Sonicredible
[SONIC:]
"So, a few years ago, I accidentally received a distress call. I was done with my homework, so, I answered it!"
The famous blue hero Sonic The Hedgehog soared above a river with a jet pack strapped to his back, flying around the outskirts of a forest of pine trees. He wore a helmet over his quills though it didn't stop them from whipping around in the wind.
He didn't try to push them out of his face instead continuing his monologue to no one in particular. "Now, I save the world." The forest then gave way to an expansive dam, one that our hero was headed straight towards. "Okay, here's the sitch. A big deal scientist has been captured by the evil Doctor Starline!" Sonic flew up, the jet's smoke billowing under him as he landed on the crest of the dam. "And I'm gonna rescue him."
"Who am I?" He asked, reaching up to remove his helmet and let his quills fall free. He smirked "I'm Sonicredible."
***
[???:]
Starline balled his fists and took several slow steps forward towards a mobian lion. They had been chained to a chair which was positioned atop a balcony, said balcony overlooking the facility surrounding them. The lion breathed heavily and nervously looked from the goons who were guarding him to the platypus before him.
"I-I've done everything you've asked. I formulated the world's most dangerous disintegrating slime! Please, please let me go! I miss my dad and friends, and my robotics." The lion pleaded.
Starline stopped only a few feet away. "My dear Dr. Sirus, you say this–" He gestured to a large bubbling vat of blackish slime on the floor beneath them. "–Is the Uber Slime." Sirus nodded, beginning to tremble. "Let's… Make. Sure."
***
[SONIC:]
"I NEED BACKUP!" One of the goons shouted into his walkie-talkie, slamming the van's door shut as he sprinted forward. But Sonic was faster. Before his adversary could blink Sonic shot upwards. His jetpack wings folded in as he curled into a ball, spinning mid air, before he slammed into the goon's face. The goon hit the ground and was knocked out cold. Sonic rolled to his feet just as four more armed and masked opposing soldiers rushed forward. He grinned and crouched low, unclipping his jetpack just as it started up. Without a user, the turbine shot ahead, slamming into the goons one after another. They groaned and didn't get back up, Sonic's jet pack landing on the ground a few feet away and powering down. Said hedgehog stood over them, but before he could enjoy his moment, two more goons rushed him from behind. One grabbed his arm and the other his shoulder. Sonic twisted his body trying to throw them off but the second goon clamped their other hand down on his wrist, dragging him toward the edge of the dam. They pushed him closer to the edge, his back pushed up against the crest's railing barrier.
"AAAAAHHH! OOOAAAAAAAAHHH!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
A shrill scream echoed above them, the goons pausing to look upward just in time to see a red echidna hurtling toward them, wearing a jet pack he had absolutely no idea how to control. Sonic couldn't help but grin and watch as a red echidna hurtled at them, plowing through the goons. Sonic pulled free from their grasp last second, snorting at the echidna's out of control state.
'This is Knuxcceptable. Best friend and best sidekick.' The blue hedgehog mentally monologued, watching as his friend tumbled to the ground, rolled, spotted Sonic, and pushed himself upright. "Are we winning?"
Sonic smiled, gesturing to the pile of passed out goons. "Knux, look at all the hench dudes you took out!"
Knuckles laughed nervously, shrugging his comically large shoulders in comparison to his legs. "Ha! Knuckles has done it again!" He agreed, fumbling with the straps of his jet pack as he tried to take it off. As he attempted to do so one of his fingers pressed its activation button making it turn on and blast skyward. He yelped and covered his head, though Sonic just stood where he was and watched it soar over the edge of the dam. "I-I'm sure Starline didn't see that…" The red echidna leaned against the side of a nearby barrel stamped with a flame warning, knocking it over. "Whah?!! Uh oh!" He gasped, watching it roll several feet across the concrete, sloshing as clear liquid poured from an open valve on top the whole way. A thin lamppost work-light then tipped over from the rolling barrel, smashing against the ground. The bulb shattered and a small spark shot out. The puddle ignited instantly.
Sonic's eyes widened. "Knux, RUN!" Sonic spun on his heels, bolting backward and skidding into a spin dash before diving behind a stack of crates. Knuckles followed suit screaming as he tripped and tumbled over the boxes in a heap.
BOOM.
The whole forest surrounding the dam lit up in a red hue. A few moments passed before most of the flames from the actual spot of the explosions were no longer flaring, only leaving scorched concrete in their place. Sonic and Knuckles peeked back up from their cover, mouths open in shock. "Okay. Might have seen that." The red echidna added to his original statement.
Before Sonic could respond, a small jingle of beeps caught his attention, signaling an incoming transmission through a guitar shaped medallion around his neck. The hedgehog tapped the medallion, a holographic screen projecting out in front of him. "Sonic, he's got the target locked! Here, see for yourself!"
'That's our friend, Tails. Resident tech genius.' Sonic began to monologue in his head once more. 'He graduated from college when he was 8.'
The blue hedgehog nodded for Tails to continue, focusing back on the screen. "Doctor Starline has the scientist chained on level 6. You better hurry!" Tails said, the screen displaying the facility's blueprints.
"C'mon, Knux. Let's do this." Sonic agreed, he and the red echidna running past the unconscious goons.
***
[???:]
Starline walked through the lower level of the laboratory, passing several scientists that wore hazmat suits. He held a cup filled with a mysterious black ooze and he stopped in front of a glob sitting on a small metal table. He tilted the cup, pouring the ooze over the globe. It began to faintly sizzle, first peeling the paint off of it before melting through all the material that composed the globe. Sirus watched from his chained position on the balcony, shaking in horror upon viewing the destructive formula he created. Starline set the cup down beside the melting globe, tilting his head back as he laughed maniacly. "Success! The world is mine!" He pushed his glasses back up on his bill, grinning and fixing his hair. But his joy didn't last long, the laughter dying in his throat. Looking back down at what remained of the globe, the dark liquid had begun to turn a sparkly pink and his face dropped. "But… What is… What…" He stared at it in disbelief, gesturing at the sparkling sludge. "Why is it turning all pink and sparkly?"
"I don't know." Sirus quickly replied, watching it nervously. "It is… It's probably just a byproduct of the disintegration process."
Starline gritted his teeth. "I cannot take over the world with the pink and the sparkles. Everyone will make the fun!"
"How? They'll all be disintegrated." Sirus said, making Starline whip around and jab a finger up at him.
"As will you, 'Dr. Smarty Pants'." The platypus then looked at the two goons standing guard behind him. "NOW."
They grabbed the lion, wrestling him up from the chair. "Oh, NO!"
"Engadge the painfully slow-decending hook… Into your slimy doom." Starline smiled cruelly as Sirus began to beg.
"Please! Please don't do this! Please be reasonable!" He pleaded, being forced towards the railing of the balcony. The guards attach the hook to the chains around him, Starline laughing once again.
Unbeknownst to the Platypus a door several floors above them and one room to the left was yanked open, Sonic and Knuckles rushing through it. The sunlight poured into the dark space and illuminated the stairs below as they descended with Sonic launching over railings while Knuckles ran two steps at a time.
Sirus flailed, slowly being lowered over the bubble pit of slime. Starline continued to cackle before abruptly stopping. "Oh, my glove is itchy." He said, pulling at the fabric and fixing the cuff.
Suddenly the two heroes burst through the door connecting the two rooms. "Please get me out of here!" Sirus cried, struggling against the chains that bound him to the hook.
"Slimes up, Dr. Starline!" Sonic said, standing before the banister that overlooked the scientist's operation.
Starline took several steps back from the melted globe, his face a mix between terror and rage. "Herr…Credible!?... GET HIM!" He screamed pointing at the two good do-ers. Several goons rushed past the platypus to grab their weapons before running up the stairs. "Go! Go! Go!"
Sonic dashed towards the guards, his sneakers squeaking as he peeled out on the metal floor below. "Knuckles! Unhook the scientist. I'll take the goons."
"Go faster hook!" Starline growled, frantically pressing one of the buttons on the remote controlling the hook. Sonic and a guard ran at each other from opposite staircases. Last second the blue hedgehog put a foot down on a nearby worktable and jumped off it, rolling up midair into a tight spinning ball just long enough to land a hit on them. The guard crumpled down them just as a second guard ran out behind him. "Crush him!" Starline yelled up at them, Sonic dodging the other goon and striking his foot down on their head. The goon got back up and swung at him, but Sonic ducked and spun under their grip. Another goon ran towards him but he grabbed the both of them and threw them to the ground.
