Story 10: Chocolate Eggman (Part 1)
After a very long run, Sonic and Tails had finally reached the still under construction city of Mobotropolis. Not much had changed since Sonic had left. There were still buildings being built but there were a few that were nearing completion. Tails looked around with a not very impressed look on his face.
"Gosh, Eggman must have dealt with this place well!" he said "Everything's being rebuilt."
"Yeah, Eggman blasted the whole city to bits*." said Sonic "Only Castle Acorn survived luckily. It's gonna take years for Mobotropolis to get back to its former glory."
"So where do all the people who lived here live now?" asked Tails.
"They reside in Empire City for the time being." explained Sonic "It's quite near to here so we haven't got far to go."
And with that he ran off again with Tails following him.
A short while afterwards they arrived at Empire City, the fourth largest city on Mobius. Any human who visited this city would have compared this to the city of New York because it looked very similar to New York. This city had its fare share of busy traffic and tall buildings. In fact, Empire City had a skyscraper very similar in height and appearance to the Empire State Building. And like Sonic said, everybody who once lived in Mobotropolis had moved to Empire City until New Mobotropolis was completed. Some citizens were lucky enough to find an empty home whereas others had to share homes with the people of Empire City but the citizens of Empire City didn't mind as they knew what the citizens of Mobotropolis had been through since Eggman's arrival. Tails admired Empire City's tall skyscrapers.
"Is that any better?" asked Sonic.
"Much better." said Tails.
"Well since we've beaten Dr. Eggman back for a while we'll just hang about for the time being." said Sonic "I know a good place we can relax in."
He led Tails to Central Park, a small beauty reserve in the centre of Empire City. Central Park was a quiet peaceful place where many people went for walks or had picnics. Sonic mostly came here to sit near the lake and chill out. Tails was impressed with the park's beautiful nature.
"You know what." said Tails "I feel like I'm in the middle of a forest rather then a city out here."
"Yeah it does feel like that in Central Park doesn't it?" agreed Sonic "That's why people who hate noise hang out here, to get a rest from it all."
"It's a wonderful place so I can see why anyone would want to hang out here." said Tails, lying down on the grass near the lake.
"Me too." said Sonic, lying down beside him "And we could do with a chill out for now."
Sonic and Tails closed their eyes and listened to the gentle sound of the lake lapping against the bank. A sound like that was bound to make anybody relax. Unfortunately Sonic and Tails didn't get to relax long because their peace and quiet was disturbed by the sound of someone crying in pain. Sonic leapt to his feet and turned around to see what it was. He saw a woodchuck lying on the grass with a purple wagon with red and gold decorative details on all sides by his side. Sonic dashed over to the woodchuck. The woodchuck was rubbing his ankle. He looked very hurt.
"Hey, are you OK?" asked Sonic.
"Well apart from a sprained ankle yes." grumbled the woodchuck.
"Can you walk?" asked Sonic.
"I don't think I can." replied the woodchuck, trying to stand up but sitting back down due to the pain flaring in his ankle. He grumbled some more.
"How can I sell my delicious chocolate bars if I can't walk?" he cried.
"Chocolate bars?" asked Tails, running up to Sonic and the woodchuck "Are you a chocolate bar seller?"
"Yes child." said the woodchuck "My name is Larry Cad Burry but everyone calls me by my nickname, Mr. Dairy. I'm a travelling chocolate bar salesman and I walk around Empire City selling chocolates to all the wonderful people here. But now I've sprained my ankle I won't be able to walk. My happy customers won't get their daily chocolate bars!"
Mr. Dairy began to wail. Sonic and Tails looked at each other for a moment and thought on what to do about the situation. After a short think, they decided on what to do.
"If you don't mind Mr. Diary, we'll take over your duties." Sonic offered "We'll deliver your chocolate bars to everybody and sell as many as we can."
"You'd really do that for a poor feeble old man like me?" gasped Mr. Dairy.
"Sure, that's what good guys do." chuckled Sonic.
"Oh thank you, you two!" cried Mr. Dairy "I don't know what to say about your kindness!"
"You can thank us later." said Tails "So how do we know which people we've gotta serve chocolates to?"
"Oh I just serve anyone." said Mr. Dairy "I knock on doors and offer chocolates to people or I ask someone on the street."
