Maddie and Sophia are in the former's car, having done some shopping as there's bags in the back. "Got some great stuff to wear," Maddie gives her a small smile and Sophia looks out the window, holding her arm. "You're gonna look so cute in these-" She notices Sophia's not really paying attention and grows a bit concerned. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"It's just that...well, everyone else gets to be normal," She looks at some people walking down the sidewalk. "Meanwhile I'm dealing with messy quills, shorter clothes, and...not being able to finish school," She says a bit sadly. "I guess I'm still getting used to being a hedgehog."

"Well, no one ever said it was gonna be easy, honey," Maddie tells her gently. "But no matter what happens, we'll always love you no matter what you look like. And besides, I think we can both agree that our lives aren't like everyone else's."

"Mom, I haven't seen Jojo or Aunt Rachel in months," Sophia reminds her, squeezing her eyes shut. "I hate not being able to talk to them..."

The woman sighs a bit since it's obvious why Sophia hasn't seen them. "We just have to find a way to make it...natural," Maddie answers nervously at her. "We'll get past this, Sophia. I know it's hard, but you don't have to be like everyone else. You can just be yourself."

"But...what if I don't get used to this?" Sophia murmurs and the woman parks the car near the side of the road.

"Sophia...you are the best daughter anyone could ask for. No one's done what you and Sonic have," Sophia smiles weakly at her mother's words. "And whoever doesn't think you're you, prove them wrong. Show them that you're strong. Show them that you can be yourself and live a life that satisfies you."

"...Yeah...thanks, Mom," Sophia looks up at her with a small smile.

"Though remind me to ground you for the Seattle stunt."

"Ugggh," The pink hedgehog groans while sagging her shoulders, Maddie giggling a bit. "I was hoping you'd forget about that..."

"Nope. You're lucky I'm letting you off the hook for now."

Sophia lunges forward and hugs the woman, who returns it. "It'll be okay, baby..." Maddie pats the top of her head gently and Sophia smiles from her mother's comfort.

"How excited are you to go to Hawaii?" Tom asks his wife as they're dragging their bags through the halls. He has on a Hawaiian t-shirt as he trails behind Maddie. She laughs as he cheers and they go into the living room to see that there's a ring portal to Hawaii. Sonic, Sophia, and Ozzy are standing in front of the portal, wearing sunglasses. There's an archway made out of pillows and rope while Sonic holds a clipboard and a spatula, wearing a tie and Ozzy has one too. Sophia is wearing an airport receptionist uniform.

"Welcome to Sonic Air, the fastest way to travel. Now boarding groups one and two."

Maddie giggles and steps forward. "Aww, you guys! This is so fun!" He blocks her path with the spatula.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, you're group three. Please wait your turn. Anyone from groups one and two?"

"Just let him get it out of his system," Tom advises Maddie as Sonic goes on.

"Okay, anybody else? Right this way."

"Thank you," Maddie steps forward, Sonic pretending to scan her with the spatula. He makes the noises with his mouth and she dances a bit, laughing. She goes through the archway, Sophia holding up a scanner for bags. "And where did you get that, young lady?"

"Ah bup, bup, bup, don't question the bag checker," Sophia waves a finger, scanning her suitcase.

"Okay," Maddie holds up her hands playfully.

Sonic checks Tom next doing the same thing he did to Maddie. "Terrible shirt detected."

"Am I gonna have to check that bag for more bad shirts?" Sophia places a hand on her hip.

"There we go," Tom walks through the archway, and then gets his bag checked.

"Oh, more awful shirts. You know what that means...when you get back, closet inspection," Sophia warns playfully to her dad.

"Aw, what? What about your closet? You've got a bunch of shoes that all look the same!"

"Shh!" She shushes him in embarrassment. "Dad, don't talk about that!" She grunts as she backs away. "You win, you happy?"

"I'm just messing with ya," He tells her playfully and then she holds out complimentary cookies for her parents.

"Anyway, at Sonic Air, we make sure our guests have everything they need."

"Aw, yes! Your cookies are always amazing," Maddie smiles as she takes one.