A larger guard stomped in front of him blocking his way down the next set of stairs. "Knuckles, grapple me." From farther behind the blue hero, his friend tossed him the grappling hook launcher, which he caught and fired at the goon. It wrapped around them, giving Sonic enough time to yank the chain and bring them close enough to jump up and kick their abdomen, sending them backwards and to the ground. They groaned and stayed down. Sonic rolled back up off the ground being met with another henchman who swatted the grappling hook out of his hands. It sailed over the railing and into the pit of disintegrating slime below. "No!" Sonic shouted, the slime immediately bubbling with pink sparkles as the metal melted away.
Starline smiled from beside the vat of black-ish ooze. "Ha! What will you do without your grappling hook, Herr?" Sonic angrily spun into a homing attack flinging himself forward into the goon. He sent them flying into a wall which knocked them out cold upon impact. "Oh, that… That is what you will do. Oh." The platypus froze and his smile vanished. Sonic shook his head, running past the goons on the ground.
Meanwhile, Knuckles was several yards back, crouched over an opening in the railings where Sirus was still slowly being lowered. "You have to push in and turn. Push in and turn at the same time!" The lion panicked, trying to direct Knuckles through the lock mechanism.
"Henchmen, stop that clumsy boy!" Starline spat, gesturing at the two above him. Several more guards rushed out of the shadows towards Knuckles. The echidna yelped and leapt onto the chain Sirus was dangling from, clinging to it to avoid them, which only added his weight to the problem.
"No! What are you doing back there?" The lion cried.
"I'm saving you!" The echidna responded, though he sounded completely unsure of himself, and gauging how the extra weight helped the hook descend faster, he was only complicating the savior of the captured scientist. "U-uh, help! Sonic!" Sonic doubled back and ran up a flight of stairs to reach their previous level, looking down to see Starline still holding the descending hooks remote control.
"Help! Help!" Sirus begged, squeezing his. Sonic turned around and ducked under a henchman's punch, throwing them over the railing. They screamed as they fell, crashing down on the platypus, who then dropped the remote. At least now his friends would be at a slower descent. He turned his attention back to Knuckles and Sirus. "Whoa! Help us!" The lion called again, the chain holding them swinging back and forth. Sonic pulled out what appeared to be a stick of lip balm on the surface, but upon twisting it, a beam of light shot out from the unsuspecting outside, burning anything the beam was pointed at. He waited until the chain swung them clear of the slime pit's edge before aiming it at the chain and slicing through it. They yelped, hitting the ground beside the vat and groaning. Sonic bolted down the stairs to meet them as they stood up, the chains falling away from Sirus.
"C'mon on, doc, we gotta get you out of here-"
"-No, I can't. There's a world-ending supply of deadly slime here." Sirus interrupted, prompting Sonic to look over at the remains of the melted globe sitting on a table beside them. "We must destroy it."
A few feet away, Starline began to sit up, shoving a limp henchman aside as he did so. No one noticed. Sonic tapped the medallion at his neck. It chimed, projecting a holographic screen where the twin-tailed fox waited. "Tails, we gotta fly, but I need you to see if there's a self destruct button-" Sonic stated. Knuckles sighed and leaned against a pole beside him. It droned a low tone, a buttons' faint red glow illuminating from behind his arm.
"Self destruct sequence initiated. Enjoy your death." A computerized female voice flatly said.
The red echidna looked at Sonic, ignoring how Sirus stared at them in horror. "Ohh… Found it." An alarm blared overhead, dim red lights flashing through the facility. Starline scrambled to his feet and ran towards one of the nearby walls, housing an odd coffin-like pod. "Looks like I have the only emergency escape pod!" He mocked, the door closing behind him as he laughed. It began to fire up.
Sonic tapped his medallion again. "Hey Tails, reroute that puppy to the nearest police station."
Tails grinned, looking down at the keyboard in front of him. "With pleasure."
"Ahahaha!... Wait. What? Hey. NO!" Starline screamed, only being able to watch as a screen on the front of the pod lit up, its previous route rewriting itself before his eyes. "No! No! Nein!" His escape pod began to lift off, smoke filling the room as it blasted past the upper balconies of the facility. It broke a hole through the roof, pieces of debris falling down as the pod flew off into the sky. "NO! NOOOOOooooooo..."
The blue hero and his sidekick, along with the scientist watched the mad man disappear in the smoke. The echidna's mouth was ajar, squinting up through the plume of gray. "Sonic, 30 seconds from self-destruct!" Tails cut in to redirect their attention.
"We gotta go, come on." The hedgehog agreed, grabbing both Sirus' and Knuckles' arm and pulling them along with him.
They ran to the top crest of the dam, Sonic grabbing the jet pack that he'd left on the ground and attaching it to the lion. "Take this. Knuckles and I can share." Sirus nodded and turned around nearly hitting Knuckles in the head with the jet's wing. The red echidna ducked and shrugged it off nervously.
"And from now on I'll only use my inventions for the good of humanity." Sirus guiltily assured Sonic.
"Maybe the occasional kids' award show." Knuckles piped up to lighten the mood. It barely worked though and the lion flashed him a shaky smile before resuming his panic.
"Drone mode, Tails. Let's get Dr. Sirus to safety." Sonic added, calling on his twin tailed friend's help once more.
"Can do." The fox replied. Sonic hit the red button in the center of the jet's connecting straps that wrapped around the scientist's chest and its jets flared back on.
Sirus screamed as it sent him skyward. Knuckles craned his neck, watching him rise with a wince. He knew that feeling far too well. "Uh, Sonic, remember what happened to our only other jet pack?" The echidna suddenly added after a moment, pointing at where Sirus had disappeared in the sky. Sonic's face dropped and he spun around, running over to the edge of the dam. He leaned over the railing and squinted to see through the wind whipping in his face, looking around the cliffs surrounding them. It took him a second but he finally spotted the jet lodged on a lip of the farthest cliff edge. The sound of an explosion behind them made the two look back again. The self destruction sequence was already activating, and the explosions were going off in rows, getting closer and closer.
"Okay. I have a plan." The blue hedgehog nervously said, looking back over to the jet. He ran backwards away from the railing, grabbing Knuckles' arm and dragging him with him. "Tails, remote-fly Knuckles's jet pack."
The fox immediately tapped a few commands on his keyboard. "On it!" And the jet began to ignite.
"Hey Sonic, when I told you that one time I'd jump off a cliff for you," Knuckles began piecing together what they were about. The blue hedgehog dashed forward. "I didn't expect it to happeEEEEN!" He screamed, Sonic still pulling him along, even as they stepped up on top of the barrier. Sonic threw the both of them over the edge. And they were just in time too, as the explosions engulfed all of where they had just stood seconds prior. The red echidna screamed, plummeting lower… and lower… until finally, the jet pack got within arms reach. Sonic grabbed onto it, carrying them away from the shrapnel and fire.
[THE HEDGEHOG HOUSEHOLD:]
"And in Adabat last night, teen hero Sonicredible captured his 14th villain this year." The reporter on screen announced, the feed cutting out to where Starline was being wrestled into custody by police on live TV.
"I am an innocent escape pod enthusiast! THIS IS POLICE HARASSMENT!..."
"No wonder why Sonny got in so late." A blue hedgehog with a brown tuft of quills said with hands on his hips as he stared at the TV. "I'm glad he's home safe and sound." He began walking away from the news report on screen.
"I'm worried about him not getting enough sleep." Another blue hedgehog but with a blond tuft of quills argued, setting out plates on the table before them. A remote piloted drone zipped just over her head, making her flinch down and duck.
"Yeah, well…"
"Or dissolving in slime." She continued, pouring a bowl of cereal. Said drone then flew into the side of the box, jolting it in her grip and sending cereal flying everywhere. The blond-tufted hedgehog sighed, giving her husband a look. He took the sign, knowing he needed to ask the drone's pilot to be more careful.
He grimaced, turning his attention to the footsteps approaching from the other room. "Manic. Sonia."
"Our bad Mom and Dad!" Manic replied, the both of them still holding their controllers as they ran in.
"Still working out some bugs." Sonia confirmed, stopping beside her brother.
"Well, I should make sure our boy isn't too tired from his mission to wake up for school." The mother hedgehog sighed placing the box of cereal down on the table.
