A/N: Back in Chapter 20, I announced that I had a Discord server for Sonic fanfics. But I had since deleted it since I didn't have what it took to run a server, and AndTails had since created a dedicated Sonic fanfiction server which I'm in. But now I'd like to announce I have a new server! Well, it's not new per se, since I had it since 2021, but it's a small community server that I recently repurposed so I can share updates on my fanfiction and music projects. I posted an invite on Twitter if anyone's interested in joining.
The last chapter may have been mostly setup, but if you thought that was exciting, this chapter will be even more so!
This chapter was originally finished on February 27, 2024!
I would like to thank Mighty Dreamfinder for favoriting since my last chapter!
Without further ado, let's move on to the reviews and what matters most: the story!
9 Reviews
Monster King
Your wish is my command! Here is the next chapter!
Super duper waffles
Even though the Sonic Heroes storyline was quite shallow compared to both Adventure games in my opinion, I'll see what I can do!
1: Back in chapter 22 I mentioned that Chris has a Switch, but he also has a 3DS and a Wii. The Thorndykes also own some of the latest video game systems, including an Xbox One, a PS4, a PS5, and most recently an Xbox Series X.
2: This is one of the most unique questions I've gotten! Yuji Naka and the Sonic VAs probably do exist if Sega and 4Kids also exist in my headcanon, since Kirby is canon and so is the anime adaptation. So I would say yes, they are canon. Crush 40 is also canon, but they don't do the same Sonic music they do in the games.
3: While Sonic hasn't played Fire Emblem, he's definitely heard of it since Amy and sometimes Tails play it in their spare time.
4: Yes, not only does the legend of Santa Claus exist on Mobius, but Santa himself exists too! Santa on Mobius is basically the same as Santa on Earth, since he did appear in Sonic Christmas Blast (which in itself is not canon in my headcanon). As evil as Eggman is, even he respects Santa.
Jenaku
Honestly, I should have thought of the sparring session idea a lot sooner, because it makes sense that Sonic and his friends would want Chris to train to protect himself from danger, since they can't always be around to protect him. But at the same time, I'm glad I added it when I did. It will help to strengthen Chris for when that expertise is needed in the Metarex Saga.
CLIP is definitely up to no good... They've been sketchy lately, and even the GUN higher-ups know something is up.
Sonic definitely knows how to make an entrance! XD
Metal Sonic not being in the anime was a huge missed opportunity, considering Sonic Heroes was only released a few weeks after Sonic Battle in Japan. Yet the Chaotix were able to appear, despite not being in Sonic Battle. If there was a fourth season of Sonic X, I wouldn't doubt that Metal would have gotten his time to shine.
I see you caught the reference! :D I love sneaking those little references in there.
Only time will tell which one it is!
Goad you enjoyed the start of the Operation Endgame Saga! Here is the next chapter!
Five-Chosen (first review)
Oh yeah, I heard of Chicken Run and its sequel! I've never seen them before, but I should definitely check them out. Maybe I'll get some inspiration from it and then some. I should also familiarize myself with the plot from Sonic Rush Adventure, which sadly is her only proper game appearance. I'm not the best at quips, but sometimes the best quip or roast comes out of nowhere in my head and I just have to add it.
soberan 123
Now there's a thought...
Five-Chosen (second review)
Aside from the English intro song, I don't think I ever realized just how big of an impact Sonic had on the entire franchise in the future. I can definitely see how the movies were inspired by Sonic X.
gregorian12
You're welcome!
blazenight01
I never thought about that possibility happening in the anime. However, I think it was proven that time didn't freeze on Earth because after Chris left, a lot of time had passed and everyone was aware that Chris was gone for a long time. But that brings up the question of how old Chris would be in either mind or body when he returned to Earth, as well as why time doesn't freeze on Mobius when Chris is there.
CreativeKitty975
Oh, it's definitely gonna be big, since Eggman's been hyping it up behind the scenes!
Here is the next chapter!
Chapter 48
Original Episode
No Looking Back
California – Mon March 20 – Chris' POV
The X-Tornado was cruising silently through the cloudless skies as we finally left the desert and traveled back up the Pacific coastline. The desert gave way to mountains below us, and if I thought the scenery was gorgeous before, it was absolutely breathtaking now.
As I looked around at the snowcapped peaks surrounding us, I found myself getting a sense of deja vu from all the other times I went on Chaos Emerald hunts with my friends. This time I felt safe, even with the imposing threat of Eggman beyond the horizon, because I trusted my friends deep down that they would protect me if bad ever came to worse. Even though we hadn't picked up the signal of another Emerald in the hour that followed after we found the one in the desert, it was okay because we weren't detecting Eggman either.
We were all chatting about a few different things, and the conversation eventually changed to where the next Emerald might turn up. We even started making guesses just for fun. Even though I had my comlink with me this time, I kinda didn't want to use it to call Sonic and Knuckles who were outside the plane on the wings if I didn't need to use it, so I opted to save it for emergencies.
I always thought it was strange that most of the time, the Emeralds tended to stay in the United States, but there were a couple odd times where they turned up in other continents, like the time Knuckles found one in Hong Kong. Even Tails was confused about that when I asked him. And since this was the third time we were hunting down the Emeralds like this, I started to wonder if we would eventually find them outside the country.
"Anyone else getting hungry…?" Tails asked out of the blue a few minutes later.
