A/N: Welcome to Chapter 2! This is a rewrite of "Sonic to the Rescue", which is slightly heavier than the last chapter. The chapter name "Big Brother" is a double entendre. It can mean Sonic being a big brother to Chris, but it can also be the nickname given to the government.
Also, after only 125 views, I had nine follows, five favorites, and three reviews! Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed this story!
Random thing: I imagine Station Square just north of Los Angeles, right near where Highway 101 is the closest to the Pacific Ocean.
Another random thing: I never saw the Metarex saga (STRANGE, ISN'T IT?!), but I'm preparing myself for it. I'm not really the biggest Cosmo fan, but I'd ship Tails with her over Cream. I'm looking forward to episodes like "A Revolutionary Tale" and "Teasing Time".
Also, my brother started cringewatching Sonic X (yes, cringewatching; it's like bingewatching but you're cringing the whole time), but finally had to stop after Episode 16, "Depths of Danger". Now even the mention of Sonic is too much for him. Poor guy. :)
I want to give a shoutout to everyone who favorited and followed my story since the last chapter. Underlines are favorites, and italics are follows. So without further ado, I would like to thank GuardianDragon98, Anti-Mage 29, PhD Flopper, Witch08, LightMaker300, Rowan Jacobs, One Nutty Author, yveltal1993, Chaosky, and edvis93 for their support since I posted the first chapter!
Anyway, here's my rewrite of "Sonic to the Rescue"!
GuardianDragon98
Oh wow, this is awesome. Can't wait to see Sonic X in a new light.
And you shall. This is a long-awaited update to Sonic X, done correctly. There are other Sonic X rewrites, but none are as long or accurate as this one! Wait, I think my bragging meter went up to 11.
Anti-Mage
Pretty great story. Can't wait for the next chapter, but gotta ask, are you not including the avatar? I didn't see a statement about it, and I would like to know. I'm not asking for you to add him, that's your choice, and I will respect your decision.
Thanks! And no, unfortunately, the avatar, Gadget, whoever he's called, won't appear. He's too varying a character, and I don't see him working in this story. Classic Sonic won't appear either, though.
PhD Flopper
Holy crap, great job on this! A sonic x rewrite that's post sonic forces?! It's a nice change of pace around here I think. Hopefully we'll see Chris act more wary of this "alien" because that's the most rational to do but I can see his initial excitement. Wonder how he'll bring sonic up to his family. Now excuse me while I do the Mario!
Post-Forces Sonic X has never been done before, so brownie points for me! :D And yes, Chris will act wary of Sonic in this chapter. Could this be… character development? Also, Chris brought up Sonic and his friends to his family in "Party Hardly" *cringe title name cringe*, expect a similar situation in Chapter 7, but extended. *proceeds to join you in doing the Mario*
Disclaimer: I do not own any elements in this story except for my own characters. Sonic the Hedgehog is owned by SEGA, who does not endorse or affiliate itself with this work of fiction. Real world locations and organizations are used fictitiously. Real world people will be mentioned, but will not appear, in order to adhere with "Entries not allowed" Rule 4.
Gotta go faster, faster, faster, faster SONIC X!
Chapter 2
Episode 2
Area 99 - Infiltrate the Government Headquarters‼
Big Brother
Thorndyke Mansion - Chris's room — Sun August 21; 8:02 AM — Chris' POV
Morning couldn't possibly have come fast enough. Or so I would have thought, if I didn't finally fall asleep around 5:30 AM. I was way too excited. I mean… an actual space alien fell into my pool! How cool is that? On top of that, it — no, he — was the answer to the wish I made last night!
I woke up at the usual time around 8 in the morning. I was a little tired, which I probably should have expected, because I only got a total of about seven hours of sleep. This was all due to sheer excitement, like the pure joy of a kid on Christmas morning. My wish had actually come true.
But there was one question still lingering in the back of my mind.
Is this too good to be true? Can Sonic really become my friend?
Sure, he seemed friendly enough, but there was also this cocky side to him, kind of like he was naturally confident. He was also… unique. I mean… how many people could claim to run at the speed of sound, let alone actually do it?
I stretched my arms, rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and climbed out of bed. Then I remembered the wet pajamas I had stored under my bed. Reaching down, I picked up the now-stiff PJs. They were only slightly damp, but I figured they would dry quickly, and Ella wouldn't know the difference, unless she were to pick up the scent of chlorine.
I left my room and headed into the bathroom. Locking the door behind me, I immediately tossed the damp pajamas in the hamper before getting ready to brush my teeth. Only then was I reminded again of Mom's pool rules!
She had said I was not allowed to swim at night under any circumstances, or swim in the adult pool without at least one of my guardians present. I had broken both rules in one night. How was I possibly going to explain this to Mom? I knew she didn't know now, but she was my mom, and I knew she would eventually find out, even if I didn't want her to. Moms tended to have that uncanny ability. I needed to explain it and apologize the next chance I got.
Minutes later, I finished brushing my teeth, washing my face, and doing everything in my morning routine. As I headed back to my room to change, I realized that it was going to be very difficult to apologize this time. Normally I should just confess what I did, and there would be nothing to it. However, I was dealing with an alien that could have drowned, and I couldn't just tell my mom that an alien fell in the pool. She would never buy that story.
But then… I thought of the perfect explanation, and not a moment too soon. I decided to put my plan into action the next time Mom called. But for now, it was time to get on with the rest of my day.
But I was pretty sure Sonic was still resting right above my room, so I thought, why not say good morning to my new acquaintance?
I picked up my iPhone 8 which was lying on the nightstand. I received it for my tenth birthday, and it was one of my favorite birthday gifts ever. Since then, I had taken great care of it. Some of my favorite mobile games were Angry Birds and Candy Crush.
I put my phone in my pocket and opened the balcony door. Having a balcony right off my room was really awesome. It offered a stunning view of the pools and the yard. I looked up at the roof, and sure enough, there was the blue alien hedgehog, still reclining there.
"G-Good morning, S-Sonic," I shakily spoke. I always got nervous when it came to talking to people outside my family, even at school.
"Morning, Chris," came Sonic's voice from above me as he looked down at me. "Sleep well?"
"Yeah," I replied as I stifled a yawn. "What about you?"
Sonic gave a hum of thought. "Hm… Pretty well, all things considered," he stated.
I looked down at the adult pool directly beneath the balcony. "Um… A-Are you thinking about your home planet…?"
Sonic did a half-shrug. "Yeah, kinda. Could be worse, though. I mean… I lost everything I ever known… but hey, at least I got a whole new planet to explore." He looked down. "Still doesn't beat home sweet home, though…"
I frowned. Sonic seemed to miss his home world more than he let on. And the more I thought about it, the more I found myself wanting to help him. I wanted to help Sonic get back home in any way I could.
But how? My abilities were very limited, and I didn't have super speed or any other powers. In fact, I was too young to drive a car or do anything adults were allowed to do, even staying up late at night. But still, there had to be a way I could help.
Just as I was about to ask how I could help him, my phone rang. I removed it from my pocket and saw who the caller was.
"It's Mom," I said to no one in particular. I knew she would call some time soon, but not this soon. This was it. It was time to face the music.
I pressed to button to answer the phone and held it up to my ear. "Hi, Mom!" I greeted, making sure to keep a straight face.
"My dear Christopher! It's so good to hear your voice again!" Mom replied jovially. "I wanted to call and tell you I have good news and bad news."
Uh-oh.
"Uh, okay, so wh-what's the bad news?" I asked, even though I already had a feeling I knew what it was.
"You know my movie Valencia I'm shooting here in England?" she asked. "Well, we had a bit of a setback. It's been raining on and off for the past four days and it won't stop. They say it's not going to let up until maybe Monday at the earliest, which means our outdoor shoots have been delayed."
"So does this mean you're not coming…?" I asked, feeling very dejected. I really hoped this was not the case. It had been way too long since I last saw Mom in person.
"I'm sorry, dear…" Mom replied regretfully. "Reschedule for Friday?"
"…Y-yeah… Okay…" I sighed.
I was devastated again. Just last night, Dad said he couldn't come until later, and now Mom was also going to be delayed. This was the same thing I had been putting up with for way too many years. Life was just so unfair!
"On the bright side," Mom continued, "I was able to use my downtime to do a little shopping, so I got you lots of gifts, including your favorite cotton candy~" she added in a sort-of sing-song voice. I beamed. "They'll be there in two days."
"Thanks, Mom!"
"You're welcome, you know how much I love you, sweetheart! So how are things at home?" Mom asked.
Now was the moment of truth. Now was the time for me to apologize. I took a deep breath.
"Pretty good," I replied before taking a deep breath. "But… I do kinda want to apologize for something I did last night…"
Mom paused for a moment. I think she was surprised. "Chris… what did you do?"
I stared at the ground in shame. "I… I was in the adult pool by myself last night…"
Mom was quiet for a moment. I didn't know whether this was a good thing or not, but there was a very high chance it could mean trouble. I knew Mom loved me very much, but anything she said went.
"Chris… Thank you for being honest," Mom finally answered. "But now I'm curious; why were you in the pool last night?"
I had to choose my next words carefully. One small slip-up could result in disaster, both for me and for Sonic.
Speaking of disaster, Mr. Tanaka arrived to place my breakfast on my balcony table. And then it dawned on me. Ella had sent Mr. Tanaka upstairs to bring me my breakfast, and she knew I usually came down for breakfast first thing in the morning. Since I didn't do that, she would easily become suspicious of me!
And now Mr. Tanaka was standing right there, which meant I couldn't continue my explanation, or else he might get suspicious too. Fortunately, the butler was gone just as quickly as he arrived, but this did nothing to alleviate Mom's impatience.
"Chris? Are you still there?"
"Uh, y-yeah, I... just got distracted. Um, what was your question again?"
"Why were you in the pool last night?" Mom repeated.
"Well, um… I… I woke up in the middle of the night because I heard a big splash in the pool. And I got up to look outside, and I saw that it… it was a cat." I threw a nervous glance up at Sonic, who visibly cringed a little. I knew I was going to have to explain my story to him as soon as I hung up.
"And you got it out of the pool," Mom finished the story.
"Yeah," I replied, relaxing a bit.
"Chris… I love you, and you have a big heart, but next time, please call for Mr. Tanaka, and he can take care of it, okay?"
"Yes, Mom."
"Oh, stay there a minute," Mom said suddenly. After a moment's pause, she returned. "Dear, I must run. There was a change of plans just now, and the director needs me for an indoor scene right away. Kiss kiss," she said affectionately, and we made kissing sounds over the receiver, which was something we had done ever since I was little.
After Mom hung up, I was immediately filled with relief, and I let out a big sigh. That was a really close one. I knew Sonic was a hedgehog and not a cat, but I couldn't just not tell her, because she would eventually find out one way or another. I hoped my spin on this story went well with her.
Actually, I probably should have been thinking the same thing about Sonic, because I saw him hopping down onto the railing next to me. He looked a bit irritated, which took me off guard and made me feel awkward.
"Hey, was that cat supposed to be me…?" he asked, sounding annoyed.
"Um… y-yeah… sorry…" I apologized, now feeling guilt, and my cheeks started to get a bit red. "B-But to be honest… I don't think my mom is gonna understand if I told her I rescued an alien… or a hedgehog."
"Ah, yeah," Sonic nodded, relaxing a bit. "This actually kinda confirms something I thought about last night."
Relieved that Sonic was not mad at me, I set my phone down on the small table and sat down to eat. "What do you mean?" I asked as I picked up my fork.
"Well, last night, I was on the run from the cops, and… they said I was an alien." Sonic ran his hand through his quills. "Which kinda makes sense, since, y'know… they probably never saw anyone like me around here, or anything, for that matter."
"Yeah…" I agreed before taking a bite of my scrambled eggs.
"You know what else is cool?" Sonic perked up. "They got humans on my planet too."
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah," Sonic nodded sincerely. "We do kinda go our own ways, like… one part of our planet is just humans for the most part, and the other part is just… us people. Though, I think it's more common that we go to your neck of the woods than you coming to us."
I was just about to reply when the phone rang again. Checking the caller, I saw that it was Dad.
Oh no, I thought. It can't get any worse.
You see, Mom tended to gossip to everyone she knew about all kinds of stuff, and Dad was her number one go-to contact, which meant he probably found out already. Sonic would have to brace himself for further cringey moments.
"It's Dad," I told the hedgehog before taking the call. Out of the corner of my eye, I couldn't help but notice a thoughtful expression the hedgehog was taking on.
"Hello?" I began.
"Hey, Son!" Dad spoke. "Your mom just called and told me about your daring rescue last night."
I too needed to brace myself. The danger of Sonic's exposure was far from over.
"Yeah…" I said as I stood up.
"I just wanna say, I'm real proud of you, Chris," he continued, "but what you did was dangerous. Stuff like this is exactly why we enforced the pool rules."
"Y-Yeah… Sorry, Dad," I apologized.
"It's all good," Dad responded. "Think I'm gonna need to update the security system after this…" he mumbled to himself.
It was impossible for a stray animal to enter our property, especially since we had lots of fences and tall hedges surrounding our entire property. But I knew that Sonic had most likely fallen into the pool from directly above. How exactly, I was unsure of.
"Yeah…" I lied.
"Then I'll add that to my ever-growing to-do list," Dad reminded himself. "I hope it didn't scratch you at all."
