A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry this chapter is late, but I've been feeling a bit lazy recently, and hanging out in the VCs in the Team182 Discord server for hours every day isn't exactly helping :P But seriously, it's been three months since the last chapter, and I really want to make an effort to work on this story ever day. No matter what it takes, I will get this story done.
But anyway, this was a surprisingly fun chapter to write. This and episode 30 were some of my favorites to come up with ideas for.
...Sorry I don't have a lot to say during the beginning of these author's notes! But it's okay, because it means we can get to the story a lot quicker!
One more thing before we talk about the chapter: since the last chapter, I made a oneshot based on a dream I had, called Proving Innocence: A Sonic X Story. Feel free to check it out!
Anyway, there are quite a few changes in this chapter, and some parts may not make sense on a surface level, but I promise, there will be explanations in due time, but until then, I'm open to speculation!
I named this chapter Chaos is Power because Chaos has been getting stronger and stronger lately, and it's also one of the lines in Tikal's Prayer.
Also, I want to give a WARNING toward the end of the chapter for a brief violent scene.
So without further ado, I would like to thank Jejejejewjjwjwjw, BazookaM1A1, emzhao07010, AnonWhoLikesToRead, Edmonton58, Eldergi, BladeKnightmare, toantakeri, AnimeLover217, BowserJrrules, Ushigomesan213, Inzhir, storytraveler2000, Counterpart, and CasellaE for favoriting and following since my last chapter!
Shoutout of the chapter goes to SuperTailsFan0812! She and I got together on Discord and collaborated on the last two scenes, and I was able to write 2,400+ words thanks to her support!
Without further ado, let's move on to the reviews and what matters most: the story!
SuperTailsFan0812
Haha, thank you :) It's great to be back!
I agree, Tikal's Prayer sounds really cool, and I really wanted to adapt it because it was in the Japanese version but not the English version, and it was awesome in the original version.
Yeah... Big can get pretty lonely when he doesn't have any friends around, other than Froggy.
The reunion with Big and Cream was heartfelt, and I felt like it was needed here, and I'm super glad I included it.
I never thought of the wrist communicators to be Discord, but maybe it is! Who knows, they can join the Discord VCs with them too!
Yeah, the battle in this chapter was really fun to write!
Thank you, and here is the next chapter!
GuardianDragon98
I was a bit skeptical of the premise around the Chaos Saga, but I'm glad you like it! And I just love finding references in moments. XD
Big is among the most hated characters in the entire Sonic franchise, so I wanted to do him justice here, and I'm glad you like him here! And yeah, I loved writing his reunion with Cream. That's one of my favorite moments in that chapter.
Yeah, you are indeed my very first reviewer! And I can't believe it's already been 3 years since I started writing this story too!
blazenight01
Already I can tell that Sonic Adventure 2 is going to be way harder for me to write than Sonic Adventure 1. But at least I'm halfway through the backlog for SA2.
And while the heroes know what to expect, things can always change...
D.J. Scales
Yup, and things are about to get crazier from here on out...
dbehi1
While things may seem like they're staying the same, I promise there will be enough changes to make it different. And thank you!
BazookaM1A1
Sadly, I'm not sure if I'm going to include Shadouge in this story, especially since I ship Rouge with Knuckles over Shadow. Rouge and Shadow do work well together with GUN, however.
azzyofhyperdeath
Thank you, it's great to be back!
Omega97
Thank you :) I'm glad you like my characterization of Big. I'm aware of all the hate he gets, so I wanted to do something about it.
I never heard Thunder by Imagine Dragons before, but it's cool that the title reminds you of that song! I got it from the lyrics of Open Your Heart.
iron maker2
I read all the Archie Sonic X comics before, but sadly, I won't be adapting the Greenbots arc for this story.
It's okay, I can surprise you with the Shadow Saga.
snake screamer
That's actually a thought... I didn't consider having Infinite in the Shadow Saga, but if he was there, I will need to explain how he got to Earth, and how he survived the battle at the end of Forces.
gregorian12
I never saw Thunderbirds before, but that's really cool that it references that! And thank you for your review!
Ushigomesan123
Probably not, because I don't like shipping two boys together (or two girls).
Inzhir
I'm a little surprised that you liked even my cringe pre-update chapters XD And that's amazing how you read through the whole story in that short a time!
I watched through all of Sonic X when I was 17, and for some reason, I just stopped at episode 46. However, I watched through the rest of the series a few years later.
And it's okay, I could still understand you :)
Animation Adventures
Perhaps something is up... Either Eggman is up to something, or there's something way bigger at stake.
I didn't want to have Amy having an apartment because it was only ever referenced in the Chaos Saga and the Homebound Saga, and nowhere else. She went right back to living at the mansion. In fact, one shot in episode 50 shows her sleeping in the mansion!
Yeah, it's great to see Team Rose in action once again!
I wanted to mix things up a little and bring them back, especially since they're more relevant than Decoe and Bocoe, but that doesn't mean you've seen the last of Eggman's hench-bots from Season 1.
Don't worry, I will offer a proper explanation very soon, before the end of this saga, in fact.
Bakuganman
I'm really sorry about that... I promise, the chapters aren't going anywhere any time soon, so you can find them all here! And you're welcome, I love reading reviews from people like you :)
I can confirm that answers will come in due time. And yeah, some jokes fell flat, but it's okay because it can be a learning experience for me to get better.
Yeah, that one was one of my favorites! XD
Oh, I can't wait to write Orbot and Cubot with Decoe and Bocoe! And how would Bokkun react to it all?
Omega? Hmm...
Thank you :) If Silver and Blaze were to appear, I think I know where I can put them.
I'm glad I included the element of Chris' trauma too. The fact that it wasn't included at all in the show was downright unrealistic, and I wanted to fix that.
I've never been to Olive Garden, but yes, I do know about their endless breadsticks XD I would love to go there sometime though.
Here's the next chapter!
CreativeKitty975
Sorry the hiatus was really long, I wanted to tidy up the first few chapters first, but now, we can keep the Chaos on Earth train rolling! And it's great to be back! I loved reading your reaction to getting a new chapter, it makes my day and reviews like yours always inspire me to keep writing. And it's true, you have a bedtime story now! XD
I liked the first scene on that chapter because the English version of the episode never adapted the Japanese version of that scene, and I wanted to adapt it. It was really cool.
I can confirm that you haven't seen the last of Decoe and Bocoe, that's for sure :)
Yeah, Sonic being 15 for 30 years is one of my favorite jokes XD
Like I was telling Bakuganman, I'm glad I added the trauma because the show never did anything about it, and Chris just went about his normal life. But when he had trauma, that made the situation more real.
I know Big is a widely hated character for being really dumb, but I also wanted to try and make a smart side to him as well.
I agree, and all will be revealed soon ;)
Here is the next chapter!
guess
Thank you, I just fixed the typo :)
Chapter 27
Episode 28
Eggman's Redemption: Chaos Gets Stronger
Chaos is Power
Thorndyke Mansion – Fri November 18; 7:38 PM – Sonic's POV
I didn't know how much time I had spent in dreamland, because the next thing I knew, I found myself sitting in the seat behind Tails' seat in the X-Tornado. I had no idea how I got there, but one thing was for sure: I felt super groggy.
I could feel us making a perfect three-point landing somewhere, and I looked outside to get an idea of where we were. Granted, it was getting dark outside, but when I saw the palm trees lining the runway, and the familiar red roof of the mansion nearby, I smiled as we knew we were safe at home once again.
I was feeling a painful headache coming in. I felt really fatigued from my fight with Chaos, and I was pretty sure Knuckles was feeling the same way too. But the sleeping spray Eggman misted me with really weakened me, and all I really felt like doing was sleeping.
I must have involuntarily let out a groan, because I could sense Tails' ears perking up in front of me.
"You okay, Sonic?" he asked me.
"Yeah, I think so," I groaned as I held my head in my hands. "But man, it- it feels like I got hit with a GUN truck…"
"I saw the whole thing, he sprayed you with something… Was it sleeping gas?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
"You know, I think this same thing happened last time too!" realized Tails as he pushed open the front canopy.
"Wait, what do you mean?" asked Knuckles from behind me, before he immediately had a double take. "Wait, whoa whoa, hold on, are you saying this same exact thing happened before?"
Tails nodded. "Mhmm," he replied. "And he got me with it too, but not this time."
"That's… kinda rough…" Knuckles said, before he asked "So were there any side effects from this thing?"
"Umm… Not that I can remember," answered Tails, "except we were like really exhausted for a few hours after that. And, um… Good thing we're not gonna do any more fighting tonight, so that means you can rest up, Sonic."
I yawned. "Yeah, sounds good to me."
I unbuckled my seat belt and started to stand up, but I felt wobbly and I almost fell over. I was forced to cling to the side of the X-Tornado to support myself, until I felt two hands holding me steady.
"You okay, Sonic? Can you walk?" Tails asked. I could hear the worry in his voice, and that made me feel worried myself.
"Yeah, I'm okay, Tails," I lied, and Tails let me go, looking very worried. I could sense Knuckles getting out of the X-Tornado and standing next to Tails.
I only managed to take one step forward before my legs gave way underneath me, and I fell forward. I had to put my hands in front of me to break my fall.
"Sonic!" exclaimed Tails, before he ran over and carefully pulled me back to my feet.
I took a breath to try to get over that sudden burst of adrenalin that shot through me. "Guess I'm more out of it than I thought," I admitted.
Knuckles walked to the other side of me and looked at Tails. "Hey Tails, help me carry him inside," he requested.
Tails nodded, and they each wrapped their arms around my shoulders and guided me toward the mansion's side door. I tried my best to match their pace, and I slipped a few times, but my friends' sturdy grip ensured that I didn't fall. I was grateful for their support.
"Y'know, with the whole Chaos thing… and the sleeping gas… I got a really weird feeling about everything, like it's some really big coincidence." I said.
"I'm just gonna put my two cents out there, Chaos destroying the Master Emerald unprovoked is not a coincidence," stated Knuckles.
"Maybe not, but we can chat about it when we get inside, see what the others think," I suggested.
Tails nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," he said.
The way everything had been shaping up so far, it felt like it was something a little bit more than a coincidence. I really wanted to hear the whole story from everyone else's perspectives. This was gonna be a loooong night…
It was slow going, but at last we made it to the side door. Tanaka must have seen us coming, because as soon as we reached the door, he opened it for us, which saved my friends the trouble of letting go of me.
"Welcome home," he said, before he squinted when he saw my condition. "Are you all right, Master Sonic? You seem to be limping."
I would have given him a thumbs-up, but my friends were still holding my arms to support me, so I settled for a nod.
"Yeah, just need a bit of R&R," I replied. "It's been a pretty rough day."
"I understand," he nodded. "And Master Knuckles, it's a surprise to see you here again."
"Yeah, I didn't expect to be here again," the echidna replied. "Well, not this soon, anyway."
Tanaka bowed. "Regardless, you are always welcome in our household."
Knuckles nodded his gratitude to the butler as he scanned the living room. The echidna squinted his eyes.
"Say, uh… You know if the others made it back here okay?" he asked.
Tanaka nodded. "Certainly. You should be able to find them in the dining room," he replied.
"'K, thanks," said Knuckles as he got a better grip on me. Tails saw this and did the same on his side, and I did my best to keep pace with them as we all made our way through the living room and toward the dining room.
I hated feeling this weak, and I couldn't remember the last time I had felt this tired since the last time Eggman knocked me out with sleeping gas. But I was really glad I had Tails and Knuckles with me to help me out. I smiled at them, knowing they weren't about to let me down.
When we entered the room, we saw Chuck, Big, and Amy all sitting around the table. There were a few finished dishes which were quickly swept up by Ella who was passing through the room.
"Oh, look who's here!" announced Chuck as all heads turned toward us.
"Oh, you're back!" she greeted. But just as she was about to say something, Amy immediately leaped out of her chair and scrambled to me, taking me completely off guard.
"Oh! Sonic, are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere?" she blurted.
"Whoa, easy there, Ames! I'm all good, just a bit tired," I shrugged it off.
"But… I-I mean, you can't even walk straight," she replied.
"Sure I can," I replied. "Just… give me a moment."
Knuckles looked a bit unsure. "Want us to let go of you?" he asked.
"Yeah, just for a sec," I nodded.
"O-Okay…" said a reluctant Tails, before he and Knuckles let go of me at the same time.
To my surprise, I was able to stand on my own! Sure, I still felt sluggish, but at least I could stand, and that was a great start.
"Well, you can stand on your own," Knuckles pointed out.
"Okay, that's good, Sonic!" added Tails. "Now, can you try walking?"
I still felt a bit tired and wobbly, and I was able to take a few steps forward before I felt myself starting to fall over from exhaustion. Luckily for me, Amy caught me just in time and guided me toward one of the nearby chairs.
"Okay… I don't think you should be walking, Sonic," she firmly told me. "Not tonight, at least."
"Yeah, no," I agreed as I sat down.
"All right, so someone tell me," Chuck said as Amy walked around the table and pulled out seats for Tails and Knuckles to sit. "What happened to you out there?" He sounded like he had wanted to ask this for quite a while, and he finally got the chance now, not to mention he was very confused and worried, and I couldn't blame him. In fact, I would feel the same way if I was in his shoes.
"Actually, hold that thought for a sec," Chuck said. "Ella, could you get some coffee for everyone?"
