x
Having left Planet Secco, the Blue Typhoon was once more traveling through deep space. Chris was typing on a keyboard with Sonic and Cosmo standing nearby. "My new program will let us detect a Chaos Emerald anywhere in the galaxy, no matter where or how far away it may be," said Chris.
A compartment for the Chaos Emerald opened. "Alright, Sonic, what do you say we try it out?" Chris asked.
"Sure thing," Sonic agreed, handing him the Emerald.
Chris inserted it into the slot and closed it. "Now, we connect it to the main interface and we'll be on our way!" said Tails, typing on a keypad.
A holo-radar appeared in the front window. "Knuckles, everything OK?" Tails asked over the intercom.
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"So far, so good," Knuckles replied.
About a couple seconds later… "Wow!"
"What's up?" Knuckles asked. "You got something?"
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"I'm detecting a response already!" Tails reported.
Sure enough, a blip appeared near the top left part of the radar. "I'll get everyone else and tell them to get ready," said Creecha as she hurried off.
Cosmo smiled. "It's thanks to you, Chris," she said.
"It's no big deal, really," Chris said with a shrug.
"Sure it's a big deal!" Tails replied. "I've built lots of neat stuff, but I couldn't have come up with something this good overnight."
"Aw, come on, Tails," said Chris, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're embarrassing me."
Tails then looked at Amy. "Amy, what's the location?" he asked.
Amy typed on a keypad. "The signal's coming from a place called Planet Breezy," she said.
"That sounds cool," Tails said. "Okay, Planet Breezy, here we come!"
"We're on our way!" Amy added enthusiastically.
Tails was disappointed. "I'm the Captain," he said to himself. "That's what I was supposed to say anyway."
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Knuckles kept an eye on the Master Emerald as it glowed brightly as Tails's voice was heard in the intercom. "Engage Warp Field Driver!"
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Outside, a yellow cone at the tip of the Typhoon fired a portal in front of the ship. "Warp Field's ready! Let's go!"
The Typhoon flew into the portal, causing it to glow in rainbow colors as it jumped into hyperspace.
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On the surface of the ice planet Breezy, there was a palace covered in ice. Within its walls, there was a control room. In the center of it, a red Chaos Emerald was encased in some sort of machine. An ice-themed Metarex, Metarex Crystal, watched as the machine supercharged the Chaos Emerald, laughing.
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On the Crimson Egg, Eggman had an idea of his own up his sleeve. "I'm a genius!" he laughed. "Sonic and those time-warping nitwits can't shake me, not with my spanking-new all-space tracking system! No matter what they do or where they go, I'll be right behind them. Throw it into Egg Drive!"
Orbot pulled a lever, and soon, it was in Egg Drive. Basically, a massive egg surrounded the Crimson Egg, and when it split apart and faded, the spaceship was no longer there.
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Soon, the Blue Typhoon emerged from hyperspace above Breezy. The blip on the radar was still flashing. "There it is, guys, straight ahead," said Amy. "But it looks like rough weather. The whole planet's in the middle of a terrible snowstorm."
The Guard groaned in annoyance. "Are you kidding me?" Rainbow said. "Darn it!"
"Why am I getting horrible flashbacks of Hoth?" Twilight whispered to Sunset, who just shrugged.
"Aw man," said Creecha. "And I forgot to pack up winter gear for everyone. Rats."
Sunset then snapped her fingers; an idea had flown to her head. Beckoning Creecha over, she whispered something into her ear. Her idea must've been a good one, because Creecha smiled and nodded in approval.
Cosmo, meanwhile, was a little depressed. "Maybe the Metarex have taken its Planet Egg away," she said.
"That would explain the weird weather they're having," said Tails as he pulled up an image of the planet's surface.
Outside, a blizzard was blowing across the surface of the entire planet. "Everything looks so cold and lonely…" said Cosmo glumly.
"Even so, we have to go down there and look for the Emerald," said Chris. "Ready, Sonic?"
Sonic nodded. "Sure," he said. "Let's go!"
Grace was nervous. "I hope we don't get hypothermia while we're down there," she said.
"Oh, don't worry. We won't," said Sunset. "Because I've just gotten an idea."
The Blue Typhoon descended into Breezy's atmosphere, and the craft extended its landing wings. They began to feel the turbulent winds caused by the global blizzard. Suddenly, a giant Metarex landed on top of the Blue Typhoon. It sported a giant spiked ball for a tail that gave it the name Metarex Gigatail. It caused the ship to shake more than it already was. "What is that thing, Chris?" asked Amy.
