A/N: Hey guys, sorry if this chapter's a little late; I've felt way past lazy during June, and found myself browsing Pinterest and DeviantArt's Sonic fanart. My favorites include Kitsuoi, AlcyoneAX, rontufox, and Ingolme, just to name a few. That, and the fact that this thing is a monster. Nearly 25,000 words. Are there any other stories that consistently reach at least 15,000 words per chapter, or even have chapters as big as 25,000 words? (EDIT: This chapter may be smaller due to an overhaul.)

Also, I want to thank all of you for giving this story 7,000 views! It has the second most views of any story I've had, only behind Super Mario Bros: The Novelized Comic, which at the time of writing has 9,262 views. Perhaps together, with the power of teamwork, we can outperform Sophia X!

I hear that the Sonic movie trailer has been delayed so Jeff Fowler can fix Sonic. Good move on his part. I also hear that Sonic is going to be 70% more like himself. I actually would have watched the movie even without the changes, but I can't wait to see what the new Sonic will look like. Looking forward to Valentine's Day 2020!

Also, happy summer, and a happy 28th anniversary to the Fastest Thing Alive! I hear that 2021 is going to a big year for Sonic… Think we might get a new Sonic anime to go with the new game?

On to the chapter. Thank you, TheGreenSeer and Animation Adventures, for your feedback on Matt. I too agreed that that was a Mary Sue moment for him, so I went back and fixed it, along with the introduction scene. I also added some dialogue between Sonic and Sam around that point as well. If you haven't seen these changes, by all means, go back and check them out!

Speaking of changes, I went back to make edits to chapters 1 and 4 as well.

In chapter 1, I replaced the entire "Sam Speed's POV" scene with a third-person POV documenting the same events. Now the only edits left for that chapter is to edit the other Sam Speed POV scene, and fix the bold radio chatter by splitting it into two or three scenes, or just making it a third-person POV. Also, I realized I had named Helen's father Todd when his real name in the anime is Doug, so I fixed that.

Also, in chapter 4, I changed the President's age from 62 to 68, since it seems to make more sense, as well as removed the mention that Sonic was imprisoned for six months. It struck me that Sonic would probably not be that open to share what he went through with Eggman during the war. Chris will learn about this later, though.

Backlog update: Now working on the plot for "Unfair Ball" and the synopsis for "Beating Eggman, Part 1". Additionally, I'm almost done the plot for "Heads Up, Tails!" I can't wait to show you what I have for the Chaos Saga. I think that I may end up scrapping "Revenge of the Robot", as it seems to be mostly filler. The canon events will be moved to both "Heads Up, Tails!" and "Flood Fight". Now you're wondering, how on Mobius am I going through with writing the Chaos Saga if it already happened in Sonic's timeline? Well… you'll find out.

I want to thank Dragonlver22, Locke Lynx, Wesker144, ImpishDude2100, and Kurama The Platinum Zoroark for favoriting and following since my last chapter!

Now on to the reviews and what matters most: the story!


TheGreenSeer

(too long to repost)

Nine reviews on the last chapter… That's the most I've ever gotten from a chapter. This time I got eight, which is still a lot.

I tend to lean toward logic than randomness. I don't think I would stand to have Chuck "dancing" with Ella in an effort to get her to forget that she just saw Tails and Amy running through the room. And Ella never corrected Chris for slandering her mother. Not to mention Mr. Stewart was morbidly engrossed in a Piet Mondrian painting. (Did you know that if you rearrange the letters in his name, you can get "I paint modern"?) Instead, I just stuck with him using his cell phone, probably to record the events in the room. And yes, Cream is so pure! This makes her one of my favorite characters, up there with Sonic, Tails, Amy… & Knuckles. Yes, I had to do that for the meme fans ;)

Also, thank you very much for telling me about Mat and his Mary Sue moment. Looking back upon it, it made me cringe, so I went back and fixed it. Now he no longer has a Mary Sue line, and now Sonic tells Sam about the Chaos Emeralds. If you haven't seen these changes yet, go ahead and check them out.

Yes, Techno-Teacher did seem chaotic, but it was the only way I could think of to resolve Chris staying after school when it's been confirmed that Mr. Stewart's class comes before the cafeteria. I will warn you now, this will not be the only "weird" moment, which is why I now classify this story as AU. Hopefully it won't go too out of hand, but I will tell you that the Homebound Saga will be gutted and replaced, and yet the Metarex Saga will still happen. It's AU now, and I'm warning you in advance about this. But hopefully the ride will still be enjoyable for everyone. Don't expect the weirdness (but it's still "logical") to start until the Chaos Saga rolls around.

Some of the best adventures take place at home sweet home, which makes Party Hardly one of my favorites. No Eggman, no problems… right?

GuardianDragon98

You never fail to excite and impress me with every new chapter you post. The references to the events of Sonic Forces were really good. I'm excited for what you'll come up with for "Satellite Swindle."

Then I have succeeded in my goal. The further we go along, the more Sonic Forces references will show up. If I ever do get around to making a Sonic Forces rewrite, I think I might want to form a team so that I don't have to do all the writing myself. It's just an idea, though.

I think you'll like what I have for Satellite Swindle ;)

Alexandria Prime

That was really sweet at the end. I'm glad that you actually introduced the Mobians to Ella, Tanaka, Matt, and Sam. That was really cool!

Thank you! I've actually gone back to make that scene even better, so that they introduce themselves, instead of Chuck introducing everyone.

Animation Adventures

(too long to repost)

There are actually a couple reasons I chose to set this story after Forces, but it's too early to say why for now.

It always boggled me how Sophia X now has over 500 reviews for a story with a Mary Sue-ish character. I've always called Princess Sophia a "pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey" character because she never gets her own scenes; she's always pinned to Sonic's scenes. I looked through the reviews, and saw that it had 73 reviews after 7 chapters (avg. 10.43 per chapter), where as my story had 38 reviews after 7 chapters (avg. 5.43 per chapter), which is still a lot. In my opinion, stories such as My Arms Are Blue! and Sonic the Hedgehog: Heroes of Mobius are well-deserving of their may reviews. Maybe it's just the FFN algorithm.

Yeah, I thought back on their reactions… I thought Chris was pretty excited at the end of the first chapter. But that still wasn't anything compared to Chuck. If I can think of any improvements to make on that front, I'll implement them.

I too thought that Cream and Cheese were left out on several adventures. I can't guarantee that they can go on every adventure, but if I can fit them in, I will.

Like I said earlier, I've heavily edited those scenes in which Matt was a Mary Sue, and I completely changed all the dialogue so that the Mobians introduced themselves. Also, I think that the reason I didn't use the term "the others" as much as I probably should is because it felt like they were being dismissive of Tails, Amy, and Cream. It would almost feel like Chris couldn't care less about them; all that matters is Sonic. This time around, I want Chris to have an equal friendship with all of them, but particularly Sonic.

I've thought about leaving Chris out of the Metarex Saga because I didn't want him feeling useless or otherwise stealing scenes from Matt… more likely, it's the other way around. I know Chris aged six years and became a tech whiz and made fancy shoes for Sonic, but here's the thing: I don't want to age Chris in this rewrite. Besides, Chris seemed to me like he was smarter than Tails, especially at the beginning of "H2 Whoa". I'll handle it differently, and, after more reconsideration, I think I may want to incorporate Chris (the 12-year-old Chris, not the 18-year-old in his younger body) into the Metarex Saga, and if I do, he won't appear at first. Perhaps he can be a stowaway on the Chaotix' ship in "Galactic Gumshoes". So yeah, I think I may have both Chris and Matt together. They can be there for each other, and this will be the part of the Sonic X rewrite in which I will really get to work on Matt's personality. (EDIT: Matt will not appear in the Metarex Saga at all.)

Also, since the Metarex Saga seems like a spinoff in some way, it is going to get its own fanfiction. It originally had a working title of "Matt and the Metarex", but I've decided to call it "Tranquility and Order: A Sonic X Rewrite". I'll make a poster for it with Paint 3D, just like I did for this story and my new profile pic.

As for season two, you'll get to see what I'm made of. I can't wait to show you my new-and-improved Chaos Saga! (You'll see how I handle this; don't worry ;) ) Though, I will need help with rewriting the Shadow Saga, which seems to be everyone's favorite saga, up there with the Metarex Saga. But I can't ask for help without spoilers… I've got a lot of time before I get there; I'll figure something out by then.

Guest

Any references to the Sonic parodies from Dorkly in later chapters? Maybe have Sonic say "Huh, neat."

I may try to fit in a reference or two if I can. I haven't seen much Dorkly. I'm more of a LevelUP and Sonic Paradox fan.

jr121531

Even though i have nothing more to say,i love every chapter you've post so far it's made my day
and night.
and i'm happy to know you don't think i'm weird and i will hopefully keep posting review's each chapter now.

P.S you don't have to read them if you don't want to i'm not that type of person.
From Juliana R.E

It's great to hear that I have another devoted fan! I love reading every single review I receive; all of them make my day!

SharpDragonKlaw

Well we didn't get to see much of Matt this chapter but I hope we get to know him a bit more next time. I think it was cool you expanded a bit more on Chris' view of his mother leaving and how he felt about Cream's situation of not seeing her mother in so long.

Yes, you will definitely get to see more of Matt. He will get a small scene this chapter; then he won't appear again for a while. I love adding new stunning sides and awesome angles to situations you don't normally see in the anime.

Kurama The Platinum Zoroark

Okay, first off, best rewrite ever. Second I'm doing the math and the answers are 20 and 8 not 2 and 8, but I 'm pretty sure that it's just a typo. 3rd, I'd like to see if you knew about the sonic x abridged by sonic paradox on YouTube called sonic f as well as the sonic shorts and other stuff they make. That's pretty much it either way have a good night and a fave and follow.

Thank you very much! I just went back and corrected my mistake. Thanks for pointing it out.

And no, I haven't heard of Sonic F. I have, however, seen Sonic Seconds and Sonic Shorts, and I've also recently started watching Dragon Ball Z Abridged. So it looks like I'm in for a treat.


Disclaimer: No satellites were harmed in the making of this chapter. E-90 Super Sweeper is a trademark of the Eggman Empire and Eggman Industries, and must not be sabotaged or damaged in any way, shape, or form.


Chapter 8
Episode 8
Fight in the Stratosphere - X-Tornado Takes Flight!
Dead Air


Eggman's base – Sat September 4; 8:06 AM – Third-person POV

Doctor Eggman was sitting up in his command center early that Saturday morning, idly playing with a pen. He had not made a move in nine days.

Usually he always had a plan for world domination ready to execute at any moment. But being stranded on an unfamiliar world left him with few choices. While he did formulate several plans revolving around some of his E-Series robots and the occasional Super Badnik, he couldn't decide on which one to use, if he wanted to execute those particular plans at all.

Eggman had finally established a connection with Earth's internet during his time there. Once he had replicated Earth's modem and router models, he immediately looked up the Thorndyke family. Eggman quickly learned that they were among the richest families in the world. This meant that Christopher was among the richest children in the world. To Eggman, it seemed coincidental that Sonic would live with him and his family of all people. Where they lived seemed irrelevant to him, though, as he respected their privacy.

Back in the present, Eggman knew he needed to eventually make up his mind. He was determined to bring the world to its knees somehow, but the question was: How would he go about it? That's when he figured he could let his roulette decide his attack plan for him. He had plenty of powerful robots which could do his bidding in their own various ways.

He slipped his pen back into his coat pocket and stood up. Turning toward the drawer he kept his deck of robot cards in, he opened it and pulled it out. He flipped through the cards, seeing if there were any robots he did or didn't want to use, but after a moment, he figured it would be better for him to just leave everything up to luck.

Eggman inserted the entire deck into the slot in his console, closed the hatch, and pulled the lever to spin the slots. His choice would be entirely random. It didn't matter which robot he chose. All of them were deadly. He could easily advance the Eggman Empire with any one of them.

Eggman watched the slots intently as they slowed down. A few seconds later, all three slots landed on E-90 Super Sweeper. He grinned. One of the best plots he had recently formulated involved this robot. He decided he would keep it a secret, at least for now. The world would find out for itself in due time.

E-90 was one of Eggman's largest E-Series robots. It was so big that it had to be stored in the underground factory in separate pieces. They would assemble themselves once they reached a certain altitude.

The doctor pressed the Confirm button and sat back down in his chair. This was one of those plans that didn't require his presence. Which was a good thing, because he didn't feel like doing much anyway. Ever since he installed the Internet in his headquarters, his productivity had dropped significantly. He would play online games and no one would ever know that they were actually playing against the evil genius Doctor Ivo Robotnik. However, he was still determined to conquer the world.

Within minutes, Eggman watched on the screen as compartment after compartment of his robot was launched out of the hangar bay and up the secret runway. He watched all 36 sections as they emerged into the air above his fortress and carefully interlocked with each other.

Two minutes later, the 400-foot-long robot was complete. It was indeed his largest robot. Eggman sat back and watched as the Super Sweeper turned skyward and blasted toward the upper atmosphere.


Area 99Sat September 4; 8:29 AM – Third-person POV

Area 99's military surveillance division made up the majority of the secret military base. In the primary surveillance room, dozens of officers were sitting in front of computers, monitoring any form of espionage, such as missile activity or cyberhacking. They were similar to NORAD, but with greater technological capabilities.

One officer was carefully listening to an incoming report.

"Sir, we just got a transmission from the recon team on Santa Rosa Island," he officer reported once he had finished listening.

Area 99's military surveillance overseer Ernest Reinhardt nodded. "Put it on," he instructed.

A few clicks later, the room's big screen projected an image from the island that Doctor Robotnik's base was located at. Every now and then they could hear the wind in the microphone. A contrail could be seen extending way into the sky.

"If you are receiving this, Dr. Robotnik has launched an unidentified shuttle about five minutes ago," the GUN soldier reported. "We watched it come out of the doctor's base in several dozen parts that combined together in the sky. We don't know where it's going, but we have observed it traveling straight up into the air. It is now out of our radar range. We will inform you if and when there are new developments."

As the video ended, Reinhardt turned to the rest of his staff. "I want all of you to keep tabs on that shuttle. Don't take any action yet, since we don't know what Robotnik's objective is."

A chorus of "yes sirs" echoed across the room as they brought up various radars to track Robotnik's shuttle with. Even GUN didn't have as advanced technology as Area 99, which is why the staff of the secret military base was needed to track the shuttle instead.

"Sir, we have a situation," came the call of one of the officers.

"Yes, what is it?" Reinhardt asked.

"The shuttle appears to be approaching one of our radar satellites."

Reinhardt nodded. "Okay, I think I know what he's up to."

A minute later, the blip on the radar where the radar satellite vanished. Suddenly the entire radar system went offline, resulting in an error message that appeared on the big screen and a few of the smaller screens. This was the first sign that something went wrong.

"Whoa, whoa, what just happened?" one officer asked.

"We just lost radar," another responded.

"Did it just… Does… Does anyone know what happened?" Reinhardt asked, concern etching into his voice.

"Cause is unknown at the moment," came the response, "but I believe Eggman's shuttle may be responsible. I mean, we did see it approach our radar satellite."

"Just relayed a message to NASA," another officer reported. "They say they're going to contact the International Space Station to see if they can find a cause. Maybe they saw something none of us have."

It took fifteen minutes for NASA to report back to Area 99. One of the officers immediately listened to it.

