Hallways of the school were normally empty of students by that time, but on this particular Friday, two were strolling through them as they headed for the exit. Y/N was closing the buttons of her jacket as beside her, Eddie adjusted the beanie covering his messy hair.
"Thanks again for helping on such short notice," said Eddie as the two passed the janitor who was whistling as he scrubbed the floors.
"It's nothing," Y/N replied. "Though I still think the goat story should make frontpage."
Eddie snickered, "Tell me what's more interesting: UFOs or an old goat?"
"An old goat of course. That one you can at least prove with photographic evidence which your story doesn't have," said Y/N as Eddie pushed open the door.
Y/N shivered as the cold bit her skin. Piles of snow were here and there, and a good layer of frost was covering the black asphalt. The first snow had landed some time ago, and ever since then more and more had come to cover the town. It was only a matter of time for the full blown winter to take over Green Hills.
"I have photographic evidence—" Eddie started.
"A blurry image of an airplane doesn't count," said Y/N.
"I'm telling you it wasn't an airplane. It was much lower and shaped entirely different."
Y/N rolled her eyes and shook her head. She of course knew of aliens but spaceships in the sky were a bit too much for her to believe in. The picture Eddie had shown her was taken during the night so it was dark and rather blurry, and all you could really tell about it was that it was of something white in the sky. What that something was, Y/N couldn't be too sure, but it certainly wasn't a spaceship. Of course not knowing what it was for sure technically made it an unidentified flying object, which in turn technically made his story true.
The two reached the parking lot which by the time was empty apart from one car. "I'm guessing you want to walk again?" said Eddie.
Y/N glanced first at him and then at the only vehicle on the lot. The car was an older hatchback and looked exactly like something he would drive. Its deep red paint was covered in blotches of dirt and the windshield had a crack in it. She turned her gaze forward and said, "You live on the other side of town and I don't wanna waste your gas."
Eddie laughed, earning a surprised look from the girl. "The other side of town?" he asked. "You do know we live in Green Hills and not New York?"
"You know what I mean," shequickly said back.
"I know and I'm telling you that it barely adds anything to my trip."
Y/N looked at the car again. Driving would be much faster than having to walk and it would be nicer considering the weather. Also, riding with him would give her a chance to ask about that thing. Sighing, she walked up to the passenger side door and looked at Eddie. "You happy?"
Eddie grinned, and not long after the two were seated in the car. As Eddie flipped on the engine, music which by no chance Y/N could recognize began blasting ear-piercingly loudly from the speakers. The car accelerated away, leaving the school behind.
Because the drive home wouldn't be long, Y/N knew if she wanted to hear any news she would have to start asking now. Talking loudly to make sure Eddie was to hear her over the music, she said, "Is this a safe place to talk?" Last time she had tried asking him had been at the school and it had sent the boy in a frenzy about how someone could be listening to them.
Eddie nodded as he turned the music down just enough to make talking with a normal voice viable again. "Safest there is," he said.
"Then you know what I'm gonna ask you about," said Y/N.
"Yep, and I'm gonna tell you the same exact thing as last time. There is nothing," he answered, causing Y/N to sigh annoyed. "Everything on that paper is unrecognizable. No one has any idea what it could be."
"Someone must have!" Y/N said desperately.
If by now someone still doesn't know what the two were talking about, then here's the rundown. After Y/N and Sonic had stumbled across that secret room in the abandoned house and found that weird piece of paper from there, Y/N had combed the internet for answers for what it might be. After discovering that no answers lay within the depths of the open web, she had asked help from Eddie, as based on his past taste for mysteries, especially those including the government and cover ups, he seemed like the perfect candidate to find the truth. But, as you might guess, his research had ended up with the same results as hers.
Y/N stared at the trees passing on the other side of the window. Eddie glanced at her and noticed her thoughtful gaze. "Look, Y/N," he said and the girl turned to him. "If none of the guys I've talked to have been able to recognize even the smallest detail on it, then it's just not gonna happen. At least not anytime soon. If it is real, which I'm kinda doubting, then someone has done a very good job at covering it all up."
Y/N looked at him confused and asked, "Why would someone make up something like that?"
"No clue," Eddie shrugged. "But the paper conveniently has every detail that could tie it into anything smudged. The only part that could be usable is the signature, but no one can read who it belongs to, and also, no other research paper on Earth bears that signature. Either it's the coverup of the century or a hoax."
Y/N thought about his words. It was weird that the paper just happened to be missing all the important details. She herself had even begun to doubt its validity after she had been unable to find anything online, but there was still one detail that made her believe that it was something real. The location. Why would someone build a whole secret room just for a prank? That just didn't make any sense.
Of course Y/N had already gone through the history of the house and found every owner it had had since the sixties. The first one of course was the woman that had gone missing, whose name she had now learned. Este Petersen was exactly like the stories had told. A recluse born in the late eighties and raised by her grandmother right here in Green Hills. Of course her being born way after the paper was made immediately took her away from the equation, but it opened the door for her grandparents who had both been very much alive during its writing. Only, much like with her, all the information that could be found was that they were nothing more than a car-mechanic and his wife that had died way over ten years ago. Still, there was a possibility that they were somehow involved. How? That Y/N didn't know.
She turned to look at Eddie again and asked, "Which one do you think it is?"
"I wanna believe it's real. I really do. But come on? It would be a miracle if our government was able to do a cover-up on this scale," he explained his thoughts.
Sighing, Y/N turned back to the window and looked at the passing sight, which in Green Hills mostly meant trees with the occasional house.
"Maybe you should let it rest for a while," Eddie suggested. "I'll keep looking into it and if there ever is something I'll let you know."
"Okay," Y/N quietly muttered without taking her eyes from the window.
The car turned left as Eddie took it to the street on which the Wachowskis resided. It wasn't long after that that the car came to a stop and Y/N opened her door. "See you on Monday then," she said.
"Yeah," Eddie replied. "Bye."
"Bye."
The girl shut the door and the car accelerated away from her. She sighed and walked through the driveway and up to the front of the house where her brows furrowed. "What the...?" she muttered as she saw the front door was cracked open. Quickly, she glanced at the yard but no cars were parked anywhere on the property. Also, there was the fact that her father was out of town and her mother was working late, meaning Sonic was the only one home.
Warily, she pushed open the door, letting it swing fully open. The hallway was empty, and the lights were out in at least there as well as the kitchen. In the distance was someone talking, but it clearly wasn't a human source. No, it came from the TV. Accompanying it was the endless ticking that came from the clock hanging on the kitchen wall. Y/N waited at the door for a few seconds, counting the ticks until there had been thirty. No other sounds came.
Slowly, she walked inside and pulled the door shut behind her. She made sure not to step on that own board that always screamed like a cat in heat, and sneaked along the hallway. First, she peeked into the dining area and the adjacent kitchen. Both were empty. Moving to the other side of the hallway, she came across the living room. It was mostly normal, but a half eaten chili dog sitting on the coffee table made her heart thump.
