Usagi blinked. She was just walking down the stairs for breakfast, when suddenly, something hit her.
Well, not really like 'it hit her in the face' or something like that, but... she could have sworn something happened.
"Hey, you sleeping or what? Hurry up, meatball head, or you'll be late for school."
Usagi snarled. Shingo, her annoying little twit of a brother, with his annoying bushy tail that...
Wait a minute!
Bushy tail?
Usagi looked. And indeed, her brother had a long, bushy, black tail with a white stripe running down to its tip.
What the heck was going on?
Then, again, SOMETHING hit her, and she calmed down. Why wouldn't her brother have a skunk tail? He WAS a skunk! Sure, she and the rest of her family were hedgehogs, but it was common knowledge that one of her great-grandmothers was married to a skunk, and this gene made itself visible in her stinky little brother.
The blonde, female hedgehog giggled as she thought about that. Stinky! Why didn't she think of that before?
Shingo gulped down his cereals and grabbed his backpack. "I'm off, Mom," he shouted.
Ikuko Tsukino came out of the kitchen. The blue-furred, motherly hedgehog frowned. "Shingo Tsukino! What did I tell you about eating cereals while standing?"
"Sorry, Mom." He put the empty bowl into his mother's hands and left, his bushy tail bouncing with each step.
Ikuko shook her head. "Really, that boy... Usagi, honey, hurry up with your breakfast. You won't be late again when Sonic comes to fetch you, right?"
"Aaaah, Mrs. T, that wouldn't really matter," a cocky voice came from the door that Shingo had left open. "I can run pretty fast, you know?"
Ikuko giggled. "I know, Sonic, I know... good morning, by the way! Do you want some cereals?"
The blue hedgehog shook his head. "Nah, I already had lunch... got it? Lunch! Hee hee, that was a joke."
Usagi sweat-dropped. "Sonic, you better leave the jokes to Charmy..."
"Hey Usagi," he shouted. "Ready to jet to school?"
She giggled. "Well, I had no breakfast, so..." She looked at her watch. "GAH! I'm so late! Ohmygod, we're never gonna make it!"
"Relax," Sonic grinned. "There's no rush... Well, on the other hand... THIS will be a rush!" And he wound up his legs, quickly grabbed Usagi and her schoolbag and zoomed out of the door.
They zoomed over the streets, around the corners, through various gardens. Sonic even bounced off a flagpole once.
When they reached school, the blue blur skidded to a stop. He put the slightly dizzy Usagi back on her feet. "There! What did I tell ya? With me, you're never gonna be late again!"
Usagi looked at the school clock. "Wow! Five minutes until classes start. That's really a new record. Well done, Sonic!"
He smirked. "Anytime! See ya tomorrow, right?"
"Okay, bye!" She watched him as he ran past the corner.
Her human friend Naru stepped up next to her. "Wow, Usagi, your boyfriend really is speedy. Wish you met him earlier, right?"
Usagi blushed. "Naru, it's not like that... he's not my boyfriend. He... just helped me because he's a friend."
Naru nodded knowingly. "Yeah, right! Come on, or we'll be late after all."
----
Sonic skidded to a stop when suddenly, a pink figure stepped into his way. "AH-HA! So here you are, mister! You know, that girl has two feet on her own, so why don't you let her walk to school for once?"
Sonic smiled nervously. "Hello, Amy! Why, what a surprise... are you mad?"
Amy Rose was downright steaming. "Sonic, stay away from that blonde little klutz, you hear me? She's clumsy, she's a crybaby, she's a glutton... and most important, you're MY Sonic!"
Sonic sweat-dropped. "Amy, I like you very much. Very, very much, really... But you are NOT, I repeat, you're NOT my girlfriend!"
"But Sonic," Amy whined. "We're destined to be together. Since you saved me from Metal Sonic, I dream only about you. And you deserve better than that little crybaby of a hedgehog."
Sonic smirked. "Amy..."
"What?"
"You're jealous..."
"Am not!"
"Suuuure you aren't!"
Amy crossed her arms. "Well, it's true."
Sonic shook his head. "Amy, honestly... I only help Usagi because she once helped Cream against some bullies, okay? She's a friend, nothing more. Now would you excuse me, I have a date with some chili-dogs. Later!" And he zoomed off.
Amy sighed. "I wish I could believe you, Sonic..."
