Chapter 1: Here we go again…
The piercing ring of a telephone broke the morning silence. Sonic groggily pulled his hand out from under his bed covers and slammed it on the telephone handset. In the same jerky fashion he pulled it to his head. “Yauuh?” he mumbled, still half asleep.
“Is that you, Sonic?” a female voice asked from the other end.
“Whaa.. Oh, hey Sally,” Sonic mumbled. “Wha..dywant..this early?”
“Early? Sonic, it’s 9:00 in the morning!”
“So…?”
“So if you want to make a better impression on my father, you’ll stop acting like a slack teenager.”
“I’m still 18,” Sonic mumbled in protest as he put his hand over the microphone. “Tails!” he yelled, “I need my—”
“Coffee?” Tails asked, appearing in Sonic’s bedroom doorway with a mug of heavily caffeinated, black coffee.
“Thanks, li’l buddy,” Sonic answered. He took a long gulp, shook his head, and ran his hand through his head spines. Visibly and audibly more awake, he picked up the phone. “So, what’s up, Sal?”
“That’s more like it,” Sally replied. “Something’s come up and it looks like the intelligence department is going to take another fall. Father wants me to get you started on another mission. Can you meet me in Central Park in an hour?”
“I guess… what’s the problem?”
“Can’t say over the phone. I’ll tell you when we meet. Later?”
“Yeah.” Sonic hung up the phone and turned to Tails. “We’re meeting Sal in the park at 10.”
“You sure she wants me to come along?” Tails asked.
“I don’t care if she wants you or not. You’re coming, or I don’t.”
Tails shrugged and went off to get his vest. “Should we stop by the garden in the meantime?” he asked.
“Not a bad idea. I’ll get the— hey! Where’d you get that?”
Tails had walked back into the room wearing a khaki vest covered in pockets. “What,” he asked, “does it not fit me?”
Sonic raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, it looks okay, but why on Mobius do you have it?”
“Well, I would’ve gone for the ‘utility belt’ look, but… well… you try wearing a belt.”
Sonic nodded. “I see.”
-
- *
In the middle of Mobotropolis’ hustle and bustle, the Chao Garden was a nice, peaceful getaway. It was a park enclosed with an eight foot high cement wall and chao playing in it, but the isolation came at a somewhat outrageous admission price. Sonic and Tails happened to have gift memberships given to them because of their heroics over the past year or so.
While no one person “owned” any of the chao, members of the garden usually had one favorite that looked like them in some way. Tails was off in the corner talking to “his” chao about the aerodynamic properties of heel rockets or some other topic five miles over Sonic’s head. He, on the other hand, was sitting under a tree with his chao, Juice, who was talking up a storm as well. “...and naturally Silver is tops in the IQ tests, but nobody but nobody tops me in the races!”
Sonic chuckled. Juice had acquired Sonic’s need for speed somewhere along the line, and everyone knew. Sonic’s eyes wandered over to a small fountain where a small red and black chao was gazing forlornly into the water. Juice followed Sonic’s gaze and commented in a more somber tone, “Morrill still hasn’t gotten over it. He’s been taking it pretty hard.”
Sonic nodded solemnly. Morrill was Shadow’s chao. Shadow had never actually paid admission to the garden; he simply ran over the wall as Sonic had done before he got his membership. Morrill and Shadow had grown particularly close toward the end of their adventure, and Morrill still missed Shadow terribly.
Sonic’s thoughts were interrupted by a small tug at his ankle. He looked down to find a small gray chao holding a small envelope up at him. “You’re Sonic Hedgehog, right?” it asked.
Sonic nodded and took the envelope. His name was typewritten on the front. He opened the envelope and found a short letter, also typewritten:
Sonic-
As you may well know but probably don’t, the green Chaos Emerald was stolen from Acorn mansion last night by Dr. Robotnik. I have since recovered the Emerald and will return it to you when you need it.
What Robotnik wants the Emeralds for, I have no clue. What I do know is he has renamed his “Death Egg” spaceship the “Cosmic Angel” (go figure) and has scheduled it for takeoff from the Egg Rocket launch base the day after tomorrow. Reasons for the launch we can only guess at.
What you do next is up to you. Simply know that the fate of Mobius may once again rest in your hands.
-A friend
P. S: Check your watch; you need to get moving if you’re going to meet Sally on time.
Sonic checked his watch: ten minutes to 10:00. Creepy. He glanced over the letter again. So, Eggman’s at it again, he thought. What else is new? Calling Tails, he headed out of the garden.
“Leaving so soon?” Tails asked.
Sonic only handed him the letter in reply.
-
- *
“I thought you might need this,” Sally said, handing Sonic a tall cup with a moon and star logo on it. Sonic and Tails sat down on either side of Sally: Sonic sipping his hot coffee on one side and Tails peering intently at her handheld computer’s screen on the other.
“Let me guess,” Sonic began, “The green Emerald’s been stolen.”
“First,” Sally said, “Tails, I’m surprised. I don’t see you as one to shop at New Army. What’s with the vest?”
Tails rolled his eyes. “It’s to carry stuff. It was on the clearance rack and I had a gift certificate.”
“Oooookay. Second. Sonic, the green Emerald’s been… How did you know?”
“I got a letter handed to me at the chao garden,” Sonic replied. “It’s right… um… Tails?”
