Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Loud, bustling with cars and suffocating.

That’s what living in the city was like for you. Too much people, too many noises and way too many toxic gas that have become a replacement to the clear and refreshing oxygen.

Even though you've lived in it your whole life. Survived it for god knows how long, you still hated living here. You’d think you'd get used to it by now. But the complete opposite was attacking you instead.

You were getting frustrated with living there in every second. The more days you stayed, the more you wanted to leave. And every time your mouse is only one click away from buying you an apartment on a small, peaceful town. The more you feared on what will happen if you have truly left your home.

What would you even do? Get a place and pray to god that it'll be enough for you and luckily enough they'd be needing a veterinarian?  Could you even believe the online reviews about the neighborhood? Could you even-

"y/n?" the worried voice of your brother, Jason, snaps you out of your thoughts. “You doing ok there?"

You shook your head. "Nope. I feel like I'm about to die any second now." Jason chuckled at that. "Well, you're not the only one." he sighed.

He picks up the café menu and looks at it with boredom. Knowing that he'd order the same as usual anyway. Suddenly, his posture perked up a bit and his eyes brightened. "How did your interview go?"

With that, a deep frown settle on your face and your heart sank. Disappointment and shame coursed through your veins like a venom. "oh- uh..." you cleared your throat.”it…it didn't really work out."

A look of sympathy crossed through the elder brother's face. Already regretting the question, he tried to find anything that could cheer her up.

"Well, they just didn't realize how amazing you are." he huffed. "In fact, you are so amazing, they were blinded by the sight and didn't even think about it properly." the encouraging words made you reluctantly let out a snort. Jason grinned in victory. "Don’t worry, tell you what, I bet they're gonna call you back in less than a week." he scans the menu again. "And to celebrate that bet-that is absolutely correct- I suggest we get you a triple-sprinkles-extra-brownies cake ice cream apocalypse. The cafe's most insane and sweetest dessert."

The troubling weight on your body seemed to be lifted up by that comfort. A smile replacing the depressing frown you had. "Well, good sir. If I may inquire." you brought out your most elegant-like voice. Which Jason snorted to. “If we're going to have the triple-sprinkles-extra-brownies cake ice cream apocalypse. We absolutely must also get the rainbow boom drink." 

"It shall be done" Jason spoke with the same tone as yours. Soon enough you both couldn't take it anymore and laughed. Making the poor waitress and dear friend of yours Brianna, who was already used to your behavior, sigh and walk up to you two.

She clears her throat and you both immediately stiffen up having been caught red-handed. "You two are lucky I care about you two too much to kick you out." she glares at Jason. "Especially you, gummy worms."

Jason gasps as you try your best to contain your amusement. Gummy worms, a nickname that based on a trustworthy Intel (Brianna) has been given to Jason at college. One night when they all went to a party for the first time, Jason was challenged to eat five bags of gummy worms by a friend of his. Always having the need to be cool and well-known in social places with the huge want of people’s approval, he took that challenge with no second thought to it and ultimately, lost. But, due to his chaotic act, everyone around campus has known him now as the infamous gummy worms guy and he grew to really despise that nickname.

"Brianna!" his voice contained an act of shock through this betrayal. "I thought we agreed to never speak about that!"

"We didn't agree, we made a deal." she smirked. “I’m guessing you forgot about it, haven't you gummy worms?"

Jason only rolled his eyes and looked away. Leaving you and Brianna to chuckle at his behavior. "Well, anyway," she pulls out her small notebook and pen. "Do you guys want the usual?"

You grin with amusement at that. "Nope." Brianna looks at you with a raised eyebrow. "We want one of your triple-sprinkles-extra brownies cake ice cream apocalypse." her eyes widened. "And, two of your rainbow boom drinks."  Her jaw dropped at that.

"You both are insane." she looked at you two with a horrified and shocked look. "You’re going to die from eating this."

You shrugged. "Well, it's better than going to interviews I know I won't get the job for."

Brianna looks at you with worry. "Say, why do you keep getting rejected anyway?"

A dark feeling burned within you, a feeling you tried to keep contained throughout the months of your exhausting job hunting. Was it sorrow? Annoyance? You gulped with a sudden realization. No, no. it was hatred. Hatred for the man who brought this misery of months onto you. The man who had no business or benefits from ruining your newly born career path. The only thing he got from it was pride. Pride that he had destroyed what you have been working for years now. You hated him. You hated him with every fiber in your being and you only wished to never see him in your life again.

"That asshole." you hissed. Brianna already knew who you were speaking about. "He somehow blacklisted me from every single animal hospital and clinic! I didn't even know that was possible!"

"Well, when you have as much money as he does, anything is possible."  Brianna grumbled. Her palm was placed on your shoulder as reassurance. "Hey, don't worry about it. You can still work here for now. But I'm sure you won't be working at this coffee and old pastry smelling place for long. You'll working at an amazing clinic instead!"

You smile at her, although there wasn't any joy laced within it. "Yeah, I'm sure too." your voice became low, negative.

The two best friends glance at each other worryingly. Unsure of what to do. You looked at your phone and sat up. "I gotta go." you tch from frustration. "I have another job interview."

With a few goodbyes and good lucks from your brother and his friend, you get out of the calming, warm cafe and step into the harsh concrete of reality once more.

Sidewalks filled to the brim with people, having to see them all walk with someone or be as lonely as you were. The city was a nightmare for you for many reasons. Not only did it cause a gigantically unfortunate event for you that has effected your career now. It has also never forgot to tell you about how lonely you truly are.

Occasions like these with your brother rarely happens. Once a month, if you’d be lucky enough, twice. The amount of work he had to do and your own time-consuming task of job-hunting and working at the café took over every last bit of time you had.

Not to mention, having your older sibling as your only friend isn't the best thing...you barely have anyone else to hang out with or to speak to. At the past, you loved being alone. You thrived in it, even. Being alone in a peaceful quiet life was something you loved having. But at some point, being alone made you feel lost, ignored and well, far away from the people around you. Made you feel like there's no one in the world there for you. That you're forgotten, abandoned. It made you feel unimportant and pathetic.

You’d think being in a city was the best place to make friends. But it turned out to be the complete opposite instead. Or rather, it has become the complete opposite for you.

Your brother lived here as well and yet, he seemed to be accustomed and happy with the life he made. He has a great job, a good load of friends and he can easily call the city his home.

Maybe this city just isn't for you. It just didn't work out for you. Maybe it was meant for only one of you to stay and make a peaceful life at and the city immediately chose who.

And as you finally reached the clinic, you shake those thoughts out of your head and focus at the task at hand. Go in the clinic, give a great interview and hopefully get accepted and not rejected once more.

As you stepped into the clinic, a sense of anxiety rushed into you. But you didn't dare to focus on it. You mustn't. It will only ruin the whole interview for you.

"Are you Y/n L/n?" you flinched by the sudden voice. Turning your head around, you're met with what seemed to be the receptionist." yes, that's Me." you flash a kind smile. 

"Well then. Come with me. I'll-" a sudden ringtone interrupts her. she gives a sheepish huff and excuses herself as she answers her phone.

"Yes?.....mhm...yeah.." suddenly, her eyes became full of concern and fear. " o-oh..I-I see..." her body stiffened and she looked at the ground. Avoiding any eye-contact with you. Suspicious. Very suspicious. Gulping, you notice your hands fumbling together. Out of your command. Stress seeped in you. You only hoped it wasn’t what you thought it was. "Oh w-well...a-alright Mr. Clement."

Your heart dropped to your stomach."u-um..Miss.L/n.." that bastard. Thatfucking bastard. How did he know? How did he know?! Why is he so obsessed with this? Why is he so obsessed with you?! It’s going way too far. Why won't he let go of you? Why won't he let you live?

"I'm really sorry to say this but-" you couldn't help it. You couldn't handle it any longer. Rejection after rejection, sorrow after sorrow. Never giving you a break, never giving you a chance to breathe. Suffocating. It’s all suffocating. This city is suffocating. He’s suffocating.

"But I can't inter- oh my god!" the receptionist yelped in shock as she saw tears fall down from your face. "Oh my god I'm so sorry!" regret and anxiety washed over her as she realized the gravity of the situation you're in is much deeper than she knows. "Uh-um- d-do you want tissues?..." she mentally face-palmed at herself for asking such question with an obvious answer.

You didn't respond at all. You didn't even glance at her. You only started to sob and feel the embarrassing energy of the situation hit you in the gut. You were tired. soso tired. It was too much, you needed a break, you needed to leave.

"y-yes that would be nice." you breathed out, still in a racket of sobs.

_______

Safe to say that you were crying the whole afternoon. Eyes now red and puffy, hair a mess and your mood still sour. You decided to drown in your emotions while watching your favorite show to ease the mood.

But before you could even click play, the sound of your phone ringing made you grumble and get up sluggishly from your comforting bed.You hoped whatever the phone call was for, it was worth it. Because the bed was way too tempting with its comforting warmth and soft pillows. Getting out of it felt like a crime.

Jason was calling. Shocked and curious by that, you click respond. Your ears are met with a bustling noise of the TV in the background and the sound of your mother. 'Tell her to bring some butter!'   She told Jason, which he hummed at.

"Y/n! Mom said she wanted to invite us for dinner tonight, but she forgot to call you." Typical. “So if you're not busy, could you come over now?"

"Uh, I don't know." You looked around your silent house yet again. "I'm kind of busy right now."

"Y/n, please." Your mother's voice came up. "We haven't had a family dinner in such a long time now! I want to see you again."

You sigh at that, now feeling guilty for not agreeing. You finally gave in. "Alright, I'll come." You could almost feel your mother's smile through the phone by that.

"Great! Oh- and bring butter too!"

"Will do."

You didn't even bother to clean yourself up a little. You felt too unmotivated to do anything. Although, maybe it is best to at least put some water on your face to freshen up a little...

With that thought, you wash your face and ruffle your hair a bit. As you look at the mirror, whose showing you how messed up you still look, you only shrugged in response. "This looks fine."

Getting a cab and telling them the location, you felt your mood worsen as you saw the streets oh so familiar.The nearby neighbor's house still had that giant scratch left by the bear that you once woke up and made him follow you was still there.

The first thing you're met with is a circus car, which was filled with different animals from big to small. You turn in your camera and start recording, the weight of the thick camera felt like ten bricks on you and you feared that you might lose your balance on it soon.

"Good evening! Fellow adventurers!" The camera soars to the direction of your young face, full of excitement and confidence. You were only a mere child back then who dreamed of the impossible.

"Today, I will free the poor animals! The evil circus man shouldn't be using them like this!"

Although you know that what your child self was saying was pretty true with a pinch of childhood innocence in it, you knew that the mission would fail. After all, you've lived through it. When you opened the cage of the first one, the bear, its loud growls seemed to immediately garner the attention of the magician who was the boss of the whole circus. He got attacked by the bear and in the end, the bear left a claw mark on the neighbor’s door as a remembrance of your reckless behavior. 

You did many adventures like these when you were a child.None as dangerous as these of course but still dangerous. All the memories you've had are hazy now. But you do remember one thing. Your mother hated your adventuristic side. She wasn't great at hiding it at all either.

The car stops and so does your train of thoughts. Getting out and knocking on the familiar door, you're met with your mother who grinned as she saw you. "Y/n! Come in come in!"

Walking in the house and greeting everyone there (also giving the butter they oh so desperately needed), you went to the kitchen and decided to help your mother to set the table. “how’s the job hunting going?"

You froze and looked away from her. "It’s...it’s going well." the lie left a bad sting in your mouth. "Really? That’s great!" your mother clasps her hands together. "I told you that silly ol' situation wouldn't affect it!"

You didn't know what hurt more, the fact that your life is in ruins or the way your mother thinks of it all. 'Silly' is the last word you'd use for it.

"Y-yeah totally." you gave a fake grin.

When everyone sat down at the dinner table, your father decided to speak. "Well," he gave a smile to your mother. "Guess what we bought last month."

You and Jason looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "Uh...don't know." Jason shrugged. "What did you guys buy?"

Your father turned around to you. "Any guesses y/n?" you furrowed your eyebrows in thought. "I don't know...you guys buy a yacht or something?" you joked.

"Correct!" Jason choked on his drink. Both you and your brother looked at your parents with confusion and mild shock. Your mother decided to clarify it all. "As weird as it might sound, your father always dreamed of buying a yacht."

"why's that?" you asked, now intrigued by the whole ordeal. Your father seemed more than delighted to answer that question.  "When I was a kid, I always dreamed to be a sailor. I'm too old to be one now .but, I thought that maybe I could at least enjoy a bit of this childhood dream of mine by buying this yacht."

"I know everything there is needed to know about it now. I can teach you two how to use it if you want."

"That’s so cool!" Jason beamed like a child. The sudden excitement in his tone went away as a realization annoyed him. "I don't think I have time though. I'm pretty busy." he groaned.

"I got time." you responded. "Learning how to use a yacht could be cool. So sure, why not?"With that conversation to an end, you were now at a better mood then before. Coming to this family dinner wasn't a bad idea, you thought.

-------

The dinner ended and when you all sat down at the couch, your mother decided to bring out something from the library. The old family camera.

Soon enough, you have regretted coming here and grimaced at your poor choice of words in your head. As she walked in with the menacing machine who has seen everything you've been through throughout your life, you contemplated on whether you should leave right now and sadden your family or stay and suffer the awkwardness you'll feel instead.

It was too late to decide anyway, because your mother was already turning on the TV and going through the hundreds of files that were saved up in it.

The first video to show up was Jason's 14th birthday. Conversations about the fun day and its ups and downs, you noticed your child-self behind Jason, playing with the little siblings his friends brought as well.

The second one was where things were starting to feel...not so comfy anymore. At least not for you. Sure, your family was laughing at your childish antics in the video, going around the park and findings places to adventure in. But they've all seem to forget the traumatizing scolding you got from your mother after it. She hated how you 'ruined the image of the family' with your carefree and non- sophisticated act. She grounded you for weeks for just being curious. Just being a child.

“Oh, you were so troublesome!” she giggled. Making you only sink into the chair even more than before.

The other one was again, of you. As you gave a quiet grown and felt your eyebrows furrow, the video showed you in your pajamas, woken up in the morning because you thought you heard a spaceship.

Everyone spoke about that day, how they woke up in four in the morning to your sprinting footsteps down the stairs. You remember that day perfectly. Going out with a flashlight to find the source of the loud sound and being a hundred percent sure it was an alien spaceship, you were met with the neighbor looking at you like you were insane, putting their hands like they surrendered and unsure on what to do. Next to them, a new lawnmower they've bought that they were excited to try out as soon as possible.

Another day, another time you got grounded and scolded for your antics. From that day onwards, you've been losing your passion for adventuring. You've been afraid of doing one. As soon as you stopped going out and using the camera, the happier your mother seemed.

She hated your passion, she disliked your enthusiasm for the thrills of adventuring. It was obvious, but the realization always hurt you. For the longest time you've been loving it and working your best as a child to achieve your dream. Knowing that your own parent doesn't support it crushed it for your child-self. Sometimes you regret giving up on your dream. Maybe you wouldn't be stuck in this city if you achieved it. You'd be across the seas and discovering the truths of the world. Living the best life you could.

The more videos shown, the more rage that was building up in your chest. The more uncomfortable you felt.

As the video shown your birthday, your grinning face was zoomed into, you noticed the camera and started narrating what's happening on that day.

"Hello! I'm Y/n L/n and today's my birthday!" You waved to the camera. "And today, I'm here with my best friend Lui-"

You turned off the TV.

Confused silence took over the room as Jason looked at you worriedly. You didn't utter a word, unsure on what to tell them.

"S-sorry... I uh... “You gulped, feeling the tension laying in the air. "Um- I think... I... "

Deep breath in, then deep breath out. Your shoulders slouched and the familiar depressing feeling took over your mind once again and with a mind full of horrid thoughts you wanted to escape, you gave an awkward 'goodbye' and left.

No explanation, not even a glance to see their expression and no dessert. Truly, a great family dinner.

You decided to save up some money and walk home instead. Not the safest idea, sure. But you didn't even really care anymore anyway. The once loud streets have become surprisingly quiet. Strange, you thought. You'd think the city would be at its prime at late nights like this. The streets seemed dark, eerie and something out of a Batman movie.

Millions of now closed stores and the cobblestone sidewalk empty with a few trash here and there. Your heart kept a tight, excruciating grip on you. Its weight seemed unpleasant and heavier than before. You felt like a giant bug was stuck on your throat and your veins, your blood, your body, felt tired. They all felt so horribly tired.

The mental rollercoaster you had to go through today was something you wished to never experience again.

You knew you would though. This is a normal routine for you. You get struck by the universe with another lighting stroke filled with struggles. Wish you never even existed and boom, you wake up and repeat.

Pathetic. You were pathetic, weren't you? A pathetic being who can't seem to be happy wish the life she's got. Can't seem to have the bravery enough to change it all.

But why should you stay like this? If you truly do dislike living here than its best to leave, right? You only live once after all.

It might take some time, many shifts at Brianna's cafe that's for sure. But it's a risk you're finally willing to make. You're going to leave this place once and for all.

"Y/n!”

Jason's voice seemed to get you out of your thoughts as you turned around. He seemed out of breath and his run has seemed to slow down from an exhausting run. As soon as he reached you he tackled you into a hug. "I got so worried!”

"You could've called me.” you responded, a bit confused by it.  He huffed in disappointment and a gave a bemused glare.  Bringing out your phone from his pocket.  “you forgot this at mom and dad's place. " well now you felt ashamed. "Oh man, I'm sorry.”

"It's alright" he shrugged. His eyes glance at you worriedly.  “speaking of mom and dad's place.... “you now avoided any sort of eye contact, not prepared for the stress it could bring you. "You doin' okay?... "

"I'm fine,just...just a little tired that's all." Jason could see through that lie from a mile away. Coming to a conclusion in your thoughts, you decided that this was the best time to tell him. "I think I'm gonna move out."

"WHAT?!"

"W-wHat do you mean you're gonnamove out?!" the sudden information, out of nowhere in the middle of the streets obviously shocked him. "y-you mean from your apartment, right?"

You shook your head. "Nope. The city." his shoulders tensed up. "Y/n are you okay?!" he looked at you as if you've lost your mind. "This is way too sudden! Don’t get me wrong I'm fine with you trying to make a new life for yourself." he reasoned. Alreadyforeseeing the arguement that might come from the common misunderstanding. "But decisions like this takes time a-and thorough planning! You can't just say you 'wanna move out' and think everything you need will suddenly show up!"

"I didn't think that at all!" you countered. "But think about it. If I'm gonna move out, I have to be quick because Louis will learn about it sooner or later! You saw what he did with the job interviews!" hesitancy was visible on his expression. “I want to leave Jason. I need to leave. I-" you gulped the festered up emotions stock on your throat. “I can't stay here anymore! I hate this place."

As if on cue, it started rain. Small little droplets started to become more and more frequent as the seconds pass by. With clothes that are slowly getting soaked by the cold freezing rain water, you looked at him with a desperate and saddened expression. Desperate for freedom and joy, saddened by the mental torment you had to go through throughout the years.

"I just- I just can't. I have to go."

Jason looked down on the sidewalk, deep in thought. This city was his life. He lived here his whole childhood, went to college and got a job here. He knew every nook and cranny in this place. This place was his home and for a long time, he thought it was yours as well. But now, he realizes that it's the absolute opposite.

As he gave a stressed sigh, uncomfortable with the sudden huge change that will come upon this decision you made. Both worried for you and himself. He knew he had to get along with it. It's your life after all.

"At least-" He rubs his temple, an unsuccessful way of trying to relax himself. "Let me help you."

Your eyes brightened up. “I know a few friends who moved out of the city. I can ask around and see where you can stay and hopeful get a job at before that Ken doll wannabe finds out. "

"R-really?! " relief shook you. You felt as if the heavy lifts on your heart has been lifted by the clouds of hope. As your brain tried to process the new information, a question piqued out. “Wait- of you talk to your friends, word will get around about me moving and he'll surely find out!" Panic. Instant panic came over you.

Before he could even respond, a loud thunder crackled and made you both jolt in fear. Remembering the weather you're stuck in, cold shivers ran down your body as you hugged yourself for warmth.

"Let's go to your apartment first!” Jason walks to the nearby shelter. You nod and follow him to the complex and ignored the glare the Janitor gave you for the puddles of water you created while walking. Although, you did give a shivering awkward wave to the receptionist. Which they have a confused low wave back.

You'll definitely give something as an apology to the Janitor tomorrow.

__________

The warm temperature of the room mixed with the horrifying sheer dead cold of the night gave you a familiar, sort of comforting feeling.

Sitting down for hours, your legs fell asleep and bags were obvious on your eyes. Jason, seemed to be in a similar condition as you. Head in thought, beeping sound of his phone jolting him awake from time to time.

You've been calling for hours, trying to find anyone of his trustworthy friends that could let you stay somewhere for a while before settling in.

Many said no, which was completely understandable when you thought about it. You'd react the same way. The situation was a weird one. But, there was no time to think about that. They're far more important matters at hand.

You need to get out of here as soon as possible before anyone else finds out. If you can go in the span of one week, then you'll be safe and you'd get the job and apartment you wanted before Louis did anything fowl or spread any rumors about you.

So as Jason was calling and texting to see if any of his old friends could help him out a little, you were staring at your computer with eyes wide open, trying to see if you could find any clinics or animals hospitals in need of a vetinarian in a city not too far, but also not too close that could know about you.

No luck. Absolutely nothing good could be found. Feeling hopeless from your side of the mission, you asked your brother if he's got anything. "Nope." He ran a hand through his now, messed up hair. "I've talked to everyone! Well...except...” He frowned and shook his head. "No, no. never mind.”

"Except who?” you felt eager, any chance of getting out of here was a one you were willing to get.

"Y/n, no. “Jason rolled his eyes.”This guy is actually insane. There's no way he can help us. "

"What's his name?”

He stood in silence. Not wanting to reveal the information to you. For that, you grumble. "Come on Jason! Tell me." he turned his head around in denial dramatically. Eager and a bit desperate, you try to find anything that you could persuade an answer out of him with. A memory clicks in your head and you smirk. "If you don't tell me, I'll tell Mason about that little crush you have on hi-"

"OK- ok! Just- d-don't do that!" he finally gave in. he pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “Cameron. His name is Cameron Eclipse."

“He’s a bit...way too passionate about some mythical beings he made up." he huffed a laugh. “He calls them Mobians."

"Well, can he help us?"

Deep in thought, Jason scratches his head and answers. “He does come from a rich family...I'm sure he has a way or two to get you out of here without Louis finding out." your eyes brighten up by that. "Call him up then!"

With that, a two hour call began.  Fortunately enough, he is willing to help you. Yet a few more steps still needed to be changed.

"You won't be able to get any good jobs in another city." you gasped at that. Stomach dropping and heart beating a bit too fast for your liking. "w-what do you mean?"

"Well, that friend of yours-"

"He is not my friend."

"Ok- that acquaintance of yours," Cameron looked through his computer. “Comes from a very very successful family. Just like mine, their family has been honored and cherished across the world through generations." you grumbled at that.

"Although...I do have another way for you. There’s this one place I know where Louis might not be able to reach."  Suspicion between you and Jason grew as you looked at each other with raised up eyebrows. "My great-great uncle was a scientist. He once went to trip to this island and came back...different. As if something took over him. He came back safe and sound though. So you should be fine!"

"Yeah I'll take it."

"WHAT?!" Jason screamed. "Are you crazy?!"

"maybe." you shrugged. "But if I'm crazy, than Louis is insane." Jason felt completely speechless. Did you both hear the same thing? Before he could utter any more objections, you stopped him.

"I get why you're worried. But I want this. I'm doing it."

"But-"

"No buts." you shushed him. "after all, they're for sitting." you gave a stupid grin. He wanted to give the biggest older brother scolding speech he could, but felt hopeless at this situation. Only grumbling, feeling worry build up in him.

He only hoped you'd be safe. But with such situation like this, he dares to doubt it.

____________________

"Well,” Jason looks at his phone, seeing the little arrow reach the red circle. "We're here.”

He looks around the place. A bit weirded out by it. It was the beach that was next to the city's forest. The beach was empty. The only sound that accompanied the crickets of the night was its ocean waves. Creating a sleep-inducing melody.

You gave a tired groan as you put down the heavy luggage you brought with you. Jason's frown only deepened.  After repeatedly looking at his phone and shoe, he speaks up once again.

"You sure this is safe?"

You laughed at that question. "Of course not!" The beach seemed mesmerizing. Deep blue mixing with the pitch black the sky gave. You gave a shrug. "But it's my only chance.”

"Jason!” turning your head around, you see the boy you've been waiting for, Cameron. He gave you both a wave and motions you to follow him. As you take foot on the wooden planks, you look around and see all the boats that surrounded it. "So... “You squint your eyes, focusing on trying to find a clue on which one could be theirs. A few seconds in, you gave up. Deciding that it's best to just ask. "Which one's yours?"

"Oh- technically all of them. " he shrugs. "I mean- some of them belong specifically belong to my cousins or aunts and stuff... But in general, these are all the Eclipse family's boats. “Your jaw dropped at that. Now looking at the freckled boy in shock. He ignored your stare, caring more about finding the right boat.

He smiles and snaps his fingers. Gaining you and Jason's attention and pointing at the simple white boat to his right. "This one here is perfect.”He walks up to it.

Putting all your luggage and getting to know the ropes of the whole thing. With one passed test drive, the two men get out of the boat. Jason looks at you and smiles. He gives you a weak punch to the shoulders. Making you huff and give him a punch back.

“be careful there, little gremlin." you huffed a laugh at that old nickname. Mentally blocking all the rush of memories your brain wanted to remind you of. You give a sheepish smile of your own. “I’ll try, gummy worms."

____________________

You’ve been in the sea for a week. A whole, fucking dreadful, week.

The food and water you brought with you were close to running out. If you don't reach land at this point, you'll surely die right here. Either from starvation or drowning. Or oh god, who knows. Maybe a fucking shark will jump and kill you.

You rolled your eyes at that thought. Realizing that your brain is just messing at you at this point. Your phone was out of battery as well. So no use in finding a distraction for your worry and boredom now.

The sound of waves and birds were your only company. Your only friends in the never-ending blue. As you listened to the waves steady melody, you jolt as you feel a huge wave just suddenly move your boat a bit.

Worry set deep in your stomach. You gulped, feeling your throat become dryer by the second. Looking at the small GPS the boat was attached to, you feel your chess tightened as you read the location.

"What the actual fuck?!" you muttered. The monitor showing you reaching the Bermuda triangle. That was not where you wanted to go. Or even where Cameron told you to go either. You looked at the map he gave you once again. You thought you werehallucinating. Probably losing your mind. The map was moving on its own. Changingits own directions and making it seem like you need to go straight ahead.

 "How did I even- since when-" panic. Full fucking panic and confusion. You feel the wind suddenly getting harsher and waves only getting bigger. You try to calm your nerves down and immediately tried to change the direction of the boat.

Making half a circle than going straight forward to an opposite direction. You look at the GPS and try to find a place you could stop the boat on. Breaths became shorter as you see the GPS glitch out. Showing nothing but strange gibberish you couldn't understand. For a split second, you turn around and see a gigantic wave. Not even a blink or breath later, you felt water splash at you and everything you had.

After that, everything else was pitch black.

______________

The sun felt horribly hot on your face, the sand on the ground wasn't making it any better. A mix of voices with different pitches and tones ran through your head, but you couldn't process them. You gave a small grumble and furrowed your eyebrows. Suddenly, the blazing heat seemed to cool off a bit, as if something, or someone has came between you. The voices became louder, clearer. And as you opened your eyes, your vision could only comprehend colors. First one that stood out was the hot pink right in front of you. Then there was a shade of blue right beside it. Yellow, brown and red were the others behind them.

You winced and shook your head. Blinking once or twice to get your clear vision back. The voices were now comprehensible. "You okay there ma'am?"

That voice was seemed kind and a bit bossy. Determination laced all over it. You gave in a gulp you haven't realized you were holding back. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, you could see the people.

You screamed.

Fuckfuckfuckfuck. holyshit- oh god. ohh god. They’re not humans. They’redefinitely not humans. Oh my god oh my god oh fuck. Is that their fur?  Their fur could be blue or pink? Or fucking red?!

The group seemed taken aback by your sudden unexpected reaction. The pink and blue one only flinched. The brown one seemed angry. Taking a protective stance and taking their boomerang out. The red and yellow one stepped back a little. One out of fear and the other out of the sudden screech.

You on the other hand, were losing your marbles. Deep breaths and a horrid look at the uh- the um- fuck what are their species called? Are they aliens? Some sort of high-tech robots for kids maybe?

You couldn't hear them at all. Not in the state you were in. the blue one seemed to be speaking. Crossing his arms and looking at you with boredom. The pink one looked at him with a scolding manner and seemed to say something that made everyone's posture soften. She looked back at you once again and crouched down to your sitting level on the sands. "Deep breaths now! Deep breaths!" she chirped. Taking a deep breath herself and exhaling it. Copying her actions, you took a few deep breaths and felt your brain calm down. Your posture softened up and your heart finally stopped its absolute crazy speed.

"There we go! I knew you could do it!" she parts your back. Acting like some sort of life coach. Giving a shaky sigh, you clear your throat and finally speak.

"U-uh...Hi." you gave an awkward wave. The group all gave a wave back. “So uh- who are you guys?"

The brown one, which now you were calm enough to guess she was some sort of badger, looked at you with suspicion. "Why should we tell you?! What are you gonna do?!" her eyes widened. "Are you going to know our names and tell the government?! You’re an agent aren't you?!" she takes a few steps back. She took another boomerang out and pointed at you threateningly. “Freeze, agent! One move and you're going to taste my boomerangs!"

In a loss for words, you looked back at the pink one, which you couldn't really guess any resemblance for yet, gave you a casual smile. “don’t worry. She’s actually pretty nice."

The others seemed to be too occupied trying to calm the badger down. Giving a worried nod to the pink one, you still wanted the answer for your question.

She seemed to immediately realize what your expression meant. “I’m Amy Rose.” She points at the now calm, yet skeptical badger. “That’s Sticks.” She huffed and turned her head around. Amy points at the yellow, short one. “that’s Tails.” Looking at him a bit more, you realized that he seemed to look like a fox of some sort. The two tails being a big giveaway to you. He gives you a kind smile. You couldn’t help but give him a small, sheepish wave back.

Amy points at the red one. Another one you couldn’t really pin point an animal resemblance to. With that thought in your head, you guessed not all of them had something that looked familiar to you. Maybe they are aliens. “Knuckles.” Knuckles gave you a nod. Amy’s hand left to the last one. The blue with the brown scarf. Looking a bit closer at him, you notice the quills he had on his head and back. His shoulder were crossed and he looked at you with a confused stare.  “This one’s Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog.” 

“What’s your name?”

“Y/n. my name’s Y/n.” you look around the place. Eyes widening as you found your boat a few feet away. Completely destroyed. You stood up, legs almost giving up on you. Making you wiggle strangely a little until you finally stand. You wanted to sprint to your boat. Strangely enough, you noticed a zap of blue sprint through you and reach it. As it stopped, you noticed it was the hedgehog. A little taken aback by the sudden speed, you looked at him perplexed. He simply ignored your stare and looked at the boat instead. Hearing your footsteps stopping and finally reaching him. “This is your boat?”

You hum and nod. Looking at it devastated. Getting closer to the boat, you find your luggage a bit destroyed. Most of your things were lost at sea now. There was no doubt in that. Yet thankfully enough, your computer bag and the computer that lied within it was completely safe. You also had a few clothes that thankfully survived the whole chaos.

Looking at the shredded boat with dread. You stared at the whole wreck and started worrying. You were somewhere unknown, with anthropomorphic people and no boat to get back with. Heck, you’re not even sure if you can get back. Your frown deepens and you start fidgeting with your fingers. Trying to find a clear idea of what to do.

Sonic looks at you with sympathy. Turning back to the village a few feet away and then back at you, he turns back to Amy. Her expression matching his. Both gave a nod to each other and Sonic turns back to you. Putting a hand on your shoulder, he grabs your attention. He gives you a confident smile. “Let’s get you a home.”

Chapter Text

The walk to the small village they spoke of was a blur. Your mind processing everything that happened before hand. It took about ten minutes for you to break out of your trance and look around the area once more. Sonic and Amy lead the way as Knuckles and Tails walked right beside you. Sticks was behind the group. Her stare lingering behind your back. Occasional glances would be thrown to you by the others. Making the whole thing more awkward for you than before. Taking a deep breath, you decided that it’s best to speak than to lay in this uncomfortable silence.

“So...um-“your mouth felt like sandpaper. Your brain short circuiting and being unable to bring the words out. “Is- is everyone here like you guys?”

Amy gave a shrug. “Well, technically yes. No one here is a human other than Eggman.”

Eggman? What kind of name is that?  Looking at the girl with pure confusion, she gave a sheepish laugh and looked back to the path. The yellow sandy ground was long gone. Green and brown being the only colors evident in it.

Amy spoke again. Continuing the conversation. “It’s best if you ignore him though.”  You rose a brow at that. “He’s not…the most trustworthy person here.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because he attacks the village every day.” Tails casually answered. Unfazed by its concerning context. “He’sbasically one of the villain of this whole place.”

Now you were a bit worried about the whole ordeal. But you latched on to the last thread of positivity you still had and didn’t let the fear barge in your brain.

A word stood out to you from the conversation. One of. There’s more?

You didn’t really trust the group yet. Therefore you decided to keep your mouth shut about that subject for now. It’s probably best to see what they mean for yourself. Or even better, never have the unfortunate fate to experience it.

“We’re here.” Amy speaks. Motioning to the village in front of you. Small and big houses alike, anthropomorphic of all kinds of animals walking around. One looked up from his book and gasped as he saw you. Making his friend look at you as well and drop his ice cream. All civilians alike looked at you and whispered to each other. Making you feel uncomfortable. Crossing your arms, you gave an awkward hum and tried your best to avoid eye-contact with them.

Sonic frowned as he saw your uncomfortable figure. He blocked the view to you for the people in front of him. A small, yet kind gesture that made you feel a bit better.

“Y-you guys! Stop right there!” you all stopped moving and turned around to the source. A gray mouse sighed in relief as he saw you all halt.His relief quickly turned into panic as he saw you. 

“Mr. Hedgehog,” he gave a concerned glare to Sonic. Not noticing your shock from the last name.An amused smile came over you. Does this mean his middle name is actually ‘The’?

“Mayor Fink, we were just looking for you.” Sonic crossed his arms. “This girl’s boat crashed and she needs a place to say. We were wondering if-"

"Now now hold on just a moment!” he interrupts. Unsure of the whole ordeal, he looked at you and then back at Sonic. He brings him close to him. Saying something in his ear. They looked like they were two kindergartner's sharing secrets to one another. "Are you sure they're not.... Related to Eggman by any chance?... "

Sonic rose a brow at that. He gave a glance at you and shrugged. Truth be told, he did have a bit suspicion about you. Mayor Find gave a sigh. "I just don't want the village to be at danger again. We're already at the risk of eternal doom every day. "

Sonic was at a loss for words.  At one side, it's best to make you feel comfortable first and make sure no harm was done to you by the crash. After all, you gave quite the horrified scream when you came here. Best to calm you down.

On the other side, there is that probable theory of you being someone related to Eggman. For all they know you could be his niece or even worse, daughter. Coming here to destroy them all.

His foot kept tapping the ground as he put a finger under his chin. Unconsciously scratching it as he went deep into thought. Tails gave a confused frowned at that and nudged him. Making the blue blur flinch.

"What's the problem, Sonic?" Tails asked. Sonic looked at the Tails conflicted. A moment of awkward silence passed on. Sonic’s head perked up and he gave a confident smile.  “Tails, can you run some test on Y/n?” you felt alarmed by that. “Iwannasee if she’s in anyway related to Eggman.”

Tails thought for a bit, his gaze heavy and his brain working like the quickest of machines. “I can, but I’ll need some DNA from Eggman.”

Sonic suddenly swooshed away. Leaving nothing but pecks of dust then came back only a millisecond later. A patch of brown, neatly brushed hair in his hand. A triumphant grin took over him and he chuckled. “Will mustache hair do?”  Tails snickered at that. Taking the hair and nodding his head.

“Amy, Sticks,” the girls gave him a hum of acknowledgment. “Do good cop, bad cop.”  They grinned at that. Looking at each other and giving an excited nod. You only stood there, daunted by his words.

“Knuckles, you stay here with me.” He looks up to the mountains with a smirk. “Something tell me Egg face is going to pay the village a visit. I could use the extra muscle.”

