- Chapter 47 -

Lights! Camera! Danger!

Studiopolis

In a dark alley, a Warp Ring phased into existence. Chris came out first, followed by Keith and Kat. They looked around to find themselves in an extravagant city decorated with studio equipment, cinema elements and theater objects. Tall skyscrapers and buildings extended as far as the eye could see. Along the paths were street lamps with spinning rings inside, frail shop windows filled with TV sets, giant popcorn machines, satellite dish-mounted vans, TVs, director chairs, and giant clapperboards. Dotted around the city were LED marquees spelling out various phrases.

"Studiopolis," Chris noted. "The city that never sleeps."

Kat looked around, the loud noises of the city overwhelming her. All the people, cars, TVs, and other miscellaneous noises were just too much. She covered her ears, closing her eyes and whining like an injured animal.

"So loud…" she managed. "Why is it so loud?"

Keith gently patted her back. "Not used to big, crowded cities?"

Kat shook her head.

"It's too much…" she let out. "Too much like…"

She trailed off, whining again. The boys caught on quickly.

"I know it can be a little overwhelming," Chris said. "I was the same way the first time I came here."

Keith reached into his backpack, pulling out a pair of headphones and a music player. Ditching the player, he held out the headphones.

"Here," he offered. "Maybe these will help."

Kat took them, placing them over her ears and sighing in relief. "Thanks."

As they went along, the group exchanged stories and talked, helping to pass the time and ease some of the awkward tension.

"I've been here more than once," Chris told her. "My mom's an actress, y'know. Her name's Lindsey Fair."

"She's also my dad's sister," Keith added.

Kat perked, surprised. "No way. She's the biggest actress on Mobius."

"She's also my dad's sister," Keith chimed in.

"Does that mean…" She pointed at Chris, "You're the Christopher Thorndyke," then she pointed at Keith, "and you're Keith Kent?"

"I see our reputation precedes us," Chris quipped.

"Well, the Kents and the Thorndykes are well known, even where I came from," Kat replied.

"That reminds me," Keith spoke up. "Where did you come from?"

"Chun-nan," Kat answered. "A small village in the east."

"I've heard of that place," Keith said. "On the continent of Yurashia, west of the Dragon Kingdom. It's said they make the best pork buns on Mobius."

"Oh, they do," Kat boasted. "My mom made the best, bar none."

"No offense, but I never would have pegged you for Chun-nese," Chris admitted.

"My mother was Chun-ese, my father was from Northamer. He came to Chun-nan for a change of scenery, and stayed for my mother."

"What did they do?" Keith asked.

"My dad was a botanist. He studied plants, their properties, and other such trivia. My mother was a healer. They met while she was gathering herbs for medicines."

"I see," said Chris.

"So until Eggman, you'd never even been around alot of machinery," Keith mused.

"Hey, I'm not that much of a bumpkin," Kat clarified. "I still had TV and Internet. I just preferred to explore the forests of Chun-nan than become a vegetable in front of the boob tubes. So what's it like having Lindsey Fair for a mom?"

"It... wasn't too easy growing up, to be honest," Chris confessed. "Mom was busy with her career for a while, and Dad was busy a lot at the office. I remember one day, when I went with Grandpa to one of his meetings with Sonic's uncle Chuck, I brought it up to them. How lonely it was at home."

"So Uncle Chuck went with Grandpa to the mansion and had a talk with Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Nelson," Keith added.

Kat chuckled. "Something tells me they got better after that."

"Oh, definitely," Keith confirmed. "They're still pretty busy, but they always make time for Chris nowadays."

"Lucky you," Kat noted. "It must be nice."

"Yeah…" Chris admitted. "It is."

A bit of an awkward pause followed before Keith decided to change the subject. "So! How do you go to school all the way up on a floating island?"

"Oh, Knuckles homeschools me," Kat explained.

Chris blinked. "He does?"

"He doesn't seem like someone who could homeschool... anyone," Keith said.

"You'd be surprised," said Kat. "He was doing college level math at the age of three. I know because the answer keys are written in crayon."

"Really?" Chris said. "You wouldn't know it just by looking at him."

"Well, what about you?" Kat asked. "Someone looking at you would just see two kids. They wouldn't see the youngest scientific minds of the century."

