Sonic and The Harmony of Chaos – The 8th Emerald

Ch. 6

By: Cutegirlmayra (I have so much to do when it comes to fanfiction and tumblr prompts, however, I have made a promise to finish every story I ever start. So I update in orders and turns so each story is never forgotten. I love these stories. I love all of you. I'm thankful for those who have read so many of my stories. I hope this one continues to excite you and thrill your imagination. Shall we begin?)

Chaos's bubbling sound subsided somewhat as he was being restrained. Knuckles, deciding to take a firmer grip on the ancient being, grappled under Chaos's armpit and secured his arm onto his shoulder, locking him in place and moving Tails's flimsy hold of Chaos to then do the same lock on Chaos's other side.

He was now directly behind Chaos, able to even lift the liquid God off the ground to keep him from squirming too much.

"Relax, Chaos! It's Sonic! He's not gonna hurt you if you don't hurt anyone else!" Knuckles sweated through his words, thinking maybe Chaos was still upset with Sonic, even though Tikal had said otherwise and calmed him the last time him and Sonic fought.

Chaos turned to mush and slipped through Knuckles's hold, turning his head back to him as though wondering what he was doing.

It wasn't hostile, so Knuckles sighed and grabbed his arm. "Alright, buddy. I get it. You're not gonna hurt anybody… but try and not act so suddenly. It spooks the rest of us." Knuckles's gentle guardian side was showing, and as though a chao being comforted, Chaos's eyes lightened down and he dipped his head to the ground, as though apologizing to Sonic.

Sonic scratched the back of his head, "Uhh… No problem. But Knuckles? Tails? What's going on here?" He gestured out to Chaos but Jet took the pause as an opportunity and slammed a fist into the side of Sonic's face.

"Take thhhaattt!" He cried out, holding up the fist that knocked him back triumphantly. "How do you like it!? Heh, guess this just goes to show I'm still the best at controlling the speed of wind!" he gloated, as Wave just face-palmed and shook her head.

"Will he never learn?" She watched as Sonic retaliated and they gripped the other's hands and shoved their foreheads against eachothers.

"Oh yeah?" Sonic gritted his teeth, "I'm still the fastest thing alive! I am the wind!" Sonic countered back with his own confident statement as the two pushed back and forth with their mights pinned against the other.

"I could ask Sonic the same question…" Tails also looked confused, "Why are the Babylon Rogues hanging around the Ancient Ruins?"

"Huh?" Wave turned to Tails then, removing her hand from its disappointed gesture. "We train around these jungles. They're extremely useful for precision training… but besides that, the ruins have a lot of traps that are fun to skate through and avoid. What are you all doing here?"

Storm, while the others were distracted in conversation, began to slowly make his way to Amy, who was gripping her head, a little out of it.

"Little lady..?" He bent down, speaking out the side of his mouth as though passing a secret, before bending fully to see the look on her face. "D'aww… are you alright?"

"Hmm..?" Her eyelids bounced, as though unable to fully remain awake. "Big..?"

"D'awww… I guess I am kinda big." He looked up and scratched the side of his peak.

Amy rubbed her eyes, squinting to see clearly and then gasped, seeing Storm and not a large purple cat friend.

"Ah!" she pushed him away, causing him to tumble and fall into Jet, who squawked at the surprise collision as the two rolled along the ground.

"HEY! What's the big idea?!" Jet shook his fists in the air and kicked out his legs, having Storm land on top of him. "Get off of me, you big oaf!"

"Amy," Sonic turned his full attention to Amy then, seeing her suddenly spark to life. He began to walk over to her, bending down as Storm did to be at eye-level with her. "You had us kinda crazy worried about you." He smiled, trying to be charming but Amy just stared at him…

Then puffed up the side of her cheek, "Emm…" she grumbled and quickly swiped her head to a swift left.

Sonic flinched back a moment, "Hey, come on, Amy… Was it something I said? I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." He hadn't really played out how he was going to talk to her once he found her, but seeing her act like this…

"Hmph!" she ducked her head down and began to get up, using the wall as support.

"Ah! Here, let me help you." He straightened up and leaned forward, offering his arms but she just gave him a look and walked along the wall.

She held her nose high up to the sky and ignored him, causing him to sink a bit in his own skin, "You've got to be kidding me…" He stated, a little disheartened about her attitude but also shrugging it off and moving back towards Tails and the gang. "Well, guess it can't be helped for now. Tails? You got a story for me?"

"Boy, do I!" Tails bounced to life, holding up his Miles-Electric for Sonic to see. Sonic took it as Tails continued, clicking through the spark notes Tails had made. "Apparently, Eggman's discovered a lost God. Her name is Harmony, and she's the opposite power of Chaos, which is the power of creation." Tails began as Amy opened her stubborn eyes to peek back at the group and hear what they were talking about.

"A God?" Enraged still, Jet popped his head up after Storm finally came too, rubbing his head and pouting at getting trashed by the same girl again… "You mean to tell me this is about someone's religion!?"

"Hey," Knuckles folded his arms, glaring a bit and raising an eyebrow at Jet, "Watch your manners… they were revered as Gods… By my people." He looked back to Tails, nodded for him to continue.

Tails nodded back, thanks for him taking care of that. "Right. They're not really Gods, but more like aliens with significant powers and abilities. From what I could gather from Knuckles, she must have different abilities that differ from Chaos too." He looked to the group forming around him.

Wave, who looked annoyed, immediately spoke up after him, "But what does this have to do with anything?"

Amy began to turn around, slowly making her way back and still clinging to the wall for support. Her ears twitched to listen better and folded more towards Tails's voice.

Tails looked to Wave, "There was a huge energy pulse, one from Chaos… another directly from Harmony."

"The signal?" Wave looked to Storm and Jet, who nodded to her.

"You registered it too?" Tails looked intrigued but not surprised to hear that.

Wave looked to Jet, who nodded cautiously his permission.

Wave unlocked her necklace's orb from her neck and clicked it, showing the readings, "This is what we could find… it apparently drained me and your friend there of some of our life force."

"It what?!" Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails stepped back, amazed to hear such a thing.