"Okay, we just got a message back from NASA," he reported. "The ISS crew said they watched the shuttle extending something toward the satellite, and they said it looked like a vacuum hose."

"A what?" Reinhardt questioned in disbelief.

"I kid you not. It literally vacuumed up the satellite."

Reinhardt still couldn't believe what had happened. "But that's impossible. There's no air in space."

"Could be a tractor beam," the officer guessed before his focus returned to something that appeared on the screen. "Wait, there's a follow-up report."

Reinhardt narrowed his eyes. "What does it say?"

"They said a second satellite's been swallowed!"

The surveillance overseer gritted his teeth. "This is looking more and more like Robotnik's doing," he said. "Something needs to be done about this no matter the cost. Our infrastructure as we know it is at stake."


Thorndyke MansionSat September 4; 9:45AM – Chris' POV

Eight short days had passed since my friends were introduced to Ella, Matt, and Uncle Sam. I had already gotten used to them living in my house. I was so glad they no longer needed to hide from Ella and Mr. Tanaka. It felt like freedom, not just to them, but to me too.

Almost as soon as the party ended, Uncle Sam left for the night, and Ella gave my friends a full guided tour of the house. While she was showing them where the bathrooms were, I actually learned an interesting fact about Mobians. Apparently they didn't need to go to the bathroom the way humans do; instead, their bodies dissolved waste products from within.

It was a good thing Ella had four guest bedrooms upstairs. She had prepared one of them for Sonic and Tails to sleep in that night. While Tails always slept in there, Sonic usually opted for the roof, but he slept in the bedroom on rainy nights. They slept in separate beds. The last time I went in there, I had seen the dresser and folding table completely covered in drafts and blueprints for Tails' various projects.

A second bedroom was given to Amy, Cream, and Cheese. It was a good thing there was already a bunk bed in there. Cream chose the top bunk, while Amy picked the bottom one. Ella had been nervous that the top of the bottom bunk was too low for Amy, but she said it was okay because she wasn't as tall as humans. The thirteen-foot ceilings meant that Cream didn't have to worry about hitting her head on the ceiling, and she could easily fly to and from her bed instead of using the ladder.

Ella had gone shopping the next day to get my friends some supplies, which included toothbrushes and cushioning for when they sat at the table. On the day of the feast, she had to get some large books for them to sit on to make up for their short height. So she thought it was a good idea to get some cushions for them to sit on so they could be more comfortable at the table.

Matt had left on Sunday night. He seemed a bit reluctant to go because it had only been two days, but he said he wanted to try and find a job in Minneapolis, and if he couldn't, then he would try and return to Station Square, but he didn't want to settle there because of high tax rates.

Tails had asked Grandpa if they get earthquakes, because he thought he heard that California got them. Grandpa said yes, but they were not as severe as earthquakes in Alaska. Almost coincidentally, we had an earthquake in the early afternoon two days ago. It was only a 4.3, but it still sent me scurrying under the table. While my Mobian friends weren't as scared of them, except Cream, I was terrified of earthquakes.

After Matt left, life returned to normal, or rather, a new sense of normal.

Now that my friends had the run of the place, I was getting to know them even better, and I felt myself becoming more and more attached to them. We would hold conversations, and I was able to hear Sonic tell me about some of his adventures.

I also got to showed them some of the apps on my phone. Of course, Tails was intrigued, and I quickly learned that Amy and Cream fell in love with Candy Crush. Amy asked if I could get them their own phones so they could play too, but I had to turn it down for now because of their situation with society, and I told them that maybe it could change, but no promises. Sonic, however, didn't seem to show too much interest, which made me wonder why.

One day I had overheard Sonic talking about the extent of the protection he wanted to give me. He was talking to Tails, Amy, and Cream when they thought I wasn't around. During one of his daily runs, Sonic had told Knuckles about the attention I got from Eggman. They agreed to spar against each other every now and then to sharpen their fighting skills. Sometimes Sonic won; sometimes Knuckles did. Apparently they thought I needed all the protection I could get. And on top of that, Tails and Amy and even Cream and Cheese wanted to spar too so they could be ready to fight Eggman if he showed up again.

Amy had fallen in love with the Food Channel, and she got to spend lots of time in the kitchen with Ella. The two would trade cooking tips with each other all the time. In fact, there seemed to be few moments where she wasn't around the kitchen. Those moments seemed to be spent with either Sonic or Cream. Three nights ago, one of our courses was baked entirely by Amy. The cake-like muffins we had with supper that night were to die for.

As for the flower crown Cream gave me at the party, I kept it on my nightstand, so I could see it when I wake up each morning. I didn't want to get rid of it for anything in the world. I even took a picture of it the night I got it. Even though I knew the flowers wouldn't last forever, Cream said it was okay, because my friendship with Cream would last forever.

Eight days later on Saturday morning, the day was already in full swing. Cream and Cheese were watching a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse rerun. Even though it was a rerun for me, it was all new for her and my other friends.

A few days ago, Cream had asked if they had a TV show called The Next Show in this world. I didn't have a clue what she was talking about. Fortunately, Tails stepped in and told me it was a kid's show similar to Barney the Dinosaur. He had seen Cream watching Barney before, and he still didn't get why Barney had so many haters.

Right now, Tails and I were sitting on the couch, chatting about Doctor Who. The day after the party, I had gotten the feeling Tails would like it, and so I showed it to him, and he watched the first season with spectacular results. He had become a fan.

Just then we saw Ella and Amy entering the room from the kitchen, each holding an apple pie.

By now Cream and Cheese saw the pies and walked over to us. One of the slices was missing from one of the pies, and I knew that Ella and Amy taste-tested it in the kitchen with mouth-watering results. Last night I had overheard Ella telling Amy that she would teach her how to make her famous apple pie, and now here it was.

"Now I know we don't normally have dessert in the morning," Ella told us as she and Amy set the pies down on the coffee table between us and the TV, "but I want you to taste for yourself just how exquisite Amy's pies are."

"Aww, you know I couldn't have done it without your help," Amy replied.

"Thanks, Amy," I thanked as Ella walked off to get plates and silverware.

Amy winked at us. "No problem," she beamed before heading toward the side door. "I don't think Sonic's gonna want to miss out on this," she added before stepping outside.

Tails leaned forward in his seat. "You know, the way they're going, it's like they're living in the kitchen now," he joked.

I chuckled. "Y-Yeah, I guess so!"

Just then our joking stopped in an instant as we watched the TV suddenly turn to static all on its own. No one was near it or the TV controller. Cream's attention had returned to the television shortly before it happened. We didn't do anything, and yet the TV was now showing static.

Amy came back in through the door, and she was about to say something, but then she saw the TV. "Oh, what happened here?" she asked.

"I don't know," I answered. "It think it just… it did this on its own."

"Is something wrong, dear?" Ella asked as she reentered the room with several plates and silverware in her hands. "Oh dear, what happened to the TV?"

I picked up the TV controller. "I don't know," I repeated. I pressed the Back button and found that I could still return to the Roku menu like normal.

Cream looked very confused. "D-Did the TV die?" she asked with a twinge of sadness.

"I doubt it," Amy replied as she turned back to the TV. "Are you sure you didn't accidentally go to a different channel?"

"Nope, no one even touched the controller," Tails said. "And I don't think the problem is with the TV itself, because we can still go back to the home menu."

"Yeah…" I said.

"Wait, hold on, I wanna check something," offered Tails as he slid off the couch and walked over to the TV. He began to probe around the wires behind it, carefully checking all the connections.

"See anything?" I asked.

Tails poked his head out from behind the TV. "No… The strange thing is, everything looks fine back there, and it looks like all the cords are connected the way they should." He scratched his head. "I don't know what the problem could be."

Amy placed her hands on her hips. "Well, TVs don't just lose cable like that," she stated.

The first tears started to leak from the eyes of Cream and Cheese.

"Then… th-then that means… the TV r-really is dead!" she whimpered. Amy saw this and walked over to gently comfort them.

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay…" she spoke softly. "We're gonna have the TV working again in no time." I really hoped that was the case myself.

Just then Sonic ran in through the living room door. He was about to say something when he saw everything that was going on. Cream was crying, and the TV was on the Roku home menu, but the cable preview it was displaying showed nothing but static.

"Something happen here?" he asked. I got up and walked over to him so I wouldn't have a hard time speaking over Cream's crying.

"Um… I don't know how, but the TV just lost cable, and we didn't touch anything," I explained. I walked over and picked up the controller from the coffee table before selecting the streaming box option to show Sonic. Now the static covered the screen once again. Sonic nodded.

"Yeah, I don't know too much about TV like this, but… that ain't normal," he said.

"I think I should put in a call to Dish over this," Ella said as she started to leave the room. "Feel free to enjoy some pie."

Once Ella was out of sight, Amy stood up. Cream and Cheese had calmed down considerably by now, but they still had sad expressions.

"I can't believe it," Amy sighed as she flopped onto the couch. "Now I can't watch Rachael Ray, and Cream… she can't even watch her shows."

"I'm pretty sure there's a reasonable explanation behind all this," Tails said, and Amy nodded her agreement.

For some reason, I noticed that Sonic seemed to be mostly silent the whole time, but I saw him approaching Cream to help comfort her in case she started crying again.

"Wait, I might have found something," Tails said, pointing to a spot on the screen. "I think maybe this is what's wrong. What do you think?"

Following his gaze, I saw that the Internet indicator read Not Connected.

"Oh no, did we lose Internet too?" I lamented. I picked up my phone from off the coffee table and swiped down on the screen to check my Internet connection. I saw that it didn't show any bars, which was a really bad sign.

After unlocking the phone, I took a look at all the other routers. None of them were listed like they usually were.

"Yup, we lost it," I reported. I dreaded going the whole day without internet. It was my lifeblood, especially on a beautiful Saturday like this one.

Just then Ella returned to the room. No one had gotten up to get some pie yet because we were all so busy troubleshooting the problem. But only now was Amy cutting a slice for Cream and Cheese.

"We're not the only ones," Ella reported. "Our cable provider says that both cable and Internet have been lost for all of southern California."

Amy turned to look at Sonic. "Hey Sonic, do you think Eggman's involved in this somehow?" she asked.

"That was my first thought, actually," Sonic replied. "I was just starting to rule it out until now. So yeah, chances are pretty good it's him."

It was strangely good to know that we weren't the only ones who lost cable. If it was, then Eggman would have had an unreasonably strong grudge against us. I was grateful we still had phone service and electricity.

Just then Tails pointed at something outside the window. "Guys, Bokkun's coming!" he shouted.

"Okay, everybody hide! I got this guy!" ordered Sonic.

I just stood there feeling confused and wondering who Bokkun even was, even though I was sure I heard his name before. However, as everyone else except for Sonic took up hiding spots, I decided to just go ahead and hide behind the couch with Tails. Ella, Amy, Cream, and Cheese were hiding behind another couch. Sonic was standing in the middle of the room, awaiting Bokkun.

"Um… Wh-Why are we hiding?" I whispered to Tails.

"He has exploding TVs," Tails whispered back. Now I remembered who Bokkun was, and it all made sense. He was that annoying robot I saw at school last week, the one who told Eggman's teacher robot to stick to its mission. If it was true that he had exploding TVs, I did not want to be anywhere near him.

Sure enough, the small robot flew in through the open door, and I found myself wondering why Sonic never closed it behind him. He was wearing his satchel, just like the first time I saw him. I had a feeling I knew what was inside.

"Why are you hiding?!" he shouted in exasperation at the seemingly empty room. "What are you all afraid of?! I got a message right here, and it's directly from Dr. Eggman, so you all better listen up good, 'cause I'm not gonna play it twice!"

And then I heard his voice sounding closer to me, and what he said next made my heart skip a beat.

"Especially you, Christopher! In fact, why don'cha come on out where I can see you?"

I hesitated. Why was he calling me out? And how did he know my name? I was shocked.

"Go ahead, I'll wait," Bokkun pressed.

This confirmed to me that he was not bluffing. I started to panic.

Why me? Why does Eggman specifically want me out of everybody? Why? Why not Sonic? He's the one Eggman hates!

"Better do as he says, Chris," Sonic told me.

"Yeah… You're gonna be okay. We're right here just in case something happens," Tails reassured.

I sighed. It was probably better to just do it than see Bokkun detonate the bomb early. Taking a deep breath, I got up from behind the couch and shakily stood next to Sonic.

"H-How did you know my name?" I asked.

"Oh, the doctor's been doing his research on you guys," he replied. "It seems that young Mr. Thorndyke's been a real thorn in his side lately." He chuckled at his own joke. I didn't find it funny at all.

"Hey, can you just get to the point?" urged Sonic, standing in front of me in a protective stance.

"Hey, hey, hey! Chris first. I got something just for him in this message."

"But-"

"Don't question an officer of the Eggman Empire!" Bokkun snapped. "Unless, of course, I'll be happy to set off this TV early and give your maid some more housework, buuut you're probably better off just obeying me, 'k?"

Sonic finally nodded and stepped behind me, but he placed his hand on my back to let me know he was still there. I was sweating, not to mention trembling.

I could see the others cautiously peeking out of their hiding places. For the most part, they seemed to be able to have a good view of the small screen Bokkun was holding.

Bokkun pressed the play button on the TV, and a live image of Eggman appeared. He remained silent, probably to build tension among us. If that was what he wanted, it was definitely working. The room was deathly quiet, with the only sound being the quiet thrust of Bokkun's jetpack.

I started to feel even more nervous than before. Would Eggman call us out too? Why was I always being singled out? Why was Eggman taking pleasure in ruining our lives? I was so happy with Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, and Cheese living with me, and Eggman always had to come in and ruin it for us. I was just a kid, and now I was caught up in their war.

I didn't deserve any of this.

"Are you scared yet?" Eggman finally spoke in a foreboding voice. Needless to say, I was. We all were.

"You have no idea what is going on up in your planet's exosphere," he continued. "As we speak, one of my robots is up there, cleaning out all your pathetic space junk that you insist stays up there for the sake of your infrastructure. That's a waste of perfectly good metal!"

While I did have a few close encounters with the doctor before, I didn't think he would ever stoop this low. He had so little shame about his actions that he even openly bragged about them. He was just like some of the mad scientists I had seen on TV, but he was a lot more real, intimidating, and threatening.

"And furthermore, Tails doesn't have the resources to build anything that can climb three hundred miles above the Earth's surface. What are you going to do now, Sonic?" he mocked.

As the doctor chuckled, Sonic smirked, knowing that Eggman seemed like child's play to him.

"I thought you knew Tails better than that, Eggy," Sonic replied. "Sure, we don't have too many options, but you know we always think of something."

Eggman raised a finger. "Ah, but not in time," he said. "Besides-"

"Wait, you can hear us?!" I blurted.

Eggman grinned. "Or course I can hear you," he said, "and you can hear me tell you not to interrupt me in the middle of my monologue! To return to the point, by sanitizing your atmosphere, I am benefiting humanity, as well as enforcing good habits. Too much TV and Internet are bad for you, Christopher." He emphasized my name with distaste. "Oh by the way, did Bokkun ever tell you that you're officially one of my top enemies?"

I gulped.

"Yup, I sure did, Doctor Eggman!" Bokkun beamed. "We're gonna have lots of fun having him be part of your evil plans!"

Now I was absolutely sweating.

"Er, yes," Eggman replied. "We will. Be warned that I, Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik, will stop at nothing to establish the Eggman Empire in this world!" With that, he burst into a fit of maniacal laughter.

