A/N: Sorry about the long wait since the last chapter, but I'm back to kick off the Egg Moon Saga and the second half of season 2! Things are only gonna get more interesting from here on out, so stay tuned!

I saw the Mario Movie last month, and it is definitely worthy of making over a billion dollars in the box office. What can I say? It was a SUPER great movie! :D

I'm posting this chapter at the same time as chapter 2 of my original Archie Knuckles miniseries rewrite, Dimitri's Revenge. Feel free to check it out!

Just a heads up, for this arc, I'm going to rename mirror towers to Artificial Sunlight Broadcast (ASB) towers, and Sunshine Balls will be renamed Solar Balls.

I would like to thank Theoldblood98, Breakawayfan, AuthorGen, as90082, Aegis-Archives, soberan 123, Zeon Paralysis Crystal, Axel363402, SisterGoodra, Cinderfall20412, LeastSubstanceMan485, and The Self insert for favoriting and following since my last chapter!

Without further ado, let's move on to the reviews and what matters most: the story!


17 Reviews

Denisegalante1009

The robot from Archie Sonic X issue 24? Unfortunately, I haven't really found room to add it into my story in a way that makes logical sense. However, that is a good idea for a oneshot.

Blazenight01

To an extent, they still kept the name, even though I plan on having them being referred to as simply the Society rather than their official name S.O.N.I.C.X, because it sounds a little less cheesy that way.

And I agree, the humans probably didn't think that through, but they disbanded it because Sonic was way more effective at stopping speeding criminals than the S-Team was. They may have to bring back the S-Team when Sonic leaves.

Thank you for your ideas for the tournament arc!

D.J. Scales

In my opinion, S.O.N.I.C.X. is the only element from the Archie Sonic X comics that I found to be worth using in my story; and I didn't consider including them until recently, when I thought of a ton of ideas I could use to make them work in the story.

Super duper waffles

Thank you! And yeah, I agree, S.O.N.I.C.X. was one of the best things Sonic X had to offer, and definitely the best part of the comics. I knew I had to add Ray Browning because his personality after episode 2 was in line with the other members of the group, especially since Sonic ruined his chances to find out more about the biology of Mobians.

1: The casino Knuckles visited is actually a completely different casino. Casinopolis is back on Mobius!

2: That's an excellent question! I'm thinking maybe Mario replaced Sonic in Wreck-it Ralph? That's something I haven't given much thought XD But thank you for asking! It makes replying to reviews more fun!

3: That would actually be really awesome and kinda scary at the same time if Sonic ended up on our Earth. Scientists would probably question everything they knew about alternate universes XD And Sonic would probably be amazed and maybe a little overwhelmed at how Earth people thought they made him up, and at how many fans he has here.

dbehi1

I currently don't have plans to kill off anyone who didn't die in Sonic X, and I want to keep the plot of the tournament arc generally the same as it did originally.

And I also won't be adding Street Fighter moves because it may be a bit out of character for everyone, plus I'm not really familiar with Street Fighter. But it would be cool to see Sonic using a Hadouken (but not in this story lol)

Kraken (2 reviews)

Don't worry, Bokkun won't be going anywhere! If I recall correctly, he doesn't find himself in servitude to Rouge until episode 56, which is when they landed on Secco.

snake screamer

I'll make sure to keep a good balance of comedy and seriousness in the tournament! While I do have plans to give the tournament structure, I'll do my best to make it a fun read with some lighthearted moments.

Five-Chosen (Review #1)

It was a short chapter, so it didn't take long to make XD

All will be revealed in due time! ;)

Five-Chosen (Review #2)

That's actually a great idea! I could actually find a way to incorporate both ideas into the story if I change up the video message a little bit.

Five-Chosen (Review #3)

I never thought of that… Then Blaze could appear as soon as episode 67. I do have some preliminary ideas, but I'm not sure how to incorporate her or Silver without making them extra baggage, except for them assisting in the final battle against Final Mova.

That actually wasn't me who put them up there! But now that I know it's been done, I can try and put up the rest of the Sonic X comparison transcripts there too.

soberan 123

While I will have Chris appear in the Metarex Saga as per the original episodes, I'm planning on changing his character and roles entirely. His role on the bridge may remain the same, but as far as his inventions, I'm giving that part of his role to Tails. I feel like Chris got too much focus in the Metarex Saga, which is why I'm planning on giving him a bit of a break. He'll still get his fair share of "screen time" though.

OOH! I didn't think of Eggman having a whole armada with him. I should totally have that; that way Eggman would be an actual big threat! It would also explain how he brought giant robots such as the Egg Mars and E-3000 with him. (I wrote this before reading Bloated Corpse's review)

Bloated Corpse

If I do have Eggman bringing an armada, he'll probably have robots piloting the other ships, while his flesh-and-blood underlings will remain on Mobius.

That's a very good point, and I'm not sure if I'll have the armada yet, but it's still early and I haven't done much in-depth planning for the Metarex Saga yet.

Five-Chosen (Review #4)

I just added your idea to my notes for analysis! I probably have different plans for Eggman during the tournament, since he was played up for comedy, but I can use the rest of your idea though!

CreativeKitty975 (Review #1)

Thank you for your kind words and encouragement! I never thought of myself as much of an OC person, but eventually I may be working on some Sonic stories where I can have a few OCs, so writing with Matt is good practice.

And yeah, it's a shame that the Chaotix only appeared in just the one episode. They were only there to add Vanilla into the story, and she didn't add much herself unfortunately.

CreativeKitty975 (Review #2)

That's perfectly okay, because I've gotten a lot of good ideas on how to improve the tournament arc! And I have a rough plan on how everyone's returning home in this story, and Chris won't be out of character.

Five-Chosen (Review #5)

That is actually a coincidence, since I don't have a clear memory of what all happened in the Japanese intro! But now that you mention it, it works super well that Super Sonic and Phantom Super Shadow were fighting in front of the ark like that!


Chapter 38
Episode 40
The Sun Vanishes!? The Brilliant Scientist Doctor Eggman, Reformed!?
Eclipse


The Pacific Ocean - Off the coast of Japan – Sat January 1, 5:10 AM Japan Time Zone – Chris' POV

As the sound of gentle waves filled my ears from all around me, I yawned for what must have been the thirtieth time that night. It wasn't every night that I got to stay up past five in the morning.

My friends and family were with me on of my dad's yachts that we were allowed to rent from one of Starship's overseas headquarters in Tokyo. It was Mr. Tanaka's idea to celebrate New Year's Day the same way he used to do as a boy. Since Japan got the first sunlight of each new day, it was the perfect way to celebrate the new year, even if it was a little different than what I was used to.

I glanced up at the moon, which was gradually setting in the west. Oddly enough, it seemed to look like it was fully repaired, just like Grandpa had said in the news on Christmas. It looked really weird seeing that half of it was completely metallic, but it was still able to reflect some of the sun's light to an extent.

Just like Eggman had promised, he had sent several rockets up to the moon to repair it over the past week. The crazy part was he really did fix the moon. There were even videos showing a timelapse of the repairs being done. It was all done in about three and a half days, which was insane considering the moon's diameter was about half the width of the United States.

"Just a few more minutes," Tails said in anticipation, looking toward the east where the sun would eventually rise.

"Did you ever get to do something like this back on Mobius?" Chuck asked him.

"Nope!" Tails said with a smile. "We're usually either busy fighting Eggman or doing other things. And most of us celebrate the new year at midnight, like you guys do here. I guess we kinda take the sun for granted now that I think about it."

"I understand, there's a first time for everything," Chuck said, grinning.

Tails giggled. "Now you're starting to sound like me!" he said.

"I guess you have rubbed off on me this past year, huh?" Chuck said, before they both laughed.

"I think I did this before when I was 7," I recalled. "I remember I slept in really late back then because I was really tired." It was the first time I got to stay up that far past my bedtime.

"It's okay!" Amy said. "I'm really happy you guys can share this experience with us! And you can always catch up on sleep when the party's over, you know."

I nodded as I looked back at my phone. I had been on my phone for most of my time on the ship just to try and keep myself awake.

"These are the bestest donuts ever, Mommy!" I heard Cream say in delight.

"Chao chao!" Cheese agreed.

"I'm so glad you two like them, sweetheart," Vanilla said kindly. "I made them with love!"

Cream had been sleeping for most of the time as well. She didn't stay up as late as the rest of us did, so she needed to get as much sleep as she could so she wouldn't miss the spectacular sunrise and celebration.

She had woken up about ten minutes ago to her mom's homemade donuts. I had one a few minutes before, and it was amazing how much better than Krispy Kreme it was.

Cream let out a cute giggle as she and Cheese enjoyed their strawberry jelly donuts. I was still very happy that they finally got to meet their mom in person after all this time.

On our way out to Tokyo, we had picked up Vanilla at the Station Square airport. Cream had another tearful reunion with her now that they were reunited for real. Once again, I wasn't ready to start crying again myself, it was that wholesome and beautiful. This time, Ella even recorded the whole thing on her phone.

We all got to meet the Chaotix too. While I recognized Vector's voice from the phone call last week, I remembered being a bit intimidated by him, especially since he was one of the rare Mobians to actually be taller than me. But Knuckles told me that he was nice, and he was right; despite his size and appearance, he was surprisingly gentle.

Espio had been calmly standing by the whole time while Vector did most of the talking for them, and Charmy was flitting all over the place. He was just as hyper as Knuckles told me he would be.

Fortunately, they all managed to get tickets to Tokyo in time, which meant they were able to join us. It was very tight getting us all there in time, though. Once the celebration died down, Grandpa planned on having us go back to Minneapolis a few days later and finish moving out to head back to Station Square.

"Easy on the donuts there, Charmy," I heard Espio's voice from behind me say. I looked over to see that Charmy had just swiped yet another out of the box. He would probably have gotten away with it if it wasn't for Espio's watchful gaze.

"Hey, it's not my fault these donuts are so good!" Charmy said around a mouthful of donut. He swallowed. "Just enough sugar to keep me awake tonight!"

"That's your third one!" Espio said in a mixture of annoyance and playfulness.

"Donuts are love, donuts are life!" Charmy declared in a sing-song tone.

"Hey, I don't blame him, Espio," Vector said from nearby. "Whatever Miss Vanilla put in these things makes me keep coming back for more! And it's not just her donuts, it's cake, cupcakes– you name it, she hits it out of the park!"

"What he said!" Charmy agreed.

Vanilla, who overheard the Chaotix compliment her food, smiled.

"You doing okay with the ocean, Sonic?" Amy asked, approaching him as he was looking out at the ocean.

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, as long as I don't go anywhere near the water, I'll be a-okay. Just gonna stay high and dry up here on the deck."

"Okay, that's good," Amy said, smiling. This was practically the opposite of how Sonic acted during the cruise. Sonic had been a bit wary when he learned that they were taking a yacht out to sea, but when he was told that it would only be for one night, that made him feel at ease. Plus, there wouldn't be a risk of going in the water.

"Are you doing okay, Master Matt? Hopefully you're not seasick," Mr. Tanaka said to Matt.

"Don't worry, I'm not seasick," Matt said, looking up from his phone from where he was sitting in a lounge chair. "But I will say I haven't been on a boat in a long time."

"That's quite all right," Mr. Tanaka said gently. "Fortunately the ocean is calm tonight. And I didn't get to say it earlier, but I hope your internship application at Starship Soft goes well."

"Thanks," Matt said.

"Only three minutes to go!" Mr. Tanaka called, calling me back to attention. I had been zoning out and listening to everyone, since I had felt a wave of fatigue washing over me again.

"Just a heads up for everyone, I'm getting the fireworks ready now," Chuck said as he handed a box to Mr. Tanaka, "But I don't want anyone getting too close. And the only one I'm going to allow to handle them is Mr. Tanaka, because I don't want anyone accidentally getting hurt. Also, please don't forget your hearing protection. And in the meantime, everyone can come on over and get your own party poppers from this box here."

Mr. Tanaka started passing out noise-cancelling headphones to all of us from the box he was given (Vector declined since he was already wearing headphones). From where I was sitting, I caught a glimpse of the ones that were given to my friends. Instead of looking like normal headphones, they were specially designed by Starship Soft to fit over Mobian ears.

I saw Cream looking up from where she had been coloring. She looked a bit worried.

"But the sun is going to get scared by all the noise," Cream pointed out, looking warily at the box of party poppers. "And I don't want the sun to be scared…"

"It's all right, dear," Vanilla gently told her. "I promise, the sun won't be scared by the noise. In fact, it will be happy that we're all here to welcome it into the new year."

"Ohh, okay!" Cream said, now understanding that everything would be okay. She hopped down from her seat and went over to get a party popper with the rest of us.

"Come get your party popper, don't be a party pooper, Knux!" Sonic quipped.

