Sonic Gem EP5: Game Day

Game Day is the fifth episode of season one of Sonic Gem.
== Plot ==
*RRAAHH!*
Another day, another monster. Out in the outskirts of a dried-up canyon, a chase was in progress as a beast of burden rushed through the area at top speed. This monster was a larger brutish creature, looking like some large spider or tarantula with its entire body jagged with shard-like fur. Scurrying around on its eight legs like a madman, the spider raced along both the floor and the walls of the canyon as the Crystal Gems were keeping close as best they can.
"Geesh this thing's quick!" Amethyst remarked, seeing it race along to keep away from them.
"Keep up with it, it won't have that much farther to go," Garnet instructed.
The spider wasn't making it easy though. Every time Pearl would throw a spear, or Amethyst would crack her whip at it, the spider would jump and dodge them with a shrilling, almost robotic screech each time. As Garnet predicted however, the spider's mad dash came to an abrupt end when they turned the next corner, just to find the canyon's end to it. The spider only stopped briefly though as it began to climb up the wall.
"Oh no you don't," Pearl said. Bringing out her spear, she aimed high and threw it just enough so that the spear would land directly in front of the creature's path. The shard fur stood on end when that happened, giving Amethyst enough time to swing her whip up and wrap around its abdomen.
"Coming down!" Amethyst shouted in a grunt, before pulling down hard. In a scream, the spider lost its footing, and fell right back down to the ground. The trio had to stand back, the blast making shards of crystalline glass fly around the place. Garnet grabbed hold of one just before it could strike her face, only to shatter it in hand.
"Those shards are brittle but deadly," Garnet noted.
"Right. What we need is to stay strictly projectile-based. That means no barreling into it, Amethyst," Pearl instructed.
"I got it, I'm not interesting in being a pin cushion," Amethyst remarked, straining to keep the spider down. The spider though got itself loose when it began to raise its fur, the spiked ends cutting Amethyst's whip.
"Get ready," Garnet ordered. The spider monster armed itself up in a threat display as everyone else got their weapons out and ready. The spider screeched good and loud, the voice echoing all over the canyon, before it began shimmying its own shards like rattles. For both sides, it looked ready for both of them to start a full on rumble.
"WOOOHOOO!"
Before someone else suddenly showed up. Jumping down from the top of the canyon, Sonic was shooting straight down towards the spider! The four combatants were completely taken off guard, the spider jumping back before Sonic could spindash into it, the Hedgehog rocketing quick enough to leave a crack in the earth.
"Sonic!" shouted Garnet.
"Hang five, guys, I got this one," Sonic shouted. The spider tried striking him, but Sonic moved too fast for the corrupted creature. Sonic jumped one side after the other, each of the spider's legs just narrowly missing him. The Crystal Gems tried to intervene, but before any of them could actually attack the spider, Sonic revved himself up and in one boost, dashed directly into it!
*POOF*
One strike like that, and the spider could only whimper slightly before it exploded into a cloud of dust. However, alongside that dust cloud left behind by this corrupted beast, this spider monster had one trump card activated once it was poofed in the form of dozens of shards, each spiked shard scattering all over the place like a spike-filled grenade. Everyone had to scramble to get out of the way of the blast radius, with only minor pokes and stabs at worst being done by this explosion.
When the dust settled, everyone found the entire area completely covered in shards of all kinda, either left over on the ground or jabbed into the canyon walls. Only one standing amongst the rubble was Sonic the Hedgehog, smirking with smug as he spun one of the shards on his finger to show off a bit.
"There goes another robot for the scrap heap. Doc's gotta learn how to work his machines," Sonic remarked, catching the spinning shard into his hand as the trio came out to see him. Sonic readied to hear the praise, but he quickly found that isn't what he was gonna get.
"Aww yeah, nice shot man!" Amethyst said.
"No, it's not. Sonic, that was extremely reckless of you! Why'd you just jump at that monster like that?!" Pearl demanded.
"Take it easy, I was just on a run and found you guys nearby, so I figured I'd lend a hand," Sonic insisted, checking out the piece he was holding, and the reflection in it. Pearl though snatched the piece right out of Sonic's hand and bubbled it, much to his annoyance.
"We had it under control, Sonic. But NOW, we have to spend even more time looking for the gemstone in this entire mess," Pearl explained, showing Sonic how many pieces were laying around. It definitely looked like it was gonna take a while, given there were easily over fifty just on the ground, many of which looked like a gemstone as it is.
"I don't see a problem with it. Does it matter who hits it so long as it's done?" Amethyst shrugged, casually kicking a shard piece aside.
"See, she gets it," Sonic added. Pearl groaned.
"Garnet, please explain to them how ridiculous and unnecessary that was," Pearl insisted.
However, Garnet just shrugged herself. "It was gonna happen anyway."