Tails reached in one of his larger pockets, retrieved the letter, and handed it to Sally. While she was reading, a tall dog in a black suit walked up behind the three of them. “Not planning any more treasonous plans, now, are we princess?” he asked.
Sally opened her mouth to protest, but Tails beat her to the punch. “Mr. Goldman? Great, you’re just the person I wanted to talk to. You see, a couple of day ago I was…” He continued speaking, barely stopping for breath much less letting Goldman get a word in edgewise.
“That’d be Mr. Goldman, the intelligence officer,” Sally whispered to Sonic. “He’s always thinking the two of us are planning to overthrow the reigning monarch.”
Sonic raised an eyebrow. “He thinks we’re conspiring against you’re dad?”
Sally nodded. “Sad, isn’t it?” Sonic only took another sip of coffee.
“...so you may want to fix that security hole on your atrium server,” Tails finished. “If you need me to talk to the King about it—”
“NO!” Goldman nearly yelled. “I mean— no thanks. I appreciate— er, the Sovereignty appreciates you’re concern. Thank you for your time, citizen.” He shot a look at Sally that said “I’ll be back,” then he walked off briskly. Tails slapped Sonic’s hand and reclaimed his seat.
Sally glanced over her shoulder to make sure Goldman was out of earshot, then she pulled up a small video on her handheld. “You guys need to hear this. It’s my father’s morning intelligence report,” she explained.
- *
“Who stole the Emerald?” King Acorn thundered. “Goldman, I’m waiting for an explanation!”
“You’re not going to like this, sir,” Goldman said with a broad grin. He pulled up a video on a small TV. King Acorn was blocking the camera view, but Goldman continued to explain the video. “This clearly shows Sonic Hedgehog, whom your daughter spends so much time with, taking the—”
The king brought his fist down hard on top of the small TV. “First off,” he said slowly, “I don’t like what you said about Sally. If Sonic was not in my full confidence, I would not let her within five miles of him. That brings me to point two, which is that this isn’t even Sonic. See the spine shape and the tuft of fur on his chest? This is Shadow committing the crime of which he has already been pardoned. That brings me to point three, which is that this is security footage from TWO! MONTHS! AGO!”
- *
Sally tapped the “fast forward” button. “There’s nothing here but Goldman looking like an idiot trying to find the right footage.”
- *
“Ah, here it is, sire,” Goldman sputtered. The video clearly showed Robotnink swiping a security card and taking the emerald. Robotnik then turned to face the camera, at which point Goldman turned off the TV. “Um, you don’t want to see that part.”
The king was trying very hard to restrain himself. “Why was Robotnik waving at me? If Robotnik is going to wave at me, I want it to be through an OUTSIDE camera. How did he get inside?”
“Um… he got a security pass?”
“I can see that. HOW! DID! HE! GET! A PASS?!” the king yelled at the top of his lungs.
“I… well… I’d ask the security firm?”
“Oh, them. That software company YOU hired to manage security around here?”
“Um, yes?”
“I will.”
“Oh, and, um, sir?”
“Yes?” The king seemed very close to the end of his fuse, and one could almost see steam coming out of his ears.
“Um, he wasn’t waving.”
The king exploded. “DO YOU THINK I’M STUPID?!” he screamed. “YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE SMART ONE HERE! YOU’RE THE HEAD OF INTELLIGENCE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!”
- *
Sonic was cracking up laughing. “Dude,” he said to Sally, “I had no idea your dad could yell like that!”
“Which is why you need to behave around him,” Sally answered.
Tails, on the other hand, looked concerned. “Goldman hired Minitech to handle security?” Sally nodded, and Tails shook his head. “Their software is full of security holes, and they’re running the Sovereignty’s security… sad.”
Sally shrugged. “We’ve got more important things to worry about. Namely, the Chaos Emeralds. I’ll rest easier when they’re in a safer place.”
“So the GUN bases aren’t?” Sonic asked.
“No. You saw what happened last night, didn’t you? Now, here’s a phone; call me every so often and I’ll tell you where to look. I don’t want to tell you more than I have to in case one of you gets caught.” She handed a small, silver phone to Tails who promptly stuck in in a pocket seemingly designed for that purpose.
“Me, get captured?” Sonic asked, feigning offense.
“Can’t be too careful,” Sally replied. “Now, if you’re going to get the emeralds, you’ll need security clearance.” With that, she produced two pass cards, each with a prominent number one on them. “These will get you anywhere, so don’t let me hear you abused them, okay?”
Tails and Sonic both nodded. If either of them were caught abusing privileges, it would spell doom for Sonic and Sally’s relationship and the many waivers Sonic and Tails had that let them bend certain rules, such as being pedestrians on the Speed Highway and using random buildings as launch pads. Tails naturally stuck his card in one of his pockets, and Sonic slipped his inside one of his gloves. “Why do you think I get extra large?” he asked when Sally gave him a weird look.
Sally shrugged. “Okay. Now, for your first stop, you might want to go see Green Hill. I hear it’s lovely this time of year. The Emerald’s in a small outpost about half a mile left of the main gate.”
Sonic nodded. He turned to Tails and said, “Race ya, buddy!”
“You’re on,” Tails shot back. In the blink of an eye they were off, Sonic running and Tails flying.
Be careful, Sally thought to herself as they disappeared into the distance.