Sonic Runaways

The Titanic was about to make it to mainland Eurish. After a very long and very arduous journey in memory and reality alike, our heroes were finally able to return to society.

"Unidentified flying object detected…"

They were tired, ready to relax in Apotos until they could get back to their usual adventures. After all, they deserved to.

"Take aim, we must protect the mainland from any and all invaders."

They deserved to. They deserved to be happy.

"Lock and load, boys."

But life isn't fair like that.

"FIRE!" The wing of the Titanic exploded, sending the plane spiraling out of control in a cloud of smoke and fire. Everybody held on tightly, screaming for their lives as their plane was shot multiple times with blinding lasers. CRASH!

…

The plane smoldered in its crater for what felt like minutes, until a hand in torn glove reached out from the wreck. A blue hedgehog pulled himself out by the sharp edge of the broken wing.

His name is Sonic.

"Youch… everyone okay?" Sonic the Hedgehog asked, helping Amy and Tails out of the plane ruins.

"My head… it's…" Tails groaned, clutching his temple. "Bleeding." He took a long sigh. Amy looked all around.

"Is Knuckles—?" Amy began. Knuckles then tore his way out of the Titanic.

"Hah! I've been through worse," Knuckles exclaimed, standing strong above the scalding scrap metal.

"Well… guess the Titanic was a bust," Sonic mumbled. "C'mon, guys. Let's get out of here." Sonic began to climb up out of the crater, only to be met by a platoon of soldiers running down the metal boardwalk. They lowered their guns when they realized who was standing in front of them. The platoon burst into murmurs.

"Sonic?"

"Sonic the Hedgehog? And his friends…?!"

"But they're supposed to be dead…"

"They aren't looking so hot."

"Men, men, please," an eccentric voice ordered, as the soldiers began to clear a path for someone important. "We've given them enough grief. Stand down." Sonic and the others looked down. A short and stout bearded tanuki stepped in front of the soldiers, wearing regal garb. "Hello, TEAM SONIC." The tanuki smirked with his eyes.

"No way…" Sonic chuckled, walking up and leaning on the tanuki with his elbow. "What are you, a sugar-free candy mascot?"

"Hoho! My name is King Dodon Pa. I assure you, YOUR likeness has been used to promote far worse than just soylent sweets," the tanuki replied.

"What are you saying?" Amy asked.

"I guess I did have a pretty sketchy past before I wound up in Supreme," Sonic groaned. "I didn't think anybody would remember us, let alone…" Sonic cleared his throat. "That."

"On the contrary! We've all been awaiting your return for a long time," Dodon Pa chortled. "You are the last pieces to a puzzle that I have been putting together for years, to aid the planet and all those surrounding it." Sonic raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"I won't pass up an opportunity to save Erius, it could be fun!" Sonic said casually. "Give me the details, and I'll take it from there."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, hedgehog," Dodon Pa replied. "You won't be able to do this alone, you'll need a TEAM. I'll send a very important letter to your home address by the end of the week, so you'd best get to work finding a reliable group of at least two by then. For your own sake." Dodon Pa hopped into a floating pod and flew away. "So long, contestants! HOHOHOHohohoho…!" Sonic put a hand to his chin, watching as Dodon Pa disappeared into the sky.

"I wonder if Cream and Big are free," Amy hummed. "You'd better watch out, Sonic!"

"Why me specifically? I woulda assumed you'd be on my team!" Sonic exclaimed. Amy exhaled with a smirk. "I guess you have your reasons. But I won't go easy on you just cuz you decided to switch teams!"

…

The next few days went by in the blink of an eye. Sonic found himself a decent little town on the coast of the United Federation. It was a bit difficult to explain to a realtor how he had disappeared for just over twenty years. It felt awkward reintegrating into society, he hadn't really been part of it for even longer. But he felt he was ready to settle down somewhere.

At least for a little while.

Sonic walked down the sand-speckled sidewalk, singing along to a happy song playing from his new disposable cassette player. The music shot directly into his ears through earbuds that would break or be forgotten over the weekend. His new neighbors looked his way, as he spun a single house key around on his finger. The salty wind in his face, the crunch of his familiar red shoes against the pavement, it all felt just right. He was back in his element, after all this time.

