In the middle of the lake, Tom was with Sonic and Manic in a rowboat as it was time for them to go fishing.
"Ahh, what a day. Thanks for coming out, guys," Tom said to the hedgehog brothers who joined him today. "You know, I feel like you and me, we haven't had much time together lately."
"Huh? Hey, it's all good," Manic replied. "You know us... we like this sorta thing!"
Sonic didn't answer right away as he seemed to still be a bit tired.
"Any bites yet, guys?" Tom asked.
"That's a big thumb's down." Manic frowned.
"Yeah, me neither," Tom nodded before he tried to give them some advice. "Just be patient. It's like my dad always told me: The key to fishing is patie—"
Snoooooooorrrrrreee...! Sonic's nose snorted hard as he fell into a deep sleep on the other side of the boat. His heavy head tilted to one side, then the other, and then it led his whole body off the edge and into the water. "Gah! Help!" The blue hedgehog cried as his face burst from the water. "I can't swim! Call the coast guard! Call the mermaids! Somebody save me!"
Tom reached into the water with a steady hand and pulled his friend back on board, getting a face full of spray up his nose in the process. "You're all right. Calm down," he said. "At least now you had a chance to catch up on your sleep. Maybe now we can have a talk."
"About what?" Sonic looked worried.
"Where do I start? The lying? The sneaking out? This reckless vigilante act?"
"So this was your big plan? Trap me on the high seas and bust me?" Sonic glowered. "You KNOW that water is my kryptonite!"
"This wasn't a trap." Tom's voice softened. "Me and Maddie are worried about you guys. We want to know why you're doing this."
"You wouldn't understand."
"Try me. Come on, I'm here to help."
"'Help'?!" Sonic was forceful, almost angry. "See, that's why I sneak out at night; because you still think I'm the scared little kid you found in your garage, but I'm not. I've grown up. I can take care of myself," He stood up in the boat, his little fists clenched hard. "I don't need ANYONE'S help!"
"Whoa, Bro." Manic frowned in concern.
"I know what I said!" Sonic told his brother firmly in defense.
"I get it," Tom said. "That's how I felt when I was your age; powerful, invincible... but you're still a kid, Sonic. Sonia and Manic too. You need to slow down."
"Me? Slow down?" Sonic scoffed in response. "You know who you're talking to here, right?"
"I know it's hard, but you're supposed to be teenagers, not superheroes." Tom reminded them.
"And you're supposed to be our friend... not our dad!" Sonic retorted.
Manic gasped. "...dude. The heck?" he remarked.
There it was. Tom set his jaw and looked at the kid eye to eye. Maybe Sonic was right. Maybe he'd been pushing too hard to be a parent when that's not what this kid needed at all.
"Okay. I'm not your dad," Tom said finally. "But me and Maddie care about you more than anyone in the world. We are your family. That means no matter how powerful you are, you don't have to do this alone. Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is ask for help."
"Then can you help me prove to you that I'm not 'still a kid'?" Sonic retorted. "Besides, you know, being a secret crime-fighting vigilante with my brother and sister.
Tom thought about it. If Sonic was going to prove he was responsible, he needed the chance to do it. "What about the wedding?" he finally offered. "Maddie's sister ties the knot next week. I'm leaving Deputy Wade in charge of the town. How about we leave you in charge of the house for the weekend while we go to Hawaii?"
"Really?!" Sonic's eyes hadn't lit up like that for a month.
"Really?" Manic added, though not as excited as his brother.
"We can try it, if you promise to go easy on the junk food, be in bed by 9:00, not watch any R-rated movies, and, most important of all, STAY HOME." Tom told Sonic.
"Deal! Now let's tell Maddie and make this official!" Sonic then shouted and began to paddle the boat so furiously that it turned in circles on the water. "Time for a little Sub-Sonic Speed Boost!"
"Yee-haw!" Manic cheered and laughed suddenly.
"Whoa! Sonic! Remember what I said about slowing down!" Tom warned the blue hedgehog.
Far above town, a storm was brewing. The cliffs darkened as the wind twisted and turned, picking up leaves and branches in its power as it howled over the hills. The debris swirled in a small twister, and sparks began to flicker in the air as if by magic. Something big was coming. Something that no one in this world would ever expect. Zam! A flash of lightning split a golden ring in the air, and soft feet landed on the ground.
"If these readings are accurate, he's here," said Miles "Tails" Prower. "I just hope I'm not too late."
The fox adjusted the dials on his handheld tracking device. The computerized scope had guided him for many months and across many worlds. He'd calibrated it perfectly to lock in on the unique chaos energy that radiated from the universe's greatest hero. Well... almost perfectly.
Tails had reached as many natural disasters, dangerous adversaries, and booby traps as a creature could find in the various zones of galactic civilization on his way. But whenever a planet would prove a dead end, his device would pick up another hint of that power, which seemed to be concentrated in one animal above all others. "Sonic," he said softly. "What kind of planet did you end up on?" Splitting his twin tails apart, the fox began spinning them like the blades of an airship and floated up above the green hills of a tiny village on the universe's most backwater planet: Earth. Even the most detailed galactic encyclopedias warned about this place: a land of war-making, animal-trapping primates and their barbaric tech. The young fox then set out on his quest to find a certain blue hedgehog while everything was still normal, well relatively normal, in the town of Green Hills. No one was more excited though than Wade, especially with what he and Tom talked about before Rachel's wedding this weekend.
"Sheriff for the weekend! Sheriff for the weekend! Wade, you are the greatest sheriff for the weekend!~" rang out the man's cracking, pitchy voice.
