A/N: I'm back, baby! Woohoo!
In my absence, I got 16 new favorites and 16 new follows, thus bringing my total to 69 favorites, 72 follows, and 83 reviews overall! I want to give a thank you to the new users who supported my story!
Thank you to Animeloverdog, Dragon Of The Ecplising Moon, and Oh My God They Killed Kenny for adding Chaos on Earth to your favorites list!
Thank you to GranGabrie, ksnatureart, and bob1234 for subscribing to this story!
Thank you to sonic vs evil, TheJoker96Italia, MoonlightStormer, Rhapsody FFN, alexagudelo456, xXxWisteriaxXx, Princess Tyler Louise Palmer, Eternalangel15, Themistersmith, desiree031103, Conta fake, Loki921, and sarajama95 for doing both!
Also, thank you so much for bringing this story past 20,000 views!
And last but not least, I want to shout out SuperTailsFan0812 for her undying support for this story! I hope this chapter has been well worth the wait!
Now on to the real intro!
So... a lot of you may or may not know that the site disabled notifications for private messages at the end of November, saying they want to put up some anti-bot measures. It's been two months now, with no sign of the PM emails coming back. I don't want to rant too much about it, so I'll just move on. (EDIT: Email notifications are finally back, but now on-site notifications are down.)
There are so many Sonic movie TV spots and trailers being churned out by Paramount lately. I mean, are there going to be any surprises left by the time the movie comes out? Also, since the next chapter won't be published until after the movie is in theaters, I'm going to ask you all to please not spoil the movie until I hopefully go see it in theaters.
About the chapter itself: Episode 14 is normally "That's What Friends Are For", the one where Sonic and Helen go to the island of beautiful flowers, but it's also the one where Jerome throws a tantrum because a hedgehog won't come to his party. Also, salami and juice are involved somehow...? More on why this episode will not be rewritten in the end notes.
The chapter quality should be much higher this time around; I am now double-checking the structure of the story a few days after I write those parts. Let me know what you think about it.
Also, while the E-33 Buball and E-43 Falcon will keep their names, E-42 Torole will be renamed to E-42 Checker-Wrecker, as a callback to Eggman's old Checker Wrecker Balls!
Without further ado, let's move on to reviews and what matters most: the story!
GuardianDragon98
Great chapter! I hope you get more ideas to write during your hiatus. I'm gonna be looking for your AO3 profile to read the edited chapters :)
And, OMG, Sonic X on Netflix? Definitely gonna be watching out for that!
Thanks!
The first three chapters are out now on my AO3 profile, which is the same name as my FFN account. They are also on DeviantArt, where I go by Stardown77.
Also, not only is Sonic X on Netflix, but Japan is finally going to get the Metarex Saga on TV!
MisunderstoChris
Hey there. I love your story. I am so glad to read a story that has Chris as more then just a cheerleader or someone who needs to be saved. I always saw Chris as our way of connecting to the mobians through his friendship with them. I am so happy that he has a more developed character and I look forward to reading more as you post. Chris had so much more potential.
One thing I need to ask because it has always stuck out to me in the show. In 'Countdown to Chaos' Chris some how escapes from his restraints and grabs all the emeralds. But what has always struck me as odd is that Chris didn't seem to suffer any after effects from grabbing Six emeralds WHILE they were channelling their power. It always made me thing that something should have happened to him besides getting shocked. Considering all the lore behind the chaos emeralds and chaos energy, something should of happened. Now I don't expect him to develop superpowers or something, but maybe Chris gets some connection to the emeralds? Also will there be a gap between that episode and the chaos Saga? I have always thought they missed a month or two between those episodes.
Anyway. I really look forward to reading the rest of your story. All the best!
Yay, a fellow Chris fan! I too love stories with Chris as a coherent character. I can identify with him in so many ways.
Chris is not going to get powers from the Emeralds in that episode, because his body does not have Chaos energy, unlike most Mobians. However, there will be a little something concerning Chris and the Emeralds in a few chapters.
Yes, there will be a six-month gap between those two episodes, as mentioned at the beginning of Pure Chaos.
D.J. Scales
Nice job. Defeating Eggman means his fortress is gone but in doing so the Real Battle has begun. This reminds me of my take on The Arkeyan Empire in my Dimensions in Danger Story.
Indeed, the battle has only begun. Eggman will return with a vengeance.
Speaking of Dimensions in Danger, how is it coming along?
SuperTailsFan0812
I am so sorry for the late review. This chapter got me good. especially when Tails started crying. Poor guy. If I was in that situation, I would've started crying as well.
I really felt bad for Chris and Frances, that was such an intense episode.
Also, you misspelled the sentence, 'which caused Tails to help and drop the Chaos Emerald.'
You are my favourite author and this is my favourite story.
Again, sorry for the late review.
You deserve a break, I will see you after the hiatus and in chapter 14.
Thank you so much for the review! Don't worry; it wasn't late at all.
Indeed, it was quite a tense episode. If anything, the actual events of the episode seemed to be holding back on its true potential, such as emotions. The closest it got was fear, but what about the scenes right after Sonic defeated Eggman at Tingalin Villa? Is there no such thing as an adrenaline rush in the episodes?
I'll go back and correct errors soon; after I finish porting this story to AO3 and DA, I'll update this version with all errors corrected.
Animation Adventures
Eggman's island base is down! Woot woot!
Sort of like how I never thought about the names of Eggman's robots as a kid, I never thought anything of potential injuries during these adventures unless they were pointed out by other characters. Chris and Francis being hurt added to the urgent-ness of chasing down Eggman to get the emerald back.
Personally, I think the inclusion of Knuckles' hat and the history with the Freedom Fighters seemed kind of fan service-y. I have no issues with the Freedom Fighters; I actually like them. I guess I'm just confused as to why they were mentioned and why were Sonic and his friends split up from them if they're around? I also admittingly kind of took the mention of Sally as a risk to the SonAmy ship. I like Sally as a character, but I don't want her keeping SonAmy from happening.
You keep bringing this up, and I have to ask- who or what is Herobrine? Sorry for sounding clueless, but I don't recognize the name.
In any case, that ending call between Eggman and Jerome was ominous. See you after your hiatus!
Sonic X seemed to have a history of characters shrugging off injuries like they were nothing. You would think it would hurt to be blown halfway across a field by a robot, but noooo. Even when Black Narcissus stabbed Chris during the Metarex Saga, he was perfectly fine at the episode's end. That's not logical at all!
I really enjoyed adding in those fan service moments. And yes, I know that little bit of backstory might have seemed unnecessary, but I thought you might have wanted to see the extent of how much Eggman hated Sonic. Eventually, I may want to write a Sonic Genesis story, which will include a loose adaptation of SatAM.
Don't get me wrong; I support Sonamy much more than I do Sonally. I think of Sonic and Sally's relationship as them being great friends, quite like their SatAM selves minus the romance. I've never written for Sally before, but I would imagine she supports Sonamy.
Congratulations for finding the Easter egg at the bottom of the story! I was wondering when someone would notice. Now that it's discovered, I think I'll mix it up a bit each chapter. Also, Herobrine is a fanon creepypasta character from Minecraft. He looks like the default character Steve, but with completely white eyes.
And yes, there does seem to be a little something going on between Eggman and Jerome. This is going to set up for a couple other moments further down the road, particularly near the end of the Chaos Emerald Saga, and the tournament.
Guest
Can sonic and friends even Chris and Cosmo react to Molly death with shadow and rouge on that planet and eggman and shadow and sonic and everyone else gets pissed off at the metrax for Molly death and Chris beats the s*** out of the guy in the jet for telling him and those freedom fighters to join the metrax and Chris threatns to kill him with a gun.
Sorry, but I can't for several reasons.
1: That episode was designed for Eggman, Rouge, and Shadow, not the Blue Typhoon crew. 2: The Blue Typhoon crew don't even know about Molly. 3: Pale Bayleaf didn't tell everyone to join the Metarex. 4: Chris is not known for being violent, and besides, what would a simple gun do to a Metarex general with highly resilient body armor?
I hope you understand.
jr1550434
I'm loving this so far and I'm looking forward of see more
And more you shall get!
kitsune
The new chapter should come soon... I hope
Is this soon enough for you? :D
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer in chapter 1 because I can't think of too many more witty disclaimers. Also, it's 2020; we're in the future, where are our flying cars?!
Chapter 14
Episode 15
The Egg Fort, Eggman's Flying Fortress!
The Egg Fort
Thorndyke Mansion - Living room – Fri November 26, 10:53 AM – Chris' POV
Today was Black Friday, the day after we marked two months of peace after the defeat of Doctor Eggman.
...Okay, maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself.
After we all got home from destroying Eggman's base, Grandpa took a close examination at the injuries we had sustained from the battle at Tingalin Villa. He deemed that Sonic was good to go; in fact, he found no injuries from his fight against Eggman. Sonic later told me that while he fought a giant robot that crushed him, any pain he had was made null by the power of the Chaos Emeralds he had used to destroy the base.
Tails, Amy, and I were patched up, and Grandpa said we would recover quickly with some TLC. While it seemed at the time that Tails banged his head pretty hard on the X-Tornado's canopy when it crashed in Tingalin Villa, all he needed was a head wrap and he was good to go.
As for me, Grandpa was worried that I might have broken a hip or rib after being blown halfway across a field, but a second inspection confirmed that I was only bruised. Amy, on the other hand, had sprained her hand, and Grandpa advised that she not put too much pressure on it for the next few days.
Frances was the only one of us who did need hospital care. At first we were all scared that she had suffered internal bleeding, but she was found to only be heavily bruised, much to our relief. She was released later that night, and she had since fully recovered.
Not long afterward, Sonic met my friend Helen for the first time, and agreed to take her to an island in the middle of Fuller Lake, where many beautiful wildflowers were known to grow. Her father had wanted to take her there himself, but he worked many long hours at a Walgreens, and was unable to be there for Helen. However, after seeing Sonic's example, he agreed to not work the extra hours just so he could spend more time with his daughter.
I heard that Sonic and Helen greatly enjoyed each other's company. Helen wouldn't stop talking about how much she loved being with Sonic, and I couldn't blame her at all. On the flip side, Sonic said Helen reminded her of a princess named Elise he may have once met. He wanted to say he had a big adventure with her, but couldn't remember any of it. I wasn't sure what he meant by that, and he couldn't give me any more clues about it.
That was shortly before a massive party was hosted in Station Square in honor of my friends' bravery and heroics. I was commemorated as well, even though I didn't do nearly as much to help out as my friends did. Yet they still saw me as a major asset to them, which made me feel good.