"Sounds easy enough." said Sonic "But what are we gonna do about you? We can't leave you out here since you can't walk home."
"I know." said Tails, flying off.
He found a fallen tree branch lying near a thick oak tree. Tails picked the branch up and flew back to Mr. Dairy. He handed the branch over to the woodchuck. Mr. Dairy put it under his arm and used it as a crutch. He walked a few paces back and forth using the branch and beamed.
"It works perfectly!" he said happily "Thank you little one."
"My name is Tails." said Tails "And you're welcome."
"I'll just get home and rest my poor ankle now." said Mr. Dairy "I hope you two do well on my rounds."
"We'll be done before lunch time." said Sonic cockily "Don't sweat Mr. Dairy."
Mr. Dairy laughed. "OK then, say you later boys!" he said as he limped away, using the tree branch to help him walk properly.
"So, how do we work this thing?" asked Tails.
"Like this." said Sonic, grabbing the wagon's handles and running off as fast as ever. Tails flew off after him in a hurry. Mr. Dairy stopped walking away as he had heard Sonic dash off and turned around to see it. Sonic and Tails had already left though. The old woodchuck put a hand to his chin in a thoughtful matter.
"That blue boy runs fast doesn't he?" he said to himself "Why does that seem to ring some bells all of a sudden?"
He continued walking home, thinking on why Sonic's speed reminded him of someone.
On the other side of Empire City, Sonic and Tails made their first stop. They had come to a small two storey house with a flat roof, four windows and a small front garden. Sonic opened the garden gate and pulled the wagon of chocolate bars up to the house.
"OK Tails, here's a first customer." said Sonic "Just follow my lead."
He knocked on the door. The door opened and there stood an orange otter wearing a pale brown shirt and blue trousers.
"Good morning sir, can we interest you in some chocolate?" said Sonic, holding a bar out.
"Chocolate hmm…chocolate." said the otter dopily.
"Yes sir." said Tails "We have mint, caramel, dark, truffle, creamy, non creamy, with nuts, without nuts and even white chocolate." he held up one of each bar he mentioned.
"Chocolate…" said the otter in a strange matter. Then his face turned from calm and dopy into a crazed and demented expression and he began shrieking in a crazed and demented voice.
"CHOCOLATE?" he screamed "CHOCOLATE! CHOCOLATE!"
Sonic and Tails looked at each other in fright.
"I think he's delirious!" squeaked Tails.
"Let's scraper!" shrieked Sonic.
And they ran off with the crazy otter running after them screaming at the top of his voice "CHOCOLATE!" over and over.
One hour later, Sonic and Tails had finally outrun the chocolate crazy otter. They panted like dogs in hot weather.
"O….K…that first…guy…didn't…count!" puffed Sonic "I…wonder what's up…with…him?"
"May…be he's crazy…about…chocolate." wheezed Tails "I…hope…no one else…is like…that!"
"Well let's try someone else." said Sonic "We promised Mr. Dairy we'd help him out with selling his chocolates."
And with that they tried another house. This house was only one storey, making it a bungalow and it had a front garden. Sonic pulled the wagon up to the house and knocked on the door. A white female meerkat in a flowing red dress answered the door.
"Ooh what can I do for you two young men?" she asked.
"We're selling chocolate bars." announced Sonic "Mr. Dairy's unavailable right now so we're taking over for him."
"Would you like one?" asked Tails.
"Oooooh I love chocolate!" squealed the meerkat "I'll take one!"
Sonic handed her a plain bar of chocolate. The meerkat handed Sonic 50 cents and closed the door.
"That was much better then that otter." said Sonic.
"Let's hope all the others are like that." said Tails "So, where to now?"
"Back to Mobotropolis and to Castle Acorn." said Sonic "Sally Acorn would love a bar of chocolate."
And with that he dashed off as fast as he could.
Later they returned to Mobotropolis and arrived at Castle Acorn. Its majestic appearance hadn't changed a bit since Sonic left. Tails was impressed with the castle's appearance. He had heard many a tale about Castle Acorn but never before had he seen it in real life.
"Is this really Castle Acorn?" asked Tails.
"You bet it is." said Sonic "Home of the Acorn Family."
