Episode 3: Mistaken Identity
"Oh Mommy I love it!" cried out an excited little, cream-colored rabbit, bouncing up and down as she looked at the lovely new dress her mom had made.
"You have to admit Vanilla" said a squirrel, agreeing with the small bunny " this is one of your finest designs yet. Even Cream thinks so."
"That's sweet of you to say Sally" said an older, cream-colored rabbit, smiling at the squirrel " and I always enjoy making my daughter smile."
Indeed, the dress had turned out better than Vanilla could ever dream it would be. Scarlet red with thin straps, the dress extended downward into a long skirt beset with sequins, and a golden ring that flowed around the edge like an ocean wave. In the center of the chest, there was a sparkling, green jewel, completing the outfit with a mystic touch.
Cream beamed up at her mom, happiness bubbling up inside her heart. Nothing in the whole wide world could dare spoil this moment, but then, a thundering explosion suddenly sounded from outside.
Concerned with what could be happening, Sally immediately rushed out the door of Vanilla's dress-making shop, and ran out into the street, the two bunnies following behind her. While Sally ran on, Vanilla and Cream stopped at the doorframe, releasing a sharp gasp.
The whole village was completely engulfed in flames, and citizens ran around in panic, unsure of what they could do to survive. Vanilla held Cream close, and immediately started rushing her and her daughter towards the outskirts of the city. Whatever was the reason for all this chaos, it was not safe to stick around and find out.
Cream, who had been so joyous moments before, now shook and cried, trembling with fear. She gripped tight onto her mom's fur, as Vanilla carefully weaved their way through alley's in order to get out of the city.
Smoke piled up in the air, blacking out the sky, while the fire snapped and cracked, licking its flames against the ruins that were once wood and stone.
"What terror could have caused this?" thought Vanilla, when suddenly a large crack caught her super-sensitive ears.
Looking up in alarm, Vanilla realized that she had mistakenly led her and Cream under the short awning that led to side marketplace. The marketplace was close to the woods, where she and Cream would be safe from harm, but she had completely forgot about the awning that led there.
The fire now clawed at the wooden supports holding the awning in place, and the beams shrieked as their strength ebbed, hindering on the brink of collapse.
"Run Cream!" yelled Vanilla, urging both them to move faster.
Crack! ... sounded the wood from above, as the flames of the fire finally damaged it beyond compare. Cream made it outside of the awning first, with her mother following only a few steps behind her, when the entire structure collapsed.
"Uh!" Cream cried in horror, running back to where she had exited "Mommy!"
Lying still, with half of her body trapped by the burning wood, the unconscious form of Vanilla lay, sprawled across the dirt. Blue eyes teeming with tears, Cream instantly ran and tried to lift off the burning timber from her mother, panic gripping her heart.
Suddenly, the sound of a sharp whistle immediately caught the tiny rabbit's ears, and Cream turned to see a dark figure staring at her from just a few feet away. His blue fur shone out eerily in light of the flickering embers for just a moment before he turned and ran away, speeding like a flash of light.
"Ahh" said Sonic, speeding around the next day, running around the landscape, dodging all the obstacles in his path " nothing like a morning run to get your juices flowing for the day."
After quickly eating a healthy breakfast, Sonic immediately stretched out his legs and asked Tails if the fox would be joining him for the morning run. Tails politely declined Sonic's offer, saying that his mind had come up with the idea for a new invention last night, and he wanted to get started right away.
Nodding that he understood, Sonic sped out to complete the run on his own. He had already passed his way through the main village, and made his way into the forest where the pathways to other villages lay open to explore.
Deciding to take the North-Eastern route, Sonic sped his way down the barren path, and within seconds arrived at gruesome sight of destruction. Buildings were torn and ruined, many of the citizens looked injured, and one little rabbit was crying, held tight in the arms of a squirrel.
" Hey" said Sonic, walking closer to the squirrel and the rabbit "what happened here?"
Both the rabbit and squirrel looked up to see who spoke, and the young rabbit immediately cried and cringed, looking at Sonic with fear in her eyes.
"He's the one!" shouted the young rabbit, turning her head to the squirrel " He's the one who hurt Mama!"
"What?!" asked Sonic confused, but the squirrel was quick to react. Getting up on her feet, the amber-eyed mammal glared directly at Sonic.
