Last time on Sonic the Hedgehog, Jenni begins to uncover a hidden mystery on her island, in hopes of finding a way to keep her residents safe. She unearths some hidden technology, far older than seemingly Mobius itself, leading to many different questions in regards to the world's origins. Meanwhile, in an effort to better their teamwork, Sonic and his friends separate into teams of up to three to with Rei's own World's Knights team to go on separate short missions and test their loyalty… unaware that they were being watched.

The teams are split into different formations, ones that balance their different set of skills in one way or another. Team Relic consists of Relic the Pika, the head of this team, Julie the Echidna, the token markswoman, and Amy Rose, the pint-sized powerhouse. Relic was them to a set of ruins that were more classical than truly ancient. Similar to a set piece to a movie. Which as a pair of history buffs, did not impress either Amy or Julie.

Amy: "This is our ruins exploration spot?"

Julie: "This looks like a place ripped out of that fancy mummy movie you'd see in theaters."

Relic: "Well, I will be the first to admit this is more of a training facility than a proper set of ruins. Sorry for the slight lie there… But my mission is to test your teamwork together, since you are overall unfamiliar with your abilities, right?"

Julie: "...I guess."

Amy: "Ah, come on, Julie! Let's give this a chance! Alright, Relic. What's our objective?"

Relic smiles at Amy's enthusiasm before pulling out a scroll that shows a picture of a small statue. The statue itself appeared to be a miniature Easter Island statue.

Relic: "This is our target. A stone monument said to have been praised or hailed as some kind of protector. I-In theory anyway… It's made of obsidian that was carefully handcrafted to give it its very ornate look. Obsidian is quite a dangerous material to craft with since it's said to be far sharper than steel, able to cut through skin like paper. So the idea of this statue being made at all by obsidian is-"

Julie: "Okay! We get it! It's a very fancy statue! Can we please move on!?"

The pika gets… visibly discouraged before folding up her scroll, putting it into her travel bag. Amy glares at Julie for her rudeness before making her anger known.

Amy: "Hey, what's wrong with you!? That was awfully rude."

Julie: "We came on a mission. Not for a lecture. Either we stop wasting time, or I walk away."

As the two glare at each other, Relic grabs them by their heads… and slams them together, causing them to start seeing stars.

Relic: "L-Look. I can take a bit of lip, but this is a team exercise first. Julie, you need to remember that. It'd upset Rei and it'd look bad on you to just… walk out due to a slight. I get that you're more of a pragmatic person, but… You need to learn to work with others."

Julie looks at Relic with a bit of a glare, looking ready to pull out her gun. But she stops herself, realizing that the pika was right. Relic does recognize some pent up aggression, but decides to leave it alone as Julie starts to apologize.

Julie: "You… You're both right… Sorry for snapping…"

Amy: "...It's okay, Julie. Just… cool it, okay?"

Julie nods before Relic leads the trio into the ruins… Unaware of a figure following behind them. A green woodpecker Mobian spinning an unlit bomb like a basketball on his finger as he smirks.

Bean: "Quite an explosive show. But not as explosive as what I'll give 'em. Which'll go more boom? Them… or these fancy ruins?"

The traveling trio walk through the dark, dimly lit ruins, with Relic holding a bright glow stick to lead their way. Julie examines the set pieces of the ruins, stopping as she has a hint of familiarity to the hieroglyphs on the walls. While they were a mock imitation of something similar, they were close to something… real.

Julie: "Hey. Relic. What are these ruins based on, if you don't mind?"

Relic: "Oh. These ruins are… um… based on some ruins I found in the Mystic Ruins on Rainbow Valley Island. Wh-Why?"

Julie: "...I'm just reminded of some old architecture that my home has… These are clear imitations… but they are faithful to the original."

Amy: "Huh. I'm reminded of the Book of Myths. 'Ancient ruins of a bygone era. A beast of legend rose from the depths of hellfire, bringing ruin to those that met its gaze. The ruins that still stand act as a reminder of what greed for power will lead you…'."

Relic: "No way! You have the Book of Myths!?"

Amy: "Yep! It's an old text who's author remains anonymous, even to this day. But this author has clearly been around since they wrote about Miracle Planet and a number of sight worthy locations."

