SONIC X: FRIENDSHIP IS UNIVERSAL
Episode 20:
Origin Story Time! - Part 2: Sonic Heroes
The day after the Mane Party (most of it) shared their stories, our heroes continued with their usual routine of getting up in the morning, taking their shower, get dressed and then head for the dining hall for breakfast and resume the construction of the Animal Friends' new home. Everything was proceeding smoothly as more Animal Friends moved in as their new home started to look more like a large mansion built to hold hundreds of people, or in this case highly intelligent anthropomorphic animals.
So far, they managed to build up to nine floors, leaving just one more floor to go. They decided to take a break for the time being as Ella and the others prepared their lunch.
"We're almost done, just a little bit more and your new home will finally be complete!" Chuck said.
"That went surprisingly fast." Pocky said, "Probably because we have magic and high-tech geniuses on our side."
Tails and Twilight giggled bashfully, as the twin-tailed fox scratched the back of his head while Twilight leaned her left foreleg over her right on, while Chuck said, "That may be true, but we've only managed to make it this far thanks to everyone's cooperation."
"Indeed, all three groups did their parts splendidly." Celestia said.
"And as a reward for all your hard work, we've prepared this feast for you all!" Ella said as she, Tanaka, and their Mobian and Equestrian cooking friends set up the table, placing all the food on it.
"Alright! Let's dig in!" Spike said.
"Yeah!" Almost everyone shouted.
The heroes enjoyed their meal together as there was a big variety of food suited for everyone's tastes, along with some alternatives for some.
"Oh, this is heaven!" Tucker said as he enjoyed his food.
"Tucker! That's the SECOND dose you are eating! We're supposed to have ONE of each, remember?" Nate scolded him.
"Hey! Who ate all of the peanuts!?" Rainbow complained.
"Me!" Pinkie Pie said, "And I would like some more please!"
"Hmm, gems!" Spike drooled as he started munching on a ruby.
"I was going to use those spare gems for my new dresses, but I suppose you can have some of them Spike. You earned them." Rarity smiled.
"Thanks Rarity, you're the best!" Spike said as he scarfed down a sapphire.
"So long as you don't accidentally eat any of the Chaos Emeralds." Twilight said, "They might end up killing you, or worse, turn you into some kind of monster."
"Not to mention they are our ticket back to our worlds!" Tails added.
"Along with the Elements of Harmony." Twilight added.
"I know, I know." Spike said, "I won't go near them, no matter how tasty they may look."
"You're lucky Knuckles isn't here; he would have a cow." Sonic said.
"Speaking of Knuckles, isn't he your friend?" Cadence asked.
"Oh, we ARE friends, but he's too stubborn to admit it." Sonic said.
"Why is that?" Shining Armor asked.
"Because he doesn't want to admit that Sonic is the better of the two." Amy scoffed, "And he treats us the same way just because we are friends with Sonic."
"And he's pretty gullible too, getting tricked by Eggman into thinking Sonic is the bad guy!" Rainbow said.
"What!?" Shining Armor asked, "How could he fall for that villain's lies so easily!?"
"Because he's a loner and that made him gullible." Sonic said, "Living on a floating Island, doing nothing but guarding the Master Emerald 24/7, alone, without anyone to keep him company, will do that to you."
"Really, he's lived his whole life by himself?" Cadence asked, "What about his family?"
"Who know? All we know is that he's the last of his kind and has been living alone on Angel Island, guarding the Master Emerald all his life." Sonic said.
"The last of his kind?" Kat asked, "You mean he's the last living echidna left in your world?"
"That's right." Tails said, "Apparently a tragic event took the lives of his people and only his bloodline survived. Other than that, we're still in the dark about the details of said event."
"Man, that really bites." Chris said, while his sister and their classmates nodded in agreement.
"If I recall, you've mentioned this Master Emerald before. Is it perhaps related to the Chaos Emeralds?" Rarity asked.
"Yeah." Tails replied, "From what we know, the Master Emerald, as its name indicates, is the master control unit for the Chaos Emeralds. Much like the Emeralds themselves, its origins are a complete mystery to us too. It is also what keeps Angel Island floating up in the sky."
"Wow!" The others exclaimed in awe.
"Poor Knuckles, it must be a heavy burden having to guard such an important artifact." Cadence said, feeling bad for the red echidna, "Maybe if he had someone to keep him company…"
"Don't worry Cadence." Sonic assured her, "Knuckles may be more stubborn than a mule, and more gullible than a dodo, but he's been opening up to us and started becoming more friendly with us since our first adventure together. He just doesn't want to admit it because he's so used to being alone."
"Yeah, it's just that ever since we got sucked into this world, all he seems to care about is finding the Chaos Emeralds as quickly as possible, because the Master Emerald was left behind in our world and someone might attempt to steal it." Amy said.
"He's stubborn and gullible, but his heart is in the right place." Cream said, "He's our friend whether he's aware of it or not."
"Chao, chao!" Cheese said in agreement.
"I see, so that's why he isn't with you?" Shining Armor asked.
"Yeah. But look at it this way: Knuckles may be looking for the Emeralds on his own, while we are looking for the Emeralds together, but our goals are one and the same." Sonic said, "We all want to return home."
"Understandable." Cadence said, "Still wish he didn't have to run off on his own."
"Same here, but we'll just have to trust him." Tails said.
"Right…" Shining Armor said, "Well, I suppose we can leave it at that. Let's talk about something else."
"Actually, I'm curious about you and Eggman." Applebloom said to Sonic and his friends.
"Yeah, was he always a bad guy?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I've always known Eggman as a rotten egg since the day I met him." Amy said.
"He's a big and mean bully who needs to be taught a lesson!" Cream said.
"Chao, chao!" Cheese chipped in agreement.
"He's the absolute worst!" The animal friends said in unison.
