Sonic X: Back To Earth.
Author's note: I want to thank you all for the reviews and favorites and I'm really glad you're enjoying this story so far. I will do my best with it as we go on.
Happy reading!
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. The rights of the franchise and all Sonic characters and media belong to Sega, Sonic Team and other connected companies. I only own the OCs.
The Mutagen Saga.
Chapter 4: New Concerns.
As if things weren't bad enough given the mysterious de-aging process by the mysterious substance no one knows of it's origins, yet some slight good news with rumors saying that Sonic the Hedgehog has returned, now everyone had another huge problem; literally.
Kai's giant Cyborg-Worm slithered into the city streets, roaring and crushing into some buildings under his command to terrorize humanity to show them his new rule. Under the confusion and fear they already felt, everyone only managed to think mostly of one thing, and that was make a run for it. People screamed for help or pointing at the sight of the 'giant monster' while attempting to escape it's wrath.
In the air heading close to Station Square, the X Tornado with Amy, Cosmo, Cream and Cheese high enough to see, could only gasp in horror, fear and confusion at the sight.
"What is that?" Cosmo asked, covering her mouth with her hands in horror.
"Ew! It's a giant worm! I hate worms." Amy cringed, horrified and disgusted.
"Oh no! Everybody's in danger!" Cream cried out worriedly, with Cheese echoing what she said.
"Then I guess we'll have to stop that thing until Sonic appears!" Amy declared, attempting to make the plane go faster without crashing it. "Hang on tight, girls and Cheese! We're going in!"
She did her best to make the X Tornado go faster, but even with the speed they were going, the pink hedgehog couldn't help but worry that she wasn't flying Tails' craft right.
'Sonic...please be okay. I hope you're close by.' Amy thought to herself, hoping that her 'boyfriend' was safe and alright and that he was close by to save the day.
Knuckles in the meantime, having been navigating his way to the Thorndyke Mansion when he felt the quakes and when he searched around for the source to find out what was going on, jumped up onto cars and buildings and found the main problem which had him dumbfounded, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"What the? Where did that thing come from? It can't be anything Eggman made, can it?" The red echidna asked, seeing the body parts of the giant worm yet metal was also attached to it. Something was seriously wrong, and he had a feeling that things had turned bad here as well.
He gasped in horror when the giant worm then swished it's tail onto a building, smashing glass and almost hitting the people who scrambled to get away. Not even when the familiar sight of the GUN military army appearing and opening fire could stop this thing. Knuckles's eyes narrowed as he knew, without Sonic at the moment, he had to do something until his friend got here, if he was in the same area.
"Sonic...You picked a lousy time to disappear, but I can handle this thing." Knuckles whispered, before racing over as fast as he could, stopping just behind the slowly slithering away giant monster, and shouted loudly. "Hey, Worm Guy! Over here!"
This got the giant Worm's attention as it paused in it's tracks before looking behind it to see the determined echidna glaring at it.
"Why don't you go back into the soil where you belong?" Knuckles demanded as he stood ready to fight the giant worm.
The giant worm simply roared and lifted up it's tail to crush him, but Knuckles waited with gritted teeth before jumping out of the way before leaping onto it and ran up before punching it's body as it went, leaping onto the buildings and once he was high enough, he gave it a Knuckle-Punch squarely on the head. It roared in pain as it was shoved downward, but to Knuckles' shock, it growled before swishing it's tail at him, catching the guardian off-guard and knocking him over.
He screamed before crashing onto the road hard, rolling before stopping and grunted. As Knuckles pushed himself up, he gasped when the tail was brought down to crush him, and he quickly scrambled to get out of the way, leaping back to avoid in getting it while the area that he landed on was crushed by the giant tail, causing another tremor. People who had noticed the fight stumbled and screamed and tried to get away, while the police car that Tails, Chris and Helen were riding in almost veered off the road when the officer nearly lost control. They came to a near crashing stop as they all screamed.
"What was that!?" Chris exclaimed as he held a terrified Helen close to him in his arms in the backseat they and Tails were in.
"Another one of Eggman's giant robots!?" Tails cried out, worriedly as he feared that the evil doctor was already making his decoy attack to find the files on Shadow's origins.
"Uh...If Doctor Eggman is back, I have a question." The police officer nervously stuttered, looking over his shoulder to the youngest passenger, asking. "Does he usually turn living beings into robots?"
"Not that I know of. Why?" The two-tailed fox asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I think he may have gone more insane if we created a giant Cyborg-Worm...!" The man replied, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at the sight of the giant worm in the distance, along with Knuckles fighting it.
The eyes of Tails, Chris and Helen almost popped out in shock as they cried out in further alarm, unable to believe what they were seeing.
"That doesn't look anything like what Eggman would do, but it kinda looks close!" The young kitsune muttered, his heart hammering in shock and fear.
"Chris, what's happening?" Helen asked.
"I'm not sure, but I've got a bad feeling that weird purple fog that made almost everybody nine years younger must've caused this to happen. At least, that's one of my theories. I'm just as confused as you guys." The former twenty-one year old responded, thinking that maybe the unusual substance has not only affected humanity, but also the wildlife and mutating them somehow.
"Judging by it's height, I'd say that it can be seen almost everywhere in the city, so Sonic should be on his way right now." Tails muttered, calculating it's height which was approximately 100 feet tall given it's size, which wasn't even possible.
'Chris is right. It must've been that purple fog that appeared before we got here. But if Eggman's not behind it, then who-' Tails was cut off mid-thought when the Officer and Helen both screamed suddenly. When Tails and Chris looked up ahead, Knuckles attempted to punch it again, but was knocked back hard along with a large piece of concrete slab from the road and straight towards them.
