Sonic was at a bit of a quick pace. His glowing golden form whistled through the air. From town to island, he would scour across all of Mobius to find Robotnik. He only just got word that Robotnik was already imprisoned on the west island. Of course, it would be the Royal Island. The one place Sonic does not have legal freedom.
"HALT!!!" Two armadilloes stood ahead of Sonic around eighty feet forward. Behind them were border walls that surrounded all of Kingdom Acorn. Sonic immediately felt annoyed that he had to stop for any reason other than to talk to Robotnik.
Sonic waited to be at least five feet ahead of them and stopped on a dime. Sonic's golden form glowed beautifully as his quills naturally hovered upwards as if they were feeling wind constantly pushing it up. The two guards stared with their dark wood staffs ready to push the glowing boy away from the border. Sonic's burning red eyes stared deeply into the two until his feet touched the ground. His golden hue shifted to a normal dark blue and his eyes turned green.
Sonic took a deep breath as he left his super form. Sonic then gave his cocky grin to the guards and spoke, "Hiya, there! I see that you guys recently installed a- uhh... giant wall. Little over the top but it's pretty cool lookin'."
"Why are you here, hedgehog?" The guard on his left spoke, then the other, "State your business," both had oddly similar voices and it nearly made sonic laugh at the simplism of them.
Sonic gave a soft sigh as he then stammered out loud, "Right... You guys don't like holding a conversation... Ahem," Sonic then puffed his chest as he spoke in an over the top posh voice, "I request that I commune to the KING of your land," Sonic, of course, found this very funny, but the two armadilloes snarled in his direction, Sonic broke the character and spoke honestly, "Guy's, I need to talk to the king. I'll be in and out. I won't steal anything... again..."
The two guards glanced at each other and looked back at the energetic blue hedgehog and sighed softly. The one on the left spoke, "You stay at our side and at our pace. You speed up at all inside the kingdom, and you'll have the whole Royal Army on your tail."
Sonic rose his hands defeatedly and spoke, "Fair 'nuff. Can we hurry though?" silently, they opened the gate that was behind them. Sonic walked with one of the guards as the other chose to keep on the lookout.
Inside the walls was a very vast and powerful land of homes and fields of vegetation. Up the hill ahead of them was the Acorn Castle that held the king and his family along with their basic government. This was his uncle's second home when they needed him for his wits in technology. he was also their second-in-hand doctor.
Those memories of when Chuck would have sonic visit the kingdom, being friends with the young princess. those memories brought a smile across his face. That was also the same year when Chuck went missing. He blamed the kingdom for his disappearance. Looking back on it, Sonic knew that he was being young and dumb blaming the kingdom. During the war between humans and Mobians, Sonic was certain Chuck would never be harmed since he lived alongside the king and his family. To rebel, Sonic stole food and all of Chuck's projects away from the kingdom. He felt that they did not deserve anything Chuck made, for keeping an eye on him. Of course, the day chuck went missing was the same day Sonic turned ten. Since then Sonic turned fifteen. He felt shame in his actions but of course, a little side of him felt it was justified.
The closer they got to the castle, the more Sonic had noticed that there were wires that followed the trail uphill. He eyed the wires and followed them only to see that they were attached to cameras that spectated the fields and land. Sonic pointed at the wires that were attached to the path and spoke, "I never thought the kingdom would ever consider using machinery to maintain control."
The guard spoke calmly, "After Robotnik was declared a global threat to Mobius, we strengthened security to the kingdom. Not many agreed to do it. It was a royal decision. I can't deny how much it has helped us."
They reached the top of the hill and met the entrance of Castle Acorn. A royal guard stood at the front entrance. The distinct golden armor covered so much, Sonic really could not determine what creature he was. A soft, yet old voice left the armor. It spoke in a posh, foreign accent "As I live and breathe! The Blue Blur returns to Castle Acorn!" The helmet of the elegant armor then faced the guard that Sonic had tailed, "Return to your duties. I'll escort Sir, Sonic from here on out."