Ella smiled. "Right away, Professor!" she nodded as she disappeared into the kitchen, and I resumed my attention to those sitting at the table with me. I was glad Ella knew Tails and Amy were a bit too young for coffee.
Knuckles let out a deep sigh. "It's gonna take more than coffee to get me through this…" he said quietly.
"Boy, even Ella's coffee?" I questioned, my eyes widening.
Knuckles shook his head. "'Fraid so."
"Man, and here she makes the best coffee in the world…" I marveled.
Chuck smiled. "It's true, you can't beat her coffee, no matter where you go."
"Can I have another cup, Miss Ella?" Big asked politely.
"My coffee is that irresistible," remarked Ella from the kitchen. "I gave you two cups already, but I'll be generous. And Tails, Amy, what do you want to drink?"
"Apple juice, please!" piped up Tails in a cute voice.
"Me too!" added Amy.
As Ella got to work in the kitchen, Tails turned to Chuck. "Hey Chuck, do you happen to know where Chris and Cream are? I haven't seen 'em since we got back."
"I'm afraid you just missed them," Chuck replied, sounding disappointed for Tails. "Ella put them to bed about ten minutes before you came back."
"Yeah…" sighed Amy. "They weren't even hungry. They were pretty shaken up."
"I hope they rest easy," I said. "It's been… pretty brutal out there. And same goes with the rest of us. We need our energy for tomorrow."
"I wouldn't doubt if they come back down for a snack before bed," added Tails.
"Yeah, that's true," I replied. "You know how much Chris likes to eat. You should see him down a chili dog like a champ!"
"The time he almost choked?" said Amy. "Sonic, no one can eat a chili dog the way you can. You're just special that way. It's just humans don't have big throats the way we do."
"Esophaguses," corrected Tails, before he tapped his chin in thought. "Or is it esophagi…? I'm not really sure…"
"It's okay, it's… it's not a big deal," Amy dismissed. "But anyway, um… I think we need to have an emergency meeting now. This is really important."
"Yeah, I'm with ya on that, Ames," I agreed. "Lead on!"
"Okay, so is it true that you guys were actually fighting Chaos out there?" she asked. "Because that's what Cream told us when she got back."
"Yeah, we did," nodded Tails. "He already has two Emeralds."
As Tails was saying that, I could see that Amy looked a bit worried about the whole situation. This meant that Eggman had an edge over us.
"I think I'm lost somewhere," Chuck said. "You mind filling me in?"
Tails gasped. "Oh wait, did we not tell you about Chaos yet?!" he realized.
"Well, if you mean the energy force that the Chaos Emeralds give off, I know all about it from you," he said as he crossed his arms. "But you said you were fighting it. What do you mean by that?"
"I think Tails is talking about a who, not a what," I clarified.
Tails nodded. "Yeah. He's an old enemy we fought from back home, and we fought him again today."
"Not an enemy," Knuckles casually corrected. "Just… blind wrath is all."
"Oh yeah, true," realized Tails as he looked down.
"I'm… still confused," admitted Chuck. "I mean, the more I know about you guys and your history, the more there is to know, and it just doesn't end, does it?"
I smirked. "Nope."
Chuck closed his eyes. "Thought so. You guys are an enigma sometimes."
Turning to Knuckles, I added. "So, uh, Knux, you wanna fill in the professor?"
"Huh?"
"Chaos. Tell him about Chaos," I pressed.
"Oh yeah, sure," Knuckles nodded as all eyes turned to him. "So basically, Chaos is… well, I'm not sure how to put this without going into too much detail… But, um… He's basically the god of water, okay? He's completely made of water, he fights with water, he can shapeshift and use the Chaos Emeralds's power. But the important thing is, he lives inside the Master Emerald. Protects it from the inside, if you will. He's the guardian of the Chao race. And… some of the echidna archives are pretty scattered, but… some say Chaos himself is a mutant Chao. I could go on for hours talking about the echidna history and heritage, but I'm not gonna bore you guys tonight. Some of you know how I am with going on and on with my history. But this thing… this thing's got a temper you wouldn't believe. Normally he's pretty chill, but… If you want an idea of how bad his temper is… Long time ago, he absorbed all seven of the Chaos Emeralds, and he turned into a creature so powerful he destroyed an entire city. Millions of people died. It was… It was catastrophic."
I glanced at Chuck just in time to see that he was completely enraptured in Knuckles' story, but when he got to the part where Chaos destroyed Station Square, Chuck was scared.
"And you're saying this thing is out there and it could destroy our city at any time," Chuck said in disbelief.
"Not if we stop it first, like usual," I declared in a confident tone.
"It's not that simple, not the way I see it," Knuckles reminded me. "We still got the history repeating thing we're dealing with."
"Say what…? Oh, hold that thought," Chuck said as he looked up in time to see Ella returning with the coffee and apple juice. She was holding the four mugs of coffee and two cups of apple juice on a tray, and she was balancing it very carefully. I was impressed at how she could pull off this feat.
"For you," she smiled as she set the tray down on the table. Soon we all had our beverages before us, and I took a sip of her legendary coffee. Chuck was right. It was heavenly; in fact, it was the best thing I ever tasted, next to chili dogs.
"All right now, what did you want to tell us, Knuckles?" Chuck asked before he took a long sip of his coffee.
"Now I'm not sure if anyone's gonna buy this, but I get the impression that history's repeating itself here," the echidna said. He narrowed his eyes when he was met with looks of disbelief from Chuck and Amy. "What…? What are you guys looking at…?"
Amy blinked. "History… doesn't repeat itself, Knuckles," she said slowly. "Not in that way."
"No, you don't get it!" Knuckles raised his voice. "Angel Island fell in the ocean 'cuz Chaos broke out of the Master Emerald and scattered all the pieces, which means I now have to go find all of 'em; plus, we fought Chaos here at night, and he got no more or less than two Chaos Emeralds, just the same as last time. And if that's not enough, Sonic got knocked out with sleeping gas! Tell me you remember all that!"
Amy looked a bit stunned for a moment. "Um… Okay…? That's a pretty big coincidence…"
"Coincidence?" Knuckles deadpanned, until he realized something. "You know something? This time, I didn't fight Chaos in a hotel."
"No, you didn't," I realized as well.
"He had at least two Chaos Emeralds when I fought him there," recalled Knuckles.
"Wait, hold on, hold on," Chuck said, raising his hands. "How do you- Look, I'm really fascinated with this whole history repeating thing, but to me it sounds like… like a big coincidence. There's nothing to prove that your history is literally repeating itself here on Earth. In order for that to happen, there'd have to be some kind of crazy time loop, and I can't even begin to go into scientific detail for something like this."
"Well, for now, maybe we should take this at face value for a bit," I suggested.
Big, who had been quiet until this point, finally spoke up. "You're not alone, Knuckles," he said.
Knuckles blinked in surprise as he looked Big in the eyes, and Big averted his gaze.
"Let me guess, Froggy got a tail…?" the echidna spoke quietly.
Big nodded. "Yeah… I found a pretty rock, and Froggy drank some water, and he got a tail and ate the rock and now he's gone…"
Big started looking very depressed, and I knew it wasn't the first time today. Amy got up and walked over and gave him a big hug.
Knuckles was pondering Big's words, before his eyes widened. "Okay… This is giving me chills…" he admitted. "This has gotta be the proof we need."
"Yeah…" admitted Amy. "This is… this is giving me the creeps too…" she took a sip of her apple juice. "I mean, Chaos breaking the Master Emerald is one thing, but now we also got Froggy…"
"And what's even weirder is that Chaos didn't even try going on a rampage like that since," Knuckles spoke. "It was just the one time."
Tails, who had already finished his apple juice, looked up from his thinking.
"Y'know, none of this is adding up," he said. "It just… I-It doesn't make any logical sense. Like… we'd have to be consciously making the same exact choices in order to make it look like history's repeating."
"Yeah," agreed Amy.
I smirked. "Then I guess we got ourselves a mystery on our hands," I said, before my eyes widened. "Oh! Maybe it's got something to do with- Nah, couldn't be, sounds too out there…"
"What were you thinking?" Chuck asked me in curiosity.
"I was thinking maybe the Master Emerald had something to do with it, but… yeah, no… It's been here for a good six months and nothing weird happened."
"So what's making all this… history repeating stuff happening now…?" Tails spread out his hands. "If that's even a thing! Because it could all be a really big coincidence."
"Wish I knew, Tails," I replied. "Which is why first thing tomorrow, you and I are gonna get to the bottom of this."
Tails nodded, his namesakes swaying slightly as he was in deep thought. He closed his eyes, and I was quite sure he couldn't make sense out of this whole situation, and to be fair, neither could I. Even for my standards, it was a bit too bizarre.
"Hey Chuck?" asked Knuckles as he looked across the table at the graying professor. "You mind if I spend the night here?"
Chuck set down his half-finished mug of coffee. "By all means," he answered.
Knuckles nodded. "Thanks… It's just… I feel like I would probably feel insecure if I stayed on the island and there's no Master Emerald there."
"Yeah, you couldn't sleep all night the first time Eggman stole the Master Emerald," I pointed out.
"Don't remind me…" Knuckles groaned from across the table.
Thorndyke Mansion – Sat November 19 – 7:07 AM – Chris' POV
I opened my eyes and slowly sat up in bed. Even though I had went to bed later than usual last night, I still managed to get a decent night's sleep.
Last night, Cream and I had gone to bed earlier, but sleep would not come to me no matter how much I closed my eyes and tried to think of nothing. My mind kept going back to the close call we had with the water creature.
Having thrown aside all hope of sleep, I had gone downstairs to have a late dinner. Of course, Cream and Cheese joined me. It was around 9pm, and everyone had been either resting or lost in deep thought. I was too tired to chat much with them, but I did see Big hanging out with Cream and Amy for a large part of the night.
The emotional reunion between Big and Amy was the second one I had seen that day. Amy started crying the moment she saw her friend, thinking she would never see him again. The reunion nearly brought me to tears, just like the last one.
Sonic had wanted to ask for my side of the story, but Grandpa told him I had had a long day, and I needed rest, and I could tell him tomorrow. Besides, he didn't want me to be scared before bedtime. I agreed with Grandpa; I had a hard time keeping my eyes open.
But now that I was awake, I yawned before I slipped out from under my covers. Sonic said that today was going to be a super busy day, and it was going to be a wild ride. Boy, was I not looking forward to it…
After I brushed my teeth, changed into my street clothes, and got ready for the day, I quietly crept over to the balcony and opened the door. Even though I didn't see Sonic, I knew he was resting on the roof above me. But I didn't hear anything from him, so I assumed he was still sleeping.
I quietly closed the door, and in the next moment, I heard Sonic jumping down onto the balcony outside. My heart leaped out of my throat; I did not expect him to be awake! I assumed I shut the door a bit too hard and woke him up.
I took a deep breath to calm myself down before opening the door. In walked the hedgehog, and there were bags under his eyes. He looked like he had been up nearly all night. I hoped he had gotten some sleep in.
"Um… S-Sorry I woke you up…" I apologized.
"Hey, it's fine," shrugged Sonic as he patted my back. "I was already up way before you anyway. Just thinking."
"About yesterday?"
Sonic nodded. "Yeah," he replied, leaning against my bedpost. "I'm telling you, Chaos is no joke."
"Wait, did you actually fight him?" I asked.
"Yup," Sonic replied. "He ate up two Emeralds like they were candy, and it's all thanks to Eggman."
I was surprised at what Sonic was saying, and I sat down on the bed near him.
"Eggman was there?" I asked.
Again Sonic nodded. "Yeah, he's the one who sent those Motobugs after you to round you guys back up."
"Hm," I thought. "Oh wait, I remember we accidentally lost the Chaos Emerald we got!"
"So that explains the extra Chaos Emerald," Sonic said. "But how'd you get one, anyway?"
"Um, my mom said she found one and wanted me to meet her somewhere to go get it and bring it back to you," I answered.
"Ah, okay," Sonic said. "You got home safe, right?"
I nodded.
"Good. Knux just happened to be in the right place at the right time, I guess." He started to pace the room. "So anyway, Eggman fed this thing two Chaos Emeralds, and you know how powerful things can get when they have just one Emerald, right?"
I nodded.
"Yeah, well this thing had two, and with each Chaos Emerald, Chaos gets a whole lot stronger."
"So how strong was it with two Chaos Emeralds?" I asked.
"Huge slash marks in buildings, cracked streets…" Sonic started to say.
"Wait, but… I-I thought it's made of water, how is it able to do that?!" I asked incredulously.
Sonic shrugged. "Beats me."
"So, uh… what happens if it has all seven Chaos Emeralds?" I asked as I shifted my position on the bed.
Sonic looked me square in the eyes, a sign that I didn't want to know what he was going to say next. And yet I had to find out.
"Then it would become a monster that's almost unbeatable," he told me. "You know Godzilla? Yeah, he's pretty small potatoes compared to Perfect Chaos."
If I wasn't scared before, I certainly was now. The thought of a water monster more powerful than Godzilla was enough to make me tremble. I didn't want my house to get destroyed and me to die in a flood.
"R-Really…?" I asked.
Sonic grimly nodded. He wasn't joking around like usual, which meant he was dead serious and meant every word he was saying.
"H-How do you know about this?" I asked as I sat up.