"Look out!" Both Tails and Chris cried out, as they and Helen scrambled to get out of the car, as did the Officer, with Chris carrying his fiancee, but even as they did while Knuckles hit the ground hard in a crash, briefly unconscious with his eyes swirling, the slab was still heading towards them.
Just when they thought they were about to get hit even though they would've moved out of the way despite that Tails and the Officer had to drag the echidna which limited their time, the calvary of a blue streak zoomed in and Homing Attacked the slab, smashing it in half and caused it to crash onto the ground safely away from the five of them. The blue blur then landed and revealed to be known other than Sonic who was glad to have made it in time.
"Sonic!" Chris and Helen both exclaimed in relief.
"Great timing!" Tails cheered happily, while the Officer stood there, jaw-dropped.
Knuckles, regaining conscious and realizing that not only he heard Tails and noticed both him and to the red echidna's surprise, Chris still as a kid along with Helen, but also Sonic who stood there having saved them.
"Took you long enough!" Knuckles grunted in annoyance.
"Hey, guys. Thought I'd come by and deal with a big worm problem." Sonic greeted casually as he gazed his shoulder, waving at his friends.
"You couldn't come sooner?" Knuckles asked as he stood up, glaring at his friend.
Sonic shrugged, "Sorry. I was waiting for Tails, Chris and Helen at the Manor when me and Chuck saw the giant worm and I got here as fast as I could. But let's worry about that later. Right now, we've gotta stop this thing, fast!"
"I wish I could help, but I don't have the X Tornado." Tails sighed in slight guilt.
"It's okay, Tails. Me and Knux can handle this overgrown annelid." Sonic reassured, getting ready to dash off.
"Aren't worms bugs, though?" The Police Officer asked, puzzled. This earned him either deadpanned, annoyed, dumbfounded or stunned looks from Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Chris and Helen. "Well, birds eat them."
"Uh...just because birds eat worms and bugs, it doesn't mean worms are bugs. They're classified as annelid, like Sonic said." Chris corrected.
"Yeah, and worms come from different types, too." Tails added, explaining.
"Think I'm gonna be having nightmares tonight after we beat this thing." Sonic sighed, placing a hand to his head, before gesturing Knuckles to follow him.
The two then took off quickly, though Sonic was faster due to being the fastest thing alive, even though Knuckles did try his best to keep up with the blue hedgehog. Tails and the others could only watch on in worry and despite that the young kitsune and the twenty-one year old-who was once again trapped in a twelve year old body-were confident that the heroic hedgehog can save the day, they couldn't help but dread for the worst.
Just then, the group heard the familiar sound of the X Tornado's engines which confused them. When they looked up, Tails and the others were shocked and surprised to see his plane coming straight towards them, hearing Amy's voice call out to them just as she made a bit of a bumpy landing, but not causing any damage at all.
"Hey, Tails! Really glad you're okay." Amy greeted with a wave, while Cream and Cheese waved as well.
"Amy? How'd you get to the X Tornado?" Tails asked, in disbelief, only to softly gasp when he and Chris caught sight of the passenger between the pink hedgehog and the young rabbit girl and chao. The young fox's eyes widened as his eyes met that of the young alien girl who, noticing him, softly gasped herself before smiling warmly and widely, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
Could he dare to hope? Or was this some sort of dream?
"Tails...!" Cosmo whispered, her heart leaping upon seeing the fox boy she loved again, relieved that he was okay.
"...Cosmo!? I-is it really you?" Tails shakily asked, his own heart leaping as the three months of sadness and loss ebbed away like a dream, replaced by the sheer happiness. Could it really be true?
"Oh, Tails!" Cosmo cried out happily, to which Amy warmly opened up the hatch to allow her friend to unbuckle herself and leaped out of the plane to meet with the one she cherished.
"Cosmo! It-it is you! Cosmo!" Tails cried happily, almost immediately hugging the revived Seedrian who instantly hugged him back. Tears formed and fell free as the overwhelmed young kit cried. "I thought I wouldn't see you again! I missed you so much!"
"I missed you too, Tails. I have always watched over you." Cosmo replied, her tears sliding free as well.
Chris smiled emotionally in relief to see one of his late friends having mysteriously come back to life, and despite that the threat of Eggman, the purple fog substance, the de-aging thing, and now a giant mutant-worm, having his otherworldly friends back made things look up a little. Amy and Cream both began shedding tears of joy to see how happy Tails and Cosmo were to be reunited after three months of belief that the latter was gone forever. Helen looked a bit confused, but she smiled none the less, while the Officer blinked in confusion and shock at the mysterious alien girl who was hugging Tails, but he relaxed a little seeing how happy the young kit was.
However, the reunion was interrupted when the giant Cyborg-Worm roared again, causing the group to look up and saw the monster fighting Sonic and Knuckles who were not holding back, with a series of Homing Attacks and Spin Dashes, along with Knuckle-Punches made Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Cosmo, Chris, Helen and the Officer remember that the danger wasn't over yet.
Tails, seeing that Amy had brought the X Tornado here, made him narrow his eyes with determination and while he didn't want to part-ways with Cosmo just yet when he had just been reunited with her, he knew that Sonic and Knuckles needed him. He knew what he had to do.
The Worm was in the process of attacking the city again once it believed that Knuckles was out of the way, it didn't anticipate another hero to stop it, because as soon as it began to swish it's tail at another building, Sonic came bouncing in using his Homing Attack, hitting it hard several times on the face and chest, forcing it to stumble back.
"Hey, Soil-Breath!" Sonic taunted after he landed on top of a building that was about the same height as the giant worm-turned-beast. "What do you think you're doing?"
