The Sonic Project - Chapter 7

CHAPTER VII – RASCAL HUNTING

SATURDAY, JUNE 25^TH, 2016

He had enough. He had made his statements. He addressed the masses and press corps. He had lost a thousand clones and a big base. He had lost that brewery acquisition. He had to email all of his Project clients to tell them there might be a delay in their shipments. He had gotten ripped a new one about said delay as well.

A robot entered his study to find its builder hunched over his desk, behind his computer, and rubbing his temples.

“What is it?” Robotnik growled.

“JUST NEEDED TO TELL YOU THAT THE AREA HAS BEEN QUARANTINED, DOCTOR. NO ONE WILL HAVE ACCESS TO THE BASE.”

“Good. How goes the salvage operation?”

“TOO SOON TO TELL. THE TWINS DETROYED A LOT OF THE BASE.”

Angered, the doctor took the brass paperweight on his desk and hurled it at the robot, catching it right in its head. “I know they did a number on it, you overgrown socket wrench!” He sighed harshly. “But at the very least they’re dead.” He turned back to the robot that now had a dent on its forehead. “Leave me. I have more business to attend to.”

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This wasn’t possible. What he did shouldn’t be possible. How could someone just run on water and bolt away in the blink of an eye?

She had been watching the footage for a few hours now, trying to make sense out of it. As she continued to watch, the questions seemed to pile up. Who was he? Where did he come from?

“A, what could you possibly still be looking for?” T asked.

“Don’t know,” Amy said. “I’ll know it when I see it.”

“Okay, he’s a modern marvel. He’s a supped-up speedster. Are we done?”

“Have you clocked his speed yet?”

T groaned through his microphone. “Yeah, and he went a lot faster than you and I thought.”

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say he broke the sound barrier.”

“That’s low-balling it. The speed of sound is about 768 mph.”

“We went faster than that?”

“He was pushing Mach 2 by my calculations.”

“And how fast is that?”

“Try 1534 mph.”

Amy’s eyes bugged out. “He went that fast?!”

“I said he was pushing it. By my estimates, he topped out at around 1400, give or take 50 mph. To put it mildly, he was going at speeds that would rival a SR-71 Blackbird.”

“But how could he do it? And on a dime?”

“A, you’re not going to get that question answered anytime soon. For now, drop it.”

“Somebody must’ve seen him.”

“If someone had, they wouldn’t be talking about just the OilOcean rig fire from last night.”

“Fair point,” Amy said as she flipped on the TV and took a swig of the coffee that Ken Khan bought her.

“Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the owner of OilOcean by means of Robotnik Enterprises,” Sally began as she broadcast the news, “said in a statement that the fire that occurred in the Central Sea oil derrick was most likely the result of out-of-repair maintenance given that the rig hasn’t been used since the early 1990s. He went onto to say that the rig still had a few barrels of unrefined oil still on it, and that one stray spark from a faulty metal coupling could have caused the blaze. As it stands, Robotnik’s personal legion of robots were able to control the blaze before any serious damage could be done to the Central Sea and its sea life, thought its still billowing smoke right now. The derrick is currently under quarantine as Robotnik Enterprises officials are currently investigating the wreck.”

“I’ll bet,” Amy said, not believing Robotnik’s statement for one minute. She saw the derrick the previous night up in flames out in the middle of the Central Sea, just before she saw that hedgehog—.

Hey, wait a minute!

Having an idea, she said. “T, pull up our first footage of that hedgehog.”

“I told you to drop it!” T exclaimed in frustration.

“Just do it.”

T groaned, but he did it. Soon enough, Sally’s reporting on the screen was replaced with last night’s footage.

“Start from where we first saw him.” The video played, and he appeared soon enough kicking up of salt water in his wake. “Now rewind and notice where he starts.” T did so.

“What are you trying to accomplish with this?”

“Where’s the only place that the hedgehog could’ve started running from?”

“Uhh….”

“That oil derrick.”

“What are you exactly getting at? Are you suggesting that the speedster was somehow the cause of the wreck?”

“Maybe, maybe not. But what I can assume is that he started from there. And T, don’t you think it’s funny that an abandoned oil derrick would suddenly go up in flames the same time we see a supersonic hedgehog come from it?”

Amy could hear her partner mull over the idea. His sigh was a sign of victory for her. “Okay, you might have something.”

“Pull up everything you have on that oil rig. Sally said it was abandoned in the ‘90s. Find me an exact date.”

“Let’s see,” T said as he clicked away at his computer. His search results were then posted onto Amy’s TV. “Okay, the oil derrick in the Central Sea is only one in Mobotropolis waters. Per news reports, an accident involving a small oil spill happened there in June of 1990. The spill caused a few injuries that left a few workers in critical condition, but they ultimately survived their near-death experiences. Robotnik, in response, sent a few prototype oil-containment robots to clean up the mess. Within a week, the spill was contained. But there’s another article that details how Robotnik had his robots renovate the derrick after the spill so no more accidents like that could occur. The strange thing is that when the city statute went up for vote, city officials nixed the derrick’s re-opening, citing paranoia-influenced reasons since they didn’t want another catastrophe, however minor and contained the accident was. That vote took place on September 13, 1990. That must’ve ticked off Robotnik. Even back then, Eggman had all of the city’s big officials in his pocket.”

