Chapter 9: Dao Za (ゴミ島; Gomijima)
Note from author:
text – memories, thoughts, and voices from TV
"Phu Quoc Island?" Sonic asked as he flew in the cockpit of the Tornado II plane and, together with Tails, looked at Miles Electric, where there were waves indicating that the Chaos Emerald was somewhere on this island.
"According to the sources I found online, Phu Quoc is the largest island in the country of Vietnam." The little fox said before he smiled. "The island itself is famous for its five-star hotels, natural beauty, and beaches. Due to the tourism boom that occurred in the last century, living conditions for the inhabitants of this island improved, and they began to build megacities and large cities. The most famous metropolis is...Um...Tanfo...zo...ko*?"
Sonic was silent because he knew the reason why Tails couldn't say words in Vietnamese. In their world, Vietnamese, and languages other than English, French, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, Chinese, Italian, Ukrainian, Japanese, Hindi and Polish were dead languages. Those listed languages "survived" since 7 of these languages were international, and the rest were used by peoples who wanted to preserve their national identity. Since then, they have become the languages spoken not only by the inhabitants of the Land of the Sky, but also of the Land of Darkness. Sonic and Tails can speak English, Japanese and a little Spanish. Sarah could speak both English and French. Fly knew all the languages since he is a robot, and Knuckles can not only speak today's English, but also sometimes speak dead languages like Swahili, Maori and Vietnamese. According to the red echidna, this helps preserve languages that no one speaks anymore. For him, these languages were like artifacts from ancient times, so the echidna takes care of them.
"Oh, if Knuckles were with us." Said Tails, "he would easily read the name of the city."
"That's for sure," The blue hedgehog agreed before he plunged into his thoughts. Ever since I talked to X and Zero about their organizational methods, I still feel heavy in my heart. Even though I have figured out why they do this, I have a feeling that it is not enough...I didn't realize that this world would be so complex. Seeing how humans and reploids treat each other, I can't help but remember the times when, after the reign of Ares Leox, Mobians and post-humans were hostile to each other.
Sonic fell silent for a bit until he voiced the thought that had always bothered him.
Can I be a worthy Chaos Taker…?
"And here is the island!" Tails said, pointing his finger towards the island before he turned to his friend. "Sonic, look!"
The blue hedgehog was torn from his thoughts and looked where the little fox pointed and said with incense:
"What a beautiful island…"
It's hard to disagree with the hedgehog. From the cabin of "Tornado II" you can see the most beautiful beach possible. The sand was golden yellow, the water was sparkling and blue, and the palm trees growing on this beach were majestic and luxurious. All this reminded our two heroes of the islands in the Land of the Sky.
"Sonic, hold on!" The little fox addressed the hedgehog. "The landing will be rough!"
"Roger, Captain Tails!" Sonic said with a smile and buckled his seat belt.
The little fox directed the plane to that place on the island to land unnoticed. Soon they landed on an open field. Tails flew the plane to the jungle to hide it from residents and tourists. Once they had hidden the transport, they both put on their disguises (Tails took his bag and American dollars just in case) and exited the plane. The little fox turned on the invisible mode "Tornado II" and walked along with the blue hedgehog. Climbing the hill, both furry heroes looked around in search of a populated area. Sonic discovered something resembling a settlement in the distance. He brought this to his friend's attention and they both sped up to reach the populated area.
Arriving at the place, the two friends began to walk along one of the streets of the town. The town was small but cozy. Not only residents of this town walked along the roads, but also tourists. Among them you can see reploids going about their business. The further Sonic and Tails moved through the streets, the more one-story and two-story houses, parks, shops, kiosks, one cinema and many restaurants and cafes. The little fox was beside himself with excitement. It was his first time in a Vietnamese city where people live who speak a long-dead language in their world. What Tails wanted more than anything was to talk to the Vietnamese himself. Soon the hedgehog and the fox entered the fair, where there were many people. There were many vendors around with stalls selling everything from meat to rich jewelry. Soon Sonic noticed an old man who was in a shop selling various fabric patterns.
"Tails, do you mind if I go ask this dude who sells fabric?" The blue hedgehog asked the little fox. "He can help us find out more about the Phu Quoc Island."
"I'm with you!" Tails said. "I would like to hear something about Phu Quoc, this town and the culture of the Vietnamese in general from a real Vietnamese!"
At this moment, the fox's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. He couldn't wait to ask a native Vietnamese, especially if it was his very first time. Both heroes approached the old man.
"Hello!" Tails greeted with a wide smile, which attracted the old man. "My friend and I are here for the first time on the Phu Quoc Island and in this town. Can you tell us more about this island, your Vietnamese culture and town."
The old man looked at them. Tails began to worry that the old man might not understand him, but the old man spoke in English:
"What enthusiasts you are! In our town we didn't have tourists who could ask the Vietnamese themselves. Let's ask me questions. I will be happy to answer them."
"We have an important question." Sonic said, approaching the old man so that he could hear him. "When we looked at the map of the island, we noticed a small island that is in a northwest direction near Phu Quoc. Do you know anything about this?"
"Are you talking about Dao Za?" The old man asked before he saw the puzzled faces of the heroes and continued. "The name of the island itself translates as "Garbage Island". It was an artificial island where the rich vacationed. In the beginning, it was a rich and beautiful island that all residents and tourists loved to see from our island. But then these rich people left this island, considering it ugly, and left a lot of garbage there. These bastards."
The old man snorted angrily, then continued, but in a sad tone:
"Then some tourists started coming to this island and they damaged this island even more. It got even worse when, during the revolution of one big idiot reploid, the Mavericks came to this island, built a base there and due to a clash with Maverick Hunters, the island itself was eventually turned into a dump... But tourists and people from different parts of the island in general do not pay attention to what is happening with Dao Za. The villagers and I tried to get there to somehow help restore the island, but these government people forbade us to even approach this island. They tell us that everything there is "nasty" and "radioactive." Do you know what?! They are themselves garbage!"
Sonic and Tails looked at the elderly man with pity and understanding. They both also had to deal with this in their world, especially in the Land of the Darkness. Doctor Eggman, even though he had failed attempts to capture the Land of the Sky, always managed to turn once beautiful places into provincial and ugly wastelands, where there was not even a single blade of grass. As both heroes flew over the Land of Darkness, they saw those very wastelands, which were now sad reminders of the very greenery and life that had once been on them.
The blue hedgehog approached the man and sat down on one knee and spoke to him:
"Sir, I am very sorry that this island is in such a state. But maybe someday all this beauty will return one day. If anything, my friend, and I can help you."
"Um..." Said the little fox, because he wasn't sure that he and Sonic would have time to do this thing.
"Thank you..." Said the old man quietly, who was grateful that our heroes wanted to help restore the island. "Can you come closer to me?"
