After sneaking past any other airliner that was being taxied and any other workers. They were maybe several minutes away from the same gate where the chase started. Sonic looked above to see Aleena resting silently, almost as if she was sleeping. For some reason, that gave him a sense of dread…
Then, a thought returned to his mind. The same question from before entered his mind as well.
'What exactly happened to her? Robotnik said she never made it to shelves before she was… recalled… Was she all alone for all this time?'
He couldn't hold it in any longer, he wanted to know.
"Mom?" He called out.
At first, Aleena didn't move. But she slowly opened her eyes and looked down at Sonic.
"Sonic?"
Her voice was extremely soft and weak.
"Is it true…? About earlier…?"
Amy and Tails were confused about what he was talking about. But Aleena knew…
"Yes… It's true, I never made it to stores before I was recalled…"
"Recalled?!" The fox and pink hedgehog looked at each other in shock from this information.
"What happened?" Sonic questioned.
Aleena looked away, sadness tugging at her heart from the resurfacing memory. She saw another plane taking off and sighed.
"It was the first memory I ever had…"
It was a beautiful sunny afternoon during the summer. Many people were walking up and down the sidewalks in the city. Some of those people walked into a new toy store along the road. Most of them were young children. Every child ran up and down the aisles trying to think of what toy to get. Most wanted superhero action figures, collectible cards, plastic guns, etc.
But there was this one little girl standing in an empty section of an aisle. She looked around and saw the empty shelves of what would've been filled with a certain series of figures but had been sold out for days. She wasn't focused on that however, she was looking at a new section of the shelves reserved for a new line of her favorite series. Today was the day she was told that it would finally be out for her to get. The perfect toy she wanted was going to be the queen of her childhood…
She waited patiently for one of the workers to start stocking the shelves soon, but started to worry from the long wait. Was she too early? Did she mishear the date? Those questions answered themselves when a worker pushed open a door with a cart full of a new shipment that just arrived covered in a large tarp. The worker recognized the little girl and called out to her.
"Sarah! I should've expected you today."
The worker was wearing a light blue shirt and black pants with a name tag with the store's logo on it. It had the name "William."
Sarah just giggled to herself as Will kneeled down to her height.
"You want one of these, don't ya?" He asked.
Sarah nodded her head excitedly which made Will laugh.
"Alright, tell you what…"
He reached under the tarp and pretended that he was trying to look for something special.
"Now where did I put- Ah hah!"
He then pulled out a box which Sarah was waiting to get for her entire life.
"Why don't you get the first pick?"
He smirked and held it out for her. She gently accepted the box which contained her favorite toy among all the others she had. The toy inside looked at her through the clear plastic and saw her beautiful smile. Sarah couldn't believe that she was the very first kid lucky enough to get the first ever Alee-
Suddenly, a hand grabbed the box away,
"I'm sorry little girl, but I'm going to have to take that back."
Sarah and Will were confused to see an older man wearing identical clothing but with a manager name tag instead of a worker one.
"Mr. Jones? What are you doing? I was giving that to Sarah." Will fumed.
"I'm sorry, William. But there's been a recall, I don't even know how we got this shipment…"
"Recall?! For what?" Will questioned.
"Haven't you heard? The show for these toys was canceled."
"What?!" Sarah shyly spoke.
Canceled? But it was her favorite show! Why did they have to cancel it?
"But sir, can't we make an exception just this once? This little girl was waiting months for this!"
"Unfortunately, I can't. Corporate wants these sent back before anyone purchases them. I'm sorry…"
The manager then placed the box back under the tarp and took it away into storage in the back of the store. Will went after him trying to change his mind to no avail.
The sadness on the little girl's face was heartbreaking. She was so close but it all broke apart…
A small tear fell down her cheek as her heart shattered into millions of pieces…
And so did Aleena…
"After that, All I remember was being in some cold dark place for a long time…"
Everyone was stunned. They have never heard of such a story as her's before…
Sonic looked down in sorrow and so did the others. Once he looked up he saw that they were approaching the gate. His friends jumped down the chute and landed on the ground next to them. First, it was his rescue party, Knuckles and Shadow. Then, the friends they met along the way, Silver, Blaze,Vanilla, and Cream. Finally, Sleet and Dingo. But then, the moment he dreaded ever since he saw Aleena on the runway…
Sonia and Manic dropped down beside the others. At first, they were glad they were back, but the look on their brother's face made them less cheerful and more gloomy. Sonic didn't need to move besides looking up to Aleena still in her seat. Once they looked over, they only had one expression on their faces. The expression of pure horror…
After an unnerving silence, Sonia runs up to Sonic and hugs him tightly while silently crying into his good shoulder. He comforted her as best as he could with one arm, but Manic joined the hug to help. Aleena saw all of them together and it reminded her of the first time they were reunited in the show. She smiled and kept quiet as the strong hug lasted for seconds, maybe minutes.
