A/N: Happy October! I'm so sorry for the late update, but I got distracted with all kinds of stuff lately. Also, this chapter was kind of different from my usual chapters... more on that in a bit.

I hope everyone's doing okay in the virus. I know it's crazy right now, but I feel like things are generally getting better in terms of the virus recovery. even though Europe's cases are skyrocketing right now, I think things will still get better soon.

First of all, I want to announce that two of my older stories, "The Mossflower Excursion" and "Team Sonic's Education and Learning", are now up for adoption. I will post notices on both of those stories as soon as this chapter goes live. If anyone is interested in adopting them, please PM me.

Also, I have some super good news. Writing Chaos on Earth has officially paid off! When I first joined FFN, I was too daunted to write Sonic stories, as I was nervous that I would get their characterizations all wrong. But then I thought of tons of ideas as to what if I rewrote Sonic X. I decided to just do it, and now we're 21 chapters and nearly 200 reviews strong. I can't thank you all enough. But that's not all.

One of my longtime reviewers, SuperTailsFan0812, has been reading my story even before she made an account here, and this is by far her favorite story. She is also a Sonic X author, and as soon as she uploaded her first story, Astraphobia, she immediately had my attention, since I too am a huge Sonic X fan. I have since read and reviewed all of her stories, and she replies to all of my reviews. One such review reply is still ongoing at nearly 500 posts long! Over time, we realized that we were not only each other's biggest fans... we had become best friends. We have literally so much in common. I've never felt happier in my whole life.

So SuperTailsFan0812, I want to thank you so very much for being my friend and having my back. I'll always have your back as well.

On that note, please feel free to check out her self-insert, "A Special New Friendship: An Author's Adventure". It's one of my favorite stories on this whole site.

Oh, and before I forget, SuperTailsFan and I both watch SonicSong182's Fun Friday streams every Friday at 5pm ET / 2pm PT, if you wanted to join in as well. The streams go for two hours, and you can chat with me there as well.

I think that's about it with the pre-chapter announcements.

Anyway, I'm a little nervous posting this chapter, because it is my first completely original Sonic X story. Also, Sonic, Chris, and their friends will not appear in this chapter, so just a warning for that. Instead, it will focus on my OC Matt.

As a result, the episode How to Catch a Hedgehog will not be adapted, but it technically happens in the background. Also, when going into this chapter, think Hardy Boys and National Treasure, because this chapter will have a completely different feel compared to the other chapters.

Also, this chapter is a bit shorter than I thought it might be, but I'm pleased to see it has more than 10,000 words.

Knowing me, I'll probably forget something when I post this, but let's hope I don't.

With that being said, let's move on to the reviews and what matters most: the story!


SonicX224

Another awesome Chapter.

I'm hoping that Metal Sonic, Silver Sonic from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Genesis, and Mecha Sonic from Sonic 3 and Knuckles will appear as well as Classic Sonic.

And I'm with you: Chris is an Underappreciated Character, and I'm hoping that the Metarex Saga takes place on Chris's Universe as Eggman was born in Chris's Planet and Sonic and Friends stay on Earth. You know what I mean?

Thanks!

Usually I imagine that a lot of the Classic characters stay in the Classic era, except for Mighty, Ray, and the Hooligans, so don't expect to see Silver Sonic or Mecha Sonic appear in this story, unfortunately.

Yes, technically in Sonic X, Eggman was implied to be born on Earth, but that is not the case in this story. The Metarex Saga will still take place in Sonic's universe as per the original anime. Though, I did originally have plans that Sonic and friends would stay on Earth. They can always come back to visit.

GuardianDragon98

Never thought I'd see Sonic take a page out of Shadow's book and use Chaos Blast. Man, how does Shadow do that without collapsing in a heap?

Sometimes, a hedgehog's gotta do what a hedgehog's gotta do...

I would imagine Shadow doesn't collapse because he is wearing his limiters, if that makes sense. He is the Ultimate Lifeform, after all.

SuperTailsFan0812

YAAAAAAAAAAAAS! My reaction when i saw the chapter in my inbox and i caused an echo bhy accident.

This chapter was SOO COOOL!

I love the start scene of the chapter where Topaz and Rouge are shown.

It is so good to see that Chris had fully recovered from the injury.

I loved how Tails was explaining to Chris about the Chaos Emeralds.

That reaction was intense, i would've been scared if i was there.

The battle was Intense! I loved this chapter so much.

Great chapter as usual, can't wait to see the next chapter, keep up the awesome work, my friend.

Thank you so much!

I actually enjoyed writing the banter between Topaz and Rouge. They are so cool together.

I'm glad that Chris has fully recovered too. Now he can walk again! :D

I really enjoyed writing that scene with Tails too. And I was actually inspired by one of your One-Shot Adventures when Tails said that Chris was a genius.

I honestly love making scenes intense and more life-life

I can't wait to see your reaction to this chapter as well! Take care, my friend!

jurassicdinodrew

will there be an origin story on how Eggman was the only human on Mobius before he ended up on earth?, and I think there could be a way for both Taiream shipping and Taismo shipping in this... if I remember correctly, there was a Sonic X comic where Eggman created sonic clones that were different colors like the power rangers, maybe Eggman in your story could create clones of Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles and Cream from the blueprints that his grandfather had for Shadow and uses them to destroy the originals, but they eventually turn good and could protect Mobius while the original can protect earth, and the clones could be like Team Sonic from Sonic Boom, as a way to tell each other apart, and Cream's clone could have a dress similar to Vanilla's, nice idea right?, and I wonder if Eggman will have more robot minons with him in this... like maybe Scratch and Grounder for example, who were once normal Mobian outlaws until they got robocized and all that, nice idea too right?, well good luck with your story.

Eggman origin story? He is not the only human on Mobius, as I believe in the one-world theory over the two-world one.

Also, I support Tailsmo over Tails x Cream, so you won't see them being shipped together. They're cute together, but not as a couple.

I actually originally planned to have something similar, but I eventually thought that people would think it is weird, so I decided to scrap the original plan. More on that in a future chapter.

Also, Scratch and Grounder will not appear in this story. Sorry if I can't use these ideas, but I do like them, though.

Animation Adventures

I'm sure that this anniversary will be unforgettable in years to come. Was the movie crew able to save the movie stuff? It would be a shame if the movie's plug had to be pulled because of all this, well, chaos. Not to mention the various delays.

Matt is back, and he seems unhappy with Minnesota life. I find it odd that he has a high-end place while working at McDonald's. You'd think he wouldn't be able to afford that on a fast food salary.

It's okay that Stewart didn't appear. I actually DID NOT want him in this one as I've stated multiple times before. I swear I typed on my last review 'can we get a promise that creepy Stewart IS NOT going to be stalking them this time?' Please change my review response because I do not want any indication of me wanting him there and delete the piece at the bottom of your notes addressed to me. Or if you want, replace it with a note saying Stewart is absent from this episode because his creepy stalking was unnecessary.

Yeah, the movie crew had backup props and another studio to move to. The show will go on.

Also, I explained more of Matt's situation in this chapter.

I fixed what you meant with Mr. Stewart. I know you wanted to say "not", but somehow it wasn't in the original review. Crisis averted.

CVGWJames

#SonicX4Ever

#SonicX4Ever!

VirgoDragoX

This is one of the best rewrite i seen in , and you inspirational me to be a writer, so I have some question.
1. Will Danny and Frances joined in the Last Arc, it would be awesome.
2. I have been theory this for a while, what if our body which make electricity in our body, could the chaos emerald can be use once if the human body make enough electricity for it.
3. Can Hyper and Dark sonic appeared, because I loved those two form.

Wow, I'm really flattered to hear that. Thank you!

1. Sorry, but no. I do like that idea, though. They should have appeared more.

2. Interesting theory, and probably. Only one way to find out, right?

3. No to Hyper Sonic, and yes to Dark Sonic.

D.J. Scales

Oh boy oh boy Eggman has a Chaos Emerald this is not good. Still I wonder what he plans to do about the Egg Fort and why he didn't design it to go Underwater like his Egg Fort 2. If you ask me Eggman needs a mobile base that can move Underwater and fly in the skies. Regardless when are some of his Mechs from the Modern Era Sonic Games gonna show up?

For now, I only plan on having his vehicles from the anime showing up. The Badniks do appear, though. And I'm not sure about his design flaw in the original Egg Fort either. Now he needs to upgrade all of his flying fortresses in the Egg Fleet.

jigoku-kage

Looking forward to the next arcs!

Me too!

jigoku-kage

I loved seeing dark sonic in the anime. I looking forward to seeing him again in this story. Please stay safe out there and enjoy all of life.

