Rouge's Toy Island

(Cubed Cinder)

Somewhere in Eggman's lab

Before flipping the light switch, it was pitch black inside the room that Rouge had discovered while sneaking around Dr. Eggman's lab. Now that she could see inside, her eyes lit up as she saw the room covered from wall to wall with gadgets and other little inventions that she assumed Dr. Eggman was never going to use again.
"Hello, gorgeous." Rouge said to herself as she walked around the room. There were vehicles and gadgets all over the room, ranging from the classic checkered wrecking ball, the drilling machine, the Egg Catcher, Mecha Sonic (all bent up and out of shape), and even a blueprint for the ill-fated Veg-O-Fortress.

But it was one of the smallest inventions that got Rouge's attention, especially after she accidentally kicked the ray gun and it slid across the floor. Rouge walked up towards the ray gun and picked it up.
"I wonder what this is... kinda careless for the doctor to leave junk like this laying on the floor." Rouge said. She studied the gun carefully. On one side was a switch, currently pointing towards a down arrow with an up arrow on the other side of the switch. On the other side of the gun was a sliding switch, with a bar that gradually rose up the farther right it went. Right now it was near the middle. Despite these visual indicators, Rouge could not figure out what they meant, so she had no clue what the device was capable of doing. At least not yet.
"Too bad there's no instruction manual for this thing..." Rouge said. Likely out of sheer boredom, Rouge just aimed the gun at the drilling machine and pressed the trigger, causing a beam to fire out. Rouge was slightly taken aback as she saw the beam fire out, thinking this device was broken too. But what happened next surprised her the most.

She watched as the drilling machine started to shrink. It was shrinking smaller and smaller until it appeared to be totally out of sight.
"Okay... what just happened here?" Rouge said. She slowly approached where the drilling machine used to sit, and once she got there... that's when she saw the drilling machine down by her boots, shrunken down to a very miniscule size. She had to lean in so she could see it more clearly.
"The machine. It shrunk... so this must be a shrinking gun." Rouge said to herself. Curious about what else the gun could do, she then flipped the switch to the up arrow. After firing the gun at the drilling machine, the machine returned to its regular size.
"Hmmm... interesting." Rouge said. What she found interesting was not that the machine returned to its normal size like nothing happened, but the wide beam struck the checkered wrecking ball as well. She had expected that thing to grow to a gigantic size, but nothing happened. In fact, she tried something else... turning the gun towards herself.
"Looks like I'm gonna be a big bat..." Rouge said. She took a deep breath and shot the gun at herself. While she could see and feel the laser hitting her skin... nothing was happening. She stopped firing and sighed. This was definitely not an enlarging gun, at least not on regular-sized objects. It seemed to only work on things that had shrunken.
"Darn... I wanted to be large and in charge." Rouge said.

She conducted one last experiment, and that was with the sliding switch. After switching back to the down arrow and turning it all the way to the maximum allowed setting, she turned the gun back towards the gallery of inventions. When she fired, she was taken aback to see the beam grow a lot wider!
"Whoa!" Rouge shouted as she saw the wide beam sweep across the entire room. Once the beam dissipated, every invention that was in front of Rouge started to shrink. What was once a whole room piled with useless gadgetry was now nearly empty, with several specks on the floor to indicate the shrunken inventions.
"Haha! Dr. Eggman, you're a fool to throw something like this away!" Rouge said. She started to change the arrow switch to the up arrow, but thought better of it.
"Nah, he's not going to miss all that junk. A girl like me could use something like this... heck, I can steal the Master Emerald more easily with this thing." Rouge said. As she walked towards the door to leave the room, she pictured herself shrinking and then capturing the Master Emerald.

But then she started to think bigger... a lot bigger, especially after seeing how wide that beam could go with that one switch.
"Oh... better yet!" Rouge said, giggling a little bit as she clutched onto the gun walked out of the room.

Floating Island

Meanwhile, Knuckles sat at the bottom of the steps that led to the Master Emerald. He watched the clear blue sky as the X-Tornado was coming in for a landing. Knuckles approached the plane as it touched down, and climbing out were Sonic and Tails.
"Welcome back to the Floating Island." Knuckles said.
"Thanks, Knuckles! I'm still a little surprised, I must admit. It's not everyday we get an invitation to visit." Tails said.
"Well, usually it's because he's too hotheaded to think about it." Sonic said with that silly grin of his. Knuckles just brushed that line off. Typical Sonic, he thought.
"Anyway, I'm glad the two of you are here, though I'm surprised Chris isn't here with you." Knuckles said.
"He said he wanted to spend some time with his friends from school. He said we could go on without him." Sonic said.
"Well, anyway. There's something important I have to tell you. Look at this." Knuckles said. He pointed over by the steps where he saw three larger-than-normal power rings sitting on the steps.
"Hmmm? I wonder what those are." Tails said.
"They look like those ring portals I used to see here, but these rings are much smaller than those. And they're definitely bigger than my power rings." Sonic said.
"Last night, these three rings landed on the steps leading to the Master Emerald. I immediately recognized them to be Chaos Rings. Many years ago, there was this advanced civilization with technology that surpassed even our own capabilities. They were a prosperous civilization until war broke out between the many tribes. The war wiped out everything, leaving the island devoid of any life. But the power source that kept the island alive, the six Chaos Rings, were never found despite all the war going on. The rings helped keep the island beautiful, although it hid the island from the world and it hasn't been seen for over fifteen years!" Knuckles said.
"Wow... that sounds really interesting." Tails said. Knuckles nodded.
"My guess is someone... probably Eggman... finally found the island and tried to steal the Chaos Rings, but they probably escaped and now here they are." Knuckles said.
"Well, I see only three of them. I wonder where the other three might be?" Sonic said.
"Maybe we can track their whereabouts from the X-Tornado using the scanner equipment." Tails said.
"You think that would track where those other three Chaos Rings went?" Knuckles asked.
"Well, if it doesn't, we'll just head to my workshop in the Mystic Ruins." Tails said. The three then walked towards the X-Tornado, not far from the steps to the Master Emerald.

Rouge flew through the open sky, eventually tracking down the massive Floating Island that rested high in the sky. She was about half a mile away from the island, and she felt that was far enough to execute her plan.
"Why go through the trouble of stealing the Master Emerald when you can shrink the entire island and just plain pick it up... and not worry about Knuckles either." Rouge said. She looked down at the gun to make sure the settings were correct. One switch was set to the down arrow and the sliding switch was at max power.
"Floating Island, it's time you got downsized." Rouge said. She pressed down hard on the trigger, and the beam went far and wide towards the Floating Island. As the beam hit the bottom of the island, its pink energy slowly encased the entire island.

While Tails was setting up the tracking equipment, Knuckles suddenly looked up where he saw the blue sky changing color to a bright pink.
"Huh? What's going on!?" Knuckles shouted.

Rouge smiled as she watched the island shrink in size. It was taking longer than it did Eggman's inventions, thanks to the fact this was an entire huge island that she was shrinking... but nevertheless, her plan was working perfectly. She got more excited the smaller the island got, though at the same time, it was getting a little hard to see.
Rouge finally felt she had done enough and she let her finger off the trigger.
"Yeah, baby... come to Rouge." Rouge said as she flew to where the Floating Island once floated. She could see it much better the closer she got, and finally when she came within about 100 feet of the island, that's when she saw the shrunken island. How small was it? When Rouge put a hand underneath the island, it could fit perfectly onto one of her gloved hands.
"Hmmm... maybe a little smaller than I imagined, but still. I wonder where Knuckles is... I'd like to see his cute little reaction." Rouge said. She then placed her hand on the bottom of the island and moved it towards her face.

