literature

Barks and Bytes - A Sonic Boom Story (1)

Deviation Actions

Published: Jun 24, 2016

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Literature Text

Chapter 1 - How It All Started

Tails, the two-tailed fox, here. One day, we’ve been experiencing technical difficulties with our computers, and we stood by. This day (or so) was a story about how a special malware, disguising itself as a computer boosting software, destroyed everyone’s PC games, especially what my crew and I had developed. No, I’m not referring to Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, and Sticks the Jungle Badger, but rather another team consisting of some old friends of mine who I took to school. Anyway, we were then forced to play a blatant rip-off of our game, cruder than oil.

But before this incident had happened, it all started when my bandaged friends were simply playing volleyball, like in any other day in Bygone Island, just without me.

“Hey, Knuckles!” yelled Sonic, jumping before serving the ball. “Heads up!”

In response, the big red echidna hit the ball, literally using his head. “Good thing I have a hard head!” he moaned with his eyes rolling.

After watching the ball fly away, an unamused Amy replied, “How realistic, Knuckles. You must have sacrificed brain volume for a thicker skull.”

He rubbed his head. “It’s a double-edged sword, a curse and a blessing.”

Sometime later, I got out of my workshop and visited my friends during their game. Bringing my laptop, I wanted to show them my game I’ve downloaded, mainly because Sonic and Knuckles are known for their Couch Potato Saturdays, where they spend hours playing video games. “Hey, guys! Check out this game! Some other friends and I developed it for quite some time!”

Sonic scoffed, “Look, if this is another educational or puzzle game you made or bought, like the last five you showed us, we’re still not interested.”

Yep. I remember showing all of those games like Brain World, 4096, Sevens, which inspired 4096, Construct-a-Chain, and of course, Too Wrong to Be Right (a critical thinking game), all in one day. At the post office:

“Check out Brain World!” I exclaimed, showing up with my laptop. “Doesn’t this look like a cool game?”

“Pfft, not interested,” replied the blue hedgehog, holding a pink envelope.

At Meh Burger, where we normally eat lunch:

“Check out 4096!” I exclaimed, showing up with my laptop again. “Maybe this one looks like a cool game?”

“Once again, not interested,” replied the blue hedgehog, scarfing a chili dog.

At the library:

“Check out Sevens,” I whispered, showing up with my laptop for the third time. “50 million users bought it for a reason!”

“Shh-h-h!” shushed Amy, while reading a novel.

At Fennec Shopkeeper’s market:

“Construct-a-Chain has received very positive reviews!” I exclaimed, showing up with my laptop for the fourth time, which resulted in my gang frowning even harder.

“Twice again, not interested,” groaned Sonic.

“What kind of pinball moves in a path by itself!?” shrieked a frightened Sticks. “Do aliens make them?”

“No,” I answered.

At the DangerCo. Deadly Equipment Warehouse:

“...Too Wrong to Be Right?” I suggested nervously, grinding my teeth and holding my cell phone.

My friends were really, really annoyed on that time. “TAILS! Stop it already!”

“I’m always too wrong to be right,” muttered Knuckles, crossing his arms.

That’s when I realized: those games were specialized ONLY for me. So how could I have been so obtuse? I should’ve respected others’ tastes. Now, aside from the flashback...

“Don’t worry, I think you’ll really enjoy this one! No traditional puzzles or lessons. It’s called Blades of the Rebellion, a platformer with innovative action, role-playing, exploration, and most of all, speed!”

Sonic looked more surprised, in a good way. “Speed? Now, that follows my style!

Knuckles flexed his arm muscles and punched the air. “Action, like punching ‘till you drop, is what I do best!”

“I do enjoy RPGs,” Amy pointed out. “Maybe because I love stories.”

“Exploration is how I discover new kinds of species,” added Sticks. “And survive.”

Then, I showed them the trailer, starting off with the plot synopses.

“Once upon a time, there were five humble kingdoms living in harmony. Each have brought many ways to maintain peace including alliances and sharing their unique strengths. That was until one day, an ancient demon rose from the underworld and discovered the concept of technology. With this kind of power, he developed his own bionics to make himself stronger and create a new cyborg army. On the following week, he conquered all five kingdoms and planned to wipe out all of current civilization, to make room for a new, ghastly bionic world. Heroes have sacrificed themselves, and many of the innocent lost their homes and kneeled before the half-robot monsters. But not all hope was lost; one day, there were five teenage warriors, each from a different kingdom, who found themselves in an ancient cave after escaping. Knowing that their world is in danger, they must train themselves and work together to find all eight Crystals of Truth to form a new power to defeat the empowered demon once and for all.”