Planning on checking behind the couches, Y/N stepped further into the room. The first few steps went normal, but it was with the fifth that a creak echoed the room. Y/N yelped and before she even had a chance to react, a pile of blankets that was sitting on one of the couches began to shift. It jumped on the floor, losing one of its blankets in the process. While running the short way over to Y/N, the rest of the blankets also came off, revealing the golden retriever that had been napping under them.
"Jesus, Ozzy," Y/N said as she kneeled to pet the dog. "You almost scared me." The dog licked her face which she wasn't too happy about and immediately pulled away from it. "Okay, I'm happy to see you too," she said and pushed the dog's face away from hers. The dog retaliated, and tried to push his face to hers again, but the girl stood up. "That's enough, Ozzy. I know I had to stay in a bit later but that doesn't mean that you have to bathe me with your tongue," she said. A smirk then made its way to her face and she continued, "But speaking about bathing someone with your tongue, you know who's gonna like that because I do." Ozzy tilted his head and Y/N smiled. "Do you know where Sonic is?"
Ozzy winced and laid down on the floor, confusing the girl. "What are you doing?" she asked, but the dog just huffed. "Ozzy, can you take me to Sonic?" she said. Ozzy stood up and walked past her to the hallway. Y/N followed after him, but instead of taking her upstairs like she thought he would do, Ozzy took her to the front door. Y/N stopped in the middle of the hallway and stared at him. "Ozzy... Sonic is home, isn't he?" she asked. The dog huffed and lied down on the floor.
The breathing of the girl increased as she glanced at the now shut door. She swiftly turned around and made her way to the stairs. She booked it up and ran straight into her room. It was rare for Sonic to go there without permission, but there was still a chance. She scanned the room which appeared empty, and threw her bag on her bed. Taking it to the next room over, her parents room, which again Sonic rarely entered, she tried to find him there but that too proved unsuccessful. The final room of the second floor was the bathroom, but like with the previous two, it wasn't that one either.
There was only one place left to check, and that was his own room. Y/N returned to her room from where she grabbed her chair. She brought it out onto the upstairs landing and placed it directly beneath the hatch leading into the attic. Before climbing up and opening it, she shouted "Sonic, if you're up there I'm gonna be coming in so you better not be doing anything unexplainable!" She stared at the hatch, listening to the clock ticking downstairs as she waited for a reply. When there wasn't one, she sighed and climbed up on the chair. "Okay. I'm coming now!" she said and pulled the hatch open. The ladder fell on the floor with a thump, and so did her feet as she jumped off the chair.
As always, the lights were on all around the attic. Sonic only really turned them off during the night, sometimes not even then. Partially covered in snow, the circular skylight was casting a shadow in the room. Under it was the red beanbag, sitting emptily next to a boombox that had headphones attached to it. Sometimes when Sonic was listening to music real loud he would completely miss out anyone calling for him, but it seemed this wasn't the case today.
The floorboards creaked under Y/N as she walked around the space. She looked around the walls covered with signs and posters and stopped as she reached the bed off of which a blue blanket was hanging. On the nightstand next to it was a brown, small pouch. It was the one with Sonic's rings. Seeing it there brought Y/N at least some comfort. She sat down on the bed, eyeing the room.
Now just where could Sonic be? He was allowed to go outside if he just stayed away from people so he could just be somewhere in town. But that just didn't make much sense to her. Sonic had only missed her once when she had returned home, and that had been because the school day had ended early after a fire broke out in the chemistry lab. Now of course today she had stayed at school for an extra hour, so it might just be that it was due to that why Sonic was not there. Maybe he wanted to go out and seeing as she hadn't returned just decided to go, Y/N thought. That made sense...
But why was the door left open? And why was that chili dog only half-eaten?
As these questions began looking for answers in Y/N's mind, her breathing became rapid. Maybe Sonic hadn't gone out at all. That thought had already tried to crawl out while she was downstairs, but now it really settled in.
Maybe someone had taken him.
The girl got up and began pacing along the room's length. There was still a good chance that someone was looking for Sonic. Last spring, that man who had knocked on their door had mentioned being interested in meeting him, but nothing of note had happened for months since then. Then again, it was still a possibility that they had been waiting for the perfect opportunity and that opportunity had arrived today. It would make sense! Tom away in Walla Walla, Maddie working a long shift and Y/N herself at school. No one would be there to protect him.
Y/N covered her mouth and stopped walking. Whatever she had eaten at school had just announced it was planning on coming up. Holding her stomach, she strolled to the attic's entrance and climbed down to the second floor.
No, she thought. He can't be away. He's probably just outside and.... he's doing something. Maybe... Maybe he's... Maybe he found an injured animal and had to take it to the vet which would mean he's with mom. "I'm gonna call mom."
She fished out her phone and swiped through her contacts, landing on her mother. Now pacing around the upstairs landing, she listened to the ominous ringing accompanied with the ticking of the downstairs clock. But the longer she waited for her mother to pick up, the clearer it became that Sonic most likely wasn't with her.
Why would he leave a chili dog uneaten and why was the door left open? Those two facts meant that he must have left in a hurry. Why would he leave in a hurry?
"Hi sweetie. Everything okay?" asked Maddie as she answered the call.
Despite there only being seconds in between, Y/N had already nearly forgotten she was calling her. Shaking away the surprise, she said, "Is Sonic there with you?"
There was a second of silence as Y/N continued pacing around. Then Maddie said, "No. Is he not home?"
"No," the girl said. She grabbed the handrail and began running down the stairs, not even sure what she was planning to do once she was down.
"Are you sure? Sometimes he likes to hide—"
"If he was here I would know it!" Y/N objected. She arrived downstairs and stopped at the end of the flight, still holding onto the railing for support.
"Okay, calm down. I believe that," Maddie replied. "I'll close early and get home as soon as I can, okay?"
Y/N nodded rapidly. "Okay."
The cold then bit her skin as if she were standing outside in the freezing winter. Frowning, she turned to face the direction of the breeze and her eyes widened. It had come from the front door which just happened to shut when she turned to look at it. Standing right before the door was Sonic.
The hedgehog was hunched, lifting one of his shoes up as he brushed snow out of its sole with his hand. He was murmuring something that Y/N couldn't hear.
Clearly, the boy had not been kidnapped after all. The need to throw up had disappeared from Y/N as the wave of relief passed over her. She closed her eyes and sighed. Speaking into the phone, she said, "I just found him."
Sonic's gaze flicked to her in an instant. At first he was wide-eyed, but quickly his bewilderment turned into a grin.
"You did? Where—"
"Talk to you later," Y/N said to her mother and ended the call. She put her phone away and turned to Sonic. "Where were you?"
The boy's whole body was shaking like he was about to blow up. "You won't believe me when I tell you," he exclaimed much to her confusion.
"Where were you then?" the girl raised her brows.
The grin on his face was as wide as it could get as he jumped. "I stopped a bank robbery!" he laughed.
Y/N was silent as she stared at the hedgehog laughing and jumping before her. She had just heard him, but she had a hard time believing it. Crossing her arms, she asked, "What... What did you say?"
