Chapter Text
The war was over. After many grueling months of fighting, filled with hope and determination, the Resistance had finally defeated the opposing empire and reclaimed their world from the evil clutches of Dr. Eggman.
Sonic the Hedgehog, of course, was congratulated on his triumphant victory, but there were two other characters he and the rest of the Resistance credited towards their victory. One figure was Sonic’s younger self from the past, who was transported back home shortly after Eggman’s defeat. The other was a mobian who in their time as a rookie in the Resistance assisted in Sonic’s rescue from the Death Egg and proved their worth multiple times against Infinite and the rest of Eggman’s army.
With their mission now complete and no need to meet again, the Resistance had decided to disband and go their separate ways. However, among the people in the final meeting, one important figure was absent.
After the final meeting concluded, the, now former, rookie of the Resistance went off to find Sonic to give a farewell for they too went their separate ways. They eventually found Sonic staring off at the sunset, now looking brighter than ever.
“Hey, you’re taking off, too? I was thinking the same thing,” Sonic replied. “You gonna keep moving forward? No matter what, yeah?”
The former red-feathered rookie simply nodded his head with a smile.
“Heh. You and I aren’t so different. See you later, buddy!”
The two friends gave each other one last fist bump before parting ways. However, right before the hedgehog and the former rookie started to take his leave, Sonic remembered something that he should ask his friend before leaving.
“Hey, um,” started Sonic with an embarrassed tenor to his voice, “I just realized something. Even after all of the time we spent together fighting badniks and kicking phantom butt… I never got your name.”
The former rookie shot up in surprise, a blush beginning to form on his face. Admittedly, the former rookie felt a little ashamed of themselves. Managing to become friends with Sonic the Hedgehog and not even sharing their name with them.
Quickly grabbing a notepad from their purple fanny pack, the former rookie drew out their name and gave the slip of scratch paper to Sonic. Sonic read aloud the name that was written out for him.
“Soreo.”
The former rookie, Soreo, scratched his head with a bashful smile, never having to do something like this in his life before.
“Well, that’s a name I’ll never forget,” Sonic stated with a smile back at his new friend.
Sonic stashed the note away under his glove and started out his run.
“Catch ya later, Soreo!” exclaimed Sonic as he ran through the Sunset Heights.
With an invigorating feeling in his heart, Soreo set out on his own path and grappled away from the Sunset Heights. Despite not knowing when, both of the friends knew that they would meet again in the distant future.
A Few Years Later
Sonic the Hedgehog was ‘chilling out’ with his best buddy, Miles “Tails” Prowler, as he conducted some experiments of his own. An acceptable way to chill out in Sonic's case, a blue super fast hedgehog with red sneakers, is letting your intelligent best friend research your speed levels while you're running on a specially built treadmill.
That never stopped Sonic from overdoing it though.
“Ahem. Sonic?” Tails said in a knowingly voice.
“AH! Sorry Tails.”
Sonic slowed down a bit on the treadmill. You know to watch your speed when you break about five treadmills in the span of two months, let alone in your friend's new lab.
The yellow fox with two tails situated his new lab in a small, but pleasant town called Tincan, a name that the town received after the initial materials that were used to melt down and build infrastructures with. Nowadays, the buildings and houses were built with modern building materials, to a point that the name sounded ironic considering how clean the town actually was, but several artifacts and building remnants were placed in the town's local museum alongside several art pieces that citizens throughout the years have molded from tin cans.
Sonic always thought the name was a little silly, but enjoyed how quaint the town was alongside the nice mobians that occasionally walked through the streets. It was also a great place to get some good chili dogs.
“It's fine,” the two-tailed fox acknowledged as he took off his labcoat and safety goggles. “I just wish I could get a better read on your speed. I know you can go so much faster than what I'm getting from these experiments, but I just can't seem to find a good way to record them.”
“Well, I can certainly tell you that, if I try to, I can run on water. Heck, I can run halfway around the world in the span of five seconds if I REALLY try.”
“I know that, Sonic. If only we knew where they came from,” somberly thought Tails.
Sonic looked at his best friend with a soft smile. He knew what to do about his friend’s troubles.
“Come on. Let's take our minds off these tests for a while and get a couple of chili dogs. On me. Would probably do us some good to actually relax for a bit.”
Tails looked up at Sonic, at first with contemplation, and then, with a relieved smile.
“Yeah,” Tails admitted. “I can probably use a chili dog.”
“There he is! Come on. Last one to the chili dog stand is a rotten Egghead.” Sonic then started rushing out the door.
“Hey! That's not fair,” Tails exclaimed with a playful tone as he adjusted his toolbelt and started twirling his tails like a helicopter. “You're called the fastest thing alive for a reason!”
“And I plan to keep it that way!”
The best friends sped out of the lab, laughing in a friendly competitive spirit, to Tincan's famous chili dog stand.
“That really hit the spot!”
“Glad to see you happy, little buddy.”
Tails and Sonic walked home through the town in the brisk evening breeze back to Tails' lab. Even with his speedy pedigree, Sonic occasionally liked a simple walk, especially in nice weather and with a friend to talk to.