With the background music as pop punk, the playable characters were introduced.The main protagonist was a young king cheetah ninja whose name was Scion, according to the announcer. He had thick, tungsten-colored fur with trodden black blotchy spots, with some spiky areas on his head and back, beige bandages on his arms and legs, and a blue tattered scarf. He also used a katana as a weapon. Additionally, as the fastest in the team, his moveset emphasized speed and spacing; it consisted of quick slicing and jabs with the tip of his sword dealing the most damage.

Second came Amoroso, the sweet-but-tough pink gold-furred wolfdog knight, who wore a thin pigtail, developed armor and hexagonal bracelets on her wrists, and welded a thick longsword with a pink fuller and yellow blade. Her moveset was based on balance and versatility as she had average stats, though he had some unique abilities like spin-jumping with her sword.

Then, there was the hardcore leader, Nucleus the Noble, a gold-colored viking “grolar” bear who wore a horned gold helmet and a tattered blue plaid kilt. As the “strongest of the bunch,” he held a massive, red, bandaged spiky flail with a battle axe on its other end. Due to his slow movement, he relied mainly on extreme strength (axe-flail combos complemented this trait) and defense (invincibility frames, anyone?), as well as his superior swimming skills.

Next came the clever and wise-cracking Bonnie Bones, who was a cobalt blue, eyepatch-wearing pirate capuchin who enjoyed going to new areas. Gameplay-wise, she relied on range and zoning, like shooting with her bazookas and throwing a bone-like boomerang to capture objects, though her cutlass had the least reach.

And last, but not least, there was the intelligent and wise Horns, the hooded white metal-colored/albino and red-eyed horned (hence the name) owl, who relied not on a sharp weapon, but rather sorcery as well as his keen senses. In detail, he focused on a mix of powerful magic and aerial combat, like vanishing dodges, a fire-enhanced barrel roll or an electrified shuttle loop.

But if there was one thing everyone had in common, it was super speed, vital for getting through platforms in record time.

After their introduction, the five warriors were seen going through various platforms until their battle a boss named Robogre, who resembled a giant cyborg ogre. Scion immediately charged to the beast to strike him with the tip of his sword, but after that, Robogre unleashed a sonic roar to knock him down. Bonnie took over the kid cheetah’s place and used her trusty gun to shoot seeds at the ogre. Likewise, the monkey was victimized by the beast’s shockwave stomps and closed her eyes while taking damage. Then, Amoroso showed up and jumped from Robogre’s foot to his head which she impaled with her yellow and pink blade. She had given him a great deal of damage, but the cyborg ogre shaked his head, causing her to fall down, though she didn’t receive damage. Eventually, Horns and Nucleus came to the rescue; the grolar bear kept the monster busy and defended himself with his spiky gauntlets whereas the owl was coordinating his attacks, from a quiet invisible glide to a downwards hurricane headbomb right in the beast’s head, knocking him off. After Robogre was defeated, Horns magically healed the team with an aura, and he and they gave fives. Last, the trailer ended with the logo of Blades of the Rebellion.

“Liking the visuals,” complemented Sonic with a thumbs up. “Who doesn’t enjoy whatever looks hand-drawn with colored pencils and watercolors by an A-OK drawer?”

Amy added, “The backgrounds look highly vibrant, but not so colorful that they exhaust the player. They also look culturally diverse, and especially surreal, like in Alice in Wonderland.”

After the trailer, we went home where I set up our television, connected it with a console with an advance copy of my game inside, brought one controller, and that’s when we started playing. And boy did my friends have a lot of fun, despite the story mode being only single-player.

Sonic, as the first one to play, held right on the joystick. “That Scion, look at him go, running through loop after forest!”

“Don’t go too fast, because you’ll miss out those treasures if you do!” advised Sticks, pointing at one of the blue chests at a platform above the playable character.

“Who needs collectables when a blow in the face is refreshing enough?”

“So when do we get our turn?” asked Knuckles.

“After Sonic completes his level,” I answered. “Also, you can swap characters in-game, though you have to wait until thirty seconds before Scion can be played again.”

“Eh, fair enough.”

At the end of the blue blur’s turn, his character lost a life when falling into a poisoned-water lake when forgetting to jump. “Oh, dang, that’s no good!”

“Always watch where you’re going, Sonic!” suggested Amy. “Think about it, what would happen if you were speeding in a car in real life?”

“I only drove a car once!”