I must have gone pale. Eggman officially hated me, and he said so in front of pretty much my whole family. I was so grateful Sonic had sworn to protect me at all costs.

Bokkun then turned toward Eggman on the screen, looking like he was expecting something.

At last Eggman spoke. "This robot will automatically… Hmm… What should I have you do… Okay… This robot will automatically help itself to a slice of your pie!"

"No!" Amy shouted as Ella helped her to pull both pies behind the couch with them. Bokkun didn't seem to care at all as he picked up the slice that would have been Cream's.

As Bokkun took a huge bite out of the pie, he set the small yellow television down on the coffee table.

"Hey, since you guys don't have any cable, at least there's still something you can watch!" he said around a mouthful of pie before turning around. "Check out one of the other channels. This one's my favorite!" he said before he flew out of the house.

As he flew out, Sonic pulled me behind him so fast I nearly fell over. The moment he did, Bokkun's TV exploded. It sounded like a balloon popping as the TV burst, only louder, and it really startled me.

Only then did I realize there was no shrapnel in that explosion. I wondered how Bokkun pulled it off. Everything that exploded should have had shrapnel, but why didn't this explosion have any? It seemed very illogical.

As we heard Bokkun's laughing fade into the distance, I saw that the coffee table, floor, and couches all had ash spread across them. Sonic turned around, and I could see that he too was covered in ash.

"Well, that was something…" remarked Sonic. "Everyone okay?"

The rest of us slowly crawled out from behind our hiding places.

"Oh my goodness… What was that?" Ella asked as she stood up.

"That was Bokkun," Tails explained. "He's Eggman's messenger robot, and… He kinda likes to blow up TVs as a joke."

Cream has a disappointed expression as she looked down at her now-empty plate.

"He took my pie…" she whimpered.

"It's okay, Cream… I can always cut you another slice," Amy comforted as she and Ella carried the pies into the dining room. Cream followed them, with Cheese hovering not far behind then. Miraculously, no ash landed in the pies.

That left just me, Sonic, and Tails in the living room. I was still shocked that Eggman had done what he did.

"Hey, you okay, Chris?" Sonic asked, looking me square in the eye.

"N-No…" I admitted wiping my eyes, expecting tears to come. "He just… He said that right in front of everyone… And all I did was…"

"Hey, no other kid could have done what you did, Chris," Sonic responded with confidence. "Not the way you did it. You kept that Emerald away from him, and that's all that matters."

"Yeah," Tails nodded his agreement. "You know, Eggman can do whatever he wants, but we're not gonna give up fighting for you."

I was just about to thank them when Grandpa burst through the side door.

"What was that? Was that a gunshot I just heard?!" he demanded urgently.

"N-No, no, nothing like that, Chuck," Sonic answered. "Just an exploding gag TV is all."

"Gag… TV? I'm sorry…?"

"It's a prank that one of Eggman's robots likes to pull on us whenever he gives us messages from Eggman," Sonic explained while patting away the worst of the ash from his fur, only to stain his gloves. He would definitely need a shower later.

"We're okay, Chuck," Tails seconded.

Grandpa, however, did not share their relief. "Listen, I'm serious. If Eggman's robots can get inside the house that easily, then we really need to increase our security and maybe keep the doors and windows locked at all times."

Sonic nodded. "Good point."

Ella came back into the room, with Amy, Cream, and Cheese not far behind them.

"Maybe even more than that, Professor," Ella replied anxiously. "Dr. Eggman told all of us that Chris is one of his biggest enemies!"

"I know," Grandpa replied solemnly. "Remember when I told you Chris found the Chaos Emerald? That's what set him off."

I hoped Ella wouldn't take this situation too far. If she did, chances were good she would never let me go on any more adventures with Sonic.

"Then what do we do?" Ella asked.

"We don't need to do a thing, cuz we got Sonic and his friends to protect us," Grandpa reassured. Changing the subject, he said, "Anyway, I'm just wondering, did anyone else lose Internet?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"Yup. And we lost cable too," Amy added. "Eggman did it. He told us himself."

Grandpa slowly nodded. "Mhmm. How so?"

"He sent one of his robots up into space to capture satellites," Tails related, moving closer to Grandpa. "I don't know what he wants them for, though."

"Well… That is something…" Chuck commented. "Aren't satellites about three hundred miles up or something like that?"

"Yeah, they are," the fox said. "I got a spaceship back on Mobius, but all I got here is the Tornado, which… is not made for space."

"Yeah… Wait!" she exclaimed, looking like she had an idea. "What if you tried taunting the robot instead?" suggested Amy. "That way it's gonna see you and come down and fight you, and you won't have to go up any higher than usual. What do you think?"

"You know, that's actually not a bad idea," Chuck commented as Tails considered this.

"Yeah, but it sounds kinda risky," responded Tails as he tapped his chin in thought, "I think it's gonna be worth a try, though."

"So we got an attack plan then?" Sonic asked as he started for the door. "Well, that's good. Then I guess Tails and I are gonna be off to take care of Eggman once again."

Tails followed Sonic out the door, but then I realized something very important and ran out after them.

"Wait!" I called. "I don't think we even know what the robot looks like!"

Sonic turned around. "Yeah… that's a risk we're gonna have to take. And believe me, I've taken tons of risks before."

Amy and Grandpa followed us outside as we all walked or ran out toward the garage.

"The only thing we know about this robot is it can pretty much eat satellites whole," Amy said. "I think that says a lot about how big it is."

"Then it must be one mondo big bot," replied Sonic as he ran on ahead toward the garage door. He opened the door, and a moment later, the big garage door started to open.

"I can help with the rings!" Amy volunteered.

"Thanks, Amy!" said Tails as the two of them ran into the garage where the Tornado was now parked.

Grandpa and I followed them into the garage a moment later. I was hoping I would get a chance to help them somehow.

"Be careful up there, Sonic," Grandpa spoke, "TV and Internet make up a huge part of our infrastructure, and all of that is at stake here."

"I know, and I promise I'll be careful," Sonic replied. "Though, it would help if we knew what he wants the satellites for."

"I'm pretty sure we're gonna find out soon enough," Grandpa said.

Meanwhile, Amy was loading several Power Rings into a compartment in the Tornado, and Tails was checking the plane to make sure it was in flying condition.

"Do you need any help?" I asked.

"I think we're good for now," Tails answered. "But thanks for asking."

Just then I spotted the Miles Electric on one of the shelves. "Um… Do you need this?" I asked as I took it down from the shelf and held it out for him.

Tails turned to look at me. "That's actually not a bad idea, Chris," he replied as he stood up. "The only thing is, I don't really have a hookup in the Tornado for it yet, and the reason for that is because the Tornado's older than the Miles Electric." He took the device from me. "I've meaning to add one, though."

Tails spun his namesakes and lifted himself into the pilot's seat of the plane before buckling himself in.

"Okay, you're good to go!" Amy reported once she closed the ring hatch.

"Thanks for the help!" complimented Tails.

"You're welcome!" called Amy.

I glanced over the Tornado's exterior, feeling a bit surprised that I didn't see any sign of damage at all.

"Did the Tornado even take any damage after what happened at Silver Valley?" I asked.

"Yeah, there was some damage," Tails explained, "but not much. Just chipped paint and other cosmetic damage that I could easily repair. Um… Can you all please stand back while we take off?"

"Yeah, let's move over to the side, everyone," Grandpa instructed as the rest of us left the garage. "Give them plenty of room."

As the Tornado's motor started, I recalled that I had been startled at how loud it was, and yet it wasn't as loud as similar planes on Earth. Even though I had gotten used to its motor, I still had to cover my ears.

"We'll have that Eggman beat before you can say 'TV dinner'!" Sonic reassured us with a thumbs-up from the back seat.

"Good luck up there, guys!" Amy shouted as the plane picked up speed. The rest of us also waved and said goodbye as the Tornado took off into the sky.


The sky – Sat September 4; 10:20 AM – Sonic's POV

"You know, I don't think we've ever gone this high up in the Tornado since we went to the Land of Darkness all those years back," I remarked.

"Has it really been that long already?" Tails remarked in surprise. "That was just after we met Amy."

It had been ten minutes since our takeoff, and we were still climbing high into the sky. My ears were popping at our rapid ascent, and we weren't leveling out any time soon. Tails had his Miles Electric open to radar mode next to him, since the Tornado did not have a built-in radar. It was an older plane dating way back to just before Chaos' rampage, and Tails hadn't gotten around to installing one yet.

"See anything on the radar yet, buddy?" I asked. Tails glanced down at the Miles Electric, then shook his head.

"Nope, not yet," he reported. "It could be a while, though. It could be literally anywhere in the sky."

By this point we were flying through the cloud layer, and I started hoping that Super Sweeper wouldn't appear right in front of us, because then we wouldn't have enough time to react.

"Oh hey, I just realized, Eggman never told us what he wants the satellites for," I remarked. "He didn't really tell us his whole plan. That lowkey kinda cramps his style."

"Yeah…" Tails agreed.

"But… if I had to take a guess at what his plan is, I'm thinking he wants to use the satellites for robot parts. What do you think?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."

"You see, the way Eggman sees it, they're just a bunch of free metal floating around," I continued. "We can't let him have free range of the atmosphere again."

The possibility of using the satellites' metal to build new robots was very real, or worse, he could be clearing up some room to build a space station like the Death Egg. Planet Earth could not afford the amount of destruction the doctor was capable of.

Just then I heard a beeping sound coming from Tails' tablet. He glanced over at the radar to see a blip approaching us from behind. I threw a glance over my left shoulder, and that was when I could see a huge robot coming down out of the sky toward us. It was so big, I could have sworn Eggman's robots could play football inside of it.

The design looked new to me, but I could tell this was definitely E-90 Super Sweeper. Back on the infiltration mission I went on, I saw this robot listed among most of the other E-Series, but we couldn't find out anything about it other than its name and the fact that it was one of Eggman's biggest E-Series robots.

"Showtime," I announced.

The moment we were within its range, it immediately began shooting at us with several turrets mounted on top of the robot. Thanks to Tails' expert flying, they all flew just wide of us.

"Think you can get any closer, Tails?" I shouted over the wind that rushed in our faces.

"I'll try," Tails responded as I kept an eye on E-90. It started to pull up, moving right in front of our flight trajectory. Fortunately, Tails did the same just as the Super Sweeper's metallic mouth closed down right where we had just been.

"It actually looks big enough to be part of the Egg Fleet," I commented. I considered leaping out of the plane and attacking the turrets, which were still firing at us, but we were too far away to do that now.

"It doesn't look like it can turn that fast," noted Tails. "I'm gonna try and attack it from behind."

"Good idea," I agreed as the Tornado dropped a few feet, then banked left. Now we could see the underside of the massive robot. Sure enough, E-90 was turning super slowly. Luckily for us, even with its lasers, it didn't look like it was otherwise made for combat.

Since its undercarriage was practically defenseless, Tails had no trouble riddling its armor with lasers. However, it was super thick and durable enough to withstand our attacks. In fact, hardly any damage was done at all. It was time for a change of plans.

"You're right about the Egg Fleet part, Sonic," Tails said as he flew us under the Super Sweeper. "It has the armor, that's for sure."

Now it was E-90's turn to attack. It unleashed six bombs that propelled themselves toward us. These were different than missiles in the fact that they were slower, but more maneuverable. They could propel themselves in any direction. This did not faze Tails at all, for he was able to easily avoid them. The bombs all burst at the same time a few seconds later, each one setting another off.

"Looks kinda small to be a battleship," I noted.

Now we were on the Super Sweeper's starboard side. As more lasers missed us by just a few inches, Tails banked left, preparing for another round of fire with the giant robot. I began wondering just how Eggman could possibly fit E-90 in his base. There was no way it could fit in his underground robot factory.

Tails opened fire, and we watched in dismay as the lasers ricocheted off the durable armor, doing barely any damage once again. If we were going to destroy this robot, it would have to be in an unconventional way.

Suddenly the Super Sweeper did something I least expected. As we continued approaching it, it launched a giant green jet-propelled bin at us. I assumed it was used for garbage disposal judging by the recycling logo on its side. It was flying straight at us, and there was no way we could block the attack.

"Pull up!" I screamed.

Immediately my brother pulled the joystick back with all his might, and the plane finally began to climb. The bin missed us by only inches. In fact, we almost didn't dodge it.

Even in the face of our perilous situation, I smirked.

"So Eggman's throwin' dumpsters at us?" I scoffed. "Man, he really must be scraping the bottom of the barrel!"

"I'm probably one to talk, but I don't think you should get too cocky yet," Tails warned as E-30 launched three missiles at us. "That thing almost killed us just now."

"Relax, I'll be fine," I responded before leaping off of the plane's wing.

I flew through the air, aiming myself directly for the trio of missiles. After kicking one into another, I grabbed the third and hurled it like a dart at the Super Sweeper, doing light damage against its armor before landing expertly back onto the wing. Fortunately Tails always designed his planes to not jostle too much whenever I landed on the wings.

"See, what did I tell ya?" I quipped. "Totally fine."

I immediately ate those words as E-90 opened its beak-like mouth, revealing its namesake: a giant hose of some sort.

"Um, heheh… H-Hold that thought for a sec…" I amended, feeling my pride crashing to earth.

The hose flexed back in our direction. While I had never seen this hose before, I knew deep down it was responsible for the satellites being deactivated and captured in space. And now it began to suck us in.

The suction was extremely strong and violent. In fact, I had to cling onto the Tornado's wing for dear life to avoid being sucked in. Tails tried with all his might to break free, but he had no such luck. To make matters worse, E-90 was moving closer to us, which meant the intense suction got even worse. Before we knew it, we were flying out of control through the tube and into the belly of the Super Sweeper.

Not only was the suction deafening, but we were about as helpless as water going down a drain. Tails had no control of the Tornado whatsoever, even to the point where I noticed that the lights around the controls went out. The Tornado had lost all power. But that wasn't even the worst part.

The worst part was when we crash-landed inside the heart of E-90. I saw as many as half a dozen satellites already inside. There was nothing to show that they were still active at all. I didn't see one of them jutting out in our path, and my left arm slammed into it as we sped past it. It was a miracle I wasn't knocked off balance. The plane finally slowed to a stop after skidding 180 degrees to the right.

Rubbing my now-bruised arm, I leaped down from the Tornado's wing.

"I'm sorry, Sonic," apologized Tails as he was rapidly breathing from the adrenalin. "I was too slow this time."

"Hey, don't sweat it, buddy," I responded. "You did everything you could do to escape. Now we know for next time, yeah?"

Tails hopped out of the pilot's seat, and when he saw me holding my arm, he started to look worried.

"Hey Sonic, are you okay?" he asked. The Tornado was making so much noise during out crash landing that he must not have heard my arm slamming against the satellite.

"Yeah, no biggie," I nodded. "I'm definitely gonna feel it in the morning, though." I glanced over at the Tornado. "But more importantly, how's the Tornado looking?"

"Let me check…" said Tails. He began to carefully inspect his plane, starting with the left side. He glanced up and down, making sure he didn't miss any spots.

"Well, the good thing is, it doesn't look like it took a lot of damage at all," Tails reported.

"Cool," I nodded before surveying my surroundings. The chamber we were in was huge. The ceiling must have been a good couple hundred feet tall, big enough to house a dozen or two satellites. How we didn't get totally destroyed on our way in was beyond me.