***
[SONIC:]
Sonic stood in his room, stretching to prepare for the day ahead of him. "Sonny Maurice?" The blond-tufted hedgehog called, ascending the stairs to her son's room. "The bus is almost here."
She peered over the banister as she walked up, spotting the blue hedgehog. "Tails?" Sonic asked, his mom noticing the hologram projected in front of him.
"The bus will be here in six minutes." The fox automatically replied looking over at his friend's mom who entered far enough into the room for him to see. "You look fabulous today, Mrs. Hedgehog."
Sonic's mother smiled. "Thank you, Miles. Now, log off. This is a hedgehog only convo." She stated, walking towards Sonic.
Tails nodded. "Over and out."
Sonic's mother sighed, watching as her son continued stretching while seeming unbothered by the upcoming school day. "This is the big day. You feel ready?"
Sonic smiled, balancing on one foot. "I'm so excited! I finished all my summer reading, like, two weeks ago-" He stopped his daily yoga routine and ran over to the race car bed in the middle of his large room, grabbing his backpack off the edge of it. "-I've done a VR walkthrough of the school so I don't get lost." He continued, sprinting past his mom to grab his track uniform from a pile of bean bag chairs in the corner. "Oh and my track audition is, if I do say so myself, flawless!" He chuckled, tucking the shirt into his bag.
"Okay. Well I guess that answered my…"
"Oh, and look!" Sonic added, running over to his closet. He giggled as he pressed a button to open the door, standing off to the side while it slid open. "I've picked out and sorted all of my outfits for the month!" A rack from the closet slid out on a moving track, displaying all of the coordinated clothes.
"W-Wow.. For the first month…" Sonic's mom smiled in concern.
"Oh, and I memorized all of my teachers' names, their birthdays," He grabbed a red sweater off one of the hangers, swinging it around his shoulders and pulling it on. "Their food allergies, just in case I wanna get them a gift-"
"-Okay, Sonny, hon…"
"Oh, and this morning…" Sonic pulled a notebook off the edge of the desk next to him. "I started prepping for my midterms and finals 'cause they're only four and eight months away, so you can't be too prepared." He set the book down behind him, returning to look at his mother.
"Right. Yeah, so… so you've been busy since…?"
"Three A.M." His mother blinked in disbelief, and upon seeing this, Sonic corrected himself. "Well… Four A.M. … I took a little nap after saving the world from slimy doom." He nervously admitted.
His mother sighed. "Sit down my little hummingbird." She cooed, sitting on the edge of her son's bed.
He smiled and joined her, throwing his backpack down beside him. "What's up?"
"My sweet boy." She brushed a loose quill out of his face, holding his arm. "I just… I just want you to know that… that… high school can be kind of daunting." Sonic let out a small chuckle, having already mentally predicted what his mother was going to say. "It's okay if you don't figure it all out on the first day."
Sonic rolled his eyes. "Don't worry. I've allowed myself the morning of day two as well for some…" He wiggled his before planting both hands on his thighs. "Wiggle room."
His mother cringed. "Day two?"
"Mm hm."
"..." The blond-tufted hedgehog winced in concern.
"Mom, don't worry." Sonic stood up, smile still on his face. He put his hands on his hips and puffed his chest out, his ears raising as far as they could go as they always did when he was feeling confident. "I'm Sonicredible. I handle things. It's who I am. It's what I do."
His mother watched him for a moment, before her shoulders finally relaxed. She slowly nodded and smiled proudly, standing up as well. "Aw. Sweetie, just know that we're here for you. If you need more…" She reached out, gently shaking his arms. "Wiggle room."
Sonic chuckled. "I've got the genes of a front line soldier and a warrior of the special forces." He nudged her arm, smile never faltering. "I think I'll survive Emerald High." The blond-tufted hedgehog pulled her son into a hug, patting his back.
"Awe!"
"Tails."
"Miles."
They both said in unison, turning to face the holographic screen that had popped back up at some point. "Sorry," The fox replied guiltily. "I just got a GPS lock on the school bus. Departure in three minutes."
"Perfect, activate the window, lil bro." Sonic said, slinging his backpack around one shoulder. "Okay Mom, I gotta go. Don't worry. Besides, it's just high school. How hard can it be?" His mother chuckled nervously but he only shrugged and turned around. Jumping up, he launched himself off a bench to flip through the now open window. The moment he landed he was running again, up the peak of the roof just outside. He paused just long enough to turn back briefly, smiling and waving at his mom before jumping down. The blue blur skidded out of his driveway, dashing down the road through his neighbor to the bus stop.
The medallion swinging against his chest beeped again and the hologram opened back up. "Sonic, the bus is on your street now!" Tails exclaimed to his friend. Sonic squinted ahead and there it was. The yellow bus rolled up to the corner where a small group of teens were already waiting. But just as he began to close in on the bus, a small bit of movement to his side caught his eye.
An aristocratic hippopotamus was talking to an elderly wolf, too distracted to notice the baby stroller she'd let go of. It had started rolling away and was picking up speed. The baby let out a small cry. Sonic glanced back, half expecting it to be his own fault for blowing past so fast. Instead, he gasped when he saw the stroller drifting downhill. He dug his heels into the ground and rolled into a spindash to slow down, whipping around while pulling out his grappling gun. He fired it in the same second and the hook wrapped around the stroller's handle, winding it back to the mother hippo. "MY BABY!" She cried, running toward the stroller. She grabbed the handle and tossed the hook back to the blue hero. "Thank you, Sonic!"
"No problem!" Sonic replied, giving her a quick smile and wave.
He spun back around, bolting for the bus when Tails' hologram showed back up again. "The doors are closing!" Sonic squinted once more, noticing that they were, indeed, beginning to close. "Ten, nine," The bus driver scowled, making direct eye contact with the blue hedgehog while he held the button to close the doors. "Eight, seven," Sonic pulled out his grappling gun, but this time to aim at a light pole ahead of him. "Six, five," When the wire wrapped around the beam, it propelled him forward, sending him flying toward the bus even faster. "Four, three…" He dropped to the ground right in front of the bus doors, dashing in before Tails could finish the countdown.
"MADE IT!" He cheered, pumping his fists in the air.
…
Everyone on the bus either awkwardly glanced up at him or didn't react at all. A few students stared. Most didn't care. All except one. "Booyah!" Knuckles shouted from the back, throwing his hands up with the same enthusiasm Sonic had shown. The echidna looked around, caught the looks he was getting and slowly lowered his arms. In the hologram, Tails sighed in relief, sitting back in his chair to sip on some coffee. Sonic awkwardly walked past the isles in the bus to where his friend was sitting, stuffing the grappling gun back into his bag before sliding into the seat near him.
***
[PRISON ISLAND:]
News paper clippings were strewn about the cell, showing various heroic deeds done by Sonic to thwart one particular villain. "Sonicredible… You defeated my giant robot, you blew up my private island, and now, I'm stuck here thanks to you." A large, egg-shaped human with an unkempt mustache bitterly summarized, standing within the containment unit. "But I have you in my grasp now, and there is no escape." He held up an empty toilet paper roll with blue quill like pieces stuck onto the back, strangling it. "Into the piranha bot pit with you!" "No Dr. Eggman, please! Show mercy!" He imitated Sonic's voice, shaking the crude doll. "No mercy!" He then proceeded to stuff it into the toilet before him, making what he could only assume would be the noise of Sonic drowning, which involved mostly just him coughing and gasping in a higher pitched, cocky voice. This went on far longer than necessary, continuing until the lights in the room that contained his cell flickered. Then they went out in rows.
"NO!" A guard somewhere outside screamed, accompanied by several loud thuds and crashes. Eggman stopped trying to drown the makeshift doll, a bit of panic taking over him as he slapped on the light switch for an internal set of lights in his cell, one of the few luxuries he was allowed to have in his current situation. "Go, GET HIM!" Another guard, this time closer, screamed, shortly followed by the sound of an explosion. The shockwave rattled the floor, the sound of rubble falling echoing nearby. The robot doctor's eyes were wide with a curious fear behind his glasses, looking at the door to the room and spotting a red light coming through the frame. A second later, the whole door tipped forward, falling into the room like its hinges never existed in the first place. Without the door to hold it back, smoke billowed into the room, blocking Eggman's view to see who was going to enter. But he could hear footsteps.
The haze began to drift apart as the familiar silhouette of a black hedgehog approached. He stepped through the smoke, ears flattening slightly as he took in the scene. Still, a cruel smile twisted onto his face. "Wow …Ehehahaha!" The ultimate lifeform laughed, putting a hand on his hip. "I catch you at a sad time, Doctor?" He pouted, staring down the imprisoned mad scientist.
