Introductory Chapter: Invitation
It was a very ordinary clear sunny day in the Green Hills. Clouds slowly almost imperceptible plowed across the sky. Breeze of summer. Sonic, in such a calm environment, spent time relaxing in the shade of a tall palm tree, enjoying the fresh air. Everything was so calm, quiet and peaceful, that in such an environment it would not be a sin to doze off.
But just as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he was disturbed by the rustle of grass. He raised his eyelids and suddenly noticed a man in a blue uniform, a cap with a bag on his shoulder, running towards him at full speed. Obviously a postman. He looked out of breath, as if he had been running from the station itself.
- Excuse me! - The man shouted as he ran.
Sonic arched his eyebrows in disbelief as he looked at the running postman. As soon as he reached it, he put his hands on his knees, caught his breath, wiped sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, and sighed deeply.
- *Huff…huff* Sonic the Hedgehog? It's urgent for you - he said, and reaching into his bag, he fished out a yellowish envelope with some kind of handwritten inscription in black pen.
The postman handed Sonic a letter, taking off his cap.
- Uh...Thanks? - Sonic hesitantly accepted the envelope from the young man's hand.
- Please sign here, here and here - The postman took out a paper tablet with an already attached document and a pen from his bag and handed them to Sonic to confirm receipt.
Sonic looked at the document, still hesitantly accepted the pen and signed on the recipient's stripe. The postman bowed. Taking the pen, he put it together with the tablet in his bag, put on his cap and left. Sonic watched him go with a still confused look, then turned his gaze to the envelope.
- I wonder who it could be…
He was willing to bet anything that the letter was addressed to him from Amy. And she once again decided to express her love to him. Except the envelope didn't look much like the one Amy might have taken for a love message. Her priority would clearly be a pink envelope. And here the envelope is yellow, and the paper feels too old. A little crumpled. And this signature, written in black ink, "from Joey Drew."
- "From Joey Drew?" - Sonic read aloud - who is this ''Joey Drew''?
Deciding not to bother himself with questions, he opened the envelope, fished out the letter and read it. The letter, written in the same ink, said...
''Dear Henry,
It seems like a lifetime since we worked on cartoons together. 30 years really slips away, doesn't it.
If you're back in town, come visit our old workshop. There's something I need to show you.
Your best pal
Joey Drew.
- Hmm...It seems the letter is addressed to someone named ''Henry'', but...why did it come to me? - Sonic scratched his head, continuing to stare at the yellowish piece of paper – I'd better take this letter to Tails, maybe he'll figure it out.
Sonic immediately took off and raced to his best friend's house. In less than two minutes, he reached the "Mystical Ruins" and stood on the threshold of the workshop owned by Miles "Tails" Prower. His best friend two tailed fox, mechanic. He knocked on the door, and immediately there were footsteps. The door quietly creaked, opened, and Tails stood on the threshold. When he saw his friend, he smiled.
- Hi, Sonic - Tails waved at him.
- Hi Tails - Sonic replied - are you busy?
- Well…not really - Tails looked over his shoulder at the table with the drawings - what's the matter?
- I got a letter from someone I do not know, you know - Sonic immediately took out an envelope with a letter from his bosom.
- "Anonymous letter" - Tails grinned, put his finger to his chin, feigning to think - who it could be.
- No, it's not a love letter - Sonic replied - If that were the case, I wouldn't have come to you. This is something much stranger. Take a look.
Sonic handed Tails the letter, he read it carefully. After that, scratching his head thoughtfully, he said.
- I wonder - Tails put his finger to his chin again - who is this "Henry", who is this sender ''Joey Drew'', and what cartoons he mentioned?
- I don't know - Sonic replied – don't know who is this Henry, who is this Joey Drew, and what kind of cartoons.
- How did you get it? - Tails asked curiously.
- Well as usual, through the postman - Sonic replied, pointing his hands somewhere to the side - but he didn't say anything. He just handed me a letter. Even though it wasn't on me.
- It's strange - Tails glanced at Sonic from under his brows - Maybe they were just mistaken?
- Perhaps...- Sonic replied, spreading his hands – maybe we should go to the post office and tell about it?
Maybe our friends did, but suddenly Amy and Cream ran up to their friends, they looked tired, out of breath and red. They seemed to be sweating for the seventh time.
