Chapter Text

There's More?!

The group drew their attention back to the projection, excited for another scene to happen.

Their surroundings had gone completely dark after the letters had finished fading. For a moment everything stayed silent.

Then bright light appeared, becoming lighter and lighter and blinding them all in the process.

It took the group a few seconds to adjust, even after rapidly blinking multiple times, the sudden change in brightness was still a struggle to get used to.

They were standing inside a jungle, bright and lively with all kinds of plants nearby. The gigantic mushroom trees that occasionally sprung from the ground gave away that they were not on Earth anymore.

This was the Mushroom Planet.

Sonic spun around in a circle, frowning, “Okay, I gotta have to admit: I don’t like this planet.”

“What?” Knuckles looked confused. “Are you also not a fan of mushrooms?”

The blue hedgehog chuckled, “No- I like mushrooms. But this planet feels… kinda empty.”

“Empty?” Amy raised an eyebrow. “Look at the biodiversity!”

“But no people are in sight.” Tails frowned, agreeing with Sonic. This planet seemed strangely lonely.

The camera raked through the scenery until it stopped, focusing on a lone person standing among the mushroom trees. It was a zany looking Dr. Robotnik, who stared at his reflection in a puddle of water as he finished shaving himself completely bald, meanwhile his moustache had only grown longer and bigger.

“Eggman?!” Tails gasped, he stared at the doctor in absolute horror. “But… what?!”

“Well, at least he looks more like our Eggman now.” Sonic commented drily.

Amy looked around, curious, “So this is actually the Mushroom Planet, where Sonic was supposed to escape to?”

“Did Dr. Robotnik honestly survive this long on his own on a strange Planet?” Rouge shook her head in disbelief.

Shadow frowned at the doctor in disgust. “Survive? Apparently.” He leaned more closely, staring at Dr. Robotnik’s expression. “But it seems to have taken a toll on him.”

Dr. Robotnik smiled at his reflection, “My grasp on sanity remains… absolute.” He turned his head to the side, addressing a literal stone that looked like it had a face, “Isn’t that right, Agent Stone?”

“I can’t tell If this is just normal Eggman behaviour,” Knuckles narrowed his eyes at the doctor in confusion before continuing, “Or If he’s just somehow more insane now.”

“Well,” Sonic chuckled. “He had Stone before.” Giving a quick glance towards the stone with a face on, he clarified, “I mean, the actual Agent Stone.”

“But why are we seeing this?” Amy frowned at the scene. “To feel guilty?”

“Can’t be, I don’t feel any guilt whatsoever.” Sonic shook his head, disagreeing.

Amy facepalmed before turning to Sonic, exasperated, “Yeah, well- it works on me, okay?!”

Sonic threw up his hands in mock-surrender.

Dr. Robotnik grabbed the rock, groaning from the sheer weight, then he tossed the rock ahead, “Why don’t you get a head start? Do some Rock-Connaissance!” He laughed maniacally.

As Knuckles watched the stone fly, he nodded, turning to Rouge, “This is just normal Eggman behaviour. Got it.”

Rouge chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief.

He laughed about his own joke, slapping his knee, “Come one, that’s hilarious!” Dr. Robotnik turned a mushroom, slapping it instead, “What’s the matter with you?!”

Shadow grimaced, “This is just painful to watch.”

The doctor then turned around, grabbing his glove which read ‘DOCTOR’S LOG: DAY 87’, “Here’s the sitch: Uninhabited planet.”

Dr. Robotnik picked up a large backpack and put it on his back, adding, “No resources, no supplies, no apparent way home… A lesser man would die here.”

He held up a small canister housing the remains of Sonic’s quill. Despite being on entirely different planets, the quill was somehow still exerting energy.

“I’ll be home by Christmas.”

“I think the worst part about this is,” Sonic shook his head, grimacing. “I don’t doubt it.”

Tails nodded, seeming similarly unhappy about this, “If someone can do it, it would probably be Eggman.”

Dr. Robotnik put the capsule away and pulled his flight goggles down. He began imitating a robot, making servo noises with each turn of his body as he walked.

When reaching the stone carving of Agent Stone, he paused briefly, throwing it one last time before shouting, “ROCK-CONNAISSANCE!!!” The doctor laughed maniacally as the camera zoomed out, further and further away from him.

“Okay…?” Tails chuckled nervously, more relieved the farther they got away from this insane Eggman.

In front of them the Mushroom planet faded away, instead replaced by a 16-Bit Sega Genesis, retelling the entire story of the film while “Speed Me Up” by Wiz Khalifa played.

Shadow frowned, “The…” He paused, staring at Sonic for a moment, “‘Pixels?’” The blue hedgehog nodded, so Shadow continued, “are back.”

The group watched the end section in silence, everyone was stuck in their own thoughts.

