CHAPTER 3: The First Gig

1/5/2022

Sonic's fingers glided skillfully over the strings, as the guitar's bright, powerful sound magically transmitted itself to a couple of amps behind him. The club's patrons began cheering as he began to break off from the original riff and improvised a fast and wild solo. He fell to his knees and wrapped up the solo by playing the guitar with it over his head, which drove the crowd wild. "And I'm just getting warmed up!" Sonic announced. Then, he heard the door open and turned towards it. Coming in was Manic, who immediately saw Sonic's guitar, and hopped up on stage.

"That was a sick riff, dude! Mind if I put a beat to it?" Sonic glanced down at the other hedgehog's medallion and gasped softly. "Yeah… hey, outta curiosity; how long have you had that?" he said, pointing to it. "This thing? All my life, I guess. Why?" The green hedgehog asked. Sonic leaned in to whisper. "I know this will sound crazy, but focus on that medallion and set the music in your heart free." Manic looked puzzled. "What?" "Just focus on what music makes you feel, and then focus those feelings into the medallion. Trust me, dude." Manic scratched his head and shrugged. "Alright, dude..?" He took his place on the stage and did what Sonic told him. In a few seconds, a high-tech looking drum kit suddenly appeared. "Woah, dude! Did I like… make this happen?" Sonic tilted his head back. "You sure did, pal! Now, give me a beat!" Manic nodded, and pulled out his new drumsticks, and started banging away as Sonic jammed to a new riff. Manic then called over the sound of the crowd to Sonic. "Hey dude, you know what this needs? Some BASS!" And, as if on cue, Sonia and Bartleby came in next.

The young female hedgehog pointed at her two brothers. "You guys rock! Is there a keyboard in here?" Sonic turned his head and took note of her medallion "No, but get up on stage and focus on that medallion of yours and wish for one, and there will be!" he said, grinning. Sonia was more than a bit confused (and Bartleby was too shocked to say anything about it), but the girl got up on the stage regardless, and soon enough she made a keyboard disappear, driving the crowd even crazier. Sonia let out a loud "wow," then immediately began choosing some voices for her keyboard, and began slamming down on it, playing a meaty bassline with her left hand, and providing rhythmic organ chords with her right. Sonia then gasped and motioned for her siblings to stop. "Hey… what if we stopped messing around and played an actual song for these people? Like, with vocals and everything?" Sonic looked to her. "You think we can do that?" Sonia rolled her eyes playfully. "Well, we were able to harmonize and synchronize to an improvised practice song, so I think making up a proper song should be within our apparent skillsets." Sonic grabbed the mic and began to address the crowd. "Good evening. We're…" he turned back and mouthed a name to his siblings, who gave him a pair of thumbs up on it. "…Sonic Underground. And this is a song we call… Together."

"There was a time when all I'd do was run away and hide

But now I won't back down, since I've got friends by my side

You can't keep us down, like a phoenix gone in a flash

We'll come back to life and rise up from the ash

Cause we're together now, together forever and ever…"

Sonic took the lead with the vocals, continuing on about the things he and his band could accomplish. It was a powerful, if a bit cheesy song, with upbeat overdriven guitar riffs and a groovy slap bass, tied together with a up-tempo drum groove. With how cohesive it was, you'd swear they had written the song beforehand. Everyone in the crowd began to feel a sense of hope being instilled in their hearts as they went on, eventually clapping to the beat. All three hedgehogs got very lost in the song they were playing, feeling a unique connection they'd never felt before. Finally, the time came to end the song, which Sonic ended with a sustained, shimmering chord. The club's patrons then got up and gave them a standing ovation. "Thank you! Thank you!"

Sadly, the joyous moment was cut short, as everyone felt a rumbling in the ground. "What the… like, what's that sound," Sonia asked, shakily. Before she could get an answer, a large robot not unlike the kind that kidnapped Uncle Chuck punched through the wall, sending everyone into a panic. "SEARCHING FOR EVINRUDE, ZELDA, AND AGREUS…" the robot boomed monotonously. "W-what's going on?!" Sonia wailed. Sonic grabbed her shoulders and began to speak quickly. "This might sound crazy, but me and that green dude are your brothers, and that robot is out to get us!" Manic looked at his apparent brother in disbelief. "We ARE?" Sonia butted in. "But those aren't even our names!" Sonic grabbed them by the hands. "I'll explain later. Right now, we gotta juice on outta here!" He quickly peeled out between the robot's legs and out of the hole it made. Sonic zoomed into another alleyway, and let his siblings go. "Get somewhere safe and meet me at the old west-side plaza in an hour. Go!" Sonia and Manic nodded. Sonia took off running, and Manic took his board out of his bag and expanded it to it's full size, and zoomed away.

Sonia made it a point to get back to her mother's house. Oh, I hope mother won't be too mad that I disobeyed her… she worried to herself. She took every shortcut she could find, eventually making her way to the Windermere Estate. She was just about to sneak in when she heard a scream. "Oh no, that's mom!" Then, a horrible feeling came over her. "Oh no. It better not be what I think it is..!" She did away with unlocking the door and instead kicked it down, running up the stairs to her mother's room. She was greeted by a horrifying sight; her mother being held captive by robots. Lady Windermere gasped, and shouted at Sonia. "Run, Sonia! Run!" Sonia clenched her fists. "I… I don't want to leave you!" She threw a punch at a robot that began advancing towards her, sending it back several feet. A few more robots came up to her, attempting to subdue her, but she dodged them, and disoriented them with martial arts moves. However, more robots suddenly arrived behind her. Sonia realized there was no winning this fight, and looked for a way out. She saw a glass door leading to the balcony, and flung it open. "I love you, mom!" she shouted, as she slid down a pole attached to the bottom of the balcony.