- *Huff-huff* Hi, Sonic, Tails! - Amy blurted out, trying to catch her breath, waving a piece of paper in front of her face.
- Hi Amy, Cream - Sonic waved at them - what's the matter with you?
- There's...*huff*...something...*huff* very strange - Amy replied, still unable to stop running.
Tails looked at the tired Amy and Cream, and looking at Amy's hand, noticed this very piece of paper. To his surprise, this piece of paper was the same yellowish color that they had.
- Amy, what is this? - Tails asked, pointing at the paper.
- That's what I wanted to talk about - Amy replied, stopping waving the paper - I thought it was from Sonic. But it turns out to be from someone named ''Joey Drew'', and I'm not sure why...
- It came to Amy about ten minutes ago - Cream explained - she decided to take it to you, and I wanted to accompany her.
- Tails, do you know this Joey Drew guy? - Amy asked, handing Tails the letter.
- No, I do not know who it is - Tails replied, taking the letter in his free hand.
He compared Amy's letter to the letter in his hands. The letters turned out to be exactly the same. And the sheet, and the handwriting, and even the signature. There are more than one differences.
- One-on-one - Tails said - we have exactly the same letter...
He waved his yellowish piece of paper.
- The same?! - Amy was surprised - did they send you this letter too?
- They sent to Sonic - Tails corrected.
- But what does that mean? - Sonic looked at his friends with a puzzled face - why did we receive these letters? We don't even know this Joey Drew.
- And the letter was sent to Henry, not to us - Tails pointed out.
- I think this is fate – Amy smiled dreamily, looking up at the sky.
- Well, yeah - Tails snorted - considering your belief in Tarot card prediction, this is clearly not an "accident."
Amy put her hands on her belt and glared at him with displeasure.
- You have something against the cards?
- Guys, don't quarrel – Sonic stepped between them - let's go to the post office and say that the letters arrived by mistake.
- It makes sense - Tails replied, - then let's not delay.
They all went straight to the station that went to the forecourt in the city. It didn't take long to wait for the next one, because the train is almost always there. The friends boarded the train, sat on chairs, and it headed away from the Mystical ruins to the city across the sea.
Amy, due to her unrequited love for the blue hedgehog, sat next to him, looking at him almost the whole way. Sonic, of course, was terribly uncomfortable next to his "girlfriend", every now and then he squinted at her, sweat flowed down his temple. To distract himself, he stared at the letter again.
It seemed more and more strange to him. The postman called Sonic by HIS name. He didn't mention "Henry." Then why did he hand him the letter?
As soon as the train arrived, they got off at the station together, left the station, and stood on the sidewalk looking at the skyscrapers of the city. The city was unusually calm today. There were almost no cars. It was only rare to see a couple of cars passing nearby. There were a lot of people, but there was a lot of darkness, a brick had nowhere to fall. Everyone is walking somewhere, in a hurry, and talking animatedly.
- So the nearest post office... Tails said, looking around, "it must be a block from the train station.
"Let's not waste time," Sonic replied, and clutching the letter in his hand, he headed in the direction indicated by Tails.
Tails, Amy, and Cream immediately followed the hedgehog.
The sun was not very warm today, and the breeze was almost imperceptible, because the heroes were traveling light. Although they were in no hurry, they got to the post office quickly.
Just like on the city street, there were huge queues of people at the branch, and they were all eager to send or receive something. There was the sound of phones trilling, periodic responses from employees, and the whispering of customers.
They went to an empty window, where a girl was sitting behind the glass, typing something on a computer, pressing the keyboard buttons very quickly.
Sonic cleared his throat to get her attention. The employee looked up from the screen. But then she had to lower them because she realized that the newcomers were shorter than an ordinary person.
- How can I help you? - She replied.
- Excuse me, on mine name... - Sonic began.
- On ours names! - Amy immediately interjected, starting to stick a letter out the window.
- I mean, on my friend's name, and mine! - Sonic replied, trying to move Amy away from the window - the letters have arrived.
- Except they weren't addressed to them - Tails continued.
- On whose behalf were the letters sent? - she asked, adjusting her half-glasses on her nose - and in whose name?
- The letters were from a certain ''Joey Drew'' - Sonic replied - addressed to "Henry."
- ''Henry'', and nothing more? - the Employee clarified.
- Yeah - Tails replied, taking the letter from Sonic's hand and showing it to the employee.