Thanks! I really want to include him more too. And I will stay safe, don't worry!

jigoku-kage

I am looking forward to it. This one of best Sonic stories I have read and I find myself looking for good Sonic stories. While there are some none like this. When the opportunity comes I have to subscribe to Ao3 so I can subscribe to you. I like the reference you make to forces in regards to Sonic torture through offhand commands or serious conversations without going all into detail. Dark Sonic is one of my fav transformation and while I know it is not considered official I wish it was so thank you for including him and giving him something of a background story it appears. Anyway keep it up and can't wait for Sonic X Rewrite Season 2 based.

Wow, thank you so much! I enjoy making Forces references in this story too. And I too wish Dark Sonic could be made official.

Ieju

First off, I can see why Browning would bust a brain cell due to Cream's flying ability. She must have really strong ear muscles. Also I just noticed: one the Sonic Advance 3 zones is called Route 99. Hmmm...

Second, did Chris' dad want to surprise Chris' mom with a Chaos Emerald? That's MoNdO RoMaNtIc! (I'm never letting that go.)

Speaking of Emeralds, what would a beacon with six Emeralds be like? Or even all seven, if possible! Sonic using Chaos Blast, eh? Shadow would be proud. Or annoyed. Or both.

And I think you do an all-around great job with rewriting the episodes. Thanks for gracing us all with this update!

No one really questions how strong Cream's ears are when she flies. How does she hear differently when she does? And that's really interesting...!

#MondoRomantic! I honestly love that; I'm never going to change it.

That would be catastrophic in a city-leveling scale, I imagine. The Chaos Beacon would be about as bad as a Kamehameha.

Thanks! Here's the next chapter!


Disclaimer: Not gonna lie Matt self-reported he's kinda sus let's eject him


Matt's hotel room – Tue May 10; 11:19 AM

It all began with a phone call.

Matt had been spending the morning sitting on his laptop in his hotel room, surfing Kayak for a suitable flight back home. He was still kicking himself for accidentally missing his original flight last night. While he couldn't blame himself for the unexpected increase in traffic that night, he did misjudge the time his plane took off, and he also forgot that he should have been at the airport a few hours before his flight. At least he had been refunded.

In short, flying was not his thing. Even after four years, he was still getting used to the process of flying places by himself, even though he hadn't left the state the whole time he was in college.

He had to go back to Minnesota. While he was born and raised in Station Square, and loved the place, he always felt like he needed to spread his wings. Besides, he had seismophobia, and he didn't like the prospect of the outrageous taxes California had. Yet he was able to find a good high-rise apartment with a surprisingly decent rent price. Minneapolis had a good college that checked off all the boxes he was looking for in a college, so that was one of the reasons why he chose to settle there.

Yesterday, before the anniversary, he had visited his mother for the first time in four years. It had been a tearful reunion, as they had spoken on the phone nearly every day since he went off to college.

Yesterday at the buffet table, Matt had been asked by Sonic why he was working at a McDonald's when he was a Thorndyke, and he could do something even bigger. Matt had told him that he wasn't quite ready to work at Starship Soft yet because it seemed a little daunting, and besides, he wanted to start at the bottom and gain some experience first at a basic job.

But now, the sudden sound of his phone ringing startled him. Mister Sandman was a good ringtone, he thought, but did it have to be suddenly so loud in the quiet room?

Matt picked up his phone, and saw that the caller was his former college roommate Manuel Nolan.

"Hey Manny, what's up?" he said once he put the phone to his ear.

"Hey, I'm in Station Square right now," Manuel said, "and, well, you'll never guess what I just found."

"Hold up, I didn't know you're here in Station Square too," Matt said with mild surprise as he stood up and paced the floor.

"Yeah, I'm out visiting my aunt today. Wait, you're here too?!"

"Yup. My Uncle Nelson and Aunt Lindsey just celebrated their fifteenth anniversary yesterday, and I got to be part of it."

"Dude, that's awesome!"

"I know, right? It's pretty rare that they're both in town, much less together, so… yeah. So anyway, what's the excitement?"

"Yeah, okay, so… I didn't know what to do about this at first, but, uh…" Manuel dropped his voice. "I kinda have something to show you."

Matt gave a short laugh. "No way it could be a Chaos Emerald, 'cuz those things are like… super rare. They say it's like winning the jackpot if you find one."

"…Well then, I guess I won the jackpot."

Matt stopped pacing, and he felt his heart skip a beat. "Wait, for real?"

"Yeah, man. The thing's legit the size of my hand."

"Okay. Okay, I'll be there in a bit. Where are you at?"

Matt's mind was in a blur as Manuel gave the address of his aunt's house he was staying at. Was it real? Had Manuel really found a Chaos Emerald?

After he hung up, he slipped on his shoes and walked to the front door, ready to depart. One thought was on his mind:

Take a look at this Emerald for myself, and maybe get it to Sonic as fast as I can.


Manuel's house – Tue May 10; 11:52 AM

Half an hour later, Matt found himself pulling into his friend's driveway. It seemed to take him a bit shorter to get there than he had originally anticipated; since he spent a lot of time in Minneapolis recently, his knowledge of Station Square's road layout had gotten rusty.

After he got out of his car, he remotely locked it and started walking to the front door. He hoped Manuel was still home. Chances were good he was. He couldn't wait to see this Emerald in person.

"Hey, Matt!" greeted Manuel upon opening the door. And Matt didn't even have to ring the doorbell.

"Hey," returned Matt. "Is your aunt home?" Yes, that question might have sounded a little suspicious in nature, but Matt had to make sure Manuel's aunt didn't know that her own nephew was harboring a destructive artifact in her own home.

Manuel shut and locked the door behind Matt. "No, she's out with some friends of hers for the day, so… I pretty much have the house to myself for now."

"So I hear you found a Chaos Emerald, huh?" Matt asked.

"Yeah," Manuel nodded as he led Matt deeper into the house. "It's right over here on the table."

"Cool."

In seconds, the two young men were in the dining room, ogling over the crystal-clear Chaos Emerald resting on its side on the rectangular dark wood table. Matt picked it up and examined it, idly turning it over in his hands.

"So where'd you find this thing?" he asked.

"Earlier today," explained Manuel. "Me and my aunt were at a farmer's market, and I just so happened to see it for sale. I thought it was just one of those cheap imitation diamonds you can find at a gift shop somewhere. I told Aunt Rosa it would look pretty cool in my room. But right after I paid for it, the thing starts glowing. Like, all on its own."

Matt nodded in understanding. "Do you know if anyone else saw it glowing?"

"My aunt almost saw it," Manuel said, "but I hid it before she could see it. It was pretty close, that's for sure."

Matt's expression creased into a frown. "Hey, has, uh… has this thing been messing with any technology since you found it?"

"Uh…" Manuel seemed to be mildly surprised by the question. "Not that I saw. Wait, why do you ask? Can they actually do that?"

"Yeah," Matt replied. "At least, that's what Tails told me. Hey, how come you didn't call Chris' place about it first?"

"Well, I was… I was kind of intimidated, if you know what I mean. Besides… you seem to be the only link between me and them."

"Gotcha," nodded Matt. "It's not like you can just have a chat with one of the world's richest families. Though, they have gotten their fair share of prank calls in the past few years, so I heard."

"Hm," Manuel said as he pushed himself off the wall from leaning against it. "Now, I'm gonna sound like a total idiot, but what exactly are these Chaos Emeralds? I take it they're powerful and stuff, but… what are they really?"

So Matt spent the next minute and change explaining to his friend the basics of what little he knew about the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles had done most of the explaining to him yesterday, and back during the homecoming party. He knew that they could empower Sonic with unlimited power, as well as act as batteries for machines, but that was the extent of his knowledge of them.

"So what number is this one?" Manuel asked as Matt set it back on the table.

"I think this might be the last one," Matt said. "I'm not sure, though."

Manuel glanced down at the clear gem on the table. "Then what?"

"Um, I think they're going back to their own planet after that," Matt said. He too glanced at the Emerald. "I'm gonna miss them, but still… it would be the right thing to give this Emerald to Sonic as soon as we can."

"I'm with you on that, but… we can't really be seen in public with a giant gem like this; people are gonna start thinking we just robbed a museum or something."

"Ohh, right," Matt agreed, his eyebrows rising a little in realization. "What are we supposed to do about it?"

No one spoke for a few seconds, until…

"I got it," Manuel spoke, picking up the Emerald. "I have my suitcase; we can just put it inside and no one will look twice."

"Oh, that's a great idea," agreed Matt. "Let's do it."