Amy also placed her hand up to herself, looking down and thinking about that awful state she was in… "Was something really trying to pull power from us?" She looked back at the party, who seemed to turn to address her.

They remained silent, looking a little solemn.

"Don't know… not yet, anyway." Jet responded, looking down before growing angry again and shaking his fist, gritting his teeth.

He turned to Tails, "Grr... Alright, Fox boy! You're a techie just like Wave! You two work together to decipher what those signals were and where they took Wave's power!"

Wave just bent her eyelids down, not enjoying his childish stomps and uproars, but rolled her eyes, knowing they were coming from a good place.

"I suppose we can share our intel." She agreed, but half-heartedly.

"R-right." Feeling the reluctantly in her voice, Tails remained a bit quiet and nodded to her, looking up and following her lead.

"Harmony, according to Knuckles's vision," everyone suddenly turned to Knuckles, apparently surprised he could have those. Embarrassed at their staring, Knuckles looked away. "Was tricked by his people into creating the Chaos Emeralds, but at somewhat a cost. When they were used to control Chaos, they also injured her beyond repair, resulting in her becoming the lesser of the two Gods."

Amy, still feeling a bit weak around the knees, was able to manage walking over to the crowd.

When Sonic noticed her, she was too focused on the story and didn't say anything. He just smiled sweetly, but also let out a single chuckle. He knew she'd be too curious to stay away, and was just glad she dropped her act in time to listen in.

"She's weaker than him now? Hard to imagine." Sarcastically, Wave folded her arms.

Taking it as her disbelief, Tails turned to her, gesturing an arm out to her as he spoke. "She may be weakened, but even still, she's incredibly powerful. She's somehow linked to the energies within women kind. If we don't stop her, it could mean something terrible for the women of our world." He emphasized, causing everyone to turn to Wave and Amy.

Growing self-conscious, the two girls looked perturbed by their staring and Tails's statement.

"O-Oui, let's not jump the gun here…" Wave held up her hands, not liking the attention.

"R-Right, Tails, you're not certain of all this… are you?" Amy also asked, which led Tails to shaking his head.

"None of this is for certain," he looked to Knuckles, who looked very caringly towards him. "We're only able to go off of what Knuckles was saying…"

"No need."

The gang turned around.

"Who's this guy? Wait… Didn't I see him in a race or two?" Jet commented as the figure of the black and red hedgehog seemed to jog a forgotten memory.

"It's hazy… but I think I do remember this rider." Wave stated but looked a little cautious about his random appearance.

"It's-" Sonic began, but Amy's head jumped up from the side of him, cutting him off.

"It's Shadow!" Amy exclaimed, and ran towards him, gaining her strength back.

Sonic's head shifted from her to Shadow before looking a bit exasperated again.

He wasn't liking how this new dynamic between them was playing out…

Amy held her hands together, greeting him with a kind, excited smile.

Shadow gazed at her before seeing her color begin to slowly come back to her. "Looks like Harmony is its name." As he walked by, he pointed to Amy's hair. "Your life is slowly being restored to you through the Planet Egg's power… a mixture between Chaos and Harmony's abilities… without them, the Planet Egg would have never formed this world."

He stopped in front of Tails, putting a hand on his hip. "Don't bother researching any of these ruins for clues. I've got all the evidence that remains of her here." He tossed what looked to be a USP drive of some kind, causing Tails to think fast and jumble with grabbing it before it fell.

"You… You were looking into the ruins, too, Shadow?" Tails inquired while Shadow looked back to Sonic, still holding the Miles-Electric.

"…Oh." Sonic quickly understood what he was implying and quickly walked back over to Tails, giving him the device.

"T-Thanks." Tails plugged the USP drive in, "Woah! This is..?!"

"You should really add more firewalls to your things, Tails. It's far too easy to hack into them." Shadow folded his arms, "Though, I hope you don't mind my intrusion of your private services… They prove quite a deal more reliable than anything G.U.N can offer."

"You… you stole my systems?" Tails looked amazed, "I'm surprised you even cracked through my security procedures! Not even Eggman has access to those!"

"I'm not Eggman." Shadow countered, and looked to Wave. He examined her head to toe with his eyes before Wave finally placed two fingers up to her eyes.

"My soul is in here."

"I'm aware of that. I'm trying to figure out how you two are still alive."

"Beg your pardon?" Wave was growing restless and getting increasingly more agitated.

"According to the ruins that even vaguely mention a female deity… many of the Echidna women were sacrificed to give her enough power to create the imprisoning stones we now call the Chaos Emeralds… the Master Emerald was created with even more lives from that of the female children. There's no wonder their species went extinct and the rest of them were banished to the Twilight Zone." He looked to Knuckles, shaking his head. "You have no reason to honor your ancestors."

Knuckles's eyes widened, "Why you… you… YOU-!" he charged him with a fist, but something hooked him and held him back. "W-what..?"

His eyes slowly gazed back… horrified to see Chaos's stretched arm had held him back.

Chaos just stared and bobbed slightly in motion, waiting for Knuckles to pull back.

Being somewhat hurt from Chaos's actions, Knuckles loosened up and fell to his knees, looking a bit broken by the whole scene.

"Knuckles…" Amy moved over to him, dropping to his side and cupping the side of his face with her hand, comforting him as he let him lean into her. She hugged him, glaring at Shadow, "That was an awful thing to say!" she shouted, "Apologize to him! Knuckles isn't like that!"

"And yet, it's true." Shadow looked to Chaos, "Your past angers weren't just directed onto the Echidnas… however." Chaos looked back at him, taking his crystallized eyes off of Knuckles's shaken state. "They were directed to the world."

"Who are you?" Wave asked, as Shadow just chuckled beside himself.

"Who am I?" He angled his head a bit to her, talking to the side of his shoulder, looking at her from a tilt. "It's a long story."

Storm poked Knuckles, "Come on, buddy… Don't cry…"

"I'm not crying!" Knuckles smacked his hand away but missed. He started yelling, "I don't need anyone telling me who I am! I don't need anyone poking into my ancestor's past mistakes either!" in his rage, he pushed Amy aside, making her fall back a bit.