Almost a minute after the sky was glowing a bright pink, it suddenly reversed back to the regular blue. Of course, everyone wondered what happened, not knowing they had been shrunken along with the entire island.
"Hmmm? What was that all about?" Knuckles asked.
"A new cosmic event, perhaps?" Sonic said.
"Very funny, Mr. Funny Hog! Seriously, I wonder what caused the sky to glow like that?" Knuckles said.
"Yeah, I find that weird myself..." Tails said.
"You think we should check that out?" Sonic asked.
Just then, a huge shadow suddenly rolled in, blocking out all sunlight from beaming down on the island, not just where the three were currently located. Tails was the first to look up. Of course, he thought it was just a big cloud, but when he looked up, he almost screamed.
"Eeeeeek!!! Look!" Tails shouted as he pointed up at the 'giant' Rouge's huge face.

Rouge, meanwhile, could just see three different colored specks. Red, blue, and orange. She immediately recognized the red speck to be Knuckles upon further inspection. She couldn't believe how small he looked... it was almost microscopic level we were talking about here!
"Hello, my little Knuckles. Oh? I see you have some company with you." Rouge said.
"R-R-R-R-Rouge!?!? What the heck!?" Knuckles shouted.
"Now that's one biiiiiiig batgirl!" Sonic said.

Of course, none of the three had any idea what was truly going on. They thought Rouge had somehow grown to thousands of feet tall... when they really had been shrunken along with all of the Floating Island.

Nevertheless, there was no more blue sky for our heroes. It was nothing but Rouge's humongous face, smiling...

"Rouge?! What's going on? How did you get so big?" Knuckles shouted up at her. Rouge simply laughed.
"I guess to you, it seems like I'm the one who's had a change in size!" she said, chuckling. "Well, let me explain- I didn't grow, you shrunk. And now, you, the Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald, and this entire island belong to me!"
"Wow...talk about a big problem." Sonic said, staring up at the gigantic Rouge.
"DOES IT LOOK LIKE THIS IS A TIME TO JOKE AROUND? WE'RE BEING HELD HOSTAGE!" Knuckles shouted at Sonic.
"Hey, we might as well make the best out of a bad situation, right?" Sonic replied, shrugging.
"Okay, enough talk, you two." Rouge said, her voice booming down upon the island. "Sonic, why don't you be a good little hedgehog and go get those Chaos Emeralds for me? I need to unshrink them if they're going to be of any use to
me."
"Sorry, bat-face. I'm not in the mood to be anyone's servant!" Sonic said. "Knuckles, me and Tails are going to go get help. Do you think you'll be okay here on your own until we get back?"
"Hurry." Knuckles said. Sonic and Tails then jumped into the X-Tornado, and started it up.
"Hold on, Sonic!" Tails said as the X-Tornado took off.
"And where do you think you're going?" Rouge shouted, making a grab for the X-Tornado. Luckily, just as Rouge's gigantic, gloved hand closed in on them, they dodged it.
"Get back here!" Rouge shouted after the X-Tornado. However, just as she was about to fly after it, it vanished into the clouds, and it was gone. For a moment, Rouge looked furious. Then, she turned back to the Floating Island, and
she smiled.
"Oh well...at least I've still got you, Knuckles!" she said, grinning wickedly at the tiny red speck still standing on the island. "And I've also got the Master Emerald, and this entire island!"
"You won't get away with this, Rouge!" Knuckles shouted at her.
"You wanna bet?" Rouge muttered, as she flew off, clutching the Floating Island in her hand.

Sonic and Tails flew through the sky for what felt like hours and hours...the X-Tornado was no bigger than a flea, so it took much longer than usual to reach ground level. Sonic couldn't help but worry about the current situation...he and Tails had left Knuckles behind with a gigantic Rouge, and that had to mean trouble for Knuckles. Next to that, he and Tails were so tiny that there was very little chance that anyone would spot them once they did reach the city. And even if they did get help, how could they possibly stop Rouge at their size?

Knuckles held on as tight as he could to one of the pedestals. At the size he and the island were at, combined with the speed that Rouge was flying towards ground level at, the wind level was like five tornados rolled into one.
"Can't you slow down, you big bat brain!?" Knuckles shouted. But Rouge didn't respond as she likely didn't hear that. But it wouldn't matter in the end because Knuckles eventually lost his grip and flew right off his own island.
"Whoaaaaa!!!" Knuckles shouted. After free-falling through the sky for a few seconds, Knuckles adjusted himself and was now gliding through the air. Knuckles watched as Rouge flew away from him... most importantly with his island.
"Arrrgh! Rouge is going to pay for this! I have to get my island back! But first, I better find a safe place to land." Knuckles said as he tilted himself downward towards the Station Square beach.

While this was going on, Sonic and Tails were continuing their high speed flight towards the city. At normal size, the trip would've been almost Super Sonic speed, but at their incredibly tiny size, it was taking a long time for them to reach their destination. Sonic tapped his foot impatiently on the wing of the X-Tornado.
"Man, it stinks being this small! It feels like hours since we left the Floating Island!" Sonic said.
"Now now, Sonic. We just have to be patient. At least it's been smooth sailing so far." Tails said. But as soon as he said that, Sonic looked behind him and saw the insanely huge Rouge seemingly flying towards them!
"Well, it's about to get rough now!" Sonic shouted. At the high speed that Rouge was flying herself, she was basically right there with the microscopic X-Tornado. But microscopic was the key word... plus the fact that she was fixating her eyes on the tiny Floating Island. And Rouge flew over the X-Tornado, missing it by no more than 20-30 yards. Still, that was enough to cause massive turbulence to the X-Tornado, and the wind that resulted from the mega Rouge flying by caused the plane to spiral out of control. Sonic gripped tightly onto the wing as he looked at Tails in the cockpit.
"Tails, what's going on!?" Sonic shouted.
"All that turbulence from Rouge flying over us... the plane is out of control! Hold on tight, I'm trying to stabilize it!" Tails shouted. Tails would spent the next couple minutes fighting to get the plane back under control.

But by the time Tails finally had the X-Tornado under control, they were heading for a crash landing, and with the ground looking red instead of a typical grass color like green, things didn't look promising.
"Hold on, Sonic, we're gonna crash!" Tails shouted. Sonic instead got ready to jump when the plane was about to hit the ground, and that's what he did, just as Tails hit the ejection button to go flying out of the X-Tornado. Instead of crashing on solid ground, the X-Tornado appeared to splash into the ground, like it was falling into a body of water. Sonic and Tails eventually splashed in as well, landing next to the X-Tornado and clutching onto one of the wings as the plane floated helplessly in a mix of smoke and the red water they landed in.
"Sonic, are you okay?" Tails asked.
"Yeah, of course I am. Reminds me of when we landed on the Egg Carrier." Sonic said, still able to smile despite all that had happened.
"Except it wasn't a hard landing. This was more like a splash. I wonder where we are?" Tails said. When Sonic looked up at the sky, he gasped.
"Um... you're not going to like it." Sonic said as he pointed up. When Tails saw the huge metal object lowering towards the liquid and then looked past it, he was scared stiff as well.
"Eeek!!" Tails shouted.

