Sonic: C O U N T E R P A R T

Chapter 7

"... No." Amy mumbled.

"Huh? What was that? I couldn't hear you. Speak louder." Eggman teased. "Use big words, Rose. I'm in a busy city, birds are squawking, taxis are blasting their horns—"

"I said... NO!" Amy shouted.

"Aha! Really? Aw, well don't feel too bad. I knew this vacation wouldn't be long anyway, it was nice while it lasted. I'll be back at the lair in a few hours, so meet me there—"

"I'm not giving up!" Amy huffed. "I just... I just need your help."

"What!? You've been out there this whole week and now you're asking for my help to help you catch the hedgehog?" Eggman snorted. The nerve of her! "Then what's the point of our deal? You were the one who said it would be easy to catch him!"

"I did..." Amy sighed. "I know I said it would be easy, and it isn't. This blue hog is more annoying than ever trying to catch. But I don't want to give up yet. That's why I'm asking for your help." Amy leaned against a nearby tree. "If you could send me the prototype for E-R23's modified design, I could—"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"Doctor!" Amy whined. "Why not? I am so close! With the help of E-R23 2.0, I could use it to distract Sonic and catch him. Then I'll be able to bring him to you—"

"Now you listen here, Rose!" Eggman scolded her. "You were the one who told me you were capable of catching that blue menace with your eyes closed! My help wasn't part of the deal. E-R23 2.0 isn't nearly finished! You won't even know how to operate it, so all my hard work will be put to waste!"

"I'll learn! I can read the manual you created—"

"My answer is no, that's final! If you don't want to give up, you find your very own way to catch him and bring him back to the lair, or you come back and do what you're regularly assigned. I don't have to answer to you. I'm the one who's in charge, hear me? Understand?"

"...." Amy held back a frustrated sob.

"Do you understand, Rose?" Eggman repeated sternly.

"Y-yes... Doctor." Amy muttered and disconnected the call. She broke down into tears and leaned against a nearby tree. But her sorrow was quickly replaced by anger.

She wasn't going to let Eggman be right. "Why am I crying like a child? Eggman wouldn't sit around and cry. He'd get back up, and strike back harder! I have to follow his lead if I want to be seen as a great apprentice." She sniffled and wiped her tears away. "Just you wait Sonic the Hedgehog! You haven't felt the last of my wrath!"

Her words rang all the way back to Mystic Ruins where Sonic was chilling and having a nice long nap on top of Tails's workshop. Sonic's ear twitched and he opened his eyes.

"Was my name... just called?" Sonic sat up and glanced around.

There was nothing but the peaceful sound of a soft breeze and rustling sand. Sonic leaned back against the roof and shrugged.

"Sonic!" Tails chirped as he ran to his workshop. "Sonic! Are you there?"

"What's up, buddy?" Sonic hummed.

Tails looked up and spotted Sonic on the roof. He spun his tails and flew up to the roof. "You've gotta check this out! I found a chaos emerald!"

"Oh?" Sonic looked Tails up and down. "Where is it?"

"O-oh. It's not with me, physically, yet." Tails opened his gloves to reveal a small metal ball. He pressed the button and the orb shifted and a digital map screen appeared. "I sent a patrol bot over to Ice Mountain and there was some sort of power source interfering with the reception. When I deciphered what it was, my scanner detected huge amounts of chaos energy!"

"Cool! Wait, ice mountain?" Sonic frowned. "With the cold... damp... wet caves?"

"Yes." Tails rolled his eyes. "Sooner or later, you're going to have to learn how to swim. And we have to get to the emerald first before it gets into the wrong hands! You remember what happened with Chaos!"

"Calm down Tails, we've got plenty of time! You're talking to the fastest thing alive here!" Sonic winked.

"I'm serious!" Tails whined. "I saw Eggman in Station Square just now."

"What—"

"And since I've deciphered this signal, it's only a matter of time before Doctor Eggman starts trouble!"

"Wait, slow down." Sonic placed his hand on Tails's shoulder. "You saw Eggman in Station Square? What's he doing there again? You'd think he'd have enough after the whole Chaos fiasco! Ugh, he's probably up to no good, I should go check it out—"

"Wait! Sonic! He was just casually shopping around the city. I was just saying—"

"Eggman nearly destroyed the entire city and he's shopping? Like he's on vacation? The nerve of that rotten Egg!" Sonic shook his head.

"I thought it was odd too." Tails placed his index finger under his lip. "He even bothered to wave at me like we were friends or something. But he wasn't attacking or anything. Just sitting there, stuffing himself with cake."

"He must have something up his sleeve."

"I thought that too! But apparently, he's been lurking around that area for a whole week. I kept asking if anyone needed help, but they all seemed content with leaving him be."

"Eggman is usually never this quiet for too long. I have a really bad feeling leaving him there alone with all those citizens."

"You think he may be relaxed because he's already going after the chaos emerald?" Tails's face went from straight to a serious frown. "If that's the case, we should leave now!"

"It may be wise if we asked Knuckles for help. He could keep an eye on the things around here while we go and search." Sonic suggested.

"I agree. I'll call him. You go ahead and get packed. It'll take a little while to fly there. Probably a whole day."

"I don't need to pack. I just gotta bring me, myself and I." Sonic chuckled. "No worries, we can grab some grub on the way there. Oh, by the way, do you have any more of those chili dogs left in the fridge?"

"W-what?" Tails blinked. "Chili dogs? I haven't bought one of those in a while."

"You didn't buy the ones earlier this week?" Sonic blinked. "I put it in the fridge because I thought you left them out."

"I thought you bought those." Tails shrugged.