"Thank you, Garnet, so see Pearl, I did -"
"BUT," Garnet cut in, "that doesn't mean you were right to charge in like that. Leave this to us before you hurt yourself."
Just like that, Sonic's inflated ego was popped.
"Amethyst, Pearl, help me find the gemstone," Garnet instructed.
"Got it, G. Catch ya later, Sonic," Amethyst said, going over to try and find the thing. Sonic checked out the area with all the shards laying around the place.
"Alright, fine, I'll just leave this to you. See you guys later," Sonic decided. He did his part in the monster slaying, and now that the danger's gone, why stick around? Even if they were gonna say something, Sonic was already running up the canyon side and out of sight before anybody could get the chance. Sonic had a run to finish up anyway, they can be the cleanup crew.
~~~~~~
As Sonic was on his run and the Gems with their mission, those back at the Beach House found some time to themselves. Steven had to make do with the fact that he now had three guests to keep company and make space for inside the Beach House, so he tried his best to make things as comfortable for both Tails and Amy as he could make it be. Not very easy though since the Beach House was only built for Steven, even if Steven got sections made out (with Pearl's help).
Either way, they were keeping themselves busy even without the big players there. For Tails, this meant he had time to tinker with a little something of his own. It looked like some kind of portable screen, but he wasn't close yet as he still was working on the interior workings. As he was handling that, Steven kept a close eye on it, curious and excited as any kid would be seeing a new toy being made.
"How's that new gadget coming along?" Amy asked, though curious more than impatient as she combed her hair.
"I'm getting there. Still needs a couple more wires and connections," Tails said as he handled some more screws in the personal project. With a few more twists of the screwdriver, and a few more clicks of the buttons, they all heard the screen light up with that O so satisfying startup jingle computers tend to have.
"Tails. You actually made your own computer! COOL," Steven beamed, his eyes focused on the bright blue homescreen.
"Yep, and all it took was a microwave screen and some wires from that old radio of yours. ... You did say you weren't using that anymore, right?" Tails inquired.
"I can just borrow dad's spare Radio. Come on, let's start it up," Steven said, really wanting to see what this portable computer can do. Tails was more than happy to oblige, and he gave his tablet its first test drive in the simplest way possible: starting up a good game of Tetris
"Alright, so far, so good. Now for the controls -"
*BOOM!*
The very second before any buttons could activate, in came the blur of blue through the front door. He only went in a few feet and stopping on the Warp Pad, but the wind being picked up by the sheer speed made it look like a jet rocketed through: Amy's fur in a complete mess, Tails and Steven being knocked over a good foot towards the back and pillows, blankets, and whatever else not nailed down being knocked over and blown around. At least Tails' device didn't get destroyed in that mess.
"Sonic, you're back from your run. How far did you get today?" Steven asked from underneath a few couch cushions.
"Hey guys. Yeah not far, just raced around the Midwest and back. AND, on my way, I ran into your pals in the canyons chasing after one of Eggman's robots. Took care if it for them, so you're welcome," Sonic explained, taking a few stretches from his run.
"Did you HAVE to charge in like that though? I was just about to finish prepping up for the day," Amy questioned, working again to try and comb her hair.
"Prepping? For what?" Sonic asked. Amy got up and brushed herself off.
"I was actually going to check out the town today. I didn't get that much of a chance to yet, and since we don't know how to get home yet, why not look around?" Amy explained, brushing off her dress and going for the door. She was about to go, but a thought struck her mind.
"Unless you wanna come with me, Sonic," Amy offered, fluttering her eyes in hopes of swaying the hedgehog to come with her. Typical move on her part. Sonic thought about it, eyes glancing to the ceiling as he scratched his chin. His eyes looked around for some sort of answer, but then he saw the game playing out on Tails' device.
"You know what? Sure why not?"
"Wait, REALLY?! You actually wanna go out with me?" Amy gasped, her eyes sparkling. Did Sonic ACTUALLY agree to go -
"With you, Tails, and Steven yeah."
"O-Oh. ... Yeah, that's exactly what I meant," Amy muttered. Better luck next time. Maybe. Either way though, with the Gems still out and about for who knows how long, it was worth the time to go out together and have some fun.
With that cleared up, Sonic got Steven and Tails up to their feet, but as he took a few steps, Sonic stopped and suddenly felt tensed up, as if someone poked him with a needle. 
"Sonic, you ok?"
"Yeah, hold on," Sonic said. He quickly found the spruce of the poking, pulling at the rim of his sock just to find something that got caught inside his shoe. Sonic got it out quick, showing everyone, as it turned out, one of the spider monster's shard pieces. This one in particular looked pretty sharp, like a very thin diamond or quartz, with a nice shade of silver about it. The others took a moment to check it out, Sonic casually tossing it in his hand.