She bent down, ran her eyes over the text, adjusted her glasses, and sat down again, answering evenly
- Contact the sorting department, they are dealing with this issue.
Crew had no choice but to go look for this department. Although they wanted to ask,
- Can't you call someone? Or should I search my databases for this addressee?
But suddenly the phone rang on the employee's desk, and she picked up the phone and immediately went into conversation with a customer who was asking about a package. They went through the door that was on the side of the window. Beyond it was a corridor that led to a large room that looked like a warehouse. The post office staff went back and forth in it, rearranging boxes and sorting envelopes.
- Who should we turn to here? - Cream asked - They're all busy.
And yes, every man carried or folded something. Each hand was served with some kind of delivery items. Parcels are parcels, letters, some other paper parcels. But among all these people, one person stood out, who was sitting at a table with a magazine. He traced the lines with his finger, and ticked something in another magazine.
- Perhaps, he will answer? - Tails replied, pointing at the man.
They approached the man. He was so busy that he didn't hear them coming. Sonic cleared his throat. But the man didn't answer. Sonic cleared his throat louder. But the man just continued to swipe at the magazine with his finger, without even grunting.
- *Сough-cough* Excuse me? - Sonic replied out loud.
- Sorry, I don't have time to talk - the Man replied, continuing to swipe at the magazine with his finger and mark something in another magazine.
- But we need to discuss something - Sonic continued.
- Wait until the break - the man replied, without looking up from the magazine for a minute.
- We don't have time to wait until the break! - Amy screamed, pounding the table where the man was sitting with her fists - If Sonic asks, he should be given time! Besides, we have an important matter!
The man jumped on the spot along with his chair. Amy glared at him, and the man had to look away. He adjusted his collar, swallowed, and closed the magazine.
- *Cough*…Okay, I'm listening - he put it down and addressed the newcomers.
- Th-thanks, Amy... - Sonic said, and turning to the man, he said – so, Amy and I received letters from a guy we don't know.
- So what's the big deal? Maybe it's your distant relative or maybe a new friend? - the man replied, clasping his hands together - why don't you contact the search service?
- Yeah, if these letters had come to our names, but they were addressed to someone named "Henry'' - Sonic replied.
- "Henry?" And you meaning that you don't know this "Henry"? - He clarified.
- Never heard of it - Sonic replied to man and handed to envelope with a letter - Could it be a mistake?
The man took the letter, scanned it, then picked up the envelope and his face took on a slightly tense expression.
- No, there was no mistake, - he replied confidently and showed the other side of the envelope - it clearly says "Sonic the Hedgehog" here.
When the group saw the signature, they were surprised. And "surprised" is an understatement. Sonic was in total shock. He took the envelope from the man's hand, looking at his name on the envelope. Amy also looked at her envelope and realized that her name was written on it.
"So there was no mistake," the man replied without a shred of doubt.
"But the letter said 'Henry,'" Tails pointed out again, "and that's a fact.
- I don't know anything, - the man replied, opening the magazine again - why don't you ask Joey Drew himself why he sent letters to "Henry" in your names.
"And…where can we find this Joey guy? - Sonic asked.
- Sorry, I don't have time - the man buried himself in the magazine again – besides I don't know anything about these two either. And you may not even try ask others. Our employees don't know who they are either.
They exchanged glances. There's nothing to do. They're not going to bother a guy who doesn't know anything, and a busy one at that. No, Amy was ready to hit the table again and start shaking the answers off it. But Sonic and Tails decided that it was better for them to solve the problem in another way. They left the post office, standing on the porch and thinking.
- Let's summarize - Sonic said - The letters from Joey Drew were written by Henry, but they came in our name. And there were no mistakes in the mail.
- But the important question is "why?" - Amy pointed out.
- The letter said about a certain "old workshop"… - Tails interjected - why don't we visit this ''workshop'' and ask Joey Drew personally?
- But this is the first time we've heard about this workshop - Amy said - How do we know where it is and how do we get there?
- I suggest you come to my workshop - replied Tails to others - there we will find information about this workshop. I'll program the Tornado to take us to it.
Everyone nodded in agreement. They headed back to the train station. After waiting for the train, they quickly got back to the Mystical Ruins. And to the workshop.
- Wait for me here - Tails said, and disappeared into the workshop.
