A/N: For anyone who was wondering WHY I did not update for a year and a half… it's basically because I'm partially reflecting on this story, partially because my schoolwork now takes up a good majority of my life, and partially because of family issues.

But hey, it's my birthday! So you get a gift, too! This chapter is on the light side, but it's all I'm able to work with right now. So begins the next episode of Sonic Chao Chronicles.

Arizona Desert— 19:31

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles finished recharging their Morphers, looking around the desert while Karin sat on a large rock. Due to the Egg Balloon's ascension, they could not continue a realistic pursuit on foot and paused in defeat. "…We were so close to getting Frances out of there!" Sonic yelled, kicking a nearby rock. "Now, Robotnik has her! She's out of the frying pan and into the fire!"

"Sonic, calm down," Knuckles said. "Also, she can control fire… so she should be alright."

"That's another way of saying things for Frances went from bad to worse," Sonic elaborated. "With G.U.N., they would have let her die. With a mad scientist like Robotnik, though? Well, chances are she'll be experimented on. He'll perhaps even turn her into a robot where she'll be forced to fight us."

"You mean like some kind of 'Bunnies to Badniks' kind of way or 'Robocop' kind of way?" Tails asked, not really paying attention to the conversation as he was staring at the horizon.

"Yes," Sonic nodded.

"Okay, is this the Chao side of you?" Karin asked, working on something.

"More or less," Sonic nodded. "What are you two doing, by the way?"

"I'm waiting on the Tornado," Tails answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "I managed to make an autopilot feature that will allow her to come to our location. She'll be low on fuel, but if I ever managed to get that specialized engine working, the Tornado will easily be able to be fueled by Chaos Energy."

"Chaos energy has caused a lot of problems for us," Knuckles sighed.

"I don't see another way of heading after Robotnik if his base is a mobile flying station," Tails replied. "He could be anywhere, by now."

"Or above Las Vegas," Karin spoke up. All three Neo Mobians turned to her. She held up a cell phone with GPS. "Did you guys honestly think I would risk my custom designed Chaos Morpher falling into the wrong hands without a way of tracking it down later? I put a GPS tracking chip in that thing. Robotnik's heading towards Vegas' airspace. If we hurry, we can get Frances and start heading home."

"Dr. Naka… you're a genius," Sonic smiled.

"I try," Karin giggled. "So, when is the plane getting here?"

"There she is," Tails said, looking at the Tornado. As soon as it landed, he said, "So, everybody up for a plane ride over the evening desert?"

The four clambered into the plane, which took off after a moment. Watching them flying away from a safe distance, however, was a familiar agent sitting on top of her "borrowed" combat walker.

"Where are you going, Sonic?" Topaz asked herself, staring at them with a pair of binoculars. All of the sudden, her radio went off. "Agent Stone," she spoke up.

"What the hell are you doing?" the other voice, clearly Passer, demanded from the woman. "You stole the Big Foot and disappeared!"

"My job," Topaz explained. "You want me to apprehend Sonic and Robotnik, right? That's what I borrowed the Big Foot for."

"I appreciate the sudden boost in work ethic, Stone," Passer said, "but that piece of machinery is worth 10 times your salary. If I see so much as a scratch on it, I will see you discharged!"

"With all due respect, sir, I won't make any promises." Topaz hung up before Passer could respond.

Episode 11: "Assault on the Egg Balloon"

Egg Balloon, Medical Wing—Skies Above Nevada—20:01

Frances Burns' head throbbed in pain as she woke up. "Okay… giant robot foot definitely hurts. How the heck does Sonic do this?" She found herself once again strapped to a hospital bed, only this time clearly not in a hospital but a clinical wing. "Okay… this is getting annoying. At least I'm actually wearing clothes this time around." Looking at her right wrist, she saw her Morpher still there. "And I still have that."

"You'll forgive me if I didn't have anything else," Robotnik's voice said over the intercom. "This was more or less designed with me in mind, Miss… Sol, was it? Not a fifteen-year-old girl. So… where exactly did the fire powers come from?"

"From watching your father burn off those calories he clearly passed down to you!" Frances snarked.

"No need to be rude," the scientist said. "I just wish to know how it is possible for you to use the power of fire without a Chaos Emerald or in a Neo Mobian form. You clearly have a Chaos Morpher, but no Chaos Emerald or Chao partner."

"I think it's something about Neo Humans," Frances answered. "And as for the fire, well…" She clenched her fist… only for nothing to happen. "Uh… what happened to my firepower?"

"Honestly, dear," Robotnik chided, "did you really think that I would let you keep the Chaos Morpher and risk you burning down my airship from the inside out by not studying up how those things work? When I took the blueprints from your Chao friends, I made sure to analyze every correction and note they made on the Morpher's blueprints. I must say I'm impressed with what they cooked up in the middle of the Mayan ruins. Still, they couldn't get pass the battery issue requiring Chaos Energy. Without a Chaos Emerald, your Morpher's battery has run out… as well as your ability to use fire."

"This thing has a battery life?" Frances said. "Aw no… Swift never mentioned that!" She then remembered that Robotnik took the blueprints. "Wait… you were the one who destroyed Swift and Miles' house! Why?"