"It's a Metarex," Chris replied.
Gigatail bashed the Typhoon with its tail. Chris pressed a button that launched several missiles at Gigatail, who launched some missiles back at them. But even though Gigatail was luckily destroyed by the missiles, the Typhoon was also damaged. It started to go down, red emergency lights flashing. "Hang on, guys!" Tails called. "I'm gonna have to bring it in for a landing!"
As everyone grabbed onto something so they didn't go flying around when the aircraft hit the ground, Cream was more focused on comforting her Chao. "Don't worry, Cheese," she said. "Tails can make a safe landing on this planet."
"Chao," Cheese replied.
The Blue Typhoon made an emergency landing on the snowy surface of Breezy. Luckily, no one was hurt. But the Typhoon took some damage. "Another happy landing," Rainbow muttered, sitting up and rubbing her head.
"Knuckles, do we have any damage?" Tails asked.
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Knuckles answered from the engine room. "I'm afraid so," he said. "Looks like Engines 1 and 3 have been hit. We'll have to fix 'em or we'll never get off the ground."
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"Oh, great…" Tails grumbled. He was less than impressed.
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Meanwhile, the Crimson Egg had also landed on Breezy. "My tracking system indicates that Sonic's somewhere on this planet," said Eggman. "... Which means those nasty creatures will be coming soon to try and destroy him."
"The Metarex?" asked Cubot.
Eggman stood up. "And it's most likely we'll come under attack too," he said, "unless we play a subtle game of subterfuge."
Orbot and Cubot were excited. "🎶 We're gonna play a ga-ame! We're gonna play a ga-ame!🎶" they sang, clapping their hands.
But they were just missing the point. "Go on; get busy!" Eggman ordered, tossing them shovels.
The hench-bots were confused. "What game do you play with these?" asked Orbot as he and Cubot glanced at each other.
"There's no game!" Eggman replied. "Go out and make sure the ship won't be seen! Now get moving!
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"I want this thing in an igloo by nightfall!"
"Yes, Doctor…"
Unknown to them, Rouge was using an earpiece to listen to Eggman's conversation. Meanwhile, a depressed Bokkun was hovering down the corridor. "Well, at least Rouge isn't here," he said.
"Really?" Rouge laughed.
Bokkun was filled with dread. "This isn't my day…" he lamented.
Rouge flew down from her perch. "If I didn't know better, I might think you're not happy to see me," she said.
"Oh no, Rouge!" Bokkun panicked. "Don't think that!"
"Oh, I'm glad," said Rouge. "Because I've got another tiny little favor I'd like you to do for me."
She pulled the locket out from her chest. "You will help me, won't you?" she asked.
Bokkun blushed.
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Meanwhile, the gangplank to the Typhoon extended. Sonic, Knuckles, Cosmo, Grace, Wallflower, Sunset, Bob, Larry, and Junior were all hit by the frigid winds. "YIKES! That's cold!" exclaimed Larry. "Feels like Alaska out there!"
"More like Antarctica!" Bob replied.
"I guess everyone else is lucky that they're staying here in the ship!" Junior sniped.
Then, Sunset remembered something. "That's right!" she said. "I almost forgot my idea!"
"Which would be what, exactly?" Grace asked.
Sunset grinned. "You'll see," she said.
With little spouts of fire from her fingertips, Sunset launched them at the Guard, warming them up instantly. Grace was impressed. "Nice going there, Aunt Sunset," she said.
Sunset winked in reply. A door soon opened, and Chris came stepping out wearing a winter coat and carrying some winter gear. Sonic was more than ready to go. "Let's get this snow on the road!" he said, winking at Cosmo.
Before Bob could protest, his hand was grabbed by Sonic and the two were taking off. "Uh Sonic," Chris called as he appeared in the entryway, "it might be–"
*THOOMPH!*
"... deep."
Grace and Creecha both had to hold back their laughs (which kind of failed). Because while Sonic was nearly buried in snow (he was buried almost up to his ears), Bob had half of his upper body stuck in the snow and was currently working to get himself out. "Bob! Bob, are you okay?" Larry called as he and Junior looked out.
Bob said something, but it came out muffled due to the snow. "Huh?" Larry was confused.
"We can't hear you," said Junior. "Do you need any help?"
