Maddie and Ozzy were gone by next morning, leaving Tom and Sophia back in Green Hills. Thank God she had school or else she wouldn't be able to stomach going over there already. The girl was having lunch with her friends Maeve and Lila. Maeve is a wild brown-haired Caucasian girl with brown eyes and freckles. She's 5'6 feet tall, and is wearing a pink tank top with light blue jeans and black leather knee-high boots. Lila has blonde hair in a high ponytail stopping at her chest, blue eyes, and a slender physique. She's wearing a yellow track suit with a white shirt underneath and white track shoes.
Her thoughts are wandering as she's picking at her food, thinking about San Francisco. Maeve and Lila glance at each other before looking at her.
"Uhh, Soph? Earth to Soph Wachowski," Maeve snaps her fingers in front of the girl and she blinks in alarm.
"Huh? Oh...sorry, it's just that...my dad got the job," She smiles weakly and her two friends blink in surprise.
"Oh, that's...great," Lila replies solemnly as the two frown. They were happy for Tom, but that did mean that Sophia was moving away...
"I don't wanna move, but he's given up so much that I can't deny him his dream," Sophia gestures to herself. "I don't wanna do that to him. I love my dad..."
"Well...at least we can throw a goodbye party," Maeve smiles optimistically. "We'll invite everyone in town!"
Sophia smiles back at her, glad that her friends would support her. "Did you hear Crazy Carl's ranting about the Blue Devil?"
"Ugh, again?" Maeve rolls her eyes at Lila's question. "Don't you remember that he's called Crazy Carl for a reason?"
"He claims he saw it," Lila shrugs a little sheepishly.
"Yeah, he says he heard him, but nothing is impossible," Sophia remarks, taking a bite out of her mashed potatoes. She chews as she thinks about the 'Blue Devil' and whether or not it's actually real...
Meanwhile, Tom is at his usual spot waiting for cars to pass by, standing boldly. "And so, it is with a heavy heart that I tell you all that I've accepted a position at the San Francisco Police Department, effective immediately. It's gonna be tough to leave my hometown and all my friendships. But this is something that I feel like I need to do to grow...as both an officer and a man."
It turns out that he was practicing his farewell speech and he's telling it...to his hood ornament. A pink frosted donut with sprinkles is wearing sunglasses as he beams.
"What do you think, Sergeant Sparkles? That wasn't so bad, right? Now, all I got to do is...tell everyone who isn't a donut. Maybe Soph could help."
Sonic stops behind a tree, noticing a baseball game up ahead. "Whoa, the playoffs!" He murmurs in awe. As the game continues, the hedgehog speeds over to the visitor stand. He ducks underneath as one of the players got a home run. He watches from behind the stands as the player high-fives his team and his mouth opens in amazement. The player gets lifted up into the air, praised for the win. The hedgehog smiles as that's what he wants too...
After the game, the players and their parents take off and leave. Night comes and the lights for the baseball field are turned on. Sonic walks onto the grass, examining the field. He smiles as he looks around.
"Wow...so cool..."
He then sees that baseball equipment is there and decides to have some fun with it.
"Bottom of the 9th, tie score, and exactly who you want at the plate with the game on the line: Sonic!" He wears a baseball cap as he swings the bat over his shoulder.
He then speeds over to switch positions, now the pitcher. "But staring him down from the pitcher's mound is the most fearsome southpaw in Green Hills: also Sonic!"
Now he's the batter again. "Okay...focus, Sonic. If you win this game, you'll be the most beloved kid in Green Hills."
He swaps to be one of the team players. He touches his face gently, slaps his cheeks, does some arm farts, and then some other motions. "Hit the guy in the left, he's a real space case."
Sonic then speeds over while blowing a bubble of gun, and it pops onto his face. He looks back in confusion before becoming pitcher. He sighs, rolling his eyes. "Ugh, I can't with that guy."
Then he becomes the catcher. "Hey, batter Sonic! Hey, batter Sonic! Suh-wing, batter Sonic!" He gives some gestures and then throws the ball. He speeds over to home base and hits the ball with the bat, which goes flying. He sniffs a flower, pretending to be clueless. He gasps sharply and gets onto his feet.
"I got it, I got it, I got it!" He dives for it, but misses the ball. "I don't got it."
Sonic runs over to first base and then he picks up the ball to throw it. It nearly hits Sonic as he runs past second base and then he goes for third.
"Go home, go home!" The hedgehog encourages as the coach. He stumbles a bit as he passes third, becoming the catcher.
"Come on!"
Sonic jumps and dives for home, which he slides over just as he catches the ball.
"Safe!"