"Huh. Look at that, I got myself a souvenir after all," Sonic remarked.
"Cool," Tails and Steven said, admiring this random piece of jewelry. The shard seemed to almost give off a glow as they were looking at it, but this was cut short when Amy spoke up.
"Ok guys, if you're not coming, I'm just gonna go."
"Oh, no we're coming. Umm, here Steven, wanna hold onto it for me? I don't have pockets," Sonic offered, giving the Human Gem the shard. Steven was sure pleased.
"Sweet! Thanks, Sonic," Steven beamed. Steven got the shard into his pocket before he went out to join Tails, Amy, and Sonic out on the porch. Amy had her gaze out to the beach, looking fondly at the bright waters and beautiful scenery before her.
"So, it'll be a while until they come back. Where do we go first?" asked Tails.
"Well there's a particular hot dog lady I'd like to meet up with," Sonic said smugly, which only made Amy all more annoyed. He may be talking hot dogs, but she wasn't taking any chances.
"Steven why don't you decide where we go," Amy insisted, glancing crossly at Sonic. Steven brought his hand to chin in thought, trying to work out what'll be good for everyone. It was one thing to bring Sonic place to place, but it was a different ballgame when all three of em were involved.
"It's got to be somewhere we ALL can have awesome time in ... but where would that be? ..."
-GAME OVER-
"Aww man," Tails remarked, only now realizing his game was still going. Steven just needed to hear that one sound to snap his idea.
"I KNOW! I'm gonna take you ..."
...
"TO FUNLAND ARCADE!"
Well, there they were. One short walk later, and the group was standing at the front entrance to the arcade in question. The words lit up in neon lights above one of the beachside buildings, kinda tucked in between a few others as most complexes work. The trio of Mobians weren't even inside the building, and already they saw just how many games were available to play in there: ten games just from a glance inside with two kiddie rides just outside of the door. The beeps and boops of gaming echoed inside, and with the violet lighting and multi-colored gaming floor, it looked as if a party already began without them in there.
"Oh yeah, this is a thing," Sonic said once he saw the sign.
"Yeah. There's no funner place in the entire world than Funland Arcade! Except maybe Funland itself, but that's debatable. Anyways, may I present to you all the wonderland of electronic invention!" Steven explained, bringing them all inside then and there. Looking in, they could already see a few more folks either playing the arcade machines or just messing around with the other games. None of the gamers noticed the Mobians yet, but while Sonic was fine with it, Tails wasn't so sure.
"Well alright, a day out's a day out, and if I need to be in an arcade to be with Sonic, then so be it," Amy decided, her being just glad Sonic was there to hang out with. As for Tails, he kept his distance from the entrance.
"Something up, buddy?" Sonic asked.
"W-Well, guys, should we just waltz inside? I mean, we're Mobians. As in: aliens? I just don't think we should just walk in like this," Tails explained. He didn't see anyone else on the boardwalk at the moment, so he at least that point going for him. 
"Welllll a bit late for that," Sonic admitted, not only because of his tour with Steven covering that, but also the fact that by that point, some of the people inside were actually seeing them at the front entrance. Tails waited for someone to freak out or something, but he never got any of that. In fact, Sonic just gave em a wave of the hand, and some of them waved back as if this was anything normal.
"Huh. I stand corrected."
"Yep. Now, who's ready to game out?" Steven said, hyping up for the time to come. However, much to his absolute shock ...
"Ehh, pass."
"WHAAT?! Why not?" Steven gasped in horror.
"Ehh nice shot, Steven, I play games but I'm not much of a hardcore gamer - ironic I know - and I'm more of an action hands-on kinda guy. I don't think there's anything in here that'll go with my style," Sonic explained. Steven looked as if the devil spat at him when Sonic said all that. It just sounded WRONG. Luckily for him, there was an easy fix in this arcade, the boy snapping his fingers the second the idea came to him.
"I got just the thing for you, my friend. This way!" Steven said, grabbing Sonic's hand and pulling him inside. Amy and Tails just shrugged and followed them inside.
Sonic wasn't sure what Steven had in mind, but he didn't protest just yet. Steven did live in the neighborhood, not him, so when Steven brought him over to one of the games, Sonic took it in stride. As for the game, Steven stood proudly before one of these games with the words "Dance-Galaxy" lighting up above the screen.
"O ... K ... where're the controls for this thing?"
"You don't need controls: all you gotta do is match your feet to the arrows on the floor," Steven said, "And if you get high enough, you earn tickets and you can win prizes."
"Steven, I know how these work, Mobius has arcades," Sonic said.