He rose to his feet, eyes fixed on Shadow, "You were in my people's sacred edifices!"

"…More like occult burial grounds…" Shadow defended himself and his standing, then looked to Tails's horrified face. "See for yourself." He turned and began to walk away. "If you intend to reunite Chaos and his partner… you're risking the destruction of all creation from the world. The infertile planet will rapidly begin to wither and die. Plants will stop producing oxygen. Wind will cease. The earth will stop turning on its natural rotation and axis… then… only we men will have our regrets and loneliness to accompany us at the end." Shadow lowered his head and spoke to those behind him, the gang remaining silent at his words.

"Tails..?" Sonic looked to him for confirmation if any of this was true, but Tails's eyes just shook, reading what inscriptions and hieroglyphs Shadow had pictured and translated through his software. He just shook his head, and turned away from the screen, closing his eyes from the tragic past.

Sonic also looked a bit uncertain, but turned to Shadow, "Aren't you going to help?"

"I've done enough." Shadow stated, "I'm used to walking this world alone… what difference would it make?" he turned to the gang, "I'm immortal… The power of Chaos is within me… giving me all manner of life. Chaos isn't connected to Harmony's power." He shook his head, "We men have nothing to fear but his wrath."

"You-!" Wave launched herself at him but Storm held her back.

"Easy there, Wave!"

"Shadow, you can't mean that!" Amy said, rushing to him but stopping some feet away. "I know you loved someone. Someone who was very close to you! Why won't you help us?" her eyes pleaded, but Shadow smiled.

"I was joking."

The entirety of the team fell silent…

"THAT WASN'T FUNNY!" they all shouted in unison.

"That wasn't the right timing!" Sonic cried out, but Shadow just laughed in his amusement of their responses.

"Ugh, I know the direction of the energy residue. What do you need?" Wave quickly turned back to Tails, exhausted from all this, and just wanting to fix it all quickly.

"Oh, y-yeah… I was hoping to have Chaos communicate with her again by using that aurora blast from before… but now…" Tails looked uneasy.

"What is it, buddy?" Sonic still seemed to be a little lost on everything.

Knuckles, swallowing some pride, stepped up to Sonic, "Sonic… If Chaos is seeking revenge for his imprisonment… He has the power now to fully destroy Harmony."

Sonic turned to him, his eyes showed the innocence of a boy, and Knuckles sighed.

"Meaning…" He continued, a little begrudgingly. He had to remember that Tails and Sonic were somewhat in the same boat here… "That everything Shadow said would come to past… However, if Chaos wants to bring Order back to the world, restoring the balance of life and death and renewing the planet's natural cycles… Well, then they're friends again. But we're not sure how that's gonna go just yet." Knuckles scratched behind his head, shaking it and swaggering away as though not sure he should be allowing this. "I'm not confident in letting Chaos contact her just yet… but I'm willing to at least try and figure out what he's saying to her. You know?"

"That would be unwise." Shadow responded, "Considering Eggman has located and brought the 'Goddess' out of her original resting place."

"Eggman!?" the team turned back to Shadow.

"So he's apart of this too!" Tails exclaimed.

Shadow nodded, then turned to Sonic. "As of now, Rouge has informed me that half robotic stone monsters are forming a legion around Eggman's location. They're building some kind of giant zone…"

"Eggman…" Sonic gripped his fist into a tight hold, then looked over to Amy…

She was unaware of his gaze until a moment after, turning to him and blinking in unknowing curiosity at why he was staring…

Sonic's eyes traced her face back and forth… a world without Amy? Without girls?

The realization that his friend was at stake made his eyes crush themselves shut, his body crunch in and his fist shake.

"Eggman's gone too far this time…" He shot his eyes open, "We can't let Harmony suck the life out of women all over the planet. We've got to do something." He looked to Chaos, seeing him patiently observing the gang. "We have to see what his feelings are towards all this first. Is there any way we can understand him?" He looked to Tails, hoping for some logical solution to this madness.

"The planet's been slowly dying for years, Sonic. There's only so much Harmony can pull before everything just… isn't there anymore." Tails explained, "The Planet Egg… It only has so much life it can give. Every star has its course, but I can say this… Harmony might accelerate that depletion, and if she feels threatened by Chaos then-" he was cut off then by Shadow.

"If we're all just going to stand around here and talk about 'what ifs' then my information to you was pointless." He swiped the Miles-Electric out of Tails's hands.

"Hey!" Tails reached for it, but Shadow expertly kept it away and used his arm to push Tails back.

"You either listen to my plan or go your own path, you decide."

"You have a plan?" Sonic raised an eyebrow, almost mocking him. "That's a first."

Shadow just narrowed his eyes at him and then continued to the others, "No one wants that fight to happen, except maybe Eggman. I've already begun gathering people. With enough forces, we could prevent Harmony from acting under the direction of Eggman's control."

The others looked a little skeptical but nodded.

"What have you got in mind? Shadow?" Sonic gestured a hand out to him, ready to hear.

"Are you all mad!?" Jet finally spoke up, "We should be leaving the planet!"

"If we leave, I'll still die." Wave glared at him, "I'm…" she looked away, "I'm connected to the life force on this planet now… Harmony stole some years of my life away… who knows if they were even years? But regardless. I highly doubt that grabbing our tails and fleeing is going to keep anyone safe. Her power seems… far-reaching." Wave looked up into the sky.

"…I'm still all for Chaos contacting Harmony."

The group remained silent.

Knuckles shook his head.

"You of all people should know what you're risking." He argued, but it was gentle, like the protector he truly was. "Think this through."

"I…" Everyone then set their eyes to Amy, who looked a little timid… but as her eyes came up, a strong woman then stood there. "I want to try too."

The men all looked at the two girls, surprised by their bravery.

"Are you serious? You're both just gonna let Harmony drain you dry!?" Jet was getting emotionally invested, and to help him calm down, Storm twiddled his fingers and tapped his shoulder. "WHAT?! You too?!"

Storm nodded.

"It's not just our lives we have to think about." Wave walked up next to Amy, matching her resolved expression. They nodded to one another, then turned to the boys. "If Harmony was once a good alien who gave life to the planet, who's to say when she's free and able, she won't do it again?"