“My turn!” The big red echidna snatched the controller from Sonic and pressed “up” with the D-pad, replacing Scion with Nucleus. “Time to SMASH!” Indeed did he begin mashing buttons, in which in the game, the hybrid bear knocked over every enemy in sight, making a 20-kill combo and and gaining enough experience points level up. “Unlike Sonic, I don’t chuckle.”

When Amy got her turn, she played as Amoroso in the hub world, a lavish castle, where she found some doors to play some special stages.

“Let’s see here, training stages, a pinball-like game, a 3D endless running game, and so on. The training stages are the only ones more true to the core gameplay, however, so I’ll settle with those...until we unlock the rest, of course.”

Chapter 2 - Some Fame to Blame

By the time it was Saturday, my team’s game, as in the one my old team made, was released, and initial reactions were...well, pretty good- No, wait a minute, very good- No, outstanding! In fact, villagers were screaming for my game and waving money while waiting in a rather long line at the only game store in Village Center.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” said the game store manager. “may I present to you-”

“Shut up and take my cash!” yelled Belinda, a slim brown goat.

He sighed, “...Blades of the Rebellion. Talk about hype. Sheesh...”

“When I showed up, I began to wonder how my company’s game managed to build up so much anticipation in the first place, considering how we originally intended it to be a small, zero-budget, non-profit game, more than a year ago. Eh, expect the unexpected...

Perci, a purple bandicoot, pointed at me outside the line. “Hey, look who we have here: It’s the director of that game we’ve anticipated, for quite some time!”

Everyone cheered at me.

“Hope you had fun riding the hype train!” I replied with considerable pride. “You’re going to love all the effort we put into our first public game we’re releasing!”

A fan brought a notebook and a pen. “Say, how about an autograph?”

“Maybe once you purchase one of the copies for me to me sign.”

“Fair enough!”

While the store was bombarded with customers, the game manager took me inside and gave me a stand where I would autograph the copies. “I also brought a seat soft and fluffy, just like- er, for you, Tails.”

I lightly scratched my head. “Thank you.” So I sat down and wrote my signature on each of my fans’ game covers, faster than Sonic rolling around at the speed of sound (not literally). A little later, my blue friend zoomed into the store and found me there. I wasn’t paying attention to him at first, but then tapped me while I was busy signing.

“‘Sup, Yellow Sky?” he asked, doing his signature pose with his index finger sticking. “Looks like you’ve got a bunch of guys and gals waiting in this second line for your autograph, after buying your neat game! Long live the rebellion.”

“Yeah, about that, signing like a hundred copies is no picnic,” I wheezed while writing and sweating.

A while later, a muscular, mustached scientist showed up, ramming through the line of customers to get in front. “Out of my way! Evil scientist coming through!”

Sigh. It was Doctor Eggman.

The salamander cashier in the store informed with partial grief, “I am sorry, but we have sold out of all 150 copies of Blades of the Rebellion. And to tone down demand and prevent any more traffic, for YOU to take advantage of, we have no plans of restocking the game until further notice.”

The remaining villagers groaned and left, except for Eggman, who was just desperate to get a copy.

“What!? This can’t be!” Afterwards, he brought a large, glowing green lump of pork, preserved with brine and such. “Maybe this tasty ham will convince you to sell me a copy sooner. Sure, it’s evil ham, but it’s still ham!”

How cute, Eggster. I remember when you wanted to build a robot that would feed you that, according the the pilot where Sonic wanted a new sidekick.

Anyway, the cashier looked closely to that ghastly meat. “Looks...tasty, but bribing the employee won’t cut it. As a policy, we don’t do personal favors.”

“This is an outrage. I had to wait over two years for the game to be released, delays INCLUDED, bought all the merchandise based on it, paid a THOUSAND dollars for its fundraiser, and this is how you end it? By leaving me with nothing?”

“Sorry about that, sir. Maybe next week…”

“...I could still order the game online, right? Oh wait, that could take weeks, considering that here, in Bygone Island, is isolated from everywhere else!”

Then, that old man looked at me at the stand and marched there. “So you’re the creator of Blades of the Rebellion? I’ll admit that I loved the presentation and enjoyed the demo from Game-Con, which is why I am asking if you have a copy of your own.”

“I do have a copy of my own, Eggman,” I responded coldly, “but it’s not for sale. Wait to buy one.”

He brought me the green ham. “Evil ham?”

“Yeech.” I shoved the deviled meat aside. “Still not for sale, period. Besides, you were rude to the fans who got in line first, fair and square.”

Eggman repeatedly banged the table. “You selfish little weasel. So this is how you treat your biggest supporter!? Unbelieveable! I oughta sue you for egging me to support you for nothing!”