Tails observed the man cross toward a black-and-white transport of some sort. Its engine was already running, and the vehicle looked official with its golden badge on the door. But the man seemed less so.
"Oh, gosh!" Wade then said, patting his pockets all over. "Where'd my ticket book go? Can't keep the peace without the paperwork, Wade!" He got down on all fours and began to look for the missing manual.
"I get it now," Tails whispered to himself. "They put the village idiot in charge of security," But the vehicle seemed ideal to aid in Tails' quest. And coming from one officer of the law to a hero-in-training like Tails? Well, it was practically like he was commandeering the car. Borrowing it, really. "Combustion engine," He marveled at the transport's sputtering motor. "Crude technology, but I can make it work." Tails flew through the open window and studied the gearshift.
"Oh, there you are, you little rascal!" Wade called from the street. "How'd you fall into a sewer grate, huh?"
Tails had only seconds, but there was one key design flaw with the vehicle. A fox of his size couldn't reach the pedals! Tails flipped through the many devices on his tool belt until he found what he needed: his custom-made magne-flops. He slipped the flats over his sneakers, and their bottoms created the barest magnetic effect. They pressed the pedals down without Tails having to touch them. Vrrroooom! The transport tore off into Green Hills, and Tails heard the voice of its previous driver cry, "Hey! My car!" He'd have to make it up to him somehow. For one, he was going to have to upgrade this vehicle's capabilities before he brought it back. He could make the changes on the fly, and he'd need to soon if he was going to find Sonic... before it was too late.
Meanwhile, Tom and Maddie were packing for their trip after Sonic and Manic were brought back home from the fishing trip.
"How excited are you to go to Hawaii?" Tom smiled at Maddie who smiled back in response.
"Hold it!" Manic called out, wearing sunglasses as he tried to look like a security guard. "Before you folks go on your trip, we need to go over some regulations... Boss's orders." he then told them.
Tom and Maddie stood back as Manic did some rifling through the suitcases.
"...alright, everything looks pretty clean here." The green hedgehog responded, giving a thumbs-up in response.
"And you're not carrying any unmentionables?" Sonia added as she also wore sunglasses, though more stylish than her brothers' of course.
"Nothing you guys need to worry about." Maddie smirked out of amusement.
"Welcome to Hedgehog Air, the fastest way to travel," Sonic soon announced like they were at an airport. "Now boarding groups one and two."
"Aww, Sonic! This is so fun!" Maddie laughed out of amusement before she walked forward suddenly.
"I'm sorry ma'am, you're group three," Sonic said as he blocked her. "Please wait your turn."
"Anyone from groups one and two?" Sonia then asked.
"Just let them get it out of their system." Tom told Maddie out of amusement.
Maddie nodded as she complied as did Tom.
"Okay, anybody else?" Manic asked to check before nodding. "Right this way."
"Thank you." Maddie smiled as she walked forward, with Sonic pretending to scan her with the spatula as the blue hedgehog made scanning noises with his mouth, making Maddie laugh. As she went, Tom then walked up, with Sonic doing the same to him.
"Bzzt." Sonia soon did a buzzer sound.
"What's wrong?" Tom asked the female hedgehog.
"Terrible shirt detected," Sonia told Tom. "I'm sorry, sir, but that's out of season for Montana."
"How about Hawaii?" Tom smirked.
"...Well, all right, you're free to go this time, but be careful next time." Sonia then said with a nod.
"Thank you, Sonia." Tom smiled.
"Okay, you're free to go. Enjoy your trip," Sonic soon told the humans as he got a ring ready for them. "Buh-bye now."
"Okay," Tom replied before he bent down to their level and opened his arms. "Bring it in."
"Tom, I'm about to be hedgehog of the house for the first time while looking after my little brother and sister," Sonic then said. "I think I'm a little mature to hug you goodbye."
"Okay, what about a power bump?" Maddie suggested as she bent down and made a fist with her hand.
Tom then decided to make a fist as well.
"Now that, I can agree on." Manic smirked.
"Me too." Sonia added as they did the same.
"Yes! Power bump! That's more like it." Sonic cheered.
Soon, the five of them all power bumped as they all raised up and unclenched their fists. "Wachowski!" they then cheered together as a family.
"All right... Just one more thing," Manic said before he tossed a ring to Tom who then caught it in his hand. "Remember to use this one to get back home."
"All right, we're off," Tom nodded as they soon began to walk through the other side of the ring. "Okay, be good!"
"Yes, you have our number." Maddie added.
"Sorry, we can't hear you, you're traveling through a cross-dimensional portal!" Sonic called out as the ring proceeded to close.
"Miss you already!" Tom called out.
"Miss you more!" Sonia replied.
"Have fun at Rachel's wedding!" Manic added.
Maddie then gave the triplets an air kiss just as the portal closed. "You remembered to call Sally and the others to check on them, right?" she then asked Tom.
"Oh, yeah, definitely," Tom replied. "She said that sounded good, but she's gonna wait a couple of hours before she comes over so it's less suspicious." he then added.
The warp closed, leaving Sonic, Sonia, Manic, and Ozzy alone in the house... at last.
"Okay, it's 48 hours until they come back." the blue hedgehog smiled at his animal pal. "We've got 628 TV channels, a house full of food, and no supervision. Let's do... everything."
Ozzy barked in response.
Manic cracked his neck and knuckles. "Time to party hardy."
"I'm so there." Sonia agreed with her brothers.
"Then let's do it... Sonic Underground style." Sonic smirked at his siblings.