Finally, Bob was able to get himself out, spitting up and coughing out snow. "I wanted to play 'Mousetrap'," he said, getting snow out of his hair. "You roll your dice, you move your mice. Nobody gets hurt."
Larry just rolled his eyes goodnaturedly while Junior was laughing behind his hand. Although glad that he wasn't hurt, they found it to actually be kinda hilarious. Showing up on the scene, Rarity just chuckled. "Good thing I came prepared," she said.
Creecha was confused. "What're you talking about?" she asked.
"Simple," Rarity answered. "Knew something like this was going to happen sooner or later, so I've come prepared with stuff I made myself."
Digging into her own backpack, she pulled out warm winter outfits and tossed them to the Guard. "Whoa," Grace said. "Aunt Rarity, you seriously made all this?"
"Took a little longer than anticipated, darling," Rarity said, "but in the end, I think it turned out alright."
Sunset grinded. "They turned out amazing," she said. "Thanks, Rarity."
Rarity nodded as she left. "Take care, darlings," she called as she left.
"Don't worry, Sonic," said Chris. "I packed some new snowshoes."
Saying this, he pulled a pair from his bag. Sonic uncovered his eyes from the deep snow. "Got any earmuffs?" he asked, annoyed.
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Soon, the group were all in their respective snowshoes and snow gear. Upon looking at one of the planet's trees, which was completely frozen over, Cosmo leaned towards it. "What are you doing?" asked Knuckles.
"I'm trying to listen," answered Cosmo.
"Tryin' to listen to what?" asked Sonic.
"If this tree is still alive," replied Cosmo, "I will hear its life force."
She closed her eyes and concentrated on listening to the tree before a sad expression appeared on her face. "I knew we were too late…" she said glumly.
"Don't worry, Cosmo," said Chris in an effort to comfort her. "Maybe it'll come to life next spring."
Cosmo shook her head. "There won't be a next spring," she said, opening her eyes as another gust of wind blew by.
"If the Metarex had already taken the Planet Egg away," Sonic theorized, "there'd be no reason for 'em to still be hangin' around. Maybe it's because the Egg's still here some place."
"If that's true," said Cosmo, "we have to try and find it."
"We don't have time," Knuckles objected.
But Cosmo was insistent. "If we find it," she said, "this planet might have a chance to survive. I know we came here for a Chaos Emerald, but couldn't we look for a Planet Egg too?"
"No way," Knuckles answered.
"I'm with you, Cosmo," said Grace. "I want this planet to feel better just as much as you do."
"And besides, we already saved a Planet Egg and found a Chaos Emerald as well at the same time," added Wallflower. "It happened once, so there's a good chance it'll happen again."
"I'm with you there," Creecha agreed.
"Count me in," added Junior.
Everyone else agreed. Chris turned to Sonic. "What do you think, Sonic?" he asked.
"The Blue Typhoon's damaged," answered Sonic.
Chris just shrugged. "Maybe we could use the X-Tornado," he said. "If we look for the Egg, we might find the Emerald."
"Then I say we do it!" Sonic decided.
"Woohoo!" Junior cheered with a jump.
The rest beamed and cheered along with him. "Thank you both!" said a grateful Cosmo. "This planet will be so grateful to you!"
"Oh alright!" Knuckles finally relented. "Let's go!"
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Soon, the X-Tornado was prepared for launch. The elevator moved it up to the runway, and the catapult was set in place. The aircraft took off, with Chris and Cosmo inside while everyone else rode on the wings. However, a spy drone was watching them.
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Metarex Crystal watched the feed his drone was providing. "Our enemies have arrived," he said.
Standing behind him were several Metarex Troopers, all ready for action. Metarex Crystal turned to them. "Don't let them get here," he ordered. "Eliminate them and destroy the aircraft."
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Back inside the Typhoon, Tails was working on repairs with Twilight. Dorothy was in the kitchen for a reason that she didn't say, but Tails figured that she was planning some sort of surprise. In the meantime, everyone else was either keeping an eye out for the enemy or just doing their own thing.
Amy and Cream were watching from behind Tails. "Will it be easy to fix?" asked Cream.
"Sonic may be in grave danger right now," said Amy. "So hurry up, Captain."
"Don't worry," Tails replied. "You can count on me, Amy."
He went back to work, but couldn't help muttering, "Now she calls me Captain at this time."