“But that doesn’t make sense,” Amy said. “Eggman and Robotnik have been associated with each other with the ‘70s. Why would the Eggman meddle in his partner’s business?”

“Maybe he has an environmental side?”

“I don’t think that’s it. Hmm… a cover-up maybe?”

“A cover-up for what?”

“Don’t know. Maybe it has something to do with our speedster? But we’re not going to know more than that from the text itself. We need some names. Check who was on the city council in 1990. Maybe we can ask them a few questions.”

“Okay… the council was still only seven members strong like it is today… ‘kay, got the list, but you aren’t going to like it.”

“Let me guess. They’re all dead.”

“Yeses for six of them. Of the six the dead, three died from natural causes, two from car accidents, and the only one still alive killed the last one and is currently serving an indefinite sentence in at Mahkra Asylum in Mahtog City.”

“Alright, what about other authors of this story? There had to have been other more outlets that broke the story.”

“Hmm… most are either dead or had their reputations ruined.”

“But you said ‘most.’ Not ‘all.’”

“Yeah, we have two writers still alive and credible. They helped create the articles I cited, and… huh. You’ll never guess who.”

“Who?”

“Max and Alicia Acorn.”

“Really? I suppose it’s not too unbelievable. They did write articles back when the company first started out.”

“Yeah, and they covered stories with the other AMG co-founders.”

“Jules and Bernadette. Hmm. Suppose I better give Max and Alicia a call, see if they remember anything else.”

With that, she picked up her work phone and dialed her bosses’ office. One ring… two rings… maybe they were in the green room in the studio watching their daughter do the morning news?

“Maximillian and Alicia Acorn’s Office. This is Alicia Acorn speaking.”

“Alicia? It’s Amy. I’m not interrupting something, am I?”

“Not at the moment, Rose. Why?”

“Is Max with you?”

“Yes, he is. Did you need to talk to him?”

“Actually, I need to ask both of you something.”

“Alright, let me put you speaker.” CLICK! “Max, Amy needs our help with something.”

“What did you need, Amy?” he asked.

“The oil rig off the coast that went up in flames last night.”

“What about it?”

“In 1990, you and the Hedgehogs wrote a pair of articles regarding its oil spill and its forced shutdown. Do you remember those articles?”

“I remember the stories, yes.”

“We remember the stories,” Alicia corrected. “What’s this about?”

“I was just doing a little digging about the oil derrick and wondered if you knew anything else about it. Like maybe you have some old notes or remember anything else?”

“We may have something here in the office. Max, those old things should be in the filing cabinet. Look in the ‘1990’ section.”

“Right. Be back in a moment, Amy,” he said as he walked away. A few moments passed by, but he returned with them. “Alright, I found them.” Amy could hear him put the papers on his wife’s desk. They busily scanned the document, trying to refresh their memories about the matter. “Nothing else in the text, I’m afraid. But I suppose that doesn’t help you, does it?”

“No,” Amy said.

“However, we do have a few spare notes from the case.”

“I’ll take whatever I can get.”

“Tell you what, Amy,” Alicia began, “I’ll have Lupe scan these and send them to you as soon as possible since we will have other things to attend to soon enough. Does that sound alright?”

“Sounds perfect. Thanks.”

“No problem. But I have to ask: why are you doing so much digging into an old case like this?”

“I just think there’s more to this story than meets the eye. Call it a hunch.”

“Alright, Amy. Is there anything else you need?”

“Nothing at all. Thanks, guys.”

“No problem, Amy.”

CLICK!

“Don’t get too involved in this case today, A,” T said through the speakers. “You still have that date at the docks tonight.”

“Yes, I remember, mom,” Amy mocked.

“Which one? Yours or mine?”

RING! RING! RING!

“Hold on, T.” She picked it up. “Amy Rose’s office. Amy Rose speaking. … Mr. Brett Rodgers, you aren’t asking me to do a coffee run, right? … Oh, what did you need? … Wait, what?! How did Mob City get—?! Ooh! But City already has Ronaldo! How the heck did Mob City get Messi too?! … A $300 million transfer fee? Wow. Grrr… I hate those boys in blue, but I’ll give ‘em credit for swinging Messi. … Oh, you need to me to—. … Uh-huh… um, yeah. Sure, I can be there. I assume we’ll get lunch afterwards? … No, not there! That place is only good for coffee, not food! Besides, that last two times I ate there, I got food poisoning. … Well, that place is always good. … Okay. Tell Sally and Ken that they can meet us there. Okay, I’ll see you in a bit, Brett. Oh, and give my best to Bill. Sorry to hear that happened. Bye.”

CLICK!

“What did Mr. Rodgers want?” T asked.

“Well, it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, and I happen to be his AMG neighbor, so he asked if I would be his—if I could be his—neighbor.”

“Oh, for cryin’ out—!”

“Cool it, T, I’m just messing with you. Brett needs me to fill in as his cameraman at Whitecliff Bank Park for a press conference. Mobotropolis City [FC] just got finalized the transfer of Lionel Messi to Mob City for $300 million.”