Julie: "...Hmm… I wonder how much that author actually knows… Considering her passage is pretty similar to what is often recorded in our history books…"

The trio continue their way through the corridors before Julie stops them before they pressed a pressure plate. A series of holes on the walls greeted them, meaning this was a trap.

Amy: "A classic arrow trap. Wow… Nice one, Julie."

Julie: "If these ruins are based on the ones from the Mystic Ruins, then it stands to reason that these traps are similar… But then…"

Julie rubs her hand against the wall before feeling some loose brick. She punches it, but the wall remains standing. Amy smiles before rubbing her hands, getting ready to smash open the wall… by drop kicking it from a running start, knocking the wall down.

Julie: "...I was expecting a hammer… not a drop kick…"

Amy: "Oh. I'm just naturally tough. Believe it or not."

Through a secret passage, Julie, Amy, and Relic go through the hole, with Bean not far behind…

Rei brings Sonic to the beachside part of Genocide City, a light gust blowing as the sea breeze greets the rat's sense of smell.

Rei: "Oceans are surprisingly calm today. Makes it a nice day for a beach day."

Sonic: "You don't say. So what's up, Rei? What exactly did you want from me?"

Rei: "So one thing that was mentioned about you… Is your downright stubborn personality when it comes to working with others. You can - and are willing - to work with others. But your pragmatic heroism kicks in and you go into a situation by yourself."

Sonic: "What? I can't think of a single time I've done-"

Rei: "The Death Egg."

Sonic pauses, his nonchalant attitude breaking at that moment.

Rei: "From what I've heard, you only narrowly survived a fight like that. When the Death Egg blew up, everyone thought you were dead. Anything to say to that?"

Sonic: "...I'm still standing aren't I-"

Sonic is then kicked in the face, sending him flying until he hits the sand. Sonic stands up, rubbing a bit of blood off his mouth as he glares at Rei.

Rei: "...Wrong answer."

Rei grabs her long coat and holster belt and tosses them aside, she then gets into a ready position as she glares daggers at Sonic.

Rei: "Let the lesson begin."

Team Relic continue their descent into the ruins, avoiding traps as they went along. Going down a final set of stairs, they find their target, the obsidian statue.

Amy: "There it is!"

Julie: "Hold on, Amy. We need to be careful…"

Julie approached the statue quietly. She lifts the statue up slowly, feeling how heavy it was, but noticed a pressure plate rise.

Julie: "Knew it. It's a trap too. We lift this up, something could drop on top of us."

Amy: "Then leave this to me."

Julie steps aside as Amy conjures the head of her hammer, bouncing it on her hand rather effortlessly as she approaches the statue. She starts to move the statue and place her hammer head in its place before quickly finishing the swap.

Amy: "Ta da! Materialization Magic wins again!"

Julie: "Nice one, Amy."

Relic: "Indeed! Way better than what I did originally."

Amy: "Hm? What you did?"

Relic: "I'll explain… after we leave this place."

As Relic walks ahead, Amy and Julie shrug as they head out with their prize… That is until a black orb bounces down the stairs… and rolls to their feet. It was a bomb, and its fuse was lit. The bomb explodes, much to the heroes' shock as Amy grabs Julie and shields her from the explosion, though the heroes were thrown to different sides of the room, knocking them out cold. Bean walks down the stairs with a smile as he arrives to claim the statue as his own.

Bean: "Oh boy!~ This statue is… urk! …really heavy… But it's mine now! I bet it'll sell for lots too!"

As Bean grabs the statue and starts walking away with it, he sees a gun pointed at his head as an angered Julie starts blasting at him. Bean dodges the blasts, but drops the statue which Julie shoots afterwards, destroying it so neither he or the heroes could get it.

Bean: "Hey! No fair! No faaaaair! You cheating brat!"

Julie: "Speak for yourself, backstabber!"

Bean growls before smiling, getting a bomb ready and tossing it at Amy's hammer head, blasting off the podium the statue was on and unleashing the trap. A flooding trap, with the exit slowly starting to seal up. Bean smiles as he glares at Julie.

Bean: "Buh-bye angry lady! Yeahahahahaha!"

Bean leaves through the exit before it sealed up. Explosions from outside indicate that their one exit had been thoroughly blocked off. Relic shakes her head in a groan before seeing the water flooding in.

