A/N: I am so sorry for the long delay in the posting of this chapter. But to make up for it, this is a MONSTER chapter, clocking in at over 30,000 words. It's the longest chapter of anything I have ever posted on this site. Merry Christmas :) I hope this was well worth the wait.
This is one of my favorite Sonic X episodes ever, and I was so excited to rewrite this one. It is chock full of intensity and emotion, and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.
Also, this is my first chapter that I ran through Grammarly. Since my friend SuperTailsFan0812 used it for her chapters, I thought I would give it a shot myself. I did not get the premium version, but I'm curious if you can notice a difference in quality in this chapter.
Speaking of SuperTailsFan0812, I was in a live chat with her, and she left this review of my story "I love your rewrites of Sonic X so much :) they feel like real episodes if Sonic X is remastered" "Like the emotion and intenseness is spot on :) You're doing very very well"
Thank you so much for your review, and I hope you have a very happy birthday next week! In return, everyone go check out her self-insert story, "A Special New Friendship: An Author's Adventure"! She will be posting a very special chapter very soon!
In this chapter, there will be a few new never-before-seen scenes (say that five times fast) that I had a lot of fun writing. While there are no content warnings for this chapter, there will be some in the next chapter, so just a heads-up. And don't be daunted by the size of this chapter. I encourage you to read it in several sittings if necessary. There are plenty of scene changes, except for one giant scene in the middle.
Before we kick off the penultimate chapter of the first season of Chaos on Earth, I want to thank Sapphire Dragon 01x, Luna Storms, Allie X 'I, SpectralWolf23, Collin249, ReedZoneAlert, sewaddle11, Duke47, Sonicfanoftheworld05, jesstaylor294, B4ttwell, GDAFF, CreativeKitty975, and Son of Anarchy Precure for supporting my story since the last update! And I want to give a special thank you to my friend Ryderboycolor9 for favoriting and following this story as well!
Without further ado, let's get into the reviews and what matters most: the story!
Since there are 11 reviews, it would take up too much room to repost them here like I've been doing, so they will be reply-only.
SuperTailsFan0812
YES! New review! :D
In hindsight, I love how Manuel was so excited about the Emerald that he just had to call Matt about it. I would tell everyone if I found a Chaos Emerald too, unless the situation is too dire.
Me too. Jet engines can be really loud and scary.
I really liked writing Manuel and Aunt Rosa too. I can't guarantee that they will appear again, though. And yes, you spelled his name right :)
I agree. I loved that I was able to include Rouge in Matt's adventure. She really fit in well.
You'll see. Mobians don't go down that easy. Even Sonic was able to recover after Mephiles blasted him at point-blank range.
The scene with Jerome and Eggman was one of the first scenes I gathered all the ideas for when I wrote this chapter. I thought it would be cool that instead of Jerome being a poor man on the streets, he works as Eggman's henchman like Snively or Agent Stone.
Thank you for reviewing! Here's the next long-awaited chapter! And happy birthday, my dear friend! :)
jurassicdinodrew
Um... I'm sorry, but I don't really take requests. It could be a great idea for your story though, if you're interested.
GuardianDragon98
Believe it or not, I wrote that whole chapter just to explain how the Chaos Emerald wound up at the landfill.
CVGWJames
Only nine out of ten? Any suggestions to make it better? JK lol :P Anyway, thank you for your review!
D.J. Scales
You're gonna get even more of Jerome's backstory in this chapter ;)
theIrishWriter
It's almost sad that this is one of the only faithful rewrites of Sonic X on this whole site. I've seen my fair share of rewrites that have an OC stealing Sonic's roles, and even having them being shipped with Shadow who somehow survives past episode 38.
I really like those ideas, and they could be used in their own story, but I will be adapting the episodes past 26 more faithfully to the original episodes (for the most part). I still like your ideas though!
Animation Adventures
Kudos for pointing that out! Yes, this episode takes place at the same time as the canon episode 24. As that episode was completely filler, I wanted to write something that was both original and canon. So if Matt seemed to not do much in the previous chapter, he was setting up for that chapter.
Yes, they are technically part of Hawk's old gang, but this is a completely different branch of them. Matt had no idea they operated in America too. And now that you mention it, I really like the name Creepy Stewart now :P And speaking of him, I hope you will like what I did with him in this chapter.
That is a very valid point, but Manuel didn't have a backpack on hand, and besides, he couldn't just hold the Emerald because Matt was paranoid that it would do something to the car. Its power would be neutralized inside the suitcase.
I love surprising my readers with a good plot twist :P
DeathRainbows
Thank you! I ran this chapter through Grammarly, but now I'm wondering if I don't need it as much as I thought.
ReedZoneAlert
...This is honestly one of the most heartfelt reviews I have ever gotten. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story and leave a review on it!
I will continue to update the other versions of Chaos on Earth as I update the older chapters during the hiatus. Then I will post the updated chapters here.
I am so glad I decided to set this story after Forces, because it seems to make a lot of sense that way! I try to tie everything into my headcanon, except for Fleetway and, for the most part, AoStH, Underground, and Boom.
I hate to burst your bubble, but Shard will not be appearing in this story. But you can count on the fact that the Metarex Saga is going to be EPIC. I have TONS of ideas for it!
Once again, thank you so much for reviewing!
azzyofhyperdeath
I'm glad you're still sticking with us! Here's the next chapter!
CreativeKitty975
Thank you for reviewing! And thank you so much for checking out my stories and SuperTailsFan0812's stories! :)
Actually, that was the whole reason I wrote this episode. It took a long time to plan, but I am amazed at the end result.
And I can guarantee that you will be in for an intense journey starting this chapter!
Disclaimer: Ugh, fine, I guess I am Eggman's little pogchamp. But I still won't listen to him!
The Last Day
Station Square – Wed May 11; 3:13 PM – Chris' POV
I couldn't have been more excited that day.
It was a beautiful Wednesday afternoon in May in the city of Station Square, and school had just been let out for the day. This was only the third to last school day of the year. Only two more days in class and sixth grade would be history.
I could hardly wait for summer vacation to finally begin. No more hassle of homework. No more poring over countless tests and exams. Just loads of fun with my friends ahead of me, both human and Mobian.
"Hey guys, you wanna come over to my house?" I asked as Danny, Frances, Helen, and I headed out the doors into the open air.
Danny fist pumped. "Do you even have to ask?" he cheered. "Yeah I do!"
"Me too!" seconded Helen.
"Me three," Frances agreed. "But I might have to go home early, though. It's my grandpa's birthday today."
"It's okay," I responded. "And tell your grandpa happy birthday for me."
"Sure thing," replied Frances.
Over the course of the school year, I felt like I was gradually becoming more popular at school again, and a lot of my classmates were even genuinely liking me more and more, and not just because I was popular. I even made a few new friends, but none of them were nearly as outgoing as Danny, Frances, and Helen. The four of us had become very close-knit over time, and we were practically in each other's pockets by now.
During the school year, I started to develop a small… crush… on Helen, and it didn't take very long for Danny and Frances to notice. Frances thought it was so cute, but that only made me blush. Danny, on the other hand, occasionally teased me about having a girlfriend, but that started to die down over the last month.
On the days that I brought my homework home, I was almost always able to work on the problems by myself when I was sitting at my desk in my room. However, I still struggled with some concepts like long division and algebra. Fortunately for me, Tails and sometimes Amy would occasionally help me work out the more difficult problems step by step, and best of all, the school never found out that I was getting inside help. I was so lucky that one of my best friends was a genius who made it look like advanced algebra problems were no harder than basic addition.
But now, all that remained for me was the finals…
Now, we were on our way back to my house. Danny and I were riding our bikes slowly to keep in pace with Frances and Helen, who both regularly took the bus to school. We were chatting about all kinds of different stuff, mostly about the latest news with me and my other friends, and what was up with them. There was a lot for me to share, especially about the anniversary party.
It took the four of us just over twenty minutes to reach the front gates of my mansion. However, I thought it would be better to lead my friends over to the driveway leading to the garage, rather than toward the front door.
Danny squinted. "I think I see 'em over there!" he announced as he pedaled ahead of everyone and rounded the corner.
"Wait for me!" I called as I too followed suit. To be honest, I didn't even think that I was leaving the girls in the dust. But Frances, being the competitive tomboy that she was, grabbed Helen's wheelchair handlebars and pushed as hard as she could to keep up with us.
"Hang on tight, Helen!" I heard Frances call behind me. Helen let out a startled yelp as her chair was pushed quickly up the driveway.
The X-Tornado was positioned in takeoff position at the top of the driveway, and Grandpa, Tails, Amy, and Cream were all outside, getting it ready to launch. But I was surprised to see that Ella and Mr. Tanaka were also outside with them. That was strange; they were never outside when the X-Tornado took off.
As Grandpa disappeared into the garage, probably to get the other Emeralds for the X-Tornado, Tails turned in time to see us coming. He smiled.
"Hi, guys!" he greeted with a wave. "You're just in time for the takeoff!"
"Yo, Chris!" Sonic added from the plane. "Long time no see!"
"It's only been like seven hours, Sonic," I deadpanned, but I was still smiling nonetheless.
Sonic chuckled. "I kinda wasn't expecting you to bring all your friends today, but you know, the more, the merrier!"
"Oh, guys, we got some really great news we wanna share with you!" Amy announced as she ran up. "You can tell them, Cream," she added softly to the bunny next to her.
I found myself wondering what Cream had to say. It had to be amazing if Amy was so excited about it. Even Cream looked like she could hardly contain her excitement.
Cream glanced at the ground, feeling a little nervous because she wasn't used to making announcements to several people at once. But she worked up her inner courage and looked up.
"Mr. Chris' grandpa got off the phone with Mr. Matt when you were in school," she timidly spoke. "He said he made it home safely, and he saw the seventh Chaos Emerald!"
"Wow, really?" Danny exclaimed. "That's awesome!"
"I'm so happy for you!" Helen cheered as she rolled forward in her chair to scoop Cream and Cheese into a hug.
Just about everyone was excited that my friends had learned about the seventh Chaos Emerald. Everyone, that is… except me. Yes, I was happy for them that it would mean they were finally on the way home. They had been away from Mobius for a very long time, and to them, it meant hope.
To me, it meant something completely different…
"Do you know if Matt still has it?" asked Danny once the initial excitement had died down.
"He did have it," responded Tails as he glanced back at the garage to see if Grandpa was coming. "But… he doesn't have it anymore. Rouge showed up and took it from him, and then she… I don't know, lost it."
"What?" Helen repeated, confusion forming in her features. "Wait, hold on. You told me about Rouge; she doesn't just 'lose' jewels, am I right about that?"
Amy nodded. "Yeah. She always keeps a tight grip on them whenever she steals them. But this time she did lose the Emerald. Matt told us that someone had shot her in the wing, and she dropped it somewhere."
I gasped in unison with my three human friends. I… I couldn't believe someone had the nerve to do that. I didn't know Rouge that well, but she was always so stealthy. I was shocked that someone had actually shot her.
Frances lowered her hands from her mouth. "I-Is she okay?"
Sonic winked and flashed her a thumbs-up. "She'll be just fine, Frances," he said. "When you guys were at school, I stopped by the hospital and checked up on her. Her wing's all patched up and everything. The doc told her to let it heal for a few weeks, and they don't want her flying anywhere right now."
I thought it was pretty cool how they were able to take care of a Mobian at the hospital when everyone barely even knew how a Mobian body worked. But still, if I was right, Rouge was the very first Mobian to be admitted into the hospital. Amy and Cream had the Mobian Flu awhile back, but they were quite mild cases, and it was treated at home, so no hospital trips were needed for them.
Cream bounced around in her now-growing excitement. "After we get this Emerald, we can all go home, and… and I can see my mama again! Let's go, let's go!"
"Chao chao chaaaaoo!" Cheese cheered as he too fluttered around. The small ball above him morphed into a heart.
I idly watched Amy and Cream as they danced hand in hand in glee. They were all so excited. Normally I would have been excited with them, but there was this feeling inside of me that I couldn't quite place, but it kind of felt like… dread…
"Okay, I'm all set!" called Tails from the pilot's seat. I didn't even notice him fly up there. "Anyone wanna come with us?"
"May I go, please–"
"Oh, me! Me!" Danny exclaimed, interrupting Cream.
I cracked a smile at my friend's ambition. Danny was always willing to fly in the X-Tornado with his friends. He wanted to go every chance he got.
"Okay, okay! You can come!" Tails chuckled. "Hey Cream, Danny's gonna go today because he doesn't get to travel with us as much as you do, okay? You'll get your turn next, I promise."
"Okay," relented Cream.
Unfortunately, the X-Tornado was not made with wheelchairs in mind, so that meant Helen couldn't go. However, Tails was considering making a wheelchair-accessible modification by folding one of the seats back to make room for her. She could also be lifted bodily into the X-Tornado, but then she wouldn't be able to bring her wheelchair. Tails was still pondering a workaround method.
Even several months later, Frances was still a bit nervous to fly after what happened to her the last time she flew, and Tails understood. She had sustained injuries at Tingalin Villa, and she was panicked at the several close calls she had at Eggman's base. However, Tails had promised her that the X-Tornado was very safe, and he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Frances did consider trying again someday, but it would still be quite a while for her.
"Sorry I kept you waiting, Tails!" called Chuck as he emerged from the garage with three Chaos Emeralds in his hands. "It was a bit tricky carrying these and shutting the hatch at the same time."
"Nah, it's okay," Tails replied. "Hey Amy, can you get the ladder set up for us?"
"Sure, Tails!" she agreed as she walked over to the portable ladder nestled along the garage wall.
"I can help you, Miss Amy," offered Tanaka as he joined her.
"Oh, thanks, Mr. Tanaka!" Amy beamed.
"Here, Cream, do you want to help load these in?"
My attention was turned to Grandpa as he offered one of the Emeralds to Cream and Cheese.
"Yes please, Grandpa!" Cream smiled as she accepted the offered Emerald. Chuckling, Grandpa offered a second one to Cheese, who gave a few squeaks of thanks, and placed the third one himself into one of the slots.
"Hey, Chris, are you doing okay?" came Helen's voice from behind me as I was stepping toward the ladder on the other side of the plane. I turned around to look at her.
"Y-yeah," I lied. "I'll be fine, thanks."
I turned back and walked toward the ladder, which Amy and Tanaka had positioned next to the second compartment. Amy had locked it in place so that it wouldn't accidentally roll away. I let Danny climb in ahead of me, and he climbed into the back seat. I sighed inwardly and scaled the ladder after him.
Once I was buckled in, I looked down as Amy unlocked the ladder and moved it over to the front compartment. After locking it once again, she climbed up and sat down in the seat behind Tails.
"I can't believe we're so close," Danny commented.
"Yeah…" I replied. "It's been really fun."
I looked down at my shoes, trying to hide the sadness that was starting to mount up inside me. No one needed to know what this would mean for me on a personal level. I couldn't just accept this.
I knew something like this would happen one of these days, but I wasn't prepared for it to happen now. I wished I knew how to prepare myself for the situation that my friends would find the seventh Chaos Emerald. And now it was too late. Too late to turn back. Too late to convince my friends to stay. They were on a collision course for returning home, and I didn't have the heart to stop them.
"Bon voyage!" called Tanaka as he unlocked the ladder and moved it back toward the garage.
"Stay safe out there!" added Ella.
"Good luck," Grandpa said. "I know you can find that Emerald, Tails!"
"Since Matt said it was somewhere in the city," responded Tails, "I don't think we'll have too much trouble finding it."
"That's what I like to hear," Grandpa smiled, giving his young friend a thumbs-up, which Tails returned.
"Bye, guys!" Amy called as the front hatch slowly descended and sealed itself.
"Bye-bye!" Cream added with a wave.
"Chao-chaaaoo!" echoed Cheese.
There were a few more goodbyes as the back canopy also sealed itself with a hiss. I too said goodbye, trying to make myself sound as normal and enthusiastic as I could despite my emotional state.
Now that the hatches were closed, Tails activated the sequence that ignited the engines, making sure that everyone had cleared from the X-Tornado first. As he did this, I made sure both Danny and myself were buckled in, which we were. I always buckled in the moment I sat down.
Next, there was a mechanical sound as the two upper wings slowly moved into flight position.
"Everyone buckled in?" asked Tails. We all said yes, and once again I found myself having to force a smile onto my face so that no one would ask me any probing questions about how I felt right now.
"Great!" Tails said. "Now we're just waiting on Chuck and then we can get started on our search. I can't believe this is the last Emerald already…"
I gazed out the window at the palm trees, knowing what step of the takeoff procedure was next. Sure enough, all of the palm trees lining the driveway gradually folded back. It had practically turned into a tradition, as Tails liked to call it, but Grandpa still claimed it was for safety precautions. Even now, Grandpa kept insisting that they pivot all the trees away from the driveway just so that there would be no potential accidents. Yet there hadn't been a single accident, especially considering the driveway was much wider than the X-Tornado.
I took a deep breath and let it out again, trying to ignore the emotional pain in the pit of my stomach. This would be my final flight with my friends… my last one ever before… before they would all go home… forever.
"Okay, guys… taking off now!" came Tails' voice from the front.
The plans slowly started forward, and we gained speed as it taxied down the driveway. Like every time I flew before, I was so glad that Tails knew exactly what he was doing, and the driveway was miraculously long enough for his planes.
"And here… we… go!"
I felt myself being pushed back against my seat as the X-Tornado lifted off the ground and into the air. Tails' takeoffs had been getting much better, and he was easily able to clear the trees on the other side of the road outside the house.