"To be fair, they DID technically steal my grandfather's technology first, using his blueprints to redesign a weapon of mass destruction harnessing the ancient Mobian DNA inside Chao and fusing it with human physiology to revive an extinct species. I merely returned the Morpher blueprints to the Robotnik family for reverse-engineering. Anyway, the Morpher's limited battery life without a Chaos Emerald is a major flaw that needs to be fixed. With only seven in the world not counting the Master Emerald, we do not have enough crystallized Chaos energy to go around powering an army equipped with Morphers. Not yet, at least. I'm still studying my Emerald to find a way to fill small power sources with Chaos Energy that would last for months, if not years, before requiring a recharge. Kind of like hydrogen fuel cells, only without the risk of nuclear explosion if ruptured."

"Then it looks like if I'm to get out of here, I need to find you, defeat you, and get my hands on that Emerald with just my martial arts skills alone," Frances concluded.

"Besides the fact that I've had you strapped down to that bed and with a depowered Morpher to begin with," Robotnik said, "I also have that room sealed from the outside, the glass is designed to be bullet-proof and heat resistant, I have several of my Badniks—I admit, Sonic named them, but it stuck—patrolling the ship, and I am safely in the control room behind a giant metal door that would take you hours to melt on your own, by which I will have escaped and sent the Egg Balloon on a crash course into the Las Vegas strip. Even if you were to have somehow gotten past all of that by yourself and caught up with me, two problems with that plan: one, I've studied your DNA while you were unconscious, and found out you have no natural Chaos energy in your body, which was why you developed the violent reaction and the fire powers from getting in contact with the Chaos Emerald, so touching me bare-handed would be dangerous for you. Two, my Chaos Emerald produces water powers… which puts out fire. I've defeated the blue Chao with it, so putting out a fiery kitty cat like you isn't too difficult."

"…Damn, how long have I been unconscious for you to have set all of THAT up?"

"Quite some time, though I'll be honest… most of it was set up for Sonic."

BRRRT! BRRRT!

"Speaking of which, I believe that's his group's plane on our tail," Robotnik said. "Nobody else besides G.U.N. would be flying directly after me at that speed. You know, now that I think about it, I really should have put guns on the stern of the Egg Balloon. When I finish my ultimate weapon, I'll do just that."

"This thing isn't enough for you?" Frances asked.

"I am not some run-of-the-mill doomsday cartoon supervillian, Sol," Robotnik said. "I have plans, goals, and desires just like any other human. After all, it was humanity who made Gerald Robotnik out to be a monster. I'm just going to set the record straight. And if anyone wants to stop me, I want to be prepared." Any and all communication between Frances and her captor ended right there, leaving Frances frustrated.

Exterior—20:16

Sonic, and Knuckles both held onto the plane as best as they could as they approached the airship. "Guys," Karin yelled as Tails flew closer to the Egg Balloon, "we have only one shot at this! We don't have a lot of time!"

"Lucky for us I'm a natural at speed," Sonic said.

"Good, because I'd like to remind everyone that the Tornado doesn't have an unlimited fuel supply," Tails spoke up. "We have exactly enough to keep us up long enough to get one thing: Frances."

"Not enough time to defeat Robotnik?" Knuckles asked.

"I warned you we had enough to get after Robotnik," Tails said. "I have to keep the plane flying. You guys have to infiltrate and save Frances! Right now, we have 30 minutes of fuel before I have to land! This giant eyesore is too big to destroy right now, so we'll have to do that later!"

"Then let's do this!" Sonic grinned. "Blast a hole in it and we'll get in!"

"One hole coming right—holy crap!" Before any of the others could say anything, Tails moved out of the way right as a missile flew by and slammed into the bottom of the Egg Balloon. Sonic turned his head to see the Big Foot in its hover mode boosting towards the ship.

"Does that help you guys?" Topaz' voice spoke up. "Don't worry, I'm not here for round two… right now." Tails awkwardly flew towards the open hole, letting Sonic and Knuckles jump off and into the inside of the ship before flying away just as several of Robotnik's flying Badniks came out, pointing their guns at the Tornado.

"Oh great," Karin groaned. "I didn't sign up for a dogfight…"

"Yeah, we're gonna need this," Tails said before hitting a button, summoning a cockpit shield to shield them. "My human side figured after my episode with G.U.N. over Station Square, I could use a bit more protection when getting shot at."

"Clever," Karin said. "So, how did you customize the Tornado so we can fly without special equipment?"

"That's for another time," Tails awkwardly chuckled. The first shots nicked the Tornado, getting Tails' head in the game. "Okay, flying now!"

"Crap, crap, crap, crap!" Karin yelled as they flew away from the Badniks.

Interior—20:21

'Anybody else find it odd that the woman who hours ago was about to arrest us on orders of a clearly corrupt military officer and was once upon a time trying to kill us is now helping us?' Swift asked.

'I'm still finding it unbelievable,' Chris answered while watching the chaos. Topaz, in the Big Foot, was going to town on Robotnik's mechs. Sonic and Knuckles themselves were smashing their own mechs, but nowhere near as many as Topaz.

