A/N: Thank you, dear fans and readers, for boosting this story past 30,000 views! Without your support and feedback, this would not have been possible!
I hope everyone's staying safe, sane, and healthy during this virus. It's crazy these days, where everyone can't go outside. I'm not complaining, though; I'm introverted. :)
For some reason, I've noticed a steady increase in Sonic X rewrites since I started writing Chaos on Earth. Among them are "Sonic-X: One-Shot Adventures" by SuperTailsFan0812, "Sonic X: Ayla's Story" by SwanGirl24, "Sonic V" by "RaisingHeartExelion", and most recently, "Sonic Adventures" by Writing Avenger 2016.
I forgot to mention this last chapter, but for whatever reason, when I wrote Li Yan's scenes, I kept improvising Hondo Ohnaka from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, down to the Jim Cummings voice. :P
Anyway, about this chapter. It's very short, and I think of it as oneshot material, but consider it an interlude chapter. I loosely adapted only one scenes, because I could not make the rest of the episode work. I'll explain some of my original ideas for this chapter in the end notes.
Also, this is one of SuperTailsFan0812's favorite episodes, so I wrote this chapter with her in mind. Check out my new favorite story from her, "A Special New Friendship: An Author's Adventure"!
With that being said, let's move on to the reviews and what matters most: the story!
D.J. Scales
Well this is a major improvement to the chapter. Nice use of chinese culture in this. That was epic but I kinda expected the Triads when I heard of a chinese gang.
I've never been to China, and thus have never heard of the Triads, so that's a new one for me.
SuperTailsFan0812
YEEEEEAAAH! I loved this chapter.
I apologise if this review is short.
I was expecting this chapter to be released a bit later around 8 in Australia but it was definitely worth the wait.
I loved at the beginning, the way when Knuckles and Hawk meet for the first time and was very very heartwarming.
I love the whole scene when they go to Hawk's house and was so cool to see that scene
The scenes with Rouge were so good.
I can't for the next chapter. Have a happy Easter and please stay safe.
-SuperTailsFan0812
It may be short, but it's still longer than most. ;)
It was a challenge to write heartwarming scenes with a touch character like Knuckles, but even though he'd rather flex his muscles, he still has a heart of gold.
I changed up Rouge a bit because I didn't want her to be too selfish and hoard all the Emeralds for herself, thus preventing anyone from returning to Mobius.
I know you'll love this next chapter as much as I did writing it. I actually took inspiration from one of your stories for one part. Can you find it?
GuardianDragon98
This was awesome! Hope you're staying safe and staying healthy during this pandemic!
Thank you! You too! And don't worry about me; my state is ranked 49 out of 50 for most confirmed cases.
The Green Seer
This was a nice 'meanwhile' kind of adventure. Knuckles has always been one of my favorites due to the mountain of lore he is connected to. But, starting from the beginning.
I don't remember in detail how the original episode went, but this does feel more fluid and connected. And Hawk has an actual story instead of just being there for the sake of giving Knuckles someone to talk to. I kind of want him to appear in other episodes now, just to get an update of how he's doing in Station Square.
The Shovel Claws. I love them, I honestly think they're amazing. When I found out they were basically an upgrade in the game I commended the writers for including them in the show. However, their introduction was confusing in the original and, even if you tried to explain it, it still is confusing. But that is something that I've always let slide. I just wish that Knuckles would use them more often. I'm pretty sure he did later on.
Kunoichi sounds way better than Lady Ninja. The first time I read that in your AN I snorted. They could've just called her Ninja. Jeez!
The second part of the fight was pretty sweet and I liked Rouge's involvement. I just like that the characters don't mind working together and actually trust each other. I know that others may be wary of Rouge when it comes to jewels but I like that Knuckles chose to believe in her when they haven't even interacted in the episode yet.
Also, really? A bucket of water? I remembered that scene when you brought it up at the end and I had to shake my head. Thank you for making Kunoichi more badass than that.