"So you came back to gloat on what you've done eh?" snapped Sally, her blood boiling with frustration " Well Mister, all of us here would like a payback for the suffering you caused last night!"
"Last night?" said Sonic, still confused "No! Wait! You got it all wrong!"
"Attack!" Sally cried, and all the villagers suddenly went into action.
Knowing that it was pointless to stay, and stand his ground against an angry mob, Sonic quickly put his feet into turbo gear, and dashed off back home. The others surely weren't going to believe this story once he arrived back.
"Whew," said Tails, wiping off another bead of sweat as he tightened with his wrench. This new project was certainly giving him a workout with its complex design.
"Hey Tails" called Knuckles, as he, Amy, and Sticks walked into the fox's workshop "What are you doing today?"
"Just working on a new machine" said Tails, taking a minor break from his work " Sonic's out on a run and won't be back 'till later, meanwhile help yourself to the fridge. We have some leftover fruit from last night,"
"I think I will," said Knuckles, him and Sticks departing for the kitchen, while Amy stayed behind.
"So" the pink hedgehog asked " did you find out who was responsible for the break-in yet?"
"Not yet" said Tails, putting down his wrench, and picking up a screwdriver " all we got is a tuft of black fur, and there are probably dozens of people it could belong to. Anyway, whoever did rob the house hasn't come back in awhile, so I suppose it was only a one time thing."
"I guess" said Amy " I just wish we knew who it was. What kind of crook would want to raid your lab? Whoever it was has something no good up his sleeves."
Meanwhile, inside the house, Knuckles was stacking up himself a bowl of fruit, while Sticks sat on the couch, boredly flipping through the channels that played across the TV. A struggled yawn came out of the orange badger's mouth.
"Nine hundred channels and nothing to watch," yawned Sticks, about to flip to another station when the sign 'Breaking News Flash' rocketed on the TV screen.
"Ooo! Ooo!" she cried, suddenly excited " This looks like fun!"
Having heard Sticks yells of excitement, Knuckles immediately wandered over, and looked towards the TV screen to watch what had caught the badger's interest. His mouth dropped open wide with horror when a picture of Sonic came up with the word 'Wanted' shining underneath.
Forgetting about his bowl of fruit, Knuckles immediately dropped the dish and yelled out to Amy and Tails, demanding the two mammals quickly come inside. Amy and Tails mouths also dropped open in horror.
"I can't believe this" said Amy stunned "There's no way that can be true!"
"Sonic the Hedgehog is highly suspected of damaging many small villages along the forest border" claimed the anchorman " and seems to be moving on to bigger targets as the days pass. If you see him, do not combat and call 911 immediately! Mobius's greatest hero has gone rouge!"
A hurried knock suddenly pounded on the door, and Tails slowly got up to let a frantic Sonic in. The gang all eyed the blue hedgehog wearily. Sonic immediately noticed their look, but decided not to comment on it.
"Guys" said Sonic " something's going on here. I don't know how or why, but people think I'm doing damage to their cities!"
"We know" said Knuckles, pointing to the TV " we saw the news broadcast,"
"Everyone on the planet probably saw it," said Amy.
"Woohoo!" cried Sticks, not really getting the direness of this situation " Sonic's a rock star! Going with the bad boy image to impress the public was neat, but it needs a little pizazz. Oh, I know! How about talking chainsaws playing opera music while flaming monkeys hang up high on swings throwing chocolate bars?"
Everyone just stared at Sticks as if she was nuts, which wasn't really far from the truth.
"What?" asked Sticks confused.
"Uh, anyway" said Sonic, trying to get back on the subject " besides my rock star career, someone is out there making my name look bad, and I'll make sure the only tune that he sings is the jailhouse rock!"
The next day found the Sonic Boom gang traveling to main square of the Eastern village, where Tails had heard over the radio, another village was being destroyed. The sun was close to setting when they arrived, and many of the buildings were still in flames.
"Everyone!" yelled Sonic, eyeing all the chaos "Make sure the citizens get safely out of here, I've got an arsonist to track down."
"Then you're in for a short trip," called out a familiar voice that Knuckles recognized instantly.
"Shadow!" Knuckles called out, when the black and red hedgehog jumped to the ground.
"You know this guy Knuckles?" asked Sonic, surprised.
