GeneX - Soleanna Struggle
Chapter 4 - Heather the Phoenix

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.

"I can feel your every rage,
Step aside, I'll turn the page,
Breakin' through your crazy maze, 
Like a laser beam, my eyes on you!" - Sonic Heroes, Main Theme 


It had been a rough night for Copter. He'd attempted to catch Experiment 7 using SPOT's sensors, but the signal was soon lost. With nothing to go on, Copter and Cream decided to get some rest. Cream had slept in a cozy bed at a hotel, with Cheese resting on the pillow beside her. SPOT curled up on the floor near the wall, with his tail plugged in so he could recharge. That left Copter to lie awake on a large windowsill in the room, gazing up at the stars all night, until sunrise. He thought about the phoenix. Why had she tried to run from him? What exactly did Bucky and the experiments under his employ do to make her so full of distrust? Copter had also come up with a more pressing question: What exactly was his plan? What was he to do once he found the phoenix? Stay with her until Bucky and the others stopped chasing her? In the end he decided it was best to make up his "plan" as he went along. He thought about other things, too, basically every aspect of his life to date, and these thoughts had kept him awake the whole night. That morning, he rolled off the windowsill and woke Cream up with the loud "THUD" that resulted from his fall. "I need sleepin' pills..." he muttered to himself as he climbed to his feet. Cream rose from the bed, stretched, and yawned. "Morning, Mr. Copter." she said drowsily, "Are you OK? That sounded painful." Copter smiled. "I'm OK. Didn't hurt anything important. Just my head."

In a few moments, Copter and Cream left the room and began marching to the hotel's front desk to check out. On the way, they found Gemini, heading in the same direction. "Hey, I know you two!" she said happily, "If I'd known we were at the same hotel, I might've stayed with you last night! How've you both been?" She leaned against the wall, polishing the gem on her wand as Copter and Cream stopped to chat with her. "It was kind of crazy last night, but at least I slept well!" Cream said. Copter still looked drowsy. "Here's a good lesson. Always finish your adventures BEFORE it's time to sleep. Otherwise the craziness of it all will keep you awake." he said, yawning, "What're you doin' in Soleanna, Gemini?" She motioned for them to follow her, and they continued to talk as they made their way to the hotel's elevator. "I'm sort of on my own adventure." she said, "But I got sidetracked last night when some lunatic took my wand! I don't know why she took it, 'cause she obviously didn't want it. Once she got away from me, she ditched it. Sure was an odd bird..." Copter ran in front of her and stopped her by placing his hands on her shoulders. "Back up! WAS it a bird? A red bird, perhaps?" he asked excitedly. Gemini nodded, staring blankly at him as she did. "Why?" she asked. "I know! I know!" SPOT said. Gemini glanced at the robot's screen, which explained that Copter was searching for a phoenix. "Wow, she had better luck than us, and she wasn't even looking!" Cream observed, "Why do you think she stole her wand, though?" Copter led the way as they resumed their walk. "Can you tell me where you found the wand? It'd be a big help to me." he asked, glancing back at Gemini. "Sure, but... LOOK OUT!!" Gemini's shout came too late. Copter, who wasn't looking where he was going, had stepped into the stairway at the end of the hall and stumbled down the stairs, screaming like mad! "Did it occur to you at all that you could've grabbed me!!!?" Copter shouted up as they began to run down to him. Gemini looked half apologetic, half annoyed. "Y'know, I think you'd probably have pulled me down with you!" she said.