He slides a bit further with a smile on his face. He gets back up and jumps in excitement. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes! I did it! Did you see that? I did it!" He holds up his hand for a high-five. "I did it..." However, no one is there. The place has been completely deserted at this point, so there's no one to congratulate him...he looks at the empty stands and pit, saddened.
"I really am alone..." He murmurs to himself, closing his eyes. "All alone...forever," He takes off the helmet and begins running. He circles around the baseball field, wanting to release his frustrations over his loneliness. Lightning surrounds the ring and himself as he picks up speed. He then lets out a cry of anguish as he releases energy.
This in turn destroys all the lights and a blue shockwave is released from him towards the city. He even destroys a satellite.
Once he calms down, he looks around nervously. "...I'm sure no one noticed that giant blue explosion, right?"
He then quickly leaves the field.
Phones are going off at the local police department, and Wade is just staring at the phone in terror. He phones up Tom from his regular phone, who sees the caller ID even with the lights off.
"Hey Wade," He greets as Sophia comes down the stairs while holding her phone with the flashlight on.
"Hi Tom. Uh, Wade here. What is going on?"
Sophia joins his side. "Hey Uncle Wade." Wade used to look after her while she was a girl, which...might've not been the best choice for a babysitter. But she honestly had fun with him when she was a kid.
"Soph! You gotta help me here!"
She shrugs cluelessly at her father, since she was only a high school student. "Well, gosh, I think the power's out," Tom replies as he tries to flip the lights, but nothing happens.
"Yeah, no dur! The lights are out, the whole town is freaking out. W-What should I do?" He starts to panic a little.
"Okay, relax. Take a deep breath. Call Gil, see if they can locate the downed line. Then call Zim and see if he can get his generator over to the Super Q so the food stays there," He feels a tug from his shirt as Sophia is looking up ahead.
"Uhh, Dad?"
He notices the same thing that she's looking at, which is the blue strand he found yesterday. "Call Zim before Gil? Call Gil—hello?!" Wade calls out to them.
"I'll call you back," Tom murmurs quietly.
"Wait, no, no! Wait! Hello?" Wade panics once again. "Was that the end of the instructions?" The call ends there and he looks around. "Okay, alright. You can do this. What was the first thing he said to do? ...Right," He nods in realization. "Relax." He steps back and tries to do so.
Tom and Sophia step up to the blue strand, which is glowing. Sophia opens her mouth in shock. "Whoa..."
Her father gently picks it up and examines it closely as it was even sparking.
At the Pentagon, the top members are talking to each other over the blackout.
"Twenty minutes ago, an energy surge knocked out power across the entire Pacific Northwest. What do we know?" Commander Walters of the US Armed Forces faces the other members of the military.
"Well, our first instinct was it was an EMP," The Chief of Staff from the Navy speaks up. "But electromagnetic pulses don't have that kind of power."
"NASA has ruled out meteor strikes or solar flares," The Chief of Staff for the Air Force explains.
"The Department of Energy says it's not a power plant malfunction," The Secretary of Homeland Security says to them.
"Well, sounds like we're really good at figuring out what it wasn't," Commander Walters says sarcastically.
"This could be a prelude to a larger attack," The Army Chief of Staff theorizes to them. "I'm suggesting we scramble the Fifth and Sixth Regiment."
"No, no, no, no," The Commander denies to him. "This needs a much more sophisticated mind. Someone who understands technology."
"You wanna send in a lab rat?" The Army Chief of Staff asks in disbelief.
"Not just any lab rat. A lab rat with teeth," The Commander corrects him.
"You're not suggesting who I think you're suggesting," The Air Force Chief states knowingly.
"I know he's a little weird," The Commander answers in acknowledgement.
"Weird?!"
"No. No. No way," The Army Chief shakes his head rapidly.
"He's a psychological tire fire!" The Air Force Chief points out.
"But he's also brilliant," The Commander argues back. "Five PhDs, IQ off the charts. And his drone tech is revolutionary!"
"You're sure he can handle this?" The Army Chief asks skeptically.
"He has a perfect operations record. Remember the coup in Pakistan?" The Commander reminds him.
"No."
"Or the uprising in Azerbaijanistan?"
"That's not even a country," The Navy Chief responds in confusion.
"Exactly. And you can thank Robotnik for that," The Commander folds his hands together.
"I can't believe you're bringing that freak into this," The Air Force Chief grumbles underneath his breath.
"Neither can I. But...we have no choice."
The next morning at the baseball stadium, the military is set up all over the place, and they also have lab technicians. They are taking samples, investigating, and then a black truck arrives on the scene, followed by several more black cars. The leader of the military team, Major Bennington, is talking to a soldier.
"Yes, major..."
The female solider steps away before she and Bennington turn around. The front of the black truck has a red camera lens on the top of it.
"What the..." Major Bennington murmurs in confusion.