"I can't," Knuckles said as he looked out over the ocean. "I have to find Eggman and get the Master Emerald back."

Then what'd you come with us for? I wondered to myself. Knuckles hadn't complained much, but he did say he would celebrate holidays with us in between his hunts for the Master Emerald, and New Year's Day was definitely a holiday.

"Oh c'mon, you gotta learn to live a little!" Sonic said. "I'm sure we'll run into Eggman sooner or later, and you can find the Master Emerald then."

Knuckles shrugged before he went over to get a party popper.

"Only one more minute!" Mr. Tanaka called. "Everyone get ready! The first rays of sunshine will appear very soon!"

We were all quiet in suspense and anticipation as we put our headphones on and picked up our party poppers. I was nervous, but also excited at the same time.

I looked over at Vector, who was finally able to find some music he liked and was playing it through the headphones he had been wearing the whole time since arriving on Earth. I talked with him for a little bit earlier, and I learned that apparently music on Mobius was similar to but different from music on Earth. Vector said he hadn't been able to find any of the songs he liked on Earth, which meant he had to find some new ones. He seemed to be into everything from rock to EDM.

I had been distracted with what music was like on Mobius, so I almost missed the moment when Mr. Tanaka gave the signal.

"Now!"

Right as he gave the signal, the first rays of sunshine gradually started to appear over the horizon, brightening the entire ocean around us, and we all fired our party poppers, shooting confetti into the air. Cream needed a little help firing her popper, but her mom was there to help her.

Then, Grandpa and Mr. Tanaka launched the first set of fireworks into the sky, and they exploded high above us. Even with our noise-canceling headphones, I found them to be extremely loud, and I saw Cream clinging to her mom in fright. In fact, the fireworks easily drowned out the sound of the party poppers.

"Happy New Year!" Grandpa shouted, and the rest of us cheered. This was definitely a celebration to remember, and it was well worth staying up past five in the morning.

But just as quickly as the first sunlight appeared, it started to fade again. Squinting at the bright sunlight, I looked up to see what was wrong. A dark shape was partially blocking out the sun.

"Is that a solar eclipse?" Mr. Tanaka asked, having to shout over the fireworks.

"I think it is," I realized.

"I'm fairly certain there's no eclipse scheduled for today," Grandpa said.

"This is… different…" Tails mused as the fireworks slowly stopped. "I've never seen one at sunrise before."

"Mommy, the sun did get scared…" Cream realized.

"It's just an eclipse, dear, I'm sure it will go away soon," Vanilla reassured her. "Everyone, please don't look at the sun, I don't want anyone to damage their eyes now."

"Miss Vanilla's right," Grandpa called. "We don't have proper eyewear either."

I cautiously turned off and removed my headphones, and I looked around to see that the others were doing the same.

"What just happened?" Amy asked. Even though she saw that something wasn't right, I took it that she couldn't hear the others due to her headphones, which she now set down on the nearby table.

"It's a solar eclipse," Tails explained.

"Hold on, give me a second," Grandpa said as he pulled his phone from his labcoat. He connected to the yacht's built-in hotspot and then looked at his phone for the moment.

"Maybe the scientists didn't know there would be an eclipse today," Tails speculated.

"I doubt it," Matt said. "They're usually pretty accurate with timings."

"Oh yeah, true," Tails realized.

Amy squinted. "Does anyone know how long they last here?" she asked.

"Usually two or three minutes," Tanaka said.

"Because it's already been like three minutes as far as I can tell," Amy said.

"Yup, no solar eclipse until September," Grandpa said, putting away his phone. He carefully glanced up at the sun. "And it's still there."

"This is weird…" I said. I had a bad feeling about this. I couldn't really explain it.

There was a thud from behind me that startled me a little bit. I turned around to see that Sonic had just jumped down from the ship's mast and landed on the deck.

"Did I hear you guys saying somethin' about a solar eclipse?" he said.

"Yeah," Tails said, not taking his eyes off the sun.

"Careful Tails, don't look right at it," Sonic cautioned.

"Oops, sorry," Tails said, looking away from the sun. I took it that the sun was harmful to look at directly even for Mobians.

Ella was starting to take pictures of the eclipse, and Tanaka was openly debating whether to turn the ship back around and head for shore.

"It's even worse back in the United States," Grandpa realized, looking up from his phone.

"How so?" Tails asked.

"This right here is only a sliver of an eclipse," he explained, gesturing up at the sun. "All the news outlets are saying there's a total solar eclipse over all of Southern California, and it should have been over by now, but it's not."

I sat up in my beach chair. "Is it Eggman?" I realized.

"It's possible in a worst-case scenario," Grandpa speculated. "But even he doesn't have the tech to do something like this, and besides, the repairs he made were purely cosmetic and couldn't possibly affect its orbit."

I glanced at Sonic, who was standing nearby carefully looking up at the sun as it gradually rose. His expression told me something was bothering him.

As everyone else was talking amongst themselves and Grandpa was doing his best to answer as many questions as he could, Sonic turned back to look at me.

"Hey Chris, come with me," he urgently told me. "You too, Tails. We gotta talk."

As he made his way away from where the festivities once took place, I got up and followed him, feeling unsure of what he wanted to tell us, or why he had to talk to us in private. Looking over, I saw that Tails looked just as confused as I was.

Sonic stopped once we reached the main doors to go back inside the ship.

"You guys hear what Grandpa said just now?" he asked, sounding a bit concerned.

"Yeah?" I said.

"This is probably gonna be the one time I say this, but I'm not buying what he said. About Eggman not being behind this, I mean."

"So he is causing this?" I asked. I sounded surprised, even though I probably shouldn't have been.

Tails shrugged. "Sounds like it," he said.

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too," Sonic said, starting to pace the deck in thought. "Solar eclipses don't last this long, maybe like two minutes tops. This one's been going for like… I don't know, seven or eight minutes now. At this point, it's gotta be Eggman."

"So why are you telling us this in secret?" Tails asked.

"'Cuz I'm a bit worried about how Chuck is acting about all this," Sonic said. "Even though–"

"But why don't we just… just tell him?" Tails asked sincerely. "If he already knows about the Phantom Ruby, then it shouldn't hurt to tell him everything we know, right?"

Sonic blinked. "Oh yeah, true."

This doesn't seem like Sonic… I thought. If he has bad news, why is he trying to hide it from the people he can trust?

"Are you okay, Sonic?" I asked him.

"Oh yeah, I'm okay, I guess I thought at the time that we'd just be dealing with the whole, y'know… humans being humans thing, jumping to conclusions. Almost forgot that Chuck knows about the Phantom Ruby. So yeah, we'll tell him. We'll tell Amy, Knux, and Cream too, they're in on this as well."

"What about Ella and Mr. Tanaka?" I asked.

"I wanna tell them too more than anything, but they're kinda hands-off when it comes to adventures. They don't even know that much about the Phantom Ruby as it is. And I'm not really sure how many humans in general are just gonna buy into Eggman's lie. I mean, think of Silver Valley, when Eggman faked a Chaos Emerald sighting and everyone thought it was the real deal."

"I know, but they're part of the family," I pleaded. "They have to know!"

Sonic paused for a second before turning to head back to the others.

"Okay, but if nothing happens, then we'll just have to roll with it, okay?"

"Okay," I said as Tails and I followed him back to where the rest of us were gathered. Everyone was still talking nonstop about the eclipse and how strange the whole situation was. Looking up, I saw that the thin black sliver over the sun was still there and not showing signs of moving anytime soon.

"More tweets are coming in," Grandpa read aloud from his phone. "They're reporting prolonged partial eclipses in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Denver, Phoenix, Portland… even as far away as Dallas and Chicago."

"This is unheard of!" Ella said for what must have been the twelfth time that night. "Are you sure it has nothing to do with when Dr. Eggman repaired the moon?"

"Like I said, moving the whole entire moon is beyond his capability," Chuck said. "So I'm fairly sure the two are not related."

"This is probably gonna make it a lot colder on the west coast," Matt realized.

"I didn't think of that…" Ella said. "I don't like the cold, and I've been staying with you for the past month."

Is it possible that Grandpa forgot about the Phantom Ruby? I thought to myself. If it is causing the eclipse, even I'm having a hard time believing that this is actually Eggman doing this.

For the past minute, Sonic looked like he was about to speak up and tell everyone what he knew, but he visibly gave up. He turned back to me.

"I don't know how I'm gonna do it, guys," he told me and Tails, making sure no one else could hear. "I know it's Eggman, I 100% know it's him, but I don't know how to prove it."

"Yeah, I know what you mean…" Tails said, sounding a bit sad. "I was thinking, eclipses don't reach out that far across the planet. Grandpa said people could see it in Chicago… but we're here in Japan, and we can see it too." He spread out his hands in frustration. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Yeah…" Sonic leaned against the chair that I had sat back down in. "Trust me, we're gonna get to the bottom of this, one way or another. We're gonna find out why and how he's doing this, and then we'll crack that Eggman wide open, just like always!"


Station Square – Fri December 31, 12:18 PM PST – Third-person POV

"You don't know what you're gonna miss out on, Rouge," Topaz said on the phone. She was at an outdoor cafe, facetiming Rouge, who was at home in her Station Square apartment.

"Oh, I'm good, trust me, hon," Rouge said. "Call me crazy, but I value my fur, and I will say sunburn isn't exactly a good look on me. Besides, red is more of Knuckie's color," she added teasingly.

"Oh, just knock it off and put on some sunscreen," Topaz shrugged.

"Aw, but it's oily and sticky all over my gorgeous white fur and– You just hate me, don't you, Topaz?"

"Rouge–"

"You know, back where I come from, we Mobians spray our sunscreen on. That way it doesn't feel weird on people like me."

"Um, we have sunscreen spray too–"

"And even then, most of us have pretty high resistance to UV ray exposure, meaning we don't tan as easily as you guys do."

Topaz smirked. "Then you should have no problem joining me here tonight to watch the sunrise."

"Actually, I'm booked for tonight," Rouge said. "I got my New Year's tradition of chilling with coffee and counting all my glamorous sparkling jewels and– Is that some kind of tradition you have? Going to the beach in the middle of the night just to watch the sun rise?"

"Um… " Topaz wasn't sure how to answer at first. "No, not really, I just… happened to read about it online, and since I have the next couple days off, I figured why not. A day at the beach won't kill me. Besides, it's been a few years since I last went."

"You sure softened up lately," Rouge said.

Topaz blinked. "What do you mean?"

"You're actually different from when we first met. Like, you changed a lot. Way back then, you were acting all tough and locked me up in handcuffs and even strapped a bomb to me. But now… You're planning on taking the time to kick back and relax a little and fly in the freedom without a care in the world."

"And…?"

"Good to know you're not all GUN, all the time like some of the people I used to work with. Just taking a few notes is all. Probably just the coffee talking," Rouge added with a laugh.

"I mean, it's true, I only live once, and you're right, it's good to relax and enjoy life. Even the little things. And you should too. Being a jewel thief is risky business–"

"It's fun business. I mean, I get paid without ever working a day in my life! What more could a girl want?"

"Rouge, there's a difference between an honest job and five-finger discounts. You and I both know that."

"Oh, where's your sense of adventure?" Rouge teased. "Like you said, you only live once. The best life is on the edge."

Topaz didn't know how to respond to her. She couldn't be a criminal, she knew that, but she knew Rouge was teasing like usual.

"So I guess what I'm doing right now is on the edge, staying at the beach all night until sunrise?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Rouge said. "Especially since the beach closes at 10."

"Not this one. Speaking of, you should still join me. It's nice and dark for you at night."

"But I don't like saaaand~" Rouge playfully whined. "It's coarse and irritating and–"

"I can't win with you, can I?" Topaz sighed.

"What can I say?" Rouge said. "I'll still get to see the sunrise from right outside my window, and I don't have to worry about any of that annoying sand. And I can make it dark inside if it gets too bright outside. I like the dark. Besides, a good jewel thief always uses the cover of darkness. You have no idea how easy your banks are for me to pick clean, by the way. It's a breath of fresh air for a jewel thief like me."

"I mean, more power to you as far as the jewel thief thing goes, but you can't live in the dark all the time. That doesn't sound very exciting if you ask me."

As if on cue, the sky started to slowly darken all around her. Topaz was taken by surprise, and she started to brush it off as just a few clouds moving in front of the sun. That would have been plausible if it weren't for the general lack of clouds that day.

Looking up, Topaz was surprised to see the moon gradually passing in front of the sun.

"Hey Rouge, are you- Are you seeing this?" she asked.

"Ohhh yes, I see it," Rouge said. Topaz could hear the smile in her voice.

"Um… I don't have the eclipse schedule memorized or anything… but I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to be getting one today," she said, sounding a bit worried.

"Relaaax Topaz, it's not every day we get one of these. Enjoy it while you can!"