Copter wasn't hurt, though, and as soon they reached the hotel lobby. Copter and Gemini checked out, but Cream chose not to. "Cheese, SPOT, and I will wait here. SPOT will tell me if Sonic or Tails pass by, and I should be safe here. Thanks for everything, Copter! And good luck!" she said, taking a seat in the lobby. Copter waved good-bye to her. "OK, good luck, kiddo." he said. As he walked away, Copter muttered something else under his breath. "Didn't need to be constantly watching her, anyway." Gemini heard this and smacked him over the head with her wand. "Don't be mean! Far as I can see, she was just trying to help you!" she said, stepping outside the hotel. Copter rubbed his head. "Yeah, well, she's more help than you are, I guess! Pushin' me down the stairs and hitting me with sticks..." They began walking down the street, Copter following Gemini. "So, where'd the phoenix ditch your stick?" he asked. Gemini turned around and started scolding him with her wand. "First off, this is NOT a stick! It's a magic wand! Second, we're on the way there now, so keep your pants on!" she said. "I don't have any pants." Copter said. "It's an expression! Anyway, I found my wand near the entrance to the desert. Know where that is?" Gemini asked. Copter scratched his head, thinking. In a moment he realized he had no idea where that was and sighed in frustration. "Lead the way..." he muttered. "Pushy, difficult people." he thought as he followed Gemini toward the older part of Soleanna.


"So, what happened? Why was that gargoyle placed under arrest?" Razor was in front of the entrance to the desert, questioning Lord Regis about what had happened earlier. He couldn't find any leads on why Katie was kidnapped earlier, but he believed that Guard's activities may have in some way been related to the incident, though he could not guess how. Regis wore an irritated expression, for he had already been asked this several times by the Soleanna police. "For the last time, assault. He attacked me in an attempt to force me to give up confidential information!" he insisted. He turned to leave when Razor cleared his throat loudly. "Ahem!" Lord Regis turned back to Razor. "What, there's more this time? Well, at least you're a dutiful policeman... or porcupine... What else do you wish to know?" he said. "Well, I'm just curious... What exactly was the information the gargoyle wanted?" Razor wondered. Regis looked a bit stressed as he answered. "He wanted information about the Scepter of Darkness... And something about a 'Dark.' I know a bit about the scepter, but this 'Dark' is new to me. Does it mean anything to you?" Razor shook his head. "Thanks for your time, m'lord. I'm just going to have a chat with the desert guards and be on my way." With that, Regis walked off.

It was at this time that Copter and Gemini arrived in the area. They stopped just before the bridge that led to the entrance to the desert. Why had they stopped? Copter had spotted Razor talking to the guards on the other side. His frustration now reached a boiling point. "Oh, of all the rotten luck! What's that crazy motorcycle cop doing here!?! What, did he FOLLOW me?!" Gemini looked across the bridge at Razor. "So... Had some trouble with the law, Copter?" she asked. Copter's rage intensified as he recalled the events that occurred just before he left on this quest. "Don't you watch the news, Gemini? That insane old GUN Sargent had ALL of the experiments placed under arrest for what that jerk Kosmo tried to do! And who ends up being chased all over Station Square? Is it Kosmo? Zipp, perhaps? NO! The stupid cops gotta go chasing ME around!!!" Just then, Gemini silenced Copter by pushing him into the canal. Just in time, too, as Razor looked over just as Copter fell out of sight. "Hey, what's going on over there?" Razor shouted to Gemini. Thinking fast, Gemini came up with a response. "Um... I was playing with the volume on my radio... Um... Yeah, I was listening to talk radio, and I guess I overdid it on the sound..." she said. Razor looked at her curiously. "What radio? You didn't drop it in the canal?" he asked. "Um... It startled me..." she replied sheepishly. "Well, it's broken now. Let that be a lesson to you, no radios near the water." Razor grumbled. He then resumed talking to the guards while Copter quietly climbed out of the canal and walked away toward the nearby fountain so Razor wouldn't spot him as easily. Gemini followed him, holding back laughter. "Oh, sure, that's real funny. You ain't gonna be laughing when I push you in!" Copter grumbled. "Sorry, but he would've spotted you. Anyway, you're not gonna try to go in there, are you? There's always guards posted there! You'll be caught!" Gemini warned. Copter wasn't about to give up, though. "There's gotta be a way..." he said, wringing out his tails like damp rags. As he did so, he looked at his tailband and remembered something. "That's it! Conan said my tailband could make me invisible! I just need to figure out how it works..." He tensed his muscles, trying to invoke the power of the tailband. "Is this working?" he asked Gemini. "Not unless you're trying to look stupid." she said. Copter sat down on the edge of the fountain and placed his head in his hands. "Of course... Well, I don't have time to figure it out right now..." he mumbled. Gemini snapped her fingers as the answer came to her. "No, you don't need invisibility, you need.... a diversion!"

