We're back with a new chapter! (It only took, like, forever, we know.)

Hope ya's enjoy. We had to change the rating because Sonic became a dramatically awesome potty mouth. (Only for a few lines, but enough to constitute a rate change.) (We would say 'BAD SONIC!' if it didn't sound so awesome.)

So, here it be!

Enjoy!

(NOTE!: Chaos Ring equals Power Ring.)

--

Sonic stared at the town in shock. Never in all his life had he seen a place so messed up with people still living in it. "W-wow…" he breathed shakily. "What… What happened here?"

"Oh!" a random passerby with a hat, jacket, and backpack exclaimed, catching the tail end of Sonic's question. "There was an earthquake. Kind of random, actually. This Zone's not prone to 'quakes."

Sonic stared at the Mobian briefly before shaking his head. It had to be at least 90 degrees outside at this moment. "Um, well… Thanks, I guess…"

"No problemo!" the stranger called back as he threw a smile over his shoulder.

"Sonic… What should we do…? Should we go help them…?" Tails asked timidly from where he was hiding behind Sonic, clutching the hedgehog's hand like a lifeline.

"Um, sure kiddo. That sounds like a great idea. Maybe we should scout out for a grocery store, first." He paused, contemplating his next sentence. "H-Have you ever seen anything like this before?" he asked, sweeping his hand in the general direction of an upturned hovercar.

Tails wandered around the car, wondering who it belonged to. "It used to flood in Emerald Hill Zone all the time. I would always get soaked."

Sonic shuddered. He knew perfectly well what wet fox smelled like. Not. Pretty. Nodding his head, he watched Tails scramble his way under the car. Flooding was a problem in Zones surrounded by water, and Green Hill was one of the worst. It was almost completely cut off from the rest of the Zones, not to mention in a valley and slightly below sea level…

"Hey! Sonic! There's someone in here!" Sonic's head snapped up at Tails' voice.

"There are?" he exclaimed, dashing over.

"Yeah! Get some help! You're not exactly very strong in the upper body area!" Tails shot back, turning to comfort the little figure in the back seat.

Instead of choosing to be offended, Sonic swung his head around to look for someone to help. Catching sight of the stranger from before (who was helping an old man chase down his runaway cabbages), he called out, "Hey, pal, little help here?"

Glancing up, the figure stopped and slowly nodded in his direction before scooping up the rest of the vegetables and dropping them into the cart. Bidding the man farewell, he jogged his way over, red shoes slapping the ground loudly. "Yeah? What'cha need?"

"There's people trapped in there. Can you help us lift the car up?" Sonic asked, gesturing over to where Tails' namesakes were waving like a distress signal.

"Sure thing, bud," the other Mobian grinned again.

Sonic turned. "Hold on a supersonic second. I'll get some more people to help." He spun on his heel and ran off.

--

When he returned – without any additional help (That last couple was ruuuude…) – he was surprised to find Tails standing next to the now right side up hovercar, holding a softly whimpering female pup. Her parents were laid out at his feet, unconscious. "Who was that?" Tails asked with something akin to awe.

"Um, I have no idea; why?" Sonic cocked his head curiously.

"He lifted the whole car himself! It was AMAZING!" Tails looked as if he would've jumped up and down in excitement had he not been holding a small child.

At that point, the mother, a pretty beagle, blinked and lifted her head. "Oh… What happened…?"

"Earthquake, ma'am," Tails related, passing the woman her daughter.

"Oh, my…" she murmured, taking the pup carefully and gratefully. "How long ago…?"

"Oh, um…" Tails glanced at Sonic, who shrugged. "Well, I'd say it happened a few hours ago."

"Thank you so much. Both of you." She stood up slowly. "If my husband doesn't wake soon, I'll get him to the hospital."

"You're welcome. Well, we've gotta get going now. Have a nice day!" Sonic called out, pulling Tails close to him before taking off.

"Such nice boys. Never got their names, though," she mused as she turned and rubbed the man's hand.

"Bye, S'nic! Bye, Tails!" the child called out to the chuckling brothers a few yards down the road.

