Chapter 3: Home Sweet Home
Mobius, 10:00 am. Above the ocean.
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were all flying in the Tornado, Sonic sitting in his usual spot while Knuckles took the second seat behind Tails. Skies were clear, the sun was shining, and the air was just right.
Sonic smiled as he took in the sun. It was days like these that made him glad he lived on Mobius.
Tails: We should be reaching Sunset Heights soon, Sonic. I'll go drop off Knuckles at Angel Island, then meet you at Don Fiacho's.
Sonic: Sounds like a plan to me, bro.
Knuckles: Oh right, Tails? When you can, swing by the shack again? Defense turrets are having issues again. And I don't trust myself to try and fix them without some help.
Tails: Oh, I can do that when I drop you off!
Sonic: Did you try the usual method of resetting the generators?
Knuckles: I… Shit, no I didn't.
Sonic: Had a feeling. Here.
Sonic would carefully hand Tails a small blue gemstone, which Tails then proceeded to hand carefully to Knuckles.
Knuckles: Ah, right. I can use a Chaos Emerald to charge them. Thanks, Sonic.
Sonic: Hey, what are friends for? Besides, even if you keep it, at some point, it's just gonna end up back in my hands again. It's a win-win.
Knuckles shook his head, smiling.
Knuckles: I'd argue, but at this point, you aren't wrong. I'll return it when I can.
Sonic: Don't worry about it, Knux.
Knuckles would pocket the Chaos Emerald and then resume relaxing in the rear seat, and Sonic would look to the horizon, smiling as he started to take in the morning air again. Then he looks down.
Sonic: Strips of land! Drop me off here, Tails, I can run the rest of the way.
Tails: Alright. Commencing drop off…
Tails started to slowly turn the Tornado, and Sonic kneels down, keeping his eyes on the ground below. He smiles, when the opportunity comes, he jumps off the plane and begins a dive straight down to the ground. When he got close, he flipped, and landed on his feet. He looks up, smiles, and then turns on his comms device.
Sonic: Made landfall Tails. See you later!
Tails spoke through his intercom, and waved while piloting the Tornado.
Tails: See you later Sonic!
With that, Tails and Knuckles flew off in the direction of Angel Island. Sonic then turns his attention towards the mainland, and then knelt down, closing his eyes.
Sonic: Okay. Time to rock and ROLL!!
With blue electricity coursing through his body, Sonic took off at Mach 28, running across the ocean and making it to the mainland in mere seconds. He slowed his pace to Mach 5, making it to Metropolis, the business area of Mobius, where he would stop atop the highest building.
Sonic: Gooooooooooood MORNING METROPOLIS!!!!
He shouted excitedly before he jumped off, ran down, and took the streets, waving to Mobians of all different types. He smiled as he exited the city limits, heading out into the mountains that used to be Dr Eggman's Launch Base Zone. It recently turned into a giant mine, where Mobians and robots alike worked together to get the materials for their day to day lives. He stops atop a small ledge.
Sonic: MORNING UNARIUM TUNNEL MINES!
Miners: MORNIN' SONIC!
He smiled, yet again taking off and making his way towards the old Ice Cap Zone, outrunning not one, not two, not even three or four, but FIVE avalanches. He snowboarded on that last one, using a flat, thick sheet of ice as the board before he zips off. He stops along the way, as he finds himself out of Ice Cap Zone, and into the deserts.
Not too long after that, he was in Green Hill, and was already at the outer limits of Sunset Heights. He landed on the small hill closest to the town, smiling at his home.
Sonic: Finally, home sweet home.
He checks the time, smiling. 11:00 am. He had 30 minutes to kill before he had to get home. He zips into the city, and when he got into the limits, he slowed down to a steady jog, smiling as he saw Mobians at work.
Sonic: Hey, Terry! Keep up the great work!
Terry, a Mobian Wolf, waved as he was spray painting a wall with the image of everyone that was part of Sonic's friend… No. His family, onto it. Sonic keeps jogging, then zips over to help a Mobian Bear and Dog stop themselves from dropping a lot of freight!
Sonic: I got you Guss!
Guss: Oh, thanks Sonic!
Sonic: Hey, Doug, Helen! Little help here!
A Cat and a Hedgehog rush over to lend a hand, helping Doug and Guss, preventing them from falling over and dropping their freight.
Helen: Good save Sonic.
Sonic: Thanks. You good Smalls?
Smalls the Bear nodded, smiled, and exchanged a fist bump with Sonic.
Smalls: Thanks Sonic.
Helen: Smalls, go take a break, rest up okay?
Smalls: You got it Helen.
Sonic kept jogging on, reaching one of his favorite spots: the Cream Cheese Chao Daycare and Bakery. He catches a whiff, smiling at the baked goods being pulled out of the oven before walking in. Cream really grew up into an amazing woman!
Cream: Ah, Sonic! Just in time, I just opened.
Sonic: I know, hit me with the usual basket, Cream!
Cream: Way ahead of you, my good sir!
Cream reaches below the counter, pulling out a basket of baked goods, covers it, and then adds a very lovely red and blue bowtie. For aesthetic reasons, of course.
Cream: Free one for the week. Don't eat it all in one sitting.
Cream shook her finger at Sonic, giving him a stern look that made Sonic put his hands up, sweatdrop and chuckle nervously.
Sonic: It was one time, Cream. You can relax.
Cream: Good. Come again!