Eggman sputtered, his fear fading to annoyance. "D-don't sneak up on me like that, Shadow!" He replied, holding the doll behind his back. Shadow smirked sadistically and stalked around the fallen door, walking up to glass between him and the doctor. "And for your information, this is a scale model revenge simulator." He held the Sonic 'replica' up in the air in resignation.
"It's a dolly and a toilet." The black hedgehog retorted.
Eggman scowled and shoved the thing into a pocket on his prison jumpsuit. "Did you enact my instructions?" He asked to change the topic.
Shadow rolled his eyes and pulled out a roll of toilet paper, unfurling it. A messy list had been written on each of the sheets, which Shadow then glanced over a final time. "Yes. I followed all the dumb requests you sent me while you were on this… I don't know, enforced vacation for the last year." He shrugged, sarcasm lacing his words. The doctor sighed as Shadow continued speaking. "It was just as annoying as working with you in person." He stated, lighting a chaos spear in the hand that held the list, setting it a flame and incinerating it within a mere second.
"So good to see you, too." Eggman deadpanned, fixing a few especially messed up strands of mustache hair. Shadow scoffed, one ear flat as he raised his same hand in front of him, shooting a chaos spear at the cell's glass wall. It melted instantly, creating a perfect hole for the doctor to step through. Eggman grabbed a plastic bag from a small desk beside him and began walking around his cell. He circled it a few times, leisurely sweeping the side tables and desktops, tossing small gadgets and blue prints into the bag.
"You do know this jail-break is time sensitive. Can we move this along? Let's go!" Shadow snapped, aiming another chaos spear up at the ceiling. It blew a hole above them, being just the perfect size for at least two, maybe even three people to fit through at once. Right on cue, an aircraft pulled up to the roof, aligning its tractor beam with the hole. It cast a red glow where the beam was active in the space between the two. "Why do you need all that garbage?" The black hedgehog uninterestedly asked, arms crossed.
Eggman snatched some odd shaped object off a file cabinet in the cell, holding it up for Shadow to see. "For my plan…" He walked forward, stepping through the warped glass and breathing in the unconfined air. He outstretched his arms in the free space. "To be the world's greatest evil doer."
Shadow rolled eyes, stalking around the tractor beam. "Aaaand what about…. Tch," He scoffed before even saying his faker's dumb superhero name. "...Sonicredible? The world's greatest evil un-doer." He stopped beside Eggman, the two standing before the red glow of antigravity. The doctor held the doll into the tractor beam.
"Your end will be…" He let go of it, watching as it drifted up through the ceiling, floating out of sight. Eggman then clenched his fist, closing his eyes. He attempted to come up with some sort of play on words, but began failing tragically by the second. He gestured in the air for a moment, wracking his brain for a phrase.
"Oh." At this point Shadow caught on and sighed. "Chaos…" After another break of silence, he gave up waiting, instead grabbing the doctor.
He wrestled him into the beam. "No, no, no, no, no. … -Incredible." Eggman concluded, reopening his fist just to clench it again as he stood in the beam beside the black hedgehog.
Shadow turned to briefly face him in disgust. "Bad." He stated, shaking his head. Eggman maniacally laughed, the two rising upwards through the hole in the ceiling. Shadow frowned, floating as far away from him as possible as they ascended out of the building. The beam shut off behind them, leaving the room in darkness.
***
[EMERALD HIGH:]
The last few school buses finally pulled into the high school's parking lot, their brakes screeching as they crookedly pulled up to the curb. The doors opened even before they rolled to a stop. Sonic, being the fastest as always, was the first to jump down the stairs of the bus. He bolted out onto the street, skidding around other people as he ran for the entrance. Knuckles was right behind him, holding his phone up. The echidna pressed record on the phone's selfie mode camera. "Knuxcceptable here at Emerald High!" He began, jostling the camera as he ran out of the bus.
Sonic glanced at him as he sprinted, rolling his eyes. "Knux, you are not streaming our first day of school." He jokingly cut in, Knuckles catching up to him. Sonic's friend shoved the phone in front of his face.
"And we are live! Oh, this is Sonicredible. We're both a little cranky after saving the world last night." The echidna continued, pointing at the camera. They weaved through the crowd of people gathered outside the school doors, hoping to find a place closer to the entrance to wait.
"So not cranky, I feel great!" Sonic dismissed, glancing around. Odd. The crowd seemed to be shifting away from them. The blue hedgehog's ear flicked, noting how all of the others had moved an unusually large distance away. People stepped back. Too far back, creating a gap in front of them. Only one person hadn't moved.
She stood before the two heroes, leaning against an oversized hammer, mid conversation with two identical looking light purple bandicoots until she noticed Sonic. She was a pink hedgehog, wearing a magenta dress with a white band around the middle, and a matching headband and shoes, plus purple stockings to finish the look. She looked Sonic over, squinting at him. "Yuck." She stated. Sonic squinted right back, as if challenging her. The pink hedgehog shifted her weight on the hammer. "Sonic?" She asked, the blue hedgehog rolling his eyes. "SONIC? Ahahaha!~" She chuckled, the hammer disappearing as she began walking towards him. She outstretched her arms with a wide smile, Sonic's own stance turning playful. "Welcome to high school, my little freshman!"
They greeted each other with a hug, the pink hedgehog's grip tight. "Hi Amy. I missed you last year." Sonic wheezed, nearly crushed within her grasp.
Amy smiled as they pulled away. "Oh, well, I'm here now." She tutted, putting a hand on his shoulder before turning so that they were side by side. She wrapped an arm around him. "And I want you to think of me as your sophomore big sister, and astonishingly popular big sister!" Sonic grimaced a bit in her hold, Knuckles standing awkwardly behind as they walked toward the school building without him. The echidna ran after them as the rest of the crowd began to flood in, Sonic pulling back out of Amy's grasp and walking behind her to let Knuckles catch up.
Amy gave an unbothered wave at some of the other people as she passed, glancing at Knuckles in disgust when he held out his phone in front of her. "That's Amy. She and Sonic have hated each other for longer than they've been alive!" He told the camera, his enthusiasm not really mirroring the topic.
"Who's he blabbering to?" Amy snorted, Sonic falling back into step next to them. "Besides everyone, constantly." She added, rolling her eyes.
"Knux happens to be live streaming to thousands of devoted fans." The blue hedgehog replied with an exasperated edge.
"Okay, Wolfie, gotta go." Knuckles said to the phone. Amy shot Sonic an 'I told you so' glance. "Wolfie? Huh, I guess he signed off." Sonic looked over at the echidna's shoulder to confirm. Amy spun around in front of them, giving an extremely fake smile. She chuckled, shoving them both aside as she walked between them, going back the way she came.
"Almost forgot, Ames." Sonic hissed, whipping around to face her. Amy glanced back at them. "When are track tryouts?"
"Track? You want a track school?" The pink hedgehog laughed, taking a few steps back towards the heroes. "Yeah. Go hang with the losers in Lowertown. Here in Emerald High, we're about one thing." She tilted her head, leaning forward with a scowl on her face. "This is a soccer school." Sonic blinked in brief disbelief, making her smile come back when. "Tryouts are after class if you're feeling brave enough." She added, pulling out a whistle from her pocket. She blew it, both of them wincing from the noise. A soccer ball flew over Amy, nearly missing her but sailing straight for Sonic. It almost slammed into him, but the blue hedgehog put up his hands just in time, catching it. Knuckles flinched away and looked at his friend in surprise, but Amy beat him to saying something. "You can't use your hands!" She scolded. Sonic dropped the ball, both he and Knuckles putting their hands up in surrender. "Okay. Thanks. Bye.~" The pink hedgehog bitterly laughed, spinning on her heels and walking away.
Knuckles gave a small wave towards the departing pink hedgehog, putting his hand down. Sonic's medallion chimed, the hologram of Tails projecting. "OkAy. ThaNks. Hi." The yellow fox mocked, having apparently heard Sonic and Amy's conversation.
The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes and sarcastically grinned. "Make it quick, buddy. We gotta get to homeroom."
"Remind me to tell you something about that later." Tails agreed, gesturing a finger at him. "Anyway, I don't know if you've heard, but Shadow sprung Eggman from the joint."
Sonic's fake smile dropped. "What?"
