Sonic Haven

Season 1 - Episode 7

"Lost and Found"

Sonic shook his head in frustration. How many buildings had he checked now? Twenty? It must've been at least close to that number. Yet there was still no sign of the princess. To make matters worse, Robotnik's forces were moving into this part of town and taking captive anyone who was left, no doubt to turn them into more of those Robotic Mobians. He needed to find the Princess now before it was too late!

He dashed down the street and turned the corner to his right. As he came around the old brick building, he spotted a group of Mobians running out of a storefront and trying desperately to get away from the Robots behind them. They ran out into the middle of the street and it seemed like they just might be able to get away until they were surrounded by more of Robotnik's monsters leaving nowhere for them to go.

It seemed like all hope was lost. That is until Sonic jumped over the wall of metallic creatures and landed in the middle of the circle right next to a very frightened brown-furred Coyote. "I'm gonna give you an opening." He told the group. "When you get the chance, run as fast as you can!" They nodded and waited for him to clear a path.

He took a deep breath then dashed forward, aiming at a pair of cyborgs directly ahead. He smashed through them with incredible speed, knocking them into the air and down the street several feet away. Hopefully the impact wouldn't hurt the people inside the suits.

Coming to a sliding stop, he turned around and rushed back to the hole he'd created. He stopped in between two more Robotic Mobians who'd started closing off the hole. They looked down at him with emotionless expressions, though to him it seemed to be confusion. He smirked then placed his hands on the ground and spun his body around in a circle so fast he created a sharp cyclone of wind that blew them away and opened a nice sized gap that would be perfect for a timely escape.

"Alright, go!" He yelled at the group.

They didn't hesitate. Within five seconds they were in the clear and running away as fast as they could. Hopefully they would be able to get out of the city unharmed.

Just as he was turning his head back around, Sonic heard a shriek of surprise from the group he'd freed as they ran into yet another batch of these cyborgs that seemed to be everywhere now. He grimaced and turned to help them again, but was grabbed and lifted into the air with one chrome hand on each arm as one Robotic Mobian on each side had grabbed him and lifted him off of the ground so as to remove his one advantage, his speed.

It wasn't looking good! They turned Sonic around so that he was facing the rest of the circle of metallic goons. One of them started walking toward Sonic with some kind of backpack looking device in its left hand. No doubt they were going to try and turn him into one of them. As he watched it get closer and closer, a small bit of movement caught his eye. Up to his right, opposite the storefront that the other group had dashed out of and ten floors up a glass-faced building. Were two Mobians in brightly colored clothes running for their lives as they were being chased by yet another group of robots.

Sonic widened his eyes in surprise. He had to help them too, he couldn't let any more people be forced to suffer whatever terrible fate lay inside one of those suits! He had to get free and he had to get up there!

Traction. He needed traction so that he could again use his speed and turn the tables on these things. But how does one get traction when their feet are swinging violently in the air half-a-foot off the ground?

Thinking fast, he lifted his legs over his head and planted them on the faceplates of the robots to either side of him. Then he pushed off of their heads and tried to curl into a ball as if he were doing a spindash. The sudden and violent torque ripped him out of their arms and dropped him to the ground where he peeled out like a tire on a hot-rod and dashed through the crowd of metal mobians before turning sharp left and rolling up the side of the building. This one wasn't ten stories tall, but it didn't need to be. All it needed to be was tall enough for him to jump.

As he reached the top, he jumped off of the side of the building and flew across the street before crashing in through the window that had drawn his attention only a moment ago. He was in some kind of office space, empty office space, he didn't even know what kind of business it was. But right now, all he needed to do was find those two who'd just ran past this broken window. Running forward into a narrow hallway and again turning to his left he spotted a group of those Robotic Mobians running after something. No doubt it was the pair he was looking for!

He ran ahead, going much faster than any normal person could ever hope to run, then jumped over a group of maybe five or six cyborgs before landing between two very startled young ladies who had no idea what was going on. He put one arm around each waist, then burst forward and aimed for the glass pane at the end of the hall. He put his head forward so that he would take the brunt of the impact while also slicing the glass with his spines to weaken it before he hit.

The three of them burst through the window as Sonic jumped across the street, then landed on a roof that was thankfully only a couple of stories down from launch point. The landing was rough but managable. Sonic managed to cut most of his speed before they ended up rolling across the roof. As he wasn't used to handling that much extra weight, if any, during landings like that, he couldn't keep them from tumbling. The thought crossed his mind that he might want to practice in case this ever became necessary again.

They pulled themselves up from the roof and dusted themselves off, only cuts and bruises on the lot of them, nothing broken. As they all caught their breath Sonic took a moment to see who he had just saved. One was a girl with long red hair, brown fur, and a cream-colored face. She wore a light blue blouse and pants that nearly matched in color. Her friend was also brown-furred but had dark-brown hair, not red. She wore a hot pink blouse and pants that, apart from color, were nearly identical in design to the former.

"Thank you sir." The red hair girl said in a very formal way. "If you hadn't saved us from those robots I think we might not have escaped."

The brown haired girl nodded in agreement. "Yes, thank you sir."

Sonic put up his hands and shook his head in protest. "What's with all this 'sir' stuff? Just call me Sonic." He got a smirk out of the one in pink and a soft smile from the one in blue. "So, what are your names?" He asked, though he had an idea as to who the red-haired one was already.

She spoke first. "I'm Princess Sally Acorn." She gestured to her pink-clad compatriot. "And this is my best friend Tiara."

"Nice to meet you." Tiara said as she nodded.

"Nice to meet you too." Sonic replied with a smile. Then he turned to Sally and spoke to her directly. "I kinda figured you were the princess. You look just like your… mother." The last word barely left his tongue.