"I stopped a bank robbery!" Sonic raved. "The crooks were fast but I was faster and I stopped them all by myself and—"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Y/N stopped him again. She was now rubbing her face with the palms of her hands, and as she brought them down, stared at the boy intently. "You... did what?" she asked, her voice stern.
Sonic stopped frolicing, and turned to face her. His joy completely fogged his mind, causing him to be completely oblivious to Y/N's obvious aggravation. He walked closer to her saying, "I stopped a bank robbery. I've already told you twi—"
"Why would you do that?" Y/N shouted.
Sonic stumbled back, nearly tripping on the carpet before the door. In an instant all of the excitement within him had vanished. "W-What?" he stammered, completely taken aback by her reaction.
"You know damn well why you're not supposed to go around people and now you go and stop a bank robbery?" the girl said. "I can't believe I was looking for you worried that something might've happened when you're out there voluntarily putting yourself at risk!"
"What?" the boy asked, completely oblivious to what had been going on at the house before his arrival. "Y-You were worried?"
"Of course I was worried!"
"I didn't think—"
"Exactly," Y/N scoffed, causing the boy to tilt his head. "You didn't think. Because if you had you wouldn't have done it." She shook her head, and looked away from him.
Sonic stared at her completely dumbfounded. He had been sure the girl would be enthralled by his actions, but the truth seemed to be the complete opposite. In her eyes was a miniscule flame that had sprouted from a valley of disappointment. Sonic had never seen that in her. He looked down, ashamed.
For Y/N it had become searing inside. The coat she was wearing, coupled with her being inside, and then tripled with the flickering flame that Sonic had spotted within her, the warmth had quickly turned scorching. Then as a final touch you can add the now quilty looking hedgehog before her, and the whole situation becomes just a tad too unbearable. Huffing, and wanting to cool down, she walked past Sonic and over to the door. "I need some air," she muttered.
The boy looked at her surprised and as she opened the door to leave, said, "Wait, Y/N don't..." but the door swung shut before he got to finish, "...go."
Now alone, or nearly alone as Ozzy was still in the house, he stared at the door in silence. Why was she worried? he thought, and tried to come up with a reason as to what it might have been. She said he had voluntarily put himself at risk, which in theory was a true statement. Going out to that bank wasn't what he had been told to do but she didn't know that until he told her, so then why was she already worried? And if she wasn't worried any more, then what was she now?
Sonic's stomach turned as he realized the maybe more pressing question. He had just seen something happen that never before had. He looked up at the door and thought, Is she mad at me?
It sure seemed like that. Never before had she walked out from an argument, but then again they never really had arguments. Mostly small disputes that were quickly settled.
A part of Sonic desperately wanted to follow her, telling him if he didnt' then this was it. Another part was saying the complete opposite, warning him that the worst mistake he could do now was to bother her. But if he didn't at least try to settle things down now, would they ever? Would she just be mad at him forever?
Sonic dashed to the door and opened it. "Y/N!" he shouted, and his call echoed through the empty yard. She was already gone, and he needed to find her.
***
The forest was very different now than it had been a month earlier. The purple sky was visible among the naked branches, and the ground had lost its magnificent orange glow. Instead the leaves not hidden beneath the layers of snow were now brown, and everything smelled like fresh soil. But even now that the woods had in a way lost their usual life, they still looked beautiful to Y/N.
Right now, however, she wasn't interested at all in the trees or even the squirrels playing in the snow. Not even the elk jogging in the distance was worth her time.
Why would Sonic do something like that? she thought again for what felt like the millionth time and kicked a leaf from her path. In the past he had always followed the rules, sometimes going to their absolute limits but still nothing that would put him at risk. And now he had done something like this! Y/N couldn't believe it. The hedgehog did often complain that he got bored while being left alone at the house for long periods of time, and Y/N felt bad for that, but there wasn't really anything that could be done. He had to stay hidden. Y/N could only imagine how boring it was being at the house all day, especially while being super fast, but boredom was no excuse to do something as irresponsible as this.
An image of the hedgehog in a bank popped up in her head. All around him were criminals with guns aimed at him yet somehow he was able to beat them all. But what if he hadn't? What were the chances that someone might have shot him? Or even him getting hurt some other way. Maybe he didn't even have to get hurt. If even one person in that bank was the wrong type he was again in massive danger. That had happened before.
Back at the house when she had been looking for him for those few long minutes, that had been gut-wrenching. Even worse had been the thought that someone might have taken him. That was agonizing. Just the idea that she might never see him again one day was a nightmare she hated having. Risks made that nightmare get closer to reality and that was the last thing she wanted.
Walking past a few large boulders, Y/N realized how numb her legs had become from all the walking. She decided to take a break and sat down on the one nearest to her. She listened as the water sloshed and watched as leaves traveled along the current like small boats heading into adventure. Beyond the river was the opposite bank, and at first the sight looked unfamiliar to her. But as she listened to the water's soft splashes, she recognized where she was.
It had been a couple months since she had been here. That day she had seen that bear.
I wonder where it is right now, she thought as she eyed the river.
Somehow the sight of that creature had made her drop her guard. Her parents had always told her to get away if she ever came across one, and made her promise that she would do that. She had made the promise... And then not kept it.
Ashamed, she looked down and into the water. On the uneven surface everflowing, she could see the broken reflections of the bare trees around. Worst of all, she could see her own blurry image staring back at her from the depths.
Some smaller stones were sitting by Y/N's feet, and she kicked one of them into the river. The surface splashed as it went in, and for a moment the girl was gone from the flow. But as the ripples of the surface leveled, the accusatory stare of the reflection returned. Y/N looked away from it, sighing.
Yes. She broke rules sometimes. And breaking that bear rule had ended up with her stuck in a tree. But was she ever in a life or death danger because of that? No... or at least that's what she preferred to believe. However, all the other times she had broken rules had always gone well. Like just last month when she went to that abandoned house her parents always told her not to go to. That had gone well. But even that situation hadn't really been that risky. If anything it was much riskier to take Sonic to that fair and trick-or-treating, even if he had a disguise both times. Even riskier was probably to take him to the lake but that was a different type of risk. But those times, he had taken risks with her and not alone. And definitely not anything as stupid and risky as stopping a robbery.
She looked down, and stared at herself. "Who am I kidding? It's all the same," she sighed and buried her face in her hands. The touch of her cold hands made her shiver and she quickly dropped them back down.
'I stopped a bank robbery!' she thought of Sonic's excited little jumps and his laugh.
Looking at the situation from this angle, the whole thing began to seem hypocritical. In fact, Y/N began to question her whole reaction, believing she might have gone too far when shouting at him.
"Why did you do that?" she asked, shaking her head slowly and kicked another stone into the river.
"Y/N?"
The girl jolted as she heard the voice. She stood up, barely avoiding falling into the icy river. Facing the direction of the sound, she tensed. She had already recognized it when she heard it but seeing the hedgehog looking at her, those emerald eyes of his staring into hers, made the situation that much more real.