Manuel nodded before turning to leave the dining room. "It's over in my room, if you wanna come with me," he said as he led the way to his room.

Matt glanced around at his surroundings. It was a decently-decorated ranch house – Manuel's Aunt Rosa had good taste. There were picture frames and flower pots in various spots, not to mention a china cabinet back in the dining room. Character was something Matt's apartment seemed to lack, he noted.

"Okay, I'm gonna need to dump everything out first," Manuel stated as they entered his room.

But before he could reach for the suitcase, Matt spoke up. "Wait, maybe you don't need to do that. What if you just put it in with the rest of the stuff?"

"Well, yeah, I guess that could–"

"No electronics in there, right? Nothing would be plugged in, but just to be on the safe side, you know?"

"I took them out already," Manuel replied, before shooting Matt a quizzical look. "Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Well, from what I was told, one of the Emeralds caused a construction vehicle to move on its own, so…" Matt shrugged. "…you tell me."

"I heard about that," Manuel recalled. "That was crazy. So yeah, you got a really good point there."

Just in case, Manuel gave his suitcase another good search for anything that could go haywire if it got corrupted by the Chaos Emerald. Satisfied, he popped the gem inside the suitcase and zipped it shut before pulling it off the bed.

"All right, we're good to go," Matt said as he turned to the door. "I know it's kind of weird, but I don't think we should take any risks here. This is the last Emerald, after all."

"So, time to take it to Sonic?" Manuel asked. Matt nodded.

So the two young men pulled the suitcase out of the room, down the hall, and back into the living room to the front door. The house was tighter than Matt was used to, but he couldn't complain. He was in the upper class, after all.

"I just realized, Thorndyke Mansion is all the way across town," Manuel voiced once he and Matt were outside. "It could be an hour's drive to get there from here."

"So we're an hour away from victory for Sonic," Matt said. "It's gonna be worth it, Manny. Except for the one Eggman has, the last Emerald is gonna be with Sonic and his friends in no time."

However, as they were getting into Matt's car, they were oblivious to a man who had just overheard them. He grinned. He had a lead at last.


Station Square – Tue May 10; 12:13 PM

Matt and Manuel's journey to Thorndyke Mansion was in full swing. They were now in the uptown region, which encompassed part of the southeast side of the city. Matt was carefully driving down one of the avenues, eyes focused intently on the road. Neither he nor Manuel were speaking much. He was lowkey excited to get the Emerald to Sonic, but–

Speaking of Sonic, the famous hedgehog sped past them in the opposite direction. Of course, he paid them no mind.

"Hey, was that– what's he up to?" Manuel asked as he turned to look behind him. As to be expected, he was long gone.

"I don't know," Matt replied. So Sonic wasn't home today. At least his friends would be willing to receive the Chaos Emerald. They were certainly as trustworthy as Sonic was. He admired the fact that they were heroes in their own right too.

Roughly twenty seconds later, the X-Tornado flew directly overhead as well. Its engines were quite loud, especially given its low altitude. It went past them so quickly, not to mention the doppler effect was interesting to listen to at its close proximity.

"Whoa!" Manuel exclaimed. He instinctively ducked, even in the safety of the car, before glancing back at it. "That was Sonic's plane back there too, right?"

"Mhm," Matt replied. Then he realized something, for his intake of breath got Manuel's attention.

"What?" Manuel inquired.

"I just… something doesn't make sense." Matt's eyebrows creased. "Tails told me the X-Tornado can detect Chaos Emeralds. If he knew about our Emerald, he'd be following us by now."

"Really?" Manuel said as he reached behind him. "Then maybe we should let 'em know we have one."

"No, don't," Matt warned as he sideglanced Manuel. "That could mess with the car."

After a moment's hesitation, Manuel let out a sigh as he let go of the suitcase. "But how do you know it can't mess with the car through the suitcase material?"

"I don't," Matt said, "I'm just trying not to take any risks here, man." He glanced at Manuel. "What are you looking at? Something's behind us?"

"Yeah," Manuel replied, his voice dropping to a more serious time. "Call me crazy, but this car's been following us for the past eight or so miles."

"Coincidence?" Matt guessed.

"You don't think that guy knows about the Emerald, does he?" Manuel wondered. He was still glancing uneasily at the black SUV that was behind them.

Matt thought this over for a moment.

"Good point," he said. "At this next street, we're gonna put that to the test."

He put his blinker on and moved into the right lane. Then he turned onto a smaller street leading into one of the city's lesser-known industrial zones.

Manuel glanced into the rearview mirror, more concern setting in. "He's still following us."

"Huh. Okay, that is weird, I guess," mused Matt. "But give me a couple minutes and we'll see for sure."

So Matt spent the next few minutes making turns and rounding curves in this part of the city he wasn't familiar with at all. The road was old and cracking, but at least it wasn't gravel, which would have meant he would have to slow down. If this person wanted the Emerald, as Manuel had speculated, then Matt would have to go faster. By now Matt was sure he was well off course.

"Still following us?" Matt asked, too busy to look in the rearview mirror himself.

"Yup," Manuel responded. "He's getting closer now."

Matt took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm starting to think you may be right about that guy. This is deliberate."

"Then should we stop the car or something–"

"No way!" Matt blurted, interrupting his friend, as he floored the gas. However, their pursuer had the same idea. In fact, it was scary how fast the SUV gained on them in just a few seconds, and its close proximity to the car. Matt immediately realized what was happening.

"He's trying to run us off the road!" he exclaimed incredulously.

"O-Okay, yeah, I think we should stop," Manuel nervously said. "Maybe see what he wants."

"Okay, fine," Matt relented as he applied the brakes. Fortunately, the SUV stopped coming, and it too stopped about two dozen yards behind Matt's car.

"We should probably secure the Emerald," Matt said. He was feeling tense in this unfamiliar situation.

"You should go talk to that guy," Manuel suggested.

"No, you do it," Matt countered.

"But you know more about the Emerald than me," argued Manuel.

"And we're out of time; he's coming," Matt said.

He took a deep breath, let it out, and adamantly stepped out of the car while Manuel crawled in the back to take care of the Emerald. Just in case the suitcase wasn't safe enough, it needed to be hidden somewhere safer.

Matt turned to the man. He was large and muscular, and was wearing a white tank top.

"Uh… c-can I… help you…?" Matt asked him.

The man stared down impassively at the fidgeting young man. "You have something we want," he stated in a dangerous tone.

"We…?" Matt repeated, until his eyes rested on the man's upper left arm. "Oh…" He tried not to pale at the recognition. The dragon tattoo was just as Knuckles had described yesterday.

"I-I-I honestly don't know what you want," Matt stammered. "You'll have to give me a clue."

The man folded his arms. "In that case… does the name 'Chaos Emerald' ring a bell? I'll have you know I didn't chase you two halfway across town for nothing."

Matt involuntarily gasped. Manuel's suspicions were confirmed.

"Look, my eyes don't lie. I saw two of you in the car. Tell your friend to get out where I can see him. Now."

Matt's heart was beating rapidly now, if it wasn't already. He was afraid of what would happen if he kept bluffing. So with a sigh of dejection, he turned his head back to the car.

"Hey, uh… th-the guy wants you out…" he called. He could already feel his voice shaking.

"I'm not kidding," the burly man emphasized. "Hurry up."

A few seconds later, Matt's friend emerged from the driver's side of the car. He looked very confused at what was going on. Matt hoped he hid the Emerald well.

"You're forgetting something," the man growled.

Matt wasn't surprised at all by the man's approach. "Wh… what?" he asked, hoping to stall for time. Alas, it was for nought.

"You think I'm stupid, eh?" the man said as he took a step toward Matt, who took a step back. "We've been keeping tabs on that Emerald – you know, the one your little friend found at the farmer's market this morning. And, knowing your connection with Sonic the Hedgehog, I bet you're on your way to the Thorndykes' place to give it to him right now."

Matt was left agape at what this man knew.

"Y… you're bluffing…" he managed to say.

The man pulled a pistol from a holster Matt didn't realize was there, as an assurance tactic. His heart skipped a beat.

"I don't think so," the man said. He prodded the gun in Manuel's direction. "Now get the Emerald out of the car. I'm watching you."

"Do as he says…" Matt spoke in a low reluctant voice. The man grunted an emphasis.

To Matt, it looked like Manuel had to force himself to turn back to the car. What other choice did he have in this situation? It wasn't like he and Matt could make a run for it. This man was armed, and he knew a lot more about the Emerald than Matt thought.

Who was this guy?