Sonic stood in front of the maniac. “Leave Tails alone, Egghead. ‘Sold out’ means ‘sold out.’ If you’re going to be a baby and throw a tantrum in front of the owner, then you shouldn’t be here AT ALL!”

“Now that hurt.” And so Eggman ran away from the game store, bawling like a...You know what Sonic meant. Now there’s one thing that made us puzzle…

“Huh, strange,” pointed out the blue hedgehog, standing like a soldier. “Why didn’t Eggman bring his robots to attack us?”

“Thank goodness for that,” sighed the game manager. “Otherwise, we would’ve ended up with a hurricane mess.”

“Still, it’s kind of odd for him to step down without a fight.”

After sales have ended, critical acclaim had boomed once all the gamers played Blades of the Rebellion, even for as long as one day. They all praised the hand drawn-style visuals, music, gameplay, voice-acting, plot...the sky was the limit! But what about criticism? Well, glad you asked. While most of reviews were perfect 10s, some critics were somewhat more mixed on the similarities of a game that was created much earlier. One involving running, rolling, and collecting rings as fast as you can.

Then came the fanart of my characters, with Scion the king cheetah having the most art in the website “Artastic!” In my phone, I looked at each of every one of the drawings, as most were really nice, or downright magnificent. Unfortunately, there were plenty of lazy and offensive recolors here and there, and even came with descriptions like “original character, do not steal” or “nothin’ personnel, kid” (It’s correctly spelled “personal”) Sometimes, popularity comes with a price, but the goodies outweigh the negatives nonetheless.

Later came even more special treatment whether it was cosplay, non-canon fanfictions, or flash fan videos. Eventually, as much I was satisfied with the support, I became fatigued by the huge trend I created, so I wanted to take a breather at the very least. But I was out of luck when reception turned sillier. Everywhere I went, whether it’s somewhere online or the real world, most fans kept bugging me with unbearable jokes and weird memes. For instance...

“Oh look, jewels! Om nom nom nom nom!” typed one user, who also posted a poorly drawn Nucleus eating the items from my game.

Really? I didn’t intend that grolar bear to be that gluttonous in the first place!

And on the real world, they constantly spoiled me with paparazzi, invitations to parties, and gifts like…

“Hey, Tails!” squealed one fan, bringing an art piece. “Here’s my Amoroso portrait! Hope you’ll enjoy it!”

Another fan cried, “Check out my action figure based on Fukushū the bionic oni, the main antagonist of your game!”

“Eh, thanks,” I replied.

Sometime later, I was getting pretty tired of the fandom I created, as it turned increasingly extreme over time. Sadly, no matter where I was, at least a few fans, or hundreds at most, were there to chase me, and in some cases, take my property, even my wallet, without permission.

“I got his goggles!” yelled one of them.

“Hey, that’s mine!” I cried.

Suddenly, I heard a rumbling noise. Outside the village, there was a horde of screaming fans racing towards me. I knew this was way too much, so with the help of Sonic, we quickly looked for a hiding spot, hoping for my safety.

“We gotta get outta here, Tails!” shouted the blue hedgehog, grabbing my hand and running. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring you to the perfect hideout until those fans chill out!”

And so I wanted to get away from it all, by spending time with someone I loved, alone. Want to know how I managed to do it? Live and learn.

Chapter 3 - Preparing for the Date with Zooey (With the Help of My Friends)

For fans who watched our show, I’m sure you all remember when I saw a vixen at Justin Beaver’s concert. On the following day, I started falling in love with her and that’s when my current friends helped me how to talk to her. First, Sonic taught me how to be cool and sarcastic, only for Zooey to walk away. Next, Knuckles advised me to act “manly” and eat raw meat, which ended up with likewise lukewarm results. Then, Amy taught me how to be a “gentleman,” which was why I disguised myself as the Phantom of the Opera in front of Zooey at her house...but then she closed the window. Afterwards, as advised by Sticks, I danced with two feathery fans, but that didn’t work either, notwithstanding Zooey’s sneezing. Eventually, Eggman found me and advised me to just be myself. Of course, he then used a music-playing giant robot to kidnap my later-to-be girlfriend, but that’s when I saved her using my plane’s Unbolterizer to disassemble the robot, and my Enerbeam. Since then, Zooey and I became a couple.

Following that mostly awkward backstory, I thought it would be perfect to go on a special private date with my girlfriend. At home...

“I know what’s it like to have too many fans who won’t ever leave you alone,” claimed Knuckles.

“You do?” I asked.

“Actually, nope.”

I facepalmed.

“However, there were a bunch of yellow baby ducks that kept following me once I fed them leftover bread I found from a garbage can. Either I raised them well, or it might have been that I was the first guy they saw after hatching from their eggs.”