"Hi," Sonic said.
Y/N observed the boy, his almost awkward stance making her uncertain of her own. She crossed her arms and glanced at the snowy ground. "Hi."
Almost copying her, Sonic looked down. Instead of crossing his arms he just brought his hands together and fiddled with his fingers while trying to build up the courage to talk to her. After a lengthy silence filled with chirps of birds, he said, "Are you mad at me?"
The question stung Y/N and she pursed her lips. "A little," she replied and then added, "At least I was earlier."
"Not anymore?" Sonic asked, hopeful.
The girl shook her head. How could she be mad at him for any longer? Or even a little bit in the first place. She had come here to calm, and it had worked. No longer were emotions she could hardly recognize bubbling up from under the question 'why had Sonic done it?' and that felt good, but the question still remained. She had asked it from herself countless times but she herself couldn't answer it. Only Sonic himself could.
"Why did you do it?" she asked.
The boy looked down, looking as small as ever. With one of his hands, he was rubbing the back of the other, his gaze locked on the motion as if it required his full concentration. There was a sigh, and then he said, "I was bored." He glanced at Y/N to see her reaction, only to see that there wasn't much of one. "I've been staying at the house doing anything I can to enjoy my time, but after a week of the same stuff, it just gets so stale." He looked up at her yet again, but she was still staring at him with a blank stare. "I don't know what got into me when I saw that news report. It just seemed like an opportunity to do something good, and... I didn't think straight." His gaze turned down to the snow as he added, "And I disappointed you."
The birds that hadn't left for the season were whistling their tunes on the branches. Y/N stared at the hedgehog before her. He was almost miniscule compared to the trees that towered around him.
She glanced away, licking her lips. "When I came home and saw the door was left open... and then that half-eaten chili dog... I thought that something might've happened to you," she said.
Sonic's eyes locked with hers, but only for a fraction of a second. Then he was looking at the ground again. He definitely remembered the chili dog. He had just started eating it when he heard of the robbery, and abandoned it right then and there. He didn't think anything about it, and definitely not how it would seem like a bad sign. The door he must've just left open by accident. "Sorry," he said.
"It's fine now. You're okay," said Y/N. Then it was her turn to look away. "Or at least you were until I opened my mouth."
"Y/N..." Sonic said, lifting his gaze to her.
"What?" she lightly shook her head. "I shouldn't have yelled at you," she said and muttered, "It was a stupid thing to do too."
"But I can see why you would," said Sonic.
Y/N sighed and sat back down on the boulder. "Do you recognize this place?" she asked. The hedgehog looked around him, but could not figure out what she meant. Y/N saw his confusion and said, "I bumped into that bear here."
That seemed to conjure up his memory. "Oh," he said and looked behind him. All the trees were like the one next to the other. He could not tell at all which one the girl had been stuck in that day. Furrowing his brows, he turned to the girl. "Why'd you come here?" he asked and walked closer to her, stopping beside the boulder she was seated on.
Y/N shook her head while pursing her lips. "I don't know. Must've been my subconscious," she said while looking at the river. In its reflection was the sky, dazzling in the dusk. Maybe she had come here for a reason. "Even if it was a stupid and reckless thing to do, I'm not mad at you. I've done my fair share of stupid and reckless," she said, and then looked up to Sonic. "I'm sorry too."
A warmth radiated within the hedgehog, making him smile. He hadn't expected an apology, but it sure was nice to hear one. He extended his hand out for her, saying, "Let's go home."
Y/N smiled and was about to take her hand, but the ringtone blasting from her pocket caused the two to jump.
"Nearly gave me a heart attack," Y/N muttered as she took out her phone and glanced at Sonic.. "It's mom," she said to him as she saw the caller id and answered. "Hi."
"Hi. So, I just wanted to check, do I need to come home or is everything there okay? said Maddie.
"Everything's fine. You can stay there."
"Okay. I'll see you at seven and the house better be—"
"Vacuumed by then. I remember," Y/N replied, annoyed that she was again reminding her. She had already done it before school and then sent her a text too.
"Just made sure. See you then," said Maddie.
"Bye!" Y/N chimed back and with that the call had ended. Sighing, she put her phone away and turned back to Sonic. She reached her hand out for her, just like he had moments ago done to her. Smiling, he took the hand and the two began walking through the woods like all the times before.
"So," said Y/N not too far from the river. "Even if I don't exactly approve what you did, would you like to tell me what happened?"
Sonic grinned, and nearly jumping from joy as he finally got to share his experience with her, began telling Y/N the story of how his day had gone from the most boring one to the most exhilarating in months. He explained how after her had been left alone he had done everything he could imagine to do while at the house. Of course this already was a challenge as with how many times he had been left alone at the house in the past months, not to mention the week itself, he had already done everything that he could. After that he had gone out and had a snowball fight with himself before heading to the school where, much to Y/N's dismay, he had watched the girl's presentation on Harold Feinstein during her art class. After bumping into Crazy Carl he had headed back home to eat, and that's where our story really begins. While eating, he overheard a newscaster on TV talking about a hostage situation in Walla Walla. Before jumping into action he weighed in on whether it would be the right thing to do considering the already mentioned rules, but in the end believed that saving those hostages should be priority number one. And so he headed into Walla Walla.
"I arrive at the bank and hide behind the counter and what do I find? A hostage waiting for rescue!" Sonic explained enthusiastically to Y/N. "She told me the crooks were in the vault, and right as I'm ready to enter it and kick their butts... BAM!" He pretended to fall on the ground. As he lay there, he dramatically held his hand on his chest and said, "I'm hit with a taser."
"You were hit with a taser?" Y/N asked.
"Yup!" Sonic jumped up and shook the snow out of his fur. "Turns out the lady was actually their leader."
"What happened then?"
"She locked me in the vault which by that point was already empty. I tried to break out but just as I was fighting with the door, the whole vault went flying!" he explained while at first pretending to open an invisible door and then flying on the ground again.
As much as Y/N wanted to believe what Sonic was telling her, she still had to question details of his story. "The vault flew? Like in the air?"
"Yes in the air!" Sonic said. "And you'll soon understand why," he continued and went back to acting. "So, I start running around the vault and it starts spinning faster and faster and BAM!" He was once again lying on the ground. "It crashed on the ground but the door is still not open. So I charged up my power and dashed into the door, which by the way didn't feel very nice, and the door finally broke. I'm out," he said. "Standing before me are three men, each holding guns that are pointed straight at me. And what do I do? I dash into them and whack! They're all on the floor! As I'm scanning the situation I finally see what lifted up the vault," he said and his gaze turned directly to Y/N. "Drones. White, egg-shaped drones."
Y/N flinched. "W-What?" she asked, her voice quieter than before.
Sonic nodded. "Robotnik's drones. They were the same ones."