A moment later, Manuel stepped back out of the car. He took a few hesitant steps toward the man. With trembling fingers, he gave the crystal-clear gemstone to the man, who gave it a cursory glance. The man nodded in satisfaction, then wordlessly walked back to his car.

Matt looked back at the SUV, a little surprised that this man had come alone. He must have been somewhat cocky.

"I… I'm really sorry," Matt mumbled as he watched the SUV drive back up the road and out of sight. "There was nothing I could do. He had a gun, and… I think it would be foolish to follow him now."

"Yeah…" Manuel said. He put two fingers to his neck to check his pulse; his heart rate was steadily going back down, but it was still beating at a fast pace. "Do you have any clue who that guy was?"

"Not him in particular, but… he's part of a gang." Matt looked over in the direction the SUV had left in. "Knuckles told me about those guys. They're really dangerous. I think they wanted the Emerald for something."

"Huh," Manuel thought. "So based on what you told me, I'm guessing the Emeralds are too valuable to be sold for money, am I right?"

"The way I see it, yeah." Matt scratched behind his head. "I, uh… I think we should head back now, and… uh…"

His voice trailed off upon seeing Manuel walking toward a long piece of paper that was lying on the ground. The wind was calm, so there was little risk of it blowing away.

"What is it?" Matt asked as Manuel picked it up and examined it.

"It's a receipt for something from Amazon," Manuel reported. "It must have fallen out of the guy's car."

"How did he not see that…?" Matt softly mused. Aloud, he asked, "Hey, is there an address on there anywhere?"

"Yup!" replied Manuel, and Matt couldn't help but cheer on the inside. That was some serious luck they just had.

"At least we kinda know where their base of operations is," Manuel continued as he walked back to the car with the receipt. There was something written on it, but it didn't pertain to the mystery that was on the two boys' hands.

"We can't be too sure, Manny," Matt said. "Still, I think we should go back to your place and look up that address."

Manuel didn't expect Matt to say that.

"Are you crazy?" he said as he opened the passenger's door. "If we go anywhere near that place, we'll be dead. You saw that guy; he has a gun. And if he really is in a gang like you said… how many more of them are out there?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Matt said as he too sat at his seat behind the wheel and closed the door. "But if that's where they're taking the Emerald, then it's the only way we're going to get it back." As an afterthought, he added, "I think that's what Sonic would do, anyway."

"Well then, let's let Sonic take care of it," Manuel tried to reason.

"But Sonic was busy with something or other back there, and so were his friends." He looked Manuel in the eye. "Manuel, there's no one else who is available to get the Emerald back."

As Matt floored the gas and took off back to Manuel's house, Manuel glanced down at the receipt in his lap. When he woke up that morning, he had not expected to be roped into an adventure, much less one quite like this. Nor did he expect to be figuratively dragged along for the ride by his headstrong friend. He kept thinking this was all a bad idea…


Manuel's house – Tue May 10; 1:06 PM

Well over half an hour later, Matt found himself pulling into Manuel's driveway once again. He had not expected to be there again so soon, much less without satisfaction. He had to keep telling himself it wasn't his fault he lost the Emerald.

"Looks like my aunt's not back yet," mused Manuel as he stepped out of the car. "Her car's not here."

"I guess that means we got some time to get down to business before she does get back," Matt replied as he remotely locked the car.

As they stepped toward the porch, Manuel pulled out his spare key, He reached for the doorknob, but froze Matt took note of this.

"Key stuck?" he inquired.

"No," Manuel replied. "The door's already unlocked. I know I locked it before we left."

Matt didn't know what to say to that. He hoped it was just forgetfulness, but Manuel sounded so sure of his answer. In fact, Matt felt an uneasy feeling in his stomach as Manuel turned the knob and pushed the door open.

What they found made them stop in their tracks.

The house had been ransacked.

All across the living room and into the dining room, drawers were opened, and their contents were strewn all across the floor. Various things had been knocked over as well, but to Manuel's immense relief, miraculously no glass or china had been broken. While the person behind the ransacking had been thorough, he must have had some heart to not leave behind millions of tiny shards.

"Oh my- Wh… what happened?" Matt turned to Manuel. "Manuel, did you get ransacked?" he asked in total disbelief.

Manuel was breathing heavily. He was practically in shock at what had happened to his aunt's pristine house.

"I… they…" He paused to collect himself. "We… we got a long cleanup ahead of us."

"Then, uh, I guess we better get started," Matt said.

"Ohh, how am I gonna explain this to my aunt?" lamented Manuel.

The two young men got to work, and spent the next several minutes picking up various books, decorations, and even furniture, and did their best to put them back where they had originally found them. Matt needed Manuel's help with knowing where to put some things, since this was his first time in Manuel's aunt's house, but other than that, they were getting the job done in record time. The hardest objects to restore were the drawers and all their contents strewn across the room.

The worst part of it all was that it wasn't even limited to the living room.

"My aunt's gonna be here any minute," Manuel realized as they worked. "How am I gonna– There's no way. I can't explain this. How did this even happen?"

"I think the Julebu must have sent some men over here to search the house for the Emerald," Matt mused aloud. "You know… just in case we didn't have the Emerald with us. I'm telling you, these guys don't take chances."

Manuel looked up in confusion. "The… who? You know about those guys?"

"Julebu," repeated Matt, taking on a thoughtful look. "I think Knuckles said their name was 'club' in Chinese or something…? That guy who was chasing us earlier, he was one of them. Basically those guys do whatever it takes to steal jewelry and stuff so they can sell it on the black market for profit." He sighed. "Those guys are supposed to be based in China. I… I had no idea they worked here in America too."

Manuel looked like he was about to speak, but he couldn't get a word in edgewise. Matt had always been like this; whenever something got him going, there was no stopping him. In fact, he had stopped working completely and was pacing the room in his determination.

"And now the Chaos Emerald is with them," Manuel said at last.

Matt nodded. "Yeah, and if they manage to sell it, anyone can buy it, and then it might be impossible to track it down again. That's why we need to get it back as soon as we can."

"I guess…" Manuel shrugged as he glanced in Matt's direction from his work. "But you gotta think about now, Matt. This whole place… it could take maybe twenty minutes to clean all of this up at this rate."

"Well, the sooner we get this done, the better," Matt said.

The two boys continued cleaning at a faster pace than they had before, spurred on by the knowledge that Manuel's aunt could show up at any time. They were grateful that there was no glass or china pieces to pick up, or soil from the flowers ground into the carpet. Granted, for a ransacking, this wasn't nearly as bad as what Matt had expected.

"So, uh… how did this guy even get in?" Matt wondered a moment later. "It's pretty obvious that the front door was how he got out, but, uh… I don't think it would make sense if that's the way he came in too."

Manuel hummed in response. "Yeah, you're right about that," he pondered, before he stopped in his work. "Hold that thought. He could have gotten in through a window. But... I'm pretty sure all the windows are shut here."

By this point they had finished in the living room. As Matt followed Manuel toward the back of the house, he glanced around at the other rooms. Fortunately, and also strangely, the dining room and kitchen were practically spared. It was almost as if the Julebu man who was sent to Manuel's house didn't have time to search any of the other rooms.

Manuel let out an audible gasp as he entered his room. What was once an immaculate room as Matt remembered it earlier was now nearly completely trashed. There wasn't much in the room to begin with, as Manuel was staying there temporarily, but the dresser drawers had been pulled out and their contents dumped all over the floor. Manuel's bed was unmade, and he had to step over huge piles of clothes in order to get to the window.

He lifted the blinds from the bottom, and his dismayed look changed to one of mild surprise.

"The window's not broken," he reported. "I'm starting to think he might have picked the lock."

"But how…?" wondered Matt. "Anyone could have seen him."

"…Matt, we gotta get all this cleaned up before my Aunt Rosa gets here!" Manuel hurriedly reminded Matt. "I hope it's not too late to remind you, she's kind of a neat freak."

"Oh, well then…" Matt said. That was all the motivation he needed to get to work. Together, they began to clean the room so fast it looked like they were on fast forward. Matt had to clean fast, but he told himself to not get to the level of being too hasty and therefore counter-productive.

Manuel was stuffing armfuls of clothes in the dresser drawers once he put them in the dresser. "This is just for now," he audibly reminded himself. "I'll fold 'em later."

"How much does your aunt know about the Chaos Emerald?" Matt asked.

"She thinks it's just a cheap diamond someone made," Manuel replied. "I'll tell you, it was tough hiding my excitement from Aunt Rosa. I had to make it sound like it really was a cheap diamond. I knew I had to buy it when I saw it."

"And what did you plan on doing with it afterward? Besides call me, I mean."

