Chapter 1: Magnus

The day started like any other, Sonic rising from his resting spot, which just so happened to be on Tails' couch that day, and rushing out to go on a morning jog.

Tails felt the wind of Sonic rushing out the door and rolled his eyes. That hedgehog just couldn't sit still could he?

Still, he wouldn't let it bother him, as he continued to water his plants, paying special attention to the one in the white pot.

"Alright, he should be back in a couple of minutes… I should get some breakfast going so we can eat before we go and meet Jewel."

The plan for the day was simple, as it turned out the whole fight against the cosmic entity known as "The End" while they were on the Starfall Islands caused some minor gravitational shifts across the globe. While it wasn't enough to cause some serious damage, it did result in some coastal towns and cities to be flooded by the change in tides, so Tails was tasked with designing some gear to help with the reconstruction effort, while Sonic was just tagging along for the presentation because he was bored.

Tails didn't have the heart to tell him that the meeting would probably be just a bunch of boring numbers and plan making…

Regardless, Tails began pouring the pancake mix into a bowl, thinking Sonic would appreciate the fluffy treat when he got back from his run…

His plans were foiled by a large explosion in the distance.

Looking out the window, he saw an aircraft, firing missiles towards the ground.

"… So much for pancakes… or getting to the meeting on time…" Tails said with a groan.

He then grabbed his arm cannon, which he finally got around to repairing and perfecting recently, and rushed out the door.

When he arrived at the scene, he saw Sonic was dodging a bunch of missiles, all while taunting Eggman.

"He really is like this most of the time?" Sage, who was accompanying her father, asked. "He was not like this on the Starfall Islands."

Sonic responded to this by spin attacking Eggman's machine, and standing on top of it as it fell to the ground.

"Hey, serious times call for a serious hedgehog." Sonic explained. "My friends were in danger, so I needed to get serious, got it?"

When the machine landed on the ground, Sage looked Sonic dead in the eyes.

"I see, I'll store this data for further use." Sage said.

"Yeah, sure." Sonic said. "Anyways, I…"

Suddenly, a surge of electricity began crackling through the exterior of the machine, catching Sonic off guard, and causing him to fall off of it in pain.

"Much like I stored the possibility of you taunting us from the hull of our ship, resulting in countermeasures being developed." Sage explained.

"Oh ho ho ho ho ho! Well done Sage!" Eggman said. "Now… to finish this…"

A couple of laser beams began charging, but were interrupted by Tails hitting the machine with his arm cannon.

"Sorry I'm late!" He told Sonic as he helped him to his feet.

"Heh, always helping me when I need it the most, thanks bud." Sonic said. "Now then, let's teach this Egghead a le-"

When the two looked over though… they were very confused, as it looked as though giant rocks were wrapping around Eggman's machine.

"Wha- Sage! What's happening?!" He asked.

"I… I do not know! I was unaware of Tails being capable of such things!" Sage said.

"Uh… yeah, I didn't do this…" Tails explained.

The rocks them began to tighten around the machine, destroying it, and causing the Eggmobile to eject.

"Sorry to interrupt." A new voice said.

Looking over, they saw a large, rigid creature clad in armor approach.

He was unlike anything any of them had ever seen… it was almost as if his body was made of… rocks?

"But I have business with the great hero Sonic the Hedgehog and his associates, so I'd rather you not interrupt."

"Hmph, fine whatever." Eggman said. "I wasn't really feeling it today anyways! Maybe I should have taken that vacation you suggested after all Sage!"

"Told you so." Sage said. "Enjoy your time off Sonic, Tails."

Sonic then waved to the girl.

"Yeah, same with you Sage."

"D&D when we finish with… whatever this is?" Tails asked, gesturing to the newcomer.

"Absolutely." Sage said with a smile.

"Ugh… I can't believe you get along with those two…" Eggman groaned as he began flying away, Sage following.

"Alright… so…" Sonic said, turning to the newcomer. "What can we do for you Mr… uh…"

"Magnus." The newcomer said. "General of the Terrastial Kingdom."

This caused Sonic and Tails to become even more confused.

"Terrastial… what?" Sonic asked. "Sorry, never heard of you guys."

"Understandable, as we live in another galaxy." Magnus explained.

The two brother's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Tails asked. "You came from another galaxy?!"

"Indeed, I came a long way to request your assistance Sonic." Magnus explained.

It was at that moment that Sonic and Tails realized just how serious this was going to be.

"… Alright, we were planning on meeting up with the gang later today, so you can explain it to all of us then." Sonic said.

