Drafted

The floor felt like ice and the billowing breeze sent shivers down Sonic's spine. Hands tied to his back, he was blindly lead through a vast room full of cells. "Pin-cushion!" "Blue rat!" "TACK-ie rodent!" He could barely see them in the shadows, but gripping behind the bars, the prisoner's spiteful stares pierced through. The lights flickered, with each cell passed Sonic kept getting dragged deeper into the Neo Prison Island facility.

The guards walked him down a special glass corridor leading to a cell made just for him. It was surrounded by water, one could take a gander at the ocean and it's wildlife swimming by. All of the wildlife having a purpose and a reason to what they're doing. Unlike him. He was never given a clear reason why he was taken here. He was told it was because of the millions in damages he committed—but that was partially their fault.

"Still having trouble telling me apart from fakers?" Sonic shouted at the guards who threw him into the cell. Sonic collapsing to the glassy floor, a subtle 'dink' resounding in the room. "Brand names have higher standards than generics!" Sonic spat out as he began to struggle to stand.

His words fell into deaf ears.

He swiped his hand over his chest knocking off dust as the guards walked away. It was so blindingly bright, it hurt a bit to see. With a groan, Sonic walked over and sat down on the bench at the back of the room only to feel a shock. The metal was ice cold.

A shiver ran down his spine. As he stretched his arms out and folded his legs, he bumped into something right besides him. Upon looking down he saw a brown weasel chained up from head to toe. Sonic rubbed his eyes, he was staring right at him.

"I Wouldn't get so close to them, if I had to be you."

Sonic managed to pry his eyes away from the crimson eyes below him, looking to his right towards the voice. It was someone he knew, maybe a little too well, unlike the rest. It was someone he loathed more than anyone else.

Sonic grimaced, "Oh, It's you..." Laying on an adjacent bench sat Sonic's arch-nemesis, Dr. Eggman, who twirled his iconic mustache. "As if things couldn't get worse," he rested his palm on his forehead.

"Enjoying our luxurious treatment so graciously provided by GUN?"

Sonic stood up and approached the doctor. "It's about time I see you rotting in jail, Egghead!"

"You're the one in a worse predicament here, Sonic! I have devised a brillant—" Eggman glances upward to the center of the room, a small blinking light sat dead center in the ceiling. "Ahem," Eggman lowered his voice, "Let's just say I have a little trick hidden expertly beneath my sleeve."

"Yeah, right. A life sentence in prison has truly scrambled your brain if you think you can escape right now, Doc," Sonic taunted him, confidently shrugging, "And even if you did, all your precious knick-knacks were confiscated by GUN a while ago. What ya' gonna do about it, huh?"

"You always underestimate my scientific genius, hedgehog!—Assuming you even understand it. Just wait and see as the Eggman Empire majestically soars without your middling intervention!" Eggman snidely looked over to Sonic.

Sonic looked away from Eggman, glancing around the other inhabitants in the room. With his eyes adjusted, he could tell there was only one monster here. 'Maybe there's two monsters...' Sonic thought to himself as he looked over to a white fox, his blue eyes staring back at him.

A fox with... two tails?

Sonic faintly heard Eggman yammering about his brilliant, monumental, stupdenous plan. All Sonic could think of is getting him to shut up.

"Talk about a low-budget room, are there even windows in this thing?" Sonic 'mimicked' his hands into the shape of binoculars, scouring the room before landing on his cellmates. Not a grin. Not a chuckle. "So sterile, this place desperately needs a new paintjob."

"Hey, don't you ignore me, hedgehog!" Eggman yelled.

"Geez, though crowd," Sonic uncupped his hands, rubbing the back of his quills. Thinking of the situation they're all in, he snapped his fingers. "What'cha all doing 50 miles under the sea?"

Silence.

"Floundering, thats a fresh approach, Sonic!" Eggman laughed, folding his arms in the process after taking advantage of the situation.

"Not in the mood for words? It's never too late for an introduction," Sonic asked once more, his tone growing a little more quiet. "Can't you all just tell me your names, anything?"

"You act exactly as I had imagined, Sonic, quite peculiar to see someone of your reknown down with us," the fox spoke with a deep and suave voice. He smirked as he approached Sonic and knelt down. "My name is Mist, it's a great pleasure to meet you. I'm your biggest fan."

Sonic gave a smirk, "My biggest fan, huh? I know a certain pink hedgehog who'd disagree."

Sonic put his hand out, Mist followed and shaked his. An ice cold feeling washed over Sonic's body as soon as their hands shaked. Droplets of sweat formed on his forehead as he stared into the pale blue eyes of the fox, which are... dull.

A voice broke through Sonic's thought, "Name's feels." Sonic glanced over seeing a rabbit leaping down from the bed above Eggman's.

"It's refreshing to find someone normal—someone unlike these freaks." The white hare continued sauntering up to Sonic, only to walk right by him and position himself between Sonic and the cell bars, he leans against them and folds his arms. "Shame it had to be you here..."

"What issue do you have with such a novel actor? You only wish to be as righteous!" Mist admonished, inching closer towards him and letting Sonic go. Feels groaned having heard the same song and dance for years. "Sonic is unlike anybody else, he's everyone's hero! The hero of Mobius!"