"I hate to interrupt, but we need to get back home…" Shadow spoke.
The hug was disbanded and Knuckles walked over behind Sonic,
"As much as I hate to admit it, but Shadow is right. Scott will be home in the morning."
"But it took us nearly a whole day to get to the toy store! We won't make it in time!" Tails yelled with worry.
"What do we do?!" Amy squealed.
Everyone tried to think of something, but anything they thought of would take too much time. They can't walk back home and they can't take the pizza truck because they would have to go through the main terminal without cover. Also, the truck probably got towed because it was parked on the curb there. They were stumped…
"Ehh… What if we borrow one of those luggage carriers?" Dingo said.
Sleet facepalmed, about to scold him once more.
"That's not a bad idea, actually…" Silver nodded.
"Really?"
Hours passed under the moonlight as the luggage carrier drove down the road at a slow pace. Because it was at night, there was little to no activity in the suburban area. Shadow was on the steering wheel while Amy and Knuckles operated the pedals like before. Anyone else sat in the empty cars, like passengers on a train. Sonic sat against the wall separating him from the driver. His family on the other side with Sonia giving care to her mother. Manic just paced back and forth trying to think of something to help her. Besides them was the group of figures that were saved at the store. They were all talking, maybe just going over what they have all just experienced within a day. Sleet and Dingo were on their own. They weren't even talking, they were just admiring the view. At least Dingo was, anyway.
Tails was at the edge of the car next to Sonic. He was talking to Shadow before turning around and sat next to his best friend.
"Shadow says we're almost home. He thinks it should take about 10 more minutes before we arrive."
He was silent…
"Sonic, are you doing alright?"
He didn't answer…
"S-Sorry… maybe I should just-" Tails was about to get up and give him some space, but Sonic quickly placed his hand on Tails' arm to stop him.
"No… Please, stay…"
He paused, a little confused on what to do. But his friend wanted him to stay so he stayed. He noticed that when he wasn't looking down, he would look at his family ahead of him. No word was spoken between them, maybe Sonic just wanted some company near him.
"Tails… I'm sorry for yelling at you back at the apartment. I didn't mean-"
"It's fine." The fox interrupted.
Sonic looked over in surprise at that response. But Tails just gave a smile.
"It was wrong of me to take you away like how we tried to do. I didn't know you had your own family before, who am I to take you away from something I never had the chance to have?"
Sonic smiled back, "Don't beat yourself up about it. I guess we were all in the wrong here, little buddy."
Tails looked up to the stars and sighed.
"All of that before any of us existed…"
Sonic tilted his head before a memory resurfaced in his head. The memory of the same commercial he saw on the tv not too long ago…
"I wouldn't say that, little bro. I think we were made to be best friends."
"What do you mean?"
"I saw this commercial on the tape after one of the episodes finished just before I tried to leave with you. It showed me another, even earlier show that had you as my little buddy way before the show with my family became a thing."
Tails was astonished, "Really?"
Sonic nodded and placed his only good hand on his friend's shoulder with the biggest smile he could give. This caught the attention of Aleena. She just looked over to him and smiled to herself, knowing how big of a bond her son had even with the newer characters.
"We're here!"
All eyes snapped to the front before locking onto the pink hedgehog waving them down. She pointed towards a house with only the porch light on and it was the familiar two story house Sonic recognized. He looked back at his family and saw the concerned looks on their faces. He stood up and walked over to them.
"Are you guys ready?"
"I don't know, dude…" Manic mumbled.
Tails followed and spoke up himself.
"Don't worry, Scott will accept all of you."
"Hurry up! Scott will be home any minute now." Shadow barked.
"Wait, are we just going to leave this here? People will have questions." Knuckles pointed out.
"It's not our problem, Knux. Come on!" Sonic laughed.
They all began moving back to their home and awaited for their owner to return.