In the weeks that followed, our new-found fame exploded through the roof. We've had reporters come to our house for interviews nearly daily during the first week. We've had visitors and many important people visit our house, but we had never had this much activity here before. My friends and I, Knuckles included, even made it to national television, and were interviewed by several personalities, including Steven Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Oprah Winfrey, and Ellen DeGeneres. We even got to meet the President himself.
Shortly afterward, my friends were asked by the government to be examined by a federal psychiatrist. Despite the establishment of my friends as national heroes, the government was still wary of the possible danger they posed to society. I too had to come, and so did Grandpa, Tanaka, and Ella, solely because my friends lived with us.
Now just about everyone in the United States knew who we were. I had to say, even I wasn't this famous before. However, our sudden burst of popularity didn't do very well with our personal lives. Now everyone was staring at us in wonder everywhere we went. Well, not so much me as much as my friends. The reason was simple: they were not human.
On a lighter note, I enjoyed my first Thanksgiving with my friends yesterday. As usual, the feast we had was extravagant, and Ella practically outdid herself on the turkey and other rich courses we had. However, the only things missing that day were my parents. I couldn't remember the last time they were over for Thanksgiving. Other than that, it was the best Thanksgiving I ever had.
Today, Grandpa was already out and about, arranging cell phones and plans for Sonic, Tails, and Amy. He had decided Cream was a bit too young to have her own phone, so she would share with Amy. In any case, I was really excited that my friends were getting phones of their own. In fact, I couldn't stop talking about the basics of cell phones to Sonic, who was idly lounging on the living room couch.
"I'll be honest with you, Chris, I don't know how much I'll be using it," Sonic said, sounding a little bored. "It kinda sounds like more of Tails' and Amy's kind of thing."
But I wouldn't give up on him that easily.
"I know, but I think you should still keep it around at least," I advised, "y'know… in case there's danger, and we need to call you or something."
Sonic's expression softened. "You still thinkin' about the cornfield, huh?" he said.
I swear, that hedgehog could read minds…
"Yeah…" I admitted, nervously shifting my weight. "Do you think he survived?" Two months had elapsed since we destroyed Eggman's base, and there had still been no sign of him. Not even his body turned up.
"Eh, there's always the off-chance," Sonic shrugged. "But I wouldn't worry about it, bud. Even if he does turn up again, you can bet I'll be ready for him. No sweat."
Another question came to mind. "I'm just wondering... what was the longest time you went without fighting Eggman?" I asked.
Sonic thought for a moment. "Oh, I'd say about… three months, give or take. That was after the Phantom War ended." He eyed me with concern. "You're pretty worried about him."
I was just about to reply when Tails and Amy ran into the living room. They both looked somewhat impatient, and then I suddenly remembered.
"Hey Chris, c'mon!" Amy urgently called.
"Oh, sorry!" I hastily apologized. "I'm coming!"
To Sonic, I said, "Oh, and Sonic, let me know when Grandpa gets back with the cell phones!"
"Will do!" the hedgehog responded with an affirming thumbs-up.
After we waved goodbye to Sonic, we proceeded into the foyer and toward the front door.
Today we were going Black Friday shopping. For the past week or so, Amy had constantly chattered about this day, as well as finally going shopping in general, to the point where it started to annoy me and Tails. And why not? It was in her girly-girl DNA.
Naturally, I wasn't as much into shopping as she was; in fact, Ella tended to do most of the grocery shopping for us. However, I did frequently visit the toy stores and GameStop, so there was that.
Tails had asked if it would be better to go shopping on another day instead, but Ella said their schedule was very busy, and it wasn't flexible enough to move shopping to another day, especially since a lot of the best stuff wouldn't be available immediately after Black Friday.
"Hey Chris," Tails asked, "did you forget we're going out shopping today?"
"Yeah, I think so…" I replied, somewhat distracted. My thoughts were still on Eggman, all because of that dream.
I closed the door behind us and followed my friends off the porch and down the front steps to the limo. Ella was already inside, helping Cream and Cheese get settled in.
"I can't wait to see what all the Earth malls have in store for us!" Amy gleefully exclaimed. That must have been the fortieth time she said. She must have been excited or something.
There was a specific reason why we hadn't really gone out much before today. That reason was publicity. Chuck, Ella, and Tanaka were wary of the fact that we would be mobbed by adoring fans. My friends didn't head out much since the fall of Eggman, except for Sonic's daily runs, and our twice-a-week hunts for Chaos Emeralds, none of which were successful thus far. My guardians did not encourage them to leave the house for anything more than that.
Ella held the passenger's door open for me, and I thanked her as I stepped inside and climbed into my seat. Amy and Tails gathered around the miniature table in the back next to Cream and Cheese.
"I still can't get over how state-of-the-art this limo is," I heard Amy say.
It was true, the family limo was made with cutting-edge technology. The table behind the front seats was surrounded by a leather booth with seat belts. It also supported a TV screen, top-notch reclining seats, bulletproof windows, free Wi-Fi, and many other features.
"Now remember everyone, today is Black Friday," Ella reminded us as she pulled the limo out of the driveway, "so the stores are going to be very crowded. I want everyone tostay together, don't go off by yourself, especially since you're all famous now. If you do need to get something, bring someone with you."
Even though my friends were much more mature than their ages, they were still kids, and I didn't want to think of what could happen if one of them got trapped alone in a crowd of misunderstanding humans who wanted to claim they met a celebrity. I wondered how human celebrities handled it. Then I realized: I was now a celebrity. I was in the spotlight too.
Ella had briefed my friends on Black Friday a few days before, and what it was all about. She told them about times where people caused stampedes, fights, and even camped overnight outside the stores, all for the sake of price reductions on things like toys and electronics. "The things you humans do for discounts," Tails had remarked. I took it raiding a store was almost unthinkable on Mobius.
But going off alone? With our fame, that wouldn't be a problem at all… in more ways than one.
Station Square – Fri November 26; 11:09 AM – Chris' POV
From their seats around the table behind us, my friends were practically chatting up a storm about all kinds of things, from our upcoming shopping trip today to Chaos Emeralds and the cell phones they would soon be getting. As for me, I was pretty much silent the whole trip so far. I couldn't get Eggman out of my head no matter how hard I wanted to. And yet I didn't want to ruin the mood of today by bringing him up.
However, I couldn't always get what I wanted, for it didn't take them long to notice I wasn't joining in the conversation.
"Mr. Chris, you're quiet... Are you okay…?" Cream asked.
I inwardly smiled. Cream was so outgoing; I mentally thanked her for her concern.
"I-I'm fine, Cream," I said, "…but… I'm just…" I sighed. Time to let it out. "What will happen if… if Eggman comes back…?"
Their expressions immediately became more solemn. I was afraid that would happen.
"What made you think about him again?" Amy asked out of curiosity.
"Well… I… kinda had a dream about him last night," I said.
"You did?" Tails leaned forward in interest. "Can you tell us anything about it?" he asked.
"…I honestly can't remember what it was, just... just that he was in it," I responded. I wished I did, though, but sadly, dreams don't always work that way.
"Could it be an omen?" I overheard Amy whisper to Tails. Oh boy… I didn't think omens existed in real life. If my dream was one, then I was in way over my head.
"What's an omen?" Cream asked. As I looked back, I noticed a question mark emoticon appear over Cheese's head. I still found it fascinating that Chao could actually do that.
"Basically, it's something that means bad things are coming," Tails explained, trying not to sound dire. To me, he said, "No, I don't think it's anything that bad, so..." He smiled. "I don't think you should have anything to worry about."
"But… what if he does come back…? I mean… I know Sonic has his sixth sense thing, but… what if he needs something a little more than that? Is he gonna want his own phone then?"
If I could decipher my friends' expressions, they were probably thinking, "Is that what this is all about?"
"He doesn't need one, Mr. Chris," Cream clarified. "Mr. Sonic always comes to save us when we're in trouble. He just knows somehow."
"Yeah, and even if he doesn't come right away," added Tails, "You know we're more than capable of taking on Eggman ourselves, right?"
I nodded, inwardly grinning from ear to ear. Tingalin Villa was only an isolated incident, the exception to the rule. Their determination was contagious, and I greatly appreciated it. I was supported by the best heroes there were.
Station Square Mall – Fri November 26; 11:42 PM – Third-person POV
To say the mall was crowded this Black Friday was an understatement.
The six-story upscale mall was completely packed to the brim with shoppers eager to get their hands on deep post-Thanksgiving discounts on potential Christmas gifts.
It had taken Ella, Amy, and Cream about ten minutes to walk to the mall's Nordstrom store to clothes shop, and not just because a lot of people were staring at them. At least the reduced prices on the apparel within were worth the long walk.
Unfortunately, the fashion store didn't have any clothes specifically designed with Mobians in mind, so it took Ella much longer than she wanted to take searching for new clothes for Amy and Cream. At last, she settled on the children's clothing section, and she was able to find a few dresses that looked like they fit them.
While Cheese was playing in a pile of folded shirts stacked neatly in a wire bin, Ella held up a dress for Cream to see.
"I really like that dress, Miss Ella, but can you find any dresses that look like this one?" Cream said, motioning to her own orange dress.
"I'll try, but I can't make any promises," Ella said as she continued looking. "By the way, that reminds me of something I wanted to ask you for a while now. Do your clothes ever get worn out? Because I noticed that you've been wearing them for at least three months straight now."
"Way longer than that, actually, like, years and years now," Amy clarified, looking up from some other clothes she was examining. "These dresses are tailor-made from a special kind of material that's designed to resist wear and tear. Same with our shoes and gloves."
"That's… very interesting," Ella said. "But I still think we should pick out a few new outfits for you girls anyway. I'm sure you all want some variety."
One of the outfits Amy really liked was a black Gucci dress with a yellow apron and a small blue necktie. It reminded her of the schoolgirl outfits the various clothing stores on Mobius sold. She thought it would look stylish on her, and was amazed that she found it in her size.
As Amy took that outfit and five others she liked toward the fitting rooms, she and Cream realized that they were being stared at from various directions. Amy tried to shrug it off; while she dreamt of being famous sometimes, too much was too much.
Station Square Mall – Fri November 26; 11:41 AM – Chris' POV
Meanwhile, Tails and I were walking together through another part of the mall. Ella had told us we could go together to pick up whatever we needed, and to meet back at the food court in thirty minutes. That felt like a long time, especially with all the stares we were getting.
I was tasked with making sure Tails was within sight at all times. Of course, I trusted him to go off on his own, but this was Black Friday. The mall was packed, and the fox only came to just above my waist, which meant I could easily lose him in the crowd. He could probably fly above the crowd to get where he was going, but that would create quite an unnecessary spectacle.
At last I spotted my destination up ahead - a LEGO store. This is where I had been going for the past few years to pick up LEGO sets ever since Toys 'R' Us closed its doors. I had heard that they were slowly reopening, but it was a shame that I had to change locations to pick up sets. At least the LEGO store was still open, which I had grown accustomed to visiting.
