The rescue team of toys finally reached the highway by morning. All of them were tired from the non stop journey besides Shadow. He was way ahead of the others as they were nearly sleepwalking. Once they were through some branches from bushes, they saw Shadow just standing and staring out through a clearing. Knuckles caught up to him, nearly passing out himself, and asked why he stopped.
"Why are we stopping?"
"Is everyone here?" He scoffed.
"Uh, not everyone." Amy said.
Shadow looked at them and saw that they were down one toy, Tails. He sighed and groan before asking,
"Where is the fox?"
"I'm here…" Tails answered barely.
He was walking very slowly with his head and arms down and his legs looked like they were about to give out… and they did. Tails collapsed on the floor and nearly fell asleep. Amy rushed over and helped him back up. Shadow just scoffs,
"How are we supposed to save Sonic when you're falling apart right at the door?"
"Like it or not, Shadow, but he's just a kid!" Amy screamed. "Besides, we've been walking all-"
Amy paused before what he just said kicked in.
"Did you say 'right at the door?'" she questioned.
Shadow moved out of the way of the clearing and their eyes widened in surprise. They made it! The store is right there! All they need to do now, is to get in somehow. Luckily for them, an employee was walking towards the entrance, completely ignoring the closed sign posted as the doors automatically opened for him. Shadow took this chance to get inside and the others quickly followed without being seen. Inside, they see all kinds of toys stacked on shelves for miles.
"Woah… How are we going to find Sonic in this place?"
"Look for Kevin." Shadow answered, "We find Kevin, we find Sonic. Now, split up."
They all separated into different aisles to find any clue to finding their friend. Amy went closer towards the center, while Tails went closer to the left side of the store, and Knuckles and Shadow left towards the right side of the store to maximize efficiency.
Amy walked down her aisle and saw many other figures or toys on display. Some of them she recognized, but others not so much. She walked for a couple minutes and realized this could take a long while,
"Ugh, this will take forever!"
But then, she saw a toy vehicle on the shelf closest to the floor. She moved closer and saw that it could be operated inside and it was just about her size so she could actually drive it (Figure scale size). She smiled as an idea popped into her head and jumped in the driver's seat and drove off the shelf.
Tails was trekking down the store about to enter an aisle, but the sound of an employee's footsteps caused him to hide behind one of the displays. It was a man wearing a blue T-shirt with the store's logo and gray sweatpants. He was pushing what looked like to be a utility cart full of toys and figures waiting to be stocked. The cart must've hit some kind bump in the floor because the entire cart jump and 2 boxes fell off the top. The employee must've not noticed as he walked away while one box fell to the floor against a wall and the other fell into every toy's nightmare… the trash…
As soon as the worker was out of sight, Tails saw the box on the floor jump rapidly and heard a voice screaming in fear.
"Mother! Mother!"
The voice was high and soft, almost sounding like a child's voice. Tails jumped down and rushed towards the box to give any help he could.
"Hey, are you alright?" he asked.
He looked through the clear plastic and saw a frightened little rabbit figure with another small figure equally scared, but Tails didn't recognize the smaller one. The rabbit had cinnamon-brown eyes, a small brown nose, and a white muzzle. She had princeton orange markings around her eyes, on her head and at the ends of her ears, and one long eyelash on each eye. She wore a simple sleeveless vermilion dress with a white collar and a light blue cravat, white gloves, white socks, and vermilion and yellow slip-on shoes.
The smaller figure was maybe the size of his foot. It had blue skin with a little yellow on the ends of its hands, feet, head, and tail. There was a little yellow plastic ball on the tip of its head as well.
The box was labeled with 'Sonic The Hedgehog' on the top with a bright yellow 'NEW' and below had what possibly were their names, 'Cream & Cheese.'
"Please! My mother! She fell in the trash!" The rabbit shrieked and the smaller figure yelled out the word 'Chao' about three times in the same tone.