Once inside, they were able to reach Scott's room without trouble. The other figures cheered that Sonic was back. But then, they were shocked to see other new figures with them. Especially his family. After a few short explanations, Sonic decided to move Sonia and Manic to meet with his other friends. They reluctantly agreed and went around. Sonia seems to have more interest in Knuckles than anyone else. Manic talked more to Rouge, probably because they both are thieves. Silver and Blaze started introductions and greeted everyone with politeness. Vanilla, Cream, and her pet chao did the same next to the bed with Tails sheepishly trying to talk with the little rabbit. Sleet and Dingo just stood somewhere alone. They don't feel like talking with heroes.
Sonic stayed with his mother just to give her company. They both watched as they began to know everyone.
"So this is where you've been all this time?" Aleena asked.
'Huh? Oh, yeah… I've been here this whole time." He mumbled.
"Well, I'm glad to see you weren't alone after all this time." Aleena said with positivity.
"I'm… sorry I haven't been there…"
Aleena turned her head to face her son with confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I never even knew anything about you or my siblings. I was supposed to be the leader and yet I forgot the most important thing… my family."
Aleena frowned, she hated seeing someone beat themselves up for something like this.
"Sonic, there wasn't anything you could've done. You were separated and so were we. You can't just expect to remember after being lost for so long."
"But-"
"Guys!"
Everyone's attention was caught by a little yellow flying squirrel figure on the table next to the window trying to wave everyone down.
"Scott's back! He's back! The car just entered the driveway!"
"Everyone, Quick! Back to your places!" Shadow ordered.
All of the original toys returned back to where they were before Scott left, but the new toys had to find a new spot. Sonic quickly took charge and guided the newcomers onto the table so Scott would see them.
Silver and Blaze stood next to each other and combined their poses into one. Vanilla, Cream, and Cheese stood together with their game counterpart poses. Finally, the Underground figures moved into position.
Except for Aleena…
Sonic had other plans for her. He jumped back down and picked up his mother with one arm.
"What are you doing?" She questioned.
"Making sure you get a spotlight." He answered with a smirk.
With Manic's help, Sonic was able to send Aleena up to the table. But he didn't stop there. He held her up to the drawer and placed her on top, right next to a book which concealed her from the door. That way, she won't be spotted unless they move towards the side of the table.
"Sonic," Sonia spoke, "What are you-"
Her question was interrupted by the sound of running footsteps headed in their direction.
"He's coming!" She shrieked.
At the last few moments, everyone went stiff and locked themselves in a pose. Before Sonic could return back to his position, the door swung open. He jumped back next to Aleena as Scott came rushing in.
"I'm back!" He cheered. "Did you all miss me?"
He threw his bag onto his bed and saw that his toys were right where they were supposed to be. But he also noticed some new ones…
"New toys! Thanks, mom!"
He ran over to his table and noticed all the new characters. He smiled in excitement.
"Oh, wow! Silver and Blaze! Cream and Vanilla! I've been trying to get these for so long, I-"
Scott stopped as he noticed the unfamiliar characters beside them.
"Who are you?"
He looks over to the hitmen to what looked to be a wolf with a dingo. Then, he saw two hedgehog siblings.
"I've never seen these before…"
Sonic unfroze a bit so he could see Scott's reaction. He was mostly confused as he picked up both Sonia and Manic. Then, there was some kind of fascination emitting from his eyes.
"You both look similar to… Wait a minute."
He set down the siblings and started to look around frantically,
"Where's Sonic?"
Now's his chance. He looked at his mother and whispered so Scott couldn't hear.
"Are you ready?"
Aleena still had worry on her face.
"Are you sure he will accept me?"
"No doubt in my mind." He gave his iconic smirk for reassurance and it worked.
Aleena smiled and slowly pulled out her scepter, hoping it would still work. She gave one last look at Sonic before pressing the button. The speaker came to life with a voice that spoke through it. Both Sonic and Aleena froze once more as the voice said,
"Greetings…"
Scott heard this and turned around from looking under his bed. That's when he noticed Sonic and Aleena on the drawer.
"I am Queen Aleena, Ruler of Mobius. And the mother of Sonic, Sonia, and Manic."
"Sonic?"
Scott saw the blue hedgehog sitting next to her. Then, the two beside him. Those two must be the others she just mentioned. He looked back and carefully picked Aleena up. He noticed all the damage on her. The broken joints, chipped paint, the broken plastic. She was in terrible condition.
