A/N: Here it is, ladies and gentlemen and robots, the fifth chapter! And you may have noticed the anime title above this author's note. I decided to have fun and come up with improved anime titles for each of the chapters. In fact, I've updated the previous chapters to include new anime titles as well!
Speaking of updating, don't be surprised if you see this story bumped with no new chapters. That'll be just me updating a previous chapter. I won't do this often; maybe every three weeks or so should the need arise. There will probably be an update for Chapter 1 next week. In fact, maybe I should add a changelog at the bottom of the chapter pages… (EDIT: Apparently this is not the case to see the story bumped with no new chapters; the reason I thought it would is because I saw Life At Pizza Hut being bumped with no new chapters.)
Also, you may have noticed that I (finally) have a cover image for this story! I made it myself using Paint 3D and images I downloaded from Sonic News Network (the Sonic wiki). My only regret is I wanted to make Eggman transparent, as you always have the transparent big bads in the background. It goes without saying. However, Paine 3D doesn't have that ability. Oh well.
I also enjoyed watching Sonic Mania Adventures and Team Sonic Racing: Overdrive. I thought that the design for TSR:O looked like a cross between Sonic Mania Adventures and Sonic X when I first saw it. I was a little disappointed that there were no voices, but since Tyson Hesse is behind it, everything's good. Also, I'm trying not to share current Sonic comic spoilers here… But I must say Dr. Starline is an awesome character. Additionally, I've seen the Sonic movie rumors, and so far, I'm liking them. Let's wait until we're closer to the release date before giving final judgments, but so far, I think I'm sold.
Now, about this chapter, I feel that I should give a WARNING: This will be a very intense chapter, with brief moments of violence, trauma, tension, and maybe a little bit of another T word I don't like to use, and I'm not talking about T-Series. I will give a separate warning for that scene. Viewer discretion is advised, but if you like this kind of stuff… carry on, soldier.
Additionally, I should let you know that I am going to make changes to E-47 Pumpty. It will be renamed E-47 Citadel, hence the chapter name, and it will be fairly larger and have more abilities.
I want to thank PixelGT and Omega97 for favoriting and following since my last chapter!
With that being said, let's move on to reviews and what matters most: the story!
GuardianDragon98
This chapter had me on the edge of my seat. Well-written and awesome as always!
Now, this may seem like a bit of a stretch… But since you set Sonic X after Sonic Forces, and Sonic did tell Chris and his Grandpa that Eggman had imprisoned him for six months, do you think Sonic's experienced some form of trauma from being a prisoner for six months?
I get that his personality is that of abundant optimism and confidence bordering on cockiness, but I wonder if Sonic sometimes gets overwhelmed by all of the responsibilities and expectations he has as Mobius' hero. Sometimes I look back on everything Sonic's been through and wonder, "Good Lord, how has this hedgehog not suffered any sort of mental breakdown?"
Sometimes I wonder if Sonic sometimes feels like he has to mask his pain behind a happy-go-lucky demeanor so his friends don't worry. But when he's alone and stressed out, he lets that cheery facade come down.
Also… If Sonic was imprisoned by Eggman for six months, it's highly likely that he may have developed a fear of confinement. And if he's confined to one place for extended periods of time, he'll probably start panicking and looking for a way out.
That's just my two cents on the potential complexity of Sonic's character. I hope it wasn't too far out there.
Oh no, it wasn't too far out there at all. In fact, it was very interesting to read!
Sonic does seem to have a hidden complexity to his character, especially after Forces. While he did mention that he was imprisoned for six months, he didn't mention that he was… mistreated… during that period. If Sonic masks his pain, this makes us wonder what kind of past he had. Will we ever find out? Only time will tell…
As for Sonic being confined, that is an interesting theory. I never thought of Sonic as the type to be claustrophobic, but perhaps Forces changed all that.
Guest
great chapter will orbot and cubot make an appearence
Thanks! And yes, Orbot and Cubot will appear later in the story. They won't appear that much in Season 1, but expect them to appear a lot more in Seasons 2 and 3.
The Green Seer
Heya! Great chapter again. Man, with how many details and added scenes you're making this is going to be a long journey. And I do enjoy a lengthy story! This time I don't have much to say though.
First things first, Frances and Danny. I'm glad that it was only now that Chris met them. That was something that kinda bugged me originally but it was a thing that I didn't realize needed to be corrected. So thank you for making it better and more logical. I'm happy you added Knuckles as well. It wasn't needed but I liked getting to see what he's up to after the last chapter. The next episode should be very entertaining and I'm curious how you'll go about it.
Mister Stewart was okay. Slightly better than the anime but in order to make it more natural because he's an experienced secret agent, you could have added at the end that he's a fan of Chris' mom and that striking up a conversation with him was in part due to his wish to one day meet her. (I believe he does bring that up as an excuse later on so continuity!) It is still suspicious as heck but it would have dissuaded Chris' suspicion a bit more in my opinion.
The conversation in the beginning was great. Everyone is on the same page more or less and I want to see the gang tell more stories about their previous adventures to the humans. The reactions are always awesome.
I think that's about it for this chapter. This episode didn't exactly stood out to me back then but with the emerald I understand it was important even if it was kinda boring. But I certainly can't wait for the next one. Sonic vs Knuckles always puts a smile on my face. Can't wait to see how you rewrite it.
And what a journey it will be…
I had thought about what it would be like if Chris had never met Danny and Frances. I think this would make Chris' loneliness more plausible. I have seen Chris haters ask how Chris can be lonely if he has them as friends. So I went about having him not meet them until this chapter. It definitely made things more interesting. And Helen didn't appear because I didn't find a place for her. She should appear again in the rewrite for "Party Hardly".
Even though it seemed unnecessary, I enjoyed adding Knuckles to the chapter. I think I redeemed him of his "over-niceness" in Chapter 3. I added him because how would he have not sensed the Chaos Emerald in the heart of Station Square? Additionally, I know perception filters are more of a Doctor Who thing, but I thought it would be cool for Eggman to use them too.
I know, I could have made Mr. Stewart say something about being a fan of Lindsey Thorndyke. But I think that, as per "Party Hardly"'s plot, he'll announce his being a fan then. And it isn't just an excuse to come to Chris' house. But I can always alter the last chapter to include this.
When it comes to this rewrite, I was never a "cut to the chase" kind of guy. I want to flesh out every scene possible. I didn't want to start the episode right after the story; I wanted to see what the while story would be like. And so that scene was born. Also, switching that scene with the President's scene and adding much more detail to that scene was a good move in my opinion.
"Cracking Knuckles" was a great episode. As I said, it's going to be intense, because the episode looked like it was going to be intense. Are you ready?
Disclaimer: I do not own any elements in this story except for my own characters. Sonic the Hedgehog is owned by SEGA, who does not endorse or affiliate itself with this work of fiction. Real world locations and organizations are used fictitiously. Real world people will be mentioned, but will not appear, in order to adhere with "Entries not allowed" Rule 4.
Crack your knuckles. Catch some tails. It's time for "Cracking Knuckles", which is so not the OVA slogan!
Chapter 5
Episode 5
Battle in Silver Valley‼ Sonic vs. Knuckles
Citadel
Station Square - An alley – Sat August 27; 11:22 PM – Third-person POV
Knuckles the Echidna was sitting alone in an alley in one of the less populated districts of Station Square. A storm system had dumped a deluge of rain on the city all day. The skies were still largely overcast, but gradually clearing. A breeze still lingered from the storm, strong enough to blow loose papers around. At least it was warm enough so that the echidna did not catch a chill. He had experienced worse during his duty on Angel Island.
It was Saturday night, five days since the first Chaos Emerald was discovered in the heart of Station Square. Even though he and his friends emerged victorious, it was still a rough day. He never got the Emerald himself, but was grateful that Sonic and his new friend Chris did. Speaking of the human, Knuckles was grateful Sonic had been there to catch him when he fell. Chris had been incredibly brave.
A copy of the front page of the Station Square Times blew by. Knuckles leaned down from the crate he was sitting on and picked it up. It was Tuesday's edition, and the picture on the front page showed the construction site. He had not seen any news crews or reporters anywhere on the scene, but he was guessing the image was captured at a distance. The article spoke of the alien, his heroic efforts, and the hunt for the Emerald. For the most part, the article was accurate, even down to the part where Chris risked his own life to get the Emerald. He wondered if the Thorndykes were bombarded with news crews afterward.
After another moment of mindlessly scanning the article, he allowed the wind to take the newspaper from him.
He had not been entirely idle these past five days. He had picked up the faint signal of a distant Chaos Emerald, and moved in the direction he thought it was supposed to be in, but lost track of it. This was yesterday. The expert treasure hunter that he was, he was determined to pick it up again, but unfortunately, he had no such luck.
Knuckles was a loner by nature, and naturally declined returning to where Sonic was staying. Besides, he could save more time and even cover more ground if he was always on the move. The alley he was in was not very cozy, but he was only there because it was the safest place to stay away from the humans' curiosity.
His thoughts drifted back to the Master Emerald, and he found himself missing it more and more. This situation should have never happened. It was all his– no, Eggman's fault – he had Amy to thank for making clear this simple point last week. As soon as he got a chance, Eggman would rue the day he sent them to this world.
He thought back to the Chaos Emerald and its unusually erratic nature. This wasn't like the Chaos Emeralds at all. Knuckles knew that this was because the Master Emerald was not sent here like the Emeralds were. He was grateful the Emeralds were even here at all. Otherwise, he would never be able to return to Mobius. He had to get back.
Knuckles had not been without food since he last met Sonic and the others. Sonic had been delivering Knuckles meals three times a day from wherever he was staying. How he did that without being called out by Chris's guardians, he didn't know, but he wasn't about to ask questions.
During some of Sonic's visits, the speedster asked if Knuckles was sure he wanted to stay out in the alleys, to which Knuckles replied that it was a lot safer than potentially being exposed to whoever visits the house. Besides, he was getting quite used to the alley. It wasn't like he was a prisoner or anything, for he could just move from spot to spot whenever necessary.
Simply put, he just didn't want to deal with being discriminated against by a civilization who hadn't even seen aliens before. Sure, he nearly jeopardized his anonymity when he fought Missile Wrist, but that was only because the stakes were too high.
Publicity wasn't the only reason he was in hiding. Infamy was another. There was always the chance he would carry a bad reputation on this planet in the form of arrest for espionage or, even worse, experimentation at the hands of this world's humans. Sonic had told him about what had happened to Cream. He would not allow the same to happen to him.
He strained to pick up the scent of another Chaos Emerald, but got nothing. Two days without a single lead, even when he thought he detected one not too long ago. Two days was too long for him. One week was too much time away from Angel Island and the Master Emerald.
He buried his face in his oversized hands. He told himself he was not a colossal failure. It wasn't his fault. He would not cry. He was the last of his kind, the sole guardian of the Master Emerald. Guardians didn't cry.
He shook his head slightly, and was about to stand up when he became aware of soft footsteps on the wet concrete uncomfortably close behind him. He had let his guard down. Now he was caught.
Upon turning around, he was both relieved and mildly surprised to see that it was Dr. Eggman. His courier robot Bokkun was floating next to him thanks to the jetpack on his back.
"How did you find me?" Knuckles calmly demanded.
The doctor shrugged. "I have my ways," he answered nonchalantly.
Knuckles was not impressed. "What do you want?"
"Knuckles," Eggman began as he sat down on the crate next to the echidna. "I understand we're both in the same boat, and no one knows a way to return to Mobius without gathering all seven Chaos Emeralds. But is it just me, or has it occurred to you too that the Chaos Emeralds' power isn't being regulated properly?"
"What's it to you?" Knuckles asked without looking up.
"We've seen what the Chaos Emeralds are really capable of. You and me both. Everything has changed, all because the Master Emerald is not here on this world. The Emeralds aren't the same anymore. You saw what went down earlier this week. The Emerald was the most erratic and destructive we've seen it in years."