"I'm serious, Rouge, listen to me. There are certain dates when there are supposed to be solar eclipses. This is not one of those dates. I don't know when we're supposed to get the next one, but–"

"Maybe it's the repairs," Rouge speculated.

"The what?" Topaz repeated.

"You been following the news, hon? Eggman said he was gonna make some repairs on the moon, and I'm pretty sure they're all done by now-"

"Oh yeah, those. At this point, I'm starting to think they are connected," Topaz said, carefully looking up at the sun again. "Especially since the moon just stopped."

There was a pause.

"Just… stopped?"

"Yup."

"Hm… I smell a rotten egg in this," Rouge said. "Definitely the repairs. Maybe even a malfunction somewhere."

However, Rouge didn't seem to sound sure of her own words.

"Well, whatever happened, he just ruined my plans for tonight," Topaz said, sounding a bit bitter.

"Now now," Rouge chided. "You know getting angry's not good for your skin."

"I could care less about my skin," Topaz grumbled as she tossed her cup in the trash. "Knowing you, you're flying around right now basking in the darkness 'cuz it's not like you can't do it every night anyway."

"Hello darkness, my old friend~" Rouge sang.

Topaz let out an exaggerated sigh. "Are you going to be serious about this for one second? Just one second, that's all I'm asking!"

"Of course I'm serious," Rouge said. "Is the moon still in front of the sun?"

"Yup. It's a total solar eclipse, I can't even see that little diamond of light that happens in some of them."

"Hm… Just as I thought," Rouge said, sounding more focused. "If this is Eggman, then there's a chance he's doing this on purpose, but I kinda want to hear about it from the doc himself. What does he think about all this?"

"Fair point," Topaz said as she finished carrying her things back to her car. Her vacation would have to wait.


The White House – Fri December 31, 4:50 PM EST – Third-person POV

"They're already numbering in the thousands," Stafford told the President via video call. "It's not even been an hour. Every single report is detailing the moon and its irregular orbit. It's creating prolonged eclipses throughout the entire country; but in Southern California, it's a total eclipse."

"It must be Eggman, no doubt," the President deducted, hands folded in front of him across his desk. "Most of his schemes center on Station Square in particular, and there and Los Angeles seem to be ground zero for this eclipse, am I right?"

"Correct," Stafford said.

"In keeping with his track record," the President commented.

"Although, while I can confirm Eggman's involvement, we don't know if it's an accident or intentional."

"How would it be an accident?" the President asked.

"Suppose there was a malfunction in the doctor's repairs," Stafford said.

"That sounds likely, but if there is a way we can hear what he has to say about this, that would be appreciated."

"What I and tens of millions of Americans cannot wrap our heads around is how the tides are relatively unaffected. Of course, this phenomenon just started, but scientists will be closely monitoring the tide levels over the next week."

"And what about the temperatures?"

"They dropped anywhere from five to twenty degrees in all affected areas."

The President closed his eyes. This could be bad, especially considering it was the middle of winter.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw a notification that he was getting an incoming call from an unknown source. He narrowed his eyes; all video calls he had received since taking office were sourced. Yet this one was from someone unknown.

After a moment of hesitation, and against his better judgment, he took the call. The person on the other end had a pair of glasses, a bald head with goggles, and an all-too-familiar giant mustache.

Of course.

"Is that– Is that Dr. Eggman?!" Stafford asked. "This call is under federal encryption. You shouldn't have been able to reach us."

Eggman grinned, before letting out an amused chuckle.

"Oh please, Earth technology is the nursery for someone with my intellect," he bragged. "And besides, I have to talk to you. I'm sure you're aware of the situation with the moon."

"Are you behind this?" the President asked.

"I can see why you'd think that, Mr. President," Eggman said calmly. "After all, I am the one who damaged the moon in the first place, and I take full responsibility for my actions. However, I misjudged the effects the Eclipse Cannon would have on the Earth when I fired it, which is why I decided to repair the moon to prevent anything from happening."

"But that doesn't explain why it's causing an eclipse," the President said pointedly. "A prolonged one, I might add."

"Oh, I'm still investigating the cause. So far, it appears to be a glitch in the repairs that resulted in a magnetic anomaly. I already did a cursory scan of the moon, but I haven't been able to identify the exact source of the glitch."

"Well, I hope you do soon, because this eclipse cannot go on forever," the President said.

"It won't, you have my word, Mr. President," Eggman said. "I'll find a way to fix it, but because we're talking about a repair zone bigger than you can imagine, it will take some time to troubleshoot the problem. In the meantime, I'll do what I can to provide an alternate light source to the west coast."

The President blinked in confusion.

"I'm… not sure what you mean. We already have adequate light sources all across our infrastructure and–"

"That would work, in theory, that is," Eggman pointed out. "But keeping them on 24/7 for the unforeseeable future, plus the cost of maintenance… That wouldn't do for your already strained budget, now would it? No, my plan would use my own power source. I wouldn't want to leech off your power grid."

President Remerson and Christina Cooper looked at each other in skepticism, before the President looked back at the screen.

"Give us a moment," he told Eggman as he muted himself.

"Mr. President, I have a bad feeling about this," she told him. "As much as we need natural sunlight, I don't think we can trust Eggman given his track record."

"While I fully agree with you, Miss Cooper, he is right about some things. We can create a system to create artificial sunlight, but it would take years to delevelop, and he's right, it would greatly strain the power grid and our budget."

Christina sighed.

"So you're saying we might not have a choice with this? That we have to trust Eggman to do the right thing?"

The President thought about it for a moment.

"I hate it too, but I think we need to take this up with the other advisors. I think it would be irresponsible of me to accept his offer right here and now."

"I agree," Christina said.

The President unmuted himself in the call.

"We'll consider your offer, Doctor," the President said. "I personally consider restoring natural sunlight a national priority, so I'll discuss this with my advisors, and I'll come back to you some time before the end of next week with my response."

"Excellent," Eggman said. "And while you're doing that, I'll be working on a patch for the repairs on my end."

"If you're somehow able to repair the moon by the time I get back to you, then we may not need your backup plan."

"I would hope that would be the case," Eggman said. "But like I said, the repairs cover roughly six million square miles of the moon's surface, so finding the bug in the programming will not be an easy task."

"I can imagine," the President said. "As much as I frown upon hacking into a highly encrypted network just to reach me like you just did now, I do appreciate your transparency in this matter."


Station Square – Sat January 1, 2:04 PM PST – Third-person POV

"Today I'm not giving you one of my usual extravagant speeches, so I'll just cut to the chase and open the floor to questions," Eggman spoke into the microphone in front of the many reporters gathered at the press conference in the Station Square Town Hall.

Immediately the room was filled with voices as dozens of journalists all spoke at once, asking Eggman what his plan was and that they wanted answers.

A few days had passed since Eggman had an audience with the President, and he gave him the go-ahead to work on his project. However, since Eggman was the one hosting the press conference, there was a large security force present in case he attempted something.

"One at a time, one at a time," Eggman told the journalists, a big grin on his face. He pointed to one of them. "You first."

"Is it possible for you to move the moon remotely?" he asked. "Since you're the one who repaired it in the first place."

"I'm afraid it's not for the time being," Eggman said, regret creeping into his voice. "I was able to diagnose the problem yesterday, and it turns out a critical section of the repairs I made was damaged by space debris. It was the receiver that's supposed to keep the moon in orbit, which means I can't control it from here. And as for why it's causing an eclipse over southern California in particular, I'm just as clueless as you are."

"So does that mean the eclipse will keep going on indefinitely?!" another frustrated journalist vented.

"Oh no, not indefinitely, no," Eggman said. "I'll need to take another look at the software I'm using to keep the moon in orbit, maybe run some simulations. But if I were you, I wouldn't expect the sun to return for at least six to twelve months, because this is not something that should be rushed–"

He was met with angry shouting.

"Irresponsible! You're irresponsible!"

"We can't wait that long!"

"I hope you understand, this is not something that should be done hastily!" Eggman spoke.

"And I hope you understand the consequences we have to suffer because you– because you shot the moon! This is all your fault, you know!"

"Which is why I wish to atone for my actions," Eggman said calmly, adjusting the microphone. The stand he was behind was made for people who were slightly shorter than he was, so he had to get used to it. "You there, what's your question?"

"Have you taken temperature drops into account?" Scarlet Garcia asked.

"It's only a ten-degree drop on average, I did my research," Eggman said. "You may feel a little chilly, but I guarantee you won't freeze, even though we're still in the middle of winter. Yes, you over there."

"Do you have a backup plan yet? Because the President said you would be arrested if you didn't have one by the end of the month."

"As a matter of fact, I do," Eggman said with a grin. "I can't give you exact details yet, but in the coming weeks, I plan to mass-produce it and distribute it across Southern California thanks to the federal funding I received. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."


The Egg Carrier – Sun January 2, 12:38 PM PST – Third-person POV

The next day, Jerome and Eggman's three hench-bots were gathered in the Egg Carrier's command center, overseeing the launch of a new satellite. While Jerome slept, the robots had been working all night to make sure it would safely reach orbit, but now they were very close to liftoff.

Jerome idly watched as several Egg Pawns and various other robots made sure the satellite's thrusters were fueled and all its components were properly attached to the fuselage.

Orbot looked at a readout on a nearby console. "We are nearly ready to begin the countdown," he reported.

"You sure this is gonna work?" Jerome asked. "Nobody'll get suspicious or anything?"

"Nope!" Bokkun said, sounding more cheery than usual. "Dr. Eggman's got the whole thing under control, and when he says it, he means it!"

"Hear, hear!" Cubot said while clapping.

"Okay," Jerome said. "I guess as long as you guys don't squeal, this plan will be foolproof."

"That's more like it!" Bokkun said, doing a backflip in the air thanks to his jetpack.

However, Jerome still didn't feel convinced. The last plan Eggman executed felt like a failure, and the one before that actually was a failure. But Eggman didn't seem to see it that way. He kept saying it was just a way for him to improve and learn over time.

"If there are no objections, then let us begin the countdown," Orbot announced.

"Yes," Jerome said. "Begin the countdown." But a look from Bokkun next to him prompted him to amend himself. "Uh, if Bokkun is ready, that is. We need all opinions."

"Exactly, you're catching on! That's the super power of diplomacy!" Bokkun said. "And yup, I'm ready! Let's start the countdown!"

"Diplomacy…" Jerome muttered under his breath, before speaking aloud: "You do realize the doctor made me the second in command."

"Eh… That's kinda a loose term," Bokkun shrugged. "'Specially because you let Sonic and his friends past you twice."

"I didn't let them past me. I'm afraid for my freedom, okay? And besides, that won't happen again. I'm done playing Mr. Nice Guy. If I happen to cross paths with them again, I'll make sure not to disappoint Eggman next time."

"That's the spirit!" Bokkun said. "But, uh… don't go off on your own to stop them, 'cuz Eggman's orders are priority one!"

Jerome hated arguing with Bokkun. It was like talking to a child who was more clever than he was. He felt like he was above this.

"Just a friendly reminder, freedom is not one of Dr. Eggman's core values," Orbot said. "I wouldn't consider myself 'free' here if I were you. You are welcome here as an assistant, but if Eggman so chooses–"

"Guys! Come check this out!" came Cubot's voice from the console. He was pointing frantically to the radar, where two dots were approaching their location.

"Took the words right out of my mouth, Orbot…" Bokkun said as he flew over, followed by Orbot.

Cubot was looking at the surveillance screens. He was in a state of disbelief.

"No way… they survived…!" He zoomed in, then rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "Holy cow, they survived!"

"Who did?" Bokkun asked. "Who survived?"

He looked at the screen, before his jaw dropped.

"We gotta supervise the countdown," Jerome reminded them. "That's top priority!"

"You go ahead and do that," Bokkun said. "I gotta call Eggman, this is really super important!"

A moment later, Eggman appeared across the entire screen next to the radar screen.

"Make it quick," he said. "The factories won't run themselves."

"So you are working in a factory," Orbot realized. "I wasn't sure if that's where you said you were–"

"Decoe and Bocoe are back!" Bokkun exclaimed.

Eggman looked surprised, before he quickly regained his composure.

"But that's impossible," he said. "They couldn't have survived the fall into the ocean."

"But they did!" Cubot said. "And they're boarding the Egg Carrier right now."

"So their homing beacons are still intact eight months later…" Eggman marveled. "Assuming you're telling the truth, I want to speak to them as soon as they're on board.

"I can arrange that, Doctor," Orbot said.

"BRB!" Bokkun called as he flew out of the room.

Suddenly there was a very loud whoosh as the rocket that was carrying the satellite ignited. As it lifted off, it flew out the open hangar door and up toward space. Even with Jerome's ear protection, it was still incredibly loud for him.

Once the rocket was gone, he removed his headphones and turned to Orbot and Cubot.

"Five minutes until it reaches orbit, Doctor," he reported.

