The Begining: Chapter Two

Chapter Two


Three days after the party at Sonic's, Knuckles was cleaning the Master Emerald when his cell phone started ringing.

'What now?' he thought as he answered, "Hello?"

"Knuckles! It's an emergency!" Tails yelled through the phone, "Eggman has become a giant and he's terrorizing Emerald City! Get over here right away!"

"Right, I'm on my way." Knuckles replied shortly.

He dropped everything and ran as fast as he could, thinking, 'If it really is an emergency, then the newbies will be there, too. They won't know what to do."

~15 minutes later

Emerald City usually looked so pretty, with all the buildings rising in the sky so the sunlight glanced off the glass windows, making the city sparkle like a gem. The parks were always so green and flowery at this time of year. But with Eggman being a giant, the park was torn up and the buildings were breaking like toys in his hands.

As Knuckles expected, everyone was already at the scene. He ran up to them as swiftly as his legs could carry him.

"What's going on, guys? How did Eggman get so big?" he asked after catching his breath.

"We don't know, but Tails says that it may be radioactivity in his system." Sonic said, wincing as a tree was uprooted.

"I think he might have done an experiment with some radioactivity and it might have gone wrong." explained Tails, who was reading the data on his wrist computer.

Becky waved her arm wildly to catch their attention. "Um, why does it matter how he got so big? The question is how we get him small? Come on people, there are innocent bystanders in those buildings."

"If I could get level with his ears I could sing him away from the buildings." Jenny suggested, "Jake, could you get me to the top of that building over there?"

"I'm coming up too." Becky said as Jake started spinning his tails the way he had seen Tails do and locked arms with Jenny. Afterwards, the fox quickly shrunk into a bird in one movement to fly alongside her brother and friend.

Knuckles and a few others followed on the ground while the rest of the Sonic Heroes tried to help Tails find out how to reverse the effects of the growth. Jake got Jenny to a building that was level with Eggman's ears, but it was dangerously close to him. If he wanted to, he could throw her across the Great Forest.

Then Jenny started to sing Apologize beautifully. It was a painfully sad song. Knuckles got the sense that she was lonely as well.

It looked like the song was working. Eggman lost interest in destroying the buildings and listened to the song. He was going to leave the city and go back where he came from when Jenny's voice faltered.

"HOW DARE YOU CONTOL MY EMOTIONS AND WILL, YOU INSIGNIFICANT RODENT!" Eggman roared. He grabbed the building she was standing on and shook it loose. He laughed evilly as she fell.

~Jenny's POV

This has to be the worst birthday I've had so far. I'm homesick, I miss my family, and I'm going to die.

When the building under me was lifted from its bearings I couldn't stay balanced. Jake was too far away to reach me before gravity took its hold. Becky wasn't, but she was a little bird. Sure she dove to me, grabbed at my jacket, and started gliding, but it didn't help much. She may slow the fall a bit, but we would both still splatter on the ground below.

Becky is my best friend and I didn't want to risk her life to save mine. It was my fault that I faltered in my song. I just chocked up for a moment.

I've missed my family so much. I wish I'd called them today to tell them that, but I guess there's no time anymore.

This day hasn't been going very good and for that my friend and I will certainly die. I close my eyes and hope it will be fast and painless. But then I felt someone grab us from the air and land on the ground. I opened my eye to find myself staring into violet eyes.

~Normal POV

Knuckles saw the two fall and he ran to them. When they were close enough, he jumped as high as he could, caught them in his arms, and landed smoothly without so much as a scratch. Jenny opened her eyes and Knuckles couldn't help but be amazed at how her green eyes were the same shade as the Master Emerald.

A small noise interrupted his thoughts and he quickly-yet-gently let Jenny down. He looked over to where Becky had fluttered to after jenny had been caught. She had already changed back to her original form. She was looking up ate Eggman, who was distracted by Jake flying at his face. The fox turned intangible every time he tried to swat him, making the giant growl in frustration.

"I wish I could help, but I can't do much damage as a bird." Becky said before a look of excitement crossed her face. "Can anyone here shoot a machine gun?"

Shadow stepped forth from where he was observing the fighting. "I can shoot any gun you can give." He responded.

Becky reached into her pocket, pulled out an unrealistically big box of bullets, and poured the contents in her mouth. She then transformed into a full-loaded machine gun. Shadow had a look of contentment as he picked up the gun and tested it on Eggman's feet.

Everyone who was stationary before went in action, fighting the giant. Knuckles and Jenny punched and kicked side-by-side. They couldn't do much damage, but they succeeded in distracting Eggman from further destroying the buildings. All the while, Shadow was yelling with joy as the gun poured an endless stream of bullets into Eggman's legs.

At last, the rest of the heroes came with Tails' shrinking device. Everyone backed away and the device engulfed Eggman in a yellowish-orange light and shrunk him back to his original size.

They all watched as Eggman scrambled to his hove vehicle and flew away, yelling, "You will regret this Sonic! One day I'll defeat you and your friends, and I'll build my Eggman Empire! Mwa ha ha ha!"

