Meanwhile in Siberia at night, Sonic, Paige, and Tails are walking slowly against the wind in a blizzard.
"I absolutely cannot find my way." Sonic shouted. "We are completely, totally, unequivocally lost."
"Ugh, I can't feel my hands anymore." Paige groaned.
Tails looks at his Miles Electric's screen, which flickers.
"Sonic, Paige, in this weather, there's no way we're gonna get any readings on this thing!" Tails warned as he taps the Miles Electric's screen. "Should we go back?"
Up ahead, Sonic could see a view of an open bar.
"No, no, no. There's a light up ahead." Sonic informed. "Maybe we can take shelter in there."
"Wait, you guys can't go in!" Paige warned. "What happens if people freak out when they see two aliens walk inside?"
Sonic looks over a snowdrift and spots some snow gear and clothing hanging outside the bar.
"Ahhh. Perfect." Sonic smiled, before he ducks back down behind the snowdrift.
"Are you sure about this?" Tails asked. "We don't know who's inside."
"Don't worry." Sonic assured. "On Earth, people are very welcoming, and love taking complete strangers into their homes."
"Why do I feel like I might regret this?" Paige thought.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Inside the bar, the place is brightly lit up while bar patrons mingle, socialize, and party. The front door then slowly opens while the bar patrons' slowly become silent. The door opens entirely, with Sonic and Tails standing in its opening, dressed from head to toe in snow gear. Paige stood by their side as Sonic and Tails look into the bar. One patron slowly turns around and glares at Sonic and Tails, who gasp in surprise. Another bar patron slowly pulls out a knife and jams it into the table, making Sonic and Tails gasp again. Sonic and Tails then spot an old lady sitting in a rocking chair and knitting. The old lady looks towards Sonic and Tails, who breathe a sigh of relief. The old lady then reveals that she is knitting a cloth a skull and crossbones on it, causing Sonic and Tails to scream in fear. Paige, however, had no reaction of fear on her face as she looked around. The chef in the par then uses a butchers knife to chop off a fish's head. The fish head lands in front of the trio.
"Run." The fish said.
"Ew." Paige gagged.
Tails faints with a groan and falls to the ground.
"Table for three, please!" Sonic said.
Later on, Sonic, Paige, and Tails are sitting at a table by themselves. Tatiana, a waitress, brings them a menu each.
"What would you like to order?" Tatiana asked in Siberian.
"A salad for the lady and two beef stews, please." Tails replied, as he holds up his Miles Electric, which translates his order into Russian.
Tatiana, looking annoyed, takes the menus and walks away.
"Where'd you get all these cool gadgets?" Sonic asked.
"I invented 'em." Tails answered. "That's kinda my thing. In fact, my inventions are how I discovered you."
In a flashback, Sonic runs around the Green Hills baseball field at super speed. Eventually, Sonic releases a pulse of blue chaos energy that spreads across Green Hills and into space.
"Remember that night at the baseball field?" Tails asked.
Meanwhile at Tails' home planet in his lab, Tails is sitting at his computers, watching schematics of Earth. Tails is shown watching his computers in amazement.
"Your energy blast reached all the way to my home planet." Tails said. "I saw you save your whole village from that crazy mustache guy."
The flashback ends.
Back at the bar, Paige was interested by Tails' story.
"Wait, so you've been watching me this whole time?" Sonic asked. "Even in the shower?"
"Ah, that's a trick question, Sonic the Hedgehog prefers bubble baths." Tails corrected.
"Man, you're good!" Sonic commented.
"When I learned Knuckles was on your trail, I knew I couldn't just sit back and watch anymore." Tails said. "I had to come warn you."
"That was really brave of you, Tails." Paige complemented, which made Tails smile.
A beeping sound was heard.
"Oh, what? Hang on one sec." Sonic said, before he pulls out his phone to see a text from Tom asking 'How's it goin'?' "Donut Lord is checking in."
Paige looked around and saw a bar tender managing the drinks.
"I'll be right back, I'm gonna go get us some sodas." Paige stated.
"Ok." Tails replied.
Paige gets up and walks up to the counter and looks at the beverage menu. As she was looking, she didn't notice that a boy around her age blushed at her appearance. He had curly short brown hair, brown eyes, and fair skin. He wore a light grey jacket over a dark blue shirt, black pants, a brown belt, and brown winter shoes. When he saw that she had a hard time to translate the menu, he decided to walk over for help.
