I thank Whirlpool24 of DeviantArt and KatherineOzawa of Wattpad for helping me.

In the forest close to the warehouse, Sparkle started to teach Amy and Cream the basics in Martial Arts. The winds breeze through their fur gently, as each gets the basic kicks and punches down. Putting them together, they decided to execute a combo attack. Sparkle demonstrated a double front-left side-right side-back-front elbow-back elbow with a jump roundhouse and nail kick to finish. After that, she led the girls carefully in executing the combo in the correct order carefully.

"And breathe." She commands gently. On her cue, the pink hedgehog and cream rabbit breathe in deeply through their noses and out through their mouths. Together, they pretend to be bashing in some robots with the kick order and dual elbow strikes. Amy finished her attacks with a strong roundhouse while Cream tried her hand at a 360 triple backhand takedown. They breathed through their noses to control their heart rates as the whiplash hit them from their force of combat.

"And…Done!" Tails' voice echoed from the other side of the warehouse they were practicing on. To their confusion, the three stopped all activity and walked to the other side to see what the double tailed yellow fox was up to. Tails was lying underneath the Tornado, installing a device that would have the Chaos Emerald as its centerpiece.

"You finished something, Tails?" Sparkle raised an eyebrow as she and the girls approached. Tails wheeled out from under the plane, his back against the dolly for a moment before he sits up to wipe the sweat from his brow.

"Yes! I finished the Chaos Emerald Radar. If there's one within 10 miles of us, I'll find it!" He exclaims proudly.

"Does it require an Emerald, too?" She asked.

"Yes and we have one!" He holds it up, the same Emerald they swiped their first time landing in this new world.

"So how did you come up with this idea?" Sparkle leaned against the body of the aircraft carefully.

"I dreamt it."

"Wow, it's amazing." Cream smiled.

"Yeah, it really is. Does it work?" Amy interrogated.

"I was just about to test it." Tails smiled as he hopped into the seat to take the wheel.

"Sweet! Let me go with you! I wanna see how it works!" Sparkle smiled.

"Sure, you can come." Tails accepts. With that confirmation, Sparkle leapt and crouched onto one of the wings. Tails smiled up at her as he started the plane. It spottered to life as they carefully backed out onto the runway and speeding down, he pulled up on the controls to lift them into the air. Once they were a few feet up high, Sparkle closed her eyes as she felt the winds on her face. She felt so free like a bird, she wanted to lift her arms up and pretend she was flying, but thought better for her safety.

"You okay out there?" Tails shouted from over the roar of the wind.

"You kidding? I'm having a blast!" She grinned widely, looking over her shoulder to him.

"Great!" He grins. His eyes drift down to look at the radar. "I don't see anything yet. But the Tornado seems to be running really great since we installed the Chaos Emerald. This has to be just about the smoothest flight I've ever been on!"

"That's great!"

Suddenly, from the case it was embedded into, the Chaos Emerald began to glow.

"I think it's picked up something!" Tails exclaimed, only to gasp when he felt some shaking. It's like the grounds themselves were trembling, pulling them in to the grounds. He clings to the wheel of the plane, trying to keep them steady, but it resisted. "I can't control it. Something's pulling us off-course! Maybe it's another Chaos Emerald. Ergh!" He gripped the wheel tightly as Sparkle hung onto the wrung of the wing she crouched on for life. The plane was sputtering out of control and leading them towards a stadium.

"Look down there!" She shouts, pointing to the ground where someone was waving his arms and shouting at them to stop.

"Better go down there." Tails nodded and keeping the plane steady from the tremors, they flew several feet over the man and past him, landing somewhere far away and safely for camouflage. Tails climbed out of the vehicle as Sparkle hopped off the wing, feeling some needle-like pain in her feet and stretches. After gathering their bearings, and concealing the plane with some nearby foliage, the two walked towards the massive soccer stadium. Both gazed up with wide eyes at how it looked and how it stood before them.

Tails nudged Sparkles and he started to twirl his tails, hovering above the ground. She nodded, seeing what he meant and hopped up, grabbing his ankles. Tails picked up speed and they flew together towards the stadium to see what exactly it was and what was inside.