In the moments that followed, I could feel the mechanical locking sounds beneath me as the landing gear retracted, and the lower wings extended into flight mode. The whole time I was staring out the window at nothing in particular, though there were many sights to see, like the numerous trees and rooftops whizzing by beneath us.
"Hey Chris?" came Danny's voice from behind me. I didn't really feel like talking to anyone right now, but I didn't want to be rude.
"Yeah…?" I responded without looking up.
"You okay?" he asked. "You're, uh, kinda not with us today."
"Yeah," I said in as cheery a voice as I could muster. "Just… thinking is all."
Fortunately, Danny dropped the subject sooner than I had been expecting. Now I could be left to my thoughts.
Everyone was so happy that they had found the seventh Chaos Emerald. That they would be going home very soon. Even my own human friends were excited for them. So why wasn't I happy for them too?
The answer was simple. They lived in my house, and I got to interact with them every single day. They were my friends, the closest friends I ever had. And now… they would be taken from me forever.
Today was it... today was the last day Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends would be on the face of the Earth.
The Egg Fort II - Fri May 13; 2:30 PM - Third-person POV
Now it was Friday, around two in the afternoon. The forested region in the hills of Silver Valley proved to be a very good hiding spot for Eggman's massive flying fortress. The doctor presumed that nobody would think to look for him in a would-be state forest. Most of the time he would have opted to hide out under the ocean, but not today. He had other plans.
"And there you go again, searching for the seventh Chaos Emerald," he spoke as he watched the X-Tornado on one of the viewscreens. "You travel to and fro, searching for the final ticket to complete your little round trip journey and return to Mobius. But little do you know that luck is finally on my side for once."
The doctor stroked his mustache, his gaze never leaving the screen.
"Rouge may have lost the Emerald, but that only adds to the challenge. That only means it's anyone's game now."
He leaned over to press a button on the side of his command chair, which shut off the screen.
"Today is the day I make my move," Eggman declared. "Today I will claim the Emerald, as well as all of the ones the rodents have in their possession. Victory will be mine, and nothing will stop me from constructing the Eggman Empire this time."
"Why is Dr. Eggman monologuing again…?" Decoe quietly mused.
"Please do not risk spoiling his content demeanor," cautioned Bocoe.
Both robots snapped to attention as their creator rose from his seat and turned around to face them.
"It's time," he spoke in a low voice. "The robot I have been slaving tirelessly over for the past few days, my latest and greatest addition to the E-Series, is finally complete."
"If you are this confident, Doctor," said Decoe, "then this robot must be a superweapon."
"Perhaps it is not unlike Metal Sonic," added Bocoe.
"All in good time, you two," Eggman said, holding up a finger. "Starting today, E-77 will be my key to world domination. Now watch and behold as I present my newest master creation!"
He strode on his long legs over toward the door at the back of the ship's minuscule bridge, and the door automatically slid open. It stumbled a small bell-shaped robot with rabbit's feet, a horseshoe, and a four-leaf clover.
"Come to daddy!" Eggman invited, bending down to eye level with the robot. It slowly stepped into the room, but it had only managed to take a few steps before it tripped over nothing and fell flat onto its face. Even more surprisingly, Eggman showed little or no reaction. He didn't even look remotely angry, which confused his hench-bots.
"I do not wish to critique your genius, Doctor," Bocoe spoke, "but the quality of this robot is underwhelming."
"I can in no way calculate its capability of retrieving the Chaos Emerald," added Decoe. "It can barely move without falling."
Eggman held up a finger. "That's because you're judging the book by its cover," he chided. "E-77 Lucky is by far one of my most difficult and complex robots to design. In fact, it was in the planning stages for at least half a year now."
The two robots watched as E-77 flailed around, trying to pick itself up.
"Just give it a moment," Eggman said. "It'll recuperate. So when I was developing E-77, even I thought it was flawed, but in the end, it passed numerous tests I challenged it with." He stood back up. "Not only with flying colors, but in ways that no other robot could accomplish."
E-77 struggled for another moment, then succeeded in standing back onto its feet with a few small unintelligible beeps of triumph.
"Now then," Eggman announced, turning to his hench-bots. "Care to guess what the secret to its success is?"
"Deriving from its name alone," Decoe speculated, "I calculate that its specialty is… luck."
Eggman smiled. "Indeed it is."
"That would explain the humans' superstitious luck symbols and its designation number," Bocoe commented.
"Doctor," Decoe started, "Would it be impractical, as well as lazy, to rely on luck to accomplish your goals?"
Eggman walked back toward the ship's console and pressed a few buttons. A distant hissing sound could be heard as the Egg Fort II's exit hatch began to open. Instinctively, E-77 began to walk back through the door it had come from.
"Doctor…?" repeated Decoe.
"Not at all," Eggman replied. "You will soon find that luck is an invaluable ally. Do you remember the Freedom Fighters' ally Sticks the Badger? She had a firm belief in a luck balance of the universe. In fact, she single-handedly managed to wipe out an entire Egg Pawn patrol with sheer luck. And then that opened the door for Sonic and his friends to subsequently take back a village."
"Explain how you were able to quantify a superstitious belief," Bocoe challenged.
"Long story short," Eggman stated, "it took me a whole year to even comprehend the concept, and quite some time more after that to simulate it and virtually compile it into digital form. It would have taken even more time than that for the combined minds of the garden-variety scientists back on Mobius. But I, the genius Dr. Eggman, have managed to do so myself!"
Eggman glanced outside to see Lucky walking down the ramp. It tripped and fell over once more, causing it to roll on its bell-shaped body all the way down the ramp. Once it reached the bottom, another moment passed before it picked itself up once again and continued walking away from the ship.
"Did you see that?" Eggman said as he raised the ramp back up. "E-77 already knew what to do, and I didn't even have to give it the order."
"Doctor, our current position is in a forest one mile from Silver Valley, which in turn is thirty-five miles outside of Station Square," countered Decoe. "E-77 cannot walk that far."
"It may not have to," Eggman smirked with glee. "You'll see. With any luck, and I mean it quite literally, the seventh Chaos Emerald will be sitting in the palm of my hand within the next twenty-four hours."
He chuckled evilly, and Decoe and Bocoe were left blinking in confusion.
The forest - Fri May 13; 2:37 PM - Third-person POV
With Chaos Emerald in hand, Knuckles was trekking through the thick foliage of the forest surrounding Silver Valley. It was oddly strange for the echidna to be back here. In fact, the last time he was anywhere near Silver Valley was back when he was tricked by Dr. Eggman.
But Knuckles wasn't here to reminisce. No, he was here because he had reason to believe there was a Chaos Emerald somewhere in the forest. Whether it was the last remaining one or not, he had no clue, but he had to find out.
He knew there was only one Chaos Emerald left that had yet to be claimed by either him, Sonic, or Eggman. Once it was found, the only thing left to do was to somehow get a hold of Eggman's own Chaos Emerald, meet up with Sonic, and initiate Chaos Control so that they could all return to Mobius where they belonged. He missed Mobian territory, but he kept telling himself not to get too accustomed to the Earth humans' ways because he knew he wouldn't be here forever.
The Master Emerald was practically within reach now. It had been nine incredibly long months since he had been anywhere near its polished surface and infinite radiance. At least he found some comfort in the fact that Rouge wouldn't be touching it in his absence or anything.
For the past fifteen minutes, Knuckles had been pondering the vision he saw in Hong Kong. There was apparently another controller, but it wasn't the one that unified the Chaos Emeralds' power. Only the Master Emerald could keep their power balanced. The more he thought of it, the less sense it made.
A sudden glare from nearby caused him to squint. He swung his hand around, and only then did he realize that it was the red Chaos Emerald in his hand that had caused the glare. It had glowed so brightly all of a sudden.
Knuckles' eyes narrowed in determination. Perhaps the Emerald was indicating that he was closing in on the location of the final Chaos Emerald. It had to be around here somewhere.
It was literally anyone's game now. As it stood, Sonic had four of the Emeralds, and Knuckles had one, which gave Team Sonic a huge advantage in the fight overall. However, Eggman still had one of them which he obtained at the anniversary party, and knowing his tight security, it certainly would not be easy to get it back from him. And Eggman would never willingly surrender the Emerald, not even for a cause like this one. In fact…
An idea began to take form in Knuckles' head. There was a way he could get the Emerald back from Eggman, but it would be a bit risky. Perhaps the only way the doctor could be persuaded to hand it over was if Knuckles arranged for him and Sonic to negotiate.
Diplomacy was never one of Knuckles' strong points, which was why Amy did most of the talking during the war, so an action like this was not in his nature. Furthermore, Sonic and Eggman were bitter enemies, rarely if ever seeing eye-to-eye, but Knuckles had to act as the middle man, to make sure the transaction was fair and honest.
He had to do this. It was the only way to return home without further conflict.
His highly acute senses picked up a rustling sound coming from a nearby clump of bushes, as well as something oddly… mechanical. Curiosity got the better of him, and he walked over and peered around the bush to see a small robot that had fallen over and was struggling to stand.
His first instincts told him that it was one of Eggman's robots, and yet… it wasn't his usual design. Upon closer inspection, he could make out a small Eggman emblem and the code "E-77" printed upon its exterior – telltale clues to its identification as one of Eggman's robots.
Even stranger still, there were no visible weapons to be found anywhere on the robot. It didn't seem to pose a threat in any way, so he had no reason to immediately destroy it.
The robot didn't know Knuckles was there as it picked itself up. The echidna found himself wondering how any of Eggman's creations could be that clumsy.
"You're one of Eggman's robots, aren't you?" Knuckles asked in a soft tone as he stepped out from behind the bush. "What are you doing way out here?"
As most of Eggman's robots did not have emotion chips, E-77 did not feel frightened at Knuckles' sudden appearance. Instead, it raised its mechanical right hand and pointed at something in the distance. Knuckles followed the robot's gaze, and he let out an involuntary gasp at what he saw.
The Egg Fort II was parked in a clearing not too far away. Knuckles now found himself wondering how Eggman was hiding out in Silver Valley without anyone detecting him.
Out of curiosity, he held up his Chaos Emerald toward the Egg Fort II. The ruby-red gem was glowing brighter than ever now. Just as he thought; there was definitely a Chaos Emerald inside, most likely the one Eggman had taken from Hollywood. It was a pity it wasn't the last remaining one.
But he mentally reminded himself to stick to his mission. As much as he wanted to bust up Eggman's ship and take the Emerald by force, he wanted to avoid further conflict. As it was, all the battles had taken their toll on the humans' economy, and besides, even if he did manage to scrape together all of the Emeralds and get home, Eggman would be left behind on Earth, and he was not about to risk that chance.
As much as he hated to admit it, diplomacy was his only choice here. Sonic was most likely at Chris' house at the moment, and Knuckles needed to talk to him, and him alone. He was the leader of Team Sonic, after all. Though, he was unsure of what everyone else would think about it, but that was something he would worry about later.
But as he turned around and was making his way back through the forest, he could hear the sound of mechanical footsteps behind him. A quick glance back confirmed that, yes, E-77 was following him.
But why…?
Knuckles tried to shrug it off, but the robot was persistent. It was not very fast, but it was very persistent. For whatever reason, it was almost as if it wanted to come with him.
"You can't follow me," Knuckles stated curtly, but the robot did not listen.
He stopped walking and glanced back at E-77, wondering if it was even worth the effort to bring it with him. But sometimes Knuckles just couldn't say no. He was always persuaded to join Cream's tea parties. He was always persuaded to join in on other events that otherwise just weren't worth his time. And this robot was no different.
Finally, he let out a sigh.
"Fine, have it your way," he said as he lifted E-77 off the ground and continued running back in the direction of Station Square.
Oakview Elementary - Fri May 13; 8:48 AM - Chris' POV
"You are dismissed," came Mr. Stewart's voice from the front of the room.
Normally this would have been music to my ears, especially on the very last day of math class for the year. The remaining classes, as well as lunch and recess, were all that remained ahead of me, and then it was time for summer vacation. So I should have been excited, right?
However, the whole time I was sitting at my desk, I could barely concentrate. My head was not in the game. The pit of my stomach was filled with great anxiety that only continued to grow with each passing day that my friends and I didn't find the last Chaos Emerald. I would have thought that something like that would bring me relief, but it did anything but. Each unsuccessful day was only delaying the inevitable.
It was only two days after the bombshell, and I was already slowly losing my appetite and even sleep out of stress. In fact, that night, I had a very hard time trying not to cry over the issue. But I would not tell anyone. I thought it was best to keep this from everyone. No one needed to know what this would mean for me. And to my surprise, no one had asked me if I was okay yet… until now.
"You okay, Chris?" Danny asked as I got up and gathered my things.
"Yeah, thanks," I shrugged, trying to make myself as convincing as possible.
"I don't know," Frances said. "You didn't seem like yourself during class."
"Yeah, just… didn't get enough sleep last night," I lied. That seemed to be a pretty easy bullet to dodge, especially since they didn't probe any further. I got lucky.
However, my luck ran out as I joined my classmates to file out of the room. Mr. Stewart laid a hand on my shoulder to stop me, which I did.
For some reason, it always seemed like he could read me like a book, and this was one of the worst times for him to do that. He could always tell when I didn't get enough sleep, or when I could have studied a little harder. I also seemed to be the teacher's pet a little bit to him. He was a little strange, but I still liked him.
"Not so fast, young man," Mr. Stewart was telling me. "I just wanted to say I couldn't help but notice that you didn't seem too focused on the final exam today."
"Yeah…" I sighed. I would have been very lucky to even get an A-, but I was probably looking at a B+ or a B. The questions weren't overly hard, but the algebra ones gave me a bit of trouble, probably from understudying.
"Look at me," he instructed. I reluctantly lifted my eyes to meet his. "Chris, I'm looking at bags under your eyes. Have you not been getting enough sleep?" His tone became a mixture of concerning and serious. "Did something change in your home life? What's going on?"
I gulped on the inside. There was no way out of this, so I hoped that it wouldn't hurt to tell the truth… at least, part of it.
"I… I don't know…" I quietly admitted. "I guess lately I've been feeling kinda… I don't know, depressed…"
A nod from Mr. Stewart. "Like you're being torn apart on the inside?"
Now it was my turn to nod. He seemed to be probing deep, almost like he had an idea what was bothering me. He must have seen the news too.
Dialing back the intensity, Mr. Stewart opted to lean on his desk behind him.
"I think I may know the root everything," he said matter-of-factly. "One part of you wants to help your friends, and you have devoted so much of your time and energy to find all the Chaos Emeralds and use them to get them back to their home planet. But the other half of you, that half has formed strong attachments with them in your heart, and that half fears that if they do return home, then you'll lose your friends forever. This bitter conflict is affecting your sleep, as well as other parts of your life, like your exams. So, how close am I?"
I pondered Mr. Stewart's words as he spoke. Yes, he was very close to explaining how I felt inside. But how did he know about it all? Maybe it was more obvious than I thought.
But now that my teacher's words were sinking in, I started to feel a little more comfortable talking about myself. So I took a breath, and let it out again before speaking.
"Y-Yeah…" I said. "It… I think it started like two days ago… M-My cousin was in town, and then he went back to Minneapolis… My friends told me he called to say that he saw the seventh Chaos Emerald, and…"
"And once Sonic finds it, he and his friends will go home, and you're worried that you'll never see them again?" Mr. Stewart finished.
I nodded, still playing with my fingers nervously.
"Wh-what do I do, Mr. Stewart?"
Mr. Stewart frowned for a moment, before an idea came to him.
"Okay, give me your hand for a moment," he said.
I hesitated for a moment, thinking that was a bit of a strange request. But at my teacher's reassuring nod, I complied and slowly held out my hand. He picked up a Werther's butterscotch candy from off the desk behind him and placed it in my open hand.
"You may eat it," he invited.
For a moment, I stared at the golden yellow wrapped candy in my hand.
"O-Okay…" I said as I unwrapped the butterscotch and popped it into my mouth. The whole time I was wondering why Mr. Stewart was doing this. He had always been a little odd, but not quite on this level.
"Does it taste good?" he asked.
I slowly nodded. This was getting borderline weird, but at the same time, Mr. Stewart seemed like he knew what he was doing.
"The delicious candy you're having is eventually going to dissolve in your mouth, but its great taste will linger behind," he explained. "Just like you're always going to have all the memories of the time you have spent with your friends. Dr. Seuss once said, 'Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.'"
I wordlessly nodded.
"Trust me, Chris, it's natural to feel this way, but you'll need to accept that they will have to return to their world sooner or later. If you've ever been homesick before, then you'll know how they feel, right? You need to think about what's best for them, okay?"
Again I nodded. Mr. Stewart laid a gentle hand on my shoulder, and I looked back up at him.
"Trust me," he said, "you won't be the only one missing them. Everyone in America is going to miss them too. But we will never forget their heroic deeds, and I sure hope you won't forget them either." He looked me in the eye. "I can guarantee you, as Sonic always likes to say, everything will work out in the end, okay? Now off you go; you don't want to be late for your next class."
He lifted his hand off my shoulder, and I gave him a nod of thanks before hurrying out of the classroom.
"Don't run, please!" called Mr. Stewart.
"Oh, sorry," I replied, and slowed to a brisk walk.
As I continued to mindlessly suck on my candy, I knew that Mr. Stewart had made some really good points. The aftertaste of my candy would remain, just like the memories of my time with my best friends. But I didn't know if his sound advice was enough to dull the pain and calm the storm within me.
Oakview Elementary - Fri May 13; 8:53 AM - Third-person POV
Mr. Stewart watched Chris briskly walk down the hall toward his next class. Yes, he knew Chris might be late by about a minute or two, but he felt like the talk was necessary. He knew something looked off about Chris since yesterday. He didn't want to approach him too soon just in case the issue didn't persist.
