The missile hits the front of the house blasting the three of them back. Sonic in mid-air moves his arms, Mecha fires all the power rings but instead of going to Sonic they go to Amy. Sonic sits up and sees three helicopters disguised as news choppers. He sees Daisy lying unconscious on the floor, the roof above him collapses but before it hits him Amy appears above him blocking the rubble. Her fur was now glowing orange "I got you" "I got you first. Like I said, we can't stay here". More missiles hit the house "Move! I'm right behind you!". Amy ran ahead but the floor broke apart before Sonic could follow. Amy turned around but Sonic shook his head "Get her. I'll go around. Go!". Amy reluctantly nodded, picked up Daisy and headed for the door. Sonic gestured to Mecha who followed Amy. She made it outside but saw the house start to collapse "Sonic!". Inside Sonic was holding onto a pillar for dear life "Sir, Ms Rose is clear of the structure" "Mecha, give me the rings!". Outside Mecha put his hands on Amy's arms. It absorbed the power rings out of her turning her back to pink.
Mecha flew back into the house and fired all the rings at Sonic. The moment he absorbed the first one Sonic was shot in the shoulder; it didn't get through but due to not enough power it badly bruised him. The remaining rings were absorbed turning Sonic super. He wanted to fly but the three helicopters all fired at once keeping him down "Nicole, activate Mecha's weapon systems" "Working on it, sir. This Mecha is new". Sonic tried to take cover, but his shoes got hit one too many times and now weren't working. Sonic saw a piano; he runs forward and homing attacks the piano launching it out of the house and into one of the helicopters "That's one". Mecha finally stepped forward and rolled into ball. His spiked quills launched out and shredded another helicopter "That's two". The second helicopter begins to spiral out of control into the house. The ground around Sonic broke open and he fell into the garage.
He sees DUM-E lying broken on the floor as the entire house begins falling into the ocean including the piece he's clinging to. A metal wire wraps around Sonic's neck and drags him to the bottom of the water. Amy runs to the edge of what was left of the house "SONIC!" she screamed. Sonic was pinned under the debris with only his right hand sticking out. He didn't know how long he had, the new power rings weren't ready and would need to recharge soon "Sir, take a deep breath". Sonic felt someone grab his hand and pull him out of the debris. He looked up and saw Mecha who took his arms and flew him out of the water. Sonic fainted from exhaustion, Mecha absorbed all but one of the power rings back to recharge. The remaining ring kept Sonic warm in flight and Mecha cycled through the other rings when they need to charge.
Sonic didn't know how long he was out but he started to hear a voice "Sir? Sir!" "Alright, kill the alarm" "That's the emergency alert triggered by the power dropping below 5%". Sonic opened his eyes and released he was in the air getting closer to the ground "OH!". Sonic screams as he and Mecha both hit a road and crashed into a forest. Sonic lies on his back next to Mecha. Sonic feels the pain in his shoulder from where a bullet hit "Nicole, it's snowing. Where are we?" "We are five miles outside of Hill Top". Sonic sat up "What? Why? I gotta get back to Amy" "You told me to prepare a flight plan. I… I think I may be malfunctioning. I think I need to sleep now, sir". The eyes on the Mecha went dark "Nicole?". He tapped his ear pieces but still gets nothing "Nicole…. Don't leave me, buddy".
Sonic was dragging Mecha's body across the snow, the one power ring he had was protecting him, but he didn't know how much longer it would last. He eventually made it to a phonebooth "Hedgehog secure server now transferring to all known receivers". Sonic paused wondering what to say "…Amy, it's me. I put these devices in a few places in case I needed to get something out. I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So…. First off, I'm so sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid, and it won't happen again. Also, it's Christmas time and the rabbit's too big. Done. Sorry". He leaned his head against the glass "And I'm sorry in advance because I can't come home yet. I need to find this guy. You gotta stay safe, that's all I know".
Sonic made it to Hill Top and broke into a garage near a quiet house. He with some struggle puts Mecha onto a couch and has it drain the power ring from him. He sits next to it "You happy now?". Sonic was in a bad place, Mecha wasn't working and without power Mecha can use his built-in chamber to charge the rings and he didn't bring a syphon. He goes over to a desk about to check his chaos drive when "Freeze!". A human boy about the same size of Sonic and wearing a red jacket was standing at the door holding a potato gun "Don't move" "You got me". Sonic raised his arms "Nice potato gun. Barrel's a little long. Between that and the wide gauge it's gonna diminish your FPS". The child shoots at a glass on a table shattering it. Sonic lowered his hands "And now you're out of ammo" "What's that thing on your chest" the boy said still holding the gun as if it was still loaded. Sonic looked down at the chaos drive "It's an electromagnet. You should know, you got a box of them right here" "Why are you here?".
Sonic gestured to Mecha on the couch. The kid stared at it for a moment and then back to Sonic realising who he is "Oh, Gaia. You're Sonic the Hedgehog" "Apparently". The kid stepped forward and handed him a newspaper "Apparently your dead". Sonic read the newspaper as the kid sat next to Mecha "What happened to him?" "Life. I'll fix him" "Like a mechanic?". Sonic nodded "Yeah". The kid examined the robot "You know have you ever thought of giving you and Mighty-" "He's calling himself UF Guardian now" "That's way cooler". Sonic stared at him "No, it's not" "Anyways, I would give you both a suit that had some sort of cloaking to give you a stealth mode. Cool, right?" "That's actually a good idea. I might give him one". The kid took off one of Mecha's fingers "Oops" "What're you doing? You're gonna break his finger? He's in pain. He's injured. Leave him alone". The kid sat down examining the finger "Sorry" "Are you? Huh, don't worry about it, I'll fix it. So, uh, who's home?". The kid looked down at the floor "Well, my mum already left for the diner and Dad went to 7-11 to get scratchers. I-I guess he won because that was six years ago".
Sonic crossed his arms "Hmm. Which happens. People leave. No need to wine about it. Here's what I need. A laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, the pneumatic actuator from your bazooka over there, a map of town, a big spring and a Mobani fish sandwich" "What's in it for me?". Sonic shrugged "Salvation. What's his name?" "Who?" "The kid that bullies you at school. What's his name?". The kid didn't say anything so Sonic walked over to Mecha "I got just the thing". He takes out a small cylindrical device "This is a piñata for a an ant. I'm kidding it's a very powerful weapon. Point it away from your face, press the button on top, it discourages bullying. Non-lethal, just to cover one's ass. Deal?". The kid tried to take it, but Sonic moved his hand back "Deal? What do you say?" "Deal". Sonic gave it to him "So what's your name?" "Chris. Can I call you the mechanic?" "Sure. Now, do you know what's going through my head? Where's my sandwich?".