"There sure are a lot of kits in here…" remarked Tails, looking around at the sets that lined the walls as we entered.
"I know," I replied. "But the question is, which one do I get?"
Tails shrugged. "It's up to you," he said. He was right. There were so many choices in there.
I quickly made my way over to the Ninjago section. Ninjago was my favorite LEGO theme. The sets were awesome, the show was engaging – everything about it was amazing.
However, Tails was looking around warily, and his ears were slightly drooping. There were a lot of people in there, and I couldn't blame him for feeling this way.
"Can we be fast, please…?" he nervously asked. "Everyone's staring at me, and…" He trailed off, and I realized that the constant eye contact on him was making him increasingly uncomfortable.
"Okay, I'll do my best," I promised. Just as long as no one does anything crazy. Which, knowing some certain Black Friday crowds, is inevitable.
At last, a medium-sized set caught my eye, and I pulled it off the shelf (which one it is, it's up to your imagination). LEGO sets was one of those things I would never get tired of. I wanted to look at it longer, but time was of the essence here.
With my new set in hand, I proceeded to the counter with the money Ella had loaned to me. However, I couldn't help but notice that several people were not only casting sideglances at Tails, but some of them even attempted taking selfies with him. I would imagine those pictures would go straight to Instagram or TikTok with tags such as "at the mall & ran into #MilesTailsPrower!"
In any case, this unwanted commotion caused the fox to blush and step behind me as I paid for the set. It would have been cute under different circumstances. I took it he couldn't stand being the center of attention much longer. This made me wonder how people treated him on Mobius, since I was positive he was famous there too.
I took his gloved hand in my own to ensure he would stay by me, and we finally left the store a few moments later, leaving that crowd of people behind and stepping into the even larger stream of people bustling about. Of course, many of them glanced at Tails, and some of them even stared at me as well. I tried not to pay any attention to them, but it was a different story for poor Tails.
"Chris…" he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. "…Do you ever get this kind of attention from being famous?"
"No…" I recalled, having to speak up because of the noise of the crowd. No one seems to look twice at me for some reason. I shrugged a little. "Maybe it's because everyone's used to me being around." Or maybe it was because I was human, and therefore fit in better by default.
Just then I was forced to stop as Tails was yanked from my grasp. Something must have been pulling on his tails, for he let out a yelp as he flew back. Turning around, I saw a young boy, maybe four, showing Tails to his mother.
"Mommy, look! Can we keep him?" the boy said excitedly.
"Jimmy, let him go," his mother told him. "He's not a stuffed animal."
With a pout, Jimmy reluctantly let go of Tails' namesakes, and the fox picked himself up and hurried back to my side.
"I'm so sorry that happened," the young mother apologized.
"I-It's okay," I responded, though for Tails' sake, it really wasn't.
While that little commotion was going on, even more teens were snapping pictures of us on their phones. We would be all over the Internet in a heartbeat. In fact, people were already creating memes of us. My cousin Matt loved memes, but I wasn't sure how he would feel about us being one of them.
As we continued to the next place, a small hardware store Tails wanted to check out, he was blushing furiously, curling his bushy tails around himself and trying to hide behind me. Again, it would have been adorable if it weren't for me being in the same position myself. My own cheeks were on fire from the secondhand embarrassment we were enduring.
"…Are you okay…?" I asked Tails a moment later.
"N-No…" Tails shakily answered, warily looking around. "Let's just go…"
Yes, there were some people with enough dignity to just go along their business, but even they couldn't resist a passing glance at us.
How much more of this were we able to take?!
Station Square Mall - Food court – Fri November 26; 11:59 AM – Chris POV
At the hardware store, Tails had picked out a few parts he thought the Tornado 2 and the X-Tornado needed. At his request, I stood next to him the whole time to make sure no one got close to him. That didn't stop people from refusing to mind their own business, though.
Fortunately, he didn't take long at all, and we were able to reunite with the others at the food court within minutes. Tails didn't say much at all on the way over, opting to stick close to me as we headed toward the food court. I couldn't blame him; I found he was naturally shy around crowds to begin with.
I spotted Ella, Amy, and Cream seated at a vacant table, Cream and Cheese sitting with Amy at her right and Ella at her left. It must have been hard for them to reserve it, with everyone being everywhere at the same time. I took it they were waiting for us before they went in line to pick up lunch.
Of course, it went without saying that people were staring at us the whole time we went over to sit with them. Everyone was blushing from being in the social limelight, and Cream even looked a little frightened. In short, we were all exasperated with the public's treatment of us.
"Do I wanna know how bad it was on your end?" Amy asked as we sat down across from the girls and set our things next to us. She looked like she was on her last nerve, and was trying her hardest not to lose her temper, which, unfortunately, was all too easy for her.
Tails was too mortified to speak, so I covered for him. "A lot of people were taking pictures and selfies of us, and one kid even thought Tails was a stuffed animal and grabbed him."
This news surprised Cream and Ella.
"What?" Cream exclaimed.
Amy gritted her teeth. "Everyone's like parasites around here," she whined. "Why can't they just leave us alone?!"
"I know, I feel the same way," Ella said. "You're officially heroes now, which automatically makes you celebrities, and on top of that, you're aliens... No offense." The maid held Cream closer to her. "I don't blame you for not wanting to be in the public eye. After all, this is borderline harassment."
"Were you guys ever this popular on Mobius?" I asked, having to speak up over the noise of everyone talking at once, practically gawking at the sight of their heroes in their midst. I would even say my friends were their idols – I may or may not have seen some guy wearing a tee with the word "Sonic" printed in blue on it.
"Yeah," Tails answered from my left, "but nothing like this!"
"That's the thing, Ella," Amy stated. "Everyone's treating us like celebrities and not like heroes." She huffed. "It's been two months. Two whole months! You'd think everyone would be over the hype by now, but nope."
"At this rate, no one's ever going to get used to us…" lamented Tails.
Was I really the only human on Earth who accepted the Mobians as they were, and my family followed my example? No, that couldn't be true. Danny and Frances welcomed them into their hearts as well. Helen, however, didn't meet Sonic until after the base's destruction, and I heard that she even fangirled a little upon meeting Sonic. He was cool with it.
"Sorry, guys..." I apologized for everyone.
Amy rested her chin on her hands. "It's not your fault…" she sighed.
"What if we give them a little more time?" I reasoned. I hoped that they would eventually accept them for who they were and what they stood for, not just because of their status as new celebrities.
"Chris, it's been two months," Tails said. "Nothing's different."
Above the din of the food court, a teenage girl appeared out of the blue and walked up to Amy.
"Hey, uh, sorry to butt in, but I really want to know – is your fur naturally that color, or is it dyed?" she asked.
This was Amy's final straw. And I do not say that lightly. Watching Amy go berserk is like watching Bruce Banner go all-out Hulk. In other words, you would not like her when she is angry.
In a flash, she leaped out of her seat and brandished her feared Piko Piko Hammer.
"Will you all just go away and let us eat in peace!" she shouted across the food court. "This isn't a Comic Con, people!"
When Amy stood up, we took this as our cue to get up and join the line so we could order Subway.
As an afterthought, Amy turned to the shellshocked teen, and with a forced smile, wanly said, "By the way, this is my natural color. No offense!"
Santa Rosa Island - Eggman's base – Fri November 26; 12:18 PM – Third-person POV
An excavation crew, sponsored by the U.S. Navy, was sifting through the ruins of Dr. Eggman's former headquarters.
Until today, they had not begun their task of demolishing the fortress because there was an initial fear of toxic waste in the water and radiation in the air. Fortunately, both a cursory scan and a detailed investigation of the state of the island and the surrounding ocean revealed there were only trace amounts of radiation. However, they still needed to remove all debris from the water. Additionally, it took longer than expected to get the go-ahead for this mission, which further explained its lengthy delay.
"Careful with the generator parts," the crew's foreman cautioned as several men worked on moving said parts over to a nearby barge.
After the workers moved away from that part of the fortress, something caught the foreman's eye. It wasn't like any other part of the fortress he had examined. It looked to be an unusual panel in the ground.
Curiosity overcame him, and he found himself slowly walking toward it. Just in case it was what he thought it was, he bent down and began to feel around it. However, the moment he touched the panel, he felt a vibration, as if an engine was running directly underneath it.
He quickly drew his hand back. Now he was nervous. Perhaps this was a trap door, a secret entrance to a hidden chamber underneath the known parts of the headquarters, a section only the doctor knew about.
Suddenly the entire ground began to shake, and the foreman's first thought was they were having an earthquake. He told himself it was no big deal; after all, California was no stranger to earthquakes.
But the shaking did not stop after a few seconds. On the contrary, it only got stronger. The foreman dropped to the ground to avoid losing his balance in the increasingly strong tremors.
Everyone else immediately stopped what they were doing, and speculation circulated that it was an earthquake. However, the shaking was too strong to be natural seismic activity, and this was confirmed when the sound of loud jet engines started up underneath the ground.
"Everyone get back!" the foreman ordered. At the time, even he didn't know why he gave that order. Perhaps it was a gut feeling he had and didn't realize.
As the pitch of the engines' whine rose, he himself scrambled to his feet and ran from the fortress. He made it out just in time, as much of the ground not far from where he was standing began to cave in.
What if… Dr. Eggman prepared an endgame scheme in the event of his death… and the demolition crew inadvertently set it off?!
Then they saw the source of the tremors rising out of the ground. All jaws were agape as an enormous metal object surfaced and gradually rose into the air. It looked like an airship of some sort. It was absolutely huge – it had to be at least a good thousand feet long. The doctor's infamous emblem was proudly displayed just below the cockpit, an ominous sign that confirmed the foreman's deep-seated fear that he had survived.
The ship's engines ignited, reaching a near-deafening crescendo, and it began to move away from the island toward the mainland. It gained momentum faster than expected from a vehicle of that size, and was soon flying over the open water.
"He's back…" the foreman breathed fearfully. "I can't believe he's back…"
Station Square Mall – Fri November 26; 12:31 PM – Chris' POV
The five of us had finally finished our lunch. While the crowds seemed to let up on relentlessly boring into our souls, we still felt high levels of anxiety nonetheless.
After we finished and threw our trash away, we made our way over to a secluded and surprisingly vacant sitting area. It was just our luck that everyone was too busy shopping to sit around and rest.
As we entered the sitting area, Amy, bringing up the rear, made a face at everyone outside. Fortunately, no one followed us in, so we had the entire area to ourselves.
We sat down in the plush seats, finally able to take a breather from the public. The room was very well-lit by the panoramic windows, which gave us a very good view of our surroundings.
"Ugh, this was a total flop," sighed Amy, collapsing into one of the seats. "I'm probably not gonna be going out again for a while."