"Who could do this to you?" He whispered.
Scott noticed Sonic's broker shoulder joint as well. He panicked,
"What happened to your shoulder!? Aw, man!"
At first, he was disheartened. But an idea popped into his head. His smile immediately returned.
"That's it!"
He carefully set the two down and ran to his bed. He rummaged through his bag as though he was trying to find something. Then, a large box was pulled out and placed onto the table. The box had a clear lid with a dark blue base. Inside was what looked like to be some kind of toolset. They were all plastic but each one had a different shape. Beside it were all kinds of what looked like plastic pieces. All different shapes, sizes, and colors. Was this a repair kit?
Scott then carried both Aleena and Sonic onto the table next to the siblings.
"Don't worry, I'll have you both fixed up in no time!"
He opened the box and grabbed the first tool he saw.
It was going to be a long night…
Morning arrived as the sun rose above the horizon. Sonic and his siblings were placed near the window, soaking in the sun. His shoulder joint was repaired and his arm raised in triumph. His old and new friends posed together on the other side of the table.
Scott was just finishing up what he was working on when his mother walked into the room calling his name.
"Scott! Come on, it's time to go. Hey, you fixed Sonic!"
Scott's face beamed with delight.
"Yeah! I'm just finishing up with Aleena, I think I did pretty good!"
After adding one last adjustment, he held her out to show his mother the amazing work he was so proud of. Aleena's face shone in the morning sun as it was facing Scott's mother.
"That's great! You know, there's something familiar about this toy…" She pointed out.
"Really?" Scott's head tilted.
For a few moments, Scott's mother and Aleena's eyes locked onto each other.
"I can't remember. Oh, well. You've got school, young man. Are you ready?"
"Ok…" Scott groaned.
He got off his chair and placed Aleena on it. He walked to the door and left with his mother shutting the door behind her. After a few seconds, everyone came back to life.
"Well, what do you know! I told you he would accept you guys!" Sonic bragged.
"We're part of a family again, dude!" Manic added.
He raised his foot to reveal Scott's name on it. Sonia's as well.
"This is wonderful!" She beamed.
"And my arm's fixed! Alright!" Sonic beamed.
"Your arm wasn't the only thing that was fixed…"
In a flash, Aleena climbed up to the table and landed on her feet. All joints repaired, along with some cosmetic repairs. She didn't look new, but fully repaired. The triplets were in awe for seconds before she couldn't hold in her laughter anymore.
"Are you surprised?"
"Surprise does not explain it, ma…" Manic said.
She giggled once more. But something else grabbed her attention. Out the window, showed the front yard. In the street, there was the vehicle they used to get back home. Along with a few homeowners confused on how it got here. But her attention was locked onto the people heading towards a van in the driveway. Sonic slowly walked up behind her and noticed what she was looking at.
"Are you still worried?"
"About Scott? No, not him."
"Then, who…?" He looked down as Scott got into the van and his mother closed the door for him before getting in the driver's seat. "Scott's mom? What about her?"
"It's her… She was the one I was going to be given too…"
"Y-you mean…"
"I never forgot that face. It's you, Sarah… Isn't it…"
The van slowly backed out of the driveway and drove down the road until it was out of sight. Just like how it did before the whole ordeal. Aleena only stared at where the van disappeared from sight as she leaned on the window frame. Sonic noticed her behavior. She must be reliving how she was taken away all over again. After a few moments, Aleena felt arms wrapped around her and it broke her out of her episode. She saw Sonic hugging her tightly. Soon after, Sonia and Manic joined in and a family group hug was created. Aleena graciously accepted it.
"Don't worry, mom. As long as we're around, nothing can break us apart." Sonic reassured.
And with that, the Sonic Underground has finally reached its happy ending.
A proper happy ending.
…
….
"Hey, Sonic!"
The group hug ended short as said hedgehog left to see what was going on.
"What is it, Knux?"
"We got a new one. But I don't think you're gonna like him…"
What was that supposed to mean?
Sonic quickly jumped down from the table and saw everyone gathered around a new figure. Once he reached the front, he was able to see their new friend. That was until he saw who it was. A tall and round figure with black boots and pants, a bright red jacket with gold buttons, and a pair of blue glasses.
"Bummer majores… Here we go again…"
THE END (For real)