"Excellent," Eggman said with a grin.

"Now how did Decoe and Bocoe survive?" Jerome asked.

"That's what I'm about to find out," Eggman said. "I hadn't counted on something like this happening. If all works out, this could potentially accelerate my plan."

"They're here!" Bokkun called as he flew into the room, followed by a heavily-rusted Decoe and Bocoe as they weakly stumbled into the command center after him.

"Oh dear…" Orbot said. "What happened to them?"

"Knuckles threw them both into the ocean during my skirmish with Sonic back when he went super, and I imagine they're been lying there ever since." Eggman explained. "Though, how they managed to rust is beyond me. Decoe, Bocoe, can you hear me?"

"Affirmative, Doctor," they both spoke at the same time. However, their voice chips were slightly damaged.

"Am I correct to assume that you used your homing beacons to find the Egg Carrier?" he asked.

"Affirmative," Decoe said. "This ship is on a familiar frequency comparable to the Egg Fort.

"We activated on our own and crawled out of the ocean with tremendous difficulty," Bocoe added.

"I detected large amounts of Chaos energy prior to deactivation," Decoe said. "Have we returned to Mobius?"

"Your GPS seems to be damaged as well," Eggman pondered. "No, we're still here on Earth. Even though Chaos Control occurred, nothing happened. In fact, if anything, Angel Island got pulled here."

"That is illogical," Bocoe said.

"There is a logical possibility," Decoe said. "When Christopher acquired the Chaos Emeralds and crawled onto E-99's console, I recall him accidentally kicking one of the switches. According to the layout of E-99, the switch he activated would have reversed the flow of Chaos Control."

"Fascinating…" Eggman mused, stroking his oversized mustache. "I had reserved that switch in the case E-99 was Chaos Controlled away, whether by Super Sonic or another phenomenon. In which case, it would have saved the coordinates of where I was and used the power of the Chaos Emeralds to teleport itself back." He looked thoughtful for a bit. "But if it pulled Angel Island to itself as it was being destroyed…" His voice trailed off.

"Then it would have been incapable of transporting itself to the previous location of Angel Island because it was not saved in its databanks."

Eggman nodded. "In other words, it couldn't have worked both ways."

"The satellite has reached orbit, Doctor," Jerome said.

"Excellent," Eggman said with a grin. "I must return to my work now. Bokkun, get Decoe and Bocoe repaired for service again.

"Aye-aye, Doc!" Bokkun saluted as Eggman hung up. As he rallied Eggman's damaged hench-bots to follow him, Jerome turned to the other robots, who were making sure the satellite maintained its projected course.

"It's in position, right?" he asked, peering at the monitor. Satisfied that it was, he clasped his hands behind his back. "Open the light reflector."

As the robots entered the commands to do so, Jerome looked at the console and the screen above it, which portrayed a visualization of the satellite as well as its relative position to Earth and the sun.

"Hm… rotate its Y-axis 30 degrees counterclockwise," he ordered after a moment.

The robots gathered around the console entered that command, and the satellite gradually rotated until the large capacitor that resembled a solar panel was pointing directly toward the sun. A percentage on the bottom left of the screen gradually started rising from 0%, and within minutes, it had reached 100%.

"Satellite is charged," Jerome muttered. "It won't be much longer until it's time for the next phase."

"You're getting good at this whole second in command thing," Orbot commented.

"Hey, it's only until Eggman gets back," Jerome said. "Though I guess it is growing on me a bit. I could get used to this."

Just then he got a text from Eggman. As he read it, he realized that Eggman was aware that the satellite was fully prepared, because he told his human assistant to get ready for his part.

"Also, remind me to make you your own communication device. I'm not too keen on interfacing with human technology," Eggman's text added.

Jerome wordlessly left the room, leaving Orbot and Cubot alone with the robots that were monitoring the satellite to make sure it stayed in position during orbit.

"I don't know about you, Cubot, but I'm worried that Decoe and Bocoe will end up replacing us again," Orbot said.

"Yeah," Cubot said. "We gotta make ourselves look good in front of Eggman, and maybe he'll like us more!"

"True, but that may be difficult," Orbot realized. "The doctor designed Decoe and Bocoe to be personal bodyguards in addition to companion robots, and besides, we can't fight like they can."

"But we're still useful though!" Cubot said. "And we got personalities!"

"We'll do our best," Orbot said. "We'll make Dr. Eggman proud of us!"


Thorndyke Mansion – Thu January 27, 5:10 PM – Chris' POV

Nearly a month had passed since the eclipse started, and it had not showed any signs of ending anytime soon. Me and my family and friends had all moved back home in Station Square and bought new furniture for the living room and all the other rooms that were damaged in the flood.

Miss Vanilla had settled in comfortably at home with us, and Ella gave her her own room. Cream had never been happier now that she was there with her. In fact, she was in the best mood she was in since Chaos Control sent her and her friends to Earth.

However, the rest of us were feeling depressed over the lack of the sun. Over time, all the plants and trees started to feel the effect of the darkness. Even in the middle of the day when the sun was at its highest, it still looked like midnight. It felt very strange to stay the least.

Other than that, we more or less got used to the darkness, even if it wasn't ideal. Just as Eggman had said on the news, it was a little colder than usual, and my family and I even needed jackets on some days. My friends didn't need any since they had fur.

We all followed the news routinely to see if there were any updates on the situation with the moon. However, Eggman had been on radio silence for the past few weeks, and I knew he would be arrested if he didn't reveal a plan to bring the sunlight back by the end of the month.

Even weeks later, the eclipse was still trending on Twitter. People were getting upset that they didn't have the sun, and since Eggman still hadn't officially revealed an alternate way to bring back the sunlight, people were demanding that he be arrested early. After all, he was Dr. Eggman, and he was rightfully unable to be trusted given his track record of destruction and plans for world domination.

Matt was in the process of moving back to Station Square, and even though the Master Emerald was still not recovered yet, Knuckles had returned to Angel Island. He told everyone he would continue looking for the Master Emerald, but even though he didn't like staying on Angel Island without it, he would return there for the sake of familiarity.

One day, Grandpa was checking the news to see if there was anything related to the sun returning. Ella had the TV on and he happened to be in the area. Tails and I were in the room as well.

"I sure hope this thing is over with soon," Grandpa said as the news station went on a commercial break. "It's already been four weeks and Eggman promised he would fix this."

"I know…" Ella said. "Poor Mr. Tanaka, I haven't seen him this depressed over the garden."

"I'm sorry…" Grandpa said. "I've been holding off on getting heat lamps just in case Eggman comes up with something."

"I hate that we have to rely on Eggman for something like this," I said, glancing out the window.

Tails nodded grimly. "Yeah… And it's not like we have a choice, either."

"I can't wait to see this month's electric bill," Grandpa said dryly.

"I don't even wanna think about– There he is! Look look!" Ella exclaimed as we all saw Dr. Eggman appearing on the screen. I let out a gasp.

"Rewind it!" Grandpa exclaimed as he reached for the controller and rewound the TV to the beginning of the commercial. He and Ella ran off to call everyone in to see it.

"Whatever it is, there's probably a catch," I realized.

"Yeah…" Tails agreed.

Two minutes later, the rest of my family was gathered in the living room.

"He was cuttin' it pretty close there," Sonic commented as he looked at the screen.

"Yeah, only five more days and he would have been in jail," Amy said.

"Alright, let's watch!" Grandpa said as he unpaused the TV. I wasn't sure I liked his enthusiasm to Eggman's plan, but I guessed anything was better than not having any light or sufficient heat.

I was already amazed at how cinematic the commercial looked as it showed the hills surrounding Station Square and then the darkened Hollywood sign. It was definitely different than other commercials I had seen, that was for sure.

"Looks just like the commercials back home-"

"Shh!" Tails gently shushed Amy.

"Darkness… depression… chilly temperatures… This is the reality that southern California faces today. The eclipse showed no sign of ending," the voiceover narrated. "Until an unexpected solution came to light and rose to the challenge…"

That was when Eggman appeared on the screen. He was in a warehouse, standing next to something that resembled a ball on a stick in the ground.

"Greetings everyone! I'm Dr. Ivo Robotnik, better known as Dr. Eggman, and I know I'm not a fan favorite, but while I'm working on correcting the moon's orbit, I have a workaround, and that is the Solar Balls!" He gestured to the object next to him. "It's a revolutionary new technology that I invented and patented myself! Each Solar Ball is designed to simulate the light and heat of the sun to a fault, powering your home with artificial sunlight, at least until I can get the real sun back! And better yet, they dim and turn off at night to simulate the sun setting!

"Solar Balls are powered by ASB towers, or Artificial Sunlight Broadcast towers, which are reflected from the sun by a satellite in the atmosphere." All that was illustrated by videos of large towers in the hills, as well as a satellite.

"Rental, delivery, and installation prices are normally $200, but text EGGMAN to the number on your screen now to take part of my special launch sale and get your Solar Ball installed at half price! In fact, I wish I could offer it to you for free, but there are maintenance costs, so bear with me here."

Various shots of people with their Solar Balls were shown on the screen. They all looked happy to see the Solar Balls illuminating the entire yard around them. It was like those commercials with the very bright flashlights, except Eggman claimed they felt warm like the sun too.

"Once my patented Solar Balls are installed in your yard, plants and trees will be able to enjoy the artificially simulated light and hear of the sun, at least until I can give you back the real sun. It's coming along, so sit tight for a bit longer!"

"Fine print…" Tails quietly noted, seeing the tiny text at the bottom.

Eggman then proceeded to give a phone number and a website for people to order their own Solar Balls. After that, it cut back to the news. It was just an ordinary news story, which meant the excitement was over for now.

We were all quiet for a moment as we took in the commercial. Finally, Grandpa spoke.

"So… What do we do? Do we get it?"

NO! My brain cried out. This is Eggman, and if the moon is the Phantom Ruby's doing, this has to be a trick! But… I don't know how to tell everyone…

"I don't care if it has Eggman's face on it," Ella said. "We need the sun. The plants need it."

Tails reached for the controller and rewound the TV until he saw the fine print again. He walked over and squinted at it.

"What does it say, Tails…?" Sonic asked in curiosity.

"It says it's only available in California, and you shouldn't touch it because it's really hot," Tails paraphrased.

"That makes sense," Ella said.

"Um… Are you sure this is a good idea…?" I asked apprehensively. "Because it's Eggman…"

"I know, I'm skeptical about this too," Grandpa said. "But if there's a chance that we can get some form of sunlight before the moon is fixed, then I'll take it. We'll wait a day or two until some of the other people get their Solar Balls before we get one, just in case it's a trap."

I wasn't convinces, and, looking around, I could see my friends weren't either.

"Um… Maybe if we do get one, I could take a look at it and make sure it's not rigged or anything," Tails volunteered.

"Excellent," Grandpa said. "In that case, we'll get one and sort things out from there? Sound good?"

"Yeah… I think so," Amy said with hesitation. "I mean, if Tails can fix it, then we should be safe, right?"

"Exactly," Grandpa said. "Well, I'll be out in the lab. The upgrades to the Chaos Emerald stabilizer won't supervise themselves."

He, Ella, and Mr. Tanaka gradually left the room, leaving me and my friends and Miss Vanilla. It was quiet, except for the fluttering of wings from Cheese, Chocola, and Lily. Sonic leaned against the couch, crossing his arms.

"I don't like this any more than you guys," he said in a quiet tone.

"Did Dr. Eggman do anything like this since you arrived here?" Vanilla asked.

"Nope," Sonic said. "Though I will say, this is mostly on-brand for him. So let's get ya up to speed." He started pacing the room. "Basically he got the Phanton Ruby and used it to recreate the whole thing that went down with Shadow and Space Colony ARK… which meant he shot the moon. And after that got finished, he repaired the moon, and then it suddenly moved over Station Square."

"Oh my…" Vanilla said.

"Yeah… It sounds like a big coincidence on the surface, but I'm pretty sure it's not, knowing Eggman, since he was the one who repaired it. And I know it happened a month ago, and as much as I wanna tell everyone about this… I know it's Eggman, but I don't know how to prove it. Though I did tell Chuck about it, and he's been keeping cool about the whole thing."

"Eggman… seems to be acting sincere about all this," Tails pointed out.

Amy nodded. "Yeah, I'm bothered by that too," she admitted. "Because we know Eggman is doing this on purpose, he moved the moon on purpose… only for us to… buy his product? Is this a pyramid scheme?"

"What's a pyramid scheme?" Cream asked. "Is Dr. Eggman in the desert?"

Amy giggled. "Not exactly! I think a pyramid scheme is pretty much a big scam to basically cheat people out of their money."

"Oh…" Cream realized.

"So what do we do now?" I asked, flopping onto the unoccupied couch.