"Brilliant!" came a voice from the other side of the fountain. It was Rainbow! She and Punchy had been listening from the other side of the fountain the whole time, and now walked over to Copter and Gemini. "Leave it to us, Two!" Rainbow said. Copter stood up and shook Punchy's hand. "Congratulations, Punch! I thought you were toasted by the robots last night!" he said. Punchy raised an eyebrow. "Toast? Me? C'mon, Copt, give me some credit!" he said. Rainbow was holding the gem they'd found the night before. "At least we found this pretty bit of treasure! Captain Bluehair'll like it, don't ya think?" she said, showing it to Copter. Gemini gasped in amazement at the gem. "It's a Time Stone!" she told them. Copter was uninterested. "Yeah, yeah, but you didn't find Experiment 7. Gemini did. Seven stole her wand and ditched it before heading into the desert. So, I need someone to distract the police while I head in there." he explained. Punchy gave him a thumbs up. "Don't you worry. We know how to deal with this guy, right Rainbow?" he said. "Uh, sure... Follow me, One!" Rainbow shouted, running off toward the police. Punchy and Gemini followed her. "You're on your own, Copter! I'm gonna tail these guys and their Time Stone for a while! Good luck!" Gemini shouted. Copter followed the three of them at a distance, waiting for the police to leave.

"Hey, colorblind! Still think my hands are red!?" Rainbow shouted to Razor as she approached him. Razor was taken aback by Punchy and Rainbow's sudden appearence. "OK... Are you here to turn yourselves in?" he asked. Punchy laughed at him. "No, we just thought we'd say hello to our favorite officer. Have you had your breakfast donut today?" he said. Gemini taunted him by sticking her tongue out. "Nya, nya, dumb cops! Last case you got to the bottom of was a box of cookies!" Now, Razor and the guards were mad. "That's it! We'll fix you!"

Copter watched as the police chased Punchy, Rainbow, and Gemini away. "Ah, yes, very masterful. Well, here I go!" He quickly dashed to the canal, flew across, and ran into the entrance to Dusty Desert. The blazing sun and scorching sand took Copter by surprise, he wasn't expecting such a dramatic change to the environment so quickly. "Dang it, why a desert?! I'm used to cool, air conditioned places..." he thought. What was worse about this desert was that much of the sand was quicksand, which Copter soon found out! With a little help from his tailband, though, he was able to escape the quicksand. He then flew to the stone floor that had been built long ago to protect the people living there from the dangers of the sand. "What kinda desert is made out of quicksand, anyway?! This place makes no sense!" Copter grumbled. Suddenly, he heard explosions coming from the direction of the large temple at the center of the desert. "Sounds like Eggman's robots are falling to pieces again! I'd better check this out!" Copter decided.

Upon reaching the source of the noise, Copter found it wasn't Experiment 7 fighting with Eggman's robots, much to his disappointment. It was Tails! "Of course! He's following me, too! Just not on purpose... Well, I don't have time to help him with those robots! Experiment 7 could have moved on by now!" he thought, but unfortunately, Tails and the robots were fighting on the path, and Copter would have to pass them to get any further. "OK, if ever there was a moment I needed the invisibility to work, this is it!" Copter attempted to make it work by concentrating, but with no mirrors or anything to let him know if it was working, he was just going to have to attempt to pass by and hope it was working. He attempted to pass as quietly as possible, but it was useless. The tailband's invisibility still wasn't working! Half of the robots stopped chasing Tails and started targeting Copter instead. "Aw, crud..." Now, Copter had no option but to help Tails fight off the robots. Copter began his usual routine of whipping robots to pieces with his tails, doing his best to avoid getting shot. These robots' shots weren't exactly lethal, but taking too many hits from them definetely wasn't a good idea. Meanwhile, Tails' strategy was to fight from a distance using containers of dummy rings. "Hey, stop that, Tails! I can't tell the dangerous rings from real ones!" Copter shouted, doing his best to avoid them as they scattered upon being released from the containers.