"Maybe, but do they have THAT as a prize?" Steven said. Steven pointed over to the ticket counter, and as if on cue they saw one of the players giving the man in charge of the place a whole bunch of tickets, being given a complimentary Funland Arcade hat. As Sonic was contemplating the opponent before him, Amy Rose then started checking out what else was available in here, and something in particular caught her interest. Not a game, but something off just by the prize desk. Something big, covered up with a large sheet. ...
"As an added bonus for this game," Steven added, "You get to exercise while you play. The higher the score, the more tickets you get!"
"Umm, something on your mind, Amy?" Tails asked.
Amy didn't answer right away, instead looking eye to eye with the sign next to this cloaked object. Whatever this mystery prize was it was VERY pricy: a grand total of 1,000,0000 tickets to get. The sign itself shown a big question mark on it, but the silhouette it was covering clearly showed the biggest surprise of the day. 
The silhouette of a CAR!
A FREAKING CAR!
Amy's eyes were left wide at the concept of using tickets for winning cars, and it didn't take that much longer until the others came over to see what the trouble was about, and yes, they were as equally amazed by the idea alone.
"Seeing the king's prize, little lady?" asked the arcade owner. Amy was snapped out of her shock and turned to see the man standing just behind the counter.
"King's prize?" asked Sonic from nearby.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that: Mr. Smiley offers BIIIG prizes every month! Who knows what they end up being? Usually he has to return them though because nobody can ever win them," Steven explained.
"So, question. Is there ... actually a CAR under here?" Amy asked, dumbfounded by the idea. The owner went over, resting an elbow on the covered vehicle.
"Yep, it's our special prize this month, BUT I ain't telling what kind it is. Gotta keep it a secret," Mr. Smiley said, a smile and a wink to the pink Hedgehog. Amy tried taking a small peek at what kind of car this was, but Mr. Smiley stopped her from doing so. It'd be missing the whole point if they actually knew.
"And selling cars is something you do?" Sonic asked.
"Well sometimes: two months ago I gave away a trampoline to the winner."
It turned out that these winners got more than just a simple prize (if cars were considered simple), because Mr. Smiley was pointing over to a part of the wall called "winner's square", where several pictures were hung up on the wall of the previous winners. They took some time checking them out, seeing all sorts of prizes being one by these people: aside from a trampoline, there was a personal inflatable pool, a few bicycles, a golf-kart, and even a row boat!
"So to recap: we win this prize, and we get ourselves in your hall of fame," Sonic concluded.
"That's right. But I gotta warn ya, it's gonna take a lot of tickets," Mr. Smiley said.
The trio needed a minute for their imaginations to run wild and paint a picture for em on what kind of car they were talking here:
Amy rose was imagining a cute pink beetle car for her prize: sweet hearts coloring the doors and front hood and maybe even a white frill effect along the wheels.
Sonic was thinking something more of speed: a lightning yellow racer with lightning bolts of white running alongside for maximum coolness.
Tails ... well he wasn't interested in a car, but he imagined a cool steampunk-lookin ride anyway.
All these thoughts stopped when Mr. Smiley stopped another kid from peeking under the sheets. He was a bit shorter than they all were, stocky and actually having a small cape. His head though looked kinda funny, tuff of hair on top making him look like, well, an Onion.
No words were spared between Onion, Sonic and Amy, not even a hello, but Onion simply needed to give them one of those sideways glances to tell them EXACTLY what he was thinking.
"Back off, that's mine," Amy mentally taunted. Onion was undeterred.
They knew a challenge when they saw it. Sonic and Amy didn't need to think any further on what they were planning to do. Tails quickly caught onto this too.
"Ok, guys, before you decide anything, can we agree to just have fun and NOT turn this into some crazy contest?"
They just ignored him.
"Stack us up, Steven, were not leaving until we win that car!" instructed Amy.
"SWEET!" beamed Steven.
"I'll just be at the claw machines," Tails decided.
Time to win some tickets.
~~~~~~
Challenge 01# Rat Smasher!!!
First runner up for this little tournament of theirs was one of the arcade's more interactive games. Rather than a basic screen and buttons, the game had the player keep a mallet in hand. Think whack-a-mole but with annoying-looking rats instead. Not even starting, and these "rats" already seemed to be mocking them with their stupid faces.
"Okay, Steven, how do I do this again?"
"All you gotta do is hit the rats that pop out of those holes. You keep doing that as much as you can until the time runs out," Steven said, who by the by was also joining her for some extra tickets. This was a tag-team effort anyway. Steven got the game started and the two lined up and at the ready.
"EEK! The Rats are coming!" shouted the machine.
That was all the signal they could ever need for this game of whack-a-rat. The second they heard that bell, they both began whacking away at the rats, slamming one rat after another. Steven was more used to the game, so he didn't have that much trouble, though Amy actually seemed to be struggling a little bit as the hammers weren't free-roaming - they had a string to keep them from falling off the board so range was limited. Not to mention each time Amy missed, the rats would laugh at her, which just drove her up the wall.