He had been briefed on such a situation as this. He knew the seventh Chaos Emerald would eventually be discovered, and Chris would slip into depression. He had not been told how to deal with it, so it was on a whim, as well as in the moment, that he came up with the candy analogy. It worked like a charm.
But now that it was the last day of school, and Chris was leaving his class for the last time… Mr. Stewart sighed. Teaching a sixth grade class had grown on him a lot over the past year. But now his mission was finally complete. He would miss everyone in the class, but as a highly-trained CIA operative, it was time to move on.
He walked back to his desk and pulled back his sleeve, revealing his watch. To the untrained eye, it was just an ordinary watch, but Mr. Stewart used it to communicate with the higher-ups. It was time to check in for the last time.
"Chalkboard Charlie to Mission Control," he spoke. "Subject C has concluded his class."
"You are three minutes later than usual," came the voice of the agent on the other end of the watch. "What was the situation?"
"I had to have a talk with Subject C because he was feeling depressed about… their departure," Mr. Stewart reported. "I can't tell if it helped."
"Whatever the case, your mission is complete. Report back to Mission Control for debriefing as soon as possible."
"Roger. Charlie out."
As Mr. Stewart disconnected the call, he looked around the room. There were so many memories to be had over the past school year. He had initially been sent there by the Central Intelligence Agency to inconspicuously collect information on Sonic the Hedgehog through the boy he was living with. To his relief, the nine-month-long mission had been fully carried out without a hitch. The only problem was the robot that infiltrated the school near the beginning, but Sonic had easily taken care of that.
As time went on, the CIA felt like they had collected enough information on Sonic, but decided not to immediately withdraw Mr. Stewart to avoid suspicion from the superintendent. By keeping him at the school for the full school year, they would be able to possibly learn more about Sonic, his friends, Dr. Eggman, or the mystical Chaos Emeralds.
Now that he had finished tidying up after the class, he started toward the door, wondering if he would again cross paths with Sonic the Hedgehog or Christopher Thorndyke in the future.
The White House - Fri May 13; 4:13 PM EDT – Third-person POV
"So let me get this straight," began the President. "The way I see it, Chaos Control is some kind of energy burst that happens when all seven Chaos Emeralds are brought together. Am I correct, Rouge?"
President Remerson and Christina Cooper were gathered in the Oval Office. Via video chat, they were communicating with Topaz and Rouge, who were back at Topaz's house. Now that the end was coming, it was Christina's idea to call an emergency meeting with the agent they knew was an expert on Chaos energy.
For the past ten minutes, Rouge had been explaining to the Commander-in-Chief in painstaking detail all she knew about the intricacies of how they made it to planet Earth. The President and Chief of Staff had been silently listening, occasionally asking a question for clarification.
"Not quite," Rouge answered the President's question. "But you are spot-on with one thing. Yes, you can teleport using the Chaos Emeralds, but you don't necessarily need all seven of them. However, all seven were present to create the event at that scale."
She adjusted herself in her seat. It seemed she wanted the whole seat to herself, so Topaz was forced to stand next to her instead. It would have been amusing if the situation wasn't so heavy.
"Furthermore," continued Rouge, "I suspect there was another key factor to the magnitude of the Chaos Control event that came into play. I still have yet to discover what it is, though."
"I see," the President nodded. "So all seven Chaos Emeralds were the catalyst to you and your comrades from Mobius being transported here to Earth."
"For the most part, yes," Rouge said.
"Okay," President Remerson said. "Who is carrying Chaos Emeralds, if you know, and how many?"
"I know Knuckles and Eggman each have one, and I think Sonic has…" Rouge closed her eyes in thought. "...four now, I think? That means there is only one more left to find." She opened her eyes again. "What's your game plan, Prezzie-Baby?"
"Please, I asked you not to call me that…" the President groaned. "But what I'm thinking is if we can somehow gather all seven Chaos Emeralds together, it's possible a Chaos Control event can be replicated, effectively sending Dr. Robotnik back to Mobius."
"Under the right circumstances–"
"Hold up," Topaz interrupted Rouge, stepping within full view of the camera. "It's not as simple as that. Before we go through with this, we need to do a thorough evaluation of the impacts it would have on the infrastructure, as well as the environment. If what Rouge is saying is correct, not even Eggman himself could keep the Emeralds from unleashing their power and activating Chaos Control."
The President now looked more resigned and solemn. Topaz was bringing up some really good points.
"Chaos Control has to have been an extremely powerful energy surge, especially on the scale Rouge described. This is an energy we have absolutely no conception of. The way I see it, if it is not properly contained, the event could spread out for miles and possibly transport innocent civilians to Mobius or who knows where else in existence. Mr. President, we cannot in good conscience move forward without careful consideration."
The President carefully considered Topaz's speech. She was one of the few humans he could trust with knowledge of the Mobians and everything that had to do with them. After all, she operated with Rouge very closely.
Finally, the President looked up.
"You're right," she said. "A situation this delicate is not something we should take lightly by any means."
"Mr. President, I suggest that nothing be done until we can further research the Chaos Emeralds."
"Miss Cooper, time is a luxury we do not have," the President emphasized. "I can't stress this enough."
"He's right," Rouge said, extending a hand, turning the President's attention back to the laptop screen. "Like I said, the last Chaos Emerald was nearly in my grasp just days ago. It could be anywhere in Station Square now. Regardless, I believe they can all be united within days."
The President stood up, now feeling determined.
"In that case, I cannot allow that to happen," he declared. "Topaz, Rouge, I officially inform GUN Division Alpha that they are to do everything in their power – and I mean everything – to keep those Chaos Emeralds apart. Under no circumstances are all seven allowed to come together until further notice. Use force if necessary."
"Yes, sir, Mr. President," saluted Topaz.
"Aye-aye!" Rouge chimed in, earning her a scowl from Topaz before the President disconnected the call.
Thorndyke Mansion – Fri May 13; 3:02 PM - Chris' POV
I estimated it was around three in the afternoon when I arrived home from school for the last time. It had been a long nine months, but it was the best nine months I ever had because my friends had arrived on this–
I stopped my thoughts. It seemed every single thought circled back to my friends. It was the only thing on my mind. Thinking of my friends leaving forever had temporarily gone away during the rest of school, but now it hit me hard when I saw my familiar house again. I couldn't even see my own house without thinking of them.
Again, I was reminded of Mr. Stewart's words, and again I knew he was right, but it still wouldn't keep my friends with me. I mean, how was I supposed to cling to just memories?! There had to be another way!
I forced myself to push those thoughts to the back of my mind as I ran around the fountain out front and toward the mansion's front doors. As I approached them, they were opened for me by Mr. Tanaka.
"Welcome home from your last day of school, Master Chris," he greeted cordially.
"Thanks, Mr. Tanaka," I returned, although not as enthusiastic as I usually was. I mentally kicked myself then; no one was allowed to know how I was truly feeling about all this.
As Mr. Tanaka left the entry hall to attend to his other duties, I stood there, unable to help but notice how quiet the house was. Usually, it was quite busy in the afternoon after school, but today it was literally dead quiet, with no one around. Cream wasn't there, Grandpa wasn't there, even Ella wasn't anywhere to be found. Besides Mr. Tanaka, there was no one around that I could tell them I had finished sixth grade.
Confused, I meandered in the direction of the living room – which, unsurprisingly, was just as empty as the foyer – and removed my backpack and set it down on the coffee table. The TV was off, and there were no signs that anyone had been in there in a while.
Seriously, it was eerily quiet – the only sound I could hear was the normal sound of my own blood in my ears – or at least, that's what I thought my science lessons taught me.
Just in case there was some activity there, I decided to swing by the lab. Grandpa was almost always home at this time of day. If he left, it was usually earlier in the day to get some parts for his projects. He had to have been home now.
So I made a beeline for the side door, threw it open, and sprinted across the lawn toward the garage, forgetting to close the door behind me. Normally I would have gone back to close it, but I was in a little bit of a hurry. I just hoped Tanaka wouldn't be too mad at me for that.
Oh! I hadn't even realized until just then that I probably should have asked Tanaka where everyone was. Surely he would know.
But then I began to piece together my own conclusion. Perhaps all my friends had left to go look for the Chaos Emerald again. After all, they did say they were not going to give up until they found it. Their persistence and follow-through were really admirable.
I reached the garage door and pushed it open before stepping inside. As I turned to the wooden steps that led up to Grandpa's lab, I glanced over at the concealed elevator in the back of the garage. In the secret lab beneath me, he and Tails had been tirelessly working on a new machine. I immediately felt a fresh wave of sadness pass over me, because I knew exactly what Tails was going to use that machine for.
I was distracted by the sound of a vacuum running upstairs. That could only mean Ella was still here.
I headed up the stairs and pushed open the trap door, and looked around the lab. When Ella cleaned the lab, she usually wanted everyone out, so I probably should not have been so dismayed to see that no one else was up there.
"Hi, Ella," I greeted just as she was finishing up and turning off the vacuum. Setting it down, she walked over and embraced me in a warm hug.
"Well hello, Chris! I'm so proud of you, you finished sixth grade!" she congratulated me, and then we broke the hug. "Did you have a good day?"
"Yeah, I did," I said. It wasn't a full lie, though. "Is, uh… Is everyone out looking for the Chaos Emerald?" I could help the slight sadness in my voice this time.
"They are," replied Ella as she prepared to put the vacuum away. "They've been gone for quite a while now, so it could be close to an hour until they return. I am going to miss them very much when they leave. Especially little Cream… Poor bambino going without her mother for so long…"
Ella sounded like she could cry if she kept thinking about it, so I decided to change the subject.
"And… where's Grandpa?" I asked.
"He went down to the Home Depot to pick up a few parts for his latest project," she explained. "So Tanaka and I have the house to ourselves, and I was finally able to clean this room."
As I never closed the trap door behind me, Ella picked up the vacuum and carefully carried it down the wooden steps, which creaked quietly with each step. The maid was soon gone, leaving me alone…
…alone with my many thoughts.
As I heard the garage door closing behind Ella downstairs, I looked around the room. It was so quiet in the lab, and so empty… it was almost eerie.
My eyes wandered from the Chaos Emerald stabilization chamber to the pile of beanbags, then to Sonic's hammock and back again. The lab contained so many memories of his friends. But now, it was empty and dead quiet. It was exactly the way it was for the many heard before my friends arrived… and it was going to be that way once again on the inevitable day that they would leave.
Then a sudden thought hit me. What if Matt didn't see the Emerald three days ago? What if it wasn't the Emerald at all?
…But that little bit of happy talk was shot down within me by one little fact. Matt was not known to lie to people, and from personal experience, neither were my friends. So there went that theory out the window.
Knowing my friends and their unquenchable determination, they were willing to do anything to recover all the Chaos Emeralds. And then, after they got the last one, all they needed to do was get the one Eggman had, have Knuckles give them the one he had, and then…
And then…
I shut my eyes tightly. I could feel the stress building up within me.
I… I-I can't do it! I can't say goodbye… I can't… It's too soon…
My mind flooded back to all the memories I had with my friends. There was one time where we were all having a blast playing the Game of Life one evening. Amy served as the game's banker, and I thought I was going to finish with the most money, but Tails surprised us all and came from behind to win the game.
There was another time where I got to go on a run with Sonic, and experience his speed firsthand. It was both blinding and deafening, but Sonic had a secure hold on me to make sure I wouldn't fall. I had to close my eyes against the incredibly strong G-force, the likes of which I had never experienced before. It was scary, but kind of fun in the end.
And then there were all the times where we got to travel all over the place in the X-Tornado, visiting new places, and my friends getting to explore these places for the very first time. These were beautiful reactions to watch, especially when we flew over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Tails had said it brought back a lot of memories of the old Station Square from back on Mobius. (I had no idea how it existed on both Earth and Mobius. In fact, no one could answer that.)
Yes, Mr. Stewart did tell me that I was always going to have these memories with me to cherish for the rest of my life. And yet… I would never be able to make brand new ones with them once they were gone…
I could feel tears trying to escape from my eyes. The more I thought about it, the more I felt like crying. I tried to forbid myself from crying as I stood there in the middle of the empty room.
Here I had agreed to help them all those months ago with finding the Chaos Emeralds so they could return home where they belonged. It was a deal, and I started thinking that if I started backing out of that deal, I would be jeopardizing my friendship with them. I believed that backing out of deals was just not something friends should do if it was for a good cause.
On top of that, I had no idea just how attached to my friends I would eventually become. We were practically in each other's pockets. They were like brothers and sisters to me. And Sonic especially… he was the role model I never knew I had been longing for my whole entire life. He was my everything.
I even warned myself that they wouldn't be here on Earth forever. And now I was reaping the consequences. It was all too much! Mr. Stewart was right. It was creating a war within my head. I felt like I could go stir crazy if I kept thinking about–
"Hey Sonic! Are you up there? I wanna talk."
My heart skipped a beat at the sudden sound of Knuckles' voice from the garage below, but it was exactly the distraction I needed to think of anything besides the anxiety in my head.
Or so I hoped.
As I turned to the stairs, I started wondering what Knuckles was doing here, and how he suddenly showed up without warning. More importantly, what did he want with Sonic? It was not very often that he came to my house, so it had to be something important.
But Sonic was not here. On the contrary, I was here, and it was possible I could help Knuckles somehow. Besides, I did want an opportunity to stop thinking about my situation.
So I opened the trap door and carefully walked down the steps, shutting the door behind before. Knuckles, who was just unfolding his arms, was glancing at me with an odd look. I hoped it wasn't because he saw that I had just been on the verge of tears, but it was probably more like he was expecting Sonic and not me.
"H-hi," I shyly said in a half-whisper. "Uh… Sonic's not here right now."
As Knuckles nodded, that's when I noticed the robot that was standing a few feet away from the echidna. It looked kind of like a bell with a pair of wings on its head, rabbit's feet, and a horseshoe and four-leaf clover decorating it. It looked so different from any other Eggman robot I had ever seen.
"Is… is that one of Eggman's robots?" I asked. "Why is it here?"
Knuckles shrugged. "It insisted on following me here, so I brought it with me. I don't know why it wanted to come with me so badly." He glanced at the said robot. "I guess it's a defect."
"Wait, really?" I said. "I thought Sonic said Eggman doesn't make any defects?"
"Yeah, beats me," Knuckles said, before his purple eyes shifted back in my direction. "So anyway, Sonic is out."
I nodded. "Yeah. He's been really focusing on finding the last Chaos Emerald lately. It's like he's not thinking about anything else."
Knuckles nodded. "And I take it the others went with him too."
I nodded. "How did you know about that?"
"The X-Tornado not being here was a pretty big clue," Knuckles deadpanned. "Anyway, I came here to see Sonic; it's really important."
"Uh… I… don't know when he's coming back, but… maybe you can tell me what it is, and I can tell Sonic when he gets back," I suggested with a half-smile.
"Yeah, that'll work," Knuckles nodded. "Then tell him I stopped by, and the only way we can return to Mobius is if Sonic can call a truce with Eggman."
My mouth fell open.
"Wh-what?! Are you kidding?!"
"Chris, if I wasn't serious about this, I wouldn't be standing here right now," Knuckles told me. "I hate Eggman too, but I can't really see any other alternative. Besides, Eggman's the one who brought us into this world, and he can just as easily take us out of it."
I blinked.
"As you may know, I'm the guardian of the Master Emerald on Angel Island back on my world. You know about that? I've been away from it for nine whole months now. I have to go back. I must fulfill my duty. And as carefree as Sonic is, I know that deep down, even he wants to go back home. We can't waste our time on Earth forever; we do have our own planet and our own lives. If this is our one chance, then I would not pass this up if I were Sonic."
I pondered everything Knuckles had said. He had already proved his point, and he had even confirmed a couple of things Mr. Stewart had said. Maybe I was being a little too selfish.
Sonic was my friend; if I was him, I would want to go back home, wouldn't I? After all, I did promise to help him fulfill his goal. I started it, and now I had to finish it. I felt like I would emotionally regret it deeply later on, but who knows… maybe it was the right thing to do.
"Yeah, okay," I agreed. "I'll tell him you came."
"Good, good."
Nodding in satisfaction, Knuckles turned to leave. "In the meantime, I'm going to arrange the truce on Eggman's side."
"Wait, hold on!" I reached out a hand to stop him, taking a few steps forward. "Do you even know where he is?"
"Yeah," said Knuckles. "He's over in the hills of Silver Valley."
Knuckles had only taken a few steps down the driveway when a sudden thought crossed me.
"Wait!" I called, approaching him. Knuckles looked at me in surprise. "Can I come, Knuckles? Please?"
Knuckles had a practical double take. It was quite comical, to say the least.
"Wha– Chris, it's too dangerous! You know what Eggman's capable of." He extended one of his massive gloved hands. "From what Sonic told me, he had a personal grudge against you for getting the first Chaos Emerald. There's no telling what could happen if you cross paths with him again!"
"I know, but…" I sighed. "I… don't want to be alone here. I kinda want to take my mind off of everything… you know?"
Knuckles was silent for a moment as he processed my request.
"Fine, you can come," he said, before a smirk began to form. "In fact, I think it's actually a good idea that you do come with me, because then you can be a witness just in case Eggman doesn't keep his word."
"I guess so…" I relented.
I had been to Silver Valley a couple of times since my encounter with Eggman there. It had taken a long time, but I felt like I was finally getting over the trauma I had gone through when Eggman imprisoned me and my friends.
