Trail of the Missing Tails

"Trail of the Missing Tails" is the seventh episode of the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog television series. Despite being produced as the seventh episode, it originally aired as the twentieth episode during the show's original run.

Characters

 * Sonic
 * Tails
 * Scratch
 * Grounder
 * Dr. Robotnik
 * Coconuts
 * Doctor Warpnik
 * Many fish
 * Warpnik's fish monsters

Locations

 * Warp of Confusion
 * Dr. Robotnik's Lair

Plot
Inside the fish-infested Warp of Confusion sits the disgruntled scientist, Doctor Warpnik. Angry that his cousin, Dr. Robotnik, banished him to this strange place, he watches Mobius through a telescope, plotting his revenge.

Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts each prepare their own trap to catch Sonic. They set a single Chili Dog on a table in the middle of the three traps. Scratch has a "Sonic-Snatcher"; a machine with a chicken-claw attached to a coil (keeping to his theme of chicken/egg-related inventions). Grounder has 4 catapults loaded with fish, anvils, a chest of drawers and a large safe. Coconuts has a cannon which makes the target explode when triggered (fitting with Coconuts' fondness of lasers, cannons and such weapons). Sonic and Tails smell the chili dog from far away and they know that it's a trap. To Tails' disappointment, Sonic insists that he gets the chili dog on his own and that Tails should stay put.

Sonic grabs the chili dog and makes all three traps backfire on the badniks. Some smoke and fish from the traps make Tails think Sonic is in trouble, so he comes to help. The badniks grab Tails and tie him up. Sonic returns to where Tails was waiting and does not find him. Sonic quickly rescues Tails from the three robotic goons and yells at him for not staying put, but eventually forgives him and states that he is important to him. Dr. Warpnik watches them through his telescope projector object and realizes that he can use Tails to lure in Sonic, which will lure in Robotnik.

The next morning, Sonic wakes up to find that Tails is missing. Sonic goes to Dr. Robotnik's Lair and asks Robotnik where Tails is. Robotnik insists that he did not capture Tails, but he continues to talk to Sonic, distracting him so his badniks can catch him off guard. Robotnik asks Sonic if he and Tails had a misunderstanding between them. Sonic says they did. Robotnik says Sonic probably made him run away. Sonic feels bad, but still does not get caught by the badniks sneaking up on him. Sonic leaves to find Tails, and Robotnik and his three goons follow him with hopes of catching him off guard.

Sonic follows Tails' tracks into the Warp of Confusion. He is welcomed by Dr. Warpnik who reveals that he captured Tails and now he and Sonic are his prisoners. He also shows Sonic an old movie of Robotnik literally throwing him into the Warp of Confusion. Sonic's boredom makes him angry. Robotnik, Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts show up after finding the entrance through a trash-bin, which Coconuts accidentally uncovered by leaning against a rock which fell over. Robotnik and Warpnik get into a fish fight. Sonic unties Tails and they start looking for a way out. Trying to prevent their escape, Dr. Warpnik fires a cannon that turns fish into monsters. Sonic and Tails run around avoiding the monsters. Dr. Robotnik tries to use the machine, but Dr. Warpnik gets mad at him. The cannon hits Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts, turning them all into monsters. Since they are large and powerful, the three badniks want to punish Robotnik for treating them badly. They try to hit Robotnik, but hit the cannon instead. The cannon sets alight and Scratch states that they 'laid an egg' (messed up). Robotnik and Warpnik try to put out the fire with fish. With the cannon broken, Sonic and Tails are able to escape the Warp of Confusion.

Back in the real world, Sonic apologizes for getting mad at Tails. Tails says he would never run away because they are best buddies. The bin explodes and turns to dust, but the Warp stays intact. Sonic says it's good to know that Robotnik and Warpnik would be stuck with each other for a while.

Back in the Warp of Confusion, Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts, who are still monsters, share a bucket of popcorn as they watch Robotnik and Warpnik slap each other with fish.

Sonic Says
Tails is lost and needs to call home, but he does not know his phone number. Sonic comes and whispers the number to him. Sonic turns to the audience and tells them to learn their own phone number before it is too late.

Tails: "Uh-oh, I think i'm lost. (avoids being attacked by a tree) I gotta find a phone fast! (finds a phone booth) Operator? I need to call home. The number? (struggles to remember his phone number, then Sonic appears and whispers the number into his ear) Got it, thanks Sonic! Ok, that's area code..."

Sonic: (talks to the home audience) "You can't call home if you don't know your area code and phone number by heart! Memorize it now, don't wait until it's too late!"

Quotes
Coconuts: (after he, Grounder, and Scratch destroy the lab): Uh-oh!

Scratch: I think we laid an egg!

Goofs

 * When Robotnik tells Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts to get Sonic, his moustache and mouth briefly disappear.
 * When Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts get hit by the cannon, a silhouette identical to Coconuts runs away from the smoke.
 * When Scratch turns around and freaks out, his head turns yellow.
 * When Scratch, Grounder, Coconuts and Scratch's invention are about to crash-land on the table, Coconuts' tail is longer.
 * When Coconuts' invention crushed him, his invention's tail is missing.
 * The second time Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts get piled up with sardines, Scratch's head is still showing.
 * Every time Coconuts rubs his hands together before planning to shoot Sonic with his laser cannons, one of his elbows briefly turns gray.

Trivia

 * This is one of the few episodes where Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts work as a trio rather than Coconuts being in competition with the other two.
 * The Warp of Confusion was based on the Special Stages from the early Sonic the Hedgehog games (the fish that float in the background are specifically taken from Sonic the Hedgehog for the Mega Drive). These stages were in fact referred to as "Warps of Confusion" in early English-language background material, including Sega of America's internal Sonic bible, the Sonic the Hedgehog promotional comic, and the Sonic Interview from The Official Sonic the Hedgehog Yearbook (1991).
 * When Sonic follows Tails' footprints, they have numbers on them.
 * When Scratch is turned into a monster, he looks similar to Cluck from Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM).
 * In this episode, Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts temporarily rebel against Robotnik when they are turned into monsters.
 * It is never explained how Robotnik managed to escape the Warp of Confusion, nor is it explained how Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts revert to their normal selves by the start of the next episode.