I didn't even need to look to sense Sonic cringing heavily. "Uh, n-no, Dad. I-It ran off as soon as I got it out."
"Ah, okay. Well, like your mom said, you're really brave, but I agree with her, you need to tell Ella or Mr. Tanaka or your grandpa about it next time something like that happens," Dad said, nearly echoed Mom's words. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, Dad."
"Oh by the way, did you hear about the alien last night?"
That hit me like a bombshell. I nearly choked. I didn't count on Sonic making such a big splash into the world like that. Why didn't I think of social media?! By now, he'd be all over the news.
"W-Wait, what? Really?!" I exclaimed, trying to play dumb.
"It's trending everywhere – Twitter, Daily Mail, New York Times… Did you turn on the news yet?"
"N-Not yet," I replied.
"Well, you may want to, it's really interesting," he said. "And I'm sorry again I can't come. There's a new hard drive we're working on, and it's fairly complex, and it needs my personal supervision. Plus, we've got a tight deadline to meet. But I promise, I will try to work things out with your mom so we can both be home in time for your cousin's homecoming."
"Wait, Matt's done college already?" I asked. I couldn't wait to see my cousin again. Matt was my older cousin; he was 22 years old and the son of Dad's older brother. Last I heard, he was nearly finished his fourth year of college. Unfortunately, he didn't live at home with us, but he lived out in Minneapolis instead.
"But in case we don't make it, please tell him we said hi," Dad requested. "Sorry, I have to go. I'm on a tight schedule, and our new AI products won't supervise themselves, as much as I'd like them to. You take care now, Chris."
"Bye, Dad."
After I hung up the phone, I put it back on the table and looked over at Sonic. He was still cringing a little from the whole "cat" thing.
"O-Okay… I think it's done now," I reassured him as I sat back down. "S-Sorry about that…"
The hedgehog shrugged. "Hey, it's all cool," he said to my relief. "You were just covering for me, and besides… I'm pretty sure your parents have never seen a Mobian before."
"What...? What's a Mobian?" I mumbled around a mouthful of eggs. That sounded all Greek to me. I assumed it had absolutely nothing to do with Moebius strips.
"That's pretty much the name of my kind," he explained, eyeing my toast, ham, eggs, and orange juice. "All my friends are Mobians, too. All different kinds of animals. Hedgehogs, foxes, rabbits, wolves…"
Just then I could hear Sonic's stomach rumbling. That meant he was hungry. And then I realized: he didn't eat anything since he arrived! And since I had no clue what Mobians ate, I was in big trouble.
"Did you have anything to eat since you came?" I asked.
"Nope. Not a bite since… oh, uh, about an hour or so before I got here." He jumped off of the railing and landed on the ground in front of me. "Say, you got any chili dogs around here?"
So Mobians ate human food. That was a huge relief.
"Wait, you eat human food?" I asked quizzically.
Sonic tilted his head slightly and scratched his head. "Well, I, uh... wouldn't exactly call it human food per se... Humans, Mobians, we all eat the same food, it all goes down the same."
"Oh, okay," I replied. "And yeah, we do have chili dogs," I replied.
"YES!" Sonic shouted, fist-pumping the air. "I got a new home and my favorite food of all time… this is gonna be great!"
I cringed a little because I thought he was going to be too loud, before I smiled at him.
"Then, um… m-maybe I can try and... sneak you downstairs when I'm done breakfast."
Sonic smirked cockily. "Sounds like a plan."
Thorndyke Mansion — Sun August 21; 8:23 AM — Chris' POV
"Um… P-Please stay close…" I cautioned Sonic as we stepped back into my room. I was not about to run any unnecessary risks, because if any of my guardians saw Sonic, it would all be over.
"No problem," agreed Sonic. "You don't want anyone seeing me? I got eagle eyes right here lookin' out for me."
I grinned at Sonic. Already he seemed like a lot of fun to be around.
As I walked toward the bedroom door, I glanced back at Sonic, who was looking around the room. It wasn't really messy, so I didn't have anything to be embarrassed about.
"Nice room you got here, Chris," he complimented.
"Th-thanks," I quietly replied as I walked toward the open bedroom door. I cautiously poked my head out and looked up and down the hallway to see if anyone was coming. I didn't expect to see anyone, but out of all three of my guardians, Ella had the highest chance of coming to check up on me. Fortunately, the coast was clear.
"I-I think it's okay now," I told Sonic, before I stepped out into the hallway and motioned for him to follow. Together we crept down the corridor. There was no one in sight.
"Man, this feels a lot like sneaking through one of Eggman's bases," remarked Sonic.
"Wait, who's Eggman?" I asked, right as I started hearing a sound coming from the stairs. "Um… i-in here, quick!"
I quickly opened the door to one of the many guest bedrooms and practically pushed Sonic inside before closing it as quickly and quietly as I could. Once it was shut, I kept walking down the hall like nothing ever happened. It was actually hard for me to keep a straight face and not look like I had just shoved a hedgehog into one of our bedrooms.
Then I saw the source of the noise: Ella had just reached the top of the stairs with an empty basket of laundry.
"Well, good morning, Chris!" she greeted as I walked up to her and we exchanged hugs. She was like a second mother to me in a way. "I was going to do the laundry, and I thought I would check up on you. You know, it's not like you to stay up in your room for so long before breakfast."
…That was a really close one. If I had left my room any later, I would have been busted. It didn't help that she was still suspicious of me though.
"Y-Yeah, I was just talking on the phone with my mom," I replied.
"Oh, that was very sweet of her to check up on you," Ella said with a smile. "Well, what did she say?"
"Um… sadly, she said she's not coming, but she and Dad said they wanna come in time for Matt's homecoming."
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," sympathized Ella. "Still, it will be wonderful to see them again in person after so long. I really missed them."
"Me too…" I sighed.
"So, where are you off to now, muffin?" she asked, using my childhood nickname.
It only took a second to figure out where I wanted to be besides the living room. "I-I think I'm gonna go over to the lab and be with Grandpa."
"All right, you have fun now," Ella said sweetly before continuing toward the bathroom to collect the laundry. I hoped she wouldn't think twice about my damp pajamas.
I headed toward the stairs because I didn't want to make Ella even more suspicious, but I didn't actually go down them yet. As soon as the maid was out of sight, I crept back to the guest room where Sonic was and threw open the door.
"Okay, hurry!" I urgently whispered. Sonic emerged from the room, and I made sure to close the door before we ran for the stairs.
As we cautiously descended the grand marble staircase, I looked around to see where Tanaka or Grandpa might be. There was no sign of either of them, which was both a good thing and a bad thing, because they could show up at any time.
Meanwhile, Sonic was completely enchanted by everything around him, because out of the corner of my eye, I could see him looking everywhere.
"Whoa, some place you got here," he remarked as we reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Th-Thanks," I said, still feeling on edge.
A few tense moments later, we finally reached the kitchen. It felt strange trying to avoid my guardians on purpose like this. It felt kind of… wrong, but I knew I had to do this.
I opened the fridge, and inside were several leftover chili dogs wrapped in tin foil. We had had them for lunch two days ago. They had already been assembled, but never finished. Sonic grabbed one out of the fridge, and I got a plate for him from the cabinet.
"Um… t-to be honest, I think it's a good thing you can eat human food," I remarked.
"'Course I can eat human food," Sonic remarked. "Hey, uh, you mind popping this in the micro for me? I can't reach."
I glanced down at Sonic, and then back up at the microwave, which was positioned among the upper cabinets at eye level. He was only about three feet tall, so there was no way he could reach it without climbing onto the counter.
"Okay," I responded. "But first…" I got a fork out of the drawer and carefully poked a few holes in the chili dog for ventilation before I put it in the microwave. I shut the door, and it took me a moment to think of the right setting for chili dogs and hot dogs, before I put in the right setting.
"So why'd you wanna ask about me eating human food?" Sonic asked me.
"Because, uh… M-My science teacher says Earth hedgehogs usually eat crickets and sometimes cat food." I didn't know why I felt so hesitant to say that.
"Yikes," Sonic shuddered as he watched the microwave spin. "Well, good thing I'm not an Earth hedgehog, yeah? Say, Earth... that the name of this planet?"
"Yeah," I answered. I walked out of the kitchen, looking around to see if anyone was there. I was sure Mr. Tanaka was outside watering the garden and clipping the hedges, and Grandpa was in his lab, and I knew for a fact that Ella was upstairs, but I still had to be careful. Since they weren't around, I cautiously made my way to the living room. I was taking a huge gamble, but I wanted to see Sonic on the news as soon as possible.
I picked up the controller and turned on the giant 60-inch flat-screen TV. I found that it was left on the Food channel, so I switched over to Channel 4 News to see if they were talking about Sonic. They were on a commercial break, so Sonic still had a little time to finish heating his chili dog before the news came back on.
There was a long beep coming from the kitchen, which meant the microwave was done. I turned around and was just about to head back to the kitchen to help Sonic get his chili dog out of the microwave when a blue shape holding a plate suddenly appeared in front of me. I let out a startled yelp and stumbled backward, clutching my heart.
"Whoa! Sorry there, Chris!" exclaimed Sonic.
"How- how did you get it out by yourself?" I asked, still recovering from that scare.
"Climbed the counter," he shrugged.
"Oh..." I probably could have facepalmed. If Sonic was nimble enough to run at the speed of sound like he said he could, he was probably agile enough to climb the counter on his own. But I still felt like I needed to take his word for it.
"But I thought you said you couldn't-"
"I'm the fastest thing alive," declared Sonic. "One little counter's nothing for me."
I was about to reply when the commercials ended, and renowned local newscaster Scarlet Garcia appeared on the screen. She was wearing her usual bright orange pantsuit, something that made her stand out from all the other newscasters I had seen.
"Welcome back. One of the biggest headlines today, an extraterrestrial creature has appeared downtown last night, causing quite a commotion throughout the city."
To be honest, it felt strange seeing Sonic on TV, especially since he was sitting right next to me at the same time.
"Authorities were quick to respond, but the alien was even quicker, managing to elude them by reportedly running at speeds greater than 400 miles per hour. The SSPD's renowned S-Team was deployed, but they too have failed to catch the alien, resulting in their first failed mission since their foundation four years ago. The alien reportedly broke the sound barrier, causing significant damage to S-Team leader Sam Speed's windshield. Three police officers received minor injuries during an altercation with the alien at 7th Avenue and Spruce Street, where the alien is rumored to have first set foot on this planet."
I watched as the screen showed clip after clip of Sonic. I was thoroughly amazed at just how fast he could run, even though he had just told me last night he could perform this seemingly impossible feat. But here I was watching it on a much larger and less restricted scale.
"Y-You actually… got away from my uncle…" I breathed.
Sonic's eyes went wide, and his jaw dropped, and his chili dog almost did too.
"Wait, that Highway Star guy's your uncle?!" he almost shouted at the coincidence, and it actually startled me a bit.
"Y-Y-Yeah…" I shakily replied. "Um… I-I don't think we should be loud though..."
"Sorry 'bout that," Sonic replied in a quieter voice, before we turned our attention back to the TV.
"Eyewitness reports claim the alien is 'at least three feet tall', 'hedgehog-like', and 'impossibly fast'. Police report that the alien successfully got through a roadblock set up on Highway 101, as well as escaped from Sam Speed's S-Team. Joining me now is University of California Station Square biologist Dr. Kai Narasu, claiming he has an interesting theory on the origin of this alien. So, Dr. Narasu, is it true you say this extraterrestrial creature isn't alien to Earth?"
"I believe so," Narasu responded as he adjusted his glasses. "It's a difficult theory to prove, but… look at it this way. It's… it's quite impossible for any organic lifeform to move anywhere near as fast as this alien. That's why I think this alien isn't organic at all. Underneath all that fur… I think my logical conclusion is, it has to be some kind of machine. Like, I'm thinking a government machine being test run on the streets. Kind of like a UFO."
"Well… that's very… interesting," Scarlet warily replied.
The interview continued, but I wasn't listening. I was looking at Sonic incredulously. No way was he a machine. He was flesh and blood, just like me. I knew that first-hand when I rescued him from the pool last night.
"That guy's lame," droned Sonic around a mouthful of chili dog, before he swallowed. "I mean… you gotta be crazy to think like that. What part of him thinks I'm a machine?"
Just then I heard footsteps outside the side door. I had completely let my guard down, and now it was too late to tell Sonic to hide, especially since the footsteps were fast, which meant the person was running.
The door was thrown open, and Grandpa came running in.
"Chris, are you watching the—"
He immediately stopped dead in his tracks, his gaze fixated on Sonic. This was really bad… and really awkward. My heart nearly skipped a beat. All I could do was hope Grandpa wouldn't call Mr. Tanaka and Ella down to see Sonic… that is, if they hadn't seen the news themselves already. And it would be really suspicious of us to tell them not to watch the news.
Sonic looked at me, as if he was asking me if he should leave now. I shook my head; it was far too late. We were good and caught, all because I let my guard down.
Imagine being in Grandpa's position. He had been up in his lab watching the news, and saw an alien on TV. Then he came running in, only to see that same alien in the house watching TV with his grandson. That must have sent a complex mess of emotions to his brain. I couldn't imagine being in his shoes at that moment.
Grandpa finally regained his composure, but not by much, as he began to stutter in confusion.
"I… I-I-I… it's… but…"
"I-I-I can explain!" I tried to cover for Sonic, even though I knew there was no explaining him away this time. I was done for.