The woman gave a double take as the duo sped off.

--

As they finally walked into town, Tails detached himself yet again. "Hardware store…! Look like they could use help!" He yelled over his shoulder as he threw open the door to said store and disappearing inside.

Sonic shook his head at his little brother's enthusiasm before continuing forward into town. The place was a mess. There were cracks in the asphalt and sidewalk, there was a light pole lying in the street, and most of the shops that lined the roads were closed and one look in the window revealed why. Merchandise littered the floor of all the stores and employees were moving around frantically inside to get everything back where it belonged.

Sonic continued forward without breaking stride at any particular store. Most seemed to be novelty shops – showcasing things tourists would buy with their bulging wallets. The hedgehog quickly passed by these, none of their items even remotely useful to him, and stopped at a small building on the corner.

The name was simple enough; Jane's Country Market was proclaimed to the rest of the world silently in fading letters. Inside, there was an assortment of fruits and vegetables scattered along the floor, but, Sonic noticed, most of the produce had managed to stay inside the wicker baskets along the shelves. It seemed that this shop had faired better than the rest. Quickly, sparing the Closed sign on the door barely a glance, Sonic ducked inside.

Above him, the door chimed to alert the owners of the shop of a customer and a loud crash came from the back room behind the counter. Sonic cringed slightly as a rude explicit sounded after the crash died down before a female voice called out. "Be with you in a minute!"

Sonic chuckled quietly to himself before shaking his head. He opened his mouth to reply back to the woman, but a small giggle from behind the counter stopped him. "April funny," a small, young voice said carelessly.

A young rabbit toddled her way out into Sonic's view, a little unsteady on her feet. Her face was turned toward the floor, staring at her feet as she attempted to walk, and she was clad in a t-shirt and diaper. Every few seconds she would stare backward toward the back room, as if waiting for whoever was back there to appear any time and scold her.

Sonic laughed; it seemed she was a seasoned failed escape artist.

At the hedgehog's laugh, the girl looked up, her face already fallen at being caught so quickly. But, as her eyes landed on him, taking in his sparkling green eyes and blue complexion, she let out a giggle of happiness before waddling her way toward him.

Sonic chuckled again, staying where he was so the girl wouldn't get discouraged. She made her way slowly, but with purpose. She was determined to get to him, and he was determined to let her reach him.

Halfway across the floor however, she stumbled and fell. Almost instantly, she let out a loud keen and there was the sound of a box being dropped in the back room. The pair of feet were heard running and suddenly there was a new girl in the room. She scooped up the smaller child with barely a glance at Sonic and muttered a comforting coo toward her.

"Lucy, what have I told you about walking out here in the front room?"

The little child – Lucy – didn't respond to the inquiry, just buried her face in the new arrival's neck. The older girl smiled slightly at her before marching her way back towards the room behind the counter. After setting the toddler down, the girl started back towards the other room.

"I'll be right back. I have to put all the Ring Boxes on the shelf. They were knocked over and one of them opened during the quake."

Sonic tried to respond, but she was gone again.

The girl had been a rabbit like the child, but with the obvious budding qualities of a woman. She was still half way between childhood and adolescences, but she would be very pretty one day.

"Okay. Now, my name is April," the girl muttered as she backed out of the room, closing the door behind her and backtracking through the store so she was standing behind the counter. She absently opened the cash register and started counting the money under her breath. "What did you say you needed?"

"I didn't." Sonic answered as he marched his way up to the counter. He watched as his answer passed over her head and rested his elbows onto the wood. "I was wondering if you had any spare rings."

She didn't look up as she answered. "We don't sell rings here. There's a jeweler a few stores over if you're that desperate."

"Chaos rings?"

This time, she did look up, with a sharp flick of the head. Her eyes widened as she took in his smirking face and her mouth opened and closed in a brilliant expression of a fish. "S-Sonic?"

He smiled slightly at her squeaked question. "The one and only."

She stumbled backward as she finally regained control over her face and she fell into a chair behind her. "Woah." There was a long pause as she stared at him and he attempted to not act awkward. "W-what," she asked as soon as she was done staring, "are you doing here?"