"Yeah?" Sonic asked, a little puzzled.
The blue hedgehog with the little fox came closer to the elderly man. The old man said to them in a whisper:
"In our town there is a group of people who secretly visit the island at night and carry out restoration work there. I am a member of this group. You can join them temporarily."
"OK!" Sonic said, giving him a thumbs up before he asked. "Where can I find this group?"
The old man leaned over to the two heroes and spoke in each ear.
"I see." Said the blue hedgehog.
"Well, any other questions?" The old man asked with a smile.
"Sir, can you tell me about Vietnamese culture and more about your town?" Asked the little fox enthusiastically.
"OK then. Well, I'll say it briefly and simply, so that it's easier for your brain." The old man said and began to tell the little fox. "Our culture..."
The old man's words were drowned out by the thoughts of Sonic, who was looking around the entire fair. He not only thought about his conversation with X and Zero, but also about the responsibility that was imposed on him. The blue hedgehog recalled how once upon a time, when he touched the Chaos Emerald for the first time, it literally made him a conqueror of Chaos. Chaos Conquerors are creatures that can absorb and control Chaos energy from various sources, such as Chaos Emeralds. But unfortunately, the title of Chaos conqueror had a bad reputation due to one post-human in the past...Ares Leox. The one who built an empire in the past of his world and nearly exterminated the Mobians. Although Sonic hates Ares as a tyrant with all his heart, something in his biography evoked a little bit of pity in the hedgehog.
"Sonic!" The blue hedgehog was again torn from his thoughts and turned to see the little fox who approached him.
When Tails reached his friend, he began to speak:
"Sonic, do you know what I think? I, too, like you, want to help them restore this island, but I'm afraid we don't have the time to do it. We still have the chaos emerald on our nose, and we need to have time to get to it before Doctor Doppler and his minions."
They were both silent until the same thought came into their heads:
"Listen, Sonic." The fox turned to the hedgehog in a whisper. "I have one idea..."
"...We will first find the Chaos Emerald..." Sonic continued in a quiet voice.
"...Let's put him on our plane with the invisible shield protection..." Tails continued the sentence in the same quiet voice.
"...And let's go help this group restore the island!" Both friends finished voicing their thoughts.
"Great idea, buddy!" Said Sonic. "Now we will definitely have time to help these guys restore this island."
"And if we hurry, we will have a lot of time to not only help with the island, but also to walk around it!" Tails said with a smile.
While both heroes were talking to each other, a Vietnamese girl looked at them from the crowd. She had short black hair, slightly tanned skin, freckles, and dark brown eyes. She wore a yellow dress with flower patterns, pink sandals, and a floral clasp.
They want to help Dad and the others with rebuilding the island? She thought before her eyes sparkled. How cool!
The girl was very happy to learn that two tourists could help with the restoration of her beloved island. She started to walk away to go to her father and tell him about it. She was crossing a road where there was no traffic light. But when she reached the middle of the crosswalk, the girl heard something moving quickly towards her. Just as she was about to turn her head to see what was coming towards her, someone grabbed her. Once on the other side of the road, the girl looked back and saw one of these tourists (Sonic), who had just saved her from being hit by a car.
The blue hedgehog looked at the car, which continued to drive at a high speed. Then he looked at the girl:
"Are you okay?"
She nodded her head saying yes.
"I'm glad you're okay." Sonic said with a smile. "When you cross the road next time, look both ways. Fine?"
The girl nodded her head again.
"Okay, you can go to your parents while I deal with those hooligans who almost ran you over." The blue hedgehog said before he quickly ran, but without reaching supersonic speed.
The Vietnamese girl stood there, surprised that this tourist had saved her from death with such great speed, before she smiled and ran towards her home. Meanwhile, Sonic was running down the street to catch up with the car. Continuing to drive quickly, the car swayed in different directions so that it could kill every passerby.
And these guys are real thrill-seekers. Thought the blue hedgehog. We need to figure out how to stop them without revealing that I am a famous blue fast hedgehog in the world.
While he was thinking, Tails (without his disguise) landed on top of a one-story building. He started looking for something in his bag. He took out some kind of device, reminiscent of what the little fox had once placed on the yellow reploid.
"This should work." He said and flew on two tails into the sky.
Tails flew towards the car, while trying to be unnoticed. As he approached the car, the little fox threw a device on top of the car before disappearing on top of one of the houses in the city. The car was electrocuted before stopping in the middle of the road.
That was very good of you, buddy. Sonic thought, praising the two-tailed fox.
The whole crowd gathered around the car. All the people, tourists and reploids were very surprised to see that the car had stopped for reasons unknown to them. Sonic emerged from the crowd and walked up to the car. Looking inside, he saw two reploids whose appearance greatly reminded the hedgehog of Doctor Doppler's soldiers. They were both knocked out by Tails' device.
I knew it. Thought Sonic.
Earlier, when the blue hedgehog saved a girl from being hit by a car, he noticed two reploids driving the car. It was clear from their appearance that they were in a panic and were in a hurry somewhere, not noticing anything on their way. As Tails approached Sonic in his disguise, the blue hedgehog addressed the crowd:
"Can anyone help me get both these guys out of the car?"
Meanwhile…
"Dad!" The Vietnamese girl said loudly when she came home. – You have no idea what happened today!
But no one answered her. The girl entered the living room and looked around, looking for her father.
"WHAT?!" Suddenly she heard someone's voice coming from the kitchen. – ARE YOU *& ^#* SERIOUS?!
This is Dad! The Vietnamese girl thought and went to where the source of the voice was.
When she arrived, she saw her father who was on the phone. He had gray armor and a helmet that revealed his face, besides his white optics glowing on his black screen and a plate that covered his mouth. From this description the father of the Vietnamese girl is not a human, but a reploid. He soon calmed down, as could be heard from his tone:
"OK, everything is clear. I will try not to let them know about my past and that Tu is my adopted child. See you."
With these words, he hung up the phone and sighed heavily. Tu (that was the name of this girl) approached her adoptive father and asked:
"Dad, what happened?"
"I…" Began the gray reploid. "...It's hard for me to explain this to you...You're still too young to understand all this."
"Dad, you can tell me." The girl said honestly. "I'm already seven years old."
"That's what I mean." Said the reploid father before he realized something. "Tu, when did you come home?"
"Approximately 2 minutes ago." Tu answered. "I called you, but you didn't answer. When I was in the living room, I heard you talking on the phone. Have you talked to Kui?"
"Oh..." Said the reploid, realizing that he had uttered a swear word in front of his daughter, without knowing it.
"Don't worry about it, dad." The girl said, smiling. "Next time, listen when I come home."
"Okay..." Answered the reploid.
"Dad, what were you talking about with your friend, from which you say a bad word?" Tu asked.