----
Deep inside his hidden base, the Final Egg, a self-proclaimed ultimate genius was starting his new plot against his arch-nemesis, a certain blue hedgehog...
"If these stone tablets are correct," Dr. Robotnik alias Eggman muttered. "The ancient god of destruction is called Chaos... and hides inside the Master Emerald. Well, if only Knuckles knew..." He snickered. "Metal Sonic, this will be my ultimate plan to defeat Sonic and build my own city, Robotnikland!"
"Only if he doesn't find the Chaos Emeralds first," the blue robot pointed out. Eggman angrily smacked him on the head. "Do you have to spoil my fun that early?"
Metal Sonic snickered as best as a robot could. "Well, you see, it's a hobby of mine..."
Eggman shook his head. "Go and take care of the new robot project."
Metal Sonic nodded and left the room.
Dr. Eggman went back to his calculations until, after some minutes, a door opened behind him. "Papa? Are you still up?"
The doctor jumped and turned around. "Hotaru, don't scare your father like that."
The violet-haired girl giggled. "Sorry, papa! But you know, you shouldn't stay up that late. It's not healthy. If you have hard work to do, your robots can handle it, right?"
Eggman sighed. "Look, sweetie... your papa has important things to take care of, and he has to concentrate hardly, you understand?"
Hotaru nodded. "You're not planning of defeating that nice Mr. Sonic again, do you?"
Eggman nearly chocked on his own mustache. Sometimes, he could swear that his little girl could read his mind. "W-what makes you think that, Hotaru? I know you're friends with that little fox-boy, right? So why wouldn't I want to do something to his best friend?"
"Because you always say he's going to pay for it, every time he defeats you?"
Dr. Eggman just groaned.
----
While Sonic was searching for something to eat - he wished he had accepted Mrs. Tsukino's offer - he nearly ran into his two-tailed buddy. "Tails! Good to see you, buddy! Where have you been?"
"Sonic!" Tails seemed pretty excited. "Do you remember Ami?"
Sonic scratched his head? "Huh? Amy? As in 'pink hedgehog girl that follows me everywhere and is mighty jealous of Usagi even regarding the fact that she's NOT my girlfriend'? That Amy?"
Tails shook his head. "Not Amy Rose! Ami, spelled with an 'I'! You know... Ami Prower, my big sister!"
"Aaaah," Sonic shouted. "Now I gotcha. Isn't she the clever blue fox that you always babble with about your gadgets and inventions? She's a computer nerd, isn't she?"
Tails frowned. "Sonic, you're talking about my sister here. Yeah, I mean her! She's back in town, you know? She went to Europe for a student exchange program. She was so excited to see me again... Oh, I told her she could take a look at the Tornado, is that okay? It's your plane, after all."
Sonic nodded. "Sure, no problem. But wait a minute... I thought she was a computer whiz. Aren't mechanical things your specialty?"
"Well, that's true, but she also wanted to see if she could install some kind of on-board computer, as a navigation system, you know?"
"Hey, sounds pretty cool. Your sis really knows her stuff, right? So, what are you working on at the moment?"
Tails' tails twirled around in excitement. "Well, I'm testing out this new power supply of mine... if it works, we can fly a plane without having to worry about fuel any more. Wouldn't that be great? I already built a small plane which I'm going to use as a test. But I need some stuff from the store, so I have to hurry, or they close."
"Okay!" Sonic waved after his fox-friend. "But tell me how it works, right? Oh, and tell the computer whiz I said hi!"
----
The blue, robotic hedgehog approached the cage. "Well, how are we today, kittycat?" he mocked. "Missing your white-furred tomcat?"
The black cat (a normal, four-legged cat with a crescent moon symbol on her forehead) stood up and hissed. "Spare me your dirty jokes, Mamoru! Where did you take Artemis?"
The robot seemed to frown. "Don't call me that anymore! I'm Metal Sonic now! And I live only to serve my master!"
"You're a traitor! You're supposed to assist our princess in her fight against evil... and here you are, working together with an evil man like Robotnik!"
Metal Sonic shook his head. "You shouldn't be so rude, Luna," he said. "I thought you wanted to see your friend..."
"Where did you take Artemis?" Luna demanded to know. "What did you do with him?"
"Well, why don't you see for yourself?"
The door to the cell block opened again, and a white robot with stilt-like legs and cannons instead of hands stomped inside. On his chest plate, the numbers 'E101' were being written.