"Oh! Yeah, I am," I said, shaken from my thoughts. I didn't realize I had been getting hungry. Were we really away from home that long?
"Me too!" Cream piped up from the back.
"Yeah, I could go for something too," Amy added. There was a pause. "Hey Sonic, Knuckles, we're gonna take a lunch break. You guys want anything?"
I didn't have my comlink open, so I couldn't hear what Sonic and Knuckles were saying. However, Tails could hear them over the X-Tornado's radio.
"Somewhere with chili dogs?" I heard Sonic say over the radio. I held back a chuckle. Sonic did seem to have a one-track mind sometimes when it came to food.
"Somehow I knew you'd say that, Sonic!" Amy laughed. "But there are a whole bunch of other places we can try out! But sure, we can go for chili dogs if everyone else wants."
"I don't mind," I said indifferently. I was not a picky eater, but I wasn't a big fan of onions, which is why I opted to not have any when it came to chili dogs or burgers.
"Hey, how about that one pancake place I keep seeing?" Knuckles spoke up.
"I thought pancakes were only for breakfast," Cream said, sounding confused.
"Yeah, normally," Sonic said. "Nothing wrong with 'em any time of day though!"
"That actually sounds like fun!" Amy said excitedly. "We should totally do that!"
"Yeah!" Cream said, her earlier confusion gone. Even though I didn't say anything, I was down for it too. It did sound fun, and Sonic was right. Pancakes were great any time of day, especially Ella and Miss Vanilla's pancakes.
"Okay…" Tails consulted his Miles Electric, opened his map application, and zoomed in on the nearest town. "There's IHOP, Denny's–"
"IHOP!" Cream volunteered.
"Chao chao chao!" Cheese and Chocola agreed in unison.
"Three votes for IHOP, what does everyone else think?" Tails asked, to which we all unanimously agreed on. "Then IHOP it is!"
My stomach let out a small growl as Tails steered the X-Tornado toward the nearest town. It wasn't every day that I had pancakes for lunch or even dinner, so this was a special treat. Looking for Chaos Emeralds tended to work up a big appetite.
The Egg Dome – Mon March 20 – Third-person POV
About an hour and a half after Passer and Dragg reported the bad news to Watcher, they landed their Valkyries outside the Egg Dome and made their way inside with Beta. To say that Dragg and Passer were frustrated was an understatement, and so was Watcher when they returned to the main surveillance room.
"I thought you said Beta broke down," Narasu said upon seeing the completely undamaged robot.
"It did, but not on the outside," Passer clarified. "Because when Browning give it the ability to detect Chaos Emeralds, he also upgraded the radars in each of the Valkyries so they could scan Chaos Emeralds too based on Beta's readings. But they weren't picking up anything."
Narasu sighed. "What a time for it to break down…" he said. He looked up as Browning entered the room.
"I heard what happened, I'll take a look at Beta now," he announced. "Come with me," he told the robot before disappearing from the room. Beta lumbered after him, his metallic footsteps on the smooth floor getting farther away.
"Are you positive there's no other way for us to find the Chaos Emeralds?" Li Yan asked Watcher as he sat idly in the command chair.
"I'm positive," Watcher said. He looked better than he did yesterday. "Because Browning slaved over that Chaos energy scanner for so long, and building another from scratch would take way too long. Besides, I'm convinced it was just a coincidence that Browning made it work after all this time. Eggman and Tails have Chaos scanners that somehow work every time, and I'm pretty sure they're not willing to give us the secret Krabby Patty formula that easily."
Meanwhile, Browning and Beta entered the lab, and the human inspected the robot. It had not taken any visible damage on the outside, true to what Passer and Dragg had reported. He looked up as Narasu entered the lab.
"It's clearly an internal issue then," Narasu said as he too looked at the robot.
"It has to be," Browning said. "Pass me a screwdriver and let's take a look."
After they opened Beta's primary maintenance panel and observed its circuits in detail for a solid two minutes, they concluded that everything seemed to be in working order. Browning knew this since he programmed Beta in the first place.
"The thing that gets me is all the wires are in the right places, and yet…" Browning scratches his head. "It took me weeks of tireless working to get the scanner working properly. It couldn't have just gone out like that. All the connections are secure too."
"So have we confirmed that it's just the Chaos Emerald scanner that's not working?" Narasu asked.
Browning nodded as he stood up. "Exactly. So even if Beta going to be in the shop for a while, we still have the GUN robots, so we're not completely defenseless."
"All right, we got a new briefing from the Organizer," Passer announced in a loud voice, ensuring he would be heard by everyone in the Egg Dome. Browning and Narasu stopped what they were doing to listen. "He just told us he found the Egg Carrier out in central Nevada, even though it's cloaked. He told us he sent us exact coordinates so we'll be able to find it easier. Right now, he wants us to get ready to move out of the Egg Dome and commandeer the Egg Carrier, but we're supposed to wait for his signal first."
"I understand, I'll be ready," Browning said, feeling slightly agitated at the possibility of the repairs on Beta having to wait. "But what are we supposed to do with the robot army?"
"I already brought that up with him," Passer said as he entered the room so he wouldn't have to shout. "He said to bring the whole army with us, and don't be afraid to use it in case we're intercepted, which is a given knowing how GUN and CLIP work. He also said to leave no trace of our existence here behind."