Then everyone looked at Tails and Sonic, waiting for their response. Tails spoke first, "Well, he's got talent as a mechanic and he's a genius with IQ of 300. I wouldn't mind partnering with him if he wasn't so egomaniacal and obsessed with world domination."
Sonic said, "Pretty much everything they said is how I feel about Eggman too, but…" his expression turned serious, "…he wasn't always like that…"
"Really?" The others looked at Sonic in curiosity.
Sonic sighed as he spoke in a serious, yet calm tone, "I still remember the days when he actually wanted to use his genius for good instead of evil like they were yesterday…"
Sonic's POV
It was about three years ago when I first met him, before he became the villain known as Dr. Eggman, he was just a normal human scientist known as Dr. Ivo Robotnik. As a matter of fact, he was the very first human I have ever encountered, since the population of Mobius mostly consists of giant, colorful, talking animals, as Chris and the others would put it.
On the day I first met him, I was just a little kid hedgehog who always, and still is, living by my own rules, running around at the speed of sound since far back as I can remember, from the hills of Green Hill Zone to the volcanic ruins of Marble Zone, even to the dreaded underwater Labyrinth Zone, I would always go to wherever the wind would take me to, until I stumbled upon Robotnik's secret lab.
"Whoa, where the heck am I?" I asked myself, as I climbed out of the manhole, and looked around the mysterious lab.
There were a bunch of machines, tables littered with piles of notes and documents, blackboards with a bunch of calculations drawn on it with chalk, corkboards with notes and pictures pinned on them, a living room with a kitchen and fridge, I guess for relaxing, and more…
Then I stumbled upon the man himself, working with some type of machine. He looked back at me, and we both reacted in surprise to see each other.
Robotnik, before he was Eggman, didn't look all that different from what he looks today, with the mustache, glasses and goggles over his bald head, but instead of his red suit, he was wearing a black shirt with a white lab coat over it, which had his name tag on it, black pants and shoes and white gloves.
"W-Who are you?" the scientist known as Dr. Ivo Robotnik spoke as he pointed his wrench at me, "How did you find this place?"
"Uh, hi there, sorry to drop in unannounced…" I spoke up, "I was running around until I stumbled upon this place by accident, and if you just put that wrench down, maybe we could resolve this peacefully, because I don't want to hurt you or anything, but…"
"You found this place? By accident you say?" Robotnik asked.
"That's right, running around at the speed of sound and exploring the world, it's kind of my thing." I told him.
"And you didn't trigger any alarms or activated my security system?" Robotnik asked.
"Alarms? Security system? Guess not, I'm just too fast!" I said with pride.
"Really? You run THAT fast?" Robotnik asked, as he put the wrench down, "I'd like to see it for myself. What is your name little hedgehog?"
"Me? I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!" I introduced myself, "And you're…Dr. Ivo Robotnik?" I asked after reading the name tag on his lab coat.
"Yes, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, scientist extraordinaire and pretty much the only human living in this alien world." The scientist said, "Now come, there's something I'd like you to help me with and your super speed might just be what I am looking for."
"Uh, okay? Help you with what exactly?" I asked him.
"See this machine here?" Robotnik pointed at the machine that he was working with earlier.
"What is it?" I asked, then I noticed six colorful stones inside the dome like part at the top.
"It is my latest project, I call it the Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor, or R.O.C.C. for short. Using the energy from the Golden Power Rings that appear scatted across the planet and these colorful gemstones, known as…"
"The Chaos Emeralds!?" I gasped in surprise when I recognized the gemstones.
"Yes, you know about them?" Robotnik asked.
"Hell, yeah I do, everyone on Mobius knows about them." I said, "Seven Mystical gemstones that can either create miracles or cause complete destruction, depending on the user. But wait…"
I looked at the dome again, I saw the Green, the Red, the Purple, the Blue, the Light Blue, the Yellow, but no White one.
"I'm only counting six Emeralds, where's the Seventh?" I asked him.
"Yes, unfortunately, I've been trying to find the seventh and final Emerald for some time now, but no luck." Robotnik said, "I was going to use the R.O.C.C. to rid the world of pollution, protect the people from natural disasters and create environmentally friendly technology for everyone. In short, make the world a better place for all. But without that seventh emerald, the R.O.C.C. is horribly unstable in its current state."
"Bummer, and you need my speed to help you find it, how?" I asked him.
"Ah yes, do you see this machine right here?" Robotnik directed me to a machine with a treadmill that resembled some type of hamster-wheel, "This is my Kinetic Gyratoscope, it calculates and enhances the speed of any living creature that runs on it." He looks at me with excitement in his eyes, "And I would like to use it to experiment with your speed!"
"Huh?!" I was taken by surprise by this sudden request.
"You said you're fast enough to evade my security system right? I want to see that speed of yours for myself and maybe help you become even faster than before, so that you can help me find the missing Emerald!" Robotnik told me his plan as he waited for my answer.
"Umm, let me think…" I thought about it for a while.
This Robotnik guy seemed like an okay dude, and he wanted to use his machine like an eco-friendly energy generator that is also capable of preventing natural disasters, and he believes that my speed is the key to helping him finish his project. With that in mind, I figured…
"Sure Doc, I'll help you out!" I replied.
"Really? Excellent! Just get on the treadmill and I'll start the machine right away!" Robotnik said as he rushed up to the machine's control console.
I did as I was told and jumped on the treadmill. At first, the experiment was going as planned, I ran and ran, and the velocimeter displaying my speed just kept rising. The Doctor was flabbergasted when he saw that my speed had reached 1234.0 kilometers per hour and still rising until he noticed something was wrong as we both heard the machine suddenly making strange sounds.
"Wait Sonic, STOP! The machine can't take it!" Robotnik shouted in concern.
"What was that Doc…"
Before I could finish that sentence though, I've heard a big explosion for a second and then, everything went black.