“You babysat ducklings?”

“Which was why they wouldn’t leave me alone until weeks later when I taught them how to fly...in some way.”

Sonic began to cringe. “No wonder why we’ve heard some quacking every time you’re around, Knux!”

“At least they were better than the field of explosive ducklings from one of my dreams!”

“Anyway,” I continued, “I’ve been talking to Zooey, asking her if we’d go on our date together in somewhere alone. Without hesitation, she agreed to this, but none of us knows which place would be the best.”

Then, the hedgehog turned to me. “Tails, I hear that in a distinct forest, there’s a fancy restaurant, called “The Secret Splendor Smokewood,” which specializes private dates, with some kind of discount for famous people, like you. And it get better. Very few people know about this place, hence its name, so this makes it perfect for you to get away from those bothersome fans of yours.”

“Well, let’s hope I have enough money to pay the bill,” I remarked.

Afterwards, I called my girlfriend on my phone to tell her about the luxury restaurant.

“Tails!” Zooey answered. “So have you decided where we should go on our private date?”

“I have, but it’s a secret. You see, there is some kind of restaurant in a forest, called “The Secret Splendor Smokewood.” I’ll email you the directions soon, but I am hoping that the food wouldn’t not too pricy for both of us.”

“Relax, Tails. My parents are known for giving me lots of bonus allowances, so as long as the place doesn’t serve only raw meals, it’d be perfect.”

“Hope to see you there tonight!”

Well, that was easier than I expected! Normally, when two people make an arrangement, there would be some complications. I ought to consider myself blessed.

Of course, I was to prepare for the quality time with perfection, so there came Amy’s pre-dating lessons, not that I asked for them, of course. However, she decided to skip ahead from table manners as I already knew the basics since Sticks at the awards ceremony. Nevertheless, Amy took me to the department store in a mall to buy a suit.

“Here do we have a variety of tuxedos, neckties, and monkey suits, each varying in color, texture and pattern,” she pointed out, holding my shoulder.

“So which suit would you recommend for me exactly?” I asked.

“Well, that’s up to you to decide, but if I were you, I’d go with the gold tuxedo; it matches the same primary color you and Zooey share. Still, don’t take my word for it, always follow your heart.”

Sounding a little off-topic, Comedy Chimp, the host of the Comedy Chimp Show, came out of a changing room, wearing a yellow uniform. “Say, does this monkey suit make me look fat?”

“You already looked this way in the first place!” bellowed Amy. “Though the monkey suit certainly fits you.”

“I’ll take that as a complement.”

After the trip to the department store, where I picked a white tuxedo and a lava-themed necktie, the pink hedgehog took me to “Unoan from M.E.,” a jewelry shop/gemstone museum with rumors of mystical rocks in presence. There, we were to get jewelry for Zooey.

There, we saw Knuckles wearing a black cap and gold security guard badge and standing near the door, which sort of surprised us. “Nobody moves a muscle!” he ordered with a stop pose. Then, he scanned us with a metal-detecting wand. After that, he declared, “Sweet, no bombs in those pockets!”

“Knuckles, it’s us,” growled Amy. “You wouldn’t believe that we’d bring explosives, did you?”

“Just wanted to make sure. Now come with me, I’ve got something to show you two.”

“Um, Knux,” I informed, “We’re in the middle of-”

“Tut, tut, tut. Say no more, I know what you want. Follow me.”

Without us arguing, the big red triangle with legs took us to the gemstone and jewelry exhibition where we saw what appeared to be Chaos Emeralds, which all looked amazing in terms of craftsmanship and quality. But what really stood out was a huge, glowing green gemstone in the center. As much as others were still astonishing, the big one was not like any other.

“Maybe this Master Emerald you’re looking at would knock your true love’s socks off, lover boy,” Knuckles proudly suggested to me, later holding the rock. “Sure, I’ve committed to guarding this for as long as I live, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt for you to have fun with it for a little bit.”

After a moment, I responded with hesitation, “It does look so gorgeous, but maybe something smaller and less dangerous will do.”

The big red security guard was suddenly holding a somewhat smaller gem-embedded ring, once I faced him again. However, it was still too huge.

“Whoa, that looks nice too, but I need something even smaller. Besides, Zooey and I aren’t getting married.”

After I blinked, the toothy smiling Knuckles was instantly holding a jewelry necklace, smaller than the giant ring, but still too big to wear.

“Something much smaller.”

Once more, in a blink of an eye, Knuckles was holding a rainbow gemstone necklace, in normal size. Finally, it was perfect for Zooey! She always loved rainbows.