Tails raised his head and looked at the top of the trash can. Then, he got up, dragged the box closer to the wall, and laid the box upright against it.
"Don't worry, I'll try to get her out." He said in an attempt to comfort.
The rabbit seemed to calm down slightly in relief. Tails looked around and saw a nearby plant and used that to jump onto it. He got up to the top and carefully walked along the edge so as to not fall into the dirt. He faced the trash can and hesitated, one wrong move and he could fall in too. But a toy is on the line, he has to do something! Sonic would've done something… He shut his eyes, gave a deep breath, and jumped. His hand locked onto the edge and he pulled himself up over the top. He looked down into the deep dark void and he felt sick to his non-existent stomach, but he had to get through it to save a fellow toy.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" he called out.
"Who's there?" A soothing feminine voice responded.
"Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out." He started to move closer to reach the second box that contained the lost toy.
"What about my daughter? Is she alright?!" She cried out in worry.
"She's fine. Hold on, I almost got you."
Tails was able to grab the box by its hanger and hoisted the box out with all of his strength, but when he pulled it on the other side, the weight was too much for the little fox and fell off onto the ground with a soft clack. The little rabbit gasped in joy and the little creature mumbled in joy as well.
"Mother!"
"Cream!" the mother cried.
Tails slowly raised his head in dizziness from the fall and started to hear a slight buzzing sound.
"Ugh… I must've hit the ground harder than I thought." he muttered.
Then, a sight of a small toy vehicle appeared in front of him with a pink hedgehog figure in the driver's seat. She immediately jumped out and went to check on him.
"Tails!"
"Amy?" Tails grunted.
Amy grabbed his hand and helped him up onto his feet while he held his head with his other hand.
"Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah… These two needed help and I had to do something."
Once he regained his eyesight, he saw that the toy he just saved had a striking resemblance to Cream. She had the same color and description to her, but she wore a long lavender dress with a white trim at the bottom of her puffy sleeves and the skirt, a burgundy-fitted vest with golden buttons, a blue ascot, white gloves, and burgundy low-heeled shoes with a yellow detail and gray soles.
Her box only had the name, 'Vanilla.'
"Thank you so much, sir!" Cream squealed.
"Yes. Thank you very much." Vanilla replied.
"What happened?" Amy asked.
Tails shook his head one last time to clear all confusion and told Amy what happened while he was looking for Sonic. His search, the employee with the cart, Vanilla falling into the trash, and his effort to get her out. Amy just stood in awe listening to it all.
"Wow, Tails… That's very selfless of you." she commended.
"Thanks…" Tails turned his head so his attention was back on the rabbit mother and daughter, "But what do we do about you two?"
They all sat in thought before Cream came up with an idea.
"I know! You said you were looking for someone, right? Let us help you!"
Vanilla agreed, "After what you did to help me, it's only fair."
Amy placed her finger on her chin in thought. It is a fair exchange for what Tails did, but anyone could've done that.
"Once we save Sonic, maybe you can come back home with us. Scott will love to play with new toys!"
"I can't wait!" the young rabbit exclaimed.
"I don't think we could be of any help in these boxes, however." Vanilla pointed out.
There was a moment of silence before Amy facepalmed at that fact. Then, Tails and Amy both began tearing the boxes open to free the trapped rabbits. Once Cream was free, she immediately gave Tails a big hug in appreciation. Tails blushed beet red as all he could do was return it and Vanilla and Amy only chuckled.
Shadow and Knuckles studied the aisle they entered and saw an array of other branded figures. Halfway through however, they gasped at the sight of their own brand being displayed. There were clones of them, Tails, Amy, Rouge, and everyone else back in Scott's room.
"Woah, this is… freaky." Knuckles quavered.
"Whatever, just keep looking." Shadow ignored.