Normal POV
"Oh my God! Robotnik killed Sonic!" Lucy shouted suddenly, "You bast…"
"LUCY!" Chris and the others shouted before she could finish that sentence.
"Don't even think about finishing that line sis!" Nate scolded her, "There are kids here!"
"Plus, its rude to interrupt!" Amy said, "And Sonic's not dead, he's right here telling us the story!"
Lucy laughed sheepishly, "Sorry, I couldn't resist."
"It's fine, I think I'll stop here for now and continue after we finish working." Sonic said.
"Awwww!" The others protested at Sonic for stopping at a cliffhanger.
"Come on! A cliffhanger!? I hate those!" Spike said.
"I wanna know what happens next!" Applebloom said.
"Later Applebloom, for now, let's just finish our lunch and get back to work." Applejack told her little sister.
"You too Spike." Twilight said.
"Fine." Applebloom and Spike said reluctantly.
The group finished eating their lunch and returned to working on the final floor for the Animal Friends' new home. Chris and Kat however notice Chuck deep in his thoughts.
"Is something on your mind Grandpa?" Chris asked him.
"Robotnik…I feel like I've heard that name before, but where…?" Chuck muttered to himself, not noticing his grandchildren were right next to him.
"Granpa Chuck!" Kat called to him.
"Huh? Oh sorry, guess I was spacing out for a bit." Chuck said.
"What were you muttering about?" Chris asked, "Something about hearing Robotnik's name somewhere?"
"Did you actually meet him before?" Kat asked.
"Of course not! Aside from Eggman, I've never met anyone named "Robotnik", its just…I think I once heard one of my old colleagues mention that name at some point, that's all. Meh, I'm probably overthinking it anyway. Come on, let's get to work!"
"Right." Chris said, while still a bit concerned.
"If you say so." Kat said.
Everyone returned to work, as Chuck continued to think if Robotnik is the same one he heard about from his colleague or perhaps a relative. But if that's the case, how did he end up on Sonic and his friends' world in the first place? Unable to come up with a conclusive hypothesis he decided to brush of the whole "Robotnik" thing as just a coincidence.
"At the very least, I hope it is just a coincidence." Chuck thought to himself.
Later that evening…
"Well, everyone, I know you guys worked really hard to make this possible, and you're all pretty tiered but, WE DID IT!" Chuck announced, "The Animal Friends' new home is complete!"
The group cheered (while others just smiled quietly), as the big ten-floor high mansion was finally finished.
"Thanks to everyone's collaboration and hard work, we've finally managed to get this bad boy finished in record time and is now ready for living in it! We even prepared a few extra rooms for new friends to come, but aside from that, this is it! Anything you want to say?"
Pocky and the other animal friends walked up and said, "We wanted to say thank you so much for building this place for me and my pals. We apologize if our big numbers caused everyone to worry, and we wished you didn't have to go through all this trouble for us and when we do find the Chaos Emeralds, this place will probably serve no purpose other than a tourist attraction, but you guys went through it for our sakes without much of a complaint. And for that on mine and everyone's behalf, thank you very much! We owe you all big time!"
The others applauded for Pocky and his friends' speech.
"Thank you very much Pocky and friends." Chuck said, "And now, without further ado…"
Everyone brings out their party poppers.
"On behalf of everyone involved in this project and for all of their hard work…"
"HOORAH!" Everyone shouted as they fired their party poppers, streamers and confetti raining everywhere, as everyone cheered or applauded or smiled.
"That concludes the ceremony! Have a wonderful rest of your day and take a nice long break! You've earned it!" Chuck said.
Later at dinner time…
After the ceremony was over, all the Animal Friends moved to their new home while our heroes could finally relax for a change as they all gathered for dinner.
"Alright Sonic, you promised! Tell us what happened next!" Applebloom said.
"Yeah, we wanna know how you survived the big explosion!" Spike said.
"Alright, alright…" Sonic said as he cleared his throat and continued with his story, while the others listened in.
Sonic's POV
I must have been unconscious for some time as my vision was nothing but darkness, my ears were ringing, my mind and muscles just stopped functioning for a while, until I've heard Robotnik's voice calling out to me.
"Sonic! Sonic! Can you hear me? If you can then answer me! Hey! Are you listening!? Come on, wake up!"
As his voice grew louder and louder, my mind and muscles came back to me, and I was able to open my eyes. I saw Robotnik looking at me with concern in his eyes.
"Doctor R.?" I spoke.
"Oh, you're still alive, good!" Robotnik said with relief.
"What happened?" I asked as I sat up, on his couch in the living area. I saw myself wrapped in medical plaster around my head, my left arm, my legs and around my torso, and I was also covered in bandaged here and there.
"My Kinetic Gyratoscope couldn't handle your speed and exploded." Robotnik explained, "I've got to say, you're pretty resilient for a hedgehog, seeing as you managed to survive such a big explosion. Unfortunately, your sneakers and socks weren't as lucky…"
The Doctor showed me my sneakers, plus my socks, all burned to a crisp from the explosion.
"Darn, there goes another pair!" I growled in annoyance, "I keep losing a lot of pairs of sneakers because they keep getting worn out from my speed, but this is just the worst!"
"I'm very sorry but being able to run at the speed of sound will do that to your footwear, since the friction will easily ruin them." Robotnik explained to me, "For now, you should rest, and I'll get you a new pair as my way of making up to you for of my selfish request."
"Okay…" I said reluctantly as laid down on the couch.
Yes, believe it or not, the very same man who is a villain today, ended up saving me and in my current state, I was in no shape to go anywhere, so I did as I was told and rest. A week passed and Robotnik nursed me back to health. He helped me remove the plaster off once I was able to move again.
"Thanks Doctor R., I was supposed to help you, but you ended up helping me instead." I said to him.