“You hate MCFC!”

“Don’t rub it in. His usual cameraman, Bill, had to leave to take his son to the emergency room. The little guy ran into a tree at school playing soccer and broke his nose.”

“Ow! That sounds like it hurts!”

“Well, I didn’t feel a thing.”

“Amy, that’s horrible to say,” T said as he chuckled.

“It’s called ‘dark humor’ for a reason. After I get done with that, we’ll head out to lunch.”

“Just make sure—.”

“We’ll be done hours before tonight. Cool you J-E-T-S jets, jets, jets,” she said as she picked up her things.

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The purple desert was desolate as always. He was alone once more. But where were the robots? They had always come to him when he was here.

Instead, something more haunting than the dark sky and lightning above him stuck with him. He could hear voices. It wasn’t his lady’s voice. It sounded… masculine. He swore he knew the voice from somewhere.

He turned around quickly. Strange. He could’ve sworn from the voices around him that someone had spoken into his ear. Alas, there wasn’t, and the voices grew louder.

“Stop,” he said. “Please stop.”

If only, it egged the voices on more as the volume increased. Louder and louder, they drove the hedgehog crazy. Always louder and louder.

“Stop!” he screamed. “That’s enough!”

They didn’t care. They only grew louder and louder still. And what were they saying?

“Why didn’t you save me?”

“I SAID THAT’S ENOUGH!”

The rumble of thunder was only thing he could hear after that. His tormentors had been silenced, for now at least. But he knew he didn’t save him. He saw it happen. He was a witness. He didn’t help Green in his time of need. He didn’t react fast enough.

The winds began to encircle the blue hedgehog as the purple sand underneath his sneakers were making a form behind him. He knew the form too well. It was always a lavender purple, and it was in the form of a woman. She began to speak.

“… You boys are the greatest things to ever happen to us. I know you can’t understand me, but I still can’t say it enough. I don’t know what’ll happen to you, but I know you’ll be okay. I know you’ll make it. You two are young, but you are very strong. I know you’ll be okay. I just know it. Eli, I love you.  David, I love you….”

Her voice began trail off as she disappeared into the desert once again. He had so many questions, but he could never get a word in edgewise.

Another voice began to talk to him in the desert. This was one was more masculine than the last.

“Get up!”

Get up? Get up where?

“Wake up, you damn freeloader!”

‘Freeloader?’

“GET UP!”

Sonic shook his head and opened his eyes. It was hot and humid, and he had worked up a sweat. Whether it was from his intense dream or the weather, he didn’t know. Now what on Chaos’s green earth had woken him up?

“Get the hell down, you goddamn freeloader!”

He looked down to see a red-haired, middle-aged man with a matching mustache and goatee dressed in dark blue from his pants to his hat. Looked like he was a police officer or something.

“Hurry up before I shoot your—!”

“Alright! Alright! I’m coming down!”

Sonic quickly put on his now-dry socks and shoes and carefully climbed down the mighty oak until he was on the pavement. He then turned around to face the lion cop. Whoever this guy was, he had a good foot of height on Sonic.

“Are you some kind of police officer?” Sonic asked.

“What do you think, pincushion?” this guy might as well have been a snake since he hissed that to Sonic.

“I’ll say… yes. Officer… Myers?” Sonic asked as he read the name on the chest.

“Detective,” he corrected. “Detective Roland Myers. Now how many times do I have to you freaking hobos about sleeping in the park?!” Oh, yeah. Not a friendly guy at all.

“I wouldn’t know. First time doing it. Hell, I just rolled in from out-of-town.”

“That so? You some kind of drifter?”

Sonic chuckled. “In more ways than one.”

“Well then…,” Myers began. BOOF! Sonic clenched his stomach as the detective rammed his nightstick into the hedgehog’s midsection. “Welcome to Mobotropolis, you ugly bastard.”

“Not…,” COUGH! “Not a nice gesture.” Then Sonic remembered something that CREAM had said in her last message. The cops in this town were pretty corrupt. This one fit the bill to a T. “Listen, pal—.”

“No, you listen, punk. If I ever see you sleeping here ever again, I’ll shoot you without a regret. A drifter like you won’t fill up a funeral home. Understand?” Sonic scowled at him, but to avoid trouble, he nodded. “Good. Now get the hell out of here.”

Sonic began walking away. “So, this is the big city,” he thought. “Okay, if I need to stop the doc, where should I start?”

Come to think of it, he didn’t know this city at all. He was going in blind as a bat. Survival knowledge or not, if he wasn’t careful, he might do something that’d end him. If he was going to find Robotnik, he would have to get to know the city first. Where could he do that? Then it hit him.

Turning around, Sonic saw the officer walking away. “Excuse me, Detective Myers?” The red-haired lion turned around to scowl at the hedgehog. “Where might I find the city’s library?”

“Piss off!”

Sonic scoffed and shook his head. “Should’ve known better.”

“You again?! How many times do I have to tell you to not sleep here?!” Sonic turned around to see the cop at a park bench berating an actual hobo. “Answer me!” SLAP! “Y’know what?” He began reaching inside his pocket. “I’ve had enough of seeing your dirty body here!”