We could get there just fine. All I needed was some money. There was just one thing: Grandpa had brought his wallet with him.
"Wait, you said he was in Silver Valley?" I asked.
"Yeah…?" Knuckles said with a quizzical look.
"I think we can get there by train," I suggested. "Wait here, I'll go get some money from my room!"
"Already got some," Knuckles said matter-of-factly before I could go anywhere.
"Really?" I asked, stopping mid-run and turning back to Knuckles. "Is it enough to pay for tickets to get there and back?"
Knuckles pulled a few bills from Hammerspace and counted them out. "Don't know," he said. "How much are tickets?"
"I… don't know," I said, even though I went on the train last time. "I can look it up."
"You don't need to," Knuckles said. "I think I might have enough Mobiums here– I-I mean dollars!" He signed. "I thought that nine months around here would be enough time for me to get used to that term."
The echidna fumbled with the bills in his hand, trying to fan them out. It looked quite difficult to do, especially with large hands like his.
"I got these from doing a couple odd jobs here and there. Searching for the Chaos Emeralds wasn't the only thing I did out there." He held up the money for me to see. "Is this gonna be enough?"
I took a couple steps closer and looked at the amount.
"Uh… Yeah, I think that's going to be a good amount," I decided.
"Then I guess that settles it," said Knuckles with a smile as he put away the money. "Let's go make that truce!"
So Knuckles and I started down the driveway. I heard a couple mechanical beeps coming from behind me, and I saw the robot that had come with Knuckles following us. I had no idea why it was here, and I felt a little uneasy about it, but I tried to shrug it off. I had a mission at hand.
Silver Valley State Park – Fri May 13; 4:40 PM – Chris' POV
About an hour later, we arrived at Cantonville, the closest town to Silver Valley. Knuckles had offered to pay for both himself and me. I probably could have paid for myself, but I was just a kid. Even though that didn't stop me the last time I took the train there, I didn't want to turn down Knuckles' offer.
The trip to Cantonville did not seem nearly as long as my trip there with Amy. I believed that it was because not too many people were staring at us this time, so there was much less stress. Knuckles did get a few off glances, but otherwise, everyone seemed used to having him around.
However, we somehow didn't realize until the train started on its course to Silver Valley that the robot didn't come with us. I was strangely concerned about it, but Knuckles shrugged it off, claiming it was only following us, and he didn't really plan on bringing it with us anyway. That only made me wonder what the robot was doing with Knuckles in the first place. I had asked about it, but not even Knuckles knew.
"We're almost there now," Knuckles told me as we were trekking through the hills and forest of Silver Valley, on our way to the Egg Fort II. He glanced at me in concern. "Are you nervous?"
"A little…" I admitted. However, on the inside, nervous was barely scratching the surface of how I really felt. I was very scared to do anywhere near Eggman again. But if Knuckles said this was the only way…
Knuckles patted my back; even though I knew he was trying to do it gently, there was a bit of unintended force there.
"You just stay calm and I'll do all the talking," he told me. "And if anything goes wrong, I'm going to make sure nothing happens to you, all right?"
I couldn't help the grateful smile that started to form. "Thank you…" I said quietly. Knuckles may have been a loner by nature and a bit gruff, but I felt genuinely safe with him.
"All right, we're almost there now," Knuckles said, right as we reached the clearing. Before us stood the massive Egg Fort II. It was way bigger than I thought. I had seen it before, but never this close. And to think I was about to actually go inside that thing…
"Whoa…" I breathed. "It's so big…" I turned to Knuckles, who held a hand out to keep me from advancing any further. "Hey, how come no one knows it's even here?"
"Well, Eggman is very sneaky," said Knuckles. "He probably didn't think that anyone would think to look for him in a state park. How he got his ship here to begin with, I got nothing."
"Wait, not even the people who work here?" I asked in surprise. "They don't know too?"
Knuckles shrugged. "He's probably been sitting here since morning, plotting his next move. I don't know what he's doing out in the open, though." He stood up from behind the bush we were crouched behind. "Now let's go."
I hesitated a little, and Knuckles gave me a sympathetic look, extending a hand to help me up.
"I'm not gonna let him hurt you, I promise," he said.
I gave a nod, and Knuckles pulled me to my feet. Even though I knew he was trying to be gentle, it felt almost like he was yanking me up to a standing position.
"Sorry about that…" Knuckles mumbled. "I guess I don't know my own strength sometimes."
"It's okay," I mumbled as I turned my focus to the Egg Fort before us once more.
We fully emerged into the clearing and walked toward the Egg Fort II. Knuckles seemed confident and focused. I, on the other hand, was uncontrollably shaking, knowing full well I was about to approach the man I feared the most. I couldn't believe I was actually doing this…
"Does E-Eggman know w-we're here?" I asked. I couldn't help stuttering, since I was so nervous right now.
Just then there was a loud cracking sound that pierced the tranquility of the forest around us. My heart leaped in my chest, and my hands flew to my ears for a moment.
"You two, state your business," came the doctor's voice from what I now knew to be the ship's loudspeaker.
"Chris, the towel!" Knuckles whispered.
"Wait, I thought you had it," I whispered back.
"Well, you're the one who ran back to the house to get it," pressed Knuckles.
"And then I gave it to you!" I argued.
Knuckles stood there for a moment, until it clicked in his mind that he had it all along.
"You know what, I totally forgot you asked me to hold onto it earlier," he sighed as he pulled the white towel from seemingly nowhere. "Taking advantage of Hammerspace, are we now?" he joked.
I chuckled in spite of the potentially dreadful situation in front of us. It was only because I didn't have any way to carry a hand towel in my pockets, so Hammerspace would have to do. I still had questions as to how it worked, but now was not the time to ask about it.
Having removed the towel from Hammerspace, Knuckles waved it in the direction of the Egg Fort. It was my idea to get a white towel to wave to show that we surrendered, in case Eggman was going to attack us. I thought it was a good thing Tanaka didn't see me get the towel, because he would probably wonder why I was getting one.
"Am I seeing things…?" Eggman asked in mild surprise. "Are you really surrendering? I… I never thought I would see the day! Does this mean you will no longer interfere in the creation of the Eggman Empire?"
Knuckles ignored Eggman, not even reacting at the doctor's bold assumption.
"Eggman, we have to talk," he stated. "It's about how we're supposed to return to Mobius."
There was an uneasy moment of hesitation that passed between us. Knuckles seemed so brave, and I was so scared. I believed it was because Knuckles was way stronger than me, and had a lot more experience with Eggman than I did. And now I was wondering if Eggman would even consider Knuckles' request.
As an answer, a hissing sound came from the Egg Fort as its ramp slowly descended toward the ground. If my heart wasn't beating faster before, it certainly was now. I was actually going to go inside Eggman's ship…
The ramp made contact with the grass, accompanied by another hiss of steam. Knuckles started forward, but he gave me an affirming look.
"Just stick with me, okay?" he said. I nervously nodded.
With that, we began our approach toward the ship, which was still a good hundred feet away. I felt my breath hitch a little in my chest as we drew closer to the ship. My emotions were all over the place. They felt the way they did when I had to make a speech before the class a few months ago, but it was way worse.
This is it…
I took a deep breath before taking my first step onto the metal ramp. Knuckles, on the other hand, mounted it without any hesitation. He was visibly determined and undeterred by the fact that he was stepping into enemy territory. Even though I was afraid, I knew he was more than capable of protecting me.
My rapidly beating heart was pounding to the point where I could feel it even without checking my pulse. I was literally going to see Dr. Eggman in person, the very same man who held a personal grudge against me since the day we met. Yes, he said he considered it over, but that did nothing to alleviate my fears.
I was surprised at how big the ramp alone was. I had seen lots of sci-fi and space shows, and they always seemed to make the ramps look tiny. The Egg Fort II's ramp, however, was much bigger in real life than I thought. In fact, the more I climbed, the more tired I felt myself getting. Knuckles, on the other hand, looked no worse for wear.
Once we finally reached the top of the ramp, I paused to catch my breath and took a look around at my surroundings. We were now standing inside a large, spacious area. As big as the ship was, it was too small to have a hangar bay. I didn't know what kind of room it was, but a lobby was the first thing that came to mind. There were electronic panels here and there, and even what looked like an open elevator shaft in the back leading to what I assumed was the bridge.
As I continued looking around, I became even more nervous at how all this would turn out. Literally anything could happen. To me, it felt completely unnecessary for us to meet Eggman in person. Even Sonic and Tails had their own plan to get back all of the Emeralds. But if Knuckles knew what he was doing, then all I had to do was trust him.
"If you have any questions, we'll talk outside," Knuckles quietly told me. Even in a hushed tone, his somewhat gruff voice managed to echo a little bit around the room.
I jumped at a sudden sound from behind me, and turned to see the ramp behind us retracting back into the ship, followed by the airlock closing. Once both the ramp was retracted and the airlock closed, there was another hiss of steam that pressurized the cabin once more.
The ship became dead silent once more, except for a few faint sounds coming from above us. I couldn't make out what was happening, but in seconds, an elevator descended the shaft in the back of the room. It didn't take a genius to know whom it was carrying down to the lobby.
The doctor stepped off the elevator and approached us, hands clasped behind his back and an unreadable expression behind his comically oversized mustache. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of him up close.
"You know how to humor me, Knuckles," he said. "Really, I wasn't expecting you to come all the way out here just to see me."
And then he turned his head to face me.
"And much less you, Christopher. Long time no see."
I tried to resist the urge to cower behind Knuckles, but that didn't stop me from taking a step in the echidna's direction. His eyes were fixated on Eggman.
"So tell me," Eggman told Knuckles, "why bring Chris with you if he isn't relevant to our discussion?"
"We need to talk," Knuckles stated, ignoring Eggman and de-escalating a potentially bad situation.
"So I hear," responded Eggman. "I would offer you both refreshments, but I'm a busy man, and the final Chaos Emerald won't find itself. Now state your business and leave."
Knuckles cleared his throat.
"It's been a tough battle for both of us," he said. "Back and forth for the past… eight or nine months. If we keep fighting over the Chaos Emeralds like this, then it's… no one's going home if we keep fighting, okay? Right now, I have one Emerald, Sonic has four, I know you have one, and the last hasn't been accounted for until a few days ago from what I've been told. Tomorrow, all that can change. The Emeralds can end up changing hands once again.
"So basically, I came here to, uh… negotiate with you. If all seven Emeralds were to come together, there might be a chance that we can activate Chaos Control on a level similar to the event that sent us here, and use it to get us home. Look, there's no point in us all having our own Emeralds anymore. If you cooperate with me, we might be able to get home faster. Do you know what I'm saying?"
During Knuckles' speech, Eggman had been stroking his mustache, listening intently to the echidna's words. I wondered what his reaction would be. Not once had he interrupted, which was a good sign, but there was still a chance he could pull something on us now.
But instead, he nodded.
"I find your insight to be most intriguing," he said. "From your standpoint, that makes perfect logical sense. Perhaps this is why you were appointed the leader of the Resistance force."
He started pacing before us. "Yes… You're absolutely right, Knuckles. The longer we fight, the less likely it is for us to return to the planet we've known for all our lives."
He turned to Knuckles once more. "However, there is one condition I'm afraid I must bring up."
I was a bit wary about Eggman all of a sudden, but kept silent and listened.
"And what's that?" Knuckles asked.
"Do you by any chance still have that Chaos Emerald with you, Knuckles?" he asked.
Knuckles scoffed. "What's it to you? Why do you even care?"
Eggman extended a hand to Knuckles. "Now calm down, Knuckles. I know you're being reasonably concerned, and that's perfectly understandable. But I do need to physically hold on to the Emerald, take it as collateral to affirm the deal."
I could only stand there and gape like a fish.
"And why should I trust you with my Emerald?" Knuckles asked.
Eggman smiled, which was a smile I learned to fear. Knuckles, on the other hand, appeared unmoved aside from agitated.
"Come now, Knucklehead, let's be reasonable now. If you're asking me to trust you, the least you can do is trust me. Yes, I know you have trust issues based on the past, but that was the past. These times are different now. We've been marooned in a land that is foreign and unfamiliar to us for the past nine months. You may not believe this, but I've been getting increasingly homesick, just as you are.
"So here's the deal. If you two can give me all of your Chaos Emeralds in your possession, then I can figure out a way to activate Chaos Control. In fact, I can't show it to you now, but I have a machine up in the cockpit for that very purpose."
I swallowed.
"Uh… did you just say… you really want our Chaos Emeralds…?" I asked.
Eggman relaxed his smile a little. "Well, how else am I supposed to initiate Chaos Control?" he asked in a somewhat teasing manner.
At that moment, I had to wonder… could Eggman actually be telling the truth? I mean… He sure seemed sincere enough…
Seemingly left with no other choice, Knuckles fished his red Chaos Emerald out of Hammerspace.
"Fine, you can have it, if you stick to your side of the deal," he said.
He extended the Emerald toward Eggman, who did his best to suppress his glee as he accepted the gemstone. He examined it, getting a glimpse of its power and beauty, before placing it in one of his jacket pockets. Only then did I realize I was holding my breath.
Eggman then held his hand out toward Knuckles for a shake, which the echidna reluctantly accepted.
"I'm pleased we could come to a mutual agreement," he said. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" He then activated his wrist communicator. "Extend the ramp," he ordered.
He turned back to us. "I'll be waiting here for the other Emeralds as we discussed," he said. "Unless there's a change of plans on my end, I'll be here all night."
"Then I guess we'll see you then," Knuckles said as the door opened and the ramp began to descend.
Our walk down the ramp and out of the ship was done in silence. I couldn't help but still think that the meeting had gone off way better than I thought. I had no idea what would happen the moment I entered the ship. Maybe we were making the right choice after all.
On our way back to the train station a few miles away, I finally broke the thoughtful silence.
"Uh… How are we gonna sneak the Chaos Emeralds out of the house?" I asked.
"I'm not going back with you," replied Knuckles. "Yes, I'm taking the train back to Station Square, but it's gonna be a little awkward if I show up at your house unannounced again." He gave me a small smile. "But I know you can work something out."
"But I'm supposed to be in bed around ten," I said, glancing at my watch, "and supper is only in an hour. I don't know if I can get back home by then. What do I tell everyone?"
Knuckles looked thoughtful, and I had to look down again to narrowly avoid tripping over a tree root.
"Maybe you could say you were over at a friend's house?" he suggested.
I didn't want to lie to everyone, but…
"That… could work," I said. "But even then, Grandpa and Tails are almost always in the lab, and it's impossible to hide it from Sonic. He's been really busy looking for the last Chaos Emerald that he doesn't even have much time for anything else, it seems."
"Well, Sonic knows how close he is to us going back home," said Knuckles. "He will stop at nothing until that happens and we have all the Emeralds.
There it was again, the mention of my friends going back to Mobius. Every single mention of my friends going home was like hammering a nail in the coffin. They were already making their point and then some. Why did this have to be so hard for me?!
Then another question came to mind.
"Hey Knuckles, do you have a phone?"
"A phone?" repeated Knuckles, who smirked good-naturedly. "Yeah, I finally got myself one after Sonic kept badgering me about staying in touch. I never thought I would see the day where he would actually use a smartphone." He held up his hands. But the things are way too small for me. They couldn't make them with echidna hands in mind?"
I chuckled, but my resolute mind returned to the situation at hand.
"That's good," I said. "Then I guess I can call you once I get the Emeralds."
Knuckles nodded. "That'll work."
Station Square – Fri May 13; 6:50 PM – Third-person POV
That night found Jerome Wise sitting in the passenger's seat of a garbage truck, running his shift in one of the city's neighborhoods. Coincidentally, it was the same one he had visited days before.
He had signed up for a job at the waste management facility at the request of Dr. Eggman. Under the guise of a WM intern, he could secretly look around virtually undetected for any sign of the Chaos Emerald. Additionally, Eggman had requested that Jerome register under a fake name and wear a disguise so that no one would discover that he was actually the former Chief of Staff.
As soon as he had been discovered for some of his more questionable acts, he was subpoenaed for a trial before Congress and subsequently laid off by the President himself. As a result, his girlfriend, the MSNBC correspondent Vivian Turner, broke up with him, and she wasn't responding to any of his texts or phone calls. They all went straight to her answering machine.
Now his servitude to Dr. Eggman was literally the only thing keeping him on his feet. Fortunately for him, the public had no knowledge of their alliance. The government had been looking everywhere for him with no luck, since Eggman had practically given him a new public name and identity to protect him. If Jerome were to be discovered, he knew he would be jailed for infringing the Logan Act, as well as for high treason. Eggman cared enough about him to hide him from the public eye, so it seemed.
He was not alone in his search for the last Chaos Emerald that night. Eggman had also sent out Bokkun to search for it from the skies. The childish robot had been given a special eyepiece to visually scan for Chaos energy. Eggman had run out of time to give Jerome some contact lenses to help as well, so he told Jerome he had to make do with what he had.
Jerome had been at this task since yesterday with no luck at all. It was like the Chaos Emerald had vanished. Yet he knew not to let his guard down for even a second. He was supposed to pretend to be somebody else who was just an intern for WM doing a little community service.
Now Jerome was getting bored… and mad.
It's not fair! How come the robot kid gets a cool jetpack and a scouter-like thing, and all I get is a garbage truck?!
And also, Eggman has the tech to find the Emerald himself, so why didn't he mobilize his Badniks? How come no one's found it by now?!
The truck stopped at what felt like the seventieth dumpster that night, even though it must have been the twentieth.
"All right, Chuck, this next one's in a tight spot, so I'm gonna need you to get out and make sure I got it, all right?"