"You need any help?" The boy asked, which made Paige turn to him.
"Oh. Uh, sure." Paige replied.
"Let's see." The boy said as he looked at the menu to translate it. "They have Pepsi products here."
"Cool. Thanks." Paige smiled, before she turns to the bar tender. "Two small Pepsi's and one medium Sierra Mist, please."
"She would like two Pepsi's for her small friends and a Sierra Mist for herself, please." The boy translated to the bar tender, who nods and walks away to get the drinks. He then turns to Paige. "So, you and your friends new around here?"
"I guess you could say we're travelers." Paige replied, with a small blush.
"Nice." The boy smiled. "It's great to see new places around the world, am I right?"
"Yeah." Paige agreed. "Totally."
"I'm Danny." The boy introduced. "Danny Miller."
"Paige Wachowski." Paige smiled as she and Danny shake hands.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Meanwhile at the Mean Bean Café, Sonic and Tom's texts are being displayed on a screen. Robotnik, Stone and Knuckles are shown to be watching the said screen.
"Just chilling. Watching TV." Knuckles read, before Tom begins writing a reply, causing the typing bubble to appear. "Dot, dot, dot. Dot, dot, dot. Dot, dot, dot. Dot, dot, dot. Dot, dot, dot."
Stone and Robotnik glance back at Knuckles for a moment before looking back at the screen.
"Doctor, why are we working with this imbecile?" Agent Stone whispered.
"Because that simpleminded space trash is the key to something extraordinary." Dr. Robotnik replied.
"Something to help you get revenge on the hedgehog." Agent Stone said.
"Think bigger, Stone." Dr. Robotnik advised. "The Emerald he seeks could power my wildest designs. My genius wouldn't just be recognized on Earth. It would spread virally to every corner of the galaxy, allowing me to harness all the negative forces of the universe and commune with darkness itself."
"Wow." Agent Stone muttered. "That sounds big."
"It's been on my vision board for years. It's the law of attraction. Didn't you see The Secret?" Dr. Robotnik asked. "Kaplooey!"
"Kaplooey." Agent Stone repeated in agreement.
Tom's text comes in on the screen.
"Another boring night at home." Knuckles read. "The hedgehog has returned home!"
"Falsa." Dr. Robotnik denied. "Which is Latin for "wrong-o."
Robotnik hits a few keys on the counter, bringing up a hologram of Earth.
"According to my worldwide network cell tower triangulation, he's lying, all the way... from the majestic hinterlands of eastern Siberia." Dr. Robotnik explained.
A topographic hologram of the Siberian mountains appears, with a hologram of Sonic tapping his foot flying off of it and landing in front of Robotnik and Knuckles.
"He's a long-distance liar!" Dr. Robotnik added, as he hits the hologram over its head before poking and prodding at it several times. "Yeah, there's more where that came from."
Knuckles slams his fist into the counter, damaging it and dispelling the hologram.
"Tiny magic hedgehog destroyed." Knuckles stated. "Now let's begin our quest."
Robotnik and Knuckles leave, until Knuckles stops them.
"Wait. What about your minion?" Knuckles asked. "The goat milker."
Stone began sweeping up the broken fragment of the counter with a sweeping tray.
"There's no room on the ship for Stone." Dr. Robotnik replied. "I say we ditch him, ghost him, blow him off."
"Dishonor!" Knuckles said.
"Dis" is how I roll." Dr. Robotnik assured.
Robotnik leaves through the door as Knuckles scowls at what Eggman said.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Back at the Siberian bar, Sonic noticed that Paige had been gone for a few minutes.
"Hey, where's Art Girl?" Sonic asked.
"I think she's met somebody." Tails replied as he and Sonic see Paige talking to Danny.
"Who is she talking to?" Sonic asked. "What if he's bad news?"
"Actually, my scanner indicated that he's not a threat." Tails informed. "He's just a new friend of hers."
At the bar booth, Paige and Danny were enjoying their talk as they found out that they had much in common with being fans of artwork and DC villains.
"Man, those sodas are taking a while." Paige commented.
"Eh, it's a full house tonight, like any other nights on the weekends." Danny smiled, that caused Paige to smile in return, before he noticed her tattoo on her cheek. "I like your heart tattoo."