"W-Well… I… I expect- I really hope you have a good explanation…" Grandpa said, speaking full English once more.
"Um… I-I-I'll explain Grandpa; but just don't tell Ella or Mr. Tanaka please!"
"Why not?"
"I don't want them to know yet!" I pleaded. "Just don't tell, please!"
"Okay, I won't," Grandpa said. I felt a little relief, but not much. "I do want to know why they can't know, but first, I gotta know how it got here."
"Um… L-Last night—"
"Guys, look at this!" came Sonic's voice from the couch. I darted over, swiped up the remote from the coffee table, and rewound the TV to the part that Sonic saw.
"…this picture from an eyewitness last night showing what appears to be two new alien lifeforms. We are still investigating where they came from, but the rumor is they too are from the same planet as the blue alien that appeared earlier that same night. They were discovered on top of a billboard around 2:30 this morning, very shortly after the other alien. These new visitors from afar are either alien themselves, or machine as Dr. Narasu speculated earlier on the show. Authorities, who have removed them from the billboard and taken them to an undisclosed location, were not available for comment."
A picture was being shown on the screen, and I was able to see a small… Mobian, was it called…? It looked kind of like a small rabbit girl, and I was very nervous to admit it… but she looked really cute. The blob she was holding had a red bow tie and a small yellow ball floating above its head. It was literally floating from what I could see, like… there was nothing attaching it to the blob.
"Cream and Cheese…" whispered Sonic.
"Wait, what?" I asked. "Is that their names?"
"Yeah…" Sonic replied in a solemn tone. I was a little surprised; I had not seen him look this serious since he arrived.
"They're just kids…" he continued. "They shouldn't be taken away like this. Nothing personal against your world's cops, but they just don't understand."
"No offense taken; even I admit they have some serious problems." Chuck looked concerned. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go make a call. I'll be back in a moment!" he called behind him as he left the room.
As soon as Grandpa was out of sight, Sonic turned to me. "So Chris, you mind telling me who that guy is?" he asked.
"Oh, he's my grandpa," I answered, and somehow my answer made Sonic raise a brow slightly. "He's a professor."
"Chuck…" Sonic repeated, as if he was reminiscing about something. "Huh..."
"What is it?" I asked out of curiosity.
"I used to have an uncle with that name… but…" Sonic paused for a bit, before he shook his head. "Never mind. So I guess it's just you two and the guy who gave you your breakfast earlier? Who was he?"
"Th-that was Mr. Tanaka; he's our butler," I replied. "And also we have Ella. She's our maid."
"Hm… Okay..." he thought aloud, before looking at me in concern. "But I gotta wonder, what about your parents? I know I heard you talking with them this morning, and… I kinda get the impression they're not always here to take care of you."
My parents were a rough patch in my life, and I had a very hard time dealing with it. "Yeah… I… I-I don't really see 'em too much… They're always out doing their jobs, and they're only here like two times a year."
Sonic's expression changed to one of pure sympathy. This was completely unlike the fake sympathy I would get at school sometimes, which wasn't much anyway, because I never really told anyone. No, this was genuine. Sonic was the first person in my life outside my family to truly understand my situation with my parents.
"Poor kid," he whispered. "Sounds like it's been pretty rough for you here…"
"Yeah…" I sighed. Sonic gently patted my back.
"Well, no worries, Chris!" he said. "Things always have a way of workin' out in the end, even if they look really bad."
"Um… L-Like, um… th-the new aliens?" I asked, already forgetting their names.
"You mean Cream and Cheese?" clarified Sonic, and I nodded. "Yeah, you bet! You saw my speed; I'm gonna get 'em out before you can say-"
"That was Professor Alexander Pell," Grandpa said as he came back in the room. To Sonic, he explained, "He's an old college friend of mine. I just called to tell him about your friends we saw on TV. Now Alex has a link with the local news crew, and he was told that they were tranquilized and quietly taken away in the middle of the night by the government. He believes they were taken out to Area 99."
"What?!" I gasped.
"Area 99? What's that?" Sonic asked.
"Oh... that's a top-secret military base out in the middle of nowhere. That's where they test out all their latest military equipment. The rumor is, anyone who found out too much about what happens there mysteriously disappeared, and trespassers are usually shot on sight."
An eerie silence filled the room. Was that where Sonic's friends were taken to? That sounded terrible. Anyone who entered Area 99 like that would most likely never come out again. I didn't even want to think about it.
"And that's where Cream and Cheese were taken to?" repeated Sonic.
"Seems like it," Grandpa muttered. "All right then, follow me."
He walked over to the side door and opened it for me and Sonic to walk through before he followed us. I knew we were headed for the garage, but I couldn't help but wonder what Grandpa was up to? Whatever it was, I did not like that glee in his eye.
"You know, you never told me your name," Grandpa said to Sonic.
"The name's Sonic the Hedgehog," he replied. "Fastest thing alive, hero of Mobius, etc, etc," he bragged.
"O-Okay, I get it, I get it," Grandpa cut him off. "So Sonic… hold on, hold that thought… How do you know English? And I know that interview was a bit far-fetched, but how can I be convinced you're not really a machine?"
Sonic scoffed. "Would a machine from another planet know… whatever you call your language… and have fur? And blood? And bones? That interview's baloney, Prof. It's all a conspiracy theory. You gotta give me more credit than that. Plus, no tech can rival me. Believe me, they try. And fail."
"Okay, fine, I get your point," protested Grandpa as he threw his hands up. "As I wanted to say, I know that Area 99 is rumored to have a whole section dedicated to research and development of all kinds of things… including biological, like your friends."
"So they're gonna run experiments on 'em?!" Sonic asked with an edge of anger.
"Not unless we somehow get them out of there," Grandpa responded.
"Leave it to me," declared Sonic. "I can bust 'em out and bring' em back here in a Sonic second! Just point the way."
"W-Wait, no…!" I argued. That was hopelessly reckless of him to think that! I knew I saw him running at the speed of sound on TV, but on top of that, he was cocky? That kind of attitude was what got a lot of people in trouble before. There was no way I was going to see him break into a top-secret government base.
"No need to worry," Sonic continued with an overly confident grin that spelled trouble. "It's nothing I haven't done before."
"But still…" I trailed off as Grandpa led us through the big garage door.
"So you did do this sort of thing before?" Grandpa asked as he headed for one of the shelves.
"You bet!" Sonic said, his confidence unwavering.
"Well then… Um…" Grandpa seemed to be convinced by him already. "I saw you on TV, and… you look like the type of person who can pull this off. So… are you ready for this?"
"Me?" asked Sonic with a chuckle. "I was born ready!"
"But first… I can't find any reason to doubt you, but I'm afraid it's not that easy," he said. "And you can't go alone…"
I held my breath. I was glad to see that someone was on my side.
"…at least, not without the right equipment." He pulled out a pair of devices. "Here, we can stay in touch with these."
"Huh… This some kind of radio gadget?" Sonic took the utensil Grandpa gave to him and turned it over in his hands, inspecting it. "Kinda looks like something Tails would make…"
Tails? Who was he? Was he another friend of Sonic's? Or was he actually a she?
"Yes, it's both a radio and an infrared scope," Grandpa explained. "See the red lens on it? That's the scope. Now I've believed for many years now that Area 99 is using invisible security lasers, and lately rumors are starting to come out that confirm this. And I'm just warning you, it has some of the tightest security in America, but I'm pretty sure this scope is gonna come in handy nonetheless."
The moment Sonic slipped his headset on, he somehow looked stronger, like his power level went up by over nine thousand.
"Now I would highly discourage you from going in there through the front door guns ablaze, so what I would do is try and find an air duct or something to get in."
"No problem," Sonic nodded. "Now, mind if you give me a general idea of what it looks like and where it is?"
"Um… It's basically a pair of runways with several buildings here and there," explained Grandpa. "From what I heard, I believe most of it's underground. But as for where it is… Um… I would check southern Nevada."
"Will do," replied Sonic, "'Cept I don't have a clue where Nevada even is."
"Hm, okay," Grandpa replied. He must not have known that Sonic didn't know any of Earth's geography. "It's… that way," he said, pointing in one direction. "By about... oh, three, four hundred miles."
"Gotcha, thanks," Sonic said.
"And it's way out in the middle of nowhere," added Grandpa. "So you won't be able to stay in contact with me until you get back in town. These headsets have great reception, but not that great."
"No problem," the hedgehog replied.
"B-But then we're not gonna find out if you got them out!" I protested.
"Sure you will, kiddo," reassured Sonic, but it had no effect on me. "I got a ton of experience with this kind of stuff. It's kinda like my playground, actually. Gotta juice!"
With that, he bolted out of the garage, nearly blowing me over, but I caught myself just in time. He was a real speed demon.
Not that long ago, there was this Internet spectacle where a bunch of guys said they would storm Area 99. Only seventy or so people showed up at the gate, but this time, Sonic was actually going inside in broad daylight. And I thought he was going to become a great friend. Now he was being cocky and reckless!
"Grandpa… H-How come you didn't stop him?" I pleaded.
Grandpa sighed. "Would you rather… let his friends be experimented on even more?"
I thought about it. "N-no…" I spoke.
"Exactly," Grandpa said. "I don't want this happening to them any more than you do… which is why I'm glad we have someone who can rescue them on our side."
"But…" I trailed off as Grandpa started to climb into the driver's seat of the car.
"Chris, you have to trust me," urged Grandpa. "I know I only met Sonic like five minutes ago, but I saw him on TV. I saw how fast he can run. I saw how he was able to get away from the police. Now if he can do all that… I think he has what it takes to rescue his friends without getting caught, and besides, he just told us he did this sort of thing before."
I was left speechless. Sonic already seemed like he was a caring person, but here he was thrusting himself into the depths of Area 99 to rescue his friends. But right now, I was distracted as to why Grandpa was in the car.
"Um… Wh-where are you going?"
"I figured we could go bowling together, just you and me. You know, to take your mind off things. Besides, I know you wanted to go one more time before school starts again."
While I couldn't guarantee the part where it could take my mind off of Sonic potentially breaking the federal law and getting shot, I decided to take up his offer anyway.
"All right," I accepted.
"Great. Let me just write this note real quick."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Just letting Mr. Tanaka know where we went in case they start to wonder why we're not in the lab."
He pulled out a memo and spent a few moments writing on it, using the dashboard as a desk and a pen randomly lying on the floor of the car. Once he was finished, he got out of the car and stuck it onto the outside of the small door next to the large garage door.
"But why don't you tell them in person instead?" I wondered.
"Well… the bigger reason why I'm writing this to begin with is I don't want them coming out here and possibly seeing Sonic and his friends," he responded, "so I thought I'd go ahead and tell them I'm working on a 'secret project' instead."
"Okay, that's a good idea," I approved as I got into the car and buckled in.
"Now then, are we ready to go?" he asked.
"I'm ready," I nodded as Grandpa climbed back into the driver's seat and started the engine.
As we backed out of the driveway, I still couldn't shake the feeling that Sonic was going to get himself trapped or arrested… or worse.
Area 99 — Sun August 21; 8:55 AM — Third-person POV
Having just come off his breakfast break, Ray Browning strolled down the hallway that led to Sector D. Yesterday had been quite the day for him. In fact, he had only gotten about two hours of sleep last night. The reason was quite simple: the discovery of extraterrestrial life on Earth.
The clean-shaven forty-something man would never in his wildest dreams have believed that alien life really existed. And yet there were reports of an actual space alien in nearby Station Square just last night. The hedgehog-like one had evaded the police and even their special Speed Division branch, but that was not his field of jurisdiction. No, his responsibility was to oversee the collection of two possibly related alien species: one rabbit-like, and the other blob-like.
When his team of government armored cars arrived to remove them from the GEICO billboard near Highway 101, they had no idea what to expect. There was a chance the aliens could attack them, and yet they didn't. In fact, the aliens sounded pitiful when they were carefully tranquilized, removed from the billboard, and loaded into the back of one of the vans. Even though Ray himself wasn't there to watch, when he received the report that his team had collected the aliens, he felt nothing short of giddy. He really wanted to see them in person, but it took nearly four hours for the aliens to arrive, and another one to set up the containment chamber that would store the aliens, and long before then he decided it was way past his bedtime. He would have stayed up to see them, but he thought it would take quite a while longer to prepare. No way would he sleep tonight. Good thing he had a melatonin tablet and Internet.
Ray had gotten barely two hours of sleep in. He was so excited that he had actually captured an extraterrestrial creature. Two of them, in fact! Were they intelligent? What were they capable of? Where were they from? He would have to find out firsthand soon.
At last he decided he had enough of trying to get any more sleep. As much as he wanted to see the aliens first, he had other priorities to do. He wasn't head of the Research and Development division of Area 99 for nothing.
One seemingly endless breakfast break later, it was finally time. Time to see the aliens. Time to learn something new.
Ray entered through an automatic sliding door that led to a side corridor, and paused in front of the door to Room D-21. While he didn't particularly care for the new eye scanners that had been installed a few years ago, he figured it was for the best and beggars can't be choosers.
He bent down and let the device scan his eye. F219563 had been his ID number for the eight years he was head of the Research and Development division. At last, the device gave a beep, a tiny LED light turned green, and the door unlocked. He tried to hold in his excitement as he entered the decidedly crowded room.