Metal Sonic made a gesture towards the white robot. "Say hello to your boyfriend, Luna... the ex-tomcat!"
In a mechanical voice, the robot spoke: "Unit E-101, code name: Beta, ready for instructions!"
Luna gasped as she recognized the voice. "Artemis! What did he do to you?"
Metal Sonic laughed. "He can't hear you, Luna... All he can hear now are Dr. Eggman's orders... and mine!" He pointed to the black cat. "Bring her to the machine room!"
"Yes sir," E-101 Beta replied. "I will comply." He turned his right cannon into a pincer-like hand and grabbed the mooncat. Ignoring her cries of protest, he carried her to the chamber, where she would become a servant of Robotnik... like he became himself!
----
"Gwaaaaaahh!" With a loud cry, the red echidna and self-proclaimed guardian of the Master Emerald flew out of the little hut.
A female echidna of a similar red quills came storming after him. "How dare you peeking at me when I'm taking a bath? You pervert!"
Knuckles rubbed his chin. "Hey, I didn't want... I just wanted to... Your grandfather wanted you to watch over the emerald while I'm going hunting."
"What a great excuse," Rei huffed. And stormed inside the hut.
'Man,' Knuckles thought. 'What a fury... If she weren't the last female of my tribe, I would have kicked her off my island a long time ago.'
In truth, it was really Rei's grandfather who was the official emerald guardian... and Knuckles was just his apprentice. And while the old man hoped that one day, the two youngsters would continue the echidna line, both of them resented each other deeply.
----
Rei angrily stomped back into her room to put on her top and skirt. That peeping tom... Luckily she was wearing her underwear, at least. If he had caught her NAKED...
And the nerve of that hentai! Why was he walking around naked all day anyway? And his shoes really didn't count...
----
Like a parachute, the sneaky bat-thief soared through the fresh spring air, heading towards the big, floating island in front of her. She was the best of the best... no one had ever been able to catch her.
Well, okay... it was her first single raid, but her mentor taught her everything she needed to know.
Skillfully, the blonde bat landed on the small hut's roof. She didn't want to alarm the residents...
Minako just hoped Rei wouldn't recognize her under her mask. They knew Rouge was an old friend of Minako's dead mom, but she really didn't tell her friends that she was a thief trainee...
And Rouge just had to choose a gem that was situated on Angel Island, the home of one of her best friends. Tough luck...
Well, at least she only had to steal that big, shiny emerald. Imagine Rouge wanted her to steal Rei's transformation pen. That would really have been an awkward situation. But no one would miss one single, simple emerald, right? Right!
Minako looked at the shrine and the big, green jewel resting on its top. That red bully that was living here too just went into the jungle. Now was her chance... She made a step...
...and crashed right through the straw roof.
Rei just felt something extremely heavy fall on her head, then the world became a chaotic vortex of straw and bat wings.
Minako spit out some straw and shook her head. Rei showed a red wing out of her face and ripped off the intruders mask.
And got even angrier when she realized who it was.
"MINAKO!"
"Hehehe... oops," Minako giggled.
----
Makoto hummed as she dusted off her bookshelves. Most people resented housework, but for her, it was really no problem. After she finished, she went into the kitchen to prepare the lunch boxes she promised the other Senshi to bring along to their next meeting.
'Oh,' she then realized. 'I have no carrots left. Well, I just have to quickly go over to the market and buy some.'
As she was a rabbit, there were carrots in her house almost anytime.
She took off her apron and prepared to go. She opened her apartment door...
...and instantly got greeted by a light blue face with a happy, happy smile that launched itself into her face.
"CHAO!"
Makoto let out a little scream and jumped back. She panted.
A high voice let out a giggle. "Please excuse Cheese. But he is almost as happy to see you as I am."
Makoto looked down and saw her little cousin Cream smiling up at her. The cute little rabbit with her orange dress and the little pet Chao named Cheese always visited her on Saturdays. Makoto moaned. How could she have forgotten?
Cream hugged her big cousin around her waist. "Hi, Makoto!"
Makoto smiled and petted Cream affectionately on the head. "Hey there, kiddo! What's up?"
Cream stepped back and pulled out a plastic bag. "I brought you some carrots. Mom bought too many, so she thought I could see if you need some."
