Hey everybody. Last year, I had worked on the Sonic Zine @stayhomesonic which was a fanzine that would be sold to fans each with pieces of art and writing about the pandemic, with the proceeds going towards Doctor’s Without Borders in the end. $612 was raised and it was great to take part in such a nice cause.
Now that the zine has been finished, I am able to post my piece to social medias which I am doing so now. Rather than something soft or emotional, I decided to go a little more comical with these characters while also going into the importance of staying home and social distancing.
With a global pandemic going on, everybody was asked to stay inside their homes. This was a good thing, it kept people safe. But if you were a guy that didn’t really have a house and just kinda camped out wherever you stopped running, then you were in for a problem. Unfortunately for Sonic the Hedgehog, that was his predicament.
He now stood in the Mystic Ruins outside of Tails’ lab where he hoped that he could crash until this whole thing blew over.
Tails arrived at the door decked out in a hazmat suit that even covered his namesakes.
“Hey, bud!” Sonic smiled and waved at him.
“Sonic, it’s good to see you!” The fox grinned.
Sonic was quick to go in for a hug, but Tails was quick to duck away. “Sorry, Sonic. No touching. You know how it is right now.”
The hedgehog sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry, Sorry. Forgot.”
“It’s all good. So what brings you by these parts?”
“Well, everybody’s been told to go inside for this whole virus thing, and I don’t really have a house so I’m like ‘Why not bunk with the best little bro in the whole world?’ y’know?”
“Sonic that’s great and I’d love to have you.”
“Perfect!” He beamed as he began to make his way towards the door.
But for the first time in a long time, Tails was faster than him as he quickly produced a remote control with a single red button on it and stepped back into the house.
Suddenly, metal bars appeared in front of him as warning sirens went off all around. Sonic was quick to cover his ears as he watched his friend’s shack basically become Fort Knox in a matter of seconds.
“Sorry, Sonic. I’d love to have you but I just can’t. I’m busy trying to find a cure so it’s not safe here.”
“They’re trusting an 8 year old to find a cure for a worldwide pandemic?”
“Yes and they pay me handsomely. Good luck trying to find a place to stay, I gotta get back to work.”
Sonic waved him off before leaving.
If Tails wasn’t gonna let him stay then who would? He wondered as he ran off.
However, quickly he found himself in Station Square and that’s when he realized that he knew someone that would have to let him in.
It wasn’t long before Sonic stood outside of an apartment and rang the doorbell, giving off his best winning smile.
When the door opened, Amy Rose stood before him, wearing her usual outfit but a facemask as well.
“Sonic!” She cried. “It’s good to see you!”
“Hey, Ames. Good to see you too.”
Sonic reached out for a hug, but Amy was quick to back away. “No, no mister, you know the rules. Keep a safe distance.”
“Aw, come on, it’s just one hug.”
“Sure first it’s one hug and then it’s one kiss and then it’s one virus.” Amy shook her head. “We’re not in good times right now.”
Sonic chuckled. “Who are you and what have you done with Amy Rose?”
Amy swiped her hand around and laughed with him. “Oh, stop. But seriously, what brings you by?’
“Well, with this whole virus thing going around I’ve been looking for a place to stay, so I thought Amy will definitely let me-”
“Stay and so I’m just gonna go in and- wait, did you say no?”
Amy gave a placate smile and shook her head “Same thing, Sonic. Any other day, I’d love to have you over, but right now it’s just not a good idea.”
Sonic sighed at this but nodded in understanding.
Amy quickly closed her door and Sonic was left to find someone else to bunk with.
First Tails and now Amy. This was proving to be a lot harder than he thought. He thought he was a shoe in to get inside Amy’s apartment but the girl was far more serious than he initially thought she would be. Part of him was proud of her for sticking to her guns and staying safe, but another part of him just wanted a bed to sleep in for once.
Who else did he know that actually had some sort of roof over their head could he go to?
And then it clicked. While definitely not ideal, he supposed he could give them a try.
Sonic raced off from Station Square and shortly arrived in Westopolis where he went to a specific high rise apartment complex to find Team Dark.
Team Dark, having more government funds than they knew what to do with lived incredibly comfy in what was more or less a penthouse and they were 100% fine with that. It was a bit too stuffy and fancy for Sonic’s tastes, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Sonic’s eyes widened in shock when he went to the top floor of the building and found steel plating surrounding the entrance to their apartment.
Sonic looked confused at this as he walked over to ring the doorbell.
But as soon as he placed a finger on it, alarms began to blare causing the hedgehog to instinctively jump into a battle pose.
Instead, a massive screen flared to life and there stood the face of E123 Omega. “Who dares violate the safety of Rouge?!”
“Omega?” Sonic looked confusedly.
“Sonic the Hedgehog how dare you try to infiltrate our place of dwelling during the infection?! Please vacate the premises immediately or lethal force will be taken!”