A female scientist approached him. "Sir, the specimens have regained consciousness ten minutes ago and await testing," she reported.
"Thank you, Catherine," Ray responded. "How are their vital signs?"
"Stable," came the response.
"Well, that's good," Ray said. "Given the trauma they must have endured overnight… my expectations were not that great. I was just more excited to see them in general."
"We all were," Catherine said as she stepped aside.
Ray looked around for the two aliens. It didn't take him long to spot the rabbit-like and blob-like lifeforms inside a small glass compound. He had to admit, they looked… cute, but he reminded himself to stick to his job and not play with the animals.
"Okay, listen up," Ray raised his voice, speaking to all the scientists in the laboratory. "We're going to run a series of tests and scans and see how their immune, digestive and respiratory systems work. Especially the blue one. It doesn't seem to resemble human anatomy in any way. And I'm especially interested in that yellow thing floating over its head, whatever it is. But anyway, we'll start with a heat signature."
"Yes, sir," several scientists responded as they headed to their various posts at the computers.
"Wh-wh-where are we?" came a strange high-pitched, childlike voice from the containment chamber. "Wh-what are you going to d-do with us?" It was slightly muffled by the glass, but it could still be clearly heard from those close by.
To say that everyone was taken aback was something of an understatement. No way would they have thought the rabbit-like alien could speak, let alone English.
"Chao chao!" the smaller alien responded.
"Oh my goodness, it knows English…" one scientist said.
"And that pet she has… it- it reminds me of one of those Pokemon my niece can't get enough of," another said.
"Dr. Browning… I... They're intelligent... I didn't think they would be this intelligent," one scientist whispered to Ray.
Ray nodded. This was starting to become a scientific breakthrough. He tried to hide his excitement, and he tried to stifle a giggle.
"They're almost like… humans…! They talk like humans, they have arms and legs and heads like humans- well, the head part is debatable, but still, they're humanoid at least! That's gotta count for something, right? Ladies and gentlemen, we may have just stumbled upon an intelligent alien race!"
"Um, I know you're happy, sir, but... could you please let us out?" the rabbit-like alien pleaded, clasping its tiny hands together. "We didn't do anything wrong!"
Ray cleared his throat and approached the containment chamber. "I'm sorry," he tried to say as evenly as he could, "but I can't let you out right now. Please try to understand that."
It seemed that an air of depression was added to the alien's fear, and the alien hung its head. "But… why not?" it asked.
As cute and potentially young as the alien was, Ray did not want to hurt its feelings. Yet this was business, and he couldn't compromise work with sympathy.
"Um… no offense, but we can't take any unnecessary risks. For one, we don't trust that you're not being used as part of an attack on this planet or whatever, and for another… we're not done scanning you."
That seemed to strike a chord with the alien. "D-Did you say… s-s-scanning…?" she squeaked. "Wh-what kind of place is this?"
"I'm sorry, but that's classified," Ray responded curtly.
He turned back just as one of the scientists reported: "Heat signature complete, sir."
"Let me see," Ray said as he rushed over to the screen and studied the image that was generated.
"Interesting," he mused as he studied the various hues that made up the aliens' heat signatures. "Pretty much what I imagine it to be from the rabbit. I'll go over the pet's physiology in more detail later. Okay, now the respiratory system scan."
"Beginning respiratory system scan."
The scientist named Catherine approached the aliens. She looked like she felt sorry for the aliens.
"I'm very sorry you both have to go through this right now," she said sympathetically. "It's just... we never had anyone like you on this planet before."
The rabbit blinked in confusion. "You… haven't?"
"No, we haven't," Catherine replied. "It's just us humans. And that's why we want to find out more about you and how your bodies work. Oh, and..." She dropped her voice. "please excuse my boss, he's just really excited that you're here."
"We're not here to socialize, Catherine."
"Oh, sorry!" the scientist responded before heading back to her post at one of the monitors. But she smiled again and looked back again. "Don't worry, you two are not going to be here forever. I promise… you're going to be out of here before you know it, okay?" She said this quietly so as not to make her boss think there was a conspiracy going on.
The bunny-like alien cracked a small smile, as if it took an immediate liking to Catherine. Already these aliens were so sweet and childlike. Catherine had a big heart for children, which made her want to get these tests over with faster so they could see the light of day once more.
"Respiratory system scan complete."
Ray leaned toward the screen to look at the monitor.
"Interesting," he mused. "It's just like a human's respiratory system, but it's… a bit bigger. More complex. Which is saying a lot, since this alien is obviously smaller than humans. Right, now the immune system scan."
"Um… How long will we be here?" the alien asked, not sounding as scared as before thanks to Catherine's soothing and reassuring words.
Ray tapped his chin. "Oh, could be two or three months," he answered casually. "The government wants a full evaluation on you two. But until they give the order, you can't leave the facility."
Cream sat down on the floor of her tube-like chamber and leaned against the wall with a dejected sigh. She didn't like everyone staring at her just because she was different. Were these all… humans? She didn't have a lot of experience with humans before.
"Is Mr. Sonic here on this planet?" she spoke to no one in particular as the first tears started to leak from her eyes. "Is he... coming to save us...?"
Cream felt so alone on this planet, even with Cheese by her side. Her mom Vanilla, her other Chao Chocola, and her guardian robot Gemerl had all been left behind on Mobius. And on top of that, she and Cheese had just been rescued from Eggman's base, only to be captured again by humans on an entirely different planet.
Even though Cheese was just as scared as Cream was, he was sitting next to the bunny, and she scooped him up into her gentle arms, and they cuddled, crying softly, waiting for their hedgehog in shining armor to rescue them from the frightful bowels of Area 99.
The desert — Sun August 21; 8:56 AM — Sonic's POV
I knew Area 99 was going to be hard to find, but I didn't think for a moment it would be this hard. Then again, everything seemed to be harder to find in a desert, especially water.
I had been running for the past 20 or so minutes trying to find something that should have been much bigger than a needle in a haystack. It should not have been as hard as it was to find a giant military base in the middle of the desert? On the other hand, it was supposed to be top secret. I just hoped I would find it before long, for Cream and Cheese's sakes…
The fact that they were getting experimented on in there by oblivious human scientists made my blood boil. They didn't deserve that kind of treatment, especially since they just arrived on this planet, and also, they were just kids. Experimenting on another species like that wouldn't fly back home on Mobius.
I didn't even want to begin thinking about what kind of experiments were being carried out on my friends, but they probably had to do with them being aliens to this planet. But at the same time, I was an alien myself, but they didn't experiment on me. I was sure that was what the cops wanted me for last night, but I was easily able to escape from them.
It was quite lonely, with nothing around but sand, rocks, and a few cacti; which made me wonder who could possibly live all the way out in the middle of a desert. I did pass by the occasional gas station, road, and signpost here and there, but other than that, it was dead quiet. And to think that Station Square was right at the edge of this wasteland.
At last, I made a breakthrough. From the top of a nearby cliff, I saw some pretty ominous things right off the bat:
A radio tower.
A runway.
Barbed wire fences.
All of it was a sight for sore eyes. Now that I found what I had been looking for, it was time to check in with the chief. Fortunately, the radio Chuck gave me was wireless, so all I needed to do was talk.
"Yo Chuck, you there?" I spoke.
A moment passed, but I got no reply. I closed my eyes for a moment, realizing how awkward I just sounded, even if nobody was around to hear me. And then I realized: chuck had told me the range on my infrared scope wasn't very good, so I could only hear static from Chuck's end. I was on my own for sure.
So I began running toward Area 99's fence at a reasonably quick speed. Closer and closer the fences got. I could do this. It was nothing I hadn't done before. It was almost just like Eggman's base, but with human security guards instead of robots. Not to mention I had to rescue Cream and Cheese all over again. It was uncannily like last night, but this time, I was on an alien world that was mysteriously similar to my own.
I reached the fence in about thirteen seconds flat, and prepared myself to make a big leap over it. I thought it was a shame the humans didn't have any robots for me to trash. At least that made my mission a little easier. I leaped over the barbed wire fence with the greatest of ease…
…only to suddenly find myself caught in the line of sight of the facility's closed-circuit surveillance. It was too bad my one minute of fame didn't last long as I waved to the cameras and spin-dashed them to bits. I wasn't about to let anyone see me bust Cream out of there.
Hardly anyone was out in the open, which was good for me. The only evidence they would have of me ever being there was the broken cameras. Even then, it still wouldn't prove I was the one who broke them, unless they were smart enough to look at the surveillance videos, and I couldn't rule out that possibility.
I shrugged off those thoughts as I spotted an exposed air duct only about a hundred feet away. Looking around to make sure I still wasn't a candid camera celebrity, I plunged into the ventilation shaft.
Way too often I would leap before I look, and yet I was still careful enough to avoid certain doom. I probably should have listened to Sally those hundreds of times she chastised me about situations like this, because I was already starting to regret going too fast. I never accounted for how deep the shaft even went. I judged it was about a good thirty feet deep before I finally slid to a stop. I just hoped my butt wouldn't hurt too much in the morning…
My headset had nearly fallen off in the fall, but I readjusted it. They weren't the best fit, mostly because they were a bit big for me, and the spot where the ears went were a bit low. Besides, I wasn't used to running around with a red lens in front of one of my eyes. It was really messing with my coordination.
I looked down the rest of the dark shaft ahead, and to my surprise, I found that Chuck's rumors were right. It looked pretty ugly with all the red security lasers everywhere. I could see them all with the lens over my left eye, but not out of my right eye.
They were all blocking the entire path in front of me starting about fifteen feet away, which made me start thinking I had picked the wrong vent to jump in. The guys running Area 99 really outdid themselves with their security measures. I carefully started crawling down the shaft, trying not to make much noise, but it was tricky with the sound of my hands, knees, and sneakers making contact with the metal vent floor with each movement I made.
Eleven feet, ten, nine… The security lasers grew ever closer, and I considered turning around and going back up the shaft if my luck didn't change any time soon.
I smiled when I started hearing a new sound beneath me. I recognized it as the sound of a grille in its resting place. Perfect. Now that I practically found my way in for real this time, things were about to get real.
Peering down through the narrow slits in the grille, I saw almost exactly what I expected to see. There was at least one camera automatically swiveling back and forth, scanning the hallway for intruders. No way would the boys at Area 99 expect an intruder of my skill and intellect. But I figured that, where there was one camera, there were bound to be more. After all, Chuck did say Area 99 was the most heavily guarded building in the country.
Next, I examined the grille itself, checking to see if it was bolted to the ceiling. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't. There weren't even any screws holding it in place.
I smirked as I placed my hands on either side of the grille, and carefully, quietly, removed it from its place and leaned it against the metal wall. Content that it wouldn't slide, I then quickly and carefully looked down the hall. Sure enough, there were dozens of pivoting cameras lining the walls. I quickly pulled my head back up to avoid detection.
And then I realized: they were studying the floor, not the ceiling. Perhaps I could use that to my advantage…
I looked down the hall again, carefully studying the cameras, looking for any pattern to their movements. Normally I wouldn't care about surveillance, but this wasn't Eggman's base. Yet, it seemed very much like it minus the robots.
At last, I noticed a semblance of a pattern. For only a split second, all the cameras pointed away from my location. I had to time it exactly right if I wanted to make it through this ordeal.
Every eleven and a half seconds, the cameras pointed away from me. I mentally counted to eleven and a half before leaping down and darting through the halls; although, I had to do it extremely carefully, as I wanted to avoid dealing with whatever Area 99 had to offer if I accidentally triggered something. Keeping an eye on the cameras was pretty tricky when done quickly, even for me.
At last, I reached the end of the hall and came to the next one. As I expected, it too had swiveling cameras. It was time to pick up the pace a little.
It was a wonder I avoided detection at that intersection. I had to admit, dodging the cameras' lines of sight was far more taxing than I thought. And yet I was doing it. I'd say if Eggman and the Area 99 guys had a surveillance contest, the trophy would go to these guys hands-down.
I couldn't do this all day. I needed some time out of the limelight.
Then I had my lucky break: a janitor's closet. It was the last thing I expected to see, but it would have to do for now.
I made a beeline for that closet, and I was relieved that there were conveniently no cameras positioned directly in front of the door. Even better, there was a map of the facility in front of the door too. So I figured I could duck inside the closet and study the map, which is exactly what I did.
Now, to find where Cream and Cheese were…
A bowling alley — Sun August 21; 9:16 AM — Chris' POV
"Hey Grandpa…? How long ago did Sonic leave?" I asked somewhat impatiently as I prepared to bowl again.
Grandpa glanced down at the headset resting on his seat, then at his watch. "I think… it's been over thirty minutes now," he stated.
Stepping forward, I released the ball and watched it coast down the lane. Unfortunately, I gave it too much spin, and it clipped only three of the pins on the left side.
"Not bad," Grandpa noted, "but I think you'd do better if you have a little less spin on the ball next time."
"Okay," I answered, before my thoughts returned to Sonic. "Um… Does Sonic know he's breaking the law…?"
"You're really concerned about that, aren't you?" Grandpa placed a hand on my shoulder. "Chris, I know where you're coming from, and I… Well, all I can say is… you just need to have a little faith in him, all right? If he says he's done this before, and… and if what we saw on the news is real… then I know he can do this."
"Y-Yeah…" I replied. I could see where he was getting at, but I didn't want my new friend to become a victim of the law.
I took my second ball, and bowled it toward the pins. This time, I knocked down five more pins, leaving only two standing.