"That's gonna be tricky, considering we leave our fingerprints everywhere," Narasu said.
"We can't help it, but as far as material objects, everything must come with us," Passer repeated.
Station Square – Mon March 20 – Third-person POV
Checking both directions for oncoming traffic, Sam Speed pulled into the parking lot for his home at Lilac Apartment Suites, having just come from Kroger with some groceries. This had been his life for nearly a year now. It was basic and mundane, a far cry from what he was used to doing for the past several years.
He missed working with the S-Team more than anything, and with every passing day, he wished the city didn't go through with their decision to disband it. Now he had to work as a grocery store clerk just to keep his head above water and make sure he could stay in his second-floor apartment. Every day he spent ringing up items and directing people to different departments, he found himself missing being able to drive fast and the thrill of the chase.
While he was told that Sonic was stopping speeding crimes in his off-time, Sam knew that even the hedgehog couldn't be everywhere at once. Sure, he felt jealous of Sonic and how fast he could go without any legal repercussions, but their rivalry had become friendly of late.
As he carried his paper bags of groceries toward the front door of the apartment, something shiny caught his eye. He walked over to investigate, and he saw a blue glow emanating from it. It was shaped like a cut diamond.
His heart raced.
Shifting the bags to his other arm, he bent down to pick up the Chaos Emerald, but the moment his hand touched it, he felt his pure energy pulsing through his entire body. It was almost like it was alive. He didn't know how to feel about it. He was in awe and terrified at the same time. Sure, Sonic showed him one of the Chaos Emeralds all that time ago when he and his friends were properly introduced to the family, but this time felt different.
He slipped it into one of his bags, planning on taking it inside and calling Sonic or someone else to come pick it up as soon as he was done putting the groceries away. But then he changed his mind; he decided to drop it off at the mansion himself.
But as he approached the front doors, there was a sudden gust of wind and a blue figure stood there nearby, looking at him, causing Sam to jump and take a step backwards.
"OH! Sonic, dude, don't scare me like that, ma–"
Only then did he notice "Sonic's" metallic sheen, claw-like fingers, and glowing red eyes that seemed to bore deep into his soul.
This was not Sonic.
Or maybe this was Sonic, since Eggman did seem to always threaten people with roboticization. Either way, Sam knew he was in deep trouble.
The moment Sam took another cautious step back, the robot suddenly lunged at him, barely giving the human any time to pull himself out of the way. The robot made a swipe at the bag holding the Chaos Emerald, but Sam wasn't fast enough and he got scratched on his arm.
He winced, hoping it wouldn't be too bad, but he wasn't focused on the pain. He made a run for it, but it didn't matter where he ran, because the robot leaped at him again, brutally knocking him to the ground. He landed on his arms on the pavement, but at least his head was safe. Looking over, he saw the Emerald still in the bag, so he grabbed it out, only now realizing that his arms and knees were bleeding. The scratch wound was worse than he thought, on top of his rough landing on the ground.
His breath was shaky and his limbs felt like jelly, but running was the only thing on his mind. Holding the Chaos Emerald to his chest, he sprinted back to his car. However, he heard what sounded like the whine of a jet engine behind him. He didn't dare look back as he got in the car and slammed the door shut, right as the robot slammed its entire body into the driver's door at an incredible speed. The impact shook the entire car, crunching the driver's door inward.
He was trying not to panic as he fumbled for the ignition button to start the car. He heard a few more heavy crunches, and knew the robot was trying to break in. Finally, the car started, and he accelerated out of the parking lot. Even for someone renowned for his speed like him, he felt like he was too slow, since the car had taken considerable damage already.
"C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon C'MON!" he urged the car, not bothering to check for oncoming traffic as he turned onto the road. Just as he expected, the robot was keeping up with him, and when he looked into the rearview mirror, he realized it could fly.
Just when things couldn't get any worse, he was met with a red light up ahead. He was forced to stop behind a semi as he heard another crunch in his roof.
"C'mon! Turn green already!" he almost shouted. Glancing behind him, he saw that the entire back row of seats was compromised to the point where no one could sit there anymore. At this point, he would need a brand new car.
Right as the light turned green, Sam made the turn onto the interstate, only to hear glass shattering from the back left side. He saw the robot trying to enter the car, but he suddenly swerved, shaking the robot off as he merged with the interstate traffic. He was honestly surprised that worked.
Sam floored the gas the first chance he got, but even then the robot was much faster. He was really frustrated with himself because even at max speed, his car was slower than the robot, and he was therefore digging his own grave. He was used to the thrill of high-speed chases, but this time he was the one being chased. He didn't think he was going to make it.
Area 99 – Mon March 20 – Third-person POV
As the war games raged on in the desert outside of Area 99, several more engines roared to life on the government facility's main runway. Moments later, dozens of fighter jets of different varieties took off and flew away from the facility and the war games. It was clear they were on their own mission.
Rubbing his graying beard, General Preston Wolfe watched them depart from his post in the command tower. Once the last jet was out of sight, he descended the stairs, left the tower, and soon returned to Section A, which was Area 99's main lobby. An idea came to him, and he changed course, navigated his way through the facility's winding white corridors, and went outside, where Nate Perez was hard at work on the GUN Fort V3. Perez looked up, somewhat surprised to see the GUN general standing there.
"G-General Wolfe," Perez said, looking up. "This is an honor."
