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Chapter Text

…

“... Mmh…”

…

The sunlight beaming down on the sleeping orange hedgehog stirred him awake. Waking up exhausted from his weekend while lying on an empty rooftop of a random apartment building, which he has declared home, with multiple, scattered high-rise buildings surrounding the area. The noises of the bustling streets are heard from below; vehicles honk, helicopters fly, and even the pedestrian noise blares at this height. 

Although sleepy, he rubs his groggy eyes, trying to make out the time on his watch, which reads 7:55 A.M. 

Yawning and rubbing his eyes once more before sitting up, he double-checks his time yet again—7:55 A.M.

“Oh, wait… my shift starts at 8.”

Upon realizing this, his first instinct is to panic, knowing he had overslept throughout the entire weekend. But he immediately remains calm; the more he panics, the more he wastes time. He stretches his legs and arms before standing on the edge of the rooftop, looking out at the skyline, surrounded by multiple high-rise buildings in the city. He runs alongside the edge, balancing himself fully before jumping down onto a series of balconies and eventually landing on the sidewalk, then flashing away with an orange trail, tracing where he runs.

The pedestrians are stunned by what they have witnessed: an orange hedgehog appearing from above and instantly disappearing. Some pedestrians remain frozen while others mind their own business. “That hedgehog is insane…” One of the pedestrians remarked.

Throughout the busy streets, an orange blur passes by each vehicle and pedestrian, leaving a trail of confusion and breeze among the civilians. He checks the time and grits his teeth in frustration. “Come on! I can’t be late!” The intensifying speed causes the hedgehog to speed up further, hoping he’ll make it on time.

In the finance building, the orange blur appears before it makes out the hedgehog once more. The stairs are closed for the day due to construction, so he forces himself to take the elevator because he works on the 5th floor of the building. Before getting close to the elevator, he’s greeted by his childhood friend, a receptionist named Woofa the Dog. “Hey, orange furball.” His nickname is called throughout the majority of the time only by her.

“Hey, Woofa…” He greets her as usual, walking towards her and stopping at the receptionist's desk, leaning on it while giving himself some time to control his breath after his marathon run.

Woofa looks at the time on the computer and smirks, seeing that her friend has suddenly woken up late. “Seems like someone’s trying to get on time before our boss finds out.” She chuckles mischievously.

He groans at her response. “... I’m trying to be on time here. Can you stop stalling me?” He says while tapping his finger on the desk.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that.” She eventually looks at the elevator and the line being piled up. “Though you might want to hurry up, you have a long line.” She points at the line.

He’s alarmed when he sees the line for the elevator. “A-Are you serious?” He looks back at his watch before realizing that it’s broken. “Oh great, my watch is broken.” He takes off his watch and throws it away, landing in the trash bin. “Everything is breaking apart! First the stairwell, and now my watch. Well, to be fair, my watch was getting old. ” He immediately looks back at her for a request. “Can you tell me what time it is?”

"Only 1 minute left.”

He sighs, momentarily thinking about his decision before going with it. “I hate doing this…” Staring at the elevator and preparing to do the unthinkable.

“You better not hurt the others.” She starts to drink her coffee, glancing at him nervously before looking back at her computer.

While waiting for one of the elevator doors to open. “I won’t. I promise you that.” He says as the line for the elevator keeps piling up, preparing for the worst. 

Just when the elevator door opens, his coworkers flock into the elevator. At that moment, the same orange blur cuts through the crowd, avoiding injuring them, but manages to fit inside the elevator before his coworkers take all of their spots inside, leaving them and the hedgehog crammed as the door closes.

“That damn hedgehog is always clutch.” She smirks upon seeing his plan work. 

The orange hedgehog patiently waits inside the cramped elevator, where the silence blares throughout the majority of the ride until the elevator stops at his designated floor. Once he enters the 5th floor, it’s as busy as it gets. All of his coworkers storm around this floor as if a stock market crash has just happened. 

No choice but flashing through the place, avoiding his coworkers, and miraculously making it into his work zone. He sees the time on the clock he set up on his desk. “7:59...” He sighs in relief. “Thank god!” Truly expressing himself before turning on his computer to start his day.

A black porcupine by the name of Tricky spots him. “Almost late to work?” He asks the most obvious question on their planet.

“Yes, Tricky. Thanks for observing.” The orange hedgehog responds before continuing with his day.

Chapter Text

A peaceful day in Mobius… the world remains calm and serene, a day where Mobians can finally live in peace… Everyone exists in this crazy world, surrounded by either peace or conflict. One may expect the unexpected on the most random day. One person can live in peace, not minding the drama currently happening, while the other is in a situational hellhole. It’s a world where everyone has to adapt to the unexpected environment that unfolds, whether they live in urban or rural areas. They’ll always find a way to interact or spot those on the side of the good and the bad. 

Until then, this day remains peaceful. 

No crimes.

Nothing.

In Angel Island, Knuckles awaits to guard Master Emerald yet again, but this time, he senses something is wrong… really wrong. Right away, he dashes to the pedestal, hoping that whatever he senses isn’t true. 

However, whatever hope he gained was far from right, opposed to the outcome he’s currently witnessing. 

The Master Emerald is missing. 

Desperately looking around everywhere, Knuckles spots a mech flying away at a significant distance, and he knows who it is. “DAMN YOU, EGGMAN!” Knuckles's voice roars, echoing throughout the entirety of Angel Island; his history involving Eggman’s plans with the Master Emerald is best described upon total resentment from the past to the present.

Eggman chuckles menacingly, his voice low, while fleeing as far as he can go. “Try to catch me…” His plan to use the Master Emerald is just like the other plans he’s been anticipating for a long time. This time, he plans to make things difficult for Sonic and his friends, having conducted extensive research in his lab and committed to this plan wholeheartedly, leaving everything behind.

After Knuckles informed Sonic and his friends (Tails, Amy, Rouge, Shadow, Cream, Silver, and Blaze) of the alarming news, they all grouped together and quickly tracked down Eggman. All that calm day just for Eggman to ruin their relaxed and peaceful day once again. Knuckles is already tired and annoyed that Eggman is constantly stealing the Master Emerald, and for this to happen after only a day of relaxation, he has had enough.

While the team is making substantial progress in chasing him, Rouge glides elegantly, gazing at Knuckles while curious about his status. “Hey, Knuckles.” Her voice causes him to finally take a listen to her, "How are you feeling?” Putting on a smirk to emphasize her teasing.

Knuckles remains in his stoic expression, his gaze set on Eggman, but he still has tension with her involving the Master Emerald. “Stop distracting me, Rouge. And, no, you’re not going to get the Master Emerald after we defeat him.”

Rouge rolls her eyes and giggles, “Relax, red-head. Besides, I have a lot of things to plan after we stop Eggman.” Her tempting voice was already luring enough. She thinks about her plans, “And once his mech is destroyed, that sweet Master Emerald will for sure be mine-”

“Rouge, focus on our mission. We’re all in this together.” Shadow instantly cuts off her speech, already shooting some bullets at the mech, which doesn’t do much damage.

In the mech, the camera displays each of the team members’ movements, noticing they’re catching up to him at an alarming rate. Eggman takes every regard for his plan, and he’s not going to hold back. “ These brats think they’ll stop my plan again!?” Pulling out the lever causes boosters to open. “I hope this is enough!” The mech boosts itself further, relieving the distance between the team and Eggman once again.

“Egghead is always like this.” Sonic says before yawning, bored of constantly having to deal with Eggman. “Hey, Silver.” He tirelessly says.

“What is it?” Silver looks down at Sonic with a confused expression.

Sonic yawns again; clearly, he overslept but is still out, running to finish a simple mission. “Can you just use your psychokinetic powers right now? I want to get this over with.” His tired eyes answer with a plea, desperately needing to sleep.

Silver sighs and shifts his focus back to the mech, getting himself ready for combat. “I’ll-” CRASH!!!

Not even another word, and Silver gets hit by a random object, instantly waking Sonic up mentally. “HA! You think you can use Silver to stop me that easily!?” The loud microphone from Eggman, as it exclaims to everyone while the mech outpaces them. “I like to see how desperate you all are to stop me!”

“Silver!” Blaze and Cream stop chasing and check on him medically. He’s injured, yet no scratches or blood are visible to them. “Are you alright?!” Blaze desperately questions him.

Silver groans before angrily punching the ground in frustration, “I should’ve paid attention to my surroundings…” His voice emphasizes his defeat before Blaze and Cream help him get up. “Though I’m fine… but… my head kind of hurts.”

“Mr. Silver.” Cream says while ruffling his head to counteract the injury. “Always watch out ahead, just like what Tails said before chasing him.” Cheese nods in agreement, though a hint in her voice is still concerned about his injury.

Meanwhile, in response to Silver's injury, the rest of the team speeds up, catching on to Eggman’s mech and letting him know that they’re not giving up on him that easily. They dangerously close the distance between themselves vs. Eggman; he finally realizes the situation he’s in, and another backup boost has been pressed, finally outpacing the team once more.

“Tails, I need backup here!” Sonic yells out as his legs become exhausted from the excessive running.

Tails immediately gazes towards Sonic and quickly descends; he grabs onto his hand, where their hands get a tight grip before he ascends back to his original altitude. “Hold on tight, Sonic!” He pulls out a jetpack that he built earlier in case of any missions revolving around chasing an enemy, and this will be the perfect time to use it as he turns it on. “We’ll catch him- WOAHHHHHH!” The jetpack instantly quickens their chase, halting their conversation further.

Eggman detects them rapidly approaching him and presses his last emergency button. Just like usual, his mech speeds up, though it also automatically launches missiles at them. “Look out, Tails!” Sonic shouts out while Tails prepares to dodge the missiles. However, with some of the experiences that Tails has gone through, he successfully maneuvers and dodges every one of them. “Hah!” Sonic exclaims while pointing at Eggman, his usual tease never letting go of him. “Is that all you go- WATCH OUT TAILS!!!” The missiles home in on them from behind, letting them know how devoted Eggman is.

“Pathetic… infested… anthropomorphic beings... Let me own the Master Emerald for good.” Eggman’s thoughts rummaged throughout his mind, constantly having to remind himself about the failed outcome he had against Sonic or someone else. 

Every.

Single.

Time.

This time… he senses a different outcome… a different result that may finally be the plan he has hoped and dreamed of to avenge his past failures.

“Tails, is this thing going any faster?!” Sonic holds onto Tails’s hand tightly, while nervously staring into the homing missile that approaches ever so slightly. Yet the jetpack doesn’t seem to correspond to his words, where it slows down. Tails intensely stares at Eggman’s mech ahead, unfocused on the missiles that are meters apart from each other. “TAILS, IT’S COMING CLOSE!!!”

Tails maneuvers in a multitude of ways, forcing each missile to lose track of them while continuing to shift his movements in multiple directions. Despite his maneuver, not only does it still detect them, but he has lost the significant pace he had when trailing by Eggman at a close distance, leading him to give up on everything.

“... Sonic… I’m sorry…”

Sonic’s ears droop, and he starts closing his eyes, letting all the emotion die down inside him. As the missile gets closer and closer, their mind goes numb… and they let all the core memories flash back in their mind, enjoying their last moments together.

All while the missile is finally an inch apart.

Kaboom.

“...”

“... What…?”

“Tails…?”

“W-We’re still alive!”

Sonic’s eyes widen open, his hand still clutching onto Tails’s hand while they both remain unharmed. While the jetpack is flowing smoothly, the missile has already exploded mid-air from behind. No one knows how the missile exploded mid-air until a voice shouts from below. “Focus, guys!” Shadow yells out while holding a gun. “You gonna chase him or what!?” He continues to fire gunshots, leading to the missiles exploding from behind.

“Y-You’re right! Thank you, Shadow!” Tails’s eyes are downcast to the ground, where he can still spot the rest of the team chasing down Eggman with them. Although feeling comfortable, the jetpack, which is still flowing smoothly, begins to show signs of its degrading fuel and is now desperately in need of assistance. “We can’t catch up to Eggman if we don’t have any assistance for us!”

Then, an idea forms from Knuckles. While he’s gliding, he slowly approaches them and yells, “Tails, I’m about to use my strength to throw you towards Eggman!” He exclaims, confidently sure that this plan is guaranteed to work. “Just like a baseball!”

Sonic is immediately horrified by this plan. He quickly points at Knuckles and tells him, “Don’t you dare make us a base-!”

“Hell yeah! We have to stop Eggman somehow, and acting like a baseball should do the trick!” Tails not only cuts off Sonic, but his reaction is the polar opposite, leading Sonic’s feelings to turn South pretty quickly.

Knuckles immediately grabs onto Tails’s jetpack and glides down, letting him land on the ground smoothly while the others pass them. Tails immediately removes the jetpack as it flies away and explodes at a distance. “I’ll use all my strength to throw you two directly through the mech’s core.” A deep breath, followed by some stretching, prepares him to focus on his strength and accuracy as he picks them up. “You guys ready?!”

Tails, with determination, puts on a smirk while holding on to Sonic. “Born ready.” 

Sonic groans while he rests his head on Tails’s shoulder, feeling the side effects kicking in. “No... I’m getting dizzy…”

“Let’s do this then!” Knuckles ignores Sonic’s concern and gets ready to throw. 

“3!” 

“2!”

“1!” 

“WHY-?!” But too little too late for Sonic’s complaining, and Knuckles throws them. 

As a baseball, both scream while being thrown at Eggman at an unprecedented rate, equivalent to the speed of light. Eggman finally notices, but it’s too late; they both crash through the mech, causing consequential damage to the boosters. This results in the mech substantially slowing and falling to the ground, hindering its movement and speed.

While both are still spinning, Tails gets a small glimpse of the mech; a glaring hole caused by them is directly set through the mech’s core, a great sign that the mech is dysfunctional. “We did it, Sonic! We dealt devastating damage to his mech!” He exclaims in excitement, still spinning like before, but it is still relatively harmless. Sonic, however, is very dizzy and nauseous. “Umm… sorry, Sonic.” He nervously chuckles before they proceed to land on the ground.

Knuckles, Shadow, Amy, and Rouge stare at the mech, astonished at the blown damage. The mech stops fleeing and stands there, either frozen or twitching in its devastated state. “Geez, Knuckles. That’s quite the damage.” Amy responds in awe of the scenery.

“Odd plan, yet an effective outcome…” Shadow inspects the debris fallen to the ground, where most of the core boosters have been destroyed and separated. “Amy, finish the job.”

Eggman hits the machine in desperation for the mech to have some sort of movement, hoping to keep his plan alive. “Damn it!” He continuously punches and slams his fist onto the machine, breaking it. “Move!” Pressing multiple buttons isn’t effective, nor is hitting the machine. Instead, something hits the leg of his robot, something not done by Eggman himself. Revealing the screens, Amy has swung her hammer multiple times, constant and devastating blows cause the mech to be destroyed. “Great, now you’re letting her hit you.” He starts leaning on the chair and holds on to the Master Emerald in his hands, scratching out his plan for good. “Thank you so much for doing this. It was a nice plan all along… IN MY GOD DAMN HEAD!!!” He says before the mech proceeds to crash to the ground.

At the crash site, Eggman crawls out of the mech, coughing from the debris and mess while still holding on to the Master Emerald. “My plan… My beautiful plan…” His injuries are relatively minor, consisting of a few scratches alongside some sprains throughout his body. “I suppose it’s time… before I do give the Master Emerald back…” He slowly sits back up before the team finally surrounds him in a circle.

While surrounded, Blaze and Cream bring an injured Silver, whose injury isn’t as serious as it initially seems, but still requires support. Tails, however, supports a tremendously dizzy Sonic, his head swirling from the impact. “You… Eggman… lost… again…” He tries pointing at him, but his entire head leans down to the ground, and his finger curves slightly toward the ground, too. “You… lost… a-”

“That’s enough, Sonic.” Tails immediately shuts him off while gently putting him on the ground, giving him time to rest and recover.

Knuckles goes through a stack of debris and extends his arm out. “Give us back the Master Emerald!” He yells before adding a slight asterisk. “Not her, though.”

“Hey!” Rouge raises her arms in frustration, out of everyone that Knuckles points out not to give the Master Emerald to, it’s her. “Oh, come onnnnnn…” She frowns at his response, feeling like she had been humbled. “Are you seriously trying not to give me the Master Emer-?”

“NEVER!!!” Both Eggman and Knuckles instantly respond and cut her off. 

“Okay! Okay…! Geez… get a grip, you two…” She is a bit hurt from their synchronized responses, but of course, they’re smart enough to know that they’re not giving the Master Emerald to her.

“Though…” Knuckles starts to glare at Eggman, knowing his intentions. “Give it back, now!”

Eggman slowly crawls backwards to get away from Knuckles, but Shadow is already behind him, now and truly surrounded. He gives up hope… the plan he had long awaited… has now faded. 

Failures…

After failures…

After failures…

Eggman sighs and places a hand down on the debris, slowly letting go of the Master Emerald, while still having an arm wrapped around it, struggling between his will to give up and his dedication. “Come on… Egghead…! Just give the… thing… back to Knuckles and we… go on with our day…” Sonic’s dizzy, albeit strong words, pressure him to reconsider his decision to give up.

Before Eggman gives up, something feels… off when he feels the debris on his right hand. Although the mech is destroyed, not everything is essentially powered up by it, and to his astonishment, it’s something different. This is where he secretly smirks, letting his unintentional backup plan finally take effect. “This is about to be spectacular…” A slight and menacing chuckle causes the team to be fully aware and suspicious of the situation, yet confused about why he’s acting the way he is. “You think you’re about to win, huh?” His chuckle begins to transition to menacing laughter. “But fear not! I’ll do something that’ll rethink all of your lives!” Under Eggman’s hand, a button has been activated, and surrounding him, a portal opens up. He gracefully falls through the portal with his arms wide open. “So long!” His voice echoes throughout the portal, leaving a sense of shock and unease within the team.

“DAMN IT!!!” Knuckles yells and punches the debris ferociously, letting his anger take over his body. “DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!” He grabs one of the mech parts and throws it away, deep into the absolute nowhere. “WE NEED THE MASTER EMERALD BACK!!!”

The rest of the team watches in disbelief. All of that work to chase down Eggman and destroy the mech… resulted in a defeat? Left stunned, they need to figure out a plan to stop Eggman from using the Master Emerald to his full advantage and potential. However, the portal is still up and running, enabling the team to easily go through the portal and chase down Eggman, per usual. The problem is that they’re unsure how long the portal will last, so if the team opts to alarm every friend or ally they know of in Mobius, it’ll probably be too late for them to go through the portal once. In this difficult decision, they have to make a choice. Either stay in Mobius and let Eggman do what he has to do with the Master Emerald, or go through the portal and see where it leads them.

You readers know where this is going.

Therefore, each team member jumps down the portal, looking forward to wherever they’re brought, to get the Master Emerald back. After everyone jumps through the portal, Sonic is the only one who’s still left to jump. He looks around Mobius, wondering if this will be the last time watching the peaceful atmosphere despite the wreckage around him. Even if he’s dizzy, he still has a mission to do, and that mission is to jump through the portal. 

“The blue blur onto saving the day once more!” Sonic says all to himself, bringing a good charm before he proceeds to jump through the portal, disappearing into wherever until the portal finally closes off for good.

Chapter Text

Deep in the forest, a narrow, winding road passes through the protected land. The portal opens on the side of the road, where cars pass by sporadically. Some are aware of the portal, and some aren’t. 

Though they all share the same mindset: to leave it alone and never investigate further. 

As the portal remains open, a figure was forcefully thrown out of it, sliding their way across the dirt before hitting the tree. “Ouch…” Sonic responds while dizzy from the chase. His blue fur is filled with bits of leaves and soil all around him before he eventually shakes it all off. “What kind of place… does Eggman think he’s got here… a forest?” He looks around the forest, seemingly lost wherever he is.

“Guys…?” 

Yet, no answer from anyone. 

“Guys!?”

Shouting at the wilderness, where his voice echoes, yet the same results occur.

No response.

“Oh, come on! Egghead set this portal up just for us to separate!?” He questions all by himself, still all alone, deep in the forest, wondering where the others are. “Well… It’s going to be a pain to find them…” 

Sonic’s legs are already exhausted after chasing Eggman, so his ability to run has to wait for some time. After examining the forest, he spots the narrow road, a hint that civilization exists in this new world. Then, a car appears from a distance, coming directly towards him. “A car…? Shoot, this could be my chance!” The blue blur waves his arms erratically, signaling the car to slow down.

To his credit, the car does respond; it slows down and parks on the shoulder, with the driver opening their window. “Do you need anything?” The anteater questions him while the sound of the engine takes up most of the noise around them.

“Uhh… yeah.” Sonic clears his throat, nervously looks around, and looks back at the driver. “I’m wondering where I am… because I’m lost in this wilderness.” His voice carried a hint of both desperation and nervousness. “May I… hitchhike… and find out where you can… take me?” Anxiously smiling, hoping for the anteater’s response to be accepting of him.

The anteater calmly shrugs and signals to get inside, “You’re lucky, kid, because I’m in a good mood for today.” Pointing to themself while having a reassuring smile is an answer that Sonic needs. “Of course, you can ride in my car. I’m just relaxing my way back home after a month's vacation.” He presses the button to unlock the car. “Hop in, friend. Just don’t make a mess, please.” 

“Let’s go!” Sonic briefly cheers until he gets inside the car, “Thank you… umm…”

“Ant Bozeman. Your typical Anteater who loves to hate on ants.” Ant leans back on the driver’s seat before looking at Sonic. “What’s your name, hedgehog?”

Sonic points to himself while in a smug expression, “I’m Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. The blue blur. The master of running.” His usual expression is still retained while he adjusts the seat. “But my legs are tired and worn out… plus I’m dizzy.” Groaning in frustration, he puts a hand on his head for some support.

“Not to worry.” Ant opens the compartment and grabs some pills, “I have multiple pills to cure your dizziness, but not your legs. Those legs will have to relax for now.” He also grabs a water bottle from the rear seat. “We’ll get to our destination asap. But it’s a far ride, so bear with me.” Shifting his car to drive, but before he goes off, he reminds Sonic, “Make sure to put on your seatbelt.”

“You bet!” Sonic drinks his medicine before putting on his seatbelt. He’s gonna have a fun time talking to his new friend from a different world.

A few hours went by in the car with Ant. Sonic’s dizziness slowly starts to dissipate, and he’s thankful that he has a driver who’s in a good mood. They’re having a fun time in their conversation; Ant believes that Sonic’s stories are unrealistic. Sonic understands that this world is different from the unique world of Mobius, sliding away from Ant’s responses through his mind, unbothered.

Outside of their conversation, the astonishing views of this world and experiencing the landscape put Sonic’s mind at rest and ease. The unique landscape of the mountains, rivers, or forests prompts him to run and have fun. However, the thought of Eggman surfaces deep within him, the concern that his progress with the Master Emerald is already too late to be dealt with, especially when none of his friends have yet been seen or reunited. Rest assured, however- “We’ll defeat Eggman. I don’t care about whether the Master Emerald is a factor to him; once we reunite, we’ll defeat him.”

With the sun almost setting, Sonic has taken a nap, resting his head on the headrest with his arms resting behind his back. The air conditioning inside the car is a perfect vibe and comfort for the road trip. It didn’t matter how long the ride took; he was grateful to have a friend from another world who helped Sonic. Sure, it’s important to be concerned about the Master Emerald, especially at this rate. Despite all the issues, one must find a way to relax and enjoy life.

Although the nap remains peaceful, its end is expected. Ant nudges him, letting Sonic’s eyes slowly open before responding. “We’re almost there. Just through this tunnel, and you’ll see where I live.”

Still taking in his tiredness, Sonic takes in a long yawn before finally surveying his surroundings. But he notices that the number of cars in traffic has increased. Not only that, but there is a mountain range ahead of them and a tunnel approaching at a distance. He has seen insane infrastructure and engineering designs accomplished back in Mobius, so it’s not too surprising to see a tunnel this big in use. 

Entering the tunnel, the sunlight around them disappears, with patterns of artificial lights passing by. Filled with cars traveling in the same or the opposite direction, with spray-paintings entirely covering the walls. Sonic has already adapted to the spray paintings, indicating that where Ant lives is in a city or a metropolis, based on the adventures he has been through. The tunnel takes them approximately 15 minutes to pass through; nothing much to think about, but he understands how much civilization has developed.

After a series of winding turns, the tunnel ahead reveals some signs. “Now approaching… Haven City…” Sonic says, as he reads out the words of the sign, “Population (And still growing…) 100 mil- OH MY GOD!” The binding light accumulates in Sonic’s eyes, forcing him to close.

“Hey.”

“Sonic.”

“Buddy.”

“Open your eyes.”

While the road is going downhill, when Sonic opens his eyes, this isn’t a metropolis. 

This is a megalopolis, but on another level.

ACT 1: Stage 1 (Haven City)

Scattered, high-rise buildings are seen predominantly not only at the center, but everywhere. Multiple suburban areas surround the entire city; the outskirts are damn near impossible to make out, even via airplane. Waves of cars and pedestrians walk everywhere throughout the streets of Haven City. This city is far, far immense than the cities that Sonic has experienced throughout his adventures.

“Sonic.” Ant says before leading up to a follow-up question, “Where should I drop you off?”

Sonic looks around, trying to see or think of where to be exact. “How about the center of this city? I mean, I know it’s crowded, but it’s better than starting nowhere.”

“Heh. It’s not my first place of suggestion, but if that’s completely fine with you.” Ant rolls down the windows for Sonic to feel the breeze and smell the city’s air. 

Sure, the pollution is… something else, but he’s accumulated the smell of the urban and dense cities. All he wants to do is relax from all the worries of battle and missions. The hedgehog sticks his face out of the window, where the breeze blows through his quills. In the packed highway, multiple drivers watch the blue blur stick its head out of the window, but then again, it doesn’t matter. They go on with their day and their lives, letting him do what he needs to live.

By the time Ant has driven to the center of Haven City, as expected, the area is crowded. He temporarily stops at the curb to talk to Sonic. “That was an amazing ride, kid. I enjoyed talking with you and your insane or unbelievable adventures that I think are still a fantasy.” He says before leaning in for a whisper. “Maybe one day, you’ll be popular here. Just saying.”

Sonic makes a smug expression before hopping through the open window and looks back at Ant, “No problem, Ant. I enjoyed talking with you, too, and I hope you enjoy your life. Thank you very much.” He gives him a wink and a thumbs-up. “One day, we can go out and eat some Chili Dogs.”

Ant chuckles and leans in for some interest. “Soon… Maybe one day, but make sure you don’t forget about me.” He blasts his music for everyone around them to hear. “You’re welcome, Sonic! And have fun here in this city!” Ant proudly says before he drives off, his contributions to Sonic make him proud of who he is.

“This world always has its upsides. I’m glad that I live in a world where even if it has its problems, there’s always a way for everyone to create their good deeds.” Sonic looks at the crowded pedestrians and the surrounding buildings alongside multiple-screen billboards in this area. “It’s dense and crowded. Yet the atmosphere… is different from other cities I’ve visited before.”

He takes his time exploring around this area, checking out some new sites and stores unfamiliar to those back in Mobius, yet showing similarity. This city isn’t that unique, it’s just… big. But different enough to astonish Sonic. 

Eventually, he makes his way to the huge crosswalk, where a dense crowd of pedestrians crosses the busy street at once, with him being part of them. He’s too busy navigating where he’s going, with the problem being that he doesn’t know which direction he’s going in. He notices a major difficulty walking around the streets due to the condensed nature. By the time all the pedestrians have cleared, he’s in the middle of the crosswalk, where cars are already passing by. Panicking, he storms off to one side of the sidewalk, where he accidentally bumps into a pedestrian.

“Damn it… I need to get better at recognizing these roads!” Sonic rubs his head before eyeing the pedestrian he accidentally bumped into, “Are you alright…” He says to the pedestrian… but they look at him… with some sort of familiar face to his eyes.

Little does he know… It’s actually-

“... T-Tails!” Emotions are set high for both friends. Both were initially lost in this city, and they miraculously reunited after accidentally bumping into each other. Coincidentally exploring the dense area at its finest.

“Sonic!” Tails gradually hugs Sonic, reunited once again. “I’m glad we bumped into each other.” Slowly letting go of him, he sighs in relief, “You don’t understand how painful it was searching for one of you guys…” He looks around the area, “This city is huge… I believe it’s called-”

“Haven City. Yeah, yeah. You’re in it right now!” Sonic raises his arms, admiring the view of buildings and billboard displays while he guides Tails to a secluded alleyway. “A person named Ant helped me drive to this city. My legs were exhausted… and don’t worry about my dizziness, it’s all gone thanks to him.” Giving him a wink and a reassuring smile. “However…” He pauses momentarily before following up, “Any clues on where the others might be?”

Tails sighs in defeat, looking down at the ground and shaking his head. “Unfortunately, not. Nothing when locating where they were. Seems like this city is just too big... Big enough for me to get lost easily in a matter of seconds!” He complains while leaning against the wall, looking up at the skylines above him.

Sonic thinks for a moment, strategizing what to do here. “In the meantime, let’s try to explore this area. I’m not sure how MASSIVE it is, but from what I can tell, we need to get used to this city.” Eventually they walk back to the sidewalk, where they explore the area once again. “And to do so, we need a map.”

They eventually enter a popular tourist store filled with a vast array of merchandise. Even when it becomes nighttime, the store is still busy as ever. “Welcome in.” Greeted by one of the staff members.

Tails politely waves at them before following Sonic, watching him navigate the aisles in desperation to find a singular map. The blue blur spots a multitude of curled maps, wrapped around and onto a stand. Approaching one of the maps, he grabs it and opens it up, revealing the entire map of Haven City. “Oh my goodness…” The map is huge and probably not designed for tourists to use. It’s so large that certain parts of the map touch the ground. He carefully wraps the map and returns it to the stand. “Tails, you know what you can do. Use one of your devices to hack one of the city’s systems. That way, you can have the whole city’s entire layout without much hassle.” 

“I mean… I guess…” Tails puts down his backpack and scavenges through, finding some random things before grabbing the perfect device for this. “Ha-ha! I always bring items at the right time.” With a smirk, he pulls a device, which automatically turns on, revealing a hologram. This hologram reveals the entire layout of his workshop. “I was recently testing this device right before you called for an urgent meeting. It’s currently still beta, so there may be inaccuracies, or it might not replicate the entire city layout. However, I do hope that this does manage to give the entire layout of this city.” After some time configuring and manipulating through the system. “I just need to hack into one final system… and…” He quickly presses the button before the device finally displays the hologram. “Boom!”

The hologram displays Haven City at its finest… Each building, street, and point of interest is presented within the hologram. Although it doesn’t display the entire map initially, it can be zoomed out to show the city in one go, thus showing the layout of the whole. “Look how massive that is…” Sonic whistles in astonishment at the layout. “I don’t think that’s beta. It’s a perfect final product you got there.”

Whatever the device is called… It’s a perfect device that they’ll use throughout this journey-

“Excuse me, guys. What is that?” A random deer questions them while the hologram is still displayed in front of them. The hologram isn’t that big, more so just visible to the one random deer, but it’s enough to cause a distraction.

Actually… 

Take that back.

Everyone in the store can see it because of the hologram's immense size. Sonic instantly grabs the device and shoves it back inside Tails’s backpack. “N-Nothing ma’am…” He nervously looks around, watching everyone stealing glances at them, and curiously thinks of what that hologram was. “Tails…” He whispers to him. “Just follow me…” He grabs his hand and quickly rushes out to exit, where nothing ever happened.

Back in the secluded alleyways, they both manage to find a spot that’s safe to rest. Yet, they’re both embarrassed by their accidental attention, not the kind of attention they both want from their first day in this new world. “Okay... That was just a mistake. I didn’t realize how big the hologram would be...” Tails awkwardly says.

Sonic checks around for any figures or presence; however, nothing to their relief. “It’s alright, Tails. Mistakes do happen, and it’s alright if you make one.” He sits down on the ground and leans on the wall. “Let’s try it one more time now without any interference.”

Tails gradually pulls out his device and opens up the hologram of Haven City, which they left off with. “Okay. Since we know that the hologram can produce a megacity like this… let us dive into this city’s information.” Through some thorough research, the device combines all available information about the city and what it showcases. “Haven City… population… 100 million!?” His jaw drops at this outstanding fascination, almost not believing this fact until reminding himself that he was nearly lost in the streets.

Sonic bursts into laughter, slowly slides down against the wall, and lies on the ground. “Same reaction as me!” His laugh consumes his whole body, pure humor as Tails’s cheeks flush in embarrassment. “When I saw that population revealed, I was stunned like you! But the way that your jaw drops…!” He continues laughing before it eventually dies down in exhaustion. “... Just continue…”

Composing back to normal, Tails reads more of this city’s general facts. “This city is divided into 8 districts…” He starts to locate each one. “The district we’re in is called ‘Downtown District’, and that’s very self-explanatory for us. The streets are overwhelming and cramped with stuff.” He continues researching some more districts, where he finally makes out each district’s name. “So the other districts I'll order alphabetically…” Clearing his throat before naming the entirety of districts in this city, “‘Capitol District’; ‘Mountain District’; ‘Northern District’; ‘Plains District’; ‘Playa District’; and ‘University District’.” With that, there’s a total of 7 districts in Haven City. Despite the limited number of districts, all of them combined do make it to 100 million, making it- 

“Wait, err- oh… There’s also ‘Nature District’. I forgot about that. My bad, Sonic.” 

With that, there’s a total of 8 districts in Haven City.

Seeing that the ‘Downtown District’ is already well known to Sonic’s eyes. “How about…” He pauses and closely inspects the map along with the other districts before making a choice. “... we explore the ‘Nature District’. It’s close to us.”

“Whatever you choose. I’m fine with your decision.” Tails says before putting away the device. He slowly sits down beside Sonic, gazing at the night sky and the bright full moon. “Huh… It’s been hours since we chased Eggman. It almost felt like seconds ago.” His soft voice marks out the beauty of this world. It’s just like home… home in Mobius.

The mention of Eggman causes Sonic to frown momentarily. “Oh, right, Egghead…” At this point, he doesn’t want to think about the mission. He’s already dealt with a lot of stuff in his life, and for him to put his mind back into the mission pulls him out of his comfort zone. “I still wonder if we’re able to find the others and track him down. But… I don’t want to right now.” He eventually sits up beside Tails and looks at the moon. The peaceful scenery… even with multiple high-rise buildings surrounding them, the moonlight still shines brightly. “I want to explore this city, see what it offers here.” 

“... In the end… we still have something to do. Even if we don’t know when we can get the Master Emerald back… It’s all or nothing before something bad happens with it.” Tails looks back up at the sky, counting out the stars or the planes flying over. 

Sonic lets out a sly grin, honestly feeling amused by his life. “It’s our mission. We just go out there… and save every part of the world when it matters.” He relaxes his arms behind his back, contemplating his past success.

“Let’s just rest here… and tomorrow, we’ll explore Nature District.” Tails quietly says before closing his eyes, “Good night… Sonic.”

In response to his tiredness, Sonic slowly closes his eyes, too. “Good night, Tails.” He says before they both drift off to sleep.

As they rest, they await their next day in this new world and a megalopolis to explore. It’s a journey of exploration so far, but this journey is mainly about…

To find the others.

To stop Eggman.

To retrieve the Master Emerald.

But most importantly…

To save this world.

Chapter Text

A charismatic sunrise… wakes all of Haven City.

Individuals going off to work…

Individuals going off to school…

Every individual goes off to their daily lives…

Everyone’s eventually going to wake up at some point in time.

Though some individuals are unable to wake up.

Sometimes they’re just too tired.

Or sometimes they’re medically impaired.

And for those who are awake…

Sometimes, different emotional tones throughout each place.

Some are happy…

Angry…

Or depressed…

However, a beautiful day allows everyone to live in harmony and peace.

Even the two Mobians… will eventually have something to do in their lives… here in this mysterious world… in this massive city.

Nature District is nature; streets lined with trees, a garden on each building’s rooftop and balcony, along with most restaurants and stores dedicated to fulfilling the wildlife trend. The main stage in this district is the largest park in the entire city, Safe Haven Park.

Once they enter the park, it’s a whole other scenery, an unorthodox one compared to the usual busy streets of Haven City. “It almost feels like home… somewhat.” Sonic gazes around the park, admiring the scenery of people spending their time and lives playing in this nature-filled environment… in the middle of a dense, populated city. Filled with a variety of activities like picnicking, playing sports, or anything in general, making it a remarkable place for every citizen to enjoy.

Tails takes a long sniff in the park’s environment, no longer smelling the pollution from the bustling streets; instead, all is filled with clean air. “Nothing beats an environment just like home. Right, Sonic?”

“Can’t disagree, Tails. This place is beau-ti-ful.” Both of them love the tranquility of the park; it’s the perfect situation in which they could be living. “Though something’s missing.” He stops walking, declaring a strong message. “Something crucial… Something miraculous… not even my super version can defeat it…” He pauses, intently looking at Tails, “Try to guess.”

Tails instantly freezes his movements, now trying to find the answer that Sonic wants. “... Uhh-”

“Amazing answer!” Sonic eagerly points at him with a smug expression. “However, that’s not even close to what I’m about to say…” He rubs his chin, letting his imagination spiral while envisioning things around him. “You see, Tails… What I imagined in this park… was something I also imagined in this city… but isn’t quite there from the first day.” A long pause, letting the park’s noise engulf them. “What I want… is-”

“Chili Dogs! Chili Dogs! Eat these amazing Chili Dogs for one Lunar! No taxes!” The vendor says as he rings the bell. “CHILI DOGS!!!”

“Really.” Sonic’s expression turned 180, and his smug and mysterious expression dissolved upon the vendor’s voice, echoing around the park. “Well, that’s what I was about to say before he ruined it- But it’s alright!” He exclaims as he approaches the vendor. “I would like to buy one Chili Dog, please.” He points a finger while awaiting a Chili Dog order.

“One Lunar, sir.” The vendor says, patiently waiting for him.

“Uh oh.” Realizing that Sonic’s in another world where this currency is far different from the one used back in Mobius, specifically his own… “Not my rings!” He secretly pulls out tons of rings under the vendor’s view before putting them away. Eventually, he has to abide by the law and focus on getting some Lunars. For his plan, he goes back to Tails, searching for some sort of miracle. “Hey, Tails. Do you have any… Lunar that I can borrow?”

“Lunar? What is that?” Tails confusingly questions him.

Sonic facepalms, “Not you too…” He can’t believe that Tails has been in this city longer than he has, and he still doesn’t know what a Lunar is. “N-Never mind.” He says before his mind races about his own choices, “It’s gonna be unethical, but…” He looks at the Chili Dog, his temptation is on the roof, with a bit of sweat dripping down from his fur. “I… I NEED IT!!!”  