The red echidna noticed this and dismissively waved a hand to reassure his friend. "-No big. You've captured that dude more times than I've tripped over my own two feeEEEEET!!!" Like clockwork, Knuckles stumbled on his shoes and fell forward. Sonic grabbed him by the backpack without even glancing over and yanked him up before he hit the ground, all with a deadpanned expression.
"Want me to run a suspicious activity sweep of all known lairs, Sonic?" Tails asked, redirecting his friends' attention.
Sonic nodded. "Please and thank you. And what did you want to tell us about homeroom?" He replied, glancing at Knuckles who leaned down to fix the cuff of his shoe in an attempt to not trip again.
"Oh, yeah. It's on the other side of the school."
Sonic blinked and frowned, shaking his head. "No it's not. I did a VR walkthrough."
Tails cringed. "No. They re-numbered the class rooms over the summer."
"WHAT?" Sonic spun around and dismissed the hologram, crouching into a running stance, but it was already too late. The halls were empty and the bell rang. Sonic grabbed Knuckles by the arm and bolted through the cafeteria behind him.
***
[EMERALD HIGH HOMEROOM:]
"In conclusion. It's best to abandon any hope of joy and find meager satisfaction in monotony." The teacher stated, standing between several students desks. Sonic and Knuckles threw open the classroom door, panting as they skid to a halt. The teacher turned to face them."Oh… You must be Uncredible and Unacceptable?"
Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other for a moment, fumbling over their wording as they debated if they should correct the teacher or if that would make things much worse. Knuckles was the first to form a proper sentence, looking back at him. "You must recognise us from the news?" He asked, pointing at the teacher. The echidna and hedgehog smiled, hoping to get let off easy.
"Nope. I recognised you from this…" The teacher held up a an attendance clip board. "...becasue you are late."
The two hero's smiles faltered but Sonic kept his up long enough to reply, still with a chirpy enthusiasm. "We got a little turned around, Mr. Fink." The teacher lowered the clip board, scowling, so Sonic tried again. "Nobod told us they renumbered the classrooms." He said, still with a smile.
"Yeah, I did that. Keeps you kids on your toes." Mr. Fink replied, gesturing to the class before him. "On your tippity-tippies."
The blue hedgehog gritted his teeth but kept his grin, getting frustrated. "Thats not really fair."
"It takes me 90 minutes to prepare my puppies, their low-carb, high protein breakfast…" The teacher walked over to his desk, setting down the clip board. He retrieved a framed photo of several puppies, turning it around to show Sonic. "...but that doesn't stop me from being on time." He then turned the picture to himself and began stroking the glass over one of the dogs. "Isn't that right, my pup? Yes, it is. Oh, yes it is.~" He cooed, rubbing his cheek against the photo and imitating his dog's barks.
Sonic cleared his throat. "You… sh… stop." Mr. Fink snapped back to attention, a kid in the back coughing awkwardly. "Okay. Anyway, seeing as it's your first day of school," He said, tucking the photo under his arm. "I'm willing to show a little uncharacteristic mercy." He gestured around, the two hero's faces lightening.
"Yeah!" Knuckles cheered.
"But I've got my eyes on both you troublemakers. One each." He finished, pointing at his eyes and then at them several times.
"Yeah, we're not troublemakers." Sonic assured, smiling brightly.
Knuckles added to his statement. "We're trouble stoppers! Haven't you ever seen us do good stuff on TV?"
Mr. Fink stared at them with a mix of uninterest and disgust. Sonic twiddled his fingers awkwardly in the silence, opting to pipe up. "Ah, well…-" The bell rang once again, cutting him off. The whole class bolted up from their seats, throwing their backpacks over their holders and pushing their chairs out. The teacher grabbed a small brief case from the desk and followed them out, disappearing into the crowd. Sonic and Knuckles were left standing in the doorway mid one way conversation. They didn't stay upright for long. Immediately, they began to get shoved aside by waves of people trying to leave. "Mr. Fink, maybe we, uh-" Someone slammed into the blue hedgehog, cutting him off. "-Oh, hey!"
"Excuse me." They mindlessly said, pushing past him again. More people followed suit, aggressively throwing them aside.
"HEY!" He yelped, he and knuckles getting pushed to the ground. After a few moments of dodging shoes, Sonic managed to scramble to his feet and stand up in the crowd, holding a hand out to the red echidna and pulling him up. "We gotta get to our first class." He panicked, uncharacteristically frazzled.
"Where is it?" Knuckles asked, even though they both knew Sonic didn't have an answer.
Well, maybe Sonic didn't, but Tails did. The blue hedgehog tapped on his medallion, the hologram popping up. "Tails."
The two tailed fox knew what his friend was going to ask before he said it. "The other side of the school." He replied immediately.
Sonic scowled, shaking his fists. "Get me the blueprints to any and all vents, tunnels, and roof access points."
Tails nodded, grabbing several of the school schematic holograms from around the display and stringing them together, throwing them onto Sonic's hologram. "Coming at you."
Sonic zoomed in certain parts of the map, looking it over, and crouched back down to run. "Let's juice." He stated, bolting. Knuckles sputtered, running after him.
***
[EMERALD HIGH EXTERIOR:]
Sonic sprinted out the front door of the school, pulling out his grappling hook and shooting it at the top of the building. The hook latched onto the top of the building's edge, and cord pulled him up, letting him launch onto the roof. He barely let the line reel back in before he tucked the gun back into his backpack and dashed forward again, flipping off one of the lips on the roof to land on a lower part. Tails's hologram projected back out of the medallion. "Sonic?" The fox gestured towards a ventilation pipe coming up. "Jump in there!" Sonic nodded and threw himself at the grate covering the way in, swinging it up as he slid into the pipe.
The students in the hallway below heard muffled banging overhead. Then the ceiling gave way. The blue hedgehog came crashing through the ceiling, taking out a large section of paneling and insulation with him. He yelped, slamming hard into the floor in front of the classroom doorway. He coughed, taking a second before staggering to his feet, holding onto the doorway for support. He shook his head, blew stray quills out of his face… and froze. All of the other teens were already seated in the classroom, with Mr. Fink standing in front of them with an open book. "What?!" Sonic cried in disbelief. The teacher turned to face him. "How are you already here?!"
Mr. Fink gritted his teeth and closed the book, lightly touching it to his forehead before holding it aside again. "Is your name 'Sonicredible' because you're always incredibly late to class?" He seethed, glaring at Sonic. The blue hedgehog looked down in frustrated astonishment.
Knuckles ran through the door behind him, gasping for air, yet still looking incredibly confused when he noticed the teacher. "Mr. Fink?"
"Yeah, that's me." The teacher said, pointing at himself. "I'm subbing for Mrs. Vandersnout. She's off on eternity leave."
Knuckles glanced at Sonic, still confused, so the blue hedgehog corrected the teacher. "You mean ma-ternity?"
Mr. Fink clicked his tongue. "No, I mean she's gone and she ain't coming back. Now…" He whistled, pointing to the empty seats in the back of the room. "...Sit!"
Every pair of eyes in the room was on them now, so rather than push it, Sonic rolled his eyes and headed for the seats.
***
[???:]
The former dam that Doctor Starline had utilized had been shut down due to tampering concerns. This meant that it was off limits to the general public. Perfect cover for a true super villain to boil up the perfect egg to crack a scheme from. Light poured in from a hole in the rock wall beneath the dam, illuminating the space of a decrepit cave, crammed with odd items that were covered in a thick layer of dust and dirt. Vines and roots hung down from the ceiling, sediment particles floating in the stale air. Then a shadow blocked the light and Eggman stepped into the space, now wearing his usual red coat and black pants. He looked around, both surprised while being disgusted, and stepped down from the level that the doorway was on, to a slightly lower level. Gravel and debris shifted under him as he walked, adding to the grimy feel of the place. He tossed his bag of prison souvenirs down onto an odd red velvet and gold framed throne chair, Shadow walked through the cave entrance behind him. "Gee, thanks for setting up this awesome lair in my absence, Shadow." The black hedgehog sarcastically complimented himself, glaring at Eggman. "That's you." He then added, in case the doctor hadn't understood that he was then meant to praise Shadow's effort.