The armadillo gave a silent nod only to turn and return to the path they took downhill. Sonic glanced at the guard that left and then at the royal guard, "Uh... I'm sorry. SIR Sonic? I thought I had a bounty on my head here. Also, how do you know me?"
The royal guard lifted his golden helmet to reveal an aged grin of a jackal. His facial coat was a deep maroon with aging greys hidden within his smile. His sharp blue eyes had a sign of glee in them as he stared at Sonic, "Forgive me. You probably do not recall who I am. I am Brims The Jackal. I was your Uncle's assistant when it came to mechanics. You would always run around in the workshop that Charles and I would work in," the jackal chuckled at the memory but once he saw Sonic's confused stare he answered Sonic's other question, "Your bounty was removed the moment you brought Angel Island back into the sky. The King sought to it that you would be treated like royalty if you were to ever return."
Sonic placed his thumb against his chin as he thought about it. Unfortunately, he could not recall that far back, "Hmmm... Sorry, man. I don't remember you at all. I wish I could. Either way, If you know about Angel Island, then you can guess why I'm here, right?"
The old man gave a heavy sigh and nodded softly, "You will have to discuss it with the king before you can visit him," Brims said as he then gestured sonic to the entrance of the castle.
Sonic gave a shrug as he did not mind at all revisiting the king's throne. The moment he stepped into the interior of the castle he was rushed with nostalgic memories of playing tag with Sally in the main hall alone. The ground was what he remembered the most. Being a shiny marble blue. The carpets he always slid on were red. The air smelled like polished wood and recently brewed tea. It instantly brought a smile to Sonic's face as he studied the main hall. It had not changed at all. Blue marble ground, the red and clean rug and carpet that was a part of the far left stairway that had a polished wooden railing. Sonic gave an audible whistle that echoed against the oak wood walls. He giggled as he had practically forgotten why he was there.
Brims walked ahead as Sonic was being slow for once. He of course followed brims. The clinging of the armor was like a reminding alarm that triggered Sonic back to reality. He jogged up to Brims and asked, "So how has Princess Sally been lately?"
Brims gave a soft chuckle as he responded, "The princess has been very active lately, focussing herself on certain curricular activities, one of them being Humanity Science."
"So, she's still a geek, huh?" Sonic scoffed as he then saw the throne. He bit his tongue in an attempt to prevent the King from hearing what he just said.
King Nigel Acorn sat at his wooden throne, painted gold. His sharp and cold blue eyes glared into a book he was silently reading. The King's attire shouted "soldier" to Sonic more than it did "royalty". The man was a high and mighty squirrel that looked very intimidating when he was focused on something, or pretending to focus on something. The man leaned on the armrest of the throne as he was too busy fake reading to notice Sonic and Brims. It took a few more seconds for the King to have his cold eyes slowly rise to see the young blue man. The coldness in his eyes immediately warmed up and his expression shifted from annoyed to a pleasing surprise. His deep voice softly spoke, "...Sonic?" he blinked to confirm that he was not seeing things and giggled lightly, "My my! It should be shocking to see you again, but we both know why you are here, after all."
Sonic kindly gave a smile and nod to his statement, "It's great to see you too, sir. I just want to confirm that he IS here. As big as he is, Robotnik can slip away easily."
The King nodded, "I understand your concern. If you insist, Brims will escort you to the prison."
Sonic gave a denying wave, "Nah. You're good! I know my way around the castle," he then turned and faced the other way.
The king's grin quickly died as he glared at Sonic, "Sonic, I was not exactly asking. You need to follow the rules, boy."
Sonic chuckled as he started to stretch his legs, "Oof! C'mon, old man! Don't say the R-word!"
The king groaned, "Ugh... Please, Sonic. Jus-"
ZOOM!!!
With bullet speed, Sonic sprinted into the next room which led downstairs into the back of the castle. Sonic watched his footing since the dungeon was often damp. It was not long before Sonic had entered the prison. The place was well lit by torches and the interior was now made of cold concrete and stone.
Sonic would glance at each cell block as he ran by them until one had a well-rounded human that sat on the ground of the prison. Sonic stopped dead in his tracks and stood at the cell gate and glared at the man in red. The man had goggles that rested on his bald head. His light brown mustache which was simple in elegant when they met, was now tattered and extended past his cheeks.