"No need to thank me, it's my fault you ended up in that state in the first place." Robotnik said, "And to make it up to you, I have a gift for you."
"Aw come on Doc, you don't have to give me any…"
"Please, I insist." Robotnik handed the present to me.
"Well, alright I guess." I said as I opened the present and inside, I saw, a shiny pair of red sneakers with a white belt and gold buckle on each, "These are…"
"Indeed, your new pair of sneakers!" Robotnik said with pride, "But these aren't any ordinary sneakers, they are special friction-proof Power Sneakers! I made them myself!"
"Wow, really? You made these for me?" I asked in amazement.
"For you and you, alone." Robotnik said.
Without a second thought, I put my new sneakers on (and yes, it's the same pair of sneakers that I'm wearing right now), then…
"Let's GO!" I shouted as I raced off, while Robotnik watched in surprise.
I ran out of the lab and into the world outside as I wanted to test out my new sneakers. Through the Rocky Mountains, the ancient ruins, the underground caves, the Green Hill Zone, I broke the sound barrier and raced all over the lands at the speed of sound like there was no tomorrow for about one hour before I made my way back to Robotnik's lab.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, "That was awesome! Hey Doctor! These Power Sneakers are awesome! Thank you so much!"
"I'm glad you like them Sonic." Robotnik said.
"Like them? I LOVE them!" I said, "This is the best gift ever! I'll gladly help you find the missing Chaos Emerald and help you finish your project!"
"Really? Oh, I'm glad to hear that! I look forward to working with you Sonic the Hedgehog!" Robotnik said with a smile as he extended his hand to me.
"Same here, Dr. Ivo Robotnik." I said as I took his hand and shook on it.
And so, I agreed to partner with Robotnik, using my supersonic speed to both run errands for him and look for the missing Emerald while he continued to work on his machine. Three months later, we would finally reach the end of that long journey, but what awaited us there was no happy ending with everyone smiling, but a tragic fate to a kind-hearted brilliant scientist and the birth of to a nightmare.
After searching high and low, I spotted something shinning in the corner of my eye while I was running through the underground caves. Out of curiosity, I went to check it out and as I got closer, I saw what was shinning and gasped in surprise to find, the White Chaos Emerald!
"The last Emerald! I've found it!" I shouted as I picked it up.
"Chaos Emerald GET!" jingle plays
"I better take this back to the lab! Doctor R. is gonna freak out once he sees this!"
Without wasting anytime, I made my way out of the underground caves and returned to the lab as soon as possible. "Doctor R.! Doctor R.! You'll never believe what I found!" I shouted as soon as I got into the lab.
"Huh?" Robotnik looked over his shoulder as he was working on his machine.
"Look!" I showed him the White Chaos Emerald.
Robotnik's jaw dropped, "I-I-I…I can't believe it!" he stuttered, "Y-Y-You a-a-actually f-f-found it!"
"Does this mean we can finally complete your R.O.C.C. thingy, right?" I asked him.
"Y-YES!" Robotnik took the Emerald, "At last, my R.O.C.C. will finally be complete! No more pollution or natural disasters and we won't have to waste anymore of the planet's natural resources! All of our problems will finally be solved!"
"So? This is it? We did it didn't we?" I asked.
"Yes, WE did it! I couldn't have done this without you Sonic! You are a true hero!" Robotnik said.
"You mean, WE are true heroes!" I corrected him.
"Yes, yes! Well, no more wasting time, let's put this bad boy in the machine with its friends!" Robotnik said as he pressed a button on the control console, opening the glass dome on top and placed the last Emerald inside along with the other six Emeralds. He closes the dome and then he starts working his magic as he typed on the console, "And now…the moment of truth and justice! Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor, ACTIVATE!"
He pressed the button, and the machine came to life as the seven emeralds started glowing and sending a giant beam of light into the heavens, sending their energy across the globe. Sonic and Robotnik took a step back and watched as the computer monitors showing the effects of the Chaos Emeralds being sent around the world, powering up machines and preventing natural disasters all over. Everything was going exactly as planned as we looked at each other and smiled with pride.
"Once again, thank you for all your help, Sonic, you helped me make my dream a reality." Robotnik said.
"You're welcome and thank you for the new kicks! They really helped me control my speed!" I spoke.
We both shook hands in gratitude.
"You know? This calls for a celebration, shall we go prepare a feast?" Robotnik asked.
"You bet; I really could go for some chili dogs right about now!" I answered.
We went to the fridge to get some grub, but when we opened it, there was nothing inside, except for a single, foul-smelling rotten egg in the fridge's door.
"Whoopsie-daisy, I forgot to go shopping again." Robotnik laughed nervously as he took the egg out of the fridge.
A sweat drop rolled down the side of his head
"EEEEUGH! That egg STINKS!" I nearly gagged as I plugged my nose, "How long has it been in there!?"
"I would say for about six months now." Robotnik replied as he closed the fridge, "But with a pinch of salt, it will be good as new."
We didn't realize it at the time, but that rotten egg was about to become the catalyst for the biggest tragedy in all of Mobius. Robotnik was going to get some salt for the egg, but he failed to notice one of the cables linked to the R.O.C.C. was in his way.
"Doctor, look out!" I tried to warn him.
"Aaaah!" The Doctor failed to notice on time as he tripped over the cable and fell towards the control console for the R.O.C.C. and accidentally slammed his hand, that was holding the egg at the time, on the console, causing the machine to short circuit and electrocute the poor doctor along with the rotten egg, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" the doctor screamed in pain as he was being electrocuted.
"Doctor R.!" I screamed in horror as I dashed towards him, only to end up getting knocked back but an electric shock.
"S-S-S-SOOOOON-N-N-N-IIIICCC!" The Doctor cried in pain as he looked back while his hand holding the egg was stuck on the console as he was being electrocuted.
