Sonic REINTRODUCTION Ep.III - Family Ties

“From the Cloud City Historical Archive databanks:
Dr. Ivo Robotnik, born approx. 130CE in the region of the Old Earth known as Eastern Europe. His experience in industrial engineering and cybernetics earned him a position as Chief Engineer aboard a colony ship during the Second Exodus…
…celebrated as one of the founding fathers and most notable citizens of Cloud City after the many discoveries made by Dr. Robotnik himself - including the method of robotization - were implemented by his company “ROBOTNIK ENGINEERINGS”, not only improving the living conditions of the new wave of colonists, but also greatly speeding up the process of human adaptation to the conditions of our new home planet…
…expressing the belief that building a strong bond between the human nation and the native peoples of the planet Freedom was essential in setting up a brighter future in which everyone would live in harmonious prosperity. Dr. Ivo Robotnik later volunteered to act as an emissary on behalf of Cloud City and a foreign advisor to the king of Mobius…
…barbarous king, drunk with power and blinded by the technological superiority that allowed him to bombard his country’s former adversaries back into Stone Age, fell victim to his own ambitions as a military coup took place in the capital of Mobius. Dr. Robotnik sought support in the City Council to authorize an intervention and prevent Mobians from wiping their own kingdom off the map…
…suspicions were raised, some even going as far as accusing Dr. Robotnik of overstepping his boundaries as the Prime Minister of Mobius. The head of the “ROBOTNIK ENGINEERINGS” later released a statement claiming that the Mobian society wasn’t yet ready for a more active form of international integration…
…the project which he was quoted to call “the crowning achievement of his career”. The malicious tongues across the globe - and especially in the Capital City - dubbed it “the Death Egg” because of the similarities in design to a fictional weapon of mass destruction in the old era science fiction. Known for his healthy sense of humor, Dr. Robotnik adopted the nickname as the official title, but emphasized the fact that the space station was intended only as a deep space exploration and terraforming tool and would not carry weaponry of any kind…
…the Cloud City citizens were shocked to learn that after the repeated attempt to get the now legendary space station into orbit, the Death Egg apparently exploded minutes after reaching the planet Freedom’s exosphere. On board the vessel were several hundred personnel including the world renowned scientist and engineer Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Following the tragic event the official sources put the blame for sabotaging the Death Egg’s engines on the international terrorist organization known as the “Freedom Fighters”…
…stating that “ROBOTNIK ENGINEERINGS” has not yet fully recovered after the loss of its CEO. The company is currently being led by Dr. Robotnik’s only surviving blood relative…”





Not a simple botanical garden, but effectively a piece of their lost home world the outlanders brought with them to planet Freedom, the Millennium Park has always been the pride and glory of the Cloud City denizens. Keeping an enormous island floating several kilometers above the sea level, let alone tending to the many diverse plants that covered its surface was no easy task and to make it possible an uncountable amount of scanners and mechanisms lay hidden inside of the flying rock. The same complex system that kept the sky over the park clear during the day for hikers and other visitors to enjoy, during the night showered the isle with enough water to keep the forests and meadows it carried lush and perfectly green.
The cycle repeated itself endlessly with no exceptions and so when the clock struck two in the morning, heavy rain clouds began to gather above the Millennium Park. Afraid that an occasional lightning might start a wildfire, the brilliant minds behind the weather control machine made sure that no electrical discharge could occur, but today a random onlooker could see something unusual: now and then the darkness over the central island would light up with a bright flash. It wasn’t a naturally formed thunderbolt that caused this however, but rather a thin blinding line of energy that hit the ground with a loud bang that could be heard from many miles away.
The few people who flocked together on nearby islands to watch the spectacle exchanged confused glances and wondered what might’ve been causing it. No one knew for sure and almost nobody noticed a single tiny dot reluctantly flying towards the incipient storm: Tails, shaking from the cold wind, resented the idea of getting his fur wet again. But his best friend was in trouble and the brave little fox had no choice, but to press onwards.