Robotnik just sat on the ground as he glanced up at Sonic, "Hm... I see you have found me." Robotnik spoke coldly and gave a defeated and tired look, "I don't wish to be here anymore..."
Sonic spoke in a sarcastic tone, "Really? You look so warm and cozy."
Robotnik sat there and glared at the young man as he spoke in a sharp tone, "I don't mean the prison... I refer to Mobius."
A single brow rose from Sonic, "Oh? Where do you wanna go? Hate to break it to ya, old man, but I don't think you're going anywhere."
Robotnik glanced at the corners of his prison and gave a soft shrug, "I work faster than you run."
Sonic glared at the man and he gave a soft sigh. He was having a conversation with a man who tried to control everything he knew and love. Sonic never understood him though. Sonic leaned on the end of the call bars with his shoulder before he spoke in a calmer and more serious tone, "I got to ask. Why do you do this? Try to dominate the world, and stuff. I don't get why you would put so much effort into something so... Evil."
Robotnik responded coldly, "Because I'm evil."
Sonic glared at him, "Not good enough, for me," Sonic's eyes sharpened into a glare at the round old man, "Try again... Why?"
Robotnik's brown eyes finally glanced at the blue hedgehog and gave an exhale before he elaborated his perspective, "These worlds have so much untapped potential to become something greater than just a primal society. A world where pain and suffering would never exist. You are all too slow to grow and evolve, So I do it for all of you."
Sonic realized it then and there. His perspective was not that far off from how Robotnik saw life, "I think I understand. The world is too young to become something "great", so you go out of your way to make it "great"."
Robotnik stared at the young hedgehog and he was baffled to know this child understood him in some way. Calmly, he spoke, "Precisely."
"So that, somehow justifies your actions? Turning everyone - my uncle - into robots?" Sonic felt disgusted even mentioning his uncle. To defeat him more than once made Sonic want to act purely on vengeance. The only reason he did not was because of Tails and Knuckles.
Robotnik gave an evil grin and spoke honestly, "I don't recall hearing Charles complaining," Sonic slammed his hands on the cell as he glared at Robotnik. The look of hatred he gave towards Robotnik nearly startled the old man. Sonic did not want to hear his father figure's name come out the mouth of someone so disgusting.
Sonic relaxed and tried to calm himself. He thought about how his last adventure ended. Sonic would not deny how cathartic it felt defeating Robotnik in space. Both of them, alone in an asteroid field. He was allowed to go all out. As heroic as Sonic usually was, he knew he should have felt shame in watching Robotnik fall into the atmosphere, but Sonic felt pure happiness in Robotnik's potential demise.
Sonic looked at the cell and sighed, "Well it's a good thing you're behind bars. I can't ever let you go anywhere other than here. Get used to this room, the only metal you're getting your hands on are these bars," Sonic turned and started to walk away.
Robotnik spoke with a sliver of joy, "Oh, I wouldn't count on that," Sonic stopped and turned back to face Robotnik. His whole body gave a glitch of static only to reform back to normal. He continued, "You see, I'm not actually in this cell."
Sonic's eyes widened as he realized he has been talking to a hologram this whole time. It looked so accurate and dense, Sonic did not even realize it until he saw the very small projector at the corner of the cell. Sonic spoke, "Where are you?!"
"South Island," Robotnik spoke with pride, "Better get over here before I take it with me back to Earth."
Sonic froze as he gritted his teeth in anger, "You wouldn't... You can't. Not without the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald."
Robotnik gave sonic a soft chuckle before he spoke, "Honestly, hedgehog. Do you genuinely believe I'm incapable of creating a dimensional splicer of my own?" Sonic growled faintly as he clenched his fists. Sonic's body shot into his golden form as Robotnik spoke with a grin, "tick-tock, Sonic. Let's see how fast you really are!" With that, the hologram turns off, and Super Sonic blasted upwards and ripped straight through the prison roof. He turned to face the ocean and in a split second, Sonic was no longer in Kingdom Acorn.