"Really?" Paige asked. "Well, thank you. I used to cover it up at school with foundation, but I didn't hide it outside of school."
"I think it suits you." Danny said. "You said that you have a unique style, so that heart is...elegant."
"Elegant? Wow." Paige muttered with a blush.
Back at the table, Tatiana arrives at the table and places a salad and two bowls down at Sonic and Tails' table. The bowls were a dish that contained a large tongue.
"Bluegh!" Tails gagged. "Um, I'm sorry, but I asked for the beef stew."
"Your breath smells like goat poop." The Miles Electric translated in Siberian.
"What did you say?" Tatiana asked in Siberian, insulted.
People at the bar begin to form a crowd around Sonic and Tails. Paige and Danny noticed and Tails grew a bit worried.
"Uh, what's going on?" Sonic asked.
"Maybe they think it's my birthday?" Tails questioned, as he tried to fix his gadget.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of this." Sonic assured, before he stands up on the table. "Okay, everybody, take it easy. I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for whatever my friend said or did."
"Stand back. I just farted." The Miles Electric translated in Siberian.
The crowd briefly looks disgusted, then removes Sonic and Tails' disguises. Paige, Danny, and the crowd gasps at their revealed/true appearances.
"Uh...Meow?" Sonic said, nervously.
"Whoa." Danny muttered, as he turned to Paige. "Your friends are real life aliens?"
"Throw these monsters in the fire!" A Russian Giant Bully declared in Siberian.
The crowd cheers, and picks up Sonic and Tails, dragging them towards the roaring fire.
"No! Wait, stop!" Paige yelled, as she tries to stop the crowd, but she can't get past them.
"Oh, no, no. Come on, guys. Take it easy." Sonic said. "Let's talk this through. Let's talk this through!"
"Hey!" Paige shouted. "Leave them alone!"
The crowd begins preparing to throw Sonic and Tails into the fire. Tails is accessing data from his Miles Electric.
"Come on, come on!" Tails muttered. "Scanning Siberian customs. There's got to be something in here!"
"Tails, whatever you're doing, do it fast." Sonic said.
"Let go of them!" Paige demanded as she tried to punch the crowd's back. "You ruffians!"
"I think I got it! Pivonka! Pivonka! PIVONKA!!!" Tails yelled.
The crowd was silent and stopped. Danny stood next to Paige as Sonic and Tails were set on the floor.
"Pivonka?" A bartender repeated.
"Oh, lord." Danny moaned.
"What is it?" Paige asked.
Paige and Danny get stuck in the crowd. The crowd parts, giving way to a burly man wearing an ornate red robe with the word "Champion" on its back in Siberian.
"Da. Pivonka!" The Russian Dancer declared, that made the crowd roar.
"Tails, what's a "pivonka"?" Sonic asked, as Tails reads off of his Miles Electric.
"It's a Siberian custom to resolve disputes." Tails explained. "If we win, they let us go. If we lose..."
The fire flares up from behind them. The crowd moves away furniture from the center of the bar to create an open area.
"Okay, we have to find Paige, grab the map, and get out of here." Sonic instructed. "Where's the map?"
"Oh, no. I left it on the table!" Tails frowned. "Look!"
The bartender grabs the map and puts it on a plate with other assorted objects. Paige sees the map and walks over to grab it, but two crowd members dragged Paige and Danny to positions for the Pivonka.
"Hey!" Paige said, as she tried to tug away from their grip, but it was no use before she turned to Danny. "Where are they taking us?"
"We gotta do the lights up top." Danny replied. "Whenever I'm here, they assign me and a partner with lights. Guess tonight that's you."
The two thugs placed Paige and Danny at the top to control the spotlights. The champion takes off his robe revealing a tattoo of what seems to be himself with arms spread out. Sonic looks confused.
"What?" Sonic questioned.
The champion calls in other people as the band starts playing, then starts dancing with the others to a Siberian tune. The crowd claps as they finish their first round of dancing with a flourish.
"Are you serious?" Paige asked, as she looked at Danny in disbelief.
"Oh, my god, it's a dance fight." Sonic said.
"Sonic, what do we do?" Tails asked.
"We dance, rescue Art Girl, and get that map." Sonic replied.
The Siberians watch as Sonic and Tails try to dance, but do so very poorly.
"Here we go." Sonic said, as he tries to mimic the Siberian champion's moves, only to step on Tails' tails.