"Okay, you're free to go. Enjoy your trip. Bu-bye now," Sonic states as the two stand in front of the ring portal.

"Okay," Tom bends down to Sonic, holding out his arms. "Bring it in."

"Tom, I'm about to be hedgehog of the house-I mean, the main caretaker," He flinches nervously as he sees Sophia's 'really' look. "For the first time. I think I'm a little mature to hug you goodbye."

"I'm not!" Sophia jumps into her dad's arms and he hugs her with a smile. Maddie bends down and hugs her as well. She then holds out her fist.

"What about a power bump?" She offers instead to Sonic.

"Power bump?" Tom puts in his own fist, Sophia doing the same.

"Yes! Power bump! That's more like it," Sonic joins in on it and they all throw up their hands.

"Wachowski!" They all exclaim in unison. The blue hedgehog holds up a ring.

"Okay, use this one to get back home," He tosses it to Tom, who catches it.

"And Dad, don't lose it, you only get one," Sophia holds up a hand. "Remember when you lost my Switch?"

"...Yeah, I do," He winces as he looks away. When Sophia was 16, he didn't know what he did with it while she was at school because...he was playing it himself. And she did NOT take it well that day, it was to the point where she negotiated a day off from school to go be at the police station instead, and she had fun...but then she got grounded by Maddie because of that when she got the phone call from her teacher about being absent. "Alright, we're off. Okay, be good, the both of you. And Sonic, don't do anything weird with Soph."

"Dad!" Sophia exclaims in protest. "We're not gonna do anything like that."

"I know, but you still live under the same roof, still gotta live by the same rules," He tells her and she shakes her head slowly. When Sonic moved in, Tom made some rules about the two being a couple. He didn't want them alone in a room, or to go out without his permission, and Sonic wasn't allowed to mimic any adult romance movies or novels.

"Yes, you have our number," Maddie reminds them as they step through the portal.

"Sorry, can't hear you, you're traveling through a cross-dimensional portal!" Sonic calls out as the portal starts to close.

"Miss you already!"

"Okay!"

"Have fun at Rachel's wedding!" Sonic waves to them. They weren't invited or allowed to go because everyone would freak out at them. Not to mention that they needed someone to take care of the house for them...especially since Wade will be sheriff, so there's another reason they stayed.

"Love you guys!" Sophia waves to them.

"We love you too, Soph!" Tom calls out and the ring completely closes.

"Okay, it's 48 hours until they come back. We've got TV channels, streaming channels, a house full of food, and no supervision!" Sonic counts off to Ozzy and Sophia. The dog barks and Sonic's sunglasses fall over his face. "Let's do this."

Music plays in the background and in front of the stairs, Sonic slides to a stop. He's got on bling, sunglasses, and a white towel over him. Sophia just shakes her head while taking out some cookies from the oven. Sonic speeds over to her, hugging her from behind and kissing her cheek repeatedly. She giggles as she pushes him away.

The hedgehog jumps up and down on the couch, surrounded by junk food. Sophia holds a can of whipped cream, putting some in her mouth as she eats an ice cream sundae. Sonic tries out various hairstyles in his room, Sophia taking pictures at every single one. Sonic pulls Ozzy over for a selfie, the dog's hair like a mohawk's. He jumps on a skateboard and rolls down the stairs. He then goes down the railing and skates around a ramp that he made earlier. He skates through various points, going over a mountain of glasses.

When he goes back to the junk food, they're out, so what does he do? Use a ring portal to get to a grocery store. He ends up in the cookie aisle and grabs some oreo thins. "Grab me the birthday cake flavored ones!" Sophia calls out and he does so, leaving the money behind for it. A woman who had seen it just stares at the empty space, dropping the bottle she's holding.

Sonic then makes a mess of the living room by using a mower, and then makes a pool using the outdoor one. He speeds around to make a bunch of bubbles appear, using a police siren to hang in the ceiling. He and Sophia dance around before hollering and jumping into the bath. The two play around in the bubbles, and it's still daytime.