I looked up and I watched in horror as the doctor was being electrocuted to death as the R.O.C.C. started to meltdown, "DOCTOR!"
KA-BOOOOOOOM!
The R.O.C.C. exploded, taking Robotnik and the rotten egg with it, sending machine parts flying everywhere, along with the Chaos Emeralds and the Power Rings powering it, while all I could do was run from the explosion and save myself.
I've managed to get out the lab and get away as far away as possible from the explosion which ended up destroying the entire lab. I watched as the rings scattered everywhere and the seven Chaos Emeralds were sent flying to different corners of the planet as the left behind a streak of light of their respective colors behind before they were gone. And all that remained of the lab was just a pile of burning scrap metal.
"Doctor…" I couldn't believe my eyes as I saw destruction caused by that huge explosion and the Doctor was caught and most likely killed in it. Other Mobians gathered at the spot, no doubt wondering what that explosion was, only to gasp in shock at the destruction.
"Oh my gosh, what happened!?" A chicken asked.
"An explosion!?" a blue bird asked.
"What in the world just happened!?" a rabbit asked.
There was no way the doctor could have survived that explosion like I did when the treadmill exploded, could he? But if there was a 1% chance that he did then…
"E-Everyone! Robotnik's buried under all that ruble, we gotta help him!" I shouted.
"Huh? Robotnik?" a dog asked in confusion.
"Who's that?" a cat asked just as confused.
"Isn't that the human scientist?" a peacock asked curiously.
"He's buried under all that!?" a walrus asked in shock.
"He can't still be alive after that, can he?" a squirrel asked skeptically.
"Look, we don't have time for questions, we gotta save them before its too late! PLEASE!" I pleaded.
The mobians ended up agreeing to help despite their skepticism as we rushed back to the lab's remains and started digging through the rubble, "Doctor Robotnik! Doctor Robotnik! Where are you!? If you're alive, answer me! DOCTOR!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I kept calling for him, while digging through the ruble.
Suddenly, I heard the scream, as me and the other mobians turned to see a rabbit freaking out at the sight of a white glove wearing hand sticking out of the ruble, "I-I-I think I found him!" the rabbit said.
"Doc!" I dashed towards where the hand was coming out of as I started digging next to the hand, until I've managed to dig up the rest of him, "Doctor! Are you okay?!"
Luckly, the Doctor was still in one piece, but he was in a bad shape. He was covered in bruises and burn marks, his lab coat and clothes were all burned and ruined, his glasses were cracked. I placed my ear next to his chest and to my relief I could still hear his heart beating, but it was faint. I got up and turned to the other mobians, "We need to take him to a medic, right now!" I told them.
Soon, me and the other mobians carried Robotnik's unconscious body to the village and then we took him to the local clinic and had the medic owl working there check up on him. He examined his body and said that despite all the external injuries he had suffered, he miraculously suffered less damage than his species normal would from surviving an explosion. I wondered, did the Chaos Emeralds have something to do with it? I wasn't sure, but then he went and said that he was now in a coma and his chances of waking up were slim. He said that he'll do whatever he can to bring him back to health, but he also said no promises on whether he'll recover from his coma or not. I looked at the Doctor and promised to come and see him every day to see if he'll recover or not.
So, I decided to stay at the village inn and visit him regularly. I traveled all over the lands, collecting rings and doing odd jobs to pay the inn and help fund the clinic to help with Robotnik's recovery. But then, two week later, I had just woken up only to notice that there were no villagers around. I shrugged it off at first and went for the clinic only to find no one inside including Robotnik!
"Wh-What happened!? Doc? Doctor R.!? Where are you?!" I called, but no one answered, "Actually, where is EVERYBODY!?"
I rushed out the clinic and searched the village, trying to look for help, only to find no one at all. The whole village had basically become a ghost town.
"What could have happened?" I wondered, until I've heard a bird's cry nearby, "Flicky's in trouble?"
I raced over to where the cry came from, and it led me to the square where to my shock and surprise I saw someone standing by the tree. Was that Robotnik? But when did he recover and what was he wearing? A red suit and black pants and matching boots, and he had his back turned to me so I couldn't see his face from where I was facing him.
"Doctor Robotnik?" I called to him.
"…" he remained silent.
"When did you manage to recover and get a change of clothes?" I asked him, "Also, I've heard Flicky crying for help from this direction. You haven't seen her, have you?"
"Oh yes, I was helping her." He spoke, but his tone, it sounded, sinister. He turned around to face he, his glasses were fixed and now I got a good look at him. Big mustache, glasses, goggles over his head, red suit, white gloves, black pants and matching boots, "I, the great Doctor Ivo Robotnik, have decided to take advantage of these silly little animal villagers and turn them into my robotic minions to help build my empire!"
"Huh!?" I gawked in shock and then, I noticed a bunch of robots suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
One looked like a ladybug on a wheel, mantis like arms and boosters on each side, another looked like a crab, then one like a blue wasp with an energy cannon on its stinger, a caterpillar with spikes on its back, a bat-like bot, an armadillo-like one, an orb-shaped one with an angry face and four spike balls orbiting around it and finally a pig-like one.
"Wh-What? You turned everyone into…THOSE!? WHY!? How could you do something so cruel!?" I asked him in anger.
"Calm down hedgehog, your little animal friends are all INSIDE these robots and they are alive and well, they are simply being used as organic batteries to give them the power to move." Robotnik said with such a casual and sinister tone, "Wanna join them?"
I was shocked, disgusted and sadden by my friend's sudden change in tone and personality. The kind-hearted scientist known as Doctor Ivo Robotnik, enslaving others and turning them into his robotic slaves? It was unheard of, unacceptable and simply uncool!
"You creep!" I said as I charged at him, "I'll make you change them back to normal!"