The other thing I noticed was that the way we came in was now sealed. While we were busy crashing, I had failed to notice that a giant metal door had closed over the entrance. This left us trapped inside E-90, with no way out that I knew of.

"So now we just gotta find a way out of here," said Tails.

I shook my head. "Yeah, and even if there isn't, you know we can just make our own way out."

"True," nodded Tails as leaned over into the backseat, his tails waving behind him, and pulled out his toolbox.

"I'm just gonna check and see if there's a cockpit or bridge or anything like that, and see what's crackin' up there," I said.

"Good idea," Tails agreed. "And I think I'll see what I can do to repair the Tornado. I don't think I can guarantee a smooth takeoff, though."

"I'll appreciate any takeoff as long as it gets us outta here," I said. "Be back in a Sonic second!"

I immediately bolted toward what I thought was a door. After pulling on the handle, it became apparent to me that it was locked. Eggman had really thought things out.

I tried pulling a few more times until I finally thought to look at the hinges. I saw that they were on the other side of the door, and that I should have been pushing instead of pulling.

So after properly pushing the door open this time, I sped my way through the ship. I knew as a fact there was no button, lever, knob, or anything that controlled the outside door from the chamber I was just in. That meant the controls had to be somewhere else on the ship.

It took me as many as three minutes to finally find the cockpit. Even though the ship was smaller than other ships like the Egg Carrier, it was still an E-Series robot.

As soon as I entered, I was greeted by four maintenance Egg Pawns. They were the first signs of "life" on the whole ship. And right behind them was an alarmingly convenient switch labeled "Super Sweeper beak control", which was next to the controls to the hose. I grinned.

Immediately the Egg Pawns turned and ran in my direction. Since they didn't seem to be any trouble at all, I home attacked the first two, then picked up the third and smashed it into the fourth. Dusting off my gloves, I flipped the switch to the door, then ran back out of the cockpit.

Even though I knew the way back for the most part, it still took me just over a minute to make it back to Tails. I glanced over at the other side of the room, and I was delighted to see that I had activated the right switch. The door was now wide open.

I approached the Tornado. "How are the repairs going, buddy?" I asked.

The kit looked up from his work. "It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be," he reported. "Just a couple more tweaks and then we can be outta here."

"Good to know," I replied.

It took another two minutes before Tails announced that he was done with the repairs. In this time, I had felt E-90 start to rise back into the sky.

"Wait, whoa, whoa, hold up," I exclaimed. "How's this thing still moving? I thought I took care of all the robots up in the cockpit."

"Well, it's still an E-Series robot," responded Tails without looking up from his repairs.

"So it's a robot, so that means it can- Oohhh, I got it now. It can still move on its own."

"Yeah… Those robots you destroyed must have been just there for maintenance." He pushed up his little round goggles from over his eyes. "Anyway, I think that should do it for now," he announced.

"Cool," I said as I immediately hopped into the back seat. Tails climbed into the pilot's seat and started the engine. While it didn't sound the same as it should have, it still started, and that's all that mattered.

We began to taxi forward. The exit was definitely big enough to fly out without any problems. However, the only drawback I could see was that the Super Sweeper could activate its hose at any time and suck us back inside.

While Tails was able to get us out of the belly of E-90, I couldn't help but notice the strained noise the Tornado's engine was making. Tails seemed to be flying with more determination than usual, and I figured that even with his quick field repairs, he knew that something was wrong with the plane.

As we emerged into the open air once again, I noticed that E-90's mouth remained open. Aside from direction and altitude control, its autopilot hadn't kicked in yet. Luckily for us, it didn't activate its hose to recapture us.

Suddenly the Tornado's indicators blinked out once again, and the plane started to plummet. Fortunately Tails kept his cool.

"I-I can fix it!" he promised before opening one of the panels and getting to work. He tried to level us out so we wouldn't fall into a nosedive, but we started to lose a bit of altitude anyway. The wind stung my face as we fell even faster. By my estimate, we were falling at about forty feet a second. The problem seemed to be a little worse than Tails first thought.

By the time Tails closed the hatch and took the controls once more, the Pacific Ocean was already two hundred feet below us. Letting out an audible grunt, Tails pulled back on the control stick with all his might to avoid crashing. We finally pulled out of our steep descent and started to climb back into the sky. We had come within about twenty feet of the surface of the water.

"What happened back there, Tails?" I asked after finally letting out my breath.

"I think I might have underestimated the damage," he replied. "One of the secondary thrusters was critically damaged, so that means I can't transform. The repairs I made are only gonna last until we get back home."

"You know the way back from here?"

Tails briefly scanned the coastline. "Um… Yeah, I think so."

As we flew back toward Chris' house, lots of thoughts were starting to fill my mind to the brim. Eggman may have won this round, but only because we weren't strong enough. We seemed to be too slow to escape the pull of its hose. We seemed to be too weak to do any lasting damage to its turrets. And I couldn't just jump out and attack the turrets because that would leave Tails exposed to their laser fire. If he was shot down, I wouldn't have a ride back to Chris' house.

It was time to change up our strategy. I would make sure we were stronger and faster when it was time for round two.


Thorndyke Mansion - GarageSat September 4; 11:17 AM – Third-person POV

Simply put, Sonic's and Tails' landing in the driveway was nothing short of rough. It seemed they were coming in too hot, as the Tornado nearly crashed into the garage. Fortunately, Tails was able to stop the plane in time and turn it around, but it was a scary experience for sure.

While Sonic slowly stood up, stretched, and hopped out of the plane, Tails sat there panting at the ordeal they had just gone through. Chuck appeared in the garage doorway, and his expression immediately changed to one of worry when he saw how damaged the Tornado was.

"Oh, that doesn't look too good," he said.

"Yeah…" Sonic said as he looked over the plane and walked into the garage. "We're just lucky to make it back in one piece."

"So it was that bad, huh," marveled Chuck. "Did you ever destroy it?"

"No, sadly," Tails answered as he climbed out of the plane and landed on the ground. "It was way too strong for us. It already did a lot of damage to the Tornado, and it even sucked us inside, but we were able to get out. But sadly… The repairs were barely able to last us until we came back here."

As Tails followed his friends into the garage, Chuck's expression became grave.

"Well, you tried your best," he spoke. "But we're not gonna give up now. The longer that robot stays up there, the longer Eggman can control the atmosphere. Not one of those satellites is safe from him."

"Yeah…" said Sonic. "I think it's time for a change of plans. Maybe a little bit of an upgrade can-"

"What happened to the Tornado?" exclaimed Chris as he ran into the garage.

"Oh, Chris!" exclaimed Tails, as he was startled by Chris' sudden arrival, but he calmed down quickly. "Um… Y-Yeah… the Tornado took a lot of damage from the robot, so, uh… now we gotta think of something else."

"So that means you didn't destroy it?" Chris said, sounding a little worried.

"Yeah…" Tails' shoulders sagged, and his ears and tails drooped. Chris seemed crestfallen too, until Tails looked back up at him.

"Sorry, Chris… You're gonna have to go without Internet for just a little longer… At least until we beat Eggman's robot first."

"But that's gonna take forever…" Chris sighed.

"Hey Tails, you think the Tornado might be a bit slow? Is that the problem?" Sonic spoke up.

"Hm… I think I might be able to do something about that…" replied Tails. "There's one way I could do it, and that would be to use the Chaos Emerald, but one of the key factors about that is energy conversion. So… it would be really risky, and I would have to know what I'm doing."

"Is the Chaos Emerald really that bad?" Chris asked in astonishment.

"Not bad per se," the fox responded, "but you know that without the Master Emerald, it's kind of… um, chaotic… n-no pun intended!" He said as he had a double take.

Chuck smiled. "It's okay, Tails," he said.

"So like I said," continued Tails, "We can use Chaos Emeralds to power machines, but only if we use them correctly. But I'm kinda nervous experimenting with a Chaos Emerald when it's… like this… so using its energy is probably really dangerous." He scratched his head. "So even if we did modify the Tornado, all the extra energy could be a really serious problem."

Chuck nodded. "Okay. So the way I see it, our problem is trying to find a way to safely burn off all that excess energy."

"Yeah," Tails nodded.

Sonic was leaning against the wall, digging in his ear, a sure sign that the gearhead talk was passing right over his head. Chris seemed to understand it to an extent, but even he looked confused.

"But I kinda don't want to waste it, though," the kit added.

"No, of course not," Chuck replied, glancing over at the Tornado. "Not unless we make some heavy modifications first."

"There's a thought," mused Tails, "even though I had this plane for like… 20 years…? Actually, that kinda reminds me, I did have a spot for a Chaos Emerald, but then I modified it so that it doesn't need one anymore." Tails looked down. "Maybe I should've kept it…"

"Well, knowing you, you can change it up again, right?"

"Yeah, I could…" Tails said. "So far, I only thought to add a spot for a Chaos Emerald, but now I'm wondering… What kind of upgrades were you thinking of?"

"Well, now…" Chuck scratched his gray head and smiled. "Now you got the old brain going. So what if we added a second booster somewhere? That way, I'm thinking that not only is there going to be another outlet for the Chaos energy, but the Tornado can fly faster too."

Tails smiled as his tails slowly waved behind him in thought.

"I like that idea," he pondered. "But in order to compensate for that extra booster, we should probably lower the power of the energy converter to allow it to spread evenly across both boosters."

"But what kind of strain is that gonna put on the engine?" Chuck realized.

Tails thought about it for a moment. "That's… actually a really good point, Chuck. The way we're going, we're gonna have to completely take out the Tornado's existing engine and make a whole new one, especially since the old engine is not designed to run on Chaos energy… or actually, it's not anymore after I removed the compartment for the Chaos Emerald." He cast a glance at the plane. "In any case, it's going to be a major overhaul."

Chuck slowly nodded. "That's a lot of work with not much time on our hands."

"Actually, you know what?" Tails perked up, receiving a sudden stroke of genius. "I think it's probably better to just build a whole new plane from scratch."

Chuck and Chris were stunned into speechlessness. Build a whole new plane? With what time? With what materials? And all on his own?

"…I-I'm sorry," Chuck finally spoke. "Did I… did I hear that correctly?"

"It's no big deal," Tails shrugged, blushing a bit. "I can just throw something together in a few days and work on improving it after E-90's toast."

"A few days?" exclaimed an awestruck Chuck. "Tails… you can't build a plane that fast. No one can. It… It takes months to design and build just one plane before it's mass-produced."

"It's okay Chuck, really!" Tails said with a genuine excited smile. "And that's kinda why I said I'm just gonna throw it together for now. It's gonna be bare bones at first, and I don't think there's gonna be any time for a test flight, but I can take it slower when I'm done."

Chuck blinked. "Well, um…" He was still processing what Tails had just told him. "I… I want to show you something. Sonic, you can get something to eat while we're busy. We'll be back soon."

"Don't need to ask me twice!" Sonic responded before dashing off to the house, and Chris ran after him.

When they were gone, Chuck walked over to the back of the garage and approached what looked like an ordinary shelving unit. He moved a car battery aside, revealing a hidden panel.

"What are you doing?" Tails asked in curiosity.

"Just entering the passcode," he mumbled.

"Passcode?" mused Tails in wonder. "For what?"

A moment later, the shelves moved to either side, revealing the open doors of a hidden elevator. Tails turned to Chuck in curiosity. His baby blue eyes grew big in wonder.

"Whoa… You didn't tell me you had a secret elevator in your garage," he said in amazement.

"Well, I never tell anyone about it, of course, because it's a secret," he explained. "In fact, pretty much the only people who know about it are Professor Pell and a few government scientists, and of course, the rest of the family."

Tails looked intrigued. If it was that top-secret, then it had to lead somewhere very special.

"So where does it go?" Tails asked as he and Chuck stepped inside the elevator.

Instead of answering, Chuck gave Tails a knowing smile as he pressed the down button. The elevator began to descend.

"You'll see," he replied quietly. "All I can tell you is you're gonna love what I have to show you down here."

A few seconds later, after a surprisingly fast descent, the elevator doors opened, revealing a dark room, lit only by the light coming from the elevator. Chuck stepped out of the elevator and flipped a few light switches along the wall. The once-dark room was now lit up by dozens of shop lights placed at intervals along the twenty-foot ceiling. The room was huge and quite spacious. Lining the side walls were shelves containing lots of tools and utensils. The rest of the room was bare so that Chuck could work with large projects.

Tails was absolutely blown away at the size and stock of Chuck's underground workshop. In fact, Chuck had to make sure the fox's jaw didn't hit the ground too hard, that's how shocked he was.

In his excitement, his tails seemed to automatically spin, and he took off and flew into the air, before flying around the entire workshop. He made two laps before he landed next to Chuck.

"Do you like it?" the professor asked, smiling.

"I… I-I love it!" Tails beamed. "It's so big! And… And I can do a whole lot of work in here!"

Chuck let out a soft laugh.

"And… it kinda reminds me of my old workshop back home…" Tails reminisced. The young fox hoped that he would return to his workshop at Mystic Ruins one day.

"So I take it you'll feel right at home here," said Chuck. Tails nodded eagerly.

"You know, I haven't been down here since you and your friends arrived," he said. "Way back in my heyday, my son Nelson and I were making some amazing projects together for him when he was just getting started. He also made some solo projects down here as well. This is the birthplace of some of the most fascinating government technology, including Sam Speed's very first custom car."

"Wow, no kidding!" gushed Tails. "Now I really can't wait to get started on our new plane!"

"Our new plane?" repeated Chuck in confusion. "Aren't you the one who's going to fly it?"

Tails nodded. "Well, yeah, but it's ours 'cuz you're gonna help me build it, right?"

Chuck nodded, unable to suppress a smile.

"Like I said, while I don't have any reason to doubt your skills at all," he spoke, "it takes months to build a plane, and it's next to impossible to build one from scratch, if that's… even possible."

"It's really no sweat, Grandpa," shrugged Tails. "I did it before once. Besides, I built the Tornado 2 in just two days, and then I spent like months fine-tuning it and stuff."

"And I took it you were pressed for time then too, am I correct?" assumed Chuck.

"Well… yeah…"

"But Tails, we don't have two days to build a whole new plane," he continued.

"Oh, that's okay!" Tails excitedly responded. "With your help, it's going to get done really fast, and besides, I can base it on one of my blueprints up in my room. I know, I don't normally work this fast on any of my projects, but… I think they say that dire situations call for dire measures."

"I know," Chuck nodded. "Then this means we're gonna have to get started without any further ado."

And so Chuck and Tails immediately got to work on their new plane, from blueprints to the actual design. Chuck was intrigued to know that ever since he came to Earth, Tails had been considering building a new Tornado. He had drawn a few blueprints for possible designs, and settled on one of them. Originally he had thought to build it himself, but with Chuck helping, he knew that the final design would be a little different than the blueprints, but it would be in a good way.

Because of this, Tails and Chuck had came up with new blueprints for the plane. Chuck was debating if the original design was streamlined enough, and Tails saw his point, so they altered it a bit. The final blueprint didn't seem to differ that much from the original, with the exception of a few new ideas Chuck had.

About an hour later, at three in the afternoon, they finally began work on their massive collaboration. Fortunately, Chuck had a lot of steel plates and other parts lying around in case he needed them. "Always be prepared" was his motto.