"Fair point," Keith conceded. "But we're actually the second youngest. Tails is the youngest."

"My point still stands," Kat let out a long breath, smiling slightly. "Wow. I think that's the longest conversation I've had in awhile."

"That's part of the reason I offered to take you with us," Chris admitted. "Your only real social interaction for the past few months has been Knuckles and his pet dinosaur."

"Hey, don't knock Chomps," Kat warned. "Chomps is awesome."

"Wasn't trying to knock him." Chris defended.

"I know, I know," Kat assured. "And I get it. Knuckles is not the most... affectionate creature, but he tries, and he's just as inept at people as I am. We're both trying to adapt."

"Makes sense," Chris looked up, smiling and pointing at one of the buildings in particular. "Hey, Breeze Media! Did you know the CEO is Sonic's cousin?"

"Get out!" Kat exclaimed. "Sonic's related to the owner of the biggest media company on the planet?"

"Well, not biologically," Keith said. "Miss Breezie was an orphan his uncle Chuck found on the streets after the Great War. He took her in and adopted him."

"Huh…" Kat mused. "Guess Hedgehogs have a thing for strays."

"Helping people is in the blood for him, that's for sure," said Chris.

"True that," Keith nodded.

"Wow... Now I feel really bad about-" Kat suddenly cut herself off when she stumbled, clutching her stomach. "Not again…"

Keith steadied her. "This sickness… Does that mean the Phantom Ruby's here?"

Kat nodded. "Yeah… somewhere close."

"Any exact location?" Chris asked.

"No…" Kat shook her head. "It's on the move, and closing in fast."

They were all looking around. Chris was tense, and froze when he saw a blue missile headed straight for them.

"HEADS UP!" he screamed.

They jumped out of the way as the missile hit the ground.

"Freeze, punks!" a voice came as a spotlight shone on them from above. The spotlight came from a helicopter, from which the cop Heavy was hanging, calling on a megaphone. "You and the other Freedom Fighters have been declared enemies of the state! By order of Dr. Robotnik, surrender or die!"

"You want us, try and catch us!" Keith shouted as he grabbed the other two and darted down a back alley.

Before long, more Egg Robos flooded after them, a siren blaring from each of them.

"What do we do?!" Chris questioned frantically.

"Run?!" Keith answered. "I thought that was obvious!"

"We can't run forever!" Kat insisted. "We have to fight back!"

They ducked into another alley as the Egg Robos passed by.

"If only Sonic was here…" Keith lamented. "He'd know what to do!"

"Well, he's not," Chris declared. "We're gonna have to handle this ourselves. We didn't join the Freedom Fighters to run and hide like a bunch of babies!"

"We need to deal with the main robot," Kat said. "The others will shut down if we do."

Chris carefully peeked out, thinking things over.

"Kat, the Phantom Ruby signal is coming from the Heavy, right?" he asked, getting a nod. "Of course... its energy altered the Heavies... it adds up."

Keith steeled himself, reaching into his backpack and pulling out the Nitro Gloves.

"Moment of truth time," he said, handing one to Chris.

"What are those?" Kat asked.

"Nitro Gloves," Keith explained. "Something we've been working on for a while. In theory, they'll allow us to create controlled balls of energy."

Kat raised an eyebrow. "In theory?"

"We haven't successfully tested them," Chris confessed, "and all of the tests we have done... ended explosively."

"Tails helped us work out some of the kinks, but we didn't have time to test them again before Angel Island came crashing down," Keith added.

"So those things could blow your arm off if you messed up somewhere," Kat facepalmed. "You two are insane. How can I help?"

"You lost your club at the Chemical Plant," Keith recalled. "Is there anything else you can do? Fighting, any other weapons?"

"Hand-to-hand," Kat replied. "I've been training with Knuckles. I can do about what he can."

"Okay," Chris nodded. "We go for the Heavy. He's priority one right now. Any other Egg Robos get in the way, you know what to do."

Keith and Kat nodded.

-X-

As the Egg Robos roamed around, the Heavy Gunner continued flying around.

"Show yourselves, Freedom Fighters!" he shouted. "You can't run or hide from me forever!"

The three lurked in the shadows. Chris nodded at Kat, who gave a nod, then charged out of the alley. She jumped up, kicking one robot into another.

