Preface: Hello, again! I hope you enjoyed your Easter and got to see Sonic 2 already! If you haven't seen it, get to it! It's amazing! Anyways, let's get started!
Edit 6/11/22 (originally uploaded ~4/16/22): updated William's name - why did I think his name was Daniel?
FREEDOM PACK
Previously...after discovering a strange vortex in the middle of the night, Sally Acorn, along with Sonic, Tails, and Rotor, investigated it, leading them to a strange world of small mobian-like creatures. As they became acquainted with some of the residents of this new world, a strange energy signal was picked up.
Now...Team Freedom investigates the energy signal...
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.
Suki the Hedgehog - Emma Ho: Pikwik Pack leader. Responsible boat driver.
Axel the Raccoon - Daniel Pathan: Blue-furred speedster. Driver of trucks.
Hazel the Kitten - Molly Lewis: Youngest Pikwik Pack member. Lover of tacos and helicopters.
Tibor the Hippo - Jacob Soley: Softy with a tough exterior. Train operator.
Chapter 3:
The Delivery Begins
[Party Selected: Sonic, Tails, Sally, Rotor, Suki, Axel, Hazel, Tibor]
[Current World: Pikwik Planet]
[Current Location: Pikwik Post, Briefing Room]
[BGM: Asher Lenz, Stephen Skratt - Pikwik Post Briefing Room]
Suki opened up the rhombus-shaped door into the strange green void she had wandered into and watched as magic sparkles flew into an orange part of the void, where Hazel bounced along some orange rhombuses. The magic continued to a purple void, where Tibor popped up and watched it go onto a blue void, where Axel cartwheeled across some blue rhombuses. Hazel began running along the purple floor as Axel bounced ahead, and when the kitten tripped, Tibor helped her back up. The three met Suki at the front, and they ran to the briefing place where the magic floated up to the top of the tower, turning into a small rectangular package, wrapped in white paper marked with red, green, and yellow rhombuses.
"Yay! The package is here!" exclaimed Hazel as the package floated to the ground.
"Who is it for?" asked Axel.
"Where does it go?" asked Tibor.
"The tag will tell us what we need to know," said Suki, reaching for the tag on the package. Before she started reading it, Sonic, Tails, and Sally walked into the room in a daze. "Oh! There you are!" said Suki. "What happened?"
"We got lost in whatever the heck that room was!" said Sally, pointing backwards. "Seriously! That looked like something out of the Special Zone!"
"It was surreal, it was crazy, and I totally wanna do it again!" exclaimed Sonic, stars in his eyes. "But first, let's take care of what's going on here."
Suki giggled and turned her eyes back to the tag. A drawing of a cloaked figure appeared on the red rhombus. "It's going to…a strange shadowy figure…" she read. A picture of some trees appeared on the yellow rhombus. "...on the edge of Blackout Woods…" A picture of an electric cord with a red "no" sign appeared on the green rhombus. "...and we have to keep it away from electricity."
"Why do you need to know all that?" asked Tails. "Are you gonna deliver that package or something?"
Tibor nodded. "It's what we do everyday," he said. But then he frowned. "Wait, did the tag say it's going to a strange shadowy figure?" Nervously, he crept up to the tag and looked at the icon of the figure.
Axel looked at the tag as well. "Yeah, it did," the raccoon confirmed. "That's a little spooky, isn't it?"
At that moment, Sonic sneezed. "Sorry, I sneeze when I sense danger sometimes," he excused himself. "And that shadowy figure nonsense has danger written all over it!"
"Yeah! How about we tag along?" said Sally. "You can help us look for the Chaos Emeralds, and we'll help you figure out who this shadowy figure is!"
Suki smiled. "Okay, then! Let's check the map and make a plan!" The hedgehog took out her baton as the map of Pikwik opened up. "Okay, team, we have to go past Farmer Frances's farm, through the Tangle Wood Forest, and arrive right at the edge of Blackout Woods!"
"Oo! Oo!" Tibor cheered. "The train tracks go right to Tangle Wood Forest! We can take my train there!" An icon of the hippo's train appeared on the screen.
"Yeah! And the sea leads to Blackout Woods, too!" added Hazel. "Suki, you can take your boat, and Axel can take his truck!" Icons of the two other vehicles appeared on the screen.
"Sounds like a plan!" said Suki, putting her baton away. "Are you coming?" she asked Sonic and his friends.
Sonic gave a thumbs-up. "Of course we are," he said. "Let's do it to it!"
"Let's go, Pikwik Pack!" the four smaller animals said, and everyone rushed out of the room.
[Location Change: Pikwik Post, Train Loading Area]
[BGM: Asher Lenz, Stephen Skratt - Timid Tibor BGM]
Outside, two carrier cars were attached to Tibor's train, and Suki's boat and Axel's truck were lifted onto them with a crane. "Nice truck, dude!" Sonic said to Axel, impressed. "Mind if we have a ride in it when we get back?"