"Yes… It's wonderful how we used to have our own entire island and now, we're squatting in some pile of garbage vaguely shaped like a building." Eggman spat in reply, throwing his hands around. As if to answer, a dish-like item fell from the ceiling, rolling around on the ground for a long and loud few seconds. He stared at it, slowly turning to face Shadow as it continued. Shadow pretended very hard not to notice and didn't look at him, instead glancing around in an awkward but unashamed way. The doctor angrily turned away from him again, and pulled out his phone, clicking it on and scrolling through it. "Look at Zavok's Villainstagram." He said, turning the screen to face Shadow. The black hedgehog made no effort to move closer off of the ledge to see better. "He has an underwater base." Eggman flipped the phone back around to himself, continuing to scroll. Shadow fixed the cuff of his glove with boredom as Eggman spoke. "Infinite has an active volcano." Again, he showed Shadow the screen. The black hedgehog shrugged, but Eggman kept speaking. "I used to have an island."
"Okay. Well, that island, if you remember correctly…" Shadow jumped off the ledge, storming down to him, ears flat. "...slightly exploded."
"Yes… Because of Sonicredible." Eggman replied, walking down another small wide step to the main clearing in the room.
Shadow chuckled sinisterly, slowly trailing behind. "Yeah. Imagine, all your genius plans foiled by one puny idiot." He scoffed.
"Oh." Eggman shook his head. "He isn't just one puny idiot." He said, walking over to one of the desks with a keyboard on it and a large screen in front of it. He began typing, the screen displaying strings of text and a collage of photos. "There's something about him that makes him able to defeat villain after villain after villain." Eggman stared up at the screen, gritting his teeth. "A certain spark." Shadow barely raised an eyebrow. "I want that spark."
[EMERALD HIGH:]
"I can't figure it out!" Sonic sighed, slowly walking down a set of stairs next to Knuckles. "What is highschool's deal?"
Knuckles shrugged beside him. "I gotta tell you, dude. In my 16 years on this crazy planet, this is probably the best first day of school I've ever had." They walked down the last step into the main hall, the red echidna chuckling. "Remember sixth grade?"
Sonic smiled a bit. "Today beats losing your pants at the welcome assembly. I'll give you that."
"That's the spirit!" His friend encouraged, bumping his arm into the hedgehog's. "And besides, so today was a hot dumpster fire. So what? The Sonic I know doesn't go down without a fight. You got this."
Sonic seemed to think for a moment before spinning around to face Knuckles, smiling with his usual energy once more. "You know what? You're so right! I wasn't planning on trying out for soccer today but…" Sonic lit up the instant he got an idea. "Oh, how sweet would it be to wipe that smug smile off of Amy's face?" Knuckles nervously grinned and pumped a fist in the air. "Come on." Sonic excitedly giggled, running past the stairs that they had just walked down. He dashed through the opposite part of the hall, leaving Knuckles to chase after him.
***
[EMERALD HIGH SOCCER COURT:]
Sonic jogged up to the group of soccer players standing in the center of the field, his track outfit standing out against their designated magenta jerseys. Amy, of course, was the one to speak, being the captain of the squad, visible from the whistle around her neck. "Oh, cute. Our last tryout of the day. Okay blueberry, it's simple." She pointed down to a soccer ball, planting one foot on it before clasping her hands. "Kick this ball into that goal." She stated, knocking the ball over to him. The blue hedgehog put a foot on the ball to stop it from rolling, putting his hands on his hips. "Oh, and if you don't too terribly mind, my squad and I here will do…" Amy smiled, looking around at her team before back at Sonic. "...Everything in our power to stop you!" She giggled, taking the whistle into hand and blowing it. The rest of the people behind the pink hedgehog spun around, moving into position while Sonic and Amy stared each other down for a second longer. When Amy finally sprinted away, the rest of her squad had scattered across their side of the field, waiting for Sonic to make his move.
Along the edge of the field was a row of shiny silver bleachers where Knuckles sat. Other kids were around him but none of them were watching the field, all on their phones or talking, so he cheered on Sonic alone. "Let's go, Sonic!" He yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify his words.
Either Sonic didn't hear him or didn't care to break his glare away from Amy, staring her down before taking off, kicking the ball along with him. "Break a leg." One of the players in front of him shouted as he dodged them, weaving between several others in the process.
"Come on, you guys. Don't let him through!" Amy growled, her grip tightening on the hammer by her side. She angrily watched as Sonic continued to swerve around her squad, turning into a blue blur of quills as he did.
They chased after him, but of course he was faster than them, so they tired out quickly. "We can't! He's too fast!" They cried. One of the players tried to slide down and kick the ball out from underneath him, but he flipped over them, the ball bouncing up with him.
"Defence! Get the ball!" Amy yelled, jabbing a finger at her squad mates from her position in front of the goalie.
"I got this!" Another person shouted, falling backwards and sliding across the ground when the blue hedgehog jumped over them again. "Don't got it." They grunted, rolling onto their side. Sonic ran past them, curling into a homing attack with the ball between his feet to get past another player.
Knuckles brightened from his spot in the stands. "Wow! Okay." He grinned, relieved that his friend was actually succeeding.
Sonic smiled too, knowing that he was closing in on the goal just ahead. Amy crouched about ten feet in front of the person guarding the goal, scowling. "Oh no, Sonic. You're not getting by me." She hissed under her breath. But even despite her best attempt at stopping him, Sonic launched the ball at her. It hit her in the shoulder just hard enough to make her yelp in surprise and lose her footing, falling backwards. The ball bounced back up off of her, giving the blue hedgehog the perfect chance to leap into the air and spin around, kicking it straight into the goal. The goalie saw this and tried to hold up their hands to block it, but missed. The ball swished into the net, bits of turn raining down around it. Sonic landed, watching his score with a wide grin. The goalie rolled over into a sitting position from where they had flopped onto the ground, squinting at the goal in defeat.
"Whoooo! Yeah!!!" Knuckles cheered from the bleachers, loud enough that Amy realised her and her team's failure. She whipped around to face Sonic from where she was still getting up. Sonic grinned at her, the rest of the soccer squad walking up behind him. The red echidna shouted in joy, pumping a fist in the air. "You did it, Sonic! YES! Whoo!" Knuckles glanced around, and even though everyone still paid no attention to his friend's victory, he smiled anyway.
Amy finally finished pulling herself up, dusting off her clothing and walking back in front of Sonic. She giggled, putting her hands on her hips. "Okay. From the bottom of my…" She briefly put a hand on her chest and closed her eyes. "...Very deep heart, Sonic. That was…" Her eyes opened again, and she smiled, raising her eyebrows in disbelief. "...Amazing." Sonic beamed in pride and shrugged, not expecting Amy to continue, yet she did. "I'm shook." The soccer players circled around behind her, crossing their arms. "So, congratulations to our newest…" She gasped in mock surprise. "…Equipment manager!" She began clapping. Two members of her team ran up to Sonic with a bucket of old jerseys, dropping it at his feet.
Sonic narrowed his eyes but still kept a small and fake smile. "Equipment manager?"
"Oh, I take just a hint of starch." Amy nodded, pointing to the bucket of dirty outfits.
Sonic bitterly laughed, what remained of his smile shattering as he shook his head. "Equipment manager? Amy, you just told me I was amazing."
Amy scoffed, the rest of the soccer squad boring holes into him with their gazes. "You totally are, Blueberry. But you're also a…" She trailed off, looking him up and down with disgust. "...Freshman."
Sonic furrowed his eyebrows, mouth pulled down in a frown. "So?"
"Did I forget to tell you?" Amy shook her head, voice laced with false pity. "So sorry, freshmen can't be on the team." Sonic blinked and glanced around, trying to see if she was lying, like there would be a sign that confirmed her claim, but she and her team began to leave. And just as quickly as they started to, they quickly stopped and turned back to him in unison. "Oh, and use a non-chlorine bleach." She chuckled. "Obvi." And then they all continued walking away. Sonic stood before a laundry bucket, in the middle of a field, by himself.
He called after them. "Wait. Where am I taking this?" They didn't pay any attention to him.
Thankfully, the hologram from his medallion projected, Tails having overheard his friend's predicament. "The equipment room is on…" He scrolled through the blueprints of the school, spinning them around a few times before turning back to look at Sonic through the screen. He had the expression that said he almost wanted to laugh if he wasn't feeling so bad for the blue hedgehog.
Sonic answered for him, knowing the one thing that could mean. "...The opposite side of the school." Sonic said with disdain, despite a sour smile finding a way onto his face. Tails simply nodded, the hologram disappearing as Sonic leaned down and picked up the bin. "Eugh. This box reeks." He coughed, wattling forward from the odd weight.