She missed one rat: "HA HA!"
She missed another rat: "AWW, SO CLOSE!"
She missed yet ANOTHER rat: *PPFFTT!*
"Grr, this hammer's too small!" Amy griped.
"I believe in you, Amy! Don't let the rats get away," Steven said, hitting his next rat. Amy looked back to the rats, one in particular giving Amy the ol "eyelid-pull-with-tongue-sticking-out" face. The moment she saw that, she just dropped the given mallet for something more ... effective.
"Stand back, Steven."
"Give me a second, I'm getting the - WHOA!"
*BAM!* all of a sudden, not ONLY did the game turn into a one-player affair, but Amy Rose had a completely new tool to handle the rats. All Steven did was stand back so Amy could do her thing, and this NEW hammer was handling at least two rats in one hit! Any mockery Amy got from this thing was quickly silenced, as any rat that even remotely poked its head out was smashed down in its place. When it was all done, all that happened was a tiny white flag popping up, the tickets pouring out.
"YOU'RE THE ULTIMATE EXTERMINATOR!" said the machine.
"You're darn right I am," Amy remarked pompously, her hammer resting on her shoulder with a look full of sass.
"Where did that hammer come from?" Steven wondered.
~~~~~~
Challenge 02# Skee Ball
The game was set: Onion and Sonic were side-by-side by the Skee Ball machines, each one armed up with their respected Skee Balls and ready to throw em at the next possible chance.
"Okay, kid, you're just about to challenge a prime time Hedgehog who's saved his home planet at least a dozen times. What're you planning to do?" Sonic said smugly.
Onion didn't actually say anything, but all he needed to do was glance a look at Sonic for the Hedgehog to feel the mockery from this kid's aura. It was enough to make his fingers clench around his held skee ball.
"Mock me will ya? Well, let's see who's mocking who when we're done here," Sonic said.
Again, Onion stayed quiet.
It didn't take that much longer before the game itself began, though while Onion was limited to a single spot, Sonic had himself a extra little challenge in his game: AKA, he was using every other Skee Ball spot at once time! Sonic's speed made this easy, as he raced from one slot to another, throwing Skee Balls at the respected holes with reckless speed. All Onion did was stand there, clutching his Skee Ball just so it won't get blown out of his hands.
It only took Sonic about ten or so seconds to handle every single row in front of him, ending his "winning spree" with a cocky grin and a wave of the finger.
"Ha! Nothing to - ... WHAT?!"
Accuracy wasn't too good on those throws: each machine only gave Sonic about, oh ... one ticket each? Two? As for Onion, well, by the time he was done he had his hands full with a good two HUNDRED tickets. That compared to Sonic ten or so tickets put the Hedgehog to shame. Onion's response?
*PFFT* went Onion's raspberry mock.
~~~~~~
This kind of pattern continued on for a good two hours, each side getting their own amount of tickets for the big prize with no machine spared the attempt. Sonic, Amy, and Steven were doing very well overall as they stopped for a break and counted out their tickets, yet Onion was pretty close behind and wasn't slowing himself down. It didn't help that he was literally in front of them winning his next game.
"Okay, so that's ... 3,000 tickets! We got enough to get a Arcade shirt!" Steven beamed. Sonic and Amy though weren't so thrilled about that.
"That's it?! 2 hours and that's all we've made? Oh, it's gonna take FOREVER," Amy said sadly.
"Hey, don't sweat it yet Amy, we're gonna get that big prize. We just gotta step up our game," Sonic made clear with a wink of the eye. "Now, what games didn't we try yet ...?"
That was hard to say. The trio checked around the arcade, at every arcade game, extra attraction, and whatever else was around. However by that time, they've went through basically all of em, and they were running out of options. Where HADN'T they tried? ...
As they continued to look around, Steven then notice something WAY in the back. It was tucked away where no casual customer would see it, but Steven's curious eye could just make out the shape of yet another game system - a big one at that. It may be covered up, but he knew a arcade cabinet when he saw it. No matter the case, Steven tapped Amy's shoulder and got her attention to the arcade game.
"Umm ... that's out of order," Amy pointed out. That didn't stop Steven from going over and checking it out anyway. All it took was one pull of the sheet and -
*GASP!* "Oh my gosh ... The inter-galactic dance shuttle?"
Even without any lights on for the machine, Steven couldn't help but admire this game: a dance arcade game with the main body being a rocketship for that whole space theme. Of course this also included the floor pad right in front of the thing, one star for every direction on the board.
Steven tried to find some kind of switch, or cord, or something to get it started but it was no use. Unfortunately, Steven found himself caught and pulled away by one Mr. Smiley.
"Whoa, Steven, that's outta service. Don't mess with the machines, K?" Mr. Smiley said.