Suddenly, the robots got in my way as they shielded Robotnik from me, "If you want to stop me, you'll have to get through my robots first! And just so you know, the only way to save your friends is by destroying the robots. But that won't happen, because my robots were designed to combat ignorant rebels like you! So, you might as well give up and join them, trust me, you'll be much happier that way."
I couldn't help but laugh at the part where he said, "give up". Was that a joke? The Robotnik I knew wouldn't suggest such a thing unless he was trying to challenge me, but this time it sounded more like a threat than a challenge. I didn't want to accept it, but I guess…it was too late to save him from that explosion after all. When he got electrocuted along with that rotten egg, it must have somehow absorbed the negative energy of the Emeralds and turned him into…this.
"Give up? What a joke!" I spoke.
"What did you say!?" "Robotnik" asked.
"The Robotnik I know would only say "give up" a way to challenge me, but the way you worded it sounded more like a threat." I told him, "I guess I couldn't save him in the end. Doctor Ivo Robotnik is dead."
"What are you talking about, I'm the great Doctor Robotnik and I'm alive and..."
"No, you are not!" I shouted, "You are just a shadow of his former self who has kidnaped my friends and turned them into your robotic slaves! Robotnik wanted to help others not enslave them, so you can't be him at all! From now on, your name's not Ivo Robotnik, it's EGGMAN!"
Yeah, because his body looks like a giant egg.
"Eggman!?" "Robotnik" clearly looked offended, "How dare you disrespect me you blue oversized pin cushion! Bah, enough of this! I'll show you I'm not joking around! Go, my Badniks! ATTACK HIM!"
The robots known as "Badniks" charged at me, and I moved out of the way with my speed. The Badniks scattered as they chased after me, each one using their different abilities against me. The ladybug one, known as "Motobug" used its speed to charge at me and attack with its mantis arms, the wasp known as "Buzzbomber" fired its stinger blaster, and the crab one known as "Crabmeat" fired missiles from its pincers, and so on.
I used my speed to dodge every single one of their attacks. I went for the counterattack as I rolled into a ball and unleashed my spin attack on the Motobug, smashing it into a pile of scrap metal and freeing Pocky the Rabbit from it. Then I spin attacked into Buzzbomber, destroying it and freeing Cucky the Chicken. Next, I spin dashed into Crabmeat, freeing Flicky the Blue Bird.
"W-What have you done!?" Eggman screamed in horror to see three of his Badniks reduced to scrap metal as he glared at his remaining ones, "What are you idiots doing!? GET HIM!"
A red vein sticks out of his forehead
"Sonic, look out!" Pocky shouted as he pointed out the rest of the Badniks charging at them.
"Stand back you guys, I'll take care of them! And free the rest of our pals!" I said as I charged at them another spin attack.
The angry orb known as "Orbinaut" launched its spike balls at me, but I dodged every one of them and smashed right into it, freeing Rocky the Seal. Avoiding the spikes, I aimed for the head of the caterpillar bot, known as "Catterkiller"'s, scraping it and freeing Picky the Pig.
Suddenly, the armadillo-bot known as "Roller" did his own spin attack and knocked me sideways out of my spin attack, then "Batbrain", the bat one, came and slammed me into the side.
And then, "Ball Hog" the pig like one pulled out a bomb from its stomach and threw it at me.
"Look out Sonic!" Picky and Rocky managed to catch me and push me out of harm's way.
The bomb that Ball Hog threw at me landed next to Roller and Batbrain, exploding right on their faces, destroying them, freeing Pecky the Pinguin and Ricky the Squirrel from each of them.
"GAH! YOU IDIOT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Eggman yelled at Ball Hog for his incompetence, while Ball Hog looked back nervously.
A red vein sticks out of Eggman's forehead while a sweatdrop rolled down the side of Ball Hog's head
I smiled at this as he looked back at Picky and Rocky, "Thanks for the save guys." I told them.
"No problem, Sonic!" Picky said.
"We just wanted to help since you saved us." Rocky said.
"Aw, you guys." I was touched by their kind gesture, before turning to face Ball Hog, "But I can take it from here.
Ball Hog pulled out more bombs from its stomach and threw them at me, but acting quick, I grabbed Picky and Rocky and took them to safety while avoiding the bombs. After making sure they were in a safe spot, I spin dashed towards Ball Hog, dodging his bombs all the while, until I finally connected with it, smashing it to bits and freeing Becky the Bear.
"N-No way…" Eggman was flabbergasted that all his Badniks got destroyed.
I turned to face Eggman and said, "See that Eggman? You shouldn't have doubted me in the first place."
"I can't believe you…DAMN RODENT!" Eggman cursed at me, "You leave me no choice but to deal with you myself!"
Suddenly, an egg shaped hovership with a single headlight on the front, two red wings and a red rod sticking out of the bottom came out of its hiding spot in the square's tree. It was Eggman's Egg Mobile, as the mad doctor jumped onboard.
"Let's see if you are fast enough for THIS!" Eggman shouted he pressed a button on his console, withdrawing the rod inside and then out came a chain with an orange and brown checked ball, that suddenly grew into the size of a wrecking ball.
"Uh oh, everyone, get back!" I shouted to my pals, who scattered, but then, "WHOA!" I quickly jumped out of the way as Eggman swung the wrecking ball hanging from under his Egg Mobile at me. Unfortunately, the ball ended up hitting one of the houses, demolishing it.
"Hold STILL!" Eggman shouted as he continued to swing the wrecking ball at me and I kept moving out of the way, but also demolishing the village.
"Cut it out man! You're destroying the whole village!" I shouted.
"Then STOP RUNNING!" Eggman shouted as he continued to swing the wrecking ball with reckless abandon.
"Watch out!" Sonic and the Animal Friends screamed as they run for their lives avoiding the wrecking ball and flying debris.
Eggman laughed maniacally, "After this whole village is destroyed, I'll just built the base of my new empire on top of it, then I'll expand it to the rest of this silly little planet! This world will be mine!"