"Like I said, you're all famous now," reminded Ella. "Also, it is Black Friday; it's a really busy day. But I understand if you don't want to come back into town."
"It's not that, it's just that I don't wanna feel like I'm under a microscope 24/7," Amy said.
"Actually, maybe we should head out more often," Tails stated. "That way, I'm pretty sure people will get more used to us being around." That was pretty bold of him to say, especially since he was more or less cowering from the crowd earlier.
"Maybe…" Amy pondered. "It's just that I don't want to deal with this again." She huffed for what must have been the twentieth time. "To think we'll have to put up with being swarmed by them on the way back to the car…" That was a horror I had to look forward to...
As they continued talking, I looked up from my LEGO set and out the window next to me. The view I had was pretty amazing. I could see a lot of the city from here, and we weren't even that high up. That was probably because this part of town did not have many high-rises.
It was a good thing I looked out the window when I did.
My jaw figuratively dropped at the sight I beheld.
My heart beat a little faster.
My eyes widened at the sight of a giant, spaceship-like craft flying into the city, almost directly toward us. It was still quite far away, but I could make out dozens of tiny robots flanking it. They were most likely the ship's escorts.
"Chris?" Tails asked, being the first to notice me. "What's wrong…?"
I didn't have to say anything, as the large craft outside spoke volumes in itself. Tails' own mouth dropped open at the sight of the battleship. I didn't know which was scarier – its sheer size, or the fact that it sported a massive drill at the front.
"Guys..." Tails said.
It didn't take long for Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Ella to also gather around us at the window. All six of us were staring in awe and terror at the massive vehicle flying into the city limits. In the moments that followed, we began to hear multiple jet engines, and the window was even starting to rattle and vibrate from the sound waves they produced.
"He's back…" Amy whispered, voicing our thoughts.
"Yeah..." Tails said just as quietly.
Those two words hit home hard. Dr. Eggman, the very man who had held a fierce grudge against me for recovering the first Emerald, the man who attacked us at Silver Valley, Tingalin Villa, the villa's opening ceremony, and even my own school… he was back… and with a vengeance.
Amy slowly backed away from the window as Cream cowered behind Ella, and Cheese whimpered a little bit. I couldn't blame them. Eggman was really scary.
"I thought we beat him…" I quietly said. "I-I mean… Sonic blew up the fortress…"
"Yeah, but..." Tails trailed off. He closed his eyes for a moment. "I should have seen this coming."
"Everyone, listen up!" We heard Amy shout from behind us. Turning around, we saw that she was addressing everyone outside.
"Dr. Eggman is back! He has this huge ship outside! You all need to get out of here! This is not a drill! I repeat, Eggman is back!"
"…We should probably get going too," Tails urgently said, pulling away from the window and scrambling back to everyone else.
"I agree," Ella nodded, picking up the numerous bags of clothes they purchased from Nordstrom. "We have to go back home as fast as we can."
I too moved away from the window and scooped up my LEGO set, while Tails claimed the bag of parts he bought. We basically sprinted from the sitting area in our attempt to escape.
"Everyone stay together!" Ella called as we entered the crowd.
Amy's warning did the trick, and then some. Despite not having seen the ship themselves, people were already in hysteria over the return of Dr. Eggman. Even though he didn't do much damage overall to Station Square itself, it was due to change at literally any time. No one wanted to be swept up in the wave of chaos.
"Miss Ella, I can't keep up!" Cream called. Indeed, she was trailing behind us by a few yards. Being the youngest, she couldn't run as fast as most of us.
Without stopping in her tracks, Ella wordlessly passed Amy and me the bags she was holding and bent down to lift the small rabbit into her arms. Cheese flew beside them.
"Mr. Chris, your dream was an omen!" Cream called. "How did you know Eggman was coming back?"
"I don't know, I think it's just a really big coincidence!" Tails replied from in front of me, since I couldn't possibly answer that question. It was weird how Dr. Eggman indirectly motivated Tails to be less nervous around crowds. At least everyone was too busy to stare at us now.
Just then the mall's intercom activated. This meant the employees were already informed about what was happening outside.
"Attention shoppers. Dr. Robotnik has returned. This is not a drill. A large aircraft reportedly manned by Dr. Robotnik has entered the city limits. Counteractive measures will be taken momentarily. Please remain calm and do not panic."
We weren't the only ones making a mad dash for the exits. It seemed that a lot of other shoppers had the same idea. All around us, people were on their phones with family members, asking if they were seeing this right now.
For whatever reason, I wasn't as scared as I should have been. It was almost as if it wasn't real… like Eggman wasn't really here. That was probably the adrenalin working its magic.
"When did Eggman have time to build that thing?" I asked.
"I don't know!" Tails answered. "It didn't appear in any of the records we gathered, so it's possible he's been building it for the past two months."
"Wait, so... He built it in just two months?!" I was incredulous. Tails only shrugged; he was only speculating. Maybe we would get our answer eventually.
About three minutes of weaving through the crowds later, we finally found a down escalator. Ella had what she called "mall-dar" – she knew her way around the mall like the back of her hand. But the crowds were so thick that it made it hard for us to go anywhere fast.
Even the escalator was packed, which didn't help at all. We were on the second floor, which meant we only had to take one escalator to reach the ground level.
This was just what I needed – Eggman was gone, presumed dead by everyone, only to return on Black Friday of all days…
…and there I was, stuck inside a crowded mall. I had a lot of questions filling my mind to the brim.
Why is he back?
How did he possibly survive?
What does he want this time?
At this rate, I would definitely prefer the paparazzi over Eggman!
Finally, it was our turn to ride the escalator. What normally took two minutes to get from the sitting area to the escalator ended up taking almost six, which was way too long given the direness of the situation.
"I think Amy and I should go first," suggested Tails. "That way, if there's danger, the rest of you will be safe."
"That's a good idea," Ella said. "Lead the way, Tails."
With that, Tails was the first to step onto the escalator, followed by Amy, then me. Ella and Cream brought up the rear. The escalator couldn't possibly move fast enough. All I wanted to do was go home so I could be safe from Eggman.
"Is it safer for us to stay inside instead?" Cream asked, still in Ella's arms.
"Maybe," Amy spoke from in front of me, "but if Eggman's here to have his revenge on the city, then you know we don't want to be destroyed along with it. Ella's right; we have to get out of here as fast as we can."
We reached the bottom of the escalator seconds later, though it felt a lot longer. Suddenly Tails paused.
"Cheese! He's not with us!"
"Wait, what?!" Amy exclaimed.
"Oh no!" Cream cried out at the same time. "Find him, find him!"
This was literally the absolute worst time for anyone to get lost in a crowd. Cheese was only about as big as my head; he could be anywhere!
"I'll go look for him," volunteered Amy with an air of determination. "You guys get going, and stay together no matter what!"
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Amy?" Ella asked, genuinely concerned.
"I'll be okay," Amy nodded.
"…Good luck," Ella said before we continued moving toward the doorway where we came in.
Only seconds later, I suddenly heard the sound of Eggman's foreboding voice, magnified even over the noise of the crowd around us. I figured he was using a loudspeaker to deliver an ultimatum or something.
"Attention, foolish citizens of Station Square," he began, quickly bringing the crowd around us to an astonished hush. "You thought you had me beat, but I have returned to prove you wrong. I fully anticipated the invasion the moment GUN set foot on my island. Acting accordingly, I battened down the hatches, and survived the explosion you presumed had taken my life.
"This ship is known as the Egg Fort, which I have constructed in secret. Had your resident rodents not booted me off of Mobius, it would have been part of the Egg Fleet, but since you have robbed me of my base, this will be my new temporary headquarters. To recompense for your blow against me, your entire city will feel the full extent of my wrath as I destroy this city to pave the way for the Eggman Empire! I'm going to make it nice and slow, just like the angst you made me feel when you took my home from me. Surrender is out of the question – it won't make a difference this time."
My lower jaw quivered in fear as Eggman finished his speech. It was real… Eggman meant it for real this time… He was prepared… and we weren't…
The whole time Eggman gave his speech, we were still moving, but didn't stop completely. The exit doors came into view, having taken much longer than I wanted them to be.
"I hope you know where we're parked, Ella," Tails said with a slight hint of urgency.
Just as Ella was saying she did, my cell phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket, and saw that it was Chuck. I pressed the button to answer and held the phone to my ear.
"H-Hello?" I answered. I was stuttering, a sign that I was more scared than I thought.
"Do you see it too?" he asked grimly.
"Yeah… I can't believe he's back, he actually means it this time, I-"
"Chris, Chris, listen… I don't have much time right now, but I need you to calm down , take deep breaths, and listen to me, okay? You and your friends and Ella need to get out of there now and come right home. I'm getting a lot of calls from people asking to send Sonic to take care of this problem."
Sonic… that was the best news I had heard all day.
"Did you send him?" I asked.
"Yes. He's on his way over right now," Grandpa told me, "so he should be able to cover your escape." There was a pause. "Oh, I'm getting another call right now. Stay safe out there."
"Okay. Bye, Grandpa."
"What did he say?" Cream asked as I put my phone away. By now we were in the lobby, right about to reach the front doors.
"He wants us to go home right away," I said.
"Guess he was thinking the same thing we were," remarked Tails as he reached for the first set of doors.
After we passed through the second set of glass doors, we were finally outside. I had to squint at the bright sunlight that was directly above us.
It only took us seconds to spot the Egg Fort, or so Eggman called it, floating in the sky. It was partially behind the mall, which was why we couldn't see it at first. It was only a few miles away from us, but it was definitely much closer than I remembered seeing it through the window.
The low rumble of its engines filled our ears – they were almost as loud as the noisy bass-boosted car stereos I often heard. The noise reverberated off of nearby buildings, and seemed to come from everywhere at once.
All around us, people were on their phones, and cars were pulling out of the parking lot at a rapid pace. Car horns sounded every so often from the streets.
"This is what I was afraid of…" Ella said, gently setting Cream down on the ground.
"What is?" Cream asked out of curiosity. She still looked upset that Cheese was missing.
"This is a recipe for traffic jams..." Ella replied, looking around at the increasingly congested roads. "It may take us longer than normal to get home."
"I just hope Amy knows where to find us when she finds Cheese," Tails commented.
"Well, I don't see the car yet," I said, scanning the parking lot. You would think that a yellow limousine would be easy to spot in a parking lot that has more cars leaving than arriving. Seriously, where was it?
Then I felt dread in the pit of my stomach as it suddenly dawned on me.
"Umm, what if Eggman's looking for us right now?!"
"I wouldn't doubt it," Tails replied, looking back up at the Egg Fort. "But right now, there's nothing we can do to stop him until we get back home and I get the X-Tornado."