Sonic darted to the side, just barely avoiding another plasma blast that left a deep hole in the ground and scattered pebbles everywhere. The blue hedgehog ran in zigzags to make himself a hard target and waited for the right moment to shift the battlefield to a more favorable spot. He heard two more explosions behind him, but the rainfall made it hard to detect where the shots came from. Sonic knew that Metal won’t be satisfied with gunplay for long and anticipated the robot to come down and get close and personal at any second.
The grass under the hedgehog’s feet grew slippery and the drops of water got into his eyes – the terrible downpour that started so suddenly definitely complicated things. It was getting hard to see in front of him and Sonic had to wipe his face with his glove. At the last second the Blue Blur noticed a shadow launch at him from the side. Sonic rolled out of its way, feeling Metal’s titanium claws skim him on the shoulder. The hero stopped and turned around, knowing that his grotesque mechanical copy will come back to try and tear him into pieces.
Despite the greatly reduced visibility Sonic identified the contrail left behind by the turbine on Metal’s back and watched the enemy approach until he could easily distinguish two murderous red eyes rapidly closing in on him. The hedgehog realized with painful clarity that even for him there was no outrunning the fastest robot Dr. Robotnik ever created under such conditions… Which pretty much meant he had to risk a direct confrontation. And here Sonic wagered everything on his metallic copy’s contempt for organic life forms.
The Blue Blur let Metal get even closer, pretending to struggle to make out anything in the rain and hoping that the latter will severely underestimate his ability to perceive things in bad weather. Then, when the distance between them seemed dangerously short, Sonic jumped in the air and bounced off of the robot’s head, forcing Metal to dive into the soft soil below, digging himself in. Unwilling to let the opportunity go to waste the real hedgehog dashed towards the nearest batch of trees as soon as he regained his footing. Out in the open his adversary had the upper hand with the ability to fly and use Sonic for shooting practice… But in the forest the odds were even.
Within seconds the spiky hero reached the edge of the clearing and whisked behind a particularly thick pine tree. No doubt Metal would soon be on his tail again, but Sonic had to use this fleeting pause to warn his partner to stay out of danger.
“Come in, Tails!” the hedgehog said, tapping on the earpiece and praying that the excessive moisture didn’t damage it.
At first he could hear only static, but then the fox cub’s excited voice rang on the other end:
“Sonic! Am I glad to hear you!.. What happened there?”
“I’ve ran into an old familiar face” the Blue Blur jeered in his usual manner. “Let’s just say Metal was real happy to see me.”
“Metal Sonic is alive? And he’s here?!”
“Don’t worry – I can handle this” Sonic reassured Tails, cautiously peeking out of his hiding place. “In the meanwhile you should catch up to our mystery gal.”
“Me? But what am I going to say to her?”
“You’ll figure something out…” the hedgehog chuckled. “Sorry, buddy. I’ve got my hands full already.”
The fox grunted in acknowledgement and the line went silent. Sonic listened intently for any signs of pursuit, but the only sound he could hear was the rain drumming on the foliage. Puzzled at what might’ve taken Metal so long, the hedgehog planned his next move when someone’s words spoken behind his back made him flinch.
“There’s no point in hiding you know...”
The Blue Blur turned to find the girl with the golden hair from earlier hanging in the air in her Egg Mobile only a few meters away from him.
“With the upgrades I’ve given to Metal he can basically see you through walls” she finished and her mouth curled into a cruel grin.
Sonic interpreted the menace in the stranger’s tone and rushed to the side just in time: the trunk that served him as cover exploded into countless charred splinters. The hedgehog ran deeper into the woods, followed by Metal who seemed to prefer mowing down trees and bushes instead of dodging them. The forest critters, unaccustomed to anything louder than the humming of cars on distant highways, scrambled all around and Sonic had to make sure not to step on anyone. The chase didn’t last long however – the thicket abruptly ended and without any warning the rolling hills covered with abundant plant life changed to a steep slope with nothing, but blackthorns covering its rocky surface.