“They really don't lie with those chili dogs,” stated Sonic, patting his round tanned stomach. “They might be the best I've ever had!”
Tails replied. “There are reasons why I decided to move here, and that stand is definitely one of them.”
“What are the other ones?” Sonic asked intriguingly. He never thought to ask why Tails decided to move.
Sonic just went with it, like he always did.
“The town is just overall quiet, in a pleasant way of course, and pretty low key. It's the perfect place for me to do my observations.”
Sonic agreed. Even though Sonic preferred to keep moving around, if he ever had to settle down in a town, it would probably be Tincan. The small trees planted through the crosswalks and local park gave the town a fresher atmosphere compared to other towns he visited.
“It IS a nice town. I wish I knew about it earlier. I could probably sit on one of these benches here for hours on end.”
“Maybe you should consider finding a place here then.”
“You know me, pal. I gotta keep moving. I can’t stay in one place for long.”
“Says the guy that just said he could sit on a bench for hours on end.”
“Nah, I don’t remember that.” Sonic said with a lying, playful voice.
“You just said that eighteen seconds ago.” Tails combated his friend's lie.
Sonic was having a hard time containing his laughter. He loved playing around with his friends like this.
“No I didn’t.”
“You know you did.”
Tails knew what Sonic was doing, but he didn’t mind. It was fun to banter with his friend.
“But I didn’t.”
“Did!”
“Did not!”
“Di-”
Suddenly a beep was heard in Tails’ toolbelt. Tails pulled out a miniature watch that he forgot to put on his wrist.
“Looks like there’s something at the lab. Or someone.”
“Can you see who it is,” questioned Sonic.
“No, I haven’t managed to install the front door camera yet. I wasn’t expecting anything today and we were busy with testing earlier.”
“Then come on. Might be something important.”
“It could just be a neighbor coming over to say hello.”
“Well it’d be rude to keep them waiting then.”
“...Yeah, I guess you're right.”
Sonic can tell Tails is feeling a little bummed out by the interruption. He could tell that his buddy was having a fun time.
“Don’t worry, buddy. I’m not going away just yet. I’d like to see this neighbor of yours myself.”
Tails seemed somewhat relieved by the statement. He could handle being by himself of course, but he hadn’t seen Sonic in a while since he was moving stuff to his new lab and Sonic helping around Mobius like usual.
He’d like to spend a little more time with his friend before he goes off for the night.
“Thanks, Sonic.”
Sonic and Tails were nearing the laboratory, wondering about the potential figure that could be waiting for them. Tails’ watch still signaled that something was moving in front of the door. Sonic wondered to himself why Tails prioritized a front door sensor over a camera the more he thought about the scenario.
“What do you think they’ll look like,” questioned Sonic.
“I don’t know. We only know there’s someone there.”
“Well, whoever it is, they’ll sure be in for a surprise when they get to meet good old Sonic the Hedg-”
Sonic stopped himself as he and Tails finally arrived at the laboratory and saw who was waiting by the entrance.
The figure was a bird-like mobian with red feathers, with three large feather strands on top of their head, a pair of glasses, a purple pair of shoes, an accompanying pair of purple gloves, and then that recognizable purple fanny pack on their side.
Sonic knew exactly who it was.
“Soreo!”
Soreo looked up from the ground and saw the blue hedgehog suddenly right in front of him, some of the fallen leaves blowing from his direction, with Tails following right behind him.
“Man, it’s nice to see you again! You’re not an easy guy to find. Anyways, how have you been? Do you live here? Where do yo-”
“Calm down, Sonic. He doesn’t owe you his life story,” Tails responded with a chuckle. “Are you here for anything, Soreo?”
Soreo took a second to himself from the shock of Sonic’s questioning, forgetting how hyperactive he can get. He nodded his head with a stern frown, gesturing for them to let him inside.
“...Sure, is something wrong?”
Tails opened the door and the three went inside. As soon as the door shut, Soreo turned to face his friends with a look of contemplation.
What came next was not what Sonic and Tails were expecting from the bird.
“...I... I have something to show you two.”
Even if it was quiet and timid, sort of like Whisper’s speech, Sonic and Tails still heard the voice as clear as the translucent material of a chaos emerald.
“YOU CAN TALK!!!!!!” exclaimed the two pals.
“Of course I can talk,” stated Soreo in a now slightly offended tone. “I just choose not to. But I’d figure it would be important to speak about this rather than write it down or whatever. Don't need hand cramps.”
“Of course,” said a shocked Sonic, “I just wasn’t expecting that. I thought you weren’t able to speak.”
“If I didn't, I’m pretty sure I would have already ‘told’ you.
“You said you had something to show us,” questioned a quickly recovered Tails.
“Yeah. I’m not sure how well you guys are gonna take it, but I know Tails would have a better idea what to do with it than me.”
Soreo then reached to pull something out of his fanny pack, wrapped in a simple blue cloth. Then with hesitant motion, he pulled the cloth away to reveal a red glowing gem. But not just any glowing red gem, a gem that everyone thought would never be seen again, coated with dark red swirls.
“THE PHANTOM RUBY!?”
‘Why did they seem more shocked by my voice?’