That was a shame. We were helpless as long as we were out here without anything to fight back with. In fact, I didn't know if even Sonic could reach the Egg Fort. I had seen Sonic jump really high before, but that height was ridiculous.
"I see it, Miss Ella!" Cream pointed toward the yellow limo, and started to run ahead of us toward it.
However, we immediately became aware of several thundering crashes echoing across the city. The culprits were several crane-like robots with giant wrecking balls propelling themselves from what I assumed what the Egg Fort's hangar bay.
"Checker-Wreckers, really?" Tails said in dismay upon recognizing the robots. "I thought Eggman retired those!"
Then the inevitable happened.
One of the Checker-Wreckers landed between us and our limo. Despite Ella's protests, it raised its checker-patterned wrecking ball and slammed it down onto our car, effectively cutting off our escape. It was so hard to watch.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Cream.
"I-It just-" I lamented. That was our only way home, and now Eggman just effectively trapped us.
Just then we were reminded of another small problem we had:
"I found you, friends of the despised hedgehog! I will ensure your imminent and swift capture!"
The pit in my stomach grew larger as I saw several robots of various types flying down from the Egg Fort directly toward us, along with a few of its many escorts.
Tails pointed in a different direction, away from both the mall and the smashed car. "This way!" he shouted.
We attempted to flee in the direction Tails indicated. It became evident Ella was growing weary; I rarely saw her run, let alone this far for this long. The rapidly descending robots were much faster than us, and easily cut us off. There were maybe several dozen of them, and just the four of us.
"We're surrounded!" exclaimed Cream.
"At least Amy's safe for now," Ella said, bringing some optimism to the field.
Tails seemed impatient regarding Amy. "Where is she?" he asked.
More importantly, where's Sonic?! I mentally added.
Several of the Badniks, a kind I couldn't recognize, began to charge a pink energy, and I feared to know what they were going to do to us. One of them blasted its energy at Tails before he could react, trapping him inside a pink energy bubble that started to rise into the air. The fox tried to pound on the bubble with his fists, but to no avail.
Then I caught sight of a blue blur in the distance. Sonic was here at last, and about time, too. I could breathe again, at least for a moment.
It only took him a split second to arrive at the parking lot. By the time he hurtled himself through the Badnik generating the field surrounding Tails, he was already a good fifteen feet in the air. The field deactivated, and Tails used his namesakes to hover back down to the ground, panting from the scare.
"Are you okay?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of Sonic.
Tails nodded. "Y-Yeah, I think so..."
Without breaking a sweat, I was amazed to see that Sonic had easily shredded the wrecking ball off the Checker-Wrecker in front of us. After rapidly dodging several laser blasts from the Badniks that seemed to all but forget about us, Sonic grabbed the wrecking ball by its steel cable and swung it around and around. After gaining enough momentum, he released it, and it flew straight into a group of Badniks that were conveniently clustered together. We heard the ball land with a dull thud in a part of the parking lot not occupied by any cars.
As the hedgehog continued to home-attack the rest of the Badniks, I could only stand there watching in awe. Not once did I think of running, foolhardy as it was. Tails did not join the fight; he later told me that directly protecting his friends was his first priority.
About a minute later, all nearby robots were destroyed, which brought the danger to a temporary end. Sonic landed next to us.
"Hey, where's Amy?" he asked. "I thought she was with you."
"She's still inside looking for Cheese," explained Tails. "He got lost in the crowd."
Sonic looked grim, glancing up at a few more incoming robots. "I hope she finds him fast, because you guys need to go now."
"We were on our way out, but…" Ella gestured to the smashed limo. "…This happened."
As Sonic prepared to take on the next wave of robots, it didn't take him long at all to think of a backup plan.
"All right, I'll think of a way to get you guys home just as soon as I–" Sonic dodged another barrage of lasers aimed at him. "–take care of these persistent robots! Way past annoying, these guys are!" He pointed back toward the mall. "You need to get back inside. It's way safer in there."
Tails nodded and started running back toward the front doors. We followed shortly behind him.
"I'll come get you when it's safe!" Sonic called from somewhere behind us. I didn't look, but it sounded like he was busy dealing with the fresh wave of robots.
In our trek back to the mall, as well as relative safety, I threw a glance up at the Egg Fort, which was now stationary and still hovering about a mile or two away from the mall, or so I estimated. I had looked just in time, for I was able to see it firing several missiles down at Sonic, who was forced to abandon his fight with the Badniks and take off running, leading the missiles away from the mall.
Once again, the mall's front doors came into view. It was kind of like deja vu, but this time, instead of rushing inside to take advantage of the deals all the stores had, we were rushing inside to get away from the extent of Eggman's revenge.
"Maybe there won't be as many people in there this time," hoped Ella. "I don't know how much more running I can do… I can't believe Eggman is back…"
"Mr. Tails? How come you didn't fight the robots with Mr. Sonic?" Cream asked as I held the door open for everyone.
"There are too many robots out there for just the two of us," answered Tails. "Aid besides, I'm better off with the X-Tornado."
I had to admit, Tails was right. Sometimes it was better to fall back than stand your ground knowing you're outnumbered. This was one of those times.
As we entered the lobby, we found to our dismay that Ella was wrong. The main lobby was packed with people all talking at once, either to each other or on their phones, and security officers were everywhere.
Oh boy… We could be here for a while…
"Excuse me," Ella spoke, approaching one of the officers. "What's going on here?"
"We have orders to keep everyone inside because it's too dangerous with all the robots out there," the officer replied.
Now that we were finally able to take a breather in the relative calm, I pulled out my phone and texted Grandpa, telling him that the robots were one step ahead of us, and they destroyed our car. Now we were stuck in the mall.
Pressing the send button, I nervously looked around outside. There was smashed metal everywhere. This day had gone from exciting, to feeling like a bug under a microscope, to downright terrifying, all in the span of two hours. Now that Eggman was back, I felt like all our hard work we did two months ago was all for nothing.
I felt a gentle touch on my arm, and looked to see Tails gazing up at me, his eyes filled with concern.
"Are you okay?" he tenderly asked.
"I hope so…" I said quietly. "It's just… a lot happened today..."
"I know," replied Tails. "But Sonic came, just like I said he would, right?"
I nodded slowly. I recalled a couple stories of past adventures that my friends had told me about. There were a few in which Tails was afraid that Sonic wouldn't come in time. But he did arrive to save the day. He had rarely let them down.
"I just texted Grandpa about the limo, so hopefully we'll be able to get home soon," I said.
"That's good," commented Tails.
Not even a minute later, my phone pinged. Grandpa had texted back with an affirming response.
"'Uncle Sam's on his way to pick you up,'" I read aloud. I didn't even have to look to know that Ella wasn't very enthused. Any car ride with my uncle meant we had to endure nearly illegal speeds.
"We should try to find Amy," suggested Cream. "I hope she found Cheese!"
"Okay," Ella said. It wasn't like we had anything better to do inside, and besides, it was one of our priorities.
With that, the four of us set off through the thick crowd. Many people were on their phones or just talking, and hardly anyone paid us any mind. This was a good thing; we didn't need the extra attention.
"Stay extra close," I reminded Tails and Cream, who both nodded. Since Mobians were naturally shorter than humans, I didn't want them to get lost in the crowd too. Once again, it was amazing how no one was staring at us now, and I greatly appreciated it.
"There she is!" Cream exclaimed, bouncing up and down a little in her excitement. I was sure she wanted to rush over to Amy, but we had to stay together; the crowd was very dense and surprisingly deep.
At last we made our way over to Amy, who was in turn approaching the exits. To our relief, we found Cheese cradled in her arms. The small Chao perked up upon noticing Cream.
"Cheese!" Cream squealed, and the two embraced in a hug. It was so adorable to watch.
"Where did you find him?" Ella asked once the rest of us drew near.
"He was hanging around the arcade," Amy answered, gesturing somewhere behind her. "It actually didn't take me too long to find him."
"Well, I'm glad he's back with us," said Ella.
"Me too," cooed Cream, continuing to snuggle Cheese in her arms.
"You heard Eggman too?" I asked having to speak up over the noise of the crowd all around us. Amy nodded grimly.
"Yeah, who didn't?" she stated. After a moment, she asked, "Did you all come back inside to look for me? Is that why you're back here?"
"Kind of, but not really," I said. "Eggman sent down a whole ton of robots. Sonic's here to stop them, but… they kinda destroyed our car."
"Wait, what?!" Amy exclaimed, starting to get worked up.
I was just about to speak when there came the sudden sound of glass breaking from the doorway we had entered at, followed by screaming and most of the people around us moving away from the doors. I looked up to see two different swarms of Motobugs speeding through the now-broken doors. They numbered about twenty in total.
"I'll handle this," Amy declared as she pulled her Piko-Piko Hammer from Hammerspace. She charged toward the Motobugs, followed closely by Tails.
Together, the hedgehog and the fox easily eliminated most of them, Amy using her hammer, and Tails using his namesakes. I was intrigued at the way Tails fought; I had never seen him fight like that before.
However, four of the remaining robots managed to slip past them, and they started to bear down on the rest of us. That's when I noticed a determined gleam in Cream's eyes.
"Don't worry," she boldly told us. "Cheese and I can take care of this!"
I was surprised. Cream was so young and docile. What could she possibly do to stop these robots?
As an answer, the young rabbit scooped up Cheese and raised him into the air.
"Cheese Shot!" she called.
Cream promptly hurled the Chao directly into the four Motobugs, easily destroying them on the spot. Tails and Amy were astonished at Cream's bravery, and I was even more so. I was left fumbling for words.
"I… I didn't… know you could…"
"I don't like fighting," Cream explained, "but I only fight if I have to."
I had to admit, Cream was really modest about all this. I wondered if and when she had taken part in battles before. I never once saw her as the fighting type. I couldn't believe she actually had it in her.
As Amy and Tails checked to make sure there weren't any other imminent robot threats in the area, Cheese returned to Cream. To my surprise, he looked like he was completely unharmed.
"…Does Cheese get hurt doing that…?" I asked in confusion. Cream shook her head, which only added to my bewilderment.
Amy and Tails returned, satisfied that we were safe for now. Tails was smiling broadly.
"You were amazing, Cream!" he praised.
Cream smiled, blushing a little. "Thank you," she said quietly.
However, I couldn't help but feel disappointment welling up in me. I had done nothing at all to help my friends. Now that apparently even Cream could fend for herself, I felt like the weakest link. Then again, what could a human child do to an army of metal combat robots?
As the security officers gradually ushered the crowd, including us, away from the doors and windows, we regrouped together.
"Now Eggman knows we're in here," Amy stated once we got close. "Does anyone know if Sonic's going to take us home?"
"I texted Grandpa earlier, and he's sending Uncle Sam to come pick us up," I explained.
