sᴏɴɪᴄ ᴛᴏʏ: 𝓐𝓭𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓸𝔂𝓼 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓼

      With the flashing light and sirens, Dennis managed to leave the land of fogs and return back to Russia, to the good old Krasnogurbinsk. — "Home! Sweet home!" — he thought and yawned, because he hadn't slept for two days and was feeling a little sleepy now. But he knew that as soon as he got home, he would get a good night's sleep with a clear conscience. Once in Krasnogurbinsk, he turned off the sirens and flashing light and slowed down a little so as not to attract the attention of the police, where he works, and at the same time not to disturb the residents of the city who were still sleeping. By this time, the sun was already rising and morning was coming. — Finally, we got out of this terrible fog. — Sally was happy. — Yes. I wish I could see the normal sun in the sky again! — Sonic said to himself. — You'll see! There's a red piece of sky shining through. — Blaze pointed her finger straight ahead. — What time is it now? — Robotnik asked. — Almost seven o'clock in the morning. Here in Krasnogurbinsk, morning and night begin a little differently, and summer and winter begin and last differently. — the lieutenant explained. And so they finally got home and parked the car in front of the garage door. Yawning, Danny got out of his car, walked up to the gate, opened it and lifted it. Then he drove into the garage and closed the garage door, leaving the car inside. Pulling himself up with his hands, he yawned again and went to the door, where the service dog was already waiting for his owner, smelling his scent and coming out to meet him. — Hello, Sheriff, have you been good here? — he asks the dog and hugs him. The service dog accepts affection and a hug from his owner. — Good boy! Now excuse me, I need to sleep. Stretching his arms again and yawning, he walked through the door into the hallway, went up to the second floor and entered his room, after which he lay down in bed without undressing or taking off his shoes and immediately fell asleep. The sheriff followed him in, jumped onto the bed and also lay down to sleep next to him. Meanwhile, the toys remained on the back seat inside the car. They also felt that they wanted to sleep and did not lag behind the lieutenant in this regard. Even Sonic was getting ready to go to bed again next to a bunch of his friends. Only the blue hedgehog, unlike the others, went to bed later, still looking somewhere at the ceiling and thinking how happy he would be to be in David's arms again. It's a pity he himself will probably never know about the adventures he experienced while his owner was resting at a children's camp. It was even interesting how he himself lived there without him. Although why should he worry? Tails and Knuckles went with him, and Stephanie too. When they return, they will probably tell him how they spent their time there. With these thoughts, the hedgehog did not notice how he also fell asleep.

***

      About three or four hours passed and the morning had fully arrived. Andrew was the first to wake up with the ringing of the electronic alarm clock. Buratino himself pressed the alarm button and turned it off, and then the elderly toy maker himself woke up in full swing, did exercises despite his age and went down to the stairs, when he suddenly noticed that the door to Danny's room was open and the Sheriff came out of it. Grandpa went in there and saw his son, who had already returned home and was sleeping in bed. He must have managed to return when he and his toys were sleeping. Omarov senior decided not to wake the younger one for now. Let him sleep! And he himself went downstairs and followed the Sheriff, who walked him to the garage and to the car. In the back seat, not only David's toys that had returned with Sonic were sleeping, but also other toys. — Wow! Sonic was the first to wake up and looked around to see the toy maker. — Andrew Omarov! Good morning! — Good morning to you too, Sonic. And to all of you, guys. And who is this? — he asks, pointing to the other toys. The collectible toys themselves look questioningly at the old man, not knowing who it is and what to answer him. But at least they guessed that this is the second person who knows that they are coming to life. At that very moment, the toy maker noticed that they are all slightly shabby, and the brown fox has both arms torn off. — It's a very long story, Andrew. — says Silver. — It's okay. You'll have time to explain everything. We have plenty of time. — he tells them and steps back a little, holding the door open. — Slowly and one by one, get out and come with me to the workshop! And yes, if any of you are safe and sound and have nothing to do, but are free, let them make me some tea and bring me some cookies from the kitchen. — Okay, I'll be right there. — Cream replies. — And I'll help you. — Mephiles says and follows the rabbit. The rest of the toys went up the stairs to the second floor with the master. Tails had to be helped up, because without his hands he couldn't get up on his own. Having reached the workshop, Andrew