"You really think she's that compassionate?" Jet kept fighting, putting his hands on his hips but by then, Knuckles just let out a laugh and patted his other shoulder.

"Goes to show ya! Women are a force to be reckoned with!"

"Very well." Shadow turned to Chaos, "Assure us you're on our side… if not, we'll take you down with the very stones that cursed you two to remain apart." Shadow glared his threat, moving up to Chaos's face—a move he knew was all too dangerous from last time—but squeezed his hand shut in front of him.

The intimidation wasn't very effective, as Chaos just stared at him, pulled up his own three-talon-spiked hand, and crushed it as well.

However, when you looked at it, it almost looked like a sign of camaraderie.

As the group traveled, Tails followed after Shadow, trying to keep up with his pace and remain next to him as they ascended up the large and continuous steps towards the top shrine of the temple. "But that doesn't add up! If it was so significant for the Echidnas to take over everything, why didn't they record more about Harmony? Why is so much lost?"

"Would you want the world to learn what you did to your women?" Only his eyes looked back at Tails.

Tails lowered the Miles-Electric… then his head.

"I also suspect Eggman has a missing link to all of this," Shadow admitted, perking Tails's hope up a bit as he directed his attention back to him.

"What do you mean?"

"A manuscript in the library was missing. Rouge and I found a trace of Eggman's DNA there…"

"YOU WERE SNOOPING IN MY RUINS!?" Knuckles flung himself back, insisting to guide Chaos from the front of the line. "EGGMAN AND YOU ALL WILL PAY FOR THIS!"

Shadow just gave him an unamused look, "Is all your friend knows how to do is be loud and aggressive?"

"You were quiet and hostile, what's the difference?" Sonic joked, then looked to Amy, nudging her shoulder. "Right? Right?" He winked an eye down but she just gave him a quiet look that only meant 'back off'.

"Hmph." She stuck her nose up and walked forward, matching the pace of Storm who was spooked into crying out when he saw her slide up next to him so fast.

"Huh… Tough crowd." Sonic frowned but didn't seem too phased.

He jogged a bit up with a fast-paced speed walk, smirking as he made his way easily next to her again, "Can't look at where you're going if you shut your eyes closed." He was referring to her shutting him out, but she peeked an eye open and flipped her hair out towards him, making him stumble in his stride and back off as she increased her speed.

She suddenly rushed up to Knuckles, glared back at Sonic, then grabbed Knuckles's arm and continued to walk ahead of everyone.

Sonic staggered a little back, coming up beside Jet, and looking a little defeated. "Oohhh…"

"Why's she so suddenly cold to you?" Jet inquired, "Haha! Miss the mark or something?" he nudged his arm annoyingly into Sonic's side.

Sonic slumped forward a bit, "She's blaming me for missing a date she set up… but that I had nothing to do with."

"Huh? You took me seriously?" Jet looked a bit surprised that Sonic didn't fight him back but openly told him the situation. "Hey, look… We're not buddies or anything, so I'm not gonna hear you out and help you, you got that!?" he fumed, visibly shaken by Sonic's sudden chill demeanor. "Besides… the way she's tugging on that Echidna bloke… looks like you've already lost your stance with her. Ah~ If only you were as smooth as me." Jet patted his back, raising his other arm up and shaking his head in his boasting. "Watch this." He winked, moving up to Wave.

"How's it going, gorgeous-IEEE!"

Before he could finish leaning forward, his hands behind his back, trying to slip in a flirt—Wave threw her elbow back into his gut.

"A…hack!" he spat out and gripped his stomach, falling to his knees as Storm stopped for him.

"Boss!"

But Sonic just kept on walking, turning around only for a moment to stick his tongue out at him and place his hands up to his head, wiggling them around in mockery. "Bleeh-heh-heh!" he then quickly made his way over to Wave.

"Wave! How's it hanging?"

"What do you want?" She practically growled out.

"Oh, uh… sorry, you've had a bad day, huh?" he looked kind, but she shifted her eyes to him suspiciously.

"Yeah, getting the living essence pulled out of ya does that to a girl." She scoffed, "What do you really want?"

"…Actually…" He leaned a little closer, gesturing with his eyes to Amy.

Amy was looking back, clearly not comfortable with the action going on of Sonic being close to another girl, but when Wave turned to look at her, she immediately squeaked in surprised and turned forward again.

Knuckles faltered a bit in his step, "O-Oui!"

"Shh!" she scolded him, "Quit fidgeting or we'll both fall back!"

"M-Me!? You're the one knocking me off balance!"

"I said quiet, you!"

Wave smiled, "Oh. Lady troubles?" she grinned, narrowing her eyes, "How unfortunate. I might be able to lend a hand… for a small fee…" she wiggled her open hand out, as Sonic rolled his eyes.

Jet only saw Wave extending her hand out to him, and immediately his eyes bulged out of their sockets, "WHAT!? She's-! Ohh! That girl!" he roared, "She's fraternizing with the enemy! Storm! Quick! Hoist me up!"

Sonic heard some squawking from behind and snickered.

"What?" Wave raised an eyebrow, "Don't want my help?"

"Not exactly." Sonic took her hand.

Both Amy and Jet suddenly let out a howl of a response.

"THAT TWO-TIMING-!" Amy began.

"TRAITOROUS PIGEON BRAIN!" Jet continued, enraged as he threw the binoculars down from sitting on Storm's shoulders, now having fallen quite considerably behind from the two in the center of this fiasco.

"I think we're actually helping each other." Sonic winked, but Wave was too shocked to really react just yet.

"Why you-… Nasty little flirt!" she was about to punch him before.

"wwwwwaaaAAAAVVVEEEE!" Jet was launched between the two by Storm's powerful throw, parting their hands and then taking Sonic down with him.

"Ah, Sonic!" Amy worriedly cried out, seeing him get attacked and pummeled by an enraged Jet.

"I'll teach you to flirt with my teammates!" Jet threw one punch after another as Sonic skillfully made sure Jet only hit the tip of his head.