"Who are you to talk about heroism, Mist? You and your pet are nothing but dirty gangsters turned genocidal maniacs!"

"Who knew someone named Feels was so sentimental!" Sonic joked with a laugh. They paid him no mind as Feels and Mist began arguing. Sonic's laugh became an awkward one as he backed out.

'Eggman is a better speaker than...them...' Sonic signed and looked at the exterior of his cell. A group of guards have appeared behind the bars, but standing infront of them is a familiar bat wearing an old, rather heroic, getup.

Rogue.

"Of all places, I never thought I'd see you here, Sonic," Rouge leaned towards the bars and looked at him in the eyes, "You sure look out of place here."

"There's no time to waste, the meeting is starting soon." A human woman jerked Rouge's shoulder. She had short bronze-colored hair, her celeste eyes beaming pressure into her.

"Of all places, I never thought I'd see you here, Sonic," Rouge leaned towards the bars and looked at him in the eyes, "You sure look out of place."

"There's no time to waste, the meeting is starting soon." A human woman jerked Rouge's shoulder. She had short bronze-colored hair, her celeste eyes beaming pressure into her.

"Don't fret, that's my co-worker, Topaz. She's quite impatient and very irritable, just like my grandma." Rogue smirked, grabbing the keys and opening the door. Topaz groaned and looked away, folding her arms in the process.

"Thanks, Rouge," Sonic sighed in relief. It felt nice to finally have company that wasn't mental.

The sky was clear, tinted orange and pink by the crystal clear waters reflecting the sunset. A blue and white biplane flew over the water leaving ripples to form by the force of the wind, carrying a salty breeze which blows.

Tails sat upfront piloting the aircraft, while Amy and cream sat in the back. Cream holds Cheese tightly as the plane neared Neo Prison Island as it appeared in the horizon.

"Hold on!" Tails pressed a button on the Tornado's console. In seconds, the biplane transformed into a futuristic jet with crossed wings and a larger engine that allowed it to accelerate. "Almost there, Sonic, you'll be free in no time!"

"Cyclone, Transform!" As soon as they reached land, Tails pushed another button on the plane's computer, making the aircraft change once more.

With the extra boost provided by the transformed vehicle, they quickly covered the remaining distance and neared closer to land. As they were about to reach the pavimented harbor, Tails pushed a different button on the plane's console causing the plane to reform itself into a new design.

The boosters relocated vertically, becoming a pair of legs. The mech landed on the ground with a bang, reverberant through the dock. Several hatches opened through the mech, revealing an arsenal of weapons; Rocket launchers, turrets and laser cannons.

Alarms blared as soon as they were spotted. No amount of bulky, heavily armored GUN robots deployed could keep them still without being destroyed.

"ATTENTION ALL SOLDIERS! We have an intruder at the main hall! I repeat, WE HAVE AN INTRUDER AT THE MAIN HALL!" A gruff voice was blasted from the speakers, reverberant throught the steel corridors of the base. "Deploy all battle units IMMEDIATELY!"

The cameras followed the trail of scrap metal, steadily tracking their movements. They captured a string of explosions shortly before getting hit and going offline. Right before they could take another step, a gate opened in the ceiling, dropping a massive green mech in front of them.

It was twice the Cyclone's size, big, bulky metal sheets covered it. Even a missile would have issue penetrating it's armor. Gigantic rocket launchers portruded on each side, behind a red cabin with a glass dome where the pilot sat. Letting it to stand were two large apendages that ressembled a bird's talons. Proudly theirs, it had GUN's emblem plastered everywhere.

"You couldn't have made a more subtle entrance?" Amy complained.

"Don't worry, I got this," Tails smirked, holding the mech's levers with utmost confidence.

As the group ascended in an elevator lift, the lights flashed red and alarms blared. Sonic looked up to see another platform next to them lowering, Eggman's devilish grin disappeared when he saw a group of soldiers standing right next to three machines, his machines, with a new paintjob.

"You spinless fools! How dare you have the audacity to desecrate my babies like that!" Eggman yelled.

A large mech with a spiked ball for a hand, a compact capsule with a flame thrower and a large mechanical dog - all of them were repainted in a dull gray with some green and yellow highlights. Most insulting above all, they had GUN's emblem plastered all over them, where anyone could see it.

'I wonder what all that fuss could be about,' Sonic rubbed a finger on his chin, looking away from Eggman, who held onto the platform's railing. The soldiers had to hold him back from falling off as he extended his hand to his creations, which vanished into the abyss.

The elevator abruptly stopped with a thud, they finally arrived at the top-most floor. Rouge opened the door to a large conference room. The commander himself was sitting on the very back, facing them surrounded by high ranking soldiers.

"We gathered all of them, Sir," Topaz said.

"Take a seat," The Commander demanded, somewhat pleased to see Sonic here.

Doing just that, Sonic looked at the large windows covering each wall. The ocean extended far beyond the visible horizon, smoke came from below, but the faint sounds of explosions didn't stop the Commander from carrying on business like usual.