The mention of the drones brought Y/N back to the moment she had first encountered them. It seemed so long ago now... Standing in the kitchen with her father, Sonic hiding under the table... and that complete lunatic counting down seconds until they'd be pumped full of holes. She shivered, and said, "Why... Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"You didn't give me much of a chance," Sonic replied. "The drones were being controlled by the leader with a glove which they had just stolen. One of them grabbed her while the rest left. I told the hostages they could go and the cops got into the building and started arresting the rest of the crooks. I would've gone after the drones but the leader fell and I couldn't just let her smack on the ground so the drones got away," he told her. "After that I got back home."
The girl had barely heard anything after the boy had confirmed that the drones had been Robotnik's ones. She was standing still, her eyes fixated on the hedgehog before her. It had been so long since the encounter with those drones that it had seemed impossible to her that they would ever come back. Why should they?
Warily, she asked, "Do you... Do you think it's him?"
Sonic immediately shook his head. "How could it be?" he asked. He believed for certain that there was no way back for the doctor from the mushroom planet. There were only mushrooms and the only way to travel such a distance would be with rings, and those were not something one would find on a planet made of nothing but fungi.
Y/N wasn't as sure but wanted to believe him. "Then, who do you think it is?"
Shrugging, Sonic sighed, "I wish I knew. It was definitely a man though."
The girl looked at him confused, "How do you know that?"
"The leader talked with him on the phone," he explained quickly and tried to think of what the conversation had been. The woman had described Sonic to the man which had intrigued him. "I think he said a creature like me interests him, or something," Sonic said.
Y/N raised her brows. "Did he mean that like an alien in general or specifically you?" she asked.
"Specifically me," he answered confidently. "I just have no idea who it could be."
There was one entity both Sonic and Y/N knew that was interested in him, and that was the government, but so far there had been no action from that side. At first Y/N even thought that maybe it might be that man who had knocked on their door months ago and handed them that gift card that was behind the attack, but it wouldn't be very government-like to rob a bank. Besides, if the government wanted Robotnik's technology they already most likely had it since they were the ones to fund it in the first place.
Y/N looked at Sonic and said, "You wanna know who it is, don't you?"
"C'mon! You can't tell me you're not interested," replied Sonic.
"I can't say I'm not," she said, and kicked a leaf. "I'm just not sure what we should do about it."
"Look for drones?" the boy suggested.
Y/N shook her head. "From where? It's not like they're just flying around in daylight."
"They were at the bank."
Y/N stopped and stared at Sonic. "They were at the bank," she muttered.
Sonic turned to her confused. "That's what I just said?"
"A bank robbery!" Y/N said, a grin of excitement on her face. "Think about it. Whoever this is clearly already had Robotnik's tech but was looking for more. That means..."
Sonic's eyes widened. "That he might look for even more."
"Exactly! We just have to keep an eye out for bank robberies, which considering the year we live in is going to be a rather easy task," Y/N grinned. She began walking back towards town, now with a newfound rush of speed. "Come on!"
Not long after, the two returned home and headed for Y/N's laptop. Scouring through the internet for anything relating to bank robberies, they almost immediately found themselves stuck. Despite Y/N's belief that bank robberies would be much less common these days to the point they were a rare occurrence, it didn't seem that was the case. As it turned out, robberies were still a daily thing. Of course, many of those were small-scale operations where perpetrators would quickly get caught, but it was still a hiccup no matter what. Then came hiccup number two, which in reality was much tied to the first one. Only a small portion of robberies became public knowledge as they were happening. Most were reported in the news later during the day or week, but in some cases this was never.
Turning their efforts elsewhere, Sonic and Y/N began looking for information about the drones, but just like the man who had invented them, there seemed to be no mention of them anywhere online. Oddly enough, even the news article about the robbery in Walla Walla emitted the drones from the story.
As Sonic and Y/N continued looking for information relating to both, the afternoon turned well into the evening. Completely oblivious to the hours that had passed, the two nearly jumped when they heard Maddie calling them from downstairs. Naturally, after the initial shock of surprise, the two were down and Y/N getting scolded for not vacuuming despite promising to do so. That's why for what time they had left before dinner, the girl traveled from room to room with the vacuum while the hedgehog helped her mother with the dinner. And right before dinner would finally be served, the last missing family member returned home from his trip.
At dinnertime the family was seated around the table. As always, Sonic and Y/N were sitting on the opposing sides with Maddie sitting next to Sonic and Tom next to Y/N. Accompanying the sound of the forks clashing with the plates was the voice of Tom as he spoke about his annual fishing trip to Walla Walla. With most of the story being related to fishing, neither Sonic or Y/N were really tuned into the conversation, leaving Maddie to ask most of the questions.
But, if this dinnertime was to be all about Tom talking about some boring fishing trip then it wouldn't be described here. No. The reason this dinner was so important was because of what he said next.
"You know how I mentioned Wade's police scanner earlier? Here's where it plays its part. Probably an hour or so before we were planning on leaving, there's a request for backup because of a hostage situation. Wade and I head to the location and wouldn't you believe it, it's a bank robbery."
Sonic's fork fell and clattered against the plate. Y/N sharply turned her gaze to Tom while Tom and Maddie turned theirs to Sonic. The boy sat nearly frozen on his seat, his eyes as wide as the dinnerplate he was eating off of.
"What happened?" asked Tom from Sonic.
The boy slowly looked up at him. Stammering, he tried to say something but all that he could mutter was, "I..." Wide-eyed and nearly paralyzed by the possibility that Tom had seen him at the bank, he turned to look at Y/N for help. The girl was holding her fork, and then softly stabbed it against her cheek. Sonic quickly turned to Tom and began rubbing his cheek. "I stabbed my cheek with the fork," he explained and Y/N smiled. "Ow," he pretended to whimper.
"Sonic," said Maddie. "What have I told you about eating too fast?"
"To not do it," Sonic muttered.
"At least it doesn't look like it broke the skin," Maddie said while eyeing the boy's cheek.
Y/N turned to look at her father and asked, "What happened then? Did you go there?"
Tom looked from Sonic to her and nodded. "We did."
Sonic silently sighed, but was still far from relaxed. There was still a chance that Tom had seen him where he wasn't supposed to be. He himself had missed Tom but then again, he had left before the police were able to enter the building.
"Wade and I met with the officers on scene and they gave us the rundown. There was a group inside trying to break into one of the vaults and they were holding everyone inside hostages," Tom told.
"That sounds intense," said Maddie.
"It kinda was," Tom said. "Some shots were fired and we had to force our way in, but in the end no one got hurt and everyone involved got caught."
Maddie eyed his husband, a proud smile on her face. "Look at you being a hero. Must've been exciting to do something like that again."
"It was. But honestly I'm happy where I am here. One crazy adventure was enough for me," Tom said, and turned to look at Sonic while adding, "Right buddy?"
The boy was back eating, only much slower than before. Deeply in thought he was questioning the chances of Tom having seen him. Y/N watched as he shoveled food into his mouth, without so much as giving a glance to Tom who had just asked him a question. She scooted forward in her seat and extended her leg and then nudged the boy with her foot.
Sonic's eating stopped as he turned to look at her in surprise. Y/N motioned with her head toward Tom who had his eyes on the hedgehog. Sonic stared at him confused, having completely missed what he had said. "Umm," the boy said, again looking at the girl for help.