"Really?" Amy said. "How long is he going to be?"
"He could be a while if we factor in his distance and volume of traffic," calculated Tails. "However, if he lives up to his ego, he could be here on the soon-ish side." I nodded in agreement.
As if on cue, we could hear a car horn honking from nearby. I knew he was fast, but talk about impeccable timing. Now we could finally get home.
Tails blinked. "Okay, that was fast..." he said.
"I think that's him," Ella said, turning toward the doors.
"I hope so," I added. "I heard a lot of honking earlier, so it could also be someone else."
We quickly walked toward the doors with our things. A few other people tried to follow us, but the guards held them back, saying we could go but not them because we were celebrities. I assumed they were waiting for the police to show up before anyone else could leave.
"Careful of the glass," Amy cautioned as we traded carefully across the sharp tiny shards on our way out. That didn't prevent us from hearing the sound of crunching glass underneath our shoes, though.
As we emerged into the open air once more, sure enough, Sam Speed's car was outside waiting for us. There were trashed robots everywhere, and Sonic was nowhere to be seen. In short, the parking lot looked like a war zone.
Sam remotely opened the car's side doors, then leaned across the seat next to him to manually open the passenger's door. The car was cluttered inside – mostly clothes, but the occasional fast food wrapper as well.
"Hey, sorry about the mess," he apologized. "Just move the clothes aside and sit wherever."
Finally able to get our aching feet some relief, Ella climbed into the passenger's seat, while I got in and crossed the seats to sit on the left side of the car. Tails sat next to me on the right side, and Cream and Amy sat behind us in the very back. We were all able to bring our stuff; nothing was accidentally left behind.
Sam floored the gas, and we lurched forward across the parking lot. Here we go again…
"So Chuck told me your ride got busted," Sam remarked.
Ella was seething, a sure sign to stay away from her. "Oh, you have no idea how much that limo cost," she said darkly, a tone I rarely heard her use.
In seconds flat we reached the edge of the parking lot, ready to head out onto the main road.
"Traffic was already getting pretty bad when I was coming out here, so it's probably gonna take a bit longer than I'd like to get you guys back home," warned Sam.
"The first thing I'm doing as soon as we get back is call Mr. Thorndyke and order a new limo," Ella commented.
As we made a left turn and joined with the city's snarled traffic, I could only stare out my window in awe and terror at the massive shape of the Egg Fort as it hovered menacingly over the city. I felt so hopeless… My only consolation was the fact that Sonic was here to do something about it.
Station Square – Fri November 26; 1:01 PM – Sonic's POV
What a day Egghead picked to wreak havoc across the city.
There I was, taking out all kinds of robots as they descended from the Egg Fort to invade the city. Most of them were Motobugs and Buzz Bombers, but there were also Orbinauts and the occasional E-42 Checker-Wrecker.
Eggman was dead serious about destroying the city. However, thanks to my gift of speed, these robots were only causing minimal damage to the city's structures.
I had overseen the safe departure of my friends. While I knew I told them I would personally get them home, I was glad they had another friend they could count on to pick them up. I would never have thought of suggesting Chris' uncle. Now all I needed to do was make sure they could get home safely. Keeping an eye on their car would be tricky given the traffic and my constant bobbing and weaving through Badniks and their various weapons.
I cast an upward glance at the looming Egg Fort in all its glory. It was huge, looking like it could easily carry thousands of robots aboard. In short, it looked every inch the Egg Fleet ship.
It was a good thing I looked up when I did, or I wouldn't have noticed the several orange shapes descending from the ship. I immediately recognized them as E-43 Falcons. Created for the sole purpose of hunting elusive targets, they were nearly unshakable, even for me. They were among the most dangerous small robots.
It didn't even take the Falcons two seconds to locate me and give chase. That was all I needed to take off down the street. Of course, they made a beeline for me, just as I expected them to. I thought that maybe Eggman sent them down to toy with me while the other robots captured my friends and destroyed the city. That wouldn't happen in my book.
I weaved through the winding streets of Station Square, even through the city's narrow alleys, in my effort to get them off my trail, but the Falcons kept up their pursuit, even firing lasers just ahead of my path. There was simply no shaking them. What was a hedgehog to do?!
Then an idea came to mind. What if I were to somehow ride one of them up to the Egg Fort and take care of the root of the problem at its source?
That left just one tiny problem. If I did do that, all the remaining Falcons would shoot at me, and last time I checked, hedgehogs just aren't made to be barbecued. This meant I had to take out all but one of them.
Putting my wits to good use, I suddenly stopped and spun myself in place, allowing three of the four Falcons to run into me and shred themselves to pieces before their processors could calculate what was happening. Once they were gone, I tried to hop onto the back of the last one, but it was two steps ahead of me. It did a barrel roll and resumed the chase, blasting at me. These robots were really tricky. The only way I could hitchhike on that last Falcon was if I took it by surprise.
I caught sight of a nearby light pole, and leaped up toward it. Then I swung around the top of it, just like in the Olympics, and stuck the landing on the Falcon's back. I firmly gripped the sides of the E-Series robot, just in case it would try to shake me off. I wasn't about to take any chances. I could only hope it would get me close enough to the Egg Fort for me to board it.
Just as I expected, the E-43 began to fly erratically, attempting to throw me off and make me lose my grip. But I held on tight, no matter how turbulent it got. Fortunately, its aimless flight path started to head in the general direction of the Egg Fort, making my goal that much easier.
Suddenly I realized another thing that made these robots extremely dangerous. Eggman had equipped them with the ability to self-destruct. I had to get off this thing fast and find a way onto the Egg Fort before the Falcon exploded.
I braced myself, looking skyward to the giant subspace ship.
Now or never…
I pushed myself off the robot's back with all my might and soared through the air toward the Egg Fort mere seconds before the E-43 exploded. That wasn't my closest call ever, but it was still mondo close.
However, Eggman even thought this plan out. Just when it looked like I was able to reach its open hangar bay, a green force field projected itself around the entire ship, preventing me from entering it. It was so unexpected, and the sudden impact injured my outstretched hand. I otherwise bounced off and fell back toward the city below.
Thanks to my expert reaction and recovery skills, I was able to land expertly on my feet. I took another look up at the Egg Fort. The whole thing was completely unfazed and still churning out robots at a decent clip. The shield, which was now visibly fading into obscurity again, prevented me from getting inside. Eggman really thought things out. This meant I had to find another way to destroy it.
Just then the fifty or so Buball escort units all descended away from the ship and split into two swarms. Unsurprisingly, one of them was headed in my direction, but the other was traveling to another location in particular. There wasn't anything over there… except…
Then I realized where they were headed. I had let my guard down. My friends were in danger yet again.
I raced in the direction the Buball swarm went it. With any luck, I would make it there before they reached the car.
Station Square – Fri November 26; 1:04 PM – Chris' POV
Our trip home continued in an eerie silence. Actually, it wasn't so much a trip as it was a mass evacuation.
I could only stare in shock and awe at the massive Egg Fort as it loomed over the city, sending robot after robot to fight Sonic. I could get an occasional glance at Sonic as he destroyed them, preventing them from laying waste to the city. But for each robot that fell victim to Sonic, two or three were always there to replace it.
I was scared that Station Square would not survive Eggman's vengeance. His previous base was immobile, and located miles out, so we could at least get some warning as to when he would attack. But the Egg Fort was fully mobile, which meant he could take it anywhere he wanted and attack at any time.
"He's more dangerous than ever…" I spoke quietly, breaking the silence.
"Yeah," whispered Tails. "This is kinda reminding me of the Egg Carrier."
"Wait, is that like another Egg Fort?" I asked.
"Yeah," Amy spoke from behind us, "except it's a bit bigger." Leaning forward, she asked, "Sam, how far are we away from house?"
"At this rate… I'd say about twenty-five minutes," my uncle replied. "Traffic looks to be stopped up ahead, so it could be even longer than that. Too bad I can't legally speed when I'm off-duty."
He was absolutely right. There was no way he could speed, and even if he did, his record would be tarnished. We were better off waiting out the twenty-five minutes, as long as nothing happened to us along the way.
"Look!" came Cream's voice. I looked out the window just in time to see a few orange specks descending toward the ground, having emerged from the Egg Fort's hangar bay.
"What is it?" Tails asked, scooting himself closer to me to take a better look. His eyes widened when he realized what those specks were.
"Oh no…" he breathed. "Those are Falcons! I was hoping Eggman wouldn't use them…"
"How dangerous are they?" I asked in wary curiosity.
"About three weeks before we came here, we had to fight a huge group of them," Tails explained. "And I almost lost the Tornado. It took all of my power to escape them alive."
"Wow…" was all I could say. "I didn't know they were that bad..."
Tails nodded. "They're known to efficiently and aggressively pursue their targets, and can even self-destruct when they need to."
"Now they're chasing Sonic!" Cream reported, leaning across Amy to get a closer look.
"He'll be okay, Cream," Amy reassured. "He can take care of himself."
"I think I see an off-ramp up ahead," Sam reported with a glint of hope in his voice.
"But is it worth it, though?" Ella asked. "It could take us longer to get home that way."
I could figuratively feel Sam's smirk. "Well, they don't call me the Wild Express of Love for nothing, you know?" he stated.
Everyone, excluding myself, blinked in surprise. It wasn't really a surprise to me, what with my uncle's ego and strange nicknaming habits. Even Grandpa thought of them as strange. They grew on me for whatever reason.
"The Wild Express of… Love…?" Amy repeated in confusion.
Sam threw a playful glance back at Amy. "Hey, love doesn't always mean romance, you know," he quipped.
I was distracted by a sudden green flash coming from the distant Egg Fort. Amy and I seemed to notice it more than Tails and Cream, since we were sitting on the left side of the car. Since Sam had his eyes on the road, he was only able to catch it peripherally.
"What was that flash?" he urgently asked.
"He's falling!" Amy pointed out the window. Sure enough, Sonic was plummeting out of the sky from outside the Egg Fort, and I wondered how he even got up there.
"Wait, what happened?" Tails asked in confusion, leaning over me to take a look for himself.
"I think it might have been a force field or something," I speculated.
"Whoa, okay... I guess Eggman really thought things out this time." Tails said.
Sam put his blinker on, since we were stuck in the middle lane. The clicking noise filled the otherwise tense silence in the car.
"Guys, I'm not sure if we can make it with all the traffic," Sam said, his hope slowly diminishing.
"We'll have to," said a determined Ella. "Because if we miss this exit, then nobody's going anywhere for a while."
"Well, we're not nobody," Sam said, mirroring Ella's determination.
"Are we stuck in traffic, Uncle Sam?" Cream asked.
