★彡[ʀɪɴɢꜱ 💫 ᴍᴏᴠɪᴇ!ꜱᴏɴɪᴄ x ꜰᴇᴍᴀʟᴇ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ]彡★ [ᴏɴɢᴏɪɴɢ sᴛᴏʀʏ] «✓»

¹²' ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵉᵃʳᶜʰ ᶠᵒʳ ᵗʰᵉ ᴴᵉᵈᵍᵉʰᵒᵍˢ.

"Except, uh.." Tom says, obstructing the man from entering.

"Doesn't the power company takes readings from outside the house? That way they can check them even if you're not home." Tom smartly snarls at the man with an incoherent manner, the man dressed in black looking defeated by him.

"Also, my buddy Spencer works for the gas company, and he's more of an Ultimate Frisbee guy. So you want to tell me why you think I'm dumb enough to just let you walk inside my house?"

 Tom declares firmly, leaving the man utterly impressed by his astuteness. Without Tom knowing, the man secretly sends a signal to the drones using his glove from behind, signaling for backup or assistance only by pressing a few buttons.

"I'm sorry, Mister..."

"Wachowski. But everyone calls me Tom. Except my dentist, he calls me Tim. But it's gone on for so long that it would just be weird if I corrected him," Tom optionally adds on with a wry grin, injecting a touch of awkward humor into the conversation.

"Well, Tom, whose-dentist-calls-him-Tim. You may have noticed that this entire town has been experiencing a power outage." The man explains, turning around dramatically to spark a new topic into the conversation.

"Yep, no lights. Picked up on that." Tom counters back, unsure how long this interaction will take for him to leave in order to escort the hedgehogs out.

"Twenty minutes ago, I tracked an energy pulse with a similar signature to the one that caused that disruption," the man explains further, his words sending a shiver down Tom's spine as he realizes the gravity of the situation. One of the drones he sent had reached the chimney into the attic, signaling trouble for Sonic and (Y/N). As it enters inside, it decides to emit a ray of crimson light to scan the entire room. Sonic, noticing the drone's approach, holds (Y/N) close to him with worry etched on his face. The (F/C) hedgehog blushes lightly but focuses her attention on the drone. It continues to scan each box, prompting Sonic and (Y/N) to hide away from its probing gaze.

"Stay close to me, and don't move a muscle," Sonic solemnly alerts (Y/N), who nods in agreement, her expression mirroring his caution.

"Listen, uh, Mister...?" Tom stops, twisting his arm as a sign for the man to speak up, prompting him to provide his identification.

"Doctor. Dr. Robotnik. But my dentist calls me Rob," Robotnik magpies Tom's joke, playing along with a hint of amusement.

"Hmm," Tom snickers, "Look, uh, Dr. Robotskeez. Um, I'm sure what you're here for is very serious, but it's got nothing to do with me. You can ask anyone in town. Everyone knows me," he boasts confidently, asserting his familiarity within the community.

"I bet they do," Robotnik bounces back, his tone dripping with displeasure. "I'm sure you're hella popular with the jebs and merles and Billy Bobs in this glorified gas station rest stop," he waffles, his sarcastic remarks causing Tom to furrow his brows in response to his nonsense.

"Betcha go way back to the days of tippin' cows and playin' in a jug band!" Robotnik raises his voice, mimicking the sound of a jug band playing, while Tom stands there, growing increasingly agitated. Abruptly, Robotnik stops to finish his point, leaning closer to Tom.

"And maybe someday, you'll achieve your goal of getting a Costco card or adopting a labradoodle. But the reality is, I surpassed everything you're ever going to do. Before I was a toddler!" he whispers near Tom's ear, trying to provoke a reaction from him.

"I was spitting out formulas while you were still spitting up formula," Robotnik asserts confidently.

"I was breastfed actually," Tom scolds, not amused by Robotnik's taunts.

"Nice. Rub that in my orphan face." Robotnik caustically replies, Tom's expression cut off by the sudden response of Robotnik's,

"Mr. Wachowski. Are you familiar with us code 904, title 10, article 104?" He interrogates, having Tom completely confuzzled to think of a way to respond and lie.

"Yeah, who isn't-"

"Anyone. Who attempts to aid an enemy of the United States shall suffer death. And if I'm the one who catches you, it'll be even worse." Dr. Robotnik interrupts Tom, knowing that he wouldn't tell the truth.

"..." Tom stumbles, taking Robotnik's sentence quite logically,

"Worse than death?"

-

★ ᴇɴᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 12 ★

➤ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ❛s ɴᴏᴛᴇ
❥ During the making of this chapter I did happen to take some breaks since this scene was funny to watch. I just couldn't stop hitting replay.
I did also get a cold in a hot day, which was distracting to create the twelfth chapter, as snot kept rising from my nostril.
It was thirty‐forty degrees out. Luckily, I was able to finish the chapter despite my illness.

➤ ᴡᴏʀᴅ ❥ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ

1272 words.