Y/N rolled her eyes as she saw him asking for help yet again. She wasn't exactly sure what to do, but because she had missed the beginning of the story and only tuned in once the bank was mentioned, it gave her an idea. Turning to Tom, she said, "Wait, so what was it that got you there?"
"The police scanner," Tom replied. "Wade kept listening to it for our whole trip, hoping to catch an adventure. Guess he got what he wanted."
As Tom returned to eating, Y/N felt like the question her and Sonic had earlier started looking answers for just got it. A police scanner. Every crime that was happening and reported would go to the police and with a scanner anyone could hear them.
"What about you Y/N? Anything happen at school?" said Tom.
The girl looked surprised, but quickly shook it off. She lightly shook her head. "Just the usual."
Joining in the conversation was Maddie, who directed her attention to the boy. "What about your day, Sonic?"
"Same as every day," he quickly lied, even though it technically was almost the truth. A part of his day had been just like any other, and another the complete opposite.
Once the dinner was finished and dishes in the dishwasher, Y/N grabbed Sonic. The hedgehog whooped surprised as the girl dragged her up the stairs and into her room. Before he had even had a chance to react to anything that was happening, the girl flung him at the bed and tightly shut the door behind her.
Sonic swiftly sat up as Y/N walked over to him and said, "I know what we need."
Scratching his head, Sonic looked at her wide-eyed. "I'm not sure I follow."
Grinning, Y/N whispered, "A police scanner."
"A what?"
"A police scanner," Y/N repeated herself. "Dad said he and Wade heard of the robbery because of one. Now imagine us having one?"
"We would hear of the drones," Sonic said. "That's amazing!" he jumped but then his excitement turned into confusion. "One question: How do we get one?"
Y/N looked out the window. "I'm pretty sure the police cars are equipped with ones, but we can't exactly use those." Turning to face Sonic, she continued, "However, dad said Wade has one."
"What good is that?"
"We're gonna borrow it."
Sonic scrunched his brows as his smile faltered. "Y/N, I don't know how comfortable I'm with stealing Wade's —"
"We're not stealing it!" the girl quickly said. "I literally mean going over and asking to use it."
"Oh."
"Ah," she said back. "I'm just not sure what to say. We have to make sure he doesn't tell Tom and just not be suspicious in general."
"I suppose one of those is an easy task," said Sonic, thinking of the man.
For the remainder of the evening, Sonic and Y/N stayed in the room planning on what to do regarding Wade, the police scanner and the drones themselves. Eventually, the two had come up with at least a possible plan on what to tell Wade, and before long the two were off to sleep, waiting for the moment to come.
***
And then it was the following day. It was still well before noon that the girl and the hedgehog had chosen as the time to visit the deputy sheriff of the small town. Standing in front of the one story house, Y/N rang the doorbell and took a glance at the street. It was a Saturday so it wasn't like a lot of people were on the move this early, but she still didn't want anyone seeing Sonic there with her.
Before long the door swung open, revealing the man the couple were looking for. Wade furrowed his brows as he saw the girl at her door. "Y/N? This is a surprise."
"Hopefully not a surprise as in this is a bad time for you?" she replied.
Wade, still confused, shook his head. "No. No, it's not a bad time. I was just cleaning around," he said. Placing his hands on his hips he asked, "Does Tom need help with something—"
"No, it's actually me who needs help with something," Y/N said. "Actually us," she motioned for Sonic beside her.
"Hi Wade," said Sonic.
While Sonic wasn't allowed to intermingle with most of the townspeople, there were a few exceptions to this. These exceptions included Wade, whom he had become acquainted with shortly after moving in with the Wachowskis. The two hadn't had many interactions, but Sonic would occasionally run into him while out and about in town.
Wade gave Sonic a quick nod in as a 'hi' before Y/N asked, "Can we come in?"
"Yes. Yes, of course," Wade said. He stepped back and motioned for the two to enter the house.
Y/N and Sonic walked in with the latter shutting the door behind him. After Y/N had taken off her coat Wade led the two into the living room. He told the two to make themselves comfortable while he would take some stuff left over from his trip to the garage.
Y/N sat down on one of the floral couches while Sonic looked around the room. It was rather obvious from the many flower patterns and pinkish hues that the decor wasn't chosen by Wade himself. If anything, the room looked exactly like something one would find at an older lady's house.
Wade returned to the room dusting his hands. "So what's this help you need?" he asked while taking a seat on an armchair.
"Uh, well, before I tell you, could we keep this between just us? You know, no telling Tom. Or anyone for that matter," Y/N said.
As Sonic sat beside the girl on the couch, Wade stared at the two, looking rather stumped. Despite his clear confusion, he said, "Sure. I think I can do that." Then with a chuckle he added, "Unless it's something illegal of course."
Y/N nodded. "Okay. So you know how there are those police scanners that people can use to listen to police radio?"
By the look on his face, the man's confusion was only increasing. "Yes. I have one."
Sonic said, "So they're legal?"
"Yes."
"Okay," said Y/N and turned to Sonic.
The boy nodded and said, "We were wondering how we could get one."
Wade furrowed his brows. "Why do you need one?"
That was a question Y/N and Sonic had been waiting to hear, and because of it they had come up with a quick story to explain the situation.
"Well, yesterday when you and my dad helped with that bank robbery..." Y/N started, glancing at Sonic. "...dad could've been hurt."
"Yeah," Sonic accompanied her. "Y/N was really worried after hearing about the whole situation and now she wants to know everything going on at his work."
Y/N's heart was thumping as she waited for Wade to say something. This was the best explanation they had come up with that didn't seem suspicious, and because Wade was, well, Wade, the two believed it had a chance to work. Had they gone to Tom with the story, it most likely would have backfired, but this was different.
Wade's blank stare traversed between Sonic and Y/N, until finally landing on her. A smile crossed his face and he said, "That's really sweet of you to worry about your father." A silent exhale left Y/N's lips and her and Sonic glanced at one another, sharing excited looks. "You know, I do have an older scanner in the garage. It's handheld and doesn't have much range but I think it could work for you," he continued.
"That's perfect!" ¨Sonic jumped from the couch.
"Thank you, Wade," said Y/N.
"Don't thank me yet," Wade chuckled. "Wait here." He got up and left back for the garage.
"I can't believe it worked!" Sonic said excitedly to Y/N.
"Sit down," the girl said. "We're not supposed to be excited. Just thankful... or something."
"Right. Sorry," he replied, still grinning, and sat back down.
Wade soon returned, now holding a plastic box in his hands. He set it down on the floor and began going through the junk inside of it. Sonic and Y/N patiently sat on the couch, waiting as the box was emptied. A pile of all sorts of items quickly grew on the living room floor, and for a short moment Y/N and Sonic began to worry the scanner might not be there, but then, Wade pulled out something.