"Aww, PLEEEEEASE Mr. Smiley? We gotta try it!" Steven begged.
"No can do, kiddo," Mr. Smiley said, "Even if I wanted to, this ol' girl's out of commission. Just waiting to find the time to sell her."
"But you can't! How're we gonna beat Onion now?" Steven asked, only for them to hear Onion win his other batch of tickets again. No that didn't help. No matter who pleaded, Mr. Smiley just shook his head. That was ... until Sonic spoke up.
"BUT if we fixed it ...?"
"You guys know how? Be my guest, because last three mechanics couldn't figure her out," Mr. Smiley shrugged.
That was all he needed to here.
"HEY, TAILS!"
"Huh? Coming, coming! Just ... give me a sec," Tails said nearby ... walking back with twenty stuffed animals! Tails had trouble walking over with all of his prizes, lucky to keep them at least off of the ground and on the pile he was holding. Steven jaw went to the floor seeing all of that, Tails finally dropping his pile of stuffed toys by the others. He'd tried SO MANY TIMES winning stuff from those machines, and here was this fox winning them left and right.
"Don't worry: it's just one toy per game," Tails said.
"Ehhh something for later: think you can wire up this thing so we can beat it?" Sonic asked, showing Tails the dance arcade game. Tails thought a bit on it, hand to chin as his eyes examined the arcade model. It didn't take the fox very long until he walked around back, and managed to find the back plate, seeing the old wires tangled in eachother among other things.
"Well here's your problem," Tails examined, "all of these wires are a complete mess in here: blue wires crossing with green for an arcade cabinet always makes the machine short-circuit. It also looks like it could use some new battery source. This one looks all dried up."
"You're figuring this out quick, huh?" Mr. Smiley said, impressed with all the fancy tech talk as Tails began working with the wires to connect them all right.
"That's nothing," Sonic said, nudging Mr. Smiley, "Tails once made a computer using just an old flip phone. Keyboard and mouse included. Trust me, if anyone can fix this baby, he can."
"And there we go!" Tails announced. Not even two minutes, and when they all looked Tails had already gotten all the wires fixed up and aligned so none of them crisscrossed eachother and hooked up properly. Tails was feeling pretty good, though nothing lit up on the screen just yet.
"Nothing on, Tails," Sonic said.
"I know, I said this needs a new battery source. I hadn't gotten to that yet," Tails reminded. Sonic knew Tails couldn't be rushed with this, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy the waiting, especially when every passing second Onion was getting himself the tickets for that car. As they were talking about that, Steven took a closer look at the opening left in there, and while the main core was still there, some tubes were left unchecked. ...
Those tubes looked VERY familiar .......
Suddenly Steven got it. Immediately, his hand fished into his pocket, and pulled out the their ticket. Or rather, their new battery in form of Sonic's shard.
"Let get our game on," Steven said. The others saw what he was doing, but before they could say anything, Steven got the shard fitted right into the remaining slot of the back. 
Less than seconds after he did that, the shard began to glow like a lightbulb, just as Steven was hoping. The others quickly followed, and sure enough they all heard the similar *bing* of the game. Sure enough, everything looked to be working, lights on and all. That was all Sonic needed to see.
"How did you know that'll work, Steven?" Tails asked, looking at the shard he shoved in there. It didn't do anything back at the beach house, after all.
"I don't know. I just thought it fitted in there," Steven shrugged.
"Who cares, it works! With that outta the way, we got this contest in the bag. Start her up, Steven, we're winning this!" Sonic said, stretching and getting himself ready as if starting a race. Hyped up and everything, Steven didn't hesitate to start up the game for them. The screen lit up, and the music rang out for them. On the screen, they all could see a cute little spaceman (or rather, space cat) standing at the center of a great space of stars, happy as ever with a few options showing up for both song and difficulty.
"You got it working! I oughta call you next time," Mr. Smiley said. Tails rubbed the back of his head.
"Oh, it was nothing," Tails replied. As for the music, Sonic just needed a second or two before he got the selection up:
Song: Cookie-Cat-Hop
Difficulty level: EXPERT!
"MASTER?! Sonic, you kidding!" Amy gasped. Sonic just gave a smug grin to his pals as the screen counted down.
"3! 2! 1! BLAST OFF!" the screen read out.
So the music began. It didn't take more than a second before the challenge slammed into the Hedgehog like a ton of bricks: arrows up-down-left-and right flashed every whichway at such a high speed it almost caught Sonic off guard with the rapid beats, a strong electro beat with a hint of electric guitar. As for Sonic, the Hedgehog's quick feet kept a shockingly good pace with the arrows on screen, his feet racing along and hitting down on each spot on the floor. If he could fight giant beasts for a living, he felt confident in finishing the high score in a game like this.