Sonic took the basket and walked out, smiling and then resumed his jog. He stops just in front of the place he was taking his time to reach. Home. His home. He smiles as he taps his right hand against the door, it glowing briefly before it opens, letting him inside. He stepped in, walked to the living room, and smiled as he saw Amy Rose sitting down, doing a Tarot Card reading.
Amy: I saw you coming.
Sonic: I bet you did. Just like you did at Never Lake all those years ago.
He sets the basket down, walks over, kneels down and offers Amy a smooch on her cheek. Amy smiled and smooched him back. Her quills were longer now, and she had some gorgeous jewelry on her hands, around her neck, and even had a belt made of the same stuff the Rings were. The only difference in her choice of clothes besides her new jewelry were the bell bottom red pants.
There was also the fact that she had a rather large belly, due to being 5 months pregnant with their first child. Sonic gently put a hand on her belly, smiling.
Sonic: 4 more months…
Amy: Mhm. Still don't have a name yet?
Sonic: Not yet. Maybe once we see what the kid looks like, we can decide then.
Amy: I have a few ideas, but maybe you're right. It's been getting a bit harder to walk…
Sonic: Has Dr Nightshade come by for her checkup yet?
Amy: Not yet. She said she was running late.
Sonic: Ah, okay. Honestly, I'd be more concerned about it if it weren't for the fact that Nightshade saved everyone's bacon more than once.
Amy: Mhm. She'll be here at noon. That being said, you got home early. It's only 11:20.
Sonic: Better early than late, and better late than never, I always say.
Both laugh at that remark. He sits down after taking his coat off, hanging it up.
Sonic: So. Anyone try to cause trouble while me and the boys were gone?
Amy: Eggman did, but Shadow woke up on the wrong side of the bed today thanks to some GUN officers using unauthorized equipment.
Sonic: Eugh… Never get on Shadow's bad side… He didn't…
Amy: No, Eggman wasn't injured, neither was Shadow. Eggman got sent back to Metropolis via kick to the Egg Mobile.
Sonic: So typical Tuesday.
Amy: Yeah.
Sonic: Good. Do you need anything else? Or can I head over to Don Fiacho's and meet up with Tails?
Amy: I'll be fine, Sonic. Go on ahead. If I have an emergency, I'll call.
Sonic: Right-o. I'll be home by dinner time.
Amy: Ah!
Sonic whips around, looking at Amy with concerned and wide eyes.
Sonic: What? What's wrong?!
Amy: I… I just felt a kick!
Sonic: … A kick…?
Amy: Yes, a kick! Come here!
Sonic walked over, gently putting a hand on Amy's belly. Sure enough, he felt a kick. He smiled and began to laugh happily.
Sonic: Look at that… I was here for the first kick.
Sonic and Amy laugh in joy for a small moment before hugging. Afterwards, Sonic went over to Don Fiacho's, sat at his usual spot, but was visited by none other than Shadow the Hedgehog. He had gone under some changes himself, having armor on his gloves and shoes, wearing a special red and black trench coat, small quills between his larger ones, and shotgun shells strapped to his left arm…
Sonic: Do you always have live ammunition on you when you're off the clock?
Shadow: As the commanding officer of Mobius Defense Force's GUN division, I'm never off the clock.
The two smirk at eachother then fistbump. Shadow sat down across from him, crossing his legs and actually relaxing.
Shadow: How was the trip?
Sonic: It was great. Next year, we're gonna do more than camp in Palm Tree Panic.
Shadow: Feels great to relax once in a while… I think I may take you up on the offer, and join you on the next trip.
Sonic: You sure?
Shadow: I have plenty of trusted officers that can take care of things while I'm gone, don't worry. But I didn't just come here to chat. I got some bad news.
Sonic: Huh?
Shadow: There was a breach in the Cosmic Highway last night. Whole place is a mess. Zone Cops can't figure out the origin point. Whoever did it knew what they were doing.
Sonic: … Fuck.
Shadow: If they find out anything, I'll be the first to know. And you will be next to know.
Sonic: Right. Thanks Shadow.
Shadow: Don't thank me till we have a good idea on who did it. That being said, keep your guard up. It could have been anyone.
Sonic: Yeah… Yeah.
Shadow: I better get going. Thanks for the talk.
Sonic: No problem. Be careful. And try not to kill your liver again, for fucks sake!
Shadow just smirks as he stands up, adjusting his trench coat.
Shadow: I make no promises.
Shadow walks out after leaving a tip at the front counter. Sonic smiled and shook his head. Shadow had definitely become a bit brighter, while still keeping some of his old seriousness. It was a good thing he started opening up more in recent years.
Just as Sonic was about to make his order, he sees Tails walk in, head over, and sit down across from Sonic with a big smile.
Sonic: Someone's happy.
Tails: Kiko and Tommy are gonna be back home from the Mystic Ruins soon.
Sonic: Hey, awesome bro! I'm glad to hear Kiko is okay.
Tails: Told you she was a lot tougher than she looked.
Sonic: Just like you are.
Sonic smiles, and then offers a secret handshake, which Tails happily engages in, ending it with them mimicking explosions…
Speaking of explosions, one went off just outside the building. And then came the all too familiar boisterous voice…
Dr Eggman: I know you're back, hedgehog! Come out and let's tussle!
Sonic smirks and shakes his head.
Sonic: Two times in one day? Eggman must have also woken up on the wrong side of the bed today.
Tails: Sounds like it. Need backup?
Sonic: Do you even need to ask?
Sonic and Tails stand up and head towards the door, fist bumping on their way out. Just another day on Mobius.
\\Feel free to leave your thoughts.