With his first plan already an immediate failure, he quickly creates a backup plan. He quietly approaches a random family picnic, hiding behind a tree, before stealing a bit of cash without any witnesses. Then, he casually rushes back to the vendor and hands him the one Lunar. “Sorry for the wait, sir.” He says while chuckling nervously and scratching his quills. “Here’s your one Lunar you’re talking about…”

The vendor gives a suspicious expression, having a gut feeling that whatever the hedgehog did was something dubious. But ultimately, he receives the one Lunar and hands the Chili Dog in exchange. “Have a nice day, hedgehog.” The vendor eventually continues, strolling and shouting. “CHILI DOGS!!!”

Tails just stands there, watching Sonic casually eat his Chili Dog. “Please don’t tell me you stole some money…”  He crosses his arms and shakes his head in disappointment.

“Shh…” Sonic shushes Tails, still focusing on his Chili Dog. “I know it’s unreasonable, but sometimes we do this for fun.” He says with a smirk before taking a huge bite. “Or… we need to find some money… especially when we don’t have any…” Despite his muffled voice, it’s still heard while having eyes of disappointment. “Man… this… tastes…” The taste of the Chili Dogs causes him to widen his eyes. “SO GOOD!!!” The taste causes him to gobble. The taste of the Chili Dog is arguably amazing, not his favorite version compared to other places he has traveled, but it tastes amazing. “You know, we should steal everyone’s money.”

“Sonic!” Tails raises his arms in complaint. “We can’t just steal people's money!”

“Hah-Hah!” Sonic laughs at his reaction, tears falling down his face before wiping them away. “Oh, Tails… I won’t. I promise you that. I won’t… steal anyone’s money away for some Chili Dogs.” He pats his back, still showing him respect while calming himself down. “Come on. Let’s keep on exploring this park.”

After a few hours of strolling and having fun in the park, with loads of activities and talking to some strangers, they decided to rest beside a tree on top of a hill. Still, even a few hours after exploring this huge park, the scenery here never changes, regardless of the time. “Man. This place is still the same.” Tails says, exhausted from walking around. “Are you tired of encountering the same things?”

Sonic smiles, his eyes closed and leaning on the tree, his arms relaxed behind his back. “Nah.” He’s lying, “I’m just tired from all the noise. At least it’s somewhat quiet here.” The tree they’re resting on is in the center of the park and is the largest tree in the city. It seems like a place for civilians and tourists to rest here; as expected, it’s mostly calm. “You know, I like it here. All the content, the people, it’s an amazing area to live in. However, I feel that I’m gonna be homesick yet again.” He lightly chuckles, understanding the situation they’re in. “But don’t worry, we’ll find the others and retrieve the Emerald from Eggman.” He slowly opens his eyes, gazing at Tails and nodding with a reassuring smile, further strengthening their promise.

“Thank you… Sonic.” Tails eventually looks at the park around him, a peaceful state right now, all before chaos can surround his mind.

“You gotcha, buddy.” Sonic pats Tails's shoulder, then also looks around the park. The park's scenery remains calm, with sporadic people walking around either in groups or alone. The same activities still… the same things… almost like time is repeating itself. But that’s just life here.

Everything is calm.

Until…

In one particular moment, Sonic spots a familiar yet unfamiliar person. 

An orange hedgehog strolling around the park either looks around or is just on his phone, minding his own business. There’s nothing abnormal about his activities, but the way he’s presented… “Hey, Tails.” He nudges his elbow at him, “Why does he look so familiar?” He says while closely examining him at a distance.

Tails observes the orange hedgehog closely and also feels the eerie familiarity that Sonic feels, except he notices the details before him. Just like Sonic, he doesn’t have much on; his gloves and shoes are the same, although he has these weird pink wristbands. But the elephant in the room is that his quills strike a huge combination of the three hedgehogs; the shape and the formation of his quills are just like theirs combined. Even though his quills are predominantly covered by his orange fur, traces of the hedgehog’s fur colors are seen on their respective formation. “I’m not sure if you noticed this before, but he reminds me of you, Shadow, and Silver… all combined.” He’s astonished by this discovery, an orange hedgehog with the same looks as the three. 

Suddenly, the orange hedgehog stops walking, ceasing whatever he was originally doing. Then, out of nowhere, the orange hedgehog zooms away, leaving his flash of orange trail behind. “He… He can run!?” Sonic loudly exclaims while his jaw drops in infamy.

“His speed is similar to yours…” Tails stares at the same spot where the orange hedgehog was initially.

“… I guess I have more competition.” Sonic returns to his smug expression, still retaining his competitive personality. “Whatever his name is, I’m in the mood to beat him. Let’s see who the fastest hedgehog is now.”

Tails playfully rolls his eyes in amusement, already knowing that Sonic would say something like that. Though he shortly returns to being curious. “But other than ‘Who’s the fastest guy?’, all we’re wondering about is ‘Who is this guy?’” He keeps on staring at that spot. “We should follow him. See what information we can grab, but more importantly, he could potentially help us with our mission.” They both slowly stand up and stretch their bodies, now feeling more content with their new objective. 

“Looks like another side mission has been added.”

All around the streets of Haven City is the greatest event nearly every day called ‘Rush hour’. Where everyone who’s doing a regular daily life commutes, going somewhere to meet their family or friends, all to their destinations…

… Just to be stuck in traffic.

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

“Come on, I’m trying to go to work!” An ocelot driver complains to the drivers ahead of them.

The marten driver ahead looks behind and starts shutting him off. “Hey! Zip your complaints for later! Can’t you see that you’re in the same situation as all of us!” She says, before angrily looking ahead at the long traffic. “Stupid people… always shoving those complaints into my ears…” She frustratingly mutters to herself, always dealing with this kind of stuff in her daily life.

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP!

“WHAT DO YOU POSSIBLY WANT RIGHT NOW?!” She yells at the ocelot driver behind her yet again.

The ocelot driver continues honking his horn until he fully gets her attention. “Just letting you know, I have a loving wife and two children to take care of! So jokes on you, I’m dealing with a stressful life for a living!”

“Great… another annoying driver who bickers with someone by talking about their lives…” She clears her throat before giving off a powerful counterargument. “As a college student who’s majoring in architecture AND has a part-time job, don’t you think you can lay your tone down for a bit, sir!?” She makes her final remark before rolling her window up and ignoring him, wanting to mind her own business.

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP!

“I guess not.”

The ocelot and the marten both argue, exchanging words with each other. Although they’re not the only ones complaining, as other drivers throughout the city face similar situations about the numerous traffic delays, they start to squabble. 

But deep down within a particular street, a flash of blue and orange abruptly passes by them within an instant, causing them to stop arguing and start wondering. “What was that…?” The marten asks, with all the honking around them dissipating.

“... I-I don’t know… but I’ve seen it a couple times before… only with an orange flash. But now with a blue flash too…” The ocelot experienced orange flashes passing by his car roughly around 8 times before, but was unable to make out what it was or who it was, to be exact. “I’ve heard locals telling me about some kind of orange hedgehog that produces these orange flashes before, all because they can run at an immense speed.”

They both remain silent briefly before the marten responds, “I wish we had those traits…”

“True…” Both of the drivers chuckle it off, reacting the same way when thinking about their wishes. They eventually apologize to each other, both accepting their lives in the rush hour.

Meanwhile, the duo flashes through the city, pedestrians only seeing the trails they leave behind, wondering what had happened. “Thanks to my new invention, I’m able to track down this hedgehog’s location just from the singular fur of his!” Tails exclaims while they’re still keeping track of his whereabouts.

Sonic gives him a thumbs up, avoiding the numerous obstacles ahead of them, “Great job, Tails! Maybe we can use that for the others if we do come across their furs!” He says, before they abruptly stop at the front of a building’s entrance. “Hmm… Haven City Finances…” A quick inspection by him, asking Tails, “Does he work there or is he just visiting?”

“I have no idea.” Tails checks the detector he’s using; the tech, however, doesn’t locate the height of the individual. “Darn, I should’ve created that system! What am I doing!?” He groans in frustration, but quickly recovers his normal facial expression to Sonic. “Unsure… but there are lots of people inside there, so we’ve got to find him urgently.” He says before they enter the lobby.

Inside the lobby, loads of workers are packed, mostly waiting in a long line for the elevators, yet no orange hedgehog is in sight. “Not a single hedgehog other than me.” Sonic looks around for any guidance, asking some coworkers if they’ve encountered him before, but nothing. “Man, this is hard! Where could he possibly be!?” He groans and sits down on a random seat.

Tails takes another look at his detector, which continues to signal his presence inside the building. “He’s probably somewhere on the other floors of the building, indicating that he does work here. If so, we might need some assistance from someone here…” He thinks for a moment before setting his answer on one sight, the receptionist. He goes up to the receptionist and greets her, “Excuse me, ma’am. I’m curious, how many floors are in this building?”

The receptionist named Woofa the Dog is seen busy scrolling on her phone before looking at Tails. “There are 10 floors, sir.” She says, glancing at the hedgehog briefly while she’s too busy finishing something on her phone, but secretly hides a smirk. “Another hedgehog? I guess he’s lucky that he’s not the only victim here that I’m teasing.” She readjusts her blouse before Sonic approaches her, standing beside Tails. “Hello, sir. What do you need for today?” Her expression returns to normal, although a hint of tease is still within her voice.

“Mornin’, Woofa. We’re here to meet someone who works here.” Although impatient, Sonic politely says while letting her take the time she needs to pull up the list of workers on the computer screen.

As the list pops up on her computer screen, Woofa glances back at him with a smirk. “Someone you wanted to meet? Like a relative, friend, or anyone in general?”

“We’re meeting someone…” Tails responds, but doesn’t know the hedgehog’s name. However, he does give her a key clue, “... who’s an orange hedgehog.”

Silence ensues throughout their conversation; Woofa’s eyes widen, and her smirk has completely faded at the mention of her friend. “An orange hedgehog… right?”

“Yes. That orange hedgehog, blah, blah, blah.” Sonic's patience wears down, rapidly tapping the desk impatiently. “Anything to let us meet him?”

Woofa suspiciously looks at them, unconfident of what their objective is with him. “What do you want with him?” Letting her protective instincts get into her, she silently taps her fingers on the table, feeling the anxiety building up inside her, and even slowly reaches down to her phone to try to call him.

“We just want to talk with him. That’s all.” Tails says with a reassuring smile, hoping that it’s enough to gain her confidence with his answer.

Even if he’s telling the truth, Woofa is still tense, but does slightly calm down with a clarifying question. “... What if you’re lying?”

“Nope, we promise that it’s just a talk.” Sonic pats Tails’s shoulder, “Isn’t that right, Tails?” He smiles and ruffles his head.

“These two… I know they never have any correlation with him. That’s why I’m hiding his name, to prevent him from getting recognized. But that’s hard to do because he’s the only hedgehog who works here.” Woofa takes a deep breath before she responds, “Fine. You got my queue.” She drinks her coffee and tells them. “He works on the 5th floor. And don’t get me started on the stairwells, they’re doing construction… So, the elevators are the only viable option to reach him… Though you already know the long line, so...” She immediately goes back to working. “Good luck, you two.”

Looking back at the long line, and despite the elevators doing their best to transport coworkers, the line appears longer with each passing second. “The line doesn’t have to be THIS long.” Sonic says while approaching one of the workers, “Excusseee me?”

“What is it?” The mongoose worker ignores him, patiently waiting for the elevator to open while being at the front of the line.

Sonic puts on a graceful smile, hoping it insulates his peaceful request, “I was wondering… may I cut you-“

“No.” Their response was quick and straight to the point. “Go in line, and wait with the 100 other people.”

In defeat, Sonic groans and goes back to Tails, seemingly stuck in a limited set of options. “What are we supposed to do? We can’t just wait in this line. We need to get up there right now!” He taps his foot, desperately requiring some sort of answer to appear in his mind. “Come on, Sonic. THINK! You’re the fastest being in the universe. What can you do to stick your head out and make a decision? That line is too long. Why not take a shortcut? A shortcut that maybe… is already closed…” His attention slowly turns to the closed stairwell, an idea in his head. “Tails, you know that stairwell that she mentioned earlier?”

“Y-Yeah…?” Tails is confused about where Sonic is leading them, but signals a bad feeling. “What is your plan on that… unless-“

Sonic instantly grabs Tails’s wrist and busts through the door, entering the stairwell. “Shortcut from the line!” The door immediately shuts itself, and the loud closing causes most of the people to stare at the door, stunned by what just happened.

“That hedgehog is creative, yet reckless. Heh, watch out, orange furball, you've got a competition.” Woofa giggles before focusing on her job yet again.

Rumbling.

Rumbling.

“Hey! What are you two doing here?!”

“Sorry, sir! Just gotta hop there, right there, and…”

…

THUD.

Both Sonic and Tails are covered in debris and dust from the construction, coughing from the amount of debris in their throat. Despite the door loudly bursting open to the 5th floor, the amount of noise and presence on this floor doesn’t draw the workers’ attention, only a few, much to their relief. This is because everyone is moving around as if the stock market has just crashed, accidentally bumping into each other like a chain reaction. “Man…” Tails momentarily coughs before continuing. “... this place is busy. At least I have a workshop of my own.” He continues to cough ferociously, spitting out tiny bits of debris that were stuck in his throat. “… Don’t you ever do that again, Sonic.”

“Sorry! I couldn’t help myself!” Both of them shake the dust off their fur, which comes off easily. “There you go, all spotless. Come on, Tails, open up that device and guide us to that hedgehog!”

With the tracker out, Tails locates the orange hedgehog, finally locating his whereabouts. “Towards the left! We just need to meet him!”

A relatively easy objective to complete, with Sonic showing off a smirk, “Let’s go find that hedge-“ He accidentally bumps into a worker. “Whoa! Sorry about that. I was… heh…” He scratches his quills in embarrassment before the worker rolls their eyes and goes on with their day. “We should… Umm…” He quickly snaps out of his embarrassment, immediately grabbing Tails’s wrist again. “Another round of recklessness!” Sprinting around the floor at the speed of sound, papers flying everywhere from his trail, leaving more workers scrambling. “Whoops! Hopefully I’ll clean all of that up!” He briefly glances at the workers before looking back at Tails, “How far!?”

“JUST KEEP GOING!!!” Tails yells out, screaming at the top of his lungs. “WE’RE ALMOST THE-!!” 

CRASH!!!

Sonic accidentally crashes into an unsuspecting worker, causing Tails to be launched onto the wall, while the worker remains stunned from the collision, unsure of what to do. “Are you alright!?” Sonic immediately gets up and goes to the worker lying on the ground.

“I-I’m fine…” The porcupine worker slowly sits up, processing what had happened in an instant. “I’m not badly injured or anything, just… stunned.”

In relief, Sonic slowly stands back up and extends his arm. “I’m sorry about running into you. All I’m gonna say is… thank god you’re alright-”

“Tricky!” The orange hedgehog approaches them, with Sonic's eyes widening when he finally hears his voice. “What happened!?“ He checks for any signs of brutal injuries.

“I’m fine. I’m fine. Thanks, brother.” Tricky chuckles and shakes his head as his valid reaction. He holds on to Sonic’s hand, helping himself up without any pain. “Thanks for checking on me, you two.” The porcupine walks away to continue his usual mundane job.

“Brother? Are a porcupine and a hedgehog blood-related?” Sonic is puzzled by their odd brotherly interaction, but still, his main focus is on the orange hedgehog. “Umm, excuse me?” He successfully gets his attention while having the opportunity to get a closer look at this orange hedgehog’s face. His eye color stands out uniquely, a mixture of green, red, and gold. A different type of heterochromia, where his eye color perfectly replicates a triadic color scheme of the three hedgehogs’ eye colors combined. Something abnormal for a hedgehog like him to harbor their traits, leading to Sonic becoming more perplexed. “... May we talk privately, with him over there?” He points to Tails, who’s dizzily upside down and leaning against the wall.

The orange hedgehog looks confused by what’s going on, being approached by another hedgehog of his kind. Nevertheless, he complies, “... Sure. Follow me if you want to speak privately… with your… friend.” Still bewildered by whatever happened to Tails.

Sonic nervously chuckles, slowly checking on Tails, “Y-Yeah, I will! Uhh… just give me a second!” Tails, who’s still unconscious, leads Sonic to put him down on the floor and shake his body in desperation. “Wake up, Tails! Please!” He shakes him even harder, causing Tails to let his eyes open. “Tails! Good news, we finally interact-!”

Tails pushes him away from his view, “That’s amazing, especially when it was a BAD idea to crash into someone!” He rubs his head to ease his pain. “... Don’t do that again!” He frustratingly says.

Sonic's ears droop in response to his rare, hurtful message, “Sorry about hurting you... But we should follow him right now. He’s leading us to a private room.” He firmly lets Tails’s arm wrap around his shoulder for support, guiding him to where the orange hedgehog is taking them, “Come on, we can do this together.”

Once the orange hedgehog directs them into the storage room, he closes and locks the door to prevent anyone from hearing their private conversation. “Okay. Tell me what you two want to discuss with me.” He says while leaning on the door.

Both exchange nervous glances with each other, unsure what to say to a random hedgehog whom they’re heavily invested in, yet don’t know who he is. Sonic stares directly at Tails, bopping his head towards the orange hedgehog. “Go, Tails! Say something!”

Tails shakes his head erratically, with bits of sweat starting to drip down from his fur. “I’m not going to say anything! You do it!”

Even though they’re non-verbally talking, both of them seemingly know what they’re saying. The pressure from Tails also causes Sonic to sweat. “Why would I say something to him!? I have no idea what to kickstart our conversation with!”

Tails angrily glares at Sonic, desperately wanting him to make his first move, “COME ON!!! JUST SAY SOMETHING!!!”

Their visual altercation, without a word spoken, made them even more stressed, and this entire conversation just… awkward. They’re increasingly becoming sweaty, with the tension getting heated, but whatever happens, one must have the will to- “Why is it so hot inside here?” The orange hedgehog is also surprisingly sweaty; his voice causes them to look at him with surprise. He walks around the room and finds the thermostat, which is set to 100 °. “Ohhhhhhh… no wonder this building sometimes gets high electric bills.” He immediately turns off the thermostat, allowing the temperature to drop slightly, while still containing the heat. “All of us on this floor had to pay for that? … Well, since you two aren’t gonna say anything, I’ll say this.” He briefly cleared his throat before leaning back against the door. “Who are you guys?”

Finally, the awkward conversation and the tension created earlier dissolve, and both are now relaxed. They look at each other, feeling relieved from the now non-existent tension they created for absolutely no reason at all, other than to waste time. “I’m Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog! The fastest being in the universe and the one who should be on the news right now, but sometime soon!” He smirks after briefly introducing himself.

“Another hedgehog who can run like me and claims he’s faster…? He could be faster, but we need to see for ourselves.” A slight, convinced nod is the response that he gets. “Nice to meet you, Sonic.” The orange hedgehog replies in a nonchalant manner. “So you’re saying that you’re faster than me?”

“Yep! And I’ll prove it to you right now!” Sonic looks at the clock before looking back at him. “What do you want right now?”

“Me? Hmm… Maybe some green grapes… sushi… too? They’re my favorite food-” Sonic instantly disappears with the door open, leaving a blue trail behind. The orange hedgehog is stunned; he’s no longer the only hedgehog who runs incredibly fast. “Wow. Sonic is right, he’s fast-” Just right then, Sonic proceeds to enter the storage room, the door already shut and locked, while he’s holding a bag filled with cleaned green grapes and store-bought sushi. 

“Green grapes and some sushi for the mighty orange hedgehog!” Sonic hands him the bag. “Bon appétit.” He is enjoying their interaction, honestly, just showing off who he is.

Fascinated by his speed, his eyes widen, impressed by how fast he does it. “Way faster than how I usually do it.” He snaps one of the green grapes from the stem. “Thank you, Sonic.” Proceeding to take a bite of one of the grapes.

Sonic's usual smug expression appears while he crosses his arms in achievement, “No problem. Just showing you my immense speed, crowning me the title of the blue blur. … Umm, but I’m not gonna lie… I stole them.”

“Oh, you did?” The orange hedgehog takes a slight snicker while taking a bite of his sushi, not caring that what Sonic has done is a crime. “I don’t care. As long as you’re not caught on video frame by frame, you’re impossible to get caught.” Still eating his food like usual.

With the hedgehog's interaction, Tails sighs in relief, while nonverbally amused by them, before deciding to introduce himself. “My name is Miles ‘Tails’ Prower. But everybody calls me Tails because of my-”

“Two tails.” Both hedgehogs answer without any sort of amusement.

“Oh, seems like everyone… knows. Heh heh…” Tails does his usual embarrassed scratching of his head, with his cheeks slightly flushed. “Well… I’m glad that we’re grateful to see you. Though we’ve got something to say about us.” A slight pause in his voice until he revealed their status. “We’re from a different dimension. I know it’s unbelievable, especially when it looks like we could be joking- but it’s all true.”

Responding to their revealed status, Sonic takes out a familiar golden ring. “You know what this is?” He hands the ring to him.

The orange hedgehog closely examines the ring. “It’s just a ring… a golden ring-”

“Exactly!” Sonic snatches the ring from him, “It’s just a ring, not until you hold it.” The ring suddenly disappears from his hand, which makes an iconic sound. “Try to hit me.”

“S-Sonic! You’re not trying to get yourself injured, are you!?” Tails freezes, concerned that he’s doing something reckless yet again.

“Let me test his strength,” Sonic whispers to Tails, trying to reassure his own decision. He looks at the orange hedgehog, anticipating a singular punch. “Hold nothing back.” He spreads his arms open, waiting for an attack.

Though just like Tails, the orange hedgehog is also concerned about his decision, “Are you sure about this? Seems like Tails isn’t-“

“Just hit me. We’re testing how this ring functions.” Sonic gives him a wink before closing his eyes.

“Oh… Okay then.” The orange hedgehog gets ready to punch, now in his stance, “It can be anywhere, right?”

“Just my stomach, that’s all.” Sonic gives him a specified answer, and he takes a deep breath, knowing that a punch from him can hurt. “Testing his punch is going to be insane. His arms don't stand out, and are like mine. Even if it does hurt, this ring doesn’t help me from my knockback, but it does allow me to stay alive. Hopefully, his punch-”  

BAM!!!

An unexpected and brutal instant punch to his stomach, causing him to crash through the wall of the building and crash into another. Fortunately, he lands inside an abandoned building. “THAT WAS UNEXPECTED!!! I DIDN’T-” He repeatedly coughs, briefly feeling the lack of airway. “I underestimated him… I really did… underestimate…”

“Oh, dozens of rings dropped.” The orange hedgehog tries to pick up the rings off the ground, but it also disappears with the same iconic sound, with a singular swish. “That’s probably the reason why you survived that!” He yells out to him, making his voice hearable against the city’s noise. “A-Are you okay though!?”

Sonic gives a weak thumbs-up before recovering on the rubble. “Uhh… let me bring him back here…” Tails says before his tails start to revolve, leading to him hovering and flying towards the now stunned blue blur.

“Tails can fly? I didn’t know they both have powers… that must mean that their world is filled with people with such unique abilities.” The orange hedgehog non-verbally observes them as Tails safely brings Sonic back to the storage room.

“M-Maybe next time… don’t test out anything on me anymore…” Sonic groans, slowly getting up, and leaning on the table for a bit of support.

The orange hedgehog scratches his quills before unlocking the door, “… Anyways… Thanks for the introduction, you guys. You can talk to me if you want, though I have work…” He slightly looks away at them before putting on a sly grin, “Unless I can cancel work for a week.”

Both their ears perked up upon hearing this astonishing news, “C-Cancel work!? Sweet! You should because you're in the perfect situation for what we need!” He excitedly nudges Sonic, “Is that fine, Sonic!?” He looks at him with confirmation.

“… Yes, Tails… ” Sonic amusingly jokes around, but groans in pain.

“That’s a deal then. I had a feeling that you two were highly invested in me.” He leaves out a light chuckle. “For now, I’ll tell my boss and cancel work for today.” The orange hedgehog finally opens the door, now ending their introduction with each other.

“Wait!” Tails exclaims to the orange hedgehog, leading to him freezing in place. “You haven’t introduced us to your name.”

“... Oh, right.” He looks outside the room before looking back at them, “I guess all of that work and stress I’ve been doing, and-“ He clears his throat, now taking a chance to reveal his name.

…

“My name.”

…

“I’m Solid.”

…

“Solid the Hedgehog.”

Chapter Text

Away from the troubled and chaotic events happening on each floor, on one particular floor, all is serene. The Haven City Finances building isn’t the tallest building in all of Haven City, but it has stunning views, high enough to look out at the skylines with ease. The interior of this floor is a far cry from the floors below. Compared to the typical office interior design, this floor is rather modern and sleek, with a few items worth more than someone’s life savings —a dream floor; someone could spend their entire life working and potentially live there. However, the whole floor is small compared to the other floors, because it’s dedicated to one person, only one.

The CEO.

Somewhere inside the floor, the cougar relaxes on her antique chair, with her foot resting on her antique desk. Despite the responsibilities she’s dealing with, the conditions that she’s living in are worth every moment. All she’s set on now is relaxing, after hours worth of constantly being pressured by the responsibilities, as well as the public scrutiny she faces every single day.

“Miss.” One of the management staff says from the intercom.

From her response, she immediately resorts to groaning, wanting to continue her relaxed moment. But in the end, business is what built her up from the ground. Still, she rolls her eyes and grabs the intercom, taking a slight pause before finally speaking. “What do you need at this moment?”

“One of your staff wants to talk with you at this very moment.”

“...” She’s the CEO, so she can make a key decision to either keep on relaxing or straight up talk to one of her staff in this building. Based on her status, one staff member isn’t important for her time; she can just say “no” and move on. However, she looks at herself in the tabletop mirror, seeing how far she has evolved with honesty and kindness. She doesn’t always think about her life and the high-level staff, but also has her mind focused on the lower staff members, concerned for their well-being. In the end, she does make her rightful decision. “Alright. Bring them up here.”

Ding.

When the elevator door opens, she glares directly at the staff member, who slowly walks towards her desk. Her serious expression causes the staff member to feel anxious, unsure if it’s the right decision to talk with her. But, to their relief, she casually tells the staff member. “Have a seat…”

“Solid.”

“Still remember my name?” Solid casually sits down with a slight grin on his face, feeling amused from their last conversation. “I guess I’m just well known inside this building.”

She grabs a pen and starts to fidget with it, “Can’t help that you’re the only hedgehog working here.” Her slight chuckle makes the conversation a little more lively, compared to the tension initially. “Oh, wait… you’re the only hedgehog in this city. That speaks so much about you.”

“Damn… no need to insult me there. I thought the CEO would be honest and nice to their loyal staff members.” He playfully says, letting both of them chuckle it off. “At least, there’s another hedgehog in this city.”

“Just because I’m a CEO doesn’t mean I’m always one. I ain’t no robot who’s just getting straight to the point. I mean, someone has to show off their fun side once in a while, including you.” She glances back at the tabletop mirror, feeling proud of who she is in general. “Speaking of which… What do you want to talk to me about?” She asks with a slight sense of seriousness.

“May I take a week off?”

“You’re taking a week off?”

“Yeah.”

Out of everyone who would request a week off, Solid would most likely be the last person to do so. “But, Solid… you’re like one of our best staff members in this workplace. You sure you want to take a break?” She asks with a hint of vulnerability in her voice.

“Yes. All I’m saying is to let me take a break for a week, and I’m good to go.” He puts his hands down on her desk for any signs of progress. “Please?”

Still, she is determined not to let him go, trying her best to let him continue working. “Maybe a raise…? Or a higher position…? Anything?”

He leans forward, looking directly at her eyes. “I’m sorry… but I’ll decline every option you give me. I wanted to take a break for… personal matters. And besides, it’s just a week off. I don’t even work on the weekends, like, what’s gonna happen when I’m off, the company collapsing?”

With a pause, she hesitantly thinks about her decision to either approve or decline his request. For one, Solid is a hard worker; despite proving the best of the best, he still declines every single offer for a raise or even a high position. And for him to have a shift consisting of 8 A.M. to 6 P.M. on weekdays isn’t too surprising, considering his humble personality. She desperately needs him to support the other staff members doing their work, yet at the same time, she’s probably burning him out. So with no choice, “... Alright then… I’ll let you take a week off work.” She still fidgets with her pen, but does add an important note. “And don’t be late again. You’re just different because you never drink coffee.”

A deep sigh of relief, all the stress from waking up and working is felt being released from him. “Y-Yeah. I’ll make sure NOT to be here late, again… boss.” He takes a long yawn in response to his tiredness. “I still hate coffee…”

“Talk about a coffee disliker.” She quietly mutters, still fidgeting with her pen until throwing it into her pen holder, where it lands perfectly inside the bin. “Have a good break, Solid. Make sure you have the time to relax and rest.”

Having his request fulfilled, he’s finally relieved that he can take a week-long break. Although his body is filled with excitement and hype, he remains calm toward her. “Thank you very much.” He calmly shakes hands with her before entering the elevator, looking at her one more time before the door closes in on itself. 

“Sonic and Tails must be happy about this.”

Down at the lobby, the formerly packed line for the elevator is now nonexistent, making it peaceful inside. At the moment, Tails is resting on a seat, testing out some of the unused inventions from his backpack that he brought prior to chasing Eggman. “Let’s see… A grappler, remote disabling systems, some weapons I made for later, etc.”

With the stack of inventions piling out from his backpack, some people glance at the number of inventions being pulled out. Some are confused, some are anxious, but Tails doesn’t care about the number of audience he’s drawing. Most of them are interested in what these inventions do. “Whoa.” One of the workers grabs a grappler. “A grappler, I wonder if this works.” He instantly aims at the wall close to him.

Until realization, Tails finally witnesses what’s happening and tries to intervene.

“W-WAIT-!!!”

Once the grappler is shot, the worker accidentally continues to hold onto it before crashing into the same wall he aimed at. The wall didn’t do too much damage; fortunately, the worker is alive. Though with his head hurting, it was a mistake on his end. “Oh god. Oh god… Are you alright?” Tails immediately kneels and checks on the worker’s condition.

As the worker gets up, he places his hand on his head, groaning from the pain, but looks at Tails differently. “Geez…” He slightly pauses before finally letting his emotions out. “That… THAT WAS AMAZING!” Immediately getting up and praising him for the kind of inventions that he shows off to everyone. “I am Embrace the Llama, and I praise loads of things, including your invention!” A convincing, wide smile appears on his face before asking him. “Tell me. What is your name?”

Immediately stunned and confused, with no other choice, Tails decides to go with the flow, introducing himself by name. “Miles Tails Prower… but uhh… call me Tails.” And as expected, he starts getting praised. Embrace proceeds to see some more of Tails’s inventions, hoping it’ll show signs of popularity through the passing workers.

Meanwhile, for Sonic, he’s out there having the time of his life. After leaving Solid behind to discuss with the CEO, both of them waited down in the lobby. But, after feeling bored for just simply waiting, he decides to have a general discussion with the same receptionist yet again. “You and Solid are what now?”

“Yep.” Woofa puts her phone down, revealing a soft smile. “Solid and I are childhood friends. We’ve known each other since middle school, and ever since then, we’ve always been best friends to this very day.” She says, handing him a framed photo of them together back in middle school. Deep down, a smile from her face, filled with hints of vulnerability, but mainly contentment. She daydreams a bit, remembering the memorable moments, while still thinking about the same future with him. Always best friends. “He’s a calm and humble orange furball, always caring for others… but himself… That’s why I’m always there to support him, no matter what.”

“Fond memories for you two; inseparable if you ask me.” Sonic inspects the framed photo closely, eyeing the young Solid who was back in the photo’s time. At that moment, he notices the date when this picture was taken. “October 27, 2012…” He starts to get confused, eyeing her for some clarification. “How old are you?”

“I was born on August 26th, 2001, while Solid was born on April 11th, 2001; a four-month differential. But we’re both 25 years old, making us young adults.” She rests her arms on the desk, having a casual, yet fun conversation with him, trying her best to get any reaction.

“Solid is 10 years older than me? That’s crazy.”   From his standpoint, Solid does appear as a 15-year-old, similar to how Shadow is way older than he looks. “I expected him to be my age, but seeing how he works and handles in this environment… yeah, that makes sense.”

However, their discussion does come to an eventual end, with a very recognizable orange hedgehog exiting the elevator, placing a smirk on his face. Sonic immediately approaches him, ending the conversation between the hedgehog and a dog. For Tails, his ears perk up instantly at seeing his figure. With the audience already dissipated, he grabs his devices from the table and shoves them back into the backpack. “Solid!” He exclaims, quickly and desperately closing his backpack before standing up and approaching him. “How did it go?”

Solid, whose expression remains the same, reveals the results to him, “It worked. As requested, I’ll be taking a week-long break.” He pats Tails’s shoulder, giving him more comfort. “So much for you two, to say the least… but by all means you’re welcome.”

Both high-five each other with their successful side-mission; however, there’s still one more person to respond to Solid’s decision. “You are?” Woofa is stunned by the news, shocked that he would do something like this in an instant. But being his best friend, she reverts to her smug face, actually approving of his decision. “Aww man… I guess I won’t be able to tease you again.” She playfully pouts, leaning closer to him. “But, you needed it. I can’t let you suffer in my eyes.”

Solid playfully scoffs and approaches her desk. He leans on the desk, and they playfully stare into each other’s eyes. “You never change, don’t you?”

“Nope, and never. You’ll just have to suffer more of my teasing and consistent check-ups on you during your week off.” She continues teasing him by poking his forehead, letting out a soft giggle.

With a soft sigh, he calmly swats her hand away, walking backward while staring at her. “Fair enough. We can visit each other on the weekends while you’re at it.”

“Visit me anytime, Solid.” She gives a wink, prompting them to share a smirk, and revealing much more of their interesting dynamic between the two best friends. They eventually get a last glance at each other, both feeling content with their relationship, before ultimately separating, just like the usual. 

“Are they even best friends?” Sonic casually thinks, quickly glancing at them one last time before following Solid outside.

Throughout Haven City, there’s nothing more promising than a sunny afternoon with an ideal temperature. Despite a rough morning, the traffic has dwindled dramatically, leaving zero trace of what’s left behind. Even then, the number of pedestrians walking around remains constant, with those either off from work and school, or them being tourists. A fine day, perhaps. Nothing too abnormal for the people within this world, along with the two hedgehogs and a fox. Regardless of the fine scenery, there’s nothing better than successfully friending someone who they needed the most, seeing how friendly and trustworthy he’s presented, no matter if they had just recently met. 

In that case, a major factor in their newly formed friendship is money. “Yo.” With a tap on his shoulder, he turns around and glances at Sonic, genuinely curious. “Where are you taking us?”

“Just gonna get some lunch together.” Solid pulls out his wallet, showing off the numerous Lunar bills still unused, but he opts to use a credit card. “Anything you guys want?”

Left astonished, Sonic can’t help but calculate how many Chili Dogs he could potentially buy with this much Lunars. He could easily steal his wallet, but he’s going to act like Rouge if he does. Furthermore, stealing from another hedgehog is a little too difficult due to their insane reaction speed; still, he tries his best. “For me… I think some Chili Dogs would do and- YOINK- What the hell?” Despite using his speed, stealing his wallet didn’t go according to plan. “This wallet is fake!” He exclaims, dumping out the fake money and credit cards.

That’s because, awaiting past him, Solid has tricks up his sleeve. “Trying to steal my wallet?” A small glance and a casual smirk before he proceeds to slightly raise his arms, where an actual wallet slides down from his glove. “Too bad, Tails told me everything about your Chili Dogs addiction. Besides, if you’re trying to test my reflexes, they’re exceptional to a degree.” A slight chuckle preceded, watching Sonic slowly get up, shaking his head in amusement. 

Tails gives Sonic a slight smile, shrugging in guilt, but in acceptance. “Sorry, Sonic. I couldn’t help but share your traits with him. You know how you are with Chili Dogs.”

Sonic slowly approaches Solid, placing a hand on his shoulder. “For someone new… I respect your- YOINK!” This time, he finally steals something, just one Lunar Bill. It isn’t much, but it’s enough to succeed in outpacing his reflexes. “Eh. One is enough for me.” He tugs his money from his glove, firmly grasping it. “Shocked by my speed?”

Still entertained by his one-liners, Solid can’t help but do something unexpected, yet usual to his character. He hands some Lunar Bills to Sonic, not caring much about money. Even though both Mobians are shocked by his unprecedented action, he swats his regret away. “Don’t be shocked. I’m just humble, even if I don’t know your intentions with them, maybe Chili Dogs… But, I barely know much about your literal goals in my world; we eventually have to build trust between each other.” He says, putting confidence into his own words, knowing that they can be trusted. However, his eyes were on a random restaurant, lavished with distinct types of Ramen flavors. “Hey… You guys wanna eat here?”

Regardless of their stunned and confused expressions, both were looking at each other with more confusion. There’s still more to this orange hedgehog than meets the eye. Again, this is what an adventure is about, understanding not just places, but also a key feature of a person, and Solid fits a perfect description for them. Ultimately, Tails calls off their awkward silence and pats Sonic’s back. “S-Sure! We’ll be coming.” Both watch Solid enter inside, while they slowly walk to the entrance. “We’re really relying on this person, are we?”

Sonic can’t help but slightly show off his genuine expression, feeling glad that there are more unique friends. “Honestly, I’m fine with this. He’s perfectly humble about himself, revealing that being at the top isn’t his thing, showing a balanced approach, but taking his lower status to himself. Aside from all of that, if it does affect the way he fights… We’ll do our best to protect him. He’s the person that we can fully rely on in terms of having general knowledge of this city.” He responds before both of them feel starving, forcing them to enter the ramen place to eat.

The restaurant is compact, filled with customers casually waiting, eating, or conversing with one another. Both look around for Solid until they see him waving his arms. “Right here!” He exclaims, showing off the two seats.

As they sit down, he hands the menu, showing the different types of ramen that catch their interest. “These ramen look delicious, even without having one in front of me!” Tails eventually catches the eye of one of the ramen, already looking like his favorite. “Oh, how about this one! It’s uhh… It’s expensive to say the least, I guess I’ll pass-”

“N-No! No! You don’t have to pass.” Solid exclaims, denying his change. “I’ll pay for the ramen for all of us anyway.”

“You sure? Something pricey isn’t something that we should-”

“Tails.” Solid places a hand on his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re my friend or not. I want to be generous with you guys.” A soft smile appears, showing his true honesty. “Try to have as much as you can. Embrace the food here.”

Both look at each other in another round of expected shock, yet delighted by their new friend’s request. Tails sighs and orders the expensive ramen he has, while Sonic orders one of the more basic ramen flavors. It isn’t because it’s his first experience, but rather because he has some secret recipe. “Solid, may I leave this place for a few seconds?” He asks with a sly grin.

Solid eyes on him, skeptically, unsure what his antics are. However, knowing that Sonic is the fastest being in the entire universe, he gives his approval. “... That’s fine… Why-?” And just like that, Sonic left, unsure of where he went. “Do you know what he’s doing, Tails?”

Tails responds, he knows what Sonic is doing, because he has witnessed him doing this every time he eats ramen. “He likes to have a mix of Chili Dogs in his ramen…”

“Really?”