The vision at the end. Yeah, I have nothing. I guess that's for season 2... I'm pretty excited actually.
The whole dam/safari episode was pretty meh for me I think. I'm curious to see what you're gonna make of it. By the way, was the haunted castle episode in season 1? Because I loved that one, and it suddenly came to my mind at the end. I can't wait till you write it.
Thanks for leaving kudos on the AO3 port of this story! I meant to tell you this last chapter, but I'm a bit of a procrastinator. Knowing me, I'll probably remember something I wanted to say hours after publishing this chapter. :P But after I repost the updated Chapter 13 on AO3, I will update all of the first thirteen FFN chapters accordingly.
I love that the Shovel Claws got to appear in the show, even though I only became a Sonic fan in 2016 and didn't become familiar with Sonic Adventure until shortly afterward. Now I want to incorporate Amy's Warrior Feather somewhere in the story as a decorative accessory.
I knew I had to have a more climactic downfall for the Kunoichi than just a bucket of water. Besides, I'm pretty sure Eggman waterproofs all his robots, and besides, who would just leave a bucket of water lying around.
As for Season 2... you'll find out... #KnowingSmile
And yes, the haunted castle episode is in Season 1; in fact, it's the episode right after this one. I'm pretty excited to write it.
kitsune
nice :3
Thanks!
dbehi1
I think you should use witchcart, speedy, honey, fang and bean and bark, and rocket metal. You should keep up the good work you know? How about doing a arc based off of sonic the fighters or segasonic. Maybe add mighty and ray
I kinda don't want to overdo it with adding additional characters in the story, but I am making plans for a separate story that focuses on Classic Sonic that will incorporate several of those characters. Also, unfortunately, I don;t plan to mane any more game adaptations for Sonic X in addition to those already shown. Sorry about that.
Guest
I love how well written this rewrite is. I practically binge read all the chapters because every word has me wanting more. Please keep up the fantastic work!
Thank you so much! :)
Sheng-long
This was really good! I love this fanfiction! By the way, are you going to add the echidnas, Shard, and the other characters from the Pre-Genesis Wave to the mix? I think the story would be even better with those guys around. I really hope the covid-19 epidemic ends soon. So, good luck everyone! Hope we all survive this global crisis.
While a lot of them are canon in my headcanon universe, they will not appear in this story. Besides, I don't want to over do it with the echidnas like Ken Penders did. But I can assure you I can work something out for the Metarex Saga, perhaps.
And don't worry, I'm perfectly safe! I haven't left the house since social distancing began.
Franco Almiron
Man, your story gets better every day!, hey one question: If you have to do a crossover with your story, what would it be, Star Fox, Brand New Animal, Animal Crossing or Persona 5?
Most likely Star Fox, but a crossover with Persona 5 would be epic.
Disclaimer: Poaching is for eggs, not animals. Though I'm pretty sure the pigs from Angry Birds don't have a problem with that.
Chapter 17
Episode 18
A Dream about the Future! Chris and Tails' Relaxing Talk
Safari Chat
The Serengeti Safari – Thu December 30; 2:12 PM – Chris' POV
The alarm blared through the X-Tornado's canopy as Tails skillfully maneuvered the plane to avoid the missile that was pursuing us. I fearfully glanced behind us, seeing the projectile and expecting a deafening explosion at any second.
Now you might be wondering, how did we end up in this situation?
It all started last week on Christmas Day, which, I might add, was by far the best Christmas I ever had. Of course, there were tons of gifts to go around, not to mention eggnog, Ella's fruitcake, and a reluctant Sonic under the mistletoe with Amy. But the absolute best part of it all was that I got to celebrate it with my friends. They unanimously agreed that Christmas was better than Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Grandpa had secretly expanded the range on the X-Tornado's radar as a gift for Tails, and the little fox had become eager to take his plane out to hunt for more Chaos Emeralds. Sonic added they could use it as an opportunity to tour the world as well, much to our excitement.