Makoto took the carrots from her cousin and nodded. "Thanks, Cream! I was just going to the market to buy some. I was preparing some lunch boxes for my friends, and I just noticed I was totally out of carrots."
"Oh, you're cooking?" said the cute rabbit in excitement. "Can I help?"
Cream was always eager to help others, but Makoto had to admit, she WAS a great help in the kitchen. Much better than Usagi or Minako...
So she nodded and said: "Okay, come in then! We're gonna make the most delicious lunch my friends have ever tasted, right?"
Cream giggled and jumped up in the air. "Yay!"
"Chao!" Cheese added.
Well, he couldn't really say anything else...
----
In the dark cellar, colorful flashlights blinked and flashed. On the small podium, four figures were swaying to the rhythm they were creating with their instruments.
A purple chameleon was strumming his electric guitar, a small bee was hitting his drums with enthusiasm, a turquoise-skinned dolphin girl was brandishing her violin, and the big crocodile in front held up the microphone to his powerful jaws.
"One, two, three..." the dolphin said in her melodic voice.
And while the band members played their instruments, the mighty croc sang into his mike:
"Once upon a time, you could be a bad guy and you'd live to see another day.
But now you'd never manage, Boy, you'd be BRAIN DAMAGED just to think that you could get away.
The power has arrived in a dream team. A force where one and one makes three.
And when the..."
Suddenly, the green reptile grabbed his head and shouted: "CHARMY! I told you not to beat your drums too loudly. Feeling, little guy, feeling! You're destroying my groove!"
The little bee put down his drums and mocked: "You're destroying my groove. Blah, blah, blah! What's wrong with whooping it up a little, Vector?"
And while Vector and Charmy continued to bicker, the chameleon let out a sigh and said: "I guess this will take a while. Care to join me for a drink, Michiru?"
The dolphin-girl smiled. "Sure."
Espio led her to the little liqueur cabinet of the Chaotix that was mostly for when Vector had a bad day. But after Michiru and her... partner had become part of the music band / detective agency, most of the bottles got empty pretty quickly.
Espio opened the cabinet and sighed again. "Michiru, please tell Haruka that those drinks aren't cheap and that we barely make enough money to pay the rent."
Michiru giggled. "I'll talk to her."
He poured some brandy and gave it to her. "Cheers!"
She took it. "Thanks... you're not drinking?"
He shook his head. "I'm a ninja. I have to clear my body and mind."
"Oh. Well, okay then." She took a small sip. "It was really great of you guys for letting us stay in your apartment, by the way."
Espio shrugged. "Don't mention it. Besides, you ARE a great addition to our band, even if mixing rock music with a violin is somewhat... unusual. But the results I like."
By then, Vector's mighty voice yelled: "I DON'T CARE IF BRUCE LEE DOES THE SAME! YOU JUST KEEP DRUMMING, AND PUT SOME EMOTION IN IT, OKAY?"
Michiru shook her head. "You know, your leader is kinda cranky sometimes... just like Haruka can be."
"Where is she, anyways?" the chameleon ninja asked curiously.
Michiru took another sip. "She wanted to get some fishes for the two of us, for tomorrow's lunch."
Espio blinked. "But she left her wallet here. How is she going to...?"
----
The sleek, humanoid cheetah crouched down next to the river, her tail waving through the air impatiently. "Come on, you stupid fish! Jump up again!"
Next to her, a huge, fat cat was sitting and holding a fishing rod. "Ssshhh," he made. "You're scaring the fishies."
Haruka snarled. That guy with his slow way of talking was getting on her nerves. But that was HER favorite fishing spot.
When the fish jumped up again, she quickly tried grabbing it. But again, it slipped out of her paws. "Damn!"
Big the Cat looked at her and said. "You know, it would be much easier if you would use a fishing rod."
The cheetah tomboy huffed. "Please! Everyone can use a fishing rod. But it takes skill to catch them with your bare hands!"
Big looked around. "Um, Froggy? Where are you? Hey, have you seen my little buddy?"
Haruka didn't pay attention. She could see the fish rising to the surface again. She got ready for action. And when the fish jumped out, she downright lunged for it.
Only that it was a big, green frog instead of a fish.
Haruka blinked in surprise and forgot to keep her balance. When it was too late, she flailed wildly with her arms and fell down into the river with a big 'SPLASH'!
The frog hopped out of the water and on his buddy's head.
"Froggy!" Big said happily. "There you are!"