Landing closer, they gaze upon the arena with fascination. A wide open space of green grass several feet long, two netted goals stood at either end. Rows and rows of stadium seats cover the bleachers. Iron structures held up bright white lights, shining down on the field. Underneath were banners that held various colored flags, most of which were foreign to the fox and hedgehog. At either corner were open doorways, and by the sidelines were cold metal benches.

Tails and Sparkles looked around in amazement, having never seen anything like it. Their smiles widened at each new thing they saw. But they stopped their exploration seeing a man in his 50s or 60s operating a mower by the side of the field.

"Excuse me, sir! Hello? Yo!" Tails shouted as the two approached him. His back turned to them, he seemed rather engrossed in his work to hear them.

"Hey, we're talking to you!" Sparkle shouted, cupping her hands over her mouth to get his attention.

It worked since he stood up and looked behind him only to gasp, seeing the two strange creatures. He hid behind the mower, shaking a bit with fear. "Ah, keep away!"

"Huh? I'm sorry. It's just, I was in my plane and the Chaos Emerald started glowing and-" Tails stopped rambling when he noticed the man looked scared of the two. He held his hands out and calmly approached the old man with a kind smile. "Don't worry mister, I won't hurt ya."

Sparkle stood beside him, holding a hand out to match his action. "You have nothing to worry about. We're friends." She smiled at him. The man looked up, their eyes never leaving one another.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After some time explaining about their coming to the stadium to the old man, now known as Albert, the three of them were sitting in the stadium seats. Albert listened carefully as Tails explained why they were here.

"Sure is some story, little fella." He chuckled, looking at Tails. "Never would've guessed that was you flying that plane up there."

"I'm sorry if we frightened you just now, sir." Tails apologized sheepishly. "I've never seen a stadium as pretty as this before. You know, the grass is practically glowing!"

"Yeah… morning dew-like…!" Sparkle nodded in agreement.

"Thanks for the compliment!" Albert chuckled with pride. "Lots of folks say the turf here in Casanova Bulls Stadium is the best in the world, which makes me happy because I've been the groundskeeper at this place for 30 years."

Both of them looked up with wide eyes. "30 years?"

"That's impressive."

"You bet!" Albert chuckled again, but his smile melted into a rather melancholic frown. "Only I'm afraid that today's my last day here at the ol' place. You see, the Bulls' manager here wants to build an indoors stadium with artificial turf, so...this place is gonna be demolished." He ran a calloused hand through his graying hair.

Sparkle looked at him, mouth open in surprise. "What's so great about artificial? It will never be the real thing." She argued.

Albert merely shrugged, resignation weighing down on him. "I tell you, leaving this place behind feels like the end of an era." The three sat in silence as they soaked in the aura of the stadium for a few moments. "By the way, little fella, did you mention something about an emerald?"

Tails nodded, Yeah." From his backpack, he pulled out the Chaos Emerald he dismantled from the plane before he and Sparkle left. "See, I'm looking for an emerald just like this one. It's called a "Chaos Emerald".

"A what?" Albert raised an eyebrow in confusion until he looked closer at the emerald in Tails' hand. His eyes widen, "Would this be what you're looking for?" From his overalls pocket, he clutched a blue gem.

Tails and Sparkle perked up in shock over what they saw before them now.

"Ah, a Chaos Emerald!"

"Where did you get that?!"

"I saw it laying next to the dumpster a couple of nights ago. Wasn't sure what it was." Albert answered. Suddenly, the two Emeralds begin to glow with light, floating out of Albert's and Tails' hands. They shook as more and more light began to make them burn brighter, a purple beam shooting straight up into the night sky, forcing them to turn away from the glaring light.

Unaware to them… it began to attract attention from the people outside and in their homes, who looked up at the light in surprise, shock or fear.

Knuckles was wandering around in the forest, the memories of his and Sparkle's fight replaying in his mind, the regret still lingering...the echo of his promise of regaining trust coming back to him. He knew he screwed up…big time. Believing Eggman..again! He really was foolish to trust someone with all the machinery and gadgets over the allies- no, Friends who swore to have his back no matter what… he was-

He felt the quills on the back of his body stand up in alert. He turned around and gasped, seeing the beacon of purple in the distance. "I know that light." His eyes narrowed, starting to run to warn Sonic and co. over the new discovery.