Growling over being attacked again, the giant Worm turned to glare at the heroic hedgehog who folded his arms with a confident smirk on his muzzle, chuckling as he was ready to take on the over-sized soil-eater.
"If you're looking for a garden, you came to the wrong place. How about I direct you out of this city and kick your wormy-butt?" Sonic continued bravely.
The Worm was insulted by the taunt and reared it's head back before going for a head-slam to squish him, but Sonic leaped out of the way easily within Micro-seconds while part of the building was damaged. The blue hedgehog cringed at the destruction but knew that it couldn't be helped. He could only hope that he and Knuckles would prevent anymore damage by beating this thing. None the less, the cobalt hero ran along the building laughing as the Worm, hearing him, snarled before attempting to hit him again, but once again missed.
"Too slow, big guy! Then again, worms are in the slow-poke category!" Sonic chuckled, his smirk widening. He spun around and dashed back, easily dodging the Worm's Tail Whip and while it rocked the ground, he kept his balance and jumped before going into a Spin Dash, hitting it's stomach area and then axe-kicked it with a punch that followed. He then leaped back and dodged another one of it's attacks.
However, the Worm had other ideas, as when Sonic spun around and went for another attack himself, he was shocked that it opened it's mouth and let out slimely, disgusting vines that were also part metal, reaching to grab him. Gasping, the blue hedgehog skid a stop before flipping and jumping to avoid this new attack. It was a distraction as Knuckles finally caught up and jumped from a building before punching it on the back of it's head, making it lose concentration and fell forward. This allowed Sonic to dodge it's 'living' vines and kicked it squarely in the face.
But the giant worm surprisingly recovered and to Sonic's shock, it swished it's head and hit him, knocking him back while he screamed as he flew backwards before crashing onto the sidewalk. Knuckles cried out to his friend before being met with the same fate, only with the giant worm's tail, knocking him into a tree where he hissed in pain and slid onto the ground.
"Ow...That worm's tough and not counting the metal on him." Sonic groaned, pushing himself up and winced at the injuries he substained, feeling all bruised up and his ribs hurting. He'll be feeling that in the morning.
The giant Worm snarled before going for another attack with it's vines, forcing the blue hedgehog, who saw this and gasped, to ignore the pain and ran out of the way before he ended up caught. He ran and dodged each vine while trying to get close but with Knuckles knocked out, it was surprisingly difficult. But Sonic refused to give up as he Spin Dashed underneath the vines and hit the lower part of the giant monster, forcing it back once more, but it didn't help as it swished it's tail again, this time Sonic not being able to dodge it as he was knocked back again.
Flipping and landing on his feet before placing a hand onto his knee, Sonic winced, then jumped again as the vines almost grabbed him.
"There's gotta be a weak spot on this thing!" He grunted, clenching his fist while Knuckles woke up and rubbed his sore head that throbbed in pain.
"I hate worms." The red echidna growled, ignoring his pain and charged with a roar, jumping and Kunckle-Punching it on the side of it's body, cracking the metal and digging into it's body where ooze leaked out.
Sonic used this chance as while the Worm roared in pain and reared back, he charged in high speed before leaping up and performed several Axe Kicks, then ran up it's body and onto it's back, even though it was slippery, he used the metal parts to his advantage and while the giant monster attempted to shake them both off, the blue hedgehog jumped up and then used his Homing Attack on the back of the head, which instantly caused it to roar in even bigger agony, pulling back it's vines back into it's mouth and closed it.
"Heh. Looks like I found it's weakness." Sonic chuckled, and continued to performed his Homing Attack while Knuckles, seeing this, jumped and climbed his way up to help, but ended up having to grab hold of the worm's metal parts as the giant beast swished to try and knock them off. But this was slow going as the blue hedgehog kept on attacking it despite it moving it's head.
'Gotta finish this quick, or else there'll be more damage.' Sonic thought to himself, landing on top of the worm's head and held on tight while trying not to fall off and attempting to work on another strategy to defeat this monster once and for all.
"Hey, Sonic!" Tails' voice called up from above.
"Huh?" Sonic blinked in confusion, before he and Knuckles who also heard looked up to see, to their surprise, the X Tornado with Tails, having told Amy that he can take over now, in the pilot seat, along with Amy who had Cream and Cheese on her lap despite the discomfort, and Cosmo who joined them as she briefly informed them and Chris of the important issue that she can explain once the monster is defeated.
"Here's a ring!" The young fox called out, opening the hatch on the side of the wing and shot out the promising Power Ring.
Realizing that Amy had piloted the Tornado to find him and deciding to worry about that later, Sonic smirked and jumped high, with Knuckles letting go and landed safely on the ground before leaping out of the way. The blue hedgehog caught the magical Ring which almost instantly powered him up, glowing in bright golden light. Absorbing it's power like he always did, Sonic glanced down before going into his charged up Homing Attack, hitting the giant Worm several more times while causing more damage to it until he gave it one final hit on the back of the head, cracking it's metal-shield and shattering it.
Deep inside was a small red orb before it shattered, and disintegrated while thin layer of the same substance floated up before vanishing into thin air. The giant Worm roared in defeat and pain, and then while Sonic landed safely on the ground, he and everyone else were surprised to see the monster then glow and then shrink smaller and smaller until it's transformation it went through was undone. In it's place was a normal, dirty and soil-covered worm which wriggled helplessly on the ground.
"Huh? What's this?" Sonic muttered, raising an eyebrow in confusion while Knuckles walked up to him and stood by his left, staring at the wriggling worm.
"It's a normal worm. What's going on?" Knuckles asked, confused.