Chuck was really amazed and astounded at just how diligent, effective, and quick Tails was at his work. Likewise, the kit really enjoyed the many ideas, tips, and pointers Chuck gave him. He felt honored to be able to work with someone who thought like he did. Similarly, Chuck was thrilled to actually collaborate with Tails. He was unlike Professor Pell or even his own son. In fact, Tails was in a class all his own.

Chuck finally stopped working around six for supper. As Tails didn't want to leave their project just yet, Chuck offered to bring supper down to him, which Tails agreed to.

About an hour later, after supper, Chuck returned to the underground lab to continue working with Tails. He found that the shell of the aircraft was already complete, and its programming was currently being implemented. A few moments later, Chris joined them to watch for a few moments. He didn't say much because he was mesmerized by the amount of work that was being done.

Chuck broke the productive silence. "You know, there's still so much for me to learn about Chaos energy, and… how to properly use it."

"Me too actually," Tails responded. "But I had enough experience with it to know lots of ways not to use it."

Chuck nodded. "Well, that's good to hear. Now I'm curious, were any of those times anything as bad as what happened two weeks ago?"

Tails looked up from the circuit board he was working with. "Oh no, it wasn't anything like that," he replied, shaking his head. "I mean, yeah, it was bad for me, but it was nothing like that time we went through because of the Master Emerald."

"I just realized something now…" Chuck said.

"Yeah…?" Tails asked, wondering if he should know.

"If Sonic goes 'super', as you call it, and the Emeralds are like this…" realized Chuck.

"Oh… Oh boy… I didn't think about that!" Tails exclaimed. "Then we're gonna have to monitor him if and when that happens. Something like that… could be…"

"…chaos," finished Chuck. Tails nodded.

At this point, the two seats and the areas surrounding them were now complete. Overall, Tails had settled on an aerodynamic design with four wings, and he told Chuck he got inspiration from some of Earth's mecha anime. Chris had been watching some of it, and Tails happened to be in the same room. He wasn't watching it as much as he was being inspired by it. Additionally, Tails mentioned giving the plane some "secrets" as well after its maiden voyage.

Chris left soon afterward, and Chuck stopped working for the night around ten, as that was the normal time to get ready for bed in the Thorndyke household.

"I think you should probably get some sleep too, Tails," he recommended.

"I know," Tails responded from his work, "but I… I wanna get this done as soon as I can so we can defeat Eggman and get the cable and Internet back as soon as possible."

Chuck pressed the elevator button. "I know, Tails, but you're going to be too tired to fly it without enough rest."

"Oh, I can sleep as soon as I'm done," Tails insisted.

"If you say so," Chuck nodded as he stepped into the elevator. "Good night."

"'Night, Chuck!" returned Tails as he returned to his work.


Thorndyke Mansion Sat September 4; 10:12 PM – Chris' POV

"…I couldn't be more privileged to be able to work with him," Grandpa was saying as he sipped his cup of decaf. It was just past ten, and we were gathered in the living room listening to him telling us of the plane he and Tails were building.

"And he says it'll be finished tomorrow?" Ella asked.

Grandpa nodded. "Yes. He's actually quite confident about that. I… I really don't know how he can build a plane that fast. I'm amazed at how fast he can work when he's under this kind of pressure."

"Wait, what? He actually… he like built it in a whole day?!" I repeated, and Grandpa shrugged, unable to provide a clear answer.

And then I had a sudden idea! Maybe there was a way I could help him…

"Um… I-Is it okay if I can run outside and see Tails?" I asked. "I want to tell him something."

"But Master Chris, it is nearly your bedtime," Mr. Tanaka pointed out. I had actually forgotten about that in my excitement.

"I know, but I just thought of a really good idea for the new plane. I really hope it's not too late!"

"Well, it's really coming along, so..." Chuck said. "All right, you may go, but promise you'll be back in ten minutes."

"Okay, thanks!" I called as I immediately jumped up and ran for the side door.

I bolted outside, forgetting to close the door behind me. In my excitement, I realized I never told anyone what my idea was. I figured maybe I could surprise my family and friends with it, though.

I couldn't begin to express how bored I was the whole day without cable or internet. I couldn't check my email, or go online, or even watch cartoons. It was a nightmare! Instead, I was playing candy crush pretty much the whole day, and even that could only last me so long. I would never take unlimited cable and internet for granted again.

It was dark and cool outside, but the outside garage and porch lights were left on, and they lit my way enough for me to see clearly. At last I reached the garage door and opened it. Panting from my adrenalin rush, I walked over to the elevator and entered the passcode. Only my grandpa, dad, and I knew the passcode, although Ella and Tanaka needed to know it too for security reasons.

The doors opened, and I stepped inside and pressed the button for the underground lab. The doors closed in front of me, and I felt myself descending toward the giant addition Grandpa had built. I was interested to see how much more progress Tails had made since the last time I was down there.

When the doors opened, I saw that Tails had made a lot more progress than before. Now the entire front of the plane was complete, but now it looked less like a plane and more like a fighter jet.

"Are you back already, Chuck?" came Tails' voice from somewhere underneath his project.

"No, it's me… C-Chris…" I called. Tails scooted his dolly out from underneath the plane.

"Chris?" he asked in confusion as he turned to face me. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Um... I-I just wanted to say I actually thought of an idea for your plane, but I hope it's not too late for it, though."

Tails stood up. "I did come a long way with this, but maybe there's room for something else…" he mused. "Anyway, what do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking, what if you added two extra seats, just in case you want to carry more people? That way you, Sonic, and Amy can all fit inside."

"And what about you?"

I gulped, thinking back to my one and only flight in the Tornado. It had taken a hit that caused a bit of damage, and it almost made me throw up. Plus it was tiny and prone to moving up and down very quickly. It was nothing like being on a jet plane, where the ride was more streamlined.

"I… I honestly wasn't really comfortable that last time and-"

"Hey, don't worry, Chris, it's okay," comforted Tails, sensing my anxiety. "This plane is gonna be completely different than the Tornado. And beside, you know I'm gonna do my best to not take you into battle anymore."

I nodded. I found his words to be somewhat comforting.

"Uh, did you like the idea?" I asked. Tails began looking over his project.

"Yeah, I do…" he nodded. "Just trying to think of where to put them. It's too late to add them with the existing two, but I can try and add a separate compartment for them in the back." He slowly walked toward the back of the plane, and I followed him. "I've actually been wondering what to do with the empty space back there anyway. So yeah... thanks for the idea, Chris."

"You're welcome," I responded, feeling glad that my idea was considered and accepted.

"Okay, I know you probably need to go to bed now, but can you do a quick favor for me first?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied as I glanced across the plane he was building.

"Can you get me the Chaos Emerald down from your grandpa's lab? I wanna test something out with it."

"Sure, okay," I agreed, making my way back to the elevator, until I thought of something, and I stopped. "But, uh… are you sure it's not gonna do anything to the plane?"

"I don't think we should have any problems with that," Tails replied. "It's been in the chamber all day."

"Okay," I nodded. I quickly headed back up the elevator and up the stairs into Grandpa's lab. I was thrilled that Tails accepted my idea! Now there were going to be four seats instead of just two. Now I could say I was able to help with the new plane.

I quickly found the Chaos Emerald lying on Grandpa's desk. Its soft green glow dimly lit the otherwise dark room. Finding that it felt cool to the touch, I picked it up and carried it back down the stairs.

I had heard something about the plane going to run on Chaos energy. If that was true, then it sounded very cost-efficient. If the Chaos Emerald was the only thing that was going to power it, then I was pretty sure it wouldn't even need fuel.

When I returned to the workshop, I saw Tails working near what looked like the cockpit of the plane. I approached him and held out the Emerald. Tails saw it and accepted it.

"Thanks!" he said. "Now Chris, can you try out the seats? I never got around to doing it with Grandpa, so… I want you to tell me how they feel, just in case I used the wrong kind of material."

"Okay, I can do that," I agreed. I made my way over to the side of the cockpit, but I was dismayed to find that it was too high up for me.

"Um… I-Is there a ladder or something I can use?" I asked. "It's… a little high up…"

"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Tails said. "I've actually been meaning to make it easier to climb in."

He started to drag a ladder over to the plane. It was a typical five-step folding metal ladder. I helped him set it up, since it was a little big and probably too heavy for him alone to set up.

"Is that good?" asked Tails.

I nodded. "I think so…"

So I began to climb the ladder. I managed to scale the first three steps just fine, but I had to step onto the fourth to be able to reach the edge of the cockpit. Then I had to raise my right leg way up and into the cockpit. This felt pretty uncomfortable, but I finally worked up enough courage to let go of the ladder and fully get inside the plane. I settled down in the back seat and turned to face Tails, who looked a bit concerned over how I got inside. His eyes were closed, and his tails were swaying very slowly as he thought it over.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to make a new ladder for you…" he thought aloud.

I nodded, and that brought up a new thought. It was already hard and awkward enough to climb into my seat. How was I supposed to get back down?

"But anyway, how does it feel?" he asked. "I kinda need to know because I'm not used to building things specifically for humans."

I took a moment to get a feel for the comfortable leather seat. It was cool due to the air-conditioned temperature of the basement. Looking around, I saw a few control panels here and there, and even a foldable cup holder next to me.

"I like it," I responded. "And I think there's plenty of leg room too."

"That's good," Tails said, smiling. "I made these seats with you in mind, actually. Chuck wasn't able to test them out himself since we were busy working on the rest of the plane. Now, can you test the safety harness? I need to make sure it's able to fit you."

I nodded and reached up to the harness above me. I pulled it down and tried to strap it in, and after struggling for a second or two, I heard it click as it fastened me into the seat.

"Hey Tails, I think it's a little tight," I called down. I was more than a little snug in the seat.

Tails nodded. "Okay, yeah, I was worried about that. That means I'm gonna have to loosen it first thing."

"Okay, so… did you think of a name for the plane yet?" I asked as I started to unbuckle my seat belt with a little difficulty.

"Not yet," he replied. "I was thinking I could call it Tornado 3, but this plane is a lot more different than my other ones. It's actually kind of experimental now that I think about it."

As I finally got the seat belt off, Tails reached for the Chaos Emerald he had put on the work bench.

"Okay, one last test," he announced. "Can you reach over and put this Chaos Emerald in the slot in front of the pilot's seat?"

"Okay," I nodded, and Tails tossed the Emerald up to me. It almost slipped from my grasp, but I still caught it. I began to lean toward the slot the Chaos Emerald was supposed to go in, but I found that it was just out of my reach. Besides, it felt awkward reaching around a seat that took up nearly the whole width of the cockpit.

"Can't reach?" inquired Tails as he tilted his head to one side slightly.

I shook my head. "Yeah. Sorry…"

"It's okay, I can do it," Tails replied as he flew up to the cockpit. He took the Emerald from me and sat down in the pilot's seat.

"Okay, I'm gonna test the engine!" he told me before he placed the Chaos Emerald into the slot in front of him. I noticed that Tails had extra space around his seat to allow his tails to comfortably drape onto the floor on either side of him.

He pressed the button to start the engines, and they immediately roared to life. It was suddenly so loud that I cried out, and I was forced to cover my ears! I was so scared, and the engines were so loud! I closed my eyes in fright.

I could hear Tails saying something, but I couldn't hear him over the deafening engines. However, over the next several seconds, the sound became quieter and quieter until it was just a gentle hum.

I was trying not to cry from the sound of the engines, and I took my chance and opened my eyes. I saw that the canopy was closed around us, and it was drowning out the noise of the engines.

I could feel tears in my eyes just thinking about the engines. They were that loud and they scared me that much.

"Chris, are you okay?" Tails asked as he turned off the engines and turned around in his seat. He too sounded very startled.

"I…" I could form words at first, and I closed my eyes again. "Th-that was s-so loud…"

"Chris… I'm so sorry…" apologized Tails. "I should have closed the canopy first, I… I'm really sorry…"

"I-It's okay…" I was trying so hard to be strong, but the sound was playing over and over in my head, and it was so scary. I couldn't get rid of it no matter what I thought about.

And then I started to feel something resting on my lap. It felt big, warm and soft all at the same time. It was joined by a second object that felt exactly the same. I slowly opened my eyes to see that Tails' tails were now resting on my lap. He couldn't turn around and hug me because the back of his seat was in the way, but he did the next best thing by letting me hug his tails, which of course I did.

I closed my eyes as I hugged his tails, slowly letting my tears out. And I couldn't believe how soft Tails' tails were. They were way softer than anything I had ever felt in my whole life. I didn't want to let go.

Three minutes later, I felt like my initial fear had calmed down, and I slowly brought myself to let go. I took a deep breath.

"You okay?" Tails asked as he slowly pulled his tails back to him.

"I think so…" I said quietly.

"S-Sorry about that…" Tails apologized again.

"It's okay…" I said, looking down for a moment. I wanted to say something but I didn't know what Tails' response would be. I finally looked up.

"U-Um… Y-Your tails are really soft…" I admitted.

Tails let out a small laugh. "Th-Thanks…" he said, blushing a bit. "Um… y-you're actually the first human to say that…"

"R-Really?" I asked in surprise.

Tails blushed slightly in nervousness. "Yeah..."

"That's cool," I replied as I started to sit up straight. To my surprise, I found that the canopy did indeed clear my head! Even though it wasn't by much, I could still sit up straight and not have to worry about hitting my head. Tails watched as I did this.

"Okay, good. The canopy does fit over you. I was worried about that." He paused for a moment to think. "So I think the only issue now is to loosen the harness…"

I glanced at the Chaos Emerald and its mesmerizing glow coming from the slot that was made for it.

"Is the Emerald working the way it should?" I asked.

Tails nodded. "Yup. So far, so good. I still need to test its full capabilities, but with the situation with the Master Emerald, that could be dangerous. But if we factor in time constraints and our current situation with having to stay hidden, not to mention that the attack on Eggman's robot will be this plane's very first flight… then that means we have a really tight situation."

It took me a moment to digest all that. "Whoa," I replied.

"Yeah…" Tails replied sadly, "but we don't really have a choice. There are tons of satellites up there in space, and all of them are at risk of Eggman turning them into robot parts. If I took my time to make this plane 100% perfect, then there wouldn't be enough time to save the Earth."

"Wait, is that was he wants them for?!" I queried.

"We don't really know to be honest…" Tails said, "but I think that's definitely something he would do."

After another moment of sitting there, Tails shut off the engine. To think that someone as young and smart as Tails built all this…

"I also added a safety lock for the Chaos Emerald when the engine's running, so it doesn't accidentally come out," he explained as he removed the Chaos Emerald. "But still… please, never touch the Chaos Emerald when the engine is running, because it's generating pure Chaos energy that can burn you really bad."

My eyebrows raised. "Yikes… Okay," I nodded as my friend pushed the canopy up. He looked down before his gaze fell on me.

"Oh wait, I just realized, you're gonna have a hard time getting down on your own," he realized as he stood up on top of his seat. I watched as he spun his tails at an extremely high speed behind him, then lifted himself into the air a couple feet. It still amazed me how he could do that without having them twist behind him.

"I can take your hands," he offered as he hovered above me. I lifted my hands above my head, and he grasped them firmly, even firmer than I thought he was capable of, and lifted me out of my seat. It felt very strange hovering above the ground, even if it was just for a few seconds.

Tails gently set me down on the concrete ground and landed next to me. I caught a sudden blast of the wind generated by his namesakes, which made me flinch and take a step back.

"So what do you think about the plane so far?" he asked me.

"I really like it," I nodded. "So what else can it do?"