"Sure," Jerome said as he opened the passenger's door and stepped out.
Chuck? Really? muttered Jerome. That's the name of the famous professor and the Thorndyke kid's grandfather. Couldn't Eggman have come up with something more… I don't know, original?
So Jerome stepped near the dumpster and signaled the truck to come closer. He squinted at the truck's bright headlights. Within moments, its prongs connected with the dumpster, and they lifted it up and toward the back of the truck.
But as it emptied its contents into the truck, Jerome thought he caught sight of something moving inside. The flare of the headlights piercing the night air was strong, so he couldn't get a good look at it, but it seemed to resemble one of Eggman's robots, which puzzled him greatly.
Snap out of it! he chided himself. You're being paid to do the garbage and look for a stupid gemstone, not stand around and stare!
As the truck began setting the dumpster back down, Jerome got back in the truck, and they began driving to the next dumpster.
However, Jerome couldn't help but wonder how one of Eggman's robots wound up in the trash… assuming it was one of Eggman's robots. He told himself that maybe he would get a good look at it once the truck was unloaded at the landfill.
Thorndyke Mansion – Fri May 13; 7:08 PM – Chris' POV
Checking the time on my watch, I saw that it was nearly 7:10 by the time I finally passed through the front gates. It was a good thing they were left unlocked for me. There had only been one time when I was accidentally locked out when I was ten, and Mr. Tanaka wanted to make sure that mistake never happened again.
I was relieved to see that it was a little earlier than I thought, all things considered. I wondered if Ella decided to delay supper for me, or if my family had already begun eating. Normally I would care because I loved food, but not this time. I had a mission ahead of me, but I still needed protein and a full belly to give me the energy I needed.
As we had planned, Knuckles rode back to town on the train with me, so that I wouldn't have to brave it alone. We had agreed to meet back at the train station once I had collected all the Emeralds, which I still didn't think was the best idea, but Knuckles seemed to know what he was talking about, and I didn't want to argue with his point.
As I got closer to the front door, Mr. Tanaka opened it for me, and I stepped inside.
"Welcome back, Master Chris," the butler greeted as I entered the foyer.
"Thanks," I said somewhat emotionlessly.
I made a left and headed toward the living room. I could see the dining room table from across the living room, and to my surprise, no one except for Grandpa was sitting at the table. Either supper didn't start yet, or everyone had already finished eating a long time ago.
"Mr. Chris is back!" came Cream's voice from the couch where she had been watching Shimmer and Shine. She hopped off the couch and scurried over to me, Cheese not far behind.
"Chao-chao chaaoo!" echoed Cheese as the dot above his head changed into a heart. Both Cream and Cheese enveloped me in a warm hug, and I had to smile. Just like Sonic was the fastest thing alive, Cream and Cheese were the cutest things alive.
In seconds, Ella emerged from the direction of the kitchen, the smell of something delicious following her into the living room.
"Chris, you're back!" she exclaimed as Cream stepped away from me. "Tell me, where have you been?"
I hesitated, thinking for a moment, but then Knuckles' advice rang through my head.
"Maybe you could say you were over at a friend's house?"
"Uh, I was just playing some Splatoon at Danny's," I lied. "I might go back later; I-I just realized I forgot to bring something back with me."
To my relief, Ella bought into the lie hook, line, and sinker.
"That's all right," she said as we broke the hug. "I apologize that dinner is late. The casserole is more time-consuming than I thought. Dinner will be ready soon nonetheless."
"Okay," I said as Ella turned and headed back toward the kitchen to tend to the food. I walked back through the living room in time to see Tails heading down the stairs.
"Hiya Chris!" he greeted with a wave as I approached. "Where have you been all day?"
"Just playing video games at Danny's," I said without missing a beat. As much as I hated to admit it, I was starting to get comfortable with lying now, as much as it hurt. "Uh… did you find the last Chaos Emerald yet?"
"Sorry, Chris, we didn't," Tails said, looking down. "I thought I was on to it earlier today, but it turned out to be a false alarm."
That was a relief to me, but I did my best to maintain a straight face. No one needed to know anything that was going on in my head and heart.
"Wait, I thought that Chaos Emeralds can only detect other Chaos Emeralds," I thought aloud. "So why would there be a false alarm?"
"Well…" Tails ran a hand through his bangs. "Looking back, it was probably the way the sun was shining on the Emerald… I can't believe I really fell for that…" He grinned sheepishly. "…Anyway, how was school today?"
Grateful for a change of subject, I visibly relaxed a little and looked back at Tails.
"Well, I finally finished sixth grade today," I said.
Tails smiled. "So that means you're on summer vacation now?" he asked.
"Hey guys, supper is almost ready!" called Amy from the living room just as I was nodding yes to Tails' question.
"All right!" I called back as Amy reentered the living room. I took this as my cue to come in for supper, and headed back through the foyer toward the dining room, Tails not far behind me.
I couldn't help but feel yet another twinge of sadness welling up within me. Unless there was another delay in finding the last Chaos Emerald, this would most likely be the very last time I would have dinner with my friends. I could even start to feel the emotional pain in my eyes, but I refused to let it show. Not in front of my family. Not in front of my friends.
Not in front of Sonic.
What seemed like a blur of time later, we were all gathered around the table enjoying Ella's famous tuna noodle casserole. Well… everyone else was enjoying it.
Normally I was a fast eater, being the preteen I was, but this time, my pace was a lot slower because of the emotional burden that was upon my shoulders. In fact, I had a very hard time eating, and not just because I was sad.
But depression was not the only emotion I was feeling. Guilt was another. All those months ago I had promised to help my friends get all the Chaos Emeralds so that they could return home. It was too late to go back on my word now. They were my friends, and I knew that friends should try not to break promises.
And yet I didn't want anyone gathered at the table to know my true feelings. To tell them that I wasn't hungry would be a dead giveaway that something was up. It was hard to conceal my anxiety; in fact, it surprised me how I kept it hidden from even Sonic himself for so long. He always had my back and somehow knew when I was sad at many different times, and he was the only one who seemed to notice that something about me was different, but I was pretty good at dodging his questions.
Lately, I had been spending most of the day in my room playing on my Switch or just lying in bed. I was basically keeping to myself more so that no one would probe me. Mr. Stewart had to be wrong somehow. Memories couldn't be the only things that would remain of my friends. Nine months wasn't enough time. It was too soon.
While I was thinking about everything, Tails and Grandpa were finishing their part of the conversation. They had been talking about how they were almost done building the machine to get them all home. Now everyone was talking about what my friends would do once they returned to Mobius.
I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. Ella and Grandpa had always said I brought joy to the table at dinnertime. There was no joy with me tonight. Yet I made sure to keep a straight face and act casual so that no one would ask me what was wrong.
I was finally able to finish supper some time later. To my surprise, as I looked around, I still managed to finish sooner than some of the others. Even more shocking was that Sonic was still there. He was leaning against the table, caught up in conversation with the others about what his world was like. I caught word of a princess and a kingdom, a casino city similar to Las Vegas, and a vast land with hills and even loop-dee-loops.
I wished I could show interest in all the seemingly outlandish things the hedgehog was saying, but my mind was not there.
At last, Sonic pushed himself off the table and turned to leave.
"I wanna go over another spot I think I missed earlier," he announced. "Gotta juice it loose!"
"I swear, those 90's catchphrases are gonna rub off on us one of these days…" muttered Grandpa before taking the last sip of his water.
Suddenly something snapped in me. I pushed my chair back in a sudden move and got up running after Sonic, who was already walking prickly toward the front door.
"Sonic, wait!" I called. I didn't care that the rest of my family and friends were giving me odd looks. I only had one thing on my mind at that moment.
Sonic was almost at the front door by now, but to my relief, he stopped when I called him. As I stopped a few feet from him, I saw that he was giving me a look of what could have been a mixture of confusion, curiosity, and concern.
"Um…" I was totally unprepared for what to say next. "Uh… c-c-can we talk outside p-please…?"
Sonic smiled a little. "Sure, I'm open," he said as he started toward the front door once more.
A moment later, we were both standing around the fountain in the night air, the only noise being the water trickling from the fountain. I was confident that were alone together, so I would have thought that I would feel at least a little better about opening up. And yet… I was standing there, literally shaking, and unable to find the words to say. But I couldn't keep myself bottled up any longer. I had to tell someone, and if I could trust anyone with my anxiety, it was Sonic.
"So what's up, Chris?" asked Sonic.
I fumbled with my word. "E-Everything," I admitted. "I… I don't know what to say…"
Sonic's somewhat relaxed expression became more concerned, and he stopped pacing next to the fountain.
"It's okay, Chris," he encouraged me. "You'll get it. Just take your time."
I took a deep breath.
"Sonic… Do you… do you miss Mobius…?" I managed to say.
Sonic's expression became more somber, and yet understanding of what I was feeling on the inside.
"I don't think too much about it, Chris," he admitted. "At least, not until recently. But I gotta be real honest with ya, Chris… I do kinda miss my planet. The lush, rolling hills, the checkered plateaus, the loop-dee-loops… That's where I grew up my whole life."
He sat down on the ledge surrounding the fountain, and, giving me a friendly smile, patted the spot next to him.
"I mean, I'm free as the wind. I can run wherever I want, whenever I want," he continued as I sat down next to Sonic. "But a hedgehog's gotta have a place to lay his head, you know? Oh, and did I tell you that the loop-dee-loops are all-natural landmarks?"
I smiled sadly. "It sounds really amazing, and beautiful," I said.
"It is," confirmed Sonic, "at least, on the days Egghead isn't around." His smile faded as he turned his head to the right to face me. "Why do you ask? If I miss Mobius, I mean."
I tried to find the words again. I was so unprepared for this, but I had to get it off my chest. I tried to forbid the tears from escaping.
"B-Because… you're… y-you're going to…"
"Ohh, I get it now," Sonic softly said. "So that's what's been botherin' you these past couple days?"
I nodded without looking up.
"Chris, you're not gonna be alone," he said, leaning forward a little. "Look at your other friends. You became great friends with Danny, Frances, and Helen, right? You guys hang out all the time."
"Yeah, but it's not the same…" I sighed.
"I know," Sonic replied with sympathy. "Saying goodbye is never easy, especially to your best friends. But even if I'm not gonna be on Earth anymore… remember that me and my friends are always gonna be in your heart."
Now I was beginning to cry softly. Sonic had said the same thing Mr. Stewart had said earlier, but to hear those same words from Sonic himself hit hard for me. It was almost emotionally unbearable.
"Sonic…" I whispered, shaking a little. "I promised… I p-promised to help you get the C-Chaos Emeralds… just to see you go…"
Sonic gently wrapped an arm around my shoulder and slowly pulled me in close, so that I was leaning against him in a sort-of hug. He gently rubbed my back to try to help me calm down.
"Don't cry, Chris," he said in a soothing voice. "Just smile. It's gonna be okay."
With his free hand, he pointed up the moon which had risen over the horizon, and I followed his gaze.
"Hey, Chris… Whenever you miss me and my friends… just look up at the moon. It's the same on both your world and mine."
I used the back of my sleeve to wipe away my tears. "How is that possible?" I whispered.
Sonic shrugged. "I don't really know to be honest…" he said. "But Tails did a bit of research, and since there's a GUN and Station Square both here and on Mobius, he thinks that we're in parallel universes. And when I got here, I noticed that the moon and all the stars looked the same as back on Mobius."
"Really…?"
"Yeah," Sonic said with a smile. "Even after we go back home, you know I can always find a way to use Chaos Control to come back here for a visit. And I can even take you to my world someday so you can see the stars for yourself."
"Can you do that…?" I asked with a little hope.
"Sure!" Sonic replied with an easygoing wink as he stood up and stretched. "You and I both know Tails is the smartest kid around. He can build a portal thingy in no time and we can all come visit you. Trust me, I don't like saying goodbye forever as much as you do. It really hurts to leave you like this, but I know I have to go home very soon. But I know you'll see me again sooner or later. Hedgehog's word!"
I stood up too as Sonic finished stretching his arms and moved on to his legs.
"That would be really cool," I said.
"Anyway, I gotta run, Chris," he said. "That last Emerald ain't gonna find itself tonight, ya know."
"W-wait, hold on!" I exclaimed. "I suddenly remembered something! Matt texted me earlier, and he said if it helps, the Emerald was in a small box when it was lost."
Sonic gave me his trademark smirk – that easygoing, reaffirming smirk that told me everything was going to be all right.
"Thanks, that helps a lot," he said. "See ya around, buddy!"
With a wave, he sped off in a burst of blue that somehow illuminated the air for a split second. The whoosh of air faded, and the night was silent once again.
That was really… something. It was almost enough for me to actually be comfortable with letting Sonic go.
But there was one problem: I couldn't. It was too late. I was in too deep.
I was on a time crunch. I had to get the Chaos Emeralds to Eggman. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't turn back. Yes, Tails was working on an invention to get everyone back to Mobius, but I didn't care to ask too many questions about it. Eggman had an invention too, but I knew that judging by his words, he was the only one who could activate Chaos Control. After all, he was the one who did it in the first place to get everyone to Earth.
I had to do this. It was now or never.
I turned and walked back toward the house. I did have one good thing going for me, and that was the fact that I had finished supper early. Now there would be no delay in my mission, since most of the others would still be in the dining room, and I wouldn't have to pass through there to get to the garage.
But first, I had to make sure that my hypothesis was correct.
I pushed open the front doors and stepped inside. There was no need to be sneaky yet; it wasn't like they weren't expecting me to come back inside. And I didn't have to be sneaky as I walked back through the living room. As I expected, everyone was still finishing their last bites of supper and cleaning up. Amy and Cream were helping to carry the empty dishes into the kitchen where Ella was.
"Hey Chris, is everything okay with you?" Grandpa asked. "The way you got up so fast, it got me worried."
"Uh, yeah, I'm okay," I said. "Sonic just left to find the last Emerald." I rubbed my arm. "I just wanted to tell him… about Matt's text earlier. He said the Emerald was in a small box."
Tails looked up from the last few bites of his casserole, confusion in his eyes. "Wha– Why didn't you tell us sooner, Chris? That could have saved us some time!"
Debatable, especially since Tails had Chaos energy scanners, but whatever, I thought.
"I didn't get it until a few hours ago," I said. "I guess I got busy with some stuff and forgot to tell you. Sorry about that."
"It's okay, Chris; it happens to the best of us at times," Grandpa said. He looked ready to say something else, but dropped it.
I determined that I was wasting too much time by just standing there. I had to get the Emeralds to Knuckles so he could get them to Eggman. But I couldn't just carry four Emeralds a few miles. No, I needed something to carry them in.
"So Tails," Grandpa began as I was passing through the living room. "Are you going to go out and help Sonic find it?"
I stopped on the other side of the living room, out of view of everyone, but still within hearing range.
"Not tonight," came the kit's response. "It's kinda late, and besides, I wanna help you finish up with the portal!"
A hearty chuckle followed. "Right, I'll join you in the lab after I finish helping Ella with the dishes. Oh, by the way, Ella, what are we all having for dessert?"
"Today, my little baking helpers Amy and Cream helped to make chocolate mousse," came Ella's voice from the kitchen. I had to really strain to hear her.
"Yay!" cheered Tails. "I love chocolate mousse! It was really good the last time we had it."
"I hope you don't mind having it again so soon," said Ella amidst the clatter of more dishes being stacked and cleared from the table. "It's only been two weeks, and it was so good that we just had to have it again."
"Oh, don't worry, Ella, I'm sure we can make short work with it," Grandpa replied. "Though, I might need a little help with that."
I assumed that last bit was addressed to Tails, because an adorable giggle followed. Normally I loved it when he did that; it sounded so cute.
I frowned as I turned to make my way up the stairs. I was going to miss my friends like crazy when it was time for them all to leave. They had woven their way into my heart so deep, it was like they were family in all but blood.
However, if Eggman was true to his promises of revenge, perhaps there was a figment of truth to his statements this time around too, or so I hoped. Surely he held the key to getting everyone back to where they belonged. With the good morals all the Mobians had, he couldn't possibly be all bad.
The sound of laughter erupted from the dining room. I wanted them to stay more than anything now. But I didn't have the time to mope.
I broke into a jog and sprinted down the hall past Ella and Tanaka's rooms. I located my own room and entered it. Sonic and Tails did not share the room with me, so it would be slightly less painful for me at night when it was time for them to go.
I saw my blue Marvel backpack on the dresser. Either Ella or Tanaka must have put it there after I left it in the garage. I mentally apologized to them as I picked it up and carried it over to my bed.
Unzipping it, I dumped its contents onto my bed. This was what I was going to put the Chaos Emeralds in. I then opened my notebook and ripped a blank page out of it. Taking the page and a pen, I carried them over to my writing desk.
After sitting down, I began to formulate and write a note to tell everyone about what I was doing. I told myself that it didn't have to look pretty as long as it carried out my message.
Only about a minute later, I finished writing the note, I folded it before placing it inside my empty backpack and zipping it shut. I took one last look around the room before turning off the light and leaving with my backpack.
Now was the hard part. Now I had to figure out how to smuggle the backpack to the lab without anyone seeing me.
Sure, it seemed easy enough to just leave by the front door, but then everyone would get suspicious of me if they saw me leaving the house with my backpack, especially since I had been gone for a few hours after school.
Furthermore, carrying four baseball-sized Chaos Emeralds with my bare hands would be more than a little tricky, especially when I was going to carry them for over two miles. Knuckles was probably waiting for me at the train station, and I didn't want to keep him waiting. I knew I was making up a strategy on the fly, which was more Sonic's thing than mine, but it was literally now or never.