"You got me." The blue hedgehog shrugged, just as clueless as his friend while Tails gently set the X Tornado down onto the road and opened up the hatch. He and the others then climbed out before Amy raced over towards him.
"Sonic!" She cried out in relief, and before Sonic could even move, he yelped when Amy nearly glomped him over, hugging him tightly before she began to cry. "I was so worried!"
Despite feeling guilty for, for once in his life, having broken his promise even though it was Eggman's fault, Sonic was relieved that his self-proclaimed girlfriend was okay, but cringed in embarrassment as he tried to gently push her away.
"A-Amy, could ya loosen up a little? I'm fine!" Sonic half-pleaded. Eventually he managed to push her away a little, gently holding her by the arms before sighing. "Sorry I didn't come back like I promised. It's all Eggman's fault."
"I know, but I'm so happy that you're okay. That's all that matters." Amy replied, not caring that he didn't keep to his promise for once, but she knew that it hadn't been his fault.
Sonic just gave her a sad smile with a shrug, before looking up to speak to Tails and Cream when he and Knuckles both finally noticed the one person they haven't seen in the Tornado and needless to say, they were both speechless and shocked. The blue hedgehog's emerald green eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of the Seedrian he never thought he'd see again, and memories of how today started came racing back into his mind.
"It's nice to see you and Knuckles again, Sonic." Cosmo greeted warmly.
"...Cosmo?" Sonic could only manage, again wondering if he was simply dreaming. He then softly gasped as he remembered the voice that had spoken to him earlier; first back when it instructed him to meet with Tails, and then again when it, or rather, she, told him that there was still hope. And that he would be seeing her.
Could it really have been her?
"No way!" Knuckles exclaimed, shocked. "Cosmo!? You're-you're...You've alive!?"
Cosmo nodded.
"I didn't get the chance to ask, and I'm so happy to see you again. But how is this possible, Cosmo?" Tails asked, turning to his most cherished friend.
"It was that plant from the seed Sonic gave you, Tails." Amy answered before their revived friend could speak. "When that huge light that brought us and our whole continent here glowed, I think it caused the flower to bring Cosmo back."
"Actually, it was a combination of that and how Tails was taking care of my flower. I was watching all of you since that day, and it was only when my flower had reached it's peak, it was sun set that revived me. It's what my mother told me, and I didn't think it was possible, but it was. The Chaos Control may have made it faster." Cosmo explained.
Sonic let out a long whistle, smiling. "Cosmo, you're really somethin' else. Welcome back to the living."
"Thank you, Sonic." The young Seedrian nodded, before saying with a worried expression. "But I'm afraid things are becoming bad. Both your world and this world are in grave danger."
Sonic softly gasped as, while he still wasn't certain, his eyes widened in realization. "It was you. You talked to me in my head twice today, haven't you?"
"She what?" Knuckles asked, dumbfounded before gazing at Cosmo and questioned skeptically. "Okay, what are you two talking about?"
"Maybe we should continue the conversation at Chris's house, since he, Helen, Cream and Cheese are waiting for us." Tails suggested.
"Yeah, good idea, buddy. I mean, the mess is kinda dealt with and this worm is givin' me the creeps." The blue hedgehog agreed, glancing down at the worm who by then wriggled away to the sidewalk and towards a transplanded tree.
Amy then remembered another reason and quickly said, "Actually, Sonic. There's another problem, and we're gonna need Chris and Chuck's help."
"Huh?" Sonic, Tails and Knuckles murmured.
"Something's wrong with Vector. He's got an unusual cold and Espio thinks it's the stuff that made him grow into a giant."
"What!? How can that be?" Sonic exclaimed, shocked. He remembered the Mutagen stuff that Kai attempted to use on him, but ended up hitting the crocodile detective instead during their time here on Earth. But the blue hedgehog had stopped it by giving Vector the pills of Aspirin. How could it still be in his friend's body?
The pink hedgehog shook her head, "Nobody knows. But the Chaotix were actually looking for Knuckles to find a way to come back here to find a cure."
Sonic and the others shared a glance as things were getting more and more unusual today. The cobalt hero felt very uneasy, because if the Mutagen was making Vector sick, then it means that the Aspirin was only making the cure temporarily for nine months.
'Wait...if that's true then...what did that stupid science-guy really use to create that thing? And how can the cure only last for nine months?' Sonic thought to himself, becoming more and more concerned.
High above them a couple of blocks away on another building, Kai, having seen his latest creation being defeated and having been utterly shocked, had flown back into Station Square to see who or what has defeat the Cyborg-Worm. What he discovered made him furious and shocked.
"What!? That hedgehog and his cohorts are back? Along with an alien girl with them?" The corrupted scientist growled, before ranting childishly, stomping his feet like a spoiled toddler. "Not only Chris Thorndyke's Porthole messed up my Mutagen, but it also somehow brought those animals back! And that means that idiot Dr. Eggman is back as well! They just ruined my master plan!"
But as Kai had a tantrum while his pet giant Fly buzzed in confusion, he then realized something and glanced down at Sonic's group once more.
"Wait a minute. If they're alive and they haven't even aged in years but looking only months older...but this is impossible. Time cannot be different in their world. It's been nine years! I need to know more about those rodents. But first, I need to carefully spy on them and to do that, I need to build myself my own new secret lab." Kai grunted angrily, his human eye narrowing.
Knowing what he has to do now that he had more enemies to worry about, especially since the people will be glad to have Sonic the Hedgehog back despite that things are more complicated, Kai gestured his 'pet' to follow him as he powered up his jet-back and flew away...with clumsy results as he still hasn't gotten the hang of controling it without going all over the place yet.