Jake landed beside Jenny when the evil doctor was out of sight. "That was kinda awkward for me. Hey, are you alright? That was a crazy fall." he said to her.

"Yeah, I'm good." Jenny answered, looking at Shadow, who obviously didn't know what to do with the empty gun. "Becky can't change back if you're still holding her. She can't hear or see as an inanimate object, but she can feel just fine. If you don't touch her for a while, she'll know to change."

Shadow placed the gun on the ground and without a moment's hesitation and the gun changed back to a fox. She addressed Shadow, saying, "You sure know how to use a gun. I feel like my mouth's on fire!"

Shadow grunted an inaudible answer and sauntered away. Becky turned to Jenny and Jake, asking, "What happened? Did we kill him? Did he run away? And would you people quit staring at me?!" The last question was aimed at the Mobians staring curiously at her. They immediately looked away innocently.

"Don't blame them, Beck. Most of them haven't seen you change your form until today." Jake whispered harshly at his rude sister.

"Okay." the purple fox replied, fishing her hand in her pocket and retrieving a brochure to the spa. "Anyways I'll distract- er… treat Jenny with a trip to the spa. You finish running the errands."

She winked at Jake and dragged Jenny along towards the center of the city. The Sonic gang could hear Jenny suspiciously ask, "Wait! What errands? What are you up to, Becky?"

"Don't worry about it, Jenny. Consider this a present." was the only reply she got.

"Okay, guys? I know this is short notice, but today is Jenny's birthday. Becky and I wanted to throw a surprise party at our apartment. Would anyone like to help?" Jake told them all before they could go back to what they were doing before.

Of course they all wanted to help. Jenny was a part of the team, so this was the least they could do. Jake split the teams to do different jobs. Team Rose went to make the cake. Team Chaotix decorated the apartment (under Vanilla's supervision). Everyone else went off to do what they could to get drinks, snacks, and presents.

Knuckles found himself wandering around the Emerald City Mall with no particular thing to do. Something in a store window caught his eye. In the display case of a jewelry store, he saw a gold chain necklace holding a shard of the Master Emerald cut down to a pretty gem. The shard was from when the Master Emerald took its shape. The gem in the display was shaped like a mini Master Emerald and it was the same shade as Jenny's eyes.

'I'll give this to her as a birthday present and hope Rouge doesn't try to steal it.' He thought. Knuckles bought the beautiful necklace and had it gift wrapped before Jake called to tell him that it was time to return.

Knuckles put the gift in his pocket and dashed over to the apartment. Everyone had completed their jobs and they were gathered.

Soon afterwards, Jake's phone started ringing. "It's a text. Becky says that they're almost here and we should hide."

Everyone started running around and hiding while Jake stood by the door. They waited impatiently for Jake to open the door. The knocking finally came. Jake swished the door open for the girls.

"Surprise!" the Sonic Heroes shouted, jumping out of their hiding spaces. Startled, Jenny shrieked and punched the nearest intruder in the face.

Sonic stumbled backwards, holding his injured nose. Jenny, just realizing what she had done, was instantly concerned. "I'm so sorry, Sonic! Natural reflex. Do you need ice on that? I'm so sorry!" she gushed franticly.

"It's okay. No ice necessary." Sonic grunted, still holding his nose.

The party then started. The Fox siblings busted out the board games, the radio was turned on, and everyone was having a good time. The newbies were excellent hosts, making sure that none was left out or uncomfortable.

When it was time for cake, Jenny had an announcement for everyone. "Thank you so much for accepting us on your team, and thanks for throwing me this party. It wasn't necessary, but it is appreciated. We have decided what our team name will be. Jake, Becky, and I will be known as Team Extra."

The cake was handed out in generous proportions. After everyone had their fill they all crowded around the presents, debating which the birthday girl should open first. Knuckles didn't want his gift to be just another gift she would receive. He wanted this one to be special, so he waited as Jenny opened the other presents.

Jenny received some cactuses, a gardening set, comics, and empty journal, toys for Penny, a hand knitted blanket, and a jar of pickles. Everyone partied until the landlord came to tell everyone to quiet down.

Knuckles played Would You Rather with Jenny, but when he saw Rouge get ready to leave, her reluctantly had to tell her that he had to go. "I can't leave the Master Emerald alone for too long. But before I go I have something for you." He explained as he presented the gift he had saved for last. She opened it and gazed at the necklace with fascination. "It's a shard of the Master Emerald from when it was being cut into shape. Some say those things have magical properties."

"I love it! Thank you Knuckles." Jenny said while putting on the trinket. "I hope we can hang out like this more often."

"Maybe some time when Rouge isn't trying to steal the Master Emerald. I had a great time tonight. I'll see you later." was what he said before he left the apartment.

He looked back at the building as he walked home. He saw the lights in the apartment, and in the window was Jenny, her glimmering eyes out shone the shard she wore. He turned back around and walked on, wondering if life would have been better if he didn't have to protect the Mater Emerald.