The reploid father looked at his daughter silently. He didn't want to talk to her about it because it might make her worry, but he gathered his courage and replied:
"He told me that the headquarters of a Unit of Maverick Hunters was built in Than Pho Zo Co. I already told you about them earlier, right? I was stunned when I heard about this."
"Is it because of your past?" Tu asked, understanding why her father was worried about this.
"Yes." Answered the gray reploid, remembering his past.
9 years ago, Tu's adoptive father was known by his production code WR-876 and worked in a factory in a rather bad area of Arcadia City. He saw every day how people treated reploids cruelly, considering them their mechanical slaves. Physical and emotional abuse towards reploids was common during this time, not only in the bad area, but throughout Arcadia City. And all because the reploids were like people, that is, they knew how to think independently and act according to their free will. These qualities in humanoid robots frightened and alarmed people, so they tried their best to delay the progress of reploids. WR-876 did not like this vision very much, so he joined a group of reploid activists who fought for the rights and protection of reploids. After some time, WR-876, members of the group (there were about 500 reploids) and all the reploids of Arcadia City staged a rally near the government headquarters, demanding equal rights with people. This escalated into a brutal brawl, where not only many people died, but also reploids. During this, one of the guards at the government headquarters called the reploids participating in the rally "Mavericks." It was from this meeting that the designation of dangerous reploids appeared. But the rally played a huge role for humanoid robots. Governments from all over the world came up with laws that ensured the protection and equality of reploids with humans. But those who participated in the rally fled the country and the city of Arcadia City to evade the authorities. Among them was WR-876. He wandered for two years until he arrived in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Having received a new appearance there so that no one would recognize him as a participant in this rally, he received his name "Bao".
Since the rally, he has distrusted people and even hated them, since some of them caused the death of his friends in the group of reploid activists. But soon everything changed. When he was walking down the street, he found a newborn human girl who was in a trash can. He picked her up and took her to the hospital just in case. Fortunately, the baby was healthy, but it was not known who her biological parents were. This began the debate about whether to give the child directly to the shelter or to find a volunteer who would take her. As a result, Bao became a volunteer. At first, Bao was simply like the robot of the time, who looked after the children while their parents were busy. But over time, the gray reploid developed parental feelings for the child, and they truly became father and daughter. It was Tu who changed Bao's mind about humanity during her upbringing.
3 years later, Bao and his adopted daughter moved to Phu Quoc Island, settling in the town of Lang Chim* in a two-story house. The only people who knew that they were father and daughter were the residents of this town and the members of the Dao Za Island restoration group. They were treated quite well because of the little girl's kindness and Bao's help in the community. Even the children were a little jealous of Tu that she had such an unusual and caring father. But they all did not know about Bao's past and that it was thanks to him and other reploid activists that the reploids received their rights, except for his adopted daughter.
Currently, he stood thinking about his past.
"Um, dad, are you okay?" Tu asked him, bringing him back to reality.
"Not really." He admitted. "I'm afraid that if they find out about my past, they might arrest me as a maverick. But I'm more afraid for you than for myself. I don't know what will happen to you after my arrest, but I don't want you to be bullied and discriminated against. Therefore, I do not want anyone on this island or even in the whole world to know about our relationship except the villagers and our group. I'll try to keep this all a secret."
"Dad, you have to admit who you were before." Tu said.
Bao turned questioningly to the Vietnamese girl.
"I mean that you tell everyone honestly about your past." Said the girl. "After all, it was thanks to you and the others that all reploids became equal in rights with people, although there is tension between them. I believe that one day people will understand that they must coexist peacefully with reploids. Same thing with reploids. Although it is a pity that some of the people and reploids cannot understand this."
Bao continued to look at his adopted child before sighing.
"You're right, Tu." He said, smiling under the plate. "But I'll tell them when I think I'm ready."
"Okay, dad." Tu smiled before she remembered that she wanted to tell her father what happened to her today. "Dad, do you want me to tell you what happened to me today?"
"Come on, tell me." Said Bao.
"Well," The girl began. "When I was walking, I saw two tourists in Arabic clothes talking with Mr. Chan and they want to help us restore Dao Za."
"So."
"And when I ran to tell you about it, I was almost hit by a car on the road. These drivers drove wildly in such a way that even when the light turned red, they would not stop."
"..."
"Dad, what's wrong?"
Tu noticed that her adoptive father's hand began to tremble with anger. The girl knew that he was angry with those drivers who almost hit her.
"Um, dad…" She said, reassuring her father. "The main thing is that I am healthy and alive. I need to be more careful on the road. One of these tourists saved me. He ran at very high speed. Then he ran after these drivers to deal with them. Just please don't go to them and live up to your nickname "Papa Wolf"."
This nickname was given to Bao by the villagers due to his excessive protection of Tu from dangers. When he saw or heard that someone had offended or harmed Tu, the inner beast awakened in him, and he was ready to tear her daughter's offenders to shreds. Residents of the town both appreciated and feared this quality in the gray reploid.
Hearing Tu's words, Bao calmed down.
"It's good that you were saved, Tu." He said, reaching out his hand to stroke his daughter's head.
The girl smiled too, as she always liked it when her dad stroked her head. This continued until Tu asked a question that Bao tried not to answer:
"When will you find a mom for me?"
A little while later…
Evening came. Everyone in the town went to their homes to get ready to go to bed or spend time with their loved ones. The only people alive at that time were Sonic and Tails, who were sitting on the roof of a two-story house and looking into Miles Electric, analyzing the data that they took secretly from the crowd from two soldiers of Doctor Doppler's army.
"Judging by this data, Dr. Doppler sent a whole group of soldiers from his army, consisting of about 100 people, to find the Chaos Emerald." Said the little fox, reading the documents on the screen. "It also mentions that someone powerful is coming with them."
"If this is so, then we need to hurry up to make it in time." said Sonic.
"You're right, Sonic." Tails said before worry appeared on his face. "But I'm a little worried about it."
"What's the matter?" Sonic asked, puzzled by the little fox's words.
"I have one idea that "powerful" may mean someone from the "Nightmare Police"." The little fox answered. "If it's Bit, then the first thing he'll do is finish me off because of what I did to him once at the weapons factory."
"Tails," Sonic said, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I'm right here with you and together we can kick this Bit guy's butt."
The little fox looked at his friend for a minute before he smiled.
"Thank you, Sonic," He thanked his friend. "Now I worry much less."
"Well, are you ready to go?" The blue hedgehog asked his friend.
The little fox nodded his head. The two friends jumped off the roof and headed to where the fifth Chaos Emerald should be.
Meanwhile…
Bao was putting things in his backpack so that he could go to Dao Za Island. He always did this three times a week so as not to arouse suspicion among neighbors that he was part of the island restoration group.