Topaz sat comfortably on the chair at the outdoor restaurant, sipping away at her tomato soup with each lift of the spoon. Since she was off duty, she was dressed up casually instead of being in her GUN uniform, wearing long beige pants and a white tank top on this warm day. At the same time, she was looking at a news report video playing on her cell phone, but she didn't pay much attention to it.
"(sigh) For once I wish they wouldn't talk about Chaos Emeralds or Dr. Eggman or things like that. But then again, the news was always worse before they all arrived." Topaz said as she took another spoonful of tomato soup towards her mouth.
Indeed, Sonic and Tails, after looking up and seeing the mega-sized Topaz, realized they were swimming in a bowl of tomato soup. If they didn't find a way out of the bowl, they would most certainly be that one extra topping that's a part of Topaz's diet. The two heroes jumped away from the spoon as it dipped into the soup, forcing them to try and swim their way to safety. This was bad news for Sonic, who was in no way, shape, or form a top notch swimmer. Tails reminded himself of that as he looked back and saw Sonic floundering around in the liquid.
"Tails, help!" Sonic shouted.
"Jump on my back!" Tails shouted. Sonic hopped on and Tails swung his tails as rapidly as he could to try and get away from the giant spoon, of which the last scoop was just inches away from the heroes. It did, however, pick up the X-Tornado, and Tails could only watch in horror as his beautiful plane was swallowed by Topaz.
"No!!" Tails shouted.
"Come on, Tails! She's gonna get us!!" Sonic said, trying to snap Tails back to reality.

But by the time Tails stopped thinking about the X-Tornado and tried to get himself and Sonic going through the soup, Topaz's next scoop picked up not just the soup, but our heroes as well.
"No! Don't eat us!!!" Sonic shouted. Of course, this fell on deaf ears. The two were just way too tiny to be heard by Topaz, or anyone else for that matter. They were given a very short break when Topaz felt something on her tongue (that would be the X-Tornado) and she rolled it around to get it off.
"Hmmm... the soup doesn't feel as smooth as it usually does. Oh well." Topaz said. She then continued to move the spoon towards her open mouth. Tails felt the end was near as he and Sonic both stared deep into the large cave that was really Topaz's mouth.
"Sonic... I just want to say you've been the greatest friend I've ever had." Tails said.
"I couldn't agree more, Tails. I couldn't agree more." Sonic said. They both closed their eyes, not wanting to watch their lives end in this fashion. But then...

HONK!!!

The loud truck horn startled Topaz to the point where she dropped the spoon from her right hand and covered her right ear with the same hand.

At the same time, Sonic and Tails opened their eyes when they felt the wind blowing beneath them. They watched as the spoon crashed down on the table, splashing the soup in different directions. And because of the way the spoon hit the table, the impact caused our heroes to bounce up into the air, off the spoon, and over the table. The two screamed as they tried to find a place to land... eventually they landed, along with a large drop of soup, on Topaz's leg, covered by her beige pants.
"We're... we're alive?" Tails said.
"It looks that way." Sonic said.

Topaz finally took her hand away from her ear.
"Man... either my hearing is getting better or these car horns are getting louder." Topaz said. She looked over at the roads wondering what the loud horn was for. Probably a car suddenly pulling in front of another one, she thought. Then she looked down at the soup that had splattered all over the table, and then down on her pants.
"(sigh) And these are my favorite pair of pants too!" Topaz said. Immediately afterwards, a waitress came over with a couple napkins in her hands.
"My goodness! Are you okay, ma'am? I saw what happened when that horn went off." the waitress said.
"I'm okay. Nothing a little washing at home can't handle." Topaz said.
"Well, take these anyway." the waitress said.
"Okay, thanks." Topaz said as she took the napkins, setting one of them down and lowering the other one towards the stain on her pants.

Sonic and Tails heard the conversation taking place above, and when they saw Topaz grabbing the napkins, Sonic was the first to realize how dangerous the situation was.
"We better juice, Tails!" Sonic shouted. He grabbed Tails' hand and the two sped away just as the napkin landed on the soup stain that they were previously standing in.
Sonic eventually took himself and Tails into the nearby pocket on Topaz's pants.
"Whew... that was close! Thanks, Sonic." Tails said. Sonic nodded and then looked up at the outside world.
"We'll have to think of another way to get Officer Topaz's attention." Sonic asked.
"Yes, but how?" Tails asked.

After wiping away the soup from her pants as best as she could, Topaz felt now was the time to go home. After getting up from her table and handing the money to the waitress, Topaz walked out towards the streets and jumped into her car that was parked on the side.

This was not lost on Sonic and Tails, as they felt Topaz moving around once again.
"Well, we'll think of something when we get to her home, I guess!" Sonic said. But they had no clue that Topaz was actually driving back to the hotel she was staying in (her actual home was far away; she's only in Station Square because of GUN duty).

----

Meanwhile, Knuckles was finally closing in on Station Square. Just as he wondered who he could possibly turn to for help, he looked towards the Twinkle Park elevator and saw four kids and one elderly man heading towards it. Knuckles immediately recognized the senior citizen to be Chuck Thorndyke, and most importantly were the children with him... Chris, Danny, Francine, and Helen. They all had ice cream cones in their hands, each a different flavor depending on their tastes.
"There's Chris! Maybe he can help me out... as much as I hate to admit it." Knuckles said. Even though he preferred to take on his missions without any assistance, his current size left him with no choice. He glided down towards the group, wondering how he was going to explain his current situation.

The kids were approaching the Twilight Park elevator when Chuck stepped in front of them. Everyone was licking away at their ice cream cone as they listened to what Chuck had to say.
"Now, everyone. Remember to stay close. Twilight Park is a big place and an easy one to get lost in." Chuck said.
"We understand, Grandpa." Chris said.
"You're definitely right about the park being large." Danny said.
"I can't wait to see what new attractions they've opened since the last time I visited!" Helen said.
"Yeah, me too!" Francine said as she took another lick of her chocolate cone.
"You really like that chocolate cone, don't you, Francine?" Chris asked.
"I can't help it! Chocolate is my absolute favorite flavor!" Francine said as she turned to look back towards Chuck and walked in front of Chris.

As Knuckles flew over Chuck's head, he dove down taking dead aim at Chris's forehead. But he didn't count on Francine suddenly walking in front of the boy with a chocolate ice cream cone in her hands.
"Huh!? Whoa! WHOA!!!" Knuckles shouted as he tried to come to a halt, but in doing so, he lost his power of gliding and started falling. He landed right on the chocolate ice cream and scrambled to keep himself warm on the cold food.
"Brrrrrr.... so cold!" Knuckles said. But that wasn't the worst of his problems... for the gigantic tongue that belonged to Francine was digging into the ice cream right beneath his feet.
"Hey! Waiiiiiiiiitttt!!!" Knuckles screamed, but he was almost instantly brought inside, and the slippery ice cream because of it melting inside Francine's mouth only caused Knuckles to fall down her esophagus.

Knuckles felt like he was falling for a long time, but had to act quickly when he saw the pool of stomach acid beneath him. Luckily, after a quick glide, he landed on a piece of chocolate bar. It looked miniscule from a normal-sized person's perspective, but it was a whole platform for Knuckles, at least for the time being.
"Whew... I'm safe for now. But I can't stay here..." Knuckles said.

Meanwhile, Rouge landed on top of one of the tallest buildings in Station Square. She wanted to see how the micro Knuckles was doing, along with all of the Floating Island in her hand for that matter. But she didn't see Knuckles there. Of course, she had no idea that Knuckles had flown off the island as a result of her flying at high speed towards Station Square. Rather, she thought Knuckles had simply taken shelter inside one of the many contained zones of the island. And given the size of the island right now, this was both a good and bad thing.
"Now now, Knuckles, you don't want to be hiding from a big girl like me. Let me show you why..." Rouge said. With that said, she pinched a couple fingers together on the surface that made up the Hydrocity Zone. As soon as she crushed much of the zone apart, water came gushing high above the island, almost making contact with Rouge's face but failing to do so.
"Nope, doesn't look like he went swimming there. Maybe here..." Rouge said. She turned her attention towards the nearby Marble Garden, and she took a deep breath and blew as much wind as she could. Much of the structures couldn't take the gusting winds and they were uprooted, flying as far away as they could. Some of the stone columns even landed on top of what Knuckles used to call the Carnival Night Zone, crushing many of the attractions such as the big ferris wheel. Rouge helped finish the job by smushing the remaining attraction with her thumb.
"You better come out wherever you are, Knuckles, or I'm just gonna tear apart this island zone by zone!" Rouge said. The next thing she did was lick up most of the sand and water on Angel Island, and then she was particularly mean by pressing the Ice Cap Zone up against her chest. Rouge looked over the significant damage she had caused the island and smiled over every last bit of it.