Stopping mere inches from the cliff Sonic took a moment to look around and noted that the rain began to abate. Whether this was because he ventured into a different region of the park that didn’t require as much watering or the storm has simply ran its course he didn’t know, but either way it made him happy to be able to see more clearly. The crevice he almost plunged down into stretched out for at least a mile and at the bottom a river flowed, fueled by streams of rainwater that cascaded into the gorge.
The noise of the approaching rocket engine caught the hedgehog’s attention and sure enough Metal Sonic emerged from the shade of the trees. The machine hesitated only momentarily before resuming attack, but this time it exercised more caution and didn’t throw itself at the opponent posthaste. Only thanks to the Blue Blur’s superfast reflexes was he able to evade the carefully aimed lethal slash. Jumping out of Metal’s way Sonic tried to lure his abominable doppelganger to the patch of land at the brink of the precipice where the shaky ground wouldn’t support the weight of the robot.
The trick worked and Metal, trying to get a hold on his fleshy copy landed on a rock that gave way under him. The mechanical hedgehog stumbled for only a fraction of a second, giving Sonic ample time to deliver a powerful kick that sent it into an uncontrollable fall into the pit below.
“Well… Someone sure let themselves go since the last time we met” the spiky hero said, breathing heavily. “You used to be pre…”
The Blue Blur couldn’t finish the insult however as the blast wave of a missile that detonated in close proximity knocked the hedgehog off his feet.





“I will never… Leave home again… Without an umbrella.”
Tails couldn’t remember when was the last time he felt so exhausted. Perhaps he never did. The fox imagined the mass of cold water he carried in his soaked coat dragging him down like an anchor, but that wasn’t even the worst part about his current predicament. All his efforts have been for naught: the signal Sonic asked him to follow had vanished without a trace along with their chances to contact the one person they came to Cloud City to find. For what now seemed like eternity Tails kept on flying in the last direction the scanner pointed to before going silent. This endeavor grew more and more pointless by the minute, but the wunderkind kept telling himself that he couldn’t afford to fail his best friend.
Just when the fox started questioning his own self-worth again, the sea of treetops beneath ceased and a brightly lit panorama outspread itself before him: situated on the very edge of the island lay an entire town of expansive and fancy villas, each with its own adjacent garden or a golf field. The houses were arranged into three semicircles with the main road passing between them so from afar the neighborhood kind of resembled a shamrock. This, Tails remembered, were the Millennium Springs, one of Cloud City’s most expensive and prestigious districts. But more importantly, on the hill overlooking the illuminated cottage village the fox noticed a viewpoint outfitted with an overhang to protect a belated visitor from precipitation.
Eager to let his fur dry for a bit, Tails swooped down towards the observation deck. As the fox got nearer he noticed a lone figure under the canopy that must’ve had the same idea. He couldn’t be sure because of the distance that separated them, but Tails thought the person that stood leaning against the railing appeared rather short for an adult outlander. On closer inspection he also noted that whoever they were, that somebody also sported a particularly strange haircut that looked a lot like hedgehog quills… But only after the fox caught a glimpse of the sport bike parked under the same tent did his tired mind realize: “those ARE hedgehog quills!”
Overjoyed, Tails hastily landed onto the viewing platform and hurried to shelter himself from the rain. The purple hedgehog lady, alarmed to the sound of the cub’s sneakers splashing in puddles, turned to face him and by the look of surprise he received Tails guessed she didn’t see many two-tailed foxes around here.
“H-Hello there! My name’s Miles…” he said, awkwardly waving his hand. “But my friends call me Tails… Pleased to meet you!”
Taken aback the girl didn’t answer right away, giving Tails a chance to take a closer look at her. She was about Sonic’s age and wore a full set of clothing that included a sleeveless top and a short black skirt as well as a pair of high boots. As the fox noted earlier one of her emerald-colored eyes was constantly concealed by a long bang of hair.
“Um, hi…” the female hedgehog finally responded crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. “Do I know you?”
“Actually we met about an hour ago… On the ferry boat?” Tails continued, trying his hardest not to mumble. “I’ve seen you save a kid from falling into the river. That sure was something!..”
