-Chapter 115-

Calm Before the Storm


The Special

The group on the Special watched as the Egg Carrier went down. All of them were tense, Big hugging Hope and Froggy tightly in his arms as Julie-Su and Knuckles did the same.

"Sonic was still on that ship," Hope mentioned. "You don't think he-"

"I see him!" Vector piped up.

The croc was looking through some binoculars, focusing on the Egg Mobile.

"He and the bad eggs managed to get off!"

"Thank goodness…" Hope sighed. "You don't know what a relief that is."

That was when the Egg Mobile began to spiral, sending Sonic flying in one direction, and his bag in the other.

"Uh-oh!" Charmy cried.

Vector caught a glint of light coming from the bag, realizing what it contained. "The Emeralds!"

The Chaotix were scrambling around, trying to get into position to catch the bag. Big just looked up, casually took two steps to the right, and held out his hand. The bag plopped right into his outstretched hand and he smiled.

"Got it."

"Sonic retrieved the Emeralds," Espio realized. "So he defeated Chaos after all.:

Big opened the bag... and immediately recoiled as a pungent odor wafted out of it. Everyone held their noses in response.

"Whoo!" Mighty let out, waving his hand in front of his face. "I think the circus is in town."

Hope looked to see a familiar shade of red in the bag along with the Emeralds.

"Nope. It's just Sonic's sneakers."

Big turned the bag over, dumping the Emeralds out onto the deck. He caught the shoes before they fell, zipping the bag back up. Hope gathered the Emeralds, depositing them in Knuckles' lap. Almost immediately, their light began to swirl around him and he visibly relaxed.

"Ugh, that's better…" he groaned as his body's Chaos Energy settled down.

"Seriously, those shoes reek," Ray remarked. "Does Sonic ever take them off?"

"Only when he goes to bed," Hope answered.

"We should take the Emeralds back to the island," Vector decided. "Old Man Locke may know what to do with them."

"I'll take the sneakers," Big said. "I can return them to Sonic on my way home."

"Speaking of home, that's where I'm headed," Hope piped up. "With my job done, I owe my grandma dinner."

"Sounds like a plan to me," said Knuckles.

"Kathryn's probably worried about you," Julie-Su pointed out. "I hope those Emeralds finish healing you before we get to the island."

"Oh, she's gonna pummel me no matter what," Knuckles replied.

"Why'd ya shove her through the ring anyway?" Charmy asked.

"Not sure, really," Knuckles admitted. "Just… felt like I had to."


Angel Island

The Special touched down before the altar, the Chaotix and Knuckles disembarking. Kat came running towards them, grabbing Knuckles and hugging him.

"We saw the Carrier go down!" she exclaimed. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine," Knuckles assured.

"No, you're not," Locke cut in, stepping forward and looking his son over with concern. "Your Chaos field is destabilized. What happened?"

Knuckles sighed. "Eggman had some kinda gadget, based on the same tech he used to control Chaos. He got a lucky shot on me, and disrupted my Chaos Force connection. The Emeralds are helping fix it."

Kat grabbed Knuckles by the vest, hoisting him into the air and shaking him violently.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU SHOVE ME THROUGH THAT DAMN RING?!" she screamed. "I COULD HAVE HELPED YOU! I COULD HAVE KEPT YOU FROM GETTING HIT! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE'VE BEEN?!"

Kathryn!" Locke snapped. "Put him down, now! He's in bad enough shape as it is."

Realizing the truth to his words, Kat dropped Knuckles. He landed, rubbing his butt.

"I deserved that," he said. "But I do have good news. We reclaimed all six of the Emeralds Eggman got his hands on. Chaos may be loose, but he's down to 0."

"Wait, Chaos is loose?!" Locke exclaimed.

"Yeah, about that…" Hope cautiously peeked out of the Special. "I... might've accidentally smashed the Nullifier gadget Eggman was using to control him."

Locke's jaw dropped. "You did what?!"

"I was trying to save Sonic and Knuckles!" Kat defended. "I didn't even realize what I had done until it was done!"

"You foolish girl!" Locke shouted. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

That set Hope off. She scowled.

"Well, let's recap, shall we? I attacked Eggman, trying to save my friends, and ended up destroying the control device keeping a god of destruction in check and leaving him free to kill or destroy whatever he pleases! Have I left anything out?!"

"We did forget to mention that we have no idea where Chaos is now, so he could literally be anywhere," Vector pointed out.

"Thank you!" Hope said sarcastically. "Thank you very much."

