Running out of Time

"You and me… are going to be very good friends," Robotnik told Sonic, opening the top of the cage and hoisting Sonic out of there like a puppy. Sonic tried to jump out of Robotnik's arms, but it was no use. Robotnik spun around the room, twirling and dancing with the hedgehog. Doctor Noda watched in bewilderment, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Doctor Robotnik… are we ready to begin the energy transfer?" Noda asked, looking up at the ceiling. It took all his patience to not turn off Robotnik's music playing through the intercom. Sonic had no patience left, and pricked Robotnik with his quills. Robotnik screamed like a goat, throwing Sonic at the door. Sonic bounced off the push bar on the door, caught his Ring, and blew a raspberry at the doctors before zooming out of there. Robotnik looked at Noda, who had given up the chase before even taking a full step.

"Why'd you leave the door open?" Robotnik asked, throwing his arms into the air in frustration.

Sonic swung door after door open, bashing the cages in each room to bits… on a self-imposed mission to release the animals inside. In all the chaos, the researchers had no way of catching any one animal. Let alone Sonic himself. Sonic and his new animal friends brought the clean, organized facility to its knees in under a minute. Then, Sonic burst through the front doors, swinging them off their hinges and disappearing into the night. He took a deep breath of the clean air.

"Freedom!" He hollered, grinning and running down the highway. Now he just had a few things left to do for the next few minutes. Find his Rings, go home to South Island, and maybe teach Godzilla a lesson along the way.

 …

Sonic sat inside a Tokyo bar, just taking in the atmosphere. This was his favorite city in all of Japan, and most people here seemed to agree with him, to boot! He was relieved most of it was still standing. The bartender watched as Sonic spun in his barstool. "You are a cool dude, huh? Sometimes I wish my hair looked like that." Sota, the bartender said. Sonic spun faster. "Are you going to order this time, or do you just come here for fun?" Sonic slammed his hands on the counter to stop spinning, and read the menu. Gin Sonic. He pointed to it with a determined look on his face. Sota smiled, and began making the drink.

The door opened, and in walked the Ejima siblings. Sonic smiled and waved. "Heh-hehe… hic… look, big brother! It's Sonic!" Yui whispered, wobbling around. Tsubasa looked confused, and couldn't help but stare at the hedgehog. He laughed a little. Sonic raised an eyebrow, leaning on the counter. At least he didn't feel like the weird one here anymore. He went back to spinning.

"Sonic? Is that you? Again?" Tsubasa asked, crouching down to eye level with Sonic. "I wrote a whole story in the newspaper about how you lured Gojira away from Tokyo. Thank you, so much." Sonic smiled in delight, and wagged his finger. "Oh… you're saying it's no big deal? You're so modest!" Tsubasa exclaimed. "Listen, you've really helped us out a lot. Back in the H8K crash, I was really worried about my sister..." Sonic glanced to Yui, who was fast asleep on the counter. "She wants to be a mangaka, and it really looks like it's going to happen. She's been talking about making a series about you. I want you to help me protect her, especially from Gojira, so she can live to achieve her dreams." Realization flashed across Sonic's eyes. He reached under the counter and brought out… a bunch of binders. One of them was very soggy. Tsubasa looked confused. "What's this?"

Sonic looked to the floor, sheepishly. He held the binders out to Tsubasa. Tsubasa took them in his hands, and flipped through the pages inside. His eyes widened. "So you kept Yui's manga safe during the attack," Tsubasa gasped, placing the binders next to his sister. "Sonic, are you… a real-life guardian angel? Ever since you showed up, you've been creating miracles left and right." Sonic snorted with a sudden onslaught of laughter.

"Just a hedgehog. Passing through, trying to do good," Sonic said. He then zoomed out of the bar. Sota came back with the Gin Sonic.

"Oh, he's gone? I guess this is for you, then. On the house," Sota said, placing the drink in front of Tsubasa. Tsubasa looked away from the swinging door Sonic had ran through.

"Just full of miracles," Tsubasa mumbled, taking a sip as Yui barely awoke to her once lost art.

…

Doctor Noda stormed into the room meant to contain Sonic. Robotnik was nowhere to be found. "DOCTOR ROBOTNIK!" Noda shouted, tired of Robotnik messing everything up with his antics. Did he even understand what was at stake? Did he care? He noticed the window was open. Had Robotnik climbed to the roof?

Noda took the stairs to the rooftop, and saw Robotnik standing at the ledge. Noda suddenly felt like he had to plan his next move very carefully. "Doctor… what are you doing?" Noda asked, not moving a muscle. Robotnik stared out into the city of Kawasaki, a smile on his face. He reached out to the Kanayama Shrine in the distance, grasping it adoringly in his gloved hand.

"This country of yours, it's beautiful, Noda-san," Robotnik sighed. "The western world has nothing quite like it. Maybe aside from Little Tokyo, but…" Robotnik walked over to Noda. "I'm sorry for letting Sonic escape. He was our clearest shot at protecting Japan. I failed you. From this day forward, I will dedicate the rest of my life to tracking that little blue blur down until we can use him in the fight against Gojira. I promise you that."

"How do you suggest we do that?" Noda asked. Robotnik tapped some buttons on his glove, and a legion of advanced egg-shaped drones floated up to the roof. "... Holy… Did you make these? There's so many of them, too. It's like science fiction." Robotnik smiled smugly.

"I told you, Doctor Noda. I possess a genius intellect the likes of which this world hasn't seen in ages," Robotnik muttered. "Before long, these Badnik robots will find Sonic and bring him to us. Japan is as good as saved." Robotnik sent out the Badniks, they flew into the distance as fast as shooting stars…

CRASH!

Robotnik and Noda spun around at the sound of a roar. When they saw it, their blood ran cold. "G-Gojira…" Noda stammered breathlessly. It was as if the beast had just appeared out of thin air. "How can that be? Surely we would've heard it from a mile away!" As Godzilla laid waste to Kawasaki, Robotnik opened the box containing the Chaos Emeralds just a crack. They were shining as bright as the sun itself.

"No way… I can't believe this!" Robotnik shouted, closing the box. But it was too late. Godzilla had already seen the other six emeralds. Noda stepped back, until he was at the very ledge of the roof. Godzilla roared, before disappearing in a flash of light. Robotnik and Noda looked on, in awe. It was like Godzilla had been vaporized. Bweeop! Godzilla snorted. The doctors felt searing breath on their backs. They turned around, seeing Godzilla's mouth up-close. They screamed, running for the other side of the roof and preparing to jump. But Godzilla snatched Robotnik's leg in its teeth, throwing him off the roof and leaving behind only the box of emeralds. Noda was petrified with terror. Godzilla opened his arms up, and roared. The Chaos Emeralds levitated out of their little box, and encircled Godzilla.

Robotnik, his face painted red and his mustache blackened with blood, looked up as the Chaos Emeralds pierced into Godzilla's flesh. It screeched. Its dorsal plates, the monster's spines, turned like a dial one-by-one until they were pointing towards the sky. Each spine that completed its turn became golden, crackling with unfathomable energy. Noda tried to gather his bearings and assess the situation. Godzilla was powering up using the Chaos Emeralds. It looked like full transformation would take a while, and the kaiju appeared to be paralyzed, but Godzilla had effectively become a ticking time bomb.