"I was granted access to Area 99 today," the general explained, "and I heard you were working on a new flying fortress, so I figured I would stop by and check up on your work."
"Oh, I'm almost done," Perez said, having recovered from his initial surprise. "Well, it could be going a whole lot faster, though. Apparently they want me to finish by tonight, but me and my whole team are working on the double, so we should be finished in a few hours." He looked in the direction of the sky. "What's up with the launch just now?"
"Oh, that unit earlier?" Wolfe said. "It was deployed to secure and retrieve the Egg Carrier."
"Oh yeah, I heard you found it this morning," Perez recalled.
"That is correct," Wolfe said, his eyebrow twitching as he turned to leave, heading back inside so he could monitor the force that had been deployed.
Anaheim – Mon March 20 – Third-person POV
About thirty minutes later, Sonic, Chris, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream. Cheese, and Chocola were gathered around a table, enjoying their lunch at IHOP and chatting about the Chaos Emerald hunt.
Even though the Mobians did draw a few stares upon entering the restaurant, it didn't feel anything like what they had gone through when they first beat Eggman. At this point, Sonic the Hedgehog had become a household name, and he and his friends were generally accepted as normal in human society. It took a while, but just like Sonic had encouraged everyone, it was only a matter of time.
"These pancakes are really good!" Cream complimented.
"Chao!" Chocola agreed from next to her.
"Yeah," Chris agreed. "It kinda reminds me of Ella's cooking in a way." I dropped my voice. "Except nothing can beat Ella's cooking."
"Or my mama's," Cream added with a smile. Chris nodded.
As Amy carefully cut her pancakes with her knife and fork, she looked up thoughtfully. She hadn't contributed much to the conversation since they landed.
"Are you okay, Amy?" Chris asked, noticing her expression from across the table.
"Anyone else got a feeling that Eggman's working on something big?" Amy spoke. "It's kinda bothering me a bit… especially since we haven't seen him in over a month."
"Oh, you know he'll show up sooner or later," Sonic said nonchalantly, swallowing his bite of pancakes. "And when he does, we'll just kick his butt 'til he's up, over, and gone, just like old times. And until then, let's enjoy this free time while we can."
"Okay, Sonic," Amy said with a smile. His confidence was contagious.
"I wonder where the next Chaos Emerald is?" Cream said, before taking a sip of her strawberry shake.
"Same here, I don't recall seeing any of them here in Anaheim," Tails thought, "or anywhere in Los Angeles for that matter. So it could be anywhere."
"I know there weren't any left in Station Square," Amy said. "Unless I'm wrong."
"Well, I didn't scan the whole city," Tails said optimistically. "For all we know, there could be one there that we might have missed. Although, we did detect the one in the desert all the way from southern California. So after we finish lunch, I'll take another look at the scanner."
"Sounds like a plan. I trust my little bro," Sonic grinned as he gently ruffled Tails' fur, eliciting a giggle from the young fox. "So when our adventure is done here, we should totally do something to celebrate! Any fun places you guys wanna check out?"
Cream gasped in delight. "Disneyland!" she piped up.
"Chao chao!" Cheese and Chocola echoed eagerly.
"Yeah, we should totally go to Disneyland!" Amy agreed.
"Wait, have we not gone to Disneyland yet?" Chris asked in confusion. He was sure they got to do everything together, but he was shocked that Disneyland wasn't one of them.
"Not yet, it'll be our first time!" Amy said with a smile.
"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Tails added from the other side of Sonic. "We should definitely go after we beat Eggman."
"I don't mind taggin' along," Sonic said. "New places means more adventure! What about you Knux, you game?"
"Nah, I'm good," Knuckles said with a smile. "But you guys have fun."
"You don't know what you're missing out on," Amy told him. "And if it's the Master Emerald you're worried about, Tails can always build a security system for it so you don't have to worry about anyone stealing it."
"Uh, you're kinda putting me on the spot there, Amy," Tails chuckled nervously, "but sure, I could do something about that."
Amy realized her mistake. "Oops, sorry Tails!"
"It's okay, you're just excited," he told her, blushing a bit and rubbing behind his head.
"In that case, sure, I can come," Knuckles said, looking at Amy. "I mean, I'd rather look after the Master Emerald myself in person, but Tails' tech has never let us down, so I trust him."
"I knew I could win you over," Amy smiled knowingly, winking at him.
"Y-You didn't 'win me over,' Amy," Knuckles said, getting slightly flustered. "I was just saying it's good for me to stretch my legs every once in a while. How else do I get to go on treasure hunts?"
The conversation remained lighthearted for the rest of the meal, which was surprisingly filling, and Cream and Tails couldn't eat another bite. So when everyone else finished minutes, they left their tip, packed their leftovers, and headed out the door to return to the X-Cyclone that was parked in an empty section of the parking lot.
As soon as he emerged into the crisp March air, Tails remotely unlocked the canopies, spun his rotary namesakes, and flew up to the cockpit. He sat down in the pilot's seat and pulled his tablet onto his lap to check where the nearest Chaos Emerald was.
"See anything?" Sonic called as he and the others caught up.
"Still scanning the area…" Tails mused as he swiped the tablet in different directions, looking for any sign of a Emerald, before looking down at Sonic. "Not yet. We're still too far away to get any signals coming from Station Square."