"Well, like I said, I dealt with him before," explained Sonic. "But-"
"Hey Sonic, are we getting a move on or what?" came Knuckles' impatient voice from the doorway. I had forgotten he was staying at my house, and I was startled to hear him all of a sudden.
"What's the rush?" Sonic asked. That was a question I wanted to know the answer to as well.
"Wha- You forgot already?" Knuckles sighed. "Look, I gotta go get all the Master Emerald shards, and I would appreciate it if you haul butt and get those Emeralds."
Without another word, he left, and I was left blinking in confusion.
As soon as Sonic looked back at me, I took a deep breath.
"Sonic… What's going on?" I asked. "I kinda feel like I missed a whole lot."
Sonic sighed and closed his eyes. "Yeah… I guess I owe you quite an explanation, don't I…?" He started to pace the room again. "So anyway, Knuckles thinks that history's starting to somehow repeat itself. Chaos broke the Master Emerald on Angel Island, and that made the whole thing fall in the ocean. Same thing happened in the past. Sounds like a coincidence, but then we fight Chaos in the middle of town, and Eggman shows up and feeds it some Emeralds, and on top of that, Big finds an Emerald, and Chaos eats that one too, and gets inside Froggy and makes it grow a tail, and all that happened in the past too."
That was a lot for me to swallow at once. It was impossible to fathom, realistically or otherwise.
"Wow… Uh… So how is all this even happening?"
"Don't know… Gonna have to talk to Tails on this one," Sonic mused. His pacing got faster as he got even more restless. "I was up pretty much all night, and the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced it's legit. And, uh… I'm really worried. And I don't get this worried a lot, but… Your world's in danger. You're in danger."
"Is it… Is it really that bad?" I asked, feeling scared.
"You think I'd be upset if it wasn't this bad?!" Sonic suddenly exclaimed, startling me. I sat there feeling very nervous, and Sonic must have seen the look on my face, because he dialed back the intensity.
"Sorry 'bout that, Chris, it's just… Look, your planet hasn't even been through half of what my planet's been through. You guys got world wars, famine, diseases, hackers – you got it easy! On my world, we got nukes, mad scientists, aliens, weird artifacts- A long time ago, there was this city, and it was also called Station Square, not gonna lie. And it was completely destroyed by Perfect Chaos. Like, I'm talking a couple hundred feet of water. And I went super and beat Perfect Chaos, but the city was still completely destroyed."
I gasped. That meant there had to be millions of deaths, and it must have taken over a year just for the water to recede. I wondered if they ever rebuilt after that.
"And then there was a space station that almost crashed into Mobius, and a bunch of aliens, and Eggman even split the planet apart once! And that's not even mentioning the Phantom War…"
I watched in silence as Sonic ranted. He was really getting into it, and the more events he mentioned, the more I knew they would have a chance at being repeated here on Earth, But then a new thought came to my mind, a positive one this time.
"But Sonic, you still won in the end," I brought up. "Like, ypu won all those times, right…?"
For the first time that morning, I saw Sonic smile slightly. "Yeah, I did."
"Oh, and and and-" I realized something and I leaped to my feet. "If history really is repeating, that means you know what happened last time, so you can try and prevent it this time!"
Sonic grinned now, and to me it meant he really liked my idea.
"Oh, so you mean I can try and stay one step ahead of Eggman this way?" he asked. "Chris, that is way past brilliant!"
I smiled as Sonic gently ruffled my hair.
"Now that everything happened once before, we're gonna be ready for it a second time. And I didn't win without help. So I'm gonna need all hands on deck, okay, buddy?"
He gave me a thumbs-up, and I gave him one back. His mannerisms were really contagious sometimes.
"Okay, Sonic!"
"All right, let's go talk out a game plan with the others," said Sonic as he started toward the bedroom door. I nodded and followed him.
"So, uh, do you know why history is repeating?" I asked as we walked down the hall together.
Sonic shrugged. "Don't have any idea, but you know me, I'm pretty sure I'll bump into an answer somewhere down the road. Just gotta keep running. You don't go anywhere fast if you don't run."
I knew that Sonic was right. I had never heard it put that way, but he was 100% right.
As we reached the foyer, I saw Knuckles, Amy, Cream, and Big all talking with each other. Only Tails was missing, but I figured he was in the garage like usual, working on his projects. Everyone was talking amongst themselves.
Amy was the first to notice us, and she looked up.
"Oh hey, Sonic! Did you fill in Chris?" she asked.
Sonic nodded. "Yup, just brought him up to speed." He turned to me. "Tell 'em about your big discovery, Chris!"
"Oh yeah, I just realized that we can use this opportunity to stay ahead of Eggman!" I said proudly.
Sonic was smiling. "Yup! If it happened already, we know how it's gonna happen again, and we can be ready this time!"
"I like that idea!" Big spoke up.
"Yeah, that's pretty good thinking, Chris," complimented Knuckles. "All the more reason to round up those Master Emerald shards."
"And, uh, what's everyone else gonna do?" I asked.
"Now that Team Rose is officially back in action," she said, giggling as she smiled at Cream and Big, "we're all gonna head out and look for Froggy together."
"But wait, how's that gonna help us?" I asked.
"Froggy has a Chaos Emerald, remember?" Cream reminded me, before she realized: "I'm sorry, Mr. Chris, that was rude."
Only then did I remember that Sonic told me that Big saw Froggy swallow a Chaos Emerald.
"Oh yeah, I remember now," I recalled. Cream relaxed, knowing that I wasn't offended at all.
And then I remembered a question I wanted to ask since we got downstairs.
"Oh, and what are you gonna do, Sonic?" I asked.
Sonic stretched his arms. "I'm gonna get Tails and then we're gonna take a look around for the Chaos Emeralds, maybe see if we can find Eggman's new ship along the way."
I had a double take. "Wait, he has a new ship?" I blurted.
"Yeah, it's called the Egg Carrier," explained Sonic. "It's, uh, part of the past thing."
"Oh, okay," I said, before I looked around. Everyone was gonna be busy, and that just left me. Even though I was off from school today, I didn't have anything to do, so I couldn't really help them much. And yet Sonic told me he wanted all hands on deck, and I was sure that included me.
"So what do I do?" I asked, looking from one face to the next. I felt a bit awkward all of a sudden, like I was the weak link in a way.
Sonic thought for a moment. "I'm not sure actually… The Emeralds can be pretty risky to find, 'specially with Eggman involved."
"You could always come with us," Amy said with a smile, and she reached her hand out to me. "It's much safer."
"Yeah, I'm with Ames on this one," Sonic said. "She can protect you pretty well, and you're not gonna be in danger."
I smiled too. "Okay," I said as I took Amy's hand. In a way, I was okay with holding her hand, but I hoped it wouldn't be too weird if anyone saw us doing that. Besides, I looked to Amy as a big sister, not a girlfriend, so I was able to relax a bit.
"You guys take care, okay?" Sonic told us. "And Ames, make sure to keep Chris safe."
Amy nodded. "I will," she promised as she gently tightened her grip on my hand.
"Wait, wait! We didn't have breakfast yet!" I said, raising my hands. No way was I going on an adventure on an empty stomach.
"Oh, right! Good call!" Sonic said. "Mustn't forget that!"
Thorndyke Mansion – Sat November 19 – 8:06 AM – Sonic's POV
As soon as I finished off a hearty breakfast of Ella's homemade pancakes, it took me all in about two seconds to reach the garage, and when I got there, I wasn't surprised to see Chuck and Tails chatting up in the lab.
"Yo, Tails! Ready to roll?" I asked, but my adrenalin came to a screeching halt when I saw the startled and confused look on the fox's face. His head tilted slightly to one side.
"…Huh…?" was all he could say.
"Oh yeah, uh, about the, uh, history repeating thing?" I said. "I told Chris about it, and he said we can use this as a chance to stay ahead of Eggman. Brilliant kid, just like you."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," said Tails, smiling slightly, before he frowned again. "But that is, only if this whole thing is even real to begin with. But now that I think about it, Eggman's probably gonna try the same thing as well and stay a step ahead of you, and also, there's this thing called the butterfly effect. Every action we take is probably gonna take us farther and farther away from history repeating exactly so, which is the whole reason I don't believe any of this can logically happen."
Now it was my turn to feel baffled. It was hard to refute Tails' explanation, but I had to prove that history was repeating somehow.
"I wish I could say this wasn't true, buddy," I said. "But I still wanna see if any of this is true or not. And you're right, Eggman can try and use this to stay a step ahead of us, but it just means we gotta go fast."
"Hm…" thought Tails. "Then what do you think we should do?"
"I say we get as many Chaos Emeralds as we can and keep 'em away from Chaos and Eggman," I proposed.
"Sorry to butt in," Chuck spoke from his seat at the computer desk, "but I think it's more than likely Eggman's going to do the same thing, don't you think?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I know, but that's a risk I'm willing to take," I said.
"Okay, give me just a minute and I'll be right down," Tails said.
"First, though, did you eat yet?" I asked him.
"Yeah, Chuck and I already ate," Tails told me.
"Cool! See you in a Sonic second!" I called behind me as I raced out of the garage and stood in the driveway.
True to his word, Tails emerged from the garage a minute later, remote in hand. He pressed a button which raised the entire garage up, revealing the underground workshop. I knew Chuck was still in the lab, but he told me he was used to being inside when the garage was up in the air like that.
Inside the workshop was the X-Tornado in all its glory.
"I was making some upgrades to the X-Tornado, so now we can fly for a really long time without any Chaos Emeralds," he said proudly, his twin tails swaying.
"Good to hear!" I said. "I hate that you had to go through that stress test."
"Same here… But at least it was a learning experience, and an opportunity to make the X-Tornado even better."
Tails spun his tails and flew up into the cockpit, and I jumped inside and sat down in the back seat behind Tails. As soon as the canopy closed and sealed itself, Tails began the takeoff procedure.
"Energy capacitors… 100%," Tails mused. "Ring chamber… fully stocked. Laser payload primed. Tires, check. We're ready to go!"
Tails then pressed a button on the remote that tilted the palm trees away from the runway. As he started forward, the upper wings extended outward.
We lifted off the ground moments later, and Tails extended the lower wings outward. In moments, Thorndyke Mansion was soon out of sight.
Station Square – Sat November 19 – 8:39 AM – Third-person POV
About half an hour later, Knuckles was traveling through the heart of Station Square in search of the Master Emerald shards. He wished he had remembered to bring his favorite treasure-hunting hat, but it was back on Angel Island. It may have been superstition, but he believed he could have better luck if he wore it.
He found himself back at the exact same location he was at when he fought Chaos the day before. He didn't expect to revisit the scene of the crime, but his senses picked up the trail of one of the Master Emerald shards, and he wondered how it ended up here.
But as he got closer, he saw that most of the streets were blocked off with police lines, and there were officers and firefighters everywhere assessing the damage. Speaking of damage, there were huge cracks in the street, and several buildings had hairline cracks running through them as well. There were even a few broken windows here and there.
Knuckles approached the police line, but he knew better than to cross over it to get a closer look. One officer saw him and ran over.
"Please step away from the tape, Knuckles," he instructed.
"I know," nodded Knuckles as he complied and took a step back. "But I just wanna know, is this the work of Chaos? 'Cuz it looks like a bomb went off at that casino over there."
The police officer looked confused. "Who's Chaos…? Is that the monster from yesterday?"
Again Knuckles nodded. "Yeah."
"No, that's two blocks over that way," the officer said, gesturing somewhere behind him.
This confused Knuckles a bit, as he was sure this damage was caused by Chaos, but apparently it wasn't.
"Oh? Then what happened here?" Knuckles added.
"This seems to be caused by something different," explained the officer. "We got about a hundred calls around 3am about some kind of shiny object falling out of the sky. They said it exploded here and it set off car alarms around the entire area."
Knuckles' eyes widened slightly in interest.
"Anyone get a good look at it?" he asked.
"Yeah, we saw it," the officer replied. "It's some kind of green gemstone, but we can confirm it's not a Chaos Emerald. We're just about to call the bomb squad to come pick it up."
Knuckles held up his hands. "You don't need to do that, I know what it is."
"You do?"
"Yeah, it's a piece of the Master Emerald," explained Knuckles. "You gotta let me in there. It belongs to me."
The officer thought for a moment before saying, "Wait here for a sec."
He ran back to the other officers, and Knuckles looked around at the damage once again. Chaos was not capable of that kind of damage that the Master Emerald shard caused. It was too explosive, like it came from the inside. There was no sign of water damage anywhere.
The officer soon returned, and said "Okay, follow me."
Knuckles nodded and ducked under the police line before following the officer toward the wrecked casino.
"Whoa, look at this…" mused Knuckles as they entered the casino. "It's gonna take a long time to repair."
"Yeah, five months, they estimated," the officer said, his voice echoing around the empty casino.
Surprisingly, it didn't take Knuckles long at all to spot the green shard lying on the floor. It was not glowing at all, so Knuckles didn't really notice it at first.
"All right, here it is," the police officer motioned to the gem. "This what you're looking for?"
"Yes," Knuckles spoke in a contented tone as he bent over to pick up the shard. But the moment his hand touched it, it glowed sharply, and the echidna began to experience a vision-like state.
When he awoke, he was somewhere in the distant past, but he knew exactly where he was. He was back on Angel Island, looking at his own ancestors, Chief Pachacamac and his daughter, Tikal!