"Yeah, I've also noticed that," Knuckles nodded. He wondered what Eggman was getting at.
"Yes, okay. But I've also made another observation, another negative element the Emeralds now possess."
Knuckles perked up. "And that is…?"
"They're beginning to influence emotional changes in the slightest degree as well."
"What, really?"
"Yes. Have you observed the change in Sonic's personality since he has landed on Earth?"
"So?"
"I've been watching him closely this past week, ever since he took the Chaos Emerald." He said that last bit with a little malice. "He's been going on a daily run, taking different routes each time."
Knuckles shook his head. "That's just Sonic being Sonic. There's no–"
"No, you don't get it, Knuckles. At one point when he was close to me during last week's battle, he had a look akin to manic on his face – barely noticeable, but still enough to tell that he might have a screw loose."
"I'm not buying this."
"Knuckles, this is a disposition he doesn't dare show his friends. You and I both know he hides his true feelings from his friends so that they don't worry too much about him. Like I said, it's barely noticeable, but I caught a glimpse of him last week, and I immediately knew something was wrong. And the way he went after my robot seemed unnatural. He doesn't just repeatedly attack a force field knowing it's there."
"That may seem legit… but I'm not completely sold. Like, how do you know it wasn't just that one day?"
"What, you think that Sonic doesn't goes on a run without my spy bots keeping tabs on him? Why, just this morning, I caught him with that same look."
"Really," Knuckles replied flatly.
"You know how powerful the Chaos Emeralds are, Knuckles. We both know they can be influenced by emotion, whether it is positive or negative. But without the Master Emerald's presence, the discharge rate is much higher, causing not only the carnage that happened earlier this week, but also a release of their emotional charge. They are the ones influencing emotion now."
"If this is true," Knuckles said, "then something's got to be done. I don't think the Chaos Emeralds have ever been away from the Master Emerald for this long."
"I know," replied Eggman as he stroked his overgrown mustache. "According to a study I ran yesterday, further exposure to the Chaos Emeralds in their current state will increase the negative emotion over time, and eventually lead to insanity. These effects are already taking place with Sonic, and if nothing is done before long, he and his friends will fully descend into insanity and use the Chaos Emeralds for their own selfish purposes. Then we will never return to Mobius!"
"His friends also?" Knuckles queried. "I thought only Sonic could channel the–"
"It would seem it affects all Mobians, and Mobians only. Your human friends will not be affected directly."
Knuckles took some time to think this over. "Okay… but why are you telling me about this? Why not-"
Eggman crossed his arms. "Because this is where you come in. You're going to personally knock some sense into Sonic. I'll let you choose the location, time, and terms of your fight within reason."
"Hm…" Knuckles thought this over before looking up. "I like the sound of that. So… how do I get the message across? I can't exactly stroll up to him and demand a fight with him right then and there."
"Of course not; that's foolhardy," Eggman responded before turning to Bokkun. "That's why you're going to record a message. Bokkun, prepare the TV."
Bokkun wordlessly pulled one of his yellow televisions from the bag he always carried and switched it on.
"Just speak your message into the built-in microphone here, and tell me when you're done," instructed Eggman. "It will be delivered tomorrow morning."
Knuckles nodded, and Bokkun pressed record.
Thorndyke Mansion – Sun August 28; 11:18 AM – Chris' POV
"Um… I-Is it okay if you can hide if someone else comes in here who is not me or Grandpa?" I asked Amy and Cream.
We were in the living room, and the two girls and Cheese were sitting on the couch watching TV. They were allowed to be downstairs as long as they were quiet. Mr. Tanaka was pruning the hedges outside, and Ella was upstairs doing detailed cleaning of all the rooms. Knowing them, they would be at their jobs for a while. I knew Amy and Cream couldn't stay for long, because my guardians could come unexpectedly, and most of the time, they did.
"Okay," Amy agreed. "But where do you want us to hide?"
"Uh…" I scanned the room before spotting a good hiding spot. "I think over there behind the couch."
"Okay, will do!" nodded Amy.
Cream quietly yawned as I left the house and headed toward the garage to check up on Grandpa and Tails. It was a lazy day, and I didn't have much to do around the house. I wasn't worried about Sonic getting caught; he was resting on the balcony right now, and he could easily warn Amy and Cream about Mr. Tanaka entering the house.
I pulled open the door to the garage, and stepped inside. I then climbed up the stairs and pushed open the trap door, and I spotted Grandpa and Tails in the lab. They were both hovering around the Chaos Emerald, which was being stored inside a large cylindrical chamber I had never seen before.
"Hey Chris, what's up?" Grandpa asked me.
"Just saying hi," I replied.
Noticing the Chaos Emerald and the chamber it was stored in, I asked, "Is the Chaos Emerald still stable?"
Tails nodded. "Yup," he replied. "Grandpa and I built this last night to help prevent its power from going haywire." He smiled up at Grandpa.
I found it weirdly fascinating that Tails, who was a completely different species from my grandfather, casually addressed him as Grandpa. They were becoming very fond of one another.
The stabilizer resembled a furnace to some degree. There was a door on the front with a reinforced glass panel and a keypad for entering a four-digit passcode. Inside were slots for each of the seven Chaos Emeralds, arranged in a hexagonal shape.
"Hey Grandpa," I started, "Did you find anything when you studied the Chaos Emerald?"
He shook his head. "No, not really anything since my last test. Just like before, all the readings were off the charts. And the last time I tested that thing, it had a meltdown that nearly cost me my computer."
I blinked. "It did?"
Tails fidgeted with his fingers behind his back. "Yeah… You were at school when it happened. "There was literally Chaos energy flying everywhere, and it could have easily hit someone. I think it's a good thing you weren't here."
"Oh no… uh, were you guys okay?"
"We hit the deck," Grandpa said. "I pulled Tails under the desk with me. It finally died down like two minutes later. Had to grab Tails' tablet; it could've gotten fried."
"That's exactly why we built this chamber," continued Tails, "so that something like that never happens again. And so far, it's working exactly how I want it."
"Good to know," Grandpa said. "From now on, we're gonna do all our research with the Emerald inside the new chamber."
I was thoughtful for a moment. "I can't believe it's already been six days since we found it."
"I know," Grandpa responded before turning to Tails. "Which reminds me, Tails, did you locate any more Chaos Emeralds nearby?" he asked.
Tails shook his head. "Sorry… Like I said, they're not really easy to find. Sometimes we can go for a long time without finding one."
"Like, how long are we talking about?" asked Grandpa.
"Um… sometimes weeks or even months," replied Tails. "Other times, it can be days or even-"
Just then there was a knock on the trap door.
Oh no.
Ella.
I realized that we had kept Ella and Tanaka out for so long without cleaning the attic that she must have gotten suspicious. We had to act fast, or she would see Tails.
Another thought hit me just then. What if she already saw Amy and Cream? Did they manage to hide in time?!
"Professor Thorndyke, cleaning service!" the maid called from beneath the door. "Two weeks is much too long to go without a proper cleaning."
"Give me just one minute, Ella!" Grandpa called.
The sudden situational change made Tails flustered. "Wh-where? Where? Where do I go? What do I do?"
"Stuffed animal!" I blurted the first thing on my mind. Tails looked confused for a moment, before he caught on and limply flopped onto one of the beanbags.
And then I paled. Ella was here even though Grandpa asked her to stay out of the lab! She could have easily seen the Tornado! I started to feel sick inside about this, and I really hoped she wouldn't say anything about it.
However, I had another problem to worry about.
"How are we gonna tell her about the… this?" I gestured to the chamber, just as flustered as Tails was.
"I-I'll figure something out!" promised Grandpa as he moved toward the trap door. I glanced at Tails, who was starting to sweat. I had never seen sweat and fur combined, and I hoped that Ella wouldn't find out that this was the first stuffed animal she saw that could sweat.
Grandpa lifted the wooden trap door, and Ella entered the lab with her cordless Dyson.
"Oh, this room really needs cleaning," she mused as she turned on the vacuum and got to work. "It's about time you let old Ella vacuum up here."
I could have bit my fingernails as Ella was close enough for Tails to touch her.
Then her eyes met his.
Yes, I was kind of expecting Ella to look at Tails, but I began blushing furiously, thinking our secret was out. Tails was literally hiding in plain sight. I was glad that Ella didn't reach out and touch him.
"I don't believe I have ever seen this plush toy before," Ella remarked. "Where did you get it?"
"Uh.…" I was at a loss for words. Fortunately Grandpa intervened just in time.
"Tag says Jakks-Pacific, but, it's- i-it's something that got delivered to the wrong address," he smoothly told Ella. "I've… been meaning to resend it to the post office. It kinda got away from me."
Fortunately, she seemed to have bought into the lie.
"It's adorable," Ella remarked, while somehow completely missing the fact that Tails had two tails. "Whoever it's going to will be a very lucky person."
"If you don't mind, we'll leave you to your work, Ella," Grandpa announced, picking up Tails, who was sweating profusely. "I'm gonna resend this gift to the post office so it can be mailed to its rightful owner."
"All right, Professor," responded Ella as I opened the trap door. Grandpa went downstairs first, then me. I shut the door behind us. I let out a sigh of relief. That was a close one.
Grandpa led the way as we hurried out of the garage. He grunted a little as he pushed the door open.
"Um… H-How heavy is he…?" I asked as we began to cut through the yard. I suddenly realized that could be a bit rude, but then again, there was a chance Ella could still hear us outside.
"Nah, not at all," Grandpa responded with a slight chuckle as he repositioned Tails over his shoulder. "He's only like thirty, forty-something pounds."
"Forty-four," Tails corrected in a whisper.
"A-And… G-Grandpa, how did she not see the Tornado?!" I realized.
"I have no idea, but we got super lucky just now!" Grandpa replied. "I thought I told her to stay out of the lab, but… maybe she forgot."
We reached the mansion's side door, and I ran ahead and opened it for Grandpa. Amy and Cream ran over, eager to tell us something.
"I just saw on the news," Amy began. "They think they found another one!"
"Another what?" Grandpa asked, lowering Tails to the ground.
"Chaos Emerald!" Cream clarified. Cheese chirped his own little reply, but Cream motioned for him to be a little quieter.
"Well, that's great!" Grandpa said. "I'll get ready to drive us all over in just a few minutes."
Just then the sound of footsteps could be heard. Not again…
"Hide!" he urged as he left to approach the source of the footsteps.
Tails, Amy, and Cream instinctively dashed out of the room and into the kitchen the moment Mr. Tanaka walked in. He held his designer smartphone out to Grandpa.
"Mr. Alexander Pell wishes to speak with you, Professor Thorndyke," he announced.
"I need to take this," Grandpa told me as he took the phone. "I'll be right back."
Grandpa and Mr. Tanaka both left the room. Once they were gone, I walked into the kitchen just as my friends were cautiously creeping back into the room.
"Okay…" I said. "Um… d-did you manage to hide when Ella came in?"
Amy and Cream nodded.
"We sure did," Amy said. "It was a close one, though. What about you, Tails?"
Tails blushed a little, rubbing his arm. "Y-Yeah… I kinda had to act like a stuffed animal the whole time. It was really hard to make myself completely like… limp."
"Yeah…" I added.
"But anyway… ummm… Amy…" Tails said, changing the subject to something more comfortable. "Did the news say where the Chaos Emerald is?"
"I think they said a place called Silver Valley…?" Amy thought back, tapping her chin in thought.
"I'm not exactly sure where that is," Tails said, "but I'm pretty sure we can find out. Chris, do you know where that is?"
"Um… I think it's north of here…?" I replied. "But I don't know how far."
"And that's not all the news said," Amy said, and I looked at her in curiosity. "They said that phones and things were like shut off…? And there were a bunch of traffic jams everywhere."
"Whoa… That's just like last time!" Tails realized.
"Yeah," agreed Amy as she leaned against the refrigerator.
"But, um… Did anyone actually see the Emerald?" I asked, hoping that was not a stupid question.
"Nope," replied Amy. "Not that I saw."