2 years later, after he and Tu moved to Phu Quoc Island, he met one of the members of this group. The gray reploid joined them because of his desire to help these people with returning greenery and life to Dao Za Island. Bao was a nature lover at heart, and he hated it if someone didn't appreciate beauty and respect nature itself. Several times his adopted daughter wanted to join the business, but Bao did not allow it as he did not want her to get into trouble. He always packed things only when Tu was sleeping, so that she would not spend long hours begging him to go with her to Dao Za.
But the reploid father himself did not suspect that his adopted daughter was not sleeping at that time. She stood upstairs, watching her dad pack his bag. She was wearing a pink t-shirt, blue shorts and white socks, while still wearing a flower hair clip. Tu knew that he was doing this on purpose while she was sleeping. Earlier, a Vietnamese girl came up with a cunning plan to get to the island without her father noticing. Soon, Bao went outside to put the gardening tools in the car's trailer. Taking advantage of this, Tu came out of her hiding place, put her sneakers on her feet, walked to the door and left the house on the other side. She carefully pressed herself against the wall and from there watched as Bao finished loading the trailer with gardening tools and covered them before he returned to the house. The Vietnamese girl came out of the shelter and, opening the fabric a little, climbed in and covered herself from above.
Finding herself in complete darkness, she smiled because she knew that she would soon be on this island to help her father and his friends. Soon she felt the car begin to move.
With Sonic and Tails...
A blue hedgehog and a small fox made their way through the rainforest, heading towards the Chaos Emerald.
"So, judging by the coordinates, we are approaching our destination." Tails said, looking at Miles Electric.
Soon they found themselves on a rock. In front of our heroes lay a view of the ocean and an island not far from Phu Quoc Island. Sonic put his hand up to make it easier for him to see what was there.
Hmm... The little fox thought. It seems that the Chaos Emerald is located on this island, not far from Phu Quoc.
"Tails, it seems to me that the features of this island are familiar to me." Sonic suddenly said.
"Eh?" Tails looked at his best friend, puzzled.
"I see that on the shore of this island there is something resembling garbage..." The blue hedgehog began before he realized what kind of island it was. "This is Dao Za!"
"What?!" The little fox's eyes widened in surprise, and he looked towards the island to see it himself.
Tails could see one huge pile of garbage there. All this reminded him of the former fields in the Land of Darkness back in their world.
"Yes, this is definitely Dao Za." The little fox finally agreed.
"Tails, are you ready to jump and run through the water?" Sonic turned to the little fox.
"Ready." Tails said seriously, putting the Miles Electric in his bag.
The blue hedgehog and the little fox jumped off the cliff and ran across it (the little fox flying on his two tails) before they landed on the rocks and ran towards the island.
30 seconds later...
When they were a few kilometers from the island, Tails, out of the corner of his eye, noticed a caravan of cars driving along a sandy path towards Dao Za. The little fox stopped to look at it and see that it was a fantasy. But it was real. Sonic reached the shore of the island and stopped.
"Here comes the island of Dao Za." said the blue hedgehog, holding his nose pinched because of the smells of the island. "And I thought that the devastated parts in the Land of the Darkness were much worse than this."
The appearance of the island was true to its name. Garbage lay everywhere, grass and trees looked burned or dead from constant pollution. The sand was dirty yellow, which fit perfectly into the depressive atmosphere of the island. There is nothing to say even about the air itself since everything is clear. Soon Tails flew towards Sonic and landed on the sand.
"Sonic, when I was flying, I saw…" The little fox began, but immediately caught the smell of garbage, which made his eyes widen, taking on a comical shape and covered his nose with his hand, squinting. "Ah! What an unbearable smell!"
"That's right." Sonic said, and an anime-style drop fell over his head before he turned to Tails. "What did you see there when you were flying?"
"I saw a caravan of cars." Answered the little fox. "But this is not Dr. Doppler's army. This must be the group that restores the island!"
"Good idea, Tails." Sonic agreed. "But unfortunately, we have work to finish. Let's go."
Both heroes went deeper into the island, while covering the nostrils of their noses with their hands so as not to suffocate from the nasty smells.
Meanwhile…
"Bao! Are you getting the garden items we need?" The reploid member asked the gray reploid as he got out of the car.
"Yes, Gen, I'm now!" Bao called out and walked up to the car's trailer.
He removed the cloth and what was his surprise when he found his adopted daughter in the trailer.
"What the?!" The gray reploid shouted in shock. "Tu, what are you doing here?!"
"I went with you to help you!" Answered the Vietnamese girl.
"Tu, how many times have I told you?" Asked Bao. "You can't go to Dao Za with me because I don't want to expose you to danger and trouble if someone sees us in this place!"
"I know, dad." Said the Vietnamese girl. "But I still want to help you, because I know how hard it is for you to be there, smelling unpleasant odors. I'm already seven years old!"
Bao looked at her silently. On the one hand, he would like to scold her for hiding in the trailer in the first place, because some of the gardening tools there were sharp, and she could have gotten hurt or worse. On the other hand, he knew that his daughter wanted to help him, which is why she hid in the trailer. And thirdly, he is ready to scold himself for not noticing this earlier when he was getting ready and driving.
"Bao." The gray reploid turned to see the young human woman who approached him. "Can you let your daughter help us a little with the restoration of the island, if she really wants it so bad?"
The Vietnamese woman had dark long hair tied in a ponytail and light brown eyes. She wore a suit that resembled the kind of clothes designed for gardening. This was usually worn by the human members of the group.
"Um..." Bao said in a slightly shy tone.
"Dad is she my future mother?" Asked Tu, pointing her finger at her.
"No!" The gray reploid shouted. "Tu, how many times have I told you, she and I have nothing between us?!"
He noticed that his adopted daughter put on a comically smug smile as she realized that her father would not accept the fact that he secretly had feelings for a human woman. The reason he didn't admit it was because he considered love relationships between reploids and humans to be a very strange thing, even for himself.
"Tu, don't make that face." Bao said. "She's just my colleague and my friend, and I don't have any platonic or romantic feelings for her."
"I know everything, dad." Tu said, while continuing to maintain a smug face. "So, you don't have to lie to me."
The young human woman giggled a little as she watched the relationship between her adoptive father and daughter.
Meanwhile…
Sonic and Tails continued to walk around the island in search of the Chaos Emerald. Soon the blue hedgehog noticed something glowing among the dead bushes.
"Tails, there's something glowing there!" The blue hedgehog drew his friend's attention.
They both approached the dead bushes and, parting them, they both discovered...
"Chaos Emerald!"
Sonic took the turquoise emerald with his hand and together with Tails, they looked at it. Suddenly, the Chaos Emerald began to glow brighter, and the hedgehog and fox cub were engulfed in the light. Soon they found themselves on the street of a city.
"Vision again?" Asked Tails.
"I think so." Said Sonic. "We need to find out where we are."