Sonic knew what that hand motion meant. This guy needed to be taught a lesson. He ran over to the cop who had now drawn his weapon.

“Don’t shoot!” the hobo screamed.

The cop’s finger was in the trigger, but it was quickly removed as Sonic quickly disarmed the man.

“WHAT?!” Detective Myers saw Sonic with his sidearm in his right hand. “Give. Me. My. Gun!”

“Alright, Myers.” As he offered it to him, Sonic took it back, quickly releasing the 9mm pistol’s magazine and the bullet that was already in the chamber. Next, he quickly disassembled the rest of the pistol, revealing a pile of metal in his hand. Myers was stunned to see anyone take apart a gun that quickly.

“You little!” Myers said as he dropped the parts and drew his nightstick. He took a swing at Sonic, but the hedgehog was easily able to dodge the first three swings. On the fourth one, Sonic grabbed Myers’s wrist and gripped it fiercely. The slight cracking meant someone’s wrist was getting crushed. “Ah!” he screamed as he dropped the stick.

Sonic shoved the man aside and caught the thick piece of plastic. Myers grabbed his injured wrist and looked at Sonic. He was more than a little pissed off at him. The hedgehog held the stick with both hands and began bending both sides down.

SNAP!

Little pieces of black plastic scattered everywhere as the two biggest pieces were in Sonic’s hands. Myers watched in disbelief as his nightstick was broken in two. He was now completely weaponless.

Throwing the pieces aside, Sonic leaped at Myers, tackling him and pinning him to the ground. Myers struggled, but Sonic had him in the compromising position of having him face down on the concrete with his arm twisted behind his back.

“I should’ve killed you when I had the chance!” Myers spat. “Now get off me before make your life a living hell!” Sonic applied a little pressure. “Ahhh! Get off me!” Sonic took his left hand and punched the back of the man’s head.

“Listen, Myers. I have been lied to and rudely woken up. I had a long night. I saw my brother die, my house burned to the ground, and I’m living on the street. I am the last person you want to screw with. Now… how about you answer my question from before? Where is the library?”

“Screw… Screw you.” A little more pressure…. “Ow! Ow! Ow! Stop!”

“Then tell me where the library is!”

“Just south of the park! Can’t be more a quarter mile away!”

“And which way is south?” Myers was able to free a hand a point to across the park’s pond.

“Thank you… what was your name again? Roland?” Myers growled. “Thanks for the help. And if I ever see you threaten another innocent person, I’ll break the other one.”

“Other o—?”

SNAP!

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Sonic said as he got off. As the cop screamed in pain, Sonic turned to the hobo and smiled.

“Thanks, stranger,” the hobo said before darting away.

Sonic mused that his activities with the cop were his morning workout, just like on the base. And what happened after the morning workout? His daily lesson, although this time, he would get his lesson with 100% more library.

As he started to jog around the pond, Sonic remembered that he didn’t get the chance to formally wash off. That was also something that followed his morning workout. He didn’t have shampoo, much less soap, but the water was right there, and he was still filthy from the previous night.

Taking a quick detour, he hopped in and quickly scrubbed off as much filth as possible. The fish might not have appreciated it, but he didn’t have any other options. As clean as he could be, he climbed out of the water and vibrated quickly to lose the remaining moisture.

Now dry as one could be against the humidity, he resumed his jog southward out of the park. When he got out of it, he saw a busy city square with people both animal and human. Every species of Mobian could be seen as he saw shoppers at local kiosks. Sticky conditions or not, it was a sight to behold for the young man. Such a scene! Such commerce! Actual People!

Sonic took his time walking down the square and taking all of it in. It was very hard to do. He had never seen this many people in one place. Hell, he hadn’t been around this many people at one time! The sights, smells, and sounds were making his head spin. It was difficult for him to wrap his head around it all.

“W-Wow,” he sighed. “How could a city like this be bad?” Then he remembered what happened five minutes ago. “Oh, right.”

GRUMBLE!

Sonic took notice to his rumbling midsection. It was way past his breakfast time. It had to be at least 10 or 11 o’clock.

He looked around to try and find something to munch on. Problem was that there was a lot to choose from. Another problem was that he didn’t have any way of paying for it.

“This may be a problem.”

Suddenly, something exotic came across his nose. Whatever it was, it smelled… heavenly! Sonic turned around and followed the scent to a small, but busy stand. It had bottles of water on the counter that were bathing in ice. Behind the stand was a heavier set man with a black handlebar mustache, a goofy outfit, and a hearty smile. He passed along encased meat in a long bun that was topped with what looked like pepper jack cheese and chili.

“Man, that looks good.”

GRUMBLE!

Part of Sonic didn’t want to intrude on the man, much less beg him for food. On the other hand, he had a serious hankering for whatever he was selling.

“I need two chili dogs!” the big customer said.

Sonic would need to decide if this was truly what he wanted. Would he steal to please his stomach?

He sighed. “I’ll have to do it another time.”

Turning back to the south, he continued on and saw a building that looked sported Greco-Roman architecture. On an arch above the entrance, it read in gold letters “MOBOTROPOLIS PUBLIC LIBRARY”. This was his spot, and he jogged up the steps to the very top, marveling at the magnificent marble columns that supporting the entry way.