However, on the day we were supposed to embark on our journey, Amy and Cream came down with a virus strain that seemed to only affect Mobians for whatever reason. Some of the main symptoms included stuffy and runny noses, fever, sore throats, and mild nausea. Sonic had offered for us to stay home and postpone the trip for their sake, but Amy insisted we go, so that Sonic and Tails wouldn't become sick, and that we wouldn't have to waste time in the search for the Emeralds. It took a lot of back-and-forth negotiating, but Tails finally gave in. He offered to take them on a world tour next as soon as they got well. Last I spoke with them, they were being treated well and would recover within the next week.
When we took off, Tails told me and Sonic that it was going to be a long flight, so we should just relax and enjoy the trip. While I was tired of sitting for long periods of time, I was glad that Tails built parts of the X-Tornado with me in mind. There was even a charging port for my phone.
Today we were in Africa; specifically, the Serengeti region, a rich savannah filled with various wildlife. So far, we had traveled through South America and Europe. The plan was to visit Asia next, but Tails had heard about the savannah, and wanted to check it out firsthand. My geography lessons in school were paying off; I knew the names of several African countries we flew over.
After maybe five hours of flying at top speed over desert and sparsely-populated areas, the terrain gradually changed to that of what I recognized as a savannah. Tails was quiet, and not just because he was concentrating on flying. He kept looking down at the barren ground and acacia trees that dotted the landscape. I wondered what was up.
I was about to ask him about the savannah when I spotted Sonic speeding through the terrain. For all I knew, he was making the resident cheetahs jealous of his speed. In a brilliant burst of blue light, he blasted off.
"Shouldn't Sonic be a little more careful?" I asked. "I mean, I don't think Sonic's been to Africa before… that I know of…"
"He knows how to find his way back," Tails assured. "It's almost like he has his own built-in GPS or something. It's pretty uncanny to be honest."
Just then an alarm sounded through the cockpit, startling me into covering my ears for a second.
"What's going on?" I shouted over the alarm. "Are we overheating again?"
Even though the X-Tornado received virtually unlimited power from the Chaos Emerald that powered it, that didn't prevent the engines from overheating. We had to stop in France for a few hours because of this.
"No, it's worse," replied Tails. "Radar's detected a hostile target at 5 o'clock and approaching fast."
"A hostile–" My voice caught in my throat. "I-Is it…?"
"It's a missile," Tails spoke, voice grim. "Hang on, it's gonna get rough!"
He pulled back on the joystick, and the X-Tornado pulled up sharply. I held my breath as we quickly ascended. My heart was pounding.
Since we found the fourth Chaos Emerald last week, we had been dealing with a few random mild Eggman attacks. Fortunately he spared us on Christmas Day, so he at least had some heart. But this missile had come out of the blue.
Tails banked to the left, then quickly glanced out the window.
"It's still locked on," he announced.
"Wh-Where's Sonic?" I asked, panic involuntarily setting in.
"I don't know!" exclaimed Tails. I think the suddenness of the situation was getting to him as well. "I'm gonna try something. Switching off engines now."
"What's that gonna do?" I wondered, frantically looking behind us again. It was a little hard to do because of the second canopy situated directly behind us.
Tails smirked confidently, something he seemed to inherit from hanging around with Sonic all the time.
"Without a heat signature coming from the engine, the missile shouldn't have anything to track," he explained. That sounded like a great plan, but there was only one way to see if it worked.
Tails shut off the engines, and the cockpit became eerily silent. Fortunately, Tails still had control of the plane's steering, so he banked to the left once again.
"Can you tell me what the missile's doing?" Tails requested.
When I looked behind us again, I wished I hadn't.
"It's still following us."
"You've gotta be kidding…" Tails muttered in disbelief.
"I'm not," I quietly replied.
Tails turned to the right this time, and I kept wondering how Eggman found us all the way out here. There had to be an explanation.
"Still can't shake it!" exclaimed Tails. "Chris, cover your head now!"