"Dr. Eggman! Dr. Eggman!" Decoe shouted as he made his way to his master. "You might want to take a look at this, sir!" He ran back to the window he was just passing by when he saw the same purple beacon. Eggman quickly moved to see what the fuss was and narrowed his eyes, gazing out the window.

"What is that light?"

"It appears to be coming from the soccer stadium!" Decoe answered.

"A stadium, you say? Fascinating!" Eggman smiled, making his way over to a cabinet, ripping one of the drawers open. Shoving his hands in, he pulls out a shiny soccer ball, reflecting his manic grin. "I have a feeling that there's an Emerald out in that location!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the small kitchenette of the warehouse, Amy, Cream and Cheese were getting dinner together. Mostly ration-like stuff from the storage close by, with a few easy-cook meals, but it was better than nothing.

"I wonder why Tails and Sparkle aren't back yet. It's almost time for dinner." Amy worried, looking at the clock by the microwave.

"Maybe they found another Chaos Emerald?" Cream shrugged, looking for silverware.

"Highly unlikely. If they'd have found another Emerald, we'd be the first to know!" Sonic shot down.

On cue, the door of the warehouse slammed open as Knuckles stood there, panting.

Amy looked at him confused, "Knuckles?"

"Look outside! Now!" He commanded. Sonic quickly opened a nearby window as the others looked out. To their surprise, they saw the purple beacon off in the distance.

"That light's coming from a Chaos Emerald!" Cream gasped in realization.

"You're half-right, Cream, but that's not just one Chaos Emerald." Sonic nodded.

"There has to be two if they'd react like that!" Knuckles theorized.

"We gotta follow that light! And fast!" Amy declared. The group took off out of the warehouse, using their speed to where the beacon was beaming up from.

Back at the stadium, the Emeralds lost the light and fell back into Tails and Albert's hands.

Albert looked between the two gems and Tails with complete surprise. "What just happened there, little fella?"

"That always happens when Chaos Emeralds come together." Tails answered. "I just hope the wrong person didn't see it." He winced at the thought.

"Heh-heh-heh! Well, if it isn't my foxy high-flying friend! And the sparky hedgehog, too!" The winds began to pick up as Eggman zoomed down in his Egg Mobile into the open arena, victory in his eyes behind his goggles as he faced the three.

"Dr. Eggman!" Tails leapt up in surprise.

Sparkle clicked her tongue irritatedly as she followed him, "Figures."

Eggman laughs evilly and looked around the stadium curiously. "Where's the rest of your team? It's almost game time!"

"What game?" Sparkle asked, confused.

"Forget it!" Tails shot down angrily. "You want the Chaos Emeralds, but I won't give 'em to ya! And what are you talking about?"

"If they won't play soccer with me, I still win!" Eggman smiled as he slammed a hand down on a bright green button, the giant spike at the end of the Egg Mobile began to transform, turning into a giant hand. Eggman smashed another button and the giant hand clenched its fingers open and closed before charging at Tails and Sparkle, both ducking to the sides before it nabbed either of them. The force of the hand managed to hit Albert onto the concrete of the stadium steps.

"Wh-what's going on here, anyway?" Albert shouted in disbelief over what he was seeing just now. Only to gasp when he felt the Emerald leave his grasp as the hand nabs it from his own. He quickly tried to snatch it back but the hand was too fast as it moved back and dropped it into Eggman's grasp.

"Oh, no, he's got the Emerald!" Tails shouted.

"Heh-heh, one down, one to go!" Eggman chuckled. "Hand it over! I won it fair and square. So give me that second emerald or I'll have to use a force play!"

"I'd like to see you try it!" Tails challenged, tucking the Emerald in his grasp, as he prepared to face the hedgehogs' shared adversary head on.

"No! Don't provoke him!" Sparkle shouted as she helped Albert up, but Eggman grinned wider as he jabbed the button once more to force the giant hand on his mobile to Grab the Emerald. Tails prepared to launch a counter, only to gasp as a blur of red zooms in front of him; Knuckles shattering the giant hand with just one strike.

"That was close. Are you all right?" Knuckles looked behind him towards Tails. The latter smiled with joy at the former's arrival.

"Knuckles! Am I glad to see you!"