Meanwhile, Eggman, Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun were in the desert on the otherside from where Knuckles was, and even though they had only just regained consciousness a little while ago, being the evil genius that he was, the doctor was already working on a new Base in a large cave since some of the equipment was also brought here.
"Curse that hedgehog! Why must he always ruin my plans!? If anything, knowing that blue pincushion, he and his cohorts are here already which will get in my way for developing my Shadow Android Army!" Eggman cursed angrily while his minions were hard at work for building the basic steps of his new Base. "How did he know what I was doing anyway?"
"I have a feeling it was that bat jewel thief Rouge since she was possibly spying on us and then informed Sonic." Decoe stated, pausing in his work.
"She was allies and probably close friends with the real Shadow before he sacrificed himself." Bocoe added. "Plus, she was trained by the GUN organization during her time here on Earth."
"It was all Omega's fault since he smashed Dr. Eggman's porthole in the first place and didn't attack Sonic." Bokkun pointed out angrily, before crying childishly, "And I was looking forward for a little vacation away from those guys."
Eggman growled and shouted. "How was I suppose to know E-123 was going to regendade on me!? I'll have you know, he is the last of my E-100 series! From now own, I will be working on a new robotic series, starting with the Shadow Andriods and once they're completed, I will send them to attack Station Square and get rid of Sonic the Hedgehog once and for all!"
"The E-100 series was getting pretty old." Decoe stated dully.
"Just like how Dr. Eggman is. He's not exactly a spring chicken." Bocoe muttered to himself.
"What was that!?" The aforementioned scientist growled angrily, making the grey robot flinch back in fear and hold his hands up in surrender.
"N-Nothing, boss!" The robot stuttered nervously.
"Just hurry up and finish this! I need to get started on gaining those files from my grandfather!" Eggman ordered impatiently. "The longer we remain here, the more Sonic and his friends will find us and foil everything!"
Suddenly Bokkun noticed something and muttered in confusion. "Huh? Hey, what's with that purple foggy stuff?"
"What are you on about?" Eggman asked in annoyance. When he and his other two robotic minions looked behind to the right, they shared the smallest robot's confusion as small traces of the substance sank deep into the rock near the cave and into the ground.
"Huh?" Bocoe and Decoe muttered, puzzled.
The evil doctor raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm...Curious."
"Where did that come from?" Bocoe asked, blinking.
"What is that, Doctor Eggman?" Decoe asked, curiously.
Eggman shrugged a little. "Your guess is good as mine, Decoe. Clearly it's nothing of mine and the Porthole along with Chaos Control since Sonic had the Emeralds with him didn't have anything to do with it. It must be that it's the work an enemy that may have been here before us."
"But it couldn't be the Metarex, could it? I thought they were all gone." Bokkun said, confused.
While he didn't know the origin of the mysterious substance, Eggman had a feeling that his stay here was going to be extended slightly. Whatever this was, it seems that Sonic had another problem to worry about.
"We need to learn more of this. This will pose as both a threat to my evil plans, as well as a distraction in keeping Sonic busy and not being able to find me, and given the last time, he lost the Chaos Emeralds." Eggman declared, rubbing his hands in evil glee. "This should keep him out of my mustache for a while. Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!"
"Why do I have a bad feeling about that stuff?" Decoe asked, concerned.
"Whatever it is, the purple mist is giving me stiff joints and malfunctioning my parts." Bocoe replied, just as uneasy.
Back at Station Square, Sonic and his group met up with Chris, Helen, Cream and Cheese and finally made it back to the Thorndyke Mansion where Chuck greeted them, along with Mr. Takana, Ella, and Chris' parents who were all shocked to find that not only Chris and Helen, like them, had de-aged by nine years, but also that Sonic and his friends have returned. While the four of them had been nervous upon meeting Cosmo, they began to warm up to her seeing how kind and polite that she was, yet were surprised that she was alive given Chris' story when he came back home three years earlier here on Earth.
After that, the group met in the living room where Sonic explained how Cosmo's voice lead him to Tails after having the dream, and Cosmo, Amy and Cream explaining how Tails' plant was the reason for her revival. Chris then explained how the substance spread across the city and soon changed to the de-aging problem, including that it may also be the cause of turning the worm into a Cyborg giant.
"Hmmm...If the substance did not come from Dr. Eggman's latest evil plot, then it must be something else entirely. Caused by someone here in our world. Who could it be, we don't know yet." Chuck thought with a deep frown.
"Do you think it's that Dr. Narasu guy from that stupid S.O.N.I.C.X group before they got arrested? He did try to turn Sonic into a giant." Knuckles asked, his arms crossed.
"But he has been under watch and not allowed to do anything scientific anymore." Helen shook her head.
"Yeah, but who's to say that he didn't secretly plot this without anybody knowing?" Tails pointed out, thinking hard. "If he managed to make the Mutagen that caused Vector turn into the giant and according to Amy and Cream, learned from him, Espio and Charmy that some of it is still inside him, he must have worked on this."
"Tails is right. I remember how those guys were kinda secretive. Kai may have been a lousy shot with those darts and pretty dumb when he messes up, when it comes to science stuff, he's really dangerous. No offense, but I kinda have a bad feeling he's pretty much lost it ever since nine years ago here." Sonic agreed, lounging on the window sill. "Besides, who else would do this sort of thing? Unless it's a new bad guy that came here before us we don't know about."
Chris nodded in agreement, placing his finger to his chin. "That's a real good point. If we can somehow get a sample on it, maybe we can figure out what it actually is, how it works, and figure out a way to produce a cure and what are the other side effects."
