Sonic to the Rescue


 * For the Sonic Underground DVD with the same name, see Sonic to the Rescue (DVD).

"Sonic to the Rescue" (Japanese: 潜入! エリア99) is the second episode of the anime series Sonic X. It was aired in Japan and US on 13 April 2003 and 13 September 2003 respectively.

Characters

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Amy Rose
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Cheese
 * Chris Thorndyke
 * Sam Speed and Speed Team
 * Nelson Thorndyke
 * Lindsay Thorndyke
 * Chuck Thorndyke
 * Mr. Tanaka
 * Dr. Kai Narasu
 * A police officer
 * Doctor Eggman
 * Decoe
 * Bocoe

Japanese version

 * Sonic Drive - Opening theme
 * MI-RA-I - Closing theme

English version

 * Gotta Go Fast - Opening theme (USA and CAN)
 * "Sonic X" - Opening theme (AUS, NZ and UK)
 * Gotta Go Fast (shortened) - Closing theme

Plot
The episode starts out the morning after the events following from the night before. Sonic and Chris are on the outside deck with Chris on the phone with his mum and Sonic looking rather bored. When Chris admits that he dove into the adult swimming pool, his mum become shocked only to be relieved that he rescued a "cat" much to Sonic's disgrace claiming that he is a hedgehog. Chris responds that his mum wouldn't believe her son from rescuing a blue talking hedgehog and asks Sonic when and how did he learn to talk to which Sonic doesn't remember. Chris then talks with his dad on the phone. In the end Sonic shakes his head in dismay while Chris tries to feed his new and unusal guest with cat food since he checked on the internet that most hedgehogs love cat food but Sonic doesn't favour cat food. Chris suggests crickets but that resulted in the hedgehog from jumping away and going for a run.

By that time, the incident of what happened in the first episode is all over the news. Sonic nonchalantly eats his food and doesn't seem to care much about what the humans think of him. At that time Chris' grandfather Chuck walks in and informs his grandson about the incident yesterday only to see Sonic sitting there on the couch next to him. Sonic and Chuck stare at each other eye to eye before Chris covers Sonic with a pillow suffocating him until Sonic knocks the pillow away. After Chuck realises it is indeed the blue hedgehog, he grabs a screwdriver in attempt to tinker with him as if he were a machine until Chris convinces Chuck that Sonic wasn't a machine but in fact a real talking blue hedgehog. The T.V presented them with video footage of Cream the Rabbit and her Chao friend Cheese being cornered and captured by the military.

Sonic races off to find them only to come back seconds later under the realization that he has no idea where to look. Chuck calls up the government and finds out that his friends were put on a somewhat top secret military base located in the middle of a desert named Area 99. Sonic notes that the military base shares some similarities with Eggman's typical base. The governement apparently thinks these strange creatures may be a new danger or mysterious threat sent to spy upon their world and Chuck wonders if they may in fact be right. Sonic, feeling insulted, decides to leave to rescue his friends himself but Chuck doesn't allow it unless Sonic agrees for their assistance.

The three of them drive off into the desert toward the base's location. Sonic complains about the speed they are moving with while Chris gives Sonic is sent out in front with a small communicator and infared scope. Chuck explains that Area 99 is full of security lasers and with the infrared scope, he can detect and avoid them. He then takes off at high speed to infiltrate Area 99 by entering an air vent, alarming the facility that there is an intruder on the loose of the military base. Meanwhile some scientists try to examine the defenseless Cream and Cheese

Once successfully inside the base, Sonic runs through a corridor unnoticed and eventually comes toward the base of operations and where Cream and Cheese are being held and experimented on. At first, he was not able to do much due to the tight security around until mysterious tiny paper airplanes destroyed some of the wiring and therefore shutting down the facility's power. Sonic was able to break Cream and Cheese but much to Cream and Cheese's disruption, they are noticed. As Sonic, Cream and Cheese run to escape, Cream comments on how Sonic was able to shut down the power but Sonic responds that it wasn't his cause. Cream believes it probably must be the cause of luck to which Sonic agrees but their luck ran out as the power eventually came back on with the security cameras looking at them.

The cameras open up their tops to reveal laser beam guns and all of them are shooting at the three characters throughout the corridor. Sonic dispatches the cameras but then had to help Cream and Cheese as the facility began to activate their lockdown procedures by sealing the corridors with doors. As they had to deal with more of the laser security cameras, the tiny mechanical paper airplanes flew by again and destroyed the cameras, giving Sonic, Cream and Cheese the opportunity to proceed on. As the facility was still in its lockdown procedures, the power dies down once again but their laser cameras are now out of control as they fired in random directions. While Sonic, Cream and Cheese run up the stairs, a laser blast from the camera destroys a part of the staircase where Cream and Cheese are standing, only to fall off and desperately held onto Sonic's hand.

Using all of his might, Sonic carries Cream as they jump from broken staircases to climb up high into a safe area. Cream thanks Sonic for saving them while Sonic places his ear towards the wall being able to hear the sounds of a plane. Sonic concludes that the plane must be the Tornado. Sonic smashes through the roof of Area 99 and escape on to the Tornado. It is then revealed that Tails was the one who had sent all of those ingenius paper airplane devices in to help them. Seeing the plane with Sonic and his friends on it, Chris and Chuck return home. As Sonic's friends introduce themselves, Chuck takes interest to the tiny airplane devices while Chris asks Sonic to be more careful. Then everyones ponders about who else might have shown up with them. At the end, they realize that Dr. Eggman must be within their midst and as proof, the doctor is shown on an unnamed island plotting to take over this new world and build his Eggman Empire on it.

Dubbing changes

 * In the Japanese version, when lasers appear on top of the cameras, use of profanity is included. This was removed from both the 4Kids and French dubs.
 * In the scene with the television broadcasting Cream the Rabbit trapped on a billboard, the text on the billboard says "ICE EXPRESS INTERNATIONAL LOGISTICS" (Japanese and French versions only). The text was removed in the American version for unknown reasons.

Trivia

 * While the Japanese title of the episode is "Infiltrate! Area 99", on the Australian DVD it is named "Escape from Area 99!".
 * It is revealed that Sonic is ticklish after Chuck pokes him in the back with a screwdriver, who thought Sonic was a robot, and tried to see how Sonic was 'wired'. Sonic is then shown yelping and then jumping out of Chuck's grasp.
 * In episode 73, Tails wears an infrared scope/communicator similar to the one Sonic wore in this episode.