"Okay… that sounds kind of strange…" mused Tails.
"Yeah, I know…" Amy said. "But I still think we should go out and find it anyway."
"Of course," nodded Tails.
"Miss Amy?" Cream piped up. "Is it okay if we can bring a picnic with us to Silver Valley?"
Amy immediately brightened up. "That's a great idea, Cream!" Amy beamed. "That'll definitely be worth the trip!"
Tails wasn't as enthusiastic though. "But guys, I thought we were just going for the Emerald-"
"Yeah, but we can make a day trip out of it!" persuaded Amy as she took his hand. "It's gonna be so much fun, Tails!"
"I… guess we could do that," admitted Tails. "Actually, now that you mention it, I don't see why not. We can use this as a chance to finally explore some more of this planet… and maybe enjoy the scenery too."
"That's the spirit!" Amy encouraged.
Just then we heard more footsteps coming from dangerously close nearby. I was making the motions to shoo my friends from the room, but they were already way ahead of me.
"It's okay, it's just me," Grandpa assured us as he entered the kitchen. My three skittish friends relaxed a bit and returned to the kitchen now that the imminent danger was over.
"So what did he say?" I asked.
"He's coming over in about 20 minutes because he wants to discuss one of his projects with me, and it's not really something we can do over the phone. So sadly, this means I can't drive you over to get the Emerald."
A crestfallen silence fell across the room. I knew that if we couldn't go to Silver Valley, we would risk losing the Chaos Emerald to Dr. Eggman, or even worse, the government. I didn't want that to happen at all. So far, neither the government nor Eggman had any Emeralds, and we wanted it to stay that way.
"However, even if I can't come with you, I'm still gonna try to send you all to Silver Valley."
"Wait, how?" I asked, thoroughly confused.
Grandpa pulled his wallet from his pocket and handed me a few bills. "This should pay for a train ticket to Cantonville. It's the closest town to Silver Valley."
My spirits were lifted a little, but one question still remained unanswered.
"But Grandpa…? U-Um… I-I'm a little afraid to go on a train on my own, and… I think I'm too young…"
"Hey, don't sweat it," Grandpa reassured. "Yes, I agree that 12 is a bit young for you to go on a train on your own, but you're a celebrity's kid, and I think that should be able to give you the clearance you need. And if all else fails, Tails can just take the Tornado out there."
"Yeah, but it can only fit two people in there," I brought up.
"You know what... I'm really sorry, but I think I should let you all talk it out amongst yourselves if you don't mind. I gotta get ready for Professor Pell; he's gonna be here any minute."
As Grandpa left, I wondered if the stuffed animal trick would work again. But there was no way on this green earth that I could carry three Mobians and a Chao onto the train. Grandpa wasn't dismissive of us; he was just pressed for time and knew they couldn't all act limp.
Wait a minute…
"Okay, since the Tornado only has two seats, I think Amy and I should go in there," Tails decided, reading my mind.
Suddenly, it didn't seem like a good idea.
"B-But wait, no," I realized. "Then that's gonna mean Cream and Cheese will have to come with me on the train, and…"
"Well, what's wrong with that?" Amy asked, before realizing my point. "Ohh, yeah, that's a bad idea. I don't know how long they'll be able to last without… you know."
"What do you mean?" Cream asked.
"Um…" I fumbled with how to explain it. "T-Tails kinda had to act like a stuffed animal."
"Yeah…" agreed Tails as he nervously fidgeted with one of his tails. "I kinda had to just lie there completely still and not move a muscle. And the worst part was I couldn't even blink! And… a-at least Chuck was kinda gentle carrying me."
"Oh…" Cream understood, her big hazel eyes wide. "Okay…"
"Oh, I know!" exclaimed Amy. "I can go with Chris, which means Cream can go with Tails."
"Okay, yeah, that's a better idea," Tails agreed.
"I'll look for the picnic basket…" I volunteered as I opened the pantry door. It didn't take me long to find the large wicker basket with the red checkered picnic blanket inside. I took it out and set it on the counter.
"Found it!" I called.
"Okay, so since we don't have time to make anything, do you have anything in the fridge we can just put in the basket and take with us?" Amy asked me.
"Um… I think I remember we have some leftover sandwiches," I recalled.
"That's good," Tails said. "What kind are they?"
"I think coldcuts…?" I recalled.
"That sounds yummy!" complimented Cream, and I smiled.
"Okay, um…" She silently counted in her head. "…do you know if we have eight sandwiches in there?"
"I'll check," I said as I opened the fridge, and Cheese hovered over the door, peering over my shoulder. Sure enough, there were at least eight coldcut sandwiches inside a large plastic container.
"Yup, we do," I reported.
"Perfect!" Amy said.
"I'm gonna get the picnic basket ready, and then we're gonna head out to the Tornado," Tails said.
"Okay, and while you're doing that, me and Chris are going to the train station," Amy said. "See you later!"
"Bye-bye!" Cream waved.
"Please be careful, okay guys?" cautioned Tails. "I… I'm a little worried how they're gonna treat you when you're on the train."
"Yeah…" I responded. Now that was a special kind of nightmare I had to look forward to…
"We'll be careful!" promised Amy, before I led her out the side door, but first, I held the door open for her.
"Why thank you, Chris!" she beamed, and I smiled.
We had barely taken a few steps through the yard when we heard Sonic's voice coming from above us.
"Where are you guys headin' off to?" he called from the balcony railing. I turned to him, and I noticed that he looked like he didn't get enough sleep last night. There were bags under his slightly pink eyes.
"Oh, just up to Silver Valley for a picnic," Amy casually replied.
Sonic smirked. "I get the feeling there's a bit more to your little trip than that."
"Um… Okay… There may or may not be a Chaos Emerald involved too."
"Really?" He yawned. "Yeah, that's what I thought. I'd be all for goin' out with you, but I kinda had a late night tussling with a couple of Eggman's 'bots."
"What happened?" Amy inquired.
"Eggman was pretty mad about the whole Chaos Emerald thing from last week, so he sent out a scouting party to go look for more. I think they might have almost picked up a signal, but I managed to trash those bots before they could relay their signal back to Eggman."
"That's great!" Amy replied. "You should definitely get some rest, okay? We'll take care of this!"
I think Amy was excited that she was about to go on an adventure and get an Emerald for Sonic when he wasn't able to. Despite the numerous banter and playful protests I heard, I knew deep down that they were boyfriend and girlfriend.
"Wait, it's just you two going?" Sonic asked, sort of surprised.
"Um…" I didn't know how to answer that question, but it was a good thing that Amy did.
"N-No, no," Amy replied. "Tails and Cream are gonna come with us too. They're taking the Tornado."
"Thought so," he replied. "You know how much Tails doesn't want to miss out on a good hunt. Well, good luck out there."
Fortunately, I knew the train station was roughly a mile and half away from our house, so it wouldn't take us terribly long to get there.
A train – Sun August 28; 11:55 AM – Chris' POV
Not too long afterward, I purchased a ticket with the money Grandpa gave me, and I soon found myself boarding the train to Cantonville. I was having a little bit of trouble carrying Amy over my left shoulder. Earlier I had been reluctant to do so, even to the point of blushing since I held great respect for girls, but Amy told me it would be all right, and it would just be for this train ride.
Now I had a difficult time carrying her and walking at the same time. I had to readjust her a few times, and I nearly stumbled into the sides of the seats. A couple people offered to help, but I told them I could do it myself because I didn't want anyone else but me taking care of her.
At last, I managed to find a vacant seat and sat down. After showing my ticket to the conductor, we were finally off for Cantonville.
We had been drawing stares from the moment we boarded the train. To say that I was embarrassed was a really big understatement. Mortified was more like it. The people were making comments I would never make of anyone else.
"Hey, I wonder if they have any of those at Build-a-Bear."
"I didn't know he was still into stuffed animals. Isn't he like 12? 13?"
"Oh my goodness, that thing is huge!"
I felt myself becoming increasingly red in the face with embarrassment, and I could only imagine how embarrassed Amy was. And we even talked about this on the way to the train station. I wanted to look at my phone for the entire trip, but if I did, I would let my guard down. Fortunately, Amy was close enough to me so that we could whisper to each other if we were subtle enough.
"They're staring at us…" I whispered, finding it somewhat hard to do so. "What do I do?"
"Um… Let me think for a moment…" There was a pause. "Um, okay, maybe if someone asks, you can say I'm a gift for someone," she replied, and I nodded.
"Okay…" I said.
I looked around, and it seemed that the initial hype was dying down, but it wasn't helping my case at all. I was still blushing, and I had to look down at my knees and the floor so that no one would notice how mortified I was.
And it didn't help when Amy gently nudged me a moment later.
"Hey, Chris, I need to blink," Amy whispered. "Wh-what do I do?"
I carefully turned Amy so that she faced out the window. At least she could blink without anyone seeing her, unless they were to look at the reflection of the window. One rude person even had the nerve to take pictures. I sighed, knowing I had to endure this cringey and embarrassing situation for the entire remaining 25 minutes, and if I was really lucky, I would end up on somebody's TikTok feed. It was a small price to pay for the Chaos Emerald, which, in the end, made this whole trip worth it.
Cantonville – Sun August 28; 12:19 PM
Getting off the train and away from the station was the costliest freedom I had ever felt. In fact, it was even worse getting off the train than on it. For one, there were new, unfamiliar people at the Cantonville station staring at us, as if their phones weren't already entertaining enough. For another, the people I had already become familiar with would still not stop staring at me. They probably thought it would make headlines that I, as a celebrities' son, was addicted to stuffed animals like Linus was to his blanket.
I was incredibly relieved when we were finally a good distance away from the Cantonville station, and it was just us two again. I lowered Amy down on the ground and massaged my aching shoulder as I looked around for more unwanted attention. It actually hurt to carry her for that long, and I didn't even know I was still blushing from doing it.
"I… think we're safe now," I almost whispered.
"Are you okay?" Amy tenderly asked.
"I… I-I think so…" I answered as we started walking again. "I'm… still a little embarrassed. Um… what about you?"
"Yeah, same…" she said, her cheeks also looking red. "It could have been a lot worse, though. I wanna thank you for coming up with the idea to act like a stuffed animal. It was really clever."
"Heheh, thanks. It was actually the first thing I thought of when I heard Ella coming."
"Well, it was still a really good idea."
I looked around the part of Cantonville we were in. The path to Silver Valley was only half a mile from us, and so was the Chaos Emerald. If everything went our way, we would be two steps ahead of Dr. Eggman.
Thorndyke Mansion - Outside – Sun August 28; 1:00 PM – Sonic's POV
Talk about a rude awakening…
One moment I was lying on the railing of Chris' balcony, trying to take a nap, and the next thing I knew, there was a finger digging into my ribs.
The moment I opened my eyes, I let out a groan when I saw who was rudely disturbing my sleep. Eggman's messenger robot Bokkun was standing on the railing in front of me. He was holding an all-too-familiar yellow television.
"Hey, can't a hedgehog catch a few Z's?" I mumbled. "I'm really beat after last night."
"Yeah, I'll bet," Bokkun said. "Dr. Eggman's really mad about that Chaos Emerald." He smiled a mischievous smile as he usually did. "Anyway, you can probably guess why I'm here."
I sighed, as I knew exactly why he was here.
"What does the doc want this time?"
"Actually, it's not him this time. Surprise!"
"O-kay…" I responded, tapping my chin. "Then who is it?"
"Aww, come on, you're no fun! Take a guess!" Bokkun pressed.
"I hate these guessing games," I grumbled as I sat up and ran a hand through my quills. "Hm… I'm gonna go with… Knuckles."
"Wait, wha… How'd you know that?!" Bokkun exclaimed in shock.
"You just hit the play button by mistake," I pointed out.
Bokkun nearly panicked as he was accidentally playing the video too early. Sure enough, Knuckles was on the screen. He was in a dark alley of some sort, and he was not happy.