Sonic shrugged, "Well, I don't think the worm would help. If I'm right, all of that purple stuff that came outta it disappeared after I defeated it. But I wouldn't wanna hit every single person in the world just to get it out of ya's since I'd end up hurting people and every planet is huge. It would take way too long, and we already have enough problems as is it."
"Which leads us in taking a sample and producing a cure once we know more about it." Tails stated. "Of course, we still have to find the Chaos Emeralds again before Eggman does."
"Great...You lost the Chaos Emeralds again?" Knuckles grunted, starting to lose his temper in the realization of having to go Emerald hunting again.
"It wasn't my fault this time!" Sonic protested quickly, before admitting sheepishly as he sat up while scratching his head. "Okay, so maybe I shoulda moved faster before Egghead summoned that robot Omega who wanted to put him out of commission, but he's the one who tried to use his own Porthole to find those files on Shadow to make a robot army of him."
"I don't think Eggman will have any luck in finding them." Chris shrugged. "A year after you guys went back to your world, the President ordered Professor Gerald Robotnik's facility where Shadow was locked up to be shut down and all the records to be destroyed. Plus the ARK's been shut down."
"True, but Dr. Eggman could easily head straight to the ARK if he figured this out." Chuck warned his grandson. "He's cunning that way."
"Well, as long as we're here, there's no way he'd be going anywhere except back home where we can put him into jail. But first, we've gotta figure out how to get our continent, Angel Island and us back home before it's too late." Sonic declared with determination.
"It will not be a simple task, Sonic. I fear that things won't be returning to normal even if Time and both worlds can still be saved." Cosmo spoke up worriedly, causing everyone to glance at her. "You recall the dream you had before I spoke do you?"
The blue hedgehog raised an eyebrow, "You mean the one that you somehow knew and I saw some hedgehog that kinda looked like Shadow? What's that got to do with anything?"
"I couldn't hear or see what you saw, but I need to ask you. What did happen in there?" The young alien girl asked.
"Um...Well, the world was a total wasteland, I was running to see if there was anybody. That's when I saw that guy who I'm pretty sure was a hedgehog, his quills kinda styled like Shadow's, only he was red, and was wearing this silver cloak. The only thing I remember him saying was, 'The merge must be complete'. After that, that's when I heard you voice telling me to talk to Tails. I didn't know it was you at the time, Cosmo." Sonic explained as clearly as he could.
"The merge must be complete?" Chris repeated, concerned.
Sonic nodded, then turned to Knuckles and said to him. "Cream actually suggested that we'd ask you about that, Knuckles. You got any idea what it means?"
The guardian of the Master Emerald thought deeply, before answering. "I do remember a legend that goes back to our earliest ancestors, and not just my people. They say that there had been a great war between two sides and despite most didn't agree to force, they didn't have a choice. All of that changed when a savior of sorts appeared, only appearing in a silver cloak, harnessing the power the Chaos Emeralds and split the two nations apart. Nobody knows who he was, what he was, or what happened after that. All was lost in history since then."
"Do you think the hedgehog wearing the silver cloak from Sonic's dream is the same person from the legend?" Cream asked, worriedly.
"Chao, chao." Cheese murmured.
"But, if that's the case, then what he mean by the merge needing to be complete?" Amy asked, concerned.
"I was told in the afterlife of what Knuckles has said. Except that great evil is to rise and unless the Chaos Emeralds are found and Sonic can use his power to save the two worlds and Time itself, all will be lost." Cosmo informed them. "Which is why, as my flower grew, I was able to link my spirit to his mind, because of a prophecy an elder has said."
"I get it. This elder you spoke saw a dark future, right?" Tails theorized, quickly catching on.
"And so to change the dark future of something bad happening like Time stopping...and both our world and Earth about to merge because of Eggman's actions, you told me to talk to Tails because if I didn't, we wouldn't have known about this and Eggman would've doomed both planets and Time." Sonic realized. "You did that to try and change the future, Cosmo!"
The young Seedrian nodded. "I'm so sorry, Sonic. I would I could have told you, but there was only so much I can say. I was able to tell you what I have told you after you woke up on this planet."
Sonic smiled, "Don't worry about it, Cosmo. If you hadn't, it would've taken us a lot longer to figure out Eggman's plans, and by the time Tails woulda told be if Rouge only managed to tell him, it would've been too late."
He then sighed as his smile faded, and ran a hand through his quills. "Just wish I could've prevented this mess all together, if I'd just stopped Eggman before he summoned Omega."
"It's not your fault, Sonic. We all know he's a really bad person." Cream reassured.
"Yeah, Eggman's the one to blame for all of this. You know how he gets." Amy agreed.
"Plus, it never stopped you from doing the right thing or stopping him." Chris added.
"So don't blame yourself, Sonic." Ella spoke up for the first time since before this conversation started. "You never gave up on saving everyone or believing in others. You have stronger determination than anybody I've seen."
"And if anyone can stop Eggman, it's you." Chuck agreed.
Even though Sonic still felt terrible for the recent events, he did feel a whole lot better by the support from his friends. He instantly perked up. "Yeah, you're right. Despite all the bad things that's happened, things always turn out okay in the end. Why should I stop saving the universe now?"
He hopped off the sill and stood up, declaring with confidence. "We're gonna stop Eggman, find the Chaos Emeralds, figure out the mystery behind the purple fog, find a way to cure everybody on Earth and Vector, and get our continent and Angel Island back home, and save Time itself! As far as I can see, that guy in my dream is a bad guy and if he thinks our worlds are gonna merge because wants them to, he's got another thing coming."
"Yeah! I'm with you all the way!" Tails declared, hopping off the couch with determination and excitement.