---

Next thing you knew, you were back to walking down the Island. Reaching the other side of the beach. It seemed livelier here. No empty grounds full of either plastic or full on garbage plastics. There was more noise here than the one you were on. Houses, chairs and beach balls and even a workshop. Which you soon found out, was where you were headed to.

You were quiet. So quiet in fact that the others kept looking back to see if you were still following them or not. As you reached the workshop, Tails opened the door and immediately paced around the room. Amy told you to sit down at a desk, which you begrudgingly obeyed. You crossed your arms and looked around the place awkwardly.

“it’s been a long time since I’ve seen any other human other than Eggman.” Tails brought up. Calmly bringing up a scissor and cutting a strand of your hair. He brings out some sort of heavy computer with other gadgets stuck around it. He looked up at you with a slightly shy smile. “Mind if I try out some experiments on you later? Well- that is if you’re-…You know, not an enemy. I couldn’t really do any of these on other humans I’ve met. They’ve all always said no.” you rose a brow at that. Making him give a sheepish laugh. You gave him an amused chuckle. “depends.” You shrugged. “What kind of experiments are we talking here?”

His face brightened up at that. “Oh you know! Basic stuff as in speed, how long can you stay awake for, how long can you stay asleep for, how much can you eat and all that.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s already researches about this.” You point out. A bit shocked by the experiments simplicity. Tails gives an awkward huff. “Yeah…but there isn’t anything about humans here. No one here even knew humans existed until Eggman showed up.”

Now that you think about it, the group meeting humans before explained their casual behavior when they saw you. A complete opposite reactions to the villagers’.

“So you met humans other than Eggman, right?” Tails gave a laugh while tapping on the keyboard with no hesitation.  “Trust me, we met a lot more other than Eggman. Especially Sonic.”

“AHEM.” Amy’s angered voice startled Tails. “Mind not telling the suspect so much information?” she grumbled. Tails’ eyes widened and he clicked his tongue. “Sorry!” he went silent, focusing solely on his work and ignoring the disappointed glare Amy was giving him.

A loud slam on the table made you yelp and look to the other side. You saw Sticks giving you an intense glare. “Alright lady, spit it out.”

“Spit what out?”

“The truth.”  She walked back and forth, her eyes never leaving you and only becoming tenser by the second. “What truth?” you gulped.

She growled. Jumping on the table and leaning down to your level. “don’t play dumb with me.” She sneered.

“Sticks, no need to use such aggressive behavior.” A carefree tone was set on Amy’s words. She pats your shoulders. “Y/n here well tell us anything she can if you just calm down, right Y/n?” she started staring at you as well. Only making the atmosphere worse. It felt like a staring contest rather than an interrogation. 2v1 and you were losingbadly. “I uh-“you took a deep breath. “ listen- if this is about that guy Eggman you guys keep talking about than I don’t know anything-“

“So you don’t know Eggman at all?” or anyone named Ivo Robotnik?” you shook your head. “Nope.”

“Then why did you come here?” Sticks asked. Her shoulders seemed to ease up a bit by your last answer. Yet yours just stiffened up. You glance away from their gaze and fidgeted with your fingers. A heavy lump suddenly stuck on your throat. “I was running away.”

“From what? Family? Boy problems?”

 Technically both.You bit your tongue. “From…well-everything, really.”

Tails glanced at you with a bit of sympathy. “If it wasn’t obvious enough, I didn’t really intend to come here.” You huffed a laugh. “I was out in the sea trying to find this place someone told me about until a huge wave came in and well, brought me here.”

“Sticks, come with me.” Amy walked out of the workshop, the badger following right behind her.

Sticks looked at her confused. “Why did we leave so early? I still haven’t gotten to my best untrue threats yet!”Amy turned around and gave her a conflicted look.“I think it’s best if we just stop it right there.” She concluded. “from how she’s acting, she definitely doesn’t know who Eggman is. And she’s obviously lost.” Amy felt a bit bad for her. Knowing how stressful her situation could be.

“But what if she’s related to him?”

“I don’t really think she is. Call it a hunch but, she seems nice.”

Sticks sighed. “Alright, I’ll admit she isn’t that suspicious...” she mumbled. “she probably isn’t an agent either…maybe.”

Amy gave a smile and looked back at the window. Seeing Tails smiling while speaking to you made her feel a bit relieved.

--

You didn’t expect having a lovely chit-chat with Tails. But it happened. After what seemed like hours (although it was only a few seconds), he stopped tapping his keyboard and looked up at you confidently. “You’re all clear. You’re definitely not related to him.” You already knew that, but knowing that you won’t be considered an enemy anymore made you feel better.

A pang in your stomach made you groan. Ah, right. You haven’t really eaten anything for hours now. “here.” You look back at Tails and see him holding out a chocolate to you. “Oh, thank you!” you feel embarrassed, yet glad he noticed. If you had to wait even one more hour you’d probably pass out.  Taking the bar, you notice the eagle on it with a grin on his face. Showing the chocolate bar with the most enthusiast pose you’ve ever seen. They had companies here too? All with their own brand??

You shrugged, deciding that it’d be best to figure all that out later and eat instead. Taking the wrapper off, you bite down the yummy sweetness and let the cocoa melt in your mouth. Chewing the harsh small nuts they put inside it here and there.

“By the way,” you gulped down the piece. “Is there any signal here?” Tails looked away, giving a tough huff and a weird laugh. “Not really…” fuck. How are you supposed to call Jason now? You’re certain he’s having a heart attack at this point. “But…there is a slight chance you can get a signal in the volcano.” Your jaw dropped.

“Volcano?!”

“yeah.” He hummed. “It’s a pretty long walk. But I’m sure Sonic won’t mind taking you there.” He gave a proud grin. “With him, you’ll be there in mere seconds!”

“He has super speed right?” he nodded at that. “The fastest hedgehog in the world!”

“Do all of you have super powers like that?” he shook his head. “No, just Sonic. But we all have our own unique way of helping the team.”

You didn’t want to ask more questions. Afraid of seeming nosy and too curious. But ‘helping the team’? What does that mean? You bet your tongue before you could utter another word. Best to leave it at that. “Will he mind though?” you ask. He gives you a confused tilt of his head. “You know, taking me to the volcano.”

“I can always go there by myself.” You take another bite. “I don’t mind the long walk.”  Tails give you a thoughtful look at that. Worry took over him as he finally closed him computer and decided to put it away. “Ok…but you could get attacked in the forest. It’s best to have someone with you. I don’t think he’ll mind at all.” He looked doubtful for a moment. “Probably.” He mumbled.

You’ll ask him later, you guessed. It’s best to look for somewhere to live first. Who knows, maybe the whole walk would be a waste of time and you’d bother him for no reason. Yeah, you should put it for later.

“Alright, Y/n.” Amy and Stick finally come in. “you’re safe.”

“For now.” Sticks added. Amy nodded in agreement. She looks at the gadget at her wrist. It seemed to be a small screen with a pink case. Some sort of communicator that was between the team. “Sonic,” she called him. “Everything ok on your side?”

“All good!” you could hear his quick footsteps on the communicator. “I should be here right about…” a sudden gust of wind hit your body and made you shiver a bit. The sudden flash of blue took over your vision for a second and there he was, all with a snide smirk. “now.” He puffed his chest out proudly. Amy rolled her eyes and looked at him bored. “Uh huh. And where’s Knuckles?”

He looked shocked for a moment. Silently blinking in realization and sprinting away again. This time as he came back, you saw a flash of red beside him. He stopped moving and you could see him clearly now. He was holding on to Knuckles, knees buckling since he couldn’t handle his weight on his shoulders. “R-right here-“ he huffed and put him down. Hands on his knees as he took deep breaths. Knuckles look at him impressed. “I’m actually surprised. I didn’t know you could hold me for even a second. Nice!” he high fives Sonic, which he, in a huff of exhaustion, weakly high fives back.

“So,” he takes a deep breath and regains his posture. “How’d it go? Is she good?”

The three with you all nod and smile. “She’s not related to Eggman in anyway.” Tails gives a thumbs up. “And she doesn’t seem to have any bad goals here either. She just got lost.”

“Alright then, Tails, can you fix Y/n’s boat?” Tails hums for a bit and thinks. He frowns and shakes his head. “No. it’s all way too damage to repair.” You frown at that. “But I can make her a new one! It’ll take me some time though.”

“How long exactly?”

“Hmm, probably four days.”

“Alright!” Sonic grins. “Well then we can just find you a-“

“h-hold on a second!” you panic a bit. “do you guys even have any maps on where this Island is located in?” they all look at each other a bit, a speechless conversation that led to them looking at you with sympathy. “No, not really.” Tails replied.

With no location and probably no map, there’s no way you could find your way out of here. “I think it’s best if I stay here…for now.” After all, last time the GPS showed you the location, you were in the Bermuda triangle. Somewhere that was rumored no one came back from. How are you so sure that you can go back safely? “I just don’t think I should go back for now…” but there’s more to this, isn’t there? You’re afraid of feeling the same dread by going back. The same hopeless feeling you felt. Knowing you couldn’t run away from him. Knowing you couldn’t run away from your memories and that it’ll all haunt you. You stop yourself from giving a sad scoff. Who knows, maybe you’ve been lost deep in the sea. Living out a strange dream before the water finally takes over your whole body and makes you sink in deep in the blue ocean. Taking by nature and never to be seen again.

“…alight then.” He hesitantly responds. Looking at your saddened expression with a somber look in his eyes. “let’s go back to Mayor Fink then. I’m sure he has a house for you by now.”

---

“A-about that…” Mayor Fink looks away from you three. Amy looked at him confused. “What happened?”

“We uh- we couldn’t really find anything in the village…or the beach. Although…. There is this really old house in the forest.” He goes through the papers in his hand. “But it’s really old. As in ‘it hasn’t been used for seventy years and we just found out about it’ old.”  You all looked at him in awe by that. “Everything is broken. There’s no water or electricity or gas and the wood is super old. If you want it we’d first have to go through doing all the things necessary to make sure the house is safe for use. And if you want it to run water, electricity and all that well- you have to pay for it.”

“Do you have any gold rings?” you looked at him confused by that. Amy leans in and looks at you. “That’s what the currency in here is.” You give her a nod as thanks and sighed. “Nope.” 

The Mayor seemed to be thinking at this deeply now. Racking his brain for a solution. Not noticing the brown bunny behind him that was starting to get closer. “Mayor Fink! Excuse me Mayor Fink!”

He sighed as he recognized the voice. Turning around and seeing the one and only pet shop owner in the village.

“Miss Marigold, now’s not the time.” He rubs his temples. The bunny was tired of hearing that every day. Yet she only held her tongue as she saw the human. Nodding in annoyed understanding, she went away. Hoping to get her chance to express her concern again someday else.

With that out of the way, Mayor Fink hums and looks back to you all again. “Well, as I was saying. You need to pay in gold rings Miss…uh...”

“L/n.”

“Miss L/n. it’s the currency the island uses.”

“I can pay you when it’s finished.” You speak. “I’ll find a job and pay it off. And if I don’t have enough money after it’s finished, I’d certainly have a job at that point, so you can take half the money in my paycheck. How about that?”

Mayor Fink nodded. “Yes we could do that, but where can you live for now?” he started mumbling to himself about possible places you can go to. Yet you were too stressed to listen in. what if there was nowhere for you to stay till then? What were you going to do? You can’t survive in the woods. Any sort of training you had when you were a child at camps were all given up on since your mother never wanted you to go there again. Claiming it were ‘too dangerous’ and that you’d ‘only make a fool of yourself’. You’ve forgotten everything by now. You’d die the first night.

A sudden sigh makes you jolt. “She can live with me for now.”

You look at Amy who only gave you a firm nod. “I have a spare room in my house. And I’ve been feeling pretty alone there anyway.” She smiled. “We can be temporary roommates till you get your house.” You felt relief and gratitude wash over you. You couldn’t believe the kindness that was shown to you throughout the day. No one would do this for you back there. That’s for sure. “Are you sure?!” you start to worry a bit. Not wanting to be a bother around her. She nodded. “Yeah, it’ll be fine. Just don’t ruin my house.” She chuckled. 

---

The house was not how you expected it to look like. That’s for sure. It was a bit similar to Tails’ house. Only difference being that it was a bit shorter in height and was way bigger than Tails’.  The walls outside of it were pink. which you guessed were her favorite color at this point. The most shocking part for you was that she had a garden. A beautiful, well-kept garden with even a beautiful set of chairs and table inside it for occasional hang outs and drinks for tea. The design inside the house felt classy and every decoration fit into each other perfectly well. When you asked her about it, she proudly claimed that she did it all on her own. All her design ideas and talent in poured in it.

You didn’t hesitate to compliment her on it all. Which she was extremely flattered about. Finally breaking away from that respectful manner she had most of the time and rambled on about all the other ideas she had. You didn’t mind listening to it. You actually quite enjoyed the rambles. She was obviously a person with many hobbies and talents. She must be extremely creative, you thought.

Amy leads you to a room in the right section of the house. She opens the door. Revealing a small but big enough room for you to sleep in. “there it is. It’s not much but it’s all I have for you. I hope you don’t mind.” You shook your head. “No. this is fine, really. it’s way better than sleeping in the woods in the cold weather that’s for sure.” Amy laughed at that.

“I guess you’re right.” She smiled. “Well I’ll leave you to it then. You can unpack now if you want.” She wanted to leave, but your hand on her wrist stopped her for a moment. “Wait!”

She turned around to you. She looked shocked as she saw your expression. A mix of determination and hesitancy. Grateful but embarrassed. “Thank you…for everything, really. You and your friends did a lot for me. I’d probably be losing my mind right now if it weren’t for you guys.”

She gives you a kind smile. “To be honest, you shouldn’t really thank us.”

“It’s the right thing to do, after all.”

Chapter Text

You couldn’t sleep at all last night.

One reason was due to the uncomfortable feeling one feels in another person’s house. It might be not much to notice at times but when you get to actually sleep there, it all sinks in.

The dark seemed unfamiliar and childishly scary to you. The bed, although cute with the pastel pink and white colors and a verycomfy bounce to it, felt stiff. Your body stayed motionless. Afraid to break something by making even one move.

And the clock, that goddamn stupid clock. It won’t stop ticking. The same tiktoktiktokrang for hours on end and edged you even further.

Should you get up? You didn’t want to get up yet. It would look creepy and you don’t know where you’d even go. Working on your phone to distract yourself was also a no. there was no internet so there wasn’t really much you could distract yourself with anyway.

With nothing to do, your mind only ran through today instead. The most chaotic day of your life. So many questions, so little answers.

You could still feel your veins scream in gratitude for the gang. You already thanked Amy.So it was best to thank the others tomorrow when you have the time.

More thoughts kept coming. Plans for tomorrow, goals being set and mind daydreaming about the upcoming days. A few minutes pass and you’re already bored and frustrated once again by the annoying clock.

The uncomfortable feeling came back and you realized how much it reminded you of sleepovers. An energetic day and little to no sleep. The person you had the most sleepovers with was him.

The first time you did, was your first sleepover ever. You felt excited and uncomfortable. Breathing heavily yet staying calm and moving too much. You both were sleeping on the ground in his gigantic living room. Your eyes were open and staring at the elegant carving on the ceiling.

You feel something move beside you. Making the blankets shift and turn and you notice the tuft of blonde hair. “Are you asleep yet?” he spoke in a whispery tone. Even though you both were too far away for others to hear you.

You turned around and looked at him. His brown eyes screamed excitement. His first friend in his own very first sleepover! It was too awesome to think it’d be real! You feel your worries wash away with that gleeful expression of his. You see him grin at your awake state. You couldn’t help but grin back.

“no.” you whisper back. You both giggled. Two six year olds who are staying up past their bed time, truly a rebel move in your eyes.

“You wanna play monopoly again?” he motions to the board game laying on the table. Still unorganized from your last match. The little hat and dog shining in the moonlight that creeped through the windows.  “Heck yeah!” you both quietly laugh and get up. Leaving the thick warm blankets and rushing up to the table.

After that sleepover, staying at each other’s house was common. His house, although unnaturally bigger than your own and more luxurious than you could ever think of, became a second home to you. And your cozy one seemed to be his safe place. He’d come to you and vent. Speak about his frustrations and problems and let you speak with him as well. No day was spent alone. Any day was brighten by each other’s presence. You missed it. You missed being his friend. You missed having him as someone you could trust with anything rather than fear.

“With these bracelets, people will know that we’re best friends!”

You scoff at that. Remembering the very horrid night that changed everything. Made the world you once knew shift into something unbelievably miserable.

Louis Clement was not your friend. At least, not anymore. The very day made that clear. His flirting that you mistook as merely playful banter. His little cues and nods to the servants around you. The out of nowhere invite to a fancy restaurant, even though you both preferred the unhealthy fast food served in downtown while taking a long walk instead.

His confession, the blush on his cheeks and his confidence leaking away by the second, mumbling and looking away. So sure that you’d accept. Your denial, sad yet kind. The awkward tension increasing in size by the second with every word you spoke.

“w-we can still be friends!” you try to grab his hand through the table, but he quickly snatches it away. You mentally wince and slowly turn your head around to meet his eyes again. A confused, weirded out and panicked daze face set on Louis.

“I-I just don’t understand.” He ruffles through his hair.”i-is there someone else I don’t know about?! I—“

“n-no!” you looked away from him. What was there to say? You simply didn’t like him romantically. That was all. You couldn’t believe you were dense enough to not realize his crush on you sooner. “I’m not- I just…don’t want to date you that’s all.” Horrible choice of words. But you couldn’t help it. You were too panicked yourself to realize how much those words could impact him. How much that sentence seemed important to him.

“Why not?!” he yelled. “Am I not good enough for you? Do I need do some amazing romantic act to get your attention now?! Is that it?” he threw his hands up in retaliation. Feeling offended by his worsening behavior, you clicked your tongue.

“Ok, now you’re just acting like an asshole.” You huff. Taking the napkin off your legs and putting it back at the table. You quickly grabbed your things and got up. “I’m going to give you some time to cool off, okay? Please get some rest-“he got up from his seat as quick as a feather.

“No! I want to know why! Why don’t you like me?! ”

You froze, your eyes meeting the other customers. They kept glancing at you in silence. Eating in the slowest way possible, not saying a single word to each other. You feel your shoulders hunch up from the sheer embarrassment and you could even feel them getting second-hand one as well. You keep your head low as you skimmed away from the exit, Louis right behind you.

“Answer me, Y/n!”

“I just told you why! You’re the one who’s in denial!”

“God damn it,” he rubs his temples. “I can give you anything you want- I can give you everything.” He looked shocked. Astounded by your continuous refusal. “What do I have to do to get you to like me?!”

You frowned. Clutching your purse with a tight grip. “No matter what you do, or what you get me, I’ll never like you Louis.” He seemed hurt by that. A broken frown and taken aback posture. “Louis, you’re my best friend.” You sigh, feeling guilt punch through you with every word you spoke. “I don’t want to do this to you. I trust you and I care for you.” you open your arms for a hug. But he doesn’t comply. You put your arms around him anyway, giving him the warmest hug you could.

He seemed to shake in your hold. He pushed you away and looked at you with rage. His breathing was becoming ragged and his head about to pop a vein. “Well I want more than that!” he shouted, making you flinch and look at him with a bit of fear. “And if you’re not going to give it to me, then I’ll ruin your life until you have no choice to!”  You gasped. You knew full well he could do that. He could ruin your life with just one command. One snap of his fingers. “You’ll regret this Y/n L/n.”

“Oh shut the fuck up!” you smash your head into the pillow. Insulting your mind for making you remember. A grumble and uncomfortable shift from the bed was a clear enough message from you to your body about tonight’s plan. No sleep, only blasts to the past.‘Dramatic bitch.’ You grumbled.

----

Amy is not dense nor blind. She can see and notice shifts in behaviors in people quite quickly. Actually, she’s pretty sure that anyone could understand what happened to you last night with merely one glance.

Deep bags under eyes and slow movements. The way you ‘woke up’ only a few minutes after her, even though she was certain you’d sleep for a few more hours than normal with all the things you’ve been through yesterday.

Since it was officially your first day here, she took the responsibility of making you both breakfast. Pancakes so perfect you’d almost feel bad eating them. You didn’t shy away from complimenting and thanking her for the delicious food. It’s been a long time since you had pancakes, let alone ones as good as this. Although, something seemed to be bothering her. Her continuous glancing at your figure and repeated cycle of poking the sweet goodness with her fork made you feel a bit weirded out.

“You should go back to bed.” She spoke up, giving a concerned glance at all the coffee you poured in the mug. “It won’t be so bad to take a break from everything.”You shook your head. “No thanks. I can’t really sleep anyway.” You yawned. “There’s a lot to do.”

“What could be more important than your health?” she huffed and crossed her arms. You desperately wanted to agree with her. To say ‘fine’ and go to bed and finally sleep. But the daily calls you promised Jason kept glaring at you like you were a monster. A disappointing asshole with no remorse for her suddenly out of nowhere worrying brother.

You sighed. “I gotta find a way to call my brother.”

“You have a brother?!”

---

Feeling no heavy weight from the computer bag you took with you, it took you only twenty minutes to reach Sonic’s house. Which interestingly enough, was a shack. Beside the shack was a set of chairs and a table. Probably also a preparation from when his friends come and hang out. Best part of it all, was the great view it had to the sea. It was right in front of it. The water continuing its infinite melody and the waves going back-and-forth from shore to the water. You even noticed Tails’ house not so far behind.

You rose a brow from the lack of doors outside the house. The only door that seemed to be present was the one inside. Which you presumed was for the bathroom.

Walking up to it, you awkwardly looked around and decided to knock on the wall instead. “Is anybody home…?” You made sure to not go inside. You weren’t certain if he was comfortable with that or not. But you didn’t stop yourself from leaning your head a few inches close, trying to spot a dark shade of blue.

Nope. Not a single soul seemed to be there at the moment. You sighed and looked around the place once more. How are you supposed to find the fastest hedgehog alive? 

Tails’ house met your eyes and you give a confident hum. Satisfied with your findings for an answer. ‘Step 1. Ask their friends.’

It took only five minutes to reach Tails’ house. The loud sound of metal clashing with hammers and drill being used till it breaks made your ears bleed. You hiss and try to block the harsh sound with your hands on your ears. With a breath, you started slowly walking into his house and looked around, finding Tails on top of a red plane with noise-cancelling headphones.

With getting so close to the noise now, you felt like screeching bloody murder. Yet you only gulped, hissed in pain and called out for Tails. Your voice was phased out. Not even a single word reached the fox’s ears. With a few more unsuccessful tires, you frowned and looked around the place.

Eyes set on a bunch of neatly organized screws on the table, from the longest to the shortest, you took the one in the center and threw it near Tails with the outmost carefulness. Tails jolted at the unusual sight and froze, which in doing so, the loud noise stopped. Utter calm and bliss poured in your ears from the nice silence. You’d take the silence’s calm yet threat to overthinking over Tails’ determined, but very loud inventing shenanigans any day.

Tails quickly looked around the room tense and serious, trying to find the source of this occurrence. He felt quite relieved when he realized who the perpetrator was. “Oh, hey Y/n!”  He slides down the latter with ease. “I’m guessing you’re the one who threw the screw, right?” you sheepishly nod at that. “Yep, sorry!”

“It’s fine.” He tilts his head curiously. “Why are you here though? Need me to fix something?”

“No, I don’t need anything fixed.” You unconsciously clutched the strap of your bag a bit tighter. Hoping that the computer worked properly and its unscathed appearance on the outside wasn’t all for nothing. “I was just looking for Sonic. Have you seen him anywhere?” you didn’t notice how Tails was looking at someone else the whole time.

“Right behind you.”

You yelp, not expecting the sudden presence. Turning around, you see the one and only hedgehog you were looking for. Arms crossed and casual look to him, he seemed at least a bit curious to know why you were here. “You called?”

“…yeah—uh-“there was something strange about Sonic’s gaze to you. It wasn’t creepy by any means, just…tired. Emotionally strained of sorts.  He did say something about fighting Eggman yesterday, was the fight that tough? You felt bad for asking him a favor. It hasn’t even been a week and you’re already wanting his assistance yet again. Not to mention, you haven’t thanked him for yesterday, either.

Ah fuck, you’re already in too deep in this quest you set for yourself to leave now. You should’ve thought about this better. ‘Dumbass.’The two looked at you confused now. Patiently waiting for a response.

You clasp your hand together and take a deep breath, knowing that you will very very soon cringe at your request. “Listen- I know this’ll be a very jerk move from me but-“Sonic rose a brow. “I need your help with something. Again.”

“I need to get to the volcano and I was wondering if you could use your super speed and get me there and it’s fine if you don’t want to and don’tfeellikeitreallyIwasjustaskingoutofcuriosityandIcangotheremyselfand-“

“Whoa, whoa!” Sonic interfered with your panicked ramble. “Relax, okay? I’ll help you.” you were surprised by that. “Seriously?” you questioned, dumfounded. “You sure you’re okay with that?”

He shrugged. “All in a day’s work.”

You decided to not ask the implication of that sentence. ‘All in a day’s work’? What does Sonic exactly do? Heck, what do anyof them do? You could guess that Tails is a mechanic, or maybe a pilot.Sonic? Probably a fighter of sorts? You weren’t really sure. But the others? Not at all.“Alright then.” You hummed.

“Hold on,” Tails walks up to you and stares at your bag pack thoughtfully. “You’re going there because of the possibility of being a signal to the outside world there, right?”

Nodding to that, you worry a bit. There’s a big chance no signal will be there and you’re truly alone. With no contact to the outside world, the world you desperately wanted to leave. It wasn’t like you missed it. But you’d definitely wonder how you’re brother and Brianna was doing. You definitely missed them. “Yeah. You did say there was a chance, so no time to lose!” Sonic was the first to get out, since he was closer to the door. You were following, but were hesitant, feeling as if Tails wanted to tell you something first. “Hold on!” Tails scrambled around the room, putting strange gadgets and equipment in a bag and slinging it on his shoulder. “I’ll come with! You might need help with your…err…what did you bring?”

“My computer.”

Tails’ eyebrows furrowed and his eyes squinted in thought. You wondered how much was going through his head. Was he making calibrations? Theorizing, maybe? Whatever it was, it made him stay put for a few seconds. You took a glance behind you and noticed Sonic waiting there silently. His foot kept tapping the floor as his arms were crossed, the index finger tapping his wrist.

“Ok, I’ll need to see your computer, but we’ll do that when we get there! I’ll come with my airplane, you guys can go.”

“but—“

“Alright then! Let’s go!” Sonic took your hand and let you out of the workshop. Earning a very confused look from you. You didn’t question it, though. Deciding that it was best to get this over with as soon as possible. The sooner you find a way to call, the better will it be for your mental health. Time to remove the guilt.

“wait-“ you notice Sonic leaning down a bit, stretching his arms out behind you and before you knew it, “what are you-“ he swiftly carried you in his arms. Holding you so easily, as if you were merely a light doll.

“What?” he huffed. “How did you expect me to get you there quick?” your jumbled up thoughts all connected together at that. A simple ‘oh’ made the conversation end. You didn’t feel much comfortable in this new position. It was foreign to you. Do you have to wrap your arms around his neck now? Or was that just a romantic gesture that didn’t need to be done here? He looked at the way ahead of him and carried you a bit higher, which made you stiffened up more than before. He grinned, his feet getting excited for the quick speed rush he’ll feel. His heart already starting to pump from anticipation. Sonic was going to do what he’s best that.

“Hold on tight!”

“oka-A-aAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”

All thoughts were long gone as you instantly put your arms around his neck. Not wanting to fall and injure yourself badly. The wind was harsh. Your hair felt like it was going to get ripped apart from you and every place was just a blur of colors. From different shades of green to blue and yellow. You grit your teeth, feeling the cool wind go right into your mouth and punch your lungs. It was oddly refreshing, a breath of fresh air, one could say. Soon you felt at ease, you felt excited. Everything was fast and fun. It was magnificent how quick Sonic was. You even felt a bit of lightning get hit on your skin. You didn’t mind it at all, actually, you kind of liked it. It was like a jolt telling you to wake up. That the sun is going to rise up and you don’t want to miss the view. It made things more joyful than they already are. You couldn’t help but giggle. To have your gritted teeth become a grin instead.

“thisssssissssssssssssssss AWESSSSSSSSOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.”

Your heard Sonic laugh. “I know, right?!” his speed boosted up and he kept switching his direction. Making sure to not hit any rocks or trees. It reminded you of those old run-games you used to play on your parent’s phone when you were a kid.

Sonic’s eyes kept glancing around the area, finding the best short-cuts to the Volcano while making sure his grip wasn’t lose enough for you to fall. It only took five minutes to reach it.

Sonic gently put you down and you struggled to find balance. Stumbling and shaking, you didn’t notice the edge of the volcano and tripped. Your heart dropped, feeling fear engulf you as you were about to fall.  Your arms outstretched for a helping hand and Sonic grabbed it. Yourfalling stopped and you were left hanging on the cliff, your only hope being Sonic.

He brings you up and sits you down. Legs hanging off the edge and eyes wide. “You reached the summit?!” you gasped. “I thought we were on the ground!”

“Could you be more careful?!” Sonic sighed.

“Says the guys who didn’t warn me.” you huffed. “How should’ve I’ve known we’d be at the summit?!”

“alright, sorry your highness."  Sonic rolled his eyes. “By the way, you’re welcome for oh, you know, saving your life!”

“After you risked it!”

“Not the point!”

--

Tails had a deep gaze towards the computer. Humming multiple times and looking at it with a puzzled expression. He starts breaking your computer into parts, which you panicked at.

“Don’t worry! I just need to do some modifications, that’s all.”

You doubted the whole situation, but let him continue with his work. After all, he’s the tech genius here. While he was working on the computer, you decided to sit down a few feet away from him. Giving a glance to his work on your now broken apart computer a few times and looking at the boiling red lava beneath you. The lava was high. Too high for its own good. Like it’ll blow up any second. You didn’t understand how calm everyone is with all the risks they face.

‘Maybe they’re just used to it.’ That thought concerned you. They’d have to face it many time to get used to it. You’d think a big portion of the citizens would’ve left by now. But it seemed quite crowded. As if no one has ever left, or can leave.

“All done!” you turned around, seeing the computer now all fixed up. It looked like it’s never been broken to the smallest pieces you’ve ever seen only a few minutes ago. A new part was added as well. An antenna of sorts.

Walking up to Tails, he set the computer on the ground and sat down. Patting the space beside him, he motioned for you to do the same thing. Sitting down on the hard ground once again, you listened carefully as he told you what to do. 

“Ok, so first…”

After a solid twenty minutes spent on what in the world he was doing to your computer for a mere connection to the internet. You finally get in. first thing you notices is how low the bar was on it, only two, sometimes three. Next thing is the million notification that were being blasted on your poor computer. You couldn’t check them now. And probably never. The connection was so low that even one call to Jason took forty minutes of a loading screen.

--

Jason was worried sick. So worried sick that he couldn’t help but knock on the Eclipse Family’s door.

He ignored the butler who eyes him suspiciously and Cameron’s parents who were looking at him disgusted. He only gave a tense glare to Cameron and pointed at the garden outside.

“We need to talk.”

Cameron gulped, beads of sweat already forming on his forehead.  “O-okay.”

The garden was gorgeous. Flowers from peonies to hyacinth, roses with different colors all formed in a satisfying pallet of dark to light, and trees that bared the freshest of fruits. He wasn’t shocked by the scenery, nor was he amazed. He saw the same thing in Louis’ house before, albeit only a handful of times in his birthday only. He was certain that Y/n knew that place like the back of her hand. As if it was her second home. It made things all the more gut wrenching to him.

Cameron was stressed, scared even. He ordered the maids to get some calming tea for both of them. The warm liquid didn’t do anything. It didn’t calm his heartbeat. It didn’t make his guilt go away.

It’s been two days since they’ve heard anything from you. You were supposed to call them the minute you were there. He didn’t know the signal there was that bad. After all, his grandmother told him all the stories his great-great uncle had. He said there was a village there! A village should have a signal, right?

He sipped from his tea for the millionth time now. Not daring to meet Jason’s unwavering glare.

“y-you know…your tea is going to get cold.”

Jason looks at the tea, then at Cameron. He thinned his lips, grabbed the tea and turned it upside down. The steam made a small hiss as it got in contact with the grass beneath them.

“R-right…”

“Cameron,” Jason puts his shoulders on the table. His eyebrows furrowed. “I trusted you.”

“I know…” he sighed. “But I told you both that it was risky! You’re the ones who took it.”

“But you also told us that we could still call!” he bit back. “Now I don’t even know if my sister is alive! Hell, I don’t even know if she reached that place yet! What if she drowned?!”

Cameron looked down, not giving even one more glance to him. “Jason, I get that you’re worried. But it’s not my fault.” Jason frowned at that. “It’s not yours either. This was her own choice. We both told her the risks of this situation, she was the one who accepted it anyway.”

Jason was silent. In deep thought. He knew Cameron was right, but he didn’t want to admit it. He feels responsible for your choice, the one who could’ve changed your mind. Maybe if he helped you with the Louis situation sooner, you wouldn’t hate it here. Maybe if he did hung out with you in the past, you wouldn’t be friends with Louis in the first place. He gave a stressed gulp. Maybe if he hadn’t ignored you for so long, you would’ve been here right now.

“You look tired,” Cameron’s words broke Jason out from his thoughts. “Why don’t you go get some rest? It’ll do you well.” No response. Only more awkward silence. Jason was phased out. Off to a place in his mind. A few moments later, a word was finally spoken.

 “Alright.” He grumbled and got up from his seat. He turned around to the exit, but in a moment, he remembered something and turned around back to Cameron for one last time.

“By the way, do you have any copies of the map you gave Y/n?”

----

Jason came back to his house at the start of noon. Sitting down at his chair with a map in hand, he felt warry of the location Cameron gave you.

He searched it up on google and nothing came up, he tried to look for it in other maps in the library a few hours prior and still nothing. He always knew the Eclipse family were tangled in many historic rumors. Their love and care for people that suddenly disappeared. Their new distaste for people and antisocial behavior that came out of nowhere. They weren’t the most liked ancient family clan for a very long time.

Trying to desperately search for your location, millions of tabs opened, thousands of articles skimmed through just to reach something interesting and slowly but surely, stressing out, he fell out of his chair by seeing the least-expected notification.

Your nickname was on the screen, requesting for a video call. “HolY fucking shit-“he swiftly got up, stumbling a bit while reaching his chair. He felt his nerves go higher than they ever did before. He hoped you were alright, safe and sound. He wished for the best and clicked answer.

“Jason!”

“Y/n! Oh thank god I-“he sighed in relief. Jason’s eyes slowly caught sight of the two very new faces. His eyes became wide saucers and his relieved grin turned into a horrified frown. With one wave from Sonic, he screamed and fell out of his chair yet again.

The two friends behind you seemed unfazed from his reaction, Sonic giving an amused laugh while Tails looking at him with an embarrassed smile. “Jason!” you yelp out in worry. “A-are you okay?!”

Jason backed away and sat on his bed. They weren’t real, right? Those were just customs. Yeah, costumes. Very detailed and life-like costumes that could blink- oh my god, holy shit, they’re blinking and their chest- oh god- they can breathe. His mind tried to reason with him, trying to understand the situation yet it was so confusing.  They looked so real, so alive. He clutched a pillow and used it as some sort of shield. “What the fuck-“he breaths out. “WHAT.THE.FUCK.” his shoulders tense up and he sits uncomfortably still.  “What kind of Disney level costumes is that?!”

“These aren’t costumes buddy.”

“THEY CAN TALK?!”

“I uh-“you gave a sheepish laugh. “I know this might be a lot-“

“Might?!” Jason stressed out. “Of course this is a lot! W-where are you and who in the world are those two?!” he was blown out of his mind. This must be a dream, a delusion his mind formed just to ease him from his worries. Make him think about something else. But why on earth would his mind show those aliens behind her? That doesn’t make him feel calm, that makes him feel even more worried!

“Maybe you should calm down first…” you clutch your arm awkwardly. Trying to find a way to ease your bit startled state. Jason sighs and rubs his temples. He then claps his hands together and takes a deep breath. He talks to himself a bit, telling himself to stop panicking and ease up. “Yeah, I’ll go….” He grumbles. “I don’t know- make some tea or something- wait a few minutes.”

“alrigh—“

“THERE YOU ARE! YOU PATHETIC HEDGEHOG!”