The automatic doors slid for Sonic when he got close enough, and a refreshing wave of cold air enveloped him. “Oooooohhhhhh,” he said blissfully. “That feels goooooooood!” Euphoria aside, he strolled in past a second set of sliding doors and walked toward the front desk. Behind it was an older coyote woman.

“Good morning, young man. My, my! What a handsome man you are!” she flirted.

“Well, you don’t look bad yourself,” Sonic replied, flirting right back. That made the older woman blush and feel young again. “I like the earrings. Sapphire?”

“Good guess, but no. Blue diamond. It was my late husband’s present for our 25^th anniversary. Now, what can I do for you?”

“Well, first off, your husband had a great taste in jewelry.”

“He was a jeweler.”

Sonic chuckled. “That explains that. Secondly, I need access to a computer. Do you have one that I can use?”

“Second floor. If you walk up the stairs to your right, there’ll be a computer lab on the left side. There should be one for you to use.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. If you have any other questions, I’ll try my best to answer them.”

“That’s all we can do in life, isn’t it? Thanks again.”

Sonic then turned and briskly walked up the flight of stairs and found the computer lab. It honestly caught him a little off-guard that the library was as empty as it was. The A/C should’ve been an attraction given the humidity outside. This looked like the main floor, but it might as well have been a ghost-town.

Sonic sat down at one of the free monitors and used the guest access as seen on the corner of the monitor in the form of a small, laminated piece of paper. “First time using one of these in a long while,” he thought. CREAM had once brought in a laptop to the brothers during one their lessons a few years back to teach them the basics of using a computer should they need to use one.

Opening a Chrome browser, he was about to type in the search bar up at the top, but he remembered something. “Where do I start? Hmm… how about the city of Mobotropolis itself? Yeah, it’s probably for the best that I know a thing or two about the city if I’m going to find those clone sites.” He typed the city name in the search bar and clicked the first link he saw, a Wikipedia page of the city. For the next few minutes, he scanned the page to see if there were any particular facts he should know about the city. And boy, there was a lot to take in.

The first thing he found out was that the city was split into six distinct neighborhoods: Knothole, Amusement Mile, North Res, South Res, the Industrial District, and Angel Island. Angel Island was the geographical center of the city with other five neighborhoods surrounding it. Knothole to its north, Amusement Mile to its northwest, North Res to its west, South Res to its southwest, the Industrial District to its south, and the Central Sea was to the east of the entire city. All the neighborhoods were separated by a body of water—almost exclusively rivers except for between South Res and the Industrial District, which was separated by the Tampa Bay. There was also the Echidna Tribe National Forest just to the north of the city.

The next thing was that the city had a rich history as it was an unusual colonial territory. Mobotropolis was technically founded in August 1625 by the Soleannan settlers. Those pilgrims set out for the “New World,” which is present-day Northamer. Their goal was to conquer land in the name of Soleanna to expand the country’s global empire, find new resources, and spread their Protestant beliefs. Little did the Soleannans know that their empiric rival, Spagonia, was also sending a band of settlers to the New World to do the exact same thing, save for religion (it was Catholicism for the Spagonians). The two countries wanted in on the New World when word came in from fellow empirical rival Saxony that they had successfully created a settlement in Northamer (present-day Station Square, which is north of Mobotropolis by about 120 miles).

Both missions arrived in present-day Mobotropolis at almost the same time. The Soleannans arrived first by mere days and settled in present-day Knothole. Two nights later, the Spagonians made landfall in the south, where the Industrial District is located today. Despite the two countries being hated rivals, the two settlements saw no need to fight since they personally had no animosity toward one another.

Both settlements were approached by the area’s natives: The Echidna Tribe. Learning to trust their new neighbors was predictably a hassle, but all of the groups were able to come together and live in relative peace for a few years in their communities. Over that time, the indigenous Echidnas learned the customs and languages of both settlements while some were converted to different religions and began to intermarry.

That peace, however, was tested in January 1627 when war broke out between the Echidnas and their long-hated enemies: The Naked Mole Rats. While the Echidnas were more peaceful, the Naked Mole Rats were savages that were known for their guerilla war tactics.

The Echidna Tribe was outnumbered by their enemies and asked their Soleannan and Spagonian friends to help them in their fight. Both settlements were willing to let the Echidnas fight their own battles, but a daring raid had occurred in the colony’s square. The Naked Mole Rats mercilessly attacked and maimed several Echidnas, Soleannans, and Spagonians. To make matters worse, the Echidna Tribe’s chief elder had given his two oldest daughters to the governors of the two settlements as a sign of peace. Those women were raped and killed, and their children were brutally beaten, but they would survive.

Unsurprisingly, the Spagonians and Soleannans agreed to help their Echidna friends in fighting their new enemy. Because of the technological advances of the settlers, the combined group of settlers and Echidnas were too much for the Naked Mole Rats. Within a matter of weeks, the Mole Rat numbers had been cut so drastically that it almost spelled their extinction. However, the allied group showed mercy on those Naked Mole Rats who surrendered. The Naked Mole Rat Tribe was defeated officially on March 28, 1627, and those who had surrendered were able to live in the combined settlement so long as they obeyed the laws.