“I’m dead serious, Solid. He could go back at any time-”

“Ha-ha!” Sonic instantly reappears, back in his seat, holding a few Chili Dogs underneath the table. “Can’t wait for my usual Chili Ramen Dogs!” He says before the ramen was served to them.

Grateful to have lunch with Solid, both walk outside the restaurant, having a fun time talking about the ramen they just ate. “Wow… That Ramen was amazing, especially the broth… Now thinking, no wonder mine was the most expensive.” They all feel amused by his thoughtful realization, but still, “Thank you, Solid. I know that costs 35.99, I’m glad you dared to pay for it. I’m just hoping you don’t go broke.”

Solid swats his words away, unconcerned about money. “Don’t worry about the money I have. Losing amounts of money like this isn’t a concern for me; I won’t be broke anytime soon.” His voice hints at a tone of confidence, knowing how much money he’s making compared to how much he spends each day. “Just being generous. That’s all.”

Despite discussing money-related talks, both Mobians do worry about one thing other than money…

A place to stay. 

While sleeping in the alleyway isn’t the most comfortable, especially for travelers like them, it was at least peaceful, except for the smell and the city noise. But they’re hopeful that wherever Solid lives, especially with the money he has in his wallet, it is in a place more comfortable and peaceful than before. They double-check the amount of money that he gave them, and it’s decent enough to live off in this city for the two of them alone for just two days. Still, following him throughout the streets is enough to build up their high expectations for where they’re going to stay.

Unable to contain their expectations, Tails instantly goes up to him with a bit of excitement in his voice. “Hey! So… we’re wondering… may we stay at your place…?”

“... Sure.”

Solid’s response was simple, but it does get the job done for both Mobians. A place finally suitable for them to stay, even though it’s just temporarily, they both briefly celebrate, resulting in him rolling his eyes in amusement. “By the way, the building is right next to us.” Solid points at the building next to them. It’s a beige apartment building with beautiful balconies, along with a 24/7 convenience store at the ground level. “Isn’t this apartment building a nice place to live in?”

Both of their jaws drop, onlooking at the astonished beauty of the apartment building. Envisioning Solid’s apartment showed promising signs, offering a suitable and clean living space, a far cry from the alleyway, a hopeful sign of their relaxed stay. “We got ourselves a place to live,” Sonic whispers with a smug expression, before envisioning the life inside the apartment. “This is the best! Tails and I are living in a comfortable setting with a person who we hope will help us. We just hope that the apartment is going to exceed our expectations because it’s going to be a-”

“-An empty rooftop?“   Stunned by the presentation of Solid’s home, he doesn’t live in the apartment. “You live on an empty rooftop?” Sonic double clarifies, while Tails is frozen in his state.

“Isn’t it amazing? Living in an outdoor environment is a luxury. I save so much money without needing to pay any bills.” Solid walks to the edge of the rooftop before proceeding to sit on the roof’s edge. Despite revealing his status as a homeless person, that doesn’t matter, because the scenery of Haven City is a sight to see. Even though numerous skyscrapers surround the rooftop, the amount of traffic and pedestrians below the bustling streets expresses the daily life that the city has progressed throughout its entire day. 

“I don’t mind living in a place like this. Although we both wanted to live inside rather than up here, at least better than living down there.” Sonic whispers to Tails while observing the empty rooftop.

“Give him credit, because it’s weirdly clean up here.” The empty rooftop shows only bits of dust and debris; however, most of the empty rooftop remains spotless. “Umm… Solid.” Tails exclaims, “Is there a bathroom around here? I could use one right now…”

Solid points at the door next to the stairwell. “It’s right there. It’s a public bathroom, though, so be careful about the dirtiness.” He says while still gazing at the streets below.

Tails immediately rushes to the bathroom door, but hesitantly opens it, awaiting the dirtiness of the bathroom. However, when turning on the light, this public bathroom isn’t so public. “W-Why is everything clean here?”

Inspecting inside the bathroom, everything remains spotless, with barely any kinds of stains seen. With the usual stuff like a sink, toilet, and bathtub inside the bathroom, it’s almost as if only one person seems to use it. As expected, the bathroom is indeed run by a dedicated person who professionally cleans the bathroom daily.

Solid.

“I’m a clean person.” He says with a slight grin, gazing his eyes towards Tails. “I dislike it when everything’s dirty. I understand people’s preferences, but I tend to be far on the cleaner side.” What more surprises does he have? Dedicated to being clean while being homeless is a hard feat to accomplish, yet they do respect his lifestyle. “Also, no shoes in my bathroom.” He exclaims as Tails instantly complies, wasting no time taking off his shoes before the door shuts.

Sonic tries to process all the information that just happened, but he gradually shakes that away in his mind. He approaches Solid, where he sits beside him. Just like him, he looks out at the skylines and the streets below. “There’s another reason we’re here… if you want to know.”

“Tell me. You two are already heavily invested in me, other than money and stuff.”

“You know how Tails and I are from another dimension? Our dimension is called ‘Mobius’ if you’re wondering.” Solid nods slightly, a clear indication that he’s hearing his conversation. Sonic takes a deep breath, letting him understand. “We were… forced to be transported here because we were chasing a longtime enemy of ours. His name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik, but he’s better known as Dr. Eggman. He’s human, tall, bald, whatever your mind accurately describes his looks.” 

Solid expression turns slightly serious, showing signs of slight concern, but not too overbearing. “What made you chase him… Was it something important? Something valuable-?”

“Yes, something valuable… an object that we do value at its highest core. The Master Emerald.” He fidgets around with his hands a bit, processing the words to say to him. “He could be in this city, and if we don’t stop him… he will conquer this city, potentially your entire world.” The tension around them causes the noise of the city’s ambiance to disappear. “Would you want that to happen to you?” 

Whilst waiting for a response from him, he notices Solid’s fingers gripping onto the concrete. Inside his head, the vision of hearing people’s screams, the fire engulfing the city, and people’s lives tormented into forced labor or death greatly shivers his spine. To him, this world was never meant for power; it’s for either equality or equity combined. Everyone is balanced. But, envisioning the torment… pain… and suffering he’ll go through if it theoretically happens. 

A major thing that Solid will always rely on, no matter what. 

It is a pacifist approach.

He just wants a world full of peace.

“Solid.” Sonic snaps him out of his thought, concerned that whatever he said to him caused him to gain some sort of apprehension. But the main priority is convincing him about their true intentions here in this world. “That’s why we need you. You know this city and this world more than we do. You can guide us to where Eggman could potentially be.” He shows off a reassuring smile, hoping his words could boost his confidence a bit more.

Still, Solid remains nervous about his words. If the task is to help and save potentially everyone’s lives, it could be too much for him. “But… It’s only the three of us. We can’t stop him with-“

“Don’t worry. Tails and I have more friends awaiting us around this world. However, we were separated after going through a portal, but that’s what makes this better.” Sonic puts a fist on his chest, forming a bond to create a connection between the two hedgehogs. “You’re a strong hedgehog with a strong heart. You don’t have to do this alone… You have us.” He places a hand on his shoulder, further boosting his morale. “We’ll find my friends, but it’ll take time for us to cross paths. Think Eggman with the Master Emerald he currently has, and compare that to your ideology as a whole.” He lets Solid take his time to think, but asks him one more question.

”Would you fight alongside us?”

…

“What am I…?

“I’m a pacifist… I know that. But his words are sincere.”

“I’m a pacifist because I’m tired of seeing people resorting to violence. I wanted to have an approach to help everyone… no matter the good or the bad, to not throw their lives away entirely.”

“But for the truly evil ones… even though I give them second chances… what is there to cover?”

“Sometimes I wonder if I was never meant for the pacifist approach… but I still harbor those traits of being a fighter and a peace-maker. It’s a weird combination…”

“But doing this for this entire world…? Against a person who’s already evil enough… What if  Eggman does have his good deeds? Is it enough for me to fight him? Would I still be willing to fight with Sonic?”

“Yet… This Eggman guy stole something precious in their world. This Master Emerald… if it’s important to Sonic and his friends… and Eggman is promoting nothing other than harm to this world…”

…

Opening his eyes once more, Solid manages to retain his usual composure, with his fingers now losing their grip against the concrete’s edge. “... Sonic. I’m a pacifist, I admit that.” He takes one moment of silence, reflecting on his life before responding. “If Eggman is trying to do something bad to my world… then I’ll… No. We’ll stop him. We’ll get the Master Emerald back and return it to you and your friends, back to your world called Mobius.” He gazes back at the cityscape once more. “This city is full of innocent lives… good or bad… fair or unfair… we all have a purpose.”

“To live.”

“And I won’t let Eggman dare to damage one piece of this city, including everyone.” Solid slowly scoots away from the edge and stands back up,  slightly watching the sun shine down at the city. “For you, your friends, and mine… I promise this.”

“I’ll fight alongside you.”

Chapter Text

In another day at Haven City, both Mobians are tired after their rough sleep. Yawning and rubbing their eyes constantly to keep themselves awake. Although Solid has bought them coffee to at least deal with their sleepiness, both are still affected by the environment of the empty rooftop. Without any kind of soft texture to rely on for sleeping, both feel body aches and a sense of discomfort throughout their entire body.

Some words in Sonic’s head personally describe his feelings.

“Sleeping up there was rough. I’m surprised that he’s able to sleep on hard concrete without any annoyance from the environment. I had to use Tails’s tail to make my head rest comfortably; still, my entire body was shivering from the night breeze. Even when Solid told us to sleep inside the bathroom, that was… WAY WORSE BECAUSE IT’S TOO CRAMPED! … My head is still sore…”

“Furthermore, the streets down there were still busy at night. Those car honks are still ringing inside my ears… Oh, not to mention, he snores loudly, talk about a sleeper. Argh! I knew I should’ve brought my earplugs with me! I don’t know why I didn’t…“

“But let’s get straight to the point. We’ve got a hedgehog friend who works, yet doesn’t have a home. Are the people living inside the apartment fine with a random hedgehog roaming around on their rooftop? I mean, he’s a clean person, so they’re fine with that- but then again-“

“You know what, I have a real question…”

“WHAT IS SOLID!?”

“I’m considering Solid… peculiar,” Sonic whispers, pointing at him while walking in the crowded streets of Haven City. “I know he’s our friend, and I don’t want to say anything negative about him, but he works and doesn’t have the will to afford an apartment or a house.” He rubs his eyes in tiredness, opting to take another sip of his coffee.

“He’s just unique in his ways. He probably has a reason to live in such conditions, but I digress.” Tails responds, yawning before proceeding to take another sip of the coffee. “A hedgehog who’s a hard worker and conforms his living style to the impoverished…”

But with some thoughts, Sonic flashes to him, now matching his pace while walking beside him. “Why is it that you live in such an undesirable- err… I meant…” He clears his throat, “... Live on an empty rooftop of a random apartment building?”

“... Not paying my bills…? Didn’t I just say that earlier?”

“Well, yeah. But I want the truth. The actual reason is other than just bills all day long.” Sonic slightly exaggerates his voice to emphasize his curiosity.

“... The reason why I live in this condition… well... It’s-... It’s personal… I’d rather not explain.” Solid abruptly stops, contemplating and staring at an alleyway next to them, “And for the money… I can give it to you guys, or…” He blends in with the darkness of the alleyway, forcing them to follow him.

In the alleyway, despite being daytime, darkness pervades the entire area. When their eyes finally adjust to the lighting, they encounter the homeless population, sitting or lying down next to the walls, suffering in the detrimental environment. Those who look at them either eventually ignore them or are interested, pleading with them for any spare change or mercy. Not to mention the foul smell, which is associated with sickness. Despite all of this, Solid uses most of the money he earned from his wallet and gives an equal share of the pay to each of them. He has already been affiliated with this environment, the behavior, and the relationships.

To everyone he sees, he feels the everyday struggles of life, while they live in such poor conditions. All he’s trying to do is guide them to a life where they can thrive. Freely giving money to them isn’t sufficient for him to satisfy himself by bringing joy. But he does kickstart something for them.

Whenever he looks at them, he tries to smile, but it’s already sad. He’s somewhat depressed, and work has been stressful, with some of his coworkers just slacking off while he works hard. To the innocent people, he wants all their pains to go away and bring all of their pain to him to cope with it. 

Be happy.

But he wants everyone to smile.

And he has at least proven that he can try to make that happen.

Solid wall jumps over a fence that’s blocking the alleyway, before he starts talking from the other side. “Haven City is spectacular. I get the whole vibe and popularity, but just like every place, it has its downsides lurking around.” He says while he is unlocking the fence. “This is just one example, don’t let everything else get caught up in you two. They’re not YOUR situations; people tend to ignore them here, but some kindness is optional. If you want.”

Once the fence is unlocked, they eventually make their way back to the crowded streets. Sonic approaches him and pats his shoulder in respect. “For a hedgehog like you, you’re doing so much for the community. I think you’re doing more than what I- well, I also do much for the community as well.” Being amused by his fumbled words, Solid gives out a slight and amused scoff before he continues. “First, giving away some money to us. Now giving away most of your money to the poor? I think you deserve some of your money back.” He hands out half of the money that was given to him and gives it back to Solid.

Solid weakly smiles, signifying his satisfactory response, feeling appreciated after some time of receiving barely anything or none. “Thank you, Sonic. I haven’t had much praise for a while now; getting praise from people like you makes me happier.” He accepts the cash given back to him, putting it inside the same glove where he hides his wallet, sighing as he looks at the street. “Not everyone recognizes my contributions. They just see me as a hustler nowadays; I don’t like being called one. I’m not here to gain fame or money, I’m just doing it for a better cause. A part that correlates with my past. But then again… that’s how life works. We’re sometimes judgmental.”

“We’ve all been through that.” Tails catches up with them, also expressing some honest words with him. “You’re not alone, Solid. We’re grateful that you have allowed us to stay at your home, even if it’s… Heh-heh…” He nervously chuckles, slowly looking at Sonic, who is glaring at him after having a bad sleep. “Fortunately, we are glad to be your inter-dimensional friends.”

Touched by their kindness, he has received unrecognized positivity throughout his past achievements. “Aye… I…” He momentarily raises his arms defensively before putting his arms down. “... I appreciate it. You guys didn’t need to do that, but… honestly, you two are amazing as friends. I won’t deny that.”

As the three continue walking through the streets, they start to get a better understanding of each other. One recognizes their strengths, weaknesses, or miscellaneous stuff in general. Although they briefly share quite a few information about themselves, it’s not enough to be THAT important. They still walk around, enjoying the atmosphere in this city. 

Everything is until…

They all stop and take their brief rest, seemingly tired of walking in this already massive city. With both Mobians leaning against the wall, they’re not surprised to see Solid still standing freely, not exhausted just yet. “Tired? Don’t worry, most tourists get tired of walking here, too.”

“I wish my body would get used to here. This would take, like… roughly 5 years to recognize the streets? Maybe more…?” Sonic doesn’t enjoy having to rest. He would rather explore and explore until he finds something at least noteworthy. It’s not like he’s in a rush- well, technically, he is because once in a while his mind shifts to Eggman. But, compared to the other cities in Mobius, it isn’t as massive as Haven City. With each street being more navigable and less of an adrenaline mess of streets and roads, it’s no wonder that the atmosphere here is different compared to what he’s already used to; everything is pretty much like home except that he’s literally in a different dimension.

Tails reacts with a smug expression, forming a creative and potentially useful idea of their problems as interdimensional people. “You know how we displayed the hologram of the entire city from my device? Well… I have a brilliant idea.” A momentary pause causes both of them to look at him curiously before he finally speaks. “How about we create wristbands that display the hologram wherever we go? That way, we- excluding Solid, of course… we have a manageable way to tell where we’re going without any hassle with such a huge device?” He tries his best to visualize his whole invention, more so accurately representing a watch.

“Not a bad idea, Tails.” Solid casually paces back and forth, visualizing the idea. “... It’s just a watch, but it shows off a hologram. Right?”

“Basically, yes.” 

Sonic lets out an amused scoff, quickly pushing his entire body out of the wall and stretching. “A watch but displaying a hologram… simple yet effective.” He playfully clicks his tongue. “Like you, Tails. Simple for a best friend, not too bad for a creative inventor…”

Tails is instantly baffled, not understanding the metaphor between him and the hologram watch. “What do you mean?”

“What!? You didn’t get the similarity?” Sonic is quite shocked by an attempt between the two metaphors, where he thought that he had perfectly nailed it. “I’m still trying, tho. I mean, it’s not perfect, but it’s an attempt, right?” He looks at Solid to back up his support.

Solid shakes his head in amusement, still not understanding the conversation between the two best friends. He looks at them having a normal, yet quirky conversation, almost eerily similar between him and Woofa. It’s just entertainment, at minimum. He knows there’s so much more than what meets the eye, and these two have a strong bond, whether it’s from talking to anything in general. 

As the conversation continued, Solid stared more intently at his surroundings. Pedestrians passing by, vehicles traveling through the streets, and anything seen in urban life. He takes a glance back at the Mobians, clearly still having the best time chitter-chattering about whatever nonsense they’re talking about, probably far from the hologram watch idea. 

Strangely, a laser pointer is being aimed at Sonic’s forehead. It could be just some random person pulling off a prank with a red laser pointer; he has seen tons of people in this street, particularly those who get the most out of pranks.

But this person is way too accurate; usually, they just home in the laser pointer on someone before it quickly disappears due to their usual aim. It could be just a person with a supporting stand to aim it, but this person is way too stationary.

Almost too stationary… 

Enough for Solid to finally take a huge realization.

“WAIT, THAT’S SOMETHING ELSE!!!” Solid tackles both to the ground, and in exchange, a blast hits the building. Pedestrians flee for their lives, some running, some driving away, while others get out of their cars and make a dash for it. “What the hell was that?!” He immediately stands up and frantically looks around the area, desperately trying to find where and who this person is.

When they both slowly stand up, it isn’t a person, but rather what the two have already seen back at home. Tails pats Solid’s shoulder, letting him view what they’re viewing. Emerging from the dark alleyway on the opposite side of the street, multiple Badniks are aiming directly at them. This city is no longer a haven from Eggman’s attacks. “Egghead…” Sonic says, finally feeling a fight happening in this new world, and his first.

“He’s here then!” Tails exclaims, with both Mobians standing right ahead, getting ready to fight. But first, because they now have a foreign friend, he clarifies what these things are. “We refer to them as Badniks in our dimension; they’re Eggman’s inventions. You’ve never seen them before, but here they are, invading your world.” Solid watches as his tails start propelling, allowing him to hover just like last time.

“Eggman… who knew they were right? These things just destroyed like they had no emotions.” Solid clenches his fist, finally getting the feel of what combat lurks inside of him. “Whatever these Badniks are… We’ll stop them.” The Badniks automatically detect the two Mobians as recognized enemies; furthermore, they also detect Solid as an enemy, despite having no records of encounter.

With the three now staring down, essentially preparing for the next move, the Badniks seemingly wait there, also waiting for their next move. 

Nothing much, but an intense staredown…

“NOW!!!”

Both Mobians instantly rush towards the Badniks, hoping they leave zero room for error. Sonic proceeds to spindash, while Tails hovers around, using a few of his aerial attacks while primarily using more of his gadgets to fight. In the end, they either damaged or destroyed most of the Badniks along their way. 

By their abilities and fighting techniques, this puts Solid in awe; other than fighting by manipulating his speed, he wonders if he can fight efficiently like them. He takes his time focusing on them, not realizing that he’s a part of this fight too. At that moment, a Badnik appears right in front of him, snapping him out of his stare, and forcing him to realize the reality. He tries to replicate what he saw when Sonic fights with the other Badniks, so… to start it off, he attempts to do a spinning kick. However, that proves dangerous as the Badnik responds with a dodge and then a counterattack. Luckily, he also dodges the attack on time, but tells himself not to do anything reckless like that ever again. “... Close one for a first attack...” Not even a second attack, and he’s already panting, unsure why he’s desperate to destroy them with ease; he knows that their level of fighting is unmatched by his. Meanwhile, he continues glancing at them, still destroying most of them without a single break of sweat.

“Mobius is a different dimension that has quality heroes like them to aid innocent civilians. In my world, we only have to rely on law enforcement… but this situation is far less helpful than what’s hap-” While distracted, one of the Badniks grips on Solid’s quills from behind. “OW!!!” He flares his arms around, trying to let the Badnik go, but the strength and the nature of his quills are to be reckoned with, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground. His mind instantly reminds him of how unreliable he is as a fighter, despite his surprising, immense power. The situation worsens when another Badnik joins in and lands on the chest to attack him, causing rings to disperse around him. “T-The rings… Sonic was right about them protecting me in some way… BUT-” He instantly grabs the Badnik on his chest and throws it far away like a pebble, instantly destroying it upon impact with the wall. Although the other Badnik remains clinging to his quills with ease, it continuously takes advantage of his weaknesses. “DAMN, I HATE MY QUILLS!” He manages to grab one of the rings for some protection, hoping it could spare some time while his life is on the line.

Tails notices this altercation and immediately grabs one of his gadget guns from his backpack, shooting the Badnik off of Solid’s quills. “You need to watch yourself, Solid! It seems like they’re going after your quills!” He says to him while proceeding to attack a few more Badniks.

Solid takes a quick nod, instantly standing up and collecting all of his rings splattered around him. What he realized is that more Badniks are learning about his underperforming fighting skills, which is where most of them redirect to him. Immediately, when one of the Badniks bullrushes towards him, he gives out a punch, which effectively destroys it upon impact. “I-I destroyed one of them!” His body is filled with excitement and determination, but he remains focused, knowing that other Badniks may present a different skill set than the first one. 

He remains in a stance, watching every move that they make in front of him. However… “There’s always that one who’s trying to get my quills…” He second-guesses himself, with a decision to tell himself if he should turn around or not, yet Tails’s voice still rings the line, “ They’re going after your quills! ”. 

He turns around and throws a prayer.

With a 50/50 chance… on the line to save himself…

He won the bet. 

There was a Badnik who was aiming for his quills, and his punch landed on it, painfully destroying it. “T-That worked!” Solid is stunned that he pulled that miraculous punch; if he hadn’t turned around, he’d be in an undesired situation and outcome. But that punch caused his confidence to surge to the roof; he’s ready to destroy them all. This is followed by a series of rapid, strong punches and kicks, creating a lethal combination.

As the Mobians dealt with all of the Badniks, they both watched as Solid swiftly dealt with them easily. “Hah Hah!” Sonic cheers on with Tails, both of them supporting him. “Look at him go, he’s fighting like he owns them! Let’s go, Solid, keep up that momentum!” He’s able to defeat all of the Badniks who dared to challenge him within a matter of seconds.

Tails quickly approaches Solid, checking for any injuries. “You’ve handled those Badniks pretty well. My advice helped improve your fighting skills.” Though around the entire streets… are abandoned, the lively content of the place… is now replaced by a warzone mess.  “... We’re sorry that these Badniks have caused a disturbance in this city… we never were 100% that Eggman would be here until this happened… I’m sure that-” Suddenly, something large appears right ahead of them.

“Oh, great. A large Badnik.” Sonic steps forward, stretching and hopping around, preparing for more combat. “Let me teach 'em how it’s learned after we destroyed some.” A slight smirk forms across his face before he flashes towards it and tries to spin attack, but the Badnik flicks Sonic away, causing him to be launched back towards the building. “Maybe not!” He chuckles nervously, slowly flashing back to them while the Badnik glares at the trio menacingly.

“What are we going to do?’ Solid’s calmness is retained, but hints of panic are set within his voice.

“I-I don’t know. This Badnik is a different type that Eggman probably prepared us for if they ever cross paths with us.” Tails’s tail starts to propel once more, indicating more combat. “In any case, we should fight differently now.”

They all nod at each other before looking at the large Badnik ahead of them. It’s gonna be a tougher fight than before, but they’re confident that- 

SMASH!!!

Without any sort of planning, they’re met with a pink flash, dashing through the large Badnik, and swiftly damaging it. This wasn’t part of their plan, but both Mobian’s eyes widen, immediately knowing who it is.

“Amy!”

“Amy?” Solid watches her swing her iconic Piko Piko Hammer, effectively and effortlessly. “Her swings are deadly… to a normal civilian, one blow would be enough to blow their brains out.” Still, having experienced numerous fights better explains their ease in defeating these Badniks.

“Sonic!” Amy rushes over and hugs him tightly, nuzzling her face against his chest. “Oh, I’ve missed you…! I’ve missed you, missed you, missed you! Those sewers were a mess; you don’t understand how bad the stench and the scenery were inside. I’m glad that I’m out of there and we’re finally here, together.” 

“... Huh?”

Solid is shocked that Amy is obsessed with Sonic, but the weirdest shock is how she easily mistakes the iconic blue blur with another distinct hedgehog. “Uhh… I’m not… Sonic…” He responds with uncertainty in his voice.

“You’re not Sonic?” Amy immediately lets go of Solid, looking confused, “But… you just look like him and- Oh my god.” Her jaw drops, with her hands covering her mouth in despair; she inspects his looks and finally sees a noteworthy difference, “You’re orange and… still like Sonic… and Shadow… and Silver…?” She continuously shakes her head and rubs her eyes, contemplating whether he’s real or not. “You’re confusing me. Literally.”

“Shadow? Silver? I bet that they’re also hedgehogs as well.” Solid gives Amy time to process the whole situation, while he’s trying to understand who Shadow and Silver are. “It’s alright… Amy. I know I look like… him, but I’m not your favorite person. If you’re wondering, he’s right there.” He points at Sonic, who’s fighting, but more so stalling out the large Badnik with Tails.

“Hmph.” Amy looks away from him, clearly disappointed with him, though… “Not Sonic, but I accept your honesty.” She walks away, getting ready to swing at it once more.

“Wait!” Solid stops her momentarily, letting her turn around to see what he’s going to say. “I’m… Solid. Solid the Hedgehog, if you’re left wondering.”

Amy holds her hammer, maintaining her grip on it. “Amy Rose. Do promise me this.” She goes up to him, still clearly unamused by their first interaction, “Don’t you ever trick me again with your appearance. Alright?”

Solid blinks his eyes in confusion to her question, though he responds, “Mm-hmm… Just make sure not to mistake any hedgehog with Sonic anytime soon.”

Amy lets out a smile, finally satisfied with his response. “Don’t worry. I’m always the best at improving.” She lets out a wink, further satisfying his answer.

As the Badnik stumbles behind Amy, she instantly flashes and takes a singular swing at its back, effectively damaging it; she could finish it off herself, but doesn’t opt to. That’s because she allows one more person to seal the deal. 

“And… Here comes the train!” Knuckles dives down, fist forward, not even one flinch, his singular punch destroys the large Badnik. Sonic and Tails get knocked back while shattered pieces fly out; fortunately, they manage to dodge all of them. 

“Ha-ha!” Sonic and Tails rush over to them, instantly forming a circle, “Look who’s back!” They all cheer together; their reunification symbolizes their relationship and bond, not only as friends but also strikingly resembles a family. “It’s not even a full week, and we’ve dearly missed you guys!” Sonic tears up a bit, but is relieved to see them back.

“Glad that we finally reunited.” Knuckles brings them closer, and the team gets the chance to fill in more of the missing members. “When Amy and I reunited under those sewers, our top priority was to get the hell out of there immediately. Spending inside the darkness for a few days was rough! The smell… and us accidentally bumping into each other...” Amy pouts and looks away, upset that she was forced to spend a few days with him, surviving inside there. “We pop that manhole right open and we see a bunch of cars passing by over us, telling us that we’re in this immaculate city of this unknown dimension.” He gazes at the high-rise buildings surrounding them, taking notes of the significance of this place. “At the right time, a bunch of Badniks were storming in a particular direction, and we decided to follow them. Once we were at the site, we saw you guys fighting them, and it made our day.”

“Typical Knuckles.” Sonic nods his head, amused, yet he enjoyed his story. “Always going at it, huh? Though, thank you for showing up at the best possible moment. We still had the juice to finish beating up some Badniks, but you two are fine.” He gives them a reassuring smile and a thumbs-up. “And it wouldn’t be that amazing without our new friend.” He directs their gaze to Solid, who stands alone awkwardly.

Knuckles approaches their new friend, offering a handshake. “Yo… You look exactly like Sonic. And Shadow… And… Silver…” He starts getting a bit confused, noticing the similarities. “What the hell is this hedgehog…?” “Anyways, nice to meet you, strong warrior. It’s Knuckles the Echidna you’re talking to.”

“I’m Solid- OW!” From accepting Knuckles’s handshake, he winces as a reaction, feeling the strong grip compared to all the other grips he’s ever felt. “It’s… It’s not that painful, but for those who’ve never felt any strong grips, well… At least I’m experienced with these strong grips before.” He eventually shakes his hand before they let go.

“Other than reunification or introductions… we now know that Eggman is here.” Tails says, looking at the destruction made from their battle. He opens his backpack and pulls out a device from earlier, displaying the hologram. “We’re currently in the Downtown District...” He looks at Amy and Knuckles to further their clues for any signs of his whereabouts, “Which direction were the Badniks heading towards us?”

Amy visually recalls the direction of the Badniks, “I remember the Badniks were heading south of where we opened the manhole.” She looks at the streets ahead, “That means the Badniks were North of where we are, meaning…”

“North…” Tails checks the number of districts that are north of downtown, but can only make out two. “Capitol District and Northern District are the only districts north of where we are… but presumably, Eggman wouldn’t just set up a base around the Capitol District. That means that he’s probably hiding around the Northern District. The problem… is that this district has the largest population out of any district in this city, holding approximately 40 million residents living there.” He looks at Solid, searching for some answers. “Anything up there we should keep in mind?” The others also look at him for some answers.

“... It’s a huge district… umm…” He tries to explain, but he’s at a loss for words. “... The district is something else… Uhh… I’m sorry, I can’t explain much of what it has to offer. It’s difficult, man. But like… we have plenty of time to travel there for this day.” When he pulls out his phone, it’s close to noon, indicating the amount of time they have to explore and investigate at their respective speed. “So, you want to go now?”

“Tch. I have no time to play around with Eggman’s games for another 24 hours. I’d rather find him and get that Master Emerald back to Knuckles himself.” Sonic crosses his arms, his foot tapping in frustration with a lack of patience. “Isn’t that right, buddy?”

Knuckles cracks his knuckles, letting the tension of his fists ease up. “I’d prepare for any battle upcoming, and once they try to fight, one punch is closer to taking back the Master Emerald where it truly belongs.”

“Oh, speaking about this city.” Amy comes up to Solid with a follow-up question, “Are there any malls around here? Although I want to SWING my hammer at those enemies, I do have some leisure time to help myself get away from the nasty sewers.” She rests her hammer on the ground, requiring a break from the missions.

“Sure. There are malls around here that you can visit at some time… after we investigate. But I PROMISE… I’ll take you to the mall whenever we have the time.” Solid says with a weight of sincerity in his voice, a promising sign that he’ll take her sometime soon.

But truly, when it mattered… it mattered. 

With a partially reunited team, along with the newest member who’s now guiding them to an investigation to track down Eggman’s whereabouts in this city, they’re ready to start this mission. They all flash away from the destruction, leaving a trail of their respective colors before multiple ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks arrive at the scene.

One objective.

Find Eggman and retrieve the Master Emerald.

Chapter Text

Filled with the void infinitely around him, all Solid sees is the vintage TV, and the memories chase back to his mind when he watches many of his childhood shows from back in his day. 

But the static rushes around the TV, echoing around the void. Nothing but blank. All he can think about is reworking the antennas or just hitting the TV, to let it run through his favorite shows. Even in the early 2010s, when many people had switched their former vintage TVs for newer models, his early life remained poor.

Rather than pure emptiness and just a vintage TV, a VHS tape is seen lying on the ground and filled with dust. He picks it up and wipes all the dust off with his gloves; the title is visibly seen and marked, “Northern District”. Severe trauma occurs throughout his mind whenever a mention of this district is made; all he can remember is the pain that symbolizes the district. Yet, he has no choice but to insert the tape and watch it for his good.

…

Narrator: “The largest city in our empire, Haven City, continues to grow. Boasting stunning landmarks and content that Lunians can enjoy or live in. However, the booming, yet underappreciated Northern District is not to be ignored, as is the rapid rise of this district’s manufacturing industry.”

On the screen, real-life footage of the Northern District is shown to the audience. In the panoramic shot, there is an overwhelming number of factories that are still in operation. Smoke coming out of each smoke stack, representing the daily life of the working class.

Narrator: “Many residents who’ve worked painstakingly hard to afford a home in the suburbs, along with the horrid conditions of the inner cities, can finally afford a house here while maintaining a closer work environment. The bread and butter of all districts; no need for traffic delays; no need to work hard for a small apartment. What you need, Northern District: The Breathtaking Manufacturing District!”

“…”

Pans of footage throughout this film highlight the incredible historical significance of the business and the residential areas being developed; many residents reside in these vibrant homes with their families. Their neighbors who live in these homes have shared similar experiences with them. A brief footage of a sidecar shot drives past the neighborhood, where the entirety of the Northern District’s housing is just small houses with small front yards. 

“S-…”

Narrator: “The ideal situation of workers working near their workplace is by far the best when heard by multiple sources shared throughout many experiences, from these residents’ friends, family members, or acquaintances. Sources like these, however, were concluded they be too weak to back up those claims. So today, we’ll be doing some interviews amongst the residents here in this district who do live in these circumstances.“

“So-…”

Solid grabs the remote and fast-forwards through the documentary, seemingly ignoring that the narrator interviews multiple residents who reside in the Northern District. He already knows that all have similar answers, mostly being that “This type of residential district is a benefit and advantage to their normal life.” He skips over all but one interview because of one person whom he knows personally, who appears in the documentary.

“Sol-…”

Interviewer: “My name is [REDACTED]. I’m 25 years old, divorced, and I have a 1-year-old son. If you want to know more about my son, his name is Tricky the Porcupine, and I love him as a mother. Although being a single mother is challenging, I am fortunate that this district has allowed me not only to support myself financially but also to find a job and get hired. It’s a win-win! Tricky is going to be an amazing and benevolent person when he grows up. I’ll take care of him to my fullest, no matter the consequences. I put my efforts into my job, which I’ve dedicated to. Living in this district single-handedly… SAVED my life and I’ll live here for the rest of my life.”

All that Solid can feel is the burden inside his chest; hearing the voice brings nostalgia and a broken heart.

“Soli-…!”

Narrator: “So to speak about the Northern District, many experts predict that this district alone will be the largest, based on population and area combined. Remember that it’s a new and growing district, and anything can happen to it, even in the next few years…” 

The static takes back control of the old TV screen, and all it’s consumed now is the growing darkness surrounding the background. Solid feels relieved to hear her voice once again… all feeling comfortable. He closes his eyes again, ignoring the voices around him, finally giving himself the deserved rest he needed, after months of being burdened by working…

“Solid!”

“Solid!”

“Solid!”

ACT 1: Stage 2 (Northern District)

“Solid!” Sonic continuously shakes Solid until he suddenly jolts. “You alright?” He questions him with his voice lowered in relief. “You’re staring at the sign, and then you just randomly dozed off.”

“… I’m… I’m fine…” Solid puts his hand on his forehead, still recovering from the weird disconnection from the real world. “I was carried away for a moment. I…” He contemplates describing what happened during his disconnection, but opts to keep it to himself, seemingly wanting not to worry the rest of the team further. “Never mind.”

The team remains hesitant but assured that Solid is fine. They also glanced at the sign he was reading. “Northern District. The Breathtaking Manufacturing District.” Tails reads the historical, yet rusty sign, concentrated on the middle of the road. The sign evokes a peculiar sense of nostalgia, while also reminding them of the reason they’re there. “This is the district with the highest chance of Eggman hiding?”

“I’m certain; tons of abandoned buildings and warehouses around here. Although more are scattered throughout other districts, a high percentage of them are concentrated here, especially as the manufacturing industry has died down over time.” Solid glances around each building, all of which show signs of being worn down. “There is a chance that Eggman has a hideout in one of these buildings. Even if it may not be obvious, there’s always a slim chance.” He looks around at the scenery of the district in the distance, all harbored by factories and warehouses that are either still running or abandoned.

They all feel Eggman’s presence in one of the buildings; however, they aren’t compelled to search every single one of them. “This is too much!” Knuckles complains and punches a wall in anger, creating a noticeable crater. “We can’t go out there, explore every building, and expect Eggman to be there with the Master Emerald! That’s gonna take ages!” He paces back and forth. “By the time we do find any clues, Eggman would almost be finished or already made a move before we even find a single clue.” He groans before leaning against the wall, beside the wall he punched.

Amy skeptically looks at Solid; she’s unsure if he’s capable of helping them. “If there are too many buildings we have to explore to find clues, I’d rather go out to the mall and explore.” She confidently asks him while clutching her hammer. “Just like what Knuckles said, it’s going to take a long time.”

Sonic’s patience starts to run low; he doesn’t expect this much of a hassle. The accumulated number of warehouses is enough to overwhelm him. “Solid… I respect what your approach is, but this is too tedious, and we’re probably going to waste more time doing this.” He looks at him with a little bit of determination, feeling hopeful that he can revise his plans. “We can go this route, or try to make another route. What I mean is… make another decision than exploring these buildings.”

For such a straightforward task, it’s plagued by being the “simple yet hard” treatment. The overwhelmingly negative response prompts Solid to use his brain once again. He understands the team’s frustration; he knows that Haven City is a massive city that’ll take more than a long while to get a singular clue. It could be too late for them to get any if Eggman does manage to do his part. However, he runs out of ideas, his brain becomes bleak, and with no hope arriving anytime soon, it’s a desperate call for solutions…

But something calls out for him in his heart… 

Someone that he knows personally. 

Someone who could potentially help…

“... There’s one place I know in this district that may lead us to one or many clues.”

Tails walks up to him, requiring more clarification while having hope in his voice. “Tell me more about this place. Is it going to be the same trend from what we’re seeing?”

“... Yeah. It’s just like what you see here. Rusty… Old… Not abandoned, just to be aware.” Solid signals for another run to the team. “I’m not sure if you’re gonna continue supporting my approach, but follow me.” He instantly flashes before the team follows him.

Deep in the Northern District, the neighborhood is a shell of what was stated in the documentary. Those small houses in the film that were displayed are a far cry from what it is today. These homes, meant to be enjoyable to live in, have degraded and rusted over time. Multiple cars parked on the street symbolize that their population remains at its highest, but the front yards of these houses aren’t spectacular. Overgrown grass, trash littered throughout every home, and the fences surrounding the front yard symbolize each house’s land/territory. It’s not a spectacular sight to see; nevertheless, it’s considered home for every individual in this strong community.

“Here we are… the Northern District that I still know of.” Solid takes a sight of the neighborhood, with his arms akimbo. He takes his time to get his thoughts together, almost anticipating saying something, before his confidence gets the better of him. “I want to reveal something to you guys…” He says while they’re still casually walking, with them contemplating whether it’s serious or not.

“I used to live here.”

Sonic and Tails glanced at each other, not surprised that he already lived in such a bad place to begin with. “He went from poor to poorer.” The blue blur quietly remarks, leaving Tails to roll his eyes. More opinions formed in his mind about this neighborhood. “To be fair, I really don’t care if I live here. I’m just concerned for our safety, and seeing how this place makes me a bit tense… yeah, it’s a bit… sketchy.”