"Ah," Sonic said. "Well, you know we'll run into one sooner or later!"
"Yup!" Tails nodded. "Hey Chris, do you wanna sit up front with me this time?"
"Sure," Chris said as he climbed up the retractable ladder and sat down in the seat behind Tails. He had sat in the back since they left the desert, but he had gotten used to sitting in the front, where Amy usually sat most of the time.
"Wait, wait…" Tails said, squinting again at the screen and swiping furiously until he centers on a specific location on the map. "There is one in Station Square! It's on the move!"
"Let me see!" Chris said as he stood up and peered over the edge of Tails' seat. His eyes locked on the moving blue circle on the map. "Oh yeah, I see it!"
"Notably, it's moving along the road, which tells me it's in a car somewhere," Tails added.
"Well, what are you waitin' for?" Sonic said excitedly as he hopped onto the right wing. "Let's do it to it!"
Once everyone was inside the plane and buckled in, Tails sealed the canopies, started the engines, and took off in the direction of Station Square.
Station Square – Mon March 20 – Third-person POV
Sam Speed was driving for his life, and he had his heavily damaged car to show for it. It was a wonder it could still drive.
The robot that heavily resembled Sonic was now clinging tight to his car, its claw-like hands firmly gripping into its metal surface. No matter how fast Sam accelerated, the robot stuck with him. Sam knew he was after the Emerald, but he instinctively knew this robot should not have it no matter what.
Even though he hadn't been on the clock at his dream job in half a year, he still had the skills he now needed to dodge and weave his way through cars like the old days. However, the robot had no such obstacle since he could fly.
As Sam came to a curve in the freeway, he looked around for traffic before attempting to drift in order to shake the robot off, but it had an incredibly firm grip on the back of the car. After a few seconds, the robot let go and flew above the car before firing a wave of lightning at it. While Sam was unharmed, his car was a different story. The lightning flowed around it, but it entered its circuits, completely frying the car.
Sam was absolutely frustrated now, and he was starting to lose his cool. No matter how hard he stomped on the gas pedal, his car gradually slowed down, and he watched helplessly as the needle on the speedometer slowly dropped to zero.
The robot didn't wait for the car to come to a complete stop before making his move. He flew around to the front and smashed through the windshield, raining glass everywhere and setting off the airbags. Sam didn't even have time to react before he saw the robot flying away with the Emerald.
Sam was left shaking uncontrollably. He was shocked from the robot's completely unexpected maneuver, as well as the airbags going off. He cursed himself for not being fast enough to protect the Emerald.
Seconds after the robot left, Sonic appeared on the scene. It only took him a moment to figure out what happened before he approached a surprised Sam.
"You sit tight," Sonic said. "I'll make sure he pays for what he did to your ride. Long time no see, by the way!" With that, he took off in the direction the robot flew away in.
Even though Sonic was gaining on the robot, he was disadvantaged in the fact that he couldn't fly. The robot was quickly escaping into the sky, and Sonic knew he couldn't chase him up there. But he was determined to pursue him to the ends of the earth if he had to.
He raised his wrist and activated his comlink.
"Yo Tails! You read me?" he said.
"Loud and clear, Sonic! What's going on?" Tails asked.
"Listen, I had a little run-in with Metal Sonic."
"He's here?!" Tails exclaimed.
"Yeah, he was probably just- I figure Eggman was just waiting for the right time to use him. He just attacked Sam Speed and he's now trying to make a run for it with a Chaos Emerald. I'm not lettin' him get away though."
"I see it on the radar," Tails responded a moment later. "Go check and see if Sam's okay. I'll take care of Metal!"
"You got it! Good luck, buddy!" Sonic said as he turned around and headed back in the direction of Sam's destroyed car.
Fortunately, he knew the way back to the highway, and it didn't take long for him to find the car. It looked horrible, and Sonic winced when he saw that it was definitely beyond repair at this point.
"Hey Sam, you okay?" Sonic asked, approaching the driver's door.
Sam, however, was unresponsive. Sonic noticed his eyes were wide, and the airbags were deployed. He was in a state of shock, and he couldn't move his car out of the way.
"Can you move at all?" Sonic asked again as he stretched his arm into the car through the broken driver's window and unlocked the door for him.
"I-I… th-think so…" Sam gasped as he unbuckled his seat belt. Pushing the airbag aside, he carefully climbed out of the car, trying not to touch any shards of glass that littered the entire front of the car. Sirens filled the air in the distance. Someone had called 911, and the police were on their way.
"I… n-never had to run away from anything before," Sam admitted, leaning against the car to support himself since he was badly shaking. "This… Th-This is why I w-want the S-Team back… 'cuz even though you're faster than me… even you can't be everywhere at once."
"I gotcha," Sonic nodded, glancing around at the traffic that was backed up behind Sam's car, before his gaze returned to Sam. "You all still in touch at least?"
"Yeah, we still talk," Sam said after taking a deep breath and letting it out. "Except for my right-hand man Hector Dragg. He still hasn't said anything to me after the S-Team went under."
"Huh…" Sonic thought. "Maybe he's got a reason for his sudden radio silence."
"Well, near the end… he got fired for being too reckless on the job. He used to be the second fastest guy in town, but when you showed up, that pushed him back to third… and he didn't take that too well, he got jealous… So they laid him off when he put a few civilians in danger. And I took that as a wake-up call…" He coughed. "I used to be jealous of you and how fast you are, but after Hector… That whole thing taught me a valuable lesson."
