Sonic Apocalypse

Chapter 64 - A Chaotic Hunt

Tails, Cream, Big and the sole guardian of the emeralds themselves, Knuckles, have disembarked on a journey to try and revive the chaotic energy within the emeralds. Unfortunately, the group had to travel on foot until they come across some sort of vehicle, but thanks to the power surge that Infinite had created earlier, the nearest one could be quite a ways away. But the lack of transportation were the least of their concerns. A few moments prior to their departure, huge waves of androids could be seen approaching the Alliance, so it was obvious that they'd be in dire peril for the time being.

Revitalizing the Chaos Emeralds is crucial. Crucial for hunting down Eggmans location. Crucial for finally putting an end to this seemingly perpetual conflict. Crucial for peaceful times to resume following a near year of pain and torment.

"So uh...where do we begin searching?" Cream had grown impatient with this aimless wandering which seemed to go on for hours.

"Ask Knux, he's the good ol' treasure hunter 'round here." replied Big with a slight head nod toward Knuckles.

"I was thinking that maybe Tails knew of a place where the Emeralds could be restored." shrugged Knuckles.

"About that...man, I should've just mentioned this earlier but I've got too much on my mind right now." Tails groaned tiresomely while rubbing the sides of his head, indicating his stress.

"It's cool, man." assured Knuckles, patting his anxious friend on the back. "Just tell us when you're ready to, aight?"

Tails took a deep breath to pull himself together. When he felt he was fully composed, he decided to reveal his plans to the rest of his group.

"This isn't exactly the...safest plan I could think of, but regarding the circumstances of the war and all, I feel like this is our only solution."

"Tails...get on with it already." said Knuckles, quickly growing impatient with the way Tails was stalling.

"R-right. Anyway, seeing as any sort of energy throughout the planet has either been stolen or eradicated entirely, I figured that our only means to access such power would be the infiltration of an Imperial facility of some sort."

Tails' plans sparked a flashback within Knuckles that triggered his memories of the base over at Mystic Jungle, the one him, Amy and the Rogue's had destroyed. So there's one such facility checked off the list.

"The only facility that you could be referring to was destroyed." reminded Knuckles. "Not too long before we all reunited, me and a few others found this robot factory in Mystic Jungle. We went in, busted some heads, and lit that place up in flames."

"That's alright, I'm sure there are plenty more like it. Or perhaps something that'll be even more sufficient, like a lab or something." Tails was in deep, heavy thought, trying to remember any sort of base that hasn't already been destroyed. "Damn, there's just so many that have been destroyed as a result of this war. The one you mentioned in Mystic Jungle, the one me, Gadget and the hedgehogs went to, Eggman's older bases, ugh. I'd say we go back to Empire City, but honestly, it's taken the same amount of damage as Metropolis."

Upon hearing Knuckles and Tails converse about this topic, Big and Cream tried to remember any sort of location that could be beneficial for completing their objective. They've travelled across the world this past year, "visiting" several different areas, so they had to remember something.

"Fellas, I think I've got an idea!" said Cream. "Why don't we go back to where this whole war began?"

"Y'mean...Central City?" wondered Knuckles.

"Yes! It's close by and if I recall correctly, it's still in pretty decent condition. That, and uh..." Cream began to slightly choke on her words when she got to the latter half of her sentence. Cheese quickly noticed this, so she comforted her owner.

"That...what? What are you talking about?" asked Knuckles, with slight impatience in his tone. However, everybody else knew exactly what Cream was referring to.

"Knuckles, it's her mother..." said Tails softly to kindly remind Knuckles before turning his attention to the distraught rabbit.

"It's ok, Cream." assured Big in a jolly way. "We will head on over to Central City and we will save the Chaos Emeralds and your mother. How does that sound?"

Cream wiped away the few tears that managed to escape her eyelids before looking up to Big and giving him a warm smile.

"Yeah, that sounds great." Cream sniffled a bit and returned to her typically happy nature. "Wait a minute, aren't we already heading towards that direction?"

"I...think so?" said Tails, observing the area around him to try and confirm Creams suspicions. "The roads and signs are all busted up, so the only way we can truly tell where we are going is if we recognize the area. And even then...it's kinda hard to do so when everything's all rubble."

"Let me climb up to the top of that building so I can survey the area better." said Knuckles.

The red echidna then clamped his fists into the side of a building, one that was surprisingly still standing despite taking such a beaten. Knuckles was adamant on being as careful as he possibly could, for if he applied to much force into his climbing, the whole building could potentially collapse on top of him. The others watched from below, all worrying about the exact same thing. Luckily though, he made it to the tippy top without much of an issue. He know had a birds eye view over the surrounding vicinity. After surveying the area for a bit, Knuckles inferred that Central City was, indeed, dead ahead.

"Yep Cream, you were correct. Central City is just a few klicks away. Assuming we don't come across any sort of resistance on the way over, we could get there in a fairly solid amount of time."

"Alright, so what are we waiting for? Let's head on over!" said Cream, anticipating the possibility that Vanilla could be found on this journey.

"Cream, I'm just gonna be blunt with you..." warned Tails. "The Chaos Emeralds come first and foremost. While I do want you to find your mother, reviving these Emeralds are much more important. Sorry."

"It's ok, I understand." said Cream, slowly shaking her head. "I'll try and focus on both tasks."

"Best of luck to all of us!" cheered Big. "Now let's get a move on! We haven't got much time left, and our friends are in danger!"