From Knuckles’s perspective, he has a strong sense of honoring those who’ve struggled in the past, connecting to his Echidna roots. Having the sort of link to Solid’s living conditions here, which he feels is to honor. “... A strong warrior living in these conditions, back when he was young…?” He continues to have deep thoughts about the whole living situation here, along with envisioning what the orange hedgehog may have experienced in the lower-class neighborhood. “He’s a warrior back then… and now a strong warrior right now. Since he has a job, hopefully he’s able to maintain an upward mobility.”

“Shouldn’t we tell them about how Solid is homeless?” Tails quietly asks, letting the private conversation be between just him and Sonic.

“Nah,” Sonic immediately answers without any hesitation. “Although Knuckles would be his usual self, I’m unsure if Amy would be happy to find out. We’ll keep it a secret until we do tell Solid privately.”

“What did you say about me being unhappy?” Sonic gets alarmed as Amy speaks beside him, forgetting she’s usually next to him every time. “You're trying to keep me up to surprise. Because I know you’re never good at secrets, Sonic.” Her tone captures a sense of love, hoping that his surprise for her is bittersweet. Along with Solid’s promise to take her to the mall, this could potentially lead to a date with the blue blur in her mind. 

However, just as the team continued talking to themselves, they watched as Solid set frozen ahead, looking at a particular part of the roadway. He feels discontent with himself, still remembering the past trauma that unveils in his mind. It’s not until he looks behind him now that he sets his goals straightforward, slowly approaching the fence.

The team watches as he is strongly attached to the house. Visually, it’s just like all the other houses in the neighborhood. Yet, he places a hand on the rusty fence, having a sort of connection. He stares at the house with no emotion, but something in him is reminiscing. A feeling for the need to return to the past to deal with situations he should’ve dealt with back then.

Or something similar, wanting to redeem himself.

It’s before he suddenly jumps over the wired fence and lands inside the front yard. Walking past the messy yard, filled with littered stuff and overgrown grass. He proceeds to stand right in front of the front door, reluctantly reaching out for the door handle before he instantly pulls his hand away, forgetting something important. 

His eyes slowly glanced back at the team, now revealing another thing.

“This is where I lived.”

Chapter Text

“Solid!”

“Stop calling my name… I’m sleeping…”

“Solid!”

“…”

“SOLID, WAKE UP!!! IT’S ALMOST TIME FOR LUNCH!!!”

“L-Lunch!?” Solid instantly wakes up and spots the clock, reading it as 11:40 A.M. “Oh god… They’re gonna kill me.” “I’m coming, Mom!” He gets out of bed and proceeds to fall to the floor, groaning from the pain on his forehead. He quickly recovers and immediately neatens up his bed in less than a second. Flashing his way to the kitchen, he sees both his step-brother and step-mom waiting for him. “Sorry about the inconvenience!” He immediately sits down and eats his lunch. “I-I was very sleepy after school, and… it was at midnight when I started sleeping.” He gives a long yawn before looking at his food. “Hmm… Mac N’ Cheese?” He takes one bite, immediately liking the taste and the texture, before giving some clarification. “Did you make this, Mom?”

Mom giggles before she shakes her head, “No, dear. Tricky made this. He’s getting better at replicating my cooking style.” She also takes a bite of one of the many dishes that Tricky has been cooking.

“I could replicate as many dishes as mom makes, and you’ll have no idea what the comparison is between the two.” Tricky continues to eat his own masterpiece, proud of how far he’s come. “Mom and I will teach you how to replicate our cooking once you graduate from college this month. Alright?”

Solid smirks and rolls his eyes in amusement, “Yeah. Yeah. By then, I’ll get a job and work at the same company as you. What’s the building called again…? It’s like Haven City… Umm…?”

“Finances.” Tricky points a fork at him, “You already know the way there, so after graduating, just carry me and flash your way to work.” Both brothers laugh it off; the mention of his idea is arguably weird from their perspective.

“Hell nah. I’m not doing that for you- well, actually…? Maybe I can. It’s not a bad idea, it’s faster than the rush hour by train or road, but it depends on the shift I’ve been given.” He shrugs the whole idea off while the brothers still calm themselves down from their laughter. It’s not until Solid gives hypothetical ‘what if’ questions, “Who knows? What if I have a shift earlier than you? What if I have a shift later than you? What if we work on different floors? Do you get where I’m at?”

“Yes, I understand where you’re at right now. However, if you do manage to get the same job as me, expect something different; you know damn well that can’t be in the same stance.” Tricky says while chewing his food with his mouth open wide.

“Tricky. Manners, alright?” Their mom politely, yet straightforwardly says.

“Sorry…”

Solid takes more bites of the food, still enjoying the rich flavor of the macaroni, while appreciating the toppings and the cheese. ‘Oh yeah!” He quickly swallows his food to reveal something, “Woofa is also interested in working in the same building as us. Except she’s going to take the title of receptionist. I told her, ‘Isn’t that job stressful, especially dealing with customers as bad as they are?’, and she said, ‘Don’t worry about it…’” He pauses and takes a deep breath, regretting saying this to the family, but he continues. 

“‘... orange furball…’”

Tricky almost spits out the food, holding in his laughter while covering his mouth with his hands. “Oh. My. God.” His voice is muffled, while tears of laughter are coming out of his eyes. “You two are best friends…”

Solid sighs in disappointment, now fully regretting adding that part. But he continues with the conversation. “... Anyways… she continued, saying that ‘I’m pretty good at managing customers. Either bad or good, it’s always about keeping your composure.’”

Tricky takes a sly grin, not caring about her getting employed, but rather their relationship. “You and Woofa… should just date. You two have known each other since you were in middle school, and now you have the potential to work in the same building, let alone the same shift. I feel like it’s time to snap and move in with her.”

Solid playfully glares at his brother, scooping up the remaining Mac N’ Cheese on his bowl before setting the empty bowl on the table. “One. We’re never going to be dating. Two, yes. I’ve heard many stories of people dating after working in the same company and building, but it doesn’t change the fact that we’re still childhood friends.” He gets up and puts his dish into the sink.

“Oh, come on…!” Tricky groans as he gives him his dish. “I guarantee you that you two will date. I bet more money on that than the Night Watchers winning their first title!”

“Alright? How much do you want to bet? And it must be more than 100 Lunars.” Solid pokes at his forehead.

Tricky takes out his wallet and disposes of the remaining money. “500 Lunars!” He slams the paper money onto the table. “I don’t care what 500 Lunars can get you, but I’m betting it. Y’all wait n’ see.” He crosses his arms and looks away at Solid, winking at his mom for a brotherly rival.

“Okay. Okay.” Their mom stands up and snatches away the 500 Lunars, “I don’t care what you boys are doing, but just remember that I’ll be keeping this until one of these bets is made. Understood?”

The brothers nod and respectively say in unison, “Yes, Mom. I understand.”

“But… I do have some Lunars to make up.” She hands out 200 Lunars. “Whoever does all of the chores in the house, I’ll pay you 200 Lunars. Got it?”

Tricky grins and stares at his brother with a look. “Really!?” Before he rushes to the sink, the dishes are immediately washed, and the sink is cleared. “Come on, Solid! I don’t care if your-!” The place is immediately dusted for a few seconds, “Solid! Stop using your-!” He emerges with a vacuum, and the dust and debris on the floor are immediately cleared out. “Stop using your…” The clothes are put into the dryer to be dried. “... Speed…”

The orange hedgehog smirks and leans on the table. “Too bad.” He snatches the 200 Lunar off the table. “Sometimes… you have to be faster than me. But, hey…” He pats Tricky’s shoulder and hands him his 200 Lunar. “... You can take this. It’s not like I have anything to do… with it.”

“Come on…” Tricky appreciatively declines the 200 Lunar, “Don’t do this for pity. You’ve got to see the amount of money. It’s a lot not to give away for someone like you… right?”

Solid shakes his head and extends his arm. “Tricky…” He grabs his hand and puts the 200 Lunar onto his palm. “I’m not the guy who would accept this much money. You know how much I care about you… and mom… … and Woofa- but what matters? I’ll be happy to be a homeless man rather than stay in a rich apartment or house.” He says something that arguably differs from the opinions around this neighborhood. Almost everyone around here wants to move away from the crime-ridden area, but he’s a different person. He doesn’t care about the environment he’s living in; all he cares about is the strong community surrounding him. Nothing stops him from going his way; despite the unorthodox path his future compared to everyone else, he remains optimistic nevertheless. “So please… just keep it. And hey, you’ll eventually win the bet… which will never happen.”

Tricky lets out a small laugh, still amused by his brother’s antics. “Solid… You’ll get Woofa one day. Just-” 

“Shut up, Tricky! Oh my god!” Solid puts his head down on the table, no longer handling the embarrassment.

Tricky grabs his quills, hugs him, and ruffles his fur. “That’s what my young bro is talking about! Seriously, though. Thank you… You humble…” He sighs before hugging him tightly. “... hedgehog…”

“Aww, my sons hugging each other?” Their mom eventually joins in and hugs both of her sons, full of love as a family. “I love my boys.”

Tricky smiles and closes his eyes, still having bits of laughter in his voice. “I love you, Mom… and you too… Solid.”

Solid eventually gives in and closes his eyes. 

Despite debates and arguments, along with being embarrassed about Woofa in his mind, he smiles in unison.

“I love you… Mom… Tricky…”

Chapter Text

Knock. Knock. Knock.  

“Tricky, I’m home!” Solid continuously knocks on the door, often glancing back at the team who are waiting for the front door to respond.

“Tricky? You meant that worker I accidentally crashed into?” Sonic remembers the fateful encounter with him; Tails has a nervous look, unsure if Tricky would take revenge based on what happened. “Isn’t that your brother?”

Solid momentarily stops knocking, halting his movements before explaining to him. “Tricky is my… step-brother, my only brother. He’s a year older than me.” The knocks continue to follow before he eventually gives up. “Are you sleeping or what?” He mutters to himself quietly, but loud enough for the team to hear.

“How would Tricky help us give clues about Eggman’s whereabouts?” Knuckles questions.

“I’m meeting him to determine if he has seen sightings of Eggman around this neighborhood. Because things get… brutal around here.” Meanwhile, he spots the doorbell and presses the button. Rather than just being patient, he continuously shows a lack of patience, spamming the doorbell. “Come on… you’re usually off around this time.”

While they wait for Tricky, Tails explores his front yard, walking through the overgrown grass and scavenging for some items, using his scanner to identify some of the objects hidden. “You have some interesting stuff down here.” He picks up a rusty toy, followed by some more rusty toys, and a bunch more rusty toys. “Geez… how long have you and Tricky been playing out here? I guarantee that you guys have played a lot.”

Solid remembers some outdoor memories of their time playing in the front yard. He and Tricky always played whatever the hell they usually played in the yard. They sometimes play hide and seek, tag, or engage in other random activities. Under any weather circumstances isn’t their worry. 

Clear, rainy, or snowing.

Hot or cold. 

Dry or humid. 

They play no matter what, even if it gets them sick. 

“My favorite activity I played outside was… umm… God, I don’t even remember. That was a long time ago, and I still forgot.” He walks through the overgrown grass and picks up a random rusty toy. “We either just randomly threw some stuff on the ground or did stuff we thought was fun back then, but looks a little stupid nowadays.” Walking around, however, he stumbles upon something big… 

“Huh… Oh my god! It’s our basketball hoop.” He slowly lifts the basketball hoop, letting it stand to reveal its true size. The glass is cracked and dirty, the net is missing, and everything is filled with debris. “Basketball was our favorite sport and game. We’ve played it endlessly until our mom calls us to get inside.” He rummages around the grass before finally spotting a flattened basketball. “We could play right now to wait for him, but I digress. We’re too busy looking out for Eggman.”

“Hey, Solid.” Sonic goes up to him, letting out a smirk. “We can play if you want. I’m perfectly fine with that.” The flattened basketball is grabbed before flashing away. A few seconds later, the ball is perfectly back to its former shape. “I’m gonna ball out against you.” A competitive nature in his body, striving for a bit of success. “You’re gonna ball out too, but we’ll see the results after we finish.”

Solid never realized just how competitive Sonic can be. He expected some, but not a full commitment. All he can do now is to go with the flow. “Oh, I see now. I’m about to lay up 20 or more points on your-” Sonic instantly goes for a 3-pointer, and drills it in. “Nice field goal.” The ball gets thrown to him, and he catches it with ease. “Let’s go then.”

“The score is 90-90.”

“20 seconds remaining!”

Tails is acting as the commentator of this friendly game, with Knuckles and Amy acting as the crowd, already on their feet, dead silent. It’s a close game, and both hedgehogs are balling out. 

“Sonic’s speed is too fast to match Solid’s. My bet on the line is my hero.” Amy crosses her arms with confidence in her voice, always betting on the hedgehog whom she deeply cares for.

“Great bet… but I tend to lean on Solid’s game. Although neither hedgehog can play defense, with this tense moment… the strong warrior could potentially steal the ball and take a lead. My bet as such.” Knuckles closes his eyes with an appreciative smirk, understanding her logic, but goes with his understanding.

“Knuckles, you’re the reason why you lose everything.”

“Shut up! I know who I’m betting! You’re just betting your ol’ reliable blue lover boy. Ain’t ya?” He stubbornly exclaims, giving an annoyed look at her, while convincing himself that the orange hedgehog will win.

“Stubborn as you always are. So be it, Knuckles.” She returns with an amused look at him, teasing him with her personality.

“Annoying as ever!” He rebuts, his face fully dominating her view, to prove how his reasoning is far superior to hers.

Though with their friendly rivalry, they decide to stop focusing on the game and start arguing with one another, still trying to show their dominance and prove which hedgehog will win the ball game.

Meanwhile… in the game, the blue blur dribbles the ball while the orange hedgehog does his best to defend. They’re sweaty, exhausted, and tired from their long game, especially with the sun that glares down upon them.

“Either a lay-up or a field goal… otherwise, I need to make him break his ankles or make a wrong move…” Sonic continuously dribbles the ball behind him; he doesn’t want him to snatch the ball, but at the same time, he won’t move.

“Come on, Sonic… Either a lay-up or a field goal. We both have the same speed, ready and set.” Solid sets up a man-to-man defense, completely focused on Sonic’s legs and body motion. “The clock is ticking.” His voice is filled with exhaustion, sweat already dripping to the ground. “You need to decide immediately, and if so… What’s your poison?”

“10 seconds remaining!”

The game intensifies within a limited time. Both hedgehogs are filled with determination to either hit the game-winner or force the game to overtime. Knuckles and Amy instantly stop arguing and focus right back on the game, their hearts beating faster, and their bodies trembling within the intense match. Although Tails feels the match’s intensity, he remains focused on his commentating, not letting the stalled-out players get into his mind.

“Less than 10 seconds remaining. I need to do something to score!” Sonic hesitantly thinks about his options, all vulnerable and susceptible to Solid blocking his shot. “Solid is pretty good against lay-ups; most of my score comes from field goals… So if I do a lay-up, then he wouldn’t- but wait… what if he knows I’m going to do one? Damn it, it‘s too hard to decide! I’m second-guessing myself!”

Solid ears twitch, sensing that Sonic desperately needs to make a move, but it’s just which move he's going to make. “Just make a move.” He says, albeit calmly, still having exhaustion hearable in his voice. “I want this quarter to end.”

“Really…?” Sonic remains hesitant but listens to Solid’s words. “What if I miss my shot? Or, what if I-”

“Sonic.” Solid puts on a bored expression, and his face shows signs of tiredness. “Just make one. We all know my brother won’t be here soon, and we still have time to wait until he comes back home. Either you make your shot or overtime.” A reassuring nod and a bit of clarification are enough to show his honesty. Sweat rolls down through Sonic’s fur, and the sun beams down on them even harder, like they’re in a desert, making his choice and decision too difficult.

“5 seconds remaining!”

Both hedgehogs react in surprise, and the time now forces Sonic to make a move. “I need to score, now!” He quickly maneuvers past Solid, flashing his way to the side of the court, where he attempts a field goal.

…

However, a miraculous jump lets Solid knock the ball away, flying out onto the street. “Overtime!” His celebration is short-lived, and he remains exhausted, patting Sonic’s back to show his good sportsmanship. “You balled out… and a tough opponent too.” His panting eventually dies down while the sun still beams down on them. Though to the rest of the team, they finally sense a bit of relief, but not enough to satisfy their bets on who may win, especially for Amy and Knuckles. “... Alright then, let’s continue-”

Swoosh.

They all watch as the basketball that was formerly knocked away suddenly makes it through the hoop cleanly. “... I-I didn’t make that throw! On god, I swear!” Sonic raises his hands defensively, hoping that Solid at least believes him.

Nearby, they hear footsteps approaching along with a menacing chuckle. The team nervously looks at the figure, a black porcupine with a baseball cap, with the same white gloves and shoes that Solid is wearing.

“Was my shot good, brother?” The basketball stops bouncing before the unknown figure approaches the front yard. “Unexpected to see you here, bitch.” Tricky says while he jumps over the rusty, wired fence.

“Tricky!” Solid's eyes widen in response as he flashes to hug his brother. “Ahh… Where have you been?” He slowly lets go to see him without his usual uniform at Haven City Finances, unlike Solid, who oddly doesn’t wear his work uniform and instead wears his normal outfit.

His brother lifts his baseball cap to let the team get a better look at him. “Just stopping by at the store. Nothing much really- Yo… Is that blue hedgehog who accidentally crashed into me?” He gives off a surprised look while he lets off a chuckle, casually approaching the team, specifically Sonic and Tails. 

Sonic nervously greets him, a reminder of what just happened a few days prior, and he hesitantly daps him up. “Hey, Tricky…” A nervous chuckle is apparent while he avoids eye contact. “I’m sorry about what happened earlier... we were trying to follow your brother... If you know what I mean.”

“Heh Heh… It’s alright. All I’m going to say is that I’m at least grateful that your friend is still alive and well.” He glances at Tails with a reassuring smile, relieved that he didn’t take that much of a serious injury. “I was built like a tank, wasn’t I?” He nudges Sonic’s arm before he gets out his key.

With his hesitation now softened by the cheerful mood, Sonic snorts all of the uneasy feeling off and finally starts getting along. “You were! I blasted right into you when we both hadn’t noticed each other's presence, and somehow we recovered just fine. Ironically, this led us to your brother encountering our presence, and leading to the introduction of the three of us.” He says while leaning against the wall, waiting for him to open the door.

Tricky listens and unlocks the security door before getting the key to open the exterior door. “I’ve gotten used to my brother accidentally crashing into me.” He glances at Solid, seeing his brother’s head shaking in amusement, before continuing to unlock the door. “The first time my brother crashed into me, it hurt like hell. I broke my ribs specifically, but it was okay to proceed without any major surgeries. Once he crashed into me more often, I became used to the impact, and the pain gradually subsided, while the only effect I got was a sense of shock and stun after the collision.” Once he opens the front door, he signals them to get in. “Come inside, guys.”

Inside the house, the place is very, very disorganized. Numerous items, including clothing, dishes, and miscellaneous stuff, fill the entire living room. Tricky isn’t able to clean up the whole house, often being lazy or simply procrastinating due to the limited time he has between his shift vs. being at home. “God damn it.” His brother immediately complains, as his first impression, “You’re supposed to clean the house, not to leave it as a horde.” His brother, shaking his head in disappointment, gives away his reaction. It’s not until he decides to use his speed and flash throughout the house, organizing all the stuff and items in one go.

“There he goes again, rampaging about cleaning and stuff. No wonder his ass lives on top of an empty rooftop.” Tricky mutters to himself while the living room is immediately cleaned and spotless, with an orange blur going between.

Knuckles and Amy immediately look at each other in disbelief before looking back at Tricky. “He lives on an empty rooftop?” Amy not only questions Tricky but also Sonic and Tails. “Why didn’t you guys tell me anything about that!?”

Tails scratches his head nervously, guilty of not saying something sooner. “It’s a tough decision… since maybe Knuckles would be okay with living outdoors… but you’re a different breed, Amy…” He anxiously shrugs and gives a weak smile, “I didn’t want you to… scold him… immediately.”

Sonic nudges Tails with a smirk, going along with the conversation. “Plus, we’ll get used to the way he lives.” He responds with an uplifting attitude before whispering only to him, “... Except for the street noises and the cold air.”

The orange blur motions from outside and inside the house repeatedly, as many things are being organized within a matter of seconds. Amy clears her throat to demonstrate her toughness, and at the right time, she grabs Solid’s quills while he holds on to some stuff. “I would like to file a complaint about your home.” She says with a level of confidence and control.

Solid momentarily looks around with a perplexed look, shocked that her reaction and reflexes were enough to grab his quills at the right time. “... Yes, I agree that-”

Amy hisses at him, clearly upset that he does not understand. “Not this house, your current home!” She snarls and glares at his unique eyes, “How am I supposed to live in a place without any forms of shelter?!”

“I-... uhhh… umm…” He nervously looks around, hoping someone can intervene with their interaction. But with no hope, he responds in a troubled approach, “... Get used to it…?”

With a response like that, she spots a toy hammer that is coincidentally placed on the table. She grabs the toy hammer, resting her actual Piko Piko Hammer on the wall, and instantly does this.

BONK!

To Solid’s head, it’s nothing short of pain, screaming as his immediate response. The stuff on his hands immediately falls to the ground, and he puts his hands on his head, clenching them with such force to neutralize the pain. “Hmph.” She drops the toy hammer and immediately looks away, closing her eyes and crossing her arms. “That’s two malls that you’re taking me to in this city.”

Although initially shocked, Knuckles gradually accepts Solid’s living habitat and shows respect for his name. “Hmm… For a strong warrior who’s tough, resilient, and durable in such desired living conditions… I respect your name as a dedicated hedgehog. You amaze me further by transitioning from poor to homeless.”

“Knuckles, I’m not that resilient and durable…” Solid itches his head, letting the pain linger away, but the pain still exists. “I understand your praise, but before you helped us at the battle earlier, I was getting whooped by the Badniks back there. I… have a personal reason to live up there-”

“So like staying outside and guarding the Master Emerald.” Having personal reasons is a similar cue to guarding the Master Emerald. However, for him to be living in any conditions, along with the noises of the streets compared to the calmness of Angel Island, “We’re basically on the same page, except you’re guarding nothing. I’m guarding something important.”

While leaning against the wall, Tricky stops smiling, letting his thoughts drift somewhere else. He contemplates whether or not to do it, so he approaches his brother, putting his hand on his shoulder to let him make a decision. “Solid.” He whispers, “Should I?” 

Solid thinks momentarily before he nods in acceptance. “Yeah… They’re our friends. They deserve to know a little more about us.” He whispers back, stretching his arms and legs in exhaustion before sitting down on the couch. “Just like old times…”

To a mutual agreement, the porcupine offers the Mobians something, “How about you guys visit our rooms? See what it’s like.” He resumes his smile, allowing the team to take an interest in a house tour.

While the team unanimously agrees on doing a house tour, Sonic watches from behind, glancing at Solid lying down on the couch and taking a nap, where he’s instantly unconscious. “So much for an 8-6 worker. I’ll let him rest while we deal with what we need to tell Tricky… after we look around this house. Rest peacefully… Solid.”

Everything around the house seems larger than it is outside. Despite being a small house, the living room and kitchen are relatively big. However, that’s the reason for its small size, because the other rooms are small. The hallway is relatively small, with three bedrooms and two small bathrooms. 

At their first stop is Solid’s room, the door opens to reveal how astonishingly clean it is. “Typical maid…” Tricky slightly chuckles at his remark before letting them inside. “It’s a small room, but it has tons of stuff inside. Take a look.”

Inside the orange hedgehog’s room, it is rather typical and basic. A small drawer, followed by a small bed, and a desk that contains miscellaneous essentials and collections. One in particular is a trophy dedicated to the winner of the local mathematics olympiad. “Wow… he’s outstanding at math.” Tails doesn’t hold the trophy, but inspects it well and thoroughly. Although the trophy is collecting dust, the noteworthy title of ‘Solid the Hedgehog: 1st in 2016-17 Bern High School’s Mathematics Olympiad’ highlights his past achievements. “Did he ever have experience in Electrical Engineering?”

“Hell yeah. While in college, he had a job related to electrical engineering. Building some… whatever the hell they even build at his workplace. But an amazing part-time job for him.” Tricky grabs his chair and sits down, respectfully not messing his bed up the way it’s supposed to be.

“So he did… but wait.” “Why didn’t he stick to that instead of working where he works now?” Tails’s curiosity spirals; Solid has a lot of talent, but doesn’t seem to show it.

“Ahh… That’s a fun part.” Tricky immediately gets into detail; he leans forward on the chair with his hands clutched together. “I’ve asked him the same question, too. Before my brother started working there, I worked at Haven City Finances for about… three years. Stressed out from the working conditions, he decided the best thing to do was to get employed there, to give me some help and confidence.” He sighs and shakes his head yet again, disappointed with how things are today. “He cares too much about others and not himself… Look at him, he’s always exhausted, and-” Loud snoring ensues in the entire house from Solid’s tiredness; his eyes are closed, and he is completely worn out. “... That. I tell him to drink coffee, but he refuses to because he hates the taste, caffeine, or decaf; he dislikes it.” Hints of discomfort crack in his voice, genuinely concerned.

At the same time, Sonic opens the door to Tricky’s room, and it’s a different situation. Although he obtains school achievements like his brother’s, his room is a mess. 

Like literally.

Due to Amy halting Solid’s further advances, Tricky’s room is left unfinished, as the items are still scattered throughout the floor, making walking a challenge throughout the entire room. “You’re… an interesting individual…” She tries her best not to criticize his room, but it’s too blatant to be ignored. “I think Solid is right about cleaning. Your room is a mess!”

“To be fair,” Tricky quickly runs to his room and dives onto his bed, “My work is far away from where I live, so I don’t have time to clean up my room.”

Sonic painfully shakes his head in amusement. “Personal issue if you ask me.” He steps inside the room, where he immediately walks on some of the trash, hearing miscellaneous items crunch under his shoes -mainly wrappers, cardboard, or an empty bag of chips. “If your brother were to remain living here, I think that his whole house would’ve been spot- WOAH!” He trips and falls onto a bunch of trash, face down.

Tricky lets out an amused laugh, holding onto his stomach before kicking his legs into the air. “Personal issue if you ask me. Make sure you watch your step!” He continues to laugh and hits his palm on the sheets.

“What’s inside this room?” Knuckles approaches the closed door and puts a hand on the handle.

Tricky immediately jumps out of bed and runs out of his room to Knuckles, where he grabs his wrist, “Don’t enter!” He instantly swats his hand away from the handle before proceeding to block the entire door.

Knuckles is shocked, yet irritated by his attempt to enter. “You said it’s a house tour! Aren’t you going to show us what’s inside that room?” He clenches his fist, already displaying his force against Tricky.

“I know you’re curious to enter, but… I have a story to tell you before I let you do...” Tricky’s calm demeanor and serious attitude prove his innocence.

Amy helps Sonic lift him out of the trash; the team surrounds Tricky, now in full confrontation. “If so, what’s that room all about then?” Sonic questions with a hint of skepticism in his voice.

“This room… is our mother’s room.” The porcupine’s attitude remains calm. His voice doesn’t sound resolute in lying, but rather hints of pain. “It’s a story that I want to discuss with you all before I let you enter… please?”

The team takes another nervous look at each other, unsure whether they have the time or want to hear the story. The blue blur does want to discuss the clues about Eggman’s whereabouts in the city, but he’s truthfully curious about what’s inside the room as well. Tails glances at Sonic, already knowing that the team is curious about this story that Tricky will tell, so he accepts his offer. “... Tell us… What happened to her?” He respectfully asks him quietly and assuredly.

Tricky takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, letting the memories flash back to him. He proceeds to look at Solid, who’s still sleeping peacefully. It’s a hard and sensitive topic to cover, but he does his best. 

Not to remain emotional.

Chapter Text

May 23rd, 2023

“It was just a week after Solid graduated from college, and we haven’t done much since. My brother always hangs out with his childhood friend, while I keep myself busy at work. It was a long day, and I had to take a train to get back home since our mother was already using the car. I got home around 5 P.M., and by the time I arrived, Solid was already there, cooking dinner for us. Nothing out of the ordinary.” Tricky says to the team, starting to tell the story.

“Wat’cha cookin', Solid?” Tricky asks him while he puts his work bag down on the ground.

Although focused, Solid retains his usual manner, “Cooking some beef stew. A classic, just replicating some of mom’s same old usual recipe.”

Tricky gives a quick smell of the stew, taking a proud sniff and deeply satisfied with the process. “Mm-hmm. That stew is going to be amazing, I know it when I smell the same old cooking from momma, alright.” He ruffles his quills, teasing him while continuing to show support for his young brother, before walking to the bathroom. “I’ma take a shower. The train smell is worse than it is bad. I probably smell bad anyway.”

“I’ve got to say. Eating the stew was a fond nostalgic memory. It was the first thing we ate when our mom quickly adopted him. Although Solid and I were young and were anxious about us becoming siblings, it was also the best thing that has ever happened in my life. Growing up from our childhood activities, we always supported each other. Giving each other advice about home, school, and the real world.”

“The stew is always a quick reminder of how far we’ve gotten.”

After eating, both brothers relax on a long night. They hang out and talk about it, mostly watching the football game, but keeping the conversation alive. “Do you know when Mom is coming home?” Tricky asks his brother, who he knows has either stayed inside the house or left to hang out with his friends.

“Umm…” Trying his best to recall the time when Mom left the house, Solid answers. “I’ve been out for some time to hang out with… Woofa. But, I’ve heard that Mom is spending time with her friends before she comes back home. I don’t know when… but probably soon.”

“In the meantime, we enjoyed our time together. We’re still discussing how life just went by, how Solid has already graduated from college, and everything is positive and uplifting. I know I have work tomorrow, and how damn stressful it is, but everything is alright.”

At some time during 9 P.M., Tricky had already brushed his teeth and gotten himself ready for bed. He comes out to the living room, going to say goodnight to his brother, only to see him still watching the football game. “They’re still playing at this time? I hope that the Racers win against the Restrictors. I swear, if Barry the Bill throws a deep pass to the Cheetah himself, I feel that-“

“A deep pass by Barry to take the lead before the two-minute warning. And he’s throwing it deep- OH HE’S GOT TYREEK THE CHEETAH!!! TOUCHDOWN!!! 67 YARDS!!! THE RESTRICTORS ARE NOW IN A 38-35 LEAD AGAINST THE RACERS!”

Solid jumps out of the couch, yelling and cheering while Tricky falls to the floor, devastated from one play, but instantly gets himself back up. “Ok! Ok! Ok! Ok…! We still have… 2 minutes… and all timeouts. I don’t care what happens, I’m going to watch the Racers win.” He quickly invests in himself, prioritizing a win against his brother before he starts going to sleep.

“We’re always fanatics about sports. Despite my brother being the calm and humble guy, there’s always an instance where he shows a lot of passion and emotion for it.” 

After some drives from the Racers, it’s 4th and long at their 40-yard line. Anything can happen with this much time yet again. “My heart was beating… I wanted to see a game-winning touchdown or the game sent to overtime. All we were having… was the best time of our lives at that time.”

“40 seconds remaining. The ball snaps for Ian the Fly, looking for any open receivers… here COMES THE BIG GUY- Not yet!!! He’s now scrambling around his pocket, where he throws a Hail Mary for any open receivers, a diving catch, and…”

Nothing is better… than a game that sparks up the intense moments… where every fan goes against one another, to symbolize their loyalty to their team. And in this case… the two brothers got the rivalry set.

“WOW!!! CHASE THE FALCON WITH THE AMAZING CATCH!!! DOWN AT THE ONE-YARD LINE!!!”

“A-Are you kidding me?” Tricky starts laughing and teasingly points at his brother, watching him get up from the couch, devastated from the miraculous catch. “This… this team bro… They can’t DEFEND!” He paces back and forth, hoping for a miracle to happen to him.

“GET CLAPPED!!!” Tricky continues laughing through the moment, although shocked by the sequence, he doesn’t have much to say because he’s simultaneously celebrating. He continues his actions until he focuses on the game. “For sure, they’ll hand it off to Beast Mode himself for the touchdown!”

Within under 30 seconds after the timeout, the play begins, and for the first play after the clutch 4th and long Hail Mary, this is what they do to win the game.

“Play clock at five. Pass is… INTERCEPTED AT THE GOAL LINE BY MALCOLM THE GOAT!!! UNREAL!!!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHH HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!!!” Solid laughs and yells at Tricky, who immediately falls to the ground in disbelief. “LOOK AT THAT!!! LOOK AT THAT PLAY AND TELL ME WHAT KIND OF STUPID PLAYCALL WAS THE COACH THINKING ABOUT!? Can’t even hand it off to Beast Mode himself, I’m telling ya.”

“My heart sank… Umm…” Tricky lies down, completely staring at the ceiling while hearing Solid celebrating along with the TV audio. “I lost my bet. I shouldn’t have cheered for them… Heh-Heh…” 

“But you’re still wondering. ‘What happened to our mom?’”

While Solid and Tricky have moments of celebration and misery, letting the brothers set the tone of emotions inside the house, outside their front window, they saw a car parked at the side of the road, a familiar vehicle to their eyes.

“Mom!”

The TV is immediately turned off, and both brothers wipe away the emotions from earlier as they immediately exit the front house, seeing their mom getting out of the car and arriving back home. “Tricky! Solid! How are my babies doing?”

“We’re doing great, Mom! How’s your time with your friends?” Solid asks her with enthusiasm in his voice.

Their mom smiles and closes the door, feeling content with the after-party. “Always fine as always. We had a blast at her house, talking with her family and their children. You should’ve gone with me, but I knew you two had some things in your lives.” She says while yawning, feeling tired from the party. "Let’s go back inside the house and-“

Bang.

“Mom…?”

“ What happened?” Both eyes widen for the brothers, witnessing their mother collapsing on the street in an instant. “One of our memorable moments together quickly turned upside down.”

“MOM!!!” Solid tries to flash towards her, but Tricky holds his shoulder, gripping it tightly while stopping him at the front porch. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? CAN’T YOU SEE I’M-”

“SOLID!” Tricky’s grip on his shoulder becomes sturdier, having no anticipation of letting go. “Someone’s out there…” Apparent sweat rolls down their fur, the curiosity and tension arise throughout the neighborhood, making the setting increasingly menacing, before a car suddenly stops by them.

“Ha-Ha… Tricky!” A pig and an antelope step out of a car. “Your brother seems tense. This is what happens when you don’t repay what you did to my house.” The antelope with a gun shoots more bullets into the air, with the pig putting on a menacing smirk, exclaiming the words out.

Tricky steps in front of his brother and guards him, making himself vulnerable to any shots taken in his body. “Guys, look. I’m sorry to you, John, for trashing your house earlier. That gang member was beating me up, and our friends and I had no choice but to-”

“Ahh… sorry about your excuse. That’s the most B.S. excuse I’ve ever heard of, because I know that no one would… DARE to touch my house!” John punches the hood of their mom’s car before he approaches their fence. His anger is on another… another level. “THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MY HOUSE WAS SET ON FIRE!!! I lost everything… EVERYTHING!!!” The pig angrily points at them, accusing not only Tricky but also Solid of the outcomes. “I’LL KILL YOU BOTH! FIRST YOUR BROTHER, THEN YOU!!!”

“I tried convincing him, but that just makes it worse. We thought this was our last moment. First our mom… then my brother… then me? That was our story… That was it…”

“But I realized something. They never experienced the immaculate speed of my brother. I knew he was my last line of support, and a sudden move would allow him to pull out my plan successfully.”

“Solid.” Tricky whispers quietly, in a tone for him to only hear, but for John not to. “Get me the gun… In my room, under the bed. Do it.”

John notices their private discussion, already having a feeling of a private plan between the brothers, without hearing anything. “You two talkin’ bout some damn plan? Don’t try to hide your foolishness, you DESPICABLE PIECES OF SHIT!”

“HURRY.” Tricky grits his teeth and mutters quietly, trying his best to keep his brother covered from them.

Solid has no choice… with his heart beating rapidly and the pressure on the line, all on him to save the day. 

The area starts to slow down from his perspective, intently listening to the remainder of John’s words coming out of his mouth. “I thought that he wouldn’t go for it. But I know he’s a strong guy… a brother that I put my trust in.” He flashes his way to Tricky’s room, a messy room, but he doesn’t let that slide. He grabs the suitcase underneath the bed and opens it to reveal a handgun, fully loaded, armed, and ready.

“Diabolical act, Tricky.” John looks at his antelope friend, ordering him to- “Shoot him!” The gun loads and aims at Tricky, where he pulls the trigger.

BLAM!

Though at the right time, his brother flashes to the scenery, seeing the bullet spiraling toward his brother in slow motion. It’s gonna take a few seconds before direct contact with his chest will injure him. “Damn those two… they’re gonna regret what I’m going to do.” He says to himself before tossing the gun in front of Tricky, letting it slowly spin mid-air, and praying that his brother reacts in time. 

Now focusing on the bullet, he dashes to it and lets himself get shot in his left palm, which hurts, but all the focus is now on the antelope. Jumping over the fence, he rushes towards the shooter, diving and tackling him, hoping his plan comes along together.

When time finally resumes back to normal, Tricky sees the gun spinning in front of him, and he grabs it. Meanwhile, John reacts and runs to save his friend, but the armed porcupine shoots him in the leg. “ARGH!” He collapsed to the ground and held his leg, “DAMN YOU, TRICKY!!!”

Tricky hops over the fence and kicks John’s stomach, telling him to- “Shut up.” He nonchalantly says before approaching his brother, whom he successfully pins the antelope friend down. “Reveal his right palm and both his legs for me.” Once both of their parts are exposed, he shoots those areas, letting his friend scream in pain, while unable to move. “Grab Mom inside and help her! Call the police and the ambulance, too!”

Solid nods at his request and helps out his mom, who’s still conscious, but is losing a lot of blood. “Oh god… Mom… P-Please stay alive for us…” He lifts her body and carries her inside and onto the couch, where he finds anything to bandage her while he talks to the dispatcher. 

Ring.

Ring.

“Northern District’s Police Department, what’s your emergency?”

Yet… his heart was still beating rapidly, his body trembling with emotion. He tries his best to remain calm, but this is too much for him. 

Way too traumatizing…

However, he is determined to make his voice heard, and with a bit of momentum, he kickstarts his dialogue. “M-M-My Mom has been shot! She’s shot in the chest…!” He locates where the bullet hit, and it’s the worst place he wants it to be. “T-The h-h-heart! She’s been shot at the heart!” He holds his tears like a dam almost cracking, with water weighing up to trillions of gallons. “M-My b-b-b-b-b-brother…” He pauses temporarily, letting himself try to calm himself down more. “-he shot the suspects… but they’re non-f-f-f-fatal! T-t-there’s two s-suspects and… t-t-they’re still alive…!” By holding his breath, he temporarily calms his emotions, while preventing his tears from being exposed. 