"An adventure to save both worlds, many people and Time itself. That sounds so romantic!" Amy said happily, ready to help Sonic as she would do anything for her boyfriend.
"I have faith in you as well, Sonic." Cosmo said, smiling in relief as she stood up. "It was you and Tails and everyone who taught me that everything will be alright. Together, we can do it."
"Cheese and I want to help you to save everybody! This sounds like fun!" Cream said excitedly, with Cheese chirping in agreement.
"Well, since both my island and myself got dragged into this, no thanks to Eggman, I might as well join you guys. As much as I'm embarrassed to admit it, I wouldn't mind going on another adventure with you guys even if I may do certain things solo." Knuckles shrugged, deciding to go along for the ride.
"I'll help to, and with Granpa's help, we can find a way to learn of the cure and look for the Chaos Emeralds." Chris said as he stood up.
"I have to admit, I missed helping you all in these certain quests. It has been nine years, but I already feel those years younger besides the de-aging process." Chuck chuckled.
"You will have my support as well, Master Sonic. I may not be a fighter, but you can most certainly rely on my loyalty to you and Master Chris." Mr. Takana announced, while Ella, and both Chris' parents, worried about Chris going on another adventure, knew that at least this time it was here on Earth and not several planets away, and so they gave their supports as well.
Sonic smiled, relieved to have the support and help from his friends, knowing that he'd be lost without them. Despite the situations they have been through, he felt like the luckiest hedgehog in the universe, having such great friends and family.
"Well then, starting tomorrow, we're going to come up with a plan." Sonic declared. "For now, we should get some sleep. It is pretty late."
Everyone agreed, as Amy, seeing Cream starting to look sleepy, saying. "We should take Cream home to Mrs. Vanilla on our continent. I can tell the Chaotix what we found out and figure out how to bring them over since Vector should know about this too."
"You can burrow the X Tornado and come back to pick me up tomorrow. That way, I can bring the rest of us over here on the Blue Typhoon." Tails offered.
"Sounds like a good plan to me, li'l bro." Sonic said.
"Thanks, Tails." Amy replied warmly, though she had a feeling that Tails didn't want to partways from Cosmo so soon.
"In the meantime, you're all welcome to spend the night here. It's been a long day." Nelson offered.
"Thanks, Mr. Thorndyke." The blue hedgehog responded, as Tails, Cosmo and Knuckles said their thanks as well, as did Helen since it was really late.
Later that night, after Amy had taken Cream and Cheese back to their world's continent to reunite with Vanilla and the Chaotix, and that the four of them would be spending the night at Cream's house, almost everyone was fast asleep as Sonic and Tails shared a room, while Cosmo and Helen did the same, the two young girls getting along already, and Knuckles had his own despite that he preferred to sleep outdoors.
Yet as Sonic was fast asleep, lightly snoring and slightly sprawled in bed, he began dreaming once more.
Feeling like he was standing, Sonic opened his eyes slowly and gasped as he saw the creepy familiar area of the dark wasteland from before. He didn't know how he knew, but in that instant, the blue hedgehog knew that he was dreaming.
"Here again? What's going on?" Sonic asked, before feeling the urge to run. As though on auto-pilot, the young hero dashed off across the grey ground.
'Why am I seeing this again? What is it this dream is trying to tell me? Could it be...that it wants me to give up and let Time be destroyed? Well, if that's the case, I won't let that happen! I figure this out and then wake up.' He thought to himself before skidding to a stop.
Like the first time, there on the small hill stood the same red hedgehog in the silver cloak. The Shadow-Look-like hedgehog.
"All right you. Tell me!" Sonic demanded, believing the hedgehog above him was the enemy. "Who are you?"
The red hedgehog said nothing, as though oblivious to the teenager's presence. Again, he spoke. "The merge...must be complete."
"Hey! Cut that out! Whaddya mean by the merge needing to be complete? Are you trying to destroy Time? What do you want!?" The blue hedgehog shouted, clenching his fists. "Answer me, you evil hedgehog! If you're behind the dangers in the worlds merging, I won't let you get away with it!"
"The day of the union...and the reunion...it's coming." The red hedgehog spoke in the same monotone voice.
"What union and reunion? You're not making any sense!" Sonic yelled out, frustrated. "Just give me a simple answer already! What do you want with me?"
Again the red hedgehog ignored him, and instead continued, stylishly moving his cloak from his front and unstealthed a sword and held it skyward.
"All beware of the coming...of the being born of negative energy." He declared.
"Huh?" Sonic muttered, now confused.
Before the blue hedgehog could even understand what this evil hedgehog was saying, the bright light in front of them shone again, forcing Sonic to shield his eyes as he grunted...only to suddenly feel something wet underneath him, moving and shooting him upwards. This made the teenage hero to cry out in alarm.
"Hey, what's going on!?" Sonic exclaimed, only to look up and saw to his shock and horror with a terrified gasp, he found himself in the familiar center of the universe, with a planet made of nothing but water, and it was attatched...to a giant plant-like dragon who opened up it's mouth which he was being brought closer to due to the water jet that was keeping him trapped.
"DARK OAK!? AAAAAAHHHHHH!" Sonic screamed in panic and fear, helplessly flailing his arms and legs, and screamed louder the moment he was then sucked right down the throat, with the mouth slamming shut behind him, leaving him trapped. "HELP!"
The terrified blue hedgehog panicked, before the waves of water swished and engulfed him, he struggled for air and for a brief moment resurfaced despite still being swallowed towards Dark Oak's stomach. But as he neared it, to the cobalt hero's horror, the giant pool of water greeted him as he fell straight through and towards it, realizing that the monster's stomach...was actually the Water Planet itself! Dark Oak had made the world his belly!