Elsewhere in Station Square, Topaz breathed a sigh of relief as she walked into the air-conditioned lobby of the Station Square Hotel. The clerk behind the desk sensed the sigh very quickly and knew the reason.
"Too hot for today, ma'am?" the clerk said.
"Yep, you said it. My room card, please?" Topaz said.
"Here you are, ma'am." the clerk said as he handed her a keycard. Topaz then turned around and walked into the elevator, taking the ride to the second floor. Once the doors opened, she walked down the hallway and towards room 215, using her keycard to open the door.

Inside room 215, the blinds were closed and the room was lit up with the two of the lamps mounted on the wall. That suited Topaz just fine, especially for what she had in mind to relax. After walking up to the bed, Topaz kicked off her shoes and took off her white tanktop and threw it against the pillows. She then undid her belt and allowed her pants to fall to the floor, leaving her in just her bra and panties. And with the privacy she had (well, maybe except for any hidden security cameras that were in the room), Topaz was content with her current choice of wardrobe, especially as she sat down on the bed and laid down on her back with her arms stretched upward.

Sonic and Tails felt the pants drop down on the ground judging by the sudden gravitational pull they had felt. They slowly crawled out of the pants and were standing among the many strands that made up the carpet of the room.
"Well, what a ride that was!" Sonic said.
"I wonder where we are now..." Tails said.
"Looks like we might be in one of the Station Square Hotel rooms." Sonic said. The two then heard a loud moan from up above. At normal size it would've sounded quite normal, but Topaz's moan of comfort at their micro size sounded almost like a boom of thunder.
"With agent Topaz, no less." Tails said.
"Hey, that's a good thing though! She's Rouge's partner, right? Maybe she can help us!" Sonic said.
"At our size? She could very easily mistake us for mosquitoes!" Tails shouted.
"We'll just have to take that chance." Sonic said. He took off running at full speed towards Topaz's toes, and he stayed confident, even as Topaz's pinky toe looked big enough to crush him flat. As Tails caught up to him, Sonic got an idea on how he was going to get on top of the pinky toe.
"Tails, you're gonna have to carry us on top of that toe." Sonic said.
"No problem, Sonic!" Tails said. He started swinging his two tails around in helicopter fashion, allowing him to fly in the air. Tails lowered his hands and allowed Sonic to grab on, and Tails was now using all his strength to both gain altitude and hold onto Sonic. Not an easy task by any means. And even though they made it to their destination, Tails was fresh out of breath as he and Sonic landed on the oversized toenail.
"*huff puff* That was a longer trip than I expected." Tails said.
"Hey, goes with the territory, right? WHOA!!!" Sonic said. The two suddenly had to hold on tight to the nail as Topaz moved her feet around. She placed them on the bed, turning herself so her head was laying on the pillows and her feet were against the other side of the bed.

"Ahhhh... that's more like it." Topaz said.
Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails held on for as long as they could, but they lost their grip when Topaz pointed her feet up towards the ceiling. The two landed down on top of her ankle, and they looked forward as Topaz's body seemingly stretched on for miles. But they didn't let this bother them.
"Well, at least we won't have to do any climbing!" Sonic said with a smile.
"You're right about that. But we better get moving! Who knows what Rouge is doing with poor Knuckles right now." Tails said. Sonic nodded and took off running over Topaz's left leg, but not at full speed so that Tails could keep up better. Of course, as tiny as they were, Topaz had no idea anything was running up her leg at this moment. She just laid back and picked up one of her favorite books to her right and started reading.

---

Of course, Sonic and Tails had no idea of the new predicament that Knuckles was in. The echidna, a few minutes ago, was unknowningly swallowed when he became a hidden extra topping for Francine's chocolate ice cream. He had already bounced around many different particles of food before they could be melted by the stomach acid beneath his feet, because at his size, one dip into that acid would mean instant death for him. Luckily, after one last high jump and a short glide through the air, he used his spiked knuckles to latch himself onto the pink stomach walls.
"Whew... that was too close. Now I know how Sonic must feel on his adventures." Knuckles said. He then looked up at the gaping hole in the ceiling, which Knuckles quickly figured out to be the esophagus that got him into this dangerous place to begin with.
"Gotta get out of here, and somehow alert the children of my presence before Rouge finds out I've escaped." Knuckles said as he started to climb upwards.

It was life inside the Twilight Park like normal for the children... well, almost normal. For today inside the Twilight Park, much of the place was transformed to look like one giant booth for the Sega corporation. The kids and Chuck Thorndyke were in awe at the futuristic looking set-up, from the lightups of Sonic and his friends running around the floor to the techno-style music echoing around.
"This is awesome!!" Danny said.
"So this is the Innoventions exhibition they've been plugging for the past month." Chuck said.
"Grandpa, this looks amazing!" Chris said.
"Oh, look! There's some Sonic the Hedgehog video games." Francine said as she pointed to the left. The group headed over to the stations where various Sega consoles were set up. The Genesis, Game Gear, Sega CD, 32X, Pico, and Saturn were all represented. The kids couldn't believe the many different hardware they were seeing.
"Wow... this is a lot of systems. I don't know how people find the money to buy all these systems!" Danny said.
"Well, there are quite a few rich people here in Station Square, and I guess Sega is really targeting them." Helen said.
"Oh, look here!" Chris said. He walked up to the station that said "Sonic 3 & Knuckles" and picked up the controller. As he played, the kids commented on what they were seeing.
"Hmmm... I wonder why Sonic has black eyes." Francine asked.
"At least he still has that cute smile of his." Helen said.
"Why is the whole place on fire? Did Eggman do something bad!?" Danny shouted.
"Oh, get that water shield, Chris!" Francine said.

Eventually, while Chris was still playing Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the other kids split up and tried out some of the other demo stations that weren't already taken (especially with little sisters busy on the Pico). Danny was playing NiGHTS into Dreams on the Saturn, Helen was playing Virtua Fighter Kids on the Saturn, and Francine... well, she got stuck with Wirehead on the Sega CD. Poor girl! Chuck eventually couldn't resist getting in on the playtime as well, though he looked more interested in things that required extra technology, such as the Sega Channel for Genesis and sending an e-mail via the NetLink for Saturn (only for it to fail because the destination ISP was having big time problems).
"Hmmm... I wonder what they will come up with next. Maybe controllers with motion sensors to make it more real." Chuck said to himself.

(NOTE from Cubed: Now before you go complaining that I neglected the Dreamcast, I based this Innoventions on my trip there way back in 1997. Maybe in a future story I'll include some scenes where the kids are playing Dreamcast!)

Eventually, while Chris was still busy making Sonic speed his way through the Marble Garden (unaware that it was being destroyed at this very moment by Rouge in real life), he heard the big announcement throughout the floor coming from Scarlet Garcia, who normally does the news for Station Square.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the 4-on-4 tag team Virtua Racing match between Team Speed and Team Macro will soon be beginning on center stage." Scarlet said.
"Team Speed? Oh, Grandpa! I wonder if Uncle Sam will be racing." Chris said.
"With a name like Team Speed, it wouldn't surprise me if he was. Wanna go see?" Chuck said.
"Sure!" Chris said. As he ran towards the center area where the Virtua Racing arcade machines were set up, his friends wondered where he was going.
"Hey, Chris, where are you going?" Danny asked.
"I'm going to watch the big VR race!" Chris said.
"Wait, we'll come with you!" Francine said as she followed after Chris, as did the other kids of the group (including Helen).