I started down the stairs, and I could hear everyone still chatting in the other room. This gave me a little more time to make my escape.
I glanced at the double front doors across the foyer. Yes, it was theoretically possible for me to head out that way, but Mr. Tanaka would find out that it was unlocked. So I ruled it out once more.
The side door would have been the fastest way to get to the lab, but there was one problem: the dining room was visible from the living room, and everyone would see me carrying my backpack out the door.
As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I finally decided the back door had to do.
But I had only taken a few steps toward the back of the house when I heard the pitter-patter of footsteps approaching. I didn't need this now. I didn't want to be seen by anyone. This was such bad timing.
"Chao chao!" came a voice as Cream and Cheese entered my view, headed for the stairs.
"That's a great idea, Cheese!" agreed Cream. "We should do that first thing tomorrow!"
And then they noticed me.
It was too late to hide either myself or my backpack. I was standing in full view of them. My heart raced a little as I knew I was caught.
On the other hand, Cream was a little surprised that I was there too, because she took a step back the moment she saw me, accompanied by a small gasp.
"Hello, Mr. Chris!" she greeted the moment she regained her composure.
"H-Hi," I said. "Uh… did I hear something I shouldn't have…?"
That wouldn't have been my first choice of words, but that was what I said.
"Nope," Cream said with a cute shake of her head. "Where are you going with your backpack, Mr. Chris?"
Busted by a six-year-old alien rabbit, just like that. A cute one, I might add.
I just stood there. I completely didn't know how to answer that question. I didn't prepare for the moment that I would be caught.
"Hey Cream, you forgot to finish your water!"
"Sorry, Miss Amy!"
And just like that, Cream and Cheese took off back in the direction of the dining room. I didn't see Amy at all, because she was at the entrance of the living room, but I could not believe the incredible stroke of luck I just had. I couldn't risk anything like that again.
I ran toward the back of the house, knowing that no one could stop me now. I quickly located the sliding door and unlocked it and pulled it open.
As I stepped out onto the patio and into the evening air, my eyes wandered over in the direction of the adult swimming pool. This was a night just like the one nine months ago, when I first met Sonic the Hedgehog…
However, I had to force myself to shake off the nostalgia and keep moving. I had work to do. And yet I found myself looking back at the adult pool. I pictured myself on that night, pulling a coughing and sputtering Sonic to safety. That was the night, and this was the place, that my life changed forever. And now it was going to change forever again.
I felt a strange mix of emotions. On top of the sad sense of nostalgia, the fact that what I was about to do did not settle well in my stomach.
I'm sorry, Sonic… I'm sorry, everyone… I understand if you don't forgive me for this.
I started walking away from the pools and then broke into a run for the garage. The path to get there was considerably longer than going out the side door, but it had to do. It was worth taking longer to get there as long as I didn't get caught.
Speaking of getting caught… I realized that I needed to stay clear of the windows! Anyone could just casually look outside and see me running suspiciously toward the garage. I was still close enough to the house for them to see me, so I had to duck under the windows and tiptoe toward the garage.
Once I was sure I was home free, I continued to run toward the garage, carrying the backpack in my hands. I would strap it on after I loaded the Emeralds into it.
The garage seemed so much farther away than it really was, and after what seemed like a fortnight, I finally made it to the garage.
I stopped and wanted from the run, before taking another look back at the house. I was content that no one had seen me, because I didn't see any movement. They were probably busy enjoying their chocolate mousse. I was sorry I couldn't have it with them, because I had a mission ahead of me.
I looked ahead once more and opened the garage door. I turned on the light to see the massive form of the X-Tornado parked inside. Since it was parked inside, this actually made my mission all the more convenient.
I turned toward the wooden stairs leading up to the lab and quietly ascended them. There were a few small groans from the wood, but they couldn't be helped.
I then pushed the door open and felt around for a light switch. A few seconds later, I found it and flicked it up, illuminating the room with light. Grandpa had been long procrastinating on building a system that automatically lit the lab upon entry.
My eyes immediately went over to the stabilizing compound the Chaos Emeralds were stored in. The yellow, cyan, and blue ones were already inside, which meant the green one had to have been inside the X-Tornado.
But as I approached, I mentally slapped myself. I had almost forgotten that the compound required a four-digit passcode to enter, and I couldn't remember it!
I started to fret about it. It could be one of so many combinations! And the compound was so strong, so there was no point in breaking into it. I remembered hearing something about an alarm being installed into it unless the passcode was entered.
However, I started feeling another sensation that what I was about to do wasn't right. What would everyone, especially Sonic, think that I, their best human friend, took all the Chaos Emeralds away from them in the dead of night?! Then they would probably lose trust in me. Even worse, I wouldn't be their friend anymore!
I was forced to mentally push those thoughts aside. I was in way too deep as it was.
I told myself to calm down, take a few breaths, and think it through. Thinking back a few months, I vaguely recalled Grandpa writing it down somewhere. But I couldn't remember for the life of me whether it was written on paper or on his computer! But I knew that Grandpa was too smart to have hidden it on his computer, where it could potentially be hacked. That meant it had to be in a notebook or on a scrap of paper somewhere.
Dumping the backpack on the desk, I began to frantically dig through the drawers, telling myself to hurry before someone inevitably entered the lab, or even realized I was gone.
I was doing this because Eggman promised to get everyone home. And now that I thought about it, I was trapped in this deal. Whether I accepted or declined meant the same end goal for my friends. They would be going home one way or another.
I stopped for a moment to look back at the Chaos Emeralds resting in their glass encasing, their neutral glow softly illuminating the interior of the compounds. Then I started to remember what the passcode could have been. It had to do with… Sonic's birthday…
And then I suddenly remembered it!
A while back, shortly after the compound had been completed, I had overheard Tails and Grandpa talking about setting up a code to protect the Emeralds from any would-be thieves. To think that one would come from within their own family… That made me sick to my stomach.
Anyway, they set the code to the numbers of Sonic's birthday. Before then, I didn't even know what their birthdays were, and I wished I had known about them a lot sooner. In fact, Sonic's birthday was just next month.
So with a bittersweet sense of triumph, I stepped back toward the machine and listed my hand to enter the code. I didn't want to do this. But I knew I had to. I moved my hand closer to the keypad and willed my fingers to press the buttons on the keypad.
After entering 0623 into the keypad, I was rewarded with the satisfying sound of the chamber's safety mechanism being released. With that done, I reached forward once again and slowly pulled the door open.
Even though the Chaos Emeralds were illuminating the dark interior of the stabilizing chamber with their soothing glow, I found them to be cool to the touch when I removed them and placed them one by one into the backpack I had set on Grandpa's desk. The crunch of paper I heard inside reminded me that I had written my note earlier.
So I reached inside the backpack and pulled it out. I unfolded it and took one last look at the handwritten message, before setting it in plain view on the desk. My mission was almost over.
However, there was still one more Chaos Emerald to collect, and that was the green one Tails usually kept inside the X-Tornado. That was going to be the hardest Emerald for me to get, because I needed to find the X-Tornado's remote. The thing was, I didn't know where Tails usually kept it!
Now if I recalled correctly, Grandpa had modified the remote with a couple new features. It used to only be able to tilt the palm trees back, but now it could open the garage door, open the X-Tornado's canopy, and even start its engines.
However, I was rarely ever the one to open the plane's canopy before – Tails or Grandpa always did that. I only did it once or twice. And I knew that the button to start the X-Tornado's engines was right next to the one to open the canopy. Since the X-Tornado's engines were so loud, I couldn't afford to make that mistake. That would bring everyone running for sure.
On the bright side, I knew where Grandpa kept the remote. It was in a drawer down in the garage. All I had to do was find it.
So scooping up my backpack, I crept over to the trap door and opened it. I noticed that I was tiptoeing down the stairs, even though no one was around. I hated this with every fiber of my being. It felt like my conscience was condemning me, but I had to do this. It was no longer just a promise. Now it felt like I was doing this out of fear – fear of what Eggman would do to me if I backed out of his deal.
Now that I was in the garage once again, I turned toward one of the units of drawers lining one of the side walls. It was one of the only ones not filled with a wide array of tools.
But first, I had to make sure it wasn't inside the giant panel on the side of the plane, the one usually reserved for extra power from other Chaos Emeralds. But I shrugged it off; the last Chaos Emerald wouldn't be in there; it didn't make sense. It was a good thing it wasn't in there too, because I didn't know how to open the panel. Only Tails and Grandpa knew.
So the remote would have to do. I set the backpack on the ground and turned back to the cabinets, opening drawer after drawer in my search for the remote. I had to chide myself to go fast, but not too fast that I would make a mess or even hit the wrong button on the remote if I found it in my haste.
After the sixth drawer, I finally found the sleek black remote and pulled it out of the drawer. As I glossed over the buttons, only then was I reminded of one of its other functions. It was capable of lifting the entire garage into the air and revealing the secret lab underneath. No way was I going to do that either. Not only would everyone notice, but there was no way I could safely make it down to the ground without the elevator.
I was literally shaking. I didn't want to do this. Sonic would probably be mad at me over all of this. Amy, Cream, and maybe even Tails would be left in tears. I couldn't believe it… I was actually going through with betraying them in order to fulfill their cause.
Even in the brightly-lit garage, it seemed a little dim for my liking, but I located the correct button and pressed it. A quiet hiss filled my ears as the X-Tornado's front canopy opened. Now all I needed to do was get the ladder. The only thing was, I never managed the ladder all by myself before. But I had to do it.
I saw the ladder, which was a little large to fold completely, but it looked like it could still be moved by one person. I walked over to the ladder and attempted to pull the ladder's small lever to unlock it, but it didn't seem to budge.
"C'mon…!" I grunted under my breath.
The ladder finally unlocked with a click that echoed across the garage. It startled me, and I could feel my heart beating faster. Even though no one else was there, I still didn't want to make any noise.
Next, I placed both hands on one of the ladder's posts and attempted to pull it toward the side of the plane. It was an ambitious move; I had forgotten just how heavy it was to move with one non-Mobian person, especially a twelve-year-old like me. I needed help moving it, but I wasn't about to ask for help.
I stopped for a moment to ponder my situation. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe I could just put these Emeralds back, and no one would ever know.
I shook my head. No! I was in too deep! Eggman would likely find out that I broke my side of the deal if I did anything like that. I didn't want to be on the receiving end of his wrath!
With a surge of reinvigoration and fresh determination, I pulled hard on the ladder, and it finally moved away from the wall. I took a few steps back, still pulling, and was satisfied that it was gaining momentum.
I suddenly pushed against the ladder's post to stop its forward movement before it bumped into the plane. Now that it was in place, I had to lock it. So I attempted to push down on the lever to lock it.
I grunted with the effort. Why was it so hard to lock the ladder? How did Tails and Grandpa even manage it?
Snap!
I stared in utter disbelief as the sheared piece of plastic clattered on the cement floor. I had somehow managed to break the lever when I was trying to lock the ladder in place. I didn't know what to do now. Now it was way too risky to climb a ladder that wasn't locked, and Grandpa even warned me about that. But now it looked like I was left with no choice, especially when Eggman was expecting all four Chaos Emeralds we had.
But now I had to climb an unstable ladder to fulfill my side of the deal.
I looked back at the base of the sheared lever and saw some rust surrounding the base. I didn't know it had even rusted. Tails was in such a hurry to find the Emeralds once last week that he accidentally left the ladder in the rain, so that may have been a factor. But I didn't even know I was capable of doing that.
At least the ladder was close enough to the X-Tornado for me to climb inside and collect the last Chaos Emerald.
I looked up at the ladder and, taking a deep breath, started to climb it. To my relief, it didn't move too much the higher I got. However, when I reached the last step, I started wobbling as the ladder started to feel a little unstable.
I had to lean way over into the cockpit, and even then I was barely able to reach the Chaos Emerald resting in its spot near the plane's controls. However, I could feel that it was warmer than the other Chaos Emeralds, since it had recently been used a few hours earlier.
In fact, I had to resort to climbing all the way into the pilot's seat, treacherous as it was. Once I was seated, I scanned the console and the controls for any sign of a button to safely eject the Chaos Emerald. I couldn't just pull it out. Tails wouldn't make the X-Tornado that unsafe.
But there were so many buttons and levers and readouts!
I sat back in the leather seat. In all honesty, this was my very first time actually sitting in the pilot's seat that was usually reserved for Tails. What I was seeing now was what Tails always saw when he was flying the X-Tornado. I couldn't picture myself flying the X-Tornado any time soon, especially since I was still so young.
At last, I spotted what looked like the button. It was closer to the Emerald than I thought. I pressed it, and there was a tiny click as the green gem sprung up about an inch. I picked it up and prepared to step out of the plane and back onto the ladder.
I set my right foot onto the top step of the ladder, and immediately I felt it shifting a couple inches beneath me. I let out a small yelp and scrambled to get my other foot out of the plane and onto the ladder. Then I clung to the post as I looked down to see how I could safely get down the ladder.
I didn't have Tails to help me down this time, so it was going to be even trickier to get down. And Tails couldn't know about this, either.
I went white in the face all of a sudden. Tails and Grandpa said they would be over right after dessert! I had to hurry and get out of the garage fast!
I took several shaky steps down the ladder as quickly as I could, and mentally let out a sigh of relief as I jumped down from the second step to the ground.
I glanced wistfully at the broken lever on the ground as I made my way around the ladder and the plane to get to my backpack. I dropped the Emerald inside, hearing the glass-like sound of it colliding with the other three inside. Now all that remained was to close the plane's canopy.
Except the canopy was way too high up for me to reach, and no way was I going back up that ladder to close it. So I settled for the remote; it was easier anyway.
I found the abandoned lever on one of the shelves and pressed the button to close the canopy. I watched as it descended noiselessly, and a few seconds later, it sealed with a click and a hiss of air. I winced. Every single sound I was making seemed louder than normal. Every tiny noise seemed to echo everywhere. They made my heart jump, and I was already on heightened alert. I could be discovered at any minute, and then it would all be over.
Now the very last thing I needed to do before leaving was to text Knuckles.
So I pulled my phone from my pocket and opened up Knuckles' number to text him.
"I have the chaos emeralds. I'll be there in less than half an hour"
I then put away my phone and picked up the backpack, slinging it onto my back as I turned to go.
Suddenly a pinging sound came from my pocket as I reached the door. My heart leaped, and I was pretty sure I did too. I was getting tired of all these scary sounds.
As soon as the scare died down, I pulled my phone back out of my pocket to read Knuckles' message.
OK. I'm still at the train station.
I turned the light off and opened the door, stepping out into the night air once more. My heart skipped a beat, but I relaxed a little as I saw that no one else was around.
I looked around the immediate area for my bike, but I paused in realization when I didn't see it right away. I had left it by the front door, which was all the way across the front yard. It was way too risky for me to run all the way over there, which meant I had to settle for getting to the train station on foot.
I groaned. The train station was about a mile and a half away from the house, but it was too far away for someone on an urgent mission like me. But I was left with no choice. Sure, I could walk there no problem. I did it last time. But I wasn't on a time crunch like last time.
As I slipped my arms through the straps of my backpack and started down the driveway, I took one last look back at the house… the white mansion with the red roof that I had called home all my life.
Sonic… I hope you can forgive me… I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore after this…
I sincerely hoped all of my friends would understand what I was doing. But no amount of wishful thinking could shake the massive amounts of guilt piling up within me. Was this really the right thing for me to do? Just stealing all the Emeralds like that and disappearing in the night? Knuckles sure made it seem that way.
I was home free, but I certainly didn't feel like it. The minutes painfully dragged by the longer I walked. Every step felt like the train station was not getting any closer than before. In fact, it was almost as if my backpack was gradually getting heavier. There was no way four Chaos Emeralds could weigh any more than just a few pounds in total.
Even though it only took me about half an hour to get to the train station, the journey there felt like it lasted a lot longer than that. But once I got there, I paused to let my tired legs rest for a moment while I scanned the crowd for any sign of Knuckles.
As I looked around, I was glad no one was asking me what I was going without an adult with me. I didn't need to be stopped now, not when I had a mission to fulfill.
I took a few steps across the platform, and paused when I saw a familiar red echidna leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. This time, though, I noticed he was wearing a hat with a few stars on its brim.
"Hey, Chris," Knuckles said without even looking up.
I was stunned. How did he even know I was there?! There were a lot of people everywhere, and a lot of noise, and I didn't even get to say anything!
"You look kinda shocked," Knuckles smirked as he looked up at me and got off the wall. "Well, let me tell you something. I'm Chaos-sensitive, so I could tell you were coming about ten minutes ago."
I paused for a moment to process that, and then it dawned on me.
"Ohh, yeah, Sonic told me about that," I realized.
"So I take it you got all four Emeralds," Knuckles said, eyeing the backpack I was wearing.
I nodded. "Yeah," I said with a hint of audible regret.
Knuckles patted the backpack on my back. "Good," he said. "In the meantime, I got us both tickets while you were gone." He looked back at me. "Did, uh, did anyone see you?"
"Well, uh…" I thought back. "Cream was kind of suspicious when she saw me sneaking toward the back door with my backpack, but Amy called her in for something. Other than that, it was smooth sailing."
"Well, that's good," Knuckles said as he started walking across the platform. I followed him.
"I… I don't know, Knuckles…" I admitted as I kept pace with the echidna. "I… don't exactly feel right doing this…"
"Don't sweat it," Knuckles shrugged with a slight grin. "It's not like we're just handing the Emeralds over to Eggman."
I inwardly scoffed. In a nutshell, that was exactly what we were doing.
"If Eggman really is the only way we can get home," he continued, "then so be it. But when all is said and done, I'm sure Sonic will be grateful for what we did.