Sally could tell something was wrong from the way he'd choked out the end of his sentence. "What's wrong?" She asked while trying to hide her concern.

Sonic dropped his gaze to the tops of his shiny red shoes as he thought about what to say next.

He could certainly lie to her. It might give her hope or otherwise be able to keep her focused on the task of keeping herself alive. It could be to his benefit. Then he could tell her the truth later when she was safe.

Or he could just tell the truth now. It would be painful no doubt. But it would make sure that she was able to work through it right away so that she could get past it that much faster. She also had a right to know, it was her parents after all. She might hate him for it now, but it would be better later.

What would he do?

He tensed, knowing that this was going to be difficult for her. "I'm sorry." He started to speak and could already see her shoulders dropping from the weight of the news. "Robotnik attacked the Acorn Palace personally. I was there to try and warn your parents about the incoming danger, but I was just a little too late. After he threatened your father, he left. Then there was an explosion. I checked their pulses just to be sure… I'm sorry. They're dead."

There was total silence for a second, even from their surroundings. It was as if the whole world had stopped for just a moment to record what he had said. Then, all at once, the silence broke.

Sally cried in anguish after it finally hit her. Both of her parents were gone! Killed unjustly by a man seeking revenge. There were no final moments, no last goodbyes. Today was supposed to be just an ordinary day of shopping with her best friend and hanging out at the palace where she would eat dinner with her mom and dad and talk about how boring her life was. But no. Not anymore. Today was far from ordinary. Instead, as her whole life was sawn asunder, she fell to her knees and cried. Her head buried in her hands, Tiara knelt beside her and put an arm around her to help comfort her.

A couple of minutes passed without a word, the three of them motionless on that rooftop. Then, from the street below Sonic heard a loud banging noise. It sounded two times before the building shook just a little bit as the sound of small concrete chunks falling to the ground echoed up the walls.

It was obvious to both Sonic and Tiara what was going on; the Robotic Mobians had busted in and were no doubt making their way to the roof to collect the three before they escaped. They both looked at Sally who was still crying, but was starting to try and pull herself together. Although she was a mess, she also knew what was happening and knew that this was neither the time nor the place to mourn.

Sonic walked over to the two and picked them up, one under each arm, and took off. He didn't know where to go for sure, but anywhere was better than here. He ran from one side of town to the other, finally coming to a stop just outside of a parking garage.

Setting them down, he listened as best he could to their surroundings. There were car alarms going off in the distance, Sally's crying, which was getting closer to a sob, and footsteps. Metal footsteps from inside the building. He ran up the side and in through a window to see what was going on.

Inside, there was a pair of cyborgs scanning the area for more hostages. Since they were empty-handed, it looked like they'd fortunately had no luck. Then he spotted movement from inside of a parked car not far from where the robots were headed. Thinking fast, he ran ahead of the two just fast enough to outrun them and lured them all the way outside.

As they came out behind him, he dashed up the side of the building and stood on the roof, waiting for them to leave. Thankfully, when they saw no sign of him, they turned and headed for the next building over, the most likely place for him to hide.

He smiled quietly to himself, then ran back down to where the girls were hiding. Coming to a sliding stop, he turned to them. "There's a couple more people inside." He said as he gestured for them to follow him.

Sally, who's crying had mostly stopped, was the first to get up and follow. Tiara brought up the rear, constantly checking over her shoulder to make sure that there weren't more of those things just waiting to pop around a corner and start chasing them again.

Footsteps echoing through the mostly empty building, Sonic came to a stop next to a small car and opened the door.

Suddenly, a red Echidna jumped out of the car and swung his massive right fist, spikes and all, straight for Sonic's head at a speed that should've leveled him instantly. Instead, Sonic lackadaisically leaned back just far enough to be out of reach of the giant mitt.

"Can I help you?" Sonic asked sarcastically.

The Echidna just grunted and pulled his fist back to his side. Then, from behind him, Sonic heard a familiar voice. "Sonic!" Tails said excitedly. "I was worried those robotic slaves would've gotten to you."

"Nah." Sonic sarcastically dismissed the comment with a wave of his hand and a smirk on his face. "Those things are to slow to catch me. But I see you made it through okay." He turned his head to the Echidna. "And I see you made some new friends too."

"I'm Knuckles the Echidna." He replied in a gruff tone.

Tiara looked surprised. "An Echidna? I thought they were extinct?"

Knuckles shook his head. "Not extinct, just displaced. It's hard to explain."

Another voice came from the car. "Could I get some help over here?" A jacket wearing Husky asked. Before he could pull himself up out of the car, a gloved hand presented itself. He took it and was able to drag himself out with Sonic's help. "Thanks." He said with a grunt of pain as he readjusted his shirt.

"Don't mention it." Sonic said with a smile. "What's your name?"

"Max…" He said through gritted teeth. "Your friend over there patched me up." He nodded to Tails.

Sonic gave Tails a thumbs up. "Nice work. I didn't know you were a doctor."

Max got Sonic's attention again before continuing. "We need to find someplace to hide. I can't exactly move too fast right now, and I think we all need to take a moment to reevaluate the situation."

Sally spoke up softly from the back of the group. "There's a - uh… A residential area only a couple of blocks from here." Her voice was shaky and unsure, but her suggestion was the best they were going to do right now.

"Alright then." Sonic said with a note of authority. "Let's go."

The group walked out of the garage and warily made their way over to an apartment complex only a couple of blocks over. Its windows were busted and some of its doors had been ripped open, but they were thankfully able to find a room where the door could still latch behind them.

It was a good thing they'd found shelter too, because as they settled in the rain started to fall.