"I had a feeling you'd show up." Sparkle smiled, him mirroring it subtly before scowling as he looked at the man who fed him lies.

"Well, look who it is. I like your costume." He snickered, looking at Eggman's new getup; a black slacks and a white and black striped polo like a typical soccer referee's uniform.

"You again! What brings you here? Doing Sonic's dirty work?" Eggman sneered.

Knuckles scoffed, ignoring the question. "Let's get out of here, you two."

"Okay." Tails couldn't help but agree immediately.

"But-" Sparkle was cut off just as a blue blur ran past them and stood before Eggman.

"Hey, how is it going, Knuckles?" Sonic winked to the echidna with sass, much to said echidna's annoyance.

"Well, if it isn't Sonic!" Eggman laughed. "I thought you weren't going to show up, so I took one of the Emeralds and I was just collecting the second. But now that you're here, maybe we can play soccer."

"Alright. Just give us back that Chaos Emerald." Sonic laughed, thinking he was joking. But the glint in Eggman's eyes was anything but.

"All in good times, my speedy little opponent. But first, let me introduce you to our fellow teammates." He snapped his fingers. On cue, a flying saucer appeared, floating several feet above the soccer field. A bright beam emerged from under the spacecraft, numerous E-22 robots emerging, their armor colored a dark blood-like red with black accents.

Cream and Amy, having watched the exchange from where they saw Sonic enter and followed not too long after him, slowly began to back away, caught off guard by the new bots that manifested. Saw

"They're scaring me, Amy." Cream whimpered, clutching Amy's forearm for safety.

"It's okay." Amy assured with a small smile to the sensitive rabbit. She had to stay strong, even if something in the air seemed sus…

"Not too shabby, eh?" Eggman chuckled, looking at his army with a smile. Quite a number of them stood in a strong line before their master. "Now why don't we knock off the pre-game ceremonies and get to the reason we're all here: It's game time!"

Decoe and Bocoe waved red and black Pom-poms with vigor as they cheered like a pep squad, "Egg-Man just can't be beat! Egg-Man makes you feel the heat! He's got the groove, he's got the game! He stands above all others who're lame!"

Tails saw what Eggman was getting at and stood tall, "You can't have your game here!"

"He's right… You can't choose that without talking to all of us!" Sparkle shouted out, making Tails look at her with confusion.

"Huh?!"

"Some of us might want to play soccer." She shrugged.

"But… but, Sparkle!" Tails tried to talk some sense into her, but Eggman beat him to the chase.

"O-ho! So we have one challenger~!"

"Hey, if you want to play soccer, then you have to have it someplace else! Isn't anybody listening to me?" Tails shouted with aggravation.

"That's right. I'll take you up on the deal! And we're gonna wipe the floor with you!" Sparkle nodded, glaring up at Eggman.

"But you can't have your game here! You're going to ruin all the beautiful turf!" Tails shouted, feeling close to ripping out tufts of his yellow fur from frustration.

"What's that loud-mouthed fox getting so bent out of shape for?" Decoe leaned over to whisper to Bocoe.

"Who knows?" The other replied back with a nonchalant shrug.

"Hey!" Tails whipped his gaze over to the two robots with some frustration. "I'll have you know this stadium means a lot to my friend!"

"It's okay, Tails." Albert's calm baritone cut through the tense air. He placed a hand on Tails' head gently, making the dual-tailed hedgehog look up in shock.

"Huh?"

"Only a matter of time before it's demolished anyway." Albert smiled wistfully.

"Guess we're playing, no matter what." Sparkles nodded, agreeing with the old man to give the stadium one last good show.

Amy and Cream run up to join her, flanking either side. "Okay!"

"How do we play?"

"And do we have enough players on our team?"

"Count me in!" Sonic grinned, joining them with vigor.

"Amy, do we get to play, too?" Cream looked over at one of her female friends, some subtle excitement in her eyes.

"Don't see why not." Amy smiled, hands on her hips.

Cheese was also all for the new game, smiling happily, "Chao Chao Chao!"

"You can't be serious!" Knuckles approached the group. "You do know what will happen if Dr. Eggman wins, don't you? He won't be just winning the game, but the Chaos Emeralds, too! If Eggman wins this game, it'll mean nothing but catastrophe for all of us!"