Knuckles immediately recognized that he had this vision before, and he knew exactly what was going to happen next. He was shocked to say the least, but he knew he had to pay close attention.
"Father, I beg you!" pleaded Tikal, her hands clasped in front of her. "Please, don't take the Chaos Emeralds! Please!"
"You don't understand, Tikal," Pachacamac fired back. "We need the Emeralds to survive. This is not something a child like you can understand."
"But Father, I'm fourteen!" Tikal said. "I'm old enough to know right from wrong, and what you're doing is wrong. Stealing is wrong. This is not how we pave the road to peace."
"Peace can be wrought by war, Tikal. We are a people of war. We pillage and conquer to claim what's ours. How else do you think we own the entire island?"
"But-"
"There is no other way. If you don't like it, that's on you. Now get out of my way and let me have the Emeralds!"
"NO! I won't let you!" Tikal screamed, putting herself between her father and the stairs that led up to the shrine.
"I'm not going to let a pacifist tell me what I can and cannot do! That is not the way of our people!" roared the chieftain.
But then something happened that caught Knuckles off guard. Tikal lost all her concentration when she noticed Knuckles standing there. Knuckles didn't think this would happen.
"What are you staring at?" Pachacamac wondered as he turned to look in the direction Tikal was facing. And then he walked toward Knuckles.
"Go back to your camp!" he said. "I did not give you permission to leave!"
But then he stopped mid-rant when he noticed something.
"You're not a soldier… You have the Crest of the Guardians… How is this possible…? There is only one future Guardian among us… and yet you don't look to be of the Nocturnus Clan at all…"
Knuckles was stuttering. He didn't know what to say, because he wasn't expecting to be called out at all.
"Father, I know him," Tikal said, all anger and desperation seemingly forgotten. "May I speak with him?"
Pachacamac, knowing this was a way to get Tikal out of the way of his plan to take the Emeralds by force, contented. "Yes, you may."
Tikal then approached Knuckles and said, "I am aware of what you're going through now… I'm afraid I don't have much time to explain…"
As Knuckles looked at Tikal, everything started to fade to white, and Tikal became more faded as she transitioned into a ghost.
"Knuckles… Please gather the Master Emerald back together… Only then can I show you the truth…"
"The truth?" Knuckles repeated. "About what?"
But before Tikal could answer, Knuckles was back in the casino.
"You all right?" the officer asked as Knuckles was coming back to reality.
"I'm fine, it's just…" Knuckles didn't know how to explain the vision. "I-I'm okay, really. I'll take this shard with me if you guys are cool with that."
"Why?" asked the officer.
Knuckles sighed, knowing the officer probably forgot already.
"It's part of the Master Emerald," he said, hoping that would jog the cop's memory. Luckily, it did.
"Okay, gotcha," he said. "And good luck finding the rest of 'em."
"Thanks, and let me know if you find anything like it, and I'll come pick it up," Knuckles said as he left.
"Sure thing," the officer replied.
Station Square Outskirts – Sat November 19 – 8:32 AM – Sonic's POV
Even though I wasn't doing a lot of running from my seat in the X-Tornado, that didn't stop my mind from racing a hundred miles a minute.
There were so many different ways and possibilities for us to stay ahead of Eggman, and so many ways that our plans could go wrong. In any case, though, Tails was right. Everything depended on how Eggman was reacting. For all I knew, he was doing his best to stay a step ahead of us too.
I leaned forward in my seat. "See anything, Tails?" I asked.
Tails peered at his scanner, and at the Green Emerald that was resting in its slot.
"Um, not yet," he reported. "Could be a while, though."
"Yeah, those things could be anywhere," I remarked. "But between us and Eggman, we already found three of 'em in the past six months."
"'Already' is a pretty objective word," Tails said as he slowly banked to the left. "Because in the same amount of time last time, we found four or five of them."
I mentally facepalmed. "Oh yeah, I forgot," I realized.
"It's okay," Tails said.
There was a moment of silence as I glanced out the window at the surrounding rural outskirts of the city.
"So I was thinking, if history's really repeating, and this is a really big 'if', then we should probably be keeping an eye out for the Egg Carrier," I noted.
"Yeah, I agree, Sonic," Tails nodded. "And let's also see if we can spot any of the E-100 robots too."
I smirked. "Heh, maybe they're all gonna find the wrong frog again!" I said.
"Maybe, but I don't think that's gonna be the case this time," Tails pointed out. "Because if we can learn from the past, then so can he."
"True, true," I nodded.
I was just about to say something when a green flash started pulsing from the cockpit, and I had to squint when I saw the Chaos Emerald pulsing rhythmically.
"Wha…? Find it already?" I said.
Suddenly the plane began to shake, and I was forced to brace myself against both sides of the cabin to avoid being thrown around.
"Wh-whoa!" I yelped.
"What? How?" exclaimed Tails. "How is there turbulence?!"
"I think it's the Master Emerald!" I shouted. I was just as shocked as he was.
"But it can't be, it's here on Earth!" Tails said.
"Yeah, but it's broken, that's probably what's causing it!" I realized.
"Yeah, maybe," Tails said as he gripped the controls more firmly and looked at another readout.
"Oh, wait wait wait… Hold on… It's not the Emerald!" Tails exclaimed. "I mean, yeah, it's glowing, but it's- it's not- the Emerald's not causing the turbulence. It's really windy outside!"
"For real?" I asked.
"Yeah, I checked the National Weather Service site before we left. It said this part of town is gonna get winds of up to 40 miles an hour!"
"Whoa!" I exclaimed.
"And… It's kinda because a storm is coming in…" Tails admitted, his ears drooping. "I'm scared…"
"It's gonna be okay, buddy," I comforted my friend. "We're just gonna be in and out. And then you can take us away from this storm- Hey, wait, is that Fuller Lake?"
My eyes widened as I realized we were approaching the same lake I had taken my good friend Helen to last year. But we were at a different part of the lake than the one we had been at.
"Um, I think so…?" Tails guessed, before he looked at the radar on his Miles Electric. "Yeah, it is," he added.
He adjusted a few more controls. "Okay, I'm gonna try and bring us in, and just warning you, it's gonna get a bit rough, so hang on tight."
"Way ahead of you, little buddy," I said as I held onto my seat and braced myself.
I felt the X-Tornado shifting as it converted into its bipedal X-Cyclone form, and we gradually lowered toward the ground. The entire craft was shaking a bit as it was buffeted by the strong winds outside.
As soon as we touched down on the ground, I expected to feel movement from the wind outside, but I didn't. Tails had built his plane amazingly well.
The moment Tails opened the canopy, I could feel the gusty winds blowing through my fur, and with it came chills. I shivered from the impact.
"Wh-whooaa…!" yelped Tails as he was forced to hold onto the plane to avoid getting blown over. I didn't think the winds would be that strong. But we were considerably higher up in altitude than Station Square, so the winds were naturally stronger.
"You okay?" I called. I had to talk a little louder than usual because of the sound of the wind.
"Yeah, it just… it just really surprised me," said Tails. "Hope everyone else is doing okay…"
"Yeah, same here… How's the Emerald looking?" I asked as I looked around for it.
Tails disengaged the green Chaos Emerald and picked it up from its slot. "It's still glowing pretty bright…"
I jumped down from the craft. "Then let's hope that means another Emerald's nearby," I said. "You gonna be okay getting down? This wind's pretty strong…"
Tails gave me a confident thumbs-up. "Yeah, I'm okay, Sonic!" he told me.
But just as he started spinning his tails and flying down to the ground, a sudden wind gust hit him and blew him straight toward me. I was caught off guard and tried to catch him, but his helpless body collided with me, knocking me to the ground, and we rolled together for a few feet before stopping.
Once we stopped rolling, I sat up and looked at Tails, who had fallen into a bush.
"You okay, Tails…?" I asked as I walked over and offered him my hand.
Tails reached for my hand and grasped it as he stood up and brushed the dirt and leaves out of his fur.
"Yeah, I'm okay…" he told me. "Just a little shaken."
I gently patted my friend's back. "As long as you're not hurt," I said.
"I'm not hurt," he reassured me. "Really!"
"In that case, let's go find that Emerald, shall we?" I said, extending my fist to him.
"Yeah, let's do it to it, big bro!" Tails piped up as he bumped his smaller fist against my larger one.
"You said it, little bro!" I chuckled. "You got the Emerald with you?"
"I don't, it's back in the X-Tornado," he said. "But I don't think I'm gonna need it this time 'cuz it's only within about 50 feet, give or take."
"Up until now, it was," came a voice from above them.
I grit my teeth. The voice was too familiar to be anyone but Eggman. Tails and I saw him floating above us in his Eggmobile. A shiny blue Chaos Emerald was in his hand.
"Eggman!" I exclaimed.
"You got it first?!" Tails voiced his shock.
Eggman smugly nodded. "Guess what?" he said. "This Emerald has been mine for the past two hours. I just happened to arrive and pick it up now."
Tails blinked. "That's… not how dibs work."
"Yeah, we've been over this, Eggman," I added.
Eggman shook his head. "You know, I would normally care, but time is so pitifully short-"
"Wait, hold- hold up, hold up," I exclaimed, holding up my hands. "First, before we duke it out for the Emerald like usual, you know anything about the whole history repeating thing, like how it's happening exactly?"
Eggman grinned broadly, before he relaxed a little. I wasn't sure what to think of that.
"I'm glad you asked, Sonic. I was getting quite desperate to tell you the news. Anyway… the moment the Master Emerald arrived on this world, I started to notice a few… anomalies here and there. Mostly small and undetected by the naked eye, but a scientist such as myself was able to notice them."
"Anomalies?" Tails questioned suspiciously. "Like what?"
"Well, how would I know?" Eggman said. "That was six months ago! It was mostly small things, as I said. Conversations, mannerisms– it even started to affect me!"
"Huh, well, even so, it doesn't seem to be affecting us too much," I shrugged.
"That's because it's affecting you as we speak," Eggman said.
"That's a lie and you know it!" snapped Tails, hands on hips.
Eggman smirked. "Say what you want, but you'll never-"
"Oh hey, that's the old Egg Hornet!" I pointed up at the attachment to the Eggmobile that Eggman was using. "Oh man, the nostalgia! I thought you retired that thing all those years ago."
"Stop trying to change the subject!" said an exasperated Eggman. "But yes, this is the Egg Hornet. Formed by the redux, but I was able to upgrade it and hone it to perfection. Get a load of this!"
Eggman fired the Egg Hornet's twin drills directly down at me. I didn't remember them being able to extend so far without the entire thing diving at me. I had to hop back to avoid them hitting me.
"Please, oldest trick in the book," I taunted. "But thanks for the leverage though!"
With that, I started to run up the drills toward Eggman, but he pressed a button, and an electric field surrounded the entire Egg Hornet, and it electrified the drills too, shocking me and causing me to fall off. I hit the ground rolling before I got up.
Wasting no time, Eggman then fired several missiles at Tails who was running straight toward him. Eggman must have known Tails would fly toward him, because he quickly pulled his drills back and flew up and backwards out of Tails' reach.
Even if Tails couldn't reach Eggman fast, I knew I could, because I had the element of surprise with me. So I propelled my whole body off the ground, and curled myself into a tight ball before slamming myself into the Egg Hornet's hull. I landed on the ground and watched as Eggman's upgraded hovercraft landed in the lake.
"Ha, what'd they teach you about littering?" I laughed, pointing at him while Tails ran up to me. "And pollution, huh? Is that old-school you comin' out to play?"
However, Eggman grinned, which to me was a very bad sign.
"While I'm surprised you managed to beat me in less than fifteen seconds, you have just placed me in the perfect position to execute the next part of my plan!" Eggman boasted.
"Which is…?" Tails prodded.
"Oh, come on, take a guess. You've both been through this before. That's your only hint."
"Well now, that's not fair," I said, crossing my arms. "You know how little that narrows it down?"
"Well, come to think of it, we both fought Chaos at a lake kinda like this one, but last time, Knuckles was there too…" Tails pondered.
"Correct," Eggman said as he reactivated the Egg Hornet and flew into the air. I watched as he threw the blue Emerald into the water. It was too far away for me to try and grab it to intercept him, so I could only watch as the Emerald landed with a splash in the lake.
I felt Tails patting my arm. "I'm a little nervous…" he admitted.
"It's okay, buddy," I reassured him with a smile. "You were pretty scared the last time we fought Chaos at the lake too, but you held your own pretty well, and I was really impressed. And I know you matured a lot after the war too, so how hard is this really gonna be?"
Tails smiled. "Yeah, you're right, Sonic. Thanks."
"Just don't grow up too fast, okay?"
Tails giggled, his tails waving in a cute way which made me smile. "I won't, I promise! And I wanna admit, I kinda like being a kid still. A kid with responsibilities, and access to all kinds of tech-"
"Uh, hello? Did you forget your situation already?" called Eggman. "Last time on Eggman X, you two were going to enjoy your watery grave, courtesy of Chaos."
I scoffed. "Eggman X? Give me a break."
I looked up just in time to see Chaos emerging from the water. With three Chaos Emeralds, it looked a lot like Chaos 2, except it was bigger and had shorter arms, and its legs were much less like its former self. This was my first time fighting Chaos with exactly three Emeralds.
