Chapter 2 – Sonic's Surprise

Sonic's vision cleared. He blinked awkwardly and moaned slightly.

"Oh, what was that?" he said to himself looking around.

He was sitting on a muddy field surrounded by large rocks. The sky above was a strange purply-yellow colour. A small groan from next to him made Sonic look over. Amy was lying face down in a large muddy puddle. She slowly propped herself up.

"Why me?" she said before she noticed her surroundings, "What is this? What's happening?"

"I don't know Aimes. We were just in the palace. How did we get here?"

"I'm as clueless as you Sonic. But it certainly doesn't look like any part of Mobius I know."

"I don't know about that Aimes. Look."

Amy looked at where Sonic was pointing. Her face fell.

"That's…that's…….that's the Great River!"

"It sure looks like it."

"But that river runs through Mobotropolis. I've been along its entire length. There's no place like this nearby at all!"

"It appears things are slightly wrong. Maybe those red orbs have something to do with this."

"Maybe. But we should try to….."

"HALT INTRUDERS!" cried an electronic voice.

Sonic and Amy spun to see several large robots approaching. Before they could react they were both hit with a stun field and fell to the ground.

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The world slowly started to unfuzz. Sonic slowly blinked his eyes open. The sky had changed again. It was now a dull brown colour and looked like it was made of metal. METAL he thought. Sonic bolted upright. He was sitting on a metal cladded floor. He looked around him. Three walls we're just plain metal but the third was made up of a series of metal bars.

"A CELL?" Sonic said to himself completely aghast.

"Sonic? Sonic, that you?" said Amy's voice.

"Amy?"

"Sonic!"

"Where are you?"

"I'm not sure. Go to the bars."

Sonic walked over to the bars and looked out. Outside the bars there was a long corridor lined with cells on both sides. Sonic peered out of the bars.

"Amy?" he said.

"Over here."

Sonic looked to his left. Amy was in the cell on the other side of the corridor and one cell to the left.

"Amy. You ok?" asked Sonic.

"Yeah. I'm fine. What is going on?" replied Amy.

"I have no idea. But we're busting out of here."

Sonic took a step backwards and flung himself forwards. He became a spinning disc and sliced his way through the bars. He landed on the floor of the corridor.

"Stand back Amy." he said.

Amy did as she was asked. Sonic curled himself into a ball and threw himself at the locking mechanism of Amy's cell. The mechanism shattered and the cell slid open. Amy ran out and gave Sonic a hug.

"Time for that later. We have to juice." said Sonic holding out his arm.

Amy took hold of his arm and they shot down the corridor. For some reason the corridor he was in seemed familiar. Sonic turned a corner and screeched to a halt.

"Sonic? What's wrong? Why did you stop?" asked Amy.

Sonic was just staring out of a large window. Amy looked out as well.

"Oh my god. It can't be!" she said.

Out of the window they could both see a large metal cladded city. A large control building loomed in front of them.

"It is Amy. This is Robotropolis!" said Sonic not looking away from the scene.

"But….but HOW?! You destroyed Robotropolis nearly fifteen years ago!" cried Amy.

"I haven't a clue. But whatever happened, we have to get out of here. NOW!"

Amy grabbed his arm again and Sonic tore off down the corridor. They rounded another corridor and suddenly collapsed to the ground. A figure moved in the shadows.

"Interesting. Most interesting. I will have to report this." said the figure as his eyes lit up red.

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"Will you hurry it up!" said a female voice.

"Sorry sis, but if I rush this I could set off the alarms." said a male voice.

"If you don't hurry up we're going to get caught!"

"Don't you think I know that? Give me a second."

There were a few second of silence and a few electronic buzzes.

"Got it! We're in." said the male voice.

"Good. Now access his main database. We have to find out everything we can while were here." said the female.

"Gotya sis. Right…let's see what we've got. The "Top Secret" files are always a good place to start……..enter access code. Alright."

One of the figures inserted a small object into the console. There was a small bleep.

"Much better."

"Hurry up!" wined the female voice.

"Relax sis. I'm into the files now. Ok…..what we got…..hmm…..nothing much………schedules and……oh god!"

"What is it?"

"Look at this. They've captured him."

"But they can't have. He's already been……we have to help."

"Sis we can't. How are we supposed to storm his control centre?"

"Like we always do. Let's rock Manic."

"Ok then Sonia. Let's do it to it."

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Sonic's vision cleared again.

"Three times in one day. Why do these things always happen to me?" he said.

"The better question is what are you doing here at all." said a familiar voice.

Sonic's head shot to the side. He sprung to his feet. He couldn't see much. He tried to walk forwards but bumped into a large glass screen. His eyes widened. He slowly looked up and froze.

"A robotisiser!" he said virtually choking.

"Correct." said the voice again.

"Who are you?!" cried Sonic.

"I would have thought you'd have recognised me….." said a figure stepping out of the shadow, "….but as you haven't, here I am."

Sonic could just stare. Standing in front of him was himself. This Sonic was different though, he had been robotisised. Sonic continued to stare. Just then there was groan from Sonic's right.

