As promised, here's the first Chapter of my "Chaos Emerald Z" rewrite. I thought that I'd start off with the original Dragonball series this time, rather than about halfway through the story with DBZ. Oh, and don't worry; I haven't scrapped "Caught!", I've just been focusing on this.

CHAOS EMERALD

What goes up,

must come down.

Yet my feet don't touch the ground!

See the world spinning upside down!

A mighty crash without a sound!

I can feel your every rage.

Step aside, I'll turn the page.

Breakin' through your crazy maze,

like a laser beam

my eye's on you.

(Watch me!)

Roll the night away,

(Watch me!)

Save the day!

Feel my

storm is getting close

heading your way!

Sonic Heroes,

(Sonic Heroes.)

Bind you, confine you,

defying your reign!

Sonic Heroes,

(Sonic Heroes.)

Setting the stage for

a hero's parade!

Sonic Heroes!

(Heroes!)

(Heroes!)

Give us a reason and we'll find our way…

Chapter 1: Secret of the Chaos Emeralds.

The sun arose over the mountains, it's rays sweeping over their majestic peaks. They found their way through the hole in the side of a small house, which served as a window, and along the face of a young blue hedgehog, who slowly stirred and woke up.

Sonic smiled, before slipping on his usual outfit: a pair of red running shoes with a white strip and golden buckle, and a pair of white gloves. He then picked up a small orange case with a bright red staff in it, which he tied around his chest. Then he turned his attention to the pedestal nearby.

A red cushion was atop it, and resting on said cushion, was a bright green brilliant-cut gem. Sonic smiled and stroked the gem.

"I'm off to do my chores now, Unc. I won't be long." he said with a pause, as if the gem would answer back. He chuckled and ran out of the house, calling "Don't worry! I'll be careful!"

Sonic sighed happily as the fresh air washed over him, his blue fur and quills blowing slightly in the breeze. Attached to his forearm was a golden ring, which he had had as long as he could remember. Sonic readied himself, and, with a smirk, blazed off across the peaceful valley he called home, zipping along paths in the mountainsides and between the peaks, a massive dust cloud following him. Sonic let out a cry of joy as he leapt from cliff to cliff, and continued his journey until he found what he was looking for: a river, and his main fishing spot.

Unbeknownst to Sonic, however, a newcomer was trespassing in his home. A pink female hedgehog was driving along one of the many mountain roads, in a shiny red convertible. Her eyes weren't on the road, however, but on a large compass-like object she held in one hand.

"Mrmm…" she grunted, frustration in her voice. "…I should be getting close…"

She looked up, and let out a scream of fright as she saw a corner coming in dangerously fast. She tossed the "compass" onto the passenger seat and gave the steering wheel a hard twist, causing the entire car to turn around the corner with so much momentum that it balanced on it's two side wheels before slamming back down. The hedgehog breathed a sigh of relief before continuing on, keeping her eyes on the road this time.

Sonic seated himself on the riverbank, with his back to it and his tail in the water. He waited, until he felt something clamp down on it; quick as a flash, Sonic blasted forwards, several dozen meters away with the massive fish clinging on. As it's cobalt captor screeched to a halt, the fish fell off and quickly suffocated. The hedgehog smiled.

"Well, that's breakfast sorted."

The two massive doors to a dark building slowly creaked open, one being pushed by a rather well-endowed bat, the other by a green shark-like robot. The sound of metallic footsteps alerted them of another presence, and both quickly stood to attention.

Another robot, this one red and humanoid, walked past them and through the doorway they opened. The mechanical being placed his hand on the lid of the stone coffin in the centre of the room, and with one hand flipped it open. Within laid a dusty skeleton, it's hands gripping what the android was after: a gem identical to Sonic's, only deep royal blue.

Showing no respect at all for the dearly departed, the robot reached in and wrenched the gem from the body's hands, ripping it's forearm off in the process. He chuckled in his deep, metallic voice, before tossing the skeletal limb away. Calmly exiting the mausoleum he had disturbed with one hand stroking his long silver moustache, he glanced over to his henchman and woman.

"Rouge! Johnny! Come on, we're leaving!" he bellowed with a stereotypical pirate accent. "There still be six Emeralds out there for us to plunder!"

"Yes, Captain!"

"Aye-aye, Cap'n!"

Sonic ran at breakneck speed back towards his home, with his fish slung over his back. He still had much to do: clean his and his Uncle's house, gather the firewood, go for his daily run… of course, he'd get all that done after he has his breakfast.