The immediate moment after I did so, the entire X-Tornado shook violently as the missile exploded on impact. Because the engine wasn't currently running, it was surprisingly loud and scared me even more than I was already.
My stomach dropped as the plane did, which only added to my already heightened fear. This was exactly why I didn't like going into combat in the X-Tornado. Other than that, I enjoyed flying; the X-Tornado was smoother than most car rides.
It took us nearly a full minute to reach the ground. Tails tried to level us out as best as he could, but there was one problem.
"I can't get the landing gear out!" he shouted. "Brace for impa–"
We hit the ground hard, and I had to put my hands in front of me to avoid hitting my head on the back of Tails' seat. It took us about seven seconds for us to slide to a complete stop.
Neither of us were seriously hurt, but we were left breathing heavily for several moments. I could see smoke billowing from the back of the plane. It was really scary, but we were still alive. Tails had built the X-Tornado very well.
"Are you okay?" asked Tails.
"What was that?" I shakily asked, closing my eyes to alleviate the dazed feeling I had from plummeting. "Was… that Eggman's missile?"
Tails nodded slowly. "Yeah... He sure caught me off guard... I think he thought he had a good chance at beating us, even if he's still under the ocean." He unbuckled his seatbelt, and I took that as a cue to do the same. "Attacking us like that was a low blow. I think we should get out and take a look at the damage."
Tails pressed the button to open the canopy, and I shielded my eyes from the suddenly bright sunlight. Tails designed the canopy with a special material made to reduce the glare of the sun.
He stood up in his seat and turned to face me, ready to lift me down to the ground. I held out my hands to him, and he took my wrists in his own hands before spinning his namesakes and lifting us both into the air. To this day, I was still amazed at how strong he was despite his small size.
Seconds later, Tails set me down on the grassy terrain and landed next to me. We could clearly see the extent of the damage the missile had done.
"It looks like the upper right wing snapped off," surveyed Tails. "I think it landed somewhere back there. We can find it later."
"And the right booster," I added. "It's probably gonna take a while before we can fly again."
"I'll try to fix it with what I have," Tails promised. "But first, though, I wanna see if it can still use its X-Cyclone transformation."
"Oh yeah, I forgot it can walk," I realized. I couldn't remember the last time we needed to use that mode. While some of the places we landed at during our travels of late were a little tight, Tails was still able to land us in its normal mode.
Tails quickly flew back up to the cockpit and climbed in. He had not yet closed the canopy after we got out, probably because he anticipated needing to head back in for something. He removed the cyan Chaos Emerald from its slot (I got to pick the color before we left).
"Here, catch," he called, before underhandedly tossing the Emerald down to me. I caught it, but almost didn't because of the glare of the sun.
"I thought you said you needed an Emerald to run the X-Tornado," I said, voicing my confusion.
"Normally, yes," Tails replied, buckling his seat belt, "but Grandpa and I recently installed a few capacitors that can store excess Chaos energy, so it can operate without a Chaos Emerald for a limited time."
"I like that idea, that's pretty smart of you," I complimented. Tails chuckled softly, blushing a little.
"Okay, stand back; I'm gonna start the engines now," he cautioned as he closed the hatch.
I ran back about a hundred feet, stopping as the engines roared to life. However, they made a harsh grinding noise, which definitely wasn't normal. I watched as the boosters rotated to form the plane's legs. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, except for the part where the right leg locked up and snapped off, sending the entire plane tipping over and falling onto its right side with an uncomfortably loud crunch. I immediately ran over as Tails shut off the motor, hoping he wasn't hurt. The plane did come down pretty hard.
"Are you okay?!" I exclaimed the moment he opened the canopy. Tails flashed me a shaky thumbs-up as a response.
"J-Just… a little shaken," he answered, reaching to unfasten his seatbelt. "I guess the damage was worse than I thought. Can you help me out, please?"