The combined effort of the three groups warranted a letter to be written to the Soleannan and Spagonian governments telling them of their glorious cooperation. Unfortunately, the motherlands saw their interaction with rival empires and “indigenous savages” as an act of treason, so they cut all ties with the colonies, leaving them to die. Spagonia and Soleanna considered their attempts at expanding into the New World a failure and decided to try expansion elsewhere, a mistake that would cost them over 200 years later.

With their motherlands now turning their backs on them, the Echidna elders and settlement leaders argued and debated their future. Deciding that they could survive on their own, they made their combined settlement into a large city that was independent from the rest of the world. They declared their community “Mobotropolis.” The city’s name comes from various words from the three groups’ native languages. “Mobo” was the Echidna word for “earth.” “Trop” was the Soleannan word for “water.” “Polis” was the Spagonian word for “safety.” When put together, the city’s name means “the safest place on earth and water”.

For centuries, the city remained an independent city-state until 1852 when it was offered admittance into the United Federation, a group of cities and countries from across the world that allied themselves with one another to promote freedom, trade, and international cooperation. The “UF” as it is referred to, was created when Saxony’s time as the global empirical leader came to an end (Saxony was able to fully control of Northamer since Spagonia and Soleanna withdrew, resulting in the empirical collapses of both Soleanna and Spagonia. With them out of Northamer, Saxony could expand further into the continent and gain valuable resources. The Station Square settlement eventually expanded southward toward Mobotropolis to further the Saxony international brand.). The UF is known as the world’s greatest power since it is supported by its military organization: the Guardian Units of Nations, or “G.U.N.” for short.

For the various areas of Mobotropolis, Sonic continued to read more about the six neighborhoods (see sconniesa.deviantart.com/art/T… for the actual map). Firstly, there was Angel Island, which was separated by the Allegheny Passage, an extension of the Allegheny River that forks north and south at the west end of Angel Island. Angel Island gets its name from the Echidna Tribe myth about how it was once a flying island that was powered by seven magical jewels, called Chaos Emeralds, and the jewels’ controller: The Master Emerald. However, a great battle occurred that incurred the wrath of Chaos. Because of this, Angel Island was cursed to be grounded forever.

Angel Island was the city’s old-time downtown. The architecture on the north side was influenced by the Soleannans settlers while the south side was inspired by the Spagonians. Architecture aside, many of the city’s governmental buildings are located on the northeastern section of the island (city hall, the 1^st Mobotropolis Police Department Precinct Building, etc.). As the cultural hub, it’s the second-most toured area of the city (the first being Amusement Mile) because of its older architectural styles, sports stadiums and teams, shops, and the world-famous Central Park (which is in the heart of the island and is shaped like a playing card diamond).

The west side was where the Allegheny River split to become the Allegheny Passage, but just north of that split is Eutaw Cove. Eutaw Cove is best known as home run ball territory as the small Eutaw peninsula is home to Oriole Park at Nedmac Yards and the Mobotropolis Orioles of the Mobian League of Baseball, or MLB. Home run balls are known to fly out of the ballpark in right field and land in the water. Several Orioles fans camp out in the cove before and after the game in kayaks and boats in hopes of paddling toward a home run ball. In addition to baseball, the western side also plays host to two forms of football. Mickey Trafford Stadium, also called “Old Trafford,” is home to the Mobotropolis Spectres of the Northamer Football League, or NFL. Old Trafford is more well-known for being the home of Mobotropolis United FC (also known as the Red Devils, MUFC, and Mob U) of the Mobian Premier League, or MPL.

The east side of the Angel Island is home to the Mobotropolis Wharf—a famous area on the northeast side of the island that’s known for its fresh fish and rich seafood restaurants. It is also home to the Emerald Coast, a large beach that stretches from the south of the Wharf to the southeast corner of the island.

Finally, the north side of the island is the home of Mobotropolis State University, home of the MSU Wolf Pack (its nickname comes from the Wolf Pack Tribe, who lived in peace with the Echidnas before the settlers came). One of two major colleges in the city, it sits on the north extension of the Allegheny Passage and is a member of the Great 8 Conference.

Just to the south of Angel Island, across the south extension of the Allegheny Passage, was the Industrial District. Best known to as the city’s blue-collar district, it’s where most of the city’s more physically demanding jobs are located. The docks stretch from the southern tip of Tampa Bay to the southern city limits on the Central Sea coast; they’re also the second-largest docks system in the world only to Station Square, which is larger by a mere 50 square feet. The Industrial District is home to other businesses such as Ferrum Steelworks, the Atlantis Brewery, the OilOcean Refinery, Robotnik Robotics, and the city’s waste disposal and water treatment plants.

To the west of the Industrial District (and southwest of Angel Island) was the South Res neighborhood. South Res and the Industrial District hold the distinction of being the only neighborhoods that are not completely separated by a river. They’re mostly separated by the Tampa Bay, but are connected by land to the south of the bay.