"Here Comes the Hotstepper" by Ini Kamoze began to play in the background as the hedgehog triplets proceeded to party in the house, doing the most outlandish things imaginable. Sonic jumped on the couch with food everywhere, Manic did a dance-off with different hairstyles, Sonic and Manic even skateboarded in the house and jumped over a pyramid of dishes, Sonia used a ring to buy food right out of the store, though made sure to leave money behind so it wasn't outright stealing, Manic drove a riding mower in the house, and they all brought inside an outdoor pool and had a pool party inside the house.
"Hmm... I wonder if we should invite Cherry and the others over here?" Manic commented after a while. "They seem pretty cool."
"Hmm... I guess that would be alright," Sonic shrugged. "I mean, they ARE our friends."
"All right then," Sonia nodded as she went to the phone and dialed a certain number. "Hello, Green Hills Hotel? I'd like to call Room 623."
Meanwhile at the hotel, Cherry and her friends hung around the hotel as they wondered when to visit Sonic, Manic, and Sonia before the phone suddenly rang.
"Well, speak of the Blue, Green, and Magenta Devils," Patch commented. "That's what Crazy Carl calls them, right?" he then asked.
"You're absolutely right." Atticus nodded at his Dalmatian.
"I thought so... even if they all look the same color to me." Patch remarked since he was a dog and was color-blind.
"Hello?" Cherry asked as she answered the hotel phone. "Oh. Hey, Sonia."
"Hey, Cherry, how'd you and your friends like to come over for a little while?" Sonia asked. "Since you're on vacation after all. Sonic's in charge, but we thought we'd like some friends over."
"Well, I suppose there's nothing wrong with that," Cherry smirked before looking at the others. "You guys wanna visit the hedgehogs for a bit?" she then asked them, though she was sure she already knew the answer.
"Sure!"
"Sounds good."
"I wouldn't mind."
"Count me in!"
"Definitely!"
"You bet!"
"Alright, looks like we'll be coming over." Cherry responded over the line.
"All right, come on down!" Sonia smiled. "You know where to find us."
"Deal, see you in a minute," Cherry nodded before hanging up. "All right, gang. Looks like we're due for another misadventure with Sonia, Sonic, and Manic."
"Should we tell them about what we saw last night?" Patch asked.
"Probably not," Atticus replied. "At least not right away since they're trying to have a good time while being home alone."
"Okay then, let's go visiting!" declared Lionel. "Should I portal us over, or teleport?"
"How about teleport just out the door?" Mo suggested. "Just in case we happen to walk in on something they don't want us to see."
"Alrighty." Lionel replied as he gave a nod of his head... and the group vanished!
Milliseconds later, they reappeared on the doorstep of the Wachowski household.
"Here we go, home sweet home," Thor told the others. "Well, not our home, but you know what I mean."
"Yeah, yeah." Cherry smirked as she rang the doorbell.
The triplets continued to have fun until a record needle scratch was heard and they opened the door, appearing on top of each other with Sonic on the bottom, Manic in the middle, and Sonia at the top.
"Hey, gang," Thor beamed. "Someone call for their good friends to come over for a little?"
"Yeah, sure!" Sonic nodded. "Anything to make this more interesting... after all, I'm in charge~" he then grinned boastfully.
The group made their way inside, though Lionel made sure to give Cherry her noise-protection headphones in case there was loud music. Cherry looked around as the music came back on before she nodded at Lionel and gave him two thumbs up, causing him to smile.
Meanwhile, Tails was still wandering on his own, trying to find Sonic as he made it through Green Hills. "Hmm... he's close. I just need a way to reach him without being spotted," he then said as he used his device before he found a police car parked outside the Mean Bean Coffee Shop. "Standard human transport. Perfect!" he then smiled.
Back at the Wachowski house later that night, Sonic was floating in the outdoor pool, using a flamingo floatie before hearing a vibrating sound. He then reached down to reveal his phone and showed Tom calling on FaceTime. "Uh-oh. Ehh, boy..." he then muttered. "Guys, quick! Evasive maneuver #13!" he then told his siblings.
Soon, the lights came back on as the triplets moved quickly together to clean up everything in the house before lying down on the couch together while Tom called in and he was shown on the phone screen so he could see and talk to all of them.
"Aloha! How's it going, guys?" Tom smiled as he checked on the triplets briefly.
"Oh, ya know. Just a quiet time at home." Sonic replied.
"We're just settling in with some good books and good company," Sonia added. "Our friends from Riverdale are here too."
"We hope that's okay." Manic concluded.
"Well, I suppose that's okay since they don't cause any trouble," Tom replied before he waved at the group who was at the house. "Hi, guys!" he then said through the screen.
"Hi!" Lionel and the others waved to Tom in unison.
"Good to see you guys again." Tom smiled.
"Likewise, Tom," Cherry replied. "Did the wedding happen yet?" she then wondered.
"Not yet, I just thought I'd call real quick." Tom explained.
"Yeah, well, everything's all coolio over here!" Manic reassured him.
"And you? Wazzup with you?" Sonic soon asked Tom, sounding a bit strange.
"Oh! just called to say we're here," Tom replied before he glanced at the blue hedgehog oddly. "But now, every word in your mouth is making me suspicious."
"What?! You gotta relax buddy!" Sonic grinned innocently. 'You're at the Four Seasons Oahu. Have a Mai Tai! Enjoy some time with your wife! Get sunburn somewhere embarrassing! This weekend is about you."
"We'll be just fine over here!" Sonia added.
"No trouble at all!" Manic nodded.
Tom looked thoughtful before he nodded at the hedgehog triplets. "Ya know what? You're right. We power bumped on it. So whatever it is you're doing, I'm sure you can undo it by the time we get home, yeah? Yeah?" he then admitted.
"Exactly!" The triplets quickly agreed.