I frowned.
If only that were true, Knuckles...
Silver Valley State Park – Fri May 13; 10:02 PM – Third-person POV
Topaz took a deep breath and let it out again as she trekked through the heavily forested Silver Valley State Park. She glanced at what looked like several fallen trees, a scar from a previous skirmish there.
She and Rouge had been deployed there by Captain Westwood to find Eggman's ship. He said it was last seen in that area. While GUN did not yet have the technology to detect Chaos Emeralds in particular over other energy signatures, he knew there was one aboard the ship, and that was why he sent Topaz and Rouge to investigate.
This was the third day of their search, and until tonight their search radius had been much, much wider. But when GUN technicians detected an energy signature originating in the park, it had been greatly reduced, and Westwood had high hopes Eggman would be found that night.
"We're getting close," whispered Topaz as she took another look at the device in her hand.
"You know, I can cover a lot more ground if I just search from the air," hinted Rouge from next to her. "Just saying."
"No. Way," Topaz firmly stated. "Not with your wing still healing. And I'm not going to risk Eggman seeing you, even if you call yourself the 'world-famous mistress of stealth' or whatever."
Rouge glanced distastefully at her injured right wing, which was partially wrapped in fresh gauze from GUN's own medbay.
"Fiiine…" Rouge droned.
"And don't even think about going off on your own either," added Topaz.
"Yes, mother," sighed Rouge.
Topaz couldn't help a somewhat sad smile at Rouge's retorts. She was already growing on her.
She knew it wouldn't be too much longer until Rouge had to leave for Mobius. Despite all her… quirks, they had become such close friends in the half a year they had been together, both in and out of service at GUN. Westwood had taken particular notice of their friendship, and how well they seemed to work together, so he always deployed them together wherever he could.
Before Rouge had to go, Topaz wanted to give her something, but at every opportunity, something came up, and lately the timing just hadn't been right. Topaz hoped she would get her chance soon.
"Lookie what I found~" called Rouge in a sing-song voice from nearby. Topaz turned to see the bat perched at a dropoff and gesturing to an area somewhere below them.
Topaz ran over and squatted down next to Rouge. Before them lay the hull of the Egg Fort II. While its engines weren't running, both its interior and exterior lights were on, illuminating the darkness of the forest. It was way bigger up close than they thought.
"So that's where big and ugly's been keeping the Emerald lately…" Rouge mused. "I don't even need my Jewel Scope to figure that out."
"Back up a few steps," instructed Topaz, and both she and Rouge took a few steps away from the dropoff. Topaz then activated the radio on her shoulder.
"Topaz to HQ. We found Robotnik's mobile headquarters. Over," she reported.
"We have your location. Remain on standby. Over," came the dispatcher's voice.
"Copy. Topaz out."
Topaz terminated the call; she still couldn't get over how much Eggman's real name sounded Russian, even though he was from another world.
"It's awful quiet out here tonight," Rouge stated.
Topaz mumbled an agreement. "Not to mention chilly. You're lucky you have your fur to keep you warm."
Rouge smirked. "I much rather prefer the glow of a Chaos Emerald… but fur works too."
Another moment of silence passed, and it seemed to be getting too awkward for Topaz's taste.
"So… there's only one more Emerald left to find before you go back home, isn't there…?" Topaz asked.
"You got it," agreed Rouge.
Topaz began fidgeting. "You know… I'm really going to miss you when you leave… I think we have grown really close."
"I know."
Instead of her usual smirk, Rouge gave Topaz a genuine smile – a rare sight to behold.
"Thank you for visiting me in the hospital," she said. "You might not have known it… but I really needed the support."
Topaz smiled back. "You know I'm not one to leave my allies hanging, upside-down or otherwise."
They shared a laugh. It felt like a bittersweet moment for Topaz.
"Hey Rouge…" started Topaz, causing the bat to curiously glance back at the human standing next to her. "Before you go… I want you to have this, as a thank you for being my fellow soldier and best friend."
She then pulled a small gemstone from her vest. Even in the night air, it had a distinctive sparkle to it. Appropriately, it was a topaz.
Rouge gasped in both surprise and wonder, and immediately accepted the topaz before turning it over and examining it completely.
"I… I-I don't know what to say…" Rouge stuttered. "It's… gorgeous…"
"I had my fingers crossed that you would like it," Topaz said, also unable to help a smile. "Truth be told… I was really nervous about it."
"Where did you find such a gorgeous gemstone?" Rouge asked.
"Bona Fide Jewelers," responded Topaz. "When I saw you window shopping there from across the street last week, I knew I wanted to get a little something for you before you go. I know next to nothing about jewelry, so I asked the sales clerk, and she helped me pick it out." She glanced at the gemstone in Rouge's gloved hands. "I wanted to give you a topaz as something for you to remember me by."
Rouge looked up, tears of gratitude welling up in her teal eyes.
"Th… Thank you, Topaz…" Rouge whispered before stepping forward and hugging Topaz, which she returned.
"And Rouge… in return…" Topaz took a deep breath of fresh night air. "...promise me this isn't goodbye forever…"
After they broke the hug, Rouge wiped her tears and examined her fur for a moment before smiling.
"Hon, I can do you one better."
But just as Topaz was about to speak, her radio crackled again, breaking the emotional moment between her and Rouge.
"Hold that thought for a second," Topaz said before answering her radio.
"We just relayed your report to the higher-ups," the agent reported. "The President himself has given the go-ahead for GUN to deploy the Valkyrie robots for combat. In the meantime, a chopper is on its way to pick you up now."
"Copy," responded Topaz as she terminated the call. "Rouge, did you hear that…? Rouge…?"
However, Rouge didn't seem to hear her at all. She was standing near the dropoff once again, glancing down at the Egg Fort II – or rather, something else near it.
"What is it?" Topaz whispered as she approached Rouge.
"We've got company," she reported.
At those words, Topaz became more alert. She carefully peered down the cliff to see two individuals walking toward the Egg Fort.
"What are they doing here…?" surmised Topaz. "There should be no reason Knuckles should be here–"
"Maybe he's after the Chaos Emerald inside…?" Rouge guessed.
"Then how do you explain Christopher Thorndyke being here too?"
Rouge narrowed her eyes. "You're right. A storm is brewing, I can feel it. There's no reason Knuckles should be anywhere near here, but Chris? Nothing short of a wild card."
"Don't give away your location, Rouge," cautioned Topaz as she backed away from the dropoff a few steps. "Just keep watching what they do and wait for the chopper to pick us up."
She reached for her night vision binoculars and looked through them at the two newcomers, since it was too dark to see what they were doing in particular.
"Chris is wearing a backpack…" she reported.
"A backpack…?" the bat repeated. "That means it's anyone's guess what they're up to. But you're right… Let's just watch and see what happens."
Thorndyke Mansion – Fri May 13; 8:33 PM – Third-person POV
"Master Chris is missing!"
With a pang of panic at Tanaka's urgent tone, Chuck turned toward his butler as he ran down the stairs as fast as he could. Chris never went missing.
"Well, maybe not. He's probably just in another part of the house," Chuck suggested, even though there was a chance it was wishful thinking.
"I am quite sure he isn't, Professor Thorndyke," Tanaka said. "I have searched the entire upstairs. He is not in his room either."
"Well, maybe he's downstairs, then," Tails said hopefully as he and his friends entered the foyer where everyone else was already starting to gather.
"Mr. Chris is missing?" Cream asked.
"Chao-chao…?" Cheese added.
"I searched the entire downstairs, too," confirmed Tanaka. "It's not like him to vanish like this."
"Then let's all look for him!" rallied Amy. "I don't think he went very far. We can find him in no time!"
And with that, everyone but Ella and Chuck took off to do another housewife search for the missing boy. Chuck tried to suppress the feeling of dread that was starting to form.
"This house may be large, but this is not like him at all," lamented Ella.
"I know," Chuck said. "I'm going to look outside."
But as he turned to the front doors, a thought crossed him.
"I just remembered that Chris had said something about going back to Danny's house."
"Why?" asked Ella.
"I think he forgot something," he said. He reached into his labcoat pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "I'm gonna call Danny's house and see if Chris is there."
Meanwhile, Tails and Amy were racing toward the rec room at the back of the house. As Amy was slightly older, she had a small speed advantage over Tails, but that didn't stop the fox from trying to catch up to the best of his ability.
"Is it just me, or did you also notice that Chris is acting a little off lately?" he noted.
"Yeah, I know," replied Amy. "I just hope he's not going to run away from home."
"Amy, you know he's not going to do that," Tails tried to reassure his friend. "He loves it here. He's never been happier."
"That's what bothers me," Amy replied as they slowed down upon entering the rec room. "When we leave, he's not going to have that same happiness anymore. And I think that's why Chris is not acting like himself lately."
"Hey Chris, are you in here?" called Tails as he glazed around the pool, foosball, air hockey, and ping pong tables, as well as the various arcade cabinets.
But they were greeted with only silence.
"Tails… I don't think he would just hide on us," Amy said, worry seeping into her voice. "I mean, if we were playing hide and seek, he would have told us."
"Yeah…" replied Tails. "But we need to keep looking."
Elsewhere, Cream had wandered outside in their own search for her best human friend. Cheese was back inside, helping Ella look upstairs.
"I wonder where Mr. Chris went…" thought Cream. "Where is he hiding?"
And then she spotted something in the distance that made her freeze. Her heart skipped a beat.
The lab light was on. That was a sure sign that someone was in there, or had been in there recently.
Without a moment's hesitation, she turned and ran back toward the side door as fast as her little legs would carry her.
Wanting to get back to the house even faster, she flapped her ears and propelled herself forward… until she bumped into Tanaka who was just stepping outside, and she fell on her bottom.
"Mr. Tanaka!" she exclaimed as she picked herself up. "I think Mr. Chris is in Grandpa's lab!"
Normally Tanaka would have gently asked Cream to be more careful where she was flying, but with this level of urgency, he gave her a pass.
"That's not like him," Tanaka said. "Master Chris doesn't usually enter the lab by himself. This confirms my suspicions."
Chuck pressed the button to end the call, and sighed. He had reached another dead end. The situation just kept deteriorating.
He stood there for a long moment, wondering what could have become of Chris, and why he would do such a thing as what he did earlier that night. He stood there even as Ella came down the stairs, with Cheese by her side. He continued to stand there thinking as Amy and Tails emerged from the back of the house.
"Any luck?" Chuck asked as he finally put his phone away and turned to the others.
"No luck at all," Ella replied. "What about you?"
Chuck sighed again. "It's not looking good…" he said.
Amy's eyes widened a little. "Why? What do you mean?"
"I just got off the phone with Danny's mom…" Chuck announced. "Chris never went over to his house today."
A stunned silence filled the room afterward. Cheese whimpered a little, and Tails tried to say something, but no words came, only small sounds.
"But…" Amy finally spoke in a tone of utter disbelief. "Chris wouldn't lie like that… would he…?"
Chuck closed his eyes. "I don't know, Amy…" he admitted. "I think there's something more going on with him that I–"
"A thousand pardons, Professor Thorndyke," came Tanaka's voice as he entered the foyer, "but Miss Cream has urgently informed me that Master Chris may be in your laboratory."
"Really? Chris isn't usually up there by himself at this time of night," Chuck marveled. "Tanaka, Ella, stay here in case he comes back. The rest of you, come with me!"
The gray-haired professor broke into a run across the living room, with Tails and Amy right behind him. Even though he was in his sixties, Chuck was very fit, and still worked out, so he was able to still physically run fast.
As they burst through the side door and out into the night, Cheese flew well ahead of them at a remarkable pace, eager to reunite with his owner and see what she discovered.
Inside the garage, Cream flicked the switch next to the door, flooding the quiet garage with light from the fluorescent light fixtures along the ceiling. She looked around the empty garage, then crept silently up the stairs toward the trap door.
She was just about to push the door open when–
"Chao chao!" called Cheese as he flew into the garage.
"Ah!" cried Cream as she almost lost her balance on the top step. "Cheese, you startled me!"
"Chao…" whimpered Cheese.
"It's okay, I know you didn't mean it," forgave Cream. "Can you please help me push this trap door open? It's too heavy for me."
"Chao!" agreed Cheese as he flew over to Cream's side. Together, with one big push, they lifted the heavy wooden trap door.
Sure enough, the light had been left on, and Cream knew that Chuck always turned the light off whenever he left the lab. But she was disheartened to see that there was no sign of Chris anywhere in the lab.
Cheese flew past her and into the empty room as Cream finished climbing the ladder and entered the lab herself. Suddenly Cheese began rapidly trying to say something to Cream while frantically pointing to the Chaos Emeralds' stabilizer compound.
Cream rushed over to see what her Chao friend was so upset over.
"What is it, Cheese?" she started to ask, before letting out a shocked gasp. The Chaos Emeralds were missing! All of them!
She stood there, unable to form words or even move. She completely did not expect the Emeralds to be gone. In fact, she was so stunned that she barely heard Chuck, Tails, and Amy entering the room behind her.
"He's not here?!" Tails exclaimed incredulously.
"Mhmm…" whimpered Cream.
Meanwhile, Cheese was frantically trying to communicate with Chuck who was left confused, because he didn't speak Chao. Fortunately, Cheese gestured to the empty Emerald chamber, and Chuck turned his head toward it. When Tails and Amy saw it too, they gasped.
"Oh my goodness… how could he do such a thing?" said a bewildered Chuck.
"But… why would he do that?" Tails added in dismay.
"Now it looks like all our hard-earned progress is all gone!" exclaimed Amy.
"Let's not jump to conclusions yet, Amy," Chuck tried to tell the passionate hedgehog, even though he himself felt like doing just that.
Tails turned back toward the stairs "H-hold on, I wanna check something real quick. Maybe not all hope is lost."
Before Chuck could say anything, the kit disappeared down the stairs. Not even two seconds later, an oblivious Sonic burst through the trap door, taking everyone by surprise. They weren't expecting Sonic to show up so fast and so soon.
"Couldn't find it," Sonic reported. "Man, that last Emerald is really elusive!"
"Sonic, thank goodness you're here," Chuck said with a hand over his rapidly beating heart. Sonic's expression melted into one of worry.
"Whoa, what happened, Chuck? What did I miss?" he asked. He had no idea what to expect, until he saw Cream trying to say something to him. He bent down to the bunny's level. "It's okay, take your time. You can tell me," he said soothingly.
"C… Chris…" she whimpered. Unable to say much more, she raised her right hand and simply pointed toward the empty Emerald chamber. Only then did Sonic see that all three Emeralds that were inside were now missing.
"Wha… but why would he do that?" Sonic questioned in bewilderment. "I- even after my talk with him, he just… took the Emeralds like…" He let out a breath.
"Wait, this wasn't here before…" mused Chuck as he spotted a sheet of paper on his desk and picked it up.
"What is it…?" Amy asked, quizzically peering up at the paper in the professor's hands.
Chuck's eyebrows creased. "He left a note for us," he said. "He went through a lot of trouble to–"
"It's bad! It's really really bad!" came Tails' frantic voice as he burst back into the lab. "He even took the Emerald out of the X-Tornado! Now it only has the spare power in the capacitors, and it's not designed to run without a Chaos Emerald!"
Chuck looked at Tails in pity, and the fox grabbed his head in a panic.
"Aaahh! Why did I not think something like this through!" he exclaimed.
"Whoa, whoa, hey Tails, it's okay, just take a few deep breaths, you're okay," Sonic said, rubbing his back slowly. Tails already began to feel himself calming down a little, but he still looked very flustered.
"It's not your fault," Chuck added. "You had no idea something like this would happen. No one can predict the future."
"What does the note say, Chuck?" Amy asked.
"He left a note?" Tails added.
"Yes," said Chuck.
"It better be good," added Sonic as he started pacing. "He's got to have a reason behind this."
"He does, but still…" he held up the paper and read the note aloud.
"By the time you read this, I will be long gone. I have taken all the Chaos Emeralds somewhere where they will be used to get everyone back to Mobius. Trust me. I know what I'm doing. Please don't follow me."
Amy felt her temper starting to rise again.
"No," she said firmly, turning to the rest of the room. "No, he obviously doesn't know what he's doing. We need to go find him right now!"
Sonic stopped pacing and pounded one fist into his other hand.
"I just put two and two together," he declared, all eyes turning to him now. "You know when Chris wanted to talk to me during dinner?"
The room nodded.
"Well… he finally opened up. Told me his real feelings. First he asked me if I missed Mobius. Now he took the Emeralds. I knew he was acting off for the past few days, and tonight the cookie crumbled, or whatever you call it here on Earth. So basically, he doesn't want us to leave."
Chuck sat down in his desk chair, and invited Cream and Cheese to sit on his lap. Cream walked over, and Chuck lifted her up and set her down on her lap. Cheese floated down and landed in Cream's hands.
"That's understandable," Chuck said, "but what he did tonight was nothing short of foolish."
"Not to mention selfish," added Amy.
"Yes, I know it's going to devastate him when you all go…" Chuck said, pointedly ignoring Amy. "Believe me, I'm going to miss you all terribly too, especially you, Tails. But he really shouldn't have taken all the Emeralds, especially when we're already working on a way to get you all home. Now that I think of it, you're right, Amy. It's selfish in an understandable way, if you know what I mean."
"I guess..." Amy sighed.
"Now here's the cherry on top," Sonic said, starting to pace again. "Chuck, could you read the last line on that note again?"
Chuck glanced at the note he had set back on the desk. "'Please don't follow me,'" he repeated.
"Exactly," Sonic said. "I think there's only one thing that could mean."
