Chapter Text
It was another day in Green Hill. Sonic and his friends would start their daily duties, battle ‘Eggman’ with whatever evil schemes he’d come up with, defeat him, and return to their lives. There would be occurrences here and there where his schemes would escalate into madness, but fortunately, it wasn’t one of those days.
Today was a day when Sonic would face a familiar black and red rival once more in a match that started with their bickering. The hero was originally out to run an errand for a fox friend, fetching out a specific part for an invention he was working on. He had returned to a local fox's place with the object in his hand, his quills out of place, and his eyes filled with annoyance. It wasn’t long before Sonic began his rant about his adventure.
“-And then Shadow was all like “I clearly won.” Sonic crossed his arms and dropped his voice dramatically to imitate the brooding hedgehog. And I was like, “What? PFT, no way! I definitely won that fight.” He continued, throwing his arms out to exaggerate his words. It was clear the two had a dispute over something. “I mean, you’ve seen us fight before, Tails. What do you think? I totally won, right?”
The fox had spun around in his chair while holding an object, turning to face the cobalt hero.
“Sorry Sonic, I wasn’t there today so I couldn’t tell you.” Tails spoke up, tinkering with the said object in hand. Sonic groaned in disappointment. He placed his hands on his hips and sighed.
“I just don’t get his deal. He just shows up out of nowhere and starts throwing punches at me. How was I supposed to know I was interrupting something?”
“Interrupting, huh?” Tails questioned, pausing on his handiwork for a moment to give Sonic his full attention. “Maybe he was looking for something in particular?” He suggested, watching as Sonic perked up.
“He mentioned something about ‘looking for something for someone.’ I don’t remember since I was trying not to be sent to the nearest palm tree.” Sonic rolled his eyes, stretching his arms at the sudden memory. “He was pretty grumpy today. It took a while to get away from him.”
Sonic reminded himself of the anger in his eyes as the hedgehog approached him rapidly, a fist meeting his right cheek before he was sent tumbling backward. To say he was grumpy would be an understatement.
Yet, there was something about his attitude that Sonic liked. His ability to mess with his counterpart was enjoyable, to say the least despite the circumstances. He wasn’t as angry as he was today normally. In fact, after their fight, sometimes he would see a little grin on his face. Blue wouldn’t admit it out loud, but something about that smile did something to him. However, he had a task to perform, so his fight with Shadow ended sooner than it normally would have.
“But that doesn’t matter, I got what you needed!” Sonic handed the object over to Tails who immediately grabbed it without hesitation.
“Thanks! I’ll be able to finish this thing in no time.” Tails exclaimed, resuming his work from before. As he worked with the small trinket, the hedgehog peered and tapped his foot rapidly across the wooden floor of the workshop. He looked around for a moment before planting his eyes on the invention, raising a brow at it.
“So, what exactly are you making?” Sonic asked, peering over his shoulder to catch a glimpse.
“Oh, this? I call it the Truth Ray.” Tails spoke as he reached for his helmet, quickly placing it on as he signaled for Sonic to stand back. Sonic took a small step backward as the fox used a laser to fuse two parts.
“And what does this truth ray do?” Sonic questioned, his ears standing upward at the name.
“It works like a scanner in a way. Whoever is in contact with the scan will be forced to speak the truth.” Tails said as he grabbed another tool next to him. He set the laser down to the side and flipped off his helmet, squinting to make sure it was in place.
“I was hoping that we could use this against Eggman once we battle him again, when he’s down, we could use the ray on him to reveal what he’s been up to lately.”
“Pretty scary invention there, buddy. You gonna take this baby out on a test run once it’s done?” Sonic grinned as he stepped closer to the desk, watching the boy fiddle with the invention.
“Depending on when Eggman attacks is when I’ll be able to test it out. Hopefully, it isn’t soon, it would be better to see its effects before trying it out.” Tails frowned as he wrapped up his final touches. Sonic caught his eye and placed an arm on his shoulder.
“I’m sure everything will work out fine. Besides, I’m sure Eggman has better plans to do right now- “Sonic was cut off by a sound in the distance.
As if it was on cue, an explosion could be seen less than a couple of miles away. Sonic scratched his chin and blinked a couple of times, dumbfounded at the sight along with Tails, who was just as surprised.
“Or maybe he doesn’t,” Sonic said, watching the smoke rise in the air. Tails quickly grabbed the Truth Ray and headed towards the other side of his shop.
“C’mon Sonic! I’ll give you a lift.” Tails yelled as he opened the door to an iconic red and white aircraft, none other than the Tornado. Sonic grinned as he swiped his nose with his thumb.
“You got it, buddy!” Sonic raced to the biplane as it began to pull off, taking his place on one of the wings. The duo looked at one another and gave each other a nod in agreement before taking off in the air.
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There at the scene were the rest of their friends. A red echidna had punched a badnik, crushing it with his fists alone as the pink hedgehog swung her hammer at the mob approaching her. Eggman wasn’t too far away, controlling a giant badnik with a small remote controller. The red creature grunted as he swung at the machines on each side, not giving any of those things a chance to land a hit on him.
While he was distracted, the pink hedgehog successfully dodged any attacks toward herself as her weapon collided with a badnik on her left. Up ahead, she caught sight of one of the robots creeping up behind him.