"Oops!" Bokkun realized his mistake and rewound the clip back to the beginning before pausing. I couldn't make out anything Knuckles was saying over our commotion, but it was a bit loud, uncomfortably so given our sworn secrecy from the humans.
"And hey, you mind turning it down a bit?" I requested. "Some of the people who live here can't know we're here yet."
Bokkun cocked a brow. "Why not?" he asked in curiosity.
"Eh…" I shrugged. "I guess I'm just not in the mood for an Area 99 do-over."
No way would this kid understand that I didn't want Tanaka and Ella discovering me as much as Chris did.
"Just go ahead and roll the tape," I urged. "The sooner we got this over with, the better."
"Down to business, you got it!" quipped Bokkun as he reached down and turned down the volume before pressing the play button. Knuckles once again appeared on the small screen.
"Listen up, Sonic. I know the truth," he growled in a dangerously low voice. "I now know the full extent of the Chaos Emeralds' power without the Master Emerald here to keep it balanced. You aren't really controlling them. In fact, if anything, they are now controlling you. They are driving you to the brink of insanity, to the point that you're going to prevent us from going home!"
I blinked. Many questions went through my head. Last time I checked, the Chaos Emeralds couldn't influence emotions; in fact, it was the other way around. More importantly, I was wondering how Eggman even got Knuckles to say this. Maybe it was a deepfake…? But something told me it wasn't.
But Knuckles wasn't done.
"Don't believe me? I could have guessed. Then come meet me at 12:30 sharp at Silver Valley and we'll have a talk."
Silver Valley… That had to be a coincidence. Besides, I didn't like the way he pronounced that last word as the video ended.
"Uh, what time is it?" I asked.
Bokkun checked the time on the TV. "Oh, looks like you're already a few minutes late. Chop chop!" he urged. "Oh, and you can keep this, as a souvenir from Eggman Industries!"
He set the TV down on the railing and activated his jetback to fly away. The time showed that it was fast approaching one. As it began to tick, I knew exactly what was going to happen. These TVs were set to explode as a joke. I didn't really think it was funny, though.
I immediately sat up and grabbed the TV off the railing. Then I hopped onto the railing and took a giant leap off of it, kicking the TV further into the air. I was not a moment too soon, for it exploded harmlessly the moment after I kicked it. Bokkun turned to me and saw that I was completely unfazed.
"I can't fool you, can I?" he stated, his surprised look changing into a determined grin. "Next time!" he vowed before flying away. With Bokkun, I was more than willing to bet that there would be a next time.
Looks like the nap is gonna have to wait, I thought as I ran in the direction of Silver Valley. If that was where Amy, Cream, Tails, and Chris went, then they were bound to get in trouble. I knew I had to make sure they were okay just as soon as I settled things with Knuckles.
Silver Valley – Sun August 28; 12:30 PM – Chris' POV
With all the beauty Silver Valley held, I was surprised it wasn't made into a state park yet. I could tell Amy was amazed at all the scenery around us, for I didn't notice until we were three minutes past the entrance to the park that I was walking way ahead of her.
I could see its iconic lake ahead of us – it appeared to be about a mile long and a quarter mile wide. It reflected its natural mountainous and forested surroundings off of its pristine crystal clear surface.
"I think Tails and Cream already set up the picnic," I noted as I spotted the now-familiar form of the Tornado about eighty yards from the edge of the lake.
"They must have been here a while, then," Amy replied, before a mischievous gleam appeared in her eye. "Race you there!"
"Okay!"
Amy excitedly ran toward the lake, and I followed right behind her. Looking around, I found that it was a little strange that we were the only ones there. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon with clearing clouds. The ground was still a little wet from the rain last night, but other than that, we could not have picked a better day to go to Silver Valley.
I accidentally slipped a little bit on the wet grass, but at least I didn't fall.
"Whoa! You okay?" Amy called as she stopped.
"Y-Yeah… I think I ran too fast."
"Okay, maybe we shouldn't run on the wet grass," Amy said.
"Yeah…" I agreed.
We slowed down as we walked the rest of the way to the picnic site. It was set up about thirty feet from the water's edge. Tails and Cream smiled as we arrived.
"Hi guys!" Tails greeted us as we sat down with them. "We just finished getting set up."
I must have still been blushing a little from what happened on the train, because Tails now looked a bit concerned at me.
"How was the train ride?" he asked.
"Um… it was… a little scary…" I recalled, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks once again. "Everyone kept staring… a-and… some people even took… pictures…"
Tails' eyes widened. "I… I'm really sorry, Chris… I don't think we had a choice. I wish there was a way I could take all of us in the Tornado."
"But we're all here now," Cream commented. Sonic's confidence seemed to be rubbing off on her.
"Yeah," agreed Amy.
Tails and Cream were lucky they got to ride in the Tornado. They didn't have to worry about anyone staring at them from just a couple feet away. They only had to worry about the Station Square residents wondering why a biplane that small was flying that low over a planned community.
I had to admit, it felt strange being out and about with people other than my family or family friends. Whenever I left the house for reasons other than school, it was usually for some kind of social event, such as a family reunion, or a product reveal Dad would hold sometimes.
Today, though, I got to have an outing all by myself! Well, as a human, that is. I was in the company of three aliens, roughly my age and younger, and we were able to have lunch together! Grandpa and Sonic must have trusted us to take care of ourselves. Besides, Tails and Amy seemed quite mature for their ages, but at the same time acting their ages. Grandpa found that quite perplexing.
We dug into the sandwiches that Ella had premade. There were two apiece, and there was also orange juice and water for us. I didn't like to complain, but the sandwiches would probably have been a little fresher if Ella knew about our situation. However, I couldn't risk her discovering my friends now.
"Hey Tails, thanks for telling us about acting like a stuffed animal," Amy said to Tails. "It really worked!"
"Yeah, no problem," nodded Tails around a mouthful of sandwich. He swallowed before continuing. "How was it?"
"Um… Chris did kinda have to like carry me for a bit, and… it really hurt to not be able to blink."
Cream let out a soft gasp, knowing she just dodged a huge bullet.
"Oh no…" Tails said, fumbling for what to say. "I'm… I-It's good to see you're both okay. But, um… I don't know if we can hold out much longer. Because you guys were really lucky this time."
"Yeah," responded Amy. "But we're gonna have to face it… the whole country's gonna find out we're here, like it or not."
"Yeah," I admitted with a worried tone.
"Hey, look on the bright side," encouraged the fox seated at my left. "At least your country's government's not after us right now."
"Yeah, but I kinda feel like that could change-" And then I gasped! "Wait, I just realized, they are after you!"
Tails tilted his head slightly, and I had to admit, it did look cute. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"Um… R-Remember GUN?"
"Oh yeah," Amy realized. "It's gonna be okay. Just give 'em a few more weeks, and then they'll find out we're not really here to take over the world or anything," she added with a giggle.
I don't know how that's gonna work smoothly… I thought.
"Mr. Tails, did you bring your Chaos energy machine?" Cream brought up.
Realization spread across Tails' face as he became flustered. "Aaahh! I completely forgot about it!"
"It's okay Tails," Amy said, trying to calm down her friend.
"And even if I did remember, I wouldn't have been able to get it because Ella was working in the lab," added Tails.
"Well, this is gonna be a challenge…" admitted Amy.
Over the last week, Tails had built a portable Chaos energy detector that could locate a Chaos Emerald within a short range. The small handheld device was fully portable, but it was a little cumbersome, as it had a small satellite dish that Tails was trying to make less fragile.
By this point, we were already nearly finished lunch. I reached into my right pocket for my phone.
"I just noticed something…" I said.
"Yeah?" queried Tails.
"Um… If there is actually a Chaos Emerald here… then where is everyone?"
"That's what I was thinking just now," Amy seconded. "Isn't this supposed to be like a state park or something?"
"It's actually not yet," I replied as I unlocked my phone to check the time…
…except for the part where I couldn't. My phone screen wouldn't turn on, no matter how many times I pressed the button. I was sure I had charged it this morning.
Tails leaned toward me slightly. "Something wrong with your phone?" he asked.
"Yeah, it's not turning on." I sighed. "I really hope this is not one of the Chaos Emerald's side effects."
"It shouldn't be," replied Tails. "I've never seen them have such adverse effects. But I can take a look at it when we get back home- I-I mean your house," he said.
I nodded.
A few minutes later, we all finished lunch, and we were now putting all the picnic supplies back in the basket.
"Okay, I think we can start looking for the Emerald very soon," Tails announced.
"Miss Amy?" Cream turned to the pink hedgehog next to her. "Is it okay if I can take a nap?"
Amy nodded. "Did the nightmare keep you up last night?" she asked tenderly.
"Mhm," Cream quietly admitted, looking down.
"Aww, I'm sorry to hear that. Here, I can help you get settled down…"
"Um, maybe she can sleep next to the Tornado," said Tails, "and she can also use the picnic blanket too, like an actual blanket."
"Yeah, let's do that," agreed Amy as she pulled the blanket from the basket.
"But wait, what are you gonna use as a pillow?" I realized. The others looked as confused as I did. Looking around, we saw nothing that could be used as a pillow. But then I got an idea.
"What if we fold up the picnic blanket and use that as a pillow?
"Yeah, but then what are we gonna use as a blanket?" Amy asked.
"Um… I think it's actually warm enough out here that we don't really need a blanket."
"Yeah, I like that idea," Amy agreed as she picked up the still-folded picnic blanket. "I'll be right with you two as soon as Cream is tucked in. Come on, Cream…"
As Cream followed Amy back to the Tornado, I turned to look out at the lake. It was beautiful. I would even say it sparkled. It was no wonder it bore the name Platinum Lake.
After a moment of silence, Tails turned his head to look at me. "How much do you want to bet the Emerald's in the lake?" he asked.
Oh no.
"I didn't even think to bring my swim gear!" I groaned.
"It's fine," assured Tails as he walked toward the edge of the lake. "It's okay, really! I can go down myself and look for the Emerald."
I raised my eyebrows. "Wait, you can swim?" I asked.
"Sure I can swim!" Tails nodded. "So can Amy and Cream and Knuckles. For whatever reason, Sonic can't swim. I think Labyrinth Zone did it for him." I nodded, even though I had no idea what he was talking about.
Another few seconds passed as we gazed across the water. Tails turned to me.
"Have you ever been here before, Chris?" he asked. "You kinda have a faraway look."
I didn't even realize I was daydreaming!
"Yeah…" I said. "Four years ago… that was when I last met my cousin."
"You have a cousin?"
I nodded. "Yeah, his name is Matt," I said, feeling nostalgic. "He had to leave for college, but before he left, we threw a big goodbye party here. I didn't see him much, and we don't live in the same house, but… he was kind of like a brother I wish I had."
"Ah, okay," Tails said, pondering this. "I hope you can see him again soon."
"Yeah, me too," I agreed.
"Okay, if you don't mind, I'm just going to quickly dive in and scan the bottom of the lake for the Chaos Emerald," he announced before running toward the lake.
"Okay, be careful," I told him as he slowed down and slipped beneath the surface of the crystal-clear lake. That was when I realized that he didn't even stop to remove his sneakers or gloves. Did he need to? I had to ask him about that later.
I returned to my thoughts, this time something other than my cousin. If there was a Chaos Emerald, then where was everyone? When the first Emerald was discovered last week, the police did warn the people to stay clear of it because they didn't know what it could do. No one could have known it could throw construction vehicles through fences or shut down phones, or even cause traffic jams like the one Amy and I took note of on the way here.
I heard footsteps behind me. Turning around, I saw Amy slowing to a stop.
"Do you know where Tails went?" she asked.
I motioned to the lake. "Yeah, he's in the lake looking for the Emerald."
Amy wordlessly stared across the lake. I turned to her in curiosity, and she had a look of… it was either focus, or confusion, but I couldn't place what it was.
"Amy?" I queried.
"Something's not right here…" she spoke.
"Wha– What do you mean?" I pressed, thoroughly confused. I looked over the lake myself, but saw nothing.
