Sonic: Earthbound

Prologue

The sun was on the last quarter of its descent towards the horizon. It had recently rained, and it looked like there was more yet to come, giving the atmosphere a greenish hue. Something about it had the feel of a calm before a storm.

Sonic stood beneath a great camphor tree, tapping his foot. He could've been enjoying a chili dog dinner right now. Instead, he was standing in the middle of a forgotten forest waiting for Tails.

The kid had told him he detected a significant chaos energy reading somewhere out in the westernmost region of South Island, something he insisted was cause for concern. At the time, Sonic had been putting the finishing touches on a well-deserved nap in his favorite lounge chair at one of South Island's famous white-sand beaches. Unable to swim, Sonic always maintained a healthy distance from the ocean, but he loved the beach and the sound of the waves hitting the rocks. It was 'nature's music,' as his friend, Mighty, would have said.

"Tails," Sonic had said at the time, with more than a hint of irritation in his voice. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"But it's got to be the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic!"

"Yeah, sure. What else would it be?" he said, lifting his sunglasses off his eyes to peer at his young fox friend.

"But all seven, Sonic!"

"So?"

"So," Tails said exasperatedly, "All seven emeralds are rarely ever together in the same place!"

"Tails, step to the left. You're blocking my sun."

With a huff, Tails did so, but proceeded. "What if it's Robotnik who's got them?"

"Robotnik's base isn't even on the west side, Tails," Sonic had muttered as he flipped his shades down back over his eyes and crossed his arms behind his head.

"Well," said Tails petulantly, "I'm going to investigate. You sure you don't want to come along?"

"Tell ya what," said Sonic with yawn. "You go on ahead and I'll meet up with you. Even if you leave now, by the time you get there, I'll have finished my nap and I'll be there just a couple minutes after you."

"Fiiine," said Tails with a sigh. "Meet me in the Old Forest by the great camphor tree. You know... the one we used to play on when we were kids?"

"You're still a kid, Tails," Sonic reminded him with a smirk. Although his eyes were closed behind his sunglasses, he could almost hear Tails sticking his tongue out at him. "Not very mature, lil' bro. Ain't helping that whole 'kid' image of yours."

Tails glared at his older friend. "Hmph! Thanks for your help," he muttered as he flew off.

"See you when you get there!" Sonic called after him, before rolling onto his side to finish his nap.

Now, Sonic was at the aforementioned rendezvous point, and there was no sign of Tails. That in itself was a little odd. Sonic knew he, personally, would get here in no-time flat. But his little sidekick still should've arrived first, especially if he took the Tornado. Something was fishy here.

Sonic suddenly couldn't shake the feeling that something bad had happened to his young friend. Maybe Tails was right. Perhaps Robotnik was up to some scheme with the Chaos Emeralds. If that was the case, this was a dangerous mission indeed, and one he shouldn't have let Tails go on by himself. And what was worse, if something had happened, it was all his fault. Why hadn't he just gone with Tails when he asked him?

I have to find him!

And so, Sonic zoomed through the woods, calling his friend's name.