But Amy must've heard somehow. "What did you say?!" she asked, almost offended.
"Uh, didn't say anything!" Tails answered hastily.
He really didn't want to end up on the wrong side of Amy's hammer. Twilight didn't say anything since she was buried in her work, but her eye roll said one thing: Amy's obsession with Sonic was getting ridiculous. He's perfectly fine with taking care of himself, she thought. It's not like he needs an obsessive admirer like Amy saving his butt every time.
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Inside an igloo, which wasn't too far from the now-hidden Crimson Egg, Eggman and his hench-bots were sleeping. It wouldn't be so bad at first, but Bokkun's nervous expression was a different thing. "Rouge really did it this time," he said. "Hot chocolate with sleeping powder."
Outside, Rouge flew over the igloo. "I knocked those 3 out good," she said, proud of her accomplishment. "While they're sleeping, I'll be on the lookout for that Chaos Emerald."
However, she began getting buffeted by strong winds. "Ugh, unless I go snow-blind…" she grumbled.
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In the meantime, the X-Tornado was approaching the ice palace. "There they are," Knuckles informed the group.
"We're ready for 'em!" said Sonic, determined.
Sure enough, hovering directly in front of them, were several dozen Metarex Troopers. Sunset instantly knelt down, motioning Wallflower to climb onto her back. Once Wallflower had done so, Sunset felt her phoenix side showing, evidenced by her wings revealing themselves. "The rest of you stay on the X-Tornado," said Creecha. "We've got this under control."
They nodded. "Let's go!" said Chris, launching a power ring from the aircraft.
Sonic leapt up and caught it. "Got it!" he said.
Creecha and Sunset took off into the air, Wallflower moving to stand on Sunset's back.
Using his ring energy, Sonic barreled through the Metarex Troopers.
Knuckles also leapt off the wing to punch several more of them.
Creecha was using her waterbending in the form of water whips and sharp icicles to get at others.
Using choreographed teamwork, Sunset and Wallflower were slicing and dicing at several others with their lightsabers like pros.
The X-Tornado was also attacking them with an array of lasers and missiles, destroying even more Metarex troopers. "Don't let 'em get away Chris!" said Sonic as he and the others landed back on the wings.
"I won't," said Chris, determined.
The remaining Metarex Troopers fell back. "Yeah, that's right!" Sunset laughed. "Go ahead and run away, you cowards!"
Suddenly, multiple huge explosions could be heard behind them. "What the heck was that?" asked Junior, startled.
"I think we're in big trouble!" said Chris after looking behind him.
It only took Creecha to look behind her to see why. "AVALANCHE!" she cried.
Sure enough, a massive avalanche was steadily closing in on the X-Tornado. Creecha stood on the tail fin and was about to try and stop it when suddenly, the Blue Typhoon moved in front of the avalanche and embedded itself in the ground, absorbing it. Sonic also looked behind him, his eyes widening in shock. "TAILS!" he cried, jumping onto Creecha's back a second before she took off to see if there was any damage.
The snow slid off the ship's windows, revealing Amy, Twilight, Cream, and said fox in the cockpit. "Back to the repair shop…" Tails grumbled.
"Oh, come on, Tails," said Twilight. "When we agreed to do this, we knew this would happen."
Sonic tapped on the window with his knuckle. "Tails, are you and the others alright?" he asked.
"We're fine," Tails assured him.
"No one went flying out of their seat," Twilight added.
"That's a relief," Creecha said. "Because Sonic here was pretty worried for Tails. I just came here to see if there was damage, but I'm glad that you're all okay."
Then, something caught Amy's eye as Creecha and Sonic returned to the others on the X-Tornado. "Hey, look," she said.
They all saw the ice palace, in all of its sparkling, beautiful glory. "Wow," Amy breathed out.
"It's unbelievable," said Cream.
"Cha-chao!" Cheese agreed.
"Man, Elsa's gonna be jealous when she hears about this," said Sunset, capturing the image on her phone.
Meanwhile, Creecha jumped off the X-Tornado and, using her waterbending, created a kind of slide so that she was able to slide down to the ground gracefully. Once on the ground, she slid a few more feet before stopping herself by braking like an ice skating pro. Thank you for teaching me all that, Ariel and Elsa, she thought.
She looked up at the others. "Let's see if you guys can top that!" she called.
Sometimes not one of backing down on a challenge, Sunset jumped down as well. However, as soon as her feet hit the ice, she ended up slipping before falling on her back. "Oof!" she grunted.