I took Tails' hand, and helped him out of his seat and into the open air. Smoke was still emitting from the damaged engine, and I hoped there wouldn't be an explosion or fire.
Tails walked over to a compartment built into the side of the plane and opened it. He rolled out a dolly and tool kit to work with. I had known about this compartment since the plane was built, and frankly, it was quite handy for moments like this.
"It might take awhile for me to finish fixing the plane," Tails said as he slipped his work goggles on, "so… try not to wander too far from here, okay?"
All was silent afterward, except for the sound of Tails at work, using various tools such as a fire extinguisher, portable water level, wrenches, and a welding torch. I looked around the savannah we were in. There was no sign of wildlife in the immediate area, not that I was expecting to see any.
"It's really quiet around here," I remarked.
"Yeah," agreed Tails. Aside from Tails working, I could only hear the slight breeze through the grass and the acacia tree located not far from us.
I pulled my phone out of my jeans pocket to check the time. After a moment of squinting at the digital numbers, I realized it was pointless; I would have to manually adjust the time zone, and I wasn't familiar with any of the other time zones outside of the United States.
"I'm not getting any Internet out here, or phone signal," I mused aloud. Once again, I wasn't expecting it.
"That kinda reminds me," spoke Tails once he shut off his welding torch. His voice dropped, as if he was nervous at what he was going to say. "I was thinking about maybe installing a custom router into the X-Tornado just for you and your friends. I know how much you and your friends like flying with us, and using your phones, so…"
"That sounds great; thank you!" I replied. Tails chuckled.
"That's what friends are for, right?" he smiled.
Another moment of silence passed as I soaked in the scenery. It was intriguing how a landscape like the savannah could be so sparse and yet have grass and trees spread across it. It was warm outside, but it wasn't as hot as I thought it would be.
It was Tails' turn to break the silence next.
"So… what do you think of the savannah?"
"I… do like it," I responded, totally not expecting that question. "It's kinda almost like… like time is moving slower here than in Station Square… you know…?"
"Yeah…" Tails said in a hushed tone. "I know exactly what you mean. It feels… familiar, in a way, I guess, not to mention comforting in a strange way. It's almost like being back home on Mobius." He sighed contentedly. "My old home on Westside Island was kind of like here, actually."
"Was that where you lived before you met Sonic?" I was intrigued to hear Tails' backstory.
"Mhmm," replied Tails as he tightened another bolt.
I thought back to about a month ago, when Tails told me and my family about what his life was like before Sonic. For the most part, he lived alone on an island. He had parents, but they had vanished when he was very young, and Tails was never able to find out what had happened to them. On the bright side, he did manage to get along pretty well by himself.
Unfortunately, as a result of having two tails, he was subject to bullying. I took it this birth defect wasn't common among Mobians, but Tails had risen above it ever since he discovered he could use his tails to fly.
Then one day, Sonic visited his island. Tails became fascinated by Sonic and his speed, and how cool he was, and wanted to catch up to him. They later became great friends, Tails dabbled in mechanics, and the rest was history.
While Tails and his friends had visited other planets, such as one inhabited by beings called Wisps, he would never have thought that his adventures would take him to another dimension entirely. I now began to sympathize for him.
"Do you miss your home?" I asked, breaking the silence once more. "Mobius, I mean."
"Yeah…" Tails spoke. "But I have to be honest, Station Square has really grown on me. This Station Square, I mean. Back home, my Station Square was destroyed by a monster, so… it feels kinda strange to be in a city with that same name again." He sat up on the dolly he had been lying on. "In any case, I've been entertaining the idea of maybe starting a business in town. Maybe I can repair other people's vehicles for them." He picked up a bottle of water he had brought with him. "It's just an idea, though," he said as he took a drink of the liquid.
"I like that idea," I commented.
Tails screwed the cap back onto the bottle and turned to face me. "What about you?"
"What do I want to be when I grew up?" I queried for clarification.
Tails nodded. "Yeah."