Now that the movie had more officially ended, a sad mood had infected the group. They could not believe that the projection was about to end.

Sonic, who had mindlessly bobbed his head to the music, not even listening to the lyrics, suddenly stopped, piped up instead, “Did they just sing ‘best friend named Tails’?”

He chuckled, “Is that song about me?”

Tails grinned, “I mean, I don’t see any other people that have a best friend with an awesome name like that.”

The song stopped abruptly as the scene changed back to the view of Green Hills, it moved farther and farther away until it stopped, focusing instead on rustling leaves that spun around in a circle.

A ring portal opened and a yellow two-tailed fox popped out. He stared at his handheld device, reading the energy levels in the area.

“Is that…” Tails looked at the scene in concentration before gasping. He grinned, “That’s me!”

The kit turned to his brother and grabbed his hands, he jumped around in a circle, pulling the smiling hedgehog with him as he moved, “That’s me! I’m in the projection!”

Sonic nodded at his brother, still smiling, “Yeah, bud. That’s you!”

The two brothers continued celebrating as the others watched with a mix between confusion and amusement.

“So, now the fox is here?” Shadow shook his head in disbelief. “What’s next? The echidna?”

Rouge chuckled, grinning at him, “Why? Are you jealous that we haven’t seen you in this world yet?”

The black hedgehog scoffed, crossing his arms. “Of course not- this projection doesn’t mean anything anyway.”

The bat rolled her eyes. “If you say so.”

Meanwhile Amy squealed quietly to herself, her fist twitching in excitement. This version of Tails looked adorable! How come that everyone somehow looked way cuter in that universe?

Was that the magic of the projection or simply what her eyes wanted to see?

The pink hedgehog shrugged. It was not really important anyway.

On-screen Tails studied his device intently, “If these readings are accurate, he’s here. I found him! I just hope I’m not too late.”

“Wait…” The fox let go off his brother’s hands, turning back to his counterpart. “I’m looking for Sonic?”

“Seems so.” Knuckles nodded, looking at Tails in curiosity. “Any idea why?”

The kit shrugged, sounding confused, “I honestly don’t know. Having rings is one thing but actually knowing where I needed to go? This is strange.”

“Hey,” Sonic smiled. “As long as my counterpart is getting his Tails? I’m not complaining about you stalking me.”

Tails sputtered, “That’s not stalking! He’s following energy readings- that’s completely different!”

“It would be,” Rouge nodded before adding, smirking. “But apparently this version of you already knows Sonic, so it is stalking.”

The fox groaned, hiding his face away in his hands in embarrassment.

Unnoticed by everyone, everything faded away around them once more, the projection turning dark, the darkness then gave away to pure white.

They were back in the pure space they had been in before the projection had started.

“So…” Sonic nodded to himself. “This was something.”

Tails grinned, “I really liked it! But how come I only arrived at the end there? I would have loved to see more of me!”

Knuckles frowned, “It does seem like an odd choice. Why show Tails and not elaborate?”

Before another person could speak up to throw their hat in the ring, the mysterious voice from before spoke up once again.

“...Heroes…”

“Ah,” Sonic sighed. “Look who’s back!”

Shadow crossed his arms, looking at the ceiling in annoyance, “Why didn’t you just tell us that we were going to watch something about Sonic?”

“It’s not like we could have refused either way.” Sonic nodded along with the black hedgehog’s comment, sounding just as done with the voice as the other did.

“And you still haven’t answered our question: Why are we here?” Amy tilted her head to the side, frowning.

“...it is not just about Sonic…”

The voice seemed just as reluctant as before to actually answer their questions. Now, with the projection done, the group only felt frustration as they were back at square one.

“Well, yeah-” Tails waved his hand dismissively. “There was also Tom and Maddie. The whole town of Green Hills really.”

“And you.” Sonic nodded at him. At the reminder the kit visibly lit up, grinning excitedly.

“And me.” Tails agreed before frowning. “Why did I only appear at the end?”

“...this is not the end…”

“What do you mean?” Rouge was confused. “How can this not be the end?”

Amy nodded, “Yeah, this was an ending and a pretty happy one at that!”

Tails rubbed his chin in thought, “Unless…”

“...there is more…”

“Unless there is another movie!” Tails grinned, already excited at the sheer idea.

Secretly not averse to sitting through another projection, Shadow sighed, “Another movie?”

“Wait,” Sonic frowned, staring up at the ceiling in confusion. “There’s a second movie? Seriously?”

The voice fell silent again and no matter what the group asked or shouted- it remained that way.

The group exchanged glances between each other, grinning. The first movie had already been so much fun, they only wondered how the second one was going to be.

Tails giggled, “And I’m in the next one!” He smiled at Sonic who nodded at his brother, also excited for their on-screen meeting.

Now all they had to do is wait for the next projection to start.