The loud demanding voice made you quickly turn around. Only to be met with a strange sight. A human just like you floating it what seems to be a flying machinery in a circular shape. His most noticeable feature was his mustache that has its right side cut out. Your mind instantly connected the dots. This human was Eggman, the one Sonic stole a piece of hair from. He looked hilarious. Best part was he seemed to be fuming. Offended in what you presumed was what Sonic did yesterday. You couldn’t help but snort and try your best to hide an amused smile. Eggman looked at you and gave a surprised gasp.

“A human?! That can’t be- but I thought-“he stared at you for quite an awkward while. His mind going through billions of thoughts, his expression became sour. “Whatever.” He grumbled away. “That just means more fun for me and more total misery and fear for you!”

“Like hell I’d let you do that Egg-face!” Sonic cracked his knuckled and twisted his neck a bit, with a running stance, he sprinted through and jumped up high. He rolled up and turned into a blue ball of sorts and hit Eggman’s vehicle. Eggman clenched his first and shook it like an old cartoon villain, grumbled and gritted his teeth. “Stop doing that all the time! Do you know how much these cost to repair?!” he gives an affection caress to the vehicle. “You’ll pay for both that and the thievery of my precious mustache!”

“Bots…”

“Ok I’m back—“you panic and turn at the computer. Jason looks at you questionably.

“ATTACK!!!”

Bots who were hidden behind him suddenly went rampant around the place. All targeting Sonic and giving it their all. Tails shakes you a bit. “Come on! We gotta take you to a safe place!” you grab the computer which displayed the very confused Jason in it, got up and followed Tails.

“Um- Jason-“you glance back at the screen and stumbled a bit. “Y/n-“his voice glitched and the screen showed ‘losing connection.’ “w-wh—aat—s ha-a-ppe-nni-ng”

“I’m going to have to call you back! Bye!”

“wai-t—”

You closed the computer and clutched it tightly. Making sure it doesn’t fall to its doom in the pits of lava.  Tails starts working with the tech on his wrists. “Guys! Emergency at the volcano!” he grabs your hand and takes you to his plane. “I’ll have my plane drive you automatically to my house. You should be safe there-“

“Wait— there’s no way I’m leaving you two!” you looked back at Sonic, whom was rounding up all the bots and defeating them with one strong kick. Yet more of them kept approaching. Your heart sank. One small mistake and he could get hurt badly.

“Don’t worry he can manage until everyone gets here.” You frowned at that. “But it’s a two hour walk! He can’t hold them off for that long, he’s outnumbered.”

Tails wanted to say something back, but Sonic’s voice through the watch stopped him. “Uh Tails—“he dodged a blast from Eggman’sbiggest bot “I could use some help here!”

“Y/n just go, please.” With that, Tails sprints and jumps right into the battle.

Did you comply and listen? Fuck no. why would you? They’re people who saved you and you somewhat consider your friends now.(more like half friends, really. the relationship is still in a formal bubble of sorts.) you have to do something in return for all their kindness. Something to prove yourself worthy of their friendship. Worth the help and time consumed in assisting you. With a gulp, you look around the area thoroughly.

The battle was intense on both sides. It challenged the strategizing mind of Eggman and the combat abilities of Sonic and Tails. Bots with all sorts of insect designs were moving around and shooting lasers. A noticeable larger one, which surprisingly wasn’t insect themed, kept targeting Sonic. Trying it’s best to distract him from all the smaller bots blocking his way. Sonic looked confused, offended even. He kept giving a solid kick to the robot and when he wanted to repeat it, the robot simply dodged it. “It’scontinuously learning!” Tails yelled. “We have to find a way to distract it and find its weak spot! If things continue like this, we won’t be able to win.”

Looking back at Eggman, you notice how he kept clicking some sort of controller, his eyes kept glancing back to the battle and the object. Following his gaze, you finally understood his actions.

You noticed a decently big rock right beside you, the smaller stones hiding it from your sight when you first came here. Putting your computer inside the plain and grabbing the rock, you run to the best edge you can find near Eggman, yet also far enough so he wouldn’t notice you.

You looked at the villain with frustrating determination and whispered a wish for it to work. You stepped back a little, you swung your arm as loose as you could and felt the rush of energy course through it. With a blink of an eye, you throw the rock and it hit the controllers in his vehicle rather than the one in his hand. It all worked out though, since the vehicle shook and malfunctioned. Making Eggman panic and release his grip on the controller. The object fell into the blazing lava, leaving the robot still and frozen and Sonic confused. 

“What in the world happening?!” Eggman felt mad, lost. He looks around and sees your awkward gaze, whistling away and acting as if you’ve don’t nothing at all. “How insane can you be?!” he grits his teeth. “I could’ve died! That’s so impressively evil!” he looks away dramatically. “You’re making me jealous.” He sighs.

Sonic smiles and looks back at Eggman. “The jig is up Egg-head! Go away before I kick your butt as usual.” Eggman grumbled, but begrudgingly went back to the vehicle, which was now letting out a gray patch of smoke in its trail. He pushed a few buttons numerous times until it worked and he finally floated up. Albeit with a few stumbles here and there. “I’ll be back Sonic! And next time,” he points at you. “I’ll be giving you a horrible demise as well.”

First day and you’re already making enemies. How great.

----

“So you’re going to stay here?!” Jason looked startled. “Seriously?!” you nodded without a thought, shrugging casually. “Yep. Seems like a fun place.”

“You almost died, Y/n.”

“Don’t see a problem with that’” Jason seemed unamused by your answer. He exhales a breath, his shoulders’ posture was at ease and his mind calmed down. “Well, if you’re safe then, alright.” He shrugs. “Mission accomplished, I guess.”

“Yeah,” you take a deep breath, looking down at the hedgehog that was waiting for your call to end a few feet away. “Mission accomplished.”

With a few small talks and a goodbye, you finally shut down your computer and put it in it’s now incredibly dusty bag. You walked to Sonic and gave him a nod. Soon enough, he held you and ran again. The speed rush was still foreign and exciting but it was much more expected now.

When you finally reached your destination, Amy was waiting for you both. Giving Sonic an annoyed glare which he groaned at.

“We were already half way there! If you knew you could handle it you should’ve told us!” she crossed her arms. Sonic held up his hands in defense. “Ok, first of all— I’m not the one who called you, Tails is.”

“I know that.” Amy looked at him unimpressed. “But that was an emergency team call. Which means you’ve heard all of it. So why didn’t you interfere?”

“I would’ve if I knew what Y/n was planning to do.” He smiled, glancing at you impressed. “She threw a rock right at Eggman!”

“I threw a rock at his vehicle, not at him.” you awkwardly laugh. Last thing you want is for Amy to think you’re some sort of evil bat shit crazy person. “Which he was in.” Sonic grinned. “So technically, right at Eggman.” Amy laughed. “No way!” she pats your shoulder. “Way to go Y/n!”

“t-thanks.” You smiled. You were so confused, you didn’t understand why you were so touched by their praise towards your way, but it felt good. It felt nice to not be doubted, to not be a disappointment to someone.

Amy’s eyes widen a bit and she takes a glance at her house. “What’s wrong Ames?”

“I got an oven to watch over,” she states and walks away. “I’ll see you later Sonic!”

“Yeah, later!” he waves and looks back at you. “Well, see you later Y/n.” he gives you a playful punch in the shoulder. “Good job back there, really. I mean— I could’ve handle it on my own, obviously.” He shrugs and gives a prideful huff. “But still— the extra help was nice. Made things end quicker.”

“Thanks, Sonic. By the way,” your eyes softened and you looked away, trying to find the best most humble words you could give him as a thank you. “Thanks for…you know—“already at an awful start. You cringed at your words. “For saving me yesterday, giving me a liftaaand also saving me again and well— overall,” you put your hands on his shoulders and finally looked at him. He seemed a bit shocked, but quiet. Curious for your next words. Yet you were speechless. You didn’t really know what to say anymore. How can you show your gratitude by words alone? It felt impossible. You give a tense laugh. One which made you calm down and eased you up a bit. “You know, I don’t get why you did it.”

“Did what?”

“Help me.” Your smile falters. “You could’ve just left me there. Or just tell me to go to Mayor Fink and ignore me for the rest of the day. But you didn’t.” you took a breath. “You helped me and stayed beside me until I was safe and had a place to sleep in. and it’s not just you but everyone in your friend group and—“you shook your head astounded “You guys were just so kind to me. I…” you tense up a bit. “I just, haven’t experienced that sort of kindness for a while now…and I don’t understand.” You gave a half-hearted laugh.  “Why would you help a stranger like me?”

Sonic smiled softly and shrugged. “Because that’s what heroes do.”

Chapter Text

It’s been a few days since the whole volcano fiasco.  You decided that it would be best to take a break for a while and try to get to know the island better instead.  That being said, you absolutely did none of that.

Instead, you resulted in sleeping for the longest hours of the day. At first it was out of exhaustion but now, it’s purely due to your own boredom and concern. You didn’t even know where to begin with. The village? You’d get lost on your way. The beach? Nothing interesting there. The forest? Too dangerous, supplies would be needed.

A tour to the village would be nice and insanely helpful. But you didn’t want to bother the others again. Giving them request after request was even making you feel tired.

Since you’ve been staying here for some time, you decided to help Amy out with chores, in which she continuously rejected your help. You didn’t really know why she refused, but hoped it was anything but her thinking you were useless. She wasn’t one for talking, either. Whenever you did speak to her, she was rather formal with it. As if she was a staff working in a hotel. Conversations never revolved around her. And if they did, she’d quickly skip them and bring up something entirely different. There was this one time you asked what her hobbies were, and she countered back with what are yours. After you finished speaking, she left it at that. No answers from her and many answers from you. You didn’t understand it, did she hate you? That question always bugged you.

Sitting down on the pink comfy couch, you starred at the mindless TV program and didn’t move an inch. Too lazily entranced by it to do anything. A sudden click of a door made you turn your head around. You saw Amy, who puts a purse on her shoulders and clutches its strap. A tilted head and a rose brow later, you let your curiosity take the best of you, again. “Where are you gonna go?” it wasn’t uncommon for Amy to leave from time to time. She frequently visits her friends or defeats villains, which meant a continuous schedule of leaving the house at least two times each day. You were really surprised by how busy she was. Heck, even though this daily job of hers is already taking up most of her time, she still has the energy to put on classes for others every weekend! Sometimes it was some therapeutic class and other times it was something related to artistic hobbies. Goodness, she has so much to do all the time…you wondered if you could ever handle such a lifestyle. Probably not.

“I think you mean,” she smirks and hands you a paper. Looking at it, you felt shocked by seeing the hand-drawn map of the town. “Where are wegoing.” She grins. 

It seems like Amy has already read your mind from the start. Offering a tour of the whole village and a meal at a restaurant called Meh Burger, as amusing as that name was. “The quality of the food there is just meh.” She shrugged, not noticing your chuckle at her words. ‘At least they’re honest’you thought. Rolling her eyes, she suddenly sighed. “The customer service is horrible though.” She turned left as you followed.The path to the village was surprisingly not that hard to find. There were signs every thirty steps or more telling you which way to go next. The only thing you had to do is look around the beach for a while until you notice the first sign. You absolute clown, you could’ve easily done this by your own. You felt the urge to face-palm, but decided to merely scoff at your own behavior.After a few chit chats of the places she’d show you, you finally reached the village.

Eyes, eyes were all on you. And they all looked either shocked or horrified. One of them, a white and brown cat, looked at you with downright disgust and judgement. When you first came here, you thought they were the aliens. But it’s clear now who truly is odd one out here. They probably considered you some weird fever dream. One that they’ll forget quickly and will never see again. But no, it seemed like you’d be a part of the Island as well too. The cat and an old mouse seemed uneasy at that thought. The cat wanted to walk up to you, but was stopped by the furious glare of Amy and a weak grip from the grandmother on his shoulder. He grumbled and stayed put.

You felt frozen in place, too overwhelmed by the awkward silence to take one more step. But if you wanted to stay here, than you just have to accept this sort of reaction from now on. You’d choose this over the whole Louis thing any day. Taking a deep breath, you eased up your tense shoulders and pointed at the library. “Let’s go there first.”

The Library was a decent size for one in a small village. Not too big and not too small. A big sign was on top of its door, a drawing of an opened book with the library’s name on it. It felt like a video game of sorts, where you look around the place and can easily guess what is what by their signs. Book equals library, flowers meant a flower shop and an animal on it meant pet shop. Although, you’ve only seen the library for now. You wondered what other shops the village had. ‘Please have a pet shop or animal clinic.’ You prayed.

Going inside, your eyes meet the common rows of books that is expected in any library. “Why did you choose the library?” Amy asked. “Are you a bookworm?” You took a moment to reply, silently browsing the books in the fantasy section. Eyes finding a book with an awful resemblance of one you haven’t seen in ages. “Not really.” you mumbled. “I did like reading fantasy books, but I stopped at some point.” You shrugged. Amy grabbed a book merely few shelves away from the one your eyes were glued on. She hummed in acknowledgement as she read the summary. Opening the book and flipping through a few pages while continuing the conversation.  “why’s that?”

You went silent. Hand slowly reaching the book and giving it a single touch. Yet your mind was already filled with memories.

The glee you felt was infinite. It didn’t seem to cease one bit. It only overflowed from your heart and made you squeal in joy. Little eleven year old fingers flipped through the pages. Stopping at any part that had an art work featured in it. The main character, a girl names Cecilia, was your favorite character at that time. A passionate adventurer who decides to cross the seas and find mermaids to ask them a question. In the end of the whole book series, she not only found out they exist, but she also found love with one of their kind and realized she was a half-mermaid as well. She was who you wanted to be in life. Who you yearned to be. Passionate, kind hearted and a love for adventure.it still saddens you to remember how it got ripped to shreds that same night.

You inspect the book in hand. The premise was like the Cecilia one, but this time on space and the main character was an anthropomorphic wolf. With a hum, you shut the book and put it back in the shelf.

Searching the rest of the library, you concluded that Tails was telling you the truth before. There really isn’t any information about humans around here, especially the library. All books were made by the town’s folks themselves and all history books were about something called ‘The Ancients’. Something that upon reading, you realized you have never heard about in the world outside the village either. The book was so heavy too…and upon reading a few pages only, you were shocked by all the impressive works they’ve done. And yet, you’ve never heard a thing about them from the human history books. Weird.

Amy was patiently waiting for you a few bookshelves away, silently waiting for you to finish up. There it is again, the invisible wall she created for you and herself. You wondered if she’d come around and ask you anything, maybe about what you’re reading or where you wanted to go next. Or even better, maybe she’d finally start talking about herself after weeks of silence. Damn, you really wanted to be friends with her. Grumbling away and putting back the history book in the shelf, you found yourself feeling quite hungry now. Curiously, you looked at the clock and realized it was already two pm. ‘we’ve been here for two hours?!’ ahh fuck. She’s been waiting over there for two hours?! Why hasn’t she said anything?! In a bit of a panic, you went up to her in a quick walk and apologized for the long stay, which she said it was fine and that there’s no need to be sorry. “You know, you could’ve told me it was getting late.” you both walked out the door. Amy shrugged and started leading you down another path. “Why would I? You’re my guest!” she smiled.

“But—“

“Here we are!” that fast? You looked around and noticed the place she was pointing too. Meh Burger, where everything tastes meh. Soon, attention from the conversation was now directed to the fast-food burger place. Seats were perched up right in front of the counter where a small line was formed for ordering. The ground looked awfully dusty with only one spot in the back end corner that seemed clean. Reading the sign in front of it all, you noticed the half drawn star that was drawn in the bored with other, albeit empty in color, four other stars.

“Don’t worry, me and the others always come here to eat! And look at us, we’re completely healthy and fit.” Her reassuring smile falters a bit. “….for now.”

Not really comforted by her words, you gave a half-hearted nod. “Amy! Y/n!” a familiar fox waved his hands excitedly at you two. The whole team was sitting together. You haven’t seen everyone for a while. Especially Sticks and Knuckles, which you haven’t interacted with at all after the first day here. They motioned for you to come over and sit down with them.

“It’s a bit surprising to see you here, Y/n.”  Knuckles looked a bit shocked. Intrigued even. “Thought it’d take you more time to get used to everything.” Well, it’s already been weeks, almost a month at this point. “I’m not that scared of everything.” You joked. “I was just shocked, you know?”

“She’s right, Knucks.” Sonic suddenly spoke. “She’s actually way cooler than we thought.” He gave an amused smile. “I mean, come on, she threw a rock at Eggman right at the first day she saw him!” Sticks and Knuckles gave an impressed look and laughed at that. They started asking for all the details in what happened, curious to know how much of a fright did you give Eggman. You excitedly started explaining everything that happened on that fateful day.

Unbeknownst to you and the others, Amy kept giving Sonic a puzzled glare. Confused by his sudden, completely out of character action. Yet, she did feel quite happy about the shift in tone at the table. It felt warm and homey again, as if the group is slowly starting to accept your presence and this moment, is the first step to it.

When Sonic gets up to pay for the order this time, Amy gets up as well, giving the excuse of wanting to order for you and her while waiting with Sonic. “I can go order for you if you want.” Sonic says, which Amy shook her head at. “Nope, actually, I wanted to talk to you about something along the way.” Sonic suddenly gives a bored sigh. Eyebrows furrowing and a tired frown getting into his face. “Amy, if this is about that poetry club of yours—“Amy gave an angered groan at that and took him by the hand, forcing him to just come with him to the line rather than complaining all day.

The line was quite long this time. Probably because it was right at the time people would usually order here. Lunches at Meh Burger were always the busiest of times there, but also it’s the time where the food is at its best. There are no more leftovers from yesterday left at noon. They all go out at the morning, but are made fresh again at this time. As Amy were endless rows and rows behind from the cashier, it gave them plenty of time to talk.

“Why did you do it?” Amy asked, making Sonic give her a confused hum. “Do what?”

“Talk about her attack at Eggman. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice but…it isn’t what you’d usually do…you know?” the line moved a bit forward and so did them. “You always like taking the credit in battles. I mean you do mention us- but it’s always after you praise yourself and all so it’s just- it’s just so weird that you praised her immediately.” Sonic merely shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t know much about her.” He pointed out. “But I really wanted to make her feel like she’s welcome to be our friend, you know?” he suddenly gives a huff of confusion. “I’m actually surprised, I thought she’d warm up to us by now.”

Amy’s eyebrow rose in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Well— you’re her friend, right?” Amy jolts in guilt at that. “I thought you’d invite her to go out weeks ago.”

“…”

Noticing the silence, Sonic suddenly turns around to her with a perplexed look. “Ames...you are friends with her...right?”

Amy looks at the ground with guilt, ignoring his shocked gaze. “Do you hate her?”

“What?!” her gaze immediately shifts to him at that. “Of course not!” she quickly brings that question to the ground and burns it with her firm tone. “I’m just…I’m…” she sighs and gulps down her pride. “…scared.”

“Scared?” he repeated. “Of what?”

“Of her not liking me.” Her gaze turned around the table they left. Knuckles seemed to be telling a story, a joke was brought up and they all laughed. Sonic stood there in silence, not wanting to interrupt her possible rant. “I’ve been giving her this formal host façade for way too long...after a week, it felt like I can’t be normal around her. I’m afraid of her judging me.”

“Ames, she wouldn’t judge you. come on, look!” he points to the table, as her gazes meets it again, she sees Sticks speaking passionately about something, probably about aliens or mind controlling robots in TVs while y/n was happily listening. “Does she really seem like the type?”

“No...But still!” the line moves forward again and so do they. “What if she doesn’t like who I am?! Won’t it get awkward in the house?!”

“I doubt that.” he starts preparing his money for the payment. “You’re barely in the house anyway, so she’ll just treat you like a roommate.”Sonic is only one person away for it becoming his turn and before it is, he turns around and looks at Amy seriously. “Give her a chance Amy. I’m sure you two will get along well.”

As he paid and left, Amy was left alone with the only employee in the whole restaurant. She distracted herself from her thoughts by ordering the regular she has and a normal meh burger and fries for you. As he brought the order, she stared at it unimpressed.

“This is the not so fishy sandwich.” She points to the burger with a fish, which by the way, has its head still on them with only two buns between it. “So?” the boy scoffs. She looks at him with thinned lips and a slightly disappointed glare. “It’s not what I ordered?” the fish starts to move. “And it’s still alive?!”

“Dave, please just give me what I ordered this time.” She sighed, her hands on her shoulders and her patience thinning. “I’m on my break.” The intern retorts and completely ignored her now. Getting away from the girl and back at the console and video game he placed at the kitchen a few months ago.

“Ugh!” Amy stomps her feet. She looks at the tray and huffs. Noticing that they’ve at least got your order right, she begrudgingly takes it.  She comes back at the table with an angry sigh and places the tray down with a slight bit of too much force. Her anger didn’t go unnoticed by any of you.  “What’s wrong, Amy?” you asked and take a glance at the tray. The fish starts moving its tail and you all gave a shocked gasp. She points at the fish. “This, alive and smelly fish is not my order. But the oh so great Dave the Intern,” she grumbles when getting to his name. “Said that he’s suddenly on a break and can’t change it!”

“Wow, so that’s what you meant by bad customer service.” The fish started moving again and you flinched. “Didn’t know it be this bad though…”

She sighs and took the not so fishy burger out of the tray, then proceeded to move the tray closer to you. “They got your order right though.” She mentioned, taking one fry out of the tray and taking a bite. “Try it.”

The burger didn’t look super fresh, but it didn’t look old either. Your guess was that it was cooked probably one or two hours ago. Taking the burger, you finally took a bite.

It was as meh as it can get. Nothing you’d spit out of disgust, but not something you’d eat everyday either. The meat was slightly too chewy, the tomatoes were way too soft and the bread was a bit too dry, making even the slightest bit of hard grip make it leave crumbs all over the place. “Do you like it?” Tails asked.

“It sure does live up to its name.” you put the burger down. “It’s edible and that’s good enough. But, I’d choose Amy’s cooking over this any day.” Amy smiles and thanks you. “Anyone’s cooking is better is better than here though.” She looks at the fish angrily. “Not even Sonic can make a fish burger this badly.”

“Hey! My cooking isn’t so bad!”

“You burned soup!”

“That was a onetime thing!”

Tails looked at him unimpressed. “You once mistook brown sugar for burnt sugar.”

“Oh come on! The cookies were still edible!”

Sticks crossed her arms. “You made a smoothie out of chili dogs.”

“That was for me only and by the way- that actually tasted incredible!”

“So you agree that the cookies were extremely bad, right?” Knuckles retorts. “That’s not— Ughhh.” Sonic gives up. Staying silently embarrassed as the whole group chuckles. 

The whole group falls into different chats, leaving you and Amy in complete silence. You take the chance to continue the conversation. “I’m being honest though. You could seriously make a way better restaurant than what Meh Burger has.” You take a fry and dislike it’s hot on out and cold on inside texture. “Anything you make is ten times better than this.”

“Yeah…you’re right...” Amy thinks for a bit, deep in thought. Soon, she smiles and nods her head in approval. “Then it’s settled.” You were confused by her statement. “I’m making my very own restaurant!”

---

The day passed by quickly, after food, you went and looked around the place in the village. You felt relieved by seeing a pet shop, but were confused on why there were no animal clinics around. Ifthe people have pets, surely they’d need a vet.

Amy’s restaurant plan immediately started the very next day. Taking this as an opportunity to bond with her, since you were the one who suggested it after all, you went out and found an old abandoned restaurant from years ago. The mayor said it wasn’t used for the longest of times and could use a coat of fresh paint. “I have to say, it’s quite unfortunate.” he walked in the small building. “They just announced putting it up for rent yesterday. If they did that any sooner, I could’ve given it to you Miss L/n.”

“Why not just give it to her now?” Amy asked. “Well…we already started construction on the house and have already lost way too much money to just cancel the whole project, so…”

“It’s fine.” You reply, taking a few cleaning supplies from outside. “I’m just happy to have somewhere to live. Anyway, let’s get started on cleaning—“

“Ahahah!” Amy takes away the supplies from your hand. “You go rest. I’ll take care of this.”  You frown a bit, getting a grip of the broom and making her listen. “Why? Do you…think I won’t be helpful?” you’ll admit, you were a bit stressed for the answer. You didn’t like feeling useless. You didn’t like feeling pathetic all over again. Amy has done much for you, you didn’t want her to think you’re a burden. You didn’t want to be a burden. 

Amy was silent, scared on how to answer. She can’t let you see her in a bossy mood. Something she usually is while trying to work with others. Others found it annoying, what if you do to? She looks into your eyes, the worry seemed endless. The unspoken silence made you both frown and feel uncomfortable. For you, the answer was obvious. She did think you were useless.

“Well, this is awkward to watch.” Fink suddenly spoke. He clear his throat and puts the keys on the counter. He fixes up his coat a bit and starts walking away. “Just don’t forget to pay for it every once a month. Ehh” he gives you two an awkward stare, seeing how you both still looked sad and puzzled. “….yeah…bye.”

“I don’t think you’re useless.” Amy speaks through the silence. She’s looking anywhere but your gaze. “I just didn’t want to bother you. That’s all.” That’s half the truth, but she’s sure that’s enough to say. “It won’t be a bother for me.” Your tone was determined, reassuring. “I want to help you Amy. It was my idea after all.” She contemplates for a bit, but gives in and sighs. “Fine. You can help.”

---

From cleaning the whole place in one day, from taste testing food for on the next,which was the best part of the whole thing, you started helping Amy much more than she anticipated. Amy decided that the restaurant will serve sandwiches in different varieties and a signature sauce, which was called the Amy sauce. It was a pink neon colored sauce and its taste had a balanced sweetness to it while having a ting of tomatoes in it. It looked more like liquid than sauce too. Drinks will also be served, going from the basic lemonade to a signature Amy special that was basically a pink lemonade with strawberries in it.

Next was the staff, you volunteered to help of course, but more staff was needed in order for it to be ‘better than Dave the Intern could ever imagine’ as Amy said. Thankfully, the gang had nothing better to do at all, so they agreed to help Amy with the restaurant and by tomorrow, everything will be ready for the opening of Chez Amy!

“You know,” right now, everything was quite peaceful. The village was nicely quiet and the sign that would be put outside was coming along nicely. You were doodling a sketch of Amy on the side with the pink and cream chalk while Sonic was going to write down Chez Amy and today- well actually tomorrow-‘s special with the white and yellow one. “Eggman’s been awfully quiet.” He starts on scribbling the words down slowly, as if making sure no mess ups happen. “Hasn’the attacked two weeks ago?”

“Yeah, he did, but—“Sonic was in deep thought, and his posture looked confused and uncomfortable. “He always attacks every two days. That’s the limit. Two weeks gave already passed from his last attack…” he starts staring at a mountain. “....I wonder what he’s planning.”

“Maybe he’s just tired.” He scoffs at that. “Eggman? Tired of being evil?” he laughs a bunch, completely ignoring his task at this point. “Like that’ll ever happen.” You tilt your head in curiosity. “Does he like attacking that much?”

“I don’t really know.” Sonic shrugs. “But if I had to guess, I’d say it’s not the attacking he likes, but it’s the fighting instead.”

“The guy just really likes being evil.” Sonic finally goes back to his work. Writing the ‘M’ in the most appealing way possible. “At least he’s doing what he likes most.” You hummed and Sonic got curious. “Say, have you thought of any jobs yet?”

“I have one in mind,” one you went to a way too expensive school for. One you truly do love doing, but its number two in the list of things you wanted to be. The number one is obvious. “After Amy’s restaurant kicks off, I’ll leave and try to find some work in a pet shop.”

“You like animals?” you nodded at that. “I’m actually a vet.”

“Whoa, really?” Sonic was shocked. You didn’t really seem like the type to be a vet— actually, now that he thinks about it, he really barely knows a thing about you to guess anything. He didn’t expect you to throw a rock at Eggman, but you did. He didn’t expect you be a vet and possibly an animal lover, but you are. He found himself rather curious about you, the human girl who got stranded in an Island with only one human and a whole other species in it.

“What’s your favorite animal?” he asked and you excitedly answered. “What are yours?” you asked back. With a grin, he gives a cheeky answer. “Hedgehogs.” You giggled, giving him a playful punch in the shoulder. “Do you like chili dogs?”

Thinking a bit, you gave a surprised hum. “Actually, I don’t think I ever had one.” All movements of his fingers stopped, his eyes went wide, horrified by the unreal news. ”you. Never. Had. A. CHILI DOG?!”

“Uh…nope.”

“Seriously?!” he gasped. “Not even once?!”

“Not even once.”

“Your life must be miserable!” he stresses out. “Nonono- not friend of mine is gonna be left out from this masterpiece experience.” He suddenly gets up and dust offs his gloves. “Let’s take a break and—“

“SONIC T.HEDDGEHOG,” all hell seemed break loose. You both flinched from the sudden scream and looked back at its source, an angry pink hedgehog just a few thirty feet away with the yellow fox, holding millions of grocery bags in hand.” YOU BETTER NOT DITCH YOUR JOB!” Amy screamed. “YOU PROMISED TO DO ALL THE TASKS I GAVE YOU BY 10 O CLOCK! AND YOU’RE STILL ON THE FIRST TASK!”

Sonic gives a scared laugh and looks at you sheepishly. “Heh…guess it just has to wait.”

---

“Alright everyone, present your spatulas!” standing in a line, you all do as your pink hedgehog boss tells you. She walks down to each and every one of you, all were wearing hats with Chez Amy’s logo on it, all except Sonic, who said it’d ruin his street cred and pride.

“Sticks, that’s not a spatula and you know it.” Sticks sighs and begrudgingly puts the boomerang away and takes out her spatula. “We’re going to show the customers something that they always wanted! Good customer service and a welcoming environment! And our motto is…” she comes to a halt in her walk and thinks for a bit. Suddenly, she turns around to the crowds of people who were merely a few feet away, walking down to meh burger without a care. “At least we know what you ordered!”

“Come on in to Chez Amy for a brand new and better experience!” she shouts. People’s head turns around in an instant and they all look at the place in awe. Within a blink, a tsunami of crowds go through the door and you’re all left a bit flabbergasted by the sudden wave. “Come on! Let’s get there orders quickly!”

“You heard the boss, let’s go!” Sonic zooms in as quickly as a light. You all soon followed and worked to bring the best experience or at least, a better experience than the horrible one Meh Burger was giving. A few hours in and work was already going extremely well. Everyone was leaving satisfied and new customers coming in more excited than the last. Sonic was writing down the orders, you were cleaning the tables and washing the dishes while Sticks and Knuckles serve the food and Tails and Amy serve the drinks.

The atmosphere was fun, everyone seemed to get accustomed to your presence and everyone seemed to enjoy the food, and especially the signature Amy sauce and drinks. With more hours passed by, the more you noticed how Amy was bossy to the others but very stiff with you. As if she was trying to stop herself from being that way around you. It gets more awkward with every passing minute and at this point, everyone is noticing it. “Hey, Sonic,” you tapped the blue blur’s shoulder, grabbing his attention as he slides another paper filled with orders to the kitchen. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” He shrugs. Not really paying attention to the conversation as he takes the mop and starts cleaning the ground quickly in super speed. You looked down the ground in sadness and worry. Giving a glance to Amy, you see her being bossy around the others and Tails gave a remark. One that made her grumble and roll her eyes and give him a playful punch on the shoulder. She seemed happy, she seemed comfortable.  “Am I…a bother to Amy?” the mop almost fell from his hands. “What—“his attention finally shifts to you. “What makes you say that?”

“Well— she just acts so different around me!” you take the mop from him and start cleaning up the dirty spots instead… “And she seems so comfortable around you guys! And it’s not like ‘oh it’s just normal unfamiliarity vibes’ it’s more like—” With every word you were saying, your pace seemed to quicken ” ‘ there’s a gigantic invisible wall she created between us for weeks now and its getting bigger and bigger while showing more concerning cracks and I don’t know what to do anymore I want to be her friend but if she doesn’t want me being her friend than that’s okay but I wish she would just tell me because I’m so confused now and she’s being weird when I wanna help her but she doesn’t want me helping but I really don’t know why and it’s making everything awkward now and—“

“okayyy slow down!” he takes the mop away from you. The poor thing was dry from all the soaked up water it had. Sonic uses his super speed and brings up a ‘wet floor’ sign on the spot you cleaned and puts the mop away. “First of all,” he sits you down on one of the empty chairs. “Amy doesn’t hate you. If she did, she wouldn’t have been that okay with you helping. She’s not uncomfortable with you being around either she’ just….yeah she’s uncomfortable.” Your eye widened, worry and guilt take over you. Sonic soon puts a comforting hand in your shoulder. “But not in the way you think!” you looked at him with a rose brow. “She isn’t uncomfortable because she doesn’t want to be friends with you…she’s uncomfortable because she wants you to think she’s the best and be friends with her at the same time.”

“She doesn’t want you to see her flaws.” He concludes and gives a comforting oat on your shoulder.

“Sonic! I need more Amy sauce at table six!”

“On it!” Sonic stands up and gives you a nod before leaving you alone. The info dump was not something you expected. But it wasn’t unwelcomed either. Although your mind was at ease on finally knowing what’s going on, you still felt a bit sad about it all. How the hell were you going to get through to her? You’ve been trying to show her you can be her friend and help her out for weeks now. She just doesn’t seem to budge.

“Tails! Take out the trash.” Amy shouts while giving a table their order. “kinda busy right now!” the fox shouts back, eyes focused on the broken blender. “But everyone else is busy too!” she panics a bit. “If we don’t take the trash out now the smell is going to be all over the place and—“

“I’ll do it.” You didn’t even wait for her to agree, you swiftly took the bags and them up, holding the heavy garbage and walking your way through the backdoor exits in the kitchen. “W-wait but—“

“No buts Amy!” you give her a smile. “I’m a part of the staff too. I gotta help out.”

--

Walking down the path to the nearest garbage bin has never been this adventurous.

While on your way back to the place, you heard a whimper. Quickly turning around toits direction, you notice a dog in pain. It’s owner, which was a grey bunny with a few small spots of white fur around her body, one noticeably on her eye as well, looked at the poor dog in worry. She seemed to be inspecting his eyes, you soon noticed her gasp.

“Oh my god! It’s all swelled up!” the dog whimpers a bit again and looks away. Its eyes kept blinking and squinting, making tears come down from the swollen eye. With a quick, determined feeling rushing through you, you walk down to the two and start to speak. “Hey there,” the bunny seemed shocked by your presence. “I’m a vet, I can help!” you looked down at the dog, then glanced at the bunny again. “May I?”

She was still shocked by your last statement. As if the world around her shifted. Finally noticing your patiently waiting figure, she nods her head excitedly. “Y-yes of course! Go on!” Looking at the dog, you could immediately notice the problem. The Chow Chow’s left eye was all red and swollen. Humming a bit, you looked at the owner again. “I don’t have a place so I can examine him… nor do I know if this place has any medicine’s for animals…is he allergic to anything?”

“No, not really. Not that I’ve seen at least.” You looked at the poor dog in sympathy. You really need to start working here soon. “Alright, I suggest going to your usual vet then, I don’t have much information about cutie over here to give anything to him. I can only give some homemade remedies that might help.”

“Please do!” the girl begged. “You’re the first vet I met in ages! The village hasn’t had one for the longest of times!” what??? Huh??? Did you hear that right?? Well, that’s…interesting. Ignoring your shocked thoughts, you nod once again and tell her all the remedies she could try at home. You told her to go home immediately, the cute Chow Chow needed to be treated quickly. And if those remedies didn’t work after a day, she’ll come to you immediately and you’ll both find a place where you can do an actual examination on him.

Going back, you suddenly heard a loud gramophone voice only a few steps away from you, looking around, you noticed that it’s from none other than Meh Burger. “Step right up to experience the all new drive through feature in Meh Burger.”

Merely a few seconds after that and crowds from Chez Amy and other shops around you sprint to the place. Amy came out of the restaurant with a mad grumble and a messy hair and hat, which was probably because of the quick uncaring sprints from everyone second prior. “NONE OF YOU HAVE CARS!!!” she screamed, but everyone ignored.

“It’s okay Amy,” Tails tried to comfort. “It’s just a stupid gimmick. People will get over it quickly.” Amy took a deep breath and fixed herself up. “You’re right Tails,” she smiled. “People will get over it soon when I show them my stupid gimmick!”

 Tails gave a slight panicked expression. “That’s not what I meant! “All fell on deaf ears as Amy walked to the rivaling restaurant.

“Hey everyone!” all attention shifted from Dave to Amy. “I am announcing that from here on out, every customer will have an exclusive Chez Amy…err—“she looks around the ground and picks up a rock. “Magic fun lump!”  The crown goes wild and sprints right into the restaurant again.