"Hey, it's cool to have a little friendly competition," Sonic said with a smirk. "As long as you know what's safe and what's not, that's all that matters. And you know I'm always up for a race!"
The sound of the distant sirens gradually got closer, and Sonic's ears twitched in the direction they were coming in.
"I'll let 'em take it from here," Sonic announced. In a flash of blue, he was gone.
The Egg Dome – Mon March 20 – Third-person POV
"Look at this!" Watcher called from the main control room. Despite his usage of Chaos Control yesterday, it seemed like he was already back to his old self.
Li Yan, Narasu, Passer, and Dragg were all gathered around the massive screen spanning half of the console. It was displaying a map of Station Square, but more importantly, there was a small blip on the east side of the city gradually moving inland.
"We finally found one," Watcher said greedily. "But why didn't we see it before? Maybe its signal wasn't strong enough, I don't know."
"Let's not worry about that now," Narasu said. "All that matters is we finally found one within a reasonable distance. So if we follow it, there's a chance we may be able to find where Eggman is hiding. You know what I'm saying?"
"How are we detecting Chaos Emeralds again?" Li Yan asked inconfusion. "I thought only Beta could do that."
"The computer can only detect ones that are in the city, within a few miles at the most or so I figure," Browning called from the lab. "That's why I'm prioritizing fixing Beta, so we can have a much greater range. It was roughly three hundred miles if I recall correctly, but right now we're limited to five."
"Uh, guys…?" Narasu spoke up.
"Don't tell me it's bad news…" Watcher said. "Wh– Where's the Emerald?! It was right there on the map literally ten seconds ago! I look away for ten... seconds! And it's gone!"
"It's not just gone," Narasu added. "It was still well within the radar's range when it disappeared."
"Oh…" Watcher said. "Maybe someone else used Chaos Emerald like we did." He shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just spitballing. Anyway! This makes Beta even more of a top priority than before! Browning, I hope you're working on him right now."
"I am… sir," Browning said distastefully.
However, not even a full minute after he returned to his work, he once again heard commotion from the control room.
"I think it's back!" Li Yan declared.
"Where?" Watcher demanded, before his eyes rested on the blip that was now on a different part of the map, close to the edge.
"It moved, but now there are two of them!" Li Yan said. "This is getting out of hand."
"Well, it's possible that whoever had the Chaos Emerald earlier used Chaos Control and then appeared back in the radar's range with the other Chaos Emerald and–" Narasu stopped, realizing his logic was heavily flawed. "Actually no, I can't see that happening…"
"Which tells me it's not the same guy who had the other Emerald earlier," Watcher said. "Either these new Emeralds are Sonic or the government. If it's the government, we obviously ignore it. But we don't know for sure, so what I'm gonna do is send out a little scouting party to see who it is."
He walked over to a nearby screen and tapped a few buttons.
"Let's see… a few Beetles, a couple other miscellaneous robots, maybe a Flying Dog will do. Maybe a Valkyrie too," he mused.
"Valkyrie?" Dragg blinked. "Isn't that a bit overkill?"
"Hey, where I'm from, there's no such thing as overkill," Watcher shrugged. "Anyway, we need a pilot. Any volunteers?"
"Not me, you know I'm not a pilot," Li Yan said.
"Sure, I'll go," Dragg said. "I got a bit of experience in the S-Team. Something like this should be no big deal."
"I see something!" Li Yan reported, looking up at the camera feed. "Is that the X-Tornado I've been hearing about?"
"Wait, what?" Watcher scrambled over to the smaller screen that Li Yan was looking at and lowered his shades so he could get a better look at the craft. "It is… And its location corresponds with the two blips on the radar. All right, you know what? Scrap the scouts, we're going all in. Today we're reeling in a big one."
"What do you mean?" Li Yan asked.
Watcher had a sinister gleam in his eyes.
"You'll see," he said with a dangerous smile.
Station Square – Mon March 20 – Chris' POV
Tails let out a soft gasp from the seat in front of me, and I could tell that his eyes were intently glued to the plane's radar.
"What happened?" Amy asked from the back.
"The Emerald just… disappeared, the one Metal was carrying. I don't know how that happened!"
"That's impossible!" Amy declared.
"What do we do now?" I asked. "Wait, does that mean he used Chaos Control?"
"He couldn't have," Tails said as he tapped two buttons on his comlink. "Not in his base form at least. Hey Sonic, are you still chasing Metal?"
"I'm on him like a chili dog on a bun!" Sonic responded. I could hear the intense rushing of wind from the other end, yet I could still hear him clearly, a testament to how well Tails' tech worked.
"We just lost the Chaos Emerald's signal," Tails told him. "Do you know if he still has it?"
"Yup, he's still got it," Sonic said. "I saw him put it in a black box of some kind. I didn't even know he had it on him."
"Hm…" Tails thought for a moment. "Oh yeah, I think that's what the humans call a 'Faraday cage'. It's designed to block out electromagnetic fields, thus making it invisible to radar, and apparently it works with Chaos energy too. Keep chasing Metal while we scan the area for more Emeralds."
"Got it!" Sonic said as he hung up.
The moment Tails lowered his arm and returned his full focus to flying the plane, my cell phone rang. I pulled it out of the side compartment and checked the caller. Seeing that it was Grandpa, I immediately answered it.