***
[???:]
The screen displayed Sonic's exact predicament, unfolding live, before Eggman rewound it once more. "So, how's stealing that spark going?" Shadow asked, sitting on the golden and velvet throne across the room from him. He waved around a nail file as he spoke, leaning on one of the arm rests with his legs crossed. "Um. You know, besides poorly." He resumed filing his nails.
"Today is his first day of high school. Something that can reduce the strongest, most confident adolescent into a helpless, mewling kitten." Eggman replied, Shadow's eyes following him as the doctor walked across the clearing. The black hedgehog raised his eyebrows with a look of confused disgust, pausing his manicure momentarily. "This is happening to our little foe as we speak." Eggman stepped up onto a rusty grate like platform, typing a code into a large piece of machinery before him. It began a start-up sequence. "And once he is at his weakest, I will isolate and steal that spark that makes Sonic Incredible!" He maniacally laughed, yanking down a lever on the machine. It beeped but not in a good way. The whirring and other noises it had started making stopped, as though it shut off. Eggman glanced over at the screen, sighing. It displayed a diagram of two chambers glowing in cyan, with a line connecting from each to one main diamond shaped crystal, glowing in red with a line through it. He lifted the screen, revealing an empty diamond shaped slot behind it, before he closed it again. "Um…" He turned so that his back was facing Shadow. "Did you get the Zakadium Q-46"
"What?" The black hedgehog asked from his seat.
"It's the power source for my revenge plot."
"Oh… Yeah, it's in there." Shadow said, dismissively waving a hand.
"Oh." Eggman stepped off the platform, walking over to a wall of drawers and safe boxes, pointing to them. "In the… In there, there? There?"
Shadow rolled his eyes and pointed to one of the drawers, but made no attempt to actually get up. "It's over… I can't reach it."
Eggman opened a drawer, pulling out a brown cardboard box. "You bought it online?" He asked, looking it over.
"Yeah. Get with the times, Doc. Nobody leaves the lair anymore." Shadow scoffed, gesturing around.
Eggman briefly opened the flaps of the box. He sighed and scrunched his face moments later, shutting it. "This is a cheap knockoff." He stated, walking over to Shadow. He dropped the box a few feet away and screamed at the black hedgehog. "Get the Zakadium!-"
"HEY!" Shadow stood up, using his shoes to float at eye level with Eggman. The doctor stumped back a few feet. "You know, yelling might make you feel better, but it doesn't make me feel worse." The black hedgehog spat, dropping back to the ground. He turned away and tossed his nail file at Eggman. "Just an FYI." He walked up the spaced apart platforms leading to the entrance of the cave, exiting their layer.
Eggman turned around once Shadow was mostly out of the cave, gritting his teeth. "Just a detour…" He snapped the nail file. "...On the road to victory." Dropping it, he closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.
***
[EMERALD HIGH EXTERIOR:]
"You've only been to school one day and you're already making a difference." Knuckles reassured his blue friend, smiling. "Your arms are gonna be jacked by the end of the year. You're gonna look like me! Which will be great for when you get on the soccer team and can't even use them."
Sonic grinned at that, confused by his friend's logic, but appreciated the gesture anyway. "What…? …Thanks, Knuckles. Y'know, you always know what to say, sort of." He chuckled, shaking his head. They had been walking back around the side of the building, trying to find the equipment room for the last ten minutes, and Sonic hauling around the heavy laundry bin wasn't helping with the time spent. "Regardless, I've had the absolute worst first day of school that any human being can have." Sonic stated, his smile vanishing. He sighed, not nearly done venting to his friend. But before he could continue rambling, his ears flicked as they picked up a sound. He paused and squinted, straining his hearing. Someone was…crying…He turned to Knuckles. "Or maybe not." Sonic said in response to his previous statement, putting the bucket of dirty jerseys down beside the edge of the school wall. They rounded the corner, freezing at the sight.
A light blue-ish turquoise hedgehog was collapsed on the ground with their back against the school wall, sobbing hard enough their shoulders shook. Their quills were a knotted mess and their backpack was open on the concrete beside them, all of the papers that were likely once in the bag scattered around them. They held a phone next to their ear. "It was awful, dad. I didn't make any friends and…" They looked over at their bag on the ground, gesturing to it even though the person on the other end of the phone wouldn't be able to see it. "...I just tripped and dumped my backpack everywhere and… everyone laughed." They sobbed, listening to the voice on the phone. The turquoise hedgehog tried to regulate their breathing and sighed. "I know. Love you too." They pulled the phone away from their ear, hanging up and scowling. Sonic's eyes widened in concern and he ran forward, though Knuckles stayed hidden behind the corner of the building for fear of them being caught eavesdropping. The blue hero grabbed one of the loose leaf papers off the ground, bouncing over while picking up several more. The lighter blue hedgehog looked up as Sonic rolled over to him, tucking the papers into their backpack.
He zipped it up. "I believe this is yours." He smiled, handing it them. The turquoise hedgehog gasped. Sonic knew that he didn't have to introduce himself, but he did anyway, chuckling. "I'm Sonic."
Their jaw dropped open, eyes lighting up as they took the bag. "I-I know." Their mouth quivered into a light smile. From his hiding place, Knuckles grinned in relief, leaning against the wall.
Sonic beamed, but was still concerned. "Are you okay?"
"Okay?" They sniffled, a dumbfounded smile erasing their sadness. "I just met Sonicredible." They squealed, making Sonic giggle.
The darker blue hero held out an open hand. "Come on." He said, pulling them up when they took his hand. The turquoise hedgehog watched Sonic in amazement, eyes wide. 'So this is him…'
***
[BUENO NACHO (RESTAURANT):]
Sonic and his new friend sat on one of the booths inside a festively colored Spagonian restaurant. It was a fairly busy place, but not to the point where it was crowded, still an empty table here and there. "Oh, Bueno Nacho. Love it." The turquoise hedgehog grinned, nodding at the menu board.
Sonic laughed, leaning back against the booth with one foot up on the seat. "Yup. It's Knuckles' casa away from casa." He replied, raising his hand to sketch the picture in the air. They both giggled. "Oh!" Sonic lightly tapped a finger against one of his quills in realization. "I'm sorry. I didn't even ask you what your name was."
"Oh!" They noticed too.
"You didn't go to Emerald Middle School, right?"
They shook their head. "Uh, no, I just moved here this summer. I'm Metal."
Before Sonic could reply, Knuckles walked up to their table, holding a tray of food and drinks. The drinks were in hot pink cups with little cacti designs on them, the food in white and red checkered napkins, "Ah! Metal. As in, steel and stuff, rather than the award, right? Did you know the original word for metal was metallon, and it meant to mine, quarry, or ore?" He asked Metal, who nodded in return. "Well, you've made a wise choice today, Metal. Behold! Nature's perfect food." Sonic scooted over into the booth, making enough room for Knuckles to sit down. The echidna slid the tray onto the table, gesturing to it. "Grapes. Healthy plus tasty meets fruit in a fusion of sweet, juicy glory." He said, popping a grape into his mouth. "But of course, you guys ordered…"
"Chili dog with extra Jalapenos."
"Chili dog with extra Jalapenos."
Both hedgehogs said at the same time. Knuckles handed them each their chili dog, Sonic and Metal staring at each other in shock. "What are the odds?" Sonic laughed, smiling. Moments later, the three of them tore into their food, opening the wrappers, or, for Knuckles, pulling the grapes off the vines. The red echidna stuffed his face with another handful of the purple fruit, but after a moment Metal set down their chili dog, and instead pulled out their phone. They turned on the camera and tilted it towards Sonic and Knuckles, trying to find the right angle to take the picture at. They struggled for a second, which was long enough for Sonic to notice. "Hey, let me see that phone for a hot sec." He said, pointing at it.
Metal blinked, almost worried that the two heroes would deny a photo, but smiled in relief when Sonic grin never faded. "Oh, uh…" They handed their phone to him.
"Yeah, come here." Sonic added, holding the phone out in front of him and Knuckles for a selfie. "All right. Get in close. Ready?" Knuckles pushed himself up against Sonic's shoulder, posing with his tongue out while Metal leaned over the table, smiling with Sonic. When the three of them were in frame, Sonic pressed capture, taking a perfect photo of them.
"Yes! It's perfect!" Metal gasped, the other two laughing. "Thank you. Thank you for that."