Eggman's latest model of robots were rather unintelligent. It did not take long before Tails and Copter finished reducing them all to spare parts. "Gosh, the Egg Pawns almost seem smart compared to these dopes." Copter commented as he and Tails began resting near the entrance to the desert temple. "Thanks for your help, Copter. I was trying to distract the robots so Sonic could lead the princess to safety. Eggman had kidnapped her!" Tails explained. Copter frowned. "Yes, I was in the vicinity when it happened." he said. They were both quiet for a moment, each wondering what exactly Eggman was up to. "So, what brings you to Soleanna?" Tails asked after a moment. "Bucky." Copter replied, "He created more experiments. One of them ran away, but unlike me and Punchy, Bucky's not letting her go. He sent the experiments under his employ to capture her. I'm here to help her escape. You wouldn't happen to have seen her, would you? She's a phoenix, a red bird." Tails' eyes lit up. "I... I saw her! While I was leading the robots away! I noticed a bird going into the temple here!" he said. "Really?" Copter said, looking in the doorway to the temple. He turned and shook hands with his original before doing anything else. "Thanks a lot. Don't forget about Cream and those little critters with her. See ya." he said. "Wait! Let me help you!" Tails offered. Copter waved good-bye. "Forget it, Tails. You'd just be a third wheel. Besides, I can take care of myself!" Tails couldn't help worrying, but waved back anyway. "Good luck, Copter!" he said. Without another thought, Copter entered the dark, cavernous temple and resumed his search.

Experiment 7 had not gone far into the temple. She was in a large room where someone had apparently gotten into a fight with Eggman's robots. Broken objects were scattered all around the area, some mechanical and some ancient. The phoenix sat on the floor at the base of one of the support pillars in the room, lost in thought. As Copter entered the room, she jumped to her feet and backed away from him immediately. "Holy cow, did you smash these robots?" Copter asked. She shook her head. "It was some hedgehog with powers... I was watching him fight before I came in here." She was keeping her distance as Copter slowly walked towards her. "Easy, seven. I'm not here to hurt you." Copter assured her. She glared at him with distrust. "Then, why are you following me? Who are you?" she asked. "I am Experiment 2. Copter is my name. I came to help you escape from Bucky. Um... That's our creator if you don't know. Do you have a name?" Experiment 7 looked him over. Copter didn't seem dangerous exactly. Thinking back, she remembered that last time, like this time, he hadn't attempted to do her any harm. Still, she maintained her distance. "I... I've called myself Heather..." she said at last. Copter smiled a little. "That's nice... For once one of us experiments was able to think of a real name. A nice name. You can probably tell that I had no clue what to call myself." he said. Heather became a bit less tense now. "Hmmm... I'd say you look like an... Arthur." she said. Copter grimaced a bit. "Arthur? Really?" His reaction looked a bit funny, and Heather found herself laughing. It was the first time she'd ever laughed in her life. Copter grinned a bit. He finally felt like they were getting somewhere. "So, what do you say? Come with me, and I'll help you find a way to make Bucky and Eggman stop chasing you." he said. Heather looked thoughtful for a moment, but before she could reply, someone else entered the room. It was a dark grey she-wolf, who wore a tight black suit. Her right eye was covered by overgrown hair. "You know how to stop someone from chasing you?" she said, more telling than asking, "You tear off their legs." Copter backed away from the newcomer and stood beside Heather. "Who are you, and what do you want?" he growled. The wolf grinned playfully at him. "What? Do I scare you? You needn't worry. I wouldn't harm a fellow furry. At least, not unless they got in my way. I merely overheard you two talking and wish to offer my assistance. If you both will come with me, I'll take good care of you..." she said. Copter could tell there was something sinister about this person. "I think we'll be fine on our own. So why don't you just start walkin'!" he snarled. Heather felt a bit curious, but was still overall distrustful toward most people. "I... think I agree with him. Thanks for the offer... But no thanks." The wolf's smile did not fade. She simply began walking away. "You think about it, all right? But dare not forget my name! I am Fera the Wolf!" With that, she disappeared into the corridors of the temple as suddenly as she had appeared. Copter scoffed at Fera. "I don't trust that one." he said bluntly. Heather nodded in agreement. "She seems... Creepy..." Copter began walking toward the path to the temple's exit. "So, how about we find a way out of here?" he asked. Heather thought a moment, and decided she might as well give him a chance, so she began to follow him along.