As Sam Speed was standing just behind the gallery of Virtua Racing arcade machines, talking with three of his co-workers on the Speed Team, he looked to see Chris approaching, along with his friends.
"Hey there, Chris! My little buddy!" Sam said as he rubbed Chris's head, sorta messing up his hair like he always does.
"Hey, Uncle Sam. So are you going to be in the next VR race?" Chris asked.
"Absolutely! Team Speed has got this Team Macro already beaten, thanks of course to my talent for driving these things. Well, and my teammates too." Sam said.
"Quite confident, aren't you?" Chuck said.
"Hey, nothing can outrace me... well, except for Sonic the Hedgehog. I wonder where he is right now!" Sam said.
"Oh, probably off looking for Chaos Emeralds again." Chris said.
"Hey, wait! I have an idea. Why don't you and two of your buddies race with me? I'm sure you'd get a kick out of this game!" Sam said.
"Really!? You mean it?" Chris said.
"Yep! In fact, I order you guys to take five! Check around and make sure there aren't any suspicious characters walking around." Sam said.
"Sir yes sir!" the three other members of Team Speed before they departed.
"So who are you gonna bring along to the ride?" Sam asked.
"Well... Grandpa, how about you?" Chris asked.
"Oh, no thank you. With these old bones, I'd only slow you down. And of course Helen can't race because of her condition." Chuck said.
"I guess that leaves Danny and Francine by default!" Chris said.
"Alright! I've always wanted to play Virtua Racing, especially tournament style!" Danny shouted.
"Well, I have no choice, but I'll do my best!" Francine said.
"Awesome, now to make the official change." Sam said as he walked towards Scarlet Garcia who stood on the far right of the lineup of VR machines inside the announcer box.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Garcia, but I'd like to have these three children as my teammates for this next race only." Sam said.
"Oh, okay! So who are these three, and do you really think they'll help Team Speed defeat Team Macro?" Scarlet said.
"I KNOW they can beat Team Macro. This here is my nephew, Chris. With him are his two friends, Danny and Francine." Sam said.
"Ah, I remember all three of you from my visit to the school a month ago. Very well, consider yourselves a part of the next Virtua Racing team competition." Scarlet said.

Moments later, it was time to get the race started, but first up came the official introductions of all eight racers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon and welcome to the next race in our six-hour Virtua Racing competition marathon! This next race is another race starring Station Square's fastest group of protection this city will ever need... Team Speed!" Scarlet said, with everyone applauding as the spotlight shone on Sam, Chris, and the others. Of course, Chuck Thorndyke and Helen cheered the loudest.
"Leading Team Speed as always is Sam Speed, but for this race he has brought along some special guests. His three teammates all attend Station Square Elementary School. Please give a warm welcome to Chris Thorndyke, Danny Lillis, and Francine Williams." Scarlet said, prompting another round of applause from the crowd.
"And now it's time for us to meet Team Speed's next group of challengers. Everyone please say hello to Team Macro!" Scarlet shouted. As she pointed behind the arcade cabinets, four different looking human beings (one of them female) came out and stood in front of the right side of the cabinets. Of course, everyone applauded as they got their first look at the team, but they stopped to listen to Scarlet describe each of the members.

"For their safety and security, these four people have chosen to use alternate names for this competition. First up, and leader of Team Macro, is Link. Known for his extraordinary hardware and software engineering techniques, especially in helping patch all security holes in the Super Sonic Station Square Emergency Broadcast System, as well as the Segagaga Network, putting Station Square one step closer to being a safer city." Scarlet said.
"Awww... it's nothing really. Patching that next Sega system will be more fun." Link said with a smile.
"Next we have DJ Yellow 22, a man with a rather interesting and sometimes hyper personality, but it's what makes him charming to everyone who meets him. The revered storywriter, Cubed, has called him a great mind for our time."
"BAM! SLAM!!! WHAT NINE THOUSAND?! THERES NO WAY THAT CAN BE RIGHT!!! Oh, sorry... did you say something?" DJ Yellow said with a smile.
"See what I mean, everyone? Next, and the lone female member of Team Macro, is Star Hedgehog. Little is known about her, other than she is very smart for being so young, and she really adores Sonic the Hedgehog, more than the whole city can imagine." Scarlet said.
"That's right! So where is Sonic? Is he here!? Oh, it's okay if he's not. He's probably way too busy for me right now!" Star said.
"And last, but not least, is the author himself, Cubed. He has volunteered to take the place of a Team Macro member who had to withdraw for personal reasons. But make no mistake, as a video game fan, he thrives to be first place in every race. And please don't let the red glow around his body scare you. He is merely suppressing his special powers for the safety of everyone." Scarlet said.
"Fire flash!!" Cubed said.
"And now, racers! Take your start positions!" Scarlet said.

---

As all this was going on, Knuckles continued to climb his way up the walls of Francine's esophagus. He poked one of his hands into the fleshy walls a little too hard and watched as an unknown fluid slowly dripped down towards the stomach region.
"Hmmm... I hope that wasn't anything important." Knuckles said.

---

As Francine was taking a seat at the third cabinet (the machines were set to start only when Scarlet pressed the button at her box, so nobody had to worry about jumping on the start button), so she could be next to Chris, she suddenly felt the urge to hold her neck with one of her hands.
"Francine, are you okay?" Chris asked.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just this itch I suddenly felt." Francine said.
"Okay, good." Chris said.
"Alright, Chris. Remember, those colored buttons change the view. Use them, but use them wisely!" Sam said.
"Okay, Uncle Sam!" Chris said. He sat patiently and stared at the screen, waiting for the virtual race to begin.

Meanwhile, back inside Topaz's room in the Station Square Hotel, Sonic and Tails continued their long run across Topaz's body. As mentioned before, because of their near-microscopic size, it seemed like Topaz's body stretched on for miles. There were some parts they had to carefully navigate around, such as her kneecap or past her navel, which looked big enough to look like a bottomless pit. Even simple things like small scrapes from previous dangerous missions were big enough to be an obstacle for Sonic and Tails.
"The world sure does look different when you're this small..." Tails said.
"Not to mention Officer Topaz as well." Sonic said. The duo eventually made it up to Topaz's bra, and despite being Topaz's chest being mid-sized at best, it still towered above our two heroes like a small mountain range. Hovering above her chest was the book that Topaz was currently reading.
"Gulp... do we really have to traverse up this area? Can't we just go around it?" Tails asked.
"Nope. But put it this way... at least it's not Amy Rose we're trying to climb here." Sonic said.
"Very good point." Tails said. And with that, the two began to climb up the right breast covered by the bra.

It was pretty much smooth climbing as they reached the top, but they had to make a quick move to dodge one of Topaz's hands as it approached her chest.
"Look out!" Tails shouted. The two dove forward just as her fingernails were scratching the surface of her bra. But in diving forward, Sonic and Tails rolled down Topaz's bra and landed on the upper part of her chest in a small puddle of sweat.
"Ugh... I never thought I'd be swimming in sweat." Tails said.
"Hey, it is a hot day, after all!" Sonic shouted.
"Well, nevertheless, how are we going to get Topaz's attention? She could very easily mistake us for bugs as tiny as  we are." Tails said. After Sonic looked around Topaz's head, he got an idea.
"What's one of the coolest senses we have, Tails?" Sonic asked.
"Ummm... sight?" Tails asked.
"Well, that's one of them, but how about hearing?" Sonic said.
"Oh, I get it! We get near one of Topaz's ears and let her know we are here!" Tails said.
"You catch on very fast. That's why you're the best!" Sonic said with his crafty smile.
"I'll carry us up there." Tails said. He started swinging his two tails around, and with Sonic in his two hands, Tails took off flying towards Topaz's ear.

