"The First Freedom Fighter"
Tails is standing on a path in the forest, holding a stopwatch. After a few seconds, Sonic speeds past Tails, with his tails blowing in the wind, as Tails stops the stopwatch.
Tails looks at the stopwatch, then looks ahead, "Hey, Sonic! Sonic?!"
Sonic comes to a stop behind Tails, "Yeah, bud."
"Whoa," Tails nearly jumps, before he turns to Sonic. "Oh, Sonic, here look at this."
Tails holds up the stopwatch, which Sonic looks at.
Sonic whistles, "Was I smoking or what?"
Tails looks at the stopwatch, "Your top speed must've increased by nearly half of your original speed. I wonder if you can run even faster now."
"Don't know, but it is sweet that I can test out my speed without getting interrupted by a crazed bounty hunter," Sonic says, with his arms crossed.
"Huh?" Tails looks at Sonic.
Sonic and Tails are entering Knothole Village, when Sally approaches them.
"Sonic, there you are," Sally says.
"What up, Sal?" Sonic asks.
"NICOLE is close to translating another part of the scroll, it could lead to another Chaos Emerald," Sally says. "So Sonic, help Rotor out with preparing the Freedom Stormer."
"You got it," Sonic says, before he speeds off.
"I'll get ready too, Aunt Sally," Tails says, starting to fly off.
Sally grabs Tails' hand, with him landing, "You aren't coming, Tails."
"C'mon, Aunt Sally," Tails says, as Sally lets go of his hand. "I know I would've been helpful on the Bottomless Marsh mission."
Sally sighs, "Sonic's mouth runs faster than his feet."
"Why won't you trust me on a mission?" Tails asks.
"It has nothing to do with trust, Tails," Sally tells him.
"Yeah, right," Tails turns away, crossing his arms.
Sally watches him for a moment, "Tails, come with me."
Tails turns to face her.
In Sally's hut, Sally and Tails are sitting, with Sally flipping through her scrapbook.
Sally hands the scrapbook to Tails, "Take a look at this."
Tails sees a picture of Sally, Sonic, Antoine, Bunnie, and Rotor as children in front of an adult owl, "It's you and the others as kids, but…" Tails looks at Sally. "Who the owl?"
Sally looks at the picture, "That's Hoot. The first Freedom Fighter."
Seven years old Sally is walking through the forest, looking around.
"Sonic! Sonic, where are you?!" Sally calls out.
Seven years old Sonic speeds over to Sally, startling her, "Looking for me, Sal."
Sally sighs, "Quick with the games, Sonic. Rosie told us to stay within sight of Knothole Village." She crosses her arms. "But you always sneak out." Sally leans in to him. "Where do you always go, anyway?"
"It doesn't matter," Sonic shrugs his shoulders, with Sally looking annoyed. "Besides, with my speed I'm always within sight of Knothole."
"You're unreal," Sally uncrosses her arms. "Your speed can't always save you."
"Just let me prove you wrong," Sonic says, before he starts to pick up Sally.
"Hey! What are you?! Stop!" Sally complains, as Sonic starts to speed her away.
Sonic speeds Sally through the forest's path, before reaching the edge of the Great Forest.
Sonic puts Sally back down, "Hope you like your trip on Sonic Super Express."
"Okay, okay, I'll admit, that was pretty fun," Sally says, with a small laugh.
"Attention! Attention!"
Sonic and Sally look up to see a Hover Unit flying toward them.
"You are under arrest by order of Robotnik!" The Hover Unit flies toward the pair.
"Gotta go," Sonic picks up Sally and starts to turn when another Hover Unit flies toward them. "We're surrounded!"
"These might be my final words, Sonic, but," Sally starts, as Sonic looks at her. "But I told you so."
"You are under arrest by order…"
Suddenly, the adult owl, Hoot, lands on one of the Hover Units, interrupting it and pushing it close to the ground.
"If Robotnik wants something, he should come and get it," Hoot says.
Hoot jumps off the Hover Unit, flapping his wings to take flight, as the Hover Unit turns to face him.
"You are under arrest by order of Robotnik!"
"Robotnik really should program you lot with a better vocabulary," Hoot says, as he flies off with the second Hover Unit chasing after him.
"Who is that?" Sally asks, as she and Sonic watch.
The Hover Unit chases after Hoot, as he flies around, with the Hover Unit closed behind.
"You are under arrest by order of Robotnik!" The first Hover Unit flies straight toward Hoot.
Hoot continues to flap his wings, hovering in place, as the two Hover Units fly at him from opposite directions. Hoot then stops flapping, falling down, with the two Hover Units flying into each other, blowing themselves apart.
"I don't know who he is, but he's super cool," Sonic says, dropping Sally, then speeds ahead.
Sonic speeds up to Hoot, stopping next to him, surprising Hoot.
"Who are you? Where did you come from? How did you do that cool move? Is it hard to fly?" Sonic asks, nonstop.
"Calm down, kid," Hoot says, with a small laugh, waving a wing, with Sally walking over. "I will be happy to tell you everything you want to know, but first, we should get to Knothole."
Sonic and Sally look at each other.
In Knothole, Rosie, Hoot, Sonic, and Sally are walking through the village.
"Thanks for saving the children, Mr. Hoot," Rosie says. "But where did you come from?"
"The west, but when I heard about Robotnik's coup in Mobotroplis, I knew I had to do something about it," Hoot explains. "And I couldn't be happier to arrive in time to help Sonic and the young princess."