“Provide me with the address to your location, please.”

He can’t bear looking at his mom like this, so he closes his eyes and looks away, preventing himself from causing further distress. “8251… West… 57th… Street…” His voice becomes weaker, and he slightly opens his eyes, seeing his gloves covered in blood, and his phone marked with the prints.

“Alright, sir. Tell me the situation you’re-”

“SITUATION!? I EXPLAINED THE DAMN SITUATION TO YOU ALREADY!!!” His voice echoes throughout the whole house, far enough for Tricky to hear, to the point where he starts trembling from his brother’s voice. “MY MOM IS GOING TO DIE!!! BRING THE DAMN POLICE AND THE DAMN AMBULANCE TO THE LOCATION, NOW!!!” Tears flow down his face; seeing his mother suffering brings pain throughout his entire body. The amount of blood being leaked from her body makes him lose hope. He breaks down and drops onto his knees; his forehead leans onto her chest, where blood stains his orange fur. 

“... Alright, sir, so what I’m going to do for you is to follow my instructions. Don’t hang up the phone, and stay on the line as long as possible, alright?”

“Y-Yeah…” He takes subtle deep breaths, followed by his calm composure.

“Do not worry, help is on the way. While on the phone, try to find anything to apply pressure to the wound. If it’s bleeding a lot, apply more pressure. Anything in your household that you can quickly cover up?”

He quickly looks around for anything before stumbling on an old, yet clean towel that they’re going to get rid of. He flashes back to his mom, where he puts a lot of pressure on the wound, controlling the blood effectively, albeit with some still leaking. “M-Mom, talk to me. Y-You don’t have to say anything s-strong… but… say something…”

His mom doesn’t say anything; she continues staring at the ceiling, lying motionless on the couch. He starts getting concerned and checks for her pulse, which is severely worsening. “Mom! Please!”

“The ambulance will arrive approximately 20 minutes-”

“I HAVE NO TIME TO WAIT THIS DAMN LONG!!! YOU NEED TO GO TO HER NOW!!!” He tries to wipe all of his tears away without using the blood stains from his globe, but no matter how much he tries, he uncontrollably cries. He loses hope in all the attempts and advice given by the dispatcher, but everything remains ineffective. All but one choice he finalizes now… 

“When I heard Solid crying… my heart sank… my entire body wants to… to…. God, I can’t… speak about this story… It’s heartbreaking seeing mom… Mom…”

Solid carries his mom before flashing outside and leaving an orange trail through the streets of the Northern District. “SOLID! WHERE ARE YOU-” Tricky watches as he tries reaching out for his brother, watching the trail left behind. He has a bad feeling… and tears soon start to follow, feeling the worst coming… while the police lights roll right behind him.

Running through the streets, the orange hedgehog tries his best to save his mom… but the towel flies away, causing his mom to start losing more blood rapidly. “Don’t die, Mom! DON’T DIE!!!” Tears flow down the side of his face, and the breeze blows his quills in the calm, yet distressing night.

At the hospital, Solid appears in the building where a few patient services are already being provided to another patient. An injured person sitting down in the lobby is shocked to see him carrying his mom, with blood dripping onto the floor. The staff immediately springs into action, helping his mom onto the stretcher before being taken elsewhere inside the building. Solid follows them, watching and telling his mom to wake up; the staff tries their best to calm him down, but his tears are automatic. He continues to cry and scream her name… until he finally explains the situation. 

“Once the police arrived, John and his friend were quickly arrested. I was detained and had to question the police on this ongoing situation. I was held briefly by the law enforcement before I was told that I was free. I asked one of them to take me to the hospital, which they did.” 

“Once I did… I wish I had never…”

“Solid…” Tears from both brothers spiral along them, witnessing his brother, standing outside with defeat, mostly covered in his mom’s blood. “Is she alright…?”

“I shouldn’t have asked that question… I SHOULDN’T! I SHOULDN’T!!!”

Solid trembles, unable to speak up for himself as he tries to process the information to his brother… He stares at his brother, his eyes emotional, constantly sniffing, unable to speak about the situation. He looks down at his bloody glove… where he finally says his line…

“M-M-Mom… is…” He falls to his knees, letting the emotions run high while his brother tries to support him. But all of that was to answer the situation of their mother’s fate.

“Dead…”

“… I don’t want to… cry… It’s my mom I’m discussing with you guys, but…”

Tricky falls to his knees and quickly hugs Solid, letting their emotions take full control. Both brothers are crying over the loss of their mother… Emotions are already at their max, but this is on another level. “Why us…? We didn’t have to go through this… Why…?” He says in his mind, feeling his brother crying adds to the pain. 

“Tricky… I-I should’ve… I should’ve run toward her… I should’ve run toward her… Save her… I should’ve sacrificed myself-”

“Don’t… Please, Solid… I don’t want to lose you too…”

“I was never meant to be a-ad-adopted… Never meant to be a good son… I should’ve let mom-”

“Shh. Shh. Shh.” Tricky closes his eyes and pulls for a tighter hug, kissing him on his forehead to show support. “You’re still my brother… I don’t care if you’re adopted… Y-You tried saving her… You did what you had to do…”

Solid closes his eyes and wraps his arms around his brother, finally letting out one final scream. “I’M SORRY…!”

Tricky ruffles his brother’s quills, soothing him while he tries to soothe himself. “I love you… don’t ever… think of dying… We need to live… We need to… live… as brothers. Just what mom said.”

Their worst day of their entire lives.

“John was sentenced to 15-20 years in prison. His friend was sentenced to life. I wasn’t sentenced, but had to do 25 hours of community service as a punishment. The funeral was held in the Northern District cemetery. Myself, Solid, our friends, and our mom’s friends came to mourn the loss of our mother. No other emotions… just sadness. Even after our funeral was over, my brother and I were the only ones who stayed in the cemetery the entire day. At nighttime, we refused to leave, watching our mom’s grave while the full moon shone bright over us.”

April 2nd, 2026

When the door opens, their mother's room remains perfectly still in time. All the furniture is a perfect 90s aesthetic, and the floor and walls are dramatically different from the newer floor models inside the house. 

But the obvious focus within the room is a dedicated shrine, filled with portraits, along with candles placed around it. “Ever since she died, … well…” His glove brushes smoothly off the table, collecting the dust built up over time. “... We miss her. Our minds were still plagued on that fateful day.” He closely inspects the amounts of dust collected before rubbing it off, letting bits of particles fall to the ground. “After Solid finally got employed at the same workplace as I, he immediately wanted to move out. Saying his goodbyes and deep support to me before he left.”

Most portraits on the shelves and the table are a remembrance of their mother, whether young or old; the shrine is a memorial and a dedication to her. The main portrait that caught the team’s attention is a family photo. Their mom, followed by Tricky and Solid, smiles happily in a memorable moment. Both brothers in the photo share a rare instance of their lives at their prime, but what they see right now is different. 

“Knuckles.” Tricky brings attention to the Mobians, “The reason why Solid is homeless is because every time he looks at the moon, it reminds him of our mother. She loved looking at the moon when she was younger, and it inspired him to do the same. No matter the weather conditions, he watches the moon as if the moon is watching him… almost like our mother is watching…” He tries holding back his tears, but it’s too late. He continuously wipes them, having a tough time holding back his emotions as he exits the room, unable to maintain his relaxed demeanor.

Nevertheless, everyone in the team has experienced the deaths of those whom they cared for. The brothers are not alone; they have allies, potentially lifelong friends, inside their mother’s room that they can relate to. Sonic takes a bold decision to leave the room and to confront him, “You’re not alone. We share the same experiences that you and your brother have gone through. It hurts, it really does. But you can’t keep on grieving over it for almost three years.” He puts a hand on his shoulder, trying to control his tears. “I know you care. But you’re not going to let death consume you, just like your brother. Deep down in your heart-” He pokes at Tricky’s chest, specifically at its heart, “-Mom is watching from above.” A reassuring smile catches Tricky’s attention; the formerly sad and emotionalized figure has felt a specialized touch from the Mobian, placing a meaning in his heart.

Knuckles approaches him with a grin, putting pride in himself, but also in the porcupine. “Back when I was young, I lost my beloved Echidnas. I’m the last surviving member, yet even if it lingers inside my head, I must remain vigorous. Never let your past hinder you. Be strong, man. Be strong.”

A heartwarming and uplifting message causes Tricky to rethink his life. Not everything is pain… suffering… but there’s always a bright side to character development. With all the crazy stuff happening in the hood life, there’s always an importance to living in these conditions, and understanding the brutal reality of life.

“Don’t tell your brother this…” Sonic whispers to the grieving porcupine, trying to change the attitude. “I’m technically homeless, too.”

Tricky instantly changes his expression, reacting in a state of shock, while finally controlling his tears. “Really? That’s one way to change the attitude. I guess you hedgehogs prefer being homeless.”

“Hey, we’re just hedgehogs with similar lifestyles. However… I’m still not used to the street noise down there. I still don’t understand how Solid maintains that lifestyle.” He ends his statement with a bit of a snicker.

“Because it’s Haven City. What did you expect from a city with over 100 million people? I bet that your cities in your dimension can’t surpass that.” They both snicker at each other, enjoying their conversation, unlike the emotions ago.

Meanwhile, Tails whispers to Amy, giving his honest thoughts while debunking his claim. “Sonic isn’t homeless… He’s messing around. But I know that he’s going to be very influential to these brothers. They’re practically like their father.”

Amy looks at Tails, confused, and politely gives her thoughts as well, “More like their brother. I just have a feeling that if they do go into combat or hang out in public, they’ll start something stupid. But I don’t mind it with Sonic’s actions.”

“Maybe life isn’t so bad. Sonic has probably discussed this with Solid. No wonder we sense such a bond together; maybe I’m feeling the same way, too. Life always has its memorable and forgettable memories. Sometimes we want to remember them. Sometimes we want to forget them, especially the traumatic experiences. But I'm talking to Sonic, his friends, and Solid being involved… I feel… happier. More content.”

Sonic finally takes a look at the sleeping orange hedgehog, and thinking about how he is coping with his traumatic loss, until he finally realizes what he needs to do upon his words. “Hey, Tricky.”

“What is it?”

Sonic finally gives out the long-awaited question, anticipating what he’s going to say. “Do you know about the whereabouts of some human? He’s tall, bald, has a striking mustache, etc? His name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik… but we call him Dr. Eggman. We want to find clues on where he is.”

“Why’s that?”

“We need to stop him now. Take back the Master Emerald to Knuckles and save your dimension from falling into his hands.” The team is desperate for an answer, anything to kickstart their main mission. Hoping that Solid’s plan to talk to Tricky would lead to something useful.

“... I’ve seen him.”

Chapter Text

“...”

“Solid, wake up.”

The orange hedgehog groans and rubs his groggy eyes, witnessing the team already surrounding him while Tricky shakes his shoulder. “Ugh…? Wha…? Huh…? What is it… Tricky…?”

“I’ve seen Eggman.”

Solid immediately sits himself up from the couch, confused and shocked. “Are you for real?”

Tricky groans and pokes at his forehead, needing to explain once again. “Yes, I’m for real! I’m not stupid enough not to tell you where he is.” He continues poking him until his brother swats his hand away. “Stay awake for once, maybe drinking coffee should do.” Muttering to himself in a remark about his brother’s sleepiness.

“Do you think coffee is a great choice to keep me awake? I constantly bicker about that bitter taste of caffeine, and even if I do try drinking one, I’ll probably spit it out. Decaf wouldn’t help, too...” Solid’s first experience with coffee was during college, and when he first tried one, he hated the taste. No matter how many times he drinks it, whether it’ll be once per week or every day, he never gets used to the taste of coffee in general.

“Anyways.” Sonic cuts their conversation between the brothers and forces Tricky to look at him. “You said that you saw Egghead in this district. If so, tell us more. Anything that helps us obtain clues about his whereabouts.”

Pacing back and forth, the porcupine recalls the time Eggman was around his district. “It was early in the morning… March 30th…” 

Looking out at the window, he remembers where he was during the time and place. “I walked outside the house to begin my day. My car had engine problems, so I had to force myself to commute via train. A 5-minute walk to the station, and while I was waiting for the train to pass by, a human figure walked out of the train a few doors away from me. I was intrigued by their appearance, skeptical of who he was and what he was doing here. But I didn’t have much time to examine because a bunch of crowded commuters like me were boarding the train, and I had no choice but to abandon my investigation.”

He visually recalls himself staring at Eggman, watching him take the steps to the Northern District before he disappears from his sight. The train begins to move, and he continues to stare at the stairs. He eventually sat down at an open seat to continue with his day.

“Weren’t you late to work that day?” A conspicuous question from Solid, needing verification if it was truly what happened.

“Due to numerous train delays, I was… I know, I got scolded by the CEO, and you were questioning me like paparazzi. If that even matters… all I’m saying is that Eggman has been around this district… and I fear this neighborhood too.” He eventually sits down on a random chair, needing some way to relax. “Oh well.”

The situation has dramatically worsened for the team. With Haven City being a megalopolis, the limited time is not only detrimental, but dealing with recruits that Eggman has potentially pursued to join his side leaves them outnumbered, especially since the Northern District is the largest in terms of population and area. Meaning more battles and violence await them soon.

…

“So… anything special you guys are doing?” Sonic lets out a nervous chuckle, hoping they’re not quick to defeat whatever.

“No.” Solid slowly stands up, already feeling the pressure inside. “Why don’t we… leave? I think we have enough evidence for today.” He looks at his brother, who gives him a thumbs-up in support.

Tricky, who seemingly has the dedication to take time off work, is a big need. He’s always bummed out from the stress given at his workplace, trying his best to stay focused, but doesn’t have the free time to. His brother knows about this and decides to offer the black porcupine something of his lifetime. “Maybe…”

“You can join us, Tricky.”

The team reacts in unison, shocked, but after careful consideration, it could be the best decision. Solid gives him a reassuring smile, hoping that his brother feels motivated by his words. “If I offered you the chance to help get any clues about Eggman’s whereabouts, then you’re the perfect situation for us. Besides… I know that you can fight. You’re WAY better than me. You feel me?” His offer does enlighten the team a bit; hopefully, adding another ally would help support their main mission to uncover Eggman’s whereabouts altogether.

“Hmm…” Tricky, however, remains a bit wary of his decisions, thinking about the situations he’s going through if he were to deal with the constant missions and fighting with the team. “I’m unsure… maybe… but then again… Do I want to fight…?”

Sonic goes along with the orange hedgehog, now convincing Tricky to pressure himself to join the team. “Tricky. This isn’t our world… this is your world. We’re interdimensional travelers who want to help your dimension stay safe from the harms of Egghead alike. Listen to your brother… and maybe you can join us. Alright?”

Still, the porcupine remains hesitant about the decision, even with the pressures from both hedgehogs; it isn’t enough to persuade him to commit. “I… I’ll think later…” He stands up and looks at the time, seeing how it’s already sunset, while changing the subject. “Damn… you spent the whole day thinking about the Eggman, huh?”

“Yep. It was actually more than thinking about Eggman, but your words are true.” Tails lets out an amused scoff, hearing the statement amusingly true. Recalling how on this same day, they had to fight the Badniks, reunite with Knuckles and Amy, or play basketball (for whatever reason). The whole day was spent dealing with more situations involving Eggman; it’s their first time having such an encounter in a new dimension.

The porcupine returns with a small scoff, rolling his eyes as a response to his answer. “You guys are unbelievable…” He says that before heading towards the hallway, where he needs to use the bathroom. “I’m going to use the bathroom. You guys can leave if you want; that’s up to you. But for my decision, it’ll be some time soon.”

The team is aware of his words and the decision that he may choose. They’re not against what he wants, but in a situation where needing an ally is crucial, this could be the right time. So, Knuckles gives it one more go. “Before you use the bathroom… I feel honored by the man you are. Experiencing hardship while taking care of your younger brother. Once again, we want you to join our team. Please?”

“I have work tomorrow, bro.”

“DAMN IT!” Knuckles angrily yells as he heads towards the front door, already quitting in his last-ditch effort to help the team out. “Let’s go home and plan our mission!”

“Typical Knuckles…” Amy shakes her head, grabbing her Piko Piko Hammer resting on the wall before going up to Tricky. “Thank you for allowing us to visit your house and for giving us a house tour. Hearing of your mother's death pains me… but listen to Sonic says, and I hope you’ll be fine.” She says before whispering to him. “Sonic’s words are always the best. No matter what.” She happily smiles and skips her way outside.

Tails tries to catch up with them, but also says his goodbye, turning around and giving him a wave. “Cya, Solid’s older brother! It’s a pleasure hearing your story and such!” He runs out of the front door, now leaving the two hedgehogs and the porcupine inside.

“Well. Well… Two hedgehogs and a porcupine.” Tricky pauses before they let off an amused and sudden chuckle. “Nah, but for real, thank you… Sonic and Solid for helping me explain this. I could potentially join… but… just wait. It’s all about patience.”

Sonic teasingly acts like he’s being patient; he rolls his eyes, crosses his arms, and taps his foot. “Oh god. Talking about a load of crappy patience, that is. I’m not dealing with that, Tricky.” He playfully swats his hands in the air, before reverting to his normal expression. “Look. All I’m going to say is… Good luck out there. It’s going to be difficult; we’re constantly fighting, but making it your own decision is completely fine. I’m not against your will.” He takes one more dap up to symbolize their friendship. “Thank you for letting us inside. Have a great day.” The blue blur gives a peace sign before instantly leaving the house.

Now left with the two brothers… Solid takes a chance to hug his brother back. “Love you… Tricky. I decided to join the team, and here I am. Away from work.”

“You could’ve told me that earlier, so that I wouldn’t have to work, and we could team up. But oh well… I’ll join you on Saturday and take a break for a week. Just for my little brother.” The porcupine ruffles his brother’s head and quills, having nostalgic memories of doing that since they were young. They never complained about their moment and always enjoyed the brotherly love. “Take care, Solid.” He instantly goes inside the bathroom, leaving the orange hedgehog alone for once.

“Take care… Tricky.”

The sunset reveals a beautiful skyline, with a mixture of orange, pink, and purple,  creating the perfect skyline everyone knows of in Haven City. Especially at the beach, where the sun dies down in the west, signaling a time where they’ll wait until the following days to repeat, yet it never gets old.

The heat dissipates throughout the entire city, and the shift from the afternoon heat to the nighttime coolness creates a comfortable atmosphere for the people. 

It’s not even a surprise.

Yet for the people of the city, traffic starts piling up as they return home, ready to rest after a long day of working. It sucks to waste time in traffic, but the ease and mind of everyone leaving tells one thing. To relax at the end when they reach their destination. It’s nothing short of a full-day task to be completed sometime soon, where once they go to bed, it’s a guarantee to finish everyone’s day. But until then, they’re roughly 80% complete with their day.

Outside the house, the team stretches their bodies, already tired from a long day of being outside. With the door closing, the orange hedgehog steps out to see the neighborhood. Fades of his old neighborhood in the sunset capture the moments of him watching the beauty of the sunset. It always reminds him of the times he and his brother played until mom told them to get inside. 

“It’s for their safety.” Their mom said.

He always remembers the other moments. During high school, he would often return home late, spending too much time at Woofa’s house, where they would spend their time doing homework or engaging in miscellaneous activities. Once the orange hedgehog rings the doorbell, he always remembers their mom scolding him for being exposed to the danger outside the house, especially as the moon rises. 

But until then… the neighborhood remains still.

Sonic takes a long, relieved sigh, continuing to stretch his arms and legs out. He yawns from his bad sleep, still not forgetting the environment he had to deal with at Solid’s home. “Tired… And tired… Let’s go home. While on the way, maybe stop by for some Chili Dogs if you will.”

“Chili Dogs. Really? I’d rather have some grapes; they make me comfortable every time.” Knuckles anticipates one sooner rather than later, promptly choosing to go home in a rush.

“You two have an addiction to something…” Amy shakes her head in disbelief, uncertain if their addiction will remain throughout their lifetime.

Tails gets an amused side eye look, knowing that even if she doesn’t have an addiction, she does have deep bonds about relationships. “Yet you have an affection for Sonic. You know. You know.”

“Please be quiet.” Amy instantly shushes him, hoping he doesn’t speak much more about her relationship. 

In the meantime, while the Mobians are busy talking about some stuff together, the non-Mobian watches one of his neighbors exit their house, seemingly recognizing the orange hedgehog already. “Wait… Solid? Is that you, man?” The hyena neighbor says, already recognizing his face.

“Yo…” Solid lets out a soft, yet subtle hint of happiness. He approaches his hyena neighbor with respect. “What’s up? What’s up?” He quickly daps him up while both stand on the opposite side of each other's fences. “Man, I haven’t seen you since I moved outta here. What’s going on?”

The hyena lets out a soft scoff, amused by his past actions. “You should’ve stayed, not gonna lie to ya. It’s always hectic around here, but I assume you’re just not fond of the hood.”

“Can’t help when my mom died…” He gazes at the sunset, still apparent at this time. “At least you have my dumbass brother.” He lets out a laugh, taking the conversation to a similar tone with the Mobians.

His neighbor laughs along with him, letting them have a fun time talking. “Yeah… I’ll just spend more time seeing him… because one of the brothers has to die, you know.”

“Heh-Heh… funny. One of the brothers has to die.” With the amusement slowly dying down, Solid slowly calms himself down, still having bits of laughter while wiping his tears away.

“One of the brothers… has to… die…?”

He halts his movements and slowly glances at his neighbor, feeling a menacing tone in him. “Die…? That’s a dark joke, bro. Of course, we know one has to die, old age… or illness. But still it’s not like-”

“Solid! When are we going home!?” Sonic yells at him, already losing his patience with this neighborhood. “We need to eat dinner or something for once! Might as well order some Chili Dogs-”

“No! Grapes would be the preferred choice!” Knuckles exclaims, shutting the blue blur’s mouth to prevent him from influencing Solid’s decision.

Yet, sweat starts to form from the orange hedgehog’s fur, feeling the intense pressure between the two situations. He wants to leave with them, so they plan out their mission involving Eggman and the Master Emerald. However, his neighbor is the sole reason he’s not moving, so they continue their casual discussion, but the words coming out of his mouth cause the tension to build up, and he feels uneasy.

“Go, Solid. You have Mobian friends to spend time with while trying to stop Eggman.”

Solid’s eyes widen, and he slowly glances at his neighbor, now sensing danger lurking inside of him. “How… How do you know about this…?”

“Luck?” The hyena presents a menacing smirk; he slowly approaches the fence, where the orange hedgehog responds by slowly walking backwards, taking notable distance away from him. “Your plan to stop the doctor isn’t enough for you guys… especially for a weak hedgehog like you. All you do is seek help from your weak porcupine brother, your weak blue counterpart, and some foreigners.”

“You’re nothing short of limited…” Throughout the neighborhood, the doors and windows eerily open, where a bunch of Solid’s neighbors slowly stare at the team. 

“You’re nothing short of weak…” The team realizes that they’re being watched, now aware of the situation. 

“You’re nothing short… of dead.”

Solid takes more steps backward until he accidentally bumps into Amy, where they quickly look at each other, but are distracted by the scenery around them. “What’s happening, Solid?” Tails quietly mutters to him, wanting a sort of explanation while sensing the intensity that’s about to unfold.

“Stay calm… guys.” Sonic also mutters, unsure of the situation, but wants to take the lead. “This is what Tricky feared: this neighborhood could be influenced by Egghead’s tactics.” The team instantly glances from one neighbor to the other, directly staring at them with intent.

“Hey, Solid.”

The hyena brings the orange hedgehog to his attention, letting him hear the following words.

“Good luck.”

Suddenly, all their neighbors' arms are immediately raised with a handgun, aiming directly towards the team. Nothing short of Eggman’s plans to “SHOOT!!!”

Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam!

A barrage of bullets has been fired at the team, aiming to kill them upon Eggman’s orders. However, the team reacts quickly by storming back inside their house and taking cover. Solid instantly closes and locks the door, where bullets do manage to strike holes in it. “WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!?” Knuckles exclaims as the team takes more cover from the barrage of bullets. “These damn assholes… Eggman really did influence them.”

Still, the sound of bullets isn’t dying down any time soon. Punctuating more bullet holes into the walls, glass breaking, and items being shattered or falling apart by the impact of the bullets. The team tries its best to deal with the rampaging shooters by creating a plan not only to leave this neighborhood but also this entire district.

“Any plans!?” Sonic yells out, trying to make his voice audible over the noisy gunfire. 

“I don’t think we have any!” Tails also yells out, but has a trick up his sleeve. “Though I can use one of my devices to see a weak point.” He takes out a peculiar device, a device called the “Smoke Grenade. Hopefully, they won’t shoot at us while it’s still off.” He throws one through the bullet hole, where it precisely fits, letting it bounce from the steps and into the front yard. 

Without the shooters paying any attention at all, the smoke grenade goes off, now halting the shooters. “Checkmate! All we have to do now is-”

Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam!

Even with his plan, the shooters remain relentless, obsessed with shooting the Mobians and the orange hedgehog. “I thought I was onto something.” He says with a slight amusement, even though the smoke grenade is still working.

The team is in a stalemate, stuck in a position where their choice is to either pray that the bullets don’t hit them while they escape, or worst case scenario… die. They don’t want to kill others, because it’s not their way of fighting.

The team listens to Solid’s sigh of defeat, watching him look down at the ground while holding his knees close to his body. “I’m sorry… I never thought we’d run into a trap…” His voice is filled with defeat, demotivated to do a miracle to save their team, while showing eventual tears. “A death trap for us… they outsmarted us… Eggman outsmarted us… Eggman-”

THUD!!!

They look to see the bathroom door open, staring at the porcupine once again, this time… he has a handgun in his hand. He doesn’t take a look at the team, nor at his brother. Instead, he walks to the front door, where, despite rounds of shots being taken, he ignores all of the noise and walks right through. 

“T-TRICKY!?” Solid instantly stands up, he walks outside the hallway, and sees his brother getting closer to exiting. “You’re trying to die!?” He exclaims, letting the others stare at the now terrified hedgehog. But once he notices the gun in the porcupine’s hand, this is where he crosses the line. “... You’re not trying to… kill them… are you?”

“Why not?” Tricky pauses, not glancing back towards his brother; rather, he stares down at the continuing smoke, where he miraculously isn’t shot by one of the bullets. “They’re Eggman’s allies, they’re supposed to die-”

“I DON’T CARE!” His brother speaks out, disapproving of his brother’s message. “I DON’T CARE IF THEY’RE OUR ENEMIES, IT’S UNREASONABLE TO RESORT TO KILLING!!!”

However, even if the porcupine heard his adoptive hedgehog brother loud and clearly, he still ignores him. He walks out to the smoke, where the orange hedgehog decides it’s enough. “TRICKY!!!” He instantly flashes towards him and grabs his hand, fighting for the gun. 

“Let me go!” Tricky tries to fight his brother off, but is left stunned, surprised by his strength compared to a few years prior.

“You don’t understand what you’re doing, brother…” Solid continues fighting for the gun, leaving both brothers at a stalemate, and the team uncertain of what they’re doing. “Not everything should be used with weapons… ever. Not even a gun-”

BANG!!!

…

The barrage of bullets is halted. 

The neighborhood suddenly becomes eerily silent, opposed to the shootout just seconds earlier.

The team watches out of the front door as the smoke begins to fade away, revealing both brothers still intact.

It’s just… that Tricky’s handgun was fired off, forcing his brother to let go of his hand. A warning sign not to fight someone with a gun.

“Hope that serves you a lesson. Listen to your older brother.” The porcupine says, while they’re left in a vulnerable position. Now the guns are aimed right at them, leaving death for the brothers to happen.

“Make way for the blue blur!” Sonic instantly yells out as he dashes throughout the neighborhood, landing punches and kicks onto the gun users themselves. The brothers are shocked, but the rest of the Mobians are swiftly dealing with the gun users with ease, watching them fight with such precision, without resorting to non-lethal measures. The armed users tried their best to recover from reloading the number of bullets, but were caught off guard by the blue blur, resulting in them getting distracted by him. 

Sonic is a distractor.

At the same time, Tails realizes he also has another device that he was intentionally going to use when chasing Eggman, but opting for his jetpack instead, he decides to save it for later. With the right timing, he brought a device used to stun opponents while they’re distracted. He tweaked the voltage to make sure it isn’t too deadly, but not too weak to be barely stunned. Once the device was thrown at them, the armed users instantly felt a stunning effect, leaving them stunned for a few seconds. 

As they recovered, they noticed that their guns were deliberately destroyed right in front of them, unsure what had happened. All the gun destruction was by Amy and Knuckles, whose strength allowed them to instantly shatter it into pieces, leaving each user armless and now vulnerable without their precious handgun. 

Without their weapons, the neighbors are left fleeing the team, leaving their houses to go to another neighborhood, where they’re never seen again.

With the efforts by the Mobians, led by Sonic himself, it’s hard not to thank the team, especially the blue blur. He coordinated the plans all along, all while the brothers were led to a brief exchange earlier. 

As the neighborhood is finally calm, all without the eerie tension surrounding them, the dying sunset tells the team of their accomplishment. Even from the rough start, there are always ways to finish with a strong message. Never underestimate a team.

Solid approaches them with a relieved look, opposed to his situation with his brother. “Thank you… for dealing with this mess. I’m sorry for-”

“Don’t be sorry, Solid. We’re still a team. We always have tense moments; it’s going to happen sooner or later.” Sonic puts a hand on his shoulder, hoping he doesn’t take too much to account for they’re at it.

For a sigh of relief, the team can finally take joy in returning to the populated area, away from this district for good.

“I can join.”

The team glances back at the porcupine, who is seen fidgeting with his gun while approaching them. “As feared, this place isn’t safe. Now that I’m on your side, I guess I’ll call off work.” He gives the team a unanimous approval, letting them cheer on, while still bitter about his brother. “... And help stop Eggman’s plans once and for all.”

“Well.” Sonic gives the porcupine a wink, putting his hand on his shoulder for a key-time decision. “Consider us your friends.” 

Until then… the team decides to walk away from Northern District, knowing that Tricky doesn’t have the insane ability to run like them. It’s going to take a long time, especially for a huge city, but for them, it signifies a successful day.

Walking behind, Tricky takes out the same framed family photo from his mother’s room, which he had taken, hoping that the picture will never be harmed in the near future.

A promise to keep the family united at heart.

Chapter Text

The streets are calm at night, and the moon shines directly onto the streets. It’s a clear day with no clouds; the stars illuminate the night skyline, buildings with sporadic lights, and streets filled with vehicles and pedestrians, still indicating the nightlife activity. Some enjoy their peacefulness, while some do whatever they can to finish their day before they hit the hay. 

Nothing between.

For the moon, it captures the essence of beauty. When the moon shines down on the streets of Haven City, it’s nothing short of remarkable. It’s a reminder to everyone that their tasks have been fulfilled each passing day, even if there is much more to complete in the near future. To the nocturnal people, it relieves them more compared to the sprawling daylight, where everything is tranquil. 

For the people living here, it’s nothing short of a calm day… until the next day hits.

Friday.

Children can’t wait for the last day of the week, just go through school, and once finished, the rest of the time is up to them. To most workers, like Solid, Friday will always be their favorite day, representing a day of hard work and a desire to push the clock to end their day. And once they clock out, it’s time for relaxation, and a time for the weekends.

When the weekends do roll around, it’s nothing short of excitement.

Nothing more…

Nothing less…

After having a rough time dealing with the enemies in the Northern District, the team is all exhausted, still wondering why they’re even alive. For the Mobians, it’s short for survival, yet a failure on their part to swiftly deal with all of Eggman’s recruiters. For the brothers, it’s an easy answer to say for the two of them… 

Complicated.

The team walks silently in the streets, still having thoughts in their mind. To them, they’re like strangers, not interacting with one another, creating a sense of awkwardness. Although their mission was a success, the lack of interaction between the brothers felt like a no-man’s land, making it difficult to initiate a conversation and leaving one unsure about the outcome. “... Nice attempt out there… right guys?” Tails breaks their silence, hoping that their profound awkwardness may be dealt with some hopefulness.

“Yeah… except when my bitch-ass brother tells me not to use my-”

“Isn’t that nice, Tricky? You’d rather choose to kill than to knock the opponents out or deal with stuff in non-lethal terms.” Solid protests, he says while walking backwards to face him. “I don’t care if they’re Eggman’s recruiters. You gotta notice that they’re still people at heart. Right?”

“I get it, man… ” Tricky fidgets with his gun, seemingly doesn’t care about his brother’s words. “Your ideology is different from mine. It’s not like your brother has to deal with THE AMOUNT OF GANGS IN HIS LIFE!!!”

The team freezes, shaken by his breakdown. Tails thought that the two brothers would’ve gone over it by then, but at this rate, they’re still conflicted by poor decision-making and the lack of teamwork.

“... Damn step-brother… I thought you were already over it.” Solid disappointingly shakes his head, ungrateful for this out-of-place relationship between him and his brother. He turns around and continues to direct where he’s taking them, just wanting to move on from their bitterness. 

“Tch.” Tricky, who’s still not over with it, grabs his brother’s shoulder, forcing him to look at his older brother. “Listen to me… Those are Eggman’s allies. They’re out to get rid of us with their guns, while he plans to use the Master Emerald to conquer our world… I repeat… OUR world… And if you don’t understand the part…” He forcefully presses his finger onto his brother’s forehead, showing how upset he is. “OUR WORLD!!! THIS ISN’T EVEN MOBIUS! IT’S OUR WORLD WE’RE TALKING ABOUT, DUMBASS!!!”

Just as Sonic tries to intervene, the porcupine isn’t settled just yet. “Oh! Oh! Oh! And you think that a gun wouldn’t help? BITCH, I LITERALLY SAVED YOU BY MY GUN GETTING FIRED!!!” He shows off his gun to Solid, symbolizing strength yet a menacing appearance. “I can’t BELIEVE you! How would mom-”

Yet snapping out of it, Solid snatches Tricky’s handgun; instantly and impressively disassembles the entire thing, leaving it in pieces while he throws it into a public trash that’s coincidentally next to him. “Don’t bring this conversation with mom…” His voice is restrained by hatred, but he knows that it’s his brother. It’s just a moment where they get into these random, petty arguments before they move on with their lives. That’s why he maintained his calm mentality and composure, making himself neutral. 

“... Pathetic.” Tricky gives a personal scoff and decides to look away from him. He slowly lets the rest of the team get past him, while he slowly falls behind them. “Making me lose my cool… I bet you only know how to take the entire gun apart, but can’t use one properly.” He quietly mutters with his arms crossed, still jealous that Solid is the only person able to disassemble the gun entirely.

On the upside, they’re at least thankful that Sonic had sorted out the whole mess; without him, they’d be at a stalemate. Adding the positive side, no deaths were recorded, even after the mess. All they’ll be looking forward to is a way to step up from last time and to deal with their future enemy encounters.

Although at this time…

“Solid, you’re not taking us to your home… are you?” Amy skeptically questions him, still upset about where he lives. “I don’t want to sleep on the rooftop for my first day, you know.”

The orange hedgehog shakes his head, an indication that “No. We’re not staying at my place. It’s too dangerous to be seen out in public, where Eggman can use his Badniks or whoever to spot our hideout. Instead… I’ll be taking you somewhere else, where a friend of mine lives.”

The team remains curious about the friend that he’s talking about. Tricky slowly glances at his brother and already knows who it is. Though it takes time for both Sonic and Tails to guess who this friend is, until they realize. “It’s not her, is it?”

Knock. 

Knock. 

Knock.

With the door immediately open, it reveals none other than her. 

Woofa the Dog.

“Hey, orange furball… How are you…” Her eyes slowly gaze at the team, encountering two unfamiliar faces, but she is also surprised to see Tricky and the two familiar Mobians are visiting. “Tricky… Sonic… Tails…? Hello again… you three can come on in...”

As the three enter with her permission, the brown dog casually greets Amy and Knuckles. “Hello, you two... The name is Woofa the Dog, and I’m… your friend’s long-time best friend.” She nudges Solid to try to have the same reaction as her, where she nervously smiles at them.

“Knuckles the Echidna, nice to meet you, Woofa.” He reacts with a neutral expression, not caring about saying much, rather just needing a place to rest. He steps inside without any further introduction.

To Amy, she reacts by smiling at her, slowly but surely, being enthusiastic by nature. “Hey, Woofa, my name is Amy Rose.” They both openly shake their hands, appreciating being the only two females around here. “I like your apartment, it looks like a fun place to live in, unlike someone’s…” She playfully glares at Solid, still disliking his living habits, while appreciating the fact that he’s aware of her opinion. After shaking her hands with the female dog, she gives her a pat on the back to strengthen their new relationship before whispering to him, “Reduce that one mall needed for now. I appreciate it.” She says before entering with her Piko Piko Hammer.

While Solid takes a sigh of relief and walks into her apartment, Woofa grabs his quills and drags him outside, closing the door while confronting him. “What the hell is going on!? You’re inviting your friends and Tricky over to stay in my apartment!” She pins him to the hallway’s wall, her voice filled with anger and confusion.

Solid raises his arms defensively, trying to calm her down. “I-I-I can explain-!”

“Explain what? What do you want to explain to me?” She repeatedly pokes his forehead, demanding an answer.

He slowly relaxes against the wall, taking a deep breath with calm composure; he tries to explain. “We’re… We’re being targeted...” Woofa’s reaction is filled with shock; she can’t help but at least have a slight understanding, regretting the words she exclaimed earlier. “... We can talk about this later… alright?” His ears notably droop; it’s an indulgence to explain, but he wants someone to tell other than him. 

She sighs, clearly unhappy with the situation, especially since she has work the next day. But, being the best friend to him, she has to pride herself in accepting his words. “Let’s just go inside.” She says while signaling him to come in.

Woofa’s apartment is small and not designed to accommodate six other people. For starters, the apartment contains the following: (A kitchen, a living room, a small hallway that connects to the various rooms (a singular bathroom, a small storage with a washer and a dryer, and a singular bedroom)). The small size makes it difficult for the rest of them to sleep in, considering the space guaranteed for the bed and the couch alone.

On the upside, the apartment is pretty quiet, so any noise around them or inside remains muffled or silent. Additionally, this apartment contains a nice balcony view, allowing individuals like Solid to look out at the night sky.

Outside of the pros and cons, the apartment is suitable for living in. Woofa’s decorations, the tidiness of the place, along with the entire stuff inside, make this place comfortable to live in. 

“Hey! Ten times better than what Solid lived in.” Sonic remarks, enjoying the comfy atmosphere as opposed to Solid’s home. “I don’t get to hear the streets from down below.”

The Mobians explore the entire apartment, seemingly comfortable in one particular spot, and find an area to rest. Other than her bedroom and the living room, the Mobians opt to stay at random places, such as the balcony, the kitchen, or the bathroom. “Do you have some Chili Dogs around here!?” Sonic says while scavenging through her fridge.

