"Sonic, these attacks by Eggman are getting more and more dangerous! Too many innocent people are dying faster than we can evacuate them!" Tails yelled as he helped a bunch of injured civilians onto the loads of helicopters, away from the bombardments of Dr. Eggman's attacks.
"I know Tails! Just try your best to evacuate everyone! We'll do our best at this end!" Sonic yelled, destroying a couple of badniks afterwards.
Bombs and projectiles from Dr. Eggman's badniks destroyed the tall buildings in the city, with many civilians being trapped under the rubble. Chaos was everywhere as first responders tried their best to lend a hand to stop the mayhem. It was two years ago when Dr. Eggman unleashed a barrage of attacks on the city of Diallos, using his attack as a final trigger to have one last battle against Sonic and his friends to settle the score. The city suffered a terrible fate as it was left in ruins; much like Station Square was after the battle with Chaos some time before. Dr. Eggman's badniks had unleashed an incredible blitz of powerful and rapid attacks, quickly destroying the city and causing terror. Sonic and friends arrived about a half hour later, engaging in battle for nearly two hours; Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy battled against the badniks while Tails and Cream evacuated everyone. Unfortunately, although Sonic was able to defeat Dr. Eggman with one very powerful spin dash that took a special amount of time to charge up-needing Knuckles and Amy to hold him off while doing so-it wasn't enough to overturn the massive amount of casualties suffered at the hands of Dr. Eggman's wrath.
After the fight, Dr. Eggman escaped and went into hiding to never be seen again. The sight was depressing and disgusting for Sonic and his friends to behold, seeing bodies scattered across the ground with blood splattered all over their bodies and surface; Adults, Children, even pets-suffered the same demise. The destruction attracted attention from the national media of the United Federation, since it was all on their home soil. The government decided that as of that very moment, Dr. Eggman was wanted dead or alive-posting a bounty of over two hundred million dollars in accumulation for the debt that he owed in damages and casualties. Sonic and friends really lost their meaning to continue to fight and track him down after this fight; none of them had ever experienced such an event where so many people died on their watch, all of them felt responsible for what happened. They all decided afterwards that no longer would they continue to work together, and that they should all go their separate ways.
Two years later, Sonic and Tails are living in Spagonia over in Uropa. Both of them have spent the last couple of years doing archaeological research for professor pickles, visiting old temples and ancient ruins across the continent. While they were doing research for Professor Pickles, both of them also took up some side hobbies to help boost their income since their jobs as archaeologists served as the income to pay for bills and the rent. Sonic took up investing, buying stocks from many companies and racking up tons of cash while also exploring the continent for any of the power rings-those sold for quite a lot. Tails became an aircraft mechanic, opening up a shop towards the outskirts of town where it was much more rural.
The apartment they lived in wasn't too shabby since it was a temporary home for them until Sonic's mansion in Emerald Republic; the apartment was located in the heart of Spagonia right near the university so that it was an easy walk to visit the professor. The inside had many photos from their past adventures touring the continent, and some ancient artifacts that they even got to keep as thanks from Professor Pickles. Sonic is relaxing on the couch-listening to a baseball game that was playing on the TV in the background, and Tails was sitting next to him-reading a novel. Their appearances were slightly different from before; Sonic now wore a pair of white shoes instead of his classic red ones that served as his off-duty wear, since he didn't have to battle against anyone. Tails also updated his appearance, wearing some huge thick-brimmed black glasses a necklace around his neck that he received from cream before they went separate ways.
The phone rings and Tails got up and answered, "Hello…?"
An familiar old man's voice spoke, "Tails…I need you and Sonic to come see me right away."
"Professor Pickles…? What's wrong?"
Sonic's ear twitched as he heard Professor Pickles name, "Tell him I said hi!" he yelled with enthusiasm.
"I have some news that I must share in person with you, so please come right away!" professor Pickles hangs up suddenly; Tails stares at the phone-confused.
He notifies Sonic about the apparently urgent call, and the two left and made their way to Spagonia University. They admire the stone architecture of the buildings and clay sidewalks with flowers decorating the sides, the shops open to the public as many owners greet their customers on the way by. They approach the huge university, seeing many students enter and exit through the front doors; and walk through the long halls on their way to the professor's room.
They knock and then enter, "Pardon the intrusion…" they said whispering in unison.
Professor Pickles was sitting at his desk with his assistant next to him, both holding some papers in their hands. He waves for Sonic and Tails to have a seat at the desks, "Usually I would call you here abruptly like this if I ever had a sudden expedition for you to embark…but this is very different news…"
Tails leaned forward, "What happened…?"
Sonic looks uninterested and takes out his Smartphone, "Is it another sudden game of Uno? Because you said the same thing last time too, and we ended up spending hours trying to finish."
"No no no, it isn't something like that. This is really a serious matter that I must discuss with you."
Sonic kept his eyes on his phone, "Keep going…"
"My assistant Ralph here had been sent on a mission in North Maruca to do some research on an area over in the Emerald Republic…"
Tails cut him off-glancing at Sonic for a second, "Don't you own a mansion in Emerald Republic?"
Sonic shushed him, "It's rude to interrupt a grown up while they're speaking…"-he returned his attention to the professor-"Please continue."
Professor pickles continued, "Ah, yes. While Ralph was staying in the country, he began to hear rumors about sightings of Dr. Eggman all across the country…"-Sonic and Tails froze at the idea of Dr. Eggman actually being back in the picture-"But Ralph decided to check for himself it was really true." Professor Pickles gives Ralph the floor.