"Alright, enough is enough! Time to turn the tables on this rotten egg!" I said as I ran up one of the intact houses and ran along the rooftops until I reached Eggman, "Yo Eggman!"
"Huh!?" Eggman was taken by surprise as I hit his Egg Mobile with my spin attack, "Ow! Hey, watch it! This baby is brand new!"
He swung his wrecking ball at me, and I moved out of the way, but the house I was standing on got demolished. I continued to take advantage of the rooftops to reach Eggman and hit his Egg Mobile with my spin attack, dealing damage to it, until I suddenly ran out of rooftops to run on.
"Uh oh." I spoke.
"Game, Set and Match! I WIN!" Eggman declared as he swung his wrecking ball at me again.
But this time, I couldn't dodge it on time as the wrecking ball demolished the house I stood on and I fell and ended up buried under the ruble.
"SONIC!" The Animal Friends cried in concern.
Eggman laughed maniacally, "You put up a good fight Sonic, as expected of my former minion. You should have just accepted a life as a robot, and this could have been avoided. Oh well, I suppose that's that. Time to end this!"
Despite all the debris on top of my, I remained confident, "Don't count me out just yet Eggman." I said as pulled out my trump card: a single golden Power Ring that I kept in case of emergencies like these.
I tapped into the ring's power as it filled me with overflowing power. I smashed my way out of the debris with a ring powered spin dash as I went straight at Eggman's wrecking ball, knocking it over Eggman's head. Eggman looked up and then at the camera, "Oh crap…"
The wrecking ball fell right on top of Eggman and his Egg Mobile, causing massive damage, followed by a massive explosion as Eggman screamed in pain.
Once the ring's power died down, I stopped and looked back. As the smoke cleared, I saw Eggman and his Egg Mobile covered in soot from the explosion. The mad doctor coughed as he glared at me.
"You little pest!" Eggman cursed at me, "You think that just because you beat me, that everything is over now? Guess what: it is not! This is only the beginning!"
"…" I said nothing as I stared at him with confident grin.
"Listen well, Sonic the Hedgehog! I, Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, swear this to you: I am the supreme ruler of this planet! Or at least I will be, once I have obtained the key to my victory: The Chaos Emeralds!"
"…!" I gasped when he mentioned the Emeralds.
"The Emeralds got scattered across the planet after that little incident, but no matter because I am going after them, with the rest of my robot army powered by your remaining friends! With the Emeralds, I will become invincible, and this planet shall be mine! Then, you will regret the day you decided to defy me!" Eggman said as he flew away in his Egg Mobile, "Farewell Sonic! The next time we meet, will be our LAST!"
He continued to laugh maniacally until he was out of sight.
"SONIC!" The Animal Friends came out of hiding as they rushed up to me, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay guys." I told them.
We looked around and saw the destruction caused by Eggman. My friends were devasted to see their village in ruins and I still couldn't believe that my friend could turn into such a monster after that accident. Robotnik was able to save me, but…I couldn't save him. Robotnik was dead and now, Dr. Eggman stands in his place. From a kind-hearted scientist who wanted to make the world a better place, to a psychotic power-hungry mad scientist who seeks world domination.
"Sonic, what are you going to do?" Picky asked him, "That man was your friend, wasn't he?"
"Yeah, he was, but not anymore." I told them, "As for what I'm gonna do? Well…"
"Please, you gotta save the rest of our friends, they have all been captured and turned into his mindless robot slaves!" Flicky said, "And you are the only one who can stop him!"
"I guess you're right, I stopped him once already and I can do it again." I said with determination, "So he's after the Chaos Emeralds, huh? Guess I'll just have to find them before he does and put a stop to his plans and save some friends!"
"Thank you Sonic!" The animal friends said.
"Well, I'm off! You guys stay safe!" I've told them as I ran in the same direction Eggman went.
"Good luck Sonic!" The animal friends cheered for me.
Ever since that fateful day, I never slowed down. I continued to face off against Eggman and his robotic minions, saving my buddies trapped inside and finding the Chaos Emeralds before he could. Along the way, I faced many different challenges, I met my pals Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Cream and Cheese and many others who joined me in my battle against the evil mad doctor. But it wasn't just Eggman, I also encountered other rivals and enemies along the way. I've had so many adventures and every time I get all the Chaos Emeralds before Eggman did, and every time, I defeated him, time and time again. But no matter how many times I beat him, old Egg-breath always manages to escape, swearing that he will win next time.
Normal POV
Sonic had just finished his story as he looked around and saw everyone with their own different reactions, in both amazement, shock and sadness.
"Wow Sonic, I had no idea that you had been through so much." Chris said.
"I'm sorry about your friend Sonic." Celestia said, "As someone who went through a similar event in the past, you have my deepest condolences."
"Except Twilight and her friends were able to bring me back to my senses, but that's besides the point." Luna said.
"I wonder, if we used the Elements of Harmony on Eggman, would that turn him back to a good guy?" Rainbow wondered.
"Or they could turn him into a statue, like Discord." Spike said.
"At the moment, there is no guarantee what the Elements might do to him." Twilight said, "But no use thinking about it now."
"That's right." Tails said, "Eggman may have been a good guy at one point, but it doesn't change the fact that he turned into a bad guy who has hurt a lot of innocents and ruined the lives of so many."
"That's why we can't just sit idly by while he does whatever he pleases." Amy said, "Plus, its all his fault why Sonic and I aren't together like we should be!"
"Uh…" Sonic gave Amy a deadpan expression for that comment.
A sweat drop rolled down the side of his head
"Yeah, I'm pretty such Egg-Breath isn't the only reason you two aren't together…" Rainbow added with a deadpan tone.
"Excuse me!?" Amy demanded.