Lobster got some thread and a needle and decided to sew up the fox's hands first. — Where did you get torn and fall apart? Were you thrown out because you got old? — he asked the collectibles jokingly. — How can you think that?! We're collectible toys! They don't throw us out! — Tails was indignant and started to try to break free, but Andrew reluctantly squeezed him tighter so that the fox wouldn't hurt himself or others. — Tails, calm down! We've already discussed this. — Robotnik said, then turned to Andrew. — Forgive him. He had a hard time for a while, and now it's hard for him to trust new acquaintances. — We recently had an... incident, so we all look shabby. — Ari explained. — It's okay, I'm not angry. I just wanted to joke, but it seems he doesn't understand jokes and takes them too seriously. — the toy maker suggested. — So what happened to you anyway? Who beat you up like that? — Well... How can I tell you... — Sonic crossed his arms over his chest, including the one that was again slightly torn along the seam. After a minute of silence, he looked at the fox and answered: — Him. The fox turned away to his empty side and became sad with shame. — I see. — Andrew grinned quietly, took his left hand and brought it to the fox's shoulder, began to sew it on. — I see that some of you have threads for stitching. So someone fixed you up the same way before me? — Yes, Mikhail Sinitsyn had a friend, a craftsman, who sometimes came to us and fixed us. — Snively answered. — He even fixed me, which is amazing. — Sonic says. — My arm fell off then, but he sewed it back on. True, during an argument and fight with Tails, he slightly tore off a thread and my arm is broken again. — Well, that's not surprising! — the toy maker answers. — It looks like he didn't try hard enough with the repair. — What are you hinting at? — Sally asked. The door opened slightly and Cream with a plate of cookies and Mephiles with a cup of tea in his hands entered. They put what they brought to the wooden platform on ropes and put it on it. Using a handle and a reel, Andrew lifts the platform and moves the cup and plate from the platform next to him to the table. — Thank you. — he thanked Cream and Mephiles. — Mikhail wanted to send us all to the museum and Tails tried to achieve this with all his might. He freaked out and even fought. But we all barely managed to dissuade him. — Robotnik explained. — So why did you decide that he didn't try hard enough? — Bunny asks. — You can tell from the seams that he didn't expect his work to last long. Plus, the fact that Tails was able to damage Sonic's arm without any problems further confirms that the craftsman was a sloppy worker. — Andrew explained, taking a sip of tea. — He said that we're only good for display! We're not made for playing with a child. — Rotor said, remembering what he heard from the craftsman. — What an amateur! Not only does he not know how to fix things properly, but he also sees you as a museum exhibit! — the craftsman was indignant, starting to sew on Tails' second arm. — Are you saying that he sewed each of us poorly and that's why we almost tore ourselves? — Nicole asked. — Exactly! — Omarov confirms. — But you're lucky that I'm also a craftsman. And mind you! I can say that I am almost a Soviet toy maker. My father always taught me to work conscientiously and not for myself, but for others. I not only make new toys from wood, but sometimes I can also sew them from fluff and thread. True, I rarely do the latter. Most of all, I like to work with wood. But once I made Gerald Robotnik as my first toy from fabric. — Is my name Gerald? — the fat man bulged his black eyes. — No, no. Gerald is Ivo Robotnik’s grandfather. — Omega explained, to which he only replied: — Ah! — You are so kind, Grandpa! — Nicole says. — Thank you. Usually I very rarely hear such compliments. Even my son and granddaughter rarely tell me that. And to hear about you is not only unexpected, but also pleasant for me. — Andrew replies, and then sighs heavily. — But I wasn’t always like this. It’s a very long story. At that moment, Sally felt the urge to look around the entire workshop and suddenly she saw on the work table, in addition to new wooden toys, also frames with photographs of the Omarov family. Among them, her attention was drawn to photographs with a girl who, judging by everything, was the wife of the very lieutenant who had brought them here. Having barely climbed onto the table, Acorn approached the very same frames and began to look at the photos with the girl. She reminded her of someone and this very girl seemed familiar to her. — Do you like them? — the toy maker asks the chipmunk, continuing to sew the last arm for Tails. — In all these photos are me, my son Danny, my granddaughter Stephanie and two other people with whom we broke up and separated, moving away from them to live here. Before that, we used to live in Khabarovsk. — This girl!.. Who is she? — the chipmunk asks, pointing her finger at Karen in one of the photos. — This one?.. It's Karen. Danny's ex-wife. — Grandpa answers and Sally's eyes widen. True, she was not completely sure yet. Was this really