"Keep it coming~" Sonic chimed, making Jet stop a moment and look confused.

"Come again..?" He blinked, before seeing Amy come at him with her hammer.

"Hyyyahhh!" she charged and swung, flinging Jet off of Sonic as he fell back into Wave's arms.

He then threw his typical tantrum, "YOU USED MY JEALOUSY FOR YOUR OWN ENDS!? That's low, hedgehog! That's-!"

"…Did you just say 'your jealousy'?" Wave raised a curious eyebrow.

Jet froze and slowly rolled his eyes up to her, seeing he was practically almost sitting on the ground without her support.

It wasn't Storm who caught him!?

"Uhh… heh, heh… ehem, as your Boss, of course, I'd be offended if you grew relationships outside the team." He tried to recover, but her eyelids drooped a little at the cuteness of his actions.

"Oh, of course, Boss." She teased, helping him up but making sure to ruffle some feathers along his neck while she was at it. "Whatever you say~" she lined her finger across his beak and then continued to walk on.

Jet stumbled but clearly looked a little twitterpated, but then Storm peeked his head out into his vision from behind him, "B-bah-bah-Boss? You kinda look red as a lovestruck dove…"

Jet twitched with red pulsing anger veins and struck Storm on the head, "Shut up! I'm out of her league!" he cried out, walking on with a few added grumbles of distain. "I'm the son of the Leader of the Babylon Rogues! Of course, she's gold-digging. Don't be so sentimental, Storm..!" he mumbled in shouted whispers to him as Storm rubbed his head and nodded submissively after Jet.

"Y-yes, Boss… Okay, Boss… but… Uhhhhh… D'aw, don't you think you two have spent a lot of time together? Maybe love just naturally formed between you two-EEK!" Storm's beak was gripped by Jet's silent hand bending around his bulbous beak.

"Another word out of you…" Jet threatened, twitching at his words…

"Sonic!" Amy bent down by Sonic, lifting his head up.

Sonic faked being in pain, gripping his chest and having his eyes flinch to slowly look up at Amy. "It… Kinda hurts…"

"Ah!" Amy's tender heart immediately kicked in, forgetting their feud, she helped him up and rubbed his head gently. "There, there… I'll get you some nice cool water to put on it when this is all over…" she cooed, as Sonic also faked a hurt arm. He nodded as though humbly to her request, and as she walked forward, her arms supporting him as he moved, he smiled giddily and then faked some further pain.

"Ohh… ow, ow… it hurts."

Amy gasped, reaching up and rubbing the tip of his head again, "Ohhh! That no-good thug! There, there… Nothing to fear, Amy Rose is here…"

Chaos stopped a moment, turning to watch the strange scene behind him.

Knuckles also stopped in direct response to his action and turned to look behind him. "WAHH!? What on earth is going on!? Why is everyone so far behind?!"

Chaos ignored Knuckles's booming and dramatic reactions, but simply watched as Amy patted Sonic's head, and how he purposefully leaned down and softly smiled at the attention.

Chaos's eyes dimmed more so…

Harmony lightly placed petals along Chaos's surface. The flowers streamed down gracefully through his waters.

She burbled in her own unique way, a gentle sound, tilting her head to him.

He looked back at her and she lightly stroked the strands of turquoise blue appendages on the sides of his face.

He stared at her.

She swayed her head and bobbed as though making music with her sounds.

He listened silently, before leaning his head towards her, bubbling something.

She stopped her music to lean back, before excitedly brushing up against his cheek with him.

Chaos's body shook, rippled as the sound of crashing waves hit the steps of the temple as he mutated into his more watery form where only his head showed his previous look.

"Woah!" Knuckles saw him hurriedly splashing up the steps and quickly tried to follow after, but kept slipping on the wetness he now created. "H-hey! Hold up! Wait for me!"

"Oh no!" Tails looked ahead, seeing Chaos get dangerously away from Knuckles.

Shadow also looked tensed up, "If he fires off a beacon of light, we won't have time to decode it!"

Worriedly, the two hurried up the steps, dodging Storm and Jet, Wave, Sonic, Amy, and finally passing Knuckles…

"Chaos! Wait for uuuussss!" Tails cried out.

Chaos stopped suddenly, a pull forcing him to take strained steps as the pull of the Master Emerald could now be seen by its light shining from Angel Island.

"H-huh?" Knuckles stopped running after him a moment, seeing the Master Emerald and Chaos's desperate attempts to reach the summit. "…Ah, it's not letting him go much further, is it?"

He looked down at Sonic, remembering how Chaos was originally trying to get to him.

His brain tried to connect the dots, it took him a moment of straining, but he did so and turned fiercely to Tails and Shadow up ahead of him. "Wait! He needs a host!"

Shadow stopped, "A what?" he seemed confused and angry at the statement.

"What are you talking about?" Tails, still flying in the air, also halted his advance and turned.

"… A willing creature that he can control and dwell within…" Knuckles looked uneasy, biting his lip. "This is bad…" He began to think to himself, 'It's clear that Chaos might be choosing Sonic as its first choice for a temporary host… but Sonic would never surrender his will so easily… this isn't gonna work out… but Sonic has the most experience when it comes to controlling Chaos's power… probably better at it too, though Shadow would likely not like that…' Knuckles looked up to Shadow, who was clearly still waiting for an explanation.

"Chaos is acting antsy. He can't be this far away from the Master Emerald… He needs Sonic."

As they all caught up, Amy watched as emotions burst from her heart at how desperate Chaos was trying to fight the pull of the Master Emerald, reaching for the top that was so close… but having to revert his hand back to his body and slowly slink away from it.

"The only one who has wielded his power on multiple occasions… having a perfect mastery over his destructive, chaotic powers… is Sonic." Knuckles explained but saw Shadow's prideful eyes grow offended at that statement.

"I was born with his power… and you call him more worthy than I?" Shadow gestured out, as though shoving Knuckles's reasoning to the side. "You must be joking."

"However…" Knuckles glared a bit, then turned tenderly to Sonic, "In order to do that… Sonic would have to give up his will and become a living host to Chaos…"

Sonic stopped stepping up but looked rather seriously towards Knuckles.

