Jodie parked her truck at the Mean Bean Coffee Café. A thunderstorm had rolled in. So, Jodie quickly made her way inside. She spotted the owner named Stone behind the counter with a rather sad look on his face.
But Jodie had no time for chit-chat. Her bowles were flaring and she didn't waste a moment rushing to the bathroom.
It was a close call, but Jodie made it in time. As she relieved herself, enjoying the heated toilet seat...
"HE'S BACK!" a voice screamed, startling Jodie.
"What the heck?!" Jodie recognized that voice. It was Stone. But what was he screaming about?
Jodie decided to shrug it off. "Takes all kinds, I suppose."
Once her potty break was over, Jodie took her time in the bathroom. It was so nice, Jodie could practically live in there. The spotless sinks and floor, the lavender air freshener, the charming wall art. But most of all, the heated toilet seats.
But Jodie knew she couldn't be in there forever. She had a pizza to pick up and a hedgehog buddy to share it with. But when Jodie left the bathroom and headed for the exit, she stopped in her tracks, frozen with fear.
It was the evil Dr. Robotnik, the crazed scientist that was supposed to be stranded on a gross and smelly mushroom planet. The doctor grinned a twisted smile that matched his new look. He was completely bald and sunken-eyed. His brown mustache was now overgrown and unruly. It looked like two mutant caterpillars were living on his upper lip.
"Well, what have we here, Stone?" Dr. Robotnik mused, amused by Jodie's frightened expression. "It looks like a little mouse has snuck in."
"It would seem that way, Doctor." said Stone, grabbing Jodie's attention.
Jodie knew right away what was happening. An evil doctor was back with a vengeance and Stone was working for him this whole time.
The shaken Jodie defensively held up her hands. "Look, I don't want any trouble. I'm just gonna head home and never speak of this." She ran off to the exit, but something, or someone, blocked her path.
"AAAAHHH!" Jodie screamed with fright as she fell backward, landing painfully on her rear end. She crawled away until her back hit the counter, her shocked eyes grew when she realized that it was an alien that looked like Sonic, but not quite.
Instead of having blue fur, his fur was red and he had dreadlock-like spines around his head. He wore two large white boxing gloves with spiked knuckles and his choice of footwear were the ugliest red, yellow, and green mountain boots Jodie had ever seen. But those boots were nowhere near as scary as the angry look in his purple eyes.
The menacing alien moved closer toward Jodie, glowering as he loomed over her. "Pitiful." His voice was deep and chilling as an open grave.
"You-You're another hedgehog?!" Jodie questioned.
Her question seemed to have irked the alien. "Hedgehog? I am an echidna. Trained since birth in all forms of lethal combat, destined to restore honor to my tribe, and willing to destroy anything that gets in my way."
Jodie gulped from his intense words.
"But you can call him Knuckles for short." said Dr. Robotnik.
Knuckles raised a fist. "Shall I dispose of this intruder?"
"Nah, we don't want that mess in here." Dr. Robotnik answered. "I say we keep this little mouse caged up. It never hurts to have a hostage."
Panicking, Jodie got up and tried to flee, but Knuckles tackled her and pinned her down with his knee on her back and his one massive hand pressing her head against the floor while he held her left arm down with his other hand.
"Get off me!" snapped Jodie. She screamed out in pain when Knuckles gripped her arm tightly. He was much stronger than he looked.
"Silence!" Knuckles bellowed. "Where shall I take her? Does this lair have a dungeon? A torture chamber? A pit so deep where no one can hear her screams?"
"No, but I will make a note of that." Stone said matter-of-factly. "We can tie her up in the basement for now."
Down in the basement, Knuckles had tied up Jodie to a chair. She tried to free herself, but it was no use.
"Don't bother struggling, Flower Woman. If you even try to escape, I will take great pleasure in torturing you." Knuckles warned.
Jodie seized her struggles and looked at the echidna. "Flower Woman? What's that supposed to mean?"
"When I carried you down here, I noticed that you smell of flowers." Knuckles said. "Very nice flowers."
"Uh, thanks." Jodie found it odd that this scary red version of Sonic would give her an innocent compliment. "So, is your name really Knuckles-"
"Enough!" snapped Knuckles. "You are my prisoner! You have no right to ask questions nor have any hope of escape!"
"Uh, yeah! Clearly!" Jodie retorted. "Besides, even if I did get out of this, you'd just recapture me. So, you can relax."
"You dare give orders to me?!" Knuckles snarled. His eyes glowed red, making Jodie sweat.
As Knuckles saw the terror in Jodie's eyes, he felt something. Not the joy of instilling fear. He felt...bad for scaring the human. Knuckles managed to relax and his eyes returned to normal.
"You are of no importance." Knuckles said coldly. "Once the hedgehog is eliminated, I will claim the Master Emerald and protect it to keep the universe safe!"
"Wait a minute!" Jodie interrupted. "You're saying that you teamed up with Robotnik just to protect a stupid emerald?!"
"The Master Emerald is NOT stupid!" Knuckles roared. "It holds the ultimate power that can tear apart the universe if it fell into the wrong hands! My mission is to find the Emerald and protect it with my life! And once the hedgehog leads us to it, I will pry it from his cold, dead hands and my life-long mission will be complete."
"Does Robotnik know about this Master Emerald?!" asked Jodie, who got a bad feeling.
Knuckles nodded. "Yes."
Jodie threw her head back. "Oh, no!" She faced the red alien. "Knuckles, I don't know what your connection is with Robotnik. But I think you've been around him long enough to know that he's completely insane! He's just using you to steal that ultimate power for himself! You cannot trust that man!"
Knuckles scoffed. "Why should I believe a feeble coward like you? Robotnik may be eccentric, but he has the resources I need to complete my quest."
"Dude! You have to listen to me!"
"AHEM!" Dr. Robotnik exclaimed loudly. Jodie and Knuckles saw Robotnik enter the basement. "Knuckles, shouldn't you be torturing this ingénue eyesore? I was looking forward to hearing her screams of agony!"
Knuckles scowled. "Why would I torture someone who is no threat to me? There's no honor in that."
Jodie blinked. Didn't this alien threaten to torture her just moments ago? What was with this guy?
The doctor rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just come upstairs so we can find the hedgehog and destroy him!" He and Knuckles left the room as Jodie struggled in her binds.
"You won't get away with this, Robotnik!" Jodie yelled at the doctor. "Knuckles! Don't trust him! KNUCKLES!"
But the door was slammed shut, leaving Jodie trapped and isolated. "Oh, this sucks!" she groaned out.