"Very well. I appreciate you taking the time to hear me out." Magnus said.

"Eh, can't just ignore a cry for help, especially when it's from another galaxy." Sonic said with a shrug. "The last time someone came this far… well…"

He then looked at Tails sadly.

"It was… a memorable trip." Tails said sadly.

"… I see." Magnus said.

Shaking it off, Tails smiled. "Well, I was just making breakfast… want to join us for some pancakes?"

"… What's a pancake?"

Later, Restoration HQ

"… Sonic, you have some weird friends." Jewel said, taking note of the newcomer.

"Oh no, Magnus here isn't a friend, he just kinda… showed up earlier today asking for help." Sonic explained.

Jewel didn't looked to pleased with this.

"And this help is why you two are a half hour late to our important meeting?" Jewel asked.

"Oh no, that's because Eggman launched a sneak attack, Magnus helped with that, and we agreed to hear him out during our meeting." Sonic explained.

At that moment, Magnus stepped forward.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am General Magnus of the Terastal Kingdom. You must be Jewel, the leader of this Restoration that Sonic told me about." Magnus said, extending a hand.

"Oh… yes, that's me." Jewel said.

"I gotta say… your local delicacy known as pancakes are quite delicious." Magnus said happily.

"… Right…"

At that moment, Tangle walked over and looked Magnus straight in the eyes.

"So like… are you made of rocks or is that just a part of your armor?" She asked. "Either way, COOL!"

"… This is my body." Magnus explained. "Now, I believe you already had important matters to discuss, so I shall wait outside until your business has concluded."

With that, he stepped out into the hallway.

"… Sonic, just what did you get us into this time?" Amy asked.

Sonic just shrugged.

"Dunno yet, but I figured we should at least hear the guy out. Gotta be important if he came from another galaxy to ask for help."

Suddenly, Tangle had stars in her eyes.

"Another galaxy?!" She asked.

"And we lost her… great…" Lanolin groaned. "Hope you didn't want her to contribute to the actual meeting, cause she's not anymore."

Everyone just laughed nervously at that.

"A-anyways, let's get to business…" Jewel said. "Tails, did you finish what I asked for?"

"Yup!" Tails said pulling out a small device. "Now, let me explain how this works… first…"

Thirty minutes later

Magnus was standing outside, leaning against the wall, waiting for the meeting to conclude.

Several Restoration members walked by, all confused by his appearance.

He too was put off by the appearance of the strange creatures of this planet, but kept to himself.

Before long, the door opened, with Sonic gesturing for him to come inside.

When he went inside, he looked out towards the group.

"First of all, I thank you all for hearing me out. The matter I wish to discuss with you all is of grave importance." Magnus said, as he pressed some buttons on his gauntlet.

Suddenly, an image of a letter appeared, written in some language that was foreign to all of them.

"This letter was delivered to the royal palace three days ago." Magnus explained. "The princess was able to decipher the language, and it details a threat."

He then pressed more buttons, and the translation appeared on screen, written on what appears to be some kind of whiteboard.

"Dear Your Majesty Volcania, if you care for the safety of your daughter, you must surrender your kingdom's sacred gem. Failure to comply will result in her meeting a terrible end.

Sincerely, Red X."

"As you could imagine, we must take this threat very seriously." Magnus said. "Not only is our princess's life under threat, but the Sacred Gem as well."

Tails stepped forward.

"What do you mean by 'Sacred Gem?'" He asked.

Magnus them pressed more buttons, and a drawing of a crystal appeared in the hologram.

"A large gem, one whose energy sustains our entire planet." Magnus explained. "It is kept under protection in an unknown location, and none outside the royal family and top officials in the military are meant to know of it's existence, let alone it's location."

"Then how does this guy know?" Amy asked. "If it's supposed to be a secret, how did he find out?"

Magnus shook his head.

"His methods are a secret to us. I trust my peers with my life, so I cannot imagine they'd betray us, and I can see no reason why the Queen or Princess would say anything to anyone." Magnus explained.

"… And the King?" Sonic asked.

"Never existed." Magnus explained. "The Queen never married, and the Princess is adopted."

"… Ah, I see." Sonic said. "So, next question… why us?"

Magnus pushed more buttons… and the image that appeared sent a chill down Tails' spine.

"… The Metarex…"

"Your exploits against the Metarex are well known in our Galaxy." Magnus explained. "We believe that if anyone could help us against this threat, it would be you... after all… he's already wipe out half of the galaxy over the past three years."