--

‘Magic Fun Lump’ or what it is usually known for, a rock, has been something you started to really fucking hate. Rocks should never be given as a gift, especially to children. Children especially at the age of six to eleven, are the cruelest little gremlins on earth and their mischief was bright as ever today.

Rocks, actual goddamn hard rocks were being thrown at all of you. No child was giving mercy and no parent was stopping them! Worst part was, Amy wasn’t stopping it either. She was too caught up trying to make the customers stay to notice any of the problems. She was becoming way bossier to the others too. And this time, it definitely wasn’t just because it was her personality. Things were seriously going out of hand with the amount of daily customers, the amount of rocks being thrown and the constant stress Amy was giving everyone was putting them on edge.

Cleaning up the windows, you noticed the infamous Dave the Intern starting up some sort of big toy gun. The shape reminded you of one Jacob used to have, but this time ten times bigger. The giant gun had a burger logo attached to the gun, which made you all the more curious on how it worked. Soon, Dave pulls the trigger and aims at one of the villagers close by. A burger fell right in their opened mouth. “What the fuck?” you gasped.He could’ve don’t literally anything else, but choose the most insane option instead. Shocking part of it all, was how much people genuinely enjoyed it. They all sprinted to the boy and starting asking for a shot of burger in their mouth as well. Soon, someone came in Chez Amy and announced the exciting news and everyone got up from their seats and left.

Amy was silent, too silent. She soon started stomping down to the kitchen with infinite mumbles about revenge. You wanted to go comfort her, but Sticks hand on your shoulder and shook on her head told you everything. It’s best to let her get it all out of her system.

---

Oh man, you really should’ve interfered.

You all stared at the blackboard in front of you in pure silence. Horrified, concerned, silence.  Amy started explaining every little detail in her plan. Something about a full on tactic to get the customer’s food right into their stomach, which made absolutely no sense at all. Sonic was the first to try and stop her. “Ames, this is getting way out of hand.” He crosses his arms. “You’ve lost complete sight on why you were doing this in the first place.

Amy turned around quickly and brought in the most unhinged tone you’ve heard from her. “I’m doing this because ruin Dave the Intern’s career.” She grits her teeth.”To show him what the customers wants from a restaurant! You don’t have to know what they want, oh no nono. you have to know what the need and I do! Decent food, a clean place AND A WARM. HAPPY.WELCOMING SMILE!”

“…”

“This is nuts.” Sticks breaks the silence. Sonic motions to her and gives a look of agreement. Soon, everyone leaves the place and you were left with a silently angry Amy.

Sticks is right, this has gone out of hand. But you couldn’t help but feel bad for Amy. Were her goals now way out of hand? Yes, absolutely. But can you leave? Nope. Not at all. You’d feel horrible. After everything Amy has done for you, why would you leave? And anyway, you wanted to become her friend, so maybe gently telling her to please stop this and get some rest would help.

“Hey Amy…” you gently give her a tap on the shoulder. She ignored your voice and started planning away on the board. “I think you should take some rest...you know…this is getting way out of hand.” Amy stood silent for a few moments. “So you agree with them?” you tilt your head at that. “What do you mean?”

“Do you think I’m annoying?” she grips her ruler tightly. “Do you think I’m not doing what’s right? Do you think my idea for a general good will intended want of just believing that the customer deserve respect and good food is bad? That it’s stupid?!”

“What?! No! Of course not! I just—“

“goddamnit Y/n!” you flinched at that tone. Your blood freezing as the familiar words echoed through your brain. “Why can’t you just let me be the best host I can be for you?! a proper lady needs to let her host have fun, relax as much as they can and not interfere with personal matters and you’re making that so hard to do!” she shrieks. Her head stressing out from all the pressure. “Why do you have to be so useless in this?! Just be a guest! Act happy and don’t interfere!”

An uncomfortable silence took over the room. You felt an uncomfortable déjà vu from the whole thing. You felt bad, you felt hurt. You looked at her with a guilty frown. “I’m sorry. I really am.” Amy’s expression faltered. “I just…” you shook your head and gave a sad scoff. “ I don’t know anymore.” Your eyes seemed dazed, in memory land. Before Amy could utter another word, you gave a shaky smile. “I’ll leave now…I won’t be in your way again. I promise.”  You slowly grabbed your hat and put it down on one of the tables. With a sigh, you left the place and Amy to her plans.

“goddamnit Y/n!” your mom screamed. Looking at broken vase with the most maddening of glares. “Why can’t you just be normal?! I told you to stop running around so much!” you looked away in guilt, hands clutching the fabric of your clothes out of shame. The day was a very stressful one for your mom. She came back from work exhausted and frustrated with some project that wasn’t going well. Rather than taking it out healthily by talking to others, or taking a proper break and telling your dad to make dinner instead, she simply puts it all up in a bottle safe within her heart and kept working. Working till she passed out. At times like this, even the smallest things would irk her. And most of the time, all those small things were just by your extreme excitement over your hobbies, which she really disliked.

“This isn’t some old ancient ruin or a forest! You shouldn’t be running around like a madman.” She bites her lip in frustration. She takes a deep breath and rubs her temples. “I-I’m sorry, mom.” You said in a shaky tone. “I-it was an accident. I was just excited.”

“Over what?” she scoffed. “Don’t tell me,” she suddenly groans. “Was it over that stupid book of yours?” you looked away in shame, which gave her all the answers she needed. “Ugh, seriously Y/n, these books have a horrible effect on you. They’re making you go wild.” They were making you happy, they were making you feel excited. Was that such a bad thing?

On the very same night, after you came back from the shower, you noticed your book missing. After drying up, you went down to search for it and went completely speechless. The book was ripped to shreds and put into the garbage can. Staring at it, as if it was a murder scene, you felt a shiver of cold run through your back as your mother’s hands were placed on your shoulders. “There,” she gave a smile. “Now you won’t go so wild anymore.”  Tears slipped from your eyes as you stared at the book you spent so long waiting for, so long ranting about and so long asking the library staff for its publishing and shipping dates. “Oh come on! Don’t cry! I did you a favor.” Her reassuring voice felt like venom through your ears. She gave your shoulders a tight squeeze. “Now you’ll stop acting so useless.”

It’s been two days. You haven’t left your room at all until Amy was working and slipped back into the room when she came back. No words were spoken, no one has seen the other, but both were well aware of their presence. You didn’t really talk much to the rest, either. Today Tails did offer to hang out a bit with the gang at the beach, but you politely refused. not really feeling up to socializing after everything that happened.

You didn’t want your relationship with Amy to be like this, but you didn’t want to forget about this like it was nothing either. You believe she should apologize, not only to you, but to everyone else as well. That day she went nuts, nuts enough to scream about who she really sees you as. A guest. A guest who’s not doing their role as one.

From the news, you got the latest scoop of the two fighting restaurants. For the first day after everyone left, Eggman announced his cooperation with the restaurant and on today he attacked and Chez Amy officially closed down.Whether his intentions were evil from the start or not, was something you’ll probably never get to know. Definitely not with how cold your relationship with Amy has gotten.

With a sigh, you turned off the TV. You didn’t really feel like sleeping. Too much was on your mind. The sound of waves soared through your ears, and you found yourself entranced by its melody yet again. You walked out of the house and sat in the sandy beach. All your toes were feeling the strange, yet familiar, texture of sand and your pajamas weren’t giving you much warmth. But you didn’t care. You sat down anyway and looked at the Blue Ocean and starry sky and how they molded with each other perfectly. As if they were meant to be. A few minutes in and you were already in a hypnotized state. Thoughts and memories kept showing up, your eyes were paying attention to the waves like it was the only thing that mattered. you didn’t care one bit about all the time that has past and the air that was becoming increasingly chillier.

“You could get a cold, you know.”

Amy’s voice made you flinch. You felt a blanket suddenly get thrown on your shoulders. Slowly, you take the blanket and wrap it around yourself in silence. Amy gazes to the ocean and sighs. She sits down next to you.

A brief moment passes by with only the ocean’s wave singing. “I’m sorry.” she said firmly. You finally, after two whole days, look at her. She seemed puzzled and ashamed. Embarrassed by her own actions. “I shouldn’t have treated you that way. I shouldn’t have said those untrue things about you.”

Your turn your head around to the sand. Seeing how the small seashells kept getting in the sea then out. “I don’t want you to see me as a guest.” You speak up. “I want you to see me as your roommate, your friend. I’m not your guest and you’re not my host. If you don’t want me as a friend—“

“I do want you as a friend!”

You swiftly turn your head around to her. “Then why are you so hesitant anytime I try to bond with you?” she stayed silent as that. You frowned and looked away.

“I’m hesitant…because I’m scared.” Amy fiddled with a seashell covered in sand.“I’m scarred that you’ll hate me.”  Your eyed widen a bit and you look at her in pure shock. “Why would I hate you?!”

“I don’t know!” she freaks out a bit. “I’m bossy, I’m annoying and I have way too many hobbies. Andyou- you just seem so happy and okay with the me I show you as a host and…I don’t want that cool image of me gone away.” She doesn’t meet your stare, not one bit.

“Amy…I would never think that badly of you.” your tone was firm, honest. You out a hand on her shoulder. “Heck, anytime I get to know you even a little bit better, I think you’re cooler than before! You don’t have to feel so distant with me. You don’t have to feel I have some sort of expectations for you as a host, because frankly, I don’t.”

“I just want to be your friend.”

Amy looks at you and takes a deep breath. Her posture softens and a small smile gets put on her lips.

“Alright then, let’s be friends.”

Chapter Text

Tw: mentions of blood and injury!

Marigold didn’t expect the homemade remedies to work so well.

Snickers has been feeling better than ever. The swollen eye has healed completely overnight and for the past few days, she couldn’t take the human vet out of her mind.

How could she? The girl was everything her pet shop needed at the moment! She’s been trying to hire a vet for months now, asking from the smallest to biggest villages around the Island for vets. A few days ago, she made the Mayor order needed items such as medicines, equipment and etc. but since the payment costs a lot, the Mayor made a deal with her. “I’ll buy them, but if you don’t have a vet until next year, I’m selling them back to its company.”

She found her hands shaking from stress. Sighing, she turns on her TV for a distraction. Only to find the news talking about the restaurant again. “The battle has gotten out of hand! The evil doctor himself, who promised to bring Chez Amy to its fullest potential, has turned against the owner and has started attacking! They’re certainly in a pickle now!” the eagle snickers and muttered ‘nailed it.’

“Pretty sure he said that joke before, right Snickers?” Marigold looks over to her pet dog, who was sitting comfortably at the chair beside her. He woofed and wagged his tail, in which she took as an agreement. Petting his head, she felt relieved about his healing eye.  “That lady was really helpful, wasn’t she?” she smiled. Soon, her smile faltered and she found herself troubled. “It’s too bad that she already seems to have a job…” she puts a finger under her chin. “But if I offer a higher pay check…she’ll certainly accept it…but I didn’t see her at all today.” She recalled. “Maybe she quit? Ugh, how am I going to find her now?” you didn’t give her a location to your home, but told her to just come to the restaurant if the remedies didn’t work. ‘Was she fired?’ she thought. ‘No…actually, all the staff seemed to leave on the same day. Maybe she did quit!’

‘Well…at least the village’s small…I’m sure I’ll find her soon.’ The TV shows Sonic smashing a robot to smithereens with a power kick, but Marigold was far too in her own thoughts to really notice it. “….I think.” She muttered.

----

Job-hunting. Something you were well acquainted with.

It’s been merely a few hours since your talk with Amy, and upon Chez Amy closing down, it meant that you could start finding a job now.

Walking down the village on your own, the hand-drawn map in hand, you found it quite easy to learn the dirt roads and shortcuts around the place. Living in a big city has made this a piece of cake.

Amy’s drawings on the map were on point, and her hand writing was extremely elegant. It made things a little bit hard to read, but it wasn’t that troubling. Once you read it more the easier it gets to identify the letters. You clicked your tongue in concentration, getting a closer look at the map then the area around you.

Yep, this seems to be the place. So if that’s the case, where in the world is that pet shop?! Looking around once more, you felt relieved by seeing the familiar sign. It was like the one Amy drew, but more detailed and big of course. Amy drew it in a sort of cute chibiform, and only drew the animals’ heads, while the sign had drawn them with full body and all. The sign consisted of five animals. A monkey and grey bunny together, a squirrel alone and two cats beside each other. ‘Cute.’ You huffed a laugh.

The display outside the shop had all sorts of vegetables, fruits and bird seeds. Walking a bit closer, you noticed the little fence right around the corner, looking in, you see a bunch of rabbits hopping around and eating lettuce calmly. One of them seemed to notice you and hopped to get a closer look, curious to see who you were. You gave a gentle smile and reached your hand down, successfully petting the little cuties head, which they enjoyed immensely.

You took your hand away and cleared your throat. Don’t get distracted Y/n, you need to find a job. You’ll be able to pet all these adorable little rascals later.

 Finally taking a step inside, you didn’t see the owner anywhere. The inside was much bigger than it looked. A few dogs were playing around with each other at one area created for them, while the cats were all either napping or playing with their own toys in the other.

Looking right on front, you saw the empty cashier place, behind it was a space filled with both canned foods and dry ones, equipment and things needed for cleaning and grooming a pet, while outside the cashier zone and a bit near to the cats, was a small place for cages and collars, leashes and even a few customs.

You wondered where the owner could be and looked around once more. Your ears heard a voice through the door on your left. They must be there then. With that in mind, you decided to just wait around until they’re done with whatever they were doing. Looking back at the cute cats who were staring at you curiously, you smiled. Spending a few minutes playing with the animals wouldn’t hurt now, would it?

Before you could initiate your plan, the door opened.

--

“Well,” Marigold hummed in approval and closed the box. “Everything seems to be in order. Just a few more boxes in here and then all we’ll need is a vet.” She got up from her crouched position and earned a few barks of excitement from Snickers. “You’re right Snickers, we should go see that human soon.” Being around animals for so long in her life, talking to them has become a habit. She liked ranting to them, talking about her day and her plans for tomorrow or next month. Sure, they probably didn’t understand a thing she was saying, but their adorable faces make all her negative thoughts go away. It keeps her distracted from all her stress.

She sighed, feeling all the future exhaustion she’d have searching every nook and cranny for you. Setting the boxes of supplies aside, she remembered the group of heroes who were working with you in the restaurant as well. Surely they’d know where you are now, right?

Next thing she knew, you were right next to the counter starring at her face to face.  Unable to speak from the course of shock that went through her and you, silently hoping you haven’t freaked her out, has become this amalgamation of awkward silence.

Only a few seconds have passed until the dog behind her barked and ran up to you. Sniffing you and excitedly wagging his tail. You coo at the adorable dog and scratch his head gently and pet it. Now completely ignoring the owner behind you just to give all the pats in the world to the jumble of joy beside you.

 “Well I’ll be damned.” You heard the rabbit beside you mutter. “I was actually going to go look for you.” that seemed to be a good reason to stop petting the Chow Chow and finally focus on her again. You tilt your head a bit in curiosity. “You were going to look for me?”

“yeah.” She hummed, going behind the cashier section and filling up a bowl with dog food. “I was meaning to offer you a job.” Snickers tail wagged again and he ran up to Marigold. Barking going all around the shops for his beloved food. You felt yourself getting thrilled, feeling lucky as ever. You stopped yourself from saying something too quick or out of pocket, took a deep breath and smiled. “And that job is?”

“Working as a vet he-“

“I’ll take it!” fuck being patient! You wanted to hear that offer for months. This is pretty much youronly shot now. Though, you did feel a part of you die after seeing her surprised reaction. You could’ve at least made your tone a little lower, you scolded yourself.  “s-sorry.” you gave an awkward laugh.

Marigold shrugged, giving a relaxed smile. “Alright then! You’re hired.” You nearly gasped. “You want some tea?” you stood there unmoving. Mind filled up with a pool of questions. She was just going to accept you so quickly? What’s even her name? Does she know your name? No interviews? No nothing?

Marigold felt a little creeped out from your frozen figure. Giving an audible fake cough, she snapped you out of your haze and asked the question once more. “Y-yeah tea would be nice.”

She hummed, with a flick of its switch, the kettle started heating up and she turned around. “So what’s your name?” oh. So...is this the interview? Or was this just getting to know you since you’ll be working together? Whatever it was, you decided to just answer casually. No professional tone needed.

“Y/n L/n. you?”

“Marigold.” She smiled. “How did you even get here? I mean, this Island had no newcomers for…years.” You remember Tails mentioning no one knowing humans existed until Eggman showed up. But you were still curious, were there any anthropomorphic people like them that showed up in this Island too?

“Who were the last newcomers?” Marigold thought for a bit. “It was a few years ago….it was first that team of heroes then Eggman.”

You got a bit shocked by that information. You did expect Eggman, but you didn’t really expect the gang at all. But…now that you think about it, it makes sense. Tails said they’d seen many more humans other than Eggman. And it explains why they were so kind to you as well. They must’ve sympathized with you.

Deciding to now just bite the bullet, you asked the main question of the day. “Why did you hire me so quickly?” Marigold heard a small ‘click!’ from the kettle and turned around to start making the tea. “It’s like I said before, the last vet the village had died and so the village has been needing one for a long time now.” Ohhhh right. After everything that has happened yesterday, that subject has been thrown away from your mind completely. You felt a little worried, wondering if all the pets are in a healthy condition after all these years.

Glancing around the place once more, you saw something you haven’t noticed in your first glances of the place. A picture of an old fox right behind Marigold, next to the electric kettle. A candle right beside it. Noticing your stare, Marigold glanced back and hummed. “That was the old owner of the place.” She brought up. “This whole thing was first a family business, but since I was the closest thing she had to a daughter, she just gave it to me in her will.”

“For how long exactly was it a family business?” you asked. She gave a laugh. “Really long. Like- centuries long.” Seriously? That long? You were quite impressed. “Your tea is getting cold.” She pointed out.

Right. The tea. You looked down at your cup, still warm, but at the risk of getting colder by the second. Judging by the color, it seemed to be your normal black tea. Not too light shaded to say it wasn’t on the stove enough and not too dark for it to become utterly bitter. Taking a sip, you felt yourself missing the drink. When you were a child, you would have some with your mother at times. It was one of the only moments you’d bond and sit in complete peaceful silence. Both minds occupied with their own thoughts, appreciating the presence of the other. The taste was not bitter, was not sweet and it wasn’t water either. It was a taste unique to its own. A taste divine and warm. One that makes you sleepy, but also makes you focused.

Since it wasn’t too hot, you finished it up rather quickly. Your mind was wondering on what to do in this comfortable silence, contemplating whether or not you should just leave for the day. A question popped up in your head. “Say, which room will I be working at?” Marigold pointed at the door she came out from before. “That one, but not all the equipment are out yet. I still need to place them.” You perked up by that. “Can I help? I don’t really have anything to do for today anyway.”

Marigold smiled. “Sure.”

---

Helping out Marigold definitely took longer than expected.

You first came here in the morning, close to ten a.m. if you remember well, but now, looking at the clock, you found yourself quite shocked to see it’s already four p.m. Soon, you felt your stomach grumbling from the lack of food in hours and you found yourself craving your favorite food. Sighing, you took out another box full of medicines and put them on the small shelves now given to them. You were surprised to find out these medicine were up to date. Not old nor from a company you don’t know about. It’s your good old average medicine…weird. How do they have these if they have no contact at all to the other parts of the world? You could guess that they’re food and equipment are all made by themselves…but this? This is exactly the medicines your city’s pet shops and veterinary hospitals would have. Just what is going on here?

You shook the thought out of your head. Best to not dwell on it now. For the time being, you pushed yourself to focus on the task at hand. One little thought could lead to a sea of overthinking and phasing out and you’d be nowhere near done if that happened. “Thanks for helping.” Marigold huffs a bit and sets another box down. “I’d be done by midnight if I was doing this all solo.” 

“It’s nothing, really.” you hummed. Better than doing nothing all day and sitting on the couch or taking a nap in your bedroom. You couldn’t even hang out with the gang even if you wanted to. They were all busy doing some training. Although most and you included didn’t really think it was needed. Fighting Eggman nearly five times a week was already training of itself. But Amy insisted. Why? You’ll never know.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, you hear the bell ringing and loud pants along with it. Marigold rushed out of the door to see what the commotion was about. Only to find a Blue Jay with a cargo in her hand. The cat inside it seemed to be peacefully gazing at its surroundings, but the expression their owner had was the complete opposite. “M-Miss Marigold!”

The rabbit recognized that voice. “Stacy! What’s wrong kiddo?” she looked at the state the teen girl was in, taking deep breaths and her clothes all seeming like she just wore whatever was closest within her reach. “Have you been running to get here?”

“Yougotta help me!” Stacy ignored her question. “Joji wasn’t around the house so I went to look for him at the balcony, but he wasn’t there so I looked down and saw him limping and tried his best to open the door and-“

“Calm down Stacy, calm down.” Marigold took the cargo from her tight grip and gently put it aside. She offered Stacy to sit and take deep breaths. “Don’t worry Stacy, I have a vet working here now.” She reassured, making Stacy get a gleam of hope in her eyes.”y-you do?! Oh thank god who is it?-“

“Marigold? Something wrong?” you came out from the door, making Stacy’s eyes go wide and connect the dots in her head.for a few seconds, only the sound that was emitting from the animals around you could be heard. The barks, chirps and meows played as a background noise to the long silence.“The human’s a vet?” she thought out loud. You gave a nod and a small wave. “Yep. I’m a vet.” You pointed at the cargo and walked up to it. “Isyour pet in there?” she gave a nod at that.

“What exactly happened?”

“He fell from the balcony and injured is leg.”

Looking at the cat, you felt content to know that he was asleep. That means he’s taking his time healing. You notice a bit of his leg was swelling.“Marigold, could you turn on the X-ray for me? I need to check for any broken bones.” Marigold muttered a ‘roger that’ and went to the room. “We have to get the cat out gently. Did you bring any treats with you?” she shook her head no. getting a treat from the corner in the cashier section, you took the cargo into the room and started your work. In all honesty, you felt yourself getting a bit excited. After months of torture, you can finally do what you’ve been studying for years.

----

It was four years ago. Right at Brianna’s café. You were sitting in you and Louis’ favorite corner in the place. Your favorite breakfast neatly placed on the table and the smell of coffee took over your whole senses. It was a summer day, a month has passed since graduation and you were trying to find the best thing to set your whole life for on that very day.

“So what did your parents say?” Louis looked at the pamphlet before him. A veterinary school you’ve been meaning to go to. It was close to home, it had good teachers and great reviews, but there was one issue. Money.

Your family was on the wealthy side, but they stayed wealthy for a reason. Your mother never wanted to spend money on things she thought was useless. And now, even if it’s not even your main dream, she believes that being a vet was useless, and that you should just be a general practitioner instead. Way cheaper and way safer.

“They’re not going to pay for it.” You mumbled. Louis’ jaw went slack for a moment and a face of sympathy was visible on him. He stayed silent for a moment and looked up at you again.”Seriously?! Why not?” you shrugged in response. Louis seemed in deoe thought, tapping his finger to the table. “I don’t get it. They were always carefree with you.” he mumbled, making you frown and avoid his gaze. Suddenly, he took a deep breath and looked right into your eyes.

“Let me pay for it.”

“What?”

“Let me pay for it.” He said, with a more serious tone. You immediately disagreed. “Nope,nope. Louis, there’s no way I’m letting you pay for this.” Louis pouted and rolled his eyes. “You never let me pay for anything!” He huffs.

“That’s not true.” You comment. “I do let you pay half the food bills.” The amused smile he gave didn’t go unnoticed. “You know that’s now what I meant.” he sighed.

“Y/n, let me pay for at least one thing. Let this be the only time I use my money for you.” he suddenly took a hold of your hand. Something you took as platonic at the time, but looking back at it now, you couldn’t believe how blind you were to not notice his reddened cheeks. You mistook it as a reaction to the blaring heat of summer.

 “You never used me. You always stayed my true friend.” You gulped. A heavy feeling in your chest. ‘I did use you Louis’ you wanted to say, but bit your tongue. Your family used him. Your family used your connection to him as a climb to the social status. As a way to get promotions at work. Who could not hire someone who is closely associated to a family like his? A family that saved the people generations ago and continued to have control, money, status, power and everything in between for years? You felt horrible. You felt ashamed. You felt your brain mock you for being so horrible, so fucking toxic. “Let me pay back all those years you helped me. All those years when you listened to me when no one else would.” You cared for him. You truly did. Even if your friendship was forced, it was still real. The care you had for him was real. All those times you hung out was real. But, the guilt still remained. He thinks you’ve never taken advantage of him for anything.Oh Louis, how foolish can you be?

You knew that no matter what you say, he’ll still pay. He’s a Clement after all. Clement’s get whatever they want whenever they want. Whether it’s paying for it anonymously or giving enough money to your family so they’d consider paying for it, he’ll do it.

“okay.” You sigh out. You felt your heart get stabbed, your shoulders tense up and your mind felt foggy. “Okay Louis, but just this once.”

---

The cat had a broken leg. Since both the owner, Marigold and you had time, you decided to start the surgery immediately. Your hunger was quickly forgotten and all you were focused about was fixing up this poor cat’s broken leg. The surgery took well over two hours, with Marigold giving you assistance during the surgery as well. After it was all done, you sigh and take off your surgical gloves. Giving a small smile to the now healed up kitty, you get out of the room and talk to Stacy about what she needs to do during the cat’s healing process.

Stacy seemed relieved. Happy even. She talked about the payment with Marigold and gave a few pats to Joji before setting him in the cargo again. Before leaving, she spoke to you.

“Thanks for everything Miss!” she opens the door, looks back and smiles. “I’ll bring you a bunch of clients next time! They could really use your help.”  The door closed, and you saw a glimpse of the girl walking away.

“Well, mission accomplished! Good work Y/n.” Marigold stretched a bit and went to take a seat. Looking back at the clock, you fell silent at the time. Eight p.m.

“Oh! You could go now if you want.” Marigold noticed your stare at the clock. “I usually close up the shop this time anyway.”  With a nod, you asked her your schedule for the working day coming by. With a few more chit chats here and there about what you’ll do and how your payment will be, you bid her goodbye.

You made sure to walk a few feet away from the shop before grinning madly and pumping your fist in the air. The cold breeze of the night helping you feel even happier and the darkness hiding you away ffrom any embarrassment. “Holyshit!” you mumbled to yourself. Jumping a bit on your walk and giggling. You did it. It finally happened. You got yourself a place to work as a vet. You didn’t realize how much you wanted it until it was at last set and done. This feels great. This feels right. You couldn’t wait for the days to come. After all, this was your second dream in life. The first one is probably long impossible at this point.

With a glance at the forest, you felt yourself getting pulled by it. As if you needed to go walk into it. Find its beauties and dangers. Its secrets and stories. But you didn’t comply with that urge. You ignored it, you ignored it with all the might you could. You couldn’t help but feel silent at that.the darkness no longer felt like a protection, more like a way. The night breeze kept whooshing to it, trying to make you reconsider. You fell silent.

It’s…impossible to achieve that dream now….right?

---

After making a meal for yourself and cleaning up all the dishes, you felt an immense amount of exhaustion and went to bed early.Waking up and doing the same routine as always, you walk to the pet shop and nearly gasp at the sight before you.

A long, long line of people with pets beside them waiting to enter the shop. You heard Marigold call out to you from the door, a nervous look latched onto her face and frantically running around everywhere asking the people to make a line.  Finally reaching her, you help her out on the line while asking about the whole situation.

“Stacy posted about you in her blog.” She urgently spoke. “Everyone’s here since you’re the only vet in the village.” Many question ran through your head, but you decided to keep quiet and nod. Quickly taking off your coat and welcoming the first client in the room.

Today was going to be a long one.

---

“Only her muscles strained, she just need time to heal up.” The beaver nodded at that, thanked you and left to speak with Marigold. You turned your back around to put all the supplies back, hearing the door open, you absentmindedly figured it was another client. “I’ll be with you in a minute.”

“Oh you must help me!” an unfortunately familiar voice hollered out. Feeling your heart sink and turning around, you were met with the infamous villain himself, Eggman.

Noticing your horrified face, he gives an evil grin and continues. “My poor pets are acting so strange!” he cries out. With a move of his hand to the sky, you felt panic overwhelm you. “ when I say Hamster-bots… they suddenly..” in a quick blink hamsters who were hiding in each nook and cranny of the shop got out and swarmed around you. “Attack!” he screamed.

Before you knew it, you saw one shoot a light out from its eyes and make a cut on your hand. Wincing in pain, you felt the burning laser get etched on your arm. You needed to get the fuck out of here. Eggman blocked your way to the exit, so with a sudden rush of determination, you grab the nearest metal object to you and throw it at him.

It successfully hits his head, making him scream in pain and move out of the way. “Why do you keep doing that?!” he grumbles, rubbing his head to soothe the ache. You ignored his angered comment and swiftly got out of the room. Marigold had the door open and was making everyone get out as soon as possible.Civilains that were inside the shop listening to Marigold’s orders and taking their pets and the ones for adopt with them outside. Some couldn’t seem to get a good grip on them, especially the cats, but due to fear they ran away anyway.

 “Y/n! Come on we gotta go!” she screamed and you grabbed her hand and ran out. Soon, you realized that you were swarmed by bots outside as well. Although now not hamster-bots, but bots who were shaped like insects and another giant red one with menacing yellow eyes, you felt completely helpless.

The crowd around you running around in blind fear wasn’t helping either. You felt yourself get a bit nervous, but you kept your cool. You looked around the area for any sort of weapon you could use against them, since you weren’t the most physically fit to try beating them with your bare hands.

It all seemed for nothing though, because as soon as you went to reach for it, another goddamn bot hit you with its burning lasers. Now injuring your other arm as well. You yelp and tried to get away, but another laser was starting to come right at you.

In a millisecond, you saw a flash of blue. The air was pushed out of your lungs and you felt someone hold you. You gasped and looked around the place once more. Realizing that your spot has been changes, you finally looked at your savior, the one who was still holding you tightly and panting, as if he had actually rushed all the way from the other side to get here.

Sonic. Feeling relief from seeing him here, he looked back at you with a slightly concerned expression. “You okay there doc?” he puts you down gently. You silently nod, still processing the danger you were in and feeling your arms bleed from the new cuts. Sonic looks at them, sleeves of your clothes now ripped from the shoots and the bleeding obvious. “You’re injured!” He pointed out with a frown. Looking back at the bots, he calls up the rest of the gang to come join him.

“Amy, Sticks and Knuckles take care of the bots around the area, Tails! I need you to-“

“Take care of y/n’s injury while kicking some robot butt?”  Tails grinned, already on the scene with some sort of gun in one hand and an aid kit on the other. “Already on it!”

Sonic gives you a pat on the shoulder. “You stay here.” You nodded. Tails soon showed up by your side, taking your arm and cleaning up all the blood. The rest of the team came to the rescue quickly. Kicking the bots and making sure not much of the shop gets ruined.

Honestly, everything was a bit foggy in your head. The sudden shift from a working day to a full blown attack with bots left you in a quiet state. You couldn’t believe how good these guys were at handling the situation. Destroying the bots and dodging their attacks while also giving snarky remarks.

Amy smashes a robot to bits with her hammer, giving a glance to the others and ginning. “See?! I told you that training would come to use!” Tails suddenly stopped his work on your arm and quickly grasped his gun, zapping a ladybug shaped bot in a specific spot that made it split into the smallest of bits and pieces. “I don’t know,” Tails continued the conversation. “I don’t really think the training did anything.” While bringing out a roll of bandage he also checks his watch, the screen showing his friends in small forms and charts about their different progress. “Nothing changed in you guys. It’s all the same.”

“But don’t you feel more pumped up?! More in the zone of fighting?!” Amy tried to convince the fox, but he seemed to be not taking it. “I also calculated that in the program.” He clicks a few buttons and the chart changes up. “In terms of our feeling towards it, it’s also-“

He suddenly stops, feeling a cold chill run through him. He looks back at the pink hedgehog staring daggers at him. He gives a weak laugh and suddenly grabs your hand. “Or maybe….I’ll uh…I’ll just shut up and fix up y/n over here…hehe.”

“Wise decision.” You chuckled.

Soon Eggman got out of the shop, giving a whistle and his floating machine coming to his rescue. He rises up to the sky and fiddles with the buttons on it, making more bots come out from everywhere. He suddenly notices you on the ground. He laughs in mockery. “I told you I’d get revenge for your insane behavior towards me!” he clenches his fists and slams it on his vehicle. “NO ONE THROWS A ROCK AT ME! Not even a pesky little weak girl in the same species as m-“

a rock hits his machine and he screams. You and Tails look around the place for the perpetrator, finding Sonic confidently throwing a rock on his palm up and down, his foot tapping lightly at the ground below him and a cheeky grin bright on his face. “What’s wrong Eggman?” he laughs. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of rocks now!”

“Why…you...!” he seemed at a loss for words, never expecting such a move from the blue speedy. “STOP THROWING THESE STUPID JUNKS OF EARTH ON ME OR I SWEAR I WILL THROW YOU TO THE SUN!” he screams in pure frustration, completely annoyed by this new combat move.

Sonic throws another one.

“ARE YOU DEAF?!” Eggman is completely raging now. A vein almost popping out from his forehead.

“I’ll stop, but...” he points to the pet shop. “Only if you promise to never attack the pet shop again! There’s animals there that can barely defend themselves!” he frowns. “Never even knew your morals can go that low Egg-head.”

Eggman rolls his eyes and commands his bots to come back to him. “Fine. I didn’t care about the pet shop anyway. I merely came here for an amazing and villainous revenge!” he dramatically points at you. “Which as you can see by the girl’s injuries, I have been successful!” a loud laugh emits from him. His vehicle brings him up to the sky and his bots start going back to where they came from. “Farewell Sonic, but don’t be so relieved. I’ll be back next time! And by next time, I mean literally in a few days!”

----

The next few hours was spent cleaning up the mess Eggmanmade. Sonic quickly gathered up all the pets that ran away, which saved you a whole day worth of work. Amy and Knuckles tried to fix up the small damages that impacted the building while you and the other cleaned up all the bot parts. “Wouldn’t it be useful to have some of these parts?” you asked Tails.

“I already do have some from the millions of attacks he did before this.” He smiles. “His way of planning attacks and making the robots is quite formulaic. He always keeps doing the same thing.” a little broken hamster bot gets his attention and he grabs it.  “Although…sometime he makes new bots like this one.”

Sonic zooms in, two bunnies in his hand. Marigold thanks him and gently takes the two balls of fur away, calming them down and setting them in the cage. “All done with the bunnies! Any other pets left?”

“Nope! That was all of them!” Marigold chirped up, giving a refill of food for the animals’ dinner. The hedgehog mutters an ‘alright then’ and looks at you. “Need any help over there, doc?”

You chuckled. Doc. That’s a cute nickname. It made you remember that one familiar cartoon bunny that used to say it. “No need Sonic! I’m sure I can do this whole area by myself.”

With all the damage the guy caused in only an hour, you really hoped he’d stick to the deal and not bother you at work again.

----

Finally at home, you fell face first into your bed and gave an overdramatic loud groan. Earning a chuckle from Amy. Marigold let you leave early for today, so Amy suggested that you’d two walk together.

“Hey Y/n?” Amy knocked, and you said come in, but it came out more mumbled than you intended. You didn’t really want to get your head out of the soft pillow. “Was wondering, you hungry?” you get up now, saying yes in an instant. Your body screamed in joy, after god forsaken hours with no food you couldn’t wait to chow down on some well-made dinner.

Although you were injured and quite frankly, extremely exhausted by the millions of customers flooding it today and the sudden attack, you still decided to help Amy.

Cutting up some potatoes and cooking them up for the stakes, you noticed the pepper missing, asking Amy about it, she said she had it in her bag. She had a cooking class with Sticks in the morning. Going to her bag, you carefully looked around for the pepper shaker while trying your best to not intrude on the hedgehog’s privacy. But after taking it out, you noticed a piece of paper slipping out.

‘Great.’ You sighed. Disappointed by your own lack of stealth. Picking it up, you noticed it was a photo. A closer look now, you realized it was a photo of Sonic, with cute pink and red hearts around it. You got confused, but in a few moments, everything seemed to click.

Amy…had a crush on Sonic?

You chuckled at that thought, finding it quite adorable. Amy called out to you, wondering if you were coming or not. With a short response, you put the photo back in the bag and go back to your tasks.

“Did something happen?”

“nah. Don’t worry about it.” You shook your head. A small smile ghosting your lips.

Chapter Text

“so you got injured?!” Jason gasped.