"Go, Sonic!" cheered Amy.
"I thought you called this "expert level" - show me master class why don't ya? Where's the challenge rocket kitty?!" Sonic said smugly, turning the game of following the patterns into a literal freestyle dance. A few spins for style, some kicks here and there, and the points ranked up higher and higher. Sure, Sonic might've slipped a teeny bit here and there, but the fact he made it up so high at all was incredible! It was definitely catching the attention of some of the other people in there, even Onion watching in anticipation. Sonic even threw in some old-fashion moves: a moonwalk, the running man, whatever he did he somehow got his feet landing in the right spot each time as if he knew the game inside and out. 
Even with all this excitement, there was a little something else going on with the main machine. Something that began to show itself near the tail end of Sonic's absolute annihilation of the machine's top scoreboard. 
"WOOOO! AHA, NEW HIGHSCORE!" Sonic announced, "I'd like to see anyone try their shot topping THIS! Come on, show me the challenge!"
...
The machine was ready to give it to him.
*BZZT* *BZZT*
The machine started to quickly act up, as if ticked off for being beaten so many times. Sonic spun around, just to fine the entire rocket-shaped base starting to shutter and shake, like something trying to bust out of it!
"W-What's going on?" Amy asked, everyone backing away from the machine, Sonic included.
"I don't know!"
*CRACK!* Suddenly, something jutted out from the side of the rocket-shaped body, sets of fused-up wires forming to make a electrified limb with sparking claws, as pieces of its metallic side scattered away in pieces. Same thing happened to the other side, pieces of metal shooting out of it and nearly landing on the others nearby. As for the main screen? Well, that greeted Sonic with several sets of angry pixilated eyes staring directly at him.
"Uhh ... Steven? What exactly did you put in that machine again??" Mr. Smiley asked.
*SCREEEEE!* The robotic roar made everyone in the arcade run for it, the now alive machine launching its electric-filled legs at whatever was in reach! Sparks flew everywhere, and whatever it grabbed in the arcade either short-circuited or got wrecked somehow as everybody else ducked for cover! Sonic had to roll back so he wouldn't get grabbed by any of those wires, on his feet by his friends.
"What?! Can't keep your highscore?!" Sonic shouted, only for the living arcade game to swipe its leg at them, knocking them all back quick! Only sonic landed back on his feet as everyone else ended up landing rough just outside of the arcade. 
The arcade machine, screeching all the while, began crawling towards them on its eight tentacles, electricity sparking with each step as this monster kicked its power into overdrive.
"What happened to it?! Steven?!" Amy yelped, ducking her head as another strike nearly knocked her off her feet.
"I don't know! All I did was plug in Sonic's shard thing into it," Steven replied, freaking out a bit. 
"What sense does this make? It's just one of Egg -" Sonic's sentence was quickly cut short when he realized ...
We had it under control, Sonic. But NOW, we have to spend even more time looking for the gemstone in this entire mess.
....... that wasn't just a random shard.
"Sonic?"
"Ehh ... yeah, that souvenir? That may or may not have been the actual gemstone I brought home, and MAYBE it somehow brought that thing to life, so ... my bad."
No one even had time to judge the Hedgehog, the new monster moving closer to the crowd as they scattered away. As Amy actually got a swing of her hammer out to keep the beast's tentacles back, Tails' mind tried getting to work.
"Okay, this should be quick: we know that gemstone is powering the machine. We just got to remove it before it gets anyone else," Tails decided.
"Easier said than done, Tails, its all over the place! BACK OFF FREAK!" Amy said, swinging her hammer some more. It wasn't damaging it much, but it did at least keep the monster at bay.
"That means someone has to - ... distract the machine," Tails said, a smile creeping up on his face as he looked to Sonic. The hedgehog knew exactly where this was going, as he cracked his fingers.
"I think I can handle that, buddy."
"Wait! Anything I can do?" Steven asked. They paused for a second, the sound of smashed boardwalk ringing in the air.
"You, uhh ... you just stay here and keep people from running AT the thing, okay?" Tails decided.
"Yes, sir!"
Good enough.
After a bit of time to regain himself, Sonic brought his arms down and sped up his legs, charging up for another good blast forward. Mr. Smiley DID mention that the machine was gonna get thrown out anyway. Sonic barreled straight for the machine, rocketing at high speed leaving only dust behind him. 
The machine screeched again, and tried to strike the speedy blue blur with its electric tentacles, but the speedster was moving far too quick to get a good strike. The name of the game though was to distract, so Sonic made sure to play around with his enemy for a bit, as Tails moved around side. Some of the legs tried getting him, but Sonic made sure it was mostly focused on him.
"What's that crazy Hedgehog doing?" Mr. Smiley asked in disbelief.