the same owner who once abandoned her? — And what attracted your attention to her? — You won't believe it, but... Once upon a time, Sally was that very Karen's toy. — Sonic explained. Andrew froze in his tracks, not believing what he heard. His former daughter-in-law, who was against her husband playing with toys, was the owner of this cute chipmunk? — Monsieur Omarov...? Are you... all right? — Antoine asks, a little scared. — No... — he answers and takes out a pair of scissors, cutting the thread off Tails' last arm, which he was sewing on. — There you go! Now you're as good as new! And most importantly, I sewed you on so tightly that you can't tear it off! See? — the master says and, as proof, took the fox's right arm, tugging it five times, and this time it held on very tightly and didn't break. The fox was extremely surprised and at the same time he was very happy and grateful to the old man for what he did to him. — Thank you! — Tails said sincerely, jumping down on the table. Andrew smiled warmly at him and began to look at the others, trying to decide who to fix next. Sally continued to look at the photo, trying to remember the girl depicted in it, and the old man noticed that her arms were also dangling on strings. — Miss Acorn, will you allow me to fix you? — Huh? Yes, of course. — the chipmunk agrees and allows the master to take her in his hand, and then put her on the work table for inspection. At this time, she herself turned her gaze to the very same photos and looked at them. — She reminds me of someone!.. Is it really?.. — it slowly began to dawn on the chipmunk. She remembered the same face from childhood, when the girl became a teenager. It was her. And the fact that they both have the same name, it can't be a coincidence. — My mistress? — I can't tell you for sure, dear. Karen did not often talk about her childhood. Except that her father told her that he had to get rid of his daughter's toys. — said the toymaker, remembering the story of his relative. — What happened then?! — asked the chipmunk excitedly. — According to him, Karen then said that she was no longer interested in the toys and asked him to put them out of sight. He collected all the toys and took them to some truck. Here Sally again remembered the same events from her life, because she had also experienced the same. There was no doubt. — It was her! I knew it! — Lord! — was all Bunny could say. — So it means you?.. — Andrew wanted to ask, but Sally finished herself: — Yes. Your former daughter-in-law is my former owner. Now I am convinced of it. — she answers, while the toymaker begins to fix her. — I can't believe it. My former owner's husband's father is fixing me. Does this mean that you... Well, also partly... My owner? Andrew felt a little shy about this. He hadn't expected such a comparison and title. He shrugged and said: — Well, I guess I'd be embarrassed to say that officially. My son Danny probably fits that title better, since he was Karen's ex-husband. After that, both the craftsman and the toys laughed a little at the toymaker's suggestion. By this time, he had also finished re-sewn Sally. — That's it. Now you're as good as new! — Andrew said cheerfully, putting a small mirror on the table that Stephanie had given him, since some toys liked to look at themselves after Andrew had finished his work. — Wow! — Sally said, looking at herself. Her hands were as good as new, and the stitching threads were almost invisible. — How do you like it? A little later, I'll try to fix you up a little more. I'm not happy with your shabby appearance. — promised the elder Omarov. — Why can't you do everything now? — asked Snively. — I haven't had the chance to work with toys made of fabric very often. Especially restoration. I'm more knowledgeable about wooden toys. It's much easier to restore them to their former appearance, but people like you need a special approach. — the craftsman admitted honestly. — No problem! If you need time, we are ready to wait as long as necessary. — Robotnik tried to convince him. — Okay. Well, who's next? — M-may I? — Antoine asked hesitantly, still a little afraid. — Yes! Be brave, buddy! After some time, Andrew managed to mend the jacket, and also patch up the coyote a little. — That's it. Next! — he says and puts Antoine on the table. — Merci, Monsieur Omarov! — the toy thanks the toy maker in French. — French, I believe? — Andrew asked. — Yes, sir! And a former member of the royal guard too! — the coyote answered proudly, standing at attention and saluting. Sonic laughed quietly. He was amused by how he tried to show himself to be cool. At this time, the toymaker began to slowly patch up Nicole and suddenly something just now dawned on him. Memories from his youth that he had already managed to forget after some time came flooding back to him. — Mister Omarov?... Are you thinking about something again?... — the lynx asks. — Huh?... — the old man was distracted from his memories. — Yes. Sorry, I remembered something while I was looking at each of you. — I see. — Snively said without mood, folding his arms across his chest. - How long have you had this? — No. It just