"I'd say that's nothing but stinking thinking!" Eggman retorted, but Knuckles paid him no mind.

"Do you really want to ruin everyone's fun?" Sparkle looked at Knuckles with a raised brow.

"Huh?"

"C'mon, Knuckles, don't you wanna play?" Amy laughed.

"Don't be chicken!" Cream teased, Cheese pretending to act like one on her shoulder to push Knuckles a bit more; It worked.

"Me? Chicken?!"

"Oh wait, I get it: You're afraid to play soccer~!" Sparkle joined in with a teasing grin.

"Afraid?! I'm not afraid of anything!" Knuckles stood tall, giving off a menacing aura towards the others…or rather, tried to despite their constant playful jabs.

"Great! Then you'll play, huh?" Sonic finished with a toothy smile.

Knuckles nearly felt like throttling him, but kept it under wraps as he grumbled out, "Alright! You asked for it! You want a team player, I'll give you a team player! Let's get this game on!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Sparkle smirked, getting one more team player for the game.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Kick off!"

The whistle blew.

With the Main team having the ball, Knuckles kicked the ball towards his right at super speed, passing it towards Cream, and then to Amy, juggling it between the two to keep the E-22 team from stealing it. Cream went to make a goal, but the goalie blocked her kick with little effort. The E-22 closest to him took it and kicked, only to move it out of bounds. With Tails taking the throw, he threw it to Amy. She kicked to score, but the goalie grabbed it and threw it towards an E-22 to his right, who kept the ball in range down the field towards the other end goal. He swung his leg to the right and hit it left to another. Sparkle went in for the block, only to stumble as the ball whizzed over her head and straight into the goal without giving Sparkle much time to block it.

"Goal!" Decoe cheered. 0-1

"Huh?!" Sparkle blinked a few times, head shaking as she tried to process what just happened. Sonic whistled quite loudly at the kick they made with such speed.

"Goal! Goal! Goal!" Decoe keeps cheering, hopping up and down rapidly.

"Since when is a ball faster than a hedgehog?" Sparkle scratched her head, getting to her feet.

"Loser!" Eggman cackled. "Okay, boys, send in the next sucker."

Tails decided to take up the goal. He resided himself, calculating the kicker's next move.

"It'll probably be a low left shot…" he decided. The whistle tweeted.

The E-22's had the kick off next. The striker stretched its leg and slammed his foot into the ball, the players started to keep the ball between themselves. Sonic managed to steal the ball just as it was in mid-kick, and the hedgehogs took it down the field to the enemy's goal. Miscalculating the kick, he sent it too far off, giving the opposing team the steal. They do so and taking the ball to their goal, the E-22 sent it whizzing right at Tails. Just as he went to block where he thought it'd be, it instead whooshed over his head and into the net before he had the chance to blink.

"Goal!" Decoe cheers again. 0-2

"Hey, that's not fair!" Tails griped, getting off the floor, some grass stains on his legs.

"What do you want? It's not my fault he's got long legs." Decoe snarked back. Tails trudged off from the goal as Amy got up next.

"Give me your best shot, striker!" She smiled as she readied herself.

Cream and Tails keep the ball close to each other, the E-22's attempting to steal it, only to be intercepted back by the Hedgehogs and back again! Two out of bounds backs and as one striker kicked the ball, Amy managed to knock it away with both hands before it could graze the net. "I got it!"

Her team cheers at her move as Knuckles smiled a bit, "We might not lose after all."

"Don't get too cocky~!" Decoe warned with a laugh.

"Huh?! But I thought…" Amy looked up at the scoreboard, seeing them losing by two as Dr. Eggman laughed at their misfortune. "Now I'll show 'em what I can do. I'm a much better striker anyway." She growled. She threw the ball up and using a backwards flip, she bicycle kicked the ball from her place on the field. It soared through the air like a comet. It hit the net, but not before it hit the robot goalie in the head instead, knocking its head off in the process. "Uh, sorry about that!" She winced as it stumbled away, being replaced by a new goalie. 1-2.

The E-22's control of the ball started getting much more difficult for them to try and steal, but despite the trials, the Hedgehogs weren't giving up!

"Goal!" Another for Robotnik's team. 1-3.