"Do what Chuck said, we'll roll with it for now," Sonic said. "But if we start to see anything out of the ordinary, either with our Solar Ball or anyone else's, we'll know."

"How many Solar Balls are there, Mr. Sonic?" Cream asked as she sat down on the other couch next to her mom.

Sonic shrugged. "Don't know. Hundreds, thousands… probably more. Eggman probably made enough to power all of Southern California."

"That's a lot…" I breathed.

Vanilla glanced at the TV to see if the news was talking about the Solar Balls again, before looking back at the rest of us.

"What did Eggman say powered them again?" Tails asked.

"Let's see…" Vanilla said as she unlocked her new cell phone. She, as well as the Chaotix, had gotten their own phones, as well as official government documents. They all had the same rights as everyone else from Mobius.

"I found an article," Vanilla said, looking up from her phone. "This says that they are powered by Artificial Sunlight Broadcast towers. They are set all across southern California, placed 50 miles apart from each other."

"Oh yeah…" Tails realized. "And in turn, those are powered by a satellite. I guess I was too focused on the Solar Balls themselves in that commercial."

"It's all good, buddy!" Sonic said.

"So they power the Solar Balls?" I asked.

"Sounds like it," Amy said.

"But how are the Solar Balls working when the moon is blocking the sun?" Cream asked.

Oh wow, I didn't even think about that, I thought.

"I don't know, Cream," Amy said, glancing out the window. "Maybe it's orbiting a different part of the planet where the moon's not blocking the sun."

"Okay," Cream said.

"I was thinking the same thing," Tails added.

"I want the sun to come back…" Cream said.

"Chao…" Cheese and Chocola agreed in unison.

However, I was quiet. Something didn't feel right, and everyone else knew it. Eggman was offering hope in these unusual times… but I didn't feel any better. Everyone else in Station Square was probably getting excited about the new Solar Balls, and they would all be first in line to go pick one up. But something didn't feel right about them. It was probably because Eggman was the one promoting them, but I didn't know what exactly it was.


Helen's house – Wed February 2, 5:20 PM – Third-person POV

"It's here~!" Helen's mom called to her from the window as a van pulled to a stop in front of their house. "Let's go say hi!"

She made her way to the door was was outside in an instant. A few seconds later, Helen followed her down the ramp in her wheelchair. She saw the van's Egg Pawn driver, a few flying robots, and another robot. The last robot stood out from the rest; it was a floating white robot that had features that resembled Orbot's head and Bocoe's body. Helen's dad was already talking to it.

"I am ED-333, one of many delivery robots created by Dr. Eggman, and I will be installing your Solar Ball today." it spoke in an unusually cheery voice. "Thank you for choosing Eggman Industries!"

"No problem," Helen's dad politely responded. He didn't seem to know what to say otherwise, especially when they all knew Eggman was the bad guy.

"Not a lot of Dr. Eggman's robots are capable of speech, since it uses a lot of his resources to do that, so I and my thousands of identical selves were constructed specifically for this task.

"That makes sense," Helen's dad said as the other robots unloaded the Solar Ball and the pole it would rest on from the back of the van.

"We have our work cut out for us at the moment," ED-333 explained, "so we'll try to be as fast as possible because we are swamped."

"All right then, we won't get in your way," Helen's dad said, taking a few steps back. The Egg Pawns activated their jetpacks and carried the Solar Ball up to the roof, then flew back down and returned for the pole and the base it would eventually be inserted into.

"There is a ninety-day money-back guarantee," ED-333 said. "But I can guarantee on behalf of Eggman Industries that you will enjoy your new Solar Ball to its fullest!"

"Are you excited, dear?" Helen's mom asked her.

"Yeah," Helen said, looking up at the roof. "It's been really sad not seeing the sun in a long time… Is that what it was like in the winter in Alaska, Dad?"

"I used to live in Fairbanks for two years, and it can get pretty dark in the winter…" He glanced up at the sky. "Nothing like this, though…"

"Yeah, this is really dark…" Helen quietly said.

"This is gonna be good for all of us because we won't have to use so much electricity during the day anymore," Helen's mom said.

"I don't know how often you go on the roof here," ED-333 said, "but I would recommend that you avoid touching the Solar Ball because it is extremely hot to the touch and can cause serious burns."

Helen's dad nodded as ED-333 flew up to the roof himself to inspect the Solar Ball. Helen had a wheelchair, which meant she couldn't go up there even if she wanted to, and her parents didn't have a reason to be up there either. Even roofers would need to be careful.

The sound of drilling filled the air, and Helen covered her ears as the robots installed the base into the roof. A few minutes later, they began the process of inserting the pole and situating the Solar Ball on top of it.

Helen's family was not the first in their neighborhood to get their Solar Ball. At least half the houses were being serviced by Eggman's new invention in the two weeks since it was unveiled. They were just bright enough to light up the yard and parts of the street, but not much beyond that. Helen's yard had been dark until today.

Looking over, Helen could see her dad already fishing his wallet from his pocket. Her parents had been so excited about finally getting light, and their excitement was contagious because she was happy too. Yes, Eggman had done a lot of questionable things in the past, but this time he seemed to come off as sincere.

"Okay, it's ready!" ED-333 announced as it floated back down to the others along with the Egg Pawns. "Turning it on in three… two… one…"

There was a click, followed by a hum, and Helen let out an excited gasp as the Solar Ball lit up, bathing everyone and everything in the yard in a warm, bright glow. In fact, she had to squing after a few seconds, but something about it felt… mesmerizing.

"Oh wow, this feels almost exactly like the sun!" Helen's mom said. "I don't know how Dr. Eggman did it, but I'll take it! I can't thank you enough, sir!"

"It's what I do," E-333 said with a polite nod. "I was built to serve the people, and it gives me the robot equivalent of fulfillment that you are satisfied with Dr. Eggman latest product."

"I honestly don't see how some people don't have these things," Helen's dad said, looking around the yard and how brilliantly shone in the Solar Ball's glow. "This is one of those products that works exactly like it's advertised."

"Indeed," ED-333 said as it returned to the van with the other robots. "The doctor always follows through with his promises. And the best part is, it's weather-resistant and will remain on even in the worst disasters!

"That's good to hear!" Helen's mom said.

"Enjoy your new Solar Ball, have a good one! Um, I think that's what Earth people say?"

"Yeah, it is," Helen's dad replied with a laugh.

As the robots left, unknown to Helen and her family, Knuckles had been watching the whole time. Now that the installment was complete and the excitement was over, he moved on and went on his way.

He glided and ran through various neighborhoods, occasionally glancing at the various houses that he passed. While some houses were dark, others were brightly lit by Solar Balls; some were on the lawn, but most were on the rooftops to reduce the glare of the artificial sunlight.

He eventually made it to Harris Bingham Memorial Park near the center of the city, which was lit up by several Solar Balls. It was bright enough that the grass and trees looked like day, even though the sky was still dark. It was surreal.

He squinted his eyes and kept moving. The lights and the glare they caused seemed to be giving him a headache. He shrugged it off and kept moving. He wasn't there in the park to sightsee. He was there to see if he could pick up a lead on the Master Emerald. It had to be somewhere. It couldn't have just disappeared.

But as he glided toward the other side of the park, his attention was drawn to a large group of protesters gathered together. There were too many heads to count, but there had to be hundreds of them, most of whom were holding numerous signs that read "Light for ALL citizens", "Solar Balls Free For All", "No Sun = No Fun", and so on and so forth.

From his perch in an oak tree, Knuckles wasn't able to make out what any of the others read because they were too far away, plus the glare of the Solar Balls made it difficult. Even with the many Solar Balls stationed across the park, none of the people looked like they were happy about it. Obviously something was upsetting them.

He stayed incognito as he watched them, curiosity getting the better of him. That was when he noticed Scarlet Garcia and her news crew in the park as well. She was speaking to the camera, but he couldn't quite make out what she was saying over the noise of the crowd.

Scarlet appeared to want to interview the leader of the protest, and it turned out Knuckles was right, because the leader motioned for the protesters to quiet down. Knuckles' acute hearing allowed him to hear what they were saying now that it was relatively quiet.

"Sir, what is your name and purpose?" Scarlet asked.

"Kurt Peterson," the leader said.

Huh, voice sounds a little familiar… Knuckles thought. Maybe it's just me.

"I represent the Parker district," Kurt continued. "The most impoverished part of town. It's been two weeks and there are still no Solar Balls anywhere near the Parker district, and yet all the rich neighborhoods like Bainbridge and Cedar Knolls already have Solar Balls. Even the Ramadas and Thorndykes have one!"

"Uh, well, Rome wasn't built in a day, Mr. Peterson," Scarlet said apologetically. "Mayor Pinsky said in yesterday's briefing that his plan was to eventually supply all residents of Station Square with a Solar Ball."

"Eventually? We don't have eventually to wait for the crops to not dry up and wither and all that."

"Well, then… uh… What do you want the mayor to do then?"

"We're here to protest in favor of the fair distribution of Solar Balls to all eligible citizens. We want the city to make a contract with Eggman Industries to speed up the manufacture and supply as quickly as possible to meet the rising demands, because the way I see it, all the rural areas are being put on the back burner."

"I understand, Mr. Peterson. Thank you for your time with us."

As Knuckles turned and glided off the tree branch, he couldn't stop thinking about why Kurt sounded so familiar. He didn't look like anyone he knew, but that voice…


Chaotix Detective Agency – Thu February 3, 3:58 PM – Third-person POV

Now that the small house that the Chaotix called their detective agency had TV service, Vector was watching the news coverage of the local senate to see if they would approve of evening out the Solar Ball distribution between urban and rural areas. The senators that voted yes claimed that it would help the masses by reducing costs to those living in the city by helping people in rural areas. Those that opposed claimed that it would sideline those who have already pre-ordered Solar Balls, plus most people were already under the impression that the urban areas would be serviced first.

"Taking the slow boat to Chun-nan on this, are we?" Vector muttered.

He didn't care about politics, but there didn't seem to be anything else on TV that he was into. At least this story was relevant. Then again, he hadn't bothered to check out the new streaming service called Hulu yet.

"They're asking for one hundred dollars," Espio said as he stepped inside.

"Good thing we've been doing some odd jobs and scraping some extra cash together," Vector said as he turned off the TV and got up off his chair. "But hey, it's just a hundred bucks. We got some extra to take care of the bills."

"Turning on in three… two… one…"

As the Eggman delivery robot finished counting down, there was a click, and the entire lawn surrounding the house was bathed in a sun-like glow. Charmy yelped, since he was in close proximity to the Solar Ball.

"Wow, didn't know these things were gonna be so hot!" he said as he flew back.

Vector and Espio headed outside so they could see it for themselves.

'Ugh, forgot my wallet," Vector said as he ran back inside.

"This feels super weird…" Charmy said, looking back at the Solar Ball, but squinting so he wouldn't go blind. "And super cool too… I mean, it's just like the real sun! And it's kinda like a super gigantic nightnight that's gonna keep us warm all winter! This is great!"

"Careful Charmy, don't look at it for too long," Espio warned.

"And it's so cool that Dr. Eggman made all these so he could help us see while the eclipse is still going on," Charmy rambled, buzzing around the Solar Ball.

"But he's the bad guy–"

"What else is he gonna do to help us? Or better yet, we gotta come up with a way to thank him! He helped us a lot, so we gotta help him too! Eggman is such a really awesome scientist, and we gotta do our part to help him, right Espio?"

"Hey! Snap out of it, Charmy!" Vector called, trying to grab him away from the Solar Ball.

"Vector, stop," Espio said. "It's not gonna work."

"What do you mean?" Vector asked in confusion.

"He's ignoring you." Espio gestured to Charmy, who was still rambling. "Look at him and his body language. It's like he's not even acknowledging you're there."

"Yeah…" Vector said, letting go of Charmy. "I get that he's flighty, but he wouldn't just up and support Eggman like that."

Espio nodded slowly. "I know."

"I'm starting to think the Solar Ball is doing all this," Vector said. "Don't look at it, Espio. You don't wanna start doing what Charmy's doing."

"I was about to tell you the same thing, Vector," Espio said as they headed back inside, leaving the door open for Charmy.

"This is seriously out of character for him," Vector said, starting to sound a little worried. "He's annoying sometimes, but… this is not something he would do, and he definitely wasn't like this before the Solar Ball turned on." He let out a soft gasp. "We gotta tell everyone we can about this, starting with Sonic!"

He reached for the phone.


Thorndyke Mansion – Thu February 3, 4:02 PM – Third-person POV

Tails was sitting in the lab, tinkering with his Miles Electric. He was just finishing screwing the back panel onto his haldheld computer when his cell phone rang. Swiveling Chuck's chair away from his project for now, he answered the call.

"Hi Espio!" Tails said. He was glad he and his friends traded numbers with the Chaotix, and that he had a cell phone in addition to his comlink.