"Sonic, look!" The blue hedgehog turned to the little fox, who pointed his finger somewhere. "I see that same girl with red hair and Atomic Man!"
Sonic looked where his friend pointed and saw a girl they knew and creatures walking down the street in an unknown direction. The two heroes decided to follow them and ran at high speed towards them. When they stopped behind them, Sonic and Tails began to walk. Sometime later they arrived up to a two-story house. The blue hedgehog and the little fox stopped, confused as to why they came here, before looking at the red-haired girl and Atomic Man.
"Let's go to my house!" Said the girl, opening the door and calling out to the creatures. "There you will meet my mother. She is good, I tell you honestly."
Atomic Man looked at her with rather uncertain eyes before he followed her into the two-story house and the door closed. At first, Sonic and Tails didn't understand what was going on here.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT IT THAT?!"
The hedgehog and the fox looked at the house: they heard the cry of an adult woman. Still not understanding what was happening, they both went to the window and looked inside the house. There they saw a frightened woman with red, long, and wavy hair, who looked at Atomic Man with horror and fear. The red-haired girl was between them and seemed to be saying something to this woman. The more carefully both heroes looked at this scene, the better they could hear their words.
"Mom, calm down!" Said the girl. "He won't harm you. He is my friend."
"Emmy, can explain to me what this is?!" Asked the woman (apparently the mother of the red-haired girl) in a panicked tone. "Or who is this if you call him "he"?!"
"I don't know his name." Said Emmy. "He can't talk, but I know he's friendly and he won't hurt people."
Emmy's mother continued to stare at the creatures before she calmed down. Soon all three of them left somewhere. Sonic and Tails moved to the other side of the house and looked out the window there. They saw the girl talking to her mother. Listening, the blue hedgehog and the little fox heard the following:
"Mother. This is a great chance! He will help us in our escape to the land above us! If the three of us end up there, we will be happy forever!"
"How could I not have guessed." Muttered the little fox.
"Couldn't guess what?" Asked a puzzled Sonic, looking at the fox.
"I read somewhere about this place." Tails answered, looking at the hedgehog in turn. "As I remember, the place where we are now is called Blackwood. This was a city that was built by "real" people after Atomic Day. Blackwood is notorious for its strict laws, including marriage laws. According to one of these laws, when a young person turns 16, he or she is matched with a partner with whom they will have a healthy and strong generation. But it all turned into hellish torment and this law began to be abused. Because of this, residents of this town fled to the Lands of the Sky to be free from these laws."
"So, you're telling me that Emmy and her mother want to escape from there to the Lands of the Sky?" Sonic asked, understanding the meaning of the little fox's words.
"That's right." the little fox confirmed.
"Okay, Emmy, I have a plan." Both heroes heard the woman's voice and looked out the window again to see the red-haired girl's mother, who was talking with her daughter and her friend. "Now we are packing our things and tomorrow night we leave the house so that no one notices us. What about you (the woman turned to the Atomic Man) you can help us with things now and escape us from Blackwood, okay?"
The creature nodded its head. Soon everything turned bright white, and both heroes found themselves again at the dead bushes. The visions they saw in the emeralds began to gather in the heads of the heroes.
Atomic Day occurred and millions of people died. Then, out of nowhere, Atom Man himself appears. After some time, he meets a girl named Emmy in the forest. They both became friends. Then, by the river, a red-haired girl tells the creature what is happening in Blackwood. She would later lead him to the house, where he would scare Emmy's mom with his appearance before they began telling him about their plan to escape from Blackwood to the Land of the Sky to free themselves from the harsh laws of their city. And then what happened?
Sonic and Tails asked this question at the same time. Perhaps they will find the answer to this question in the vision of the sixth emerald. Our heroes stood up and Sonic said with a satisfied smile:
"Well, the first task of this day has already been completed, so we can go and help them with the island...By the way, where did the big shadow come from? After all, in this place there are no more tre... Es..."
Meanwhile, with the island restoration team...
Tu helped her father with garbage collection. She was wearing a mask, rubber gloves and a small apron. In her left hand she held a garbage bag, and in her right hand she held a special stick with a point for picking up garbage. The girl was glad that at least she was given a chance to help this group with something.
She soon collected the last of the trash, put it in a bag and tied it up before she went to her father. At this time, Bao was also engaged in collecting garbage.
"Dad!" The girl said loudly to her adoptive father. "I collected my very first garbage bag."
"Well done, Tu." Bao praised her.
"Dad, can you give me the next bag?" Asked the Vietnamese girl. "I want to collect a bunch of garbage!"
"Okay." Said Bao, reaching out to the empty bag and giving it to Tu.
"Thank you!" the girl thanked and went to collect more garbage.
It seems like I underestimated her. Bao thought, seeing how his adopted daughter was enjoying helping him and the other members of the group. She is so hardworking and reliable. I remember that when she was still a baby, I underestimated her, thinking that I would send her to hell in an orphanage. But then she became like a daughter to me. It's not for nothing that I called her "Tu". She, like a guiding star, led me on the right path, complete peace and happiness, and no loneliness.
He looked thoughtfully as Tu collected garbage. Some thoughts came into his head.
Maybe I should still honestly admit to everyone who I was before I came to Phu Quoc with her? Thought the gray reploid. I don't know how they will react to this. I don't want Tu to get into trouble because of this. And... Finally admit to Hoa how I feel about her? She could be not only a beloved wife, but also a good mother for Tu. Still, they both are somewhat like each other.
He remembered that Hoa had once told him that when she was a child, she lost her parents, becoming an orphan. Then her aunt adopted her, but when Hoa turned 19, her aunt died of stomach cancer. She had no one except her aunt, so Hoa lives alone. She later joined the Dao Za restoration group because she loved nature very much and did not want to let a place like this island remain in such a terrible state.
They met when Boa joined this group. At first, he treated her as a colleague, but later developed "strange" feelings for her due to her kind, gentle and caring side. Although he didn't want to tell her this for the other reason that she might reject him, because she, too, might think that a love couple between a human and a reploid looks very strange.
While Bao was thinking about this...Suddenly, out of nowhere, right in front of the island recovery team, Sonic and Tails fell face down on the ground. A second later, the blue hedgehog began to rise to his feet with heaviness. One reploid and a human walked over to the hedgehog and helped him up while another human walked over to Tails to check if he was okay. Getting to his feet, Sonic looked back at the group and said:
"Thank you…"
"Dude, what happened to you?" Asked the reploid, who helped the hedgehog to stand up, before he fully examined the blue speedster and did not recognize him as the famous hedgehog from the news. "And you are organic?!"
"Guys..." Sonic addressed the group. "...Get off this island!"
"Why?!" Asked another person from the group, quite puzzled by the hedgehog's answer.
