"Eggman!" Sonic said glaring at the screen.

The heroes of this world shot death glares at Eggman on the screen. Even battle stances were involved.

"What's he doing here?" asked Tangle.And

"I should've known that sci-'nemy will be behind all this!" said Bruce.

"Chao, chao-chao," said Bearace. This simply means, "Yeah, no kidding."

Sonic was covering his mouth to prevent himself from laughing hysterically. Same goes with Tangle.

"Sci-'nemy? That's sounds hilarious," said Sonic.

"Yeah, where did you get that funny nickname," said Tangle.

"Well, I just made it up! It's a combination of scientist and enemy, since Eggman is a villain and a scientist at the same time."

"Would you stop calling me nicknames?! It just makes me sick!!!" said Eggman, glaring madly daggers at Bruce, Sonic and Tangle. Once Eggman's anger issues were now on ease, he finally had the courage to speak up. "Anyways..."

Then, a big grin appeared on his face. "I hope you're having a great New Year's Eve celebration because you're about to encounter a new problem," he said.

Amy sighed in frustration and annoyance. "Here we go again."

"But we're still having a break!" stated Charmy.

"And by problem, I mean this. I had Metal Sonic cut the power and attach the escape room plan in it, so that you'll be in my trap, but the good news is, you have until midnight to escape this mall or you'll be trapped here forever!"

As Eggman let out a signature evil cackle, everyone gasped in fear.

You can see Runa narrowing her eyes at the time on the nearby clock in the nightclub. This clock had neon lights. Without any lights no one would be able to tell the time.

"Chao-chao-chao!" Shania informed her.

Runa turned to her— "You were right, Shania!" — then to the others. "That means we have four hours before midnight!"

Sonic's lips stretched out a determined smirk on his face. "Heh. Well, I'm sure we'll get out early since we have the Chaotix here." At the last part, he gestured to the Chaotix.

"Yeah!" Vector and Charmy said in agreement.

Espio and Destinee nodded in definite response.

That's when Eggman noticed Destinee involved with the Chaotix. His eyebrows lowered down while a grin on his face appeared. "Very well. I hope you have fun here, newbie because things are about to get real!"

With that, the screen was turned off.

Everyone else looked around like they couldn't see anything.

Runa pulled out her phone from her backpack. Once she opened it, she turned on the flashlight. The flashlight had caught everyone else's attentions, even though quiet shudders escaped their mouths.

Sonic was seen raising his hands to calm them down. "Don't panic, everyone. Everything will be fine with the flashlight around."

"Not just one flashlight!" said Bruce pulling out his own flashlight. This time, it's not from a phone. Rather, it is a flashlight that can be bought in any hardware store.

Once Bruce turned on the flashlight, the whole crowd finally calmed themselves.

Belle walked her way to Sonic, Tails and Amy. "What are we going to do?"

"Don't worry, Belle. We'll make a plan 'real quick." said Sonic.

With that, he, Runa, Tails, Amy, Jewel, the five chao, Tangle, Whisper, the wisps, Rouge, the Chaotix and Destinee all huddled together to make a plan.

"And now, I have a plan and I bet it will work!" said Sonic smirking. His voice was only audible to those who were huddling around. "We're locked in the nightclub. The participants here will calm down and know that we could find a way to unlock the door and get us out of here. That's where we all come in. We split up to find the key somewhere in this mall. The Chaotix will look for it in the basement. If there even is one. Runa and Whisper will look for it on the ground floor. Rouge will look for it on each and every area especially on the second floor while Runa's chao friends along with Tangle will look for it everywhere from top to bottom. Once we find it through clues, we'll finally have our way out and we're free to complete our New Year's Feast. Oh, and to roam around the world."

He had a smirk on his face when he concluded, "Any questions?"

Runa's hand shot halfway right up. "Yeah. You are focusing on setting us free and exploring the world rather than putting the power back on?"

You can see a sweat dropping on Sonic's right temple. "I just wanna run around freely," he said a bit nervously.

Runa facepalmed and Vector patted her right shoulder. "Don't sweat it, Runa! 'Cause I've got a better idea!" As he said this, he winked and pointed at himself with his thumb.