He knocked on the door and waited for Sally to answer. But she didn't, instead Sally's lady-in-waiting Nicole the Lynx opened the door. The moment she saw Sonic, her face brightened and she grasped him in a hug.
"Oh Sonic you've returned at last!" cried Nicole "How've you been since Megapolis?** We haven't heard from you since!"
"Fine thanks Nicole." said Sonic as Nicole put her down "We just visited Angel Island and saved it from falling.***"
"Knuckles told us all about that." said Nicole "He's very grateful to you and your friend. Speaking of which, where is he?"
"Right here." said Tails shyly waving.
Nicole noticed Tails and awed at him, causing him to blush.
"Hello there little boy." said Nicole "What's your name?"
"Tails." said Tails bashfully "I'm Sonic's new friend, I'm skilled at technical stuff and I've been helping Sonic out on some of his adventures."
"That's nice to know." said Nicole "I bet you'd love to join the Royal Fighters Service."
Tails nodded bashfully.
"Anyways, we're selling chocolates." Sonic put in "Would you like one?"
"Um no thanks, I'm on a diet." said Nicole, twirling one of her ponytails "But I'll take two for Sally, she loves chocolate."
"Which type of chocolate does Sally like best?" asked Tails, holding out the various selections.
"She loves dark chocolate and chocolate truffles." explained Nicole "I'll just take one of each."
Tails handed her one dark chocolate bar and one chocolate truffle bar. Nicole handed him one dollar and sixty cents.
"Thank you very much boys and good luck on your sales." said Nicole.
"You're welcome Nicole." said Sonic "By they way, where is Sally? She always answers the door by herself."
"Oh, she's not here right now." said Nicole "She and her parents are out sight-seeing for the time being but when they come back I'll tell them you're back and I'm sure Sally will thank you for the chocolates."
I'm sure she will." said Sonic "Well we'd best get going, see you later Nics."
"Bye Sonic." said Nicole, closing the door behind her as she went back inside the castle. Sonic sighed happily.
"This is just getting better every time isn't it?" said Sonic.
"Uh huh." said Tails "And I hope you don't mind me saying but I think Nicole's very beautiful."
"Yeah she is isn't she?" agreed Sonic "She's the Mobotropolis beauty queen and has been for five years running!"
"Gosh!" cried Tails "She must be beautiful!"
"Yeah." agreed Sonic "Nicole likes her body too. Pity she hasn't found the right someone for her."
"Do you think she fancies you Sonic?" chuckled Tails teasingly.
Sonic went red in the face.
"Nah, I don't think I'm the right man for her." said Sonic "I think Nicole needs someone a little less adventurous then me. Whereas I, I'm not sure I'd be that interested in royal business like Nicole is."
Then suddenly he and Tails were interrupted by the familiar demented sound of someone mentally insane screaming "CHOCOLATE!" loudly. It was the chocolate crazy otter again! Sonic and Tails grabbed the wagon and immediately ran for their lives as the chocolate crazy otter chased them away from Castle Acorn screaming insanely at the top of his voice "CHOCOLATE!" "CHOCOLATE!" "CHOCOLATE!" "CHOCOLATE!"
As Sonic and Tails ran for it, a small camera telescoped out from behind a hedge near Castle Acorn. That camera belonged to none other then Dr. Eggman (duh!). He had planted it there so he could monitor Sally's movements and make an attempt to kidnap her but this time the fat doctor's attentions was focused on Sonic and Tails fleeing for it. Seeing them run away like cowards made Eggman roar with laughter. Even his snobby robotic assistant Alonzo laughed at them. When Dr. Eggman and Alonzo finally contained their irresistible laughter Eggman spoke.
"So our two friends are selling chocolate bars are they?" snorted Dr. Eggman "Some heroes they are!"
"Yeah, especially since they're being chased by a crazy otter that screams out loud "CHOCOLATE!"" chortled Alonzo "I bet if we did that Sonic and Tails would run for their lives!"
"Yeah but villains don't do that." noted Eggman "And yet this chocolate bar caper is giving me a wicked thought…" he purred, stroking his thick bushy moustache in thought.
"Oh no, he's thinking again." said Alonzo "Time I escaped."
"THAT'S IT!" screamed Dr. Eggman, leaping to his feet.
"Too late." muttered Alonzo.