They continued on as they passed all the clones of themselves. Near the end, there was a gap in between the boxes, leaving a small row of nothing. On the tag below the row stated what the figure was supposed to be and Shadow scoffed as he read it.
"Of course they would be out of the other Sonic."
"I guess he's the best selling toy." Knuckles shrugged.
"Hey! What are you two doing out?"
Shadow and Knuckles spun around to see their caller. Before them stood a white colored anthropomorphic hedgehog with white fur on his chest surrounding his neck, gold eyes, a black nose on his muzzle, two large spines at the back of his head, five distinct spines flared up and back on the front, the two final ones covering up most of his small, triangular ears. He had white gloves with cyan circles with lines sticking out of the bottom leading to his golden bracelets accented in cyan. The tops of his boots are of a similar fashion with a red gem set in gold. The rest of his boots are navy blue with a white stripe down the center, cyan toes, and gray soles.
There was a second figure with him. A lavender anthropomorphic cat with gold eyes, a small black nose and a white-furred muzzle. She had triangular ears with peach-colored canals on top of her head, two medium-length eyelashes on each side of her eyes, and a long tail with the end frayed and violet. Her fur was longer on each side of her head and swept slightly upwards. She had four plumes of hair with violet tips done up in a high ponytail with a red hair tie. She also had a red oval gem on her forehead. She wore a purple tailcoat with rose trim at the bottom, a gold collar, and white leggings. She also wears white gloves with fluffy cuffs and rose, high-heeled shoes with gray soles, white stripes and fluffy cuffs, like her gloves.
They were in a large plastic case display with a small sign below which said…
'NEW Sonic The Hedgehog Figures - Silver The Hedgehog and Blaze The Cat! 15.99!'
The case itself had its own environment, but it wasn't pretty. It showed old broken buildings on the verge of collapse and a blood red sky with fire everywhere. Where the heck do these two come from?
"How did you two escape your boxes?" The white hedgehog asked.
"We're not from around here." Shadow crossed his arms.
"Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?" Knuckles said.
"I'm Silver and this is my friend Blaze." Silver replied.
"Where are you from and why are you here?" the lavender cat spoke.
"We came here from our owner's home to find our friend, he was stolen from us." Knuckles answered.
"You left the safety of your home to save another toy?" Silver voiced.
"Yeah, we need to find him. We believe he was taken here, do you know where we could find Kevin's office?"
The hedgehog and cat stayed silent for a moment before the ladder spoke.
"I believe I know where that is, but what do you plan to achieve there?"
"What do you think, you stupid cat?" Shadow grunted, which gave him a snarl look from Blaze.
Knuckles sighed, "Ignore him, he's never nice to anyone. When we get to his office we hope to find any clues to where he is at the very least."
Blaze took a second to continue staring at Shadow before turning back to the red echidna.
"You need to head down this aisle and go through the door on your right."
"Thank you. Come on, Shadow." Knuckles then began to walk away with the ebony hedgehog following closely behind. They walked a few boxes away before Silver called to them again.
"Wait!"
They both turned around to see Silver up against the glass with a pleading face.
"Can we come with you?"
"Silver!" Blaze whispered as she grabbed his shoulder, "What are you doing?"
"Can't you see, Blaze? This could be our ticket out of here! I'm tired of being trapped in this case of a destroyed future."
Blaze took a moment to consider the possibilities and dangers along this path. It would free them both from this cage, but where will they go? If they stay, who knows how long they will be stuck for.
"We can let you out and join us. I'm sure Scott would love new toys." Knuckles replied.
Silver moved to face Blaze and held her hands, staring into her gold eyes. "Come on, Blaze. We can finally be free this way! You've seen the others leave and enjoy their lives, but we are still trapped here. Forced to be seen and recognized only for them to grab a box next to us and leave. Wouldn't you love to finally be played with?"
The two stood in silence as Blaze closed her eyes and sighed in defeat.
"If you both are ready, we need to find out how to open this case…" Knuckles announced.