"Our country has been in trouble as of late, strange attacks have been occurring in all major cities. Upon investigation they're linked to a group calling themselves the Marauders. Under their threat, we've been forced to take drastic measures to mantain the safety of our people"

Sonic yawned, barely keeping his eyes opened as the Commander continued droning about the so-called Marauders and their plan to attack them. The only stopping him from falling asleep was Mist's constant fidgeting, he was equally as impatient as him, but he seemed quite... excited.

"To meet their demands, we're going to use the Master Emerald as a means of negotiation and for that, someone's gonna have to take it."

"No way, I'm not doing that!" Sonic's eyes widened and he sprung up, slamming his hand on the table, "I'm outta here!"

"Not so fast there buddy, you should rethink that little thought of yours," A clawed hand pressed down Sonic's shoulder. He turned his head and saw a bulky Doberman standard right behind him with a device on his opposing hand, holding it within their view. "Try to resist, and we'll have to use this to... correct behaviors."

His thumb hovered over a small switch on it, a sinister grin drawn far and wide as Topaz forcefully put on a heavy bracelet on Sonic's wrist. Her face seemed rather sorrowful during the act, as the other soldiers tightly constrained him.

They were lucky that weasel was so tightly restrained. He gasped upon seeing large blades of metal-curved like a crescent moon-emerging from his skin. Abraham simply sat there, lowly staring with his hands tangled. All it took for... it... to calm down was a snap of Mist's fingers.

"Don't you hear that? It seems the warfare has finally calmed down," Rouge said, a hand on one ear.

"Be careful, that can't always be good, Rouge, Topaz, Doberman! Take them to the deck immediately, we can't let the Marauders ruin our plans!" The Commander ordered, leaning down to grasp his aching head as the other hand pointed at the exit.

"Yes sir!" The sarge saluted as the three took the group outside, kicking Sonic, who posessed a rare contemplative face. "Move!"

What remained of that mech slammed down into the floor, piles of rubble and scraps of metal were set on crackling fire. Tails took a deep breath and Cream worriedly stared at the unconscious soldier who piloted it.

They then heard a sizzling noise, droplets poured from above, quelling the flames. He took the chance and used the smoke covering their view like a curtain to escape. All the trio heard upon exiting the room was the crowd of prisoners aggressively begging to be freed.

"Don't worry about him, I'm positive he'll be OK," Tails reassured, as Cream looked back at him.

They took the elevator shaft all the way down, even the toughest were afraid of the Cyclone as Tails blew open the door to Sonic's top secret, maximum security underwater cell. The sunset painted the sea a warm, pinkish orange, Amy and Cream couldn't help but look amazed at the view.

"This is so beautiful and romantic!" Amy glazed at the landscape, "I'd kill to date Sonic with a view like this."

"Shame he can't swim," Tails remarked, "Seems like GUN knows his weakness quite well..."

They finally arrived at his cell, much to their dispair, it was empty. They were late. They had failed their mission, or atleast he thought so. Amy was incapable of saying anything, as they were caught in the act by a group of soldiers leaded by Topaz.

"Stop right there! Get off the vehicle, now!" She yelled, Amy and Cream raised their arms, there was nowhere to go, or so they thought.

Tails pushed a button on the Tornado and fired a missile. In less than a second, water rushed down the hallway knocking down all the guards. As the room began to fill a glass cabin covered the Cyclone's seats to protect them. Next thing they knew, they reached the surface.

Moments passed before the girls opened their eyes to see that they were OK. The three of them took a deep breath, Amy and Cream just processing the fact the Cyclone had transformed again as the voice behind the speakers continued barking orders.

It was almost nighttime. They had landed near the docks, right where they came from, with their hands completely empty.

"We were so close," Tails lamented, amidst the sounds of crashing waves and alarms rocking.

"Don't give up, there's still a chance we could find him!" Amy said with a contagiously optimistic smile.

"Yeah, Mr. Sonic must be around here somewhere!" Cream added, sparking some confidence on him.

"Chao, Chao!" Cheese squeaked in agreement as he drove back onto the surface and changed into land mode.

The spotlights turned on, they pointed directly at them. He was ready for round 2. A row of gates stretched far and wide throughout the harbor, one after the other, they slowly rose up to reveal an army of reporpoused Eggman robots.

The humming of a jet engine grew more noticeable as the onslaught marched forwards, overwhelming the group. A tiny sparkle faded in from the horizon, growing into a ball of light that rocketed towards them like a shooting star.

Tails was unsure of wether he could stand against them on his own, but seeking to make Sonic proud, he prepared his arsenal before a streak of light pierced through them all, effortlessly blasting them to pieces in a matter of seconds.

Softly descending from the sky, the slim metallic figure was enveloped on a screen of smoke. The four of them looked away and coughed as It's sillhouette became clearer. Two red lights shined through the clouds of dust as they cleared out.

Covering his face with his elbow, Tails made out a certain robotic doppleganger landing ontop of heaps of debris, surrounded by scattered mech parts It was a copy of their friend, a copy of Sonic that they've faced countless times before.

"METAL SONIC!!"