"Uh... We mean, we are deeply offended by such accusations!" Sonic then added.
"...So, how's Rachel's fiancé?" Sonia soon asked, trying to change the subject. "Is he as good-looking as he was in his picture?"
Tom glanced over briefly before sighing. "Somehow, better looking." he then answered.
"...seriously?" Lionel asked, in disbelief.
"Wow! You're about to be the third-best-looking dude in the family!" commented Sonic. "Fourth, if you count Manic."
Tom laughed sheepishly, trying to play it off. "All right, I better go introduce myself. Stay out of trouble," he instructed.
"Trouble?" scoffed Manic. "No worries, Tombo! Everything here is mega-chill!"
"Bring us back something fun, okay?" Sonia added.
"I'll see what I can do!" Tom chuckled and smiled at the triplets. "Later, guys."
The triplets and the Toon Force group soon said their goodbyes as Tom hung up and tried to bond with his future brother-in-law after seeing him.
"Hey! I was just coming to see you." Tom greeted the groom.
"You got a lot of nerve coming here after what you did to my fiancée!" Randall greeted firmly.
"W-W-What?" Tom blinked and asked, sounding startled.
"Totaling her car, leaving her tied to a chair," Randall glared. "I should rip you limb from limb."
Tom soon stood there, speechless.
Randall glared at him before he then started laughing. "Oh, my God! Look at your face! Tommy, breathe, baby!" he then sounded friendly and playful. "Hey! I was kidding!"
"Okay!" Tom soon tried to laugh along with Randall. "You were kidding?" he then asked.
"Yeah! I'm sorry," Randall replied. "Rachel put me up to it. It was totally her idea."
"You rascal." Tom smiled as they bonded decently.
"Listen, I don't know if you're aware... Rachel does not care for you at all." Randall then advised Tom.
"Oh, I'm aware." Tom nodded in response.
Soon, Rachel and Maddie proceeded to walk up to Tom and Randall.
"Seriously bro, you got work to do." Randall advised.
"Hey!" Rachel greeted Tom once she saw him.
"Hey." Tom said with a nod in greeting.
"Good to see you. Thanks for coming, Tom," Rachel smiled innocently. "Really glad you came!"
"Really? Well, great! Great to see you too," Tom smiled back hopefully. "Congratulations. You guys seem really happy together."
"Ya know, you're all right, Thomas Wachowski. Can we bury the hatchet?"
"I'd love that."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"All right, bring it in!" Rachel beamed as she soon hugged Tom tightly and then whispered firmly in his ear. "And if you screw up my wedding, I will end you." she then threatened quietly in the hug.
Tom soon had a worried look on his face. He decided that now would be a good time to call Sally. Whatever helped get his mind off Rachel's veiled threat.
Atticus, Cherry, Lionel, Mo, Thor, Patch, Johan, and Johanna were soon relaxing a little after the phone call along with Sonic, Sonia, and Manic.
"So, guys, any plans for the night?" Mo asked the hedgehog triplets as Ozzy and Patch were trying to bond together.
"Well, I thought maybe we could settle in with a movie if you guys wanna join in." Sonic replied.
"Sure, what's the movie?" Cherry asked.
"I dunno... Whatever Ozzy wants tonight," Sonic shrugged. "It's his turn to pick."
"You're letting the dog pick?" Cherry asked in an almost deadpan tone of voice.
"We thought it'd be nice for him since he's man and hedgehog's best friend after all." Manic replied.
"I just wish AJ and the Queen could've gotten season 2 on Netflix," Sonia pouted to herself. "The internet doesn't know what it's talking about, RuPaul is a wonderful actor/actress."
"I wanted to watch that movie with the funny emperor guy," said Manic. "Y'know, Kingdom of the Sun!"
"That's a pretty good one." Cherry agreed with the green hedgehog.
"Let's see what Ozzy says first, guys." Sonic suggested.
"Well, all right." Manic and Sonia then said as they decided to acquiesce for the sake of being fair.
"What about popcorn?" Thor suggested. "Can't have a movie without popcorn."
"Great minds think alike, big guy." Sonic agreed to that.
Thor beamed as he decided to get popcorn for all of them as the movie was about to be set up.
"All right Ozzy, it's movie night at Casa del Sonic Underground and you're picking," Sonic told the family dog as they got settled. "But I am not watching Snow Dogs again. That movie is the wo-o-o-oooorst!~" he then added in a singsong tone of voice.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Sonic zipped upstairs to the window, and saw who was outside. "GAH!" he exclaimed before he zipped into the bathroom and did some preening before he zipped back downstairs, wearing one of Tom's neckties, having his quills combed back, and wearing a dinner jacket as he opened the door.
"...Sonic?" asked Sally, confused.
"Sally~... this is quite the surprise!" Sonic winked. "Welcome to Casa de Wachowski. Would you care to come in?"
"Uh... Yeah... Sure..." Sally smirked a little as she came inside.
"Come in, come in, make yourself at home," Sonic chuckled as he shut the door behind her. "Can I take your coat?"
"I'm not wearing a coat, Sonic." Sally reminded a bit dryly.
"Right, right, just making conversation," Sonic grinned. "You just make yourself at home, we were about to watch a movie."
"Okay," Sally commented as she came in. "Hey, Manic, Sonia, Sonic's friends," she waved.
"Hey, Sally." The others waved back as the redheaded girl came and sat down on the couch.
"So, uh, where did you guys say you were from again?" Sally then asked.
"Riverdale." The group replied.
"Riverdale, right," Sally nodded. "I hear some pretty crazy stuff happens around there."