"I… don't know," Amy stated almost absent-mindedly. "Just… something's not right, and I don't know what it is."
The moment she was saying this, I caught sight of several large bubbles rising and popping about twenty feet out. Shortly after, Tails surfaced at the shore, completely unaware of the giant bubbles behind him. He gulped in a lungful of air.
"I couldn't find it," he called between pants. "And there's something really big and metal down there that I'm pretty sure shouldn't be in there."
Amy grimly nodded, which only made me even more confused. Apparently she had answered her own question, for she became more determined.
"Okay, we're getting out of here," she declared.
She started to back away from the lake as I dumbly stood there, having no clue what was going on. Tails got out of the water and carefully shook the water out of his fur, more or less how a dog would, since he was a fox after all. The bubbles started getting larger.
"Chris, run," Amy urged, fear etching its way into her voice. Something under the water was probably causing it to churn the way it did. Three cheers for ladies' intuition.
But just as I started to make a run for it, the water exploded behind us. And I mean exploded, like an underwater bomb went off.
Turning back to look, we saw that the water was shooting up a good hundred feet. It was so powerful that we felt some misty spray on our faces. The suddenness of the event, coupled with the noise, made my heart pound.
And then I saw what caused it.
I was rooted to the spot in sheer fascination and terror as a giant metal object rose from the water. This was probably what Tails saw when he was diving for the Emerald. It was definitely a robot, but it was the biggest robot I had ever seen. It had two giant legs, a giant glass cylinder for its body, and two giant shovels for arms.
"Noooo!" Amy screamed as she backed away from the robot.
"Amy, RUN!" shouted Tails as he desperately tried to escape the robot, as he was unfortunately the closest to it.
I caught sight of a petrified Cream near the Tornado. The poor thing couldn't get any sleep…
"Cream, run now!" Tails demanded.
Immediately the little rabbit got up, scooped up Cheese, and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her.
Suddenly a bright blue beam of energy shot out of the singular eye of the robot and struck us. But instead of vaporizing us, it was surrounding me, Tails, and Amy, and was slowly moving us to a spot in front of the robot. I started to get scared. Really scared.
"G-Guys… wh-what's happening?!" I panicked. Tails was saying something, but I think that the beam did something so that we couldn't hear a word we were saying. In fact, I couldn't even hear myself talking.
Thirty terrifying seconds later, the beam finally set us down on the shore close to the water. The robot raised one of its arms, which was definitely a digging hoe, and lowered it toward us. The thing was huge, able to probably hold a dozen prisoners at max capacity. It embedded itself in the ground before scooping us high into the air, maybe fifty feet. The light surrounding us started to die down. I tried to feel the air above the shovel in a desperate attempt to escape, but there was only an invisible barrier. Even if I could escape, I would risk smashing my head on part of the robot or the ocean floor.
Meanwhile, a hatch in the robot's body opened, and the shovel moved toward it. Before I knew it, the shovel tipped us toward the opening and dumped us inside the cylinder, dirt and all. I landed roughly on my bottom and elbows. Tails landed on his stomach, and Amy landed in a near-sitting position against the center of the chamber. Before we could even move, the hatch slammed shut and sealed itself with a deafening echo that reverberated around the chamber.
The three of us sat there in fear, loose dirt all over us, breathing heavily. None of us spoke for what felt like several minutes. I felt bruised all over, and knew that Tails and Amy probably felt the same way. At least I wasn't cut anywhere that I knew of.
Why did this have to happen? This was a beautiful day, and all we came here to do was get the Chaos Emerald, have a picnic, maybe enjoy the scenery for a little while, and then head back home. But now we fell for a death trap that was most likely set up by Dr. Eggman. It was terrifying in every way possible. The air already felt tight, and I knew it would eventually feel stale.
As I sat there, I surveyed the chamber we were trapped in. We were surrounded by a cylindrical sheet of glass on all sides. I quickly judged that it wasn't ordinary glass. It had to be very strong, like Plexiglas. I couldn't see the ground directly beneath us from where we were, but I knew that we were over water, and the shore was about twenty to thirty feet away. The ceiling appeared to be made of metal like the rest of the robot. There were a few dim lights up there, and there also seemed to be some other electronic devices as well. The center of the robot was made entirely of metal, and I could only assume there were a few maintenance panels here and there.
I was too scared to move. I didn't want to move, yet I knew there had to be some way out. I mustered up the courage to speak.
"Wh… what happened?"
My wavering voice echoed throughout the chamber in a foreboding manner. This was something out of a thriller on overdrive. It actually made me afraid to speak aloud.
"This… This is a Citadel…" Amy whispered after a moment. I figured whispering would be better so we wouldn't scare ourselves with our own reflected voices, but that was not much better. "I never thought I would ever be inside one ever…"
Tails nodded. "Yeah... These things were used during the war a year ago." I didn't know they fought in a war before. If this was an actual war machine we were trapped in, we were done for.
"E-Eggman used these to c-capture people out of villages… a-and ship them up to a space station called the Death Egg so that they… s-so that they could be turned into… r-robots," Amy continued in a shaky voice, like she was speaking to herself out of awe. What she said really frightened me down to my core. "…I thought we destroyed them all…" she added.
Tails noticed my terrified expression and turned to Amy. "Amy… l-let's not bring that up now," he quietly advised. "I-I'm s-scared too… a-and Chris… h-he's n-never seen s-something like th-this before…"
Amy nodded, and Tails crawled over and squeezed my hand reassuringly. "W-We'll get out of here, Chris. One way… o-or another…"
I couldn't even imagine a robot like this being mass-produced back in the day. I couldn't wait to get out of there, to be free again. My fear was starting to subside somewhat, but I was still very much afraid.
"D-Do you think Sonic will find out about this?" I asked hopefully.
"Y-Yeah… o-of course…" nodded Tails. "L-Like I said… h-he's got a sixth sense for danger. H-He's gonna f-find out what happened to us and–"
BOOM!
Suddenly a deafening boom reverberated through the chamber, causing me to nearly leap out of my skin, and it actually made me shriek in fright. My heart must have been running a marathon in my chest. Tails clasped both hands over his heart in fright. We turned to see Amy. It wasn't her that scared me, it was the giant hammer she was holding. I was sure it wasn't here when we arrived. The red and yellow hammer was huge, about as big as she was. In fact, the head of the hammer alone was about as large as her own head, if not larger, and it was definitely bigger than my head!
"Guess that didn't work," she muttered to herself. Out of nowhere, she somehow made her hammer disappear before turning to us.
"Oh no, did I scare you? I'm so sorry! I should have told you first!" she exclaimed in apology.
Tails still had his hands over his heart. "I-I-It's okay, Amy…" he whispered. "Um… P-Please don't make any sudden noises… w-we're already on edge..."
The bruises started to hurt, and I knew I would feel them in the morning. Tails started to stand up.
"D-Did Cream e-escape?" I whispered. Amy carefully peered out the window, scanning the coastline and the rest of the valley, before turning back to me.
"I-I don't see her anywhere," she answered, "so… I-I really hope so…"
Just then we heard insane cackling coming from somewhere. It sounded like it was coming from the center of the robot that I was leaning against. And yet we could clearly see Dr. Eggman descending in his Eggmobile outside.
"It seems my little trick has worked perfectly," he announced gleefully. "I was counting on you being here, human. Do you think risking your own neck was worth stealing from a grown-up?!"
If I thought I was scared before… well, that was nothing. The way his voice boomed throughout the chamber made him sound so much more intimidating and scarier than I had ever known him.
Anger set in, and I stood up to face the mad doctor. But I was probably nothing compared to him, and anything I said wouldn't faze him in the least.
"Leave him out of this, Eggman!" demanded Amy.
But Eggman shook his head, amused. "You know, this was going to be a trap for Sonic, but I ended up getting three for the price of one. Consider this revenge for stealing." He glowered at me. "Also, news flash: there is no Chaos Emerald here."
What? So we came here for nothing?!
"I had a feeling the moment I saw this robot," Tails stated grimly, showing little surprise.
"Oh, it's not just my last surviving Citadel," Eggman gloated. "I took it and modified it as part of the E-Series family of robots. Now it is called E-47 Citadel, and it is far more powerful and durable than its predecessor!"
If its predecessor had the ability to carry people to space, then I didn't want to know just how much more power this version held. I could feel my fear rising again. I wanted to get out of there so badly.
"Now you're probably wondering how I was able to fake a Chaos Emerald's signal so well," monologed Eggman. "Well, luckily for me, I didn't have to do anything that complex! All I did was send a small electromagnetic pulse across the town, and sit back and let the press jump to their own conclusions."
"Humans…" Tails sighed. "They're not really different here either…" I looked at him strangely, and he said "N-No offense, Chris!"
"I-It's okay…" I said.
"Oh, since you seem to be bored in there, I've got a spectacular show in store for you in a few short minutes."
"Wh-what show?" I dared to ask. Eggman pointed to something way in the distance.
"Do you see Knuckles way over there? Right now, he's waiting for a fight with Sonic."
If there's something anyone should never do, especially villains, it's making a girl mad. In Amy's case, it was manipulating her crush… which was a grave mistake on Eggman's part.
"Waiting for a– What did you do to Knuckles?!" demanded Amy, her raised voice made more foreboding by its echoing across the chamber. It startled me, to say the least.
"Oh, I just tricked him like always," shrugged Eggman.
Just then he turned just in time for us to see a blue streak appear over the horizon. "Oh look, here he comes now!"
Sonic versus Knuckles? This would be interesting…
Silver Valley – Sun August 28; 1:03 PM – Sonic's POV
It took me a quick one-minute jog to get from Chris' house to Silver Valley. As I had been to Silver Valley once before during one of my runs, I knew the quickest route there. I had to find out why Knuckles thought he was right about the Chaos Emeralds. The whole thing stunk of Eggman. But I knew I had to settle things with Knuckles first.
Sure enough, Knuckles was standing on top of a plateau, arms crossed, with an impatient expression. He opened his eyes the moment he sensed my presence.
"You're late."
I wagged my finger. "Hey, it's not my fault Bokkun showed up late. Cut me some slack over here, Knux!"
"Hmph. I'm not letting you off that easy," he growled. "I know the truth now. You think you can control the Emeralds with your positive emotions on this planet, but they're actually controlling you!"
I smirked, amused at what could be a bald-faced lie. "You sure you didn't hit your head too hard when we came here?"
Knuckles let out a growl. "…Are you going to hand over the Emerald or what?"
"Sorry, I left it at home," I answered. It was the truth, after all. "I like to travel light."
Knuckles grit his teeth. "So help me, I will march over there and get it myself if I have to."
"You sure you're okay?" I asked. "Need to take a couple deep breaths? Maybe get some fresh air? I mean, you're out here surrounded by flowers and mountains and trees. Maybe a little bit of a nature walk is what you need to-"
"Shut up and fight me, Sonic!" barked the echidna as he clenched his fists.
"Hey, whatever helps you sleep at night, Knux!" I didn't really want to fight Knuckles, but he left me with no choice. If Eggman was really behind this – and I was sure of it – then I had to tire Knuckles out and hopefully get him to know the truth.
I allowed Knuckles to throw the first punch, and I quickly sidestepped the spiked fist that flew my way. He kept coming at me with more punches where that one came from, but I leaped from rock to rock dodging Knuckles. He even let loose with a flurry of fast jabs and punches, but there was just no stopping me from staying one step ahead of the echidna.
"I'm all for a good tussle with ya, Knux, but that whole Chaos Emerald thing you just told me, I'm not buyin' what you're sellin'," I told him while backflipping out of the way of another quick jab which cut through a rock like a hot knife through butter.
"You're forgetting I can control the Emeralds. I can turn them off just like that. Ngh!" He dodged my flying kick. "I know 'em better than you ever will!"
He charged at me again, but I ninbly leaped out of the way and used a rock as leverage to get closer to him. This game was getting boring fast, not to mention old…
"Oh yeah? Every try going super for once?"
"I don't need to!" he retorted.