"Ow!" Tails yelped.
The Siberians do not look impressed, as they try to dance again.
"Okay, now let's do. No, we're gonna go..." Sonic said as he and Tails collide with each other and fall over.
The Serbians once again begin dancing, as Sonic and Tails try to mimic the moves again.
"Ah! Ah, Okay!" Sonic said.
"Oof!" Tails groaned.
Another bartender notices the map stuck to the bottom of a cup. He tosses it away without a second thought.
"This music is not helping." Paige complained. "Nobody works with folktale anymore."
"I agree, but this is their favorite genre." Danny nodded.
"Okay, this is not going well." Sonic commented. "Channing Tatum makes it look so easy."
"Wait, Sonic." Tails said. "Look!"
The map is shown stuck to the bottom of the champion's boot.
"Pivonka! Pivonka! Pivonka! Pivonka!" The crowd chanted.
"The map!" Sonic gasped. "Come on, let's grab it!"
Sonic reaches for the map, only for the champion to pick it up and held it over his head.
"You want? Come get." The Russian Dancer taunted, before he places the map into his waistband, for security. "Freaks!"
"Freaks! Freaks! Freaks! Freaks! Freaks! Freaks! Freaks! Freaks! Freaks! Freaks! Freaks! Freaks! Freaks! Freaks!" The crowd chanted.
Tails begins panicking seeing everyone mocking them, and even seeing the old woman laughing and holding up her skull crochet to her face. Paige noticed with a worried expression, before she became angry at the Russian Dancer.
"Hey, pencil-neck!" Paige yelled, that made the Russian Dancer look up at her in confusion. "Yeah, you! Slither over here for a minute!"
"Paige, what are you doing?" Danny asked, before the Russian Dancer walked closer to the magenta haired artist.
"You mess with that kid again and you'll suffer a whole lot of this girl's wrath that will become a swirling vortex of pain and misery!" Paige threatened, which shocked the Russian Dancer that made his skin become pale as if he felt scared by her threat.
As Paige distracted the Russian Dancer, Sonic manages to snap Tails out of it with a shoulder touch. Danny looks around for something the aliens can use.
"What's wrong, Tails?" Sonic asked. "Come on. I need you!"
"I can't do this, Sonic." Tails said, dejected. "I'm not brave like you. My gadget got us in this mess, and I lost your map, and we're gonna get tossed into a fire!"
Danny sees a Bluetooth speaker and whistles to Sonic, that caught his attention. He pointed to the device playing the music and Sonic gave him a smile in gratitude. The blue hedgehog now has an ingenious plan.
"Ah! New DJ coming in!" Sonic said, as he dashes up to it, and plugs in his phone, causing it to play "Uptown Funk".
The crowd looks confused. Paige stopped the distraction as she heard the song playing, while the Russian Dancer immediately moved away as if he was very terrified of the magenta haired artist.
"Oh, I love Bruno Mars." Danny smiled.
"Me too." Paige agreed. "This will go much better, but we're going to need to wow the crowd."
"Come on, pal. I got an idea." Sonic said to Tails, as he starts dancing. "They called us freaks, so let's get freaky. Just follow my moves. You'll be fine."
Sonic extends his hand to Tails. He grabs it. Both of them begin dancing in synchronization. Paige and Danny work together to make the lights colorful that kept the party going. The crowd claps at this display of breakdancing as well as funk dancing. Tails uses his Miles Electric to create several dancing holograms of himself.
"All right! Backup dancers!" Sonic smiled.
The champion looks nervous at seeing this, as the holograms all march towards him. Some of the holograms cover Sonic with their tails...
"Here we go!" Sonic said, before he jumps up in the air and strikes a pose.
Tails takes flight and lifts Sonic. Holograms of Sonic are created, which are lifted by the hologram Tails in suit.
"There's a lot of me up here!" Sonic smiled.
The champion desperately tries to out-do Sonic by dancing. Tails tosses Sonic onto a chandelier, which he swings around on.
"I love pivonka!" Sonic cheered.
The Champion looks very tired out, unable to keep up with the two "freaks." Paige noticed and grabbed a nearby abandoned boot.
"And big dismount!" Sonic said, as he and Tails land.
All the holograms disappear in glimmering "fireworks." Paige throws the boot at the champion, which makes him falls over. The crowd cheers.