Sonic had earlier rescued Elise from Dr. Eggman. From the desert, he'd taken her to a vast, grassy field. It was a beautiful, peacful area, a surprising place to be so near the desert. After running for a while, Sonic stopped to rest. "I have no words to express how grateful I am for your help." Elise said as she rose to her feet. She then noticed that Sonic's arm had been injured during the escape. "You're hurt!" Sonic shook his arm a bit. "It's nothing." he insisted. "Don't say that!" Elise said, kneeling down and tying a cloth around the injury. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault." she said sadly. Sonic couldn't stand to see her cry. "Smile." he said, wagging his finger. As he did so, a butterfly flew up and landed on his nose. Elise smiled and lightly brushed it away, watching as it flew off. Her smile made Sonic feel a bit better, and he began walking along. "Your smile. That's all I need." he told her. As she began following him, Sonic asked about the kidnapping. "Eggman mentioned the Flames of Disaster. Is that why he's after you?" he asked. "Yes. The name of the sun god our country honors is Solaris. It is told that his rage would destroy the world. His wrath comes in the form of the Flames of Disaster. Ten years ago, we almost faced the full force of his fury. I was a child then, so I don't remember it very well..." Elise stopped in her tracks as she recalled the result of the accident. "I lost my father then..." she said solemnly, "And now that man is trying to cause the same disaster again! What can I do?" Sonic thought over everything Elise told him, then grabbed her hand and started running. "Sonic? Sonic, wait! I can't run that fast!" Elise shouted in a panic. "Don't worry! Just raise your head and run!" Sonic told her as they began an exhilarating run across the plains.

Elsewhere on the plains, Copter and Heather were walking along. "So, why exactly are you helping me, Copter? You got some sort of crush on me?" she asked him. Copter groaned a bit. "Oh, no, no, no, you got me all wrong. First off, I am THROUGH with love! It resulted in too big a disaster last time. No, I'm just helping you because... hmm... because..." Copter had to think about it a bit. He never really thought much about why he was doing this. Heather thought a bit about what he said. "So, you've had your heart broken... I'm not sure, but... I think that's sad..." she said. She hadn't been alive very long, so she wasn't always very sure what was normal and what wasn't. Copter ignored her statement and finished his thought. "I'm helping you... because it's the right thing to do. That's all there is to it." he said. Heather placed her arm around his shoulder in a consoling manner. "I'm sorry about your heartbreak." she said. "Don't worry about it." Copter sighed. Just then, they heard footsteps rapidly approaching them. "Oh, shoot! Someone's coming! We have to hide or something!" Copter said urgently. Heather gasped suddenly. "C-copter? Where are you?" she asked. "Huh? Hey, I'm invisible! So, NOW the tailband works! Um... Maybe if you take my hand, it'll work on you, too!" Copter suggested. Heather reached out and grabbed in the direction of Copter's voice. "That's my nose!" Copter grunted. "Sorry..." Heather replied. Copter took her hand in his himself, and she vanished as well. "Now, keep as quiet as possible..." he whispered as Sonic and Elise arrived close by. They slowed to a stop, and Elise sat down to rest from the run. Sonic turned to look at her. "Feels great, doesn't it?" he asked. "Yes..." Elise replied, out of breath, "I've never run so fast before!" Sonic cracked a slight smile. "Nothing starts until you take action!" he said, "If you have time to worry, then run!" After hearing that, Copter led Heather away from the area, out of sight, and released her hand. They both became visible at once. "What a preachy moron. 'Nothing starts until you take action.' Phooey! You know, if you don't take action, things will start anyway. You just won't be able to control them. The truth is, you have to take action first, before the action takes you!" Copter said.