He screamed before landing in the water with a splash, and quickly resurfaced while trying to stay afloat, which wouldn't help since he couldn't swim. All the while Dark Oak laughed evilly.
"I have told you, Sonic the Hedgehog. Water is your weakness, and my strength. You belong to me now! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Dark Oak chuckled darkly.
"HELP ME! HELP!" Sonic screamed out, feeling himself quickly sinking, panicking and frightened...
Letting out a gasp of fear, Sonic jolted upright panted too quickly.
Once he took in the sights of the guest room he was sharing with Tails who was sleeping peacefully, realizing he just been dreaming, Sonic rubbed his eyes, still half-asleep and high on the adrenaline of the effects of the nightmare, which again occurred for at least the 20th time in the last three months. Plus he hasn't had a nightmare as frequent as the first month, and this is actually the third time it caught him off-guard after three weeks instead of three days.
It was still haunting none the less. To make things worse, it first began with the same strange dream he had before Cosmo's spirit instructed him to meet with Tails, only this time the red hedgehog added new words, something about a Union and a Reunion day was coming. Then the dream shifted to the nightmares he has been having once and while and it really caught him off-guard this time.
"I must be losing my mind. If that guy wants the worlds to merge, then he might be trying to use me for that to happen. And...maybe he's trying to use my nightmares to get me to...to go down the dark path." Sonic whispered to himself, rubbing his arms as he shuddered at the thought. He didn't understand. Why would the red hedgehog want him to do it?
Sighing, and deciding that he needed fresh air to calm his nerves, Sonic slid out of bed and slipped his shoes on, careful to not wake his little brother before walking out of the guest room and silently made his way downstairs, only to find that to his surprise, the front door was slightly open. Blinking in confusion, the blue hedgehog silently crept closer to peer out, only to softly gasp in shock to find that Chris was sitting on the front step of the mansion, staring up at the sky. Something was wrong.
"Can't sleep, huh, pal?" Sonic softly muttered, causing Chris to look over his shoulder and saw him stand there as he opened the door before leaving it slightly open, and then sat next to him.
"Sonic. I could say the same thing about you." The de-aged boy replied with a soft smile.
"Just a creepy dream that woke me. Thought I'd get some fresh air to cool off, but I'll be fine." The blue hedgehog replied, sitting next to his human best friend. "What about you? Lot of thoughts on your mind?"
"Yeah, you could say that." Chris admitted, looking up at the sky which was clear, with stars shining brightly with all the lights in the city turned off, and the moon shining full and bright. "I guess the de-aging process wrecked my sleeping habits. Not the first time it's happened, like back when I came to your world, except this time, it's happened to almost everybody."
Sonic understood that well. "We'll figure it out, and we're gonna fix you guys up. I promise."
Chris nodded, smiling back at his best friend.
"You know, when I first woke up back here, I was kinda expecting to see you all grown up. With the time difference thing, you're older than me. I never thought something like this would've happened." The blue hedgehog admitted, shrugging. "Guess things keep on getting more and more crazy."
"Not as crazy as when we first met nine years ago. Or in your case, over nine months ago." Chris replied.
"True." Sonic laughed, with his friend joining him for a moment before they ceased their laughter. "Hey, sorry that your engagement night got ruined."
"Huh!? S-Sonic, how'd you-?" The twenty-one year old trapped in his twelve-year-old body yelped, his face blushing heavily in embarrassment.
"I kinda overheard Mr. Takana mention something about how tonight was supposed to be the night you'd propose to Helen, and plus I've seen the ring on her finger which somehow shrank to fit her kid finger. If you know what I mean. Plus it made sense on how you two were at that restaraunt. Don't worry, I haven't told the others yet, but I have a feeling Tails and Amy would've noticed."
Chris looked away slightly in embarrassment, before sighing. "Y-yeah. I...I really love Helen. Ever since I came back home, I tried to move on since I couldn't go back to visit you. When she said yes, it made me so happy. You know, before the purple fog de-aged us to being kids again."
"You guys will turn back to normal. You'll see." Sonic reassured, gently patting his friend on the back, and then winked at him. "You did good, buddy. Congrats!"
"Thanks, Sonic." Chris replied, smiling softly as he gazed at the blue hedgehog again. "I really missed you."
"Aw, buddy. I missed ya, too. Even though this may really be our last adventure together when everything's back to normal, I want you to know that I'll always be with you in your heart. Just like you are in mine, Tails', and everybody else's. It'll take more than worlds and difference in time and space to really keep our spirits apart. As long as think about each other, we'll always be friends." Sonic replied with a warm smile that looked very sincere.
His human friend nodded, fully accepting it as even though he was a twelve-year old boy in body once again, and felt some of that spirit still rest inside him, he wasn't that lonely kid anymore. He has grown up into the man he was today, mainly thanks to Sonic who had helped him see better things in life, having been his friend, they and everyone else having gone on many adventures.
While they would eventually part ways once again, Chris knew that Sonic was right. Even far apart, they, Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Knuckles, even Cosmo and the Chaotix, and Rouge, will always be friends forever.
The two of them gazed up at the sky once more, reflecting their thoughts as each other's company and the nice, peaceful night despite the situation calmed their nerves.
Both knew however that starting tomorrow, the real challenges were about to begin.
A/N: Tails is finally reunited with Cosmo who rejoins the team, but they, Sonic and everyone else are about to face one of their biggest challenges yet. I'll do my best with the future chapters, but the next week or so will be pretty busy for me, so I won't be able to have time to start on new chapters for any of my stories until then. Don't worry, I'll come back as soon as possible.
See you later!