“I’m sorry, little fox. You must be mistaken. I definitely haven’t ridden on any ferry boats today...”
“Oh, no-no - it’s okay!” Tails hastened to reassure the girl who immediately took a step back away from him. “We know about your abilities. In fact me and my friend… We came to this city looking for you!”
“Ri-i-ight…” the hedgehog replied, eyeing the weird mutant fox before her suspiciously. “Sorry, but I gotta go now. And look – the rain is almost over. So… Ciao!”
With that she swiftly got on her bike and started the engine.
“Wait! You’ve nothing to…”
Tails’s words drown in the roar of the wheels on the asphalted road and when the dust settled the fox was left alone on the ledge above the panorama of the luxurious village.
“Well that could’ve gone better…”
The wunderkind followed the motorcycle until it disappeared round the corner. Then he lowered his eyes to the floor and after a quick glance, picked up a single strand of violet hair.
“Bingo!” the fox exclaimed and inserted the find into a microscopic slot on his wrist communicator. “It’s good to always come prepared…”





Sonic opened his eyes to the Egg Mobile’s painfully familiar shape looming menacingly towards him. The rain became nothing more than a light drizzle. The hedgehog slowly got up, ready to roll out of the way of the next projectile at any moment. It didn’t come however and so he stayed put, waiting for the world to stop spinning and tossing. Sonic’s head hurt like heck and he got a few scratches and bruises while tumbling on stones after the explosion lifted him off the ground, but otherwise he was unharmed.
The hovercraft halted and the hero once again found himself face-to-face with its young pilot.
“Not going to sugarcoat it… That was a very cheap shot” Sonic dropped casually as if during a friendly game of ping pong.
“Shut up!” the blonde girl snapped, losing her temper. “I should finish you off right now… But that honor shall belong to Metal.”
“Just what is your deal anyway? Wouldn’t you want me to understand what’s going on?”
She didn’t answer right away as if weighing his words and when the young lass spoke there was ice in her voice.
“My name is Hope Robotnik… You’ve murdered my uncle – Dr. Ivo Robotnik.”
“That’s it, huh...” for Sonic the perspective of his archnemesis having any living relatives didn’t exactly fit in the head. “And here I always thought that Eggman was… One of a kind.”
“Oh, enough of this!” infuriated, Hope slammed her hand on the dashboard of the Egg Mobile. “Metal, destroy him!”
The Blue Blur could feel the gust of wind as his gruesome metallic clone launched up into the sky from the chasm behind his back. The plasma gun in his arm at the ready, Metal Sonic aimed it at what he considered a weakened and disoriented foe… Exactly what the original blue hedgehog had counted on: in a moment’s notice Sonic leaped forward and dived under the hovercraft. The deadly beam sunk into the side of the Egg Mobile, breaking through its armor and sending up a shower of sparks.
The hero sprung to his feet and looked behind him, expecting the persistent robot to unleash a barrage of energy shots, but to his great bewilderment saw the later descent towards the upset vehicle that lay on its side. Sonic watched as Metal helped Hope get out of the wreckage with inconceivable care for something that was designed as Eggman’s personal robotic assassin.
“I’m fine, I’m fine…” he heard Robotnik’s niece say and even though the hedgehog couldn’t see her eyes behind the goggles, he thought he heard tears in the girl’s words. “Sorry, Metal... I messed up.”
Sonic couldn’t detect any response from the robot, but in the next instance Hope resumed her monologue as if Metal did answer her.
“Of course, you’re right” she said and then directed a threat to the real Blue Blur in a much harsher tone: “I’ve allowed you to outsmart me this time… But just you wait, you spiky menace!”
The mechanical hedgehog picked his human master up and together they flew off into the sky. Soon their silhouettes disappeared beyond the thinning clouds and Sonic was left to ponder about what he just witnessed.
“Sonic, are you there?” Tails said into his ear, returning the Blue Blur to the present. “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, all’s good. Got rid of Metal… At least for now.”
