After school, Sonic, Tails, Tatsuya, and his friends start walk together.
Miyuki: That was really amazing, Sonic.
Erika: You're so fast.
Tails: They don't call him the fastest thing alive for nothing.
Sonic: That's just who I am, really.
Tatsuya: I can see that. Your speed truly is outstanding.
Honoka: You have to tell us how you do it.
Sonic: Like I said before, I don't know.
Mikihiko: So why don't you tell us about your world?
Sonic: Oh yeah! We never told you our story. So it's pretty much similar to this one excluding all this futuristic magic stuff.
Tails: Yeah. For years now, we've been fighting against that mad scientist, Eggman. He never wins. He's always been trying to take over the world, using the power of the Chaos Emeralds.
Tatsuya: Chaos Emeralds?
Sonic: They're gems that contain unlimited power. There are 7 in all.
Mikihiko: Gems with unlimited power...
Tails: We don't want that kind of power to fall in the hands of evil.
Sonic: When we previously defeated Eggman a few years ago, he got sent into another dimension, and it looks like he came back just to do the same old same old.
Tails: How long did it even take him to get out?
Sonic: Well, I dunno, but we know that me and Mighty were trapped in a certain video game at the same time.
Tails: Oh yeah. SAO.
Leo: You were trapped in a video game?
Sonic: It wasn't really a game, that's for sure. There was this VR device called the NerveGear, which was a full dive machine that had access to all five senses.
Tails: Basically, when you wear it, it sends signals directly into your brain. You are asleep in the real world, but you can see the virtual world It was made by a man named Akihiko Kayaba.
Sonic: And the one game that got released with it was none other than Sword Art Online, which was a VRMMORPG.
Miyuki: Interesting.
Tails: I was honestly impressed by Kayaba's work. It was on a whole new level.
Tatsuya: It sounds too good to be true.
Sonic: You'd be impressed if you saw it. Only 10,000 copies were sold, though. When the headset and game was released back in 2022, Tails let me try it out first, and the Chaotix gave one to our friend, Mighty as a gift.
Miyuki: That was really nice of you, Tails.
Tails: Sonic's my best friend.
Sonic: But shortly after we played, we noticed something odd. The log out button, which was supposed to appear on the menu was missing. We couldn't log out from inside the game. And very soon, a large avatar wearing a robe came in. That was actually Akihiko Kayaba himself. In fact, he was both the game's development director and designer for the NerveGear. He said that the fact that the log out button was missing was not a defect, and that it was a key part of SAO. He also said that people from the outside couldn't stop the game or free players from it.
Erika: You've got to be kidding me.
Mikihiko: So everyone logged into SAO was stuck inside and couldn't escape?
Sonic: Yep. Me and all the 10,000 players who logged in were trapped and couldn't log out. And he also told us SAO's most important rule of all. If anybody tried to forcibly stop the game from the outside, or if a player died in the game, the player's brain would be fried by powerful microwaves from the NerveGear, killing the player.
Everybody gasps.
Honoka: That's... That's awful. Why would he do such a thing?
Tails: Everybody panicked after hearing Kayaba. The only way everybody would log out was if they cleared the game. All 100 floors of the floating castle, Aincrad.
Sonic: It took us 2 long years to beat the game. Out of all the 10,000 players, 6,000 survived, including me, Mighty, and Tails, Knuckles, and Ray got to join us so they could help us clear the game too. We even met some new friends. Kirito, Asuna, Yui, Klein, Agil, Liz, and Silica too.
Tails: As it turns out, we actually cleared the game right after beating Floor 75.
Leo: Only 75 floors? How?
Sonic: There was this man named Heathcliff, who was the leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath, which was a guild that was part of the Assault Team. It turns out he was actually Kayaba, the games creator. Kirito, also known as the Black Swordsman figured him out. And on top of being the games creator, he was actually the final boss on Floor 100.
Mikihiko: But why did he play a part on the Assault Team, anyway?
Sonic: Since the game started, we've been wondering where he was watching from while everybody else was fighting to clear this game. But we overlooked the one thing that even a 2 year old would know. Nothing is more boring than watching someone else play a game.
Tails: So Heathcliff, or Kayaba got to challenge Sonic and Kirito to a fight. If they defeated him, everybody in the game would log out. So they agreed on it and won. Everybody who survived got to log out of the game.
Miyuki: I figured you would agree on something like that, Sonic.
Sonic: Really?
Miyuki: Anybody as strong as you would agree to fight to save everyone.
Sonic: You should see Kirito and his two swords. Once he draws his second sword, nobody is left standing. He was the only one who got dual-wielding. Aside from me, he was the one with the fastest reaction time.
Tatsuya: But aren't you faster?
Sonic: Well, uh...
Tails: He doesn't use a weapon.
Sonic: I don't use a weapon. Not that I need to.
Honoka: Either way, it's amazing how strong you are. Not only have you fought an evil scientist for so long, but you've cleared an evil game and saved everyone.
Mikihiko: So all those who lost their lives in the game, they never returned to the real world?
Sonic: No. They're gone. See that's the hardest part about being a hero. You can't always save everyone.
Miyuki: I know how that feels. There are some things that even we can't control
Sonic: Well, we shouldn't sweat over past stuff. We should worry about what happens now.
Sonic takes a sip of his cream soda.
Erika: Hey Sonic. Do you have a girlfriend?
Sonic spits out his soda, freaking out at that question.
Sonic: Hahahahaha! Oh boy! Uh... I...
Shizuku: It's okay to answer.
Sonic: Uh...
Tails: That's kind of a long story.
Sonic: Well, the answer is... Yeah, kind of. I guess.
Tatsuya: That's quite a response.
Tails: He's not lying, though. Amy, she... Well... She has a hammer.
Leo: A hammer?
Tails: Yeah. A hammer. And we now know another girl that has a mace, and one that has a hammer which is also a grenade launcher.
Sonic: Man. If Amy's hammer was a grenade launcher, I don't even know what would happen.
Tails: It's not like she'd just go blowing everything up like a maniac, though.
Sonic: Yeah I know. That would be insane.
Tatsuya: It seems like you and Amy have a complicated relationship.
Sonic: Yeah. It's pretty complicated.
Erika: By the way, Sonic. Tomorrow's the weekend, so do you wanna hang out?
Leo: HUH?!
Sonic: Uh, hang out?
Erika: Yeah, hang out. Me and you.
Leo: WHAAAAAT?!
Sonic: Me and you? Wait. You're asking me out on...
The red haired girl wraps her arm around Sonic.
Erika: Oh don't take this the wrong way. We're just hanging out, that's all.
Sonic: Okay, what's happening?!
Leo: Wha Wha Wha Wha...
Tails: I think Leo's blowing a fuse.
Erika: Well he's kind of a klutz.
He falls down on the floor, completely jealous.
Leo: Wha... Wha... Whaaaaaat?!
Sonic: Yep. He blew a fuse.
Leo: Uuuuuaaaaagh...
Erika: So, you gonna come?
Sonic: I guess, since I got nothing better to do.
Tails: Just leave the work to me and Tatsuya.
Sonic: Yeah. You guys are the engineers here.
Erika: Okay! Then it's a date!
Leo: DAAAAAAATE?!
Sonic: Man. If Amy saw this, I'd be done for.