Suddenly the phone rings and they freeze. Sophia blinks as she recognizes the tone and rushes over to the other room.

"Ooh, it's Maeve and Lila!" She exclaims happily at her friends' names appearing from the screen. She accepts the face time call and Sonic speeds over, knowing that they won't tell Tom and Maddie about the mess. Once the two pick up, they seem to be outside in front of a building. Maeve had since put blonde highlights in her hair, and Lila had grown out her bangs.

"Hey you guys!" Maeve greets happily with a wave.

"Sup?" Lila smiles a little.

"Mae, Lil! How's it going?" Sonic takes over the screen, Sophia giggling slightly. He then brings her back in front of the phone so they can both be on screen. She had introduced Sonic to her friends a while back, as well as explained everything that happened the last time they saw Robotnik. And...they did freak out, but they calmed down and accepted it since Sophia was still Sophia, even though she's not human anymore.

"Good to see you too, Sonic," Maeve shakes her head in amusement and Sophia tilts her head as she notices that they're not in front of school.

"Where are you guys?" She wonders and they both freeze.

"...Oh," Lila replies awkwardly, rubbing her neck.

"I told you we should've gone to the car!" Maeve scolds her friend, who turns back to her.

"Well, we both agreed we'd tell her as soon as possible!"

"Why are you being weird?" Sophia blinks and Maeve sighs, fully turning to her.

"We're...at a college tour," She reveals and bites her lip. Sophia falters and then drops her shoulders. She didn't think she'd be reminded of the fact that...she can't go to college anymore. And that her friends get to live normal lives while she's a hedgehog...

"...Oh, t-that's great..." She tries to sound happy for them, but she really isn't.

"I'm so sorry, Soph…we didn't mean to hurt you," Lila frowns regrettably. "Our parents set this up, we didn't even know about it until we got here. We miss you at school, the principal is such a jerk."

"School?" Sonic asks in confusion, turning to Sophia, who bites her lip. "What happened with school?"

"Um…I was gonna tell you after you got back with Dad. Our principal…he expelled me," She reveals and he recoils back in shock. He didn't even know that she was having issues with school in the first place. She's acted fine before this...

"What?! Why?"

"Apparently it's too risky for her to attend school because of…this," Maeve points to Sophia's body. "It's so unfair!"

"Even if she was allowed back in, she would've had to start from sophomore year…" Lila reminds them and Sonic frowns sadly. If he had a way to turn her back to human, he'd travel the world to find it. He knows how much she loves baking and how much she wanted to build a future after graduating...he never considered that it'd be that hard.

"So you got expelled because of me…" He murmurs sadly and she turns to him immediately.

"Sonic, no, it's not like that," She tries to assure him, but it doesn't work. "It's just…he just doesn't understand my situation. But it'll be okay, I'll just…be homeschooled…even though I have the mind of a 17-year-old," She rubs the back of her neck. Homeschooling has been talked about, but with her parents so busy, it might not even be an option anymore.

"You can't even go to college anymore with us…" Maeve laments and they stand in silence, Sophia looking towards the ground. Every time she sees them, it reminds her of the life she could be having...Maeve's dad comes outside, waving them forward.

"We gotta go. We'll call back again soon!" Lila waves to them.

"Bye!" The two girls hang up and Sophia lets her phone hit the table.

Sonic looks really guilty and hugs his girlfriend tightly. "I'm so sorry, Sunshine. I wish there was something I could do to make it better."

She smiles weakly and hugs him back. "You already are, blue bear."

"But it's still not fair! You really wanted to go to a baking school, and now you can't!" He laments to her, recoiling back. "If you hadn't met me, none of this would've happened!"

"Hey, calm down. We'll figure something out," She places her hands on his shoulders and he lets his ears fall as he frowns. "It's not over yet. There'll be a way around it. Just like Mom told me. Come on, let's go back to the pool party," She walks off and he stares after her, wondering just how much she wishes she could be human again...she doesn't seem to hate being a hedgehog, but it comes with limitations he didn't know she had...