Shadow continued for him, "What are you suggesting?" he descended the steps closer to Knuckles.

"I'm saying…" Knuckles closed his eyes, "If you won't surrender to him… you should at least let him dwell within you… It's risky… especially if you gather all seven Chaos Emeralds…"

The team all recalled the terrifying experience of Ultimate Chaos, how Sonic defeated it before any more destruction could prevail against Square Square and the rest of the world…

"The Master Emerald's influence is crucial to keeping him in check… but I also believe that you—Sonic—can prevent the floods of his wrath from seeking revenge as well." Knuckles finished on a solemn note, "I trust ya… buddy." He looked a sorrowfully down, as though wishing he could trust himself with this task, but knowing Sonic was the better fit for the job.

Sonic narrowed his eyes, remaining silent.

He walked up to Chaos, looking him in the eyes and standing on the same wide steps as him, seeing him look helpless… almost like he had.

He looked to Amy, then back to Chaos.

"You want to protect her?"

Chaos slowly raised his head to Sonic.

"… Harmony… you want to save her… don't you?"

Chaos stared at him, and a feeling struck Sonic as he smiled.

"The Echidna's separated you two. Turned her against you with doubt about your destructive powers being used wrongly against them. Am I getting it so far?" Trying to connect with an alien water creature was proving a bit challenging, but Sonic took it in stride and with a grin on his face.

He motioned his hand forward, "However, she was the one being tricked to use her power for wicked purposes, not you. But that means it'll be easier to forgive her, right? You will forgive her, won't you? After all, you've done some evil acts too. She created the Chaos Emeralds without realizing what that would do to you." He was recalling the story he read through the Miles-Electric and everything he heard so far. "She might forget… how strong you two are one. How much good you two can do together. The world needs this… This Order thing. The balance of life and death to be restored. I can't say I know what she's thinking… but I can maybe guess that she wants to make amends too."

His soft approach wasn't unnoticed by Amy, she could see the parallels, as though Sonic was respecting her silent treatment and speaking to her indirectly through Chaos's crisis.

'That hedgehog…' She lovingly sighed out in her mind, placing her hands together as her heart melted towards him.

"You can't govern this world alone." Sonic, once again, reached his hand out even further and extended his fingers out to show he wanted to shake Chaos's hand.

"I won't surrender my will,"

The party looked amazed by that statement.

"But if we're one in purpose… then I won't have too."

Finally, Chaos took Sonic's hand.

There was an immense light from the Master Emerald in the far distance as Chaos encompassed himself around Sonic, locking him in his waters as his mind attached to Sonic's head.

"Sonic!" Amy cried out, but Knuckles held her back, "Hold on! It's okay…" he tried to assure her, but even he looked worried.

The mind pulsed once, and Sonic felt the water slowly recede into himself.

Absorbing Chaos left him exhausted, the mind glittered in lights and suddenly disappeared as though a mirage, fading as Sonic fell to the stone steps, rolling down a bit before Storm caught him at his feet.

"Got'cha." He stated, helping him up.

Sonic blinked his eyes, glowing green around his iris's before shaking his head and smiling up at Storm, thankfully. "Thanks. I appreciate it." He weakly stated, getting to his feet.

"How… How do you feel?" Tails asked, Knuckles having his mouth open as though about to ask the same thing before Tails beat him to it.

"Like…" He staggered, touching his chest. "Like there's a storm inside of me… and an ocean muffling my thoughts up here." He pointed to his head. "I think we're seeing eye to eye now… I won't let him take over, but I think he understands that."

Suddenly, water burst from Sonic and Chaos formed himself again, the eyes missing and so were his brain. After a moment, the figure formed Sonic's silhouette, then reformed into Chaos's original form and the mirage effect swiped the eyes and brain back into place.

The brain pulsed and the eyes sparked with green light again.

Chaos looked to Knuckles.

Knuckles nodded, "Right, we should begin now."

Sonic stepped up to the top of the tall temple, looming over the jungle like a mountain. He turned back to wait for Chaos.

"No funny business now." He teased, his irises glowing green for a moment as though reminding Chaos why they chose Sonic in the first place.

Chaos just looked at him as he walked by, then stood in the center of the platform.

Everyone lowered themselves a few steps down, and Sonic held out the Miles-Electric. "I guess I'll hold this up then." He lifted the device up, "Let it rip, Chaos!" Sonic cheered out.

Chaos dipped within himself, before blasting out a circled beam of light, a Sonic Boom cracked the sky as the lights raced through it like an arch around the world.

Sonic bent the device down, his eyes suddenly shaken at the words written there.

WHERE ARE YOU?

"What…" he didn't understand, "Does this mean?"

"Sonic?" Tails called, "What did it say?"

"…He's asking where she is but… I can't tell if it's hostile or not…" Sonic grew worried, ducking his head down and having a sweat drop drip down the side of his face. "Chaos… You do want to be reunited with your friend,… right?"

Back at the Eggman base,

The light reached out, pausing Eggman from further plans as he stared up at the sky.

His eyebrow raised slightly, "Where are those two buffoons?"

Orbot and Cubot scooted Harmony towards the edge of the building, but she shook herself and fell to her knees, turning her head away from the light.

"My dear, it's now or never!" Orbot urged.

"Yeah! You can't just ghost like this!" Cubot pleaded, "That's so cruel. At least give him some closure!"

"Quiet, Cubot! Look!" Orbot saw her gently raise her head and shakily… reach her hand towards the light.

The blood around her eyes, almost looking like inward tears, suddenly stopped and her eyes widened.

She shook her head and cowered in fear.

Orbot and Cubot looked to each other, "You think he's not being very nice?"

"Well, I don't know him well enough to know if Chaos's romantically challenged or not… Hmm… Maybe we should just let her be- Cubot!" Orbot gasped as Cubot made his way to the edge, clapping his hands and dancing around.

"Oh, Mr. Chaos! We've got your girlfriend! If you want her to talk back you better sound more appealing!"