"Well… I always wanted to be an inventor, and work with electronics and machines like my dad and Grandpa…"
Tails' ears twitched as he perked up; I had his attention for sure.
"…but after I met you guys, I was thinking of maybe being a zoologist."
That came out wrong. That made me sound like one of the Area 99 guys from when they first got here.
"I-I didn't mean it like that," I amended. Tails laughed.
"I knew what you were trying to say," he said. "And hey, zoology isn't a bad job. But are you sure you still don't want to be an inventor like your grandpa?"
"Well… it's just an idea. I don't know anything about zoology and studying animals, though…"
"There's a first time for everything, right?" Tails smiled. I had to admit, he was turning that into a catchphrase, and it was cute.
Speaking of animals, there didn't seem to be any sign of wildlife anywhere. No lions, or zebras, or rhinos. Perhaps they were elsewhere. I had hoped to see some while we were here. Maybe I would be lucky.
Now I was getting bored. I turned back to Tails, who was still working on the X-Tornado. Maybe I could make myself useful somehow.
"Do you need any help?" I asked.
"I'll be okay on my own, thanks," Tails replied sweetly. "It's mostly a one-person job from here on out anyway."
"All right," I said, not even bothering to hold back the yawn that had been rising up in me. Tails took note of this.
"It's gonna be a while before I can get this thing fixed, so maybe you could take a nap or something while you wait," he recommended.
"Yeah, okay," I said quietly. I didn't really feel like going on my phone now anyway, not to mention I was pretty tired.
"I'll wake you up as soon as I'm done," Tails said.
"Okay," I said as I walked over to the nearby acacia tree about a hundred feet away. Already the leaves of the tree provided some well-needed shade and coolness. I sat down on the ground and leaned against its trunk.
The sun was directly overhead, which made it quite glary, so I shifted into a more comfortable position. In minutes, I drifted off to sleep.
I awoke in total darkness. I could see myself, but I literally couldn't see anything else in the pitch blackness. I had nyctophobia, the fear of the dark. The dark always made me feel like I was alone. Yet here I didn't seem to be afraid.
I slowly sat up and looked around. Of course it was to no avail; there was nothing to see, not even the tree I had been leaning against.
To my surprise, the Chaos Emerald began to levitate out of my hand. I had forgotten I was holding on to it. It was the only other object I could see in this surreal void.
"The servers are the seven Chaos…"
The soft female voice made me jump. It came from nowhere, but seemingly everywhere at the same time. I looked around for the source of the voice, but couldn't see anything in the darkness, aside from myself and the Chaos Emerald which was now moving in a counterclockwise circle.
Then the voice continued:
"Chaos is power…"
I looked up just in time to see the other six Chaos Emeralds appear with the cyan one I had been holding. All seven formed a circle high in the air about a hundred yards away. All were rotating in a circle.
"Power enriched by the heart…"
A giant green Emerald materialized in the middle of the circle the Chaos Emeralds were forming. It was huge, probably bigger than me. I had never seen anything like it before in my life.
"The controller serves to unify the Chaos…"
Then the scenery came into view. Fortunately I did not have to squint at the bright sunlight that suddenly flooded the area.
Gone was the eternal blackness around me. Now I found myself in the middle of a clearing of a lush green forest. Before me lay a giant stone shrine, with the giant Emerald resting at the top. The seven Chaos Emeralds continued to orbit the large gem.
Now I became very confused at what was going on. Where was I? What was I doing here?
The stone steps leading up to the altar appeared to be sacred, so it was only natural that I debated climbing them. Seeing as there was no sign of anything or anyone that could potentially stop me, I shrugged and started scaling the steps. Even for a non-Mobian such as myself, they were surprisingly steep and short – nothing like the double staircase back home.
"As of late, the servers are without their controller," the voice continued. "Their power is unbridled and rampant."
As I mounted the steps, so did my ever-growing confusion. Who was speaking, and what was she talking about? Whatever it was, it had to be important. I needed to listen.