Once again, because of their size, it was a long trip. Tails was very exhausted by the time the two landed just inside Topaz's right ear.
"I sure hope this works, Sonic. I don't think I can fly another yard!" Tails said.
"Don't worry, I've got it all figured out. Just watch." Sonic said. He gently went further inside Topaz's ear, doing his best to avoid the wax all around.
"Hey, Topaz! Officer Topaz!!!" Sonic shouted.

His plan worked. Topaz suddenly took her eyes off her book, dropping it to her legs eventually, and looked around the room (with Sonic and Tails hanging on to keep from flying out).
"Hmmm? That's strange. I could've sworn I heard Sonic, but he's not in here." Topaz said.
"Officer Topaz! Try not to act surprised... but I'm actually in your right ear, along with one of my pals." Sonic said.
"Huh? What!?" Topaz said.
"Can you move one of your fingers close to your ear so we can hop on and talk? I'll explain everything, I promise!" Sonic said. Topaz was still convinced this was some sort of joke and that somehow, someway, she left her earpiece on and that's how she could hear Sonic's voice. But still, she did as told, and moved a fingernail close to her ear.
"Alright, now count to five and slowly move your finger up in front of your eyes!" Sonic said. As Topaz counted out loud to five, Sonic and Tails made a leap onto the huge nail. A second after they landed there, they both held on despite Topaz moving her finger at a slow pace.

When Topaz finally held her finger up against her right eye, she almost gasped when she saw the blue and orange dots on her nail materialize to be a very tiny Sonic and Tails.
"Huh? What the heck?" Topaz said.
"Um... thanks for the lift!" Sonic said.
"Looks like your plan worked, Sonic." Tails said.
"Okay, what happened to you two and how did you get in this room?" Topaz asked.
"Well, we kinda hitched a ride after we almost became part of your balanced breakfast." Sonic said with that silly grin of his. Tails quickly jumped in to finish the story.
"But we were able to escape and we jumped into a pocket of your pants. That's how we ended up here." Tails said.
"You mean I almost ate you guys when I was having my soup? And wait... if you were already in here when I undressed... does that mean!?" Topaz said.
"Um... look, we can worry about that later! We really need your help!" Tails said.
"He's right. Rouge is the reason we're shrunk like this." Sonic said.
"Rouge? What did she do now?" Topaz asked.
"We think she's got some new invention from Eggman. She used it to shrink not just us, but also Knuckles and even the entire Floating Island!" Tails said.
"The entire Floating Island? That's impossible!" Topaz said.
"Well, how else would we shrink to this tiny a size?" Sonic asked.
"I suppose you're right there." Topaz said.
"We know you've got close ties to Rouge. Perhaps you can help us find her and make her change us and the island back to normal size." Tails said.
"She has to be somewhere in the city. She was flying towards it just as we were able to escape." Sonic said.
"Hmmm... in that case, we better search for her right away. Just let me get changed." Topaz said. After carefully placing Sonic and Tails on top of the open book, Topaz got up and went to change back into her street clothes.

---

Back in the Innoventions exhibition, everyone was cheering for either Team Speed or Team Macro as the Virtua Racing team race was already underway.
"Come on, Chris, you can do it!" Helen shouted as she applauded.
"Go Team Speed!" Chuck shouted.

It was not exactly a close race, as each team member was showing how skilled or not they were in Virtua Racing. Link, being more of a programmer than a gamer himself, wasn't up near the front, but wasn't trailing far behind either.
"If only I had GeckoOS with me... no, that wouldn't be a fair thing to do. Although maybe I can use it on those trophy girls... no wait, they're too blocky! Come on, focus!" Link shouted. DJYellow22 was doing well, but ended up spinning out in the last corner.
"AHHHHH! SON OF A HONEYWAGON! Alright... this game may be conquering me. But when I unleash the ultimate power of the Tamagotchi... NOTHING WILL STOP ME! HAHAHAHA!!!" DJYellow22 shouted as he pulled one of his Tamagotchi units out of his pocket, clipping it to his pants and then slamming his foot on the gas pedal to get back in the race. This huge sense of determination was not lost on Star Hedgehog, who just looked over to her left and shook her shoulders.
"And I thought I had issues! Oh well... come on, Virtua Formula! Don't let me down!" Star Hedgehog shouted. Cubed didn't react much, just laughing as he passed his fellow competitors and was making his way to the front.
On the Team Speed side of things, Francine was struggling not just for Team Speed, but of all eight racers. She was dead last, unable to keep her car on the road and at full speed.
"Awww... I stink at this game!" Francine shouted.
"Don't give up, Francine! There's still a couple laps left!" Danny shouted from her left side. He was doing well, being near the front. But doing the best of them all were Sam and Chris, being in the first and second positions.
"I'll get you this time, Uncle Sam!" Chris shouted with a smile on his face.
"Ha! It'll be years before you catch up with me!" Sam shouted.

As the final lap of the race started, Sam and Chris were well out in front with Danny in third and Cubed in fourth, doing the best of the Team Macro racers (with DJYellow22 not far behind him now that his Tamagotchi was inspiring his great comeback).
Going into the last corner, Sam ended up taking too much speed and drifted to the left of the final corner, while Chris powered by and was able to take the checkered flag first.
"YAY! I won!!!" Chris shouted.
"And Team Speed takes the victory once again, but with young Chris Thorndyke taking first place instead of Sam Speed in second. What a great race, ladies and gentlemen!" Scarlet shouted. As everyone exited the deluxe arcade cabinets, Sam wasn't bitter at all, high-fiving Chris and congratulating him for the win.
"Way to go, little buddy! I knew you had it in you!" Sam said.
"Thanks, Uncle Sam! You're not mad that I beat you, right? I know you don't like to lose..." Chris said.
"Are you kidding!? I'll lose to my nephew any day of the week! It's that Sonic I don't like to lose to. Arrgh! Just thinking about him makes my blood boil." Sam said. The other kids joined up to congratulate Chris.
"Awesome job, Chris!" Danny said.
"Yeah... I'm just sorry I kinda made a fool of myself at that game." Francine said.
"Oh, don't worry, Francine. I know video games are not really your thing." Chris said.
"Oh, wait here, Chris! I'll go get a prize for you." Sam said as he walked away.

While all this was happening, Knuckles finally made it up Francine's throat and jumped onto her tongue. His next order of business was to get past those mighty teeth. The idea he had in mind wasn't going to be pretty, but it was his only way to guarantee a safe exit out of her mouth.
"I hope Francine will forgive me after I do this." Knuckles said. He then wound up his fists and swung them both forward, landing them on one of the oversized teeth. He kept this up until he heard a very loud OUCH echo throughout the mouth.