"The Doppler Army is here on this island!" answered the blue hedgehog. "You take my friend with you while I distract them! And you need to do it quickly!"
Having said these words, Sonic accelerated and ran towards the dead forest, from where he flew out. The group, a little perplexed by the situation but realizing that this could be serious and life-threatening, began to gather. The largest reploid in the group took the little fox in his arms.
"Dad, what's going on?" Tu asked her father anxiously.
"I don't know completely myself." Bao answered. "But we need to leave urgently."
"What if…" The Vietnamese girl began, but then they suddenly heard an explosion behind them.
All the people and reploids turned around and saw smoke coming from the dead forest.
"Now the answer to my question has been received," Tu said.
"Come on, we'll leave our things here." Bao said, taking his adopted daughter by the hand.
The island recovery team began walking down the path to get to their vehicles. But as soon as they got there...
"STAY RIGHT HERE!"
Suddenly, the entire group of humans and reploids found themselves surrounded by Doppler Army soldiers. The soldiers pointed their blaster rifles at them.
Crap! Bao thought, looking at the soldiers and the frightened Tu.
The reploid father held the Vietnamese girl close to him to protect her from the mavericks. Soon a blue green reploid emerged, apparently the main one in this group. He approached Bao and looked him straight in the eyes.
"So, what's going on?" The gray reploid asked without a hint of fear in his voice.
"We are detaining you," Answered the blue-green soldier. "We saw you interact with two of Dr. Doppler's enemies."
"Yes, and what is this problem?" Bao asked, a little puzzled by the reploid's answer.
"Because you communicated with them and even picked up one of them, you are officially their accomplices," The soldier said. "Give us that damned little fox and we'll spare you. And if you don't..."
"...Then you will shoot us?" Asked the gray reploid, finishing the blue green reploid's sentence.
They looked at each other for a minute of silence until Bao said sarcastically:
"And you guys are excellent comedians! I have never heard anything more absurd! Are you declaring us all to be criminals, that you will shoot us, that we talked to them in one millisecond? I'm ready to laugh at your little joke."
"It's not funny!" The angry reploid said loudly. "This is the order of our master Doctor Doppler! If anyone, even a reploid, talks to his enemies, they will all be destroyed."
"The words of a foolish scientist are more important to you than your own reasoning?" Bao asked with a hint of sarcasm and disguist. "Well, if yes, then why do you follow his every word? He is not a politician or some kind of military commander."
"How dare you talk about our master like that?!" The blue green reploid shouted. "We went to him because if it weren't for him, we would have died serving people!"
"Then who does he see in you now?" Asked the gray reploid, looking at the soldier with narrowed eyes. "Weapons and tools for domination?"
At this point the blue green reploid fell silent. He looked blankly at Bao. Deep down, on the one hand, he denied what his reploid father said, but, on the other, he found some truth in his words, especially considering how much time Dr. Doppler had changed. But the blue green reploid soldier continued to deny everything.
"It is not true!" The soldier shouted. "You're lying!"
"And if not?" Asked Bao.
"Then..." The blue green reploid looked at the Vietnamese girl who was pressed against the gray reploid.
With his hand, the reploid soldier grabbed Tu by the shoulder and forcibly pulled her out of her adoptive father's arms.
"TU!" Bao shouted in shock and wanted to run to snatch her back to him, but before he could do this, the blue green reploid hugged the girl to him, holding her with one hand and pointing his blaster gun at the top of her head.
"...Then I might shoot her!" Finished the reploid soldier.
Seeing the blaster gun right next to her head, the Vietnamese girl began to shake with fear.
"Dad..." Said Tu quietly, who was already on the verge of tears.
"Dad?" The blue green reploid asked, looking at the girl in surprise before he looked back at the gray reploid. "What is she talking about..."
Before he had time to finish his sentence, he saw that Bao was standing in front of him at a very close distance, looking straight into his eyes. His narrowed eyes showed that he was very angry, and his hands were shaking violently with anger. All members of the island restoration team were wary, as they knew well what happens if someone threatens the safety of Tu.
"Can you please let my daughter go." Bao said in a frightening voice in which anger could be heard.
This looks on the gray reploid's face and tone of voice made the blue green soldier feel uneasy. Looking at him, it seemed to him that he was looking not at a gray reploid, but at a real demon from the depths of hell. He continued to look at Bao, when suddenly...
SMASH
The blue green soldier fell to the ground with his head broken along with his blaster gun and released Tu from his hands. Tails, who came to his senses, broke the soldier's head with a spin dash from behind the reploid himself.
"Thank you." The Vietnamese girl thanked, looking at the little fox.
In response, the little fox blinked his right eye at her and smiled before he turned to Bao and the rest of the island's recovery members:
"Run, I'll cover you!"
After he said this, Tails curled into a ball and began attacking the Doppler Army soldiers. Taking advantage of this, the members of the island restoration group each ran to their car. Everyone sat down and fastened their seat belts before leaving here. The one who was sitting in the car with her father looked through the rear window to see the little fox continuing to fight with the Doppler Army soldiers. For some reason she panicked.
"Dad, we need to go back!" The Vietnamese girl turned to her father, "He needs help!"
"They could," Bao said in a gloomy tone. "If we had time..."
"But we have time!" Tu said. "You can leave me with someone from our group and go after him. It'll do?"
The gray reploid silently considered his daughter's words.
With Sonic...
"Listen, big guy, you move very slow!" Sonic said with a cheeky smile, running from the mechaniloid,
In its appearance, the mechanoloid* resembled a spider. This robot was green in color and had a stylized "D" on the side of its body. The huge robot pointed its claw at Sonic, but the hedgehog easily crossed to the other side. While he was doing this, the blue speedster looked towards the mechanoloid and thought out a plan in his head on how to take the two Chaos Emeralds from this large robot.
We need to come up with a plan to stop this spider robot and take the two emeralds back. Sonic thought. If Tails were...
As soon as he said his friend's name, he suddenly felt anxiety rise within him. Thoughts began to appear in the blue hedgehog's head that something was happening to Tails, but he didn't know what exactly. Maybe it was intuition or not, but with every second the worries for the little fox became stronger and stronger.
Sonic, don't be paranoid! The hedgehog said to himself in his mind. Tails will be fine. He is with the members of this group, and he knows how to stand up for himself. I taught him all the moves I know, so...
Before the blue hedgehog could finish his thought, he was grabbed by the claw of a huge mechaniloid. The claw returned to its original place on the robot's "belly."
Cool. Thought Sonic. Now I'm stuck. I need to get out of his claw...
Meanwhile with Tails...
"Gotcha, who was biting!" One of the three remaining soldiers in Dr. Doppler's army said loudly as he grabbed the little fox by the collar.
"Ouch!" Tails shouted from the pain the reploid was causing him. "It's hurt!"
