Heartwarming / Time Trials

• As ever, Sonic and Tails' brotherly friendship is this. The story's first chapter (Blue Sphere) starts off with plenty of banter between the two, with Tails good-naturedly observing how bored Sonic is without an Eggman plot to oppose.
• Anything with Cream is also guaranteed to be this, but her relationship with Cheese stands out.
  From the research she’d consumed so enthusiastically, Cream already knew everything she would need to take good care of Cheese. She knew from her visits to the Chao Gardens of the neighboring Zones that Chao could only exist in places with clean, pure water, and that you should never pick up or hold them by their wings. She knew every detail of their dietary needs, how much exercise they should have and just how much care and attention they needed.
  Cheese had simply known that she needed a friend.
• Although the camraderie among Team Dark is less visible than the friendships between characters like Sonic and Tails, it's definitely still there. When Rouge asks Shadow if he's feeling alright when he's in visible discomfort from what appears to be a headache in Chapter 6 (Waking Up), Shadow brushes her off. Then, when Rouge teasingly asks if he wants an aspirin, he actually has to make an effort not to smile.
• Despite Vector and Blaze's clashing personalities, they're able to put aside their differences and work together with Silver and each other. They save Cream from drowning, evacuate several innocent civilians, save a couple of G.U.N. helicopter pilots from a crashed chopper, and that's all before teaming up against the Blackguard Pirates and their leader, Captain Metal.
• In spite of Shadow's reputation as a supposed traitor in the Bad Future, Royce recovers quickly from his brief Broken Pedestal, even taking a moment to remind the other members of the Resistance of his sacrifice when they're taking a moment to mourn their fallen comrades in Chapter 10 (Never Turn Back). The other members of the Resistance also demonstrate a great deal of affection towards each other; however, given the nature of the Bad Future chapters, it doesn't take long to enter Tear Jerker territory.
• Team Dark's first meeting with Relic and Fixit in Chapter 9 (Work It Out) veers wildly between Heartwarming and Funny as Relic tries to defend Fixit from Omega's constant threats of violence, with even Shadow telling him to knock it off. Rouge even gets something of a Pet the Dog moment when she decides to accompany her to the Hidden Palace Zone, with their exchanges in Chapter 29 (Rocks Like This) ​leading to a fair bit of Les Yay between the two, and a surprisingly earnest display of Rouge's passion for gemstones.
• While Sonic still mourns Emerl's death, he makes a point of not hating either Eggman or other villains for the harm they've done. He vouches for Chaos in Chapter 12 (Chaos Theory) when the other heroes are suitably freaked out by the revelation that he's the same "God of Destruction" that flooded Station Square and wiped out Knuckles' people, and is perfectly affable towards Fixit- a total stranger- upon first meeting him, where Team Dark regarded him with suspicion and hostility.
• Just like Sonic, Big remains a Friend to All Living Things. After dredging a drowning stranger (Johnny Lightfoot) out of a river in Chapter 16 (We Three Kings), the cat cheerfully agrees to help him get to Station Square to find Amy. When they run into Sticks, they're initially freaked out by her aggressive nature and rant-prone Conspiracy Theorist personality, but the badger shows a softer side when she gives Johnny her own staff to replace the one he lost.
• In Chapter 19 (Prismatic), Sparks, a surviving member of a Resistance from a war-torn future world that was conquered by the Eggman Empire, stumbles across a damaged Shard the Metal Sonic, who is obviously (partially, at least) Eggman Empire technology. He immediately sets about fixing him up, chatting to him, reassuring him that he means no harm even when he's visibly freaked out by Sparks' presence and his own unfamiliar surroundings, and defending him from an irate Shorty the Squirrel, who's convinced that he's a Metallix, the Sonic the Comic version of a Metal Sonic.
• In Chapter 21 (Endangered Species), after Slate has had his ass soundly kicked by Thrash a mysterious masked stranger (who is eventually revealed to be Shade from Sonic Chronicles) intervenes and saves him, leading to this exchange, which becomes Heartwarming upon the character's identity being revealed...provided you're familiar with their character, of course.
  “What…are you?”
  The figure took a moment to consider their response to the question, glancing briefly over their shoulder to the burly figure slumped behind them and then back to Slate.
  “A friend,” was their eventual answer.
• In Chapter 24 (Everything), Amy is broadly treated by Vanilla like a member of her family, and is comforted and encouraged by her when she laments Sonic not returning her affections. While all this is happening, Amy is sneaking Chocola cookies behind Vanilla’s back.
• In a nice aversion of Let's You and Him Fight, Bunnie quickly warms up to Tekno and Shorty in Chapter 28 (The Fighters), sympathizing with Shorty's experience as a Cybernik just as he empathizes with her own experience being Roboticized.
• Chapter 30 (Strange Parade) features a sweet reunion between Amy and Gemerl with Cream and Cheese.
• Chapter 31 (Nice Meeting You) has Nicole eventually remember Shard and they have the start of a sweet reunion.