"Yeah, Riverdale's kind of a weird place," Cherry replied. "Though... That's the least of our troubles in the lives we lead there~"
Suddenly, the lights shut off.
"Ohoho! Blackout!" Sonic exclaimed, before zipping away and returning with a flashlight and a blanket.
"So much for a movie night." Patch pouted to himself.
"Sonic? Where'd you go?" Sonia asked as she looked around.
"Oooohhh... Oooozzzzyyy..." Sonic soon moaned like a ghost.
Ozzy then whimpered and ran off suddenly.
"Oh, sorry buddy. Everything's okay." Sonic then told the dog kindly.
"Do you know where the breaker box is around here?" Atticus asked Sally. "My dad taught me about how to fix that."
"Sure, lemme show you." Sally nodded as she took out her cell phone, using the flashlight as she and Atticus went down to the basement together.
Patch whimpered a little.
"Come on, boy, you can come too," Atticus smiled at his Dalmatian before looking at his friends. "We'll be right back, guys. The power should be back on in no time."
Suddenly, the TV screen showed a static screen, startling Sonic and causing him to walk out of the room.
"Um, excuse me? We did not order a poltergeist, dude..." Manic shivered.
"ENNG!" rang a familiar voice from within the glitchy TV. In a blink, the wild-eyed scientist who haunted the triplets' nightmares filled the entire screen.
"Robotnik! He's back..." Sonia murmured.
"But how?" Manic wondered.
"This is a test, only a test, of the emergency broadcast system!" Robotnik called in a mocking monotone. "But it's about to get real..."
The doorbell rang, and Sonic turned his head toward it slowly. As if in a trance. Panic had slowed him to a halt.
"You might want to get that..." Robotnik called from the screen.
"Um, if this is the pizza guy, this is really unprofessional!" Sonic called as he shook off his nerves and sprinted to the door, the real Robotnik opened the door and walked through in the flesh.
"Eggman...?!" The triplets shook their heads in disbelief.
"Hello, spikeballs... did you miss me?" The warped scientist sneered. He looked different than before, as twisted and wild as he was on the inside.
"I don't know how you got back, but you made a big mistake coming here!" Sonia declared.
"Au contraire, mon frere!" corrected Robotnik. "The mistake was thinking that you'd won. But that was just a prelude, an hors d'oeuvre, an aperitif, an Amuse-bouche-"
"We get it." Manic spat.
"Oh, I don't think you do. But you're about to…" Robotnik mocked. "...and so will that idiot sheriff! And his wife! And your little dog, too!"
Fed up, Sonic charged at Robotnik, but a split second before he could smash in the villain's face, a gloved fist careened out of the corner of Sonic's eye and sent him flying. Wham! Sonic scrambled up from amid the wreckage of the coffee table that broke his fall, and as the room came back into focus, he saw something he never thought he'd see again… an echidna. Sonia and Manic rushed to their fallen brother before gasping at what he saw. Years ago, these creatures, these monsters, had taken everything from him when they killed Longclaw. They made the triplets into orphans and left them alone until Tom and Maddie had accepted them. And now a massive echidna was staring him down. The animal was muscular, a born bruiser. And his thick red fur grew out in braids that may have well been a weapon of their own. But nothing was compared to his fists. Beneath white gloves, they held huge knuckle spikes. Sonic could still feel them on his cheek.
"Pitiful." scoffed the echidna.
"What...? Who are you?" The blue hedgehog asked, dizzy.
"Where are my manners?" Robotnik butted in. "Hedgehogs, meet Knuckles. He's my new B.F.F.A.E.: best friend forever... and ever." The villain giddily tap-danced around the room.
"Robotnik! I might have known!" Atticus glared at the scientist.
"We all did." Cherry reminded him.
"Ah, yes... Your band of friends that helped aid you in my defeat," Robotnik smirked at the sight of Atticus, Cherry, Lionel, Mo, and Thor. "You all won't be so lucky this time now that I have the help of Knuckles the Echidna."
"Look, Robotnik, we don't care who you bring to help you," Sonic challenged. "You're never gonna get my power."
"Do I look like I need your power?" Knuckles scoffed in response as he raised his fist to reveal red chaos energy coursing through it.
Sonic soon dashed at Knuckles, only for Knuckles to punch him straight through the wall, making him fall backwards. Sonic then regained consciousness and looked to Knuckles, standing across from him, pounding his fists together.
"So nice when diabolical evil lives up to the hype!" Robotnik smirked as he decided to help himself to Thor's popcorn.
Sonic then got up to face Knuckles, who stood his ground.
"Where is it?" Knuckles soon demanded.
"Oh, you want it? Here it comes!" Sonic retorted as he started building up his own chaotic energy, looking sternly at the red echidna.
"I was expecting more of you," Knuckles scoffed at the blue hedgehog. "You're unskilled, untrained, and unworthy!"
Robotnik gobbled the popcorn with his mouth open.
"You forgot one," Sonic glowered at Knuckles. "Unstoppable!"
"And he's got us with him!" Sonia and Manic added in unison.
"Not to mention us and our friends, so we're not afraid of any enchilada!" Thor glared.
"Echidna!" Knuckles corrected firmly.
"I know what I meant!" Thor kept his glare. "You're both going down!"
"It is my destiny to do what my ancestors could not: to restore the ultimate power to the home of my people!" Knuckles recited the words like a prophecy.
"Ultimate power, you say?" Robotnik was almost startled at the words. It was Sonic's opening. He had to get them distracted.
"I don't know what you're talking about... You've got the wrong guy!" The hedgehog reached his hands toward the rubble. He saw his satchel, blown outside in the shockwave and tangled in a mess of broken furniture.