"Cubot." Orbot face-palmed himself. "I'm sure it's just a lot of misunderstandings… after all, Harmony clearly had a partnership with him in the past… There must be… something there she can hold on to." He looked back at her with such pity, not knowing what to say or do to help her overcome her fears.

Harmony covered her eyes in her fluid, leaning to her side and using her only arm to support herself.

"…Well," Orbot sighed, giving up. "If he really loves you… I suppose he'd have tried to do more than contact you by now…"

Harmony pulled some of the liquid off her eyes then.

"Don't say that!" Cubot turned around, angrily flapping his hand in Orbot's face, "Shame on you! It's her fault too for not putting in the effort too, you know!"

"Effort?! She's clearly in the wrong here."

"Wrong!" Cubot slapped his accusing hands away from Harmony. "If Chaos was around to stop her from hearing the Echidna's out, things might be different!"

"That… That doesn't make any sense!" the two began to bicker, causing Harmony to turn towards them.

"Yeah, well! If he wasn't made of destruction, maybe he wouldn't be going around destroying his relationships with people then!"

"Cubot, you're talking nonsense, now… S-stop hitting me!"

"Harmony has the power to bring life to things, right?" Cubot pushed Orbot back and held him there, looking to Harmony. "Can't you revive an old friendship?"

Harmony looked in the direction Chaos's blast came from.

"If you don't even try, how will you know he's mean and scary like the Echidnas kept telling you, eh? Maybe he's still that sweet, lovable puddle of water you're still so fond of, right?" Cubot lowered his hands and held them girlishly together, batting his robotic eyes as though they had eyelashes on them.

"Cubot, you're not making matters-" Orbot began before being amazed as Harmony stood up, her one hand touching her beating heart organ inside of her. "…any… better?" It was as though he was asking her how she was feeling.

Harmony summoned up some air, as though taking a deep breath.

With a new resolve, she blasted forth another aurora wave.

It was stronger than last time, more powerful, but suddenly, Eggman's eggmobile flew up from beyond the edge.

"WHAT DO YOU BLABBER-MOUTHS THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"

"EEEEE!" Cubot latched onto Orbot, who tried to pull him off.

"S-sorry, sir! We were just… o-o-obeying your orders and watching Harmony at all times!" Orbot stuttered, not necessarily lying.

"What he said!" Cubot supported.

Eggman flew down to Harmony, who stared boldly at him.

"…Think this changes anything… do you?" he eyed her, holding up the button and grinning wickedly. "You forget who still holds your Crystal prison?"

She remained unshaken.

"Hmm?" He seemed surprised by that.

Back with the gang,

"Did she not respond?" Tails wondered, looking to Knuckles who looked tensed, sighing out a bit of worry.

"I honestly don't know if they can ever be back together, Tails… They used their powers to restore the world so many times… what if we just… have to go on without her?" It was a sad thought, but one Knuckles felt needed to be addressed. "So far, the world hasn't been renewed since the time of my ancestors… if the Planet Egg doesn't receive a tune-up… then what? We just… keep existing till our star explodes?" Knuckles was referring back to what Tails had said to Sonic.

Tails… went silent, looking down and having his ears bend back. "…Do you think… they could be friends again? Even just a slight possibility of that ever happening again?"

"…Is it even a friendship?" Right as Knuckles said that, the northern lights show spread out in an arch beam with a powerful wind blast that echoed back another sonic boom.

The gang hand to cling to each other and duck from the powerful winds.

"Sonic! The translation!" Shadow shouted out, shielding Amy beside him.

Sonic struggled but put an arm up to shield himself from the harsh winds, the device shook in his hand, threatening to fly off in the wind. "Come on… Come on…" Sonic waited… till words started to fly across the screen as the colors flew by.

"Ah! Got it!" Sonic looked down at the message.

Chaos's head… sank.

I FEAR YOUR WRATH. MY ACCIDENTAL BETRAYAL. JUSTICE ASKS THAT YOU FINISH ME. BY DOING SO, YOU LEAVE AS THE SOLE REMAINING FORCE. I DEFEND MYSELF. DESPERATELY LONG FOR YOU. FEAR. CANNOT BE. UNFORGIVABLE. A MORTAL CONTROLS ME. HE FEEDS ME PAIN. I AM CONFLICTED. I WILL NOT FEEL YOUR POWER TAKE ANOTHER PART OF ME AGAIN. THOUGH DESERVE. WILL NOT LET THE WORLD DIE.

Sonic's shoulders dropped…

"What's she saying!" Tails cried out.

Amy reached her hand up to the light.

"What are you doing!?" Wave countered but saw Jet do the same. "You too?"

"It… doesn't feel bad… not like how Chaos's wave felt." Jet felt the force of Chaos's message from a distance, but even then, it felt sickening to be around.

However… even with being this close… the gang felt a pleasant sensation from her aurora message.

"She says…" Sonic felt his mouth grow dry. He shook his head, choosing a different approach, "I sincerely think Chaos knows the truth! I believe he wants Harmony back and she wants to be back with him too. With all their hearts… I think they really do want to save this world." He takes another deep breath, "He wants to go to her, but Eggman is holding her back. We have to get them to talk more!"

The winds brought a heavy, dark cloud over the area… thunder rampaged as Chaos looked too heartbroken to respond back.

Sonic moved over to him, "Come on, Chaos. She's hurting."

No response.

"You have to say something to her! Give her courage! Give her your strength to know she's not alone! You know it wasn't her that did all those things back in the past. She was manipulated. You have to convince her to fight back!"

Chaos swiped an arm at him, warning him to keep his distance.

"Oh? So you want to give up just like that too, eh?" Sonic grew upset, "I thought we were in this together, for everyone we care about's sake!"

Chaos bent inside himself.

"Comfort her…" Sonic suddenly realized something… he looked over the edge to see the tip of Amy's bangs flying in the newly produced storm's winds. "…That's all she wants from you… is to know how you feel about her."

Another wave of Chaos power blasted through the air, this time, knocking Eggman into it as he reeled with the pain and lurched forward. He panted, as Orbot and Cubot worriedly flew up to him, being dragged back a bit by the windstorm.

"Doctor Eggman!" they cried out in unison, trying to swim through the air almost to reach him.