started. — Andrew answered honestly. Danny immediately entered the workshop, stretching his arms up and yawning. — Good morning, Dad. — Good, son. To be more precise, it's already daytime. — Andrew answered cheerfully, turning to his son. — Daytime? Oh. It seems I haven't slept for so long these past two days that I overslept. — he suggested, scratching the back of his head. Then he turned his attention to the collection of toys, some of which his father had managed to fix. — How are you feeling? — Better, Mister Lobster. — answered Sally, slightly embarrassing the lieutenant. — Just call me Danny. Such formality is unnecessary. — asked Dennis, in order to avoid possible confusion in the future. — Okay, sir. — agreed Snively, and the other toys, except Sonic, nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Andrew had already finished with Nicole and began to examine the other toys to see if they needed help. — Sonic, let's fix you now. David will soon be back from camp and it would be better to return you before he arrives. — said Andrew — Coming. — answered Sonic and also lay down on the elderly friend's desk. — You won't believe it, but when I ended up at Sinitsyn's house and met those toys, and then when Mikhail decided to gather us all and take photos for a certain emperor from the land of fogs, it was then that my arm fell off at that very moment. Then he decided to call his friend. — I see... Saggan himself was the emperor?... Right? — You know? — the hedgehog asked. — Of course! I watch TV too. I must admit, his show is a little funny and almost every episode of his show is varied, and most importantly educational for anyone who wants to go there. — Andrew answers. — To be honest, we didn't like him and his show at first. But now that we've been there, without having any prior knowledge of how everything works there, we're already interested in how he'll end his show. — Blaze says. — Oh! Speaking of the show! — Grandpa said, putting the needle and thread aside for now. — Danny, do you remember when you were a child you once watched an American cartoon series and you liked it so much? His son's head was a little foggy. He thought, trying to remember. It seemed like he remembered something, but what exactly he was watching then, he had long forgotten. — Somehow I remember watching something like that, but... M-m... But I don't remember what kind of cartoon it was? The Toy Master, hearing his son's question, laughed. — Well, you're something! The characters of this cartoon are right in front of you, and you don't remember anything! — Andrew grumbled good-naturedly, after which he got up and headed for the exit of the room. Cream and Mephiles went with him out of curiosity. Not understanding what his father was talking about, Danny began to look at the toys, trying to find a clue in them. After examining them all for the third time, he finally understood what they were talking about. — Wait... Danny, did you also love this cartoon?! — Sonic asked in surprise. Dennis was silent for about a minute, and then answered a little hesitantly, remembering his childhood. — Yes. Andrew returned and brought with him an old video player and two VHS tapes that Cream and Mephiles were carrying. — Here we are! — said the crystal hedgehog. — Do you know what this is? — asks Cream, smiling and looking at the player that the pensioner was holding in his hands. — This is a VHS video player. They don’t make them like that anymore. They even stopped making DVDs, since Blue-Ray replaced them. — says the young lieutenant and, taking the player from his father’s hands, examined it. — Do you remember this? — Andrew picked up the tapes and showed them. The tapes themselves were so old that they didn’t even have boxes with covers. On the empty and black side of each tape there wasn’t even a sticker with the name of the film or series, except for a couple of ordinary scratches. — Sorry, Dad, but I don't remember what's on those tapes. — The lieutenant admitted honestly. Andrew was upset, but he didn't blame his son for anything. He was right. There were no stickers or inscriptions on the tapes to tell what was recorded on them. It could have been anything. From old Soviet films to one of the parts of the Lord of the Rings. — Well, son, since you don't remember, I suggest you watch them and find out! — Yes! Let's find out what's on there! — Bunny enthusiastically agreed, and the other toys supported her. They all went to Andrew's room together, tried to figure out how to properly connect the old video player to a modern TV. When they finally connected it, they turned on the TV, set the screen to the player and inserted the first tape, after which they began watching. First, they showed ads for the Snickers chocolate bar, Double Mand chewing gum, the first and only Dr. Pepper cola ad in Russian, and a trailer for the film Brother, starring Sergei Bordov Jr., directed by Alexei Balabanov. — Ah! Well, I've already seen that movie! — Mephiles said about the trailer, gently raising his right palm. When the commercials ended, a familiar intro began, where a blue hedgehog ran through the forest, after which the title song