"To be honest… I don't know. I guess I thought I could hang on to it until I met Sonic or something… like that's gonna happen," Manuel said with a dry laugh. "I thought I'd call you, since I know you know Chris, who in turn knows Sonic… I guess I'm lucky I called when I did, huh?"

"Hey, never say never," Matt said. "Maybe you can get a chance to see Sonic yourself someday."

Matt gave a short smile. "Yeah, I guess."

Despite their combined effort, cleanup turned out to be slow and tedious. It took them ten minutes to finally put the right object in its place. Aside from a few scratches on the dresser drawers, nothing looked too damaged, much to Manuel's relief.

"That was… that was super close," Matt sighed once they finished. "We're in the clear. I don't think your aunt's gonna find out."

"I sure hope not," Manuel said. "Anyway, I think we should get Google Maps up and find out where this place is."

Matt smirked. "Aren't you the same guy who kept telling me this was all a bad idea?" he teased.

Manuel rolled his eyes. "Don't get me wrong; I still think it's a bad idea," he said as he walked over to his laptop, which was surprisingly undamaged. "But if the Chaos Emeralds are really as valuable as we say, then…" He sighed. "I guess… I guess you have a point. We're the only ones who can get that Emerald."

Manuel seemed to slow down as he spoke, the words sinking in deep. Matt became more solemn.

"Then we better pull up the map quick," he said.

So Manuel opened up his Chromebook and waited for it to boot up. Just as he was typing in the password to get to the desktop, a shrill voice sounded from the other room.

"I'm home!" it called. It didn't take Matt even a second to register that it was Manuel's Aunt Rosa.

Manuel had a visible conflict of emotions for a moment. He didn't know if his aunt was going to be suspicious of the ransacking. He surely wasn't going to tell her. That was for sure.

Nevertheless, he got off the bed and started toward the door. Matt decided to follow him out of the room and back toward the front of the house.

Rosa had just set the spare key down on the small table near the door when Matt and Manuel entered the room. She was a fair woman in her late forties.

"Hey, Aunt Rosa," Manuel greeted. "I want you to meet someone. This is Matt. You know, my college roommate I told you about?"

Rosa slowly nodded in understanding. "You know, I had been wondering why there was an extra car in the driveway," she said as Matt stepped forward to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you, Matt. Why don't you make yourself comfortable?"

She stepped into the kitchen, and Manuel followed her, asking her about her day. Meanwhile, Matt took this as his opportunity to finish his friend's abandoned task. He started back toward the bedroom and the still-open laptop.

He hoped Manuel wasn't still holding onto the receipt they had found earlier. But he was able to breathe an inward sigh of relief when he saw it on the nightstand.

So he sat down on the edge of the bed and loaded Google Maps. Once that was done, he pulled the receipt from the nightstand and, using it as reference, entered the address into the search bar.

Once the pin dropped on the map, Matt navigated into street view. He found that the location of the address was a two-story house three miles northeast of where he was.

A few minutes later, Manuel stepped back into the room and toward the bed.

"So what'd you find?" he asked as he peered over Matt's shoulder. Matt tilted the screen to show him the map.

"I'm not really familiar with this part of town," Matt admitted. "And I've been living here for like, eighteen years."

"I am," Manuel said. "My dad used to deliver to that neighborhood."

"Cool." Matt closed the Chromebook. "Then I guess we should probably get going," he declared.

"But do you know the way there from here first?" Manuel asked.

Matt nodded. "Yeah. I just memorized the route before you came in, but I can always use a GPS in case we get lost."

"Good idea," Manuel said. "Then let's go."

Matt noticed that Manuel seemed to say that past part halfheartedly as they turned off the light and left the room. Matt knew Manuel wanted the Emerald to be in the right hands as much as he did, but the thing was, he wasn't as bold as Matt was. Matt had to admit, even he was a little scared to go anywhere near a house occupied by a notorious gang.

But as they neared the door, Aunt Rosa's voice stopped them.

"Aren't you two going to stay for cold cuts?" she asked.

"I, uh, I ate already," Matt half-lied, "and I kinda need to go now."

"Yeah," echoed Manuel as he placed a hand on the doorknob. "We're going to a friend's house for the day."

The way Rosa stood there with her hands on her hips, both Matt and Manuel thought she was suspicious of their real motives. But to their surprise, all she said was "Okay, take care of yourselves."

After exchanging goodbyes, the two young men stepped out of the house and quickly walked back toward the car.

Matt glanced back at the house. "That… actually went off easier than I thought," he breathed.

Manuel nodded. "Good thing we didn't tell her about the ransacking," he said, still in disbelief about what had happened upon their arrival. "And it's also a good thing she didn't get suspicious. Otherwise, she would call the police in a heartbeat. Then we might have to stay here, and we would never get the Emerald. Which I still think is a bad idea."

"Hey, you never know," Matt said. "Maybe Sonic will come after all and save the day."

"So he'll just come up to two random guys going to a gangster's house? Doubt it."

"Manuel, it's an Emerald. These guys can sense those things."

Matt unlocked the car and climbed into the driver's seat. "But even so, you think the police will have any better luck than us?" he asked rhetorically.

Manuel didn't have an answer as he buckled himself into the passenger's seat. He looked like he wanted to say a bunch of things, but nothing coherent came out.

"Look, I'm nervous too, but there's literally no one else who shares Sonic's cause to get it back," explained Matt. "In fact, only a few people outside the government know about anything the Chaos Emeralds can do. That's why… that's why we're the only ones who can get it."

Manuel continued to remain silent as Matt backed out of the driveway. He had a feeling Matt's ambitions were about to go very wrong.


The Julebu house – Tue May 10; 2:29 PM

A little over fifteen minutes later, Matt turned the wheel to the right and pulled to a stop at the curb across the street from his destination. The neighborhood had all the makings of a bad neighborhood – the streets had cracks lining them, there were no sidewalks, and the small two-story houses were placed close together. It looked every inch the place where mischief and criminal activity could happen.

Matt glanced at the driveway of the Julebu house. There were three cars in the driveway, one of which was the car that had been pursuing them that morning. This confirmed that Matt had come to the right place. And since there were cars in the driveway, several people had to be inside.

"How foolish would these guys have to be to do their business out in the open like this?" Manuel wondered. "Sure, I get it's a poor neighborhood, but still."

"I… kinda got the impression they work under the radar a lot of the time. Besides, a lot of drug operations usually go down in neighborhoods like this. Now let's go. The sooner we get this Emerald, the sooner we can get it to Sonic."

Matt stepped out of the car, and he could hear Manuel heaving a breath as he did the same. Matt had to take a deep breath of his own and force his mind to commit to the task as he took labored steps across the street and toward the property.

Matt was glad the house did not have even so much as a fence out front. He would be quick to admit that he didn't like trespassing as much as the next guy, but he was only here to reclaim stolen property. Besides, he felt like Sonic would do something like this.

"I still think we should call the police first," Manuel said in a hushed tone as he jogged to catch up to Matt.

"We're in too deep," Matt replied firmly. "Besides, I don't really think the Chaos Emerald is gonna be safe with the police. No offense, but I don't trust them with it. Only Sonic should have it."

"Yeah," Manuel shrugged. "I can't argue with that."

By now they were well on their way across the front lawn. Matt carefully approached one of the windows, but briefly turned his head around to face Manuel.

"Okay, stay out of sight," he whispered. "I'm gonna see what's inside."

Manuel nodded and crept back behind one of the Toyotas. Matt turned back to the house and, getting down into a squatting position, approached the front window. This was really risky, but he had to get a lay of the land.

Once he was practically touching the house, he slowly lifted his head and rose halfway between squatting and standing. He was able to get a good view of the house's living room. On the other side of the living room was the dining room, where he could see at least four men gathered around a table. His heart skipped a beat as they started to get up.

As they cleared, Matt caught a glimpse of light coming from across the table.

That was half the battle won. Actually, it was only a third of the battle won. The second third was actually getting the Emerald, and the last part was successfully escaping with it.

He crouched back down and cautiously made his way back toward the driveway. Manuel emerged from behind the pickup truck he was using as cover.

"What'd you see?" Manuel asked as he took a step back to make room for his friend.

"It's in there," Matt said with a forced smile, glancing back at the house. "I saw it on the table, clear as day."

"Whoa, really?" Manuel's eyebrows raised. Matt nodded.

Manuel glanced at the window Matt was crouched at a moment earlier, and the front door just beyond it.

"You thought of a way to get in?" Manuel asked pointedly.