"Losing isn't fun…" Tails murmured, rubbing his arm where he nearly got shoved away by one of those brutes.

During a pass, one robot hit the ball too hard, sending it sailing up into the air and away from the field.

"Don't kick it like that, you buckets of bolts!" Eggman shrieked. Sonic used his speed to dash to the top of the stadium scoreboard and caught the ball before it could get away.

"Is that even allowed?" Decoe asked, not feeling anymore pep in his step from the recent smack down with the ball.

"You may have caught the ball, Sonic, but it's gonna cost us with a penalty if you leave the field to grab it!" Sparkle warned.

"Ugh! Who says we gotta play by the rules anyway?! Cut me some slack!" Sonic griped, chucking the ball to whomever was to throw it in due to the out-of-bounds action.

At one point, Amy sent a hard swerving roundhouse at the ball, making it pierce the robot goalie right through its stomach and shattering it into pieces, the ball sinking into the net.

"Sorry, that's a goal!" Amy winked. 2-3.

Knuckles evaded two of the E-22's cornering him on either side, dribbling the ball as he landed a hard kick and sinked another goal before the robot goalie could move to block. He smirked with victory.

"Sad to say, but it's a goal." Decoe sighed, changing the score to 3-3 as Team Sonic cheered, finally catching up with Eggman's team. Unaware that the game has garnered some unwanted attention…

"In other news, we are now over at the Casanova Bulls Soccer stadium where it appears that a team of hedgehogs and giant robots are playing a rather intense game of Soccer." One TV news reporter spoke to the cameraman, filming her intensely.

Sparkles cracked her knuckles. "It's time. We're putting in a diversion! Cheese, you're up!"

"Chao!" Cheese saluted as he and Cream prepared to wipe the floor with them. As the game progresses, one of the E-22s was hesitant to score as they closed in on the goal, Cream preparing to make her move.

"Grr... you big loser! You call yourself a team player?!" Eggman shrieked, tugging at his hair.

Decoe yelled with vigor, "Kick the ball!" Why wasn't he doing anything?

Cream batted her eyes with innocence, "Oh, Mr. Striker, could you... maybe not kick the ball too hard? I've never played before~!"

Decoe gasped. They're making balk work of their players!

"Thank you, Mr. Striker!" Cream winked before she charged at the ball, giving it a powerful kick to the other side for Knuckles to finish.

"Grrrrr... I oughta throw you on a scrap heap!" Eggman kept losing it, getting redder by the second.

Knuckles scored yet another goal, turning the score 4-3

"Oh yeah!" Sonic cheered.

"That means we're in the lead!" Amy smiled. They could have a chance at winning!

Sparkle nodded with vigor, when something caught the corner of her eye. "Well, would you look at this?" She finally took note of the surrounding area, the seats filled with various humans in the seats.

"This is so awesome!" One kid shouted over the roar of the crowd.

"Where'd all these people come from?" Albert scratched his head with perplexion. He didn't remember any media footage getting out to the public…unless…

Sonic prepared for the kick off, Eggman gnashing his teeth.

"Grr... you crush that blue blur or else!" He threatened under his breath.

"Sonic, let me take the kick this time! I want some payback for last time." Sparkle pushed him out of the way subtly.

"Be my guest!" He nodded and let her have the kick off. Her eyes burned icy blue as she put her power into her leg. Veins of light purple electricity ran down her fur as she swung her leg up…and forward, hitting the ball with one powered-up swing, the ball ripping through the net… literally.

Everyone went wild, as the score was now 5-3.

Eggman saw red, shaking with rage at the loss. "Oh, yeah? Those bumbling clowns! They won't make a fool out of me!" He swore as Bocoe dropped a small gray remote into his hand he jammed the button on it.

One of the robots went still, his head hissing as it let out steam and its head popped off with a sharp yank. The body fell to the ground as the head zoomed towards a distracted Sonic, hitting him as it gripped onto his body.

"What the-?!" He shouted, trying to yank the thing off but it wouldn't budge. Eggman smiled; now to ham it up.

"Oh, dear! My robot! It's malfunctioning! It will explode any minute now! Run, Sonic! Hurry! Run away!" He yelled dramatically, hiding his malicious smirk.

