Reporters and emergency services surrounded what was left of Sonic's house at Seaside Hill. Amy was standing near the edge cradling a picture close to her chest. She started to cry but then a beeping sound snapped her out of it. It was coming from the picture. She held it out revealing it to be a picture she took of her and Sonic when she moved in. She opened the back compartment revealing a beeping earpiece. She stops crying and puts in the earpiece "He-Hello?" "Voice print recognised" "Amy, it's me". Amy gasped, a smile formed and she started to cry again but this time it was joy "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".
Amy was now driving with Daisy "Why were you at the house. What was so important that you had to speak to Sonic?". Daisy was bruised and still looked to be in shock from the event "I think that my boss is working for Enerjak. So, if you still want to talk about it. I suggest that we get ourselves someplace safe". Amy stared ahead confused "You think your boss works for Enerjak? But Sonic says you're a botanist". Daisy rolled her eyes "That figures. What I actually am is a biological DNA coder running a team of 40 out of a privately funded think tank. But sure, you can call me a botanist". Amy slowly nodded "This boss of yours, does he have a name?" "Yeah, Geoffrey St John".
Geoffrey was sitting at a desk listening to his phone "Well, we took the house down, sir. But there's no sign of a body" "I see. I have to go. The master is about to record and he's a little… Well, you know how he gets. Keep your appointment tonight and call me when it's done". He gets up and goes through a pair of doors into a studio with Enerjak's throne sitting in the middle.
Sonic was wearing a jacket and hat to hide himself. He was walking with Chris into town "The sandwich was fair, the spring was a little rusty, the rest of the materials, I'll make do. By the way, when you said your sister had a watch, I was kind of hoping for something a little more adult". He looked down at a Kid Chameleon watch. Chris laughed "She's six. Anyway, it's a limited edition. When can we talk about Station Square?" "Maybe never. Relax about it". They walked down an alley to a destroyed building with a shrine of candles in front of it "What about the Chaotix? Can we talk about them?" "Later. Give me a little space". Sonic looked around the walls of the building, they had five black human shapes in them "What's the official story here? What happened?". They sat at the crater "I guess this guy named Chad Davis used to live roundabout. He won a bunch of medals in the army. And one day, folks said he went crazy and made, you know, a bomb. Then he blew himself up, right here".
Sonic examines the black silhouettes "Six people died, right?" "Right" "Yeah. That doesn't make sense. Think about it. Six dead. Only five shadows". Chris nodded "Yeah. People said these shadows are like the marks of souls going to heaven. Except the bomb guy" "Do you buy that?" "It's what everyone says". There was silence between the two, Chris stared at the crater "You know what this crater reminds me of?" "I don't care" "That giant wormhole in Station Square. Does it remind you of that?". Sonic put his hand over his face "That's manipulative. I don't want to talk about it" "Sorry, it' just… do you think they'll come back" "I don't know. Can you stop!?". He started to breath heavily "Remember what I told you, that I have an anxiety issue?" "Does this subject make you edgy?" "Yeah, a little bit. Can I just catch my breath for a second?". Chris didn't think he looked good "Do you need a plastic bag to breath into? Do you have medication?" "No" "Do you need to be on it". Sonic closed his eyes "Probably" "Do you have PTSD?" "I don't think so! Remember when I said to top doing that? I swear that you're gonna freak me out". Sonic suddenly stands up and walks away "Ah, man, you did it, didn't you?". He leaned against a wall and collapses panting. Chris chased after him "Are you alright?". Sonic takes a handful of snow and buries his face in it before throwing it at Chris "Your fault. Now, back to business. Where were we? The guy who died. Relatives? Mum? Mrs Davis, where is she?" "Where she always is?".
Sonic walked towards a bar in the middle of town. He bumps into a brown female goat causing her to drop her wallet. Sonic picked it up "Sorry" "Thank you" she took it from him. Sonic sees she's wearing a straw hat "Nice hat. It suits you" "Nice watch" "Yeah. A limited edition". The goat smiled "Oh, I don't doubt it. Well, have a good evening". Sonic nods and enters the bar lowering his hat. He walks through the bar that had a welcoming atmosphere until reaching a dishevelled old female vulture who had a drink in front of her. Sonic put a glass on the table "Mrs Davis? Mind if I join you?" "Free country". Sonic sits opposite her, Mrs Davis sits up revealing a file on the table "Alright. Where would you like to start?" "I just want to say, I'm sorry about your loss. I want to know what you think happened". She stared at him through dead eyes and pushed the file towards Sonic "Look, I brought your damn file. Take it and go. Whatever was in here, he wanted no part of it". Sonic opened the file "Clearly, you're waiting for someone else. Huh? Supposed to meet someone here?" "Yeah". Sonic sees that another picture in the file showed the owl that blew up at the Chun-Nan theatre. Sonic looked sympathetically to her "Mrs Davis, your son didn't kill himself. I guarantee you; he didn't kill anyone. Someone used him".