When the wave died down, the woman turned her mech towards Sonic, and opened the cockpit. "So," she asked, "you guys are risking a lot just rescuing one girl who was previously dying and now has fire superpowers. Care to explain why?"

"Would you believe that she's just a scared girl who got curious one day and now I feel that we're the only ones who can help her get everything under control?" Sonic answered.

"Whatever is wrong with Sol, she's not dying anymore," Topaz said. "Now, next question: why should I let you leave with a potential walking WMD like a girl who can control fire and add her to your growing team of admittedly extremely dangerous creatures?"

"We're not that dangerous!" Knuckles scowled. He then looked at Sonic, and asked, "…Are we dangerous, Sonic?"

"Uh, let's look at your crew," Topaz said. "Not counting the previously mentioned firebrand, you're a super-strong echidna Mobian whose kind previously were the rulers of Earth before you guys got yourselves wiped out, and you're kind of reminding me of Wolverine with how quickly you heal and how you use your claws. Meanwhile, there's a two-tailed fox who can out-dogfight professionally trained military pilots in a homemade bi-plane, yours truly included, can actually fly on his own, proves to be a capable marksman, and has a pretty good IQ. Finally, your leader is a super-fast hedgehog who runs at an average speed of approximately 300 miles an hour, out-raced Sam Speed, and rips through robots like nobody else and some pretty solid control of wind. Put your guys' skill against a human army, and your team is kind of the beginning of a terrorist organization. I hate to sound like Passer, but everyone in their right mind has a reason to be wary of you."

'You know,' Chris confessed out to Swift, 'she has an absolute point that we're kind of dangerous.'

'But we're the good guys in this little war of ours!' Swift argued.

"I'm not completely against you, however," Topaz interrupted the internal debate. "You've probably saved more lives than you've ruined, and have solved more problems than you've caused. If anyone else had your power set, however, what's stopping them from abusing said powers to do harm to others for no other reason but that they can? That, in my professional opinion, is why GUN should have a problem with your kind. As far as we know, there's virtually no guaranteed way of stopping Mobians if they'd choose to attack innocent people apart from lethal force. And letting you have a pyrokinetic teenager added to your roster is just asking for potential trouble."

"So are you saying you're not letting her go?" Sonic asked.

"I never said that," Topaz answered. "I said I need a reason to let you take her, and so far the best reason you've given me is that she's scared and needs someone to help her control her powers. Care to elaborate on that?" Sonic looked and actually thought.

"…She may seem wild and dangerous now," Sonic answered, "just like how you probably saw me when we first met. We both know I could have killed you. But you were just doing your job—analyzing a potential threat to the safety and security to America—and I was doing my job—fighting Robotnik so he doesn't hurt people. Meanwhile, GUN's not exactly innocent. Sure, I'm a vigilante, but we're both trying to do good despite everything. Also, do you really think an innocent girl deserves to be locked up just because she could be dangerous?"

"…Personally, no," Topaz answered. "She's powerful, and dangerous, yes, but… can you really teach her control?"

"I can sure try," Sonic answered. "And it's partially my fault she's like this, anyway. I'm trying to clean up my mess and make her useful. I'm more than capable of taking responsibility for anything that I screwed up. I can tame her if given enough time."

"…Good to know you're willing to step up," Topaz grinned. "Alright, we're working together as a temporary truce. But as soon as Robotnik is dealt with, we're back to being enemies."

"You know, that is pretty much how I envisioned the limit of our cooperation at this point," Sonic pointed out. Several of Robotnik's mechs came pouring out. "Of course," the hedgehog groaned, "Badniks just as we make this deal."

"I'll hold as many off as I can," Topaz smirked, returning to the cockpit of the Big Foot. "Want me to save you guys some?"

"Maybe later," Sonic said. "Knuckles, we need to find Sol."

"Right," Knuckles agreed. "Let's get going!" The two Neo Mobians began running, each taking out a few Egg Pawns on their way right before Topaz opened fire.

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: I know this update was kind of disappointing, especially considering how long I've made you wait for it. But if you guys really want some new stuff, I have a few other things for you!

If you want to see a story where I got the concept of the Chaos Morphers and turning Sonic into a superhero, I have Mega Man Star Network, where the Mega Men of the Battle Network and Star Force games team up to stop a two-hundred year threat from making a time crisis. The Morpher system I used for Sonic Chao Chronicles is more based on the Star Force games' EM-Wave Change, so there's that.

I'm also going to be soon beginning a RWBY and Star Wars crossover, Soul of Remnant. This takes place during the Old Republic Era, around 2500 years before the original Star Wars trilogy. Speaking of which, the Star Wars movies are now (on my birthday) available for download. Each film runs about $20 separate, and the whole collection can be downloaded for about $90 in one pack. And no, I am not being paid by LucasFilms or Disney to notify you.

With any luck today, I will finally be updating part 1 of my first case for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney—Renaissance of Honor. Yeah, I'm hitting all genres, including the murder mystery/legal thriller that is the Ace Attorney visual novel series.

Well, that's all I have so far. I'll answer reviews at a later date! Farewell, my subjects!