Luckily, she wasn't hurt. She had just gotten up when Wallflower, Bob, Larry, and Junior all crashed into her, having had the same result and ended up in a pile. "Are you kidding me?" Sunset grumbled.
Wallflower let out a sheepish shrug while Grace, who just floated down via her butterfly-fairy wings, laughed. This hilarity only escalated when Sonic and Knuckles leapt off the plane and the same thing happened to them, this time with Knuckles sliding to a stop next to Sonic. Creecha laughed while face-palming. "Clearly, either none of you have been ice skating before, or your skills are getting a little rusty," she said.
"I think it's the 2nd choice for some of us," said Junior.
Not too long afterwards, Sunset's pony ears pricked up at the sound of marching. "I think I hear something," she said.
Looking up, they saw hundreds of new Metarex Troopers moving out of the ice palace towards them. Immediately, Creecha ran ahead, water whips at the ready. "Sonic! Use this!" Chris called, launching a hover-board from the X-Tornado down to him.
Sonic leapt on it and caught up to Creecha in seconds, the two speeding through the army of Metarex Troopers. "Wouldn't happen to have one of those things for me, would ya?" asked an annoyed Knuckles.
"Sorry, Knuckles," Chris apologized, "I only had time to make 1!"
"Yeah, well that's–" Knuckles started to say as he stood up, only to be interrupted by suddenly slipping on the ice again.
Grace and the others laughed. "Man Knux, today just isn't your day, isn't it?" Sunset asked with a chuckle.
Grace giggled as she turned to the readers. "Honestly, I don't know who's more hilarious when slipping on ice: Dad or Knuckles," she said.
Sonic and Creecha barreled through more Metarex troopers with their respective skills as the X-Tornado lowered its altitude so that everyone else could climb back on. "Thanks, Chris," said Grace.
"I don't get any respect. No respect at all!" Knuckles grumbled.
He looked down at the growing pile of destroyed Metarex Troopers.
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At the Typhoon… "According to the scanner," Tails said over the radio, "the Chaos Emerald's in the center of that ice palace."
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"Roger," said Chris. "But first thing's first."
He glanced over to the others on the wings. "Hang on, guys!" he warned.
No one needed to be told twice. They hung on to the wings as the X-Tornado sped through a chasm sideways. A scared Cosmo closed her eyes, not bearing to look. Grace didn't blame her, though. Truth be told, she was a little frightened herself.
Meanwhile, Sonic and Creecha were speeding through ramps, surrounded by Metarex Troopers, Sonic leaping his board on a ramp. As Metarex Troopers fired missiles at them, Sonic leapt off his board, Homing-attacked them, and landed expertly back on his board. Creecha also leapt up and, with her water whips, demolished several more troopers and landed back on the ramp, skating alongside Sonic.
With the others, several more Metarex Troopers flew in front of the X-Tornado as it flew through the chasm. Knuckles grabbed one and, by spinning around in circles, swung it by the tail, destroying all the others, before throwing it against the chasm wall. "Nice one, Knuckles!" said Junior.
"How will we ever defeat them all when there are so many of them?" asked Cosmo.
"Good question," said Chris. Cosmo had a point.
Meanwhile, Rouge was flying directly above the ice palace. She was also as impressed as the others were by it. "My, my, my," she said. "All that sparklin' ice makes this place look like a 24-carat castle."
A Metarex Trooper quietly floated up behind her and grabbed her arms, surprising her. "Get lost!" she exclaimed, Screw Kicking it to pieces.
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Meanwhile, Sonic and Creecha reunited with the others on the X-Tornado and headed towards the ice palace.
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Soon, they reached a spiral ramp. Sonic spun his board like a buzz-saw that got rid of some of the Metarex Troopers that appeared while Creecha and the X-Tornado blasted the others. Chris then fired some missiles that destroyed part of a tower on the ice palace. Sonic and Creecha both flew through the hole and landed in the control room.
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Once inside, they saw the Chaos Emerald. "Well, there it is…" said Sonic.
Knuckles then entered by punching a new hole in the wall, allowing him and everyone else to enter as well. "Sonic, can you get it out of there?" asked Chris.
"I'll try," said Sonic.
Rouge looked down from the hole in the ceiling. "Leave this to me!" said Knuckles, donning his shovel claws.