“We’ll take it!” I announced with joy.

“Excellent choice, it’s only one of the finest handcrafted in Angel Island. Right now, this spotlight item costs $100,100,100, but I’ll let you keep it secretly, free of charge. Just don’t tell my boss about this, alright?”

“As long as we’re not stealing,” I said, sweating. But then we attempted to leave the store, the alarm went on, thanks to the security tag on the necklace. We walked back in where the monocle-wearing shopkeeper found us “stealing.”

“Aw, dang,” muttered Knuckles. Then, he grabbed us on the shoulders and told the manager, “Sir, I found these two careless oafs taking the piece of jewelry while forgetting to pay for it!”

“Careless oafs?” barked Amy.

The shopkeeper clapped his hands. “Good work, Knuckles. Now you can-”

“But I think I should be nice and pay for it for them; after all, if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink. For you will heap burning coals on their head.”

Then, I asked, “Wait, what are trying to-”

Knuckles whispered to me, “Psst, I’m here to bail you two out! However, I do want to look good on my job. Still, play along with me.”

And so we were sent to the point of sale, where Big Red managed to purchase for the necklace with...I don’t know how to describe it, but…

“I don’t carry any money or a card, but here’s this piece of junk I found while randomly digging in Mount Safety,” informed Knuckles, sending an ironically precious, rainbow-colored crystal.

The shopkeeper’s eyes widened. “Wait a minute, is that the rare Sanctus Sprite’s Crystal? That ought to be worth the same price as the necklace! We have a deal!”

“Thanks!” The echidna then turned to Amy and me. “You two are lucky that I’m being nice here. I do hope you don’t do anything stupid like this again!”

I argued, “But we weren’t-” Knuckles bonked me in the head, so my thoughts miraculously changed. “-I mean, no sir, we will never again.”

“Good.”

Overall, this made us wonder if he wasn’t as useless as we previously thought, though this didn’t change the personality he has now.

After the jewelry shop, Amy and I visited the fragrance parlor where we tried out various kinds of cologne, though it was difficult to find the perfect one. But I wondered, did Zooey need me to smell super good?

“Jungle Jubilee?” I asked, spraying the fragrance and then sniffing it. “Ugh, only Sticks would enjoy this.” I grabbed the next one. “Chili Dog for the Champs!? What kind of person would actually buy this, besides Sonic, of course?” On to the third. “The Soul.” I sprayed it and sniffed. “Hmm, something a little more zesty.” To the fourth. “Beauty Bomb.” I sprayed it and sniffed. “Okay, a little too strong.” Soon, I spotted a perfume bottle that was shaped like Amoroso the Wolfdog, which did not surprise me that much. “I bet female fans will race for that.”

Indeed had several girls show up and fight for the glass bottle, much to my fatigue by the fanbase. And to make this “easier,” Amy was one of them, who balanced the fragrance on top of her mallet. “Back off! This perfume belongs to a crazy pizza woman...who juggles and sings, like me!” Consequently, the bottle fell down and shattered, leaving a pink scented puddle. She smiled nervously. “Oops.” And so the fans ended up mad. Like, really mad. So mad that they were willing to rip her from head to toe.

After escaping the mall and running away from the angry mob, it was almost time for the date. At home, Amy groomed my fur and next helped me put on the necktie we bought we bought at the mall. “Now hold still, while I make a knot with this tie. I want you to look as perfect as possible for your special date.”

“If that’s what you recommend,” I responded.

When the makeover was done, she put me to a surprise presentation in front of our friends. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you the new and improved Tails!”

I showed up, everyone clapped, and boy, did I look so handsome! It was out with the nerdy goggles and belt and in with the fancy tie and buttons, for one day at least.

Sticks brought me a bouquet of assorted exotic flowers, each out of the usual. “Here are some plants I picked from a jungle. What is true love without bringing the best in all of nature?”

“Gee, thanks, Sticks,” I replied. “That’s very generous of you. I’m sure Zooey will love of of these.”

Amy continued with glee, “Well done! Now, I’m sure that each has fulfilled their role contributing to the preparation of Tail’s date.” Then, she looked at the blue blur with sarcasm. “Right, Sonic?”

“I might have, I might have not,” replied Sonic, staring into space. “You’ll find out soon.”

“That is typical of you.”

As soon as things were going so smoothly, my phone rang. Someone was calling me, but who? I asked my friends, “Could anyone give me a minute, please?” With their permission, I went to the bathroom and answered on the phone, “Hello?”

