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Deep within the woods of Green Hills, the Babylon Rogues had landed their blimp for the night, lights off, all in bed.
Well, all except for Manic, who was sitting at his desk, furiously swishing his paintbrush across the canvas as though someone had gone back in time to give Da Vinci a Pipeline Punch. Lime green quills that looked like lightning bolts, bright blue eyes piercing a shadowed face, a pointed grin that pierced the heavens. Manic grinned deliriously; he was having the time of his life with his secret girlfriend, Surge.
They had met not long ago when Surge had snuck out from Stone's lab. It was nightfall, as it was in the present, and Manic had snuck out to try what in his mind was a really clever trick on his Extreme Gear hoverboard; really, he had tumbled over himself about 23 times in his attempts.
Surge had initially seen him from a distance and knew she was meant to attack; Stone had been telling her about some green and pink hedgehogs that were ruining his life or something, and this guy seemed to fit the bill. He honestly looked way cooler than Stone described; jet black fur with neon green stripes, a striking orange vest littered in hand-made patches, and these almost comically oversized orange goggles on his head; he had a style, and he stuck to it. That was (at least to someone like Surge who had only been given boring lab clothes and half-assed raised by a depressed man constantly wearing his dead lover's(?) oversized tacky jacket) the coolest fit all of Mobius had ever seen, like probably ever.
"Hey you!" She shouted as she got closer, the well-dressed hedgehog falling off his board in surprise. "Ha! Eat shit, greenie!" She laughed, clutching her sides and pointing at him.
"What the hell man?" Manic dusted himself off and stood, Extreme Gear under his arm. "I was doin' good, you made me fall off!"
"I don't think ya needed my help to fall off the board, but whatever helps you sleep tonight, toots," She shrugged, hands landing on her hips. "Like the fit though! Vest is awful cool," she said, eyeing him up and down briefly and shooting a thumbs up.
Manic stared at her for a moment, expressionless, before cracking a smile. "You're weird. I never see you ever before in my life, you scare me to death, you make fun of me, and then gas up my clothes? Who are you?"
Surge shot her hand outward and took Manic's, squeezing it and forcing him into a rough handshake. "Surge, your arch-enemy! Or, Stone says I am, I guess. I don't really care about that though, you're stupid funny and I could entertain myself spendin' time with you."
"Wait, Stone made another one?" Manic asked, befuddled.
"Oh! Yeah, you're not supposed to know about me yet buuut like, it's so boring. He just like, mopes all day and cries into pistachio nut ice cream over spanish soap operas about some egg dude that died. Dunno his problem but I'm dying for some outside action, and he's letting me roam so long as I try to kill you when I see you. And some Sarah girl I think? But we can like fake it, I don't care," Surge explained passively, like her existence as a genetically modified rival was small talk.
"Dang, he really turned me into a werewolf and fell into depression afterwards," Manic returned the small talk with ease.
"WHAT!? Are you still a werewolf? That's the coolest shit I ever heard since wakin' up! How'd he do it? Can he do it to me next?! That's so cool-"
"Okay, hold on," Manic interrupted, overwhelmed by the questions being thrown at him from a girl who had only gotten closer and closer within his personal bubble. "I'm not one anymore, and it like destroyed the planet when he did it, well maybe you could technically do it a different way I guess, but it wasn't a super fun transformation. Okay, the werewolf part was cool, the turning into one part sucked."
"I could take it," Surge said confidently.
"Oh could you?" Manic said incredulously, raising an eyebrow.
"Probably a 99.9% chance, yeah," She nodded. They played a silent staring contest that lasted about 6 or 7 seconds before Manic burst into laughs, and Surge joined suit, both doubling over onto the ground. It took them a few minutes to fully recover, but then they lay next to each other, grinning.
"So, we gonna hang on the DL?" Surge asked. Manic cringed at that.
"Please rephrase. That, that word has meaning, dog, come on."
"The only internet sites Stone has on his shitty macbook are quotev and tumblr, forgive my lack of decorum your highness," Surge playfully rolled her eyes and waved him off.
"You made those words up, I don't believe you at all," Manic said, and as Surge was about to retort, loud rustling sounds became suddenly very close, until-
"MANIC DID YOU GO THROUGH MITOSIS?!" Sticks screams, one hand clutching her hair and the other pointing furiously at a very unbothered Surge. She gave the badger a wave and a wink.
"Nah, she's cool though, Sticks. You shouldn't scream about her, or tell anyone, though," Manic said, motioning for Sticks to sit with them. She eyed him suspiciously.
"Why not? Where is she from that I can't tell anybody about her!" Sticks asked, hands flying as she spoke.
"You ever heard of a forbidden romance, Sticky?" Surge asked. Manic tried to say something about 3 times in response, each time his words fell off his tongue. "You seem like a girl who likes romance stories, yeah?"
"Not really, romance books are a scheme to make people waste their time and ignore the government-"
"Okay but imagine how much fun it would be, to like, play along?" Surge tried again, clearly just talking out of her ass.
"I mean, I guess so," Sticks said with a shrug.