I figured it was time to finally land a hit of my own. I attempted a spindash at Knuckles, but he leaped out of the way and made yet another attempt to deal a hit on me with his spiked fist. However, he missed that attack and his next few punches and kicks as well.
As I continued to parry his attacks, I noticed something seemed off about him. It was almost as if… he didn't want to fight me. If Eggman was tricking him, and I think that was the case, then maybe he felt like he had no other choice. He was honest to a fault, after all.
I decided to take off toward the nearby cliff and see if there really was a difference in his actions.
"Get back here!" yelled Knuckles as he scrambled up the hill after me.
I leaped to one of the top boughs of a pine tree and looked down at my rival. He still fought and ran the same, but not as much as he would if he were fighting a true enemy. I initially thought it was brainwashing, but I quickly ruled that out, as Eggman always preferred trickery over brainwashing when it came to Knuckles. He was that gullible.
At the same time, he had been learning from his mistakes to a degree, so he hadn't been tricked as much as before. However, the last time he was tricked was the day before we were sent to Earth, so he still had much to learn.
Before I knew it, Knuckles was uprooting the entire tree I was standing on.
"You've been flexing your muscles, Knux," I teased.
Knuckles, however, was not so impressed. "Just be glad I don't have my shovel claws with me!"
"Hey, I thought you didn't use those for fighting!" I called.
"There's a first time for everything!"
I felt the tree falling beneath me, so I hopped down and landed expertly on the ground in front of Knuckles.
"Hey, I thought you were trying to save me," I recalled.
"I am saving you! You just won't listen!"
I glanced up just in time to see that the tree I had just been standing on was falling toward me. I spun in place and used my razor-sharp quills to slice through the bark as it passed around me, so I didn't have to take a step in order to avoid it.
"Oh, now you're just showing off," Knuckles deadpanned.
"I aim to please," I winked before sprinting off.
"Now listen-" he demanded, but I was out of earshot. He punched down tree after tree in just two blows. I was glad none of them were redwoods; they were really tall and could cover a lot of ground if they fell.
"The more of these things you collect, the more insane you'll get! Is that what you want?!"
I dodged more of the falling trees. Knuckles could at least have the courtesy to yell "Timber!" before knocking them down. I just hoped there would still be some trees left before the day was done.
"Maayybe…?" I pondered. "But you know, I don't really feel any different!"
"Of course you don't!" Knuckles roared as I ran out onto a fallen tree dangling precariously over the cliff. "You think I'm telling you this just for kicks? Hey, if it weren't for me- Get back here when I'm talking to you!"
I saw where I was standing on the tree, and since it was hanging over a cliff, I realized I was in danger. I attempted to run back to safety when another falling tree landed on my tree behind me. This caused me to be suddenly catapulted into the air and over the edge of the cliff. I spotted Knuckles leaping from tree to tree to get ahead of me, probably trying to cut me off and deal me an unexpected hit.
I saw the sloped ground coming at me fast, and I curled up into a tight ball to break my fall and roll down the hill. I hit the ground rolling, and I felt myself impacting with Knuckles' hands. My momentum pushed him back against the ground.
"I'm no psychiatrist, but I'm pretty sure an insane person would say they're not insane," he admonished. "And that's exactly what you're doing right now!"
"Didn't know you were into psychology, Knux!" I shouted, even though I didn't know if he could hear me over how fast I was spinning. "The more you know!"
One thing I didn't take into account was the fact that there was a brook at the bottom of the hill. To make things worse, Knuckles regained control and leaped out of the way, causing me to blow right past him and land right into the water. It wasn't too deep, but it was just enough to make my fears set in.
"Help! Somebody help me! I'm drowning! I can't end like this! I still got places to run! Things to see!"
Knuckles facepalmed. He didn't know that the struggle was all too real for me.
"Mr. Sonic!"
I immediately recognized Cream's panicked voice calling me. Turning my head to the left, I saw that the young rabbit was running up to me with tears flying from her eyes. My heart immediately broke for her. I had to stop fighting Knuckles and find out what was wrong.
"Mr. Sonic, Mr. Knuckles, please stop fighting!" she begged as she took my hand and helped to pull me out of the water. "Dr. Eggman trapped everyone inside a giant robot!"
I felt a pang of guilt and worry in my gut.
"Thanks, Cream," I said grimly. I shook the water out of my fur, hoping the late summer heat would help me dry off quickly, and took off.
I had seriously let my guard down. Even if I was winded from a brief skirmish with Eggman's robots last night, that should not have kept me from doing something as simple as looking for a Chaos Emerald. I probably should have gone with them, just to make sure everything was okay, but it was what it was.
I knew Eggman was here for the Chaos Emerald, but it seemed that he captured Chris, Amy, and Tails as well. They were just kids! If Eggman got them, this made me wonder how Cream managed to escape on her own. I would have to ask her later.
Tightening my hands into fists, I strengthened my resolve and picked up the pace. Eggman had to be stopped at all costs.
Silver Valley - E-47 Citadel – Sun August 28; 1:03 PM - Chris' POV
WARNING BEGINS HERE.
Sonic and Knuckles' fight took them to the other side of the hill where I couldn't see them anymore. But there were a couple times where I could briefly catch a glimpse of Sonic through the trees. He never looked our way, though, so I didn't know if he knew we were here.
I kept wondering why they had to fight now, or even at all. Didn't either one of them know we were in danger? I knew that escape was impossible if what Eggman, Amy, and Tails said was true. So I thought that maybe it would be possible to get the attention of one of them.
"Can we call them?" I quietly asked. I hated having to whisper, but the heavy reverberation of even the slightest sound in the chamber we were stuck in was really creeping me out.
"You can't," Eggman answered matter-of-factly. My eyes widened. Apparently he could even hear us whispering!
"No one outside can hear you," he continued. "Citadel glass is made of the strongest transparent alloy I have ever created, which means it is completely soundproof. That means no one outside can hear you, and no one outside can communicate with you."
My heart sank. But I had another important question for the doctor.
"Um… Th-Then how can we hear you?"
"Oh, that's because I have a two-way radio installed within the robot, and I have this headset too." He motioned to the headset I had just now noticed he was wearing. "But no one else can hear you, so you may as well abandon hope."
I slumped down, feeling completely dejected. If Sonic or Knuckles couldn't hear us, there was no point in having him come rescue us. The only way one of them could find out about our situation was if they could somehow break up the fight. And I had to wonder… what started the fight to begin with? It had to have been something big enough to pit them against each other. Sonic did say that Knuckles was his rival. But why fight now?
I stood up to see if I could spot either Sonic or Knuckles. I couldn't see them at all, but I did spot a few fallen trees here and there, probably from their fight.
"Hey Chris, Amy," Tails whispered to get our attention as he motioned for us to join him. I turned to the fox as Amy walked over from the part of the window she was looking out. "See if you can spot that radio Eggman mentioned."
"I heard that."
I didn't count on Eggman still listening in on our conversation, or even being able to hear something above a barely audible whisper. He pressed a button on a remote he had picked up, and the three of us were suddenly electrocuted by the Citadel's floor underneath us. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, but it still hurt quite a bit. It was like accidentally touching a plugged-in electrical wire, but it was a little stronger and it spread across my entire body from the feet up. I cried out, more in surprise than pain.
It only lasted for a full two seconds, but it wore me out quickly and momentarily numbed every voluntary muscle in my body. I staggered and slumped to my hands and knees.
"Chris!" Tails and Amy simultaneously called, completely disregarding the effects of the echoing chamber. They both ran over and took one of my arms each to help me try and stand back up. They seemed a little weakened by the electrocution themselves, but I took the brunt of it because humans weren't as durable as Mobians.
"That's what happens if you attempt to escape or do anything else I don't approve of. You know I hate torture, but sometimes physical chastisement is necessary to make you behave."
"J-Just… let us go," Tails responded, sounding more exasperated than before, as I finished standing up.
"You know, you should be lucky I don't yet have a roboticizer at my base," Eggman continued, completely ignoring Tails. "I haven't roboticized a human in a long time, and I have yet to roboticize one from this planet. There's a first time for everything, I suppose!"
"That's my line..." Tails said under his breath.
Eggman was sick. Not only did he have the nerve to lowkey torture us, but he even planned to roboticize us. I had no idea what roboticization was, but it wasn't hard to guess; judging by what Amy said about the Citadel during the war, I assumed he wanted to turn us into robots. I couldn't imagine having no life besides serving Eggman forever. Now I knew the true extent of this madman's evil.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tails tiptoeing to the opposite side of the Citadel, the part that Eggman couldn't see without moving, and examining the steel outer shell of the mainframe. Amy, on the other hand, had an idea of her own.
"Hey, is Sonic winning over there?" she asked no one in particular, pointing to the tree line. Immediately Eggman turned around and scanned the trees for Sonic.
I cheered for Amy on the inside. She just bought Tails some time so he could scan the robot's inner workings! Amy motioned for Tails to get moving, and the small fox nodded. He pulled a screwdriver out from seemingly nowhere and began to probe the side of the mainframe for a certain maintenance panel.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Amy put a finger to her lips and jerked her thumb toward Eggman, signaling that he could still hear us. Instead, she walked over to me and whispered "Find the radio" into my ear before scanning the chamber we were in. I nodded.
Throwing another glance in Eggman's direction, I was mildly surprised to see that the doctor did not notice what we were doing. Instead, he was still searching for Sonic and Knuckles. As long as he was distracted, we had time to attempt an escape.
I too began to look around the mainframe for anything that looked remotely like a radio. If it was even located on the mainframe, it sounded like Eggman's voice was coming from seemingly nowhere. I didn't know how Eggman did it, but I decided not to question it.
I had no idea what the microphone/speaker combo looked like, so I could have been mistaken about what it looked like. There were screws and bolts everywhere, maybe covering every square inch of the mainframe. I knew I had to find it and get out of there. I was getting really spooked by even the sound of my sneakers quietly padding along the metal ground echoing off the walls maybe a few dozen times, and that wasn't an exaggeration.
At last, I spotted something that looked like a radio. It was black and about half an inch in diameter. I waved Amy over and motioned to it for confirmation. She nodded before walking up to it, a sly grin on her face.
"Thanks for letting us distract you, Eggman!" she shouted into the microphone before pulling out her gigantic hammer again. She slammed it into the part of the mainframe where the microphone was, lightly denting the mainframe, but also completely obliterating the microphone. Fortunately, this was not the part of the mainframe Tails was working on.
But the sudden sound of the hammer's impact with the metal created a near-deafening boom that startled all of us, even Amy. My hands flew to my ears, and it must have taken fifteen seconds for the sound to finally die down. On the bright side, we were rewarded with seeing Eggman visibly cringe outside, maybe even crying out at the sudden feedback coming from the headset he was wearing, as he ripped it off his head. I could have laughed if the situation wasn't so tense, but I cracked a smile at his misfortune nonetheless.
"Did you get it?" Tails asked once the echo mostly died down. Amy nodded.
"The connection's broken, so Eggman can't hear us anymore, which means we can talk freely," whispered Amy, almost forgetting about the echoes. "How's it going, Tails?"
"I'm around halfway done unscrewing this panel," he reported. "These things are held together by eight screws each. That's why it's taking so long."
I asked the question of the day. "Um… I'm just wondering… wh-where did you get the screwdriver…?"
Tails looked a little confused, before he said, "It's… I don't know if you're gonna believe me, but it's something called Hammerspace. I don't really know how to explain it, but… it's a Mobian thing."
So it was just like the back pocket thing in cartoons. That was probably not have been the best time to ask, but I at least had some sort of answer. That would also explain Amy's massive hammer as well.
Just then we heard the sound of a metal plate clattering on the ground.
"Got it!" announced Tails as he pulled a pair of scissors from within his tails… which I assumed was Hammerspace. "Now to find the primary power wire…" Tails mumbled to himself as he probed around inside the mess of machinery.
My eyes drifted over to Eggman, and I almost wished I didn't see him. He was looking right back at us. He was floating maybe fifty feet away now, but he was close enough for me to tell that he wasn't happy. He was holding his remote in a menacing manner.