"Here we go," he said as he held the device in his hand. It looked much like a regular walkie talkie with the antenna and everything, but it had many more buttons as well as an LCD-screen. Sonic and Y/N got up from the couch and walked over to him. "I don't know where the charger is but it should work with a normal USB-cable," Wade added as he finished digging through the box.
He handed the device to Y/N who said, "Thank you."
"Hey," Wade said and smiled, "It's what we do."
Sonic looked at the device and asked, "Is there like an instruction manual for this thing?"
"There is. But I don't know where it is," said Wade as he stood up. He looked around the pile of junk he had emptied from the box and shook his head. "If it isn't there then it's not here."
"Can you tell us how it works?" Y/N inquired.
"Sure," Wade said. Y/N handed the scanner back to him and he tried turning it on. Much to his surprise, the orange screen flicked on. "Look at that. Still got some battery left. All of my settings should already be here so you don't need to adjust anything."
He quickly explained the basic functions of the scanner, showing the two what buttons to press for which situations. This went on for a moment, but once it was finished, Y/N felt comfortable enough to say she would know how to use the device.
"Thank you again, Wade," Y/N said. The three were now standing in the hallway, Y/N and Sonic getting ready to leave. She grabbed her coat from the rack and wore it.
"You are welcome," Wade smiled. Y/N gave him a smile of her own in return, and turned to the door. She was about to open it and say her goodbyes to the man, but before she could was interrupted by him. "Hey, uh, how's your aunt doing?"
Y/N paused, puzzled as to why Wade was asking about her aunt. She turned to him, and raised an eyebrow. "Rachel?" she asked and he nodded. "She's fine," she answered and then added, "Actually better than fine. Why?"
Wade waved his arm and chuckled, "Oh, no reason it's just, we haven't talked in a while and I thought maybe you knew something."
Y/N squinted her eyes. Both her and Sonic said, "You were talking with Rachel?"
"For a few weeks, yeah," Wade said and let out another awkward laugh. "Then she just kinda stopped responding. I just thought maybe she would've said something to you."
Y/N and Sonic looked at one another. They had most definitely heard nothing about Wade from Rachel. But, they most definitely had heard of someone else and that was a man they had no prior knowledge of. He was someone called Randall, and ever since he had come around all Rachel had talked about was him.
"Umm... See this is awkward," Y/N said. It was her turn to awkwardly laugh and she glanced away from him. "She's seeing someone."
Immediately she could see the effect the words had on Wade. It was like a spark had gone out in his eyes. He glanced down and forced a smile. "That's fine," he chuckled.
Sonic and Y/N looked at one another. The situation was already weird enough as it is but now Wade was clearly upset and trying to mask it. "Umm, Y/N and I should go," Sonic said.
"Yeah. Yeah, of course," said Wade.
"Bye," Y/N said awkwardly to him and so did Sonic. The boy opened the door for the two and they stepped out of the house.
"Bye. You better get the scanner charging when you get home!" Wade called out after them and shut the door.
The pair stopped at the edge of the street. Y/N looked back to the house and said, "When did Rachel and Wade talk?"
Sonic shrugged, "How should I know?"
"But don't you think it's weird?"
"Of course it's weird. We're talking about Rachel here!" said Sonic.
Y/N shook her head, thinking of her aunt with Wade. That just didn't make sense at all.
"Do we go back home?" Sonic asked.
Y/N turned back to him and took the device out of her pocket. She pressed the button that was supposedly going to turn it on. The screen brightened up, numbers taking over it. On the very top were the words ʟᴏᴡ ʙᴀᴛᴛᴇʀʏ that kept flashing.
"I guess we should," she said. She turned the volume key up, static becoming increasingly louder. "It's probably no use like this—"
"...three armed perpetrators..." came a muffled voice from under the static. Sonic and Y/N looked at one another wide-eyed. "...corner of Sixth and Spruce..."
"Where's this coming from?" asked Sonic.
Y/N looked at the screen, where the name of the nearby town of Spring Valley was traveling from side to side. She showed it to Sonic whose eyes lit up.
"That's only 20 miles away!" he said, excited.
The girl glanced at him as she tried to fiddle with the device to make the sound come back. "We don't even know what it is," she said. The sound returned, informing that a unit was on its way to the location, but it could take a moment. Then the screen turned dark. "I think it just ran out of battery."
"You go charge it and I'll go catch the criminals," said Sonic and was already about to dart away.
Y/N grabbed his arm before he could run and said, "What? No!"
"What do you mean 'no'?" Sonic asked as he turned to her. "Someone clearly needs help."
"We were supposed to look for bank robberies," she reminded him.
"Oh, but c'mon!" he complained. He pointed at the scanner and said, "This could be one. It's close and the closest unit is a few minutes away. I can get there in a couple seconds."
Y/N wanted to say 'no' but the hedgehog was raising a valid point. There was a chance, albeit a low one, that this was a bank robbery. All they knew was that it was a robbery and there were three suspects.
"Please?" pleaded Sonic.
"Fine," Y/N sighed, and the boy jumped in excitement. "We can go."
Sonic's frolic stopped as he stared at Y/N. "'We'?"
"Yea, WE, plural," she said and stepped in front of him. "Open your arms I'm hopping on."
The boy stared at her dumbfounded. "Don't you think it would be better if you stay here?"
She rolled her eyes. "Look, if you wanna do this, then this is the way. I'm not gonna let you do something stupid alone."
Sonic sighed, "Fine." Y/N smiled and allowed Sonic to scoop him up in his arms. Once she was in his hold, he said, "Comfortable?"
Y/N pressed her head against his shoulder and smiled. "Now I am."
"Hold on tight."
And so, the two had vanished from the vicinity of Green Hills in an instant. Unfortunately for Y/N, she had forgotten to close her eyes and had to endure a whole two seconds of everything around her being nothing but blurry streaks.
Sonic slowed his pace as he arrived in the town of Spring Valley. He ran through the streets, reading the names of each one and then finally saw the one he was looking for. Running into an alleyway close to the building in the corner of the two mentioned streets, he stopped and said, "We're here."
Y/N kept her eyes shut as Sonic placed her feet on the ground. "I feel like throwing up," she said while holding her stomach.
"I'll go slower on our way back," Sonic replied. He ran to the edge of the alley, and looked at the building he was there for. It was a corner building made of red tiles with a storespace on the ground floor. "It isn't a bank," he said right away.
"Color me surprised," said Y/N as she walked over to him. The worst of her dizziness had passed, yet the buildings around still seemed to move on their own.
Sonic squinted as he tried to see what was happening inside. The windows were big, but shelves inside were blocking his view. All he could see were some produce and a checkout. Standing behind the register was an older man. Drops of sweat traversed his skin as he slowly worked the cash register. Despite him not seeing anything other than that, Sonic had a pretty good guess ready to go.
"So, what is it?" Y/N asked while eying the building. "Just a corner store?"
"It's being robbed," said Sonic. "I have to stop it."
"Wait, Sonic!" Y/N tried to protest, but this time she was too slow. The hedgehog had vanished from her side and the door to the store swung open in an instant. "Damn it," Y/N sighed, and continued watching the building from the distance.