"Okay, so picture this, Stickster," Surge said, standing up and throwing an arm around her shoulder. "Manic and I, enemies by day, secretly hangin' out and stuff at night," she said, as though explaining the most grand plan ever devised.
"...And you're in love?" Sticks asked, and Manic turned to Surge with equal confusion on his face.
"I guess I did say that, yeah let's say that's in the whole shebang too. So because we're in love and all, and it's not allowed, we gotta sneak around 'n stuff. You can help us! We'll send ya skulkin' around for us, sending letters back'n forth, a sorta middle man situation if you will. Super fun spy roleplay for you, and you'll be saving our star-crossed romance. You in?"
Sticks began to take it into consideration, her hand resting on her chin as she stepped deep into thought. Manic, however, was ripe with questions.
"Surge, what on Chip's great green Mobius are you even talking ab-"
"I'll do it!" Sticks said, cutting Manic off. Her demeanor lightened significantly, her smile beaming.
"Really!?" Surge and Manic said, though neither were on the same wavelength.
"Yeah, why not! It sounds like a fun side gig, plus with me bein' in the shadows I can keep an eye out for the regime's secret robots they scatter everywhere," Sticks reasoned, and that was good enough for Surge.
"Atta girl," She gave Sticks a slap on the back, the badger returning a much harsher one onto Surge's back, who yelped. "You're stronger than you look, ow, what the hell."
"Excuse me!" Manic interrupted, both girls turning their attention to the obviously flushed hedgehog. "I, look this idea is sick I'm not gonna lie, but like, why are Surge and I romantical now? I'm so lost."
"Find a map then, loser," Surge dismissed. "Anyways, it's damn near sunset and Stone's all uppity about "bed time", like I was born 5 months ago in a lab or something," Surge huffed. "Manic and I'll meet here again tomorrow, you just get yourself prepared to be our little helper, 'kay thanks, byyyeeee!" And with that, Surge ran off fast enough to leave a trail behind her.
"Dang she's speedy," Manic said, watching after her intently.
"Kinda reminds me of that Sonic guy Jet dated way back when," Sticks agreed, crossing her arms.
"He sounds thematically irrelevant."
"He's theatrically development what?"
"Nothin'."
It wasn't long before the two were hanging out under the cover of darkness on a near nightly basis. They had continued to use the same spot to meet up, a small clearing in the forest next to a frog infested pond.
Manic had managed to sneak Surge a pair of Extreme Gear shoes to test out, and the two had spent a ton of time racing, mowing the forest's grass as they zoomed through the trees. Manic had shown Surge a few attacks she could do with her chaos energy, since Stone had apparently taken very little time to train her. Surge dragged Manic through every corner of the forest, and the two were finding new places even Manic had not seen before.
And yeah, Sticks was under the assumption they were dating, but that didn't mean they were actually involved or anything! ...Okay, well, they weren't at first.
Manic didn't take much time at all to realize he was beginning to feel things around Surge- given his heightened emotions, he noticed his heart beating and stomach swirling immediately, and it didn't take a genius to decipher what it meant. He was fully okay not saying anything, but of course Surge was too observant to let that slide.
"Hey, I think you have a crush on me," Surge said out of the blue, and Manic spat his water all over himself. Surge chortled at that.
"What- you- why do you start conversations like that man?!" Manic said, and then groaned, throwing his head backwards and shoving his hands over his face. Surge merely rolled her eyes and pried his hands off, firmly holding them instead. Manic felt his face burn.
"I'm sayin' it, cause I think I like you back, duh," she huffed. Her cheeks warmed, and she smiled confidently as she locked eyes with him. "So, am I right or are you gonna make me look stupid?"
Manic swallowed nervously, only able to respond with fast nods as his voice ran away from him. Surge chuckled and planted a kiss on his cheek, and he felt as though his soul left his body then and there.
"You're hilarious, it's adorable." She smiled, and instead of waiting for a response, she lay her head on Manic's shoulder, and forced him to calm down and just look at the stars for the night.
And now, a month into their hidden relationship, Manic had finished a painting for her, and, with it now dry, had carefully packaged it for Sticks to deliver under the cover of night. Well, if she ever got there. It was about 3 am, and she still hadn't-
"Tweet tweet, it's a bird, tweet tweet! Come to the window for the bird! Tweet tweet!" Sticks whisper shouted into the window, startling Manic so badly he fell backwards off his chair and onto his head, before rolling backwards a few times and ultimately ending up on his back, his room destroyed.
"...Sticks. Come on, dude," Manic whispered, slowly standing up and rubbing his now sore back.
"You need to pay attention, I come here every other night doin' the same routine, don't act all shocked," she deadpanned. Manic rolled his eyes but conceded, handing her the package.
"Yeah yeah, just don't let my gift get bent up. I'd take it to her myself, but she has a big thing planned this weekend and needs time to get stuff together, so I gotta stay here and all."
"Ooh, sounds fun! Just don't let her take you to pumpkin hill. That place is eerie vibes, I tell ya," Sticks warned before running off into the night to deliver the gift. Manic sighed and laid back on his bed, hands folded over his lap as he smiled. He lulled himself to sleep with thoughts of Surge and their adventures, excited to see her once more.