“Tails! It’s you! Long time no see!” It turned out to be Willabelle, an energetic, soft and short-haired human girl who was one of my old teammates involved with our game, as the beta tester. “The reason why I’ve called you is because we wanted to invite you to our discussion of our plans after the success of our game, Blades of the Rebellion!“

“When does it start?” I asked.

“I hope tonight sounds good; whatcha think about that?”

“As much as it’s nice to speak with you again, I am not sure if I have the time for a discussion, because I will be having dinner time with my girlfriend.”

“Oh, that’s too bad, because because otherwise, the rest of our crew are going to be pretty busy starting with the next day.”

Back in school, my old friends and I, as the director, have formed our alliance as a development team called “Freakware,” named after our abnormalities we eventually treated as blessings. Now let me give you the names of my old friends, besides the human...Okay, more like nicknames. The names were: Fingers, a cyan monkey with six-fingered hands, responsible for coding, Tim and Tom Two-Heads, a reddish-brown two-headed turtle responsible for art designing, and Mic, a green four-eared cat responsible for making music, hence his extra hearing power.

“Wait, my old crew will be there!? Don’t worry, I will find a way to talk to you somehow.”

“Uhh, sounds good? What about your date?”

“I’ll find a way. Just add me. Bye!” I turned off the phone. “Oh, no. Why did I put myself into this mess? Now I have to choose between the date and the discussion. Everyone knows that you can’t have your cake and eat it too.” Then, it hit me… “What if I brought Beatbark, my smartphone-headed robot dog, in which Zooey would think that I’d be talking to him, when he ‘serves’ the role as ‘my crew?’ That might be darn creative! However, in most restaurants, pets aren’t allowed...unless they’re not biological and that they’re much cleaner.”

Later, the robot dog and I came outside, where we saw a long white limousine, playing loud soul music. We were ready to be transported, but who was the driver? For sure, the side windows suggested three guests inside.

“Everyone,” announced Sonic, “Those guys inside are going to take Tails to the SSS. Rumors say that they came from a different universe, but they’re JUST rumors, right? Anyway, they’re taking a vacation from all of their detective work, and once I met them at the beach, we made good business stuff with each other, and with their radical car, I’ve decided to pay them to take Tails to his destination. Don’t worry, they aren’t really strangers, so you can trust them.”

“Looks like I was wrong about you being selfish,” sighed Amy.

The driver greeted to me, “Hey, there, looking forward to our groovy ride to ‘Triple S?’ You know, Secret Splendor Smokewood?”

“Um, sounds nice,” I answered. “How much did Sonic pay you for my transport?”

One of the passengers curled up his tail and groaned, “15 bucks. Honestly, this is getting a little petty...”

“Remember our policy, SP-0,” growled the driver. “We never turn down work that pays!"

“Yeah, whatever he said!” ‘buzzed’ the second passenger.

And so Beatbark and I entered the limo.

“Glad your friend called us to give you a drive!” laughed the driver. “Trust me, you are going to love it here.”

During the long ride, we listened to disco music and played cards to keep us busy. Everything smelled nice, and thank goodness nothing was related to my game, so I couldn’t complain about this treatment overkill.

Then, I began noticing that the passengers and driver were hiding their faces (or most of them) with accessories. The youngest passenger was a bee with a name tag that was written “C1-14R-ME-B (pronounced Char-me-be), in terms of codename. He wore sports tape like us, black gloves, a black high-tech jacket and a mask helmet that looked an awful lot like an alien’s head, due to its odd shape, antennae and red lens. The older passenger, with a name tag saying “SP-0 (pronounce the zero as ‘o’)”, was a ninja chameleon who wore shades, sports tape like what the bee was wearing, and a dark purple spandex suit. Finally, the driver, whose name tag was written “V3K-T0R (fek-ter)”, was a crocodile wearing a bandaged HMD, a green bush-like afro, and platinum-colored disco clothes. Now that I thought of them, they looked familiar.

At the end of the ride, the dog and I finally arrived to SSS, where I saw Zooey from a distance, waving at me. With a ribbon-loaded attire, she never looked so beautiful!

C1-14R-ME swiftly waved good-bye, before closing the window. “Have fun dating!”

“Give her a kiss when you have to!” suggested V3K-T0R.

“Always focus your spirit,” added SP-0.

After the limo left, I asked Zooey with reddened cheeks, “So, ready for our latest date?”

She pointed at Beatbark. “That’s a cute robot dog you got there. Anyway, I didn’t drive all the way here to this secret steakhouse just to eat, so of course I’m ready!”

The waiter from the entrance exclaimed, “Very good! Now come with me, and I’ll find your table.”