Suddenly a comically large laser gun appeared from next to the panel and pointed dangerously at the hedgehog.
“Woah, woah, woah!” A sharp voice came from offscreen. “Omega, put those away right now!”
“We do not vaporize our friends, Omega!” Rouge shouted.
If Sonic wasn’t mistaken he thought he had heard the robot groan but the laser was in fact put away.
In a few short moments the camera was turned in a new direction and he could see Rouge the bat lying lazily on the couch wearing a bathrobe and slippers, a magazine discarded at her side.
“Hey, Big Blue.” She waved. “Sorry about Omega, he’s gotten a little extreme when it comes to the virus.”
“A little? Dude tried to blast me!”
“And I would do it again.”
Rouge rolled her eyes at this. “Omega put the place on lockdown as soon as news broke out and won’t allow me to leave the house. I don’t really care though so I’ve just made myself comfortable.”
“Okay… what about Shads?”
“Shadow?” She snickered. “As soon as he heard, he didn’t even bother with me or Omega, he just used his Chaos Control and left. Who knows where he is?”
“Knowing him, he probably thinks he can’t be infected or something and is off trying to figure out how he can punch the virus.”
“Anyway, you gonna let me stay?”
Rouge shrugged. “I’d love to… But I am 100% sure Omega will vaporize you…”
“And I just can’t stop him.”
Sonic sighed. “Alright, thanks.”
Sonic ran off yet again, trying to find where exactly he could go but to no avail. He had friends all over the world and yet, none of them were taking him. He tried the Chaotix, he tried Professor Pickle, he even considered Omochao but then realized nothing was worth that hell.
But soon, he ran into someone that actually wanted him.
If only he could say the same about them.
Sonic stopped his running nearly tripping over his own feet with how sudden the gravelly voice had come out at him.
He looked up to the source of the voice and saw a floating screen before him and on that screen was none other than Doctor Eggman himself, giving him a big cheeky smile. The doctor wasn’t looking to good, he was covered in a blanket, his face redder than usual, his usually bushy moustache drooped down low.
“Sonic!” He announced. “I hear you are looking for a place to stay!”
“Pass.” Sonic tried to run away but the same floating screen was quick to have two robot arms extend from it and grab the hedgehog.
“Now hold on there, Sonic. I would like to extend an olive branch to you. With these trying times, we all need to stick together and I happen to know that you need a roof over your head. So, stay with me and we’ll make great company!”
Sonic let himself go from where the arms were holding him. “You’re sick, Eggman.”
Eggman violently coughed at that. “N-n-no, of course not. I am of perfect health.”
“I meant you’re messed up but yeah, that too.”
Eggman frowned at that. “Wait, I promise that no harm will come to you.”
Sonic and Eggman both looked up in shock to see none other than Shadow the Hedgehog drop down and dropkick Eggman’s screen, causing it to break.
“I- okay, I wasn’t expecting that, Shadow.”
Shadow rose from where he was crouched down on the ground and glared at the hedgehog.
“So… since you’re here, I was wondering if I could bunk it in wherever you were hiding out an-”
“Absolutely not!” Shadow roared. “After Rouge called me on my communicator, she informed me of your little crusade to find a roommate. So I’m telling you here and now, stay away from space. If I hear you so much as step one foot off the planet, then I will not hesitate to-”
“Woha, wait, space? I didn’t even know that…” And then it clicked. “You’re hiding out on the Ark aren’t you?”
Shadow’s eyes widened in shock and he quickly tried to cover himself. “I- I- I- cannot confirm or deny that… I- I have to go. Uh… Chaos Control!”
Sonic sighed at this, being left all alone with flaming pile of machinery.
After trying all his friends he was left in complete isolation. What was he to do now that he had nowhere to stay, nowhere to run to… He was all alone.
But it was those thoughts of loneliness, isolation that made him realize that he had one friend that he had completely forgotten to ask and zoomed off.
It wasn’t long before he arrived at his destination. Lush greenery surrounded him, birds were singing, nature was alive and well, standing amongst it all was a great big altar where a massive green gem of power could be seen radiating a comforting energy that rolled over him in waves.
Leaning against the same gem was none other than the Emerald Guardian himself, Knuckles the Echidna and as soon as Sonic stepped foot on the Altar, he cracked open an eye and looked over at his visitor.
“Hey, buddy. It’s good to see ya!” He sheepishly waved.
“What are you doing on my island?”
“Well… ya see, there’s this whole virus thing going on and…”
Sonic stood there in stunned disbelief for a moment, staring at the echidna in complete befuddlement as Knuckles looked at him expectantly.
He just shrugged. “Forget about it. Anyway, you mind if I crash on Angel Island for a while?”
Knuckles put a hand to his chin in thought for a moment. “Eh, sure. Just stay away from the Master Emerald and me for that matter.”
“Works for me.” Sonic shrugged as he left to jog a few laps around the island, finally having a place to stay during this pandemic.