Sonic handed them back their phone, waving them off. "Seriously, just ask. We're the least selfie-adverse people on this planet." He replied, looking over at Knuckles who took a mouth full of grapes and nodded.
"I have followed all of your adventures for, like, ever." Metal admitted, taking a bite of their chili dog. Sonic chuckled, chomping down on his food as well. "I even cosplayed as you at Comic Con last year." Metal pulled out their phone again, scrolling through the photo album. They flipped it around to show the two. "Look at this." The picture was of Metal, wearing a slightly crude bright blue wig with Sonic's quills, and similar gloves and shoes to the ones Sonic wore. Next to Metal was a dog with a red dreadlocked wig on.
"That's amazing." Sonic smiled. "And that outfit!"
Metal sheepishly waved in dismissal. "Nah. It's weak, -but I am working on a better one!" They quickly added, as though their previous response might somehow offend the blue hero.
"What's up with the incredibly handsome pooch?~" Knuckles asked, grinning.
This got the turquoise hedgehog to chuckle. "Oh. That's Knuxcce-pit-bull, of course." The three of them burst out laughing, but after their giggles had subsided Metal provided a bit more context. "I didn't really have any friends to go with me." They shrugged, not seeming to be truly bothered by the fact at the moment.
Sonic thought for a moment, trying to come up with something reassuring to say, but Knuckles beat him to it. "I don't know if you know this about me. But when I grow up, I want to be a dog." Metal's expression brightened even more instantly, and they let out a small huff like laugh. "The other members of my tribe used to tell me that it's not a realistic goal, but thanks to you, I'm one step closer." Sonic nodded and rolled his eyes, clearly having been a victim to many of his friend's 'I want to be a dog' conversations.
Metal nodded, leaning forward. "Knuckles, be the dog you want to see in the world." They encouraged, gesturing at him.
Knuckles smiled and Metal sat back again, sinking their teeth into a large chunk of hotdog bun. "Thank you… And woof!" He added, stuffing several more grapes into his mouth.
Sonic sarcastically sighed at Knuckles and reached for his drink, glancing at Metal. "Hey, uh, quick check, just so I don't mess it up. 'They,' right?"
The turquoise hedgehog looked up from what was left of their food and nodded, smiling.
"Got it." Sonic grinned, swirling his soda with its straw.
***
[EMERALD HIGH HOMEROOM:]
"For those of you who don't know how to tell time, I strongly urge you to learn…" Mr. Fink trailed off, Sonic and Knuckles throwing open the classroom door. The whole class turned in their seats to face the two. "Oh… The tardy party continues."
Sonic sighed, clasping his hands. "I'm so sorry Mr. Fink-"
"Sorry doesn't cut it, mister. I'm giving you both detention." Sonic's face dropped, horror washing over his expression.
Another set of footsteps ran up behind the two. "-I can explain, Mr. F." Sonic and Knuckles looked behind themselves, Metal standing in the doorway as well now. "We've actually been volunteering. At the dog shelter."
"That's no excuse… Wait." The teacher paused, registering the last part. "I'm sorry. The what?" He asked, pointing to them.
"Yeah. The dog shelter." Metal stepped past the other two, innocently looking away. "For all the homeless puppies out there. The ones from the streets." Knuckles glanced at Sonic, seeing what Metal was trying to do. Or, well, succeeding in doing. Mr. Fink's face was contorted in such a sad, pitying way that made him look like he was going to cry. "They're very protein-deficient and have low-carb diets." Metal continued, shaking their head.
"So sad." Sonic added from behind them.
"Uh…" The teacher tried to speak, but the words died in his throat, so he held up a finger. "Just give me…" He clapped his hands together, looking down at the floor to hide the tears he blinked away before exhaling. He stared back up at the three. "Okay. Well, I suppose I could let it pass for now." Metal nodded, the red echidna and Sonic exchanging a relieved glance. "Now, just sit." Mr. Fink stated, jabbing a finger at the desks as he walked over to his own. Metal tilted their head down to hide their smile, walking over to the nearest empty desk. Sonic and Knuckles joined them, swinging their backpacks around the back of the chairs and sitting down. Sonic grinned at Metal, giving them a thumbs up. "All right." The teacher began lecturing once more. "The rules are equal to or greater than cool. So you see, if you want to be cool…" The blue hero quickly outstretched his hand across the desk for a high five, which happily Metal obliged.
***
[THE HEDGEHOG HOUSEHOLD:]
Sonic sat on the window sill in his room with an open book in his lap, the sunlight blaring down on him through the massive window. It was bright, but not enough that he couldn't make out the figure of Metal sitting in the chair pulled up to one of his desks. Said turquoise hedgehog dug through their backpack that they'd set on the desk, frowning. "Darn. I think I left my lip balm at home." They said, turning to face Sonic.
The blue hero looked up, shrugging. "Oh, I'm sure I have a spare." He replied, jumping off the sill. He clicked something in the cuff of his right glove and set the book down in the sun beside him, stretching. A small whirl caught Metal's ear, and they swiveled around in the chair. Their jaw dropped as the wall in front of them folded up into the ceiling, revealing a full wardrobe, accessory, and make up vanity. On the right were bracelets, clip-on earrings, a few other medallions, and 7 rings. Front and center held all of the gear Sonic took with him on missions, from grappling hooks to a jetpack. To the left was one of Sonic's old 'outfits', with branded soap shoes and differently styled gloves. And below it all were rows of closed drawers, small stickers slapped onto each of them. To top it all off, the whole vanity was backlit.
Metal squealed. "Wow! So many grappling hooks!" They noted as Sonic walked over, smiling.
"Saving the world requires a surprising amount of grappling." He chuckled.
Metal stood up from the chair, eyes wide as they looked over the wardrobe section. "Hey. Why don't you wear these on missions anymore? They used to be your thing." They pointed to the soap shoes, walking up to the stand.
"I don't know. I guess I just didn't want them to wear through. My normal shoes I can buy anytime I want. But those shoes were a one time partnership. They hold memories. And if I'm being completely honest, they kinda felt like they belonged in a video game." Sonic chuckled, pulling open one of the lower drawers. "Now, which shade would look the best on you?" He asked, digging through an organiser of lip tints and other beauty products.
Metal blanched over beside a row of grappling hooks, seeing three lip balms stood up in a holder. "Oh, here's one." They stated, grabbing one of the tubes.
Sonic whipped around, waving his hands in a panic. "Oh, no, no, no, Metal. That's not-"
Metal unscrewed the cap and a bright red beam of light shot out. They jerked away from it just in time, the laser searing a surface level scorch mark across part of the wall behind them. Sonic quickly reached over and popped the cap back on before it could do anymore damage. "I-I am so sorry!" Metal gasped, staring in horror at the minor destruction left behind. "I'm such a klutz!"
Sonic shook his head, putting the fake lip balm back. "No, no, no, no, it's fine. I'm just glad you're okay." He brushed a quill out of his face and smiled, handing them a plain tube from the drawer. "Here. This one's safe." The turquoise hedgehog sighed, looking back up at the scorch mark one last time, before gratefully taking the tube Sonic offered them.
The radio in the corner began to play, a female singer coming through the static. "♪♫ It's been the whole week, let me, let me rewind. Metropolis dreamin' New Yolk state of mind. ♩♬ "
"This song is bomb." Metal suddenly said, walking over to the table the radio sat on. They turned up the volume several dials. "Who is it?"
Sonic stepped closer, gesturing to the radio. "It's the new Honey. It's been all over the internet for, like, a month now and I love it." He smiled.
Metal swayed back and forth to the rhythm, looking over at Sonic. "Who?"
The blue hero looked dumbfounded. "Honey? Honey Cat? You've never heard of her?"
Metal shrugged and continued dancing to the song. "♪♫ 'Cause I came here to party all night…♩♬"
Sonic laughed and watched his new friend jam, but they froze, looking back at him. "Oh, uh. Are… Are you… judging?"
"No. No, no, no. Of course not." Sonic corrected himself, relief washing over Metal's face. Sonic smiled again. "Getting to know you has been…"
"Pretty great?" Metal finished softly.
"Pretty great. Yeah."
"Yeah." They both agreed, giggling. "Now, let's…" Metal held out their hand. "Dance." Sonic took it, stepping forward.
"♪♫ Go round, round, round, 'Cause I like to party all night. From the East to the West Coast…♩♬" They spun around each other, continuing to dance around Sonic's room. "That's right. We gon' raise the roof up, sky high. Can you party with me? Party, party with me…♩♬"