That's when he explained his plan,"If we're locked in the nightclub, we have to figure out why. That's where me, Espio and Charmy comes in. We'll investigate the power source while Sonic tells everyone to stay calm and that the Chaotix will fix everything. And then, Rouge and Runa do a recon on each floor, which helps us find clues even more. As for the five chao, they'll check on each store to see if there are any clues around here. Once we find out why, that's the time we fix everything and the power goes back on leading the doors to be opened. People will be cheering for us by owing us money. Then, we'll complete our New Year's Eve plan and we'll celebrate a happy new year!"

Charmy flew with joy in agreement. "Alright!"

"You do know Dr. Eggman is behind all this along with Metal Sonic, right?" asked Destinee.

That's when Vector scratched his head. "Uh, yeah, actually. I just wanted to find out why."

"He used Metal Sonic to cut the power, so that we'll all be trapped for good and we have to figure out a way to escape before midnight. Is there any other reason we don't know?" replied Espio.

Now, it's Vector's turn to feel like sweat-dropping.

Just then, Rouge's idea popped into her head,"Oooh, how about we asked the manager for the key and then, we'll make a great escape, but only if we put the power back on? In the end, I'll be rewarded with jewels I saw on the third floor of the nightclub. Sounds like the plan?"

"Chao-chao!" Juniper shook her head. "Chao-chao-chao-chao-chao."

"Juniper's right, Rouge. You only planned this for jewels in the nightclub," said Runa.

"Aw, come on. You know I love jewels, right?" asked Rouge.

"Yes. And you do know my adoptive mom gave you jewels last Christmas before we left to celebrate our own tradition, riiiiiiiight?" Runa told her.

This also caused Rouge to be the third one to feel like sweat-dropping.

The planning went on and on until Belle's serious voice suddenly caught their attentions.

"Okay, that's enough! We all know why we're trapped here and why we keep on planning to turn this place back on! Sure, you really need a plan, but they don't even focus on getting the power back on! Sonic, your plan focuses on being free. Vector, your plan is focusing on detective work and money and Rouge, your plan focuses on jewels you wanted. Like Runa said, you already have jewels given to you by Pearla. We need to check the power source! If we can't figure things out right now, we'll be trapped forever, then we'll never get to see fireworks and celebrate New Year's day! We still have a few hours left before midnight, so please! Work this out, make peace and get to the basement!"

"I think Belle has a point there. We're in the escape room situation in the whole mall and there are mysteries waiting to be solved, so putting the power back on is our main focus. Once we solve mysteries and the power is on, we'll be free to continue having fun and celebrate a happy new year," Jewel finally explained.

Everyone was speechless about Belle and Jewel's words. No one dared to protest because the plan was the only one focusing on putting the power back on.

After a few moments, Rouge sighed and broke the silence,"I guess the jewels I got for Christmas is a real deal for me."

"Looks like escape rooms have good mysteries overall," said Vector.

"Yeah. Putting a power back on is a piece of cake," said Sonic.

"Lead the way," Whisper told Jewel.

That's when both Jewel led the group to where the power source is, but not before Sonic told everyone else in the mall to stay calm.

Soon, they have arrived in the basement of the nightclub. Nothing was involved except for boxes, dust and a metallic silver box ahead of them. This box had a lightning symbol on it. Runa could even feel the dust ontop of the box with her fingers. Once she picked up a pinch-sized one, she rubbed her fingers together. This caused dust to rain beside her feet.

Charmy tried his best to pull it open, but as a result, it was locked. Charmy turned his head to the others.

"We'll never get out of here!" he whined.

"Don't sweat it Charmy! I'm sure there's a way out!" said Vector. "Besides, I think it's eight o'clock, so we still have four hours before midnight."

While they're discussing about unlocking the door to the power source, Belle noticed something near her feet. It was a piece of a rectangular wood with number eight written on it. She picked it up and wondered how it got here in the first place. When she flipped it around, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Uh, guys. I think you should see this," she told the others.

With that being said, everyone else gathered around her. Their eyes also widened in quite a surprise, but also thankful for what's written on the other side of the wood.

"Finally! Our first clue!" said Vector.

"What's it say, Belle?" Tangle asked her.

"Well..."

Next Chapter: Their first clue!