He tried to attack the ice, but ended up bouncing backwards instead. "What the heck?" asked Wallflower.
"That ice is harder than a diamond!" Knuckles grunted.
"Of course it is," said a voice from somewhere in the room. "If it were not, we would be at the mercy of thieves like you."
Knuckles wasn't fazed in the slightest. "Come out where we can see you!" he demanded.
"Very well," said the voice. "Keep your eyes on the Emerald."
Said object began glowing, and Metarex Crystal teleported into view inside the ice case. "You don't scare me!" exclaimed Knuckles as he moved to attack the ice.
Still, nothing happened. Not even Sonic's spin attack worked. "This is bad," Grace muttered.
"Now I will destroy you!" Metarex Crystal proclaimed as he picked up the Emerald.
Using its power, he began to melt the room. "It's getting power from the Chaos Emerald!" Chris exclaimed. "Run!"
No one needed to repeat that. They fled out of the room just as the ice ceiling collapsed and fell where they just were, Metarex Crystal and the Chaos Emerald vanishing in the process. "Rats," Rouge grumbled as she flew out of the way so her cover wasn't blown.
Part of the ice palace collapsed as the group ran out. Crystal showed up again and pounded the grounds with his hand, creating a giant crack. Chris and Cosmo nearly fell in, but luckily, Knuckles caught Cosmo while Sonic caught Chris. Soon, the Blue Typhoon emerged. "Hang in there, guys!" Tails called over the loudspeaker.
But Crystal breathed its icy breath, encasing the entire Typhoon with ice.
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"Our cannons are frozen solid," Amy reported.
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Creecha quickly took notice of the situation. "Sunset, you're coming with me," she said. "We need to get the Typhoon unfrozen so it can get back in battle. The rest of you, cover us."
The group nodded. As Creecha and Sunset used their firebending to get the ice off the spaceship, the others took on Crystal. Chris launched several missiles at it from the X-Tornado, but they didn't damage it. "The rockets didn't faze him," he said.
Sonic rode his board up the now giant Metarex Crystal's body. "Heads up, Sonic!" Chris called as he launched 2 power rings to him.
Catching them, Sonic spun towards Metarex Crystal, but the Metarex extended an ice spike out of its left hand towards him. Sonic drilled through the spike, but landed in Metarex Crystal's hand. The giant Metarex grabbed him. "We've got to do something to save him!" said Cosmo frantically.
But then, her hand pressed a button that fired some sort of beam. When she saw what she did, she immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry Chris!" she quickly apologized. "I've just hit the laser beam!"
However, said beam cut off Crystal's hand, allowing Sonic to leap back onto the X-Tornado. "Don't apologize, Cosmo!" said Grace. "You just pulled off a pretty smart move that saved Sonic!"
"Yeah. Great job, Cosmo!" Chris agreed. "You're a real lifesaver! The laser beam sliced right through the ice!"
Cosmo was surprised at being told this. Chris radioed Knuckles. "Knuckles, we're heading for the engine room," he said.
He had just gotten an idea of his own.
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Soon, everyone was back inside the ship after all the ice had melted off thanks to Sunset and Creecha, who were now busy keeping Metarex Crystal at bay after having melted all the ice off the ship. "We're almost ready, Chris," said Tails. "You see, all we have to do is get Knuckles to power up the laser cannon and we'll be good to go."
"Let's do it!" said Knuckles over the radio.
A pair of large laser blasters extended out of the top of the Typhoon.
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"The 7 Chaos Emeralds are the servers," Knuckles chanted in the engine room. "Our hearts intensify their power."
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On the Typhoon's bridge, a monitor was showing the charge level of the Master Emerald. "60… 70… 80… 90…" Chris counted. "Energy charging sequence complete!"
"Fire!" said Tails.
The laser cannons fired at Metarex Crystal. "Your weapons are of no use against me!" he said.
He extended an ice spike out of his remaining hand to block the giant beam, but not only was the spike melted, but so was his hand, arm, and entire body. Metarex Crystal was beaten and relinquished the Planet Egg, which sunk into the planet. "We did it!" Sunset cheered. "Woohoo!"
"Great job, guys!" Creecha called.
Cosmo smiled. Soon, everyone was outside the craft. By now, much of the snow had melted. "Sonic!" called a voice.
Sonic smiled at Tails racing towards him. In no time, he had a warm, fluffy furball in his arms. "Glad you're okay, little bro," he said, already feeling warm.