He pulled back his arm with the intention to punch his way through, but Shadow stopped him and said,
"Why not just use the latch?"
All eyes fell to where he pointed and on the side of the case was indeed a latch holding the plastic case attached to the display. After a quick facepalm, Knuckles jumped to it and pulled hard on the lever and the case loosened up enough to allow Silver and Blaze to squeeze through. Silver was able to pass easily and jumped down, Knuckles stood by him to make sure he got down safely. After a successful jump, Silver moved out of the way to allow Blaze to jump down as well. She got most of her body through, but her foot got wedged between the plastic and the wall. The sudden pull on her leg caused her to lose her footing and began falling down.
"AHH!" She yelled in fright.
"Blaze!" Silver screamed as he bolted below her and caught her bridal style just before she hit the ground. Moments pass before Blaze opened her eyes and Silver chuckled nervously. Blaze immediately pushed him off and stood up on her own with her arms crossed.
"Knuckles!" A new voice cried out.
"Tails?" Knuckles asked as he saw his two tailed friend and a pink hedgehog driving a small toy car or truck towards them.
Everyone turned to see them as well, but what confused Knuckles and Shadow was that they saw two new toys behind them in the vehicle. They both appeared similar to them in style, but they were more like rabbits than hedgehogs or echidnas. Amy then slowed the vehicle to a stop in front of the four confused toys.
"I see you made some new friends."
"Well, so have you." Knuckles remarked.
The white hedgehog then walked up for introductions, "Hi! My name is Silver."
"And I am Blaze." She introduced.
"Amy Rose." The pink one said.
"My name is Miles Prower, but you can call me Tails!" The fox exclaimed. "And these two and Miss Vanilla and Cream." He gestured to the two rabbits behind them who were waving to everyone else.
"Now that we all know each other…" Shadow interrupted. "The cat said she knows where Kevin's office is. We need to get moving."
"Blaze… The name is Blaze." She grunted. "But he is right."
"So, uh… since you helped us get out, We'll help you find your friend." Silver announced.
"We're doing the same thing!" Cream beamed, "Mr. Tails saved my mother from the trash and released us from our boxes."
Everyone standing stared in shock. That's a big and bold move to pull off, he could've fallen into the trash himself! Knuckles smirked and chuckled softly,
"You little daredevil! Sonic will be proud once we find him."
"You're looking for a Sonic?" Blaze questioned.
"Yeah, but he's not the Sonic you know."
All their new friends gave confused looks towards him. Some of them raised their brows and Cream just tilted her head to the side. Knuckles just raised his hands to stop any more questions before they were thrown at him.
"I'll explain later…" He said and started walking towards the vehicle.
Silver and Blaze followed him and jumped in the back next to the rabbit family. Knuckles sat next to Tails and Amy in the front, but Shadow stood where he was.
"Shadow, are you gonna get in?" Amy wondered.
"I think I'll walk to the office…" He replied as he started walking away to the end of the aisle.
"Come on, Shadow. Why are you always like this? This isn't something you can do by yourself!" Tails groaned.
"Please, Mr. Shadow…" Cream pleaded and Shadow stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around and looked at her in those brown eyes, "If we are all here to save your friend, why are you set on doing this alone? We can help you, don't shut us out… Please…"
Shadow only stared with his crimson red eyes, frozen in place. Everything in his vision blurred so that only that little rabbit was visible as a strange feeling crept into his chest. The same feeling he gets whenever he thinks of… her…
"Help them, Shadow…"
That voice… It sounded like a child's voice. It couldn't be her. The dark hedgehog snapped his head behind him to see no one nearby who could have said that.
"Shadow?"
"Fine…"
Shadow hopped into the back, sitting in the middle between everyone looking down at the floor as Amy drove off to the back of the store. Blaze directed her towards one of the open doors that led to what looked like to be an office. They all entered and roamed around looking for their lost blue friend.