1 The Sidekick

Penny smiled as she took her suitcases up to the town that her driver dropped her off by.

"Bygone Island: The place for relaxation and fun. Action almost everyday. Full of different talking animals, perfect for someone who is looking for something new and different." The human girl read from her Bygone Island guide. She looked around.

The magazine was right... there were different animals moving around. They were in strange shapes, almost like real people, that she didn't even know some of the animal types. She spotted a few foxes, cats, hippos, but the others she couldn't identify.

"This is a strange town." She muttered to herself. "This magazine about this place wasn't kidding. There really aren't any humans here."

She pulled her suitcase along with her. "Well. Gotta check it out, hu?" She asked to nobody in particular.

She continued to walk until she bumped into someone. She tumbled to the ground in surprise, and so did the figure she bumped into.

"I am so sorry!" She turned around into a sitting up position and looked up at the figure. The figure wore a brown hood, hiding any facial expressions he-or she-might be hiding.

"Shh! You'll blow my cover!" The stranger helped her up, and grabbed he hand, and pulled her behind a tree.

"Wah-" She gasped, startled by that sudden move.

"Ok, who are you, and why are you wearing a cloak disguising yourself like a wizard?" Penny asked, brushing herself off and starring hard at the figure in front of her

"Sorry to disturb you." The voice of a young boy piped up. "I was headed over there." He pointed to a shack up ahead, where a long line of animals stood in wait. Penny noticed a red echidna with a moon symbol on his chest, a pink hedgehog, and a beaver. Penny couldn't really tell what the other animals were.

"That shack is holding a Sidekick Auction. The one who knows how to help the hero through times of battle. I was fired from my job and sadly had to leave. But I'm not letting that get to me. I'm going to fight my way there and take my job back before some weirdo does!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up. What's going on? And just who are you?" Penny placed her hand on her hips.

"First of all, I apologize for not introducing myself earlier." The creature took off his hood to reveal a yellow-orange fox with blue eyes. To the girl's surprise, he had two tails behind him.

"You have two tails!" Penny exclaimed.

"That's actually my name." The fox smiled.

"Two tails?" Penny looked confused.

The yellow fox laughed. "No! Tails!" He reached out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Tails, my name is Penny." Penny shook his hand.

"That's a pretty name. Welcome to Bygone Island, Penny!" Tails smiled.

"Ok, now can you explain everything, Tails?" Penny asked.

Tails did. He told Penny how he was a hero's partner in battle... A sidekick, to be exact. A sidekick to an incredible speedy blue blur named Sonic the Hedgehog. He told the girl how he got hurt in the last battle, and how Sonic fired Tails. Penny suggested to him it was possibly for his own safety, but he said, "He possibly wanted me out of the way!"

"Somehow, I don't think so," Penny crossed her arms.

"We've got to get my job back! Will you help me?" He asked, looking at Penny with pleading eyes.

"Fine." Penny smiled. "What's the plan?"

Tails smirked.

Later, with Tails's head covered with the hood again, Penny stood behind the fox, with her suitcases at her side. The line seemed to be going on forever, and the girl heard some commotion going on in the shack. Penny stood on her tip toes to see what was going on, and she saw the red echidna from earlier, switching the whole sidekick thing around.

"I think you would be a great sidekick!" The echidna said.

"No, Knuckles, I'm looking for someone to be my sidekick." The blue hedgehog, which Penny was guessing is Sonic, the one Tails has been talking about, said exasperatedly.

"We're going to have to change your name, though. I'm thinking... Knuckles Junior."

Penny snickered.

The blue hedgehog took out a pen, and marked the board. That meant no for Knuckles.

After a few more tries, Sonic still couldn't find a new sidekick. The plan was failing. That was, until it was Tail's turn. To Penny's surprise, he answered all of Sonic's questions correctly.

"Last question." Penny heard the hedgehog say. "What would you do in a no-win situation?"

"If I'm with you, there's no such thing as a no win situation!" Tails said, his voice slightly muffled from the hood that completely covered his face.

"You really do get it, don't you, new guy?" Sonic asked.

"I do get it. And I'm not a new guy! I am none other than..." Penny heard Tails struggling to pull off his hood. Penny was too focused on what was going on to notice someone walking behind her, and he pushed the girl out of the way.

"Hey!" Penny said angrily. To her surprise, the man was human. He ignored Penny and walked in.

"Hello." He said.

"Eggman!" Tails hissed, getting into a fighting stance. Sonic did the same.

"Eggman?" Penny thought. That's a weird name.

"My name is Dr. Eggman, and I'm here for the sidekick exposition!"

"You can't be my side kick! You're my sworn enemy." The hedgehog growled.

Penny sweat dropped. "S-sworn enemy?! Tails never said anything about that!" She grumbled as she helped herself up. Penny grabbed her stuff and moved to the front, just in time to hear Tails asking about who was going to be the third candidate.

"Who else is there?" Tails asked.

Penny took that as her cue and stuck her head in. "Hello?...." The girl asked, pulling her suitcases inside Sonic's shack.

"Congratulations, you are the new candidate!" Sonic smiled.

"Wait. WHAT?!" Penny dropped her suitcases.

Soon, Penny found herself on a hover board, standing in confusion next to Tails.

"Alright, being my sidekick is no easy task. This competition will test your skill, strength, and endurance." The blue hedgehog began.

The candidates all glanced down the mountain. Penny gulped nervously.

"The winner, is whoever..."

"Actually, it's whomever." A beaver suddenly came out of nowhere. Sonic growled in frustration. "The winner whomever makes it through the unimaginable hardships and brings me that red flag which I put on top of the incredibly dangerous but inaccurately, Mt. Safety."