"Hi Grandpa!" I said.
"Hey Chris," Grandpa said, before launching right into what he wanted to tell me. "Your mom just called. She won the award ceremony, and she says she wants to have a fancy dinner party to celebrate. Actually, your dad was the one who came up with the idea for that. Anyway, she wants to have the whole family over, and all your friends, even Helen, Danny, and Frances if they're able to come."
"Okay," I said. I wasn't the kind of guy to say no to a party. Except… "Uh, we're on a Chaos Emerald hunt right now, but when is the party and where?"
In my peripheral vision, I saw Tails' ears perk up slightly in front of me at the mention of the word "party".
"Tonight at home," Grandpa said. "She and Nelson will be running the grill – oh yeah, your dad said he can come too. And truth be told, it's been a little while since they did a good grillout."
It was true, my mom and dad were good at using the grill, but since they weren't around as much as I would have liked, we didn't get to use the grill much. However, Mr. Tanaka always maintained it and kept it fron rusting. And every now and then, Sonic would host a grillout and make us burgers and hot dogs on hot summer days, and he was surprisingly good at it.
"Okay," I said. "If we can find a break in the action, I'll see if I can come. Hold on." I lowered the phone and covered it. "Grandpa said Mom and Dad are gonna host a party tonight. You guys wanna come?"
"I don't know if I can make it," Tails said sadly. "I really wanna go, but Eggman's hunting down all the Emeralds, and we gotta get them before he does."
"Yeah, the hunt comes first," Amy agreed. "At least for me. But it's okay for you and Cream to go and have some fun!"
"Okay, but wh-what if something bad happens to you?" Cream asked worriedly from the back. "I would feel bad if I leave you and something bad happens to you."
"Oh, don't worry about us, me and Tails will be perfectly okay!" Amy told her. "Besides, Sonic did say that he wants you to go back home if it ever gets too dangerous."
"Are you sure…?" Cream asked quietly.
"Absolutely!" Amy said brightly. "You know I'll never forgive myself if something ever happens to you, which is why I wanna make sure you're always safe and happy."
"Okay, Amy!" Cream said, back to her usual cheerful self. "I think I will go to the party tonight. I hope you and Mr. Tails have fun!"
I had been so engrossed in listening to their conversation that I almost forgot I was still on the phone with Grandpa. I uncovered my phone again and held it up to my ear.
"Okay, Tails and Amy said they might not be able to make it," I repeated. "I can still come though, and so can Cream, Cheese, and Chocola."
"All right, I understand," Grandpa said. "I assume Sonic and Knuckles are busy too?"
"Yeah, they're both with us right now," I said, glancing out the window at Knuckles who was experly perched on the right wing. It was a bit of a stretch though, considering Sonic ran off to chase what I found out was his metal doppelganger.
"Well, I wish you all the best of luck with the hunt," Grandpa said. "We'll save a seat for your friends in case they do show up."
"Okay, thanks, Grandpa," I said before we hung up.
I felt a bit better about myself now that I had something fun to look forward to, even if the adventure I was on had a chance of getting rough. Especially if it got rough. However, deep down, I realized that part of me felt the same way Cream did. She was only six years old, and yet she was able to play an important part in fighting Eggman. Sonic told me that she single-handedly defeated Emerl yesterday. I was impressed and proud of her when Sonic broke the news to me, but now that reality set in, I felt somewhat inadequate compared to not just her, but all of my friends.
I sat there thoughtfully for another full minute before finally breaking the silence.
"Is… Is it really okay for me to go?"
"Of course," Tails said gently as he banked the plane to the right. "It's your family's party after all."
I took a breath, feeling hesitant to speak, but my heart spoke before my mouth did.
"Because I... honestly feel like I haven't done a lot to help you guys… Like… you're always rescuing me sometimes, and I feel like… like Princess Peach."
"Hey Chris, you shouldn't sell yourself short like that," Amy said, stopping me mid-rant. I could hear the concern in her voice. "I get that you're a human and you can't fight like we can, but there's a lot more you can to to help us than just fighting."
"Yeah, like when you helped to keep us a secret when we first got here," Tails added. "It had to be really tricky for you to do that, especially at school. But you pulled it off!"
"And you found the first Chaos Emerald!" Cream piped up.
"Oh yeah, that's true!" I said, realizing the fact. Maybe I was more valuable to my friends than I thought. They must have seen something in me that I didn't see in myself.
"Amy's right," Tails continued. "There's a lot you can do that doesn't involve fighting. You knowing about Earth and how it works has been a really big help for all of us. Sure, we could have talked to any grown-up about it, but the way I see it, it was pretty clear from the beginning that you were one of us."
"And you let us all live with you, and I don't wanna live anywhere else on Earth than at your house," Cream admitted.
"Same here," Tails said.
"Yeah, you and your whole family were so generous to all of us," Amy added. "You saved Sonic from drowning in the middle of the night. You could have been asleep and he would have died and no one would have realized it. But you woke up at just the right time, and I think it was instinct that kicked in and made you want to run out there and save him."
I pondered Amy's words. I didn't think I ever quite thought of it that way.
"Even if you don't have superpowers, one of these days you're gonna be a hero and save everyone, I just know it!" she said.
I chuckled. "That would be cool if it happens, except that only happens in cartoons, and this is real life," I said.