Elsewhere, Manic was zooming back to the base, trying to stay out of sight. "I shoulda stayed with Farrell, I really shoulda stayed with Farrell," he cried quietly. He drifted around a sharp corner, boosting his way to the alley, leaving a trail of flying dust and litter behind him. He hopped off his board upon reaching the door, and collapsed it. Please let everyone still be here, he thought to himself. But when he opened the door, no one was there. Sasha wasn't there. Spiker wasn't there. Not Teo, not Eileen, not anyone. And especially not Farrell. What was once a small house filled with life was now dark and empty. Manic checked every room to be sure, but found nothing. "They got him. They got everyone." Manic stood in the hallway in absolute silence for a minute. Tears dropped out of his eyes as he clenched his fists. He turned in the direction of the stairs that lead back to the living room with a burning rage. "I'm gonna get them back." He began going through all the rooms, taking things he figured would be useful, and stuffed them into his bag. As he headed out the door, he bowed his head in sorrow. "Farrell, I'm so sorry. Hang in there." He took a deep, determined breath, and hopped back on his board.

An hour later, the two met Sonic at the location he told him to. The place was desolate, with an empty fountain right in the middle. "Hey, glad you guys could…" He then saw that Manic and Sonia looked very upset. His face fell. "Something happened." Sonia looked up, crying. "They got my mother! They took her…" she sniffled. "Actually, what's your name?" Sonic comforted her with a hug. "I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog." "Sonia. Sonia Windermere." Manic walked up and put an arm around Sonia, bringing her in for a small hug. "They got my folks too. I'm Manic, by the way. Just Manic." Sonia wiped her tears off, and faced her blue brother. "Did they get someone you love, too?" Sonic frowned sadly. "They did. Twice. They took my parents when I was twelve, and then took my uncle yesterday." Sonia clasped her hands over her mouth. "Oh my god… I'm so sorry," she said, hugging him. Sonic hesitantly accepted the hug. "I'll be okay. Now, I promised you an explanation…"

However, the trio was once again interrupted. A large, 15-foot-tall robot suddenly landed behind them, focusing it's gun on them. "TARGETS SPOTTED." Sonia quickly went into a fighting stance. "Alright, I've had enough! You took my mom away; you are NOT taking my brothers from me!" She cartwheeled out of the way of a laser blast, then socked it in the leg, causing it to lose balance. Meanwhile, Manic snuck behind it, took out one of his multi-tools, and unscrewed a few screws off its foot, causing it to fall off when it tried to take a step. The robot fell over, and Sonic finished it off by slicing through its neck with a spindash. And just like that, the fight was over.

"We… did it?" Sonia asked quietly. "Heck yeah we did, sis!" Sonic said proudly. "Up top!" He lifted up his hand. Sonia hesitantly gave it a high five. "Yeah… we did it!" She then turned to high five Manic. "We're like, totally badass!" Sonia covered her mouth as she said that. "I can't believe I said that…!" Her brothers laughed. "Ooh, looks like our sis might be part sailor!" "In your dreams, Manic!" Sonic cleared his throat once the two had a chance to screw around a bit. "The explanation? You wanted to hear it?" Sonia and Manic stopped horsing around. "Oh, right. So, hang on; we're siblings?" The blue blur put his arms around his siblings. "So, here's the story…"

After he finished explaining what was up, and telling them their apparent real names (which Manic refused to use, while Sonia chose to adopt hers as a middle name), he backed up. "…So, we've got to find our mother and use this power to stop Robotnik. Got it down?" His sister put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, I got it. What I don't get is why we're standing around here for, we got to find our parents and save them before they're roboticized, then go find this Queen Aleena girl and team up with her and put that dictator out of commission!" After she said this, a blue light manifested in front of them, and the Oracle of Delphius appeared from it. He had a very sad expression on his face.

"I'm afraid you're too late, Sonia. Robotnik decided to work fast today," he said sorrowfully as he used his powers to show what became of Chuck, Lady Windermere, and Farrell. All three of them were now soulless robots. Sonia screamed in agony. "NO!" She fell to her hands and knees and wept. Manic looked away. "I was afraid they were gonna do that…" Sonic went to comfort both of them. "There's nothing we can do…" The Oracle then stepped forward. "…Yet. While they may be machines now, they can be saved with the Essence of the Sun. But, you cannot do so yet. The fight against Robotnik will be a tough one, and will require you to master the powers you have." He conjured up a map. "You will need to journey across Soleigus and beyond to develop your powers and prepare. Then, when the time is right, you and your mother Aleena will come together to face Robotnik and put a stop to his tyranny once and for all. This is your destiny." He began to fizzle out again. "You can do this." After saying that, he promptly vanished.

Sonic and Manic helped Sonia up and looked at the map. "So, where do we go from here?" Sonia asked. Manic took a good look at it. "Well, getting the hell out of here's probably a good start. I don't think any part of the city's going to be safe for a while, now that Robotnik knows we're around." Sonia turned to Sonic. "Should we look for our mother while we're at it?" Sonic thought. "…I'm not sure, but I've got the feeling we need to hold off on that. I think being all together for Robuttnik before we're ready would spell out doom for all of us." His sister sighed sadly. "You're probably right." Manic then pointed to a location on the map. "Let's head for this forest near Jadegully. No one really goes there, so it should make for a good place to hide out where things calm down." "Good idea, bro," Sonic replied.

The trio then began walking out of the city. Sonia hugged herself, overcome with a mixture of fear and sadness. "I'm… I'm all alone now." Sonic and Manic looked at her, then held her hands. Sonic smiled. "Not a chance, sis. Not a chance."

SONIC UNDERGROUND: AMPED