Ralph came forward holding some papers, "I decided to scout the location where most locals said they saw Dr. Eggman appear the most: the coast. Many of them said they spotted him all along the coast in his egg mobile, pacing back and forth as if he was trying to calculate something; they added that he never once tried to terrorize them whenever he into town and that he was quite friendly."
Sonic crossed his arms-unnerved, "There has to be more to it than just that."
Ralph snapped his fingers and winked, "You are definitely correct! While I was along the coast, I discovered this inlet as you go farther west; there was a cave further in. When I got there, I saw this giant egg shaped base that resembled his logo…and plenty of badniks surrounding the outside. There was this giant holographic force field that surrounded the base, but when I touched it, I wasn't harmed. My guess is that it's specifically made to harm only certain individuals…ones like you guys."
"So, did you sneak into the base?" Tails asked; Ralph nodded.
"I infiltrated, but I tried my best to obviously avoid detection or battle since I would stand no chance. But I did a good amount of snooping and found some very useful information. First, the interior of the base is very spacious with plenty of hallways filled with various badniks roaming around. Secondly, there was a room that contained some strange looking mechs that he appeared to be in the progress of completing; you can find this room near the heart of the base, but I wouldn't recommend it given the security. Lastly, indeed Dr. Eggman is up to something…I was able to sneak some papers that contained the layout of the facility, and what looks to be his plans for the future…"-he hands them the papers-"judging from his notes, it seems like he's got some ambitious plans."
Sonic and Tails examined the files; they were titled the "E.G.G Files". The plans detailed what looked like the layout for another Eggmanland scheme, and written under the notes it said-"the grand master plan for world domination!"-Also found were documents and blueprints of some mysterious looking mechs that neither of them had ever seen.
"So he's back…!" Sonic concluded, ruffling the parts of the paper he was holding.
"I'm afraid so…I have given you this information because I believe that both of you are the best people to stop him." Ralph said with confidence; bowing his head and ceding the spotlight back to Professor Pickles.
Professor Pickles folded his hands, "I believe in the two of you…you've saved this world before and I believe you can do it again. Go to the Emerald Republic and put a stop to Dr. Eggman's plans before they ever begin to take effect!"
They both had a confident smile, "You can count on us professor!"
"Well, looks like we're back in action. I guess your daily training will pay off." Tails said on the way back home.
"We'll have to pack our bags tonight and leave early in the morning…traveling from Urope to North Maruca is at least an eight hour flight." Sonic suggested.
Tails wagged a finger, "Tch tch tch Sonic! With the X Tornado, we'll cut the trip to about half the time!"
"We still should aim for the morning at least…I have some errands I need to run when get there."
"Are the errands related to your mansion?"
"Duh!'
The boys packed up their bags of their personal belongings and clothes and made sure to let Professor Pickles know when they were leaving. The next morning, the duo traveled over the outskirts where Tails had his plane ready; Professor Pickles and Ralph were already waiting.
"Ahh the X-Tornado! I see you've made some adjustments…" Sonic observed, feeling the body of the plane.
"Only minor adjustments; I haven't had the time to do anything major like aesthetics and what-not."
They shook hands with the Professor Pickles and Ralph-letting both of them know they'd be gone for a while depending on how things played out. Right after that, the two were off on their way as the plane took off, seeing the great architecture of Spagonia get smaller and smaller as the ascended into the sky; Tails piloted plane.
An hour passes by and Tails begun to get bored from the lack of conversation; Sonic is on his phone, looking at the news going on around the world. Tails was beginning to get agitated with the silence in the room, screaming on the inside.
"Hey Tails, it seems like things aren't improving in world trades…maybe I should pull out my stocks?" Sonic scrolled through his newsfeed.
"Yeah, you've made a boatload of money!" Tails responded enthusiastically, happy to finally have a conversation to eliminate the silence; but Sonic resumes his attention to his phone, upsetting Tails on the inside even more.
"Get off the phone!" Tails barked, doing a barrel roll to agitate Sonic; Sonic got woozy.
"P-please stop!" begged Sonic, holding his hand over his mouth.
"Then talk to me instead of looking through your phone; I've been bored for about an hour." Tails said flying the plane back to a normal position.
"Sorry about that, it was inconsiderate of me…"-Sonic places his phone in a cup holder-"From here on out, I'll keep you company buddy."
"Thanks…So what do you think we should talk about?"
Sonic looks down at the water, "How do you think the others are doing…?"
Tails' eyes lowered, "I don't know, I haven't spoken to any of them since that fight."
"Do you think I made the right decision?"
"Well, you're rich. I have my own plane shop, and we've been helping Professor Pickles; I'd say everything has worked out for us, at least."
Sonic nods his head in agreement, "Yeah, you're right."
They continued their flight to Emerald Republic for another couple of hours; the sun beams at them, forcing Tails to have to use one of his newer functions. Tails flipped a switch and a set of tinted windows emerged and covered them. A gentle hum sounds from the plane's turbines as they fly over the Emerald Ocean, viewing the crystal clear and calm green water. Tails took a look at his monitor and did a bit of math on a little transparent board next to him.
"We'll be there in about less than a hour." said Tails.
"Then I guess I'll take a quick nap." responded Sonic, shifting to a comfortable position to sleep.