Preface: Hello, again! Sorry for not uploading during the week - some family stuff. I won't get into it. Anyways, on with the chapter!


FREEDOM PACK


Previously...after discovering a strange vortex in the middle of the night, Sally Acorn, along with Sonic, Tails, and Rotor, went searching for a Chaos Emerald in order to open it before stepping through.

Now...the group begins their journey within the strange new world they entered...


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 2:
Meet the Pack!


[Character Selected: Sonic]
[Current World: Pikwik Planet]
[Current Location: Outskirts of Pikwik]

[BGM: Asher Lenz, Stephen Skratt - Better Together BGM]

The feeling of being between worlds faded as Sonic got his first glimpse of wherever the Chaos Emeralds currently were. Stepping out of the portal, the hedgehog looked around, finding a bustling town of brightly colored buildings and tiny anthropomorphic animals running around. Tails and Sally stepped out of the portal as the Hover Bus appeared. "This place looks like Bluey's world and Whisker Haven had a baby and then the Unikingdom adopted it," Sonic told his companions.

Tails chuckled. "That's an oddly specific descriptor." He opened the emerald tracker on his Miles Electric and tried to track the signal of the Chaos Emeralds. "Uh, oh. Looks like there's something blocking my signal."

Sally looked over his shoulder. "Hmm. There must be something here disrupting it," she thought. "For now, we should try keeping a low profile."

"Why?" asked Sonic, throwing his hands up. "We practically fit in here!" He casually walked into the town square and ran into a small deer cub. "'Sup?" he said, to which the deer screamed and ran away. "Okay, your plan."

Sally smiled and nodded, though a thought came to her. "On second thought, the big hovering bus might give us away," she said, pointing at the Hover Bus.

"Ah, I can take care of that," said Rotor. He pressed a few buttons, and in an instant, the aircraft faded from view.

"No wonder this thing took a year!" said Sonic, genuinely impressed. "What else does this thing have? A froyo machine?"

As if in response to his question, Rotor took out a cone of frozen yogurt and gave it a lick. "Yes, as a matter of fact! Now gimme a minute, I gotta back up Amy and the others."

"Alright, remember: low profile!" said Sally. Sonic and Tails nodded, and with that, the three began to slowly make their way behind the buildings. Sonic occasionally sped forward to make sure the coast was clear, and as they made their way across town, Tails kept fiddling with his Miles Electric, trying to clear his signal of the mysterious disruption.

They had checked just about every part of town when they finally made their way to the tall tower over by the ocean. It was a clear, open space, so Sonic, Tails, and Sally decided that they could stop sneaking around. "Alright, this seems to be it!" said Tails, not taking his eyes off of his Miles Electric. "Looks like whatever the disruption was, it's coming from this place."

From the Hover Bus, Rotor peered at the emerald tracker. "That's weird," he said. "Looks like the disruption was just energy that looks similar to the Chaos Emeralds."

Sonic recalled the previous times Tails used the emerald tracker. "You're right, Rotor! And if this is where the energy's coming from…" He looked up at the three rhombuses floating at the top of the tower. "Only one way to find out…"


[Character Selected: Suki]
[Current World: Pikwik Planet]
[Current Location: Pikwik Post, Suki's Room]

[BGM: Continued]

It was a rather relaxing morning for the Pikwik Pack, even though it was a rather special day. It was Suki's birthday, and the pack wanted to make sure it was amazing. Suki was instructed to stay upstairs while the others set up everything, so the hedgehog simply stayed in her room, writing in her diary.

I still can't believe what I did last night, she wrote, thinking about the events that occurred when she went to sleep. Did I really just kiss Hazel good night? I've never done that before! I shouldn't be feeling this way! Not towards the Pikwik Pack. They're my friends…right?

Suki had been feeling these emotions for a while now. Sure, she enjoyed being friends with the Pikwik Pack - they were always there for her, and she was always there for them. Every day, they would work together to deliver a magical package to one of the residents of Pikwik, perhaps with an adventure to be had and a lesson to be learned. Suki always loved delivering packages, not just because of the joy it brought to the receivers, but also because of the adventure she and her friends had.

But was she satisfied just being friends with them? They did all live together, so…

"Come on down, Suki!"

The call from Axel snapped Suki out of her thoughts. She smiled and put her pen down before walking to the living room, where…

"SURPRISE!" The room had been decorated with streamers and balloons galore, plus a banner declaring "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SUKI!"

"Wow! This is amazing!" said Suki as the pack jumped out of their hiding spots. "I can't believe you did all this for me!"

"Well, you always help us when we deliver the packages," said Hazel, rubbing her hands.

"Yeah! We couldn't ask for a better friend!" Axel added. Suki smiled at the raccoon's compliment.

"Thank you all so much," said the hedgehog. Deep down, Suki wanted to say she loved them, but something inside of her made her stop.

Tibor noticed her slightly concerned look. "What's wrong?" the hippo asked. "Did we do something wrong?"