"There is one that seeks to overwhelm the Chaos... One that tries to control us without the controller..."
My legs were burning by the time I finally reached the top. To put it short, I was awed by the sight of the giant Emerald up close. It was just a little taller than I was, and equally as wide, not to mention I didn't see a single imperfection on its glassy green surface.
"Gaze within, young one," the voice beckoned. That was the first time she addressed me personally.
Before I knew it, I was staring into the Emerald, or rather, through it. I was looking at various images that flashed by, almost too fast for me to comprehend. The ones I was able to keep track of surprised me. In fact, my head started to hurt as I watched the images.
The scenes that I saw included a laughing Eggman; a hedgehog that vaguely looked like Sonic, but was colored a radiantly bright yellow, and had its quills standing on end; me crying profusely in front of a giant portal that was set up in a street; and, most frighteningly, what looked like a scary roboticized version of me.
The last thing the voice told me stuck with me.
"Beware of your perception; it leads to deception."
The last image the Emerald showed me was a familiar two-tailed fox urgently running toward me as fast as his little legs could carry him.
"…wake up! Chris, wake up!"
My eyes snapped open, and while I was readjusting to my surroundings, the first thing I saw was Tails looking down at me in concern.
"Are you okay?" he asked with an undertone of urgency.
"...Yeah, why...?" I asked.
"The Emerald was... I-I don't know how to explain this, but the Emerald was glowing in your hand when you were sleeping," Tails pointed out. I glanced down at my hand, and, to my surprise, the Chaos Emerald was still there.
"But… I thought it floated out of my hand…" I mused. Tails shook his head, now becoming more curious.
"Were you dreaming about anything?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said, thinking back to what I saw. "It was a really strange dream… something about chaos and servers, I think…?"
I did not expect Tails to widen his eyes in recognition.
"Hey, that's the prayer of the echidna tribe!" he exclaimed. "Chris, see if you can remember some more of the dream. It sounds like it's really important!"
"Okay, um..." I closed my eyes, straining to think back. "I think I saw some strange images inside of a giant Chaos Emerald," I recalled. "They were way too fast for me to see what a lot of them were, but I think I saw Eggman laughing… someone who looked like Sonic, but he was yellow… me crying in front of a portal of some sort… and… and I think the last one was me as a robot. It looked like one Eggman would build."
Tails nodded in understanding.
"And the last part I remember really well… I heard a woman's voice telling me to 'beware of my perception; it leads to deception'."
Tails seemed to be almost as confused as I was. I was hoping he knew something about what all that meant. His tails were waving slowly, a sign he was in deep thought.
"I think this is a first," Tails remarked in awe, his baby blue eyes shining in interest.
This only succeeded in adding to my confusion. "What is?"
"I don't think I heard of anyone ever getting a dream like that before," he clarified. "Visions, yes, but never dreams. I'm thinking maybe it was because you were holding the Chaos Emerald while you were asleep."
"But do you know what it could mean?" I asked, shifting into a more comfortable position against the tree. Tails thought for a moment, his tails swaying slowly as the gears in his mind turned.
"Maybe you were shown a possible future…?" he said with some uncertainty as he ran his hand through his bangs. "I mean, it's kind of a stretch, but the portal part sounds like we would have to go home eventually."
I frowned at this. Did that dream set in stone the inevitable time that they would leave…?
"L-Like I said, it's only a possible future," Tails amended, hoping that would ease my momentary depression. "As for the whole perception bit, I got nothing. Sorry…"
"It's okay, maybe we can find out eventually," I said with hope.
Tails smiled. "Maybe we will."
Just then Sonic skidded to a stop a few feet from where Tails was standing.
"Aaaand I'm back!" he declared. "I was just juicin' around the place, gettin' a feel of the land. Gotta say, Africa's a pretty past cool place."
His emerald eyes darted from the partially damaged X-Tornado to the Chaos Emerald in my hand.
"Whoa, what'd I miss…?" he remarked.