“That’s great, Sonic! In the meanwhile I managed to track the hedgehog we’ve been looking for” the fox sounded proud he didn’t let his partner down. “There’s a suburban area in the Eastern region of the island. She’s headed there right now!”
“I’m on it!.. Great work, buddy” Sonic praised his partner at the same time picking up speed. “I knew I could count on you!”
“There’s one more thing, Sonic. I was also able to obtain a DNA sample and analyze it…”





It was a rough awakening. As if the world stopped dead in its tracks like a car that almost ran over a small furry animal, Nemo got thrust ahead, breaking a barrier that might as well been the windshield. His still fuzzy mind racing with a thousand questions, the man lifted himself up from the floor littered with shards of broken glass, only miraculously avoiding cutting his fingers. The room the wanderer now occupied was dim, but in the reddish glow of warning lights Nemo could make out his own reflection in the individual splinters.
“…loyal like a dog…” the words of the mysterious person he met in his dreams emerged from the depths of the man’s memory.
He looked like a dog, alright. A member of the tribe of sapient canines native to planet Freedom to be exact. Nemo felt the need to flick himself on the nose and reach for one of his own brightly colored ears to make sure the impression of his body he saw in the broken glass was accurate. The wanderer’s curiosity thus satisfied, he set about identifying his current whereabouts.
The chamber, filled to the brim with all sorts of containers, didn’t seem too elegant with its walls made of solid metal and lacking any kind of decorations. Nemo located a single unmarked door in the far end of the compartment and when the dog came closer it slid to the side, letting him through and into the dark corridor beyond. Here the smell of gasoline reigned supreme and he could hear someone’s screams coming from afar. Conscious of the toxic fumes Nemo raced along the hallway looking for an exit. He came upon an intersection and noticed an opening on the right from which rays of brilliant light poured in. On close inspection the hole turned out to be a hatch that got blown off its hinges. Aiming to get out of this place as soon as possible, Nemo stepped into the hot evening air outside and jumped down, blinded by the luminescence of the sun that already began to sink to the horizon.
Luckily the solid ground was not too far below and the sand served to cushion his fall. The scene that opened up before his eyes however made the dog forget about the possibly sprained ankle: the surrounding area was arid with dunes that seemed to drag until the very skyline where the gold of the desert met with the lilac underbelly of heaven. But the endless web of pipes that dotted those dusty hills happened to be even more impressive than the nature of this place itself. The closest one to Nemo had to be at least five meters in diameter and bore sinister-looking insignias of a madly grinning face on its smooth surface.
Behind him some kind of heavy flying transport lay tilted on the side and over it towered a high crag made of enormous boulders in places covered with cacti. Judging by the blast marks on the hull of the vehicle the wanderer deduced that it must’ve been downed by a powerful anti-air missile. However, try as he might to remember by what quirk of fate he awoke in the cargo hold of that leviathan, the dog’s memory - like before - outright refused to cooperate. Lost in thought, Nemo didn’t notice someone approach him from behind and barely kept his balance after being rudely shoved aside.
“Out of the way, pup!”
A group of anthropomorphs covered with grey fur went by him. Quickly recollecting himself the wanderer recognized them to be wolves - the Southern prairies dwellers. The surly bunch that passed him were dressed in what he could only describe as tribal wear, but also carried with them an array of technologically advanced equipment, including firearms and explosives. The leader of the squad – a female in a blue suit and the black hair on her head tied in a long braid – rallied the troops and barked orders to her comrades.
“Berta, Luke – see if anyone’s still inside. The rest of you – follow me… We don’t have much time!”
Two of the canines separated from the group and ran back to the ship, ignoring Nemo completely, while the others made their way towards the hillside and almost instantly vanished in a ravine that the dog didn’t even spot before.
Not willing to let the first people he met in this wasteland out of his sight, yet at the same time not particularly eager to climb back aboard the shuttle that might have exploded at any minute, the wanderer rushed to overtake the Wolf Clan troops. Retracing their footsteps Nemo discovered a path leading through a narrow cleft that grew wider the deeper he travelled. The dog expected to gain on the natives quickly, but with every turn became increasingly aware how much he underestimated their movement speed. Finally the canine came to a place where the gorge translated into a literal canyon and stopped to take a breather.