She leans against the small dining table beside her best friend, hoping they won’t mess her place up. “No Chili Dogs.” Knuckles tries to speak, but she instantly cuts him off, remembering what her best friend told her. “Not even grapes!”

With the non-Mobians watching, the porcupine shakes his head in disappointment, opting to sit on the couch and turn on the TV, needing to take his mind off the scenery around him. When the TV is turned on, he switches through a few channels, uninterested in their content. With no sports coverage, which is his favorite content, he decides to switch to a news channel, where at least the channel has something going on.

Narrator: “Haven City presents to you… The most trusted news source in the largest city on this planet. Haven City News, at 10.”

“Good evening, Haveners. It’s currently 10 P.M., April 2nd, on a Thursday evening. My name is Super Tapir, and you’re watching Haven City News. Let’s start with the most trending stories that have been happening on the same day. Starting with, ‘The Targeted Victims?’”

A smooth transition from the news broadcasts, showcasing a viral scenery of downtown Haven City, showing the webcam footage of the afternoon fight between three people versus some robots. “The live footage is taking Haveners and everyone by storm, where a battleground ensued in one of the most popular areas in this city. These mysterious robots appeared to target three pedestrians deliberately. No further details of these robots' motives to intentionally create destruction, but the pedestrians, along with two more, stopped these robots' motives. Hence, saving the day." The footage pauses at the mysterious pedestrians, leaving viewers to debate whether they're good or not.

Then, another footage, albeit from a viral media source on someone’s phone, showcases an exchange of shots taking place in the neighborhood. “In the Northern District, gunshots were heard, roaring throughout the scenery around West 57th Street.” Footage of the aftermath scenery shows a particular house with bullet holes placed throughout its walls and glass. “At 8251 West 57th Street, we were the primary targets of these armed users, who again were the same people who fought these robots earlier. The video ends with the armed users running for their lives. The police are unsure if these two events correlate, especially the robots and the armed people who targeted them. But whatever the case may be… we’re fortunate to say that no deaths have been recorded.”

“Haven City News, at 10.”

With a silenced team, staring directly at the TV, they all know that they’re the headlines throughout this city. They all glanced at each other, looking a little hopeless, as they tried to plan out what to do in the future, now that they were seen.

“... This is what you guys did… while I was working?” Woofa breaks the silence, seemingly stunned by how their entire Thursday went. “All of you could’ve died!” She exclaims with a mixture of concern and anger in her voice.

Sonic instantly responds to her reaction, trying to get a reasonable explanation. “You see… We’re experienced fighters. Not to make it more troublesome to you-”. 

“It is!” The dog lashes out, caring for everyone’s well-being. “At least you’re unharmed. But for you…!” She points at none other than her best friend. “Don’t die!”

“Wha- Huh?” The orange hedgehog looks at the team with confusion before looking at her. “Well-” He takes a brief sigh before continuing. “... I know I’m the weakest in this team, but that doesn’t mean they have my back.”

Tricky replies with a slight scoff, telling her what happened. “Says the same person who came out to the front door to stop me from shooting at them while we’re literally getting shot at.”

“SOLID!” Woofa instantly grips his shoulder, forcing him to look at her. “Are you trying to die!?”

“I-I wasn’t! I swear on my life that I wasn’t trying to die!” He says while raising his arms defensively, trying to convince her that the whole situation wasn’t as bad as she had nearly thought.

“Then tell me why you’re doing this?” She says, ONLY to her best friend, demanding answers for such a high commitment.

…

“Because… this is our world.”

“To them, they’re interdimensional friends that I’ve met, and we have the same mission. To save our world. They have an interdimensional enemy who’s here with an important item that he has stolen and now possesses. Even if my ideology doesn’t align with fighting, if we don’t fight… we’re going to lose. We’re going to lose our city… our lives… OUR WORLD!”

“Do you want that to happen? Yes or no?” His voice is filled with determination, and he glances at the team for a show of support.

“Obviously no-”

“Then so be it. I would rather die to protect this world than to live and see our world fall into the hands of some enemy.” His voice softens, giving her the time to process the information while she eventually calms down. But please…” He slowly releases her grip on his shoulder before he holds her hands. “It’s fine if you care about me. If I’m injured… You know what to do. Alright?”

“... Always.” She quickly hugs him, reminding Solid that she’ll always be his longtime best friend. In return, he hugs her back, letting the two best friends know how much they care for each other.

“And it seems the two lovebirds are-”

“Shut up, Tricky.” Woofa playfully says before pushing her best friend away, letting the team find a fond way to take a level of amusement thereafter. 

To acknowledge, Amy nudges the porcupine, who also comes with an agreement. “You’re not lying for an older brother. Those two have chemistry… I can feel it.” She whispers with a sly grin to show off her reaction.

“Speaking of which…” Knuckles breaks off the amusement, now shifting back to the serious topic. “Since Eggman has recruiters… how are we going to approach this? We all know this city is way too massive to explore, so we must have some plan to find more clues about where his base is located.” He lets the entire team shift their focus around the table, allowing the team to pitch ideas. 

“... I do have one thing…” Tricky mysteriously pulls out a paper from his glove, which slowly plops down onto the table. Initially folded, he unfolds the paper, revealing a map of Haven City. However, it is filled with drawings at specific areas throughout each district, showing the location of the supposedly outpost bases created by Eggman; it has its iconic logo drawn at the top of the map.

“Where did you get that?” Tails questions him while looking at the map with awe, seeing the details of how much progress Eggman has made in influencing a bunch of people in this city.

The porcupine lets out a snarly chuckle, giving off the vibe of a prickly trickster. To be fair… he is a porcupine with a bit of a trickster attitude. “While I was scavenging through the battle scene, I saw a mysterious paper that fell out of the ground while those recruiters were running away. They must’ve accidentally left something crucial… since they were probably scared of your gigantic hammer and your fists.” He takes a knowing look at Amy and Knuckles, who playfully look at each other as friendly rivals for who’s the strongest. “Anyways, here it is. All we have to do… is to execute our plan right.”

Sonic slams his hand down, the entire glove firmly planted onto the wooden furniture. “If we gotta execute our plan right, we all just have to do one thing.”

“Live and Learn.”

The Mobians smirk at each other, already knowing the reference from his words. The Haveners react with an acknowledged agreement, thinking that could be the strategy to win more battles and fulfill their mission.

“Looks like we’ll continue to explore the entire districts- except the Northern District- finding more clues, potentially stall out the progress on the Master Emerald, if these bases are giving support to it.” Tails says with enthusiasm, letting more plans fly by throughout this small apartment.

With a full-on agreement, the need for a plan has been quickly accomplished. Their game plan to deal with each of the district’s bases is the definitive role as a team. Although this team will be temporary when they do defeat Eggman and bring back the Master Emerald, it’s nothing short of anticipation, filled with excitement.

Now that the four Mobians and the two brothers are a team, it’s something to be grateful for to kickstart their journey. Together, they’re nothing more than the team that’s going to make the headlines. The team that’s going to save this world, where everything is contained in this city alone.

“Speaking of which, what should our team be called? We never had a team name until now,” Tails asks them, now sparking a group debate on what their team name should be.

“Four Mobians and Two Haveners?” Tricky replies first, albeit not the best response.

“Too descriptive.”

“Haveners Filled with Care!” Amy exclaims, knowing hers is a joke, but keeps the enthusiasm.

“Cute… but not enough.”

“Safe Haven,” Sonic says, with the team looking at him with approval. “... Seems like the blue blur gets the job done. As always.” He gives off his iconic shrug and smirk, a sign of his success. “Safe Haven, it is.” The team signals for a fist bump, grouping each other into a circle, extending their arms, and placing their fists around the center.

“This is it… our team. Are we ready?” Tails watches as they’re motivated, prepared to start their journey as the saviors for Haven City. With a quick nod by each team member, they all focus on their buildup to do a team effort for this group fist bump alone.

“1! 2! 3-”

“I'd like to join.”

The team is surprised as the brown dog scoots between both brothers, looking at her best friend with a knowing smirk. “I’m tired of working, and I think being on a team matters. Especially when I can’t leave my orange furball.” His response is with a groan, rolling his eyes to look away from her as she probably killed his mood. 

“Typical Woofa…” The porcupine quietly mutters to himself, with the newly formed team amused by the orange hedgehog’s response.

“But for real, let’s do this for the team.”

Sonic quickly regroups them, now seeing the team at its finest. Four Mobians and three Haveners, nothing but a team that could finish the job with the right mindset and queue.

“1! 2! 3!”

“SAFE HAVEN!!!”

This is a team, destined to stop Eggman and his plans.

And bring back the Master Emerald.

For now.

“You still have to be quiet. I have work tomorrow.” Woofa takes a long yawn before she settles in her bedroom, signifying that the team’s day is done.

…

Back in Mobius, no one has heard or seen the whereabouts of the entire team. To their friends or allies, their mysterious disappearance draws a blank, and they wonder where they went. To some, it’s their opportunity to deal with the enemies in their lives, instead of letting them get involved. 

Inside Dr. Eggman’s lair, on the journey he’s going through, leaving Orbot and Cubot to take care of the entire place, hoping for the best. Furthermore, with their advanced technologies, Eggman and ONLY Eggman can communicate signals from far, even through other dimensions. 

“Doctor…” Orbot says on the computer screen, taking over the line. “The lair is in perfect condition. We’re taking care of the place thoroughly…”

“Hmm… Amazing… Continue to take great care of my place while I’m on mission.” Eggman replies, letting his dreams come true with the Master Emerald right in front of him, useful for something that awaits his plans in the near future. “Speaking of which… where’s Cubot?”

“Umm… well…” The red orb-shaped service robot glances around the room, watching Cubot take a nap. “GOD DAMN IT, CUBOT! I TOLD YOU TO CLEAN THE MESS YOU MADE!!!”

With an instant reaction, Cubot wakes up, causing him to try to grab the mop from the mess to listen to his orders. However, he accidentally fumbles with the mop, along with the wet floor sign he made, causing him to trip onto the bucket, filled with mop water. All of the water decides to spill all around him, already showing off his clumsiness.

“Oh my god…” Orbot instantly leaves the discussion with his doctor, hoping to clean up the mess Cubot made. “Let me do it for you… seems like you’re a movement away from slipping on the floor-” However, when the yellow cub-shaped service robot tries to grab the mop once again, he accidentally bumps into his partner, causing them to both fall to the ground. “CUBOT!!!”

“Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” Cubot says as he tries to help him out, while being embarrassingly seen in front of Eggman through the screen. Both service robots try to get up, but the floor is very… VERY slippery, due to the metal floor. “I’m sorry, Doctor!” He says, before Orbot complains yet again, trying to mentor Cubot while still being annoyed by his lack of skill.

Once the screen is turned off, Eggman shakes his head at their negligible skills together. He wonders why he even lets them take care of his lair. Though… back in his own secret laboratory, he stares at the Master Emerald, still eager for his plans to unfold some time… some day…

Not only that… but with the number of recruits he has influenced, it causes him to be more focused on the Master Emerald’s progress, being less worried about the Badniks he has to repair. All the Badniks are repaired by the recruiters, who are thoroughly taken care of.

But the one thing he’s glad about the most…

“I’m glad to have a right-hand man… who lives in this dimension.”

Chapter Text

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

Bee-!

The brown dog wakes up from the alarm, groaning in tiredness. She slowly sits up on her bed, rubbing her groggy eyes and stretching from the tired weekdays. She’s glad today is Friday, hoping that whatever nonsensical tasks as a receptionist and taking care of a multitude of customers will finally be put to rest once she gets out of work. She does a long yawn, expressing her tired attitude yet again, before finally having the will to get out of bed.

Understanding that she has visitors in her house, she quietly does her tasks, brushing her teeth and taking a shower to start the day with hygiene. After finishing her usual routine, she quietly tiptoes her way to the living room, seeing the entire team sleeping. Some on the couch, while some on the floor. It didn’t matter where they were sleeping; all that mattered was a comfortable sleep. 

With a deep sigh of relief, she turns to the kitchen, and despite the dim lights on, she spots someone recognizable. 

Awake and eating breakfast.

“Morning,” Solid says tiredly, scooping in bits of cereal and consuming them.

“Are you seriously going to be awake at this time…?” She says, before going to the kitchen to brew some coffee, in preparation for work.

“Yeah.” He continues eating his cereal until the bowl is empty, thus finishing his breakfast. “You gonna do something about it?”

Though being the tired dog, she throws all her worry away, seemingly not caring for his way of living at this point. “Nope. Just gonna see my orange furball doing whatever he does for the best.” She says, stirring the coffee before eventually sitting down next to him.

“... So… you’re joining the team.” He doesn’t get out of the chair, but rather wants to continue their conversation together. “Have I seen you fight before?”

She glances at him, letting out a small and quiet giggle. “I wanted to join because I’m tired of working. We’re forced to be workaholics… doing things that we weren’t meant to be doing. Once you had the dignity to go on a little adventure without me, I felt a little jealous, and I wanted to experience the same adventure as you’re doing. You can’t leave out your best friend.” She gives a wink to him.

Somewhat amused, the orange hedgehog lets out a slight, yet contained scoff, trying to keep himself quiet from his team. He quietly makes his way to the sink to put the bowl away. “You’re gonna die if you fight with us.”

“Come on…” She quietly says, barely audible to him but not audible to the others. “... Aren’t you supposed to be humble? You know I can be as strong for my first impression. Don’t forget about it.” She says while teasingly pointing at him. 

“... Fine…” He walks up to the kitchen island, leaning against it as his best friend continues sipping her coffee. “We can go out right now to show me your fighting skills.” He says before pushing himself off the island. “But first… let me brush my teeth.” He leaves and locks the bathroom door, leaving her alone in the kitchen to finish her coffee.

“... That blue furball changed you… didn’t he…?” She thinks to herself, noticing a slight, yet not an overbearing change to her best friend’s personality.

When the two eventually get themselves prepared, with Woofa wearing her usual work clothes, she watches the rest of the team sleep. A peaceful state in her apartment meant for the hardworking heroes who’ve dedicated themselves to saving their own dimension. They’ve saved their dimension from eternal crisis, and now they’re in this dimension, helping them for the same reasons. Except for Tricky, but an argument can be made that he experienced more hardships from working in the same building that she’s gonna go to herself soon. With one last glance, she closes the door and leaves her apartment.

“So… where is my orange furball taking me now?” She rushes to him, where they both walk beside each other in the hallway. Not only that, but she eagerly glances at him, showing off a smile while her hands are behind her back.

“Somewhere.” He lets out a smile, teasing her to remain curious, yet hopeful for where he might bring her.

“... You’re gonna take me to your home. Aren’t you-?”

“Yeah.”

At the same rooftop, Solid opens the door from the stairwell and arrives at his home, where they both know. “Alright then.” He extends his arms out and prepares to stand in the middle of the area, letting his best friend get ready. “You ready to show off your moves?”

Once Woofa puts her work bag down, she gives a few hops, giving her some early momentum. “Just like basketball… You can’t defend!” She instantly rushes over and dials a punch to his stomach, crashing him to the edge of the rooftop.

“DAMN… it…” He slowly gets up, trying to recover from the immediate blast. “... Y-... You’re pretty…”

"P-Pretty? Aww…" She smiles with a hint of blush, going over to the orange hedgehog. "You're too nice." She jokingly says this while inspecting his injury to determine if it's minor or severe. "However… are you alright?"

To her relief, he says. “... good…” Leaving her unsure if he’s finishing his sentence or if it’s an indicator that her punch wasn’t that devastating. “I’m… good…” He quickly kneels, unsure how he feels from that. To him, it eerily reminds him of the time when Sonic was testing out his strength, just for him to get blasted through the wall. He’s lucky that he kept the rings, because they did protect him from further damage. Although this resulted in some of the rings being scattered throughout the rooftop, some were coincidentally collected by the two best friends.

“What are these things…?” The brown dog tries reaching out for the rings, but when in contact, the rings mysteriously disappear, creating the iconic sound. “W-Where did it go!?”

“Those are… rings. They’re from our interdimensional friends, and they’re important to them. They’re used to inflict damage, meaning that even if I try to land a punch on you…” He tries reaching his arm out to her, mocking it to be a weak punch, but fails because he’s still recovering from her punch. “Well… they’re like your… extra lives… if you’re not too reckless…”

With her being acknowledged by his words, she quickly runs to collect all of the scattered rings she could find before running back to her recovering best friend, handing him a few rings. “Now I have a reason to be a part of this team. It’s that work that is preventing me from helping you guys further along.”

Solid nods from her words, accepting what she said was true. He, along with the assistance of his best friend, lifts him to make him stand once more. “Thank you… brown dog…”

“Shut up with that name…” She giggles while responding, knowing how often they tease each other. “I’ll punch you again to keep yourself quiet.”

“Try me.” He says with bits of competitiveness in his voice, but she already can tell that he’s probably seen enough of her skills, despite just a punch to the stomach. 

In the end, they both laugh it off, finding it amusing that he would make such a comment while in his current state. “Yeah… I think I’m literally… the weakest teammate skill-wise…” He sits down on the edge of the rooftop, looking down at the streets yet again. 

“Don’t say that…” Woofa’s ears droop from his humble opinion, almost taking his words seriously. “You know how much I care for you. I’m not gonna make you think that we’re immortalized gods, being looked up to by some peasant.” She sits down beside him, also looking down at the streets while glancing at her best friend. 

“Just can’t help being humble…  You know how I’ve been ever since we met. I always say you’re better at doing your homework and stuff when you try your hardest.” He says, now getting into his soft spot, while his injury is steadily, but surely, noticeably recovering.

She tries her best to contain her laughter, but she fails to suppress a smile at her past actions. “I wasn’t the best, Solid. There were times, without your notice, I had ditched school… even college. You’ve repeatedly texted me every time I did. When you knew that I wasn’t on campus, you always assumed that I was sick, and I went along with the game. Always replying, “Yes… Thank you for looking out for me…” That always got the best laughs out of me…”

The orange hedgehog instantly looks at her, shaking his head with a combination of disappointment and amusement. “I could’ve just punched you right now… from all the hard work I did.” He somewhat regrets helping her, having that feeling of assisting her into the same company with a similar life… now imagining what life could have been if he had never helped her out. “Mmh-mmh-mmmh… You’d be left distraught.” However, even if he took all the time back to himself, wanting to redo what he should’ve done, he’s glad that he has a friend who has been loyal and caring to him. 

A friend where he doesn’t have to worry about leaving…

A best friend… where they’ll always be best friends… 

Forever.

“But… I’m your best friend, no matter what. Since middle school, when we coincidentally had the same classes and sat next to each other, to now, where we’re sitting beside each other.” He takes a moment to process how far their relationship has come, from being classmates to lifelong best friends. “No wonder we’re constantly teased for being in a relationship.”

The best friends take a moment for another laugh, remembering the embarrassing moments they had to go through, especially in high school. “Those times… They’re always mocking us… Your brother… Our friends… Even our coworkers are doing it too! Oh my god… I hope that damn porcupine doesn’t tell our interdimensional friends about our relationship… I have a feeling that Sonic and Amy would tease us the most.”

“Sigh… Typical Woofa… always thinking too much about others…”

“You know you’re never escaping me.” She brings one arm and wraps it behind his neck, bringing him closer. “I’ll think of you whenever my mind drifts to you.”

“Man… when do I ever escape from you?” He jokingly says in an exaggerated tiredness, almost emphasizing the need to escape from her.

…

“Right now.” She immediately lets go, the attitude shifting from pure happiness to exhaustion that Solid had previously exaggerated. “Too bad work sucks the fun out of the way. Not everything was meant for the two of us.” She quickly stands up on the rooftop, slowly walking to her workbag that she left on the ground.

With it nearly approaching 8 A.M., Solid instantly appears right in front of her to pick her workbag up, slowly handing it to her. “Might as well just walk over there, just like what best friends would do. Right?”

Giggles… “… Right…”

In the streets of Haven City, the hedgehog and the dog walk together, enjoying the morning rush hour thrill that they’ve already experienced for the past 7 years. Even with the honks and the constant bitterness by the commuters, it doesn’t stop them from feeling amused.

“Am I glad that I don’t drive to work?” She says, trying to hold her laughter, but fails to anyway.

“I’d like to see you try. You probably leashed out from the combination of those drivers and the customers you have to deal with. Sigh. Can’t blame you, though.” He says while both of them gaze at the traffic, reminding themselves of how lucky they are to live without a car.

“You know what sucks?”

“What?”

“Your brother. Why did you have to move out?” She smirks, teasingly asking him while nudging his shoulder. “Now he’s forced to commute by car or train, which takes wayyyyy too long.” She takes a sip of her coffee, trying to remain awake.

He rolls his eyes, partially in amusement, but a bit resentful. “Hated that district. I don’t care if we’re both raised there. If it led to my mother’s death… I can’t help but have such a sentiment.” The attitude shifts to a bit of seriousness, with Woofa still wondering how her best friend would deal with the loss of his mother. She tries to apologize for saying such words that may have accidentally triggered his sensitive content, but he cuts her off with a change of attitude. “... At least I don’t have to carry him for a piggyback every time.”  A weak laugh isn’t the normal laugh that she knows of, but it’s better than nothing.

“... Stop scaring me…” She enjoys watching him being happy and cheerful, reminding him of their childhood days, as opposed to the now mature and somewhat depressed hedgehog. Whenever she sees him lost in thought, she can’t help but want to find the reset button in the hedgehog’s heart, needing something to bring him back to his former days of innocence. But when she watches how Sonic does his role, she realizes that he’s doing a better job at expressing Solid more compared to how she deals with him. It’s mostly because most of their discussions relate to their past and work. The blue blur speaks more about the present and the future, almost reminding him that the past trauma is the past, and something to move on from. “No disrespect to the blue furball… I wish I could do better… but whatever works… I enjoy seeing hints of his pre-trauma self being shown.”

The two continue to walk through the streets, laughing and enjoying the show of their life. The sound of the honking and the public noise substantially disappears, and they feel alone in their safe circle.

Just being best friends.

To the best friends… this is one of their moments, where they’re never going to forget…

Being best friends forever.

At the Haven City Finances building, Solid ears droop from being separated once again, watching her enter to start her day. “Have a nice day… Woofa.” She knows that he’s saying goodbye, even if she doesn’t hear him say it.

Though… even if her shift starts in a few minutes, she goes up to her best friend and hugs him tightly. In return, he slowly hugs her back, returning the favor that the two best friends were meant to do.

“... We’re still the same height, y’know.”

“Shut up.” Solid slowly lets go, meeting her eyes. “Did you know that Sonic is the same height as both of us?”

“Really?” Woofa is intrigued; she never realized both hedgehogs were the same height all along. “I thought he was shorter than you.”

“You’re saying that because my quills are oddly unique.” He shows off parts of his quills extending above him, eerily similar to Silver, even though they don’t know about his existence.

She immediately reaches her hands above his head and compresses his quills gently, still feeling soft while looking at his quills from his backside, which is a mess. “Still… I don’t understand why you have strands of blue, black, red, and white fur on specific parts of your quills. Were you born like this?”

“Technically, yeah… I knew nothing about my backstory. My mom assumed that I was an orphan who had these unique quills. And for my name… it is written on my old gloves that no longer fit my current hands.” He takes a look at his current gloves, still reminiscent of the former gloves he used to wear since he was adopted. “I don’t know. Maybe my parents just called me “Solid” for fun.”

Their best friend's interaction was cut short due to the amount of time she had left before her shift started. “Damn it… one more minute.” She groans yet again, wanting not to work at all, but forces herself to anyway. “Well… have a great day, my orange furball!” She enters through the automatic doors, glancing at him one more time before the doors close.

In return, he lets out a promising smile, still keeping his promise of their best friend status… forever. He looks up at the morning sky, enjoying the mood of the city life before walking along the streets alone, before he goes on his phone.

…

“Enemy Information: Solid the Hedgehog.”

“Species: Hedgehog.”

“Fur Color: Orange.”

“Eye Color: Red, Gold, Green”

“Age: 25 years.”

The machine displays general information about his biography, seemingly giving the doctor simple details about him, without mentioning his fighting skills.

Eggman watches the screen, eyeing Solid, as he gives him the known enemy look without his notice. The orange hedgehog is now Sonic’s teammate, aiming to stop his plans with the Master Emerald…

He continues glaring at him before marking a singular word…

“... Solid…”

Chapter Text

Besides waking up early, leaving the team at his best friend’s home and his best friend at work, what better way to spend the weekends than to enjoy them early? So, for his first day, he decides to sprint around each block of his district, trying to find something noteworthy. However, he doesn’t see much, inspecting each store or restaurant frame by frame, but nothing of note. He’s aware that nothing aligns with his personal preferences happens around this time because it’s early in the morning. Why would anything be open around 8 A.M.?

So, for the sake of the matter, he decides to slow his movements, now no longer looking like the orange blur everyone sees every day. He takes one last sigh before eventually calling it quits and taking a walk back home.

It’s another sunny day with a cool breeze. Although it’s Spring and temperatures should be on the rise, the cool effect will last until people finally notice the temperature change. Waiting for Haven City to be back on its rise.

For now, the orange hedgehog looks at his phone, scrolling through media platforms to let time unconsciously pass by. It’s not like he doesn’t care about the time that he wastes, but rather wants some form of entertainment once in a while. He’s been severely bummed out by the lack of content after his mother’s death, even though it’s been three years- “Three years…?” He thinks to himself with such curiosity. “Time has been moving by way too fast…” Sometimes, he wonders why time moves fast. It’s been almost two decades since he was adopted, and he wonders why time hasn’t slowed down. He wishes he had the power to slow down time infinitely, without any problem. Sure, he could be his usual fast-paced self, but why do that when all he wants to do is embrace the life here in a normal manner? He doesn’t want to be a shy and introverted individual, nor an outgoing and extroverted one. 

He’s himself… in the middle. Consider him an ambivert.

Until then, the main goal is to return home. Though his focus was all aligned to the phone, feeling into his internal-

Bump.

“Oh, sh-...” Solid instantly pauses his words, knowing that whatever comes out of his mouth shouldn’t be said towards a stranger. “Sorry about that…” He nervously chuckles, hoping that the stranger isn’t too sensitive from their accidental bump.

“I’m alright, sir.” The gecko child responds, relieving the orange hedgehog from any potential mishaps or arguments. “Thanks for watching over me.” He says while standing there with a contentful smile.

“Thank god…” Solid closes his eyes and smiles before something tugs him. “Wha-?”

“Speaking of which!” He stops him from any further movements, leaving the hedgehog unsure why, but finally realizes it. 

He’s a street marketer.

“Are you interested in trying out the ultimate-”

“No.” The hedgehog answers, immediately feeling unsatisfied with what he’s going to bring up.

“Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!” He rapidly repeats the words, grabbing his arm in desperation. “I promise you’re going to enjoy this! I promise!” He exclaims, leaving him conflicted on whether or not to follow his guidance.

“Well, I mean…” He shifts his gaze to the child and to where he’s supposed to go, leaving him stuck on a choice between helping out the child or not. “Groans… Fine… What is this thing I should be trying out?”

With his happiness, the child ultimately makes his best introduction to his audience.

“Ahem.”

“Hello, good sir! My name is Doubt the Gecko! Get it cause you’re gonna doubt your choices when you- ANYWAYS…!” His voice has a light tone, similar to Tails, but with a mysterious quality. “I’ll tackle you in… for the Grand Good ol’ Maze!”

ACT 1: Stage 3 (The Grand Good ol’ Maze)

He yells out, showing off the building right in front of him, where a line of pedestrians is getting to try the full-on experience. “Filled with discovering prizes along the way, maybe a bit of jumpscare, and meeting up with some of your fellow civilians… It’s an ultimate experience for a hedgehog like you!” He points at him, letting him build up his interest in participating in this event.

“... Why me specifically?”

“Because you’re not some ordinary hedgehog.” Doubt inspects him closely at his appearance, immediately noticing how he resembles. “Mmh-hmm. Look at you. All tired and bummed out by the work environment you’ve been given. Tch. Tch. Tch.” He says, shaking his head in disappointment, unsure what kinds of fun the hedgehog has been through. “Normally, we offer a ticket that ranges from 20 Lunars to 50 Lunars, depending on peak hours. But for a hard worker like you, I’d say that you deserve a free entry for this amazing maze!” He nudges him constantly, hoping he’ll change his mind.

To Solid, what matters about a maze? He has something and somewhere to go through. It’s not like he’s constantly burnt from work. Sometimes, he has free time, especially when watching sports. And there are times when seeing his brother and best friend comforts him the most. But learning from today, after leaving his best friend, what was he looking forward to?

He wants to enjoy the weekends normally.

Because of his motive, and this one-time opportunity being shown right in front of his eyes, it’s his chance to grab the opportunity altogether.

“So…?” The child proudly questions him, waiting for his decision. “You into our maze?”

And the motive to satisfy the gecko is right in front of his eyes…

“Man, let’s do this.”

“Alright!” He briefly cheers on with his decision, proudly walking over to the entrance, where the mystery maze awaits.

“All eyes are on him…”

Inside the building, he watches those who are lined up, with growing anticipation, waiting for the prizes that might come their way before they find the exit. Some of them are strapped to these modified vests, indicating that it's a part of this game.

“Here are the rules, sir.” Doubt says as he presents the same vest. “The rules are simple. Just like a maze, start from the entrance and find the exit. You’re on a time limit, so do what you can. Just like what I mentioned, there are prizes you can find along the way as you walk through certain pathways. However, if time runs out or you press the button right here, strapped to your vest,” He indicates where the button is, which is on his right shoulder. “- you lose every single one of your prizes. The time limit is about… 10 minutes. Once any of your body parts crosses the entrance or exit, the game automatically starts or stops. Do you want me to repeat anything I just said?”

“Nope.” The hedgehog slowly puts his vest on, feeling a bit bulky, but not too shabby for a vest. “Everything is a-okay.”

“Good. Because you’ll be in the queue… shortly.” He points to the escalator, where the maze is supposedly at. “Just down there if you know where you’re going.” The gecko gives him a pat on the shoulder, giving him the best of luck. “Good luck, Solid. Make sure you have fun in the maze.” He gives one last reassuring smile before the hedgehog sets down on the escalators, where he takes a look back at the child before looking ahead once more.

Going down the escalator, he looks on the other side of the window, where he sees the other players taking the stairs instead. He probably thinks that the maze is bigger than expected, guessing that if an escalator were used for the normal players, it would overfill, something that shouldn’t happen.

“Alright, Solid. I’ll be at your service for today.” 

He instantly looks around, trying to find where the voice is coming from.

“It’s on your vest, furball.”

For now… Solid looks at the communicator from his vest, knowing that it’s Doubt’s voice. “I thought you left me.”

“Well, I’m not leaving you, but I’m observing where you are in the maze. Just so, if you do manage to call it quits, I’ll direct you to the nearest exit.” The voice is heard with bits of static, knowing it’s not the best communication device, but it’ll do for now. “Capiche?”

“Capoche.” Solid responds, reassuring him before he steps off the escalator.

Before the entrance door opens, a screen is displayed to him, an instruction. Doubt had already stated the rules, but for reassurance, the rules were stated once more.

Static.

Narrator: “Hello, fellow players! Young or old. Unemployed or Employed. Tired or Awake. Whatever even happens in your life. In this building… you’re presented by my co-workers… the greatest maze in the history of all of Haven City…”

“THE GOOD OL’ MAZE!!!”

Narrator: “Here are the rules for this maze! Like the mazes you know at heart, the objective is pretty simple. Enter and find the exit. Simple. HOWEVER… there is loads of content inside this grand maze… free if you manage to bring all of the stuff to the exit. I know you can’t carry as much, so be cautious of the choices you’ll get. HOWEVER… Yes, I’m saying “however” many times; is there a limit?”

???: “Yes, there’s a limit. You’re the narrator-”

Narrator: “Shut up! I want to go home after this!”

???: “Okay. Okay. Okay. We’ll make this the final cut!”

Narrator: “Sheesh… Ahem. If you don’t bring the items on time or give up, you’ll lose everything you had! Meaning all the items you carry, forget about them. So manage your time and your items! The psychological effect. For everyone…! … Oh, and for the time…”

Automated Voice: “The 10 minutes will start when the player crosses the entrance. The timer will automatically stop when you finish the maze or press the button on your vest to forfeit the game.” The voice is set out loud and clearly, letting Solid take notice of the time he’s limited to.

Narrator: “Don’t press the button, because I know you want those prizes. Best of luck to you!”

Static.

“Reminds me of an abandoned play area…”

The door suddenly opens ahead of him, revealing none other than the maze. It isn’t concrete walls, but rather an element of a cornfield, displaying a scenic, sunny outdoor farm lifestyle rather than someone being held hostage. Some artificial lights are set to represent the sun, and to their credit, it works perfectly fine. The floor is a dirt path, to further emphasize the outdoor game. And all was seen without ever crossing the line.

“Whenever you’re ready, Solid.” Doubt says from the communicator.

Once he stops directly behind the line, he takes a deep breath, adopts a calm attitude, and gives his best to start this maze and the timer. He doesn’t care about races, but for his fun time, why not?

DASH!!!

Automated Voice: “Timer starts now. You have ten minutes remaining, Solid the Hedgehog.”

“And… I would rather explore.” After an immediate jump, he stops his speed and casually walks around the pathway. Slightly focused on finding the exit, while he’s more interested in the items he’s scavenging for. “Now then… what prizes are there?” 

He doesn’t manipulate his speed, but rather intends to take his time to scavenge throughout the maze. It doesn’t take long before finding a prize, marked on the ground and surrounded by dirt. When he picks up the item, it’s nothing but a “Toy car…?” He examines the car, noticing its vintage. It’s an old car, a grandparent for its time, roughly around the mid-1950s, but a car collector's dream waiting to be desired. For now, he stores it in his glove, where he can give it away.

Despite the maze-like vibes, he inspects the cornfield itself. Despite being planted by actual corn stalks, a concrete wall hidden inside reminds the players that they’re not in the actual cornfield, but in a game. “So they can’t cheat.” He can’t just dash through the cornfields, of course, he’s going to get a concussion sometime soon if he runs his head into a concrete wall. He’s not a ram because he has seen many rams in public who ran towards a brick wall for no apparent reason other than to impress others.

He’s a hedgehog. 

All he does is run fast, sometimes.

Still, he continues to walk throughout the maze, scavenging for some prizes while making his progress towards the exit. He doesn’t really think much, focusing on the game’s objective while being aware of the time limit, which is what he’s mainly going to do, making his brain relax.

Proceeding his way from the maze is not out of the ordinary; in fact, it’s something that he’ll enjoy for the 10 minutes-

Bump.

“Whoa!” As surprised, Solid bumps into some player, also wearing a vest. “How are you doing?” He instantly recognizes the player, who was from the line just a few minutes ago.

“I’m doing fine.” The otter says, seemingly leaning against the wall with a calm attitude.

“... Is this usually a solo maze or with other people, because I can’t find any other players except for you?” The orange hedgehog questions him, almost skeptical of the scenery inside this supposed maze he’s playing in.

“Umm… this is with people. So you’re going to run into other players.” He crosses his arms, looking around the maze per usual, while trying to look for some other players that may cross paths with them.

“Alright then…” The orange hedgehog shifts his gaze at the maze ahead, now planning his approach as there are players with him.

“Hmm…” The otter slowly unveils his pocket knife without the hedgehog’s attention, displaying a menacing smirk as he slowly approaches him from behind. “Got you in my bait!” He lifts his arm in the air and strikes a blow-

“W-WHAT!?”

The otter’s arm struggles against the hedgehog’s grip, almost guessing that Solid knew something was wrong.

“Luring me into a trap… huh?” He displays a death glare at him, letting the recruiter know how bad going one-and-one against the orange hedgehog alone isn’t a great sign. “Damn Eggman recruiters… thinking your objective is easier said than done.” He kicks the otter in the stomach, launching him to the corn stock, where he hits the concrete wall. His stomach is intact, thanks to the special vest he’s wearing. “How many other recruiters are there?”

The recruiter slowly stands up, recovering from such a blow.

“A lot.”

Solid’s eyes widened from the alarming news. As he looks around, he sees an increasing number of recruiters quickly approaching him, all determined to kill him.

“… What the hell did Eggman do to influence this many people?”

“Come on, Solid… all we want to do is to give you a quick death, and it’s over.” The female frog recruiter says, fidgeting with her pocket knife.

“You don’t have to feel the pain…” 

“You don’t have to continue thinking about your past trauma…”

“Anything, really…”

“Give in to our pocket knives…”

Each step brings the recruiters ever closer to the now-surrounded hedgehog. Unsure of what to do now that he’s trapped. He thinks every single option he can create, using his speed to maneuver or fight them, straight-up. However, with every path blocked with a barricade of recruiters, there’s nothing he can do, being outnumbered and forced to submit to their request. 

“Isn’t that unfair?” The hedgehog says, giving everyone a confused look. “Being outnumbered, like a… 99 v. 1? I’m not sure how many of you recruiters are in this maze, but what I can tell is that you essentially trapped me. Applause to all of you.” The way he’s reacting to the situation makes this more confusing. They expected a more shocked and stressed reaction to the hedgehog. Instead, he’s clapping at them, almost admitting defeat while taking the time to respect their willingness to kill him.

“What are you saying…?” The lead female iguana recruiter says to his left, forcing him to redirect his gaze to her. 

“What I’m saying is that maybe you guys should have a deal with me. Like, sure, try to kill me. I don’t want to die, but your intent is pretty much over the roof.” His explanation is still confusing to them; some are trying to listen, while some are not patient enough to hear his so-called speech. “But, I’m literally playing a game here… while you’re trying to kill me. So…”

The male toad recruiter finally understands what he’s referring to and now tries to explain it. “Oh… I see what you’re saying!”

The otter's eyes widen, signaling that he also understands, but realizes what’s happening. “No! Don’t say-”

“You want to make this like a game, right?” Despite his teammate next to them trying to stop him from saying anything further, he unfortunately continued their conversation together.

“Y-Yeah!” Solid immediately gave a shout-out to him, pointing while glancing at the others. “Exactly what I’m saying! Basically… you guys target and kill me. Simple! … But… if I reach the exit before the clock stops, then you guys lose!” He raises his hands defensively, hoping that a compromise will work out. “Are we cool with that!?”

To the otter’s horror, all of them seem to agree with his words, almost confident that they’re definitely going to win, no matter the outcome. “Way too easy! Even if you created the rules, you’re still never going to go past us!” One of the recruiter’s words causes everyone except for the otter to erupt in a unified agreement for their locked-in victory; despite agreeing with Solid and his rules, their confidence is unmatched. “WHAT’S STOPPING US FROM WINNING!?”

“Me.”

Solid immediately kicks the recruiters on each side, stumbling those from behind like a stack of dominoes crashing into each other and falling. “They really fell for that? Dumbasses…” He puts on a rare smug expression, satisfied with the results.

“ARGH! DAMN IT!” The same otter who tried to stop the other recruiter from speaking is among those who fell with the others, his anger on another level. “MARK OUR WORDS, WE’LL GET YOU!!!”