"YOOHOO, come and get me, ya over-sized bottle launcher!" Sonic shouted. That riled up the machine as it launched more arms and tentacles at him, only to just narrowly miss each time. Sonic couldn't help it though, and he turned THIS fight into yet another game: jumping into the air, he began to basically hop from one launched tentacle to another in some kind of dance:
ballerina tippy-toes on one arm.
hopping on his hands for another.
slapping his butt in sheer mockery for another (which REALLY ticked the mech off!)
"That's it, keep it up Sonic," Tails thought, flying just behind the machine as best the fox could. He could just make out the opening left in the machine. Tails had to keep himself steady AND out of the robot's sight as Sonic basically did a dancing jig on the machine's arms, much to the machine's annoyance. It took a lot of wrangling for the fox to even get close, but soon Tails finally managed to grab hold of the shard inside the machine. From there it was easy as 1, 2, -
*BZZT! *BZZZzzzzzzz*
"GOT IT!"
Sonic had to race out of the way, but sure enough the fight was over as fast as it started. With the shard removed, the monstrous arcade game ended up as nothing more than a heap of wires and metal. Tails landed over by the others with the gem shard in hand, Sonic going right over to him.
"AWW YEAH! Game over, tin can," Sonic said, feeling pretty good about the whole thing as he high-five'd Tails. For a moment, Sonic was just celebrating the defeat of yet another beast to his list, cheering for his victory and all that and High-fiving his friends ... until he saw Mr. Smiley holding out his hand.
"Alright, a high-five for you too," Sonic said smugly, casually giving the man a high-five.
Then he saw Mr. Smiley's not-so-happy face.
"... This is the part where you say "thanks for saving me"," Sonic said.
"NO, this is the part when I say "Pay me for all the stuff you broke"," Mr. Smiley said, somehow smiling and VERY MAD at the same time as he pointed into his arcade. Sonic stepped back.
"Wait a minute, what I broke? Didn't you say you were gonna throw that out anyway?" Sonic questioned.
"Yeah, but not half of my arcade lineup! That's thousands of dollars that thing just destroyed in there, and YOU were the ones who charged my game with that fancy thing in the first place," Mr. Smiley said, hand still waiting for the money for the damages. The group just kinda stood there, nervously exchanging looks ...
"Ehh ....... How about an I.O.U.?" Steven meekly asked.
~~~~~~
""How about an I.O.U."? Really?" Sonic thought.
It'd been at least two days since that little incident, and two days since Mr. Smiley got his new employees in the form of Sonic and Steven, the two stuck in employee outfits and cleaning up the floor of Funland Arcade. They both had the same designed shirts as Mr. Smiley, who at the moment was just watching them nearby so they wouldn't try to slip away. The place got spruced back in order, even with the Inter-Galactic Dance Shuttle ACTUALLY fixed without the need for a gem shard.
"W-Well ... you at least have your high score," Steven said. Even if that didn't stop the work, Sonic did notice that silver lining at least. As they were sweeping the floor, Onion of all people went right over to the counter by Mr. Smiley with ALL of his winning tickets.
"Alright, kid, give me a second to -" Mr. Smiley was cut off when Onion pointed over to where the car is. Or rather, where it was.
"Oof, sorry, the car's just been won this morning. BUT you get the secondary prize with all of these," Mr. Smiley said. Onion may not have won the car, but he did get a vehicle of a sort as Mr. Smiley just casually rolled out a Moped from behind said counter.
"Wait. Someone ELSE won that? Who?" Sonic asked. Sonic didn't know the answer - they were too busy cleaning to be told that. Before anyone could answer -
*BEEP**BEEP* "SONIC!~"
"You gotta be kidding me," Sonic muttered. Sure enough, turning around to look outside, Steven and Sonic both saw Amy Rose inside her brand new vehicle! Wouldn't you know it too that it would be the one SHE wanted: a cute pink car, hearts and everything. It looked more like a toy than a car, but Amy made it work like an actual convertible anyhow. No matter the case, Amy was feeling SMUG as ever.
"So cool," Steven said.
"Thank you, Steven. So, Sonic?~ What do YOU think of my new ride? I even got this cute keychain for it," Amy asked, showing sonic a heart keychain to go with the cute car.
"Ehh ... great, Amy," Sonic said, giving a thumbs up.
"Maybe after work, we can both go for a ride together. I hear the beach around here is SO beautiful at sunset," Amy offered with a wink, lovey-dovey as ever. Before either Steven or Sonic could answer, Mr. Smiley just gave a good *AHEM* to get them back to work.
"I'm working, I'm working, see?" Steven said, both Human and Mobian going right back to work. Amy didn't hear "no" so that was good enough for her. Smiling, she got the car started and began to drive away with their big prize.
Well, at least they won SOMETHING.
Category:Sonic Gem