Sonic sat his catch down on the ground, when a strange noise caught his attention. It was like… growling… but not any kind of growling he'd ever heard before. He turned to the direction it came from, and saw something heading his way.

The blood-red monster continued to growl at Sonic, it's eyes glowing brightly, all the while charging at Sonic faster than any creature he had seen. He didn't know what it was, but Sonic wasn't gonna let this thing ruin his breakfast. Sonic crouched low, and used his fantastic speed to spin in place, before launching himself directly at the monster; slicing it evenly down the middle.

Sonic turned and smirked as the monster fell into two pieces, when much to his surprise someone fell out of it. It was smaller than the monster, and it was a lighter colour, pink opposed to red… this must be the monster's baby. Sonic whipped out his staff and pointed it threateningly at the monster's "offspring."

The pink hedgehog slowly stood up, clutching her head in pain, before realising that another hedgehog, this one male and blue, was holding her at staff-point. She immediately panicked and backed up against her trashed car, holding her arms out.

"W-wait! Wait just a minute…"

"You can talk?"

The red-clad woman blinked twice, surprised at such a question.

"Uh… yeah, I can talk. My name is Amy Rose… who are you?"

"I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. Are you okay?"

Amy sighed in relief, happy that the boy was no longer going to kill her. "Yeah… I'm fine…"

"You sure? Did that monster eat you or something?"

Monster? What monster? Amy looked over to the two halves of her car, and managed to put two and two together.

"Oh, that wasn't a monster. That was my car. I was…" Something suddenly hit Amy, and she rushed over to her ruined vehicle and found the "compass" she had been using, which had miraculously survived, and realised just how close her objective was. Amy looked past Sonic, and saw his house.

"That… that's it!" She cried, before running into his house. And her prediction was correct; lying on a red cushion was the green Chaos Emerald! Amy slowly reached forward to pick it up…

"Hey!" Before she could even blink, Sonic rushed in front of her and stood protectively the green gem. "Leave my Uncle alone!"

Amy blinked again. Uncle…?

"…did you just call that Emerald your uncle?"

Sonic glared at her. "I don't know what you're talking about. My Uncle Chuck gave me this thing just before he died. His soul rests in it, and I'm not about to let anyone touch it!"

Amy giggled slightly.

"Sonic, that thing's called a Chaos Emerald. There are six more just like it, see?"

Amy pulled out a similar gem, only her's was a pink-purple colour. Sonic looked at it, then at her.

"If you have your own then why do you want mine?"

"Because when all seven of them are gathered, it is said that a miracle will happen. Anyone who gathers the seven Chaos Emeralds will be granted any one wish of their choice. See this?" She showed him her compass. "This is an Emerald Radar; it lets me know where they all are so I can collect them. Sow, will you let me have your's?"

Sonic contemplated this for a moment, before shaking his head. "No! My Uncle gave me this gem, and it's very precious to me!"

Amy sighed. This guy was more stubborn than he looks. Suddenly a little lightbulb went off in her head. "Sonic, how about you come with me? I'll only need your Emerald until I get my wish, and you can have it back when I'm done. Deal?"

Sonic contemplated that for a moment, before grinning. "Yeah, that'll work. Deal!"

"Good!" smiled Amy, picking up the Emerald and heading outside with Sonic in tow.

"So…" asked the sapphire hedgie. "Where does that 'raydahr' thing say to go next?"

Amy clicked her radar, causing several symbols and markings to appear on it that Sonic didn't understand.

"Apparently, the closest one is quite a distance away, too far to walk." Amy sighed, as she pulled out a small object. "We'll have to take my bike."

"Bihk?"

Amy pressed the top of the capsule she pulled out, and tossed it onto the ground. It promptly blew up, and when the smoke cleared a large, white motorcycle was in it's place. Amy sat down on it, gripping the handle-bars, before patting the back of it.

"Hop on!"

"…nah. I think I'll run."

"Suit yourself," said Amy with a shrug. She started up her bike and zoomed off. She looked back with a smirk, expecting to see Sonic shrinking into the distance and preparing to turn and pick him up, when to her surprise, a blue blur rushed past her, performed a U-turn, and appeared in front of her. Sonic smirked as he ran backwards, fast enough to keep ahead of her.

"That bihk's not very fast, is it?"

Amy chuckled. "Okay, you made your point." Inwardly, however, she was ecstatic. This guy was faster than anything she had ever seen; and now he was accompanying her to find the Chaos Emeralds!

Sonic and Amy sped off into the horizon, their journey having only begun.