"Don't play dumb with me." Knuckles shook him hard. "Children of Mobius… apprentices of Longclaw."
"You knew Longclaw?"
"Longclaw and her people were the sworn enemy of my proud echidna tribe. We fought and died at their hands, and now you will die at mine." Knuckles began to squeeze Sonic's throat, and the world around Sonic started spinning into darkness.
"Sonic!" Manic and Sonia cried out for their brother.
"You two are next." Knuckles warned the remaining hedgehog siblings.
"We gotta help them." Atticus whispered to his friends.
"Yeah, but how?" Mo wondered.
"Well, we better think quickly," Cherry suggested. "It's not like a solution to our problem is gonna come crashing through the yard."
Suddenly, as if on cue, a police car crashed through the fence, heading right toward Knuckles, who let go of Sonic, but got hit and sent into the green house with Robotnik startled by the ordeal.
Cherry glared at Atticus in suspicion, but he shook his head to reassure her that he had nothing to do with that.
"Come on! Get in!" A familiar face called out from the driver's seat. "I'm on your side!"
"Uh, who the heck is this kid?" Sonia wondered.
"We probably don't have time for an answer right away." Manic said as he looked to a groaning Knuckles, who started to regain consciousness.
"Ya know what? It doesn't matter." Sonic agreed as he and his siblings soon got into the car.
"Whoa, you're not leaving us alone with that egghead and that enigma, li'l buddy. Come on, gang!" Thor told the fox in the driver's seat as he suddenly grabbed Lionel to take him along for the ride.
"Whoa! Time to go-go-go!" Lionel called. "Also, that's twice you got the name wrong."
Sonic had to think fast. Somehow, Robotnik escaped Mushroom Planet, and he brought a friend with him. It was too wild to think about! Speaking of friend, Knuckles was surely on their trail by now, but whatever powers the echidna had to block Sonic's speed, he didn't seem to travel so fast himself.
"Wow! Let me just say that it is an honor to finally meet you, Sonic. Is it okay if I call you Sonic?" The fox chattered away as he whipped the squad car through the neighborhood at one hundred miles an hour. "Everyone calls me Tails. You're probably wondering why."
"Because of the extra tail?" Sonic guessed as the furry twin appendages wagged behind Tails.
"That's right! I should have known you'd get it."
"Cool. Very cool," the hedgehog said, and took a deep breath. "Also: WHAT IS GOING ON?! Robotnik is back? And who is Clifford, the big red rage monster?"
"That's Knuckles. He's the most dangerous warrior in the galaxy. He thinks you're the key to finding the Master Emerald." Tails spoke like these were commonly known facts. Like this craziness was no different than knowing what was on TV that night.
"The Master Emerald?" Sonic recalled the term from his childhood; legends that Longclaw would tell him and his sibs. "That's just a bedtime story."
"What's The Master Emerald?" Johanna wondered.
"It's said to be a gem of ultimate power with the ability to turn thoughts into reality," Sonia explained. "Longclaw told us a story about it when we were little."
"Which Knuckles believes to be real, and he must think you're the key to finding it." Tails then added as he looked at the blue hedgehog.
"Tails, stop the car! That's a red light!" Sally suddenly cried out as she saw a red light coming up on the road.
"Give me the wheel!" Sonic told Tails as he pushed the fox away and took the wheel.
"Hey! What are you-" Tails blinked and asked.
"Move your foot!" Sonic told him as he drove right past a Splash Hills water gallon truck and looked to see that Knuckles was no longer on their trail, making the blue hedgehog sigh in relief. "I think we lost him."
Patch's left ear went in the air before he looked out the window and whimpered as he could sense something else coming. Knuckles suddenly dashed right through the truck and leaped onto the roof of Sonic and Tails' car, ripping off the siren lights and punching right through the roof, making Sonic and Tails scream.
"We did not lose him!" Patch panicked. "We definitely did not lose him!"
Knuckles soon ripped the car door off, just as they headed for a cliff road.
Tails then looked down to see the dropping ground as they headed for a turn in the road. "I got an idea! Do you trust me?" he then said and asked the hedgehog triplets.
"Of course not, dude!" Manic replied. "We literally just met you!"
"I have an idea too, buddy," Thor told the fox. "Just leave us in the car and trust me."
"Are you sure?" Tails asked.
"Yes, now do your plan so I can do mine." Thor nodded.
"Well, okay, just let me-" Tails told the warlock teen before speaking to the hedgehog triplets again as he took the steering wheel and drove right towards the turn.
"You guys grab onto me and close your eyes." Thor told his friends.
"Close our eyes?!" Johan and Johanna asked out of concern.
"What are you up to?" Sally added.
"Just trust me, okay?!" Thor replied as they soon joined him and did as he asked s he closed his own eyes for a moment.
Soon after, they drive right off the edge as Tails proceeded to grab Sonic's hands as Manic grabbed Sonic's waist and then Sonia grabbed Manic's feet, and Tails used his twin-tails to fly them out of the car as Thor and the others suddenly disappeared in a BLIP! of bright light. Knuckles then leapt out and slammed the spikes on his gloves into the side of the cliff as the car exploded against the ground below and there was another bright light on safer ground.
Thor opened his eyes as he and his friends were huddled together before he smiled. "Okay, you guys can look now." he then told them, though they seemed to be missing Tails and the hedgehog triplets right now.
"...what the heck?" Lionel asked as he opened his eyes and glanced around.
"Everybody okay?" Thor asked his friends.
"Yeah, but what just happened?" Johanna asked as she looked around in confusion.
"Yeah, what happened?" Johan added.
