The shrill sound of her alarm clock rouses the platinum‑muzzled amethyst polecat from her sleep. Alright, alright, I'm awake. A quick tap of the snooze button silences the alarm, after which the polecat sits up and stretches, yawning deeply to wake up quicker. Now more alert, the polecat presses the correct button on her alarm clock to prevent it sounding again, then slides out of bed and gets ready for the day ahead.
An hour later, the polecat steps outside her home, taking a moment to admire the pristine viridian landscape of Emerald Hill Zone, the gentle breeze stirring her amethyst hair cut in a long bob, the colour of the grass close to that of her emerald tank top, which is teamed with tawny leggings, black knee‑length boots with kitten heels, and black fingerless gloves. However, the sight of Eggman's Chemical Plant on the horizon spoils her pleasant mood a little by reminding her of the events that followed its initial construction. At least it's been quiet for the last few months… Still, can't let my guard down: there's no telling when he'll strike again.
The polecat walks over to her azure high‑fixed‑wing ultralight aircraft, stows her compact red backpack behind the central pilot's seat, and climbs into the craft she built herself. After a quick check of the controls and fuel level, she fires up the flat‑four engine, points the aircraft in the right direction, lowers her blue tinted aviation visor into position, and takes off, flying towards her patrol route for the day: Mystic Cave Zone and the Hidden Palace Zone concealed beneath.
Elsewhere within Emerald Hill Zone, a cobalt blue hedgehog and a twin‑tailed yellow‑orange fox are racing each other over the hills and through the now‑abandoned shallow mines, the lead continually swapping between them as they both try their hardest to out‑speed and outwit each other. However, as they race through one of the shallow mines, the fox trips on something jutting out of the ground. Instinct makes him roll into a ball, and he rolls up a slope out of the mine into the air… and crashes straight into a tree, falling onto the grass with a yelp.
The hedgehog slides to a halt the instant he realises something's happened and races back to his fallen friend. "Yo Tails, you OK buddy?" he asks as he slides to a halt under the tree.
"I'm fine," Tails assures as he picks himself up and dusts himself off. "At least we're not being shelled by Coconuts."
"Hard to believe this whole Zone used to be teeming with Buttnik's bots," Sonic replies. "Whoever cleared out what remained after we raced through did a fine job."
"I still say we should have come back and cleared them out ourselves," Tails reminds. "After we were done on Angel Island, of course."
"Yeah, I guess," Sonic accepts. "Shall we resume our race?"
Tails replies by charging a Spin Dash and firing off into the distance.
"Hey, no fair!" Sonic calls before performing a Peel Out to catch up.
As she approaches the border of Emerald Hill Zone, the polecat looks down from her ultralight to see two instantly recognisable blurs, one blue and one yellow‑orange, racing over the terrain. What are Sonic and Tails doing here? Better find out.
Thanks to his large ears, Tails is the first to notice the ultralight. "Hey Sonic! Someone's following us!"
"Friend or foe?" Sonic asks.
Tails looks up to see the pilot of the ultralight is an amethyst polecat. "Friend, I think."
"Then let's find a place for them to land," Sonic decides, changing course and heading for a suitable plateau, Tails following right behind.
In the air, the polecat notices Sonic and Tails change course and head towards a plateau. Ah, they saw me; that makes things easier.
Sonic and Tails slide to a halt in the middle of the plateau and watch as the polecat lands the ultralight, rolls to halt right in front of them, and shuts off the engine. "About time you two showed up to finish the job," she greets sternly, lifting her aviation visor as she exits the cockpit. "Better incredibly late than never, I guess."
"Finish the job?" Sonic asks, confused.
"I think she's talking about clearing the Zone of badniks," Tails guesses.
"I am," the polecat confirms. "Luckily, me and my friends were around to clean up after you."
"We would have come back and helped with the clean‑up, but we had to follow Eggman to Angel Island and stop him from stealing the Master Emerald to power his Death Egg," Sonic explains.
"Did you stay behind after to clean up?" the polecat asks.
"Well… no," Sonic admits.
The polecat shakes her head in disappointment. "That's the problem with you hero types: you swoop in, save the day, and leave a huge mess for the rest of us to handle."
"To be fair, we do leave places in a better state than they were when we arrived," Sonic counters.
"…fair enough," the polecat accepts, dropping her stern tone. "The name's Clara Fitch, and this is Jenna, my ultralight."
"A pleasure to meet you, Clara," Tails replies. "Why were you following us?"
"Because when you two show up, trouble's just around the corner," Clara answers. "So, where's Eggman this time, and how much of a mess will you be leaving behind?"
"Oh, we're not chasing Eggman," Sonic assures. "We're just having a race."
"Oh… Then I landed for nothing," Clara sighs.
"Where ya heading?" Sonic asks.
"Mystic Cave and Hidden Palace," Clara answers.
"Why?" Tails asks.
"I patrol all the Zones to ensure there's no badniks," Clara explains. "The only Zone I don't enter is Metropolis, as I'd rather not take on an entire Egg Army division in their own stronghold."