"You'll see, Chris," replied Tails in a knowing tone, wagging a finger. "However, I can tell you it's gonna have more powerful weapons than the original Tornado 2, and it's designed to be way faster and more streamlined as well."

"That's cool," I said as I looked around the room. "I was just wondering… do you like this lab?"

"Yeah," Tails replied, smiling as he too looked around the giant underground workshop. "It's… it's really big and… it actually kinda reminds me of my own lab back in Mystic Ruins…" his voice trailed off.

"Is that a place on your world?" I asked.

Tails slowly nodded. "Yeah… It's… really beautiful… and I think Knuckles goes there sometimes…"

I couldn't help but notice the sad tone in Tails' voice. His ears were drooping a bit, and his tails slowly stopped moving.

"I built the Tornado 2 there…" he continued. I realized, he was starting to feel homesick.

"Are you okay…?" I asked, looking back at him.

Tails closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. "I wanna say yes… but… I…" I noticed tears starting to appear in his eyes, and one of them trickled down his muzzle. "Chris… I wanna go home…"

I was right. Tails was feeling very homesick now, and to be honest, I was surprised to hear him cry in that moment. I had never seen him cry before, and even when he was homesick, he did a very good job of holding it together. But now, it looked like he was falling apart in front of me.

"Tails…?" I asked.

"I miss Mobius…" he whispered. "I miss it so much! I… I wanna go home so bad…"

Tails was an emotional mess, and I was watching him breaking down in front of me. I was not expecting this, but I knew I had to help him. So I stepped forward and got down on my knees and gently hugged him. However, this made him cry harder and he hugged me tightly. He had been holding back.

"It's okay Tails…" I said, trying to comfort my friend. "It's okay…"

"I… I-I really d-don't know how I… d-didn't cry this whole time…" Tails admitted as he let out a choked sob. "I… l-lost everything… I-I can't go back home…!"

"I know…" I admitted. "But… we're gonna get all the Chaos Emeralds, and then… y-you can go home-"

"B-But that's impossible!" he said through his tears. "I-It takes… D-Do you know how long it takes to find j-just one Chaos Emerald?!"

I was surprised at his outburst, but I didn't break the hug.

"M-Months…! M-Months g-go by… a-and we n-never know… wh-when we'll find one…" He took another shaky breath and sniffed. "W-We don't have months… E-Everyone at home… m-misses us…"

Tails let out another choked sob and shifted his position, hugging me a little tighter.

"I… I needed this… I… wanted to work on a lot of projects… b-because… I-I think it helps me… to cope…"

I understood now. Tails had been so busy over the past three weeks working on all of his projects, and we didn't see him in the house a lot even after he was allowed to be inside freely. It made so much sense.

I guided my hand up and down his back in a gentle rubbing motion. This was the first time I had ever given comfort to anyone in my whole life, and for my first time, I felt like I was doing very well. Tails' fur felt extremely soft. In fact, it was almost as soft on his back as it was on his tails.

Already I could feel Tails calming down. He sniffed a few times, but the comfort I was giving him was working. It felt very strange to give comfort to anyone, but it was worth it.

A few minutes later, I felt like Tails had completely calmed down.

"Are you okay…?" I asked him.

Tails wiped away his tears as we slowly broke the hug, and I stood up. My knees were starting to hurt from kneeling on the concrete for that long.

"Y-Yeah…" Tails replied. "Thank you, Chris. I needed that."

"You're welcome," I replied. "I still honestly feel bad that you're trapped here…"

"Yeah… but at least I know I have friends like you to help me out," he said with a smile.

I smiled back at him, and when I looked back, I saw that his ears were up again and his tails were once again waving. That was a good sign that he was back to his old self.

He started walking toward the elevator, and I followed him.

"I'm sorry to keep you here so long, Chris," he apologized.

"It's okay," I replied. "I actually really liked helping you." I started to relax a bit myself. "So… are you almost done yet?" I asked.

"Yeah," Tails nodded as he wiped his eyes. "I think I just need a few more hours."

"Okay, but… when are you gonna go to sleep?"

"As soon as I'm done," he said. "But don't worry, I'm gonna make sure I get plenty of sleep."

"Okay. See you in the morning," I said as I walked over to the elevator and pressed the button. Tails nodded.

"Good night, Chris!"

"Good night, Tails!"

As the elevator rose back up to the garage, I wondered what the finished plane would look like, and what it would be called. I couldn't wait to see it fly.


Thorndyke Mansion Sat September 5; 7:33 AM – Chris' POV

I awoke to an ear-piercing tone coming from somewhere. I didn't even realize where I was or how I got here at first, but then it all came back to me.

When I came back inside last night, Grandpa asked what was keeping me down there, and he said it had been twenty minutes since I left. I told him Tails needed my help with a few things, and he said he would probably be done in a few hours. Chuck said that he was a very busy and diligent lab partner, and he would have even given him some coffee to help him, but he didn't know if he could tolerate caffeine at his age.

Also, Ella had surprised us with being able to pick out a DVD movie to watch that night, to make up for not having TV or internet all day. While I was out helping Tails, she discussed it with Mr. Tanaka, and he agreed. I chose The Secret Life of Pets, much to Amy and Cream's delight, even though they had never seen it before. It had been a few years since I had last seen it in theaters, so I figured I could use a refresher, especially since it had a sequel I hadn't seen yet.

Ella had even made popcorn for us, but since it was so late, we managed to fall asleep about halfway through the movie, and after I woke up, I realized I never brushed my teeth.

But now there was an annoying, ear-piercing tone coming from the TV, and I assumed that Ella never bothered to turn it off after we fell asleep. Looking at the TV, I saw a group of color bars, which I recognized as the ones that showed if there was no signal.

Looking over at the others, I saw that Amy was beginning to stir, and Cream was already awake.

"Mr. Chris?" Cream whispered. "Are you awake?"

I looked at her and nodded. "Y-Yeah…" I sounded very groggy.

"Is this… does this mean the TV is coming back?"

"I… I don't think so…" I said with regret as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. "I don't know what's happening to be honest."

Glancing at the clock on the wall, I saw that it was 7:35 in the morning. By now Amy was awake, and she sat up when she saw the color bars the TV was displaying.

"Hey Chris, can you turn that down?" she asked, sounding a bit irritated. "That noise is really going through my head right now."

I reached for the remote on the coffee table and tried to turn down the volume, but for some strange reason, it didn't do anything at all.

"It's not working…" I said. "I thought we just changed the batteries in this thing."

"Yeah… That's not right at all," Amy added as I tried to turn off the TV, also to no avail. "Does anyone know what's going on?"

"So does this mean the TV is broken for real?" Cream asked sadly.

"Wait, I think I know!" Amy piped up. "What if we're somehow picking up a signal from another station, and it might not even need a-"

Suddenly the color bars cut out as the tone stopped. They were quickly replaced by what looked like a studio. And then I was scared out of my wits as Eggman's laughing face appeared in front of the camera. I yelped as I scooted backwards on the couch.

All of this was so sudden that we were all taken by surprise. Our hearts nearly leaped out of our throats, and Cream even squeaked in fright and cowered behind Amy.

"Hello and good morning, residents of southern California," Eggman spoke. The way he sounded like both a threat and a real news reporter at the same time sent chills down my spine. I sat up to hear what he had to say.

"Now I know you're curious about the whole situation going on with your precious internet and cable, and why I hacked into all of your TVs to make you think your cable is back. I apologize for waking everyone up with that loud tone, I'm still adapting to human technology, so you must excuse me for that. But to answer your burning questions, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but no, your TV signal did not come back, and it won't be back until you respect me, which I hope is soon for all of your sakes.

"To get to the point, I hacked your signal so I can reveal the full extent of my plan, because I want you all to know that I am serious this time. Now in case anyone was wondering about the widespread Internet and cable outage that began yesterday, I can comfirm that I was responsible. It is all on account of my E-90 Super Sweeper robot I sent up to your planet's exosphere. You see, you pathetic humans have sent so much space junk up there that it's worth nothing but robot material. In fact, I counted as many as 5,000 satellites up there! And now E-90 is neutralizing all 5,000 of them and preparing to ship them back to my headquarters."

Doctor Eggman was sick. I couldn't even imagine the damage he could cause by removing just a few satellites. Cream slowly let go of Amy as Eggman continued.

"Now here's the next part of my plan, and you may want to pay attention for this one. Today, I'm going after the king of all robot parts: the massive satellite you know as the International Space Station! It contains several humans I can roboticize, as well as an extraordinary amount of parts I can use to make superior robots out of your inferior technology! And to top it all off, Tails' puny plane can't even climb more than a mile or two in the sky. To put things into perspective, satellites orbit the planet at 300 miles. So if you hope to try and stop me this time, Sonic, I suggest you try a little harder!"

With one more hearty laugh, the TV faded back to the color bars and its annoying loud tone, then to static – exactly the way it was when we first lost signal.

"The International Space Station?" Amy repeated, mulling over the doctor's plan after a moment of silence. "Do you know what that is, Chris?"

"I think it's a space station that a bunch of countries got together and built," I recalled. "If I'm right, I think it's the closest we ever came to living in space."

"Oh nooo…" Cream realized as she sat up. "They're going to lose all their hard work…!"

"I really hope they don't…" I said to her. "But I know that Sonic is not gonna let that happen."

I paused as my own words sank in. I actually surprised myself with what I had just said. I had only known Sonic for three weeks, and I was already trusting him to save the world. Now I could see why Grandpa trusted him. It seemed that Sonic's easygoing and determined mindset was starting to rub off on me.

"I guess Sonic was right about the… the robot part thing…" mused Amy. "I sure hope Tails is done his plane by now."

Before I knew it, she had scrambled off the couch and was bolting toward the back door.

"W-Wait for me!" I called, but Amy was already out the door. I grabbed my shoes and put them on, then raced outside after Amy. Cream and Cheese followed right behind me.

I too hoped Tails had finished his project. And even more importantly, I really hoped he got enough sleep, if any at all. If he didn't, he wouldn't be able to stay awake to fly his new plane, and that wasn't even saying he had never given it a test flight before. There was a huge chance that it wouldn't work! Then not only would we never get our cable and Internet back, but Dr. Eggman would be able to build stronger robots as well, using our own technology!

I pushed all these thoughts to the back of my head as we reached the garage. To my surprise, the garage door was open, and Grandpa and Tails were already awake. Sadly, I wasn't surprised to see that Tails looked exhausted. I saw that he had moved the Tornado off the driveway and onto the grass to make room for his new plane.

"Good morning, guys…" Tails said tiredly as he was busying himself in the garage, preparing for his big reveal.

Amy approached Grandpa. "Chuck, did he get any sleep last night?" she asked worriedly.

"Yes," he answered. "He told me he finally finished around three in the morning, and that's when he went to bed."

"So he only got like… four hours of sleep?" Amy asked. Grandpa nodded. It was just as I feared. I knew Tails was determined to help us save our planet, but… he needed sleep. And yet… I couldn't help but marvel at the fact that he risked exhaustion to save our planet from Eggman. He was willing to do anything to help us.

"I… Um… How was Tails even able to build a whole plane in just one day?" I asked. Amy shrugged, which meant I might not know the magician's secrets.

"Do you want to reveal your big project, Tails, or shall I?" Grandpa asked Tails. The fox looked up, a glint of excitement in his eyes.

"I can do it!" he answered eagerly.

Grandpa nodded. "Okay, I'm gonna go get Ella and Tanaka first. Just give me one minute."

With that, he dashed toward the house. I was still amazed that he was surprisingly fit for someone his age.

Just then Sonic ran up to us, and judging from the adrenalin rush he was having, I could tell he had just come back from one of his morning runs.

"Morning, gang!" he greeted with a smile.

"Hi Sonic!" the rest of us replied as the hedgehog walked up to Tails.

"Hey buddy, you sure you're awake enough to do this?" he asked in concern. Tails nodded as he tried and failed to stifle a yawn.

"I'll be okay, Sonic," he answered. However, Sonic wasn't easily convinced.

"'Cuz last time I checked, I'm pretty sure only four hours of sleep isn't good for you at your age."

"I'm okay, Sonic, really," insisted Tails. "Besides, I have to go. I'm the only one who knows how to fly my new plane."

Sonic nodded in understanding. "You do got a point, little bro." He looked him in the eyes. "Promise you will try and get some sleep when you're all done up there."

Tails smiled. "Okay, Sonic," he said, before they shared a brotherly hug.

Almost two minutes later, I saw Grandpa returning, this time with Ella and Mr. Tanaka with him. It seemed he was a little too eager to show them Tails' project, because they actually had to jog to keep up.

Once everyone was gathered outside the garage, Tails grabbed a remote from off the counter in the garage and ran outside to join us.

"Everyone ready?" he called. Needless to say, we were all eager to see what he had to show us.

"Yup!" called Sonic. "Show us what you got, big guy!"

"Okay! Three… two… one!" he announced. Then he pressed a button on the remote, and we watched as the entire garage rose into the air, revealing the secret workshop underneath. It wasn't very often this happened; in fact, the last time I remember Grandpa doing this was when he finished one of his government projects a few years back.

Everyone, even Grandpa and myself, was shocked and awed at the final result of Tails' new plane. It looked so amazing!

Tails smiled proudly. "May I present the X-Tornado!" he introduced.


Area 99 Sat September 5; 7:36 AM – Third-person POV

The amount of activity in the surveillance room that morning was the highest it had been in months. Nearly a hundred officials were gathered around the monitors. The situation up in the exosphere had become a national emergency.

Even though they were located in the remote desert region of southern Nevada, they were still able to receive Dr. Robotnik's broadcast across the entire region. If he seriously was going after the ISS, then they would be in serious trouble.

After passing through the security checkpoint, a newcomer officer, Petersen, entered the room and took up his post at one of the monitors.

"Can we confirm there's been no activity from Robotnik's shuttle since it entered the lower atmosphere yesterday?" he asked.

"Yes," Overseer Reinhardt responded. "It appears to have been in a state of hibernation overnight. Yesterday we intercepted a utility shuttle being launched from Robotnik's base. It was en route to E-90 at about 2100 hours. I have reason to believe Robotnik is attempting to repair it."

"I will admit, that was quite some assault that Sonic did to that shuttle," Officer Hale said.

"Yeah… We may find that he is our only hope," Officer Washington replied.

"Maybe not," Reinhardt interjected. "Robotnik's down time has given us sufficient time to activate our EMP satellites. Mr. Bulger, status report."

"The last of them are being moved into position, sir," Lieutenant Daryl Bulger reported. "Awaiting orders to prime them."

"Sir, I hate to object," Hale stated, "but I'm pretty sure there's a better strategy we can come up with. I mean, we've seen what that shuttle can do. We lost fourteen satellites to that thing yesterday."

"We have no choice," Reinhardt solemnly responded, just as Petersen stood up.

"Sir, we just received a report that the E-90 craft has been fully repaired and is now returning to the upper atmosphere," he reported.

Reinhardt nodded. "Okay, that's our cue. Get those satellites' jamming mechanisms primed and ready to activate on my command."

"Yes, sir," Bulger replied. "Seven minutes til priming complete."

Ernest Reinhardt hoped this would be enough time for them. He would never have believed that international espionage would be carried out in such a manner as this. He might have expected hacking or a missile crisis from enemy nations, but he did not expect a giant robot with a tractor beam hose.