A couple of minutes later, the hangar gates swung open, and a shiny red plane with the word "Tornado" flew out. The engine roared and the propeller spun rapidly.
- Coordinates entered! - Tails shouted from the cockpit - Everyone on board, we're taking off!
Amy and Cream sat down behind the pilot's seat, where Tails was, Sonic stands on tail of plane. The tornado start move along the runway, get faster and faster, until it lifted off the ground and soared into the sky. Tails pressed a couple of buttons on the computer and pulled the steering wheel.
The tornado obediently moved along the set coordinates. The mystical ruins began to move further and further away. The Tornado itself, with friends on board, was moving towards the city. At first, only the sea flashed under the bottom of the plane.
During such a long flight, Sonic decided to ask his friend what he found out.
- Tails? You typed in the coordinates. So you found this ''workshop''? - he asked his friend.
- I found! - Tails replied loudly, over the hum of the engine - the information is, however, sketchy. What is known for sure is that this so called ''workshop'' is actually an old animation studio. For a while, cartoons were being made there, starting in 1927! And Joey Drew, this is owner of this studio. By the way, it is named after him.
- What do you think this studio is like? - Amy asked her friends.
- According to Tails - Sonic replied - it's just an old studio where cartoons were made. What could be special about it?
- As for me I think... - Amy replied dreamily - it's very beautiful there. There are many friendly and very kind people. And they make the kids happy.
- AS for my opinion...- Cream said dreamily this time - that it's like a magical land. With big fields, cute animals, and much more.
- I honestly don't know for sure... - without looking up from the path, Tails nevertheless decided to cut into the conversation – but I think, there may be advanced technology with which cartoons become three-dimensional, due to pictures or sound…or something else.
Dreaming, of course, is not harmful. And to be honest, we all love to dream. But the fact that Io would eventually meet friends, to put it mildly, was not what they expected or hoped for. You can clearly guess what it's about if you're reading this. But not about that now.
In the meantime, half the crew continued to fly in the clouds, both literally and metaphorically, after a couple of minutes, the skyscrapers of the city loomed on the horizon.
- The city is on the horizon - Tails said loudly - get ready, we're descending!
Tails pulled the steering wheel, and the Tornado flew towards tall buildings. He continued to look at the navigation equipment, occasionally glancing down the stairs, looking for the animation studio. Our friends also began to look around at the buildings below out of curiosity.
Suddenly, the equipment began to honk, there was a beep and the robotic voice of the navigator said
''Joey Drew's studio has been detected. The destination is three kilometers away''
The tornado headed down. A moment later, the plane landed gently on the asphalt, landing near a building with a large sign that read "Joey Drew Studio."
- Here we are, guys - Tails replied, checking the map on the computer's navigator - Here it is, Joey Drew Studio.
Tails turned off the engine, the propeller slowly stopped and the plane fell silent. He, Amy, and Cream got out of the cockpit, Sonic jumped off the tail of the plane, and the whole team approached the studio.
Joey Drew's studio turned out to be completely different from what her friends had imagined along the way.
It was a rather low, old, dilapidated building. It's so dilapidated that it seems like the slightest gust of wind will cause it to collapse. There were no windows in the walls, they weren't even boarded up, they were completely missing. It is better to keep silent about the condition of the walls altogether. They were so old that they would collapse if they clicked on wood. An old sign with a big inscription and some kind of creepy smiling face on the roof next to it seems to be literally on its word of honor. And from the pipes on the roof, there was a dull rumble, and some strange viscous substance was flowing.
Moreover, the studio was located in some very empty area. There were almost no people. And why was there a pile of cans, discarded drawing tables, and broken boards lying in dumpsters on the side of the building?
In short, Joey Drew's studio was more repulsive in its appearance than it attracted.
- Ma-a-n… - Tails said, looking at this building with annoyance - there's nothing to talk about advanced technology here. It doesn't look like this place has been renovated at all.
- Well... let's enter in there...and look for this Joey Drew - Sonic said uncertainly and went to the door to the studio.
He knocked on the door, and it suddenly opened with a loud creak.
Sonic stumbled away from the door. There was only darkness and small pieces of the walls that caught the rays of the sun. It doesn't look like anyone in there. Especially if the door is unlocked.
My friends gathered their courage and headed inside, but looking at the condition of this building, everyone was thinking only of one thing.
''Hope this place doesn't suddenly fall and buries us…''
To be continued...