"Not at all!" said Axel, giving a thumbs-up. The raccoon hopped onto the train once everything was loaded.
Tails joined Hazel on the platform on the roof of the train's second car. "Okay, Rotor!" the fox said into his communicator. "We'll get an aerial view, while Sonic and Sally track the ground!"
"Gotcha!" said the voice on the other end, still in the invisible hovercraft. "I'll try to keep an eye out for the Chaos Emeralds while I help the others!"
Tibor climbed into the drivers' seat. "Everyone ready to go?" he called back.
"We're ready, Tibor!" called Suki once she was sure that the others and the package were securely on the train.
"Clickety clack, this train is on track!" shouted the hippo, and he pushed the lever forward, causing the train to puff out a batch of smoke before setting out on its way.
As the train rode through town, the residents of Pikwik watched it go by. "It's a Pikwik delivery!" said Hariett Hare as she watched the train. "Who's it for, Tibor?"
"It's for a strange, shadowy figure," Tibor called back, a level of uncertainty in his voice.
From their sandpit, Edgar the elephant and William the dog noticed the package. "I wonder what it could be!" Edgar wondered, and the two examined the shape of the package. "A chocolate bar?" A thought bubble with an icon of a chocolate bar appeared next to the elephant's head.
"A suitcase?" guessed William, as a thought bubble with a yellow suitcase appeared. "Ooo! Ooo! Maybe it's a…"
"Chocolate suitcase!" the two shouted, their thought bubbles becoming one with a suitcase made out of chocolate. "Cooooool!"
Back on the train, Sonic was really enjoying the ride. "Not as fast as I'm used to," the hedgehog said, hanging off of the train, "but man, does that wind feel good!"
"Tell me about it!" said Tails, reaching his arms to the sky. He gave a satisfied sigh. "Nothing like a nice breeze to soothe ya while you look for…"
"A Chaos Emerald?" Rotor suddenly said into the three Freedom Fighters' communicators, startling them. "It's somewhere on that farm!"
Sally looked over from her seat. The train was now passing a small, blue-and-white-colored farm, with a mouse wearing overalls harvesting apples from an apple tree. "Stop the train!" the squirrel called, and Tibor, startled, pulled on the lever, causing the train to come to a screeching halt.
"I didn't realize we were making a pit stop!" said the hippo as the Freedom Fighters hopped off of the train. The Pikwik Pack followed them to the farm, Tibor remembering to pick up the package along the way.
"Ah, hello, Pikwik Pack!" said the mouse as the group arrived. "Who're your new pals?"
"Sorry to bother you, Farmer Frances," said Suki. "They're looking for some jewels of theirs, and they must think it's on your farm."
"Nope, sorry!" said Frances, tossing some apples into his basket. "Just the ol' blueberries and some apples!" He tapped his basket, accidentally causing it to spill over. But among all the redness was a glimmer that Sonic recognized instantly.
"A-ha! The Chaos Emerald was here all along!" the hedgehog said, zipping up to grab the red jewel. "You must've thrown it in by accident!"
Frances chuckled. "So I did!" he said. "Well, if I see any more, I'll let ya know!"
"Thanks, sir," said Sally. "Sorry again for intruding. We'll get out of your hair now."
[BGM: Masato Nakamura - STH2 Boss ~ Masa's Demo version ~]
"Yeah, you may wanna hold off on that," said Rotor, sheepishly. "Badniks, ten o'clock!" Sure enough, a whole squadron of bug-like robots were heading the group's way.
"Drat! I knew it was too easy!" said Sonic, snapping his fingers. "You five, stay here! We got this!" And just like that, he and his friends sprung into action.
"Watch out for those Kama-Kamas, Tails!" Rotor warned the fox. Tails saw the mantis-like robots toss their sickles at him and flew out of the way before smashing them with his tails. "Sonic, Sally, Mecha-Bus on all sides!"
"We see 'em, Rotor!" said Sally. She used her Holo-Blade to slice off one of the beetle-like robots' blades, and Sonic used the blade to take care of the rest.
Meanwhile, the Pikwik Pack were confused about the whole ordeal. "Why are there robo-bugs attacking us?" shouted Hazel. "Why are they here? And why are they powered by these little birdies?"
"Hazel, calm down," Suki tried to reassure her sis…friend. Her friend. "Sonic and his friends are handling this."
Sonic and Tails drilled through the remaining Kama-Kamas as soon as they were weakened. "I dunno who's causing this," the hedgehog shouted, "but is this all they've got?"
That's when Tails noticed something big in the distance. "Uh…no…" he said, distressed. Sonic and Sally looked in the direction he was pointing, and right behind the Pikwik Pack was a gigantic Piranha robot.
"Uh, Suki?" Tibor said, frightened. As soon as the pack realized the gigantic mouth they were in front of, they slowly backed away, but then they were cornered by Heihous, their firefly-like lasers pointing right at them.