The beaver looked down. And looked up. "Actually..." Eggman slapped his back, causing the beaver to fall. Eggman soon was on his way, with Tails close behind him.

Penny looked nervously at the heights. "I've never done this before..."

The hedgehog looked at the girl. "You ok?" He asked.

Penny nodded.

"You'll do fine! Tails told me about you." Sonic smiled.

Penny smiled a little. After all, this was all part of a plan to help Tails get his job back, right?

"Maybe you need a little boost." Sonic stepped behind Penny and pushed her gently.

"WAH?! I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT!!!!!....." Penny screamed in fright as she flew down the mountain. Sonic smirked lightly and ran after them.

Penny made it just in time to see Eggman get into his Egg Mobile. Tails hurried over to his plane. "Penny! Hurry up!" He cried, motioning to the backseat.

Penny smiled as she got in.

.......

In the air, Tails and Penny flew-fought Eggman. "Give up, Eggman! This job rightfully belongs to Tails!" Penny yelled.

"I'm not here to become Sonic's sidekick, you nincompoop! I'm here to get rid of him once and for all!" Eggman reached down and grabbed a strange looking robot with a magnet from the bottom of his mobile. Penny gasped as the robot began throwing his own wrists at them, trying to hit them.

"Penny, hold on!" Tails cried. Penny screamed in fright as she held on for dear life.

Soon, the claws caught on the plane, and Tails looked nervous. "That's not good!" Penny and Tails both cried. They screamed as they crash landed into an iced-covered lake. Tails managed to get out, but Penny was stuck.

"Penny, come on!" Tails cried.

"Tails, I'm stuck!" Penny tried to pull myself out, but she couldn't move. The ice cracked around her. "Someone help me!"

"TAILS!" A familiar voice cried. He zoomed over. "Sonic, Penny's stuck!" Tails said, panic in his voice.

Sonic turned to Penny and dashed over, but the robot began crashing the ice. Penny shrieked. Sonic managed to dodge the ice and pull the girl out of the plane. The two locked into a hug and tumbled down to the ground.

"You ok?" Sonic asked Penny worriedly.

"I'm fine. Thank you." Penny said, blushing a little.

"PENNY!" Tails ran over and hugged Penny. "You're ok!"

Penny hugged him back.

"Tails, I didn't want to fire you." Sonic told his friend. "I was just trying to protect you."

"What, by putting me and a new girl in more danger?" Tails asked, rolling his eyes.

"The plan had holes!" Sonic protested. Tails smiled.

"SONIC!"

The trio turned around. Sonic and Tails stood in front of Penny, protectively.

"I took your advice! Burnbot can burn things!"

Penny, Sonic, and Tails watched in horror as Burnbot shot fire from his wrists, creating a circle around them. The ice cracked. Sonic pushed Penny into Tails, who grabbed the girl under her arms, and pulled her to safety.

"SONIC!" Penny shrieked as she watched him land in the icy water.

"I can't swim!" The blue hedgehog panicked as he thrashed around in the water.

Tails put Penny on the land and flew over to him. "You're water logged!" Tails cried. "I can't lift you!"

"Don't worry about me!" Sonic said fiercely. "Get yourself and the girl out while you can!"

Tails growled. "That's not what sidekicks do!"

The yellow fox tried to get a hold of the blue hedgehog's hand, but Sonic fell into the water anyway.

"SONIC!" Penny yelled once again. The girl ignored the cracking ice as she ran towards the hedgehog. Penny hopped in, ignoring Tail's protests and the icy water. She swam towards the blue hedgehog and pushed him out. Soon, Tails joined her. Together, they pulled and pushed Sonic out.

Once the all got out of the icy water, Sonic quickly placed the girl down, and zoomed over to Burnbot in a blue blur, and smashed the robot down. The robot fell into the icy water. Penny shuddered as she watched it from the land. Was she getting a cold? The girl shook her head. She was possibly shaken up by Eggman and his robot, and nearly drowning in the process.

Sonic grabbed Penny in one arm, and Tails managed to pick both of them up, and they flew away.

"I'll be back, Sonic! With a new robot! Who has an accurate name!" Eggman vowed. He flew off in his egg-mobile.

.......

Penny sat on the beach in the warm rays of the sun, shivering in the blanket that Sonic gave her. He sat down beside the girl as he waited for Tails.

Penny sneezed.

"You ok?" Sonic asked worriedly.

"I'm fine." Penny continued to shiver. Sonic frowned and placed his hand on her forehead. "No, you're getting a fever. That was way to risky, you shouldn't have done that."

"And Leave you in danger?" Penny shivered, hugging herself fiercely.

"I could've done it fine on my own!" Sonic protested, adjusting the blanket around her.

"You would've drowned!" Penny pointed out, shivering violently.

Sonic stopped. He looked like he was about to say something, but smiled. "Touché." He smirked.

"Well, l should get going." Penny stood up, but due to her weakness at the point, she nearly fell to the ground. Sonic caught Penny in his arms.

"Not in your condition, you're not!" He said fiercely. "We need to get you inside pronto!" He picked Penny up in his arms.

"I'm fine, really." Penny protested. She sneezed again.

"You're staying in this shack with me." Sonic started walking towards the shack with Penny in his arms.

"You sure?"

"Sure I'm sure! You can even use my hammock!"

Penny smiled softly. Later, while Penny curled up in the hammock of Sonic's shack, she smiled. "He even gave me a place to stay!" She thought. Who knows? Maybe this town isn't so bad after all.

Outside, Penny heard Sonic and Tails talking.

"About this sidekick job... what are the hours like?"

"Seven days a week." Sonic answered. "But you get your own plane."

Penny smiled. Tails got his job back.

"Well Tails, mission accomplished." Penny thought as she drifted off to sleep.