Copter and Heather started heading back for the city. They'd find Punchy and Rainbow, then find Gator and head back to Station Square. They would be safe hiding out at Rainbow's place. Along the way, Heather noticed a sparkle in the grass. It was green, so most would probably miss it in the vast green area. She bent down and picked it up. "What's that?" Copter asked. Heather looked it over. "It's a Time Stone." she said. "How do you know that?" Copter asked. Suddenly, a loud, motor-like sound was heard approaching them quickly. They didn't have time to go invisible, as they were surrounded before they knew it! A trio of birds on extreme gear flew circles around them, laughing tauntingly at them. "Wh-what do they want?" Heather said nervously. "I bet I can guess." Copter growled. A green hawk, the apparent leader of the trio, swooped at Heather, causing her to panic and drop the Time Stone, which the hawk snatched up and began flying away. Copter jumped onto his board in an attempt to get the stone back. "Hand that over, chump! Who taught you bozos manners?" he shouted, struggling to hold on. "Do you know who you're talking to?" the hawk squawked. He spun his gear in the air and knocked Copter off, stopping his escape to laugh at him. "No gear, no glory! Ground dwellers have no hope of stopping the Babylon Rogues! I'm Jet, and I'm the leader of this team!" A purple swallow girl pulled up next to Jet on her board. "Don't waste your breath, Jet! This nobody's not gonna be any trouble for us!" she said. The third member of the trio, a big white albatross, stopped on the other side of Jet's board. "Aw, don't be a party pooper, Wave! Hey, floor fox! I'm Storm! You make trouble with us, and I'll knock your block off!" he warned. Jet chuckled at Copter as he scrambled to his feet and attempted to catch them. The Babylon Rogues took off far faster than Copter could follow. "So long, sucker! Hope to do business with you again!" Jet shouted as he left Copter in the dust. "Hooligans!! You'll pay for that!!" Copter shouted, kicking a rock on the ground in frustration, "Blast!!" Heather caught up with Copter and tried to calm him down. "It's OK. Don't be hard on yourself. They're too fast." she said. "That's no excuse!" Copter shouted, continuing to walk toward the city. "He sure does expect a lot from himself..." Heather thought as she followed him.


Soon, they managed to get back to Soleanna. They had begun searching for Punchy and Rainbow in New City, when suddenly, the sky began growing dark! Shadow Arcangel was flying over Soleanna! "Bucky... He's here!" Copter gasped, "He's probably got Zipp looking for us with his helmet thing. We have to hide!" On that note, they ran inside the nearest building. "I... I never wanted to see that ship again... How dare he bring that thing here!" Heather cried, both scared and angry. Suddenly, a resident of the building they'd wandered into addressed them. "You're Copter, aren't you?" It was Razor's younger brother, Tommy! Copter and Heather had wandered into their safe house! Tommy didn't seem afraid of Copter, though. "Did you come here because you heard Katie was kidnapped?" he asked. Copter paused a moment to take in all that was happening. "Wait, wait... You know Katie? And... She was kidnapped?" Copter asked. Tommy nodded. "Katie told me all about you. She says you're not really a bad guy like my brother thinks." he said. Heather looked worried suddenly. "Katie... That's the girl who wanted to help me! Copter, we have to rescue her!" she cried. Just then, Tommy's babysitter, Mia, walked in. "What's all the commotion? Huh? Copter?!" she said as she walked in. Copter crossed his arms. "So, you're here, too. Say, do you know anything about this kidnapping?" he asked. "Only that she was taken away aboard a red helicopter. Looked like Eggman's sorta contraption." she informed him. Copter glanced out the window to see if Shadow Arcangel had passed by yet. "OK, great. Eggman should be easy to find. But are we sure we want to help HER?" he said to Heather. "Please, Copter! I can't help feeling somehow responsible for her kidnapping." she said, begging. Copter groaned. "Fine. Let's go, Bucky's moved on!" After he and Heather ran out the door, Mia looked thoughtful a moment. "Hey, Tommy." she said, "Wanna go on an adventure?"


