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Sonic was feeling down. Ever since Eggman got put in prison after his shenanigans with the Time Eater, Sonic’s life has slowed down considerably. Amy begged him to live in Hedgehog Village with her, and he just couldn’t say no! With this opportunity, he decided to confess his feelings to her, and their relationship finally began. Sonic liked living in Hedgehog Village; he thought it was a peaceful town and enjoyed the people in it. Cream and Vanilla lived here as well, which is why Amy decided to move there in the first place. Sonic often visited the Rabbit family and hung out with Amy a lot as well, taking her on dates and such.
But even though his friends were happy, Sonic wasn’t. So much has changed in so little time. He barely saw Tails anymore, and with Eggman gone, there was nothing for him to do. He remembered when things were simpler, when he was a kid. His father died at a young age, so his uncle Chuck helped raise him alongside his mother. But even then, Sonic wanted adventure. Whenever life was chaotic or just too slow, Sonic would always run off by himself and do whatever. But he couldn’t do that now. He wanted to be with Amy and protect her.
"Sonic, what’s wrong? You’ve barely touched your pancakes!" Sonic was taken back into reality when Amy tried to get his attention. "Huh? Oh… It’s nothing. I’m just not hungry right now." He spoke. Amy looked at him with a strange look. "But you’re always hungry in the morning, Sonic! What makes today any different?" Sonic lowered his ears. "I know. It’s just…" He sighed. "I’m bored! I’ve just been doing what you want to do. I know it makes you happy, but I want something new! I wanna go out and see the world!"
Amy chuckled. "Sonic, you’ve been around the world multiple times! Are you really that bored out by living here?" Sonic shrugged, clearly not knowing what to say. Amy got up, took her dishes to the sink, and chuckled again. She turned around and looked at Sonic for a moment with a tiny smile that almost said, "What am I going to do with you?" "Um… Am I in trouble, Amy?" Sonic asked.
Amy shook her head. "Not at all." She paused for a moment. "Why don’t you go for a walk? You probably need the fresh air anyway. And don’t worry about your food or dishes. I’ll take care of that," Amy smiled. Sonic chuckled and smiled. "Alright Ames. Just don’t eat my food like last time! I’ll be hungry later, you know." When Sonic reached the door, he turned to look at the pink hedgehog one last time. He was glad to have someone care for his freedom. He quickly ran outside, then slowed down when the house was out of sight.
Usually, when he went out for a walk, he never really walked around properly. He ran around like he always did when he beat up Eggman on his adventures. But this time was different. He didn’t have much time in his day to reflect on his thoughts, so this walk was all he needed. While on his walk, he thought about what had happened on his birthday. How he went around in the White Space with his past self. He essentially traveled through time, but he swore it wasn’t the first time he did it…
He did know for a fact that he went through several dimensions. He also knew that there were still so many dimensions out there, some of which had him and his friends. Even if there wasn’t much of a chance, he hoped to travel through new dimensions one day. But that day was not today. He chuckled. Sonic was just a silly dreamer, both then and now. Just like during breakfast, he was brought back into reality by a noise.
This noise wasn’t a friend greeting him. It sounded like a robot. A Badnik, perhaps? Sonic shook his head. Why would it be? Eggman was locked up; he didn’t have access to his Badniks! Now wasn’t the time to think about who was controlling them, though. The blue hedgehog looked around, his ears twitching towards the source of the sound. In the distance, he saw a bunch of Egg Pawns running into the city.
Sonic wiped his nose. Whoever was controlling them, Sonic couldn’t let these robots destroy the city. Not that they were strong enough, anyway. "Alright, badbots, if it’s a fight you’re looking for, then it’s a fight you’re going to get!" Sonic quickly ran towards the Egg Pawns. He had been waiting for far too long to beat something up. When he was halfway there, he formed into a ball and spun the rest of the way.
In the blink of an eye, the blue blur flipped into the air, then hit a pose and performed a homing attack on an Egg Pawn. With the robot’s wiring exposed, he kicked the Egg Pawn until it collapsed. Alright, one down, five to go! Sonic smirked. "You guys are weaker than I remember! Who’s controlling you?" Sonic wasn’t just misremembering; he was correct. The Egg Pawns were weaker.