"I'll make my OWN stash of chocolate!" declared Dr. Eggman "And I'll make Sonic and Tails sell it to everyone!"
"Um…nice one?" said Alonzo, really thinking the plan was stupid "But your chocolate tastes like motor oil sir so I don't think you'll have very happy customers."
Dr. Eggman punched Alonzo in the face. The poor butler bot felt very dazed and confused and a few bolts popped off.
"You twonk!" snarled Eggman "I'm going to trade Sonic and Tails' stash with my own stash so they'll end up selling my chocolate!"
"And that way SONIC & TAILS will have the unhappy customers!" declared Alonzo happily "Oh that's ingenious sir! Everybody will be angry with the hedgehog and we can laugh in his face!"
Dr. Eggman face palmed himself.
"You really are a bolt brain aren't you?" he muttered "Oh well, I'll tell you the full details later, I've got chocolate to make."
And with that he ran off to get making. Alonzo stood still and began scratching his head. What on Earth was that fat moron up to now? Oh well, he'd find out later. Alonzo trundled back to the camera screen to watch Sonic and Tails getting chased by the crazy otter.
Another hour later, Sonic and Tails had finally outrun the crazy otter. They collapsed on the pavement in a heap.
"Geez! How does that crazy otter keep it up for so long?" gasped Sonic "That's the second hour we've spent running away from him!"
"I hope that's the last we've seen of him." panted Tails "Otherwise I'm going to quit this chocolate selling business."
Sonic got back to his feet and counted the money he had gotten from the three bars he had sold. He had sold two to Nicole and one to the meerkat and overall he had two dollars and ten cents. Sonic sighed grimly.
"We're not doing so well here." he said "We'd best pick up the pace."
"Good idea Sonic." said Tails "Let's go as fast as we can and that way we'll sell more."
And with that Sonic ran to each house at his trademark speed. Every house he went to, he sold one chocolate bar. Sonic even sold chocolate bars to people walking in the street. Alonzo watched the whole performance from cameras set up in the trees of Central Park. Watching Sonic dash back and forth was making him feel funny.
"Geez, watching him do that's making me nauseous!" he gurgled.
He almost fainted but he regained his senses and decided to stop watching Sonic run about for the sake of his health. Meanwhile, Dr. Eggman was in the kitchen, pouring motor oil into various trays and covering the splodges of oil with a thick chocolate layer. That was his idea of good chocolate. Then he added a drop of a strange greyish coloured liquid to the chocolates. Then he put the trays into a fridge for them to set good and hard. He had to wait a good while though as chocolate took time to set. Thirty minutes later the chocolate had set and was ready to eat (unless you like motor oil which I guarantee you don't!). Dr. Eggman cackled with delight at his finished chocolate. Then he put the chocolates in a machine that automatically wrapped the chocolates up for you. After all Eggman is lazy. The finished chocolates popped out of the machine, neatly wrapped up in yellow and red striped wrapping.
"Oh if I wasn't using these for an evil deed I'd eat them all myself!" he cackled "Oh well, I'm sure the Mobians of this planet will love them just as much as I do! ALONZO!" he bellowed.
"Yes sir?" asked Alonzo, rushing into the kitchen.
"Find Sonic and swap his chocolates for these." said Eggman, thrusting the four trays at him.
"No problem master." said Alonzo, saluting.
He trundled out of the kitchen, holding the tray with both hands and staring at the chocolates.
"What on Earth is my dumbo of a master up to?" he wondered "Conning Sonic into selling his chocolates? What's so evil about this plan?"
Sonic and Tails had sold around thirty chocolate bars by now and they had made a whole lot more money now. They had made eighteen pounds and seventy cents overall. Sonic jingled the money in his hands.
"Now that's a lot better." said Sonic, putting it in the money jar "Good thing we picked up the pace."
"We should call ourselves Sonic and Tails, the supersonic chocolate bar sellers!" joked Tails.
"That does have a nice ring to it." said Sonic "But I'd rather smash robots and kick Eggman's fat butt then sell chocolate bars."
"I wonder how Mr. Dairy is doing." wondered Tails "I hope he's alright."
"I'm sure he's resting." said Sonic "In fact, why don't we pay him a visit and tell him how we're doing?"