"Tails, is Sonic there?" Espio asked.

"Um, he's out and about right now, but I can tell him you said hi," Tails said.

"It's more important than that," Espio said, sounding a bit urgent. Tails became more alert. "It's about the Solar Ball."

"Oh, okay, what happened?" Tails asked. His tails stopped swaying, and he sat up a little straighter. "Did it act up or anything?"

"Well… We just got it set up here at the agency, and Charmy kept staring at it, and now he won't stop praising Eggman."

Tails blinked in surprise. "Praising Eggman…?"

"Over what a good job he's doing with the Solar Balls," Espio clarified. "Vector's still trying to get him under control right now. It's been nearly five minutes."

"That's… different…" Tails said. "Part of me wants to say that it's just Charmy being Charmy… but I don't think he would just start praising Eggman like that."

"Exactly," Espio said. "In fact, Charmy hates Eggman."

"So the Solar Ball did this?" Tails asked.

"I have every reason to believe so," Espio said.

In a flash, Tails leaped out of the chair, causing it to comically spin around, and ran across the lab. He grabbed his toolbox and sprinted down the stairs and across the yard. He spun his tails to gain extra momentum, but it was tricky while carrying a toolbox and a cell phone.

It only took a few seconds for his intelligent mind to work out the problem.

"Okay, this sounds like Eggman's using these things to– to brainwash people!" he realized. He knew deep down they weren't all for show, but he didn't guess brainwashing of all things.

"That's very likely," Espio said, "yet Vector and I don't seem to be affected by it for some reason."

"Did you look right at it like Charmy did?" Tails asked as he flew across the expansive lawn toward the Solar Ball installed out front.

"No, I didn't," Espio said, "and now that you mention it, it's a good thing we didn't. I can't answer for Vector, though. I would hope he didn't."

"Okay, yeah, don't look at it," Tails cautioned. "Because from what it sounds like, its signal is strongest when you're looking right at it." But then he realized something. "Wait… how is Charmy able to look at it when it's glowing so bright? It's like an artificial sun!"

"I don't know," Espio said after a pause. "There's no direct glare, and yet… Maybe it's the brainwashing like you said."

"I don't know how it's doing it, but I'm gonna go check it out and see if I can figure out what's causing it."

"Okay," Espio said.

"Starting with the Solar Ball at our place," Tails added. He was a little surprised that they only got one Solar Ball considering how big the Thorndyke property was, and yet whole neighborhoods were powered by one Solar Ball per house. However, Ella and Tanaka had brought that issue up, and Chuck was trying to stall for as long as he could just in case something happened.

"…It's not working…" Espio quietly said after a moment.

"What's not working?" Tails asked cautiously as he landed next to Solar Ball and set down his toolbox. Squinting, he looked up at the Solar Ball briefly before glancing away. It was taller than him, almost as tall as Chuck.

"Vector said he tried to turn off the Solar Ball, but nothing's working," Espio said.

This is gonna be a little harder than I thought… Tails thought as he searched around the Solar Ball's pole and base, trying to see if he could find a maintenance panel of some sort.

"Maybe there's an override somewhere else…?" Tails thought aloud. "Like, Eggman must be keeping these things on somehow to make sure everyone gets brainwashed, assuming that's what's going on here."

Espio sighed.

"It scares me to think that," Espio said, sounding unusually worried. "Because if that's the case, then we were all duped, willingly I might add, and most of us won't realize that if every one of these things has the same brainwashing signal."

By now Tails had found a panel in the side of the pole and was busy unscrewing it. His fur was starting to glisten with sweat from how close he was to the Solar Ball.

"Is Charmy doing okay?" Tails asked as he worked.

"Not really," Espio said. "He's flying around erratically, and Vector can't catch him no matter what. Oh, I just remembered, and I hope I'm not too late, but Vector had the news on earlier and I happened to overhear it, but the reporters were saying that the Solar Balls and the ASB towers are both considered federal property, and it's illegal to tamper with them."

"Umm…" Tails didn't know how to respond to that since he had just finished getting the panel off. "But did they say anything about rewiring it?"

"Tails, I'm pretty sure that's the very definition of– What are you doing, anyway?"

"Uh, just reprogramming the Solar Ball outside the house," Tails said. He wasn't expecting this to be a legal issue. "Just so it doesn't accidentally brainwash anyone."

There was a pause.

"That's… actually a smart idea. But be careful not to let anyone catch you. You're technically breaking the law."

"I-I know," Tails said. He was starting to sweat a bit more, and it wasn't from the heat. He was hoping no one would see him probing around inside the maintenance panel.

It felt so weird, seeing as this was the second time he was on the opposite side of the law while still fighting for justice like he and his friends always have.

"It's not gonna be easy," Tails said. "Eggman technology is notoriously tricky for me to work with." He didn't say it, but he preferred working with Mobian and human technology over Eggman technology any day.

"It didn't stop you before," Espio said.

"And it's not gonna stop me this time either," Tails said. "Wait… those wires don't look right…"

"You found something?" Espio asked.

Tails was looking at a small group of wires in the top right corner of the panel. To anyone else they would have looked just like any other wires inside the pole, but to Tails, who was skilled in working with electronics, he knew that they way they were connected to the mainframe didn't look right.

He reached for a magnifying glass that he kept in his toolbox just in case, and he was just about to hold it up to the wires when he heard footsteps approaching on the grass ahead of him.

"What are you doing, Tails?" Amy asked.

Tails' heart leaped in his chest. He wasn't expecting anyone to catch him tinkering with the Solar Ball!

"Uh, heheh, hold on Espio," Tails said, trying to calm down a bit. To Amy, he said, "I'm just fixing the Solar Ball."

Amy blinked in confusion. "But it's not broken…?"

"Yeah, that's the problem," Tails said. "Espio's on the phone, and he just told me the Solar Balls can brainwash people and make them support– Uh, p-please don't look at the Solar Ball, okay?"

"O-Okay," Amy said, quickly averting her eyes from the Solar Ball's bright glow and taking a step back. "I had a feeling these things weren't just Solar Balls. After all, they were made by Eggman!"

Now that Tails was a little calmer, he held his magnifying glass to the wires, before taking a pair of pliers and carefully pulling them out. The Solar Ball flickered, but its light continued to shine just as brightly as it did before.

However, something happened that Tails didn't expect. Everything seemed slightly quieter to the young fox. There was some very faint ringing sound that stopped. In fact, he didn't realize it was there until he removed the wires. Looking up, he saw that Amy didn't seem to notice a thing, and he assumed it was because Mobian foxes had a better sense of hearing, as well as a higher range, than Mobian hedgehogs.

"Don't tell anyone about this… the brainwashing stuff, okay? Except Sonic… and maybe Chuck."

"Why not?" Amy asked, starting to get a little upset. "Why are we hiding any of this? have the right to know! Ella, Tanaka, everyone!"

"Yeah, I know, but… Sonic seems to know more about this than we do even though he told us a lot about what he knows, and he also said he doesn't know how to tell people."

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"Sonic said he could see through the Phantom illusions when he was super – well, to an extent," Tails explained as he screwed the panel back onto the hatch. "He said he saw the whole moon after it was shot by Eggman, which means he didn't really shoot the moon. But everyone believes that Eggman 'repaired' the moon."

"But we don't have the Chaos Emeralds for Sonic to go super and prove that's fake," Amy said.

"No, and that's why no one's gonna believe us if we tell them, because to them, all this is real."

Amy looked like she was starting to understand.

"Okay… So if Sonic saw the moon and it looked whole, then… why would Eggman repair it?"

Tails nodded slightly. "Yeah, he's definitely trying to fool us. But this is why we can't tell anyone, because they're not gonna believe us. And we don't really have a lot of evidence. Besides, most people don't know what the Phantom Ruby even is."

"I didn't think about that," Amy realized.

"Did you fix it?" Espio asked.

"Yup!" Tails said as he stood up and backed away from the Solar Ball, the relatively cooler air a great relief to him. He picked up his phone. "There was a signal coming from the Solar Ball, but it went away as soon as I unplugged a couple wires. It was really weak and high-pitched, so I'm pretty sure humans wouldn't be able to hear it. But I wouldn't be surprised if Rouge can sense it too."

"That's… disturbingly fascinating," Espio said.

"So now the Solar Ball here at the Thorndykes' house is still working, but it just doens't have the brainwash signal anymore. I'm gonna fly over to your place and see if I can take care of your Solar Ball, okay?" He mentally reminded himself to see if Danny, Frances, and Helen had Solar Balls he could reprogram as well.

"That would be much appreciated," Espio said. "Because I don't know how much longer we can handle Charmy acting like this. Vector, keep him out of the house for now, I don't want him breaking everything!"

"I'm on my way! Hang in there, Espio!" Tails called.

"Good luck, Tails!" Amy said with a friendly smile and wink as Tails flew toward the garage and the X-Tornado.


The Egg Carrier – Sat February 5, 12:19 PM – Third-person POV

The Egg Carrier was filled with activity, which had become the norm for the past several days. Hundreds of Eggman's new ED-series robots were answering phone calls and coming and going with loads and loads of Solar Balls. They were overseen by the newly-repaired Decoe and Bocoe, who were both helping the robots to load the Solar Balls into shuttles and getting them ready for deployment.

"We will need to increase the work output," Decoe stated. "The demand is outweighing the supply five times over."

"Even if the work output is increased, I estimate a 97% chance that Dr. Eggman has a plan to rectify this," Bocoe said.

"Pardon the intrusion," came Orbot's voice as he and Cubot floated into the room, "but how come you two are getting pampered lately?"

"We have not been pampered, only repaired," Decoe stated. "We have been out of service for eight months."

"But you guys are getting all the good jobs while me and Orbot are stuck with all the paperwork!" Cubot complained.

"That is not our fault," Decoe said. "If you wish to complain, see Dr. Eggman."

"You two must have been reactivated to replace us while we were in the ocean," Bocoe added.

"But you replaced us to begin with!" Cubot argued, pointing at them.

"It cannot be helped," Decoe said, imitating smugness. "We are more useful after all."

"Just because you have proper arms and legs doesn't make you better than us," Orbot stated. "In fact, we look newer than you, right out of the factory."

"Plus we can beat you at The Floor Is Lava any time we want!" Cubot added. "Who even needs legs?"

"That statement is irrelevant," Bocoe fired back. "We are newer, and we have security protocols programmed into us to protect Dr. Eggman at all costs, where as you do not."

"Old is gold, noobs!" Cubot said.

"The word 'noob' is detected as a foreign word. It is not in my vocabulary," Bocoe said. "Perhaps is an acquired Earth expression."

"If my memory banks serve me correctly, you were both deactivated before our construction because the doctor considered you to be annoying; therefore, he created us to replace you and accomplish more tasks."

"But we're faster…!" Cubot whined.

"YOU IDIOTS!" came Bokkun's shrill voice as he flew into the room. The other four robots turned to him. "Break it up and pull yourselves together!"

"Pull ourselves together?" Cubot repeated. "How are we supposed to do that? These robots are taking our jobs!"

"This is a prime example of the human expression 'pot calling the kettle black,'" Decoe stated nonchalantly.

"You guys are gonna have to learn to get along!" Bokkun said. "As long as we're all on the Egg Carrier, we're gonna work for Eggman together like one big happy family!" As an afterthought, he added, "Except Jerome. He's just a Snively wannabe."

"Bokkun, we need to deal with the supply and demand imbalance," Bocoe said.

"You guys do that," Bukkun shrugged. "I'm gonna tell Eggman about this."

"Affirmative," Decoe and Bocoe saluted as they returned to overseeing the delivery process. Bokkun chuckled.

"It's so good being large and in charge every once in a while," he said with a grin. He flew over to the big screen on the other side of the command senter and activated it. Eggman appeared on the screen.

"I'm busy," Eggman stated. He was once again in the factory where the Solar Balls were being produced.

"Dr. Eggman, it has come to our attention that the Solar Ball demand is far greater than the supply," Orbot said.

"I was gonna say that…" Bokkun whined.

"I'm already aware of that," Eggman said, "which is why I have been given permission from the government to construct more ASB towers throughout the region, thus enabling more people in other regions to experience my Solar Balls."

"That is excellent news, Doctor," Orbot said.

"I plan to get the new towers up in approximately two weeks. Everything is going exactly according to plan. In the meantime, continue distributing the Solar Balls you have, and expect another large shipment in about seventeen minutes and forty-three seconds."

Eggman's transmission ended after he finished giving his order.

"Uh… Should we be worried?" Cubot asked.

"Why?" Bokkun said. "He got the whole entire President on his side, he can control the whole country!"

"Oh yeah… We should be worried…" Cubot said. "Also how did he know how long it would take for the next shipment to get here?"

"He's just that smart," Bokkun shrugged.

"So does this make him the new President?" Orbot asked.