Solid slowly turns his head, giving him the iconic Sonic shrug, and it’s eerily… similar. “The game started, and time is running out. You gave it your chance, should’ve rushed and gotten me. But… too bad.” He flashes away, stepping and hopping on some recruiters' heads before running around the maze. 

“DON’T LET HIM GET AWAY!!! GET HIM!!!”

The hedgehog tries his best, desperately navigating the maze and giving his all to find the exit. However, the footsteps around him echo throughout the maze. This leaves him unsure whether it’s the same recruiters who are chasing him down from behind, or recruiters he may potentially face ahead. 

“5 minutes remaining.”

An orange blur passes by each path of the maze, either redirecting or unknowingly following the right path. Sometimes, he reaches dead ends, and it stresses him out a lot. Unsure if these recruiters will catch up to him at some point. Either slowly or instantly. 

However, to his relief, nothing much other than footsteps everywhere, no recruits popping out or meeting him.

Bump.

As Solid turns to a corner, he accidentally bumps into a recruiter, whose eyes widen from their fateful encounter. “I FOUND HIM! I FOUND-”

PUNCH!!!

The hedgehog punches the recruiter in the face, knocking them unconscious. Yet, the loud voice notifies those around, and worse, those who were potentially following the recruiter. He slowly approaches the corner where he takes a peek on the other side, spotting multiple recruiters who are armed with rifles. And at the right timing, he nearly avoids his head getting shot as he hides on the other side, where a bombardment of bullets hits the wall, now blocking his path.

“They’re making my life difficult.” While some deep breaths make his rapid heartbeat come to a calm attitude, his mind shifts to the recruiters who aren’t only blocking his path, but also to the recruiters who are chasing him from behind. “Oh… no…”

The footsteps become louder until he finally sees the same recruiters, this time with pocket knives, their faces contorted into menacing smiles, causing the hedgehog’s eyes to widen in horror.

“4 minutes remaining.”

“4 minutes… how am I supposed to maneuver through this without causing any sort of deaths!?” Despite killing being the easier approach, it didn’t matter. He still implements his ideal approach to deal with these conflicts, without violence.

Like Sonic.

“C’mon, Solid. I know you can kill us.” The same female iguana says, still fidgeting with her pocket knife like a toy. “If you don’t, that’s the end of your life.” She also presents a wicked laughter, forcing him to become increasingly frustrated and concerned about this world. “You damn pacifist.”

“Shut up!” He yells back, his teeth and fists clenched from his rare outburst, causing the recruiters to be amused by his reaction.

“Just like the doctor said… unexpected. Oh well.” The recruiters give no time and instantly storm their way to the hedgehog, now leaving him all in all pressured.

“Solid… even with the ability that you have, you never use it to your advantage. Remember, you’re my brother. If anything goes wrong, use your abilities; I know you’re always reserved, holding yourself back from what you truly are. And I know you don’t want to kill. … Try using them to your advantage more often, to prevent any deaths. Isn’t that right?”

“Heh. Shut up, porcupine.”

Solid instantly flashes to the barrage of bullets, now visioning the fast, yet manageable movements of the bullets approaching him. Despite the armed recruiters aiming in front of the orange flash to make dodging the bullets more difficult, nothing is helping. The trail continues to make such astounding movements.

The other recruiters with pocket knives instantly stop before the corner and watch the beautiful and smooth movements that the orange hedgehog makes. Seeing the chaotic, yet skilful mindset of how a hedgehog like him can live in such situations. “Yet… we shouldn’t underestimate this damn hedgehog.”

Nothing left for the armed recruiters, they hopelessly watch as the hedgehog grabs all their rifles and instantly takes them apart, leaving them unarmed. All before he leaves them behind, to continue advancing through the maze. “I hope those were the last of the rifle users. I don’t want anyone getting shot.” In relief, he continues his journey through the maze.

“3 minutes remaining.”

Even if he feels like the exit is getting closer to him, the maze is still massive, preventing him from getting to the exit, unlike what he had anticipated. It’s either because of the rough stoppage between the recruiters or because he was too busy scavenging for some items beforehand, literally wasting 7 minutes. Otherwise, if he had ignored scavenging for the items or removed the recruiters from his timeline, he’d probably be out of here right now.

“Hey, Solid!” Doubt says on the communicator, causing him to jump slightly from his sudden voice, but he is relieved that it’s him. “Heh heh… sorry about scaring you, sir, didn’t mean to do that, but I heard gunshots around the maze. Is everything alright?”

Somewhat scared, the hedgehog briefly leans against the wall, slowly sliding down before sitting on the ground, where he calms himself down. “If you don’t scare me, that is… But, I’m alright. Intact… except for my morale. But what matters? Are you going to help me out of here?”

“I-I’m trying…” The gecko does his best to help him out, configuring a plan. “Maybe if I open the emergency exit right nearby, you could probably escape.”

“... Not a bad plan…” He slowly stands up, exhausted, while grateful for his chance to escape this mess with some assistance that’s needed for him. “Tell me where to go.”

“Sure. It’s…” The kid looks at the map and pinpoints the hedgehog’s location. “If you look to your left, you see two ways. Take the right pathway and you’ll eventually arrive. No, there won’t be anything else. You’re actually pretty close to the maze’s boundary. I’ll activate the emergency exit when you’re there; that way, I’ll prevent any of those pesky enemies of yours from taking notice. Got it?”

“Master plan idea, kid. 8 years old and you’re smarter than me.” He says directly to the communicator, impressed by his decision-making for such a young age. “Alright then… I’ll go there when I’m there!” He flashes to the pathway, listening in to the kid’s suggestion with ease. 

To the kid’s credit, it’s actually not that far from where he said. Just a few seconds later, the hedgehog is already at the emergency exit door, waiting for the door to open. “I’m right here. You with me?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m with you right now…!” Despite letting the hedgehog’s hopes up, he can hear the uncertainty within the gecko’s voice.

“Doubt, you good man?” He questions, now uncertain whether hearing his voice is a good indicator.

“I-I’m fine, but-” BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! “I-I think they noticed where I am now!” The keyboard clicking intensifies, reminding Solid of how desperate he is to help him out. “Why can’t I get this to work!?”

“Shouldn’t opening the doors be that easy!?” The hedgehog silently exclaims, feeling pressured once more.

The gecko doesn’t respond; instead, he focuses on getting the doors to open, but something is wrong. “It is easy, but someone cut off the access for me to open the doors!” Even with the appalling realization, he continues to do his best to open the doors.

THUD!!!

“OH NO!!!” The typing becomes more desperate until the recruiter starts running towards him. “HELP-!!!”

Static.

“2 minutes remaining.”

“Damn… it…” He clenches his fist, leaning against the wall again, hopeless, while the clock menacingly runs down. “This is my life… they’re tryna make this hard on me…” Instead of backtracking, he continues the mysterious path, hoping it will lead him to the exit.

Just avoiding the recruiters.

Just trying to find his way to escape-

Dunnnnnnnn………..

The maze’s lights, every single one of them, are turned off. Leaving nothing but darkness that surrounds the entire atmosphere. Solid hears nothing but his breath and the dirt’s crunch. “... This sucks… This REALLY SUCKS!!!” Not only can he feel the tense atmosphere touching his fur and bare skin, but he also feels his rapid heartbeat in this already tense atmosphere, making the situation worse than it already is. “My friend is gone… Hope this doesn’t get worse...”

With a deep breath, he hopes to calm himself in another tense situation, once more. When he decides to flash through the maze, it gets even worse. Not only did his trail leave a bright orange light around him, but worst of all, the recruiters know where he is.

“RIGHT THERE, GUYS!!! FOLLOW THE LIGHT!!!”

“Really? My advantage has a disadvantage?” He doesn’t have the time to feel pressured; he needs to rush. Right now. Ignoring every recruiter’s footsteps and yelling, the hedgehog doesn’t care about his position being exposed. He forces himself to be reckless.

Once he turns the corner, some recruiters are waiting for him ahead, rushing him with their pocket knives. Instead of them successfully landing a stab on him, the hedgehog doesn’t care at this point, all in for a close combat.

For one of the recruiters, they do a quick swing, trying to get him in the most random places. To their dismay, the hedgehog quickly dodges their attack, moving backwards before he trips them, stumbling until they fall onto the ground.

Though to the other recruiters, they’re meant to be tough and physical, not backing down from this fight. “You and me… I’ve been anticipating ever since the Doctor’s voice rings inside my head.” The female kangaroo does some short bounces, warming herself up before she rushes with her knife. “What do you have for me, hedgehog!?”

They both battle it out, their punches being neutralized, especially their kicks, as she utilizes her legs more. The hedgehog knows this, but he gets roundhouse kicked in the ribs. Seeing him clench his own teeth in pain leaves her satisfied with the results. “AH-HA!!!” She quickly pulls out her knife, now lunging towards him. “Is that all you got-!?” Solid, however, flashes behind her and kicks her on the back, causing her to stumble and fall on her teammate. “Damn… you…  hedgehog…” 

Meanwhile, the other recruiters waste no time going together, favoring a team approach rather than doing this 1-on-1, because it’s too risky. It’s disappointing to find out that even teams won’t work, because with his speed and fighting, he’s way too overpowered when dealing with them. Dodges, after punches, after kicks on them, all lie on the ground as the hedgehog looks at them from behind, watching their sore bodies. “Not gonna lie…” He says to the recruiters, “All of you really need to improve your fighting skills… Except for you.”

The kangaroo slowly darts her eyes at the hedgehog, noticing that he’s pointing to her. “... Me…?”

“Yes, you.” He says while taking a step back from them, his mind racing about finding the exit, while he thinks about the worn-out recruiters. “You’re… decent. N-Not in a bad way, but better than most or all of the recruiters here that I fought.” 

“...” Her reaction is priceless; she’s stunned that this is what Solid is about, not a person who’s acting heroic, but rather bringing those up. “Th-... Thank you…?” She slowly sits up, still feeling a bit weirded out by their interaction between the two.

Solid shrugs momentarily before he instantly leaves, not leaving an orange trail, but casually running. But to her, it’s nothing more than a change at heart. Almost rethinking what she’s been doing this entire time, being a part of Eggman’s recruits. For now, she decides to rest it off with her already sore teammates.

“1 minute remaining.”

Yet, this is what scares him the most, the timer. Even with his speed, he still has no clue where the exit is. “Am I running around in circles? No- That’s impossible, because if I were, the same recruiters that I already have dealt with wouldn’t be near me anytime soon.” He continues along the path, still focusing on his primary objective; however, he’s noticing how fast he’s getting exhausted from the constant running. “I can’t do this… I can’t do this anymore… Just tell me… WHERE IS THE EXIT!?” His frequent panting and exhaustion cause him to slow down, which worsens his situation. However, because he stops running, his trail is left behind, leaving nothing but darkness around him. 

Simultaneously, more recruits are heard from ahead, with their footsteps crunching the ground. Solid instantly goes to the other pathway, where he attempts to hide from them, hopefully drawing them further into the maze instead. Once the recruiters stopped at the trail’s supposed last location, they all looked at themselves, wondering. “W-Where is he at?” One of the female recruiters says, her voice filled with such nervousness, along with their trembling body.

“You expect me to know where he’s at? That hedgehog can be hiding anywhere!” One of the lead male recruiters' voices echoes throughout the silent maze, letting the orange hedgehog do his best not to get caught. “Tch. I knew this would happen… Spread out and find him!” He shouted out yet again, causing those around to listen to the leader’s orders and find him, separating the group.

“This is as close as smart they can be…” His ears twitched, hearing the crumbling footsteps coming closer to him. Now, he has to make a move when the recruiter turns the corner.

“Man… I can’t believe we have to do this… and that… Why don’t we take a break after this?” One male recruiter says, seemingly tired of getting the simple rules of finding and trying to kill the hedgehog.

“Beats me. Where do you want to go?” His teammate questions him, also feeling tired.

“Umm…” The hedgehog slowly stands up against the wall, hearing the conversation between the two male recruiters. For the recruiter, he glances at the ceiling, trying to create an answer. “How about the-”

PUNCH!!!

The hedgehog punches the recruiter’s face around the corner, only revealing his arm and glove while they fall to the ground unconsciously. 

“What the-!?”

PUNCH!!!

“Sorry about that… I have a life to go through. Just like you guys…” He slowly drags their body to the other side of the corner, preventing them from being seen by the other recruiters. “Wherever you go after I escape… go there. You two deserve to rest.” He whispers to them before eventually leaving the corner, continuing his path.

“Hmm?” The female emu heard some running footsteps, but didn’t turn around in time. Although she doesn’t know who this person is who ran away, she decides to walk across the path, trying to communicate with her teammates before eventually peeking around the corner to see the situation. “OH NO!”

“HE’S CLOSE TO THE EXIT!!!” She shouts out, causing the hedgehog to run faster, despite his tiring legs. 

Now it’s risking it all. At least the exit is finally nearby, lifting his hope once more, despite being in a dire situation. He notices the subtle footprints on the dirt, signaling where the recruiters must’ve come from. By following the path, he turns his head towards the corner, and there it is. The exit that’s waiting for him all along.

“30 seconds remaining.”

“Speaking of the devil… what more is to-” He tries to run once more, but suddenly trips, feeling his leg extremely sore compared to a few seconds prior. “... Than that- I NEED TO ESCAPE!!!” He tries his best to support himself against the corn stalks on the sides, holding onto each one for support. To his credit, he does a decent job getting halfway there, despite this ending being a longer pathway; his determination allows him to continue.

Until…

“AH-HA!” The same otter’s voice rings out from behind, not giving up on his pursuit to chase him after his disastrous start. “Oh… I believed in those 10 minutes… I believed... I believed. I believed. I believed. I BELIEVED!!!” He slowly taps his knife, followed by his other teammates pulling their knives out. “I don’t care about the rules you make… even if you do manage to escape, we’ll kill you…”

“NOW!”

“Oh, come on!” Solid yells out before he’s forced to use his legs yet again, jogging with a mixture of slight limping as he makes his way to the exit. “I thought you’d go along with our compromise!”

“SCREW THAT!!!” The otter roars while running, approaching dangerously close to the hedgehog. “IT’S FOR THE DOCTOR'S ORDERS!!!”

“10 seconds remaining.”

He’s getting closer. He feels it. He feels his entire body crossing the line to activate the door closing behind him. Because of this motivation, his jogging slowly transitioned to running. Although his running wasn't nearly as fast as before, the recruits were slowly catching up to him, which managed to made him run faster.

“I’m not Sonic. I’m not faster than him. But I know who I am, and I won’t let a single soreness cause me to give up on life that easily.”

“RUN FASTER, HE’S GETTING AWAY!!!”

“5…”

“This world was meant for me.”

“4…”

“My interdimensional friends are supporting me.”

“3…”

“My best friend as well.”

“2…”

“Mom… I know you’re there, supporting me. Tricky, you’re still here for your younger step-brother. Together, as a family."

“1…”

“I’ll always be… Solid the Hedgehog.”

THUD!!!

The door is slammed shut, leaving the orange hedgehog panting as he’s separated from the recruiters. Meanwhile, the automated voice finally reminds him of his miracle.

Automated Voice: “Player, Solid the Hedgehog has finished the maze, with approximately 0.1 seconds remaining. They’re able to collect the prizes they have on their hands for free. Thank you for playing!”

He doesn’t care about the prize he had scavenged earlier, which is only a toy car. All he’s able to care about is the relieved attitude he finally has after escaping the maze. Letting the recruiters know that they can’t kill him. “What a way to have fun with my day… Getting almost killed if they’re not dumb enough to fall for my trap.” He takes a deep sigh of relief before he looks ahead. “I’ll have to go back home and-”

Dunnnnnn……..

The lights immediately turn on, forcing the hedgehog to close his eyes from the already consumed darkness before he can readjust his eyes to the sudden working lights.

CLAPPING!!!

“Connnnngratulationnnnnnnns, Solid!” Doubt applauds him, clapping and cheering while two other recruiters act as bodyguards to the child. “You did it! You successfully escaped THE GOOD OL’ MAZE!!!” His voice echoes throughout the area, letting the hedgehog build up his resentment against him. “Since you’ve escaped my recruits, you know what that means!?”

“... What?”

“NOTHING!!!” The gecko points at him, appalled that Solid managed to outlive all of the recruiters he brought with him. “NOTHING!!! I’M THE LEADER OF MY RECRUITERS AND SEEING THEM BEING THIS STUPID-, ARGH…!!! FALLING FOR YOUR BAIT MEANS THAT I’M GOING TO DO THINGS MY OWN WAY!!!”

“You know… that’s what you get!” Solid starts talking back, a rare sign of frustration building up. “I’m glad your recruiters are dumb, because betraying me like that… faking your death… You deserved EVERY single one of those moments of me outsmarting them!”

“Though the fact that you almost lost to an 8-year-old and his plans is beyond something.” He crosses his arms, presenting a wide smirk.

“... I don’t mind. If you almost outsmarted a 25-year-old hedgehog who’s out here, none other than playing these games and running for their life… I’ll give you credit for such an attempt.” Although his expression is rather menacing to the gecko, his voice tells how brutally honest he is, almost regretting his words, but his personality says otherwise.

The gecko takes a step back, feeling the fear within his body. His guards somewhat halt him, now uncertain whether he should continue backing away from this hedgehog or remain confident to continue the discussion. “He was right about you… You are honest.”

“Who’s he?”

“Heh… You’ll find out soon, hedgehog.” Doubt says, now signaling orders for the guards to do something to the lone hedgehog. “Guys… don’t kill him… I respect his decision to finish the game. He can keep the prize… But put him to sleep.” The guards lift out their dart guns, aiming them directly at the hedgehog. “Have a good rest, Solid.”

Pew. Pew.

Although the dart guns were shot, he immediately dodges them, as expected, knowing that his reflexes are among his strengths. The orange hedgehog’s reaction shows an increased amount of resentment building up, clenching his fists as he glances at the already shot needles before looking back at them with a glare. He doesn’t want to hurt the child, but if it’s necessary, he might as well hurt his feelings, but not injure him. Something that could cause him to have a change of heart and intent, not solely to kill him.

Even then, he does manage to put off some words for the young one. “You really think that-!?”

Poke.

Once Solid looks at his neck, he glances at a syringe needle sticking to him where a substance is slowly injected inside him. He rapidly becomes sleepy, glancing around the area, where he sees a hidden recruit with a dart gun. He takes one more yawn before looking at Doubt and the other recruiters.

“Oh, come on-” Thud.

Chapter Text

Yawns…

The black porcupine slowly stirs up from the floor, stretching his legs before he pops his joints, giving himself the need to satisfy his entire body before he eventually wakes up. “Morning, Tricky.” Knuckles says as he watches the TV, seemingly bored with his morning, while eating his grapes. 

“I think work has gotten the best out of you.” Sonic says, also watching the TV. “You’re the last person to wake up, unsurprisingly. Like, what did your job do to make you that tired?”

“Man, I don’t know, bro.” Tricky tirelessly chuckles, almost like he takes his job as a joke. “You either gotta ask my brother or his dog, because they seem to have a better understanding of our work conditions compared to me. I’m there either working or messing around.” They both snicker it off, trying to contain their laughter, but they continue to make fun of it.

“You’re way different from Solid. He… has a mixture of your personality; at the same time, he feels more honest and mature. Meanwhile, you’re like… 100% messing around.” He can’t help but enjoy the porcupine more than the orange hedgehog. He’s balanced when it comes to relationships, as he tends not to bias one friend over another. Yet, their conversation is smooth, directly proportional to how their relationship has been so far.

“Anyways, I need to use the bathroom. I’ll see you when I-” Rattling. Rattling. “Wha…?” Rattling. Rattling. “Come on! I’m trying to use the bathroom here!”

“Ladies first, Tricky!” Amy shouts out, enjoying her time in there while she continues to hum to herself, enjoying the morning mood.

“Hmph. I guess some coffee would start my day off.” He mutters to himself, going to the kitchen where Tails eats some fruits for breakfast. He watches him eat before grabbing a cup to prepare a coffee, setting one down on the small island, before he realizes something. “Where’s Solid?”

“I don’t know.” Sonic shrugs while his gaze is focused on the TV. “I heard some footsteps early in the morning, but-”

“Let me guess, he hung out with his precious dog.”

“Spot on!” Tails points a fruit at him before digesting his healthy breakfast. “They’re trying not to wake us up with their conversation, but they failed to. I woke up and heard what they’re saying. I think it was like… “We can go out right now to show me your fighting skills.” That’s what he said to her, I believe.” He proceeds to consume yet another fruit.

“Huh…” Tricky finishes brewing his coffee and takes a light sip from it, making him slightly awake and a bit more functional. “Early in the morning, too… Eh, they’re best friends, so… as expected.”

The bathroom door opens, and Amy confidently blurts out her own opinions. “Wouldn’t that indicate love?” She walks out and appears in the small living room, sitting down on the couch. “I mean, the chemistry is there between the two supposed best friends, and seeing them together is like a movie scene! Oh… I can’t wait to see her after her shift!” She smiles contentedly as she closes her eyes, imagining the romantic situation while sitting beside Sonic.

“... I think you’ll be the first Mobian to get scolded by him.” The blue blur lets out a light scoff, giving out an early joke. “No, but for real, where is he? Don’t we need him right now to start our investigation?”

“That’s right… and even if he left with Woofa, he’d already be home right around this time.” Tails stops eating his fruits, concerned about the situation they’re in with their missing hedgehog.

“Tch. Might as well call him.” He pulls out the phone and calls his brother, leaving everyone silent to hear their conversation.

Buzz.

Buzz.

“Come on… I have no time for your games…” He silently mutters to himself, rapidly tapping his foot on the floor, now concerned as well. The thing about the brothers is that Solid always answers whenever the porcupine is calling him; a rare instance of him not answering leaves so much to be desired for the team.

Buzz-

Solid: “What’s up. What’s up. Sorry about that introduction… I’m either with my phone or not. Either ignore you or not. Either sleeping or not. Whatever matters. Have a nice day, tho.”

“What are you doing, Solid…?” The porcupine instantly tries to call him again. But the same results once more.

Solid: “What’s up. What’s up.-”

The last time, he put his phone down, sighing in disappointment. This leaves the team in major concern. “This isn’t him. He wouldn’t ghost us… like ever.” He puts both hands on the counter, now leaning and looking down. “We need to find him. I fear he’s been captured by Eggman and his recruiters.”

“That asshole…” Knuckles turns off the TV, clenching his fist before standing up. “The young warrior had a tough fight without our support, and now he’s captured.” A state of silence is heard loudly throughout the area, somewhat mourning his situation.

“This is pathetic… like…” Tricky seems to lose hope, “I don’t know what to do now…” 

“Tricky… don’t give up.” Tails approaches him with a pat on the back, trying to comfort the now concerned step-brother. “We’ll find him, do not worry too much.” He gives a reassuring smile, watching the porcupine coping with this situation.

Though they need a plan to find Solid. From the beginning of their question, how would they start this out? The first indication is to track him by using the device that Tails used earlier, which was also coincidentally on the orange hedgehog. But they couldn’t find any orange fur that had been dropped on the floor, now leaving them desperate for more ideas.

“... How about meeting up with Woofa? If she’s the last person that she had talked to with him, might as well strike up a conversation with her.” Sonic once again saved the day; a good plan to start their rescue mission. And with a unanimous agreement, they all start their day off outside, now investigating the whereabouts of the orange hedgehog.

Haven City Finances

“So that’s where you three work?” Amy questions with such astonishment, seeing the Haven City Finance building at its grand scale for the first time.

“Obviously, what do you expect?” The porcupine lets out a light scoff, being casual about her question. “It’s not THAT spectacular, but it’s the same thing I see almost every damn day.” When they enter the lobby, they instantly see the brown dog in the distance, working as a receptionist. Before the team approaches her, Tricky instead stops them, giving them a warning. “I swear, when I say that, she’ll react with such concern, I mean it. The problem is… if she had heard about this news, she would volunteer to risk her life to save him. So… I’m not going to tell her; one of you guys must tell.”

Confused by what he said, looking at the porcupine with a side-eye. “And why’s that?” Sonic skeptically asks him while crossing his arms.

“If I say that the recruiters have captured her orange furball without any evidence, she would definitely not believe me. She takes me as a joke. Compared to one of you guys, she would be on board.” He raises his arms defensively before sitting down on the couch, lounging in the lobby. “I know one of you can say it to her, trust the process.”

With Tricky disqualifying himself from being chosen to speak to Woofa, it’s now up to the Mobians, where they don’t have much of a choice, either. They all look at each other, eyeing their presence to find the best candidate to tell her about this situation. Ultimately, they decide to make a decision.

“Amy, you got this.” Sonic says while the rest fall behind, leaving her alone in the middle of the lobby, where she doesn’t have much of a choice either. It didn’t matter whether the team was to sell their souls away and rely on a pink hedgehog for their last-ditch effort. If it meant saving the world, might as well bring the energy, no matter the potential consequences.

She approaches the brown dog, already feeling guilty of her future speech, expecting mostly negative outcomes, but she gives it her all, as they finally meet once more. “Amy?” Woofa’s surprised face tells how shocked she is when she sees her friend visiting her. “What are you doing here- unless you’re stopping by to see how I cope with this environment?”

An honest answer, Amy shakes her head, instead taking a deep breath to tell her the following. “Woofa, I’m sorry for saying this to you, but…”

“... But, what?”

“Remember when you and Solid left the house earlier?”

The dog’s heart has been struck by lightning, sensing something severely wrong with the conversation and where it’s leading. She slowly stands up, leaning her hands on the table while giving her an anxious look. “... Yeah…? We went to his home to show off why I joined this team before we separated to start my shift…” But the worst goes into her heart, trying to let her stop, “Amy… please don’t tell me…”

“Unfortunately… he’s been… captured by them…”

And as expected, they all get to experience the worst outcome. Woofa slowly looks down at the desk, where she tries to contain her tears, but it’s too late. She cries, thinking it’s the last time hanging out with her beloved best friend. All she remembers is telling him to have a “great day”. Envisioning his face creates more pain, too, letting her sink the emotions deep.

“Don’t cry, Woofa.” Amy goes around the desk before she hugs her, trying to comfort her. “He’s been captured, but that doesn’t mean he’s dead. I’m sure that he’s alive, no doubt about it. Don’t think about his status being presumed dead; we don’t know if he is. Otherwise, we need to stay strong and find him. Remember, without your best friend, are you still strong by yourself?”

The brown dog’s crying is heard dying down, transitioning into sporadic sniffs. She slowly looks up at her and gives a reassuring nod. “I… am… I am strong…”

“Good.” She pats her back before she gives her more motivation. “Now, tell me what you’re going to do now that he’s captured.”

“I’ll save him… I’ll save my best friend.” She wipes her tears away, now regaining her confidence as she pulls out the same framed photo of them when they were younger. She stares at the picture for about a moment, letting Amy take her space and time to do what she has to do. “I’ll save you, Solid. You’re not going to die under my watch.” She shoves the photo in her pocket, now determined to do what she feels is important. “I’m taking a week off. I don’t care what the CEO says.” She stands up and picks up her belongings, now watching her coworkers, shocked that she’s leaving. “Good luck, you two; you should probably call someone to sub me in.” She gives the pink hedgehog a nod, accepting her decision while they approach the team.

“I knew you got it.” Sonic’s words cause Amy’s heart to flutter from his intrinsic motivation. “God, this made the team even better at being motivated!” He exclaims while they all form in a circle. “Now that you’re here, Woofa… what’s next to finding him?”

Although it seems like they’re in a dead-end, Tails has another idea, something that finally brings the spark to the team’s mission. “If we don’t know where he went after, then…” He slowly digs down inside his backpack, where he slowly unveils the same device. “I don’t know what to name this plan, sadly… but I do know the trick!” He says while setting the device on the table, where the team watches him hack with some configurations. “I’m hacking through some CCTV footage around this area. That way, we’ll be able to track where he went during the time span from when Woofa started working until when we were finally aware of his absence.” He guesses an approximate timespan, determining when he was away. “From 8 A.M. to 10 A.M., that’s when Solid started to become missing.” He configures some footage during those time frames, allowing the team to contribute to this plan.

After multiple pieces of footage are displayed on the screen, Knuckles spots something remarkable. “Hold up! Hold up! Go to 8:34 A.M. at Market Street.” Tails plays the footage once more, where the same orange hedgehog is seen, casually walking around the sidewalk.

“Bingo!” Tails gives high-fives to everyone, also patting himself on the back for his brilliant and game-changing plan. “Some Market Street footage around the times 8:34 to 8:40…” Reviewing footage from several cameras from multiple angles, before they witness the moment when the hedgehog accidentally bumps into a random gecko, and finally knowing the last location before entering the unnamed building that they can’t read due to the camera angle. But it did open up opportunities to investigate the place, and that’s their next plan. 

To investigate further.

“This is where my brother went?” They look back at the porcupine, whom they had almost forgotten was part of this team; he inspects the hedgehog further, watching his reaction to the gecko. Initially uninterested until becoming interested in the gecko’s motive. “That child… he’s luring him to something.”

Knuckles sideeyes at the porcupine, almost understanding from what he’s saying. “Are you saying that the child is a part of Eggman?”

“He’s assuming that he is a part of Egghead, not truly saying that he is.” Sonic crosses his arms, still watching the still frame of the footage. “If this is where Solid went, might as well investigate there otherwise.” He puts his right hand in a V-shape, not in victory, but rather pointing at the two Haveners. “You two. Can you take us to this known location in Market Street?”

With a look at the two long-time friends, who have a long-term trust with Solid, both nod at each other before they approach the entrance. “Let’s do this for Solid.”

Based on some evidence from where the footage was taken, with the help of the two Haveners and Tails, they all stop at the last location where Solid was last standing outside. They glance at the building before they spot its sign. “Grand Good ol’ Maze?” Amy lets a confused look from seeing the title. “What kind of maze would be given a title like this?”

“Probably someone random- but that’s not the point. I’ve never heard of this place until now.” Tricky extends his arms to show how shocked he is. “I’ve walked around Market Street a few times, and I’ve never heard one damn thing about it, even on the internet.” He says before thinking about what he said. “I’ve been here a few times… bro, what am I saying?”

Woofa lets out a slight scoff, “Dummy…” Causing the porcupine to dart his eye at her, but she quickly recomposes herself, turning back to seriousness. “I haven’t heard about this place until now. Solid and I have walked here about a dozen times during the weekends, yet I’ve never stumbled across this while sightseeing the new and trendy stores around here.” She continues staring at the place, sensing the menacing atmosphere, despite not being inside.

“Whatever happens inside, we’re not gonna waste time otherwise. We need a friend to rescue.” Sonic finally takes a step and approaches the building, where he looks at the sign behind the glass door. “... Closed? It’s literally been an hour since Solid went inside, and now it’s closed?” He glances back at the team before he finally understands the situation. “... Tricky is right. This place is a hoax. That kid must’ve worked for Eggman this entire time.” He smashes the glass, shattering it into pieces to reveal an opening, surprising the team and pedestrians passing by. “I have a bad feeling about this place. I suggest sticking together as a team.”

Inside the place, it’s eerily quiet, an ambiance that represents an abandoned playhouse. Although it is a sunny day outside, the darkness of the place consumes everything thereafter. “Here, guys.” Tails grabs three flashlights out of his backpack, now directing the team to something. “We’re definitely going to split up into two. So… who’s going with who-”

“My hero for sure!” Amy grabs the blue blur’s wrist, not letting go of him anytime soon.

“We got a first.” He tosses the flashlight to his best friend, giving the blue hedgehog a smirk. “I think the Haveners will get along through a reunion.” He tosses the flashlight to them, watching both friends immediately fight for it like brother and sister. “And… you and I, Knuckles… let’s do this.”

The combination of three pathways that go deep into the closed building contains three signs. One to the maze itself; one to the staff members; and lastly, one to the store, which literally leads to the maze’s exit. A perfect situation where they’re split into three. “Alright. Alright. I think Amy and I will go into the maze itself, because why not?” Sonic instantly rushes there while Amy follows in pursuit, leaving the other two Mobians and the Haveners.

“That was quick.” Knuckles amusingly says while gesturing his head to the staff room for Tails, whom he knows he can control the control panels for the entire place. “You wanna go right now?” His friend nods before they settle in the staff room, where, despite it being locked, the echidna punches the door with ease, letting them in.

This eventually leaves the Haveners alone, where they look at each other awkwardly. “I do a better job with the flashlight anyway.” Tricky snatches the flashlight from Woofa, causing her to growl, but the porcupine is tired of fighting; he would much rather tease her. “Aww… boo-hoo to the dog, sad for her beloved, dear best friend being missing. I wonder where the orange furball is now that he got you worried-” 

SLAP! 

In shock, the brown dog slaps the porcupine on his cheek, unexpectedly. “Shut up!” Woofa is definitely upset from his teasing, tired from him, while focused on finding Solid. “That’s your damn brother! Get a grip!” Based on this instance, there should be no jokes about the orange hedgehog’s status between them during the situation.

“Geez… sensitive…” The porcupine’s flashlight points ahead, where they eventually follow the path to the maze’s exit. “I was trying to make ourselves comfortable…!” His voice is heard with a sense of disappointment, while echoing throughout the area. “Woofa…! Woofa!”

Chapter Text

Maze

After going down the still escalator, the two hedgehogs reach the start of the maze. Although dark, they’re able to make out the farm-like maze that the orange hedgehog had seen before them. They slowly walk through where Sonic leads, pointing the flashlight, while Amy stays close, holding her Piko Piko Hammer.  “Imma be honest…” He confidently says to her, not regretting what he’s about to say. “I’m scared… This isn’t the atmosphere I typically enjoy.” The crunch of the dirt somewhat overbears the sound from their conversation.

“Really…? You made this situation worse than before.” She says as her grip on her hammer becomes tighter than usual. “Might as well rely on my precious hammer to smash through any potential-”

THUDDDDDDDDDDD!!!

The loud and sudden noise causes them to jump, and the sound continues to echo loudly throughout the entire maze. Both of them have started trembling in this already tense ambiance, keeping their position closer than ever. Their faces show concern with vulnerability, now feeling the intense pressure. To the blue blur, he slowly takes a few steps before making his voice loud and clear. “W-We are just some hedgehogs… who’re exploring around… this place…” Although his voice is heard with some fear, it’s enough for it to echo back in response to the loud object.

However, even with his voice, it didn’t matter. There was no response back to the hedgehog, leaving them more anxious about the now silent atmosphere. “... Did that do the trick…?” Amy whispers, audible enough for Sonic to hear, but she contains her voice to themselves.

“... I guess…?” He whispers back, still frozen from the loud thud earlier. They contemplate whether to continue their journey, wondering if it’s a good idea to continue. However, since this journey was all about finding and rescuing their orange friend, it took some time before they finally rebuilt their confidence to continue their journey. “Okay then. Let’s continue.”

Although they’re cautious of the upcoming paths, worrying about the unexpected moments that may appear, their confidence continues to rebuild, and they eventually become comfortable with each passing time. Their conversation transitions from the wariness of this maze to the more casual moments of their lives. “Remember the time when I had to race Jet, and he kept on teasing me for not beating him?” Amy nods slightly, understanding what he’s saying. “Turns out, he says that whenever he starts the race, because his ass shows off at the start, mocking this, mocking that. Mockingbird. I had to teach bro a lesson once I crossed that finish line before him. He is just standing there, glaring at me while I hold the trophy for good.” He takes a laugh, but a reserved one to prevent the maze from echoing. “I wonder how he’d feel now that there’s another hedgehog?”

Her grip on her hammer slowly weakens; hearing him in a casual mood allows her to open up a bit in this ambiance. “He’ll probably feel dizzier seeing four hedgehogs, but I digress. Solid would intentionally lose because of his humility.” She drags her hand through the stalks, intentionally feeling its firm texture. “... This place is indeed a hoax. These corn stalks have recently been planted, I can tell because Silver had somewhat taught me about these conditions. Or maybe because they’re not good at planting these stalks.” Her changing the topic causes Sonic to listen, directing the flashlight to the corn, which is leaning rather than standing straight up.

“He’s gonna be bothered by this…” Sonic mutters to himself, already envisioning the white hedgehog in this maze, complaining about the structure of these corn stalks. “I bet all of these stalks are planted horribly by these recruiters. They’d be subject to the worst farm I’ve ever seen.” Yet, something is abnormal about the way some of them stand. Some are awful or good, but some have been destroyed for no apparent reason. “Something’s wrong with these stalks…” He slowly approaches them, investigating the ruined stalks. 

“Some of them are snapped in half… which is weird because these are mature.” She sets her hammer down and feels the texture of these corn stalks once more. “… Very mature. Silver would definitely agree with me. It’s impossible to snap these in half unless we have a heavy-duty tool, yet no signs of any tools are around us.”

They look at each other, both sensing hints about Solid’s whereabouts. Sonic pans the flashlight ahead, where he stumbles onto something remarkable. “Bullets…?” He immediately picks one up, seeing how it’s already been used before spotting multiple bullets on the ground. Finally, something is going forward with their investigation. “Yeah, something is wrong here. No maze would have random bullets and its marks in the game.” They look at the pathway ahead and see the pack of rifles, all of them fully disassembled. “Speaking of more anomalies…”

When the two inspect the disassembled rifles, they recollect something notable. “Doesn’t Solid know how to disassemble a gun?” She questions him for clarification, still curious if this correlates with the orange hedgehog himself.

“He did. I remember the brother’s argument last night, and he disassembled Tricky’s gun in a few seconds.” They slowly look back at the pile of disassembled rifles. “Maybe he did it… while these recruiters were chasing him down…” And that moment right there is when they finally fit the pieces together. They both looked at each other once more, their hearts racing as they found they were witnessing a former battlefield that he had been through. “I think we should continue-”

Crunch.

The hedgehogs instantly direct their stare at the pathway ahead, hearing the slight crunching sound of the dirt. “Who’s there!?” Sonic yells out, his voice echoing throughout the entire maze from a singular crunch sound.

Crunch.

“T-This isn’t funny, bro.” He continues yelling, standing in front of Amy as her grip on her hammer tightens once more. “Tell me who you are… NOW!” But still, no response.

Crunch.

The flashlight is seen shaking, indicating how scared Blue Blur is. “R-REVEAL YOURSELF!!!” Still, his attempts to make the unknown person leave them aren’t effective enough. Rather, they continue to hear a period of silence, feeling their heart beating during the tense moment.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

The rapid noise of the footsteps crunching the dirt forces the hedgehogs to back away, creating more distance between them and the noise ahead. It’s not until a foot is seen from the other side of the corner that someone finally reveals themselves, raising their arms while they make out the unidentified figure.

A female kangaroo, who’s wearing some casual clothes and a vest. She looks at them with a tired expression. “I’m here, blue hedgehog.”

“Tch.” Sonic and Amy take a step back from her appearance, overwhelmingly becoming defensive. “Who are you?”

“... The name’s Mila Hopford… I’m a recruiter for the Doctor-”

“I KNEW IT!” He points at the kangaroo, now letting his emotions get the better of him. Amy has a stern look; she’s almost ready for combat now that the grip on her hammer has fully tightened. “WHERE THE HELL IS SOLID!? WHERE IS HE!?”