“yep.” It's been about three days since Eggman's attack at the pet shop. After the whole ordeal, the place got crowded again and you were busy helping everyone out. Your body felt sore, yet your heart felt quite content. You were glad to finally show your veterinary skills and helping out all those adorable animals always felt nice.

A ringtone rose in Jason’s room, taking a glance, Jacob immediately grumbled and declined it. “who was that?” you rose a brow. Jason suddenly tensed up and avoided your gaze, scratching his neck awkwardly. “No one! No one at all!” he stressed out a laugh.

There was only one person Jason would avoid talking about with you these days. Heart feeling heavy and a bitter frown evident on your face, you sighed. “was it Louis?”

Jason huffed, gulping down some guilt and nodding. “Y-yeah..it was him. He keeps calling me, I think he noticed you’re missing here.” You hummed at that. “You know…Mom called too.”

“Oh? Really? Cool.  Anyway -“ the last thing you wanted was to speak to your mother again. You’d rather jump in the lava beneath you instead. In a desperate attempt to change the subject, you bring up another question. “how's Brianna? Is she doing well?”

“she’s fine. Also, she said hi.” Jason quickly answered, going back to the main topic in his mind. “Y/n, you have to tell mom.” You clicked your tongue. A grumble came out of your throat as you looked away. “Why should I? It's not like she cares about anything I do.”

“yes she does!”

“no she doesn’t and you know it!” Jason scowled a bit. “ she might’ve cared for you, Jason. But barely ever for me. Whenever she even tried acting like she cared she just ended up making things worse!” your shoulder slouched and your throat felt like its passage was blocked. “don’t tell me you forgot about the Cecilia book.”

Jason falls silent, murmuring to himself a bit in confusion. Racking through the library of memories stacked in his brain. Suddenly, he jolts up a bit in satisfied realization but soon enough, that satisfaction becomes bitter as he grimaces over the memory. “Yeah…” he nervously laughed, rubbing his neck awkwardly. “I-I remember that…you cried a lot after it.”

Taking a sharp breath, you bit back your tongue from saying anything harsh. Knuckles balling up into fists and tongue feeling like sandpaper, you tried your best to calm down. Feeling annoyed and awkward from the situation now and knowing how stubborn Jason can be, you immediately brought up an excuse to leave. “A-anyway, Jason, I gotta go now. Amy’s probably waiting for me.” Jason nodded in understanding. Though a disappointed frown was evident on his face. “alright then, see ya!”

“Yeah, see ya.”

With a few clicks and taps, your computer was turned off and closed.

Getting up, you put the computer back in your backpack and took out a rope from it. The item belonged to Tails at first, but now that you have to go up and down the summit at times, he let you borrow it.  

Still, it was so tense. You were not a professional at this nor was it a normal daily thing for you. Climbing up and down the rope hoping for the best was sure to kill you at some point. But at the same time, you don’t want to bother anyone to help with this. Not Sonic with helping you climb up there, not Tails with using his helicopter for it or even Stciks to give you pro tips. You feel like you’ve just suddenly waltzed into their life wanting help. And even now, you feel like a bother to Amy. Sure your relationship is much better with her than it was before, yet you can’t help but feel guilt over it. The house barely has room for one person, let alone  two. 

Shaking your head, you gulped and set your feet down. Feeling relief from surviving that deadly situation, you walked down the mountain while trying to maintain your speed and not fall off. You hear a sigh a few feet away from you and turn your head to its source.

You see a small wolf kid, walking down the place and looking around in an urgent matter. Soon, the boy stops and his shoulders slouched. He groans in frustration. He suddenly notices your glance and brightens up. “Hey, Miss!” he walks up to you. “Have you perhaps seen a walrus walking around here?” you thought for a bit and shook your head. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Could you please help me find him?”

“Well…I..” you really weren’t in the mood. Not to mention, your legs felt like jelly from your whole climb mere seconds ago. Yet, as the wolf looked at you with those common puppy dog eyes children use to manipulate adults with, you sigh in defeat. “Alright…I’ll help you I guess.” The boy grins.

The kid, named Kaden, explained the situation while you were both walking around the mountain in search of his friend. Apparently, the two were playing hide and seek, and now it was Kaden’s turn to seek. Yet, no matter where he looks, he can’t find him.

“did you check the other parts of the forest?” you asked. Kaden shook his head and spoke again. “We both agreed on only hiding around this area. If he’s hiding somewhere else then that’s cheating!”

A few minutes passed and there was still no sign of the walrus kid. You’ve checked all the bushes, behind all of the rocks around the place, and even climbed the tallest and biggest trees to see if he was hiding up there. still, nothing. Now you were getting worried. What if the kid got kidnapped or something? Looking back at Kaden, who was walking beside you with a determined face, you tapped his shoulder to get his attention. “hey kid, I think it's best if you admit you lost.” The boy’s eyes widen. “what? Why?!”

“well, if he’s still here, he’d hear you and get out of his hiding spot, if not, then we have to go and tell the other adults so we could all try to find him.” Honestly, who let these kids wander off to the forest with no one looking after them?! Aren't there some pretty dangerous animals here?

Kaden looked disappointed, sighing and walking a few feet away from you. “Alright! I give up.” He yells out, rolling his eyes. “Where are you?!”

Suddenly, a giggle could be heard, yet looking around, you don’t see the kid at all either. Soon, the walrus’ hand pops out of nowhere from the mountain’s walls, and in a second, he comes out with a grin.

Kaden looked at the scene with pure shock. You, on the other hand, felt relief wash over you at the sight. The kid’s safe and sound and seems completely unscathed. for a moment, you thought the kid was injured somewhere deep within the forest with no one to help him out.

“Ta-da!”

“How did you…w-what-“

“Look! Look!” the walrus grabs the wolf’s arm and motions for you to follow him as well. Getting back at the spot he was, you find an entrance to it at its left. “behold! The best hiding spot in the world!” the kid goes in and gets engulfed in its darkness. “you can’t see me at this view because of the darkness!” the kid suddenly comes out and goes back to the spot you and Kaden were in moments before. “and you can't see me from here because it looks like its apart of the mountain!”  

“a small cave…” Kaden mumbles and brings out a small notebook and pen from his pocket. “hold on,” the other kid looks at Kaden amusingly shocked. “you’re taking  notes ?” he scoffs.

“Well, yeah!” he pouts. Now angrily scribbling the info. “if we’re going to play hide n’ seek here, I’d like to remember all the cool hiding spots!”

“Actually,” you finally spoke, making the two kids jolt and look back at you. They seemed to have forgotten your presence. “I think it’s best if you don’t play here again. It’s pretty dangerous. You could’ve gotten attacked by a bear or something.”

 “hey…wait a minute..” the walrus tilts his head a bit in curiosity, then his expression brightens up in realization. “you’re the vet lady everyone in class keeps talking about!”

“She is?!”

“I am?”

the whole swarm of customers could’ve been a sign of being the talk of the town. But you just thought that was solely because of Stacy’s posts about you. Have you gotten this big that you’re even being spoken about in schools? In school kids only talk about stressing over homework and exams, some funny or weird things that happened over the weekend or their favorite shows and media. Or at least, that’s what you talked about in there. But then again, your only friend there for most of the time was only Louis. There probably was more to talk about in school other than those things.

“I need your help! Can you heal hamsters?” asked the walrus kid.

“yeah, I can.” You hummed.” But I first need to know what's up with them.”

“her tail is constantly wet! I don’t know how it even got wet in the first place! At first I thought maybe she went for a swim,” the kid continued. “But then I was like- well that’s impossible! She’s in a cage right now and its door isn't open! So for a while, I’ve been thinking that maybe she’s a spy and she was working undercover and her hideout was in the water so she might’ve forgotten to dry her tail all this time and thought we didn’t notice so I started-“

“Stratford,” Kaden grumbled. “ Please  just get to the point.”

“ok, ok  fine .” The walrus kid, who you now know is named Stratford, rolled his eyes. “so yeah, she has a wet tail.”

“I can actually do something to help with that.” You smiled. “just come to the pet shop with your parents and hamster tomorrow.” Stratford grinned happily and nodded his head. “Thank you, miss!”

A sudden scream made you all jolt. You all moved your heads left and right to find the source, only to hear some shuffling within the forest. The kids held on to you in fear, thinking that it might be a wild animal that finally caught them. Thankfully, it was no wild animal, yet a person, a cat it seemed so, who looked like he ran a hundred miles to get here. As his gaze went to the children, who were still right behind you and using you like a shield, a relieved sigh escaped him. “oh,  thank god .” he started coughing a bit, now catching his breath. “I thought you guys were lost!-“ he coughs again.

“Mr.Fetcher!” the kids gasped. Now letting go of you and whispering amongst each other. They both nod in unison and turn back to the man who was still trying to regain his breath. “where were you kids?! I told you guys to not stray away from the group!”

“We- we just got lost!”

“y-yeah. A giant bear was attacking us all of a sudden!”

“and he had laser arms!”

“…” Mr.Fetcher looked at them speechless. A scolding expression crossed his face as the last line was spoken. You couldn’t help but let out a chuckle while Stratford and Kaden face-palmed.

As your chuckle was let out, you felt uneased all of a sudden. Glancing back at the two kids’ teacher, your heart dropped upon seeing his scowl right at you. He looked at you with seething hatred while you tried to look anywhere but his eyes. You noticed that he was fairly young, most likely around your age. His attire was filled with pastel colors from peachy pink to sunshine yellow. A small necklace was around his neck, one with small little cubes with different letters on them spelling ‘ best teecher’ .  

If one could ignore that deepening frown and judgy eyes of his, they could presume he was a nice guy. The kids, now noticing your stares but being ignorant towards the hateful nature of it, spoke up. “Mr.Fetcher! the human said she can help Cheese Puff!” Stratford’s movements became a bit hyper from excitement. Mr.Fetcher, now zoned out from his scowl, gave a kind smile to the boy and acted surprised. “Really? That’s great!”

Kaden nodded. “she also helped me find Stratford. Without her, we definitely would’ve gotten lost.” Suddenly, the boy’s eyes lighten up. “hey! The field trip is about the animals in the lake, right? Maybe she can help!” the cat’s expression faltered. “w-well uh…we can’t really do that. I mean- miss uh…”

“L/n. it’s L/n.”

“right,  L/n -” you noticed a small frown coming up to his face for a split second before shifting back. “-might have a lot of work to do right now!  Right ?” his stare, now widened up and looking at you warningly, made you tense up a bit from newfound stress in the matter. As much as teaching kids all the cool facts about animals and seeing their shocked, impressed, or even grossed-out reaction to it all seemed fun, you’d rather  not  feel the venomous gaze the teacher would send you during the whole time.

“y-yeah! I uh…” come on, think!!! Give them a good reason! “…I have some…” there it was again, those puppy dog eyes of theirs. Now doubled the power since Stratford joined forces with Kaden. No no no nooo do not let them get to you! “vet work to do! U h -  yeah - vet work!” you nervously laugh. Now walking away before they could utter another word.

“welp, goodbye now! Have fun on your trip and-” your foot hits a rock and you fumble a bit. after a solid five seconds of trying to regain your posture, you straighten up and look at them with a strained smile. “make sure to not get lost again! Hehe…”

You immediately leave the scene. Grimacing the whole embarrassing, awkward and now dreadful last ten minutes of your interaction with them. With your mind now mocking you for being so bad at this, you walk away from the forest.

----

Jason was losing his mind.

He regrets making his ringtone a favorite song of his, because now the song makes his stomach churn in annoyance and his eyes roll. Every second of the day, the same old song kept playing on his phone on a loop. Never-ending this catastrophic torture.

Most times it was all from Louis. He’d easily just silence his phone, if it wasn’t for the fact that the buzzing sound and vibration his phone kept sending him was also extremely annoying. Not to mention, he had a job and friends that would call him at times as well. He couldn’t ignore his phone now, albeit really wanting to do that sort of action.

Even now while he closed his computer, ending another weekly call with you, the phone suddenly started chanting its song. Leaving him groaning in exhaustion and almost close to crying. ‘When will this end?’ was the question coursing through his head. Grabbing the phone, he shrugs at the obvious intruder of his peace. Louis doesn’t give up, does he?

Maybe if he answered this time, and told him to fuck off, he’d finally leave him alone. He’d probably get fired from his job after that interaction, but it’d be so worth it. He’s been waiting for a good chance to cuss him out ever since y/n told him everything.

Clicking respond, he heard Louis’ voice.

“Jason,” Louis frowned, annoyed by the thousands of calls he had to make to reach him. “where is she?”

“fuck you.” Jason quickly hung up.

While snickering to himself, another call blew up his phone and he clicked respond with an amused grin.”I’m not telling you a single thing Louis, give up!”

The annoyed groan Louis let out only made him feel more prideful than before. “just..at least tell me if she’s safe or not! Is she doing well?”  

Jason scowled. “a little too late to worry about her safety and well-being buddy.” With all the actions Louis pulled at her, it felt like he didn’t care for her one bit. Jason felt mad, saddened. All this time Louis was using Y/n like she was his favorite toy. One he saw as a best friend throughout the world. Only to throw her away when she didn’t do as he pleased. With that thought in mind, he hung up.

Like hell he’d ever tell him anything. Besides, y/n is technically safe. If you ignore the crazy guy who makes robots and swore revenge on her once, the citizens of the island who were not human and the fact that the Island is barely on any map.

Yeah..she’s probably safe.

He hopes so at least.

----

Walking down the sandy beach, you traced a thumb over the bandages on your arms. It was healing up, but the process was a little too slow for your taste. As you gazed down at your arm with annoyance, you remembered something that happened today and reached down to your pocket. Now within your palm, was a small toy figure. It seemed to be a puppy, a Dobermann one. You traced your hand over it a bit, noticing that its quality is quite good for a toy. During your work, Stratford, the kid you met yesterday, came in with his pet hamster. After healing her up, the kid was filled with pure joy at his healthy hamster and gave you this toy as thanks.

You chuckle a bit, putting the toy back in your pocket and continuing on your way. If you ignore the small pain you feel at times from your injuries and the whole attack thing that happened a few days ago, you had quite a good busy week. Now, nothing can beat a good week's worth of work rather than a good weekend.

You sigh at that, feeling yourself smile at the word.  Weekends.  Although it's only one and a half day of a break, it’s a much-needed one. Finally reaching Amy’s house, you opened the door and were greeted by the smell of paint.

Paint always had a unique sort of smell. One that was a mix of various chemicals jumbled up together and creating a sense of familiarity with it. For you, paint’s smell was always a scent that was mixed between metal, oil, and other various chemicals. Although it's probably definitely not mixed with them, its smell always resembled theirs. Yet, it also strangely had its own uniqueness to it. One that with one sniff, you could immediately guess what it was. The smell also brought back memories. Ones where you would paint your whole hand in different colors and smash it up on the paper, or those times when your whole family would start re-painting a room for a new decor or style. Bittersweetness laced your mouth as you waved at Amy, who was sitting on a small stool with a painting in front of her. She seemed to not notice you wave, too enamored by her work, so you decided to speak instead.

“Hey Amy! I’m back.” Your voice made the hedgehog stop her work and greet you back. “how was your day?” the girl asked, busying herself with cleaning up the brushes while waiting for your answer.

You shrugged. “nothing much.” Nothing really interesting comes to mind, to be honest. You took out the toy the child gave you and held it up with your palm, waving it around a bit to set Amy’s attention on it. “a kid did give me this toy, though.” You huffed a laugh. “I think its really cu-“

An extremely loud gasp makes you jolt. You look back at Amy and see her look at you in disbelief. Mouth agape and her brush on the floor. In a blink of an eye, Amy rushed up to you at such speed that it could almost rival Sonic’s. swiftly grabbing the toy from you, she looks at it with admiration and excitement. “Oh my god!!” the girl squeals. “this is Dirk Doberman! It's so rare! And a great attacker too! Once you give it the ice tiara he becomes super powerful and-“

“H-hold on a minute!” you stop her rambling, your head trying to process what she’s talking about. Amy gives a sheepish smile. “Sorry.” She puts the figure on the counter with the utmost care. “ I just got a little too excited-“

“It's fine, Amy. Don’t worry about it.” You quickly replied. “I’m just a bit confused, what is this?” a grin got back into her face with that question. She walks around the house and makes a bee-line to her room. In a few seconds, she comes out with a briefcase with paws on it. She opens it up, revealing a bunch more of those puppy figurings and accessories and a pink board neatly placed in it.

“it's called Fuzzy Puppies! It’s a strategic game challenging one’s intelligence and strategic thinking!” Amy excitedly explains everything. “I can teach you how to play if you want.” Well, you don’t have much to do anyway. This game does sound fun…you nod at her and she soon motioned you to go sit down on the pink chair and you do as obliged. Once there, she places the pink hexagon board next to you and a few puppies were placed on her side of the board. On the other side that was yours, ‘Dirk Doberman' was placed right in the middle. Amy also puts in a few dogs of her own there. “you only have one puppy, so I’ll let you borrow some of mine.”

The game Fuzzy Puppies is in short, a tabletop battle game with puppies. Each puppy has their own unique power and way to eliminate the other player’s puppies. Just like Amy said, it's all about strategy. In order to win the game, you must be cunning and know all your figures' abilities and the pros and cons of it.

For the cutesy look it has, it's surprisingly quite serious. It felt like you were playing an amalgamation of chess and trading card games. Trying to understand what the other is thinking about, what their next move is and how they want to win. Amy was incredible at it. She kept making you surprised with all the tactics she seemed to know like the back of her hand. The rules of the game were stuck in her mind in a tight grip. Every single one of them was deemed important in her eyes for a good strategy. Many of them looked like just a bore to know about, but benefited her greatly during the match. It was fun.  incredibly  fun. 

Time went by quickly with the board taking away your attention. Amy won most rounds, but there were two rounds where you won instead. Albeit you're pretty sure Amy just went easy on those.

Amy rolls the dice, the dice shows 2 and she grins in confidence. She moves Sharleen Sharpay, a dog that can make smaller puppies get removed from the other player’s board by a bark. “since I got two, I can activate Sharleen’s skill, so..”

You sigh in playful defeat, taking out your last small dog. Amy puffs her chest in pride. “I win!”

“you’re way too good at this.” You mumbled out, pretty neutral about your defeat. “ how did you do it?” Amy shrugs. “I’ve been playing for a long time. I’m actually surprised you haven't heard of this game before. It's pretty big here.”

She starts cleaning up the table, first taking the board then looking back at you again. “is it that unpopular there?”

“Well…” you picked up the puppies in your corner of the table and started setting them in the briefcase. “ I mean-  I’ve  never heard of it. But I’m not really into gameboards, so there could be a chance that this exists.” Louis was more of a fan of them than you were. He’d bring a new board game every once a week to your house, using it as an excuse to hang out with you on school days while also showing off the new game he thought you’d both like. You don’t remember most of them now, only playing them once. But there are ones that become classics for you two.

With the fuzzy puppies now in the suitcase and your Doberman one sitting on the table, Amy looked at the clock and gave a shocked huff. “have we been playing for that long?” she chuckled. Glancing at the time, you were just as shocked as she was. 10 p.m.

“Well, I’m not that sleepy right now, are you?” she asked. “nope, I feel pretty energetic, actually.” Her eyes seemed to brighten up at that and she got up from the couch and went to the TV. “then let’s have a sleepover! We can start by watching a movie.” She excitedly opens a drawer and brings out a small box filled with CDs. Shuffling the neatly placed disks around a bit, she picks one out and immediately puts it in.

Oh well, sleepover it is.

----

“how thy voice is like a songbird. Let my eyes feast upon your beauty and my soul will be nourished by your love! A thousand roses would not dare to smell as sweet as you!” 

The movie that Amy picked was a cheesy romantic one. It was quite the slow burn too. The number of trials and tribulations the two characters had to go through to reach this one confession was a total rollercoaster of emotions.

The male character was a secret hero. Being a normal baker in the day and a hero when danger erupts. The female character was a princess who was always curious about whom the hero was. She had a strong will and wanted to find out the truth no matter what. Much to the hero’s dismay. During it all, an S-tier villain plans to kidnap the princess and rule over the kingdom. Crazy shenanigans ensue as the princess keeps meeting the baker in the day and hero in the night, sweet talks shared with the civilian, and bickering with the knight. Completely oblivious to them being the same person.

At first, you weren’t interested in their relationship in the movie one bit. but now, even you feel relief from seeing them  finally  confess.

“Oh, even if thy face is hidden beneath a mask, your heart is visible to me, now and forever!”

Amy shed a tear from those words as you screeched  “Yes!”  as if your favorite team has won something.” took them long enough!” you sighed. Amy chuckled beside you and wiped her tears with a tissue. “Oh to have a love like theirs.” She huffed out.                                                                                        

As the two characters in the scene finally started dating, the movie ends. “so, what did you think? Did you like it?”

“it was pretty good.” You replied. Snacks of all sorts laid on the table and you didn’t stop yourself from taking one and munching on it. “that comedic character was too annoying though. Didn’t even make me laugh once.”

Amy nodded and stood up to take out the CD. “yeah, everyone hates him.” She chuckled.

Thinking for a bit, you noticed how you still weren’t tired at all. The night still felt young and even though your body was exhausted, your brain ignored their pleas for sleep and kept on working. Yet, the thought of watching another movie bored you.

“you wanna play truth or dare?”

From hearing that question, you visibly stiffened up a bit. Any huffed and rolled her eyes. “oh come on! It's not that bad.” You beg to differ. The most horrid game out there is truth or dare. If played with the wrong people, it could be the most traumatizing experience of your life. then again, you never really played it yourself. You’ve only heard your classmates talk about playing it. Hair getting shaved off, ice being put in one’s clothes, forced to embarrass yourself in public…any stories they gave sounded more like a nightmare than a fun night out.

“eh…I don’t really like that game.” You shrugged. “too many risks for my taste. You could literally make me do anything- and I’d have to comply.” Amy hummed. “I guess you’re right, that would be a problem…”

“then how about this!” her face brightened up, coming up with a new idea to make you agree. “we’ll put some ground rules on what we can’t ask and dare! I’ll start. I say that none of us should dare the other to physically change our appearance! For example, shaving off eyebrows, cutting hair, getting a tattoo…” she suddenly shivered in fear. “…dying your hair a color that doesn’t match you at all..”

You hummed, feeling more comfortable with that proposal in mind. “alright then.” You took a breath. Hands fidgeting a bit with what you were about to say, you physically prepared yourself for any reaction Amy might give to your kind of suspicious rule. “I say…that we do not ask too many questions about our lives before the Island.” You’d wish to say not to ask any question about it in general, but knowing how the ‘truth’ part of the game would be boring with that sort of rule and how you wished to know a bit more about Amy yourself, you merely prayed that she wouldn’t ask a heavy question that would be impossible to answer without mentioning him at least once.

“I’m not comfortable talking much about mine yet.” You quickly added. Amy gave you a worried glance, but hummed in understanding. “Alrighty then! So, shall we start?”

-----

 “and then…BOOM! Just like that, Tails’ machine was destroyed and gross green slime covered everyone. It took me a week to get it all off!” you snorted at the story as she grumbled at your reaction. “oh come on! It’s not funny!”

“you’re right.” You grinned. “it's hilarious.”

“to you!” she couldn’t help but laugh with you a bit. “for me it was the most embarrassing thing in the world! People wouldn’t stop staring at my green goe sticking hair!” you held back a laugh and Amy punched your shoulders playfully. Soon she went back to her task at hand, painting your nails in your favorite color. “my turn now,” she hummed, still focused on not plastering the small brush messily on your fingers. “truth or dare?”

“truth.”

 “what was the most romantic moment of your life?” she looked at you with bright stars in her eyes. It was an interesting question. one that took you a few moments to answer. What was the most romantic moment of your life? What could be considered romantic? Love? Happiness? Peace? All of them together?

That was a tough one. You didn't have much moments in your life you’d consider ‘romantic’. Quite frankly, the closest thing you ever had to a ‘romantic moment’ was when you ate falafels with Louis as he sobbed in the dark. His father and he had a big fight that led to him leaving and coming to your house at eleven p.m. you were lucky the shop was still open and the lights still lit up the sidewalks. His eyes were brimming with tears as he munched down on the sandwich like he hasn’t eaten for days. Your hands were on his back, letting him cry for as much as he wanted. After the food he’d hug you tight, crying on your shoulder for another hour as he explained what had happened between his waterfall of tears. You let him stay at your house for the night. As the sun for the next morning shined up, you remember him quietly thanking you and practically being glued to you the whole day.  Hell , you don’t even  consider  that ‘ romantic ’ one bit. it was more sad than anything.

Your friendship might’ve been first started because of your parents, but it was still real.

You truly cared for him. You truly wanted to be his friend. You had fun with him, you laughed with him. Yet, Sometimes you wished you’d opened up to him more, let him see your true emotions rather than a relaxed smile and nod to everything being fine. But you couldn’t. you weren't allowed to. ‘ If you show one sign of weakness it would seem like the whole family is weak and troubled! ’ your mother reminded you. ‘  don’t tell them anything about our family. We don’t want gossipers .’

You don’t know where she’s gotten this behavior from. Trauma, experience, seeing it happening to someone else, whatever it was, it was strong in her. You never showed your feelings to anyone, because you were told not to. You never spoke about what happened at home, because you were told not to. You were desperate to follow the rules now. After the many scoldings and punishments, you got for breaking rules you didn’t know about, you were desperate to appeal to their standards. Follow the rules. Don’t talk back.

Maybe that’s why you never felt anything romantic for Louis. You were never yourself around him. You were perfect friend Y/n. always ready to give you a shoulder to cry on. Always there for you and always does what you want to do! Never fights with you and always laughs at your jokes!

Never speaks about herself. Never says a damn thing about her day. She was taught to be quiet, to behave. What a perfect kid!

“well...I don’t think I had a romantic moment.” You finally spoke. Amy looked at you shocked. “seriously?! Not even one?”

“nope.” You hummed. “did you have one?”

She paused for a bit, letting the nail polish dry off while she put the brush back in the small container. “…yeah I did. It was when Sonic got me a scarf as a gift.”

“oh,  Sonic ?” you gave a cocky smile. “do you perhaps…have a crush on him?” Amy’s eyes widened and a blush spread over her face. She looked away and mumbled up some denials of that claim.

“pfft,  crush , on  him?  In his dreams!” she nervously laughed it off. “Amy,” you looked at her bluntly. “you have a picture of him with hearts around it.” Her face became even redder than before, yelping and looking away from your gaze. “you saw that?!”

“yeah, on accident though. It fell right out of your bag.” She sighed in defeat. “I knew I should’ve put it in the back pocket!”

You giggled, getting up from your laid-down position and grabbing a nail polish yourself. You grab her palm gently and start working on her nails. Amy’s blushing mad at the moment, head coursing with different thoughts and her expression turns from an embarrassed one to a one of annoyance. “I can’t believe how dense he is.” She grumbles.

“Maybe you should be more forward in your approach?” you suggested. She thinks for a bit and shakes her head. “I  could  do that, but it might make things awkward for the others. And anyway- I don’t want it to seem like I’m head over heels for him!” she snorted.

“Alright then, that’s all I got.”

“Seriously? That’s all the advice you have?”

“ehh..well..” your shoulders tense a bit. “I’m not…really the best at these love stuff. I’m like-“ you hiss in embarrassment. “ horrible  at it. As in ‘ I never get the hints and think it's all platonic’  horrible.”

She chuckles. “So, just like Sonic huh?”

“Sadly yes.” You sighed.

A comfortable silence overtook the room for a moment. Your small little game of truth and dare is completely forgotten. Probably for the best, since you didn’t want to be dared to put ice cubes in your shirt or eat a whole glass worth of milk and hot sauce mixed together. Jacob was dared that once, he came back sick for two days.

“ Hey, are you doing anything tomorrow?”

“No, not really.” You replied. “why do you ask?”

Her face seemed to brighten up at your response. “well…yesterday, me and the gang were just talking and decided to play a bunch of games to see who’s the best player among us. Do you wanna join us?”

“you sure you want me to join?” you smiled. “I’m not that good in sports.” You huffed.

“I’d be really happy if you did!” she insisted. “it's not really about who wins, we all just wanna have fun.” Her face suddenly scrunched up into a frown. “Well…all of us..except…” she gives out a grumble.

Your movements with the small brush had gone still, curious to hear who she was mentioning. Hearing no answer, your eagerness to know increased and you rose your head up. “except who?”

She groans. “Sonic.”

---

You thought she was joking.

You honestly thought she was just joking. Yet, here you are on the beach, the sun blazing up on your skin and the sand feeling soft on your sandals, looking at Sonic who was warming up for the games. He was looking excentric. Excited, even. He was doing all sorts of stretches. From basic ones that are learned in P.E. to absolute bonkers pro moves that you just knew you’d break your back if you tried it. He had the cockiest of grins on his face, so stretched out that you almost thought that he was going to be in some sort of dental product advertisement. After his warm-ups he just kept running. His striking blue color kept making hoops of circles around the whole island and a strong gush of wind kept being left every time he passed by. He didn’t even greet you properly, only giving a wave with a ‘Hey Y/n!’ while running ten laps simultaneously.  

“Sonic, don’t you think you’ll wear yourself out?” you screamed at the hoop of blue, hoping that your worry would somehow reach his ears. In the quickly blurred figure you could see of him, you noticed his head turning around in your direction. “Huh?” his voice was more strained than normal. “oh don’t worry! I’m totally fine! Just 

a little excited!” he chuckled.

Excited enough to leave trails of lightning with every step, it seems. You quickly try to stay away from the path he was running from, not wanting to be electrocuted by his powerful speed. How many laps has he run by now? Fifty? Hundred? You weren't sure. You tried to keep count, but it got too quick at his fifth one and you merely became speechless in the end.

What was more surprising was how early he came. Amy said that she’d have to go there earlier than the time the others will to prepare for the challenges and you offered to help. So going to the destination and seeing Sonic already there was quite the shocker.

It's been an hour, yet he still goes on warming up. Amy seemed to have enough of it and huffed. She puts a basket full of fruits down. “Can’t you just help us instead?” Sonic’s head seemed to tilt from that question. he glances at the ground, noticing the amount of equipment still left to organize.

“eh…..I don’t know, it seems pretty boring.” He comments. Amy’s eyes furrow. “and anyway, I gotta prepare myself for my victory stance right after I win.” As he says that gloatful comment, he quickly zooms out and back to where he was, but now a mirror right in his hands and standing on an egotistical pose.

“How are you so sure you’re going to win?” you smirked. Sonic looks at you with a smug smile. “because I’m super awesome?” he says in a matter-of-factly tone.

“is that going to take you far though?” you teased. “I mean- it’s a challenge mainly full of sports games, right? Knuckles and Sticks are pretty great at that.” Sonic thinks for a moment, then gives out a huff. “I’m sure I can handle them.”

“Alright then, what if there was a puzzle game then? Pretty sure Tails would figure it out in an instant. “ he stilled, eyes a bit widened up but soon he covered his realization with another overly confident comment. “oh please! I’m pretty smart too you know!” that’s a lie. “I’m sure I can beat him if I try hard enough.” He grabs a box full of nets and walks with you to the small railing he had to attach them in. “besides,” he suddenly speaks up. “ the rules are that you have to win  most  of the games, not all.” His shoulders straighten up. “if I win all the games and just lose that one, I’m still going to win.”

“ if . That is.” You joked. “good luck, Sonic. Let’s see if you can beat me in the game  I  chose.”

As you walked away, you left a shocked Sonic behind you.

“ Wait-  you’re joining this too?!”

---

The rules were quite simple. 

The ‘Games Championship’ as Knuckles called it, is a series of games that one must participate in and try to win. There’s a leaderboard that indicates who has the most wins and the one that does become the ‘Grand Champion of all games.’ Each game is chosen by each player.

The first game was chosen by Amy. A simple card game that needs an even number of people to play it. You’ll all be separated into teams of two and will be given some cards.

the rules for this game are a bit challenging and fun. Each card has an animal with a silly expression on them. On the table, there will be six circles with each one drawn one of the animals on it, and a seventh in the middle with the logo of your game. Get all your six cards to be the same animal, then, try to hint to your teammate that you have all the cards, whether it's by imitating the animal’s expression or something else, you must hint at them before the other team realizes and takes the win instead. How can you take the win? By touching either the circle you know your teammate has all the cards of or touching the logo if you don’t know which animal it is. If your opponent does that instead they win. The winner gets four plastic coins, in the end the team with the most coins wins.

You teamed up with Amy, Sonic with Tails, and Knuckles with Sticks. The game began and tension was already high. Amy threw a bunch of cards on the table and you all hurriedly tried to find matching sets, suddenly, in one whip second, you saw a hand take a tornado card. 

Lo and behold in the next round Sonic quickly took a few cards then shouted “Tornado!” as he slammed the card down. Everyone groaned, now unable to take any of the cards as the ‘tornado’ swoops them away. 

“oh come on!” Sticks grumbled. “there were three cards with the animal I was hunting for on it! I could’ve won!” Sonic snickers.

“the game hasn’t even started yet!” Knuckles added.

Sonic grinned. “sorry guys, better luck next round.” The two grumbled at that.

You looked at your own cards. Seems like you’re collecting the cat one with a grumpy face the most, so best to stick with that from now on. Looking at Amy, you try to see if she’s giving you any hints. Nope, none yet. 

The next round begins and everyone starts taking cards again. You take two, yet you still need one more card till you can hint at Amy. Looking back at her, you notice how she keeps breathing and…puffing her cheeks? 

Oh,  wait - oh shit oh wait- that’s one of the expressions! But hold on- how can you be so sure she’s hinting at you- there must be some other sign-

She glances at you with a hurried look. Within a blink, you immediately touch the circle with a pufferfish on it and she screams with joy. “YES!” you both high-five while the others grumble. 

“That's four coins for us! We’re in the lead now!” Amy grins and starts up the round.

Game two, round one, and the battle started once more. This time, you were planning on searching for the sad turtle cards. Before you can snatch up any Sticks throws a tornado down and laughs. 

“What?!” Sonic shrieked. “oh come on! those cards were a gold mine!”

“ah, sweet revenge. “ she grins and Sonic’s annoyed face. 

Tails pats Sonic on the shoulder. “well Sonic, that’s karma for you.” He chuckled. Sonic huffed.

Round two, now with no tornados. Everything was going fine, you needed three more cards, Amy didn’t seem to give any clues and everyone else seemed calm too. 

It was at round three when everything started to change. You needed just one more card and were waiting for round four to start up, yet everyone was stilled quiet. They were glancing at each other, seeing if anyone has finished up yet. The air became a bit thicker than usual. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Tails slams his hand on the snake circle, and Sonic slams his cards down with a grin. His cards were all the green snake one with his tongue sticking out. 

“heck yeah! Good job buddy!” Sonic smiles.

A few games later and in the end, all teams won two times, which makes this round the last one. The all-or-nothing. 

Tension was high and the drinks next to you were long forgotten. The beach waves didn’t waver your concentration one bit as you glared at your cards and opponents. You’re going to win this. You want to win this. 

The cards are set on the table and the trading begins. This time you wanted to search for winking owls. Round one was fine, round two you gave a tornado, and round three went on for a small amount of time. 

It was when you reached round four and took the last card you needed that made things feel a bit more tense. You hid your excitement and small stress and gave a small glance to Amy. She didn’t seem to notice it. Shit. 

You glance one more time.

She’s still deep in thought on her cards.

Oh my god, for the love of god please just glance back for a second!

Alright, one more time.

You glance at her, she glances back. you give a quick wink. 

She jolts, hand frantically reaching out and touching the owl circle and you both scream in victory. 

“team Amy and Y/n for the win!” Amy laughs. She smirks down at the others. “that’s one win for me and one win for Y/n. onto the next games!”

--

It has now become noon, the sun was unwavering in its presence and right in the middle of the sky, the waves kept their unbreakable rhythm of back and forth and the sand was feeling hotter than ever. 

This was the worst goddamn time for a sports game, you groaned with that thought.

Your feet were aching, begging for you to stop moving for even one second. Your body has become too warm for your liking and you felt like you were walking on lava. Not to mention, your lungs were so out of breath that you couldn’t even think straight. 

It’s only been ten minutes.

Were you always this bad at sports? You never had much of a liking to it, except for the good old parkour that your child self saw as a necessity for her adventuring life in the future. Yet as much as you wanted those parkour lessons, your mother insisted that those are fake and useless and you should have no interest in such a thing. She’d rather want you to go to some volleyball or basketball classes. You know, normal stuff. 

Perhaps you should’ve taken her up on that offer, because then you’d have much more stamina during this game.