"Uh…" Matt paused. "N-no, I didn't." There he went again, letting his ambitions get the better of him. "I don't know Sonic all that well, but I think he's the kind of guy to just wing it and hope for the best."

"But we're not Sonic," argued Manuel. "And I don't think that's really smart for us."

Matt let out a short sigh. This was not as easy as he thought. "Then how do you think we should get in?"

Manuel was quiet for a moment, until he began to move out of his position behind the truck and do a quick survey of the house.

"Back door…?" he thought aloud.

Matt followed Manuel out from behind the truck. "I can't think of anything better, so… but wait, how do we know this place even has a back door?"

"I saw a deck," Manuel shrugged.

Both young men were now practically tiptoeing across the lawn, remaining low to the ground and close to the house; in Matt's eyes, it was the best way to avoid detection.

The most daunting part was passing by the front door; anyone could open that door without warning and see them. But it was a good thing no one did.

Only one window remained between the boys and the back deck, and if Matt had to guess, it was the dining room window. Matt's heart began to beat a little faster, especially when he started to pick up pieces of whatever conversation was going on inside. Matt held up a hand for Manuel to stop; he had to quench his inner interest in what they were saying.

"…an' just in case those kids were lyin', I thought it wouldn't hurt nobody if I just have a quick look in their house to see if this here pretty thing was in there."

"And did you find it?" asked another man, who was clearly uninformed of the situation.

"Nope," came the reply.

"Well, that's because I took it from them personally," said a third man. Matt recognized him as the one who had chased them across town that morning. "How much of the house did you cover?"

"I got the livin' room and one of th' bedrooms. House was pretty tidy, an' I kinda felt bad if I broke any of th' china in there."

"Aww, who said anything about morals?" teased the second man. "If you're gonna wreck the joint, you wreck the joint! See what I care!"

"Are you being a softy or something?" the third man said, jumping onto the pile.

Matt could imagine the first man holding up his hands in protest. "N-no!" he stammered. "I… Look, I could've if I wanted, but there jus' wasn't enough time to search th' whole place, okay? I had to scram 'cuz I heard a noise outside. Must've been a car door or some'n."

"Well, this gem is ours now, and that's all that matters," the boss man said. "Now we're just waiting on Jerry to get here so we can give this beauty to him in exchange for a big fat paycheck."

"Heh, can't argue with a fair trade," agreed the second man.

As the conversation started to die down, Matt found himself becoming curious as to who this Jerry was. He assumed he was probably an accomplice.

Suddenly the sound of a sliding door made him jump. He instinctively looked up to see one of the men stepping onto the deck, his back to the boys. Judging by his dirty white tank top, he was the same man they had run into mere hours ago.

Matt dared not move a single muscle in his body as he watched the man light a cigarette. However, Manuel didn't find that to be so easy. He flinched at a mosquito that buzzed near his ear.

That was all it took to get the man's attention.

"Hey! We got trespassers! It's the kids from earlier!" he shouted into the house.

"Run!" ordered Matt, fear already present in his voice. He and Manuel immediately leaped to their feet and bolted across the lawn back toward the road. As to be expected, the Julebu man scrambled off the deck after them. Matt knew he was armed, but he didn't see the gun anywhere on him when he took a quick glance back.

"Where do we hide?!" Manuel frantically called as he looked everywhere for a suitable place for cover.

"I don't know!" Matt replied just as hastily. He had not bargained for any of this.

Just then he spotted a speck in the sky that was gradually getting closer. He squinted, straining to get a better look at it. He was a little surprised to see that it was Rouge the Bat.

Having just lowered a device from her eyes, she was making a beeline straight for the Julebu house. It only took her a second to see what was going on beneath her. As for Matt, the threat of the man possibly catching up to him was the only thing preventing him from slowing down.

Rouge summed up the situation in the blink of an eye and dove straight down toward the Julebu man pursuing Matt and Manuel. She whipped past them at a speed Matt thought couldn't be possible, and delivered a crippling kick to the Julebu man's legs, sending him sprawling to the ground.

She landed cleanly on the ground, and was just about to say something to the two boys when there came the squeak of the front door opening. The other three Julebu men stumbled outside. All of them were armed.

However, they all simultaneously stopped, jaws agape, when they saw the Mobian bat standing on the lawn. She clearly had the element of surprise on her side.

Wasting no time, she bolted forward, and was able to kick the three men out cold in seconds flat, They didn't even have time to fire a shot or otherwise react.

Rouge came to rest, leaning on one of the posts of the front porch. She eyed the boys.

"What in the world are you two doing here?" she asked in mild bewilderment.

"Uh…" Matt was at a loss for words. "I, uh, I could ask you the same question."

"Tsk, tsk," Rouge chided, slightly amused, though she tried to hide it. "I asked first."

"Well…" Manuel stepped forward. "These guys took a Chaos Emerald we had, and… and we were just coming here to get it back…?"

Rouge pursed her lips, then pushed herself off the post she was leaning against. "That confirms everything," she said as she disappeared inside the house.

Matt decided to follow her out of curiosity, and Manuel did the same.

"Do you know who she is?" Manuel asked as he drew close.

"Yeah," Matt said as he and his friend carefully stepped over the bodies of the three unconscious gang members. "She's Rouge. She's a government agent. Or at least, that's what Sonic said, anyway."

Upon entering the house, the two 22-year-olds quickly spotted Rouge rooting through several drawers and spots in the living room where a Chaos Emerald could be stored. It was no longer on the table. The Julebu men must have hidden it when Matt and Manuel were detected.

"Matt, your name is?" Rouge asked without looking at said boy. "I thought you were going home yesterday."

"I thought I was too," Matt said. "But I accidentally missed my flight. I'm gonna catch the red eye tonight, though." A new thought crossed his mind. "So, uh, am I right to assume you work at GUN now?"

"I've been for the better part of seven and a half months," the bat replied while she shut the remaining drawers in a filing cabinet in the corner of the room.

"But weren't you off the other day?" Matt asked. "What are you doing off now?"

Rouge gave a short laugh. "Please, they pamper me here! They give me more off days than I'm worth. It should be criminal!"

Matt had been asking so many questions, his friend couldn't get any in edgewise. But now he finally had the chance to ask one.

"How did you know the Emerald was here?" he asked.

"Oh, that was easy," Rouge shrugged as she swiftly moved past the two boys and entered the dining room. "I just followed you. After all, my Jewel Scope never lies. You know, this might go a whole lot faster if you helped too. Just saying."

Matt knew she had a point. There was no telling how long it would take for the four men to recover. If any one of them were to enter the house armed, it would all be over for them.

"So you're sure they're actually unconscious out there, Rouge?" Matt asked, warily glancing at the door.

Rouge smirked. "Out like a light."

Matt slowly meandered toward the door. "Then I think I should probably take their guns away from them; that way, they'll be less of a threat if they wake up and we're still here."

Having finished in the dining room, Rouge moved on to the kitchen while Manuel headed toward the back of the house where the bedrooms were in his search for the Chaos Emerald.

"Knuckles told me he's dealt with their kind before," Rouge explained while she rummaged through some of the lower cabinets in the kitchen. "They have more brains than they should legally be allowed to have."

Matt made a break for the door and threw it open. Good, he thought. The men were still out cold.

So he stepped outside and quickly spotted the three men's guns – two Glocks and a rifle. He very carefully picked them up, making sure to not accidentally touch the triggers; they could have been primed without his knowing.

Now that he was awkwardly holding all three guns, he practically dragged them backwards back through the door before closing it with his foot. Now the problem was finding a good place to hide them for the time being.

He looked around the living room for a place to stow them away. He could hide the pistols under the couch, but there really weren't any good places to hide the rifle. So he decided to just go ahead and carefully slip the pistols under the couch.

"They're still unconscious," Matt reported as he stood back up and picked up the rifle by the barrel once more.

"That doesn't leave us with much time," Rouge said grimly as she crossed the kitchen to search the remaining cabinets. She had even looked inside the fridge. "Milk's expired, by the way. Don't know why I bothered to check."

"How did you even know to find the Emerald here?" Manuel asked as he emerged from the bedroom. Of course, there was no Chaos Emerald in his hand. It was really elusive.

Rouge snorted. "What, you think I'm just going to just up and spout classified information just like that? I mean, it's not official business, but still, you gotta do better than that."

"Pleeeease~" Manuel comically begged.

"You really know how to humor a girl, don'cha?" Rouge said with a chuckle. "Fine, have it your way. I learned that an inside man working for Dr. Eggman has been sent here to pay an exorbitant amount of cash in exchange for the Emerald. Once he gets it, he's going to practically drop it into Eggman's waiting hands."