Tails nodded. Sonic had no idea where Mr. Dairy lived but he knew how to find him. He saw a woman in a jumpsuit walking by and caught her attention. He then asked the woman where Mr. Dairy lived. The woman instructed him to go to the end of the first block of buildings, turn right and look for a purple house decorated with rainbow coloured dots. Sonic thanked the woman and rushed off with the wagon in tow. Sonic followed the woman's instructions and found Mr. Dairy's house. Just like the woman had described, the house was purple and decorated with rainbow coloured dots, making it look like there were Smarties all over the walls. The house looked like the kind of house Willy Wonka would live in. Sonic and Tails walked to the door and knocked on it. Mr. Dairy got up from his chair and, using the tree branch crutch, limped over to the door and opened it. He was pleased as punch to see Sonic and Tails at the door.
"Boys!" he cried with joy "How's the business been going?"
"We've made eighteen dollars and seventy cents." said Sonic, handing the jar of money over to Mr. Dairy. The old woodchuck beamed in satisfaction.
"How did you sell so much so quickly?" asked Mr. Dairy.
"I can run fast." said Sonic "And I got lucky with some of the customers I guess."
"If only I could run that fast." chortled Mr. Dairy "I'd be selling a lot more chocolates a day then what I usually do!"
As he and Sonic chatted away, Alonzo poked his head out from behind a dumpster. He had found Sonic and Tails at long last and he crept over to the chocolate wagon, keeping a low profile so he wouldn't get spotted. Then Alonzo grabbed the wagon and slowly pulled it away from Sonic and back to the dumpster he had hidden behind. Then, when he thought he was a good distance away, Alonzo stopped and opened the side hatch. He pulled all the chocolates out and threw them in the dumpster. Then he tipped the tray of Eggman's chocolates up and they all slid off into the hatch. He did the same with the other three trays. Soon all of Eggman's chocolates were in the wagon. Then Alonzo quietly pulled the wagon back to Sonic and trundled quietly away, giggling silently to himself. Tails looked over his shoulder as he thought he had heard something but he saw nothing so he shrugged it off. Sonic and Mr. Dairy had finished talking.
"Well, I've got the last bunch of chocolates in the wagon to sell." said Sonic "See ya later."
He and Tails ran off with the wagon in tow.
"See ya boys, and thank you for all your help!" Mr. Dairy called to them.
Sonic and Tails did the same thing they did earlier, run around to each house as fast as they could. They sold chocolates to every house they came to and even sold a chocolate or two to any passer-bys in the busy streets. During their rounds, Sonic came across two familiar faces walking by. One was an orange dog wearing combat fatigues and the other was a purple, yellow tailed mouse also wearing combat fatigues.
"Hey it's Wilson and Mandy!" he said happily.
"Who are they then?" asked Tails.
"Two friends of mine in the Royal Fighters Service." said Sonic "I saved them from being roboticized eight months ago**** and we've been good friends since. Not to mention they're excellent fighters."
He ran over to them in a jiffy. Wilson and Mandy gasped in surprise, only to smile at the fact it was only Sonic the Hedgehog.
"Well Sonic my man." said Wilson, giving him a handshake "Long time no see."
"Good to see you two Wilson." said Sonic "How's things been at Grand Metropolis?"
"Marvellous." said Mandy "We helped the Metropolis Royal Fighters foil a drilling operation for oil and we stopped the person in charge of the operation who is known to her lackeys as the Mistress of Darkness*****. Everything's under control now so we've been allowed to return home."
"That's excellent to know." said Sonic "Where's good ol' Geoffrey St. John?"
"Still tied up with his work at Downunda." explained Wilson "But he's fighting good and hard for the Royal Fighters there. By the way who's the kid?" he added, pointing at Tails.
"This is my new friend Tails." said Sonic "I saved him from Eggman during my time in Green Hill Zone******."
"And I've been helping Sonic fight Eggman since." added Tails.
"Have you now?" said Mandy "We'll have to see you in battle one day."
"So what have you two been up to?" asked Wilson.
"We're selling chocolate bars." said Sonic "Care for one?"
"Oh! I haven't had one in months!" cried Wilson "I'll take one."
"Me too." said Mandy "How much are they?"
"Only 50-60 cents." said Sonic "Depends which kind of chocolate you pick."