“pass the ball!” Sticks screamed to Amy, running alongside her and waving her hands up in a fit of hurry. Amy raises her hand and throws the ball. the badger clutches it with the utmost strength and three steps in, left right left, and jumps! She quickly throws the ball to the goal and it hits. Well  shit . That’s a point lost for you. 

“Damnit!” Tails grumbled a little disappointed that he couldn’t catch the ball in time. Knuckles, who was next to him and trying to defend, came up and patted his shoulder. “It’s alright dude, you’ll get him next time.” He smiled.  

You walked over to the two and frowned. “sorry,” you mumbled. “If I wasn’t so slow, I would’ve caught up to them in time.” Tails shrugged. “it’s alright Y/n, it wouldn’t have stopped them much anyway.”

Right. Handball’s rules were that you can’t take the ball away from their hand, but you can defend them when they try to reach the ring before the goal 'area', or as you know it, the six-meter area that surrounds the goalie. No one is allowed inside the six meters except them.

You wondered why of all the games, Knuckles chose this one. It's a game usually meant to be played by two teams with seven members, but, you guessed it could be played by teams of four too. Albeit it’s a little more complicated to go back and forth between the defense and attack positions like this.

“We should just change our roles,” Tails commented, his brain already racking for a solution. Knuckles nodded. “yeah, I’ll have to be on the front instead, since Y/n’s speed can’t match theirs.”

“I can’t defend though.” You felt embarrassed by your lack of sportiness, now hands crossed together and a pout apparent on your face. “I’m not much of a sporty person in general, I don’t think I can be this helpful here…”

“Hey, Don’t say that!” Knuckles punched your shoulder softly. “sure, you might not be able to play like a pro,” he shrugged. “but you  can  play it right. Here, let me teach you how to defend.” He pulls you to the six-meter line and stays one inch away from it.

“Alright, what you have to do is first, arms up.” He puts his arms up in a wide range and you copy. “ its best for your legs to be apart and you have to walk in this style,” he starts slowly walking left and right with the ball of his legs," it makes it easier to catch the ball or defend the goalie“

“Now you try,” you nodded and did as you were told. Hands up, stand on the ball of your feet, and walk around the six meters.

You could’ve guessed that Knuckles would be into sports, after all, he is the strength and power of the team. Yet, you never really expected him to be such a great coach in it. 

But that’s probably because you haven't really ever spoken to him much. Your first conversations with him were the ones at Meh Burger.

He was mostly quiet during your first and only a small handful of meet-ups and let the others do the talking instead. So seeing him this excited and social for the first time was a nice change of pace. It made you wonder how much you don’t know about these guys yet.

 Knuckles hummed and nodded. “ yeah, that’s pretty good. Just make sure to focus on the corners in the six meters. Sticks will always try to sneak up there and goal.” You nodded at that, thanking him for his help. A few seconds later and Knuckles’ eyes wandered to your bandaged-up arm. 

“ How are you holding up with the injuries?”

You shrugged, fingers unconsciously touching the bandages. The fabric felt a bit old since you’ve been wearing it for hours now and sweating profusely. The scars beneath it didn’t give you the sizzling pain anymore, yet you could feel small pangs of it here and there. “it's fine, really. The laser obviously hurt but the pain isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I thought the wounds would be deeper than this.”

“you know, I don’t think this will be the last time Eggman pulls a stunt like that against you.” Knuckles frowned a bit. “since you’re our friend, he’ll try to take advantage of that as much as he can.” He’s right, Eggman most certainly will do that. But you have to wonder, what is all this for? What’s his goal in attacking the village and wanting to defeat Sonic? “you should learn some self-defense. It’ll help you hold out long enough till we come in and stop him.”

Huh, he’s right. Self-defense will certainly be helpful for next time around when the evil scientist attacks. “tell you what,” Knuckles grins. “if you ever need some tips or lessons, just come to my house and I’ll help you out.”

“Seriously?” you smiled, grateful for everything the team has done for you these days. “Thanks! I’ll take you up on that offer someday then.”

“next game of handball begins in five minutes!” Amy shouted, Sticks standing right next to her and drinking some water. “We’re definitely gonna win this! We’ve got the best team! With our great dynamic in there and Sonic’s super speed catching the ball perfectly, no one can stop us!” she suddenly puts a finger on her chin. “maybe we should go pro…”

“That would be nice, but I don’t think we’ll make it to all the competitions when there’s so much butt-kicking to do here.” Amy adds. “ the village’s safety comes first.”

“While we’re on the topic,” Tails suddenly speaks up again. “don’t you guys think you’re being a little unfair?”

“What?!”

“what do you mean? “ Amy looked at Tails in confusion. “what's so unfair about us?”

“it's obviously Sonic.” Knuckles joined in and Tails nodded.

“ he has super speed! It’s always impossible for us to goal!” Tails grumbled a bit. “ the whole match he could easily catch the ball from every corner! All of my strategies were impossible to succeed. Heck, even when he is distracted and on a whole other section of the base, he still super speeds and gets to the side we’re in and catches the ball!” Amy hums at that, now in deep thought.

“I guess his super speed is a little unfair here…” she mumbled. “but we can't do anything about it now, we’ll have to do something for the next game instead.”

“how are you gonna make it fair anyway?” Sticks asked. “it's not like we can just stop him from playing the games. That would be unfair to  him .”

Tails suddenly smiled. “ I think I have an idea,” Tails looks at Amy.

----

“ WEIGHTS?! ” Sonic screamed. "YOU’RE GONNA MAKE ME PUT WEIGHTS ON MY ANKLES?!”

“yep!” Amy simply nodded.

 A normal five-minute break has become a fifteen-minute one since Amy wanted to try out her idea. And with the way it's going, a few ten more minutes might be taken up by convincing Sonic to try them.

“B-but- that’s way too unfair for me! It’s gonna make me way too slow!” he hurriedly spoke. Amy looked at him with a judged look. “Sonic, I had to wear weights on my hands for  years.  “ she huffed. “It’s really not that heavy. Stop whining so much about it!”

Sonic grumbled, now defeated and begrudgingly agreeing to the new game rules. It does make the game fair after all.

“you know, we can do a test run right now to see if they make you too slow.” Tails suggested. “if they are then we’ll have to give you smaller weights or think of a new idea.”

Sonic didn’t reply, he merely started getting into position. With no second to waste, he starts super-speeding around the island. It's noticeably a little less quick than before, yet it was still fast enough to be considered super speed. Despite that, Sonic seemed quite annoyed when he stopped his sprints.

“do you feel uncomfortable in them?” you asked, a bit worried about the idea. Sure, his super speed was unfair, but Sonic’s point was also fairly right. It could get unfair for him. “if they’re hurting or bothering you, then that’s fine. You don’t need to wear them.”

Sonic’s eyes softened up a bit and he looked away, a bit embarrassed now. “what- pfft No! why would they hurt at all? I’m way stronger than I look you know.” He proudly 

smirks. “fine fine I’ll wear them,” he rolls his eyes. “if that’s what makes you guys feel a little less outshined and beaten. But,” his tone gets more confident, a tinge of slyness could be sensed in it. “I’m still obviously going to be the winner. Hope you don’t mind that.” He winks, and the others grumble and roll their eyes. You couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. well, if he’s not bothered by it then all is well.

Suddenly, Amy’s tech-watch (that’s what you decided to call them for now) started beeping and the five minutes were up. You all talked for a little bit and then went back to your spots in the game, only this time, your team switched places.

As the defender, your goal is to stop the players from reaching the six meters and shooting or, stopping them from shooting well. Somehow blocking their view or hand so that the ball would go the opposite of what they wanted or even better, making the ball fall out of their hands completely and into the grasp of your teammates.

But before you could do all that, you’ll first need to stand in the middle of the court and pass the ball to each other continuously until you reach the enemy's goal and try to shoot. All while the other team is defending the goal and goalie.  

Amy Sticks stand in the middle, cautious and focusing on your every move. You look back at Knuckles as you pass the ball for the fifth time. He gives you a small nod. The ball gets passed to you once again. You quickly pass it back and block Amy’s way. Knuckles tries dodging and ignoring Sticks’ defense and shoots. The ball gets caught by Sonic.

Sonic passes the ball to Sticks. You sprint back to your goal. Knuckles tries to distract Sticks by blocking her way. She passes the ball to Amy. Amy starts to dribble with the ball and keeps getting closer to you with each second passing. You recite what Knuckles taught you in your head and get in position. She doesn’t falter.

Left, right, left and she jumps and shoots!

Hands up, eyes on the ball, watch your step and-

You got the ball!

You quickly dribble with the ball and ignore Amy’s attack to get it back. you see Knuckles is close to the goal. You throw the ball in his direction. Within a second, he catches the ball and throws it to the top area of the net. Sonic tries to jump and get it, but he failed! Goal!!!

As your team scream in victory, you all gather up and high-five. One point ahead. That’s a good start to the round for sure.

“told you you could do it!” Knuckles pats your back. you smile in response.

---

Even with the good start, your team losing seemed inevitable. Sticks was right, With her and Sonic’s competitiveness combined with Amy’s strategizing, nothing could stop them from winning this sort of game. One could say that with Knuckles added, they would be a team to fear.

Each member of the winning team gained one point. Which puts Amy in the lead for now. After a small break for some drinks, you all started walking down to the beach, right at the section where if you walk any further, you could find yourself in the forests soon enough.  

Two long sticks of red with a line drawn between the two caught your attention. Orange-colored traffic cones engulfed a pathway that leads straight to the forest, but it immediately ends there. no traces of glaring orange can be seen within the forest at all.

Sonic grinned at the sight. “Finally!” he gives out a sigh of relief, but it quickly became a small panic as he realized something.

He looks down to his ankles and then looks back up to the already smirking Amy. “uh Amy…” he gives a worried snicker. “do I still have to wear these?...”

“Duh. How else would we make this fair?”

“oh come on!” he huffed. “I was the one who picked this race! It's only fair that I get to not wear weights in it!” Sonic’s foot tapped impatiently on the ground, eyes annoyed by the rule and fists clenched up from the idea of possibly losing.

Amy and the others thought for a bit. “Alright then,” Tails replied. “But, you’ll have to still wear these weights for any other games we have if the picker wanted you to.” Everyone nodded and hummed in agreement.

A newfound confident smirk was now on Sonic’s face. “Deal!”

The race’s idea was a simple one. Whoever gets outside of the forest the quickest wins. You can use any path you want, the only rule was that it has to be inside the forest. To make things a little harder, each person would be paired up with the other and have to work together to find a way out.

Sonic got paired with Tails, Knuckles with Amy, and last but not least, you with Sticks.

It was decided that five minutes will be given to talk to your teammate and plan your route. As the count started, you walked up to the badger.

“So,” you briefly smiled. “you got any plans? Since you are a forest expert.” Amy often talks about the others at the dinner table. You heard lots about Sticks’ incredible survival skills in the wild.

It took a few silent seconds before her reply, her eyes trained on the forest and her mind ticking with solutions. “I know a few shortcuts. But there’ll be lots of animals and hiking involved.” She turns back to you. “you up for it?”

“well…I never really hiked before-“ your father never really bothered to teach you anything interesting. Even though he was quite skillful in such areas. Usually, he’d leave for a few days to camp in the forest and doesn’t come back till the sun is finally up. You always did want to go with him, but it always got canceled by your mother. Something about ‘spending more time with Louis’ and ‘not wanting to get ruined by your father’ was always rambled on as the excuse. And anyway, he never really seemed to care about spending quality time. “but I will try my best.” You sigh.

She hums, eyes again getting glued to the greenery before her. “don’t worry, I’ll teach you a few tips.”

After a few talks about which way you’ll head, it was now time for the game to start.  

You all stand on the red line. Everyone gets in position. You take a small glance at Sonic and you could already tell he  knows  he’s going to win. The machine cheers up a loud noise and you all instantly start to sprint.

You go to your left with Sticks, immediately stirring away from the rest of the gang and reach a small mountain.

Despite being labeled as ‘small’ by Sticks, you were sure it was quite the trail to hike. Bushes and rocks run over the place, some trees can be seen growing at the top of the mountain. The wild colors of green, grey and browns of different shades all mixed up together in harmony. a few pretty little plants with different monotone colors laid across the path. It was beautiful. Something you could see being on a painting.

As you took your first steps on the mountain, you felt someone hold your wrist. “hold on,” she walks a few feet ahead of you and motioned you to watch. You observe her and realize that she’s walking a bit differently than how you did. Rather than a normal straight-ahead walk, it was one where you’ll have to walk left and right in half circles continuously. “Imagine that you’re a snake of some sort. Then, when you gather enough stamina and…” she gets ready and  jumps  in such height that you know you could never achieve and falls a few feet high up. Your jaw drops.

She looks at you critically. “what's wrong? You look like I told you the truth about this world. This is easy! That’s something you’ll have to learn when you’re ready.”

“uh…” you look around awkwardly. “I mean- I can do the first part but I’m definitely not ready for the jump part  at all .” Sticks rolls her eyes at that.

“Fine then, just do that part. But be quick! We’re wasting time like this!” and so you did, you did your best to hike up the mountain as quickly as possible. But a loud grumble from Sticks proved for it to be useless. She comes down from the hundreds of heights she was up and stands right next to you. “fine then, I guess we just have to do  this  instead.” 

Before you could even question what she meant, you felt yourself getting lifted up and put on her shoulders. “What  the-  “

“hold on tight if you don’t wanna get your bones broken.”

“what do you even mean by  Th AT -  OH MY GOD  HOLY SHIT —“

It was almost like she was flying. Going so high up and climbing the mountain as if it was nothing. You followed her tip and held on so tight on her shoulders, the fear of falling down and possibly dying by your skull getting smashed up into bits coursing through you.

“It's not that scary!” Sticks huffed. “ya don’t need to shake like a leaf right now. Jeez, how are you ever going to survive an alien attack?!”

“I’d probably be the first one to die.” You laughed out, trying to distract yourself with this conversation.

“you’d definitely be mind-controlled first.”

“and then what would happen?”

“well…” her eyes brightened up a bit, excited to finally talk about all this to someone. ” they’ll first try to use you as bait to control others and after that—“ Sticks kept rambling on, yet her skills in literally jumping around from vine to vine, tree to tree, never ceased to stop. “and then after all that, they’ll move on to another planet.”

“so, am I doomed then?”

“Nah, don’t worry.” She reassured. “I’ll be there to protect ya. Honestly, if I wasn’t alive here and now all of you would have been doomed a long time ago.”

You were about to reply back, until you heard a screeching sound to your left. With her movement stopping, Sticks seemed to hear it as well.

“What was that?” you frantically looked around in worry. “it sounded like an animal. You think they got injured?” you try your best to look at Sticks in your position. But you can only see a small bit of her expression. She seemed on high alert, but also nonchalant.

“wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.” She mumbles. “stuff like this happens a lot. Rules of the jungle.”

“…can we go check though?”

“What?! Why?!” her gaze shifts to you with confusion and a bit of annoyance. “we’re gonna lose if we do that!”

“oh please,” you huffed. “you and I both know Sonic already won this the second we started moving.”

Sticks became speechless. But her eyes showed obvious conflict. With a groan, she facepalms and puts you down, grabs your hand and helps you slide off a tree.

“…so we’re going to help it, right?”

“no, I was planning on killing it, roasting it, and then eating it in front of you.” She looked at you with a sarcastic expression, one that soon shifts into annoyance. “of course we’re going to help it now! If we didn’t then you’d give me those sad puppy eyes you gave the first time we met.”

“ sad puppy eyes -“ you gasped. “I looked like that?!” oh god, oh no. this is extremely embarrassing to hear. You couldn’t even look at her gaze when she obviously wasn’t joking about it.

“yup.” She gave a short reply, then continued. “ super scared and confused all while having some kindness or honesty to it. For a moment I thought you were faking it.”

“…oh man, this is so embarrassing.” You were at a complete loss for words. You knew you looked pathetic at that moment, but you never knew it was  that  pathetic.

 Sticks stared at you with an alert look. “you’re doing it again— are you trying to trick me with that look?” she huffed out. “ you should really start learning some survival skills. You’re lucky we found you first. You could’ve been killed and eaten by the animals the minute you stepped in here.” With a motion using her head, she silently told you to follow.

While walking down to the source, you try to continue the conversation. “come on, cut me some slack.” You smirked. “I’m sure I could at least survive a few days. I’m pretty knowledgable in animal behaviors too, you know.” You didn’t go nose-deep into thousands of books and got graduated from that vet school for nothing.

Sticks took one more glance at you and hummed. “alright then, three days, tops.”

“I think it’d be more than two weeks, at best.”

“keep dreamin’.” She snorted.

After a short while of overthinking about the ‘what if’ situation, you spoke up again.“how long would Sonic last, then?” you curiously brought up. “I mean- what if he suddenly didn’t have super speed and was stuck in a forest? How long would he survive?”

That question seemed to intrigue Sticks as well, as she hummed and put a finger under her chin in thought. “ well, he’ll obviously last longer, but he’ll most likely die doing something extremely stupid.”

You snorted. “ and the rest?”

“well, Tails would survive the longest, Knuckles second and Amy…well— I’m not really sure. For now, she doesn’t have much of the skills for it, but she did talk about wanting to learn.”

You hummed, mind now moving up to other questions. The forest around you is in a silent harmony as the crunching of bushes and leaves beneath your feet can only be heard.

“…is it fun?”

“Hm?”

“is adventuring fun?” you couldn’t help but ask. “you know- the ruins..the secrets…the history..the fights…the mystery and all the people you meet along the way…is it fun?”

Sticks stayed silent for a bit, contemplating your question with a stern gaze. “I’m not the adventurous one in the group. That title goes to Sonic.” She replied. “but if you had to ask me, then…well— its fun, sure. But it has its dangers. Which is why you either need a professional there with you or learn it yourself. Either way has its huge chances of getting you killed by a dangerous ruin puzzle or mauled by a beast.”

She turned her head to you. “why are you asking anyway?”

You sheepishly look away and give an awkward shrug. “meh. Just curious.”

The suspicion on you must’ve grown a little bit bigger with that reply of yours. Yet you didn’t feel much bad about it. You’d rather die than talk about your feelings. Anytime you ever did, the one you told would always find ways to use it to manipulate you or win an argument. Better safe than opening up about your traumatic childhood, you thought.

You heard a small, yet still audible pained whimper and your head immediately shifted its way. Sticks grabbed your wrist and you both sprinted to your left and stopped until you finally found the injured animal.

The first thing you saw was some signs such as twigs and sticks that showed enough evidence that a tree’s branch must’ve fallen. The next thing you noticed was a fox, laying down injured up. 

judging by its average height and thin body, you could guess it was in its middle years. Still quite young, but not a cub.

 Slowly walking closer to it, you scan over his body and notice its injury being on his back left leg, given how it was hovering up rather than laying down like the rest of the legs, as if it hurt to move it. “is he gonna be okay?” Sticks asked, crossing her arms behind you.

 You nodded. “he can heal by himself,” you frowned a bit, a concerned look on your face. “but I’m not sure if he can stay here…lots of predators out here that can kill him.” A grumble leaves your throat. “But I also can't bring him to the pet shop now— it's already closed and the animals there will freak out by seeing a fox inside, especially the rabbits. There’s also the fact that his hunter instincts and hunger could get to him and hurt the animals there and—“

“alright alright I get it!” Sticks rolled her eyes. “I’ll take him then. He can stay in my backyard for now.” Her eyes became stern, looking at the fox as if she was talking to him at this point. “but as soon as he’s healed, he’s heading out.” she scoffed. “I don’t want any animals in my home.”

“you..hate animals?”

“I don’t hate them,” she reasoned. “I just don’t trust ‘em. Trust me, if you’ve lived in the forest, you’d understand. In here, it's kill or be killed.”

You shrug, leaving the conversation at that and now gently trying to coax the fox to let you patch him up enough so he could at least stand and walk. As your hands get close, he growls, showing his sharp teeth and you flinch away. Sticks walks closer and growls louder than him, a sharp glare set on him as she did so. The fox closed his mouth and hid his teeth behind his muzzle. Soon enough, he lays his body down, only the injured leg being lifted a bit.

“thanks big guy.” You muttered, not noticing the confused look Sticks gave you in response. you gave it a quick patch using the sticks and giant leaves around you and he was able to stand again, albeit limping along the way. Soon, Sticks quickly hunted for some berries and tried to coax him into following you two to the finish line then her house.

As you two finally reached the end of the race, you were met with the group all waiting for you to come back, bored out of their mind with how long it took for you two to finally get here.

“what took so long?!” Amy huffed.

“did you guys get attacked on the way?” Tails questioned.

“miss vet over here wouldn’t let us leave until we found some injured fox we heard whimpering a few minutes into the race.” Sticks summarized your journey. “safe to say we were busy.”

Amy's eyes brightened up in excitement and she cooed, trying to get a good look at the fox and giving an affectionate smile. “he’s so cute!!”

“and best part is, you took out my biggest threat in the race!” Sonic grinned, his face quickly shifting into worry then faked up confidence. “not that I was  afraid  of  losing - no  no.   heh . I knew I’d win, I mean- it’s a  race .  Of course  I’d win.”

“I beg to differ!” Sticks smirked. “the forest is my territory, if Y/n and I weren’t caught up with the foxes, I would've beaten you for sure.”

“but didn’t we first—“

“shush.” Sticks quickly cut you off.

Amy seemed to want to join in as well, as she turned around to Sonic and gave a confident smile of her own. “don’t act so tough right now Sonic. You might’ve won this round, but the next game, oh, I wish you luck on that one.”

He stood still for a moment, his pride completely ripped away from his expression as he looked back at Amy confused. “what do you mean? Isn't the next one Sticks’? its something doing with the forest again..something sporty-…right?”

Sticks’ smile widened. “Nope.” She chirped out. “it's  puzzles. ”

----

Ah yes, puzzles. The old weights for a brain’s exercise. Who didn’t like puzzles? Well- many people didn’t- but there were many out there who also did like it. and you? Well, just like everything else, you had the chance to be good at it and you were quite into the ones laid within the media you consumed concerning adventuring, but you slowly discarded any interest you had in it.

Sonic, on the other hand, seemed to have zero interest or skills in it. So much so that he’s been looking really stressed and frustrated the whole time they were setting up the puzzles on the table. He seemed so relieved to hear that everyone would be working in pairs. Yet, he still seemed a little tense.  

He was paired up with Amy

You were paired up with Tails

And last but not least, Sticks was paired up with Knuckles.

Since Sticks was the one who picked the puzzles, to make things fair she was given another puzzle made by Tails.

The fox you found a bit earlier sat silently next to a tree, taking nap until you and Sticks get the time to take him to her house later, a few feet away from him, there was you and the others sitting across the picnic table from earlier breaks. there was a basket in front of your team and the others (except Sticks and Knuckles’ of course.) and each team was given a sheet of paper with riddles.

“Sticks, these aren’t puzzles” Tails perked up. Sticks looked at him confused. “what do you mean? Riddles are a part of puzzles.”

“no, they’re not. Riddles work in a way that it has to tell you a story of sorts for you to think about and solve and most of them are based on logic. You could always win those by quick thinking. puzzles, on the other hand, can require much more thinking no matter how much of a genius you are and involve putting things together so they could make sense. Also, puzzles can have their own logic while riddles must always be stuck in just one form of logic.”

“well I don’t agree!” her face scrunches up. “ A riddle is a kind of puzzle that someone asks questions that the other must find an answer to. Rather than doing physical things like shifting through wires or turning around tablets of stones or attaching some boring two pieces together- your left with giving firm verbal responses!”

“ok, first of all, “ Sonic finally speaks after half an hour of silence and grabs everyone’s attention. “you two nerds need to calm down.” He sighed. “second, Sticks, how do you even know so much about puzzles?!”

The badger shrugs. “there’s plenty of them in the forest left by the ancients. I don’t get most of them, but I didn’t manage to understand the easy ones and open its ruins here and there.”

“I knew it!” Amy joins in. “that’s why this seemed so familiar!” she lifts up the paper and looks at it in satisfied realization.

“Alright, enough chit-chat!” Sticks clicks her tech watch and sets up a timer. “you all have nine minutes to finish this up, so the game begins now!”

Soon, all eyes were on these papers. “This is a type of fruit, on which you can dine, to get another fruit, put it after pine” Tails reads the first riddle out loud and hums. “oh! Easy! It's apple.” Only a few seconds later and he’s already got the answer.

 “What Am I? I’m small but I’m not a hamster. I’m found on a golf course but I’m not a golf ball. I’m a natural material but I’m not a blade of grass. I can be made into a castle but I’m not a brick. I’m grainy but I’m not an old photograph.” You hummed the question. “alright, well that’s obviously sand.”

Soon, more riddles have been answered. Yet, you didn’t feel like it was right- at least, not fully right. Looking around, your eyes land once again on the basket. Soon, everything clicks. You gave a small punch to Tails’ shoulder and grab his attention. Without uttering a word, just to make sure you were quietly ahead in the game since the other team hasn’t seemed to figure it out yet, you grab the basket and motion to the forest and beach a few feet away from you.

Tails’ eyes widen and he nods eagerly, and with that, you sprint and grab a handful of sand, put it in your basket, and quickly go inside the forest and scan the area for apples.

Luckily, the apples were found quickly a few feet away from you, most likely ones that have fallen from the tall trees all around you. You grab one and sprint back, already agreeing with Tails to finish up all the riddles then look for the rest of the items together.

‘This is a type of fruit. But it is not a lime. There are no other words. With which this word can rhyme. ’ Orange.

‘Even though I have blades, I’m the one that gets cut'  grass.

‘ What Am I? I have eyes but I can’t see. I have skin but I can’t feel anything. I can be sweet but I’m not a piece of candy. I can be baked but I’m not a cake. I can be peeled but I’m not a carrot’  Potato.

With twenty more of these solved and nineteen items gathered up. you only needed one more thing before you win this game. The other team, however, was just starting their item-collecting part of the game. All with Sonic also being forced to put on weights for it.

So in conclusion, you and Tails didn’t rush things with the last item. It was a simple one, you just needed to look around a bit to find it. A sunflower, which Tails said he knows a place where they usually grow. So you set your sights there and followed the yellow fox.

“you know,” Tails suddenly spoke up during your walk. “you were pretty good at those riddles. And it’s a good thing you noticed the basket being important.” He gives a sheepish scoff. “I was way into the riddle solving to notice that.”

“Thanks, Tails,” you smiled. “but you did way more than I did, honestly I’d probably lose real bad without you.”

He shook his head in disagreement. “no, it was a team effort. I’d lose without you too since you were the ones who fetched the items and all. Without you, I’d be way too slow to complete all of this.” He looks at you with a small smile of his own. “we can make a pretty good team.”

Does teamwork affect things to be this much better? Does it really give more meaning or fun to a task or does it make it just more tedious? You weren't sure. But you liked this team. Team Sonic was a team full of friends. A team that must bring much great moments like this one.

“yeah, I guess we do.”

---

“Annddd Tails and Y/n won!!! That makes me, Tails, Y/n and Sonic all lead up to a tie! “ Amy announced. “which is great considering the next game is our last one! And it's Y/n’s pick!”

Sonic glanced at his genius friend confused, then looked back at Amy. “hold on, what about Tails? Didn’t he pick any games?” Tails gave an awkward laugh to that.

“well…I may or may not have stayed completely focused on my latest project and completely forgotten about picking a game— and there was the puzzle that I had to make for Sticks so…”

“which by the way,” Sticks looked at Tails with a bit of anger. “it was a completely unfair puzzle! I give you all easy stuff and you gave Knuckles and I some of the hardest math puzzles I ever saw.”

“Well, I heard you were going to base your puzzles on the ancients so I thought you must be going for its difficult puzzles, didn’t know there were easy ones around. Sorry.” He gives an apologetic look.

Sticks’ expression loosens up and she huffs. “forgiven, but you owe me one for rigging my own game.”Tails nods to that.

“ok, since that’s settled,” Amy speaks up again, looking at her T-watch. “it's time for the final game!” 

Sonic tilts his head in curiosity. “So, what did you choose doc?” Everyone looks at you, curious about what game you’d pick as the finals, the last game that will finally prove who is the best champion out there between the six of you.

You give a small smile. “hide and seek.”

---

The rules of your game were simple. A list of names would be put in a jar, the one name that gets picked out is the seeker. The seeker has to close their eyes for ten minutes so the others could hide in the woods and they have two hours to check all of the woods for the ones who hid. If they find everyone before the time is up, they win. If they don’t, everyone else gets a point.

Before the game, you also set the rule of Sonic wearing weights, because if he becomes a hider it'd be extremely easy for him to switch up his positions when the seeker is nearby. And if he was the seeker, well, he’ll find everyone in less than thirty minutes.

It’s a rule which he groaned at, but complied with anyway. 

The ball full of your names gets rolled around, shaken a few times and then, you finally lift out a number from it. You open it up and say the seeker’s name.

“Sonic.”

With that, everyone gets in position and as Sonic closes his eyes, you were all running to the forest like there was no tomorrow. 

With the help of the multiple times you walked here to the mountains and the help of the two kids you met a few days before, you were able to find the best hiding spot. The good old small cave that gave the illusion of being a part of the mountain itself. You could thankfully fit in, but you did feel a bit claustrophobic with the tightness it surrounded you with. You crouched down, making the space easier for you to hide in and breathe. Now all you had to do is not speak a sound and wait for the timer on your phone to strike. Piece of cake.

You wondered how long it’d get Sonic to find all of you.

---

Even with the weights on, Sonic was a force not to be challenged. A speedster with energy always coursing through him. A competitive being that always wants to win. From fighting Eggman to winning rounds after rounds of tomato potamos against his friends, he was always the winner. Losing was never really his thing.

Maybe that’s why he feels so determined to win this game now. His skills sharpened up to the max so that he can get the last point and finally get that satisfactory victory that he always gets. Maybe that’s why he found all of his teammates in less than forty minutes. 

And maybe that’s why he’s panicking a bit now, looking everywhere yet unable to find you at all.

He’s searched everywhere ten times already. From the biggest of lakes to the longest of trees, he’s searched it all. Yet, he still couldn’t find you. Not even traces of where you went. You must’ve been careful not to make any twigs snap or footsteps be framed on the mud while you were hiding. 

He was getting frustrated. He was getting annoyed. Where in the world were you right now? 

As he reaches the summit yet again, he felt his ankles ache. Damn, the number of times he’d have to lift this while walking must be hitting him now. Great, another problem added to his path. 

he slowly walks down the summit and with each step, he gets faster and faster. To the point where his speed becomes enough for him to look like he’s sliding down the mountain. as if the giant thing was just an accessory for a park.

A sturdy rock hits his feet. Before he could even react and stop, he falls head first down the mountain and hits the grassy ground. A loud ‘thud’ accompanied with it all. With the thud, seemed to also come a very worried human.

“oh my god— are you okay?!” the loud noise of his fall even worried you to the point of coming out of your hiding spot, it seemed. 

“mhmm.” His muffled voice, which was still planted on the ground, answered. He slowly raises one of his fists up to give a shakey little thumps up. “totally fine, doc.”

“Can you move your legs?” you felt worry seep into your heart as you check his legs. He moves one up carefully, yet you could see his ankle was shaking due to the weights. You felt horribly guilty.

“new rule, to hell with these weights! You can take them off now.” He gave a sigh of relief from that sentence. With your help, the weights were taken off and Sonic sat still for a few moments to get his energy back. 

You look at him with worry and guilt. You were the one who caused this, weren't you?

“Sonic…I’m so sorry— I didn’t know they were causing you this much pain— you seemed to relaxed during it all and—“

“oh come on Doc, why are you blaming yourself?” he looks at you confused. “you’re not the one who caused this, it's all my fault, really. I should’ve known it could get super uncomfortable at some point.”

“But— if I didn’t give that rule out then you wouldn’t have gotten hurt!” you sighed. Dread now chewing off any confidence you had. “ I should’ve known that you could’ve gotten tired at this point. Anyone would with this much weight on for the first time.”

“Well, technically, you did warn me.” He shrugged. “ I was the one who didn’t listen.”

Silence overtook the conversation. You weren't sure what to do now. But as you looked at your phone and notice how you still got time to get out and show that he’s found you, you figured you could make it up to him by doing just that.

“Can you walk, Sonic?”

He gets up a bit, only for his feet to wobble up and he collapses on the ground once more. “Nope. “ he sighs. you get up, and he looks at you confused. "  what are you doing -“

Within a blink, you pick him up, just like he did when he first took you to the summit, and slowly start your walk back to the beach, making sure he doesn’t fall from your arms along the way. He seemed silent. No snarky comeback nor sarcastic joke came out of him for a solid five minutes. As you glanced back at him, you noticed how he was staring at you with widened up eyes. Still shocked by the whole situation.

“…I feel guilty for this.” You answer whatever question he has in his mind. “so I’m going to repay you by carrying you there and declaring you the winner.”

It took a few moments until he answered. “…whatever you say, doc.”

“why were you so eager to win the whole thing anyway?” you suddenly questioned. Curiosity getting the better of you. He shrugs in response. “I just…really like winning, I guess.” He looks up at the sky, it was almost sunset. The orange and purple hues made blurry memories appear in his mind. “I was put in so many win-or-die situations that it just became a regular thing for me to win, you know? I’ve always been known as the best, the hero. Losing is just… isn't really the most heroic-looking thing. And it messes up my whole personality. I feel..annoyed when I lose. I feel like I lost something important with it.”

“what about you doc?” he suddenly asked. “how do you feel about losing?”

You went into deep thought. Head now up in the same old memory lane as you try to give a good answer to that question. “well…I never really cared unless…” you weren't sure if you could say much about your family yet. It just didn’t feel right. You weren't ready. But..a little wouldn’t hurt, right? They wouldn’t use it against you somehow, they weren't like that. They weren't like them. “…unless my family wanted me to win. If they wanted me to win at something or pass an exam, then I’d do anything for it, no matter what. Because I knew I’d be in deep trouble if I didn’t. winning never felt good either. it felt the same as losing, just less worrisome. it was dull.”

You looked back at Sonic and saw his concerned stare. Shit, oh shit. Nope— change the subject  now.

Before he could speak, you give out another question. one you were curious about for quite a while now. “why do you call me doc?”

His eyes remain a bit concerned, but he seems to have moved on from that subject with the question you gave him. “…well, you are a doctor— even thoughts it's for animals, still a doctor so,” he smiles. “yeah, doc seemed to fit.”

“Are you sure you didn’t get that nickname from a certain cartoon bunny saying it?”

He looks at you perplexed.

“you know, bugs bunny?”

“Who bunny??”

“you don’t know bugs bunny?!” you giggled a bit. “no,” he scoffs. “what, is he famous or something?”

“he’s sort of an icon in animation. His iconic line is ‘what’s up doc?’”

“well, he obviously copied me.”

“ah yes, the  more than eighty-year-old cartoon character  stole that line from  you .”

“Obviously!” he smirked. “I’m just that cool.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at that, giving him a teasing glare as he looked at you with a casual smile of his own.

A few seconds passed with peace. While thinking of all the things you’ve been through today, another question pops into your mind.

“Sonic,”

“yeah?”

“what's adventuring like?”

His eyes shift from the skies to you, now looking at you with a complicated, yet soft expression. You didn’t know how to describe it. It felt like he went through thousand of adventures, yet also went through none.

It took a while for him to answer.

“it's…fun.” He shrugs. “but it's not just fun because it's supposed to be- it's fun because you make it fun.”

 He continued. “it was fun for me because I got to meet the most amazing people and form the best friendships. It's fun for others because of the treasures they find. And for some people, it's no fun at all. “ he looks up at the sunset once more. The orange hue is slowly becoming more purple with each passing second. “ for me, adventuring is fun because I get to meet the most amazing people. Like you, for example.”

You looked at him with shock. “you think I’m…amazing?”

“yeah. I mean— you handled everything super well when you came here, you're kind to everyone around you..you forgot all about the race just to help the injured fox in the forest and now you’re literally  carrying me  so I can win, and you’re doing that because you feel guilty for something you’re not even at fault at. You asked me if it hurt, I was the one who stupidly thought the slight throb was nothing.”

You couldn’t help but give a bashful smile. “I’m still technically at fault though. I’m the doctor, I should’ve warned you better.”

He rolled his eyes. “whatever you say, doc.”

“for the record,” you continued on. “I think you’re pretty amazing too.” You were too caught up looking at the path in front of you, beautifully covered by the fading orange and the lush greens in front. You didn’t notice how his eyes lit up a bit. “and- I’d like for us to hang out more and you know- be friends.”

“aren't we already friends?”