Mrs Davis' face trembled "What?" "As a weapon". She looks close to tears and leans in closer to Sonic "You're not the person that called me, are you?" "Actually, I am". Sonic looked up and saw the female goat standing over him, she grabs Sonic's arm and pins him against the table. The scared Mrs Davis gets up and backs away. "Hey, hey! What's all this about?" an echidna sheriff said walking up to them. The goat didn't look worried "It's called an arrest" she handcuffed Sonic's wrist and threw him aside. She turned to the echidna "Sheriff, is it" "Yes, ma'am, it is. And you are?". She held up a badge "Belinda. Homeland Security. We good here?" "No, we're not good. I need a little more information than that". As they spoke Sonic gestured to Mrs Davis who threw the file underneath a couch to hide it. Belinda was smirking to the sheriff "Alright. You know what? I was hoping to do this the smart way, but, uh, the fun way is always good". Sonic sees that her right hand was suddenly metal and went red hot. She grabbed the echidna's face, he screamed. The rest of Belinda turned metal and she grabbed the sheriff's gun and shot him dead. Everyone screams and runs. Sonic ran as well but was still handcuffed.
He runs down the street but then sees Mimic step out of a car. Sonic runs as Mimic takes out a gun but before he shoots a snowball hits his face making him miss. He sees Chris hiding behind a wall. Sonic crashes through a shop window. Belinda walks out of the bar still metal when a rat runs out holding a shotgun. Belinda grabs the shotgun and fires at Sonic who takes cover behind a counter. Belinda begins to glow red hot and walks into the shop grinning. Sonic looks out from the counter and she was right in front of him. She laughed sadistically and tried to punch him, but Sonic moved out of the way and pulled the handcuffs against her neck. They melted releasing Sonic who ran into the back of the shop. He throws a handful of cutleries into the microwave and turned it on. He saw Belinda enter the room "You walked right into this one. I've dated hotter chicks than you". He backed away and pulled out a yellow hose form the wall. Belinda laughed "Is that all you got? A cheap trick and a cheesy one-liner" "Sweetheart, that could be the name of my autobiography".
He runs out the back door, Belinda sees the microwave sparking. The gas ignites and explodes. Sonic pokes his head out from behind cover and sees Belinda's mangled body lying on power cables. He hears metal clanking; he looks up and sees a water tower begin to collapse. Sonic runs into a Christmas tree farm a the tank bursts open and the water hits him, and a piece of the tower falls on his legs trapping him. He struggles but "Let me go!". Sonic sees Mimic arrive holding Chris by the neck. He threw him to the ground and put his leg on his chest. He then acted mockingly cheery "Now, little boy, what would you like for Christmas?" "Mr Sonic, I'm so sorry" "Oh, no, no. I think he was trying to say, I want my goddam file". Sonic nodded reassuringly to Chris "It's not your fault, kid. Remember what I told you about bullies?". Chris' eyes opened wide, he pulled out the weapon Sonic gave him. He closes his eyes and activated it. The flash blinded Mimic and he stumbled back; Chris ran for cover. "That's the thing about smart guys. We always cover our asses" Sonic opened the visible part of his chaos drive revealing the shard which fired out a beam of energy which hits Mimic in the face launching him back into a pile of crates. Sonic grunts in pain and he quickly closes the chaos drive. The shard inside glows and the magnet reactivates making Sonic take a deep breath. He uses a pipe to free himself from the debris. He runs over to Mimic's body and takes his keys.
After getting back the file from the bar he walked across the street when Chris ran up to him "You're welcome" "For what? Did I miss something?" "Me, saving your life". Sonic shrugged "Yeah. A, I saved you first. B, thanks. Sort of. And C, if you do someone a solid, don't be a yutz. Alright? Just play it cool. Otherwise, you come off grandiose". Sonic unlocked Mimic's car and got inside. Chris glared at him "Unlike you? Admit it, you need me. We're connected" "What I need is for you to go home, be with your mum, keep your trap shut, guard Mecha and stay connected to the telephone because if I call, you better pick up. Okay?". Sonic looks up the sky superstitiously "Can you feel that? We're done here. Move out of the way, or I'm gonna run you over. Bye, kid". Sonic starts the engine but then rolls down the window "I'm sorry, kid. You did good" "So, now you're just gonna leave me here, like my dad?". Sonic paused then "Yep… Wait, you're guilt-tripping me, aren't you?". Chris pretended to shiver "I'm cold" he said childishly. Sonic mimicked it "I can tell. You know how I can tell?". He mockingly smiled "Because we're connected" he drove off. Chris' face dropped "Worth a shot".
Mimic was still lying in the wreckage when what was left of his face turned into metal. His face started to reform back to normal. He coughed and stood up. He heard police coming and shapeshifted into the echidna sheriff.