"There you are!" the Gunner shouted.

Keith pressed a few buttons on his Nitro Glove, flinching as it powered up and prepared for the worst. Instead, a multicolored energy sphere materialized in his palm.

"YES!" he exclaimed. "It's working!"

"Don't jinx it!" Chris snapped. "Just throw!"

Keith reared back, standing like a baseball pitcher before winding up and throwing the ball. The sphere bounced off one Egg Robo before hitting multiple others, pummeling them.

"Nice one!" Kat commended.

"Thanks!" Keith called back.

Chris activated his own Nitro Glove, throwing it at the Gunner. It slammed into his helicopter, knocking it out of the sky, but the Gunner jumped out just in time.

"Okay, that does it!" he shouted. "I was polite! I was reasonable! Remember, you brats brought the ass-kicking you're about to get on yourselves!"

"Bring it on, scrap heap!" Kat shot back. "We'll send you to the smelter!"

The Gunner fired three missiles at once, two red, one blue. Keith tossed another energy ball, which bounced off the red missiles before hitting the blue one, sending it back to its source. The Gunner couldn't dodge in time and took the hint. He stamped his foot, incensed.

"Hey!" he shouted. "You can't make a jackass out of me!"

"True," Kat admitted. "You do a good job of that yourself!"

"Why, you little…"

The Gunner started firing more missiles, the group forced to take cover. "Consider my rockets a parting gift! In that they'll part you! Part of you here, part of you there, part of you waaaaaaay over there, staining this entire stinking city!"

"Maybe if your aim was better, I'd actually be afraid!" Kat retorted before turning to the boys. "I don't know how much longer I can keep him riled up. Either of you have a plan?"

"I've got one," Chris said. "Keith, give me the other glove."

Though confused, Keith did so. "Chris, what are you thinking?"

Instead of answering, Chris pressed a few buttons on each glove. They lit up, the multicolored energy concentrating in both palms before he forced his hands together, the spheres forming together into one big energy ball.

"Chris?!" Keith shrieked. "Are you nuts?! The energy feedback will short out the gloves! You'll lose your hands!"

"Maybe, but it's better than being dead!" Chris shot back.

Kat looked at the ball, then at the Gunner. "I'll line him up for you."

She ran out, giving the Heavy a double middle finger salute.

"C'mon, you copper-plated copper!" she taunted. "Come and get me!"

"Alright, that's it!" the Gunner screamed. "I'm blasting your ass from here to Shamar!"

He readied his rocket launcher, just as Chris ran out, lobbing the big ball with all of his might.

"Eat this!" he shouted as the ball collided with the Gunner, who sparked and exploded on contact.

The Nitro Gloves were sparking and smoldering, upon which Chris quickly yanked them off. His hands were a bit singed, but nothing serious. Keith went over and smacked him upside the head.

"Do not do that again!" he snapped.

"Guys!" Kat piped up suddenly. "Check it! The crooked cop had our Emerald!"

Sure enough, she was emerging from the crashed helicopter, the red Chaos Emerald in hand.

"How did you know it was there?" Keith asked.

"Once the nausea wore off, I could feel the pull of the Emerald," Kat explained.

She tossed it in her hand before sliding it into the pouch on her skirt.

"Let's get me to a hospital real quick," Chris decided. "Then we'll meet up with the others."

As they headed to a hospital, Keith turned to him.

"That was still a crazy move, you know," he said.

"I know. But we were running out of options," Chris justified. "And look at it this way. We finally managed to work out the kinks in the gloves."

"You two are beyond crazy." Kat wrapped her arms around them. "Luckily, so am I."

The trio shared a laugh at that.

Author's Note:

And there we have it. Chris and Keith have proved their mettle in combat, and found a Chaos Emerald as well.

The character of Breezie, mentioned here, is featured in both Archie and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm using the Archie version, including Breeze Media, but I'm making her more sympathetic when she shows up; you'll have to wait and see when she shows up to know what I mean.

Next chapter, we go to Sally's group in the Press Garden Zone, and see how they handle things up there.

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Heavy Gunner - Keith Szarabajka (Daniel Holtz from Angel, Harvey Bullock from Batman: The Telltale Series, and Venom from Spider-Man: Web of Shadows)

Please R&R. Until next time!