Almost absently, he jumped up onto the counter and twisted around so he was facing her. His sneakered feet swung back and forth and she watched them with something akin to awe, her eyes moving back and forth with each swing. "Seeing the sights. Anything I should check out?"

She stared at him dumbfounded. "Really?" Her tone was incredulous and she raised her eyebrows. It seemed as if she was coming out of her spell.

His legs stopped midswing, and he stared at her. "Well, that's more believable than what really happened."

"And what's that?"

"Well… Robotnik built a machine that malfunctioned and transported us here." He paused. "By the way, where is here anyway?"

"Route 99." At his stare she elaborated. "It used to be a huge racing centered Zone, but then they built Starlight Zone on South Island, and everyone moved there. The only people left are the shop owners and the tourists."

"Oh." His answer was short and he shook his head. "I've been to Starlight Zone; it's overrated."

"Hmm." She hummed. "Strange. Aren't you from South Island?"

"So?"

"It's strange that you're putting down one of the Zones on your own island, is all."

"I repeat: so?" Sonic jumped to the ground and skipped his way toward the back room. "How many Ring Boxes you got?"

"Depends. How many do you want?"

Before he could answer – he was starting to get irked at the constant interruptions – the front door chimed again. A young boy, also a rabbit, scampered his way into the store, took one look at Sonic, dropped the wrapped package he was holding – which made a mysterious crunching noise – and did his own impression of a fish.

Sonic stared at him, wondering if all of these people belonged in the water, before extending his hand. "Hey, I'm Sonic. Nice to meet'cha."

"T-t-t-to…" The boy was speechless.

Sonic, who had dealt with this type of situation before, attempted to alleviate some of the tension. "You're name is Ta-ta-ta-to? Is that Morse Code for something?"

Almost immediately, the boy blinked and heat rushed to his face. "N-no," he answered. (Internally, Sonic congratulated himself for getting him out of his dreamlike state.) "My name is Tobias."

"Well, it's great to meet you Tobias. Now, are you going to shake my hand, or are you gonna let my arm just hang there like a wet noodle?"

Sonic didn't think the boy's face could get any redder than in that moment, but it cleared as soon as he had grabbed Sonic's gloved hand. "W-what are you doing here?"

Sonic blinked. "Why does everyone ask me that?" He paused. "Tails and I got transported here via Chaos Control. I've been unconscious for about a day. Tails actually ended up scouting ahead for a few hours before managing to wake me – quite rudely, might I add."

"Tails is here?" The boy's eyes lit up and he glanced quickly at his sister. "I've been out in town all day, how come I haven't seen him?"

"We just got here, about fifteen minutes ago. He disappeared into a hardware store three feet into town, and he wouldn't wander too far away from me when I'm out cold." He paused before stooping down and grabbing up the white package the boy had dropped before passing it over. He turned back towards April. "About those Ring Boxes…"

--

With a heave, both Sonic and Tobias managed to get the third and final Box onto the counter. All three were blue with a large red button on top and a small red trapdoor on the bottom in case the button stuck. On front was a large number ten in the center of a gold ring. It was obvious what these held.

"These all you got?" He asked kindly, staring at the Box almost lovingly. "Tails and I could use all the protection we can get."

April shook her head. "Our father sent a shipment of rings to the stock hold in Green Hill Zone; we used to have at least three hundred rings back there. I just picked up all of these this morning before the quake."

"Good thing too," Tobias continued. "All the others have seemed to disappear. It's strange."

Sonic pursed his lips while staring towards the Boxes. "Not really. With 'Buttnik around, nothing's strange."

"Do you think that he'd be collecting the rings? Don't they hurt his robots?"

Sonic nodded and put on what he dubbed his 'Tails voice'. "Yes, but he can pull the energy from the rings, filter out the pieces that react badly with electricity, and use it to power some of his bigger mechs."

"Then why doesn't he do that for all of his machines?"

Sonic shrugged. "Too time consuming. He'd just rather catch people, stick them inside, and have them power the robots. It's less costly, and it instills fear in the masses."