“ I mean— yeah? We are I  guess - or I  hope so - I don’t wanna pressure any of you to be friends with me if you don’t want to and it's fine if—“

“Relax, doc.” He laughed. “yeah, we’re friends. You know what- how about this, you and me, next weekend, chili dogs. Sounds good?”

You smiled. “it sounds fantastic.”

Sonic looks at you in deep thought as you keep your eyes on the path. his eyes shift to himself, then the path left ahead of you. soon, he speaks again.

“hey, Y/n?”

“yeah?”

“can you not move for a few seconds?”

You looked at him with furrowed brows.

“why?...”

“Because I want you to win.”

Suddenly, before anything else could be uttered out from your mouth, explosions and fireworks erupted and you looked up at the now darkened sky that the fireworks themed with your face lit up in. a firework of ‘winner!’ next to it. Screams of cheers can be heard only a few feet and bushes away, yet you couldn’t celebrate yet. You were still too flabbergasted by the whole ordeal. Only flinching away from your mind as you hear the hedgehog in your arms chuckle.

“how…why did you—“ you really couldn’t fathom this at all. “but— but I thought you hated losing!” you looked at him completely shocked and out of answers.

He smiles and merely shrugs in response. “ well, maybe losing sometimes isn't bad at all.”

Chapter Text

“Are you sure you don’t want to join us?”

Pink suitcases of all kind fill up the small living room, making it a bit harder to move around the place. Hence why you’re glued to the couch watching Amy and Sticks prepare. Amy looks at you worryingly, it was as if you were a toddler being left alone for the first time in her life. Which…is technically not untrue, minus the toddler part.

“Amy can take two guests with her y’know.”  Sticks clutches her own bag on her shoulders, a normal hand-made one with leather. Compared to Amy, she looks at the array of suitcases with utter confusion. “but I guess you’d have to pack light.” A huff comes out of her.looking back at Amy with a tinge of annoyance. “Do you really have to pack this much? It’s only a two day trip!”

“It's not just a ‘ trip ’ Sticks!” Amy starts getting giddy with excitement. “I’m being invited to Comedy Chimp! That’s the best thing that could’ve ever happened to my business!” ah, right. Comedy Chimp, the one and only late night tv show who speaks with celebrities of this Island. Another new information you’ve learned during your few weeks here. Though not as much as a shocker as the very idea of anthropomorphic people even existing, with your shock on the latter completely phasing by and dying at this point, you’ve come to question more about this world you’re living in.

First, it was the media itself. Somehow, they have their own internet, their own certain electricity and connections that set them completely disconnected from the world outside of theirs. It’s baffling, really. Though you’re not the most expert in this topic, surely they’re connected to it somehow, right? If not, you wouldn’t have been able to connect to Jason in the first place…but then again…you do always have to call him on the highest mountain of the place, with the lowest internet possible and a very glitchy and often blurry figure of Jason on your screen. Perhaps, you should try and see if you have the ability to text and load up videos as well. Maybe with the help of google maps you can pinpoint where you technically are. Despite the idea fresh in your mind, another thought dwells on you, one that makes you huff. You’d rather not let your sudden quick activity on the internet alarm Louis. It’s been quite the two months, suddenly appearing online could raise unwanted attention.

With that out of your mind, you try to trace back to your first thought. Right, the Island’s media. They all have their own celebrities, some you’ve only heard by name, such as Tommy Thunder, and others you’ve seen pictures of, like the eagle on the chocolate bar you're on your first day here. and the third of them were the big stars. Though only a handful, their presence is very well known among the residents. Though deep diving and researching about how and when they have gotten famous feels like a rather fun feat, you’re more curious about something much more boring.

How do they make these certain merchandise and objects?

You will be honest, this Island is no safe place. If the almost active volcano wasn’t proof enough, there is also Eggman who destroys the town constantly, and from what you’ve heard by Sticks and Amy, things such as meteor showers and hurricanes are not uncommon. A very horrifying thought, given how Amy’s house is quite frankly not the safest in terms of structure. Not to mention, you’re soon to be housed in a tree . So yeah, not a nice thought.

But here is the thing, here is the subject that has been bombarding your mind from the moment you’ve woken up. you only know one section of the entire huge Island. Some could argue that you know four, if you count the jungles, beaches and volcanoes. But, all of those places are only a few feet apart, and one can only see them as one zone of the Island. Your proof? Comedy Chimp.

You see, dear imaginary competitor who is trying to reason with y/n’s logic,the host of Comedy Chimp -er… whose name is also Comedy Chimp- does these certain skits. Afterall, there aren’t enough celebrities to interview on a daily basis, so their routine is a bit different from what you’d be used to. They interview a celebrity once a week, which is usually on Friday nights, and before that day, they constantly try to put clues on the show for people to stay tuned and try to guess who the celebrity will be. Clues, who get separated in different skits around the island that the host does. The first night when you watched him, he was in a desert looking area, a place that shocked you and made you ask Amy where he was exactly. Much to your shock, Amy replied that it’s a certain section of the Island away from the town, then she started to ramble about how it was beneficial to the ‘ancients’ in the past. That would also explain why you’ve never seen the studio for such a show, or a studio for any show on their channels for that matter. They were on the other side of the Island, one completely unknown to you. and perhaps, even, it would have the workshops or factories that create products like that eagle chocolate  bar in such a rapid pace.

“-Y/n? were you even listening?” Before you could even delve deeper, Amy’s voice snaps you out. you look at her with a bit of guilt. “yeah- I think? You were talking about why you need all these suitcases.”

“So you agree?” Amy grins triumphantly at Sticks, whom was grumbling and rolling her eyes.

“well…” you huff, and Amy and Sticks both now look at you with little anticipation. “I mean- it’s best to be prepared- but how are you going to carry all of these by yourself? Won’t it be exhausting?”

“uh, hello?” her posture straightens up in pride. “You are speaking to a soon-to-be celebrity and the most successful business woman of all on this island!” Sticks seemingly rolled her eyes at that.

“he’ll probably just ask you dumb questions.” Sticks groaned. “How are you so sure he’s the right guy for a sponsor?”

“Can’t you be a bit more supportive?” Amy sighed. “ not even Sonic got an interview with him yet.”

“ Exactly. ” Sticks replied. “ He's out of actors and models around here, so now he’s lookin’ for us for content!” she suddenly grumbles. “ain’t no way I’m letting that stale-joke-stealing guy get any money out of me.”

“Well, he’s not interviewing you, he’s interviewing me .”

Sticks sighs at that. “Just warning ya.” She grabs the suitcases and walks through the door. “don’t come crying to me when he doesn’t ask you anything about your new business!” she says, as if she wouldn’t gouge Chimp’s eyes out if he insults her best friend in any way.

“Say, which business are you trying to promote here?” you spoke up, grabbing Amy’s attention as she was zipping up the last bag.

“interior design!” she gleefully answers. “ you did say I had a knack for it, so I thought why not make a business out of it?”

“Well, yes- you do have talent in it.” you take a glance around the house, confirming your own statements to yourself. “But are you sure you want to make every hobby of yours a business?”

“What do you mean?”

“well—“ you sit up a bit more straight. “ You don’t need to make every hobby marketable to prove to yourself that you’re good at said hobby. And you already have so many classes you run, are you sure you even have time for it?”

“oh please,” Amy scoffs, rolling her eyes. “Have you even met me? I am the queen of schedules! I’m sure I can make time for it.”

“hold on-“ Sticks now joined the conversation. “you mean to tell me you didn’t even start the business yet?!””

Now faced with two worried friends and a load of doubt, Amy stutters a bit and then grumbles. “ Trust me on this,guys! This will be highly marketable! Next week you’re going to see me in the magazine!" She strikes a fashionable pose. “Amy Rose, model, business woman,artist, entrepreneur and interior designer!” she strikes another. “What's next for this sublime pink beauty? Go to page 68 to find out more!”

“Do magazines actually have that many pages?” Sticks’ questions go unanswered.

“Well, if you say so.” You just shrugged. It’s not your business,anyways. If this is what she wants to promote, then who are you to stop her? “I hope it goes well.”

“promise me you’ll watch it?” Amy’s eyes are one of excitement, an excitement that quickly shifts to slight concern. “ and that you’ll make sure the house  is not trashed by the boys when I come back?”

Two days where you’re alone, one where it’s off to work in the morning, but after it is a well needed rest after the hellish work week you’ve been through. No matter how many animals you patch up or inspect, the rows and reservations at the vetirinary are never-ending. You have a few plans on how to spend the weekend. You’re not sure why Amy’s so worried about the house being trashed, but from what you heard, last time she let Sonic and Knuckles take care of the place it didn’t go so well. something about a couch fiasco. though, since she seemed concerned, you gave her a reassuring smile, hoping it’ll calm her nerves down.

“promise.”

---

The clement household was always known to be cold.

Outside it’s walls, it’s a beautiful, warm victorian-like manor deep within the forest, it’s a princess’ castle and a house pet’s oasis. But within the old rose-covered walls lies a cold, dimly lit, empty house. Even the employees within the place are as quiet as ever, their shoes barely leaving a ‘click’ or a ‘clack’ against the smooth wooden floors.  The lack of noise is the complete opposite of what Cameron is used to. 

Being one of the ‘generational’ families whom have saved the world from doom centuries ago had it’s perks and very small disadvantages. One disadvantage being the oath the families took amongst each other to meet when one wants to speak with them. It’s known as a great way of teamwork and companionship, breaking it would be considered shameful and done in pure distaste. Which is why he’s here today, in the Clement household by the request of Louis Clement, this year’s biggest jackass.

It’s a request that had his mother spout praises and excitement while his grandparents spoke about upholding respect and acting with manners of a gentleman, all while his great great uncle sat in silence, like he always has.

His family doesn’t know what he knows, so of course they only see this as a common courtesy and perhaps even an offer for future business relations, but it’s far from that,it’s much more ridiculous, because Louis Clement never learned to grow up and face rejection, and now he’s decided to go haywire because of it.  

There are many reasons on why Cameron never liked speaking with the other children  within the guild. One common excuse of his being that their personalities just didn’t mix well with his. His house was known for intelligence, known to be full of scientist and analyst whom constantly support mankind with their scientific goals. Though now the idea of engaging in the scientific discovery is slowly dimming down generation after generation, the honor and promise of helping it prosper is something they must support, whether his father liked it or not. Oh, and him? Well, Cameron, ‘embarrassingly enough’ as his mother would say, likes conspiracy science. Though he often finds himself disagreeing or just being amused by the prospect of flat-earth or pyramids being built by aliens, there is one phenomena that has never left his mind. For he himself has seen proof of their existence- or at least- he knows a trustworthy man who has.

“I apologize for the short notice Mr.Eclipse.”

Shaky. Louis’ voice seems shakier here than he’s ever heard it. just like any other, Louis often wore a mask of confidence when invited to the annual parties, he was radiant, a star in the middle with beaming eyes and a charming smile. He was the perfect image for the Clement family and has strayed far from showing his insecurities to others. a lesson taught by his family, perhaps. For they too tend to not show any annoyance or grievance to anything. He often heard his grandmother complaining about ‘every generation worse than the other, for Clement’s pure hearts as they call it, can dim and become rotten with time.’ He never understood what she meant, but he can get a good grasp of it now. For you see, it seems like the rumours of Clement’s being emotionless was untrue, quite far from it in fact. They are just as emotional as any other human being, or maybe, Louis Clement is by far the most emotional Clement he’s ever seen.

Louis runs a hand in his hair and straightens his clothes, dressed casual and not in the suits Cameron is used to seeing him wearing. Thank god, because Cameron decided against wearing a suit as well, believing he looks too awkward in such a formal getup.

He clears his throat,preparing to sound utterly poised and formal, remembering how his mother prayed for him to not screw this up. “there’s no need for apologies..uh..Mr.Clement.”

“Please, just call me Louis.”

“Okay..Louis- cool.” Shit shit he already ruined it. oh well, he did say he won’t promise anything, perhaps he’ll be saved from the scolding later. “ so—…can I ask why you called me?”

“Why are you in such a rush Cameron?” because you’re an intense psycho who couldn’t take no for an answer- was what Jason would’ve preferred Cameron to say, and he’ll admit, he wanted to see his reaction to such a sentence as well- but he’d rather not find assassins ready to strangle him outside, so he opted to just stay silent instead.

“Let's go to the garden first. I recently got this sublime tea. It would hurt my feelings if you hadn’t had at least one sip.”

Don’t say anything snarky don’t say anything snarky don’t don’t don’t-

Yet, Cameron has always been a troublemaker at heart. From learning the most confusing and less-evidential of sciences to letting a complete stranger take a relative’s yacht. He could not handle ignoring such a perfect moment.

“Why?  Is it poisonous?”

Louis falters in his step, frozen in shock for a moment, his back turned to Cameron. His shoulders shake, then a bit of wheezing  can be heard. A small wheeze then became a holler of laughter. Never has Cameron heard  a laugh so on edge, so on the verge of mental collapse. Oh god, it is poisonous, isn’t it?

Louis turns back and looks at him with a smile. “ I’ve heard that you were amusing to speak with, but I never expected to be laughing from the first minute that you’re here!” if Cameron were a fool, he’d hit Louis or give him another,even harsher comment, but he knew where the line was and where he stood in it, so he kept his mouth in a tight smile and let Louis lead him to the outside, where a garden overtakes the place and a table is set-up right in the middle just for such occasions. 

He wanted to get a word in, to thank for his hospitality or try to make small chit-chat and avoid the main issue he was here for, because given the state Louis is in, he knows for sure it’s about you. yet, his phone constantly buzzes, and Louis urges him to check it right as their tea is being prepared.

With a strained smile, he opens his phone, only to predictably be met with hundreds of messages from Jason.  An entire line of typos, all he could comprehend being Jason’s way of trying to control his mixed shocked and annoyance from Louis’ invite. Last messages were more comprehensible, longer and well-thought-out, all begging him to leave the place immediately, or hell, never answer the invite in the first place.

Cameron held back a full sob, it’s way too late to turn back now.

 As the delightful smell of a floral tea wafts through the room, it does little to calm his nerves, and he’s left with this constant uneasiness as he tries to look anywhere but Louis’ eyes.“So, Cameron,”  Louis quickly takes a sip, a frown upon his face as he remembers buying this tea for it was specifically your favourite blend, an irony he could not bear to fathom upon, a heartbreak he’s that he cannot process even one bit longer.”I’ve heard an interesting story from your cousin yesterday,” shit. Cameron is in a losing battle, and he now knows that he must die a silent man, never giving away the location of the hideout. “ care to explain your side of the story?”

“…hah..why not?...” he fiddles with his collar, the clothing on him feeling far too itchy now.

-----

On such a beautiful and quiet beach, one would think peace would be exemplary here. Yet, you are fuming with annoyance and rage as your phone barely functions at all anymore. With your charger now just a few scraps of strings, charging the poor thing was always an impossible task. It was like you were forcing your device to do the worst yoga poses for seven straight hours. Therefore, your phone is slowly trading to a no man’s land. It constantly glitches, fumbles, and automatically turns itself off.  Anytime you restart and turn it on, the batter bar keeps showing a completely different number. You were glad such a thing just happened to your phone and not your laptop, because if that was the case, any contact you had with the outside world would be gone forever.

However, you couldn’t help but blame yourself for not doing anything about this sooner. With your phone now in shambles of what it used to be, you can never go back and save the files you had there or retrieve any lost numbers or accounts. your entire life in the city was in that phone, from socials to photos, stupidly satisfying mobile games and old internet friends you haven't spoken to in months now, all of it was now gone. Though you are still grateful to have left the hellhole of a place, it never meant that you didn’t have at least a few good memories there.

A small stab hits your heart, and you find yourself in a dilemma. Are you a fool? Must you pick a world and stick to it and never look back?

This freedom you have feels great, it feels cathartic even, yet, you still find yourself often missing the small things you had in that past life.With how much your mind has been processing your childhood, you’ve been feeling an ache for the small things in life. your mother’s brownies…her teasings and banter with your father in the rare times they did get along..her soothing lullabies that she;d sing to you when you had a nightmare-

You freeze up for a moment. Wait.

God , did you miss your mother of all people?

The urge to facepalm was increasing by the second, your mind now berating you for even thinking about missing a mother like her. nevertheless, your feeling’s were evident. Even after all this dread she's giving you, all those depressing nights where you considered your own worth, you still ache for the little love she has shown you. Sometimes, in your imaginative mind, you always thought she’d one day look at newspaper tabloids talking about your infamous adventures and say how proud she was of you to all her friends. In your child years where responsibilities were simpler and expectations were far less heavy, you always thought that you’d become a great adventurer and Louis a great businessman, he always claimed that it was his dreams to be the person that makes his parents proud. A sentiment that always felt off to you. you would even sketch out your ideas, show them to your family excitedly and claiming you want to show it to Louis too in the next playdate. These claims didn’t sit well with your mother, as she always coaxed you into leaving them at home for next time, not to tell Louis or anyone else in his family about the matter, because you want it to be a surprise, don’t you? speaking about the art piece would only ruin the amazement they’d feel in the next play date! So never bring it, only do so when mother mentions it.

You’re sure the drawings are up in the attic somewhere, collecting dust with all your other plastic and paper companions you’ve made and talked with over the years, alone in your room unless Louis called. Alone, cold and murmuring your words, not wanting to wake anyone’s attention to your fantasy filled world, full of friends and companions that you held dear, all whom in your teenage and adult life in the city have become w withering memory, yet now, you find yourself remembering a bit more details about them with each passing day. There was the adventurer whom you loved her book and always imagined yourself as her little sister, one cartoon character known to be a grouchy old man with a soft heart whom you’ve always seen as a father figure and—

PLANK!!!

Pain and shock all hit you at once as your head falls face first to the sand below you, a pained cry emitting from you as the banging pain of whatever metal material that has hit your head now takes over your mind. Now, you could only hear two, robotic-like voices, one more wise while the other a bit more goofy and high-pitched. They walk- more like hover- to your line of sight, the presumably red one- you guessed, for your eyesight was now becoming blurry by the second- glancing to your eyes and jolting a bit in shock.

“It seems like she’s still awake.” He tells his yellow, more cubic friend. One whose holding a metal bat with a familiar logo on it. “Cubot, hit her one more time with the bat, but try not to lead into any injuries. Her head is more fragile than ours.”

You couldn’t help but give a strained giggle, startling them both. “..cubot…” you give a small chuckle. “…very….. fitting…”at this point, your mind was becoming far too sleepy to understand even the smallest grains of the sand beneath you, let alone what their exact conversation was about. Something about this loss of senses and eyesight only individualizing things by color left you in a state of déjà vu. Only now, the sun isn’t as blazing as it was before, but a cold wind made you flinch.

The yellow one seems to have heard your almost inaudible words, scratching his head with a confused gaze. “really? I always thought my name was ironic. Because I’m the more orb-shaped between the two of us.”

The red one looked at him in disbelief. A blur of stuttered and confused words leave him as he finds himself trying to process the ludicrous thoughts of his friend, all while trying to find the best way to explain in the simplest way possible how his claims are utterly false- yet he gives up mid-second, sighs and just stares at you disappointed, as if he’s seen this scene before and he’s experiencing his own déjà vu as well.

“let’s just…hurry and get this human to Dr.Eggman.” he points to your forehead. “ go on, hit her again with the bat.”

As if to mock you, which a part of you thinks that’s not it, the yellow bot hits the bat a few times on the palm of his hand before bringing it to the top of his head. You quickly close your eyes, swiftly feeling the impact—everything around you fades to black.

-----

You’ve always loved your mother.

Sure, she could be quite annoying at times- her hypocrisy was always a huge problem. Her constant need to make every issue and problem someone else’s fault always made you feel bitter, and her love for you has always felt…conditional.

If you’ve done everything you’re told, if you followed every rule and replied with ‘yes mother’ to every command, she’d adore you to the moon and back and call you her special beautiful girl. However, falter even once, break something or deny an order and you were met with a scowl and a judgmental stare for every action you made, every breath you took and every laugh you had.

You don’t think your mother ever wanted you.

From the moment you were born, you were made to entertain. The very reason of your birth, as your parents often claimed, was because Jason wanted a sibling, because their favorite boy was lonely.

You never really knew how your mother truly felt about you. Like any other parent, she’d claim she loved you, and only wanted what was best for you. to the point where she’d make you abandon all dreams and quirks of yours to fit into the standard she wanted you to be, the person she believed you must be.

There were times where you truly did feel that love, where you’d both laugh about what you did at school, or when you both would drink tea and gossip about your dad’s side of relatives. Sometimes, she’d see you and have the urge to hug, claiming she just loved you so much, the very thought of you being her child made her happy. Whenever you were injured or bloodied up, your mother would be panicking and hugging you for dear life, giving you a bountiful amount of love and attention you’d rarely feel from her in normal circumstances.

…there were times where you injured yourself on purpose, just so you could feel her worry. Feel her love. Feel her care .

They say that a mother’s love is unconditional, that no matter what, your mother would always love and adore you. but that was never the case with your  mother. The love you wanted to receive always had a price, always had a condition. And the reason for it is quite simple.

Your mother may love you.

 but she never liked you.

That, is the difference she had with other mothers. Mothers like spending time with their child. They like the child’s personality, hopes and dreams. They can imagine in another universe being their age and becoming their friend. Your mother was never like that. For you are the complete opposite of who she was. and she couldn’t tolerate that. She couldn’t ever accept that.

You often wonder if you’ve gotten the daydreaming side of you from your mother. A side she must be too embarrassed to discuss, because you swear that your mother had already made up a personality for you inside her head right before you were even born. She must’ve been daydreaming about a best friend's daughter, a girl that will help her dear mommy in any way she can and tries to make schedules and routines similar to her. She dreamed about having  a mini-me around. She wanted to raise her childhood self, give the love and support she never had as a child and live life bi-curiously through you.

But it failed. You were a failure. You were born a failure.

Something about that makes your heart ache.

The more memories that flash through your mind, the more you wish to escape your dreams and finally wake up. yet you’re stuck, paralyzed within this state of subconsciousness as more bitter memories flashed through you and more claims are made.

Then, suddenly, a horrid smell fills your nostrils and the world flashes white.

----

“*cough cough* GAH- that smell is disgusting!” a gurgle-like, constantly prideful and annoyed voice rings through your ears. “ I told you to just aim at her, not at me you fool!”

“Sorry boss, but you were kinda right beside her.” A goofier voice said.

“well couldn’t you just tell me?! was it that hard to just tell me to scooch away a little?!” your senses were slowly coming back to you, your mind still in a bit of  a haze. Once more all you see is colors. Shades of red and yellow all around you. with specks of white blending the background.

“but..you said to not talk to you until you’ve finished your villainess monologue to the captor.” It is now you finally regain sight and can fully see who's speaking. It was Cubot, holding what seems to be a gun and a sprinkler attached together.

“and what are you doing right now?” the man beside you, Eggaman, threatened.

“uh….” Cubot looks quiet for a moment, a finger under his chin as he genuinely thinks and contemplates about the question. “.. not not talking?”

Eggman’s annoyed face just somehow deepens in its wrinkles and frowns as he facepalms. An angered and exhausted groan comes out of him as he looks at the two bots. “Just shut it and let me do my evil monologue in peace! “ he then sighed. “God, it’s like I have to do everything myself here!” he then turns back and faces the red one, which if you remember,is named Orbot. “ You! go fetch me my hot cocoa!”

“uh…sir..we’re out of hot cocoa powder.” Orbot worriengly replied.

“WHAT?! What do you mean we’re out?!—“

As Eggman starts another parade of enraged rambles to the bots, it’s at this time you decide to finally shake up the exhaustion in your mind and comprehend you surroundings. You try to wriggle your body, yet you found your hands tied to the back. great. Just fucking fantastic.

Moreover, there seems to be a barrier around you, a sort of laser-cage that ensures you don’t move an inch from the circle that’s deemed your prison. The room around you is strange, yet awfully intriguing. A house in pure white. Fitting for a scientist, you guessed. Though it was at that moment you remembered that Eggman was technically a robotist- not a scientist. So truly, the house being ensnared in white seems a little jarring. With how there was nothing but a work desk towards your left, a mixture of tools,gadgets  and blueprints cluttering the entire walls of the room, you guessed you’re at his workshop.

You look back at Eggman, who was still scolding the two now shaking bots like he doesn’t have a captor to attend to right now. with a clear of your throat, you grab the group’s attention and parepare your voice to sound unwavering and unbothered, because truly, you didn’t feel much fear anymore around Eggman’s presence. Sure you were a bit worried about his new plan, but from all the stories you heard about his silly antics and your previous interactions ending in his failure, you didn’t feel much threatened by him anymore.

“um..excuse me but- can I ask why I’m being kidnapped?”  you asked. “follow-up question- “ an unknown confidence blurred into you. where it came from, you’re unsure, but you couldn’t help but grin. “Can I have some hot cocoa too? I’ve been craving something sweet for a while now.” a hot cocoa will never beat your mother’s brownies, you knew that. But it didn’t hurt to quench such a craving with another chocolatey sweet treat.

Orbot’s robotic faces somehow switched from neutral to excited as his hands clasped together in delight.”oh why of course! How would you like your hot cocoa? With marshmallows? Candy canes? Oh oh! maybe T- AaaAAH -“

Eggman suddenly  shoves Orbot away, quickly taking his rolling chair and sitting on it with a dramatic, villainy pose. He tries to ignore the pained groans Orbot gave or the clack and clatter of the items around him that fell into disarray as he shoved Orbot away.

He starts off with a prideful, villainous laughter. “We meet again, Doctor. ” You couldn’t but hold back a smile, amused on how Sonic’s nickname for you is slowly spreading around the island. It’s nice to have the power to gloat your doctorate without lifting a finger or uttering a word. “ How foolish of you to let your guard down when your little miss ‘fuzzy puppies' partner—” he does a ‘quote on quote' hand gesture. His brows soon furrow and he looks at you with deep offense. “—which by the way, was my fuzzy puppies partner first—” he couldn’t help but mention. “—is out of town for the whole weekend.”

“Are your attacks always this frequent?” you couldn’t help but ask. “don’t you think it’s best to take time creating a plan first for a month or two and then attack?”

Eggman stills quiet for a moment, as if he’s truly considering your question. “And why would I do that?” he countered. “ It's my job to be a constant fear and menace! It’s all in the villain’s code of honor.” He suddenly puts one hand on his chest and the other high-up. “ I vowed to destroy everything on sight, to be at present in the news columns at least thrice a month,to see my plans come to fruition as the world around me burns. ” In this moment, your mind entertained a thought of a national-villain themed anthem of sorts playing behind him, all while his signature eggman logo was placed on a flag and flying with the soaring winds.

“…but…wouldn’t it give you more time to plan your evil schemes?” you shuffled a bit, trying to gain a more comfortable position even with the laser-like handcuffs limiting your movement. “ like- you could plan more than just another bot attack-you can even have more time to build more complicated robots! I mean- the first one I saw was a pretty strong one. But it probably took a long time to make, right?”

Orbot looked at Cubot with utter confusion. “Is she seriously giving her captor advice?”

Cubot shrugged.“Maybe we hit her on the head too hard?”

“ SHUT IT YOU TWO ! Can’t you see that I’m having a serious conversation with a fellow doctor?! Go get those hot cocoas ready already!”

With the shout startling both bots, they scurry away to the kitchen. Eggman quickly grabs a pen and paper and eagerly awaits for your input. “Now tell me, what did you think of my last attack at the village?”

---

Despite the shift of attitude with Eggman was a bit amusing, you still tread carefully when expressing your opinions on his previous attack. You made sure to add in advice,but nothing too specific that he could use to ruin the entire village with. It was simple things like attack in open areas next time, or don’t just bring laser-shooting bots in a street fight. Get a bit creative, make-up new bots rather than constantly fixing the old ones.

“Do you know how much money that would cost me?” he grumbled, notebook in hand. “Villainy isn’t cheap, you know.”

“then…how did you get all of this ?” you look around the room, fidgeting a bit as you try to adjust your posture in this tied up position. “I’m pretty sure most of the items here cost even more than a few simple bot-making materials…”

Cubot suddenly chimes in. “Oh! we actually bought all of these second hand from villai-“ he’s quickly hit in the head by Eggman, whom was looking at him with warning. “…nevermind.”

“don’t listen to his prattle.” Eggman advised, then he groaned like a tired father. “I may have forgotten to place a few screws in this one’s head when I was making him.”

You felt pity for Cubot, his naivety reminding you a bit of yourself when you were younger. But then again, memory lane has been a horrid bitch to you ever since you got to this island, and you’re finding every little thing to be a reminder of your past. Cubot is now becoming one of them.

“my point still stands.”  You look back at Eggman. “your attacks are becoming way too boring.”

Eggman merely grumbles in annoyance, notebook slammed to the table and arms crossed like a moody child. An awkward silence takes over the room for a moment, making you realize just how uncomfortable your body was getting from being tied up for so long. then, Eggman gives another annoyed grumble and rolls his chair to meet Orbot.

“has he answered yet?!”

Orbot taps a few buttons on the phone, waiting in the line for a moment before sighing and shaKing his head no. Eggman’s brows furrow, he gets up and takes the phone from him and urgently taps the buttons on the phone with much more strength than Orbot has. His foot taps impatiently on the ground as the phone dials.

“ Hey Sonic! I don’t know where you are right now, “ he raised a brow. “probably taking a nap. But in any case- guess what?” he brings the phone to your vicinity, expecting you to say something on the phone. Instead, you gave him a mischievous smirk and then blew raspberries.

“w-what?! No!!!—“ Eggman’s eyes flared up in anger as he looked at you baffled. He then grumbled to himself, nodding and looking at you with annoyance and..a bit impressed. “well played…well played.” He brings the phone up to his ear again. “that wasn’t me by the way. I kidnapped that rebellious human as payback for the humiliation she brought on to me.” he then looks at you. “a payback that will be much harsher now that she has also ruined what was supposed to be a threatening call!” oh well, it was absolutely worth it. you couldn't help but give him a rebellious grin.  “Anyways, I hope this message finds you terribly , “ he hums. “goodbye.”

“Is that how you end every call?” you couldn’t help but ask.

“only when calling my enemies. For fellow comrades, I say ‘I hope this message finds you in an evil-scheming state.’”

“that’s quite the mouthful..” you mentioned..

“It's the villain code.” He merely shrugged. “ You should see the villainous messages they send me and then judge.” He huffed in annoyance.

“wait a second---“ you looked at him in disbelief. “you…have contact with other villains?”

“What, you thought I was the only being looking for absolute dark control over this Island?” he scoffed.you do remember Tails talking about there being others when you first got here. “ Of course there are other villains. None are as great as me though.”

“no-I know that. I’m just…shocked that you guys like—contact each other. Shouldn’t you all be rivals?”

“We are but…uh..” he scratched his cheek for a moment, trying to find a way to explain it to your non-evil-scheming mind. “think of it..as a classroom.” He continued. “We all have the same enemy.”

“the teacher?”

He hums in delight. “correct! And we all need to beat the teacher by?...” he awaits your answer, acting like a teacher himself. A teacher for villainy. The thought makes you chuckle.

“uh…” you think for a moment, shuffling uncomfortably as the ropes on your wrist scratch your skin. At least the conversation with your kidnapper helps you ignore it. Is this what they call Stockholm syndrome? Probably not. “…by…killing the teacher?....” you joked, unsure of what the correct answer truly is.

“yes!” he exclaimed, Orbot and Cubot clapping for you in admiration. Cubot then turns to Orbot. “ She's really good at this. Are we sure she’s not a villain too?”

Orbot looked at him surprised. “did you just….actually ask a good question for once?”

Cubot scratched his metalic head at that, and you wondered, did…robots ever feel itchy?..did they feel any sort of sensations you feel on a day-to-day basis? Or was this all programmed to their brain as a way to imitate human- well, in this case, anthropomorphic—behaviour? Oh my god, are you actually interested in eggman’s work? Are you a villain in the making?

“but you see, you obviously can’t kill your teacher.” He shrugged. “or at least, they tell you you can’t. And so, what do you do? you do what the teacher hates you doing!.”

“fail their class?” you quickly added, but at the same moment, he too, added,“pass their class!!!”

You look at each other in dumbfounded silence.

“what? Are you pulling my leg here?” Eggman grumbled, yet it sounded more confused than angry. “why on earth would they want you to pass their class?”

“because it’s their job? ?” you pointed out with a huff. “ I mean- think about it- their entire purpose is to help their students pass—why on earth would they seek joy in failing you? If most students of the class fail, then the blame is not put on the students anymore, rather, it’s put on the teacher themselves, and they lose their job.”

Another eerie silence takes the room, and you’re left with an utterly dumbfounded and shocked eggman, processing the information you gave him.

“did she just….tell us that we’re….we’re actually…” Cubot looked at Orbot in horror. Orbot hesitated, yet turned around to him and soon replied. “..that…we’re actually.. helping Sonic be a hero?....”

Your eyes go widened as well, suddenly realizing the simple infodump you just uttered was in fact, the most earth-shattering information they have ever received. To them, this simple flaw in comparison is worse than the curse of Ra itself. A curse that, you’re very certain they’ll bestow upon you now, if given the chance.

Both you, Orbot and Cubot look at eggman in concern, waiting to see what his reaction would be. And yet, he stands frozen, his brows still up in shock and his mouth slightly agape. You couldn’t see behind his glasses, but you were certain his eyes were as wide as saucers now. He stayed like that for an excruciatingly long minute, and Orbot, all while clutching Cubot fearfully, quickly speaks up. “um….Dr.Eggman?....are you…alright?..”

He doesn’t give any response, something that concerns you all even more than before.

“should we dispose of her?” Cubot asked in concern, all while hiding behind Orbot.

“honestly?” you sighed. “I…wouldn’t blame you for that.” It was deserved, really. If you were told that you were actually aiding your mortal nemesis rather than destroying, you’d want to kill the fucker who told you that too.

However, eggman still stayed silent. He soon took a deep breath, his face turning into a deep frown as he turned around and walked to the telephone once more. He clicks a few buttons, then taps his foot impatiently as he waits for the dial to go in message mode.

“hello, Sonic, it’s me again, Dr.Eggman.” he starts formally. “ GET YOUR PATHETIC BLUE SELF RIGHT HERE THIS INSTANT BEFORE I EXERCISE THIS…THIS DEVIL UP TO SMITHEREENS!!!” You all flinch and wince at the sudden bang in your eardrums. Yep, this is how you die. By giving the man you kidnapped you an existential crisis and making him think you’re the devil. You hoped Satan would at least give you a high-five for that on your way in. “get here NOW or else!” he quickly slams the phone back in its place, making you all flinch. He takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. “you..you’re…” he wheezes out, shoulders slouching. “you’re somehow more evil than I am!” he said in a dramatic and slightly fearful tone. “How can you do it so easily?”

You shrugged, despite everything, amusement courses within you. It's impressive how much more confident you’ve gotten these past few weeks. You wonder if it’s because you’ve been surrounded by utterly confident and fearless people. “ It's all from my trauma, I think.”

“ah, so you’re a future serial killer in the making.” Orbot said in the most informative tone ever, a complete opposite energy of the thing he just implied. “fascinating, do you perchance also kill animals for fun?”

You look at him dumbfounded. “…I’m a vet, Orbot.”

“so?” he hummed, and you swore he was a bit amused by this. “ even doctors can be serial killers.”

“I’m done with the conversation now.” you sighed, not wanting to implicate yourself in such a dark light. And yet, they didn’t seem to take the hint. And whether it was for their evil amusement or general lack of intelligence, you were unsure.

“But, let's say you did have the ability to kill someone and get away with it.” cubot chimed. “Who would you choose?”

Eggman, who was distracting himself with some blueprints, also stopped what he was doing, apparently curious for your answer as well. they all awaited eagerly as you hesitated in your reply, in deep thought.

“uh…no one?” you huffed.

“seriously?” Cubot asked, a mix of shock and annoyance in his voice. “there’s not even one person you hate?”

“Well…” you considered things for a moment. What if you had the chance to kill louis? You do hate him for what he;s done. Maybe seeing him dead wouldn’t be so bad. And yet, as soon as you thought of that, the very idea of making him disappear from the world, you remembered the gleam of hope in his eyes, his sheepish smiles and his dumb jokes, his dorky interests, his desperate need to wins everyone’s approval, his desperate thirst for affection. Your heart aches.”…no, not really.” You could never do it. you could never do that to anyone. Not even Louis Clement.

Eggman groaned at that, rolling his eyes. “ So that's why you’re not a serial killer or genius villain.” He muttered to himself. “You care too much. You’re.. emotional.” he gagged at the word, apparently sickened by the very concept of it.