The side door of the black truck slides down, turning into a staircase. At the top of it appears the very same man that the higher-ups didn't want to call: Dr. Robotnik. He has a black suit and robe, along with brown hair, a mustache, and sunglasses. His team and Agent Stone step out of their cars and join their boss, who walks down the staircase and goes over to the major, taking off his sunglasses.
"Are you in charge here?" He asks the man.
"Yes, I a-"
"Nope!" Dr. Robotnik rudely interrupts him.
"My-"
"Wrong!" He interrupts once more.
"My name-"
"I'm in charge!"
The major starts to get annoyed, as this man had waltzed in here and rubbed him off the wrong way.
"Is Major-"
"Me!"
"...Ben-"
"I'm in charge," Dr. Robotnik whispers to him. He points to an insignia Agent Stone is holding up. "You've never seen anything like this before. It says I'm the top banana, in a world of hungry little monkeys. Allow me to clarify."
He turns his head, moving like a robot.
"Zzt, zzt. In a sequentially ranked hierarchy, based on level of critical importance, the disparity between us is too vast to quantify," He speaks quickly before he goes at normal speed. "Agent Stone?"
Robotnik turns around and takes a few steps away from Bennington.
"The doctor thinks you're basic," He clarifies to the major.
"I'm initiating a sweep sequence," Robotnik orders and he presses several buttons from his glove. An LCD display underneath it comes to light. "Ten miles in every direction should suffice..."
The roof of the truck opens and several drones fly up, they resemble eggs with both color and the shape. Robotnik doesn't even need to look up to ask the question that's on his mind. "Is he still looking at me funny?"
"Yes, he is," Agent Stone confirms to him.
Robotnik lifts up his hand. "Tell him to stop, or I'll pull up his search history."
"If you don't stop looking at the doctor, he'll take a closer look," The agent repeats to Major Bennington."
"I'm not deaf," He glares at Robotnik angrily.
"And tell him his men report to me now," Robotnik replies in a bored tone not really caring whether or not Bennington could hear. "Blah-blah-blah, blah-blah-blah, blah-blah-blah..."
"Excuse me?! Listen, pal. I don't know if you realize who-"
Robotnik turns around, interrupting the major. "Excuse me, Major...What was your name?"
"Benning-"
"Nobody cares!" He exclaims loudly, interrupting the major once again. He shakes his head, stepping closer. "Nobody cares...Listen, Major Nobody Cares, you know why nobody cares who you are? Because nobody cares about your feeble accomplishments." He starts to circle Major Bennington. "And nobody cares how proud your mommy is that you're now reading at a third grade level."
"Hmm..."
"Have you finished Charlotte's Web yet?" Robotnik wonders incredibly, though that's to be mocking. "Spoiler alert: she dies in the end. But she leaves a big creepy egg sac!" He then admires his drones as they spread around in the air. "Ah...my babies. Hoo! Look what came out of my egg sac! You know what I love about machines?" He turns around again, spreading out his arms. "They do what they're told. They follow their programming! They don't need time off to get drunk and put the boat in the water!" He points at the major. "Now you do what you're told," He moves his hand. "Stand over there, on the edge of your personal abyss...and watch my machines do your job."
The frustrated man leaves, glaring at the man. Apparently no one had told them that Robotnik was even coming... Stone smiles and looks back at his boss.
"Can you feel it, Stone?"
"I can feel it, Doctor," Agent Stone confirms to him with a wide smile.
Robotnik then starts giving more commands. "It's evolution, Stone...it's evolution!" He makes a fist. He spreads his arms and lets his creations do all the work as they search the forest. They hover the ground, fly past the trees, and then one of them scans a footprint on the ground from a rock.
A spectrum analysis is performed on the footprint. Robotnik, sitting in his truck that has a bunch of technological stuff, presses several buttons to look at the image. Stone enters the truck.
"Agent Stone?"
"Doctor?" He answers and reaches him.
"Do you see anything useful in this image?"
"Nothing at all, Doctor," Agent Stone denies.
"Of course you don't," Robotnik scoffs at him. "Your eyes weren't expertly trained to spot tracks by the Native American Shadow Wolves."
Stone briefly looks at him in confusion. Robotnik uses his computer to change the footprint, revealing the shoe that the foot was in. He rolls back his chair so that Stone can see it.
"That's extraordinary..." Stone comments in awe.
"No. What's extraordinary is...I've determined the exact height, weight, and spinal curvature of this creature. And my computer can't find a single match for it, anywhere, in Earth's Animal Kingdom." He stands up, pointing at the screen. "This blackout was not a terrorist attack and that's no baby Bigfoot." He steps up to his desk. "This guy...is something else...entirely. Divert all search units to the site of the footprint. That's one small step for men, one giant leap for me."