Sonic: The Chaos Hunt

Chapter 4: Far Friends

Sonic's eyes shrunk as he saw the chameleon ready to do something with the gem. All he did was pull up his guard. He already knew he wasn't ready.

"CROSS!" Espio swung his hand across his body, as a strip of light came out as an arc, flying at Sonic with incredible speed and force.

Without any time to react, the arc almost immediately hit him. And when it did, a small crater formed on impact. An explosion came out, the force of it sending Espio back out into the dirt roads again. The emerald followed him too, as it dug into it.

When the smoke cleared, the dust was still there. Sonic was scratched up and minorly bleeding as he laid there, knocked out.

Espio slowly got up as he picked up the emerald and observed what he had just pulled off. He had won. "Hmph." The purple chameleon walked away from the hedgehog, the emerald tightly in his grasp.

Tails was far enough away from the events that happened that he didn't hear or see anything. The road went back to pavement once more as tall skyscrapers, and mostly only those with not many small buildings and more people heading in and out of the city became visible. People were rushing in too, people could see the lights, though they were much smaller. Tails found a safe spot on the sidewalk to trot. He didn't know this place. And he didn't know where to go.

"I really hope he's okay.." Tails spoke, walking along.

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The fox was lost, mostly not feeling as such only due to the fact there were so many places he could sit himself down and try to figure out himself. His worry was undeniable, but he had to try his best to make sure it wouldn't get to his head. After all, he was only waiting for his friend, right?

After searching for a while, he spotted a cafe. It was a local one, being a mix of clean and fancy and having that urban feel. Tails opened the doors and looked around. Somehow, it made him feel a little bit more comfortable. A nice, warm place like this always had.

With the bit of change he had, he placed an order for a basic lunch, a sandwich and, well, a dark roast. He didn't get enough time to have the caffeine he'd get on days like this. He was seated near a window, which gave him that nice view of Starlight.

In reality, he didn't know why he'd always feel so calm in places like this. Maybe it was the fact that places like these have always been designed to be relatively cozy. Maybe it was the fact that the food was mostly warm. He couldn't find an answer, but nor did he care. He was in what he considered his happy place, and that's all that really mattered to him.

He finished up the last bit of his meal, and left the tiniest tip he could that wasn't insulting, as he left the place with a bit of a smile, as he opened the door to leave outside.

Tails was trotting around the sidewalk. He took his time watching the city move. So many people, doing so many things. He wondered just how many people were leaving for these emeralds..

Another hedgehog, this time pink, wearing a red skirt and a headband, was heading in Tails' direction, and she was seemingly asking around for something. At a certain point, Tails noticed her, and she noticed him. As they came closer, their irises started to glow a little, their visions getting a little sharper, stopping at talking distance. They stared at each other, feeling like they were familiar people.. Knowing that they for sure weren't.

The pink hedgehog shook her head before she began to speak. "O-oh. Uhh-" she took a second before sighing and continuing. "Do you know anything about the lights in the sky?"

Tails was wondering if he should say anything about the emeralds. Did he want anything to do with getting someone else hurt to hunt them down? He tensed up a bit before shaking his head, walking by with a bit of pace.