"Your turn," I said, backing away as Grandpa took the next ball. I watched the pin-setting machine reset the pins, preparing us for the next frame.
"Wait, what was the name of Sonic's friends…?" I asked. I couldn't believe I forgot again.
"Cream and Cheese?" Grandpa helpfully supplied. The mention of their names reminded me of cream cheese, and I had to smile. Like a lot of sci-fi aliens, their names were unusual, but at least they weren't unpronounceable. In fact, they were English words.
Just as Grandpa's ball knocked down seven pins, his headset crackled, and he reached over to place it back on his head. He covered the mouthpiece.
"I'll be right back," he told me. "You can bowl my second ball for me."
"Okay," I replied.
As he headed off in the direction of the restrooms, I wondered if that was Sonic trying to contact us. Grandpa did say he expected them to lose contact until he was back in town. But if it was Sonic, hopefully he was calling to give us good news.
I didn't know how old Cream and Cheese were, but they were definitely way too young to be experimented on or even held captive in a place like Area 99. The more I thought about it, the more I felt really bad for them. They had only just gotten here, and this was what they had to wake up to.
But the one emotion that exceeded fear and concern for them was mild annoyance. Annoyance at Sonic for having the nerve to flippantly break the American laws. But then… I started to realize another emotion I seemed to be overlooking, the one thing that drove Sonic to do this to begin with.
And that emotion was love.
Sonic loved Cream and Cheese. He seemed like he was the kind of person who would do anything for his friends, including breaking the laws of a planet he had never been to in order to rescue them from oblivious humans. That was true love. And for that, I was grateful.
I broke myself away from my thoughts to bowl Grandpa's second ball. My thoughts started to turn to him now. How was it possible that he trusted Sonic so much and I couldn't? Did he see something in Sonic that I didn't? Or was it because he was just willing to help him?
Then I realized that the answer to this too was love. That same love was in Grandpa. He too wanted to see Cream and Cheese free. He would support Sonic in doing whatever it took to free them from Area 99.
Where was my love? Why wasn't I that supportive as well?!
I released the ball and watched it sail down the lane. Closer and closer it got to the three remaining pins. It looked like a clean shot. Then it collided with the pins with a satisfying crash — a perfect spare.
"Nice shot," I heard Grandpa behind me as he returned from the restroom. I literally jumped; I didn't expect Grandpa to be there all of a sudden!
"Y-You scared me…" I admitted.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Grandpa responded, his face softening a bit.
"I-It's okay," I responded as I picked up the next ball. "So what did Sonic say?"
"He didn't," Grandpa responded. "It was a false alarm. I should have probably changed the frequency to something not many people use."
I prepared to bowl again. "I was just thinking… um, what if… maybe there's a chance he can go rescue his friends after all…?" I proposed.
Grandpa made a noise of interest. "Well, look who's sounding confident all of a sudden," he said. "Do I sense a change of heart?"
"M-Maybe…?" I replied. "B-But I think it's… l-love…?" I was still very confused. "But… y-you just met him."
"I know, but I saw the way he reacted when he saw his friends on TV… and I knew I had to do something to help him. And did you see how worried he was?"
I nodded.
"Yeah, well… I don't know if you did, but I sensed something genuine in him. Yes, I know you're worried about him breaking the law, and I'm worried about that too, but… in case anyone ever comes to us with this, I have a whole team of lawyers ready to defend us."
I paused to think about this.
"But if everything goes well… then I imagine Cream and Cheese are going to stay with us for a bit, which means I gotta set up a place for them to sleep. And that kinda reminds me… you still need to tell me how you met Sonic."
I was a bit nervous, and I couldn't look Grandpa in the eye without feeling a bit scared that others might hear me. But I did my best to explain everything to Grandpa.
Thorndyke Mansion — Sun August 21; 9:18 AM —Third-person POV
Ella was dusting Chris' room upstairs. She had not seen him since they met in the hall earlier that morning. It wasn't like him to leave the house without saying where he was going. He did say, however, that he was going to join Chuck in the lab, but there had been no sign of the scientist in quite some time either. She was growing more and more curious about their whereabouts.
Once she finished dusting in the bedroom, Ella closed the door and headed toward the stairs.
"Tanaka, could you come here for a moment?" she called. Promptly the Japanese butler appeared at the bottom of the staircase.
"I am here, Miss Ella," he made himself available.
"Tanaka, could you please check to see if Chris and Professor Thorndyke are still in the laboratory? It's not like Chris to leave the house without telling us."
"Yes, ma'am," he answered before rushing out the front door.
Ella turned and walked back down the hall toward Lindsey's and Nelson's shared room to dust it. Chuck was always getting new parts for his projects, so could he have taken Chris along? No, he rarely did that; Chris was almost always bored out of his skull whenever he went out on shopping trips. So she ruled out that possibility.
Then she realized: Chris had been talking about going bowling for the past two weeks now. Chuck must have taken him there, so she was worrying herself over nothing big at all.
A minute later, Tanaka caught up to Ella.
"Miss Ella, I found this note on the side door," he reported, before handing her the note. The maid unfolded it and read it aloud.
"To Ella and Tanaka:
Chris and I are going to the bowling alley today. Also, please don't enter the garage for the next few days. I'm working on a top-secret project. Hopefully by next week, I will be able to reveal it.
-Chuck"
Ella lowered it and handed the note back to Tanaka. "I think you should put this note back where you found it. I don't want the professor thinking we saw his project."
"I understand," Tanaka replied as he took the note and headed back toward the stairs.
But just as he reached the bottom of the stairs, there was heavy knocking at the front door, followed by an authoritative voice saying: "Police. Open up."
Ella did not expect this at all. She was both worried and curious about what the officers wanted. She hoped no one was in trouble. Ella knew she wasn't guilty of anything, but she still wanted to know why the police would be at their door.
"Um, Mr. Tanaka…? What's going on?" Ella asked, sounding nervous.
"Allow me to handle this," volunteered Tanaka as he walked briskly to the front door. Upon opening it, he saw four police officers standing on the porch.
"Good afternoon," the frontmost officer stated. His name tag suggested his surname was Rodham. "We came here to ask if you are aware of the alien situation going on."
"We are aware, yes," Tanaka replied. "What seems to be the issue?"
"We got several eyewitness reports saying it was last seen in this area. We have been authorized to conduct a thorough search of this house."
Tanaka didn't seem surprised in the slightest. After all, he had seen the news that morning.
"Very well," he consented, and stepped aside to let the officers in.
"Okay, spread out," instructed Officer Rodham to the other officers. "You two, upstairs. Evans and I will take the ground floor."
"Yes, sir," the other two officers responded as they swiftly went up the stairs. Ella headed back downstairs and approached Tanaka.
"Tanaka…" Ella spoke. "What are they looking for?" She didn't hear the officer talking to Tanaka just now.
The butler had to choose his next words very carefully. "They are… searching for a very dangerous wanted criminal. There are reports that say he was last spotted in this area." Perfect. At least Ella didn't hear the word "alien".
"Oh really?" Ella queried.
"Yes. The police told everyone in this area to take extreme caution and stay inside."
Ella wasn't sure how to reply to that, before she finally said, "Well… thank you for telling me."
"I wouldn't be too worried, Ella," reassured Tanaka. "The master has ensured we have the highest standard in home security."
"I'm glad he always makes sure we stay up to date with the latest technology," Ella added. "Do you remember that time a few years ago when those thieves tried to break in?"
"How could I forget? It was quite comical; they couldn't even make it through the front gate."
A few minutes later, the four officers gathered back in the foyer.
"All right, we just finished," Officer Rodham announced. "Sorry for the inconvenience, we're just doing our job is all."
"That's quite alright," Tanaka said. "I take it you didn't find any evidence?"
"Nope, none at all. We dkd a thorough search of the house, and I'm thinking he must have left the premises. We'll keep an ear out for more eyewitness reports."
"I hope you find him," Tanaka said, doing his best to hide what he really knew.
"Don't you worry about a thing," Officer Rodham headed for the door. "We'll get him. You two have a good one."
As Tanaka shut the door behind the officers, he mentally released a huge sigh of relief. The alien was in this area, and the police had been in their house searching for it! Thank goodness the cops didn't directly mention the alien in front of Ella, or else he would have had a really hard time trying to explain it to her.
However, there was a piece of tangible evidence the police had overlooked. The only clue that Sonic the Hedgehog was ever there was a loose chili dog wrapper on the coffee table in the living room.
Area 99 — Sun August 21; 9:19 AM — Sonic's POV
From my spot in the closet, I took one last quick peek at the map, which, I had to admit, was pretty tricky to do with a red lens over one of my eyes. If Chuck was right, then the R&D section only had a few rooms set aside for biological research. According to the map, those rooms were rooms D-20 through D-22. Cream and Cheese were organic, so that meant they had to be in one of those rooms. The only thing was, there were still a lot of cameras everywhere. Dodging their line of sight was becoming a real pain for me, but I had to keep doing it if I wanted to get the pair out of this place.
I carefully opened the closet door wider and looked to make sure the cameras weren't facing me. Some were just beginning to face away when I looked, so I darted out of there. Only when I was far enough from the door did I realize I forgot to close it. Oh well. I knew the staff couldn't catch me even if they did spot me.
The door was two rights, a left, then the third hall on the left. Now that I was starting to get used to the layout and environment of Area 99, I decided to pick up the pace a little. The cameras seemed to have a set pattern to them, which allowed me to slip by them if I was fast enough.
Careful, Sonic, I chided myself. This is a rescue mission, not a break-in-and-kick-Eggman's-butt mission.
Breaking into Area 99 was one thing, but this time I needed to break back out with Cream in tow. And since she was only a kid, I knew I had to put her safety above my own. I vowed to get her out of Area 99 as quickly as possible, no matter what it took.
I was fully aware that if they caught me, they would experiment on me, as well as press charges for trespassing on federal property. Just because I was an alien didn't mean they wouldn't treat me differently than a criminal. One arrest at the hands of the government was quite enough for me.
At last, I rounded the final corner and spin-dashed through the closed door to the sub-corridor. That was really risky, but I knew someone was bound to have seen me by now.
Guess what? I thought. I don't care if anyone saw me! I'm in too deep to care!
The only thing that mattered was that Cream and Cheese were going to see freedom today.
Now I was left with only three doors to choose from. Which one was Cream behind? Strangely, this small hallway didn't have much in the way of surveillance, so I had that going for me. I didn't have all day to stand around and choose. And it was a wonder I didn't see anyone the whole time I was there. Perhaps Cream's being there was a bigger deal than I had anticipated, since she too was an alien on Earth.
Then I realized: this was really starting to look foolhardy. Was Chris right to think I was throwing myself into the open arms of Big Brother? I shook that thought aside. I had gotten out of bigger pickles than the jar could hold. Even Null Space couldn't hold me forever.
I carefully studied the three doors in front of me. D-20's lights were off, so that meant nobody was in there. D-21 looked like it was filled with activity, and D-22 only had a few people inside. Using my supersonic deduction skills, I concluded that D-21 was the room I needed to be in.
I could hear the activity inside the room too, and curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to take a quick listen:
"Digestive system scan complete."
"All right, let me see..."
"At first glance, it looks... different..."
"Hold on, what...?! WHAT?! Where's the- they- they don't have intestines! Just the stomach, no intestines! Nothing- not even- not even any way to get rid of waste. So how does it even... y'know, go to the bathroom?"
The person who was speaking dropped their voice. I smirked when I heard that the person found out a secret that made Mobians vastly different than humans: we Mobians didn't need to go to the bathroom. However, we still had bathrooms for showering, as well as convenience for humans in case they stopped by.
"Okay... this is a breakthrough. No animal has this. They just eat, and that's it. I gotta learn more. There's gotta-"
Without warning, everything went black, and it took a moment for it to click in my head that the power went out. I kid you not when I say I couldn't even see my own hand in front of my face. Even with my enhanced sense of vision compared to humans, it was still pitch black. At least I knew where the door was before I threw it open. Sure, it had an eye scanner, but it also had an emergency disengage system, which was an incredible stroke of luck. I didn't even have to break it down or anything. And for all I knew, they probably thought I was just another employee.
Inside the room, there were many confused scientists and other workers aimlessly mulling about. The only way I could see them was by the lights of their smartphones they were using as makeshift flashlights.
"Get some staff to the breaker room on the double!" one of them yelled into a radio set.
Their phone lights not only helped them see where they were going, but they helped me to see as well. Miraculously, they didn't see me as I sneaked past them. Cream's prison had to be somewhere around-
Bump!
I accidentally ran into something made of glass, earning a startled yelp from the other side. I rubbed my sore face from the impact.
"Wh-What was that?" I heard a frightened Cream whimper from the other side of the glass.
"Shh, it's just me," I said in a quiet voice.
"M-Mr. Sonic…?" Cream exclaimed with relief.
"Hey, keep your voice down," I gently cautioned, "and you might wanna stand back. I'm gonna break you out."
"Okay," Cream responded and took a few small steps back.
I saw Cream's worried and scared eyes looking back at me, and they glowed a bit, which was a trait most Mobians seemed to have. Since humans' pupils expanded in the dark to allow them to see better, Mobians' eyes glowed to have the same effect. And now that I thought of it, I was incredibly lucky that no one saw my eyes adjusting to the dark, and that it was just the pupils and irises that glowed, not the entire eye.