"Not really, unless…" A spark formed in his eye as he got an idea. "Wait a minute… Eggman is doing so much to help everyone. Remerson is just a superhero wannabe. Eggman's the real President! President Eggman! President Eggman!"

He kept chanting over and over, flying around erratically. Orbot and Cubot looked at each other.

"When Bokkun is like this, there's no stopping him, is there?" Orbot said.

Cubot shook his head. "Nope!"


Thorndyke Mansion – Sun February 13, 1:23 PM – Sonic's POV

Some time had passed since the Solar Balls had been installed across Station Square and the rest of Southern California. A lot of people felt a lot better about themselves that they had some form of sunlight in their own yards. However, I was feeling a bit antsy. Eggman was building himself a name and a corporate empire. It was hard to imagine that he went from villain to hero in the people's eyes practically overnight.

We were all up in arms when it was found out that the Solar Balls were brainwashing tools. While I felt a lot better after Tails disabled that feature in the Solar Ball on our property, there were still tens of thousands of others that were probably controlling the humans. And it was getting more and more evident.

When the news came out that the Solar Balls were actually mind control devices, the whole house was up in arms, Ella and Tanaka included. Despite what I told them, Ella was already calling up her friends who lived in the area and tried to tell them about it, but they all thought she was crazy and that Eggman would never do that. It was exactly what I had warned my friends about.

However, we had a hard time getting through to her about that. She was determined. Even now, she was calling people while Tails, Amy, Vanilla, and I were watching Eggman's latest interview, where he was outlining the next part of his scheme.

"I have already gotten permission from the President himself to construct more ASB towers, and even as we speak, they're being built all across the greater Station Square region," Eggman was saying. "I estimate they will be done in about two weeks. My goal is to eventually supply the entire west coast with light, which, given a few months, will become reality. I'm very much aware of the recent protests in Station Square, I know that there are neighborhoods and districts that have been very vocal about their desire for sunlight, and I offer my sympathy, but these things take time, so be patient! As for the moon, some of you think I'm focusing too much on the Solar Balls than fixing the moon, but I promise you I'm looking into the issue. I suspect that the it's on the receiving end on the moon and not the broadcasting end on Earth. While this is the worst-case scenario, I will turn my full focus on the moon once the rest of the region receives Solar Ball coverage."

That sounded like nonsense to me. He didn't seem like he was going to focus on "repairing the moon"; instead, he was focusing on making sure as many people had Solar Balls as possible, and given what happened with Charmy, I knew what his real motive was.

From where I was standing in the doorway of the living room, I quietly took a few steps back, then zipped out the door. I finally had a lead. I had to act now.

Eggman was acting on the people's behalf on the surface and offering an alternate way of receiving light, but he was leaving everyone in the dark about his real plan. It was all thanks to the Chaotix for letting us know about the Solar Balls' true abilities. And after Espio called Tails, my little bro fixed not just our Solar Ball, but the Chaotix, Helen, Danny, and Frances' Solar Balls too. Now they wouldn't have to worry about the mind control anymore.

I thought about stopping by the Chaotix' place and checking up on Charmy after the incident, as well as fill them in on what I was planning to do. But then I had seconds thoughts; I didn't tell anyone at home about my plan. My feet thought first before my home, which, admittedly, was normal for me.

I had no idea where all of Eggman's towers are, but I figured if I kept running, I could evtntually bump into some every once in a while. There couldn't be more than two or three in total.

As I ran through the hills along US 101 north of the city limits, I had to make sure I didn't trip or anything. Every day looked like night now, but I was more than prepared to shed some light on Eggman's true motives.

It only took a few minutes after I veered off the highway that I happened to see one of Eggman's new towers on top of a hill on the east side of the city. It was different from cell towers because it was large and rounded at the top, but it still had a pulsating red glow to warn aircraft of its presence.

I reached the top of the hill and surveyed the base of the tower. I almost didn't expect there to be an active patrol consisting of Eggman's robots. They numbered about twelve in all, mostly Motobugs.

Tightening my hands into fists, I charged toward the tower before executing a spin attack toward the robots.

Hang in there, guys, I thought. It's always darkest before the dawn.

It felt satisfying to feel my quills slicing through the robots' weak armor. Even when they launched missiles at me, it still wasn't enough to stop me. In fact, the robots' reaction time was so slow that was able to stop and look up at the tower to survey how I was gonna take it down. If it didn't have a visual power source, I figured I could just destroy it as is.

Remembering the missiles that were fast approaching me, I ran up the tower, hoping they would chase me so I could use them to destroy it. However, the missiles were smarter than I thought and pulled away before they would have reached their target.

Not that it mattered anyway, because I had already run up the tower, getting myself ready to send it to the ground. I shredded my way through its support beams, and I only needed to cut half of them to make it fall. I jumped down to the ground, watching the whole thing falling to the ground.

The moment it impacted the ground, there was an electrical hum before the ambient glow on the other side of the hill suddenly turned off. That was one tower down.

I ran into the city and up a skyscraper, surveying the damage I had caused. It turned out that I had cut off access to half the city's Solar Balls. I was pretty impressed that I did that much damage to Eggman's plans.

But that still left the other half, which meant there was at least one more tower out there, and who knew how many more were currently being built?

I ran down the skyscraper and back out of the city in search of the next tower, knowing full well that my actions would once again bring the public against me, and Eggman too if he decided to break his facade.


Helen's house – Sun February 13, 1:31 PM – Third-person POV

Helen was lying on her bed, playing Super Smash Bros Ultimate. She was so involved in her game that she was startled when the lights suddenly went out. Her first instinct was that it was a power outage. But when she looked up, she saw that her bedroom light was still on.

Was that the Solar Ball? she asked herself as she paused her game and propped herself up to look outside. Sure enough, the yard was just as dark as it had been since the eclipse started.

Her surprise changed to worry because the robots who installed the Solar Bass told her and her parents that it was guaranteed to be weather-resistant and remain on even in the worst disaster.

This time, though…

"You okay, sweetie?" her mom asked as she walked in her room.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Helen said as she set her Switch down.

"I just looked outside, it's not just us," her mom told her.

Helen was surprised. "What?"

"Yeah, the whole neighborhood went dark," her mom said. "I'll see if there's anything on the news."

As she left the room, Helen picked up her Switch and resumed her game, remembering when Tails came to her house a few days ago.


FLASHBACK

Thump.

Helen was startled for a moment by the sound directly above her. It sounded like someone was on the roof. But what could it be?

She rolled her wheelchair down the ramp and out toward the driveway before looking up. She was surprised to see Tails up there, tinkering with the Solar Ball. It looked incredibly dangerous, especially since he was so close to it and the heat it emitted.

"Uh, hi Tails!" Helen said, not sure what else to say.

"Waah!" Tails was startled and he nearly fell off the roof, but he spun his tails just in time and landed safely on the ground in front of Helen.

"O-Oh, I'm so sorry!" Helen apologized, now feeling bad for scaring him.

"It's okay!" Tails said.

"What were you doing up there, Tails?" Helen asked.

"Um… Well, you're not gonna believe this," Tails said, sounding a little hesitant. "Actually, no one believed me when I told them…" he added quietly, "but the Solar Balls are emitting some kind of high-frequency radio wave that is converted to brain waves and stimulates the mind to–"

Helen was confused. "Uh, Tails? I, uh…"

"Oh, sorry," Tails said, blushing a bit and rubbing behind his head. "These things are making people support Eggman."

"That's crazy," Helen said, sounding a bit concerned. "I know that Eggman's a hero, he would never force anyone to support him like that!"

"This is really wrong…" Tails said quietly to himself as he quickly flew back up to the Solar Ball. By now he had gotten used to how hot and bright the Solar Balls were as he worked. He planned on taking a cool shower later because his fur was sticking to him.

Three minutes later, the Solar Ball flickered for a moment, but stayed on. Tails had successfully fixed another Solar Ball. Now that his job was done, he flew back to the ground. Helen was still there waiting for her.

"That looked dangerous…" Helen said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Tails said, patting himself dry with a cloth he brought along. "Like I was saying, Eggman is using these things to brainwash people all over Station Square."

Helen let out a small gasp. It was like this was the first time she heard it. Tails realized it too, and he figured the Solar Ball was probably altering her memory in the slightest degree.

"I know," Tails said. "Charmy got affected first. That's how I found out about this."

"Who's Charmy?" Helen asked. Tails briefly told her about the Chaotix and who they were.

"Okay," Helen said. "Did you fix anyone else's Solar Balls?"

"I sure did," Tails said, leaning against the house. "I fixed the Chaotix' Solar Ball, as well as the Thorndykes, Danny, and Frances as well. I'm not sure if I'm gonna have enough time to repair anyone else's though… Especially since I found out that what I'm doing is actually illegal." He looked like he was remembering something, because when Helen looked up, his eyes were closed. "I don't wanna get caught…"

"You're really brave," Helen said with a smile. "Just like when Sonic knows something is right, even though the law says it's not right. You're just like him."

Tails chuckled, unable to control his smile.

However, Helen looked serious. Tails saw it, because he looked a bit concerned now.

"…My mom saw on the news that they're going to make it illegal to not have a Solar Ball," Helen said.

Tails nodded. "Yeah, I heard…" he said. "Um, are you doing okay? About the whole… no sunlight thing, I mean."

"I think so," Helen said with some uncertainty. "But it feels really weird… I mean… Even though the Solar Balls give us light, there are still a lot of dark areas and shadows. I don't like them anymore, I don't want them to replace the sun."

"I know," Tails said. "It's pretty hard to resist the signal, even me, and I have to get close to these things in order to turn them off." He started pacing slowly in front of Helen. "But… I can't tell anyone because they're already brainwashed and they're gonna think I'm crazy…"

"But how come you're not brainwashed?" Helen pointed out.

"I think it's probably because I'm a Mobian…?" Tails asked, sounding a little unsure. "And we can resist these kinds of high-frequency waves… well, to an extent, anyway. Even though I did kinda think of Eggman more than normal… Anyway, did you hear any buzzing or humming coming from the Solar Ball before I fixed it?"

"No," Helen said. "Not that I know of."

"I did," Tails said. "But it's probably because I'm a fox, and I found out in an Earth study that foxes can hear very high-frequency sounds."

"Ah, okay," Helen said.

Tails smiled. "Anyway, is Sonic still taking you places lately?"

"Not since the eclipse started," Helen said with a sad smile. "The last time I saw him, he looked distracted."

"It's okay," Tails said, before his eyes brightened. "Um, maybe I can take you bowling to make up for it."

Helen smiled at her friend's kind offer. "Thank you so much!" she said. "You're the best!"

Helen moved her electric wheelchair toward him, and they shared a hug. Once they finished, Tails took a step back to collect his tools.

"I'm just about done with the new upgrades for the X-Tornado!" he said excitedly.

"Nice!" Helen said. "I can't wait to go flying with you for the first time!"

"Yeah!" Tails said. "It was Chris' idea, he didn't want you missing out on all the fun."

"Awww, tell him I said thank you," Helen said with a smile.

"I will!" Tails said.

END FLASHBACK


Just as Tails promised, he had taken her bowling yesterday, and they played two games. Tails won the first game, and the second game was close, but Helen won by just a few points.

Helen looked up and out the window again. Once again, it looked so cold outside, like it had all January. At first she thought that Tails' tinkering accidentally took out the whole neighborhood's Solar Balls. But she ruled that out; Tails wasn't that deliberate. All in all, she was so glad he told her about the brainwashing power that the Solar Balls had.

"Helen! Come look at the news!" her mom urgently called.

"Coming!" Helen called back.

She carefully eased herself off her bed and into her wheelchair before directing it out of the room and into the living room. When she saw what, or rather who was making headlines, her jaw dropped.

That's impossible… It can't be…


GUN Division Alpha HQ – Sun February 13, 1:36 PM – Third-person POV

An emergency meeting had been called by Commissioner James Perrault, and he and several higher-ups were gathered in the headquarters' war room.

"What are we supposed to do?" one of the generals asked. "Because we have official confirmation that it was Sonic who destroyed the towers. He has no alibi; he confirmed in last month's interview that Shadow the Hedgehog is gone, so there's no one else to blame for this but Sonic."

"This is vandalism plain and simple," another general said.

"Sonic, why…" Perrault whispered.

"Are we absolutely sure that it's Sonic this time and not Shadow?" a third general asked.

"General, the footage has been thoroughly analyzed several times," Perrault told him. "The hedgehog in question is undeniably blue and his quills are pointed down."

"Right," the general realized.

"Will this require the expertise of Team Jasper?" the first general asked, referring to GUN's newly-branded name for Rouge and Topaz.

"Yes," Perrault said. "Rouge knows Sonic better than any of us do, so they will be deployed to search for him by air. In the meantime, I will arrange ground troops immediately. So long as he doesn't venture out of the Alpha coverage zone, we should have a good chance of stopping him. Dismissed."