"Uh, oh! We better do something!" said Rotor, surveying the situation. Suddenly, his camera was covered by a whole swarm of mosquito-like robots. "Hey! Buzz off!" the walrus said, annoyed.
Back on the ground, Sonic, Tails, and Sally were also surrounded. "Yep. Something's definitely going on here," said Sally. "These badniks must be after Suki and her friends!"
Speaking of them, the Heihous were about to fire. If the pack didn't step inside the Piranha, they'd get incinerated. But if they did, they'd get eaten. Suki had every right to be scared in this situation. But instead, a surge of courage flowed through her veins. She grabbed one of the apples from the ground. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!" she cried, tossing the apple right at the firefly-like robots. As soon as it made contact with the middlemost Heihou, the others froze.
"Th-they just…stopped?" said Hazel. That's when she realized something. "Everyone run!" The Pikwik Pack and Frances needed no other words and all ran out of the way. The Heihous attempted to fire at them as they retreated, but their lasers instead fired at the Piranha, causing it to explode.
And as it did, the Mosqs began to fly around more aimlessly. "Huh…this just got…stranger…" said Tails, confused.
"Don't question it! Just smash 'em!" shouted Rotor. The walrus activated the laser cannon on the Hover Bus to take care of the Mosqs blocking his vision, while Sonic, Tails, and Sally simply used their own methods to take care of them.
Meanwhile, the Pikwik Pack knew how they could help. "Say, Farmer Frances," said Axel, "mind if we borrow these apples?"
"Go ahead! I got plenty more!" At the mouse's offer, the four friends started to grab the apples and toss them at the remaining Heihous and Mosqs, busting them open. They had to admit - it was fun! Almost like a game!
[BGM: Asher Lenz, Stephen Skratt - Timid Tibor BGM]
Before long, the only evidence that the robots were even there were their remains. Sally deactivated her Holo-Blades and wiped her hands. "Well, that takes care of that," she said. "Nice going with those apples, you guys!"
"Yeah, Suki! That was such a good idea!" said Tibor, giving Suki a little bump. The hippo looked around at the scraps. "Oh, but the farm's a mess!"
"Yeah, don't worry! I'll clean it up!" insisted Sonic. Before anyone else could say another word, the hedgehog was zooming back and forth across the farm, packing together the scraps that were lying on the ground into a large cube. "Now, where's the recycling bin?"
"No need!" said Rotor. With a few button presses, the cube of metal was teleported into the Hover Bus, where the walrus got up from his seat and dumped it into the recycling bin.
"Dang, this thing's high-tech!" said Sonic, wiping his hands. "Sorry again for the intrusion, sir. Now we'll get out of your hair."
"It's no problem!" Frances insisted. "In fact, take some apples for the road! You never know where else you'll find those robo-bugs!" With that, the Pikiwk Pack loaded an apple barrel onto the train and bid Farmer Frances farewell, setting back out on their way.
"Well, that's one Chaos Emerald down," said Tails, admiring the spoils of their pitstop. "Those badniks must've been after it!"
"Or maybe they were after the package," suggested Hazel. "Those robo-fireflies and giant piranha trapped us!"
Sonic looked out into the horizon. "Well, I guess we got some time to ponder that." As he looked around, he noticed the emerald and the red rhombus on the package were both sparkling. "Hm, that's strange…"
Meanwhile, the strange shadow figure that the Pikwik Pack was going to watched from his base in Blackout Woods. "So those little animals are more competent than they seem," it remarked. "No matter. It seems that they will be breaking apart soon. That will make things somewhat easier…"
To be continued...and next time: split up!
Next chapter: "Robo Rodent Roundup" Fork in the road! The crew decides to split up to get the remaining two Chaos Emeralds, with Sally and her squadron heading into the Tangle Wood Forest! But a badnik that looks like a certain little buddy seems to be trying to stop them...
Postface: Chapter complete! Now the ball is rolling! The delivery has begun, the Chaos Emeralds are being searched for, and the shadowy figure is gonna try to get the package earlier than planned...
Trivia time! This story will have many of the same beats as each episode of Pikwik Pack, including the briefing portion and start of delivery shown here. Each chapter of the Chaos Emerald hunt will also have a special cameo appearance from the supporting cast. In this chapter, it was Farmer Frances, who first appeared in the episode Timid Tibor. He's a mouse who farms blueberries for a living, but his debut episode has him tire of just blueberries and ends with him getting an apple tree, which got a small callback here. As for the badniks that show up, all of them are from Sonic CD, which had more insect-like badniks than the usual games, which made sense for this chapter's setting. But wait! What about that weird moment with the package and the Chaos Emerald? Hmm, that is suspicious...
That should be it! Please read, review, and share around, and I'll see you all next time for the gang's split-up! 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.~