I braced myself, and let my fists fly at the glass. I could easily have spin-dashed it, but it was quite risky because of Cream being there, and the pitch-black, windowless room we were in.
Only three punches and one strong kick later, the glass shattered, and I rubbed my sore hands. It was little wonder that I left this sort of thing to Knuckles. Regardless, the hole I made was big enough for me to step through, which I did. Once I was in, Cream jumped at me and hugged me, and Cheese jumped onto my head, also hugging me adorably.
"Thank you, Mr. Sonic!" she exclaimed gratefully. "Thank you thank you thank you!" I wished I could return the hug, but escape was the only thing on my mind.
"Sorry, we'll talk later," I urgently yet gently told her as several heavy flashlights suddenly shone on us. They were so bright what we were forced to squint and shield our eyes.
"Intruder!" someone shouted. "The test subject is loose!"
"W-What's going on?" Cream looked around, worried.
I smirked. "Hope you're ready to go fast."
Cream barely had any time to scoop Cheese into her arms before I broke into a run. It was a nightmare to run in the dark, but it was a miracle I didn't run into anyone so far. I couldn't say the same for any thing, though. I had nearly run into the closed door trying to flee the room in the dark. Cautioning myself to try to be more careful, I did my best to try and move a little slower, but I still quickly ran through the door and into the poorly-lit corridors.
"Wish this thing had night vision... You doing okay, Cream?" I asked her once I set her down. No way could I carry her and run in the dark.
"N-Not yet," Cream nervously admitted. "Mr. Sonic? I have a question…"
"Ask away!" I invited.
"Um… How long were we in here…?"
I turned to face the direction of where her voice seemed to come from.
"Oh… It's been a pretty long time… I figure it's been like… maybe ten hours?" I guessed.
"Ten hours?" Cream was surprised. "It felt like forever in there!"
"We're both lucky I saw the news this morning, or else it would have been forever," I replied grimly.
I had to use my instincts to guide myself through the corridors. Fortunately, I didn't have to worry about the cameras anymore; they were deactivated by the power outage, which both did and didn't make things easier. I also didn't have to worry too much about the staff; they all seemed to be headed back to the room I had come from.
"Do you know why the lights went out, Mr. Sonic?" Cream broke the silence.
"Nope, sorry. Wish I did, though." I tried to smile, but no one could see it in the dark.
Just then a low hum filled the air as the lights came back on. We were forced to shield our eyes from the suddenly blinding glare the lights gave off after spending the past two minutes in total darkness.
"Backup generator," I mused. The power would surely be restored by the electricians soon. All the while I was wondering what happened to make the lights go out to begin with.
Then things went from good to bad as all the cameras in the hallway swiveled in unison to the only people standing in the hallway.
Us.
Almost immediately an alarm began blaring, startling Cream, who held her Chao tighter.
"Intruders detected in Sector D. Counteractive measurements are advised," droned the facility's mainframe from seemingly nowhere. And then in the moments that followed, things went from bad to worse in a heartbeat.
The cameras weren't just there for surveillance. I found this out first-hand as tiny capsules emerged from the tops of the cameras. They looked an awful lot like laser blasters to me. This took me by complete surprise; I thought humans weren't capable of this form of advanced technology.
"Hang tight, kiddo!" I told her as I picked her up bridal-style, being mindful that she was still carrying Cheese. Then, being as careful as I possibly could, I tore off down the hall just as the lasers began firing. Strangely, these lasers didn't seem like they were destructive at all. I took it they could only affect organic beings such as us, and not inanimate things like the walls and floor of the facility. That was a bit frugal. Maybe Eggman could learn a thing or two from these guys.
It was pretty tricky to carry Cream and Cheese and dodge all the lasers at the same time. Even though I was running as quickly as I could in an enclosed corridor, they still narrowly missed me by mere inches. That was still too close in my book given the situation.
If this was Eggman's base instead, and not a prisoner scenario on a foreign planet, I might have actually thought of this as child's play. But this wasn't Eggman's base. This wasn't child's play. This was turning out to be more unique than some of my other missions, and it stopped being a rerun of last night before Chaos Control.
This was already getting old. My mission was harder than I thought it would be. And the lasers were more annoying than an actual threat. It was high time I did those cameras in.
I gently set Cream down once we reached a relatively safe area, which were very few and far between. This took her by surprise.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
I quickly turned to face her. "I'm gonna take care of some of these cameras. You go ahead of me!"
"But…" she began to protest, but I was already on the task.
Quickly spotting the first camera, I hopped on top of it. The other cameras turned toward me, but I noticed they each fired roughly every two seconds, including my own. Hoping the other cameras wouldn't destroy mine, I carefully aimed my camera at the others, destroying them one by one. It was then that I saw that Cream was rooted in place in a mixture of awe and terror, watching camera after camera go down.
"I said go!" I ordered again.
That did the trick. It shook Cream from her trance, and I watched as she darted down the hall, tightly holding Cheese. Turning back to my task at hand, I pulled my camera from its socket, watching the sparks fly, before I threw it to the ground and stomped on it. Just then an awful reality came to be.
"Commencing lockdown of entire facility," the mainframe droned.
Doors started closing all throughout the facility, and suddenly my whole mission as seeming like a repeat of yesterday all over again. Sure, I could easily break myself out of Area 99 no matter what the government threw at me. But I realized that I had abandoned Cream. I had let my selfishness get ahead of me. It was fine to take out the surveillance, but never on a time crunch or a prison breakout mission.
I took off down the hall, only to see a giant door closing between me and Cream. This was exactly what had me concerned. I knew to never put anything between me and the person I'm rescuing.
Fortunately, this was only a mild situation. A small door was no problem for me. It wasn't like a base lockdown ever stopped me before.
"Mr. Sonic!" Cream cried out in fright.
"Stand back!" I instructed her.
I walked back about fifteen feet from the rapidly closing steel door, then bolted toward it and expertly slid under it. It was not a moment too soon, because a split second later, it finished closing and sealing itself with a metallic clang. That was a close one, even for me. Fortunately, I didn't graze myself on the ground, especially considering this was a smooth floor.
Quickly spotting Cream not far down the hall, I scooped her up into my arms and kept running without losing speed.
There were even more cameras in this new part of the facility than the ones I had destroyed earlier. I didn't have time to deal with them again, so I just had to grin and bear it this time.
"Sorry 'bout that back there, but these cameras are way past annoying right now!" I said through gritted teeth.
"It's okay, I believe in you, Mr. Sonic!" replied Cream.
Where I was, there was nothing but hallways, cameras, and many different rooms that didn't interest me in the slightest. My onslaught against the cameras earlier really wasn't worth it in the long run. Speaking of that, if the cameras made up the bulk of Area 99's security, where were all the guards? I figured they would probably be the facility's second line of defense. Even so, I knew I would be too fast for them.
Since there were windowless walls everywhere, I had no clue which wall was an outside wall, and there was no time to go back and look at the map. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I had to face the facts: I was lost.
Cream seemed to read my thoughts, as she picked up on my predicament quite easily.
"Are you lost, Mr. Sonic?" she asked.
"Um… Just a little confused is all," I replied. I didn't want to scare Cream and outright admit I was lost to her. "Never been in here before, still getting used to the layout."
"Well… do you think you can go the same way you came in?" she asked.
I grimaced. "Through an air duct that's booby-trapped with invisible security lasers? Afraid not, Cream." I narrowly sidestepped another turquoise laser bolt that dissipated into the floor. "We're gonna have to make our own way out."
Saying there were cameras everywhere was an understatement on my part. The place's architects must have put cameras every twenty feet! Now that was surveillance. If only all the cameras would stop shooting at me for just five seconds…
…and they did just that in a nanosecond.
The reason was quite simple, really. It came in the form of several small, drone-like electronic devices that rounded the corner right in front of us and aimed themselves directly at the cameras. As soon as they made contact with them, they shorted them out in a shower of blue sparks. One by one, the cameras were deactivated, no longer able to pose a threat to us.
"Whoa!" I ducked underneath another half dozen devices that continued down the hall and disabled some of the other cameras we had passed by. We were standing completely still, not able to figure out what on Mobius was going on all around us.
"Wh-What's going on?" Cream wondered.
"No idea," I responded. "But now that I think of it, this kinda seems like it's the work of—"
Just then another device came into view. It looked slightly different than the others, and this one came alone. It seemed to hover in place before floating down toward me. I reached out, and the device landed in the palm of my hand. Examining the device, I saw that it was shaped like a paper airplane, and it had electronic symbols lining it. But the one symbol that stood out was an emblem of two tails.
Great relief washed through me. It looked like Tails had made it here to this world too. He was the best friend I ever made, and we were close as brothers. As our tech whiz, he helped us out of countless crises. I knew I had to introduce him to Chris and Chuck as soon as we all got back home.
"What is that?" Cream curiously leaned toward me to look at the electronic plane. I lowered it for her to see.
"It's from Tails," I spoke gently, but before I could continue, Cream jumped happily into the air.
"Yaaaay! Mr. Tails! Mr. Tails made it! He made it he made it!"
I chuckled as I wanted her do a little celebration dance with Cheese, but I snapped myself back to reality.
"Listen, we gotta keep moving. We don't want to get caught, right?"
Cream nodded, and we started running aimlessly once again. That seemed to be a problem that wasn't going to get fixed anytime soon. It was only then that I noticed that the plane I was holding contained a small piece of paper rolled up inside. I removed it from its tube and opened it. As I thought, it was a message from Tails, and I could tell it was him from his neat handwriting. I read it to myself:
Sonic,
I don't know if you're going to get this in time, but I found out Cream was captured, and I figured you would be here. I sent you some backup in the form of several EMP planes I made myself. I think they should be able to take care of the surveillance inside. Can you try to escape at the northeast section? It's the one with the large dish-shaped roof. I'll be outside in the Tornado. Good luck.
-Tails
"Guess I'm gonna need the map again…" I realized. "Hey Cream, let me know if you see a map anywhere, all right?"
"Okay, Mr. Sonic," the bunny responded as she scanned the walls for anything that looked like a map.
We kept running down the halls, the only sounds being our footsteps and the sparking electricity from the cameras, not to mention the sounds of orders being shouted in the distance.
"Guards are coming," I warned the young rabbit. "Better pick up the pace."
"Chao chao chao!"
"W-Wait!" Cream pulled on my arm, interpreting what Cheese had said. "There's a map over here!"
I stopped in my tracks and turned back to take a look at the map that Cream was pointing to.
"Good job!" I praised. "Now let's see…" Locating the northeastern quadrant, I calculated that it wasn't far from where we were now.
"Freeze!" came a shout that seemed closer to us than the others. I began thinking our escape point was probably a little further away than I thought.
Just then the guards came into view. They were about a dozen humans in military suits, all aiming their semi-automatic rifles directly at me.
"Put your hands up! Both of you!" one of the soldiers ordered.
I shrugged. "Nah, I don't feel like it."
Without wasting any more time, I hurriedly picked up Cream and bolted past the guards at an insane speed. Well, insane for a closed indoor space. Quite normal for me otherwise.
In my hurry, I nearly hit another wall. Believe me, I had done that before, but since I had been running at supersonic speeds for years, I was quite used to indoor spaces. At least the cameras were no longer a problem. But now that I had actual living security officers to deal with, this had just become an even bigger time crunch.
"Gonna need a little concentration here, Cream," I advised her. She nodded.
I attempted to recall what the map looked like as I ran. Doing so without losing speed was difficult, especially since I wasn't gifted with photographic memory. Now that there were considerably fewer cameras, I didn't have to worry about the lasers as much, as most of them in this area were destroyed. I didn't even want to think about their damage cost. But now I had to worry about guns and real bullets.
The guards started shooting at us, and I cradled Cream and Cheese closer to my chest as I got closer to the rendezvous point. They would not touch us. I would see to it that neither of us would return to human custody.
A grueling two minutes later, we finally arrived at the rendezvous point. It was a stairwell surrounding a giant missile silo. Fortunately, it was empty, so there were no missiles to worry about today. Just a staircase with no railing. It was a major safety hazard, I might add.
But the railing wasn't my only issue. More guards were coming down the staircase from above. Of course, they too were armed with rifles. Now I was pretty sure it was illegal to hunt rabbits and hedgehogs indoors, so I had to make this quick.
"This is gonna be close," I told Cream as I ran up the staircase. Not to engage the guards up there, but to avoid the ones that just came through the door I had entered through. I was trapped above and below. This was bad. I hoped Tails was still outside waiting for me like he said.
Just then I heard an droning noise from the other side of the outer wall. There was an undertone to it that made it sound different than other small planes, so I knew it could only be Tails' famous plane, the Tornado! The only hurdle left for me to jump over was my escape from Area 99. Only one wall separated us from freedom.
"Is that the Tornado?" Cream asked once she heard the sound of the motor.
"Yep! That means Tails is here to pick us up!" I confirmed. "Now hang tight and try not to puke."
"What do you mean?" It didn't take her long to figure out my plan, and her eyes widened. "But… is there another way?"
"Trank them!" ordered one of the guards.
"I guess the answer's no," I said grimly. "Okay, close your eyes."
I leaped into the air, and willed myself to spin rapidly in place. The guards must have been astonished, as they seemed to do absolutely nothing. Either that, or time seemed to slow down.