Matt and Manuel's eyes widened in unison. How could Eggman of all people be involved with this whole scheme? It didn't make any sense.

"Then I guess we have to get the Emerald and get out of here fast," Manuel spoke after a moment.

"I'm with you on that," Rouge mumbled.

"How'd you know that?" Matt asked as he reentered the room. By now he had found a closet to stow the rifle in, and done so. He was glad the guns were now kept apart from each other, and it would take a little while for the Julebu men to find them once they woke up.

"All I had to do was bug his flying fortress," Rouge shrugged. "It wasn't that hard, really."

Then she paused as she saw something in one of the upper cabinets above the fridge. It was a small box with a latch, about the size of the box a McDonald's Big Mac would come in, but it was made of reinforced plastic.

"I can't reach this box," Rouge pleaded. "Could one of you handsome men reach up there and get it down for me?"

"Sure," said Manuel as he stepped into the kitchen.

"I'd do it myself, but this world just isn't made for us Mobians, you know?" Rouge added.

Manuel nodded as he effortlessly reached up and grabbed the box from out of the top cabinet, Rouge had been barely able to open it. Once he had it, curiosity got the better of him, and he lifted the latch and opened the box.

"Whoa… Hey Rouge, how did you know it was in here?" Manuel breathed in wonder as he looked upon the clear Chaos Emerald within the box.

Rouge turned to the box, her eyes practically sparkling as she too looked at the Emerald. Then she pried the box from Manuel's fingers and redid the latch.

"Jewel Scope~!" she said in a sing-song voice. "It works wonders you wouldn't believe. But anyway, that was easier than I thought."

The bat winked at the boys as she started for the front door, but Manuel held out a hand to stop her.

"He-hey, can we have it back?" he asked, surprised that Rouge was just going to bail on them after recovering the Emerald.

Rouge stopped in her tracks, glancing from the box in her hand to Matt and Manuel.

"No offense to you and your impeccable treasure hunting skills," she said, "but I think this baby would be better off in more… capable hands."

"But we were gonna give it to Sonic!" Matt begged, following the other two out the door.

"He's already got four," Rouge nonchalantly shrugged. "The less they're spread out, the easier it is for Eggman to track them down and find them, you know? Now if you two were smart, you'd make a beeline for home before these guys wake up."

Rouge took off running across the lawn, and, with one flap of her leathery wings, took off into the sky with the box tucked safely under her arm. Matt sighed in frustration. Of course; his invaluable aid in recovering the Emerald also had to be a notorious jewel thief.

However, unbeknownst to the two young men, the first man that Rouge had knocked out, the man who was the supposed leader of the bunch, was making a slow move for his concealed pistol. With a loud pop, he sent a single round in Rouge's direction.

Although Rouge may have been a considerable distance away by now, the Julebu man's bullet did not miss its mark. It tore a hole in her left wing, causing her to drop out of the sky and let go of the box. Both of them fell somewhere behind some of the other houses.

Matt and Manuel were rooted to the spit, staring in shock. Yes, both had flinched at the unexpected noise of the gun being fired, but they were still shocked. Matt had not counted on that one man still being conscious, even if he was rendered immobile by the force of Rouge's legs. Furthermore, the fact that one bullet was all it took to neutralize Rouge was actually quite impressive.

Manuel was the first to recover. "Oh my gosh…" he gasped. "We gotta get outta here and go see if she's okay."

Matt could only nod as he followed his friend back to the car parked across the street. As they made their way across the street, Matt threw a glance behind him.

"They're waking up…" he noted. This only spurred them to run faster.

Meanwhile, the three men, who all felt sore at the sudden attack Rouge had done to them, all slowly began to stand up. All of them were astonished that none of them were armed. It was like their weapons were stolen. The boys were smarter than their local boss had thought.

As he slammed the driver's door shut next to him, Matt was equally surprised that no one was shooting at him or Manuel, or even making a move toward them. He had briefly forgotten that he had hidden their guns. Perhaps the Julebu men knew they had lost.

He floored the gas and sped forward just as Manuel was finishing bucking in. He thought it was too risky to turn around and go back the way he came; the boss was still armed; he had no idea he had still been concealing a gun.

He made Rouge his immediate priority. There was no telling how stable she was. She had fallen over fifty feet out of the sky, and also had a shot wing. She couldn't have survived that.

It was only a matter of time until it was too late, and Matt didn't want to think about what would happen if he didn't get to Rouge in time. Furthermore, he was completely unfamiliar with this neighborhood, so he hoped he wouldn't end up driving laps around the block.

Without slowing down, Matt drove around a dumpster truck that was leaving the neighborhood. He was intently focused on getting to Rouge and making sure she was okay, so he couldn't afford to slow down.

Matt drove in silence for the next four minutes before he finally reached the part of the neighborhood he was sure Rouge had fallen in. Even after two minutes of searching from the car, Rouge was nowhere to be seen. Both young men were sure the bat had fallen there.

Matt sighed. "Wherever she is, I hope she's gonna be okay." he tapped the steering wheel. "I mean, I barely know her, but that was wrong, what that guy did to her."

Manuel remained silent, like he was the whole trip over. He couldn't be more somber than he was in that moment.

"And we lost the Chaos Emerald too," Matt continued. "No way are we gonna look for a tiny box in this huge neighborhood. This whole day's gone down the toilet."

"Hey, wait," Manuel said, raising his head to face Matt. "Did I hear you say something about Sonic's plane being able to track Chaos Emeralds?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot!" Matt realized. "So I guess that means there's still a chance for Sonic to find the Emerald before Eggman does."

"But what about Rouge?" asked Manuel.

"She's… she's gone," Matt said quietly. "N-Not in that way! I mean, like, she should be somewhere around here, but she's not. I do think I heard that Rouge said she had a friend who works GUN. Hopefully she could call her for a lift, but for us, there's really nothing more we can do."

Manuel closed his eyes for a moment. "So… what now? Do we go back to my aunt's place?"

"Yeah," Matt said. "In fact, we gotta get outta here before the Julebu start looking for us. I mean, they already know what my car looks like."

"Oh…" realized Manuel. "Then we gotta go. I'm not sticking around this place if they're gonna look for us."

So Matt drove onward, eager as his friend was to leave the neighborhood and return to Aunt Rosa's house. He was sad on the inside that he lost the Emerald, and Rouge was down somewhere. He kept wondering if she was going to pull through. Mobians seemed to be naturally hardier than humans. He also knew that the Chaos Emerald would eventually be found. It had to.


The Julebu house – Tue May 10; 6:02 PM

Hours after the ordeal, a spotless silver Mercedes-Benz pulled up in front of the Julebu-occupied house. Its sole occupant stepped out of the driver's seat. He was a clean-shaven man wearing a suit and tie.

He strode toward the house's front door, but before he got the chance to knock, the door was opened by one of the Julebu men within.

"Is that you, Jerry?" he said. "You came just when you said you would."

"Call me Jerome," the man in the suit stated. "Jerome Wise."

The Julebu leader was taken aback at Jerome's identity, the name being very familiar to him. By now the other three men had gathered at the door as well.

"You… aren't you the former National Security Adviser?" the boss asked.

"Chief of Staff," Jerome corrected, "but that's beside the point. Am I correct to assume you have the Emerald in your possession as arranged?"

"We did have it," the Julebu boss said, his voice lowering into a state of anger, "but it got stolen."

Jerome's hands visibly tightened into fists. He tried to hold back his rising temper.

"Tell me what happened in detail, starting at the beginning," he demanded.

"Well, uh… you know what happened with the farmer's market and the two kids, right?" asked the Julebu boss. Jerome nodded. "Well, those two kids came right over here to get the Emerald back. I caught 'em right when I was grabbing a smoke. I almost caught 'em, and then this Mobian came in out of nowhere and beat the stuffing out of us." The boss grit his teeth. "And then they hide our guns and steal the Emerald!"

Jerome hummed in interest, and his hands loosened.

"This Mobian. What did it look like?" he questioned.

"It was too fast for me," said one of the men behind the boss.

"Oh, I saw her," said another man. "She was white, an' looked kinda like a bat wearin' tights."

"That's exactly whom I thought was responsible," Jerome surmised.

"And just when she was flying away with the Emerald, I shot a hole clean through her wing, and then she and the Emerald fell somewhere."

Jerome's eyes widened when he heard about the Julebu boss shooting Rouge. That was unheard of.

"So I can piece together that you couldn't find it, assuming you even looked for it in the first place."

"Oh, we looked," the man said with emphasis, his voice rising in volume. "We spent the better part of the last three hours looking for a stupid tiny box with a stupid latch, but we couldn't even find it!"