She flopped onto the grass, letting out a long groan.

"I screwed up big time…" she sighed. "Thanks for reminding me, old man. Like I'm not kicking myself enough over it already."

Kat glared at Locke, then went over to comfort her friend.

"Let's get you back home," she said. "Your grandma's probably worried sick."

While she helped Hope to her feet and went in search of a Warp Ring, Knuckles turned to his father.

"You really can't decide between being a decent Mobian and a grade A asshole, can you?" he questioned.

"We don't have time for this," Locke insisted. "We have much more pressing concerns. Chaos is roaming free, and no longer under Dr. Robotnik's control. It's only a matter of time before he starts hunting down the Emeralds to reach his perfect form again. And when that happens…"

"Damn it…" Knuckles cursed. "And with the Master Emerald still not restored…"

"It is restored," Locke cut in.

Knuckles perked. "What?"

"You found all of the shards. The Master Emerald is complete once more. Unfortunately, it appears to be dormant."

Knuckles ran up the altar, discovering the Emerald was indeed complete. However, the Emerald lacked any color or gleam, merely resting on its stand.

"What's going on here...?" he pondered.


Mystic Ruins

Meanwhile, in the jungle of the Mystic Ruins, Sonic had crash-landed near the temple and was now stuck upside-down up to his waist in the ground. He planted his feet on the ground, managing to get his arms free, though his head was still trapped. Frustrated, he engaged the Figure-Eight Peel-Out, felling a few trees before his head popped out of the ground. With that, Sonic looked around, cracking his neck and rubbing his sore temples.

"Boy... that's the last time I hitch a ride with Eggman," he grumbled before looking around. "Hmm... looks like I'm in the Mystic Ruins. I wonder-"

A Warp Ring opened up next to him. He jumped, turning just in time for Big to come stepping through. The ring closed and Big looked down at Sonic.

"Hey, just the hedgehog I wanted to see," he greeted.

"Hey, Big," Sonic greeted. "What're you doing here?"

"I asked Kat to send me back to the Mystic Ruins," Big replied. "I guess this is where she thought of when she threw the ring. Anyway, we caught the bag you dropped when you got off the Egg Carrier. Knuckles and his friends took the Emeralds, but I figured you might need these."

He handed over the bag containing the Power Sneakers.

"My sneakers!" Sonic exclaimed, taking it and quickly switching out the Light Speed Shoes for them. He sighed happily at the familiar tightness on his feet.

"Thanks, man. I owe ya. So… what're you gonna do now?"

"I'm going home with Froggy," Big answered. "We're both really tired and we're gonna sleep forever."

Sonic thought for a minute. "Y'know, the Freedom Fighters could use a guy like you. What do you say?"

"Thanks for the offer, but it's not really my cup of tea," Big said politely. "You can stop by our shack whenever you want, though."

"Sounds like a plan."

Big waved goodbye before walking off. As Sonic debated what to do next, a red orb suddenly appeared before him. He recoiled in surprise, watching as the orb flew to the entrance to the temple, motioning for him to follow.

"Okay…" Sonic let out. "Well, today's already been a weird one, might as well add to the weirdness."

He followed the light into the temple.

-X-

Around the same time, Gamma was flying into the main area of the ruins. As he went, images repeatedly flashed through his mind, of Robotnik, then of Amy and Cream, then of the rest of the E-Series, then of Beta's disassembly and modification, then of Lily. These images played repeatedly in his head before his optics narrowed on the image of Robotnik.

"Dr. Robotnik is no friend to this unit," Gamma declared. "Master registration: deleted."

Robotnik's image fizzled out of existence as a memory clip began playing, one of Cream and Amy.

"You're our friend, Gamma," Cream said, smiling.

"Yeah, that's what friends do," Amy insisted. "They save each other."

"E-Series... friends."

Images played of Lily, then of several other Mobini being trapped in robotic shells.

"New mission: save my friends."

He switched to his locator, bringing up a map that showed the location of all the other E-Series robots. With purpose in every step, Gamma strode in the direction of the nearest bot.


Station Square

Meanwhile, the remaining Freedom Fighters had taken a seat at a cafe. Sally was on the radio with Tails.

"So the Master Emerald's been restored?" she asked.

"According to Vector, yeah," Tails confirmed. "But it's not working."

"Any ideas why?" Rotor questioned.

"Nope," Tails answered. "But on the positive side, from what I've heard, Sonic beat the Emeralds out of Chaos."

"That's good," Sally sighed.