"You'd be captured in minutes," Sonic replies. "No offense."
"None taken," Clara assures, lowering her aviation visor. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be going."
Sonic and Tails watch as Clara gets back in her ultralight, starts the engine, takes off, and resumes her journey to Mystic Cave Zone.
"Should we follow her, just in case?" Tails asks.
"Nah, she'll be fine," Sonic replies. "Hill Top next?"
"Sure."
With synchronised Spin Dashes, Sonic and Tails speed off towards Hill Top Zone.
Half an hour later, Clara guides Jenna in for a landing at the largest entrance to Mystic Cave Zone, parking the craft in the cover of a cluster of rocks before climbing out, grabbing her backpack, and entering the disused mine, lifting her aviation visor so she can see better in the low light.
As she makes her way deeper into the mine, the lack of any sign of trouble allows her to relax and enjoy the long walk, the only sounds being the pleasantly echoing clack of her heels on the ground and the soothingly gentle drip of water into modest subterranean streams.
Eventually, she reaches the pit that leads to the Hidden Palace. After readjusting her backpack to ensure it stays in place, she effortlessly leaps across the gap, clings to the opposite wall with her claws, and begins the long climb down, the high grip level of her boots making the climb relatively easy.
At the bottom, Clara drops the final twenty feet, curling into a ball and rolling down the slope to level ground. When she uncurls back to her feet, she's in for a surprise. "Oh… I wasn't expecting anyone else to be down here."
"Hm?" the white lop rabbit replies, seemingly in her own little world, her teal sleeveless jacket and trousers teamed with a red belt, black gloves with red cuffs, black shoes with red cuffs and toe caps, and red ribbons tied around the ends of her long ears. "Oh, hey sweetie! What ya doing down here all on your lonesome?" she asks, lazily reclining on her yellow carrot‑shaped Extreme Gear, her head hanging off the end so she's looking at Clara upside‑down.
"Just patrolling, making sure Eggman's machines haven't returned," Clara explains. "Why are you down here?"
"Aren't all these crystals so pretty?" the rabbit asks, Clara's question apparently sailing right over her head. "You could make some sparkly earrings to match that lovely top of yours."
"I… guess?" Clara replies, a little confused and concerned. "Are you feeling OK?"
"Of course, silly!" the rabbit giggles. "Why do you ask?"
"You look like you're high on something."
"Oh, I'm always like this. Has anyone ever told you how pretty you are?"
Clara's taken aback by the unexpected question. "Well, uh… a few times, I guess? I don't really keep count." Is she flirting with me on purpose, or is she just that out of it?
"You know what would make you look even prettier?"
"Is there a point to this?"
"Hey, no need to be rude," the rabbit winks flirtatiously, rolling onto her front and resting her head in her hands. "I just think you'd look super pretty encased in crystal."
Before Clara can react, she's tackled to the ground and pinned in place by a burly brown bear with white gloves and red‑striped blue shoes, his large hands easily wrapped around her slim wrists.
"Hey, get off me!" Clara protests, struggling as hard as she can, only to find herself unable to move thanks to the bear's weight and strength.
"I'd take it easy if I were you," the bear growls menacingly.
"Oh Barry, take it easy for once, will ya?" the rabbit giggles. "She ain't going nowhere, after all. Now shush, I gotta radio the boss." The rabbit unclips a handheld radio from her belt and activates it. "Yo boss! We got a live one for ya!"
"Good work Carrotia," Wendy replies, her words distorted slightly due to interference from the faintly glowing crystals all around. "Who exactly?"
"Dunno, just some polecat," Carrotia shrugs. "Claims to be patrolling for badniks."
"Bring them to me," Wendy instructs.
"Will do, boss!" Carrotia deactivates the radio and returns it to her belt. "Be a dear and hold her steady for me, will ya Barry?" she requests, producing a substantial length of rope.
Bearenger grabs Clara firmly around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides as he lifts her with ease, keeping her legs pinned to the ground so she can't kick anyone.
"You won't get away with this," Clara growls.
"I'd shut that pretty little mouth of yours before I do it for you," Carrotia warns, her spacey demeanour absent as she quickly and securely ties Clara's arms in place, making the ropes as tight as she can. "Comfy?" she asks when finished.
"Not really," Clara grunts, the rope limiting her to shallow breaths.
"Eh, I don't really care," Carrotia shrugs. "Barry, lift her up."
Bearenger lifts Clara by her shins, holding them together while Carrotia produces two more lengths of rope and binds the polecat's ankles and knees together.
"Why are you doing this anyway?" Clara asks.
"Because we can't have anyone getting in the boss's way, of course!" Carrotia giggles as she pulls the last knot tight. "Now shush and be a good little girl while we take you to the boss."
Clara remains silent as Bearenger lifts her onto his shoulder and follows Carrotia deeper into Hidden Palace on their Extreme Gear. Maybe I should have asked Sonic and Tails along after all…