"Yes, he know me" said Shadow " just like I know you are the one who's been causing chaos all over Mobius,"
"What?!" said Sonic, getting steamed " How do I know you're not the one? Jealous that I'm more handsome than you?"
Without speaking another word, Sonic and Shadow charged at each other, locking themselves within fierce combat. The other members of the Sonic Boom gang were almost tempted to help out, but were quickly reminded by Tails and Amy that the citizens needed them first, so they headed out.
Once inside the city, the Sonic Boom gang immediately split up to help whatever citizens they could. Tails and Amy went to lift the pilings up off a fallen building so that a pair of raccoons could escape, when Tails felt a sharp thud pound straight in his back.
"Tails!" Amy cried out as the fox went unconscious, and whatever she had planned to say after that was lost, as the sharp thud from a knife hand caused her to black out as well, leaving the raccoons crying and the rescuers to burn.
"Ugh!" grunted Knuckles, punching a hole in the side of a building, allowing a mother duck and her chicks to escape.
"Thank you," said the mother, and quickly ran off with her spawn.
"Heh" said Knuckles without effort "Who's next?"
A hard spin to the back soon answered that question, and Knuckles turned right around to see who had the nerve to attack. His violet gaze widened in surprise when he spotted the familiar blue form standing right in front of him, the form of Sonic the Hedgehog.
"How is this possible?" thought Knuckles to himself "Sonic's busy fighting with Shadow! He can't be in the village now, can he?"
Before the echidna could even think to answer his own questions, Sonic attacked using speed-like force, and Knuckles was forced to defend and counter. He had experience fighting against the blue hedgehog, but never before had the purpose been so strange. It just didn't feel like the real Sonic was fighting, more like a robot, under a puppet master's control.
The duel continued with ferocity. Kick, punch, kick, punch, until finally Sonic had seemed like he had enough, and delivered one final spin attack straight at Knuckles. The echidna fell over backwards and crashed hard to ground, unwilling to believe that he had been beaten, and struggled to stand and finish the fight.
The green light in Sonic's eyes remained still, seemingly unimpressed at Knuckles efforts, and then dashed off without a word, leaving Knuckles confused as to what this all meant.
"Amy! Tails!" said Sonic, rushing into the city, after he and Shadow had finished their fight.
It was the strangest thing, Shadow letting Sonic go. The black hedgehog was gaining an early lead into the battle, and then suddenly he stopped, telling Sonic that he should go check on his friends, before disappearing with Chaos Control.
"Just who is this Shadow character anyway?" thought Sonic to himself "Oh well, I pry the details from Knuckles later,"
Without another thought, Sonic leaned over his two friends to make sure that they were unharmed, and then scooped up Tails and Amy in his arms, before dashing off into the night.
Knuckles was confused, very confused. Just what was going on for Sonic to attack out of the blue like that? And why had his friends left him there to travel back alone, without even bother saying that they had to leave? This was all one huge mystery for the red echidna.
"Having doubts about your sanity?" asked Shadow's voice from behind, instantly causing Knuckles to turn around.
"You!" growled Knuckles, looking at the black hedgehog "What do you want now Shadow?"
"Is that anyway to treat a friend?" said Shadow, feigning hurt " I thought we trusted each other."
"Your trust nearly resulted in murder!" said Knuckles "Is this more of the same?"
"Maybe" said Shadow, his red gaze taking a deadly glint " if you can provide the answer to one question. Do you trust your friend?"
"I've always trusted Sonic," said Knuckles in defense.
"But not now do you?" said Shadow, slyly " I can see the doubt in your eyes. Sonic has changed, he's with the bad boys now, and the only remedy is for him to die."
Meanwhile, inside Eggman's fortress, the diabolical doctor was grinning wide, watching every inch of pure destruction pour across his monitor screens. The vulgar image of Sonic's face was being broadcasted all over the news, and the evil genius couldn't be filled with more joy.
"Finally Sonic will get what he deserves" said Eggman "and he shall pay for destroying for my laboratory. Wouldn't you agree my little friends?"
With that said, the Doctor turned to face the still forms of Amy and Tails, both unconscious, and hanging uselessly from steel chains. The blue form of Sonic the Hedgehog stood right beside them, looking smug as the Doctor praised his work.