Here something entirely different caught his attention as Nemo noticed the earth all around him shake in rhythmic succession. Puzzled as to what was causing such miniature earthquake, the wanderer got an answer to his question when a hulking metallic shape made an entrance from the opposite end of the valley. The ginormous machine walked on two monstrous legs that crushed everything in its way like a pair of hydraulic presses. Its exterior painted green, Nemo could discern the markings on the robot’s massive frame identical to those he saw on the pipes earlier.
“What the..?”
Bewildered, the wanderer watched as the terrible thing slowly readied a kind of cannon on its shoulder not realizing that there has been only one logical target for it to shoot at. By the time he got over the initial shock of encounter the machine had already charged its blaster and all Nemo could do is shield himself from the deadly burst of energy with his arms. The gun fired and the dog clenched his teeth, not hoping to open his eyes ever again…





“Nice bike! You’re quite a speed addict, aren’t you?”
“What?!” the lady hedgehog exclaimed, almost releasing her grip on the handlebars. “How are you..?”
She’s been only a few minutes away from the first row of the brightly lit houses when one of her brethren popped up right next to her, easily keeping pace with the speeding motorcycle.
“You must be. I’ve been trying to catch up to you this whole evening… And they call me the fastest thing alive” Sonic smirked, not even bothering to look what was in front of him.
The purple hedgehog didn’t reply, but hit the gas, squeezing out maximum speed out of her iron steed and momentarily leaving the Blue Blur behind. The latter soon reappeared by her side however, jokingly clapping his hands.
“Not bad, not bad… But I think you’d be able to go even faster on your own” Sonic said reassuringly.
“And what the heck makes you think that?”
“Because I know *I* can go faster than that… And I’m sure my sister can too.”
The brakes squealed and the girl steered into the skid. She jumped off the sport bike and gave Sonic who also stopped nearby a long wistful stare.
“Did you just call me… Sister?” the female hedgehog said, in a less challenging tone.
“The name’s Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog” the Blue Blur extended his arm instead of a straight answer.
“Sonia Windermere” the other said as they shook hands and then added after an awkward pause: “I’m honestly not sure what to say, um… Always had a sneaking suspicion I wasn’t the only freakishly fast hedgehog out there, but…”
Sonia broke off mid-sentence having to step out of the way of Tails smashing into the ground.
“Would it kill you two… To go… A little slower for a change?” the fox snorted, panting heavily.
“Oh, I’m sure you already met Miles” Sonic introduced his partner and best friend with a theatrical gesture. “But – as he no doubt already informed you - you can call him Tails.”
“Yes, we’ve met… Sorry I ditched your earlier” the girl hedgehog giggled, helping Tails back on his feet. “Want a ride? My place isn’t very far away from here, but I think you exercised enough for one day.”
“You live here? In Millennium Springs?!” the fox asked, obviously impressed.
“Well, yeah. My family is out for the weekend, so you can stay the night if you want.”
“Your FAMILY?” Sonic and Tails repeated in unison.





The impact of a plasma blast resounded through the canyon. Nemo felt a wave of extreme heat pass right by him and… Nothing happened. The destructive machine hesitated as if too confused by the result of its assault, but before the wanderer could reflect on what happened any further a pair of strong arms seized him and pulled out of the line of fire and into a nook behind two large slabs of stone pressed together.
“Alright, who or what the hell are you?”
Someone spoke into his ear and the dog recognized the harsh voice of the wolf warriors’ leader. However Nemo also noted a gun barrel pointing him right between the eyes.
“Woah-woah, wait a second!” he pleaded, looking at the armed to the teeth canines that surrounded him. “I’m not your enemy!”
“Oh yeah?” the she wolf growled, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling the dog into the light. “Then explain this.”
The wanderer opened his mouth to ask if she was out of her mind, but stumbled: in the faint light of the alcove he saw that instead of his own normal hand his arm ended with a deformed metallic palm with three larger than life chromed claws.