"I see you're little friend has woken up. She really is interesting. The only person who even slightly matches her description is Sonia. But she isn't." said the robotisised Sonic.

Amy slowly got to her feet, realised where she was and screamed.

"Amy!" said Sonic.

"Sonic. Oh thanks god." said Amy spinning towards him.

It was then that she saw the other Sonic. She screamed again. Just then a door slid open at the far end of the room. A person walked through and Sonic almost died.

"ROBOTNIK!" he cried.

"Ah so you recognise me. Interesting. If this is Sonic here then who are you?" replied Robotnik.

Sonic suddenly felt a surge of anger and hatred rise up from his feet. It swept over him, enveloping him.

"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!" he cried.

"Well, well, well. If that is the case I'll just have to robotisise you too." said Robotnik.

Sonic's eyes widened and Amy cried out as Robotnik pulled a lever on the console next to him. The robotisisers above Sonic and Amy started to humm. Sonic's face fell as he felt the waves start to flow past him. Suddenly there was a loud musical sound and the robotisiser above Sonic exploded. A moment later Amy's robotisiser exploded too. Sonic was knocked against the floor. He glanced to the side the sound had come from. At first he didn't see anything but then a green and pink hedgehog leaped out of a small air vent.

"ARGH!" screamed Robotnik, "Sonic get them NOW!"

The other Sonic was about to move when there was another blast of sound and he was sent flying against the back wall by a large laser bolt. Sonic followed the bolt backwards to the pink hedgehog. She was holding a large electronic keyboard. Suddenly she yelled something.

"MANIC! You get them. I'll deal with chubby and metal head!"

"You got it sis." replied the green hedgehog.

Sonic crawled over to Amy. Amy was unconscious from the robotisiser beams. Sonic didn't feel to bright either. The robotisiser beams had made him slightly dizzy. He put his hand on Amy's arm and his head hit the floor.

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"So what do you think?"

"I don't know sis. It does seem strange."

"Strange?! More like totally impossible."

Voices started to fill Sonic's ears as he woke up. He let out a small moan.

"He's coming round. Maybe we can get some answers."

Sonic slowly opened his eyes. He blinked heavily.

"Four times in a single day. Why me?" he said slowly.

"Ok who are you?"

Sonic rolled over and sat up. He was sitting on a bed in a small room. There was a large bubble window above him. He looked over at the voice. It belonged to a pretty pink hedgehog. She was wearing a red top and purple skirt. She was also wearing a pair of purple elbow length gloves, red leggings and a pair of red and purple boots. Her hair was puffed up over the top of her head and she was looking at him with a cautious expression.

"Sorry?" said Sonic still slightly dizzy.

"She asked you who you are." said a green hedgehog stepping up behind the pink one.

Sonic couldn't help raising an eyebrow. His hair was stuck up at every possible angle making him look like some sort of punk rocker. He wore a red jacket and red and white sneakers similar to the ones Tails used to wear.

"I'm Sonic." he replied.

The pink hedgehog gave a small laugh.

"Like we're gonna fall for that!" she said.

Sonic was puzzled. Then he remembered the other Sonic. He put his head up and stared at them both.

"Give us some credit will ya!" said the green hedgehog, "Who are you?"

Sonic looked at then and gave a small snorting sigh.

"I am Sonic the Hedgehog. King of Mobius and ruler of Mobotropolis." he said firmly.

The two hedgehogs just stared at him. The green hedgehog leaned over to the pink one and whispered something to her. Sonic could still make it out though.

"I think he's serious sis."

"He can't be. Sonic is robotisised. If this is him, who is that other one and why doesn't he know us?"

"I don't know sis but……there's something about him. I don't know."

Sonic turned away from them and had a better look around the room. Amy was sleeping in a bed next to him. Sonic slid off the bed and went to sit next to her. He ran his hand through her quills.

"Oh Amy." he said quietly.

"And who's she?!" said the pink hedgehog.

Sonic spun towards them.

"Her name is Amy Rose a close friend of mine." said Sonic, "And more to the point, who are YOU!"

The two hedgehogs looked at each other for a moment.

"Like I said sis, he's serious." said the green hedgehog.

The pink hedgehog thought for a moment and then nodded.

"Alright. We'll tell you." she said, "My name is Sonia and this is Manic. We are…..huh……we are your siblings."

"What?!" cried Sonic, "But I have no living family. I never knew my mother and father and I certainly don't have any brothers or sisters!"

Just then Amy gave a small sigh. Sonic looked over at her as she slowly yawned and sat up.

"Amy, you alright?" asked Sonic.

"I'm fine Sonic." she said calmly looking over Sonic's shoulder, "Hello Manic and Sonia."

Sonic, Sonia and Manic gasped.

"How did you know our names?" asked Manic.

"Simple." she replied, "I am…."

"Of course!" cried Sonic, "This is another one of those Acolyte things isn't it?"

"Acolyte?" asked Sonia.

"Sonic. Please don't interrupt. As I was saying. I am an Acolyte and we just know some things."