They both picked a plain old ordinary chocolate bar so they only needed to pay fifty cents. Sonic put the money in the jar and waved goodbye as Wilson and Mandy walked away with their chocolate bars. After they were out of sight, Sonic and Tails helped themselves to a bar each. Sonic picked a caramel chocolate whereas Tails picked a mint chocolate. Tails loved mint candy after all.
"What a good day its been." said Sonic "We've helped out a poor chocolate bar seller and there hasn't been any case of Dr. Eggman at all."
"Let's eat our chocolates in hope of ending this war with Eggman." said Tails, tearing the warping off of his chocolate and stuffing it into his mouth. But after one chew his face curled and he spat the chocolate out onto the pavement and licked his hands to get the taste off of his tongue. Sonic was puzzled.
"What's up Tails?" asked Sonic.
"That chocolate bar tastes like motor oil!" spluttered Tails "Who on Mobius made that one?"
Sonic sniffed his own chocolate bar. It didn't smell like chocolate, it smelt like a cross between chocolate and motor oil. Sonic put the bar in a bin nearby.
"Well that was weird." he said "Two of our bars taste and smell of motor oil. I certainly hope none of the others tasted the same way."
"Should we taste them all to see if they taste of motor oil?" asked Tails.
"Nah, we can just smell them." said Sonic.
So the two of them pulled out chocolate bar after chocolate bar, sniffing each one to see what it smelt like.
Dr. Eggman watched the two of them sniffing their haul with glee. His plan had obviously worked; Sonic and Tails had sold his chocolates to half the city so now it was time for the next step. He pressed a button on the control pad. It beeped loudly and silenced afterwards. Dr. Eggman cackled.
"Now it's time for my new minions to prove their worth to me!" he chortled "Sonic will have no idea what hit him!"
Sonic and Tails put the last chocolate in the bin. Every single chocolate they had sniffed smelt of motor oil. They both clutched their noses, clearly disgusted with the smell of motor oil burning their nostrils.
"Well that's funny." said Sonic "How did all our chocolates suddenly start smelling and tasting of motor oil?"
"Who knows?" asked Tails "I hope none of the chocolates we sold had motor oil in them."
"Well we'll find out sooner or later." said Sonic "If the chocolates we sold did taste of motor oil then we'll have an angry mob on us."
Then Sonic began to think. Chocolate with motor oil in it was starting to sound familiar somehow but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Then suddenly Tails began to shudder and shake as if he was desperately cold. Sonic noticed Tails' strange state. Then the little cub stopped shaking and looked down at the pavement.
"Hey buddy, you OK?" asked Sonic.
Tails didn't answer him. He continued to stare at the pavement. Sonic gave him a light shake.
"Tails?" asked Sonic.
Then Tails raised his head. But there was something different about him now. His eyes were no longer blue, they were red! And they looked like robot eyes too! Sonic flinched and stepped back. Tails roared an uncharacteristically strange roar that sounded more like it came from a lion then a fox cub. Sonic shuddered, this was not normal. Something was desperately wrong. Tails pounced on Sonic but Sonic dodged so he missed and hit the road. Sonic ran off but Tails flew after him, snarling like a lion. Sonic had no idea why Tails was acting like this but he had a vague thought on a possibility. Maybe the motor oil chocolate had something to do with it? Because Tails was just fine until he ate it. Then suddenly Sonic saw something and skidded to a halt. A crowd of Mobians were marching towards him. Their eyes were all red in colour and they had a particularly murderous look in them too. Even Wilson and Mandy had been affected and had joined the crowd! Sonic began to back away but the possessed Mobians continued marching towards him like zombies. They surrounded the speedy hedgehog and began to close in around him. Sonic looked around desperately for a way out as the Mobians advanced on him, roaring like a pride of lions…
Footnotes:
* See Story 2 for Mobotropolis' downfall
** See Stories 6-7 for Sonic's time with Bunnie in Megapolis
*** See Stories 8-9 for Sonic's time in Angel Island
**** See Story 1
***** See Arc 1: The Malicious Metropolis Masquerade from the spin-off title Sonic the Hedgehog: Tales from Mobius
****** See Stories 3-4
I don't consider this one to be one of my best but the next story is better I promise you.