Standing by the door while still in a mansion, Sonic grunts while slamming his fist on the wall, realising that Clutch was right about him.
Sonic is now under the impression that he's just Nicky, but a jerk.
Before Sonic takes a step, footsteps are approaching him rapidly as Sonic turns around and exclaims with surprise.
"Nicky!" A red shelled anthropomorphic armadillo boy and a yellow furred anthropomorphic squirrel boy yelled as they crashed onto Sonic.
"Oof! Mighty? Ray? How did you guys…"
"We thought you were gone! I thought you died! But you're okay!" Ray the Flying Squirrel wailed while hugging Sonic.
"Ray hadn't shut up about you being gone for a short while." Mighty the Armadillo grab Ray's mouth while sighing and then lean closer. "Where the heck have you been!?" Mighty shouted as Sonic pushed both Mighty and Ray.
"Long story. Also, can you at least call me Sonic from now on?" Sonic would rather be called by his new name than his real name.
"Why? You playing a game, mate?" Mighty asks while confused.
"I think he hit his head or something." Ray said while pointing at his own forehead.
"No, you see… Nevermind, you'll never understand." Sonic sighs as he sulks.
"I mean it's okay. We can have nicknames, right Mighty?" Ray is all for giving Sonic a nickname.
"Seriously? Ugh, fine. If that makes us happy, mate." Mighty groaned.
Afterwards, Sonic turns towards the door until Mighty grabs Sonic's shoulder.
"So, we saw the bunny gal with ya. Is she your girlfriend?" Mighty asks with a teasing smirk.
"What!?" Sonic halts while blushing bright red.
"Huh!? How does that work!? How did you get a girlfriend!? Is that why you left us!? How could you betray us!?" Ray screamed as he cried.
"Darn it, Ray, you bloody idiot! It was just a joke." Mighty rubs his temples while shaking his head.
"Really?" Ray quickly calms down.
"Yeah. Now can you let go?" Sonic raises his arm while avoiding uncomfortable contact with Ray.
Finally, Ray lets Sonic go as Sonic opens the door, glancing at 2 of his old friends.
Inside a bedroom, both Mighty and Ray's jaws are dropping as they gasp for a certain someone in a bedroom.
"A p- p- p…"
"A princess!? Sonic, who is that!? When!? WHERE!?" Ray yelled while grabbing Sonic's arms.
"Ray! Shut up!" Mighty snaps as Ray stops himself from screaming. "Sonic, why is there a princess here?"
"Again, long story." Sonic shrugs his shoulders and then looks at the chipmunk girl groaning while slowly opening her eyes.
The chipmunk girl is finally awake after being unconscious all day and night yesterday.
"Huh?" The princess chipmunk turns her head as she wakes up and the first thing she sees is Sonic, Mighty and Ray. "What the?"
Sonic looks at the chipmunk with a serious expression whereas Mighty and Ray gasps with surprise.
"You're awake, princess!" Mighty bows while pulling Ray down to bow.
"Ah? Uh, Sonic?" Ray sees Sonic not bowing and looks away as he leaves the room.
"Wait." The chipmunk called.
As Sonic stops he looks at the chipmunk with silence.
"Tell me, where are we?" The chipmunk asks.
"I don't know. Go ask Bunnie yourself." Sonic replied bluntly.
"Bunnie!? She's okay, is she!?" The chipmunk desperately asks after being told by Sonic himself.
"You mean that bunny gal we saw in the corridor?" Mighty points out with a question.
"I knew it! He did have a girlfriend! Nicky, how could you!?" Ray yelled out of jealousy as Mighty grabbed Ray to calm him down.
"Nicky?" The chipmunk is surprised that his name is mentioned.
"That's Sonic to you, Ray!" Sonic corrects Ray with a dirty look.
"Sonic… That name, you mean you're the real Sonic from the fairytale my father told me about." The chipmunk said with surprise.
Sonic grunts while being reminded that a fairytale like that is just his delusion, even Clutch reminds him to look into the real world.
"Huh? Did I say something wrong?" The chipmunk asked out of concern.
Even Mighty and Ray are worried that their friend is acting a lot different than before as Mighty reaches his arm.
As Sonic shakes his head, he then looks at the chipmunk.
"So you really are Bunnie's friend. Hm. She's at the…" Sonic stops as the door opens.
Bunnie has arrived while panting, seeing Sonic with 2 of his friends and the chipmunk.
Finally, both girls' eyes are met with tears as the duo reunite.
"Sal!" Bunnie dives as she glomps onto the chipmunk girl and weeps.
"B- Bunnie?"
"Sal! Sal!" Bunnie cries as the chipmunk hugs her back.
"It's okay, Bunnie. I'm fine." The chipmunk comforts Bunnie while letting her cry on her shoulder.
Mighty, Ray and Sonic are speechless after seeing Bunnie's bittersweet joy for her close friend's awakening.
"Sonic, it was you who saved us, is it not?" The chipmunk asked with surprise before Sonic leaves.
"Hold it right there, mate, the gal's asking you this question." Mighty stops Sonic from leaving as Sonic looks back and then looks into the chipmunk's eyes.
With the 2 of them staring at each other, Bunnie lifts herself up and places her hands on Sally's shoulders.
"It is him. He saved our lives." Bunnie reveals who did all the work on defeating Eggman's army.
As the chipmunk approaches Sonic, Sonic is being blocked by Mighty and Ray, leading him to corner himself.
"What do you know, I like your style. To think someone went out of his way to fight Eggman like this. I like it, but you're also an idiot." The chipmunk's expression went from a smile to a frown.