Inside the store, Sonic was creeping between the narrow aisles. From the direction of the checkout he heard two distinct voices. One was clearly the older man, his voice hoarse. The other was younger, but still a deep voice belonging to a man. He was telling the older man to work faster while throwing threats at him.
Reaching the end of the aisle, Sonic came face to face with the checkout. He couldn't see the face of the perpetrator, but saw that he was holding a gun that was pointed at the older man. The man was taking money out of the cash register and placing it into a duffel bag sitting on the counter.
Sonic climbed on one of the shelves. He placed his hands on his hips, trying to do the typical superhero pose, and said, "I didn't know that was for sale."
The perp turned to him immediately. The gun was now pointed at him, but he couldn't care less. If it were to fire, he would be out of the bullet's way faster than it escaped the barrel.
"What the...?" the robber asked as he saw him. "Don't move!" A mask was covering half his face, not that Sonic much cared what he looked like. "What are you?" the robber demanded.
Sonic coolly sat down on the shelf. "Are you sure you want to know?" he asked, flashing a grin.
Before the robber could say anything, the older man he had been robbing opened his mouth. "There's two more in the back," he said, his voice trembling.
"Run!" shouted the robber.
Sonic was up in a flash and like an arrow he kicked the gun out of the man's hand. The weapon clattered against the tile floor and Sonic dashed towards the backroom. Shoving open the door, he found himself in the presence of two more masked men, and two more guns. They were standing in front of a small vault. It had been emptied almost to nothing, and the two duffel bags on the floor were the most likely resting place for the money.
Sonic looked from one man to another. "So, you wanna do this the hard way or the easy route 'cause I'm up for both," he said.
"What are you? A porcupine?" asked the robber to his right. Compared to the previous man, he seemed much younger.
"What matters is not what I am, but that you are brought to justice," Sonic said, trying to make his voice lower.
Visibly confused, the two robbers looked at one another. The one that had yet to say a word shrugged and straightened his arm. Before he could pull his gun's trigger, Sonic jumped and kicked the weapon out of his hand.
"What the...?" the man shouted.
Sonic turned his efforts to the second robber and soon his gun was on the floor as well. "Not so tough now are you?" he asked. The two looked at him wide-eyed. "Now what to do with you?" Sonic wondered aloud.
Back in the alley, Y/N was still observing the situation from the distance. Hardly anything she could see had happened, other than Sonic talking to the store owner and the guy robbing him. Then he had kicked out his gun and vanished, which had only prompted the robber to pick the gun from the floor and continue doing what he was doing.
"Where is he?" she whispered. Of course he had only entered the store a couple moments ago, but what kind of a girlfriend would she be if she didn't worry about him?
The store door flung open, surprising Y/N. Out ran the masked man, now holding a duffel bag in his hand. He took off along the street as the door closed behind him. Y/N watched surprised, and for a second waited for Sonic to emerge from the building and chase after him, but that didn't happen.
With the hero himself nowhere to be seen, Y/N was left to deal with the robber alone. There wasn't much at her use, and she couldn't just run after him either. She had seen the gun earlier, chances were he still had it. All that Y/N had at her use were some pieces of trash as well as a plank that lay in the snow.
The man was now a couple buildings away, and kept making his way at a fast pace. Y/N scooped a handful of snow from the ground and emerged from the alley. She ran after the man while molding the snow into a firm ball. With all her might, she threw it at the man and stopped right in the middle of the street.
In a straight line, the ball flew through the air. It landed on the man's right cheek and splattered. There was a yelp as the man lost his composure, and his run diverted just enough to the left. Y/N couldn't have timed the throw more perfectly, as the man just happened to crash right into a newspaper stand. He fell over and lost his grip on the bag. It thumped against the street as the man groaned in pain among the flying newspapers.
As if on cue, the store door opened and Sonic stood in front of it. The hedgehog looked both directions, and saw the man on the ground. Confused, but happy that he had not gotten away, he ran over to him.
Y/N strolled the rest of her way to the man whom Sonic was now standing over. "Why'd you let him go?" she asked Sonic as she reached them.
Sonic quickly motioned back to the store. "I was busy with the other guys."
"What did you do to them?" asked Y/N.
"Just made sure they won't get out before the cavalry arrives," he replied. His ears perked up and he looked over to the street. "Talking of which, sounds like they're getting near."
Y/N couldn't hear the sirens just yet, but believed Sonic without a question, "What do we do?" she asked.
Sonic grabbed the duffel bag from the ground and grunted. "I'll take this back to the store. Make sure our friend doesn't leave."
The girl gave her a nod, and quickly found herself alone again. She eyed the robber who was lying on the street, and for a second felt a tingle of worry. He was barely moving. "Hey," she said warily. "Are you okay?"
"Shut up," grumbled the crook. The worry was gone.
Sonic soon returned to her side, now holding a roll of duct tape. He didn't tell her what it was for, but based on what he had said about the other guys she had a pretty good guess which turned out to be right. Sonic wrapped the final robber with a heavy layer of tape, making sure he wouldn't be moving any time soon. Once he was done, he dashed away, and then returned this time without tape.
Y/N, now able to hear the sirens, turned to see if anyone was around. Reflecting on the windows of the buildings were the flashing red and blue lights of a police cruiser.
Sonic dusted off his hands and said, "Ready to go?"
Y/N nodded and relaxed her body, allowing Sonic to take hold of her once again. She watched as the flashing red and blue came closer and closer, but as she could see fully make out the two headlights, she turned to look at the hedgehog confused."Why aren't we leaving?" she asked.
Sonic smiled. "You haven't closed your eyes yet," he said softly. "I don't want you to get dizzy again." The girl blushed, causing him to smile wider. She took one last look at the police car, and leaned her head against him.
"Now I have," she whispered.
It was always a weird rush whenever she traversed speeds she wasn't meant to. She felt like she should've tensed, or maybe be afraid of it, but she never once was. Maybe it was because she knew Sonic would never let her get hurt that she never felt fear.
The winds around her softened. Sonic's run came to a full stop as he reached the Wachowski house. "We're home."
She opened her eyes and Sonic set her on the ground again. Turning to face him, she said, "I can't believe we just did that."
"Well, we did," he replied. "I can't believe I've stopped two robberies already! Who knows how many I'll stop tomorrow."
Y/N couldn't lie. The thrill she had experienced today was one of a kind, and only really comparable to the events of last spring. But as much as she enjoyed experiencing something of this level again, she knew better than to let it become a regular thing. Tilting her head, she placed her hands on her hips and said, "Sonic! This... This can't become a thing! This was one time."
"What?"
"Yes!" she nodded. "Look, we got the scanner to hopefully catch those drones and from now on, that's the only thing it'll be used for. Nothing else."
"I..." Sonic started. Keeping her face stern, Y/N raised her brows. She did have a point. The boy slumped. "Fine."
From that moment onwards, Sonic and Y/N were ready to get on location if there ever was a robbery that seemed just big enough for their mystery man to be behind it.