South Res and its northern counterpart, North Res, are named “Res” since they are almost purely residential areas. They fit more along the lines of suburbs to Mobotropolis, even though Mobotropolis no longer has any suburban sister-cities.

Though about 1.5 million of the city’s inhabitants live in South Res, it’s inhabitants were poorer than those in North Res (North Res is the home to most of the middle-class families in Mobotropolis, and that’s all that needs to be said about that neighborhood). South Res is where the more economically challenged live, and the area as a whole is a testament to that. While the areas closest to North Res and the outer city limits aren’t bad, the remaining areas are rundown and in a severe state of disrepair. As a result, South Res is the city’s ghetto, and is a hotbed for criminal lords and gang turf wars. The worst part of the neighborhood and Mobotropolis is the section in between Interstate 95 and the Tampa Bay. Crime is at its worst is this area as hundreds of murders and drug deals happen each year. It isn’t out of the question to find dead bodies at the bottom of the western side of Tampa Bay.

Just north of North Res across the Allegheny River is Amusement Mile, the smallest neighborhood in the city. The neighborhood is Mobotropolis’s most tourist-visited area with its many attractions. Attractions include Never Lake (a popular body of water that is a hot bed for muskellunge/musky, pike, small- and largemouth bass, perch, and walleye), the Never Lake Pier and its subsequent amusement park, Stardust Speedway (an IndyCar racetrack that hosts two regular season races per year as well as the sport’s all-star race), the Acorn Media Group Center (home to the Mobotropolis Penguins of the Northamerian Hockey League, or NHL, as well as the Mob City Clippers of the Northamerian Basketball Association, or NBA). The area is also the home of several high-end hotels, casinos, restaurants, and malls.

Finally, there was Knothole, which was one of the most historic neighborhoods in the city, for better or worse. Situated just south of the Echidna Tribe National Forest, it’s the city’s largest neighborhood. Knothole is best known as Mobotropolis’s white-collar district. The area itself is very hilly, but the eastern side is more elevated.

East Knothole is where several of the upper-middle and high class people live. Several mansions and magnificent homes dot the rocky landscape, though the homes on the coast are the most magnificent. What makes those coastal homes spectacular is that they aren’t on sea level, but rather on the Mobotropolis White Cliffs (the cliffs are made primarily of white chalk and black flint). Among the mansions is Mobotropolis’s other Mobian Premier League team: Mobotropolis City FC (also known as Mob City, MCFC, the Blues, and formerly as the Station Square Chaos). They play their games at Whitecliff Bank Park.

Knothole is also home to the city’s second major university. Located in South Central Knothole (across the northern extension of the Allegheny Passage) is Knothole University. “KU,” as it is referred to, was created four years after Mobotropolis State University. KU is also a member of the Great 8 Conference, their mascot is the Knothole Freedomfighters, and share a nasty rivalry with Mobotropolis State.

West Knothole is home to several major companies based in the city. Banks, law firms, local TV stations, and more are situated in the west. Of these companies, two stand out: Robotnik Enterprises and the Acorn Media Group.

Robotnik Enterprises was founded in 1972 by Dr. Ivo Robotnik, a genius mind in business, medicine, and robotics. The company owns several businesses in and around the city, totaling over 60 businesses. This news stunned Sonic because with having no idea under which Robotnik Enterprises businesses the clones were under, it was now a crapshoot to try and find them all. And it didn’t help that he forgot the elevator button sequence to access the cloning rooms.

As Sonic continued to read, he learned that Robotnik Enterprises had a reputation that was more on the corrupt side of the legal spectrum. The various companies under its umbrella were full of workers that weren’t the most upstanding citizens. A large number of their workers were convicts at some point, and several times there have been documented encounters of illegal actions taking place (drug deals, violence, money laundering, distribution of illegal arms, etc.). Despite this, all Robotnik Enterprises companies are still highly regarded, but the image of the parent company (and its owner/CEO) has been tarnished slightly because of the Acorn Media Group’s reporting.

The Acorn Media Group (AMG) was created in 1988 as the Mobotropolis Freedom Media Group. The company was founded on the notion that the city needed an independent newspaper that was not afraid to be completely, if not brutally, honest with the news, meaning that the group wasn’t afraid of pulling punches. The group also believed that with the city in the height of corruption and the-record-high crime rates, the citizens of Mobotropolis needed a hopeful message that with the absolute truth, their readers would be perfectly informed and remain optimistic that the city will survive and that things will get better.

That optimism was tested in the summer of 1991 when two of company’s four founders, Jules the Hedgehog and his wife Bernadette, were killed in a home invasion. The remaining owners, Maximillian and Alicia Acorn, kept the company going despite their partners’ deaths. In January 1992, the Mobotropolis Freedom Media Group was rebranded as the Acorn Media Group. The name change was met with controversy—like their last name the new company name—but the Acorns honored their fallen friends by renaming the newspaper after them and changing their radio station’s call sign from WCBM to WJBH.

Before the rebrand, the MFMG had its Mobotropolis Freedom Gazette, its radio station, and building in West Knothole where its printing press and press members worked diligently. After the deaths of Jules and Bernadette, sales for the paper went up as the city mourned their passing. In addition, their radio station and subsequent shows got more listeners.