began. During the song, Danny remembered that he watched the American cartoon about Sonic as a child and they were recorded on these tapes. True, there were few of them. Each tape had five episodes with a single-voice translation. Plus there were a couple of commercials for movies and products from the nineties before the series began. — Wait, Dad. — Danny said and paused silently for a minute. — I remembered. I liked this series. And then, when I grew up a little, I stopped watching it and even forgot about it during this time. I thought that you threw it all away. — Not at all. — the mother reassured her son. — I mean, at first I thought about it and wanted to do it this way, because I thought that you were no longer interested in such things. But then I thought about it and decided that it would be better to hide it all for now and save it for the future, in case you or I ever feel nostalgic and want to get it out again and watch it again. And it seems that this very future has finally arrived. — Dad! — Danny almost cried with joy and hugged Andrew. — You can't even imagine how grateful I am to you for this. Watching this cute scene in real life, Snively himself broke down emotionally and cried, hugging Robotnik. — How cute and touching it is! — Come on, Snively! People are watching. — the uncle was modest in front of his nephew. Even though they are toys. — Come on! — Andrew laughed quietly, hugging his son back and addressing the toys themselves. — There is nothing shameful about it. If you only knew what kind of relationship we had with Danny back then, until we found common ground again and moved. Now we are not even ashamed to hug and cry, even if people are looking at us. — Well, since you found these tapes, let's watch them now? — Buratino suggested. — Yes, let's! I myself am interested in watching this old cartoon. — says Cream. — Are you sure? These tapes are very old. There is not even a normal Russian dubbing. There's only a pirated translation with a single male voiceover. — the lieutenant explained. — So what? I've seen a lot of foreign films and TV series that also didn't have a normal translation into Russian and I've gotten used to it. I'll try to master them somehow. — the rabbit replies. — Well, if that's the case, then I'll also tolerate the monophony. — says Mephiles. — And on our tapes, or rather on the collector Sinitsyn's tapes, there were other translations that had only three voices. — says Sally. — That's why I'm interested in rewatching these episodes in a different translation that even I didn't know about. — Tell me, how did it happen that your son stopped watching the series on tape and you decided to hide it? — Antoine asked. — Well, how can I tell you? — the pensioner thought, holding his shoulders with his hands and looking at the ceiling, trying to form a proper conversation: — After Danny became an adult and got married, Karen started living with us. Since she was a very serious woman who wanted to live like an adult and thought that all these cartoons were just for kids, I was afraid that she would throw it all away, so I decided to hide it all. I thought that maybe she would change her mind someday. But she turned out to be an incorrigible bore who tried to pretend to be an adult too well, and that's how she remained. Of course, being an adult is right and good, but returning to childhood and behaving like a child is also normal. You can't give up your childhood. — Quiet! Let's watch already! — Danny hissed quietly and everyone fell silent and started watching. But they didn't manage to watch for more than five minutes, because the Sheriff entered the room and, approaching his owner, began to bury his nose in his side to attract his attention. — What's wrong, Sheriff? — asks the lieutenant. The faithful service dog approaches the home cell phone and points at it with his right front paw. At first, Danny tried to figure out what that meant. — Maybe he means that Stephanie called yesterday and said that she would be waiting for you to come pick her and David up today? — Andrew suggested. After hearing that, Danny remembered that today was the very day he was supposed to pick up David and Stephanie from the camp. — Damn! I totally forgot! — he hit himself on the forehead with his right palm and ran downstairs. — Sorry, I'll have to postpone watching more until later! Bye! — Bye! — Andrew shouted back along with the other toys. — So... what should we do now? — Dulcie asked, realizing that watching the cartoon was temporarily postponed. — If you don't mind, I can continue fixing you up. — the craftsman suggested and, having received positive nods, looked at Sonic. — You go first, Sonic. We need to fix you up and give you to Lili before David gets back. — Okay. — the toy hedgehog agreed, but then he caught himself. — Does Ivan know what happened? — He was furious when he found out you were kidnapped. And he was upset that you might never come back, because he didn’t know where the kidnapper was, and the police don’t search for toys. — the elder Omarov answered. — We didn’t know how to tell David about it, so we decided to act according to the situation.