"Sal?" Bunnie is noticing a pattern of why people are against Sonic.
"Heh? And why is that?" Sonic asks with a confident yet nervous grin.
"You don't know? There is no Sonic the Hedgehog. My father told me that if he was real, then we would've been saved by now, so stop pretending to be Sonic." The chipmunk said with a harsher tone.
Sonic is now under the impression that Clutch is absolutely right about him as the chipmunk is saying it differently.
"I just wish Sonic was real, so we wouldn't be going through Eggman's attack." The chipmunk's voice quivers as she falls to her knees.
Even Mighty and Ray are lost, knowing that Sonic and others aren't the only victims of Eggman's attack.
This had Sonic clenching his teeth, showing anger as he pulled Sally's top as the group gasps.
"Mr. Sonic!" Bunnie exclaimed.
"Hey! That's the princess!" Mighty shouted while being grabbed by Ray.
"Mighty! Calm down!" Ray called out while struggling to hold Mighty off.
"Shut up! I know there isn't a Sonic! But there will be! Do you not know what Eggman will do if we just stand around! I just want to go on an adventure! I wanted to run fast! I wanted to be free! If I want to be who I am, then stop telling me I am not! I am Sonic and there's nothing you can do to stop me from being one!" Sonic rants as rage has come out, rendering the group speechless as Sonic pushes the chipmunk away.
The chipmunk is surprised to see how she managed to poke him on his bad side after they met.
"It's okay, Mr. Sonic." Bunnie finally speaks out.
"Bunnie…" The chipmunk turns towards Bunnie as Bunnie herself approaches Sonic and comforts Sonic himself.
"Even if you're not Sonic, you're still my Sonic. No matter who you are, you're still him." Bunnie expresses her honesty after what Sonic did for her. "Sal, just give him a chance, please. He saved our lives which means we can defeat Dr. Eggman."
Mighty and Ray can tell why Sonic and Bunnie bonded after bringing more children in the mansion altogether.
"We're heading to Westside Island to take you back home, Sal." Said Bunnie.
To the chipmunk's surprise, Sonic and Bunnie have been doing all this to bring her back to her kingdom after saving her life.
"If that's true, then let me take him on!" Mighty finally accepts the truth as he doesn't want Sonic to be left in the dark.
"Yeah! I wanna fight too!" Ray is with Mighty on that one, feeling the same as Mighty after knowing what Sonic will do to himself.
To Sonic's surprise, it's not just Bunnie that wants to tagalong, but Mighty and Ray as well, knowing that their brotherhood will never break.
The chipmunk had realised that she underestimated Sonic as she walked towards him.
"Look. I'm sorry. It's just that I lost my kingdom and I'm scared that my father is getting himself killed. I don't want my father to die." The chipmunk finally said her truth, weeping as she fears the loss of her family.
This leads to Sonic patting the chipmunk's head and looking at Sonic.
"We'll go there together." Sonic finally comes to his senses while wanting to help the chipmunk save her family and her home.
"Huh?"
"That's right. We'll go together. I ain't joining your freedom fighter cause because I fight my own fights." Sonic concludes.
"Sonic…"
As Sonic and the chipmunk are standing in front of one another, the chipmunk wipes her own tears as she's glad to have someone standing up against Eggman's destruction.
"Sonic, are you really a hero?" The chipmunk girl asked.
"Nah. Just a guy that goes on adventures." Sonic points to himself with a grin.
"Really. And I'm the leader of Team Freedom. I'm Sally Acorn, the princess of the Kingdom of Acorn." Sally, the chipmunk, introduces herself with a confident smile while shaking Sonic's hand.
Sonic can tell why the insignia is an acorn, it's because of Sally and her kingdom.
After the introduction, Bunnie cheers while wrapping her arms around Sonic and Sally, even though Mighty and Ray are around by patting and rubbing Sonic's head.
"Hehe! I knew you're still nice, Sonic!" Ray laughs.
"Hmph. Lucky you're still the same." Mighty sighed while hitting Sonic's back, although it stings.
"I need to find the chaos emeralds." Said Sonic calmly.
"Wait, seriously?" Sally is confused as much as Mighty and Ray.
Sonic nods while revealing 3 chaos emeralds which shocked all except Bunnie.
"How in the…" Sally gasped with surprise.
"No way." Ray is also surprised to see what Sonic has unveiled.
"You're kidding me, right?" Mighty thinks he's seeing things until Sonic shakes his head.
"Since you guys know about these things, I'm new to all this. Are there any other 4 left?" Sonic asked.
"HUH!?" Sally, Mighty and Ray exclaimed about there being 7 chaos emeralds instead of 6.
"That's right. Mr. Clutch did tell us there's more before Dr. Eggman gets his hands on any of 'em." Bunnie said.
"I heard there's a fourth one at the ancient temple, but due to it being ancient, there's no way to find it." Sally confirms the status of the emerald, leading Sonic to look at the blue sunny sky. "But let's take a break before starting our search. Sonic, what do you like doing in your spare time?"
"I mean… I like to be somewhere quieter where it's not too crowded." Sonic answered.
"Easy. The flower field is around that direction." Mighty points at the said direction that Sonic needed.
"Thanks, Mighty." Sonic nods and then runs off.
"Sonic! Let me come. I also wanted some quiet space from the things that happened earlier." Sally said while holding her own arm.
"Heh. If that's what you want, then sure. Follow me." Sonic then rushes off while Sally quickly follows.
"Just how fast is this guy?" Sally asked out of confusion.
Even Bunnie, Mighty and Ray are unsure which leads to Sally groaning, realising that she wouldn't be able to keep up with Sonic.