Chapter Twenty:

The Manhog of the Owlcare


It was Sonic made the first move.

The blue hedgehog approached the owl perched on the branch close by the front door. By all logic, that tree had to be fake, but authentic-looking as well. The owl's eyes were closed and the group could hear it snoring. Hopefully, it wasn't too late to visit this place. Most owls were nocturnal creatures, they tended to fly around at night.

"Excuse me?" The blue hedgehog said, "Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, but, uh, speedy blue hedgehog and his pals here to take care of some business."

The owl's eyes shot opened and the feathered humanoid bird let off a hoot. It's yellow eyes then stared at the blue hedgehog, the other blue hedgehogs, the skinny man in black and the two-tailed fox in front of it.

"Oh, good evening, visitors." The owl said in a clear voice; "Can I do something for you?"

"A strange blue creature was seen in this area." Jim Robotnik said, "We're following it."

"You're tracking a blue creature? It doesn't look like you, does it?" The owl looked at Sonic, Boom Sonic and Movie Sonic.

"Well, he's been running around at, shall we say, Sonic speed. And his appearance is described as having some big legs, a strange face, human teeth, no gloves, and a lean body." Tails said, "And we've been tracking him; we saw him come through here as we followed close behind."

"Funny." The owl remarked, "I was so deep asleep, I didn't hear 'im show up."

"Well, he's here and he may be hiding." Jim Robotnik said, "We'd like to look inside your daycare."

The owl shrugged. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to show you around and help you fine fellas out. The name's J. Hoo Wingbeak, Wingbeak, for short. Remember that, okay?"

"No probs, Mr. Wingbeak." Movie Sonic remarked, "Man, you're the second nicest owl I've met."

Wingbeak flapped his wings and hovered off the tree, he floated down to the ground and pulled out a key. He turned to the door and turned the lock, then the owl opened the entrance to the daycare place and led Tails, Jim Robotnik, and the Sonics inside. Wingbeak remarked that the security system must have been failing, especially if there was an intruder in the place.

He led Sonic and his group through the lobby, leading them to a room that looked like a playground, even the ceiling looked blue enough to resemble the daytime sky. A light shone in the room and Sonic could hear birds tweeting.

"We're usually closed for the night." Wingbeak remarked, "But some folks are busy working overnight, so we let some kids stay until their families return in the next day. We also look after animals, mostly birds and squirrels. You say that you're looking for a strange-looking blue creature, well, the only blue creatures we've had here are Flickies."

"Whoa!" Movie Sonic exclaimed suddenly.

A little blue hedgehog with blue arms had approached the blue hedgehog. Sonic and Boom Sonic looked at the young-looking hedgehog who'd just came up to Movie Sonic.

'Reality must be falling apart if a kid version of me with blue arms is showing up here in this place, and we came here to find that weird looking hedgehog, not recruit a Kid Sonic.'

ZOOM! The little hedgehog ran off, then he returned, holding out a flower to a shocked Movie Sonic. And then, he blasted off again, heading elsewhere in the daycare facility.

"Whoa, th-that... looked like me!" Movie Sonic exclaimed, "I don't remember being here before, but this..."

"Nice of him to give you a flower, huh?" Tails asked.

Sonic studied Movie Sonic's facial expression as the hedgehog held the flower in his hand gently. And looking at the flower given to him, the speedy blue-armed teenage hedgehog breathed slowly, as memories of younger days raced through his mind at the speed of light. He remembered racing through Green Hill, blasting through the glamorous terrain back to Longclaw's place, and giving her a sunflower...

KA-THUNK!

"THERE!" Jim Robotnik cried, holding the scanner, "He's... IN A LOCKER!"

"Our guest is sloppy at hiding." Wingbeak remarked.

Sonic, Tails, Jim Robotnik, Movie and Boom Sonic ran across the room, heading to the nearest door as Jim Robotnik's scanner went crazier and crazier by the second. They pushed open the door and entered a dark locker, looked around the room, and Tails turned on the flashlight.

Loud sneezing perked their attention and the group turned around in the direction of the noise. Jim Robotnik's scanner beeped wildly, Tails shone his torch and turned it up to maximum. The twin-tailed fox's eyes scanned the room like a searchlight, his senses were alert and ready, and he could feel his nose hair tingling.

All eyes turned towards a nearby shelf. And right there, illuminated by Tails' flashlight, was an odd-looking humanoid hedgehog. His legs were human-like, his feet covered in red sneakers with laces, his hands bare and tan, with a lean body and a light patch of front fur. His eyes were round with green and the muzzle looked different from Sonic's muzzle.

It was the creature that Jim Robotnik had been tracking and Sonic could tell that this guy was the strangest version of himself that he had ever seen in the multiverse. He was so odd-looking, you could say that it wasn't Sonic.

However, at the same time, he looked like Sonic. He had quills, like a hedgehog, on the back of the head and his back. And he had blue arms, just like Movie Sonic and Boom Sonic.

"Uh, meow?" The manhog said innocently.

Jim Robotnik reached into his pocket and whipped out a device that looked like a gun. He pulled the trigger and a blue flash of light washed over the strange variant, who yelped before the light hit him, the oddball Sonic dropped to the ground and lay still. Tails inspected him, seeing that he was still alive. Sonic approached him, filled with a sense of curiosity and confusion.

"We're not going to put him down." Tails said, Jim Robotnik seemed to nod in agreement, "First things first, we're taking him back to the lab. Then, when he wakes up, we're going to have a talk with him and get to know this guy. Hopefully, we can get him on our side."

"I have so many questions about Ugly Sonic here." Movie Sonic commented, "Especially about his world."