"Oh, ya know... Just the magic of friendship." Thor smiled innocently in response.
"That's a wee bit corny, innit, big guy?" Lionel asked.
"Yeah, I heard it as soon as it left my mouth." Thor replied.
"Then what about Sonic, Sonia, and Manic?" Mo asked. "Did you save them too?"
"Nope." Thor said.
"WHAT?!" The others cried out nervously.
"Thor, I thought you knew better than that!" Cherry yelped. "You're not the kinda guy to leave friends for dead!"
"Relax... Tails said he had a plan, so I let him do his and I did mine." Thor reassured the perky goth with a small smile.
"See? There they are!" Lionel pointed as he saw Sonic, Sonia, and Manic with Tails.
"Oh, yeah, they're flying with that fox," Cherry said before doing a double-take with wide eyes. "Flying with the fox?!"
"Whoa..." Patch whispered in shock.
"W-We're flying," Sonic smiled before he looked up at the fox above him and his siblings. "Um, did your butt just turn into a helicopter?"
"Hahaha, a butt-copter!" Tails laughed as they continued to fly away. "Only Sonic the Hedgehog can come up with something like that."
Manic laughed too while Sonia rolled her eyes slightly.
The fox and the hedgehog triplets proceeded to fly away as Robotnik arrived on a riding mower that he got off and kicked indignantly as he watched his targets get away. "Hmm... Foxy move..." he muttered before raising his control glove and tapping on it. "Want something done right, you'll have to hire someone you can push around. All-caps." he then said to himself.
"Come on, guys," Johan said to the group. "We better go after them or we'll get left behind." he then added as a suggestion.
With nods traded all around, the others headed out after their friends. As they did that, Robotnik decided to take care of some business of his own.
Sonic, Manic, and Sonia began to look around for a place to go after Tails flew them to safety as it was getting dark outside.
"So, where are we going now?" Atticus asked the hedgehog triplets.
"Either at Wade's place or our special hideout with Sally and the others." Manic replied.
"We might as well go to Wade's," said Manic. "It'd probably be the best course of action."
They soon made it to where they decided to go which was in Wade's garage.
"Uh, guys? Where are we?" Tails soon asked out of confusion.
"Welcome to the Wadecave!" Wade announced to his guests. "Which is something I hope to say to a woman that's not my mom."
"Wow." Cherry rolled her eyes in reply.
"Tell me about it." Wade agreed, seeming to miss her sarcasm.
"Listen, Wade, we need to figure out why that echidna thinks that Sonic is the key to finding the Master Emerald." Sally said to the human man.
"And why did he mention Longclaw?" Manic wondered.
"There must be a connection." Cherry guessed with context clues.
"Wait a minute, there is," Sonic realized as he brought out his map of safe worlds and pointed to the Emerald on it. "There's an Emerald on the map Longclaw gave us. Me, Sonia, and Manic never knew what it meant before." he then told the others.
In the light, the fox could see its stated purpose: pictures of worlds within worlds. Every habitable planet on this side of the universe was represented by visual markers. Looking at these would allow anyone who bore warp rings to teleport across the stars. It could have helped Tails when he was searching for Sonic and his sibs, but tech had always been the fox's strong suit. And he knew he could put that to good use now.
"I always just thought this was a map of places we could hide... and other weird things I didn't understand at all." Manic said.
"It's more than that," Tails leaned in close to examine some shimmering ancient writing along the map's edge. "Watch this. Hold it up to the moonlight."
Tails and Sonic lifted the map up to the window, and as the beams of moonlight shone through, they amplified the writing. It was as if they were charging ancient electrical circuits embedded in the paper. And the circuits in turn projected the shape of a familiar owl into the air above their heads.
"Longclaw..." Sonic, Manic, and Sonia said in an awed tone.
"Hello, dear ones. If you're watching this, then something has happened to me and I pray that you've made it to Earth unharmed," Longclaw soon said through the hologram. "This world has been chosen for a very important reason. It's the secret location of The Master Emerald." she then added as she spread her wings out, revealing an image of The Master Emerald, amazing everyone.
"Whoa..." The hedgehog triplets whispered in amazement.
"The emerald has the power to turn thoughts into reality." Longclaw continued.
"Just like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters." Wade whispered to himself in amazement.
"Shh!" The others shushed him.
"In the wrong hands, it can threaten all life in the universe," Longclaw continued from the hologram. "Protecting the Emerald was my sacred duty, and now, I must pass that responsibility to all of you."
"This is our moment." Sonic told Manic and Sonia.
"Follow the map, find the Emerald, and keep it safe," Longclaw then said. "Sonic, Sonia, Manic, you all have hearts like no other creature I've met. I love you so all much. Goodbye." she soon concluded as her holographic image began to sink into the map and fade.
Longclaw's image faded away, and everyone stood in awed silence.
"...Mom." Manic uttered, his eyes wide.
Sonic just bit his lip and tried not to cry.
"Can you play that again?" Wade said at last. "I got, like, none of that."
"She means that the Master Emerald is the ultimate concentration of power in the known universe," Tails explained. "And only Sonic has the power to track it, contain it, and keep it away from Knuckles and this Robotnik. All we've got to do is follow these directions." Tails tapped the map with a small tool, sending a current through its advanced circuitry. The parchment transformed before them into a new kind of map: a map full of mountains, oceans, and more recognizable elements.
"Whoa," said Wade, for once echoing what they were all feeling. "Is this where you guys come from?"
"No," Sonic said. "This is Earth."
"Looks like the first clue is hidden in these mountains in eastern Siberia." Tails quickly compared the diagram to a chart on his tracker device. "There we'll find a compass that will guide us to the location of the Emerald."
