Chapter Text
West Side Island wasn’t everything it was cracked up to be.
The blue blur -aptly named Sonic- lounged aimlessly on the white sand beneath his beat up home. Well home was a bit of a stretch really, rusty hunk of junk that could barely fly but had a comfortable seat was more like it. A real ‘fixer upper’ as Sonic lovingly called it.
“Hmm, let’s see what the locals are up to today,” he elbowed the body of his makeshift house and the biplane creaked in response. “Sorry! I’m sorry! Please!” Sonic's gloved hands shot up to the cloudless sky, showing his groaning home he wouldn’t do that again. The shifting sound picked up causing the blur to wince, before it stopped suddenly like it had accepted its owner's hasty apology.
I think its time we get you some new parts ol' pal...
And he sped off into the thicket, straight toward the local village with a mission.
-~=~-
Sonic pushed the shop door open, a bell jangled alerting a large figure to appear from behind the counter. An enormous brown bear, fur streaked with slick grease and black oil, all shoved precariously into a slack pair of overalls. The bear scratched under his hat before he noticed his blue visitor leaning against the counter below him.
“Welcome to Papa’s One Stop Shop!” Sonic could physically feel the counter shake from the hefty bear's bellowing voice,”What can I do for ya squirt?”
Squirt? Really? Pfft. The twelve year old hedgehog scoffed to himself, he was no mere child.
“I’m lookin for something to get a biplane back in flying order,” The hedgehog leaned in further,”You -uh- got anything for me?”
Papa crossed his arms letting the teen’s attitude push a smile across those blubbery lips. “You know kid you can just bring the toy in here, I’ll fix her up good as new.” He pulled out a tiny screwdriver from his trusty tool belt and made a screwing motion. Like that proves anything to the hedgehog.
Sonic’s cocky grin died right then and there,”uhh, it’s not a toy-“
“Aha! Kid-“ the bear’s husky voice shook the whole store this time,”you’re a riot you know that!” Sonic cringed as the bear’s accent came to light,”Seriously though just bring me your toy and I’ll fix it, free of charge just for laughs squirt.” The bear pat his round gut, worse than that he could hear it ripple slightly. Disgusting...
The flat expression on the hedgehog’s face thrived in this bear’s presence. “It’s a biplane, like an actual plane, that can fly, -well used to.” Sonic's voice trailed off near the end. He shook his head lightly refocusing his train of thought,”look do you have anything or..?” Sonic tapped his foot hoping his message actually got through all that fur n' grime.
The bear had been struck silent in that instance before he began again with a new attitude,”No kiddin’ son, it’s actually you then isn’t it?” He raised his hand motioning the hedgehog to stay put while he went to the back,”Sonic, I got just the thing for you pal.” There was a clunk, then a crash, and maybe even a thunk before the greasy bear came out with a hefty red tool box. “This baby right here,” he pat the top twice for good measure,”got everything you need for basic repair and maintenance, should be able to get your lil plane up and soaring.” The bear tapped the old cash register next to him.
200, then 150, then way up to 350, finally the numbers managed to stop at 79. Sonic’s signature smile came out again at the tool kit’s final price. “Woah there! That’s quite a discount.” It really was a considerable amount, besides without this discount he’d be more broke than he could possibly imagine.
The greased up fur ball beamed at his little blue customer,”This is for your work down on South Island Mr. Hedgehog,” the bear held a gloved hand down to the hero.”Whole village thought they were done for before we started hearin' stories about a blue hog stirring up trouble for the doc. Good work son!”
Quickly the blue hero counted out the right amount of rings and slapped them down into the bear’s large outstretched hand. “Heh it was no sweat really, just putting Robuttnik in his place.” This was the first time anybody had actually recognized him for playing hero, and boy he could get used to this. It left a warm fuzzy feeling in his chest as he lugged the shiny red box from the counter and into his noodle arms.
“You come back now if you need anything ya hear?” Sonic nodded before pushing the door open and back out to the village. This was going to be a long heavy jog back to the beach.
-~=~-
This was hard. Scratch that, this was worse than hard. Impossible almost.
The hedgehog wiped his cobalt forehead of sweat, lugging that fat box around had taken its toll on his peachy arms and the blaring heat wasn't going away anytime soon. Why have I been cursed with these noodle arms? He flopped down beneath his biplane’s bent wing, letting it shield his body from the intense heat. He had searched all over West Side for a mechanic, even going so far as to check the library for a book of all things to help him if nobody else could. Desperate times calls for desperate measures the hedgehog thought, but turning pages on this book right here? With no pictures too? Nope, not happening, this just wasn’t his speed.
Sonic groaned out,“What did I do to deserve this sweet Chaos?” Talking to himself now, he really needed a companion that wasn’t some bent metal he couldn't fix. Today hadn’t been a total waste of time, he pondered to himself under the cool shade.
How long am I gonna be stuck here?
Where am I gonna find a mechanic good enough for my plane, if there even is anybody?
When is Robotnik gonna hit?
Slowly, he began to nod off. Sure there’s a lot to do but if he really is stuck here...
No point in a doing rush job when it’s all you got right?
Sonic had enough tact to keep his yawn to a minimum, waves crashing softly against the grains of sand nearby and the cool shade had the wherewithal to put the speedster to sleep right on the spot. Surely he was going to give in to his peaceful environment.
I could get used to this- Finally the hedgehog gave in, letting his mind slip into inky bliss.