“This dinner, at the very least, was one of the most compelling experiences I had in a long time. The decorations were magnificent, the drinks were tasty (especially the probiotic red grape juice), the food was great, and there were only the two of us, having peace together without anyone else bothering me whatsoever.

“I hear that your game, Blades of the Rebellion, turned out to be one of the best in the market,” said Zooey, taking a sip of juice. “When I think about it, you must have worked really hard on it.”

“Yeah, it took us more than two years of development,” I replied, taking a bite of my salmon. “And now I just want to rest, alone with you. For the record, I’m getting really tired of those crazy admirers.”

“Agreed; when it comes to fans, enthusiasm is one thing, but delirium is something else.”

“Anyway, I feel like talking about something else now. So how are things going for you?”

“Just fine, thank you. Some rough areas here and there, when it comes to family issues, but they’re all in the past.”

“Oh, wait! I remember something! I have something to bring you, thanks to Knuckles.” I brought the assorted gemstone-embedded necklace. “This is a gift, as all I can I say.”

The vixen couldn’t believe her eyes. “Wow, it’s beautiful! How did you know that I enjoy rainbows?”

“Everytime I see you nowadays, you’re often near a rainbow that puts a smile on both our faces.”

“Aww, especially when it’s true, that is a sweet thing to say!”

“I also have a bouquet of exotic flowers, thanks to a jungle badger,” I added, bringing the said item. “Don’t worry, she picked the ones that aren’t poisonous.”

“...Why, you shouldn’t have! Now I wish there was something I could give you.”

“No, it’s fine Zooey, you don’t have to send me back anything. Your smile is all I need.”

Suddenly, the phone-headed dog under the table “rang,” so I went under; on his six-inch, 4K-resolution “screen-face,” there was my whole crew: Fingers was in the big screen whereas everyone else were in smaller ones below.

“It is good to see you again, Director Tails,” greeted the monkey. “Of course, you are still having quality time with a guest, but what interests me is how you will manage.”

“I’m all good, Fingers,” I replied. “So what are our plans after making Blades of the Rebellion?”

Looking surprised, Zooey asked me, “Is everything alright with your pet?”

Getting back up, I began to sweat. “...Um, yep, absolutely! In fact, he’s helping me….rehearse for a play for next week! Out of anxiety, he’s been insisting that I practice little by little everytime.”

“If you say so, I think…”

I went back under the table.

“You know,” continued Fingers, “After all the critical acclaim and surprising high sales, I have been considering the making of downloadable content, or what fans may call “DLC” for short.”

“That is a good idea!” replied Tim (the left head of the turtle), in a gruff voice. “Maybe we could add new characters, like the abandoned liger sorcerer, to put extra variation to the gameplay.”

“Or new stages like Freaky Factory to build up more replay value,” counteracted Tom, the calmer right head. “But I don’t know which would be less time-consuming.”

“Remember the number one lesson: A delayed game, or a piece of content, is eventually good, but a rushed one is forever bad.”

“But can’t rushed content get patched through updates?”

“Patches are better off for emergency purposes, as long as we make everything doable by beginning!”

“Tim’s got a point there, Tom,” I replied. “We’d rather that we take the time to properly develop DLC, whether it’s big or small. Now, could you please give me minute?” I got back to my girlfriend. “So where were we?”

After I kept switching back and forth, whether conversation was about post-release content, or casual talk, Zooey turned puzzled and suspicious. “...Okay, what is happening, really? Because you said that this date was for just the two of us alone.”

“I know...but there are some minor complications…”

Later, I was saved by the waiter, who wowed us by serving a huge amount of desserts, ranging from sprinkled ice cream macarons to a giant, decorative red velvet cake. “Hope you two have room for sweets after your dinner,” he said. Pick any one you prefer.” Phew.

After the date, Zooey drove home, whereas the crocodile, chameleon, and bee took me back. Between me and my girlfriend, the feast was fun while it lasted, though the penultimate was rather a bit of a jumbled mess, with me switching from conversation to conversation. I guess this was okay this time, but I seriously needed to do better next time, or else bad things could really happen.

amyrose knucklestheechidna sonicboom sonicthehedgehog tailsthefox sticksthebadger zooeythefox

Thought it would be nice to submit this on Sonic's 25th anniversary.

In this story, it is revealed that Tails has been working part-time on a game with some old friends. Eventually, as he gets obsessed with fixing it when a cyberbully and Eggman creates a malware to infect it. Unfortunately, this also meant putting aside his other tasks, like spending time with Zooey and playing with Dude-itude at the concert. Eventually, it's up to Tails to fix all his situations before it's too late.

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