Without moving from its spot in the middle of the water, Chaos breathed a stream of water from its mouth at me, and I tried to run to avoid it, but Chaos was smart and cut me off. The force of the water was strong enough to knock me off my feet.
"Water…" I complained as I got back up and tried to shake the water out of my fur. "Why did this fight have to be over water…?"
"You okay?" called Tails as he ran over me.
"Yeah, just… soaking wet…" I moaned.
Tails nodded, seeing that I was okay for now. "I'll distract it, you go for the brain!" Tails said.
"Got it!" I nodded before I sprinted forward. I didn't know if I was able to score an immediate hit on Chaos, and it certainly wouldn't make it easy for me, because I was sure it learned from our last encounter.
Chaos moved forward, and out of the corner of my eye, it extended its arm forward to try and punch Tails, but he spun his tails and dodged in the nick of time.
At that point I had started to launch my spin at Chaos, but it simultaneously deflected me with its other hand, and I landed on a nearby lily pad. I was a bit surprised that lily pads on Earth could support my weight.
"Hey, I thought solid water was ice last time I checked," I said as I nervously looked down at the water around me.
Chaos must have sensed my fear, because it started to move toward me. I spotted another lily pad behind me and hopped onto it.
"Tails! Get it now!" I shouted.
Tails nodded and spun his tails before flying out over the water. He positioned his tails directly behind him so he could fly forward faster, and he skimmed the surface of the water. However, a freak gust of wind came out of nowhere, catching Tails off guard and blowing him off course.
"Whoa!" he yelped as he tried to fly back up and avoid nearly falling in the water.
Chaos turned toward Tails, and while it was distracted, I blasted toward it and spun right into the brain. It immediately collapsed into a puddle and disappeared into the lake.
But unfortunately for me, I misjudged where I was going to land. I fell just short of one of the lily pads, and I landed in the lake. Instincts kicked in, and since I couldn't swim at all, I immediately began flailing about.
"Tails! Tails! Tails!" I panicked as I tried my hardest to stay afloat.
Tails gasped the moment he saw me, and he wasted no time in flying toward me. I made sure to keep my hands above the water, and he grabbed them and pulled me out of the water and back toward the shore. All the while I heard Eggman laughing at us from nearby.
"Stop laughing, Eggman!" Tails shouted as he set me down. "Sonic could have drowned!"
Eggman chuckled. "As amusing as it is to watch that pincushion flounder about and succumb to his ultimate weakness, that's not the reason I'm laughing," Eggman said. "I'm laughing at you."
"Me?" Tails squeaked, his eyes widening.
"Yes, you, and why not? For someone with your IQ, I would have thought that you had the brains to install a security feature in your X-Tornado. Otherwise, I wouldn't be holding this."
As I shook the water out of my fur for the second time that day, I could see that the Chaos Emerald that was once sitting in Tails' plane was now resting in the palm of Eggman's hand.
I could tell that Tails was feeling very frustrated at both himself and Eggman, because he was softly growling and balling his hands into fists. Before I knew it, he was flying back out over the water.
"GIVE THAT BACK!" he screamed, but before he could reach Eggman, the doctor threw the Emerald way out, and it landed in the water.
"Should have flown faster," taunted Eggman.
Eggman backed away just in time as Chaos 4 suddenly rose out of the water. Even though this was not my first time fighting Chaos like this, it was still stronger than Chaos 3, and just as strong as I remembered from back in the day.
"Ready for round two with the blue?" I challenged. "'Cuz I sure am!"
Tails backed away in surprise, but not in time. Chaos used one of its massive hands to sweep a shock wave in our direction, too fast for me to dodge. It hit both of us, me in the stomach, and sent us flying back. Tails had to fly up to avoid a rough landing. I wasn't so lucky, because I landed on my back.
I sat up as Tails flew back toward me.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, could be worse," I said as I stood back up.
"I'm gonna try and get up over Chaos so you can get a clear shot at the brain, okay?" Tails said.
"Will do!" I replied with a thumbs-up as Tails took my hands. With a small grunt, he spun his tails and lifted me into the air and back over the water.
Tails made sure to fly fast to avoid any sudden attacks, but as fate would have it, he wasn't fast enough. Just as he was getting us into position, Chaos summoned a huge water jet from the lake that blasted us into the air. Tails screamed at the sudden impact as we were sent flying about a hundred feet into the air.
I managed to land on a lily pad about fifty feet away from Chaos. It sunk a few inches into the water from my impact, but it rose back up. However, it made my sneakers wet, causing me to flinch. It wasn't like they weren't already soaking wet from my earlier misfortune.
I saw Tails trying to fly and regain control as he fell, but he didn't have enough control and he hit the water head first. I was relieved he didn't make a belly landing. He came right back up and doggy-paddled back to the shore.
"You two are lucky all my firepower has been transferred to the Egg Hornet – you know, the one you destroyed – otherwise, I would blast those lily pads and send you to the bottom, hedgehog!" Eggman shouted from his Eggmobile. There was no mistaking the pure anger in his voice.
"Ain't happenin'!" I taunted as I leaped to another lily pad, then another, looking for an opening. "'Cuz if history's repeating, you know I gotta stick around for the big finale, yeah?"
"Did you forget I can stay one step ahead of you?" Eggman said as Tails reached the shore and stood up. "This is my redemption arc!"
Chaos locked eyes with Tails, and just as the fox was about to fly back over the water, it summoned a huge wave that struck him and sent him flying back. He hit the ground about thirty feet from the shore, right as I launched myself at the brain.
I was a bit distracted at what happened to Tails that I missed the brain. However, I still hit Chaos' liquid body, causing it to dissolve into many bubbles that disappeared under the water. I made sure to land on a lily pad this time.
"Tails! You okay?" I urgently shouted.
"I… think so…" Tails said in a strained tone as he made his way to the shore. "That really hurt though… Is it down?"
I shook my head. To confirm my thoughts, all the bubbles shot out of the water and reformed back into Chaos 4.
Chaos turned and launched another shock wave at me, but this time I was prepared. I leaped clear over the wave, and aimed myself at Chaos' brain, but once again, I missed because the water creature moved. I landed on its back, and I clung to it with dear life. It began to violently try to shake me off, but I held on.
Then it tried to swim quickly and erratically through the lake, making short jumps every now and then, and swimming under the lake, which was the worst part. Suddenly holding on seemed like a very bad idea…
"That's it! Drown him, Chaos!" ordered Eggman. "Drown him so that he'll never again be a menace to society!"
"Whoa, that's darker than Arkham, buddy!" I warned right as I went under, and that remark earned me a mouthful of freshwater that I spat out at my earliest opportunity.
I started to cough, but that was the least of my problems. I could feel the water surrounding me, even when I was above water. And then I realized that Chaos was starting to absorb me.
"Tails! Now!" I called as I went under once again. I refused to let go, even though it seemed to be forever that I was under the water that time.
An agonizing ten seconds passed before Chaos finally broke the surface again. I saw an orange blur, and I knew that Tails whipped his namesakes directly into Chaos' brain, scoring a direct hit. I landed back in the water as Chaos dissolved in a puddle, and as Tails rescued me once again and brought me back to the shore, Eggman swooped in and abducted Chaos with his Eggmobile's tractor beam before it could merge too much with the lake.
I was left panting and coughing after my ordeal, and Tails patted my back.
"So… How's that Egg Carrier coming along?" I smirked.
Eggman was taken aback. "Wait, how did you– Oh no, wait… It's the history repetition event… To answer your question, I found all the parts I needed to make a second Egg Carrier. That's what I've been doing for the past six months. And living off my limited supply of MREs from my old base."
"Well, good to see you're not rusty coming off your hiatus," Sonic said with a wink and thumbs-up.
"Of course not, why would I be?" Eggman said. "Station Square better beware!" he said as he flew away. "It's time to make my official comeback."
We watched him disappear over the tree line, before I looked at Tails.
"Well… that was something," I said.
"Yeah… There are a couple things I picked up that I don't know if you did," Tails said.
I tilted my head slightly. "Oh? Like what?"
"Like, there are a bunch of things that aren't adding up," Tails said as he started pacing, and his tails swayed up and down rhythmically, a sure sign he was in deep thought. "Like when Eggman said his Egg Hornet was 'formed by the redux'. What did he mean, 'formed'? Like he didn't build it himself?"
"That does sound kinda weird…"
"And that's not all! He keeps contradicting himself. He wants us to believe that history is repeating naturally and that it has something to do with the Master Emerald."
"Uh-huh…" I nodded, running my hand through my quills.
"Also, also- Did you hear when he said this was his redemption arc?" Tails let out a small gasp. "Sonic, this means this was his plan all along! He wants us to believe this is all a paradox, when he really just wants a second chance at his old plans!"
"Tails… That makes so much sense. It scares me how much sense that makes," I said as I started pacing, and I could tell Tails was having a little trouble looking at me the whole time I was pacing, but doing it helped me to think better.
"I was up a lot last night thinking about this. It seemed a bit fishy, but it makes sense. I was pretty worried about what's gonna happen to this planet. Still am, actually. I mean, we know what's gonna happen, and what Eggman's gonna do… No one else does. Not even Chris."
"Um, as much as I don't wanna see him get stressed out over this… I think we should tell him what to expect, and try and protect him as much as we can," Tails said. "I feel like he deserves to know."
"Yeah, same here," I said. "Next time we get a breather, we gotta tell him everything. I mean, yeah, I already told him the gist of what's going on, but not all the details of this adventure."
Tails tilted his head slightly. "So what did you tell him?" Tails asked.
"Mostly just about Perfect Chaos," I said. "He doesn't know about the Egg Carrier or the E-100 robots. Until then, he may be along for the ride, and I mean that in a bad way."
"Yeah…" Tails nodded, before he looked up. "So what do we do now?"
I thought for a moment before I looked up at the sky. "Well, Eggman's on his way to Station Square now, so we better go after him," I said.
"Yeah," Tails said as he started walking back to the X-Tornado.
"Actually, you okay what?" I realized. "You go after Eggman. I gotta make sure he doesn't kidnap Amy in the process."
Tails looked startled, and he stopped in his tracks. "Wait, what do you– Oh yeah… That happened…"
He looked up at me. "Because Eggman wanted the Flicky because it just so happened to have a Chaos Emerald, and that's why he captured it. Amy just happened to come with."
"Mhmm," I nodded. "So that means I gotta either keep the Flicky away from Amy, or– scrap that, that's too much. Instead, I need to get her out of the city. Or, even better, keep everyone away from that Flicky. It's too dangerous; anyone near that Emerald is gonna risk being kidnapped."
"Including you, Sonic," Tails said.
"Nah, I know what I'm doing," I shrugged. "Trust me, I've been running risks almost as much as I have laps around this planet."
"Of course," Tails covered his mouth, stifling a chuckle.
"So now you don't have any Emeralds," I said as we started running back to the X-Tornado. "Are you worried about… uh, low power…? Like the last time?"
"Remember the upgrades I was making?" Tails asked. And then it hit me.
"Oh yeah, totally forgot about that… again," I said.
"Hey, it's okay, Sonic," Tails said.
"But you can still shoot lasers without an Emerald, right?" I asked.
"Yeah," Tails nodded. "That's what I was doing a couple months ago when I was taking off and landing all day, just running a couple tests. I just can't give you rings without an Emerald. Or travel at full speed. I'm working on it, though."
"Gotcha," I nodded. "I'm gonna take off. Just be careful of the wind, okay?"
"Okay, Sonic! Good luck!" Tails said with a wave as I went from 0 to 300 in a split second.
I realized I never told him to be careful of the wind I picked up when taking off so fast, and I could tell that he was nearly blown over. I stopped for a moment to see him get up, and gave him a smile before I continued on my way back to Station Square.
Station Square – Sat November 19 – 8:51 AM – Chris' POV
"I think my feet are starting to get a little tired," I said, shivering as a gust of wind sent chills through my body.
"It's okay, we can take a quick break soon," Amy told me.
Amy, Cream, Big, and I were walking together through the heart of the city, searching everywhere for Froggy. Normally I would have felt weird roaming through an entire city looking for just one frog. In fact, part of me felt like this was a waste of time, but Cream had insisted that Froggy had a Chaos Emerald; and knowing how valuable the Chaos Emeralds were, this made something like searching for a frog much more worthwhile.
On the surface, it seemed like my three friends couldn't possibly pose a threat to anyone, but I felt genuinely safe with them, especially Amy. She carried a hammer that could do serious damage, and I saw firsthand the destruction it was capable of.
At one point during our travels, Amy was really excited that Team Rose was finally back together. At that time, I didn't know what Team Rose was, so Amy helpfully told me it was made up of herself, Cream, and Big. And then she said something that warmed my heart for the rest of our little adventure.
Amy had told me that even if I was more of a Team Sonic person, she made me an honorary member of Team Rose, and that no one gets left behind, and she and her friends would help me with whatever I needed. I smiled, and said that I really wanted to help them too.
In fact, I was still smiling about that now, until my thoughts started to shift back to Froggy, wherever he was in this massive city.
"Um… Hey Amy…?" I spoke, and I waited for her to look at me before I continued. "Um… Were you looking for Froggy back then too…?"
"That wasn't me, it was just Big back then," Amy explained. "But even so… I'm still getting a lot of deja vu…"
"Hm…" I thought, pondering this. "I'm wondering, what else was different?"
