Preface: Hello, again! We'll be starting the story for real now, so let's get into it!
Edit 6/11/22 (original uploading ~4/8/22): fixed minor error
FREEDOM PACK
Now: "Let's Go, Team Freedom!" A new adventure begins for Sonic! After Sally finds a strange vortex in the middle of the night, she gathers Sonic, Tails, and Rotor to check it out! But first, they'll need a Chaos Emerald, but strange things are happening in the Special Zone...
Roll Call
Sonic the Hedgehog - Issac Ryan Brown: Fastest thing alive. Hero of Mobius.
Miles "Tails" Prower - Kate Higgins: Tech-savvy sidekick. High-flying pal.
Sally Acorn - Navia Robinson: Princess of the Kingdom of Acorn. Leader of the Freedom Fighters.
Rotor Walrus - Benjamin Diskin: Knothole's resident inventor. Mission control.
Chapter 1:
Let's Go, Team Freedom!
[Character Selected: Sally]
[Current World: Mobius]
[Current Location: Kingdom of Acorn, Rotor's Lab]
[BGM: Tee Lopes - Comfort Zone - Main Menu]
It was a busy day afoot for the Freedom Fighters. Still concerned about the portal that appeared in the middle of the night, Sally had directed Amy and the others to go down to Dr. Eggman's base, knowing that the bad doctor would no doubt try to use this portal to his advantage one way or another. "Alright, Amy, looks like you're almost there," said the squirrel as she looked at the digital map. "Sonic should be here any second, so I'm gonna leave you to it." Amy spoke a few more words into the communicator around her head, and Sally chuckled. "Alright, I'll tell Sonic you said hi."
As if summoned, the hedgehog walked into the lab, Tails eagerly trailing behind. "Hey, Rotor," Sonic greeted the walrus on the other seat. "Sally said you wanted to see us?"
Rotor spun around from the computer he was working at. "That's correct! I'm not sure how much time we have, so I'm just gonna cut to the chase." He turned back to the computer and brought up a picture from the security camera set up in the field. "At about 2 in the morning, this appeared out of nowhere."
Sonic stared at the photo of the strange blue vortex that hovered in the middle of the night sky. "What is that, a Warp Zone?" he asked.
"Nah, Warp Zones usually aren't visible until we actually enter them," Tails disagreed. "This looks more like a straight-up portal."
"Either way, a few seconds after it appeared, this happened," Rotor continued. Part of the security footage played, showing the mysterious appearance of three emeralds out of nowhere, being sucked into the portal before it vanished entirely.
"Hey! That thing took the Chaos Emeralds!" said Tails. "Do you think there's some sort of connection?"
"That's what I was wondering," said Sally, walking up to the boys. "I was also wondering if this had anything to do with those dimension-hopping hijinks you got into over the last two years."
Sonic thought back to what Sally was talking about. It all started at the Peridot Beach Zone, when the Warp Zone to Whisker Haven first popped up. Then it was those weird blocky guys and their flying eye, coming through portals similar to what this vortex looked like. But none of them had the Chaos Emeralds be sucked into them before. "Hmm…this is definitely a mystery," the hedgehog decided. "Luckily, this is one mystery I'm willing to solve!"
Rotor nodded. "I knew you'd be down, Sonic," he said. "But first, we're gonna test out a new invention of mine." The walrus grabbed a remote control from the desk and pressed a red button on it. The other three watched as the wall slowly rose, revealing a familiar bus-like hovercraft. "I've been tinkering with your uncle's Hover Bus lately, and I think it's ready for a test run!"
Sonic eagerly ran about the Hover Bus, checking it out, as Tails did the same. "Wow, this is way past cool!" the hedgehog complimented. "So you'll be driving this thing while we search for the emeralds on land?"
"That's the plan!" said Sally. "Amy and the others are gonna be off distracting Eggman so that he doesn't get any funny ideas, so this will also let Rotor assist them there!" She turned to the Star Post in the corner of the room. "Now all we need is a little bait for the portal…"
Rotor handed Sonic and Tails blue-colored communicator headphones, which they promptly put on. "These puppies have cameras within them that let me see what you're seeing, in addition to letting us talk with each other," the walrus explained.
Tails was probably the most eager about the invention. "How long did this take you, Rotor?" the fox asked. "And why didn't you let me in on it?"
"I've been working on this since last year," answered Rotor, "and, well…I wanted it to be a surprise…"
"Oh, I think he's surprised!" said Sally, putting her own communicator on. "Now come on, boys! We've got a Chaos Emerald to earn!"
[Location Change: Special Zone, Halfpipe of Riches]
[BGM: Masato Nakamura - STH2 Special Stage ~ Mega Drive version ~]
Before long, the four had entered the Halfpipe of Riches, the portion of the Special Zone that could be accessed on Westside Island. While Sonic, Tails, and Sally entered through the portal that appeared from the Star Post, Rotor teleported in from within the Hover Bus, using its "instant teleporter" function. "How's the wireless connection?" he asked the three once they were a good distance apart.
"Fantastic!" said Tails. "This is even better than telephones!"
"That's what I like to hear!" said Rotor. He gripped the controls and focused on the three cameras that were on his screen. "Okay, Sonic, Sally, there're some rings coming your way! Tails, watch out for the bombs!"
"Gotcha, bud!" said Sonic. He and Sally ran across the halfpipe, grabbing the rings that were along the track. Tails was particularly grateful for directions about the bombs, since he was prone to running into them.