Relic: "What? Why's the room flooding!? What happened!?"

Julie: "Some duck thing who's a bit too boom happy blew us up and tried to make a getaway with that statue! I had to…"

Relic sees the pieces of the statue and, though she was a little sad, understood.

Relic: "What about Amy?"

Julie: "She took the blast for me. She didn't have to do that…"

Relic: "We need to get to the surface immediately! Come on!"

Julie: "But our exit is closed off! What do we do!?"

Relic tosses aside a vase prop that was concealing a pulley. She grabs it and turns to Julie.

Relic: "Grab Amy and get ready to swim!"

She then pulls at the pulley, which causes the wall to open up and flood the room even quicker. Julie and Relic swim out of the room once it was fully submerged, revealing that they were in the ocean the entire time. Julie holds Amy tightly as they swim to the surface.

At the Genocide City pier, Julie, Relic, and Amy make it back to solid land as the former two let out a sigh.

Julie: "Just… barely…"

Relic: "Julie… Amy… I'm so sorry… I… I didn't…"

Julie: "No. It's okay… You had no idea that stupid duck was following us… This was a test that just… went terribly…"

Relic smiles at Julie before sitting up, shaking off the water before readjusting her glasses.

Relic: "I'll go get some help. You watch Amy, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can be."

Julie: "Okay."

Relic runs off, leaving the duo alone as Julie sighs.

Julie: "...Amy… Why'd you try to save me? I could've taken that blast…"

Amy: "...I just acted is all…"

Julie gets a bit startled, but her body didn't really allow her to even jolt. She just sighed.

Julie: "...Thanks, Amy…"

Amy: "Julie… Why are you so against working with others? Or why are you the way you are?"

Julie: "...Guess I owe you that much… You see my cybernetic arm?"

Amy: "Yeah?"

Julie: "...In my home city, we do allow the option to replace our organic parts with cybernetics as part of our pact with the Nocturnus Clan… But my cybernetics were different… See… Me and my older sister, Lian… We were close once… Like genuine sisters. We had each other's backs, which made our parents proud. One day, the idea of only one patriarch was brought up… Only one of us, as daughters of the current patriarch, would be chosen. Lian offered to be the next one in line and I never fought her for it. But mom, bless her naive heart, thought I was a better choice. Claiming I had the proper qualities of a leader. My sister was furious and… our relationship went down from there… Though our mom didn't mean for it, it started a years long grudge between me and my sister, Lian trying her best to one up me, trying to prove she is better than me. This led to one fateful day… An accident during construction of a new building led to me getting in the crossfire. My arm was caught under a building. I reached out for Lian for help - for her support. But she smiled… and walked away… She left me to die… My arm was gone… and what little hope I clung to that we could just… go back to being friends… was gone too…"

Amy turned to Julie, crying for the echidna. But Julie just turned away.

Julie: "Most of my aggression has nothing to do with any of you personally. I just… don't want to be that close to anyone again… To feel that kind of genuine betrayal… But I've… began to question that now… That if shutting away the idea of being friends was even good… I wanted to change how my home is towards the world outside… And that does mean meeting new people and experiencing new things… I guess… I was just running away out of fear of losing something important all over again…"

Amy: "But you won't… Not with us, Julie."

Julie turns to Amy, the hedgehog giving a weak but genuine smile to the echidna. Julie is wide eyed for a moment before she smiles in return.

Julie: "...Maybe… I'll consider it… If you and the others… help me."

Amy: "I will. And I know Sally and Tekno will too."

The two giggle as their friendship truly blossomed. Then silence.

Amy: "...That… explosion hurt though…"

Julie: "Between that and swimming for dear life, I'm surprised I'm still conscious. But… Relic will be back with help."

Amy: "Yeah… Though I feel bad that we failed our assignment…"

Julie: "Eh. I hope Rei will be understanding… But I wonder… if that duck guy was the only one… or if he had buddies with him…"

Amy: "Either way… I hope I get a chance to pay him back, Piko style."

The duo stare into the sky, letting exhaustion finally overtake them as they sleep. But as Julie suspects, this was not an isolated incident… Merely the start of their problems…

To be continued…