"No, no," Suki reassured. "I really like it." She paused. "It's just…" Now was as good a time as any. But before she could spit it out, there was a knock at the door. "Um, is that part of my birthday?" she asked.

[BGM: End]

Axel scratched his head. "Nope! We weren't expecting anyone." Confused, the Pikwik Pack walked to the front door. "Who do you think it is?" the raccoon asked.

"I don't know," said Hazel. She put her ear to the door, and she could hear voices outside.

"I told you! Let's just break in without damaging their property too much!"

"That's gonna be hard to do! Besides, I don't like the idea of sneaking in!"

"Well, I could just airlift you two in…"

[BGM: Asher Lenz, Stephen Skratt - Stick Together BGM]

Now the kitten was more curious than ever. Hazel grabbed the doorknob and opened up the door to find…a blue hedgehog, a fox, and a squirrel, all taller than the usual Pikwik citizen. "Uh…meow?" the hedgehog lamely said.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" screamed the Pikwik Pack.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" screamed the three mysterious figures.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" screamed the pack again.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" screamed the figures again.

"You guys done?" asked a voice from the figures' headsets.

"Yeah, I think so," said the hedgehog.

"Uh…who are you?" said Suki, trying not to sound nervous.

The blue hedgehog took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll give it to you straight: we're not from around here," he said cordially.

"Oh. Are you from another town?" asked Suki, calming down.

"Nah, another dimension." That caused Suki's nerves to return. "Sonic the Hedgehog, hero of Mobius!" the taller hedgehog continued. "This is Tails, my best bud, and this is Sally Acorn, leader of the Knothole Freedom Fighters!"

"Uh…pleased to meet you…" said Suki, still sort of confused. "Why did you come to visit us?"

"I heard that they were gonna break into Pikwik Post!" said Hazel, accusingly.

"Whoa! Whoa! We can explain!" said Sally, putting her hands up. "Look, we're looking for something we're missing. You don't try to hurt us, we don't try to hurt you."

That calmed the pack down. "Alright. I guess you can come in," said Suki. "Maybe we can help you look for whatever it is that you're missing." The three tall figures walked inside Pikwik Post.

Tails looked at the tablet he held in his hands. "We're looking for a source of energy," he explained, taking out a small, cyan jewel. "Have any of you seen anything like this?" he asked.

The Pikwik Pack was immediately drawn to the jewel. "I don't think so," said Axel, entranced. "It looks…magical."

"I've never seen anything like this before," added Tibor, carefully touching the jewel. "What's it called?"

"It's called a Chaos Emerald," explained Tails. Tibor gulped at the word 'chaos'. "It's miraculously powerful, and we tracked a similar energy pulse right here. You wouldn't have anything…" The fox paused to choose his words. "Magical, do you?"

"Just our briefing room," explained Suki. "That's where our packages come from." As if on cue, the three bell chimes that signaled the arrival of a package rang.

"Hip hip, hooray, there's a package on the way!" exclaimed the Pikwik Pack all at once. Hazel turned to Suki. "Sorry we can't celebrate your birthday right now, Suki," the kitten said.

"It's okay, Hazel," Suki reassured. "We can celebrate when we get back." As the pack ran to the briefing room, their three visitors were preoccupied with something else.

"Wow! Those energy readings are outta control!" said Sonic, looking at the Miles Electric. "Something tells me those bells had something to do with it!"

"They must be going to where the energy is!" exclaimed Sally. "Let's follow them!" Instantly, the three began to follow the four tiny critters to wherever they were going.

[BGM: End]

Unbeknownst to them, however, the same unknown figure that witnessed the Freedom Fighters arriving at Pikwik was watching them. "So that's what triggers the packages' creation," it said. "I simply wondered what I needed to complete my machine. Now all I need to do is take it from them…" With that, the figure vanished before Rotor realized it was right next to him…

To be continued...and next time: on with the delivery!


Next chapter: All aboard! "The Delivery Begins" on top of Tibor's truck as the Pikwik Pack and Team Freedom team up to deliver a brand-new package and search for the Chaos Emeralds! But a pitstop at Farmer Frances' farm won't be as relaxing as it seems...especially not with badniks in the way!


Postface: Chapter complete! Now the ball is rolling! What'll happen next? Only one thing's for certain: adventure ahead!

Trivia time! The main reason why I decided on Suki's character arc here is because, well, as I watched Pikwik Pack, I felt like the main characters could work well as a family unit. I thought that would be an interesting story to tell, and then I thought "Why not do another Sonic crossover?" So here we are. I thought I mixed the elements together well while writing this story, and I hope everyone else agrees!

That should be it! Please read, review, and share around, and I'll see you all next time for the start of the delivery! Stay diamond, everyone!

-Alfred


~The Pikwik Pack and everything related to them are properties of Guru Animation Studio, LTD. Sonic the Hedgehog and everything related to him are properties of Sega Corp. No copyright infringement with any of these companies 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.~