"Yeah, you said "it's hurt"! Said the second soldier. "It will be hurt more if you..."
"No need, F-764." The third reploid turned to the second. "Do you remember that our master ordered us to bring this little fox and the hedgehog to him alive?"
"If this is about him wanting me to work with him, then never in my damn life!" Said the little fox, while resisting.
"What a brave man we have found!" Said the first one in a sarcastic tone. "Now listen to us, you little creature! If you don't resist and come with your friend with us, then nothing will happen to you. And if…"
Before the first soldier had time to finish his sentence, someone suddenly hit him on the head. The reploid fell to the ground, freeing the fox. It was Bao, who was holding a rusty pipe in his right hand.
"Hey, did you forget something here?" Asked the second reploid, pointing his blaster gun along with the third soldier at the gray reploid.
The reploid father looked at Tails before turning his gaze to the two mavericks.
"Threaten to take the life of someone who can't protect himself?" He asked. "This is low even for you as reploids."
"What did you said?!" The first soldier asked as he rose to his feet, taking the gray reploid's hand and squeezing it tightly. "How are you..."
"Ever since I was a participant in the rally 9 years ago." Bao began, "I assumed that from now on all reploids would be happy that they received equal rights not only thanks to this rally, but also to some people who supported this rally. But I noticed that some began to abuse equal rights and commit crimes, becoming "mavericks". It seems my daughter was right about something..."
"Well, shut up!" The first reploid shouted, squeezing the gray reploid's hand tighter.
CRASH (x2)
The first reploid turned to see that his allies were already broken, and Tails was standing behind him.
"You can hold him, Mister..." Tails began to speak.
"Bao. Just Bao." Said the gray reploid and, taking advantage of the distraction of the reploid soldier's attention, freed his hand and punched him in the face.
The Reploid fell to the ground, and Bao grabbed him by the armpits and began to hold him tightly.
"Hey! Let me go!" The reploid soldier said loudly.
"I have questions for you." Said the little fox, approaching him, "Why does Doctor Doppler need us and for what purpose?"
"Why this question?" Asked the soldier, puzzled by the fox's question.
"I asked: Why does Doppler need us and what does he want from us?" Tails replied, repeating his question.
The reploid soldier stared at the little fox for 5 seconds before he responded:
"I don't know."
"What?" Asked the puzzled little fox.
"Master Doppler never told us about his plans, and we did what we were ordered and given." The reploid soldier explained. "We never poked our noses into things and simply ignored what he was doing there in his laboratory."
"If you don't know why he wants to capture us, then I'll ask a new question." Tails said. "Have you ever noticed anything strange and unusual about Doppler's behavior when you saw him?"
"Well, earlier, besides the fact that he immediately hated people for some reason, I didn't notice anything strange or unusual in him." the soldier answered. "...Before I heard him mention "master"."
"Master"? Bao and Tails asked together.
"I know, I myself didn't understand what he meant." The reploid continued. "After all, I didn't know anyone who was Master Doppler's "master". I approached him one day and asked him about it. He waved it off and returned to his laboratory."
The gray reploid and the small fox looked at the soldier reploid, thinking about what he had just said.
Very interesting. thought Tails. Sonic mentioned to me that when he saw him in Doppler Town Park, Doc seemed sane. Does this mean that someone or something was controlling Doppler and using him as a puppet in their plans? And judging by the fact that he called someone "brother", this means that perhaps whoever controls Doppler has a family. If that's the case, then that makes Dr. Doppler the victim in this situation.
CRUSH
The little fox, Bao and the reploid soldier looked to where the sound came from and saw Sonic and the mechanoloid who were in the place where the island restoration team was sorting out the garbage. Seeing his friend fighting a huge robot, Tails turned to Bao and said:
"Mr. Bao, go with him to a safe distance while my friend and I deal with this bot! See you later!"
The little fox flew on his two tails towards the battle, leaving two reploids behind. A few seconds later he arrived in the thick of the battle. He saw that the mechanolid's claw was approaching Sonic and quickly headed towards the hedgehog. Meanwhile, the blue speedster was still in the robot's claw and was trying to get out. Suddenly, he saw Tails flying towards him.
"Tails!" The blue hedgehog shouted, deep down he was glad that his friend was all right.
"Senior bro, can't you help but put your life in danger for even one minute?" The little fox asked sarcastically, smiling widely, and taking out a small welding torch from his bag.
"I can, but it doesn't work out because of the circumstances." The blue hedgehog answered jokingly as Tails began to melt the claw he was wearing and turned to the little fox. "Buddy, are you ready to finish him off and return our emeralds to us?"
"I understand." Tails said self-confidently, having already finished his work.
Sonic freed himself from the claw and the little fox took the blue runner by the hand and flew up. They both rolled into balls and combined, thus creating a combination spin dash reminiscent of a yin-yang, or rolling combo. The Rolling Combo was a trick that was invented by the hedgehog and the fox not long ago back in their world to fend off a powerful attack against the large badniks built by Dr. Eggman. In this form, they quickly headed to the mechalonoid and...
CRUSH
Sonic and Tails punched through the torso of a huge robot. During this, the blue hedgehog and the small fox took two emeralds that were inside the mechanoloid.
They each landed gracefully with an emerald in their hand, while behind them, a large robot fell to the ground, left without its power source and several important parts for its functioning. The hedgehog and fox turned and looked at the losing maverick before they looked at each other and high-fived.
Soon, Sonic and Tails came down from the top of the island. On the way, the little fox talked about how he fought with the soldiers of Dr. Doppler's army, was saved by Bao, and the answers of the interrogated remaining reploid soldier. When the fox finished telling all this, they were already close to two reploids who were at a safe distance from the island.
"Hello." Sonic said, approaching the gray reploid. "Are you Bao? Thanks for saving my little bro's life."
"You're welcome." The reploid father said in response before looking at the reploid soldier.
"Well, what are we going to do with him?" The blue hedgehog asked as his mind ran through different options on what they would do with the soldier.
"We can take him to the headquarters of the Maverick Hunters in Than Pho Zo Co." Bao said, drawing the attention of Sonic and Tails. "He can testify there."
"Headquarters in Than Pho Zo Co?" Said the hedgehog. "I see, but on what street?"
"Sonic." The blue speedster turned his attention to his friend, who gave him Miles Electric with the indicated address of the hunters' headquarters, "here." The exact address of the headquarters is indicated there. "This way you will get there much faster."
"Bao!" Suddenly everyone heard a voice (this voice was familiar to the gray reploid) and the three turned to see the island restoration group along with Tu.
They all looked in surprise not only at Bao, but also at Sonic and Tails. There was silence until an orange reploid emerged from the crowd.
"Bao, what happened here?" Asked the orange reploid, approaching the gray reploid. "Why did you leave Tu with us and go back? Why are you holding Dr. Doppler's army soldier? And...Why do you have a scratch on your hand?!"