"This is the second time in two months that Sonic is a criminal," the second general said as everyone prepared to clear out.

"I know," Perrault said, "but even his hero status won't save him from justice this time."


The Egg Carrier – Sun February 13, 1:37 PM – Third-person POV

Orbot, Cubot, and Bokkun were once again communicating with Eggman on the command center's jumbo screen. This time, Jerome was on another screen adjacent to the doctor.

"It seems my schedule has been expedited for better or for worse," Eggman noted. "Jerome… it's time for your big moment. Oh, and there's one more thing you'll need."

"Right. Yes, Doctor," Jerome said. He hung up, and Eggman's image now took up the whole screen.

"There seems to be an anomaly…" Orbot noted, looking at one of the digital maps on a screen on the console.

"An anomaly?" Eggman asked. "Is there a flaw?"

"I'm afraid so, Doctor. There are a few isolated failures in the Solar Balls' coverage."

"Lemme see!" Cubot said, floating over next to his companion. "Oh yeah, looks like one, two three… five Solar Balls aren't working properly!"

"I did say they would remain on no matter what…" Eggman realized. "Well, if they're isolated, then there's no need to worry about them.

"But boss, one of them is located at Thorndyke Mansion. Don't you think that seems coincidental?"

"It's not as coincidental as it may seem," Eggman said. "I don't know why the four other Solar Balls were targeted, but the one at the Thorndykes' house was clearly targeted. Regardless, it's like throwing a pebble against a mountain. Vandalism won't slow my master plan down."

"You tell 'em, President Eggman!" Bokkun cheered.

Eggman grinned. "I prefer Emperor… And soon, the entire nation will too. I have to depart now because I have a press conference to host in less than ten minutes."

Eggman disconnected from the call, and the screen returned to its original readout of Solar Ball coverage, production rate, and shipping costs.

"He's not telling us much…" Cubot said.

"That is for him to know and us to find out," Decoe stated from where he was still overseeing the delivery robots' work ethic.


Thorndyke Mansion – Sun February 13, 1:37 PM – Chris' POV

It was dark outside once again, not to mention gloomy and depressing. The Solar Balls had suddenly gone out, and it once again looked like the dead of night in the middle of the day. It was almost like the power going out, even though all the inside lights were still on.

I imagined it was a little chilly outside now like it was through most of January, but luckily, my house had a heating system in case of emergencies. Even though the temperature rarely dropped in Southern California, the cold was not an issue at my house.

"That shouldn't have happened," Ella said as she turned on the TV. "The robot said it would stay on no matter what."

"I'm worried about the garden," Mr. Tanaka said as he entered the room and looked out the window. "Because if this is a long outage, the plants and hedges won't get the sunlight they need."

"Me too, we need the sun," Ella said. "And I don't like that we need to rely on Eggman for it."

"Chao chao…" Cheese squeaked as he flew into the room. Chocola, Vanilla, Cream, and Amy were behind him.

"Did you guys find anything out yet?" Amy asked.

"Not yet," Ella said. "I just turned the TV on."

Right as the news was going onto a commercial break, I saw on the ticker that crime and car accidents had skyrocketed over the last month. It didn't surprise me, especially since a lot of bad guys tended to operate under the cover of night.

"Did Dr. Eggman do this?" Cream asked in worry.

"I don't know, sweetie," her mom told her.

"This is really weird…" Amy said.

She was about to say something else when the side door opened and Grandpa came inside.

"Okay, Tails just checked the rest of the neighborhood," he reported. "It's not just us."

"Everyone else lost light too?" Ella asked. Grandpa nodded. "Well… at least it's not just us. That's comforting."

"It is, as strange as it is," Grandpa agreed. "Right now Tails is taking another look at the Solar Ball. He's gonna try and move it onto an independent power source. I got the generator out of the sublab in case he needs it."

The room was quiet after that as we waited for the commercial break to end. Cheese, Chocola, and Lily were playing together like they were oblivious that anything was wrong. I knew I wasn't a Flicky or Chao, but I wished that I could be as carefree as they were. Cream, however, was a bit worried and a little anxious. She couldn't seem to stay still, even though we had slowly gotten used to not having the sun.

When the news came back on, the reporter wasn't talking about the Solar Balls. I was already starting to get bored, so I decided to head outside and check up on Tails.

As I ran across the yard, I shivered a bit. There was a noticeable difference in the temperature outside compared to inside, and I briefly debated going back inside to get my jacket. My Mobian friends were lucky to have fur.

"Hi!" I called as I approached Tails.

"Hi Chris," Tails responded, not looking up from his work. He seemed really focused. "Did the news say anything about what caused the outages?"

"Not yet," I said.

"I'm rewiring the Solar Ball so we can hook it up to the generator," Tails explained. "That way it'll still work even during the outage. Can you go get the jumper cables in the garage?"

"Okay," I said as I ran to the garage. It didn't take long for me to find the red and black cables and bring them to Tails.

"Thanks," Tails said as he connected one end of the cables to the Solar Ball. "I can take care of the generator if it's too loud for you."

"Yeah, okay," I said. Deep down, I wanted to try and connect it myself, but I knew to listen to common sense because the generator was loud.

A minute later, the generator turned on, and I instinctively covered my ears and took a step back. It was louder than I thought, but not too unbearable. I slowly uncovered my ears as I gradually became accustomed to the noise.

The entire property was bathed in light once again, as bright as some of the world's brightest flaashlights. Furthermore, I could already feel the heat that had become familiar to me by now. There were no issues with Tails' backup power whatsoever, which meant it was stable.

Tails chuckled to himself, and he had a big smile. He looked like he was proud of himself, and I was proud of him too. He was so smart for someone his age.

"Guys! Come see this!" Grandpa called from the doorway.

"Coming!" we both called at the same time as we ran toward the house.

About thirty seconds later, we ran through the side door into the living room, where Ella had paused the TV. The first face I saw on screen was Eggman, and I knew it had to be to be something big.

He took the stand and cleared his throat as the cameras rolled.

"Good evening, citizens of Station Square. At 1:30 today, about ten minutes ago, there was a widespread Solar Ball outage reported across the east and south side of Station Square. I won't hold up the journalists any longer, so I'll get right to your questions."

"Dr. Eggman, do you know what caused the outage?" a reporter asked.

"Tower ASB18 has collapsed, and I'm still looking into the cause, but according to the early reports I have, it most likely destroyed its own transformer, which overloaded the whole system and caused it to shut down. I've already dispatcted a repair team to assess the damage.

"When can we expect to get Solar Ball services back?" another journalist asked.

"Depending on the extent of the damage, I hope to have the lights back on by this evening," Eggman said.

"Do you happen to have an idea how the tower collapsed?" Scarlet asked.

"Like I said, I'm still investigating," Eggman said, "but it's likely the tower was not properly secured into the ground. Some of the towers were hastily constructed, I will admit."

There was a pause as someone whispered something into Eggman's ear.

"As we speak, I was just informed that Tower ASB9 has collapsed just now. Now I suspect it is coordinated vandalism. If anyone is attacking the towers on purpose, you have my word that I have my robots on the ground to detain the vandals and deliver them to the authorities for justice."

"Sonic…" I whispered.

"What'd you say?" Tails asked, turning his head to look at me.

"I think Sonic is doing this on purpose," I said quietly. "I saw him leave the room earlier, and he didn't say anything."

Tails was a bit surprised, and Amy approached us; she probably heard Sonic's name.

"I didn't even see him leave…!" Tails admitted.

"Is this normal?" Chris asked. "Like, is it normal for him to do this?"

"Yeah…" Tails realized.

"But he could have gone about it differently," Amy said.

"Is Mr. Sonic going to go to jail again?" Cream asked. I felt bad for her because she sounded so worried.

"I don't know… I hope not," Vanilla said.

"I know Sonic hates Eggman," I said, "and this is definitely something he would do… but Amy's right, this does feel a little too reckless."

"Sonic is just being Sonic," Tails said. "But when Eggman's brainwashing everyone like this, it's really, um… delicate. And if it really is Sonic, then the Solar Balls could actually turn everyone against him.

"OH!" Ella exclaimed as she ppinted to the TV. We all looked, and it was showing surveillance footage of Sonic destroying the tower.

It was undeniably Sonic, the evidence was undeniable.

"I sure hope he knows what he's doing.." Grandpa said. He probably overheard us, because he didn't seem as surprised as I would have thought.

I must have looked worried, because Tails' expression softened.

"He'll be just fine," Tails told me.

I forced a smile, but I still felt uneasy about everything. What if he got caught? What would happen next?!

We sat there for the next twenty minutes, watching the news in silence. The press conference long over, Scarlet was interviewing locals who were talking what what was happening and their experiences with losing the Solar Balls' light.

Suddenly Tanaka ran into the room, startling most of us.

"Protesters outside… Hundreds of them!" he panted.

"Great, now we got protesters…" Grandpa said as he walked out of the living room toward the front doors. "Everyone stay inside while Mr. Tanaka and I deal with this."

Both of them stepped outside, and in the brief moment the doors were open, I could hear the crowds chanting "We want Sonic! Bring him out! We want Sonic! Bring him out!"

I felt a bit scared, and I backed away from the window. Cream did the same as a result, and so did Vanilla.

"But Sonic's not even here…" I pointed out.

"But they don't know that," Amy said.

Tails looked like he was in thought about this, and his tails were swaying slowly.

"Could the mind control have gotten stronger…?" he thought aloud. "Maybe Eggman wanted everyone to come here because they knew I reprogrammed our Solar Ball. But… it's a little too soon to get a whole crowd together, because this just happened."

I walked toward the front door because I wanted to hear what they were saying.

"Come back here, Chris," Ella warned. I heeded her warning and returned to the living room.

"I wanna hear what they're saying though," I said.

"We can try opening the window a little," Vanilla suggested.

"I can do that," Ella said with a little bit of hesitation as she did so.

"Sonic's not here right now!" I could hear Grandpa say to the protesters, who looked like they were getting more violent. They were already trying to push against the big electronic gates outside.

The others gathered around me to watch, and when we saw Grandpa and Tanaka start to back away from the gates and retreat toward the house, I knew it was about to be bad.

"Wh-what do we do…?" Cream squeaked.

"Hiding somewhere would be a good idea," Vanilla said. "There should be a lot of places to hide in a house this big."

As if on cue, Grandpa burst through the doors, accidentally leaving the doors open, and raced back toward us.

"Get to the sublab, now!" he urgently ordered.

We all heard the uncomfortable sound of the gates being pushed to the ground and trampled over by the combined strength of the protesters.

"Too late!" Tanaka called.

All the protesters were storming toward the house. There were so many of them, probably hundreds, but there were too many of them for me to count. The few that weren't stampeding toward us were busy ripping the jumper cables out of the Solar Ball outside and trying to destroy it.

There was no way out, and I was afraid of what the protesters could do if they found out that Sonic wasn't with us.


A/N: And that concludes "Sunblock Solution"! I know Topaz and Rouge didn't appear much in this chapter, but they didn't do a lot until the end of the arc, because a lot of this episode is setup.

This is my first time writing Espio and Charmy! Espio wasn't bad for me to write, but Charmy was actually one of the hardest heroes for me to write. I had to write him in a way that sounds child-like, but not too cringey. Did I do a decent job writing Charmy? Let me know in the reviews!

When I was adding timestamps to the scenes, I realized I had to change the second scene, the one with Rouge and Topaz. It was originally just like the episode, with Topaz spending her time on the beach to watch the sunrise. But it ended up being noon, and I didn't want Topaz spending 24 hours on the beach, so I had to change it.

Speaking of those two, since they work very well as a team, I wanted to give them the team name Team Jasper, which is easy when GUN needs to refer to both of them, kind of like Team Dark.

I know the Tails and Helen scene doesn't necessarily add anything to the story, but it's a nice bonding scene :)

Sorry if some parts looked a little rushed, I was just excited to get this chapter out, and I didn't want to stop while I had so many ideas in mind for this chapter.

I want to thank you for all the ideas you sent me for the tournament arc and Metarex Saga! As I approach the Metarex Saga, I'm curious for your input: How can I best improve Cosmo? From what I hear, a lot of Sonic fans think she's a Mary Sue who doesn't do a lot and is very clumsy, and I thought it was a bit exaggerated since that's written as part of her character. But then I looked back through the Metarex Saga transcript recently, and I realized, she IS a Mary Sue. On the other hand, she also has a huge fanbase in the #SaveCosmo community. So is there anything I can improve in either Cosmo's role, personality, or backstory? Speaking of backstory, hers will be slightly different than the original anime, so just a note for that.

Next time is "Eggman for President", where Sonic and his friends deal with the aftermath of the hedgehog's actions, and Eggman's true colors are revealed! Don't miss it!