloud of dissolved aspirin blown out which the powerful gust sent Sonic flying backwards as the teenager screamed in alarm before landing on top of Bokkun's head roughly. The two of them then groaned in disgust at the stench of Vector's breath.
"EW! TOO GROSS!" Bokkun complained, covering his non-existent nose with his hands.
"Ugh! Man! I know Vector would brush his teeth, but maybe he should consider in getting a mouth wash!" Sonic groaned, waving his hand in front of his face to try and clear the horrible smell that filled up his nose.
Vector would've made an apology, but the moment the pills landed and digested in his stomach, he felt really strange that made him wince and feeling off again, similar to what happened earlier that made him grow into a giant in the first place. Only this time, much to his surprise, Sonic's relief and Bokkun's shock and disappointment with the two watching, the Mobian Crocodile miraculously began to actually shrink. He shrank shorter and shorter until finally in a matter of seconds, he stopped back at his original size.
"Ooough...man, that was some ride." Vector muttered, a bit disoriented after what felt like hours of being a giant, and was greatly relieved to be back to normal.
"Yes! It worked!" Sonic cheered, standing up as he was unable to believe that the aspirin, while not what he had in mind, actually managed to incredibly cure Vector almost instantly and then figured that maybe the mutagen stuff was similar to that of normal body swelling by injuries or a headache. Either way, the blue hedgehog was very relieved that his friend is safe now.
Bokkun on the other hand, was utterly disappointed in not being able to win or being dubbed as a 'hero' this time like Eggman wanted. Not to mention that he was the only giant now, and whined. "OH! I WANTED TO WIN FOR ONCE."
"Don't sweat it, big guy. There will be other days." Sonic mockingly reassured with his arms folded, before glancing to his right and smirked as he caught sight of the jets. Knowing that his work was done, he then said in farewell with a taunt. "I've gotta go. See you later, Bokkun, and watch out for those fighter planes!"
As Sonic leaped off and landed safely on the ground, Bokkun blinked in confusion, asking. "HUH? FIGHTER PLANES?"
To the giant robot's horror as he heard the sound of plane engines, he looked up to see the GUN Jet Fighters, which numbered of at least five before they opened fire...at him since he was now the only threat to the city.
"AH! OW! NO, NOT ME! THE CROCODILE! AH!" Bokkun screamed as he immediately ran away from the jet planes which followed him in their attempts to destroy him and save Station Square, hitting him with their missiles.
Sonic couldn't help but laugh at the not-so-small robot's problem and waved a good-bye to him as he watched Bokkun and the planes disappear out from the city. He then turned his attention to the now normal-sized Vector who, while still taller than him, was now no longer a 50-foot giant, glad that he was safe as Tails approached via flight, calling out the blue hedgehog's name.
"You did it! You saved Vector and shrank him down to size!" The young fox congratulated happily.
"Thanks to Espio." The cobalt teenager shrugged, knowing that he couldn't take the full credit and that the purple Chameleon was really the one who was the hero of the day, despite the mislead of history. He then turned back to Vector and asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been a roller-coaster for half an hour, but fine otherwise." The detective replied, rubbing the back of his head just as his two other members, Espio who had reunited with Charmy, approached, the youngest being questioned on what happened to Kai and Hector.
Even though Sonic, realizing that the two criminals that started the mess had gotten away as he had been worried about, was disappointed that Kai and Hector were gone back into hiding, he decided to worry about them later and turned to the sixteen year old with a smile, pulling out the bottle of aspirin from his quills.
"History lessons aside, these pills really did the trick." The blue hedgehog praised.
"I guess the substance that was used to turn Vector into a giant has the same effects in fading away by Aspirin as regular body swelling and headaches, only much faster to cure." Tails theorized.
"Ooh! Ooh! Let me try!" Charmy cried out, making to take the bottle as he didn't understand what the Aspirin does.
Sonic frowned and held the bottle away from the six year old bee, telling him firmly. "No way, Charmy! Aspirin-and all medicine-isn't something to play with. You should only take the recommended dose!"
"If you take too much of either, they can easily make you really sick, and only take it if pains like headaches are too much to handle." Tails added sternly.