"Well, for one, I didn't have the pleasure of meeting you or Cream yet," she said. "And coincidentally, we also happened to be in a city called Station Square."
She was rapidly glancing around, an uneasy look on her face.
"I don't like this…" I could hear her quietly say.
"Froggy…?" I could hear Big's cautiously optimistic voice coming from near one of the shop windows. It was hard to hear him because of all the noise of the cars, and he was once again feeling on edge too, because I saw his hands going near his ears every now and then.
"Did you find him, Mr. Big?" Cream called as she approached her friend. Amy and I followed.
Suddenly Amy let out a fangirlish gasp as she spotted a new set of shiny bracelets in the store window.
"Oh my gosh, those bracelets are sooo me! And look at that, they're just my size! AAHHH! I think I have enough money to get them! Hold on, I'll count, I'll count…!"
"Miss Amy…? Um, we can come back to get them later, but right now, we need to find Froggy," Cream reminded her.
"O-Oh yeah, sorry about that. You're right," she said as she practically forced herself to look away from the bracelets.
"Chao…?" Cheese whimpered as he looked around, his flying starting to get a little more erratic.
"Cheese? What happened?" Cream asked as she approached him.
Cheese suddenly let out a small gasp and waved his stubby arms about, now looking frightened.
"Chao chao chao chao-chao chao-chao!" he whimpered, burying himself in Cream's arms and chest.
"Cream, what's wrong?" Amy asked, looking worried.
"Yeah, why is Cheese acting like-"
But I was suddenly interrupted by the low rumbling sound of jet engines. And yet I knew the flight path didn't go near my part of the city, so chances were very low it was a jet plane.
I scanned the skies, unable to see what it was, and I squinted because the sun was very bright.
"Is that a plane?" I asked.
Amy shook her head. "Too low…" she said. "And loud."
"It sounds awfully familiar…" Big said. I wasn't sure if he had heard any other loud engine sounds like jet planes before.
Amy let out a small gasp. "Guys, no, that's Eggman."
My eyes got big. "Wh-What?!"
"Yeah, he's here in the Egg Carrier," she said as she slowly took an uneasy step back. "I should have thought of this before we left…" Her next statement was quiet, but I was still close enough to hear her. "And I feel like there's something else, but I can't think about what it is right now…"
"What do we do?" I asked.
"I don't know, but we gotta keep moving. Come on," she said as she kept walking down the sidewalk.
"I'm scared…" Big admitted as he stuck close with Amy.
"Me too…" Cream said, still cradling a frightened Cheese. "But Mr. Sonic always comes to stop Eggman, right guys?"
My heart suddenly leaped out of my throat as I heard the sound of laser fire above me, followed by the whooshing sound of missiles being launched from their ports.
"It's shooting at something…" Big noticed.
"Look! Mr. Tails is fighting Dr. Eggman!" Cream called, pointing up.
Sure enough, I could see the X-Tornado coming into view. It was expertly avoiding Eggman's weaponry as well as returning fire.
"Amy, what did you say Eggman's ship was?" I asked as I shielded my eyes from the glare of the sun.
"The Egg Carrier," Amy repeated.
"Because I think this is what Eggman was building in the past six months!" I realized.
"Yeah, that– that makes a lot of sense," Amy said. "But I feel like there's a lot more to this we don't know about."
"Yeah…" I agreed.
"So what do we do?" Cream asked, looking at Amy both expectedly and worriedly.
"I don't know…" Amy admitted.
"Froggy…" whimpered Big as he started wandering in one direction.
"Oh, right! We still have to find Froggy!" Amy said as she followed Big, and Cream and I followed suit.
"But what about the Egg Carrier?" Cream said, looking back up at the doctor's giant ship looming over our heads.
"I think Tails can deal with Eggman," I said. "But right now, we have our own problems."
Station Square – Sat November 19 – 8:55 AM – Third-person POV
The Egg Carrier had arrived in Station Square much sooner than Tails had anticipated. Yes, the fox knew he had spent a bit of time talking out a game plan with Sonic, as well as possible theories as to what was going on, but he had underestimated how fast the Egg Carrier could fly.
Thanks to Sonic, Tails now remembered another one of Eggman's objectives. The doctor planned to capture a specific Flicky because it was holding onto a Chaos Emerald concealed inside a locket. And since that Chaos Emerald fell into the hands of Amy, that put her in danger too.
Tails squinted at one of his readouts as he took a deep breath, preparing himself for the coming fight. The more the events progressed, the more he felt convinced that history was truly on a loop, even with Eggman's seemingly contradictory words.
Just then a crackling sound came over the speaker of the X-Tornado's new built-in screen. He turned the dial to tune into the frequency, and his eyes widened slightly when he saw Orbot on the screen.
"Sorry to interrupt," the round robot said, "but Doctor Eggman requests that you calmly surrender so he can effectively use Perfect Chaos to destroy Station Square and make him a fresh new template for the Eggman Empire."
Tails blinked. "Umm… Did you just tell me his entire plan…?"
Orbot facepalmed. "Oh dear, I did it again…" he moaned.
"I mean, why doesn't he tell me this himself?" Tails asked.
"He is preoccupied with other matters at the moment, and I regret to inform you that he is presently not available to state an ultimatum," Orbot said with a hint of regret in his mechanical voice.
"In other words, he's kinda busy right now," came Cubot's voice as Orbot's companion appeared on the screen.
Tails suddenly spun the plane to the left to avoid a laser turret that started shooting at him.
"Me too!" Tails said, his voice sounding strained.
Once he was out of range of the turret, the fox looked up to see a horde of Badniks swarming out of one of the hangar bays toward him. He was able to recognize Buzz Bombers, Batbots, and the newly-upgraded Hoverbys among them.
"I know it's hard to fight and chat at the same time, so we'll leave you to it," Orbot said.
"Might wanna leave your tray in the upright position and make sure you know where all the exits are!" Cubot called.
"Cubot, the X-Tornado is made for combat, not for passengers."
"Yeah, but he's got like four seats in there! And he flies kids around all the time!"
"...I'm gonna hang up now," Tails said as he pressed a button to end the video call. He let out a sigh of relief, knowing Eggman's hench-bots wouldn't be a problem during the fight.
However, he gripped the controls of his plane harder as a Batbot broke away from the swarm and tried to shock his plane's engine. Tails banked to the left to avoid the attack, knowing even a single Batbot could be deadly for him.
He suddenly felt nostalgic; this was just like both his fight with the Egg Fort last year, as well as his first fight with the Egg Carrier. The key differences were his new and improved plane, and the fact that Sonic wasn't with him this time. While Tails found himself wishing Sonic was there to help him, he knew he was able to do this on his own.
He flew back around and blasted holes through several Badniks, watching as they fell out of the sky. He made sure to prioritize the Hoverbys; even though they hadn't tried to saw the wings off the X-Tornado yet, he wasn't about to let that happen.
There's a first time for everything, except that! he thought.
Once he felt like he took out as many Hoverbys as he could manage, he went after the Batbots next. He gripped the controls more firmly as he fired streams of lasers at them, making short work of them.
Careful, Tails, he warned himself. You don't have any Emeralds.
"Whoa!" he yelped as several deck-mounted laser turrets opened fire at him, as well as several missile ports. He had to make several tight evasive maneuvers to avoid them. It was very difficult, because one of the lasers nearly clipped his lower right wing.
The weaponry was so thick that Tails was forced to fly back several hundred feet. He did manage to evade the missiles and loop around, before returning fire on one of the laser turrets.
"Okay, that's one down," he said quietly as he watched a fiery explosion erupting from where the turret once was.
But then the next thing he saw made his jaw drop. A giant cannon was appearing at the front of the massive Egg Carrier. The two-tailed fox immediately knew what that cannon was.
Back when he chased the Egg Carrier all those years back, a massive energy cannon had shot him down, and he very nearly suffered a concussion. It was a wonder he didn't, because he had been very shaken up and mildly injured in the process.
This time, though, Tails had a much faster plane at his disposal, so he believed he had a higher chance at avoiding it. He smiled. He could do this.
Okay, I'm gonna need some more firepower for this one, he thought as he reached down and picked up a red wire. Double-checking to make sure he wasn't in any immediate danger, even if it was for just a split second, he plugged it into a slot. Now the X-Tornado's ring supply was being pumped into the energy capacitors that powered the guns, making them stronger.
But before he could open fire, the Egg Carrier beat him to the punch. The giant cannon fired unexpectedly, blasting the top wings clear off the plane. It also fried his right engine, as well as did other kinds of damage. Needless to say, the entire craft shook violently from the impact, and Tails had to hold on to avoid hitting his head on the side of the cockpit.
Nooooo! Not again not again not again not agaaaain! he thought. But on the outside, he was screaming in terror as he jammed down the eject button several times with no effect.
As his plane went into a sharp nosedive, he closed his eyes, hoping that Sonic saw what was going on and would come to his rescue.
Station Square – Sat November 19 – 8:58 AM – Third-person POV
Amy gasped. "Chris! Big! Where'd they go?"
Cream's eyes widened. "What do you mean- Oh… They're gone!" she realized as she looked around.
Amy and Big had been so intently watching the fight going on above them that they didn't realize that the two boys had already left. Amy would have thought that they would stay and watch instead, but they didn't.
"Okay, we gotta find them!" Amy said with determination. "I don't think they should be too far away."
Cream nervously glanced around at the traffic as she held Cheese close to her like a plushie. She followed Amy across the street.
"Chris! Big! Cough cough! I'm a city girl sometimes, but this traffic…!" She said as she coughed on the car fumes as they finished crossing the street.
"It's really loud, Miss Amy," Cream said.
"What did you say?" Amy asked. "I can't hear you!"
"I said, it's really loud!" Cream had to shout.
"Yeah!" Amy replied. "I can't wait to go somewhere quiet!"
There were so many cars and people everywhere, and it didn't help that the two girls were under half the height of the average human adult. Even when Cream and Cheese took flight and looked around everywhere, there was no sign of the cat Mobian or the human anywhere.
There was finally a lull in the sound of traffic, and Cream landed on the sidewalk next to Amy. She leaned closer to Amy to talk to her better.
"I'm worried…" Cream admitted. "It's about Mr. Chris… Mr. Big can't protect him like Mr. Sonic can."
"Oh, I'm sure- I promise they're gonna be okay as long as they can get back home." Amy said. "Chris said he knows his way around really well, so he can- AH!"
Amy covered her head with both hands as something light fell off her head and landed limply on the ground. It was still just strong enough to nearly knock the wind out of her. Cream let out a soft gasp when she saw what the object was.
"Amy, look!" Cream called.
The pink hedgehog turned to look, and her gaze was drawn to a small blue bird lying on the ground. She instantly recognized it as a Flicky, and it appeared to be dazed from the impact.
But before she could stoop down and help the poor bird, she was suddenly hit with a powerful flashback, and she felt horror and realization at what this meant for her.
"Amy, what's wrong?" came Cream's voice, snapping Amy from her trance. She looked to see Cream carefully cradling the Flicky in her hands.
Amy looked up at the Egg Carrier, and a chill ran down her spine.
"I just remembered what's gonna happen…" she said quietly. "Because last time I was in a situation like this, I was kidnapped and taken up to the Egg Carrier… but I totally forgot about the Flicky."
Cream blinked. "Does that mean you're gonna get kidnapped again…?" she whimpered.
Amy could have easily said yes, but she didn't want to worry her friend more than the already was.
"Cream, we gotta go back home right now," she said urgently.
She started to run down the sidewalk, and even though Cream was confused, she ran after her, and Cheese followed too. They weaved through the ever-moving maze of people all around them.
"But Amy, what about Chris and Big?" Cream asked, completely forgetting to call them "Mr."
"It's not them Eggman wants," Amy said. "He doesn't even want us. It's- It's the Flicky you're holding. I just happened to go with it last time."
"Wait, what?" Cream was surprised.
"Yeah, uh, do you see the collar it's wearing?" Amy asked, glancing back at Cream and the Flicky.
"Um…" Cream gasped. "Th-That- That looks like- like a Ch-Chaos Emerald!" Cream stuttered. She was shocked that a Chaos Emerald practically fell into their hands.
Amy was so busy looking behind her that she didn't notice until too late that she had just run into someone's arms.
"Gotcha!" came a voice that was familiar to Amy, earning her a yelp. But her heart started to flutter when she saw who caught her.
"I've been lookin' all over town for you, Ames," Sonic said. "And good thing I showed up when I did; you were gonna run into that light pole."
Amy blushed softly, but she knew this wasn't the time for her to get her charm on and win Sonic over. She was in danger, and so was the whole city.
She looked up at Sonic, and he could sense the fear in her eyes.
"Sonic…" Amy started to say.
"Anyway, I'm pretty sure I know what's gonna happen to you next," Sonic said as he gently picked up Amy.
"Me too…" Amy said as she glanced up at the Egg Carrier.
"Yeah… That's why I'm here. I'm gonna get you home at Sonic speed."
Suddenly there was a sharp explosion above them. Everyone's heads turned as they saw a familiar aircraft plummeting toward the ground in the distance, smoke pouring from it.
"Oh no…" Sonic moaned as he too remembered something like this happening.
"Oh no! Tails!" Amy gasped. She was hit with a flashback of when Tails' plane crashed during the huge fight half a year ago.