"G-Guys, Eggman found out," I said worriedly. Amy turned to see Eggman as well, and began to panic.
"Tails, hurry!" she shrieked. "He's gonna shock us again!"
This quickened Tails' pace. "I almost got it!" the fox assured us as his eyes rested on two wires.
Suddenly the electricity hit sooner than I was prepared for, and it actually hurt more than the last time. I cried out as the electricity coursed through me.
On the other hand, Tails was startled by the suddenness of the shock treatment. While he was able to fly to avoid most of it, he accidentally cut a wire with his scissors.
The wrong wire.
Now if action movies taught me anything, it was that cutting the wrong wire could result in explosive consequences. That was the case here. Part of the mainframe exploded, the debris missing us by mere inches, and blew out part of the outside glass, proving to Eggman that the glass wasn't as durable as he thought.
The noise was near-deafening, and I once again covered my now-ringing ears. It really was that loud. At least now I didn't have to worry about whispering as much anymore. It was greatly reduced compared to before.
However, smoke started billowing out of the hole, and some of it was filling the chamber we were in despite the fresh air outside. Tails ran around the other side of the Citadel to join Amy and me, coughing on the smoke.
"Maybe we can escape!" he said hopefully, despite his choking. He tried to fly through the hole, but was met with a pink force field that suddenly appeared to block his way. He fell backward and landed on the floor near the mainframe.
"Ohhh… I forgot about the force field…" he moaned, rubbing his sore muzzle.
"Did you really think I wouldn't think everything out?" Eggman cackled. "There is no escaping for any of you, no matter how hard you try!"
I began to wonder if Eggman was right. I got down on my stomach to try to avoid the rapidly growing cloud of smoke. Amy and Tails saw what I was doing and did the same. I was feeling dizzy from the electricity and the smoke, and I knew that they were starting to feel the same way. Spots began to swim before my eyes, and I tried to keep myself from potentially fainting.
"If you're bored, you can always watch Sonic and Knuckles kill each other," suggested Eggman. I did not want to see two friends or friendly rivals go that far. As my fear levels skyrocketed, I only wished they would come and rescue us instead.
WARNING ENDS HERE.
Silver Valley – Sun August 28; 1:07 PM – Sonic's POV
I ran around Silver Valley, trying to find Eggman and his robot, but there was no sign of him anywhere. Silver Valley was huge, so the doctor could have been literally anywhere. I had no idea what kind of robot he brought with him this time, but whatever it was, it was big enough to trap my three friends. For all I knew, it was heavily armed, and there were support robots.
Just then the sound of an explosion filled the air. My resolve tightened even more, and I desperately hoped that my friends weren't involved. I knew for sure that Eggman was behind that explosion.
I raced through the forest, panic welling up in my head and chest. Four seconds later, I reached a clearing, which gave way to a giant lake, and I immediately stopped in my tracks and let out a gasp when I saw the robot Eggman was using.
It was an Egg Citadel, one of the most feared prison robots in Eggman's arsenal. I remembered that back in the war, about three of them were deployed in one of the villages, and they rounded up nearly every single civilian there. They used tractor beam-like lasers to draw them in front of them, and their shovel arms to scoop up the prisoners and dump them inside their chambers. They were also equipped for traveling in space, so that they could fly the prisoners up to the Death Egg to be roboticized. Unfortunately, some of them did get roboticized. I almost didn't make it in time that fateful day.
I knew the Citadels also had a shock administration module built into them to stop unruly prisoners. I bolted down the hill toward the Citadel.
He better not have used it on my friends… I thought.
A couple other things I noticed about the Citadel was the smoke pouring from the middle through a hole in the glass; and Tails, Amy, and Chris calling to me, coughing on the smoke every now and then. They appeared to be low to the ground, probably trying not to choke on the smoke too much.
I knew that Citadel units were extremely durable and resilient to most attacks, so I had to ask myself how that even happened. I wondered if Tails did something to damage the robot. But with all the smoke in there, it had to be really unhealthy inside. I had to get everyone out as fast as I can.
"Hang in there!" I called as I attempted to launch myself through the hole in the Citadel's glass. But I bounced off a force field that appeared and landed on my feet on the grass nearby. Compared to the original Egg Citadel, the force field was new…
…And that was when Eggman noticed me.
"So you found me out, Sonic," he said.
"You bet I did, Eggy!" I retorted. "Wasn't too hard."
I aimed myself at the Citadel's legs and executed a spin dash. It was over the water, which made things a little difficult. My first spin out over the water struck one of the legs squarely, and I landed back on the shore. One more leg and it would topple over and hopefully free my friends. This was a trick I learned back in the war.
I immediately shot myself at the second leg, shearing it off as I landed back on the shore once more. That was when I began wondering if I would regret what I just did. As the Citadel toppled forward toward the shore, I realized I could easily have injured my friends. It landed in such a way that the ground covered the hole in the glass. Now I had to find a way to disable the force field because my friends could easily suffocate.
"I've been expecting you," Eggman said as he flew closer in his Eggmobile.
"Sure, sure," I responded cockily. "It was kinda obvious. Your little delivery boy told me Knuckles would be here. I figured you weren't too far behind."
"And you would be right," Eggman continued. "I hope you haven't forgotten the full potential of my modified E-47 Egg Citadel!"
"I did until you brought it back up again…" I mumbled as the Citadel began to move. Obviously Chris had no idea what Citadels were and what they could do, while Amy and Tails had both dealt with them before and knew what to expect. But I pitied Chris, as he was trapped inside one of Eggman's scariest robots. To think that I previously thought all of them were destroyed…
The Citadel continued to move. Using its shovel arms as spare legs, it slowly stood back up, throwing its prisoners to the ceiling which was now the floor. I just hoped they weren't injured beyond bruises. Additionally, the twelve laser cannons situated all around the outside of the robot began to activate. The closest three aimed at me and fired. The show was on.
I ran backward in an attempt to dodge the thickening laser fire. I must have forgotten just how powerful the Citadel's guns were, or never saw them in action, for they completely vaporized a nearby rock. Not only that, but this Citadel had near-deadly accuracy, as some of the lasers were landing just in front of me, like it was predicting where I would go. I was forced to bob and weave through the thick storm in order to survive this ordeal.
I ran to the other side of a small hill, which I figured was a blind spot for the Citadel, and paused to catch my breath. This version of the Egg Citadel had really been upgraded since my last encounter with them. I had to think of a strategy to defeat it. This time, we didn't have the help of the entire Resistance.
This time, I was on my own… or so I thought, because I saw Knuckles approaching me. He no longer looked like he was trying to knock trees down onto me.
"Ran out of steam, Knux? 'Cause you kinda left me hanging back there," I teased.
Knuckles gritted his teeth. "There's no time for that," he said. "Why does he have a Citadel? I thought we destroyed them all!"
"Me too, but… I guess he still had one left."
"You able to figure out what Eggman's plan is?" asked Knuckles.
"Yeah, kind of… From what I could make out, he tricked you and used you as a distraction to keep me away from him. Meanwhile, he brought out his Citadel and baited Tails, Amy, Cream, and Chris with news about a Chaos Emerald to lure them into a trap. Well… I don't know about the Chaos Emerald part, but it kinda makes sense in the long run. Somehow Cream didn't get captured, which is good news. Know if she's safe?"
A laser thudded into the hill near us, and I knew we had to move soon.
"Yeah," Knuckles jerked his thumb toward the forest behind us. "She's in the forest. You should probably get her back to wherever you're staying at."
"I will," I promised.
Suddenly a few dozen Buzz Bombers flew out of the bushes and began circling the area around the lake, searching for us.
"What about them?" Knuckles asked.
"First priority is to get Tails, Amy, and Chris out of there. But for now, you take care of the Buzz Bombers. I'll be back in a Sonic second to help!" And with that, I took off through the forest.
Silver Valley – Sun August 28; 1:09 PM – Third-person POV
Knuckles watched Sonic go, knowing he was usually true to his word when he said he would be back. But for now, he was up against a nightmare of the past and an estimated thirty Buzz Bombers to boot. It wasn't anything he couldn't handle on his own, at least for a little while.
He punched one of the bee robots into the ground, and another into a third and fourth. Then he became aware of a whizzing sound behind him. Turning around, he saw about fifteen Motobugs zooming out of the forest. He was caught off guard by their sudden close proximity. His fists flew as he engaged the new arrivals.
"I may not have a Roboticizer yet, but I still have a prison at my base – and there's plenty of room to accommodate all of you!" exclaimed Eggman. Knuckles turned on him while still fighting the Badniks.
"You tricked me," he said darkly.
Eggman chuckled. "Took you long enough to figure it out. You're not half the knucklehead I thought you were."
Knuckles thought he had gotten over being tricked. It seemed he still had a long way to go still.
"I'll make sure that never happens again, Eggman," Knuckles growled.
Suddenly the sound of rocket thrusters could be heard as the Citadel began to vertically rotate. It righted itself, throwing its occupants to the real floor once more. Eggman grinned.
"Don't count on it."
The sound of the rocket engines got louder as the Citadel slowly lifted into the air. Smoke was still pouring from it, but at a much slower rate. Its occupants cried out in pure fear, and Knuckles knew he had to act fast if he was going to rescue them in time.
He ran toward the ascending Citadel, but several of the Motobugs cut him off. It seemed as though the more he punched and kicked them, the more came to swiftly take their place. By now the Citadel was flying over the lake and getting higher and higher.
"You're not going anywhere…" muttered Knuckles under his breath.
Adrenalin coursed through his veins as he came up with a way to keep up with the rapidly escaping prison robot. He leaped out from among the congregating Badniks, scaled a tree in record time, and carefully but quickly glided from tree to tree around the perimeter of the lake. It didn't seem efficient, but it was certainly faster than running around the lake.
He threw another glance at the Citadel. Its upward velocity wasn't very high, but it was still a good forty feet above the ground and quickly moving forward. Knuckles was starting to run out of trees to vault.
After a few more tense seconds, he was finally close enough to the Citadel to be able to attack it. He took a giant leap off the tree branch and aimed his fist at one of the engines with satisfying results.
One of its four engines shattered, completely disabling it. The Citadel started to plummet, causing more panic from within. However, it instantly flipped back over and used its shovel limbs as its spare legs once again. By now Knuckles had lost count how many times those within had been thrown around, but it was too many for anyone.
As soon as it landed on the ground, it opened fire on Knuckles with its heavy laser cannons. Knuckles was forced backward by the lasers. He knew that as long as they kept firing, he couldn't make any forward progress.
Then the Citadel did something Knuckles never remembered it doing before.
It emitted a shock wave that traveled along the ground. It was about a foot tall, and moved around the speed of an average running human. Knuckles was surprised by this turn of events, but managed to jump over the shock wave in time, only to be shot at again.
Suddenly Sonic returned from the tree line on the other side of the lake, scooped Knuckles up, and carried him out of the way of the thick laser storm. Knuckles wasn't overly startled because he saw Sonic coming. He set him down about a hundred yards away from the robot.
"Just took care of a few you missed," he reported. "Was that a shock wave I saw just now?"
"Yeah, I wish it wasn't," Knuckles replied. "This thing is way tougher than the ones we faced before."
"Yeah, I don't remember the older models having force fields anywhere. All right, first thing we gotta do is demobilize this thing. Go for the legs."
"That's what I've been trying to do since I grounded it."
"Well, two heads are better than one, so let's show Eggman what we're made of!" Sonic rallied.
"Let's do this," agreed Knuckles as both Mobians charged toward the Citadel.
Silver Valley - E-47 Citadel – Sun August 28; 1:10 PM – Chris' POV
If I thought last week was bad, it was nothing compared to today. I had been through earthquakes before, but they paled in comparison to being flipped around and thrown about inside Eggman's giant robot. In fact, this was hands-down the most terrifying experience I had ever had in my life. So much in fact, that it brought me to tears. I wanted out so badly, and I could tell that Tails and Amy were almost equally as frightened as I was.