The room was silent for a moment, but Tails was the first to do the math. "No, he couldn't have…!" he exclaimed in disbelief and shock.
"What?" Amy asked, having no idea what Tails was getting at.
"If I'm right, then chances are really good that Chris is taking those Emeralds straight to Eggman without any consideration of what he's getting himself into."
Amy was shocked, and Cream couldn't say anything because she too was shocked beyond belief. Chris giving Eggman all the Emeralds?! Perish the thought!
From his seat, Chuck set Cream and Cheese down on the ground once more, and buried his face in his hands.
"I can't believe you did this, Chris…" he muttered. "This was the last thing I thought you would do…"
"We have to find him right away!" Tails announced.
"Yeah!" echoed Amy.
"Way ahead of you!" called Sonic as he zipped down the stairs and out the garage door. Tails immediately followed, with Amy right behind him. Even Chuck got up and started to follow them toward the stairs, but Cream gently tugged on his labcoat to get his attention.
"I want to go too," she said in a voice that was both pleading and determined.
"Cream," Chuck gently began, "if Eggman is involved, then it may be dangerous. Why don't you stay here with Ella, where it will be safe for you?"
"I don't want to stay here!" Cream said with determination. "It's good that we all try to find Mr. Chris. Even me and Cheese. We are your friends too… right?"
Chuck smiled at the child's unwavering confidence and eagerness to help.
"Fair enough," he warmly relented. "Now, come with me. We don't have much time."
By the time the three of them reached the bottom of the stairs, Tails and Amy were already seated inside the plane.
"Hey Chuck?" Tails called from the pilot's seat.
"Yeah?" the professor called back.
"The ladder was already next to the plane when I found it, and it… well, you might want to come take a look for yourself."
"It's like the lever snapped off…?" Amy said unsurely.
"You two get in; I'll be right with you," Chuck quietly told Cream and Cheese as he made his way around the back of the jet. The whole time he was wondering how the ladder's unlocking lever could just snap like that.
Sure enough, when he arrived, he saw that it was unlocked, and the broken piece of lever was lying on the ground.
"Oh my… Chris moved this all by himself?" he asked in utter disbelief. "But this thing weighs well over 50 pounds! I… I can't believe it…" He looked up. "Amy, were you able to get up there okay?"
"Yeah, I had a little help from Tails," she replied as Cream and Cheese got settled in the vacant seat behind her.
Chuck stared back at the ladder, and debated moving it, but despite the urgency of the situation, he ruled in favor of safety, and attempted to move the ladder aside. It took a bit of effort, but he managed to push the ladder toward the nook it usually rested in, or about as far back as he was able to move it without straining his back muscles.
"Want some help?" Tails asked, reaching out the side of the plane.
"Nah, I already got it," replied Chuck. "I just had to put this back because I didn't want it blocking your takeoff."
"Yeah, thanks for doing that," said Tails. "I can give you a lift if you want."
Chuck nodded, and the fox stood up in his seat and spun his tails, flying down to the elderly man's level. He took Chuck's hands in his own, and with a grunt of exertion, lifted him upward and into the seat behind his own before taking his seat in the cockpit.
Buckling his seat belt, the professor looked around the plane. "It's been a while since I've been up here," he commented.
"Guys, I don't know how long we'll be able to last out there," Tails commented.
Hearing the dread in her friend's voice, Amy sat up a little. "Why is that?"
"Well, the X-Tornado is integrated with a pair of capacitors to store sufficient quantities of Chaos energy just in case there are no Chaos Emeralds powering it, like now. But once it's out, it's out until we can get a Chaos Emerald."
"I remember we tested it out before," said Chuck. "You were able to last roughly three hours before the low energy level signal went off."
"Yeah, I remember that," recalled Tails.
"What happens when you use up all the power?" asked Cream.
Tails looked crestfallen for a moment. "That means we would fall out of the sky." He perked up again. "But don't worry! I'm not gonna let that happen!"
"I sure hope not," Chuck replied as Tails closed both canopies. There was a hiss as the cockpits were pressurized for flight.
"Chuck, wanna do the honors?" asked Tails, handing the remote to his friend sitting behind him.
"Aye-aye, captain!" Chuck grinned.
Taking the remote, he pressed the buttons to open the massive garage door, as well as tilt the palm trees outside.
"Everybody, just hope for the best," Tails told everyone as he ignited the dual boosters. "I can't believe I have to say this, but… Chris has to be stopped before it's too late."
The Egg Fort II – Fri May 13; 10:05 PM – Chris' POV
Once again I found myself and Knuckles walking up the ramp leading into the Egg Fort II. This time it was even scarier, because I had no idea what to expect from Eggman once we gave the Emeralds to him.
I yawned; it had been a really long day. I hoped that deep down, my friends would be able to forgive me for what I was doing. They probably knew I was gone for a long time by now. It was understandable that they would be worried sick and even angry with me, but they would eventually learn. If they were wise, they would trust me and not follow me.
But I had a feeling that would not be the case. They would disregard my note and come after me anyway. And knowing their track record, that was a given. They were not about to let me endanger myself, no matter what my reasoning was.
But if they did follow me, it could ruin everything.
Yes, I had second doubts about my actions, but it was too late. I had to do this. Otherwise, I could be facing brutal consequences.
I could feel Knuckles squeeze my hand lightly for reassurance as we entered the ship. Even though I could feel the intense pressure from his hand, my eyes were fixed ahead of me, not turning to the left or the right. I was too focused for this. For some reason, I wasn't too scared, even though I should have been.
When we entered the ship, I saw Eggman sitting at a small wooden desk he had set up in the ship's front room. When he saw us, he smiled, and beckoned us to two unoccupied seats across from him.
"Ah, you brought the Chaos Emeralds, I see," he noted upon seeing the backpack I had just unstrapped from my back.
Knuckles nodded as he took the seat on the left, and I sat down next to him.
"Now, why don't you just set it down on the table here," he invited.
After a second of hesitation, I complied and set the backpack down in front of Eggman. I had very conflicted emotions; I had no idea what to expect from this crazed man.
"Now… show me what's inside," he said next, "just so I know you're not deceiving me."
Oh no… I thought. He thought of everything…
My fingers trembled as they made contact with the backpack's zipper. With a hitched breath, I pulled it back and unzipped the backpack. Eggman leaned forward and peered inside, a satisfied grin on his face.
"Excellent," he declared. "I knew I could depend on you! Though, I have to wonder… was it difficult at all to smuggle them here?"
"Not at all," stated Knuckles.
I could have scowled at him, but I didn't. Knuckles wasn't there to keep everyone away from me, as interesting as that would have been. In hindsight, that would have made my mission a lot easier if he had just come along. But beggars couldn't be choosers.
"Good, then," grinned Eggman. "And I have my own Chaos Emerald right here."
He placed a small velvet box on the table – the same one Nelson had at the anniversary.
"Now, you two know what's inside without opening it, right? Because of the current unstable condition of the Emeralds, I cannot risk opening it to show you, as much as I would love to do that. It has yet to adapt to three of your Emeralds, and frankly, I can't risk a Chaos Beacon destroying my ship."
Knuckles nodded in understanding as Eggman scooped up the box and the backpack and placed the former into the latter.
"On a side note, I finally managed to get the Emerald detached from the ring," he added. "I must say, the jewelers did too good of a job making it into one in the first place. Now, all that remains is to find the last Emerald, then I can fulfill my end of the bargain and arrange the means to get everyone back where they need to be. A promise is a promise, after all."
Eggman stood up and picked up the backpack. "Now if you'll both excuse me, I'll go ahead and store these in a safe place."
I opened my mouth in protest, but Knuckles gently gestured for me not to say anything. I then realized he was right; if I said anything, I could ruin everything.
But before Eggman could get very far, his wrist communicator gave a short beep.
"I'm sorry, I have to take this," he said. "I'll be with you in a moment."
He raised his left arm in front of his face and pressed a small button on it with his right hand.
"There is a priority one transmission from E-77," I could hear Decoe's voice say from the other end.
Eggman hummed in interest. "Put him on."
In the seconds that followed, incoherent beeping filled my ears, a sound I instantly recognized. It was the robot that had come with Knuckles to my house earlier today! And yet something that was even more interesting was that Eggman was somehow able to understand it, for he now looked delighted.
"Excellent work!" he beamed. "Stay where you are; I'm coming to pick you up immediately."
As soon as Eggman hung up, Knuckles looked up at Eggman. "So does that mean E-77 found the last Chaos Emerald?"
"Indeed he has!" declared Eggman. "E-77 has been meticulously designed for this very task. Since this is the last Chaos Emerald, I knew it would be elusive, so I relied on the power of luck to aid me in my search."
Suddenly it seems all my troubles were not a good idea.
"So that would explain all the lucky symbols on it," my dumb mouth blurted.
"That would be so…" said Eggman. "However, I'm afraid your luck has just run out!"
Before I could process what was happening, Eggman had already pressed a button on his communicator. Suddenly the floor opened up directly underneath Knuckles, and he let out a startled yelp as he and the chair he was sitting in fell through the trap door.
I just sat there, completely shocked. Eggman had tricked me!
"Your usefulness is over!" bellowed Eggman, before bursting into a hearty laugh.
Fear had completely taken over me. I just sat there, white-faced, as Decoe and Bocoe stepped off the elevator on the other side of the room and walked toward me. The bodily lifted me out of the chair by my arms and dragged me toward the elevator. I struggled against them, but of course, it was in vain. Eggman followed alongside us.
"Did you really think I was homesick this whole time?" he sneered. "As your loser friends might have told you, my one and only goal is to establish the Eggman Empire. Whether it is established on my planet or yours, it makes no difference to me."
"L-L-Let me go!" I demanded. Eggman gave a short laugh as a response as we stepped onto the elevator and it began to rise.
"Christopher Avery Thorndyke, you are full of surprises!" he declared. "If our little encounter at Silver Valley all that time ago has taught you anything, you would know that Knuckles is honest to a fault." He chuckled. "But you, on the other hand, I was not expecting you to go along with his stupidity. And now I have a hostage to boot!"
The elevator stopped, signaling our arrival at the bridge. The pit in my stomach was now a bottomless canyon as Eggman's robots dragged me off the elevator and onto the bridge. Several other robots were manning the ship's controls.
"You tricked me!" I screamed at Eggman, who only grinned evilly.
"On the contrary," he said with a wag of his finger, "this was all you! You walked right into my trap without an ounce of reconsideration! And now you get to sit back and reap the consequences of your own actions. Decoe! Bocoe! Secure our guest to the wall!"
He turned to the other robots in the room. "The rest of you, initiate takeoff procedures! The last Emerald is as good as mine!"
In the seconds that followed, an immense roar began to rise, and even though I was secured to a metal bracket two feet above the ground, I could feel the ship vibrating a little as the engines were ignited. My heart was pounding. Tears of various mixed emotions treated to break free. Frustration. Anger. Fear. Sadness. Regret.
There was a small jolt as the Egg Fort II listed off the ground, accompanied with the increased volume of the engines. I felt the first teardrop slip out of my eye and slide down my cheek.
This is all my fault...
Silver Valley State Park – Fri May 13; 10:11 PM – Sonic's POV
With all urgency, I raced into Silver Valley State Park as fast as my supersonic legs would carry me. After a whole hour and a half of searching, I finally had a lead.
I had spent a whole ninety minutes running around town, searching high and low, asking some people if anyone had seen any sign of the missing Chris. I even had a picture of him to show, but it didn't seem anyone had seen him at all.
From what I heard, even the police got notified, and they told me they would begin a search for him at once. I thought it was a little overhyped, but I shrugged it off. All that mattered was that he would be found.
I was getting really frustrated. Not only could I not find him, but… this didn't seem like something Chris would do at all. His whole life changed when my friends and I entered his life. He was so happy. While I did notice his subtle change in behavior when the last Emerald bombshell hit, I didn't expect him to run away from home at all, much less take all the Chaos Emeralds with him.
I was utterly baffled by all that, but what confused me even more was that he was quite possibly taking them all to Eggman. On one side of the coin, I understood what he was trying to do, but on the other side, I had to wonder what kind of idiot would give all the Emeralds to Eggman, especially when my side had the upper hand. That would ensure world domination!
There's GOT to be a really good reason behind all this, buddy…
I finally had a stroke of luck at the train station not far from Chris' mansion. Someone there told me he reportedly saw Chris getting on a train with Knuckles. I dug a little deeper and learned that the train was headed for Cantonville. So without any hesitation, that was where I went.
The first place I decided to check was Silver Valley State Park. If Chris was in town, that would make the search much harder. But if Eggman was involved, surely he would want to stay hidden. The park was the best place for Eggman to lay low.
But the whole time I was searching, I realized that the plot had really thickened. What was Knuckles doing with Chris? Why were they both going to Cantonville? And then I had another scary thought… What if Knuckles was wrapped up in Chris' treacherous plot? Were they both conspiring somehow? None of it made any sense!
Just as I was halfway done my wide sweep of the park, I spotted the bright flashing lights of the Egg Fort II piercing through the darkness as it slowly rose into the air. That was one small part of the mystery solved, but Chris was a much bigger priority. Knuckles couldn't have been too far away if Eggman was there.
At last I spotted a red shape on the forest floor massaging his injured side. I immediately wondered how he could have gotten that injury as I ran over to him.
"Whoa, Knux, you look really beat up," I noted as I helped him up. He was also visibly shaken. "You know where Chris is?"
Knuckles' breathing was labored. "I-It's all my fault…" he moaned.
"Wait, what's your fault?" I asked.
Knuckles raised his large gloved hand, and pointed up at the fleeing Egg Fort II. He tried to suppress the panic rising up in him.
"C-Chris is in there!" he said, his voice rising. "A-and all the Emeralds!"
I immediately felt Knuckles' worry radiating into me.
"Did ya try to go after him?" I asked.
Knuckles groaned. "Yeah… but I couldn't hold on."
Just then the air was filled with the startlingly loud roar of the ship's engines as it accelerated away from the state park at a surprising rate.
"Don't wait up," I told Knuckles as I took off after Eggman's ship.
Eggman's ship was fast, but I knew I was faster. I still had to look where I was going, especially since I was still in the heavily forested area of Silver Valley.
Once I was out of the forest, I scanned the skies, and was relieved that I could still see the Egg Fort, even though it was a little further away than it was a moment ago.
Now that I was in the clear, I found a nearby road and ran along it. From what I knew from my travels, this was the highway that led back to Station Square.
Now that there was an update to the search, I pulled my iPhone 11 from Hammerspace. I never did fully get the hang of it, but I knew the bare basics of making calls, and that was all I needed to know in the moment. So I put in a call to Chuck and brought the phone to my ear.
"Sonic, is that you?" Chuck asked.
"Yeah," I replied. "Listen, it's worse than we thought. He was with Knuckles earlier, and-"
"Can you speak up?" requested Chuck. "It's a little hard to hear you over the rushing wind."
"Sure thing," I said in a louder voice. I had forgotten that running while talking on the phone had that effect on the person on the other end. "Chris was with Knuckles earlier, and he just told me that Chris is a hostage." I hopped onto a guardrail and grinded on it before leaping off and pursuing the Egg Fort II more directly. "Eggman's holding him prisoner on his ship, and right now he's got all the Emeralds. I think he's going after the last one right now."
I could hear that Chuck's breathing was shaky now, and he sounded like he was at a loss for words.
"Tails…" he asked quietly. "Can you take this…?"
As I crossed through a farm, there was a pause on the other side, and then Tails' concerned voice came through.
"Sonic, are you still there?" he asked.
"Sure am, little buddy!" I replied.
"You said Chris is… a hostage on the Egg Fort II?" he asked in worry.
"Yeah…"
"We've been in the air for the past hour and a half now with no luck, but now we're gonna see if we can find the Egg Fort."
"I'm tailing it as we speak, but I gotta say… this thing is fast!" As an afterthought, I added, "By your standards, not mine. Regardless… Eggman seems to know where he's going, 'cuz he's been flying in a straight line for the last five minutes."
"Okay, I'm on my way over," reported Tails. "I don't know how much longer I can keep flying with my limited Chaos energy, but I'm gonna try to make do."
"Good luck, Tails," I wished before hanging up.
Putting my phone back into Hammerspace, I grit my teeth in determination and narrowed my eyes. Eggman would pay for what he did with Chris. And come Chaos or high water, nothing was going to stop me from getting my friend back.
A/N: And that concludes "A Dastardly Deed"! This was a really fun chapter to write.
I wanted to really delve into Chris' angst in this chapter. Angst is still a newish genre for me, and I started using it in Wrath of a Hero. Hopefully it was able to pay off here.
Giving Eggman a monologue felt like it would set the mood really well for his first scene.
I kept Mr. Stewart's candy analogy from the sub of this episode, and thought it was fitting to have this be both the last day of school and the last day Mr. Stewart would teach Chris' class.
Knuckles was surprisingly fun to work with in this chapter. Usually he can be tricky for me to write with.
I added a whole new scene showing Chris' mission to steal the Chaos Emeralds, as well as everyone finding out Chris is gone. That's what made this chapter so huge.
I knew Eggman had to taunt Chris a little more, since he is so gleeful that his trick worked.
And lastly, I wanted Sonic to tell Tails about Eggman and Chris, so that they would be updated on the situation.
If you have any issues about anything, like anyone being OOC or a scene doesn't flow right, please let me know! I appreciate any support I can get.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and let's hope 2021 will be a great year!
Next time is the finale of Season 1, "Countdown to Chaos", featuring the ultimate battle for the seventh Chaos Emerald and the fate of Station Square! Don't miss it!