THAT certainly sounded like a good reason.

"Geez… half a galaxy wiped out by this one guy? Sounds tough." Sonic said.

"And rumor has it, he's been amassing Sacred Gems from the other planets as well… we truly believe him to be unstoppable at this point." He explained.

Tails took his words in, and got thinking

"We'd probably need to gather the Chaos Emeralds then." He explained. "Honestly, I have a feeling that we should address this. If this guy is as powerful as he says, it'll only be a matter of time before he moves onto other galaxies… and eventually come here."

"And he'd be much tougher to deal with then…" Sonic said before looking to the group, who all just nodded. "Alright, we're in."

Magnus turned off the hologram and smiled.

"Thank you all very much." Magnus said. "Now, we'll be departing in three days, please take the time until then to prepare."

"Of course, thanks for bringing this to our attention Magnus." Jewel said.

"I will meet you here the day of departure. Until then." Magnus said before leaving the room.

Everyone watched him leave in silence, before Jewel slumped in her chair with a groan.

"We already have enough to deal with between Eggman and the water damage…" Jewel said.

"Oh, Eggman said he's gonna go on a vacation after we beat him this morning actually." Sonic said. "Don't know how much I should believe it, but it's there."

"We'll have to believe it for now…" Tails said, typing on his Miles Electric. "Hopefully he doesn't have any Chaos Emeralds… that'll make things tough…"

Sonic then smirked.

"We could probably convince Sage to say something, she seems to have an easy time convincing him of things like this." Sonic said. "I do know that Shadow has one... guess I'd better go talk to him."

Tangle then shot out of her seat.

"Well! Looks like we have a plan then! Just one thing left to ask…" Tangle said with a smile. "… Can I come?"

"NO!" Jewel and Lanolin both shouted.

Tangle then drooped down, dejected.

"Why nooooot…?" She asked.

"Cause we need you here!" Jewel said. "Not out in space!"

"Oh come oooooooon! I wanna help!"

"And you'll help by staying here!" Jewel said.

Tangle looked sad at this… but them perked up when she got an idea.

"You know… this is a civilization or rock people." Tangle said. "Which means they probably have some real pretty minerals and gems there…"

This got Jewel's attention.

"Maybe if I went and helped out, I could convince them to mine a few… you know, as a souvenir." Tangle explained. "And maybe I'd be willing to give one or two to my bestie for her museum exhibit?"

"… Which would attract a crowd and allow us to receive more funding for restoration activities…" Jewel said, before sighing. "Alright, I guess I could allow it…"

"THAT EASILY?!" Lanolin shouted, with Whisper just smirking, amused.

Tangle then began cheering, excited, before turning to leave and get ready.

"BUT!" Jewel shouted, causing Tangle to stand at attention. "Under three conditions!"

"One! You are the only member of the Diamond Cutters going. I need the others here to help with Restoration efforts and in case Eggman causes trouble...

Two! I need Blaze and Silver to stay behind as well. If we are sending Sonic and the others out into space on this mission, we need at least two of our heaviest hitters back home in case of Eggman attacks.

And three! Tails and Amy are the bosses! So you are to listen to their every command! Understood?!"

Tangle turned to Tails and Amy, who just shrugged.

"I guess that's fine." Tails said. "I mean, the reasoning for it all is sound that's for sure."

"YEEEEEEEE!" Tangle squealed before rushing out the room.

"… Magnus asked me for help, why are Tails and Amy in charge?" Sonic asked.

Everyone just gave him a look.

"… You know what? Forget I asked." Sonic said. "Anyways, come on Tails, we got Emeralds to find!"

"Right!"

And with that, the two set off to prepare for their journey.

End of Chapter 1

Hello all! And welcome to this story!

This story was just a neat idea I got recently, and I wanted to write it. It served as a nice break from working on Tangle's log Act 2 (which should hopefully be ready to release once this story is done).

Now, normally I'd explain the meaning behind the title… but I'm gonna wait a bit on that. You'll see why in a couple of chapters.

Also yeah, couple of references to Sonic X in this. We do know some version of the Metarex saga is canon since Cosmo's plant is seen in Tails' workshop in a couple of pieces of media, so I thought it'd be neat to have some kind of reference to those events here, with Sonic becoming well known in certain galaxies because of it, which lead to Magnus coming to seek his help.

Magnus' name is also based on Magma in case that isn't obvious. All of his species names will be based on something involving rocks, since they are rock people.

Anyways, that just about does it! See you next time when we meet the Queen and Princess!