"You gonna be okay on your own for a bit?" Sonic asked hurriedly as he set Amy down.
"I hope so…" Amy started to say, only to feel a sudden gust of wind and see a blue blur speeding away from her and in the direction the X-Tornado went in.
With Sonic gone, Amy turned back to Cream. "Let's keep moving," she said, her voice terse, as she started running again. Cream followed her, still holding the injured Flicky, who let out a few weak chirps.
"It's okay, we'll take good care of you, okay?" Cream soothed the bird.
Cheese flew a little closer to the bird, and his eyes softened when he saw how weak the Flicky looked.
"Chao-chao…" he said in sympathy.
Amy was looking around nervously, constantly expecting something to come out and grab her at any minute. She felt very tense and alert.
"We gotta hide somewhere," she said. "I feel like ZERO's coming any minute now."
Cream let out a soft gasp. "ZERO? Do you mean Infinite?" she asked, sounding alarmed.
Amy realized what Cream was saying before she shook her head. "No, no, different ZERO. That's the robot that kidnapped me. If you see it, it's big and green."
"Okay," Cream said. She picked up on Amy's nerves and moved closer to her. "Please don't be scared, I'm here for you, and so is Mr. Sonic and all our friends."
Amy smiled briefly. "Thanks, Cream. I don't know what I would do without you."
Cream smiled too, knowing she was able to help her friend.
"Umm…" Amy was looking at shop after shop they could hide in, until she came upon a bakery. "Okay, this'll do."
She pushed open the bakery door and walked inside, and then held it open for Cream as she carried the Flicky inside. Once Cheese was safely inside too, Amy closed the door.
"Okay… I'm gonna call Chuck," Amy said as she pulled her phone from Hammerspace.
"Okay," Cream said. She cradled the Flicky, who was trying its best to relax despite its injuries.
Amy walked to a corner of the bakery and pulled her cell phone from her dress pocket before dialing the professor's number. She tapped her foot, anxiously waiting for him to pick up.
"Hello?" Chuck said a moment later.
"Chuck," Amy said, the adrenalin starting to get to her. "I-I'm sorry… Eggman just shot down the X-Tornado!"
"Whoa, what?!" Chuck exclaimed, feeling a lot of worry for his friend. "Are you serious?"
"I-I-" Amy was starting to lose her composure. She told herself to do everything she could to not get hysterical.
"Amy, deep breaths," Chuck instructed, this time sounding much calmer. "Can you tell me if he's okay? Where did he crash?"
The pink hedgehog was unable to control the tears that started to prick her eyes. "I don't know…" she whimpered. "I think… the east side…? And that's not all… I'm a little nervous, but I feel like I'm gonna be kidnapped any minute, so I have to make this quick." She knew the kidnapping was inevitable if her memory served her right, and even though she had a general idea of what to expect, anything could change.
"You're getting kidnapped? Amy… what's going on?"
Amy glanced at the Flicky on the other side of the room. Cream was speaking softly to it to calm it down, and Cheese was watching over it as well.
"Well, um… We just found this bird, and it's wearing, like, a kind of pendant that has a Chaos Emerald in it, and, uh… last time that happened, I got kidnapped by a robot that was after the bird."
"And they got you because you had the bird?"
"Yeah."
Chuck was silent for a moment. "I… I'm not sure what to say about this… Okay… Try and get back home as quickly as you can, but make it subtle."
"Okay…" Amy said, her voice quiet and shaky.
"And make sure Cream stays with you. I don't want her getting separated from you."
"Okay… I'll do my best to be careful," Amy replied.
After another moment, they hung up. The pink hedgehog's intuition told her she was in imminent danger. Last time she was kidnapped, she was all alone. This time, though, Cream and Cheese were with her, and they were capable fighters, even if they didn't like doing it. So at last they would have a fighting chance if Amy was going to be kidnapped.
"All right, we can go now," Amy said as she put away her phone and walked back toward the door.
"Okay, Miss Amy," Cream said as she stood up. "And Cheese and I were talking, and we agreed that our new friend needs a name."
Amy smiled, even through her stress, as she picked up the Flicky and held it, looking at it. "Hmm… There are lots of names we can choose from. Like… I don't think I even named the last Flicky I had. I just ended up calling it Birdie." She laughed dryly. "Um… Maybe something like Lily?"
As if it said yes, the Flicky chirped happily from Amy's hands.
"Lily? You like that name?" Amy asked.
Another chirp. Amy smiled softly.
"All right, Lily it is! My name is Amy Rose, and this is my friend Cream. Nice to meet you, Lily!"
Cream was smiling at their interaction.
"And, um… Sorry 'bout what happened to you today… I promise, we're gonna take good care of you. Our Team Rose motto is- Cream, you wanna say it?"
Cream smiled. "No one gets left behind!" she quoted proudly.
"Chao-chao!" agreed Cheese.
"That's right! Okay, ready to go?" Amy asked, and Cream nodded. Together, they left the bakery and started down a side road in the direction of home.
"Miss Amy?" Cream said a little while later. "Do you really think Dr. Eggman is going to kidnap you?"
Amy took a breath before letting it out as "There's too much lining up for it to be a coincidence," she said. "So… Yeah, chances are good I'm gonna be part of the Chaos Emerald package… But hey, if it does happen, at least I can kick serious butt and not be a damsel in distress."
"Please be careful…" Cream said.
"I will, Cream. Promise."
Even though Amy found herself wishing Sonic could come back for her and get her home quickly, she knew Tails' safety came first. With any luck, he ejected safely, and he would meet up with everyone somewhere. At least, that's how she would have written it. It was a shame fate didn't work that way.
"Miss Amy, what's that?" Cream asked, pointing to something in the distance.
"What's what?" Amy replied as she followed Cream's gaze. It didn't take her long to spot an odd-shaped and sickeningly familiar green robot with round black hands and no legs.
She let out a quiet gasp. "Oh gosh, that's him. That's ZERO…" she tried to say quietly. "Okay, we're getting outta here."
She broke into a run, and Cream and Cheese followed her at an equal pace. It briefly crossed her mind to hand the Flicky to Cream and split up, but she threw that thought aside. Not only would that be cowardly of her, but that would run the huge risk of Cream getting lost in the massive city of Station Square. Cream was only six, and that was too young to be lost alone. Besides, Chris and Big were already lost as it was. And when Amy thought about them, she sincerely hoped they would be okay and find their way back home. Besides, Chris knew the city well.
Amy looked behind her, and a pang of panic hit her. Just when she thought she lost sight of ZERO, it appeared again behind them. The only thing she had going for her was that it was quite a ways back. However, it was doing something Amy didn't remember it ever doing before: it was charging energy in its large bulky hands.
"Target acquired," it droned.
"Hey Cream, get me in the air," Amy requested.
Cream nodded, and they took each other's hands. Cream flapped her ears and lifted her friend into the air. Cheese and Lily were flying alongside them.
They took off not a moment too soon, because ZERO launched a sizable wave of energy in their direction. It passed harmlessly under them.
"Whoa, that was close!" Amy yelped.
"Yeah…" Cream said.
"I didn't know it could even do that," Amy said, before she noticed Lily near her. "Well, you recovered really fast!" she said.
Cream nodded with a smile, before she looked behind her, an act that almost threw them off course.
"Miss Amy, it's following us," Cream warned.
"Chao chao chao!" echoed Cheese.
Amy looked behind them too just in time to see ZERO levitating off the ground and following them.
"I figured it would…" Amy quietly admitted.
"Wh-what do we do?" asked Cream.
"Um…" Amy looked around below them, before she spotted an alley. "There," she said. She couldn't point to it, because she would fall to the ground.
"Um, where are you looking?" Cream asked.
"See that alley?"
"Yeah."
"Take us down there and we're gonna run."
"Okay!"
Cream obediently flew down to the alley. Luckily for them, Cream was not flying too high in the air, only about twenty to thirty feet, but just high enough to avoid the energy attack ZERO launched on them earlier.
They landed and ducked inside the alley.
"I don't think he's gonna fit in here, so we're safe for now," Amy said. "I hope…"
Sure enough, the space between two of the buildings was a bit snug, even for a human, but it was perfect for Mobians.
"Okay, stay here," Amy said as she crept back to the edge of the alley. "I'm gonna check and see if the coast is clear."
Cream was holding onto Lily as Amy stepped out of sight.
"I don't like this…" Cream whimpered. "Miss Amy said we needed to stay together. I don't want her to be kidnapped…"
"Chao chao…" Cheese agreed as he sat down and leaned against one of the buildings.
Cream was looking around nervously, and the monotonous drone of the Egg Carrier's engines was starting to get to her.
All of a sudden, Lily chirped and flew out of Creams hands and out of the alley.
"Lily, wait! Come back! It's dangerous!" Cream called as she ran after the Flicky. However, it was in vain, and Cream stopped at the edge of the alley.
The ball over Cheese's head changed into a question mark, and Cream noticed this.
"I think Lily is really worried about Amy…" Cream said, before she heard footsteps, and she tensed up.
"It's okay, it's just me," Amy soothed as she returned, and the bunny relaxed. "And I think Lily wanted to come out and see me."
"I'm sorry…" Cream said as she hung her head. "I tried to stop her…"
"It's okay, I think we're safe for now," Amy said. She looked up, and she decided not to tell Cream that not seeing ZERO could be a bad thing too.
A sudden blue blur sped by the alley before backtracking and stopping in the entrance. Amy was startled, and she let out a shriek; she didn't expect Sonic to return that soon!
"It's just me," Sonic said.
"Okay, good… I thought it was ZERO for a moment," Amy said. "So, um, is Tails okay?"
"He got a nasty bump on his head, and Chuck thinks it's a concussion," Sonic said grimly.
"Oh gosh…" Amy whimpered.
"Yeah… It's been a minute since he got injured like that." Sonic was pacing, feeling antsy and anxious for his little brother. "Chuck's gonna get the X-Tornado back home, but it's gonna be a while before it can fly again."
"Yeah…" Amy said.
Sonic picked up Amy bridal-style, making sure Lily was with them.
"Just stay here, Cream," Sonic told the young rabbit. "I'll come back for you."
"But Sonic, it's- That's too dangerous!" Amy said.
Sonic looked at Amy. "Eggman wants the Flicky, not you or Cream. She'll be safe here for like two minutes until I come back and get her."
Cream nodded. "I'll be okay, Miss Amy, I promise!" she assured her friend.
"Okay… Just stay there, I don't want ZERO seeing you," Amy said, worry making her way into her voice.
"Okay," Cream nodded as she retreated back into the alley with Cheese.
"All right, let's juice!" Sonic said. Amy barely had any time to get ready when Sonic suddenly shot forward with a burst of speed.
Running with Sonic was one of the things Amy really enjoyed about him. It was exhilarating, and she found the sensation of the wind blowing through her quills to be very refreshing. However, the only drawback was that she had to close her eyes to shield them from the wind. She didn't know how Sonic was able to handle it, though.
However, she didn't get enough time to take in the sense of speed, because she heard a voice from somewhere that sounded like ZERO saying something.
"He's on to us!" warned Sonic, and Amy felt them traveling faster.
"Wait, what?! Is he chasing us?" Amy exclaimed.
"I don't know, but we gotta go faster!" said Sonic as he whipped around a corner extremely quickly. Amy was glad her eyes were closed, because she would have been really dizzy otherwise. It didn't stop her from feeling slightly motion sick, though.
Just then Amy could hear ZERO's voice again, clearer this time.
"Target in range," it droned.
Any whimpered and clung tighter to Sonic, hoping he was able to outrun Eggman's bounty hunter robot. However, she could feel an extremely bright sensation, and Sonic let out a grunt as he tumbled to the ground, still holding onto Amy.
When Amy opened her eyes, she wished she didn't. There were burn marks in the fur on Sonic's back, and there was even some smoke from where he had taken the laser. And the moment Amy turned around, she felt herself being grabbed and lifted into the air by ZERO.
No matter how much she struggled, she couldn't break free of the robot's grasp. She tried not to panic, but she was still very scared as ZERO activated its rocket boosters and flew up toward the Egg Carrier.
"Target neutralized," ZERO said. "Returning to Egg Carrier."
Amy held Lily close to her, hoping for the best, and that Sonic would rescue her.
However, Sonic didn't waste any time. Recovering from the blast, he leaped to his feet, then ran after the fleeing ZERO. Taking a deep breath, he leaped high into the air, and spun toward the robot.
However, it saw him coming, shifted Amy to one arm, and aimed its other arm directly at Sonic. It projected a circular shield, and Sonic flew straight into it and bounced off, handing harmlessly on the ground.
By now ZERO was too far away for Sonic to chase anymore.
"Just hang in there Ames! I'll come and get you, don't you worry!" Sonic called. Then, turning, he ran back to get Cream.
Somewhere – Some time – Third-person POV
WARNING STARTS HERE.
Tails was in the middle of a forest in his home land, Westside Island. He was sitting on the ground, humming to himself as he worked on one of his inventions, a custom-made alarm clock. He had started taking lessons from a teacher in the area, and the more he practiced, the more he knew electronics was his calling.
As the young two-tailed fox plugged a tiny capacitor into his circuit board, he became aware of the sound of footsteps coming through the undergrowth. He looked up, and his heart sank when he saw his childhood bullies - a weasel, a wolf, and a bear.
"Hey, what'cha workin' on, shrimp?" the weasel asked.