"Alright! First checkpoint down!" Rotor said once the three had collected the minimum amount of rings. That was when he noticed something odd. "Wait a minute…are those…"
"Caterkillers?" Sonic finished. Sure enough, the caterpillar-like badniks had mysteriously popped up on the halfpipe. Confused, Sonic whipped into a Super Sonic Spin Attack and chopped through the badniks' heads, grabbing some more rings as he went.
Sally activated her Holo-Blades and used them to cut up the Caterkillers that stood in her way, though whenever she attacked the bits outside the head, Tails had to dodge the separated parts as they bounced around aimlessly. They were lucky to get the next ring requirement. "That's never happened before," Sally wondered. "You don't think Eggman's upping his game, do you?"
"If he was, then we'd probably know by now," said Tails. "He's incredibly subtle," he added sarcastically.
Sonic looked around. "Well, that seems to have been the last of…" He was cut off by a bomb blowing up in his face, causing him to lose a portion of his rings. "Spoke too soon." In the distance, Ball Hogs were riding on Motobugs, all coming the three's way.
"Well if Eggman's not upping his game, the Badniks certainly are!" said Rotor. "Better kick things up a notch!" One part of the Hover Bus he preserved from Sir Charles' model was the laser feature, which he modified to do multiple shots. As Sonic, Tails, and Sally fought the Motobugs that attempted to slow them down, the walrus shot the Ball Hogs from above before they could even toss their bombs.
Tails ducked past one last bomb that was a part of the halfpipe and Spin Dashed into the last Motobug. "Alright, looks like that's the last of 'em!" he said. As they passed the final checkpoint, the sight of a cyan jewel came into view. "And hey! We had enough rings after all!"
Sonic stopped under the Chaos Emerald and picked it up. "Dum-dadadum-da-da!" he hummed. In a flash of light, he, Sally, and Tails vanished from the halfpipe, and Rotor activated the instant teleporter again to catch up with his allies.
[Location Change: Kingdom of Acorn, Rotor's Lab]
[BGM: Junkie XL - A Very Lonely Life]
Rotor returned to the sight of Sally stretching her arms and legs. "That halfpipe sure is a good workout," she said. "But why would there be Badniks there?"
"And if it isn't Eggman, then who did this?" Sonic inquired. "Maybe Metal's going rogue again? And maybe not trying to help Eggman?"
"Well, we might have to wait on those answers," said Rotor. "Amy and the others are waiting for the signal to attack Eggman!"
Sonic stretched his own arms. "In that case, let's not wait another Mobius minute! Sally, show us where the portal is!"
[Location Change: Outskirts of Castle of Acorn]
Sally led the boys to the field where the portal first showed up, with Rotor trailing overhead in the Hover Bus. "Well, this is where I first saw it," she said. "If it won't accept the emerald, we might have to find another way."
"Well, only one way to find out!" said Sonic. He took out the Chaos Emerald and waved it where the portal once was. "Here, portal! Would you like another tasty Chaos Emerald?" Energy flowed through the air in front of the hedgehog, and in a second, the portal reappeared. "Bingo!"
"Alright, Amy! You have permission to distract Eggman!" Sally directed into her communicator. "Okay, then, ready?"
"Are there going to be any romantic shenanigans on this adventure?" Sonic asked, blushing.
"Nothing from me if there'll be nothing from you."
"Then let's do it to it!" With that, the three ran right into the portal, followed by Rotor teleporting after them in the Hover Bus.
[BGM: End]
[Character Selected: ?]
[Current World: ?]
[Current Location: ?]
From his otherworldly space, the figure witnessed the mobians vanishing into the portal. "So it seems that those fools didn't understand my warning after all," it said. "No matter. Once those emeralds get into my hands, there will be no limit to the terrors I can perform in these two worlds…"
To be continued...and next time: welcome to Pikwik!
Next chapter: "Meet the Pack!" New world, new faces! While looking for Chaos Emerald energy, Sonic and the gang meet the heroes of this world: the Pikwik Pack! These little guys may not have much fighting or chaos experience, but they're heroes in their own right! Though one of them has a secret she's not telling the others...
Postface: Chapter complete! Looks like this new adventure is getting started with a bang!
Trivia time! The reason why I decided to have Sally and Rotor from Sonic SatAM and the Archie comics be main characters here is because, besides Uncle Chuck, I sorta felt like the SatAM characters were ignored until Minecraft Maniacs RPG, and that was a huge crossover story, not a simple one like this one. As for why I specifically chose those two, well A) I feel the most comfortable writing Sally, and B) I wanted to make up for not having Rotor the last time around. I decided to portray him here similarly to Charles Calvin from the Henry Stickmin games, as the guy in the helicopter who can still help where he can. I know that's not how he's usually portrayed, though, so I hope I can still do this walrus justice!
Huh, that weird otherworldy being sounds like he's after the Chaos Emeralds for whatever reason! I hope this won't interfere with the heroes and their own plans...
That should be it! Please read, review, and share around, and I'll see you all next time for the heroes' first taste of Pikwik! Stay diamond, everyone!
-Alfred
~Sonic the Hedgehog and everything related to him are properties of Sega Corp. No copyright infringement with this company nor financial gain was intended in the making of this story. Any resemblance to real-world people or events are either coincidental or done fictitiously.~
