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For the average Mobian, waking up early was essential. Laziness is a death sentence, especially for those residing in rural areas. Children would suck down well-balanced meals and rush onto crowded buses. Adults suffered through traffic and long lines in order to be properly prepared for the workday. Even the elderly would rise early out of the force of habit. Today of all days was exceptionally busy because the Knothole Freedom Fighters had announced that they had, in their possession, a chaos emerald. The most prized possession in the known universe.
This rule unfortunately went over a certain blue Hedgehog’s head. His snoring had not gone unnoticed by his canine friend. He hated waking him up so early, but nevertheless, they had a long day ahead of them. Using his left tail, he tickled his nose, “blu-pffbah! What the hell Tails? It’s so early! Uuunnghh-five more minutes.” Channeling the traits of a scolding mother, he placed his hands on his hips and frowned. “Sonic me and Rotor are going to fire up the inter-dimensional teleporter to find the other six chaos emeralds.” Sonic sighed and reluctantly rolled out of bed.
“What’s for breakfast?”
“Pancakes and bacon”
“Let me wash up I’ll be down in a minute”
“Hurry up, Jules! I want to at least try to beat the rush hour traffic.” Knuckles was notoriously impatient when it came to forcing people to wake up early even at the expense of his Girlfriend’s morning routine. Julie-Su hid her aggravation from Knuckles in order to avoid an ultimatum. She knew how important the emeralds were to him, and she decided she didn’t need to look her best for the event. “I’m coming! Just wait outside for me!” Their relationship had still been going strong, and neither of them wanted to throw a wrench into it. Especially since Knuckles was planning a fancy dinner tomorrow night.
Sally slapped her alarm clock and lamented that her favorite song had to be silenced. "Alarm clocks were invented by the devil." Sally hated being dressed in extravagant clothes and would avoid having to do so whenever she could. Ignoring all the disenchanted stares and whispering behind her back was a burden. Juvenile as most of the insults were, it still cut her deep, especially when it came from her so-called honored elders.
“Shall we contact your companions before we leave your highness?” Sally sighed and declined her servants offer and took her bracelets out of her jewelry drawer. She ignited her ring blades and smiled. Guns and swords were a dime a dozen, but she wanted something to stand out and could potentially catch her opponent’s off guard.
“Let’s go!”
Traffic was the least bothersome thing the freedom fighters would face this morning as the upper classes began pelting the heroes with questions and inquiries aimed at demoralizing and violating the privacy they had fought so hard to keep. Nevertheless, they smiled and waved, Rotor fist bumped his former protegee and took his assigned seat. Bunnie Rabbot began chatting with her girlfriends, and Sonic asked Shadow about heading to a motorcycle show next weekend. King Elias Acorn raised his right hand, and everyone took their seats and consequently shut up.
"Mobians! The day came at last when we unveiled our Inter-dimensional teleportation machine. This will give us an undisputed advantage over the heinous Eggman empire. And to any adversary that may threaten the peace and justice of our great kingdom!"
Everyone envied King Elias' speaking abilities and unyielding charisma. Miles was mesmerized by his demeanor and had been practicing his own speeches in a mirror in his limited downtime. Unfortunately, Nicole had been spying on him and reporting back to her friends about it. Julie-Su was clearly nervous about venturing into another dimension and didn't like that they were very loudly announcing their plans for the whole planet to hear. Still, the King stated that their fellow citizens needed the morale boost. Knuckles noticed her lack of enthusiasm and kissed her on the cheek. She blushed modestly and put her head on his shoulder.
"And now, without further ado, let's get to what we have all been waiting for." He whirled around, and the stage workers pulled down the curtain, hiding the circular structure. Awes and applause echoed throughout the venue, and the heroes stood up to receive their much deserved praises. Rotor and Miles wasted no time to fire up the machine smiling ear to ear as the ground shook and the device began spinning faster than a well executed spin dash. Electricity was crackling, and the smaller patrons held their ears to avoid damage to their underdeveloped eardrums.
An uninvited guest was hiding on the catwalk licking her lips at the sight of the glowing blue chaos emerald. "Just you wait, baby, mommy's gonna give you a good home."
Rotor was frantically pushing buttons to stabilize the machine. But to no avail, he began running around waving his arms and yelling at his king to evacuate the venue. The regal Chipmunk obeyed and waved everyone outside, trampling and shoving inevitably followed no matter what the Freedom Fighters did. People were injured and terrified by the rampaging machine. Then, something jarring and unexpected happened. The portal stopped spinning and sent out a blue wave of energy into the crowd, narrowly missing Rouge's hiding spot. The screams were muffled by the shock wave and blinding lights from the chaos energy. When the energy subsided, the machine had been destroyed, and six of the Freedom Fighters had gone missing. Leaving behind the blue chaos emerald and a building full of shocked and traumatized individuals.