Trail of the Missing Tails

"Trail of the Missing Tails" is the seventh episode of the series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.

This episode was written by Bob Forward.

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 there to this strange place, he watches Mobius through a telescope, plotting his revenge.

Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts all prepare their own unique trap to catch Sonic. They set a single Chili Dog on a table in the middle of the three traps. Sonic and Tails smell the chili dog from far away and they know it is a trap. To Tails' disappointment, Sonic insists that he go get the chili dog on his own and Tails stay put.

Sonic gets the chili dog and gets all three traps to backfire on the three 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 then yells at him for no staying put. Dr. Warpnik watches them through his telescope projector thing and realizes that he can use Sonic to 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 could 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 to catch him while his guard is down.

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 Robontik literally throwing him into the warp of confusion. Sonic's boredom makes him angry. Robotnik, Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts show up. Robotnik and Warpnik get into a fish fight. Sonic unties Tails and they start looking for a way out. Not wanting them to escape Dr. Warpnik fires a canon that turns fish into monsters. Sonic and Tails run around avoiding the monsters. the canon hits Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts, turning them all into monsters. Since they are large and powerful, the three badniks want to punish Robontik for always treating them badly. They go to hit Robotnik, but hit the canon instead. With the canon 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.

Back in the warp of confusion, still as big monsters, Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts eat popcorn as they watch Robotnik and Warpnik go back and forth slapping 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.

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 early games of the Sonic the Hedgehog series (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 the "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 like a dance lesson.