Sonic crossed his arms. "There's still so much I don't understand," he said. "Knuckles mentioned something about... Mobius?"
"The traditional home of our kind," Tails said. "If Knuckles gets his hands on the Emerald, it's not just this world that will be in trouble, Sonic. They say the Master Emerald grants its bearer power to bring anything they think into reality. But it's too chaotic. That's why Longclaw's tribe hid it. No one can hold that power and remain uncorrupted."
"And Robotnik is as corrupt as they come." Lionel declared in a gruff tone.
"Knuckles? Ya know, I knew a kid in middle school named Knuckles. Could fit his whole fist in his mouth," Wade spoke up. "If this is the same Knuckles, then we're screwed."
"Thank you for sharing that, Wade, but I doubt it's the same Knuckles." Cherry rolled her eyes.
"This Knuckles, that Knuckles, doesn't matter. We're gonna get there first," Sonic replied as he threw a ring and opened a portal to show Siberia on the other side. "Tails, you're coming too." he then decided.
"Uh... Heh... Me?" Tails chuckled nervously. "Oh, no, no, no, no. I-I just came here to warn you. I'm not a field guy."
"Don't worry, I got your back. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you," Sonic then said as he made a fist and lifted it to the young fox, walking over to him. "It's a power bump. On Earth, it means an unbreakable promise." he then explained.
"We'll be there too." Sonia added.
"You'll be like our own little brother." Manic said with a small smile.
"...I always did want big brothers and sisters..." Tails paused before he smiled back and decided to power-bump Sonic back. "Okay, I'm in!" he then decided.
"Way past cool!" Sonic grinned before turning to Sally. "You coming with, Sal? Buttnik might come back."
"I might as well come along too," Sally replied before smirking. "Only if you listen to some rules that should be followed, Sonic Hedgehog."
"Uh, right, of course," Sonic smiled innocently. "Have I ever wronged ya before?"
"Hmm..." Sally rolled her eyes in response. "Lemme think about that."
"We don't have a lifetime, Sally," Sonia told her. "We better get out of here now."
"Yeah, let's party hardy." Manic added.
"I'm gonna take a wild guess that we should go along too?" Cherry soon asked her friends.
"Like you really need to ask." Lionel smirked.
"Right, right," Cherry nodded. "Before we go though, we might need to warm up a little."
Thor and Lionel smiled at that before they gave them all something warm to wear.
"All right, let's go." Cherry then said before they stepped into the ring together to go into the snowy wilderness.
Meanwhile, at a place known as The Mean Bean Coffee Café, Agent Stone was shown smiling as he seemed to have some art of himself with Robotnik in a cup of coffee foam until he heard the bell ring when someone came into the café. He then smiled a bit more once he saw who was there. "Doctor. It's really you. You look different." he then greeted the other man.
"Papa's got a brand new 'stache!" Robotnik announced as he did a spin and posed,
"I knew it. I knew it! I knew you'd come back, sir," Stone beamed as he came to give his former boss some coffee. "I never stopped steaming your Austrian goat's milk."
Robotnik then took the cup and drank it just as Knuckles entered. "Could use some mushroom." he then commented.
"You brought something," Stone noticed as he took a look at Knuckles. "Some kind of space porcupine."
"Porcupine? I am an echidna!" Knuckles scoffed and corrected. "Trained since birth in all forms of lethal combat, destined to restore honor to my tribe, and willing to destroy anything that gets in my way."
"Welcome to the team." Stone nodded as he bent down and lifted his hand which Knuckles gripped immediately. Stone then shrieked in pain as he heard his bones dislocate.
Robotnik chuckled as he bent to Stone's level. "That means he trusts you, Stone," he then told his partner. "Now let's renovate this dump!"
"Latte with steamed Austrian goat milk!" Stone soon announced eagerly once he regained his composure.
"Also, we have even more pests who have come into town, so we better keep an eye on them too." Robotnik then added, referring of course to Atticus, Cherry, Johan, Johanna, Lionel, Mo, Thor, and Patch.
Stone stepped up to the chromium pipes of the café's high-end coffee maker, placing his face in front of the main steamer where a red electric sensor was suddenly activated. The light of the retinal scan blinked up and down his eye, and in a moment, the tanks and fixtures of the machine began to shift and rotate, transforming into something completely new.
"I followed your instructions to a tee, sir," Stone said as a computer screen emerged from inside the bean grinder. "From The Robotnik Manifesto, section 5, article 12: 'In the event of my capture, disappearance, or account suspension on social media, construct a secure safe house built to my exact specifications and await my return.' "
Stone had memorized it. A nice touch, but Robotnik was more impressed that the mobile command center that had just assembled itself in the coffee shop contained his sound system and treadmill. Even a genius needs to get his steps in.
"Sir, there is something you should know." Stone said in a sheepish tone.
"Is there? Bring it."
"After you vanished, the government dissolved all record of your identity."
"What?!" Robotnik was used to seething with anger at the rubes in Washington, but this was beyond the beyond. "Those mouth-breathing Penta-goons! They think they can make me disappear?!"
"They also froze our assets and bank accounts," Stone said.
"That's nothing a little 'high tex-ploitation' can't solve!" Robotnik quickly hacked his way through a few dozen billionaires' bank accounts for funds while Stone brought him a fresh latte. "They'll never get away with it, sir," he said.
"One step at a time, Stone," Robotnik grinned, finally fully in his element. "A proper revenge on this planet and its feeble protectors requires direction, dedication... and one dead hedgehog."
"You mean three dead hedgehogs, sir?" Stone asked.
"Something like that, yes." Robotnik then nodded.