When I reached peak spinning speed, I launched myself at the opposite wall and bounced off. I needed to reach a certain velocity, which meant I couldn't just crash through the wall first without ricocheting myself around the room several times, which was exactly what I did. I noticed the guards were starting to fire their tranquilizers at me, but all of them missed. I swear some of them even hit each other. That must have been a sight to see if I wasn't spinning at dizzying speeds.
Once I bounced around at least seven or eight times, I aimed myself at the exterior wall, and sliced through it like it was one of Eggman's Badniks. We were just above the stairs when we went through, which unfortunately meant the guards could just poke their guns through and fire at us. Fortunately for me, they didn't do that just yet.
Just then I caught a quick glance of the Tornado 2 close by. Uncurling, I aimed myself at its right wing. Tails turned and waved at me as he dipped the plane so I could easily land on the wing. Since I was still carrying my precious cargo, I didn't have too much grace when I landed, but at least I stuck the landing, and that was what mattered.
"Hey, you made it!" congratulated the fox behind the controls.
"Good to see you again, Tails, old buddy!" I said as I gently set Cream down in the passenger's seat and buckled her in. She looked quite dizzy from all the spinning she had endured, but it was worth the price of freedom. Cheese was equally as dazed, but Cream had a firm grasp on him so he wouldn't sail out of the plane.
"Long time no see, little bro," I said. "I really missed you."
"I missed you too, Sonic…" Tails smiled in gratitude, before his expression changed to one of curiosity. "Um, what's that you're wearing?"
"Oh, this? It's a headset Chuck gave me," I answered as I removed it from my head, before realizing what I had just said.
"W-Wait, wait," Tails voiced his confusion. "…Who's Chuck?"
Just then I noticed the guards gathering around the hole I made.
"Hold that thought, Tails; the security guys are—"
"I see them! Just gimme a second."
The guards had just begun to open fire on the craft. No bullets hit the Tornado, and I held on tight as I felt us traveling faster. After a few moments, the bullets stopped coming, and I assumed we were out of the guards' range.
"So how'd you know I'd be here?" I asked Tails.
"I can tell you once we land," Tails answered. "And speaking of that… where are we gonna land?"
"I know a place," I told him. "It's a really big mansion in Station Square. We're gonna land there. I'll guide ya, you're gonna love it! It's really big!"
Somehow, Tails didn't seem that surprised when I brought up Station Square. Maybe somehow he already knew. But he was surprised about something else.
"So you're staying with humans…?" Tails cautiously asked. "Are you sure they're not gonna turn you in or anything?"
"Oh no, no, we're cool. And that kinda reminds me, I gotta check in as soon as we get back in town."
I put my headset back on, feeling grateful that it never left my head for a second during my spin.
"Hey Chuck, you there?" I asked once the city came back in view.
"Loud and clear, Sonic! Did you make it out okay?" Chuck asked.
"Sure did! I got Cream and Cheese out safe and sound, and we're on our way back. In other words…" I smirked. "Mission accomplished!"
"Oh, that's wonderful news!" Chuck praised. "I just want to let you know we're out and about too. We were out bowling just now, but we're on our way back. And… when you do get back, can you please not leave the garage?"
"Sure thing," I replied. "Oh, and one more thing, Chuck."
"Yeah?"
"You got any room in the driveway for a small biplane?"
Station Square — Sun August 21; 9:40 AM — Chris' POV
Grandpa and I left the bowling alley after we finished our game and got a bite to eat at the snack bar. It was a close game, and even though I bowled two strikes, Grandpa still came out on top. It was almost as if he was an expert or something. I kept telling myself that I would eventually win one day.
Just before we left, the radio crackled, and this time, it wasn't a false alarm. I was able to hear Sonic's voice clearly on the other side of the radio.
Grandpa was completely dumbfounded when he heard about the biplane, and yet he seemed to automatically say yes to allowing it in the driveway. I was quite surprised myself; I didn't even think our driveway had room for a plane.
But that wasn't our biggest problem. Our biggest problem was the sound the plane made, and it would be next to impossible to hide one from Ella and Mr. Tanaka without them becoming suspicious in a heartbeat.
We had told Sonic we were out and about, and said we would be home in about half an hour. Sonic replied, saying he could wait until then. That sounded ironic, since he didn't seem to me like he was capable of waiting long.
"Um… How long have we been away from home?" I asked Grandpa as he remotely unlocked the car doors.
Grandpa glanced at his watch. "Almost an hour."
I was surprised. "Because for some reason, it kinda felt longer than that."
"Well, we were really anxious to hear something back from Sonic, so that probably made it feel longer, you know?" Grandpa said.
"Yeah," I agreed as I stepped inside the car, buckled my seat belt, and pulled the door shut. Grandpa did the same, and soon we were pulling out of the parking lot.
"You know, I'm really excited to meet Sonic's friends. What about you?" Grandpa asked as he checked the rearview mirror for any incoming traffic.
"Yeah!" I agreed!
"Yeah, me too. I can set up a place for them to stay in my lab so we don't have to worry about them being seen by Ella or Mr. Tanaka."
"That's good…" I replied.
"And also, I have a few inflatable mattresses they can use, and once we get acquainted with our new friends, I'll run back out to the store and buy some beanbags for them too."
"Okay," I said.
Grandpa was smiling broadly. "The more I think of it… the more I can't wait to meet them!"
Me too! I thought. I was going to meet new friends! And it hadn't even been twelve hours since I made my wish! I felt like the luckiest kid in the whole world.
"How long will we be until we're home?" I asked. I was practically rocking myself in my seat in excitement.
"I'd say about twenty minutes if we hurry," Grandpa said.
And so we pulled out onto the road, homeward bound. Sonic wasn't just loving. He wasn't just a great guy. He was a hero. A superhero, even. And now I really couldn't wait to meet his friends.
Thorndyke Mansion - Outside — Sun August 21; 9:46 AM — Sonic's POV
"Right there," I said, motioning Tails down toward the driveway next to Chris's house. Longer than several generic driveways put end-to-end, the smoothly-paved strip was lined with palm trees planted at intervals and ended at the mansion's detached garage. It very well could have been a small airstrip for all I knew.
"Um, it looks a little short for a plane…" judged Tails, "but I'll see what I can do."
The fox gradually took the plane down toward the driveway. By now, Cream's lightheadedness had gone away, and sleepiness took its place. I made a mental note to make sure she got some proper rest as soon as we landed.
Tails had to circle around once to align his craft with the driveway, but he succeeded in making a perfect three-point landing on the pavement. After coasting for a moment, we eventually slowed down, and Tails stopped the Tornado inches before it reached the garage door. Fortunately, Chuck was kind enough to leave it open for us, so we could sit around inside and wait for him and Chris to get back from bowling.
Tails slowly and carefully turned the plane around in the driveway, so it could immediately be ready for its next takeoff, before switching off the engine. A relieving quietness filled the morning air.
"So is this where you're staying since you came here, Sonic?" wondered Tails as he busied himself with looking around at his surroundings.
I hopped down from the plane before looking at the house and garage myself. "Yup! I feel like I'm pretty lucky I'm staying here. Neat place, huh?"
After climbing down from the plane, Tails peered into the garage. I could tell from that amazing look in his eyes and his bated breath that he was already geeking out. What wasn't to love? There were tools and gadgets of all kinds in there!
"This place is huge!" he gushed, his tails swaying behind him. "It looks like an inventor lives here!"
Cream unbuckled her seat belt, cradled Cheese into her arms, and then flapped her ears to fly herself down to the ground. She didn't seem to look at the property much at all as she wandered over to a nearby folding chair set up in the garage, and sat down with Cheese in her lap.
Tails turned back to me as we followed Cream into the garage. "Uh, does anyone know you're staying here?" he asked.
"Yeah, of course. I wouldn't exactly be staying here if they didn't," I answered. "As far as I know, at least four people live here, but for some reason, only two of 'em know I'm here, and… well, if it weren't for them, I'd still be running around aimlessly."
"Wait, only two?" repeated Tails.
"Yeah, it's… it's kinda weird to say this, bud, but apparently this world doesn't have any Mobians anywhere," I answered.
"Yeah, I noticed," mused Tails. "And that's really strange if you ask me. But I was thinking… if we got sent to a world that has its own version of humans and even Station Square, then… what if we're in a parallel universe?"
"Yeah, I was thinking pretty much the same thing myself," I nodded as I grabbed another folding chair and sat down next to Cream. "I was thinking maybe I got blown back in time somewhere, but then I saw all the modern tech the humans had," I responded.
Tails pulled up another folding chair for himself and sat down on the other side of me.
"I didn't get to see too much of this world's technology yet," he said, "but I know I will really soon!"
Tails looked around in awe at the garage around him, and all the tools and machines neatly arranged within the space.
"Sonic, how did you find this place?" he asked in wonder.
"It's a long story, and I know you kinda want to hear all the details, so I'm gonna start right after Chaos Control."
Tails nodded, and I took a breath.
"'K, so… I woke up in the middle of a street… and I must have been blockin' up traffic, 'cuz the cops showed up, and I think… I think they wanted to take me to a science lab or something."
Unfortunately, this made Cream whimper a little bit from the seat next to me. I leaned over and gently patted the young rabbit's head.
"Sorry 'bout that, Cream. I know it was really scary… but you're safe now, and that's all that matters." Cream smiled at that.
"So anyway, I got away from the cops, got some time to think things over, have a moment to myself… and then this group of police race car drivers came in and pretty much ran me out of town. And this guy I think was their leader, he was super cocky, more than me even. Said he wanted to be the fastest guy in town."
"Sounds like you got a little competition," chuckled Tails.
"Oh, you should have seen the look on his face when I did a sonic boom right in front of him!" I chuckled at the memory, though I hadn't stuck around to see the guy's shock. Tails snickered as well.
"So once I shook off the police racers, I wanted to get myself one last look of the city before I left, and now that I'm looking back, I think it's a good thing I didn't. I basically jumped off a cliff, but I ended up landing in the pool." I shuddered, and Tails looked worried now. "I actually would have drowned if a young kid who lives here didn't come and save me."
"Whoa… Um, is he here now?" Tails asked.
"No, not yet," I answered. "He went out with his grandpa somewhere… bowling, I think he said. I figure they'll be back in maybe a few minutes."
Cream, who had been silently listening until this point, finally spoke up.
"But Mr. Tails, how did you know we were in there…?" she asked, shuddering from the memory.
"I saw it on the news," Tails replied.
"Wait, when did you get to see the news?" I asked. "Mind telling us the whole story?"
"Sure!" said Tails. "So the first thing I remember after I woke up was being on a farm somewhere. I remember it was still nighttime, and the Tornado was right there next to me. Which was pretty convenient, especially since all of us were scattered in different places. Sadly… it still looked really damaged, and it took me all night to fix it… but I finally got it to fly again!"
"No wonder you look exhausted," I noted. "You should get some rest, buddy."
"Yeah… I think I'm gonna take a nap later…" He stifled a yawn. "And then when I finished, I turned on the Miles Electric to see if anything was different, because… well, we're on another world now. Still can't believe I'm saying that... And I was surprised I was actually picking up some TV stations. I thought maybe I can see what's playing on this planet's TV, and… I found a news channel. And that's how I found out about Cream and Cheese."
"By the way, I noticed you still had some of those nano planes lying around," I noted, glancing outside for any sign of a returning car. "They were a real lifesaver." I couldn't believe I didn't recognize them sooner.
"Th-thanks…! I-I don't think they're gonna recover from that for a long time," the fox responded, trying and failing to stifle a giggle. "And I think it's a good thing I also had the message-delivering planes still lying around too. That reminds me, did you ever get my message?"
"Wouldn't be here if I didn't, buddy!" I responded, giving Tails a thumbs-up.
Glancing down at Cream, I saw that she was cuddling Cheese, who was fast asleep. Tails yawned again, which reminded me of my long night. I would have to take a nap myself.
"Hey Cream…?" Tails spoke gently so he wouldn't wake Cheese up. "Are you okay with telling us your side of the story?"
The young rabbit shuddered at the memory. "Um… Okay..."
"You don't have to if you don't want," I said. "No one's pressuring you."
"It's okay, I can tell you," Cream insisted. "Cheese and I woke up in the night on top of a giant sign… Then bright lights flashed in our faces as a giant truck brought a ladder to me… Then… someone put cloths on our faces, and we fell asleep… Then we woke up in that very bad building… Um…" She turned to me, eyes wide at her memory. "How long did you say I there, Mr. Sonic?"
I thought for a moment. "I think I figured about ten hours," I recalled.
"Whoa, ten hours?!" Tails almost shrieked. "Sonic, they experimented on her for ten hours?!"
I looked over to make sure Cheese was still asleep after Tails' outburst. He still was.
"Well, it may have been only one or two hours, 'cuz she didn't wake up until earlier this morning," I admitted.
"But still…!" Tails seemed genuinely upset about this, and I secretly hoped Cream wouldn't have any nightmares about it tonight.
"I know, but… I don't think they really understand us. They don't know who we are."
"Yeah…" agreed Tails.
"Oh, by the way, Chris told me a couple things about this planet."
"Yeah?" Tails leaned forward in his seat. "Like what?"
"Well, for starters, the name of this planet is Earth, and from the little I saw so far, I'm thinking the tech here is, well… kinda a step down from back home… except maybe for Area 99."
"Will we see Miss Amy again…?" Cream's tired voice spoke up.