"What exactly do the rings do?" Tobias asked, perching himself onto the counter in a similar fashion as Sonic had been earlier.

Sonic, who realized that he was being interrogated, shrugged again. "Protection mostly. If Tails or I touch a 'bot, then we won't get hurt. The rings set up a mini-shield for a split second if we are in danger. But, this causes them all to rematerialize and fly away from us. Sometimes, we manage to get a few back, but never grab all of them."

April nodded. "How come some people can't touch the rings?"

"I think the more important question in this situation would be how come some people can?" Sonic paused. "Tails and I are what you call Chaos Users, and we can absorb Chaos Energy. At first, we thought we were the only ones who could, but then we met Knuckles. Of course, he lives around the Master Emerald, and is used to it. It's still a wonder why Amy can use the Energies, and Cream… well she's special. She's doubly gifted in the Chaos Powers."

"What," April asked again, "exactly happens when you touch a ring?" She slammed her hand on the red switch on top of one of the Boxes, and ten golden circlets bounced out and scattered all over the floor.

Sonic yelped as the distinctive poomph of a ring box opening met his ears and he jumped onto the chair he was standing by with a small amount of dignity. Around him, the rings spun and moved slowly towards him as if he were a magnet.

He was about to scold her for the unexpected movement, when a bell sounded from the direction of door. Sonic winced as the voice that followed met his ears.

"Hey, Sonic! Look what they gave me for helping!"

Tails skittered into the room a little too quickly for his feet to allow and he went face first into the floor. There was a small ching as he landed on a ring and it disappeared.

"That…" Sonic paused for effect, "is what happens when one of us touches a ring."

Suddenly, Tails shot up, his ears and fur standing straight on end as the small energy high from the ring coursed through his small body. His eyes were wide as he stared at the blue one.

"Sonic! The hardware store gave a new screwdriver for helping them!" His voice was extremely high pitched and super fast. Sonic had to switch his ears to supersonic mode to catch it all.

"It's Tails!"

Suddenly, the small boy rabbit was across the room and scooping Tails' hand in his own. The fox stared at the twelve year old with something akin to awe as he took in the reverent shine in his eyes.

"OhmiChaos! It's Tails! I'm you're biggest fan! I love how you fly around and help Sonic beat Eggman!"

"Oh…" Suddenly, Tails' energy high wore off as quickly as it had hit, but a stupid smile graced his face as he looked up at Tobias. "It's great to meet'cha! I'm Tails Prower!"

Tobias – who looked like he was having a miniature heart attack – stuttered out his answer. "I'm Tobias. Is it true that you grew up in Emerald Hill Zone?"

Instantaneously, the fox's face fell and he looked down at his feet. Sonic, who noticed his brother's plight, zoomed to the rescue in the form of a subject change.

"So, I see you found the first of the rings, bro. What say you help us gather up the rest of theme so we can separate them?" As he was talking, April walked up with two pairs of Chaos Gloves and handed them to both of the visitors.

Before either of them could put the gloves on, there was a tremendous crash from outside.

"Oooohhhh, Sooooniiiiic!" An obnoxious voice swept through the small shop making Sonic and Tails cringe in pain. As each flattened their ears, Tails (who was pressing his so hard into his head Sonic was sure there would be permanent indentations) looks at Sonic, blue eyes wide.

"What's he doing here!?" the kistune whined.

"Wrecking general havoc as usual. Nothing new really," Sonic commented offhandedly. "Seriously, the guy's gotta one-track-mind.*"

Tails glanced around at the rings. "I guess it's a good thing we came across a supply of these, then."

Sonic nodded before rushing forward to pound the buttons on two more ring boxes. The containers made high pitched dings and released twenty rings into the atmosphere. By this point, there were twenty-nine rings littering the floor. Almost immediately, the rings began to subtly inch towards either Sonic or Tails. "So. Fifteen each, li'l bro'?" the hedgehog asked with a smirk.

"Fifteen, bro'." Tails smirked back.