Mila takes a few steps back, trying to calm him down. “Wait! Wait! Wait!” She exclaims, seeing him becoming severely impatient, now needing something to say. “I’m not working for him anymore!”

The pink hedgehog slowly steps forward, ignoring Sonic’s protective stance. “You’re trying to play with us, aren’t you?” She’s no longer taking any kinds of jokes, retaining her stern look.

The kangaroo isn’t lying; she’s surprisingly telling the truth to them, yet her status remains highly skeptical for the Mobians. “They’re not trusting me… that’s the problem…” Ever since Solid had beaten her in a solo fight, she couldn’t help but look up at him, having tons of respect for his personality. However, to convince them otherwise… “I promise I’m no longer a part of him. I’ll… I’ll take you there, if you want...”

Of course, this still leaves them skeptical, although her words cause them to open up a little, reminding them what they’re here for. The Mobians look back at each other yet again, this time forming a plan. “You wanna do something about it?” Amy quietly asks him, who has a plan, but waits for Sonic to tell his plan to her.

“... I’m not fully sure if she is telling the truth…” Sonic mutters, keeping the conversation low to them. “... But I want her to have the opportunity to show that she is trustworthy. Maybe she can direct us, while we’re able-”

“You gonna finish your plan or what!?” Mila yells, impatient with their whispering and plans. “I’ll do what you two plan out for me while I navigate to your fellow friend-”

“Yes, we’re finalizing our plans!” He exclaims, directing the flashlight at her, where Mila blocks the light with her hand, avoiding the bright glare. “We’re going to follow you, but that doesn’t mean we have full trust. Still, try your best to direct us; we’re giving you a second chance. Alright?”

“... Sure.”

Staff Rooms

Squeeeeeaaaaaaaak- THUDDDDDDDDDDD!!!

“Not too loud, Knuckles!” Tails hisses, genuinely concerned about the area they’re in.

“It’s not like there’s anyone here.” Knuckles says, keeping the door open for his friend to enter through.

The atmosphere around represents an unfinished staff hallway, with walls still covered in graffiti, which the recruiters didn’t have the time or the inclination to care about. Everything is unfinished, even the floors. When it comes to each room, it’s the same thing, just bare emptiness everywhere, aside from the same usual graffiti.

“Sigh… Same old crap. I wonder if that’s the trend here; they were focused on making things outside look pleasing, while the inside isn’t their top priority.” Hints of his voice reveal how somewhat scared he is, but he shows off his unfazed demeanor.

The two-tailed fox looks at his friend with genuine curiosity. “Shouldn’t you be fazed by this atmosphere? You’re not trying to be fearless around here, aren’t you?”

The echidna widened his eyes; in response, he crossed his arms and casually swats the air like it’s nothing. “W-What, fearless? You’re saying that because you’re scared.” He mockingly points at him, displaying a humorous yet nervous laughter.

Beep.

The sudden beep causes both of them to jump, the unexpected sound coming from ahead. They look at each other, and an intensifying fear surrounds them. Tails, however, ignores the embarrassing moment when Knuckles reveals his fearful attitude and instead directs him to the noise. “I know we’re both scared, but we can do this. We can overcome this. We need to rebuild our confidence. That’s all.”

The sound remains constant; it isn’t accelerating or decelerating, but the noise remains frightful to them, almost like something is going to pop out from one of the doors. However, as they approach the noise, the beeping becomes louder, and they can sense its presence in one of the approaching doors.

“Okay, Tails. Which door do you think it is?” The echidna darted his eyes between both sides of the approaching doors, but also ahead and behind him, to make sure they’re safe.

“Hmm…” The fox leans closer to the door, trying to detect the location of the sound. “The left door; it’s louder compared to the other door.” He says that before noticing a lock on its handle, which was meant to be hidden from any vandals. “Hey, Knuckles… try to punch that door open. The door is locked, and we don’t have the key. Is it fine if you do the honors?”

Knuckles can’t help but present a knowing smirk, moving Tails out of the way before leaning against the other door, stretching his muscles. “No problem, Tails. All I need is some- pop-pop, before I KNOCK IT DOWN!” He instantly rushes to the door and lands a punch on it, which not only creates an apparent hole but also knocks the entire door and its frame down. Unnecessary, but cool nevertheless.

Despite Tails being worried about his friend, he doesn’t take a second before looking at the entire room, watching in awe as he sees multiple screens displayed in front of him at selected angles. In one of the screens, he spots Sonic, Amy, and an unknown kangaroo who’s directing them through the maze. However, Tricky and Woofa aren’t to be found on the screens themselves. But one screen really sets him on the edge… 

“Knuckles… you might wanna take a look at this…” He says while the echidna slowly recovers, pushing the door and its frame out of his body to where the fox directs his gaze.

“Holy s-”

Exit Pathway

“Damn, they got tons of exit ways for the maze itself. Probably used one to get my brother while they’re at it.” Tricky says, pointing the flashlight at multiple emergency exits that were left open. “I don’t know why they’re left open, probably to run for their lives if he were a threat to them.” He continues his casual conversation, not realizing that his friend remains dead silent. “... Okay, fess up, dog. You worried about your beloved hedge-”

“Shut. Up.” 

“Sigh… Man… Alright. Alright. It’s not the end of the world. I just wanted-”

“A casual conversation? How can you be so casual when we’re trying to save the person we care for the most?” Woofa’s voice is filled with concern for her beloved orange hedgehog. “It’s almost like you don’t care about him.”

Tricky raises his hands defensively, pointing the flashlight to the ceiling, where they both stop to continue their conversation. “I-I do care! It’s just that… he’s capable of surviving. I know my brother more than you, and he can manage situations like this. Just saying.” He casually says before continuing, leaving the brown dog to contemplate her situation.

“You…”

“Dumb…”

“PORCUPINE!!!”

Woofa rushes at the porcupine, who instantly tackles him to the ground, growling right in front of his face. “GIVE ME THAT FLASHLIGHT!!!” She yells out, fighting for it until he finally complies with her demand, letting her grasp onto the flashlight before she pushes herself out of him. “I should lead this trek if you’re not going to show effort. Might as well save him myself.” She shows no respect for his actions as she leaves him behind, risking her life to save one person.

“Good luck on that.” He mutters to himself, slowly standing up before following her. “If you do try to save him by yourself, what will happen if you die with him? Would you regret your decision?” His expression is now serious, and he feels concerned about her well-being.

“... I don’t care if I die… If I die with him, I’ll die.” She tightens her grip on the flashlight; her mind constantly racing around Solid. “I just… I want him back…” Her voice transitions to sadness, telling of the brutal situation to her. Though Tricky ultimately catches up, he looks at her face, showing determination while containing her emotions. She stares ahead without a hint of fear. “I’m not scared… I’m not scared at all.” She whispers, not getting into much detail. “I want him back, and I’ll get him back. I don’t care what jumpscares get me-”

THUD!!!

“... I’m way too focused.” Although the porcupine got jumpscared, he’s stunned to see her not fazed by the jumpscare, pursuing herself to continue walking this linear pathway, while her words tell the truth.

“Geez… You really are committed.” He says before catching up once more. “But for real, we’ll get him back. I know how much I miss my brother… We’ll get him-”

Thunk.

“Ow.” The porcupine instantly backs off, covering his face to relieve his pain; the dog points the flashlight at a mysterious door, inspecting it thoroughly. “Does this door go to the maze?”

“I don’t know. But only one way to find out.” She tosses the flashlight to her friend, causing him to widen his eyes, knowing what she’s going to do.

“Please don’t. This door is way too thick.” He knocks at the door several times, testing its thickness. From the knocking itself, it produces a very low and dense thud, proving his case. “You hear? That door is impossible to break down from your-”

KICK!!!

It didn’t matter how thick the door was. Woofa knocked the entire door down by doing a powerful dropkick, stunning the porcupine more with her immense strength.

“... That… was for him, wasn’t it?”

She slowly gets up, dusting her clothes before looking at him. “I think your brother is right… You should shut up for once.”

“Snorts, Typical Woofa,” He amusingly chuckles, watching her recover. “Been the same since he introduced you to me. It never gets old…”

Once they look inside the area, they finally find what they are pursuing. The area is lit green, a laboratory with multiple control panels inside the observation room, and multiple empty office chairs surround the place. As they continue to explore the laboratory, they look out the window, where they see an open area, dedicated to a living individual inside the stasis tank.

“Solid…”

The orange hedgehog’s body floats in the nutrient-rich suspension fluid, unconscious, while the machine around the capsule monitors his condition, which is relatively healthy. Nothing is wrong with this place; in fact, it’s surprisingly empty for an important individual, which is a good sign. However, the Haveners know that it’s total nonsense because the area below the observation deck is open, where they expect a fight to take place. Woofa instantly rushes to the capsule, opening the door to the deck, but Tricky holds her wrist, not letting go. 

“Don’t.” 

“Even.” 

“Try.” 

“You’re not invincible, Woofa. I know you have the heart to live, and if you’re trying to risk your life for a single soul, you'd better be wise in your decision-making. We’d rather figure things out together rather than be a reckless individual.” His words reminded her of how reckless she was just for saving her best friend. She was all in on rescuing him, not realizing that she was on the team, while also realizing that Tricky was a dumb distractor. Anyways, other than her best friend’s older brother, she understands her decision to be on the team: to help Solid. However, the orange hedgehog encourages everyone to make a team effort, allowing those opportunities, even though he’s not the leader. And for her, she has to take note of what he encourages and constantly bring that up inside her, to gain the slightest motivation.

“... You’re such a weird brother… Sometimes you’ll be caring, while other times you’re a complete bitch. I like it.” She teasingly pushes him away, bringing back her casual mood. “... Fine… I guess you’re right about me being a reckless asshole. I still care for my orange furball, but I’ll worry less nowadays, because we know who he is. He’s a strong hedgehog. We’re sure that he can survive such impossibilities.” They both fistbump each other in respect, enjoying the bond they still know and love.

In a combined effort, without a plan, they leave the observation room and jump down from the deck and into the open area, rushing to the capsule and watching the orange hedgehog closely. They don’t care if they’re now exposed in the open area, where a bunch of recruiters will jump at them; they want him back, completely ignoring his earlier speech.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Solid. You there?” Woofa whispers behind the glass, tapping it as she watches his unconscious face, unresponsive to her simple question. “We need to get him out. But how do we?”

“Break the glass, dummy.” Tricky teasingly pokes her forehead, pretending to make her dumb, before cracking his knuckles. “Now it’s my turn to break something.” He does some short hops before he-

BANG!!!

The glass is broken, causing the liquid to drain out and the hedgehog to fall slowly to the ground. But the glass isn’t shattered by Tricky’s punch, instead by a gunshot. “Speaking of you guys… your aim isn’t the best. I could allow you free tutor lessons on how to shoot more accurately, if you want-”

BANG!!!

The gunshot once again shattered the glass, which didn’t do much but expose the unconscious hedgehog even more, creating an open space for them to drag him out. However, this caused the recruiters to reveal themselves, jumping down from the hidden area above the observation deck, pointing their rifles or pocket knives at them. “You think I’ll accept your tutor lessons!? I’m an experienced recruiter, you pickle.”

“What the f-! Ahem. I am NOT A PICKLE, not even remotely CLOSE! I am a… a… Sigh… never mind. I’m a professional dumbass.” Tricky then leans closer to Woofa, keeping the conversation low between them. “... I’ll deal with these rookies. Protect Solid while I’m at it- and no. I’m not being reckless. They’ll come back while I deal with them.” He steps forward, leaving her in a state of shock.

“Tricky! What about-”

“That’s what I said, don’t worry. Remember, we’re doing this for him.” He readjusts his baseball cap, taking a few steps before looking back at her one more time. “Protect my brother. Or, your orange furball, if you know you know.” Leaving a small wink at her before he finally leaves.

“You’re impossible…” She mutters, hopping over the machine and hiding behind it, where she drags Solid out of the container. She pulls him out, where she makes sure he’s fine, which thankfully he is. Taking a peek at the open area, she sees the damned porcupine not caring about his well-being, still ironic how he made a speech dedicated to her being reckless. She hides behind the machine once more, where she pulls her best friend close for a hug, whispering to his unconscious ear. “Never leave me…”

The porcupine presents a menacing demeanor, spreading his arms while having a wide smirk. Although it's their first sight of the porcupine, the more he approaches them, the more they’re likely to open fire. Once he takes another step forward, it causes the recruiters to flinch from his sudden movement, now acting in desperation. “One more step, you’ll DIE!” One of the recruiters yells out, confident enough to shout at the menacing figure, while trembling in fear.

“I think anyone can take a step; even a person like me can take one more step.” He slowly lifts his leg, causing the recruiters to flinch and aim at him. “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I didn’t take a step, talk about sensitive!” They watch the lone and exposed porcupine frozen, teasing them.

“Heads up!” 

The porcupine throws the baseball cap at one of the recruiters, causing them to get distracted and hit by it, before he instantly punches them. In response, the rifled recruiters open fire at him, but it’s too late. He finally shows off who he is by flashing to multiple armed recruiters and snatching their rifles away.

“H-HE CAN RUN LIKE THOSE HEDGEHOGS!?” Woofa’s shocked expression causes her to rethink what these brothers are. Are they superheroes? Are they villains? Or are they random people that have powers in this world? Otherwise, she’s glad that she’s friends with the two, making her more protected than before. But for Tricky not to reveal his powers until now shocks her entirely. The porcupine would’ve shown off his powers a decade ago, due to his personality. Yet, she slowly hides once more and protects Solid, hoping none of the bullets or random objects strike them.

Meanwhile, with all the rifled users swiftly dealt with, the porcupine whistles while holding one of the rifles, mocking the pocket-knife recruiters. “Uh-oh, someone is armed. Maybe I can do THIS!” He points at one of the recruiters, causing them to flinch and fall to the ground, scared by his presence. “Just kidding! My brother condemns such violence as this, so…” He tosses the rifles away, leaving them exposed to the recruiters to get. “Number one… You can attack using your pathetic pocket knives, which I doubt you’ll even land one on me. Number two… Grab those rifles and try to shoot at me. But be aware, like those unarmed fools, you’ll be embarrassed by me.” He closes his eyes and presents a smirk, confident that no one will even land an attack on him. “Your choices. Some wise, others not so surely.”

A recruiter from behind slowly grabs the rifle without a singular noise, their face presented with a wider smirk than his, before they finally press the trigger.

Click. Click. Click.

“Gotcha! You want the ammo?” He shows off all the ammo inside his glove, knowing that he was one step ahead. “Too bad. 🎶 Someone’s gottaa fiiiiiight… With their pathetic pocket kniiiives. 🎶” His voice is heavily ridiculed with teasing, making them more upset. Not only that, but he somewhat dances, not caring about the drama he’s creating around him. Once again, this caused all of the recruiters to rush at him, clearly falling for his tricks yet again. At a flash, the porcupine vanishes at an instant, leaving everyone confused. 

Woofa continues to observe her best friend, waiting for him to wake up. She continues to check his status, like his heartbeat, hoping he still has signs of life. She’s lucky that he is still showing it, having luck on her side. “You’re fine, Solid… I’m there for you. Relax, orange furball… relax…” She contentedly whispers, still keeping him as close as possible, enjoying their moment together. It’s not until the porcupine teleports in front of her, causing her to jump and interrupting their moment. “Two questions! What are you doing here!? You have powers all along!?” Hissing at him while still shocked by what he truly is.

“One, I’m planning on doing something to them while I’m secretly hiding. Second, sorry to my brother for not telling him, but yes. I do have powers all along.” He casually says before peeking up, looking at the recruiters. “Just look at them. Clueless. They don’t know where I’m even at.” The recruiters continue to look everywhere, constantly being on the lookout for the porcupine; their gaze instantly switches from one direction to the other. “Oh, do you know why I teleported here?”

“Because you’re a dumbass.”

“... Well, that’s also true. But the real reason… is because I’m planning to stay like this.” He crosses his arms and settles down beside her, relaxing in this ironic moment.

The dog looks at him like he’s insane, definitely not knowing what he’s envisioning. “You’re insane… I guess those days of you dealing with the gang made you abnormal-”

CRASH!!!

“WHAT THE HELL!?” Shattered glass from the observation room falls to the ground as the recruiters cover themselves with the falling glass. “ARGH! COME DOWN HERE, YOU DAMN PORCUPINE!!!” One of the recruiters yells as they all form to aim at the room, waiting for the porcupine to reveal themselves…

Except it isn’t the porcupine…

It’s none other than the Mobians.

“Well. Well. Well. Looks like we’re back at it again.” Sonic jumps down, followed by his friends, where they stand there, a menacing sight to every recruiter’s view. “And this time… no holding back!”

KICK!!!

The porcupine unexpectedly teleports and kicks the recruiter to the wall, stunning his interdimensional teammates with his profound abilities. “Whoops! Didn’t need to introduce my powers, but here I am!” He exclaims before an entourage of recruiters rushes at him, who can’t handle the annoying porcupine for an extensive period of time.

Yet, they’re forgetting about the Mobians around them as they take action. Sonic instantly spindashes in a circle, acting as a shield to the porcupine. Once they caught the recruiters off guard, the rest swiftly dealt with them in the usual non-violent manner. “Tricky. Team up and help the others. I’ll check on Solid. Cool?”

“Cool.” The porcupine immediately springs back to action, watching the team fight like they mean it. He knows what he’s here for, to the point where he shows off another ability that stuns the team.

He starts spindashing, causing stares at the now spinning porcupine in its still moment. Once he builds up his energy, he releases and starts moving through, striking each recruiter. It wasn’t the smoothest or prettiest spindash they had seen; the prettiest being, obviously, the blue blur. He did hit his targets, causing them to trip or fall, which worsened the recruiter’s situation.

After he finally stops, he returns to his original form, where he momentarily takes a breather before the others stop by to check on him. “You… You have powers…?” Tails says in awe, rubbing his eyes to check if it’s reality or not.

“Stunning, isn’t it?” Tricky winks at the team, showing off his powers that weren’t seen before. “I know. I know. It’s weird seeing your first Havener spindashing like you guys, but that’s what makes us a team. Character growth and development at all costs.”

Seemingly, seeing how powerful he already is, Knuckles declares the porcupine is already powerful than his younger brother, whom the orange hedgehog doesn’t know how to do a simple spindash. Other than looking surprised, he approaches him with valued respect. “You’re amazing. Once, I saw you doing something that I wasn’t expecting in this new world, I knew you had the strength-”

PUNCH!!!

The echidna punches at one of the remaining recruiters, who tries to rush at him, but he wasn’t having one bitter moment. “What a way to ruin my speech, DAMN IT!” His anger causes his head to somewhat steam, visibly upset that his moment was ruined. “Simple words. Stronger warrior. You damn porcupine.” He pats his back before continuing to deal with the remaining recruiters still left in the open area.

With the combination of Tails’s equipment, Knuckles’s fists, and Amy’s Piko Piko Hammer, the recruiters have had enough time to the point where they fled from the scenery, regretting their choices. Although they celebrated, it was a rather brief celebration, because they had to check up on their other Haveners.

Behind the machinery, hidden, it is Woofa, Sonic, and an unconscious Solid. “It’ll take some time for him to wake him up.” The brown dog calmly says, throwing her past worries away once she declares that their friend is alright. “We need to get out of here. That’s all we should do-”

“OH COME ON!”

The child’s voice attracts the team’s attention, and they look around to find the source of the voice. The figure from the observation deck reveals none other than the gecko from the CCTV footage, angered by his failed plans. “I should’ve gotten better recruiters, I don’t know why I’m stuck with those J.V.-like first-year experienced recruiters who started to wield a knife and a gun…” He mutters to himself, thinking back in time when he should’ve requested the Doctor’s right-hand man for better recruiters.

“Do we seriously have a kid running the show?” The brown dog says, peeking up with confusion on the team’s face.

“I’ve seen worse, Woofa. Trust me.” Sonic reveals himself, hopping out behind the machinery to take a look at him. “I’ve seen those younger than him. I wouldn’t be shocked if we had to defeat someone younger soon.” He discreetly mentions a humanoid child, who he remembers is younger than the gecko and was working with Eggman prior to him saving the day once again.

The rest of the team pops out, now asking the mysterious child. “How old are you?” Tricky questions, demanding an answer. “I swear, if you’re younger than 10-”

“I’m 8 years old.” The gecko says, accepting such questions to get the team’s best reaction, leaving them shocked by how young he is.

“8!? You’re 8!? 8… helping out Eggman and trying to kill my brother!?” Tricky yells, shocked and appalled by an 8-year-old child who follows his Doctor’s orders with ease.

The Mobians quickly glance at each other, raising some questions. “An 8-year-old kid… is running this show? Why would he do this?” Tails questions them, stunned by how much Eggman has influenced these Haveners, even a child is subjected to him.  

“Don’t act surprised, you’re the same age as him. We both are part of a team, one way or another.” Amy’s words cause the fox to express shock, leaving him frozen in his state.

“Damn…” Tricky looks at Knuckles amusingly. “No need to tell him that, but I see you.”

However, Woofa steps in front of them, pointing at the gecko to keep the team focused. “Can we like focus on what we’re supposed to do?” She says, redirecting the team’s focus onto the child earlier.

“It’s fine, myself… I’ll show them how worthy my skills are, even if I’m a child.” He jumps down from the observation deck, not caring if the landing hurts him, but caring about what he’s going to do next. “It seems that you have infiltrated my maze. Not only my maze, but also the lab subject I had obtained in the hour prior. Let me show you off… with a little… surprise”

Snap.

The lights immediately turn off around them, and all they can see is darkness throughout the area, where they also can’t even see themselves. They all huddle close together, preventing anyone from being dragged by an unknown force. Luckily, none of that happens, and they’re relieved to see that once the lights turn on, they’re unharmed-

“Did you guys take care of Solid?”

Shocked, their eyes immediately dart to the spot where the orange hedgehog was supposed to be. They look back at the gecko, who menacingly laughs at them while gripping onto the hedgehog’s quills. “Should’ve focused on your main objective, it seems like.” He grabs a random pocket knife from the floor and holds it close to Solid’s neck, where he doesn’t necessarily slice or stab him, but more so, testing the team’s patience. “Come on. Come on. You want to save your friend, don’t you?”

Hearing some growling, Woofa presents a stern look and clenches her fists. She tries to sprint towards the gecko, but Sonic grabs her from behind, preventing her from getting the child. “No! NO! WE CAN’T LET HIM DIE!” She tries to fight him off, but Sonic, along with the help of Amy, prevents her from advancing. 

Instead, Tails steps forward, wanting to take part in this situation now that it’s something he could try to finalize himself. “What’s your name!?” He exclaims, letting out an interaction between the two 8-year-olds.

“... Doubt the Gecko.” He drops the unconscious hedgehog to the floor, who flops onto the ground. The two both approach each other, slowly but surely. “It’s sad seeing two 8-year-olds having different lives. One gets to live to fight to save their world. While the other follows their Doctor’s orders. We should be on the same team if I were you.”

“I am NOT going to be on the same team as you!” He fights back, not appreciating what’s happening around him. “Bring back our friend, we can ensue this without any sort of conflict-”

“SHUT UP, YOU TWO-TAILED FOX! I DON’T NEED SOME LESSON FROM YOU!” He fights even harder, planting his foot forward for a show of dominance. “If you want your weak friend back, you gotta fight me. No way around it!”

Tails looks back at the team, feeling stuck on where he is now. He wants help… he really needs help from Sonic… He doesn’t feel confident enough…

Yet, he gives himself a nod, staying true to himself, being confident and resilient. “Sonic. I know I’m not the strongest. But if it means being true to myself versus getting some help, I have to stay true to who I am. I need to overcome these situations myself sometimes.” He steps forward as well, leaving the two to approach each other. “I’m Miles Tails Prower. I don’t care how strong you are, or how weak I am… I’ll never doubt my own strength, just by seeing you.”

Chapter Text

Fact: Wth the age of just 8 years old, Doubt remains the youngest member to be a part of Doctor Eggman’s team, let alone, one of the higher-ranked recruiters.

The two 8-year-olds slowly approach each other, continuing to stare in anticipation of a confrontation. “I’m Miles Tails Prower. I don’t care how strong you are, or how weak I am… I’ll never doubt my own strength, just by seeing you.”

“Ho-ho, getting competitive, Tails? You don’t understand how I had to deal with self-doubt…” A barrier activates, leaving Tails separated from the team. To ensure a real fight will happen, every escape route has been closed off, and Solid has been fully sealed, preventing him from escaping together. “Let’s see if your IQ matches your fighting IQ.”

DASH!

Doubt rushes at him, where, despite Tails trying to evade by hovering, he finds a way to get the fox. “Ah. Ah. Ah. Escaping is for losers.” He grabs his ankle mid-flight, not letting go anytime soon. “Maybe something would serve you justice.” Revealing a taser from his pocket and-

ZZZZZZZZZZT!!! “AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

-causing Tails to scream in pain before falling to the ground. “Electricity failed you? Tell me. When’s the last time you got electrocuted this hard?” He kneels at the fallen fox, his voice mocking him as he casually waits for a response.

“Muffled.”

“Hmm? Someone needs some air to speak.” The gecko lifts the fox’s head, sincerely curious about what he is saying. “Say that again one more time?”

“That felt like… SURGE!” The mysterious boxing glove pops out underneath Tails’s backpack, causing Doubt to get punched in the stomach and launched against the wall, where he crashes onto a pipe that breaks, causing water to leak onto him. “Ouch... … And Kit…” He removes the strap from his waist and drops the boxing glove, which is only for one-time use.

“Urgh… ugh…” Doubt groans while recovering from the unexpected mechanism, lifting himself out of the puddle. “I can’t let him defeat me… I can’t show my imperfections…” He looks at Tails with anger, already intent on winning against him, before having a profound realization. “Or maybe… show off my abilities.” A wide and menacing smirk isn’t the greatest sign, now that the situation takes an immediate 180. He hasn’t shown off his powers since last year, showing off one by himself, all alone inside his former house. “Welcome… to my fantasy.”

Darkness ensues once again, yet is limited only to them. The rest on the other side of the boundary is completely unaffected; however, they witnessed the other side covered in darkness, fearing for their friend. “TAILS!?” Sonic slams on the barrier before proceeding to pound furiously. “TAILS, CAN YOU HEAR ME!?” The others look at him with concern, slowly approaching the Blue Blur. “TAILS!? TAILS!!!!!!!!!”

“Open your eyes.” Tails listens to the gecko’s voice, his eyes fluttering from the peaceful light, and it doesn’t take a moment to reveal how stunned he is to see the area that he’s in. Standing inside an ancient Greek temple, filled with clouds around him and bright sunlight in the background. “Don’t mind the clouds, unlike me, you’re probably claustrophobic.” Explained by Doubt, the clouds pass by the fox and disappear. “Anyways… Snap.” The carpet mysteriously appears underneath his foot, which guides him all the way to the gecko, who is sitting on a throne chair at a high altitude.

Somewhat confused about what his powers must be, Tails sees how Doubt is controlling his own world or temple; maybe he possesses a paracosm, but he doesn’t want to jump to conclusions. He decides to follow the carpet, having the confidence to continue his journey. “What are you trying to show me here?” His voice echoes around the temple; no response from the fox at all, but the stairs suddenly appear right in front of him, leading to the gecko. 

However, once a few steps were taken on the stairs, the floor and the area behind him collapsed and fell into the bottomless pit, causing him to hesitate whether he should continue walking. Since there’s nothing left behind, the only thing he can do is move forward. 

The sunlight from the ancient Greek temple sets, with a bright full moon visible to the naked eye. The stairs start to glow, guiding the fox to the stairs, and he hopes he won't trip on any. As he continues taking steps up the stairs, Doubt ultimately starts his speech.

“... My name is Doubt the Gecko. When my parents were deciding on my name, they feared the lack of creativity. They decided on the name Doubt to represent how their misfortunes with self-doubt will be carried on through my legacy. It’s weird, but they were correct. I’ve suffered more than I can imagine. 'Cause I was bullied when I was young… people in school made fun of me. I didn’t know how to act or react to the non-stop pressure. I was essentially trapped inside a box, a box that was crushing me… I represented a defenseless paper that kept getting crumpled, no one to spare. Not even my parents. It wasn’t until my encounter with the Doctor that he offered me a gift. I couldn’t help but feel rejoiced, something that I haven’t felt in my entire life. But, he wanted me to perfect first; if I listened to his commands, I would be perfect. Perfect than what I was prior. A perfect world is what he’s planning… Can’t you see that what the Doctor is doing is beneficial to this world? He’s using the Master Emerald to rebuild this society from the bottom up. Society is full of evil that serves no justice… let evil ones feel my pain. Let them suffer! LET THEM-”

“No.”

Doubt’s eyes dart towards the end of the stairs, where Tails plants a foot down before proceeding to stop at a considerable distance, both staring down at each other until the fox lets his voice be heard loud and clear. “Doubt, we’re the same age. Don’t let a single person influence what you are to be perfect.”

“Why would you care!? My life is already full of resentment! The doctor is giving me the perfect opportunity while I can’t go back and change what my past was-”

“You’re right. We all have to experience such treatment. We’re both raised in similar situations; our past was full of challenges, and we won’t deny it. However…” The fox takes a few steps, approaching the gecko at a menacing distance. “I had to overcome those early fights. It wasn’t pretty, but over time, I’ve built my confidence, and I eventually overcame my early life. I embraced my uniqueness; I don’t care if I was an outlier, I enjoyed life, even if I was socially distant in the past. Yet, hearing your story… I want to help you out.” He continues to approach the seated gecko, ever-so slightly building his anxiety from his approach, but the fox shows no signs of violence and instead peacefulness. “... I want to help you… like friends.” He gives off a genuine smile; no signs of regret shown once. “You’ve been bullied, I’ve been bullied. Let’s take the box apart into pieces, and free yourself. You can’t force the box to submit to your plea just by being perfect; it’ll instead crush you even more because of the stress you’re putting on yourself. Embrace your imperfections, ease off the stress, and let go of the gas. If you do, I’ll be the one to help you. Please?” Once the distance finally closes between them, Tails offers him a hand, patiently and politely waiting for his response. 

The frozen gecko stares at the fox’s glove with a shocked face, staring at it for some time. He realizes that Tails’s words may be much more than what he’s actually thinking. “… I’ve never gotten an offer like this, never in my entire 8 years… where someone has finally offered me help. My parents never helped me. Random bystanders weren’t getting better either. I was all alone... I was all alone… Not even my doctor offered such kindness… He never offered me help, but offered me a gift to perfection rather than actual help.” He slowly gets up from the seat, leaving the throne seat to disappear into the clouds. He takes a few steps before approaching him, still seeing the hand, free for an offer.

“You don’t have to be the villain. If you need help, I've got you.”

This was a remarkable moment, a moment the gecko could finally break away from the past pain and move on. He momentarily reflects on the life he faced, scrapping it all away as he reaches for Tails’s hand to accept their new achievement. Everything is going well under way.

“Doubt. Doubt your choices.”

Doubt suddenly puts both hands on his head, covering his ears to get rid of the noise surrounding him, and only him. Tails tries to help him, but he pushes him away, trying to handle these noises on his own.

“Are you sure he’s helping you?”

“I’m sure he is. Look at his face, he’s-”

“Tricking you. That’s what it is. He’s tricking you.”

“And why’s that? You believe everyone is pure evil?”

“You don’t understand what he’s been going through. Everyone is evil; never trust in anyone.”

“That doesn’t mean everyone is pure evil. He hasn’t met the kind and compassionate people, only meeting those who don’t respect humanity-”

“Even to those people, you still have to understand that everyone has their evilness. Look at Tails. I know he may seem a loyal person, but inside him hides evil; no one can see within his past actions, only himself.”

“D-Don’t listen to him. He’s trying to manipulate-”

“You think so, man? Look at him again, and doubt yourself. I doubt that he is a loyal person. We all have to make decisions for once, you know?”

“Let him decide on that!”

The voices continue to ring throughout Doubt’s mind. He creates a barrier between himself and Tails, where he screams in pain, trying to get rid of the voices. But the constant argument between the two voices forces him to beg them to stop. Still, his plea doesn’t work out, the voice lingering inside him. However, the voices soon and suddenly stop before the same condescending voice tells him.

“Always be doubtful with that two-tailed fox. Your life is already filled with self-doubt; might as well fight for dominance. Show the world who you are. How perfect you are. You’re no ordinary child. Your name is-”

“Doubt the Gecko.”

“A-Are you alright?” Tails nervously questions him; the barrier finally opens up between the two eight-year-olds. The fox slowly approaches, checking on the now frozen gecko, who’s still on his knees. “Doubt?” He shakes him briefly before asking him again. “Doubt-”

KICK!!!

The sudden kick to the stomach causes Tails to get launched, before landing- “Oof! … Doubt… what happened-”

“I’ve had enough of your trickery.” Doubt slowly stands up, looking at him menacingly. “I doubt that you’re trying to help me. You have evil inside you, and you know I hate it when people lure me into some trap.”

“How am I…?” The fox also slowly stands up, recovering from the impact while showing emotions. “I’m not evil, and I won’t betray you. Nothing. I’m trying to help-”

“Shut up.” 

Snap.

The area suddenly transforms into an arena, where the place is packed with audiences, all cheering on for Doubt. On the contrary, they all boo and mock Tails, showing no mercy for his presence. “You know a thing called Lucid dreaming, where you’re still conscious while in a dream? I’ve experienced it every single day. Whether it’s from a nap or a sleep, I obtain all my creativity… my narrative… and explain how much I’ve suffered. And I was able to control my dreams… So, welcome to my empire. My world.”

Tails couldn’t help but clench his fist, looking at the gecko with a rare hatred building inside him. “You didn’t have to make this difficult… but you’re insane. Mentally insane…”

“Insane. Indeed.” The gecko starts levitating, and the barrier once again activates, surrounding the arena, where the fox can’t escape. He continues to levitate, displaying his dominance, with a wide smirk. “Don’t worry, it’s going to be a clean and fair fight…” He instantly bull rushes at him, focusing on a powerful attack.

Yet, to him, it’s all about knowing that not everything is easy. He quickly identifies that Doubt doesn’t necessarily have a problem with self-doubt; in fact, that’s his character. Hence the name. And Tails understands his situation with self-doubt; in fact, he’s dealing with one right now, because this is a high-stakes situation, especially when he’s doing it by himself. But the difference lies in how they both handle self-doubt. Tails overcomes self-doubt by believing in himself, focusing on his strengths and accomplishments, while being surrounded by his lifelong friends. However, Doubt never had that chance; his early life was consumed by self-doubt, as his identity made it difficult to overcome those challenges. Seeing how he was almost… almost there to start helping the gecko, all for it to plummet. He’s going to give a second shot, but it doesn’t mean one without a convincing fight.

“I’m sorry, Doubt… but nothing’s gonna change unless I-” Tails starts to spindash at Doubt, hoping that it could at least trip him up. However, just as expected, he doesn’t get hit by his weak version of the spindash, to the point where the gecko’s punch overpowers the spinning fox, slamming him down to the ground, and letting the fox feel the impact and pain.

Doubt pins him to the ground, making for an immediate worst start. “Pathetic fox, you can’t even beat my simple punch against your complicated spindash. I’ll show you how perfectly I am… How perfect I am to the doctor…” He tosses him in the air and punches the fox into the barrier, continuing the torment. “Failure will never be a part of my life… I failed many times… and I want to prove how successful I am, by SHOWING LITTLE TO NO MISTAKES!”

“Atychiphobia… fear of failure–a perfectionist.” Tails slowly stands up, doing his best to contain the pain that was delivered to him. He watches as the gecko menacingly approaches him, cracking his knuckles to show himself. “Not everyone is going to be perfect. Especially for a person like you, you need to get comfortable with failure-”

“FAILURE WILL NEVER BE TOLERATED!!!” He exclaims again before instantly dashing towards the defenseless fox, going all in for a punch.

“Your first mistake. Know your surroundings.” The fox instantly hovers out of the place he knocked into, letting the sequence go into play.

Doubt’s eyes widened, but it’s a little too late. He trips over something and stumbles until he crashes into the wall, face-first, letting his anger rise to the max. “... Don’t tell me what to do…”

Tails also understands that Doubt is going to be subjected to mood swings, already witnessing the change in his emotions. Sometimes, he can be reserved, but in instances like this, he’s intense. For now, he propels himself to fly further up in the air, observing the still gecko from afar. “... Is he going to do something…?” His curiosity remains at its highest, yet he remains curious rather than investigating, knowing it’s a trap to go close to him. “... You’re not making me fall for-”

“For what?” Tails slowly turns his head around, witnessing the same gecko that was previously at the crash site is now levitating behind him before grabbing his neck. “Listen. I don’t care what offer you can afford me for help, but I’ll never fall for a betrayal…” He continues strangling the fox, hoping he can learn his lesson. “Evil people must die… Evil people shouldn’t have the heart to live…”

“Argh…” He tries fighting him off, but the squeezing intensifies, almost to the point of death. “Let… me… go…”

“Ho-ho! Try me!” The more he resists, the more it intensifies. Tails’s vision starts blurring; his part is to stop the insane gecko, but in the end, his eyes slowly close, an indication that Doubt has done his part. His role is to defeat the fox, whom he sees as a natural enemy. “... How worthless…” He effortlessly drops his body, looking away to think about-

WHOOSH! 

“WHAT THE!?” The sudden drop forces him to look down and see that Tails has mysteriously attached the rope to his ankle. “This fox is getting on my nerves! First trying to lure me into evilness and now this!?” He does his best to reach for the rope, trying to untie it, but no matter what, he can’t get physically close enough to reach the knot as he possibly can. Now that the ground is coming closer, he has no choice but to create a foam pit for both of them at the last second, which causes them to land deep in the pit, the impact causing as much foam to fly out. 

Coughing. “Ugh…” Doubt slowly climbs out of the pit, sore from the impact, where he lies on the ground. “He’s already a pain to deal with… alive or unalive.” He looks back at the pit, seeing that less foam is piled in the pit, and a lot is filling the arena. “Time to get rid of this mess.” 

Snap. 

With an instant, the foam pit and the foam slowly disappear, reverting to the original flat ground of the arena. The gecko slowly stands up, still recovering from the intense situation. He proceeds to look around the arena, trying to find where the fox- “No…”

His strangling must’ve been weak, because Tails is already alive and well. Just like Doubt, he’s also sore from the impact, albeit he’s come prepared this time. More prepared than the gecko. “I’ve seen much frustration in my life… I usually contain it, not letting my emotions get the best of me. But you… You’re a pain to deal with. And I won’t stop fighting till I convince you otherwise.”

Doubt’s stunned expression was rather brief because, in the matter of hearing his words, he once again presents a wide grin.

“Evil must die.”

They both rush at each other, landing a punch to test their strengths, which were equally matched and neutralized. “Same move, same strength. This is gonna get interesting…” Doubt tries to grab the fox yet again, but Tails uses his two tails to swat him away, creating separation. “How cheeky of a move. Of course, you need your ol’ reliable tail for support.”