Copter and Heather searched for any clue they could find that might lead them to Eggman. "Let's see... Where should we look...?" Copter muttered as they searched. Suddenly, they heard a scream, and looked around to see Eggman's plane flying by with Elise in the clutches of his metallic hands! "Well, that was easy!" Copter mused as they began chasing. Sonic passed by them very shortly. "Show off!!" Copter shouted. Heather screamed suddenly, prompting Copter to look to his right, where Heather was pointing. Alpha, accompanied by Char, were headed straight for them! "Aha!! Found her! Let's bring her in, Alphie!" Char said enthusiastically. "Fire, freeze-bird!" Alpha shouted, pointing his lasers at them. Char whispered something to Alpha, and he corrected himself. "Oh, freeze, fire-bird! Sorry, I just wants target practice!" Copter looked from Alpha to the rapidly escaping Eggman. "We don't have time for this!" he shouted in frustration. Suddenly, as though on cue, Mia's taxi came speeding by straight towards Alpha! "Yipes!! Out of the way, Alphie!!!" Char screamed as Alpha ran around in circles panicking! Just as it seemed Alpha would be hit, the robot dove out of the way without looking, and landed in the canal. Mia stopped where Alpha had stood and leaned out the window of her cab. "Hey, don't just stand there, Skunky! Catch that Egg-brain and save Katie!" Copter smiled and winked at Mia before taking Heather by the hand and taking off after Eggman. "Thanks!" Heather shouted back as they ran. Mia winked back at them before looking in the back seat at Tommy, who was shaking and seemed to be turning green. "Uh, sorry, Tom. Can we please not mention this to your brother?"


Later, Punchy, Rainbow, and Gemini were chatting on the outskirts of the city. "So, what now, One? Two still hasn't come back yet." Rainbow said. Punchy sat on the ground, looking over their Time Stone. "Maybe we should look around for these things. Shiny gems like this seem to come in handy a lot." he said. Gemini was standing nearby, lost in though with her eyes shut. She opened her eyes in a moment and pointed to the first thing she saw. "Knuckles!!" Punchy and Rainbow looked anxiously. Sure enough, Knuckles was standing a short distance away, chatting with Eggman, who had given Sonic, Copter, and Heather the slip. Eggman tossed a flat, red object at Knuckles, which he tried to catch but dropped. "I wonder what's up... I didn't know he was so chummy with Eggman." Punchy whispered, hiding in nearby bushes. Rainbow had hid there as well, but Gemini didn't think it necessary. As Eggman flew away, Knuckles began walking further into the city. "I say we follow him, One!" Rainbow suggested. "Well, that's a given." Punchy replied, "He still owes me a Master Emerald." Gemini scoffed at him. "Please! It was made pretty clear that that emerald's not yours." she said. Rainbow frowned at her. "I didn't see his name on it." she said. Gemini sighed heavily. "Well, we should probably follow him anyway. Anything involving Eggman can't be good news for any of us." she said. "Then what're we all standing around here for?! Follow me, guys!" Rainbow shouted, taking off after Knuckles. "Quietly!!! QUIETLY, RAINBOW!!!!!" Punchy shouted as he followed her. "Man, they're nuts..." Gemini thought as she followed both of them. It seemed that now, everyone was back to business as usual, and that business is: adventure!

To be continued...