Doctor Robotnik and his E-90 Super Sweeper have proven themselves to be an international threat. If the military and defense forces couldn't stop this robot, then who could?


Thorndyke Mansion Sat September 5; 7:39 AM – Chris' POV

All of our jaws were hitting the floor at the sight of Tails' brand new X-Tornado. It looked like a fighter jet straight out of a mecha anime, with its conical nose, two large thrusters, and two pairs of wings of folded wings.

"So… Is it true… you built all this in thirteen hours…?" Ella said in shock.

Tails blushed. "Well… it was actually based on some blueprints I was working on last week," he replied. "With Chuck's help, it got done pretty fast."

"So is it called the X-Tornado because of the wings?" I asked.

"Yup, you got it," Tails nodded. "I designed its wings to fold out in an X-shape mid-flight so it can be more streamlined."

"It actually reminds me of the X-Wing starfighters in Star Wars."

Tails looked confused, and he tilted his head to one side slightly. "Huh…?"

And then I realized he probably didn't understand me. "Sorry about that, it's something from Star Wars."

"Ah, okay," Tails said with a slight nod.

"So what all can it do, Tails?" Amy asked, scanning the X-Tornado up and down.

"Well, for weapons, I gave it some laser cannons, as well as a ring dispenser for Sonic. And I also wanna say that Chris came up with a last-minute idea for it," he said, winking at me. I smiled.

"That's so cool!" Amy exclaimed, smiling at me. "What was your idea, Chris?"

"I wanted to know if we could have four seats instead of two," I responded.

"Yeah, it was originally gonna have just two seats like the Tornado 2, but I kinda didn't know what to do with the extra space in the back, and besides, now I can carry more passengers if I need to."

"Right on, Chris!" complimented Sonic.

"Thanks!" I thanked.

I turned back to the X-Tornado, a wave of sudden excitement sweeping over me. Maybe I would eventually get a chance to go flying with them!

"So who's gonna go in the X-Tornado?" I asked. Sonic glanced at me as he leaned against the side of the plane.

"I think it's just gonna be me and Tails," he replied. "Unless you wanna come along, Ames."

"It's probably better if I sit this one out," she replied. "Besides, I wanna see how smooth it's gonna be first."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," agreed Tails. "There may be a few kinks for me to iron out later on, since I kinda built it in a hurry."

"Um… I-Is it okay… i-if I can g-go with you…?" I asked nervously. Almost immediately Sonic shook his head.

"Chris, no… That's not a good idea," he said. "First off, there's no way I'm gonna risk you dying again. And second… Tails and I are gonna go to the edge of space, and… that's not really a place for a 12-year old kid."

Sonic had some pretty solid reasons, but on top of those, I could think of a few more. The X-Tornado had never been flown before, and I heard that Tails nearly lost the Tornado 2 to the Super Sweeper yesterday. I began to question the foolishness of that question.

I relented. "Okay," I said as I stepped back. "And now that you mention it, I… I'm kinda scared to go in space."

"Yeah…" Sonic said. "Well, I want to tell ya, you did a great job helpin' out Tails last night." He smiled and winked at me.

"Thank you," I replied shyly.

Grandpa started to move the five-step ladder next to the X-Tornado's cockpit, but Tails said, "No offense, but I don't think we're gonna need that. I can just fly in the cockpit, and Sonic can jump in."

"Oh right, I just realized you can do that. My mistake," said Grandpa as he pulled the ladder back toward the garage.

"No worries, Chuck," shrugged Tails as he reached for the controller again. He pressed a button, and the front canopy around the first two seats began to rise, granting him access to them. Once it was all the way up, he spun his tails and flew up to his seat, then sat down and strapped himself in.

I looked over to see Amy hugging Sonic, who squirmed a little in her grasp. It looked almost comical, which made me question if they were actually in love with each other.

"Good luck, Sonic!" she said. "You too, Tails!"

I waved to Sonic too as he leaped up into the plane and sat down behind Tails. He had a confident smile on his face as he buckled in.

"You just hang tight, guys!" said Sonic. "We're gonna crack that Eggman wide open and be back by breakfast."

"Yeah!" Tails agreed. "Okay, I'm gonna start the engines now, so you might wanna back away. They're pretty loud."

"Okay!" I responded as I started to walk back toward the house. He didn't need to tell me twice. The X-Tornado's engines were really loud!

"Okay, let's give them plenty of space," Grandpa said. "In fact, I think we should go inside for now. We can still look out the window and see them."

"Okay, let's get moving, everyone!" rallied Amy. "I can't wait to see Tails fly that thing!"

"Yeah!" I agreed.

"Oh wait! Before I forget…" Grandpa suddenly said as he ran back to the garage. He picked up the controller and pressed another button. I watched as all the palm trees lining the driveway tilted outward and away from the driveway.

"What are you doing, Chuck?" Tails called from the cockpit.

"Oh, I'm just making it easier for you to take off," Grandpa replied as he slipped his hands in his pockets.

The palm trees had been planted on a series of pivoting ramps that Grandpa had built years before. This setup was in place because of experimental government jets that Dad was working on when he was younger, as well as different types of race cars for Uncle Sam. The vehicles kept damaging the trees, and in one case, one of the trees even snapped in half. But Grandpa loved the trees, so he created this setup to avoid making that mistake again.

"Is that better?" asked Grandpa once the trees were tilted.

Tails smiled at him. "Yeah, thank you!"

"Okay, we'll let you go now," said Grandpa as he backed away toward the house. "Good luck up there, and promise you'll be extra careful."

Tails gave him a thumbs up. "I promise!"

"Okay, bye Tails! Bye Sonic!" Amy called. We all waved as Tails closed the canopy, and then we ran back to the house.

"Actually, I think we can watch from the front porch," decided Grandpa.

"Yeah, I think we can get a better view that way," I agreed.

We took up a spot at the window to watch Tails taking off.

"This is so exciting!" cooed Cream.

"Oh, I know!" agreed Ella as she gently patted Cream's head.

Soon the sound of loud jet engines filled the air outside, and I knew that Tails' master creation was about to blast into the skies. Over the next few moments, we saw it speeding down the driveway.

"Whoa, it's really fast…" marveled Amy. "Way faster than the original Tornado."

We watched as the X-Tornado lifted off the ground, and I had to cover my ears as it sped straight up into the sky. Cream did the same, even though it was a bit hard for her to cover her long ears.

"There it goes!" exclaimed Cream.

I felt the same excitement too even though I didn't say anything. I was so amazed that the plane could actually fly. Tails and Sonic were off to fight Eggman and restore the internet!


Eggman's base Sat September 5; 7:54 AM – Third-person POV

The command center of Eggman's fortress was quiet that morning, and no one was there except for Decoe and Bocoe. They were up there all night so they could monitor E-90's repairs. Bokkun had stopped by the command center to watch the action about five hours ago, but he got bored quickly and left soon after.

Now, at 7:54 AM, the repairs were finally complete, and the Super Sweeper was on its way back to the upper atmosphere to finish what it had started. The only damage done to the robot was to its hull. It had taken a few hits from its own missiles thanks to Sonic's skilled maneuvers. Additionally, its garbage bin had been located, retrieved, and loaded back into the robot, and it was outfitted with a brand new Egg Pawn crew, even though E-90 had an autopilot. Fortunately, they reported that none of the fourteen satellites they had acquired had been damaged.

However, they were met with an unexpected roadblock. Three of the satellites that were immediately nearby were armed with EMP equipment. They were daunting, but the two robots knew it was nothing E-90 couldn't handle.

"Three satellites nearly are equipped with electromagnetic pulse generating technology," Decoe warned the crew aboard the Super Sweeper.

"Activate the energy shield and proceed as planned," instructed Bocoe.

Over the next four minutes, Decoe and Bocoe saw the three dots representing the satellites vanishing from the radar, averting a potential crisis. If that was the best the government could come up with against Eggman, then the rest of the mission would be fairly simple.

Just then a new blip on the radar appeared, and it was making a beeline for E-90. Decoe and Bocoe knew this was not part of the plan.

"Enemy inbound. Activate scan of the enemy craft," he told Bocoe before warning the E-90 robot crew of the incoming threat.

A moment later, the scan was complete. "Initial scans indicate Mobian technology is present," Bocoe reported.

"I will contact Doctor Eggman," Decoe announced as he activated a radio on the console.

"Doctor, I regret to inform you that we have a situation concerning E-90," he reported.

Eggman took a moment to respond, but when he did, he sounded tired. "What's the situation…? Tell me it's not another engine failure…"

"An enemy craft is approaching," Decoe reported. "Mobian technology has been detected, which indicates that the craft is affiliated with Sonic the Hedgehog."

There was no response. At the very mention of the Blue Blur's name, Decoe knew that his master's blood was boiling, and that he was on his way down to the command center right now.

Sure enough, the fully-dressed doctor showed up in the command center just under two minutes later.

"Why is that blue eyesore ruining everything again?" he fumed as he strode over to the console. "I know I damaged the Tornado yesterday. There is absolutely no way Tails could have fixed it that quickly! I want answers!"

He pressed a few buttons on a keypad, which brought up one of E-90's long-range cameras. He was able to see a fighter jet, except it didn't quite look human in design.

"Fascinating…" he said. "It is impossible that GUN could have developed an aircraft like that… especially this world's GUN. So I suspect this is the handiwork of Tails."

"That is impossible, Doctor," Bocoe countered. "We have observed the Tornado being nearly destroyed by E-90."

"Additionally, E-90 is currently 186 miles up in the atmosphere," added Decoe.

"Then Tails must have been extremely motivated," deducted Eggman. "I've known him to work all night on some projects if he has to, and this must have been one of them." He turned to his hench-bots. "But never mind that! Order E-90 to engage the enemy and destroy it at all costs!"

"Yes, Doctor," both robots saluted as they got to their work.


The sky Sat September 5; 8:01 AM – Third-person POV

Tails was skillfully piloting his brand new X-Tornado through the clouds. The higher he flew, the more pressure he felt on his chest, and the more his ears popped. He had to swallow often to fix that.

The X-Tornado was the first closed-cockpit plane he had ever built, and it was also the highest he had ever flown in one of his planes. Even though some of his readouts were unfinished due to his haste, he estimated he was about 15 miles up.

"Tails to Sonic, Tails to Sonic," Tails spoke. "Do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, buddy!" Sonic replied with a thumbs-up.

"Are you doing okay back there?" Tails asked. "'Cuz this is your first time in my new plane."

"Yeah, I'm doin' all right," replied Sonic. "Just need to get used to space again. It's been like… I don't know, a year? Year and half, maybe?"

"Yeah…" Tails said as he tried to stifle a yawn. "It's been a really long time."

"How 'bout you, Tails? You holdin' up okay?" asked Sonic.

Tails narrowed his eyes. "I can't really get used to these controls… and I'm the one who built this thing." His tone sounded a bit worried.

"Well, you just gotta break it in," encouraged Sonic. "And you can always tweak it up a bit when we get back."

"Yeah," agreed Tails. "At least on the plus side, we're running a really smooth flight." He smiled. "It's way smoother than I thought it-"

Just then a sudden beeping sound came from one of the yelped as it took him off guard.

"You see something?" asked Sonic.

Tails peered at the radar. "I think so… I think I'm picking up the Super Sweeper on the radar, and- yup, there it is! See it?"

Sonic looked in the direction Tails was looking at, and he squinted. "Yeah, I see it!" he reported back.

Sure enough, E-90 was descending toward the X-Tornado, moving just as slowly as ever. It appeared to be newly-repaired since their last encounter.

"I don't know about you, but I'm pumped for round two!" Sonic said excitedly. "You got your big chance to show us what you got, little bro!"

Tails smiled determinedly and blushed a little. He felt like he was truly ready for Eggman this time.

He turned his attention to E-90 as it launched six missiles directly at him. Tails sharply banked to the right to dodge them, and they flew past him, two of them missing by only a few feet.

"Careful, Tails," cautioned Sonic. "This is your first time flying this thing. I don't want it to be your last."

"Yeah…" replied Tails as he tightened his grip on the controls.

Sonic looked up at the Super Sweeper, before he came up with an idea.

"Hey, mind if I crack open the hatch a bit?" asked Sonic. "I might be able to do a little more damage from outside."

"Um…" Tails was extremely nervous about opening the cockpit mid-flight, but it was true that Sonic preferred fighting his aerial battles outside the plane than inside. Even so, they were climbing toward space. Tails closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. This was proving to be the ultimate stress test.

"O-Okay…" he finally relented as he opened the cockpit, only to be met by a blast of cold, rushing, deafening air.

"Whoo, it's a bit chilly out here!" remarked Sonic as he unbuckled. "Still, nothing warms me up like a hot fight!"

He pushed himself off the plane in a giant leap and sailed toward Super Sweeper. The craft only shook a little bit from his leap. Once he was away, Tails pressed the button to close the canopy behind him. He shuddered; he had forgotten how cold the upper atmosphere really was.

Tails banked to the right, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sonic curling into a ball and spinning straight toward the giant robot's hull. There were a few flashes as its turbolaser batteries fired a barrage of lasers at him in an attempt to shoot him out of the sky. Miraculously, all of them missed.

However, Tails nearly took a hit from the lasers, and he decided it was time to fire back with a few of his own lasers.

"I don't really have tons of experience with laser weapons…" he said to himself. "I hope these work."

He opened fire with a stream of yellow lasers, and he was thrilled when he saw that they were destroying cannon after cannon, and smoke was pouring from the turrets. They actually worked!

"YES!" he cheered, fist-pumping the air, except he accidentally hit his hand on the canopy. He winced as he rubbed his sore hand before he resumed the controls. He was so used to open-cockpit planes.

Meanwhile, Sonic was able to land on the outer surface of E-90, but with the reduced friction that high up in the atmosphere, he had to grab onto the base of one of the destroyed cannons to make sure he didn't float away, since the Super Sweeper was gradually flying upward toward the upper atmosphere.

Once Sonic was sure he had a secure footing, he once again spun in place and used his quills to burrow a hole straight through the outer surface of the robot. Tails was watching him, and he decided to hold his fire. He really hoped Sonic was not going to destroy the robot with the satellites still inside.

Inside the robot, Sonic landed in one of the narrow hallways. Since this was his second time in these halls, he was starting to get a bit more familiar with the layout. He immediately made a beeline for the robot's cockpit.

Once he was inside, sure enough, there were several Egg Pawns at the controls.

"Sure is cramped in here. You got room for one more?" he taunted. "No? I can make some for you guys. Hope you don't mind."

A few punches, kicks, and spin-dashes later, Sonic was the last one standing in the room. He scanned the controls, not making heads or tails of anything.

"Hmm… Where would you guys hide a control that says 'release all satellites'…?" he mused.

At last he spotted a lever labeled "bay door".

"That's gotta be the one," he said as he pulled the lever. There was no window or anything to look outside from the cockpit, since it was an E-Series robot, but there were a few screens here and there showing various angles of the outside of the robot. He looked at one of them, and he smiled as he watched a satellite emerging from the bottom of the robot. It was followed by another and another, and soon a total of twenty satellites were now freely floating in space.

"Gotta get you on a different kind of diet, Eggman," Sonic said. "Stealin' Earth's tech is not good for you… or Earth, for that matter."

He turned to leave, and he blasted through the halls. The robot shook a little as it was hit by laser fire outside.

"Sure wish there was a way to talk with Tails from here…" he said.