"You too, Sonic," replied Tails, snuggling closer in the embrace.
"We found it!" Knuckles called.
He and Robyn were bending over the red Chaos Emerald. Just as they were about to pick it up, 3 cards suddenly embedded themselves to the ground, startling Robyn. "Ack!" she shrieked.
Tom and Sunset instantly ran over to her. "Robyn! Are you okay?" asked Tom.
"No, I'm not!" Robyn answered. "Those cards nearly cut my hand off!"
Curious, Sunset picked up one and got a close look at it. "Why do I have a feeling that we've seen this card before?" she asked.
Her question was answered when Rouge swooped in and snatched the Emerald. "Thanks for doin' the dirty work!" she called as she flew away. "I owe you one, Knuckie."
"You bring that back here!" Knuckles demand.
But Rouge was already out of earshot. "Gah! She just stole the Chaos Emerald!" Amy exclaimed.
"Thanks very much for the update!" Knuckles replied sarcastically.
"Hey, Knuckles," Sonic called. "Take a look at this."
Right near Cosmo were brand new plants growing from the ground. "The planet…" said Wallflower. "It's coming back to life!"
"Spring came after all," said Chris happily. "And before you know it, this place will be just as green and beautiful as it was before."
"Sure!" Sonic agreed, turning to Cosmo. "Happy, Cosmo?"
"Yes!" Cosmo happily answered, nodding and laughing as Grace and Wallflower both sandwiched her in a hug.
Creecha chuckled at the interaction. "Come on guys," she said. "Let's head back to the ship. I hear that Dorothy's made hot chocolate. And Larry, I don't want you going crazy over it like last time."
"Don't worry, Creecha," Larry laughed. "I've been working on that after that stomach ache I had once after having too much of it. Trust me, I've definitely learned my lesson after that one."
The others laughed along with him as they headed back to the ship. They might not have gotten the Chaos Emerald, but in the end, at least they made up for it by saving the Planet Egg.
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In the cockpit of the Crimson Egg, Eggman was cross. "How dare you let them get away!" he yelled at his hench-bots. "I ought to dismantle you snoozing losers!"
This made the hench-bots also cross. "Don't blame us, Doctor!" Cubot objected. "You were snoozing too!"
"We all fell asleep after Bokkun brought us hot chocolate," said Orbot. "That's interesting."
Bokkun panicked. "Whaah! It wasn't me who put sleeping powder in your coca!" he said.
The three were confused. "Whaaat?" they asked in unison.
"Aahh, I mean marshmallows!" Bokkun quickly corrected, waving his hands and adding to himself, "I'm not a very good traitor…"
Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot were all puzzled at this.
………………………………………………………………………
Below deck, Rouge was taking a bath, examining her skin. "That nasty snow-globe was so windy and wintery, even my gloves have got goose pimples," she said. "Oh well."
She giggled as she pulled out the Emerald she stole. "Now I've got this hot little baby to keep me warm," she said, admiring it. "Positively perfect. Just get a load of that shine!"
Suddenly, the Emerald stopped glowing. Rouge was shocked. "Wait a minute…" she said. "This is a…"
………………………………………………………………………
"... fake!" Tails realized back at the Typhoon. "After I took a good look at the response data, I noticed something that I hadn't seen the first time. The components of the Emerald was off so slightly even the scanners didn't pick it up."
"You mean that all this time, we've been on the search for a fake one?" asked Grace. "That's a huge waste of time."
"Looks like it," Tails answered.
"Guess I'm glad that Rouge snatched it away after all," said Creecha. "If she hadn't, we'd be the ones stuck with it and wouldn't realize it until it was too late."
"I've reprogrammed the scanners, Tails," said Chris. "Next time, they'll only respond to real Emeralds. What I can't figure out was what that Metarex was doing with a fake one."
"Maybe the fake Emerald was a decoy the Metarex used to throw us off the track," Tails suggested.
Knuckles grinned. "Wait'll Rouge finds out she fliched a phoney!" he said, bursting into laughter.
………………………………………………………………………
Rouge definitely found out about it. And she was very cross. Not at the gang, but more at the Metarex. "They think they can fool me, do they?" she said. "We'll see about that."
She crushed the fake Chaos Emerald in her hand. "I'll make them pay for this!" she vowed as the Crimson Egg flew away. "I promise, I'll make them pay!"
ns 15.158.61.51da2