"I don't like it," Sticks piped up. "It was too easy. Chaos'll be back. I just know it."

"She's right," Johnny agreed. "He's free now, and he'll come wreaking havoc."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Tails decided. "Anyway, I just dropped Amy and Cream off back at Knothole. I'm on my way to you now."

Sure enough, a Warp Ring opened up, allowing Tails to join the group.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Welcome back," Sally greeted. "Any word on Eggman?"

"He went down somewhere in the Mystic Ruins," Tails replied. "Knowing our luck, he's just fine."

"What about Sonic?" Bunnie asked.

"He jumped ship and managed to hang onto the Egg Mobile from what Vector told me. He ended up crashing down in the ruins as well."

"Odds are he'll chase down the doc and make sure he learns his lesson on screwing with gods of destruction," said Sally.

"Indeed," Antoine agreed.

-X-

Not too far from their position, the Egg Mobile had crashed down in a back alley. Robotnik groaned, rubbing his head as he tried to shake off the pain he felt.

"I can't believe it," he let out. "Chaos was defeated... and now my Egg Carrier is ruined. All our hard work wasted. And then Hope destroyed my nullifier. The nerve. Right, Agatha?"

He was met with silence.

"...Agatha?"

He turned, eyes widening behind his shades to see Eggatha slumped over, having been knocked out from the crash. He picked her up, seeing a nasty gash on her head, just on her temple. She groaned in pain, remaining limp in his grip. The sight made something in him snap.

"Alright. That's it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. I may not have the full power of Chaos at my disposal... but I'll destroy Station Square anyway!"

He righted the Egg Mobile, gently placing Eggatha into it before flying a safe distance away from the city and inputting 12-23-98 into his glove controller (1).

"Time for all of Station Square to feel my wrath!"

-X-

As the Freedom Fighters chatted away, Porker glanced out to sea, stopping short to see a giant missile emerging from a silo some distance away.

"What the…" he managed. "Hey, look at that!"

Everyone else looked, freezing up at the sight

"Is... that what I think it is?" Mina asked.

"Do you think it's a missile Eggman's about to launch to blow this city to kingdom come?" Shorty questioned.

"No…" Keith shook his head. "He wouldn't! Eggatha wouldn't let him!"

"Unless she's not in a position to stop him," Sally pointed out. "Tails, was she on the Carrier?"

"Yeah, she was," Tails confirmed. "She was on the Mobile when it went down."

"She must've gotten hurt in the fall," Chris theorized.

"Which means we're gonna be blasted to bits in three, two…" Sticks counted down.

The missile launched, and the Freedom Fighters could only watch helplessly as it careened over Station Square before coming down and embedding itself into the top of an overpass. Much to everyone's surprise, it didn't explode.

"Huh?" Tekno blinked. "It was a dud?"

"No…" Tails realized. "It's not active yet."

A cackle sounded, Bokkun flying in and appearing before the missile as a crowd was gathering.

"Now listen up!" he shouted. "I got a message, and it's from Dr. Robotnik, so you all better listen good!"

He pulled out a TV, which flickered on to reveal Robotnik's face.

"Well, well... I hope you all enjoyed my surprise," he greeted coldly. "I had a blast putting that together, and your entire city will soon have one too. In exactly five minutes, this missile will detonate, reducing Station Square to a flaming crater in the earth. I'd start running for the nearest city exit if I were you."

"Well, at least he's allowing for evacuees to flee," Bunnie said.

"We need to get to that missile now!" Tails shouted.

"Tails, you disarm the missile," Sally cut in. 'The rest of us will help with evacuation efforts."

"M-me?" Tails stammered, stiffening. "You want me to handle it?"

"You're the best suited for the situation," Sally insisted. "Now go! We're counting on you!"

Tails hesitated only briefly before taking off flying toward the missile. Several people were already in a panic as Robotnik laughed, the image on the TV turning to a countdown of how much time was left before the explosion. The fox got to work prying open an access panel, feeling the nerves and pressure beginning to get to him.

"The fate of Station Square is in my hands…" he let out. "I don't know which wire to cut, and I don't have much time. If only Sonic was here!"

After a few seconds, he flashed back to the day he first met Sonic, when the hedgehog saved him from bullies. He took a deep breath, composing himself.

"Sonic's always been there for me," he remarked. "He's taught me so much. But maybe now it's time for me to stand on my own two feet. I know a lot of techno stuff. I can disarm this thing for sure."

Steeling his nerves, Tails got to work on the wiring, dismantling it as best he could.