"Harmony… is he challenging you?" Orbot asked.

"Stop this madness!" Cubot pleaded.

Convinced, she looked up.

Sonic, fighting back the awful feeling, squinted through the pain in his stomach and looked at the device.

Flapping in his hand, continually seeming to threaten that if Sonic loses his grip even for a moment… it would slip away.

I FREE YOU.

"He says he's gonna try and free her!" Sonic shouted over the wind.

"Ha! Typical of a guy! One line responses!" Wave laughed, having been reading the signals the entire time.

"H-huh? How are you doing that!?" Tails peeked over to her holographic screen.

She moved it away from him, "What? Didn't see me swipe this?" She held up the USP drive in her hand.

Shadow and Tails both blinked their eyes in response. "Oh-ho! Looks like some people forgot they were in the presence of generation old, thieves, eh?"

Jet shook his head, "Look, I want nothing to do with a 'God's marital status' alright!? We're going home!" Jet began to crawl backwards down the steps. "Come on, Wave. Storm!"

"Hold on! Are you just gonna let women all around the world die?" Wave watched in sincere confusion at his apathy.

"I only care about you, Wave. Come on! We'll solve this some other way!" Jet continued to crawl down, but Storm stopped a moment from following him, looking up at Wave.

Wave softened her eyes to her brotherly comrade.

"…I care about Wave too, Boss." Storm, taking some resolve, looked back with determination towards Jet. "Jet," He finally stated, "We should stay, this is important. More than gold treasures and racing trophies."

"If you really cared, Jet, you wouldn't turn tail like this. You're acting like a-!" she bit her tongue a moment, before seeing him glare up at her. "Coward!"

After a moment of sorrow in her eyes… he softened his own towards her.

"I'm no coward." He shot back, but with less force than before, and climbed back to her. "Only because the Babylon Rogues wouldn't be much of a team without you!"

"Like a gunshot to the gutt!" Eggman groaned, "Or kicked where it hurts the most!" he kept complaining to the two robots, who cooed and treated him like they were comforting a whining child.

Amy smiles at seeing Jet return to his place, then looks to Shadow, "It's a love story," she then turns to the others, "I know it is." As though encouraging them not to give up on Chaos and Harmony just yet. "He'll save her!"

"A what?" Shadow looked a bit confused, "Don't be ridiculous. Let's just get Eggman before he tears the world asunder." He looked back up at Sonic and Chaos, "Hurry up! Or she'll blow us away with this storm!" He looked back to Amy, "Save her or destroy the world himself?" there was still some doubt there… "We should keep them apart…" he concluded, looking at the sky. "She clearly doesn't trust him."

"We can't save Harmony without him! She's too powerful!" Knuckles argued, raising his head up from ducking from the cold winds. "We need Chaos to free her! Restoring balance is the top priority right now!"

Amy hollered back, "They need each other! They're one in the same! They create Order, right?"

"I'm with Sonic!" Tails blurted out, "I think he may really try and rescue her!"

The Babylon Rogues remained silent, the wind still thrusting them against the steps of the temple. Just like the Miles-Electric, if they loosened their grip or lifted their bodies up just a little bit, they would be flown off the temple.

Eggman reels himself around, "Go! My Emerald Giants! Attack and rebuild the world with Harmony's power and create my Eggman Empire!"

The Giants look to Harmony…

She got the signal…

But…

The Emerald Giants waited long enough, they began to march forth.

"Not what she wanted to hear?" Cubot questioned, but Orbot also remained solemnly holding his creator, looking at the brewing storm that blackened the sky…

Chaos searched the skies, his mind racing with memories…

He shot another one out—The flowers delicately falling down his watery body…

Another, surprising the gang—The soft burbling of their voices.

"These aren't being translated," Wave stated, looking at a fuzzing holo-screen.

"…It's because its not words." Amy knew Chaos's beam gave off awful feelings, but… she reached her head up.

"Amy, don't-!" Shadow reached to bring her arm down, but suddenly felt the pain… he squinted his eyes… but his immediate memories were of Maira. "This…" he looked back up at the sky… the powerful blasts that kept being shot out by Chaos.

"…It's bittersweet… painful and yet… touching." Amy closed her eyes, letting a small tear fall from her smiling face. "Everyone should know this feeling… he's calling to her. He could never hate her."

Eggman kept getting knocked down, spitting out in the bittersweet pain as he landed before Harmony's feet…

The device was so close to her…

She slightly moved her foot closer, then twitched her hand but Eggman gripped the device with both hands, tears in his eyes.

"Whatever he wants, he's certainly going to try and get it!" Eggman held onto that device as though his life depended on it, suffering each whiplash from Chaos's many beams as the black sky darkened his appearance.

"But I won't let him take you… I won't let you go… You're the key to endless possibilities." His glasses suddenly fogged over with the clouds coming closer.

Harmony shook her head, what creature of her creation could ever be so void? So evil?

She watched him hold the device higher above his head, a wicked grin on his face that spread out as the waves of Chaos's responding lights stopped. "Don't mistake him. He created me! The echidnas might have tricked you, I might have manipulated you, but you're only deceiving yourself!"

Lightning finally cracked down as her eyes went wide, her two large, flimsy appendages that formed a type of two-pillared hair spikes flapped mercilessly in the wind as he shoved his thumb down on the button, laughing maniacally as the three Chaos Emeralds shocked the crystal and a painful metallic cry rang so violently that the Emerald Giants turned to watch the lightning strike all around Eggman's fortress…

Rouge finally turned off the device,

"There, I contact everyone I could think of." She had pictures littered on a screen. Shade, Blaze, Silver, The Chaotix, Vanilla and Cream,…

"I just hope I haven't left anyone out." She looked to the rattling walls of the G.U.N shelter. "What?" her resigning letters were being blown slightly by the little crack in the window.

She pushed it more open and gasped, sticking her head out and seeing the storm gap into a black hole outside her home.

"What is that!?" she cried out, seeing the sun suddenly… have a black hole at its center.

(Too dark? Stay tuned for more, exciting, chapters of Sonic! And the Harmony of Chaos! The 8th Emerald.)