"OUCH!!" Francine shouted as she suddenly placed a couple of fingers in front of her mouth.
"Francine, what is it?" Chris asked.
"One of my teeth suddenly feels funny." Francine said.
"Can I take a look, Francine?" Helen said. Francine opened up her mouth, but just as she did that, Francine had to cough a little bit. When she did that, Knuckles came flying out of Francine's mouth.
"WHOA!!" Knuckles shouted. He quickly gathered himself and went into gliding mode, eventually landing on the safest place possible, which was on Helen's pink shirt.
"Oh my gosh! Did she just cough up a little blood?" Chris said, noticing the red dot that both came out of Francine's mouth and landed on Helen's shirt. As Helen looked down at the 'dot,' her good vision allowed her to get a closer look, and that's when she saw it wasn't a speck of blood, but Knuckles the size of a speck!
"That's not blood! That looks like Knuckles!" Helen said.
"Knuckles? But that's impossible. If he were here, I would see him already!" Chuck said. Chris approached Helen and looked at her shirt to see the tiny Knuckles.
"No, it really is Knuckles! He's really tiny!" Chris said. Helen held a finger underneath Knuckles and allowed him to land on it. Everyone gathered around and looked at the shrunken Knuckles. He was clearly shouting something, but the loud ambient noise of the Innoventions booth rendered it almost impossible to hear him.
"What's he saying? I can't hear him!" Danny shouted.
"I can't either! There's so much noise in the background!" Helen said.
"Come on, let's head back outside so we can hear him!" Chuck said. All the kids nodded and they all headed for the exits, with Francine pushing off Helen like she usually does.

Sam eventually returned holding a giant Sonic plushie under his right arm, but the kids were nowhere to be found.
"Okay, Chris! Here is your plush... huh? Hey! Where did he go? Running off on me like he almost always does!" Sam said, pouting a bit as he looked at the Sonic plush he held in his hands.
"Oh well. Maybe some beautiful chick will want this instead of me." Sam said as he walked in another direction.

Finally, the group made it back outside the Twilight Park entrance, where it was just them and the tiny Knuckles. Of course, a few people would walk by every now and then on their regular business.
"Okay, Knuckles, you can speak now." Helen said. She held her finger close to her ear so she could hear Knuckles better.
"Man, thank goodness I finally got your attention! I had to go through the deepest troubles just to find you." Helen said.
"Knuckles... were you really inside Francine's stomach this whole time?" Helen asked.
"Hey! I couldn't help it! I landed in her ice cream of all places!" Knuckles shouted.
"What's he saying, Helen?" Chris asked.
"He got stuck in Francine's ice cream and landed in her stomach, but he's here now." Helen said.
"Sorry, Knuckles! I had no idea... and how could I as small as you are! I mean, you're even smaller than the time we got shrunk by one of Tails' machines!" Francine said.
"Never mind that! I'm gonna need your help! Rouge used some strange gun, I think, to shrink myself and the Floating Island!" Knuckles said.
"What!? He says he got shrunk by Rouge... and that the Floating Island shrunk too!" Helen said.
"No way! I can see how Rouge can shrink Knuckles, but an entire island!?" Chuck said.
"Well... there have been some strange inventions since Dr. Eggman basically showed up." Danny said.
"You're right on that, Danny." Chris said.
"Wait... there's more." Helen said as she listened to Knuckles again.
"Sonic and Tails got shrunk too. They managed to escape the island, but who knows where they may be!?" Knuckles shouted.
"He says Sonic and Tails are shrunk also, but they escaped the island before he did." Helen said.
"Oh man... at that size, Sonic and Tails could be anywhere!" Chris said.
"*gulp* We may have swallowed them too... or worse, crushed them and not even know it!" Francine said.
"Now now, Francine. Sonic and Tails are quite crafty. I'm sure they've found a safe place to hide." Chuck said.
"But still... we've got to find them! But how!?" Danny said.

As Chris was thinking of how they were going to find not just the ultra tiny Sonic and Tails but also Rouge, with perhaps the Floating Island to go with it, he suddenly looked down the streets and saw Topaz walking around in her street clothes.
"Oh, look! There's Officer Topaz! Maybe she can help us." Chris said.
"How can you tell, Chris?" Francine asked.
"Well, she's usually with Rouge, so maybe she will know where we can find Rouge." Chris said.
"It's worth a try, Chris." Chuck said.
"Alright, let's go!" Chris said. He and the other humans, with Helen placing the micro-sized Knuckles on her shoulder, walked down the sidewalk and approached Topaz.

Topaz, with Sonic and Tails back resting inside her ear, wandered around with her hands on her hips, showing a little frustration.
"(sigh) I'll keep looking, but trust me you two. When we're not on duty, trying to find Rouge is like finding a needle in a haystack, especially in this big city." Topaz said.
"We have to keep searching! She's got the Floating Island and Knuckles is trapped on it!" Tails said.
"Yeah, who knows what ol' Knucks may be going through with the island as small as it is." Sonic said.
"Officer Topaz!" Chris shouted. Topaz looked and saw Chris and his friends, along with Chuck, coming up towards her.
"Oh... that's Chris. I wonder where he's going." Topaz said.
"Officer Topaz, I'm glad we could catch up with you." Chris said.
"Good afternoon, Chris. Is there something I can do for you?" Topaz asked.
"Um... I know this is probably going to sound strange, but have you seen Rouge anywhere? It's important that we speak with her right away!" Chris said.
"With Rouge? For what reason?" Topaz said.
"Well... um... you see..." Chris said.
"Wait... is this about the case of the shrunken Floating Island?" Topaz said.
"Yes, actually. But how do you know that?" Chuck asked.
"Because I'm looking for her for the exact same reason. Look here and try not to panic." Topaz said. She then held a fingernail up close to her right ear.
"Come on out, you two. It's okay, it's just Chris and his friends." Topaz said. Once again waiting a few seconds in order for Sonic and Tails to hop onboard, Topaz then slowly moved her finger towards Chris, who got his first look at the very tiny Sonic and Tails.
"She shrunk more than just the Floating Island, as you can see." Topaz said.
"Oh my gosh! Sonic and Tails! We found them, everyone!" Chris said.
"Wow! Lucky us! We don't have to search the entire city now." Francine said.
"Hey, Chris! You've certainly grown up to say the least!" Sonic said.
"Heh, you certainly know how to lighten the mood with your humor, Sonic." Chris said with a smile.
"So you were looking for Sonic and Tails?" Topaz asked.
"Yeah, because we already found Knuckles." Danny said.
"Knuckles is with you!?" Tails shouted.
"He sure is! Come here and show them, Helen." Chris said.

Francine wheeled Helen forward, where she very carefully plucked Knuckles from her shoulder and held her in her open hand, with Topaz reuniting the trio as she lowered her head and finger towards Helen's hand. Sonic and Tails jumped down and landed on Helen's hand.
"Hey, Knuckles! Enjoy the ride?" Sonic said.
"Arrrgh!! This is no time to joke around! Not when Rouge is running around with MY island in her hands!!!" Knuckles shouted. Right after that, he got a tap on his head from another of Helen's fingers.
"Hey!" Knuckles shouted.
"Sorry, I always wanted to do that." Helen said with a smile.
"Knuckles, how did you escape from the island?" Tails asked.
"I didn't plan on it. Rouge was flying so fast I flew right off the island! She probably thinks I'm hiding in the underground zones and is trashing the island right now looking for me! That's why we need to hurry and find her!" Knuckles shouted.
"I think I may have an idea that will lure Rouge to us, but we first need to get back to my hotel room." Topaz said.
"Whatever you say, Officer Topaz!" Chris said. Everyone soon made their way back to the Station Square Hotel, with Helen holding on tight to the shrunken trio of heroes.

Back in Topaz's room, Topaz reached into her bag and pulled out a mini-radio.
"If Rouge still has that earpiece that GUN put into her head so we could always keep in touch with her, I can talk with her with this radio. I'll lure her back here saying we have a new mission, and then we can force her to return everything to normal, hopefully." Topaz said.
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Francine said.
"Let's do it." Chris said.