"We were shot down by a lone missile," Tails related. "Based on its advanced movements and precise tracking capabilities, it has to have been Eggman's."
"So he tried to shoot you down while we were on vacation?" Sonic summarized. "That's uncool, not to mention cowardly. B'sides, isn't he still in the water or something?"
"He probably used a long-range amphibious missile or something," speculated Tails. "Also, there's something else…" He walked closer to his brother and dropped his voice. "Chris dreamed he was looking into the Master Emerald."
"Really…?" Sonic voiced his intrigue, before turning to me. "So Tails told me you were dreamin' about the Master Emerald, huh? Can you tell me what you saw?"
I repeated my dream to Sonic, and Tails helped out with the parts I couldn't remember. Sonic closed his eyes, mulling this information over in his supersonic mind. Unfortunately, for the most part, he wasn't able to share any more insight than Tails did. He promised that he and his friends would do everything they could to make sure I didn't get roboticized.
Although, there was one thing he was able to offer.
"Last part sounds to me like not everything is what it seems," Sonic spoke. "Maybe there's something down the road that looks dark and gloomy, like maybe a storm, but the storm eventually passes and we get blue skies once again. You know what I'm saying?"
"I don't think I ever thought of it that way, Sonic," Tails commented. "Still, we should be ready for anything, just in case."
"You said it, buddy!" Sonic agreed.
Extending a hand to me, he asked, "Ready to go, Chris?"
I let him help me to my feet, and handed the Chaos Emerald back to him.
"Did you finish the repairs already?" I asked.
"Yup!" Tails replied enthusiastically. "At least, to the best of my ability for now. I'll take another look at it when we get home. For now, we're going to use the X-Cyclone transformation to look for the broken wing tip and fix that."
"I wonder if Eggman thinks he has us beat," pondered Sonic. "Well, now that he's on an unofficial cooldown, I don't think we should run into any more trouble for the rest of this adventure. And if we do, we'll be ready, right, Tails?"
"You got it, Sonic!" agreed Tails as they shared a fist bump.
"Now let's do it to it!" Sonic fist-pumped. "This world's not gonna explore itself!"
"There are still a lot of places I've never been to," I remarked as we headed back to the plane. "But there's always a first time for everything."
Tails chuckled. "Yup, that's right!"
After Tails lifted me back into my seat, we were soon back on the trail. As the cockpit gently moved up and down with each step of the transformed plane, my thoughts drifted back to the dream. While Sonic's words were comforting, I couldn't help but think that the root of it all seemed dark and unsettling…
A/N: And that concludes "The Dam Scam", although there is no dam, or scam thereof! Even though it was short, I hope you enjoyed it, because I really had a great time writing it.
When seeing the original episode, I was a little disappointed that Chris didn't get to sleep, not to mention Tails was a little too fast in repairing the plane, so I wanted to have Chris sleep. That was when I realized I could give him a dream as well, so that's where the dream in this chapter came from. Let the speculation fly!
And now, for the original episode ideas, back when the original idea was to rewrite the whole episode. The two men, Sergei and Boris, were building a dam in the original episode, but they wanted to light the entire forest on fire so that there could eventually be a flood so that the people could beg them to finish the dam. That's a stupid plan in my book. I planned to change it so that they were building a trading center for animal poachers. But it just goes to show that this episode was completely filler.
Also, I didn't get far enough to rename E-65 Gorru-Gaooh (that's not what a monkey sounds like, lol). There was no explanation as to why Eggman was even there, and how he left the ocean. If he was clearly shot down and landed in a lake, how did he end up back under the ocean, where his circuits shorted out? He never had that problem back in episode 16!
Also, the original title for this chapter was "Chris' Dream", but it was a little too obvious as to what it would be about.
The next episode may be filler, but I wanted to include it anyway, because I wanted to explore more relationships in the circle of Sonic's friends.
Next time is "Sonic's Scream Test", where Chris and Amy try to free their friends from ghosts! Don't miss it!