“Knuckles! Behind you!” She shouted as she rushed up to him, weaving through the crowd of robots to the best of her ability. Without a second thought, she threw her hammer at the robot, to which the echidna moved out of the way so she could get a clear shot. The badnik was crushed under the weight of the object and immediately dismantled at the impact.
“Nice one, Ames!” A cocky voice shouted from above. The two on the ground looked up at the sky, finding delight in the backup.
Sonic winked at Tails, who nodded in response before dropping altitude. Sonic balanced himself on the wing as they approached the ground at a rapid pace. Once they were close to the ground, Sonic gave a thumbs up and landed at a safe distance. The tornado wasted no time returning to the sky and circling the area, taking care of the robots in the sky.
Knuckles smashed another badnik to the ground before greeting the hero. “Nice to see you show up on time.” Another swing.
“Nice to see you too, Knuckles,” Sonic replied with a smirk, noting the unenthusiastic response from him. Though it may not have seemed like it, Sonic knew he was glad to have him here. There, he caught sight of Amy recollecting her hammer. He sped up to her, smashing a couple of badniks with a spin dash on his way to her.
“Hey Amy, that was a neat throw over there. You saved knucklehead’s tail out there.” He grinned. Amy smiled in response as crushed another robot with her hammer.
“Thanks, Sonic.” She said sweetly before running off to destroy other robots. Sonic hummed as he scanned the area. Huh, he could’ve sworn there were fewer robots earlier.
As Sonic joined in the battle from below, Tails took control of the skies, blasting each robot he’d come across. As he flew, he searched for any signs of Eggman, who had disappeared shortly after they had shown up.
Before he could question it, a large object had been hurled in the Tornado’s direction. With a yelp, Tails quickly flipped the tornado to dodge, managing to flee with a small scratch to the plane.
“Tails!” Amy called out, worrying for her fox friend.
“I’m okay Amy. Where did that thing come from?” He wondered. From the corner of his eye, he spotted the giant robot from before producing more robots on its own. It was strange, yet he couldn’t worry about it.
“Over there! We have to take out that robot. I’m not sure how, but it’s creating more badniks.” Tails alerted.
“No wonder there’s so many, they just keep coming.” Knuckles responded.
“Don’t worry guys, I’ll handle it.” Sonic grinned as he made his way to Knuckles. “Get ready to toss me!” He shouted as approached him. Knuckles nodded as he prepared himself. Once Sonic was in his field, Sonic lept from the ground and Knuckles did the same. He caught him midair and grabbed ahold of his hand. Once his grip was locked onto him, Knuckles quickly spun the hedgehog in a circle before sending him flying in the bad nick's direction. Sonic coiled into a ball as he readied his homing attack.
Sonic collided with the robot shortly after, sending both him and the badnik backward. He landed firmly on the ground while the robot landed on its back, unable to get back up. He wiped his hands against each other as he smirked.
“Piece of cake.” He said cockily. Tails, on the other hand, wasn’t so convinced. As soon as the robot was down, the machines were no longer produced, making it easier for them to clear them up. The tornado landed down as the gang met up to investigate the machine up ahead.
A hatch from the top of the robot opened up, steam stained the sky as a familiar foe emerged from it. Eggman. But when did he get in there?
Eggman coughed as he crawled out of the machine, wheezing at the smoke. He mumbled various curses under his breath as he tried to get away.
“Hold it right there, egghead,” Sonic said, appearing right in front of him. Eggman gasped and he crawled back to the machine, only to be cornered by the rest of the gang.
“Just what exactly were you planning here?” Knuckles said, not hesitating to go straight for the paint. That’s Knuckles for you.
“What’re you up to, Eggman?” Amy questioned, looking down at the man below.
“As if I would say anything to you pesky rodents.” He scoffed, ignoring the unpleasant group in front of him. Tails thought back to his new gadget from earlier. It was a risk, but what better time to use it than now?
“Guys, I was thinking of using this invention I made to possibly get information on him.” Tails started, getting the attention of every member there. He continued. “All I have to do is scan him under the Truth Ray and he should start talking. But the problem is, I haven’t tested it out, so I don’t know- “He was going to explain before he was rudely interrupted.
“I think Eggy here wants to test it out.” Sonic pointed out as Eggman audibly squeaked.
“Yeah, let’s see why he’s here.” Knuckles chimed in, cracking his fingers in a not-so-subtle way. Amy set her hammer down before placing her hands on both boys' shoulders.
“Don’t you guys think we should hear Tails out first? I think he was trying to say something important.” She suggested, but her comment was brushed off.
“Thanks for volunteering Eggman, we’ll tell you if it works,” Sonic smirked, folding his arms in triumph as Tails sighed in defeat. He shared an unknowing look at Amy before starting the 5-second countdown on the scanner and pointing it at its target. Eggman smiled and laughed evilly, or however, he did it.
“No, thank you, Sonic,” Eggman replied sinisterly. Before Sonic knew it, Eggman disappeared. The robot was back up in no time, it grabbed him. Sonic writhed in its grasp as he struggled to free himself. Panic settled in once he realized the situation he was in.
“A hologram? “He whispered in horror. “No, Tails wait! -” Sonic shouted, trying to warn his friend. But it was too late to stop the scan. In a second, everything went bright.