"Not necessarily," Tails said knowingly, holding up a finger. "Remember the time you saved all of us from ghosts at the castle?"
I swore I could hear a small whimper from Amy in the back. That brought back some painful memories, physically and emotionally.
"Y-Yeah, but that was an accident!" I said.
"That's just one example," Tails clarified. "Like Amy said, you were a hero when you saved Sonic from the pool, and there were a bunch of other times you helped us out too. Don't worry, Chris. You'll know when the right time is to be a hero."
"Yeah, you'll feel it deep down," Amy added. "Sometimes with me and Sonic and Tails, sometimes we find ourselves running straight toward danger, even when our minds are screaming at us that what we're doing is crazy. That's what being a hero is like. I heard somewhere, you don't choose that moment. That moment chooses you."
"It's okay to be scared about fighting," Tails said. "That's part of the reason why we wanted to train you, so you would be a little less scared about it."
"And even if you can't fight like us, you're not weak!" Amy said. "Remember when you fought the mind control that one time at school?"
"Yeah, and you helped me with the X-Tornado too! You're one of the biggest reasons it is what it is today."
"But that was way back then–"
"And you were really brave when you were on the Egg Carrier by yourself with Big," Tails continued. "And especially when you were on Space Colony ARK overnight."
"Actually, um… I-I was very scared…" I admitted. Those two moments brought back rough memories. I had no idea how I made it through the night when I was on the ARK. It was probably luck and good memory that my friends knew where I was.
"Being brave isn't about not being scared," Amy told me. "It's about being scared and pushing through anyway, and you have been super brave. No other kid could do the things you did."
"Yeah," Tails nodded casually. "You'll know when you moment comes."
"Mhmm," Amy agreed.
"Okay," I said. I was already starting to feel a lot better about myself. They thought I was valuable! I was truly worth something to them, more than I knew!
"There's absolutely nothing wrong with going to the party, Chris," Tails said a moment later, adjusting a few dials mid-flight. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to sit out a mission either, especially if it gets dangerous. That's just common sense. If you think it's too dangerous for you, you don't have to come."
"Okay," I said with a smile, even though I knew none of my friends could see me. "Thanks, guys."
Tails chuckled. "I'm glad I could help," he said. "I'm not used to giving long-winded speeches like that, haha…"
"You did good, Tails," Amy complimented from the back.
"We're all friends, and friends always look out for each other!" Cream said from the back.
"Chao-chao!" Cheese and Chocola exclaimed in unison.
"Yeah," I agreed. "Thanks–"
"Missiles!" Tails gasped, grasping the yoke even firmer.
"Wait, what?!" I exclaimed, looking around in all directions. An ambush was the last thing I expected. Just when we were coming off of a wholesome conversation…
Tails was forced to take evasive action to avoid the incoming missiles, even though I couldn't see them. I was still frantically looking around for them so I wouldn't be caught off guard in case they hit. My heart was racing, and I was immediately reminded of when one of Eggman's missiles shot us down in the savannah last year.
I finally saw the missiles approaching at 4 o'clock, right before Tails suddenly sent the plane into a dip. We screamed, not expecting this maneuver, but at least the missiles harmlessly flew above us. We were lucky they weren't the heat-seeking type.
"Hang on!" Tails said between gritted teeth. The moment he said that, we could feel the plane's hull around us being impacted with lasers. I was instinctively holding onto my seat, fearing that one of the lasers would crack right through the canopy and cause us to lose pressure.
"GUN robots!" I exclaimed once the culprits who fired the lasers finally came into view.
"GUN– Ohh… I forgot they're not owned by GUN anymore!" Amy realized. "Uh– Oh no… Oh no, we're falliiiiing!"
Sure enough, the X-Tornado was sent into a nosedive, and we were all screaming as Tails tried desperately to regain control of the plane. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Knuckles leap off the wing and try to fight off the nearest robots, but he was blasted square in the chest by a Laser Hunter, and he fell limp into the forest somewhere I couldn't keep track off. That was the last thing I saw as I suddenly heard the scraping sound of the treetops against the bottom and sides of the plane. It was absolutely deafening, but it only lasted for a split second before everything went black…
A/N: That concludes the second part of the Operation Endgame Saga! This was a fun chapter to write, especially the scene where Chris' friends help him with his self-worth, I loved planning it! :)
The IHOP scene was originally going to take place in San Diego, but I wanted to go with somewhere closer to Station Square. It was also originally Chris' POV, but there was not enough focus on Chris, so I changed it to third-person POV instead.
Also, I'd like to hear your input for two future chapters! In episode 58, since Amy is no longer Tsundere in this story, how should I go about having Amy, Cream, and Cosmo looking for Sonic logically? Originally Amy was motivated because of her Tsundere personality, and in the Japanese version, she even said "a lady has to take back what's important to her with her own hands". However, I toned her down in this story, so she may need another motivation. Also, in episode 71, how does everyone get in the situation they're in in the first place? While I'm really excited to rewrite episode 71, I'm still trying to think about how everyone except for Tails and Cosmo wind out holing up inside the Chaotix' cafe and hiding from the Metarex. And also, how have the Metarex not stolen that planet's Planet Egg yet?
As always, let me know what you think and if anyone is out of character or spot on!
Next time is part three of the Operation Endgame saga! Don't miss it!