"I told dad to come back here." Everyone looked at Tu, who spoke with a guilty look.
"Why?" Gen asked, surprised by the girl's answer.
"B-because this hedgehog is the person who saved my life." Tu answered, and tears appeared in her eyes. "I couldn't just leave someone who related to my savior. I panicked and told dad to help them. But then I realized that I sent dad to where... I'm so sorry!"
At this point, Tu began to cry out of guilt.
"Tu..." Bao said quietly before he turned to Gen. "Gen, can you hold this guy for me? I will be grateful."
"Um, okay..." The orange reploid said before he snatched the Doppler Army soldier into his arms from the gray reploid.
Bao walked over to his daughter and sat down on one knee. He raised his hand and stroked Tu's head, causing her to look at her adoptive father.
"Everything is fine." Said the gray reploid. "I'm not mad at you. The main thing is that everything ended well. I know why you did it, but please explain to me next time when you say we need to go back."
"Okay, dad." Tu said, smiling and hugging Bao.
Everyone looked at this picture with a smile, including Sonic and Tails. Soon the blue hedgehog and the little fox approached the daughter and father. Bao turned to them and asked:
"Your name is Sonic, right?"
"Yeah." Answered the hedgehog.
"Thank you for saving my daughter's life."
"You're welcome." The blue hedgehog said with a smile before he asked. "By the way what did you mean when you talked about the rally that took place 9 years ago? I heard that from Tails. I'm interested in hearing this."
The gray reploid first looked at the hedgehog, and then turned his gaze to Tu. The girl patted her father's back with her hand and said quietly:
"You can do it, dad."
Taking a deep breath, Bao rose to his feet and turned to the crowd.
"I have something I wanted to tell you." The gray reploid said loudly before he began to tell. "As you already know, Tu is my adopted daughter, but before I met her and generally acquired my current name... I'm not from this country. 9 years ago, I lived in Arcadia City as a worker reploid. Seeing how people treat reploids lousy in these times, I decided to participate in the rally known to you all as the "Arcadia robo-rally." Unfortunately, my friends died during the rally at the hands of people, and I ran away to escape persecution from the state. When I arrived in this country, I received my name and a new appearance. At first, because of what happened at the rally, I did not trust people and was at odds with them. That was before...Until I met Tu. She was still a baby when I found her on the street. I took Tu to the hospital. There, medical staff decided whether to send the child to an orphanage or assign her a guardian. I volunteered. I raised her in Hanoi until we moved here. If you are wondering where her parents or relatives are, the police found a woman on the street who appeared to be Tu's mother, but she was already dead. They told me that this woman committed suicide because of something, but I never found out the reason. I didn't tell anyone about my past except Tu. I was afraid that if they recognized me as a participant in this rally and that I had an adopted human child, then they might take her away from me and I would never see her again. I was worried that after Tu was taken away from me, it would be very difficult for her. I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you all earlier...I didn't have the courage to tell you..."
There was silence. The island recovery members, Sonic and Tails looked at Bao as they digested this information. Hoa soon emerged from the crowd and approached Bao to hug him, much to the gray reploid's surprise.
"Bao..." Said the black-haired woman. "... We appreciate you for who you are. Thanks to you, all reploids received their rights and became free. We don't care who you were in the old days. The only thing we know about you is that you are one of us. You are a member of the restoration group of Dao Za Island, a resident of Lang Chima and the father of Tu. And you are more than an acquaintance or friend to me."
The gray reploid froze for 7 seconds, dumbfounded, until he also hugged Hoa.
"...Yes," He said quietly.
Soon, everyone except Sonic, Tails, and Gen, who was still holding the Doppler Army soldier, joined in on this friendly hug. It was difficult to see the Maverick soldier's expression because his head was down. Meanwhile, the hedgehog and the little fox looked at each other with knowing smiles.
"Are you thinking about the same thing as me?" Sonic asked.
"That's right." Tails answered affirmatively.
In the next morning…
One fisherman was fishing in the sea. He did this calmly, drinking something under his breath, until he glanced at Dao Za. What the fisherman saw made him literally jump to his feet in the boat with his eyes wide open in surprise.
"Dai la Dao Za zo?!*" He shouted in Vietnamese.
Dao Za Island itself was no longer that trash island. Instead, a green island appeared. Grasses, bushes, and trees grew on Dao Za. Insects, birds, and various animals settled everywhere. Two small birds chirped while sitting on the leg of the broken mechalonoid that already graced this island under the open sunny sky with white clouds.
Meanwhile…
Sonic and Tails, in their disguises, sat in the same restaurant and ate Vietnamese soup along with Nem Ran* for breakfast. Since they had restored Dao Za with the help of the Chaos Emeralds, they slept a little before returning to the town and finding a restaurant there with delicious traditional dishes of Vietnam. Our heroes really liked this kind of cuisine, which can explain their happy faces while eating food.
"Mhhmmm…These are so delicious!" Sonic said with a smile. "It's a pity that this restaurant didn't have chili dogs."
"It's hard to disagree with you." Tails nodded.
"Hello!" Suddenly the fox and the hedgehog heard someone's childish voice.
The two friends turned to see Tu with her father. The little girl waved at them before she and Bao walked off into the crowd. Both heroes smiled because they knew that yesterday had gone well, and they returned to breakfast again. Out of the corner of their ears, they both heard the news presenter on the TV that hung in the restaurant talking about the events that happened today or yesterday in English.
"Now let's move on to the important news. Today at 5 o'clock in the morning at the headquarters of the Maverick Hunters in Than Pho Zo Co, a soldier from the army of the infamous Dr. Doppler was killed before interrogation."
As soon as Sonic and Tails heard this, they both spat out the food that was in their mouths.
WHAT?! The two friends thought in unison, shocked by this news.
"It is believed that someone in Dr. Doppler's army or Dr. Doppler himself was responsible for the murder of this soldier. Maverick hunters are currently investigating and there will be an update to this story sooner or later."
The hedgehog and the little fox looked at each other in alarm.
Next time...Revenge of the Maverick Beetle!
Author's additional notes:
*Than Pho Zo Co comes from two words in Vietnamese "thanh pho giau co" which translates to "Rich City", which describes the city itself well.
*Nem Ran is fried ran (minced meat wrapped in rice paper and deep fried). It can also be called a "pancake" because of the similarity. Ran is a popular dish in Vietnamese cuisine.
*Lang Chim = bird village
*This mechanoloid that Sonic and Tails fought is very similar in appearance to that mechanoloid from the beginning of Mega Man X: The day of Sigma (OVA).
*Dai la Dao Za zao?! = Is this Dai Za?! (from Vietnamese).
If you want to see Bao and Tu again, one story from the 2024 Annual will focus on their own adventure.
See you later!