“…nothing wrong about caring.” You muttered, your heart in a heap of swirling emotions you can’t comprehend. Eggman rolled his eyes at that. “There's nothing wrong with drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth either…but it still tastes terrible and makes you feel awful, doesn’t it?” he jabbed back.

“..comparing matters of the heart to something as simple as the rules of eating is ridiculous.” You huffed, now a bit offended to have your emotional state be compared to something like that. I mean, truly, what’s the problem with being emotional? Of choosing heart over logic?

“but it’s not wrong.” He continued to jab, shrugging playfully. “ There's nothing wrong with comparing things to food.” He mocked,his evil chuckle further adding more salt to the wound.

With an annoyed frown and grumble, you let the conversation end there, too tired and quite frankly, too hungry to continue this any longer. Soon, your stomach rumbles as your nose catches the scent and aroma of the ever-calming and delightful sweet treat, coco.

“The hot cocoas are ready!” Orbot exclaimed in excitement and delight, reminding you of a mother on Christmas night.

Eggman clapped his hands in excitement as he took a mug from the trey, drinking the hot chocolate and sighing in satisfaction. He then snaps his fingers. “Cubot! Take a mug and hold it out for our capture over here.”

Cubot, despite his robotic face, somehow frowned and furrowed his eyebrows. You marveled a bit at how expressive eggman’s creations can get. “Why am I always the one who has to feed the kidnapped?”

“because you can’t even make a simple sandwich.” Orbot countered back with a sigh.his voice then got tinged with a bit of pride. “…let alone masterfully brew a relaxing cup of cocoa.”

“lEt alOnE MastERfuLLY BrEw A ReAlAxINg cUp OF cOaCoa.” Cubot mocked in a whiny voice, annoying Orbot in the process. He then groans, grabbing the mug from the trey and holding it out to your tiny circle-cell, immune to the laser around it, it seems.

You look at the hot cocoa suspiciously, giving a glare to eggman. “this isn’t drugged, is it?”

Eggman looks at you with disgust and offense. “ I’m a villain, not a monster.”

“…fair.” You hummed, giving a shrug, which further annoy your constrained wrists into pressure as you edge a tiny bit closer to the laser cell, Cubot’s hand reached out for the mug to reach your vicinity. You wait for moment for it to cool down, blowing on it a bit to somehow wipe away the steam that was pouring out of it. yet of course, it was to no luck, the steam was never-ending, and despite your better judgement, you take a sip, and soon, your taste buds get greeted to the sweetness of cacao and milk…mixed with…. garlic?

Eggman gives a hearty chuckle as you spit out the drink, coughing a bit in shock, your tastebuds practically screaming in horror of the cacophony of flavors. “Still evil though.” He chimed, grinning triumphantly while you gave him a glare.

With a horrible lasting taste of cocoa now invading your tongue, you merely grumble as you zone out, letting your kidnappers chatter amongst themselves as you look at the clock, eyeing the ticking minutes and seconds, wondering where on earth Sonic could be.

It’s embarrassing, really, how much you rely on Sonic and the others’ aid when it comes to Eggman. Surely, you can’t expect them to always be there, right? a pang of guilt runs through you. you’re a deadweight to them, aren’t you? the damsel in distress, god, the thought of it makes you cringe and want to jump off the summit of the volcano. You really need to learn how to fight, or at least, learn self-defense.  But would that even work against someone like eggman, who has an army of bots always swarming the opponents?

Would you ever be good enough to fight alongside team Sonic?

----

Jason punched Cameron in the face.

he immediately cursed, spilling out a mouthful of ‘sorry’s as he helps a wincing Cameron get back up, immediately checking his face and frowning at the blooming red spot on his cheek now. “shit— Cameron, I don’t know what got over me—just—“ he tries to take a deep breath, trying to control the utter panic, terror and rage that was coursing through him. his rage, though unfortunately befallen onto Cameron, wasn’t directed at that poor soul at all. Louis fucking Clement on the other hand, can eat shit.

“no, no, I deserved that.” Cameron groaned in pain, rubbing his cheek to try to soothe the throb. “…I almost fucked everything up.”

“almost.” Jason sighed,tapping his fingers on the table. Brianna’s café feels awfully empty without the utter awkwardness and ‘ I’ll-try-my-best-but-you-know-I’ll-somehow-fuck-something-up ’ attitude Y/n always had here. he’s been avoiding coming here, for more reasons than just missing his dumb sibling’s presence. Hell, he used to act like he didn't know nor was he related to Y/n whenever she worked here. it’s always been this way. He always acted like they were entirely different people of their own, that their life doesn’t and should not coincide much with one another. it’s what helped him gain independence. It's what helped Y/n gain independence.

‘…maybe a little too much independence. ’ He sighed at his thought. After all, only a maniac with no consideration for her family would immediately pack up her bags and run away to a stranded island, leaving her older brother to pick up the mess.

‘….but who drove her to that point?’ is a question that runs through his head day and night, a question he always throws away and tries to ignore how much it gnaws at his brain, eager to answer, yet too afraid to hear it. he shakes his head, taking a deep breath and looking at the now adjusted, yet still a bit in pain Cameron. “…so what did you tell him?”

“utter bullshit.” He huffed,thanking a waitress as she brought him a pack of ice, giving a warning glance to Jason to not lead this to a fight unless he wants to get kicked out. he straightens up a bit in slight alarm, holding his head down respectfully like a soldier. Cameron continued. “told him I took the yacht myself for a ride and broke it, now I owe my cousin a new one.”

“Did he ask anything else?”

“asked about my relationship with you.” he shrugged. “told him I only knew you in highschool.” Jason nods at that, giving out a sigh of relief. Louis suspicions may grow because of this, but at least he’s farther from the truth now. a deafening silence falls upon them. Soon, Cameron looks over to Jason curiously.

“so….what happened to her?” there was a hint of worry in his voice. a hint of guilt over everything. “Is she safe?”

Jason hesitates to answer, tapping his foot nervously. “define safe.”

“…oh god.” Cameron rubs his temples, his worry now evident. He takes off his glasses in stress, as if he doesn’t want to see Jason’s face right now, nor does he want to see anything clearly.

“she’s fine- don’t worry.” Jason quickly added, trying to ease his distress. “just…in a weird place.”

“where?”

“…you won’t believe me if I tell you.”

“Jason,” Cameron looks at him with a deadpan expression. “I believe that there were anthropomorphic beings living with us in ancient times. Nothing can shock me.”

Suddenly, something in Jason’s mind rings, as if a lightbulb has flickered on top of his head as he looks at Cameron with frantic realization, his posture straightening, eyes quickly skimming to see if anyone is paying attention to them before landing back on Cameron again, leaning a tiny bit closer as he mutters. “….what did you say those beings were called again?”

-----

The voice of cheers invaded the living room’s space, Eggman sat on his red couch, his ‘evil tea’ in hand. (his words, not yours. When asked what makes it so evil he said it was made with children’s tears and the leaves of poison ivy. You weren’t sure if he was messing with you or not. What made it more comical was that his mug was red, and his logo on it with devil horns.) Cubot and Orbot sat on the ground, you being between them. Since the hours of afternoon passed by with no Sonic nor even Knuckles and Tails in sight, Eggman decided to change the location of your imprisonment to somewhere more stimulating. Not for you, of course, but for him. he did consider leaving you here with the watchful gaze of his bots, but that soon changed when Cubot started picking at his own wires again and glitching, all while bumping into Orbot and making him fall, oil in his hands pouring to his circular head, then somehow Cubot bumping onto the counter, flicking the blowtorch and lighting Orbot’s head on fire.

Now, the slightly smoked bot was wiping the remaining cinder off his head, his expression, though limited, showing his discontempt. Orbot was happily watching the television as well, all while a bowl of snacks was in hand and trying to feed you. You were way too embarrassed by the notion, and though you were starving, you refused to get fed like that, remaining uncomfortably tied and still as you tried to distract your mind with the blaring lights on screen. Though the universe loved having you as its jester, fate still seemed to be on your side, helping you keep your promise to Amy by making Eggman watch Comedy Chimp.

After saying some rather dry yet unproblematic jokes, all while showing bloopers of the different residents of the island making ‘silly’ mistakes, the talk show host, Chimp, finally says something worth your attention. “Today, we have an incredibly special guest. Someone pink,someone heroic,” then, he put one of his hands up as if he was telling you a secret. “ someone who might be a certain bluey’s girlfriend .” The crowd gives a resounding, choreographed ‘oooohh’ as Chimp winks mischievously, you couldn’t help but feel second hand embarrassment for Amy. “ladies and gentlemen let's give a warm welcome to Amy Rose!” the crowd cheers once more as she enters the stage, and you couldn’t help but proudly smile. Amy seemed a little annoyed, but she smiled politely to everyone, all while giving a glare to Chimp. “for the record,” she says as she sits down. “I am not Sonic’s girlfriend. And even if I was, that is not my entire personality.”

Chimp gives a hearty, professional laugh, looking at Amy with a half-assed apologetic glance. “Sorry ma’am, what can I say, I’m a sucker for gossip.” The crowd laughs with him, and Amy seemingly tries to hold back the urge to roll her eyes.

“So, Amy, tell me, how ya been?” Chimp leans in a bit closer, an act to show the audience he’s somewhat interested in what she has to say, and yet, his tone seemed off to you.

Despite that, Amy’s eyes shine with excitement, her posture straightening up a bit and giddy obvious in her grin. “well, you see Chimp, I’ve been getting very into interior design lately, and—“

“---yeah yeah that’s interesting and all,” Chimp immediately cuts her off with a wave of his hand, a flash of boredom held on his gaze, one that soon reverts back into the welcoming façade before anyone else could notice. “But I mean what’s going on with you .”

“um..” Amy gives a nervous laugh. “..excuse me?”

“oh come on, you know!” he then starts counting with his fingers. “unrequited love, roommate with a  horrendous being,” you choked on air on that one, shock, amusement and horror all going through you at once. Eggman however bolts out laughing, slapping his lap alongside it. “ your restaurant business going to shambles…I mean, it’s been quite the few weeks for ya, hasn’t it missy?”

“First of all, do not call me missy.” Amy growled, her rage now fully evident. while she was sitting poised and calm, her firsts were clenched, her eyes glaring daggers at the host. You admire how she’s trying to control her temper even when faced with such public humiliation,had it been you, you would’ve pounced at the monkey and punched him to death.”Second of all, Sonic and I are not dating. And we never have. And I have a life outside of him, so you better stop associating every little thing I do to him!” she practically screams the last part, you were certain she wanted to say this sentence for a very, very long time. Much longer than when this interview was scheduled. “Third of all,” her right eye twitches. “don’t you ever, and I mean EVER call my friend a ‘horrendous being.’ever.again—“ she then points to him threateningly. “—unless you want a good smack with my hammer for it!”

Chimp gets taken aback, holding his hands up in defense as he gives a nervous laugh. “Woah there Miss- er… Madame Rose,” he gives a strained, stressed smile. “I’m just speaking for the public here— I merely ask what the audience, both here and at home, want to ask you themselves.”

“oh really?” She questions, then looks at the camera scornfully. “Well if that’s the case then, why don’t you cowards come and say it to my face?!” you swore you could hear Sticks cheering her from behind the scenes. A sense of pride washes over you, and unconsciously, your once solemn and curious expression at the start of the show has become one of enjoyment and pride. Chimp taps something in his ear, listening closely before a grin covers his once serious face. “Well then, you heard her folks!” he quickly yells, stealing everyone’s attention as Amy looks at him confused. “both the audience here and the ones at home, why don’t ya give us a call right now and ask your questions?” The crowd cheers once more, giving positive astonishment to the sudden idea, all while Amy looks at them all dumbfounded, soon then grumbling from embarrassment and sitting back down, looking at Chimp judgmentally.

“What does live mean?” Cubot points to the watermark on the top right of the screen.

“it's pronounced ‘lay-ive’ not ‘lee-ve’.” Orbot replied, yet before he could continue, cubot gasped.  “you mean the TV is ALIVE? !” as Cubot smacks his head in shock, Orbot smacks his own head in disappointment.

The more questions popped, the more furious you got. Every single resident has been asking obscenely personal or arbitrary questions, further adding to Amy’s humiliation. You wanted to do something, you had to do something. You can’t just idly sit by (well, kidnappedly -if that even is a word- sit by) and let them ridicule your friend like this, not when she stood up for you.

“Eggman,” you sighed. “Can I ask you a favor?”

“I’m sorry, do you think you’re a house guest here?” Eggman looked at you mockingly. “Do you really think I do favors for my prisoners?”

“I’m not asking as a prisoner,” you countered. “I ask as a fellow doctor and…” your eyes lit up in quick realization, further adding,” as a fellow fuzzy puppies player.”

He raised a brow, crossing his arms and humming thoughtfully. “go on.”

----

‘It is un-lady like to kill someone with your bare hands on live tv.’

That is the sentence that was constantly echoing through Amy’s mind, holding her rage in a tight disciplinary grip, her hands almost ripping her clothes to shred with the sheer grip she has on them.

Is this truly her legacy? She couldn’t help but think. Is this what all her efforts winded up to? all this time spent on being true to herself, on mastering every skill she admired, all for it to be tied to the stereotypical beliefs of hers that she was constantly running from? Amy was enraged, she wanted to scream, to show them how mad she can get, how easily she can cause a wreckage of chaos with no one being able to stop her fury. And she was certain that Sticks was rooting for her to do exactly that. Burn the set down, smash everything up with your decorated hammer.

But, once again, the sentence echoed. Amy Rose was a lady. She was not a brutish man whom only speaks with their fists, even Knuckles, despite all his stupidity that comes from choosing brawn over brain, still is a gentleman when he wants to be. He still holds enough respect and honor to others that he doesn’t go smashing everything just because he feels like it. He is no brutish man, he was a honourable fighter. Sticks, despite all her ludicrous actions, always has the island’s best interest at heart, and yes maybe she did bite some civilians and possibly gave them rabies but— she still did it as a way of protecting the island, to save the most people she can. She is the reason why the jungle is so rich and luxurious, why it’s still alive and hasn’t fallen prey to the industrial, money hungry hands of businessmen like Chimp. In truth, this is who Chimp is. Not a comedian, not a celebrity, not a host, but a businessman. He follows trends, found a solution to a problem, and has made money off of it. People were craving a talk show of their own ever since seeing one in the abandoned cartoon tapes they found at sea, and Chimp provided them with this service.

Yes, everyone has a role here. Everyone has a part to play, and therefore, Amy can’t break away from her script, even if she wanted to. She needed to act poised and well-mannered. She needed to be a lady.

But god did she really wanna punch Chimp right now.

As more questions came and the more snarky yet polite answers she gave, she was beginning to feel a deep sorrow within her. A sense of hopelessness in the moment. Are all her efforts that unappreciated? Is no one ever going to appreciate the hard work she puts into everything she does? What's the point of doing them if no one will be grateful?

“Our next caller’s name is…Y/n L/n. take it away Y/n, ask Missy over here your inquisitive question!” her eyes snap open wide from the mention of her name. Amy’s ear quickly sharpens, giving the camera a dumbfounded glance.

“Thank you, jackass. ” Your amused voice goes through the speakers, and a sense of relief, amusement and excitement went through Amy’s heart, her once embarrassed gaze now filled with a sense of admiration, all topped off with a grin as she sees the befuddled expression Chimp wears, all while the audience laughs at the caller’s sheer audacity. “Lady Rose,” you start off, treating Amy with much more respect than Chimp, which makes him pout like an angry child. “ you mentioned something about ‘Interior design’ at the start of the show…well, you see, I have this amazing roommate. She has the best goddamn taste in the world. in fashion, paintings and even interior design, she has shown me the sheer beauty that can be seen in even the most mundane of things…I’m gonna get a treehouse soon and, I really, really wanna impress her…so do you have any good tips I could use?”

Amy couldn’t help but let out a huff of astonishment, looking at the camera gratefully, as if she was looking at you only. She gives a small smile, nods her head and leans back in the chair. “Of course, Y/n. I’ll tell you all you need to know…”

Seeing this as a golden opportunity, Sticks hijacked the technical department of the show, threatening or tying up anyone who tried to kick her out, all while keeping you on call with Amy. The show ended in Amy rambling on and on about her business, the audience finally taking her seriously and asking questions of their own, and soon, the once ridiculing and boring talk show has become some sort of a ted talk for Amy Rose, her dream come true.

------

The night was spent in a terrible, ache-filled sleep. And as you woke up with the worst bed-head known to man, you felt a bit dreadful at the fact that there was still no blue speedy in sight. Eggman, however, was blazing with utter fury, muttering curses to Sonic under his breath as he angrily tapped his telephone, leaving his hundredth voice message to him.

With a bit of a drowsy mind, your thoughts drift curiously into a territory you hadn't thought of before, and soon, you bite the bullet and shoot through the silence. “…how did you get here?”

“by walking up the stairs, obviously.” Eggman grumbled, eyes still glued to the telephone. You give a disgruntled hum at that.

“No..I mean…” you look at him as earnestly as you could. “How did you get here ? on this island ?”

Eggman froze, the dial soon forgotten as his head snapped back to you, a contemplative expression on his face. “…I…” his tone indicated that he wanted to start his story with utter confidence, to explain an epic tale of a villainous scheme, yet, his tone faltered mid-way, as his brows furrowed and his once manically excited grin turned to a befuddled frown. “…don’t remember..” he muttered as if it was more of a question for himself rather than an answer to yours. “ ..I believe I was..on my ship…yes, I woke up on my ship, and found myself here…” he then gives a thoughtful hum. “strange…how come I can’t remember how I got here?...” he then races to his computer, tapping his fingers away as his eyes scan the screens. You’re not sure what he’s exactly searching for, but, if you were a strange scientist who found themselves on a lost island, the first thing you’d do was look at security tapes within that very ship to see what exactly happened. You guessed Eggman was doing just that. “…nothing…” he gave a hum of displeasure, giving the screen a puzzled look. He sits quiet for a moment, but then shakes his head and waves his hands at you. “it doesn’t matter-“ he quickly dismissed. A little too quick for your taste. “all you need to know is that I got here to conquer the Island, and that petulant hedgehog you call a ‘friend’ is in my way.”

“but…why do you want to conquer the island?”

Eggman gives a pleased hum to your question, tapping a red button on his keyboard. “I thought you’d never ask!” he said in a sweetly villainous tone, sounds of machines clanking and engines running roar at the insides of the counter, which soon slid inside and came back up with… a mock-up mini version of an amusement park?....

“….are you serious? ” you looked at him in utter disbelief and quite frankly, deep sense of confusion. “you’re…doing all of this to make an amusement park ?”

“not just any amusement park.” He mused, taking out a small egg-shaped billboard he had in his pocket this entire time .” Egg-tropolis !” he neatly puts it on the top of the volcano. “a world of egg-tastically fun rides and robotic wonder! Where everything is a goldmine for mone -well…” he clears his throat. “ a gold-mine and safe haven for children ! “

“…couldn’t you just…pick another island?” you proposed, and Eggman looked at you disappointed.

“do you truly think I’m dumb enough to not consider that?” Well, you are dumb enough to plan multiple egregious robot attacks on an island with little to no success all for the sake of an amusement park. However, that’s not something you could tell your captor, not unless you wanted to be turned into a robot yourself. Eggman then sighed. “I already tried to leave this place, but there’s some sort of strange barrier trapping us all inside.”

“… what.” You felt a sense of utter dread and confusion go through you. you weren't even sure why such a fact was so dreadful for you. you never wanted to leave anyway, did you? then why be so glum that the very choice was taken away from you in the first place? “then..how the hell did I get in?”

“that’s the thing.” Eggman grumbled, once again clicking at his keyboard. “the Island lets anybody in, but nobody out. it’s like it locks itself from the outside.”

Strange. This is all too goddamn strange. There's a sense of hesitance and danger in the pits of your stomach, something that tells you the whole thing goes much deeper than a simple, magical and zany coincidence. Whatever it is, it’s..baffling, to say the least. The more you stay in this island, the less you know about it. you give a tired grumble, head falling back to the cold wall behind you as you watch eggman click away ,’he’s probably doing something scientific that I’d never be able to comprehend…’

“ here are the top ten ways to walk like a villain!” suddenly blares from the computer’s speakers, eggman quickly taking notes.

You hold back your amused huff. ’…or…maybe not. ’

----

Tick,tock,tick,tock,

The common and oddly comforting sound of the clock echoes through the lab, all of you watching it in boredom, the two robots tired, you uncomfortable, and eggman deeply agitated. As another minute passes by the clock, moving it’s long stick an inch closer, Eggman shoots up in rage. “where in the world is he?!” he groaned. “he should’ve been here yesterday! What, is he too good for me now? am I not a worthy adversary?” with fury bouncing in each step, eggman tears apart some of his blueprints, grabbing a new one and angrily scribbling on it. “I’ll show that pesky bug who exactly he;s ignoring right now—“

A zap of blue passes through you.

Chills run down your spine, a glimmer of hope igniting with your heart, your tired eyes shot up in sheer shock as you look around the room, your anxiety rejoicing and forming into a tranquil song of peace and amusement as you see your favorite speedster.

Sonic huffed in exhaustion, as if he was actually going quicker than he usually was, actually losing his breath from his sheer speed. His eyes quickly scanned across the room, widened and worried. When it finally lands on you, he lets out a breath, his shoulders relaxing.

“took you long enough!” Eggman growled, grabbing a remote control on the table. “Do you know how much my phone bill is gonna cost now?!”

Sonic rolls his eyes,twisting his shoulders and cracking his knuckles. “I’m not the obsessed rival here, Egghead.” He gets into a fighting position. “let go of Y/n and I’ll consider going easy on your toys.”

Eggman’s eyebrows furrowed, head practically turning red in anger as he grumbled. “ They are not toys.” He then points to you. “and for your information, doctor Y/n here had one of the best captive experiences out there. didn’t you, doctor?”

“zero stars.” You immediately replied, Eggman giving you an offended gasp and Sonic grinning mischievously, eyes brimming with amusement. “ The staff kept asking me dumb questions and the room service was shit. My pillow was on the dirty ass floor.”

 “That explains your hair,” Sonic chuckled.

“---again, you’re not a guest here- you’re a captive.” Eggaman countered back, frowning. “you should see how the other villains treat their captives!”

You give Sonic a glare, though there was a playful glint to it. “ Can it, bluey. I’m not the one who's late here.”

“yeah yeah,” he rolled his eyes. “I have a good reason for it.” he then grins. “It's one hell of a story. you still up for chilli dogs after this?”

“Don’t try to ignore me!” Eggman yelled in annoyance, clicking the red button on his remote. “Let's see if you can even survive long enough to even see the outside world!”

As an army of bots runs across multiple sections of the room to your space, practically invading the entire laboratory in a defensive position, you look at Sonic sternly, a playful smile on your face. “I want those damn chili dogs, Sonic.”

Sonic snickered, putting his hands on the ground,his spikes igniting in electrical blue as he smirks. “Roger that, doc.”

----

You’re not sure how long the fight took, but you do know it was much less than an hour.

It seems like Eggman has completely forgotten what he wanted to do when Sonic got here, since it took so long for him to do so. Enraged and frazzled, he practically swarmed him with random bullshit hoping it could defeat his enemy, but of course, Sonic could easily speed through each and every bot, attacking them with rolling ease. When the dust settled and the last bot just straight up shut itself down to save the pain of being destroyed by the hero’s high kick, Sonic quickly stole Eggman’s remote and broke it, the lazer barriers of your tiny prison fading, your shoulders relaxin from relief, yet then wincing as the strain of the ropes hit you once more. God, your back will be destroyed from this experience, you just know it.

Sonic quickly unties you and gives you his hand. Your muscles cry out in freedom, a relaxed sigh leaving you as you take his hand to stand up, yet soon wobbling down and getting grabbed by him. your legs were like jelly, shocked by the sudden jolts of movement you’ve done after two straight days of none. Sonic looks at you with a  tinge of worry as you apologize sheepishly, holding onto him for support.

“Did he hurt you?” he asked, eyes raking over your form to look for any injuries. You simply shrugged. “not really…unless you can call a bad cup of hot cocoa an attack.” You tried to joke, to lighten up the quieted mood of the place. Sonic smiled, rolling his eyes as he yoinked you up again, much to your shock.

“You can’t walk, and I can’t for the life of me walk slowly.” He argued before you could even mutter your protest, looking at you with a reassuring smile. “I’m just returning the favor.”

You knew what he meant. The day you carried him. you look at him playfully annoyed. “ I was returning your favor, idiot.”

“Well, let's just say this is returning the favor.” He shrugged, giving you a wink and grin. You rolled your eyes, giving up and wrapping your arms around his neck. He wanted to soon bolt out the door, yet your tap on his shoulder made him stop and look at you confused. You motioned for him to turn around, your figure not in front of a defeated and annoyed eggman.

“For what it’s worth,” you gave a small smile. “I enjoyed our conversations, Doctor.”

Everyone’s eyes widened, Eggman and Sonic looking at you with disbelief, the latter even more so than the former. Cubot and Orbot gave each other confused shrugs, unsure of what to make of this. Eggman gives a begrudging hum of approval, turning his head away from you both. “…….likewise, I guess.”

You smiled, and with a nod to the speedster, you were quickly ushered out of the infamous Eggman’s house, and saw the sunset cast over the island.

------

“Would you stop looking at me?! I can’t eat when someone’s staring!” you giggled, a wave of embarrassment jittering through you as you locked eyes with the excited hedgehog beside you. The chili dog in your hands was giving a sense of warmth through the freezing night beside the beach, the waves a calming allure.

“and miss the expression you’ll make when having your first ever chili dog?!” he shook his head, taking a bite of his own chili dog. “This is a once in a lifetime experience, doc! This is even more important than witnessing a baby’s first steps!”

“multiple parents will beg to differ.” You smile, amused by his eagerness for such a mundane meal. He scoffs in reply, crossing his arms. “ Well they obviously never tasted chili dogs. Speaking of which,” he looks at you with excitement again. “cmonnn, doc, don’t make me wait all day. Eat the chili dog! Eat the chili dog!” he chanted.

You quip a brow. “like how you made me wait two days for a rescue?” you acted disappointed, shaking your head and grimacing. “ you’re such a hypocrite speedy…”

He rolls his eyes, smacking his face and groaning a bit in shame and guilt. “I said I’m sorry, ok?” yet, he grins at you, knowing this was mere play. “ If you eat this now, I’ll never be late to your rescue ever again.”

“promise?”

“I swear on it.” he dramatically puts a hand on his heart. “If I’m ever late to your rescue, I’ll never eat a single chili dog ever again. I vow by it." He speaks in a deeply formal tone, unlike his usual carefree and sarcastic one. It makes you giggle, and sonic beams at your lifted mood, despite the troubles you’ve been through these past few days.

“Then I shall remember this vow, Sonic T.hedgeheog,” you give him a cheshire grin, holding a hand on your heart. “Let the record show that my only reason for eating this chili-filled mess is through the vow and promise of a prosperous future, full of rescues and quick speed.” He laughed alongside you, and soon, an exciting silence filled the room as you brought the chili dog closer to your mouth and took a bite.

“….well?” Sonic asked, an edge of excitement and inquisition in his voice. “Do you like it?....”

“it’s….” you chew a bit more, gulping it down slowly, only to further tease him with your answer. You then smiled and nodded your head. “It's pretty good.”

“See?! I told you!” he jumped in excitement, grinning with triumph. “it’s the best kind of hot dog- no, best kind of food , out there!”

“it’s certainly better than a normal hot dog..” you take another bite, savoring the spiciness of the chili. “much better than anything Meh Burger has, I’ll give you that.” You gulped, then nudged his shoulder. “so…anything else happen besides the whole guilt-tripping thing?” After the initial rescue, Sonic brought you back to your shared home with Amy, explaining the reason for his absence in the two days. Apparently, some civilization in the far corners of the island were constantly attacked by robbers, and after saving them, the people guilt-tripped Sonic and Tails into staying for the night, and were planning on making them live as their guardians forever.

“except the stressful event of going through a thousand phone mails Egghead sent me about kidnapping you? “ Sonic sighed, leaning back on the tree. “nope, nothing to tell.”

“..you gotta admit though, the first message was hilarious.” You giggled.

Sonic chuckled, giving you a reluctant nod. “It was pretty bold, I won't lie…”He smiled. “you’re always full of surprise, aren't you,doc?”

You merely shrug pridefully, giving a victorious smile to the roll of his eyes. You lean back on the tree beside him, both quietly listening to the waves of the water as you look up to the sky. Stuck in a river of your thoughts, you take out your phone and sigh.

“What's wrong?” Sonic turns back to look at you better, giving you a curious glance. You hold out your phone to him, showing the lack of battery power left. “it’s on its last breath.” You reply, scrolling through the pictures and messages that have accumulated your phone over the years.

 Sonic looks at you a bit puzzled. “Can’t you ask Tails to fix it?”

“he tried to but..it didn’t work.” It was the first thing you’ve done on your second day here, immediately after noticing the damaged charger, you brought it back to Tails for repair, only for him to look at you apologetically and explain how the parts needed for it can’t be found easily on the island, especially since the electrical outlet and electricity of your device in general is completely different from the one the island uses. You noted to yourself to one day research a bit more about this ever-confusing island, especially since you’re probably gonna live here for the rest of your life, given eggman’s explanation of the supposed ‘barrier’.

“damn..” Sonic gives you an apologetic look, one you quickly shook your head to and tried to ease his worry. “It'll be fine.” You shrugged. “I didn’t really use it much here anyway…the only thing I’ll miss is my songs..” you look back at the screen, a nostalgic feeling resurfacing within you as you click the play button, a song erupting from your phone’s speakers. It was one of your favorite songs, one that made you feel upbeat and energetic, the beat stuck in your brain like a worm, constantly feeling the need to dance to it. like right now.

You swish from side to side at first, nudging Sonic playfully as he huffs in a mix of annoyance and amusement by your actions, then, you grin playfully at him, taking note of the seemingly grumpy mood the ever-so-usually-ecstatic your companion has. You get up, eyes on him as you swish around, dancing with zero coordinance and swaying with the beat, lip-syncing the song terribly as you hold out a hand to him.

“nope.” He shakes his head, then brings his arms up to rest under his neck, getting into a more relaxed position, wanting the action to urge you to give up on this newfound quest of yours. “I’m fine right here.” he gives a fake relaxed hum, closing his eyes, yet peering open one to see if you’ve given up or not, huffing in amusement when he sees your determined insistence.

“cmonnn speedy,” you reenact the tone he had when he urged you to take a bite of the chili dog. “It's not everyday I get to see the sonic the hedgehog dance!!”

“Oh yeah? Well you won’t see it today either.” Sonic smirked at your grumble, snickering as he adjusted himself on the tree. “I don’t dance, doc. Never have, never will.”

“nonsense,” you still continued to sway around a bit with the beat as you continued. “you look like someone who does fortnite dances.”

His eyes widened, looking at you with shocked giddy. “the hell is that supposed to mean?!” he couldn’t help but laugh, never expecting you to be one for jabs.

“you heard me, speedy.” You smirked. “Only the people who are shit at dancing are scared to dance. So tell me, speedster, are you a loser at dancing?” you questioned, a hint of competitiveness in your voice. Sonic froze, giving you a begrudging, respectful nod.

“Touché doc…touché…” he mutters as he gets up, rolling his eyes as you outstretch your hands for him once more, grabbing it and letting you pull him to the sand and sway with him. as your favorite part of the song comes, you jump excitedly, looking at him determined as you terribly lip-sync the part with an imaginary microphone in your hand, knowing fully well that you’re the complete definition of cringe. Sonic looks at you amused, a bit impressed and endeared by your walls crumbling down now, feeling comfortable enough to do such silly things next to him. to show his appreciation, he starts trying to dance silly with you, of course, not before checking to see if anyone was watching. With reassurance that no one was within the beach other than you two idiots, he starts dancing and lip-syncing with you, smiling as he sees you giggle in utter giddy and hold his hand as you twirl around, unabashedly and shamelessly enjoying your time with no fear of the consequence. It’s admirable, really. Sonic noticed that you were one who often feared what people think of you, who often felt uncomfortable by the gaze of others, by the judgement of theirs. It was something completely noticeable on your first days here. and yet, in these two months, you’re finally breaking out of your shell. At least, in front of him. and he feels proud, in fact, he feels honored to be the one who witnesses your first ever splash of shameless silliness and tom-foolery, uncaring of who might see you. you feel comfortable enough to do this now.

You feel comfortable enough to do this with him.

You feel comfortable with him.

It's strange how this very thought makes Sonic feel a sense of pride, some sense of accomplishment and gladness for such a fact. But it’s here, warm and fuzzy, making him jolt with the intense giddiness that you were erupting with and now he’s jumping alongside you, terribly lip-syncing next to you as for a moment, he forgets his cool guy, heroic façade, he forgets his own sarcasm, his responsibilities, his self-image and everything around him. In this moment, all that mattered was that life beside you was fun, that you could make even the dumbest of things somehow excitable. He never cared for dancing, always found it boring and a tad embarrassing. Yet with you, it felt fun. With you, he now understood what dance truly is, why people like it so much. As you hold your hand in his and circle around the place, jump up and down and sway left and right with utterly cringe-worthy and non-professional dance moves, the glue of exhaustion he felt these past few days was washed away with the shores, and he was left with you, dancing till the phone’s battery dies out.

To you, you wouldn’t have spent your last remaining phone batteries any other way. This truly was the perfect way to waste it, the best way to say goodbye to your old world, and welcome the new one. with sonic by your side, dancing with you through it all.

---------

“I’m sorry I didn’t save you sooner.” Sonic heaved out, on the ground beside you. both of you were trying to catch your breath, your phone finally died. You nudge him, which he winces at, giving you an annoyed grumble.

“stop apologizing, dumbass.” You smiled, gazing at him softly. “You don’t need to always be the hero.”

He stays quiet at that, eyes slightly widened, yet contemplative and in deep thought, he looks up at the sky once more, taking a deep breath. “..but I do.”

“hm?”

“I do have to be the hero.” He muttered, hand going up to the sky, as if he was trying to reach the stars. He then opened his palm, looking at his gloves thoughtfully. “I mean…everyone wants me to be the hero. The Gogobas, the townsfolk, eggman, you guys….you all want me to be the hero. To save the day.”

“I don’t.” you replied. “I didn’t expect you to save me.”

“but you wanted to, didn’t you?”

You stay silent at that. A pit of guilt forming in your gut.

“that still doesn’t make it right.” you slowly reach out your own hand, having it be next to his. “ That doesn’t mean you have to be the hero. It just means I’m pathetic and I need to learn how to fight for myself.”

“you’re not pathetic.” Sonic argued, hand mindlessly getting a bit closer to yours. “you’re one of the strongest people I know. and these ?” he points to the scars on your arm. The ones who you got from eggman’s lasers. “These are proof of it .”

You scoffed, shaking your head, leaning it a bit closer to his. “..don’t change the subject, Sonic.” You feel him jolt, freeze a bit as you see the crack in his ploy. “you’re sweet…but don’t go changing the subject to me. this is about you.”

He stays silent. Only the voice of crickets and waves could be heard as your hands were held up in the sky, as if you were both touching the stars above. His hand slowly comes to hold yours. “….i meant what I said though.” He gives your hand a squeeze. “you’re the bravest girl I know.”

“I saw Sticks once fight a bear.”

“Sticks is crazy, not brave.” He quipped, and you couldn’t help but laugh, turning around and letting both of your hands fall to the ground, still entwined as you lock eyes with him. your amused smile turns into a thoughtful one, tilting your head and peering at him concerned. “….I stand by what I said.” You mumble. “…you don’t need to be a hero. If not to them, then to me. you don’t need to be a hero with me. I don’t want a hero. I want Sonic .”

His eyes widened, breath hitching as he looked at you dumbfounded, one that was laced with admiration. You give his hand a squeeze, then turn around to look at the sky, heart filled with determination. “and I’m not just saying that. I’ll prove it to you, speedy.” You hummed. “I’ll show you that you don’t need to hold responsibility over my safety, you don’t need to feel pressured by me. ever .”

“that’s not—“

“I know, it’s not.” You quickly cut him off. “But you deserve better. And I want to give you something better.”

He stays quiet, gaze never tearing away from you as you stare at the stars, planning and preparing for your goal. He wondered, what was going on in that overthinking head of yours? Is your mind ever tired of thinking? Or is this just normal for smart people like you?

Whatever it was, it made Sonic feel a sense of calm wash over him. a chuckle leaves him, looking back up to the sky, hands still entwined with yours.

“….I’m glad you’re here, doc.”