Skirted Spies: Season 1

Episode 10-3: All Foxes are Sidekicks

We take the front door out into Ispio's parking lot and walk along down the road. We drive a lot out of state but keep to walking in our town, must be a familiar territory thing.

"So, what's the plan?" I ask.

"We're gonna wait until Fake Troy gives me a hint."

"That's the plan?" A rock on the sidewalk. Kick! "Sounds a little half-baked to me."

"Oh, I'm sorry! Do you want to give your personal ghost a shot at finding a man who's first nature is stealth?" The rock I kicked lands in front of Clyde's path, and he kicks it too.

"Alright, point taken. Hey, we forgot to tell Adams about that weird thing last night. The one with the Sanic and stuff." The rock comes back to my path. Another kick, but a little harder this time.

"Firstly, it's Sonic. Secondly, she didn't give us a chance. What do you think it means?"

"I'm not sure, but it can't be good. What if he's like, trying to steal my life or something."

"How could he do that?"

"I don't know, maybe it wants more than just to live through your brain. It wants its own body."

"That's all well and good, but I asked how he could do that?"

"I said I didn't know!"

The rock I kick finally gets close again, and Clyde gives it a strong punt across the street. We watch it fly to a convenience store on the other side, but there's something going on in there. The window walls lets us see two people inside, one moving quite frantically, the other standing completely still with his hands up in the air. The man holding still is an old human, one that I've known since I was a kid. Old Mr. Marvins had owned that store for years.

The one that's all over the place is dressed up in jeans and a hoody, with the hood covering his face. The bushy tail sticking out from the back-side tells me that it's an anthro, not a human. He has something in his hand, and he's pointing it at Mr. Marvins. I can't actually see it, but I think it's safe to say that he has a gun. Mr. Marvins is getting robbed!

"Clyde!" I shout while pointing at the store.

He sees the scene that's going on and rushes over, crossing the street in a second. I follow quickly, running to the other side and ducking behind a low wall where Clyde is sitting.

"Troy, formation beta-052!" he tells me. It's a pattern for clearing a building with two agents. I learned that in the classes I was fortunate enough to actually take part in. I get up and sprint around the corner, jumping over a couple of trashcans and finding the side door that I know the store employees use to take out the garbage. I count to three and slowly open the door.

I'm greeted to the sight of the robber forcefully taking a bag out of Marvins' hand. The cash register is open and empty. The robber is a dark-grey wolf, and can't be more than twenty years old. Just a kid. Clyde jumps through the window, shattering it easily with his colossal frame. He spooks the wolf, who drops the bag of money and turns to face Clyde.

"Drop the gun!" Clyde shouts, pointing his gun at the boy. The wolf says nothing and simply shoots at him, missing the first shot. It's enough for Clyde to take cover behind the snack shelf, and enough time for me to reach down and grab my...

My gun is missing!

I look down at my hip to see an empty holster. How could I have lost my gun!? Did I drop it while jumping over the trashcans? Aw crap, Clyde's gonna die and it's all my fault!

Clyde spins around the corner from the other side, blind firing down the aisle. He looks to his side. "Suppressive fire, idiot!"

I'm about to open my mouth and say that I can't, but then a peculiar sight drops my jaw. My gun is floating! Right next to Clyde too! It raises itself above the shelf, firing away at the kid's general direction. The wolf sees the gun too as he straps on the same terrified face as I have, covering his head and ducking down.