Outside, Tails was blasting at more of the turbolasers batteries with his new-found firepower.

"These new lasers… they're way better than I thought!" he squealed in excitement.

He glanced down at the Earth below him. He was just high enough that he could see the curve in the planet's horizon. The planet was so beautiful! If only he had more time to admire it…

"Whoa…" Tails breathed, his eyes sparkling and huge in wonder. In fact… he was mesmerized.

"I-It's just like… M-Mobius…"

He was suddenly snapped from his reminiscing by a group of missiles that was flying his way.

"Focus, Tails!" he told himself as he gripped the joysticks even more firmly. He dipped down to try to avoid the missiles, and for a brief moment, the controls wouldn't respond!

"What?!" exclaimed Tails.

Out of sheer luck, they all passed him, but one of them nearly clipped the lower right wing. Tails was breathing heavily. The controls were starting to not respond as well as he thought they would. This was one of the heavy drawbacks of hastily building a plane overnight, because he didn't get any time to perfect it.

Tails tried to look for a way to get closer, but it seemed impossible with how increasingly thick the laser fire was getting. Even worse, the remaining turrets were aiming just ahead of the X-Tornado's flight path, and one of them even grazed the side of the plane.

"AHH!" yelped Tails as he gripped the controls even harder. It was so nerve-wracking, especially for his ultimate stress test. And he was definitely feeling stressed right now.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a blue shape walking on the outside of the Super Sweeper. He immediately recognized it as Sonic. Tails took it he had just found his way outside the robot.

When Sonic saw the heavy laser cannon that was relentlessly firing at Tails, he curled into a ball and spun his entire body toward it. He sliced cleanly through it with explosive results; however, he didn't count on the force of the explosion to cause him to start to float away!

Tails' mouth was hanging open when he saw this, but he felt relief washing through him when he saw Sonic clinging onto part of the ship's hull. He took a deep breath and let it out.

Beep beep beep!

Tails yelped again as he looked at his radar. Another group of six missiles were flying his way! Fortunately he was more prepared this time, and he pulled up and to the left to avoid them. All six missiles flew past the X-Tornado.

"It's like the controls are stuck…" realized Tails as he tried to move them to one extreme or another. "I got really lucky that time."

He looked over to see another laser battery aiming at him, but before it could fire, Sonic saw it and ran over to it. Leaping high into the air, he stomped a massive dent into it with crushing force. He backed away just in time just as it started to fire, but no lasers were fired because the damage that was done to it caused it to explode.

"Phew… that was a close one," Tails said, breathing a sigh of relief. He tried to bank to the right, but the plane could only turn ever so slightly. And before he knew it, he was staring at the Super Sweeper's giant hose in front of him!

"Oh no!" panicked Tails as he tried to dive down out of the way. "Oh no oh no oh no…!"

He pushed the joystick forward with all his might, letting out a grunt of exertion. He hoped he was gaining speed, and yet he didn't feel like he was going any faster. He told himself he would add a speed boost feature first thing when he worked on the X-Tornado next.

"Ngh… It can't be over…" he grunted.

He was moving straight toward the hose, and there was barely any time or room to turn. Tails knew he was trapped. In a matter of seconds, he would be sucked inside. And no amount of trying to steer out of the way would do anything at all.

As a last resort, he tried to fire several lasers at the hose, but the pull was incredibly strong, and the hose neutralized the lasers right before they were about to hit it.

"It's over…" whimpered Tails as the hose got frightening close. "S-Sonic, help me!"

Almost immediately, the tractor beam faded and the hose feel limp before it completely fell off. Tails was able to regain control of his plane, and he saw that Sonic had severed the hose, rendering it useless.

As Tails' adrenalin rush was slowly going away, he felt tears appearing in his eyes. That was such a close call, and at the rate he was speeding toward the hose, he could have died in a crash. On the bright side, at least E-90 was no longer able to capture satellites. However, he had to finish the job, since he didn't want Eggman to eventually repair it.

However, even though E-90 was now without its main weapon, it was far from defenseless.

Tails saw a large green object being launched out from the bottom of the Super Sweeper, and he immediately recognized it as the garbage bin that nearly took out the Tornado yesterday.

"Not this time, Eggman," Tails said to himself as he banked to the right and avoided the rocket-powered dumpster as it flew past him.

Tails looked up to see that the Super Sweeper was now rapidly starting to get away into the sky, so he steered the X-Tornado to face the same direction it was going and chased after it. He let out a yawn, and he felt his eyelids drooping. Sonic was right. Four hours was not enough sleep for someone his age to go on. He promised himself in that moment that as soon as he touched back down on the ground, he was going to hit the hay and sleep most of the day before working on perfecting the X-Tornado.

Even with Tails' fatigue, he was flying faster than E-90 was. One of his lasers had damaged its secondary engines, which means it couldn't fly as fast as before. Tails didn't know where the International Space Station was or what it looked like, but it would take E-90 a lot longer than before to get there, and he would make sure it didn't get there at all.

Sonic found an opportunity to jump back onto the X-Tornado's wing, now that the Super Sweeper was momentarily too far away. However, Tails noticed that something looked a little off about him. He looked very cold, and he was even visibly shivering.

"That's weird, he's shivering…" noted Tails. "I never saw him shivering in space before."

Even though Mobians could still feel cold on the ground, they were special because they were able to handle the extremities of space to an extent, such as cold. However, Tails was baffled over how Sonic was shivering in the space above Earth. His only explanation was that it wasn't the same kind of atmosphere that Mobius had. The two atmospheres were mostly the same up until now.

Tails was now close enough to E-90 to potentially launch a devastating attack on it, except he was feeling a bit worried about Sonic. He wasn't moving at all. In fact, he looked like he was frozen in place and stuck to the wing of the X-Tornado! And now that he thought about it, even Tails himself was starting to feel a bit chilly inside the cockpit.

An idea crossed his mind. What if a Power Ring could save Sonic? He and Sonic had never tested out the Power Rings in space before, but like he always said, there was a first time for everything. He could only hope it would work the way he wanted it to.

"Okay Tails, don't panic. Don't panic…" he told himself. "Just find the ring button. Sonic can take care of the rest."

The feature for the X-Tornado to launch rings was hastily added, so he didn't know if it would work. He figured it was still worth a try, so he pressed the yellow button. But nothing happened.

"Wait, what…?" mused a very confused Tails. "Wh-why is it not working?"

He tried to think back and remember if he took any significant damage. He did take a light hit earlier, but he didn't know if it was enough for him to not be able to launch rings. So he ruled out damage.

And then he remembered! He was so busy working on adding the new seats Chris requested that he never got around to finishing with the rings! He had overlooked this until just now!

Immediately Tails started to panic.

"I-I… H-How could I overlook such an important detail?" he chided himself. "I'm smarter than this! I… I should have… looked at every detail first before flying this thing!"

Tails did not have a gauge for his ring count installed yet, so he had no way of telling if he loaded his plane with rings or not. He wanted to say he did that morning, but everything he did since he started building the X-Tornado had become such a blur that he couldn't remember.

Deep breaths, he told himself. Deep breaths. In…and out. In… and out. Think, Tails. There's gotta be a solution.

As he started taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down, he thought back to when he was working with Chuck, and he tried to remember if he came up with an extra outlet for the Chaos energy that was powering the plane. He did remember Chuck mentioning that it could power all kinds of systems within the plane, not just the engines and weapons. Tails was originally a little hesitant about that, but he started to realize that the professor had a point.

As he thought deeply, he found himself idly playing with one of his tails, which was something he tended to do whenever he was in deep thought. It was somewhat dangerous when he was actively flying, but he was an expert pilot, so he knew what he was doing.

He tried to think of some of the features he and Chuck worked on together. He remembered they were talking about rings and how to incorporate them into the plane somehow. Tails told Chuck about the ring missiles the Tornado 2 could use, and Chuck wondered if it would save metal for the plane to launch the rings directly. Tails agreed with that idea.

But that wasn't it… There was something else…

"Maybe the rings have to do with the Chaos Emerald…?" he speculated. "Um… I think this is gonna be risky, but… I wanna try something."

Tails pressed two buttons on the left side of his console, and a moment later, a tray popped out containing a Power Ring.

"Okay, good…" said Tails as he took the ring. "I was really hoping that would work… Now's the hard part."

Unfortunately, Tails did not equip the X-Tornado with an autopilot yet, so he had to abandon the controls for a few moments to reach behind the seats. He saw a spot between the back of his seat and the side of the plane he could squeeze between to get to the second seat. There were a few wires back there that could do a few functions if he equipped them with a ring combined with the power of a Chaos Emerald.

With a few small grunts, he made his way to the back seat and, looking down, saw a group of four cables.

"I think Chuck said the yellow one…" Tails thought aloud as he picked up the yellow wire. However, just as he was about to place the ring on it, a nearby explosion from a rogue missile shook the plane and almost knocked the ring out of his grasp!

Tails yelped.

This would have been so much easier if someone else was back here! he told himself.

He took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the ring. Grasping the wire, he fastened the Power Ring onto it, and then he located a power jack on the other side of the plane and plugged the wire into it. As he did, the ring began to dissolve, but then he started to see a small hint of smoke rising from the wire.

"AH! No no no!" he cried out as he tried to scramble back to his seat as fast as he could. Chuck had insisted he bring a fire extinguisher with him just in case, and he had to get it as soon as possible and put out the electrical fire!

He quickly spotted the fire extinguisher on the ground and pointed it at the small orange flame that was just beginning to grow from the wires. With trembling fingers and shaky breath, he pulled the trigger and watched the foam smother the flame, quickly putting it out before it could become a major disaster.

Tails was speechless. An electrical fire was the last thing he expected to happen. He thought he had taken a precaution against that, but he was probably mistaken. But a small jolt from the X-Tornado reminded him that he should have been back at the controls!

He quickly put the fire extinguisher back down on the floor and sat back down at the controls. He glanced over at Sonic… except he wasn't there! Just a few moments ago he was frozen to the wing, and now, he was gone!

"D-Don't panic…" Tails told himself. "There's gotta be a logical reason for- Oh wait, there he is!"

Tails felt immediate relief the moment he saw his friend using the ring's power to boost his way out toward E-90. The glow around him was almost bright enough for Tails to squint. He was hurtling toward the Super Sweeper at blazing speeds which allowed him to effortlessly tear through its hull.

"Now hopefully Sonic can find the reactor," said Tails.

A moment later, Sonic found the reactor with explosive results. Even from inside the cockpit, Tails was amazed at how silent the explosion was. There was no sound, and not nearly as much heat from the fire as there usually would have been on the ground. There was no air up in space to carry the sound or fuel the flames. Even though Tails felt some of the force, he was lucky that none of the debris hit him.

"YES!" Tails fist-pumped, being careful of the canopy above him this time. A big grin was on his face! "Now we just gotta pick up Sonic and then we can go home!"

He was able to quickly locate Sonic among the floating debris, and he made sure to decrease his speed slightly so that Sonic would have an easier time holding on, even though momentum was very hard to manage this high up in the atmosphere.

Fortunately, Sonic saw the X-Tornado and grabbed onto the wing. But before Tails steered the plane back toward the earth, he opened the front canopy.

"You did it, Sonic!" cheered Tails.

Sonic grinned. "Buddy, that was all you!" he said, flashing him a wink and thumbs up. "You were… you handled it really well! It looked pretty rough flying in there, and… I saw the fire…"

"Yeah…" admitted Tails.

"I saw the whole thing," said Sonic. "You didn't panic. You didn't lose your cool. You took care of that fire like a boss, and… and you didn't waste a second of time in there. You know… that's what it means to believe in yourself."

"R-Really?" Tails responded with a smile.

"Yep!" Sonic nodded. "Believing in yourself is not just about doing everything all by yourself. It's recognizing a problem, and then finding the solution to that problem, and telling yourself that you can do it. And of course, you always got your friends right by your side to help you if you get stuck."

Tails smiled at Sonic's comforting words. The hedgehog always found a way to help him through tough times, and that's what Tails loved about him.

"Y-Yeah, thanks Sonic," replied Tails as he smiled, a small blush forming on his muzzle. "Hop in!"

Sonic smiled as he climbed into the seat behind Tails' seat, and the fox closed the canopy around then, listening for it to seal and pressurize the cockpit. Tails was able to make it pressurize at such a high altitude due to his expert engineering, and Mobians were able to withstand massive pressure changes.

Tails began to steer his plane back down to Earth. He yawned as he gripped the controls and forces his eyes to stay open. He told himself he was going to sleep all day now that the planet was saved from Eggman and his mission was finally done.

Even though this was the most stressful time he has ever had in the three weeks he had been on Earth, he was so glad it was done. He was practically pushing himself to the limit working on the X-Tornado, even fighting sleep. In fact, if it weren't for his overwhelming need for sleep, he would have gone up right away and fought E-90 all by himself.

It was a wonder Tails was holding in all his emotions this whole time. It wasn't like he was about to cry now, but his breathing was labored as his adrenalin levels were going back down. He couldn't believe he survived all that, and he still couldn't believe that the controls were still responding after his fastest project built on short notice. He would not give up, and his relentless pursuit over the past day proved it.

Over the next few days, Tails wanted to perfect the X-Tornado and make it even better. It would take some time, but he would make sure it was absolutely perfect. And he planned to move the Tornado 2 off the driveway and make the X-Tornado his primary plane, but he wanted to use his other plane as a backup just in case something happened to the X-Tornado.

This was his hardest day ever, but now he could finally get some well-deserved rest. This was what it meant to believe in himself. And he did it with flying colors. Tails was so proud of himself.

Now that he had a brand new plane, he couldn't wait to see what adventure would come his way next.


A/N: And that's Satellite Swindle! Pretty lackluster, and mostly filler, except for the fact that this episode/chapter introduced the X-Tornado, which is a crucial element in Sonic X and was used extensively throughout the show.

Anyway, some of the main points I changed:

- The people at Area 99 take the satellite threat more seriously, and they don't call the President, as he doesn't appear until episode 11.
- Amy doesn't throw Tails at the TV over a pie.
- Everyone reacts to the TV's signal cutting out more logically, as well as Bokkun.
- When the satellites are disabled, they affect not just the cable, but the Internet too.
- One thing that grinds my gears about this episode is that the stratosphere is referenced as the layer of the atmosphere that the satellites are at. The stratosphere is only 10 miles up. The layer that the satellites are at is the exosphere, which is 300 miles up. Furthermore, Tails didn't know what a stratosphere was, and this has been corrected.
- I drastically reduced the number of Eggman scenes.
- I added a brand new scene where Sonic and Tails are actually captured by the Super Sweeper.
- There is a brand new scene where Chris and Tails work on the X-Tornado together, and I want to thank
SuperTailsFan0812 for helping to come up with the idea that Chris can comfort Tails because he is homesick!
- The names "Tornado X" and "X Hyper Speed Mode" are scrapped.
- Chris is removed from the entire climax of this episode, and it instead focuses on Tails and his struggles with his new plane.

And also, I never revealed this in the chapter itself, but yes, by freeing the satellites, that brought everyone's cable and internet back.

As always, thank you for reading Chaos on Earth! If you have any ideas you'd like to shoot my way, or have constructive criticism, such as someone's OOC or a Mary Sue, or there's another inconsistency of some kind, don't hesitate to let me know!

Next time is "The Last Resort", where a beach trip and Lindsey's resort opening goes wrong when Eggman takes over! Don't miss it!