"Oops." Paige said, teasingly.
"Yeah! I'll take that." Sonic said, as he takes the map from the fallen champion.
The crowd lifts Sonic and Tails up as the victors of the Pivonka. Danny lifts up Paige's hand as the crowd cheers for the spotlight crew.
"Cheers for the new champions!" Danny said.
"Woohoo! We did it!" Tails smiled.
"That was amazing!" Sonic cheered. "Way to go, tails."
All Paige could do was smile in accomplishment for her brother, friend, and herself as the crowd cheered for the trio.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Later on, Danny was all geared up to leave and talks to Paige by the door.
"Thanks again for helping me." Paige said.
"You know, you're pretty tough when it comes to helping out your alien friends." Danny commented. "Especially when you yelled at that other guy in defense. That was strong, I like that about you."
"I guess we make a pretty good team." Paige chuckled. "You helped my brother find an idea. That was impressive thinking."
"Paige, why are you really out here?" Danny asked, concerned. "I can tell that something is troubling you."
"It's not me I'm worried about." Paige whispered as she looked at Sonic. "I wish I could tell you. You seem trustworthy to me already, but there's just some things that I have to keep between me and them. I can't drag anyone else down with me, cause I don't want anyone to get hurt."
"I understand and I respect that." Danny said. "Maybe when this is over, I should visit you and have an actual date?"
Paige smiles and gives her a piece of paper with her phone number.
"You owe me a dessert then." Paige agreed. "Call me."
Danny smiled and took the paper before he exits. Paige watched as he got on his snowmobile and rode off. She walks back over to Sonic and Tails, as she noticed Sonic's mood with a smirk.
"Aw, someone's being sensitive." Paige teased, playfully.
"I am not!" Sonic complained.
"On the inside, you should've seen his reaction when you two were talking." Tails commented.
"Tails!" Sonic whined.
"Ok, okay." Paige giggled. "I learned from Danny that Какао is Russian for Hot Chocolate and they have it here to make. You two want some?"
"Yeah!" Sonic replied.
"Awesome!" Tails smiled.
After Paige made three cups of hot chocolate for the three of them, she handed two cups to Sonic and Tails. They enjoyed their beverages and settled in the building.
Later on, Sonic and Tails are lying on the bar table while Paige sat on a bar stool next to Sonic as she focused on drawing in her sketchbook. Many of the remaining bar guests are asleep.
"Wow." Tails smiled. "Only Sonic the Hedgehog could win a dance battle that epic."
"Well, stick with me, pal." Sonic said. "Earth can be a scary place, but I know everything about this old pale blue dot."
"Do you really mean that?" Tails asked, as he sat up.
"I mean, not everything." Sonic admitted. "But I watch a lot of discovery channel and..."
"I meant about me being your pal." Tails explained.
"Of course, buddy." Sonic replied, as he sat up.
Tails smiles and hugs Sonic.
"Aww." Paige muttered.
"Woah-ho-ho! Comin' in hot." Sonic chuckled, as Tails pulls away.
"Growing up, I didn't have any friends." Tails frowned. "Everyone in my village thought my two tails were weird."
"Hey, I know that feeling." Sonic said, in understanding.
"But then I saw you, the fastest creature in the galaxy." Tails smiled. "You were weird too. But you were a legend. That made me think, maybe being weird isn't so bad. You inspired me to leave my village, to find you and help you in your mission."
"I'm really glad you're here, Tails." Sonic said, with a soft smile.
"I'm glad I'm here too, Sonic." Tails replied, with a smile.
Paige smiled at their friendship before they both jump off the desk and head towards the fireplace. Paige heads over with Tails and Sonic yawns.
"Well, might as well get some sleep. This feels like a good place to spend the night." Sonic said as he grabs a blanket from a chair. "You'll be able to get clear readings on your gizmo thing once the storm is over, so I..."
"Shh." Paige hushed, as she pointed out that Tails is already asleep on the rug.
Sonic gives him the blanket, before lying down beside him.
"Night, Tails." Sonic said, before he turned to his sister. "Night, Paige."
"Goodnight, Sonic." Paige smiled, before she looked at Tails. "Goodnight, Tails."
Tails' tails move so as to cover Sonic like a blanket, before he drifted off to sleep. Paige smiled warmly and she kisses both their heads, before she lies down to sleep beside them.