"Please, you can call me Sally," Sally says, with a hand to her chest, as Sonic rolls his eyes.
"I'm happy about that too," Rosie says, as they stop walking, with Rosie looking around. "Though I don't know if even the Great Forest could be safe for long."
"I'll fight so that all of Mobius will be safe," Hoot says.
"Yes, and I'll help!" Sonic excitedly says.
Hoot laughs slightly, then pats Sonic on the head, "You might be able to help, when you are older."
Sonic crosses his arms, slightly annoyed, as Sally holds back her laughter.
"Hoot would then come and go, sometimes for weeks at a time. And whenever he returns, Hoot always has an exciting story to share."
In the center of Knothole, Hoot and several children are around a campfire.
"There I was, cornered by ten SWAT-bots," Hoot tells the children. "When I flapped my wings and flew straight up. The SWAT-bots ended up attacking the very same generator they were trying to protect."
The children start laughing. All of them are unaware that eight years old Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Bunnie, and Antoine are sneaking past a hut.
Behind a hut, the five children had gathered.
"Hoot's adventures are so exciting," Bunnie says.
"I want to go back and listen to them," Rotor says.
"I want to do more than listen," Sonic says. "I want to go out and help fight 'butt-nik'!"
"F-F-Fight!" Antoine shakes. "That sounds t-t-terrifying."
"Not to mention too dangerous," Sally adds. "We should let adults like Hoot handle it."
"Mobius will never be free unless we fight for it," Sonic tells her. "Remember Juice and Alicia, those two who appeared when Robotnik first launched his coup. Do you want to be like them? And maybe save my uncle and your father?"
Sally looks down for a moment, before looking back up, "It's too dangerous."
"Oui, mon princess is correct," Antoine says.
Sonic looks away, "I'm not too sure about that…"
Hoot is flying out of the Great Forest, when he notices something, before flying down and landing next to a large boulder.
"Okay, kid, you can come out now," Hoot says, slightly annoyed.
Sonic peeks out behind the boulder, before walking around.
"What were you thinking, Sonic?" Hoot asks.
"I want to help you fight," Sonic tells him.
"You're too young, Sonic," Hoot says, before sighing. "And now I have to take you back to Knothole."
"Sonic!"
Hoot looks up to see Sally approaching them from the forest.
"What're you doing here, Sonic?!" Sally asks. "You know you aren't allowed to sneak out of Knothole. You're gonna get into trouble and get captured by SWAT-bots."
"What is this, a party?" Hoot asks himself. "Listen, you both need to return to Knothole this instant."
Suddenly, the boulder is blasted, startling the three, with them turning to see three SWAT-bots approaching them.
"A SWAT-bot patrol!" Hoot calls out, before he flies toward the SWAT-bots. "Sonic, Sally, run, I'll hold them off!"
Two of the SWAT-bots have small blasters pop out of their arms, then fire them, with Hoot flying back and forth, dodging.
One blast almost hit Hoot's right wing, "Hey, that was too close!"
"C'mon, Sal, back on the Sonic Super Express," Sonic picks up Sally.
"For once, just run!" Sally says, as Sonic starts to speed ahead.
Suddenly, the ground quakes violently, with Sonic having trouble running, as the ground breaks apart.
"An earthquake!" Sally calls out, as Sonic is forced to slow down.
The ground breaks apart, as the SWAT-bots stop firing and try to get their footing, with Hoot flying away from them.
Hoot flies down and grabs Sonic and Sally with his feet, "Hold on! Rosie would have a fit if something happened to you."
One SWAT-bot manages to straighten itself, with another blaster pops from its arm, then fires a bola out of it.
The bola hits Hoot, pinning one of his wings to his side, as he lets go of Sonic and Sally.
The ground continues to shake and breaks apart, before Hoot shoulder pushes Sonic and Sally out of the way, while the ground beneath opens up.
Hoot falls into the opening crevice, with him trying to hold onto the top with his one free wing.
"Hoot!" Sonic calls out, as he and Sally start to push themselves up.
Sonic and Sally run over to Hoot, grab his wing and try to pull him up.
"Hold on, Hoot, w-we got you," Sonic says, as he and Sally struggle.
"Keep going, kids, keep going…" Hoot says, as he struggles to pull himself up. "Don't let…"
Sonic and Sally's hold on Hoot's wing starts to loosen, when his wing slips through their fingers, causing Sonic and Sally to fall back.
Hoot screams as he falls deep into the crevice, disappearing.
The earthquake ceases, as the SWAT-bots push themselves up.
Sonic sees them, with tears in his eyes, before he picks the crying Sally, and speeds away.
"With Hoot's gone… we learned how dangerous it could be fighting for freedom," Sally says to Tails, with a tear in the corner of her eyes.
"Hoot sounded awesome," Tails pumps his fists. "I'm gonna try my hardest to be just like him."
"Tails, that story wasn't meant to be inspiring, but a warning," Sally tells him. "Being a Freedom Fighter is dangerous and life threatening. It isn't always a fun-filled adventure."
"I know that, Aunt Sally," Tails says. "I will never treat a mission like a game."
"That isn't the problem, Tails," Sally says, before closing the scrapbook. "I have to get ready. We will discuss this more when I get back from the mission."
Sally puts down the scrapbook, then turns to leave.
Tails watches as Sally leaves the hut, "You will see me a lot sooner than you might think."