From the moment we lifted off the ground, I knew Eggman was going to fly us all the way to his base. I had never been there, nor did I ever want to go there. Fortunately, Knuckles had destroyed one of the Citadel's engines, but that caused us to be thrown around yet again.
Needless to say, all three of us had lots of bruises and a few cuts from the broken glass, plus we still had some smoke inside, not to mention I may or may not have hit my head on the outside glass wall. I really hoped I wasn't going to get a concussion from that.
Now that our chamber had been flipped for the third time, Tails carefully stood up and stood on his tiptoes to look out the window.
"W-We're gonna g-get hit one m-more time," he warned us, trying and failing to not sound scared himself. I really hoped that Sonic and Knuckles only needed the one hit to get us out.
Suddenly there was a massive jolt as the Citadel was struck hard by the combined force of Sonic and Knuckles. They must have done a number on the legs, for I could feel the entire robot toppling backward. I wasn't quite expecting it to fall backward instead of forward, and I fell backward with the robot's motion. I hit my head once again, though lightly, as I had thrown my arms behind me to take the rest of the fall. The wind was knocked out of me as I landed.
My eyes darted around the chamber, looking for the hole. At last I spotted it close to the ground. It was large enough for us to squeeze through. The only thing was, I felt very weak from a combination of the smoke and being thrown around too much.
Amy was the first to slowly make a move for the opening, choking on the smoke as she did so.
"Wait, hold on," Tails held up a hand. "I need to check to see if the force field is still there."
Amy nodded as Tails inched toward the opening. Amid all the terror going on, I had almost forgotten about the force field. The fox held up a hand to the opening, and was able to reach outside. He turned back to us, smiling.
"Shield's down!" he announced with a thumbs-up.
I attempted to crawl toward the exit myself, but I couldn't really move too fast because I felt weak and injured.
"He needs help…" Amy told Tails, and the kit nodded.
As Tails and Amy approached to help me escape, Sonic leaped through the opening.
"Phew, it's like a sauna in here…" he mumbled to himself before turning to us. He ran over and scooped me up first before effortlessly carrying me out the hole and into open daylight. I was finally out in the fresh air. With the adrenalin starting to wear off, I couldn't help but cry after the whole ordeal. Sonic gently patted my back.
"It's okay buddy, you're safe now," Sonic said soothingly, but with some tensity as well. "I'm gonna get you home as soon as we deal with Eggman." I nodded.
Sonic set me down and ran over to help Amy and Tails out of the smoking robot, even though they were already on their way out. Tails was visibly shaken up, and a teary Amy clutched onto Sonic for comfort.
"It's okay, Amy," he spoke reassuringly. "It's all over."
"Oh, you pathetic fools!" Eggman cackled from above. "I'm only just getting started!"
"Guys, it's still active," Knuckles warned as the Citadel began to stir.
"This thing just won't quit!" exclaimed Sonic as he took a fighting stance.
Its rockets began to activate once more. I had to admit, the engines sounded way louder outside than they did inside.
"Get back, now!" ordered Sonic. Tails, Amy, and I quickly decided on a direction and ran as fast as we could. I was in no condition to run on my own, so Tails and Amy each took one of my hands and guided me.
I heard a sudden whooshing sound behind me. Chancing a look behind me, I saw the Citadel firing missiles at Sonic and Knuckles. These missiles were a lot smaller than what I expected them to look like; they were about the size of the Fourth of July fireworks we launched earlier this year. They exploded on impact with the ground, completely missing the two heroes.
"Get the others to safety! I got a plan to destroy this thing!" shouted Knuckles.
"Go for it!" answered Sonic before rushing over to us. "Get behind this rock, quick," he instructed as he guided us over to a nearby large rock. Thanks to Sonic's quick thinking, we were now safe behind the rock, because a missile exploded where we had just been standing about ten seconds ago. My ears rang from the blast.
"I-I never thought I would ever be inside a Citadel…" Tails commented in a low voice.
"Um… T-Tails… a-are you r-really sure it is the l-last one?" I asked, voice shaky.
"I thought it was, I really did… but after today… I can't be too sure now."
Just then we heard a sickening crunch, followed by another and another. The four of us looked up to Knuckles destroying the blasters one by one.
"Are you gonna fight too?" Amy asked Sonic.
"I think I'll sit this one out for now. My friends come first," he responded. If I liked Sonic before, then I liked him even more now. He was the kind of guy who would put the safety of others above his own. We truly needed more of those kinds of people in this world.
We watched as Knuckles took an impressively huge leap off of the Citadel toward Eggman.
"You'll never trick me again, Eggman!" he roared before rearing back and kicking Eggman's hovercraft far away. The doctor screamed aloud as his hovercraft sailed out of sight.
Landing back atop the Citadel, Knuckles took a few deep breaths before leaping into the air and pounding the top of the robot with both hands, causing a giant crack to run straight down the middle of the entire robot. It was just like watching Kirby's Megaton Punch in real life. The Citadel exploded violently without warning, and we had to cover our ears because of the near-deafening noise. Shrapnel flew everywhere, and since we were all hiding behind a rock, it miraculously missed us in spite of our close proximity.
"Stay down and hold on tight," Sonic shouted over the noise. We did as we were told, as the explosion's shock wave hit us with tremendous force. Tails was nearly blown away, but Amy reached out and grabbed onto his hand to prevent that.
A few moments later, everything finally died down. The sudden silence was quite eerie, especially considering it was silent when we arrived. There was still some smoke from the robot's explosion, and I was sure Tails, Amy, and I smelled of smoke. We would need to shower later. And I didn't even want to think of Ella's reaction to finding the smoke smell in my clothes when it was time for her to do the laundry.
Furthermore, all the smoke and being thrown around made me feel more than a little nauseous. The last thing I wanted was to vomit in front of my friends.
"Um… I-Is it… s-safe…?" I asked. Sonic stood up and looked around, a grim expression on his face.
"It is now," he reported. "But it looks like I got some major cleanup here."
I took a moment before standing up. Did I really want to look? Was it that bad?
I stood up and looked across the valley and the lake. What was once a beautiful sanctuary with a perfectly clear lake was now a wasteland scattered with debris and shrapnel. It was a total war zone. I took this as a harsh reminder that life with Sonic wasn't all sunshine and lollipops. It still beat my old life in every way.
"Where's Cream? Is she okay?" Amy asked, almost frantic.
"Yup. I got her back home, safe and sound," Sonic responded. "In fact, she's the one who told me about you guys being captured in the first place." There was a pause. "Is it true that Eggman tricked you into coming here just so he could capture you three?" he asked incredulously.
Amy nodded. "Yeah… He said he was also gonna roboticize us," she replied, her voice still shaky.
Sonic was both sympathetic and grim. "That was really low of him."
"I agree," came Knuckles' voice as the echidna approached.
"I gotta hand it to ya, Knux, that final hit was way past cool," he complimented.
"Thanks," he replied quietly. "I just did a check of the area. There are definitely no Chaos Emeralds here."
"We put two and two together when Eggman told us himself," Sonic said. "By the way, you still sure you don't wanna come back with us? There's plenty of seats!"
"Nah, I'm good," Knuckles waved his hand. "And hey, sorry about earlier. I guess I was getting way too into that act Eggman set up for me."
"It's all good," Sonic said, that cocky smirk returning to his features.
"Oh, Knuckles?" piped up Amy. "Let us know if you find any Chaos Emeralds! The faster we find them, the sooner we can get back home!"
"Will do," promised Knuckles. "Take care."
With that, the echidna hurried off into the forest. There was silence for a moment afterward, until Sonic spoke.
"…Everyone okay?" he asked. "'Cause you were gettin' thrown around an awful lot in there."
"We're okay, Sonic," Tails quietly responded. "Just a little dizzy and bruised is all." Amy nodded. "It was really scary."
"I know it was," Sonic replied. "But it's all done now. You guys are safe, still alive and kicking, and that's all that matters."
"But we need to be more ready for Eggman next time," Tails replied. "Anyway, I should probably go check and see if the Tornado's okay." With that, he turned to head in the direction his plane was parked in.
Amy followed him. "See you two back at the mansion," she said.
They walked away, leaving just me and Sonic standing there. Sonic wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
"It's been a rough day for you, hasn't it, buddy?" he said softly. I nodded.
"Y-Yeah…" I spoke in almost a whisper.
"Did he shock you or anything you when you were in that thing?" he asked tensely.
I nodded again, trying to be brave and hold back my tears, as well as the nauseating sensation that started to rise in my stomach. Sonic gritted his teeth.
"One of these days, it's gonna be payback time. But first, I'm gonna clean this place up, make it look like nothing ever happened."
"S-Sonic…" I whispered, hugging Sonic tighter as the first tears started to flow. "I-I think… Eggman hates me…"
"I know," Sonic spoke in a soothing voice. He gently rubbed my back. "I'm not gonna let him near you, and that's a promise. Now hang tight. In just a couple minutes you'll be safe at home."
Sonic carefully lifted me into his arms; he was quite strong despite his size. He must have noticed I was starting to turn green from the rising nausea.
"Just do me a favor and keep your lunch down, at least until we get back, 'k?"
His confidence having returned, he took off at an incredible speed. I had not felt such speed since… well, ever. I had ridden in Sam Speed's car a few times before, but it was nothing compared to this exhilarating experience. It was a strangely wonderful feeling. I closed my eyes against the strong wind that buffeted me as Sonic ran.
Thinking back to the night I rescued him from the pool, I would never have thought a day like today would have occurred. It has started out so well, and then it fell apart so quickly, all because of Dr. Eggman. Amy and Tails had said that this Citadel was one of Eggman's most nightmarish robots, and that it might not be the only one out there. But I felt really relieved when it was finally destroyed.
The more I thought about it, the more the mad doctor terrified me. His unquenchable ambition to conquer the world and turn it into his Eggman Empire felt more real now. Now it was personal, because I was directly involved.
But there was one who was willing to stand in Dr. Eggman's way of world domination. One who was willing to put his friends first before his own needs. One who vowed to never give up in the fight for freedom.
He was my friend Sonic.
Sonic the Hedgehog.
A/N: Congratulations for toughing it out this chapter! And by the way, I referenced a fanfiction I may or may not write. All those Citadel references in the war - that sounds like something that should be in it. For the curious, my fanfiction idea would be a Sonic Forces episodic rewrite written in the style of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, with characters from Archie, Underground, SatAM - even IDW! Let me know what you think if this idea, and if you have "episode" suggestions, feel free to PM me your ideas with the prefix [Forces]! Depending on support, I may actually start it soon!
Anyway, some of the major changes:
- I added more legitimacy to Eggman when he was trying to trick Knuckles, as well as wrote a conversation that flowed smoothly.
- I completely rewrote the first scenes at Thorndyke Mansion.
- I knew I had to add Cream to the episode, as I figured that it was it is absolutely possible to not have her.
- I also added the Tornado, as there is no way that the Tornado shouldn't appear.
- I removed the kid who was grabbing Amy as I didn't want the situation to be more awkward than it already is.
- I added a lot of trauma to the Citadel scene, hence giving this chapter a warning. I also made the Citadel way more powerful.
- I added Badniks to the battle.
- I added more dynamics between Sonic and Knuckles so they are not rivals the entire time.
- I gave the chapter a proper ending.
Also, parts of this chapter, including Knuckles recording his message, were inspired by Awdures's story Cracks. You should check it out!
Anyway, that's it for this chapter! By the way, I am still looking for a beta reader, so if you are a beta reader, let me know and we can work things out so we can make this rewrite the best one out there! Also, I'm open for beta reading, so if you have a project that needs my services, let me know. (EDIT: I already have a beta reader!)
If anyone is OOC, or if there is anything that needs attention, like an incorrect detail, let me know. Anything and everything helps.
Next time is "Techno-Teacher", where Chris gets a robotic substitute teacher with nefarious intentions! Don't miss it!