---

Rouge, sitting atop another one of the buildings, was continuing to have a field day with the tiny Floating Island. Much of the island was in ruins. In fact, much of the surface was ripped apart and many of the underground zones were fully exposed. But she still couldn't find Knuckles OR the Master Emerald. And it was starting to wear on her.
"Ugh... give it up already, Knuckles. I'm way bigger than you'll ever dream of being again. Just come out and..." Rouge said. Before she could finish, however, she suddenly heard the earpiece beep off in her head.
"Geez! I really hate this blasted earpiece. If Mobius ever becomes a seperate planet again, I gotta make sure I destroy this blasted earpiece." Rouge said.
"Come in, Rouge! Topaz calling!" Topaz said. Rouge put a finger on the side of her head to activate the earpiece.
"Yes, Granny? What is it?" Rouge asked.
"Arrrrgh! Anyway, we have an important mission from GUN. Meet me at the Station Square Hotel, room 215, for the briefing." Topaz said.
"Alright, sure. I'm coming." Rouge said. She then put the Floating Island down on the ground.
"Just you wait, Knuckles. I'll be back for you." Rouge said. She then flapped the wings on her back and flew through the air.
At the same time, Topaz put the radio down and looked at the kids.
"You think she'll bite?" Chris asked.
"We'll know in a couple minutes. I want you guys to hide just in case." Topaz said.
"Right!" Chris said. He and the other people in the room took cover underneath the beds in the room. Francine had to help out Helen since she can't move her legs, but this was no problem with her. Francine took care of the shrunken Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles now, keeping them in one of her pockets.

Later, it was just Topaz that appeared to be in the room with everyone taking cover either under the beds or behind closet doors. And that was perfect for Topaz especially as she heard the door knock. Topaz opened up the door and saw Rouge on the other side.
"Well, hello there." Rouge said.
"Come in, Rouge." Topaz said, stepping aside and letting Rouge walk in and then closing the door.
"So what's this new mission?" Rouge said.
"Well... we've heard rumors that the big island in the sky, I think you called it Floating Island, has disappeared. Rumors have it that Eggman teleported it to another part of this planet, probably to his base of operations." Topaz said. Rouge had a concerned look on her face. Did someone from GUN manage to see her shrink the entire island? Or was this some sort of trick from Topaz? She didn't know what to believe, but considering there's an invisible link bonding the two together, she listened further.
"Hmmm... go on." Rouge said.
"If we can trace where the teleportation energy came from, perhaps we can find where the Floating Island went off to." Topaz said.
"Yeah... you're right. We should get going right away." Rouge said as she started to back away towards the back of the room. Just as Topaz anticipated as she walked slowly towards Rouge.
"Rouge... if you know something, please tell me, so we can find that island." Topaz said.
"Well, um... I don't think finding the island will be easy. You see, because..." Rouge said. As she continued explaining how Eggman's supposed island disappearing technology works, Chris was ducking behind the bed and noticed Rouge approaching his position. More importantly, he saw something that clearly didn't belong to Rouge in the first place. He saw the shrinking gun that Rouge had used to shrink Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and the Floating Island. Even if it wasn't the shrinking weapon, Chris figured taking such a mean looking weapon from Rouge's hands would leave her vulnerable in many ways. So Chris snuck up and was able to pull the shrink ray right out from Rouge's belt.
"Got it!" Chris shouted.
"What the!?" Rouge shouted. But before she could wonder what happened, Chris was suddenly aiming the shrink ray right at her. On top of that, Topaz stood in front of Rouge and towered over her with a serious look on her face.

"Alright, Rouge. The gig is up." Topaz said.
"Heh heh... not too bad thinking for an old timer." Rouge said, sweat running down the side of her head.
"Where is it, Rouge? Where is the Floating Island?" Chris asked.
"We know what you've done, Rouge. No sense trying to hide it." Topaz said.
"Alright, alright. You win. You caught me with my hand in the cookie jar." Rouge said. As the other people came out of their hiding places, Knuckles stuck his head out of Francine's pocket.
"Where is my island, you crazy big bat!?" Knuckles shouted. She looked down at Francine's pocket and saw Knuckles there.
"Ah, no wonder I couldn't find you. You're a sneaky one, you know that?" Rouge said.
"Enough stalling! Where is the island!?" Knuckles shouted.
"Pffft... tough talk from such a little gnat. I should've crushed you when I had the chance!" Rouge said. Seemingly being controlled by her anger, she started to reach down and grab the shrunken heroes, only to get poked in the face with the firing end of the shrinking gun.
"Back off! I know how to use this thing!" Chris shouted.
"Okay, okay. I'll cool off if you'll do the same." Rouge said.
"So where is the island, Rouge?" Topaz asked.
"Alright, I'll go get it. I hid it on top of a building I was sitting atop of." Rouge said.
"Okay, but no funny stuff, you hear me?" Topaz said.
"Okay, Granny!" Rouge said.
"Arrrrgh! STOP CALLING ME THAT!!" Topaz shouted as she followed Rouge out the door.

---

Outside the hotel, everyone waited patiently for Rouge to return from another part of the city where she left behind the tiny Floating Island. Finally, she returned with the island in her hands. The humans were greatly impressed with seeing the island so tiny.
"My gosh... look how small the island is." Francine said.
"That shrink ray must be extremely powerful if it should shrink an entire island to that size." Helen said.
"It would also explain why Sonic and friends are so tiny themselves." Chris said. Of course, Knuckles didn't care about that. He was just noticing all the damage done on the island from Francine's shoulder.
"My... my... my island!! LOOK WHAT YOU DID!!!" Knuckles shouted.
"Yeah, well maybe you shouldn't have tried to escape the island, pretty boy." Rouge said.
"Arrrgh! I'll show you who's pretty around here!" Knuckles shouted. He started to charge towards the gigantic Rouge, only for Sonic and Tails to hold him back.
"You think maybe we should wait until we're full size again before you tackle her?" Sonic said.
"My thoughts exactly." Tails said.
"Okay, now that we have Sonic and his friends and the Floating Island, it's time to return everything to their normal size." Topaz said.
"How about we first make Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles grow back to normal? Since we can't grow the island back here, of course!" Chris said.
"But how do we return them to normal?" Chuck asked.
"Simple... just shoot the target again. The beam will cancel out and they'll grow back to normal." Rouge said. As Chris slowly gave the shrinking gun back to Rouge, Francine took the tiny trio and placed them on the ground, not too far from her shoes. Rouge sighed and aimed the gun at the heroes.
"Come on, Rouge. You've had your fun for today." Topaz said.
"Alright, alright! Be patient, Granny." Rouge said. She then fired the beam and the three heroes quickly grew back to their normal size.
"Whew... what a relief!" Tails said.
"Yeah! Another second and I would've been eating ant food the rest of my life." Sonic said. Tails and Knuckles just groaned at the bad joke.
"And now for the island..." Knuckles said.
"Right, right. One giant floating island coming right up." Rouge said. She then took off for the skies using her power of flight.

After flying a few miles away from Station Square and thousands of feet in the air, Rouge let go of the island and allowed it to float in the air once again. Then she zapped it and watched as it grew back to its normal massive size. Rouge had to back away from getting hit by the growing island, but she sighed as she saw the growth finish.
"Well, that's done." Rouge said as she flew back to Station Square.

Upon landing, Knuckles finally had a smirk on her face directed towards Rouge.
"Well, you happy now, Knuckles?" Rouge said.
"Not quite. You're going to help with cleanup of all the damage you caused!" Knuckles said.
"Um... gotta go! Bye!" Rouge said as she took off for the skies, complete with shrink gun in hand.
"Darn! She got away!" Sonic said.
"For now. I'll be seeing her again when I go back to work." Topaz said.
"Well, in the meantime, everything is back to normal." Tails said.
"Yeah... how about we get some food? I'm starving after a big adventure like that!" Sonic said.
"Just as long as we don't have soup." Tails said. This caused everyone to laugh out loud, Topaz in particular.

END