A blue vein sticks out of her forehead
"ANYWAY! That sure was an amazing story, albeit a bit sad, but now we would like to hear your stories as well!" Scotaloo asked Tails and the others.
"Well…sure, why not." Tails said, "Anything to keep Amy from losing it." He added in his thoughts.
They spent the rest of dinner time, listening to Sonic's friends' stories.
Tails explained that before meeting Sonic, he used to be bullied for both having two-tails and for his inventions. He was often tormented by his bullies with stupid nicknames like "pixel-brain", "two-tailed freak" and "twin-tailed flea bag", but what was worse than that is that they would often steal his inventions and smash them to bits, right in front of him. Then one day, after being bullied yet again, he saw Sonic ran past him. Amazed and curious, he followed him using his own twin tails like helicopter blades to keep up with him, until he found Sonic's plane, the Tornado, which was a red-colored plane at the time. Being a tech lover, he worked on the plane and gave it a new paintjob, until Sonic caught him in the act. Tails did his best to explain himself, telling him about following him because he thought he was cool and that he loved machines since he was a kid and that he was always bullied for it along with the fact that he has two tails. Fortunately, Sonic understood and decided to let the two-tailed genius fox continue working on his plane. Ever since then, they have become best friends, almost like brothers, fighting together in their battle against Eggman his robot army.
Amy explained that she originally came from a family of fortune-tellers and after hearing stories about Sonic and his heroic deeds, she immediately fell in love with him. Desperate to meet her hero, she used her tarot card reading skills to find him. The result was that she and Sonic were indeed destined to meet each other, on the mysterious Little Planet, a small planetoid with mystical properties that appears timely above Never Lake for approximately one month out of every year and vanishes completely for the remaining eleven months. And lo and behold, she did meet Sonic there. Unfortunately, she also ended up being kidnapped by Metal Sonic and used as bait to lure him into a trap, but after being rescued, she proved herself useful to Sonic by fighting alongside him, defeating both Eggman and freeing Little Planet from his control. Amy would keep following Sonic and join his battle against Eggman to prove that she's both a capable fight and girlfriend, with the latter still being a work in progress.
Cream explained that she and Cheese, along with his twin brother Chocola, were raised by her single mother, Vanilla the Rabbit. They used to live a normal life with no big incidents, as Cream was raised like a princess by her mother, always telling her to be polite and treat everyone with respect, say please and thank you, even when they don't return their feelings to her. That kind of life however was interrupted when Dr. Eggman and his minions attacked their village and captured everyone, including her and her mother. Sonic came and saved her and Cheese, but Mother and Chocola were still Eggman's captives. Cheese, along with his brother, were raised to be capable fighters, so he and Cream decided to work together as a team and save her mother and Chocola. They succeeded in aiding Sonic in defeating Eggman and reuniting with their family and they have been friends since then. Unfortunately, despite this achievement, Cream and Cheese were still captured by Eggman on the night the Chaos Control incident happened, but that's beside the point.
After all that talk, dinner time was over as everyone finished and decided to call it a night. Chris and Kat's classmates said their goodbyes as they left the mansion and head back to their homes, while the heroes went to bed for the night.
"Looks like we heard the stories from both sides." Kat said to her brother.
"Yeah, they all went through a lot." Chris said, "Sonic, Rainbow, and everyone seemed to be destined for a life of adventure and danger, unlike us, who besides being rich, we're just a bunch of normal kids living normal, boring, uneventful lives."
"Then they came to our world, suddenly, life got turned upside down and now we get to go on exciting adventures with our new friends!" Kat said, "Too bad they can't stay with us forever."
"Yeah." Chris said sadly, "And once they return to our worlds, we'll be back to living normal boring lives again…"
"Chris…" Kat said in concern.
"Kat…I know I called us normal, but you see, our parents, you know how they are always busy with their jobs, right?" Chris said, "We barely ever get to see or even spend time with them. Sure, we have Grandpa Chuck, Tanaka and Ella looking after us, but what about the other kids, like our classmates, Danny, Frances, Nate, Lucy and Tucker, they all get to spend time with their parents as much as they want, but we…"
"Chris, nii-chan, please stop." Kat said in concern.
"But Kat…"
"Being pessimistic about it isn't going to change anything!" Kat said, "I know you're upset that we don't get to spend as much time with Mom and Dad as the other kids do with their parents, I am too, but at least we get to stay in touch with them, even if we are apart! And if we get a chance to spend time with them in person, we should cherish those moments instead of worrying about being alone all the time. Just be happy that you have at least have Grandpa, Tanaka and Ella to keep you company, and me. I'm always here for you Nii-Chan and don't you forget it."
"Kat…" Chris said, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry about that. I'm supposed to be the older brother, yet I'm being comforted by my younger sister. Pathetic, isn't it?"
"I don't think so." Kat said, "Honestly, the thought of our new friends returning home does make me sad, but I'm still glad to have met all of them."
"Yeah, me too." Chris said, "But am I really okay with that? Will I still be okay once they are gone? Will I…no, I shouldn't think like that! I've gotta stay positive! Gotta…stay…positive…I…"
"Hello! Earth to nii-chan!" Kat called to him.
"Oh, sorry, I guess I spaced out, didn't I?" Chris said.
"Yeah, you did." Kat said, "Sheesh, sometimes I wonder which one of us is the REAL older sibling."
"Come on, I'm still working on my older brother duties! Cut me some slack!" Chris complained.
Kat giggled impishly as she skipped ahead, while Chris sighed at being the butt of his younger sister's teasing, before following her.
Unbeknownst to them, Sonic and Rainbow Dash overheard their conversation from behind the corner as they left the scene and headed outside to sleep on the roof and on a cloud, respectively. They thought about Chris and Kat's conversation and wondered if there was anything they could do for them before returning to their respective worlds, but before they could come up with anything, they both went to sleep.