Chapter Text
Green Hills was the same as always.
It was a beautiful day, sunny and serene with a soft breeze that carried the weak scent of the oceans salt from nearby on the coast. The sky was a tranquil shade of azure, almost cloudless. Spring had officially begun with the blossoming of flowers and flourishing of tree's that fanned the air with vibrant greens that brought the undecipherable scent of something fresh.
Grassy hills covered the landscape that was otherwise empty--for now, at least, until something blue cut through the scenery like a knife slicing through warm butter.
To anyone else, it might've just been grass and hill and sky--at least in passing, anyway.
To Sonic the Hedgehog, it was home.
He'd always lived here–as long as he could remember, really. And as the fastest thing alive, it was the perfect terrain to race himself through daily. He wasn't sure that there was ever a time where he wasn't running. He always admired the scenery--it never got boring and it never changed if you discounted the seasonal shifts in weather. He knew everyone, and everyone knew him for his speed.
That, and the way he protected Green Hills from a rather infamous mad doctor who bore a rather impressive mustache.
It didn't surprise Sonic that Dr. Eggman was out causing havoc today. It was the norm. Honestly, there had never truly been a time where they didn't fight each other. Sonic was always thwarting the villains plans, killing any attempts at world domination or anything even remotely evil, or at least stopping it in its tracks if it was already in the works. It was an early morning, sun shining warm as Sonic took out badniks by the double. It was a pattern of battle–-dash, duck, spin dash and ricochet. Two badniks at once, exploding, like taking out two birds with one stone (though he hated that metaphor, as he found it sounded a little cruel for the birds).
“Egghead's losing his touch!” Sonic quipped to one bot. Dr. Eggman himself wasn't here, but that was fine. Sonic talked to himself all the time when he was alone, which really wasn't that often so indulging in some self-talk wasn't so bad. But that meant that he didn't get to make as many egg puns as usual (he saved those for Eggman, since they always got under the doctor's skin so easily).
A badnik responded by aiming its energy blast at Sonic, though it never met its target–only scorched the grass where Sonic had just stood.
“Nice try,” He said with a smirk, waiting to let the badnik find him again, knuckles on his hips and a foot tapping--a habit he'd developed thanks to his copious amounts of energy. He'd already smashed the others. It had been a rather small swarm of robots this time around. “But is that really all you got for me?”
The badnik shot again. Sonic sidestepped it. He had a lot of free time, so he liked making fights like this fun, especially since he was fighting alone today. He didn't mind it--if he could keep his friends out of the way, he would, since he really had no issues fighting this many badniks at once. Honestly, this amount was nothing compared to what he'd been dealing with lately.
“Missed.”
Another blast. Another dodge.
“Missed again. Man, Eggman's gotta check the circuitry on you guys, you're all so slow today.” It was almost enough for him to even yawn at it, but he figured he oughta focus on the fight still. The badnik was probably already damaged–-it did have a scorched dent on the side of its head, likely taken when Sonic smashed a bot near it and the metal went flying.
It got boring fast, though, so he soon finished the bot off with a simple spin dash, surveying the litter he'd just made. There was a lot--he wasn't nice to those bots, content on leaving them in unrepairable heaps of bits and pieces.
He didn't like his messes, and although he always cleaned them up when he could, it didn't make cleaning fun. But he did it anyway, for the sake of the surrounding area's wellbeing. He could take amounts at a time and dash them to the nearest junkyard, though having his friends here would've made the cleanup a lot easier in terms of how quick it was. And he struggled to move the larger parts, but he didn't have to admit that yet. He practically dusted his hands afterwards, before running off to find Tails. Presumably, the kit was in the workshop--he always was, which got under Sonic's skin sometimes, because was it too much to see his little brother take a break? But he seemed to actually be taking said break today--a rare sight to behold, truly--because Sonic found his brother sleeping in a hammock in the corner that both he and Sonic used, though Sonic used it way more.
Sonic's casual greeting stopped before it started when he laid emerald eyes on the sleeping fox. Tails was curled up in a hammock in the corner, namesakes draped over him like a makeshift blanket. He looked peaceful, and while one of his adorably large ears twitched, he didn't awake.
“Finally taking my advice, I see.” He quipped to himself quietly, a bit of a smirk playing on his lips before he left. Might as well let the poor kid sleep. Sonic had suggested Tails nap more often, and was glad to see it happening. He figured Amy wouldn't mind him dropping by to chat with her instead, seeing as he couldn't bother Tails today. She usually had something going on, and just as often didn't mind when Sonic dropped by to either chat or help her. He knocked a few times before realizing that Amy wasn't home, and he considered running around to find her, but he wasn't really in the mood. That and she was likely busy.
He considered finding anyone else, but he was content just running laps around the island. Besides, he could just get his energy out this way without actually bothering anyone, check the area over and make sure Eggman hadn't tossed more than one group of badniks out today. Sonic didn't want to leave any of those things to wander and potentially hurt someone, even if they were only sent out with the intention of being a public nuisance. There was none, and there was a mixed reaction to this.
First, he was glad! It was good that Green Hills wasn't in danger, and he'd never wish for such a silly thing.
Second, the boredom. But he didn't really want to bother anyone today, for whatever reason--maybe he felt like he'd finally been getting on his friends nerves recently, so a Sonic detox would be good for them--so he just kept running circles around Green Hills like an idiot, stopping whenever he found someone who needed assistance of really any kind, to both occupy himself and just to help people, because it was something he enjoyed doing.
A lady getting her baby's stroller unstuck from a decaying curb,
assisting a senior as a crosswalk (despite how agonizingly slow they often were, though he had the decency to never say this out loud),
helping a man move boxes of goods from a truck to the store they would be sold in,
maybe briefly playing a short game of soccer with some kids. Just anything to get his day by.
But days end eventually, and he ended his early by running to a nice field spot to lay down and watch the sunset. The warm air had dropped in temperature, leave a slight chill to run through Sonic's body, a shiver enhanced by the way the evening dew of the long grass seeped into his fur, damp from condensation. the sky, previously a shade of blue that was a touch closer to Sonic's shade than usual, faded into a warm twilight, before introducing bright oranges and golds that looked like someone had spilled light over the sky and painted it deeper to blend it, as if it were someone's canvas, their newest piece of work. It was a gorgeous sight that he'd seen time and time again. He'd never get sick of it.
Letting his eyes fall shut with an obnoxious yawn to follow it, he folded his arms behind his head like a makeshift cushion, letting himself further relax. He might've been a little cold, but it wasn't like he hadn't slept outside before. He'd slept out in the snow a few times, but that wasn't always his choice. But it was only early spring--the nights would gradually warm up to match the swelter of the day as spring came and eventually made room for summer. It was a good day of doing literally anything he could to made it end faster.
Tomorrow would be better.