"And in your and Tails' case, only with the help of an adult." Espio added in agreement.
Vector nodded, concluding. "And if the problems don't go away, you should see a doctor immediately!"
Even though he only half-understood, Charmy decided to take his friends' words for it and vowed. "Okay, guys! I promise not to play around with medicine!"
Sonic and the rest of the group smiled, proud of their youngest friend's promise.
Meanwhile, having escaped from the Fighter Jets with damage and injuries far from the city and onto a small island with a single palm tree, Bokkun sat with his hands underneath his chin, sniffling and tearing up.
"STUPID ARMY AND THEIR STUPID MISSILES. WHY DID THEY HAVE TO GO AND ATTACK ME?" The upset robot sniffled.
"Oh, stop it, you big baby!" Eggman's voice growled in annoyance and irritation, as he hovered over in his slightly repaired Egg Mobile with a large bandage, and Decoe and Bocoe hovering in another with a giant band-aid. "Think about me! I had two plans foiled today!"
"First it was from Sonic, and then it was from that giant monster who disappeared." Decoe stated.
"You know, I can't help but feel like that giant brute looked awfully familiar. It looked like a giant crocodile like that Vector from the Chaotix." Bocoe muttered, as he and his robotic companion carefully hovered over Bokkun's head and placed the bandid on top of it.
Eggman, frustrated to fix up his former-smallest creation, began to awkwardly banadage Bokkun's arm as he ordered. "Now hold still! Once you're patched up, I'll get to work on a shrink way so that you can get back to work!"
"I CAN'T WAIT." Bokkun muttered under his breath sarcastically, while doing as he was told. He decided that he never wanted to be a giant ever again.
A little while later, the five Mobians began walking back to the Detective Agency now that Station Square was safe and Vector was back to normal and even though the Chaotix didn't get the chance to help Sonic solve the case, things still worked well in the end.
"Hey, Vector. I'm sorry." Sonic began, feeling guilty for having put one of his friends into such danger in the first place.
"Sorry for what?" Vector asked, surprised and confused over the teenage hedgehog's sincere apology.
"If I hadn't asked you guys for help in figuring out what those S.O.N.I.C.X creeps were up to, they wouldn't have followed me and you wouldn't have grown into a giant. I feel awful, and I wish it could've been me instead of either of you. That way none of you or Station Square would've been in danger." The cobalt young hero explained, looking away in shame, blaming himself for the whole mess.
"Hey, come on, it's not your fault. Those guys were the ones who started the whole mess in trailing you in the first place." The crocodile pointed out.
"Yeah, Sonic. Those guys were the ones causing trouble lately like Eggman." Tails added.
"They're a bunch of tricksters and bullies." Charmy piped up in agreement.
"Haters like them would take unneccesary risks to prove they are right, not caring for the consequences of endangering other people's lives." Espio reassured. "Sonic, don't blame yourself for something that was their fault. They're the ones who put the city in danger."
"The bright side is, you saved me and the entire town." Vector added.
Feeling much better and knowing that his friends were right, plus feeling very lucky to have a great supporting family he hanged out with, Sonic smiled grately at them while pointing out to his reptile friend. "Thanks to Espio. He's the one who came up with the solution. If it hadn't been for him, I'd have trouble in figuring out how to shrink you back to normal."
"And hey, we did figure out what those guys were up to and how to fix it! So I say the case is solved!" Charmy added happily, while Espio looked away slightly in a bit of embarrassment.
"Well, thanks for the save, guys." Vector replied, placing a hand onto Sonic's back. "Let's head back to the office and I'll call for pizza!"
Sonic smiled happily while Tails and Charmy cheered since the whole adventure made them hungry. But as they, Espio and Vector came into view of the office, they stopped in their tracks and gasped in shock and remembrance...because the entire building was still left in rubble.
A moment of awkward silence.
"Uh...and a contractor." The crocodile added as he, Sonic, Tails, Charmy and Espio all shared embarrassed and sheepish shrugs and smiles with sweat drops.
"How 'bout we go to our place to have Pizza there?" Tails suggested.