I felt bad for her, I really did. Cream missed her home as much as I did, if not even more, and she had not seen her mother all day. They were so close to each other. But if Amy made it here… that would be really great.
"Sure ya will, Cream!" I said softly, smiling. "Same with Knuckles. They'll pop up soon, don't worry!" I winked.
Then I noticed Tails take on a concerned expression. "And Sonic… if they're here… then… are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked.
I nodded slowly. "Yup. He's here too."
We didn't need any more words to express exactly who "he" was.
Thorndyke Mansion — Sun August 21; 9:59 AM — Chris' POV
Rounding the final corner, Grandpa steered the car into our giant 700-foot driveway. At the end of the driveway where the garage was, I could see a small blue biplane facing us. I assumed this was Sonic's ride back home.
"So I see they got their plane here okay," mused Grandpa. "You ready, Chris? I know I am!"
"Mhmm," I responded, too excited for words. On the inside, I was practically squealing and even hopping in my seat a little bit. To say there were butterflies in my stomach wouldn't be enough to describe my joy.
Grandpa pulled up next to the biplane, giving it plenty of space for takeoff. I had to admit, the plane was a bit smaller than I thought it would be. From what I saw, there were two seats inside, and it had the word "SONIC" painted in white on the side. Obviously whoever flew it was a big fan of Sonic.
Once Grandpa turned off the engine, I threw open my door and was the first one to get out of the car. Grandpa eagerly stepped out as well, and we headed toward the garage. There they were, seated in folding chairs: Sonic, Cream, Cheese, and what looked like… a Mobian fox? I would find out soon enough. I needed to tell myself to calm my skyrocketing heart rate.
"Hey guys, welcome back!" Sonic greeted us as he stood up and walked over to us. The Mobian fox stood up too, following right behind Sonic. He looked a bit nervous, almost as much as I was.
"Well, hey Sonic, I see you brought your friends here too," Grandpa spoke. "I'm Professor Chuck, and this is my grandson Chris," he introduced us.
"Um… M-My name is… M-Miles Prower... um... but everyone calls me Tails," the fox introduced himself as he fidgeted with his fingers. He sounded a bit nervous, and I could see why. I had to do a double take when I heard his real name to make sure I wasn't hearing things.
On the other hand, I could also see why he was nicknamed Tails. It had to be unusual for Mobians to have two tails. I would have to ask him later… that is, if it wouldn't be intrusive. On a side note, Tails looked really cute.
"My name is Cream," the young rabbit timidly introduced herself. "And this is my Chao friend Cheese."
"Wait, what?" I was confused. "What's a Chao?"
"Chao are cute little creatures back on our world," Sonic explained. "Not quite like pets, though. They can kinda reflect your emotions in a way, and they're always good friends to have around." He glanced at Cheese. "They're pretty rare these days."
"I'm just wondering… does he talk…?" I asked Cream out of curiosity.
Cream looked like she was about to answer me, when suddenly the Chao flew out of her grasp, and greeted me with a cute high-pitched "Chao chao!", which startled me a little bit and I took a few steps back toward Grandpa. Tails giggled at this, and Sonic snickered.
"It's okay, he's friendly," Tails reassured me as Cheese returned to Cream. I smiled too, even though I was a bit nervous because these were new people.
Just then Grandpa returned from wandering around the plane and studying it in fascination. His eyes locked on Tails.
"This your plane, Tails?" he asked.
"Yep!" he said proudly, his tails waving behind him cutely. "It's called the Tornado, and I even built it all by myself!"
"You built it- you're kidding," Grandpa said incredulously. "You literally built it yourself."
"I sure did," Tails answered quieter this time, blushing a little.
There was a stunned pause.
"Um… H-How old are you…?" Grandpa finally asked in disbelief.
"I'm eight," the fox replied casually, not missing a beat. I was a little surprised they measured age the same way humans did. Tails seemed to be a lot more mature than an average eight-year-old human, no offense to them.
"W-Wait… H-How old are…?" I asked but I was too nervous to finish my question.
"How old are we?" Sonic clarified for me, and I nodded. "I'm fifteen, and Cream here is six."
"Do you mind if I take a look at the cockpit?" Grandpa asked Tails.
"Sure, go right ahead," he permitted. "Just don't touch anything, okay?"
Grandpa climbed onto the wing very slowly – "My legs aren't what they used to be," he groaned – and peeked inside the plane. This left me to my thoughts, which drifted to everyone's ages.
So Sonic was only a teenager… I don't think anyone at school would believe me if I told them that a teen risked his life to save a young child and her pet from the depths of the most secure government facility in the US. The only things our human teens did was pretty much sit around on their phones or computers all day.
And then there was Tails. He was only eight, and in just the first minute of meeting him, he claimed to be capable of flying and even building planes all by himself.
I looked up to see Grandpa lifting a large, rough-looking bag from the back seat of the Tornado.
"What's in here?" he asked, attracting our attention, and especially my curiosity.
"In there, I got some tiny airplane-like devices capable of generating electromagnetic pulses," Tails replied like it was obvious. I blinked. Those were some big words for an eight-year-old.
I walked over to Grandpa, and Tails and I helped him down to the ground. The fox opened the bag and handed one of the devices to Grandpa for him to examine. It was smaller than any paper airplane I could ever make. In fact, it was barely smaller than my phone. Grandpa was awed into speechlessness as he carefully studied the device.
"I made these myself too…" Tails spoke quietly, as if this was a secret.
"But… I… th-these… these are ingenious," Grandpa whispered. "H-How did you make them…? This technology… I… I can't begin to replicate it even if I wanted to."
"I made these back on my world. They're really handy, and… i-it's okay to be surprised… I know Mobians naturally have more advanced technology than humans." He looked up at Grandpa. "Um… S-Sorry… I didn't mean to offend you, Professor…!" He was blushing a bit, his hands behind his back and his tails stopped waving.
"I'm not offended at all, Tails," Grandpa smiled.
"Oh, okay, that's good," Tails said as he breathed a sigh of relief and his tails started moving again.
While they were talking, I knew I had to bring up the issue about Sonic's safety at some point. Now that I knew it was all done in love, I was not as mad at him as I had been earlier, but I was still very concerned. I still needed to talk to him.
As it turned out, Sonic beat me to the punch, because he noticed that I looked like I was about to say something.
"Hey Chris, what's wrong?" he asked. I hoped Grandpa wouldn't overhear me. He probably wouldn't, because he was involved in gearhead talk with Tails.
"Um… D-Do you know… h-how dangerous Area 99 is?"
"Security cameras with laser turrets? Unexpected power outages? Guards with guns?" Sonic smirked. "Yeah, that's dangerous stuff, dude. Still, it's nothing compared to—"
I shook my head. "N-No, that's not what I meant."
Sonic's smirk faded. "Oh? Then what did you mean?" he asked.
"U-Um… I-I don't want you to be… um, k-killed…! I honestly don't want you to be taken away…!"
Sonic just smiled. It was an understanding smile, one that he probably gave to his friends many times before. He laid a caring hand on my shoulder, which made me low-key wonder if that was difficult for him given he was only about as tall as my chest.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Chris," he said. "If I'm ever caught, and believe me, that's not happening to me any time soon, then…" He chuckled, catching me off guard. "Eh, who am I kidding? They can't catch me, and I proved it to 'em back there today, didn't I?"
Seeing my unamused expression, Sonic's own demeanor became more somber. "But seriously, it's nothing I haven't done before. In fact… I'd say this adventure was pretty tame. Believe me, I've done way more dangerous stuff than what I did today, and I mean life-threatening stuff. But in the end… I always come through."
I paused to ponder that. If he really went through life-threatening things on a regular basis… I was in way over my head.
"Mr. Sonic has saved us a lot of times," piped up Cream as she stifled a yawn. If Sonic went on lots of adventures, then who needed storybooks and fairytales? I had an alien hedgehog who could run faster than the speed of sound!
Meanwhile, Tails was showing Grandpa some more of his amazing creations, and I knew I had to come over and see for myself as well.
"The Miles Electric can also translate languages, has its own radar, and can even pick up TV stations!" Tails was saying. The young fox inventor was showing Grandpa a tablet unlike any I had ever seen. It was almost the size of an iPad, but was yellow, had two handles with grips on them, and even a small satellite dish mounting it.
"And you also built this yourself," Grandpa said.
Tails nodded eagerly. "From scratch," he answered.
"W-Well then…" replied Grandpa as he started looking more and more excited. "Do you mind if I show you some of my things as well?"
"Wait, you're an inventor too?!" Tails enthusiastically asked.
"I sure am!" Grandpa beamed. "Come with me!"
He practically ran to the garage, and Tails in after him. I even thought I heard him giggle in his giddy excitement. It was almost like he was a kid on Christmas morning. Anyone else would say he was hyper, but to be honest, the way Grandpa felt now was pretty much my emotions exactly when I met Sonic last night.
As we followed Tails and Grandpa into the garage, Grandpa picked up Sonic's headset he had left on one of the counters in the garage.
"This is a headset I made last year," Grandpa said. "Not only does it have multi-channel two-way radio within a fifteen-mile radius, but it also has an infrared scope that can be swapped out for a night vision scope."
"Wow, that looks really neat!" Tails commented. "Were these the ones Sonic was using today?"
"They certainly were!" Grandpa beamed. "And I think they were a huge success, especially since they proved a theory of mine to be true."
"You look like you're really excited," Tails pointed out.
"I am!" he nearly exclaimed. "I just want to say I'm really excited to be sharing my projects with a master scientist from another world!"
Tails blushed a bit and rubbed behind his head. "Well, u-um… I-I'm… not exactly a—"
"Let me get this straight, you really are from another world?" Grandpa asked for confirmation.
"Y-Yeah, that's right," nodded Tails. "We're from a planet called Mobius." He had a faraway look in his eyes, evidence that he missed his home world.
Grandpa nodded, his initial excitement calming down. "Hm. Do you know where it is in relation to Earth?"
Tails thought for a moment. "Um… I don't know exactly… I've never heard of Earth before. However… I do know that there is a way we can get back home."
"How?"
"I spoke with Sonic earlier, and we agreed that we can tell you guys everything once two more of our friends get here."
"Did they make it here too?"
"Yeah, I know for certain sure they did."
I had been listening to Tails and Grandpa this whole time while Sonic stood by. Cream had already fallen asleep. Then I remembered something: Had Ella and Mr. Tanaka heard the plane landing? Sure, it was maybe thirty minutes ago, but… it was a wonder they hadn't come out by now! What happened?
"Um… Hey Grandpa?" I started.
Grandpa turned to me. "Yes, Chris?" he responded.
"Um… Wh-What if Ella and Mr. Tanaka find out…?" I asked.
"Well, remember the note I left earlier?" reminded Grandpa. "It said for them to stay in the house for a few days while I'm working on a 'secret project.'"
"But what about the plane?"
"Oh, don't worry about that, my boy. They're just gonna think it's me playing around with the generator again."
I smiled at this as Grandpa said to Sonic: "Now Sonic… I know Chris has been very concerned about you being seen by the public, so if you do want to go somewhere… can you please try not to let anyone see you?"
The hedgehog shrugged. "I… don't know if I can really guarantee that. But hey, I roll around at the speed of sound. Nobody will know what just ran past them."
I sighed. His laid-back attitude was already starting to annoy me a little bit.
"Well, just be careful, okay?" Grandpa asked. Sonic smiled at him, and I didn't know what to think.
"All right, I'm going to go inside and make an early lunch for everyone," Grandpa announced as he turned toward the garage door. "Rest easy now, and Chris… you can use this time to get to know your new friends better," he added with a smile.
As he left the garage, I thought of his words. He called us friends. I hadn't even known Tails, Cream, and Cheese for a full ten minutes. Not only did they seem like the right kind of friends for me, but if just now was an example to go by, they looked like were the absolute best kind.
As I looked from Cream and Cheese, then to Tails, then to Sonic, I couldn't help but feel excitement swelling up in me once more. I could only imagine all the fun times we would have together. Not only had my wish been fulfilled… it had been fulfilled a hundredfold… and this was a gift that would keep on giving for as long as they were here.
A/N: Shorter than the last chapter, but some of the best things come in small packages! Here are some of the key differences with the episode:
- I didn't want to have the cat food scene in the episode, as funny as that was, becauseI didn't want Chris to belittle Sonic when they just met.
- I merged the first three scenes together, up until Sonic leaves for Area 99.
- There was no way that Chris and Chuck could drive all the way to Area 99, because Sonic could easily be there and back before they leave town. So I decided to have them go bowling instead, and wrote a brand new scene for that, where I gave Chris some well-needed character development.
- Speaking of new scenes, I wrote a new one with Ella and Tanaka.
- I replaced the destructive cameras at the climax with human guards, because there is no need for the cameras to destroy the base they're supposed to be protecting.
- I split the next to last scene into two scenes and added a bit more fluff to it.
- I removed the final scene with Eggman, as I plan to merge it with the first scene of the next episode.
I need constructive criticism for this chapter, especially since Chris is heavily used. Chris is a very toxic character in the fanbase, and I wanted to change that. I've always loved Chris, and wanted to spruce up his character. He's not whiny, he's just misunderstood.
If you see ways I can strengthen the writing, or if anyone is OOC, please let me know! Anything helps!
Next time is Missile Wrist Rampage, where Dr. Eggman makes his first move toward world domination, and Tails takes flight! Don't miss it!