"So now you're desperate!" Sparkle accused the scientist as Sonic made Tails and Amy try to yank the head off him, but their combined strength still wasn't enough to flirt it off.

"He's trying to get us to forfeit the game! I gotta get rid of this thing, quick!" Sonic used his super speed to run around the field, desperate to knock the soon-to-be-bomb off his head. The crowds scream as they duck behind their chairs to avoid getting in the blast zone. "Hey, you're really hanging on!" He shouted as he kept running after, his speed kicking up a cyclone of wind, flinging rubble and random objects around the stadium. The crowds held onto their chairs as the kicked up winds made them shield their eyes.

Amy, Cheese, Cheese, Sparkle and Tails all cling to one another to keep them grounded. But out of nowhere, the same soccer ball zoomed at Tails, hitting him on the head. He yelped in pain as he flew back, losing his grip on the Emerald. He tried to search for it in the chaos, but with the wind flurrying around, it was no use: either risk his life for the Emerald and possible get killed or lose it and save himself…Curling into a ball, he stayed low to the ground, hoping he could find the Emerald soon.

"Sonic!" Knuckles shouted over the roar of the wind. The blue hedgehog looked up as he heard his name being shouted. "Jump, Sonic! Hurry!"

He nodded, "Okay!" He sprang up into the air, flying a few hundred feet over the stadium as Knuckles kicked off the ground and launched himself up to meet him. He reeled his fist back, powering it up.

"Hey, watch it, will you?!" Sonic screamed, covering his eyes as the fist swung forward, punching the head off, hurtling it far away just as it detonated, exploding in a shower of sparks. Sonic looked up, seeing he was safe. "Thanks, you're a lifesaver!" He landed back to the ground as the winds began to dissipate.

The hedgehog squad met the two asking if they're okay, but just as they were wondering where Eggman was, he flew over them, laughing victoriously.

"You may have beaten me at soccer, but with these shiny blue Chaos Emeralds snuggled ever-so-safely in my pocket, I'm the real winner after all! Aren't I?!" He held up both the Emeralds for the hedgehogs to see, happy that his distraction plan had worked; flying off with his E-22ms and Decoe and Bocoe in tow.

"Now he has both the Chaos Emeralds." Amy clenched her jaw in anger as the winds finally died down. The crowds look up to see if all the action was over with. Looking up, they saw fireworks (from the exploding robot head) and cheered wildly. The group gazed up as the crowds began to chant 'Team Sonic!' With amazement in their eyes.

On the field, the reporter and her camera crew were filming everything with excitement. "I tell you, Ingles, this is one way to send off a stadium! And this game was, of course, the last to be played here at the stadium! Until-!" She stopped, looking up to see someone familiar. "Could that be… it's Elmer Johnson, the stadium manager!"

Elmer Johnson, a tall and almost lanky man in a dark blue business suit and pepper-gray hair walks onto the field with stride in each step he takes. He exuded an aura of power and understanding, something that would make any individual fear and respect him, especially with the confident look in his blue eyes.. The crowds murmured with anticipation over what was to happen next.

Elmer approached Albert with a small smile, "I was watching at home. I must say it was quite a remarkable game." He winked towards Sonic and Co. "It's all thanks to you, Al, and I-" Johnson laughed, feeling a bit awkward as to what he was about to say. "W-well, Al, I can't help but think how much you've done for the Bulls over the years and what a great friend you've been."

"Thank you." Albert smiled as they shook hands.

"I'm thinking about moving the Bulls' turf over to the new stadium intact. I sure could use your help." Elmer smiled.

"Sure thing." If Albert's smile couldn't get any brighter, then it did. The two shook hands once more as the crowds cheered.

Sparkle looked over at Al with a smile, before she turned to her comrades with a determined glint in her eyes. "We may have lost the Chaos Emeralds, but we learned a lot about teamwork. And we'll use that to get those Emeralds back. So who's with me?" She held out a hand to them. One by one, Tails, Amy, Cream, Sonic and Knuckles placed their hands over her, her determination now with them.

"Yes."

"Me too."

"I'm in as well!"

"Absolutely!

"I'll stand with you."

"And to be honest, I wouldn't mind if we played more soccer once in a while." She couldn't help but smile as they threw their hands up in the air as one.