"Sounds like a plan to be, buddy." Sonic chuckled, and his friends all shared a laugh.
Present Day...
"So after that, we hanged out at our place for pizza and stayed for the night before the Chaotix left the next day to fix up their building." Sonic concluded the story, as Tails, Chris and Helen all smiled at the happy ending of the story.
"I'm so glad Vector returned to normal. Who would have thought that Aspirin worked the same way for that horrible man's invention as it would with swelling and headaches?" The young girl said happily, before asking curiously. "But, what about the S.O.N.I.C.X people? And Bokkun?"
"We found out a couple days later that Hector turned himself and Dr. Kai Narasu in to the police, before he lead GUN to the organization's secret hideout." Tails explained.
"And I'm pretty sure Egghead used a shrinking ray or whatever to shrink Bokkun back to normal, 'cause after that he was back to his normal size too." The blue hedgehog added, having finished his ice cream half-way through the story.
"Speaking of a shrinking ray, didn't you guys mention that you thought Eggman had one for those giant pies on that Sugar world Sweet Mountain two weeks ago?" Chris asked, curiously.
A moment of pause, as the two Mobians realized that their human best friend was right. Now that they thought about it, Sonic and Tails shared a glance as they had actually forgotten about that adventure in Station Square during their quest at Eggman's Interstellar Amusement Park.
"He's right. I'm surprised Eggman hadn't thought of a plan to shrink you, Sonic." The eight year old fox muttered, shuddering at the thought. "That just brings back that awful thought with those pies."
"Yeah, I'm just glad the Eggster probably forgot about it. Or maybe it's because it wouldn't have worked anyway, especially with how Bokkun couldn't even win against Vector." The fifteen year old cringed, before perking up instantly and said with a smirk. "But, that's nothing to worry about! With Eggman gone, there's no need to be concerned about giants or shrinking people or any of his evil plots ever again."
His friends all smiled, knowing that he was right and the four shared a laugh before noticing that the sky had turned pink and orange, realizing that it was late afternoond already.
"Hey, it's getting late. My parents are probably wondering where I am right now." The blond-haired girl said sadly.
"Yeah, and Grandpa too." Chris agreed with a sad sigh. Tails looked disappointed and Sonic looked down, trying to hide the fact that he was sad due to their time together was getting shorter again already.
In truth, Sonic missed Chris a whole lot, and he wished they and Tails could hang out again like back before the thirteen year old boy had moved away. But deep down he knew, they were all together within their hearts along with everybody else the blue hedgehog had come to know and love.
"If ya's guys like, me and Tails can accompany you back to your families since we still have a whole lot more of this place." Sonic suggested with a smile. When his friends looked at him confused, "There's plently of time to explore the town, and the two of us can see the rest of it tomorrow. Wouldn't wanna let this chance to hang out with you two go to waste."
"Hey, Sonic's right. I'm sure Chuck and Helen's parents wouldn't mind us hanging out together for a bit longer." Tails agreed happily.
"Great idea! Plus, Grandpa would be happy to see you guys again too." Chris beamed excitedly.
"I like it." Helen said with a bright smile.
"Great! Then it's settled. Let's get going." Sonic declared, and his best friends cheered.
As it turned out, Chris's vacation home was right next door to Helen's grandmother's house and as the two grandparents of the two children, and Helen's parents were more than happy to let the four children(though Sonic was the oldest due to being fifteen) sleep over in the vacation house since Helen's family were here for another two days, the two human children and the two young Mobians hanged out watching movies, playing games, sharing more stories and such.
In a short amount of time before Chris's departure back to Westpolis, it was a great day for the four of them, and Sonic and his friends were going to treasure it forever.
While Chris would be returning home and Helen would be to not long after, Sonic and Tails' adventure in Isalenna would continue, along with possible more adventures that may to come.
Sonic's Next Adventure Awaits...
A/N: That concludes the first of Sonic Tales of this story. What next adventure the young blue hero and his friends will be getting into next before their next big adventure (Sonic's Space-Time Adventure which is still in progress), we shall wait and see.
In the meantime, look forward to the next chapter and remember to stay safe.
See you later!