I didn't think we were stuck outright; traffic was just very slow-moving with everyone trying to evacuate the city. However, Sam responded with a hearty affirmation:
"Not anymore."
His eagle eyes spotted an opening in front of us, and he was able to pull between two cars and finally exit the freeway. I held on as he accelerated down the ramp toward DeSoto Avenue, and immediately made a left at the light. I thought this was a very wise move, since traffic was much lighter here.
"Guys, I need to focus on driving, so I won't be able to see what Eggman's up to," Sam announced. "I'm gonna need you to let me know what going on outside."
"Okay," the rest of us except Ella said at the same time.
I craned my neck to see if there was any activity from either Sonic or Eggman. So far, there was none except for the continuous wave of robots descending from the ship.
"I can't really see well from here," Tails said.
"It's okay, we got you covered," Amy replied, before she noticed something and gestured out the window. "The escorts are heading down," she reported.
"Looks like they're… splitting up?" I guessed, before our view was obstructed by several trees lining the avenue.
"Amy, can you tell what kind they are?" Tails asked.
"Not yet," she replied, "but they're all the same kind."
"I saw them splitting into two groups," I repeated.
"Does this mean Eggman is trying to find us?" Cream asked with some worry.
"I hope not," Amy said. "'Cause if he does, we're gonna be in big trouble."
"I don't think Eggman even knows who Uncle Sam is or what his car looks like," I hoped. The trees were still blocking our view of the Egg Fort.
"Maybe, but Eggman probably saw us getting in the car, and that's how he's tracking us," Tails pointed out. "At least, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case."
"We're about fifteen minutes away," Sam answered the unspoken question. Of course, his fifteen minutes roughly translated to thirty minutes for anyone else.
He glanced into the rearview mirror, and his relaxed expression became grim. "I think something's following us," he stated.
We all looked behind us, while Ella relied on her own rearview mirror. Sure enough, there were almost twenty E-33 Buballs chasing us. I somehow knew our escape attempt would eventually be thwarted.
"They found us…" I reported, that sinking feeling forming once more.
"Okay, hang on," Sam announced as he throttled the gas, increasing his speed to as fast as the limit would allow. I had to literally hang on to my seat, even if we weren't going that fast.
"What are they doing now?" he asked us.
Cream peered carefully at the approaching robots, most of which I couldn't see now.
"They're… flying above us," she said.
Sure enough, the swarm of Buballs came into view once more, this time flying well ahead of us. I thought they were going to attack us or something, which made me wonder what they were up to.
Then I figured out their game. They were arranging themselves at the next four-way intersection, blocking off all parts of the road except the right turn lane.
"What are they doing?" Ella asked in both surprise and confusion.
"I think it's a trap," Sam said grimly as he swung the car to the right. "It's like they want us to go this way."
"I don't like it," Amy commented.
I wondered what Eggman was planning if he wanted us to deviate from our original path home. If it was a trap, then I hoped that Sonic would find out about us before it was too late.
"Oh gosh, these are the same robots that tried to kidnap me!" Tails pointed out.
"What?!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, I think they can pick up other things too. I don't wanna scare you guys, but..."
If what Tails said was true, that they could lift things into the air, such as our car, then we were so dead. I became more scared than I was before. Earlier, it was a weird conflict of emotions, but now it was only fear.
How could this get any worse?!
"Motobugs are chasing us now," Amy urgently reported.
Jinxed it.
"Yup. Definitely a trap," Tails said.
"Is there anything we can do?" Cream exclaimed as the Motobugs came closer to us.
"Actually, there is," came Amy's voice from behind me. She had a dangerous gleam in her eye whenever she was like this, which was usually not a good sign… at least, from my perspective.
"This car's a convertible, right Sam?" she asked.
"Yeah…" Sam answered, confused at the question. "…Why?"
Amy had a confident smirk, not unlike Sonic's. "I want to deal with these robots personally."
"That's crazy!" Sam exclaimed incredulously. "I'm still driving!"
"So?" shrugged Amy. "That hasn't stopped me before."
Sam gripped the wheel harder. "I can't risk stopping, but I'll see what I can do."
I became aware of bright lights flying past our windows for the briefest moment. It only took me a moment to realize that the Motobugs were firing warning shots at us, many of them falling short of the car, but frequently hitting other objects along the street.
"Sam, stop the car!" Ella screamed.
Almost immediately, Sam slammed the brakes on, and we were jolted forward slightly when the car stopped. And then I saw it: a giant robot that looked like some of the other robots I had been told about. I think they called this one an Egg Hammer…?
"Holy Andretti, that thing is huge!" exclaimed my uncle upon seeing the monstrosity blocking our path. "…I guess this is your chance, Amy."
My uncle pressed a button that opened the car's roof. By this point, Amy had already unbuckled and was climbing over the back of our seat between me and Tails. In an almost superhuman manner, she leaped clear through the sunroof and landed on top of the car, drawing her feared hammer to challenge the robots. Tails unbuckled and climbed up after her. By this point the Egg Hammer was starting to slowly advance toward us.
But before he leaped into the fray, he turned back to face us. "I think you guys should probably stay here, okay?" he told us.
"Don't let any of 'em hit the tires!" warned Sam. Without tires, there would be no way we could get home.
In seconds, the sounds of fighting filled the air, and the various Motobugs and Buballs fell victim to Amy and Tails' synergetic teamwork. Once again, I felt helpless. I was lucky that they considered me a friend and all, but… I hadn't done anything to help today.
"Look out!" Cream shouted from behind me before cowering in her seat. The Egg Hammer was practically on top of us now, and was raising its giant mallet above its head.
"SAM!" screamed Ella, and Sam obeyed the unspoken command to back up.
He thrust the gear lever into position and hit the gas, backing us up as fast as his car would allow. He was just in time, too; the Egg Hammer slammed its giant hammer onto the road where the car had just been. That was a really close call. It was a good thing Sam always acted fast. To be honest, he had nothing on Sonic, no offense.
"It doesn't look like they want us to leave," stated Ella.
"Well, we're gonna leave," countered Sam.
"Not without Tails and Amy, you don't."
"No," Sam bemusedly shook his head. "Of course not."
The robots' lasers kept coming, whizzing right past our windows. Some of them even grazed the finish, much to my uncle's dismay, and we cringed at every near impact. Once again, I hated being caught right in the middle of a battle. This brought back a few memories of our fight against Missile Wrist, and the attack on Eggman's base. The sensation that there could be an explosion that could take you out at any second… that was enough to put fear in me.
Before I could even blink, Sonic showed up on the scene, turning my momentary fear into relief.
"Sonic's here!" Cream and I exclaimed at the same time.
It took the hedgehog no time at all to deduct that the Egg Hammer was the biggest problem. He curled into a little blue ball of energy and hurtled himself toward the giant Badnik, but it easily swatted him away with its namesake. I cringed at the impact. I had to admit, its hammer was mighty, but Amy's was way better – and, for the record, scarier.
Cream had unbuckled too (not a wise move in a moving car), and was kneeling on her seat, looking out the back window.
"Mr. Tails and Miss Amy are almost done breaking the robots," she told us.
"I know," I said, not taking my eyes off of Sonic. "But that's not what I'm worried about."
Sam continued to move us in reverse, not daring to stop even for a moment. It didn't take long for Sonic to return to the scene (I was grateful for his immediately recovery). Using a few Buballs as leverage, he vaulted himself into the air toward the Egg Hammer. In the meantime, Amy slammed a Motobug into the Egg Hammer to serve as a distraction while Sonic expertly drove his body through the Super Badnik's head, engulfing it in a huge explosion.
However, three seconds later, there was a metallic crunch that seemed to come from the car's right taillight.
"What was that?" Sam urgently asked. Cream, having a much better view than I did, was able to get a good look at what it was.
"Chao chao," Cheese reported, apparently having seen it first.
"Part of the robot hit the car," Cream translated. I still had no idea how she was the only one who could understand the Chao language. I even asked her about it, and said she just knew. Maybe it was because she spent a lot of time with Cheese before they came to Earth.
Sam let out a frustrated sigh. Evidently he was hoping something like this wouldn't happen. And I couldn't blame him. This was one of those days where if anything bad could happen, it definitely would.
"I don't get paid enough for this…" I could hear him mutter.
"You can still drive, right?" Ella asked.
Sam warily looked around for more robots. "I think so…"
Things went from bad to worse when several remaining Buballs began to approach us and charge lasers – and Tails and Amy weren't looking!
"Go, uncle!" I called out.
"I am going–"
"Forward!"
Sam shifted gears and was barely able to move us forward when the five remaining Buballs fired their beams. Instead of vaporizing us like I expected them to, they generated a translucent field around us and started to lift us up toward the Egg Fort.
This was exactly what Tails was warning us about! They could lift things into the air, rendering us completely helpless unless the Buballs were somehow destroyed. We were moving fast enough that we were already a good thirty feet in the air by the time Sonic noticed us.
My friends outside did not hesitate to leap into action. Tails immediately went airborne, using his namesakes to whip one Buball into a second. Sonic picked up the third and smashed it into the fourth. With only one Buball left, we felt the car slowly descend toward the ground. I caught sight of the last robot firing defensive lasers at Sonic, who avoided them like child's play.
The car reached the ground seconds later with a not-so-gentle bump, and Amy smashed the last Buball with her hammer before it could do anything.
Now that all robots in the immediate area were finally destroyed once again, Sonic leaped on top of the car.
"You guys okay in there?" he called down to us.
"We're okay, Mr. Sonic!" Cream answered for all of us. However, there were still a few questions to be answered.
"What even were those things? Why were they picking us up?" Sam asked.
Sonic glanced up at the Egg Fort. "Well, the way I see it, Eggman was trying to take you up to the Egg Fort, probably to turn you guys into robots or whatever it is he does. But you don't need to worry about that. Anyway, coast's clear, so you should have smooth sailing home."
"Why don't you get the door for Amy and Tails," Ella requested.
I reached for the door handle next to me and pulled it open. Without being asked, Cream did the same for the other door. Tails was the first one in; he entered on my side and climbed past me to get to his seat. Amy was right behind him. Also entering at the left side, she made her way to the back and sat down next to Cream, scrunching her nose in disgust at the condition of the car's inside. My uncle was not the neatest person in the world.
Cream and I both shut our doors. The rabbit looked slightly disappointed that no one got in her side of the car.
At the same time, Sam retracted the sunroof and rolled down his window. "Hey… Thanks a bunch, Sonic," he said. "I owe you one."
"No you don't," Sonic modestly replied. "Rescue's on the house. Stay safe out there. I'll be covering you."
"We need to get the X-Tornado, Sonic," Tails called from next to me. "I think it's the only way we can take down the Egg Fort."
"You may be right," Sonic agreed. "I tried to board the thing earlier, but Eggy was way ahead of me. He put a force field around the whole ship, so… yeah."