After the rebrand, the Acorns were able to expand their building in West Knothole from a three-story building to a ten-story building, though it should be noted that the expansion was planned while Jules and Bernadette were still alive. The newspaper sales went up as their reporting got more and more fearless and factual, and they were able to expand into TV and online news. Their television news shows have the highest morning and nightly news ratings in the city.

Maximillian and Alicia’s daughter, Sally Acorn, is one of the main hosts for the news shows and is seen for the morning and evening newscasts. Sally’s status as the AMG’s main female newscaster has not been without controversy. Many pundits have argued that she’s only the host because her parents still own and run the AMG. However, Sally’s take-no-prisoners reporting style and sense of professionalism have silenced those pundits. Thus, Sally has been given the nickname of the “Princess” as in the “Princess of Mobotropolis News.”

The AMG is different from its fellow news-reporting counterparts like the Mobian News Network (MNN) and Mobian Broadcasting System (MBS) since they are completely independent. MNN and MBS have several affiliates in other cities (Station Square, Spagonia, Central City, etc.). The AMG is completely independently owned and located exclusively in Mobotropolis.

“And add in the fact that Eggman has control of what the other media groups say,” Sonic whispered to himself. “Now what about the Rascal?”

To find answers, he googled “acorn media group rascal”. The first link he saw was actually from the AMG. Someone working there had created a playlist of what the Rascal had contributed, including coverage of the burning oil rig from last night. The list went far back as 2013, starting about three years ago.

As he viewed the various videos, Sonic was able to figure out a few things about the Rascal. The Rascal used some type of audio changer to keep their voice a secret. With that, Sonic couldn’t figure out if the Rascal was a man or woman. Second, the Rascal got some incredible footage of illegal deals. This person was seemingly able to get up close and personal with all the illegal doings and be discreet as he or she could possibly be. Thirdly, all of what the Rascal was able to survey was always on the AMG’s main news shows. The Rascal probably had a great presence at the AMG, besides the Acorns, and was highly known in town. Fourthly, Eggman wasn’t the only major crime boss in the city. There were also a few references to people called Mammoth Mogul, Ixis Naugus, Lyric the Ancient, and the Fox Family. Fifthly, this person had a serious axe to grind against crime in the city from the commentary he or she had said, especially for the Eggman. Eggman was the crime lord name that kept popping up. It made sense since he was the biggest. Eggman had the most cops on his payroll and had several city officials bribed or paid for as well. The Rascal never called him by any other name, which matched up with what CREAM said about most people in Mobotropolis not knowing Dr. Robotnik’s alter ego.

The coverage of Eggman’s dubious activities suggested that there was more than meets the eye with the Rascal and Eggman. The Rascal had great coverage of the other bosses’ activities, but with Eggman’s goons, Sonic guessed that the two had some bad history together.

But the problem of finding out the Rascal’s identity was still there for Sonic. He watched the videos on the playlist, and he was still no closer to finding it out. He went back to the original search page and scrolled down and found a blog site for the Mobotropolis Police Department. Some of the grey text under the link had the “rascal” keyword in boldface. Curious, he clicked on it and was directed to a thread exclusively about the Rascal. One user was more active than others and kept bringing up one name in particular: Amy Rose.

“Is this the Rascal?” Sonic asked in a whisper.

The more he read, the more the name popped up, and the comments in the thread about the Rascal got more serious. These cops were definitely not happy with the Rascal, and some had suggested offing her. It went along with the Rascal’s reports that the cops at the MPD were corrupt to the core.

He opened another tab and searched “amy rose”. His initial search wasn’t exactly helpful, so he narrowed it down by adding “mobotropolis” to the search. His first hit was the lady’s name attached to the… the… Acorn Media Group? He followed the link and saw a young hedgehog lady with pink fur and—.

“Hold on,” Sonic said. Pink fur, green eyes, three quills on her forehead that acted like bangs, shoulder-length quills…. “She’s the chick from the beach.” He nodded to himself. “That’s definitely her. And she’s the Rascal?”

He thought it seemed a bit ridiculous that this Amy Rose could be the one he was looking for, but he scrolled down and found out that she had been with the AMG since May 2013 and worked as an editor for the AMG’s newspaper. Sonic went back to the tab with the Rascal playlist. The playlist was created… May 2013. The more he thought about it, the more it lined up. How else could she get that kind of coverage for the AMG? But that didn’t explain her professional title of editor.

“Maybe a cover…?” he thought.

Whomever she really was, it was worth investigating. Now he just needed an address. Pulling up a map app that showed the entire city, he typed in “Acorn Media Group”. The map then zeroed in on a section in West Knothole that was about a mile-and-a-half north of the Interstate 95/Interstate 76 intersection. He was just south of Central Park, about a half-mile from I-95. All he would need to do was follow the interstate northbound. It couldn’t be that hard to find the AMG building… right?

Done for now, he closed all the tabs and logged off. He quickly headed back downstairs into the sticky weather. He quickly ran, but not too quickly to draw attention. But after seeing how much everyone else was suffering from the humidity, he stopped and surveyed his surroundings. It didn’t look like anyone was watching.

ZOOM!