"Well, you know the deal," Jerome stated as he turned to leave. "No Emerald, no pay."

Without another word, he turned and briskly walked back toward the car. He heard the sound of fingers snapping, as well as the click-click sound of two guns being primed.

"I wouldn't," Jerome stated without turning around. "Touch me, and the doctor will descend upon you with an unfathomable vengeance. So if you don't want to be obliterated, I would suggest you put your weapons away now."

"Youre bluffing," the Julebu boss said.

"I might be, but if you've been watching the news, you know the doctor always sticks to his word. Weapons. Away. Now."

"Do what he says," the boss relented. The two other men lowered their weapons long enough for Jerome to walk out to his car.

"And don't follow me," Jerome called. "My threat still stands."

With no other choice, the Julebu men walked back inside the house and shut the door. They clearly did not want to reckon with Eggman.

"The doctor's gonna kill me…" Jerome muttered as he climbed back into his car and shut the door. As he dialed a number on his phone, he could only hope the doctor would have some mercy on him for this failed mission.

At least there was a click on the other end of the phone as the answering machine stopped buzzing.

"The doctor will be with you momentarily," came Decoe's mechanical voice from the other end. "Please hold."

Elevator music started up in the background, and Jerome had to pull away from the phone briefly as he heard Bokkun shout "Doctor! Phone call for you!" in his usual shrill tone. Jerome couldn't help but notice that Eggman was using Kevin MacLeod's Local Forecast song as his on-hold music, not that he was focusing on it. Still, Eggman wasn't very creative in his use of elevator music.

Eggman had originally considered giving Jerome a wrist communicator, but he decided his phone would do, because he didn't want anyone finding out that the former Chief of Staff was utilizing technology created by Eggman Industries. However, the government could trace Jerome's calls, and he knew the doctor could easily make something that looked identical to Earth phones for him to use instead.

Jerome had met Eggman and his hench-bots in person only once before, and that was roughly five weeks ago. Ever since Eggman's base was destroyed eight months ago, Jerome had been working as an undercover spy for Eggman, to eavesdrop on Sonic and his friends in a discreet manner, and see what kind of strategies they were planning to recover the remaining Chaos Emeralds.

There had been many times where he thought his cover would be blown. After all, he was a well-known political figure. Though, he decided it would be best to not station himself too close to the mansion, in case anyone, even those not living in the mansion, became suspicious of him.

During his in-person meeting with Eggman, Jerome had been given specific orders to prioritize the location of the remaining Chaos Emeralds. While Eggman had found one of them yesterday, Jerome himself was able to pinpoint the location of the seventh and last Emerald.

He had tracked it down to a farmer's market, and set up a stakeout in his car to monitor it until someone purchased it. Once the dot on his radar began moving, he secretly followed the consumers to their house, then kept driving onward, remembering the address.

He pulled into a McDonald's parking lot for lunch, where he decided takeout over drive-through was his best option. While he was at it, he contacted Eggman, who told him to negotiate with the Julebu in Station Square in order to acquire the Chaos Emerald. It was quite difficult to talk to them, but he offered to pay them a down payment of $500,000 in cash.

Now the briefcase was still full and sitting in the back of the car… all because of that stupid bat girl.

The elevator music abruptly ended as Eggman picked up the phone at last.

"Make it quick, Jerome," he said in his gravelly voice Jerome was getting accustomed to. "I'm working on a very complex robot design at the moment."

I don't care in the least, thought Jerome in frustration.

"Doctor, I regret to inform you that I… failed my task," he said aloud. He was inwardly sweating as he said this. He had no idea how Eggman would respond. His silence was foreboding, and Jerome wondered if he would have mercy on him.

"You know I don't tolerate failure, Jerome," Eggman stated in an even tone.

"I know," Jerome calmly replied. He closed his eyes for a moment. "The Julebu gang got the Emerald as we– you– had planned, but Rouge the Bat and two adult males bungled everything."

Jerome could hear Eggman growling from the other end of the phone.

"Rouge, that double-crossing jewel hoarder!" he exclaimed.

"Even worse," continued Jerome, "one of the men shot Rouge in the wing, and she dropped the Emerald somewhere. The Julebus looked all over for it for three hours with no luck."

Judging by the pause, Jerome wondered if he had said something wrong. However, he could somehow feel Eggman's grin on the other end of the phone.

"On the contrary," chuckled Eggman, "luck is all I need."

Jerome blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Listen carefully," Eggman announced. "It's time for a change of scenery. I'm going to arrange a job for you in the waste management department."

"What for?" asked Jerome. "That seems kind of unnecessary."

"It's entirely necessary," corrected Eggman. "This way, you can inconspicuously search around town for the Emerald while at the same time doing a little community service."

That would be a big backward leap for sure. Last year, he was the Chief of Staff, and now this year he would be a garbage man. That was crazy to think about.

"I suppose that makes sense," pondered Jerome, "but the Julebu boss said it was in a small box with a latch."

"Then look for a small box with a latch," Eggman replied, "and whatever you do…" His voice dropped to a dangerous level. "Don't fail me again. With any luck, I will have the seventh Emerald in my possession, and it all depends on your competence… or lack thereof. Now meet me at the abandoned Toys R Us on West Diamondback Avenue for your formal briefing."

Click.

Now the tension inside Jerome was on. It was ironic that he had risen so high under Eggman's leadership, yet was about to politically drop to a new low.

So he backed out of the driveway and left the neighborhood. He glanced up at the sky; the sun was setting, and it looked like it was going to rain soon. He sighed. This was a huge task he had been given. If he failed his new assignment, it would be curtains for him for sure.


An airliner – Wed May 11; 12:55 AM

Matt had finally managed to get on his flight at nearly one in the morning that night. As the plane slowly taxied forward, he drowsily watched the stewardess doing the pre-takeoff flight motions.

He felt like he failed Sonic. He really wished that he could have gotten that Chaos Emerald to him. And now, because of those gangsters, no one would be able to get it now. And that wasn't even going to say that Rouge was an absolute kleptomaniac.

After they returned to Manuel's house, the hospitable Aunt Rosa insisted that Matt stay with her and Manuel for the afternoon and dinner. At first Matt tried to back out, but there was hardly any saying no to Aunt Rosa, so he eventually gave in.

At supper, Manuel had mentioned something very interesting. He had mentioned back to Station Square permanently over the summer to be with his aunt. Also, job opportunities were opening up in town.

This was seriously tempting to Matt. He could easily move back soon. He couldn't live off of amateur video game developing forever. He had been working at McDonald's for a little while, but he seriously couldn't live off his uncle, aunt, and grandfather funding his expensive high-rise apartment either.

So yes, he could easily return to Station Square, but he believed there were still plenty of opportunities to be sought out in Minneapolis.

So as the plane took off into the sky, he leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, and tried to get some well-needed sleep. He hoped the Chaos Emerald would somehow eventually wind up in the right hands.


A/N: And that wraps up "Matt's Quest!" This story took me at least a few months to think of, because I'm not the best at coming up with original stories, but I do enjoy improving what others have written.

Basically, I wrote this whole episode just to explain how the seventh Chaos Emerald wound up in the landfill in the next episode. I was not satisfied with how it was there, and Tails didn't detect it. Also, you may be wondering, "How did Tails not detect the Emerald in this chapter, Stardown?" Well, basically, I imagine that Tails was in such a hurry to catch up with the out-of-control Sonic in episode 24 that he forgot to put a Chaos Emerald in the X-Tornado, which means he can't detect the Emeralds that way.

I hope this episode was not too similar to my episode 17 rewrite. I was a little worried about that. And for an original story, I feel like I did a good job with Rouge's characterization.

By the way, Matt will not appear again for a little while, and unfortunately, I don't have plans to bring back Manuel or Aunt Rosa for the rest of this story. They may be mentioned later on, though.

Also, Jerome has not appeared since episode 13's ending in this story, so I thought it was time to bring him back. I also wanted to explain how he was in a garbage truck in episode 25.

So generally, I feel pleased with the result of this chapter. Please, please let me know how I did with it, and if you have any constructive criticism, because I'm a bit shaky when it comes to writing original Sonic stuff.

Up next, I get to rewrite my two personal favorite episodes in all of Sonic X: "A Dastardly Deed" and "Countdown to Chaos". They have some of the best writing and intensity in the show in my opinion. I can't wait to show you all what I have planned for them.

Next time: "A Dastardly Deed", where the hunt is on for the seventh Chaos Emerald, and Knuckles plans to arrange a negotiation between Sonic and Eggman so that they can all return home! Don't miss it!