He didn’t understand why they were, but he wanted to find the answer. He took down two more Egg Pawns before he heard another unusual sound. Then, out of nowhere, a large, tan skunk ran over and jumped onto one of the remaining Egg Pawns. "Get away from me, you freakin’ swordsman! You’re not gonna take me away again!" Swordsman? Does that mean…
A familiar shape popped out from behind a building. It was a coyote, one of Sonic’s old friends. Antoine D’Coolette, who was a soldier working for the Kingdom of Acorn. At least he was hoping to become one the last time Sonic saw him. "Iz zat... who I think it is?" Antoine asked. Antoine was holding his sword in his left hand, and there were a few twigs sticking out of his fur. He was also visibly shocked, though it was mostly from reuniting with his old friend.
Antoine quickly frowned in an attempt to look a bit more serious. He leaped towards one Egg Pawn, the one that the skunk was on. "No, don’t hurt me!" The skunk cried and soon after ran away, seeing how Antoine was distracted by the rest of the Badniks. With two slices of his sword, the Egg Pawn fell apart. "Sonic, take down the one on your left, while I’ll get the other one!" Sonic nodded, and the blue hedgehog ran over to the second-to-last Badnik. He slid underneath it, then jumped out in front of it and gave it a few powerful kicks.
And before he knew it, it was all over. The blue hedgehog wiped some dirt off himself, then walked over to his friend. So, Antoine, it’s been an awfully long time since I’ve last seen you. Are you still trying to become part of the Royal Guard?" he asked with a sneer. Antoine put his sword away. "I’ll have you know that not only am I a guard but also one of the highest-ranking ones." He looked up and down at Sonic. "What have you been up to since Eggman got locked up?" Sonic’s heart sank. What could he say? He didn’t want to sound boring!
With a deep breath, Sonic decided it was best to tell him the truth. “Honestly, I haven’t been up to much. Amy and I are together, and we’ve just been spending time with one another. I’ve also been hanging out with some other friends of mine. I think you might like them!” He chuckled, then continued. “But other than that, Amy’s been trying to teach me to cook. Let me tell you, I’m not exactly the best cook, but I can at least make a mean chili dog. How about you?” Antoine laughed, noticing how even now, Sonic still loved chili dogs.
“I’m currently on a mission for Sally Acorn. Badniks have been appearing out of nowhere all over the Kingdom. And it seems like zey are just now arriving here.” Sonic put his hand on his chin, thinking. Could this be the start of a new adventure for him? He hoped so. “So, what about that skunk you were chasing?” “He’s been leading a few Badnik troops into battle, so I was told to track him down. I’m not alone, though.” He took something out of the pocket of his uniform, something small.
Sonic looked at it in confusion and noticed that it was an AI chip. And out of the chip came a small hololynx. "Hello Sonic. You don’t recognize me but allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Nicole." Sonic’s face lit up. "Wait, Nicole? You… You finally have a form? I didn’t think that was possible for you." Nicole smiled. "Technically, all AIs have a form. Even ones trapped in robots. But when allowed, we take the form of a Mobian like you. We design our forms based on our personalities and interests. And as you can see, I am a lynx."
Sonic chuckled. "It’s a good look for you. What’s with the chip, though? I thought you were trapped inside that weird computer!" Nicole nodded at Antoine, who answered his question. "Every A.I. has a chip, Sonic. Nicole’s was on the computer. Sally’s brother managed to get the chip out of it, so carrying it was easier and more convenient for missions like zis." Sonic nodded in understanding. He never thought he would be so interested in something as nerdy as an A.I., but here he was.
“So let me get this straight: Sally assigned you a mission to track down some weird skunk dude who’s been using Eggman’s robots, and Elias removed Nicole’s chip from the computer just for this mission?” “Basically. Except I believe that Nicole will be free from the computer from now on.” Sonic thought about this mission. He didn’t really believe that a single skunk was controlling the Badniks. There had to be more to this. And that wasn’t something that Antoine could do alone.
"Antoine, is it alright if you come over to my place? I think that if we explain this to Amy and a few other guys, we could figure out what’s going on together." Antoine nodded. "Sure. We aren’t in a hurry or anything, so we can take as much time as we need to investigate the Badnik problem." Nicole nodded in agreement and disappeared inside her chip. Sonic looked up at the sun, noticing that it was pretty much noon already. Motioning to follow him, Sonic took Antoine on the path back to his house.