The next day, at Tails house, Knuckles found Sticks there without the sign of anyone else around. The badger was just sitting down absorbing some rays from the sun, and barely looked twice as Knuckles entered Tails house searching for Sonic and Tails.
Knuckles mind was a storm of angry and confused, after being left behind and talking to Shadow last night. He didn't want to believe the black hedgehog's words that Sonic had really turned to the side of evil, but after had finished explaining about his fight with Sonic, it made Knuckles all the more curious to find out the truth.
The inside of Tails house looked the same as before, and neither Tails or Sonic could be seen in sight. Knuckles didn't bother to question where they were this time, and started looking around for clues that could prove Shadow's story to be false.
He didn't get much further into the main room, when his eyes caught notice of something strange of the wall. Claw marks seemed to be shredded into the wood, indicating that some kind of battle had taken place here just a few short hours ago.
These claw marks instantly struck a bell in Knuckles memory, and the red echidna's eyes narrowed in rage.
"What you looking at Knuckles?" called out Sonic's voice, making the echidna turn around.
"Nothing" said Knuckles, slightly unsure and angry, then growled, glaring at Sonic " Nice to see you still remember me, friend."
"Whoa" said Sonic, backing up a little "What's got your tail in a knot? Hey, speaking of which, don't you got some explaining to do, about that Shadow guy?"
"Shadow" said Knuckles softly, whispering the name as it were poison " I didn't want to believe him before, but now I do. You're nothing but a fake Sonic!"
With that said, Knuckles surprised Sonic with a hard punch to the chin, blasting the hedgehog straight out of the front door, and startling Sticks out of her tanning pose. The badger began to yell out the point of the guys interrupting her relaxation, but stopped in mid-rant as Knuckles followed out after Sonic and dealt the hedgehog with another hard blow.
"Knuckles!" shouted Sticks in horror "That's Sonic! Stop! What are you doing?!"
Knuckles didn't respond to the badger's cries and just continued to go after Sonic. Realizing that his friend had gone insane, Sonic immediately went into fight mode and started defending back against Knuckles attacks. Sonic had no idea why one of his best friends was attacking him, but the reason didn't matter if he hoped to survive.
Knuckles power was a formidable match against Sonic's speed, as both sides refused to give into another's will. The fight might have lasted for a long time had not, after a successful spin attack by Sonic, Shadow stepped in and blasted the hedgehog from behind with a Chaos Spear.
Knuckles wasn't to surprised to see Shadow appear this time, although he was a little miffed to have the black hedgehog interrupt his brawl. Shadow just casted Knuckles with one of his trademark smirks, before both rivals nodded and charged at Sonic with full force.
Caught between the face of two powerhouses, one of whom who could match his speed, Sonic barely stood a chance against the fearsome onslaught, and soon lay beaten in the sand, powdered to a pulp.
Heavy breathes weaved from Knuckles mouth, as he looked down upon the fallen form of Sonic, a train of guilt edging through his heart. It had to be done, he must believe it. Sonic had to fall, he had to die.
On the ground, Sonic gave one last jolt of life before his image flickered and faded away, revealing the true form that lied beneath. Robot spines and steel, blue arms now shone perfectly in the afternoon light. Metal Sonic had been revealed.
"Metal Sonic?" said Sticks confused, looking at the remains of the dead machine " What's he doing here?"
"Better ask the Doctor that question" said Knuckles " He fooled us all, and it's time to stop his schemes for good."
Meanwhile, inside Eggman's fortress, Tails and Amy were just slowly starting to come out of their unconscious trance in time to here Eggman pound his fists in anger and yell at the computer screens.
"Blast!" shouted Eggman, extremely disappointed "How could they have known?"
"Wah, Dr. Eggman!" yelled Amy, dragging the genius's attention "What are we doing here?"
"Ah" said Eggman, looking at his prisoners " so you two are finally awake I see. Well it's a little to late for the finale, seeing as Metal Sonic failed to eliminate the rest of your friends,"
"Metal Sonic?" said Tails, the truth suddenly hitting him like a strike " So you were one responsible for all the destruction happening around the forest!"
"Hahaha!" laughed Eggman joyfully "You're half right, but I had a little help with the destroying part,"
With that said, the Doctor turned and pointed as the familiar form of Sonic the Hedgehog approached, his green eyes clouded and glassy, as if they held no emotion to express to the world. Amy was furious to see Sonic in this state, and pulled hard against her chains.