"What is an Acolyte?!" insisted Sonia starting to get suspicious again.

"Nothing to worry about. We Acolytes are not dangerous….unless you cross us….which you have not done. Sonic what is going on?"

"You got me. We suddenly appear here after being in the palace, get captured, almost robotisised and then rescued by…..by my brother and sister!" replied Sonic.

"Brother and sister?! I thought you didn't have any!" said Amy.

"Wow, wow, wow!" interrupted Manic, "Two things. Why do you call him Sonic and what palace?"

"Because he is Sonic. He always was. And because that's where we were before we appeared here." snapped Amy becoming slightly irritated.

"That's enough!" cried Sonia.

The small medallion around her neck suddenly glowed and expanded into a full size keyboard. She pointed it at Sonic and Amy.

"Sis what you doing?!" cried Manic.

"Just precaution Manic. If you really are Sonic you would know about us. You don't and therefore you'll understand our reluctance to believe you. Now if you…."

Sonia's instrument suddenly glowed and shrunk back to its medallion size. The clasp unlocked and it flew from her neck. Amy put her hand up and caught it. She looked at Sonia.

"No-one threatens me. Not even people who just saved my life. You want proof. What's the one thing Sonic has that no-one else has." she said.

"His speed." answered Manic, "And we didn't see any of that either."

"Sonic is you please." said Amy.

"My pleasure Aimes." replied Sonic.

Sonic looked around the small room. There was a door with a few steps leading down to it at one side of the room. Sonic walked over to it and swung it open. He jumped out and turned round. He made a small noise as he saw that the room had been contained within a small van. Amy, Manic and Sonia joined him outside. Amy still held Sonia's medallion in her hand. Sonia was looking physically disturbed by this as if it made her sick not to have it.

"Sonic. Show them." said Amy.

"Be back in a Sonic second. Juice and jam time!" said Sonic.

Sonic revved his feet up and shot forwards. Manic and Sonia just stared as Sonic tore off behind a large rock and appeared from the other side moments later.

"Turn it up Sonic!" yelled Amy.

"You got it! WARP TIME!" cried Sonic.

He suddenly put on a massive burst of speed leaving a large flame trail behind him and creating a loud boom. A few seconds later he came to a sudden stop next to the gathering.

"I…….I………I can't believe it. Only Sonic is that fast." said Sonia staring at the blue hedgehog.

"You can have this back now." said Amy tossing her the medallion.

Sonia caught it and shuddered. She closed her eyes and a smile spread across her face. She quickly put it back on.

"Thank you." she said.

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"And that's how we ended up here." finished Sonic taking another sip of his cup of tea.

"That's incredible." replied Sonia slipping another mint into her mouth, "It's unreal."

"Sure is sis." said Manic staring at the wall, "Do you know anything else?"

"Nothing." said Amy, "We don't even know what really happened. It's like time has been altered or…..something."

"Well what ever happened, we don't know how to get back. We're stuck here." said Sonic.

"Speaking of here, where is here? What has happened to this place?" asked Amy.

Manic and Sonia looked at each other. Sonia sighed deeply.

"As you have probably guessed this is Mobius." she said.

"A few weeks after we were born Robotnik took over." continued Manic.

"We had to be separated for protection, raised by different people. When we were sixteen we found each other and started to fight back against Robotnik." said Sonia.

"After years of toil we succeeded. We were all reunited with our mother Queen Aleena." said Manic shaking his head.

Sonia let out a small sob.

"We thought we were safe. We didn't expect what came next." she said.

"Some how Robotnik survived and launched a devastating attack on us. Our mother was killed and Sonic was captured." continued Manic.

"He robotisised him!" wailed Sonia.

Amy was quick to react and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Since then we have been fighting against him again……..but with little luck. Without Sonic we just can't do much. The group just isn't the same." said Manic.

He turned round and opened a small draw. He took a small shining medallion from it. The medallion was shaped like an electric guitar.

"This was his before……it's all we have left of him now." he said.

"Haven't you tried to rescue him?" asked Amy.

"We have tried. Many times and failed every time. Even if we did rescue him….how could we turn him back to normal? We don't have any of this de-robotisising technology you speak of." cried Sonia.

Sonic shook his head. He didn't know what had happened but until he found out he had to do something. He got up and walked over to Manic.

"May I?" he asked motioning towards the medallion.

Manic just nodded slightly and held the medallion out. Sonic slowly took it and looked at it. He felt a strange urge flow through his body. It was almost as if the medallion was calling out to him. He ran his hand across it and the medallion glowed. Suddenly there was a small whine and it expanded into a full size electric guitar. Sonic had to move his hands so that he didn't drop it. Manic and Sonia heard the whine and looked at Sonic. They both stared as they saw him standing there holding a guitar.

"Sonic. What did you do?" asked Sonia totally stunned.

"I…..I don't know. I just touched it." he stammered.

"No-one has been able to activate Sonic's instrument apart from him……..wait." said Manic.

Sonia and Manic stared at each other and then at Sonic and then back at each other again.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Manic.

"I think so." replied Sonia slipping a glance at Sonic.