"Yeah, lemme see!" the bear prodded.
"G-Guys, leave me alone!" the tiny fox pleaded. "I gotta work on these so I can make myself some money."
"A job?!" the weasel laughed. "What five year old even has a job?"
"Oh, you're still doing that cheap job, huh?" the wolf said. "Can't go any lower for an orphan."
Those words hit deep for Tails. He was indeed an orphan. The whereabouts of his parents, Amadeus and Rosemary Prower, were unknown, and the rumor was they had been turned into robots at the hands of Dr. Robotnik. There was nothing to confirm this, though.
"Well, you know what, if this job is that cheap, then chances are the inventions are too," weasel said. "They're worthless!"
"Wanna break 'em?" the bear asked.
"Oh yeah!" The weasel and wolf cheered in unison.
While the bear swept the helpless fox' parts off the tree stump he was using as a table, the wolf threw his alarm clock down on the ground and stepped on it, resulting in a crunch that was sickening to Miles, but satisfying to the bullies. Then they took turns jumping on it.
"Stop! STOP!" Miles cried out as he ran forward to stop them, but the bear pushed him back.
"Awww, did we break your toy?" the bear taunted.
"You know, that wasn't even worth it," the weasel laughed.
"Yeah, good for laughs," the wolf agreed. "Oh, oh, you wanna know what else is funny? Hey kid, tell us what your name is!"
But Miles was already in tears, crying his eyes out. He could tell them anything.
"A little birdie told me your name is- Get this, it's Miles Prower," the wolf added with a chuckle.
"Miles Prower?!" the weasel exclaimed incredulously, and they all burst out laughing. The weasel was even clutching his stomach. "No wonder you don't have parents! They died in laughter, and the best part is, they're the ones who named you!"
"And- and he's got TWO tails! Two - one for each brain cell in his stupid brain!" the wolf said.
"Wanna beat him up?" the bear asked.
"Do you even hafta ask?" the weasel said. "You got my vote!"
In the moments that followed, fist after fist impacted the poor fox's body, and he soon found himself too weak to yell for help.
Before the fox knew it, there was a subtle blue blur, and a figure was standing there that Tails had only ever heard of in the news.
"Hey, whoa, whoa, what's goin' on here?!" Sonic said. "If you know what's good for you, you're gonna beat it right now before I have to step in."
"S-Sonic!" the bear whimpered as he stepped away from Miles. The other two bullies followed suit.
"You see me playin' around with the ol' Ro-butt-nik, you do NOT wanna mess with me, okay? Bullying is no good!" he said, wagging his finger.
By now the three bullies were scrambling away, feeling afraid of Sonic. No one expected him to show up at all…
Especially not Miles. Even through his heavy bruises, there were stars in his baby blue eyes. Sonic the Hedgehog himself was standing there! He was so amazing, from the lengthy, spiky quills running down his head, all the way down to his flashy red sneakers.
And he was looking right at HIM!
"S-S-S-S– S-S-Son- ni–" Miles tried to say weakly, before the hedgehog reached out to him. Tails took his hand, and the hedgehog guided him over to the tree stump.
"Oh man, you're bleeding," Sonic said softly.
"Y-Yeah…" the fox said as he started to sob. "Th-they… r-ruin–"
Sonic picked up the broken alarm clock. "You were building this?" he asked with amazement.
"Y-Yeah… I… I have to… I need money…" Miles whimpered.
"Dude… This is awesome! It– If it weren't for those jerks, this could have had so much potential!" Sonic gushed. "Are you like, four? Five?"
"Five…" Miles said quietly as he buried his head in his hands.
"Aww…" Sonic said as he gently set Miles' invention on the stump next to him, and then bent down to hug him. "I'm really sorry, buddy… I really am…"
Only then did he notice something different about this child.
"Two tails…?" Sonic started to say, before Miles yelped, pulled out of the hug, and scrambled away.
"S-Stay away!" the fox sobbed. "D-Don't beat me up, please! They- they hurt me! Because I'm different! I just wanna be normal… I… I-I- S-Sonic… I… I wanna be like you… Y-You're so cool… I wanna be like you when I grow up…"
He looked up at Sonic, and there were rivers of tears streaming from the fox's eyes. He had bruises and cuts all over him, and Sonic felt incredible sympathy for him. He had to help his new friend.
"That's cool that I get to meet a fan way out here," Sonic said with a soft smile. "My reputation really precedes me, huh? Say, uh… You know of a hospital around here I can take you to?"
"Y-Yeah…" Miles said, his voice shaking. "We're kinda close to Westopolis… There are a couple hospitals there… But…" he sniffed. "I don't have any money…"
"It's okay, it's on me," Sonic promised. "And hey, what's your name? Do you have one?"
This triggered another sensitive subject for Miles.
"You okay there, buddy…?" Sonic asked.
The fox looked up at Sonic. "Promise not to laugh…?"
Sonic looked worried. "That bad…?"
"Mhmm…" Miles said. "It's… M-Miles Prower…"
"Ohh…" Sonic said, immediately understanding the pun, and why the bullies were attacking him. "I take it you don't like that name, huh?"
The fox kit shook his head.
"Then how 'bout we come up with a different name for you, then?
"Okay…"
"Hmm… Now that I think about it, Tails sounds like a kinda catchy nickname… What do you think?"
Miles took a moment to ponder the nickname over. Sonic seemed to genuinely care for him, and he was sure the nickname wouldn't be bad at all. All things considered, it was a risk worth taking, as long as Sonic was there to protect him.
"Okay," Miles nodded. "I like it!"
"All right! Tails the Fox!" Sonic chuckled.
Suddenly, Tails felt a sharp pain in his stomach, and Sonic saw that there were several bruises there.
"You okay? You gonna throw up?" Sonic asked.
"D-Don't… w-wanna…" Tails whimpered.
"It's okay, it's gonna be over before you know it, all right?"
"Mhmm…" Tails said, before he ran toward the nearby bushes, clutching his stomach as it started to churn.
WARNING ENDS HERE.
Thorndyke Mansion – Sat November 19 – 9:09 AM – Third-person POV
Tails slowly opened his eyes, reeling from his nostalgic dream. It took him a moment to realize he was back home in Chris' mansion, lying on the couch in the living room. Everything was starting to come back to him.
He was in pain - his arms and legs were aching, his head was throbbing, and his stomach–
That part wasn't just a dream.
"G-Guys…" Tails whimpered. "I-I need a bucket…"
Sonic, who was in the room, noticed that his friend was awake, and he ran off and returned seconds later with a bucket. Tails picked it up and held it uncertainly, hoping he wouldn't throw up.
"I… guess I crashed…" Tails said.
"Yeah… But you're safe now, and that's all that matters," Sonic said. "I got you home as fast as I could, buddy. Good to see you're awake and back with us."
Tails looked up to notice that Chuck and Cream were also in the room, before he looked back at the bucket.
"I feel sick…" Tails said. "I haven't thrown up since… a few years ago… I remember I was pretty sick with the flu…"
Just the very thought of it made his stomach churn, and he held the bucket tighter.
"Guys, I think Tails is gonna throw up, so everyone clear out, okay?" Sonic instructed.
"Okay. Let's go, Cream," Chuck said as he guided Cream and Cheese out of the room.
Tails coughed as he held the bucket up, and he tried to quietly vomit, to avoid grossing himself or Sonic out. But no matter what, he still felt himself becoming sick from the smell.
A few heaves later, Tails stopped and lowered the bucket. The taste was foul in his mouth, but at least for the time being, his stomach felt a whole lot better, although still tender.
"You okay?" Sonic asked as he came back in the room and approached Tails.
"I-I think so…" Tails said as he held his stomach and tried to settle down. "I wasn't expecting to throw up…"
"It's okay, buddy, life happens," Sonic said as he patted his friend's back. "You're gonna be all right, I know it."
"Spoke too soon!" Tails yelped as his stomach churned again. Sonic took a step back to give his brother some space.
The vomit came so fast that Tails hardly had any time to grasp the bucket firmly, and he accidentally got some on the floor and part of the couch.
"Ahhh!" Tails yelped, feeling frustrated and upset at himself, but the vomit wasn't done yet. It took a few moments, but at last, Tails' stomach was done emptying its contents into the bucket.
"It's okay, it's just an accident," Sonic soothed. "Ella can clean it up, You don't need to worry about a thing."
"But Sonic-"
"Shh, it's all right," Sonic said gently.
"What happened?" Chuck asked as he started to come back into the room. Cream was hiding behind his legs, feeling worried for Tails.
Tails, on the other hand, was feeling quite embarrassed, and he held one of his tails in his hands, and grasped its tip. This was a nervous tic he had.
"He, um…" Sonic said before dropping his voice. "He accidentally threw up on the floor. I think he missed the bucket by accident."
"Oh, it's no big deal," Chuck shrugged. "Ella can always come and clean it up. I know you're busy with Eggman."
"Yeah, thanks, Chuck," Sonic replied.
"Sonic…" came Tails' weak voice. He lifted his hand to feel his head. There was a bandage wrapped around it.
"Yeah, bud?" Sonic asked, as he leaned against the arm of the couch.
Tails looked at Sonic. "Did you get to tell Amy about the robot?" he asked.
"I did, but it turns out she knew already. I'm thinking she must have remembered about it on her own. And I did try and get her out of there, but nope, the robot had a super laser thingy that nearly barbecued me, and it still managed to up and grab Amy, and on top of that, when I try and get her back, it has a Doctor Strange energy thing coming out of its hand that won't let me near it, kinda like a force field."
"Wow…" Tails said, before noticing Cream approaching him.
"Are you okay, Mr. Tails…?" she asked.
"I think so…" Tails said, trying to downplay his condition to not worry her. However, he couldn't control his body shaking and shivering after vomiting. He felt weak, and his fur hurt slightly.
"It's okay Mr. Tails, I wanna help you be happy again," Cream said.
"Chao chao," agreed Cheese, and Tails chuckled.
"Aww, thanks guys," Tails said with a smile.
Just then the sound of a news alert came on the TV, which Tails hadn't been aware was on the whole time.
"Look!" Cream pointing, alerting everyone to the picture of the massive Egg Carrier as it loomed over the city. Local reporter Mark Lopez was on the screen.
"This is a live look at Eggman's battleship, the Egg Carrier. It just arrived on the scene moments ago, and Dr. Robotnik, has delivered a chilling ultimatum, The doctor, having been missing for over six months, cited the total surrender of the city, or face the wrath of a being called Perfect Chaos. We do not know what Perfect Chaos is at this time, but we're hoping to reach out to Sonic the Hedgehog for comment."
Tails glanced at Sonic, who was in deep thought over this, and his eyes were closed.
"The X-Tornado, flown by Miles 'Tails' Prower, engaged in combat with the Egg Carrier," the reporter went on to say, "but unlike the last such encounter last year with the Egg Fort, Eggman managed to triumph over Tails. We are awaiting word from Thorndyke Mansion on the hero's condition. There have been two reported fatalities and five injuries as a result of falling debris from the battle."
Tails looked down sadly. His battle with Eggman had killed some people. However, he knew he wasn't to blame for them. He couldn't control the debris. If anything, it was Eggman's fault.
"Were you guys able to get the X-Tornado back…?" Tails asked weakly, looking up expectantly at Chuck.
"I managed to call a towing company to bring it back here," Chuck said, looking back at his two-tailed friend. "But sadly, it's badly damaged, so you'll have to use your other plane for a little while."
"Okay," Tails said, before he let out a groan and held his head in his hands. His headache was back and pounding.
"Are you okay?" Cream asked, feeling very worried.
"Y-Yeah…" Tails said. "Just… Need a little rest…"
"He'll pull through okay, I know he will," Sonic said. "Right, buddy?"
"Yeah, I'll be okay, Sonic," Tails said with a slight smile. "As soon as I get better… I'm gonna pay Eggman back twice as much."
He gave Sonic a thumbs-up, and Sonic returned the gesture, along with a wink.
"That's the spirit! In the meantime, we'll need to come up with a brand new game plan so we can stay one step ahead of Eggman."
"Yeah!" Tails agreed as he propped himself up on the couch with his hands, ready to discuss a plan.
A/N: And that concludes "A Chaotic Day"! I found it fun to come up with Chaos 3 and its abilities, as well as writing Sonic and Tails' battle. I made sure Tails pulled his weight this time, so he's still a competent hero. Sonic Adventure is, after all, the game that gave him his characterization.
Instead of having the first scene taking place the next morning in Chuck's lab, I had it take place the same night in the dining room, because it makes more sense that way.
Team Rose is back together again! I enjoyed writing their scenes, especially since Amy and Chris are two of my favorite characters.
And I know a lot of people were wondering about Sonic and Tails brotherly moments, so I knew this chapter was the perfect one to include them!
Like I said in the beginning, I know there were probably some parts that don't make sense now, and this will be an issue that runs through all of season 2, but I promise, I will make an explanation at some point during the Chaos Saga.
Also, I was originally not going to have Eggman reveal that the history repetition was his plan until much later (the end of the Chaos Saga), but I figured it made more sense to have it now.
If anyone is out of character, or if anything looks strange or anything, please let me know and I can fix it.
Next time is "A Robot Rebels", where the extent of Eggman's plan starts to take its toll, and there are unexpected moments involving Eggman's E-100 Series! Don't miss it!