"What have you done with him?!" yelled Amy " You monster!"
"Oh I made Sonic into my personal, little slave" gloated Eggman " Orbot and Cubot snuck into Tails house one night, and implanted a little chip in the back of Sonic's neck. Now his nerves are under my control, and I can make him do anything I want, like destroying a few villages here and there. He's been working for me for weeks!"
"But" said Tails confused " if he was working for you all that time, then who was the Sonic hanging around with us?"
"Why Metal of course!" said Eggman " I improved his programming and gave him a disguise, making him think, look, and act like the real Sonic. It made him the perfect infiltration device! While the real Sonic worked for me, Metal hung out with you until orders came for your elimination."
"Then why bring us here?" asked Tails confused.
"Because every evil villain needs to at least gloat to two witnesses before ordering their death!" said Eggman with a frustrated sigh " It's in the super villain fan-book, hello? Besides, watching you squirm under all this info is perfect payback for destroying my lab."
Tails was about to question what Eggman meant by 'destroying' before the mad scientist ordered Sonic to kill his two friends. Tails and Amy's hearts froze with horror, as the zombie-like Sonic approached, eyes cold and hard, ready for the kill.
However, before such a gruesome fate could be reached, a wall exploded inward allowing the forms of Knuckles, Sticks, and Shadow to walk directly inside, ready for a brawl.
"Alright!" shouted Amy and Tails.
"Sonic, destroy them!" commanded Eggman, and the blue hedgehog immediately went on the attack.
Shadow went in to confront Sonic, while Knuckles and Sticks got busy to work freeing Amy and Tails. Soon the pink hedgehog and the twin-tailed fox were free, and Tails immediately rushed over towards Eggman's controls to see whether or not he could end the fight.
"Err!" growled Eggman in anger, as Sonic and Shadow continued to clash "Robots, get in here! Eliminate that black hedgehog!"
"Come on guys!" said Knuckles, punching around as the robots came in. Amy and Sticks soon followed his lead.
Meanwhile, unnoticed by the controls, Tails fingers were typing fiercely across the keyboard to get rid of the device that controlled Sonic. It seemed like minutes before he finally found the file he was looking for, and slapped the release command on screen.
Sonic began to scream in pain, and writhed himself to a kneeling position upon the floor, the metal chip jumping out from the back of his neck. His cloudy, green eyes cleared as he began to become aware of his surroundings once again, and stared at all the chaos confused.
"Wha…what happened?" said Sonic.
"Yeah, we did it!" yelled Amy, as Knuckles took down another machine.
"I think it's time for a tactical retreat," said Eggman, rushing to the safety of his inner chambers, knowing he had lost.
Everyone watched as the Doctor escaped, but said nothing about it as they gathered up their bearings and decided to leave the fort. Sonic looked up at his saviors both happy and confused, once he noticed Shadow standing in the crowd.
"Who are you?" asked Sonic, since only his metal counterpart had seen the black hedgehog before. "You seem just like me."
"Don't falter yourself hedgehog" scoffed Shadow with a glare " you and I are nothing alike. And your friends…" he continued, looking directly at Knuckles " have a lot to learn."
With that said, Shadow turned around and dashed off, disappearing into the setting sun.
A few hours later, the whole Sonic Boom gang was resting inside the comforts of Tails home, trying to digest through the last few hours of chaotic events that had taken place. Tails explained to Sonic what Eggman's plan had been, and both roommates readily agreed to keep their home more sealed in the future.
Convincing the citizens of Mobius that Sonic was innocent however would be harder to accomplish. The blue hedgehog had a lot of work ahead of him for the next few days.
"I'm just glad everything is said and done" said Sonic " Eggman messing with my mind like that was crazy, and what about that black hedgehog guy at the end,"
"Yeah" said Sticks " just who is he anyway?"
"We can worry about that later" said Amy " Be happy that everything is alright,"
"Agreed" said Knuckles, and then noticed Tails far-away look "Tails?"
"Oh" said Tails, noting that everyone was now looking at him "I'm okay really, but I thought…what happened to me and Amy back out there in the village, and those two kids we tried to save? I'm just worried if they got out of there alive."
Everyone stood silenced at the mystery, not knowing what words to say.