"Now let's see... It can't be that one... Hmm... Got it! The red wire, of course. It's always the red wire."

Praying he was right, Tails cut the red wire, immediately bracing himself in the event things literally blew up in his face. Instead, all he heard was a moment of silence, then thunderous cheers from behind him. He looked up, turning to see several citizens surrounding the missile, applauding and shouting happily.

"I did it?" Tails let out, awestruck.

As it sunk in, a grin spread across his face. "I did it!"

He was hoisted up into the air, being cheered on as the crowd chanted his name.

"Tails?" Sally's voice came over the radio.

"It's alright, Sally! We won!"


Knothole

Back in Knothole, Amy and Cream were seated on the couch with Cheese and Lily, relaxing after the day they had.

"I hope Sonic's okay," Amy sighed. "I wish we didn't have to leave him behind."

"Mr. Sonic will be okay," Cream assured. "He's Sonic."

Lily just looked out the window, clearly worried about something. Cheese fluttered over, patting her on the back. After a minute of squeaking between them, Lily opened her locket, revealing a picture of herself with two other Flickies, one red and one green. Cheese perked before flying back to Amy and Cream, getting their attention.

"Cheese?" Amy asked. "What is it?"

Cheese waved Lily over, gesturing to her locket.

"Is that Lily's family?" Cream asked.

"You must miss them," Amy remarked.

Lily chirped, and Amy gasped.

"They were captured by Eggman too?" she asked.

Lily nodded.

"And when you got away, you had to leave them behind?"

Lily nodded again.

"They might still be on the Egg Carrier!" Cream exclaimed.

.After a minute, Amy stood up, fists clenched. "Well, let's go find them then."

"Really?" Cream asked.

"Yeah!" Amy declared. "We're the Freedom Fighters after all. This is what we do!

Lily chirped gratefully and Cream smiled, getting off the couch.

"Let's go!"


Mystic Ruins

Within the temple, the red orb led Sonic deeper in, soon leading him to the mosaic Knuckles and Kat came across when they were there previously.

"Whoa…" he let out. "Is that Chaos at full power?"

He shuddered at the horrifying image. "I am so glad he never got past six."

Sonic turned to the orb, which was floating off to the side.

"Who or what are you? What did you want me to see?"

The orb floated over to him slowly.

"When anger and sadness overflow like a mighty ocean, beware the great calamity," it recited in a feminine voice.

Before Sonic could react, the orb landed on his head, and his world went white…

-X-

As everything settled back into the visible spectrum, Sonic was horrified by what he saw. There was a stone temple ablaze, several Chao littering the ground with Tikal laying among them. They all looked as if they had been trampled.

"What kind of rotten bastard would hurt a Chao?" Sonic demanded aloud. "Even Eggman wouldn't sink that low!"

Sonic heard footsteps approaching, and turned, his jaw dropping at the sight of Solaran running in. He skidded to a stop at the sight of the blaze and Tikal's condition.

"No…" the ancient hedgehog let out. "By Aurora, I'm too late!"

He rushed to the girl, gently lifting her head.

"Tikal…" he urged. "Tikal, wake up!"

Tikal slowly stirred, her eyes opening. "Solaran...?"

She sat up, tears in her eyes at the sight of the trampled Chao. She gently picked one up, holding it to her chest.

"This is awful…" she wept. "How could my father do something so terrible?"

"I'm so sorry, Tikal," Solaran said. "If I'd just tried harder, if Patch had just listened to me from the start…"

At that moment, a loud roar emanated in the distance. Tikal and Solaran turned in shock and horror.

"Oh, no…" Tikal let out. "Solaran, get me to the emerald."

"What?" Solaran asked.

"Please!" Tikal pleaded. "I must stop him before it's too late!"

Sensing her urgency, Solaran gently picked her up and carried her up the steps. Sonic was about to follow them, but that was when everything began to fade once more…

-X-

As Sonic's eyes readjusted, reality returned. Sonic found himself standing outside of the temple he'd come from,

"What was that all about?" he wondered aloud. "And that guy, Solaran… Relic mentioned him way back when. She wasn't kidding when she said I look just like him. Could he be...?"

It was at that moment he heard an engine running. He looked up to see the Egg Mobile flying by.

"Eggman... what's his fat tub of lard ass doing here?"

His eyes narrowed. "Well, I'm not waiting to find out. I've got him this time!"


Author's Note:

(1): The date Sonic Adventure was released.

We're nearing the end, folks. What will happen next?

Please R&R. Until next time!