"This should be the place," Sonic whispered, checking out his new crib. Strange… there seemed to be a red envelope poking out of the slot of his mailbox. "Something already?" Sonic pulled the envelope out. It was sealed with a strange winged emblem.

"Dear Sonic… The next season of the Dodon Games begins soon! I hope you have a loyal team organized. If you don't, under-the-table alliances can be made during the contest." Sonic's eyes drifted down the letter. "The Dodon Games are a series of intense challenges that can only be accomplished through people working together. However, for as much as they are designed to build team spirit, some previous contestants had reported a decline in trust for those surrounding them during the challenges." Sonic squinted. "Please note the Dodon Games are not lethal in of themselves, but there is nothing staff can do if any given contestants get violent. Signed, Dodon Pa."

…

It was the big day, the Dodon Games were about to start. Sonic wasn't used to having deadlines, nobody would be after spending the better part of two decades inside an entire dimension that played on loop. Eating vending machine chips inside the DodonPort waiting room, the realization slowly set in that he didn't have a team. He watched the other contestants piling into their seats, waiting to go to the same mysterious competition he was. They all had at the very least teams of three… and Sonic was still a solo act.

"I never thought I'd see the day…" a familiar voice said. Sonic's eyes snapped over to a seductive spider. He was at a loss for words. "Sonic! My guy! Where've you been?!" Penumbra the Spider wrapped Sonic in a big warm web, before reeling him in and hugging him. Sonic looked around the room, hoping nobody was watching. "Sorry, sorry, I suppose that's a little much. I know you're a bit off-the-grid, but I couldn't find you anywhere!"

"Ah— heeeeeyyyyy, Peni," Sonic said, grinning happily. He watched as Amy, Cream, Cheese, and… Big… walked in and took their seats. Amy eyed him oddly as Big stared out into space cluelessly. Sonic Spin-Jumped out of the web. "Nice to see you. I kinda had my hands full for a while. How's life?"

"Oh y'know, organized crime. Action, thrills, several identities each with their own spouse," Penumbra replied with a giggle. "When I heard about the latest season of the Dodon Games, I knew it would be a good opportunity to make some quick cash."

"Uh-huh. By killing off the competition?" Sonic asked, leaning on the arm of her chair. "Still can't believe that's not against the rules."

"Of course! I'll clear out the whole roster, just you wait," Penumbra exclaimed with passion. "I may be all tired and wrinkly now, but I still got i—!" Penumbra watched as Shadow the Hedgehog and the rest of Team Dark walked by. "Aw, that hedgehog could be a problem." She hummed, in deep thought.

"Do you even have a team?" Sonic asked.

"---Do YOU?" Penumbra retorted. The two sat in silence, glaring at each other. Sonic glanced to Shadow. 

"Hey, I got an idea," they both said.

…

"Attention passengers," a woman's voice said over the shuttle intercom. "Our flight is currently prepped and ready to go. Please fasten your restraints and prepare for interplanetary travel to Donpa Kingdom!" Sonic made sure he was all locked in, his partner in crime Penumbra applied an extra bit of web to her seat next to him. Next to her, though… sat a rather curious mosquito. He was already fast forwarding through a show on the in-flight screen.

"I think it's neat that these flights let you watch recordings of old Dodon Games, where people get gored up. They don't really have censorship on Donpa Kingdom like we do here, so it's a bit of a gray area when it's televised live on Erius," the mosquito breathed. Sonic and Penumbra shifted around in their seats. "Hey, I'm called Stake. Stake the Mosquito." Penumbra hissed at him.

"And I'M a spider. Don't try anything funny," she warned Stake.

"REALLY don't," Sonic coughed. "She'll actually kill you."

"'Course not, you guys," Stake replied. "Although if that freaks you out, you may not be ready for how I do things around here." Penumbra looked closer at the screen, and saw… Stake, with a big platinum Dodon Games trophy in hand and red splatters on the podium where there should've been the runners-up. She began to sweat as she stared at his sharp needle-nose. Stake grinned.