"That's what we figured," said Amy.
"Now I gotta go stall him while you get home," Sonic said, before disappearing in a brilliant blue streak.
Sam started the car forward once more, then made a U-turn back in the direction we were supposed to go. Fortunately, all the debris that would have been in our path had been cleared by my friends after their battle. They were very thorough, I'll give them that. Additionally, there weren't many cars around us, except for the odd police car.
"At least I can still drive," Sam commented. "That's all that matters. Soon as I get back home, I'm gonna try and fix up the damage." And maybe clean it out a little, I mentally hoped, cringing at an empty box of McDonald's fries… with a few stale fries still inside. Gross…
It took us twenty minutes to get home, thanks to the traffic, but at least we weren't stuck in it like we were earlier, for which I was grateful.
We finally made it through the gates of home… finally. And here Uncle Sam called himself the Speed King or whatever he called himself at the time. Something to do with love…?
Once the car slowed to a complete stop in front of the grand front doors, all of us except Sam stepped out of the car, and we brushed ourselves down, particularly Ella and Amy, and checked for anything from inside the car that might be sticking to us. This was another reason Ella didn't like traveling with my uncle a lot.
"Sorry about the limo," Sam apologized.
"It's not your fault," sighed Ella. "That reminds me, I still need call Mr. Thorndyke and request a new one. We've had that limo since just before Chris was born."
"Aww… That's a real pain," sympathized Sam. "Anyway, I gotta go. Take care, and good luck stoppin' Eggman."
We exchanged goodbyes, and my uncle roared out of the driveway. Seriously… if he kept boasting about his speed, he could probably challenge Sonic to a race. The victor would be real clear, and I couldn't wait to see the look on Sam's face when he lost that race. No offense… Sam was still the fastest human in Station Square.
A split second later, Sonic ran through the gates and stopped just like that. Friction-proof sneakers really worked wonders.
"Just took out a couple more bots lookin' for you guys," he reported, before turning in the direction of the garage. "Ready to go, Tails?"
"I'm ready!" Tails eagerly exclaimed. I had to admit, Tails was really cute when he was excited like this.
Sonic turned to me next. "It's probably best that you don't come with us, Chris, no offense," he advised. "It's just gonna be more of what you went through at Eggman's base, and I know how much you hated being there. Same goes with you, Cream," he added, nodding in the bunny's direction. "It's gonna be way past dangerous."
"Okay," I replied, feeling perfectly fine with staying home.
"You coming too, Ames?" invited Sonic.
"Always," she answered with determination.
After we exchanged goodbyes with Sonic, Amy, and Tails, they raced for the X-Tornado, and the rest of us walked toward the front doors, where we were let in by Tanaka. Only about a minute later, the sound of jet engines filled the air, and the plane took off into the sky. I could only hope they would pull it off…
Station Square – Fri November 26; 1:44 PM – Sonic's POV
The Egg Fort was still hovering over the city once we returned to the heart of Station Square – and it was still pumping out robots. I wouldn't be down there to stop them, but I would take care of them as soon as Eggman was scrambled.
From my perch atop the X-Tornado's wing, I faced the giant flying fortress. I was fully aware that it had a force field that prevented me from boarding it earlier. There was always a possibility that not even the X-Tornado's laser cannons could penetrate it, but it was still worth a try.
Just as I expected, the Egg Fort fired its massive array of missiles and lasers the moment we entered its range. While Tails was able to steer us away from the weaponry with the greatest of ease, I caught sight of one of the missiles striking a small building beneath us.
That was bad. Mondo bad. The more stuff Eggman threw at us, the more innocent bystanders would get caught in the crossfire. Fighting over the city was a no-go. We had to lure the doc away from the populated areas somehow.
I carefully climbed toward the front cockpit, and knocked on the glass to get Tails' attention. Once he looked up, I indicated toward the Egg Fort, then pointed out across the ocean, hoping Tails would get what I meant. If we could lure Eggman away from the city and way out to sea, no one would get hurt… well, except for Eggy's pride, that is.
Tails nodded, and gradually steered the plane toward the ocean. As a cherry on top, I made a face at Eggman to taunt him. I could only imagine his rage right now. Sure enough, the Egg Fort began to slowly turn toward us and follow us as the terrain below us changed from land to sea. My plan was working.
Over the next five or so minutes, both of our craft were now well over the open water, dozens of miles out, to the point where land was only a speck in the distance. During this whole time, the Egg Fort had been firing nonstop at us, but Eggman's efforts were pointless thanks to Tails' expert piloting.
For some reason, Eggman hadn't deployed any new Badniks during our chase. Maybe the doc was being overconfident today. Of course, another possible reason they weren't coming after us was because he didn't want to run the risk of shooting down his own robots. But there were tons of other battles like this in which he did send robots out, so… maybe he was already running out of them.
Just then I caught sight of a new weapon – a giant front-mounted cannon charging energy. I could see Amy frantically telling Tails about it from within the X-Tornado. I hoped my best friends would be able to avoid it, assuming it was a standard superlaser cannon.
It took ten seconds of charging, give or take, before it fired a massive laser in our direction. The majority of it missed completely, but a tiny part of the laser clipped the bottom of the plane, causing smoke to emit from the impact zone. That's when I recalled something I learned earlier.
The day after the X-Tornado's first flight, I had listened to Tails tell me about some of its key features. My memory was a little rusty, not to mention a lot of my brother's technical jargon passed over my head, but the one thing I did pick up was one of the energy circuits' key components was located in the blast zone. That meant we could only fly at full speed for a few minutes at most. On the bright side, it could take as many as five minutes for Eggman to recharge his superlaser.
Once we had gained enough ground, Tails turned the X-Tornado around and opened fire upon the Egg Fort, but all the lasers were absorbed by the force field. I was afraid that would happen, but at the same time, it was to be expected.
Just then I came up with an idea. If I couldn't penetrate the force field with my own strength, could I do it any better with the aid of a Power Ring?
Leaning forward, I tapped on the glass again, then made an O with my hand. That was the sign we agreed upon whenever I requested a ring. Tails gave a thumbs-up and pressed the appropriate button, launching a Power Ring from the craft.
Bracing myself, I leaped off the craft after the ring, knowing very well that one mistimed leap would mean a wet end for me. Nevertheless, I expertly caught the power ring, absorbing its energy.
Now that I could spin myself in any direction regardless of gravity, I shot myself upward and bolted toward the Egg Fort. I was unsure if I could penetrate the force field even in this state, but I had to try. I could do this.
Maybe I underestimated the Power Ring's power, because I was able to penetrate the force field with ease. Uncle Chuck designed these things to empower me and destroy just about anything Eggman threw at me. It was a shame he was no longer with us. I still missed him to this day. If only he could see me now…
Reminiscing aside, the many laser turrets all missed their mark by a long shot. Now that I was inside the force field, I propelled myself toward the bottom of the Egg Fort's bridge, which appeared to be one of its weak spots, and shredded through the hull with the greatest of ease. Seriously, the doctor had put waaaay too much time into building that hunk of junk.
I could hear a series of explosions starting up from within the ship, and I steered myself back toward the approaching X-Tornado and landed on its wing just as the ring energy tapered off. I could have gone for the engines, but I only wanted to disable his flying fortress, not destroy it outright.
As Tails steered us back toward the shore, I watched impassively as the massive Egg Fort started to plunge into the ocean, creating a mighty splash. It was quite a sight to behold.
Quite ironic, actually… Eggman came back for revenge, and he went down just like that. Now it was up to him to survive on his own.
Even though I still had to pick off the remaining robots in the city, Station Square was safe once again, and people could bargain hunt in peace. However, I knew we hadn't seen the last of Dr. Eggman. He would return one day, and whenever he did, I would be ready.
A/N: And that's that! This was a really fun chapter to rewrite. I enjoyed extending the scenes in the middle of the episode more than I thought I would. Sometimes when I'm in the car, I look out the window, and imagine what if one of Eggman's flying fortresses was in the sky, and what would happen if the Sonic cast was real. What would my emotions be then? That's how that scene was written.
You may have noticed the new scene headers. I wanted to give it a realistic feel, with date and time stamps.
Key differences are as follows, and this time, I'm serious about listing them, rather than joking around as I have before.
¶ I gave the gang a purpose to go shopping. I thought two months might be enough time passage between episodes, not to mention Black Friday was conveniently located within that timeframe.
¶ Sonic is not the only one getting a cell phone. These may come into play later.
¶ I greatly extended all the mall scenes, not to mention add a few new ones. I thought Cheese getting lost in the crowd would be a nice touch as well.
¶ Chuck has been added as a background character. He is also the explanation of how Sam showed up at the mall.
¶ All Eggman scenes have been removed, so as to keep the tense flow going. Eggman scenes will return in the next chapter.
¶ Badniks!
¶ Tails, Amy, and even Cream are no longer useless characters in this episode.
¶ A man has fallen into the river in LEGO City.
¶ Mr. Stewart has been removed from the episode. Aside from using a hand mirror to stop a few Buballs, he was useless. There was no reason he needed to get in the car with Sam; it was crowded as it was.
¶ Tanaka and his truck also do not appear; the only reason they were there was to bring the X-Tornado to Tails. This is lazy writing in my opinion.
¶ The chase scenes have been made more intense, and Sonic has been added to them. He saves the others instead of Mr. Stewart, which makes more sense.
¶ Chris has been removed from the battle against the Egg Fort; he played no role in it in the episode.
In the case that I had adapted the previous episode, here are the following changes I was originally planning.
The recap scenes would have been in this episode. I was also debating on adding Sam Speed to the episode. Additionally, Eggman's perception filter technology from chapter 4 would have been overused; his robots would be disguised as government soldiers, having taken their technology to defeat Sonic with. Also, at the end, Jerome would have just taken a picture himself with his smartphone instead of fainting in exasperation. Had this episode been adapted, it would be called "Spirit of Adventure".
STRANGE, ISN'T IT?! I'm glad I decided not to adapt this episode; it was too hard to work with, not to mention it was filler. (EDIT: I may rewrite this episode as part of a Sonic X oneshot collection at some point.)
In closing, I want to announce that I have ported this story to Archive of Our Own and DeviantArt. The ports are updated versions of this story, which will soon be updated here as well. The AO3 version of this story is only for registered users (premium content, if you will), and is updated two weeks before DA. After Chapter 13 is uploaded to AO3, all future chapters will be uploaded there two weeks before they are ported here and on DA, so of you want to read it early, feel free to get an AO3 account!
If anyone is OOC, or Mary Sue activity is detected, please let me know and I'll fix it ASAP.
Next up is "Depths of Danger", where the gang go on a vacation and find that [redacted] fourth Chaos Emerald! Don't miss it!