In an instant, the two shot around the room like pinballs, collecting rings and gaining speed with each ring grabbed. Before April or Tobias could comment they shot out the door.

--

The fight followed the regular pattern, with Sonic and Robotnik trading the usual insults and Tails trying to find a weakness in his newest machine.

This one was of a simple design, with bumpers lining every possible space except the windshield – which made the translucent glass the obvious target. But, before Sonic could jump towards his target, Eggman would always stop him by throwing random electrical currents. **

The battle seemed to reach its climax however, when the good doctor managed to get a jump on Tails as he was sneaking around his backside – who knew the 'bot could swivel? – and grabbed him in a giant claw that seemed to come from nowhere. Tails yelped loudly as the claw crushed his rib cage and he lost almost all of his ability to breathe.

Sonic, who was by this time, completely pissed off at the turn of events, was ready to kill Eggman for touching his little brother. He made to leap across the top of the lower buildings to better reach the fiend when Tails yelped again.

When he eventually got to a roof that was on level to the robot, he bent his legs and prepared to leap at the doctor's smug looking mug. Suddenly, two covered arms snaked their way around Sonic's waist effectively stopping the hedgehog in his tracks.

"Whoa, Sonic!" came an eerily familiar voice. "Don't do anything you'll regret later!"

"Yeah, right! What I won't regret is punching that bastard's nose in!"

"Well, if that's how you feel, then I won't regret doing this!"

Suddenly, Sonic felt a sharp jolt in his neck. Then, his world went black.

--

"Sonic… Sonic, it's me. Get up!"

When Sonic next awoke, the first thing he saw was a fuzzy image of his little brother. "TAILS!" He was up in a flash.

Sonic started to buzz around Tails like a demented bee. He inspected every inch of the little fox: inside his ears, under his arms, up his nose, and between his fingers. "Anything broken? Got a fever? Anything hurt? LEMME CHECK YOUR PULSE!*" Sonic pressed his fingers into Tails' throat.

The kit glanced to the side. "What did you do to him!?"

"When you hang around Espio, you learn where your pressure points are." There was a smirk in the voice.

The blue one twisted around in shock to stare at the owner of the voice. It was the stranger from before.

Taking off his hat and jacket, he held up a hand in greeting while the other was tossing the blue Chaos Emerald up and down idly. "Glad to see that you still know who I am; It's been a while."

"MIGHTY!?"

--

*if you can guess where this is from you get a cookie. C:

** I have been assured (by Kaasuten) that you can, in fact, throw electrical currents.

--

And, here's where we take a small leap from the actual game timeline and cannon. Mighty's just too awesome to pass up, and he's able to fit seemingly inside the plot. But, don't get too twisted up about us changing something. He's gonna disappear after a while. We'll get back to the exact plot after we get a little exposition done. (Can you say 'plot device'?)

Next chapter we get into the actual game levels and platforming. It'll probably be a while until the next chapter, mainly because we have a lot of game playing and bunch'a notes to take.

PLEASE REVIEW! Reviews are a lifeline for writers. We've only gotten four reviews for two chapters so far, and that's pretty suckish. So, please, review… We beg of you!

Now, as an extra cheat, as we were writing this chapter, we had a few misspeaks while brainstorming. Those, in turn ended up being transported into the story, but they didn't fit and it was too long already, so they got cut. Here, we present two DELETED SCENES!

--

April: That'll be 32.45 Mobiums.

Sonic: …For THIRTY RINGS!?

April: Gotta make a profit somehow.

Sonic: …But…

Tails: …We only have two Mobiums!

Sonic: …We have two!? Who did you Rick Roll!?

April: Well, then you can't have them.

Sonic: Fine! Then we'll make sure Eggman crushes THIS place FIRST.

--

Sonic: Holy frijoles! He's got Sonic! *point*

Tails-tachi: …

Sonic: *pause* Wait… I'm Sonic… He's got KNUCKLES! *dramatic pointing*

(We were originally gonna have Knugget in here, but we were too lazy to type it out. XD)

(That one was a mistake on Ashurii's part. She freaked out the names.)